Anglo-German and Franco-Soviet, it seems. And if Spain falls, Italy will lose its one and only potential ally - a WW2 with Mussolini complerely isolated - I can almost hear German boots on the Red Square.
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The game stops at nothing to give your AAR Germany over-the-top outrageous enemies 
Correct me if im wrong, but since France is now a socialist/communist state, i think this means that Germany can completely disregard the Versailles treaty. Now that the Third Republic no longer exists than Germany currently has no legitimate powers that can uphold Versailles against them: America doesn't care anymore with isolation, Britain is more worried about revolutionary France, Italy is too weak/ wants you as an ally. This is beneficial in that now you can bring the Wehrmacht to their WW2 fighting progress and strength without any limits.For the future i would suggest a move towards a new Allies coalition with United Kingdom, United States, Finland, Netherlands and the Balkans nations. Italy is a maybe but since their not the best fighters i would only choose them for a defense against France. Also don't go with Japan so you don't get dragged into conflict with Britain or America (Speaking of which could we get a Japanese Chapter, possible 1937 Invasion of China).
Also in terms of expansion i would really like it if you continued in the Historical Pan-German route. But this time with Hitler gone you could be more moderate to keep a possible alliance with Britain. For example, in Czechoslovakia only pursue the Sudetenland and prevent any invasion of the rest of the nation. Another good possibility could be that for the Danzing corridor you could negotiate with Poland for gaining German territory in exchange for an alliance and transit rights.
Great series so far and possibly the most realistic, in-depth alternate yet. Can't wait to see what the great German Empire will do next!
Also in terms of expansion i would really like it if you continued in the Historical Pan-German route. But this time with Hitler gone you could be more moderate to keep a possible alliance with Britain. For example, in Czechoslovakia only pursue the Sudetenland and prevent any invasion of the rest of the nation. Another good possibility could be that for the Danzing corridor you could negotiate with Poland for gaining German territory in exchange for an alliance and transit rights.
Great series so far and possibly the most realistic, in-depth alternate yet. Can't wait to see what the great German Empire will do next!
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I can say something as native 'expert' on Czechoslovakian First Republic: for entirety of it's existence, it was controlled by liberal nationalists, whose relied, to more degree than Poland, on Anglo-French support. In same time, there were strong communist party and revolutionary elements, but they had zero influence in army and police, completely obedient to president and parliament.
From both cases, that's why Munich Agreement was accepted without revolution or military coup, despite public opinion, which expected epic fight at any cost.
My prediction what would happened: further rise of Czech nationalism ('Old Guard' in charge seriously hated monarchy and nobility more than anything else) and fascism (Gen. Gajda, 'Lion of Siberia' controlled local fascist party and only direct harsh actions of president prevented their epic rise). There was virtually no monarchist movement and support in late 1930s, although during Great War, Czech politicians widely discussed possibility of Romanov king. Of course, German Empire reborn in 1930 would probably boosted these before marginal voices.
In modern 'what if' documentary, though, House of Braganza was chosen as a compromise.
In any case, moderates would still pushed for some kind of compromise, and President Beneš's day in office are numbered for sure - same as all Francophiles and socialists around him.
Most likely, majority would backed highly influential Rudolf Beran (OTL prime minister after Munich), who had many contacts with industrial elites: basically, he thought, that cooperation with Germany is the only reasonable option: give Germans what they want (weapons, workers, resources), choose to be an ally while there is such a choice, and, perhaps, even profit from it - same as Hungary OTL did.
In this timeline, many more people will listen to him. However, if Germans want Czech cooperation, they must confirm borders as historical and legitimate first, or republic will go on rampage, which may even end in full alliance with USSR and communist France - borders are simply non-negoatiable in any direct German-Czech negoatiations. Period.
Subtle approach for the start would be best, like contacting cooperative right-wing politicians like Beran or ex-White czech and russian generals, General Staff was full of them (1. Army was under command of Gen. Sergei Wojciechovsky, once colonel of Russian imperial army).
EDIT: There was also Paul Thummel, high-ranking Abwehr officer, who worked for Czechoslovakia and provided many valuable informations. He was known as operative A-54. He worked for money, since his personal life was let's say expensive. His intel proved to be mixture of truths and fabrications: he informed correctly about Wehrmacht or general activities of Abwehr, but he seemingly refused to betray his colleagues directly: many 'agents' he exposed proved to be innocent, dead or captured already.
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@Vlad_Dracul1989
Well, I learned something new today. Interesting, thanks.
Well, I learned something new today. Interesting, thanks.
Huh, I always thought you (for whatever reason) were Romanian or Russian.
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Invade the USSR in Winter. It's your only hope.
More seriously, I am reading with interest.
More seriously, I am reading with interest.
