I believe it was somewhere in the last map thread, probably near the 300-ish page point? Maybe before, maybe after, no clue.
Map Thread XVIII
- Thread starter FesteringSpore
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So here's an scenario of mine, it's based on a war between Britain and Portugal over the Pink Map issue. The map is very basic and because it's a full Q-BAM it doesn't let me upload the whole map (Anyone know why?) so you'll have to see a thumbnail, while the original map is HERE. The date of the map is 1902, after the Great War. All of the timeline is on the spoiler below.
The Pink War was a colonial conflict that happened at the end of 19th century between the United Kingdom and Portugal, ending the 600 year-long alliance between the two nations in a single blow. The main cause of the conflict was the British ultimatum issued to the Portuguese government on January 11th 1890, which gave a week to the Portuguese to renounce to their claims to the Zambezi basin and what would become Rhodesia; as those claims interfered in British plans to control the area. The Portuguese claims were represented in the Pink Map, depicted below.
At first, it seemed like the Portuguese were going to accept British demands, however, a patriotic sentiment arose amidst the population, and the government, flooded by this nationalistic wave, refused the ultimatum. France, which was in a pseudo-conflict with the British over their future claims to the Nile, secretely gave weapons to Portugal (NOTE: This text originally came from my "Victory at Waterloo" TL, so an even more powerful Imperial France funds the Portuguese), and notified the Portuguese about possible places where the Royal Navy could attack or it's bases. When the ultimatum passed by, the British decided to enforce their demands by force. On January 20th, a British flotilla blocked the port of Lourenço Marques from their base in Cape Town, the Portuguese fleet scaped from the harbour and headed northwards to the Zambezi. The mayor of the town refused to cede the town, and the British fleet called for reinforcements, which took four days to reach the bay and land in the city, capturing it. The Portuguese Army of Mozambique, commanded by José António de Brissac das Neves Ferreira retreated from the town, unable to reply to the guns of the British cruiser HMS Victoria.
A fraction of the Home Fleet was destined to the Atlantic, British forces received the order not to attack mainland Portugal. They encountered a group of 4 portuguese frigates and destroyed them with their pre-Dreadnought ships on the Battle of Madeira. The British didn't take the islands and headed south towards Cape Verde. They took the harbour or Praia on January 29th and resupplied there, continuing for Nigeria.
In Angola, there was no conflict during the first days of the war, only the seizure of a British fishing boat in Namibe, which's crew was arrested. As a reprisal, a British fleet sent from Nigeria took Namibe on February 12th and kept advancing innerwards searching for the Portuguese army in Angola. On February 24th, they finally found the Portuguese, commencing the Battle of Lubango. Even if Portuguese troops outnumbered the British almost three to one, the British army carried a large number of machine guns, while the Portuguese colonial troops barely had rifles. Tha battle ended with 3,000 portuguese dead or captured and only 54 British casualties. During the whole war, more British troops would die of disease than by direct combat.
Portuguese colonies in India fell within three days but Goa, which had a fort and remained under Portuguese hands until their capitulation on February 3rd.
The defeat of the Army of Angola and the fled of the Army of Mozambique forzed the Portuguese to capitulate, not only refusing to their claims, but also being forced to cede an extra part of Angola and half of Mozambique (the area south of the Zambezi river), Cape Verde their Indian outposts and a part of their Maravi Protectorate, which would form the British protectorate of Nyasaland.
Portugal came out of the war humiliated by their former ally and in a deep national depression similar to that Spain suffered eight years later after their war with the US. Portugal had lost their empire, only controlling Timor, Guinea and parts of Angola and Mozambique. The state was bankrupt after the war, having lost their fleet and forced to pay an indemnisation to the British. This rooted a deep anti-British sentiment and Portugal slowly began to drift to the French camp. In order to solve this, the king Carlos I, signed a deal with the Germans by which he would sell the remains of Angola and Mozambique, along with Timor. This way, the Portuguese only kept control of Guinea and their enclave in Porto Novo (French Dahomey), which the French guaranteed.
However, the sales backfired, and the people were angrier as ever accusing the monarch of "traitor who ended the Empire". He was forced to abdicate in 1892 (after the treaty). His major son, the prince Luís Filipe, was crowned king, but as he was only a three-year-old boy, his mother, Amélie of Orléans, acted as regent, further improving relations with Franca. The young king and his regent mother ruled over a country under constant threat by republican elements and dependend on shaky coalition governments to sustain the monarchy.
However, these difficult times would be cut short, as in 1898, French and British troops clashed in the Nile, sparking a conflict of unseen dimensions until then, the Great War had begun.
First some context
The Pink War proved the world that old-time alliances are no longer useful in a modern world which is changing rapidly. Old enemies are ganging together against new threats and old friendships break apart. The war was a shock to not only Portugal, but the whole world, as the biggest example of imperialism seen until then. France was indeed scared of that British resurgence, and supported Portugal during the war, however, France also had issues with neighbouring Germany which date back to the Franco-Prussian war of 1870 when Alsace-Lorraine was outright annexed into the German Empire. France now felt threatened on all sides. When news were leaked of the French giving weapons to the Portuguese, relations with Britain decayed even more. France now began to support Russia in the Great Game over central Asia, forming the Entente Cordiale with them in 1894.
