Adviser of the Kaiser.

Tell him to go off and build a pleasure palace in the Bavarian Alps with an unlimited budget. Convince him that, as emperor, he shouldn't have to worry about something as menial as government. Then have him let his cabinet of advisors run the country while parties himself to an early grave. Ideally the cabinet would be able to ease his successor into de facto rule over an extended period of time.
 
Give A-H the boot.

Support Russia.

Keep good terms with Italy #

DO ANYTHING to please the Brits (at least on the outside), but secretly suck up to the US ;) - for get that last line except come to terms with the Brits - even sell your colonies
 
Build the navy. The British will never trust Germany since our economy is overtaking them in certain overseas markets. Establish major naval bases in Africa and the Far East.

I was wondering if I was going to be the only person standing by Tirpitz in this thread!

If we assume we have our benefit of hindsight, I might say build the navy BETTER.

But while a class of ship is going to be out-classed, at the moment it is built, it is what is the best available. Still, build stronger light cruisers would help, and move to bigger destroyers earlier. Invest in better experimental submarines earlier too.

Make friends with Japan - Russia might be close, and you might be friendly with the Tsar, but strategically Russia is going to be focused against you.

Sack Schlieffen and get a General Staff who can think flexibly

Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
Sack Schlieffen and get a General Staff who can think flexibly

Actually I think you've got a backwards. Schlieffen was flexible in his war planning, it was his successor Moltke the Younger that became inflexible. It was under his directions that Germany became 'France First' and abandoned its plans to defend on the western front and advance on the eastern.
 
  1. Tell him to keep his mouth shut when it comes to other nations' domestic and foreign policy.
  2. Advise him to ease up on the ships and put more money into other things.
  3. Tell him the Hapsburgs are evil and not to get too close to A-H.
  4. Advise him to try and get a non-intervention pact with Russia.
 

abc123

Banned
I was wondering if I was going to be the only person standing by Tirpitz in this thread!

If we assume we have our benefit of hindsight, I might say build the navy BETTER.


Do you and David S Peppoe want stronger KM because you want to defeat RN or to intimidate Britain into alliance/neutrality?
 
1-Negotiate a naval treaty with Britain

2-Negotiate a non-intervention pact with Russia.

3-Upgrading Alsace Loraine to a full state (will have both French and German as the official language) with a surviving member of the House of Lorraine being put in place as the newly minted Grand Duke of Alsace Lorraine.

4-Detente with France.

5-Disarm the Junkers and Militarists through democratic reforms.

6-Not support in anyway aggressive adventures os Austria-Hungary.

4-Restore the Grand Duchy of Posen with an ethnic polish noble taking the throne and equal rights between Poles and German citizens of the region.

5-Build up trade and diplomatic ties to the US.
 
-Negotiate a naval treaty with Britain ASAP.
-Make plans for a one front war with Russia.
-Make plans to invade France that do not involve invading neutral nations!
-Do everything to make the US see you as a "good guy."
-Try and keep Russia and Italy on your good side.
-No "blank check" to Austria-Hungary.
-Democracy is a good idea.
-Upgrading Alsace Loraine to a full state.
 
I agree, but do you want KM to defeat RN or to intimidate them?

The correct phrase would as a counterweight. I do not seek to defeat the Royal Navy nor do I wish them to intimidate Germany at all. I would recommend that seeking of a naval treaty with Britain that would seek parity with the Royal Navy. Until Britain formally signs with the Dual Entente it is pretty much a rogue nation outside the alliance system.

An interesting exercise may be to convince the Russians not to send the 2nd Pacific Squadron to the Far East to relieve the siege of Port Arthur. I've been thinking that one thing that eased Britain joining the Dual Entente is Russia's loss of its navy. Until that time the combined force of France and Russia is formidable.
 
1-Negotiate a naval treaty with Britain

Would Britain ever agree to one?

2-Negotiate a non-intervention pact with Russia.

Why would Russia agree to this?

3-Upgrading Alsace Loraine to a full state (will have both French and German as the official language) with a surviving member of the House of Lorraine being put in place as the newly minted Grand Duke of Alsace Lorraine.

