Technically all AH is fanfiction of real history
Really, then what do you call all the ISOFAI fanfics that litter this site?
The Silver Knight, a Lithuania Timeline
- Thread starter Augenis
- Start date
Really, then what do you call all the ISOFAI fanfics that litter this site?
I call them ISOFAI fanfics.
No, I have no plans to make a Fandom AH timeline.
I haven't even watched Game of Thrones, actually.That's all I need to know. Since I can't stomach anymore of that franchise.
I suppose that means it's a very good series.Well good, cause it left me a cynical and detached wreck when I finally dropped it.
That right there is why fans of either the books, show, or games MYSTIFY me. In how one can enjoy torture porn or stuff that you would only find in hardcore Hentai.
Unless that IS what you enjoy the most from it
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If it makes you sad or shocked, then it did it's job well, in my opinion. At least, if that's the emotion that the book or show wanted to trigger - I mean, that's basically the point of any work of fiction, to trigger some feeling in the reader. Doesn't have to be a good feeling either.
And besides, to me a tragic story is the best kind of story. It even reflects in this TL - like, say, the whole plot with Russia.
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And besides, to me a tragic story is the best kind of story. It even reflects in this TL - like, say, the whole plot with Russia.
But the difference is that you write from the perspective of the narrator the majority of the time, which makes ANY horrific event easier to read.
Also Team White Walker all the way
Chapter 66: The Union Strikes Back
Part 66: The Union Strikes Back (Feb-Jun 1912)
Unfortunately to the anti-war movement, the French public perceived the ongoing war as going well for France - the Rhineland was occupied, the German advance in the Netherlands got stalled and the Coalition was being starved with a naval blockade, so public opinion was firmly in favor of the war, and even though the margins were somewhat close, the Pro-War Coalition acquired a firm majority in the Estates-General. d'Esperey was sworn in for a second term. About 10 more seats were won by neither coalition, many of them held by either Revolutionary Unitarians or Purple Unitarians who were unwilling to join either movement.
Koertsen was young (about 45 years old) and charismatic, an opposite of Stoevenbeld's age and reliance on experience and webs of alliances, rather than public support, and he made a convincing case that having the VFS join the Great European War would not only be bloody, but also reward the Vespucians with little to no long-term gain. In the end, Koertsen comfortably won the first round and faced off against Stoevenbeld in the second round, and thanks to Aufderhaar endorsing him, rather than the Federalists, the Anti-Militarists seized the victory with over 60% of the vote. Democrat Koertsen declared the beginning of Vespucian neutrality, closed the nation's borders to most war refugees and declined all offers to join either the Entente Cordiale or the Baltic-Adriatic Coalition, and while he successfully kept his nation out of the war, his domestic policy, like promotion of Reformism as the state religion and retracting funding from many labor unions, irritated the Republican and Unitarian parts of the electorate.
Since by 1910, the VFS had become the world's fifth largest economy, after France, Visegrad, Lithuania and the Mughals, Koertsen's victory was a large blow to the Entente, which expected the Vespucians to join their side.
While this was taking place, all was quiet on the Western Front. The front lines that were reached during the Netherlands Offensive stayed, both sides dug in and licked their wounds while making grandiose plans for new offensives. In South Germania, public opinion was calling for the liberation of the Rhineland, and even King Otto III spoke up in favor - a rare event for him, considering the little amount of power that the monarch had in the government - calling for "pushing the reactionary French out of our Fatherland". In France, planning for the Western Front slowed due to election season, but when d'Esperey acquired his reelection mandate, he gave the green light to what will be known as the Pfalz Offensive. The plans called for transporting 350 000 troops, using pontoon bridges and river barges, over the Rhine to secure the city of Mainz, which would serve as the "beachhead" on the right bank of the river. With the German "water wall" broken and many French armies transported into the German heartland to "cut through them like a knife", victory would be certain. The French military did their best to prepare for the Pfalz Offensive - all troops involved were given basic river assault and urban warfare training, veterans from the Dutch front were pulled in as a backbone, millions of artillery shells, thousands of howitzers, mortars, armored cars and aeroplanes were prepared.
They had no desire to lose.
France actually scored a victory in the Mediterranean at this period of time. The island of Sardinia, Spain's last holdout in Italy after the old days of competing against Spain there, had long since served as an important naval base for the Spanish navy, and was a thorn in the Entente war effort. Ruled by the Spaniards for hundreds of years, Sardinia actually developed a peculiar unique culture, mixing Italian, Spanish and local Sardinian influences, and while the Italian Confederation laid a claim on the island, it was firmly established as a separate nationality. But now, with French naval superiority in the Mediterranean, this lonely island was pretty much destined to fall, and the Battle for Sardinia began in late March. Cagliari and Sassari, the two largest cities on the island, fell to amphibious invasions fairly quickly, but the battle stretched out due to remnants in the mountains, which resisted for about a month or two. The Battle of Sardinia was a success, it gave d'Esperey a considerable boost in polls, and a French military government was established - however, Sardinian resistance to the occupation continued for years after the Spanish garrisons had been rounded up.
