Seems like the Allies were all about carving up that Turkey.
And here is the map.
Though I'm pretty sure that Armenia is about half Kurdish.
EDIT:
Also, there's this:
Hiyoooo!
Proposals and War Aims That Didn't Happen Map Thread
- Thread starter Beedok
- Start date
Hiyoooo!
If I get it correctly... it basically proposal for making massive wall of ice?
Falk, do NOT glorify Nazism or imperialism. Nothing sexy about it. Analytical Engine is exactly right:
it isn´t, to many "superstates"... on the other hand, Britain and USA could merge together and Italy would be probably easily taken over by Germany...
poor Japan then...
Do you mean doubtful? 😛
I wonder how India feels being turned into a diamond? Maybe they’re just the head of the Doubtful Empire.
Nothing artifical about the Indian borders, everyone knows that you can shave just by rubbing your face on the edge of India.
About a year ago I made a post in this thread about all of Austria Hungary's War aims in the First World War. A year later, I return with all of Germany's war aims from the same time period. The Darker the color, the more realistic/less radical the aims generally. The lighter the color, the less realistic/more radical the aims. Also, because I'm in a rush, I cant go as in depth as I did with my Austria post and this will probably have grammar errors and generally be all over the place. If I have a chance to fix it later, I will.
Lets start in the West with the BeNeLux region and Northern France
Belgium was supposed to be the Reich's "Vassal in the west'. Some called for Belgium's complete annexation. The Navy wanted to annex Belgium's and France's channel ports. During the war itself, small parts of northern France were attached to the general puppet government of Belgium. If the Reich was unable to obtain Belgium as a vassal, then annexations were needed, in the OHL's eyes, to safeguard the Reich from a Belgium that was friendly to the Entente. Annexations up to the Rivers Meuse, including Liege, were considered, as well as the Port of Antwerp. A corridor from Antwerp was also considered. Some minor German princes wanted any annexations from Belgium to go to them specifically, although there was a post in this thread regarding the annexation desires of minor German princes. Proposals also existed of splitting Wallonia and Flanders into 2 separate countries (under the German boot of course).
The Netherlands was meant to fall into the German Sphere of influence. However, some called for it's direct annexation. Others suggested that to further entice the Netherlands into the Reich's Sphere, the Flanders region of France and Belgium should be ceded to the Dutch.
Luxembourg was to be annexed to the Reich as a member state. The region of Arlon was to be given to Luxembourg from Belgium.
The radicalist Pan-German League called for Northern France to be annexed to the Reich directly. (You'll be seeing more from this group)
Next, the rest of the west; France and Ireland.
The OHL considered some minor annexations for purely defensive purposes in the west, primarily the Vosges and Belfort.
The region of Longwy-Briey was sought after by many in the Reich as a necessary war aims to rob France of much needed Iron and coal. A small corner of it may have been given to Luxembourg. The Pan-German League pushed for more extensive annexations in western France.
Alsace Lorraine is also pictured, thought it'd be interesting to include a little story behind it. Bavaria desired to annex the whole of Alsace-Lorraine, but an agreement was supposedly reached about dividing the region up between Bavaria and Baden, whilst giving Prussia a link through Strasbourg (Prussia's link is not pictured, as I couldn't imagine where such a sliver of land would connect to).
(I know me saying "some" so often is very vague and getting repetitive, my apologies, but again I am a bit hard pressed for time generally now-a-days, so I can't see who proposed what, if i can't remember it off the top of my head, for the time being). There were proposals to create a southern Bourbon Kingdom of France in the South. Industrialists proposed creating a kingdom of Normandy to leech off the Iron of the region. Toulon was considered for annexation to be a naval port, although Bethmann Hollweg considered it too radical and unrealistic in 1914. Germany also wanted Britains "untolerable Global Hegemony" to come to an end, and thus rebellions in many territories were supported, such as Ireland.
Now, Africa
(Note, while Gibraltar and Malta are part of Europe, the Africa map was large enough for me to include them as opposed to redoing the size of the western Europe map, my bad.) The Kaiser also called for the annexation of Malta and the return of Gibraltar to Spain.
Before I get to the continent, I will be going over less well-known aims, as most people know about the traditional Mittelafrika wishes of the Congo, French Congo, Madagascar etc.
