1918: The year of triumphs [and defeat]

[ghappy1000]

A Sneak Peak Of Things To Come [my intention]

[If WW1 still ends with American intervention and Entente victory in 1920 due to the long-delayed American intervention and unrestricted submarine warfare policy, this is a sequel to the thread. Apologies for the impossibility if unlikely, though.]
German Aircraft Carrier Raids
Near the end of WW1 in 1920, the Germans readied the aircraft carrier Scheer for action in the Atlantic. It was the first German fleet carrier and was based on the hull of passenger liner Bismarck. The carrier was to raid the naval base of Scapa Flow and sink the warships stationed there.
When the carrier Bismarck sortied on 7 June 1920, just after the surrender of the Ottomans and Bulgaria and near collapse of Austria-Hungary, the motive was simple; to knock Britain out of the war by destroying the remnants of its badly decimated navy. After 4.5 years of mass destruction and attrition before formal American intervention for both sides, the final blow to Britain and America so that Germany can focus on France and the threatening Eastern European flanks could be obtained.

The raid caught the mostly American sailors of the Grand Fleet by surprise, but there was something that could be done. During the raid, the German carrier planes sank the USS Nevada, Oklahoma, Chester and Charleston. The British lost HMS Anson, the newly completed HMS Rodney and several lighter vessels, although this was done in cooperation with the u boats' final fleet sortie.
However, the British had their revenge. Sopwith Cuckoo planes made torpedo attacks on the escorting battlecruiser Prinz Ethel Friedrich and the carrier. The carrier was badly damaged and scuttled while the battlecruiser was sunk by respective air and submarine torpedoes with another battlecruiser sunk in combat. Germany's last ditch naval gamble to win WW1 failed.

British Naval Air Raid on Wilhelmshaven in 1919:
The idea of an air raid on the German High Seas Fleet was proposed effective from the 'Jutland Slaughter' of May-June 1916. After the heavy British and French losses in the 1916-1918 battles, the German High Seas Fleet was a threat that needed to be eliminated at all costs. It was suggested that an air raid on the High Seas Fleet would solve the issue and deprive Germany of its last possible chance for victory. Without the ships, Germany had to restrict its naval war options.
The raid was launched on 1 January 1919, to coincide with the start of the new year. Germany had exhausted itself in the Entente-costly but defeated offensives of 1918 and needed to prepare its army for a new campaign and victory. The raid was the proposal of Vice Admiral Cecil Burney, who was threatened by the prospects of Germany gaining a victory in 1919 with a new campaign, even though the effort was diverted against Italy; which would be defeated that year.
After obtaining consent from the superiors, the raid on Wilhelmshaven harbour was launched. In the raid, the Germans were surprised by the British planes and prepared the guns to defend the fleet. However, they were quite wrong as the battlecruiser Mackensen, 2 Koln-class cruisers and several minor ships were sunk or damaged. In response, the German torpedo boats and submarines in training came to seek revenge; but only 1 carrier, a dreadnought, 2 light cruisers and a flotilla of destroyers could be sunk; with a battlecruiser being sunk by a u boat. It was the pride of the reconstructed Royal Navy, HMS Hood.
However, the damage was already inflicted. With the ship losses, the Germans had no choice, but to continue with unrestricted submarine warfare. This would lead to American intervention and the defeat of Germany in December 1920.

 

[Richter von Manthofen]

Well If US had not entered by now, it probably would not later...

 

[Franz Josef II]

[If WW1 still ends with American intervention and Entente victory in 1920 due to the long-delayed American intervention and unrestricted submarine warfare policy, this is a sequel to the thread. Apologies for the impossibility if unlikely, though.]
German Aircraft Carrier Raids
Near the end of WW1 in 1920, the Germans readied the aircraft carrier Scheer for action in the Atlantic. It was the first German fleet carrier and was based on the hull of passenger liner Bismarck. The carrier was to raid the naval base of Scapa Flow and sink the warships stationed there.
When the carrier Bismarck sortied on 7 June 1920, just after the surrender of the Ottomans and Bulgaria and near collapse of Austria-Hungary, the motive was simple; to knock Britain out of the war by destroying the remnants of its badly decimated navy. After 4.5 years of mass destruction and attrition before formal American intervention for both sides, the final blow to Britain and America so that Germany can focus on France and the threatening Eastern European flanks could be obtained.

The raid caught the mostly American sailors of the Grand Fleet by surprise, but there was something that could be done. During the raid, the German carrier planes sank the USS Nevada, Oklahoma, Chester and Charleston. The British lost HMS Hood, the newly completed HMS Rodney and several lighter vessels, although this was done in cooperation with the u boats' final fleet sortie.
However, the British had their revenge. Sopwith Cuckoo planes made torpedo attacks on the escorting battlecruiser Prinz Ethel Friedrich and the carrier. The carrier was badly damaged and scuttled while the battlecruiser was sunk by respective air and submarine torpedoes with another battlecruiser sunk in combat. Germany's last ditch naval gamble to win WW1 failed.

No. Air attacks on ships was not something conceived at all during the War. It was Billy Mitchell of the US who made the concept appear feasible, and it was through his campaigning in the halls of power that actual testing came about. "Mitchell continued to expound his views in speeches and articles for national publications. With the press strongly behind him and despite Navy foot-dragging, permission to demonstrate his theories was finally granted. The tests were scheduled for June and July 1921. While the ships were being assembled off the Virginia coast, Mitchell amassed an armada of airplanes as the 1st Provisional Air Brigade and ordered exhaustive bombing practice against mock ships near Langley Field. Army ordnance personnel produced the new 2,000-pound bombs that would be needed to sink a battleship.

The tests began as scheduled, and the careful preparations paid off. The bombers sank a German destroyer first, followed by an armored light cruiser and then one of the world’s largest war vessels, the German battleship Ostfriesland, followed by the U.S. battleship Alabama–and later the battleships New Jersey and Virginia. As far as Mitchell and the press were concerned, the assertion that air power should be the nation’s first line of defense had been proved. ‘No surface vessels can exist wherever air forces acting from land bases are able to attack them,’ Mitchell declared."

 

[ghappy1000]

Peace Offensive [Second Marne Battle and Siege of Paris]

Now, it was time for the decisive blow to strike the Entente. With Paris under threat, reinforcements coming from the east and the diversion of reserves to the British Expeditionary Force and the Marne along with the failure of the Italian July [1st-11th] Piave counteroffensive to chase the Austro-Hungarians from captured territory north of the river, the Germans started their Paris offensive on 30th June. Ludendorff attacked Marne as a diversionary attempt to capture Paris or draw reserves further south from the British and permit a breakthrough, besides preventing any counterattacks by the Entente from launching.
[This is due to American neutrality, better morale as a result of increased German successes and lesser severity of the Spanish Flu on German soldiers, who would be present in the west in greater numbers.]

