Osman Reborn; The Survival of Ottoman Democracy [An Ottoman TL set in the 1900s]

[Sarthak]

I believe my semi-cannon contribution to the TL was here, even though I was too busy to add a narrative.

Osman Reborn; The Survival of Ottoman Democracy [An Ottoman TL set in the 1900s]

I only say that the, apparently existing, Greek battleships have not be specifically mentioned... perhaps I should offer a guest naval post if you'll take one. :) you can, as long as it remains within the realms of plausibility and fits the narrative into the TL, go right ahead!

www.alternatehistory.com

Speaking of the Spanish Jaime I had already been launched in September 1914. Without delays in British material deliveries it's construction should be well ahead of OTL.

Indeed it was very useful!

He is also supposed to be marrying Elisabeth of Romania well maybe she has turned him down in 1914 and Venizelos would not mind at all if his brand new king found a British bride...

I will be looking into his prospective bride. Even if British is not available, the French royals, and the Russians as well as Spaniards have aplenty of princesses to go around.

Minor nitpick. This is still the 1912 parliament plus the 69 MPs of the Cretan parliament (next election Crete will have far fewer MPs) So 181 +69 MPs of which Venizelos controls at least 174 (not certain how many of the 46 Cretans not directly affiliated to his party have joined the Liberals in the meantime to further increase the number. I presume the Cypriots elected in the legislative council are similarly added to parliament.

These are the British censusses of Cyprus. Turkish-Cypriots were 20.59% in 1911 and 19.74% in 1921.

Ethnic	census 18811	census 1891	census 1901	census 1911	census 1921	census 1931	census 1946	census 1960
group	Number	Number	Number	Number	Number	Number	Number	Number
Greeks	137631	158585	182739	214480	244887	276572	361199	442363
Turks	45458	47926	51309	56428	61339	64238	80548	104333
Armenians	174	280	517	558	1197	3377	3686	363
Maronites	830	1131	1130	1073	1350	1704	2083	2752
Others	1738	1.364	1327	1569	1942	2068	2598	20488
Total	186173	209286	237022	274108	310715	347959	450114	573566

ah right will edit

Now that forms an interesting model... for frex the Eastern Aegean. Either way unless something changes on the Ottoman side there is little reason for at the moment for Greek-Ottoman relations to go sour.

we will see.

 

[Sarthak]

Sorry got question regarding the map thessaly should be greek right?

yes

Why does Liberia look like it's owned by the Dutch?

there are slight different palletes.

Though the map is not totally accurate again.

 

[Sarthak]

Just going to ask, how do you guys think the addition of Cyprus into Greece will affect Greek politics?

 

[Johnharry]

The otl neglect largely came due to the bankruptcy from the 1911 war. The cities are from neglected ittl

yes Sufism is a whole lot more stronger ittl.

thanks!

The cities are not neglected TTL?

Well that will do a good job. I also expect once petroleum is discovered Basra province to really develop, same with Libya.

Rashidi Arabia, basically sitting on a sea of oil and this time not having to occupy Hejaz like OTL Saudis, should be quite insanely wealthy, perhaps a giant UAE of sorts.

Given the industrial development across the empire TTL, I think by modern day the Ottoman Empire should probably be mostly considered a "developed country," especially with its diverse economic assets and resources (a similar advantage to the United States actually!)

 

[Johnharry]

Just going to ask, how do you guys think the addition of Cyprus into Greece will affect Greek politics?

I think one thing it will certainly do is calm down tensions with the Ottomans and lead to more willingness to work with them across the political spectrum

 

[Sarthak]

The cities are not neglected TTL?

Well that will do a good job

The tourism money is needed after all!

also expect once petroleum is discovered Basra province to really develop, same with Libya.

Basra is already the main ottoman port in the Persian gulf so it will develop suitably.

Rashidi Arabia, basically sitting on a sea of oil and this time not having to occupy Hejaz like OTL Saudis, should be quite insanely wealthy, perhaps a giant UAE of sorts.

Not exactly. Around 3/4 of the oil fields are in the coasts of Saudi Arabia which are controlled by the ottomans ittl. It has enough but nowhere near to make a killing of it.

