Changing Shape (of Europe)

Devvy

Donor
Well...I figured I'd start a timeline as I kinda sketched one out prior to joining these boards. The POD (point of departure right? Still not got my head round all of these acronyms!) is that Kaiser Wilhelm II is a little more intelligent then OTL so that he can actually more effectively influence the German course of action in World War I and better perceive the consequences of German actions. Not saying he could arbitrarily decide what happens, but I figure he could subtly influence actions in the war.

Sound plausible?

As the current look of Europe was largely decided in the aftermath of World War I, I figured a different outcome would lead to a very different looking Europe.

I'm going to try to do an update or two every week to summarise a year, and give people enough time to point out flaws/comment on more likely action before the next update.
 

Devvy

Donor
Well maybe....I haven't really been round here long to know what a "standard CP victory" is, but here I'd envisage Britain/Benelux/France staying free, and the CP managing to capitalise more on it's gains under Brest-Litovsk then it did in OTL. If that constitutes a standard CP victory then yeah I guess.
 

mowque

Banned
Well maybe....I haven't really been round here long to know what a "standard CP victory" is, but here I'd envisage Britain/Benelux/France staying free, and the CP managing to capitalise more on it's gains under Brest-Litovsk then it did in OTL. If that constitutes a standard CP victory then yeah I guess.

Nothing wrong with that. Any border changes/colony changing hands that you can see? America still joining in?
 

Devvy

Donor
I'm not sure about America yet...it really revolves around if Germany continues unrestricted submarine operations as to whether the Senate would authorise the President to declare war (please correct me if I'm wrong on US politics here...). Although I'd probably fall down the route of Germany not, because US intervention was one of the major plus points for the Allies which allowed them to go on and vanquish the Central Powers. Not bringing them in makes it more likely for the war to end with some kind of stalemate/negotiations.

Without tying myself down too much, actually I'd imagine Luxembourg would remain annexed by the Germans as the British didn't guarantee it's neutrality like they did for Belgium as far as I know (didn't think about Luxembourg too much earlier when I mentioned Benelux!).

Alsace-Lorraine would probably remain German as the French only got it back OTL at Versailles I think, which would probably be an extra thorn in Franco-German relations going forward.
 

Devvy

Donor
And so it begins with.....

All this should be pretty OTL at the moment (feel free to point out anything I've mentioned wrong!), although in 1915 is when it slowly starts to diverge. The Kaiser is a little bit smarter but no rocket scientist. Because it's primarily OTL, I've not really dug into the details that much, but kept this here as the start of the TL.

1914

Serbians murder Archduke Franz Ferdinand; heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne. Diplomatic manoeuvering occurs between the Great Powers for a month, and end with Austro-Hungary declaring war on Serbia. Germany and the Ottoman Empire follow in the declaration of war. Germany additionally attacks France under the Schlieffen Plan through Luxembourg and Belgium. This results in the triggering of alliances, resulting in a broad Britain-France-Russia-Serbia vs Germany-Austro-Hungary-Ottoman Empire war as OTL. Italy and Greece remain neutral.

Austro-Hungary broadly aims for the annihilation of long term enemy Serbia. The Ottomans eye the further conquest of the Caucasus at the Russians' expense. Germany also looks east for new lands at the expense of Russia, but knows it will also have to fight off France in the west; initial war plans influenced by the Kaiser plan for a quick invasion of France to demoralise and subdue their enemy (conquering if possible).

Intial battles on the Serbian front don't go very well for Austro-Hungary, and there is little change in the border despite rigourous fighting. Somehow Serbia manages to kill large numbers of soldiers in Austro-Hungary's army.

Germany sweeps through Luxembourg and Belgium under the Schlieffen Plan, and invades France. France attacks Elsass-Lothringen (a former French land with a lot of French residents), but is repelled by German forces. German forces sweep down towards Paris, but is eventually halted by British and French forces at the First Battle of the Marne. Germany retreats slightly and digs in for a long haul. Luxembourg and Belgium are annexed by Germany.

Russia invades into East Prussia (which was repelled) and Galicia (which eventually succeeded), although Austro-Hungarian and Russian forces continue to clash in and around Galicia. Russia struggles to make true it's military gains though.

Britain uses it's naval strength to blockade Germany from overseas trade. The British Empire seizes the German overseas colonies in Africa.

