September was the time for hatred. For the people of Oslo and Rio de Janeiro and Lisbon and Madrid, they all clung onto the newspapers, to see the pictures of their own countrymen swimming in the waters. The testimonies did enough to inflame the passions.
In Brazil, President Venceslau Brás was placed in a quandary over the report on the 21st September. Arthur Peel, the UK Ambassador, stated that Prime Minister Lloyd George would fight for reparations for every Brazilian ship sunk by German U-boats if she arrived on the Entente side. As anti-German sentiments and peace settlements rise, the President agreed to the proposal. Peel was reminded by the President to ensure that British warships would guard Brazilian cargo transports as they reach towards the UK and Europe. Peel, in his professional matter, stated that he would see to it. On the 25th September, President Brás declared war on the Central Powers, although the news took until the 1st December to reach the whole country. Because of this, Brazilian men who were mobilised (about 50,000 by the end of the year) would be sent on logistics missions to free up French and British men. Meanwhile, transports were to be made between Brazil and the UK as well as Portugal and Spain, something that was unwieldy as the national integrated economy did not exist. This was exacerbated with a weak overland transport system that did not advance beyond mule trains. Due to this, it would contribute to a further divide within the Brazilian community and to the downfall of the First Brazilian Republic and the rise of the Tenentism Movement.
In Norway, much of the debate was surrounding what would occur in other nations as they had victims who suffered the U-boat attack. When it was clear that the Brazilians and the Portuguese would start supplying munitions, food and troops, Norway was inclined to do the same. Copper ore, large supplies of fish, pyrite and nickel would be given to both sides at the beginning of the war, as Norway maintained one of the largest maritime merchant fleets in the world. To maintain it, they required as much steel, coal and oil as possible. Debate had been beset by further trouble when the German and British Ambassadors made their way towards the Prime Minister, Gunnar Knudsen. Meeting with the families of the victims, King Haakon VII made sure to stay out of the public discourse on what Norway ought to do. On the 28th September 1915, Norway declared war on Germany and Austria-Hungary, with King Haakon VII ordering all lynchings of German-Norwegians to stop. When a protestor shouted "You are King of the Norwegians who live here!", the King responded "I am also King of the Germans who live here!". (1)
Because of the mobilisation, Norway mustered 20,000 soldiers at the start, with much of the manpower going to the Norwegian Navy. All efforts were to guard the merchant fleet between Norway and the UK as well as destroy any U-boats around its territorial waters.
In Portugal, lynching was open for civilians to see and participate in, targeting Germans and Austrians in whatever capacity. In this year alone, 8 Germans were reported to have been killed with a further 221 fleeing the country. As the fury grew, a total of 150,000 Portuguese men and African colonials would enlist to fight in Africa and Europe. They would join the fighting at Lorraine along with the Spanish in the winter.
In Spain, the deaths of the Spanish passengers as well as the destruction of the cruise liner had set off the Pro-war factions of Spanish society. This group was filled with:
- Carlists, who were traditionalists and royalists supporting the Bourbon bloodline of Infante Carlos, Count of Molina and his heirs
- conservatives formed in the Mauristas, a political movement that followed Antonio Maura that was set against King Alfonso XIII. Maura himself stated that the 1907 pact between Spain, France and Britain was still legitimate, therefore Spain had a legalist duty to follow its obligations
- Imperialists who were against German incursions against Spanish colonies
- Middle class people
- Professionals and intellectuals
- Catalan nationalists
- Republicans
- Socialists
- Liberals under Álvaro de Figueroa, who was leader of the opposition at the time.
Meanwhile, the peace groups in the nation worked around these groups:
- Upper class people, aristocracy and the rich
- The Catholic Church
- Spanish Army, which had much of its favour towards Germany.
For the entire month of September, the Maurist conservatives demanded Spanish entry into the war along with the Liberal Party and the leftist Republican Coalition (made of an alliance between the Radical Republican Party and the Republican Nationalist Federal Union). The inability for the Conservative party to to maintain a majority meant that Eduardo Dato had to approach the King to dissolve the Cortes Generales (the bicameral legislative chambers of Spain). Spanish politics for over 40 years was dictated on a system known as turn pacifico "Peaceful Turn", that the Liberal Party and Conservative Party would take turns being in power (as both parties were monarchist and upheld patronages from the upper class). Elections were thus decided in advance, in order to perpetuate the status quo and to shun third parties. As Dato was making his case, Figueroa arrived five minutes into the meeting. Figueroa asked the King for a compromise to not upset the system. Dato would also meet the British Ambassador (2) in a meeting regarding the future of German Cameroon and some sections of German New Guinea (which were not already claimed by Australia or New Zealand). These would be awarded to Spain if they joined the Allies. Dato, Figueroa and King Alfonso XIII had a long discussion as they saw Brazil and Norway declare war while the Portuguese increased their commitments.
Dato, in order to break off the ongoing debate, came up with the idea of merely supplying the Allied forces on the 25th. Spanish forces would not be committed to the fighting, but the Spanish would supply the Western Front via overland railways and mule-trains and automobiles. The British Ambassador came into the negotiations once again on the 29th September with a letter detailing the possibility of German weapons being given to rebel Moroccans in the Rif War (3). With this, the King called for mobilisation against the rebels in the Rif as well as those in the Western Front. On the 9th October 1915, the Kingdom of Spain declares war on Germany. At the end of the month, 100,000 would be mobilised on the Western Front at the Rhine River while a further 120,000 would be crushing the last of the rebels in the Rif (4).
