I hate spoilers, but I'll give you one anyway: Italy is German aligned. The Ottomans hate Italy. Guess what this is gonna lead in the future.
The elephant, the lynx, the two wolves, the dragon, the eagle, the griffon vulture and the bull.
- Thread starter Antonio Ferrari
- Start date
The Warlord era: the Chinese dragon break-out and rebirth
The Warlord era: the Chinese dragon break-out and rebirth
Shortly after the end of the Great war, the Republic of China saw a break-out, which leaded to a brief period of Chinese history called the Warlord Era. The Warlord Era (simplified Chinese: 军阀时代; traditional Chinese: 軍閥時代; pinyin: Jūnfá shídài, 1920–1925) was a period in the history of the Republic of China when the control of the country was divided among former military cliques of the Beiyang Army and other regional factions, disappointed for the result of the Great War, which was spread across in the mainland regions of Sichuan, Shanxi, Qinghai, Ningxia, Gansu and Xinjiang. It begin in 1920, shortly after the Great War, and lasted until 1925 when the Nationalist Kuomintang (KMT) officially unified China through the Western Expedition, marking the beginning of the Nanjing decade. During this time, both the Italian, British, German and Japanese concessions, alongside Siam, Mongolia, Tibet and Russia, expanded on what seemed like the corpse of the once mighty Chinese empire.
China during the Warlord Era
The origins of the armies and leaders which dominated politics in the various self proclaimed Chinese states that were born from the carcass of the defeated Chinese Republic layed long before the Great war even started, in the military reforms of the late Qing dynasty. These reforms did not establish a national army; instead, they mobilized regional armies and militias that had neither standardization nor consistency. During the later phase of the Taiping Rebellion (1850–64), provincial governors were allowed to raise their own armies to fight against the rebels; these forces were not disbanded even after the rebellion was over. The most powerful regional army was the northern-based Beiyang Army under Yuan Shikai, which received the best in training and modern weaponry. Officers were loyal to their superiors and formed cliques based upon their place of origins and background. Units were composed of men from the same province. This policy was meant to reduce dialectal miscommunication, but had the unfortunate side effect of encouraging regionalistic tendencies.
The Xinhai Revolution in 1911 brought widespread mutiny across southern China. The revolution began in October 1911 with the mutiny of troops based in Wuhan. Soldiers once loyal to the Qing government began to defect to the opposition. These revolutionary forces established a provisional government in Nanjing the following year under Dr. Sun Yat-sen, who had returned from his long exile to lead the revolution. Sun negotiated with Beiyang commander Yuan Shikai to bring an end to the Qing and reunify China. In return, Sun would hand over his presidency and recommend Yuan to be the president of the new republic. Yuan refused to move to Nanjing and insisted on maintaining the capital in Beijing, where his power base was secure.
Reacting to Yuan's growing authoritarianism, the southern provinces rebelled in 1913 but were effectively crushed by Beiyang forces. Civil governors were replaced by military ones. As the rebellions started to become more and more present in the Chinese Republic, Yuan believed that a war against the Central Powers would allow to recreate somewhat of a Chinese national unity, avoiding a bloody revolution that the government wasn't sure if it was able to secure. However, China's weak army turned to be unable to resist against Japanese and Siamese forces after the defeat of Russia, and felt into civil unrest, and saw the independence of Mongolia and Tibet, who now were the most stable of the former Chinese provinces, and were triving thanks to their trade deals with Russia, Nepal, Siam and the UBSR.
The Beiyang Army marching for battle against the Japanese in WW1
Warlords, in the words of American political scientist Lucian Pye, were "instinctively suspicious, quick to suspect that their interests might be threatened ... hard-headed, devoted to the short run and impervious to idealistic abstractions". These Chinese warlords usually came from strict military background, and were brutal in their treatment toward both their soldiers and the general population. In 1921, the North China Daily News reported that in the Shaanxi province, prevalence of robbery and violent crimes were serious to the extent that farmers were "afraid" to "venture out of doors". Wu Peifu of the Zhili clique was known for suppressing strikes by railroad workers by terrorizing them with execution. A British diplomat in Sichuan province witnessed two mutineers being publicly hacked to death with their hearts and livers hung out; another two being publicly burned to death; while others had slits cut into their bodies into which were inserted burning candles before they were hacked to pieces.
Warlords placed great stress on personal loyalty, yet subordinate officers often betrayed their commanders in exchange for bribes known as "silver bullets", and warlords often betrayed allies. Promotion had little to do with competence, and instead warlords attempted to create an interlocking network of familial, institutional, regional and master-pupil relationships together with membership in sworn brotherhoods and secret societies. Subordinates who betrayed their commanders could suffer harshly. "Alignment politics" prevented any one warlord from dominating the system. When one warlord started to become too powerful, the rest would ally to stop him, then turn on each other. The level of violence in the first years was restrained, as no leader wanted to engage in too much serious fighting. War brought the risk of damage to one's own forces. Furthermore, none of the warlords had the economic capacity or the logistical strength to inflict a decisive knockout blow; the most they could hope for was to gain some territory. None could conquer all of China. However, as the 1920s went on, the violence became increasingly intense and savage as the object was to damage the enemy and improve one's bargaining power within the "alignment politics".
As the infrastructure in China was still poor at the time, control of the railway lines and rolling stock were crucial in maintaining the sphere of influence. Railroads were the fastest and cheapest way of moving large number of troops, and most battles during this era were fought within a short distance of railways. In 1923, it was estimated that 70% of the locomotives on the railway lines connecting Wuhan and Beijing, and 50% of the locomotives on the lines connecting Beijing and Mukden were being used for mobilizing troops and supplies. Armored trains, full of machine guns and artillery, offered fire support for troops going into battle. The constant fighting around the railroads caused much economic harm. Between 1923 and 1924 fighting in western and northern China caused non-military railroad traffic to decline by 25%, raising the prices of goods and causing inventory to build up at warehouses.
Few of the warlords had any sort of ideology. Yan Xishan, the "Model Governor" of Shanxi, professed a syncretic creed that merged elements of democracy, militarism, individualism, capitalism, socialism, communism, imperialism, universalism, anarchism and Confucian paternalism into one. A friend described Yan as "a dark-skinned, moustached man of medium height who rarely laughed and maintained an attitude of great reserve ... Yan never showed his inner feelings." He kept Shanxi on a different railroad gauge from the rest of China to make it difficult to invade his province, though that tactic also hindered the export of coal and iron, the main source of Shanxi's wealth. Feng Yuxiang, the "Christian General", promoted Methodism together with a vague sort of left-leaning Chinese nationalism, which led the UBSR to support him for a time. He banned alcohol, lived simply and wore the common uniform of an infantryman to show his concern for his men. Wu Peifu, the "Philosopher General", was a mandarin who passed the Imperial Civil Service exam, billing himself as the protector of Confucian values, usually appearing in photographs with the scholar's brush in his hand (the scholar's brush is a symbol of Confucian culture). Doubters noted, however, that the quality of Wu's calligraphy markedly declined when his secretary died. Wu liked to appear in photos taken in his office with a portrait of his hero George Washington in the background to reflect the supposed democratic militarism he was attempting to bring to China. Wu was famous for his capacity to absorb vast quantities of alcohol and still keep drinking. When he sent Feng a bottle of brandy, Feng replied by sending him a bottle of water, a message that Wu failed to take in.
More typical was Marshal Zhang Zuolin, a graduate of the "University of the Green Forest", an illiterate who had a forceful, ambitious personality that allowed him to rise up from the leader of a bandit gang, be hired by the Japanese to attack the Russians during the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-05 and become the warlord of Ningxia by 1921.
Zhang Zongchang, known as the "Dogmeat General" because of his love for the gambling game of that name, was described as having "the physique of an elephant, the brain of a pig and the temperament of a tiger". Writer Lin Yutang called Zhang "the most colorful, legendary, medieval and unashamed ruler of modern China". Former Emperor Puyi remembered Zhang as "a universally detested monster" whose ugly, bloated face was "tinged with the livid hue induced by opium smoking". A brutal man, Zhang was notorious for his hobby of "opening melons", as he called smashing in the heads of prisoners with his sword. He loved to boast about the size of his penis, which become part of his legend. He was widely believed to be the most well endowed man in China, nicknamed "General Eighty-Six" as his penis when erect was said to measure up to a pile of 86 Mexican silver dollars. His harem consisted of Chinese, Korean, Japanese and Russian women together with two Frenchwomen and one who said she was an American. He gave them numbers, as he could not remember their names, then usually forgot the numbers.
The great ideological flexibility of warlords and politicans during this era can be well exemplified in the activities of Bai Lang, an important bandit leader. Even though he initially fought in support of the Qing dynasty with ultraconservative monarchists as well as warlords, Bai Lang later formed an alliance with republicans, declared himself loyal to Dr. Sun Yat-sen and formed a "Citizen's Punitive Army" to rid China of all the warlords. Many of the common soldiers in warlord armies were also bandits who took up service for a campaign and then reverted to banditry when the campaign was over. One politician remarked that when the warlords went to war with each other, the bandits become soldiers and when the war ended, the soldiers became bandits. Warlord armies commonly raped or took many women into sexual slavery. The system of looting was institutionalized, as many warlords lacked the money to pay their troops. Some took to kidnapping, and might send a hostage's severed fingers along with the ransom demand as a way of encouraging prompt payment.
To defend themselves from the attacks of the warlord armies, peasants organized themselves into militant secret societies and village associations which served as self-defense militias as well as vigilante groups. As the peasants usually had neither money for guns nor military training, these secret societies relied on martial arts, self-made weapons such as swords and spears, as well as the belief in protective magic. The latter was especially important, as the conviction of invulnerability was "a powerful weapon for bolstering the resolve of people who possessed few alternative resources with which to defend their meager holdings". Magical rituals practised by the peasants ranged from rather simple ones, such as swallowing charms, to much more elaborate practises. For example, elements of the Red Spear Society performed secret ceremonies to confer invulnerability from bullets to channel the power of Qi and went into battle naked with supposedly bulletproof red clay smeared over their bodies. The Mourning Clothes Society would perform three kowtows and weep loudly before each battle, unnerving their enemies. There were also all-female self-defense groups, such as the Iron Gate Society or the Flower Basket Society. The former would dressed entirely in white (the color of death in China) and waved fans that they believed would deflect gunfire, while the latter went in combat with a sword to kill and a magical basket to catch their opponents' bullets. Disappointed with the failed republic and despairing due to the warlords' deprivations, many peasant secret societies adopted millenarian beliefs, and advocated the restoration of the monarchy, led by the old Ming dynasty. The past was widely romanticized, and many believed that a Ming emperor would bring a "reign of happiness and justice for all".
Warlord soldiers train with dao swords sometime in the 1920s. Some warlord armies, especially those in the Russian border, were badly armed, paid and supplied, and often lacked even basic necessities, such as guns, ammunition, and food.
Besides bandits, the rank-and-file of the warlord armies tended to be village conscripts. They might take service in one army, get captured, then join the army of their captors before being captured yet again. Warlords usually incorporated their prisoners into their armies; at least 200,000 men who were serving in the army of Gen. Wu were prisoners he had incorporated into his own army. A survey of one warlord garrison in 1924 revealed that 90% of the soldiers were illiterate. In 1925 U.S. Army officer Joseph Stilwell inspected a warlord unit and observed that 20% were less than 4.5 feet tall, the average age was 14 and most walked barefoot. Stilwell wrote that this "scarecrow company" was worthless as a military unit. A British army visitor commented that, provided they had proper leadership, the men of northern China were "the finest Oriental raw material with a physique second to none, and an iron constitution". However, such units were the exception rather than the rule.
In 1920 there were about a half-million soldiers in China. By 1922 the numbers had tripled, then tripled again by 1924, more than the warlords could support. One way of raising funds were taxes called lijin that were often confiscatory and inflicted much economic harm. For example, in Sichuan province there were 27 different taxes on salt, and one shipload of paper that was sent down the Yangtze River to Shanghai was taxed 11 different times by various warlords to the sum total of 160% of its value. One warlord imposed a tax of 100% on railroad freight, including food, even though there was a famine in his province. Taxes owed to the central government in Beijing on stamp and salt were usually taken by regional authorities.
The warlords demanded loans from the banks. The other major revenue source besides taxes, loans and looting was the selling of opium, with the warlords selling the rights to grow and sell opium within their provinces to consortiums of gangsters. Despite his ostensible anti-opium stance, Gen. Feng Yuxiang, "the Christian General", took in some $20 million/per annum from opium sales. Inflation was another means of paying for their soldiers. Some warlords simply ran the printing presses, issuing new Chinese dollars non-stop, and some resorted to duplicating machines to issue new Chinese dollars. The warlord who ruled Hunan province printed 22 million Chinese dollars on a silver reserve worth only one million Chinese dollars in the course of a single year, while Zhang in Shandong province printed 55 million Chinese dollars on a silver reserve of 1.5 million Chinese dollars during the same year.
Despite their constant need for money, the warlords lived in luxury. Marshal Zhang owned the world's biggest pearl, while Gen. Wu owned the world's biggest diamond. Gen. Zhang, the "Dogmeat General", ate his meals off a 40-piece Belgian dinner service, and an American journalist described dinner with him: "He gave a dinner for me where sinful quantities of costly foods were served. There was French champagne and sound brandy".
The warlords bought machine guns and artillery from abroad, but their uneducated soldiers could not operate or service them. A British mercenary complained in 1923 that Wu Peifu had about 45 European artillery pieces that were inoperable because they had not been properly maintained. At the Battle of Urga, the army of Gen. Xu Shuzheng, which had seized Outer Mongolia, was attacked by a Mongolian army under the command of Gen. Baron Roman von Ungern-Sternberg. The Chinese might have stopped Ungern had they been capable of firing their machine guns properly, to adjust for the inevitable upward jerk caused by the firing; they did not, and this caused the bullets to overshoot their targets. The inability to use their machine guns properly proved costly; after taking Urga in February 1921, Ungern had his Cossacks cavalry hunt down the remnants of Xu's troops as they attempted to flee south on the road back to China.
Because their soldiers were not able to use or take proper care of modern weapons, the warlords often hired foreign mercenaries, who were effective but always open to other offers. The Russian mercenaries, according to one reporter, "went through the Chinese troops like a knife through butter". The most highly paid of the Russian units was led by Gen. Konstantin Nechanev, who fought for Zhang Zongchang, the "Dogmeat General". Nechanev and his men were much feared. In 1924 they drove three armored trains through the countryside, gunning down everyone they met and taking everything moveable. The rampage was stopped only when the peasants pulled up the train tracks, which led Nechanev to sack the nearest town.
China situation, however, was even worse. Unlike the various warlords that ruled the East, China had to pay war reparations against the Central Powers. It was around this time that the Nationalist government, officially the National Government of the Republic of China (Chinese: 中華民國國民政府; pinyin: Zhōnghuá Mínguó Guómín Zhèngfǔ; literally: "Chinese People's State Nation-People Government"), leaded by Chiang Kai-shek, a strong nationalist general.
Chiang Kai-shek in a 1930 image
Since the Constitutional Protection Movement ended in 1922, the Kuomintang (KMT, the party who gave birth to the Chinese Nationalist Party and, as such, the Nationalist Chinese Goverment) had been expanding in China to prepare for an expedition against the Eastern warlords and reunifying China. The preparation required improving both the political and military strength of the KMT.
On 9 July 1923, the Kuomintang ceremonially appointed Chiang Kai-shek as the commander of the National Revolutionary Army (NRA), which officially launched the expedition. In a military conference at Changsha on 11 August, the Nationalists decided to bypass Nanchong and attack Xi'an straight away. The warlord defense led by Wu Peifu collapsed on 31 August in which Wu only narrowly fled, and the revolutionary forces reached the heavily fortified Xi'an on 31 August. The city garrison surrendered on 10 October after more than a month of military blockade, and the NRA had secured the Shaanxi province as Wu and his remaining troops fled to Xining. The NRA then diverted their forces toward the territories of Sun Chuanfang, which included both Wuwei and Golmud in Qinghai, capturing the region in the process. In the short span of six months, the Nationalists had expanded to seven provinces, controlling a population of "approximately 170 million". Sun Chuanfang retreated in the aftermath of major setbacks. The Fengtian clique responded to the request for help from Sun by reinforcing the eastern front, while increasing the number of troops in Gansu in support of Wu Peifu. However, after the capture of Xinjiang, the Nationalist Chinese army managed to unify China once again. Final peace talks would be helded in Wuhan. In it
-The Chinese nationalist government would be recognized in China
-The Chinese nationalist government take full controll of the areas controlled by the Warlords
-Wuhan becomes the new capital of China
-The areas captured by Russia, Mongolia, Tibet, Siam, the UBSR, Italy, Germany and Japan would be recognized
-China war debt is reduced
China after the reunification process
Despite the success of the Nationalist government, problems for the Chinese Nationalist Government were not over. However, this does not mean that they would be alone in the future.