French forces land on the outskirts of Sassari in March 1912
With the new year beginning in the Eastern and Southern Fronts, Visegrad began to change it's focus. Lithuania was no pushover, but it's allies on this front - the Ottomans and Wallachia-Moldavia - showed weakness, and the General Staff prepared a new strategy for the United Kingdom, setting the goals as, first, cutting Lithuania off from the Turks by seizing Romania, and second, routing the Ottoman military and, with help from the Mughal push in the Persian Front, forcing them to capitulate. Subsequent plans would follow, including creating a stable connection between the Coalition members in Europe and India, defeating Egypt by a Levantine push and opening a new front against Lithuania in Crimea and Circassia. In early March, the 3rd Hungarian Army pushed the Romanian defenders out of Craiova, and with the support of the 2nd Hungarian and 3rd Polish armies, which attacked through the Carpathian mountain passes, it reached the outskirts of Bucharest, the capital of the vassal duchy. Preliminary artillery bombardment in preparation for a siege begun. Further south, after a series of battles in the mountains and along the Danube, the Turks were pushed out of most of Serbia and coastal Albania.
Back in Visegrad itself, the Convention of Three Nations received an interesting proposal, from an organization calling itself the "Foundation for the Liberation of Lithuanian Slavs". During the year of conflict between Lithuania and Visegrad, both sides took many thousands of war prisoners, and among the POWs taken by Visegrad, many are Ruthenians and Russians, who, as the Foundation and it's leader Sergey Alexeyev believed, would be willing to fight to liberate their homeland. Essentially, the Slavic intellectuals wished to see the creation of a Russian and Ruthenian legion in the Visegradian army, which would fight for the independence of their nations under the banner of the United Kingdom. The Convention, surprisingly, said no. What Visegrad feared was the formation of a greater East Slavic state, encompassing most of Lithuania and Volga-Russia, which would be too powerful to be easily controlled, and yet often appeared in the end goals of the Foundation. Unsurprisingly, the Ruthenian and Russian exodus was disappointed with the decision.
Some of them, realizing that Visegrad has no interest in a greater East Slavic state, turned towards an another path to liberation - Volga Russia. Before and during the Great European War, fleeing conscription and the Saugumas, thousands of Russians and Ruthenians arrived to the Volga, where they were accepted with open arms. and the more active and ambitious refugees formed "liberation circles" in their cities, especially Vostovsk, where they campaigned for Volgak entry into the Great European War and the liberation of their homeland. And, in fact, if Volga Russia wanted to join the Coalition, the gates were open - after secret negotiations with the BAC, both Visegrad and South Germania confirmed that they wish to see Russia in the alliance. However, when asked about the chance of allowing Volga to form a "greater Russia" once Lithuania is defeated, the answers were either vague or nonexistent. An another problem with Volgak participation in the war was the question whether the Volgaks could even pose a threat to Lithuania - and this once again brings up the decentralization of their state. Founded as a democracy in the beginning of the 17th century, Volga Russia was less a unitary state of a federation and more a loose union of cities, villages and nomads, it was the "United Communities of the Volga" for a reason. This decentralization came as a necessity due to the vast distances across the nation, and because of the weakness of the federal government, the Volga did not even have a standing army, only a volunteer militia, the narodnaya opolcheniya. As such, Vladimir Ulyanov, the predsedatel' of the Vostovsk Council, the head of state of the nation, decided to tread a line of "prepared neutrality" - avoiding any conflict until the time is right to strike.
Vladimir Ulyanov, predsedatel' (Chairman) of the Vostovsk Council
The slow Egyptian advance in the African Front was finally stopped past Sirte by combined Spanish and Visegradian defenses. Egyptian supply lines were overstretched and damaged by local Tripolitanian resistance - the locals fought a guerilla war against both sides to achieve long sought independence. Meanwhile, the Coalition was boosted by fresh reserves from Spanish North Africa and supplies brought across Portuguese Morocco and the narrow strait of Gibraltar. Finally, the Coalition advantage in technology and discipline showed, and the front came to a standstill after three failed Egyptian offensives. However, now that France captured Sardinia and obtained control over most of the Mediterranean, they could now support their allies in Africa, and they had plans for dealing with Coalition North Africa.
