The Colonial Oil Craze

...themselves with the Hungarians; and the Albanians and Bosniaks are working with the Serbs.

What do they attempt to gain? Are they still fond on the idea of a Yugoslavia themselves, or?

In the mean time, in Russia, the UWF has started 2 offensives, on St. Petersburg and along the Ukrainian coastline. It is hoped that if these two areas can be held, Russian shipping & trade will dwindle and hurt its economy. If the plan works, then it will be used as a possible bargaining chip.

Do they control the Baltic?

Britain and France continue to ship equipment to the UWF, particularly to the Polish front. They hope that Germany can be severely weakened by the UWF. Plans are also conjured for sending supplies to the Hungarians and Serbs. Italy adds on to this by considering a direct intervention against Austria, but is very cautious of the idea due to fear of war with Germany.

Seems like a pretty bold and outrageous move. I can imagine Germany threatening to use indiscriminate submarine warfare against any French and British ships(or any ships in general) suspected of supplying the rebels.

Which begs the question: Did a red scare occur during the early 20th century like it did OTL? Because arguably, if the British and French are covertly supporting the UWF something tells me that must not have happened.

But again, the British and French are not allied to Russia as they were in OTL.

Towards the end of the year, fractures can be seen forming in the UWF leadership. Though the revolution is going well for them, and they have a large amount of territory, what they will do if they win is heavily debated. The men at the head of the movement, however, are fortunately able to quell the arguments for the time being.

I assume Lenin and his henchmen are still in charge?

The two sides of the Ottoman Civil war are now picking themselves up from underneath the rubble. The Republic of Turkey is formed in May, and consists of the territory held by the nationalist forces of the war. The loyalist forces’ territory remains as the Ottoman Empire; however, the empire is a different animal from before its civil war. The Turkish majority mostly belongs to the Repbulic of Turkey, meaning that the minority Turks hold power of the majority Arabs. This will cause problems in the future.

Where is the Ottoman capital situated? Being that it isn't Baghdad as that is located in German Mesopotamia now(Still a strange move in my opinion, but maybe the German leadership at the time thought that the Ottomans weren't going to be of any use anyway and decided to take Mesopotamia for themselves).

Airship development continues in Great Britain. The British RAF furthers its plans for a dirigible airship fleet to connect the various parts of the empire. Experiments and trials are to take place once 3 new airships, designated R9, R10, and R11. The airships are rather large, at around 630-640 ft long; they also each incorporate a unique design feature: a small fighter wing of 3 aircraft. The aircraft are stored via an internal hangar on the bottom of the airships; they are launched and retrieved in-flight via a hook-and-trapeze system that saw many intense months of R&D to create. As such, the aircraft lack an wheeled undercarriage, as the mechanism is deemed unnecessary. The three airships undergo trials throughout the year.

Why would they prefer Airships over carriers? Unless they want to use the aerial carriers above land(In which case they might as well use improvised airstrips instead).

China receives its airship from Germany later in the year. The craft is given to the Army Air Force, who are pleased with the acquisition. The craft is planned for naval reconnaissance. However, the Chinese Republican Navy is not pleased with the Army’s control of their resources. Debates and arguments flare up between commanders of both branches, until the issue is finally compromised. It is decided that the creation of a Naval Air Service will permit the Navy to direct usage of the current and future airship resources, and possibly carrier aircraft if the idea ever comes to fruition in the ROCN. However, in the mean time, all land-based heavier-than-air craft will belong to the Chinese Army Air Force.

It strikes me as more plausible that the names would be "The Republican Navy" or "The Republican Chinese Navy" and "Chinese Army Air Wing".

[quote[The Russians, suffering heavy losses against the UWF with their outdated French-designed war tractors, decide to come up with some designs of their own. Their war ministry goes into a period of much R&D. Various designs are proposed, but none are officially chosen yet.[/quote]

I assume the UWF are using anti-tank guns and light artillery en messe to counter the slow and vulnerable war tractors?

Germany, thanks to closer relations with Russia, asks for some of the somewhat-obsolete war tractors originally given by the French so they [the Germans] could further develop their designs. The Russians reluctantly agree and give the Germans a batch of 10.

If they do that I assume that war tractors are considered entirely obsolete on the field as of now(at least versus anti-tank guns and light artillery, and to some extend light explosives like grenades)?