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Second Battle of Loos otherwise known as the Battle of the Hohenzollern Redoubt
From the 20th September to the 15th October 1915, the Allied forces had started to form their preparations around defending the Loos area. With the Cavalry Corps and Indian Cavalry Corps pressed onto logistics, it was to be replaced by two British divisions taken from the Macedonian Front to aid XI Corps. In preparation for the attack, Plummer ordered tunnelling companies to go underneath the positions at either side of the Hohenzollern Redoubt, St. Elie and a position just north of Hulluch. For a month prior to this, under pressure and under the strain of attacks occurring above, the tunnellers tried their hardest.
At zero hour, the four explosive tunnels detonated with the Germans scrambling to deal with over 4,000 dead at once. The British forces, along with reserves five minutes later, attacked on either side of the Hohenzollern redoubt as it was being shelled. On the 22th, the Redoubt was stormed on both sides and the fighting was thick. As this occurred positions north of Hill 70 were attacked by British, Indian, French and Portuguese soldiers. Taking 7,000 casualties in 9 hours of fighting in the trenches, the force to the south managed to overcome the gap and managed to take Hill 70. It took until the 27th of October for the captured positions to be relayed back to the rest of the line.
On the 3rd October 1915, one division of Germans attacked the Hohenzollern Redoubt. Meanwhile, this was the time when the British began to use poison gas for their own purposes at Germans in Haisnes and Auchy. It wasn't until the 5th that the Germans were repulsed from the Redoubt. For the next 10 days, the Allied forces attacked St. Elie and Hulluch, which were defended with 2 German divisions. Both attacks were repulsed. The Germans suffered 31,000 casualties compared to 47,000 casualties from the Allies.
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Artois and Champagne
These two battles would complement the Second Battle of Loos, as the French implemented their elastic defence tactics (5). The whole of the Vimy Ridge was defended by the Allies, as the Germans attempted to press on with the defences around St. Laurent and Lens. Despite being prepared, the Germans could not be dislodged from their places in St. Laurent and Lens. The same was said of the British and French, that managed to hold onto the Vimy Ridge against German night attacks. German artillery and machine guns managed to wear down any advances to their positions while Allied attempts to knock out artillery and barbed wire also failed. By the 5th November, the two Allied offensives were aborted. A total of ~250,000 casualties versus ~110,000 German casualties.
With these inconclusive results (except for Loos), the British needed a lucky shot. Winston Churchill, the First Lord of the Admiralty, was the man that was going to shoot.
His weapon of choice: A couple of water tanks.
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Lorraine
The Germans brought out their ace on the 28th September 1915, in order to distract the rest of the front. Free from the mud and the trench lines further north of the Western Front, the Germans and the French had more of a fluid "back-and-forth". Over 50 long tons of chlorine gas was sent across the front lines, attacking the French. 18,000 casualties were sustained from the gas alone before the Germans attacked at Vogtsburg. As hard as they could and for as long as they could, the French 7th Army stood their ground. It was not until the 5th of October before the Germans were repulsed. 38,000 French casualties were sustained compared to the German's 29,000.
On the 3rd October, the French 8th and 9th Armies advanced north to reinforce the gains made over the year. The 7th and 8th would take the west and east bank of the Rhine respectively, while the 9th followed as occupants of the Rhine territory to ensure the Germans could not advance through the heavy-forested areas towards Colmar. At the end of the month, the French were joined by the first Portuguese and Spanish troops. These men, green and inexperienced, would be sent on logistics duties, far from the frontline fighting. This freed up a further 20,000 French to fill up the gaps within the three French armies.
On the 2nd of November, the Germans attempted an offensive through to Waldkirch, to aim for the weakened Rhine areas occupied by the French. 30,000 Germans took on one half of the French 9th Army as well as the 2nd Spanish Army. Being pushed back for the first eight days of the month to the outskirts of Gundelfingen, the Franco-Spanish forces hit back hard. By the end of the month, the Germans were pushed back to Steinach in the winter. After this, all Allied offensives were to cease. By this time, more and more Portuguese and Spanish troops came to fill the ranks of defence and logistics. By Christmas, the French 9th Army was at Steinach while the rest of the French forces were at the front line of Ettenheim in the east to the Lièpvre.
The failures of all German forces in the Western Front to push back the Allied forces led Kaiser Wilhelm II to dismiss Falkenhayn, Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg and Gottlieb von Jagow (Secretary for the Foreign Affairs) on the 30th October 1915. This sent a message to those still in power as the event was dubbed "The October Dismissal". Clemens Ernst Gottlieb von Delbrück was made Chancellor, while Arthur Zimmerman was made Secretary for the Foreign Affairs and Paul von Hindenburg became the Chief of the German General Staff.
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1. From his OTL comment, "I am also the King of the Communists"
2. Due to Lloyd George's "win at all costs" attitude, he puts forward Kamerun as a gift to Spain should they join the Allies.
3. This "letter" was found to be a forgery in 1992.
4. Because of the greater contingent of soldiers, the rebels in the Rif will be crushed by mid-1917 with a further contingent from the Western Front going on.
5. Be aware, the reason why German implemented it was because they discovered plans the French were using. In ATL, they never find the plans and never implement the elastic defence doctrine.
I hope that this update was good enough. I will begin to take in comments as I go. Anyway, thank you all. Next post, Eastern Front up to December 1915. Until then, all comments are welcome and appreciated. Thanks.
