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Cockroach

October 27th, 2004, 12:10 AM

Union of Pacific Dominions Timeline (Provisional)
Note: This TL does not agree precisely with some of the events mentioned in my stories, that is because this TL was roughly bashed togeather...
And to clarify one thing: The UOPD is not actually a country but rather a customs union between the Commonwealth of Australia and the dominion of New Zealand.

POD: 1891, a meeting between the assorted colonies of Australia calls for the immediate meeting of a constitutional convention (in OTL the constitutional convention did not occure until 1897)

1892:
-Australian constitutional convention:
-Results in constitution virtually as per OTL
1893:
-Federation approved in British Parliment (Jan) occures in November
-Skrimish between Queensland and German forces in PNG (March)
1895:
-The assorted colonial navies are combined into the RAN
-Graf Von Zeppelin flies first rigid airship, steam engine proves ineffective as propolsion so development is delayed until 1899 when Rudolf Diesel offered Von Zepplin the use of several prototype diesel engines.
1896:
-First blimp enters service with the RN, "A" class; powered by one oil burning steam engine, crew of 4, maximum speed (still air) of 20 knots, later armed with one Maxim machine gun.
1898:
-"B" class blimps enter service: powered by one oil burning steam engine, crew of 6, maximum speed (still air) of 26 knots, armed with two Maxim machine guns and a light bomb load.
-RN places orders for 16 torpedo boats based off Turbinia (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/warship/guns/guide1.html).
1899:
-Graf Von Zeppelin flies his latest airship "Z-3"; powered by 3 Diesel engines, 23 man crew, maximum speed (still air) of 38 knots, provision was made to carry 3 tons of bombs.
-RN airship flotilla consists of 12 blimps (5 As, 4 Bs, 3 Cs) including three of the new "C" class; powered by one internal combustion engine, crew of 11, maximum speed (still air) of 38 knots, capable of carrying bomb load equivelent to one 18" torpedo, fixed armorment of one 3 pounder and two Maxim machine guns.
-Australian force of 13000 cavalry and mounted infantry dispatched to Boer war, units serve with distinction throught out.
1900:
-First use of blimps in combat; a "C" class attacks a Boer commando causing heavy casulties (Jan)
-First blimp lost to hostile fire; a "B" class shot down by Boer machine guns (Feb)
-Latest German Zeppelin "Z-8" class enters service; powered by 4 Diesel engines, 33 man crew, maximum speed (still air) of 46 knots, able to carry 3.5 tons of bombs, armed with three 45mm guns and four Maxim type machine guns.
-Boxer Rebellion, put down by European intervention rapidly in most areas, however a chunk of territory near Peking was not neutralised and after the intervention finished remained semi-independent.
1902:
-Boer war ends.
1903:
-German zeppelin forces now 4 Z-3s and 9 Z-8s with auxilary force of 8 blimps
-RN airship fleet now 4 Bs, 12 Cs and 9 Ds (improved Cs) and R-1 (a british Zeppelin)
-RAN places order for two "fast battleships" ("State/Colony class") winning entry is a turbine powered varient of Edward VII class with greatly reduced number of QF guns, decreased armor thickness, max speed of 22 knots.
1904:
-RN places order for five State/Colony class, but three are later cancelled in favour of a second Drednought class
-RAN places purchases two recently completed Cressy class armored cruisers off the RN.
-Both RAN "fast battleships" are laid down, one in Melbourne and one in Sydney
1905:
-HMS Drednought and HMS Nonsuch (*fictional vessel*) are laid down, three State/Colony class are cancelled before being laid down, their materials being used to build HMS Nonsuch.
1906:
-HMS Drednought and HMS Nonsuch are completed as are both Australian State/Colony class (HMAS Victoria and HMAS Queensland)
1909:
-Germany experiments with light armored cars to support cavalry
-Germany starts fortifying Rabul
1910:
-Order placed by RAN for 3 NSW Class BCs (http://warshipprojects.board.dk3.com/2/viewtopic.php?t=1217), RN orders 2
-First armored car unit in german army, equiped with 50 Kampfwagon I armed with two machine guns
-All major powers have a considrable number of airships of all descriptions
1911:
-France builds 20 unarmored lorrys armed with 1 37mm gun as a counter to German armored cars
-British experimentally fit foward fireing guns to aircraft using deflector gear, find Vickers MG to be too heavy for efective use on current aircraft
-German armored car strength now 125 Kampfwagon Is
-First British Armored Car mk I enters service, one 3 pounder gun and 1 Vickers MG in a turret, 45 in service by end of the year
1912:
-German Kampfwagon II enters service armed with 45mm gun and a MG, toatal of 155 Kampfwagon Is and 33 Kampfwagon IIs deployed by end of year
-British armored cars in service now total 110
-First french armored car enters service armed with 37mm gun and 2 Hotchkiss MGs, 45 in service by years end
