Otto von Bismark, arch-conservative that he was, also made concessions to the German workers - concessions that had been requested by the nascent socialist movement. His goal was to undercut any revolutionary movements and weaken the socialists - clearly the system as-is could respond to the workers, there was no need for big changes, right?
It worked, and there's no reason that the conservative German aristocracy couldn't do it again. Give the socialists "enough" of the smaller requests, and you avoid having to make bigger changes.
Well, I'd certainly hope so.
@AlexG , this ties in with your comment- I suppose the Conservatives would appeal to their military constituency.
With regard to Germany focusing a bit too much on their infantry and the Stormtrooper Corps...don't diss the infantry. Modern historians in hindsight actually regard the role of armor in the German victories in France in 1940 as exaggerated. While concentrating armored forces to spearhead breakthroughs was a revolutionary idea, the role of well-trained, well-equipped, and well-led infantry forces in actually exploiting any breakthroughs was equally as important.
Huh- didn't actually know that! An excellent point, though. As I've said, tanks will come along, just not in their OTL history.
What about the US? They definitely have the resources to fund tank development, and I would think the rather poor performance of the US Army against the Mexicans outside of Vera Cruz would provide the motivation to try and develop a weapon capable of defeating trench lines. It should also be much easier to get defense funding out of Congress ITL than it was IOTL as with Germany ascendant in Europe and Japan on the march in Asia, the global situation seems much more threatening to the US than it was IOTL.
Normally, I would agree with you- but there's a twist coming with regards to Mexico that will mean the war ends before American tanks can hit the ground.
Actually among the CO, Austria had the best ore-1915 tank research program that went dead due to the war. Among the former CO Austria would be leading the charge in terms of tank development
Besides The UK, Russia also had research into the area. The ottomans had also showed a lot of interest into it because of the flat terrain if mesopotamia and the Levant.
*CP autocorrect hates me.
I'm not dismissing that- I'm sure Danubian tanks will have a good reputation once they get going- but with the Great War having been won through infantry and artillery there's no combat precedent for tanks. Right now, Danubia's in no position to be building them- just surviving is proving enough of a challenge. As for the Ottomans, well, they're at peace and naturally want to cut expenditure to start tackling their debt to the Germans, which hasn't gone anywhere. Italy has mountainous borders with France and Danubia, that's not good tank country at all Germany is congratulating itself for the success of the
Sturmtruppenkorps, while no one else is really in a position to build them.
I've said before, tanks will come in TTL, but they will be delayed.
But not something Bismarck made through altruism. It was a cold calculated political decision, as most of his were. If he had lasted beyond 1890 he may have found himself outflanked by Wilhelm II on social reform, pushing Bismarck beyond what the latter considered an acceptable price.
Oh, that's most certainly the same situation as here- few politicians ever do anything out of the goodness of their heart, and TTL is no different.
Its the german general stuff, they most certainly will do dumb shit, but relaying on static defense is most certainly not one them.
France and Germany are different just because Kaiserreich needs to do stuff for balance reasons, doesn't mean that history plays out like that
No one said Germany would make the same complacency mistake that France did.
No one did. The German Empire, like its Prussian predecessor, loves to plan for everything- I'm sure the men with red stripes on their trousers are sitting in offices in Berlin, making constituencies for war with revolutionary France, for a revolt in the East, for war with Britain or even Italy, and for intervening in Danubia. The Germans will never be caught by strategic surprise, hit totally out-of-the-blue in the same way Hitler caught Stalin- but that doesn't mean they're infallible. The General Staff can make miscalculations as well.
Thanks to everyone for reading and commenting!