The Golden Eagle, A Napoleonic France after the Peace of Vienna

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Le Titan
Le Titan

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"Everyone with a brain knew that the powers of Europe were about to destroy themselves, but no one had as much imagination as thinking that a luxury line ship sinking in a icy sea would cause a World War." -Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United States and Historian, 1913.

The Quote of the Bull Moose President is an accurate view of the shocking turn of events that happened between April and May of 1912. "Le Titan" was the name of the largest and most luxurious ship in the world, it was built in Brest by the Boulanger Industries in the context of a Corporate rivalry with the German "Weiss Industries", it set sail from Brest, France to New York, USA on the 10th of April of 1912. The ship had some of the richest men in the world as passengers, including none other than the oldest son of Napoleon V, François-Louis, the Heir of the French Throne. It set sail with 2,300 passengers and crew across the Frozen waters of the North Atlantic.

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The ship was the pinnacle of engineering, Boulanger built the ship with British steel, that some blame to be cursed by the victims of Edward's Ruthless Colonization. But one thing that no one could predict was a group of Angry Germans in the crew, on the night of the 14th of April, off the coast of Newfoundland, they set bombs in the boilers, detonating it on the midnight. The explosions destroyed the boilers of the bow and opened holes in the steel bottom of the ship that was said to be more fragile. The explosions caused panic in the ship and the evacuation was started, but there weren't enough lifeboats for everyone, and some boats left with less than half their capacity, the Prince of the French throne on the other hand, was nowhere to be found. He was taken prisioneer by members of the conspiracy and tied at the 3rd class deck, being saved on the last minute by a girl whom he fell in love during the voyage. The two would go to the upper decks later only to find no boats left other than one reserved to the Prince where a large crowd demanded to enter it, the guards shooting in the air did little to calm the desperate crowd, instead the captain of the guard ordered them to fire on the crowd, killing at least 4. As that happened, the people went berserk as they were faced with their only chance of survival, it was 1:56 AM when the crowd charged the boat and overpowered the guards. The boat was filled and launched, with the Prince and the girl, called Natalie, stuck on the sinking ship during its final moments. They fled to the stern of the ship as the bow sunk, the chimneys fell, and by the 2:34 AM the energy was off and the ship entered it's final plunge. On the 2:40 AM of April 15th of 1912, Le Titan was on the bottom of the sea. Later on, one of the boats came back only to find that from 1,664 that were left on the ship, only 12 were alive, including Natalie but not the Prince, that died by her side while they were floating over a door.

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Of 2,332 on board, 1,652 died including the Heir of the French Empire. The survivors were rescued on the sunrise by another cruise ship, ironically made by the Weiss Industries. But the numbers of deaths would rise by the millions soon later. The body of the Prince would arrive in New York with the survivors, President Roosevelt himself wrote the telegraph to the Emperor, informing him of his son's death. His body was taken back to France where he was buried in the Bonaparte Mausoleum. But after an investigation it was revealed that German Nationalists, in collaboration with spies, had caused the explosion. The Emperor of the French was said to have "turned red and went crashing things in his house upon hearing the news." His eyes immediately turned to Kaiser Wilhelm II demanding explanations, on the other hand the Kaiser was on vacations, demanding to not be disturbed and leaving Chancellor Friedrich von Falkenstein to take care of it. Sadly he was a war-hawk militarist Prussian, he wrote an answer that basically said: "If you didn't upset the Germans of your stolen land, then your son could still be continuing your dynasty with a literal army of bastards." Needless to say that the Emperor could burn the paper with his own eyes.

On the 24th of April, Napoleon sent an ultimatum for the Kaiserreich, demanding them to cut their support for German Nationalists of the Empire and an official apology to Napoleon V. Instead of answering the Ultimatum, Falkenstein was singing the General mobilization, and sent letters to their allies, on the 30th of April, France did the same, and by May both the Entente and Coalition mobilized their troops, and the May Day Parades were cancelled. The Ultimatum expired and there was one last attempt to prevent the Great War, the French Prime Minister, Charles d'Dijon of the Liberaux, under the Influence of the Titanic survivor and Pacifist Journalist Jean Jaures, tried to arrange a Conference in Paris, that was rejected by both the Kaiser and the Emperor, the latter considering it a betrayal and sacking him, putting the Hawkish Conservative Georges Boulanger.

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((General and PM Boulanger, not related to Boulanger Industries))
Then on the 4th of May of 1912, the guns fired on the Front.
 
