A Shift in Priorities
- Thread starter rast
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in this thread want to say:Travelling Companions
The young executive employee of the Energieversorgungsgesellschaft (EVEG) hesitated when he saw the black officer sitting at the window of the first class rail cabin.
He had served in the Great War himself, finished it as fighter pilot and Lieutenant of the Reserve in the Bavarian Army Air Service. Thus, he could tell that the Negro was a Major of the Middle African Army, and a highly decorated one as well: Iron Cross 2nd and 1st class, House Order of the Hohenzollern 1st class, Silver Wounded Badge and the very rare Golden Lion for participation in the South African Campaign.
Finally, he opened the door and stepped into the cabin.
“Guten Tag.”
The black Major had been looking out of the window. Now he turned his head and repeated the salutation.
“Guten Tag, mein Herr.”
The yound man pushed his suitcase unto the luggage rack and sat down opposite the Negro.
The Negro smiled and said: “May I introduce myself? – Ahmed Teraufi, Major of the Army of Middle Africa.”
The young man answered: “Pleased to meet you, Sir. – I’m Rudolf Heß, executive officer of the EVEG at Poti in Georgia. – You are going to Berlin too?”
“Only for transit. My destination is OKW at Wünsdorf. – You come from Poti now?”
“From Tbilisi, that’s where the Zeppelin terminal is. And before that I have been at Baku for a conference, actually I’ve not seen Poti for almost a week. – You served under General von Lettow-Vorbeck?”
The black man smiled again.
“Yes, Bwana Obersti, we called him. – I was a Sergeant then, served with him from 1914 until Victory Day in 1918. – After the war, I became an officer on his recommendation, and attended the Kriegsakademie. – Now, I will serve with the OKW staff for two years as a General Staff Officer.”
“I served in the war too, with the infantry at first, and was a fighter pilot and Lieutenant in 1918. Today I’m a First Lieutenant of the Reserve. – After the war, I finished my studies in economy and political science and then applied for a job with the EVEG. Since then, I’ve worked for them in Berlin, Istanbul, Kiev and Poti. Today, I’m chief of the Poti office.”
“I suppose you enjoy coming around? – Are you married?”
“No. – To be honest, I really enjoy coming around, and a wife and children would only tie me down. – Perhaps later, when I’m older and no longer eager to see the world.”
Teraufi laughed.
“I have two wifes and eight children. – And they don’t tie me down at all. – But our way to deal with such things is much more easygoing than your’s. With us, the family – the whole family is the back-up. You couldn’t simply park your wife at your parents’ house and go out into the world, could you?”
“No, I think that would not work for long. Our women are somewhat more independently minded, I guess.”
“You’re going to Berlin for a meeting?”
“Yes, the annual gathering of the office chiefs, quite an event. Even Hugo Stinnes and Minister Fehrenbach will attend and deliver speeches.”
“The EVEG is doing well, I suppose?”
“Quite. We have the Romanian oil wells, those around Baku, Maykop and Grozny – and the exploitation of whatever we’ll find in the Ottoman Empire. – That makes us the largest provider of crude oil in the world, and our refineries have the world’s greatest output of petroleum hydrocarbon products.”
“I understand that the EVEG is a trust of the German chemical industry.”
“Chemical and mining industry, but actually also the electrical industry, HAPAG and Norddeutscher Lloyd hold shares. Even Rockefeller’s Standard Oil was a small enterprise compared with the EVEG.”
“And you just had a conference in Baku – and now another one in Berlin...”
“And a third one the other week in Zaryzin. Yes, there are many meetings, and the work in the office doesn’t get less by attending conferences. But I have a bunch of good people down at Poti. – Actually, I like to go to Baku, they have a marvelous German restaurant down there, run by an Austrian, who is married to an Armenian woman. The best cuisine in the Caucasus, that Armenian woman really is a highly gifted cook. And the Austrian bloke is just funny, entertaining the guests with his wild stories and little paintings. – Zaryzin will be stress, these Russians usually try to drown everybody in Vodka.”
“Have you ever been in Africa?”
“I was born in Africa, in Egypt, Alexandria to be exact. And I lived there as a little boy. – But I have never been to Middle Africa.”
“Well, I think when we find oil one day, your EVEG will also hold meetings in Daressalam.”
“You can bet on that, Sir!”
The young executive employee of the Energieversorgungsgesellschaft (EVEG) hesitated when he saw the black officer sitting at the window of the first class rail cabin.
He had served in the Great War himself, finished it as fighter pilot and Lieutenant of the Reserve in the Bavarian Army Air Service. Thus, he could tell that the Negro was a Major of the Middle African Army, and a highly decorated one as well: Iron Cross 2nd and 1st class, House Order of the Hohenzollern 1st class, Silver Wounded Badge and the very rare Golden Lion for participation in the South African Campaign.
Finally, he opened the door and stepped into the cabin.
“Guten Tag.”
The black Major had been looking out of the window. Now he turned his head and repeated the salutation.
“Guten Tag, mein Herr.”
The yound man pushed his suitcase unto the luggage rack and sat down opposite the Negro.
The Negro smiled and said: “May I introduce myself? – Ahmed Teraufi, Major of the Army of Middle Africa.”
The young man answered: “Pleased to meet you, Sir. – I’m Rudolf Heß, executive officer of the EVEG at Poti in Georgia. – You are going to Berlin too?”
“Only for transit. My destination is OKW at Wünsdorf. – You come from Poti now?”
“From Tbilisi, that’s where the Zeppelin terminal is. And before that I have been at Baku for a conference, actually I’ve not seen Poti for almost a week. – You served under General von Lettow-Vorbeck?”
The black man smiled again.
“Yes, Bwana Obersti, we called him. – I was a Sergeant then, served with him from 1914 until Victory Day in 1918. – After the war, I became an officer on his recommendation, and attended the Kriegsakademie. – Now, I will serve with the OKW staff for two years as a General Staff Officer.”
“I served in the war too, with the infantry at first, and was a fighter pilot and Lieutenant in 1918. Today I’m a First Lieutenant of the Reserve. – After the war, I finished my studies in economy and political science and then applied for a job with the EVEG. Since then, I’ve worked for them in Berlin, Istanbul, Kiev and Poti. Today, I’m chief of the Poti office.”
“I suppose you enjoy coming around? – Are you married?”
“No. – To be honest, I really enjoy coming around, and a wife and children would only tie me down. – Perhaps later, when I’m older and no longer eager to see the world.”
Teraufi laughed.
“I have two wifes and eight children. – And they don’t tie me down at all. – But our way to deal with such things is much more easygoing than your’s. With us, the family – the whole family is the back-up. You couldn’t simply park your wife at your parents’ house and go out into the world, could you?”
“No, I think that would not work for long. Our women are somewhat more independently minded, I guess.”
“You’re going to Berlin for a meeting?”
“Yes, the annual gathering of the office chiefs, quite an event. Even Hugo Stinnes and Minister Fehrenbach will attend and deliver speeches.”
“The EVEG is doing well, I suppose?”
“Quite. We have the Romanian oil wells, those around Baku, Maykop and Grozny – and the exploitation of whatever we’ll find in the Ottoman Empire. – That makes us the largest provider of crude oil in the world, and our refineries have the world’s greatest output of petroleum hydrocarbon products.”
“I understand that the EVEG is a trust of the German chemical industry.”
“Chemical and mining industry, but actually also the electrical industry, HAPAG and Norddeutscher Lloyd hold shares. Even Rockefeller’s Standard Oil was a small enterprise compared with the EVEG.”
“And you just had a conference in Baku – and now another one in Berlin...”
“And a third one the other week in Zaryzin. Yes, there are many meetings, and the work in the office doesn’t get less by attending conferences. But I have a bunch of good people down at Poti. – Actually, I like to go to Baku, they have a marvelous German restaurant down there, run by an Austrian, who is married to an Armenian woman. The best cuisine in the Caucasus, that Armenian woman really is a highly gifted cook. And the Austrian bloke is just funny, entertaining the guests with his wild stories and little paintings. – Zaryzin will be stress, these Russians usually try to drown everybody in Vodka.”
“Have you ever been in Africa?”
“I was born in Africa, in Egypt, Alexandria to be exact. And I lived there as a little boy. – But I have never been to Middle Africa.”
“Well, I think when we find oil one day, your EVEG will also hold meetings in Daressalam.”
“You can bet on that, Sir!”
Bunkers, Ballistics and Beaches
That General of Engineers Bruno von Mudra had been appointed as head of the working group, which was tasked with examining how to overcome the French Ligne Impénétrable, told something about the importance attached to this question by German OKW. The famous ‘Argonne-General’ had perhaps the most profound experience in moving forward against obstinate French resistance.
