Post by jokerang on Jul 12, 2016 20:26:21 GMT
Figured I'd post this here too. This timeline is largely based on an idea that weissaul over at Endless Worlds had, where a mostly democratic Western Europe in a proto-EU is in a cold war with Imperial Russia and client states in Eastern Europe. I haven't written a full fledged timeline in a while, so there may be some things that stand out to you. Feel free to point something out if it doesn't make sense. Here's the first part.
Chapter 1: The Great War, 1914- early 1916
With the death of Archduke Franz Ferdinand sparking off a chain of events in Europe, battle lines and old amenities were drawn. On one side stood Russia, standing by its nominal ally Serbia, and France, with Britain likely to join. On the other was Austria-Hungary, its heir dead at the hands of a Serbian fanatic, and the powerful Germany. The third member of the Central Powers, Italy, was going to take some more time and dealing with to honor its alliance with a country with several Italian ethnic lands that were wanted, and could have been offered by the Allies.
As Germany found itself fighting in Belgium and bringing Great Britain into the war, bringing Italy in the Central Power side for certain became more of a priority. With some heavy pressure on Austria, Germany was able to offer Trento and Gorizia-Gradisca, in addition to recognition of all Italian claims on French territory and colonies (not limited to Corsica, Nice, Tunisia, with Malta and British Somaliland thrown in for good measure). Ultimately, this was enough, and Italy would declare war on France on 8 September 1914, invading southern France and Algeria.
The move had immediate shocks. France, barely beating back the Germans at Marne, now had a second front of their own, and rushed to contain the damage done by Italy’s unexpected entry. Britain, however, saw a golden opportunity in that it could now bring the Ottoman Empire on their side, the defeats to Italy still fresh on Turkish minds. The British and French offered an opportunity to retake Libya and the Dodecanese. Other prizes included Eritrea, Cyprus (minus the British autonomous bases), forgiveness of CP-held Ottoman debts, 20% of Entente-held Ottoman debts, and an undoing of unfair trade conditions and extraterritoriality circumstances.
Thus by the end of 1914 the main sides were mostly set, at least until American involvement. The Entente was composed of Great Britain, France, Russia, Serbia, and the Ottoman Empire. The Central Powers, or Triple Alliance, was still Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy. While German and Italian troops went to trenches in the Somne and Nice respectively, the Russians were now relieved to have a lifeline via the Hellespont. Most historians consider the entry of the Ottomans as an indirect way of winning the war, for Russia now had access to the Mediterranean and with it came everything that the war effort could have asked for in this respect. Some would even argue this even saved Tsardom, as the badly needed lifeline meant a better war effort and less dissenting voices in Russia’s elites.
Nicholas II of Russia. While he would still be remembered as on of Russia's most incompetent Tsars, his legacy was at least cushioned by the country's access to outside markets, indirectly propping up the state.
Despite the disastrous battle of Tannenburg, the Russian armies continued to be a threat on the east for Germany and Austria-Hungary. Any potential unrest in Russia’s government was quickly ended with the ability to get supplies from Britain and France via the Hellespont. Tsar Nicholas, somewhat unusually, listened to the more effective army leaders, such as Grand Duke Nicholas, in their calls to reform and modernize the army. Russia’s large yet untapped potential industrial power was thus first used in the First Great War, producing the modern weapons needed by the Russian Army to counter the skill of German commanders like Hindenburg. Though the Russian armies suffered enormous losses in 1915, they came back stronger each time, leading Kaiser Wilhelm II to rant about the “damned Russian barbarian hordes”.
