The Great European Civil War 1920-1922

Dear Berlinguer, I'm very cruel and that's ok in Alternative History. Isn't cruel a guy that make another European-scale war start just 2 years after WW1? :)

Second, I see you can read in Italian, then I suggest you "Natale di sangue" by Giacomo Properzj (ed. Mursia), which explain very well the real nature of Fiume regency, beyond any right-wing myth. Fiume was essentially a Nationalist experiment in 1919, but it turned to be an Anarchist-Socialist (and pro-Bolshevik) experiment in 1920. More like Machno than Mussolini. Many of the men of D'Annunzio inner circle (De Ambris, Carli, Keller, Kochnitzky and even future Fascist leaders as Bombacci) were explicitly pro-Bolshevik in 1920. They were against Italian parliamentarism and pro-revolution. The left-right struggle fade away in their view.
 
Last edited:
No, dear giobastia: starting a TL with Lenin declaring war to all of Europe, calling it "the Great European Civil War" and not having Trotskij, Stalin and Tukachevskij conquering all the conquerable by the end of it would be evil, having the Soviet Union attack the Capitalist countries when they're only starting to consider to be worried about thinking plans to restore themselves after WWI is simply pure genius.

And thanks for the suggestion: I'll get a copy of that book as soon as possible. You can never know enough about D'Annunzio, he is like Napoleone Bonaparte, Teddy Roosevelt and Lord Byron fused in a single individual.

DO NOT DARE TO ABANDON THIS TL!!!!

Con stima, TheBerlinguer.
 
Planning for 1921 campaigns

Despite the unexpected revolution and eventual occupation of Bavaria, Soviet forces were in a situation of stalemate in the beginning of 1921. They had not enough reserves for a forward offensive in the West. In Germany (despite the bold advance in Bavaria) they were facing stronger and stronger French-British forces along the Elbe front. In Austria they were stopped by the Alps, which were hard to cross in Winter. A new advance, there, could be impossible until June. It was also impossible a bold advance in Italy, because of the full mobilization of the Italian army, completed in January 1921. The only available strategy for the Spring 1921 campaign was an offensive in the Balkans (Bulgaria, Makedonia and Greece) and the elimination of the pockets of resistance behind the Red lines: the Rumanian “Transylvanian Redoubt” and the White army salient in Ukraine.
On the German front, Soviet generals, along with the assistance of Ludendorff, adopted a strategy of “Stand and Subvert”: defend the Elbe line, while fomenting subversion behind the “imperialist” lines. Ludendorff prepared a scheme of defense in depth along the Red’s lines. The offensive could be resumed only after the recruitment and training of all the available reserves in East Germany (Gssr), Poland, Slovakia, Hungary. An all-over assault could be possible also in case of revolution in West Germany.

On the Italian front the subversive factors were much stronger than those in Germany. The National-Communist alliance in Fiume, provided a broader support for a revolution behind the Italian lines. But the balance of military forces prevented any offensive action against Italy before the full mobilization of Rumanian and Yugoslav new Red armies. General Frunze took the control of all the Southern Front, a long arch stretched between the Istrian Peninsula and the Danube’s estuary. He disposed a defense in depth on the Italian-Dalmatian sector, an offensive in the Balkan sector and against the Transylvanian Redoubt.

The Northern Front, assigned to general Voroshilov, planned an invasion of Finland, in order to complete the conquest of Baltic coast and create a buffer-state West of Petrograd. The Second Southern Front had to attack and dismantle general Wrangel’s White Army in Ukraine as soon as possible.
What were the Allied plans? French and British expeditionary corps in Germany were strong enough to contain the Soviet offensive on the Elbe and in the Alps. The loss of Bavaria was impressive (because of the loss of Munich) but it had no military effects. It contributed to change the political attitude of the Allied governments about the rearmament of Germany, indeed. The Millerand government fell in February 1921 and was replaced by a government of National Unity led by the Socialist Aristide Briand (the prime minister of Verdun), much less hostile to Germany. After the formation of the new French government, both Great Britain and France supported the formation of a new German Army, 500.000 men strong, with new tanks (Ft-17 provided by France or produced under license in Germany) and aircrafts (produced by Germans). The plan for the new German Army was intended to make the defensive and counter-offensive capability of the Weimar Republic ready for the Summer-Autumn 1921. The command of the new army was kept by von Seeckt, commander in chief of the Reichsweer.

The Supreme Allied Council at Spa, under the command of general Ferdinand Foch planned a defense of the Balkans with a new French and British expeditionary corps and a general offensive against Germany, in order to expel Soviets from East Germany and Poland. The time for the counter-attack was settled for May. The new German Army would not have tanks nor aircrafts ready for that month. It was Foch’s intent to rely almost solely on British and French troops, before the German army could have too much weight.

