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*cough* Post nr 2280, *wheeze* post nr 2281, *cough* post nr 2282.. Done! *wheeze* *cough* *wheeze* *collapse* victorious at last.. YAY! *cough* *wheeze*
Do you have any idea *cough*, whatsoever *wheeze* on how long it takes to read through the immensity of this AAR? *wheeze*
I do believe it has taken me the better part of several months to get this far.. *wheeze* hence the severe shortage of breath and a heartbeat which much sound somewhat close to one or more of the monumental bombardments prior to the offesives of the 1917-18 western front. *wheeze*
It feels a lot like compleeting a marathon and since I'm somewhat heavily overweight, you might imagine that such a feat is taking a heavy toll on me.
However, I am finally done and can only add my awefull and joyous praise to the insurmountable and clearly herculean works of our dear Allenby..
Allenby old chap, I salute you!
And now, please excuse me. I believe I left my lungs somewhere around post 1530. It shouldn't be too hard to find them. All I have to do is backtrack along the bloodtrail from running the skin off my feat, when trying to catch up.. Magnificent AAR, simply.... Magnificent..
Do you have any idea *cough*, whatsoever *wheeze* on how long it takes to read through the immensity of this AAR? *wheeze*
I do believe it has taken me the better part of several months to get this far.. *wheeze* hence the severe shortage of breath and a heartbeat which much sound somewhat close to one or more of the monumental bombardments prior to the offesives of the 1917-18 western front. *wheeze*
It feels a lot like compleeting a marathon and since I'm somewhat heavily overweight, you might imagine that such a feat is taking a heavy toll on me.
However, I am finally done and can only add my awefull and joyous praise to the insurmountable and clearly herculean works of our dear Allenby..
Allenby old chap, I salute you!
And now, please excuse me. I believe I left my lungs somewhere around post 1530. It shouldn't be too hard to find them. All I have to do is backtrack along the bloodtrail from running the skin off my feat, when trying to catch up.. Magnificent AAR, simply.... Magnificent..
VILenin said:
Yes i am looking forward to it also,the break up of Tsarist Russia events in TGW are great in game.
Haven't read it all yet, but it looks good so far.
Anyways, I think A-H should be given their navy back, just in case the Italians decide to be buggers.
Anyways, I think A-H should be given their navy back, just in case the Italians decide to be buggers.
Fortunately it appears I have been saved from that fate, sadly the price has been Allenby not updating. Some would say that price is too high....VILenin said:Right you are, Steve!
Good news, I'm eager to learn more about the post-war world, Russia in partiuclar.
I would agree, for it was a price I was all-too willing to pay.El Pip said:
Update?
Clearly the option was unacceptable to Mr A. Perhaps a similar offer from your good self would be more tempting to him.VILenin said:I would agree, for it was a price I was all-too willing to pay.
Jalex said:I think I might die before the next update is written
Oh, I've died and resurrected a couple of times. You'll get used, my boy.
Allenby, by the way...
My dear Queen Elizabeth II has rented me the Tower.
You know what I mean, I'spose...
No updatery or promises thereof in the whole of May. What's worse is that no-one harassed Mr A. about this miserable failure, standards are slipping gentlemen.
Just checked Mr A.'s profile:
Last Activity: 23-03-2008 18:56
Ominous indeed.....
Last Activity: 23-03-2008 18:56
Ominous indeed.....
Um... hi.
Sorry, I have held hostage in El Pip's dungeon for several months and have only just managed to escape. I am on crutches because my legs haven't healed from where he kept hitting them with a hammer.
Thanks to you hangers on for posting even when it must have been clear that I was dead!
Sorry, I have held hostage in El Pip's dungeon for several months and have only just managed to escape. I am on crutches because my legs haven't healed from where he kept hitting them with a hammer.
Thanks to you hangers on for posting even when it must have been clear that I was dead!
