The Treaty of Amiens Discussion
The Treaty of Amiens
The Treaty of Amiens September 15th 1917 and The Treaty of Venice December 11th 1917
Theobald Bethmann-Hollweg was dead; the Chancellor of the German Reich had died of a suspected heart attack on May 10th 1915. The public believed that this was caused by overwork and the stress caused by the Lusitania sinking. The U.S. had declared war on Germany, but Franz Von Papen the German ambassador to the U.S. had ensured the Kaiser that the U.S. wouldn't be able to offer any serious resistance in its present economic and military state...at least for some time Thus the unrestrained submarine warfare continued per the orders of Hugo Von Pohl the Commander of the High Seas fleet.
Then in February 1917 Von Falkenhayn, the German Chief of General Staff, unleashed a new plan the Falkenhayn Offensive (this is similar to the Ludendorff Offensive OTL, but the forces include large cavalry divisions). This offensive swept through the Entente Lines, backed by some tanks. But outside the town of Ypres was the worst fighting, British troops were prevented from retreating by a cavalry manoeuvre blocking the main road out of Ypres and were encircled. This resulted in the near-total slaughter of the British troops in the town.
On the 3rd May 1917 the government of Russia lead by Prime Minister Kerensky in name of the newly crowned Tsar Michel asked the term for peace. The following week the British government received a German diplomatic proposal for peace negotiations; Asquith informed King George V of the Cabinet’s decision to accept it, as the war was becoming too unpopular and the recent defeat at Ypres and Russian surrender were too much. The Americans were just arrived in France and there will need sometime before they will be ready for an offensive and time was something that they don't have. The French government agreed to sign a peace treaty the next day, while Italy accepted the ceasefire a couple of days later.
German rationale for launching this peace offensive was that time was not on their side, while the Russian surrender had relieved a lot of pressure from them, the blockade greatly affected the welfare of the population and her allies were faltering, as the Hapsburg Emperor not very subtly had make his desire to ask peace term in the near future, very clear; not even considering the continuing arrive of fresh American troops that more sooner than later will have tip the balance in favour of the Entente
Entente and Central Powers dignitaries met in the German occupied town of Amiens for peace negotiations. Under the directions of the level-headed and shrewd Wilhelm Von Bismarck (who survived the peritonitis that killed him IOTL), Bethmann-Hollweg’s replacement as Chancellor, Germany offered a not unreasonable (in their view) peace deal:
1. Germany is allowed to annex Luxembourg and the Baltic states (these are the states they ‘annexed’ following the Brest-Litovsk Treaty IOTL).
2. An independent Poland is set up in the along the borders of Congress Poland, with Archduke Charles Stephen of Austria as King.
3. The Kingdom of Serbia and Montenegro will enter the Austrian sphere of influence
4. Italy is granted puppet control of Albania, south of the river Vjose.
5. Germany forfeits all her colonies except German East Africa.
6. Germany will proceed to retreat from Belgium and the other occupied territories as soon as possible.
7. No reparations are required from either side, except the compensation granted at Belgium for the devastation caused by the German invasion.
8. An independent Arab state is formed encompassing Arabia and Ottoman Hejaz. The Ottomans are granted the Dodecanese Islands and Russian land in the Caucasus.
Seeing no other alternative the Entente powers (but Italy, who left the negotiation after a month due to her demand being not even discussed, the proper peace treaty between Italy and the CP was signed a couple of months later, ) signed the Treaty of Amiens.
In the Italy-CP peace deal also know as the Treaty of Venice, two main points were agreed:
1. Italy agreed to demilitarise Venetia.
2. Austria agreed to partition Albania along the river Vjose.
This deal was signed but would stir up the Italian nationalist fervour, (just as the treaty of Versailles did in Germany IOTL)
The treaty of Amiens and Venice usually get all the historian attention and at the first is generally, even if wrongly, given all the credit for the post war territorial change.
In reality the conflict was formally ended by the signing of various treaty; here we can see a brief description of minor ones signed by the secondary member of the Central Powers:
Treaty of Bucharest
Signed by representative of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire, the Kingdom of Bulgaria and the Kingdom of Romania the 1 September 1917.
The Romanian Kingdom found himself suddenly isolated due to the unilateral surrender of the Russian was forced to ask terms or face total defeat.
1) Romania had to return Southern Dobruja to Bulgaria
2) Romania had to give control of the Carpathian Pass to Austria-Hungary
Treaty of Pogdorica
Signed the 19 September 1917 by representative of the Kingdom of Serbia and the Kingdom of Bulgaria, with a delegation of the Austrian-Hungary Empire as observer.
The document signed established the formal passage of the control of Vardar Macedonia* from Serbia to Bulgaria
Treaty of Sofia
Signed the 16 September 1917 by representative of the Ottoman and Russian Empires to end the hostilities between their two nation.
The document is seen by many historian as a mere adjunct at the Amiens Treaty and was separated only due to the insistence of Enver Pasha who want to demonstrate the independence and influence of the Ottoman Empire.
The treaty establish:
1) The return of the territory of the territory lost to the Russian during the war of 77-78, specifically the district of Kars, Batumi and Ardahan.
