The War Path (HOIDD)

[Emperor Ike]

Thank you, Emperor! It's not quite original I know, but I hope it harbours some hidden surprises...

The French Banana War maybe?

 

[unmerged(61606)]

Wouldn't Memel still be part of Germany?

 

[General_Grant]

I reconginze my mod behind this, and even if its not fully used in this im happy it helped you to build this story. Maybe since there is not many new nations and stuff added (only Catalonia as new nation? I was adding it for next version anyway), This could eventually be included as a 2nd scenario for the mod (if there is enough events).


Good luck with the rest of this AAR. The first part was great, but im glad we arrived at the HoI2 part.

 

[Kurt_Steiner]

The French Banana War maybe?

Mmmh. Perhaps something even better... I promise, France is having a fun... Paris is not going to dissapoint us.

Wouldn't Memel still be part of Germany?

Indeed. When I was ansering our favourite Emperor I realized about it. The mistake iis now corrected.

I reconginze my mod behind this, and even if its not fully used in this im happy it helped you to build this story. Maybe since there is not many new nations and stuff added (only Catalonia as new nation? I was adding it for next version anyway), This could eventually be included as a 2nd scenario for the mod (if there is enough events).

Good luck with the rest of this AAR. The first part was great, but im glad we arrived at the HoI2 part.

Behind all this fuss is your mod, indeed. Without your mod I would have not reached so far, or this AAR would have taken some different form it is now. Now it's too "basic" to be a scenario. However, as the game progresses, if enough events are created and I'm satisfied with it, who knows...

About the AAR, I have to solve some issue yet, to explain some borders and, above all, to set the scene that leads to the rising of the 'supreme evil power' and its lesser minion. Now I think, it looks a bit like our OTL... but with a twist...

I hope.

 

[Kurt_Steiner]

The War Path
(1936-...)

Introduction: A historical overview (1710-1936)
5th Chapter: The age of Revolutions: The Naval Revolution (1905-1929) ​

Taken from “From Middle Ages to Modernity: The Awakening of Russia”, by Alexandre Tallet. Ballantine Books, 2000;“The Rules of the Game: Dreadnought and British Naval Command of the Seas”, by Arnold Cunningham, CBE, OB. The Random Publishing House, 2003; “Battleships: Stupid Great Things, but Bery Beautiful”, by Robert K. Massie , Osprey Editions, 2005.

Rule Britania: The Royal Navy steaming on the seas​

The peace treaty that ended the Russo-Japanese war did not settle all the issues at stake. Once it was signed, on September 5, 1905, in accordance with the treaty, both Japan and Russia had to evacuate Manchuria and return its sovereignty to China, but Japan kept the Liaodong Peninsula, the island of Sakhalin and Korea became Japan’s protectorate. So Japan was now considered a “Great Power”. Its shadow began to grown in an onminous way all over Asia. This was not of Russia's liking, of course. The USA, on their part, did not enjoy the rise of this dangerous rival, so far but so near of his coasts.

Russia was very unhappy for this situation and the internal turmoil in Russia did not help, as violence was getting out of control. Strikes and mutinies became increasingly common and the Tsar’s response, that is, to increase the army’s involvement, did not work. As the protests did not vanish but they threatened with a revolution, on February 18th 1905 the Tsar ordered the creation of a consultative assembly to report on constitutional reform based on the project of his grandfather. The resulting parliament had a vague resemblance to the British model in which was based, but it still had a long way to follow until it could be called a real Parliament. However, it was a beginning. The Tsar appeased the revolutionaries by an increase in the worker wages and a decrease in working hours, by legalising of political parties, and by giving them freedom of speech, of association and improved working conditions plus universal male suffrage; thus, Nicholas’s solution, even if it did not satisfy all of his critics nor he pleased him very much, but a first step for the real reform, that would follow in due time.

By Witte's advice, on June 15, 1906 Tsar Nicholas II issued the June Manifesto, a liberal scheme proposed by Witte. It grants civil liberties, the need for Duma consent before passing laws and a widening of the Duma electorate to include all Russians. The elected Duma becomes a proper parliament with full male suffrage and the power to create new laws. The first elections would bring a majority of Liberals who began to pass many more reforms including, most controversially, a bill where all children need to attend school until 16. The issue of land reform was most controversial. Eventually, the attempts of passing new laws reached an agreement between the different parties and the peasants and farm workers were given more rights and control of the land. Ironically, this reform created a class of politically conservative farmers.

