A Shift in Priorities

[wormyguy]

I personally think this is an excellent TL too. I've been a reader since the beginning!

Two things I'd like to nitpick in your more recent posts.

1. I don't think there was anything resembling a modern day "speedboat" in 1919.

2. I find it hard to believe that the Germans are suddenly and inexplicably adopting progressive racial attitudes in the colonies. The mere fact that a Socialist government is in power in Berlin does not change people's (mis)perceptions, and racial attitudes. OTL, Germans generally thought of the Africans in a way similar to this (see picture). Doesn't seem like its happening.

[rast]

IOTL the Italians used "speedboats" against the Austro-Hungarian Navy. The MAS - Motoscafi Armati Silurante - boats, which could run up to 45 knots. I've taken the liberty to transplant this idea to Ireland.

The German government is Socialist-Catholic/Christian-Progressive. Their attitude towards the African natives may not be shared by all Germans, but they are the ones to decide.
The SPD always was contra colonies, they now only agree when improvements are made in respect to human rights et cetera.
Also the loyalty of the Askaris and load bearers in Lettow-Vorbeck's campaigns has done much to let appear Africans in a better light to the Germans.

[rast]

Visitors in the Night

Sheik Salim Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah was not accustomed to welcoming visitors after midnight. But these two gentlemen the ruler of Al Kuwayt could not turn away.
They were representatives of the Sublime Porte and their message was very important for Al-Sabah. An Ottoman army under General Mehmet Vehib Pasha was approaching the sheikdom. Al-Sabah could retain all the privileges that he had and would receive subsidies from the Sublime Porte in future (instead of the British payments he had been getting annualy until now), if he formally announced to lead his sheikdom back under the benevolent dominion of the Ottoman Empire and asked his British guests to leave country.
The Sublime Porte would honour his sheikdom as autonomous “Caza” and himself as “Quaimmaqam” (provincial sub-governor).
In case he did not heed their advice, the visitors painted a very vivid picture of what would happen to him and his family.
Vehib Pasha’s army would definitely enter the sheikdom, it was up to Al-Sabah to either be honoured as leader of an autonomous province loyal to the Ottoman Empire – or to be executed in public…
If he thought he could get away and live in exile, well, one would find him – but he then would be the last of his family to die and see all others perish before he finally met his fate.

Already on the next morning, on December 4th, 1919, Sheik Al-Sabah announced that Allah had sent him a dream, in which the Omnipotent and All-Merciful had given him direction to turn away from the British infidels and return to the orthodox palladium of the Sublime Porte.
He – of course – would follow this instruction and had already asked the Sublime Porte to send forces to protect the sheikdom.
The British he asked to evacuate his country at once.

For the British this was another unwelcome crisis. Ireland and India were already absorbing all their means and capabilities. Was Kuwait worth an armed confrontation with the Ottomans?
It had been secured as British foothold into Mesopotamia, when the Ottoman Empire seemed on the decline. But today, the Turks were stronger than they ever had been during the last one hundered years. Kuwait City was a modest trading town living from pearl fishery. It provided a good harbour, but its hinterland was only sandy desert. – Wasn’t it better to concentrate on Persia where there was oil?

While discussions in London still were going on, General Vehip Pasha’s army entered Kuwait.

The British had a weak brigade in Kuwait, three infantry battalions, two squadrons of cavalry, some guns and four airplanes, all under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Bernhard L. Montgomery.
Montgomery’s orders were to do nothing, neither move against the Ottoman force nor leave country.
When an envoy of Vehib Pasha demanded that his units hand over their weapons to the Turks, Montgomery refused. He stated that he had been ordered not to fight against the Ottoman forces, if they didn’t attack him, but that he also had no intention of surrendering weapons and going into internment.
Vehib Pasha had been told that war with Britain was the undesired outcome of this venture. He therefore put a ring of sentries around the British garrison and went on to conduct business as usual.

On December 12th, 1919, Lieutenant-Colonel Montgomery finally received order to evacuate his brigade to Abadan in Persia.
On December 14th, the Ottoman cruiser “Drama” (ex-Italian “Libia”) entered Kuwait port.

[rast]

Another Insurgency

On December 15th, 1919, the Slovak Revolt broke out.
The Slovaks had seen the Czechs carve out their – however small – own state. They were embittered by continued attempts at Magyarisation and tired of Hungarian dominance.
Led by Father Andrej Hlinka and František Skyčák, the Slovak National Council at Bratislava (known as “Pressburg” to the Germans and “Pozsony” to the Hungarians) declared national independence and secession from Hungary. Slovakian reservists were called for service with the Slovak National Army, and those Slovaks currently serving in the Hungarian army were prompted to desert.
One problem was that Slovakian borders to Hungary were not defined at all and although the Slovakians provided the majority in the northern districts of Hungary, there were also strong Hungarian elements, accounting approximately for one third of the total population. The Slovaks had belonged to the Hungarian Kingdom since the early Middle Age; they never had lived in a state of their own.
The other problem obviously was that the Hungarians had absolutely no intention of letting Slovak secession happen.

