This will be my attempt at a WWI which is even more destructive and bloody than OTL thanks to a bit of inspiration from Darker World War II
1914
The assassination of archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary in Sarajevo, Bosnia by a Serb Nationalist would wreck havoc on the world to come. For the most brutal war in history was to begin. The assassination was a minor news story in most news papers the next morning in 1914. It soon became clear Austria was serious about this. A ultimatum was placed on the tiny country sparking a chain of events which lit the world on fire.
Following the ultimatum placed on Serbia for the mighty Slavic uniter Russia began mobilization to deter Austrian aggression against little Serbia. Germany two days later declared their unilateral backing of Austria against Russian “aggression” to Austria. The Balkans began to be lit again. More chains lead to Romania fabricating claims on Hungarian land in Transylvania. Bulgaria readied its army. Greece prepared to invade Bulgaria once more. Montenegro and Albania stood on the sidelines but more pro-Serb. The Ultimatum expired on the 28th of July, 1914, a full month after the Archduke’s death. The first Austrian artillery rounds fell on Belgrade as the Serbian government evacuated the capital. Soon in the west, after a month of negotiating, Holland allows German troops though its country simultaneously joining the war on the Triple Alliance side. The Central Powers forces quickly overran the whole North of the country in a matter of weeks. However atrocities committed by the Germans soon lead to the British entry into the conflict.
The Central Powers continued to blow through the overconfident French army in their bright blue uniforms thinking it would be like the days of Napoleon 100 years before. The battle of the frontier showed the power of machine guns to old tactics. In Belgium the entire country by early August has been overrun. Dutch troops were marching on Calais threatening to cut off the British supply lines into Northern France.
The British home fleet took a major action by moving out of port. Many battleships and battlecruisers were drawn away to sit in Calais harbor and patrol the low countries coast. Many lighter warships bombarded coastal Dutch towns. A battlecruiser, HMS Lion and several smaller warships sailed a tiny bit up the Rhine and bombarded Rotterdam. Other British heavy warships hit The Hague and several coastal towns. The British throughout the entire war would do this to coastal cities and towns that belonged to the Netherlands.
The Dutch advance finally reached Dunkirk were a major life or death battle ensued. British, French, and Free Belgian forces were all used in this battle. Further south the German advance passed the Wheat Fields of the Marne to a town called Labosse. The Battle of Labosse raged for a week until the Germans were pushed back in a humiliating defeat following the Failure of their Dutch allies to take Calais. By September both side’s on the Western Front had dug into the ground. Vast layers of trenches stretched from Calais to Lorraine.
On the Eastern Front, the Russians moved against Austria and Germany, sending its large army to Galicia and East Prussia. Most Russian soldiers are illiterate and poorly trained. But it is made up for it in large numbers. The Germans, portrait the advancing slavs as the “Russian Rapist” mercilessly raping women and killing men at a enormous rate. The Russian army was finally stopped at Tannenberg and forced a Russian withdraw Eastward after an offensive by Germany which captured Lodz. The Austrians counterattacked in Galicia but failed. This would show the Russian high command, the Stafka that the Austrians were weak and could be beaten. The Russian capture of Lemberg would all to inspire the Romanians who in October began to mobilize on behalf of the Russian promise that Romania would gain Transylvania and the low lying Hungarian plain in return for joining the war.
Far beyond the plains of Poland and France things were heating up to the south. German ambassador’s had given the leaders of Peru, Colombia, Bolivia, Argentina, and Spain rewards of territory and weapons for joining the war. It was announced soon after the Battle of Labosse that Spain had placed claims on France and its colonies. The South American powers wasted no time fabricating claims on their smaller neighbors. Colombia mobilized for a invasion of Ecuador. Meanwhile a unprepared Peru-Bolivian army quickly attempted a invasion of northern Chile desperate to take back the Atacama Desert. The offensive failed leading to a Chilean declaration of War on Peru and Bolivia. Meanwhile the Argentinian's began building up a sizeable naval force to and marine force to take the Falklands and South Georgia.
German influence reached to Sweden who joined the war attacking Russian Finland, Norway, and Denmark. The Swedish advance was totally unexpected. Swedish ambitions to regain its old Scandinavian empire it once had at the beginning of the 20th and 18th Centuries. The Swedish General Olof Thornell led his men into the almost undefended region of Lapland in northern Finland. The Swedish joined the German and Dutch navies in the Baltic and North Sea’s quickly attacking British and Russian ships stationed in Scapa Flow and Riga. Norway fell to Swedish forces in November of 1914 with Denmark a month before. The Ottoman Empire also entered the war in November following the British seizure of a Battleship which was pressed back into British service.
In December the war expanded and stopped. On Christmas British and German/Dutch forces held a truce on Christmas on the British section of the line. Also in that month Spain and Romania joined the conflict. Spanish forces in the winter couldn’t pass through the Pyrenees in snow so most attention was in Morocco where Spanish forces under Jose Sanjurjo and naval vessels took Casablanca and other major cities. Romania joined the War as well attacking down into the Transylvanians and Hungarian Plain. Bulgaria needed to react. Tsar Alexander began to mobilize the army for a two front war.