Oil prices, which have been steadily drooping for a while now (thanks majorly to a large supply and slowly rising demand), threaten to take a large dip. This worries many nations, such as Russia, France, Italy, the Netherlands, and the Kingdom of Iberia, as a good portion of their economies are based on oil revenue. Other nations, such as Britain, Germany, and the US, are also worried, as they are concerned that such a steep drop could cause a collapse in the worldwide economy.

Well, that strikes me as unusual, unless, cars and other oil consuming apparatus are much more common.

Even if they have nationalised their oil industries I doubt oil will be a big part of their economies I still can't see how it can be a big chunk of their revenues.

But again, industrialisation might have taken a different turn. That said, in OTL Russia's economy was long on par with that of Germany at the beginning of the 20th century.

How is industrialisation going as of late? In OTL nations like Italy, The Netherlands, The Iberian Peninsula and to a lesser extend Russia were lagging behind behind the likes of France, Great Britain and the industrial powerhouses of Germany and the United States.

How about immigration to the Americas, if there are less pogroms and less poverty in Russia(Which triggered mass immigration) and more industrialisation in Italy(Especially the North-East and South), earlier social reforms in Germany(although that possibly requires a POD of pre-1900, although arguably Germany is a lot more wealthy now without WWI having screwed it over) and an earlier industrialisation of Iberia I can imagine the population statistics being quite different ITTL.

Also note the lack of the demographic meat grinder that was WWI population might be much higher then they were in OTL.

Adding to that, a generally higher wealth and GDP per capita and higher purchasing power coupled with more industrialisation might increase the demand for oil to levels not seen in OTL early 20th century.

That said, I can imagine a split occurring between Polish nationalist and Ukrainian nationalists.

Also, in OTL the Polish nation was generally a bastion of anti-Bolshevism, while this might be less of the case or even not at all in OTL, I can still see the split occurring with the Polish and Ukrainian factions hijacking the revolution for their own interests.
 
What do they attempt to gain? Are they still fond on the idea of a Yugoslavia themselves, or?

They generally have a vague idea of a Yugoslvia-ish kind of country. Although the Serbs generally view the idea as more of a Greater Serbia.



Do they control the Baltic?

They do, in fact. Remeber that Baltic minorities are also participating in the UWF. But not for long.



Seems like a pretty bold and outrageous move. I can imagine Germany threatening to use indiscriminate submarine warfare against any French and British ships(or any ships in general) suspected of supplying the rebels.

Hmm. Never thought of that. I think that could be plausible, although I'm aware it would piss off Britain and France and that could lead to war. A war that doesn't seem very plausible to be won by Germany. The Kaiser and the rest of the German leadership are well aware of this.


Which begs the question: Did a red scare occur during the early 20th century like it did OTL? Because arguably, if the British and French are covertly supporting the UWF something tells me that must not have happened.

No, there really hasn't been a red scare. Remember that although the leaders of the revolution believe in a Marxist/Communist nation, they've built their revolution on the ideals of nationalism in order to gain wider support. Plus, the revolution hasn't been a quick affair, and looks to drag out for a while. So communist revolutionaries don't have the presence or the power to be considered a threat to the other nations; thus, no Red Scare.


I assume Lenin and his henchmen are still in charge?

Yessir.


Where is the Ottoman capital situated? Being that it isn't Baghdad as that is located in German Mesopotamia now(Still a strange move in my opinion, but maybe the German leadership at the time thought that the Ottomans weren't going to be of any use anyway and decided to take Mesopotamia for themselves).

I'll probably talk about the Ottoman's new capital, as well as the Turkish capital, in the next post. For the record, the Germans stayed in Mesopotamia to protect as much of the Baghdad railway (which they helped fund) as possible, as well as the port of Basra, as these two connections were lifelines to its eastern colonies.



Why would they prefer Airships over carriers? Unless they want to use the aerial carriers above land(In which case they might as well use improvised airstrips instead).

Airships are cheaper. A single airship is much less costly than an aircraft carrier.


It strikes me as more plausible that the names would be "The Republican Navy" or "The Republican Chinese Navy" and "Chinese Army Air Wing".

Technically, "Chinese Republican Navy" is just a nickname I used in place of the Chinese Navy's full name, the Republic of China Navy (ROCN). I might have this changed though.


I assume the UWF are using anti-tank guns and light artillery en messe to counter the slow and vulnerable war tractors?

Kind of, but in all honesty, it's the obsolescence of the Russian war tractors that allows for so many do be destroyed in combat. I'll go more into detail on this later.


If they do that I assume that war tractors are considered entirely obsolete on the field as of now(at least versus anti-tank guns and light artillery, and to some extend light explosives like grenades)?

