A Fractious Peace

Alright gents, this is a start up for a new TL I'm going to do, which I have dubbed the "Anti-Undecided Peace" (The Undecided Peace was a rather lengthy TL I did back when).

That said...

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This TL is based on the idea on a more successful (but far costlier) Entente campaign in 1918 that brings Germany to the negotiating table BEFORE the revolution and makes Wilson more arrogant.
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September 23, 1918:

Successful offensives by French, British and American forces have seen the frontlines pushed back to the pre-war German border. The situation is not without hope for Germany, as the Entente powers have paid a dreadful price for their rapid advance while Germany has lost far fewer men and is place to defend the Fatherland.

Anxious at the prospect of a more such losses, the decision is made by the Entente leadership to offer the German government an Armistice in order to discuss peace terms. The offer is made through back channels in deep secrecy.

General Ludendorff, the de facto dictator of Germany, takes the Armistice offer to General Hindenburg and after some heated discussion, Hindenburg endorses an acceptance of the Armistice offer with the stated agreement that it will not lead to an acceptance of surrender but rather as an opportunity to improve Germany's strategic position.

The German agreement to the Armistice is passed back through the back channels and reaches Entente leaders on the afternoon of September 24th. At the agreed upon time of 9 a.m. September 25th, 1918, fighting along the Western Front comes to an end.

By noon President Woodrow Wilson loudly claims that American intervention on the Western Front was THE deciding factor that brought Germany to the bargaining table. This statement puts a serious damper on American relations with the other Entente Powers.

The terms agreed upon in the Armistice require the withdrawal of German troops from Belgium, and Alsace-Lorraine while establishing a demilitarized zone along the border. The Naval Blockade remains in place around Germany on the firmest insistence of the British. There were members of the Entente leadership who greatly pushed for Germany to surrender her navy and large amounts of military materiel to Entente or neutral harbors as well as requiring Germany to renounce the Treaties of Brest-Litovsk and Bucharest but louder voices warned that such drastic demands would undo the delicate Armistice.

This cautious response came from the rather steep losses along the Front that had accompanied the equally great advances, and it was seen in most circles as wiser to pursue a more cautious course in bringing the Great War to an end and Germany 'to justice'.



October 1st-12th 1918: The delegates of the Big Four arrive at the peace conference in Paris and meet in secret to organize their demands for the peace treaty with Germany. The leaders quickly prove to have conflicting goals regarding the treaty; especially Woodrow Wilson.

At the conference, Wilson quickly (and loudly) makes his views and goals on peace with the Central Powers known not only to David Lloyd George and George Clemenceau, but the German Foreign Minister as well. Italy's Vittorio Orlando is left out of the conversations but when he finds out the content of the conversations, he is infuriated that Italy would be left out of those deliberations as it is primarily the Central Powers other than Germany that concern Italy. Somehow, the papers are informed of the developments and a firestorm erupts in the press and in public opinion.



October 18th-30th, 1918: Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire all agree to individual armistices, recognizing that the war is effectively over. Austria-Hungary proceeds to disintegrate while both Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire experience internal disorder.



November 1st, 1918: After several weeks of arguing, debating, demanding, haranguing and backroom dealing the Entente falls apart. Woodrow Wilson has been operating on the idea that it was American intervention in the war that had defeated Germany, and that America should be the leader and originator of any treaty presented to Germany. This attitude, and Wilson's stubborn refusal to accept anything but his proposed 14 Points and League of Nations causes total gridlock in advancing terms against Germany. Finally, Wilson issues an ultimatum to his erstwhile partners in Britain and France: Accept the 14 Points and the League of Nations as the terms for any treaty with Germany or the United States will withdraw all troops and support from Europe and seek a separate treaty with Germany. Clemenceau immediately calls Wilson's bluff, while Lloyd George takes only a short while before following suit.



November 5th, 1918: Wilson is outraged at the "blind arrogance" of the French and British and orders the recall of all American soldiers and support from Europe in a move that he tells papers is "an end to our foolish European adventure." In Europe, the Entente nations are stricken that Wilson would follow through with his ultimatum and find themselves in a very serious position.



November 5th - December 27th, 1918: American troops, supplies and assets are removed from Europe as per President Wilson's orders. They receive a hero's welcome when they return to the United States, and the papers tout Wilson's withdrawal from Europe as "washing our hands of the corruption and decadence of Old Europe". The adoration and support are not universal however - many Americans, including former President Theodore Roosevelt, whose son Quentin was released as part of the POW exchange included in the Armistice, excoriate Wilson in speeches and editorials from coast to coast. The President's critics argue that the rapid withdrawal from Europe abandoned all the goals and achievements that American lives had been lost to achieve.