2) The formation of the following nation:
- Republic of Armenia
- Democratic Republic of Georgia
- National Republic of Azerbaijan
all the three nation were under Ottoman protection and under her sphere of influence.
Much of the German reason for agreeing to award at the Ottoman so much territory even if their war performance was lackluster was one of pure pragmatism. The government in Constantinople faced a terrible internal crisis and a dangerous diminishing of his credibility due to the loss of Arabia and the general devastation due to the conflict.
For this reason diplomats in Berlin greatly insisted in concession towards them, even agreeing with the Russian in dropping some of their claim towards Ukraine and Polish territory as the continuing presence of a German aligned nation on the middle east was deemed of greater importance.
* territory correspondent at OTL modern Republic of Macedonia
Though Peace had fallen over Europe there were still behind the scene conflict and the Nations worked to integrate their new conquests. Around the world many changes were wrought in the changes directly following the war.
Africa
Africa had been despite setbacks in East Africa at the hands of German General Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck being overall a Success for the Entente. This was reflected in the Treaty by German losing the colonies of Togoland, The Southern Half of German South West Africa (the map says that is still German while the treaty says it is gone) and German Cameroon. The only colony to retain untouched was German East Africa which still blocked the British project to run a Railroad from Cairo to Capetown. (and thus remained a future target for the British).
These changes as a result would mean many German moving from the captured colonies either back home to Germany or to the remaining possessions in Africa. However many especially in German South west Africa now under South African control would remain there.
Asia
In Asia Japan had achieved their major goals with the securing of German possessions. However China which had only declared war on Germany the month previously in the 14th of August was displeased at the treaty that granted Japan the German concessions in China particularly the Shantung (Shandong) Peninsula as well as the twenty one demands which had been forced on Nation in January 18, 1915. This event lead to the Chinese refusing to sign the Treaty of Amiens and instead signing a separate treaty with Germany. There were also large scale riots and Boycotts of Japanese products which made the already unstable nation worse.
Germany however even though hostilities had recently only ended was seen as a safe power for China to work with now they had no possessions in China. So just after peace was signed the Germans and Chinese agreed to new economic ties (less exploitative on China) and also semi-secretly got German military trainers to go to China. Germany also sold some older equipment to China which hoped to be able to resist future Japanese threats. However China remained unstable .
Europe and Middle East
Europe was the theater where the Central powers had won the war despite numerous setbacks elsewhere. Germany now stood within striking distance of many of Russia's major cities, Austria- Hungary had secured a large buffer and the Balkans were now largely dominated by the Central powers. While Austria - Hungary on paper was extremely powerful it more and more through the war had to lean on Germany for support and it had to give lots of Autonomy to the Various minorities.
As part of Securing the Central Powers gains and alliance Germany and German investors started to embark on an ambitious project. The Project was to
Also in the New territories in the Baltic and also the Kingdom of Poland there was little unrest except for the Russian minority. However despite greater freedom in Poland there was greater push for Austrian and German Poland to Unite with the Kingdom. At the moment however free movement over the border was allowed (especially demanded by the Prussian Junkers who relied on Seasonal polish labor in Farming and Common Nationalism). But aside from that the New Kingdom of Poland remained largely satisfied for now with Common economic ties and fear of Russia largely overriding Nationalism.
The Austrian puppet states however in Serbia, Montenegro and Northern Albania as well as some parts of Bulgarian controlled Macedon were ripe with rebellion. Assassinations, riots and boycotts are daily events and heavy army crackdowns have aggravated these. Also the rest of Albania which during the war had been in civil war had also spilled over to some degree. Nationalist and Communist groups had grown in power throughout the Occupied territories, wider Austria- Hungary and also many other nations on both side.
And mine:
After the war ended Italy was plagued for many months by political violence, as the more extreme socialist and the right wing extremist calling themselves the 'fascisti' and lead by the poet Gabriele D'Annunzio, violently clashed with government forces and among themselves.
The core motivation for the violent protest was the great expenditure of blood and treasure of the war, that had bring at the nation nothing except sorrow, economic problem and the meager acquisition of southern Albania.
To try to control the country and stop a possible revolution, the King called back as Prime Minister the old man of the Italian politics himself, Giovanni Giolitti.
Giolitti used a divide et imperia politics against both socialists and fascists trying to make alliance with the more moderate part of both side and shift the guilt for the defeat to the so-called cowardly lion and scared Rooster better know as Great Britain and France, the ally of Italy during the war.
While the general relationships between Italy and his former allies were now much cooler than during the war, both Paris and London know that at this stage they needed all the help possible and a possible revolution in the middle of Europe can create a cascade effect, unseen by the time of the Napoleonic War.
For this reason the British government decided to 'forgive' some of the Italian debt, so to help that nation economic recovery and keep the wanna-be revolutionaries at bay.
1921, the people of Italy had voted, Armando Diaz, a war hero and candidate for the Partito Nazionalista Italiano but considered a moderate and greatly supported by the Liberals, was now Prime Minister of Italy. 1922 the Italian Armament Upgrade Programme was in full swing, French and British advisors had been grudgingly brought in to train the New Italian Army and the Russian tank makers to design the new Italian tanks. Germany and her allies looked on in contempt; surely Italy alone could not hope to reverse the crushing defeat of the Great War.
