And now its time for the next chapter, a longer one this time, enjoy!
Chapter 2 (Mar-Jul 1920)
As February turned to March dissatisfaction with the ineffectual Weimar Government was at an all time high, membership for extremist parties on both the right and left increased sharply and the authorities struggled to retain control.
In the East, the Polish continued to carry out successful offensives against Soviet Russia in Ruthenia & Ukraine, by the start of march Polish Troops had occupied Polotsk in the North and the Ukrainian City of Zhytomyr in the South. Minsk was becoming increasingly isolated and Polish Forces were within striking distance of both Kiev & Smolensk, the situation was becoming increasingly dire for the Red Army who remained busy dealing with stubborn resistance by the White Army in the Crimea, Caucasus Region and Siberia.
Back in Germany, the Anti-Government backlash caused by the French Occupation of the Rhineland led to the resignation of the current Chancellor and his replacement by Hermann Muller...
...Muller was one of the men who willingly signed the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 when he was the Foreign Minister. Undoubtedly such a spineless politician will do little to improve the current situation in Germany. Maybe more drastic action is needed to stop the Social Democrats from destroying Germany further...
...and this drastic action came just two weeks later as an alliance of Right-Wing Nationalists, Royalists and Reactionaries staged a putsch in Berlin with the support of several Freikorps Divisions and some parts of the Reichswehr with the intention of creating a new Government under Wolfgang Kapp. The Putsch was successful and the Weimar traitors were forced to flee Berlin. However, they encouraged the citizenry of Berlin to oppose the Putsch, which they did. The resulting General Strike paralysed the city and led to a collapse of the putsch just a few days later. Kapp and his co-conspirators were forced to flee the country and the Weimar Government was able to return to Berlin as if nothing had happened. This attempt to overthrow the hated Social Democrats may have failed, but it is extremely doubtful that this will be the last such attempt.
Back in Russia, the Red Army began to make serious progress in the Caucasus, Rostov was occupied in Early April and a few weeks later the short-lived Caucasian Emirate was crushed into submission.
Further East, the struggle for control of the Central Asian Steppes continued as the Bolsheviks gained a clear upper hand, defeating the last remnants of the Alash Horde in Late April.
In the West, the Red Army launched a massive counteroffensive against the Poles, pushing back the Polish Forces attempting to surround Minsk and further south an offensive in Galicia pushed close to the city of Lwow. However, many Polish Divisions remained in Ukraine and while they were cut off they were more than capable of continuing the fight. With the Bolsheviks' seemingly single-minded desire to capture Lwow, they forgot that Kiev was still under threat and that they were themselves in danger of being encircled.
However, things were much clearer in the Red Army's fight against Wrangel's White Forces further East, by the start of May the Red Army had occupied the Northern regions of the Crimea and continued to make steady gains in the Caucasus. On the 4th the Bolsheviks occupied Baku and this brought an end to the Independence of Azerbaijan. It seems it will only be a matter of time before the entire Caucasus Region is back in Russian hands.
Back West, the Red Army Offensive in Ruthenia was halted and a fighting there became a stalemate for a short time but the Poles remained in striking distance of Minsk. Further south the offensive on Lwow failed and a Polish counteroffensive in Mid-May led to a decisive Red Army defeat at the Battle of Rowne, in which the Bolsheviks were crushed between the Polish Forces advancing West from Galicia and the ones still in Ukraine. The Battle was followed by a disorganised Red Army retreat and the Polish Army was able to occupy Kiev not long after. After another successful offensive further north the Polish entered Minsk on the 28th of May. Immediately after this victory, the Polish Government sent the Soviets a peace proposal which Lenin reluctantly accepted, having realised the extent of his armies failures and the effects of the crippling defeat they had suffered at the Battle of Rowne. However, at the time of signing the treaty Lenin was unaware that his forces in Ukraine had reorganised and launched a successful counterattack which surrounded several Polish Divisions in Kiev, if he had known of this it is extremely unlikely he would have agreed to such a humiliating peace treaty...