On the other side of the Pond, British, French, and Belgian newspapers call the American withdrawal "cowardly, ill-advised, and dangerous". For the Germans, this is excellent news, and almost as soon as the Americans had committed to pulling out, the German negotiation team hardened their limit for treaty terms, further stalling any progress of the peace treaty.

The fragmenting of the Entente leadership also strengthens the resolve of Generals Ludendorff and Hindenburg to hold onto power and resist reforming the government towards more liberal lines in spite of public agitation. The Armistice brought an end to the fighting in the West but did nothing to alleviate fighting in the East where volunteers and Imperial Army units remain in combat against ethnic nationalists and revolutionaries across Eastern Europe, nor to improve the conditions in the Army or among the civilian population. Public opinion, already sour darkens steadily.



November 28th, 1918: Several prominent newspapers across Germany are raided and members of the Reichstag are arrested by Army units when they begin to protest against the government. In an edict from Generals Ludendorff and Hindenburg, political speech by the press is prohibited and the Reichstag dismissed. The Silent Dictatorship has become the official power of Germany. The Kaiser, already in seclusion is placed under de facto house arrest.
 

Japhy

Banned
Thomas, I have to say I like it. The detail is light but works very well in a general narrative sense. And the story developing here is quite interesting, enough so that I'm interested in seeing where this is going to go, while theres a bit in here that seems to be stretching plausibility, its not enough to void my interest in whats coming next. Though its easy enough to say that it looks like both Anti-Versailles states are going red, and probably bringing more of Europe with them.
 
What is stoping the rest of the entente powers to threaten america with default? I mean the US president was acting like a capricious child telling his country alone won the war when they barely fought anything.
 
Thomas, I have to say I like it. The detail is light but works very well in a general narrative sense. And the story developing here is quite interesting, enough so that I'm interested in seeing where this is going to go, while theres a bit in here that seems to be stretching plausibility, its not enough to void my interest in whats coming next. Though its easy enough to say that it looks like both Anti-Versailles states are going red, and probably bringing more of Europe with them.

Thank you Japhy. The detail is going to remain light I'm afraid. This isn't going to be something I pour overmuch research into. The early chapters do stretch plausibility in order to set up the scenario. Sorry but its how it is. As for the future of Europe, it is going to be a...colorful one.

What is stoping the rest of the entente powers to threaten america with default? I mean the US president was acting like a capricious child telling his country alone won the war when they barely fought anything.

What default? The United States had made very considerable war loans to Britain and France during the course of the Great War. If either France or Britain choose to stiff the United States on those rather large debts, then their relations would certainly suffer far more and far longer than the administration of a single egomaniacal politician. Wilson's term ends in 1920 and if Britain and France are patient, his successor might prove more reasonable.

Thanks for the replies gents.
 
The dissolution of the Reichstag and the house arrest of the Kaiser start a chain of events that rapidly move beyond the Generals' ability to control. The German economy, throttled by the war and Naval Blockade, effectively collapses. The resulting hardship and chaos fans the smoldering resentments and discontent of the German people against the military and aristocracy into open flames.

Protests and riots break out in most German cities, while a mob marches on the headquarters of the General Staff, with a variety of demands from bread, concessions, political freedom, to the arrest and trial of the military and Imperial leadership.

Hoping to stave off what might the Generals assume is a plot for Revolution, army units are dispatched to disperse the mob and arrest the ringleaders. Upon confronting the protesters the army units mutiny and join the people in sacking and burning the General Staff headquarters. Many officers are killed or taken prisoner.

The violence at General Staff HQ in Berlin spreads beyond control and the city is eclipsed in riots and confused fighting. Confusing and conflicting reports from papers and witnesses expand the scope of the crisis across Germany and beyond. The situation in Eastern Europe becomes even more complicated as many army units mutiny and join various causes and come into conflict with competing armed volunteer units from Germany.

Socialists and Communists across Europe hail the events in Germany as the beginning of the International Revolution against corrupt capitalism. Conservatives and Reactionaries label the events as Communist insurrection and infiltration, and stoke paranoia against Liberals, Socialists, Communists and Anarchists at home. In France and Britain the press whips the fear and panic into a foaming frenzy that result in 'pre-emptive' arrests and raids against suspicious political parties and individuals. A number of concerned anti-Communists arm themselves or organize paramilitary militias who take to the streets prepared to fight a counter-revolution.

The Netherlands experiences an event known as the Red Week, where socialists under Pieter Jelles Troelstra unsuccessfully call for a Revolution. Dutch authorities rapidly put the movement down as the revolutionaries represent only a tiny minority of the population. The fear the Red Week inspires though, is blown out of all proportion by Belgian, French and British newspapers as well as by rumors that reach into Germany. The rumors are enough to allow the Kaiser to sway a small group of officers still loyal to him to revolt against their orders and escort him and his family in secret to the Baltic coast where they are able to successfully escape to Sweden.