In Bulgaria the same was happening. The Bulgarian army was modernizing and improving, German advisors were improving their tanks, navy and army. The Ottomans too were upgrading, but they politically also were trying to hold onto their Arab provinces which would slow to accept Modernization.
Greece in the late 10's was the troubled child of Europe, the so-called 'national schism' had become a civil war between Republicans and Royalist with communist and socialist throw in the middle trying to get support for their agenda. For sometime all the powers decided to implement an hand-off policy and not officially intervene in the internal conflict (while covertly) supporting their favorite faction; but this 'gentlemen's agreement' was not destined to last as the border incidents proliferate and the violence started to expand over the Greeks border, Sofia decided to intervene.
Bulgarian troops entered the beleaguered nation the 14 February 1919 occupy the territory lost during the second Balkan war, while this move created great concern in all the European government it also opened the flood of foreign intervention.
A month later Italian troops totally evicted the remaining Greeks troops in the territory of the former 'Republic of Northern Epirus' and citing a recent series of attack at Italian border outpost a naval task force was sent to occupy Corfu; at the same time the Ottoman navy started the occupation of the nearest Greeks island, also citing security reason.
This blatant land grab even if caused a series of protest in many chancellery, at least had the positive effect of bring all the part at the negotiation table so to form a provisional government and end the civil war. Naturally all the request to retreat the troops from the occupied territory fallen on deaf ears so creating a strong revanchist movement on Greece
* originally the British back down from the project and the territory allocated at the Italian Somalia was slightly less...here both nation need a diplomatic boost and are a lot less spent.
Belgium in the chaotic 20’s
The Great war had caused an enormous amount of damage in the little brave nation of Belgium; not only physical but also social; probably even more than in the other nations has Belgium was practically forced to participate in the conflict when it's neutrality was violated by the German invasion.
By the signing of the Treaty of Amiens the nation was in his third year of foreign occupation; a very harsh one by any standard as not only the government of the conquered nation was forced to pay for the expense of occupiers, and just that almost caused the crash of the local economy in the long run, but many Belgians were sent in Germany as forced labor to substitute the men conscripted.
Even at the moment of the official end of the hostilities and with official protest from many nations around the world, a great number of this forced laborers were in Germans work camp; the great majority of them had to wait months before finally see home again.
Naturally it’s impossible to talk about Belgium during the Great War and not speak of the local resistance, more than 300 separate group of freedom fighters existed, principally tasked in liberate political prisoners and gather intelligence even if the occasional armed attack happened.
This situation prompted the Germans in starting the event that’s commonly called the ‘Rape of Belgium’ otherwise know as the occupied attempt to quell all local resistance with any methods not matter how brutal. Naturally the occupiers not only used brutal force but also tried the classic divide et imperia tactic, trying to earn the loyalty of the Flemish part of the population, at the time systematically discriminated by the Walloons who held the overwhelming majority of the power in the nation.
One of the more visible sign of this politic was the creation of the Von Bissing University in Ghent, the first Dutch-only speaking university of Belgium, a project greatly supported by the military governor Von Bissing.
Divided, traumatized, with the economy in shambles and the enormous destruction caused by the initial fighting and the retreating troops pillaging, Belgium outlook entering the new decades was very grim.
The amount of reparations that the German government was ready to give was much less of what requested by the Belgians, as only a billion of German mark was deemed necessary to repay the just evacuated nation; this sum was unable to revive the crippled postwar Belgian economy.
Even the foreign situation was not particularly favorable at the moment, as many still feared Germany and thought that the politic of neutrality was nowadays obsolete; unfortunately the British were ready to pledge their assistance in preserve Belgium border only if such politics continued. On the other border, relations with Netherlands, greatly worsened as it was seen as a willing accomplice of the invaders and a supporter of the Flemish extremist; during this immediate post-liberation period the first territorial demand towards Zeeland were done, it’s better remember that this was not done by some fringe party, but very popular members of the parliament added their voices at this request.
So in this political climate the Belgian government was forced at drastic decision to acquire the necessary money to revitalize the economy and start a strong rearmament process.
In September 1925 the prime minister of Belgium in the name of the King announced at the world that the Belgian Congo was on sale, or at least part of it.
Naturally while the colony was rich and coveted by many, there were some obstacle for the various would-be client; firstly any German offer was refused without even know the amount of treasure offered and secondly, other prospective buyer don’t have the money requested like Italy or France.
In the end only the United Kingdom had the money and the political clout to enter serious negotiation with Bruxelles for the acquisition of the colony.
For almost a year in a series of tense encounter between the two delegation, one headed by minister plenipotentiary Paul-Emile Janson and the other by Secretary of State for the Colonies Winston Churchill, a series of proposal and counterproposal were done but while the territory demanded, the east part of the colony so to finally build the always dreamed trans African railway, was not a problem, the price for it at the contrary was a serious obstacle. However the Building would take much time to go through the Mountainous Rainforest Terrain and the cost to the already indebted nation was significant.