While the Hungarian army was starting to mobilise, the Slovak National Council and the Czech government proclaimed the creation of the Czecho-Slovakian Republic on December 17th. Czech army elements immediately moved into Slovakia and disarmed Hungarian army garrisons and police posts.
General Jan Syrový, once commander of the Czech Legion, was appointed commander of the Czecho-Slovakian armed forces.

Appeals by the Hungarian government to stop the secession and return to the old order in exchange for exemption from punishment for the insurgents and deserters did not show any results.
Hungarian foreign minister István Burián of Rajecz, himself a scion of Slovak landed gentry, travelled to Vienna to meet his German colleague von Kühlmann.
Kühlmann explained that Czechia had no treaty of friendship or mutual support with Germany. Should Hungary find it necessary to invade Czechia, Germany would protect her borders, refuse admittance for Czechs and Slovaks and remain benevolently neutral towards Hungary. The only German demand was that German residential areas in northern Hungary or Czechia be treated with utter care by the Hungarians.

The Hungarian Army took until mid-January before they were ready. Now it was high winter in the northern Hungarian mountains. General Field Marshal Hermann Kövess of Kövessháza, the commander of the Hungarian Army had detailed Field Marshal Svetozar Boroëvić of Bojna, a born Serb, to command the forces that were to suppress the Slovak revolt.
Boroëvić had the elite Bosniak Corps, two Croat Corps and five Hungarian Corps. This was considered more than sufficient to subdue the insurgency in Felvidék (Upper Hungary) as Slovakia was known to the Hungarians.

On the opposing side, Jan Syrový had organised fifteen rifle divisions. He had men enough for more divisions, but still lacked machine guns and artillery, although the workers in the Czech armament plants were toiling day and night. Every additional week would give him five batteries and 50 machine guns more. Syrový was not very religious, but now he prayed for snow, the more snow the better...

[Parma]

Originally Posted by wormyguy

I personally think this is an excellent TL too. I've been a reader since the beginning!

Two things I'd like to nitpick in your more recent posts.

1. I don't think there was anything resembling a modern day "speedboat" in 1919.

2. I find it hard to believe that the Germans are suddenly and inexplicably adopting progressive racial attitudes in the colonies. The mere fact that a Socialist government is in power in Berlin does not change people's (mis)perceptions, and racial attitudes. OTL, Germans generally thought of the Africans in a way similar to this (see picture). Doesn't seem like its happening.

Also a nitpick but...
The immage of Africa, not only in Germany but also in the rest of Europe was of stereo types. On the otherhand Germany, even in OTL, had some very progressive idea's on various subjects in the 20ties. By the way the picture you show is not making a caricature of Africans but of the (German) colonials, the soldiers, officers and misionaries.

[rast]

Russian Winter

Snow was also falling in Russia, covering destruction and devastation. The Bolsheviks had led away approximately one third of the Russian population west of the Ural Mountains, preferably the young and healthy, leaving behind children and elderly people. The situation was tense, a famine was about to strike because transportation had almost completely broken down. Although the Ukraine and Germany were delivering foodstuffs, the railway lines had expertly been denied by the Bolsheviks and it was almost impossible to get food to the areas where it was most needed.
Grand Duke Kyrill, Regent of Russia, had taken court at St.Petersburg.
Pavel Milyukov had become prime minister, not really to the liking of the German government because he had been one of those who had wanted to continue the war after the February Revolution and the downfall of the Tsar in 1917. But the Germans generally remained in the background and did not interfere openly. General Hoffmann had been replaced by August Winnig as coordinator for the struggle against the Bolsheviks. Milyukov and Winnig had discovered that they could very well work together, both being unscrupulous characters and men of action. The Russian liberal imperialist and the German right wing socialist had entered a kind of gruff comradeship.
General Alekseev, recovered after a surgery of the heart, had taken the position of chief of staff of the Imperial Army. Yudenich and Denikin were now his army group commanders and preparing the spring offensive against the Bolsheviks. Alekseev knew that the Bolsheviks were working on a fortified line west of the Ural Mountains hoping to wear down the Tsarist forces, which had to operate at the end of weak and dicey supply lines, in rigorous defence. He hoped that Yudenich’s tanks would breach this line. The Germans had delivered some additional one hundred refurbished vehicles, raising the total number to more than 250. The Bolsheviks had nothing to counter these tanks, one hoped.
The army groups – or fronts, as the Russians called them – had been redeployed from the positions they had had attained at the end of the pursuit. It had not been possible to supply them. They had been dispersed and were now helping to distribute food to the Russian population – or to reconstruct the rail infrastructure. The “border” to the Bolsheviks was guarded by Cossack units under the command of General Krasnov, which also conducted forays into Bolshevik territory as reconnaissance by force.