Possible. But without the bilingualiasm part.

4-Detente with France.

Was basicaly happening naturally until Anglo-German relations went sour.

5-Disarm the Junkers and Militarists through democratic reforms

Wilhelm will never agree to this. And why would he? The greatest threat to him were the socialists, not his power base.

6-Not support in anyway aggressive adventures os Austria-Hungary.

Why wouldn`t you support an ally? Just because Austria-Hungary fell after WWI doesn`t mean pre-WWI people all saw the inevitability of its demise.

4-Restore the Grand Duchy of Posen with an ethnic polish noble taking the throne and equal rights between Poles and German citizens of the region.

His answer would be a quick "NEIN". People should advise things that actually have a chance of being accepted.

5-Build up trade and diplomatic ties to the US.

Trade with the US was good as is, and the US wasn`t anti-German until well into WWI.

-Make plans for a one front war with Russia.

This assuming the French wouldn`t attack you regardless of your plan to have just one front.

-Make plans to invade France that do not involve invading neutral nations!

Plans to invade France through neutral nations were cooked up precisely because plans to invade France without invading them were deemed impossible to succed. The only option is either to try to win in the West quickly or defend the hell out of Alsace-Lorraine.
 
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abc123

Banned
The correct phrase would as a counterweight. I do not seek to defeat the Royal Navy nor do I wish them to intimidate Germany at all. I would recommend that seeking of a naval treaty with Britain that would seek parity with the Royal Navy. Until Britain formally signs with the Dual Entente it is pretty much a rogue nation outside the alliance system.

But:

a) Can Germany really outbuild Britain in BBs? Even in dreadnoughts...

b) Would that money be better spent by adding field army or two in Army or/and giving them better weapons and equipment?
 
Actually I think you've got a backwards. Schlieffen was flexible in his war planning, it was his successor Moltke the Younger that became inflexible. It was under his directions that Germany became 'France First' and abandoned its plans to defend on the western front and advance on the eastern.

Well, basically I was looking for a way to prevent "The Plan" becoming so inflexible in people's minds.

Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
Actually I believe the France First strategy is logical if you consider you can reach Paris within a couple of months, but you can't knock out Russia in the same time.

So IMHO the strategy was good, just the tactics were inadequate.
 
Magazines that Kaiser Wilhelm himself wrote for publication

Tell him to go off and build a pleasure palace in the Bavarian Alps with an unlimited budget. Convince him that, as emperor, he shouldn't have to worry about something as menial as government. Then have him let his cabinet of advisors run the country while parties himself to an early grave. Ideally the cabinet would be able to ease his successor into de facto rule over an extended period of time.

I think Cap Jack has the right idea just get him interested in something else. Here is an excerpt from German Grand Admiral Raeder's memoir.

"magazines that Kaiser Wilhelm himself wrote, for publication in Marine Rundschau, an article on a debated topic, ‘Armored Cruiser or Fast Battleship’. The Kaiser’s observations were quiet contrary to the ideas of Secretary Tirpitz, so Captain Hoffman wrote an article refuting the Kaiser’s ideas. Nauticus magazine was delivered on publication to the Kaiser, to the Princess of the Empire. The following year I was privileged to personally present the Kaiser with his copy of Nauticus in the presence of Admiral Tripitz.”

So as an advisor you should control what the Kaiser is reading. Don’t let Secretary Tirpitz warp his mind with naval magazines. Give him architecture magazines instead and then maybe he can be convinced to spend his time building new palaces, instead of warring.
 
Would it be possible to make a naval treaty with Britain on large hulls, but keep the smaller ships out, and then build major naval bases in Cameroon and Tansania for cruiser and submarine warfare?
 
Would it be possible to make a naval treaty with Britain on large hulls, but keep the smaller ships out, and then build major naval bases in Cameroon and Tansania for cruiser and submarine warfare?

Sure, at least once Asquith is in power. But any treaty on large hulls would be to a ratio that significantly favours Britain. I'm pretty sure Churchill discussed exactly what he would have accepted.

Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
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