Attacking regiments were prepared to attack under the cover of barrages by 2:00 a.m. on the offensive's first day. Despite the early warnings given by several [reduced] German prisoners, the warnings weren't taken too seriously by the vulnerable French Armies. The offensive began on 30 June and the French 4th Army was wrecked by the German 1st and 3rd Armies, starting its week-long disintegration due to being outnumbered despite reinforcements from reserve troops, Britain and Italy. Meanwhile, the French 6th, 9th and 10th Armies were assaulted by the 7th and 9th German Armies and initially repulsed the attacks. German storm-troopers swam across the river or rowed boats and rafts under the cover of shelling guns and artillery. Shock and panic raged over the Entente troops and some retreated, with the rest not affected by the nerve gas and shells moped up on the spot. Entente counterattacks were contained until the retreat turned into a rout following the French 4th Army's surrender on 7 July.

As a result of the offensive, another corps of Italians and the remaining foreign Entente troops in Italy were recalled, but a failed counteroffensive decimated their strength and reinforcements were delayed. The Marne was crossed on 10 July and Paris was shelled, causing the initially successful counteroffensive against the German 3rd, 7th and 9th Armies by the French Armies in the west to falter and collapse to fill the frontline gaps. The counteroffensive was initially reported to retake recently captured Chalons and Epernay and even the railroads to Rheims, but the loss of the French 4th Army caused the reallocation of an army, the reserves and tanks of the French Army Group along the Marne and the Germans exploited the gap. To prevent destruction, the armies' troops retreated or covered the gaps and escapes of their fellow comrades.

After another failed counteroffensive to destroy the German 1st Army at the approaches to Paris, Paris was encircled and besieged by the German Crown Prince Army Group on 20 July and shells began to fall on the Entente troops defending the French capital; although the Seine defence line was held. The British 4th Army was ordered to counterattack at Amiens to disrupt the German siege operations and divert attention, but there was food for only 35 days. Rationing and stretching, along with evacuation of unnecessary civilians and hunting of animals, might stretch this by twice the period, but Paris was doomed and with it, the Entente as well. It was really the worst period of Parisian history with sights such as the Eiffel Tower, museums, streets, pipes and fortresses shelled; and there was no relief coming other than the failed relief counter offensive that was destroyed after leaving the Seine by German reinforcements. Morale decreased when the British counteroffensive at Amiens stopped after achieving initial surprise and Amiens was lost to German shelling and counterattacks. Italy wasn't assisting and the Balkans was emptied of troops after the last failed offensive, but even this movement was dangerous in light of the Italian stalemate and losses. Field Marshal Ferdinand Foch was killed in an accident, although this was partly caused by German shelling. Spanish Flu even struck the French defenders and counterattacks, enabling the Germans managed to secure the encircled city surroundings. Surrender was now coming to the city and all the efforts spent at relieving the pressure on France failed as it seemed.

 

[ghappy1000]

The end of World War 1 [Central Powers' victory scenario]

Now, time was running out for Paris. A last ditch counteroffensive [the Battle of Vittorio] by the Italians was repulsed at the Tagliamento and the Italians returned to the Piave for want of coordination. The British tanks and army commands at Amiens were disabled and out of supplies, leading to a German victory after the initial capture of 15,000 prisoners and penetration to the Somme. Amiens was lost on 10 September despite a ruined counterattack to save this critical supply hub and with it, the British 4th Army was lost. The German counteroffensive, named Operation Jurgen, reached Abbeville on 15 September and the British Expeditionary Force was preparing for a retreat. Ludendorff's long-dreamed Operation Hagen against British forces was now a probable reality and the peace negotiations between Belgium and Germany would make this a reality. Raiding done by German cruisers in support of this offensive would complicate issues further and the defeat would only make peace a more logical option.

The British Expeditionary Force attempted a breakout to continue operations and relieve Paris, but this was resisted heavily due to the pace of the tanks, which outran their artillery support and were destroyed piecemeal. Without the tanks, the British Armies became demoralised and soldiers prepared to desert or surrender, showing that the Entente was doomed. Only several troops were capable of reaching the French lines. The carnage described by several witnesses included wrecks of charred tanks and scattered corpses along the Somme, but the war was about to end. Any support from the north was disrupted by the 'diversionary' Operation Hagen, although it failed in its ultimate aims. Before October, mutinies were even recorded, a sign of British defeat.

When Paris surrendered after starvation on 10 October with the French Government evacuated just in time, the Germans followed up the success with an offensive against the evacuating British Expeditionary Force and it was encircled by 18 October. The Belgians folded simultaneously and the British were helpless. A last ditch attempt to assist the trapped soldiers was destroyed by the German battlecruiser Mackensen, although it was sunk by a mine and shell hits off the Channel Coast. The end was in sight as the supply starved British Expeditionary Force surrendered on 8 November.

After the force's surrender, the final naval sortie of the German Navy on 9 November 1918 destroyed 2 15 inch-gunned battleships [constructed after Jutland], a carrier and most of the Royal Navy's lighter vessels; although the Germans would lose the battlecruisers Graf Spee and Seydlitz [a Mackensen-class ship in this scenario], several light cruisers and a destroyer flotilla. It was time for Britain to surrender on 10 November that year as the British naval defeat was the final straw in the armistice decisions. Britain was ripe for an invasion though and the planned amphibious landings might force unconditional surrender before 1918 was over, but the British fears of invasion were such that the armistice was signed anyway. For the Entente, the futile war was over for nothing as the remaining countries signed their armistices with Germany the next day at 11:00 a.m. on November 11.

The Battle of Amiens [While we prepare the defensive, we plan the counter-offensive simultaneously] Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Amiens_(1918)

To relieve pressure on Paris, the French Field Marshal Ferdinand Foch suggested a last ditch offensive. Although the British and French were exhausted by heavy fighting, they still hoped that the successful but overextended Germans, some of whom might be on their last legs to success, would be forced to retreat from Paris and relieve the pressure on the city, enabling the city's salvation. However, it was a best case and wishful scenario. Foch had his plan revealed on 13 July by telegraph to his British counterpart, Field Marshal Haig, to discuss potential plans about an offensive. After the [1st] 1918 retreat of the British Expeditionary Force and the attacks on Paris, the British 4th Army took over defence of the Somme from the [practically] destroyed 5th Army and retreating French troops as they made their way south to defend Paris and rebuild formations.By 30 May, all the Australian infantry divisions in the west and the New Zealand Division were united under the Australian Corps HQ for the first time on the Western Front under the command of the ANZAC [Australian] Expeditionary Force's [Corps] commander John Monash. Several local counter-attacks which both revealed the suitability of the open and firm terrain south of the Somme for a larger offensive and also revealed how to attack were launched despite some failures.

Haig sent the offensive proposals of Generals commanding British Armies and Corps to Foch and the latter agreed. The issue was to strike the Germans with surprise by using plenty of tanks against them and a preliminary bombardment would negate the advantage. The French First Army was asked to participate by Foch, but the French lacked sufficient tanks and would be forced to bombard the German positions before the infantry advance began, thus eliminating the advantage of surprise. Eventually, it was agreed that the French would participate if possible, but delay their attack until 45 minutes after the Fourth Army if they were available. The British and French agreed to speed the intended date of the attack from 10 August to 5 August, with the purpose of striking the Germans before they had completed their hold on the salient encircling Paris.