The country which was most affected by this (excepting Portugal, of course), was Spain. Spain was also a decaying power suffering from the same problems as the Portuguese, and after seeing how Britain anihilated the Portuguese empire, Spain reacted by increasing their naval assets wth the help of German and French companies, and garrisons were reinforced in Cuba, Puerto Rico and Africa.
Meanwhile, the US was a rising power which had set it's priorities on reinforcing the Monroe Doctrine. The war also butterflied US politics a bit, and more sectors began to claim that the doctrine should also state that expelling current European possesions in the Americas was necessary. William McKinley supported this idea, and began supporting Venezuelan claims on the Esequibo, worsening relations with the United Kingdom.
War between Spain and America
On February 15th 1898, the American ship USS Maine suddenly exploded in the harbour of La Habana. The United States stated that the ship was blown up by the Spanish, and the Spaniards (with help from an international commision) stated that the ship was blown from inside as an act of sabotage. Whatever happened, the US blockaded Cuba and the congress declared war to Spain. The United States expected Spain to be a pushover that would cede their colonies to the US without much effort, however, Spain had learnt a pair of lessons from the Pink War on Naval Warfare.
During the 1890's Spain built a decent amount of ironclads thanks to the Germans and had developed a new kind of ships thanks to a local engineer, Isaac Peral, the submarine. On May 8th, the Spanish attempted to break the American blockade at Cárdenas. The Americans had 1 gunboat and 1 torpedo ship while the Spanish posessed three gunboats. Initially, it seemed that the Americans would defeat the three older Spanish gunboats, but suddenly, the American gunboat exploded, followed by their torpedo ship. It was a submarine, prototype, the Peral II.
Over the course of the next days, the American blockade over Cuba was lifted. US forces had landed in Cuba and secured Guantanamo Bay and neighbouring Santiago, while their Pacific Fleet took Guam, but was soundly defeated by a Spanish feint close to Leyte. A column retook Guam on June. Spanish reinforcements landed in Cuba and battles became inconclusive, with neither side capable of gaining the upper hand. Several naval battles happened around Cuba, with the United States generally losing more ships than the Spaniards due to submarines.
McKinley refused to let an European imperialist power defeat them and sent a relief expedition to invade Puerto Rico, but they were astonished when they saw the locals firmly supports the Spaniards. They reached Guánica but were stopped there. On July 23rd the US sent 2,500 men to land in Bahía Hondo, near Havana in order to capture the Cuban capital. They were met by 1,000 Spanish cavalrymen armed with artillery, who repelled the attack with ease. The war dragged as a draw during the whole summer as neither side wanted to concede and rebuilt their forces for further engagements, however, another problem would arise which would engulf this "little" war into an even bigger one.
The Fashoda Crisis
During 1989, a French explorer named Jean-Baptiste Marchand leaded an expedition up the Congo river and then through what in OTL became Central Africa into the Nile, reaching the town of Fashoda on July 10th 1898. Fashoda was nominally part of British Sudan, a protectorate, even if Britain hadn't stablished control as of yet. The intentions of the French were to create a continuous empire from Dakar to Djibouti, and the British intended to connect Cape Town and Cairo. If you draw two straight lines connecting those places, they intersect close to Fashoda. The French stood there until a British flotilla of five gunboats arrived on September 18th, carrying 1,500 soldiers led by Kitchener. Both Marchand and Kitchener insisted in waiting orders from the metropole.
The meeting sparked outrage in both countries, specially in France, were a wave of Anglophobia aggravated by the Pink War's repercussions and the Dreyfus issue (which hampered confidence in the army) led to further tensions. The Royal Navy was partially mobilised in the Channel while the French Fleet in the Mediterranean began preparations to take Malta and Suez should war break out. A standoff followed during September, however, on October 21st, Marchand got tired and ordered his 120 men-strong force to take the British and capture Kitchener. British troops outnumbered the French more than ten to one, and despite the initial surprise, they counterattacked and captured Marchand. Casualties were relatively light on both sides.
The Great War: 1898 and early 1899
As a response to this, the Royal Navy anchored in the Channel Islands and shot warning shots to the neighbouring port of Saint Malo, but the French responded with aritllery fire which sunk 2 gunboats and damaged 1 cruiser. Back then, the Royal Navy was the strongest and most numerous fleet in the world, outnumbering the French several times. Great Britain declared war to France. The French Atlantic Fleet, based at Brest, left inmediately to take the Channel Islands and negate them as a forward base for the British. Britain had already mobilised a fleet of 8 cruisers to the area, and the Battle of the Channel Islands was the first French defeat of many, the French fleet lost 3 cruisers to 2 of the British, and by October 29th, the islands were firmly in British hands.
Small, isolated colonies were taken quickly by either side, such as Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Gambia or the Pitcairns. The French Mediterranean Fleet fought their British counterpart in the Battle of Lampedusa, and the French failed to capture Malta. From the island, British ships would continuely harass the French colonies in Tunisia and Algeria. On November 5th, British forces captured Guadeloupe, and Martinique fell two days later. The French failed to take Sierra Leona and Ghana, while the Royal Navy blockaded Porto Novo (Dahomey) and Dakar, cutting French colonies from the metropole. French Guiana was also taken, and a fleet coming from Australia captured French Oceania during November and December. British forces took French concessions in China and made tenuous offensives into Indochina from Burma and Malaca.