In August 1918, Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, better known as Lenin, had been shot by a Social Revolutionary amazon named Fanya Kaplan. Lenin had survived, but a bullet was lodged in his neck at the juncture with the jaw, and another one in his left shoulder, the doctors thinking that removing them was too risky. From then on, the health of the Bolshevik leader had been on the decline.
The stress of the desperate Bolshevik struggle for survival added to the deteriorating health and on January 3rd, 1920, Lenin suffered a stroke, which left the right side of his body partially paralysed.
Actual leadership of the Bolshevik cause now fell to the triumvirate Grigory Zinoviev, Lew Kamenev and Grigory Sokolnikov, while Leon Trotsky ran the Red Army and Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky directed the Cheka, the internal state security organisation.
The Tsarists now amusedly pointed out that the Bolsheviks were led by four Jews and one Pole. A true Russian would not obey or follow such “elements”.
The abducted central Russian population had led to a complete congestion of existing quarters in the Ural area; this soon resulted in diseases spreading unimpeded. Cholera, typhoid fever and dysentery were on the rampage.
The military situation was not good either, the Japanese were now firmly established in the Vladivostok – Khabarovsk – Nikolayevsk area, Turkic Muslim Basmachi insurgent, supported by the Ottomans, threatened the southern flank between the Caspian Sea and the Altai Mountains, but the most formidable enemy was the Tsarist army in the west, massively fostered by the Germans.
Trotsky was furiously working on a defensive line that was designed to stop the Tsarists. He did not think that he really could stop them forever. His intention was to have them create Somme- or Flanders-like conditions, in which their advance would bog down because their own artillery had rendered the terrain nonnegotiable.
General Pavel Sytin, a former Tsarist officer, was now to operate against the Japanese, while Mikhail Frunze was to conduct the abolition of the Basmachi. – But the most important front remained the one in the west. Only when Trotsky succeeded in delaying Tsarist advance for another year by bogging them down in position warfare, did the Bolsheviks have a chance to consolidate their rule.

[rast]

Ship Ahoy!

Tsar Ferdinand and his Prime Minister Vasil Radoslavov still had not given up their attempts to get the northern part of Northern Dobruja. The Germans could not be talked into making changes to the Treaty of Bucharest. But may be one could “liberate” the area alone?
The Hungarians had own designs on Romania, they wouldn’t mind – rather join the raid. – Unfortunately, they were now kept busy by the Slovak Insurgency.
The Romanians would mind. Their army had not performed well in the war. But one must not underestimate them. They had lost opposite the Germans, a fate shared by the Serbs, which were known as tough fighters. Their army was small now but quite modern in its equipment and they could mobilise something like half a million men, quite on pair with the Bulgarians.
Well, perhaps better to wait until the Hungarians had finished off the Slovaks and were receptive again for proposals to alter the Romanian boundaries...

One could, in the meanwhile, work on the Bulgarian Navy. The Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino, once shipyard for Austro-Hungarian dreadnoughts, now part of broke Slovenia, had made a very attractive offer.
Ferdinand didn’t want dreadnoughts; he wanted submarines, fast torpedo boats – like the Italian MAS, some corvettes for costal patrol service and perhaps four to five destroyers. That would be enough for a start.
One would have naval bases at Varna, Burgas, Dedeagach, Kavala and Salonika. The Albanian ally would contribute bases at Durrës, Vlorë and Sarandë.
That was not inconsiderable; the Bulgarian Navy would be present in three maritime areas, the Adriatic, the Aegean and the Black Sea. The Hungarians might have all the former Austro-Hungarian capital ships; they still were bottled up in the Adriatic. The Greeks might have the battle cruiser “Georgios Averoff” and four modern destroyers, but Bulgaria had bases on both of their flanks. The Sublime Porte might still control the Bosporus Straights, but Bulgaria would control the approaches.
Ferdinand imagined that he, like good old Willy the Discharged, would have a nice fancy admiral’s uniform. Grand Admiral of the Bulgarian Navy, why not?
One needed some training installations as well. Best to ask the Germans, they were mad about education and training...

The Ottoman Navy had become quite powerful. They had received the dreadnoughts “Sultan Osman I.” and the “Reshadieh” from Britain (ex-“Agincourt” and ex-“Erin”), which the British had “borrowed” in 1914. They had the modern battleships “Sultan Murad” (ex-“Andrea Doria”) and the “Yilderim Bayezid” (ex-“Caio Duilio”) rendered by Italy. There still was the battle cruiser “Yavuz Sultan Selim” (ex-“Goeben”), which the Germans had donated to the Turks in 1914. And they had back the rather modern protected cruiser “Drama” (ex-“Libia”), which the Italians had “borrowed” in 1915. The “Turgut Reis” was a pre-dreadnought battleship; “Hamadiye” was another protected cruiser that had served as sample for “Drama”.
And there were five destroyers “Basra”, “Tasoz”, “Jadhigar-i-Millet”, “Muavenet-i-Millye” and “Numene-i-Hamije”.
One better kept on good terms with them. How about a treaty concerning the joint defence of the Bosporus Straights?
One could also co-operate with Hungary. They needed Italian and Bulgarian support to be able to sort the Adriatic at all. The Italians had kept three dreadnoughts, “Dante Alighieri”, “Conte di Cavour” and “Giulio Cesare”. The Germans now had four battleships stationed in Italy.
In all, the Central Powers and their new ally Italy could easily control the Mediterranean. The era of British supremacy had ended.
Ferdinand decided to invite the German squadron to Salonika and Varna; that would make a nice occasion to ask for German training support.

[Bmao]

Rast: You have an awesome timeline here, and demonstrate your clear understanding of the time period. I admit that the POD is rather, not ASB, but unbelievably lucky on the Germans part, but the sequence of events afterwards are very plausible.

