The Netherlands, and Alternate History. Part I

[Raunchel]

Certainly the Navy would think they could get away with it, but I'm talking about the government. Though it's too late now, Indecision at top level is to blame here.

Definitely. And at least Churchill would be in favour of such an action, to try to capture the fleet, and immediately force the Netherlands to join them. All that coastline isn't nice to defend without a fleet.

Of course, once the ships are that close, it takes just one bit of nerves to start a shooting war.

 

[Count of Crisco]

Response.
As soon as the British had left Dutch waters the government immediately brought the nations armed forces up to a war footing. Patrols were sent out, merchant ships were escorted in and out of the English channel. And the battlefleet was placed on high alert. In addition the army took up positions to defend the nations borders in the event of any British or French invasion. The government did not know if the battle of Texel had been an isolated incident or was a part of a larger plan and they did not want to take any chances. Feelers were also sent out to Germany to re-open talks of the Netherlands joining the Central powers. Kaiser Wilhelm accepted the Dutch proposal with glee, ordering his naval and army general staffs to begin drafting plans for Dutch integration into the greater war effort with a focus on using the Dutch navy in a battle with the Grand fleet.

Soon after the fleet returned home anti-British sentiment exploded, culminating on the 17th of July when the British embassy in the Hague was attacked by a mob. Police were called in on what soon became a riot as angry citizens shouted names at those inside. Requests by the Embassy staff for the Dutch army to protect them were met with silence. Additional anti-British riots would soon break out throughout the Netherlands as rumors spread that the British planned to invade and annex the country (Unfounded rumors started by the paper Amsterdam Heraald to sell copies) the rioters would target British businesses and citizens. Killing three and wounding dozens of others before the Dutch government was finally forced to use the army to break up the demonstrations.

On the 22nd the first draft of a German-Dutch alliance had been penned. It was soon brought before both nations governments for changes and revisions. The document promised North Belgium and the Congo free state to the Netherlands in exchange for half a million Dutch troops, vitally needed in Flanders, cooperation between the Dutch and German navies and use of Dutch ports for U-boat bases. With only minor revisions the bill was passed and went back for finalization with ratification planned for the 25th.

The day that the preliminary treaty was approved by the Staaten Generaal British intelligence services reported to the British government that "Texel seems to have convinced them of nothing but the necessity of entering the war" Belatedly the government ordered their ambassador to see what it would take for the Dutch to remain out of the war. He sent back an urgent telegram saying he could not even leave the embassy for fear of "Being set upon by an angry mob". And besides he pleaded. He had not been able to speak to anyone in the Dutch government since Texel. Now convinced that a Dutch declaration of war was imminent London ordered all Dutch shipping in the English channel and North sea stopped and that a blockade of the Dutch coast go into effect on the first of August.

At the last minute the French intervened, the prospect of facing a German army refreshed by new Dutch troops being exceedingly unappealing to Paris they asked British and Dutch representatives to meet in Toulon. Both sides agreed, neither wanting a war, and plans for ratifying the alliance with Germany were pushed back to the 30th. Queen Wilhelmina herself led the Dutch delegation feeling that the meeting was to important for anyone else to be trusted with its success. She arrived on the 25th a day ahead of the British delegation and spent the wait talking to French officials and observing hospitals crowded with wounded men.

The British arrival meant that talks could begin and tense negotiations would immediately begin with French oversight. After three days of getting nowhere Wilhelmina reminded the British that the alliance treaty with Germany was due to be ratified on the 30th. Immediately the British became more accommodating and the next day a proper agreement was reached by the two sides. Britain would take full blame for the incident, they would pay for all damages and deaths incurred by the attack. In exchange the Netherlands would cancel their alliance plans with Germany and return HMS Tiger and her crew to the British. The agreement was officially approved by London on the 30th and by the Staaten generaal the next day. The French were ecstatic while Germans were somewhat angry with the sudden reversal but realized that Dutch neutrality had its benefits and the German ambassador was heard to say that it was for the best even as the flow of goods past the British blockade could continue.

