Chapter 52: Red Army, Black Baron
Part 52: Red Army, Black Baron (1770-1773)
And it's not like they were even rushing to win. As far as the French knew, this invasion was basically a holiday to them - after all, the Germans were outright crushed the last two times these countries went to war, so how could this war be any different? It is a common anecdote that over 40% of the money France spent on the invasion was directed towards buying alcohol, especially wine, for the troops, and yet whenever a French army would stop at a village or town, the first thing it would do was raid each and every nearby winery and wine cellar to replenish their constantly shrinking stocks. Of course, this is an exaggeration, but it has a shed of truth in it - both the high command and the common soldiers of the French army did not view this war as anything more than a simple walk in their backyard. Of course, there were a few who were worried about this situation, including the Black Baron himself - in a letter to his wife in France, Bonnel-Cuvillier wrote: "Every day, I see my men playing with cards, drinking wine and storming brothels. I understand that victory is certain, but could they at least wait until we capture Vienna before they drink themselves to death?"
Germania, meanwhile, was on the opposite end of the spectrum. A week after the beginning of the war with France, the Congress of Vienna approved mass emergency conscription of all men aged from 18 to 30. It is said that the German Revolutionary War was the very first industrial war - both participating armies were in the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, and the new technologies that came with it allowed for much, much faster production of weapons, equipment and military supplies, which directly lead to far greater armies being deployed on the battlefield. Germania managed to mobilize over 100 000 soldiers in a few months, many of whom were former Imperial troops, and while this was a smaller force than the French invasion, it at least gave Maximilian Schwarzburg a chance to put up a fight. The supreme commander of the German Revolutionary Army adopted a number of radical, but very effective reforms to boost his army's capabilities: for one, he borrowed numerous ideas from previous military theorists and built his army based on a meritocratic structure, where even the common peasant soldier could hope to work his way up to a commander through talent, loyalty and hard work; he reorganized the structure of the army, especially when regarding artillery, which was rapidly becoming the most important factor in a battle; he introduced a "Propaganda Department", which was focused on spreading positive information and propaganda across the armed forces to boost the more, and so on.
The Germans marched into battle with their spirits high and strong - they knew that if they die, they will die for something.
The first major engagement in the war took place between France's Central Invasion Army, headed towards Bavaria and led by the "Black Baron" himself, and Schwarzburg's German Revolutionary Army near the city of Nürnberg. German forces outnumbered the isolated French army, and they had the advantage of being more familiar with the terrain and higher morale, even if the average conscript was far less experienced than the French regulars. The Battle of Nürnberg saw the German forces successfully employ mobile artillery and a cavalry corps like a spearhead to break the slow-moving and stationary French lines, which were not prepared for the mobility of the German forces, and after nine hours of battle, the leftovers of the invasion force were routed and fleeing and the Germans stood victorious on the field. General Bonnel-Cuvillier barely managed to escape to Erfurt, where the Northern Invasion Army was standing and awaiting orders. This victory was a great surprise not just to the French high command, which had to swiftly reorganize it's remaining forces in Germania, but also to the Germans themselves, many of whom were very pessimistic about the end result of the war. Even Schwarzburg himself later stated: "Before Nürnberg, I gave Germania a one in a five chance of survival, but after it, I will give it five out of five.". The following year marked a German counterattack into French territory - Schwarzburg's primary objective was to prevent the Northern Invasion Army, which was focused on Saxony and Central Germany, from joining forces with the Southern Invasion Army, which was trying to threaten Austria directly. To better organize the military for this objective, he pushed the Congress of Vienna to establish a "Cartography and Logistics Department", directly subservient under the Revolutionary Army, whose primary task was organizing supply and communication lines, supply dumps and preparing maps of required regions for navigation and pathfinding.