Meanwhile, the Spanish-American war grew even more inconclusive, but on November a Spanish Fleet from the mainland landed extra reinforcements on Cuba and expelled the Americans after a month of brutal jungle warfare in which both sides lost more men to diseases than to direct combat. The Spanish Pacific Fleet passed by Hawaii as an intimidation measure, but didn't attack the islands. On late December, the remnants of the French Fleet in the Caribbean appeared in Charleston, South Carolina. The British pursuited them and asked the Americans to release the ships and the crew on January 16th, an event known as the Charleston Issue. McKinley, who grew more angry at the Spaniards and Europe as a whole, refused, believing that the British wouldn't dare to attack the United States while being at war with France. The British called their bluff and declared war to the United States to McKinley's shock.
Britain could send troops to Canada as France was no real threat to Britain, so adding an extra enemy to the battle wouldn't matter. France declared it's support for the United States and declared war to Spain. Portugal decided to sit back and don't support the French, as they would now have to face a Spanish invasion, even if the Spanish Army was in no condition to fight the brunt of French and Portuguese forces. The French declaration of war to Spain was mostly symbolical, as France couldn't spare troops from the colonies or the German border.
Meanwhile, the British and American fleets began a series of battles in the North Atlantic. In 1899, the American industrial ouput was still behind the British one, so America would have to fight with an army mostly of relatively unarmed conscripts. American forces pierced into Canada, invading New Brunswick and Quebec, but Canadians stopped them before they could reach Nova Scotia or the Saint Lawrence, it's a very difficult front, specially in the middle of a harsh winter. Soon, the Royal Navy began to bomb American ports such as Boston, New York or the aforementioned Charleston. Both sides focused in the Atlantic theater, and the Pacific coast and the Prairies were relatively calmed.
Russia, meanwhile, declared war to Britain aswell. Russian forces invaded Afghanistan only to be stopped at Kabul. The Russians expected the Afghans to revolt and expel the British-backed emir, however the Afghans knew that by expelling a foreign enemy, they would only leave the throne empty to another, and thus many fought the Russians. The Russian army was indded big, but had no place to fight the British, for now.
A major leader remained expectant, the German Emperor, Wilhelm II who saw this as an excellent time to get rid of France and earn their rightful "Place under the sun" by taking over French colonies. With France occupied fighting the world's superpower and their sidekick, Germany declared war to France and Russia on February 17th, followed by Italy and Austria-Hungary.
The Triple Alliance joins the war (1899)
German forces launched a quick attack through Alsace-Lorraine into France, aiming to capture Nancy and reach the Meuse. France had the bulk of it's forces in the region and the battle soon degenerated into a slow conflict in which both sides abused firepower in a narrow front. The French, knowing they were outnumbered and fighting on three fronts, retreatred to the Meuse destroying bridges and communication lines in the way. French generals knew that this war was one France couldn't win, but refused to surrendered. The Germans reached Verdun on March 27th, were French trenches and firepower stopped them. Italy also attacked trhough the Alps with limited success, capturing some mountain passes and nearby villages such as Menton. The Pyrenees were in a tense calm, as both sides considered this front as secondary.
In Eastern Europe, Russia launched an offensive into Galicia, Posen and East Prussia. The Russians took Lemberg and laid siege to Köningsberg, Memel and Prezsmyl. The Russians were generally ill-equipped and depended on numbers to defeat the enemy now that Britain and Germany blockaded their ports from foreign imports and exports. Without forign supplies, the Russian economy quickly receded. Russian forces reached the Carpathians by early April and the Vistula south of Danzig by the 12th. Russian forces tried to cross the river in the Battle of Graudenz only to be repelled by a more modern German army. The Russian Baltic Fleet, once the ice melted, was obliterated by the Germans. The Russians suffered another catastrophic defeat at Elbing, and the Köningsberg was relieved by early June.
Britain left France to the Germans and focused on taking down the United States. American forces reached the Saint Lawrence between Brossard and Sorel-Tracy. This put Montréal within range of American artillery, but the fact that the city was an island and the river was controlled by the British impeded the Americans to take it. The Americans were defeated at Moncton, New Brunswick, and retreated all the way to Maine. Bombings of coastal cities now extended to the Pacific ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, and the American Navy ceased to be an operative force by summer. British forces also bombed Petropavlovsk and other settlements in the Russian Pacific. The United Kingdom signed an alliance with Japan on July, and they conquered Sakhalin Island and invaded Russian-sphered Manchuria and Korea. Fronts remained largely static for the next of the year except for Eastern Europe, which saw Alliance forces reach Warsaw, Vilnius and Liepaja.
By the early days of 1900, France was fighting on three fronts, starving and with no colonial empire to bring resources from (not to mention they no longer had a fleet to carry them to France).
