Why the Chinese play cricket (The Pax Imperialis)

Driftless

Donor
Why order from the US on the other side of the Atlantic ocean when you can order from the Brutish, who already have the production base, a few hundred kilometres away?

A useful development for the British: they're making good money, while others help pay for infrastructure build-up and they get some cross-referenced knowledge on what equipment works well and what doesn't....
 
1913b
~July to December 1913: The school of hard knocks

July 1913: The initial Austro-Hungarian attack into Serbia drives the Serbs from Belgrade. However the Austro-Hungarians under General Oskar Potiorek fail to follow up aggressively due to heavy casualties. This allows the Serbs to form a defensive line running from Nis to the Ibar River.

July 1913: The Austro-Hungarians are routed in Poland and the Russians begin to advance through Galicia.

July 1913: The German battleship Elsass is sunk by a French submarine off the Belgium coast. As a result, the High Seas Fleet is withdrawn from coastal bombardment.

July 1913: The German Fifth Army under Crown Prince Ruprecht of Bavaria is redeployed to the east as a result of the Russian success in East Prussia and Galicia. Further reinforcements will be dispatched later.

July 1913: The Russian army places an order with the BSA for 500 Lewis LMGs and 40,000 SMLE rifles, both in 7.62mm Russian, as a stopgap to help make up their shortage of small arms. They continue to order Lewis LMGs though future orders for rifles are for the their standard Mosin-Nagant.

July 1913: The French and Belgians are forced back in Belgium. The French suffer massive casualties as their offensive doctrine leads to repeated frontal attacks on German positions.

July 1913: The Cardiff Conference debates entering the now six week old war. New Zealand Prime Minister William Massey, supported by Imperial Chief of Staff Lord Kitchener, convinces the Conference that contrary to popular opinion the war will not be short. The decision is to issue the strongest diplomatic warning that Belgium independence must be maintained but otherwise declare neutrality. Both the France and Germany immediately agree to ensure Belgium remains independent at the end of hostilities.

July 1913: The Japanese and French sign a secret treaty granting Japan German possessions in China and the Pacific in return for entering the war. Japan immediately grants the French Navy access to Port Arthur to blockade Tsingtao.

August 1913: The Russians secure Galicia and the Austria Hungarians fall back to the Carpathian mountains.

August 1913: The Entente begin placing large orders in Britain for raw materials, rolling stock, and military hardware. The purchases include setting up new production facilities. The Entente will quickly come to depend on British industry for their war effort. While the Central Powers also place orders, these are smaller due to Germany's industrial base and ability to supply its allies. Thus, they never become as dependant.

August 1913: In a manner similar to Britain, the combatants begin placing war orders with Italy. While only a fraction of those placed with the British and initially primarily food stuffs, these orders promote the growth of Italian industry. Austria-Hungary in particular becomes dependent on Italian food and industry.

August 1913: French colonial troops invade Togoland and Kamerun.

August 1913: Under German pressure, the Austro-Hungarians launch an offensive in the Carpathians to divert Russian troops from East Prussia. This offensive will prevent the Austro-Hungarians from renewing their offensive in Serbia. The offensive will prove to be a costly failure when it draws to a close in October.

August 1913: The Fifth Army arrives in East Prussia greatly strengthening German resistance.

August 1913: With the outbreak of the Great War and associated concerns regarding British involvement, the introduction of the Enfield rifle is abandoned. However development is begun on a new version of the SMLE incorporating some of the Enfield's features.

August 1913: The Russians launch an offensive against the Ottomans in the Caucasus.

August 1913: Leading Irish capitalist William Murphy begins dismissing his employees who are members of a union. This sparks a massive dispute as employers attempt to remove union members from their work force leading to a series of strikes and lockouts, known as the Dublin lockout.

September 1913: Utilising the tooling already in existence, Vickers successfully sells 15,000 Enfield rifles in 6.5mm to the Greeks and another 35,000 in 7.65mm Mauser to the Belgians.

September 1913: The Germans to finally halt the Russian advance in East Prussia on a line running from Kolberg to Posen then Breslau and along the Oder river.

11th September 1913: French submarines begin attacks on German shipping in the North Sea. The Germans quickly follow suit. Both the British and US demand international prize law be respected by all combatants.

September 1913: With the growing war in Europe, German support for the Portuguese monarchists beings to tapper off, allowing the republicans to gain the upper hand in the Portuguese Civil War.

