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The Great War for Germany first and foremost began on its eastern border with the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The first battle of the Great War that saw German action was at Troppau in Bohemia. The tested invasion tactic of rushing for Prague and then moving down to Vienna was once again initiated and saw almost no real Austrian opposition.
But while the Germans were cautiously invading Bohemia, the Austrians were putting the majority of their forces on the front with Poland. As Germany was more interested in obtaining a quick capitulation from the Austrians, the Polish were mostly left on their own, with an occassional reinforcement from the German troops in Silesia when the opportunity presented itself. As a result, however, many Polish refugees flooded Silesia, Brandenburg and Ostpreussen, looking for a safe haven far away from the terrors of war.
When a small Austro-Hungarian force invaded Bavaria, in Landhut, the German defences in the region quickly acted and during a brief battle on July 31, they were utterly destroyed.
On August 9, the German army entered Prague and defeated a local garrison. As the German attack, led by General Martin von Labiau, advanced further into the Habsburg Empire, Poland was faced with both an Austro-Hungarian invasion force and a militant socialist revolt. As Warsaw was under siege, the situation looked bad for Germany's ally in the east.
As a result, a German army contingent from Silesia was sent to Poland to aid Polish general Emil Soltyk defeat the Austrians. The German reinforcements came not a second too late as the Polish suffered a great number of casualties.
While casualties on the Western Front continued to rise, the Eastern Front saw way less losses compared to the damage the German armies inflicted. In late September, two more victories were added to the growing list of battles on the Eastern Front. At Plzen, General von Wettin almost completely destroyed an Austrian force, while at Aussig General von Labiau managed what von Wettin could not.
In October, two more major battles occurred which for the first time saw a large amount of casualties on the German side in the Eastern campaign. At Munich, the Austrians tried to invade but were repelled, while at Waldenburg reinforcements arrived just in time to defeat the opposing forces.
At the same time, the German reinforcements in Poland defeated the Austrians at the Battle of Lodz. But as the casualties grew, the order to mobilize was signed. The Germans had made little advancements in Bohemia, with only Prague as a major point of occupation in the region.
As the war continued through October and November, the Austrians sent small forces consisting of 6000 men at most through the German lines, all of them failing to launch a major offensive against the advancing superior forces.
On November 13, the Great War expanded when Bulgaria took advantage of Serbian weakness and invaded the Balkan country to "liberate" Northern Macedonia, thus entering the side of the Paris-Vienna Axis and declaring war against Germany.
At Olomouc, in Bohemia, the German army inflicted another defeat on the Austrians, continuing the advance towards Vienna. While the Western Front was marked by retreating German forces in the face of a French invasion force, the Eastern front saw German success after success. But in both cases, a German ally was almost completely overrun by enemy forces.
On December 14 1909, General Martin von Labiau defeated an entire Austrian army at the Battle of Troppau. The decorated general was soon given a promotion to Generalfeldmarschall and tasked with leading the Eastern Campaign.
By the end of 1909, the Great War had escalated to the point that almost all of Europe was a battlefield. The French had advanced through Belgium like a knife cutting through butter. In the meantime, the Danish and Norwegians had been able to occupy Amsterdam. In Northern Spain, the French were defeating Spanish and Portuguese forces, occupying all of Catalonia. In the Balkans, Romania and Serbia, stuck in between the Ottomans and the Austrians, had been overrun and were under military occupation from the two powers. In Northern Italy, a fierce struggle occurred between Italian forces and the French. While the Italians were invading France now, the French still held strong in some areas behind the Italian lines. And while Poland had been almost completely occupied, the Germans were coming closer and closer to Vienna by the day.
1910 began with relative optimism as successful lobbying from the German government and of pro-intervention president-elect Theodore Roosevelt convinced the US government to join the Great War on Germany's side. On January 15 1910, the US entered the war on Germany's side, possibly turning the tide as US troops would undoubtedly reinvigorate the German war effort on the Western Front.
With this optimism, the war entered a new stage, driven by a General Staff meeting held in early January of that year. The consensus on the Western Front made by the Kaiser, the leader Generals and the Minister of War, Richard Guttmann, basically entailed the liberation of Belgium as a stepping stone to an eventual push towards Paris. In the meantime, mobilized troops would reinforce the entire front and prevent any further French advancements through gaps in the frontline. This new doctrine was put to the test on January 17 when the French attacked the city of Luxembourg, where a large German force laid waiting for them, led by the extravagant General Friedrich Brommy. The French did not expect such a strong resistance and were faced with a major defeat, casualties almost reaching 5/6th of their attack force.
The next day, the Guttmann Plan to liberate Belgium took effect as a German force led by General Wolfgang von Halkett pushed the French out of Aachen by completely annihilating their invasion force. Four days later, a similar attack was made in Nancy, resulting in an encirclement of French forces at Metz.
However, a minor setback occurred at Cleves when the Dutch and French managed to defeat and utterly destroy the army led by General Hermann zu Muskau. The general himself managed to flee the grasp of the French, but his soldiers were either captured, wounded or killed.
In the meantime, the war had also reached the German colony in Morocco as French forces invaded from Algeria. A costly victory in Spanish Melilla resulted in a French defeat, but essentially demoralized any German attempt to invade Algeria. Soon after the battle, a follow-up battle resulted in a less costly victory for the German Kolonial Korps in the region.
In March of 1910, the French attempted to breach through in Épinal but failed as they encountered opposition from General Ludwig von Märchenlied, son of former Chancellor Ludwig von Märchenlied and nephew to the current Chancellor. The day after, a similar attempt at Liège failed to the heroic actions of Germans alongside their Swedish and Italian allies.
After the French offensive, the Germans once again pushed through to get the French out of Germany itself and eventually out of Belgium as well. Their first attack was focussed on Arlon in Belgium and resulted in a minor battle where a small French force of less than 10 000 mobilized Frenchmen were defeated. The second, more important attack occurred at the Battle of Verdun where General Adelbert von Moltke managed to defeat French general Gustave Bonaparte, a descendant of Louis Napoleon. The morale boost this gave to the German conscripts was enough to get them through another month of horrible warfare.
At the end of the month, bad news arrived from the African front as the French had managed to ambush a German force in the Sahara desert and completely destroyed the unit.
As the German offensive continued, the trenches in Belgium slowed down the German advancement on that front, while a steady advance mostly occurred on French soil itself. At the Battle of Charleville, Adelbert von Moltke added another victory to his repertoire, while at the Battle of Besançon, General von Märchenlied held his ground against a French attack.
By the end of April 1910, the situation on the Western Front looked a lot better than at the beginning of the year. In just a couple of months, the German army had managed to push the French and Dutch out of Germany itself, while now also liberating Belgium and invading both the Netherlands and France. In the meantime, the British had started a blockade along the entire coast of France, preventing vital goods from arriving to France.
As a major battle was going on in Chaumont, France, the Germans now started experimenting with a new weapon of war. For the first time in history, chemical warfare on an industrial scale became a part of war between nations. Artillery shells filled with poisonous gas were fired towards the French and devestated their ranks. However, in some areas along the front, the wind turned, driving the gas towards the Germans themselves. While still in an experimental phase, gas attacks managed to shift the balance of power in battles within seconds. Unsurprisingly, the Battle of Chaumont turned into a German victory, albeit a costly one.
However, on June 22, one day after the victory at Chaumont, the Germans lost at the Battle of Eindhoven. The battle was the most costly defeat for the Germans so far, as more than a 100 000 casualties were made, mostly consisting of conscripted men.
As French troops had completely retreated from Belgium, except for a few local occupying forces, the main thrust of the German offensive shifted towards Paris. At the Battle of Chalons, a German attack led by General Jürgen Droste managed to overwhelm the French with superior forces.
In the meantime, the attack against the Netherlands was proving a little difficult as the Dutch professional armies inflicted heavy casualties on the German armies mostly consisting of conscripts. Still, at the Battle of Middelburg in Zeeland, a combined German-Italian-Swedish force drove the Dutch back to Rotterdam.
As the war continued throughout August and saw two more successful German attacks, at Charleville and at Chalons, the German High Command ordered ten brigades of experimental landships to hopefully be deployed within a year in the field against the French. The speed at which the Germans had been advancing meant that trench warfare could be avoided. This meant that experimenting with all sorts of vehicles was easier than in the muddy terrain often associated with trenches.
At the end of August, German defences once again proved very capable at holding their ground when the French attacked at Orléans in a desperate attempt to halt the German advance towards Paris. However, their attempt was futile as the French capital was already under siege from German forces.
In September of 1910, most of Northern France was occupied by the Germans and only a few French holdouts existed in Normandie and Western Belgium. The Dutch still proved very combattant as they attacked the Germans in Eindhoven in an attempt to break the German invasion of their home country.
After the costly victory in Eindhoven, the Germans pursued their enemies and once again defeated them in Middelburg. Time was running out for the Dutch as they were now completely cut off from their French allies due to the continued naval blockades by the British.
A clear sign of the nearing Dutch defeat was the German victory at Amsterdam, the Dutch capital.
As the war continued and more of France was occupied by the Germans, the French grew more and more desperate. On November 6, they attacked the Germans once again at Blois, but suffered a humiliating defeat as for every 1 German casualty, there were 3 French ones. The pain was only slightly alleviated at the Battle of Tours where they managed to inflict a considerable amount of casualties on the Germans, but still lost the battle.