The state of play by the end of 1914:

1914s.jpg


And a newspaper front page from July 1914 for lols (don't attack me for inaccuracies in the newspaper though, it's just for some fun - you know what tabloids can be like! :) ).

1914nwp.jpg

 

Devvy

Donor
1915

Asquith sat down to read through the year's reports of the Great War. It did not make light, nor positive, reading.

-----

The Schlieffen Plan had caught the British & French forces by suprise on the Western Front, and now the German were bogged down into defensive positions. All this gave the British & French a hard time. They were in it for the long haul though.

In the southern theatre, the British were moving towards Greece when Constantine I pulled the plug on their venture. Despite offering Cyprus to Greece in return for it's commitment towards the Entente, Greece (or rather the King) had declined; something that had caused a rift between him and the Greek Prime Minister Verizelos.

The Ottoman Empire had started the war weaker then the Germans and Austro-Hungarians though, and Bulgaria sat between them. Bulgaria was constantly being courted by the Central and Entente Powers for their commitment, but eventually the Central Powers won Bulgaria's assistance with their promise of territorial gains in the Balkans.

Italy was also being courted by both sides; the Germans more so since the Triple Alliance had bound Germany, Austro-Hungary and Italy together. Italy had argued that it was a defensive treaty though, and subsequently had chosen not to declare war and join the Central Powers at the start of the Great War. Giolitti and Salandra quickly fell out over the choice. For the moment however, Giolitti won through with his support of Italian MPs; Italy stayed neutral and out of the fighting, despite Salandra's push for Italy to join the Allies. Austro-Hungary's occupation of Serbia looked likely to expand to Montenegro and Albania, which made territorial gains for Italy unlikely, and Italy' forces lacked machinery and weaponry.

The Ottoman Empire now entered into battles; the Russians attacked from the north east, and the British from their bases in Egypt. The Ottomans managed to hold off the Russians without too much problem, but the well organised British forces were made 2 important inroads into Palestine. Naval support up the coast and from Cyprus also helped the British push on.

While the Russians failed to make much of an impact against the Ottomans, they fared even worse against the Germans & Austro-Hungarians on the Eastern Front. Germany started put real pressure on Russian forces and pushed them back significantly. The Russians lacked a decent supply route from the British and French; something that was obstructed by the Ottoman Empire.

-----

All this left Asquith somewhat downbeat about the progress of the war and perplexed about the next steps. The French had thrown their forces against the Germans, in defence of their realm and in vengeance for past losses, but the Germans had made good their advances. They did not look like they would be going anywhere for some time. Meanwhile he also had problems with the Irish; the Irish Home Rule bill had been delayed due to the Great War in Europe, which was complicating an already complex situation between the nationalists and unionists.

Although the Irish had joined the British Army despite conscription not being enacted in Ireland, this also meant that come the eventual end of the war, trained Irish soldiers would be returning back to Ireland. Not something to particularly relish, especially given Ulster's refusal to partake in an all-Ireland devolution, and the rest of Ireland's refusal to do without Ulster.

Towards the end of 1915:

1915s.jpg

 

Devvy

Donor
1916

Romania had been offered fruit of former territories currently in Hungary and had bitten in hard. Romania declared war on the Central Powers, and invaded Austro-Hungary. Initial successes were hard won, but eventually the fruit had turned sour for Romania. The larger Austro-Hungarian military, with German assistance crushed Romania like an ant. By the end of the year, Austro-Hungary had occupied Bucharest and Romania had falled. Romanian forces managed to withdraw to Besserabia where they continued to make cross border raid with the Russians. Romania however was occupied by the Central Powers.

Further south in the Balkans however, Entente forces had made better progress. Despite the official Greek neutrality, the Entente had managed to land forces in Greece and occupy southern Albania where they were welcomes as liberators in order to repel the Central Powers forces occupying Albania from the north. By the end of the year though, Greece had turned; public opinion meant that King Contantine followed his PM in joining the Entente. The British agreed to return Cyprus to Greek rule upon the end of the war as per their offer in the previous year, subject to the agreement of a perpetual lease on 2 British military bases on Cyprus. It also gave Greece a chance at realising a greater portion of their Megali Idea. Greek forces, in collaboration with the British, managed to conquer significant parts of Bulgarian territory along the coast line.