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Shortly after the end of the Great war, the Republic of China saw a break-out, which leaded to a brief period of Chinese history called the Warlord Era. The Warlord Era (simplified Chinese: 军阀时代; traditional Chinese: 軍閥時代; pinyin: Jūnfá shídài, 1920–1925) was a period in the history of the Republic of China when the control of the country was divided among former military cliques of the Beiyang Army and other regional factions, disappointed for the result of the Great War, which was spread across in the mainland regions of Sichuan, Shanxi, Qinghai, Ningxia, Gansu and Xinjiang. It begin in 1920, shortly after the Great War, and lasted until 1925 when the Nationalist Kuomintang (KMT) officially unified China through the Western Expedition, marking the beginning of the Nanjing decade. During this time, both the Italian, British, German and Japanese concessions, alongside Siam, Mongolia, Tibet and Russia, expanded on what seemed like the corpse of the once mighty Chinese empire.
China during the Warlord Era
The origins of the armies and leaders which dominated politics in the various self proclaimed Chinese states that were born from the carcass of the defeated Chinese Republic layed long before the Great war even started, in the military reforms of the late Qing dynasty. These reforms did not establish a national army; instead, they mobilized regional armies and militias that had neither standardization nor consistency. During the later phase of the Taiping Rebellion (1850–64), provincial governors were allowed to raise their own armies to fight against the rebels; these forces were not disbanded even after the rebellion was over. The most powerful regional army was the northern-based Beiyang Army under Yuan Shikai, which received the best in training and modern weaponry. Officers were loyal to their superiors and formed cliques based upon their place of origins and background. Units were composed of men from the same province. This policy was meant to reduce dialectal miscommunication, but had the unfortunate side effect of encouraging regionalistic tendencies.
The Xinhai Revolution in 1911 brought widespread mutiny across southern China. The revolution began in October 1911 with the mutiny of troops based in Wuhan. Soldiers once loyal to the Qing government began to defect to the opposition. These revolutionary forces established a provisional government in Nanjing the following year under Dr. Sun Yat-sen, who had returned from his long exile to lead the revolution. Sun negotiated with Beiyang commander Yuan Shikai to bring an end to the Qing and reunify China. In return, Sun would hand over his presidency and recommend Yuan to be the president of the new republic. Yuan refused to move to Nanjing and insisted on maintaining the capital in Beijing, where his power base was secure.
Reacting to Yuan's growing authoritarianism, the southern provinces rebelled in 1913 but were effectively crushed by Beiyang forces. Civil governors were replaced by military ones. As the rebellions started to become more and more present in the Chinese Republic, Yuan believed that a war against the Central Powers would allow to recreate somewhat of a Chinese national unity, avoiding a bloody revolution that the government wasn't sure if it was able to secure. However, China's weak army turned to be unable to resist against Japanese and Siamese forces after the defeat of Russia, and felt into civil unrest, and saw the independence of Mongolia and Tibet, who now were the most stable of the former Chinese provinces, and were triving thanks to their trade deals with Russia, Nepal, Siam and the UBSR.
The Beiyang Army marching for battle against the Japanese in WW1
Warlords, in the words of American political scientist Lucian Pye, were "instinctively suspicious, quick to suspect that their interests might be threatened ... hard-headed, devoted to the short run and impervious to idealistic abstractions". These Chinese warlords usually came from strict military background, and were brutal in their treatment toward both their soldiers and the general population. In 1921, the North China Daily News reported that in the Shaanxi province, prevalence of robbery and violent crimes were serious to the extent that farmers were "afraid" to "venture out of doors". Wu Peifu of the Zhili clique was known for suppressing strikes by railroad workers by terrorizing them with execution. A British diplomat in Sichuan province witnessed two mutineers being publicly hacked to death with their hearts and livers hung out; another two being publicly burned to death; while others had slits cut into their bodies into which were inserted burning candles before they were hacked to pieces.
Warlords placed great stress on personal loyalty, yet subordinate officers often betrayed their commanders in exchange for bribes known as "silver bullets", and warlords often betrayed allies. Promotion had little to do with competence, and instead warlords attempted to create an interlocking network of familial, institutional, regional and master-pupil relationships together with membership in sworn brotherhoods and secret societies. Subordinates who betrayed their commanders could suffer harshly. "Alignment politics" prevented any one warlord from dominating the system. When one warlord started to become too powerful, the rest would ally to stop him, then turn on each other. The level of violence in the first years was restrained, as no leader wanted to engage in too much serious fighting. War brought the risk of damage to one's own forces. Furthermore, none of the warlords had the economic capacity or the logistical strength to inflict a decisive knockout blow; the most they could hope for was to gain some territory. None could conquer all of China. However, as the 1920s went on, the violence became increasingly intense and savage as the object was to damage the enemy and improve one's bargaining power within the "alignment politics".
As the infrastructure in China was still poor at the time, control of the railway lines and rolling stock were crucial in maintaining the sphere of influence. Railroads were the fastest and cheapest way of moving large number of troops, and most battles during this era were fought within a short distance of railways. In 1923, it was estimated that 70% of the locomotives on the railway lines connecting Wuhan and Beijing, and 50% of the locomotives on the lines connecting Beijing and Mukden were being used for mobilizing troops and supplies. Armored trains, full of machine guns and artillery, offered fire support for troops going into battle. The constant fighting around the railroads caused much economic harm. Between 1923 and 1924 fighting in western and northern China caused non-military railroad traffic to decline by 25%, raising the prices of goods and causing inventory to build up at warehouses.
Few of the warlords had any sort of ideology. Yan Xishan, the "Model Governor" of Shanxi, professed a syncretic creed that merged elements of democracy, militarism, individualism, capitalism, socialism, communism, imperialism, universalism, anarchism and Confucian paternalism into one. A friend described Yan as "a dark-skinned, moustached man of medium height who rarely laughed and maintained an attitude of great reserve ... Yan never showed his inner feelings." He kept Shanxi on a different railroad gauge from the rest of China to make it difficult to invade his province, though that tactic also hindered the export of coal and iron, the main source of Shanxi's wealth. Feng Yuxiang, the "Christian General", promoted Methodism together with a vague sort of left-leaning Chinese nationalism, which led the UBSR to support him for a time. He banned alcohol, lived simply and wore the common uniform of an infantryman to show his concern for his men. Wu Peifu, the "Philosopher General", was a mandarin who passed the Imperial Civil Service exam, billing himself as the protector of Confucian values, usually appearing in photographs with the scholar's brush in his hand (the scholar's brush is a symbol of Confucian culture). Doubters noted, however, that the quality of Wu's calligraphy markedly declined when his secretary died. Wu liked to appear in photos taken in his office with a portrait of his hero George Washington in the background to reflect the supposed democratic militarism he was attempting to bring to China. Wu was famous for his capacity to absorb vast quantities of alcohol and still keep drinking. When he sent Feng a bottle of brandy, Feng replied by sending him a bottle of water, a message that Wu failed to take in.
More typical was Marshal Zhang Zuolin, a graduate of the "University of the Green Forest", an illiterate who had a forceful, ambitious personality that allowed him to rise up from the leader of a bandit gang, be hired by the Japanese to attack the Russians during the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-05 and become the warlord of Ningxia by 1921.
Zhang Zongchang, known as the "Dogmeat General" because of his love for the gambling game of that name, was described as having "the physique of an elephant, the brain of a pig and the temperament of a tiger". Writer Lin Yutang called Zhang "the most colorful, legendary, medieval and unashamed ruler of modern China". Former Emperor Puyi remembered Zhang as "a universally detested monster" whose ugly, bloated face was "tinged with the livid hue induced by opium smoking". A brutal man, Zhang was notorious for his hobby of "opening melons", as he called smashing in the heads of prisoners with his sword. He loved to boast about the size of his penis, which become part of his legend. He was widely believed to be the most well endowed man in China, nicknamed "General Eighty-Six" as his penis when erect was said to measure up to a pile of 86 Mexican silver dollars. His harem consisted of Chinese, Korean, Japanese and Russian women together with two Frenchwomen and one who said she was an American. He gave them numbers, as he could not remember their names, then usually forgot the numbers.
The great ideological flexibility of warlords and politicans during this era can be well exemplified in the activities of Bai Lang, an important bandit leader. Even though he initially fought in support of the Qing dynasty with ultraconservative monarchists as well as warlords, Bai Lang later formed an alliance with republicans, declared himself loyal to Dr. Sun Yat-sen and formed a "Citizen's Punitive Army" to rid China of all the warlords. Many of the common soldiers in warlord armies were also bandits who took up service for a campaign and then reverted to banditry when the campaign was over. One politician remarked that when the warlords went to war with each other, the bandits become soldiers and when the war ended, the soldiers became bandits. Warlord armies commonly raped or took many women into sexual slavery. The system of looting was institutionalized, as many warlords lacked the money to pay their troops. Some took to kidnapping, and might send a hostage's severed fingers along with the ransom demand as a way of encouraging prompt payment.
To defend themselves from the attacks of the warlord armies, peasants organized themselves into militant secret societies and village associations which served as self-defense militias as well as vigilante groups. As the peasants usually had neither money for guns nor military training, these secret societies relied on martial arts, self-made weapons such as swords and spears, as well as the belief in protective magic. The latter was especially important, as the conviction of invulnerability was "a powerful weapon for bolstering the resolve of people who possessed few alternative resources with which to defend their meager holdings". Magical rituals practised by the peasants ranged from rather simple ones, such as swallowing charms, to much more elaborate practises. For example, elements of the Red Spear Society performed secret ceremonies to confer invulnerability from bullets to channel the power of Qi and went into battle naked with supposedly bulletproof red clay smeared over their bodies. The Mourning Clothes Society would perform three kowtows and weep loudly before each battle, unnerving their enemies. There were also all-female self-defense groups, such as the Iron Gate Society or the Flower Basket Society. The former would dressed entirely in white (the color of death in China) and waved fans that they believed would deflect gunfire, while the latter went in combat with a sword to kill and a magical basket to catch their opponents' bullets. Disappointed with the failed republic and despairing due to the warlords' deprivations, many peasant secret societies adopted millenarian beliefs, and advocated the restoration of the monarchy, led by the old Ming dynasty. The past was widely romanticized, and many believed that a Ming emperor would bring a "reign of happiness and justice for all".
Warlord soldiers train with dao swords sometime in the 1920s. Some warlord armies, especially those in the Russian border, were badly armed, paid and supplied, and often lacked even basic necessities, such as guns, ammunition, and food.
Besides bandits, the rank-and-file of the warlord armies tended to be village conscripts. They might take service in one army, get captured, then join the army of their captors before being captured yet again. Warlords usually incorporated their prisoners into their armies; at least 200,000 men who were serving in the army of Gen. Wu were prisoners he had incorporated into his own army. A survey of one warlord garrison in 1924 revealed that 90% of the soldiers were illiterate. In 1925 U.S. Army officer Joseph Stilwell inspected a warlord unit and observed that 20% were less than 4.5 feet tall, the average age was 14 and most walked barefoot. Stilwell wrote that this "scarecrow company" was worthless as a military unit. A British army visitor commented that, provided they had proper leadership, the men of northern China were "the finest Oriental raw material with a physique second to none, and an iron constitution". However, such units were the exception rather than the rule.
In 1920 there were about a half-million soldiers in China. By 1922 the numbers had tripled, then tripled again by 1924, more than the warlords could support. One way of raising funds were taxes called lijin that were often confiscatory and inflicted much economic harm. For example, in Sichuan province there were 27 different taxes on salt, and one shipload of paper that was sent down the Yangtze River to Shanghai was taxed 11 different times by various warlords to the sum total of 160% of its value. One warlord imposed a tax of 100% on railroad freight, including food, even though there was a famine in his province. Taxes owed to the central government in Beijing on stamp and salt were usually taken by regional authorities.
The warlords demanded loans from the banks. The other major revenue source besides taxes, loans and looting was the selling of opium, with the warlords selling the rights to grow and sell opium within their provinces to consortiums of gangsters. Despite his ostensible anti-opium stance, Gen. Feng Yuxiang, "the Christian General", took in some $20 million/per annum from opium sales. Inflation was another means of paying for their soldiers. Some warlords simply ran the printing presses, issuing new Chinese dollars non-stop, and some resorted to duplicating machines to issue new Chinese dollars. The warlord who ruled Hunan province printed 22 million Chinese dollars on a silver reserve worth only one million Chinese dollars in the course of a single year, while Zhang in Shandong province printed 55 million Chinese dollars on a silver reserve of 1.5 million Chinese dollars during the same year.
Despite their constant need for money, the warlords lived in luxury. Marshal Zhang owned the world's biggest pearl, while Gen. Wu owned the world's biggest diamond. Gen. Zhang, the "Dogmeat General", ate his meals off a 40-piece Belgian dinner service, and an American journalist described dinner with him: "He gave a dinner for me where sinful quantities of costly foods were served. There was French champagne and sound brandy".
The warlords bought machine guns and artillery from abroad, but their uneducated soldiers could not operate or service them. A British mercenary complained in 1923 that Wu Peifu had about 45 European artillery pieces that were inoperable because they had not been properly maintained. At the Battle of Urga, the army of Gen. Xu Shuzheng, which had seized Outer Mongolia, was attacked by a Mongolian army under the command of Gen. Baron Roman von Ungern-Sternberg. The Chinese might have stopped Ungern had they been capable of firing their machine guns properly, to adjust for the inevitable upward jerk caused by the firing; they did not, and this caused the bullets to overshoot their targets. The inability to use their machine guns properly proved costly; after taking Urga in February 1921, Ungern had his Cossacks cavalry hunt down the remnants of Xu's troops as they attempted to flee south on the road back to China.
Because their soldiers were not able to use or take proper care of modern weapons, the warlords often hired foreign mercenaries, who were effective but always open to other offers. The Russian mercenaries, according to one reporter, "went through the Chinese troops like a knife through butter". The most highly paid of the Russian units was led by Gen. Konstantin Nechanev, who fought for Zhang Zongchang, the "Dogmeat General". Nechanev and his men were much feared. In 1924 they drove three armored trains through the countryside, gunning down everyone they met and taking everything moveable. The rampage was stopped only when the peasants pulled up the train tracks, which led Nechanev to sack the nearest town.
China situation, however, was even worse. Unlike the various warlords that ruled the East, China had to pay war reparations against the Central Powers. It was around this time that the Nationalist government, officially the National Government of the Republic of China (Chinese: 中華民國國民政府; pinyin: Zhōnghuá Mínguó Guómín Zhèngfǔ; literally: "Chinese People's State Nation-People Government"), leaded by Chiang Kai-shek, a strong nationalist general.
Chiang Kai-shek in a 1930 image
Since the Constitutional Protection Movement ended in 1922, the Kuomintang (KMT, the party who gave birth to the Chinese Nationalist Party and, as such, the Nationalist Chinese Goverment) had been expanding in China to prepare for an expedition against the Eastern warlords and reunifying China. The preparation required improving both the political and military strength of the KMT.
On 9 July 1923, the Kuomintang ceremonially appointed Chiang Kai-shek as the commander of the National Revolutionary Army (NRA), which officially launched the expedition. In a military conference at Changsha on 11 August, the Nationalists decided to bypass Nanchong and attack Xi'an straight away. The warlord defense led by Wu Peifu collapsed on 31 August in which Wu only narrowly fled, and the revolutionary forces reached the heavily fortified Xi'an on 31 August. The city garrison surrendered on 10 October after more than a month of military blockade, and the NRA had secured the Shaanxi province as Wu and his remaining troops fled to Xining. The NRA then diverted their forces toward the territories of Sun Chuanfang, which included both Wuwei and Golmud in Qinghai, capturing the region in the process. In the short span of six months, the Nationalists had expanded to seven provinces, controlling a population of "approximately 170 million". Sun Chuanfang retreated in the aftermath of major setbacks. The Fengtian clique responded to the request for help from Sun by reinforcing the eastern front, while increasing the number of troops in Gansu in support of Wu Peifu. However, after the capture of Xinjiang, the Nationalist Chinese army managed to unify China once again. Final peace talks would be helded in Wuhan. In it
-The Chinese nationalist government would be recognized in China
-The Chinese nationalist government take full controll of the areas controlled by the Warlords
-Wuhan becomes the new capital of China
-The areas captured by Russia, Mongolia, Tibet, Siam, the UBSR, Italy, Germany and Japan would be recognized
-China war debt is reduced
China after the reunification process
Despite the success of the Nationalist government, problems for the Chinese Nationalist Government were not over. However, this does not mean that they would be alone in the future.
