Europe, 1924
Europe Map.jpg


Map of Europe post Treaty of Caen (1924): [I'm mostly sure these are the borders.]
1. Trebizond
2. Armenia
3. Albania
4. Belgium
5. Netherlands
6. Carolingian Federation
7. Kingdom of Brittany
8. Luxembourg
9. Hanover
10. Denmark
11. Moravia
12. Austrian Communists
13. More Germany
14. Hungary
15. Yugoslavia
16. Bulgaria
17. Romania
18. Norway-Sweden
19. Switzerland
20. Gibraltar
 
68 - Part 3
68- Liege

The ascension of George V gave Germany the perfect opportunity. With Henry IX/VI/I in their possession, they launched the long awaited invasion of France. However, instead of crossing the Rhine in Lorraine, held by their virtual vassal the Carolingian Federation, they struck across through Belgium. This mindset was brought upon by the desire to emulate Cannae in the grandest scale possible. The German High Command wanted to plunge the German army along a supposed weak point in the Anglo-French defenses, their border with each other. It was a route that would sweep the Germans around Paris and perhaps as far as the Breton border, before the forces in Lorraine would charge out and down the Rhone Valley. In the end, the British would be reduced to coastal holdings in Brittany and Normandy, while the French Federation and Paris Commune would be totally surrounded and the Italians would be pushed back across the Alps. And it would have worked too, if it wasn’t for meddling Belgium (1).

Belgium had spent the entirety of the conflict withdrawn in their land, slowly building a vast network of fortifications on all their borders. Netherlands and Luxembourg had been doing the same, and the common fears helped draw all three countries together. In 1922, the three nations formed the Low Countries Defense Front (LCDF), a unified military command for all three of their armies and navies that would act in the event of an invasion. So when the Germans struck at Liege, a fortress they expected to be unprepared, they ran into serious opposition.

German forces were also delayed by a critical failure in their unification process: the process itself. The German Empire was born from iron and blood, uniting when the Triple Monarchy collapsed in the early days of the European Civil War. However, it represented more a loose confederation than an empire, as various kings and princes were still supreme in their lands, rather than the Emperor in Berlin. This decentralized view was compounded by the fact that Hanover was still independent, continually bloodying any attempt at invasion. Some of the more rebellious German lords, represented by the King of Bavaria, quietly resisted attempts by the Imperial government to consolidate the nation, while waiting for the perfect opportunity to rebel and regain their freedom. The Emperor and the Chiefs of Staff understood part of this, just not the full extent. Thus, they endeavored to punish the lords they thought were the most rebellious and sent their armies as the vanguard in the attack into France (2).

Elements of the 20th Army (the renamed Bavarian Royal Army) clashed with Belgian troops outside of Liege on August 16th, 1924, starting the siege. Liege fell eight weeks later, having been bombarded into rubble from railway guns based in Aachen. By then, French and British troops had been rebased into Wallonia, effectively stopping the German plan in its tracks. Trenches soon sprung up in Belgium, a measure that spread quickly from Hamburg to Bordeaux. It was about to get bloody.

(1)- And their dog too.
(2)- OTL Germany had 40+ years of relative peace to consolidate, as well as a major victory over the French to rally behind. These Germans don’t.
 
I just spent this week mapping out how the European Civil War will end up. If you thought it was weird already, it's going to get weirder. However, it will now end in 1932, not 1936. I'll see how often I can publish new updates, but I have this section ending at about part 100 (so, 32 more to go). I would appreciate some speculation about how messed up this TL will end up. I will give you all a treat though. Below are the names for the parts after European Civil War ends, along with (probable) start and end times.

Part 4- Mare Nostrum (1932-1978)
Part 5- Falling Stars (1978-2003)
Part 6- The Martians (2003-sometime in the future)
 
69 + 70 + 71 + 72 - Part 3
After the drought, the flood.


69- For Whom the Bell Tolls

In the aftermath of the Battle of Cagliari and the total collapse of the Mediterranean League, Spain and Italy each tried to become the most powerful player in the Western Mediterranean. Each state had to devote considerable resources to secure their borders. Spain had several armies guarding Portugal, in the event the Allies repeated the Peninsular War. Italy had to leave troops guarding Sicily, especially after Napoleon V tried to take the island, as well as armies guarding the Alpine passes and the Gaulish border with France. However, the Italians had the benefit of the aid of Greece and Romania, particularly as fighting in the Balkans hadn’t gone beyond the skirmish level. The Italians also were able to purchase basically the entirety of the Turkish Army as mercenaries, which speaks to the economic stability of Italy despite the Collapse. Finally, the Italians were able to call upon the strength of Carlist supporters in Spain, who were greatly terrified of another day of Valens’s leadership.

