The elephant, the lynx, the two wolves, the dragon, the eagle, the griffon vulture and the bull.
- Thread starter Antonio Ferrari
- Start date
Yesterday, I could get in because the site didn't respond or something, while I could enter all the other sites
Sometimes it happens. Is a old site so goes often into mainteinance or stopping.
By the way, assuming is your first TL? Is very pleasant to watch, as ATL Belle Epoque. And as Italian is nice to see a better exploit of Tientsin than OTL. If Italy will retain the site post ATL WWI, it would turn to be very interesting for them...
1)Thank you for sharing
2)Yes, it's my first timeline. What should I improve?
3)Sono italiano pure io, di Como.
4)I was also fascinated for the possibility of an Italian colony in Asia. Dam shame we didn't get one.
5) You'll see.
Aaah questo spiega molte cose!
1) Welcome!
2) Well everyone develops their TLs in their own ways and for your first time you are going very good... Maybe about one of the first PODs, the cession of lands to Italy, try to work better the cause of this decision for Wien, because, well, ceding Trento and above all Trieste needs much more digging behind it. The Austrians won't cede those lands easily OTL.
3) Toscana.
4) Well is already more than a quarter so is quite the wank already for Italy!
5) Okie!
Slav rebellion in the empire: the vulture faces changes alongside the desert wolf
Slav rebellion in the empire: the vulture faces changes alongside the desert wolf
As it was said before, the Austro-Hungarian empire was a moltitude of various ethniticies. Hungarians, Germans, Italians, Croats, Slovens and other Slavs lived toghether, and some even managed to coexist with each other. However not all were happy to live under the vulture's rule: uprisings in the empire were actually common, because of the strong feeling of independence many region wanted to obtain. As such, it was no surprise that when the Bosinan uprising happened, the Austrian did not participate against the Boxer rebellion in China.
Following the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78, in June and July 1878 the Congress of Berlin was organized by the Great Powers. The resulting Treaty of Berlin caused Bosnia and Herzegovina to nominally remain under sovereignty of the Ottoman Empire, but was de facto ceded to Austria-Hungary, which also obtained the right to garrison the Sanjak of Novi Pazar. Basically, the Ottomans owned the region, but it was occupied(and even administrated) by the Austrians.
Typical reaction after someone explained the Bosnian situation in the 19th century
To make things even more confusing, the locals were fighting both the Ottomans and the Austrians for independence. The Ottomans tried everything possible in order to avoid rebellions in the area, such as Bosnian journal censorships. Even the Austrians were helping the local Ottoman forces. Tensions remained in certain parts of the country (particularly Herzegovina) and a mass emigration of predominantly Muslim dissidents occurred. However, a state of relative stability was reached soon enough and Austro-Hungarian authorities were able to embark on a number of social and administrative reforms. With the aim of establishing the province as a stable political model that would help dissipate rising South Slav nationalism , Habsburg rule did much to codify laws, to introduce new political practices, and generally to provide for modernization.
Despite these changes, rebellions still happened in the region. The biggest one, and the reason itself why Austria didn't join the Boxer war, was the 1899 "June Uprising". The reason of such event was
A) the increase of taxes
B)Muslims Bosnians who saw their priliveges in danger
C)Bosnian strong sense of independence
D)Britain, France and Russia fear of a strong Austria-Hungary in the Central powers
It was no doubt that being in the Central powers would be the equivalent of being in Russia, France and UK, pardon the term, shitlist. The Kaiser always seemed to bring good arguments to join the alliance(he was the one who pressured Franz Joseph of Austria to sell parts of the "Italia irridentia", such as Trento and Istria, in order to gain Italian support in future wars), but the three ancient powers didn't seem to enjoy the Central powers gaining power. As a result, after the Sino-Japanese war, they decided to create tensions inside the members of the Central powers, such a support to foreign nations(during the Spanish-Moroccan war, the French were supplying weapons to the Moroccans), or, in this case, support rebellions in the regions of higly unstable countries. To be fair, Russia and France were just hoping to release Bosnia from Austrian occupation, to just join the Ottoman back, maybe to gain their trust. But they did not expect the Bosnians priorely attacking the Ottomans rather than the Austrians. As a result, in the first 2 weeks of the rebellion, the Austrians were neutral of the conflict. However, as the rebels started to attack more and more Austrian contingents, the Austro-Hungarian empire entered the war against them.
The Austro-Hungarian Army engaged in a major mobilization effort to prepare for the assault on Bosnia and Herzegovina, commanding by the end of June 1878 a force of 82,113 troops, 13,313 horses and 112 cannons in the VI, VII, XX, and XVIII infantry divisions as well as a rear army in the Kingdom of Dalmatia. The primary commander was Josip Filipović; the forward XVIII infantry division was under the command Stjepan Jovanović, while the rear army commander in Dalmatia was Gavrilo Rodić.
The Austro-Hungarian forces storming in Bosnia to reach Sarajevo.
On the way over for Sarajevo, the Austrian meet fierce resistence by the local population, losing the battle of Banja Lunka, suffering 500 causalities. The Ottomans themselves werent doing that well: too far away from Turkey, they faced the problem of lacking supplies, alongside persistent harassment by other balkan rebels, such as Serbs, Bulgarians, Greeks and Albanians. All of these rebels were supported by Serbia, Montenegro and Greece, but France and Russia did not support them afraid of the fall of the Ottoman empire.
Taking advance of the Ottoman difficult situation, the Kingdom of Serbia and Montenegro decided to help the rebels by entering the war against the Ottomans and, later on, the Austrians. Because of the initial lack of troops in their borders(the majority was focused on Bosnia), they managed to obtain success in various battles, while also gaining the support of the locals.
Illustration of combat between Austro-Hungarian forces and rebels
As the Ottomans were starting to lose ground, they proposed peace with the Serbs and the Montenegran, who obtained controll of bordering regions. With the Serbs and the Montenegrans out of the way, the Bosnians started to lose the conflict: lacking support from their neighbour, they started to lose ground to the Ottoman-Austrian coalition. The rebellion ended on January 03 1900, after the last Bosnians tried to hold Sarajevo after a 3 months siege. A treaty was also signed in Vienna between the Ottomans, the Serbs, the Montenegran and the Austrians, 3 months later. On it:
-Austria-Hungary takes full controll of part of Bosnia as a compensation for the help given to the Ottomans
-Austria-Hungary wirdraw from the rest of Bosnia, which becomes full controlled by the Ottomans in every way
-Serbia and Montenegro would keep the territories conquered in the war
Map of the region after the June uprising
In this conflict, both the Ottomans and the Austrians realized that their ancient power was starting to fade away. They needed to modernize, and fast, in order to make sure that their empires can survive. Austria luckly has the Germans on their sides, however, the Ottomans seemed to be alone. Not yet interested in joining the Central powers because of Italy, who seemed to be interested in conquering Tripolitania in order to increase their empire in size, they decided to remain isolated at first. However, it would seems that, aside for the wolf who hunts in the mountains, the desert wold does not have to fear the eagle or the vulture.
As it was said before, the Austro-Hungarian empire was a moltitude of various ethniticies. Hungarians, Germans, Italians, Croats, Slovens and other Slavs lived toghether, and some even managed to coexist with each other. However not all were happy to live under the vulture's rule: uprisings in the empire were actually common, because of the strong feeling of independence many region wanted to obtain. As such, it was no surprise that when the Bosinan uprising happened, the Austrian did not participate against the Boxer rebellion in China.
Following the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78, in June and July 1878 the Congress of Berlin was organized by the Great Powers. The resulting Treaty of Berlin caused Bosnia and Herzegovina to nominally remain under sovereignty of the Ottoman Empire, but was de facto ceded to Austria-Hungary, which also obtained the right to garrison the Sanjak of Novi Pazar. Basically, the Ottomans owned the region, but it was occupied(and even administrated) by the Austrians.
Typical reaction after someone explained the Bosnian situation in the 19th century
To make things even more confusing, the locals were fighting both the Ottomans and the Austrians for independence. The Ottomans tried everything possible in order to avoid rebellions in the area, such as Bosnian journal censorships. Even the Austrians were helping the local Ottoman forces. Tensions remained in certain parts of the country (particularly Herzegovina) and a mass emigration of predominantly Muslim dissidents occurred. However, a state of relative stability was reached soon enough and Austro-Hungarian authorities were able to embark on a number of social and administrative reforms. With the aim of establishing the province as a stable political model that would help dissipate rising South Slav nationalism , Habsburg rule did much to codify laws, to introduce new political practices, and generally to provide for modernization.
