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Chapter 53: Bloodbaths on the Rhine
Part 53: Bloodbaths on the Rhine (1773-1776)
General Maximilian Schwarzburg, the new leader of the Republic of Germania, was swiftly given emergency powers to deal with the ongoing crisis, and the army commander was quick to use them to reorganize the state. The creation of a second Congress was postponed until after the end of the war, and instead it was replaced by a small cabal of generals, surviving ministers and bureaucrats. Schwarzburg declared the enactment of martial law throughout the entire Republic and a crackdown on potential Monarchist sympathizers and French "spies", resulting in a terror campaign across the nation that resulted in thousands being imprisoned or executed, sometimes without even the sufficient evidence for their crimes. This stood against the values of the Republic, and many criticized the general for it, but to him, this was necessary to save the nation from collapse. Mass mobilization continued, and now the entire nation was geared towards the war effort, a textbook example of a "total war", which Germania was the first modern example of.
In early 1773, French forces began crossing the Rhine once more. Director Arthur Bachelot, through some unconventional measures and bribery, no less, managed to persuade the Estates-General to launch a partial mobilization of the French army. The reserves were now called into action, the state took out a number of loans to finance the second shot at defeating Germania, and the French high command was determined to not make the same mistakes as last time. Germania did not have much time left, and Schwarzburg knew that. At the same time, however, the events in the East eluded him - the rebellion in Buda was waning in strength, but follow-up revolts across the three kingdoms were ready to finish what they started. Both the Germans and the Visegradians themselves were calling for help to a brother in arms. Acquiring Visegrad as an ally and thus securing the eastern front was very elusive... After a meeting with his cabal, the new leader of Germania decided on an action plan - Germania will send a 30 000 men intervention into Buda, while the majority of the army will head west and clash with the Frenchmen. To Schwarzburg, it appeared as if Lithuania was just bluffing about an invasion west.
The first major French-German engagement happened near Koblenz, on May of 1773. A French detachment of 11 000 men defeated a German regiment of only about 3000 soldiers, even if the latter managed to hold out for almost two days. Before the main force of the German Revolutionary Army arrived, France had overrun most of Westphalia and Baden, but their vanguard units were pushed back before they could advance into Wurttemburg or Swabia. Around this point in time, the French Republic realized that they have a new opponent to fight - that being the Germans living in occupied territories, especially in the left bank of the Rhine, which had been occupied for almost a decade by then. Even though those lands were nominally German and France officially showed no plans to incorporate them, they acted more like conquerors rather than temporary holders - installing French administration, courts and laws, encouraging French immigration and business within the territory, and constantly requesting grain and high taxes from the peasantry. Unable to directly oppose the enemy armies, the local Germans took it to the forests and basements, forming underground resistance movements and resorting to guerilla warfare. One of the most notable results of this happened in late 1773, where France scored a major victory against a large German army, led by Heinrich von Hasseldorf, in Mainz, breaking the enemy front lines, but they were unable to use this victory to their benefit, because local resistance fighters had disrupted their supply lines and forced them to stop for long enough to let Germania reinforce the line.
Meanwhile, a much different result was taking place in the East. The German expedition, led by general Adalbert Himmelblau, arrived to a nation taking what seemed to be it's last breaths, the troops saw little to no opposition, and in the beginning of 1774, they arrived to Buda, which had been abandoned by Royalist forces and left to it's own devices due to the collapse of the central government. Fearing for their lives, King Sigismund II, his court and most of the National Assembly fled north, to Poland, which had so far been mostly untouched by the Revolution, while lawlessness, region-wide rebellions and chaos ensued in the south. Schwarzburg had many ambitious plans for the region - he wanted Visegrad to be dismantled and Bohemia incorporated into Germania, along with Silesia, while Hungary and Poland were to form closely aligned fellow republics as a buffer between his nation and Lithuania, as well as the Ottomans. But, for this set of plans to be enacted, Lithuania had to be dealt with - and the Lithuanians didn't even wait. Soon after the intervention in Visegrad, sensing that their interests are being threatened, Lithuania officially declared war on Germania.
