The Austrian Phoenix: An Austrian Empire AAR

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The Austrian Phoenix

For those who remember my other Austrian AAR, An Empire or Nothing, it has been abadoned due to tech-issues as I can't reload my save so I'll start a new Austrian AAR, I've always loved to try and bring back the Habsburg Empire into a world power.

Difficulty: Normal/Furious
Mod: My own edited mod

The Background of the Story

This is set in my own alternative history and mod where the Great War brought about chaos among the world powers and led to the rise of Communism Revolutions spreading all across Europe. The German Empire emerged the victor of the Great War by defeating France and then the Russian Revolution brought about the end of the Russian Empire. The United Kingdom and her commenwealth stood alone and the German U-Boat campaign eventually led to the British and Central Powers coming to peace in 1918.

Although the Austro-Hungarian Empire emerged victorious from the Great War, the war ate away at the century-old empire and the many ethnic groups within the empire realized the weakness of the empire under the Parliament system of Franz-Josef I, Charles I was unable to stop the internal decay after the war. In 1919 the Bosnians left and became part of Serbia, the Hungarians rose up in a Communist Revolution and won their independence and the Bohemians formed their own independent state of Czechoslovakia. The Empire was reduced to Croatia, Slovenia and Greater Austria as well as their Italian winnings during the Great War, with their Hungarian and Bohemian Army's now part of the new nations and half of her industry gone the Austrian Empire was reduced to a middle power. Unable to send supplies to Transylvania, the Empire handed it over to the Romanians who would too become Communist.

The state of Europe on New Years 1936. The world is a much different place then it was before.

The Major Players

The Comintern: USSR, Mongolia, Tana Tuva, France and Denmak. Possibly the Communists states of Hungary and Romania will join as well.

The Allies: The United Kingdom and the British Commenwealth.

The Axis: Nazi Germany and most likely Italy in the future

Neutral Major/Middle Powers: USA, Italy(for now) and the Austrian Empire.

Current Emperor of Austria: Charles/Karl I
Designated Heir: Crown Prince Otto I

Kaiser Charles I of Austria, can he save the fragile Empire and return it to a powerful state once again?

Will the once powerful Austro-Hungarian Empire return again or has the days of the Habsburg Monarchy on its final countdown?

 

[Khalep]

What a pity about your last Austrian-AAR, will certainly read this one as well though. Now, to write an update myself.. o

 

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Central Powers win Great War and they still fall apart, this should be interesting.

 

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Index

This is where my index will be, I hope
I'll try to make it easier with the updates this way

With Football starting for me next week for 6 days a week I'll try to get up to speed with this AAR, I will be writing and playing equally and I'll be open to any suggestions to help me out or not.

Book One: The World at War
Chapter One: The Western Front​

http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showpost.php?p=8718840&postcount=5

Chapter Two: The End in the West​

 

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The World at War: The Western Front​

Introduction

When Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia in 1914 the world exploded into a conflict known as the Great War (1914-18). The war saw the dawn of modern warfare and the collapse of empires and the old Napoleonic order and the birth of a massive revolution that spread from Russia to the other nations of Europe. The Great War was the largest lost of life the world had ever known in its history. When the Austro-Hungarian Army marched into Serbia, Russia declared war on Austria-Hungary, Germany declared war on Russia and then France who were at war with Germany and Austria. The United Kingdom then declared war on Germany and Austria. In 1915 Italy joined the Entente Powers and the Ottoman Empire the Central Powers. The world was at war. The French and British thought the war would last only a few months and be over by Christmas, why? "There will not be enough money to fund such a war, our money supplies will be gone in just over a month," said a French Minister of the Treasury in 1914. How wrong could they ever be, the war would last 4 long years and bring about the destruction of France, the Ottoman Empire and the Russian Empire. The effects were long lasting, because of the war Austria-Hungary fell apart and in 1928 the German Empire collapsed in the German Civil War and a man by the name of Adolf Hitler would come to power.



