The Belgian War

[NavesFerrata]

David Lloyd George had come to power after a cabinet crisis. Asquith's cabinet resigned and a no-confidence vote was held. The General Elections had been decided on Irish home rule. The war going on in Belgium had been a matter of minor interest, ultimately fading from view as it was clear that the Germans' war with France was no threat to England; England in fact had relatively cordial relations with Germany at the time, and with the idea of going to war before an election being unthinkable, and as the perceived threat to Britain had decreased consdierably by election day it had become more or less a Home Rule referendum. By late 1914 and early 1915 it had become quite clear that the Germans had won; France had been defeated decisively as bold German generalship -- allowing the French Army to have their way with Plan XVII, which after the capture of Paris resulted in the French Army in Germany being subjected to a massive turning movement. Belgium was economically united with Germany. The defeat of France had made the nation cast about for a scapegoat, which it found in the French Jews. However, unlike in the German case this was done squarely within the framework of a republic. Also, the fact that France had been seriously defeated -- and the spectacle of the Prussians' spiked helmet in the streets of Paris and the trauma of near complete destruction of the French Army -- had completely discredited the revanchist nationalist fashions and had given nationalism as an ideology in France a serious blow.

 

[Carl Schwamberger]

Hmm.. Does not match the usual political/military narrative, on either side of the Channel.

 

[Faeelin]

Of course, when the emboldened German militarists carpet Bombed Fair England's grassy hills a few years later, many lamented their failure to stand up in 1914.

 

[NavesFerrata]

The British didn't really like the Germans, but there were strong antiwar factions in Britain and Germany -- the Liberals weren't in favor of war, and war fever was going to probably peter out between the fall of the Government over home rule (which means the Liberal government has no reason to give them war); the German SD's hold a plurality in Parliament. It should be remembered that Germany wasn't a militaristic hive mind by any stretch -- the SDP was opposed to war on principle, seeing it as merely a vehicle for profiteering. Same with the Labour Party in Britain. The Liberal Party views war an unmitigated evil to be avoided if at all possible. It's the Tories, Zentrum and the Kaiser who want war. Even the Junkers are rather ambivalent about it. the The SDP though is probably going to be savvy enough to burn as much powder as everyone else in celebration of German victories, as its political interest is to do so. The German Empire was NOT an absolute monarchy and while OTL Germany was proud of its going from nobody to the source of many European leaders' nightmare in the short space of 100 years (so fast, and from so little, that if it hadn't happened OTL would be viewed as a wank) they weren't crazy. Even Hitler gave up on trying to conquer Britain when it became clear that the whole harebrained scheme wasn't going to go off as planned. Saner heads are not likely to do so.

 

[NavesFerrata]

Okay, I can't work this out any further; dialogue isn't my thing, and given that Germany basically went to war with few war aims other than "kick France's butt" (The Septemberprogramm was more or less a "solicitation of ideas" kind of thing; if Germany can be said to have a real war goal it's to split the Franco-Russian allliance. The scenario Ihave happen where the French sue for a separate peace, and Britain stays on the ssideines, makes that possible). So the Treaty of London has a a number of provisions.

-- Luxembourg, Flanders and the Netherlands annexed to Germany
-- Balkan states obliged to seek permission from Vienna, Moscow and Istanbul for wars.
-- Russian Poland partitioned between Germany and Austria (it mostly goes to Austria).
-- Belgium, France, Germany, Denmark, and Britain form CNSCU, the Circum-North Sea Customs Union. A Standards Bureau and a Regulatory Harmonization Bureau are set up to work out agreements on standardization across the union.
-- French colonies divided between Britain and Germany. This preserves much of the balance of power.
-- Opium Convention -- Opium and its derivatives are now restricted to sale by doctor's prescription only; opium growers obliged to sell resin to the governments which rule their farms.