I hope you guys like this new update! Be sure to like(if you like it), comment(please comment so I can learn what your opinion is) and.....follow I guess.
The Caribbean war and the Central American revolution: the bald eagle hunts down the Hispaniolan Trogan, while the lion converts the two White-tailed deers and the Quetzal
The Caribbean war and the Central American revolution: the bald eagle hunts down the Hispaniolan Trogan, while the lion converts the two White-tailed deers and the Quetzal
Despite the USA defeat in the Mexican revolution, the country was in good shape. Thanks to the various materials and goods they exported into various ex-entente members, they were gaining a large profit. They were the nation that, after WW1, was the least devastated. However, a particular feeling of resentment was present toward the various hispanic regions just south of them, alongside the Caribbeans. On top of that, in order to compensate for their defeat in Mexico, they believed that opportunistic expansion against weaker nations in Latin America could lead to a success. It was obvious that an attack on Mexico was a suicide: Mexico had close ties with the German government, which by now had fully recovered from the Great War, alongside other members of the Central powers. With little to no intention to get a bloody nose against the Central powers, one would say that, another objective, could be Central America. Just like Morocco in the Spanish-Moroccan war, Central America was an easy spot for opportunistic expansion. If it wasn't for a small detail. A bloody small detail. A bloody socialist small detail.
Map of the Union of the British Socialists Republic, showing the border between the England Socialist Republic(ESR) and the Scottish Socialist Republic(SSR), alongside the "Albania of the British isles", Ireland, which is basically a British puppet.
Thanks to his holdings in the Caribbeans and even in Central America thanks to the Belizean Socialist Republic (BSR), the UBSR was doing an excelent job into manipulating the local governments, and communism in Central America was obtaining a huge success. As a result, the British had little to no intention to let the Americans take controll of the region. Tensions between the two countries were at hight peaks after the American-British skimmerish in the Bahamas, between the Red Navy(the new British navy) and the U.S. Navy, which resulted in a stalemate. A diplomatic solution arrived shortly after between the USA and the UBSR, which leaded to the agreement of the Treaty of Havana, on May 14 1925. In it
-The UBSR signs a non-aggression pact with the USA
-The USA must not iterfere in the Communist conversion of Central America
-The UBSR must not interfere against USA interests in the Caribbeans
-The British-American Caribbean trade deal was signed, heavely inspired by the Bohai economic triangle in China between the Kingdom of Italy, the German Empire and the Japanese Empire
The Treaty of Havana basically signed the end of Caribbean independence. With no one with the streinght, nor the will, to stop the USA, plans for the invasion of the Caribbean islands were planned. Meanwhile, with nothing interfering in Central America, the Central American Secret Communist Organization, or CASCO(Organizacion Segreta Comunista de l'America Central, or OSCAC in Spanish) was obtaining a large ammount of success, even if it was still secret and known only by its members and the UBSR.
The Dominican and Haitian government themselves were on a state of alert, as they saw large ammount of American "immigrants" in the region. Tensions between the two Caribbean countries and the US grew higher and higher, as conflicts between the American "immigrants" and the local population started to become regular. On July 22, the Port-au-Prince massacre occurred by the Americans and the Haitians, where 60 Americans and 30 Haitians were killed in riots. The American government demanded to stop the conflicts, to which Louis Borno, leader of Haiti at the time, reponded: "The only way to stop such massacres is to stop the income of American immigrants into the island. We will be ready to negociate when laws against immigration in our island will be signed". The American, obviously, had little to no intention to negotiate. This was what they were looking for: an excuse to go at war with both Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Strong anti-Haitian protests occurred in the streets of New York, as it would seems like war was the only acceptable solution. As a result, after the agreement of the Parliament, war was declared on July 27 1925. By using Guantanamo as a landing base, the American forces landed on Jean-Rabel, where they met high resistence, but would be ultimately be defeated by the American forces. On 30 July 1925, the Haitian army under the command of General Franck Lavaud collapsed when defeated by the forces of Benjamin Alvord Jr., in what became known in Haiti as the disaster of Arrondissement di Port-de-Paix, some 8,000 soldiers and officers reported killed or disappeared out of some 20,000. The final Haitian death toll, both at Arrondissement di Port-de-Paix and during the subsequent rout that took American forces to the outskirts of Les Gonaïves, was reported to the Haitian government as totaling 13,192. The Haitians were pushed back and during the following days, occasional battles were fought between the two. The American forces advanced to the east and captured over 130 Haitian military posts. By late August 1925, Haiti was basically under American controll. Haitian troops were pushed back to the regions near the Dominican Republic, which too was at war with the USA. By January 1926 the Americans had taken controll of Haiti and were focusing on the Dominican Republic and had occupied the coastal plain as far as San Fernando de Montecristi and Luperón. The American forces had consolidated their hold of the region and stalemate was reached for a short ammount of time, with the Dominican Republic biggest victory in La Caya.
A U.S. invasion force lands at Jean-Rabel
In order to break the "stalemate", the American forces decided to launch an anphibious landing in the South, in Santa Cruz de Barahona, where they met little to no resistence, as the majority of the Dominican Republic forces were busy in the Nord. In the Nord, American forces easily captured Santiago de los Caballeros, and connected with the Southern forces in Jarabacoa. By now, the American forces had full controll over half of the country, and were ready for the final push against the Dominican, and started to march to Santo Domingo. After the successful battle of Santo Domingo, the Dominican forces were basically shattered, unable to counter the American forces. A peace treaty would be signed in Salvaleón de Higüey.
In it:
-Haiti and the Dominican Republic would be integrated in the American East Indies
The Caribbeans after the war
While the Americans were expanding in the Caribbeans, the fire of the revolution burned in Central America.
On 18 August 1925, the Communist laid plans for a general insurrection for 2:00 am 29 August. The insurgents achieved considerable success and formed an Interim Government of Central America. The uprising, which started in Honduras, quickly spread to neighboring areas and countries with the support of the UBSR, and a large portion of Central America out of the local government control. The government forces decided to ally themselves to counter the revolution, and even gained some successes.
The success of the coalition was short-lived, however. Although the insurrection did not went further than the British had anticipated, the reaction of the Communists leaders was prompt. Additional Red Army volunteer troops under the overall command of Sir Arnold Talbot Wilson were promptly sent in and Central America coastline was blockaded to prevent support from the Central Powers. Detachments of the Red Army attacked the first Central American towns in western El Salvador—Guatemala and Nicaragua—as early as 29 August and managed to force the local forces into forests by 30 August. The Red Army forces employed artillery and aviation to fight the now guerrilla forces who still continued to offer resistance, especially in Nicaragua.
Following the setback suffered by the local forces in the Nord of Central America, the epicenter of the resistence transferred into Nicaragua, where, on 29 August, a large Nacaraguan force under Augusto C. Sandino assaulted the Red Army barracks in Chinandega, on southwestern approaches of Choluteca, but was driven back by British troops, who had heavily fortified all strategic positions in and around the border. Reinforcements failed and Sandino forces were left isolated, forcing them to retreat eastward into the Jinotega province. On 3 September Sandino made the last desperate attempt to turn a tide of the local forces and took the town of Ocotal in a surprise attack. However, he could not hold off a Red Army counter-offensive and withdrew into the forests. Despite Sandino protests, a deal with the Communist rebels was reached in the treaty of Managua. In it:
-Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica would unite to form the People's Republic of Central American, or PRCA
-The PRCA cedes some borderland to the BSR, althought they can even have troops in the region
-The PRCA and the UBSR start a serie of trade deals
Map of the region after the revolution
With the birth of a communist state in the Central America, and the US having basically controll over the Caribbeans, it would seems like the old powers are reemeging once again. But it doesn't seem like peace between the US and the UBSR will be reached soon. Will the Non agression pact calm the spirits of the eagle and the lion? Or will they eventually collide?
I hope you guys like this new update! Be sure to like(if you like it), comment(please comment so I can learn what your opinion is) and.....follow I guess.
Despite the USA defeat in the Mexican revolution, the country was in good shape. Thanks to the various materials and goods they exported into various ex-entente members, they were gaining a large profit. They were the nation that, after WW1, was the least devastated. However, a particular feeling of resentment was present toward the various hispanic regions just south of them, alongside the Caribbeans. On top of that, in order to compensate for their defeat in Mexico, they believed that opportunistic expansion against weaker nations in Latin America could lead to a success. It was obvious that an attack on Mexico was a suicide: Mexico had close ties with the German government, which by now had fully recovered from the Great War, alongside other members of the Central powers. With little to no intention to get a bloody nose against the Central powers, one would say that, another objective, could be Central America. Just like Morocco in the Spanish-Moroccan war, Central America was an easy spot for opportunistic expansion. If it wasn't for a small detail. A bloody small detail. A bloody socialist small detail.
Map of the Union of the British Socialists Republic, showing the border between the England Socialist Republic(ESR) and the Scottish Socialist Republic(SSR), alongside the "Albania of the British isles", Ireland, which is basically a British puppet.
Thanks to his holdings in the Caribbeans and even in Central America thanks to the Belizean Socialist Republic (BSR), the UBSR was doing an excelent job into manipulating the local governments, and communism in Central America was obtaining a huge success. As a result, the British had little to no intention to let the Americans take controll of the region. Tensions between the two countries were at hight peaks after the American-British skimmerish in the Bahamas, between the Red Navy(the new British navy) and the U.S. Navy, which resulted in a stalemate. A diplomatic solution arrived shortly after between the USA and the UBSR, which leaded to the agreement of the Treaty of Havana, on May 14 1925. In it
-The UBSR signs a non-aggression pact with the USA
-The USA must not iterfere in the Communist conversion of Central America
-The UBSR must not interfere against USA interests in the Caribbeans
-The British-American Caribbean trade deal was signed, heavely inspired by the Bohai economic triangle in China between the Kingdom of Italy, the German Empire and the Japanese Empire
The Treaty of Havana basically signed the end of Caribbean independence. With no one with the streinght, nor the will, to stop the USA, plans for the invasion of the Caribbean islands were planned. Meanwhile, with nothing interfering in Central America, the Central American Secret Communist Organization, or CASCO(Organizacion Segreta Comunista de l'America Central, or OSCAC in Spanish) was obtaining a large ammount of success, even if it was still secret and known only by its members and the UBSR.
The Dominican and Haitian government themselves were on a state of alert, as they saw large ammount of American "immigrants" in the region. Tensions between the two Caribbean countries and the US grew higher and higher, as conflicts between the American "immigrants" and the local population started to become regular. On July 22, the Port-au-Prince massacre occurred by the Americans and the Haitians, where 60 Americans and 30 Haitians were killed in riots. The American government demanded to stop the conflicts, to which Louis Borno, leader of Haiti at the time, reponded: "The only way to stop such massacres is to stop the income of American immigrants into the island. We will be ready to negociate when laws against immigration in our island will be signed". The American, obviously, had little to no intention to negotiate. This was what they were looking for: an excuse to go at war with both Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Strong anti-Haitian protests occurred in the streets of New York, as it would seems like war was the only acceptable solution. As a result, after the agreement of the Parliament, war was declared on July 27 1925. By using Guantanamo as a landing base, the American forces landed on Jean-Rabel, where they met high resistence, but would be ultimately be defeated by the American forces. On 30 July 1925, the Haitian army under the command of General Franck Lavaud collapsed when defeated by the forces of Benjamin Alvord Jr., in what became known in Haiti as the disaster of Arrondissement di Port-de-Paix, some 8,000 soldiers and officers reported killed or disappeared out of some 20,000. The final Haitian death toll, both at Arrondissement di Port-de-Paix and during the subsequent rout that took American forces to the outskirts of Les Gonaïves, was reported to the Haitian government as totaling 13,192. The Haitians were pushed back and during the following days, occasional battles were fought between the two. The American forces advanced to the east and captured over 130 Haitian military posts. By late August 1925, Haiti was basically under American controll. Haitian troops were pushed back to the regions near the Dominican Republic, which too was at war with the USA. By January 1926 the Americans had taken controll of Haiti and were focusing on the Dominican Republic and had occupied the coastal plain as far as San Fernando de Montecristi and Luperón. The American forces had consolidated their hold of the region and stalemate was reached for a short ammount of time, with the Dominican Republic biggest victory in La Caya.
A U.S. invasion force lands at Jean-Rabel
In order to break the "stalemate", the American forces decided to launch an anphibious landing in the South, in Santa Cruz de Barahona, where they met little to no resistence, as the majority of the Dominican Republic forces were busy in the Nord. In the Nord, American forces easily captured Santiago de los Caballeros, and connected with the Southern forces in Jarabacoa. By now, the American forces had full controll over half of the country, and were ready for the final push against the Dominican, and started to march to Santo Domingo. After the successful battle of Santo Domingo, the Dominican forces were basically shattered, unable to counter the American forces. A peace treaty would be signed in Salvaleón de Higüey.
In it:
-Haiti and the Dominican Republic would be integrated in the American East Indies
The Caribbeans after the war
While the Americans were expanding in the Caribbeans, the fire of the revolution burned in Central America.
On 18 August 1925, the Communist laid plans for a general insurrection for 2:00 am 29 August. The insurgents achieved considerable success and formed an Interim Government of Central America. The uprising, which started in Honduras, quickly spread to neighboring areas and countries with the support of the UBSR, and a large portion of Central America out of the local government control. The government forces decided to ally themselves to counter the revolution, and even gained some successes.
The success of the coalition was short-lived, however. Although the insurrection did not went further than the British had anticipated, the reaction of the Communists leaders was prompt. Additional Red Army volunteer troops under the overall command of Sir Arnold Talbot Wilson were promptly sent in and Central America coastline was blockaded to prevent support from the Central Powers. Detachments of the Red Army attacked the first Central American towns in western El Salvador—Guatemala and Nicaragua—as early as 29 August and managed to force the local forces into forests by 30 August. The Red Army forces employed artillery and aviation to fight the now guerrilla forces who still continued to offer resistance, especially in Nicaragua.
Following the setback suffered by the local forces in the Nord of Central America, the epicenter of the resistence transferred into Nicaragua, where, on 29 August, a large Nacaraguan force under Augusto C. Sandino assaulted the Red Army barracks in Chinandega, on southwestern approaches of Choluteca, but was driven back by British troops, who had heavily fortified all strategic positions in and around the border. Reinforcements failed and Sandino forces were left isolated, forcing them to retreat eastward into the Jinotega province. On 3 September Sandino made the last desperate attempt to turn a tide of the local forces and took the town of Ocotal in a surprise attack. However, he could not hold off a Red Army counter-offensive and withdrew into the forests. Despite Sandino protests, a deal with the Communist rebels was reached in the treaty of Managua. In it:
-Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica would unite to form the People's Republic of Central American, or PRCA
-The PRCA cedes some borderland to the BSR, althought they can even have troops in the region
-The PRCA and the UBSR start a serie of trade deals
Map of the region after the revolution
With the birth of a communist state in the Central America, and the US having basically controll over the Caribbeans, it would seems like the old powers are reemeging once again. But it doesn't seem like peace between the US and the UBSR will be reached soon. Will the Non agression pact calm the spirits of the eagle and the lion? Or will they eventually collide?
I hope you guys like this new update! Be sure to like(if you like it), comment(please comment so I can learn what your opinion is) and.....follow I guess.
Metaxist Greece: the phoenyx rises from the fire
Metaxist Greece: the phoenyx rises from the fire
After the defeat of Greece by the Kingdom of Albania and the Kingdom of Italy (the "Ephirus Catastrophe") of 1923, the defeated army revolted against the royal government. Under Venizelist officers like Nikolaos Plastiras and Stylianos Gonatas, King Constantine I was forced to abdicate, and died in exile in 1924. His eldest son and successor, King George II, was soon after asked by the parliament to leave Greece so the nation could decide what form of government it should adopt. In a 1924 plebiscite, Greeks voted to create a republic. These events marked the culmination of a process that had begun in 1915 between King Constantine and his political nemesis, Eleftherios Venizelos. The Second Republic was proclaimed on 25 March 1924. During its brief existence, the Second Republic proved unstable. Greek society continued to be divided, as it was since the National Schism, between the pro-republican Venizelists and the monarchists represented by the People's Party, who refused to acknowledge the legitimacy of the Republic. The cleavage in society extended to cultural and social issues such as differences over the use of Greek language to architectural styles. To this polarization was added the destabilizing involvement of the military in politics which resulted in several coups and attempted coups. The economy was in ruins following the war and was unable to support the 1.5 million refugees from the various islands conquered by the Italians and the Ottomans.