Given the industrial development across the empire TTL, I think by modern day the Ottoman Empire should probably be mostly considered a "developed country," especially with its diverse economic assets and resources (a similar advantage to the United States actually!)

In terms of natural resources the OE will be quite healthy that's for sure.

 

[Sarthak]

I think one thing it will certainly do is calm down tensions with the Ottomans and lead to more willingness to work with them across the political spectrum

It should lower tensions however the nationalists will certainly be emboldened in Greece.

 

[Imperial 1914]

Would the UK/Russia really have intervened in support of Bulgaria if the Ottoman terms were harsh since both were in the middle of ww1?how large was the UK/Russian armies in Egypt and Caucasus vs the Ottoman armies near the border??

 

[Johnharry]

The tourism money is needed after all!


Basra is already the main ottoman port in the Persian gulf so it will develop suitably.


Not exactly. Around 3/4 of the oil fields are in the coasts of Saudi Arabia which are controlled by the ottomans ittl. It has enough but nowhere near to make a killing of it.


In terms of natural resources the OE will be quite healthy that's for sure.

Well what also helps is it seems TTL Ottomans are industrializing far faster than OTL and the 1920s-40s era economic stagnation in the region should be avoided, also the development of "military states" later in the 50s likely wont occur in that region (the stratocracy of the region stunted economically development extremely OTL)

Also a big thing, is it seems the new local governance approach and development of a civilian state with parties too will go miles; local governance is key to development here

 

[Knightmare]

It should lower tensions however the nationalists will certainly be emboldened in Greece.

Yeah, that's kinda the issue. Yes, it defuses a potential crisis point with Greece, but at the same time, it also risks some of the more foolish ilk, the kind who would call for Megali Idea, which the Ottomans will not take well.

Would the UK/Russia really have intervened in support of Bulgaria if the Ottoman terms were harsh since both were in the middle of ww1?how large was the UK/Russian armies in Egypt and Caucasus vs the Ottoman armies near the border??

Thing is, even if it's a bluff, is it really worth gambling, in the middle of a war?

 

[akramos2012]

So when the OE is going to reclaim back Cypress and next time please try to avoid the maritime borders problem that's Greece and Turkey are having otl

 

[Nenshou Yuuki]

Would the UK/Russia really have intervened in support of Bulgaria if the Ottoman terms were harsh since both were in the middle of ww1?how large was the UK/Russian armies in Egypt and Caucasus vs the Ottoman armies near the border??

A threat doesn't necessarily have to be something they can really go through with, and besides, do the Ottomans really want to take the risk that they can go through with it.

 

[Sarthak]

Would the UK/Russia really have intervened in support of Bulgaria if the Ottoman terms were harsh since both were in the middle of ww1?how large was the UK/Russian armies in Egypt and Caucasus vs the Ottoman armies near the border??

the threat is enough. The Ottomans don't want any war at all, and will avoid it in the manner that they can

 

[Sarthak]

Well what also helps is it seems TTL Ottomans are industrializing far faster than OTL and the 1920s-40s era economic stagnation in the region should be avoided, also the development of "military states" later in the 50s likely wont occur in that region (the stratocracy of the region stunted economically development extremely OTL)

yes, as a great power the OE's military will remain powerful, however the civilian government is paramount,

Also a big thing, is it seems the new local governance approach and development of a civilian state with parties too will go miles; local governance is key to development here

Indeed local governance will be key to the future development of the empire.

 

[Sarthak]

Yeah, that's kinda the issue. Yes, it defuses a potential crisis point with Greece, but at the same time, it also risks some of the more foolish ilk, the kind who would call for Megali Idea, which the Ottomans will not take well.

the ottomans alone can defeat greece, that kinda is not the issue, it's the diplomatic outreach that the Greeks have in a potential greco-ottoman war that worries the ottomans

Thing is, even if it's a bluff, is it really worth gambling, in the middle of a war?

exactly.

 

[Sarthak]

So when the OE is going to reclaim back Cypress and next time please try to avoid the maritime borders problem that's Greece and Turkey are having otl

Cyprus is for all intents and purposes lost to the Ottomans ittl.

 

[Sarthak]

A threat doesn't necessarily have to be something they can really go through with, and besides, do the Ottomans really want to take the risk that they can go through with it.

indeed. The Ottomans again do not want a new front of a new war.

