To the East, to the Death, to the Struggle
To the East, to the Death, to the Struggle
1st September, 1914
With war not even a month ago, the coordination of the French and British forces was important. Together in Paris were the men who would kickstart the Allied war effort, or most of it rather:
- Field Marshal Horatio Kitchener, British Secretary of State for War.
- Field Marshal John French, Commander-in-Chief of the BEF
- Jean Viviani, French Prime Minister
- Alexandre Millerand, French War Minister
- Aristide Briand, French Justice Minister
The transcript remains in the British War Museum. It was the basis for the historical novel Gods and Generals: Volume 3, written by Peter FitzSimons:
Kitchener: Gentlemen, I thank you for your audience. I have received the notice from the President and from the French Commander-in-Chief -
Millerand: You must understand, Field Marshal, our great concern with frontline -
French: With me, you mean?
Millerand: Sir? With all due respect, the BEF is capable of holding the line -
French: No, we are not! (slams the table) The II Corps will not be able to stand against a single German corps. You must understand, Monsieur Millerand, my great concern -
Kitchener: Gentlemen, you make good points. The French do not want us to fall back to the Seine and Field Marshal French cannot stand alone. Against the Germans, he will have need of reinforcements. Field Marshal Joffre will need to press on an attack if French is to -
Viviani: Field Marshal Joffre is capable of handling his own affairs. After all, the Germans have been reinforcing East Prussia, is that not a good opportunity to -
French: I cannot attack without help from the French. Once I have endangered my men to save you and now you demand a second -
Viviani: War will make that happen to -
French: Do not lecture -
Kitchener: Field Marshal. I am of the belief that we need to cooperate -
Viviani: Is that not what we are doing already -
Kitchener: Yes, but I must be clear. As of now, the gap between I and II Corps will need closing. The BEF will need to stay for the good of the fight. The French will need to continue -
French: Of course (unintelligible mumbles). Am I given the right to fall back?
Kitchener: That is something that will occur. It will continue, but it must be in tandem with the French. The BEF will stand.
French: Of course (mouthing curses)
Briand: Gentlemen, what about the Ottoman Empire?
Kitchener: What about them?
French: Please tell (grinding teeth).
Briand: The Ottomans are neutral, yet they have closed the Dardanelles to trade -
Kitchener: But I must wonder about that. The Ottomans are neutral -
Briand: - Yet they have closed their trade and allowed German ships to acquired into their service. That as well as firing on Admiral Milne as well. We must ensure that Russia be able to reach supplies from the sea. Otherwise we would not be able to sustain pressure -
French: Sustain pressure? I have told you that the BEF is not able to hold the Germans back and here you are, stating we attack the Dardenelles -
Briand: There is a chance to do this, gentlemen. The Baltic will have the German High Seas Fleet as their protector. The Ottomans have only the Dardanelles. There is no other way -
Kitchener: Minister, it seems like a good idea, but there must be a plan in place. We cannot be serious about a campaign unless there is -
Briand: The French are retreating, the BEF is retreating, the Dardanelles is where we can -
Viviani: Minister, you will keep quiet -
Briand: The fight would be a breach of the Ottomans, yes, but it will supply the Russians. How many of us heard of what occurred at Tanneburg?
(A murmur from all men)
Kitchener: Field Marshal French will ensure reasonable movement away from the German lines. The French will continue their efforts in concert with the BEF.
Millerand: They will. The Field Marshal and the President will be glad of Field Marshal French's...change of heart.
French: I am sure that they will (murmuring).
Kitchener: That is all settled. I will telegraph the Cabinet of these efforts -
Briand: - Field Marshal?
Kitchener: Minister, what is it?
Briand: Field Marshal, will there be any consideration of my proposal?
Kitchener: (walks away)
(French and Kitchener gather in a different room)
French: What in devil's name was that!
Kitchener: If you haven't guess yet, it was cooperation -
French: - Twice they expect me to defend France. Twice, I will suffer a fate like Pyrrhus -
Kitchener: Well, you did make yourself the elephant of the room -
French: What?
Kitchener: You didn't show proper decorum to the men in the room at all -
French: Proper decorum? How dare you wear a bloody uniform while I am the Commander-in-Chief -
Kitchener: For goodness sake man, do you propose that I am usurping your authority? Heavens no, I am doing what will grant us victory the quickest. That means cooperation with the French, something that you know with Joffre -
French: Yes, yes, I am good with Joffre, but those men out there -
Kitchener: You have had it hard, my friend. Try not to take it out on those men. They are men who the public vote on, unlike us soldiering men. I may be able to retrieve some of your dignity back, if you wish -
French: - I would appreciate that (grumbling).
