alternatehistory.com

Alternate World War I
A Collaborative Timeline
--POD: September 1914, at First Battle of the Marne
• French left flank is overran as German right is strengthened
o German 1st army now has nothing between it and Paris
 French 5th, 9th armies, and BEF race towards Paris in attempt to head off German 1st army
• These armies are pursued by German 2nd and 3rd armies
o German 1st army turns southward from Paris, towards opposing armies
 Entente armies are surrounded and are forced to capitulate by the end of September
 German 1st and 2nd armies march on Paris taking the city with little resistance, as 3rd army rushes to assistance of 4th and 5th armies around Verdun
• French Government flees to Marseille
• French military begins to retreat and crumble in Alsace-Lorraine
o French 4th and 3rd armies break around Verdun, reconnect with 1st and 2nd armies at Neufchateau
o German 4th and 5th attack weaker 4th and 3rd in battle of Meuse beginning in October 1914
o German 6th and 7th armies attack French 1st and 2nd armies at Moselle around same time.
• Beginning of 2nd Paris Commune
o (see French Civil War section)
• French Government sues for peace in February 1915, after a January ceasefire
o Great Britain, which after the defeat of BEF was busying itself with a naval blockade of Germany, sending the French supplies, and preparing to begin operations against the Ottoman Empire, sued for peace shortly after the French did.
o The Russians, having fared much better on the eastern front decided not to follow their allies’ departure from the war.
 This would drag the war in the east on until early 1917 when, after 2 revolutions the Russian Socialist Federation of Soviet Republics finally made peace with the Central Powers
 The Treaty of Minsk (1918) is discussed in a later section
• The Terms of Victory
o In Western Europe
 Treaty of Versailles (August 1915)
 Germany annexes Luxembourg
 France shall pay Germany 5 billion francs in war reparations
 Great Britain will pay Germany 500 million pounds in war reparations
 Germany is granted control of the mines and oil reserves of north France for 15 years
 All western French border provinces are to be demilitarized
 French armed forces will number no more than 100,000 troops.
 Enlisted men will be retained for at least 12 years; officers to be retained for at least 25 years.
 French naval forces will be limited to 15,000 men, six battleships (no more than 10,000 tons displacement each), six cruisers (no more than 6,000 tons displacement each), 12 destroyers (no more than 800 tons displacement each) and 12 torpedo boats (no more than 200 tons displacement each). No submarines are to be included.
 The import and export of weapons is prohibited.
 Poison gas, armed aircraft, tanks and armored cars are prohibited.
 Blockades on ships are prohibited.
 Restrictions on the manufacture of machine guns and rifles.
 Belgian sovereignty reaffirmed
 Unmitigated growth of German navy
 Great Britain is to give the Ottoman Empire 2 light cruisers, 4 destroyers, return the 2 dreadnoughts they confiscated at beginning of war as well as 4 million pounds as war indemnity
o In Eastern Europe
 Treaty of Minsk (February 1918)
 Russian SFSR to pay war reparations to Kingdom of Austria and Kingdom of Hungary; 3 billion roubles to each kingdom
 Austria annexes Montenegro
 Germany annexes the “Polish Border Strip”
 Bulgaria annexes North Dobruja, southern Serbia, and west Macedonia
 Russia must recognize the independence and sovereignty of:
In the German Realm
 Belarusian People’s Republic
 United Baltic Duchy
 Kingdom of Finland
 Kingdom of Poland-Lithuania
 Kingdom of Ukraine
In Ottoman Realm
 Democratic Republic of Georgia
 Democratic republic Armenia
 Azerbaijan Democratic Republic
Other States Created From Russian Territory
 Republic of Bessarabia
 The Don Republic
 Kuban People’s Republic
 Mountainous Republic of the North Caucus
 Russian SFSR recognizes Ottoman gains in caucus region and its hegemony in that region
 Russian SFSR recognizes German occupation of Crimea and German hegemony in eastern Europe
 Russia will not forge any alliances or military pacts with new states
• Provisions of Treaty of Versailles Regarding Transfers of Colonial Possessions
o France cedes to Germany:
 The whole of French Equatorial Africa
 French West Africa south of the Niger River
o Morocco is to be given independence as the Moroccan Sultanate and will be within the German sphere
o Belgium cedes to Germany Belgian Congo
o Great Britain cedes North Rhodesia to Germany
o Germany consolidates central African colonies into Mittelafrika
o Germany merges Togoland with new German West Africa
o Ottomans are granted the Sinai Peninsula from British Egypt
o In order for Great Britain to better tolerate ceding territory to the Germans, as well as returning what they conquered in the beginning of the war; Germany had to give up on all claims to the colonies it had lost in Asia.