News of the Toulon agreement sent relief throughout the Netherlands. Most had been quite angry with the British for their attack, but were unwilling to die to see the British suitably punished. Those that were willing to die to punish the British would volunteer in the German army. Serving in one of a total of six all Dutch regiments in such massive battles as Verdun, the Marne and Ardennes forest before returning home at the end of the war. In Britain the news of the agreement was not met with such approval, many Britons felt that the Dutch had humiliated British pride by daring to defy the might of the RN. And making any sort of accommodation with them was seen as unacceptable. However most also agreed that the no real harm had been done to either the RN, or the war situation and that it was best not to pursue the matter further.

 

[Count of Crisco]

The war drags on.
Following the battle of Texel Anglo-Dutch relations remained at state of high tension and suspicion. More than once Dutch ships found themselves stopped by British warships and searched for contraband. These searches forced the Dutch navy to organize convoys of their merchant ships in and out of the English channel to ensure that less ships were stopped. American sailors soon dubbed them as an Orange Forest. In reference to the stacks of Dutch vessels, painted orange to signify their origin as neutral Dutch ships and hopefully avoid a German torpedo or British shell.

Weekly convoys were organized with an escort typically consisting of a pair of Destroyers and a cruiser escort. Aside from Dutch ships often these convoys held Swedish, Norwegian, Danish and ships of still other nations hoping to escape the dual dangers of British blockade and German submarine. Both of which often stalked the convoys for most of the journey hoping to take any stragglers. By the end of the war it was not unusual to see convoys of up to two hundred ships. All with bright Orange funnels and sailing close together.

Following the Battle of Texel the Dutch kept a much tighter eye on the British fleet. Hoping to spot a second British expedition before it got anywhere near Dutch territorial waters. The battlefleet was similarly placed on a high alert. Ready to set off in under two hours at the slightest sign of danger. Twice the fleet would be summoned. Each time occurred when sources in the British Admiralty, often poor clerks or maids, reported major fleet movements. The Dutch ships were then sent out to the very edge of territorial waters to patrol and if it came to it, fight the RN. Fortunately both times the fleet set out it proved to be a false alarm. The British fleet had set out in an attempt to tempt the German High Seas Fleet out of its bases and into a decisive battle. In each case the RN warships kept a wide stretch of sea between themselves and Dutch waters. No ship more so than the Tiger which kept so far away from Dutch waters that on the 30th of may 1917 she ran aground once more along a sandbank off Scotland. Again the ship was rescued. But at the expense of her dignity and reputation.

The Tiger was not the only warship to run aground however as on the 22nd of September 1917 the battleship William Van Oranje ran aground. The ship was quickly refloated and suffered only minimal damage to her structure as a result of the tides. Even the Germans got into the act and less than a month later on November 18th the Battlecruiser Van Der Tann ran aground hard. The ship was eventually refloated in 1919 by a Dutch company and then scrapped. The ships turrets and guns would be used as the crown jewels of new fortifications built along the Texel channel.

Van Der Tann prewar.

 

[H.Flashman(VC)]

Great job sofar.

If dutch ships go through the channel, they grew bold. In OTL they used a narrow stripe in the North Sea to reach the Atlantic Ocean between the area where the english had lay mines and the area around England where the german U-Boats roamed.

 

[Vnix]

Great job sofar.
View attachment 299375
If dutch ships go through the channel, they grew bold. In OTL they used a narrow stripe in the North Sea to reach the Atlantic Ocean between the area where the english had lay mines and the area around England where the german U-Boats roamed.

Thing is, the Dutch had no navy in OTL capable of enforcing their neutrality, now here they do, in fact they have more than enough ships to freak out all sides should they join their opponent.

 

[Count of Crisco]

Great job sofar.
View attachment 299375
If dutch ships go through the channel, they grew bold. In OTL they used a narrow stripe in the North Sea to reach the Atlantic Ocean between the area where the english had lay mines and the area around England where the german U-Boats roamed.