You've grown quite a bit as a writer since the Central Powers Victorious Timeline we did via the newspaper articles. I had tried to resurrect the timeline a couple of times, but ultimately failed. However, the sequence of events you portray are better, for lack of a better term, in comparison to the one we did.

One question. What about the status of Britain and France's treaty ports in China? Britain I suppose keeps them, but I don't know about France.

In any case, keep up the good work.

[clifton]

Just a question was there any industry in siberia in that time? Will Namibia (German south-west Africa) be furter colonized in otl there were around 14,000 german settlers and around 200,000 natives, there were copper, daimond and farming possibilities?

[rast]

Clifton: Not much industry yet in Siberia, but in the Ural Mountain area, which is why the Bolsheviks must fight west of the Ural, if they lose the Ural, they are done.
German SW will not grow in German farming population, it already had the lion's share of German emigrants in Africa, more won't come. But exploitation of natural resources may bring workers and engineers down there.

Bmao: British and French status in China is unchanged, France still has all of Indochina and its sphere of influence in southern China.

[rast]

Field Trials

On January 5th, 1920, the German freighter “Neumark” moored at Swakopmund harbour in German South-West Africa. During the next days, under the prying eyes of their British neighbours at Walvisbaai, the Germans unloaded some heavy and ponderous pieces, recharged them on railway wagons, which then disappeared inland.
The British immediately alerted their South African “wards”, who – not only since their short rule over German South-West 1915-18 – disposed over a wide network of spies in country.
The result of this investigation arrived in London already on January 15th: The Germans were testing a new generation of Kanobils under desert conditions! No photographs had become available, but some sketches and reasonably detailed descriptions. There were turreted gun armed Kanobils and armoured infantry carriers on Kanobil chassis.
It completely escaped, however, British attentions that at the same time, second generation Kanobils were also tested under extreme winter conditions in northern Finland.
Thus, the British general staff and the responsible men in White Hall drew a set of wrong conclusions. After lengthy discussions they arrived at their answer: Egypt!
The Germans must be secretly preparing an invasion of Egypt. This they could only do with the support of their Ottoman allies. – Egypt was the centre piece of the British Empire because of the Suez Canal, its artery. When the Central Powers took possession of the canal, which they had already tried in 1915, the British Empire was in deadly peril. The naval situation in the Mediterranean was extremely unfavourable, the British Mediterranean Squadron was outnumbered 1 : 4 in terms of modern capital ships by the CP. The dislocation of the German squadron to Italy now appeared in quite a different light.
The Turks had just taken back Kuwait and were entertaining garrisons on the borders of Aden and Oman. Their spies and agents were crawling all over Egypt, trying to incite the native Muslim population against the British infidels. They could provide assembly areas for the Germans to the west and east of Egypt, in Libya and in Palestine.
That there were actually no signs of any German activity concerning Egypt, as some cooler minds reminded, did not deter the majority of traditional and newly proselytised Germanophobes who believed – in typical British fashion – in a new “Great Game”, this time between Britain and Germany. The widespread belief was that Germany, now firmly installed as hegemon of Europe, was about to dislodge Britain as world power and install herself in Britain’s place.

While the German engineers registered that their second generation Kanobils were not yet completely suited for field service in extreme climates and environments and that further construction efforts were required, the British redeployed their forces – and finally decided to let go Ireland.
The five divisions earmarked for Eire, plus the one already there, together with General Rawlinson, would be sent to Egypt. The Mediterranean Squadron would be reinforced by five dreadnoughts, accompanied by the aircraft carrier HMS Furious, and a number of pre-dreadnoughts and ancillary ships plus a shoal of submarines.

On January 23rd, 1920, Great Britain formally recognised Irish Independence. With most nations already accrediting the new Irish state, there was – after all – little hope to retain the island. Britain proposed negotiations with the Irish government about the protection of British property rights, especially of the Belfast shipyards, such as Harland & Wolff.
The Emerald Isle was a painful loss for Britain, the more reason to hold fast to Egypt and the Sudan.
The world – and not least the US President – was thus kindly surprised by British lordliness and compliance regarding Ireland.
The Brits had unconsciously gathered points in the game of influencing worldwide public opinion.

When, in late March 1920, the information finally transpired that the Germans had in parallel tested their Kanobils in northern Finland in January – and that the whole affair had thus most probably only been a trial in extreme climates and not a preparation for an invasion of Egypt, the infantry divisions, except one, were relocated to India, while the Royal Navy presence in the Mediterranean was kept up.