1914
The assassination of archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary in Sarajevo, Bosnia by a Serb Nationalist would wreck havoc on the world to come. For the most brutal war in history was to begin. The assassination was a minor news story in most news papers the next morning in 1914. It soon became clear Austria was serious about this. A ultimatum was placed on the tiny country sparking a chain of events which lit the world on fire.
Following the ultimatum placed on Serbia for the mighty Slavic uniter Russia began mobilization to deter Austrian aggression against little Serbia. Germany two days later declared their unilateral backing of Austria against Russian “aggression” to Austria. The Balkans began to be lit again. More chains lead to Romania fabricating claims on Hungarian land in Transylvania. Bulgaria readied its army. Greece prepared to invade Bulgaria once more. Montenegro and Albania stood on the sidelines but more pro-Serb. The Ultimatum expired on the 28th of July, 1914, a full month after the Archduke’s death. The first Austrian artillery rounds fell on Belgrade as the Serbian government evacuated the capital. Soon in the west, after a month of negotiating, Holland allows German troops though its country simultaneously joining the war on the Triple Alliance side. The Central Powers forces quickly overran the whole North of the country in a matter of weeks. However atrocities committed by the Germans soon lead to the British entry into the conflict.
The Central Powers continued to blow through the overconfident French army in their bright blue uniforms thinking it would be like the days of Napoleon 100 years before. The battle of the frontier showed the power of machine guns to old tactics. In Belgium the entire country by early August has been overrun. Dutch troops were marching on Calais threatening to cut off the British supply lines into Northern France.
The British home fleet took a major action by moving out of port. Many battleships and battlecruisers were drawn away to sit in Calais harbor and patrol the low countries coast. Many lighter warships bombarded coastal Dutch towns. A battlecruiser, HMS Lion and several smaller warships sailed a tiny bit up the Rhine and bombarded Rotterdam. Other British heavy warships hit The Hague and several coastal towns. The British throughout the entire war would do this to coastal cities and towns that belonged to the Netherlands.
The Dutch advance finally reached Dunkirk were a major life or death battle ensued. British, French, and Free Belgian forces were all used in this battle. Further south the German advance passed the Wheat Fields of the Marne to a town called Labosse. The Battle of Labosse raged for a week until the Germans were pushed back in a humiliating defeat following the Failure of their Dutch allies to take Calais. By September both side’s on the Western Front had dug into the ground. Vast layers of trenches stretched from Calais to Lorraine.
On the Eastern Front, the Russians moved against Austria and Germany, sending its large army to Galicia and East Prussia. Most Russian soldiers are illiterate and poorly trained. But it is made up for it in large numbers. The Germans, portrait the advancing slavs as the “Russian Rapist” mercilessly raping women and killing men at a enormous rate. The Russian army was finally stopped at Tannenberg and forced a Russian withdraw Eastward after an offensive by Germany which captured Lodz. The Austrians counterattacked in Galicia but failed. This would show the Russian high command, the Stafka that the Austrians were weak and could be beaten. The Russian capture of Lemberg would all to inspire the Romanians who in October began to mobilize on behalf of the Russian promise that Romania would gain Transylvania and the low lying Hungarian plain in return for joining the war.
Far beyond the plains of Poland and France things were heating up to the south. German ambassador’s had given the leaders of Peru, Colombia, Bolivia, Argentina, and Spain rewards of territory and weapons for joining the war. It was announced soon after the Battle of Labosse that Spain had placed claims on France and its colonies. The South American powers wasted no time fabricating claims on their smaller neighbors. Colombia mobilized for a invasion of Ecuador. Meanwhile a unprepared Peru-Bolivian army quickly attempted a invasion of northern Chile desperate to take back the Atacama Desert. The offensive failed leading to a Chilean declaration of War on Peru and Bolivia. Meanwhile the Argentinian's began building up a sizeable naval force to and marine force to take the Falklands and South Georgia.
German influence reached to Sweden who joined the war attacking Russian Finland, Norway, and Denmark. The Swedish advance was totally unexpected. Swedish ambitions to regain its old Scandinavian empire it once had at the beginning of the 20th and 18th Centuries. The Swedish General Olof Thornell led his men into the almost undefended region of Lapland in northern Finland. The Swedish joined the German and Dutch navies in the Baltic and North Sea’s quickly attacking British and Russian ships stationed in Scapa Flow and Riga. Norway fell to Swedish forces in November of 1914 with Denmark a month before. The Ottoman Empire also entered the war in November following the British seizure of a Battleship which was pressed back into British service.
In December the war expanded and stopped. On Christmas British and German/Dutch forces held a truce on Christmas on the British section of the line. Also in that month Spain and Romania joined the conflict. Spanish forces in the winter couldn’t pass through the Pyrenees in snow so most attention was in Morocco where Spanish forces under Jose Sanjurjo and naval vessels took Casablanca and other major cities. Romania joined the War as well attacking down into the Transylvanians and Hungarian Plain. Bulgaria needed to react. Tsar Alexander began to mobilize the army for a two front war.