New timeline! This is a ROUGH DRAFT, so say if it is realistic or not but BE SPECIFIC. I can change the things you don't think are realistic.
July, 1911
-The German warship Panther arrives in Agadir as a show of force during a period of unrest in Morocco.
-The British become worried about the fact that a German gunboat has arrived in a revolting French colony. The British think that Germany means to use Agadir as a naval base.
-The British send battleships to Agadir in case a war breaks out, which now seems quite likely.
-The Germans make an incredibly gutsy move and send two battle cruisers to Agadir. But midway through the trip they are intercepted by British ships. The British have orders to stop the Germans at any cost, the German orders are to get to Agadir… At any cost. When the Germans refuse to return the British, in desperation fire a shot across the bow of the lead German ship. The Germans think that it is an attack and open fire. The British return fire.
-Although the battle is more or less inconclusive (only a German destroyer was sunk) the Germans are outraged by the fact that German ships were fired upon in peacetime and demand an apology from the British.
-The British refuse. War is declared on Germany by France and Britain.
August, 1911
-Germany and France begin mobilization of ground troops against each other. The process is painfully slow, especially for the Germans who also have a naval war to fight with the British.
-The German ships Thuringen, Helgoland and Ostfriesland are commissioned into the German navy.
-The first battle of the war occurs near the Helgoland Bight, the battle is a British victory over the German navy. At first the battle was swaying towards the Germans until an attack by British torpedo boats sunk the German battleship Nassau. The only notable British casualty being the Agamemnon, which in any case was a pre-dreadnaught.
-German troops invade Belgium and go like a hot knife through butter on to France. The French are caught completely off guard and only manage to stop the German advance at the Somme river. The period of warfare that continued from there was a bloody Hell fought in the mud and slush of northern France.
-The first official “kill” of a submarine occurs, the British battlecruiser Inflexible is torpedoed by German submarine U-17. Although the Inflexible was not sunk, it was still damaged enough to have to return to Scapa Flow.
September-December, 1911
-The Germans make a minor breakthrough across the Somme. Despite massive casualties on both sides the French resolve continues to amaze the Germans.
-The first zeppelin attack made by the Germans on London causes a massive demoralization of the British people. Although only 27 people died the sheer fact that the Germans hit the British capitol without notice and at night made even the prime minister admitted that it was a “grave new development.”
-In late October the German fleet makes one of the gutsiest moves in the history of naval warfare. A German attack on Scapa Flow. The attack began on the night of October 29th, the ships in the German fleet included two of the Helgoland ships as well as the Rheinland. The fleet also included most of the pre-dreadnaughts in the German navy as well as various cruisers, destroyers and torpedo craft. The battle itself began when a British scout saw the Germans approaching. The Germans caught the British off guard and destroyed several ships. But the British rallied after that, after the loss of the Rheinland the German fleet attempted to retreat with the Thruingen covering them. This did help at all though because the Germans had already lost many capitol ships, which meant that no one would be saved by the retreat.
List of Destroyed ships at the Battle of Scapa Flow
British
Bellerophon
Lord Nelson
Queen
Africa
Inflexible
Two Tribal Class destroyers
Beagle
German
Rheinland
Thuringen
Schleswig-Holstein
Pommern
Deutschland
Moltke
Köln
Six Torpedo Boats
The battle was a clear British victory, despite being caught off guard the British destroyed about half of the German navy. This battle more or less won the naval war for the British.
-After a major breakthrough at the Somme the Germans lay siege to Paris. The French began to divert thousands of troops away from the Alsace front to break the siege at Paris. This allows a German breakthrough in Alsace as well.
January-February, 1912
-An American-negotiated treaty ends the naval war on January 29th. The treaty of Amsterdam was fairly light on the Germans in most cases. The only harsh part of the treaty was the limits put on the German navy, the Germans could not maintain a navy larger then one quarter the size of the royal navy, and they were only allowed one operational dreadnought at a time.
-The siege of Paris continues. The French attacks seem fruitless, between this and the fact that the British had abandoned them reduced French morale terribly. Despite this the French refuse to surrender.
-In early February the Germans turn over many of their ships to the Royal Navy, with the exception of the Ostfriesland which the Germans decide to keep as their one permitted dreadnought
-The German breakthrough in Alsace is miraculously contained by the French. The siege of Paris continues though. French high command decides to wait for another French victory to try to relieve the siege, meanwhile the people of Paris starve.