The same could not be said for Italy during the year. Losing its few African colonies in January 1915, Italy stumbled in attempting to cross the Alps after a French counterattack took back Nice. No less than seven battles were waged on the Superga Hill near Turin, as the Italian army under Luigi Caldorna struggled to beat back the French. Not helping matters for the House of Savoy was Winston Churchill, who proposed Operation Hannibal: destroy the “soft underbelly” of the Central Powers, namely Southern Italy. After Libya was overwhelmed by a joint Ottoman-British campaign, the British conducted amphibious assaults on the islands of Sicily and Sardinia, taking both islands in a matter of months. It was at this time that some in the Italian government began to seriously reconsider their place in the Triple Alliance, and secretly approached the British, though nothing would happen for at least a year.
(I'm not detailing the Western Front because in the timeline it's largely the same as it was in OTL. I can’t imagine things like Verdun going much differently. If you feel otherwise, feel free to comment.)
By March 1916, the French navy, Royal Navy, and Ottoman fleet had more or less contained the German-Italian fleets in the Mediterranean to Northern Italian ports. This allowed a march on Naples by the three countries, with decisive battles won at Taranto and Catanzaro. With the Mediterranean more or less in Entente hands, both Bulgaria and Greece entered the war on their side. Bulgaria was promised part of Macedonia, while Greece, not in any real position to profit from adjacent land, was offered Rhodes Greek islands once owned by Italy in exchange for cooperation with the Ottomans and taking in any Greek speaking Ottoman citizens that wanted to live in Greece.
Italian troops on the march in the Alps. While the Italian Army had initial success in southern France, key blunders by Caldorna and a determined effort by the French meant that the Alpine front of WWI would be a defensive one for Italy.
While one might have guessed the outcome from the situation in mid 1916, the Central Powers were by no means finished. The German armies, fighting on multiple fronts, were creating stalemates in Belgium and Naples, as well as inflicting as many losses on the Russians as they could in conjunction with the Austrians. But Germany would seek alternate methods to tip the war, from the first tanks to poison gas. The U-boat, previously thought an afterthought, began to be used more extensively after a single submarine destroyed multiple British warships in a single battle. This eventually evolved into unrestricted submarine warfare around the British Isles, where even neutral ships were not safe should they approach Britain. This drew the criticism of the United States in particular, and the sinking of the SS Ulysses in August 1916, and with it another 200 American lives, brought the US ever closer to war with Germany. All that was needed was for Charles E. Hughes of the Republican Party to defeat Wilson and formally declare war.
Chapter 1: The Great War, 1914- early 1916
With the death of Archduke Franz Ferdinand sparking off a chain of events in Europe, battle lines and old amenities were drawn. On one side stood Russia, standing by its nominal ally Serbia, and France, with Britain likely to join. On the other was Austria-Hungary, its heir dead at the hands of a Serbian fanatic, and the powerful Germany. The third member of the Central Powers, Italy, was going to take some more time and dealing with to honor its alliance with a country with several Italian ethnic lands that were wanted, and could have been offered by the Allies.
As Germany found itself fighting in Belgium and bringing Great Britain into the war, bringing Italy in the Central Power side for certain became more of a priority. With some heavy pressure on Austria, Germany was able to offer Trento and Gorizia-Gradisca, in addition to recognition of all Italian claims on French territory and colonies (not limited to Corsica, Nice, Tunisia, with Malta and British Somaliland thrown in for good measure). Ultimately, this was enough, and Italy would declare war on France on 8 September 1914, invading southern France and Algeria.
The move had immediate shocks. France, barely beating back the Germans at Marne, now had a second front of their own, and rushed to contain the damage done by Italy’s unexpected entry. Britain, however, saw a golden opportunity in that it could now bring the Ottoman Empire on their side, the defeats to Italy still fresh on Turkish minds. The British and French offered an opportunity to retake Libya and the Dodecanese. Other prizes included Eritrea, Cyprus (minus the British autonomous bases), forgiveness of CP-held Ottoman debts, 20% of Entente-held Ottoman debts, and an undoing of unfair trade conditions and extraterritoriality circumstances.