On December 13, the Dutch lost at Rotterdam, but still cost the Germans some manpower.
By the end of January 1911, most of Northern France had been occupied while the important parts of the Netherlands were now also under German control. The only front on which the French excelled was in Spain, where they had essentially steamrolled the Spanish and Portuguese defence forces. In Northern Italy, they had made some ground but as their focus shifted from attack into Italy to defence of France, they would soon lose their advantage.
By now it was clear that the Great War was nearing its end. Rumours of an armistice came every now and then, but it would take a couple more battles to convince the French that they had lost the war. Most notably, three battles in three different areas were needed to show them that the war was essentially over. On February 27, at the Battle of Valence, the French forces recognized that their connection to the Italian front had been severed. On March 19, the Battle of Clermont-Ferrand proved that mainland France was completely overrun by the Germans. And finally, on April 25, the German victory at Granada, Spain, made the French afraid that what little forces they had left in Spain would be slaughtered by incoming hordes of German soldiers.
Eventually, on May 1 1911, the armistice with the French government was signed in a trainwagon just outside of Marseilles. By that time, almost all of France was under German control while the Germans were even liberating Northern Spain and Northern Italy.
The Eastern Front at the beginning of 1910 looked more favorable for Germany than the Western Front. While Poland was indeed almost completely occupied, the Germans had managed to occupy Prague and were well on their way to arrive in Vienna by the end of the year. In addition, casualties also remained relatively low compared to the front against the French and the Dutch. Nonetheless, the Austro-Hungarian invasion of Poland opened a gap in the German defence lines and now threated the Prussian heartland itself. The successes on the Eastern Front were once again confirmed on January 7 at the Battle of Prague.
However, the Austro-Hungarians managed to mobilize more of their population and surprised the Germans with overwhelming numbers. This threatened to undo the advance towards Vienna, if it were not for the fact that the Eastern Front saw many more professional German armies compared to mobilized conscripts. At the Battle of Olomouc, an attack by the Habsburg armies was thwarted as General Martin von Labiau taught the Austrians a lesson of their own.
At the Battles of Hradec Králové and Gniezno, the Germans further pushed back against the incoming hordes of Habsburgs forces. At the Battle of Augsburg, the Austrians failed to mount an attack into German territory itself, yet the Germans still suffered heavy casualties.
On February 20 1910, Martin von Labiau added another victory to his long list of military achievements as his superior force almost managed to completely wipe out an Austrian force at Troppau. Eight days later, General von Oldenburg managed to do the same at the Battle of Budejovice.
On March 4, General von Labiau would still get his decisive victory as a force of more than 20 000 Austro-Hungarians were defeated at Kattowitz in German Silesia.
By April of 1910, the Germans war effort in the east also shifted some resources to liberating Poland as Austrians started using the region as a way to invade and pillage East Prussia. On April 1, this contributed to a German victory at Allenstein, where an isolated Habsburg force was lured into a trap.
That same day, a successful attack at Augsburg once again obliterated the Austrians.
In the meantime, the British were busy with invading the Ottoman Empire through the Tigris and Eufrate rivers in Iraq and through their colonial holdings in the Holy Land. As they encountered some pushback from the Ottomans, the Germans continued to defend the Suez Canal and prevented any Ottoman, French or Dutch ships from going through.
On April 15, the Germans won a costly victory at Prague, where a sneaky Austrian army had managed to bypass the German defensive lines and tried to liberate the city. In the meantime, the Germans were liberating Poland and won at the Battle of Warsaw against a small force the Austrians had left behind.
At the Battle of Budejovice, the Germans managed to take the Habsburg armies by surprise, winning them a victory. At Olomouc, a more costly attack was made to prevent the Austrians from invading Silesia.
In May of 1910, the Germans scored several more victories, including at Krems and at Brno.
On June 14, the Ottomans tried a bold invasion of Silesia but were utterly devestated by the superior technologies of the German army. Only 60 Ottoman soldiers escaped unscathed from that infamous day at Kattowitz.
By July 11, the Germans had begun to siege Vienna and were briefly challenged by a defending Austrian force. General Ludendorff was able to drive them away by setting an example and completely annihilating a small Austrian defence force.
As almost all of Bohemia and large parts of Austria itself were now under German occupation, the Germans racked in victory after victory. Even French reinforcements to the region could not halt the ever growing German presence in the heart of the Habsburg Empire. On November 1, almost 16 000 Austrian casualties were made at the Battle of Nitra.
On November 15, a costly victory in Linz was successful in taking yet another important Austrian city from the Habsburgs. At the same time, a small French force was defeated at Olomouc.
At Przemysl, yet another French force, this time a bit larger, was defeated. At Sankt Pölten, German dominance came at a heavy cost as almost 20 000 casualties were suffered against only 6 700 Austro-Hungarian casualties.
By the end of January of 1911, the Germans had made it all the way into Venezia, which was promised as a war goal to the Italians. At the Battle of Verona, German reinforcements prevented an Italian army from being destroyed by French attackers. Six days later, the Germans made a bolt and costly attack on Graz, another major Austrian city.
On February 12, the Germans assisted in an Italian attack at Padova, one of the last major battles of the Great War. Several more small skirmishes occurred throughout February to April in both Northern Italia and the Balkans, but as both the Habsburgs and the French were on their last legs, the end of the war was near.
In late April of 1911, several rebellions arose throughout the Habsburg Empire, ranging from nationalist movements trying to liberate regions of the multi-ethnic state, to socialist and communist movements trying to overthrow the government. Eventually, this extra pressure resulted in the signing of an armistice on May 1 1911, ending the Great War. And as the Great War ended, the order to demobilize was signed and elections were prepared to be held in two weeks time, while the forces of diplomacy kicked into action to decide upon the fate of Europe.
The Great War is at an end and with that, new elections have been called to renew the democratic mandate of the Reichstag. As women may now vote, these elections are expected to be a game changer for Germany. Meet the parties who will represent the people of Germany:
National Liberal Party (NLP)
National Liberal Party (NLP) Nationalliberale Partei
Current Leader: Rolf Hoffman
Founding Year: 1848
Ideology type: Liberal
Ethics:
Trade Policy: Free Trade
Economic Policy: Interventionist
Religious Policy: Secularism
Citizenship Policy: Limited Citizenship
War Policy: Pro Military
Welfare: Welfare state
Description:
Formed In 1848 after the March Revolution from Many liberal Philosophers and economists wanting to start their own Party . It wishes to Pass liberal and Democratic Reforms to modernize Germany and is able to reach a compromise with the conservative elements within the Landtag and the royal court.
Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD)
Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands
Current Party Leader: Konstantin Brenner
Founding Date: 14th of June 1860
Ideology: Socialist
Motto: "Einigkeit macht stark"
Ethics:
Trade Policy: Free Trade
Economic Policy: State Capitalism
Religious Policy: Secularism
Citizenship Policy: Full Citizenship
War Policy: Pro-Military
Welfare Policy: Welfare State
Description:
The Social Democratic Party of Germany was created by Lutz von Sommer with the help of Gustav Schwarzmann and Benedict Eichwald to help move Germany towards a brighter, more equal future with its main goals being giving more power to the Reichstag and gaining reforms especially when it comes to voting rights for women and poorer men.
German National People's Party (DNVP)
German National People’s Party (DNVP) Deutschnationale Volkspartei
Current Party Leader: Adolf von Hoth
Founding Date: 1900
Ideology: Conservative/Völkisch
Motto: “Deutsches Reich, Deutsches Blut” (“German Reich, German Blood”)
Description:
In 1900, the DKP reformed their party into the DNVP, adopting the fledgling Völkisch Ideology, and reworking their party platform to fit Germany’s modern political landscape.
German Center Party (DZP)
German Center Party (DZP) Deutsche Zentrumspartei
Current Leader: Adalwolf von Märchenlied
Ideology: Conservative
Founded: October 31st, 1875
Motto: “Deus lo vult”
Ethics:
Trade Policy: Free Trade
Economic Policy: Interventionism
Religious Policy: Moralism
Citizenship Policy: Limited Citizenship
War Policy: Pro-Military
Welfare Policy: Welfare state
Description:
The DZP is a christian, centrist party that aims to bring stability back to the Empire. The Center party aims to be pragmatic and moderate. Both of the extremes are against the interest of Germany and her people, the Socialists want a godless state, and the reactionaries want a feudal state unfit for the modern world. The center party aims to keep Germany great by not letting it fall to extremism.
General German Women's Association (ADFV)
General German Women's Association (ADFV)
Allgemeiner Deutscher Frauenverein Current Party Leader: Elinor von Marchenlied
Current Party Vice Leader: Emilie von Marchenlied
Founding Date: December 23rd 1840, as a party March 27th 1907
Ideology: Feminist/Anarcho-Liberal
Ethics:
Trade Policy: Free trade
Economic Policy: Interventionism
Religious Policy: Secular
Citizenship Policy: Full citizenship
War Policy: Pacifism
Welfare policy: Welfare state
Description:
The ADFV officially turned into a political party to bring their voice to the Reichstag and further women's rights.
The Elections are now open and will remain so until Saturday August 29th 8:00 PM CEST
As the iAAR sort of ended, I'm gonna do a couple of updates that are mostly just story to wrap the iAAR up. It will include the peace treaties so the in game situation is not final.
