Chapter 44: Post War (Part 1)
Geon
Donor
This will be the beginning of the wrap-up for this TL/story. Because it will be the longest entry I am dividing it into parts. As always thank you all for your support throughout this. And don't worry - the sequel is coming!
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The Great European War or World War I ended with a clear victory for the Central Powers of Germany and Austro-Hungary. But it left the rest of Europe in an uncertain state.
The Naval Conference called for by Germany in the Treaty of Berlin (March 1919 to April 1920) ultimately broke down as the major powers could not agree in what constituted “reasonable” tonnage limits. The result was predictable. A naval arms race between the major naval powers ensued.
Some general lessons were learned by all the major participants in the war. Mobility was the order of the day in modern warfare. And the faster one could get troops forward the better. Thus, all the former combatants began to look at developing means to more quickly move troops forward and to bring the battle to the enemy faster. The doctrine of mobile warfare would be developed by both the Central Powers and by the former Entente. In the decades following the war armored fighting vehicles, euphemistically referred to as “tanks” by some of the British soldiers for their appearance began to appear in the respective armies of all the major European powers.
Airpower was also a major factor that was considered. The possibilities of air power and its capabilities were clear to everyone and by the 1920s all the major powers in Europe had developed numerous models of both fighters and bombers for their burgeoning air forces. Zeppelins had been shown briefly in the First World War to serve as useful reconnaissance platforms and bombers. There had even been talk of using them as airborne “aircraft carriers”. But these hopes were dashed when the German Luftwaffe Airship von Bulow caught fire and crashed in a freak thunderstorm killing its 30-man crew. Hydrogen gas it was seen was simply too dangerous to use in airships and the United States held monopoly on helium. Thus, the age of the warship would come to a fiery end that day on November 20, 1925.
At sea, the battleship still ruled, but it was becoming clear the aircraft carrier and the submarine considered at first with scorn by the navies of the UK, France, and Russia, would be major contributors in the future battles at sea. However, some powers like Austria-Hungary were slow to accept this.
Sadly, another development that was worrying to all was the development of chemical and biological agents for use in warfare. All the major powers experimented with chemical warfare to one extent or another and Britain and Germany also did experimentation in developing ways to deliver virulent forms of anthrax and other biological agents. Alarmed at this type of arms race none other then Pope Pius XI in 1930 hosted a meeting with representatives from Europe’s major powers attending with the purpose of finding a way to limit or abolish these weapons. Unfortunately, the conference produced some noble high-sounding resolutions but no real action. The question of chemical and biological agents would hang over the world like a sword of Damocles for years to come.
For the individual powers in post-war Europe the years following World War I were anything but tranquil.
France: France had been where all the fighting in the west had occurred. While physical damage had been at a minimum, the damage to the French economy., not to mention French pride was great.
France had now lost two major wars in Europe against Germany. She had been forced to relinquish territory to Germany for 20 years to pay off “war debts.” While many would argue that France had gotten off lightly that argument would have sounded hollow to many Frenchmen.
The slightly left-of-center government headed by Georges Clemenceau as a compromise candidate for Prime Minister lasted only until the Recession of 1919. The loss of large sections of French coal, iron, and agricultural production sent the French economy into a tailspin. That added to lingering anger about the handling of the war lead to the Veterans March on Paris in September 1919. Angry veterans were complaining of not receiving pensions promised them. Instead, the government had sent IOUs to be cashed in later. As a result, angry at the betrayal of France by the hated Treaty of Berlin and the way they were being treated by their government the veterans combining with several conservative elements in the government forced a vote of no-confidence on the French Republic.
A more conservative government took power. It’s first act was to pay off the soldiers. This in turn was funded by a tax on luxury goods. The populace in general was not happy about this and counterdemonstrations occurred in many French cities. There would be clashes with French gendarmes and with the veterans resulting in dozens dead and hundreds injured and many more arrested.
By 1934 when the German occupation of the French provinces ended France was still hurting economically but she was also looking for revenge against both Germany and Belgium.