[rast]

Financial Matters

After the Bavarians had split from the Zentrum on January 9th, 1920, founding their own Bayerische Volkspartei (Bavarian People’s Party), short: BVP – and the Austrians showed a tendency to follow that example, Matthias Erzberger’s mood could have been expected to be a little bit peevish.
But Erzberger was quite in a good temper; he had just received the newest economical data showing the quota of the major developed countries in industrial production.
In 1913, Germany had had 16%, today she was up at 22%.
In 1913, Britain had had 14%, today she was down at 10%.
In 1913, France had had 6%, today she was down at 4%.
In 1913, Italy had had 3%, today she was down at 2%.
In 1913, Japan had had 1%, today she was up at 2%.
In 1913, the USA had had 36%, today they were up at 42%.
So, Germany had now completely outgrown Britain and had already attained more than half of US production. Not too bad after four years of bitter war and the rape of the economy by the amateurish Hindenburg Programme. And the economy was growing further, thanks to Erzberger’s reform of taxes and tariffs.
Britain and France were inflating their internal war debts away. Cheap Pound and Franc certainly tempted many customers to buy British or French products, nevertheless, their share had dropped, while expensive US Dollar and Mark had not prevented the USA and Germany from gaining 6% each.
Erzberger knew that the US economy mainly was driven by the US market, while Germany traditionally was an exporting country. After the war, there had been a big boost from Germany’s internal market, when everybody wanted to buy what he had missed in the war, but today, it was exports again.
Erzberger had torn down the protective tariffs on agricultural products, much to the protests of the German agrarians. Cheap farm products from France, Poland, Hungary, the USA and South America were now available in Germany, in exchange, the German industry delivered high quality machinery to these countries.
The food situation in Germany was excellent, the shortages and the hunger of 1917 and 1918 were long forgotten, thankfully without lasting damage to most kids.
There was no merit in wasting money for low technology production; one must invest in high technology. The Reichsbank had been advised by Erzberger to support technological development, most private banks were following that trend. The war had started a technological avalanche, this must be kept going.
And – who would have suspected it? – the German agrarians had not gone bankrupt. They were a dogged gang, if the state refused to help them, they knew how to help themselves. They had specialised and mechanised – and today were in a better shape than in 1913.
The old imperial government had painfully avoided to run into debts. This had been silly. A national government had the task to invest into the future. The unification of diverse railway companies into the Reichsbahn was such a venture, as were loans to the aircraft companies in order to develop civil aviation – or the construction of motor ways. The inland navigation canal from the Rhine to Berlin and on to the Oder River and the Vistula still had to be completed.
And the state invested into the armed forces, this produced jobs, jobs produced revenues. The old Prussian attitude to restrict armament costs had almost led to the destruction of the German Empire. One would not repeat this mistake.

[Parma]

Still a verry good and suprising time line. like to read it every time.
Do you have picture or drawings of how kanobils look like? Kind of French Char B?

[rast]

Implosion

On Monday, January 26th, 1919, Britain and France recognised the Czecho-Slovakian Republic, followed by Portugal and Greece the next day. The US administration hesitated some days while consulting with Germany and Hungary, but finally the advocates of national self-determination prevailed. One had accredited Ireland over British protests, now one should also accredit Czecho-Slovakia over Hungarian protests. On January 30th, the USA recognised Czecho-Slovakia, which again induced Norway and Brazil to follow suit.
For all practical purposes, the recognitions had no impact. Czecho-Slovakia was landlocked and sandwiched between Germany and Hungary. Germany had implemented an embargo on everything, except aliments and medical supplies, opposite Czecho-Slovakia. Hungary was determined to crush the new “state” as fast as possible.
In Poland and Slovenia, there had been loud voices advocating support of the new Slavic “brother country”, but sober-minded elements implemented a course of caution. One was much too close to Hungary and Germany to do things one might soon regret.

On February 2nd, the Hungarian army started its advance. The lowlands between Budapest and Bratislava were quickly occupied without encountering Czecho-Slovak resistance. General Syrový had rejected all demands to defend along the Danube between Bratislava and Esztergom and along the Ipoly up to the mountains of Nógrád County, knowing that his forces stood no chance against the Hungarians in open terrain.
He awaited Boroëvić in Bratislava and the wooded hills north of the town, which formed a convenient link to the Western Carpathian Mountains.
In Bratislava, all civilians had been evacuated and the town been turned into a matrix of fortified strongpoints, which were often connected via the subterranean sewers.
The initial Hungarian advance, in fact an armed reconnaissance, was quickly rejected without major casualties on both sides. Field Marshal Boroëvić had already expected that the enemy would try to hold his capital at any cost. He had no intention to get bogged down in urban combat with its unavoidable heavy losses. His answer was to cut of the town to the north and west, lay siege to it and wait for the defenders to surrender.
This was, of course, what General Syrový had expected too.
The Hungarian attack into the wooded hills immediately ran into wire-connected trees and elaborate field fortifications. While the Hungarian artillery went into action, pounding the hills, Boroëvić activated his second option, outflanking the Slovak positions by marching over German territory and forcing the Danube west of the range of hills. German consent to such a move had been given in advance.
But Syrový was no amateur. He had foreseen these manoeuvres. The Hungarian river crossing operation ran into heavy fire; the Czecho-Slovaks had concentrated their artillery just for this occasion. And although the Hungarians gained three small bridgeheads, all attempts to unite and enlarge these failed under heavy casualties.
Now matters were down to sheer attrition. Boroëvić kept up pressure on both fronts and battered the Czecho-Slovak positions with his superior artillery. The Czecho-Slovak reply was weak, they had to save ammunition.
The Hungarians, on the other hand, had failed to develop own armoured fighting vehicles or to buy some from Germany because their financial situation was not encouraging any such move – and because the Hungarian generals were hesitant to adopt this new technological “gadget”. This left it to the infantry.
Repeated attacks into the hills were repulsed at heavy casualties.
The defenders, however, were now feeling the impact of the Hungarian guns, their losses mounted and the communication and co-ordination in the uprooted woods grew ever more difficult.

