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Inspired by some Panzer Corps scenarios like Battlefield Europe, where you take command of the German Army, a thread about an offensive in Russia instead of Verdun in 1916, and a thread about no Hindenburg Programme which was a disaster OTL.


December 1915-January 1916: A German spy in Russia reveals the strain on the Russian economy to Germany by noting the unrest and general atmosphere in St. Petersburg. A report noting this reaches Erich von Falkenhayn's desk on January 24th, and convinces Falkenhayn that Russia might be able to be knocked out of the war in the near future if given some "motivation." With this new information, and the support of many other officials who favor an Eastern Strategy, he makes the fateful decision to cancel the upcoming Verdun offensive, and redirect its forces to Russia in an attempt to finally break its back.

May 30th, 1916: The offensive in the East begins after a period of redeployment, planning, and waiting for good weather. Immediately, the weakness of the Russian Army is shown as massive gains are made, most notably including the capture of Riga, and the collapse of the front line there. The planned Brusilov Offensive is delayed, then cancelled after just 5 days, due to the loss of key staging areas, including Rovno and Tarnopol. Instead, the forces are redirected towards a defensive operation to restore the front line in the North.

June 23rd: The British and French armies prematurely launch their offensive at the Somme in a desperate attempt to relieve the pressure on Russia. It initially fails miserably, with French troops simply refusing to make what they consider suicidal attacks after just 2 days, and the British troops suffering 30,000 casualties on the first day alone. However, tactics quickly change, and by July 1st, the Germans are forced to pull back troops from the Eastern Offensive as they are pushed back nearly a mile from their pre-offensive front lines. Still, the damage is done, as there is ever more unrest in Russia, and the country looks to be increasingly unstable.

July 5th: Romania and the Entente bilaterally reject the Treaty of Bucharest as Kiev falls to Austro-Hungarian forces. Romania doesn't wish to be involved in a losing war against a seemingly unstoppable Germany, and the Entente can't afford to send significant assistance to a weak ally with the current crisis in Russia.

August 7th: the Tsar abdicates and an interim government is formed as riots and unrest reach critical levels, although Russia remains in the war to honor her alliances for the time being. Still, Germany, at von Falkenhayn's advice, offers peace terms to Russia, including the loss of Poland and the Baltic States to German influence, minor territorial cessions to Austria-Hungary, and the cession of territory south of the Caucasus to the Ottoman Empire, including oil-rich Baku. While it does not include German occupation or war reparations to be paid, there are a number of economic conditions designed to ease the pressure on Germany's own war economy.

September 1916-March 1917: The front lines solidify as the winter hinders offensive movement and logistics. Still, however, the Russian Interim government is beset on all sides by strikes and mutinies against the ever more unpopular war. It is apparent that they will not be able to offer significant resistance to a 1917 offensive by Germany, Austria-Hungary, or even the Ottoman Empire.

October 1916: Following the inconclusive Battle of Jutland, it is decided (with the support of Falkenhayn) to recommence unrestricted submarine warfare beginning in late January 1917. This is hoped to destroy Britain's ability to feed herself and thus force a peace with her before the US could get involved. Combined with the increasingly obvious collapse of Russia, this would isolate France and likely force her out of the war as well.

March 25, 1917: The US declares war on Germany as a result of the Zimmerman Telegram and unrestricted submarine warfare, much earlier than Germany predicted.

March 30, 1917: the Russian Provisional Government agrees to the German terms at the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, which frees up German troops for use on the Western, Balkan, Italian, and Middle Eastern Fronts. Ironically, though it is a great improvement for Germany's position in the war, it ironically strengthens Britain and France's ability to fight the war as they no longer have to send considerable aid to Russia. Combined with the might of the United States entering the war, Falkenhayn has no illusions about the difficulty of finally defeating a US-backed France even if Britain is forced out due to the submarine blockade.

With that out of the way, on to the challenge in question:

It is August 1916. Russia's collapse in the war is a foregone conclusion, and at most 6-9 months away (about a year ahead of OTL's Brest-Litovsk), but so is the expected resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare, which is sure to bring the US into the war after a few months. Falkenhayn has just placed you in charge of both the German war economy and the economic terms given to Russia as part of their expected peace treaty (replacing Wilhelm Groener). You also have considerable influence (if not outright control) over the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman war economies.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to strengthen and maintain the German war economy so that it can last long enough to defeat the remaining Entente Powers. Falkenhayn estimates that forcing the last of the Entente (mostly the US) into a peace treaty could take up to 1920 to accomplish. While you have no control over the military aspects of Germany (i.e. where and how to attack or defend), you do have control and influence over the economy of Germany and her allies (including Russia once she comes to the table), which supports the entire effort, and is currently struggling under the strain of 2 years of war.

With this in mind, how would you go about running the German economy (note: you take control at about the same time the OTL Hindenburg Programme was initiated)? Would you simply dictate that Russia hand over most of her foodstuffs to Germany, or try to implement a more stable agrarian economy in Russia that could sustain Germany's population in the long run? Would you continue the German Economy's focus on weaponry and explosives production to support another offensive, or redirect some of its capacity to restoring Germany's strained railway network and rolling stock? Would you retool some factories to use more efficient methods and produce more modern equipment, or keep producing existing equipment at maximum capacity?

Plans can be as specific or as general as desired.

(In case anyone's wondering why I still had the US enter the war, that's because the Kaiserliche Marine was still very influential during this time and it was desperate to do anything that would allow it a bigger role in the war, and more importantly, it wouldn't be much of a challenge if the US didn't enter sooner or later.;))
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