The Entente suffered defeats not only in Africa, but also in the Persian Front. Ottoman defenses were collapsing in face of superior Indian manpower and rocket artillery, and within the first half of 1912, the Mughals captured Kerman and Shiraz, both major cities in Ottoman Persia, and they were also drawing close to Tehran. Should the Indians reach the city and the Caspian coast beyond it, they could cut off the troops in Ottoman Khiva from the rest of the Empire, not to mention shorten the front by hundreds of miles. The Empire also began a naval invasion of Ceylon, a lone French colony in the Indian Ocean. And the impacts of the successful offensives this year could already be felt - the Ottomans found themselves squished in between two Coalition nations, both much more powerful than them, and losing on both fronts. Mass protests against Turkish rule had already begun in Persia, especially after Emperor Ali Khan Bahadur III issued the "Proclamation on the Fate of the Eastern Territories of the Ottoman Sultanate", declaring that his nation will "fight for a Persia independent from the Turks and aligned with the Gurkani". The Balkans were also getting uppity, and even though the Serbs, Bulgarians and Greeks were Orthodox, they definitely preferred the Catholic, but still Christian Visegrad than the Muslim Ottomans.
The Ottoman Empire was having second thoughts on joining this war in the first place...
Actually, everyone was having second thoughts.
But now they had no option but to continue fighting. Neither side wished to give up.
And the fighting was about to grow a lot more fierce...
---
Excerpt from the diary of Tristan Tremblay, Captain of the French Army, addressed to his wife Pauline and written on May 30th, 1912, one day before the beginning of the Pfalz Offensive:
I must not allow myself to dwell on the personal – there is no room for it here. It is, not to mention, demoralising.
But I do not want to die.
Not that I mind for myself. If it be that I am to go, I am ready. But the thought that I may never see you or our darling baby again turns my bowels to water.
…My one consolation is the happiness that has been ours. My conscience is clear that I have always tried to make life a joy for you. That is something.
But it is the thought that we may be cut off from each other which is so terrible and that our daughter may grow up without my knowing her and without her knowing me. It is difficult to face. And I know your life without me would be a dull blank.
Yet you must never let it become wholly so, for you will be left with the greatest challenge in all the world; the upbringing of our baby. God bless that child, she is the hope of life to me.
My darling, au revoir. It may well be that you will only have to read these lines as ones of passing interest. On the other hand, they may well be my last message to you. If they are, know through all your life that I loved you and baby with all my heart and soul, that you two sweet things were just all the world to me. I pray God I may do my duty, for I know, whatever that may entail, you would not have it otherwise.
Captain Tremblay died on June 1st, 1912, in the beginning of the assault on the city of Mainz.
I must not allow myself to dwell on the personal – there is no room for it here. It is, not to mention, demoralising.
But I do not want to die.
Not that I mind for myself. If it be that I am to go, I am ready. But the thought that I may never see you or our darling baby again turns my bowels to water.
…My one consolation is the happiness that has been ours. My conscience is clear that I have always tried to make life a joy for you. That is something.
But it is the thought that we may be cut off from each other which is so terrible and that our daughter may grow up without my knowing her and without her knowing me. It is difficult to face. And I know your life without me would be a dull blank.
Yet you must never let it become wholly so, for you will be left with the greatest challenge in all the world; the upbringing of our baby. God bless that child, she is the hope of life to me.
My darling, au revoir. It may well be that you will only have to read these lines as ones of passing interest. On the other hand, they may well be my last message to you. If they are, know through all your life that I loved you and baby with all my heart and soul, that you two sweet things were just all the world to me. I pray God I may do my duty, for I know, whatever that may entail, you would not have it otherwise.
Captain Tremblay died on June 1st, 1912, in the beginning of the assault on the city of Mainz.
The war on June 1st, 1912
Council of Lords of Lithuania, 1912
This is not an update or a special chapter, but something that is going to be important quite soon, as we're going to enter a very important point in TTL Lithuanian history. Think of this as a some sort of "character page" for personalities which will play a role in the future.
The Council of Lords - Ponų taryba
A direct successor of the 15th century advisory council to the Grand Duke, the Council of Lords started out as a powerless advisory institution to the monarch, but it later grew in power during the Hetmanate period and, after Jonas II's restoration of Imperial rule, was reorganized as an equivalent of a cabinet of ministers.
Members:
Emperor of Lithuania - Lietuvos ciesorius
The supreme head of state in the Empire, the Emperor (sometimes referred to in other languages as a "Ciesor", an appropriation of the Lithuanian term for the monarch) has absolute rule over the country and directs it's domestic, foreign and war policy, among other things. No law in the land can come into effect without his approval, and the people look up to him as a symbol of power, order and patriotism. However, the extent to which an Emperor can use (or abuse) these powers depends solely on his own competence.
Current holder: Jo Ciesoriškoji Didenybė, Lietuvos ir Visos Rusios Ciesorius, Žygimantas IV Gediminaitis
Žygimantas IV ascended into his position at a very young age, and started out with zero experience or skill in ruling the country - and unfortunately to everyone, he also has to lead Lithuania during the greatest conflict in human history up to this point. He lacks initiative of ambition, instead delegating the day-to-day affairs to his advisors, and rumors say that he had started to regret drawing Lithuania to the Great European War and thus drowns his sorrows in alcohol. Whether or not it is true, it's not a great thing to anyone involved, seeing as the Emperor is supposed to be a person the people can look up to.