Thing is, the Dutch had no navy in OTL capable of enforcing their neutrality, now here they do, in fact they have more than enough ships to freak out all sides should they join their opponent.

Yes the Dutch navy in this TL has the ability to protect its own merchant ships. Enough of an ability that they do not need to stay out of the way. And yes Dutch involvement could well turn the tide.

 

[Count of Crisco]

No end in sight. 1917-1918
As winter bled into 1917 the armies along the front, eastern, western, Italian, Balkan or African, continued to batter one another into the dust. Along the way new weapons of war were used in an attempt to break the gory stalemate that was trench fighting. This began with the airplane, gas and flame throwers but still more joined the club of brutal killing machines. Everything from primitive clubs, axes and spears, perfect for close quarters fighting, to the tank. A weapon intended by the British to restore mobility to the front and allow for the rapid breakthrough of the German lines. All these weapons experienced some limited success at first, but it was not to long before new enemy countermeasures rendered them merely yet another tool for the armies to use in order to make eachothers lives all the more miserable and dim their chances of survival yet further.

Soldiers about to go over the top.

By mid 1917 things had gone critical for both the Entente as well as the Central powers. Russia had collapsed into revolution, a revolution which wanted out of the war in the worst way possible. A wish the Central powers were only to happy to comply with. Germany desperately needed every man they could get fighting the Anglo-French. While Austro-Hungary needed every man they could get to fight to preserve their crumbling empire from the hands of the surrounding powers. No sooner had the treaty ending Russia's involvement in the war gone into effect before Germany was shifting over a million men to the front. A brand new offensive was planned which would hopefully drive straight to Paris, shattering Entente armies wherever they could be found. A tentative start for the operation was placed early in the summer when the weather would be best suited to such a campaign.

The successful completion of the Germany offensive, an offensive the Dutch government was fully aware of, would put the Netherlands in a rather awkward way. The Germans were not likely to forget their earlier backing out of alliance and the Germans were far from forgiving. Thus plans were put in motion so that if it looked like a German victory was likely a hasty entry into the war on the side of Germany could happen. Meanwhile if the German offensive fizzled, or never even got off the ground then neutrality would be maintained until the end of the war.

Hunters.
While the battles ragged on the continent a rather different, and perhaps more vital war was being fought on the waves. It was not a battle of lines of warships blazing at eachother with their guns. Rather it was a battle of predator and prey.
Since very early in the war the German navy had used their Under sea boats, or U-boats, to sink British warships. Three large armored cruisers having been claimed by the U-9 early in 1914. More recently however the Kaiser had let his boats loose upon British merchant shipping. At first the boats had respected the old cruiser rules, before a merchant ship was sunk its cargo must be inspected, the ships crew moved safely off, and only then could the vessel be sunk. However the cruiser rules did not suite U-boat warfare and before long advocates called for unrestricted use of their new war machines. Eventually, convinced the total U-boat was was the key to victory, Kaiser Wilhelm agreed and the monthly tonnage sunk by the wolfs of the deep grew with each passing month.

However effective this new means of warfare was it did have a tendency for sinking neutrals. Many Brazilian, Norwegian, Spanish, Danish, Swedish and Dutch ships went to the bottom in this way. Often eliciting a very angry response from the vessels nation of origin. Eventually the campaign would threaten to bring even the United States into the war after a series of high profile sinking involving loss of American lives. Thus the Kaiser suspended unrestricted U-boat warfare for some time. However as the war in Europe once more grew in horror the Kaiser again gave the go ahead for unrestricted use of his U-boats which once again ravaged the worlds seaborne trade.

Resigned to their use as a tool of war the Dutch and German governments met and discussed ways to lessen the chances of Dutch ships being sunken by mistake. As a result Dutch, and other neutrals, ships soon began sporting brightly painted funnels. Orange for Dutch ships. Red for Danish. White for Norwegian ships and son on. The Dutch navy also organized convoys to escort neutral shipping in and out of waters frequented by U-boats and the British Royal Navy. British ships regularly searched neutral ships and detained them for carrying "contraband". A few destroyers were usually enough to fend off any curious British or German vessels.