The end of the Great War was widely celebrated in the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Spain and the United States, while unrest erupted in the losing countries such as France, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire. When the last fighting in the Balkans finally ceased, the Great Powers of the world met in London to redraw the map of Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas to reflect the new balance of power. In the meantime, a mutiny had erupted in France and in Brittany, Communist forces had declared independence. In Austria-Hungary, nationalist independence movements were also rising up against the Habsburgs, while in the Ottoman Empire, a civil war was brewing. In the meantime, the Great Powers met in London and discussed the future of the world. The occasion was so important that German Kaiser Heinrich I personally went to London by airplane, one of the innovations that had been implemented by the army near the end of the war.
German Kaiser Heinrich I arriving by airplane in London for the peace talks in 1911.
Treaty of Greenwich between the Allied Powers and France
The first and perhaps most important of the Treaties of London was the one negotiated in Greenwich with the French government. Since the end of the war, the monarchy in France had been overthrown and a new Republican constitution was adopted in Troyes, hence the Troyes Republic. The provisional government sent delegates to Greenwich to negotiate the treaty with the Allied Powers, but from the very beginning, it was clear that the victors would set the tone. There were several differing opinions among the victors of how France should be treated. The United States, led by President Theodore Roosevelt, couldn’t care less about harsh reparations for France as they themselves had not been affected as much by the war as the other powers. President Roosevelt, however, saw an opportunity for the States in the shape of the French colonies in the Caribbean. The United Kingdom’s interests were mainly concentrated around the Channel and the French colonies and Africa, while some voices in government also wanted to keep a balance of power between the UK and Germany, not strengthening either too much and keeping France a relatively strong neutral state in between both. The Germans were mainly interested in war reparations from the French and guaranteeing that the French wouldn’t be able invade Germany and ally Belgium so easily as they had in 1909. Belgium, Italy and Spain mostly brought territorial interests to the table.
In regards to mainland France, German aims were simple. They were not interested in large territorial expanse, as they already owned both Elzaß-Lothringen and the Ardennes. The German government did however lobby strongly for Belgian territorial expansion in Northern France, primarily in the region of French Flanders which had historical connections to the Flemish. In addition, the Germans demanded a demilitarized zone in Northern France along the Belgian border to guarantee that 1909 would not be repeated so easily in the future. In addition, war reparations summing up to 10 billion German marks were demanded. Should the French government fail to pay those, the German and Belgian armies reserve the right to occupy the demilitarized zone in the north. The French delegation could do nothing but swallow these demands.
The British demands in regards to mainland France remained fairly limited, but had a large impact. They demanded that Calais be turned into a Free City under a primarily British mandate. Protected within the demilitarized zone, the Free City of Calais would be an independent city state with far-going privileges and influence for the British government. Spain and Italy both were able to get their territorial claims. Italy got Nice, Savoy and Corsica, while Spain got Roussillon.
Demilitarized zone outlined in red, Breton Soviet Republic in light green.
In regards to the French territories in Africa, the general consensus was to divide the spoils between the various victors. However, with the French colonial empire in Africa lacking in size, the few spoils were mostly territories in the Sahara desert. Tunisia and Libya were given to Italy. Senegal was given to the British. Mauritania was given to Spain and Madagascar to Portugal. Algeria was a more difficult case as it was regarded by the French government as an integral part of metropolitan France. Thus the Great Powers decided to let France keep Northern Algeria, while the rest was divided between Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom.
In regards to the French possessions in the Americas, the negotiations were a bit more tense. President Roosevelt held a strict Monroe doctrine in mind during the peace talks and was not giving any ground to British ambitions in the Caribbean. The British eyed French Guyana, just as they eyed Dutch Suriname. In the meantime, President Roosevelt wanted to keep British expansion in South America and the Caribbean as limited as possible, while also lobbying for an American protectorate in the region. Negotiations between the two turned sour, President Roosevelt even referencing the 1664 agreement between the Dutch and the English which saw New Amsterdam being traded for Suriname. In the end, it took German mediation to solve the impasse. Britain would receive the French possessions in the Caribbean, while the US would gain a protectorate in Guyana and Suriname, to be confirmed in the Treaty of Lambeth with the Netherlands.
American Guyana depicted with its flag.
In Asia, there was another player to keep in mind; Japan. Japan fought on the side of the Allied Powers and had pulled off a successful invasion of French Indochina. It was logical to assume that they wanted some territorial expansion in return. And so they were granted most of French Indochina, only Cambodia going to the United Kingdom. Indochina was now a patchwork consisting of an independent Vietnam in the north, a Japanese Protectorate from north to south, an independent Champassak in the center and a British Protectorate in Cambodia.
Treaty of Hampstead between the Allied Powers and Austria-Hungary
In the Treaty of Hampstead, the Austro-Hungarian delegation was faced with a bitter situation. Practically all victors were convinced that the Habsburg Empire of old needed to be dismantled into individual nation states. As a result, several delegations from nationalist movements within the Empire were also present, most notably from Bohemia, Hungary and Illyria. As Germany had gained minimal advantages from the Treaty of Greenwich, the Treaty of Hampstead was where German diplomats wanted to expand German influence the most. In addition, various surrounding nations wanted a piece of the Habsburg pie. Italy was granted Venice, as promised in the beginning of the war, and was also given South Tirol and Trieste. Serbia was granted control over most of Illyria, with only Slovenia becoming an independent country and Montenegro getting more control over its coastline. Bohemia and Hungary gained independence, both as constitutional monarchies, with Hungary also gaining control over Slovakia. Poland was granted Galicia-Lodomeria and Romania got Transylvania. In addition, Ruthenia was established as an independent Republic. In Austria itself, the Habsburgs would be ousted and replaced by a von Hohenzollern in a constitutional monarchy. With the newly gained territory, Serbia reformed itself into Greater Serbia.
Additionally, a clause was agreed upon by the Great Powers that Germany would be allowed to found Mitteleuropa, a political and economic organization which would oversee most of the newly created nations’ economy. At its creation in the Treaty of Hampstead, member states of Mitteleuropa included Germany, Austria, Bohemia, Hungary, Poland, Ruthenia and Slovenia with Greater Serbia, Romania, Montenegro, Belgium and the Nordic countries holding observer status.
Treaty of Shoreditch between the Allied Powers and the Ottoman Empire
The Treaty of Shoreditch oversaw the dismantlement of the Ottoman Empire into new nation states, similar to how the Habsburg Empire was dismantled. During the war, the British and the Germans had made a secret agreement to divide the Middle East, known as the Sykes-von Berg Agreement, named after the Minister of Foreign Affairs of both countries. In the agreement, Britain would receive Syria and Kuwait as protectorates, while Germany received Iraq. And so the Ottomans lost their holdings in the Middle East. All Armenian cores were granted to the provisional Armenian government. Bulgaria, while an ally of the Ottomans and thus an enemy of the Allied Powers, was the last stronghold of the Central Powers and had not signed the ceasefire. To get them to the peace table, the Allied Powers offered them their core lands in Ottoman territory instead of the Serbian land they were after. Bulgaria agreed. Greece received its cores and so did Greater Serbia. In addition, Albania was given independence. Italy gained Ottoman Libya and a foothold in southern Anatolia centered around Rhodes. Most importantly, the Treaty of Shoreditch established an internationally controlled Zone of the Straits around the Sea of Marmara and the Bosporus. The Zone of the Straits was under joint British, German and Italian administration, much to the dismay of the Russian Republic.
Treaty of Lambeth between the Allied Powers and the Netherlands
The final treaty of London was the Treaty of Lambeth which dealt with the Netherlands, a minor power in the Central Powers, but one with considerable colonial territory. In addition, in Europe it held a considerable influence over the estuaries of both the Scheldt and Rhine rivers, vital for trade through both Belgium and Germany. Belgian and German lobbying for control of those rivers faced a vehement British opposition, but concessions in regards to the Dutch East Indies were able to convince the British of giving the Germans what they wanted. And so most of Dutch Zeeland, Brabant and Limburg were given to Belgium, ending Dutch control over the Scheldt estuary and diminishing their influence over the Meuse and Rhine estuaries.
The Dutch East Indies in turn were divided between the United Kingdom, Portugal and Japan. As per the agreement between the UK and Germany, the UK received Sumatra, Kalimantan and Java, while Japan received the Celebes, the Moluccas and West-Papua. Portugal was granted West Timor and the remaining islands in between Java and Timor.
Finally, Dutch Suriname was added to the American Protectorate of Guyana, while the Dutch Caribbean went to the UK.
As the treaties were signed, unrest in Europe continued however, most notably in France, where mutinies, strikes and insurrections brought the country on the brink of Civil War. In the Ottoman Empire, a Turkish nationalist by the name of Mustafa Kemal Pasja was leading a rebellion against the Sultan to establish a Republic and reclaim the glory that was lost at the Treaty of Shoreditch. But also in Germany, as soldiers returned home from the war, the upcoming elections resulted in tensions between the left and the right.
Europe after the Treaties of London (1911).
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An update will follow soon about the 1911 elections and their aftermath.