Battle of Mainz, 1773
1774 was the year of a new election to the Estates-General in France, and it was set to be complicated from the very beginning. Director Bachelot's term was quite a wild ride, in a way - for almost the entire term, the nation had been embroiled in a not very successful war with Germania, revolutionary thoughts were rising in prominence, and France's stance as the strongest nation in Europe was being challenged. The opposition, especially the Blues, constantly criticized him for being a war hawk, for using military force against the Germans instead of negotiating with them, but the Red Party stood strong anyway. Director Bachelot ran a very successful campaign in the first months of 1774, he constantly claimed that "the German revolution is a threat to France and it's sovereignty" and "the people must be united under a capable ruler for the Republic to endure", and began numerous smear campaigns against his opponents in the election. The wave of patriotism carried Arthur Bachelot through the campaign. March 11th was the election date, and a new Estates-General gathered - however, due to fracturing in both parties, neither one was able to acquire a majority for a new Director. Failing to find a compromise during such turbulent times, the representatives agreed to appoint Arthur Bachelot once more, though also acquiring his promise to organize a new election once the war with dealt with.
Right after the election itself, bad news arrived to the French high command - Maximilian Schwarzburg and the German Revolutionary Army defeated a large French force, led by the Black Baron himself, near Frankfurt, and they have now crossed the river Rhine. There, the blue-clad soldiers of the Revolution were met with cheering, flowers and kisses, the people saw their fellow Germans as liberators from the French yoke. Because of this sudden breakthrough in the French lines, Bachelot ordered a retreat from the right bank of the Rhine, but even if the majority of the army was still safe, things were getting problematic. If Schwarzburg reaches mainland France, this could be the end of the war, and a yet another humiliating defeat was not what the Director wanted. He needed allies. Sure, Lithuania was now in the war, but it would take a while before they could even approach Germania. The Netherlands were broke and would be a liability rather than any help - this was the reason why France didn't call them to the war earlier, despite being allies. Visegrad was disintegrating. Denmark refused to take part in this mess, even when promised all of Schleswig-Holstein. The only option left was to open a new front, and this is where Northern Italy came to France's view.
Throughout the last two centuries, the Italian region was turned from a center of learning and culture into a mere battleground between the Great Powers, especially Spain and France. While a number of North Italian nations were aligned with the French, the Papal States, Florence and Naples were firmly under the Spanish grip. In addition, the revolution right to the north of the region began to destabilize the region. Savoy, for example, which used to be a firm ally of France, had now declared it's neutrality, while Venice was nearing a potential collapse from republican pan-Italian forces. And now Director Bachelot decided to attack Germania from the rear by marching through North Italy, even if it meant violating the integrity of the countries standing there. The Italian Campaign took place from 1775 to 1776, and it's results were varied - Savoy was overrun, Milan folded and allowed the 50 000 men large French army to pass through, the rebellions in Venice were squashed, but France was unable to break through the Alps because of awful weather and the terrain. In the Battle of the Kreuzberg Pass, a ten times smaller, but heavily fortified and acclimated German regiment managed to endure a French assault, stopping their advance and preventing them from overrunning Austria.
While one disaster struck France in the Alps, another dealt a heavy blow in Rhineland. The French high command demanded that the left bank of the Rhine must be retaken by any means necessary, and this meant that a 150 000 men army was assembled throughout 1775, mostly from called up reservists, and placed under the control of General Jean de Luc. This army met the advancing German forces near Saarbrücken, a local coal mining town, and they were led by Maximilian Schwarzburg himself. The Battle of Saarbrücken had begun. The French force was superior in size, but it lacked the sufficient artillery firepower to cover their advance - many of the cannons were sent to North Italy, while the production of replacements lagged - while the Germans brought quite a lot more. General de Luc hoped to use his wider force to engulf and surround the enemy, but the slow speed of the army was a thorn in these plans, while Schwarzburg cracked his plans and began a constant tactical retreat, shelling the advancing Frenchmen while not allowing them to retaliate with the same. Many German soldiers used horse wagons, seized from the peasantry, to move around the battlefield, giving the infantry unprecedented mobility in the clash, even if most of the horses seized did not survive the battle. After tiring the French forces out and thinning their ranks with artillery, the Germans suddenly stopped retreating and charged forward, breaking many of the enemy line regiments instantly, and soon forcing a full retreat from the battlefield. It was a yet another grand defeat for the French forces, it opened a path for a German invasion of France proper, and at this point, the patience of the nation's populace grew thin. This only strengthened the "invincible Schwarzburg" myth that was starting to roam across the French army, and it appeared as if France was about to sue for peace for sure...
But. But we have forgotten something. Five days after the Battle of Saarbrücken, in March of 1776, a massive Lithuanian army led by Grand Hetman Martynas Pacas arrived to Buda, capturing the abandoned city within a week. Lithuania was now fully in the war, propping up a weak loyalist Visegradian government in Poland to prevent it from collapsing, and the Grand Hetman set himself a goal of taking care of this upstart revolution in Vienna with his own hands. He may have been a moderate within his country, but to him, the Great German Revolution was something on a whole other scale. Even if France was pretty much defeated, even if Paris was only a few months away, General Schwarzburg had no choice but to turn east.