Moscow City Hall at the turn of the 20th century​

Meanwhile, the French began in 1900 its own naval race by building a new and complete Atlantic Fleet, thus challenging England overseas. Ever since the Borbonic wars ended -even before, it could be argued by pointing at the outcome of the Seven Years war-, Britain had been the undisputed ruler of the seas. However, with this step by France, London began to worry a little about the security of the country. France was increasing its Navy year by year to challenge Britain's dominance over the seas. The facilities at Brest were working constantly, building ships as fast as they could, and as advanced as they could. France seemed determined to catch up to the Royal Navy not only in terms of size but also of technological advancement. This would be the last straw that will finally alienate London’s good will from Paris. Thus a British reply came, in the form of the most revolutionary battleship in history: the HMS Dreadnought, launched in 1903. The ship, an all-steel design with the largest guns ever mounted on a naval vessel, fast, well protected, made all the previous battleships obsolete. And all the navies wanted to have their own Dreadnoughts, too.

Thus started the First Naval Race. Due to the Dreadnought fever –which lasted until 1919, when the strain of the naval race upon the economy recommened to slow down the process- an incredible amount of new battleships and battlecruiser were built around the world:

Britain: 34 battleships plus 21 battlecruisers
Germany: 21 battleships plus 13 battlecruisers
United States: 21 battleships
France: 16 battleships
Italy: 10 battleships
Japan: 10 battleships
Russia: 9 battleships
Austria Hungary: 8 battleships

Even some minor powers were caught by this fever, as Turkey, who commisioned 4 of this modern battleships –two of them built in Germany and two in Britain-, or Spain, with its three dreadnoughts of the España-class, laying the first down in 1909. Brazil layed down two in British shipyards in 1907 and this sparked a small-scale arms race in South America, as Argentina and then Chile commissioned two dreadnoughts each, too. As it has been said, by 1919 all the major navies had stopped building battleships due to the cost of those programs. It was not to keep peace, though, but to save their economies. However, this calmness was not going to last quite long.

However, the naval race would ensue again in 1925. Aircraft carriers would be the reason. During the Italo-Turkish war of 1911 Italy has used aircraft to successfully bomb Turkish positions. Taking a risk, Britain took note of this experiment and converted an aged cruiser into a floating runway, the HMS Argus, the first Aircraft carrier in the world. When the HMS Argus conducted the world's first naval-launched air raids against the Dervish settlements of the Mad Mullah in Somaliland in 1920, the world was impressed by the result that the naval aviation managed to score in such a brief period of time. The first nation to reply was the United States, with the USS Langley (an experimental ship) in 1921 and the first true American fleet carriers of the USS Saratoga class which were commissioned on 1923.

The HMS Argus.​

Germany, ir order not to loose ground, began the developing of her own carrier, the SMS Graff Zeppelin on 1922, plus a distant sister, which remained, for the time being, unnamed. Hurring to produce their own carrier, France launched the Béarn, which would not be ready until 1925. Meanwhile, two more carriers, the Joffre and the Painlevé, were laid down on 26 November 1928. Britain launched the HMS Hermes in 1921 -she was not commissioned until 1925-, and began construction on the HMS Eagle on 1922. Japan would be the last power to join the race, with the Hosho –commisioned in 1924- while Russia abandoned their dream, for the time being, at least, to have their own carrier due to the financial crisis of 1929. Suddenly, once the crash market took place, those countries which taking part in the carriers race found themselves ships which, in addition to be highly expensive, no one knew if they were as efective as the first experience has shown. Thus, the naval staffs decided to refrain themselves a bit. By 1929, the second naval race began to calm down a bit.

In due time...


(1) In this timelime there was neither St Vicent nor Colossus classes, nor the Seydlitz was heavily modified. Thus, ships that they were not finished or even built -as the Resistance (Revenge class) or the SMS Sachsen and the SMS Württemberg- of the Bayern class or the whole Ersatz York class in this timeline were indeed finished. All in all, I know, I've hurried many things a bit...