It was the first time that the Australians would attack side by side with the Canadian Corps. The non British but Anglo-Saxon descended troops of the formations were renowned for aggressive and originally modern tactics besides a strong record of success over the past two years. In fact, there was a counterattack in which a German position was captured in a few minutes more than intended and another in half an hour more than expected across the Somme. These attacks were helped by surprise and tanks initially, but were halted by German reserves and were too small to have any impact on the German offensives, much less the war.

As expected and planned, there were no artillery or gun bombardments preceding the offensive, only surprise troops and tank penetration. At the attack timetable's "Zero [First] Hour", the plan was to knock out 500 guns [at maximum] supported by guns and tanks. When more surprise was achieved, success was ore likely to occur, and advances in artillery techniques and aerial photographic reconnaissance would help the offensive as well. 550 tanks were used for the objective and expected victory. Fake and night movements of troops and weapons, along with the equal distribution of material across fronts and persistent secrecy that the offensive was considered a raid by several participants, enabled deceptions that nearly caused the offensive's victory.

Attacking Phrase
In the early morning of 5 August 1918, the British 4th Army launched its surprise offensive. Under Henry Rawlinson's Fourth Army, the British III Corps attacked north of the Somme, the Australian Corps to the south of the river in the centre of Fourth Army's front and the Canadian Corps to the south of the Australians. The French 1st Army under General Debeney opened its preliminary bombardment simultaneously and started its offensive 45 minutes later. Seven [diminished] divisions attacked during the first phrase of the attack. The German forces were alerted, but heavily in preparation of possible retaliation for incursions into the frontlines and not because they had learned of the scale of the pre-planned Allied attack correctly. There was some artillery, shell and gas bombardment by the Germans; but not too significant to have any impacts on the offensive's beginning phrase.

By 7:30 a.m., the first positions were under British and Commonwealth control and the Germans started a temporary retreat, with the Canadians taking intended positions by 8:30 a.m.. With the breach in lines, the infantry involved were able to attack unaided by intended tanks in support. The Allies penetrated partly into the rear of the German defences and was supported by cavalry, one mobile brigade in the Australian sector and two cavalry divisions in the Canadian sector. Minor shellfire from RAF planes, tanks and guns and demoralisation temporarily disrupted rallying, but the Germans were able to hold their ground in the end.

The Canadian and Australian troops made fast advances in the centre, pushing the line 4.8 km (3.0 mi) forward from its starting point by 1:00 p.m. before German troops stopped the attack. A gap 24 km (15 mi) long was punched in the German line south of the Somme when 5 August ended. There was failure north of the river like in the earlier days of trench battles, where the British III Corps was the only force; with only a single tank battalion in support attached to it. The terrain was rougher and the German incursion of 4 August had disrupted some of the preparations. Although the attackers nearly reached their first objectives, they were stopped and counterattacked by the Germans in the sector, who had just rallied and would proceed to rally the remaining German soldiers. On the battle's first day itself, the total German losses were approximately 20,000 before resurgence in morale caused the British offensive to stop. Excluding tank and plane losses and French casualties, the British 4th Army lost slightly less than 15,000 troops.

Despite several mutinies reported by the Germans, successful counterattacks and morale boosting on the news of Paris being besieged enabled the Germans to barely hold their last positions the next day. With initial losses in communicating with superiors and fellow troops, counterattacks were nearly hampered. In fact, Erich Ludendorff recounted instances of retreating troops shouting "You're prolonging the war!" at officers who tried to rally them before receiving information about the German Army besieging Paris. The Canadians and Australians gained some 11 km before retreating to cover German counterattacks, the British 2 kilometres that were lost to counterattacks and the French 5 km.

The following-up attacks proceeded on 9 to 12 August, but without significant success as the British and Commonwealth troops faced heavy shellfire and lost several officers in a day's worth of heavy artillery shelling. This would cause initial panic in the troops and the Germans counterattacked, inflicting heavy losses on the initial attackers. Truly, the initial success had caused the British and Commonwealth troops to overrun their supporting artillery. After the offensive stopped, the Germans counterattacked on the 20th, initially retreating from besieging Paris to assist the planned counterattacks on the Allied troops in the Amiens sector. The German 7th Army managed to rally surrounding German armies at the Marne and proceeded to encircle the British 4th Army, which had just started its new offensive across the Somme and it was encircled as mentioned above at Amiens after the southern flank was pierced. Fresh attacks were being launched amidst heavy fighting along the Somme when the British 4th Army was encircled and the imminent German retreat was stopped.

By 10 September, Amiens surrendered with the [majority] of the British 4th Army and after taking Abbeville on 15 September, the Germans of the Crown Prince Army Group proceeded to restore the encirclement on Paris on 19 September. This time, the French capital city was stuffed with more Entente troops trapped and lost in the besieged city, which surrendered from starvation on 10 October. Attempts to resupply the starving city failed despite several food drops. In the meantime, a last ditch last September French counterattack proceeded to relief the city from the Seine using reserves and troops transferred everywhere from other fronts to northern France, but it failed and was destroyed. In the subsequent French retreat, more supplies were lost before reaching Paris suburbs themselves.

 

[ghappy1000]

Peace Treaties To Be Signed

After the Great War [which lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918 like its actual counterpart], peace was coming to Europe although isolated fighting continued in the Middle East, Balkans and colonies for the last few days due to lack of communications with Europe. On the final days, the last people to die in Europe itself were the sailors of a destroyer and 1,000 soldiers during the Austro-Hungarian 24 October offensive to Milan and end Italy's war. In that offensive, the loss of Venice, Verona and Brescia threatened Italy and Bulgaria attacked Salonika in conjunction, although this attempt failed. The Ottomans continued retreating though, losing Aleppo on 30 October and the threat to Anatolia was imminent.