Despite these changes, rebellions still happened in the region. The biggest one, and the reason itself why Austria didn't join the Boxer war, was the 1899 "June Uprising". The reason of such event was
A) the increase of taxes
B)Muslims Bosnians who saw their priliveges in danger
C)Bosnian strong sense of independence
D)Britain, France and Russia fear of a strong Austria-Hungary in the Central powers
It was no doubt that being in the Central powers would be the equivalent of being in Russia, France and UK, pardon the term, shitlist. The Kaiser always seemed to bring good arguments to join the alliance(he was the one who pressured Franz Joseph of Austria to sell parts of the "Italia irridentia", such as Trento and Istria, in order to gain Italian support in future wars), but the three ancient powers didn't seem to enjoy the Central powers gaining power. As a result, after the Sino-Japanese war, they decided to create tensions inside the members of the Central powers, such a support to foreign nations(during the Spanish-Moroccan war, the French were supplying weapons to the Moroccans), or, in this case, support rebellions in the regions of higly unstable countries. To be fair, Russia and France were just hoping to release Bosnia from Austrian occupation, to just join the Ottoman back, maybe to gain their trust. But they did not expect the Bosnians priorely attacking the Ottomans rather than the Austrians. As a result, in the first 2 weeks of the rebellion, the Austrians were neutral of the conflict. However, as the rebels started to attack more and more Austrian contingents, the Austro-Hungarian empire entered the war against them.
The Austro-Hungarian Army engaged in a major mobilization effort to prepare for the assault on Bosnia and Herzegovina, commanding by the end of June 1878 a force of 82,113 troops, 13,313 horses and 112 cannons in the VI, VII, XX, and XVIII infantry divisions as well as a rear army in the Kingdom of Dalmatia. The primary commander was Josip Filipović; the forward XVIII infantry division was under the command Stjepan Jovanović, while the rear army commander in Dalmatia was Gavrilo Rodić.
The Austro-Hungarian forces storming in Bosnia to reach Sarajevo.
On the way over for Sarajevo, the Austrian meet fierce resistence by the local population, losing the battle of Banja Lunka, suffering 500 causalities. The Ottomans themselves werent doing that well: too far away from Turkey, they faced the problem of lacking supplies, alongside persistent harassment by other balkan rebels, such as Serbs, Bulgarians, Greeks and Albanians. All of these rebels were supported by Serbia, Montenegro and Greece, but France and Russia did not support them afraid of the fall of the Ottoman empire.
Taking advance of the Ottoman difficult situation, the Kingdom of Serbia and Montenegro decided to help the rebels by entering the war against the Ottomans and, later on, the Austrians. Because of the initial lack of troops in their borders(the majority was focused on Bosnia), they managed to obtain success in various battles, while also gaining the support of the locals.
Illustration of combat between Austro-Hungarian forces and rebels
As the Ottomans were starting to lose ground, they proposed peace with the Serbs and the Montenegran, who obtained controll of bordering regions. With the Serbs and the Montenegrans out of the way, the Bosnians started to lose the conflict: lacking support from their neighbour, they started to lose ground to the Ottoman-Austrian coalition. The rebellion ended on January 03 1900, after the last Bosnians tried to hold Sarajevo after a 3 months siege. A treaty was also signed in Vienna between the Ottomans, the Serbs, the Montenegran and the Austrians, 3 months later. On it:
-Austria-Hungary takes full controll of part of Bosnia as a compensation for the help given to the Ottomans
-Austria-Hungary wirdraw from the rest of Bosnia, which becomes full controlled by the Ottomans in every way
-Serbia and Montenegro would keep the territories conquered in the war
Map of the region after the June uprising
In this conflict, both the Ottomans and the Austrians realized that their ancient power was starting to fade away. They needed to modernize, and fast, in order to make sure that their empires can survive. Austria luckly has the Germans on their sides, however, the Ottomans seemed to be alone. Not yet interested in joining the Central powers because of Italy, who seemed to be interested in conquering Tripolitania in order to increase their empire in size, they decided to remain isolated at first. However, it would seems that, aside for the wolf who hunts in the mountains, the desert wold does not have to fear the eagle or the vulture.
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It was good how you unite Italian culture in China and how it influences the country.
It is as good as the situation in Austria has explained. With this revelion I hope that the Austrians realize that they are in a very bad situation before Otl.
The situation of the Ottomans is serious and can go for the worse.
It is as good as the situation in Austria has explained. With this revelion I hope that the Austrians realize that they are in a very bad situation before Otl.
The situation of the Ottomans is serious and can go for the worse.
Yeah, much worse.
Just for curiosity: I think I did a mistake in the map not showing Bulgaria. Was Bulgaria independent in 1900? Shoul I put it in the map?
The Russo-Japanese war: the dragon official alliance with the eagle
The Russo-Japanese war: the dragon official alliance with the eagle
While in the Balkans there was high unstability caused by the "June uprising", the situation in China was on a breaking point too. As Japan decided to leave the Pacific to Germany, it was obvious that now the real enemy were Russia, France and England. However the first one was in bad term with Japan for a very long time. After the Sino-Japanese war, Russia was one of the nations who decided to defend the Quing, forcing(or at least trying before Germany and Italy entered the argument) them to "release" the Liaodong peninsula back to China. The Japanese never did, and instead increased their influence in the region,occupying more land an year before the boxer revolt. To counter Japanese expansion in the region, the Russians had occupied Manchuria. As a result, competition for the ownership of northern China between Japan and Russia was active, while relations between Germany and Italy were peaceful, and even profitful. After the Boxer war, Italy started a serie of trade laws with Germany and Japan, creating the "Bohai fishing triangle(Triangolo della pesca del Bohai, Bohai Fischerei Dreieck, Bokkai-dzuri-yō sankaku) and the Bohai ecnomic triangle(Triangolo economico del Bohai, Bokkai keizai sankaku, Bohai Wirtschaftsdreieck) which streightened relation between the rising sun, "il bel paese" and the reich.
Map showing German, Italian and Japanese concessions in northern China. In the Bohai economic triangle and the Bohai fishing triangle, the Italians had fishing controll of the Bohai Bay, the Germans in the Laizhou Bay, and the Japanese in the Liaodong Bay.
The Japanese presence in the area caused economic competition with the Russians, who wanted controll of at least part of the Bohai sea, and at the very least controll of the sea in the region. One possible way could have been by putting Korea on their sphere of influence. By 1898 they had acquired mining and forestry concessions near the Yalu and Tumen rivers, causing the Japanese much anxiety. On top of that, the Tzar decided to officially annex the Manchiurian territories who were solely militarly occupied by the Russians.
Map of the region after Russian annexation of Manchuria
The 1890s and 1900s marked the height of the "Yellow Peril" propaganda by the French government and the French Prime Minister Émile François Loubet often wrote letters to Nicholas II of Russia, praising him as the "savior of the white race" and urging Russia forward in Asia. From November 1900 onward, Loubet had been writing letters praising Nicholas as Europe's defender from the "Yellow Peril", assuring the Tsar that God Himself had "chosen" Russia to defend Europe from the alleged Asian threat. On 1 November 1902, Loubet wrote to Nicholas that "certain symptoms in the East seem to show that Japan is becoming a rather restless customer" and "it is evident to every unbiased mind that Korea must and will be Russian". A recurring theme of Loubet's letters to Nicholas was that "Holy Russia" had been "chosen" by God to save the "entire white race" from the "Yellow Peril", and that Russia was "entitled" to annex all of Korea, Manchuria, and northern China up to Beijing
On the other hand, Wilhelm II wrote a letter to the emperor of Japan, which said: "Twenty to thirty million Chinese, supported by a half dozen Russian divisions, led by competent, intrepid Russians officers, full of hatred for the Japanisches Mutterland and the Reich —that is a vision of the future that cannot be contemplated without concern, and it is not impossible." In the letter, he also communicated that Germany and Italy could come to the rescue in case the situation started to go wrong, and that "All you need to do is call us. We'll answer".
On 24 July 1905, in a letter to the British diplomat Cecil Spring Rice, Roosevelt wrote that Loubet bore partial responsibility for the war as "he has done all he could to bring it about", charging that Loubet's constant warnings about the "Yellow peril" had made the Russians uninterested in compromise as Nisholas believed that France would intervene if Japan attacked or gained support from other nations.
In order to avoid a confrontation with the Central Powers, however, Nicholas had been prepared to compromise with Japan, but after receiving a letter from Loubet attacking him as a coward for his willingness to compromise with the Japanese for the sake of peace, become more obstinate. Loubet had written to Nicholas stating that the question of Russian interests in Manchuria and Korea was beside the point, saying instead it was a matter of Russia to "undertaking the protection and defense of the White Race, and with it, Christian civilization, against the Yellow Race. And whatever the Japs are determined to ensure the domination of the Yellow Race in East Asia, to put themselves at its head and organise and lead it into battle against the White Race. That is the kernel of the situation, and therefore there can be very little doubt about where the sympathies of all half-way intelligent Europeans should lie. England betrayed Europe's interests to America in a cowardly and shameful way over the Panama Canal question, so as to be left in 'peace' by the Yankees. Will the 'Tsar' likewise betray the interests of the White Race to the Yellow as to be 'left in peace' and not embarrass the Hague tribunal too much?".