OHL had contributed Lieutenant-Colonel Karl Justrow, an artillery expert, and Colonel Willy Rohr, the renowned creator of the German assault battalions and of the mechanised assault infantry.
LKL had sent Lieutenant-Colonel Hugo Sperrle, an infantry man who had joined the air service already before the Great War, and Major Erhard Milch, a former gunner who had joined the air service during the Great War.
SKL had detailed Kapitänleutnant (Naval Lieutenant) Hermann-Bernhard Ramcke of the Marine-Infanterie (Marines) and Korvettenkapitän (Lieutenant Commander) Wilhelm Canaris, who had gathered some intelligence and counter-intelligence experience during the war.
Justrow first had dispelled the myth of the Fat Berthas. They had not been able to break the modern French forts of Douaumont and Vaux, although they had been used with much success against older fortifications and the Belgian fortresses, which although rather modern had – due to faulty construction – quickly fallen, creating the saga of the mighty German big guns.
“We can readily assume that the Frenchmen will incorporate these lessons learned into their new system of fortifications. – The Gammas and the Ms cannot penetrate an earth cover of four metres or more and a three metres thick slab of reinforced concrete. So, either we invest in new guns with greater penetration depth – only to find that the French have increased earth cover and slab thickness – or we try something else... – To neutralise everything above ground, our existing 210 mm howitzers (here Justrow used the word ‘Mörser’ only) are quite sufficient, but reaching down below ground will remain a contest we are going to lose again.”
General von Mudra was not very impressed by the Ligne Impénétrable anyway. “No fortification alone can hope to survive a determined attack if not supported by strong field forces. If we succeed to neutralise these field forces, the fortresses will be forced to surrender sooner or later.”
But Wilhelm Canaris had interesting information: “They know this as well – and they are struggling to change the realities by creating huge subterranean barracks and underground transport systems.”
Von Mudra had thought about this. “Can we hope to push through this with Kanobils and Stuwas?”
Willy Rohr was doubtful: “Even if they come through, there will be no supply lines to be cut – if the French have gone underground. And they are depending on resupply as well, so poking through alone won’t really help. We will have to occupy the ground, which means taking at least some of the fortresses. – In addition, there are a lot of artificial obstacles, which the enemy may use to slow down or even stop our mechanised assault.”
“Can the Luftwaffe help us?”
Sperrle didn’t think so. “No bomb we have or may be able to develop in the coming years will be able to match the kinetic energy of the Fat Berthas. If the enemy moves reinforcements and supplies underground, even aerial observation may not help. – We’re experimenting with Zeppelin-borne assault infantry – Colonel Rohr is involved here – but they need early relief by ground forces, otherwise they will be doomed.”
“And if we penetrate underground – or take a side step?” This was Ramcke.
“Explain!”
“These underground alleys could be used by our troops as well, once we have blasted a hole into the system, couldn’t they? – Imagine a platoon of Kanobils advancing along a subterranean corridor and smashing everything in their lane of advance...”
“Mh!” That was Canaris. “Not so many underground alleys to be expected. – They’ll rely on narrow-gauge railway systems for the most part. They’re cheaper to construct – and don’t offer much advantage to the attacker.”
Von Mudra nodded to Ramcke: “Nevertheless, initial local successes might be achieved by underground attacks. We’ll keep that in mind. – Now, explain your side step!”
“We might land forces in Normandy, or advance through Switzerland...”
Von Mudra shook his head. “On the other side of the Channel is England. The Englishmen will not sit idle and watch us land major forces in Normandy. – Switzerland is out of question. No German government will ever agree to that. Not even during the war has this been contemplated other than as counter move to a potential Entente invasion. – Nevertheless, the idea has its merit. This time, Italy will be our ally – and the French Mediterranean coast will be open to us. – Herr Canaris, I want SKL to have a close look at that. The outline idea is landing two armies with about four corps in the first wave in Southern France, and another four corps following in the second wave. – Herr Rohr, OHL must project a simultaneous attack by two corps in the Maritime Alps. – Herr Sperrle, LKL must investigate the possibilities of operating from airfields in Northern Italy and supporting operations in the Alps and along the Rhone Valley.”
Ramcke raised his hand.
“Yes?”
“Would we really want to have a hostile Corsica in our back?”
“Good point, young man. – I think, our Italian ally can be convinced to take care about that.”
Von Mudra smiled shrewdly.
“Not too bad as result of an initial brainstorming, gentlemen. Thank you. – Next meeting as scheduled.”
That General of Engineers Bruno von Mudra had been appointed as head of the working group, which was tasked with examining how to overcome the French Ligne Impénétrable, told something about the importance attached to this question by German OKW. The famous ‘Argonne-General’ had perhaps the most profound experience in moving forward against obstinate French resistance.
OHL had contributed Lieutenant-Colonel Karl Justrow, an artillery expert, and Colonel Willy Rohr, the renowned creator of the German assault battalions and of the mechanised assault infantry.
LKL had sent Lieutenant-Colonel Hugo Sperrle, an infantry man who had joined the air service already before the Great War, and Major Erhard Milch, a former gunner who had joined the air service during the Great War.
SKL had detailed Kapitänleutnant (Naval Lieutenant) Hermann-Bernhard Ramcke of the Marine-Infanterie (Marines) and Korvettenkapitän (Lieutenant Commander) Wilhelm Canaris, who had gathered some intelligence and counter-intelligence experience during the war.
Justrow first had dispelled the myth of the Fat Berthas. They had not been able to break the modern French forts of Douaumont and Vaux, although they had been used with much success against older fortifications and the Belgian fortresses, which although rather modern had – due to faulty construction – quickly fallen, creating the saga of the mighty German big guns.
“We can readily assume that the Frenchmen will incorporate these lessons learned into their new system of fortifications. – The Gammas and the Ms cannot penetrate an earth cover of four metres or more and a three metres thick slab of reinforced concrete. So, either we invest in new guns with greater penetration depth – only to find that the French have increased earth cover and slab thickness – or we try something else... – To neutralise everything above ground, our existing 210 mm howitzers (here Justrow used the word ‘Mörser’ only) are quite sufficient, but reaching down below ground will remain a contest we are going to lose again.”
General von Mudra was not very impressed by the Ligne Impénétrable anyway. “No fortification alone can hope to survive a determined attack if not supported by strong field forces. If we succeed to neutralise these field forces, the fortresses will be forced to surrender sooner or later.”
But Wilhelm Canaris had interesting information: “They know this as well – and they are struggling to change the realities by creating huge subterranean barracks and underground transport systems.”
Von Mudra had thought about this. “Can we hope to push through this with Kanobils and Stuwas?”
Willy Rohr was doubtful: “Even if they come through, there will be no supply lines to be cut – if the French have gone underground. And they are depending on resupply as well, so poking through alone won’t really help. We will have to occupy the ground, which means taking at least some of the fortresses. – In addition, there are a lot of artificial obstacles, which the enemy may use to slow down or even stop our mechanised assault.”
“Can the Luftwaffe help us?”
Sperrle didn’t think so. “No bomb we have or may be able to develop in the coming years will be able to match the kinetic energy of the Fat Berthas. If the enemy moves reinforcements and supplies underground, even aerial observation may not help. – We’re experimenting with Zeppelin-borne assault infantry – Colonel Rohr is involved here – but they need early relief by ground forces, otherwise they will be doomed.”
“And if we penetrate underground – or take a side step?” This was Ramcke.
“Explain!”
“These underground alleys could be used by our troops as well, once we have blasted a hole into the system, couldn’t they? – Imagine a platoon of Kanobils advancing along a subterranean corridor and smashing everything in their lane of advance...”
“Mh!” That was Canaris. “Not so many underground alleys to be expected. – They’ll rely on narrow-gauge railway systems for the most part. They’re cheaper to construct – and don’t offer much advantage to the attacker.”
Von Mudra nodded to Ramcke: “Nevertheless, initial local successes might be achieved by underground attacks. We’ll keep that in mind. – Now, explain your side step!”
“We might land forces in Normandy, or advance through Switzerland...”
Von Mudra shook his head. “On the other side of the Channel is England. The Englishmen will not sit idle and watch us land major forces in Normandy. – Switzerland is out of question. No German government will ever agree to that. Not even during the war has this been contemplated other than as counter move to a potential Entente invasion. – Nevertheless, the idea has its merit. This time, Italy will be our ally – and the French Mediterranean coast will be open to us. – Herr Canaris, I want SKL to have a close look at that. The outline idea is landing two armies with about four corps in the first wave in Southern France, and another four corps following in the second wave. – Herr Rohr, OHL must project a simultaneous attack by two corps in the Maritime Alps. – Herr Sperrle, LKL must investigate the possibilities of operating from airfields in Northern Italy and supporting operations in the Alps and along the Rhone Valley.”