On the Western Front however, a large German attack in the Battle of Verdun had caused the capitulation of the symbolic old French fort, causing widespread French dismay. The Germans embedded them further within French territory, and there seemed to be little Britain and France could do. Demoralisation was setting in to the French spirit with soldiers turning up drunk and disorder occuring. The situation was turning dire.

In the Middle East, Britain was having limited successes against the Ottomans. They had inspired an Arab Revolt against the ruling Ottomans, aimed at destabilising their control of the region. The Hejaz region was a real possibility, if it could be cut off from the Ottomans by a full British occupation of Palestine. This went without issue. However a combination of miscommunication & battlefield issues caused a further invasion to the north to fail. They had however secured Palestine.

The Eastern Front continued to be a problem for the Russians, who were still effectively cut off from their Entente allies in the west. The German Army continued to push the Russians back, and the Austro-Hungarians with the Bulgarians were improving their attacks and pushing the Russians back. The mood in Russia was rapidly deteriorating.

Italy continued to be courted by both the Entente and Central Powers. There was a large pro-Entente group in the Italian Government, however this was counterbalanced by the precarious position of the war. The Central Powers looked powerful, and allying against the Central Powers could be disastrous if they later won the war. Allying with the Central Powers put Italy at risk from the British Royal Navy who were highly active in the Mediterranean with the huge Italian coastline. The remaining diplomatic goodwill left over from the Triple Alliance led to a solution; a secret treaty between Italy, Germany & Austro-Hungary. Italy would be awarded the Austro-Hungarian province of Trento and the land west of the Isonzo, and Italian soveriengty over the Dodecanese islands and Albania. In return, Italy would pay Austro-Hungary compensation for it's lost territory. The Trieste Treaty was signed at the end of the year, but was kept secret in order to safeguard Italy against any Entente aggression.

On the upside for the Entente though, was the entry of Portugal on to their side. Things still hung in the balance. 1917 would prove to be the crucial year.

1916s.jpg


EDIT: Forgot that Franz Joseph I of Austria-Hungary died in 1916. He is succeeded by Charles I of Austria-Hungary as in OTL.
 
Last edited:

Devvy

Donor
The intricacies of war escape me somewhat, as personally I'd rather investigate this timeline's post war story of Europe and it's political wrangling - but just for you :)

French forces were caught almost unawares by the German attack, French intelligence having failed to uncover the plans far enough in advance to allow the French to bolster the defences. While the weather did delay the initial attacks, the Germans managed to press an advantage home early on. The French, hampered by the weather in bringing in supplies themselves fought bravely, but were defeated by the Germans again at Douaumont - despite their tenacious attempts to cling on to territory, and at the least give their forces more time reinforce the French defence in the area.

The craters from continual shelling caused problems for the Germans, but due to the early wins for them, they were able to continue pressing forward with artillery cover.

The lack of French cover in Verdun, and the poor condition of the defensive forts there were the real factors that counted against the French in 1916. The loss of the Verdun was something that would be deeply ingrained in the French psyche for decades to come.
 

Devvy

Donor
While it's good and all, why does Austria-Hungary seem to have lost the Southern Tyrol and Gorizia-Gradisca on the map? :confused:

Yeah I noticed that as well today. I fixed it on the 1917 map that I'll post up this week. It happened because I'm grade A rubbish at graphics and the best Europe map I could find to work with was a current map of Europe that I amended the borders for to 1914.
 

Devvy

Donor
1917

War on the Eastern Front still had not gone well for the Russians. This time though, there were repercussions to the continued failure of curbing the German advances. Revolution set in, primarily around the then capital of Petrograd. Tsar Nicholas II was forced to abdicate, and Imperial Russia spectacularly collapsed. With Russia's loyal soldiers commited on the front line in the fight against the Germans, there were no troops to hold control. Petrograd descended into an anarchic state.

A second revolution later in the year followed, bringing left-wing Communist rule, under the Bolsheviks. The Bolsheviks were not concerned with the international situation however; they considered all previous international agreements void with the rising of this "New Russia". All foreign debts were repudiated, they declared the right for the "Peoples of Russia" to seceed from them and also approached the Germans for an end the war. An armistice was agreed in November, which was soon superceded by a general Central Powers - Russian armistice. Finland and Ukraine, already with independant ambitions seized upon the opportunity to declare independance from Russia.