Greek Refugees from the Cyclades islands, now controlled by Italy, settling in a refugee camp in Athens
One of the greatest treat for the republic, however, weren't the Italians, nor the Ottomans, but rather itself, as the Greeks become more and more aligned with fascist ideals. It was around this period that the Metaxist movement would shine. The ideology developed by Metaxas began with Metaxas' response to the republican revolution of 1923 that put in a pro-republican government, Metaxas formed the Freethinkers' Party, a monarchist party that originally supported the advancement of civil liberties, though this changed with Metaxas' evolving political views. However, as time started to pass by, the Metaxist started to believe that they deserved to be in charge. Their leader, Theodoros Pangalos, was a general who fought against the Italians in the Dodecannese and, later on, the Bulgarians in Macedonia. He had strong nationalist ideals, and believed that, with the right moves, Greece could return to the glorious days of the Byzantine empire, to which he claimed that the Greeks were the descendant of. Many other generals and soldiers agreed with Pangalos ideals, and admired how countries such as Belgium and Russia, destroyed by the war, managed to recover so quickly and gain friendly ties with the Germans. Althought both the Ottomans and the Italians had little to no claims in the area, the Greeks were still afraid of another invasion. Many refugees themselves found interest in the Metaxist movement, and many dreamed of the return of the various Greek islands, such as the Cyclades and the Dodecannese, alongside Crete and others. Plans for a coup were planned on June 25 1925 by Pangalos, to overtrow the republic and seize power. The coup was launched on July 02 1925, and was executed perfectly. All important political centres in the city were captured, and Pangalos was nominated leader of Greece. However, despite having won against the local government, he failed to immetiately subdue the people. On July 10, a large revolt in the Peloponnese quickly turned into a civil war, as other regions of Greece tried to rebel against the new government.
Situation of the Greek civil war at his start. In red, the areas controlled by the Republicans
The situation looked horrifying for the Metaxist, but an old enemy decided to take an opportunity, and decided to help Pangalos in his struggle.
The Ottoman empire, since the end of the war, was basically in a regional politica tension with the Kingdom of Italy for dominance over the Eastern Mediterranen and the Red Sea. In particular, Greece was a point of contestance, not because they wanted to conquer it, but because they wanted to ally it or allowing for military passage. As a result, the Ottoman empire was an excelent opportunity to gain a new ally against the Italians. On July 20 1925, Mustafa Kemal, prime minister of the Ottoman Empire, ordered for the creation of volunteer troops that would support the Pangalos government against the republicans.
Ottoman volunteer corps
The first conflicts between the Greek repubblicans and the Ottoman volunteers was in Athens itself, as the city was besieged. After a successfull battle against the unexperienced Greek repubblicans, the Ottoman-Greek forces started to regain ground in the South. In one of the bigger engagements, in the night of 6–7 August, the forces of Konstantinos Davakis laid siege to the city of Kineta with 5,000-10,000 men. The Greeks attacked the city at all four gates simultaneously. All of their attacks were repelled by the numerically inferior Greek-Turkish garrison, with the use of machine gun fire and mortar grenades. When the rebels retreated the next morning, the area around the city was full of dead bodies. When a second wave of attacks failed, the siege was finally lifted on 11 August. By the end of August, most of the major battles of the Pelopponese were over. The rebels were unable to penetrate beyond Megara, this was one of the two major areas where the Republicans were well known and he enjoyed considerable influence there. This failure excluded the possibility of extending the campaign.
The main part of the civil war in the Pelopponese was over by the end of March, as the Greek authorities and Ottoman volunteers, according to Martin van Bruinessen, crushed the rebellion with continual aerial bombardments and a massive concentration of forces.
During this rebellion, the Greek government used its airplanes for bombing raids in the Pelopponese area. In the course of this operation, the airfield near Spata road was used.
At the beginning of the Civil war the Ottomans had one squadron consisting of 7 airplanes. Of these only 2 were serviceable. Later four more arrived. The Ottoman Air Force deployed a total of 11 airplanes against the rebellion, however, only 6 were serviceable. After the successfull battle of Corinth, the Ottoman forces finally managed to break throught. After that battle, the Republicans would limit themselves on Guerrilla warfare.
Republican Greek guerrilla fighters in the Peloponnese
On September 11, 1925, armed responses to the other Republican Greeks controlled areas were initiated by the Ottoman military.
By the end of September the Ottoman Air Force was bombing Republican positions around Karpenisi from all directions. According to General İsmet İnönü, the military superiority of the Ottoman Air Force demoralized the Greeks and led to their capitulation.
During the Civil War, the Ottoman Air Force bombed several Albanian villages in the border. For instance, Kanali was bombed on October 18. Republican villages were continually bombed from October 2–29. From September 10–12 Republican positions were extensively bombed, and this forced the Greeks to retreat to the rural areas. On October 9 the newspaper Cumhuriyet reported that the Ottoman air force was "raining down" the area with bombs. The Greeks, who escaped the bombings, were captured alive. On October 13, the Ottomans advanced in Ano Chora. Squadrons of 10-15 aircraft were used in crushing the Republicans. On October 16, two Ottoman planes were downed. Aerial bombardment continued for several days and forced the Republicans to withdraw. By October 21, bombardment had destroyed many Republican forts. During these operations, the Ottoman military mobilized 66,000 volunteers and 100 aircraft. The campaign against the Republicans was over by December 17, 1925.
The Civil War was over in 1926, and the Metaxist government resumed control over Greece. A treaty was signed on January 28 1926 between the Ottoman Empire and the Hellenic state, as the new Greek state was called, in Athens. In it:
-There would be no territorial changes
-The Pangalos government is recognized
-Greece allows Ottoman ships to dock in Greek ports
-The Ottomans can move troops in Greek territory
-Equal trade deals are signed between the Ottoman Empire and the Hellenic State
-Greece shall not be under Ottoman sphere of influence, but it will be allied with them for protection.
Greece alliance with the Ottomans was not well seen by the Italians, with Mussolini furious about the news. In a speech in Venice against the Ottomans, he claimed that the Greeks were nothing but hypoctrites, willing to sell their souls to their old enemy for power. Relations between the Ottoman empire and the Kingdom of Italy stagnated even more, and it would seem like at least a proxy war between the two was inevitable. The question is: when? Will Germany and the other Central Powers be able to maintain peace? And if war between the Italians and the Ottomans break out, would it be a second Italo-Turkish was as a matter of result, or an Ottoman revenge against the Italians?
I hope you guys like this new update! Be sure to like(if you like it), comment(please comment so I can learn what your opinion is) and.....follow I guess.
After the defeat of Greece by the Kingdom of Albania and the Kingdom of Italy (the "Ephirus Catastrophe") of 1923, the defeated army revolted against the royal government. Under Venizelist officers like Nikolaos Plastiras and Stylianos Gonatas, King Constantine I was forced to abdicate, and died in exile in 1924. His eldest son and successor, King George II, was soon after asked by the parliament to leave Greece so the nation could decide what form of government it should adopt. In a 1924 plebiscite, Greeks voted to create a republic. These events marked the culmination of a process that had begun in 1915 between King Constantine and his political nemesis, Eleftherios Venizelos. The Second Republic was proclaimed on 25 March 1924. During its brief existence, the Second Republic proved unstable. Greek society continued to be divided, as it was since the National Schism, between the pro-republican Venizelists and the monarchists represented by the People's Party, who refused to acknowledge the legitimacy of the Republic. The cleavage in society extended to cultural and social issues such as differences over the use of Greek language to architectural styles. To this polarization was added the destabilizing involvement of the military in politics which resulted in several coups and attempted coups. The economy was in ruins following the war and was unable to support the 1.5 million refugees from the various islands conquered by the Italians and the Ottomans.
Greek Refugees from the Cyclades islands, now controlled by Italy, settling in a refugee camp in Athens
One of the greatest treat for the republic, however, weren't the Italians, nor the Ottomans, but rather itself, as the Greeks become more and more aligned with fascist ideals. It was around this period that the Metaxist movement would shine. The ideology developed by Metaxas began with Metaxas' response to the republican revolution of 1923 that put in a pro-republican government, Metaxas formed the Freethinkers' Party, a monarchist party that originally supported the advancement of civil liberties, though this changed with Metaxas' evolving political views. However, as time started to pass by, the Metaxist started to believe that they deserved to be in charge. Their leader, Theodoros Pangalos, was a general who fought against the Italians in the Dodecannese and, later on, the Bulgarians in Macedonia. He had strong nationalist ideals, and believed that, with the right moves, Greece could return to the glorious days of the Byzantine empire, to which he claimed that the Greeks were the descendant of. Many other generals and soldiers agreed with Pangalos ideals, and admired how countries such as Belgium and Russia, destroyed by the war, managed to recover so quickly and gain friendly ties with the Germans. Althought both the Ottomans and the Italians had little to no claims in the area, the Greeks were still afraid of another invasion. Many refugees themselves found interest in the Metaxist movement, and many dreamed of the return of the various Greek islands, such as the Cyclades and the Dodecannese, alongside Crete and others. Plans for a coup were planned on June 25 1925 by Pangalos, to overtrow the republic and seize power. The coup was launched on July 02 1925, and was executed perfectly. All important political centres in the city were captured, and Pangalos was nominated leader of Greece. However, despite having won against the local government, he failed to immetiately subdue the people. On July 10, a large revolt in the Peloponnese quickly turned into a civil war, as other regions of Greece tried to rebel against the new government.
Situation of the Greek civil war at his start. In red, the areas controlled by the Republicans
The situation looked horrifying for the Metaxist, but an old enemy decided to take an opportunity, and decided to help Pangalos in his struggle.
The Ottoman empire, since the end of the war, was basically in a regional politica tension with the Kingdom of Italy for dominance over the Eastern Mediterranen and the Red Sea. In particular, Greece was a point of contestance, not because they wanted to conquer it, but because they wanted to ally it or allowing for military passage. As a result, the Ottoman empire was an excelent opportunity to gain a new ally against the Italians. On July 20 1925, Mustafa Kemal, prime minister of the Ottoman Empire, ordered for the creation of volunteer troops that would support the Pangalos government against the republicans.
Ottoman volunteer corps
The first conflicts between the Greek repubblicans and the Ottoman volunteers was in Athens itself, as the city was besieged. After a successfull battle against the unexperienced Greek repubblicans, the Ottoman-Greek forces started to regain ground in the South. In one of the bigger engagements, in the night of 6–7 August, the forces of Konstantinos Davakis laid siege to the city of Kineta with 5,000-10,000 men. The Greeks attacked the city at all four gates simultaneously. All of their attacks were repelled by the numerically inferior Greek-Turkish garrison, with the use of machine gun fire and mortar grenades. When the rebels retreated the next morning, the area around the city was full of dead bodies. When a second wave of attacks failed, the siege was finally lifted on 11 August. By the end of August, most of the major battles of the Pelopponese were over. The rebels were unable to penetrate beyond Megara, this was one of the two major areas where the Republicans were well known and he enjoyed considerable influence there. This failure excluded the possibility of extending the campaign.
The main part of the civil war in the Pelopponese was over by the end of March, as the Greek authorities and Ottoman volunteers, according to Martin van Bruinessen, crushed the rebellion with continual aerial bombardments and a massive concentration of forces.
During this rebellion, the Greek government used its airplanes for bombing raids in the Pelopponese area. In the course of this operation, the airfield near Spata road was used.
At the beginning of the Civil war the Ottomans had one squadron consisting of 7 airplanes. Of these only 2 were serviceable. Later four more arrived. The Ottoman Air Force deployed a total of 11 airplanes against the rebellion, however, only 6 were serviceable. After the successfull battle of Corinth, the Ottoman forces finally managed to break throught. After that battle, the Republicans would limit themselves on Guerrilla warfare.
Republican Greek guerrilla fighters in the Peloponnese
On September 11, 1925, armed responses to the other Republican Greeks controlled areas were initiated by the Ottoman military.
By the end of September the Ottoman Air Force was bombing Republican positions around Karpenisi from all directions. According to General İsmet İnönü, the military superiority of the Ottoman Air Force demoralized the Greeks and led to their capitulation.
During the Civil War, the Ottoman Air Force bombed several Albanian villages in the border. For instance, Kanali was bombed on October 18. Republican villages were continually bombed from October 2–29. From September 10–12 Republican positions were extensively bombed, and this forced the Greeks to retreat to the rural areas. On October 9 the newspaper Cumhuriyet reported that the Ottoman air force was "raining down" the area with bombs. The Greeks, who escaped the bombings, were captured alive. On October 13, the Ottomans advanced in Ano Chora. Squadrons of 10-15 aircraft were used in crushing the Republicans. On October 16, two Ottoman planes were downed. Aerial bombardment continued for several days and forced the Republicans to withdraw. By October 21, bombardment had destroyed many Republican forts. During these operations, the Ottoman military mobilized 66,000 volunteers and 100 aircraft. The campaign against the Republicans was over by December 17, 1925.
The Civil War was over in 1926, and the Metaxist government resumed control over Greece. A treaty was signed on January 28 1926 between the Ottoman Empire and the Hellenic state, as the new Greek state was called, in Athens. In it:
-There would be no territorial changes
-The Pangalos government is recognized
-Greece allows Ottoman ships to dock in Greek ports
-The Ottomans can move troops in Greek territory
-Equal trade deals are signed between the Ottoman Empire and the Hellenic State
-Greece shall not be under Ottoman sphere of influence, but it will be allied with them for protection.
Greece alliance with the Ottomans was not well seen by the Italians, with Mussolini furious about the news. In a speech in Venice against the Ottomans, he claimed that the Greeks were nothing but hypoctrites, willing to sell their souls to their old enemy for power. Relations between the Ottoman empire and the Kingdom of Italy stagnated even more, and it would seem like at least a proxy war between the two was inevitable. The question is: when? Will Germany and the other Central Powers be able to maintain peace? And if war between the Italians and the Ottomans break out, would it be a second Italo-Turkish was as a matter of result, or an Ottoman revenge against the Italians?
I hope you guys like this new update! Be sure to like(if you like it), comment(please comment so I can learn what your opinion is) and.....follow I guess.
The Ashanti-Akan rebellion: the lynx faces the problems of colonialism
The Ashanti-Akan rebellion: the lynx faces the problems of colonialism
After the success of Romania in WW1, the once small kingdom had become a regional power in the Balkans, only behind the United States of Greater Austria, and it was the real ruler of the Black sea. In order to keep the Romanian people loyal to the Central powers, Kaiser Wilhelm proposed to give the Romanians the African regions of Ghana and the Ivory-Coast, in order to not bring the Transylvanian question. By this point, Transylvanian claims were very similar to Italian claims in Dalmatia: non-existing. However, it was true that many Romanians in the region decided to immigrate in the new Romanian colony, now called by the Romanians Vestulcii, a combination of "Vestul", meaning West, and "Africii", meaning Africa, however internationally the colony was called "Romanian West Africa".
Map showing West Africa in 1925. In brown is Romanian West Africa
The areas aquired by the Romanians were rich in minerals and iron ores, such as gold and diamonds. They soon become some of the largest exporter of gold in Africa. Industrial minerals and exports from the colony were gold, silver, timber, diamonds, bauxite, and manganese. The South Ghana province also has great deposits of barite, basalt, clay, dolomite, feldspar, granite, gravel, gypsum, iron ore, kaolin, laterite, limestone, magnesite, marble, mica, phosphates, phosphorus, rocks, salts, sand, sandstone, silver, slate, talc, and uranium, but they were yet to be fully exploited, as controll over the region was still limited. The Romanians were new in the colonization game, and soon started to see problems with the local population, mostly the Akan and the Ashanti. The region had to be captured by force by the Romanians, as the locals had decided to recreate the Kingdom of Ashanti, taking advance of the French defeat in the Great War. Prempeh I gain controll of an area that expanded from the Liberian border to Nigeria, and in the interior. Shortly after the treaty of Rome, an ultimatum was sent to Prempeh I, in which he had to submit to the Kingdom of Romania or face a war against them. The young nation had managed to secure several colonial equipment from the French, but they were mostly equipped by primitive weapons such as Akrafena, and were no match against the Romanians. Still, Prempeh had no intention to go down without a fight, also believing that, thanks to German neutrality, the Romanian would have an hard time getting all the way from the Black sea to Africa. But he was wrong. The Romanian reinforcements quickly arrived in the region and subdued the local kingdom with earse. The only significantly big battle in the Ashanti-Romanian war was the battle of Yamoussoukro, where the Ashanti actually gained a small victory, but they would be still defeated by the Romanians.