The war's end (1900)
Germany launched a new offensive in order to take Verdun on February 2nd. They succeded after three months of trench warfare, taking horrendous casualties on both sides. The Meuse Line was broken and the Germans were advaing rapidly through northern France. In March, Italy landed forces in Corsica, which proved to be a harsh conquest for the Italians as the French retreated to the mountain ranges of the island's interior and fought a guerrilla war there. Nevertheless, the Italians landed at Cannes, bypassing Nize and the Alps. Spanish forces also attacked the Pyrenees, taking Biarriz and Perpignan. France, which was starving and had no more men to pull out, surrendered on September 1st 1900. The first of the Entente powers was out of the war.
Russia and America decided to keep fighting, hoping to score some extra victories and thus less harsh terms. However, the Russian offensive into Poland was a complete disaster. Germany, Austria, Britain, Japan and now the Ottomans (who joined the war after the British promised them to get the lands lost during the war of 1878 back) all began an offensive into Russia. German forces crossed the Dvina into Livonia, reaching Talin (or Reval, as the Germans called it) by October. A fortnight later, the Second German Army took Minsk and by the end of November, the Russians fell back to the Dnieper. Japanese forces took Kamchatka, Amuria and Manchuria, effectively closing the Pacific to Russian shipping, while the Ottomans reached Erevan and Batumi; and the British forces crossed into Central Asia. Russia capitulated on December 19th.
Now America was alone, facing the full might of the European empires. McKinley, supported by his right hand, a colonel called Theodore Roosevelt, decided to continue the war nonetheless, however, the General Election of November 6th 1900, resulted in a Democratic victory under William Jennings Brian. He inmediately tried to sign a honorary peace treaty with the European powers, knowing the US couldn't stand alone, finally, on December 28th, the US requested an arminstice. The war was over.
The Peace of the Victors (1901)
France was the first ro receive punishment for the war, and the one who was punished the most. France had to relinquish it's American colonies to Britain. French Oceania was awarded to Britain aswell. French Indochina was partitioned between Britain and Germany (who only received Cambodia and Cochinchina). French India was given to the Raj. French colonies in Africa were mostly partitioned, with Central Africa deded to Germany (But Gabon, which was awarded to Spain) while West Africa fell mostly in the British sphere. Djibouti was given to Italy along with Tunisia. France only retained Algeria and Madagascar. In Europe, Germany annexed the industrial and mining area of Briey-Longwy and occupied Lorraine. Britain occupied Normandy and Brittany. Spain annexed the Rousillon and Italy annexed Savoy and Nize. Britain pressured Italy to relinquish claims on Corsica.
Russia had to give independence to Poland, Lithuania, the United Baltic Duchy and Finland, and Treaty of Berlin was abolished, restoring the Ottomans to their pre-1878 borders. Russia had to relinquish control over their Khiva and Bukhara protectorates as buffers between British India and Russian Central Asia. Sakhalin island was given to Japan, and Korea and Manchuria were confirmed in the Japanese sphere.
The United States lost no lands in the mainland, but lost all their overseas posessions, which were given to Britain except for Samoa, which was given to Germany. Hawaii fell under British protection. Alaska was annexed as a territory into Canada. This concluded the Great War, a relatively short but brutal war, of unprecedented destruction, and which's final peace treaty would set the path the wolrd would follow during the next decades.
At first, it seemed like the Portuguese were going to accept British demands, however, a patriotic sentiment arose amidst the population, and the government, flooded by this nationalistic wave, refused the ultimatum. France, which was in a pseudo-conflict with the British over their future claims to the Nile, secretely gave weapons to Portugal (NOTE: This text originally came from my "Victory at Waterloo" TL, so an even more powerful Imperial France funds the Portuguese), and notified the Portuguese about possible places where the Royal Navy could attack or it's bases. When the ultimatum passed by, the British decided to enforce their demands by force. On January 20th, a British flotilla blocked the port of Lourenço Marques from their base in Cape Town, the Portuguese fleet scaped from the harbour and headed northwards to the Zambezi. The mayor of the town refused to cede the town, and the British fleet called for reinforcements, which took four days to reach the bay and land in the city, capturing it. The Portuguese Army of Mozambique, commanded by José António de Brissac das Neves Ferreira retreated from the town, unable to reply to the guns of the British cruiser HMS Victoria.
A fraction of the Home Fleet was destined to the Atlantic, British forces received the order not to attack mainland Portugal. They encountered a group of 4 portuguese frigates and destroyed them with their pre-Dreadnought ships on the Battle of Madeira. The British didn't take the islands and headed south towards Cape Verde. They took the harbour or Praia on January 29th and resupplied there, continuing for Nigeria.
In Angola, there was no conflict during the first days of the war, only the seizure of a British fishing boat in Namibe, which's crew was arrested. As a reprisal, a British fleet sent from Nigeria took Namibe on February 12th and kept advancing innerwards searching for the Portuguese army in Angola. On February 24th, they finally found the Portuguese, commencing the Battle of Lubango. Even if Portuguese troops outnumbered the British almost three to one, the British army carried a large number of machine guns, while the Portuguese colonial troops barely had rifles. Tha battle ended with 3,000 portuguese dead or captured and only 54 British casualties. During the whole war, more British troops would die of disease than by direct combat.
Portuguese colonies in India fell within three days but Goa, which had a fort and remained under Portuguese hands until their capitulation on February 3rd.