When Nicholas replied that he still wanted peace, Loubet wrote back in a telegram "You innocent angel!", while saying in the parliament "This is the language of an innocent angel. But not that of a White Tsar!". Nevertheless, the belief in Tokyo was that Russia was not serious about seeking a peaceful solution to the dispute, on 13 January 1904, Japan proposed a formula by which Manchuria would be outside the Japanese sphere of influence and, reciprocally, Korea outside Russia's. On 21 December 1903, the Tarō cabinet voted to go to war against Russia.
Japan issued a declaration of war on 8 February 1904. The war officially ended with a Japanese victory. In the conflict, both Germany and Italy were on the edge of entering: however, Emperor Mejin asked them to not enter the conflict, afraid of a French and British intervention, in the famous "Emperor speech(皇帝の演説 or Kōtei no enzetsu), in which he says that the war was solely a Russian and Japanese one, and that no other nation should be involved in the massacre that would follow(they would still support Japan by landlease and by sending volunteers).
However, the Germans and the Italians entered on the Japanese side to defend their claims in the treaty of Portsmouth on September 5, 1905, after the French once again decided to intervene against Japan.
In the end, in the Treaty:
-Russia cedes the island Sakhalin, but can still have troops in the region
-Korea becomes a Japanese protectorate(it would be annexed by the Japanese in 1910)
-Japan gains more land in Manchuria, but Russia would still keep the majority
-Russia pays war reparation
Map of the region after the war
Japan expansion in the region had increase exponenially, and put them on the list of potential world powers. However, the presence of an aggressive Russia was still worring for the Emperor. As a result, Japan decided to finally joining the Central powers. What started as just the common support for another Asian nation, became the sign of friendship between the Eagle and the Dragon. Shortly after, even the Kingdom of Siam officialy joined the Central powers. Now the Eagle, the Mountain wolf, the Griffon vulture, the Elephant, the Bull and the Dragon have finally set aside their differences, and are now ready to face the world, with new friends if possible. And they're gonna need them, because the next big war would be a big one.
While in the Balkans there was high unstability caused by the "June uprising", the situation in China was on a breaking point too. As Japan decided to leave the Pacific to Germany, it was obvious that now the real enemy were Russia, France and England. However the first one was in bad term with Japan for a very long time. After the Sino-Japanese war, Russia was one of the nations who decided to defend the Quing, forcing(or at least trying before Germany and Italy entered the argument) them to "release" the Liaodong peninsula back to China. The Japanese never did, and instead increased their influence in the region,occupying more land an year before the boxer revolt. To counter Japanese expansion in the region, the Russians had occupied Manchuria. As a result, competition for the ownership of northern China between Japan and Russia was active, while relations between Germany and Italy were peaceful, and even profitful. After the Boxer war, Italy started a serie of trade laws with Germany and Japan, creating the "Bohai fishing triangle(Triangolo della pesca del Bohai, Bohai Fischerei Dreieck, Bokkai-dzuri-yō sankaku) and the Bohai ecnomic triangle(Triangolo economico del Bohai, Bokkai keizai sankaku, Bohai Wirtschaftsdreieck) which streightened relation between the rising sun, "il bel paese" and the reich.
Map showing German, Italian and Japanese concessions in northern China. In the Bohai economic triangle and the Bohai fishing triangle, the Italians had fishing controll of the Bohai Bay, the Germans in the Laizhou Bay, and the Japanese in the Liaodong Bay.
The Japanese presence in the area caused economic competition with the Russians, who wanted controll of at least part of the Bohai sea, and at the very least controll of the sea in the region. One possible way could have been by putting Korea on their sphere of influence. By 1898 they had acquired mining and forestry concessions near the Yalu and Tumen rivers, causing the Japanese much anxiety. On top of that, the Tzar decided to officially annex the Manchiurian territories who were solely militarly occupied by the Russians.
Map of the region after Russian annexation of Manchuria
The 1890s and 1900s marked the height of the "Yellow Peril" propaganda by the French government and the French Prime Minister Émile François Loubet often wrote letters to Nicholas II of Russia, praising him as the "savior of the white race" and urging Russia forward in Asia. From November 1900 onward, Loubet had been writing letters praising Nicholas as Europe's defender from the "Yellow Peril", assuring the Tsar that God Himself had "chosen" Russia to defend Europe from the alleged Asian threat. On 1 November 1902, Loubet wrote to Nicholas that "certain symptoms in the East seem to show that Japan is becoming a rather restless customer" and "it is evident to every unbiased mind that Korea must and will be Russian". A recurring theme of Loubet's letters to Nicholas was that "Holy Russia" had been "chosen" by God to save the "entire white race" from the "Yellow Peril", and that Russia was "entitled" to annex all of Korea, Manchuria, and northern China up to Beijing
On the other hand, Wilhelm II wrote a letter to the emperor of Japan, which said: "Twenty to thirty million Chinese, supported by a half dozen Russian divisions, led by competent, intrepid Russians officers, full of hatred for the Japanisches Mutterland and the Reich —that is a vision of the future that cannot be contemplated without concern, and it is not impossible." In the letter, he also communicated that Germany and Italy could come to the rescue in case the situation started to go wrong, and that "All you need to do is call us. We'll answer".
On 24 July 1905, in a letter to the British diplomat Cecil Spring Rice, Roosevelt wrote that Loubet bore partial responsibility for the war as "he has done all he could to bring it about", charging that Loubet's constant warnings about the "Yellow peril" had made the Russians uninterested in compromise as Nisholas believed that France would intervene if Japan attacked or gained support from other nations.
In order to avoid a confrontation with the Central Powers, however, Nicholas had been prepared to compromise with Japan, but after receiving a letter from Loubet attacking him as a coward for his willingness to compromise with the Japanese for the sake of peace, become more obstinate. Loubet had written to Nicholas stating that the question of Russian interests in Manchuria and Korea was beside the point, saying instead it was a matter of Russia to "undertaking the protection and defense of the White Race, and with it, Christian civilization, against the Yellow Race. And whatever the Japs are determined to ensure the domination of the Yellow Race in East Asia, to put themselves at its head and organise and lead it into battle against the White Race. That is the kernel of the situation, and therefore there can be very little doubt about where the sympathies of all half-way intelligent Europeans should lie. England betrayed Europe's interests to America in a cowardly and shameful way over the Panama Canal question, so as to be left in 'peace' by the Yankees. Will the 'Tsar' likewise betray the interests of the White Race to the Yellow as to be 'left in peace' and not embarrass the Hague tribunal too much?".
When Nicholas replied that he still wanted peace, Loubet wrote back in a telegram "You innocent angel!", while saying in the parliament "This is the language of an innocent angel. But not that of a White Tsar!". Nevertheless, the belief in Tokyo was that Russia was not serious about seeking a peaceful solution to the dispute, on 13 January 1904, Japan proposed a formula by which Manchuria would be outside the Japanese sphere of influence and, reciprocally, Korea outside Russia's. On 21 December 1903, the Tarō cabinet voted to go to war against Russia.
Japan issued a declaration of war on 8 February 1904. The war officially ended with a Japanese victory. In the conflict, both Germany and Italy were on the edge of entering: however, Emperor Mejin asked them to not enter the conflict, afraid of a French and British intervention, in the famous "Emperor speech(皇帝の演説 or Kōtei no enzetsu), in which he says that the war was solely a Russian and Japanese one, and that no other nation should be involved in the massacre that would follow(they would still support Japan by landlease and by sending volunteers).
However, the Germans and the Italians entered on the Japanese side to defend their claims in the treaty of Portsmouth on September 5, 1905, after the French once again decided to intervene against Japan.
In the end, in the Treaty:
-Russia cedes the island Sakhalin, but can still have troops in the region
-Korea becomes a Japanese protectorate(it would be annexed by the Japanese in 1910)
-Japan gains more land in Manchuria, but Russia would still keep the majority
-Russia pays war reparation
Map of the region after the war
Japan expansion in the region had increase exponenially, and put them on the list of potential world powers. However, the presence of an aggressive Russia was still worring for the Emperor. As a result, Japan decided to finally joining the Central powers. What started as just the common support for another Asian nation, became the sign of friendship between the Eagle and the Dragon. Shortly after, even the Kingdom of Siam officialy joined the Central powers. Now the Eagle, the Mountain wolf, the Griffon vulture, the Elephant, the Bull and the Dragon have finally set aside their differences, and are now ready to face the world, with new friends if possible. And they're gonna need them, because the next big war would be a big one.
Romanian opportunism: the lynx finally enters the scene
Romanian opportunism: the lynx finally enters the scene
The kingdom or Romania was a constitutional monarchy born after the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878. It was a constitutional monarchy at the tim leaded by King Carol I of Romania. During the troublesome years of 1890-1904, he kept a neutral policy, while modernizing the country, and at the same time looking for an opportunity to expand. He was a cold man who was always focused on the prestige of the dynasty he had founded. His wife, Elizabeth, claimed he 'wore the crown in his sleep'. He was very meticulous and he tried to impose his style upon everyone that surrounded him. Though he was devoted to his job as Romania's ruler, he never forgot his German roots. In 48 years of rule—the longest in Romanian history—he helped Romania gain its independence, raised its prestige, helped redress its economy and established a dynasty. In the Carpathian mountains, he built Peleș Castle, still one of Romania's most visited touristic attractions. The castle was built in German style, as a reminder of the king's origin. After the Russo-Turkish war, Romania gained Northern Dobruja and Carol ordered the first bridge over the Danube, between Fetești and Cernavodă, linking the newly acquired province to the rest of the country.