At first the convoys were quite small and few and far between. Typically one or two a month. Eventually though, as the U-boat campaign grew increasingly effective, more and more ships joined the more closely scheduled convoys so that by mid 1918 CN256 held over one hundred fifty (only around thirty of which were not Dutch) ships belonging to Dutch, Norwegian, Brazilian, Swedish and Chilean merchant ships. These convoys were still commonly escorted by just a singular pair of destroyers which were insufficient to fully defend such numbers of ships. Thus losses to U-boats and the British blockade began to grow.

U-15, one of the early war built boats.

Unfortunately the Netherlands did not have nearly enough Destroyers to increase the number of ships escorting a convoy. Meaning that the Netherlands turned to other neutrals for the additional ships. They were told that if foreign vessels wished to continue to sail with the Dutch convoys then other nations would need to send some warships to help in escorting them. Most nations agreed and the so called Orange forests soon were sailing under the protection of at least half a dozen different flags. Losses to U-boats and the blockade quickly dropped as a result. For the rest of the war these convoys would sail up and down the English channel. Often carrying goods meant for Germany. And the British were powerless stop them. After the war some accusations were brought forward that the Dutch had aided Germany, but nothing else came of it.

 

[H.Flashman(VC)]

Hm, wouldn't British merchant captains also paint their ships orange? Everything is permitted in love and war.

 

[Count of Crisco]

Hm, wouldn't British merchant captains also paint their ships orange? Everything is permitted in love and war.

Well probably. But lets assume that those that did were in the minority.

 

[Count of Crisco]

1918
Germany launched its massive summer offensive right on time. Before one and a half million men stormed the French lines the great siege guns fired continuously for three days. Shattering most of the moral of the surviving French and destroying much of the defenses in what was to become one of the largest displays of firepower ever in the history of man. German troops swiped casually at the French, British and dominion troops while the small number of fresh American soldiers received a very bloody indoctrination into the horror that was modern warfare.

America had entered the war in mid 1917 after a series of incidents with German submarines sinking large passenger liners. And a German attempt to bring Mexico into the war on the side of the central powers. However the American army was to small and ill equipped to be a credible combat force and it would take some time before a meaningful number of troops could be sent to fight in the trenches. But once the US war industry got going the Entente was promised a force of two million men. Until then a small trickle of American troops arrived on the continent. Mostly these men were used to patch up the line. Filling in for Entente units that had been mauled in previous battles.

German war planners realized quickly that American could well be key to an Entente victory. American industry was massive and untouchable. Its man power reserves nearly unlimited. And American entry into the war meant that the German navy was now vastly outnumbered in every category.
Knowing they had only a limited time to act before they were swarmed by countless Americans the German army had planned their summer offensive to knock France out of the war and from there forming a official peace treaty.

The German advance was masterful. In a single stroke they had shattered four years of stalemate and were now rapidly advancing on Paris. Similar to the Prussian army during the Franco-Prussian war some years earlier. It looked for some days as if the German army had won. And that further fighting was simply for show. It was only a valiant stand by the Canadian 7th regiment Royal Hussars that brought the German war machine to a halt. At the cost of seventy nine percent of the unit the German armies momentum stalled. Enabling a suddenly determined French army to counter attack from the south and push the Germans away from Paris.

The failure of the summer offensive ultimately doomed the German empire. Within three months of the attacks beginning of the attack the front was back to where it had started. Two months after that and the front was back to where it had been at the begging of the war. What ultimately did the German army in was a combination of fresh American troops, bad luck and collapse of the home front as food shortages and inflation took their tole on the German population. Germany, plagued by revolution and strikes, would call for a armistice in November. The so called eleventh hour, named because it fell upon the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. As soon as the armistice went into effect negotiations began in the French palace of Versailles to bring a formal end to the war.