War Plans
War Plans

"No Plan survives contact with the Enemy."
Paul Von Hindenburg, German General, 1896
There was no doubt that a war was coming, the question was how long would it take and who would win. Both sides developed war Plans with the idea of winning the war in a year, before the Christmas. For the Entente the Plan Davout and for the Coalition the Moltke Plan.

Plan Davout
The French doctrine was dominated by the idea of Elan, that a offensive of human waves with artillery support could defeat any defenses, even the Rhine. The plan was for a quick mobilization and a full offensive over the Rhineland, Westphalia, and the Netherlands, hoping that it would cripple the German Industry, then a second strike by advancing to Hamburg and Hannover, then a southern Offensive to take Frankfurt and surround German units in Baden. The Russians would give support by invading Prussia and Scandinavia would take Holstein the Germans would collapse and Britain would hopefully surrender, if they didn't, there would be a offensive in the Iberian Peninsula to knock out the British Allies. Over the sea, the French would release the "Swordfish" fleet to starve Britain, while entering with close contacts with Bonapartist Ireland. The main fleet could not hope to challenge the combined Coalition Navy and should be restricted.

Plan Moltke
The Germans had a different plan originally, it was the proposal of keeping defenses on the Rhine while focusing the full might of the Reich against the Tsardom. But the rise of Kaiser Wilhelm II changed the focus to Paris, similarly with the Plan Davout, the Germans hoped to use the first weeks of the war to cross the Rhine and establish a bridgehead with the help of the Germanic minorities of the Empire, followed by the capture of the Rhineland and Wallonia, crippling the French industry. The Spanish would take Catalonia with the support of locals, and hopefully Italy would enter the war by the opportunism of taking Turin and Milano. The Russians were expected to be slow in mobilization, and the Ottomans would be tasked with a Distraction in the Caucasus, with a small part of the German army defending Schleswig and Prussia. The German and British navies would then separate Denmark from the rest of Scandinavia, blockade the French Coast and Russian Baltic coast.

But all those plans had failures, the Moltke plan underestimated Russia, while the Davout plan overestimated the French Elan. But they wouldn't be proven wrong until millions died.
 
Jesus. This war seems pretty justified on the part of the French. That's a terror attack on par with 9-11, adjusting for population. I wouldn't be surprised if it has a similar cultural place in France, too.
 
Die Wacht am Rhein
Die Wacht am Rhein

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"Es braust ein Ruf wie Donnerhall,
wie Schwertgeklirr und Wogenprall:
Zum Rhein, zum Rhein, zum deutschen Rhein,
wer will des Stromes Hüter sein?


Lieb Vaterland, magst ruhig sein,
lieb Vaterland, magst ruhig sein,
Fest steht und treu die Wacht, die Wacht am Rhein!
Fest steht und treu die Wacht, die Wacht am Rhein!


Durch Hunderttausend zuckt es schnell,
und aller Augen blitzen hell;
der Deutsche, bieder, fromm und stark,
beschützt die heil'ge Landesmark.


Er blickt hinauf in Himmelsau'n,
wo Heldenväter niederschau'n,
und schwört mit stolzer Kampfeslust:
Du Rhein bleibst deutsch wie meine Brust!


Solang ein Tropfen Blut noch glüht,
noch eine Faust den Degen zieht,
und noch ein Arm die Büchse spannt,
betritt kein Feind hier deinen Strand!


So führe uns, du bist bewährt;
In Gottvertrau'n greif' zu dem Schwert!
Hoch Wilhelm! Nieder mit der Brut!
Und tilg' die Schmach mit Feindesblut!"


Die Wacht am Rhein, most popular German War Song of the Great War.
The first 2 months of the War in the West would set the Frontlines of most of the War, both the German and French troops would have the cultural crash that has been building up for 99 years, both sides demonizing the other in the opposite side of the Rhine. Now they would fight with Steel and Blood in a spiral of destruction that would destroy Europe, there couldn't be two more balanced sides in a war: Both with similar population, army doctrines, technology, and desire to destroy. The Germans called for a final war of Unification, to unite their brothers of the Rhineland and Flandres, and to destroy the hated enemy of the Germans: France and the Bonapartes. The French called for a revenge for the Titan, to destroy their hated enemy, to fulfill the Legacy of Napoleon I, and to destroy the greatest threat to the French way of life. Both sides had one thing in common: They weren't on a war to defend their lands, but to destroy the enemy.

