Say, Do You Hear the Distant Drums? - A Timeline













Say, Do You Hear the Distant Drums?
A Timeline
by
Alexis Harding




ACT I, SCENE 1
1888-1901

Germany

The succession of Frederick III of Germany to the throne of the German Empire in the year 1888 was a great occasion. Frederick, born in 1831, was healthy for his age[1] and a liberal character - much to the chagrin of his Chancellor Otto Von Bismarck, arch-conservative and architect of German unification. The fraught relationship between the two would continue until Bismarck's resignation in 1891 over the difficult matter of the Socialist Laws. In late 1890 it was decided that the Laws, banning the Social Democrat Party, were not to be extended past the year 1892. Bismarck, having lost his majority in the Reichstag and unable to dominate Kaiser Frederick, resigned the next year, officially due to reasons of ill health and age. The actual reasons for Bismarck's retirement are still a matter of dispute among historians, but it is believed that his governing without a solid majority as well as his defeat on that particular matter had drastically weakened his constitution.

In 1898, Frederick, taking advantage of the war then raging between Spain and the United States of America, against his better judgement brought the Philippines from Spain. They would end up as little more than a massive sink for money and men until they received independence at the beginning of the 1970's, but at the time the mood for the Philippine annexation was enthusiastic. Also in that year, Russia agreed to a rapprochement and defensive alliance with Germany, in agreement for German neutrality in the 'Drive to the Straits'. An Anglo-German treaty of friendship was agreed upon in 1899, serving to convince the French that Germany planned a second humiliation for the Third Republic.

North America

In North America, the United States of America was beginning an imperialist period which would eventually climax in the National Conservative dictatorship of 1929-2008[2] (it should be stated that National Conservatism only really lasted for a long time in North America - contrast France and Austria - and even then this should probably be noted as due to the problems any land invasion of North America would have to undergo). This began in the Spanish-American War[3], in which America made a protectorate of Cuba, at the time a colony of Spain, as well as seizing Puerto Rico and occupying Haiti. However, the Philippines, desired by the USA at the time, ended up being seized by Germany.

France

The Third French Republic in 1900 agreed to an understanding with Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire in a bid to counter a feared German hegemon. Austria-Hungary was chosen because it had been nationally humiliated in 1866 during the Austro-Prussian War, and like France in part, sought to redress those grievances (however, the public mood in the Augsleich was never as fully in favour of revanche as the French mood was, even during the First European War of 1914-1921). The Ottomans decided to join the French primarily out of fear of Russia, and tentatively agreed to a defensive alliance with France in 1901 . This alliance network would remain unchanged until the First European War, and would be resurrected in part for the second.

Great Britain


The death of the Queen-Empress Victoria in early 1901 was seen as a tragedy by much of Europe. The royals of all her monarchies were present at the funeral, for many were related to that great Queen. She was succeeded by her son Edward VII of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, who would preside over the Edwardian era of European history.


-----
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Our divergence, folks.
[2] This will be explained.
[3] As OTL.
 
Last edited:

yourworstnightmare

Banned
Donor
Actually Frederick called himself Frederick III of Germany since he considered himself the spiritual successor of Frederick Barbarossa and Frederick the Great. And wouldn't Frederick III steer Germany to become pro- British, since he was very much an Anglophile.
 
Actually Frederick called himself Frederick III of Germany since he considered himself the spiritual successor of Frederick Barbarossa and Frederick the Great. And wouldn't Frederick III steer Germany to become pro- British, since he was very much an Anglophile.

Hmm, hmm...

(In other words, retconned).
 
Can you here the drums of war
Can you hear their sound
Can you hear the drums of war
Waiting for men to be found

Can you sense the coming wars
and all that they will bring
they will bring you more dead men,
perhaps they too shall sing
 
Can you here the drums of war
Can you hear their sound
Can you hear the drums of war
Waiting for men to be found

Can you sense the coming wars
and all that they will bring
they will bring you more dead men,
perhaps they too shall sing

I take it you like it? :confused:
 

yourworstnightmare

Banned
Donor
France only getting Austria- Hungary and the Ottoman Empire, that's not a good alliance. With Austria and Germany on different sides, Pan- Germanism is probably weak. With a Austro- French alliance Italian neutrality in any upcoming conflict is ensured, since Italy lack capacity to face both France and Austria at once.