 

[Hawabin]

@Sārthākā you really shouldn't post future wiki boxes of your TL in other threads. Now I already know what's going to be the outcome for the upcoming naval battle in Mediterranean.

 

[Sarthak]

Chapter 25: The End of 1915

***

“The total defeat of Serbia has ensured that the House of Osman remains powerful on the peninsula.” – Franz Ferdinand

“After the defeat of Bulgaria, the flanks of the Serbian nation were dangerously exposed to an Ottoman attack that would end the war once and for all. The Serbian government under Prime Minister Stanojevic realized that their nation was in an unenviable position as the Bulgarians retreated past the border and made peace. The Serbian government began to use the Swiss as their intermediary and the Serbian minister to Switzerland met with the Ottoman Ambassador to Switzerland asking the Ottoman government for an armistice, now that victory was impossible.

It was clear to Peter I and Stanojevic that the nation was heading for national disaster as the armies of Mehmed Essat Pasha, swelling with the addition of reinforcements and reservists entered Serbian territory on the 3rd of November, 1915 with 150,000 men invading Serbia itself. That same day Serbian General Stepa Stepanovic told the Serbian Ministry of War that the Serbian armies at the front would be unable to hold Mehmed Essat Pasha for far too long, as his tactics of combined warfare was starting to take its toll on the Serbian armies. Things got worse for the Serbians as Mehmed Essat Pasha reached Predejane, only around 25 miles south of the bustling urban city of Leskovac. Stepanovic called out for a national defense of the nation, which was unlikely but not impossible. However neither Peter I nor Stanojevic had the stomach for an occupation of the country, especially by the Turks. As a result, on November 6, 1915, the Serbian government contacted the Montenegrin government under King Nikola I, and there, the two governments agreed to find a ‘peace with dignity’.

However such an idea was completely unfounded. Unlike the Bulgarians, with whom the Ottomans still had relative good relations despite the war’s bad blood, the Serbs and Ottomans had a long history of hatred for one another which made a complacent peace untenable and impossible. On November 7, Ahmet Riza got news from Switzerland that the Serbs and Montenegrins were hoping for peace, however Riza told the diplomats to stymie the armistice talks, long enough for Mehmet Essat Pasha to capture Leskovac.

Mehmet Essat Pasha made his main base against Leskovac on Graovo where the V Corps made their base. The IV Corps was deployed to Nakrivanj and the VI Corps was deployed to Ruplje forming the left and right flanks respectively. Meanwhile opposite to him General Stepa Stepanovich of the Serbians had deployed the Serbian I Corps at Grdelica to face the V Corps of the Ottomans whilst the Serbian II corps protected Trnjane against the Ottoman IV corps and the Serbian III Corps defended Velika against the Ottoman VI Corps. The Ottomans began the battle with a massive bombardment with the artillery corps and the air corps bombing the Serbian sector by a massive amount to soften their defense. The shock and awe strategy was followed by a massive Ottoman offensive all across the front. This strategy of shock was successful in throwing the serbs on the backfoot and Vucje, Tulovo and Middle Grdelica fell to the Ottoman assaults in good order.

Serbian troops fighting near Leskovac in the snow. ​

After that Stepanovic ordered all reserves from Leskovac to enter the battlefield in order to overwhelm the Ottomans in an attempt to gain numerical superiority however this bid failed as Mehmet Essat Pasha moved against this as well. Mehmet Essat Pasha managed to gain information from his troops that the II Yanya Corps was arriving from the south and Mehmet Essat Pasha ordered the II Yanya Corps to move towards the southwest and eventually to the northwest, in order to flank the position. As the Serbs and Ottomans continued to fight it out near Leskovac, the II Yanya Corps marched towards the frontier town of Medveda and attacked the defenses of Leskovac from the flanks, defeating the Serbian partisans in the area. This led to the fall off the western sector of Leskovac, and prompted a general panic amongst the populace aand the army defending the city. Mehmet Essat Pasha utilized this panic in full and ordered a new carronade from the artillery which bombarded the enemy positions and defeated the forward Serbian positions as well.