However, despite their neutrality policy allowed to spare the lives of many Romanian lads, it put the young Kingdom in a very precarious and isolated situation. Sandwiched between the Russian empire and the Austro-Hungarian empire, the king feared mostly the Russian bear, because of the secret alliance with Germany allowed for protection against the Hapsburg. Carl I was afraid that, after the failed Russo-Japanese war, Russia would turn West for prestige, probably putting Romania under their sphere of influence, or even annexing them. As a result, he ordered the fortification of the Russo-Romanian border in order to avoid an invasion. He did not met opposition from the Crown Council, as Romania had claims in Bessarabia, and the Russians had always been interested in the balkans. On top of that, Romanian economic competition with Russia throttled good relations. Romania is a natural economic rival of Russia. Russia's expansionist designs in the Balkan Peninsula with its conclusive geo-political objective the capture of the strait of Bosphorus and Dardanelles convinced Romania that Russia has no good faith, and forced Romania to look for support somewhere else. Russia's aggressiveness, its projects for territorial conquests was being executed under the policy of Pan-Slavism. Bratianu denounced the danger of the Pan-Slavic idea for the entire Europe.There, on the shores of Bosphorus and Dardanelles, was the key to Europe. King Carol I concludes: “All the efforts made by the empire, all its aspirations, all the Russian impetus are heading towards that point”. The Russian conquests in this region would have threatened Romania’s existence itself. “We cannot talk about agreements, compromises and concessions. If we still exist, Russia will experience a failure in its plans which have animated the heart of the Russians, for two centuries. If the neighbouring empire succeeds in accomplishing the dream it has pursued with so much confidence and tenacity, the Romanian state and people will become just a memory. This is the truth.”
However, an opportunity to weakening the Russian and avoiding a possible war came right on their feet, in the name of the people.
The Russian Revolution of 1905 was a wave of mass political and social unrest that spread through vast areas of the Russian Empire, some of which was directed at the government. It included worker strikes, peasant unrest, and military mutinies. According to Sidney Harcave, author of The Russian Revolution of 1905 (1970) four problems in Russian society contributed to the revolution: Agrarian problems, Nationality problems, Labour problems and Educated class as a problem.
Agrarian problems:
-Every year, thousands of nobles in debt mortgaged their estates to the noble land bank or sold them to municipalities, merchants, or peasants. By the time of the revolution, the nobility had sold off one-third of its land and mortgaged another third. The government hoped to make peasants—freed by the Emancipation reform of 1861—a politically conservative, land-holding class by enacting laws to enable them to buy land from nobility and pay small installments over many decades. The land, known as "allotment land", would not be owned by individual peasants, but by the community of peasants; individual peasants would have rights to strips of land that were assigned to them under the open field system. Unfortunately, a peasant could not sell or mortgage his land, so in practice he could not renounce his rights to his land and thus he would be required to pay his share of redemption dues to the village commune. This plan was meant to prevent proletarianisation of the peasants. However, the peasants were not given enough land to provide for their needs. "Their earnings were often so small that they could neither buy the food they needed nor keep up the payment of taxes and redemption dues they owed the government for their land allotments.
Nationality problems:
-Russia was a multi-ethnic empire. Nineteenth-century Russians saw cultures and religions in a clear hierarchy. Non-Russian cultures were tolerated in the empire but were not necessarily respected. "European civilization was valued over Asian culture, and Christianity was on the whole considered more progressive and 'true' than other religions." Romanians were present too in the region of Bessarabia, and Romania had tried to cause a revolt in the region, only to support the rebels later.
Ethnic map of European Russia, 1904
Labour problems:
-The economic situation in Russia before the revolution presented a grim picture. The government had experimented with laissez-faire capitalist policies, but this strategy largely failed to gain traction within the Russian economy until the 1890s. Meanwhile, "agricultural productivity stagnated, while international prices for grain dropped, and Russia’s foreign debt and need for imports grew. War and military preparations continued to consume government revenues. At the same time, the peasant taxpayers' ability to pay was strained to the utmost, leading to widespread famine in 1891." In 1900–1903, the period of industrial depression caused many firm bankruptcies and a reduction in the employment rate. Employees were restive: they would join legal organizations but turn the organizations toward an end that the organizations' sponsors did not intend. Workers used legitimate means to organize strikes or to draw support for striking workers outside these groups. A strike that began in 1902 by workers in the railroad shops in Vladikavkaz and Rostov-on-Don created such a response that by the next summer, 225,000 in various industries in southern Russia and Transcaucasia were on strike. These were not the first illegal strikes in the country's history but their aims, and the political awareness and support among workers and non-workers, made them more troubling to the government than earlier strikes. The government responded by closing all legal organizations by the end of 1903.
Educated class as a problem:
-The Minister of the Interior, Plehve, designated schools as a pressing problem for the government, but he did not realize it was only a symptom of antigovernment feelings among the educated class. Students of universities, other schools of higher learning, and occasionally of secondary schools and theological seminaries were part of this group. Student radicalism began around the time Tsar Alexander II came to power. Alexander abolished serfdom and enacted fundamental reforms in the legal and administrative structure of the Russian empire, which were revolutionary for their time. He lifted many restrictions on universities and abolished obligatory uniforms and military discipline. This ushered in a new freedom in the content and reading lists of academic courses. In turn, that created student subcultures, as youth were willing to live in poverty in order to receive an education. As universities expanded, there was a rapid growth of newspapers, journals, and an organization of public lectures and professional societies. The 1860s was a time when the emergence of a new public sphere was created in social life and professional groups. This created the idea of their right to have an independent opinion.
On December 1904, a strike occurred at the Putilov plant (a railway and artillery supplier) in St. Petersburg. Sympathy strikes in other parts of the city raised the number of strikers to 150,000 workers in 382 factories. By 21 January 1905, the city had no electricity and newspaper distribution was halted. All public areas were declared closed. Controversial Orthodox priest Georgy Gapon, who headed a police-sponsored workers' association, led a huge workers' procession to the Winter Palace to deliver a petition to the Tsar on Sunday, 22 January 1905. The troops guarding the Palace were ordered to tell the demonstrators not to pass a certain point, according to Sergei Witte, and at some point, troops opened fire on the demonstrators, causing between 200 (according to Witte) and 1000 deaths. The event became known as Bloody Sunday, and is considered by many scholars as the start of the active phase of the revolution. Many other strikes happened in other regions of the empire, all of them repressed with violence. At the same time, nationalist movements in the Baltic, Finland, Poland, the Caucasus, many Asian, controlled region and in Bessarabia itself become more and more intense.
In June and July 1905, there were many peasant uprisings in which peasants seized land and tools. Disturbances in the Russian-controlled Congress Poland culminated in June 1905 in the Łódź insurrection. Surprisingly, only one landlord was recorded as killed. Far more violence was inflicted on peasants outside the commune: 50 deaths were recorded.
Tension with Romania almost escalated on the 14th of October 1905, when a small Romanian contingent, camouflaged as a convoy to support Romanian nationalist, was discovered by Russian police in Suvorove. Conflict started between the Russian police and the Romanian contingent, who occupied the city and received the support of the local forces. As a result, the Russians decided to send an army to invade Romania, while King Carol I received the approval to send an additional army in the region, in order to conquer Zatoka. War would not however escalate for two reasons.
The first reason was the October Manifesto, written by Sergei Witte and Alexis Obolenskii, was presented to the Tsar on 14 October. It closely followed the demands of the Zemstvo Congress in September, granting basic civil rights, allowing the formation of political parties, extending the franchise towards universal suffrage, and establishing the Duma as the central legislative body. The Tsar waited and argued for three days, but finally signed the manifesto on 30 October 1905, citing his desire to avoid a massacre and his realisation that there was insufficient military force available to pursue alternative options. He regretted signing the document, saying that he felt "sick with shame at this betrayal of the dynasty ... the betrayal was complete".
The second reason was the umpteenth central power intervention. Compared to many other crisis, this was the one the Central powers were most afraid off: Siam and Japan were far away countries, and if something had really happened to them, Europe would not face changes. Spain was actually far from central Europe, and if they felt under the hands of the French, they still couldn't do harm, and would instead revolt for independence. But Romania was bordering Austria-Hungary, and it could meant a direct route toward the Balkans. Also a Russian Romania would mean another border for Austria to focus on, instead of the main one, the Galician front. While the great Powers were negotiating, however, the Russian government was finnaly putting a rest to the Russian revolutionaries and the various nationalist rebels in all region of the Empire(Mostly Finland, Poland and the Baltic). Romanian and Russian forces were still fighting, with Romania now defending and the Russian trying to attack.