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1911 Election Results, the Government Formation and its Aftermath
1911 Election Results, the Government Formation and its Aftermath
When the last troops returned from Spain, Italy and the Balkans, elections were officially called and the German population, both men and women went to the voting stations on June 15. A new party had stepped up to the fray: the ADFV, a loose coalition of feminists, liberals, and all sorts of left-leaning individuals. When the results came in, it came as an absolute surprise that the ADFV was able to pull in so many votes.
Initial responses were double. No one had expected the suffragette movement to go this far in their political endeavors and thus no one suspected how far they were willing to go to achieve their goals. The NLP, SPD and DZP initially had hoped to get the ADFV, led by Elinor von Märchenlied and Emilie von Krieger, on board with their leftist coalition. Tension however arose when opposing interests became clear between the SPD and the ADFV. As part of the previous government agreement, Konstantin Brenner of the SPD had been promised the Chancellorship in the next elections, yet now Elinor von Märchenlied demanded the Chancellorship for herself. The coalition talks broke down and the ADFV was approached by the DNVP led by Adolf von Hoth. The two parties agreed to form a coalition, led by von Märchenlied as Chancellor. In addition, the DNVP would tone down its radical ideas and drop Volkism as an ideology. When it came to voting in a new Cabinet of Ministers, the following list was agreed upon:
Minister of Foreign Affairs: Wilhelm Hartwig von Röhm (DNVP)
Minister of the Interior: Adolf von Hoth (DNVP)
Minister of War: Hermann zu Muskau (DNVP)
Minister of the Treasury: Wilhelm Braun (NLP)
Minister of Justice: Hans Lauda (DNVP)
Minister of the Chancellorship: Konstantin Brenner (SPD)
Minister of Education: Emilie von Krieger (ADFV)
As the cabinet was voted in on June 25 of 1911, unrest in the army erupted. Not everyone took the idea of a female Chancellor as willingly as the governing coalition, certainly not the superior Generals such as Martin von Labiau. Some even say that Minister of War, Hermann zu Muskau, purposefully ignited anti-Chancellor feelings among his generals and officers, as he himself did not agree to the move of his party to vote in a female Chancellor. The division further continued when the DNVP split into several factions. The Loyalists, led by Adolf von Hoth, stood behind the government agreement and controlled about two fifths of the DNVP’s seats. The Conservatives, led by Hermann zu Muskau, vehemently opposed the agreement and wanted to cede from the coalition. They also controlled about two fifths of the DNVP’s seats. Lastly, there were the Radicals led by Hans Lauda who re-embraced Volkism but were open to cooperation with either the Loyalists and the Conservatives. They controlled about one fifth of the DNVP’s seats.
From left to right: Adolf von Hoth (Loyalists), Hermann zu Muskau (Conservatives), Hans Lauda (Radicals)
On July 3rd, the Radicals led by Lauda split from the party to found the Deutschvölkische Freiheitspartei (DVFP), relying on 33 seats in the Reichstag. In the remaining DNVP, a power struggle now erupted between zu Muskau and von Hoth over leadership of the party. In the meantime, the General Staff also made its move. A joint letter made its way to Kaiser Heinrich I, urging him to act in this crisis and call for the Chancellor’s resignation. Heinrich I was reluctant to get involved, but was also wary that a military hostile to its own government could turn sour really quickly. And so Heinrich I did what he absolutely wished to avoid from the moment he took on the mantle as Kaiser; political meddling in the Reichstag. The Kaiser invited Konstantin Brenner from the SPD, Christian Alexander von Berg of the NLP and Hermann zu Muskau of the DNVP. He urged the three men to consider the options. The army was on the verge of trying to coup the government, half the population was on the streets protesting against the Chancellor, the other half supporting her. Some speculated that civil war was imminent. Heinrich I thus made his preference clear, a government of national unity centered around the three major ideologies: social democracy, liberalism and conservatism. Only through national unity could the army be kept in line and the constitution protected. Brenner was reluctant to go behind the back of the ADFV in this manner and said that it was not up to him to decide, but up to the German people. The meeting did not succeed and the four men were left without an agreement.
The Reichstag after the DVFP split from the DNVP.
Things further escalated in July of 1911 when the DVFP of Hans Lauda submitted a motion of no-confidence to the Reichstag. Needing 2/3rds to pass, the motion was almost doomed to fail, but as news spread that the motion had been submitted, the army made its next move. On the night of the 7th to the 8th of July, the I. Korps in Berlin, led by Martin von Labiau, positioned itself around the Imperial Palace, seemingly occupying it. The Kaiser was virtually isolated, General von Labiau assuring Heinrich I that this was for his own safety, inventing a fake story about a communist revolt on the streets of Berlin. In the II. Korps in Breslau, led by Adolf von Hoth, the leader of the Loyalists, army officers put von Hoth under house arrest, preventing him from returning to Berlin and essentially cutting him off from the happenings in the DNVP. In the DNVP, the power grab of the Conservatives now fully grabbed hold as Hermann zu Muskau triggered a leadership vote and ushered his followers to vote for Volker von Geishof Junior, who returned to politics to prevent the DNVP from shattering completely into factions. Volker subsequently easily won the leadership elections.
The Stadtschloss in Berlin, residence of Kaiser Heinrich I.
As the Conservatives now held almost complete control over the DNVP, the party was reformed to represent its values and the DNVP once again became the Deutschkonservative Partei (DkP). Volker von Geishof’s next step was to get Adolf von Hoth to resign as Minister of Interior and assume the position himself. Von Geishof contacted the II. Korps and asked them to pressure von Hoth. On July 10 1911, Adolf’s formal letter of resignation reached the office of the Chancellor. The Chancellor then met with the DkP’s leadership to discuss the future of the coalition. Volker von Geishof, in many ways more moderate and pragmatic than Hermann zu Muskau, could agree to continue the current coalition as long as he would become the next Minister of the Interior. And so on July 11, von Geishof was confirmed by the Reichstag as Minister of the Interior.
Volker von Geishof in 1911.
The next step taken by the army was to ensure that it had popular backing, and so it spread rumors of communist infiltration into the ADFV, pointing to figures such as Isabella von Furstatte. By reporting about the horrors of the Breton Soviet Republic, the press further contributed to the Red Scare that would soon engulf the country. However, as the army was more and more present in the streets of Germany, the communist movement entered the stage as another contender for power. Led by Josua von Felsenbaum, a new party called the Kommunistische Opposition (KO), took onto the streets in protest against the increasing power of the German army. As street violence increased between supporters of the conservative military and supporters of the KO, Kaiser Heinrich I was kept under house arrest, von Labiau’s lie now having turned into reality.
A citizen’s militia led by an officer from the military, marching through the streets of Berlin to deter communists from protesting.
Violence continued and the Reichstag stood by, watching as Germany was following France on the path of political chaos and civil war. Who would’ve thought that a global power as prominent as the German Kaiserreich would fall so easily to civil unrest, military meddling in politics and infighting. On July 20, the Kaiser finally re-entered the stage when Konstantin Brenner of the SPD managed to inform him by letter of the current situation. Infuriated, Heinrich I summoned von Labiau and ordered him to stand down in Berlin. Heinrich I then summoned Konstantin Brenner, the Chancellor and Volker von Geishof. It was time to end the chaos.
In the meeting that followed, Heinrich I made it clear that he was disappointed in the Reichstag. They had failed Germany and its Kaiser. Instead of providing a political solution to the army’s growing power, they had fallen into partisan power plays themselves instead of forming a united front against men such as von Labiau and zu Muskau. Heinrich I had no other choice but to call for elections. The members of the Reichstag were not thrilled by this new development. Disbanding the Reichstag, in their mind, would allow the army to move against them during the power vacuum. But the Kaiser ensured them, von Labiau and zu Muskau would both be dismissed and loyalty would return to the army as they recognized what sort of chaos they had caused under the influence of power-hungry generals.
And so on July 22 1911, just over a month after the previous elections, the Reichstag was dissolved and new elections were organized. Generals Martin von Labiau and Hermann zu Muskau were forced into retirement. Adolf von Hoth resigned from public life, his son, Ernst von Hoth, taking his place in the DkP. Heinrich von Klopp, member of the infamous von Klopp family, entered politics as a member of the DVFP. Political violence on the streets settled down as the Kommunistische Opposition was allowed to run in the elections. On July 22, more parties were on the ballot than ever before. The KO led by von Felsenbaum represented the far left, the SPD led by Konstantin Brenner represented the social democrats, the ADFV led by former Chancellor Elinor von Märchenlied represented the political suffragette movement, the NLP led by Rolf Hoffman represented traditional national-liberalism, the DZP led by Adalwolf von Märchenlied represented centrists, the DkP led by Volker von Geishof Junior represented the main conservatist movement in Germany, and finally the DVFP led by Hans Lauda represented the far right Volkist movement. Whatever the outcome, everyone hoped that peace and quietness would soon return to Germany, and Europe in general.
Where we last left off, Germany was on the brink of civil war as the army did not accept the leadership of a female Chancellor. An outright coup d’état was prevented as Kaiser Heinrich I called for new elections, hoping that things would naturally calm down. Street militia’s led by the army quickly evaporated as the army leadership was replaced by a new generation of generals. Yet, the communist threat still prevailed as after the second elections of 1911, they once again entered the Reichstag as a political movement. No longer was their image determined by the Müllerism of old, but by a new, more syndicalist ideology with decentralized government as a central idea. The second 1911 elections reshaped the Reichstag in several major ways. For one, the ADFV saw a considerable reduction in seats as its voting base turned back to the SPD or even went as far as voting for the KO. The DVFP remained relatively successful, as did the DkP who managed to remain the largest party.