Ramcke raised his hand.
“Yes?”
“Would we really want to have a hostile Corsica in our back?”
“Good point, young man. – I think, our Italian ally can be convinced to take care about that.”
Von Mudra smiled shrewdly.
“Not too bad as result of an initial brainstorming, gentlemen. Thank you. – Next meeting as scheduled.”
Social Traitors
For orthodox socialists and communists, the German SPD had committed treason in 1918 when forming a coalition with the FVP and the Catholic Zentrum. Neither public ownership of key industries, nor government intervention in the economy, nor redistribution of wealth had ever occurred in Germany.
Today, to the utter despair of these purists, the British SUP – although not at all constrained by any bourgeois coalition partners – was following the example of Ebert and Scheidemann much closer than the guidance provided by Marx and Engels.
Once the abolition of the House of Lords had become a fact, the now all-deciding House of Commons with its comfortable SUP majority had begun to steer a course of social stability and slow low level tranformation into a welfare state. Nobody ever mentioned Germany as an example, but it was clear to all that – without revolutionary change – the German workers enjoyed the world’s best system of social security, healthcare and education. And the leadership of the SUP and the labour unions agreed in following the evolutionary German model instead of experimenting with radical change, which might end in bloody revolution or counter-revolution.
This had several positive effects: The market remained a real market. The economy remained controlled by people who knew about economic factors. No social group was forced to leave the country because of revolutionary persecution. Foreign capital – especially the US one – was not frightened away by socialisation or nationalisation. Investing in Britain remained a viable and even attractive option.
At the same time, a number of laws and programmes came into effect, which slowly brought about a lessening of social disparity and improved the living conditions of the lower classes.
Much more than Germany, Britain was bound to remain a class society, but like Germany she was now opening for social advancement through all strata, starting to favour education and vocational proficiency over ancestry and social origin.
The British economy had now – in early 1923 – completely overcome the painful shrinking process from wartime peak production to normal business. The British Pound was stabilised with six £ buying one $. The unemployment rate had gone down again to just below eight percent – and all indicators signalled that it would drop further in spring and summer. In terms of industrial production, Britain still ranked third, after the USA and Germany, but far in advance of Japan, France or Italy, although her share had dropped from fourteen percent in 1914 to nine percent actually.
Consumer prices had been stable for the last six months, indicating the end of inflation.
As a financial place, however, the London Stock Exchange, Lloyds of London and the Bank of England had lost their pre-war dominance to New York and Berlin. And as largest city in the world, the town had just been overtaken by New York, leaving her nevertheless the pride of being the largest city of Europe – still far ahead of Berlin and Paris.
British manufacture was weak in new technologies like the chemical and electrical industry, but – due to the Great War – strong in aircraft, automotives and ship building. Now, that relations to the US had been harmonised (at the price of abandoning all support for the Second Mexican Revolution and handing over the Bahamas to the North Americans), it was found that British cars, motorbikes and aeroplanes sold surprisingly well on the US market.
For the SUP leadership, the former British Empire – or what remained of it – held little attraction. In Africa, one had no choice but was forced to follow the German, Belgian and Italian example of emancipating the natives, any other policy would only lead to insurgency.
Of course, there was no intention of giving away such important naval bases like Hong Kong and Port Edward (Wei Hai Wei) in China, Singapore at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, Sokotra and Zanzibar in the Indian Ocean, Gibraltar and Malta in the Mediterranean, the Falklands, St. Helena, Ascension and Bermuda in the Atlantic Ocean, or Jamaica and the British Windward Islands in the Carribean, but Ceylon had already been handed over to Mysore in 1922, and there were serious considerations to release British Honduras to independence – before risking to be drawn into the war between the US and Mexico.
The dominions of Australia and New Zealand were moving away from the motherland, seeing their future better secured in an alliance with the US. Only Canada stuck to Britain, viewing her as a counterweight to the big southern neighbour.
No, the era of the British Empire was over. Britain today was a maritime nation with bases all around the globe and thus still a global power, but no longer the largest empire in history.
For orthodox socialists and communists, the German SPD had committed treason in 1918 when forming a coalition with the FVP and the Catholic Zentrum. Neither public ownership of key industries, nor government intervention in the economy, nor redistribution of wealth had ever occurred in Germany.
Today, to the utter despair of these purists, the British SUP – although not at all constrained by any bourgeois coalition partners – was following the example of Ebert and Scheidemann much closer than the guidance provided by Marx and Engels.
Once the abolition of the House of Lords had become a fact, the now all-deciding House of Commons with its comfortable SUP majority had begun to steer a course of social stability and slow low level tranformation into a welfare state. Nobody ever mentioned Germany as an example, but it was clear to all that – without revolutionary change – the German workers enjoyed the world’s best system of social security, healthcare and education. And the leadership of the SUP and the labour unions agreed in following the evolutionary German model instead of experimenting with radical change, which might end in bloody revolution or counter-revolution.
This had several positive effects: The market remained a real market. The economy remained controlled by people who knew about economic factors. No social group was forced to leave the country because of revolutionary persecution. Foreign capital – especially the US one – was not frightened away by socialisation or nationalisation. Investing in Britain remained a viable and even attractive option.
At the same time, a number of laws and programmes came into effect, which slowly brought about a lessening of social disparity and improved the living conditions of the lower classes.
Much more than Germany, Britain was bound to remain a class society, but like Germany she was now opening for social advancement through all strata, starting to favour education and vocational proficiency over ancestry and social origin.
The British economy had now – in early 1923 – completely overcome the painful shrinking process from wartime peak production to normal business. The British Pound was stabilised with six £ buying one $. The unemployment rate had gone down again to just below eight percent – and all indicators signalled that it would drop further in spring and summer. In terms of industrial production, Britain still ranked third, after the USA and Germany, but far in advance of Japan, France or Italy, although her share had dropped from fourteen percent in 1914 to nine percent actually.
Consumer prices had been stable for the last six months, indicating the end of inflation.
As a financial place, however, the London Stock Exchange, Lloyds of London and the Bank of England had lost their pre-war dominance to New York and Berlin. And as largest city in the world, the town had just been overtaken by New York, leaving her nevertheless the pride of being the largest city of Europe – still far ahead of Berlin and Paris.
British manufacture was weak in new technologies like the chemical and electrical industry, but – due to the Great War – strong in aircraft, automotives and ship building. Now, that relations to the US had been harmonised (at the price of abandoning all support for the Second Mexican Revolution and handing over the Bahamas to the North Americans), it was found that British cars, motorbikes and aeroplanes sold surprisingly well on the US market.
For the SUP leadership, the former British Empire – or what remained of it – held little attraction. In Africa, one had no choice but was forced to follow the German, Belgian and Italian example of emancipating the natives, any other policy would only lead to insurgency.
Of course, there was no intention of giving away such important naval bases like Hong Kong and Port Edward (Wei Hai Wei) in China, Singapore at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, Sokotra and Zanzibar in the Indian Ocean, Gibraltar and Malta in the Mediterranean, the Falklands, St. Helena, Ascension and Bermuda in the Atlantic Ocean, or Jamaica and the British Windward Islands in the Carribean, but Ceylon had already been handed over to Mysore in 1922, and there were serious considerations to release British Honduras to independence – before risking to be drawn into the war between the US and Mexico.
The dominions of Australia and New Zealand were moving away from the motherland, seeing their future better secured in an alliance with the US. Only Canada stuck to Britain, viewing her as a counterweight to the big southern neighbour.
No, the era of the British Empire was over. Britain today was a maritime nation with bases all around the globe and thus still a global power, but no longer the largest empire in history.
The vast Torrent of Peasants will devour Us all
(Maxim Gorky, 1921)
On February 19th, 1923, at Novonikolayevsk in Russian Siberia, a man died, who had tried to change the world. Immobilised and muted by several strokes, Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, better known as Lenin, had been forced to witness the end of Bolshevik rule, the return of a Tsar to St. Petersburg, and the advent to power of the primitive unenlightened Russian peasants.
Now, his weak body ultimately ceased fighting against death. In the early morning hours, unnoticed by the petty staff of the small nursing home and his sister Anna Ulyanova, who had absorbed the brunt of caring for him, he passed away.
Because it was high winter and the ground thoroughly frozen, the coffin with his frail body was stored away in a wooden shed. Funeral would take place later, when it was possible to dig a proper grave.
In St. Petersburg, it was severe winter as well. The Neva was deeply frozen, and snow covered roofs and roads. The dark early morning found Igor F. Matutin already at work. The Russian Prime Minister was still struggling with the concept of modernising his country, but more and more he had to realise that the powers of inertia were stronger.
The vast majority of the Russian peasants still lived in a world that was flat, and where angels and demons lived beyond the clouds and the soil of the earth. For them, the sun still revolved around the disk of the world. And below this disk, the realm of the Fiend extended.