The defeat of the Army of Angola and the fled of the Army of Mozambique forzed the Portuguese to capitulate, not only refusing to their claims, but also being forced to cede an extra part of Angola and half of Mozambique (the area south of the Zambezi river), Cape Verde their Indian outposts and a part of their Maravi Protectorate, which would form the British protectorate of Nyasaland.
Portugal came out of the war humiliated by their former ally and in a deep national depression similar to that Spain suffered eight years later after their war with the US. Portugal had lost their empire, only controlling Timor, Guinea and parts of Angola and Mozambique. The state was bankrupt after the war, having lost their fleet and forced to pay an indemnisation to the British. This rooted a deep anti-British sentiment and Portugal slowly began to drift to the French camp. In order to solve this, the king Carlos I, signed a deal with the Germans by which he would sell the remains of Angola and Mozambique, along with Timor. This way, the Portuguese only kept control of Guinea and their enclave in Porto Novo (French Dahomey), which the French guaranteed.
However, the sales backfired, and the people were angrier as ever accusing the monarch of "traitor who ended the Empire". He was forced to abdicate in 1892 (after the treaty). His major son, the prince Luís Filipe, was crowned king, but as he was only a three-year-old boy, his mother, Amélie of Orléans, acted as regent, further improving relations with Franca. The young king and his regent mother ruled over a country under constant threat by republican elements and dependend on shaky coalition governments to sustain the monarchy.
However, these difficult times would be cut short, as in 1898, French and British troops clashed in the Nile, sparking a conflict of unseen dimensions until then, the Great War had begun.
First some context
The Pink War proved the world that old-time alliances are no longer useful in a modern world which is changing rapidly. Old enemies are ganging together against new threats and old friendships break apart. The war was a shock to not only Portugal, but the whole world, as the biggest example of imperialism seen until then. France was indeed scared of that British resurgence, and supported Portugal during the war, however, France also had issues with neighbouring Germany which date back to the Franco-Prussian war of 1870 when Alsace-Lorraine was outright annexed into the German Empire. France now felt threatened on all sides. When news were leaked of the French giving weapons to the Portuguese, relations with Britain decayed even more. France now began to support Russia in the Great Game over central Asia, forming the Entente Cordiale with them in 1894.
The country which was most affected by this (excepting Portugal, of course), was Spain. Spain was also a decaying power suffering from the same problems as the Portuguese, and after seeing how Britain anihilated the Portuguese empire, Spain reacted by increasing their naval assets wth the help of German and French companies, and garrisons were reinforced in Cuba, Puerto Rico and Africa.
Meanwhile, the US was a rising power which had set it's priorities on reinforcing the Monroe Doctrine. The war also butterflied US politics a bit, and more sectors began to claim that the doctrine should also state that expelling current European possesions in the Americas was necessary. William McKinley supported this idea, and began supporting Venezuelan claims on the Esequibo, worsening relations with the United Kingdom.
War between Spain and America
On February 15th 1898, the American ship USS Maine suddenly exploded in the harbour of La Habana. The United States stated that the ship was blown up by the Spanish, and the Spaniards (with help from an international commision) stated that the ship was blown from inside as an act of sabotage. Whatever happened, the US blockaded Cuba and the congress declared war to Spain. The United States expected Spain to be a pushover that would cede their colonies to the US without much effort, however, Spain had learnt a pair of lessons from the Pink War on Naval Warfare.
During the 1890's Spain built a decent amount of ironclads thanks to the Germans and had developed a new kind of ships thanks to a local engineer, Isaac Peral, the submarine. On May 8th, the Spanish attempted to break the American blockade at Cárdenas. The Americans had 1 gunboat and 1 torpedo ship while the Spanish posessed three gunboats. Initially, it seemed that the Americans would defeat the three older Spanish gunboats, but suddenly, the American gunboat exploded, followed by their torpedo ship. It was a submarine, prototype, the Peral II.
Over the course of the next days, the American blockade over Cuba was lifted. US forces had landed in Cuba and secured Guantanamo Bay and neighbouring Santiago, while their Pacific Fleet took Guam, but was soundly defeated by a Spanish feint close to Leyte. A column retook Guam on June. Spanish reinforcements landed in Cuba and battles became inconclusive, with neither side capable of gaining the upper hand. Several naval battles happened around Cuba, with the United States generally losing more ships than the Spaniards due to submarines.
McKinley refused to let an European imperialist power defeat them and sent a relief expedition to invade Puerto Rico, but they were astonished when they saw the locals firmly supports the Spaniards. They reached Guánica but were stopped there. On July 23rd the US sent 2,500 men to land in Bahía Hondo, near Havana in order to capture the Cuban capital. They were met by 1,000 Spanish cavalrymen armed with artillery, who repelled the attack with ease. The war dragged as a draw during the whole summer as neither side wanted to concede and rebuilt their forces for further engagements, however, another problem would arise which would engulf this "little" war into an even bigger one.