Kitchener: (Walks out of the room and joins the Frenchmen)
Kitchener: Gentlemen, I come here not on the state of affairs but more on a personal note. Field Marshal French may have appeared a bit, a bit bemused by what has occurred in recent times. For the sake of continued unity, he wishes for an apology for the state that he happens to be in -
Millerand: For the state that he happened to be in, is that what you are asking of us?
Kitchener: (Deep breath) I say this in the name of better relations. I have read of the problems with the BEF and of the importance of them falling back with the French. The BEF will continue, but it will not desert from the field. Is this alright?
Briand: (Clears throat) In the name of better relations, I will apologise.
Viviani: Very well then. We will apologise.
Millerand: (Deep breath) Very well. I will as well. But it will be only once.
Kitchener: Of course.
(Viviani and Millerand leave to apologise to French)
Briand: How much would a landing for the Dardanelles need?
Kitchener: It will have need of a large force. Enough to claim the peninsula and to ensure that it remains open.
Briand: I suppose you could tell me of how it would work?
***********************************************************************
26th November 1914
Having heard Briand's proposal, Kitchener drafted a war plan (known as "Kitchener's Note"). This was following the Ottoman entry into war on the 30th October. It was to start with a naval bombardment to clear any forts overlooking the region. This accompanied the start of mine sweeping, based of recent aerial evidence. Beach landings were to come later.
War Council:
Herbert Asquith, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
David Lloyd George, Chancellor of the Exchequer
Winston Churchill, First Lord of the Admiralty
Edward Grey, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
Field Marshal Herbert Kitchener, Secretary of State for War
(The so-called "Kitchener's Note" gets handed from one member of the War Council to the other. Each man looks at it before handing it back to Kitchener. This is after all other business has concluded). The testimony comes from The Liberal Men. A book written by Chancellor of the Exchequer Winston Churchill, it told the story of David Lloyd George and Herbert Asquith's trials and tribulations. Not only in the war years, but as Prime Ministers of the Liberal Party.
Churchill: It appears that the Ottomans brought this upon themselves. They wanted those two damn ships and they shot at us for it. I guess that is how they want to play now.
Asquith: Gentlemen, there is more than enough British men invested into the fighting as it is. We need to press the Western Front before it becomes deadlocked -
Lloyd George: Prime Minister, with all due respect, the front has stagnated since Ypres. What we are stating is nothing less than a backdoor towards the downfall of Germany and her allies -
Grey: - And leave the resources stretched out? Churchill, you of all people must know -
Churchill: What I know is that the Royal Navy will hold out for as long as God draws breath. We can hit the Dardanelles with 150,000 men and be in Constantinople within the year -
(Silence)
Kitchener: I have...I have not considered such a number in my plans -
Churchill: - But I have. Earl Kitchener, 150,000 men will be raised from the Empire as well as France. Given how Briand came up with the plan, it would do nothing but raise French morale. After all, they won't be facing machine guns from the sea to Alsace-Lorraine -
Asquith: - (Slaps the table) But they will be facing machine guns nonetheless. I mean, such a expedition would be monumental. Are we to copy Menelaus and the thousands of Greeks that besieged Troy? Stuck on one beach for ten years to then come up with a trick after so much death -
Churchill: (Drinks) It would be better if we made this clear. The front in Belgium will freeze. Meanwhile the Germans are making more and more gains within Russian territory. If we cannot show a supply route to Russia, then the Kaiser will be laughing when he steps inside the Winter Palace.
Grey: This will be a considerable amount of resources and manpower. What does Earl Kitchener think of this?
Kitchener: The plan would need several warships to clear out the forts and the mines. This will be before any possible landing on any shores -
Churchill: (Thumps table) - There are several old battleships that will be more than able to clear them away. I can assure the War Council here that Mister Fisher will be more than happy to furbish us the ships needed.
(27th September. Churchill and Kitchener meet Jackie Fisher, 1st Sea Lord)
Fisher: No, no, and no. I will have to resign over this -
Churchill: For the sake of the country, man, will you please consider it -
Fisher: (Shakes his head) No I will not. Kitchener, what do you hope will be done with an operation like this.
Kitchener: The operation, will lead to the capture of Constantinople. It will open up trade and supplies for the Russian Empire, no doubt -
Fisher: No doubt, no doubt at all, the both of you. But there are other ways -
Churchill: How many times are you going to bring up that G-d damn Baltic plan? We would have to skirt around Jutland and the Skagerrak to then face the German Baltic Fleet -
Fisher: - It can work, Winston, I know it can.