On the Greek front, a large attack to the north was repelled by Central forces, sustaining large losses for the Entente. They were able to make progress eastwards along the coast though, until they had taken the Bulgarian Aegean coastline and the European side of the Dardanelles. This satisfied the British as it gave them a large amount of leverage over the sea freight entering Constantinople and the Black Sea from the Mediterranean. The lack of control over the entire passage into the Black Sea still hindered their opportunity to assist the Russians though, but by the end of the year with the Bolshevik assumption of power, this was not really an issue. The Greeks had come closer then they had before to a greater realisation of the Megali Idea, and their desire to hold Constantinople again.

In the Middle East, initial British advances had slowed as Ottoman resistance grew. Palestine had fallen, but further advances were becoming costly. They had succeeded in slicing the Ottoman territory in the Hejaz off though, and with the Arab Revolt now in motion, this seceeded from the Ottoman Empire to become Hejaz. Large portions of Arabia further fell to the Arab rebels, and while were formally still part of the Ottoman Empire, they were notionally independant.

On the Western Front, realities were mostly unchanged. The Germans still occupied a vast swathe of French territory, and now the French were somewhat in a disarray. For the Germans, this meant a substantial part of their war aims had been accomplished. The disabling of France (the full occupation was never a seriously considered option) allowing the Germans to create a network of German states in the east was accomplished, and the peace negotiations with Russia had the Russians on the back foot due to the poor states of their armies. To this end, Germany sent Britain a note proposing a peace which suprising the British greatly, although it did not however list any demands.

On the fringe entered America in the shape of President Wilson, who framed himself as an intermediatory peacemaker. Although he had a dislike for Germany, especially after earlier "submarine outrages", he did not see the U.S. Congress granting him a declaration of war. The British however rebuffed the German offer eventually, hoping that American interest would soon manifest itself in the form of a new ally at war.

Within Britain, the Irish problem had flared up in 1917. The 1916 rebellion in Dublin had caused issues, but the ensuing problems were only halted when the rebellion's leaders were imprisoned for life. The British end-solution was to implement Home Rule under the terms of the 1914 bill. The Ulster population was outraged; civil war loomed. The Ulster population refused to accept "Rome Rule" from Dublin; most of the rest of Ireland refused to accept partition, leaving the British with an impossible predicament. Irish Home Rule was eventually established, as an autonomous establishment within the UK, but with the British Government only taking care of military, the single market, foreign relations etc. Ulster was to be excluded for 6 years. The problem, that apparently only a few people saw, was that everyone had a different reading of the situation. The Nationalists rejoiced at Home Rule, and the prospect of Irish Unity in 6 years following a period of acclimatisation. The Ulstermen rejoiced, seeing themselves as staying out of the new Irish Government for now; the situation would be rejudged in 6 years time with no preconceptions. The British were probably the happiest of all - they had managed to keep Ireland within the UK, but had also managed to wash their hands of the Irish Question...at least for 6 years, when it might not be Lloyd George's problem.

1917s.jpg
 

Devvy

Donor
1918

Bolshevik rule brought huge changes to the former Russian Empire. Firstly, incensed at Germany's demands in return for peace during the War, Russia cancelled the armistice and restarted war against the German & Austro-Hungarian forces. It was all too soon over though. Russian forces, in the middle of recovering from a civil upheaval were badly organised. The superior German Army quickly defeated initial Russian attacks, and Bolshevik Russia was quickly forced into a humiliating peace. The peace treaty was signed at Brest-Litovsk and gave huge territorial concessions to the Central Powers. The Bolsheviks also made a declaration of self-determination for all Russians; something that was taken up as a renouncement of Russian sovereignty by the newly occupied German territories. Finland also pounced on the opportunity to formally declare independence.

Germany's choice was to quickly annex those territories, but it lacked the army to do it, even with it's allies help. However, it had achieved it's aims on the Western Front; it had quickly disabled France and set back it's economy back hugely. However, Britain was to help Germany out unexpectantly.

Britain had noticed the large territories Germany had gained in the east. Knowing that Germany would need a large army to occupy it's territories, it put out peace feelers towards Germany. Germany demanded recognition of it's hegemony over eastern Europe, Britain demanded a full German withdrawal from France and Belgium. Neither could acquiese though to the other's demands. Peace negotiations continued for months, while bloody battles continued on the ground, one of the biggest occuring at the Somme where thousands of lives were lost. Eventually a peace treaty was hammered out; Britain & France agreed to recognise German hegemony in eastern Europe. France was to pay large reparations to Germany, which was taken in Germany to be a guarantee against further French aggression, as well as to make the French economy more dependant on Germany. Germany agreed to withdraw from France and Belgium to the pre-war boundary. Britain and Germany came to agreement over Germany's colonial empire. Germany proceeded to redeploy it's forces into eastern Europe, to consolidate it's new found gains.