Grand Chancellor of Lithuania - Lietuvos didysis kancleris
Previously a position limited to stamping documents and looking after the Chancellery, the Grand Chancellor has since become the effective head of government of the country, and their powers extend to proposing laws, influencing their passage and forming the goals of the government. While the Emperor remains more powerful, the Grand Chancellor is still the second man in the country.
Current holder: Vincentas Jonas Čepukas
A notorious militarist and warmonger, Čepukas, a magnate from Samogitia, is probably the man most responsible for drawing Lithuania into the Great European War. He is a firm loyalist of the monarchist government and wishes to see his beloved Empire rise to become the dominating nation in Europe. While he is not responsible for foreign policy, he has already overlaid his wishes for a postwar Europe, which include annexing Poland, dismantling the rest of Visegrad into weak nation-states, acquiring Finland as a buffer puppet state and taking over all of Volga-Russia. The Emperor sees him as competent and effective, and delegates most of the lawmaking to him.
Grand Marshal of Lithuania - Lietuvos didysis maršalka
The Grand Marshal is the closest equivalent to an internal affairs minister - they are responsible for upholding order in the court, running the law enforcement and the Saugumas secret police, and making sure that the laws released by the Council of Lords are followed throughout the country. He is also in control of the judicial system. It is a highly respected and important government position, almost on the rank of the Grand Chancellor.
Current holder: Radimir Viktorovich Krashensky
Before his appointment, Krashensky was a landless, but influential Ruthenian noble from Chernigov. He is notably more lax on law enforcement than his predecessors, who, under Mykolas I's orders, tried to turn Lithuania into a police state. Still, he doesn't turn a blind eye to his countrymen, and so far, he has been successful in keeping up order in the nation. However, the Lithuanian nationalist contingents in the Imperial government wish to see him removed, often for the simple reason that he is a Slav.
Grand Hetman of Lithuania - Lietuvos didysis etmonas
In the past, the Grand Hetman would run the country as a dictator, but while those times came to an end, the position has not been removed. They are responsible for military affairs, making war plans and executing them, overseeing military logistics and often leading armies themselves. However, the Hetman's powers unofficially extend beyond that - the military has always been a powerful force in Lithuanian politics, and through that, the Hetman holds a lot of influence in lawmaking and government affairs.
Current holder: Jogaila Aukštaitis
As his surname implies, Aukštaitis hails from Aukštaitija, the region of ethnic Lithuania to the north of Vilnius. Much like the Grand Chancellor, the Hetman is in favor of continuing the war, though his wishes are not nearly as ambitious. He is an old guard and relies on 19th century tactics, directly opposite to his second-in-command, the Field Hetman Silvestras Žukauskas, developer of the "creeping barrage" and one of the most innovative army leaders in the conflict. The two men often get into conflict, as Žukauskas sees the war as unwinnable and Aukštaitis almost goes as far as to call that treasonous.
Grand Treasurer of Lithuania - Lietuvos didysis iždininkas
The Grand Treasurer is responsible for the finances of the Empire, something very important in this war. Cooperating with the Grand Marshal, they and their institution collect taxes and other profits and organize the budget for how to spend them. His second-in-command, the Court Treasurer, is responsible for the finances of the monarch's court and family.
Current holder: Martynas Yčas
Yčas was appointed at the beginning of the Great European War under Čepukas's order. A military man, he was brought to the Council of Lords to oversee the Empire's mobilization and military buildup, which he has successfully done. Thanks to him, Lithuania remains in top fighting shale despite over a year of conflict having already passed. However, Yčas neglects the civilian parts of the budget, and his service has been marked by major cuts in civilian domestic spending.
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary - Nepaprastasis pasiuntinys ir įgaliotasis ministras
The Minister Plenipotentiary is the highest diplomatic position in the Empire, responsible for the nation's ambassador and diplomat corps, accepting foreign emissaries in the Imperial Palaces, and, under extraordinary circumstances, serving as a diplomatic representative of the Emperor. It is the most recent position in the Council of Lords, and many are still complaining about it's inclusion.
Current holder: Jonas Valančiūnas
The only member of the current Council who is not of noble birth, Valančiūnas hails from the middle class and from Vilnius, although with a diplomatic background. So far, because of the stubborn warmongering of the Council, he has had little chance to be of service, as neither side in the war wishes to negotiate on peace terms. However, he personally sees the war as a hassle, and hopes to bring an end to it once the time is right.
The Council of Lords - Ponų taryba
A direct successor of the 15th century advisory council to the Grand Duke, the Council of Lords started out as a powerless advisory institution to the monarch, but it later grew in power during the Hetmanate period and, after Jonas II's restoration of Imperial rule, was reorganized as an equivalent of a cabinet of ministers.