Kitchener: My Lord, I know it seems hard, but the ships that we can use will be able to break through to Constantinople. It is far easier to deploy ships from the Mediterranean Fleet. Them as well as older ones instead of, what, using six hundred ships -
Fisher: - And you claim that 150,000 men is any better?
Churchill: Fisher, this is something that can end this whole thing in one giant stroke. With Germany, we would have to march across Belgium, across one country to attack the other. But with this landing, we go straight for the heart of the Sultan itself. The heart of the Mohammedans themselves.
Fisher: (Grumbles), Go on then.
Fin.
The POD. Admiral Milne of the Royal Navy pursuing the German warships Goeben and Breslau. This occured on the 8th August, where in OTL, he instead guarded the Adriatic. This allowed him to catch up to the two ships as they left Donoussa. On the 15th August, the British attacked the two German ships at the mouth of the Dardanelles. Admiral Milne retreated when coastal bombardments deterred him from going further.
Because of this, the Ottomans declared the closure of the Dardanelles, mining it by the start of September. The Ottoman maritime agreement with Britain would shut down later that month. Enver Pasha, the Ottoman Minister of War, was responsible for the move. It fuels anti-British sentiment as well as given a legitimate excuse for pro-German factions within the Ottoman Empire.
Aristide Briand coming with the French Prime Minister Viviani and War Minister Millerand. He would come up with the idea of attacking the Ottomans on the 1st September instead of November. He would come up with the plan earlier because of Milne's actions. Churchill himself would demand 150,000 men given ATL's attack on Milne as well as his reading of "Kitchener's Note", opposed to ~70,000 men that he and Kitchener would agree on in OTL.
The rest of the war continues as it does in OTL. Except for two things:
The Ottomans will be on standby before they declare war the Gallipoli Campaign (dubbed Operation Iliad in January 1915), which considered earlier than OTL. Mobilising and organisation will start before December 1914.
As an Australian who sees stuff about Coronavirus and fires, Anzac Day holds meaning with me. To say that is a Gallipoli-wank will not be so accurate. It will be difficult, but I reckon it could be possible.
My other TL, Behold The Birth of a Sun, felt kind of boring despite enjoying the POD and the sort of things I could toy with. So, given what has happened, I wanted to start again.
I hope this makes more sense than Danish Mexico, King Arthur of England or Spanish Newfoundland. I suppose I could always reference one TL in this one.
Only one way to find out. Thanks.
1st September, 1914
With war not even a month ago, the coordination of the French and British forces was important. Together in Paris were the men who would kickstart the Allied war effort, or most of it rather:
- Field Marshal Horatio Kitchener, British Secretary of State for War.
- Field Marshal John French, Commander-in-Chief of the BEF
- Jean Viviani, French Prime Minister
- Alexandre Millerand, French War Minister
- Aristide Briand, French Justice Minister
The transcript remains in the British War Museum. It was the basis for the historical novel Gods and Generals: Volume 3, written by Peter FitzSimons:
Kitchener: Gentlemen, I thank you for your audience. I have received the notice from the President and from the French Commander-in-Chief -
Millerand: You must understand, Field Marshal, our great concern with frontline -
French: With me, you mean?
Millerand: Sir? With all due respect, the BEF is capable of holding the line -
French: No, we are not! (slams the table) The II Corps will not be able to stand against a single German corps. You must understand, Monsieur Millerand, my great concern -
Kitchener: Gentlemen, you make good points. The French do not want us to fall back to the Seine and Field Marshal French cannot stand alone. Against the Germans, he will have need of reinforcements. Field Marshal Joffre will need to press on an attack if French is to -
Viviani: Field Marshal Joffre is capable of handling his own affairs. After all, the Germans have been reinforcing East Prussia, is that not a good opportunity to -
French: I cannot attack without help from the French. Once I have endangered my men to save you and now you demand a second -
Viviani: War will make that happen to -
French: Do not lecture -
Kitchener: Field Marshal. I am of the belief that we need to cooperate -
Viviani: Is that not what we are doing already -
Kitchener: Yes, but I must be clear. As of now, the gap between I and II Corps will need closing. The BEF will need to stay for the good of the fight. The French will need to continue -
French: Of course (unintelligible mumbles). Am I given the right to fall back?
Kitchener: That is something that will occur. It will continue, but it must be in tandem with the French. The BEF will stand.
French: Of course (mouthing curses)
Briand: Gentlemen, what about the Ottoman Empire?
Kitchener: What about them?
French: Please tell (grinding teeth).