Can the Lithuanians really be a threat, though? The invincible Schwarzburg can defeat anyone in Europe, right?
Part 53: Bloodbaths on the Rhine (1773-1776)
In early 1773, French forces began crossing the Rhine once more. Director Arthur Bachelot, through some unconventional measures and bribery, no less, managed to persuade the Estates-General to launch a partial mobilization of the French army. The reserves were now called into action, the state took out a number of loans to finance the second shot at defeating Germania, and the French high command was determined to not make the same mistakes as last time. Germania did not have much time left, and Schwarzburg knew that. At the same time, however, the events in the East eluded him - the rebellion in Buda was waning in strength, but follow-up revolts across the three kingdoms were ready to finish what they started. Both the Germans and the Visegradians themselves were calling for help to a brother in arms. Acquiring Visegrad as an ally and thus securing the eastern front was very elusive... After a meeting with his cabal, the new leader of Germania decided on an action plan - Germania will send a 30 000 men intervention into Buda, while the majority of the army will head west and clash with the Frenchmen. To Schwarzburg, it appeared as if Lithuania was just bluffing about an invasion west.
The first major French-German engagement happened near Koblenz, on May of 1773. A French detachment of 11 000 men defeated a German regiment of only about 3000 soldiers, even if the latter managed to hold out for almost two days. Before the main force of the German Revolutionary Army arrived, France had overrun most of Westphalia and Baden, but their vanguard units were pushed back before they could advance into Wurttemburg or Swabia. Around this point in time, the French Republic realized that they have a new opponent to fight - that being the Germans living in occupied territories, especially in the left bank of the Rhine, which had been occupied for almost a decade by then. Even though those lands were nominally German and France officially showed no plans to incorporate them, they acted more like conquerors rather than temporary holders - installing French administration, courts and laws, encouraging French immigration and business within the territory, and constantly requesting grain and high taxes from the peasantry. Unable to directly oppose the enemy armies, the local Germans took it to the forests and basements, forming underground resistance movements and resorting to guerilla warfare. One of the most notable results of this happened in late 1773, where France scored a major victory against a large German army, led by Heinrich von Hasseldorf, in Mainz, breaking the enemy front lines, but they were unable to use this victory to their benefit, because local resistance fighters had disrupted their supply lines and forced them to stop for long enough to let Germania reinforce the line.
Meanwhile, a much different result was taking place in the East. The German expedition, led by general Adalbert Himmelblau, arrived to a nation taking what seemed to be it's last breaths, the troops saw little to no opposition, and in the beginning of 1774, they arrived to Buda, which had been abandoned by Royalist forces and left to it's own devices due to the collapse of the central government. Fearing for their lives, King Sigismund II, his court and most of the National Assembly fled north, to Poland, which had so far been mostly untouched by the Revolution, while lawlessness, region-wide rebellions and chaos ensued in the south. Schwarzburg had many ambitious plans for the region - he wanted Visegrad to be dismantled and Bohemia incorporated into Germania, along with Silesia, while Hungary and Poland were to form closely aligned fellow republics as a buffer between his nation and Lithuania, as well as the Ottomans. But, for this set of plans to be enacted, Lithuania had to be dealt with - and the Lithuanians didn't even wait. Soon after the intervention in Visegrad, sensing that their interests are being threatened, Lithuania officially declared war on Germania.
Battle of Mainz, 1773
1774 was the year of a new election to the Estates-General in France, and it was set to be complicated from the very beginning. Director Bachelot's term was quite a wild ride, in a way - for almost the entire term, the nation had been embroiled in a not very successful war with Germania, revolutionary thoughts were rising in prominence, and France's stance as the strongest nation in Europe was being challenged. The opposition, especially the Blues, constantly criticized him for being a war hawk, for using military force against the Germans instead of negotiating with them, but the Red Party stood strong anyway. Director Bachelot ran a very successful campaign in the first months of 1774, he constantly claimed that "the German revolution is a threat to France and it's sovereignty" and "the people must be united under a capable ruler for the Republic to endure", and began numerous smear campaigns against his opponents in the election. The wave of patriotism carried Arthur Bachelot through the campaign. March 11th was the election date, and a new Estates-General gathered - however, due to fracturing in both parties, neither one was able to acquire a majority for a new Director. Failing to find a compromise during such turbulent times, the representatives agreed to appoint Arthur Bachelot once more, though also acquiring his promise to organize a new election once the war with dealt with.