September 1913: The withdrawal of the Fifth Army allows the French to stabilise the western front on a line running from Ghent, along the Schelde to Valenciennes, then to a line from Reims to Verdun and the German border.

September 1913: The Russian Caucasus offensive is halted in order redeploy troops to the Balkans.

September 1913: Rather than renewing their attack in Serbia Austro-Hungarians launch an offensive into Bulgaria to relieve pressure on the Ottomans.

September 1913: France begins ordering Lewis LMGs for their forces.

October 1913: Six Russian divisions are deployed to strengthen the Serbian and Bulgarian defences.

October 1913: The German East Asia Squadron under Admiral Maximilian von Spee defeats the French Eastern Squadron under Admiral Dominique Marie Gauchet in the Battle of Shandong Peninsula. The battle breaks the blockade of Tsingtao.

October 1913: Due attacks by surface raiders the French begin arming merchant ships. The Germans follow suit to counter French submarine attacks.

October 1913: The Greeks force the Ottomans from the Janina Vilayet in southern Albania. However reinforcements from Thrace allow the Ottomans to form a new line.

November 1913: The French launch an offensive in Aisne. The offensive will drag on until December, gaining little ground but inflicting heavy casualties on both sides.

November 1913: The Austro-Hungarians launch a winter offensive in the Carpathians aimed at retaking Galicia.

November 1913: Concerned at the growing violence and disruption to the burgeoning economic boom due to foreign war orders, Irish Prime Minister William O'Brien forces through the Workplace Order Act under urgency. The act bans all strikes and lookouts for the next six months, ending the lockout and begins a program of workplace reform lead by O'Brien's Federalists.

November 1913: Expecting the local Muslim population to rise in revolt, the Ottomans invade the Russian Caucasus in a winter offensive. The invasion is supported by an offensive into neutral Persia to cut off Russian access to the Caspian oilfields.

December 1913: Winter brings the Austro-Hungarian offensive in Bulgaria to a halt. Fierce Bulgarian resistance has limited their advance to the Iskur river.

December 1913: As their own Hotchkiss MG is unsuitable, the French begin ordering Vickers MGs and Lewis LMGs to arm their aircraft. Since the 8mm Lebel round has proven somewhat unreliable for their Lewis LMGs, the French select the 0.303" British for their use on aircraft.

December 1913: Sun Yat-sen becomes Grand Chancellor of Qing China after defeating Cen Chunxuan in the third democratic elections. He begins to reduce the influence of the Emperor on government.
 
Last edited:
Another thing about British neutrality, it'll have a massive effect on the US post-war. The British are getting the war orders which went to the US in the OTL. Rven if the British enter the war later, US power is going to be significantly weaker ITTL.
 
Another thing I've left out sigh.

April 1906: As part of the development of the Royal Navy's amphibious warfare capacity, the liners Campania and Lucania are purchased for conversion into specialist assault troopships.
 
Oh and a request. I'm dyslexic, very. I have an extremely bad habit of leaving out words or entire phrases. For some reason one of the words I frequently leave out is "not." You can imagine the problems this causes. I also often use a totally different word from the one I'm intending to use. My spelling is less than perfect too.

While I do proof read, the issue is impossible to totally eliminate. So if anyone spots me doing this, please tell me, I really really appreciate when people do. Thank you.
 

Pangur

Donor
Oh and a request. I'm dyslexic, very. I have an extremely bad habit of leaving out words or entire phrases. For some reason one of the words I frequently leave out is "not." You can imagine the problems this causes. I also often use a totally different word from the one I'm intending to use. My spelling is less than perfect too.

While I do proof read, the issue is impossible to totally eliminate. So if anyone spots me doing this, please tell me, I really really appreciate when people do. Thank you.
TBH I had noticed amything and yes I will
 
I forgot about the Austro-Hungarian offensive into Bulgaria in 1913.


December 1913: Winter brings the Austro-Hungarian offensive in Bulgaria to a halt. Fierce Bulgarian resistance has limited their advance to the Iskur river.
 

Great_Stag

Banned
With Britain out of the war, Japan isn't brought in. This will weaken their Empire in the future as they would be lacking the gains they made in the first war.
 
On the up side Observers don't result in a 'lost generation'.
Not fighting WW1 may reduce pressure for social change because people don't get to go oversea, or even away from their village and see how other people live, and get exposed to foreign ideas.
 
Top