Members:
Emperor of Lithuania - Lietuvos ciesorius
The supreme head of state in the Empire, the Emperor (sometimes referred to in other languages as a "Ciesor", an appropriation of the Lithuanian term for the monarch) has absolute rule over the country and directs it's domestic, foreign and war policy, among other things. No law in the land can come into effect without his approval, and the people look up to him as a symbol of power, order and patriotism. However, the extent to which an Emperor can use (or abuse) these powers depends solely on his own competence.
Current holder: Jo Ciesoriškoji Didenybė, Lietuvos ir Visos Rusios Ciesorius, Žygimantas IV Gediminaitis
Žygimantas IV ascended into his position at a very young age, and started out with zero experience or skill in ruling the country - and unfortunately to everyone, he also has to lead Lithuania during the greatest conflict in human history up to this point. He lacks initiative of ambition, instead delegating the day-to-day affairs to his advisors, and rumors say that he had started to regret drawing Lithuania to the Great European War and thus drowns his sorrows in alcohol. Whether or not it is true, it's not a great thing to anyone involved, seeing as the Emperor is supposed to be a person the people can look up to.
Grand Chancellor of Lithuania - Lietuvos didysis kancleris
Previously a position limited to stamping documents and looking after the Chancellery, the Grand Chancellor has since become the effective head of government of the country, and their powers extend to proposing laws, influencing their passage and forming the goals of the government. While the Emperor remains more powerful, the Grand Chancellor is still the second man in the country.
Current holder: Vincentas Jonas Čepukas
A notorious militarist and warmonger, Čepukas, a magnate from Samogitia, is probably the man most responsible for drawing Lithuania into the Great European War. He is a firm loyalist of the monarchist government and wishes to see his beloved Empire rise to become the dominating nation in Europe. While he is not responsible for foreign policy, he has already overlaid his wishes for a postwar Europe, which include annexing Poland, dismantling the rest of Visegrad into weak nation-states, acquiring Finland as a buffer puppet state and taking over all of Volga-Russia. The Emperor sees him as competent and effective, and delegates most of the lawmaking to him.
Grand Marshal of Lithuania - Lietuvos didysis maršalka
The Grand Marshal is the closest equivalent to an internal affairs minister - they are responsible for upholding order in the court, running the law enforcement and the Saugumas secret police, and making sure that the laws released by the Council of Lords are followed throughout the country. He is also in control of the judicial system. It is a highly respected and important government position, almost on the rank of the Grand Chancellor.
Current holder: Radimir Viktorovich Krashensky
Before his appointment, Krashensky was a landless, but influential Ruthenian noble from Chernigov. He is notably more lax on law enforcement than his predecessors, who, under Mykolas I's orders, tried to turn Lithuania into a police state. Still, he doesn't turn a blind eye to his countrymen, and so far, he has been successful in keeping up order in the nation. However, the Lithuanian nationalist contingents in the Imperial government wish to see him removed, often for the simple reason that he is a Slav.
Grand Hetman of Lithuania - Lietuvos didysis etmonas
In the past, the Grand Hetman would run the country as a dictator, but while those times came to an end, the position has not been removed. They are responsible for military affairs, making war plans and executing them, overseeing military logistics and often leading armies themselves. However, the Hetman's powers unofficially extend beyond that - the military has always been a powerful force in Lithuanian politics, and through that, the Hetman holds a lot of influence in lawmaking and government affairs.
Current holder: Jogaila Aukštaitis
As his surname implies, Aukštaitis hails from Aukštaitija, the region of ethnic Lithuania to the north of Vilnius. Much like the Grand Chancellor, the Hetman is in favor of continuing the war, though his wishes are not nearly as ambitious. He is an old guard and relies on 19th century tactics, directly opposite to his second-in-command, the Field Hetman Silvestras Žukauskas, developer of the "creeping barrage" and one of the most innovative army leaders in the conflict. The two men often get into conflict, as Žukauskas sees the war as unwinnable and Aukštaitis almost goes as far as to call that treasonous.
Grand Treasurer of Lithuania - Lietuvos didysis iždininkas
The Grand Treasurer is responsible for the finances of the Empire, something very important in this war. Cooperating with the Grand Marshal, they and their institution collect taxes and other profits and organize the budget for how to spend them. His second-in-command, the Court Treasurer, is responsible for the finances of the monarch's court and family.
Current holder: Martynas Yčas
Yčas was appointed at the beginning of the Great European War under Čepukas's order. A military man, he was brought to the Council of Lords to oversee the Empire's mobilization and military buildup, which he has successfully done. Thanks to him, Lithuania remains in top fighting shale despite over a year of conflict having already passed. However, Yčas neglects the civilian parts of the budget, and his service has been marked by major cuts in civilian domestic spending.