The offensive in Germany was coordinated with an Italian offensive in Croatia and Dalmatia against the Fourteenth Red Army and the newly formed Yugoslav Red Army.

The two opposite plans were symmetric: for the Spring of 1921 the Soviets would attack in the Balkans and defend their lines in Dalmatia and Germany, while the Allied were preparing two offensives in Dalmatia and Germany and a defense of the Balkan front.
 
And thanks for the suggestion: I'll get a copy of that book as soon as possible. You can never know enough about D'Annunzio, he is like Napoleone Bonaparte, Teddy Roosevelt and Lord Byron fused in a single individual.

Well i always think of D'Annunzio as a early century version of Silvio (except the part were he is a cultured and very intelligent man)
 
Well i always think of D'Annunzio as a early century version of Silvio (except the part were he is a cultured and very intelligent man)

Le Fantamirabolanti Avventure di Silvio D'Annunzio, proudly presented by TheBerlinguer Multimedia Productions.

PART 1

Vienna, gardens of the Imperial Palace

Servant:
Look, Your Highness! That Italian biplane is dropping thousands of red, white and green flyers on our fair city!
Emperor: Really? And what's written on these flyers?
Servant: Let's see... hermmmm... "Hi Cecco! Have I ever told you about the dictatorship of the communist judges that currently plagues my country?..."

Do you want to read Part 2?
 
Le Fantamirabolanti Avventure di Silvio D'Annunzio, proudly presented by TheBerlinguer Multimedia Productions.

PART 1

Vienna, gardens of the Imperial Palace

Servant:
Look, Your Highness! That Italian biplane is dropping thousands of red, white and green flyers on our fair city!
Emperor: Really? And what's written on these flyers?
Servant: Let's see... hermmmm... "Hi Cecco! Have I ever told you about the dictatorship of the communist judges that currently plagues my country?..."

Do you want to read Part 2?

Common sense will say no...but is too funny ;) go on
 
I was kinda-sorta on board with this, despite it being pretty implausible, up until you had all the old aristocratic prussian generals join the red army. seriously? that's just too far out there.
 
I was kinda-sorta on board with this, despite it being pretty implausible, up until you had all the old aristocratic prussian generals join the red army. seriously? that's just too far out there.
It's not implausible that some might join but I struggle to see how most could regard the Soviets as a lesser threat to their vision of Germany than the Entente powers. Especially Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria - a prince joining the side that overthrows and murders royals? Seems unlikely.
 
Last edited:
It's not implausible that some might join but I struggle to see how most could regard the Soviets as a lesser threat to their vision of Germany than the Entente powers. Especially Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria - a prince joining the side that overthrows and murders royals? Seems unlikely.

Whatever they may say, aristocrats are eventually common human beings like every other person on the planet.
So, since approximately half of the human species is composed of, let's say it, bastardswho'd sell their own mother and throw away all of their convictions and oaths for a sufficiently high price, I'm sorry but there's a fifty-fifty chance that even the Prince of Bavaria would side with the Bolsheviks if the offer was convincing enough (seriously, do you believe that in case of Soviet victory these generals will just get a handshake and a "Good work" as retribution?).

Cynical? Obviously! But if I'm not dead wrong, both the author and I are Italian, and that's how we see this world, because siam gli unici che han capito che il mondo è un teatrino, to quote the immortal Gigi Gaber.

And now open your fire, good sir.
 
Essentially , for this to be a full blown wank , everything that can plausibly go wrong for the entete goes wrong , and they are hit with idiot balls galore . While on the Soviet Side , everything that can plausibly go right goes right .

This time-line will not survive a plausibility check , but still it's quite a fun time-line to read. It seems that the red flag will be over Lisbon by 1925 at the rate this is going.
 
Whatever they may say, aristocrats are eventually common human beings like every other person on the planet.
So, since approximately half of the human species is composed of, let's say it, bastardswho'd sell their own mother and throw away all of their convictions and oaths for a sufficiently high price, I'm sorry but there's a fifty-fifty chance that even the Prince of Bavaria would side with the Bolsheviks if the offer was convincing enough (seriously, do you believe that in case of Soviet victory these generals will just get a handshake and a "Good work" as retribution?).

Cynical? Obviously! But if I'm not dead wrong, both the author and I are Italian, and that's how we see this world, because siam gli unici che han capito che il mondo è un teatrino, to quote the immortal Gigi Gaber.

And now open your fire, good sir.

The problem is probably not about the prince being a bastard as more about the cleverness to trust them, but in the end there a lot of stupid bastard in the world (or better people who think that are more smart than in reality)

PS: nice quoting Il signor G
 
Top