The French had none of that, and even though they attempted a joint attack into Bavaria, their efforts to unite the forces of both armies were ended by a decisive defeat against the Southern Invasion Army near Salzburg. Much like at Nürnberg, the French generals underestimated the capabilities of "crazy German peasants" and paid the prices. Chaos in the French high command, which was at the time located in Frankfurt, ensued. Director Arthur Bachelot wanted to continue the offensive and defeat Germania outright, but many generals in the office, as well as the Black Baron at the front, disagreed. The Germans no longer seemed like a pushover, but mobilizing the French army to deal with this problem or, even worse, enacting conscription was extremely unpopular among the voters. Even the diehard Red Party supporters mainly supported a war with Germania because they believe it to be weak and easily defeatable, and yet at the same time a threat to national security due to their radicalism. Terrible news arrived for the Director in October of 1771, when the third and last French army at the front was defeated near Erfurt, and the Germans were now advancing forward on a wide front.
The defeat of the French invasion marked an another significant change. Despite being separated for over a hundred and fifty years by now, the Germans in the Republic of Germania and the North German Communion saw themselves as citizens of one, divided nation, and the surge of patriotic fervor that arose from the Great German Revolution and the Battle of Nürnberg signaled the beginning of the fall of a yet another nation. Throughout the 18th century, the Communion was dominated by the merchants and bourgeoisie of the coastal cities, which had united into a loose confederation, a successor to the Hansa, and while it remained in the trappings of a democracy, it actively fought against the German Enlightenment, and in 1772, a protest in Hamburg in support of the revolution turned sour after the city constable decided to defeat it with force. This triggered a wide popular rebellion across the entire organization, and Germania couldn't not get involved. In March of the same year, Maximilian Schwarzburg and the German Revolutionary Army arrived to the city, and the leader of the army read the Unification Manifesto - a document declaring the "eternal union of all Germans under a single flag, and the end of the French puppets that actively fight against this noble cause". The Communion was dead, and the dozens of principalities and free cities composing it were annexed into the Republic of Germania - with some resistance, of course, especially in Pomerania and Brandenburg. Well, all were incorporated except for Nordrhein, formerly a Communion territory, which was swiftly occupied by French forces behind the river Rhine.
General Schwarzburg declares the Unification Manifesto in Hamburg (1851 painting)
An another nation which began to disintegrate under the fires of the German Revolution was a bit to the east - The Union of the Three Kingdoms, known as Visegrad. The rebellion in Bohemia was still well in recent memory, and a brand new attempt was brewing - but this time, the heart of a revolution was not in Prague, but rather in Buda, the official capital of the nation. While Bohemia was often known as the most Western-minded of the three kingdoms composing the country, thanks to it's location next to Germany, Hungary was not far behind, and a number of intellectuals and liberally minded officers like Bogdan Barnabas and Nemes Istvan were watching the Great German Revolution with hope. 1772 was the turning point, for the revolution attempt in Visegrad began once again. Revolutionaries controlled the streets of Buda, erecting barricades and fighting against loyalist forces at the Danube and in Pest. Unlike the Bohemian revolutionaries, however, these people were not calling for independence, but rather for liberty and reform, tearing down the monarchy and establishing a free federation in Central Europe. It was a weaker attempt than in North Germania, but it caught the nearby powers by surprise.
But wait... Wait a minute, we are forgetting something! A nation, whose actions could end up changing the tide in this Revolutionary War. Martynas Pacas and the Hetmanate were watching the events unfold in Germania and now in Visegrad with worry. To them, this radical experiment in Vienna was setting a bad precedent, and the fact that the French were routed in their offensive was just as worrying to them. Lithuania's Eastern Strategy maintained an isolationist stance in mainland European affairs, but it seemed more and more like this was no longer an option. In 1772, the Grand Hetman gave an order of general mobilization to the Lithuanian army, which at the time numbered around 160 000 men. A much larger force was required to deal with the rising German threat, and the army also needed time to analyze Germania's military successes and potentially apply their knowledge to it's own benefit. Pacas gave himself a mental note - if Germania turns east, the Lithuanians shall march west. And who knows where they would stop.