French and Germans begin experiments with mounting MGs on aircraft
1913:
-Futher British experiments with mounting MGs on aircraft, adopt deflector gear as standard, Vickers MGs mounted on 18 Sopwith Tabloids for RFC (but reduced to single seater)
-First French aircraft to carry foward fireing Hotchkiss MG, a Morane-Saulnier Type L deployed, 12 in service by end of year
-First German aircraft armed with foward fireing MGs enters service in the form of a single synchronsed Spandau MG mounted on a single seat version of the Aviatik BI, 15 in Service by years end
-Fortress Rabul complete, German East Asia Squadron rebased at Rabul, joined by SMS Blucher
-Republican rebellion in China, suffers a number of defeats by Imperial China and ends up only holding on near Hong Kong.
1914:
-Armored cars forces at start of war:
UK: 165 and 15 lorrys mounting 12 pounder guns
France: 106 and 25 lorrys mounting 65mm guns
Germany: 172 Kampfwagon Is and 65 Kampfwagon IIs
-Fighter aircraft in service:
UK: 33 Sopwith Tabloids with Vickers MGs (RFC) and 17 Bristol Scout As with Lewis MGs (RNAS)
France: 21 Morane-Saulnier Type L
Germany: 19 Aviatik BIs and 10 LVG EVIs
-Battle and Seige of Rabul: Destruction of German East Asia squadron at the hands of a mixed British Emprie force (September), followed by an extended seige ending with the German garison capitulating in Feb 1915.
-The campaign in Europe runs largely as per OTL.
-First airship battle, an old british C class forces Z-9 to land with heavy damage.
-First armored car battle, French armored car troop destroyed.
-First air-air battle, a Sopwith Tabloid destroys a LVG EVI
-ANZAC Corp forms in Egypt
1915:
-Dominion Battle Squadron (HMAS New South Wales, HMAS Australia, HMNZS New Zealand and assorted escorts and support vessels) forms in Alexandra and provides support for Dardenelles opperation including the destruction of Sultan Osman I and Goeben.
-Dardenelles landing prove fairly sucessful (April), The Gallipoli Peninsula is firmly held but attmpts to advance beyond it are sevearly held up and gun batteries on the Asian shore make it hazardous for any ship to attempt to pass the Hellespont.
-British start development of the Armored Assult Car Mk I (similar in shape to OTLs early WW2 assult guns, armed with a short barreled 12 pounder) and the Landship Mk I (the same as OTLs British WW1 Tanks), both refered to as tanks
-War in Europe goes largely as per OTL
-2nd ANZAC Corp forms in France (October)
1916:
-The Entente breaks out of the Gallipoli Peninsula and takes Constantinople (May) but the Turks find a second breath and with the aid of Austrian forces drive the Entente forces back into the
Peninsula (July), the allies begin a counter-offensive (November).
-First attack using tanks (May), breakthrought occured but in the open country beyond no man's land German gun lorrys and Kampfwagon IIs rapidly stem the tide and stablize the lines, knocking out 15 of the 20 Armored Assult Car Mk Is and 6 of the 32 Landship Mk Is
-Germans start development of their own tanks.
1917:
-Counter-Offensive in the Dardenelles sucessful Constantinople is retaken (Feb) and the Ottoman Empire surrenders (June)
-Two revolution in Russia, the first in March forces Nicholas II to give up most of his power to the Duma, the second in November by the Bolsheviks forces Nicholas II to flee to Sweden.
-Germany unleashes its own "tanks". The Kampfwagon IV light tank (armed with a 45mm gun and 1 machine gun) proves to be useful as infantry support. The Strumpanzerwagon A3V (one 77mm (fixed) and four machine guns) proves ineffective in the infantry support role but proves a useful tank destroyer. In the first tank battle 6 Kampfwagon IVs and one A3V encountered 8 "Terriers" (Tracked Armored Car Mk II, one 3 pounder and one Lewis gun in turret) and 3 "Bulldogs" (Landship Mk IV, one 6 pounder in a turret and two Vickers) and managed to destroy 3 of the "Terriers" and one "Bulldog" for the loss of two Kampfwagon IVs.
-Second Battle of Jutland (May) in favour of the british. The british lose the Battleships HMS Agincourt (Queen Elizebeth class) and HMS Benbow, the Battlecruisers HMS Temeraire (NSW class) and HMNZS New Zealand, 4 cruisers and 8 destroyers. The Germans lose SMS Seydiltz, SMS Konig, SMS Kaiser, SMS Baden, SMS Hindenburg, 8 cruisers and 13 destroyers
-USA enters the war.
1918:
-Germans launch a large offensive in March, the German army breaks throught on a narow front and takes Paris before over-extending their supply lines. This salient is cut off in the allies' May counter-offensive and 450000 German soldiers are forced to surrender.
-Following the allies May counter-offensive large parts of Germany decide that they have had enought of the Kaiser, the German Empire begins to disintergrate. Bavaria and Oldenburg are the first principalities to surrender to the allies. By October only the Prussians remain fighting.
-Novmeber, Prussia capitulates, the Great War is over.