Romanian colonial troops against the Ashanti
After that, however, things seemed to be looking good for the Romanians. The locals were calm, and the Romanian costitution saw modification in favour of the locals. The Romanians started to take advance of the Iron Ores and Minerals in the region, but also builted schools, hospitals and other structures to help the locals. By August 1920, about 10% of the local Ashanti and Akans knew how to speak Romanian. But in 1925, things started to go badly for the Romanians.
In the Ghana region, the most profitful region of Romanian West Africa, the Romanians assumed that the Akans were incapable of practicing self-government, and so instituted a system which ostensibly served to train Akans in that responsibility. Romanian administrators were assigned to all levels of government, and their role was, officially, to train Akan counterparts in that particular function.
The reality of the situation was very different. Instead of teaching, the advisors performed the functions of that office.
Outside of cities, the Romanians were not entirely successful in winning over other tribes.
In Ghana, the process of industrialization was swift; roads were quickly built, cars and buses became commonplace.
To pacify, or at least control, the tribes, the Romanians instituted several restrictive measures; for example, tribes could not carry arms in settled areas, and had to pay lump taxes on livestock. Additionally, the Romanians attempted to bribe tribal leaders; but while this worked in some cases, it caused resentment in others.
On top of that, Ashanti nationalism was fostered in Prempeh I short-lived kingdom, but after its dissolution many nationalists affiliated with his government fled the country to avoid death sentences, arrest and harassment by the Romanians. Some went to French West Africa, where they found other nationalists sympathetic to their cause.
In 1925, in preparation for upcoming elections, high commissioner General Constantin Tobescu allowed the organization of political parties. The Akan-Ashanti Congress had proved itself an ineffectual body, and its Ashanti factions returned to Romanian West Africa. They founded the People’s Party in Yamoussoukro, which was characterized by an intelligentsia leadership antagonistic toward local elites, with no social or economic programs, with support organized around individuals. Though unprepared for and not expecting an uprising, the nationalist elements in Yamoussoukro were eager to participate when one arose.
Various images showing Ashanti warriors that participated the Akan-Ashanti rebellion
On August 23, 1925 Prempeh II officially declared revolution against Romania. Calling upon Ghana and Ivory Coast various ethnic and religious communities to oppose the foreign domination of their land, Prempeh II managed to enlist the aid of large sections of the population in a revolt that now spread throughout Romania West Africa.
Fighting began with the Battle of Wa on July 22, 1925, the Battle of Tamale on August 2–3, 1925, and the subsequent battles of Yendi, Bawku and Mole. After initial rebel victories against the Romanians, Romania sent thousands of troops to Ghana and Ivory Coast, equipped with modern weapons, compared to the meager supplies of the rebels. This dramatically altered the results and allowed the Romanians to regain many cities.
Prempeh II with several of his warriors in Wa
Initially, the Romanians were ill-equipped to respond to the outbreak of violence. In 1925, the number of Romanian troops in Romanian West Africa was at its lowest ever, numbering only 14,397 men and officers, with an additional 5,902 Akan auxiliaries, down from 70,000 in 1920.
Instead of engaging the Ashanti, the Romanians decided to temporarily withdraw, a decision noted by the new high commissioner, Octavian Goga, to be a tactical error, as it underrepresented Romanian military strength and encouraged a regional rebellion to achieve national dimensions. Indeed, the weak immediate response of the Romanians invited the intervention of disaffected local elite, tribesmen, and loosely connected nationalists based in Yamoussoukro.
First to seize upon the opportunity presented by the revolt were the nomadic tribes, who used the absence of Romanian authority – troops had been drawn away to concentrate on the rebelling region – to prey upon farmers and merchants.
The nationalists seized upon the Akan revolt in relatively short order, forging an alliance with Prempeh II within six weeks of the uprising’s commencement, and establishing a National Provisional Government in Yamoussoukro with Prempeh II as king and Kwame Nkrumah as president.
In response to the outbreak of violence, Prempeh II declared free and popular elections for every area that had not been affected by the rebellion in the beginning of 1926. Most elections were held peacefully. However, in two cities, Bouna and Sakpa, the local elites refused to allow elections to be held, but would submit 3 days later.
The lessons the rebels learned were many, and that sustained the rebellion for a further year and a half. However, as the Romanians arrived, the situation started to become grave for the Ashanti. Bouaké and Abengourou were lost because the rebels concentrated their forces in the face of overwhelming Romanian firepower, because they fortified their position and waited for the Romanians to arrive, and because they made no attempt to sever Romanian lines of communication.
Despite the breadth of the rebellion and the initial rebel successes, the persistence of the Romanians made its defeat inevitable. By early 1926, they had increased their troop numbers to 50,000, roughly the size of the total Ashanti rebels. By spring, much of the Ashanti fortifications had been destroyed by artillery fire, and the nationalist leadership had been forced into exile. Shortly after, the Ashanti were decisively defeated, and Prempeh II went into exile to escape the death penalty.
Romanian Marchall inspecting its troops
The Great Ashanti Revolt, while a loss for the rebels, did result in changes in the Romanian, and even other colonial powers, attitude toward imperialism in Africa. Direct rule was believed to be too costly, and in Romanian West Africa, the threat of military intervention was replaced with diplomatic negotiation. A softer approach to Ashantti rule was taken, and in March 1927, just a year after the rebellion was put down, a general amnesty was announced for Ashanti rebels. A small addendum was attached, decreeing that the rebellion’s leadership, including Prempeh II would not be allowed to return.
The impact on Ghana and the Ivory Coast itself was profoundly negative. At least 6,000 rebels were killed, and over 100,000 people were left homeless, a fifth of whom made their way to Yamoussoukro. After two years of war, the city was ill-equipped to deal with the influx of displaced Ashanti, and other cities were similarly devastated. Across Romanian West Africa, towns and farms had suffered significant damage, and agriculture and commerce temporarily ceased. However, thanks to German support, the Romanian colony managed to regain streinght. In the Romanian constitution, it was imposed that the Ashanti people, alongside other Ghanian and Ivoryan tribes, would be considered as Romanians in the colony. They would have the same rights as Romanian colonists, and could eve attend respectable jobs such as doctors and other practices that other african populations in other regions couldn't. It would seem like, despite Romanian imperialism, the Ashanti will be a little better off than with the French or the British. And hey! At the very least, now the Romanians know the problem of colonialism!
I hope you guys like this new update! Be sure to like(if you like it), comment(please comment so I can learn what your opinion is) and.....follow I guess.
After the success of Romania in WW1, the once small kingdom had become a regional power in the Balkans, only behind the United States of Greater Austria, and it was the real ruler of the Black sea. In order to keep the Romanian people loyal to the Central powers, Kaiser Wilhelm proposed to give the Romanians the African regions of Ghana and the Ivory-Coast, in order to not bring the Transylvanian question. By this point, Transylvanian claims were very similar to Italian claims in Dalmatia: non-existing. However, it was true that many Romanians in the region decided to immigrate in the new Romanian colony, now called by the Romanians Vestulcii, a combination of "Vestul", meaning West, and "Africii", meaning Africa, however internationally the colony was called "Romanian West Africa".
Map showing West Africa in 1925. In brown is Romanian West Africa
The areas aquired by the Romanians were rich in minerals and iron ores, such as gold and diamonds. They soon become some of the largest exporter of gold in Africa. Industrial minerals and exports from the colony were gold, silver, timber, diamonds, bauxite, and manganese. The South Ghana province also has great deposits of barite, basalt, clay, dolomite, feldspar, granite, gravel, gypsum, iron ore, kaolin, laterite, limestone, magnesite, marble, mica, phosphates, phosphorus, rocks, salts, sand, sandstone, silver, slate, talc, and uranium, but they were yet to be fully exploited, as controll over the region was still limited. The Romanians were new in the colonization game, and soon started to see problems with the local population, mostly the Akan and the Ashanti. The region had to be captured by force by the Romanians, as the locals had decided to recreate the Kingdom of Ashanti, taking advance of the French defeat in the Great War. Prempeh I gain controll of an area that expanded from the Liberian border to Nigeria, and in the interior. Shortly after the treaty of Rome, an ultimatum was sent to Prempeh I, in which he had to submit to the Kingdom of Romania or face a war against them. The young nation had managed to secure several colonial equipment from the French, but they were mostly equipped by primitive weapons such as Akrafena, and were no match against the Romanians. Still, Prempeh had no intention to go down without a fight, also believing that, thanks to German neutrality, the Romanian would have an hard time getting all the way from the Black sea to Africa. But he was wrong. The Romanian reinforcements quickly arrived in the region and subdued the local kingdom with earse. The only significantly big battle in the Ashanti-Romanian war was the battle of Yamoussoukro, where the Ashanti actually gained a small victory, but they would be still defeated by the Romanians.
Romanian colonial troops against the Ashanti
After that, however, things seemed to be looking good for the Romanians. The locals were calm, and the Romanian costitution saw modification in favour of the locals. The Romanians started to take advance of the Iron Ores and Minerals in the region, but also builted schools, hospitals and other structures to help the locals. By August 1920, about 10% of the local Ashanti and Akans knew how to speak Romanian. But in 1925, things started to go badly for the Romanians.
In the Ghana region, the most profitful region of Romanian West Africa, the Romanians assumed that the Akans were incapable of practicing self-government, and so instituted a system which ostensibly served to train Akans in that responsibility. Romanian administrators were assigned to all levels of government, and their role was, officially, to train Akan counterparts in that particular function.
The reality of the situation was very different. Instead of teaching, the advisors performed the functions of that office.
Outside of cities, the Romanians were not entirely successful in winning over other tribes.
In Ghana, the process of industrialization was swift; roads were quickly built, cars and buses became commonplace.
To pacify, or at least control, the tribes, the Romanians instituted several restrictive measures; for example, tribes could not carry arms in settled areas, and had to pay lump taxes on livestock. Additionally, the Romanians attempted to bribe tribal leaders; but while this worked in some cases, it caused resentment in others.
On top of that, Ashanti nationalism was fostered in Prempeh I short-lived kingdom, but after its dissolution many nationalists affiliated with his government fled the country to avoid death sentences, arrest and harassment by the Romanians. Some went to French West Africa, where they found other nationalists sympathetic to their cause.
In 1925, in preparation for upcoming elections, high commissioner General Constantin Tobescu allowed the organization of political parties. The Akan-Ashanti Congress had proved itself an ineffectual body, and its Ashanti factions returned to Romanian West Africa. They founded the People’s Party in Yamoussoukro, which was characterized by an intelligentsia leadership antagonistic toward local elites, with no social or economic programs, with support organized around individuals. Though unprepared for and not expecting an uprising, the nationalist elements in Yamoussoukro were eager to participate when one arose.
Various images showing Ashanti warriors that participated the Akan-Ashanti rebellion
On August 23, 1925 Prempeh II officially declared revolution against Romania. Calling upon Ghana and Ivory Coast various ethnic and religious communities to oppose the foreign domination of their land, Prempeh II managed to enlist the aid of large sections of the population in a revolt that now spread throughout Romania West Africa.
Fighting began with the Battle of Wa on July 22, 1925, the Battle of Tamale on August 2–3, 1925, and the subsequent battles of Yendi, Bawku and Mole. After initial rebel victories against the Romanians, Romania sent thousands of troops to Ghana and Ivory Coast, equipped with modern weapons, compared to the meager supplies of the rebels. This dramatically altered the results and allowed the Romanians to regain many cities.
Prempeh II with several of his warriors in Wa
Initially, the Romanians were ill-equipped to respond to the outbreak of violence. In 1925, the number of Romanian troops in Romanian West Africa was at its lowest ever, numbering only 14,397 men and officers, with an additional 5,902 Akan auxiliaries, down from 70,000 in 1920.
Instead of engaging the Ashanti, the Romanians decided to temporarily withdraw, a decision noted by the new high commissioner, Octavian Goga, to be a tactical error, as it underrepresented Romanian military strength and encouraged a regional rebellion to achieve national dimensions. Indeed, the weak immediate response of the Romanians invited the intervention of disaffected local elite, tribesmen, and loosely connected nationalists based in Yamoussoukro.
First to seize upon the opportunity presented by the revolt were the nomadic tribes, who used the absence of Romanian authority – troops had been drawn away to concentrate on the rebelling region – to prey upon farmers and merchants.
The nationalists seized upon the Akan revolt in relatively short order, forging an alliance with Prempeh II within six weeks of the uprising’s commencement, and establishing a National Provisional Government in Yamoussoukro with Prempeh II as king and Kwame Nkrumah as president.
In response to the outbreak of violence, Prempeh II declared free and popular elections for every area that had not been affected by the rebellion in the beginning of 1926. Most elections were held peacefully. However, in two cities, Bouna and Sakpa, the local elites refused to allow elections to be held, but would submit 3 days later.
The lessons the rebels learned were many, and that sustained the rebellion for a further year and a half. However, as the Romanians arrived, the situation started to become grave for the Ashanti. Bouaké and Abengourou were lost because the rebels concentrated their forces in the face of overwhelming Romanian firepower, because they fortified their position and waited for the Romanians to arrive, and because they made no attempt to sever Romanian lines of communication.
Despite the breadth of the rebellion and the initial rebel successes, the persistence of the Romanians made its defeat inevitable. By early 1926, they had increased their troop numbers to 50,000, roughly the size of the total Ashanti rebels. By spring, much of the Ashanti fortifications had been destroyed by artillery fire, and the nationalist leadership had been forced into exile. Shortly after, the Ashanti were decisively defeated, and Prempeh II went into exile to escape the death penalty.
Romanian Marchall inspecting its troops
The Great Ashanti Revolt, while a loss for the rebels, did result in changes in the Romanian, and even other colonial powers, attitude toward imperialism in Africa. Direct rule was believed to be too costly, and in Romanian West Africa, the threat of military intervention was replaced with diplomatic negotiation. A softer approach to Ashantti rule was taken, and in March 1927, just a year after the rebellion was put down, a general amnesty was announced for Ashanti rebels. A small addendum was attached, decreeing that the rebellion’s leadership, including Prempeh II would not be allowed to return.
The impact on Ghana and the Ivory Coast itself was profoundly negative. At least 6,000 rebels were killed, and over 100,000 people were left homeless, a fifth of whom made their way to Yamoussoukro. After two years of war, the city was ill-equipped to deal with the influx of displaced Ashanti, and other cities were similarly devastated. Across Romanian West Africa, towns and farms had suffered significant damage, and agriculture and commerce temporarily ceased. However, thanks to German support, the Romanian colony managed to regain streinght. In the Romanian constitution, it was imposed that the Ashanti people, alongside other Ghanian and Ivoryan tribes, would be considered as Romanians in the colony. They would have the same rights as Romanian colonists, and could eve attend respectable jobs such as doctors and other practices that other african populations in other regions couldn't. It would seem like, despite Romanian imperialism, the Ashanti will be a little better off than with the French or the British. And hey! At the very least, now the Romanians know the problem of colonialism!
I hope you guys like this new update! Be sure to like(if you like it), comment(please comment so I can learn what your opinion is) and.....follow I guess.
Redcoat
Banned
You mean basically like OTL? /s
oof I hope the U.S. doesn't got Decades of Darkness on us.
Welp I called it.
Damn Ottomites. Well now Greece has fallen to fascism...
Good. I see that Romanian Africa is still quite interesting to see.
I like this and the the focus is Outside of Europe with more focus in America, the Caribbean and Africa, only one cavet, in OTL Haiti was Invaded and conquered in 1915, because German Accounted for like 80% of the Island export where creating support to and anti-american campaign, And the Dictator of the time Jean Vilbrun Guillaume Sam, who was pro USA, ordered a Massacres against 167 political prisoners, mostly German prominent families that ended in a open revolt and the government in hands of Pro-German interest
And the first invasion was done with a force of 330 marines to occupy Port-au-Prince and no more than 2500 USA soldiers, the figures you give in the Haitian-Dominican Republic occupation and death toll are too High, for both sides, as Haiti barely could scrap 5.000 irregulars to put stop to the invasion.
Apart of that, and i accept is pretty obscure-knowledge, this paint good
What will the rest of south america against a so obvious American Aggression, and in general the southern cone plus Brazil always feel prety close to Germany
And the first invasion was done with a force of 330 marines to occupy Port-au-Prince and no more than 2500 USA soldiers, the figures you give in the Haitian-Dominican Republic occupation and death toll are too High, for both sides, as Haiti barely could scrap 5.000 irregulars to put stop to the invasion.
Apart of that, and i accept is pretty obscure-knowledge, this paint good
What will the rest of south america against a so obvious American Aggression, and in general the southern cone plus Brazil always feel prety close to Germany
Damn Ottomites. Well now Greece has fallen to fascism...