Coalition talks soon followed and it became clear that the DkP was leaning towards the Kaiser’s suggestion of a government of national unity consisting of social democrats, liberals and conservatives. On July 25, Volker von Geishof invited Rolf Hoffman, leader of the NLP, and Konstantin Brenner, leader of the SPD, to the DkP’s party bureau to discuss the possibility of a coalition. His primary focus during the talks was ensuring that common ground was emphasized rather than the differences between the parties. He stayed clear of any mention of political reform and let the discussion primarily evolve towards stabilizing the country. As the meeting neared its end, Volker was convinced he at least got Hoffman on board, but Brenner was proving reluctant to fully commit to a coalition with the DkP. In a next meeting, on July 30, the three men met again and were joined by Wilhelm Braun of the NLP. Braun was more sceptic towards von Geishof’s proposals and asked him what sort of political reforms the DkP would bring to the table. Volker had been reluctant to discuss this topic, but under pressure from both Brenner and Braun, he agreed to a reform of union law, effectively repealing the law that required all unions to be run by the state. After several more meetings in the following weeks, the SPD, DkP and NLP agreed to a coalition, with a comfortable 336 seats to rely on, allowing constitutional amendments to be made and passed with relative ease.
The 1911 Negotiators, from left to right: Wilhelm Braun (NLP), Rolf Hoffman (NLP), Volker von Geishof Junior (DkP) and Konstantin Brenner (SPD).
As per their agreement, Konstantin Brenner of the SPD would become Chancellor and the following Cabinet would be voted in:
Minister of Foreign Affairs: Rolf Hoffman (NLP)
Minister of the Interior: Volker von Geishof Junior (DkP)
Minister of War: Tobias Weber (SPD)
Minister of Justice: Wilhelm Hartwig von Röhm (DkP)
Minister of the Treasury: Wilhelm Braun (NLP)
Minister of Education: Gustav Bauer (SPD)
The government lasted throughout 1911 until the elections of 1916 and managed to stabilize the post-war situation in Germany. Street violence was effectively dealt with by reasserting the police’s authority. Veterans and victims of the war were fairly recompensated and an effort was made to professionalize the medical treatment of people suffering from shell shock and PTSD. As agreed upon, union laws were reformed, allowing for non-communist unions to be founded by the workers themselves. Generally, the government of national union of 1911-1916 was successful in guiding Germany through the period of unrest that characterized Europe in the immediate aftermath of the war.
A German army veteran receiving treatment for PTSD.
In the rest of Europe, the situation had somewhat calmed down as well, but not everywhere. In France, the Republican government succeeded in defeating the Breton Soviet Republic and reintegrated the region into France. But faced with immense war reparations the country owed to Belgium, Spain, Italy, the United Kingdom and Germany, hyperinflation ran rampant throughout the nation and caused a total collapse of the French economy. In the former Ottoman Empire, the Turkish nationalist movement had succeeded in overthrowing the Sultan and establishing a Turkish Republic led by Mustafa Kemal Pasja. Reinvigorated by nationalism and aided by the Russians, the Turkish Republic occupied the Zone of the Straits, declared war on Greece and re-occupied the zone of influence that had been established by the Italians in the south. By 1916, the Turks were so successful in their war effort that the Treaty of Shoreditch had to be renegotiated, resulting in the 1916 Treaty of Lausanne. Turkish control over its core territories in Anatolia was recognized and the international Zone of the Straits was abolished. The border with Greece was pushed back to the Maritsa river. In the meantime, the Mitteleuropa-project was challenged by nationalist politicians in the Central-European states as they saw the project as another way of being subjected to a foreign power, despite the efforts of the German government to emphasize free trade. In the Dominion of Ireland, a large revolt erupted around Easter of 1916, demanding full independence from the British Empire. The revolt only partly succeeded as in the 1916, British Minister of Foreign Affairs, Arthur Balfour, declared that the United Kingdom and its Dominions would soon be equal autonomous communities within the British Empire.
A map of Europe in 1916.
In the United States, President Theodore Roosevelt lost his re-election campaign to the isolationist campaign of Democrat candidate Philemon Peabody. The American loss of life during the Great War was seen by many as an unnecessary act of imperialism. In Mexico, revolution and unrest continued to plague the country, one government quickly succeeding the next as the population turned its anger on their leaders. In Asia, the Japanese Empire profited from its recent expansion in Indochina and Indonesia. Benefitting from natural resources, the country continued to modernize its industry, army and navy, soon rivalling the European nations in the region. China destabilized as the Qing Emperor was deposed by a republican revolt in the Chinese capital. Civil war soon took over and several warlords took the opportunity to carve out their own little states. In Russia, the republican form of government continued to be challenged by both the left and the right, but due to their neutrality during the Great War, the Russian economy boomed.
President of the United States, Philemon Peabody (1914-1918).
From 1916 to 1921, Germany was led by a DkP, DZP and NLP coalition with the DkP’s Volker von Geishof as Chancellor. Under their leadership, the economy knew an immense boom, in particular starting from the year 1920. This led to the period known as the Golden Twenties. The arts flourished, with a strong movie industry developing in Germany. The DkP-SPD government led by Chancellor Tobias Weber from 1921 to 1926 further contributed to the Golden Twenties. Furthermore, social security was widely expanded to cover the population of Germany. But trouble was on the horizon. As industry was booming, agriculture lacked behind. The Mitteleuropa project, which was supposed to provide large amount of raw resources such as oil from Romania, failed to bring the Central European countries in line as nationalist movements took hold of their governments. In addition, from the Summer of 1923 to Spring of 1925 the German and Belgian armies occupied the French demilitarized zone in Northern France to pressure the French government into paying off its war reparations. The crisis was eventually settled with the adoption of the Dawes Plan, which saw a restructuring of the French war debt, including loans from Wall Street to help the French pay their debts. In Italy, unrest and street violence led to the appointment of Benito Mussolini as Prime Minister to fix the country’s mess, beginning an era of fascist rule in Italy.
Benito Mussolini, Prime Minister of Italy.
In 1927, an event occurred which took the world by surprise. In Wall Street, the stock market crashed, beginning the Great Depression. As France heavily relied on US loans to pay off its war reparations, the Great Depression quickly found its way to Europe. Within months, unemployment was at record heights in both the United States and Europe. In Germany, the Great Depression had a profound effect on the street violence between left- and right-wing movements. The DVFP often blamed the communists for the Great Depression, while the KO blamed the capitalist system. Not surprisingly, in the elections that followed, both sides saw their seats in the Reichstag grow to new heights. In France, right-wing Bonapartist Adolphe Bonaparte won the 1930 presidential elections and came into power, promising to end the disgraceful Treaty of Greenwich which had been imposed on France in 1911.
French President Adolphe Bonaparte posing in front of the Eiffel Tower.
In Germany, the government coalition of SPD-DkP collapsed in 1931 and elections followed. In a surprise turn of events, the SPD and KO formed a coalition with the NLP and ADFV to form the next government, led by the popular Franz von Roosfeld, leader of the NLP. His Chancellorship was almost immediately challenged by the DVFP both inside and outside the Reichstag. In 1932, DVFP member Heinrich von Klopp was even arrested during the infamous Bierkellerputsch in Munich when he tried to lead a coup against the government in Berlin. Despite opposition in the Reichstag, von Roosfeld adopted Keynesian economics to put Germany back on track. The German Autobahn, a network of highways connecting Germany’s cities, and other large public works provided employment for millions of people. In agreement with the Imperial family, and pushed forward by the ADFV, the succession laws were liberalized, allowing for female descendants to become Kaiserin should there be no male heirs directly in line to the throne. This was the case for Kaiser Heinrich I, who only had a daughter, Princess Viktoria of Prussia. In the field of foreign policy, the Mitteleuropa project was reinvigorated and the prospect of a monetary union with Austria and Poland was very real by 1934. However that same year, Germany was hit by tragedy. Kaiser Heinrich I was killed in a rock climbing accident, leaving the throne to his daughter, who became Kaiserin Viktoria I.
Kaiserin Viktoria I.
In response to Viktoria’s coronation, there were several right wing groups who questioned the legitimacy of her reign. They saw the constitutional change that allowed for women to inherit the throne as a power grab by the left. After all, it was a government with communists which passed the reform. Not surprisingly, in the 1936 elections the right gained another massive increase in seats. Nonetheless, Franz von Roosfeld remained in office as Chancellor, relying on a coalition of NLP, SPD and ADFV, thus ending their partnership with the communists. The Chancellor continued to heal Germany’s economy, while also strengthening trans-Atlantic relations with the United States, where a Democratic President with German roots, Harry Hartmann, had won the elections of 1934 on the promise of a New Deal.
US President Harry Hartmann (1935-1945).