In July 1926 finally an agreement was reached and for the equivalent of 500 million of dollars the eastern part of the Belgian colony was now a British property.
In Belgium the sell of half of their only and very profitable colony precipitated a serious political crisis, forcing the king to appoint directly the prime minister after the fall of three governments in less than a month and call the army to quell the most widespread disorders.
Amid this chaos many neglected to pay attention at some not very publicized development between the diplomacy of France and Belgium, more precisely a treaty of friendships and military cooperation that many can see as the begin of a formal alliance between the two nations.
Polarization and Economics.
In 1923 the buildup of Tension from the Humiliation China had suffered at the hands of Foreign powers has risen to a crescendo. Large Riots has started against the corrupt landowning classes and also many Foreign business especially Japanese ones. However the Riots were eventually put down mostly by the German trained Army but the Japanese government used this as an excuse to sail their navy near Shanghai while trying to extract concessions from China for the damage caused to their businesses. However they were blocked by the German East Squadron which was based in Shanghai and the Republic of China’s navy (mostly German ships sold to them). After backroom deals Japan backed down with only minor concessions. With the continued uneasy peace with Japan the Central government used the opportunity to Crush several of the Minor Warlords and managed to get many more to unify with the Government in the United Front. The Communist Parties (though disunited due to No other communist state and outside support) either joined up or were purged. The moderate parties joined due to the reforms pushed for by the German advisors while the more Radical ones were seen as too much of a threat. The More Moderate ones branded themselves the United Workers and Peasants Socialist party.
The Reforms pushed for by the German Advisors included a land reform package which helped reform the very backwards Agricultural systems in place. Many landlords had their land holdings broken up and compensated them with Shares in the new Railroads, Factories, Mines and other developing Infrastructure. Cooperatives replaced the large landowners to provide enough capital for Maintenance and Development.
Other reforms to encourage Literacy and Health were also made. German as well as some Austrian-Hungarian and Bulgarian missionaries opened up schools, churches, hospitals and Charities throughout the Central Government Controlled China. This had the goal from the German point of view of spreading Christianity and the German language.
However these reforms also had negative repercussions. The land Reforms freed up labor to move to the Growing Industry but Growing Unemployment made Radical groups like the suppressed Radical Communist Groups gaining support.
Also an attempted coup was made by more conservative army elements backed by Many Landowners. The Coup caused a mini civil war within many major cities and many of the Land Estates cut off food to the City. The loyalist elements of the Army as well as many peasant Counter rebellions against the Landowners lead to a crushing of the Coup. This helped make the Land reforms easier as the rebelling landowners had all their land taken and were executed.
The Other Educational reforms also made a growing group of religious leaders opposing the Missionary efforts. However the various religions didn’t present a united front and Christianity of all sects continued to grow.
However the final major change was a comprehensive treaty signed between the Central powers and China. China was formally made part of the Teutonic Hegemony. Also China formally joined the New Zollverein in a Provisionary status which made it Germany (and the Baltics), Poland, Bulgaria, The Ottomans (and the Caucasus Republics) and now China. Austria-Hungary remained an observer but still kept it’s heavily protected industry but gradually lowered tariffs with the Central Powers.
The Chinese Provisionary status was a ten year period of lowering of tariffs as well as reforms in Labor laws, Regulation (mainly to prevent unfair competition than any real concern for Chinese workers welfare). Also the Tariffs while lowering on both sides remained unequal favoring Germany and the Other Central powers in Industries that they wanted protected. One reform also allowed Migration in the Zollverein to the German colonies and also relaxed migration in between the European members.
These changes weren’t ignored by the Other powers. The British, Russians French, Italians and Belgium formed an economic treaty the Entente Economic Pact (EEP) to counter the Central powers growing economic powers and the various commonwealth nations and puppet states soon joined in (the new Arab state). Other states like the Netherlands and Spain were increasing pressured to join one side or another. The First to slide into one of the alliances was Sweden who joined strictly economically into the New Zollverein due to the significant economic ties with Germany. (also unofficially they wanted to annex Finland or make it Independent). Soon after Siam (Thailand) was pressured to either be divided between France and Britain or join. However this was an unequal treaty. Another state forced into such an unequal treaty was Ethiopia who was forced into the Treaty and also had to establish the Ogaden Region as an ‘Autonomous’ region but basically was a joint colony of Italy, France and Britain.
Japan as a much more powerful state joined as an equal member. However they weren’t able to gain migration rights to European colonies particularly Australia and New Zealand who kept
The final Economic treaty was the Monroe Pact by the USA which helped push its economic power in the Americas. The first to join were the Banana republics of Costa Rica, Honduras, and Guatemala and the US puppet state of Cuba and Panama. This was more of a formalization of the existing Banana republic status of these nations. Brazil would also join but on a less unequal but still subservient status. Argentina would be between the EEP and the Monroe pact but largely leaned to the EEP. Other Latin American states were fought over by the Alliances.
All these changes have further Polarized the World between the Three Factions. The other nations have increasingly being pressured to join one alliance or another.