All this left Germany establish a network of client states in eastern Europe which would also serve as buffer states between it and Russia. New governments were set up in Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania & the Baltic Duchy. Tight relations between Finland and Germany led to the coronation of a German Prince as King of Finland (King Kaarle I). Romania & Serbia were divided between the enlargened empires of Austro-Hungary and Bulgaria in an attempt to kill off Serbian nationalism once and for all, as well as collectively punishing them for the assasination of the Archduke. Southern Albania which had been occupied by the Entente powers became part of Greece - except for the port of Vlore and surrounding area which, along with the rest of Albania, became the new province of Albania for Italy. Bulgaria was unhappy about being pushed out of such a large part of the Adriatic coast line to which it had been led to believe would be Bulgarian, but being the very junior partner of the alliance was forced to concede.

The worst part for Britain and France was the delicate negotiations with regards to Greece, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire. Britain was forced to accept Greek territorial losses, something which would cause a schism in Greek society. Greece lost it's newly gained lands in the Dardanelles and further back.

On the Entente side, while Britain had not suffered any invasion or even the threat of one, the war had had profound effects on the United Kingdom. Ireland had achieved home rule in the midst of it, though what this would mean in 5 years when Ulster would be forced one way or the other was yet to be known. The huge effort by the British Army in northern France had drained millions of men from the British economy, brought women into the forefront and rapidly eroded the traditional British classes.

France had been left economically devastated with huge scars left on the national psyche. Although they had finished the war territorially as they had started, the manner in which they had been forced to finish the war dealt a huge blow to them. Without such an economically powerful empire such that the British had, France hung precariously on the edge of bankruptcy - in part due to the reparations they had to make to Germany. The combined efforts of these two colonial giants led to a great deal of new found goodwill to each other, further strengthening the Entente Cordiale. By the close of hte year, Britain had decided that losing France into the German economy would be utterly disastrous, and something would have to be done.

1918s.jpg
 
Last edited:
Nice TL, just some nitpicking for Italy. Yes she can stay neutral and with a more succesfull CP it will more probable, the only problem is that she want compensations, it almost ASB that without something in exchange Rome will let A-H be the only power in the balkans unchallenged and don't forget the economic and political pression of France and UK for join their side so Rome want something for all the troubel, and Albania was alredy in Italian hands by 1914, the government fell and the country descended in anarchy so an italian expedition corps was sended to solve the situation.
For some compensation for Italy (the german Kaiser really wants Italy neutral so he greatly pressure Vienna to give something and not be too stubborn), well this was the concession in OTL (with some change for the different situation) after a very tense and long negotation.

- The province of Trent will be ceded to Italy but with a defensible border for A-H
- The land west of the river Isonzo and the island of Pelagosa will go to the Italian Kingdom
This changes of border will be effective after the ceasing of the hostily and Italy will pay a 8.000.0000 $ compensation at the A-H Empire.

- The A-H empire recognize the sphere of interest of Italy in Albania and permit the annexation of the port of Valona and the island of Saseno plus a reasonable territory for defense scope. the A-H will annex or trasform in protectorate the remain albanian land

-The Central Powers recognize the italian possession of the Dodecanese Island.
-The A-H government will permit the enstablishment of an italian univeristy in Trieste.

In exchange Italy will be neutral but benevolent in relations of the CP.
The German government and the Kaiser will garantee this treaty who will be published after the sign of all the parties
 

Devvy

Donor
Duly noted - thanks for the feedback both. :) Although I figured Italy might want to keep it a secret treaty until the end of the war so that there is no possibility of Italy being considered part of the enemy by the British.

Having made amendments to the earlier posts:

1916

Italy continued to be courted by both the Entente and Central Powers. There was a large pro-Entente group in the Italian Government, however this was counterbalanced by the precarious position of the war. The Central Powers looked powerful, and allying against the Central Powers could be disastrous if they later won the war. Allying with the Central Powers put Italy at risk from the British Royal Navy who were highly active in the Mediterranean with the huge Italian coastline. The remaining diplomatic goodwill left over from the Triple Alliance led to a solution; a secret treaty between Italy, Germany & Austro-Hungary. Italy would be awarded the Austro-Hungarian province of Trento and the land west of the Isonzo, and Italian soveriengty over the Dodecanese islands and Albania. In return, Italy would pay Austro-Hungary compensation for it's lost territory. The Trieste Treaty was signed at the end of the year, but was kept secret in order to safeguard Italy against any Entente aggression.