Germany burns. Riots and fighting has spread to every city of the German Empire, swiftly followed by mutinies and revolts of army units in the West and East who declare themselves for the Revolution, against the Generals, for Germany and the people. Other Army units reaffirm their loyalty to the existing power structure and battles erupt across the territories occupied by the German military.

There remains no official leadership to the uprising, it has become an expression of discontent, anger, resentment and pain felt by the German people as a result of the Great War. As some begin to feel the situation will simply burn itself out, a coalition of opposition politicians and resistance figures from the Liberals to the Communists and Independent Socialists declare a National Unity Government based in Berlin against the junta of Generals Hindenburg & Ludendorff.

The declaration of the Unity government is accompanied by three separate declarations within a week of one another - the Communist movement of Hungary under Bela Kun, recently returned from Moscow, declares the Hungarian Soviet Republic with 30 to 40,000 armed troops in Budapest.

This declaration is followed by the declaration of a Socialist Free State in Bavaria and the end of the Wittelsbach and Hohenzollern monarchy's rule over Bavaria as the King of Bavaria abdicated and fled to Switzerland. The declaration by the self-proclaimed Minister-President of Bavaria Kurt Eisner was answered with his assassination by right wing counter-revolutionaries including the Thule Society. The assassination radicalized the restless population even further, resulting in the official formation of the Bavarian Soviet Republic.

The last declaration is that of the Regency Council in Poland. With the breakdown of the German Empire, the time appears right for Polish independence and the Council rejects the election of a king and instead declares the birth of the Second Polish Republic. Armed resistance groups and members of the Polish Legions make concerted and coordinated efforts to secure the future of the Polish nation. They face an uphill struggle as fighting in Central and Eastern Europe has expanded beyond the political to ethnic lines - Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, German, Ukrainian, Byelorussian, Russian Latvian, Lithuanian and Estonian armies and militias of various stripes now battle from the Rhine to the Urals.



The formation of the Bavarian and Hungarian Soviet Republics are viewed as confirmation that the chaos East of the Rhine is the result of Socialist and Communist agitation by anti-communists in the West, as well as the the elements of Germany still loyal to the military junta.

To no one's surprise the only state to recognize the new Soviet Republics is the Soviet Union, while Poland's declaration of independence is recognized first by Italy, then Belgium, France and Great Britain but dismissed by all the German and Russian factions for a variety of reasons. A number of Polish independence leaders and supporters in Germany and Russia in prison or detention are murdered (or executed, depending on the point of view) including Jozef Pilsudski in Magdeburg.

The German military government, dubbed by many as the "White Germans", recalls many Army units from the Western Armistice lines to put down the various revolutionaries and mutineers. To support the loyal army units, formations of the Freikorps are called upon to root out traitors and sympathizers in the civilian populace. Even the Navy is ordered to arm its sailors and officers to fight inside Germany. This latter decision proves to be a disaster for the junta as the sailors at Kiel and Wilhelmshaven revolt and join the National Unity Government. In response to the revolt, many officers of the Imperial German Navy scuttle their own ships so as to deny them to the mutineers.

By the end of 1918, the future of the Generals' junta is looking very dark.
 
Despite appearances to the contrary, the members of the Entente have not been idly sitting by watching the fires of revolution and communism spread across Europe. First and foremost the governments of France, Belgium and Great Britain had been deeply engrossed in 'preparing' against possible Revolutionary agitation and unrest at home. This preparation includes the arrest, assault, and interrogation of many known or suspected socialists, anarchists, communists and other potential enemies of the state. These arrests are kept out of the mainstream papers by means of gag orders issued by the highest authorities and those papers who do not comply are raided and their staff arrested. Others whose loyalties and affiliations are more nebulous or unsure are put on blacklists for observation and harassment.

The final step in Great Britain (and the first step in France) is the formation of an overarching service composed of multiple branches and organizations composed of 'the Right Men' whose loyalty to the government and opposition to Communism are without question. For the British this is a matter of police and political services backed up by a few trusted paramilitary formations. In France it is purely military, composed of the most ardent nationalists, anti-communists, and proven veterans. In both cases the 'Right Men' are tasked with rooting out potential traitors and their sympathizers in government, military and industry with effective carte blanche.

Similar if smaller institutions develop in Belgium and the Netherlands. The latter nation, having felt the presence of communist infiltration moves into the Entente camp by signing agreements and treaties with the Belgian and British governments.

Thus, by January of 1919, the Entente began to feel secure enough at home to intervene to curtail the spread of Communism. The leadership of the Entente makes it known to the papers that they firmly consider the Armistice to be no longer be binding as the head of state of the Empire of Germany has fled to Sweden, its legislature dissolved and the last remnants of the old government commanded by a pair of military dictators. This lack of government (no mention is made of the National Unity Government occupying Berlin) therefore justifies, and even morally requires, that action be taken.