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((French Propaganda for the people purchase National Credit, "For the Flag ! To Victory"))

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((German Propaganda, "This is how Germany will look like if they cross the Rhine."))
The First moves of the war started on the 5th of May, the day after the declaration of War, the French forces used a quicker mobilization to cross the Rhine, clashing with the German defenses, the First battle of the War ended with the French forces retreating back to their side of the Rhine. The commanders had a reality shock when their troops were mowed down by Machine Guns. The Germans were quick to attempt a counter further north, coming south from the Netherlands, they crossed the Rhine, and for every village they received flowers and were hailed as heroes by the people of Flandres, they didn't advance far. In Antwerpen, the French forces with Naval support pushed the Germans back from their gains, the Rhine would be the frontline. The two sides using artillery and a amassed use of snipers to kill the enemy soldiers, and later in the war, gas would become the weapon of choice to hit the enemy on the other side.

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((French soldiers charging the German lines during the first battle of the Rhine))
Further South, the French didn't have many troops to spare in the Catalan front, the French hoped to use the Ebro river as defensive line like the Rhine, but the lack of men forced the local commander, General Joffre, to conscript the Catalans. The Catalans were the most hated minority in Paris, they were the ones that violently resisted Frankification and rebelled several times before, and were smashed in every single one. This time they saw the war as their best chance, and they weren't going to let it slip away, the Catalans saw the Spanish in a much more positive light, especially the Carlists that have treated their brothers in Valencia and Navarre so much better than the French. The Spanish troops charged the French lines on the late of May (26th to be more precise), that's when one of the most surprising events of the early war happened: As the French ordered the Catalans to hold the line for the French to regroup further back, one Catalan officer said "Our people lost Barcelona, lost Brothers and sisters, lost everything we had to resist your attempt to destroy our culture. We shall do the same and worse even to finally get rid of you." And with a gesture of his hand, the Catalan soldiers of the Trench stabbed the French troops in the back, similar fate happened to the other parts of the line, with the news spreading to Barcelona and other villages, local guards and armed militias turned on the French forces that were quickly outnumbered and cut from any communication, on the 27th of May, the Catalan militias and troops had almost destroyed the French resistance over the Country except by Rousseló and Girona, where the French held strong. Catalans raised their flags and met with the Spanish, celebrating together the beggining of the end of French control over Iberia, or so they thought. When hearing of the Catalan desertion, Napoleon V was so irate that he sent over 600,000 reservists to join the local 124,000 French forces, he had only one order to Joffre: "When you advance back to the Ebro, remember to not leave one single Catalan alive, men, women, and children are all the enemy, consider even the babies as soldiers, every building must be bombarded. I will send the Fleet of the Mediterranean itself to destroy Barcelona and salt the land, and no building, no person, no soul shall ever live in Catalonia again."

On the other hand, the rest of the Iberian front was quiet, the Pyrenees were impossible to cross, and fighting was little. But the Danish front broke the silence, on the 18th of May, to support the French offensives, the Scandinavians attacked with the objective to reach the Kiel canal by the end of the month. 400,000 men clashed over the Jutland Peninsula, with the German fleet fighting the first naval battle between Steelships of the world: Near Copenhagen, the Ostseeflotte was met by the Scandinavian fleet, including the Steelship "Caroulos Rex", the main attraction of the battle was when the Scandinavian ship met with the German "Poltava" (Named as an insult to the Scandinavian ship, with the name of the Swedish defeat in the Great Northern War), the ships clashed in the middle of the battle, and after 20 minutes, the Caroulos Rex exploded thanks for a lucky shot on the ammunition hold, the Scandinavian fleet retreated after the defeat.
 
Here is a profile of the Crown Prince of Germany, BTW:
Name: Wilhelm Rudolf von Hohenzollern
DoB: September 4, 1884
Nationality: German Empire
Title: Crown Prince
Military Rank: Captain in the Imperial German Army
Description: Crown Prince Wilhelm of Germany is the oldest son and heir to the Imperial Throne of Germany. From a young age, he was quite bookish and intelligent, excelling at everything he put his mind into. In addition, he was very good at music and was very handsome. In addition, he is quite compassionate onto others. However, he is a bit of a monomaniac and an "emo" as well. He married Princess Leonora of Scandinavia, a strong-willed woman who from a young age was a "tomboy" as well with a reputation as fiercely independent, spirited, and self-confident and they now have a son named John. In addition, he has shown potential as a military commander with him advocating for modern combined arms tactics combining mechanization, firepower, and numbers even with his junior rank as a Captain in the army. Finally, he is close friends with Siglinde "Schnee" Weiss, heiress to Weiss Industries with how similar they are personality-wise.
 
Jesus. This war seems pretty justified on the part of the French. That's a terror attack on par with 9-11, adjusting for population. I wouldn't be surprised if it has a similar cultural place in France, too.
The question is whether the German government backed the attack. I imagine that would be something future historians would be fiercely debating.
 
