Part I: a place under the sun
His Imperial majesty Wilhelm II von Hohenzollern, German Emperor and King of Prussia. Under his leadership Germany gained the place under the sun he had always desired.
The Weltkrieg
The history of Europe changed forever on that fateful day on the 28th of july 1914, when the Serb nationalist Gavrilo Princip assasinated the Austrian archduke Franz Josef, unknowingly plunging Europe into the fires of war. The German Empire supported their Austro-Hungarian allies, while Russia stood staunchly behind their Slav brethren in Serbia. This in turn led to the entrance of France into the war, bound by treaty to support Russia, but looking for a way to avenge the loss of Elsass-Lothringen after the French-German War. The German attempt to knock France out of the war by an invasion through neutral Belgium drew the British Empire into the war.
The war in the west quickly bogged down to the mechanized slaughter that was trench warfare, while in the East the Russians where quickly defeated at the Mazurian Lakes and at Tannenberg. The war dragged on for four years, with Italy, Bulgaria, Romania and the Ottoman Empire getting involved in the war as well. However, the United States remained neutral throughout the conflict, although the unrestricted submarine warfare brought the Americans dangerously close to declaring war.
The 1918 and 1919 offensives
Early 1918 was the beginning of the end for the Allied war effort. Russia was in the throws of revolution and the Bolshevists signed the humiliating Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, ending the war in the East. Later that year Ludendorffs innovative use of stormtroopers and his ‘infiltration tactics’ brought an end to the war in the Balkans, as German, Austrian and Bulgarian troops managed to pin down the Allies at Salonica, while making a move on Athens. The loss of Greece and the prospect of a major German offensive in the West led to the British withdrawl of most of their troops from the Middle East, saving the Ottoman Empire from defeat. The Great Offensive the Allies feared was launched on early march 1919, when the German armies struck near St. Mihiel, south of Verdun. The French high command was forced to weaken their lines in the North to defend their lines in the South. Then a second offensive was launched near Rheims, splitting the French armies. Within a month the Germans where at the gates of Paris. At the same time a large offensive was launched at the Italian lines, but not at the Isonzo. The assault came from Trento, forcing the Italian High Command to reinforce their troops in the Veneto or face encirclement of their main armies.
In both cases the allied defences failed to hold back the fury of the Central Powers. Vicenza and Verona fell near the end of March, encircling the Italian armies near Venice. In France Rheims and Nancy fell in German hands, the Marne was crossed and the BEF was about to be evacuated from the mainland, the last British troops left the continent in june. With most of their forces pinned down, Italy was defenceless, with Milan, Firenze and even Rome falling into enemy hands without a fight. The Italians sought terms in August, shortly after the capitulation of Venice. In the meantime France too was ravaged by a general strike, which was soon supported by the army itself. The French sought terms on october 4th 1919, ending the war on the continent. The war dragged on for two more years, with the British and German navies clashing a few times, most notably during the Second Battle of Jutland in 1919 and the Battle of Rockall in 1920, but the Germans, the British and their respected allied understood the pointlessness of this struggle and on the 11th of november 1921 the German and the British Empire signed the Peace with honour, ending the Great War that had ravaged Europe for seven long years.
The aftermath of the war
It was clear the War had changed Europe for good. In the East Germany was able to redraw the map, setting up new states and friendly states with German monarchs in the Baltics (the United Baltic Duchy), Lithuania and White Ruthenia. Finland and Poland regained their independence, as did the UkraineThe German Empire itself began to rival the British Empire in size, with Indochina, Madagascar, Dahomey and both the French and Belgian Congo added to the Empire.
Unfortunately there couldn’t be any rest for the tired German troops yet, with both Russia and France in the throes of revolution. In the case of France the revolution had managed to coup the Briand administration shortly after the peace was signed. With the French soldiers defecting en masse to the revolutionaries, and all counterrevolutionary forces already being evacuated to Algiers, the German High Command decided that a continuation of the war would be too risky. In the case of Russia, where the counterrevolutionaries where still quite powerful, the Germans did intervene, culminating in the Battle of Tsaritsyn, where the joint forces of the Russian General Denikin and a German expedition led by General Groener broke the Red Armies back after weeks of vicious streetfighting. Germany had pacified its eastern border, but the Kerensky government never managed to truly capture the hearts of the people.