The Fashoda Crisis
During 1989, a French explorer named Jean-Baptiste Marchand leaded an expedition up the Congo river and then through what in OTL became Central Africa into the Nile, reaching the town of Fashoda on July 10th 1898. Fashoda was nominally part of British Sudan, a protectorate, even if Britain hadn't stablished control as of yet. The intentions of the French were to create a continuous empire from Dakar to Djibouti, and the British intended to connect Cape Town and Cairo. If you draw two straight lines connecting those places, they intersect close to Fashoda. The French stood there until a British flotilla of five gunboats arrived on September 18th, carrying 1,500 soldiers led by Kitchener. Both Marchand and Kitchener insisted in waiting orders from the metropole.
The meeting sparked outrage in both countries, specially in France, were a wave of Anglophobia aggravated by the Pink War's repercussions and the Dreyfus issue (which hampered confidence in the army) led to further tensions. The Royal Navy was partially mobilised in the Channel while the French Fleet in the Mediterranean began preparations to take Malta and Suez should war break out. A standoff followed during September, however, on October 21st, Marchand got tired and ordered his 120 men-strong force to take the British and capture Kitchener. British troops outnumbered the French more than ten to one, and despite the initial surprise, they counterattacked and captured Marchand. Casualties were relatively light on both sides.
The Great War: 1898 and early 1899
As a response to this, the Royal Navy anchored in the Channel Islands and shot warning shots to the neighbouring port of Saint Malo, but the French responded with aritllery fire which sunk 2 gunboats and damaged 1 cruiser. Back then, the Royal Navy was the strongest and most numerous fleet in the world, outnumbering the French several times. Great Britain declared war to France. The French Atlantic Fleet, based at Brest, left inmediately to take the Channel Islands and negate them as a forward base for the British. Britain had already mobilised a fleet of 8 cruisers to the area, and the Battle of the Channel Islands was the first French defeat of many, the French fleet lost 3 cruisers to 2 of the British, and by October 29th, the islands were firmly in British hands.
Small, isolated colonies were taken quickly by either side, such as Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Gambia or the Pitcairns. The French Mediterranean Fleet fought their British counterpart in the Battle of Lampedusa, and the French failed to capture Malta. From the island, British ships would continuely harass the French colonies in Tunisia and Algeria. On November 5th, British forces captured Guadeloupe, and Martinique fell two days later. The French failed to take Sierra Leona and Ghana, while the Royal Navy blockaded Porto Novo (Dahomey) and Dakar, cutting French colonies from the metropole. French Guiana was also taken, and a fleet coming from Australia captured French Oceania during November and December. British forces took French concessions in China and made tenuous offensives into Indochina from Burma and Malaca.
Meanwhile, the Spanish-American war grew even more inconclusive, but on November a Spanish Fleet from the mainland landed extra reinforcements on Cuba and expelled the Americans after a month of brutal jungle warfare in which both sides lost more men to diseases than to direct combat. The Spanish Pacific Fleet passed by Hawaii as an intimidation measure, but didn't attack the islands. On late December, the remnants of the French Fleet in the Caribbean appeared in Charleston, South Carolina. The British pursuited them and asked the Americans to release the ships and the crew on January 16th, an event known as the Charleston Issue. McKinley, who grew more angry at the Spaniards and Europe as a whole, refused, believing that the British wouldn't dare to attack the United States while being at war with France. The British called their bluff and declared war to the United States to McKinley's shock.
Britain could send troops to Canada as France was no real threat to Britain, so adding an extra enemy to the battle wouldn't matter. France declared it's support for the United States and declared war to Spain. Portugal decided to sit back and don't support the French, as they would now have to face a Spanish invasion, even if the Spanish Army was in no condition to fight the brunt of French and Portuguese forces. The French declaration of war to Spain was mostly symbolical, as France couldn't spare troops from the colonies or the German border.
Meanwhile, the British and American fleets began a series of battles in the North Atlantic. In 1899, the American industrial ouput was still behind the British one, so America would have to fight with an army mostly of relatively unarmed conscripts. American forces pierced into Canada, invading New Brunswick and Quebec, but Canadians stopped them before they could reach Nova Scotia or the Saint Lawrence, it's a very difficult front, specially in the middle of a harsh winter. Soon, the Royal Navy began to bomb American ports such as Boston, New York or the aforementioned Charleston. Both sides focused in the Atlantic theater, and the Pacific coast and the Prairies were relatively calmed.
Russia, meanwhile, declared war to Britain aswell. Russian forces invaded Afghanistan only to be stopped at Kabul. The Russians expected the Afghans to revolt and expel the British-backed emir, however the Afghans knew that by expelling a foreign enemy, they would only leave the throne empty to another, and thus many fought the Russians. The Russian army was indded big, but had no place to fight the British, for now.
A major leader remained expectant, the German Emperor, Wilhelm II who saw this as an excellent time to get rid of France and earn their rightful "Place under the sun" by taking over French colonies. With France occupied fighting the world's superpower and their sidekick, Germany declared war to France and Russia on February 17th, followed by Italy and Austria-Hungary.