Germany sought after a united colonial empire on the continent, that would have been able to support 1 million troops and become heavily industrialized. One industrialist said "In the course of centuries North America and Australia were Anglicised, South America Latinised. The time is at hand when Germany will be granted the power to Germanise virgin Africa" (Fischer 588). Lets work out way from the top to the bottom, since this is a massive continent. During one of the Kaiser's rants, he called for the annexation of ALL of Frances colonies (not pictured). However, the Germans in 1914 did push for rebellions in North Africa to get Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Egypt independent (Pictured). The Senussi order was still active in Libya and Egypt, but in 1914 Italy had not yet joined the Entente, and thus Germany advised them to only attack the British In Egypt. Once Italy joined the war however, they were okay with the Senussi fighting against them to gain independence. The Suez canal was also sought after due to its importance.
In 1914, annexationist fever ran hot, as some called for all west African French colonies below the 20th parallel north to be annexed. By 1918, this had evolved to simply annexing all the land beneath the river lines of the Nigel and Senegal rivers, to deny France of West African manpower and to leave the French to govern the unproductive lands of the Sahara. British and Portuguese colonies were also sought after. The German Navy also wanted naval bases in the region, one of the most unknown ones being Port-Etienne.
The German Navy also wanted all Portuguese Atlantic islands.
The Ethiopians were contacted in 1914 to join the war on the Central power side for possible lands in Sudan but declined. Modern day dijibouti, somaliland, and the island of Socotra were sought after. The Dervish state was supported due to German policy of wishing to support native peoples in a bid to break apart the Entente Empires.
The Boers were also supported due to, again, the desire to break up the Entente Empires.
Lets go back to Europe, specifically, Eastern Europe.
The Reich was terrified of the Russian empire. Due to it's large manpower pool and economic potential, if left unchecked for too long, many thought Russia would become unbeatable and thus, general German policy was to weaken and push the Colossus as far back as possible.
A polish border strip was desired by the OHL, although there were so many proposals and changes regarding the exact strip that it would need a separate map of its own. Some thought about leaving the rest of Poland to Austria in the early days of the war but as it dragged on, Poland was decided that it would be just another puppet. Although some called for complete annexation of Poland, most did not want more poles in the Reich.
The Baltic states were also considered for annexations but by Brest-Litovsk it had transformed into a policy of states that were independent in name, but dependent on the Reich(annexations in all but name). The Pan-German League called for St. Petersburg to be annexed directly.
Austria Silesia was also considered for annexation by some in the OHL (yes AUSTRIAN Silesia. Despite being territory from their ally, the OHL didn't care much about diplomacy. Ludendorff did, after all, call for war with Austria after they signed an armistice with the Entente in 1918). I had heard that there was some talk about attaching Galicia to Ukraine and Poland, and Bucovina with Romania, but I cannot remember where I had heard that, nor can i find a source that backs it up, and thus it is not pictured.
Finland, Ukraine and Belarus were to be puppets of the Reich. All tied to the Empire through treaties to serve both as produces of materials and receiver of manufactured goods. The idea of attaching Karelia to Finland AFTER Brest-Litovsk was floated around but due to the defeat in the west, was never carried out. The Cossack republics of Kuban and Don were given supplies and money by the OHL to hopefully become independent nations and again, bulwarks against the Russians. Ludendorff also sought after an anti Bolshevik coalition in the south-east (to represent this, the terek republic and mountainous republic of the northern Caucasus are shown). I had read somewhere about the Kaiser meeting up with the King of the Kalmyks regarding possible independence, but again I cannot definitively back it up with a source right now, and thus it is not pictured.
The Caucasus was supposed to be a single state, however in 1918 in broke into the 3 states of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. Georgia was made a German protectorate in 1918.
Romania was made into a practical puppet in 1918 and given Moldova. It was intended to be, you guessed it, another bulwark. The idea of Dobruja becoming a colony was floated around, however in September 1918 it was given to the Bulgarians. Constanta however, was to become an international city in name, but German de facto. The same was to happen with Thessaloniki in Greece. The German navy also wanted the cities of Vlore, Kotor, and Alexandretta (NOT Alexandria, Egypt) as naval bases. In addition to Vlore and its surroundings, the Germans wished for the naval base to have a land connection to Austria-Hungary, and possibly with Bulgaria and Greece. However, the claim is too vague for me to map it out.
Serbia was to become a "Medium state" by giving it Montenegro and Northern Albania. Southern Albania was to be given to Greece.
Crimea was considered as a possible colony, like Dobruja, or as a separate state, but eventually it was given to Ukraine and was to have a relationship with Ukraine similar to that of Bavaria to Prussia.
In 1914, again with the "break up the Entente via rebellions" idea, Khiva, Bukhara, the whole of Turkestan, and as some even suggested, Siberia were to be detached from Russia.