Briand: The Ottomans are neutral, yet they have closed the Dardanelles to trade -
Kitchener: But I must wonder about that. The Ottomans are neutral -
Briand: - Yet they have closed their trade and allowed German ships to acquired into their service. That as well as firing on Admiral Milne as well. We must ensure that Russia be able to reach supplies from the sea. Otherwise we would not be able to sustain pressure -
French: Sustain pressure? I have told you that the BEF is not able to hold the Germans back and here you are, stating we attack the Dardenelles -
Briand: There is a chance to do this, gentlemen. The Baltic will have the German High Seas Fleet as their protector. The Ottomans have only the Dardanelles. There is no other way -
Kitchener: Minister, it seems like a good idea, but there must be a plan in place. We cannot be serious about a campaign unless there is -
Briand: The French are retreating, the BEF is retreating, the Dardanelles is where we can -
Viviani: Minister, you will keep quiet -
Briand: The fight would be a breach of the Ottomans, yes, but it will supply the Russians. How many of us heard of what occurred at Tanneburg?
(A murmur from all men)
Kitchener: Field Marshal French will ensure reasonable movement away from the German lines. The French will continue their efforts in concert with the BEF.
Millerand: They will. The Field Marshal and the President will be glad of Field Marshal French's...change of heart.
French: I am sure that they will (murmuring).
Kitchener: That is all settled. I will telegraph the Cabinet of these efforts -
Briand: - Field Marshal?
Kitchener: Minister, what is it?
Briand: Field Marshal, will there be any consideration of my proposal?
Kitchener: (walks away)
(French and Kitchener gather in a different room)
French: What in devil's name was that!
Kitchener: If you haven't guess yet, it was cooperation -
French: - Twice they expect me to defend France. Twice, I will suffer a fate like Pyrrhus -
Kitchener: Well, you did make yourself the elephant of the room -
French: What?
Kitchener: You didn't show proper decorum to the men in the room at all -
French: Proper decorum? How dare you wear a bloody uniform while I am the Commander-in-Chief -
Kitchener: For goodness sake man, do you propose that I am usurping your authority? Heavens no, I am doing what will grant us victory the quickest. That means cooperation with the French, something that you know with Joffre -
French: Yes, yes, I am good with Joffre, but those men out there -
Kitchener: You have had it hard, my friend. Try not to take it out on those men. They are men who the public vote on, unlike us soldiering men. I may be able to retrieve some of your dignity back, if you wish -
French: - I would appreciate that (grumbling).
Kitchener: (Walks out of the room and joins the Frenchmen)
Kitchener: Gentlemen, I come here not on the state of affairs but more on a personal note. Field Marshal French may have appeared a bit, a bit bemused by what has occurred in recent times. For the sake of continued unity, he wishes for an apology for the state that he happens to be in -
Millerand: For the state that he happened to be in, is that what you are asking of us?
Kitchener: (Deep breath) I say this in the name of better relations. I have read of the problems with the BEF and of the importance of them falling back with the French. The BEF will continue, but it will not desert from the field. Is this alright?
Briand: (Clears throat) In the name of better relations, I will apologise.
Viviani: Very well then. We will apologise.
Millerand: (Deep breath) Very well. I will as well. But it will be only once.
Kitchener: Of course.
(Viviani and Millerand leave to apologise to French)
Briand: How much would a landing for the Dardanelles need?
Kitchener: It will have need of a large force. Enough to claim the peninsula and to ensure that it remains open.
Briand: I suppose you could tell me of how it would work?
***********************************************************************
26th November 1914
Having heard Briand's proposal, Kitchener drafted a war plan (known as "Kitchener's Note"). This was following the Ottoman entry into war on the 30th October. It was to start with a naval bombardment to clear any forts overlooking the region. This accompanied the start of mine sweeping, based of recent aerial evidence. Beach landings were to come later.
War Council:
Herbert Asquith, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
David Lloyd George, Chancellor of the Exchequer
Winston Churchill, First Lord of the Admiralty
Edward Grey, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
Field Marshal Herbert Kitchener, Secretary of State for War
(The so-called "Kitchener's Note" gets handed from one member of the War Council to the other. Each man looks at it before handing it back to Kitchener. This is after all other business has concluded). The testimony comes from The Liberal Men. A book written by Chancellor of the Exchequer Winston Churchill, it told the story of David Lloyd George and Herbert Asquith's trials and tribulations. Not only in the war years, but as Prime Ministers of the Liberal Party.
Churchill: It appears that the Ottomans brought this upon themselves. They wanted those two damn ships and they shot at us for it. I guess that is how they want to play now.