The next day on November 8, the Ottomans entered the city of Leskovac wary but victorious. The city’s populace was angered, and not at all cooperative, however Ahmet Riza and Mahmud Shevket Pasha made it clear that any breach of the Geneva Convention would mean instant death sentence to any general who got any ‘bright’ ideas.

This defeat made it sure to the Serbs and the Montenegrins that the Ottomans would not be seeking a lenient peace. Unlike the Serbs however, King Nikola I of Montenegro still held a powerful trump card up his sleeve. He had tied down nearly 100,000 troops with small army of around 30,000 men and was eager to exploit this to gain an even peace. A deputy of the Montenegrin government reached Constantinople on the 15th of November, and asked for peace, calling for a status quo ante bellum territorially and giving light reparations to the Ottoman government. To be clear, Ahmet Riza did not see the Montenegrins as a threat. They knew how to punch above their weight yes, however they could never stand on their own two feet against the Ottoman Empire. As a result, Ahmet Riza and the Cabinet was welcoming for peace with the Montenegrins. On November 22, the Treaty of Constantinople was signed in which the Montenegrins retreated back towards their border, and retained the territorial status quo whilst the Montenegrins agreed to pay 3 million pounds as reparations to the Ottoman empire, slightly above the total damage they had created throughout their occupied territories (The destruction created by the Montenegrin occupation in the Ottoman Empire amounted to some 2.85 million pounds).

At the same time, the Serbs had finally managed to negotiate an armistice as Serbian Foreign Minister Mihailo Gavrilovic and Ottoman Foreign Minister Curuksulu Mahmud Pasha signed the Armistice of Geneva which ended hostilities between the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Serbia for the time being as the diplomats tried to find a proper peace treaty.

After two weeks of haggling and negotiations, the Treaty of Salonika (1915) ended the war between the Ottoman Empire and Kingdom of Serbia on December 12, 1915. The terms of the treaty were:-

• The Serbian government would provide the Ottoman Empire 50 million pounds as war reparations.
• The Serbian Military would be limited to 80,000 men for 25 years.
• The Serbian Leskovac Province would be occupied by Ottoman troops until 1918.
• The industrial production of Leskovac will be taken by the Ottomans as war reparations as well.
• The Serbian government would try all war criminals who perpetrated crimes against the Ottoman Empire’s territories with Ottoman supervisors present.
• The Ottomans to annex the Albanian majority border towns of the Vranje province.
• The Serbian government to issue an apology to the Ottoman government.
• All Serbian claims to Ottoman lands would be terminated by the Serbian government.
• The current government of Serbia would resign and new elections would take place.
• King Peter I of Serbia would abdicate his throne and due to the death of Prince Alexander of Serbia in hospitalization, Prince George would become King George I of the Serbian Kingdom.
• The Serbian muslims would be granted total freedom of rights in Serbia, and the Ottoman government would have an advisory and supervisory role in the treatment of Muslims in Serbia.

The treaty was humiliating and made by the Ottoman diplomats to be as such. They hadn’t forgotten all the slights they had to put up from Serbia and as a result, the Ottomans were ruthless in their demands. Whenever the Serbian diplomats protested the Ottoman diplomats were not weary of showing the military situation bluntly to the Serbians. Meanwhile Russian Tsar Nicholas II meddled in the diplomatic process, and for once acted with caution. He knew that the scale of the Serbian defeat and knew that he could only save the Serbians from being reduced into a non-state. As such, the Russian Emperor began to revive talks with the Ottomans about an Ottoman-Russian Alliance that had been dropped in 1908 just long enough to gain some goodwill in Constantinople. He used this renewed and temporary influence to make sure that Serbia survived as a state, though very reduced.

​

The Balkan War was over.” A History of Ottoman Balkans: War, Deceit, Prosperity and Nationalism. University of Oxford, 1998.

***

“We are citizens of the empire too!” – Ottoman Feminist slogan.

“The victory in the Balkan War was immediate in its effects. Throughout December, celebrations commenced throughout the empire, and its populace, as the population rejoiced that the war had been won. Ahmet Riza and his cabinet, called the Cabinet of the Wondermen became extremely popular universally and Ahmet Riza used this popularity to pass the Veterans Law in December 1915 which gave the veterans of the war who were retiring a permanent pension from the Ottoman state. The Ottoman economy was also backtracked as the wartime economy was slowly scrapped in favor of a peacetime economy as things settled down for the better in the Balkans.