What's not pictured here is that after the black day of the German army in 1918, German policy slightly warmed up to Red Russia. Instead of dismantling it completely, the Germans floated the idea around that they could have the Cossack lands back in exchange for an alliance treaty, to gain an ally against the Entente.
Now, its about time we got around to Asia and North America.
Afghanistan and Iran were ideally to be freed from foreign influence (except for German influence, obviously). Balochistan, India and Pakistan were to be freed from British Rule. Indochina is pictured as German since Kaiser Wilhelm, as mentioned previously, called for the annexation of ALL French Colonies, no matter how unrealistic.
In 1915-1917, the Germans considered a separate peace with Japan and Russia by granting Russia certain spheres of influence (not pictured) in Manchuria, inner Mongolia and Sinkiang. Although some wanted to keep the former German colonies, eventually it was (begrudgingly) decided to cede these to Japan in return for an alliance, and to grant China as a Japanese protectorate (minus concessions, which were to be protected by Japan.) Speaking of Concessions, all French and Belgian concessions were desired. The Germans also wanted even more concessions in china. The "sites suggested were Tsingtao, Wuhu on the Yangtse-Kiang and ‘a place in South China, the choice to be dictated by purely commercial considerations’" (Fischer 359).
Brunei was desired for its Iron. The Dutch east indies are pictured because the Dutch were to be in Germanys sphere. Since Japan was to also become a German ally, they wanted Japan to renounce any claims or designs on the east indies. The German navy also desired one of the large Dutch East Indies islands as a giant naval base. However, since they never specify, it is not pictured. Portuguese Timor was also desired as a far-flung outpost.
French New Caledonia is pictured because the OHL wanted its resources. The other French colonies around it are pictured are because, again, the Kaiser. The Germans really did not want to give up Samoa due to the resources there(but in any realistic scenario, they'd have no way to enforce their claims).
Fiji was desired by the German navy because of the potential use as a naval base to disrupt trade going through the Panama Canal. Rest of Polynesia because of the Kaiser, yet again. Martinique in the Caribbean was also seen as a potential naval base.
Now back to Europe one final time
The Reich was to hold control over the countries pictured above as part of Mitteleuropa. (Note, Germanies Puppets in the East are not pictured, although they would have been on the same level as the following countries) Austria, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Denmark were to be the core members of the organization. Montenegro, Albania (if these two managed to keep their independence) Bulgaria, the Ottomans, Greece and Romania eventually became part of the plan. Norway, Italy and Sweden were also considered for inclusion.
Germany's aims in the First World War were designed to elevate Germany to world power status on par with that of the USA, Britain and (if it could still be counted) Russia. Its alliances with Japan and domination of Europe were to gear it up for the another potential war with the "Anglo-Saxon powers" of the USA and Britain, or simply achieve a "Pax Germania" of sorts. Nevertheless, even without another war or huge annexations, a Reich with relatively minor gains would have no doubt, gained it's Place in the Sun.
Edit: Forgot to add sources, whoops!
https://archive.org/details/FischerFritzGermanysAimsInTheFirstWorldWar/mode/2up (the source for the vast majority of the material)
Lets start in the West with the BeNeLux region and Northern France
The Netherlands was meant to fall into the German Sphere of influence. However, some called for it's direct annexation. Others suggested that to further entice the Netherlands into the Reich's Sphere, the Flanders region of France and Belgium should be ceded to the Dutch.
Luxembourg was to be annexed to the Reich as a member state. The region of Arlon was to be given to Luxembourg from Belgium.
The radicalist Pan-German League called for Northern France to be annexed to the Reich directly. (You'll be seeing more from this group)
Next, the rest of the west; France and Ireland.
The region of Longwy-Briey was sought after by many in the Reich as a necessary war aims to rob France of much needed Iron and coal. A small corner of it may have been given to Luxembourg. The Pan-German League pushed for more extensive annexations in western France.
Alsace Lorraine is also pictured, thought it'd be interesting to include a little story behind it. Bavaria desired to annex the whole of Alsace-Lorraine, but an agreement was supposedly reached about dividing the region up between Bavaria and Baden, whilst giving Prussia a link through Strasbourg (Prussia's link is not pictured, as I couldn't imagine where such a sliver of land would connect to).
(I know me saying "some" so often is very vague and getting repetitive, my apologies, but again I am a bit hard pressed for time generally now-a-days, so I can't see who proposed what, if i can't remember it off the top of my head, for the time being). There were proposals to create a southern Bourbon Kingdom of France in the South. Industrialists proposed creating a kingdom of Normandy to leech off the Iron of the region. Toulon was considered for annexation to be a naval port, although Bethmann Hollweg considered it too radical and unrealistic in 1914. Germany also wanted Britains "untolerable Global Hegemony" to come to an end, and thus rebellions in many territories were supported, such as Ireland.