 

[Sceonn]

The OTL Versailles Treaty is unlikely because the Geman situation cannot be as bad as OTL. She still has some fight left in her and any attempt at an unpalatable Peace Treaty being forced on them can easily ignite German Nationalism, and America won't be fighting that.

 

[Count of Crisco]

The OTL Versailles Treaty is unlikely because the Geman situation cannot be as bad as OTL. She still has some fight left in her and any attempt at an unpalatable Peace Treaty being forced on them can easily ignite German Nationalism, and America won't be fighting that.

Your right. It wont be nearly as bad. However post war is a different story entirely.

 

[Mrstrategy]

So Germany monarchy or republic?

 

[Count of Crisco]

So Germany monarchy or republic?

Republic same as OTL

 

[Count of Crisco]

Treaty of Versailles
Following the armistice representatives from the warring nations met in the former French royal palace of Versailles to work out a proper peace treaty to bring a full end to the war. Germany, Austro-Hungary and Bulgaria on one side. France, Britain and her dominions, Belgium, Italy, Greece and the USA on the other. Russia was to mired in civil war and revolution to send representatives and the Ottoman empire still fought stubbornly along against Britain in the middle east.
Very soon it became clear that negotiations were not to be about any sort of equal peace. Despite American attempts to create the treaty as a fair agreement the embittered French and Belgian governments soon turned the peace negotiations into who could take the most away from Germany. France annexed Alsac-Lorraine, Belgium carved out a nice chunk of Germany for itself. And the heart of German war industry, the Rhineland, was placed under French control. Further German territorial losses resulted from the creation of the new nation of Poland which was ceded a corridor of land between Germany proper and East Prussia, the so called Dazing corridor. The entirety of the German colonial empire was also split between Belgium, France and great Britain and Portugal.

The German army, before the war one of the three largest armies in the world beside Russia and France, was totally dismantled. An army of just one hundred thousand was allowed to be maintained in an attempt to limit Germany from ever again launching a war of conquest. This force was to be split into no more than seven infantry and three cavalry divisions and its possession of chemical weapons, aircraft, tanks and armored cars forbidden. All fortifications in the Rhineland, and fifty miles behind the river, were forbidden. As were fortifications protecting German ports. Germany`s navy was also severely restricted. Only four battleships of the Nassau class were allowed, and all future German capital ships were to be limited to twenty thousand tons. All of the navies prewar cruisers were scrapped and future ships limited to seven thousand tons, and then only six ships permitted. Furthermore the navy scrapped all but twelve of its destroyers and twelve of its torpedo boats. Destroyers were limited to 800 tons while TBs were limited to just 200 tons. Submarines were also completely banned by the Entente. A ten year building ban was also imposed upon the German navy for cruisers and Battleships.

The German and Austro-Hungarian governments collapsed soon after the ratification of the treaty. Germany would reform into a republic with former General Hindenburg eventually becoming ruler. The nation faced heavy reparations payments, a crippled economy, massive manpower shortages, as well as shortages of every kind of good from gold to flour. But the nation would pull through eventually and even by the late twenties experience some recovery as German industries turned to producing domestic goods rather than weapons of war. Austro-Hungary was not so lucky. The nation was split into numerous smaller republics and kingdoms. The republics of Austria, Czechoslovakia, parts of Poland. And the Kingdoms of Yugoslavia and Hungary would all form from the corpses of the once massive empire. Similar to Germany vast tracts of land were ceded to the victorious Entente nations. The Tyrol going to Italy and much of the northern portions of the former empire going to Poland. The resulting nations were plagued by corrupt governments, economic instability, nationalism and hostile neighbors.

The end of the war saw a radically altered map of the world. With many nations now renamed. And many brand new nations formed. The Russian empire had collapsed into a brutal civil war that by the time it was over would see the nation turned into the worlds first Communist state. Germany had lost much of its European holdings. And all of its colonial empire. The gargantuan Hapsburg empire had collapsed and birthed over a half dozen new states. And the once dominant Ottoman empire had followed. Many of its middle eastern possessions going to Britain and France. The republic of Turkey which would be born out of the corpse of the empire struggled for many years to get itself off the ground.