However that is not to say that there weren’t problems afflicting the empire even after the end of the war. The Ottoman Women’s Suffrage Movement led by the troika of Halide Edib, Maria Leontias and Fatma Aliye were starting to get extremely more vocal in their support of universal women’s suffrage. Men in the Ottoman Empire had managed to gain universal suffrage in 1908 (though on paper it remained a conditional electoral vote), however in the empire, only women above the age of 30 were allowed the vote, something that Edib, Leontias and Aliye were all opposed to. The three had served in the Balkan War as women’s nurse and education volunteers and the three had become extremely popular with the veterans. The question of Universal Women’s Suffrage became the biggest political issue in peacetime Ottoman Empire after the Balkan War. Riza personally was disposed towards Universal Women’s Suffrage, however his party and many in the Ottoman Senate and the Ottoman Chamber of Deputies were opposed to the idea, on idealistic and religious grounds.

(1) - Hallide Edib, (2) - Maria Leontias
Two prominent early Ottoman Feminists ​

Maria Leontias, an Ottoman Greek, and the daughter of prominent educator Sopha Leontias was instrumental in increasing political pressure to the government. As an Ottoman Greek, she held natural sway in the parliament due to her minority status, and she held multiple rallies throughout the empire, especially in Greek majority areas in favor of Universal Women’s Suffrage. She was aided in this endeavor from Turkish Feminist Halide Edib and Turko-Arab feminist Fatma Aliye, who all campaigned within their ethnic boundaries of the empire in favor of Universal Women’s Suffrage as well.

To many in the Ottoman Parliament, the allowance of Women from ages 18 would be a fundamental change to the political body as the millions of new votes would change the basic fundamental power bases of every political party in the country. As a result, the politicians were afraid of such a radical change. On December 25, 1915 as the Christian populace of the empire settled down to celebrate Christmas, Ahmet Riza announced that the Parliament of the Ottoman Empire would be discussing conditional universal women’s suffrage in the empire, lowering suffrage requirements for women to the age of 18 if the women in question could meet monetary and electoral requirements such as wealth and education.

Amongst this growing feminist mood in the empire, the question of the Imperial Harem came into question as well. Almost every females in the empire, and indeed, many males as well, found the institution of the Harem to be horrendous, obsolete and in need of abolition. Sultan Mehmed V who had been grown and groomed in the Harem was not in favor of such a proposal, however knew that if he stated that aloud, he would be lynched in the streets and the popular image he had made for himself would die a very fast death.

On December 29, a meeting was conducted between the important members of the Imperial Dynasty, where they discussed the issue. Many among the Imperial Dynasty were opposed to abolishing the Harem, and Mehmed V reluctantly told the dynastic members that many changes needed to be made in the dynasty. After heated debates throughout the day between several dynastic members, it was the progressive faction led by Prince Abdulmejid [1] and Prince Osman Fuad who won the argument and the two managed to convince Mehmed V to talk against the Harem. On December 31, Mehmed V through radio announced to the empire and the world that after his death and the end of his reign, whenever it may be in the future, the institution of the Harem would be abolished forever. The Imperial Harem would be completely changed, as it would retreat from its usual interpretation to focus solely on education for women in the empire, by opening schools and colleges for women in the empire. [2]

This was a momentous day for the empire and the Women’s Movement in the Ottoman empire. As such every December 31, Women’s Day is celebrated in the Ottoman Empire till today as well.

governmental officials declaring the abolition of the Imperial Harem, which will take place after Mehmed V's death. ​

The official abolition of the Harem was supported by the Liberal Entente, Ottoman Democratic Party and the Ottoman Socialist Party within the political spectrum of the empire as the wartime coalition in the empire collapsed.” Women in the Modern Ottoman Empire: A History. Konya Publishing, 2019.

***

“Dreadnought but the Seas.” – First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill.

“Ever since war had been declared the war in the seas had been an on and off affair within the Mediterranean Sea. The Italians and Austrians combined were trying to bait the Allied fleets whilst the allied fleets tried to force their enemies into open battle. Both tactics on both sides failed. However in early November, this situation changed as the Greeks entered the Great War amidst the backdrop of gaining Cyprus from the British government.