Peace talks ended in the treaty of Kracow, on the 16th of June 1907. In it:
-Nicholas II retains the throne
-The State Duma would be established
-The October manifesto would be approved
-Russia cedes Suvorove and Zatoka to Romania
-The battleship captured by Romania in the battle of Snake Island would remain under the command of the Romanian navy
Romania after the 1905 Russian Revolution
After the conflict, the Romanian opinion of the Entente had worsenen: the once French liberator, who in the treaty of Krakow had supported the Russian tyran, were not as well seen as before. Instead, the Romanian governemnt, alongside the public opinion, was starting to becoming more Central power aligned. A treaty with Austria-Hungary in Bucharest allowed for more autonomy for the Romanians in the Austria-Hungary region of Transylvania, and the idea of the USGA or VSGÖ(Vereinigte Staaten von Groß-Österreich, or United States of Greater Austria), in order to counter the various uprising in the empire, started to become an accepted alternative. Romania also welcomed German and Austrian advisor, especially to increase the navy capability(The battle of Snake island was the closest call for the Romanians, as they barely win the battle). Thanks to Central power help, Romania started to become a small regional power, with strong interests in the black sea.
With a new possible member in their alliance, even if small, the Eagle started to feel safer from the bear grasp. Romania could allow to create another front for Russia, and even has several resources such as grain and oil. With a Russia angrier than ever, the Central powers need to be ready, or face the full might of the Entente
The kingdom or Romania was a constitutional monarchy born after the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878. It was a constitutional monarchy at the tim leaded by King Carol I of Romania. During the troublesome years of 1890-1904, he kept a neutral policy, while modernizing the country, and at the same time looking for an opportunity to expand. He was a cold man who was always focused on the prestige of the dynasty he had founded. His wife, Elizabeth, claimed he 'wore the crown in his sleep'. He was very meticulous and he tried to impose his style upon everyone that surrounded him. Though he was devoted to his job as Romania's ruler, he never forgot his German roots. In 48 years of rule—the longest in Romanian history—he helped Romania gain its independence, raised its prestige, helped redress its economy and established a dynasty. In the Carpathian mountains, he built Peleș Castle, still one of Romania's most visited touristic attractions. The castle was built in German style, as a reminder of the king's origin. After the Russo-Turkish war, Romania gained Northern Dobruja and Carol ordered the first bridge over the Danube, between Fetești and Cernavodă, linking the newly acquired province to the rest of the country.
However, despite their neutrality policy allowed to spare the lives of many Romanian lads, it put the young Kingdom in a very precarious and isolated situation. Sandwiched between the Russian empire and the Austro-Hungarian empire, the king feared mostly the Russian bear, because of the secret alliance with Germany allowed for protection against the Hapsburg. Carl I was afraid that, after the failed Russo-Japanese war, Russia would turn West for prestige, probably putting Romania under their sphere of influence, or even annexing them. As a result, he ordered the fortification of the Russo-Romanian border in order to avoid an invasion. He did not met opposition from the Crown Council, as Romania had claims in Bessarabia, and the Russians had always been interested in the balkans. On top of that, Romanian economic competition with Russia throttled good relations. Romania is a natural economic rival of Russia. Russia's expansionist designs in the Balkan Peninsula with its conclusive geo-political objective the capture of the strait of Bosphorus and Dardanelles convinced Romania that Russia has no good faith, and forced Romania to look for support somewhere else. Russia's aggressiveness, its projects for territorial conquests was being executed under the policy of Pan-Slavism. Bratianu denounced the danger of the Pan-Slavic idea for the entire Europe.There, on the shores of Bosphorus and Dardanelles, was the key to Europe. King Carol I concludes: “All the efforts made by the empire, all its aspirations, all the Russian impetus are heading towards that point”. The Russian conquests in this region would have threatened Romania’s existence itself. “We cannot talk about agreements, compromises and concessions. If we still exist, Russia will experience a failure in its plans which have animated the heart of the Russians, for two centuries. If the neighbouring empire succeeds in accomplishing the dream it has pursued with so much confidence and tenacity, the Romanian state and people will become just a memory. This is the truth.”
However, an opportunity to weakening the Russian and avoiding a possible war came right on their feet, in the name of the people.
The Russian Revolution of 1905 was a wave of mass political and social unrest that spread through vast areas of the Russian Empire, some of which was directed at the government. It included worker strikes, peasant unrest, and military mutinies. According to Sidney Harcave, author of The Russian Revolution of 1905 (1970) four problems in Russian society contributed to the revolution: Agrarian problems, Nationality problems, Labour problems and Educated class as a problem.
Agrarian problems:
-Every year, thousands of nobles in debt mortgaged their estates to the noble land bank or sold them to municipalities, merchants, or peasants. By the time of the revolution, the nobility had sold off one-third of its land and mortgaged another third. The government hoped to make peasants—freed by the Emancipation reform of 1861—a politically conservative, land-holding class by enacting laws to enable them to buy land from nobility and pay small installments over many decades. The land, known as "allotment land", would not be owned by individual peasants, but by the community of peasants; individual peasants would have rights to strips of land that were assigned to them under the open field system. Unfortunately, a peasant could not sell or mortgage his land, so in practice he could not renounce his rights to his land and thus he would be required to pay his share of redemption dues to the village commune. This plan was meant to prevent proletarianisation of the peasants. However, the peasants were not given enough land to provide for their needs. "Their earnings were often so small that they could neither buy the food they needed nor keep up the payment of taxes and redemption dues they owed the government for their land allotments.
Nationality problems:
-Russia was a multi-ethnic empire. Nineteenth-century Russians saw cultures and religions in a clear hierarchy. Non-Russian cultures were tolerated in the empire but were not necessarily respected. "European civilization was valued over Asian culture, and Christianity was on the whole considered more progressive and 'true' than other religions." Romanians were present too in the region of Bessarabia, and Romania had tried to cause a revolt in the region, only to support the rebels later.
Ethnic map of European Russia, 1904
Labour problems:
-The economic situation in Russia before the revolution presented a grim picture. The government had experimented with laissez-faire capitalist policies, but this strategy largely failed to gain traction within the Russian economy until the 1890s. Meanwhile, "agricultural productivity stagnated, while international prices for grain dropped, and Russia’s foreign debt and need for imports grew. War and military preparations continued to consume government revenues. At the same time, the peasant taxpayers' ability to pay was strained to the utmost, leading to widespread famine in 1891." In 1900–1903, the period of industrial depression caused many firm bankruptcies and a reduction in the employment rate. Employees were restive: they would join legal organizations but turn the organizations toward an end that the organizations' sponsors did not intend. Workers used legitimate means to organize strikes or to draw support for striking workers outside these groups. A strike that began in 1902 by workers in the railroad shops in Vladikavkaz and Rostov-on-Don created such a response that by the next summer, 225,000 in various industries in southern Russia and Transcaucasia were on strike. These were not the first illegal strikes in the country's history but their aims, and the political awareness and support among workers and non-workers, made them more troubling to the government than earlier strikes. The government responded by closing all legal organizations by the end of 1903.
Educated class as a problem:
-The Minister of the Interior, Plehve, designated schools as a pressing problem for the government, but he did not realize it was only a symptom of antigovernment feelings among the educated class. Students of universities, other schools of higher learning, and occasionally of secondary schools and theological seminaries were part of this group. Student radicalism began around the time Tsar Alexander II came to power. Alexander abolished serfdom and enacted fundamental reforms in the legal and administrative structure of the Russian empire, which were revolutionary for their time. He lifted many restrictions on universities and abolished obligatory uniforms and military discipline. This ushered in a new freedom in the content and reading lists of academic courses. In turn, that created student subcultures, as youth were willing to live in poverty in order to receive an education. As universities expanded, there was a rapid growth of newspapers, journals, and an organization of public lectures and professional societies. The 1860s was a time when the emergence of a new public sphere was created in social life and professional groups. This created the idea of their right to have an independent opinion.
On December 1904, a strike occurred at the Putilov plant (a railway and artillery supplier) in St. Petersburg. Sympathy strikes in other parts of the city raised the number of strikers to 150,000 workers in 382 factories. By 21 January 1905, the city had no electricity and newspaper distribution was halted. All public areas were declared closed. Controversial Orthodox priest Georgy Gapon, who headed a police-sponsored workers' association, led a huge workers' procession to the Winter Palace to deliver a petition to the Tsar on Sunday, 22 January 1905. The troops guarding the Palace were ordered to tell the demonstrators not to pass a certain point, according to Sergei Witte, and at some point, troops opened fire on the demonstrators, causing between 200 (according to Witte) and 1000 deaths. The event became known as Bloody Sunday, and is considered by many scholars as the start of the active phase of the revolution. Many other strikes happened in other regions of the empire, all of them repressed with violence. At the same time, nationalist movements in the Baltic, Finland, Poland, the Caucasus, many Asian, controlled region and in Bessarabia itself become more and more intense.