The Germans mobilized their army very quickly and decided to use the famous Schlieffen Plan, hit and destroy France before Russia could mobilize and then they would turn and face the Russian Empire and along with Austria-Hungary would defeat the the Russian Empire. The Germans moved through Luxembourg and Belgium and crossed into France where the French Army was unprepared for war. The majority of the French Army was campaigning in Alsace-Lorraine to gain revenge for the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71 which brought about the end of the Second Empire and the birth of the German Empire and the rise of German Military and industrial might. The Germans under General von Moltke moved swiftly across the northern lowlands of France and where preparing to push into France. The French General Joseph Joffre and General Ferdinand Foch directed French soldiers from Alsace-Lorraine to the defenses along the Marne River. The ensuing Battle of the Marne was a stunning French victory over the German Empire and von Moltke had failed to capture Paris and end the war with France by Christmas. With the British Expeditionary Force arriving the Germans prepared for the rest of the war on the Front.

General von Moltke was replaced by General Eric Ludendorff to take charge of the German advance into France. Ludendorff dug in along the Marne and directed General Burlow's Army to the east in hopes of having French General Joffre and British General Sir John French to move forces away from Paris to protect General Phillipe Petain's flank along the Alsace-Lorraine Line. In March 1915, Burlow launched his campaign against Petain who called for reinforcements as Foch was battling in Strasburg and Mulhose. When Joffre sent Major General Gamelin and Weygand to aid Petain Ludendorff struck at the French again in the Second Battle of the Marne. When the French were forced to retreat to Paris he cut off the British and General French. After three weeks of being battered into submission the British surrendered 12 divisions to Ludendorff. Burlow broke off his offensive and swept south alluding Gamelin and Weygand until he cornered their forces in the Ambush at Orleans. The Germans had cornered the French in Paris by July 1915. The Seige of Paris begun on July 19, 1915 and ended on November 3. The seige broke the will of the French Army and with their majestic city shelled and her amry low on food and morale Joffre surrendered the city to Ludendorff. This followed with the unconditional French surrender.

Even though France was knocked out of the war, General Petain and Foch continued to run a French Military against the Germans with the aid of the British. By 1916, the Western Front was nothing more than a backyard ballgame compared to the Front in the Russia and Italy. General Burlow was left in command in France as Ludendorff went off to Russia where the war of attrition was taking its toll.

British soldiers in France, even though the west was "lost" the British and French continued to fight and hold on to what was left of the France, a provisional French government was set up in Toulon by General Ferdinand Foch, President of France and Commander-in-chief of the Western Front.

General Eric Ludendorff, the hero and mastermind in of the French Campaign and Seige of Paris, in 1916 he was appointed commander-in-chief of the Russian Front and later that year was appointed by Kaiser Wilhelm II as the supreme German commander of the war.

Realizing the weakness of the Imperial Army in the Western Front, the British and Provisional French Forces attempted to bring Paris into Allied hands once again. Sir Douglas Haig would lead the British Army and General Joseph Joffre, recently released from prison in a prisoner swap with Germany would lead the French Army so he could be the man who fought to save Paris, and the man who liberated Paris. The Offensive was ready to strike at the heart of the Germans in Paris and Burlow's Command Center. The French under Petain would assault up the Orleans Line while Haig advanced on the Burlow Line and Burlow's Frontal Headquarters. Joffre would advance on the far right flank and eventually overrun the smaller German Army commanded by Crown Prince Wilhelm and procede across the Marne and surround Burlow and his XII and VII Army's in Paris. The Paris Offensive was the largest offensive in the west since the Second Battle of the Marne. The French and British men went "over the top" towards the German Frontline. The British had a new weapon to turn the tide in the west and save the French from further German occupation, they called it a "tank."