The naval situation was already untenable with the Spaniards in the war, however the situation turned for the worse as the Greeks entered the naval war. The Italian and Austrian admiralty therefore believed that they would need to defeat the allied fleets once and for all instead of in small hit and run tactics. Italian Vice-Admiral Augusto Aubry decided for a daring strategy, that of a battle in the open to destroy the Greek fleet. His counterpart, Anton Haus, the Commander of the Austro-Hungarian Fleet decided that was a horrible strategy, however Aubry convinced Haus that the Italians and the Austrians would disengage after the Greek fleet was destroyed, creating a tactical defeat but a strategic victory, something that would be extremely beneficial to the naval situation of the Central Powers. Haus was convinced after this, and the Austrian and Italian Navies met in the Adriatic on November 8, and started to move out against the allied warships.

On November 12, the Austrians and the Italians were informed by their intelligence that the Greek navy was loitering about near the Apulian Plateau in the Straits of Otranto patrolling the seas. The Greek contingent consisted of 1 Battleship, 3 cruisers and 8 destroyers, and was led by Admiral Pavlos Kountoriotis. Italian and Austrian information confirmed to them that the Spanish and joint Anglo-French navies weren’t far away near Alfeo Seamount, and as a result, the situation was most opportune. British Vice-Admiral Archibald Milne knew about the impending danger from his own information from the Admiralty and had already ordered the Anglo-Spanish-French fleet forward towards the Apulian Plateau however, unknown to the Austro-Italian fleets.

British ships during the Battle. ​

On November 14, the Austrians and Italians began to enter the Apulian Plateau intent on fighting. Admiral Haus’s Dreadnoughts, the Prince Eugen and Viribis Unitis lined up in the front with the Italian dreadnoughts Conte di Cavour and Leonardo Da Vinci lining up in the rear. In between there stood 19 Italian cruisers, 21 Italian destroyers, 7 Italian battleships, 10 Austrian cruisers, 16 Austrian Destroyers and 4 Austrian battleships, lining up to become a temporary naval behemoth as the 81 warships started to move against the completely outclassed and outnumbered Greek navy.

By around 14:00 of the 14th of November, Haus’s ships were proceeding southward at roughly the same latitude as Kountoriotis. Kountoriotis who was by now wary and knowing of the incoming danger was trying to outmaneuver his opponents, however the large number of enemy warships meant that they were capable of boxing his fleet in. However, the Spanish Navy consisting of 1 dreadnought, 4 Cruisers and 6 destroyers under the command of Admiral Antonio Gresilon allowed Kountoriotis to properly create a line so that he could retreat from the area in a proper line of command.

Haus at around 14:20 decided to send 2 cruisers and 5 destroyers ahead as a scouting group. As the scouting detachment turned north, the Austrian admiralty based out of Trieste and Zara informed Haus that they had received news and information that the Anglo-French navy under Milne was nearing his naval positions. As a result, Haus and Aubry ordered the warships to be divided into three columns. At around 15:00 the scouting detachment returned and joined the three columns just as Kountoriotis thankfully was able to attach the Greek navy into the Anglo-Spanish-French navies. Milne likewise ordered his ships to be divided into three columns as the ships started to turn to one another to stand and fight in the greatest naval battle of the Mediterranean throughout the Great War.

At around 16:30 the battle began in earnest as the Austrian Dreadnought Prince Eugen struck first and fired the first shell, which planted itself into a French destroyer. That was all that was needed for the battle to start in earnest. However whilst the Allied Navies now had a great numerical advantage of some 110 ships against 81 warships on the Austro-Italian side, the advantage of the strategic prerogative remained with Haus, and the wind blowing south during the evening gave the visibility advantage to the Austrians and the Italians. Haus used that to his utmost advantage. Using the cover of the scuds [3], the three columns of Austro-Italian warships detached from one another, in an attempt to create a wide trident formation.