Quantity and Quality
Quantity and Quality
Both Germany and France were surrounded, Germany between the French, Scadinavians, and Russians, France between the Germans, Iberians, and British. While the French had powerful natural defenses, Germany didn't have those. That's why the German High Command begged in the feet of the Kaiser to give at least half of the German (initial by 1912) 3,450,000 men to the Eastern Front to contain Russian aggression and a possible Bohemian rebellion. After the failure of the Moltke plan in crossing the Rhine and securing a safe bridgehead, the Kaiser reluctantly agreed, even if he didn't think Russia would be an immediate threat due to their size slowing down mobilization, he was underestimating the Modernizations created by the Rationalist Tsars.

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((The Kaiser inspecting his troops on the Eastern Front))
The Germans were still greatly outnumbered on a 3-1 by the Russians when General Alexei Brussilov attacked, using the delay of the Kaiser's decision to strike the Heart of Prussia. The "Operation Wladislaw", in homage to the Polish King that defeated the Teutonic Order in Grunwald, was the attack of over 800,000 men into Eastern Prussia to take Danzig and cut off Eastern Prussia. The Germans didn't expect such a bold attack, especially not on the First of June. The Russians gave support to such offensive with several diversionary attacks, making the Germans expect an attack on Breslau or Koningsburg. The Initial attack was extremely successful, even reaching the city of Marienburg, but then the Reinforcements of the Kaiser arrived: An extra 1,3 million men to reinforce the East thanks to the massive number of volunteers in May.

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((Russian Troops charging against German lines at the battle of Elbing))
Elbing was where the Reich made it's stand in the East, with over 1 million men on the battlefield, it was the largest battle of the war so far. Russian forces charged against the German lines held by General Paul von Hindenburg, with the notable command of Wilhelm Rudolf, the German Crown prince. The Russians Human Wave tactics made sure that even the worst aim would hit someone, the Russians by sheer numbers overwhelmed the first line, but failed to break the second one, forcing Brussilov to call off the offensive by fears of being cut off. There were 127,000 German Casualties and 288,000 for the Russians.

The Germans counter-attacked the Russians, aiming to take Plock and Kalitz. On the 4th of July, the Germans broke the Russian lines taking Kalisz and Brzesc by the 12th, but the advance halted in Plock, the Germans considering it "too costly" to continue the push. The Eastern front remained relatively quiet for the month, the Germans and Russians bringing their forces at the hundreds of thousands, until by the end of the year there were 4,670,000 Germans and 6,565,000 Russians. Russian forces usually outnumbering the Germans in battles but lacked the Quality of the German Troops. The Germans launched an attack on the city of Warsaw, which they failed in December. While the Russians would be forced to retreat from Brussilov's gained ground, the Germans and Russians started 1913 fighting along a extensive line from Memel to Krakow.

Meanwhile, the war didn't prevent scandals. The German Prince Wilhelm had married a Scandinavian princess, Leonora was a strange woman, always dressing in military uniforms and demanding to go with her husband to the battlefield, even if she went to fight her own people in the Danish Front. Wilhelm II liked that spirit and the German Nationalism of Leonora even if she was from an enemy country. Wilhelm Rudolf was promoted several times (Which may or may not have to do with the Kaiser supporting his son and he having the name of "Hohenzollern") until he became General in 1914, with Leonora always by his side, even if his promotions could be considered nepotism, it couldn't be denied that the boy had great military skills and was absolutely obsessed with Prussian Militarism and Military tactics, including suggesting a combined arms approach to guarantee success on the War against Russia. And the suspects would come when he was found to be visiting Weiss Industrial areas several times to talk with Singlinde Weiss, would that be an affair ? No one knows thanks for the Heavy War Censorship of the German press. But no one could deny that the German Empire would have an interesting future Kaiser.

Europe wouldn't see much other than minor offensives on the East and Denmark during the rest of 1912, as opposed to what was happening around the World, especially Indonesia and Africa, where the war raged actively.
 
At this point I'm predicting that the Germans break France in the west, which falls to revolution, but stalemate the Russians, maybe giving up a bit of land. I just can't see France not cracking against three countries; meanwhile the Russians only have one front to worry about.
 
At this point I'm predicting that the Germans break France in the west, which falls to revolution, but stalemate the Russians, maybe giving up a bit of land. I just can't see France not cracking against three countries; meanwhile the Russians only have one front to worry about.
Anyways, who are you rooting for?
 
I do wonder how Romania is doing at this point, Maybe they could possible join the Germans in the war effort in an attempt to take Besserabia from Russia, as to add another front.
 
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