Part CXXI – Chaos in Germany
The summer of 1918 was one of extreme turbulence in a Germany racked by defeat and revolution. News that Germany had sought an armistice with the Allies encouraged revolutionary enemies of the government, who sensed that the rule of the proletariat, as in Russia, was imminent. The breakdown of authority manifested in the form of the republic declared in Bavaria by Kurt Eisner and the mutiny of the German Navy at Kiel, which spread revolutionary and then separatist spirit throughout the Rhineland. Leaderless, undisciplined bands of troops roamed across the country. Councils were formed to direct the administration of towns and cities. Mystery shrouded events across Germany, leaving Berlin in ignorance. Even loyalties in the capital itself were hard to read. Whether the abdication of Wilhelm II and the installation of the regency would serve as a sufficient sop to the left remained uncertain. In these adverse circumstances, the new Chancellor, Friedrich Ebert, was charged with implementing constitutional reform that would remodel Germany on a democratic basis. Having looked upon the events in Russia with horror, Ebert aimed to avoid revolution at all costs. Ebert set out to uphold public law and the status of the monarchy, for which two of his sons had heroically died. He sought to establish a national constitutional assembly to give effect to the democratic aspirations of the SPD and gambled that the intense political activity across Germany could be channelled favourably through democratic elections rather than revolution.
Ebert: troubled Chancellor
The obstacles on the path to achieving these aims were laid at first by the USPD, who had refused to join the Ebert ministry when the Chancellor accepted the establishment of a regency instead of a republic. As a condition of joining the new administration, they insisted upon the abolition of the monarchy, which Ebert refused to satisfy. In a reluctant counteroffer, Ebert intimated that he would recognise the sovereign powers of soldiers’ and workers’ councils which had sprung up across Germany, despite their incongruence with the continuation of the monarchy, if the government received the support of the USPD. This paved the way to a tenuous agreement between the two socialist parties which encouraged the councils to claim supremacy over the government, which subsequently contributed to the confusion in Berlin, where demonstrations, strikes and mob activity had already prevailed as commonplace. It did not take long for the USPD to resurrect the monarchy question, with the soldiers’ and workers’ councils also openly challenging the legitimacy of the regency. After Ebert had refused to endorse the establishment of a people’s militia to replace the regular army, the USPD left the administration. Ebert’s brief experiment with accommodating the radical left came to an end amidst the continuing chaos in Berlin. Whilst strikes and demonstrations escalated, the soldiers’ and workers’ councils stirred.
Berlin as a warzone, 1918
As Berlin spiralled out of control, Ebert turned to the Supreme Army Command for support, which Chief of Staff General Groener duly promised on condition that the government take energetic steps to combat Bolshevism. Beaten on the battlefield, the German Army remained in tact, if not entirely trustworthy. The Chancellor had already endeared himself with the ranks of the army, greeting it triumphantly, albeit falsely, by declaring “no enemy has conquered you!” as its leading units marched down Unter den Linden. Reluctance on the part of the army to support a socialist Chancellor was dispelled by a common commitment to maintain the monarchy. Ebert successfully invoked the name of the Kaiser and instilled in the army the responsibility to protect Germany from revolution. The breakdown of relations between Ebert and the USPD and the growing reliance of the former on army support earned the contempt of the Spartacists. Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg now regarded Ebert as an enemy of the revolutionary cause and denounced the SPD as pawns of the Hohenzollerns. On 3rd July, with Berlin in turmoil, they attempted to seize the centre of Berlin. Fearing an imminent revolution, Ebert turned to Groener and the German Army. Army high command encouraged officers to recruit their own volunteers – NCOs combined forces with students and adventurers to defend the fatherland against the menace of Bolshevism. The Freikorps, rapidly formed amidst the Spartacist uprising, launched numerous counterattacks. The Spartacist coup attempt was poorly coordinated and the Freikorps swept the revolutionaries aside. They captured the Spartacist headquarters in Spandau and drove the communists out of Berlin. Liebknecht and Luxemburg were captured and brutally murdered as the Freikorps, flushed with success, continued their offensive across the country throughout the month. Pacifying Magdeburg, Leipzig and Dresden without restraint, Munich, the capital of Eisner’s Bavarian republic, became a primary target of the Freikorps in their drive to restore order across Germany.