Milne and his ships on the other hand were hampered by the low visibility created by the scuds and was completely caught by surprise when his third column was caught by the Italian line as the Leonardo Da Vinci and the Italian battleships laid down heavy fire at the surprised British lines of the Royal Navy. The sailors returned fire, however they were too late to save the Indefatigable which exploded in a maelstrom of fire and heat as the ship sank beneath the waves amidst a great carronade. The Greek Battleship Colchis managed to shield the other British warships allowing them to throw the Italian assault back though they remained battered.

This too was an Austro-Italian victory. Aubry and Haus now knew on which column the Greek navy was situated at, and the two columns started to veer to the Allied third column whilst the last Austrian column formed a defensive line to keep the other Allied ships at bay. Around 55 warships attacked the Allied third column again at around 17:45 and attacked that sector of the battlefield. This column was defending the allied navy was made up predominantly of British and Greek ships and the two sides fought one another with carronades continuously. Milne had believed that this attack was a diversion and was instead trying to probe into the defensive parameter made by the last Austrian column and was getting shelled in return by the two Austrian dreadnoughts.

This created a lopsided effect on both sides of the battle. The Austro-Italian assault on the Allied 3rd column succeeded and managed to sink 2 Greek cruisers, 3 Greek destroyers, 4 British cruisers, and 5 British destroyers in return for having 4 of their own cruisers and 5 of their own destroyers sunk. This created a gap in the allied third column that Haus exploited as the Austrian and Italian ships entered the gaps and started to fire at the startled enemies. As darkness fell however Milne counter-attacked. The Austrian and Italian naval flanks were dangerously overstretched and as such it became easy for Milne’s flagship, the Inflexible to create a breach in the Austrian third column as Prince Eugen was sunk by the British dreadnought. Haus and Aubry were informed of this breach and the fact that their entire line of retreat was now in danger of a pincer movement on part of Milne.

At 18:25, Haus ordered a strategic retreat. In his mind he had got what he had wanted. The threat of the Greek navy at the Straits of Otranto had been temporarily defeated and had been dealt a blow. The allied navies had been dealt a good blow as well, and the Austrians and Italians needed to preserve as much ships as they could as well. By 19:00 both navies had detached from one another ending the Battle of the Apulian Plateau in a tactical Allied Victory and Strategic Austro-Italian victory.

​

The battle immediately led to a sour taste in Greece, as the anti-war faction bristled at the strategic defeat of the navy. The Ministry of the Navy came under fire. Milne himself was replaced in the British Mediterranean Fleet by Somerset Gough-Calthorpe." The Naval War. Naval-Encyclopedia.com

***

“The Winter Offensive will begin.” – Marshal Svetozar Borevic.

Chief of General Staff Viktor Dankl and Field Marshal Svetozar Borevic had been preparing for a grand offensive against Russia for a long time, however they did not get the mandate for it from the Ministry of War and the other members of the general staff for a long time due to ammunition problems, and the fact that the Hungarians were becoming wary of the war already.

Marshal Svetozar Borevic. ​

However the need for a grand offensive became clear as the Russians occupied Memel and were now in good position to take the city of Konigsberg, which if the Russians did, would be a blow the German Empire would never recover from. The morale blow would just be too high. As such German Chief of General Staff, General Bulow asked his Austro-Hungarian allies to divert Russian attention so that the Germans could recover and hold their ground against the diverted Russian troops.

Chief of General Staff Viktor Dankl agreed to the idea, and had his most capable subordinate Field Marshal Svetozar Borevic to plan a massive offensive which the two called the Winter Offensive. The goals of this offensive plan was simple. The 6th Army would strike at Lublin whilst the 4th Army would strike at Lutsk. This would make the Russians in between Lutsk and Lublin, as well the Russian troops in Poland, come into danger of encirclement, and force the Russians out. Then after that the 4th army from Lutsk and the 7th Army from Chernivtsi would strike out against Zhytomyr in Ukraine in a pincer movement, 200 kilometers west of Kiev, and through the attempt encircling nearly 600,000 Russian troops. Such a blow would be deadly to the Russian Empire, which seemed to be advancing into East Prussia.