1918

Southern Albania which had been occupied by the Entente powers became part of Greece - except for the port of Vlore and surrounding area which, along with the rest of Albania, became the new province of Albania for Italy. Bulgaria was unhappy about being pushed out of such a large part of the Adriatic coast line to which it had been led to believe would be Bulgarian, but being the very junior partner of the alliance was forced to concede.


Also corrected the 1918 map. For some reason I'd invented a whole new country by accident!
 
Last edited:
Duly noted - thanks for the feedback both. :) Although I figured Italy might want to keep it a secret treaty until the end of the war so that there is no possibility of Italy being considered part of the enemy by the British.

You are welcome:).
Yes probably Rome will try to keep all secret, hard thing with all the pro war faction but the military situation will convince the king and the PM to endure the situation for the moment and shout out type like Mussolini and D'Annunzio, hoping that the continuous sell of merchandise to the CP will keep on the economy and that the Entente will not so stupid to retaliate for a perceived aide to the enemy. Antonio Salandra the Presidente del Consiglio at the time of the war and the King will be considered heroes by let Italy be unschated by the terrible war and for the territorial acquisition without lost men and treasure.
 

Devvy

Donor
Bear with me here....with the advent of peace in Europe, I figured I'd do a short (turned out a little longer then I meant!) run down on each country/territory for 1919. Especially as some countries such as the Nordic ones haven't been mentioned so far. I've also included Morocco, Algeria & Tunisia due to their large influence on European affairs through Spain and France. As always, feel free to comment :)

1919

With the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk signed at the start of 1918, and later in 1918 the Treaty of Versailles signed between all the combatants in the Great War, peace eventually settled down. Germany set to work on the proper establishment of it's new "protectorates" in eastern Europe.

UK

The British were not in a terrible state like the French were, but weren't in tip-top condition either. Thousands, if not millions, of men had died in the Great War (1914-1918) and this had had real impact on British society. Class walls had crumbled, and women had been fully involved in the war effort, doing jobs previously only done by men. This led to the vote for women over the age of 30 in 1919. However, the need to regenerate the Royal Navy which had been involved in non-decisive but still damaging skirmishes with the German Navy helped to inject money back into the economy. The UK also had a vested interest in France. With the large French colonial empire, Britain had no interest in seeing the French go bankrupt, causing a power vacuum in Western Africa that could fall sway to Ottoman or Austro- Hungarian interest, or even worst German influence. It suited Britain to invest in France to get her back on her feet, even if that was somewhat damaging domestically - helping defend France in the war, partly paying for the withdrawal of Germany from French territory, and now having to help the French recover. Anti-German feeling helped weather this though, as the anti-German feeling was more significant then the resentment at helping the French.

Ireland

Irish Home Rule had been achieved in 1917, and most policy areas fell under Irish jurisdiction, with the British Parliament only looking after the wider affairs - citizenship, foreign affairs, defence & the single market. The sore point was the status of Ulster though - although the Irish felt that in 1923 that Ulster would join them, Ulster read the situation differently, that the situation would be reassessed in 1923. The only real party that presented real proposals was again the All-for-Ireland league led by O'Brien who advocated Ulster joining Ireland in 1923, but retaining it's a considerable degree of autonomy and holding the balance of power in the Irish House of Commons. Sinn Fein continued to boycott the Irish devolved Parliament, and campaign for full independence. However this ended up shooting themselves in the foot as they lost any influence of power in the Irish Commons.

Netherlands

The Dutch had remained neutral in the Great War, but had still been significantly affected by it's own neutrality. Food had rocketed in value due to demand from both sides, but overall the damage was not to great. Regardless, following the end of hostilities, the Netherlands pretty much returned to business as usual.

Belgium

Belgium had been destroyed by the German Army advances through and tearing up Belgium as it went. The German had taken several Flemish-friendly moves though, something which had caused quite a rift in Belgian society between the Flemish and French communities. Retribution was swift, both legally and illegally for collaborators, and the stigma associated with non-resistance remained high, further fuelling French-Flemish ill-feeling.

