Kaiserreich: Legacy of the Weltkrieg
- Thread starter RiverDelta
- Start date
Uh, neither? Russia wants to annex them, only way they can "align" with Russia is if all of them go Socialist.
Gotta unite those three Russias, I suppose. I’ll just have to be satisfied with all the Baltics and Balkans, half the Nords, Poland, Mongolia, East Turkestan, India and Poland
I wonder if KR monarchist Russia has the stomach for 1914 borders all over again.
And East Prussia, Silesia, and Galicia while they’re at it took a long while too.
More than likely, I'd imagine, if they are anything like the French Revanchists of our world after the Franco ~ Prussian War.
I don't think Russia recognises the existence of Ukraine or White Ruthenia in the Kaiserreich plot.
I'm still working on my version of a Kaiserreich Timeline, and I was wondering if anyone has any thoughts about how I could write in the Kapp Putsch from our universe into a Kaiserreich scenario.
it didn't happen and that's why you're trying to write it in to The setting
Alright. After the First Weltkrieg, the SPD massively won the elections, riding on a wave of pacificism and reformism. Seeing the success of the SPD and having their own plans for reform in Germany, the Catholic Zentrum Party and the various Liberal and Centrist parties in the Reichstag formed a coalition with the SPD in 1922. Under pressure from the Reichstag and feeling particularly spiteful towards Ludendorff and other far right figures in Germany for their attempts to gain power during the Weltkrieg, Wilhelm II appointed Friedrich Ebert, head of the SPD, chancellor.
Chancellor Ebert enacted many of the so-called "March Reforms", including abolishing the Prussian three class voting system in favor of a system more in line with that used in Federal elections. Such reforms to the constitution also included states such as Bavaria, whose voting system was also skewed against poorer and more urban voters. The far right, especially Ludendorff was enraged, but there was little that could be done when the Kaiser himself had backed the reforms. This would change however after an attempt on the Kaisers life in 1924. While inspecting German soldiers in Ukraine, a bomb was detonated from a nearby truck, killing dozens of Germans and wounding hundreds, including the Kaiser. While not fatally injured the Kaiser was put in a coma. The whole incident was caught on camera.
Ludendorff and far right elements in the Heer were quick to act. Far right leaning officers, such as Wolfgang Kapp and Max Bauer ordered their men to storm the Reichstag, telling them that there was confirmed reports that the SPD had somehow been involved in the assassination attempt were spread by the officers. Additionally, far right paramilitary units called Friekorps took positions around Berlin in coordination with the coup plotters. Unfortunately for the coup plotters the Reichstag was not in session when they stormed it. The Reichstag had heard of Ludendorff's plot a week earlier, and had uniformly left Berlin the day before. Without a single representative present, Ludendorff declared that a "Government of National Salvation" was being formed with himself at the head. Needless to say, this didn't go over well with the actual Reichstag, who simply moved to Hanover and declared the Berlin-based government illegitimate.
Hopes that the Heer would quickly defect over to the coup plotters failed when Wilhelm Groener, overall leader of Heer declared his support for the legititimate government in Hanover. He did not support Ludendorff nor his coup, seeing his betrayal of the Kaiser as the ultimate sin. Sure he did not align politically with the SPD government, but he valued his own oath to the Kaiser and to protect the German Empire over his own disagreement. Regardless he was unwilling to go into Berlin to fight Ludendorff in the streets of the capital. State governments lined up to voice their condemnation of the Government of National Salvation, both out of a personal mistrust of the centralizing Ludendorff and out of recognition of hid sheer unpopularity with the people after years of political repression and economic turmoil by his hand. Then the news broke that the assassination attempt had in fact been done by Ukrainian leftist Borotbyist terrorists. While the officers tried to tell their men that this was a lie created by the SPD and "the Jewish newspapers", it was pretty evident to everyone what was going on. One by one the actual soldiers left, desserting their positions. Only the Freikorps and a few particularly nationalist minded soldiers remained. However, disputes over command and just how "revolutionary" the Government of National Salvation was going to be sapped its strength. As Freikorp commander Ernest Rohm put it, "Ludendorff was not revolutionary enough for us. He only wanted power, not for a true revitalization of the German nation."
The final nail in the coffin of the coup was the Kaiser reawakening two weeks after the assassination attempt. A quick address condemning the coup later, everyone in the "Government of National Salvation" was leaving the country. Groener's men quickly took Berlin back, and the Reichstag convened two days after.
How about that?
For your information, nobody said it had to be 100% in line with the previously established canon, did they? This is an alternate history OF an alternate history, after all, and it is not an exact science.
I believe this permits me to add my own events into my own personal headcanon if I choose.
Sounds brilliant to me! I LOVE it! Perhaps a spy in Ludendorff's camp heard about his plan and told the Reichstag?
Another idea I've been toying around with is a Labour Government coming to power in the United Kingdom after the First Weltkrieg, and I wonder if you have any ideas regarding the downfall of that Government? All I have so far is an agreement between Sir Austen Chamberlain and Stanley Baldwin coming to an agreement in which Chamberlain will become Prime Minister and Baldwin will serve as Chancellor of The Exchequer if this information is helpful.
I've been playing as White Ruthenia on KR recently, and so far I've experienced a military coup which brings a military junta led by a Prussian Military Officer into power and overturning the democratically ~ elected Social Democratic Party Government. This sound interesting?
Here's some other ideas I have decided to go with. [please note this is a work in progress, so most of these are unfinished.