Great Britain: Of all the powers who took part in World War I Great Britain fared the best as she had the fewest losses. Further she had not lost any colonial territory. The post war years saw her economy boom even as France’s went bust. Part of this was that France found itself importing more raw materials from Britain and the United States to meet its industrial needs.
By 1934 when Germany’s occupation of the French zones ended Britain still ruled the waves though her army was still a small one by comparison with the other powers. But it was a mobile one. Two fully operational tank divisions were part of the new army and the Royal Air Force detached from the Army and became a power unto itself.
And of course, Britannia still ruled the waves. By the 1930’s Britain boasted five aircraft carriers and 20 battleships as part of its fleet, as well as cruisers and smaller support vessels. However, Britain found herself locked in a naval arms race on the one hand with Germany in Europe and with the United States.
In foreign affairs Britain had to deal first in 1916 with the Irish Uprising. Lasting 1 ½ years the Uprising forced Britain to deploy most of its home army to Ireland to put down the revolt. Even airplanes were used to bomb Dublin and other major Irish cities. Thousands of British soldiers, Irish Republicans, and regular civilians died in the fighting. While Ireland was kept within the Union there would be simmering hatreds in that area for decades to come. Some would call the Irish Uprising, a taste of what was to come.
In addition, Britain was to involve itself in the Arab Revolts of 1920-21. The Ottoman Empire had been denied a chance at a land grab during World War I owing to the quick resolution of that war. But British Intelligence had learned that the Ottomans were making plans to invade British controlled Egypt. To head off this potential invasion Britain sent several agents, most notably T.E. Lawrence aka Lawrence of Arabia to negotiate with the various Bedouin and other Arab tribes, none of which were fond of the Ottomans. In 1920 the Arab Revolts began and by 1921 the Saudi peninsula was under the control of the House of Saud per a deal made between Britain and Sheikh ibn Saud. The Revolt was all that was needed to cause the tottering Ottoman Empire to begin to collapse in on itself. By the end of the decade the Empire was effectively gone, and Mustafa Kamal Pasha reformed the remnants of the Empire into the Republic of Turkey.
Entering the 1930’s Britain was an economic and military powerhouse with little to worry about from its European neighbors – seemingly.
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Chapter 44: Post-War (part 1)
The Great European War or World War I ended with a clear victory for the Central Powers of Germany and Austro-Hungary. But it left the rest of Europe in an uncertain state.
The Naval Conference called for by Germany in the Treaty of Berlin (March 1919 to April 1920) ultimately broke down as the major powers could not agree in what constituted “reasonable” tonnage limits. The result was predictable. A naval arms race between the major naval powers ensued.
Some general lessons were learned by all the major participants in the war. Mobility was the order of the day in modern warfare. And the faster one could get troops forward the better. Thus, all the former combatants began to look at developing means to more quickly move troops forward and to bring the battle to the enemy faster. The doctrine of mobile warfare would be developed by both the Central Powers and by the former Entente. In the decades following the war armored fighting vehicles, euphemistically referred to as “tanks” by some of the British soldiers for their appearance began to appear in the respective armies of all the major European powers.
Airpower was also a major factor that was considered. The possibilities of air power and its capabilities were clear to everyone and by the 1920s all the major powers in Europe had developed numerous models of both fighters and bombers for their burgeoning air forces. Zeppelins had been shown briefly in the First World War to serve as useful reconnaissance platforms and bombers. There had even been talk of using them as airborne “aircraft carriers”. But these hopes were dashed when the German Luftwaffe Airship von Bulow caught fire and crashed in a freak thunderstorm killing its 30-man crew. Hydrogen gas it was seen was simply too dangerous to use in airships and the United States held monopoly on helium. Thus, the age of the warship would come to a fiery end that day on November 20, 1925.
At sea, the battleship still ruled, but it was becoming clear the aircraft carrier and the submarine considered at first with scorn by the navies of the UK, France, and Russia, would be major contributors in the future battles at sea. However, some powers like Austria-Hungary were slow to accept this.