The armistice was prolonged by several months before final ratification on 10 February 1920. On 28 June 1919, the peace treaty for France was signed at Sans Souchi Palace in Potsdam.
http://althistory.wikia.com/wiki/Berlin_Peace_Conference,_1919_(Central_Victory) and subsequent treaties
France suffered the most out of the defeat, with its formal army reduced to 200,000 soldiers at most. Due to the losses of the war, the French Navy ceded an unfinished dreadnought, every pre-dreadnought, most cruisers, all submarines and 20 destroyers. It was informed that if the treaty wasn't signed, the war would continue, but the devastating losses suffered by the nation precluded this option. Articles 227-230, which demanded that the British, French and Italian prime and senior ministers stand trial with Clemenceau, were considered too harsh and this was ignored. Due to the heavy German losses of the war, it was suggested that the Japanese pay for the repatriations and transfer ships. If the peace treaty wasn't signed by 28 June 1919, the Central Powers would resume the fight by 30 June. The treaty contained a variety of clauses ranging from war crimes to territorial annexations.
Territorial Losses
Belgium was to be made into a vassal state, lose the Congo and be rid of French influence and unification. The French lost their gains in Africa during the war, although the Germans wouldn't prove themselves as good administrators. The Channel Coast north of Calais was ceded to Belgium as compensation for the damage inflicted during the war. The territories lost by France stretched from Dunkirk-Lys River-Hindenburg Line-Compiegne-Soissons-Rethel-Verdun-Alsace-Lorraine. The steel mines of Lorraine were lost, mines on the defences were swept and fortresses on the new French border were demolished. Luxembourg became a German vassal state.
Military
To encourage international disarmament and French vulnerability, the Germans demanded compulsory demobilisation by 31 March 1920 so that the French Army couldn't attack anymore. Military schools for officer training were restricted to three per armed force branch permitted except for the navy and air force. France lost the right to own planes other than fighters and transports, training schools, paramilitaries and the foreign legion, confiscated naval ships, armoured vehicles, chemical weapons and tanks. The French Navy was restricted to 10,000 in size and the air force to 1,000 excluding unarmed planes. All naval planes were lost as they were considered 'offensive' and production of new planes and ships was to be forbidden for 5 years at least. The French could purchase ships from Japan as long as the ships weren't battlecruiser-sized or larger, but this compounded French monetary reserves.
Reparations:
The French had to pay $10 billion to pay for the damage inflicted, the occupation of newly-conquered territory and food costs. Due to the blockade, it was decided to demand $5 billion more for food purchases, maintenance and reconstruction. Money had to be taken from reserves just to pay the war costs. Article 232 of the treaty mentioned "France would pay compensation for all damage done to Germany and Associated Powers during the period of the belligerency" while Article 233 notes that the level of compensation to be paid would be the amount of money mentioned for the above purposes and $1 billion for reserve, war guilt acknowledgement in Article 231 and future planning. The territories occupied were under German control for as long as France didn't commit aggression and complied with treaty terms. If the French complied, the territories would be withdrawn in more than a decade's time to the pre-war borders of Belgium and Germany.

Italy
[Source: http://althistory.wikia.com/wiki/Treaty_of_Lichtenberg_(Central_Victory)]
[Same as above, except with minor edits.]
The treaty for Italy was a treaty of humiliation that would lead to the Fascist takeover of October 28 1922. When the Italians signed the armistice at Montesegale Castle on 8 November 1918, the Austro-Hungarian Empire had suffered massive casualties and its fate hung by a rope to Germany, despite the virtually Austrian role of the Venice offensive. On October 16 1918, shortly before the final offensive, Emperor Charles I officially proclaimed a "reformation of the Austrian administration", one day later, the provisional assembly ratified the manifesto. In the Cisleithanian ("Austrian") half of the former Empire however, the newly established states of Austria-Hungary were proclaimed in order to persuade the Italian populations of Austria that there would be repression of their rights as long as Italy remained hostile. Venetia, Alto Adige and the region of Friuli-Venezia-Guilia were to be controlled by Austria-Hungary, while other occupied territories were controlled until the peace treaty was signed and rectified.
During an Austrian Assembly Election held on February 16, 1919. Karl Renner was elected as state chancellor. He replaced Heinrich Lammasch as leader of the Austro-Hungarian representatives to the Berlin Peace Conference and dealt mostly with peace terms with Italy. When Chancellor Renner arrived at Potsdam in May 1919, he, unlike his Central Power counterparts, allowed the Italian delegation to make its views during the negotiations led by Italy's former Prime Minister, Vittorio Orlando, who was replaced by Giovanni Giolitti. Pressure by Germany and Austria-Hungary, Orlando signed the treaty on September 15. The treaty was signed at the Esterhazy Palace near the Austrian-Hungarian border.

Territorial losses
Italy was to lose a large sum of territory, with the Venetian and Friuli provinces ceded to Austria-Hungary and the loss of Venice. These territories would be merged to form an autonomous Kingdom of Venezia with the city of Trieste and the County of Tyrol and with the losses, the Austrian defeat of 1866 was avenged. A huge number of Italians became citizens of Austria-Hungary as a consequence of the diminished Italian provinces. The Ottomans gained Italian rights in the empire, the Dodecanese islands after their loss in 1912, reparations and political control over Italian African and Mediterranean colonies which would provide incentives for native independence or pro-Ottoman revolts. In nearly all of the territorial issues, the Central Powers not only assumed without question that the ethnic minority peoples wanted to leave Italy and its control, but allowed the successor provinces to conquer huge chunks of Entente-controlled territory if possible.

Political and Other Consequences
According to article 177, the Italian side acknowledged its guilt for infringing international laws of [declared] neutrality, breaking the Triple Alliance and cancelling its agreement with its former Central Power allies in the Treaty of London and declaration of war during 1915. Italy also recognized the transfers of Italian occupied but formerly Austrian territory as well as of Montenegro, Italy's only colonial possession in Asia [a Tianjin concession] and several Adriatic islands to Austro-Hungarian rule. The treaty included 'war reparations' of large sums of money, directed towards Austria and Germany, to pay for the costs of the war over a period of 30 years.
Article 88 of the treaty required Italy to avoid disrespecting the independence of other European nations directly or indirectly, which meant that Italy had to halt any continuation of its ambitions over Albania, outside Europe, the Mediterranean and the Adriatic besides the ceded territories. Accordingly and temporarily at the very minimum, Italy had to forsake nearly all imperial aspirations, especially since the nation was exhausted by war and the military was reduced by casualties, reparations and the ban on conscription. Many Italians would find this demand too heavy and unacceptable for them in the future (especially among those who wished to create an Italian Empire), due to Italy's later economic, political and military weakness. The weaknesses of Italy would later lead to future endorsement of Fascism.
The treaty included 'war reparations' of large sums of money, directed towards the Allies, which increased its financial debt and the political chaos leading to Mussolini's rise to power. Besides, conscription was prohibited, the army was reduced to 200,000 men at very maximum, the air force was restricted to 50 fighters and other disarmed aircraft and the navy lost 2 dreadnoughts under repair, construction or salvage, several cruisers, destroyers, torpedo boats, auxillaries and submarines.