1893
23rd May
In the Union of Good Hope, Mohandas Gandhi, a 23 ~ Year ~ old Indian Born British Lawyer, Arrives in Kaapstadt to Represent an Indian Merchant Involved in a Lawsuit. Like all People of Colour, he Faces Racial Discrimination upon his Arrival in Kaapstadt.
26th December
In the Chinese Empire, a Son, Zedong, is Born in the Village of Shaoshan, Hunan Province, to Mao Yichang, a Wealthy Chinese Farmer and Grain Merchant and his Wife, Qimei, a Devoted Buddhist.
1921
14th November
In the Brazilian Empire, Empress Isabel “the Redempress” Passes away at the Age of 75 inside the Palace, Rio de Janeiro. She will be Remembered by Future Historians as the Third Monarch of Brazil and the First Woman to Rule Brazil in her Own Right, and Served as the Empire’s Regent on Three Occasions. Born in Rio de Janeiro, as the Eldest Daughter of the Emperor Pedro II of Brazil and his Wife, Empress Teresa Cristina of Sicily, she was a Member of the Brazilian Branch of the House of Braganza. After the Deaths of her Two Brothers in Infancy, she became her Father’s Heir Apparent. She Married a Foreign Prince, Gaston, Count of Eu, and had Three Children with him, the Eldest of which going on to become the Emperor Pedro III upon her Death in 1921. During her Father’s Absences Abroad, Isabel Served as Regent. During her Third and Final Regency, she Ultimately Signed and Actively Promoted a Law Named “the Golden Law,” Emancipating all Slaves in Brazil. Although the Move was Broadly Popular, there was Strong Opposition to her Succession to the Throne. Her Gender, Strong Catholic Faith, and Marriage to a Foreigner were seen as Impediments against her, and the Emancipation of the Slaves Generated Dislike among Powerful Plantation Owners. In 1889, a Republican Coup d’etat was put down using Troops Loyal to the Monarchy and its Leaders were sent into Exile.
1922
1st January
In the Brazilian Empire, Following a Suitable Period of Mourning, Prince Pedro of Orléans-Braganza is Crowned as Emperor of the Empire of Brazil inside the Cathedral of Rio de Janeiro, taking the Name Pedro III, after his Grandfather. He is Met with Applause and Expectations from across the Country and even Abroad, but, as he is only 12, his Imperial Duties will be Assumed by a Group of Previously Selected Royal Officers until he Reaches 18 Years of Age in 1927.
1923
31st October
In the British Dominion of Australia, Late in the Night on the Eve of Melbourne’s Spring Race Carnival, a Squadron of 29 Police Constables from Russell Street Police Headquarters Refuse to go out on Duty, Citing the use of Spies by the Management. The Victoria State Police, at this Time, is Understaffed and Poorly Paid, in Comparison with other State Police Forces. It also Lacks a State Industry Pension, the Government instead Deferring to Promises for the Introduction of such a Scheme. The Wildcat Strike Catches both the Police Association and the Victoria Trades Hall Council by Surprise. The Police Association soon Moves to Mediate, but the Offer is Withdrawn after a Stash of Purportedly French Socialist Propaganda is Discovered near the Town Hall. Unaware of this Discovery, the Victoria Trades Hall Council Offers to Mediate, only to be Met with Seething Condemnation when the News is made Public the next Day.
Great Slump
The Great Slump - also known as the Turbulent Twenties, the Troubled Twenties, and the Great Upheaval - was a period of political coarsening, economic decline and popular unrest in the United Kingdom, as well as the rest of the British Empire and Commonwealth realms. The period of economic...
kaiserreich.fandom.com
I'm thinking that Labour comes to power after the Weltkrieg, joining their German Social Democratic counterparts. After a bunch of hamfisted attempts at passing reforms through Parliament and managing to royally piss literally everyone off in the process, they have the bright idea to try and cool relations with Germany through an economic deal and a diplomatic discourse. While Chancellor Ebert and his chief negociater Solf were open to the idea, the British people and government were not. After the vocal protesting of multiple veterans groups, former army officers, average British citizens, and the supposed personal displeasure of the King, a vote of No Confidence was initiated and succeded in ousting the Labour government.
I'm sorry if I wasn't good with names here. My knowledge of WW1 era British politics leaves much to be desired compared to my knowledge of German politics in that same period.
Well, is perhaps having someone other than David Lloyd George as the British Prime Minister during the First Weltkrieg an interesting idea?
I was also wondering if anyone has any names for the members of Sir Austen Chamberlain's Government and the preceding Labour Government, either real or fictional.
Does anyone have any ideas regarding the life of Ernst Thalmann in the KR universe, or, alternatively, what I suspect would be called the 'November Uprisings' in the KR AU, which we know as the German Revolution of 1918?
To my slight surprise, KR kept this.
September Insurrections
The September Insurrections of 1918 (German: Septemberunruhen) were a group of civil conflicts in the German Empire during the later stages Weltkrieg that directly led to the signing of the Enabling Act and the manifestation of the Ludendorff Dictatorship. While the insurrectionists failed to...
kaiserreich.fandom.com
If you mean "two ideologically opposed powers decide to draw a line" then arguably a situation where Savinkov/Authoritarian Russia and the Internationale come to some agreement to mutually declare war on Germany.
Probably alliance between Savinkov's Russia and the Internationale should be closest one. Ideological opponents but share common enemy and want divide Europe.