How did the Red France happen in game?A coup,an event?
This is starting to take Kaiserreichesque turn by the way.Also Germany seems to be always surrounded.
This is starting to take Kaiserreichesque turn by the way.Also Germany seems to be always surrounded.
MastahCheef is still around somewhere. I bet he just fights procrastination same as me and 99% of writAARs, at least from time to time.
This. Mostly.
I want to deeply apologize to everyone that's patiently been waiting for an update for nearly 3 (!) months now. I've been procrastinating, yes, but I've also been enormously busy (especially for the last month or so) which has dragged my productivity level (forum-wise, anyway) down to almost 0.
I can promise an update tonight.
Cheers and thanks for staying onboard! (if you're still reading this, that is).
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PART XXIV: THE RAEDER DOCTRINE
Since the Great War and the years immediately afterward, naval aviation was one of the most earth-shattering and controversial debates among naval circles around the world. The trials of American Army Air Force General Billy Mitchell in the 1920s in advocacy of aerial operations against naval vessels stirred the pot and resulted in his subsequent court-martial and disgrace by the hands of the American naval establishment. Still, his thoughts were greatly provoking in nature – his aircraft had successfully managed to sink the German pre-war dreadnought Ostfriesland, but the effectiveness of naval bombardment from the air remained a greatly contested issue until the late 1930s.
In the mid-30s, the “Fleet Problems” – naval wargame exercises to test the effectiveness of the United States Navy and proposed new strategies and doctrines – began featuring the American carriers Lexington and Saratoga at the forefront of the operations. Fleet Problem XIII, carried out in March 1932, was almost revolutionary: with each “fleet” armed with an aircraft carrier, intense aerial reconnaissance and strikes took place, with the scenario ending after the defending team “sank” the enemy carrier and several battleships with concentrated aerial attacks. Domestically and abroad, it was recognized by proponents of naval air power as a great victory for the concept of the aircraft carrier. Many politicians and people – and naval officers, too – preferred the splendor and obvious power of the battleship. It would take another war game – carried out by the German Imperial Navy – to prove to the world the indisputable power of the aircraft carrier.
The carriers of the USN proved instrumental in initiating the rise of the aircraft carrier in naval theory around the world. Here are carriers USS Ranger (foreground), USS Lexington (middle distance), and USS Saratoga shortly before Fleet Problem XVII in spring 1936.
Admiral Erich Raeder was determined to mold the Imperial Navy into a force that was not only powerful, but modern. Like the contemporary Japanese admiral Isoroku Yamamoto and others, he foresaw the important place that naval aviation would have in the navies of the world – and in the navies of the great powers, in particular. After reading the after-action reports of the American carriers and their performance in the Fleet Problems of the early and mid-30s, Raeder hoped to replicate these naval wargames upon the completion of Germany's own carriers. The light carriers Elbe and Weser were not scheduled for commissioning until the first weeks of 1938, with Graf Zeppelin expected to be brought into the fold that May. Thus, Raeder patiently waited for these first aircraft carriers to be commissioned, while simultaneously drawing up plans for the first naval exercises.
The ships were commissioned in early February of 1938. Amid the expansion of the French capital ship fleet (with the commissioning of Dunkerque in late 1937 and the expected completion of her sister Strasbourg some time in early 1939), the carriers (and the similarly recently-completed four Admiral Hipper class cruisers) were viewed as having strengthened the Navy considerably. The naval exercise, dubbed “Übung Eins” (“Exercise One”), was to take place in the Bay of Pomerania on March 3. The “Battle Fleet”, under the command of Rear Admiral Alfred Saalwächter, composed all of the Deutschland-class cruisers, two of the four Admiral Hippers, several light cruisers, and most destroyers. The “Scouting Fleet”, under the command of Rear Admiral Böhm (former commander of the Spanish Squadron), was led by the new light carriers, the rest of the Navy's cruisers, and a handful of destroyers. The goals of each admiral was simple: to sink the enemy's flagship (Saalwächter's was Admiral Hipper; Böhm's was Elbe). Initially the Battle Fleet had it easy-going. Scout aircraft from the cruiser Leipzig spotted Böhm's fleet just six hours into the exercise, and the fleet immediately steamed for the carrier battlegroup. Utilizing his own cruisers' floatplanes to mark the locations of the enemy, Böhm steamed away, skirmishing with his few destroyers and launching his carriers' strike squadrons. With his destroyers drawing the fire (and attention) of the Battle Fleet, the air groups of Elbe and Weser approached silently. Only a few aircraft were “shot down” before all the ordnance was dropped. With just a handful of aircraft, the “casualties” were devastating: one light cruiser and the pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee, were knocked out of action, with three other cruisers heavily damaged. Saalwächter, however, ordered his ships forward; after another hour of chasing the Scouting Fleet in vain, he was attacked by another squadron of dive and torpedo bombers. His flagship, Admiral Hipper, was lost, and every other cruiser was damaged. The exercise was over. The Battle Fleet had lost a pocket battleship, a heavy cruiser, and a light cruiser, and every other cruiser was damaged – estimated losses of over 2,000 sailors. The Scouting Fleet had suffered losses of eleven aircraft and 80 men.