An evil eye or a curse could spoil the harvest, sicken cattle or wither a foetus in its mother’s womb.
And the vast majority of Russian peasants didn’t want to be modernised.
Before the Great War, there had been areas where modern – western style – farming had flourished. But these fringe areas were now mainly lost. Only western White Russia still offered some progressive agriculture.
The central Russian territory around Moscow was firmly inhabited by backward peasants hostile to change. They resented any state regulations and insisted on regulating everything in the traditional way: The village assembly, led by one patriarch or some few richer peasants would decide. – Already the District Semstvo represented too much unwanted state control, and the old habit of sending a drunkard or a very poor illiterate as representative of the village had survived from Tsarist times.
This also applied for the All Russian Duma. The number of sots and idiots in the rank and file of the KP was simply astounding.
Russia always had lacked a solid bourgeoisie, and what hopefully had evolved in the first few years of the century had been thoroughly smashed by Great and Civil War. From those citizens, who had managed to flee abroad, only about one third had returned. This also explained why the bourgeois parties never had stood a chance of winning against the KP.
But the the workers, the habitual support of the Socialists, also had been decimated. With many factories closed or destroyed, the large host of unskilled workers had returned to their native villages and blended into the world of the peasantry again.
Slowly it was dawning on Matutin that the change he was aiming for would not be achievable by peaceful parliamentary work. His own party did not support his ideas.
The only method to which the Russian peasants would oblige was coercion by force.
This called the Russian Army to Matutin’s attention.
Here was an institution, which emancipated peasants’ sons into persons accustomed to personal hygiene and tidiness, which taught them reading and writing, which showed them a world beyond primitive farmer’ cottages and unproductive small fields. It was known that soldiers having finished their term found it difficult to return to the reeky narrowness and mental immobility of the villages.
Here thus was a force, which could be used to compel the peasants to modernisation.
In order to achieve this, there was no use in addressing the old Tsarist Generals, they wouldn’t even understand what Matutin was talking about; but that former Bolshevik commander, Tukhachevsky, was a man who might appreciate Matutin’s intend.
Having just beaten the Japanese, his reputation was so good that even the most boozed blokes of the KP wouldn’t object his promotion to Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Armed Forces.
Matutin called one of his secretaries and tasked him to fix a date for a personal interview with General Tukhachevsky. It certainly would be worthwile to sound out this man and his ends. Perhaps one could forge an alliance – if the ends matched…
(Maxim Gorky, 1921)
On February 19th, 1923, at Novonikolayevsk in Russian Siberia, a man died, who had tried to change the world. Immobilised and muted by several strokes, Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, better known as Lenin, had been forced to witness the end of Bolshevik rule, the return of a Tsar to St. Petersburg, and the advent to power of the primitive unenlightened Russian peasants.
Now, his weak body ultimately ceased fighting against death. In the early morning hours, unnoticed by the petty staff of the small nursing home and his sister Anna Ulyanova, who had absorbed the brunt of caring for him, he passed away.
Because it was high winter and the ground thoroughly frozen, the coffin with his frail body was stored away in a wooden shed. Funeral would take place later, when it was possible to dig a proper grave.
In St. Petersburg, it was severe winter as well. The Neva was deeply frozen, and snow covered roofs and roads. The dark early morning found Igor F. Matutin already at work. The Russian Prime Minister was still struggling with the concept of modernising his country, but more and more he had to realise that the powers of inertia were stronger.
The vast majority of the Russian peasants still lived in a world that was flat, and where angels and demons lived beyond the clouds and the soil of the earth. For them, the sun still revolved around the disk of the world. And below this disk, the realm of the Fiend extended.
An evil eye or a curse could spoil the harvest, sicken cattle or wither a foetus in its mother’s womb.
And the vast majority of Russian peasants didn’t want to be modernised.
Before the Great War, there had been areas where modern – western style – farming had flourished. But these fringe areas were now mainly lost. Only western White Russia still offered some progressive agriculture.
The central Russian territory around Moscow was firmly inhabited by backward peasants hostile to change. They resented any state regulations and insisted on regulating everything in the traditional way: The village assembly, led by one patriarch or some few richer peasants would decide. – Already the District Semstvo represented too much unwanted state control, and the old habit of sending a drunkard or a very poor illiterate as representative of the village had survived from Tsarist times.
This also applied for the All Russian Duma. The number of sots and idiots in the rank and file of the KP was simply astounding.
Russia always had lacked a solid bourgeoisie, and what hopefully had evolved in the first few years of the century had been thoroughly smashed by Great and Civil War. From those citizens, who had managed to flee abroad, only about one third had returned. This also explained why the bourgeois parties never had stood a chance of winning against the KP.
But the the workers, the habitual support of the Socialists, also had been decimated. With many factories closed or destroyed, the large host of unskilled workers had returned to their native villages and blended into the world of the peasantry again.
Slowly it was dawning on Matutin that the change he was aiming for would not be achievable by peaceful parliamentary work. His own party did not support his ideas.
The only method to which the Russian peasants would oblige was coercion by force.
This called the Russian Army to Matutin’s attention.
Here was an institution, which emancipated peasants’ sons into persons accustomed to personal hygiene and tidiness, which taught them reading and writing, which showed them a world beyond primitive farmer’ cottages and unproductive small fields. It was known that soldiers having finished their term found it difficult to return to the reeky narrowness and mental immobility of the villages.
Here thus was a force, which could be used to compel the peasants to modernisation.
In order to achieve this, there was no use in addressing the old Tsarist Generals, they wouldn’t even understand what Matutin was talking about; but that former Bolshevik commander, Tukhachevsky, was a man who might appreciate Matutin’s intend.
Having just beaten the Japanese, his reputation was so good that even the most boozed blokes of the KP wouldn’t object his promotion to Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Armed Forces.
Matutin called one of his secretaries and tasked him to fix a date for a personal interview with General Tukhachevsky. It certainly would be worthwile to sound out this man and his ends. Perhaps one could forge an alliance – if the ends matched…
altamiro
Banned
In the sense of introducing a general conscription and forcing the peasants to get a wider outlook, or by using the army to occupy the villages and force them to change?
Either way it doesn't bode well for Russia as even the first way needs an overriding reason, preferably an emergency...
In any case - a great timeline! Consider me a fan.
Trick them into nobly sacrificing their second sons for Mother Russia? One son to follow in fathers footsteps and another for the Tsar.
The Floating Ferdinand
Monday, February 19th, 1923, was the day when – almost 10 weeks behind schedule – the aircraft carrier SMS Graf Zeppelin was launched at the shipyard of the Howaldtswerke in Kiel.
The weather was cold and cloudy with occasional snow showers, but the Bay and the Firth of Kiel were free of ice.
Construction had revealed some structural problems, the technical fixing of which had led to the delay. The Naval Construction Bureau thought that construction could only be completed in late January 1924. But for reasons of public relations, official commission for service nevertheless had been fixed for November 1923.
The event had attracted a huge crowd of national and international observers and spectators and the usual flock of very important persons. After all, the SMS Graf Zeppelin was the first of the large aircraft carriers of all nations to be launched.
USS Langley and the Japanese Hōshō had been commissioned in 1922, HMS Hermes was expected for commission in mid-1923, but these were small and experimental vessels preceeding the respective national programmes to build fleet carriers.
Chancellor Erzberger had convinced Kaiser Wilhelm III. to deliver the launching speech. Contrary to his father, the emperor avoided public speeches wherever possible. Although present at many instances, he usually restricted himself to waving, greeting, saluting and personal chat. But those speeches he held, regularly were most closely coordinated with the Imperial Chancellery and transmitted a well dosed political message.
“When today we launch this mighty ship,” Wilhelm opened his speech, “we act according to the ancient Roman adage ‘Si vis pacem, para bellum’. Germany does not desire foreign territory, nor do we think that conflicts should necessarily be solved by force. But we have learned from the past. Before the Great War, Germany had an army that was not large enough to deter other nations from joint aggression. And we had a navy, which was incapable of accomplishing the missions it had been built for. – Germany paid for this with 2.3 million dead and 3.7 million wounded. – We will not repeat this mistake. Today and for all future, Germany shall be adequately armed to make it crystal clear to every potential aggressor that he will be annihilated if he undertakes to attack us. And we will not sit idly and wait, we will destroy the assailant in his bases – before he is able to inflict serious damage to the Fatherland and its inhabitants.
The vessel we launch today will serve this purpose. It will provide aerial protection for our navy. It is not designed to bring destruction to foreign lands, but to destroy those who dare attacking our shipping.
May this ship always be lucky and triumphant, may it contribute to deterrence and keeping peace – and if challenged – successfully defend the Fatherland and overcome the aggressors.