However if a German- Russian- British alliance somehow is born, there won't be a war. No one would dare to oppose it, knowing they'll easily be destroyed.
 
ACT I, SCENE 2
1902-1913

Germany

Germany in the early 1900s was a prosperous country. Frederick III, being an anglophile and seeing no reason to maintain a large navy except to bind Germany and her scattered colonies together, focussed the majority of the military budget on the army. This concerned France, which especially feared a repeat of the humiliation that had been 1871 as well as possessing a lust for revenge. Fortresses were built on either side of the Franco-German border, particularly Strassburg, which became a fortress unequalled in Europe. So, the French generals began to think of ways to get round the mass of fortresses that the region of Elsass-Lothringen was becoming...

Wider Europe

In 1906 the British entered into service the battleship HMS Invincible, the first all big-gun battleship. Such was its impact on naval warfare, rendering an entire class of battleship obsolete, that all subsequent battleships copying its design were called 'Invincibles'. Frederick began laying down the first Bayern-class battleships in 1908, the French and Americans managed to build theirs sooner (America would be neutral in the beginning of the First European War, but would align with the French in time). In late 1913, a young German engineer called Johann Lettner built the 'Sturmgewehr Mk 1', an early storm rifle[4] that, after being initially distrusted, would see service in the First European War and interbellum period.

The Balkans

The Austrians had administered the Ottoman province of Bosnia-Herzegovina since the treaty of Berlin in 1878, and were extremely desirous of enhancing their position in the wider Balkan region. In 1909 the province was annexed into Austria-Hungary, a move much detested in Europe and especially in Russia and amongst nationalist movements in the Balkans. The Austrians had unwittingly set in motion events that would first kill their Emperor and then end the long length of Hapsburg domination in central and eastern Europe.

In 1912 and 1913 wars occured in the region, highlighting the inability of the world's Great Powers to contain the trouble in the Balkans - an inability that would eventually tear Europe apart.

The Far East

In the Far East of the world, Japan was a rising power. It saw itself as threatened, particularly by the closest of the Great Powers to its location, Russia. Negotiations broke down in early 1904 over the matter of Russian influence in Korea, as Tsar Nicholas II desired to revive Russian patriotism via a short, victorious war. However the war was not to be short, although it would be victorious in a sense. The Japanese leaders gambled on a series of quick victories to knock the fight out of the tottering Russian bear. They knew that by the time the Russian western armies reached the far east, the war would turn into defeat.

Port Arthur was besieged and held valiantly till the war's end, and several notable engagements were fought on land. But it was at sea that the war would be decided. After a series of indecisive sea engagements, the Russian Baltic Fleet arrived, having utilised the Suez Canal to vastly truncate their travel time[5] and taken on fresh coal and supplies at Manila. They forced the Japanese navy to a battle off Vladivostok in early June, managing to inflict severe casualties on the Japanese fleet. With this coming at the same time as Russian reinforcements arriving in Manchuria, the Japanese were forced to agree to a white peace. Japanese ambitions having been halted, the tottering colossus that was Russia would manage to endure in its contemporary form until 1922.

-----
FOOTNOTES:
[4] Assault rifle
[5] The Dogger Bank Incident is butterflied TTL.
 
Ahhh.... thats too bad for Austria Hungary, I've always had a soft spot for that country, despite that its ethnic and geographical composition made it difficult to keep together at the best of times.

Oh well, I'm enjoying that fact that a Prussian, English alliance might be somewhere in the works, as I've always wondered why the two countries' relations soured, I mean besides one or two overtly ambitious leaders....:p
 
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