But there was peace. An end to the most bloody and horrific war the human race had yet seen. It seemed to many a man on the street that possibly, just possibly the war had been so horrific, so terrible, that perhaps mankind had learned its lesson and that wars were a thing of the past. Or perhaps such a terrible price in blood had been paid that people were looking for a reason. Any reason at all. That could explain away, give meaning, to what had just happened. As peace finally descended upon the world the nations involved seemed to breath a collected sigh. Not of relief. Rather a sigh of exhaustion. As if the prior years of exertion had finally ended and mankind could now rest.

Jubilation.
When news that the war had ended reached the Netherlands there was jubilation in the streets. Finally. After four long a horrible years the nightmare was over and the nation could stand down its military. Could recall its warships and end its convoys. And get on with business. The country no longer had to worry about invasion or war coming. Nor would they have to balance the nations surrounding them.
Envoys were sent to Versailles to applaud the peace negotiations and establish diplomatic relations with the new European states. And businesses sent salesmen out to them to strike deals. The nations economy was soon booming. The nation experiencing a golden age similar to the roaring twenties in the United States where money was plentiful and life good.

The increased prosperity was not only due to peace, though it did play a role, rather the prosperity of the nation could largely be attributed to the mass exodus from Germany of all manner of arms manufacturers. Companies forbidden under the terms of Versailles to build arms to build their wares in Germany readily moved to the neighboring Netherlands and continued production as if nothing had happened. Often moving entire factories right under the noses of the authorities.
A prime example is the Fokker aircraft industry which was renowned for producing some of the best fighter aircraft of the entire war. Anthony Fokker, a Dutchman himself, had moved to Germany to build his warplanes. Now he moved back. Taking several trains of machinery and parts with him. He established his main factory several miles outside of Amsterdam. Though additional plants were soon built in Antwerp and other cities.

Anthony Fokker before the war. By its end he was among the richest people in Europe.

By 1925 the Netherlands had one of the most prosperous and successful aircraft manufacturing industries in the world. The knowledge gained by Fokker during the war was soon put to use to build the Netherlands one of the most advanced and cutting edge air forces in the world. While at the same time the company pumped out hundreds of sturdy and innovative civilian craft. Fokker by 1932 was the largest and most successful aircraft company in the world. And the Netherlands was the center of it all.

Immigrants from the neighboring nations soon began to pour into the country. They sought to escape the situation in their homeland and employment in the factories. As always they were welcomed into the country. Serbs, Croats, Bosnian, Czechs, Slovaks, Austrians, Hungarians, Germans, Poles, Greeks, Russians, Finns, Belgians, French and Irish flooded into the nation, increasing its population by five percent between 1920 and 1930.
A large percentage of those that immigrated to the Netherlands were Jews. Tens of thousand of them all fleeing persecution and troubles back in their native lands. Although anti-Semites did exist in the country, they were not in the majority and the rapid erection of new synagogues and spread of Yiddish was not viewed as any different from the many new Orthodox churches being erected at the same time. Though hardship would eventually catch up to them for now the Jews living in the Netherlands were just one of the many different groups flooding into the prosperous Netherlands.

 

[r1ncewind]

so, the same treaty anyways? Thought germany would get off lighter this time, or did they not have to take full blame for the war?

 

[H.Flashman(VC)]

https://nl.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muiterij_op_De_Zeven_Provinciën
I like to point your attention to this. If you have problems with the translation, just ask. With such a huge Navy and many foreigners, something similar could easy happen in this timeline.

 

[Deleted member 2186]

Nice timeline, will have to read it more closely, subscribed.

 

[Vnix]

I find it rather unfortunate that you follow OTL so closely...

 

[Count of Crisco]

I find it rather unfortunate that you follow OTL so closely...

Well give me a minute...