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary - Nepaprastasis pasiuntinys ir įgaliotasis ministras
The Minister Plenipotentiary is the highest diplomatic position in the Empire, responsible for the nation's ambassador and diplomat corps, accepting foreign emissaries in the Imperial Palaces, and, under extraordinary circumstances, serving as a diplomatic representative of the Emperor. It is the most recent position in the Council of Lords, and many are still complaining about it's inclusion.
Current holder: Jonas Valančiūnas
The only member of the current Council who is not of noble birth, Valančiūnas hails from the middle class and from Vilnius, although with a diplomatic background. So far, because of the stubborn warmongering of the Council, he has had little chance to be of service, as neither side in the war wishes to negotiate on peace terms. However, he personally sees the war as a hassle, and hopes to bring an end to it once the time is right.
So, a year of war has passed, and I was wondering: this is probably the most detailed I've written about a war in this TL, and it's a counterpart of a very famous OTL war, and a lot of people on this site are more or less experts on it, so, I've been meaning to ask - have I made any mistakes or presented some not very plausible moves so far? Most of my knowledge on WWI comes from common historical knowledge, some things I had the chance to read on and "The Great War" YouTube channel, so my knowledge on the limitations in this period is definitely incomplete
Zagan
Donor
Looks ok to me.So, a year of war has passed, and I was wondering: this is probably the most detailed I've written about a war in this TL, and it's a counterpart of a very famous OTL war, and a lot of people on this site are more or less experts on it, so, I've been meaning to ask - have I made any mistakes or presented some not very plausible moves so far? Most of my knowledge on WWI comes from common historical knowledge, some things I had the chance to read on and "The Great War" YouTube channel, so my knowledge on the limitations in this period is definitely incomplete
So, a year of war has passed, and I was wondering: this is probably the most detailed I've written about a war in this TL, and it's a counterpart of a very famous OTL war, and a lot of people on this site are more or less experts on it, so, I've been meaning to ask - have I made any mistakes or presented some not very plausible moves so far? Most of my knowledge on WWI comes from common historical knowledge, some things I had the chance to read on and "The Great War" YouTube channel, so my knowledge on the limitations in this period is definitely incomplete
It looks fine from where I stand. I'm just waiting for the other hammer to drop...
Chapter 67: Killing Ground
Part 67: Killing Ground (May-Sep 1912)
On May 1st, 1912, after a three day preliminary artillery bombardment, the Pfalz Offensive begun, initiating one of the largest, most famous and bloodiest battles in the entire war.
Within the next two days, over 350 000 French soldiers, composing four armies, supported by over 1500 heavy guns and many more light howitzers and mortars, bolstered by hundreds of armored cars, cavalrymen and other support units, were transported over the Rhine at the city of Mainz to engage the Germans and establish the thing that their nation sought to reach since the beginning of the war - a foothold on the right bank of the Rhine. The French high command did all the calculations, necessary reconnaissance was made, everything was in order, but from the very first day, they made one, massive mistake - they overestimated the effect that the preliminary bombardment would have on German positions, and when the soldiers landed on the shores of Germania, they were greeted not with a destroyed landscape and scattered weak enemy units, but by strong enemy fortifications, which had been dug and prepared since Operation Faust, and machine gun fire spraying on their ranks. In the very first day, France suffered over 40 000 casualties, and many more came during the next few days, until the French soldiers managed to successfully dig in and protect themselves from the massacre.
What followed was three months of the worst that one could write about the Western Front in the Great European War - trench warfare, endless artillery bombardment, the complete levelling of the rest of the city while both sides fought in brutal street skirmishes and mass infantry charges trying to overwhelm one another. By August, over 1.2 million French and 900 thousand German soldiers were in the field, and not just the generals and officers of both sides, but the entire world watched the battle while holding their breaths. Even though the Germans fought with great morale, their flanks were wavering from superior French artillery and their manpower advantage, and had the leader of the French forces in Mainz, Field Marshal Ludovic Bachelet, been aware of the poor situation, especially in Wiesbaden, whose defenders, the 19th Infantry Division, even attempted a mutiny after their commanders ordered a second suicidal charge into the enemy trenches, then the result of the battle could have been different.
However, with neither side able to achieve a decisive victory over the other, the battle just whizzled out. The French obtained a perimeter with the width of about 11 miles on the right bank of the Rhine, but they were unable to achieve a breakthrough in the German defense and were thus forced to halt further attacks. By late August, over 850 000 casualties had been inflicted on both sides, around 350 000 of them being deaths. Public response to these events varied. The Battle of Mainz was perceived as a defeat in the Germanias, but it did not break the people's morale - quite the opposite, it strengthened it by creating a feeling of peril. Meanwhile, in France, the Anti-War Coalition heavily criticized the offensive, purposefully referring to it in public not by it's actual name, but as the "Rhine bloodbath". Still, the government managed to control the rise of opposition to the war for the time being. Both sides saw the end of the battle as a mere "armistice", and Director d'Esperey demanded the French Army to achieve all of the Pfalz Offensive's strategic objectives before the beginning of winter, especially Frankfurt, which was, as the politician hoped, at arm's reach.