Treaty of Versailles:
-The German Empire was divided into two states, Germany and Prussia.
-Assorted East European nations were established.
-Germany would consist of a federation of the assorted kingdoms, duchies and in the case of most of the more pro-Prussian states republics.
-Prussia would remain in the hands of the ex-Kaiser but Wilhelm II would be stripped of most of his power.
-Germany was limited to a standing army of 150000 with another 200000 reservists.
-Prussia was limited to an army of 30000.
-Neither Germany or Prussia were allowed any Tanks, althought Germany was allowed to keep a force of 500 armored cars.
-Prussia was banned from pocessing any aircraft and Germany was limited to no more than 20% of the French airforce.
-Prussia was allowed to keep four pre-Drednoughts and wasn't allowed to build any replacements for them until 1937.
-Germany was allowed to keep a total of six capital ships, no new production was allowed until 1934

1919:
-Most troops repatriated, 1st and 2nd ANZAC Corp disbanded with the exception of 6th Australian Division and 1st New Zealand Divison both of which remain in Europe.
-Intervention starts in Russia, allies land in the Baltic and Black Seas.
1920:
-First Seige of St Petersburg (April-July), 50000 Bolshevik troops and Lenin are bottled up.
-"Long Retreat" (June-July) 35000 Bolsheviks (including Lenin) break out of St Petersburg and retreat to Moscow, only 20000 make it.
-UK completes HMS Hood
-----------------------------------
Following the Great War airships rapidly receed from large scale military use.
The major powers maintian small squadrons of Airships, but use in combat situations is non existant.
-----------------------------------