The Treaty of Amiens
The Treaty of Amiens September 15th 1917 and The Treaty of Venice December 11th 1917
Theobald Bethmann-Hollweg was dead; the Chancellor of the German Reich had died of a suspected heart attack on May 10th 1915. The public believed that this was caused by overwork and the stress caused by the Lusitania sinking. The U.S. had declared war on Germany, but Franz Von Papen the German ambassador to the U.S. had ensured the Kaiser that the U.S. wouldn't be able to offer any serious resistance in its present economic and military state...at least for some time Thus the unrestrained submarine warfare continued per the orders of Hugo Von Pohl the Commander of the High Seas fleet.
Then in February 1917 Von Falkenhayn, the German Chief of General Staff, unleashed a new plan the Falkenhayn Offensive (this is similar to the Ludendorff Offensive OTL, but the forces include large cavalry divisions). This offensive swept through the Entente Lines, backed by some tanks. But outside the town of Ypres was the worst fighting, British troops were prevented from retreating by a cavalry manoeuvre blocking the main road out of Ypres and were encircled. This resulted in the near-total slaughter of the British troops in the town.
On the 3rd May 1917 the government of Russia lead by Prime Minister Kerensky in name of the newly crowned Tsar Michel asked the term for peace. The following week the British government received a German diplomatic proposal for peace negotiations; Asquith informed King George V of the Cabinet’s decision to accept it, as the war was becoming too unpopular and the recent defeat at Ypres and Russian surrender were too much. The Americans were just arrived in France and there will need sometime before they will be ready for an offensive and time was something that they don't have. The French government agreed to sign a peace treaty the next day, while Italy accepted the ceasefire a couple of days later.
German rationale for launching this peace offensive was that time was not on their side, while the Russian surrender had relieved a lot of pressure from them, the blockade greatly affected the welfare of the population and her allies were faltering, as the Hapsburg Emperor not very subtly had make his desire to ask peace term in the near future, very clear; not even considering the continuing arrive of fresh American troops that more sooner than later will have tip the balance in favour of the Entente
Entente and Central Powers dignitaries met in the German occupied town of Amiens for peace negotiations. Under the directions of the level-headed and shrewd Wilhelm Von Bismarck (who survived the peritonitis that killed him IOTL), Bethmann-Hollweg’s replacement as Chancellor, Germany offered a not unreasonable (in their view) peace deal:
1. Germany is allowed to annex Luxembourg and the Baltic states (these are the states they ‘annexed’ following the Brest-Litovsk Treaty IOTL).
2. An independent Poland is set up in the along the borders of Congress Poland, with Archduke Charles Stephen of Austria as King.
3. The Kingdom of Serbia and Montenegro will enter the Austrian sphere of influence
4. Italy is granted puppet control of Albania, south of the river Vjose.
5. Germany forfeits all her colonies except German East Africa.
6. Germany will proceed to retreat from Belgium and the other occupied territories as soon as possible.
7. No reparations are required from either side, except the compensation granted at Belgium for the devastation caused by the German invasion.
8. An independent Arab state is formed encompassing Arabia and Ottoman Hejaz. The Ottomans are granted the Dodecanese Islands and Russian land in the Caucasus.
Seeing no other alternative the Entente powers (but Italy, who left the negotiation after a month due to her demand being not even discussed, the proper peace treaty between Italy and the CP was signed a couple of months later, ) signed the Treaty of Amiens.
In the Italy-CP peace deal also know as the Treaty of Venice, two main points were agreed:
1. Italy agreed to demilitarise Venetia.
2. Austria agreed to partition Albania along the river Vjose.
This deal was signed but would stir up the Italian nationalist fervour, (just as the treaty of Versailles did in Germany IOTL)
The treaty of Amiens and Venice usually get all the historian attention and at the first is generally, even if wrongly, given all the credit for the post war territorial change.
In reality the conflict was formally ended by the signing of various treaty; here we can see a brief description of minor ones signed by the secondary member of the Central Powers:
Treaty of Bucharest
Signed by representative of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire, the Kingdom of Bulgaria and the Kingdom of Romania the 1 September 1917.
The Romanian Kingdom found himself suddenly isolated due to the unilateral surrender of the Russian was forced to ask terms or face total defeat.
1) Romania had to return Southern Dobruja to Bulgaria
2) Romania had to give control of the Carpathian Pass to Austria-Hungary
Treaty of Pogdorica
Signed the 19 September 1917 by representative of the Kingdom of Serbia and the Kingdom of Bulgaria, with a delegation of the Austrian-Hungary Empire as observer.
The document signed established the formal passage of the control of Vardar Macedonia* from Serbia to Bulgaria
Treaty of Sofia
Signed the 16 September 1917 by representative of the Ottoman and Russian Empires to end the hostilities between their two nation.
The document is seen by many historian as a mere adjunct at the Amiens Treaty and was separated only due to the insistence of Enver Pasha who want to demonstrate the independence and influence of the Ottoman Empire.
The treaty establish:
1) The return of the territory of the territory lost to the Russian during the war of 77-78, specifically the district of Kars, Batumi and Ardahan.
2) The formation of the following nation:
- Republic of Armenia
- Democratic Republic of Georgia
- National Republic of Azerbaijan
all the three nation were under Ottoman protection and under her sphere of influence.