Mounting pressure from Germany caused the Austrians to hurry their preparations. Dankl amassed the 4 armies consisting of 44 Infantry Divisions and 16 cavalry divisions up against the front, facing 40 Russian Infantry Divisions and 15 Russian cavalry divisions in near numerical parity. Deception efforts on the Austrian side were intended to conceal the point of attack. This included false radio reports and traffic, false orders being sent through messengers who were purposely left to be captured, and equipment displays including dummy artillery and dummy fortifications. Dankl and Borevic knew that they would not be getting a lot of reinforcements due to the Hungarian reluctance to supply them through the Carpathians, and as such moved his reserves up front to create more attacking power. They used the reserve to dig entrenchments along the frontline. These provided shelter for the troops and hindered Russian observations. The Austrians secretly sapped the trenches, and the Austrians prepared for a surprise assault.

The Winter Offensive started with the Battle of Lutsk on the 4th of December as the 4th Army under Borevic attacked the Russian 8th Army under the command of General Alexei Kaledin. Borevic began the battle with a massive artillery barrage against Kaledin’s Russian defenses lasting through the night and into the morning. The Austrian artillery broke gaps through the barbed wire trenches. This allowed the Austrian infantry to commence a surprise attack in the vicinity of the main metropolitan area of Lutsk itself. This complete surprise attack caused many of the Russians to be taken prisoner. Some entire units surrendered without resistance, and others fled in panic. A counter attack by Kaledin briefly secured the first and second line of the trenches, but overwhelming numbers of the Austrian infantry pressed the attack and took the third and fourth line of defenses. Within days, 80,000 Russian soldiers were lost in comparison to a simple 12,000 Austrian troops.

Russian troops during the Battle of Lutsk. ​

In a same manner, on December 8, the Austrian 6th Army under the command of General Rudolf Brudermann began to clash with the Russian 5th Army under the command of General Pavel Plehve, who controlled the passes into Lublin. In a similar manner to the south in Lutsk, Brudermann opened the battle with a massive artillery barrage and attacked the outskirts of Lublin, which were defended by the Russians fiercely. The line from Glusk all the way to Lupniak was fortified by the Russians ferociously as the Austrian cavalry rode forward and engaged the Russian Don Cossack Cavalry in what is deemed to be the last Great Cavalry Battle at the Battle of Dominow. The Austrian Hussars and the Russian Cossack Cavalry duked it out in Dominow to capture the territory which crossed the path into Konopnica which controlled a part of the fortifications against Lublin. The Austrians were able to make a flanking maneuver which pushed the Russians behind, and Brudermann began to use tactics that he had studied to pressure the Russians. Brudermann had studied the Ottoman Balkan War with careful eyes and had observed Mehmet Essat Pasha’s combined arms tactics and its effectiveness. A mixture of aerial bombing, cavalry probes, infantry assaults and artillery barrages broke the Russian defenses new Glusk and pushed them back into Wrotkow. The Russians began to attack Glusk again in a counter-offensive to take the area back, however the Croat regiments which defended the area, defended it fiercely and managed to stall any Russian counter-offensive. At the same time the Russian position became precipitous when Austrian grenadiers managed to capture Swidnik, putting the entire city of Lublin and its defenders under risk of or encirclement. On December 13, Plehve ordered a retreat to Leczna, ending the Battle of Lublin in favor of the Austrians as well.

the new Russian Prime minister, Sergey Muromstev. ​

The early success of the Winter Offensive made severe repercussions. These battles precipitated the fall of the Goremykin Government in Russia, and allowed the Progressive Bloc under Sergey Muromtsev to take power in Russia, despite the personal influence of the Tsar who did not wish to see Muromstev in power. In the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Franz Joseph legalized the creation of the Polish Legions and stated their explicit goal to see the creation of a free and independent Poland after the war, with a Habsburg monarch. The plan had worked. The pressure on the German front lightened, and the Germans soon started to recover territory in the occupied lands slowly one by one.” Precipice of an Empire: The Habsburg Empire during the Great War. Vienna Publishing, 2011.



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[1] – OTl Abdulmejid II

[2] – The Ottoman Harem provided educational opportunities for women otl, which led to many joining voluntarily. Essentially after the sexual portion of the harem is abolished, the harem ittl becomes a purely education board to support women’s education in the empire.

[3] – Low flying clouds

 

[Sarthak]

Battles everywhere and leave in the Balkans! Thoughts?