German sniper during the Battle of Mainz
In June, requested by the French during the heat of the Pfalz Offensive, the Lithuanians began their own offensive on the Eastern Front in order to divert the attention of the Coalition. The Grand Hetman himself, Jogaila Aukštaitis, was assigned as the leader of an attack that, as the Imperial high command hoped, would break into Pomerania and Brandenburg and force the Germans into a two-front war. All that was needed was to walk across the Visegradian forces in Northern Poland, composed of the 1st and 2nd Polish Armies... easier said than done. The initial attacks on fortified Polish trenches resulted in nothing but thousands of deaths, and sensing a moment of opportunity, Bronislaw Kwasniewski, the leader of the 1st Polish Army, defied the General Staff's orders and initiated the Gniezno Offensive, a humiliating defeat for the Lithuanians. During the rest of June and the first half of July, the Imperial forces were driven out of Pomerelia and most of Mazovia, Gdansk and Warszawa were retaken, and what's worst - for the first time in the war, the Visegradian Army stepped foot on Lithuanian soil, seizing most of Prussia and even landing in Sambia by going through the Vistula Spit. Karaliaučius, the capital and administrative center of the province of Prussia was still held by the Lithuanians, but it was now surrounded from both sides and only supplied by a small corridor along the Prieglius River.
Kwasniewski was court martialed in absentia for defying orders, but when his forces reached Warszawa, the punishment was secretly lifted and the general was now hailed as a hero. The successful Gniezno Offensive gave the people of Visegrad a very necessary boost in morale, which had been starting to waver ever since the Ottoman Empire's entrance into the war, while Kwasniewski himself became a national hero for the Polish people.
And speaking of the Ottomans - they weren't doing very well.
Knowing the fact that the people of the Balkans longed for freedom from the Sultanate, Visegrad decided to use it to it's advantage, and King Ferenc III von Luxemburg and Director of the Convention of the Three Nations Jaroslav Dostál together signed the so-called "Proclamation to the People of the Balkans". It declared Visegrad's promises to the peoples of the Ottoman Empire after the war and the dismantlement of the Turkish regime. A fourth nation was going to be added to the United Kingdom as an equal member of the union - Slavonia, composed of the territories of the South Slavs, including Croatia, Bosnia, and Serbia, the latter to be freed from the Ottoman hands. Bulgaria, Greece and Albania were to be liberated as independent republics, and Romania was to be broken from Lithuanian domination. Was Visegrad really going to follow through with such a proposal, or was this just smoke in the eyes of the people - only time can tell, but for now, the document was successful in rallying the people of the Balkans to support the Coalition war effort.
The Ottomans weren't doing well on the battlefield, either. Squished from both sides by superior enemy forces, they were losing on both fronts, each unsuccessful battle, lost city and defeat dealing blow after blow to the nation's morale. Visegradian forces pushed the Turks out of Serbia and Albania, despite the mountains in the way, and were now encroaching on Bulgaria, especially on Sofia. On August 21st, a Visegradian bomber squadron for the first time reached Konstantinyye, the City of the World's Desire, and commenced a large raid on the undefended capital - while it had no strategic justification, it was a major blow to Turkish pride. On the Persian Front, the Mughal supply lines were growing overstretched, but despite that, they managed to take Isfahan, one of the largest and oldest cities in Ottoman Persia. Indian offensives into Ottoman Khiva were also successful, but the advance along the Gulf was halted by tougher enemy resistance, including three reserve Janissary divisions and the Zagros mountains serving as a natural barrier.
To the north, combined Turkish, Lithuanian and Romanian defenses in Bucharest proved ineffective against the 2nd Hungarian Army, and in early July, the Visegradian Army entered the abandoned city. The Duke of Wallachia-Moldavia, Mykolas (Mihai) III, pleaded the Council of Lords for more Lithuanian reinforcements, but he received none - and in fact, 60 000 of the over 200 000 Lithuanians in Romania were transported out of the country to help stop the Gniezno Offensive. With such a poor situation, the fall of Wallachia-Moldavia and cutting off the Ottoman Empire from Lithuania seemed inevitable, but, in a surprising turn of events, the Romanian forces managed to hold the line at Dobrogea and the Carpathians, at least for now using the swamps and mountains to their advantage and keeping up the connection between the two empires.