In France, President Bonaparte worked effortlessly to restore the country’s pride and glory. In 1936, a European crisis was narrowly avoided when French troops remilitarized Northern France. A British policy of appeasement often clashed with the German Realpolitik which wanted to keep France contained and extend German influence. In Russia, the Great Depression had hit hard, further destabilizing their political system, to the point where in 1936 a civil war broke out between the military and republican forces. The Russian Civil War quickly became the stage for an international power struggle between fascism and democracy. As President Bonaparte sent troops in support of the military junta, volunteers from all over Europe joined the Republican side. In Africa, Italy declared war on Ethiopia, as Mussolini tried to expand the Italian colonial empire. In Asia, war broke out between Japan and various Chinese states as Japanese influence was extended to the Chinese mainland. Unknown to the rest of the world, this would be the start of a Second Great War.
While Japan was invading China, Europe went further down the path towards war. By May of 1936, Mussolini’s Italy was victorious in Ethiopia, annexing the African country and exiling its leader, Haile Selassie. Selassie was invited to speak at the German Reichstag, where he gave a thunderous speech, warning that if Europe did not act against Italian aggression, it would find itself at war again. Despite applause from most of the Reichstag, the DVFP being a notable exception, the German government would do little against Italy but threaten them with sanctions that never came. And as the Italians felt emboldened by this impunity, Mussolini and Bonaparte grew closer together.
Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie speaking in the Reichstag in Berlin.
Under normal circumstances, Mussolini’s Italy and Bonaparte’s France would be natural sworn enemies. One a victor of the Great War, the other a loser. Italy had “stolen” French land and colonies and was competing with France as a Mediterranean power. Had it not been for a common enemy to unite the two, war would likely have broken out between them. As it would happen, the Mediterranean ambitions of both France and Italy stumbled against the Anglo-German alliance which was set on keeping a dominant presence in the region. And so on October 25 1936, France and Italy signed a secret treaty of cooperation, ironing out some tensions between the two in the process. Savoy and Nice would be given back to France, while Italy was allowed to keep Corsica. In addition, a sphere of influence was drawn up where France would control the Western Mediterranean and Italy the Eastern Mediterranean. On November 1, the Paris-Rome Axis was formally announced to the world. As the government in Berlin feared another conflict on the horizon, the British government was more concerned with domestic affairs and continued their policy of appeasement. Not long after, the Japanese ambassador in Paris signed an agreement, aligning Japanese interests in the Pacific with the French ambitions in Europe.
Benito Mussolini (left) and Adolphe Bonaparte (right) in Rome, November 1 1936.
The rise of Italy continued in 1938 as they annexed Albania, beginning their rivalry with the Germans for control over the Balkans. In the meantime, the civil war in Russia had anything but calmed down. Military loyalists had pushed back the Republicans to the Urals, while a communist revolt in the Baltics was threatening their flank. In September of 1938, the Treaty of Munich was signed as a last effort to appease the French and keep Europe from going to war. The Treaty, signed by Germany, Italy, Great Britain and France, redrew the French-Spanish border and gave Roussillon back to France. While the British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, saw the Treaty of Munich as a sign of peace for our time, trouble began brewing for the German government in Berlin.
British PM Neville Chamberlain declaring “Peace for Our Time”.
In a final effort to stop the rise of France and Italy, German Chancellor von Roosfeld issued a Mitteleuropa-wide oil embargo on the two countries. Severely overestimating German influence within Mitteleuropa, Romania promptly left the organization and announced its alignment with the Paris-Rome Axis. In Berlin, the DkP called for von Roosfeld’s dismissal as Chancellor, but it was the DFVP under Hans Lauda who submitted the motion of no confidence in November of ’38. The nation was taken by surprise when on November 20 1938, Franz von Roosfeld took the honor upon himself and officially resigned as Chancellor of Germany. He was replaced by Hermann Braun (NLP). The first few days of Braun’s Chancellorship were hard to say the least. Braun lacked the popular support that von Roosfeld had enjoyed with many Germans. Moreover, his idealism often lacked in pragmatic solutions to geopolitical problems. This became evident in March of 1939, when France more openly “attacked” Germany’s ally, Spain.
German Chancellor Hermann Braun.
On March 14 1939, Catalonia, a region of Spain, declared independence under French pressure. Within days, French troops crossed the border into Catalonia and occupied the region, officially “to protect the independence of the Republic of Catalonia”. Unofficially, they had annexed Catalonia as a département of France. In Germany, the General Staff of the army urged the Kaiserin to declare war on France, but Viktoria I was reluctant. Ever since the 1911 failed army coup, the army had been neglected by the government. Its equipment was outdated, its leadership lacking and most importantly, Viktoria I was certain that the British would not join them in this war. The only thing the Germans had going for them right now was a row of fortifications in the Ardennes known as the Kaiser Heinrich-linie. More oil was added to the fire in early April of ’39, when the Italians invaded and annexed Montenegro.
Situation in Europe in April of 1939.
On August 25 1939, the British government received an ultimatum from President Bonaparte. Summarized in three words, the ultimatum was simple: Calais or war. Seeing this as a sign of French arrogance, the British finally abandoned the policy of appeasement and took a more belligerent stance. Ignoring the ultimatum, they countered it with their own: the French were to retreat from Catalonia or Britain would intervene. On September 1 1939, French troops took Calais without warning while thousands of troops crossed the border into Spain. War had begun.
French troops carrying the Bonapartist Standard in Paris.
On September 3, the German government honored their agreement with Spain and Britain and declared war on France. On September 17, Italy declared war on Germany and invaded Austria. In the meantime, French Guerre éclair, or Lightning War, caught Spain by surprise. On September 27, the Spanish government capitulated. The Spanish Royal family and remnants of the government fled into exile through Portugal. The next few months were characterized by the so called Phoney War. While Germany and Britain were still mobilizing and setting up their defences, little skirmishes occurred on the Franco-German border. In the meantime, Italian Alpini troops managed to make way into the Austrian Alps, threatening to be within reach of Vienna in a matter of weeks.
The situation in Europe by the end of September 1939.
On April 9 1940, France declared war on and invaded Belgium and the Netherlands. Belgium lasted just four days, the Netherlands eighteen. French troops were now pouring into Germany through Belgium and the Netherlands in a repeat of the initial months of the Great War. However this time, there was no strong German army to push them back. The German army was retreating on all sides. By June 22, French troops had advanced into Germany all the way up to Hamburg and Leipzig. Chancellor Hermann Braun was under severe pressure from the Reichstag to sign an armistice and prevent the total occupation of Germany. Braun refused and was determined to continue the fight.
The French invasion of Germany and the Low Countries, April-June 1940.
Meanwhile, on June 10 1940 Romania joined the war on the side of the Axis Powers and invaded Slovenia and Greater Serbia with Italy. An intense air war erupted between France and Britain as the French airforce tried to obliterate British defences in a preparation of an invasion of the British Isles. By the end of August, Germany’s armies were shattered and in full retreat, the French were on the doorstep of Berlin and pressure was mounting on the Chancellor to capitulate. On August 27, Berlin was attacked by the French. Chancellor Braun was forced to flee. Held captive by the French, Kaiser Viktoria I signed the order to demobilize and capitulated to the French. A French puppet state was set up in Prussia, led by Hans Lauda of the DVFP. The German government went into exile, being led by Hermann Braun, Maximilian von Schillig and Elinor von Märchenlied from London. In September of 1940, Italian forces invaded German Egypt and one month later, Mussolini declared war on and invaded Greece.
The situation in September of 1940.
By this point, the situation for the Allied Powers was not looking too good. With Germany capitulating, only Britain was left as a last standing fortress against fascism in Europe. The civil war in Russia still remained undecided, but should the military win, Napoleon would most likely find himself another ally. The United States under President Hartmann stayed neutral, but supplied Britain and Germany with monetary and military aid, while also sending volunteers to the Republicans in Russia. Throughout 1940 and 1941, the French and Italians were strengthened further by Bulgaria and Hungary joining the Axis Powers. Any sense of loyalty to Mitteleuropa was completely gone as opportunism drove more and more countries to President Bonaparte and his Italian friend Mussolini. By early June of 1941, Greece finally capitulated. In November of 1941, Finland joined the Axis and invaded Sweden, meanwhile French forces invaded Denmark and crossed over into Sweden to aid their Finnish allies. By this point, the French had been beaten by the British Air Force in the Battle of Britain. Thus, any chances of a successful French invasion of the British Isles were gone.
Finnish soldiers invading Sweden, November 1941.
On December 7 1941, Japan attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor in a surprise attack. US President Hartmann subsequently declared war on Japan, France and Italy and officially joined the side of the Allies in the war. Recovering quickly from their loss, the United States focussed on the Pacific Theater in an intense campaign of island hopping against the Japanese. The first sign of Allied victories came in October and November of 1942, in a series of victories against the French and Italians in Northern Africa. On October 24, the British and German armies in Egypt stopped the Italian advance at El Alamein, sending them in a chaotic retreat across Libya and eventually all the way to Tunisia. On November 8, US and British troops landed in Morocco, which had been occupied by the French and the Prussian puppet state. The failure of local Prussian forces to defend, combined with rampant desertion to the Allied ranks, led to a swift advance, allowing the Allies to meet in Tunisia by May of ’43. On May 13, Axis forces in North Africa surrendered.
The situation in May of 1943.
German General Erwin Rommel led the Allied offensive from Egypt, gaining him the nickname “The Desert Fox”.