I now ask Lady Hella von Brandenstein-Zeppelin, daughter of the late Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, the famous name giver of this aircraft carrier, to christen the vessel.”
At this, Lady Hella smashed the customary bottle of Sekt against the ship’s prow and said: “I christen you to the name of Seiner Majestät Schiff Graf Zeppelin! May there always be enough water beneath your keel!”
Then, to the sirens and bells of all ships present in the Firth of Kiel, the mighty hull slipped down the ramp and touched its new element. With slow oscillation SMS Graf Zeppelin floated in the water.
The audience applauded and waited until the harbour tugs started to drag the vessel to the pier where completion would occur, then the crowd leisurely dispersed, while invited guests went for a brunch with the emperor.
Foreign observers had, however, not failed to notice the impressive hulk nearing completion on the next slipway. This was to become ‘Kemal Reis’, one of the four Bayern-class battleships ordered by the Ottoman Navy.
Far from Kiel, at the Eastern Frisian coast near Bensersiel, the training of the future carrier aircrews was going on for some months already. The commander of this training wing was Korvettenkapitän (lieutenant commander) Gotthard Sachsenberg, long released from Boer captivity and proudly displaying his ‘Südwestafrika’ cuff title – after all, he had added eight more kills to his score, which now ran at 42, down there. His former section commanders, Theodor Osterkamp and Reinhold Poss, who also had survived the South-West African adventure, both promoted to Kapitänleutnant (naval lieutenant), led the two training squadrons.
The Siemens-Schuckert DT.V had won the competition for a carrier based fighter design, while the Albatros CT.XV had been picked as carrier borne long range patrol aircraft. (The letter T indicates ‘Träger’, i.e. carrier.)
For initial formation, several air fields the size of the future flight deck of SMS Graf Zeppelin (flippantly called ‘The Floating Ferdinand’ by the air crews) had been marked and equipped (including a mock ‘island’) on land.
Advanced pilots then proceeded to the ‘flying carpet’, an apparatus that aimed at simulating the movements of a flight deck of an aircraft carrier on sea. This facility also provided opportunity to plunge into the water for those who happened to make mistakes.
The whole arrangement also served to train the future landing signal boatswains and the flight deck personnel.
Sachsenberg, in good old German tradition, soon had started to develop his own ideas about the possibilities of carrier borne aircraft. Why not add bombers and torpedo attack planes to the complement? As it was, the German carriers had a purely defensive role, only being made for scaring away enemy aircraft from the fleet. They had no punch of their own. Bombers and attack planes would provide this punch.
But so far, the SKL establishment had not at all reacted to Sachsenberg’s memoranda...
Monday, February 19th, 1923, was the day when – almost 10 weeks behind schedule – the aircraft carrier SMS Graf Zeppelin was launched at the shipyard of the Howaldtswerke in Kiel.
The weather was cold and cloudy with occasional snow showers, but the Bay and the Firth of Kiel were free of ice.
Construction had revealed some structural problems, the technical fixing of which had led to the delay. The Naval Construction Bureau thought that construction could only be completed in late January 1924. But for reasons of public relations, official commission for service nevertheless had been fixed for November 1923.
The event had attracted a huge crowd of national and international observers and spectators and the usual flock of very important persons. After all, the SMS Graf Zeppelin was the first of the large aircraft carriers of all nations to be launched.
USS Langley and the Japanese Hōshō had been commissioned in 1922, HMS Hermes was expected for commission in mid-1923, but these were small and experimental vessels preceeding the respective national programmes to build fleet carriers.
Chancellor Erzberger had convinced Kaiser Wilhelm III. to deliver the launching speech. Contrary to his father, the emperor avoided public speeches wherever possible. Although present at many instances, he usually restricted himself to waving, greeting, saluting and personal chat. But those speeches he held, regularly were most closely coordinated with the Imperial Chancellery and transmitted a well dosed political message.
“When today we launch this mighty ship,” Wilhelm opened his speech, “we act according to the ancient Roman adage ‘Si vis pacem, para bellum’. Germany does not desire foreign territory, nor do we think that conflicts should necessarily be solved by force. But we have learned from the past. Before the Great War, Germany had an army that was not large enough to deter other nations from joint aggression. And we had a navy, which was incapable of accomplishing the missions it had been built for. – Germany paid for this with 2.3 million dead and 3.7 million wounded. – We will not repeat this mistake. Today and for all future, Germany shall be adequately armed to make it crystal clear to every potential aggressor that he will be annihilated if he undertakes to attack us. And we will not sit idly and wait, we will destroy the assailant in his bases – before he is able to inflict serious damage to the Fatherland and its inhabitants.
The vessel we launch today will serve this purpose. It will provide aerial protection for our navy. It is not designed to bring destruction to foreign lands, but to destroy those who dare attacking our shipping.
May this ship always be lucky and triumphant, may it contribute to deterrence and keeping peace – and if challenged – successfully defend the Fatherland and overcome the aggressors.
I now ask Lady Hella von Brandenstein-Zeppelin, daughter of the late Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, the famous name giver of this aircraft carrier, to christen the vessel.”
At this, Lady Hella smashed the customary bottle of Sekt against the ship’s prow and said: “I christen you to the name of Seiner Majestät Schiff Graf Zeppelin! May there always be enough water beneath your keel!”
Then, to the sirens and bells of all ships present in the Firth of Kiel, the mighty hull slipped down the ramp and touched its new element. With slow oscillation SMS Graf Zeppelin floated in the water.
The audience applauded and waited until the harbour tugs started to drag the vessel to the pier where completion would occur, then the crowd leisurely dispersed, while invited guests went for a brunch with the emperor.
Foreign observers had, however, not failed to notice the impressive hulk nearing completion on the next slipway. This was to become ‘Kemal Reis’, one of the four Bayern-class battleships ordered by the Ottoman Navy.
Far from Kiel, at the Eastern Frisian coast near Bensersiel, the training of the future carrier aircrews was going on for some months already. The commander of this training wing was Korvettenkapitän (lieutenant commander) Gotthard Sachsenberg, long released from Boer captivity and proudly displaying his ‘Südwestafrika’ cuff title – after all, he had added eight more kills to his score, which now ran at 42, down there. His former section commanders, Theodor Osterkamp and Reinhold Poss, who also had survived the South-West African adventure, both promoted to Kapitänleutnant (naval lieutenant), led the two training squadrons.
The Siemens-Schuckert DT.V had won the competition for a carrier based fighter design, while the Albatros CT.XV had been picked as carrier borne long range patrol aircraft. (The letter T indicates ‘Träger’, i.e. carrier.)
For initial formation, several air fields the size of the future flight deck of SMS Graf Zeppelin (flippantly called ‘The Floating Ferdinand’ by the air crews) had been marked and equipped (including a mock ‘island’) on land.
Advanced pilots then proceeded to the ‘flying carpet’, an apparatus that aimed at simulating the movements of a flight deck of an aircraft carrier on sea. This facility also provided opportunity to plunge into the water for those who happened to make mistakes.
The whole arrangement also served to train the future landing signal boatswains and the flight deck personnel.
Sachsenberg, in good old German tradition, soon had started to develop his own ideas about the possibilities of carrier borne aircraft. Why not add bombers and torpedo attack planes to the complement? As it was, the German carriers had a purely defensive role, only being made for scaring away enemy aircraft from the fleet. They had no punch of their own. Bombers and attack planes would provide this punch.
But so far, the SKL establishment had not at all reacted to Sachsenberg’s memoranda...
Flags, Festivities and Foreigners
Marek Sosnowski was a born Prussian – of native Polish tongue and Catholic belief. But of course he had grown up bilingual in his little home village west of Posen, like all children living there had, including those from the ‘ruling’ German families, who usually were not native to the district.
Marek had fought in the Great War, as a gunner with Field Artillery Regiment No. 56 from Lissa. He had become Unteroffizier (sergeant) in 1916, and in 1918 had volunteered for the Kanobils. But the war had been finished before his training for this new weapon had been complete.
Marek had never considered to defect from the German side, like quite a number of native Polish speakers had done – mostly ending up in special Polish regiments fighting (and being ruthlessly sacrificed) for the French or the Russian cause.
Today, these people were not in an enviable situation: The Germans were rather unforgiving concerning desertion. Either the men sought a new future abroad – without ever being able to come back to their families at home – or they were convicted in court and sent to jail, if they preferred to return to Germany.
After the war, Marek had completed school by passing the ‘Abitur’ (general qualification for university entrance) and then had studied in Königsberg: Mathematics, physics and chemistry – with the aim of becoming a teacher for the ‘Real-Gymnasium’ (high level secondary school with focus on physical science and modern languages).
