The French 75mm did have indirect fire capacity, indeed their introduction allowed the French to pioneer the concept in their artillery doctrine well ahead of any other military power. Even by 1914 the French 75mm was still superior to its German equivalent, but light artillery is simply not particularly effective against entrenched positions when compared to heavy artillery and howitzers. I was seeking to illustrate the relative potency of modern artillery and the severe handicap obsolete artillery would have had on A-H performance.
God damnit. Did I mix up guns? I thought I read about thr Mlle 1897 having a terrible carriage by the start of the war that severely limited its indirect fire capabilities at first. Or I am mixing it up with poor doctrine where they tried using them in direct fire and got wrecked?
But yeah, totally agreed. Artillery was the king of the battlefield for a long time. WW1 demonstrated that horrendously well. I guess I just wanted to point put that A-H had the potential to catch up far more quickly than most people (both back then and now) give/gave then credit for.
Being on the defensive does not suddenly eliminate the serious and systemic shortfalls within the A-H military. The Germans had repeatedly demonstrated an ability to overcome Belgian, French and Russian defenders without excessive losses. In 1914 the Germans had the best trained and best equipped military and a doctrine that was 'less bad' than other militaries of the day. A-H was not exactly Sparta and was the least prepared of the major powers.
That's true enough, but I doubt the Russians can enjoy the successes they had in 1916-7, but in 1914 instead. I also doubt the Germans can effectively focus on Austria-Hungary politically or logistically. I can imaginr TTL's von Schlieffen still made his plans, but with A-H in place of Russia. Plus, advancing through the Danube valley or into Moravia/Upper Hungary are much more difficult ordeals than it seems. Especially since the former has Krakow and its fortress in the way on the left flank and the latter is one of the most important part of the Empire, home to some of its best units and relatively-easily reinforceable from Hungary and Croatia. They'll definitely advance, sure (Salzburg is practically undefendable), but how far can they realistically get until they are bogged down? Plus, no doubt TTL's A-H is a lot more scared of a hostile Germany and has prepared the likely channels of attack (as they did in Galicia, like the Germans and French did at their border, etc.).
I find your confidence in A-H resilience refreshing - too often folks ignore the virtues and potential of A-H.
I'm not even going to lie. Austria-Hungary is very much an obsession for me. I've been studying it for years now and I've been frustrated by how dogshit its historiagraphy has been until, like, ten or twenty years ago in the English-speaking world, and how people who know next to nothing about it consistently dismisses it.
OTL Russia had to restrain Serbia from going to war as early as 1908, so almost immediate Serbian belligerence is not in doubt. My recent reading suggests the Romanians were increasingly alienated from A-H due to Magyarization* of Romanians and the desire to recover Transylvania. Romanian hostility towards A-H was somewhat mitigated by a strong German relationship, but in this scenario there will be no such restraint. The enthusiasm of Italy and Romania to tear apart A-H would be restrained by the abysmal state of their militaries, but by 1915 greed to recover territories will likely overcome such concerns.
*I suspect it may have been of your posts regarding Magyarization on another thread I found extremely interesting.
Yeah, Magyarisation is quite a complex subject marred by post-war/post-KuK historiagraphy. It was definitely a sore point in educated Roumanian circles of the time, which made Roumania's entry into the war relatively easy until its offensive failed and it got invaded.
You're quite right, although don't forget that educated Roumanians and the Elite (other than the King) view the French as their cultural cousin and respected them greatly. ITTL, Roumanians are going to have to deal with the paradox of their Francophilia, the question of Transylvania and the Banat, their Prussi- err, German-born king and Russian influence all at once. Hell, Bessarabia might come into play as well since Franco-Austrian diplomacy might meddle and try to convince them away from Austria and against Russia.