The Triple Alliance joins the war (1899)
German forces launched a quick attack through Alsace-Lorraine into France, aiming to capture Nancy and reach the Meuse. France had the bulk of it's forces in the region and the battle soon degenerated into a slow conflict in which both sides abused firepower in a narrow front. The French, knowing they were outnumbered and fighting on three fronts, retreatred to the Meuse destroying bridges and communication lines in the way. French generals knew that this war was one France couldn't win, but refused to surrendered. The Germans reached Verdun on March 27th, were French trenches and firepower stopped them. Italy also attacked trhough the Alps with limited success, capturing some mountain passes and nearby villages such as Menton. The Pyrenees were in a tense calm, as both sides considered this front as secondary.
In Eastern Europe, Russia launched an offensive into Galicia, Posen and East Prussia. The Russians took Lemberg and laid siege to Köningsberg, Memel and Prezsmyl. The Russians were generally ill-equipped and depended on numbers to defeat the enemy now that Britain and Germany blockaded their ports from foreign imports and exports. Without forign supplies, the Russian economy quickly receded. Russian forces reached the Carpathians by early April and the Vistula south of Danzig by the 12th. Russian forces tried to cross the river in the Battle of Graudenz only to be repelled by a more modern German army. The Russian Baltic Fleet, once the ice melted, was obliterated by the Germans. The Russians suffered another catastrophic defeat at Elbing, and the Köningsberg was relieved by early June.
Britain left France to the Germans and focused on taking down the United States. American forces reached the Saint Lawrence between Brossard and Sorel-Tracy. This put Montréal within range of American artillery, but the fact that the city was an island and the river was controlled by the British impeded the Americans to take it. The Americans were defeated at Moncton, New Brunswick, and retreated all the way to Maine. Bombings of coastal cities now extended to the Pacific ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, and the American Navy ceased to be an operative force by summer. British forces also bombed Petropavlovsk and other settlements in the Russian Pacific. The United Kingdom signed an alliance with Japan on July, and they conquered Sakhalin Island and invaded Russian-sphered Manchuria and Korea. Fronts remained largely static for the next of the year except for Eastern Europe, which saw Alliance forces reach Warsaw, Vilnius and Liepaja.
By the early days of 1900, France was fighting on three fronts, starving and with no colonial empire to bring resources from (not to mention they no longer had a fleet to carry them to France).
The war's end (1900)
Germany launched a new offensive in order to take Verdun on February 2nd. They succeded after three months of trench warfare, taking horrendous casualties on both sides. The Meuse Line was broken and the Germans were advaing rapidly through northern France. In March, Italy landed forces in Corsica, which proved to be a harsh conquest for the Italians as the French retreated to the mountain ranges of the island's interior and fought a guerrilla war there. Nevertheless, the Italians landed at Cannes, bypassing Nize and the Alps. Spanish forces also attacked the Pyrenees, taking Biarriz and Perpignan. France, which was starving and had no more men to pull out, surrendered on September 1st 1900. The first of the Entente powers was out of the war.
Russia and America decided to keep fighting, hoping to score some extra victories and thus less harsh terms. However, the Russian offensive into Poland was a complete disaster. Germany, Austria, Britain, Japan and now the Ottomans (who joined the war after the British promised them to get the lands lost during the war of 1878 back) all began an offensive into Russia. German forces crossed the Dvina into Livonia, reaching Talin (or Reval, as the Germans called it) by October. A fortnight later, the Second German Army took Minsk and by the end of November, the Russians fell back to the Dnieper. Japanese forces took Kamchatka, Amuria and Manchuria, effectively closing the Pacific to Russian shipping, while the Ottomans reached Erevan and Batumi; and the British forces crossed into Central Asia. Russia capitulated on December 19th.
Now America was alone, facing the full might of the European empires. McKinley, supported by his right hand, a colonel called Theodore Roosevelt, decided to continue the war nonetheless, however, the General Election of November 6th 1900, resulted in a Democratic victory under William Jennings Brian. He inmediately tried to sign a honorary peace treaty with the European powers, knowing the US couldn't stand alone, finally, on December 28th, the US requested an arminstice. The war was over.
The Peace of the Victors (1901)
France was the first ro receive punishment for the war, and the one who was punished the most. France had to relinquish it's American colonies to Britain. French Oceania was awarded to Britain aswell. French Indochina was partitioned between Britain and Germany (who only received Cambodia and Cochinchina). French India was given to the Raj. French colonies in Africa were mostly partitioned, with Central Africa deded to Germany (But Gabon, which was awarded to Spain) while West Africa fell mostly in the British sphere. Djibouti was given to Italy along with Tunisia. France only retained Algeria and Madagascar. In Europe, Germany annexed the industrial and mining area of Briey-Longwy and occupied Lorraine. Britain occupied Normandy and Brittany. Spain annexed the Rousillon and Italy annexed Savoy and Nize. Britain pressured Italy to relinquish claims on Corsica.
Russia had to give independence to Poland, Lithuania, the United Baltic Duchy and Finland, and Treaty of Berlin was abolished, restoring the Ottomans to their pre-1878 borders. Russia had to relinquish control over their Khiva and Bukhara protectorates as buffers between British India and Russian Central Asia. Sakhalin island was given to Japan, and Korea and Manchuria were confirmed in the Japanese sphere.
The United States lost no lands in the mainland, but lost all their overseas posessions, which were given to Britain except for Samoa, which was given to Germany. Hawaii fell under British protection. Alaska was annexed as a territory into Canada. This concluded the Great War, a relatively short but brutal war, of unprecedented destruction, and which's final peace treaty would set the path the wolrd would follow during the next decades.