And the State of Prussia had accepted his application and made him an ‘Oberlehrer’ (a teacher at a secondary school) – and had sent him to the Hannover Province…
The countryside here was rather flat like at home, both environments having been formed by identic circumstances during the Ice Age, and likewise dominated by agriculture.
But that ended the simularities…
The area was absolutely Protestant, the few Catholic and Jewish fellow citizens were eyed with utter distrust.
Marek knew that the principal of his new school at Nienburg, a small town of less than 6,000 souls, had resisted his appointment, but he believed this had been because he was of Polish origin. Yet, the struggle, most of which had happened behind the scenes, had not been about his Polish roots, but about his Catholic belief.
Director Dr. Schoof, the principal, knew that Marek’s German was impeccable and that his professional qualification was very good. But accepting a Catholic teacher into a staff, which was purely Protestant, was something that he only accepted after severe sanctions had been threatened to him by the Provincial Government.
Quite understandably, the relations between Dr. Schoof and Marek remained tense, and in the teachers’ room, Marek had to face the bunch of his ill-disposed colleagues every day.
There wasn’t even a Catholic church, the next ones either could be found in Hannover or Minden, both towns being about fifty kilometres away (although attainable within an hour by rail).
And there were no holidays! – At least none of the ecclesiasticals, except Easter, Whitsun and Christmas. Of course Kaiser’s Geburtstag (emperor’s birthday) was celebrated on May 6th, Victory Day on May 1st and Sedanstag on September 2nd. And there was ‘Schützenfest’ (shooting match), the most important of all!
The people of the area were convinced followers of the Welfs, patriotic Prussians and proud Germans – all in the same mindset that made Marek a born Pole, dutiful Prussian subject and proud citizen of Germany. They loved parades and rallies with music, flags and uniforms (all these ‘Schützen’ – shooters – wore special uniforms!) – and binge drinking to the extreme (just like every god-fearing Pole). Yet, they were mixing schnapps and beer – a truly horrible combination, which Marek had come to dread, after a woebegone experience at a reservists’ rally.
From home, he was used to consuming Vodka, even in larger quantities, but vast doses of schnapps and beer together simply made you want to die (after you had finished vomitting)…
Nevertheless, the reservists’ club and the ‘Kriegerverein’ (war veterans’ association) were the two organisations where Marek enjoyed unchallenged social acceptance. His rank of ‘Vizefeldwebel der Reserve’ and his decorations, EK II, Silver Merit Cross of the Hohenzollern House Order, and Black Wound Badge, made him unconditionally acceptable in these circles, an experience he shared with Dr. Wolff, a Jewish physician, who had even won the the coveted EK I for outstanding service as surgeon during the Flanders Battle in 1917.
However, total integration had only happened after Marek had joined the ‘Schützen’ – a ‘Schützenbruder’ (fellow shooter, literally: Brother-in-arms) was someone who was entitled to every conceivable support.
He bought one of these fancy green uniforms, attended the regular meetings and events – and very soon became ‘Schützenbruder Marek’ a well respected member of the community.
Even ‘Schützenbruder Ernst August’ (Dr. Schoof) quickly forgot his crudge – after he and Marek had staggered home together from a very ‘wet’ monthly session of the ‘Nienburger Schützencorps von 1860’.
Marek Sosnowski was a born Prussian – of native Polish tongue and Catholic belief. But of course he had grown up bilingual in his little home village west of Posen, like all children living there had, including those from the ‘ruling’ German families, who usually were not native to the district.
Marek had fought in the Great War, as a gunner with Field Artillery Regiment No. 56 from Lissa. He had become Unteroffizier (sergeant) in 1916, and in 1918 had volunteered for the Kanobils. But the war had been finished before his training for this new weapon had been complete.
Marek had never considered to defect from the German side, like quite a number of native Polish speakers had done – mostly ending up in special Polish regiments fighting (and being ruthlessly sacrificed) for the French or the Russian cause.
Today, these people were not in an enviable situation: The Germans were rather unforgiving concerning desertion. Either the men sought a new future abroad – without ever being able to come back to their families at home – or they were convicted in court and sent to jail, if they preferred to return to Germany.
After the war, Marek had completed school by passing the ‘Abitur’ (general qualification for university entrance) and then had studied in Königsberg: Mathematics, physics and chemistry – with the aim of becoming a teacher for the ‘Real-Gymnasium’ (high level secondary school with focus on physical science and modern languages).
And the State of Prussia had accepted his application and made him an ‘Oberlehrer’ (a teacher at a secondary school) – and had sent him to the Hannover Province…
The countryside here was rather flat like at home, both environments having been formed by identic circumstances during the Ice Age, and likewise dominated by agriculture.
But that ended the simularities…
The area was absolutely Protestant, the few Catholic and Jewish fellow citizens were eyed with utter distrust.
Marek knew that the principal of his new school at Nienburg, a small town of less than 6,000 souls, had resisted his appointment, but he believed this had been because he was of Polish origin. Yet, the struggle, most of which had happened behind the scenes, had not been about his Polish roots, but about his Catholic belief.
Director Dr. Schoof, the principal, knew that Marek’s German was impeccable and that his professional qualification was very good. But accepting a Catholic teacher into a staff, which was purely Protestant, was something that he only accepted after severe sanctions had been threatened to him by the Provincial Government.
Quite understandably, the relations between Dr. Schoof and Marek remained tense, and in the teachers’ room, Marek had to face the bunch of his ill-disposed colleagues every day.
There wasn’t even a Catholic church, the next ones either could be found in Hannover or Minden, both towns being about fifty kilometres away (although attainable within an hour by rail).
And there were no holidays! – At least none of the ecclesiasticals, except Easter, Whitsun and Christmas. Of course Kaiser’s Geburtstag (emperor’s birthday) was celebrated on May 6th, Victory Day on May 1st and Sedanstag on September 2nd. And there was ‘Schützenfest’ (shooting match), the most important of all!
The people of the area were convinced followers of the Welfs, patriotic Prussians and proud Germans – all in the same mindset that made Marek a born Pole, dutiful Prussian subject and proud citizen of Germany. They loved parades and rallies with music, flags and uniforms (all these ‘Schützen’ – shooters – wore special uniforms!) – and binge drinking to the extreme (just like every god-fearing Pole). Yet, they were mixing schnapps and beer – a truly horrible combination, which Marek had come to dread, after a woebegone experience at a reservists’ rally.
From home, he was used to consuming Vodka, even in larger quantities, but vast doses of schnapps and beer together simply made you want to die (after you had finished vomitting)…
Nevertheless, the reservists’ club and the ‘Kriegerverein’ (war veterans’ association) were the two organisations where Marek enjoyed unchallenged social acceptance. His rank of ‘Vizefeldwebel der Reserve’ and his decorations, EK II, Silver Merit Cross of the Hohenzollern House Order, and Black Wound Badge, made him unconditionally acceptable in these circles, an experience he shared with Dr. Wolff, a Jewish physician, who had even won the the coveted EK I for outstanding service as surgeon during the Flanders Battle in 1917.
However, total integration had only happened after Marek had joined the ‘Schützen’ – a ‘Schützenbruder’ (fellow shooter, literally: Brother-in-arms) was someone who was entitled to every conceivable support.
He bought one of these fancy green uniforms, attended the regular meetings and events – and very soon became ‘Schützenbruder Marek’ a well respected member of the community.
Even ‘Schützenbruder Ernst August’ (Dr. Schoof) quickly forgot his crudge – after he and Marek had staggered home together from a very ‘wet’ monthly session of the ‘Nienburger Schützencorps von 1860’.
Is this Marek fictional? I tried to google him (as I do about every character in yout TL I'm unaware of) and didn't find anything
How are things developing in Spain? Is it as OTL? Is Primo de Rivera in position for his 'Pronunciamiento'. Without the war in Morrocco (I doubt if it is possible in your TL) and specially without the Annual Disaster there aren't the pre-conditions for the military coup
How are things developing in Spain? Is it as OTL? Is Primo de Rivera in position for his 'Pronunciamiento'. Without the war in Morrocco (I doubt if it is possible in your TL) and specially without the Annual Disaster there aren't the pre-conditions for the military coup
Neroon
Banned
When reading your latest update i also thought he was a historical character with an alternate lifestory.
Increasing Difficulties
While the laws regulating conscription had passed through the Congress of the United States without major difficulties, the materialisation of a conscript army took some time. Until then, the four regular divisions and the National Guard units had to sustain the stress of the war in Mexico.
For the National Guard, however, time was running out. Most reservists could not afford a long sojourn in the south, they had jobs of their own waiting for them at home. After all, the US had a booming economy, and fortune was not waiting for people gone out to shoot some Spics.
Thus, while the enemies weren’t getting fewer, the fighters for the cause of the US were.