On February 15th, the Serbian Revolt broke lose, catching the Hungarians out in the cold.
Boroëvić immediately lost his Bosnian and Croatian corps, which he had to send in direction of Bosnia and Serbia at once. In the evening of February 15th, Belgrade had been cleansed of Hungarian and Croat troops and was declared capital of the “Free Serbian Republic”. The revolt instantly had spilled over into Bosnia and Croatia. The Krajina Serbs in Croatia now went ahead to effectively block all north-south traffic.

On February 16th, Montenegro joined the fray, declaring independence from Hungary. The Montenegrin king, Nikola I., living in exile in Monaco, was recalled by a provisional people’s assembly.

On February 17th, the Romanians in Hungary went into revolt as well.
Romania immediately declared neutrality and non-involvement – in order to avoid Bulgarian intervention. The Romanian government knew only too well that the Bulgarians would “help” the Hungarians by occupying all of Northern Dobruja. Nevertheless, thousands of Romanian armed volunteers crossed the border and joined the ranks of their fellow Romanians.
Boroëvić now was told to stop his offensive and to return to Hungary. The protection of the Hungarian lowlands against the Romanian insurgents was more important than defeating the Czecho-Slovaks.

On February 18th, Hungary and Croatia proclaimed total mobilisation. An urgent request went out to Germany and Bulgaria for military support.

[rast]

Artic Expedition

When the Fins had conquered Murmansk, they had also acquired a number of Russian military ships of the Polar Sea Flotilla and some Russian merchant vessels. They now possessed an ice free port, unhindered access to the high seas – and thus had become a true seafaring nation.
There had been a separate Finnish unit in the Russian Navy, which had ceased to exit after the February Revolution of 1917. These men had formed the core of the Finnish navy – and now this navy no longer was confined to the eastern Baltic.
Finnish considerations soon concentrated on Svalbard. American, British, Russian and Norwegian companies had started coal mining up there before the war. The Russians were out of business now, the Fins practically taking their place. Sovereignty over Svalbard was not yet regulated – and the Svalbard coal deposits made the islands a real price, especially for Finland that only had wood and peat for fuel.
It soon became clear that Norway also ogled with taking possession of Svalbard. The Norwegians tried to get together an international conference that endowed them sovereignty over Svalbard. This conference proved difficult to convene. The US and Britain were quite happy with the current conditions that gave them free access to the isles, although some voices in Britain talked of “rewarding” Norway for her ships’ service and sacrifice in the war. Germany wasn’t interested at all. The government of Russian Regent Kyrill was clearly opposed to Norwegian sovereignty over Svalbard.
The Fins agreed to a different approach. After some secret talks in Berlin, St.Petersburg, Stockholm and Brussels, a battalion of Finish soldiers was loaded on a freighter, which in company with an icebreaker and an ex-Russian gunboat sailed for Svalbard.
On February 15th, the Fins landed at Longyearbyen on the main island, Spitsbergen, formally raised the Finnish flag and took possession of Svalbard.
While Norway protested vigorously and threatened to send own ships and troops, Germany, Hungary, Bulgaria, the Ottoman Empire, Sweden, Tsarist Russia, Belgium, Italy, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia recognised Finnish sovereignty over Svalbard.
After Finland had officially accepted that those companies that already were working on Svalbard could continue to do so without paying taxes, the US and the Netherlands also accepted Finnish sovereignty, reluctantly followed by France, Spain and Portugal. The British cabinet decided to ignore the Svalbard question for the time being, a course also followed by Denmark.

[rast]

Helpers in Need

The Germans never had really been interested in Balkans affairs. They had been dragged into them by their former ally, Austria-Hungary. And – after the war – they had been quite contend when Hungary took over control of all these virulent Balkans people.
Even the pre-war “Mitteleuropa” ideas had centred more on Austria-Hungary, Romania and the Ottoman-Empire than on the diverse Slavic nationalities or nationalisms.
It was thus a very uneasy German cabinet that met to discuss what Germany should do in this crisis.
After some hours of lengthy discussions without result, Hermann von Eichhorn had to remind his civilian colleagues that Germany was now the only power that counted. Tsarist Russia only was a miserable shadow of former glory and deeply immerged in civil war with the Bolsheviks. Equally France was a weak image only of her former “Gloire”. At present, the French – with their collapsing economy – were incapable of intervention. Britain might be interested in meddling with Balkans affairs, but the Indian millstone around her neck dragged her in a different direction. The US might act diplomaticly, like they had done in the case of Czecho-Slovakia, but would refrain from all intervention.
The Hungarian Empire had imploded. It was now up to Germany to decide whether it was to be restored or whether a new Balkans order was to be established.
This unavoidably led to a new round of discussions; and it was not before five o’clock in the morning of February 19th, 1920, that a decision was finally taken.