Don't you hate when that happens?
Don't you hate when that happens?
Well, we should consider the fact that America has interests in colonizing the region, rather than just occupying it
Well if is done to make a Show of Force and the Real figures are inflated so the conquered look more impressive, I could dig that. Then there are a really bad time for Haiti, a black population just conquered by a bunch of really racist Americans
Edit: typos
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The Sul uprising and the Latin American wars: the rufous-bellied thrush faces rebels
The Sul uprising and the Latin American wars: the rufous-bellied thrush faces rebels
The South American state of Brazil was one of the largest countries in Latin America. It soon become one of the wealthiest, thanks to the support of the Central powers, who had excelent relations with this giant. However, after the successfull American Cuban War, and the Central America Communist Uprising, the State of Brazil was afraid that he was going to be next on the target list, either with a communist uprising, or a direct American intervention. The Brazilian government, as such, decided to approach a more industrialized path, in order to somewhat compete against the Americans and the British. However, when the Sul uprising appeared in the South of the country, they would find an unexpected ally. But before that, a bit of history:
during the Empire of Brazil, several separatist movements existed in the southern regions. Among the main reasons for secession, the groups complained about high taxation of dry meat, the main export product of the region during the time. Armed conflict broke out in the Ragamuffin War, when independence was proclaimed. During the transition to the republic, federalist groups formed in the region, culminating in the Federalist Revolution. However, the desire of independence was still big in the regions. The UBSR, as such, decided to try its luck once again, seeing that Central America was such a big success. Humberto Vargas Carbonell sent emissaries to the Sul communists to notify them of the strength of his nation thanks to the UBSR, request that the rebels maintain the pressure against Brazil troops in Paranà, and to establish oral communication between their forces via a trusted connection. Humberto membership in the Brazilian army allowed for him to keep track of the routines and activities of the Brazilian command in the Sul region. His party also had the support of large segments of Paranà inhabitants, many of whom were members, while the Brazilians lacked any local sympathy. In the months preceding the uprising in the Sul regions, Humberto had been fostering close ties with Paranà communists leaders, local farmers, the merchants and the police, encouraging them to join in a war against the Brazilians and promising them to divide the riches of the government's offices and banks, which he claimed had been stolen from the Sul people. The city's landlords also lent their support to Humberto due to their opposition to planned Brazilians land reforms. Despite Humberto apparently wide scale campaign promoting rebellion, Brazilian intelligence was unaware of an impending uprising.
Brazilian workers in Curitiba, many which were sympathizer to the Sul Communist Rebels in the regions(its likely that many in this pictures are actually members of the rebellion)
On 4 October, at 7:00 pm, Tiburcio Carías Andino commanded the mutiny of entire cavalry units in Paranà and together with irregulars from the local populations, his forces numbered in the hundreds. According to the Brazilianz, Tiburcio had the local "Sul Legion, several hundred farmers and the entire population of Paranà behind him." The rebels proceeded to occupy the region, cutting off its telephone lines, blocking its main thoroughfares and assaulting the various cities. In their attack, the rebels captured several Brazilians officers who had not fled and released prisoners being held in the compound. Curitiba had fallen to Tiburcio forces by 11:30 pm. Brazil realized the seriousness of the situation, but before they could ask help to the Central Powers, the USA decided to intervene in the conflict on the side of the official Government.
Brazilian forces commenced a heavy aerial bombardment with American planes. The bulk of Brazilian ground forces had been concentrated in San Paolo at the time. Meanwhile, two companies of Brazilian reinforcements from Pres. Prudente were rushed to dislodge the rebels. Brazil authorities had also mobilized the support of the rural landlords against Tiburcio urban and tribal nationalist leaders. Curitiba major landowning families, who had initially supported Tiburcio plans for revolt, feared further destruction to their property. As such, they broke rebel ranks and met with José Pessoa, the commander of the forces in the region, and negotiated an end to the bombardment. In return, the city's notables agreed to convince the rebels to withdraw from the region. By the end of the day, the landlords persuaded Tiburcio to depart with his men.
The uprising and the subsequent bombardment ended with the deaths 344 Brazilians, mostly civilians. The authorities countered that only 76 people were killed, all of them rebels. However, Brazilians intelligence documented more than 100 Sul deaths. After the Central American People Republic failure in the region, the UBSR decided to not intervene and gaining a bloody nose in a conflict that had no certain of victory. In the meantime, the American government decided to have an alliance with Brazil, and even encouraged them to expand in the region. American propaganda showed the Brazilians as the equivalent of the USA in the early days, with their role as ruling South America, while the Americans would rule the Nord.
Brazilian leader Arthur Bernardes in America to sign the USA-Brazilian alliance treaty in San Diego
One of the first Brazilian objective was the conquest of Uruguay and Bolivia. After receiving American approval(alongside the one of the Central Powers, even if they did not ask), the Brazilian government declared war on both nations on October 19. The Brazilian forces stormed in Uruguay, easily conquering the region in barely one week. The USA participated the was, giving active support to the Brazilians. As a matter of fact, Treinta y Tres was fully captured by American forces, which suffered 15 casualities.
American-Brazilian forces marching in the newly captured Montevideo. The most fighting they'll see will be in Guerrilla fighters, but even then, the fights will be small and harmless to both the Brazilians and the Americans.
After the conquest of Uruguay, the Brazilians attacked in mass Bolivia.
On October 29, Arthur Bernardes began his military campaign against Bolivia by advancing towards Riberalta, which surrendered without a major struggle. Following the fall of Riberalta, the Brazilian forces and the allied American troops moved on La Paz. Felipe Segundo Guzmán request for other South American nation assistance was denied to him. The city of La Paz fell without struggle on November 13, 1925. However, as Brazil grew in size and power, several South American nations started to form a coalixion, mostly composed by Paraguay, Perù and Venezuela. As such, the three nations declared war on the Brazilian state. The Brazilians, with the help of the Americans, conquered Paraguay, but met difficulties against the Perùvians. The stalemate would end, however, after Equador entered the fight alongside the Brazilians, joining the American-Brazilian alliance in exchange of splitting Perù with Brazil. The Equadorian army captured Piura and the majority of the contexted land from Perù, while the Brazilians reached the capital on Dicember 21. After that, the last remaining country was Venezuela, which lost its islands to the Americans after their naval invasion on November 30 1925. They would surrender on December 30, and would sign the treaty of Coro. In it:
-Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia are integrated into Brazil
-Venezuela must cede some borderland to Brazil
-Perù must cede the disputed land with Equador, the rest is annexed by Brazil
-Venezuela cedes its islands to America
-Venezuela doesn't pay war reparations
-The Brazilian-Equadorian-American alliance is recognized internationally and it shall be called "American Pact"
-Brazil turns into the "United States of South America"(USSA), but would drop claims for other South American countries such as Argentina Chile, Colombia etc. etc.
South America after the Latin American War
Under the support of the USA, Brazil become the strongest, most stable and rich nation in South America. It was obvious that what the US did was similar to Germany support of Siam in the 1890's, but Brazil had yet to achieve such a great victory. However, as tensions between the Central Powers and the US started to cool down, it seemed like Brazil new enemy would take the form of communism. The question is: will this new giant be prepared?
I hope you guys like this new update! Be sure to like(if you like it), comment(please comment so I can learn what your opinion is) and.....follow I guess.
The South American state of Brazil was one of the largest countries in Latin America. It soon become one of the wealthiest, thanks to the support of the Central powers, who had excelent relations with this giant. However, after the successfull American Cuban War, and the Central America Communist Uprising, the State of Brazil was afraid that he was going to be next on the target list, either with a communist uprising, or a direct American intervention. The Brazilian government, as such, decided to approach a more industrialized path, in order to somewhat compete against the Americans and the British. However, when the Sul uprising appeared in the South of the country, they would find an unexpected ally. But before that, a bit of history:
during the Empire of Brazil, several separatist movements existed in the southern regions. Among the main reasons for secession, the groups complained about high taxation of dry meat, the main export product of the region during the time. Armed conflict broke out in the Ragamuffin War, when independence was proclaimed. During the transition to the republic, federalist groups formed in the region, culminating in the Federalist Revolution. However, the desire of independence was still big in the regions. The UBSR, as such, decided to try its luck once again, seeing that Central America was such a big success. Humberto Vargas Carbonell sent emissaries to the Sul communists to notify them of the strength of his nation thanks to the UBSR, request that the rebels maintain the pressure against Brazil troops in Paranà, and to establish oral communication between their forces via a trusted connection. Humberto membership in the Brazilian army allowed for him to keep track of the routines and activities of the Brazilian command in the Sul region. His party also had the support of large segments of Paranà inhabitants, many of whom were members, while the Brazilians lacked any local sympathy. In the months preceding the uprising in the Sul regions, Humberto had been fostering close ties with Paranà communists leaders, local farmers, the merchants and the police, encouraging them to join in a war against the Brazilians and promising them to divide the riches of the government's offices and banks, which he claimed had been stolen from the Sul people. The city's landlords also lent their support to Humberto due to their opposition to planned Brazilians land reforms. Despite Humberto apparently wide scale campaign promoting rebellion, Brazilian intelligence was unaware of an impending uprising.
Brazilian workers in Curitiba, many which were sympathizer to the Sul Communist Rebels in the regions(its likely that many in this pictures are actually members of the rebellion)
On 4 October, at 7:00 pm, Tiburcio Carías Andino commanded the mutiny of entire cavalry units in Paranà and together with irregulars from the local populations, his forces numbered in the hundreds. According to the Brazilianz, Tiburcio had the local "Sul Legion, several hundred farmers and the entire population of Paranà behind him." The rebels proceeded to occupy the region, cutting off its telephone lines, blocking its main thoroughfares and assaulting the various cities. In their attack, the rebels captured several Brazilians officers who had not fled and released prisoners being held in the compound. Curitiba had fallen to Tiburcio forces by 11:30 pm. Brazil realized the seriousness of the situation, but before they could ask help to the Central Powers, the USA decided to intervene in the conflict on the side of the official Government.
Brazilian forces commenced a heavy aerial bombardment with American planes. The bulk of Brazilian ground forces had been concentrated in San Paolo at the time. Meanwhile, two companies of Brazilian reinforcements from Pres. Prudente were rushed to dislodge the rebels. Brazil authorities had also mobilized the support of the rural landlords against Tiburcio urban and tribal nationalist leaders. Curitiba major landowning families, who had initially supported Tiburcio plans for revolt, feared further destruction to their property. As such, they broke rebel ranks and met with José Pessoa, the commander of the forces in the region, and negotiated an end to the bombardment. In return, the city's notables agreed to convince the rebels to withdraw from the region. By the end of the day, the landlords persuaded Tiburcio to depart with his men.
The uprising and the subsequent bombardment ended with the deaths 344 Brazilians, mostly civilians. The authorities countered that only 76 people were killed, all of them rebels. However, Brazilians intelligence documented more than 100 Sul deaths. After the Central American People Republic failure in the region, the UBSR decided to not intervene and gaining a bloody nose in a conflict that had no certain of victory. In the meantime, the American government decided to have an alliance with Brazil, and even encouraged them to expand in the region. American propaganda showed the Brazilians as the equivalent of the USA in the early days, with their role as ruling South America, while the Americans would rule the Nord.
Brazilian leader Arthur Bernardes in America to sign the USA-Brazilian alliance treaty in San Diego
One of the first Brazilian objective was the conquest of Uruguay and Bolivia. After receiving American approval(alongside the one of the Central Powers, even if they did not ask), the Brazilian government declared war on both nations on October 19. The Brazilian forces stormed in Uruguay, easily conquering the region in barely one week. The USA participated the was, giving active support to the Brazilians. As a matter of fact, Treinta y Tres was fully captured by American forces, which suffered 15 casualities.
American-Brazilian forces marching in the newly captured Montevideo. The most fighting they'll see will be in Guerrilla fighters, but even then, the fights will be small and harmless to both the Brazilians and the Americans.
After the conquest of Uruguay, the Brazilians attacked in mass Bolivia.
On October 29, Arthur Bernardes began his military campaign against Bolivia by advancing towards Riberalta, which surrendered without a major struggle. Following the fall of Riberalta, the Brazilian forces and the allied American troops moved on La Paz. Felipe Segundo Guzmán request for other South American nation assistance was denied to him. The city of La Paz fell without struggle on November 13, 1925. However, as Brazil grew in size and power, several South American nations started to form a coalixion, mostly composed by Paraguay, Perù and Venezuela. As such, the three nations declared war on the Brazilian state. The Brazilians, with the help of the Americans, conquered Paraguay, but met difficulties against the Perùvians. The stalemate would end, however, after Equador entered the fight alongside the Brazilians, joining the American-Brazilian alliance in exchange of splitting Perù with Brazil. The Equadorian army captured Piura and the majority of the contexted land from Perù, while the Brazilians reached the capital on Dicember 21. After that, the last remaining country was Venezuela, which lost its islands to the Americans after their naval invasion on November 30 1925. They would surrender on December 30, and would sign the treaty of Coro. In it:
-Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia are integrated into Brazil
-Venezuela must cede some borderland to Brazil
-Perù must cede the disputed land with Equador, the rest is annexed by Brazil
-Venezuela cedes its islands to America
-Venezuela doesn't pay war reparations
-The Brazilian-Equadorian-American alliance is recognized internationally and it shall be called "American Pact"
-Brazil turns into the "United States of South America"(USSA), but would drop claims for other South American countries such as Argentina Chile, Colombia etc. etc.
South America after the Latin American War
Under the support of the USA, Brazil become the strongest, most stable and rich nation in South America. It was obvious that what the US did was similar to Germany support of Siam in the 1890's, but Brazil had yet to achieve such a great victory. However, as tensions between the Central Powers and the US started to cool down, it seemed like Brazil new enemy would take the form of communism. The question is: will this new giant be prepared?
I hope you guys like this new update! Be sure to like(if you like it), comment(please comment so I can learn what your opinion is) and.....follow I guess.
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The Arabian revolution: the bull faces the berber lion once again
The Arabian revolution: the bull faces the berber lion once again
After the Great War, the Kingdom of Iberia had taken controll of a big chunk of Africa Atlantic coast, raging from Ceuta to Quebo. The Iberian government wasn't as open as the Kingdom of Romania, but in order to calm the spirits, they decided to modify the constitution in order to avoiding rebellions. Under Alfonso XIII, named "The African(El Africano)" for his focus on the African continent, created an efficent railroad system, took advantage of Morocco resources while at the same time allowing the locals to gain out of the trades and, in general, modernized the region, so much that Casablanca was called the "Madrid of Africa( La Madrid Africana). However, despite Alfonso efforts towards the locals, problems with the Sahrawi and the Berbers where many.
Berber rebels in the Arabian revolution in Africa
On January, 28 1926, Abd el-Krim launched an attack in Morocco when his Moroccan soldiers seized Marrakech. He was a strong supporter for an independent Morocco, and had the support of the locals, contrary to the Spanish. Despite the attack, the Iberian government did not even realize the fact only on May 2, 1926, when the Moroccans advanced further into Iberian African land.
Soon, the east coast of Spanish Sahara was ablaze with rebellion. The primary commander of the Moroccans on this coast was Abdel-Salam Mohammed Abdel-Karim, who fought to make Spanish Sahara part of an independent Morocco. Another Moroccan general was Mhamadi Bojabbar Mohamed, who led an army in the southwestern part of Spanish Sahara. Iberian soldiers were sent to reoccupy the region. The Iberian govenment was deeply concerned with matters in Morocco, since the French were supplying the rebels with arms.
Spanish troops firing at Rebel positions once the reinforcements arrived in Safi
As a result of the successes of the rebels, Prime Minister Miguel Primo de Rivera sent 22,000 additional Iberian colonial troops in preparation for an offensive. All the Iberian forces involved were conscripts, but were previosly trained and as such were professionals.
The next day, the Iberian troops were shot at Echemmaia and skirmishes occurred near Youssoufia. General Manuel Fernández Silvestre decided to post six companies at Ras El Ain, under its command.
On 26 June, the Iberians suffered a defeat near Marrakech, when the government sent another force under Dámaso Berenguer. In this ambush, the Moroccans killed 153 men, and wounded some 600 others.
Iberian forces counter-attack in Youssoufia after their defeat in Marrakech
To try to put an end to the French Moroccan support, the German empire arranged a meeting and had John von Berenberg-Gossler oversee Iberian and French representatives meeting in Bordeaux on October 1, 1926. Nothing came out of the conference and fighting resumed shortly afterwards. Moroccan forces began marching Nord towards Casablanca, defeating Iberian forces along the way, at big prices however. Meanwhile, Iberians led by José Millán Astray struck at the city of Agadir, causing one of the most destructive battles of the war. The battle raged from February 6 to 9, 1927, and saw 500 Moroccan defenders face off against between 600 and 2,000 Iberian attackers, with "hundreds killed on each side." During the fighting, much of the city was destroyed by fire. The blaze was "probably" caused by Moroccan soldiers or "civilian looters". Eventually, the Moroccans were driven from the city after some bitter house-to-house fighting.