On July 10, British, German and American forces landed in Sicily and Southern Spain, by August they controlled the entire island of Sicily and had advanced up into Granada. As the Italian government was panicking, they deposed Benito Mussolini and replaced him by Italian Marshall Pietro Badoglio. In the meantime, the German population grew tired of French occupation and several resistance movements ramped up their activities. Of these resistance movements, two gained major traction: communist partisans led by Josua von Felsenbaum, and monarchists led by Matthias von Anthau-Kirstenberg, a prominent German naval officer. The two would often compete for resources from the government in exile. On September 5 1943, former Chancellor Elinor von Märchenlied addressed the nation by radio in a now famous speech, in which she called upon the German nation to defy French occupation, calling Lauda’s puppet regime in Prussia cowards for giving in to the French and denouncing their ideology. Von Märchenlied’s speech was received in Germany with a renewed nationalism which further strengthened the resistance against the French.
Former Chancellor Elinor von Märchenlied addressing the German nation from exile in London.
As the Allied advance into Italy and Spain continued, plans were drawn to liberate Germany. Head of the German Air Force, Henry von Hesse-Dassau, coordinated with prominent members of the navy, including Paul von Guttmann, and resistance leader Matthias von Anthau-Kirstenberg about candidates for possible landing grounds. On June 4 1944, Allied troops captured Rome, only two days later British, US, Canadian and German troops landed in Ost-Friesland, Germany, starting the liberation of the homeland and the race towards Paris.
In mere days, an artificial harbor was built on the landing grounds in Ost-Friesland to fuel the Allied liberation of Germany with troops and supplies.
On July 5 1944, the Russian civil war finally came to an end with a victory for the military dictatorship. Republican forces held a last stronghold in Crimea but were finally evacuated on July 15. Despite fears that Russia would now join the side of Napoleon, the country pledged its neutrality and instead focussed on rebuilding itself. On August 1, the non-communist underground Home Army led by von Anthau-Kirstenberg rose up all across Eastern Germany. The Home Army managed to take Berlin back, but found an empty Imperial Palace. The French had taken Kaiserin Viktoria to the French Alps, where she was kept isolated but enjoyed a relatively luxurious lifestyle.
Throughout August of 1944, Allied forces rapidly moved towards Florence, where the Italian government had set up a temporary headquarters. On August 25, the Italian government capitulated, but in a last ditch effort to keep the Allies from advancing into Southern France, Bonaparte set up a puppet regime led by Benito Mussolini in Turin. The puppet regime lasted for three weeks and ended in Mussolini’s public execution by the Italians themselves. As the situation was looking worse and worse for the French, the Finnish concluded an armistice with Sweden on September 12, leaving the Axis Powers in the process. By the end of September of 1944, practically all of Denmark, Germany, Poland and the Netherlands had been liberated. The invasion of France began, target: Paris.
The situation in Europe in September of 1944.
On December 14, the French launched a final offensive into the Belgian Ardennes in hopes of breaking through the Allied lines. By January 1 1945, the French are in retreat. By April 16, the Germans, British and Americans surrounded Paris, where Bonaparte and his most loyal troops held out for several more days. On April 30, Bonaparte committed suicide as Paris was taken by the Allies. Fighting continued for several more days in Southern France until the French government finally capitulated on May 7 1945. The war in the West was over. In the Balkans, the War would end by July 1945. The War with Japan would last until September 2 1945, when Emperor Hirohito surrendered after two American atom bombs had devastated his country. The 1945 Conference at Potsdam redrew the map of Europe once again as the world transitioned from the Second Great War to the Cold War Era.
Allied leaders at the Conference of Potsdam, from left to right: Matthias von Anthau-Kirstenberg (Germany), President Harry Hartmann (USA), Chancellor Hermann Braun (Germany) and Prime Minister Winston Churchill (United Kingdom). President Hartmann would die shortly thereafter as a result of polio.
At the Conference of Potsdam, the Allied Powers sat together to decide upon the fate of Europe, most notably the fate of the defeated Axis Powers. Chancellor Braun of Germany, President Hartmann of the US and Prime Minister Churchill of the UK all agreed that France needed to be demilitarized, democratized, decentralized and deradicalized. The way to achieve this goal was what divided the victors. Braun and Churchill wanted to completely dismantle France into varying degrees of smaller nations, while Hartmann wanted to divide France into three occupation zones each controlled by one of the Allies. In the end, Hartmann was able to convince Braun to his side and France was divided in control zones, as was Paris. In regards to Italy the Allied Powers were more lenient, as the Italians themselves revolted against Mussolini’s regime in the later years of the war. However, Italy would still be divided in North Italy and South Italy. The Balkans were a more difficult issue to tackle. Axis countries like Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary had all been democracies after the Great War, but throughout the Interbellum they had devolved into dictatorships and were driven to France and Italy despite their economic ties to Mitteleuropa. To resolve this issue, the Allied Powers, mostly Germany, agreed on reform of Mitteleuropa to turn it into a international organization of equals rather than one dominated by Berlin.
Map of Europe in 1945 after the Second Great War.
While in 1945, the Allied Powers had a strong connection with each other, driven by their common enemies, shifts in leadership and global events drove them away from each other. By 1948, the Cold War had begun. But what exactly was the root of this new international constellation? For starters, President Harry Hartmann passed away in late 1945 due to health problems with polio. He was succeeded by his Vice-President, Hubert Blythe, a hawk more interested in expanding the global American empire than in keeping the peace. In Germany, elections forced Chancellor Hermann Braun out of office when he was replaced by hero of the resistance Matthias von Anthau-Kirstenberg who was elected in as an independent Chancellor by a coalition of the DkP, DZP and the new Christian Democratic party Deutsche Christliche Partei (DCP). Under von Anthau-Kirstenberg, Viktoria I was quickly reinstated as monarch of the new German Kaiserreich. However, her role as Commander in Chief was largely reduced to a ceremonial role due to her limited involvement in the German war effort during the Second Great War. The von Anthau-Kirstenberg cabinet focussed on economic revival, as the country had been devastated by the war. To achieve economic revival, the Chancellor reasserted German influence and leadership in Mitteleuropa, much to the annoyance of the Americans and the British, who saw this as a power grab by Berlin. Nonetheless, by the 1950s the German economy was thriving again as a true Wirstschaftswunder, or economic miracle, had taken effect. Companies such as Volksphantasie, founded in 1890 by the influential von Märchenlied and von Krieger families, grew to new heights under the leadership of competent German industrialists, expanding their operations across Mitteleuropa. One industrialist in particular, David von Märchenlied, became known as a visionary for his ambition to provide every German family with their own car, introducing the concept of the Volkswagen, or car of the people.
The Volksphantasie Volkswagen would become a symbol of German culture.
German foreign policy under Chancellor von Anthau-Kirstenberg often clashed with the former Allies, Britain and the United States. In 1947, the Chancellor angered both by re-organizing the German control zone in France into an independent country, reinstating the Bourbon dynasty as rulers of France, or at least Northern France. Shortly thereafter, the US followed by re-organizing their occupation zone into the French Republic, which was more of a military dictatorship than an actual republic. The United Kingdom chose not to engage in any nation-building for the time being, as they were pre-occupied in Vietnam, where local rebels challenged their colonial rule. Simultaneously, a civil war in Greece became the first stage for a proxy war in the Cold War. A referendum in 1945 about whether or not the monarchy should be reinstated ended in a stalemate and as violence further erupted, eventually leading to a civil war, the former Allied Powers threw their weight behind each of the sides in the conflict. The United States naturally supported the Republicans, while Germany and the UK each supported a throne pretender of their own. In the end, the Republicans proved more organized and united then the different Monarchist factions, resulting in a Republican victory.
Map of spheres of influence in 1947, USA (blue), Britain (red), Germany (grey), neutral (white).
The Cold War was further entrenched when German scientists managed to successfully test a hydrogen bomb in 1948, making it the second country in the world with a nuclear arsenal. That same year, however, the British Empire was dealt a devastating blow with the loss of their prized possession: the British Raj. Increased anticolonialism in India, primarily led by the peaceful movement of Gandhi, led to the Independence of the country in 1948. The 1950 US Presidential elections once again shifted the rhetoric of the Cold War. Sitting President Hubert Blyth lost re-election to Republican candidate and war hero Gerald Seymour. Seymour shifted away from Blyth’s hawkish imperialism and instead took on a much more anti-imperialist rhetoric, inspired by Gandhi and other freedom fighters throughout the world. His election was one of the factors leading to the Vietnam War of 1950-1953. After the Second Great War, Japanese Vietnam had been transferred to the United Kingdom, but their rule was almost immediately challenged by the local inhabitants, as well as the independent nations, Vietnam and Champassak. Now, that the last British troops had left India and an anti-imperialist President had been elected in the States, Vietnam and Champassak took their fate into their own hands and invaded British Vietnam. Supported by the States, both countries made quick gains. However, British counter-attacks were soon mounted from their reserves in Indonesia and the Philippines. By using indigenous troops from both regions, the British were able to ship in reinforcements fast. The Vietnam War lasted until 1953 and resulted in a defeat for the British, who despite their superiority in numbers, had nothing against the guerilla warfare of the Vietnamese and Champassak people and were forced to retreat.
Indochina after the Vietnam War (1950-1953).