In the late afternoon of February 19th, the German ambassador to Prague asked for an urgent interview with Prime Minister Karel Kramář, who – for all practical purposes – could be addressed as top representative of Czecho-Slovakia. What Ambassador von Keller had to tell was nothing that Karel Kramář was keen to hear…

On the morning of February 21st, the sky over Czecho-Slovakia was dominated by German aircraft. Prudently, the few Czech fighter units had received order to remain grounded.
By 10 o’clock, three German armies had started their advance into Czecho-Slovakia. The 10th Army under General Field Marshal Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf exited the Austrian Arch Duchy and headed for Bratislava and southern Felvidék. The 8th Army, led by General of Artillery Max von Gallwitz, marched from Saxony towards Prague and Pilsen. The 3rd, commanded by General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, coming out of Silesia, took direction to Brünn and the northerly Western Carpathian Mountains.
Spearheaded by motor cycle and armoured car units, lorryborne infantry, motorised artillery and Kanobils filled the winterly roads and country lanes. It was an impressive sight, which however failed to inspire Czechs and Slovaks, who sullenly watched the Germans progress.
Nobody noted that the German units were in reality an unbelievable hodgepodge, hastily put together from all over Germany in order to present the picture of a technologically advanced army. Ninety percent of the German army was still footmarching and hippomobile; such units had only served to bring the few modern ones to full strength. Once the rail lines had been secured, more footmarching infantry was to arrive by train.

The Czecho-Slovak army awaited the Germans below white flags. In accordance with his Slovak co-leaders, Karel Kramář had ordered General Syrový not to fight the Germans. One might be able to resist the Hungarians for some time, while working for political solutions, but there was no way how the Czechs and Slovaks could ever hope to hold out against the Germans. Belgium in 1914 had shown that the Germans reacted very unfavourably to what they considered futile resistance.
With clenched teeth, the Czech and Slovak soldiers handed over their weapons.

In a small village north of Bratislava, Jan Syrový received Field Marshal Conrad at his headquarters. After the military report and Syrový’s presentation of his staff, the two men sat down for coffee.
“Your defence was quite effective” Conrad remarked.
“I would also have defended against your force, but the government insisted on capitulation.” Syrový replied.
Conrad smiled. “How long would your ammunition have lasted?”
“Yes, that’s Achilles’ heel. Artillery shells we had for only two more days, but infantry ammunition more than enough. – My idea was to retreat to the mountains…”
“And fight a bush war against the German Army? – I think your government was wise to stop such plans.”

In the evening of February 23rd, the German government announced that Czechia and Upper Hungary had been secured.

Bulgarian help started on February 22nd, when four army corps marched into Montenegro. – Quite as the Romanian government had anticipated, initial Bulgarian intention had been directed towards Northern Dobruja – but the Romanian declaration of neutrality had spoiled that move.
The Bulgarians turned out to be well prepared. Most leaders of the insurgency were on their lists – and thus could be quickly be apprehended. In typical Balkans fashion, they were led away and disappeared in the mountains without ever being seen again.
There was some scattered fighting in Cetinje, but generally, Bulgarian force presence was so overwhelming that the Montenegrins rather surrendered.
On February 24th, the Bulgarian government announced that Montenegro had been secured.

The Bulgarian government also noted that their policy of assimilating the former “Serbian subjects” had been quite successful. Only very few men had crossed the border to support the Serbian revolt in Hungary.
The territory that Bulgaria had taken from former Serbia was mainly inhabited by people who spoke Torlakian, a dialect that some linguists thought was a special southern Serb tongue while others thought it a was western Bulgarian dialect. By cultivating the “Western Bulgarian” image, many people had been won for the Bulgarian cause. There was no suppression of language and customs, one was a Bulgarian citizen with equal rights. And Bulgarian Orthodox belief was not so different from Serbian Orthodoxy to generate religious dispute.

[Neroon]

Keep them coming!

[rast]

Indian Scuffle

By early February 1920, Britain and her dominions had assembled sufficient troops in India to start the recapture of the country.
General Allenby’s campaign plan was quite ambitious. He intended to advance along the Indus up to the Punjab, then turn east and follow the Ganges to Calcutta. With the large river valleys secured, he would then roll up India from north to south. Finally, Burma was to be pacified.
Consequently, the British Army of India had disembarked at Karachi. Allenby had twelve British infantry divisions, organised in four corps; each division had a horse regiment of mounted infantry. The South African Corps had three divisions, one of which was purely cavalry. The Australian Corps consisted of three infantry divisions and one cavalry division. The New Zealand Division and the Canadian Division formed the CANZ Corps; both divisions had strong cavalry brigades.
In all, Allenby had 370,000 soldiers, 972 field guns, 252 Mk.V and 108 Whippet tanks, and 72 armoured cars plus several thousand lorries and staff cars. – Which enemy in India could hope to stop or even defeat this force?
The insurgents were divided into several groups with ethnic or religious common ground, which sometimes co-operated and sometimes fought each other.
North and east of Karachi, in Sindh, once a part of British India, a kind of Islamic plutocratic republic had established itself, ruled by the ancient land owning families. Further north, in Punjab, also once part of British India, there was an Islamic Caliphate now, run by an old enemy of the British, Sardar Ajit Singh Sindhu. The former United Provinces in the Upper Ganges valley were a hodgepodge of constantly changing entities and the focal point of inner Indian quarrels. Bengal was now united again under a Hindu Seniority Council who saw it as his first duty to slaughter the Bengal Muslims, while the Bengal Muslims had organised into a sultanate without sultan and were fighting back as good as they could.
In terms of population, the entities were enormous: 4 million people in Sindh, 21 million in Punjab, 50 million in the United Provinces and 75 million in Bengal.
Nevertheless, General Allenby was absolutely certain that his force would slice through any Indian enemy like a knife through warm butter.