But even if the Germans knew about this, they didn't seem to care about the Lithuanian threat. After a number of smaller-scale engagements with French regiments in central and western Germania, the German Revolutionary Army reached the river Rhine by the late summer of 1772. By then, bolstered by North German volunteers and after a year of conscription, the GRA numbered over 330 000 men, although the quality of their equipment varied. This was, however, larger than the standing French army, and even though Director Bachelot was calling for mobilization, his hands were tied by an opposing Estates-General. And even if it was in favor, passing through such an important law would require the support of both political parties - fixing the internal squabbles between the two movements was akin to a Sisyphean task. In addition, a significant portion of the voters were beginning to sympathize with the German struggle and the values they fought for, others feared the legend of invincibility that Maximilian Schwarzburg was building around himself, and public support for a peace was higher than ever before. And in October, German forces began crossing the Rhine. France, the greatest military power in Europe at the time, entangled in internal shenanigans, was forced to seek an armistice, in a humiliating blow to it's prestige. Before a peace could be worked out, the temporary border between the two belligerents was set at the river Rhine. However, Bachelot was not ready to give up yet, even if it meant using underhanded tactics...
Meanwhile, General Schwarzburg returned to Vienna and was hailed as a hero, as the savior of the Republic. Germania has been saved from the French grasp, and as soon as the Frenchmen agree to it's terms, it shall live forever! There were many questions to discuss, and not just on domestic policy, but on Germania's future in European affairs. Especially regarding the ongoing revolution attempt in Visegrad. The Congress of Vienna universally agreed that an intervention was necessary, and an allied republican Visegrad would be a boon to the new Republic's position in the continent. Schwarzburg agreed to an intervention as well. Plans were drawn up for an invasion next year, as soon as the snow melts.
But something else suddenly interrupted the planning.
December 21st was meant to be an anniversary, as after all, three years had passed since the declaration of the creation of the Republic of Germania. After all this time, the young German nation successfully united all German peoples under the Tricolor and defended it's right to exist by defeating France. All of Vienna was ready to celebrate, including the Congress. At noon, the guard standing in front of the Congress building noticed that a few citizens were going in and out of the cellar, sometimes dragging unmarked barrels and boxes. When confronted about this, the men explained that they are "storing fireworks for the main event". Normally, this would require a further investigation, but the spirits of the guards were high due to the day this was at, so they decided to let the men do their job. Wait a second... were there really fireworks planned, Otto? I don't think it was on the list-
At approximately 2 PM on December 21st, 1772, during a session of the Congress of Vienna, the "fireworks" stored right under the main building were lit, and 5 minutes later, the floor was engulfed in a massive explosion. 161 out of 310 representatives, including Speaker Silvester Klemm, perished in the explosion and the resulting fires, over a hundred more were injured. The conspirators behind this attack, which is now known as the Independence Day Plot, were arrested as they were fleeing the Congress - and there were only three of them: Christof Schimscheiner, a citizen of Vienna; Siegmund Preisner, a minor noble from Saxony; and Myron Manischewitz, a Jewish businessman from Elsass. All three were Monarchist sympathizers, and confirmed the French support behind their plan. Their names lived in infamy for the Germans, but the Plot threatened to destroy everything that was built by the Great German Revolution. The head of state and most of his cabinet were now dead, and in even worse news, Director Arthur Bachelot declared the armistice between the two nations to be nullified. With no other options left, the remaining members of the Congress decided to invite Maximilian Schwarzburg, who was in Vienna at the time, to lead a provisional government before a new Congress could be called.
The struggle for the survival of Germania has only begun.
The two rivals of the German Revolutionary War.
Left - Maximilian Schwarzburg, Commander of the German Revolutionary Army and head of the Provisional War Government of Germania.
Right - Arthur Bachelot, Director of the Estates-General of the Republic of France.
A third great figure is about to enter this rivalry...