Liebknecht: slain revolutionary
Democratic elections ensued as the government continued the process of re-establishing authority over the country. The SPD appealed to the electorate for the continuity vote, promising progressive legislation in calmer times. Yet Ebert was overshadowed by a familiar figure in German politics. Even after his resignation from the Chancellorship, Prince Bülow remained a towering figure. Although he grudgingly respected Ebert for smashing the Spartacists, he publicly lauded Groener and the army and criticised Ebert for having stoked the fires of revolution by courting the extreme left after the armistice. Bülow reminded the electorate that Germany remained surrounded by the Allied “wolves” and that the SPD, who had signed the armistice, were unable and unwilling to safeguard German interests. The socialists, Bülow warned, would betray Germany again and sacrifice her status for domestic gain if possible. The elections left the SPD as the largest single party in the constitutional assembly, but without an overall majority. This result only represented a partial endorsement of Ebert’s chancellorship. After recent events, combining with the USPD was as unthinkable to Ebert as it was to the USPD. Unable to court the Centre Party, Ebert submitted his resignation to Prince Eitel. Having promised to continue the constitutional reforms and to carry them out with a view of bolstering the status of the monarchy against the communists, Bülow secured the support of the Centre Party, the German Democratic Party and the German National People’s Party to form a broad centre-right coalition. For the third time, Bülow assumed the chancellorship, backed by the right as a stalwart of the establishment and trusted by the centre by virtue of his recent attempts to secure a favourable peace. Germany had yet to settle with the Allies and treaty negotiations were set to begin in August. Bülow was determined that Germany should have a presence at the peace conference and that he would lead the delegation, despite Germany’s domestic turmoil. A disciple of Bismarck, Bülow was certain that only he possessed the guile and skill to extract Germany from her terrible predicament.
The elderly Bülow was a stalwart of the right
With the peace treaty with the Habsburg Empire signed at Aix-en-Provence, the inevitable subject of Germany came to the fore. The Allies felt it crucial to force Germany to accept peace terms while they possessed military and economic superiority. Although demobilisation of the armed forces had begun soon after the armistice, the Allies maintained the machinery of blockade and kept substantial forces ready to fight in the event of negotiations with Germany breaking down. However, neither Lloyd George nor Clemenceau were especially confident that their publics could be convinced to take up arms again if German intransigence forced the Allies to continue the fight. They knew that what their people had celebrated on 5th May was peace. With Germany hamstrung by civil disorder, there was no better time to force terms. Statesmen could only look upon the Congress in Vienna in 1815 as the nearest equivalent of such an extensive war being settled at a conference. Yet the chaos unleashed by war since 1914 far outstripped that confronted by Metternich and Castlereagh in 1815. The negotiations at Aix-en-Provence had been hurried through in one month. It was hoped that terms could be served against Germany in a similar timeframe. However, there was no guarantee that the unresolved questions from Aix-en-Provence would not be raised again by the attendees on top of the mass of business to be studied for the German treaty. Nobody in London, Paris or Washington D.C. was any the wiser about when a settlement would be reached, hence the preference for haste in convening the conference. Ultimately, there was never any question that the conference would be held in Paris. Clemenceau insisted that the suffering of France throughout the war warranted the peace treaty being signed by Germany in France. Clemenceau had witnessed the starvation of the city during the Franco-Prussian War, the collapse of the French government and the declaration of the German Empire at the Hall of Mirrors. Now Clemenceau was determined to vanquish his hated enemy in the same location. Lloyd George floated the idea of Geneva as a location, but Clemenceau would not budge, prompting the Prime Minister to comment later that “I never wanted to hold the Conference in his bloody capital. I thought it would be much better to hold it in a neutral place, but the old man wept and protested so much that we gave way.” Clemenceau was supported by Roosevelt, who did not share Lloyd George’s belief that a neutral venue was important. Thus, politicians, diplomats and soldiers from across the world descended upon war-scarred Paris and to the splendid Palace of Versailles, where negotiations for the German treaty would be held.