Not war tractors as a whole, just the Russian ones. Remember that the Russian war tractors were the first ever developed and used in combat, and while effective against the Japanese trenches, are not as good in relatively more mobile warfare that takes place against the UWF in Eastern Europe.



Well, that strikes me as unusual, unless, cars and other oil consuming apparatus are much more common.

That is not the case, yet. But there is so much oil, as a lot more has been discovered, as opposed to OTL where there wasn't as much. A number of reserves are being exploited that weren't (at least not as much) in OTL.

Even if they have nationalised their oil industries I doubt oil will be a big part of their economies I still can't see how it can be a big chunk of their revenues.

But it has given them a good amount of money. Also, it has made the discoverers of the reserves exporters of oil, which helps their economies overall.


How is industrialisation going as of late? In OTL nations like Italy, The Netherlands, The Iberian Peninsula and to a lesser extend Russia were lagging behind behind the likes of France, Great Britain and the industrial powerhouses of Germany and the United States.

The European nations are seeing much greater industrialisation, especially in the lesser powers such as Spain/Portugal (Iberian Kingdom) and Italy. This is thanks in part to the global oil boom. These nations have used their colonial oil production to boost their own economies; they have major oil refining centers on their coastlines. This forms the basis of their industrial economies; the greater amount of oil leads to the ability to improve infrastructures and has promoted the growth of large industrial towns with the refineries as the centerpiece. I'll see if I can go into more detail on this later. I believe effects of this oil boom will lead to oil-exporting European nations, earlier and more widespread use of internal combustion engines in transportation, and generally a greater importance of oil in the early to mid 20th century.

How about immigration to the Americas, if there are less pogroms and less poverty in Russia(Which triggered mass immigration) and more industrialisation in Italy(Especially the North-East and South), earlier social reforms in Germany(although that possibly requires a POD of pre-1900, although arguably Germany is a lot more wealthy now without WWI having screwed it over) and an earlier industrialisation of Iberia I can imagine the population statistics being quite different ITTL.

Well, there are less incentives for Western Europeans to go to America. However, the Eastern European population has every reason to leave (war), and since there's been no red scare, they are allowed to go so long as they can afford it.

Also note the lack of the demographic meat grinder that was WWI population might be much higher then they were in OTL.

True, but there will be a much larger meat grinder in this TL's future. :D

Adding to that, a generally higher wealth and GDP per capita and higher purchasing power coupled with more industrialisation might increase the demand for oil to levels not seen in OTL early 20th century.

Great point. Greater economic prosperity likely means greater demand for oil. I'll see if I can implement that.

That said, I can imagine a split occurring between Polish nationalist and Ukrainian nationalists.

Also, in OTL the Polish nation was generally a bastion of anti-Bolshevism, while this might be less of the case or even not at all in OTL, I can still see the split occurring with the Polish and Ukrainian factions hijacking the revolution for their own interests.

I'm going to have to say that you may be right. You'll see. ;)
 
When will we see the next update? :p

Very soon. I have most of it typed on Microsoft Word, I just need to tie up a few loose ends and see if I set up anything to be finished in 1924 ITTL. Realistically, it'll be up around Tuesday (it would be posted earlier but I have a busy schedule).
 
1924


-The close-quarters fighting against the UWF in St. Petersburg causes a grave need for automatic weapons. Thus, the Russian Defense Ministry considers the adoption of a new rifle, one better suited for close combat. Many experimental projects are funded throughout the year; eventually, a unique design (and accompanying cartridge) is picked. The Fedorov Avtomat is a rifle with a smaller cartridge than most other rifles. It is unique in that it is able to be fired fully automatically. Production begins in the fall and soon after it starts to be issued to the Russian Army.


-Germany follows Russia’s idea and works towards the development of its own automatic weapons. Though German engineers struggle to invent an intermediate cartridge, they manage to use an existing one (9mm Parabellum) in a new weapon design that fires quickly and comes with an external, detachable magazine.


-The offensive on the two Russia coastlines is a mixed bag for the UWF. While the assault on St. Petersburg is currently a stalemate, the southern offensive is an overwhelming success. The UWF forces reach the port city of Berdyansk in the fall, and continue the offensive throughout the winter.


-News of the UWF comes late to the Caucasians in April. The news inspires many ethnic Caucasian populations to rebel against Russian rule, opening up yet another front. The Caucasians offer to ally with the UWF and decide to assist them in cutting off the Russian Empire from the Black Sea Coast. They are less successful in their attacks, though, and are kept at bay.