 

[canonized]

Ahh , the naval race ! And the dawn of the aircraft carrier . We are already inching towards the methods of the warfare that defined the 20th century !

 

[Spencer_123]

Excelent, althought I had to read it in English .
It seems strange to have a democratic Russia, anyway, sooner or later they'll be part of the Catalan empire .

 

[Kurt_Steiner]

Ahh , the naval race ! And the dawn of the aircraft carrier . We are already inching towards the methods of the warfare that defined the 20th century !

Yes, that's the reason why I'm going so slow. It's a differnt XX century, but not so much....

Excelent, althought I had to read it in English .

Four words: Damned Server Too Busy.

It seems strange to have a democratic Russia, anyway, sooner or later they'll be part of the Catalan empire .

No if I can avoid it. My goals are not so... crazy. And Russias is a bit democractic, indeed, but there is a long way to Tiperary, erm, to full democrazy, you know...

 

[Emperor Ike]

I have never like nasal forces but still good.

 

[Kurt_Steiner]

I have never like nasal forces but still good.

I suppose that this is due that having a carrier or a battleship in your nose must hurt a lot

Thanks for you kindness, Emperor!

 

[Kurt_Steiner]

The War Path
(1936-...)

Introduction: A historical overview (1710-1936)
6th Chapter: The age of Revolutions: The Political Storm (1905-1929) ​

Taken from “The Anglo-Japanese Alliance”, by Chang-fu Chung. Chung Yan Lose, 2003;“The Demise of the Qing Empire”, by Melvyn C Goldstein, University of California Prp, 2002; “The Green Fag”, by Sinnead O'Connor, Hairy Raging Unviersity Press, Dublin, 2002; “L'Empire ottoman”, by Dimitri Kitsikis, Presses Universitaires de France, 3rd ed., 1994

Agreeing on peace: the King-Emperor meets the Kaiser (1)​

The first serious blow to the balance of world power was the end of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance in 1920. After the Anglo-German rapprochement, Tokio felt that Britain cut Japan’s chance to expand on Germany’s expense. Also, the interference of the European powers in the Chinese affairs –some kind of private backyard for many Japaneses politicians- was felt as some kind of outrage. It was also perceived that neither Britain nor Germany would not take kindly to any expansion on the expense of China, the weakest of Japan’s neighbours. Thus the alliance came to an end.

Meanwhile, China had been un constant turmoil since 1900. The Xinhai Revolution (1911), caused by the disatisfaction provoked by the policies of nationalization of the industry led by the governemnt, was the natural development of the division of the country. Since then the country was dividing again itself. The remains of the Qing dinasty fled to Manchuria when most of the army sided with the rebels. Threre, in Manchuria, the last Qing emperor, Pu Yi, backed by Japan, longed to restore the might of the former glory of its dinasty, while slowly falling under the control of Tokio. Meanwhile, the rest of the country was divided and had fallen into regional warlordism. The corrupt nationalist movement known as the Kuomintang, which labelled itself as the true Qing Empire -even if no country recognized neither them nor Pu Yi as such Empire-, was unable to assert its authority. In this situation Japan was eager to press its advantages and to be sure that no European power may take advantage of the situation as with each single civil war (between 1916-28 no less than six petty conflicts erupted among the different Chineses factions), Tokio enhaced its power. Alàs, both Germany and Britain were to busy with the crisis which was developing in Europe by then to react this new expansionis until it was too late. In those years Japan waited for the momento to fulfill its ambitions, until the Mukden Incident signalled the beginning of Japanese expansion in China with the Japanese occupation of the client state of Manchuria. For Japan, Manchuria was an essential source of raw materials. Without occupying Manchuria, the Japanese probably could not have carried out its plan of further expansion.

However, it was not in China when the most dangerous crisis would take place, but in Europe. The first one of those would came quite close to London. After the passing of the Home Rule, Ireland had been in constant turmoil. The Unionists have protested strongly against it and began to demonstrate and to clash with the Irish Nationalists. However, London had managed to keep everything under control but some isolated incidents, as the Black Eastern of 1916, when some isolated quarrels developed into a week of violence in some parts of the Ulster as the UVF followers protested violentely against the Home Rule. In 1919 violence erupted again and when some leaders of the UVF were caught in an ambush by some members of the IRA, a full war erupted which caused the intervention of the army.