The Paris Offensive opened with great success. Petain overran General Bloomberg's III Army at Orleans and pressed to the third-line of the Orleans Line commanded by General Lutzow's I Army. Haig and the British/Commenwealth Army hit rough roads but the new tanks of the British Army eventually broke through Burlow's defenses. Joffre easily overran Crown Prince Wilhelm's Army and the German Front in France was on a full retreat back to Paris. Fearing a loss of Paris could spell doom and rejuvanent the French fighting spirit and bringing more Frenchmen to join their ranks to reclaim their nation. However Burlow countered the British with the latest Stormtrooper tactics and eventually gained back the trenches and defenses that the British had earlier taken. Crown Prince Wilhelm entrenched himself on the banks of the Marne and held his ground against Joffre's men. And Petain was halted by the Army's of Lutzow and Bloomberg who reorganized along the "Bastille Line." The Paris Offensive was halted and the French and British suffered dearly. 660,000 British soldiers were killed/wounded/captured. Nearly 40% of the British Expeditionary Army in France. The French suffered even worse losses. Petain lost 340,000 of 750,000 men and Joffre lost 400,000 of 900,000 men, in all the French lost 740,000 men of a total 1.6 million men, nearly the entire Provisional Army took part of the offensive, the French fighting spirit was crushed and the French Mutiny in the Army began. The Entente Offensive was the last major Allied offensive in the war costing them over 1.5 million men and failed to capture Paris. Of the 2 million men of Burlow's Western Front he suffered terrible losses and lost 340,000 killed, 500,000 wounded and over 300,000 captured but still held Paris. The rest of 1916 saw him recover and in 1917 the final push against France would be lost. The British were finally feeling the effects of the U-Boat Campaign.

A British tank during the opening of the offensive.

The Burlow Line, or whats left of it.

 

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Nice alternative history, love the picture of the tiny French soldier and the giant German soldiers glaring at him.

 

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Nice alternative history, love the picture of the tiny French soldier and the giant German soldiers glaring at him.

Sorry had to change the pic, it didn't come up again for me

 

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The World at War: The End in the West

In April of 1917, the Germans stepped up their final push in France. With the majority of the French Army shellshocked and low on morale the Germans wanted to end the western front and move troops into Russia, where the Russians were on the verge of collapse and aid Austria-Hungary in Italy and the Ottoman Empire in the Middle East. Operation Red was launched on April 17 and ended on April 29 with the French Army of Lt. General Gamelin surrendering. Burlow then directed his XII and III Army to push and encircle General Petain who was now commanding Joffre's former men. Operation Blue lasted from May 2 and ended on May 11 with Petain surrendering after 9 days of encirclement, no food and supplies and hard fighting. The VII Army under the direct command of Burlow opened Operation Black and encircled General Haig and the British/Commenwealt between May 17 and June 21. On June 22 Haig surrendered and the major Entente Armies in France had capitulated to the Germans. On July 7 the Germans entered Toulon and ended the French Provisional Government and came under German occupation. With the Western Front secure the Imperial Army advanced into Italy and Russia.

The war was slowly coming to an end. The Italians were still fighting stubernly in the Alps and along the Franco-Italian Alps. The Russian Empire was decaying from within and in August the Tsar abdicated the throne and fled Moscow. The Russian Provisional Government would work out a deal with the Central Powers to end the hostilities. The Russian Revolution began and caused about the destruction of the Russian Empire that has stood since the days of Peter the Great. The lands of Peter, Catherine and Alexander have fallen into the hands of Bolshevik revolutionaries under Lenin and Trotsky. The days of Kerensky's Government were numbered.