The fall of Ludendorff and the Tirpitz reforms
The Hindenburg /Ludendorff tandem that had gained control over the German government maintained its extraordinary powers even after the end of the war. Yet Ludendorff, clearly the driving force behind the dual dictatorship, became increasingly resented by the German people. It was not until 1924 that a man dared to stand up against him. It was then that Grand Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz managed to take the dictatorship down. The direct cause of Ludendorffs downfall wasn't his petty dictatorship, it was a tragedy within the Royal family that brought the Quartermaster-General down. Shortly after the end of the war, the provisional government in Ireland had offered the crown of Ireland to Prince Joachim. However, Marshall Collins quickly withdrew the offer after noticing Ludendorffs hesitation to accept the offer and the strong republican sentiments within his IRA. The prince, already mentally unstable, tried to commit suicide, but failed, after this humiliation. The news was covered up in the media by order of Ludendorff himself, trying to cover up his role in the tragedy. In 1924 the scandal was made public by Tirpitz sympathizers, turning the Junkers against Ludendorffs rule. At the same time Tirpitz had managed to convince both Emperor Wilhelm and Marshall Hindenburg to publicly withdraw support for Ludendorff. Before the end of the year both Ludendorff and the puppet chancellor Michaelis where removed from their positions and Alfred von Tirpitz was made the new chancellor. Hindenburg was allowed to stay on as Chief of the General Staff.
Grand Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz (1849-1930). State Secretary of the Navy from 1897 until 1916 and chancellor from 1924 until his death. He is regarded as one of the greatest leaders Germany ever had, on par with Otto von Bismarck, the Iron chancellor himself.
Tirpitz first challenge as chancellor was the aftermath of the British revolution and the dissolution of the British Empire in 1925, when a coalminerstrike had escalated into a fullblown revolution, leading to the government and the royal family being exiled to Canada. Under Tirpitz orders most of the British Empires strategic ports and possesions, including Malta, Suez, Ceylon and Singapore where secured by German troops, as where most of the British African colonies. Germanies large African Empire was then restructured on the model of the former British Raj in India, with Fieldmarshall Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck becoming its first Statthalter. The influence of the Empire grew even further after the 1926 intervention in China, when Xu Shichang asked the Germans to save the ailing Chinese Republic from the warlords in exchange for a restauration of the Qing and far reaching economic concessions in Southern China. Under chancellor Tirpitz Germany changed from a petty dictatorship reeling from the losses of seven years of war into a powerful Empire, which dominated Europe, Africa and Asia.
Troubles on the horizon
The whole nation mourned the death of the Great Chancellor in 1930. Fieldmarshall Oskar von Hutier was appointed as the new chancellor, but the Hero of Paris proved to be unfit for the task, trying to run the nation as he had run his army. After his death in 1933, Franz von Papen became chancellor of the Empire through intruige and currying favour with the Emperor. Papen had proven to be somewhat competent, but highly impopular and many foresee a clash between Papen and other notable politicians within the ruling Deutschkonservative Partei in the near future.
Franz Joseph Hermann Michael Maria von Papen zu Köningen, better known as Franz von Papen. A former diplomat, general staffer and natural at intruige, Von Papen left the Zentrum party to join the ruling Deutschkonservative Partei (DKP) and quickly managed to rise through the ranks, managing to become Germanies first Catholic chancellor.
At the same time the syndicalists in France and Britain have rebuild much of their former power, with the Republican Navy matching the Hochseeflottes power, while the French armies are growing in size every year. In the mean time Germanies old ally Austria-Hungary is falling apart, Russia remains an unstable factor, while Japan is greedily eying Germanies Asian and Pacific possessions.
The year is 1936 and Germanies future is about to change for good…