In June and July 1905, there were many peasant uprisings in which peasants seized land and tools. Disturbances in the Russian-controlled Congress Poland culminated in June 1905 in the Łódź insurrection. Surprisingly, only one landlord was recorded as killed. Far more violence was inflicted on peasants outside the commune: 50 deaths were recorded.
Tension with Romania almost escalated on the 14th of October 1905, when a small Romanian contingent, camouflaged as a convoy to support Romanian nationalist, was discovered by Russian police in Suvorove. Conflict started between the Russian police and the Romanian contingent, who occupied the city and received the support of the local forces. As a result, the Russians decided to send an army to invade Romania, while King Carol I received the approval to send an additional army in the region, in order to conquer Zatoka. War would not however escalate for two reasons.
The first reason was the October Manifesto, written by Sergei Witte and Alexis Obolenskii, was presented to the Tsar on 14 October. It closely followed the demands of the Zemstvo Congress in September, granting basic civil rights, allowing the formation of political parties, extending the franchise towards universal suffrage, and establishing the Duma as the central legislative body. The Tsar waited and argued for three days, but finally signed the manifesto on 30 October 1905, citing his desire to avoid a massacre and his realisation that there was insufficient military force available to pursue alternative options. He regretted signing the document, saying that he felt "sick with shame at this betrayal of the dynasty ... the betrayal was complete".
The second reason was the umpteenth central power intervention. Compared to many other crisis, this was the one the Central powers were most afraid off: Siam and Japan were far away countries, and if something had really happened to them, Europe would not face changes. Spain was actually far from central Europe, and if they felt under the hands of the French, they still couldn't do harm, and would instead revolt for independence. But Romania was bordering Austria-Hungary, and it could meant a direct route toward the Balkans. Also a Russian Romania would mean another border for Austria to focus on, instead of the main one, the Galician front. While the great Powers were negotiating, however, the Russian government was finnaly putting a rest to the Russian revolutionaries and the various nationalist rebels in all region of the Empire(Mostly Finland, Poland and the Baltic). Romanian and Russian forces were still fighting, with Romania now defending and the Russian trying to attack.
Peace talks ended in the treaty of Kracow, on the 16th of June 1907. In it:
-Nicholas II retains the throne
-The State Duma would be established
-The October manifesto would be approved
-Russia cedes Suvorove and Zatoka to Romania
-The battleship captured by Romania in the battle of Snake Island would remain under the command of the Romanian navy
Romania after the 1905 Russian Revolution
After the conflict, the Romanian opinion of the Entente had worsenen: the once French liberator, who in the treaty of Krakow had supported the Russian tyran, were not as well seen as before. Instead, the Romanian governemnt, alongside the public opinion, was starting to becoming more Central power aligned. A treaty with Austria-Hungary in Bucharest allowed for more autonomy for the Romanians in the Austria-Hungary region of Transylvania, and the idea of the USGA or VSGÖ(Vereinigte Staaten von Groß-Österreich, or United States of Greater Austria), in order to counter the various uprising in the empire, started to become an accepted alternative. Romania also welcomed German and Austrian advisor, especially to increase the navy capability(The battle of Snake island was the closest call for the Romanians, as they barely win the battle). Thanks to Central power help, Romania started to become a small regional power, with strong interests in the black sea.
With a new possible member in their alliance, even if small, the Eagle started to feel safer from the bear grasp. Romania could allow to create another front for Russia, and even has several resources such as grain and oil. With a Russia angrier than ever, the Central powers need to be ready, or face the full might of the Entente
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The Balkan war: the two wolves clash, while the two lions, the white eagle and the phoenyx faces the lynx
The Balkan war: the two wolves clash, while the two lions, the white eagle and the phoenyx faces the lynx
While peace was ruling the world, the Balkans were just full of suprises. The giant mess that the Balkan war was started when Italy declared war on the Ottoman empire on the 29th of September 1911, after receiving permission by Germany and Austria-Hungary in order to "Secure North Africa, and as such the Mediterranean, from the British and the French". The Italians were ready for war, and the military commando had learned to not underestimate the enemy, no matter how weak it seems. This previous approach caused the death of over 1000 Italians in the Boxer war, and Italian general Carlo Caneva, despite not being there in the campain, had learned from the mistakes commited by General Diaz. The Italians received permission by the Austrian to invade trought Albania, however they could not occupy the mainland after the war, but solely the islands off the coasts. Italy did not have interests in Albania, so Victor Emmanuel III accepted the terms.
The city of Tripoli was easily conquered after an heavy bombardment. The Ottoman empire lacked a true army in the region, and their navy was barely able to avoid a massive invasion in Turkish soil. Between 1911 and 1912, over 1,000 Somalis from Mogadishu, the then capital of Italian Somaliland, served as combat units along with Eritrean and Italian soldiers in the Italo-Turkish War. Tobruk, Derna and Khoms were easily conquered, but the same was not true for Benghazi. However, the Italians still managed to take controll of the city, without too many casualities. Both the Ottoman forces, composed by native arab populations, and the Italian forces fiercely engaged each other, with the Italians sometimes using armoured veichles and air bombardment. While the war in Tripolitania turned in a small war of position, the Italians launched a full invasion of Albania. The Italian army easily conquered many of the islets in the region after the battle of Preveza, and the conquest of the various islands caused litteraly 0 Italian casualities, mostly because the Ottoman troops were in the mainland. Not a single naval battle was won by the Ottomans. The Italians landed on Durazzo and easily conquered the city. However, while triyng to reach Tirana, they met difficulties with Albania mounaneous terrain, and at 10 kms away from the city, the war once again become static.
Italian cruiser off the coasts of Albania
As a relief for the Italians, the African front was starting to move, as the local forces become incapable of reacting against the Italians. An attack of 20,000 Turkish and local troops was repulsed on November 30 with small losses. Still, the war remained still in all fronts. On 3 March 1912, 1,500 Libyan volunteers attacked Italian troops who were building trenches near Derna. The Italians, who were outnumbered but had superior weaponry, held the line. On September 14, the Italian command sent three columns of infantry to disband the Arab Turkish camp near Derna. The Italian troops occupied a plateau, interrupting Turkish supply lines. Three days later, the Turkish commander, Enver Bey, attacked the Italian positions on the plateau. The larger Italian fire drove back the Turkish soldiers, who were surrounded by a battalion of Alpini and suffered heavy losses. A later Turkish attack had the same outcome. After that, operations in Cyrenaica ceased until the end of the war. As the Ottomans were still intentional to continue the war, the Italians launched a massive offensive in the Eastern Mediterranean, conquering the Dodecannese and sieging many Lebanon coastal towns. As the African front was basically neutralized, the Italians launched another offensive in Albania, this time conquering the city of Tirana. While the Italians could not occupy the region because of Austria-Hungary, neither Serbia, Montenegro, Greece and Bulgaria knew about it, and feared of an Italian holding in the region. As a result, also taking advantage of the Ottoman weak position, the Balkan league, between Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro and Greece, was formed to "counter Italian expansion in the region" and to "free the Balkans from the Ottoman controll". However, to the suprise of many, Romania decide to jump in the situation in order to obtain territories from Bulgaria. King Carol I told in a telegram to Victor Emmanuel III that Romania had no intention to enter the war againt Italy, but solely on Bulgaria, and as a result wishes to remain neutral against them. The Bulgarians launched a serie of offensives against the disorganized Ottomans, while maintaining a defensive position against the Romanians. General Mihail Savov was the leader of the Ottoman front, while Ivan Fichev commanded the Romanian front. However, the men in the front were not enught and, as a result, the Romanians managed to advance. The 5th Corps under General Ioan Culcer invaded Dobruja, occupying a front from Tutrakan to Balchik. The corps cavalry occupied the port city of Varna until it was clear that there would be no Bulgarian resistance. On the night of 14–15 July, the Danube Army under Prince Ferdinand crossed into Bulgaria at Oryahovo, Gigen and Nikopol. The initial occupation completed, Romanian forces were divided into two groups: one advanced westward, towards Ferdinand, and the other advanced southwestward, towards Sofia, the Bulgarian capital, everywhere preceded by a wide fan of cavalry troops in reconnaissance. The Bulgarian government, despetate for peace with the Romanians, decided to offer a peace deal on July 30 1912, in Sofia. In it, Bulgaria ceded to Romania Southern Dobruja, lying north of a line extending from the Danube just above Tutrakan to the western shore of the Black Sea, south of Ekrene; Southern Dobruja has an approximate area of 6,960 km2, a population of 286,000, and includes the fortress of Silistra and the cities of Tutrakan on the Danube and Balchik on the Black Sea. Despite the defeat, the Bulgarians still managed to get on their feet, and as a result they managed to attack Thrace with the help of Greece. The Bulgarians managed to conquer the Kırkkilise District, and conquered part of Macedonia.