Much of the German reason for agreeing to award at the Ottoman so much territory even if their war performance was lackluster was one of pure pragmatism. The government in Constantinople faced a terrible internal crisis and a dangerous diminishing of his credibility due to the loss of Arabia and the general devastation due to the conflict.
For this reason diplomats in Berlin greatly insisted in concession towards them, even agreeing with the Russian in dropping some of their claim towards Ukraine and Polish territory as the continuing presence of a German aligned nation on the middle east was deemed of greater importance.
* territory correspondent at OTL modern Republic of Macedonia
Though Peace had fallen over Europe there were still behind the scene conflict and the Nations worked to integrate their new conquests. Around the world many changes were wrought in the changes directly following the war.
Africa
Africa had been despite setbacks in East Africa at the hands of German General Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck being overall a Success for the Entente. This was reflected in the Treaty by German losing the colonies of Togoland, The Southern Half of German South West Africa (the map says that is still German while the treaty says it is gone) and German Cameroon. The only colony to retain untouched was German East Africa which still blocked the British project to run a Railroad from Cairo to Capetown. (and thus remained a future target for the British).
These changes as a result would mean many German moving from the captured colonies either back home to Germany or to the remaining possessions in Africa. However many especially in German South west Africa now under South African control would remain there.
Asia
In Asia Japan had achieved their major goals with the securing of German possessions. However China which had only declared war on Germany the month previously in the 14th of August was displeased at the treaty that granted Japan the German concessions in China particularly the Shantung (Shandong) Peninsula as well as the twenty one demands which had been forced on Nation in January 18, 1915. This event lead to the Chinese refusing to sign the Treaty of Amiens and instead signing a separate treaty with Germany. There were also large scale riots and Boycotts of Japanese products which made the already unstable nation worse.
Germany however even though hostilities had recently only ended was seen as a safe power for China to work with now they had no possessions in China. So just after peace was signed the Germans and Chinese agreed to new economic ties (less exploitative on China) and also semi-secretly got German military trainers to go to China. Germany also sold some older equipment to China which hoped to be able to resist future Japanese threats. However China remained unstable .
Europe and Middle East
Europe was the theater where the Central powers had won the war despite numerous setbacks elsewhere. Germany now stood within striking distance of many of Russia's major cities, Austria- Hungary had secured a large buffer and the Balkans were now largely dominated by the Central powers. While Austria - Hungary on paper was extremely powerful it more and more through the war had to lean on Germany for support and it had to give lots of Autonomy to the Various minorities.
As part of Securing the Central Powers gains and alliance Germany and German investors started to embark on an ambitious project. The Project was to
- Change the Railroad Gauges in the New territories to the German standard
- Finish the Berlin to Baghdad Railway
- Also heavily build up Rail routes in Underdeveloped areas particularly in the Ottoman Empire
- Help the Ottomans and Bulgarians build up their navy especially now the Austrians were bottled up in the Adriatic by Italian control of Albania
Also in the New territories in the Baltic and also the Kingdom of Poland there was little unrest except for the Russian minority. However despite greater freedom in Poland there was greater push for Austrian and German Poland to Unite with the Kingdom. At the moment however free movement over the border was allowed (especially demanded by the Prussian Junkers who relied on Seasonal polish labor in Farming and Common Nationalism). But aside from that the New Kingdom of Poland remained largely satisfied for now with Common economic ties and fear of Russia largely overriding Nationalism.
The Austrian puppet states however in Serbia, Montenegro and Northern Albania as well as some parts of Bulgarian controlled Macedon were ripe with rebellion. Assassinations, riots and boycotts are daily events and heavy army crackdowns have aggravated these. Also the rest of Albania which during the war had been in civil war had also spilled over to some degree. Nationalist and Communist groups had grown in power throughout the Occupied territories, wider Austria- Hungary and also many other nations on both side.
And mine:
After the war ended Italy was plagued for many months by political violence, as the more extreme socialist and the right wing extremist calling themselves the 'fascisti' and lead by the poet Gabriele D'Annunzio, violently clashed with government forces and among themselves.
The core motivation for the violent protest was the great expenditure of blood and treasure of the war, that had bring at the nation nothing except sorrow, economic problem and the meager acquisition of southern Albania.
To try to control the country and stop a possible revolution, the King called back as Prime Minister the old man of the Italian politics himself, Giovanni Giolitti.
Giolitti used a divide et imperia politics against both socialists and fascists trying to make alliance with the more moderate part of both side and shift the guilt for the defeat to the so-called cowardly lion and scared Rooster better know as Great Britain and France, the ally of Italy during the war.
While the general relationships between Italy and his former allies were now much cooler than during the war, both Paris and London know that at this stage they needed all the help possible and a possible revolution in the middle of Europe can create a cascade effect, unseen by the time of the Napoleonic War.
For this reason the British government decided to 'forgive' some of the Italian debt, so to help that nation economic recovery and keep the wanna-be revolutionaries at bay.