Now, Africa
(Note, while Gibraltar and Malta are part of Europe, the Africa map was large enough for me to include them as opposed to redoing the size of the western Europe map, my bad.) The Kaiser also called for the annexation of Malta and the return of Gibraltar to Spain.
Before I get to the continent, I will be going over less well-known aims, as most people know about the traditional Mittelafrika wishes of the Congo, French Congo, Madagascar etc.
Germany sought after a united colonial empire on the continent, that would have been able to support 1 million troops and become heavily industrialized. One industrialist said "In the course of centuries North America and Australia were Anglicised, South America Latinised. The time is at hand when Germany will be granted the power to Germanise virgin Africa" (Fischer 588). Lets work out way from the top to the bottom, since this is a massive continent. During one of the Kaiser's rants, he called for the annexation of ALL of Frances colonies (not pictured). However, the Germans in 1914 did push for rebellions in North Africa to get Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Egypt independent (Pictured). The Senussi order was still active in Libya and Egypt, but in 1914 Italy had not yet joined the Entente, and thus Germany advised them to only attack the British In Egypt. Once Italy joined the war however, they were okay with the Senussi fighting against them to gain independence. The Suez canal was also sought after due to its importance.
In 1914, annexationist fever ran hot, as some called for all west African French colonies below the 20th parallel north to be annexed. By 1918, this had evolved to simply annexing all the land beneath the river lines of the Nigel and Senegal rivers, to deny France of West African manpower and to leave the French to govern the unproductive lands of the Sahara. British and Portuguese colonies were also sought after. The German Navy also wanted naval bases in the region, one of the most unknown ones being Port-Etienne.
The German Navy also wanted all Portuguese Atlantic islands.
The Ethiopians were contacted in 1914 to join the war on the Central power side for possible lands in Sudan but declined. Modern day dijibouti, somaliland, and the island of Socotra were sought after. The Dervish state was supported due to German policy of wishing to support native peoples in a bid to break apart the Entente Empires.
The Boers were also supported due to, again, the desire to break up the Entente Empires.
Lets go back to Europe, specifically, Eastern Europe.
The Reich was terrified of the Russian empire. Due to it's large manpower pool and economic potential, if left unchecked for too long, many thought Russia would become unbeatable and thus, general German policy was to weaken and push the Colossus as far back as possible.
A polish border strip was desired by the OHL, although there were so many proposals and changes regarding the exact strip that it would need a separate map of its own. Some thought about leaving the rest of Poland to Austria in the early days of the war but as it dragged on, Poland was decided that it would be just another puppet. Although some called for complete annexation of Poland, most did not want more poles in the Reich.
The Baltic states were also considered for annexations but by Brest-Litovsk it had transformed into a policy of states that were independent in name, but dependent on the Reich(annexations in all but name). The Pan-German League called for St. Petersburg to be annexed directly.
Austria Silesia was also considered for annexation by some in the OHL (yes AUSTRIAN Silesia. Despite being territory from their ally, the OHL didn't care much about diplomacy. Ludendorff did, after all, call for war with Austria after they signed an armistice with the Entente in 1918). I had heard that there was some talk about attaching Galicia to Ukraine and Poland, and Bucovina with Romania, but I cannot remember where I had heard that, nor can i find a source that backs it up, and thus it is not pictured.
Finland, Ukraine and Belarus were to be puppets of the Reich. All tied to the Empire through treaties to serve both as produces of materials and receiver of manufactured goods. The idea of attaching Karelia to Finland AFTER Brest-Litovsk was floated around but due to the defeat in the west, was never carried out. The Cossack republics of Kuban and Don were given supplies and money by the OHL to hopefully become independent nations and again, bulwarks against the Russians. Ludendorff also sought after an anti Bolshevik coalition in the south-east (to represent this, the terek republic and mountainous republic of the northern Caucasus are shown). I had read somewhere about the Kaiser meeting up with the King of the Kalmyks regarding possible independence, but again I cannot definitively back it up with a source right now, and thus it is not pictured.
The Caucasus was supposed to be a single state, however in 1918 in broke into the 3 states of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. Georgia was made a German protectorate in 1918.