The British Army deployed during the Troubles of 1919 in Derry​

It was even worse when some leaders of Sinn Féin assembled in Dublin proclaimed themselves as an independent parliament of an Irish Republic and proclaimed the Irish Republic (Poblacht na hÉireann). After a whole week of incidents which left almost two hundred dead on the fields and streets of Ireland, the British Army restored the order. This little war resulted in a dramatic rise in popularity for Sinn Féin and a politic turmoil in Britain, tired of the Irish Troubles. As the idea of sending thousands of combat troops to keep the peace, and knownig that both sides were unwilling to reach a compromise, London began to consider withdrawing to Northern Ireland and allowing a free Irish republic in the south. Before this idea took place, the Improved Home Rule Act of 1920 seemed to put an end to the troubles. The next step, that is, to turn Ireland into something similar to Canada or Australia would take longer.

Then came the crisis of the Old Man. In late 1920s the rivality between the Otoman Empire and its neighbours rose again with the change of regime as the Young Turks began to become the “Old” Turks. The new generation of Turkish political leaders decided to try its muscles and to get out of the calm that has ruled the life of the Empire since the last war with Russia. The excuse was a quite absurd incident. Thus the Ottoman Army began a series of military exercises in the borders with Greece, Bulgaria and Russia. In one of those, a stupid situation gave rise to the most incredible (and shortest) war ever.

On 11 May 1931 four Hotchkiss "automitraileuse" from D Squadron of the Turkish 16th Cavalry Brigade were spotted by two Diyarbakır light bombers (2) -the Ottoman version of the Junkers J1- of their own Air Force. Following some mimic between the aircrews, who thought that the vehicles were Greek ones, the convoy was engaged in a bomb attack which left two vehicles disabled. The soldiers managed to radio the attack to their HQs, who, confused, were unable to think that may had happend, so they wired back to the high command just what had happened. Just in case, a cavalry unit of some 70-90 men was sent to help the attacked unit and, when they arrived, they met a party of Greek soldiers who, at the sound of the explosions, moved to the place to find out what had happened. The Turkish unit attacked the Greeks and drove them back across the border. One the next day, the Greeks returned in greater numbers and with a revenge wish. Lt. Col. Ehad Yer led the reconnaissance regiment of 23rd Division, supported by the 64th Regiment of the same division, under Colonel Vehip Pasha, and thus a brief little war began that lasted for five days until everything got cleared out. Nevertheless, an incident within this almost impossible little war called the attention of all the Great Powers.

On the fourth day of the incident, on 15 May, Lt. Gen Ali Fuad Bey, was given permission to "expel the invaders". The Otoman plan was for a two-pronged assault. Three regiments under Colonel Kizahim Pasha would advance and destroy the Greek forces on Balad Esh Hill. The northern task force succeeded in driving the Greeks from Balad Esh Hill, and advancing south and threatening to surround the enemy forces. However, the Greek Army, perceiving the threat, launched a counterattack with 45 FT-17 tanks and Vickers Peerless armored cars -actually, the bulk of the Greek armoured forces-. The Greek armored force, despite being unsupported by infantry, attacked the Ottoman force on three sides and nearly encircled them. The Turks, surprised by the sudden attack, panicked and withdraw. Just the rearguard actions of the Turkish 23th Division allowed the entire force to extricate itself of the encirclement. When the news of this action arrived to the main cities of the world, the interest on the armored warfare knew an unexpected rising and the Great Powers, which had already been playing with those noisy and expensive toys, began to study in a more serious way the possibilities of the armored warfare.

Turks guns to the front​

A secondary effect of this crisis was that it brought some unexpected attention to the aerial warfare. Even if most of the armed forces of the world strictly addered to the principle that cavalry was the eyes of the armies, the early use of ballons during the French-Prussian war of 1871 led to many armies to evaluate the use of balloons, frist, and then aircrafts for observation purposes, with special interest by the Germans, who incorporated to its forces some rigid dirigibles and zeppelins, but not only as recconnoisance units but with offensive purposes, too. The 1911 Italo-Turkish War with the Italian Army Air Corps bombing a Turkish camp at Ain Zara, Libya, and in the 1912 First Balkan War with the Bulgarian Air Force bombing Turkish positions at Adrianople would just prove the validity of this point and, slowly but steadely, all countries began to develop their air forces, quite slowly in the beginning. Now, with the visionary ideas of military thinkers as the British Liddell Hart and Fuller, the German Guderian, the French De Gaulle or the Russian Tukhachevsky a new theory appeared that saw armoured forces supporting Arm of the infantry, being the tanks nothing but an infantry support weapon in the breakthrough of defence lines role. However, most generals remained skeptical about the use of the tanks, and the development of the tank warfare kept a low pace.