Major George S. Patton had been assigned commander of the 2nd Squadron, 5th US Cavalry Regiment, in January 1923.
Until then, Patton – doing service in various staff positions – had mainly fought for the foundation of a US Tank Corps. He was almost the only officer in the US Army, who had at least some experience with tanks – French FT17s. And wasn’t it obvious that the Germans had won the Great War because of their mass use of Kanobils?
But nobody wanted to hear or read about his ideas concerning the future use of armour. The US had disengaged from Europe and would never return there. For the conflict scenarios, which held some probability for the US Army, tanks would not be needed.
Yes, he was correct about the importance of the Kanobils, but as long as the future theatre of war was either the jungle of Central America or the jungle of some Pacific island, tanks weren’t that important. The Army was underfunded anyway, so why waste money on something not needed?
The 5th Cavalry had been in the Altepexi Horse Slaughter in 1922. After this equine massacre, there at been an attempt to replace horses by motor cycles, but the Mexican infrastructure was very unkind to cars and motor cycles. If the terrain really was to be controlled it was either on foot or on horseback.
Foot patrolling was something the infantry was doing already, thus the cavalry had reverted to horses.
Patton saw this as another confirmation for his call for tanks. Tank could negotiate almost all terrain; they were not depending on the existence of roads. Okay, it would be rather difficult – if not impossible – to ambush Mexican guerrillas with tanks, but for perimeter and area control they could serve well. A troop of cavalry supported by two tanks would have sufficient punch to scare away the guerrillas. They would not risk ambushing the horsemen for fear of being annihilated by the tanks.
Armoured cars – like he had used in 1916 when participating in General Pershing’s punitive expedition in Northern Mexico – were only useable in some few level parts of this Goddamn country and on the far too scarce roads, but they were less noisy than tanks and therefore might help in surprise attacks against the Spics.
But, of course, there were neither tanks nor armoured cars available – and one had to manage without them.
There weren’t many National Guard units either. The 5th Cavalry was rather overexpanded, and Patton spent a lot of time travelling from troop to troop. He felt this was necessary to maintain discipline and order. If left alone too long, the troopers tended to acquire quite a circus of native genies, cooks, charwomen, harlots... This was bad for discipline, and Patton made sure that such excrescences disappeared again quickly. He wanted his troopers combat ready and keen to fight all the time. Anything else would evoke certain disaster.
His movements had already made him a target of the guerrillas three times. But Patton was not only a superb marksman himself, he also always was accompanied by an escort of six to eight riders armed with automatic weapons. The Thompson submachine gun had not yet been introduced into the US Army, only the US Marines used them. But Patton had made sure that is personal body guards were equipped with Tommy Guns. In addition, at least two BARs were carried, and some pouches full of hand grenades.
After losing a total of 24 men, the local guerrilla leader had apparently resigned from springing more ambushes on Patton.
Today, Patton rode to regimental HQ. His white stallion and the gray horses of his guards made quite a magnificent sight. Colonel Rockenbach was already awaiting him. They knew each other from the Great War. Rockenbach had been the head of the tank branch, while Patton had been the real tank expert and the chief instructor.
“Hi, George. – Good you came. There are some bad news we need to discuss...”
More National Guard units were going home. This left the 1st Cavalry Division and the 1st Infantry Division as almost the only occupation forces on the central Mexican plateau.
“What are our political masters thinking they’re doing?” inquired Patton furiously. “You cannot start a war – and then allow people to go home!”
“Economic pressure, George. – We’re drafting recruits for the expansion of the Army, and we try to keep the reservists of the National Guard in the field at the same time. – That won’t work, we’re not on national emergency, it’s business as usual for most in the States. People at home still support the intervention, but they do not support economic contingency. The Owen Administration is just trying to muddle along...”
“At our expense!”
“George, we’re soldiers – and soldiers are expendable, you know that.”
“Sure! – But how can they expect four regular divisions alone to subdue hordes of Spic braves? We cannot man all checkpoints in this country.”
“We have to improvise, George. It’s only for three months. Then the first new units will become available.”
“Well, Sir, this may become the longest three months in our lifes. I don’t think Pancho Villa and that Russian Jew will respect our temporary disposition...”
While the laws regulating conscription had passed through the Congress of the United States without major difficulties, the materialisation of a conscript army took some time. Until then, the four regular divisions and the National Guard units had to sustain the stress of the war in Mexico.
For the National Guard, however, time was running out. Most reservists could not afford a long sojourn in the south, they had jobs of their own waiting for them at home. After all, the US had a booming economy, and fortune was not waiting for people gone out to shoot some Spics.
Thus, while the enemies weren’t getting fewer, the fighters for the cause of the US were.
Major George S. Patton had been assigned commander of the 2nd Squadron, 5th US Cavalry Regiment, in January 1923.
Until then, Patton – doing service in various staff positions – had mainly fought for the foundation of a US Tank Corps. He was almost the only officer in the US Army, who had at least some experience with tanks – French FT17s. And wasn’t it obvious that the Germans had won the Great War because of their mass use of Kanobils?
But nobody wanted to hear or read about his ideas concerning the future use of armour. The US had disengaged from Europe and would never return there. For the conflict scenarios, which held some probability for the US Army, tanks would not be needed.
Yes, he was correct about the importance of the Kanobils, but as long as the future theatre of war was either the jungle of Central America or the jungle of some Pacific island, tanks weren’t that important. The Army was underfunded anyway, so why waste money on something not needed?
The 5th Cavalry had been in the Altepexi Horse Slaughter in 1922. After this equine massacre, there at been an attempt to replace horses by motor cycles, but the Mexican infrastructure was very unkind to cars and motor cycles. If the terrain really was to be controlled it was either on foot or on horseback.
Foot patrolling was something the infantry was doing already, thus the cavalry had reverted to horses.
Patton saw this as another confirmation for his call for tanks. Tank could negotiate almost all terrain; they were not depending on the existence of roads. Okay, it would be rather difficult – if not impossible – to ambush Mexican guerrillas with tanks, but for perimeter and area control they could serve well. A troop of cavalry supported by two tanks would have sufficient punch to scare away the guerrillas. They would not risk ambushing the horsemen for fear of being annihilated by the tanks.
Armoured cars – like he had used in 1916 when participating in General Pershing’s punitive expedition in Northern Mexico – were only useable in some few level parts of this Goddamn country and on the far too scarce roads, but they were less noisy than tanks and therefore might help in surprise attacks against the Spics.
But, of course, there were neither tanks nor armoured cars available – and one had to manage without them.
There weren’t many National Guard units either. The 5th Cavalry was rather overexpanded, and Patton spent a lot of time travelling from troop to troop. He felt this was necessary to maintain discipline and order. If left alone too long, the troopers tended to acquire quite a circus of native genies, cooks, charwomen, harlots... This was bad for discipline, and Patton made sure that such excrescences disappeared again quickly. He wanted his troopers combat ready and keen to fight all the time. Anything else would evoke certain disaster.
His movements had already made him a target of the guerrillas three times. But Patton was not only a superb marksman himself, he also always was accompanied by an escort of six to eight riders armed with automatic weapons. The Thompson submachine gun had not yet been introduced into the US Army, only the US Marines used them. But Patton had made sure that is personal body guards were equipped with Tommy Guns. In addition, at least two BARs were carried, and some pouches full of hand grenades.
After losing a total of 24 men, the local guerrilla leader had apparently resigned from springing more ambushes on Patton.
Today, Patton rode to regimental HQ. His white stallion and the gray horses of his guards made quite a magnificent sight. Colonel Rockenbach was already awaiting him. They knew each other from the Great War. Rockenbach had been the head of the tank branch, while Patton had been the real tank expert and the chief instructor.
“Hi, George. – Good you came. There are some bad news we need to discuss...”
More National Guard units were going home. This left the 1st Cavalry Division and the 1st Infantry Division as almost the only occupation forces on the central Mexican plateau.
“What are our political masters thinking they’re doing?” inquired Patton furiously. “You cannot start a war – and then allow people to go home!”
“Economic pressure, George. – We’re drafting recruits for the expansion of the Army, and we try to keep the reservists of the National Guard in the field at the same time. – That won’t work, we’re not on national emergency, it’s business as usual for most in the States. People at home still support the intervention, but they do not support economic contingency. The Owen Administration is just trying to muddle along...”
“At our expense!”
“George, we’re soldiers – and soldiers are expendable, you know that.”
“Sure! – But how can they expect four regular divisions alone to subdue hordes of Spic braves? We cannot man all checkpoints in this country.”
“We have to improvise, George. It’s only for three months. Then the first new units will become available.”
“Well, Sir, this may become the longest three months in our lifes. I don’t think Pancho Villa and that Russian Jew will respect our temporary disposition...”