Over the next few months, Spanish and Italian troops clashed amongst the plains of Provence and Occitania. The Spanish were steadily pushed back to the Pyrenees, mainly due to partisan activity, as the people of Occitania were generally unfavorable towards the restoration of the French monarchy. Valens finally gave the withdrawal order in early 1924, thus saving several Spanish armies from encirclement and destruction. At that time, the British struck, at Bilbao. The overwhelming Spanish victory at Bilbao was exactly what Valens needed to maintain his crumbling public support. However, it would not be enough, as Italian soldiers bloodily punched their way through the Pyrenees only five weeks after Bilbao. Despite their victory, large scale warfare didn’t erupt again until mid 1925, as both Italy and Spain were wracked with massive revolts. Once the scene calmed down, it was only a matter of time before Valencia itself fell, and with it Valen’s regime.


70- The Olympic Truces


As the European Civil War dragged on, many feared the complete dissolution of international practices developed over the previous centuries, one of which being the Olympic Games. In the summer of 1924, the Dutch government (1) began attempting to forge a kind of truce so that the games could continue, mainly so that the stadiums constructed in Amsterdam could be used, instead of rusting until the war ended. Thus, for two weeks in November in 1924, all Europe fell mostly silent, as the warring states sent their finest to compete. The Olympic Truce, as it was known, proved to be a major relief for all nations, as it provided a short respite from war and a major morale boost. However, despite the break, everyone’s thoughts were still on the war. The Germans began a crash course in panzer building, while the British used the time to raise money for more battleships. Of all the great powers in the world, only Spain and Italy declined to send athletes, as their countries were burning with revolts.

Inspired by the success of the first Olympic Truce, the main participants of the European Civil War turned it into international law. For three weeks every August during each Olympic year (1), all fighting in the would cease (or at least slow down), and every nation would compete in the least bloodily way possible, athletics. The 1928 Games in Stockholm, Sweden-Norway, was another resounding success, further cementing this concept. To this day, the Olympic Games have never been cancelled due to war.

(1)- As well as for three weeks in January for the Winter Games, developed after the European Civil War ended.


71- La Repúbrica de Zêna and the Savoyard Insurgency

Contrary to the propaganda, the war hadn’t lasted for six months. Dragging into its fourth year, with no real gain except for feasts for vultures, the common people of Europe were fed up, none more so than those in Italy and Spain. In the beginning, it had looked so bright, with the effects of the Collapse disguised by intense patriotism for the Roman Empire reborn, coupled with several astounding victories. Yet unlike the Romans, the modern Italians didn’t have much luck afterwards. The advance into France had stalled, reaching only as far up the Rhone as Vienne, just short of their objective of Lyon. And they hadn’t advanced any further. Resistance against the Italian troops by the common people of France began as soon as the border was crossed. Despite being attacked by, at one point, ten separate enemies, the leadership of the Third Republic was convinced that the Italians were the main threat, thus committing waves of dedicated soldiers in an effort to stop them and try to regain Provence. Although the fall of the Third Republic and the rise of the French Federation and the threat of Germany lessened the weight on the Italians, it went back to square one after Cagliari, once fighting broke out between them and the Spanish. Although the Italians did purchase huge numbers of mercenaries to supplement their troops, they did that at the expense of numerous other programs and agencies within the Italian government that saw almost all their funding dry up, all in the interest of the war. Even the Italian King, Victor Emmanuel III, was fed up with the fighting. Yet the explosion of revolt against the war began in an unlikely place: Genoa.

The Genoese city council, angry at the Italian government for continually neglecting to realize the full economic repercussions of the Collapse, took matters into their own hands when the local military governor refused to commit troops to defend the docks from a small Algerian naval raid, arguing that “it is the duty of the navy to protect against attacks from the sea, not the army”, completely ignoring the loss of the fleet at Cagliari. Stirred up by Alessandro Terranova, the leader of the banned Ligurian Independence Party, the council denounced the verdict of the Congress of Vienna in 1815, which had granted Genoa to the Kingdom of Sardinia. They then proclaimed the Republic of Genoa reborn, La Repúbrica de Zêna, and immediately sent envoys to the Allies, asking for peace and recognition.