 Because there would be more profit gained from Mittelafrika than in all of their pacific colonies combined, as well as the newly acquired territory being far larger than the Asian colonies; this was an easy sell for the German diplomats and an attempt at saving face for the English ones
 The Asian territories were divvied up between Japan and Great Britain
• The Dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the New European system
o Because of Hungary’s opposition to a growing number of Austrian policy’s in southern Europe and internally, mixed with growing nationalist sentiments in Hungary, the Dual Monarchy was not renewed in 1917
o What was left of Romania and Serbia became tied economically, and in 1921 militarily, tied to the Kingdom of Hungary
o While there was a significant amount of tension between Austria and Hungary, it was not particularly aggressive
o In 1920 Representatives from every eastern European state (with the exception of Russia, Albania, and Greece), the Ottoman Empire, and the new caucus republics met in Berlin to discuss the future of east european/west Asian relations
 1921 Berlin Pact Resolution
• The Triple Alliance of 1882 declared null and void
o Italy remained neutral in the war and caused resentment between the other powers and them
• All signing nations pledge to assist each other in times of war
• Greater economic unity amongst member nations, easing of trade restrictions
• Raising of tariffs against Russia and France (but not Great Britain)
o Former Entente nations react with London Pact (1922)
 Conference held in London from November 1921 to January 1922
 Looser military alliance than Berlin Pact with no other economic or political measures, though those had been introduced numerous times in proceedings.
 Member States:
• Great Britain (includes Colonies, Canada, Australia, New Zealand)
• Italy
• France
• Portugal
• Japan
• Norway
• Denmark
• Albania
• Greece
o The US, Russian SFSR, and Republic of China also sent delegates but ultimately did not ratify the pact
• The French Civil War, 1915-1918
o After the Germans took Paris in 1914, Parisians organized the 2nd Paris Commune
 In January 1915 the communard government proclaimed the establishment of the French People’s Republic; however this new government was never recognized by any nation.
 The FPR only had control of Paris and in limited amounts, other parts of occupied France
 The Germans allowed them to control the civil government of occupied France, as long as they were neither hindering the war effort nor acting against the occupation forces.
o When the Treaty of Versailles went into effect, the Germans only left troops around their new economic interests that would not act unless provoked.
o The FPR was then able to take stronger control of the formerly occupied area, and began to fortify the region as best they could
o After the public was made aware of the provisions of the treaty, massive civil unrest ensued, giving the FPR recruits as well as spreading outright rebellion to the major cities of France
o What was left of the French military was able to restore order in most cities, and take Paris rather quickly after the Germans left.
o FPR and other rebel forces consolidated in north eastern France and roaming bands held out in the countryside
o Trench warfare began to take shape in the northeast
o The British military sent troops to keep order in the French cities to allow the French military to use those troops in the north
o 2 Dreadnoughts were anchored off the coast of Algeria to quell any unrest that could form there, though none took place.
o By 1917 all of France but the northeast had been brought back under government control
o The FPR collapsed in the spring of 1918, after exhausting their food and munitions supplies, as well as losing too many men in fruitless attacks and counterattacks that only wore them down and gained barely any ground
o However civil unrest and riots would become common throughout all of France
o It was seen by the people that the Germans were occupying the north, the British the south and west and the government was selling out to foreign governments
o Hence with the threat of impeding revolution and the republican government losing control of its finances and territory, Great Britain gave a nod towards a coup led by Brigadier General Philippe Pétain in October 1918
 Pétain made himself Prime Minister (for life) of the newly renamed French National Republic, and abolished the parliament
 Pétain would begin secretly arresting any and all opposition, especially socialists and communist figures, calling them rabble rousers and enemies of the state
 A secret police called the Français Force de Sécurité was formed to carry out such arrests; nicknamed the “blue shirts” because of their blue uniforms
 Because of the artificially created hyperinflation caused by the previous French government to attempt to pay off the war indemnity, by 1923 they were allowed to discontinue payments and begin to get economy under control
 Pétain began a series of purges of the military high command, and cast the blame for the defeat on the military high command; arrests were made and they were called “war criminals” and executed
 Pétain instituted new conscription laws meaning all capable men were to serve 3 years in the armed forces once they turned 18
 The French economy began to recover by the mid-20s and nationalism was beginning to return to the disgraced populace as the people became proud of their country once again.

This is my first TL and I just copied it from word hence the formatting not being right. What do y'all think? please be gentle, I'm no good at the military side of things so I apologise if that part doesn't make any sense but the person I was working on it with wanted to go with Germany conquering just about the whole of France in a few months, so I tried to mellow it a little bit. Also, I had 3 maps to go along with this but apparently every single one is too big, which is strange considering one of them I saved from another thread here and just touched some things up...
Top