The Romanians without the aid of the Russia fell to the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Central Powers were free to finish off Italy and the UK. The Germans moved their High Seas Fleet and engaged the British of the coast of Norway in 1917. The 'second Jutland' began with the British Battlecruiser Fleet taking a pounding from the High Sea's Fleet. But when the British Home Fleet arrived the 4 day battle ended with the Imperial German Navy being utterly obliterated. Only the battlecruisers Yorck, Kaiser Wilhelm, Schleiswig-Holstein and Lutzow made it out of the battle. The remaining capital ships were sent to the bottom of the sea. The British lost all battlecruisers but the HMS Hood and 11 of her 16 predreadnaughts and 7 dreadnaughts. The Germans decided to make use with the U-Boat Fleet to bring Britain to her knees. After months of entense U-Boat attacks in British waters the British went to Berlin in March 1918 and Prime Minister David Lloyd George brokered a peace deal with the German Empire. Italy would surrender her lost territorries to the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the British would withdraw her soldiers from Greece and Italy. The Turks were forced to give up all the territories lost during the Mid-East Campaign on the flip side. On March 17, Kaiser Wilhelm II, Victor Emmanuel III, David Lloyd George, Kaiser Charles I and Mustapha Kemel signed the peace agreement ending the war in the west and bringing an end to the Great War.

However war was not totally gone, the Russian Revolution would spread to the nations that suffered the hardest of the hardships of the Great War, soon France, Austria-Hungary, Romania and Italy had fallen into Communist uprising against their current government. The most notable was in the Kingdom of Hungary as they declared their full independence from the Austrian Kaiser in Vienna and the Austrians and Hungarians went to war in 1919 which would spell doom for the Austrian Monarchy...

The German Army launches their Spring Offensive in 1917 which permanently ended the ground campaign in the west.

German U-boats, the U-boat was thought to be the tool of victory for the German Empire over the British Empire.

 

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I'm helping my friend, I'm still in the process of modding the scenario to his liking, anyways we have some new ministers and new world leaders.

My Cabinet, Gott erhalte unsern Kaiser Karl I von Habsburg!

The Soviet Cabinet has been changed, Lenin and Trotsky remain the leaders of the USSR after the Russian Civil War and into the 1930's.

After the French Civil War, Morrocco, Algeria and Tunisia declared their independence from Maurice Thorez and his Communist France.

Should the French be at war with their former colonies or not? You guys choose the situation.

 

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To everyone PrussianPrince is my friend who lives about 15 minutes away, he's been helping me mod the scenario.

 

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The World in 1936​

The Austrian Economy in 1936, the Austrians have the largest industrial base in Central Europe.

The Austrian Empire Army in 1936:
Army: 3 Mtn. Divisions, 1 HQ, 1 Light Tank, 4 calvary, and 10 infantry (all '18)
Air Force: 2 Early Intercepter squadrons
Navy: 1 Great War Battleship, SMS Viribus Unitus. 2 Battlecruisers: SMS Habsburg and Babenberg, 2 Light Cruisers: SMS Novara and Aurorra, 3 DD squadrons.

The Current World Situation:
Italo-Abbysinian War (Italy vs. Ethiopia)
Austrian-Hungarian Revolution (Austrian Empire vs. Hungarian Soviet Empire)
Second Sino-Japanese War (Japan and Manchuria vs. Nat'l China, Shanxi and Xibe se Man)

Alliances:
Allies: UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Nepal, Bhutan, Oman, Yemen
Comintern: USSR, France, Tannu Tuva, Mongolia
Axis: Nazi Germany
other Communists: Romania and Hungary
Neutral Majors: Austrian Empire, Italy, Spain and USA.

Alfred M. Landon, current President of United States (1932-??)

Vladimir Lenin, Grande Chairman of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and leader of the Comintern Alliance,

Leon Trotsky, Secretary Chariman of the USSR.

Austrian soldiers begin their assault in Hungary in November of 1935, by 1936 the Austrians have only managed to cross into a small portion of Red Hungarian territory.

Flag of the Hungarian Soviet Empire, they formed in 1919 and held Hungary and Slovakia which was part of the old Austro-Hungarian Empire.

The Austrian Dreadnaught SMS Viribus Unitus, flagship of the Kaiserliche-Osterreich Marine.

The Austrian Battlcruisers SMS Habsburg and Babenberg built in 1905 and still serving in the decades old Kaiserliche-Osterreich Marine.

The state of the Austrian-Hungarian Revolutionary War in January 1936.