The repercussions were immediate. Italian troops swept into Liguria, and besieged the city. With antiquated defenses, Genoa capitulated almost instantly, especially once the military commander promised not to press charges of treason on the rebels only if they surrendered immediately. However, Francesco Marazi, one of the high ranking military generals basically in control of Italy, quickly countered that, and ordered all of the ringleaders of the Genoese secession to be detained. Although many thought that with this, the notion of rebellion within Italy was doomed. The dramatic escape of Alessandro Terranova completely changed that. After asking his guards if he could be brought to the roof to stargaze, Alessandro conveniently slipped away, free climbing down the side of the four story building he was held in. After using his characteristic charisma to bluff his way past guards on the port, he managed to hide himself in a barrel and sneak aboard a fishing boat leaving that morning, thus reaching Savona three hours after his escape. There, he proclaimed, using the radio, the creation of the Democratic Republic of Italy.

For the next seven months, Alessandro was chased across Savoy and the Piedmont by ever increasing armies, all the time raising the common people to arms. However, when his Grand Army of the Italian Republic was shattered in battle outside of Cuneo, his movement collapsed. He agreed to meet with Marazi alone in the foothills of the Alps, and while there is no record of the legendary conversation, the end is agreed upon: only Marazi walked away alive.


72- La Serenissima and the Po Uprising

Inspired by the efforts of Alessandro Terranova, the city council of Venice also declared independence, basing their claim off of the referendum after the Third Italian War for Independence, which transferred control of Venetia from France to Italy. They elected a new Doge, Marco Carranore, and implored the people of the Terra Firma to resist the “militarist and centralist government” (1). Almost immediately, there was a response. And based on Venice’s strategic location on an island in a lagoon, the military retaliation didn’t quite succeed as planned. With the loss of their navy at Cagliari and the defection of the Austrian Navy to the Yugoslavs, it proved quite easy for the Venetians to resupply. At the request of King Alexander I of Yugoslavia, the Venetians were granted membership in the Danzig Pact, essentially joining the Allies (2). All throughout the Po Valley, resistance ranged from outright fighting to civil disobedience. Yet not all were tied directly to the Venetians. In Ravenna, a new Excharate was founded, claiming sovereignty over all of Central Italy. Ferrara, Mantua, Verona, Modena, and Padua declared new duchies and republics, raising flags not seen in centuries. Military units defected en masse to protect their hometowns. But it was not enough.

Filippo Capiri, the Minister of War, launched a coup soon after the Venetian Declaration and deposed the Prime Minister, along with most of the other ministers. He and his supporters hashed out a new constitution, making Italy a de facto and de jure military dictatorship. He then waged a massive propaganda campaign, slandering anyone who dared complain against his regime. At the same time, he offered amnesty to the rebellious cities, but only if they surrendered within two weeks of his announcement. Only a few followed through, causing Capiri to react with vengeance. The Razing of Ravenna was the result. A thirty-six hour long bombardment followed by the largest air raid ever seen on the planet caused a firestorm that engulfed two thirds of the city. The number of civilian casualties is still unknown.

In the aftermath, Capiri repeated his announcement for amnesty, which almost all of the rebelling cities agreed with. Rebel held territory had been decisively rolled back to just after Venice’s secession. Capiri marched with his forces and encamped on the shores of the Venetian Lagoon, where La Serenissima was in chaos. Marco Carranore was soon sent over in chains, after the Venetian council quailed when Capiri threatened to destroy Venice just like Ravenna. With the exception of Carranore and Ravenna, almost all the rebels managed to get away cleanly and alive. However Italy would still be simmering at the edge long after the war ended.

(1)- Centralist comes from a major law passed, which declared a uniform Italian language and any attempt to promote regionalism based on unique language was to be outlawed, ostensibly for the good of the nation.
(2)- The “Allies” consist of the Danzig Pact, the Coalition of Free American States, and the “New Entente” between Britain, the French Federation, Brittany, and Hanover.
 
So, Italy went nuts. I have to imagine that all the rebel swatting+the fighting in France would have drained their manpower to near empty.
 
So, Italy went nuts. I have to imagine that all the rebel swatting+the fighting in France would have drained their manpower to near empty.

And yet it's only 1925. The war is still young, with a bunch of powers uncommitted (USA, Eurasian Union, etc.). This war is truly the war to end all wars.
 