Ottoman intelligence had disastrously misread Greek military intentions. In retrospect, it would appear that the Ottoman staffs believed that the Greek attack would be shared equally between the two major avenues of approach, Macedonia and Epirus. The 2nd Army staff had therefore evenly balanced the combat strength of the seven Ottoman divisions between the Yanya Corps and VIII Corps, in Epirus and southern Macedonia respectively. The Greek Army also fielded seven divisions, but, having the initiative, concentrated all seven against VIII Corps, leaving only a number of independent battalions of scarcely divisional strength in the Epirus front. This had fatal consequences for the Western Group of Armies, since it led to the early loss of the strategic center of all three Macedonian fronts, the city of Thessaloniki, a fact that sealed their fate. In an unexpectedly brilliant and rapid campaign, the Army of Thessaly seized the city. In the absence of secure sea lines of communications, the retention of the Thessaloniki-Constantinople corridor was essential to the overall strategic posture of the Ottoman Empire in the Balkans. Once this was gone, the defeat of the Ottoman Army became inevitable. To be sure, the Bulgarians and the Serbs played an important role in the defeat of the main Ottoman armies. Their great victories at Kirkkilise, Lüleburgaz, Kumanovo, and Monastir (Bitola) shattered the Eastern and Vardar Armies. However, these victories were not decisive in the sense that they ended the war. The Ottoman field armies survived, and in Thrace, they actually grew stronger day by day. In the strategic point of view these victories were enabled partially by the weakened condition of the Ottoman armies brought about by the active presence of the Greek army and fleet.
In the Epirus front the Greek army was initially heavily outnumbered, but due to the passive attitude of the Ottomans succeeded in conquering Preveza (21 October 1912) and pushing north to the direction of Ioannina. On 5 November, Major Spyros Spyromilios led a revolt in the coastal area of Himarë and expelled the Ottoman garrison without facing significant resistance, while on 20 November Greek troops from western Macedonia entered Korçë. However, Greek forces in the Epirote front had not the numbers to initiate an offensive against the German-designed defensive positions of Bizani that protected the city of Ioannina, and therefore had to wait for reinforcements from the Macedonian front. After the campaign in Macedonia was over, a large part of the Army was redeployed to Epirus, where Crown Prince Constantine himself assumed command. In the Battle of Bizani the Ottoman positions were breached and Ioannina taken on 6 March 1913. During the siege, on 8 February 1913, the Russian pilot N. de Sackoff, flying for the Greeks, became the first pilot ever shot down in combat, when his biplane was hit by ground fire following a bomb run on the walls of Fort Bizani. He came down near the small town of Preveza, on the coast north of the Ionian island of Lefkas, secured local Greek assistance, repaired his plane and resumed flight back to base. The fall of Ioannina allowed the Greek army to continue its advance into northern Epirus, the southern part of modern Albania, which it occupied. There its advance stopped, although the Serbian line of control was very close to the north.
The Serbian forces operated against the major part of Ottoman Western army which were located in the areas of Novi Pazar, Kosovo, northern and eastern Macedonia and Ottoman Bosnia. Strategically the Serbian forces were divided into four independent armies and groups: the Javor brigade and the Ibar Army, which operated against Ottoman forces in the area of Novi Pazar; the Third Army, which operated against Ottoman forces in the areas of Kosovo, Ottoman Bosnia and Metohija; the First Army, which operated against Ottoman forces in the area of northern Macedonia; and the Second Army (operating from the Bulgarian territory), which operated against Ottoman forces in the area of eastern Macedonia. The decisive battle was expected to be fought in the area of northern Macedonia, more specifically in the plains of Ovče Pole, where the main forces of Ottoman Vardar Army were expected to concentrate. They also received small aids by Italian forces, who were advancing from Albania and who reached Kičevo.
Italian forces in Albania.
The Serbian Army under General (later Marshal) Putnik achieved three decisive victories in Vardar Macedonia, its primary objective in the war, effectively destroying the Ottoman forces in the region and conquering north Macedonia. They also helped the Montenegrins to take the Sandžak and sent two divisions to help the Bulgarians at the siege of Edirne. The last battle for Macedonia was the battle of Monastir, in which the remains of the Ottoman Vardar Army were forced to retreat to central Albania. After the battle, Prime Minister Pasic asked Gen. Putnik to take part in the race for Thessaloniki. Putnik declined and instead turned his army to the west, towards Albania, foreseeing that a future confrontation between the Greeks and Bulgarians over Thessaloniki could greatly help Serbia's own plans for Vardar Macedonia. After the Great Powers applied pressure on them, the Serbs started to withdraw from northern Albania and the Sandžak, although they left behind their heavy artillery park to help the Montenegrins in the continuing siege of Shkodër. On 23 April 1913, Shkodër's garrison was forced to surrender due to starvation.
Peace talks begin on the 30th of May 1913, with the Treaty of Lausanne. Many great powers arrived in the scene, such as Austria-Hungary(to make sure that Italy would not subjugate Albania on it crown), Germany, France, Russia and Britain, the latter preoccupied with a strong Italian naval presence in the Mediterranean. In it:
-Italy takes controll of Tripolitania
-Italy takes controll of the Albanian islands of Malsori, Zvërnec, Shurdhah, Ksamil, Maligrad, Tongo, Stillo and Paqe
-Italy takes controll of the Dodecannese
-Albania becomes independent
-Ottoman Bosnia is split between Serbia and Montenegro
-Ottoman Empire cedes all European lands to Serbia, Montenegro, Greece and Bulgaria, with the exception of Constantinople.
Map of the region after the war.
In the treaty Bulgaria complained that Macedonia was handed to Serbia, but was in no shape to get itself in another war.
Everything in this scenario was perfect for a world war:
-The Italians wanted controll over the Mediterranean, alongside controll over Savoy, Corsica, Nice and Tunisia
-Montenegro was resentful toward Italy presence in the Albanian islands
-Spain wanted controll over Morocco, which had been turned into a protectorate by France
-Germany was in a naval competition with England
-France wanted revenge against Germany
-Albania has claims over huge chunk of land of Serbia and Montenegro
-Serbia wants to conquer Austrian-Hungarian lands
-Austria-Hungary is resentful toward Serbia and Montenegro growing in size
-The Ottoman Empire wants to become a Great power once again
-Russia has a sense of hatred toward Romania and Japan, Germany allies
-Economic competition between Russia and Romania over the Black Sea
-Japan wants to expand, but now has no interests in attacking Italy or Germany(there are more gains in keeping them as trade members)
-Siam has claims over British Burma and French Vietnam
-Bulgaria wants Macedonia
With this scenario playing out, will the Central power succed?
While peace was ruling the world, the Balkans were just full of suprises. The giant mess that the Balkan war was started when Italy declared war on the Ottoman empire on the 29th of September 1911, after receiving permission by Germany and Austria-Hungary in order to "Secure North Africa, and as such the Mediterranean, from the British and the French". The Italians were ready for war, and the military commando had learned to not underestimate the enemy, no matter how weak it seems. This previous approach caused the death of over 1000 Italians in the Boxer war, and Italian general Carlo Caneva, despite not being there in the campain, had learned from the mistakes commited by General Diaz. The Italians received permission by the Austrian to invade trought Albania, however they could not occupy the mainland after the war, but solely the islands off the coasts. Italy did not have interests in Albania, so Victor Emmanuel III accepted the terms.
The city of Tripoli was easily conquered after an heavy bombardment. The Ottoman empire lacked a true army in the region, and their navy was barely able to avoid a massive invasion in Turkish soil. Between 1911 and 1912, over 1,000 Somalis from Mogadishu, the then capital of Italian Somaliland, served as combat units along with Eritrean and Italian soldiers in the Italo-Turkish War. Tobruk, Derna and Khoms were easily conquered, but the same was not true for Benghazi. However, the Italians still managed to take controll of the city, without too many casualities. Both the Ottoman forces, composed by native arab populations, and the Italian forces fiercely engaged each other, with the Italians sometimes using armoured veichles and air bombardment. While the war in Tripolitania turned in a small war of position, the Italians launched a full invasion of Albania. The Italian army easily conquered many of the islets in the region after the battle of Preveza, and the conquest of the various islands caused litteraly 0 Italian casualities, mostly because the Ottoman troops were in the mainland. Not a single naval battle was won by the Ottomans. The Italians landed on Durazzo and easily conquered the city. However, while triyng to reach Tirana, they met difficulties with Albania mounaneous terrain, and at 10 kms away from the city, the war once again become static.