-Germany continues to fight the UWF on its eastern borders. A small brigade is sent to help bolster Austria against the Hungarians’ and Serbs’ assaults. The brigade soon proves to be quite helpful, as it assists the Austrian forces in repelling tue Hungarian and Serbian offensives throughout the year.


-The Dutch Naval Ministry finally decide on a torpedo bomber aircraft: the Fokker C.V. The C.V., having entered service with the Dutch Army Air Force in 1923, looks to be a capable craft and is also versatile (it can serve as a reconnaissance craft as well).


-The leaders of the UWF find it increasingly difficult to hold the group together. The Marxist founders and leaders of the rebellion are discovering that nationalism was not an optimal pretext to motivate the people and mix in with Marxism/Communism. Polish, Baltic, and Ukrainian nationalists constantly argue about what to do at the end of the rebellion and how the territories will be set up. While Lenin and the UWF leaders want a united nation to emerge from the rebellion, the different ethnicities want otherwise.


-Italy decides to order its first purpose-built aircraft carrier. The carrier is expected to take 3 years to construct and will be of 27,500 tons displacement, and capable of carrying around 45-48 aircraft. British shipbuilders agree to oversee the construction to help guide the process.


-Britain finishes both ships of the Ark Royal-class of carriers. The vessels are launched in June and August, respectively. The Admiralty also decides to start ordering battleships again; 3 more ships of the Malta-class are ordered.


-One of the Russian battlecruisers is finally completed; however, due to the resources being diverted to the war against the UWF, one of the planned ships is cancelled. The other one, about midway through construction, is put on hold.


-Japan, in an attempt to appease the surrounding colonial powers, offers to connect British Burma with French Indochina via railroad. The project would thus indirectly connect China to India. The French and British approve of this idea. Britain, in return, offers to convert some of its railways in Burma and India to standard gauge over time to promote compatibility. Russia offers to do a similar slow process on its own railways, including a conversion of the Trans-Siberian railway.


-Germany continues development of war tractors for use against the UWF. The current French and Anglo-Japanese designs are looked at as examples. No definite designs are chosen, however.


-The Iberians experience the same results with war tractor development as the Germans; though several studies are conducted, no conclusion is made on which design to select.


-Russia, on the other hand, picks a brand-new war tractor design. The design contains a new concept: the wheels in its tracks are attached to an armored plate, which in turn is attached to the war tractor. The armored plate also helps keep the treads on the wheels. Thus, the Russian war tractor design has covered treads. The design is put into production but as of December is not fielded.


-China looks into developing some of its own war tractors. Thus, it requests from France the right to license-build Char G1’s in factories in China. France reluctantly agrees and the war tractors are built starting in November.


-China begins to run exercises with its new airship. It participates in fleet exercises with the Chinese surface navy, and soon looks to be a valuable asset to the fleet. The airship performs many reconnaissance missions and helps serve as an excellent scouting craft. However, more applications and purposes for it are sought. Despite this, China still decides to keep a focus on a standard surface navy, as sea-going vessels are tried and true. The Chinese Naval Ministry orders the construction of 6 destroyers in its own shipyards.


-The British conclude that the airship program is a good use of resources and it is thus decided that 3 more will be constructed. However, these (R12, R13, and R14) will be much larger in size and will carry up to 10 aircraft in internal hangar bays.


-Germany decides that shipping to the UWF must stop, or else it will cause serious repercussions to them. A possible solution in the form of submarine warfare is proposed, which would allow the German navy to sink the British and French shipping in secrecy. However, an alternative is proposed-have the Iberian Kingdom (an ally) simply block the straits of Gibraltar (as the shipping goes through the Med. to the Black Sea). Though the submarine plan is seen as much less risky, it is more complex and will take longer to make happen. The plan is debated on throughout the year; it is eventually decided that submarines (based out of the Iberian Kingdom and German Mesopotamia) will sink the commerce ships as covertly as possible. The German airship program is cancelled to divert more resources to submarine construction. LZ26, about 92% complete, is decided to be sold off. The Dutch purchase it.


-The Iberians, borrowing the idea of the Russian diving tactic for bombers, seek to create an aircraft much more suited to a steep dive. Designs are explored throughout the year and experimental planes are tested as well. However, the process is slow due to the lack of a major Iberian aviation industry. Thus, the Iberian leadership encourages the development of aircraft designs by holding an aircraft design competition for a fighter and a bomber that can dive steeply. The government also constructs an aircraft factory complex in Barcelona in order to produce such designs.