The End
Final Post for the Pig War: (Epilogue)

End of the European Civil War- (1925-1932)

The end of the ECW in Spain would have come after successful rebellions in Catalonia and Andalusia created new nations, and the end of Spanish resistance to the Italian advance. Spain was partitioned into the Federal Hispanic Republic, the Catalan Republic, and the Andalusian Communist Confederation. Italy would solidify the borders of Gaul in France before effectively dropping out of the war. In the 1924 Presidential elections, Robert La Follete would be reelected, running on a platform of “Peace at Home, Peace Abroad”, aiming for American intervention to create peace. He would defeat Calvin Coolidge in an extremely close race. The history of the Papacy would have been covered, including the 1925 French Air Raid of Rome which would kill Pope John XXIII and lead to the appointment of Pope Clement XV. Next, the rise of Germany would have happened, starting with a series of bloody battles along the Marne that blunt Germany’s first offensive. The American reinforcements would arrive in Britain due to Operation Torch, along with massive amounts of supplies and other goods. Germany would use tanks in an early blitzkrieg maneuver to crush Hanover extremely quickly with Fall Blau. This would invite retaliation by the British which would destroy the entire German navy at Rostock. However, the tank attacks against Denmark would fail at the Dannevirke. Fall Rot would occur with the Fall of France due to blitzkrieg, with only Brittany remaining due to a combination of Breton, French, British, and American aid. Germany would switch their focus and launch Fall Gelb against the Poles, but were forced to go back to France when the Americans landed in Calais and take advantage of the general Germany disorganization due to the rapidity of the conquests. Due to the losses and a devastating sack of Luxembourg by the retreating Germans, Ravensburg would lead a massive “treason” in Germany when they would unilaterally quit the Empire, causing the German Empire to effectively collapse back into smaller states, with the communists taking control in Bavaria. Communists would also spring up in Italy, down in Calabria, helping to continually undermine Italy’s position. The Eurasian Union would launch their long awaited invasion of Europe through the Balkans, aiming towards Tsargrad (Constantinople). They would repel numerous attacks from everyone, eventually taking the city by the end of the war. The European front would quiet down after the Fall of Berlin to the Americans and the Battle of Adrianople in the Balkans, which secured Tsargrad for the Eurasians. Off in the Pacific, the Japanese would get into the mix after thinking the Americans were distracted, and end up defeating a major portion of the Pacific Fleet at Midway. However, the Japanese Main Fleet would get completely annihilated in the Coral Sea against a British-Australian-Dutch-French-American combined fleet, that even included numerous airplanes. Thus, everything would wind down and lead to peace talks based in Amsterdam and Rome.

Mare Nostrum- (1932-1978)

This part would have dealt with the world post-ECW, with the apparent control of the Mediterranean by the Italians and the Byzantines defining the times, as well as the rise of the United States of America and its dominance over the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Major events would include the Pacific War between the Japanese and their allies and the Americans and their allies, caused by a massive rebellion in Mexico. This would lead to the first uses of nuclear weapons on the battlefield, and Japan’s defeat. Around the same time, India would try to break free from Britain, creating the Grand Republic of North India and the Southern Indian Confederation (British friendly). The Space race would kick off, this time as a multi-national competition with everyone getting in on the action, yet dominated by the USA. As well, decolonization would rear its ugly head, leading to massive trouble in Africa and Asia. Germany would reunite again, under Hanoverian leadership, as the Rhenish Federation. Prussia and Austria would unite as the High Kingdom of East Germany, splitting Germany into three, with the communists in Bavaria. Egypt would finally revolt from the British with the aid of Italy and Byzantium, creating a threatening scenario that is deescalated by the French. By the end of the part, disaster would strike, ending the somewhat relative peace throughout the 60s and 70s.

Falling Stars- (1978-2002)

This part would have opened with an asteroid strike in California’s Central Valley, blanketing the American West with ash and causing massive environmental problems in the world. As a direct result, the USA falls into the Second Civil War, due to the deaths of both the President and the Vice President from the asteroid. In addition, the Eurasian Union would collapse into thermonuclear civil war, devastating Central Asia. Within Central America, there would have been the Second Latin American Revolutionary Wars due to the Yucatan Revolution derived from the ideology of Revolutionary Populism. The Empire of Poland would have rised from the rubble of the Eurasian Union, and Constantinople would be back in Byzantine hands. The “End of Millennium Crisis” would sort itself out by the 1990s or so, leading the establishment of the Global Collective of Nations.

The Martians- (2002-...)

This part would begin with the Martian War of Independence, drawing from Revolutionary Populism. This would be the first major test of the GCN, and would be a failure, resulting in the declaration of the People’s Republic of Mars. And yes, somehow a pig would be involved.

THE END
 
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