The summer of 1918 was one of extreme turbulence in a Germany racked by defeat and revolution. News that Germany had sought an armistice with the Allies encouraged revolutionary enemies of the government, who sensed that the rule of the proletariat, as in Russia, was imminent. The breakdown of authority manifested in the form of the republic declared in Bavaria by Kurt Eisner and the mutiny of the German Navy at Kiel, which spread revolutionary and then separatist spirit throughout the Rhineland. Leaderless, undisciplined bands of troops roamed across the country. Councils were formed to direct the administration of towns and cities. Mystery shrouded events across Germany, leaving Berlin in ignorance. Even loyalties in the capital itself were hard to read. Whether the abdication of Wilhelm II and the installation of the regency would serve as a sufficient sop to the left remained uncertain. In these adverse circumstances, the new Chancellor, Friedrich Ebert, was charged with implementing constitutional reform that would remodel Germany on a democratic basis. Having looked upon the events in Russia with horror, Ebert aimed to avoid revolution at all costs. Ebert set out to uphold public law and the status of the monarchy, for which two of his sons had heroically died. He sought to establish a national constitutional assembly to give effect to the democratic aspirations of the SPD and gambled that the intense political activity across Germany could be channelled favourably through democratic elections rather than revolution.
Ebert: troubled Chancellor
The obstacles on the path to achieving these aims were laid at first by the USPD, who had refused to join the Ebert ministry when the Chancellor accepted the establishment of a regency instead of a republic. As a condition of joining the new administration, they insisted upon the abolition of the monarchy, which Ebert refused to satisfy. In a reluctant counteroffer, Ebert intimated that he would recognise the sovereign powers of soldiers’ and workers’ councils which had sprung up across Germany, despite their incongruence with the continuation of the monarchy, if the government received the support of the USPD. This paved the way to a tenuous agreement between the two socialist parties which encouraged the councils to claim supremacy over the government, which subsequently contributed to the confusion in Berlin, where demonstrations, strikes and mob activity had already prevailed as commonplace. It did not take long for the USPD to resurrect the monarchy question, with the soldiers’ and workers’ councils also openly challenging the legitimacy of the regency. After Ebert had refused to endorse the establishment of a people’s militia to replace the regular army, the USPD left the administration. Ebert’s brief experiment with accommodating the radical left came to an end amidst the continuing chaos in Berlin. Whilst strikes and demonstrations escalated, the soldiers’ and workers’ councils stirred.
Berlin as a warzone, 1918
As Berlin spiralled out of control, Ebert turned to the Supreme Army Command for support, which Chief of Staff General Groener duly promised on condition that the government take energetic steps to combat Bolshevism. Beaten on the battlefield, the German Army remained in tact, if not entirely trustworthy. The Chancellor had already endeared himself with the ranks of the army, greeting it triumphantly, albeit falsely, by declaring “no enemy has conquered you!” as its leading units marched down Unter den Linden. Reluctance on the part of the army to support a socialist Chancellor was dispelled by a common commitment to maintain the monarchy. Ebert successfully invoked the name of the Kaiser and instilled in the army the responsibility to protect Germany from revolution. The breakdown of relations between Ebert and the USPD and the growing reliance of the former on army support earned the contempt of the Spartacists. Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg now regarded Ebert as an enemy of the revolutionary cause and denounced the SPD as pawns of the Hohenzollerns. On 3rd July, with Berlin in turmoil, they attempted to seize the centre of Berlin. Fearing an imminent revolution, Ebert turned to Groener and the German Army. Army high command encouraged officers to recruit their own volunteers – NCOs combined forces with students and adventurers to defend the fatherland against the menace of Bolshevism. The Freikorps, rapidly formed amidst the Spartacist uprising, launched numerous counterattacks. The Spartacist coup attempt was poorly coordinated and the Freikorps swept the revolutionaries aside. They captured the Spartacist headquarters in Spandau and drove the communists out of Berlin. Liebknecht and Luxemburg were captured and brutally murdered as the Freikorps, flushed with success, continued their offensive across the country throughout the month. Pacifying Magdeburg, Leipzig and Dresden without restraint, Munich, the capital of Eisner’s Bavarian republic, became a primary target of the Freikorps in their drive to restore order across Germany.