This appreciation of the military situation was shared by Allenby’s first enemy, Setho Nawaz Bhutto. The ruling Sindh landowners only entertained an indigene police force of some 5,000 lightly armed police officers. For external security they relied on a host of some 20,000 Pashtun and Baloch mercenaries. Command of the mercenaries had been given to Nawaz, a scion of the ancient and powerful Bhutto Clan.
Nawaz had studied law in Britain before the war. During the war he had served in the Indian Army, entering service as Jemadar (lieutenant) and ending the war as Subedar (captain). From 1915 to 1918 he had been stationed in Mesopotamia and Persia, fighting Turks and Persians. He intimately knew the British army and therefore was well aware that his tribal warriors stood no chance against Allenby’s force in open battle. The flat cultivated plains of the Sindh also did not allow guerrilla warfare.
But Nawaz did not intend to fight this kind of war. His warriors came in small tribal bands of fifteen to twenty-five men, which were highly organised and effective. But co-ordination between different bands already was a problem. Nawaz decided to make optimal use of his own capabilities and of those of his men.

On February 9th, 1920, at nine o’clock in the morning, the central ammunition storage facility in Karachi harbour exploded. It was one of the largest conventional explosions – if not the largest at all – ever to happen. People in Bombay, 450 miles away, claimed to have heard the bang and to have seen the pillar of smoke. Approximately half a million of artillery rounds went up in one monstrous explosion that razed all port facilities and the adjacent rail yards, sunk seven ships and killed several thousand people. How artillery shells without fuses could explode at all, remains a secret that Nawaz never disclosed. The native workers of the facility had all been meticulously searched on entry. Most historians today believe that Nawaz must have bribed some Englishmen for this coup.
The explosion caused severe damage to the town of Karachi. Glass windows all over the place shattered and sent out dangerous shards that killed or wounded people. Roofs were lifted from houses and crashed into the streets. Cars, carts and other lose objects mutated to deadly projectiles.
But the explosion also was the sign for the tribal bands to commence action. They had infiltrated the town in small flocks, allegedly searching work. All had been completely unarmed, because everyone was searched by the British before he was allowed into town. But there was no need to bring in weapons. Karachi was the siege of the Pashtun and Baloch weapons smugglers, everyone who had money could buy what he desired. Nawaz had made sure that several banks freely handed out rupees to his men for this purpose.
A special prize was a shipment of 3,000 German Bergmann submachine guns, which had been ordered by the Afghan Army but now were diverted to Nawaz’ warriors. The warriors all were so familiar with firearms that they didn’t require special training in order to be able to handle the Bergmanns.

General Allenby had taken his headquarters at the prestigious Sindh Club. The embarrassed protests of the club members he had coldly overruled.
Security was provided by a guards company, which even had two tanks positioned in front of the main entrance.
Unfortunately, the tank crews had exited their vehicles to be better able to watch the enormous column of smoke and debris rising over the harbour, when the attack started.
Several warrior bands concentrically stormed the club building. Well positioned marksmen killed those guards and tankmen out in the open.
Inside the building, glass shards had already caused chaos, now the warriors entered it from multiple entrances and shot at everyone who came in their way.
Some staff officers managed to offer fierce resistance, but their Webley revolvers had six rounds only. General Allenby was caught in the crossfire of two Bergmanns and killed on the spot.
When reinforcements finally arrived, the club was burning brightly and the warriors were already gone, leaving their weapons and their dead behind.
From General Allenby’s staff of the British Army in India, one colonel, two majors and three sergeants were found still alive.

While the divisions camped outside the city in well guarded camps and were not attacked at all, the corps headquarters were situated in the city as well.
The assault on CANZ Corps HQ was successfully repulsed, but Lieutenant General Andrew H. Russell, the corps commander, died nevertheless, stabbed in the back with a paper knife by his Indian servant.
At South African Corps HQ, the assailants got beyond the outer perimeter but perished before they were able to enter the buildings, nevertheless they managed to start a fire in the house that accommodated the supply section.
Australian Corps HQ was already in flames when the attack started, the fire having been kindled by some native employees. The Australians thus were caught in a very unfortunate moment and suffered heavily but finally were able to drive away the attackers.
Two British corps HQs were complete losses, going down like the Army HQ. One corps HQ suffered a serious intrusion of warriors and lost the complete operations section, while the fourth was lucky to be not attacked at all.

Patrols, messengers, single vehicles and small convoys were attacked and annihilated all over the city. The central workshop of the mechanical engineers was raided, the personnel killed, the vehicles and buildings ignited.

By evening of February 9th, it was clear that the advance of the British Army in India would not start in the foreseeable future. Setho Nawaz Bhutto has successfully decapitated his enemy.

[clifton]

Can you make a map? cannot wait for the next part.

[trekchu]

Oh dear, the brits are in dire straits.

And I second the map thing.