Asquith: Gentlemen, there is more than enough British men invested into the fighting as it is. We need to press the Western Front before it becomes deadlocked -
Lloyd George: Prime Minister, with all due respect, the front has stagnated since Ypres. What we are stating is nothing less than a backdoor towards the downfall of Germany and her allies -
Grey: - And leave the resources stretched out? Churchill, you of all people must know -
Churchill: What I know is that the Royal Navy will hold out for as long as God draws breath. We can hit the Dardanelles with 150,000 men and be in Constantinople within the year -
(Silence)
Kitchener: I have...I have not considered such a number in my plans -
Churchill: - But I have. Earl Kitchener, 150,000 men will be raised from the Empire as well as France. Given how Briand came up with the plan, it would do nothing but raise French morale. After all, they won't be facing machine guns from the sea to Alsace-Lorraine -
Asquith: - (Slaps the table) But they will be facing machine guns nonetheless. I mean, such a expedition would be monumental. Are we to copy Menelaus and the thousands of Greeks that besieged Troy? Stuck on one beach for ten years to then come up with a trick after so much death -
Churchill: (Drinks) It would be better if we made this clear. The front in Belgium will freeze. Meanwhile the Germans are making more and more gains within Russian territory. If we cannot show a supply route to Russia, then the Kaiser will be laughing when he steps inside the Winter Palace.
Grey: This will be a considerable amount of resources and manpower. What does Earl Kitchener think of this?
Kitchener: The plan would need several warships to clear out the forts and the mines. This will be before any possible landing on any shores -
Churchill: (Thumps table) - There are several old battleships that will be more than able to clear them away. I can assure the War Council here that Mister Fisher will be more than happy to furbish us the ships needed.
(27th September. Churchill and Kitchener meet Jackie Fisher, 1st Sea Lord)
Fisher: No, no, and no. I will have to resign over this -
Churchill: For the sake of the country, man, will you please consider it -
Fisher: (Shakes his head) No I will not. Kitchener, what do you hope will be done with an operation like this.
Kitchener: The operation, will lead to the capture of Constantinople. It will open up trade and supplies for the Russian Empire, no doubt -
Fisher: No doubt, no doubt at all, the both of you. But there are other ways -
Churchill: How many times are you going to bring up that G-d damn Baltic plan? We would have to skirt around Jutland and the Skagerrak to then face the German Baltic Fleet -
Fisher: - It can work, Winston, I know it can.
Kitchener: My Lord, I know it seems hard, but the ships that we can use will be able to break through to Constantinople. It is far easier to deploy ships from the Mediterranean Fleet. Them as well as older ones instead of, what, using six hundred ships -
Fisher: - And you claim that 150,000 men is any better?
Churchill: Fisher, this is something that can end this whole thing in one giant stroke. With Germany, we would have to march across Belgium, across one country to attack the other. But with this landing, we go straight for the heart of the Sultan itself. The heart of the Mohammedans themselves.
Fisher: (Grumbles), Go on then.
Fin.
The POD. Admiral Milne of the Royal Navy pursuing the German warships Goeben and Breslau. This occured on the 8th August, where in OTL, he instead guarded the Adriatic. This allowed him to catch up to the two ships as they left Donoussa. On the 15th August, the British attacked the two German ships at the mouth of the Dardanelles. Admiral Milne retreated when coastal bombardments deterred him from going further.
Because of this, the Ottomans declared the closure of the Dardanelles, mining it by the start of September. The Ottoman maritime agreement with Britain would shut down later that month. Enver Pasha, the Ottoman Minister of War, was responsible for the move. It fuels anti-British sentiment as well as given a legitimate excuse for pro-German factions within the Ottoman Empire.
Aristide Briand coming with the French Prime Minister Viviani and War Minister Millerand. He would come up with the idea of attacking the Ottomans on the 1st September instead of November. He would come up with the plan earlier because of Milne's actions. Churchill himself would demand 150,000 men given ATL's attack on Milne as well as his reading of "Kitchener's Note", opposed to ~70,000 men that he and Kitchener would agree on in OTL.
The rest of the war continues as it does in OTL. Except for two things:
The Ottomans will be on standby before they declare war the Gallipoli Campaign (dubbed Operation Iliad in January 1915), which considered earlier than OTL. Mobilising and organisation will start before December 1914.
As an Australian who sees stuff about Coronavirus and fires, Anzac Day holds meaning with me. To say that is a Gallipoli-wank will not be so accurate. It will be difficult, but I reckon it could be possible.
My other TL, Behold The Birth of a Sun, felt kind of boring despite enjoying the POD and the sort of things I could toy with. So, given what has happened, I wanted to start again.
I hope this makes more sense than Danish Mexico, King Arthur of England or Spanish Newfoundland. I suppose I could always reference one TL in this one.
Only one way to find out. Thanks.
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