Luxembourg

Luxembourg had remained the one area of Low Countries the Germans had stayed in as Britain had not asked Germany to withdraw from it, as it was considered a more Germanic nation then Belgium and the Netherlands, and would serve as appeasement to Germany. It had now been annexed to Germany as another German state. The Luxembourg Government officially protested, but it was useless in the face of the reality.

France

Following the war, the French economy was devastated. It still lacked it's lands in Alsace-Lorraine that it had lost to Prussia at the backend of the 19th century, and was now struggling to make it's war reparations to Germany. However, the shared experience of fighting alongside the British against the Germans had forged a new cultural bond with their long term enemy from over the Channel. Large aid and investment flowed across the Channel into France, but even so, food shortages were widespread, and the loss of millions of French men during the Great War led to a reliance on the British aid.

Spain

Spain had profiteered during the War by staying neutral and selling to both sides, prompting a boom in the Spanish economy. However the end of the war had hit the Spanish economy, and meant many workers had lost jobs, leading to mass disgruntlement. A large workers strike had to be put down by the state, but widespread disillusion remained.

Portugal

Despite small involvement in the Great War due it's position, Portugal suffered disproportionatly. Furthermore in 1919, the dictator Sidónio Pais was shot and killed by disgruntled political activists, leading to a power vacuum. By the middle of 1919, this had escalated into civil war, but things were finished by the end of 1919 with a win for the Republicans.

Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia

Morocco remained under Spanish and French rule, but an independence movement was growing in all 3 states. In Algeria, local Muslim leaders were growing to fill the void left by the French following their involvement in the Great War. In Tunisia, the independence movement had been forced underground before the War, but now flared up again.

Germany

Germany had finished the Great War as the winner in all but name. It had gained significant new territory to incorporate into Germany, as well as a network of satellite states in eastern Europe. The Armed Forces were high in prestige due to their performance, and the Kaiser (Wilhelm II) was high in popularity, despite his unpopularity amongst the Army elite. However, the real seat of power had shifted away from him during the War into the hands of the Army leaders - von Hindenburg and Ludendorff, although Wilhelm remained ultimate power. Large sections of the German Army, under von Hindenburg, were stationed in eastern Europe to stabilise the new states and install puppet governments friendly to Germany. Eventually however, "autonomous" German provinces in Poland, Belarus, Lithuania & Livonia (initially named as the Baltic Duchy, but subsequently renamed) were created, where Germany would provide the military defence and retain ultimate power, but most. Many of these areas had been repressed by the Russian Empire, and the Germans were welcomed in as a result. Their status as autonomous German provinces caused ill-feeling rapidly though, but none of these states were large enough to take on Germany.

Switzerland

Swiss neutrality had been respected during the War, and despite the early mobilisation of the Swiss Army, it had come to be somewhat stood down towards the end of the War.

Italy

Italy had been in the perfect position during the war. While attempting to remain neutral, it had actually signed a secret treaty with Germany and Austro-Hungary; in return for a "friendly neutrality" to them both, Italy would gain territory at Trent and towards Trieste at Austro-Hungarian expense, and would gain Albania after the war finished. In return, Italy paid Austro-Hungary a large compensation fee. Italy also gained the Dodecanese islands in the Aegean. All this served to play to Italian nationalists and proved to be a large morale boost for the Italian nation, which was only just over 100 years old. The successes without Italian blood cemented the position of the King in Italy, and substantially increased the prestige of Boselli, the Italian Prime Minister.

Austro-Hungary

While Austro-Hungary had ended the war in a similar manner to Germany; more or less as victors, internally the situation was turning dire. The rise of nationalism across the multi-ethnic empire meant the various ethnic groups were demanding more power. The Hungarian half of the crown was not interested in seceding power to the people, and the Austrian half wanted to keep the empire intact, or it would seek Anschluss with Germany. All this left the King, Charles I, with a real task to keep this Habsburg empire intact, as well as integrating the newly acquired territories in Romania & Serbia. The Austrian part of the Army proceeded to annexed Austro-Hungarian Serbia, while the Hungarian part annexed the Romanian lands. The Serbs were treated harshly by the Austrian Army, blamed as they were for the start of the War. Settlers from Austria were invited to settle in Serbia & Montenegro. Serbian nationalism had been destroyed, and the country sliced in half by the War.