Serbia, Montenegro and Greece
[Source: http://althistory.wikia.com/wiki/Treaty_of_Mitte_(Central_Victory]]
After the treaties of Potsdam and Esterhazy, the next countries to be targeted were Serbia, Montenegro and Greece. The former countries were considered to be responsible for the deaths of at least 16 million people and probably more, including citizens of the countries themselves. Greece was to be punished under the orders of Bulgaria and Austria-Hungary for joining the Entente that late in the conflict [July 1917] and contributing to the defeat of the Bulgarian Salonika offensive and the wrecking of the unrepairable Goeben. To compensate the Central Powers for Greece's role in the conflict; 2 battleships, 3 cruisers, 4 destroyers, 2 submarines and several smaller vessels were to be ceded to them if peace was to be in sight for Greece. However, the battleships were deemed useless for Austria-Hungary in the dreadnaught age while the Bulgarians deposed a cruiser and a submarine; with the other retained by Greece. Bulgaria received 2 cruisers along with its Aegean gains [to Salonika] and Macedonian gains [with the entire region ceded to Bulgaria].
The treaty, which was signed at Mitte on 27 November 1919, demanded the cessation of territories from Serbia and Greece. Montenegro, several border towns and anything north of the Danube [including parts of later rebuilt Belgrade] were to be absorbed into Austria-Hungary with Serbian and Italian-controlled portions of Albania and Novi Sanjak. Serbia lost its land connection with Greece and Montenegro while Vardar Macedona and Bulgarian portions of Kosovo would be under Bulgarian control. The Karadordevic Dynasty was to be replaced with a branch of the Habsburgs while the terrorists responsible for the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and starting the war were to be handled over; along with several complicit nationalists, ministers and government officials. $100 million [later reduced by half due to economical reasons] were to be demanded from Serbia, which was to acknowledge guilt of starting 'the world war' with its Entente allies or face total invasion and annexation. The peace treaties signed earlier with Entente powers in the war were to be acknowledged. The signing was done in the Prussian Parliament building at Mitte. The Serbian Army was to be reduced to 50,000 men at most to comply with treaty terms after expelling necessary figures while the air force and navy [mostly in the Danube] were abolished. In Serbia, the treaty consequences were popularly known as the 'National Disaster'.
Territories ceded to Bulgaria
The region of Macedonia, which was coveted by Bulgaria since its 1878 formation, was now ceded to the expected host country. This, along with several adjustments to Kosovo and 'Old Serbia' inside Serbian territory, contained several defence posts and mountainous regions that had the potential to make Bulgaria vulnerable. The ceding of Serbian territories under the treaty secured western Bulgaria, particularly the capital city of Sofia, while it left the eastern frontiers of Serbia dangerously exposed after its diminishing in size, giving significant military and strategic advantages to Bulgaria with total security of important positions. The regions' transfer was a total compensation for the defeat of Bulgaria by Serbia, a punishment for its role in starting the [1st] World War and its occupation of Salonika, north-eastern Greece and Bulgaria[n Macedonia] between 1915 and 1918 and was partly motivated by strategic reasons. The former political Bulgarian-Serbian border was across a chain of high mountain ridges, whereas the new one secured the passes totally for Bulgaria. Some areas with Serbian and Greek majorities were ceded to Bulgaria while Austria-Hungary took border positions in Bosnia and across the Danube and Belgrade. The latter city, which was Serbia's capital city wasn't ceded for political reasons, especially when the country was turned into a satellite of Austria-Hungary.
Ceded territories covered some 3000 square kilometres, some 1000 of them being in Macedonia. Districts such as Pirot, Pcinja and Zacejar were totally lost to Bulgaria. A small strip of land west of the Timok and Morava Rivers were surrendered to secure the rivers for Bulgaria and deny them to Serbia. The population count of Serbs decreased while a census taken in the 1930s revealed the facts, even in majority Serbian areas. As Macedonians were considered 'Bulgarian' and to reduce shame of losing their homeland to the enemy, the Serbs who remained either left or changed their ethnicity to the 2 mentioned above, further reducing their numbers in Macedonia, Kosovo and Bulgaria.
In Greece, Prime Minister Venizelos was deposed and exiled with the present king, Alexander, while his pro-German father returned to the throne with a pro-German government. The navy was to suffer the heavy losses, the air force was restricted to a fighter squadron and several unarmed planes and the army was reduced to 40,000 men. Greece lost the Aegean coastline up to and including the city of Salonika, parts of Macedonia and Albania [to Austria-Hungary], Corfu to Austria-Hungary, Crete to the Ottomans and several islands to Bulgaria, the Ottoman Empire and Austria-Hungary. Reparations were to be in the form of $100 million, further bankrupting the country. The treaty was considered a national indignation for Greece as the gains from the Balkan Wars were lost and it was made weak and vulnerable to enemy attacks.

Britain, Portugal and Japan
The peace treaty with Britain was signed on 4 June 1920 between Britain and the Central Powers near the battlefields of Ypres. In this treaty, Britain ceded the dreadnought battleship HMS Eagle to the Ottoman Empire, the battlecruiser HMS Hood to Germany, the carriers HMS Hermes and HMS Ark Royal to Germany and the Ottoman Empire respectively, 8 cruisers of the 'D' and Hawkins classes, 10 submarines and 10 destroyers. The last ships would be equally divided among the other Central Powers and several friendly neutral countries. In addition, all converted plane carriers were to be converted back to their original configuration, several [obsolete or useless] ships and planes were to be scrapped or destroyed in accordance with the treaty to reduce British naval strength and complications to peace. In addition, $4 billion [later reduced to $2 billion] dollars were to be paid as reparations. Confiscated property, especially planes, businesses and ships, were to be returned to their original owners at all costs, plus several [large] ships to compensate for the losses of the war. In return, the British received several interned German vessels, seized vessels and originally transferred or to be ceded vessels to maintain friendly relations. The Royal Air Force and British Army were to be limited to 500 planes and 10 divisions at maximum, excluding colonial duties.
The last peace treaty was signed in Weimar on 10 August 1920. In the treaty, the Portuguese were to cede several minor vessels, confiscated ships and a million dollars for damage incurred. Japan was also included in the treaty and it lost 2 dreadnoughts, 4 cruisers and 8 destroyers; essentially the Mediterranean Squadron sent after in 1918. Another damaged dreadnought was scuttled with other minor vessels when ceding was about to begin. In addition, $ 1 billion was ceded by Japan, although this was later returned to Britain with $1 billion of money from the reparations. This was the final peace treaty to be signed in the [First] World War, excluding later amendments.

 

[MrP]

The bombs, mist and nerve gas from heavy bombardments planes, artillery and guns covered the Austro-Hungarians as they assaulted the British 48th Division.

Shock and panic raged over the Entente troops and some retreated, with the rest not affected by the nerve gas and shells moped up on the spot.

What's this about nerve gas in 1918? Are the Germans doing so well that their chemical warfare capability jumped ahead by 20 years in a few months' time?

 

[ghappy1000]

What's this about nerve gas in 1918? Are the Germans doing so well that their chemical warfare capability jumped ahead by 20 years in a few months' time?

I was referring to the initial panic caused by the increased use of nerve gas on the Piave as a result of butterflies and the bigger chaos during the battle for the river, along with sulphur and mustard gases used in the actual WW1.

 

[MrP]

I was referring to the initial panic caused by the increased use of nerve gas on the Piave as a result of butterflies and the bigger chaos during the battle for the river.

My point is that nerve gas won't be invented for another couple of decades, to say nothing of its production in militarily useful amounts.