A new map thread, a new WIP. Another Star Wars one from me today, so if you're tired of those look away now. This time it's from an AU of mine that is somewhat related to my Star Wars story/TL (see my sig) but set some way in the future of that. Essentially the basis of it is, as with my story/TL, that Exar Kun (http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Exar_Kun) returns to the galaxy from his exile as a spirit on Yavin 4 and in doing so possesses Anakin Skywalker. A new Brotherhood of the Sith is formed and many shenanigans ensue, including everything from Palpatine fleeing Coruscant after being revealed by Dooku and forming his own Galactic Empire in Wild Space, to a Sith schism as Karness Murr joins the party.
And as a bonus a Star Wars Basemap as well, to follow on from the Revan's Sith Empire one. This time a basemap of the Mandalorian Wars.
And as a bonus a Star Wars Basemap as well, to follow on from the Revan's Sith Empire one. This time a basemap of the Mandalorian Wars.
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I know we've moved from this topic, but man, I was there live when it happened. CalBear didn't like how was referring to the Mormons and how it could be offensive to them (I'm Mormon, and I wasn't), and the guy was just went a tirade on how he hated this site. We seriously thought the previous Map Thread was gonna get locked because of him.
hello again, back with another work in progress, this time it's a map based on the far east in the world of kaiserreich as of 1936:
hello again, back with another work in progress, this time based on the far east:
Kaiserreich?
I don't think it would divide the community; we also have other map threads such as the ASB Map Thread and WIP Map Thread, and those haven't divided the community. In fact, many people either crosspost their maps to both the main Map Thread and the ASB Map Thread, for example, or only use the main Map Thread.
I personally think a DBWI Map Thread would bring a lot of interest to the "genre", so I'd definitely be interested in it.
supposed to be the northern Philippines, the map's supposed to cut off at the bottom but I got too lazy to put the margins on the sides lol
an alt-hist modification for the Hearts of Iron video game series, particularly its latest installment Hearts of Iron IV
the basic premise is that Germany won WW1 (or the Weltkrieg); it all snowballs from there, and the map's a graphic depiction of one of them after rolling for twenty-something years
3/4 of the maps i've posted here so far are related to the setting, which says something about how much i like it haha
Well, it's definitely something for me to consider in the future. I agree with your points (I doubt a DBWI thread would ever become as popular as this thread anyway) and I think having more DBWI maps and graphics isn't something to complain about, regardless of what thread they're in.
Thanks!
1. basically, I wanted TTLs America to continue with the Latinate names and aesthetic. I have heard there were proposals to name the US Alleghenies after the mountains, so I’ve taken that name, but added Oriental in front of it to denote that the state is more or less east of those mountains. After all, who would name a country the United States of America? Presumably that was just a placeholder description in the documents of their revolt.
2. Continental is also used because it was used in the revolution. Let’s say it’s a lack of imagination on the author’s part. My general idea is that the three Continental Republics are united under an umbrella transnational Continental Congress. If I ever get around to making a sequel, the Continental Republics will unite into a Continental Federation.
3. These states definitely have claims west of the Appalachians, but are not shown because these are the core territories of these countries. I considered adding that information but did not. We can also chalk it up to the author being poorly informed and overlooking those lands as they had few white settlers.
4. Again, this is just a vague outline, but I’m thinking Britain gave its colonies independence, but there is a Commonwealth-esque entity that has powers somewhat stronger than the EU. While the Empire as an extension of London is gone, it exists in the form as a league of fraternal nations with a similar cultural heritage. North America itself has an independent, Hispanic California, but most of the plains and east are English-descended and there are several “Commonwealth” states there. As an example, the poster New York Dandy is from New York, yet attends school in the Plains state of Brunelia. Because of free travel and few restrictions for commonwealth subjects, this is not uncommon.
Thanks!
Skallagrim
Banned
This is really cool. Both the ultra-monarchist world and the hypothetical ultra-republican world seem very interesting. I must note that I don't think monarchism or even anti-republicanism is by definition bad (and indeed, there is clear criticism of 'ultras' even in the monarchist world; I'd like to know what the place is like). On the other hand, it's kind of funny that the in-universe mapmaker considers his scenario to be evidently evil and scary. Assuming for the moment that the revolutionaries didn't go full Robespierre, the idea of those independent Scottish and Irish states (the latter even nicely confederal, yay) seems rather attractive...
I am endlessly surprised by how well-liked such an evil and tiny map is.
Redcoat
Banned
That takes a bit of effort to do, you shouldn't just expect people to do this on the fly tbh
Redcoat
Banned
D̶e̶g̶e̶n̶e̶r̶a̶c̶y̶ ̶b̶e̶y̶o̶n̶d̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶r̶ ̶w̶i̶l̶d̶e̶s̶t̶ ̶i̶m̶a̶g̶i̶n̶a̶t̶i̶o̶n̶.̶ Well it's a rather weird fetish.
Ah mobiyiuz.....I think I was the person who convinced him to join the board a while back. He was raging over the site's policy I think, possibly also a hatred for KitFisto, not sure about the second.
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