Romania was made into a practical puppet in 1918 and given Moldova. It was intended to be, you guessed it, another bulwark. The idea of Dobruja becoming a colony was floated around, however in September 1918 it was given to the Bulgarians. Constanta however, was to become an international city in name, but German de facto. The same was to happen with Thessaloniki in Greece. The German navy also wanted the cities of Vlore, Kotor, and Alexandretta (NOT Alexandria, Egypt) as naval bases. In addition to Vlore and its surroundings, the Germans wished for the naval base to have a land connection to Austria-Hungary, and possibly with Bulgaria and Greece. However, the claim is too vague for me to map it out.
Serbia was to become a "Medium state" by giving it Montenegro and Northern Albania. Southern Albania was to be given to Greece.
Crimea was considered as a possible colony, like Dobruja, or as a separate state, but eventually it was given to Ukraine and was to have a relationship with Ukraine similar to that of Bavaria to Prussia.
In 1914, again with the "break up the Entente via rebellions" idea, Khiva, Bukhara, the whole of Turkestan, and as some even suggested, Siberia were to be detached from Russia.
What's not pictured here is that after the black day of the German army in 1918, German policy slightly warmed up to Red Russia. Instead of dismantling it completely, the Germans floated the idea around that they could have the Cossack lands back in exchange for an alliance treaty, to gain an ally against the Entente.
Now, its about time we got around to Asia and North America.
Afghanistan and Iran were ideally to be freed from foreign influence (except for German influence, obviously). Balochistan, India and Pakistan were to be freed from British Rule. Indochina is pictured as German since Kaiser Wilhelm, as mentioned previously, called for the annexation of ALL French Colonies, no matter how unrealistic.
In 1915-1917, the Germans considered a separate peace with Japan and Russia by granting Russia certain spheres of influence (not pictured) in Manchuria, inner Mongolia and Sinkiang. Although some wanted to keep the former German colonies, eventually it was (begrudgingly) decided to cede these to Japan in return for an alliance, and to grant China as a Japanese protectorate (minus concessions, which were to be protected by Japan.) Speaking of Concessions, all French and Belgian concessions were desired. The Germans also wanted even more concessions in china. The "sites suggested were Tsingtao, Wuhu on the Yangtse-Kiang and ‘a place in South China, the choice to be dictated by purely commercial considerations’" (Fischer 359).
Brunei was desired for its Iron. The Dutch east indies are pictured because the Dutch were to be in Germanys sphere. Since Japan was to also become a German ally, they wanted Japan to renounce any claims or designs on the east indies. The German navy also desired one of the large Dutch East Indies islands as a giant naval base. However, since they never specify, it is not pictured. Portuguese Timor was also desired as a far-flung outpost.
French New Caledonia is pictured because the OHL wanted its resources. The other French colonies around it are pictured are because, again, the Kaiser. The Germans really did not want to give up Samoa due to the resources there(but in any realistic scenario, they'd have no way to enforce their claims).
Fiji was desired by the German navy because of the potential use as a naval base to disrupt trade going through the Panama Canal. Rest of Polynesia because of the Kaiser, yet again. Martinique in the Caribbean was also seen as a potential naval base.
Now back to Europe one final time
The Reich was to hold control over the countries pictured above as part of Mitteleuropa. (Note, Germanies Puppets in the East are not pictured, although they would have been on the same level as the following countries) Austria, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Denmark were to be the core members of the organization. Montenegro, Albania (if these two managed to keep their independence) Bulgaria, the Ottomans, Greece and Romania eventually became part of the plan. Norway, Italy and Sweden were also considered for inclusion.
Germany's aims in the First World War were designed to elevate Germany to world power status on par with that of the USA, Britain and (if it could still be counted) Russia. Its alliances with Japan and domination of Europe were to gear it up for the another potential war with the "Anglo-Saxon powers" of the USA and Britain, or simply achieve a "Pax Germania" of sorts. Nevertheless, even without another war or huge annexations, a Reich with relatively minor gains would have no doubt, gained it's Place in the Sun.
Edit: Forgot to add sources, whoops!
https://archive.org/details/FischerFritzGermanysAimsInTheFirstWorldWar/mode/2up (the source for the vast majority of the material)
Last edited:
)After all that I'm amazed they didn't want to annex the sun too. Or at least place it in their sphere of influence.
First off, really fantastic breakdown. Enjoyed reading it, especially as I've spent hours trawling over German war aims before, particularly Fischer's book of the same name.
Did want to ask where the Japan detail is mentioned though? I'm very curious for my own TL's sake about what the German high command thought about that!
They weren't called the "crown jewel of the Empire" for nothin'
I wish, but its been troubling to find any sources on that (other than a small section of Fischer’s book), if someone could provide any sources i would greatly appreciate it.
So more likely Bulgaria would be next.