-Denmark begins construction of a series of all-metal monoplane fighters, based off of the Junkers J7/J9 but with improvements. Production begins later in the year.


-The US becomes very concerned with the Japanese acquisition of Siam, as they are now aware that the Japanese possess a territory from which they could attack the Philippines. The US’s leadership becomes very concerned.


-Belgium considers development of its own war tractors for its defense. Thus, it buys a batch of 8 Char G1’s from France for testing and evaluation.


-Korea, its economy starting to rebuild, decides to develop its military forces. It decides to purchase a large number of ZB-1 (Zidong Buqiang, meaning “automatic rifle”) rifles from China. The ZB-1 is an improved version of the Mondragon rifle adapted for a smaller cartridge, a 5.5 x 42 mm cartridge that is lighter and cheaper to produce.


-China decides to produce its very first indigenously-made fighter aircraft: the Type 24 Xiongfeng (Bumblebee) fighter. The aircraft is a standard biplane of the era. It is to become the standard fighter plane of the Chinese Army Air Force. The Chinese Military Administration also considers producing indigenous bomber designs within the next year.

-Relations between the US and the UK continue to degrade. The current president, Theodore Roosevelt (re-elected for a nonconsecutive third term in the election of 1920 after beating out Woodrow Wilson), believed in an aggressive foreign policy. Under him, his signature "big stick diplomacy" became prevalent in foreign relations, causing US-UK relations (and relations with Europe in general) to worsen. Teddy Roosevelt's campaign of 1924 is based on asserting America's position on the world stage. He promises to further beef up America's military and become a more aggressive and respected power; this is in stark contrast to his opponent, Robert La Follette's, promise to "keep America focused on America" and take an isolationist stance. Teddy Roosevelt's campaign turns out to be more popular, and he becomes president for the fourth time ever.

-The British continue to undertake large infrastructure projects in their colonies. The railroad between Cape Town and Salisbury is almost entirely complete. To add on to this, even more oil reserves (and particularly large ones, at that) are found in the southern portion of Egyptian Sudan, much to the delight of the British. However, this threatens to cause issues in the world economy.



Grigorovich_I-2.jpg


A "Xiongfeng" type fighter parked on an airfield in Northern China. Note the use of skis.


avia_bh-3.jpg


The Danish Aircraft Works (DAW) F-1 monoplane fighter. It would soon prove to become an effective design.



HMS_Amazon.jpg


A later picture taken of one of the Chinese Jianhuren ("Guardian")-class destroyers.

avia_bh-3.jpg
 
I would like to see chemical weapons being developed in Russia for use against the revolters.

One way or the other they are going to be invented, and what better use than in the cramped urban environments of the St. Petersburg outerskirts.

Could you draw the UWF borders across Europe, together with those of Hungary?
 
I would like to see chemical weapons being developed in Russia for use against the revolters.

One way or the other they are going to be invented, and what better use than in the cramped urban environments of the St. Petersburg outerskirts.

I might implement that. Then again, if Russia did that it could possibly piss off the British and French due to the excessive measures.

Could you draw the UWF borders across Europe, together with those of Hungary?

I can try. But do you know where I can get the blank Europe map used by most AH-ers on this site?
 
I might implement that. Then again, if Russia did that it could possibly piss off the British and French due to the excessive measures.

A desperate and perhaps despicable move, it might act as a booster for the ideological struggle of the UWF and strengthen the image of Nicolas II being a depraved and sick tyrant.

I can try. But do you know where I can get the blank Europe map used by most AH-ers on this site?

You could try to use a map from 1914 Europe and then add the borders of the UWF conquered territories and those of the Serbs and the Hungarians.
 
A desperate and perhaps despicable move, it might act as a booster for the ideological struggle of the UWF and strengthen the image of Nicolas II being a depraved and sick tyrant.

It could possibly lead to a WWI as well. Hmmmm...



You could try to use a map from 1914 Europe and then add the borders of the UWF conquered territories and those of the Serbs and the Hungarians.

I think I'll do that in the next update.


In unrelated news, let's all pretend that the Russians & British both collaborated on a Trans-Iranian rail system between 1910-1913 and 1919-1921. When this TL is completed and put into the completed TLs/Scenarios section, I'll work that in.
 
For anyone who might still be reading this, or was waiting for an update, Amakan will now be taking over. I have lost interest in this TL in favor of research for a new one.
 
Top