1921, the people of Italy had voted, Armando Diaz, a war hero and candidate for the Partito Nazionalista Italiano but considered a moderate and greatly supported by the Liberals, was now Prime Minister of Italy. 1922 the Italian Armament Upgrade Programme was in full swing, French and British advisors had been grudgingly brought in to train the New Italian Army and the Russian tank makers to design the new Italian tanks. Germany and her allies looked on in contempt; surely Italy alone could not hope to reverse the crushing defeat of the Great War.
In Bulgaria the same was happening. The Bulgarian army was modernizing and improving, German advisors were improving their tanks, navy and army. The Ottomans too were upgrading, but they politically also were trying to hold onto their Arab provinces which would slow to accept Modernization.
Greece in the late 10's was the troubled child of Europe, the so-called 'national schism' had become a civil war between Republicans and Royalist with communist and socialist throw in the middle trying to get support for their agenda. For sometime all the powers decided to implement an hand-off policy and not officially intervene in the internal conflict (while covertly) supporting their favorite faction; but this 'gentlemen's agreement' was not destined to last as the border incidents proliferate and the violence started to expand over the Greeks border, Sofia decided to intervene.
Bulgarian troops entered the beleaguered nation the 14 February 1919 occupy the territory lost during the second Balkan war, while this move created great concern in all the European government it also opened the flood of foreign intervention.
A month later Italian troops totally evicted the remaining Greeks troops in the territory of the former 'Republic of Northern Epirus' and citing a recent series of attack at Italian border outpost a naval task force was sent to occupy Corfu; at the same time the Ottoman navy started the occupation of the nearest Greeks island, also citing security reason.
This blatant land grab even if caused a series of protest in many chancellery, at least had the positive effect of bring all the part at the negotiation table so to form a provisional government and end the civil war. Naturally all the request to retreat the troops from the occupied territory fallen on deaf ears so creating a strong revanchist movement on Greece
* originally the British back down from the project and the territory allocated at the Italian Somalia was slightly less...here both nation need a diplomatic boost and are a lot less spent.
Belgium in the chaotic 20’s
The Great war had caused an enormous amount of damage in the little brave nation of Belgium; not only physical but also social; probably even more than in the other nations has Belgium was practically forced to participate in the conflict when it's neutrality was violated by the German invasion.
By the signing of the Treaty of Amiens the nation was in his third year of foreign occupation; a very harsh one by any standard as not only the government of the conquered nation was forced to pay for the expense of occupiers, and just that almost caused the crash of the local economy in the long run, but many Belgians were sent in Germany as forced labor to substitute the men conscripted.
Even at the moment of the official end of the hostilities and with official protest from many nations around the world, a great number of this forced laborers were in Germans work camp; the great majority of them had to wait months before finally see home again.
Naturally it’s impossible to talk about Belgium during the Great War and not speak of the local resistance, more than 300 separate group of freedom fighters existed, principally tasked in liberate political prisoners and gather intelligence even if the occasional armed attack happened.
This situation prompted the Germans in starting the event that’s commonly called the ‘Rape of Belgium’ otherwise know as the occupied attempt to quell all local resistance with any methods not matter how brutal. Naturally the occupiers not only used brutal force but also tried the classic divide et imperia tactic, trying to earn the loyalty of the Flemish part of the population, at the time systematically discriminated by the Walloons who held the overwhelming majority of the power in the nation.
One of the more visible sign of this politic was the creation of the Von Bissing University in Ghent, the first Dutch-only speaking university of Belgium, a project greatly supported by the military governor Von Bissing.
Divided, traumatized, with the economy in shambles and the enormous destruction caused by the initial fighting and the retreating troops pillaging, Belgium outlook entering the new decades was very grim.
The amount of reparations that the German government was ready to give was much less of what requested by the Belgians, as only a billion of German mark was deemed necessary to repay the just evacuated nation; this sum was unable to revive the crippled postwar Belgian economy.
Even the foreign situation was not particularly favorable at the moment, as many still feared Germany and thought that the politic of neutrality was nowadays obsolete; unfortunately the British were ready to pledge their assistance in preserve Belgium border only if such politics continued. On the other border, relations with Netherlands, greatly worsened as it was seen as a willing accomplice of the invaders and a supporter of the Flemish extremist; during this immediate post-liberation period the first territorial demand towards Zeeland were done, it’s better remember that this was not done by some fringe party, but very popular members of the parliament added their voices at this request.
So in this political climate the Belgian government was forced at drastic decision to acquire the necessary money to revitalize the economy and start a strong rearmament process.
In September 1925 the prime minister of Belgium in the name of the King announced at the world that the Belgian Congo was on sale, or at least part of it.
Naturally while the colony was rich and coveted by many, there were some obstacle for the various would-be client; firstly any German offer was refused without even know the amount of treasure offered and secondly, other prospective buyer don’t have the money requested like Italy or France.
In the end only the United Kingdom had the money and the political clout to enter serious negotiation with Bruxelles for the acquisition of the colony.
For almost a year in a series of tense encounter between the two delegation, one headed by minister plenipotentiary Paul-Emile Janson and the other by Secretary of State for the Colonies Winston Churchill, a series of proposal and counterproposal were done but while the territory demanded, the east part of the colony so to finally build the always dreamed trans African railway, was not a problem, the price for it at the contrary was a serious obstacle. However the Building would take much time to go through the Mountainous Rainforest Terrain and the cost to the already indebted nation was significant.