The Vickers Conqueror tank, the first British tank (1926)​

Meanwhile, a country was slowly sinking into the abyss of revolution, threatening the balance of power in Europe...

(1) With a trick by this malicious writAAR..

(2) There was never such a plane, as far as I am concerned.

 

[canonized]

Hmm , now we see the coordination of air and land . We're slowly creeping to our main theatre of warfares and the stage is being set !

 

[Kurt_Steiner]

Hmm , now we see the coordination of air and land . We're slowly creeping to our main theatre of warfares and the stage is being set !

Yes, now the problem for me is to avoid having the chaps beating themselves on January 1st, 1936

 

[Kurt_Steiner]

The War Path
(1936-...)

Introduction: A historical overview (1710-1936)
6th Chapter: The age of Revolutions: The Gathering Storm (1920-1935) ​

Taken from “From liberalism to fascism : the Fascist Revolution in France”, by Kevin Passmore. Cambridge university press, 1999;“The Collapse of France in the 1930s: Political Economy and Crisis”, by David Holmes, Holmes & Meier Publishers, 2002; “Voices of Revolution: Russia and the crisis of Czarism”, by Mark Steinberg, Yale University Press, 2001.

In France the resentment against the monarchy and the feeble government kept rising since the breaking up of the Entente Cordiale but, as the feared German aggression did not come, everthying seemed to calm down again. Then, an article by Charles Maurras, the leader of Action Française, gave rise to an increase in the nationalist and traditionalist values along with the old feelings of revenge against Germany. Along the 1920s and 1930s Action Française had become one of the main political parties of France and one of the main supporters of the monarchy, under attack now by the left parties. Its power would increase after its union in 1925 with the Croix-de-Feu far right league of Maurice d'Hartoy and the Jeunesse Patriotes of Pierre Taittinger. Soon it grew bigger as new supporters added to its ranks, as many former soldiers, most of them veterans of the colonial war, as colonel François de la Rocque or major Jean Renaud, and some extremist figures as Georges Valois, Hubert Lagardelle, Marcel Bucard, Eugène Schueller and Eugène Deloncle.

Many of them were disappointed by the lack of action of the traditional parties and Maurras seemed to promise a new future, based on tradition and the well known values. It is unknwon if all of them really trusted Maurras or were just seeking to manipulate or replace him. The course of the events would tell itself about it.

The members of Action Française demonstrating in support of the king in 1929​

The political situation of France from 1900-20 was quite tense. The government and the monarchy was under great pressure from both left and right-wing extremists, with many brawls and street-fights between the right and left organizations. For the next five years France's large cities suffered political violence between left-wing and right-wing groups, both of which committed violence and murder against innocent civilians and against each other, resulting in many deaths. The worst of the violence was between right-wing paramilitaries called the Camelots du Roi and pro-Communist militias called the Garde des Gauches, both of which admitted ex-soldiers into their ranks. The rise and fall of fiver governments between 1924 and 1927 due to internal rifts and banking scandals just woersened the situation.

After a heated Congress session on September 19th, 1925, Maurras blamed, as it was customary on him, the left parties for the widespread corruption and chaos and accused Blum, the leader of the main left parrt. to being enginerering the fall of the monarchy, a brawl ensued and he threatened to death Léon Blum, the “old semitic camel". However, it was not Blum who was shot that day, but Maurras himself, who was injured by an unknown gunman.

For a moment France was paralyzed, as in the worst days of the Neojacobin terror. A solution was needed. The Fascist newspaper Je suis partout (1) called for a solution and claimed that France was going to be betrayed again, left to be spoiled by the Communists. After two weeks of violence in the streets of Paris, when both Right and Left-wing paramilitaries militias clashed as in the worst times of the Terror, Maurras, even if recovering from his injury, prepared to stage some kind of demonstration of Paris. On his part Lebrun prepared a coup of his own, too. However, before this plans could be implemented, general Robert Nivelle attempted a coup d’etat a few days later.