 

[Franz Josef II]

[If WW1 still ends with American intervention and Entente victory in 1920 due to the long-delayed American intervention and unrestricted submarine warfare policy, this is a sequel to the thread. Apologies for the impossibility if unlikely, though.]
German Aircraft Carrier Raids
Near the end of WW1 in 1920, the Germans readied the aircraft carrier Scheer for action in the Atlantic. It was the first German fleet carrier and was based on the hull of passenger liner Bismarck. The carrier was to raid the naval base of Scapa Flow and sink the warships stationed there.
When the carrier Bismarck sortied on 7 June 1920, just after the surrender of the Ottomans and Bulgaria and near collapse of Austria-Hungary, the motive was simple; to knock Britain out of the war by destroying the remnants of its badly decimated navy. After 4.5 years of mass destruction and attrition before formal American intervention for both sides, the final blow to Britain and America so that Germany can focus on France and the threatening Eastern European flanks could be obtained.

The raid caught the mostly American sailors of the Grand Fleet by surprise, but there was something that could be done. During the raid, the German carrier planes sank the USS Nevada, Oklahoma, Chester and Charleston. The British lost HMS Hood, the newly completed HMS Rodney and several lighter vessels, although this was done in cooperation with the u boats' final fleet sortie.
However, the British had their revenge. Sopwith Cuckoo planes made torpedo attacks on the escorting battlecruiser Prinz Ethel Friedrich and the carrier. The carrier was badly damaged and scuttled while the battlecruiser was sunk by respective air and submarine torpedoes with another battlecruiser sunk in combat. Germany's last ditch naval gamble to win WW1 failed.

As I explained previously, the concept of air power vs naval power was largely unexplored and dismissed until Billy Mitchell proved that it was feasible.

 

[ghappy1000]

Naval Depositions of belligerent battleships on November 11 1918

Part 1 [Losses and deposition of Entente and Central Powers' battleships by November 11 1918]

Entente:
United Kingdom
Battleships:
Grand Fleet
HMS Dreadnought: Sunk by Konig Albert on 19 August 1916 action.
Dreadnought classes: All existing ships annihilated at Jutland, except for Audacious which was mined on 27 October 1914. [Thread is follow up to Jutland Version II , which indicates mutual destruction at Jutland or something similar. Includes Bayern, Queen Elizabeth, Royal Sovereign and Emperor of India.]
HMS Resolution [completed on 31 October 1916] and HMS Resolution [completed on 15 July 1917]. [Sunk on 2 November 1917.]
pre dreadnoughts
Lord Nelson class: Sunk in battle of 19 August 1916.
Swifture class: One sunk at Gallipoli, another in East Africa.
King Edward VII class: One sunk by minefield, 5 sunk in action on 19 August by dreadnought gunfire, 2 serving in Home Fleet, but combat ineffective.
Duncan class; One pre-war loss, one sunk by minefield, one sunk in action on 19 August, remainders in Home Fleet service.
Formidable class: One sunk by explosion in 1914 and two sunk in 1915. Others serving in the Channel Fleet.
Canopus class: Depositions similar to reality except without East African service.
Majestic class and older: Decommissioned, disarmed or placed in reserve.
Battlecruisers: Every ship of this type as of 31 May 1916 was sunk at Jutland , except for HMAS Australia [sunk in 19 August action].
[Note that 18-19 August 1916 naval action would be explained in detail later. And, pre dreadnoughts don't stand a chance against a 1910 or later dreadnought unless the dreadnought is massively outnumbered.]
Renown class: Sunk in November 1917 by Moltke.
France:
Dreadnoughts:
Bretagne and Courbet classes: Sunk in November 1917 by German battleships.
Semi Dreadnoughts:
Danton class: Channel Fleet [sunk in November 1917 by Hindenburg].
pre dreadnoughts:
Republique class: Sunk by u 64 and mines respectively in January 1917.
Liberte class: Central Mediterranean, watching the Austrian fleet [except for one explosion prewar].
Charlemagne class: All sunk in the Dardenelles straits on 5 September 1916 [one mined, one sunk from progressive flooding induced by gunfire and another sunk by explosion].
Henri IV: Sunk on 10 September 1916, after mine damage caused the bow's detachment and it was abandoned after being deemed incapable of reaching port.
Suffren: Damaged by mine at Dardenelles and later sunk by UB 47 on 27 December the same year.
Iena: Lost to explosion prewar.
Massena: Scuttled in the Dardenelles.
Jaureguiberry: Placed in reserve after battle damage and refit stopped.
Charles Martel and Carnot: Sunk by U52 enroute to the Mediterranean, 26 November 1916.
Brennus: Decommissioned
Italy [All in the Mediterranean]:
Dreadnoughts: Conte di Cavour and Andrea Doria classes: All sunk during Battle of the Adriatic. [Except for Leonardo Da Vinci, which was sunk by a magazine explosion.]
Dante Alighieri: Sunk by u boat during Piave counteroffensive on 7 July 1918.
pre dreadnoughts:
Regina Elena and Ammiraglio di San Bon classes: [Battleships of the Regina Elena class were sunk, one by explosion and another to mining by 1916.] 5 sunk in Battle of the Adriatic.
Ironclad battleships: All placed in reserve, coastal defence duties or scrapped if not sunk in June 1918.
Russia:
None in Baltic Sea, one total loss in dockyards and multitudes of decommissioned ships in the Black Sea Fleet, 6 sold by Japan and transferred to the Arctic Flotilla and one sunk by u boat in 1917 during service in the Mediterranean.
Japan: Similar depositions to reality for unsold pre-dreadnoughts, one battlecruiser explosion in 1917, 2 Kongo class battlecruisers sunk in October 1918 off the Channel coast by Mackensen, selling of Russo-Japanese War reparations and Kawachi and Fuso class dreadnoughts serving in the Mediterranean.
Central Powers:
Germany [all in High Seas Fleet]:
Dreadnoughts:
Nassau, Helgoland, Konig and Kaiser classes [all annihilated at Jutland except for Nassau, which was sunk at Riga, and Konig Albert, which was sunk on 19 August 1916 by gunfire induced progressive flooding].
Bayern class: Bayern sunk at Jutland, Baden and Saschen sunk in November 1917 and Wurttemburg sunk by submarine E42 on 24 April 1918.
Vulcan class: Confiscated Greek dreadnought sunk in November 1917.
Battlecruisers:
Derrflinger class: Sunk at Jutland, except for Hindenburg, which was commissioned in May 1917 and sunk in November.
Seydlitz: Heavily damaged at Jutland, reconstruction stopped after further damage from flooding.
Moltke class: Moltke sunk in action of 2 November 1917, Goeben serving under Ottoman control.
Von Der Tann: Sunk in action of 19 August 1916.
Blucher: Sunk at Dogger Bank [noted as an armoured cruiser in most sources].
Mackensen class: Mackensen sunk in October 1918 Channel Coast battle, Graf Spee and Seydlitz [the o.t.l. Ersatz 'A' battlecruiser] afloat [or sunk during the 9 November 1918 battle].
Pre Dreadnoughts:
Deutschland class: 2 sunk at Jutland, one sunk by mines on 8 August, 2 sunk in the Battle of the Gulf of Riga.
Preussen class: One torpedoed at Jutland, one sunk on 8 August and others sunk in Gulf of Riga battle.
Braunschweig and Kaiser Friedrich III class: All sunk at Riga or decommissioned after battle.
Siegfried and Odin class coastal defence ships: Placed in reserve for existing ships, later sunk in the Channel on 2 November 1917 or used in Baltic operations [and transferred to Finland].
Austria Hungary [All in the Adriatic]:
Dreadnoughts:
Viribus Unitis class [2 Sunk during the Adriatic battle of June 10-12 1918 and one sunk during raiding operations.]
Pre dreadnoughts:
Habsburg, Erhezhog Karl and Radetzky classes [5 sunk during Adriatic battle.]
Coastal defence ships: Monarch class
[All afloat minus one sunk by torpedoes on 10 December 1917 at Trieste.]
Ottoman Empire:
Dreadnoughts:
[None as ships ordered by empire were taken over by Britain and sunk at Jutland.]
Battlecruisers:
Goeben [Badly damaged by minefield and under repairs.]
Pre dreadnoughts
Turgut Reis class [One sunk by submarine in the Dardenelles, another defending the straits from French or British pre dreadnought attacks.]
Coastal Defence ships:
Mesudiye [Sunk by submarine on 13 December 1914.]