Thus by the end of 1914 the main sides were mostly set, at least until American involvement. The Entente was composed of Great Britain, France, Russia, Serbia, and the Ottoman Empire. The Central Powers, or Triple Alliance, was still Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy. While German and Italian troops went to trenches in the Somne and Nice respectively, the Russians were now relieved to have a lifeline via the Hellespont. Most historians consider the entry of the Ottomans as an indirect way of winning the war, for Russia now had access to the Mediterranean and with it came everything that the war effort could have asked for in this respect. Some would even argue this even saved Tsardom, as the badly needed lifeline meant a better war effort and less dissenting voices in Russia’s elites.
Nicholas II of Russia. While he would still be remembered as on of Russia's most incompetent Tsars, his legacy was at least cushioned by the country's access to outside markets, indirectly propping up the state.
Despite the disastrous battle of Tannenburg, the Russian armies continued to be a threat on the east for Germany and Austria-Hungary. Any potential unrest in Russia’s government was quickly ended with the ability to get supplies from Britain and France via the Hellespont. Tsar Nicholas, somewhat unusually, listened to the more effective army leaders, such as Grand Duke Nicholas, in their calls to reform and modernize the army. Russia’s large yet untapped potential industrial power was thus first used in the First Great War, producing the modern weapons needed by the Russian Army to counter the skill of German commanders like Hindenburg. Though the Russian armies suffered enormous losses in 1915, they came back stronger each time, leading Kaiser Wilhelm II to rant about the “damned Russian barbarian hordes”.
The same could not be said for Italy during the year. Losing its few African colonies in January 1915, Italy stumbled in attempting to cross the Alps after a French counterattack took back Nice. No less than seven battles were waged on the Superga Hill near Turin, as the Italian army under Luigi Caldorna struggled to beat back the French. Not helping matters for the House of Savoy was Winston Churchill, who proposed Operation Hannibal: destroy the “soft underbelly” of the Central Powers, namely Southern Italy. After Libya was overwhelmed by a joint Ottoman-British campaign, the British conducted amphibious assaults on the islands of Sicily and Sardinia, taking both islands in a matter of months. It was at this time that some in the Italian government began to seriously reconsider their place in the Triple Alliance, and secretly approached the British, though nothing would happen for at least a year.
(I'm not detailing the Western Front because in the timeline it's largely the same as it was in OTL. I can’t imagine things like Verdun going much differently. If you feel otherwise, feel free to comment.)
By March 1916, the French navy, Royal Navy, and Ottoman fleet had more or less contained the German-Italian fleets in the Mediterranean to Northern Italian ports. This allowed a march on Naples by the three countries, with decisive battles won at Taranto and Catanzaro. With the Mediterranean more or less in Entente hands, both Bulgaria and Greece entered the war on their side. Bulgaria was promised part of Macedonia, while Greece, not in any real position to profit from adjacent land, was offered Rhodes Greek islands once owned by Italy in exchange for cooperation with the Ottomans and taking in any Greek speaking Ottoman citizens that wanted to live in Greece.
Italian troops on the march in the Alps. While the Italian Army had initial success in southern France, key blunders by Caldorna and a determined effort by the French meant that the Alpine front of WWI would be a defensive one for Italy.
While one might have guessed the outcome from the situation in mid 1916, the Central Powers were by no means finished. The German armies, fighting on multiple fronts, were creating stalemates in Belgium and Naples, as well as inflicting as many losses on the Russians as they could in conjunction with the Austrians. But Germany would seek alternate methods to tip the war, from the first tanks to poison gas. The U-boat, previously thought an afterthought, began to be used more extensively after a single submarine destroyed multiple British warships in a single battle. This eventually evolved into unrestricted submarine warfare around the British Isles, where even neutral ships were not safe should they approach Britain. This drew the criticism of the United States in particular, and the sinking of the SS Ulysses in August 1916, and with it another 200 American lives, brought the US ever closer to war with Germany. All that was needed was for Charles E. Hughes of the Republican Party to defeat Wilson and formally declare war.