1921:
-Nicholas II restored as Tsar in St Petersburg (March)
-Seige of Moscow (May-September), 56000 Bolsheviks defend Moscow against 62000 allies.
-Battles of Smolensk and Minsk (October and November), Bolsheviks victorious, allies retreat.
1922:
-Seige of Riga (Jan-July), allies retreat to Riga and are beseiged, 65000 are evacuated but the 6th Australian Division is left as a garrison and manage to hold the city until relived in July.
-Union between Germany and Austria
-Australia and New Zealand form a customs union, The Union of Pacific Dominions
-France completes two ships of the Normandie class
-Most allied pre-Drednoughts passed off to White Russian forces
1923:
-Second Seige of St Petersburg (March-September), Bolsheviks beseige St petersburg but are forced to retreat.
-A small time Austrian painter by the name of Hitler begins ranting about how the Jews, Bolsheviks and Aristocracy "stabbed Germany in the back"
-UK complets HMS Anson.
1924:
-Treaty of Warsaw, Russia is divided into three nations: Tsarist Russia on the Baltic coast; "White Russia" on based around the Black sea and "Red Russia" taking the rest. Genrally this treaty holds but on numerous occasions prior to 1941 skirmishes occure.
-Treaty of Riga, Poland and the Baltic states form a union.
-UK lays down the three G-3 Battlecruisers.
-US completes construction of three Lexington class battlecruisers
-Japan completes Akagi and Amagi.
-Communist uprising in China.
1926:
-Treaty of New York (OTLs Washington Treaty), Naval armerments reduction treaty, places limits on size and number of warships: 40000 tons and 16" guns for Capital ships; 14000 tons and 10" guns for armored/escort cruisers and 10000 tons and 8"/6" guns for heavy/light cruisers...
A limit on the number of ships per nation was also imposed: 27 for the UK; 23 for the USA, 18 for Japan; 13 for France and Italy; 10 for Tsarist Russia and the USSR; 6 for Germany and 3 for The Pacific Dominions (restrictions on lesser vessels were distributed in the same proportions). 8 year ban on construction of new capital ships
-White Russia sells several pre-Drednought including Odesa (ex-HMAS Victoria) and Rostov (ex-HMAS Queensland) to Imperial and Republican China, several of these vessels end up being loaned to "Boxer China" by Imperial China. These vessels on loan end up being used for piracy.
1928:
-The Great Depression begins
1931:
-Hitler and his Nazi part gains around 25% of the votes in elections in Germany, the Nazi party becomes junior members of a coalition government under Chancellor Gustav Stresemann and President Paul Von Hindenburg.
-Two of the G-3 Battlecruisers are launched as Battlecruisers (HMS Warrior and HMS Agincourt) one converted to a carrier (HMS Golden Hind)
1933:
-Chancellor Gustav Stresemann and President Paul Von Hindenburg are killed by a bomb, Hitler accuses the communist parties of being responsible and seizes power.
-China Sea Incident: engagement between USS Niagara and Akagi (Note: Akagi was not converted to a carrier in this TL), war between Japan and USA only just avoided.
1935:
-Britian lays down the first ships Edward VIII class (renamed George VI class after Edward's abdication, more or less OTLs KGV class)
-US lays down North Dakota class
-Japan lays down Yamato class, tries to keep size and armorment secret.
-Germany lays down [url=http://warshipprojects.board.dk3.com/2/viewtopic.php?t=1217]Helgoland class[/url
-Unrest in Western Prussia, Germany steps in to "restrore order"
1938:
-Germany "intervenes" to "restore order" in Czechslovakia
1939:
-War breaks out between Germany, France and the British Empire, Germany invades Polish-Baltic Union. King (ex-Kaiser) Wilhelm II in a move that confunds most historians decides to commit his limited forces to the aid of the Polish-Baltic Union and despite his age personally leads them into battle and is killed, once despised by the British and French in death he aquires the status of a hero.

Note: I intend to continue this TL into WW2 at some atge but I have exams rapidly approaching so I won't be able to for a while...
Attatched Image: Europe 1933, only nations suffering from significant changes from OTL are coloured.

Edit: Changed some small details e.g. Saxony replacing Hanover in desintergration of German Empire...
Edit Number 2: Replaced Saxony with Oldenburg on Imajin's advice.