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When Faeces hits Fan
Because the regular Mexican Army was depleted after Operations Huitzilopochtli and Quetzalcoatl, there was no sudden onslaught once the Mexicans realised that the Gringos were withdrawing their National Guard units. What happened was a slow but steady increase of guerrilla activities.
And – as Major Patton had correctly predicted – the remaining US forces proved insufficient to check these ubiquitous forays.
This left the Owen Administration in a jam. Huitzilopochtli and Quetzalcoatl had already been bad enough for US reputation. Surrendering terrain to the Mexicans would lead to a national uproar and international guffaw.
The National Guard units had to be drawn out of Mexico, the individual states had made this very clear. Behind the curtain, it was not only about economy, it also was about losses. The reservists had taken grievous casualties, if the National Guard system was to survive they had to leave Mexico.
There was only one way to fix this without abandoning the conquered territories: Inserting the US Marines.
There were nine Marine infantry regiments and two artillery regiments available in all. If one neglected all the minor bush wars, retained only symbolic contingents and concentrated the corps in Mexico, the equivalent of two army infantry divisions could be tailored. That wasn’t magnific, yet better than nothing.
Major General John Archer Lejeune, the Marine Corps Commandant, warned however that this would corrupt the situation in all these other countries; without the Marines, most of the governments would be swept away quickly by the armed opposition. But as there were no ‘official’ US military missions in most of these countries and in Mexico the reputation of the USA was at stake, his warnings brought about nothing.
Consequently, one Marine regiment after the other was deployed to Mexico, with battalions arriving from all over Central America, the USA and the US Pacific possessions.
The Marines were light infantry, just the kind of troops required to stifle an insurgency. In addition, they were excellently trained light infantry – with quite a lot of experience in the kind of warfare going on in Mexico.
While the regular army divisions now concentrated inland, the Marines took over the coastal areas.
And the formula worked: As slowly as the insurgency had been moving to ascendancy, it now was being suppressed again.
But General Lejeune had been right: The situation in Central America and the Caribbean now fulminated – and hit the US right into the face…
Honduras was the first to fall. Greatly supported by ‘friends’ from Guatemala, the insurgents took the capital, Tegucigalpa, on April 3rd, 1923. Strong columns of fighters were now descending towards the Caribbean littoral, where the main plantations of the Vaccaro Brothers, Cuyamel Fruit Company and United Fruit Company were situated. While the fruit companies did still hire more indigene and foreign legionaries in order to combat the rebels, the US Barger Mining Company, which exploited the gold and silver mines in the highlands, had already struck a deal with the insurgents: For 50 percent of the proceeds, the revolutionary government confirmed Barger’s contracts.
Then, on April 16th, 1923, the British Government signed an armistice with the rebels in British Honduras – and agreed to new elections to be held as soon as possible with universal suffrage – and to an eventual independence declared by the newly elected government…
In quick succession, El Salvador and Nicaragua now succumbed to the rebellious forces, followed suit by Cuba, while Haiti went up in flames, after the bulk of the US Marines had left for Mexico.
By mid-May 1923, the Pax Americana had ended in the countries and islands on the western part of the Caribbean Sea. Only Panama was still firmly controlled by the US; and Costa Rica remained undisturbed by the violence further north. Democratically elected President Julio Acosta García of Costa Rica even proposed to host a conference, in which the US and the new rulers of the Central American states should settle their affairs.
But that came to nothing: Most countries had already bogged down in bloody civil war with rivalling rebellious factions fighting each other for power – and the US fruit companies still in the ring with their legionaries...
Thus, while in the USA the first new conscript units were approaching the end of their basic training and new military equipment was starting to flow out of the factories all over the country, the US had lost their influence over the infamous Banana Republics. In addition, the first brigades of Spanish and Italian volunteers for Mexico were on their way, disguised as tourists and business men.
Because the regular Mexican Army was depleted after Operations Huitzilopochtli and Quetzalcoatl, there was no sudden onslaught once the Mexicans realised that the Gringos were withdrawing their National Guard units. What happened was a slow but steady increase of guerrilla activities.
And – as Major Patton had correctly predicted – the remaining US forces proved insufficient to check these ubiquitous forays.
This left the Owen Administration in a jam. Huitzilopochtli and Quetzalcoatl had already been bad enough for US reputation. Surrendering terrain to the Mexicans would lead to a national uproar and international guffaw.
The National Guard units had to be drawn out of Mexico, the individual states had made this very clear. Behind the curtain, it was not only about economy, it also was about losses. The reservists had taken grievous casualties, if the National Guard system was to survive they had to leave Mexico.
There was only one way to fix this without abandoning the conquered territories: Inserting the US Marines.
There were nine Marine infantry regiments and two artillery regiments available in all. If one neglected all the minor bush wars, retained only symbolic contingents and concentrated the corps in Mexico, the equivalent of two army infantry divisions could be tailored. That wasn’t magnific, yet better than nothing.
Major General John Archer Lejeune, the Marine Corps Commandant, warned however that this would corrupt the situation in all these other countries; without the Marines, most of the governments would be swept away quickly by the armed opposition. But as there were no ‘official’ US military missions in most of these countries and in Mexico the reputation of the USA was at stake, his warnings brought about nothing.
Consequently, one Marine regiment after the other was deployed to Mexico, with battalions arriving from all over Central America, the USA and the US Pacific possessions.
The Marines were light infantry, just the kind of troops required to stifle an insurgency. In addition, they were excellently trained light infantry – with quite a lot of experience in the kind of warfare going on in Mexico.
While the regular army divisions now concentrated inland, the Marines took over the coastal areas.
And the formula worked: As slowly as the insurgency had been moving to ascendancy, it now was being suppressed again.
But General Lejeune had been right: The situation in Central America and the Caribbean now fulminated – and hit the US right into the face…
Honduras was the first to fall. Greatly supported by ‘friends’ from Guatemala, the insurgents took the capital, Tegucigalpa, on April 3rd, 1923. Strong columns of fighters were now descending towards the Caribbean littoral, where the main plantations of the Vaccaro Brothers, Cuyamel Fruit Company and United Fruit Company were situated. While the fruit companies did still hire more indigene and foreign legionaries in order to combat the rebels, the US Barger Mining Company, which exploited the gold and silver mines in the highlands, had already struck a deal with the insurgents: For 50 percent of the proceeds, the revolutionary government confirmed Barger’s contracts.
Then, on April 16th, 1923, the British Government signed an armistice with the rebels in British Honduras – and agreed to new elections to be held as soon as possible with universal suffrage – and to an eventual independence declared by the newly elected government…
In quick succession, El Salvador and Nicaragua now succumbed to the rebellious forces, followed suit by Cuba, while Haiti went up in flames, after the bulk of the US Marines had left for Mexico.
By mid-May 1923, the Pax Americana had ended in the countries and islands on the western part of the Caribbean Sea. Only Panama was still firmly controlled by the US; and Costa Rica remained undisturbed by the violence further north. Democratically elected President Julio Acosta García of Costa Rica even proposed to host a conference, in which the US and the new rulers of the Central American states should settle their affairs.
But that came to nothing: Most countries had already bogged down in bloody civil war with rivalling rebellious factions fighting each other for power – and the US fruit companies still in the ring with their legionaries...
Thus, while in the USA the first new conscript units were approaching the end of their basic training and new military equipment was starting to flow out of the factories all over the country, the US had lost their influence over the infamous Banana Republics. In addition, the first brigades of Spanish and Italian volunteers for Mexico were on their way, disguised as tourists and business men.
Really great stuff!
Will the blockade now extend to all of Latin America? And this situation seems to only extend to the Caribbean, what's been going on in South America?
Also, I may have missed it, but what happened to the rump socialist state in Russia? I know reintegration was on the table, did that occur, and how are they existing in the new state? If it's growing repressive, might we see the more die-hard Russian socialists make their way to the Americas?
Will the blockade now extend to all of Latin America? And this situation seems to only extend to the Caribbean, what's been going on in South America?
Also, I may have missed it, but what happened to the rump socialist state in Russia? I know reintegration was on the table, did that occur, and how are they existing in the new state? If it's growing repressive, might we see the more die-hard Russian socialists make their way to the Americas?
glowjack
Banned
I doubt America will run a blockaid for all of latin America as latin america is bussiness interests (which a blockaid would hurt) instead of ideological enemy that needs to be removed, (and i dont think they have the naval capabilities, Rast stated that the navy program was relativily new)
More likely it'll be a decline of american influence in latin america or a harder time for americans to maintain its influence. Rast seems like an optimist so i say he'll make mostly good rebellions and governments.
More likely it'll be a decline of american influence in latin america or a harder time for americans to maintain its influence. Rast seems like an optimist so i say he'll make mostly good rebellions and governments.
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