Bulgaria

Bulgaria on the whole was delighted with the outcome of the War, but it was a bittersweet victory in some manners. It gained new territory in Bulgarian Serbia, and parts of Romania. However it had assumed it would be able to take Albania and acquire a significant Adriatic coast line. Bulgaria had not been aware of the Treaty of Trieste between Italy, Germany & Austro-Hungary due to Bulgaria's late entry to the War, and come the end of the war Albania had been transferred to Italian control. The Bulgarian King Ferdinand I was very frustrated, and the situation did little to improve his already low relations with the Charles of Austro-Hungary and Willhelm of Germany. He was stuck however, as Bulgaria stood no chance of taking Albania itself.

Greece

With the end of the War signalled by the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, Greece lost the most. It had conquered Western Thrace, and had made progress into Eastern Thrace, but had been forced to give it's territory up by Britain and France. It had however kept hold of the part of Albania it had managed to conquer. Greek irredentism had not been satisfied however, and further schism in Greek society widened further between the pro-war people who advocated further attacks on the Ottoman Empire to bring all the Hellenic peoples under one banner, and the anti-war people who wanted to consolidate their position, surrounded as they were by enemies.

Ottoman Empire

The ottomans has supposedly finished on the winning side, but things did not feel that way. The British had captured Palestine and set up a new state there, they had not captured any significant amount of territory from Russia and they had not achieved anything in Europe. Embarrasingly it had also suffered losses to Greece, only recently independent of the Ottomans, although Greeece had been pushed back with the peace treaty. A feeling of discontent swept across Anatolia.

Russia

The biggest changes in Europe had been for Russia. It had entered the Great War as tsarist Russia, and had ended the War as a communist country led by Lenin. A civil war had really kicked off in 1919, between the Bolsheviks and anti-communist forces (loosely named the "White Movement"). The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk had alienated portions of the broad communist movement and splintered the Bolshevik group between those who had wanted peace in order to consolidate Bolshevik rule. The other group found the notion of surrending such large swathes of Russia to Germany as dispicable. This split was soon pounced upon by the White Movement which gathered pace. Open warfare near the new European borders of Russia soon broke out between the two sides.

Ukraine

In Ukraine, the German forces had been welcomed as liberators. Ukraine had thrown off Russian rule, and independence beckoned. However, the Germans had other ideas, and anti-German feelings soon rose. The German army had had to help themselves to Ukrainian food and supplies in order to remain equipped, and this had been to the detriment of local populations. The Germans took direct military control of the country while local government was set up which proved more challenging to do due to the size of Ukraine.

Poland, Belarus, Lithuania, Livonia

Poland was one of the first places to be conquered by the Germans, and was the easiest to set up as a client state. A provisional Government had been set up, overlooked by both the Germans and Austro- Hungarians. Prince Leopold of Bavaria was lined up to be the future King of Poland as a further step of Germanisation. Belarus, after a long period of repression by the Russians, was delighted to be liberated from Russia. Belarussian culture started to assert itself again. Lithuania proved to be more troublesome; scared of being assimilated into Germany, the interim Lithuanian Council declared Lithuania independent and invited Prince Willhelm of Urach to become King Mindaugas II of Lithuania. The Germans refused to allow Willhelm to travel to Lithuania until the situation was resolved. Through political posturing, and the replacement of certain members of the Lithuanian Council with more pro-German people, the declaration of independence was dropped and Willhelm was allowed to became King Mindaugas of Lithuania. Livonia became a Grand Duchy though, ruled by Adolf Friedrich, due to the German dominated local population. All 4 states were economically tied to Germany though; the military and transport were controlled by Germany, and a single market was set up between the 4 states and Germany.

Finland

Finland was the odd member out from the Great War. It had declared independence from Russia, and it's sovereignty had been guaranteed several times. It had also done it without direct German involvement, although Finland continued to enjoy friendly relations with Germany due to the help Germany had rendered during Finland's struggle. A German Prince, Prince Frederick Charles of Hesse, was invited to become king, and took seat as King Vaino I of Finland.

Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Iceland

Although the Scandinavian Monetary Union had been broken by the effects of the Great War, particularly upon the Danish economy, friendly relations still somewhat permeated between the Nordic countries. The Nordic Association, a body for inter-Governmental communications was established in 1919. Iceland had also achieved independence in 1919 as a seperate kingdom, but still in a personal union with Denmark under King Christian X.
 
Top