"Paris brûle-t-il?". The most repeated sentence by the French press during the weeks of violence which took place before Nivelle's coup.​

He had been conspirating since late 1922 and now rushed to action. Nivelle overthrew the parliamentary government and established himself as dictator. He issued a Manifesto explaining the coup to the people. "Our aim is to open a brief parenthesis in the constitutional life of France –he wrote- and to re-establish it as soon as the country offers us men uncontaminated with the vices of political organization". Initially the public supported the coup, as the French population was tired of the turmoil and economic problems and hoped thst a strong leader, backed by the military, could put their country on the right track. Thus Nivelle tried to sweep away the mess created by the politicians and to use the state to modernize the economy and alleviate the problems of the working class. The dictatorship enjoyed several successes in the early years of his regime, as the suppression of the colonial troubles in Algeria and Morocco, and a huge increase in the industrial and commercial sectors.

Between 1925 and 1926 foreign trade increased 300%. Unemployment largely disappeared. However, Nivelle failed. It was due to the fact that did not create a viable, legitimate political system to preserve and continue his reforms and was unable to restore legitimate government by dismissing the military Directory. As France grew tired of the dictatorship, the economic boom ended. Troubled by the regime's failure to legitimize itself or to solve the country's woes, the king also began to draw away, but too late. Once Nivelle saw that the king no longer backed him and that the country was against his regime, he had no option but to resign on January 26, 1927, just to die a few weeks later. This, however, was not the solution for France, which degenerated into more chaos and civil violence until the final abdication of Philippe VIII on April 14, 1927: the French Republic was born.

The following years of the Republic were plagued by even more political instability than in the previous years and the administrations of Millerand, Steeg and Flanding did not give any solution to the crisis. Actually, with the Moscow stock market crisis in 1929 it just worsened. Thus came the second dictatorship of France when, on March, 23 1930, general Phillip Petain, with some officers (generals Henri Giraud, Charles Huntziger and Maxime Weygand, admirals François Darlan and Pierre Laval and a tankist colonel, Charles de Gaulle) led the so called "Révolution nationale", aimed at "regenerating the Nation". Again the military were backed by ultra royalists and the right parties: de la Rocque (who had replaced Maurras), Renaud y Deloncle, plus Jacques Doriot and his Parti Populaire Français. Jean d'Orléans, Duc de Guise, returned from his exile in Madrid and became the new king of France, Jean III. This was not going to be, however, a return to more democratic principles, as the new government banned the leftist parties and sent most of its members to prison. Thus, when Jean III died on July, 5 1935, his son, Henri d'Orléans, comte de Paris, became Henri VI. It did not look as if Henri was going to be more inclined to democracy than his father or his governments more democratic. The tide has changed completely for worse.

Jean III​

Meanwhile, Russia was not quiet, either. The death of the frail Tsarevich Alexei on July 17, 1921 almost broke the political balance in Russia. Once Nicholas II recovered from the grief of loosing his son and heir, he became obsessed by the idea of reversing Czar Paul's decree, thus allowing his daughter, the Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna, to succeed him. As the succession in Russia was governed by the Fundamental Law of the Empire, it was not something that even an autocrat could simply swept aside on a whim, it was something that caused a big wave of troubles, as Nicholas’s brother, Grand Duke Michael Aleksandrovich Romanov, did not accept this measure in a quite gracious mood. Anyway, as the tsar did not seem to be prone to die sooon, the question seemed to calm down and Russia kept on with his slow modernization process.