Mughal rail artillery in the Dasht-e Kavir
In July 19th, an interesting event took place in Milan, this being the Third World Congress for the Promotion of Unitarianism, a congress of Unitarian, mostly Revolutionary Unitarian, parties and movements worldwide, but mainly from Europe. The first two World Congresses, which took place in 1899 and 1905 respectively, were heated enough, but now that one of the largest wars in human history was raging all around, it could only grow more intense. The greatest dispute came on the divisions between the Unitarian movements in the east and in the west. The representatives from the Party for Unity and Unitarianism from the Ottoman Empire, led by Akarsu Kubilay, a charismatic and energetic party leader, decreed that Lithuania, the Ottoman Empire and the Mughal Empire, all authoritarian, absolute monarchies, were "ripe for revolution", and as soon as both sides bleed out enough, the old order can be torn down to build Weber's envisioned society. This came into opposition with the views of Revolutionary Unitarian movements from Western countries, like France, Germania and the VFS, and the leader of the French Revolutionary Unitarian party, Florentin Maret, spoke out against it. Many Unitarians from Western countries believed in the Historicist view on Unitarianism, developed by Maret himself - it stated that all societies in the world develop towards higher inclusiveness, one jump at a time, from primitive autocracy to feudalism, from feudalism to early democracies, from early democracies to modern, liberal democracies - and in this view, a Unitarian utopia, a nation where all people are completely equal and all form one "body", is the most inclusive, and thus the ultimate form of government. However, as Maret argued, the jump towards higher inclusiveness can only be done at one stage at a time, thus only a Western democracy, not an autocratic regime, could possibly become the start of a Unitarian world revolution.
Obviously, this logic didn't impress neither Kubilay, nor the rest of Turkish Unitarians, not even the other representatives from the East, like Vincas Kudirka's Lithuanian Unitarian Party or the numerous Indian blue-wing movements, and the worldwide Unitarian movement suffered a major ideological split. The Party for Unity and Unitarianism began arming and distributing propaganda, among other things, Unitarian violence and influence across all of Europe, but especially in the Ottoman Empire, was rising. With nationalist rebellions taking place in Persia, a two-front war and a plethora of internal problems, the Ottomans hardly even noticed that a new movement was rapidly growing in popularity...
Akarsu Kubilay, leader of the Party for Unity and Unitarianism
From other minor fronts, news were coming too. The Swedish streak of victories in the Northern Front came to an end, as, unlike in the Eastern Front, the Lithuanians achieved many major successes there. The summer of 1912 was quite hot, and the permafrost in most places melted enough to allow trench warfare to take place - and despite their failures, that's where the Lithuanians were more experienced than the Swedes in. Veterans from the Eastern Front were brought in to bolster a major offensive, which broke the lightly manned Swedish lines and drove them out of the Karelian Isthmus in one fell swoop. The Lithuanians were now approaching the town of Helsingfors, a major coastal fortress on the Gulf of Finland. The Pyrenean and African fronts stayed quiet this summer - knowing what happened last time they tried to support an allied offensive in the West, the Spanish forces decided to sit this one out despite having the advantage, while in Africa, the Egyptians failed to muster enough men to make a difference in the stalemate. Something finally happened in the Burmese Front, as after spending an entire winter in jungle and mountain skirmishes, the forces of Ayutthaya, bolstered by French reserves and fleet, managed to push the Burmese out of their territory and even advanced into their territory, capturing the trading port of Mawlamyine and drawing close to the Yangon River.
On slighly unrelated terms, the Dutch holding of New Zealand went through some heart beating in late July, as the garrisoned fleet entered a scuffle with the Chinese navy, which had been making missions around the island for almost a year. It was no mystery that the Shun Dynasty, which had been slowly modernizing during the last two decades, was looking forward to taking this island off their eastern coast, and while such clashes had become common, this one was far larger in scale than all of the last one. Time will tell if this tension will come to bear fruit.
The war could only grow bloodier and wider from here.
And there was no stopping it.
Even if people tried.
On August 21st, while the French and Germans were still licking their wounds after the Battle of Mainz, Pope Julius IV called representatives from both nations to Rome to discuss potential peace terms. The Italian Confederation may have been neutral, but they were surely worried about the enormous war right outside their border.
Neither side showed up to the negotiations.
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The map of the war in September 1st, 1912
I think some elaboration about this action is in order. Just what was it that allowed the Polish army to achieve such extraordinary success in this maneuver, especially with the rest of the military being "out of the loop"?
The Lithuanians were led by Grand Hetman Aukštaitis, who is an old-fashioned commander and usually resorts to 19th century tactics, and, in addition, the Lithuanian military is ethnically integrated (an earlier decision to "boost camaraderie" between the three nations composing it), which in this case had backfired - the Russians and Ruthenians in the Lithuanian forces defending northern Poland were unruly and the nationalist sentiments among the soldiers caused infighting.
Meanwhile, the Poles had superior morale and esprit d'corps, and their commanders were a lot more adept with modern tactics.
Is this moment unrealistic? I justify it to myself with those explanations, but if it takes too much away from the story, I can edit the passage.