With the Moroccans advancing on Casablanca however, with the French still supporting them, the Iberians found itself on the verge of war. It couldn't afford to let a French-backed regime rise to power in the region. Tensions finally escalated when a French ship, sent to reinforce the Moroccans, was destroyed by Iberian artillery fire. On March 1927, the French government entered at war with the Iberian kingdom, which received support from the USSA, the USA, the Kingdom of Italy and Rexist Belgium. The French, unprepared for such intervention, tried their best to hold the line against Belgium and Italy, while focusing on Iberia, they did not even bother with the American Pact, knowing that they had no way to get there. Meanwhile, with the majority of the eqipment needed in the homeland, the Moroccans quickly found themselves inadequated againsts the Iberians, which quickly recaptured Marrakech, and soon they would retake controll of Morocco.
Belgian troops near Lilla
The Iberians were halted by the French, but advanced in Africa. Meanwhile, the Italians took controll of Marseille, and advanced in Africa, where they met Iberian troops in Béjaïa. After that battle, and Germany treat of intervention, the French government was forced to surrender. A Treaty would be signed in Paris. In it:
-Spain takes controll of more African inland territory
-Italy takes controll of Chad
-Italy integrates the areas occupied by them
-Belgium takes some land in France
-The USSA takes controll of French Guyana
-The USA takes controll of the French Carribeans
Map of Europe after the conflict
South America after the conflict
Carribeans after the conflict
Africa after the conflict
This was, by far, the lowest blow for the French republic, a blow that they will not recover until the 30's, but the passage from chaos to stability will not be a peaceful one.
I hope you guys like this new update! Be sure to like(if you like it), comment(please comment so I can learn what your opinion is) and.....follow I guess.
After the Great War, the Kingdom of Iberia had taken controll of a big chunk of Africa Atlantic coast, raging from Ceuta to Quebo. The Iberian government wasn't as open as the Kingdom of Romania, but in order to calm the spirits, they decided to modify the constitution in order to avoiding rebellions. Under Alfonso XIII, named "The African(El Africano)" for his focus on the African continent, created an efficent railroad system, took advantage of Morocco resources while at the same time allowing the locals to gain out of the trades and, in general, modernized the region, so much that Casablanca was called the "Madrid of Africa( La Madrid Africana). However, despite Alfonso efforts towards the locals, problems with the Sahrawi and the Berbers where many.
Berber rebels in the Arabian revolution in Africa
On January, 28 1926, Abd el-Krim launched an attack in Morocco when his Moroccan soldiers seized Marrakech. He was a strong supporter for an independent Morocco, and had the support of the locals, contrary to the Spanish. Despite the attack, the Iberian government did not even realize the fact only on May 2, 1926, when the Moroccans advanced further into Iberian African land.
Soon, the east coast of Spanish Sahara was ablaze with rebellion. The primary commander of the Moroccans on this coast was Abdel-Salam Mohammed Abdel-Karim, who fought to make Spanish Sahara part of an independent Morocco. Another Moroccan general was Mhamadi Bojabbar Mohamed, who led an army in the southwestern part of Spanish Sahara. Iberian soldiers were sent to reoccupy the region. The Iberian govenment was deeply concerned with matters in Morocco, since the French were supplying the rebels with arms.
Spanish troops firing at Rebel positions once the reinforcements arrived in Safi
As a result of the successes of the rebels, Prime Minister Miguel Primo de Rivera sent 22,000 additional Iberian colonial troops in preparation for an offensive. All the Iberian forces involved were conscripts, but were previosly trained and as such were professionals.
The next day, the Iberian troops were shot at Echemmaia and skirmishes occurred near Youssoufia. General Manuel Fernández Silvestre decided to post six companies at Ras El Ain, under its command.
On 26 June, the Iberians suffered a defeat near Marrakech, when the government sent another force under Dámaso Berenguer. In this ambush, the Moroccans killed 153 men, and wounded some 600 others.
Iberian forces counter-attack in Youssoufia after their defeat in Marrakech
To try to put an end to the French Moroccan support, the German empire arranged a meeting and had John von Berenberg-Gossler oversee Iberian and French representatives meeting in Bordeaux on October 1, 1926. Nothing came out of the conference and fighting resumed shortly afterwards. Moroccan forces began marching Nord towards Casablanca, defeating Iberian forces along the way, at big prices however. Meanwhile, Iberians led by José Millán Astray struck at the city of Agadir, causing one of the most destructive battles of the war. The battle raged from February 6 to 9, 1927, and saw 500 Moroccan defenders face off against between 600 and 2,000 Iberian attackers, with "hundreds killed on each side." During the fighting, much of the city was destroyed by fire. The blaze was "probably" caused by Moroccan soldiers or "civilian looters". Eventually, the Moroccans were driven from the city after some bitter house-to-house fighting.
With the Moroccans advancing on Casablanca however, with the French still supporting them, the Iberians found itself on the verge of war. It couldn't afford to let a French-backed regime rise to power in the region. Tensions finally escalated when a French ship, sent to reinforce the Moroccans, was destroyed by Iberian artillery fire. On March 1927, the French government entered at war with the Iberian kingdom, which received support from the USSA, the USA, the Kingdom of Italy and Rexist Belgium. The French, unprepared for such intervention, tried their best to hold the line against Belgium and Italy, while focusing on Iberia, they did not even bother with the American Pact, knowing that they had no way to get there. Meanwhile, with the majority of the eqipment needed in the homeland, the Moroccans quickly found themselves inadequated againsts the Iberians, which quickly recaptured Marrakech, and soon they would retake controll of Morocco.
Belgian troops near Lilla
The Iberians were halted by the French, but advanced in Africa. Meanwhile, the Italians took controll of Marseille, and advanced in Africa, where they met Iberian troops in Béjaïa. After that battle, and Germany treat of intervention, the French government was forced to surrender. A Treaty would be signed in Paris. In it:
-Spain takes controll of more African inland territory
-Italy takes controll of Chad
-Italy integrates the areas occupied by them
-Belgium takes some land in France
-The USSA takes controll of French Guyana
-The USA takes controll of the French Carribeans
Map of Europe after the conflict
South America after the conflict
Carribeans after the conflict
Africa after the conflict
This was, by far, the lowest blow for the French republic, a blow that they will not recover until the 30's, but the passage from chaos to stability will not be a peaceful one.
I hope you guys like this new update! Be sure to like(if you like it), comment(please comment so I can learn what your opinion is) and.....follow I guess.
Nice Chapter Antonio, I like how this world is taking shape, but again a couple of caveats:
1.- Until 1929 Chile was still occupying Tacna, and only let it go back to Peru after Heavy USA influence, so if Brasil Take over Peru before 1929 There is little reason from Chile to Let it go Tacna
2.- Even as the Uruguayan and Paraguayan Invasion is relative Easy for Brasil, I Doubt they Could Take Over Bolivia alone, for a Logistic perspective Alone, basically Bolivia don´t have any infrastructure worth the name and /or navigable rivers outside the Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Beni and Pando departments, so the Take over on the Altiplano where lived the most of the population, is a really difficult proposition at least from the East, from the West, from Chile is Easier as Chile because the Pacific war Treaty build a Arica-La Paz train, That start their operation on 1913, and is still functional in the Chilean side, but you say Brasil fight the war alone, and to make the situation more difficult the Altiplano is so over the sea level, 3.700 meters in average, that the altitude sickness is really bad if you don´t take a long acclimatization period.
3.- The same apply to Peru, The Peruvian Altiplano, the so called sierra have little to none infrastructure an to make the thins more difficult, the brasil-peruvian frontier even today is little populated and in the worst of the amazon jungle, the most green, full of sickness place on the amazon, and almost all the important cities in Peru are in the Sierra or the pacific coast, and Peru don´t have a fleet worth the name until 1940, so the best invasion Ways are from the North From Ecuador, but Ecuador don´t have and army capable enough to take over Peru alone, from the Pacific on ships, difficult proposition the only ways are the Panama Canal, that by international treaties can´t let war material pass, and the Horns cape or drake passage, that are in hands of Chile and Argentine navies, that where at the same power that the Brasilian one, they where recently in the end of the South american dreadnought race, and from the South from Chile as Chile build train infrastructure in Peru as part of the Pacific war treaties, But again you say Brasil only have the support from Ecuador.
Well my point is The Brazilian invasion over Peru and Bolivia, will become Easier if Brazil allied themselves with Chile and Ecuador to do a partition of said countries
Either way Brasil will have a long a costly Guerrilla independent warfare from Peruvian, Bolivians, Paraguayans and Uruguayans, as most of these countries have a long history of guerrilla to maintain their independence, and the Brazilian population is not that bigger than the conquered territories, 27 million vs 13 millions (7 of peru, 4 of bolivia a million from uruguay and another million from Paraguay)
here a map of the political situation in 1920, with a slightly larger Chile
1.- Until 1929 Chile was still occupying Tacna, and only let it go back to Peru after Heavy USA influence, so if Brasil Take over Peru before 1929 There is little reason from Chile to Let it go Tacna
2.- Even as the Uruguayan and Paraguayan Invasion is relative Easy for Brasil, I Doubt they Could Take Over Bolivia alone, for a Logistic perspective Alone, basically Bolivia don´t have any infrastructure worth the name and /or navigable rivers outside the Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Beni and Pando departments, so the Take over on the Altiplano where lived the most of the population, is a really difficult proposition at least from the East, from the West, from Chile is Easier as Chile because the Pacific war Treaty build a Arica-La Paz train, That start their operation on 1913, and is still functional in the Chilean side, but you say Brasil fight the war alone, and to make the situation more difficult the Altiplano is so over the sea level, 3.700 meters in average, that the altitude sickness is really bad if you don´t take a long acclimatization period.
3.- The same apply to Peru, The Peruvian Altiplano, the so called sierra have little to none infrastructure an to make the thins more difficult, the brasil-peruvian frontier even today is little populated and in the worst of the amazon jungle, the most green, full of sickness place on the amazon, and almost all the important cities in Peru are in the Sierra or the pacific coast, and Peru don´t have a fleet worth the name until 1940, so the best invasion Ways are from the North From Ecuador, but Ecuador don´t have and army capable enough to take over Peru alone, from the Pacific on ships, difficult proposition the only ways are the Panama Canal, that by international treaties can´t let war material pass, and the Horns cape or drake passage, that are in hands of Chile and Argentine navies, that where at the same power that the Brasilian one, they where recently in the end of the South american dreadnought race, and from the South from Chile as Chile build train infrastructure in Peru as part of the Pacific war treaties, But again you say Brasil only have the support from Ecuador.
Well my point is The Brazilian invasion over Peru and Bolivia, will become Easier if Brazil allied themselves with Chile and Ecuador to do a partition of said countries
Either way Brasil will have a long a costly Guerrilla independent warfare from Peruvian, Bolivians, Paraguayans and Uruguayans, as most of these countries have a long history of guerrilla to maintain their independence, and the Brazilian population is not that bigger than the conquered territories, 27 million vs 13 millions (7 of peru, 4 of bolivia a million from uruguay and another million from Paraguay)
here a map of the political situation in 1920, with a slightly larger Chile
Thanks. Now, to answer your questions:Nice Chapter Antonio, I like how this world is taking shape, but again a couple of caveats:
1.- Until 1929 Chile was still occupying Tacna, and only let it go back to Peru after Heavy USA influence, so if Brasil Take over Peru before 1929 There is little reason from Chile to Let it go Tacna
2.- Even as the Uruguayan and Paraguayan Invasion is relative Easy for Brasil, I Doubt they Could Take Over Bolivia alone, for a Logistic perspective Alone, basically Bolivia don´t have any infrastructure worth the name and /or navigable rivers outside the Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Beni and Pando departments, so the Take over on the Altiplano where lived the most of the population, is a really difficult proposition at least from the East, from the West, from Chile is Easier as Chile because the Pacific war Treaty build a Arica-La Paz train, That start their operation on 1913, and is still functional in the Chilean side, but you say Brasil fight the war alone, and to make the situation more difficult the Altiplano is so over the sea level, 3.700 meters in average, that the altitude sickness is really bad if you don´t take a long acclimatization period.
3.- The same apply to Peru, The Peruvian Altiplano, the so called sierra have little to none infrastructure an to make the thins more difficult, the brasil-peruvian frontier even today is little populated and in the worst of the amazon jungle, the most green, full of sickness place on the amazon, and almost all the important cities in Peru are in the Sierra or the pacific coast, and Peru don´t have a fleet worth the name until 1940, so the best invasion Ways are from the North From Ecuador, but Ecuador don´t have and army capable enough to take over Peru alone, from the Pacific on ships, difficult proposition the only ways are the Panama Canal, that by international treaties can´t let war material pass, and the Horns cape or drake passage, that are in hands of Chile and Argentine navies, that where at the same power that the Brasilian one, they where recently in the end of the South american dreadnought race, and from the South from Chile as Chile build train infrastructure in Peru as part of the Pacific war treaties, But again you say Brasil only have the support from Ecuador.
Well my point is The Brazilian invasion over Peru and Bolivia, will become Easier if Brazil allied themselves with Chile and Ecuador to do a partition of said countries
Either way Brasil will have a long a costly Guerrilla independent warfare from Peruvian, Bolivians, Paraguayans and Uruguayans, as most of these countries have a long history of guerrilla to maintain their independence, and the Brazilian population is not that bigger than the conquered territories, 27 million vs 13 millions (7 of peru, 4 of bolivia a million from uruguay and another million from Paraguay)
here a map of the political situation in 1920, with a slightly larger Chile
1)I didn't know
2)The USA are helping the Brazilians out in the invasion.
3) Equador helped against Peru and, once again, even the USA are helping out.
4) Brazil is no more. Now it's the United States of South America, a South American giant supported by the US.
Bolivia is my principal problem.
I Could Accept that The USA fleet alone is powerful enough to take over Peru from the Pacific, and I believe they could, especially with friendly ports from Ecuador, and to trash over Venezuela, hell Brazil alone could trash over Venezuela.
But Bolivia? in what help you the USA support if you literally don´t have how put a Soldier in Bolivian Territory?, there is no Airports, there is no coast to attack, there is not navigable river worth the name from where supply your troops, after you take Santa Cruz de la Sierra, there is not Train tracks, Bolivia don´t start to build train tracks until 1920 and even then they don´t finish until 1950.
In the Zone of the Gran Chaco you didn´t even have water, the Chaco war between Paraguay and Bolivia was fight principally to take control over the Few Waterholes of the zone, as the control of the water holes let you control the region.
The principal City in Brazilian territory from where to launch and attack is Campo Grande in Matto grosso do Sul(Asuncion in Paraguay is even farther), and the City is more than 1000 kilometer to the First Bolivian City, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, and even more afar if you use river ways that is the only way to arrive there in middle of one of the worse biomes of the World, You have to cross a mostly virgin jungle (most of the log farm of the amazon in the zone started in the fifties), and from there is still more than 1000 kilometers to La Paz Bolivia, without rivers or highways, up to a Mountain chain that rival the Himalayan in Altitude, and all this in hostile territory and with a population well adapted to the life conditions, and with a long history of guerrilla, I don´t doubt they are powerful enough with men enough to take over the country is just that they don´t have the Logistic and Supply train to do it(...)
EDIT: (...)At least not if you come from the East
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The Bloody Palestine War: the desert wolf against the mountain wolf (Not really)
The Bloody Palestine War: the desert wolf against the mountain wolf (Not really)
The Ottoman empire and the Kingdom of Italy only point friendship was the fact that both nations belonged to the Central Powers, but that was about it. The Ottomans had claims in the Italian Sudanese coast, Eritrea, Lybia and Tunisia. On top of that, both nations aspired to become the rulers of the trade notes in the Eastern Mediterranean and in the Red Sea. The situation was very similar to the one in which Italy and Austria were prior to the meeting of Milan, with them competing over Balkan dominance. Both nations were extremely powerful, with the Italians holding the advantage in the Sea, while the Ottomans could count on a better land army, but both nations were on a race to reach the opponent similar status. Both sides, at the same time, searched for any rebellion that they could exploit in order to weaken the other. By many historians, the Ottomans and the Italians were on a constant conflict, however they did not openly declared war on the other. It is considered, by many, the very first "Cold War", with two superpowers being at war with each other, althought not openly.