In 1923 the Two Days of March (8th-10th March, when the textile workers took to the streets of St Petersburg to demand better work conditions) proved the shaky nature of the Tsar’s power, as the Tsarist government could not rely on its own tools, as the units of the army sent to disperse the marchers had mutinied, joining the striking workers. Thus, even if he hated the idea of democracy with all his soul, Nicholas, faced with reform or revolution and with the advice of general Ruzsky, who put it blantly that the time for armed solutions was past gone, conceded more powers to the Duma. The new government which came out of the free elections of 1926 and leaded by Prince Lvov and Alexander Kerensky, would be the first real –to some extent, anyway- trully democratic government of Russia.-

Thus life kept on, clam and quiet, until 1928, when the Czar’s health entered into a step decline and the question of the succession began to poison the country again. While the bulk of the army and the Orthodox Church support the Defence Minister, Marshall Anton Ivanovich Denikin, who seemed to be backing Olga in order to bring back the days of the Autocratic regimen, a minor part of the Armed Forces, under general Piotr Nikolaievich Wrangel, rallied behind Michael. To make it worse, the left SRs and the Mensheviks were forming a formidable leftist coalition, demanding far reaching social reforms. They even talked about a Republic. The attempted murder of Count Vladimir Nikolayevich Kokovtsov, the Russian Prime Minister, on January, 5th, 1929, just heathened the tense situation a bit more. Then came the Moscow Stock Market Crash of 1929, when Russia was unable to repay a loan to France and panic just ensued in all the creditors of Russia –France, the United Kingdom and Germany-. On October 24th 1929 a widespread wave of panic and the creditors withdrew their money and with them the loans which were so essential to the Russian economy. Thus Denikin, with the help of most of the army, installed a military government after a brief coup, as "the situation has grown out of control and Mother Russia calls to his loyal sons to defend it".

As colonel De Gaulle did in Paris to support the monarchist coup, in St Petersburg colonel Tukhachevsky took his tanks to the city's streets to keep the Romanovs in power.​

It would took ten years to Russia to recover partially from the crisis. Mewanhile, the Russian Empire almost collapsed. As the economy entered into crisis and to decline, the different nationalities that made the Empire decided to broke away from St Petersburg. The first ones to do it were the Poles on June 3, 1930, after a pro-independence rally on Warsaw which gathered around 250,000 people. The fever spread in fast fashion around the Empire. Hardly had Józef Piłsudski proclaimed in Warsaw the Polish Republic, identical proclamations of independence were issued in Lithuania (June 11, 1930), Estonia (June 20, 1930), Finland (June 30, 1930) and Latvia (July 1, 1930). Germany rushed to recognize the new countries, taking advantage of the confused situation in France, which could do nothing. London, that was not quite happy about this course of events, also joined Berlin in the recognition of the new states. Later that month in Georgia, 100,000 protesters at Tbilisi demonstrated in demand for the Georgian independence. This time it was not to be and the Russian army furiosly repressed them. The Russian reprisal ended with 140 unarmed civilians dead and several hundreds more injured. On August 4, a Moldovan Supreme Council declared Russian power in Moldova to have been illegal and declared themselves as an independent country.

Thus brought the fall from power of Denikin, who had been utterly unable to stop the disintegration of the Empire. Worse still, then came the Ten days of August in Moscow, when on August 19, a State Committee was formed and, while stating that the illness of the Tsar Nicholas no longer allowed him to rule, this comittee proclaimed Grand Duke Michael as Regent for the time being. Alàs, the coup failed to gather popular support for their actions, while most of the army remained quiet, but for the aging Lieutenant General Lavr Georgevich Kornilov, who threatened to use the army to supress the coup. Quietly, the revolutionaries when back home or, more precisely, to exile. When the crisis died away, however, Moldova had gone from the Empire to join Romania. Thus, when Olga would become the new Tsarina, she would inherited an Empire in turmoil.

Tsar Nicholas II, during his speech to let the world know that the Fundamental Laws were no longer applying to Russia.​

In Austria-Hungary everything was calmer now. After the discovery of the failed plot against Franz Ferdinand in 1914 by the terrorist of the Black Hand the relations between the Empire and Serbia were colder than ever. After the the death of Emperor Franz Joseph in November 1916, a change began to take place. Franz Joseph’s heir, the Archdique Franz Ferdinand succeeded to the imperial throne. He favored a policy known as 'trialism,' under which the Hapsburg Empire's Slavic lands would be reorganized as a separate monarchy, transforming the so-called Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary into a triple one and making the Slavic lands a bulwark against Serbian expansionism. He labored diligently to put his favored policies into effect. By 1928, Franz Ferdinand's 'trialist' scheme became reality, with a newly established Kingdom of Slavonia, embracing the Hapsburg Empire's Slavic possessions, assuming its place as the third partner in the Emperor's Triple Monarch. Thus the opposition to Serbian ambitions, which had never abated, was restated. Once Franz Ferdinand died in 1929, Charles I of Austria, the Thrice King, tried to keep this path. However, Serbia did not helped in the transition.