Liebknecht: slain revolutionary
Democratic elections ensued as the government continued the process of re-establishing authority over the country. The SPD appealed to the electorate for the continuity vote, promising progressive legislation in calmer times. Yet Ebert was overshadowed by a familiar figure in German politics. Even after his resignation from the Chancellorship, Prince Bülow remained a towering figure. Although he grudgingly respected Ebert for smashing the Spartacists, he publicly lauded Groener and the army and criticised Ebert for having stoked the fires of revolution by courting the extreme left after the armistice. Bülow reminded the electorate that Germany remained surrounded by the Allied “wolves” and that the SPD, who had signed the armistice, were unable and unwilling to safeguard German interests. The socialists, Bülow warned, would betray Germany again and sacrifice her status for domestic gain if possible. The elections left the SPD as the largest single party in the constitutional assembly, but without an overall majority. This result only represented a partial endorsement of Ebert’s chancellorship. After recent events, combining with the USPD was as unthinkable to Ebert as it was to the USPD. Unable to court the Centre Party, Ebert submitted his resignation to Prince Eitel. Having promised to continue the constitutional reforms and to carry them out with a view of bolstering the status of the monarchy against the communists, Bülow secured the support of the Centre Party, the German Democratic Party and the German National People’s Party to form a broad centre-right coalition. For the third time, Bülow assumed the chancellorship, backed by the right as a stalwart of the establishment and trusted by the centre by virtue of his recent attempts to secure a favourable peace. Germany had yet to settle with the Allies and treaty negotiations were set to begin in August. Bülow was determined that Germany should have a presence at the peace conference and that he would lead the delegation, despite Germany’s domestic turmoil. A disciple of Bismarck, Bülow was certain that only he possessed the guile and skill to extract Germany from her terrible predicament.
The elderly Bülow was a stalwart of the right
With the peace treaty with the Habsburg Empire signed at Aix-en-Provence, the inevitable subject of Germany came to the fore. The Allies felt it crucial to force Germany to accept peace terms while they possessed military and economic superiority. Although demobilisation of the armed forces had begun soon after the armistice, the Allies maintained the machinery of blockade and kept substantial forces ready to fight in the event of negotiations with Germany breaking down. However, neither Lloyd George nor Clemenceau were especially confident that their publics could be convinced to take up arms again if German intransigence forced the Allies to continue the fight. They knew that what their people had celebrated on 5th May was peace. With Germany hamstrung by civil disorder, there was no better time to force terms. Statesmen could only look upon the Congress in Vienna in 1815 as the nearest equivalent of such an extensive war being settled at a conference. Yet the chaos unleashed by war since 1914 far outstripped that confronted by Metternich and Castlereagh in 1815. The negotiations at Aix-en-Provence had been hurried through in one month. It was hoped that terms could be served against Germany in a similar timeframe. However, there was no guarantee that the unresolved questions from Aix-en-Provence would not be raised again by the attendees on top of the mass of business to be studied for the German treaty. Nobody in London, Paris or Washington D.C. was any the wiser about when a settlement would be reached, hence the preference for haste in convening the conference. Ultimately, there was never any question that the conference would be held in Paris. Clemenceau insisted that the suffering of France throughout the war warranted the peace treaty being signed by Germany in France. Clemenceau had witnessed the starvation of the city during the Franco-Prussian War, the collapse of the French government and the declaration of the German Empire at the Hall of Mirrors. Now Clemenceau was determined to vanquish his hated enemy in the same location. Lloyd George floated the idea of Geneva as a location, but Clemenceau would not budge, prompting the Prime Minister to comment later that “I never wanted to hold the Conference in his bloody capital. I thought it would be much better to hold it in a neutral place, but the old man wept and protested so much that we gave way.” Clemenceau was supported by Roosevelt, who did not share Lloyd George’s belief that a neutral venue was important. Thus, politicians, diplomats and soldiers from across the world descended upon war-scarred Paris and to the splendid Palace of Versailles, where negotiations for the German treaty would be held.
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As some Dr. Frankenstein would say.
It's alive, it's alive, it's aliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiive!!!!!
Now, time to read the last update.
I bet that those negotations are going to be harder than the AH ones. And dirtier.
Erm... I hope you're kidding...
It's alive, it's alive, it's aliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiive!!!!!
Now, time to read the last update.
Allenby said:
I bet that those negotations are going to be harder than the AH ones. And dirtier.
Allenby said:Anyway, see you all in six months
Erm... I hope you're kidding...
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Allenby said:Anyway, see you all in six months
Egads no! We must know how the negotiations turn out. I must say I fear for Germany with Bulow leading the negotiations on their side. Hopefully he is smart enough to play for time...only the rise of Bolshevism can really help him. I do know one thing though, Bulow was no Bismark.
Come back soon.
TheExecuter