Italian cruiser off the coasts of Albania
As a relief for the Italians, the African front was starting to move, as the local forces become incapable of reacting against the Italians. An attack of 20,000 Turkish and local troops was repulsed on November 30 with small losses. Still, the war remained still in all fronts. On 3 March 1912, 1,500 Libyan volunteers attacked Italian troops who were building trenches near Derna. The Italians, who were outnumbered but had superior weaponry, held the line. On September 14, the Italian command sent three columns of infantry to disband the Arab Turkish camp near Derna. The Italian troops occupied a plateau, interrupting Turkish supply lines. Three days later, the Turkish commander, Enver Bey, attacked the Italian positions on the plateau. The larger Italian fire drove back the Turkish soldiers, who were surrounded by a battalion of Alpini and suffered heavy losses. A later Turkish attack had the same outcome. After that, operations in Cyrenaica ceased until the end of the war. As the Ottomans were still intentional to continue the war, the Italians launched a massive offensive in the Eastern Mediterranean, conquering the Dodecannese and sieging many Lebanon coastal towns. As the African front was basically neutralized, the Italians launched another offensive in Albania, this time conquering the city of Tirana. While the Italians could not occupy the region because of Austria-Hungary, neither Serbia, Montenegro, Greece and Bulgaria knew about it, and feared of an Italian holding in the region. As a result, also taking advantage of the Ottoman weak position, the Balkan league, between Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro and Greece, was formed to "counter Italian expansion in the region" and to "free the Balkans from the Ottoman controll". However, to the suprise of many, Romania decide to jump in the situation in order to obtain territories from Bulgaria. King Carol I told in a telegram to Victor Emmanuel III that Romania had no intention to enter the war againt Italy, but solely on Bulgaria, and as a result wishes to remain neutral against them. The Bulgarians launched a serie of offensives against the disorganized Ottomans, while maintaining a defensive position against the Romanians. General Mihail Savov was the leader of the Ottoman front, while Ivan Fichev commanded the Romanian front. However, the men in the front were not enught and, as a result, the Romanians managed to advance. The 5th Corps under General Ioan Culcer invaded Dobruja, occupying a front from Tutrakan to Balchik. The corps cavalry occupied the port city of Varna until it was clear that there would be no Bulgarian resistance. On the night of 14–15 July, the Danube Army under Prince Ferdinand crossed into Bulgaria at Oryahovo, Gigen and Nikopol. The initial occupation completed, Romanian forces were divided into two groups: one advanced westward, towards Ferdinand, and the other advanced southwestward, towards Sofia, the Bulgarian capital, everywhere preceded by a wide fan of cavalry troops in reconnaissance. The Bulgarian government, despetate for peace with the Romanians, decided to offer a peace deal on July 30 1912, in Sofia. In it, Bulgaria ceded to Romania Southern Dobruja, lying north of a line extending from the Danube just above Tutrakan to the western shore of the Black Sea, south of Ekrene; Southern Dobruja has an approximate area of 6,960 km2, a population of 286,000, and includes the fortress of Silistra and the cities of Tutrakan on the Danube and Balchik on the Black Sea. Despite the defeat, the Bulgarians still managed to get on their feet, and as a result they managed to attack Thrace with the help of Greece. The Bulgarians managed to conquer the Kırkkilise District, and conquered part of Macedonia.
Ottoman intelligence had disastrously misread Greek military intentions. In retrospect, it would appear that the Ottoman staffs believed that the Greek attack would be shared equally between the two major avenues of approach, Macedonia and Epirus. The 2nd Army staff had therefore evenly balanced the combat strength of the seven Ottoman divisions between the Yanya Corps and VIII Corps, in Epirus and southern Macedonia respectively. The Greek Army also fielded seven divisions, but, having the initiative, concentrated all seven against VIII Corps, leaving only a number of independent battalions of scarcely divisional strength in the Epirus front. This had fatal consequences for the Western Group of Armies, since it led to the early loss of the strategic center of all three Macedonian fronts, the city of Thessaloniki, a fact that sealed their fate. In an unexpectedly brilliant and rapid campaign, the Army of Thessaly seized the city. In the absence of secure sea lines of communications, the retention of the Thessaloniki-Constantinople corridor was essential to the overall strategic posture of the Ottoman Empire in the Balkans. Once this was gone, the defeat of the Ottoman Army became inevitable. To be sure, the Bulgarians and the Serbs played an important role in the defeat of the main Ottoman armies. Their great victories at Kirkkilise, Lüleburgaz, Kumanovo, and Monastir (Bitola) shattered the Eastern and Vardar Armies. However, these victories were not decisive in the sense that they ended the war. The Ottoman field armies survived, and in Thrace, they actually grew stronger day by day. In the strategic point of view these victories were enabled partially by the weakened condition of the Ottoman armies brought about by the active presence of the Greek army and fleet.
In the Epirus front the Greek army was initially heavily outnumbered, but due to the passive attitude of the Ottomans succeeded in conquering Preveza (21 October 1912) and pushing north to the direction of Ioannina. On 5 November, Major Spyros Spyromilios led a revolt in the coastal area of Himarë and expelled the Ottoman garrison without facing significant resistance, while on 20 November Greek troops from western Macedonia entered Korçë. However, Greek forces in the Epirote front had not the numbers to initiate an offensive against the German-designed defensive positions of Bizani that protected the city of Ioannina, and therefore had to wait for reinforcements from the Macedonian front. After the campaign in Macedonia was over, a large part of the Army was redeployed to Epirus, where Crown Prince Constantine himself assumed command. In the Battle of Bizani the Ottoman positions were breached and Ioannina taken on 6 March 1913. During the siege, on 8 February 1913, the Russian pilot N. de Sackoff, flying for the Greeks, became the first pilot ever shot down in combat, when his biplane was hit by ground fire following a bomb run on the walls of Fort Bizani. He came down near the small town of Preveza, on the coast north of the Ionian island of Lefkas, secured local Greek assistance, repaired his plane and resumed flight back to base. The fall of Ioannina allowed the Greek army to continue its advance into northern Epirus, the southern part of modern Albania, which it occupied. There its advance stopped, although the Serbian line of control was very close to the north.
The Serbian forces operated against the major part of Ottoman Western army which were located in the areas of Novi Pazar, Kosovo, northern and eastern Macedonia and Ottoman Bosnia. Strategically the Serbian forces were divided into four independent armies and groups: the Javor brigade and the Ibar Army, which operated against Ottoman forces in the area of Novi Pazar; the Third Army, which operated against Ottoman forces in the areas of Kosovo, Ottoman Bosnia and Metohija; the First Army, which operated against Ottoman forces in the area of northern Macedonia; and the Second Army (operating from the Bulgarian territory), which operated against Ottoman forces in the area of eastern Macedonia. The decisive battle was expected to be fought in the area of northern Macedonia, more specifically in the plains of Ovče Pole, where the main forces of Ottoman Vardar Army were expected to concentrate. They also received small aids by Italian forces, who were advancing from Albania and who reached Kičevo.
Italian forces in Albania.
The Serbian Army under General (later Marshal) Putnik achieved three decisive victories in Vardar Macedonia, its primary objective in the war, effectively destroying the Ottoman forces in the region and conquering north Macedonia. They also helped the Montenegrins to take the Sandžak and sent two divisions to help the Bulgarians at the siege of Edirne. The last battle for Macedonia was the battle of Monastir, in which the remains of the Ottoman Vardar Army were forced to retreat to central Albania. After the battle, Prime Minister Pasic asked Gen. Putnik to take part in the race for Thessaloniki. Putnik declined and instead turned his army to the west, towards Albania, foreseeing that a future confrontation between the Greeks and Bulgarians over Thessaloniki could greatly help Serbia's own plans for Vardar Macedonia. After the Great Powers applied pressure on them, the Serbs started to withdraw from northern Albania and the Sandžak, although they left behind their heavy artillery park to help the Montenegrins in the continuing siege of Shkodër. On 23 April 1913, Shkodër's garrison was forced to surrender due to starvation.
Peace talks begin on the 30th of May 1913, with the Treaty of Lausanne. Many great powers arrived in the scene, such as Austria-Hungary(to make sure that Italy would not subjugate Albania on it crown), Germany, France, Russia and Britain, the latter preoccupied with a strong Italian naval presence in the Mediterranean. In it:
-Italy takes controll of Tripolitania
-Italy takes controll of the Albanian islands of Malsori, Zvërnec, Shurdhah, Ksamil, Maligrad, Tongo, Stillo and Paqe
-Italy takes controll of the Dodecannese
-Albania becomes independent
-Ottoman Bosnia is split between Serbia and Montenegro
-Ottoman Empire cedes all European lands to Serbia, Montenegro, Greece and Bulgaria, with the exception of Constantinople.
Map of the region after the war.
In the treaty Bulgaria complained that Macedonia was handed to Serbia, but was in no shape to get itself in another war.
Everything in this scenario was perfect for a world war:
-The Italians wanted controll over the Mediterranean, alongside controll over Savoy, Corsica, Nice and Tunisia
-Montenegro was resentful toward Italy presence in the Albanian islands
-Spain wanted controll over Morocco, which had been turned into a protectorate by France
-Germany was in a naval competition with England
-France wanted revenge against Germany
-Albania has claims over huge chunk of land of Serbia and Montenegro
-Serbia wants to conquer Austrian-Hungarian lands
-Austria-Hungary is resentful toward Serbia and Montenegro growing in size
-The Ottoman Empire wants to become a Great power once again
-Russia has a sense of hatred toward Romania and Japan, Germany allies
-Economic competition between Russia and Romania over the Black Sea
-Japan wants to expand, but now has no interests in attacking Italy or Germany(there are more gains in keeping them as trade members)
-Siam has claims over British Burma and French Vietnam
-Bulgaria wants Macedonia
With this scenario playing out, will the Central power succed?