Right after the election itself, bad news arrived to the French high command - Maximilian Schwarzburg and the German Revolutionary Army defeated a large French force, led by the Black Baron himself, near Frankfurt, and they have now crossed the river Rhine. There, the blue-clad soldiers of the Revolution were met with cheering, flowers and kisses, the people saw their fellow Germans as liberators from the French yoke. Because of this sudden breakthrough in the French lines, Bachelot ordered a retreat from the right bank of the Rhine, but even if the majority of the army was still safe, things were getting problematic. If Schwarzburg reaches mainland France, this could be the end of the war, and a yet another humiliating defeat was not what the Director wanted. He needed allies. Sure, Lithuania was now in the war, but it would take a while before they could even approach Germania. The Netherlands were broke and would be a liability rather than any help - this was the reason why France didn't call them to the war earlier, despite being allies. Visegrad was disintegrating. Denmark refused to take part in this mess, even when promised all of Schleswig-Holstein. The only option left was to open a new front, and this is where Northern Italy came to France's view.
Throughout the last two centuries, the Italian region was turned from a center of learning and culture into a mere battleground between the Great Powers, especially Spain and France. While a number of North Italian nations were aligned with the French, the Papal States, Florence and Naples were firmly under the Spanish grip. In addition, the revolution right to the north of the region began to destabilize the region. Savoy, for example, which used to be a firm ally of France, had now declared it's neutrality, while Venice was nearing a potential collapse from republican pan-Italian forces. And now Director Bachelot decided to attack Germania from the rear by marching through North Italy, even if it meant violating the integrity of the countries standing there. The Italian Campaign took place from 1775 to 1776, and it's results were varied - Savoy was overrun, Milan folded and allowed the 50 000 men large French army to pass through, the rebellions in Venice were squashed, but France was unable to break through the Alps because of awful weather and the terrain. In the Battle of the Kreuzberg Pass, a ten times smaller, but heavily fortified and acclimated German regiment managed to endure a French assault, stopping their advance and preventing them from overrunning Austria.
While one disaster struck France in the Alps, another dealt a heavy blow in Rhineland. The French high command demanded that the left bank of the Rhine must be retaken by any means necessary, and this meant that a 150 000 men army was assembled throughout 1775, mostly from called up reservists, and placed under the control of General Jean de Luc. This army met the advancing German forces near Saarbrücken, a local coal mining town, and they were led by Maximilian Schwarzburg himself. The Battle of Saarbrücken had begun. The French force was superior in size, but it lacked the sufficient artillery firepower to cover their advance - many of the cannons were sent to North Italy, while the production of replacements lagged - while the Germans brought quite a lot more. General de Luc hoped to use his wider force to engulf and surround the enemy, but the slow speed of the army was a thorn in these plans, while Schwarzburg cracked his plans and began a constant tactical retreat, shelling the advancing Frenchmen while not allowing them to retaliate with the same. Many German soldiers used horse wagons, seized from the peasantry, to move around the battlefield, giving the infantry unprecedented mobility in the clash, even if most of the horses seized did not survive the battle. After tiring the French forces out and thinning their ranks with artillery, the Germans suddenly stopped retreating and charged forward, breaking many of the enemy line regiments instantly, and soon forcing a full retreat from the battlefield. It was a yet another grand defeat for the French forces, it opened a path for a German invasion of France proper, and at this point, the patience of the nation's populace grew thin. This only strengthened the "invincible Schwarzburg" myth that was starting to roam across the French army, and it appeared as if France was about to sue for peace for sure...
But. But we have forgotten something. Five days after the Battle of Saarbrücken, in March of 1776, a massive Lithuanian army led by Grand Hetman Martynas Pacas arrived to Buda, capturing the abandoned city within a week. Lithuania was now fully in the war, propping up a weak loyalist Visegradian government in Poland to prevent it from collapsing, and the Grand Hetman set himself a goal of taking care of this upstart revolution in Vienna with his own hands. He may have been a moderate within his country, but to him, the Great German Revolution was something on a whole other scale. Even if France was pretty much defeated, even if Paris was only a few months away, General Schwarzburg had no choice but to turn east.
Can the Lithuanians really be a threat, though? The invincible Schwarzburg can defeat anyone in Europe, right?
- Augenis
- Word Count: 2k