In July 1926 finally an agreement was reached and for the equivalent of 500 million of dollars the eastern part of the Belgian colony was now a British property.
In Belgium the sell of half of their only and very profitable colony precipitated a serious political crisis, forcing the king to appoint directly the prime minister after the fall of three governments in less than a month and call the army to quell the most widespread disorders.
Amid this chaos many neglected to pay attention at some not very publicized development between the diplomacy of France and Belgium, more precisely a treaty of friendships and military cooperation that many can see as the begin of a formal alliance between the two nations.
Polarization and Economics.
In 1923 the buildup of Tension from the Humiliation China had suffered at the hands of Foreign powers has risen to a crescendo. Large Riots has started against the corrupt landowning classes and also many Foreign business especially Japanese ones. However the Riots were eventually put down mostly by the German trained Army but the Japanese government used this as an excuse to sail their navy near Shanghai while trying to extract concessions from China for the damage caused to their businesses. However they were blocked by the German East Squadron which was based in Shanghai and the Republic of China’s navy (mostly German ships sold to them). After backroom deals Japan backed down with only minor concessions. With the continued uneasy peace with Japan the Central government used the opportunity to Crush several of the Minor Warlords and managed to get many more to unify with the Government in the United Front. The Communist Parties (though disunited due to No other communist state and outside support) either joined up or were purged. The moderate parties joined due to the reforms pushed for by the German advisors while the more Radical ones were seen as too much of a threat. The More Moderate ones branded themselves the United Workers and Peasants Socialist party.
The Reforms pushed for by the German Advisors included a land reform package which helped reform the very backwards Agricultural systems in place. Many landlords had their land holdings broken up and compensated them with Shares in the new Railroads, Factories, Mines and other developing Infrastructure. Cooperatives replaced the large landowners to provide enough capital for Maintenance and Development.
Other reforms to encourage Literacy and Health were also made. German as well as some Austrian-Hungarian and Bulgarian missionaries opened up schools, churches, hospitals and Charities throughout the Central Government Controlled China. This had the goal from the German point of view of spreading Christianity and the German language.
However these reforms also had negative repercussions. The land Reforms freed up labor to move to the Growing Industry but Growing Unemployment made Radical groups like the suppressed Radical Communist Groups gaining support.
Also an attempted coup was made by more conservative army elements backed by Many Landowners. The Coup caused a mini civil war within many major cities and many of the Land Estates cut off food to the City. The loyalist elements of the Army as well as many peasant Counter rebellions against the Landowners lead to a crushing of the Coup. This helped make the Land reforms easier as the rebelling landowners had all their land taken and were executed.
The Other Educational reforms also made a growing group of religious leaders opposing the Missionary efforts. However the various religions didn’t present a united front and Christianity of all sects continued to grow.
However the final major change was a comprehensive treaty signed between the Central powers and China. China was formally made part of the Teutonic Hegemony. Also China formally joined the New Zollverein in a Provisionary status which made it Germany (and the Baltics), Poland, Bulgaria, The Ottomans (and the Caucasus Republics) and now China. Austria-Hungary remained an observer but still kept it’s heavily protected industry but gradually lowered tariffs with the Central Powers.
The Chinese Provisionary status was a ten year period of lowering of tariffs as well as reforms in Labor laws, Regulation (mainly to prevent unfair competition than any real concern for Chinese workers welfare). Also the Tariffs while lowering on both sides remained unequal favoring Germany and the Other Central powers in Industries that they wanted protected. One reform also allowed Migration in the Zollverein to the German colonies and also relaxed migration in between the European members.
These changes weren’t ignored by the Other powers. The British, Russians French, Italians and Belgium formed an economic treaty the Entente Economic Pact (EEP) to counter the Central powers growing economic powers and the various commonwealth nations and puppet states soon joined in (the new Arab state). Other states like the Netherlands and Spain were increasing pressured to join one side or another. The First to slide into one of the alliances was Sweden who joined strictly economically into the New Zollverein due to the significant economic ties with Germany. (also unofficially they wanted to annex Finland or make it Independent). Soon after Siam (Thailand) was pressured to either be divided between France and Britain or join. However this was an unequal treaty. Another state forced into such an unequal treaty was Ethiopia who was forced into the Treaty and also had to establish the Ogaden Region as an ‘Autonomous’ region but basically was a joint colony of Italy, France and Britain.
Japan as a much more powerful state joined as an equal member. However they weren’t able to gain migration rights to European colonies particularly Australia and New Zealand who kept
The final Economic treaty was the Monroe Pact by the USA which helped push its economic power in the Americas. The first to join were the Banana republics of Costa Rica, Honduras, and Guatemala and the US puppet state of Cuba and Panama. This was more of a formalization of the existing Banana republic status of these nations. Brazil would also join but on a less unequal but still subservient status. Argentina would be between the EEP and the Monroe pact but largely leaned to the EEP. Other Latin American states were fought over by the Alliances.
All these changes have further Polarized the World between the Three Factions. The other nations have increasingly being pressured to join one alliance or another.
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