July, 1911
-The German warship Panther arrives in Agadir as a show of force during a period of unrest in Morocco.
-The British become worried about the fact that a German gunboat has arrived in a revolting French colony. The British think that Germany means to use Agadir as a naval base.
-The British send battleships to Agadir in case a war breaks out, which now seems quite likely.
-The Germans make an incredibly gutsy move and send two battle cruisers to Agadir. But midway through the trip they are intercepted by British ships. The British have orders to stop the Germans at any cost, the German orders are to get to Agadir… At any cost. When the Germans refuse to return the British, in desperation fire a shot across the bow of the lead German ship. The Germans think that it is an attack and open fire. The British return fire.
-Although the battle is more or less inconclusive (only a German destroyer was sunk) the Germans are outraged by the fact that German ships were fired upon in peacetime and demand an apology from the British.
-The British refuse. War is declared on Germany by France and Britain.
August, 1911
-Germany and France begin mobilization of ground troops against each other. The process is painfully slow, especially for the Germans who also have a naval war to fight with the British.
-The German ships Thuringen, Helgoland and Ostfriesland are commissioned into the German navy.
-The first battle of the war occurs near the Helgoland Bight, the battle is a British victory over the German navy. At first the battle was swaying towards the Germans until an attack by British torpedo boats sunk the German battleship Nassau. The only notable British casualty being the Agamemnon, which in any case was a pre-dreadnaught.
-German troops invade Belgium and go like a hot knife through butter on to France. The French are caught completely off guard and only manage to stop the German advance at the Somme river. The period of warfare that continued from there was a bloody Hell fought in the mud and slush of northern France.
-The first official “kill” of a submarine occurs, the British battlecruiser Inflexible is torpedoed by German submarine U-17. Although the Inflexible was not sunk, it was still damaged enough to have to return to Scapa Flow.
September-December, 1911
-The Germans make a minor breakthrough across the Somme. Despite massive casualties on both sides the French resolve continues to amaze the Germans.
-The first zeppelin attack made by the Germans on London causes a massive demoralization of the British people. Although only 27 people died the sheer fact that the Germans hit the British capitol without notice and at night made even the prime minister admitted that it was a “grave new development.”
-In late October the German fleet makes one of the gutsiest moves in the history of naval warfare. A German attack on Scapa Flow. The attack began on the night of October 29th, the ships in the German fleet included two of the Helgoland ships as well as the Rheinland. The fleet also included most of the pre-dreadnaughts in the German navy as well as various cruisers, destroyers and torpedo craft. The battle itself began when a British scout saw the Germans approaching. The Germans caught the British off guard and destroyed several ships. But the British rallied after that, after the loss of the Rheinland the German fleet attempted to retreat with the Thruingen covering them. This did help at all though because the Germans had already lost many capitol ships, which meant that no one would be saved by the retreat.
List of Destroyed ships at the Battle of Scapa Flow
British
Bellerophon
Lord Nelson
Queen
Africa
Inflexible
Two Tribal Class destroyers
Beagle
German
Rheinland
Thuringen
Schleswig-Holstein
Pommern
Deutschland
Moltke
Köln
Six Torpedo Boats
The battle was a clear British victory, despite being caught off guard the British destroyed about half of the German navy. This battle more or less won the naval war for the British.
-After a major breakthrough at the Somme the Germans lay siege to Paris. The French began to divert thousands of troops away from the Alsace front to break the siege at Paris. This allows a German breakthrough in Alsace as well.
January-February, 1912
-An American-negotiated treaty ends the naval war on January 29th. The treaty of Amsterdam was fairly light on the Germans in most cases. The only harsh part of the treaty was the limits put on the German navy, the Germans could not maintain a navy larger then one quarter the size of the royal navy, and they were only allowed one operational dreadnought at a time.
-The siege of Paris continues. The French attacks seem fruitless, between this and the fact that the British had abandoned them reduced French morale terribly. Despite this the French refuse to surrender.
-In early February the Germans turn over many of their ships to the Royal Navy, with the exception of the Ostfriesland which the Germans decide to keep as their one permitted dreadnought
-The German breakthrough in Alsace is miraculously contained by the French. The siege of Paris continues though. French high command decides to wait for another French victory to try to relieve the siege, meanwhile the people of Paris starve.