The Vietnam War was directly responsible for détente between the British and the German empires and led to a shift from a three-way Cold War to a Cold War between the USA and a reinvigorated Anglo-German alliance. Chancellor Friedrich von Birnbaum (NLP), who had been elected into office by an NLP-SPD coalition in 1950, was largely responsible for the rapprochement between the United Kingdom and Germany. In 1954, he signed a deal with British Prime Minister Benedict Hunt to integrate the British occupation zone in France into the Kingdom of France in order to strengthen the region against the US-controlled French Republic. In 1955, the European Defence Organization (EDO) was formed including the UK, Germany and their allies. That same year, the British Empire formed the Imperial Federation in an effort to fight against American influences throughout the white settler colonies of Canada, Australia and New Zealand. In the meantime, the British Empire further declined in Asia. In 1957, Malaysia gained independence, followed by Indonesia in 1958. In the meantime, trouble was also brewing in Africa. American propaganda efforts had stirred nationalist and independence movements throughout the country. Germany and the UK both countered these by promising loyalists more power and representation in government. However, their efforts did not prevent Africa becoming yet another front in the Cold War. Most notably, the Egyptian Revolution of 1956 sparked a wave of colonial unrest throughout Africa. While Germany successfully managed to keep Morocco and Tanganyika as independent countries in EDO, others such as the Ivory Coast and Nigeria, which had less German settlement, broke off completely. Arguably the bloodiest conflict in Africa during this period was the Congolese Civil War, which started in 1961.
The Congolese Civil War would see a large amount of US troops deployed.
In the meantime, both sides in the Cold War were not without their domestic problems. In the United States, segregation in the South had become a divisive topic. Opponents compared supporters of the racist policy to the colonial British and German empires. In the 1962 Presidential elections, the popular James F. Kennedy ran on a Civil Rights platform and won. His election coincided with increased US troop deployment in the Congolese Civil War. In Germany and the UK, the 1960s was dominated by the Second Feminist Wave. The ADFV saw a renewed popularity in German elections, culminating in the second female Chancellor in German history, resistance hero Sophie Scholl, being appointed in 1965. Scholl’s Chancellorship vowed to end Germany’s colonial entanglements abroad while also improving gender equality at home. In 1967, German Minister of Foreign Affairs Bernhard von Donnersmarck successfully ended the Congolese Civil War through diplomacy, ushering in a period of détente between the United States and EDO and earning him the Nobel Peace Price. During this period, the Cold War was mostly fought on in the race for the moon. In 1969, German astronaut Erich von Hesse-Dassau and British astronaut James Patrick were the first men on the moon after a successful joint German-British space program led by German rocket scientist Wernher von Braun.
German astronaut Erich von Hesse-Dassau putting the German flag on the moon.
This period was also marked by an increased presence of Russia on the international stage. It had taken decades for the country to recover from years of civil war, starvation and economic downturn, but during the 1960s, their industrial capacity had steadily grown. Russia became engaged in their own little Cold War against the Beijing Republic as both tried to gain influence in the Central Asian Republics and with the West Chinese Warlords. As Russia was mostly supported by the US, the Beijing Republic was supported by EDO. Tensions on the German-Russian border eventually led to the end of the détente that characterized the late 1960s. In 1972, the world came close to nuclear Armageddon during the Falklands War between the United Kingdom and Chile and the subsequent Jamaican Missile Crisis. But as the theater of the Cold War moved away from Africa, the Middle East became a new hot bed for confrontations between the United States and EDO.
In the Falklands War, Britain reassured the world who ruled the waves.
It all began with the Russian invasion of Kazakhstan in 1975. Supported by US President Richard Nixon, the Russians invaded the Central Asian country for its resources. The war was almost immediately opposed by EDO and even in the States, anti-war protests were threatening the upcoming presidential elections. Soon, the US would also fund anti-German and anti-British groups in Iraq and Syria. By the 1980s, civil wars, coups and terrorism were all common occasion in the Middle East. The instability this brought to the world would eventually bring the Cold War to an end.
Russian tanks invading Kazakhstan.
In 1986, a general wave of unrest went through Europe as a result of an economic recession. Protests soon focussed on Mitteleuropa and the fact that it was still mostly dominated by Berlin. And thus German Chancellor at the time, the DkP’s Viktor von Heidelberg, laid out a set of reforms to strengthen the voice of the small countries in Mitteleuropa. In addition, a new popular agricultural program combined with large international infrastructure projects gave Mitteleuropa the legitimacy it needed to present itself as a solution to the economic malaise. As part of von Heidelberg’s reforms in foreign policy, he also organized a conference in Berlin in 1989 for the founding of a global international organization with the purpose of keeping the peace, developing the third world and fighting global warming. Both EDO and the United States, as well as Russia and the Beijing Republic were represented at the conference. The conference was widely a success, in part due to the cordial relationship between Chancellor von Heidelberg and US President Ronald Reagan. The global organization, called the Peace Concord. The Peace Concord consisted of a General Assembly, representing each of the member states, and a Security Council, representing 5 permanent members (the US, Germany, the UK, Russia and the Beijing Republic) and 10 non-permanent members elected by the General Assembly every two years.
German Chancellor Viktor von Heidelberg (left) and US President Ronald Reagan (right).
The Peace Concord was largely responsible for the End of the Cold War Era. In 1990, a set of Peace Concord Resolutions set out to resolve conflicts across the globe that had been the result of Cold War proxy wars, imperialism and colonialism. Most notably, in 1991 the French Republic and the Kingdom of France reunited as an independent Republic. In 1993, the United States and Mitteleurope signed a free trade agreement. In 1994, the military dictatorship in Russia started the democratization of its government. Unsurprisingly, many historians would dub the 1990s as the end of history as global conflicts faded and democracy peacefully spread throughout the world. However, the world was not without its problems and division still occurred between countries, classes, race and religion. But as the ideals of peace inspired new generations, so did new dreams of reaching for the stars…
Young Parisians on the Paris Wall moments before it was destroyed, reuniting North and South Paris once again.
Final Reflections on the iAAR
Before I end this iAAR, I would like to thank everyone who participated and helped create this awesome story. The great thing about interactive AARs is that you never know what will happen when you start the game. For example, when we started in 1835, I never expected that we’d have such an active and engaging community. I never expected people to put so much work and effort into their characters, giving us really interesting stories to work with as a result. As this is like the third or fourth iAAR I’m participating in (now actually running it), some of my most favorite characters came out of this one. Personally I really enjoyed playing as the Birnbaum dynasty, taking inspiration from real life politicians of the time. But I am not here to talk about myself. A week or so ago, I asked my players what some of their favorite characters and favorite moments were, and how they rated the iAAR overall. Here are some of their comments.
Diesel_Carsuite for example cited “taking down the KPD” as his most favorite moment. In 1865, the KPD went down for trying to violently take over the government. In fact, they were set up by a secretive organization called the Ritter von Germania (Knights of Germany) and framed.
For Tom D., his favorite moment was when he blew up the coalition between the Liberals and the Conservatives all the way back when we had no parties yet. His character at the time was Thomas Drach, a volatile Conservative who in many ways resembled the von Klopps’ temperament and behavior.
Black_Lotus, who played the von Geishof-dynasty, had several favorites when it comes to other players’ characters. One of them was the Hartmann-dynasty, about which he said: “I really enjoyed just about everything the Hartmanns did, and it was incredibly fun to watch. It wasn’t entirely unrealistic either, as eratic, populist politicians are a very real thing, and Hartmann reflected a lot of their traits. But there was also, the southern accent and shit which made no sense.” He also liked von Coesfeld, as he found his unexpected rise and even more unexpected fall amazing to watch. “His hairbrained democracy plot, seemed exactly like something that an idealistic academic, in over his head in politics, would do.”
Yeetus, who played a range of characters including most notably Benedict Eichwald, enjoyed the period without political parties more than the period afterwards, as it was more simple and more people were active in roleplaying.
CosmicSheep, who played the von Krieger-dynasty, said he liked Dr. Medicine’s character, Leopold von Hofmeinster, because of his stubbornness, and said he was sad to see Dr. Medicine leave Discord entirely.
ReallyNotAHamster, who joined in the late game and played Albert von Hesse-Dassau, said they liked Emilie von Märchenlied the most for being iconic in character, but also for being a fun person to hang around with in OOC.
JameStar, who played the Hoffman-dynasty and was there from almost the very beginning, said his most favorite character was either Konstantin Brenner or Gustav Schwartzmann. JameStar said torson, who played both characters, was fun to hang around with and he always had an interesting story to tell.
Aethelred, who played the von Donnersmarck-dynasty, said his most favorite moment was when he debated against Hartmann in the Reichstag for his railroad and economic development bills. Throughout the iAAR, von Donnersmarck and Hartmann became sort of rivals as the latter stole the DkP-leadership from under the former’s nose.
Many people also said they liked the von Klopp-dynasty. Despite their erratic nature, a recurring theme is the respect players have for Diesel_Carsuite’s dedication to the character.
When asked how fun the iAAR was, 1 being boring as hell and 10 being the most fun they’ve ever had, we got the following results:
Overall, most people were very positive, with an average score of 8 out of 10.
Again, I want to thank everyone who participated in the iAAR, directly by making characters and roleplaying, or indirectly by reading the forum posts, following the Discord and voting in elections. This was a lot of fun to do, even though there were many ups and downs. I hope I see you in the next project. Goodbye!
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