The Italian and Ottoman empire by comparation. Greece is an ottoman ally, while Albania is basically an Italian puppet state.
One of the very first opportunity was not caught by the Italians, but things would change overtime. On 22 August 1926 an event called Bloody Sunday occurred in Arad. On that day the Palestinian Communist Party and the Arad section of the Popular Union had organized a joint protest meeting at the city center. The theme of the meeting was to denounce measures by the Ottoman state against the signatories of the Palestinian autonomist Arabian manifesto.
However, a large group of Ottoman nationalists had assembled at the meeting point of the rally. They included the Young Turk movement. The Ottoman nationalists sought to blockade the Arabian autonomists from holding their meeting. As Jamal al-Husayni, an autonomist and one of the main speakers of the event, and Raghib al-Nashashibi, reached the Arad newly builted train station, they were attacked by the Ottoman nationalists. At the site of the meeting, violent clashes erupted again. Police, partly mounted, slowly intervened. Around 60 people were injured. Amongst the injured was Raghib. However, the autonomist rally was conducted despite the violence.
The Bloody Sunday rally was significant in breaking up the taboo of cooperation between communists and other autonomists. It also marked the starting point of a split between a section of Palestine communists and the Arabian Communist Party. Bloody Sunday furthered cooperation between Palestinian communists with right-wing sectors sharing common autonomist goals, which would eventually lead to the expulsion of a sector of Palestinian communists from the Arabian Communist Party in 1929. The expellees founded the Opposition Communist Party of Palestine and Jordan.
An image showing the late police intervention in Bloody Sunday
But, back to the present.
In response to the later measurements created by the Ottomans to reduce the possibilities of an Arab revolt, various Arabian organizations began to intensify their pacific resistance movements. The most important of these groups was the National League of Brotherhood and Purity, founded in 1924. This was joined by the Jordanian Association of Islamic Youth and the Popular Union, an Islamic political party founded in 1925.
On September 11, 1926, Islamic priests voted to suspend all public worship in response to the Ottomans measurements, with the suspension taking effect on October 1. On Setember 14 they endorsed plans for an economic boycott against the government, which was particularly effective in the regions of the Mediterranean coast. Arabians in these areas stopped attending movies and plays and using public transportation, and Arabian teachers stopped teaching in secular schools.
The Islamic priests worked to have the offending articles of the Constitution amended. The Kemal government considered the Arab activism sedition and had many more mosques closed. In November 1926 the Arabians submitted a proposal for the amendment of the constitution, but the Congress rejected it on November 22.
Arab peaceful protestants in al-Karak
On October 3, in al-Karak, Jordan, some 400 armed Arabians entrenched themselves in the al-Karak castle. They exchanged gunfire with Ottoman troops and surrendered when they ran out of ammunition. According to German consular sources, this battle resulted in 18 dead and 40 wounded. The following day, in Gerusalem, 240 government soldiers stormed the city. The various manifestants were killed in the ensuing violence.
On October 14 government agents staged a purge of Arab rebels and executed many of their leaders. This execution caused a band of farmers, led by Pasha al-Atrash, to seize the local treasury and declare themselves in rebellion. At the height of their rebellion they held a region including the entire northern part of Jordan and the South of Syria. Subhi Bey Barakat, the governator of Syria, led another uprising on November 28. His men were defeated by Ottoman troops in the open land around the town but retreated into the mountains, where they continued as guerrillas.
This was followed by a November 29 uprising in Beirut led by Ahmad Nami and an Dicember 4 rebellion in Palestine. All rebel leaders adopted guerrilla tactics, as their forces were no match for Ottoman troops. Meanwhile, rebels in Jordan—particularly the region northeast of al-Karak—quietly began assembling forces. Led by Fawzi al-Qawuqji, this region would become the main focal point of the rebellion, particulary because of Italian support.
The formal rebellion began on February 1, 1927, with a manifesto sent by Fawzi titled "lil'uma" (To the Nation). This declared that "the hour of battle has sounded" and "the hour of victory belongs to Allah". With the declaration the state of Jordan exploded. Bands of rebels moving in the region northeast of al-Karak began seizing villages, often armed with only ancient muskets and clubs. The rebels had scarce logistical supplies and relied heavily on raids on towns, trains and farms in order to supply themselves with money, horses, ammunition and food, but later on received support and even volunteers from Italy. In at least one battle, Italian pilots provided air support for the rebel army against the Ottoman forces.
The Ottoman government did not take the threat seriously at first. The rebels did well against the police, various conscript forces and the Social Defense forces (local militia), but initially were always defeated by regular federal troops who guarded the important cities. At this time the Ottoman army in the region numbered 79,759 men. When Ottoman commander Fahrettin Altay moved on the rebels, he matter-of-factly wired to army headquarters that "it will be less a campaign than a hunt." It was a sentiment that Kemal also held.
Ottoman troops marching
However, the rebels, also thanks to the Italians, planned their battles fairly well, considering the fact that they had little to no previous military experience. The most successful rebel leaders were Hasan al-Kharrat; Pasha al-Atrash, Fawzi al-Qawuqji and Said al-As.
On March 23, 1927, the Arab rebels defeated Ottoman troops for the first time at Yabrud, followed by another victory at Al-Qaryatayn. However, they quickly began to lose in the face of superior Ottoman forces, and retreated into remote areas, constantly fleeing Ottoman soldiers.
In May 1927 the leader of the civilian wing of the Arab rebellion was captured, tortured and killed. The media and government declared victory and plans were made for a re-education campaign in the areas that had rebelled. As if to prove that the rebellion was not extinguished, and to avenge the death of various Arab commanders, Pasha al-Atrash led a raid against a train carrying a shipment of money for the Bank of Instabul on May 19, 1927. The raid was a success, but many were killed in the fighting.
The "concentration" policy, rather than suppressing the revolt, gave it new life, as thousands of men began to aid and join the rebels in resentment of the treatment of the Government. When the rains came the peasants were allowed to return to the harvest, and there was now more support than ever for the Arabs. By October 1927 they had consolidated their movement and were constantly attacking federal troops garrisoned in their towns. Soon they would be joined by zz al-Din al-Halabi.
On August 21, 1927, the first Women's Brigade was formed in Homs. The brigade began with 16 women and one man, but after a few days grew to 135 members and soon after, they came to number 17,000. Its mission was to obtain money, weapons, provisions and information for the combatant men while also caring for the wounded. By May 1928 some 10,000 women were involved in the struggle, with many smuggling weapons into combat zones by carrying them in carts filled with grain or cement. By the end of the war they numbered some 25,000.
The Italian support however was one of the biggest factor in the revolt: Italian volunteer troops leaded by Mario Roatta would be legendary in the fields, and with the support of the Aviazione Legionaria managed to obtain victories in the South of Syria.
Italian volunteers in trenches near Homs
However, the Ottoman government decided to send an ultimatum to the Italians, in which they must recall all their volunteer forces from the front. Tensions were at its top after the Italians responded with a no and after they captured the city of Sollum, while the Ottomans bombed the Island of Rhodes and occupied the Yob area. However, this time aroud peace as assured by Germany and the USGA, but it was likely that neither the Ottomans nor the Italians would have declared war and would leave the occupied regions. The Ottomans and the Italians wirdraw, but at the same time cut democratic relations between one another. Meanwhile, without the Italian supporting the rebels and by actually playing seriusly, the Ottoman army managed to recaptured land from the Arab rebels, until they surrendered after the battle of Damascus, the Arab last significant holding. The Ottoman empire was heavly damaged by the revolt, but managed to recover quickly, too quickly for the Italians. Good old Mussolini did not take in consideration the fact that the Ottomans are no longer the Sick man of Europe. They now are a power-house capable to compete against the Italians. It had the second strongest fleet in the Mediterranean, and an army perfectly adapted for the desert, and with plans to rule the Mediterranean once again. A nation to fear, just like the old days.
I hope you guys like this new update! Be sure to like(if you like it), comment(please comment so I can learn what your opinion is) and.....follow I guess.
The Ottoman empire and the Kingdom of Italy only point friendship was the fact that both nations belonged to the Central Powers, but that was about it. The Ottomans had claims in the Italian Sudanese coast, Eritrea, Lybia and Tunisia. On top of that, both nations aspired to become the rulers of the trade notes in the Eastern Mediterranean and in the Red Sea. The situation was very similar to the one in which Italy and Austria were prior to the meeting of Milan, with them competing over Balkan dominance. Both nations were extremely powerful, with the Italians holding the advantage in the Sea, while the Ottomans could count on a better land army, but both nations were on a race to reach the opponent similar status. Both sides, at the same time, searched for any rebellion that they could exploit in order to weaken the other. By many historians, the Ottomans and the Italians were on a constant conflict, however they did not openly declared war on the other. It is considered, by many, the very first "Cold War", with two superpowers being at war with each other, althought not openly.
The Italian and Ottoman empire by comparation. Greece is an ottoman ally, while Albania is basically an Italian puppet state.
One of the very first opportunity was not caught by the Italians, but things would change overtime. On 22 August 1926 an event called Bloody Sunday occurred in Arad. On that day the Palestinian Communist Party and the Arad section of the Popular Union had organized a joint protest meeting at the city center. The theme of the meeting was to denounce measures by the Ottoman state against the signatories of the Palestinian autonomist Arabian manifesto.
However, a large group of Ottoman nationalists had assembled at the meeting point of the rally. They included the Young Turk movement. The Ottoman nationalists sought to blockade the Arabian autonomists from holding their meeting. As Jamal al-Husayni, an autonomist and one of the main speakers of the event, and Raghib al-Nashashibi, reached the Arad newly builted train station, they were attacked by the Ottoman nationalists. At the site of the meeting, violent clashes erupted again. Police, partly mounted, slowly intervened. Around 60 people were injured. Amongst the injured was Raghib. However, the autonomist rally was conducted despite the violence.
The Bloody Sunday rally was significant in breaking up the taboo of cooperation between communists and other autonomists. It also marked the starting point of a split between a section of Palestine communists and the Arabian Communist Party. Bloody Sunday furthered cooperation between Palestinian communists with right-wing sectors sharing common autonomist goals, which would eventually lead to the expulsion of a sector of Palestinian communists from the Arabian Communist Party in 1929. The expellees founded the Opposition Communist Party of Palestine and Jordan.
An image showing the late police intervention in Bloody Sunday
But, back to the present.
In response to the later measurements created by the Ottomans to reduce the possibilities of an Arab revolt, various Arabian organizations began to intensify their pacific resistance movements. The most important of these groups was the National League of Brotherhood and Purity, founded in 1924. This was joined by the Jordanian Association of Islamic Youth and the Popular Union, an Islamic political party founded in 1925.
On September 11, 1926, Islamic priests voted to suspend all public worship in response to the Ottomans measurements, with the suspension taking effect on October 1. On Setember 14 they endorsed plans for an economic boycott against the government, which was particularly effective in the regions of the Mediterranean coast. Arabians in these areas stopped attending movies and plays and using public transportation, and Arabian teachers stopped teaching in secular schools.
The Islamic priests worked to have the offending articles of the Constitution amended. The Kemal government considered the Arab activism sedition and had many more mosques closed. In November 1926 the Arabians submitted a proposal for the amendment of the constitution, but the Congress rejected it on November 22.
Arab peaceful protestants in al-Karak
On October 3, in al-Karak, Jordan, some 400 armed Arabians entrenched themselves in the al-Karak castle. They exchanged gunfire with Ottoman troops and surrendered when they ran out of ammunition. According to German consular sources, this battle resulted in 18 dead and 40 wounded. The following day, in Gerusalem, 240 government soldiers stormed the city. The various manifestants were killed in the ensuing violence.
On October 14 government agents staged a purge of Arab rebels and executed many of their leaders. This execution caused a band of farmers, led by Pasha al-Atrash, to seize the local treasury and declare themselves in rebellion. At the height of their rebellion they held a region including the entire northern part of Jordan and the South of Syria. Subhi Bey Barakat, the governator of Syria, led another uprising on November 28. His men were defeated by Ottoman troops in the open land around the town but retreated into the mountains, where they continued as guerrillas.
This was followed by a November 29 uprising in Beirut led by Ahmad Nami and an Dicember 4 rebellion in Palestine. All rebel leaders adopted guerrilla tactics, as their forces were no match for Ottoman troops. Meanwhile, rebels in Jordan—particularly the region northeast of al-Karak—quietly began assembling forces. Led by Fawzi al-Qawuqji, this region would become the main focal point of the rebellion, particulary because of Italian support.
The formal rebellion began on February 1, 1927, with a manifesto sent by Fawzi titled "lil'uma" (To the Nation). This declared that "the hour of battle has sounded" and "the hour of victory belongs to Allah". With the declaration the state of Jordan exploded. Bands of rebels moving in the region northeast of al-Karak began seizing villages, often armed with only ancient muskets and clubs. The rebels had scarce logistical supplies and relied heavily on raids on towns, trains and farms in order to supply themselves with money, horses, ammunition and food, but later on received support and even volunteers from Italy. In at least one battle, Italian pilots provided air support for the rebel army against the Ottoman forces.
The Ottoman government did not take the threat seriously at first. The rebels did well against the police, various conscript forces and the Social Defense forces (local militia), but initially were always defeated by regular federal troops who guarded the important cities. At this time the Ottoman army in the region numbered 79,759 men. When Ottoman commander Fahrettin Altay moved on the rebels, he matter-of-factly wired to army headquarters that "it will be less a campaign than a hunt." It was a sentiment that Kemal also held.
Ottoman troops marching
However, the rebels, also thanks to the Italians, planned their battles fairly well, considering the fact that they had little to no previous military experience. The most successful rebel leaders were Hasan al-Kharrat; Pasha al-Atrash, Fawzi al-Qawuqji and Said al-As.
On March 23, 1927, the Arab rebels defeated Ottoman troops for the first time at Yabrud, followed by another victory at Al-Qaryatayn. However, they quickly began to lose in the face of superior Ottoman forces, and retreated into remote areas, constantly fleeing Ottoman soldiers.
In May 1927 the leader of the civilian wing of the Arab rebellion was captured, tortured and killed. The media and government declared victory and plans were made for a re-education campaign in the areas that had rebelled. As if to prove that the rebellion was not extinguished, and to avenge the death of various Arab commanders, Pasha al-Atrash led a raid against a train carrying a shipment of money for the Bank of Instabul on May 19, 1927. The raid was a success, but many were killed in the fighting.
The "concentration" policy, rather than suppressing the revolt, gave it new life, as thousands of men began to aid and join the rebels in resentment of the treatment of the Government. When the rains came the peasants were allowed to return to the harvest, and there was now more support than ever for the Arabs. By October 1927 they had consolidated their movement and were constantly attacking federal troops garrisoned in their towns. Soon they would be joined by zz al-Din al-Halabi.
On August 21, 1927, the first Women's Brigade was formed in Homs. The brigade began with 16 women and one man, but after a few days grew to 135 members and soon after, they came to number 17,000. Its mission was to obtain money, weapons, provisions and information for the combatant men while also caring for the wounded. By May 1928 some 10,000 women were involved in the struggle, with many smuggling weapons into combat zones by carrying them in carts filled with grain or cement. By the end of the war they numbered some 25,000.
The Italian support however was one of the biggest factor in the revolt: Italian volunteer troops leaded by Mario Roatta would be legendary in the fields, and with the support of the Aviazione Legionaria managed to obtain victories in the South of Syria.
Italian volunteers in trenches near Homs
However, the Ottoman government decided to send an ultimatum to the Italians, in which they must recall all their volunteer forces from the front. Tensions were at its top after the Italians responded with a no and after they captured the city of Sollum, while the Ottomans bombed the Island of Rhodes and occupied the Yob area. However, this time aroud peace as assured by Germany and the USGA, but it was likely that neither the Ottomans nor the Italians would have declared war and would leave the occupied regions. The Ottomans and the Italians wirdraw, but at the same time cut democratic relations between one another. Meanwhile, without the Italian supporting the rebels and by actually playing seriusly, the Ottoman army managed to recaptured land from the Arab rebels, until they surrendered after the battle of Damascus, the Arab last significant holding. The Ottoman empire was heavly damaged by the revolt, but managed to recover quickly, too quickly for the Italians. Good old Mussolini did not take in consideration the fact that the Ottomans are no longer the Sick man of Europe. They now are a power-house capable to compete against the Italians. It had the second strongest fleet in the Mediterranean, and an army perfectly adapted for the desert, and with plans to rule the Mediterranean once again. A nation to fear, just like the old days.
I hope you guys like this new update! Be sure to like(if you like it), comment(please comment so I can learn what your opinion is) and.....follow I guess.