Meanwhile, the world new the rise and fall of a new music start. A would- be-painter, Adolf Hitler, along with some friends -a former German pilot called Hermann Göring; a deabuched politician, Joseph Goebbels; a soldier who was going through a crisis of faith, Erwin Rommel; and a woman, Eva Braun (2)-, formed the Wagnerites, a jazz band. The utter failure of the project did not affect Hitler very much, and he swore that, some day, he would become a famous artist (3).

The Wagnerites in a commercial photo.​

(1) It was not founded until 1930, but I’ve rushed things a bit.
(2) It is claimed that Eve Braun was Hitler's lover. However, according to Joachim Fest last biography of Eve, it is more possible that she was really in love, even in that time, with his future husband, Sigmund Freud.
(3) The world still remembers Hitler's only opera, A Bohemian Rhapsody, but not for good reasons. As general Luddendorff stated later "That Bohemian composer drove me mad. He even dared to sing! To sing! Who told him he could sing? To a firing squad with both of them!"

 

[4th Dimension]

I hope new tsaritsa proves to be next Chaterine the Great, because Russia SERIOSLY needs to up it's stomping ability, and needs some radical changes, and for that you need a hell of a leader.

And for Wagnerites LOL :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

 

[General_Grant]

He play as Catalonia, so I don't know if he 'need' a strong Russia or not... But its not without reasons than Olga was chosen, she will certainly do something.

The last update was brillant Kurt. I don't know why so few peoples are comentating, this AAR is fascinating. Keep it up!

 

[canonized]

The Wagnerites in a commercial photo.​

You are a genius , Kurt . A total genius !

 

[4th Dimension]

He play as Catalonia, so I don't know if he 'need' a strong Russia or not... But its not without reasons than Olga was chosen, she will certainly do something.

The last update was brillant Kurt. I don't know why so few peoples are comentating, this AAR is fascinating. Keep it up!

Regardless of what the player is playing I'm always rooting for Russia.

 

[Kurt_Steiner]

I hope new tsaritsa proves to be next Chaterine the Great, because Russia SERIOSLY needs to up it's stomping ability, and needs some radical changes, and for that you need a hell of a leader.

And for Wagnerites LOL :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

For Olga. I hope so, for Russia and for the game.

For the Wagnerites... well... I'm a joker, can't resist...

He play as Catalonia, so I don't know if he 'need' a strong Russia or not... But its not without reasons than Olga was chosen, she will certainly do something.

You hit the nail. As I play with Catalonia, I do not need a strong Russia. However, what kind of game I would be having if all the countries were a pack of pussy-cats?

The last update was brillant Kurt. I don't know why so few peoples are comentating, this AAR is fascinating. Keep it up!

Thanks a lot. Perhaps the few comments are due that it's too much talking and few gaming at this stage. That will change, don't worry

You are a genius , Kurt . A total genius !

Not really, Canonized. I just have the luck of finding some pics, doing some research and having my sense of humor.

And me as advisor.

And Peti as advisor, of course.

Regardless of what the player is playing I'm always rooting for Russia.

Me too. I want a strong Tsardom, not the usual Tsardoom

 

[Kurt_Steiner]

As, all in all, we have reached 1936 -more or less- and with it, gametime, before I'll begin with the nAARration of the events related -or so, so- with the game I would like to, in a brief way, express my gratitude to all those people who, in God’s misterious ways, have, knowingly or not, helped me to make this AAR possible. Some of them gave me ideas, some of them, advice and support, some both. Thank you all, really. Even to those Spamiards here included .

Allenby
Amona
Atlantic Friend
Canonized
Freyman
Haardrade
Inkana
Obelixeke
PZCoyote
Spencer123
Wittman

and many others, too many to be able to quote them all

And, above all, to the unique and the sweetest little honorary sister than any man could have ever dreamt: Palo-Chan, who is my common sense.

(incoming update to follow...)