The Royal Navy, operating unopposed on the seas, makes a cursory raid on Wilhelmshaven to finish what the Imperial German Navy started in scuttling their ships. No German vessel of reasonable size remains afloat afterwards. The rest of the Navy at Kiel is out of the RN's reach and will remain so for the foreseeable future, but is effectively neutralized. This gives the Entente free access to the Baltic, through which they supply non-Communist revolutionaries from Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, and Finnland as well as the White Russians.

The French and Belgian Armies in contrast take a more direct approach and invade Germany proper, advancing up to the Rhine. Intentions of pushing further into the Fatherland are put on hold as civilian resistance to the occupation becomes extremely intense throughout the Rhineland. The advance was not opposed by units loyal to the Generals, as those units were pulled back without a fight as the Franco-Belgian army was superior in numbers and armament. The Generals would rather use their diminished strength to fight the rebels and revolutionaries than the Entente who it is felt, can be negotiated with at a later date.

Italy, whose status and connection to the Entente was put into question by President Wilson's actions, is reassured by Britain and France the claims in the Adriatic region will be decided in Italy's favor. Once relations are normalized again, the key issue sought by France is allowed to go forward - the Blue Army under General Jozef Haller de Hallenburg is allowed to transit through Italian territory to make its way to the area claimed by the Republic of Poland on the condition that the Blue Army first help put down the Hungarian Soviet Republic alongside Italian and Romanian troops. The latter will provide supplies and logistics to the Blue Army from there thanks to supplies provided to Romania by Britain and France through the Bosporus Strait, so many in fact that Romania has more arms and ammunition than they have men.
 
In retrospect, most historians question the judgment of Generals Ludendorff and Hindenburg in ordering their troops to retreat from the Rhineland rather than resisting the Franco-Belgian invasion force because this might have allowed them to maintain most of their military strength for fighting the National Unity Government as it transitioned into the National Revolutionary Council it cost the the Generals trust and support of most of the German people.

The withdrawal was a massive propaganda victory for the Revolutionary cause, and convinced many Germans, including Army and freikorps units still aligned with the Generals to believe that the senior military and their clique of aristocrats had sold Germany out to the Entente powers. In fact the largest and most effective resistance to the occupation of the Rhineland came from the Ruhr Red Army a communist militia under the command of the National Revolutionary Council.

The Rhineland Betrayal did more for the Revolutionary cause than any military victory as major defections among White German forces stripped the Generals of the backbone of their strength and cause. Practically overnight the White cause began to disintegrate within Germany, though many diehard groups, particularly freikorps, pledged to continue the fight.

In the broad area claimed by the Polish Republic the German Civil War provided precious little benefit to the Polish Nationalists who were forced into fighting against German Army and militias regardless of affiliation while also fighting Ukrainian and Russian forces. Many of the experienced officers of the Polish Legions who had been counted on to lead the nascent Polish Army had instead been murdered while interned in Germany when the Polish Republic was declared. Some of the most promising and experienced leaders such as Pilsudski, Sikorski and Rydz-Smigly were among those killed, meaning that the best and perhaps last hope of an independent Poland was left with Jozef Haller's Blue Army, still then in the process of moving into Italy in preparation for a campaign against Soviet Hungary as part of their long, roundabout course for reaching Poland.
 
By the end of February 1919 the White movement in Germany is effectively dead, collapsing in on itself as 'moderate' military officers and units change allegiances to the National Revolutionary Council. The resistance of the various shades of Reds in the NRC to the Franco-Belgian invasion is proving the major point in changing public and military opinion in Germany.

The writing on the wall becomes apparent even to Generals Ludendorff and Hindenburg who are forced to admit the need to flee Germany. The two generals make separate arrangements to flee to Sweden in secret so that there would if one was captured he could not endanger the other.

Early in the morning on March 3rd the Generals set out from their hiding place at an estate in Magdeburg for the Baltic coast where a pair of private vessels to smuggle them into Sweden and safety. General Hindenburg's small group of loyal officers and soldiers successfully reach the coast by midnight on the 4th and rendezvous with the small Swedish yacht whose crew is paid in gold for the trip. Once at sea the vessel attempts to navigate without running lights until it is intercepted by a destroyer from the British Royal Navy and forced to heave to for inspection. Hindenburg and his contingent are found by the British boarding party, arrested and taken aboard the destroyer, bound for England.

Even by these standards General Erich Ludendorff's journey is far less successful. At 5:55 in the afternoon on the 5th of February the Ludendorff group is ambushed near the city of Schneidemühl in Pomerania by Spartakist militia elements. How the Spartakists were made aware of the General's movements is unclear, but what is clear that Ludendorff's escort was cut down in a hail of gunfire. Ludendorff and a half dozen others survived the ambush but were then summarily executed by pistol shots to the back of the head and hung upside down from street lamps in Schneidemühl.
 
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