Sadly, another development that was worrying to all was the development of chemical and biological agents for use in warfare. All the major powers experimented with chemical warfare to one extent or another and Britain and Germany also did experimentation in developing ways to deliver virulent forms of anthrax and other biological agents. Alarmed at this type of arms race none other then Pope Pius XI in 1930 hosted a meeting with representatives from Europe’s major powers attending with the purpose of finding a way to limit or abolish these weapons. Unfortunately, the conference produced some noble high-sounding resolutions but no real action. The question of chemical and biological agents would hang over the world like a sword of Damocles for years to come.
For the individual powers in post-war Europe the years following World War I were anything but tranquil.
France: France had been where all the fighting in the west had occurred. While physical damage had been at a minimum, the damage to the French economy., not to mention French pride was great.
France had now lost two major wars in Europe against Germany. She had been forced to relinquish territory to Germany for 20 years to pay off “war debts.” While many would argue that France had gotten off lightly that argument would have sounded hollow to many Frenchmen.
The slightly left-of-center government headed by Georges Clemenceau as a compromise candidate for Prime Minister lasted only until the Recession of 1919. The loss of large sections of French coal, iron, and agricultural production sent the French economy into a tailspin. That added to lingering anger about the handling of the war lead to the Veterans March on Paris in September 1919. Angry veterans were complaining of not receiving pensions promised them. Instead, the government had sent IOUs to be cashed in later. As a result, angry at the betrayal of France by the hated Treaty of Berlin and the way they were being treated by their government the veterans combining with several conservative elements in the government forced a vote of no-confidence on the French Republic.
A more conservative government took power. It’s first act was to pay off the soldiers. This in turn was funded by a tax on luxury goods. The populace in general was not happy about this and counterdemonstrations occurred in many French cities. There would be clashes with French gendarmes and with the veterans resulting in dozens dead and hundreds injured and many more arrested.
By 1934 when the German occupation of the French provinces ended France was still hurting economically but she was also looking for revenge against both Germany and Belgium.
Great Britain: Of all the powers who took part in World War I Great Britain fared the best as she had the fewest losses. Further she had not lost any colonial territory. The post war years saw her economy boom even as France’s went bust. Part of this was that France found itself importing more raw materials from Britain and the United States to meet its industrial needs.
By 1934 when Germany’s occupation of the French zones ended Britain still ruled the waves though her army was still a small one by comparison with the other powers. But it was a mobile one. Two fully operational tank divisions were part of the new army and the Royal Air Force detached from the Army and became a power unto itself.
And of course, Britannia still ruled the waves. By the 1930’s Britain boasted five aircraft carriers and 20 battleships as part of its fleet, as well as cruisers and smaller support vessels. However, Britain found herself locked in a naval arms race on the one hand with Germany in Europe and with the United States.
In foreign affairs Britain had to deal first in 1916 with the Irish Uprising. Lasting 1 ½ years the Uprising forced Britain to deploy most of its home army to Ireland to put down the revolt. Even airplanes were used to bomb Dublin and other major Irish cities. Thousands of British soldiers, Irish Republicans, and regular civilians died in the fighting. While Ireland was kept within the Union there would be simmering hatreds in that area for decades to come. Some would call the Irish Uprising, a taste of what was to come.
In addition, Britain was to involve itself in the Arab Revolts of 1920-21. The Ottoman Empire had been denied a chance at a land grab during World War I owing to the quick resolution of that war. But British Intelligence had learned that the Ottomans were making plans to invade British controlled Egypt. To head off this potential invasion Britain sent several agents, most notably T.E. Lawrence aka Lawrence of Arabia to negotiate with the various Bedouin and other Arab tribes, none of which were fond of the Ottomans. In 1920 the Arab Revolts began and by 1921 the Saudi peninsula was under the control of the House of Saud per a deal made between Britain and Sheikh ibn Saud. The Revolt was all that was needed to cause the tottering Ottoman Empire to begin to collapse in on itself. By the end of the decade the Empire was effectively gone, and Mustafa Kamal Pasha reformed the remnants of the Empire into the Republic of Turkey.
Entering the 1930’s Britain was an economic and military powerhouse with little to worry about from its European neighbors – seemingly.
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