Heavy cruiser SMS Admiral Hipper, lead ship of her class, during Exercise One. She was the flagship of Saalwächter's Battle Fleet during the exercise. Her anti-aircraft armament, though strong for the time, would soon become outdated and overhauled, setting an example for every navy in the world.
The results of Exercise One sent shockwaves through not only the Imperial Admiralty, but around the world. Raeder (and, more directly, Böhm), had demonstrated the destructive effectiveness and striking capability of aircraft carriers when used in tandem. Raeder immediately contracted Deutsche Werke for new designs of a more modern successor to SMS Graf Zeppelin; three days after the conclusion of the Exercise, the Reichstag requisitioned funding for another ship of the class, dubbed Peter Strasser, with improved machinery and a stronger AA suite. She was slated for commissioning sometime in late 1939.
The success of the German aircraft carriers in Exercise One emboldened Japan's Admiral Yamamoto and his allies, along with American Vice Admiral Ernest King. The British Admiralty, too, frantically scurried about as they procured design and construction contracts for new designs of aircraft carrier to counter the burgeoning naval power that was Germany. Around the world, interest in naval aviation and in the concept of a core squadron of aircraft carriers duelling whole fleets of battleships began to manifest in the public and in politicians. Emperor Wilhelm himself took an increased interest in the concept of the aircraft carrier, and from then on would frequently discuss the topic with Raeder and other admirals.
Chancellor Wirth, though happy that Germany's power projection capability had been greatly enhanced with the commissionning of the carriers and the enormous success of Exercise One, was still worried that, like before the Great War, politicians and people alike would get whipped into a frenzy of demanding inordinate amounts of spending on the Navy. However, the people were aware of their failures from before the Great War – they would not support an enormous navy at the cost of bankrupting the Empire. A much-publicized poll, which particularly made headlines in the United Kingdom (though was conveniently absent in the Soviet Union and in France) stated that over 80% of the German public did not want rapid naval expansion, nor did they favor any more arms races with any great powers. Even Raeder himself supported a program of “moderate naval expansion” so long as, in the end, he got what he wanted: a navy capable of combating the great powers of the world. His advocacy for naval aviation alongside the use of cruisers and battleships as the primary naval doctrine of the Navy eventually brought about the development of the Imperial Navy's official doctrine of “combined arms” – thereafter known as the “Raeder Doctrine”. It would shape naval history so profoundly that it would never be the same.
Rear Admiral Hermann Böhm was commander of the carrier fleet in Exercise One, scoring a huge victory by sinking three cruisers at the cost of several aircraft, initiating the aircraft carrier revolution of the late 30s and early 40s.
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Well looks like Germany finally learned from the mistakes of Tirpitz and is setting sail into the dawn of a new modern era. Hopefully this moderate expansion will help support the possibility of an Anglo-German alliance to defend against the French Communists. By the way Cheef will you be advocating for a repossession of German territory in the East or focus on strengthening Germany from the inside? Also i would definitely like to see a German carrier in the future named the SMS Manfried Von Richtenhofen.
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I agree with the above statement.
Personally, I'm more hoping for a more negotiated position regarding German territories in the east. One that would hopefully not compromise any potential Anglo-German alliance as well. Then again, I do not know the diplomatic situations of Austria, Czechoslovakia and Poland at the time.
Personally, I'm more hoping for a more negotiated position regarding German territories in the east. One that would hopefully not compromise any potential Anglo-German alliance as well. Then again, I do not know the diplomatic situations of Austria, Czechoslovakia and Poland at the time.
As to the above, usually with this mod you either join up with the Allies, only get a very small amount of previously German territory back, and then go stomp the Soviet Union, or you join the Soviet Union and you go about getting most of the German continental territory back.
Usually. Most runs with the mod don't end with France going Communist. I don't know how that'll effect things going forward (or if Mastah has any custom events in mind going forward) but hey, who knows.
Usually. Most runs with the mod don't end with France going Communist. I don't know how that'll effect things going forward (or if Mastah has any custom events in mind going forward) but hey, who knows.
Alternatively, you can go it alone and reform the Central Powers.
Easily the most high-risk option though.
Easily the most high-risk option though.
That's an option in the mod? I only saw a Soviet or Allies option.