[The p.o.d. is a devastating German pyrrhic victory at Jutland [or mutual destruction]. ] Note that the assault on Constantinople in this alternate history scenario is fictional and can be omitted, with the Russian and French ships demobilized or sunk in 1917-18, scrapped or ceded to Germany post-war [mostly pre-dreadnoughts except for 2 Russian dreadnoughts that were sunk in the actual WW1 anyway]. The November 1917 battle is a sortie by the High Seas Fleet to defeat the Grand Fleet once and for all. New ships are already mentioned in this thread.]
https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?p=11335709#post11335709

Naval War Reparations from Entente countries:
France: 2 dreadnoughts [one sold to Greece] and 2 scrapped after scuttling. One converted into aircraft carrier Bearn. Pre-dreadnoughts sold to scrapyards, 8 cruisers, all submarines and 20 destroyers ceded to Germany.
Japan: 2 dreadnoughts [one to Austria-Hungary], 4 cruisers and 8 destroyers [to Germany and Austria-Hungary depending on size].
Italy: 1 salvaged dreadnought battleship [Leonardo Da Vinci] and one Japanese dreadnought [another sunk off Adriatic Coast on 28 October 1918] to Austria-Hungary with 2 pre-dreadnoughts, 6 cruisers, 10 destroyers, 10 torpedo boats and 10 submarines [some sold to the Ottoman Empire].
Britain: 1 battlecruiser, one dreadnought, 8 cruisers, 2 carriers, 10 submarines and 10 destroyers ceded to the Central Powers.
Greece: 4 destroyers to Bulgaria, 3 cruisers to Bulgaria, 2 pre-dreadnoughts [later scrapped with one cruiser] to Austria-Hungary, 2 submarines to Bulgaria [one disposed] and several smaller and auxillary vessels [mostly to Turkey; some to Austria-Hungary].
Portugal, Serbia, Montenegro and Belgium: Several minor and smaller naval vessels to Germany and Austria-Hungary.

 

[ghappy1000]

Fourth and Fifth Battles of the Piave [Second and Third Battle of the Veneto]

After the Piave offensive and counterattacks of June-July 1918, the Italians launched a counteroffensive on 24 September 1918. The offensive was supposed to relieve the pressure on Paris, but was delayed until success was guaranteed. By the time, it was too late and the Austro-Hungarians on the Piave were prepared. The flooding of the Piave isolated an advancing army and the Austro-Hungarians resisted fiercely, cutting off several troops while conducting their ordered retreat to the Tagliamento. Counterattacks stopped the Italian 9th Army's offensive dead just as reserves were sent to exploit the gaps in the Piave frontline caused by captured bridgeheads and mutinies were observed in the aftermath of the failure.

The Austro-Hungarian troops at Monte Grappa launched an attempt to encircle the Italian 1st Army after halting the latter's attacks on 1 October and despite the failure of the counteroffensive, diverted troops from the Italian 4th Army that the offensive through the Asiago failed. With the increased morale of the Austro-Hungarian troops, they counterattacked and caught the Italian 5th Army while advancing beyond its supply lines and encircled a corps, causing a chaotic retreat across the Piave and the loss of 50,000 troops for nothing. By 8 October, the last Italian offensive of WW1 was a catastrophic failure, with 150,000 Austrian to 200,000 Italian casualties and thousands of prisoners as a result of the subsequent retreat and mutinies for the Italians.

The Austro-Hungarian counteroffensive was planned to win the war for Austria-Hungary without significant dependence on Germany and to weaken Italy as much as possible by destroying its armies and capture as much from the nation as possible. On 24 October 1918, the Austro-Hungarian Tyrolean Armies started the 4th or 5th Battle for Monte Grappa, gaining a salient that pierced the Italian frontline and damaged the Italian 1st Army, which was annihilated on 28 October. By 29 October, mutinies began to spread across the Italian Army and the 5th Italian Army, after its reconstitution from reserves, hastily raised soldiers and mutinous men forcibly conscripted, was encircled. It took the Austro-Hungarians a shorter time to annihilate the army [30 October to 1 November] and by 3 November, a general retreat was ordered when it was too late. The Italian 4th and 9th Armies were wiped out and besieged respectively while Verona and Venice were captured before the armistice delegation arrived on 6 November to discuss armistice terms, which were signed on 8 November.

Along with the British naval defeat and loss of the British Expeditionary Force, the surrender of Britain's last ally after the surrender of France would contribute to the British armistice decision on November 11 1918. Later, Churchill commented, "with Monte Grappa, Italy not only lost a battle, but lost the war and itself, dragging Britain to its armistice. If the Italians survived the offensive, they would have made the peace terms less severe on us and permitted a continuation of the war to 1919 for less harsh peace terms or later for a victory."

 

[ghappy1000]