...The resulting Peace Treaty saw huge gains for Poland as Soviet Russia was forced to cede all of Ruthenia including the cities of Smolensk & Bryansk to Poland. They were also forced to withdraw from all of Ukraine and Crimea which would also be occupied by Polish Forces. The White Forces in the Crimea, which at this point were already on the verge of defeat, decided to cut their losses and evacuate the peninsula instead of risking a war with Poland over it.
Following the Treaty, Poland quickly graned Independence to White Ruthenia, where the Belarusian People's Republic was restored. However, despite being officially Independent the new Byelorussian State was subject to heavy Polish influence.
In the Far East, the White Armies in Siberia neared defeat. The Allied Forces who had intervened on behalf of the Whites saw that their defeat was imminent and began to withdraw. In June the Japanese became the last Allied nation to withdraw their forces from the Russian mainland and also soon handed over North Sakhalin to the Soviets.
Back in Germany, Early June saw a new Election in the Weimar Republic. The Social Democrats lost many seats due to their clear ineffectiveness in governing the country but they remained the largest party in the Reichstag. A new Government was formed with Constantin Fehrenback of the Zentrum Party becoming the new German Chancellor. To the East the Polish decided to restore the Ukrainian People's Republic which, like Byelorussia, would be under Polish influence. The Ukrainian State was also given control of the Crimea.
On the 16th of June the Polish Republic was reformed into a new state known simply as the Intermarium. This state considered itself the successor to the old Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and existing between the weakened Germany and war-torn Russia this Intermarium has established Hegemony over Eastern Europe. This new state is a clear threat to Germany as it will no doubt seek to regain other territories from Germany which they believe historically belong to them.
Back in the East, the Far Eastern People's Republic, an ally of the Bolsheviks, was officially absorbed into the Russian SFSR, at the start of July the White Forces in Siberia continue to resist but it is obvious that they will not last much longer.
On the 26th of June the last of Wrangel's Forces in the Caucasus capitulated, the last remnants of the White Russians escaped via Novorossiysk and would emigrate to foreign countries such as Turkey and the Balkan Nations.
Not long after in Early July the Georgian Republic was crushed by the Red Army and annexed into Soviet Russia. Around the same time Belgium, in a development that surprised Germany, withdrew from the Allies.
By the end of July, Germany remains domestically and politically a mess as the chaos caused by the Kapp Putsch continues to affect everyday life. Meanwhile the French continue to occupy the Rhineland while the Weimar Government does little to aid the German people living under this illegal foreign occupation. In the East the so-called Intermarium continues to grow in power following the Polish victory over Soviet Russia, the decisiveness of which shocked the world. Germany remains weak, politically divided and continues to teeter on the verge of anarchy while they are surrounded by increasingly powerful nations who bear a constant hatred and fear of Germany and will undoubtedly seek to annex more German land in an effort to keep them weak. At this time things are looking extremely bleak for the German State.
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Author's Note: I kinda feel like I focused too much on goings on in Eastern Europe in this chapter. Although my reasons for doing so were because I believe that these events are very relevant to Germany, especially the Polish-Soviet War which was between two countries who are very likely to be future enemies of Germany so I feel that their fates are important to keep an eye on. Also apart from the Kapp Putsch and the 1920 Elections, there really wasn't anything else that happened in Germany itself here and this part of the playthrough was just a lot of observing for me. It may well stay like this until 1923 when the time comes to restore the Empire, although something may happen over the Silesian Plebiscite in 1921, can't remember if that's different if the Intermarium exists and I'm only about to do that part on my next playthrough so we'll see, but I'm still looking forward to restoring the Empire because the current situation for Germany is already really interesting in this playthrough
But let me know what you think, should I focus less on whats happening in foreign wars? Also any General feedback is welcome since this is my first AAR and I hope to get better at writing them over time.
So, that's it for now and in the meantime enjoy the latest chapter of 'Bringing back the Army with a State' and I'll see you for the next chapter, which may be posted this evening we'll see