Japanese Naval battles of 1918

Japan in the Great War outside Asia:
After the fall of Russia and naval losses in 1917, the British Government demanded Japanese assistance. This was especially after the naval sortie of 20 January 1918, despite the loss of an Ottoman cruiser and damage to the Goeben caused by the sortie. The potential of German reinforcements by demanding the Black Sea and Arctic Fleets; with a dreadnought, several pre-dreadnoughts [mostly in the Arctic] and a minimum of 2 operable cruisers; was a reality and the imminent British intervention in Russia would require the transfer of troops to Europe, especially when combined with the Entente defeats of 1918. East Africa could be left to the Japanese for taking or isolation.
Japanese Navy
The Imperial Japanese Navy sortied from its home base at Kure for the journey to Europe on 3 March 1918, after rectifying the amendments to the Anglo-Japanese Alliance for the transfer of ships to European waters. Previously, the Japanese sent several cruisers and destroyers, but the urgency for naval reinforcements compelled the transfer of 4 battlecruisers, 2 dreadnoughts, a seaplane carrier, 16 destroyers and 10 cruisers. Another 14 shorter ranged destroyers and 10 obsolete cruisers were to proceed to the Eastern Mediterranean and Indian Ocean for convoy escorts. With the lack of escorts and supplies, it was believed that the Japanese Navy would be tied up in Alexandria for want of these. In fact, the process of redeployment took 4 months before the combined fleets arrived at Alexandria and permitted the transfer of the battlecruisers, 6 cruisers and the 20 longer-range destroyers [with reinforcements] to the English Channel, where the situation was critical.
After arrival at Alexandria on 5 July, the new destroyer flotilla was ordered to escort the Fuso-class battleships and watch the growing German-Ottoman Mediterranean Fleet, which was on trials. The 4 battlecruisers, 2 armoured cruisers, 4 protected cruisers and 20 destroyers sent to the English Channel arrived in Portsmouth on 31 July after a 15-day voyage through the Mediterranean and were to proceed to Scapa Flow, reaching there by 4 August. On the same day, the Japanese 1st Battle Squadron was escorted by the Grand Fleet to Rosyth and conducted gunnery trials lasting for 70 days before being sent south to assist in the defence of the Channel Coast.
By the time, the French situation was too critical, with Paris and France surrendering to the German Empire. The remnants of the French Navy had to be watched after by the 2nd Japanese Battle Squadron, but the first thing to do was to destroy the German-Ottoman Mediterranean Squadron, which was actively forming at Constantinople, with the Greek Navy. Bulgarian reinforcements might be anticipated if the battle was delayed further.

The first engagement of the Japanese Navy in Europe was on October 22 1918. As shell hits were observed from raiding battlecruisers by advancing German troops, a submarine was sent to investigate the matter and put 2 torpedoes into the battlecruiser Kongo, which was hit by 2 torpedoes and became a constructive total loss before being scuttled on 7 November 1918 and salvaged later for repairs. The battlecruisers Mackensen and Graf Spee were sent after the Japanese ships and sank 2 Kongo class battlecruisers besides heavy damage on another. Other ships lost included 2 armoured cruisers, 4 protected cruisers and 10 destroyers. The Germans lost a battlecruiser, a light cruiser and 4 torpedo boats, plus another battlecruiser damaged. It wasn't a good ending to 1918 and WW1 for the Japanese Navy with the near loss of its 1st Battle Squadron and the 2nd Battle Squadron was stranded in the Mediterranean watching the French and Austro-Hungarian Fleets despite the final sinking of the last Austro-Hungarian dreadnought [later salvaged] on an even keel, for the Japanese lost 2 dreadnoughts in the process of sinking the Tegethoff.

[Title for post above should be: Fourth and Fifth Battles of the Piave [Second and Third Battles of the Veneto] ]

 

[ghappy1000]

Scuttling of the Entente fleets

After the armistice of November 11 1918, the Entente fleets were to be surrendered to the victorious Central Powers before awaiting their final disposition, except for the Royal Navy. This was due to concerns about the Entente militaries being responsible for the carnage of 4 years and 3.5 months. The first fleets to be ceded were the French and Italian fleets, as the countries bordered the victorious Central Powers.
Vice Admiral Du Varney, head of the French Navy after the losses of 1917, was to meet his German counterpart, Admiral Reuter, to negotiate a surrender of the navy and transfer required ships before the Germans reinvade 'vulnerable' France. He met Admiral Reuter and agreed to intern the ships in Germany, Austria-Hungary, Spain and Norway. The German Navy would proceed to destroy the Royal Navy. After the official armistice with Britain, the French Navy was finally surrendered. Submarines were to surrender to the commander-in-chief of U-boats. An extension of the deadline by 3 weeks was sought after to permit time for the ships to get underway and permit discussions and confrontations with Britain.

On 1 December 1918, the required ships of the French Navy were official surrendered to Imperial Germany as if the indignation of losing a second war with Germany wasn't enough. The French Navy ships surrendered included 4 unfinished but launched dreadnoughts, every pre-dreadnought in service, every submarine in service, 12 cruisers and 30 destroyers. Upon arrival at Wilhelmshaven, French flags would be hauled down at sunset and would not be hoisted again without consent. The last ship to arrive was the unfinished battleship Normandie, which arrived under tow by the French pre-dreadnought Democratie. A seaplane carrier was also ceded.

On 1 February 1919, the last ship to be ceded was in Wilhelmshaven. Minefields damaged a cruiser and sank 2 destroyers plus a submarine; 2 replacements were transferred from the Mediterranean instead for ceding. Negotiations were underway for the transfer of ships to Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire, but the German attitudes, especially to the Ottomans, smaller Central Powers and neutral states, prevented these from happening. After all, it was Germany which won the war [with co-operation], not its allies [alone].
As the official day of transfer drew nearer for the ships, the French began preparations for scuttling. The German Navy left on exercises on 20 June 1919 with its newly commissioned battlecruiser. With only several destroyers and submarines left behind, the French ships took advantage of the lull to prepare scuttling and abandonment.

Vice Admiral Du Varney gave the final orders to scuttle by his flagship's repaired radio at 10:00 a.m. and scuttling operations began in earnest. Seacocks, valves, pipes, watertight doors, portholes and any type of watertight equipment were smashed and opened to the sea; starting the sinkings. When the German Navy returned during the early evening, the French Navy was under the depths of Wilhelmshaven Harbour with their flags. The ships included 2 dreadnoughts, every pre-dreadnought, 4 cruisers, 10 destroyers and 10 submarines; plus an assortment of minor vessels. These vessels would later be scrapped as part of the salvage process to clear navigation through Wilhelmshaven Harbour.

As a result of the mass scuttling of French ships, the German Navy had to look to other countries for reparations and transfers since the French Navy was virtually non-existent other than several obsolete cruisers. It was informed that any further scuttlings would result in a revoking of the peace treaties and armistices signed and the scuttled ships would become property of the nation they were scuttled in. Eventually, this fell on Italy, which would be compelled to cede a bigger portion of its navy than expected. The reparations involved a dreadnought that was barely salvaged, a Japanese capital ship under repairs from battle damage, 2 pre-dreadnoughts, 6 cruisers, 10 destroyers, 10 submarines and 10 torpedo boats. The fleet was ceded in July 1919 to Austria-Hungary, which hosted them until the signing of the Treaty of Esterhazy in the Adriatic ports of Dubrovnik, Split, Cattaro and Fiume. On 3 September 1919, the Austro-Hungarian Navy went out to sea and the Italian Navy imitated its French counterpart, scuttling several light vessels and the 2 battleships in anticipated glory. The Austro-Hungarian officer passers-by saved the severely damaged, sabotaged and crippled ships with off-shore crewmen and demanded that the Italians save their ships or face invasion and cancellation of the treaty that would be signed in 'less than' a week's time. As a result, it was decided to threaten any Entente nation that refused to transfer ships with invasion, heavier punishment and more reparations; although Britain and Japan could be treated more leniently due to geography and naval superiority. This resulted in the harmless and peaceful transfer of ships from other Entente countries.