I wonder how Japan is going along. Are they still become militaristic or they're more democratic? Are they in any alliance and will they play an important role in this timeline?
The Sun Rises Yet Again
- Thread starter Lord_Vespasian
- Start date
Lord_Vespasian
Banned
Japan and Germany are in a very weird situation. The only situation even somewhat similar that I can think of would be the state between Russia and Japan after the Battles of Khalkhin Gol until 1945. Japan and Germany never signed a peace treaty, not even a ceasefire, but Japan is too far away, the German armed forces are too overstretched and exhausted with the threat of the Soviets and the Commune invading them(and now with the British causing trouble, they are even less concerned with taking back a few unimportant islands in the Pacific) to take back German New Guinea, save for Samoa, and Tsingtao while Japan has not attacked German Malaya and Indochina as they do not wish to provoke a retaliation as they know they cannot win if the full might of the German army and navy were to attack.
So for now, they kind of just stand there and look at each other funny as no side wants to make the other angry enough to attack
Lord_Vespasian
Banned
I don't know about joining the League, more like cooperating as an outside power. Like the Soviets in OTL.
Lord_Vespasian
Banned
Yes. Japan's state of affairs doesn't really facilitate the revanchist nature of the rest of the Entente. They didn't lose anything and they are less favorable to absolutism
Glorious TL for Britannia and her people! May Prime Minister Mosley and the King rule the British to its rightful glory against the barbarian Huns, the godless Communists, and the rebellious Yankees!
The Isles Stand Stalwart
Lord_Vespasian
Banned
The Sun Rises Yet Again
Chapter 11: The Isles Stand Stalwart
April 18, 1925
Some time has passed since the infamous London Conference. The members of the Comintern immediately denounced it, saying it was a prime display of capitalist imperialism. Joseph Stalin, primary contestant to Trotsky's rise to leadership of the Soviet Union, stated how he felt to a crowd in Moscow.
Joseph Stalin
"My fellow countrymen, today I stand here to speak out against what has transpired in London 18 days ago. The corruption and greed shown by the Western leaders is microcosm of everything wrong with the old model of government. It is this arrogant and blindingly foolish ideology that will seal the fates of these kings and ministers. Know with certainty that when we overthrow and hang the capitalists, it will be with bullets we made and rope they sold us."
Stalin, being a man of few words, retreats back to his quarters shortly after. The speech helps appeal to some of his softer opponents and even convinces some to side with him. Germany also condemns the event but is unable to fully speak out against it out of fear of seeming in league with the Comintern.
Litvinov is dispatched to Paris to advise the French on what action to take for the foreseeable future, with Grigory Chicherin emphasising aggression towards the British and their newfound alliance instead of towards the Germans due to Molotov's suggestion. Chicherin sends Molotov to Berlin to work with Karl Radek, the Soviet Union's representative in Germany, with plans to ease the Germans to their presence. With this advice from the Soviets, the French stage a naval exercise in the Channel to show off their strength to the British. In response, Beatty sends a petition to Mosley asking permission to stage a naval exercise, much larger than the one the French did, less than 13 knots off the coast of Calais.
The letter also includes a request to have Mosley arrange a meeting between himself, Fuller, and Hugh Trenchard, Marshall of the Royal Air Force, in order to work on cementing cooperation of the Air Force with the Army and the introduction of an innovative theory on how naval warfare would be waged in the next Great War. Mosley signs off on the naval exercise but is sure to let Beatty know that he must avoid war as Britain is not ready for a full-scale one. He agrees to the meeting between the branches and decides it should include not just the respective heads of each branch but also of many of the general staff of them as well as himself.
Beatty, with Mosley's permission, begins to consolidate a fleet big enough to intimidate the French. Beatty would bring the battleships HMS Barham, HMS Hood and HMS Hannibal, the cruisers HMS Achilles, HMS Ambrose, HMS Aphis, HMS Birmingham, HMS Cairo, HMS Calcutta, HMS Calliope, HMS Calypso, HMS Cambrian, HMS Canterbury, HMS Capetown, HMS Caradoc, HMS Cardiff and HMS Carlisle, the destroyer HMS Blenheim, the monitor HMS Erebus and the seaplane carrier HMS Ark Royal as well as 2 dozen or so militarised civilian ships. HMS Hermes was not ready to leave her port as her construction had been delayed due to the Depression. As the fleet converges over the course of the next 2 weeks, Mosley does his best to keep most of the movement secret and the bits that slip through are branded as scheduled movements. These efforts pay off and on the 2nd of May, 3 days before the exercise would go through, the movements of the Royal Navy are mostly unscrutinised by the world. Information relating to the exercise is purposely leaked so as to get the story into international view by the 5th. On the 5th, Beatty's fleet, headed by HMS Hood, steams out towards the coast of Calais.
The French had received news of the exercise and are deliberating on how to respond. Litvinov has no idea how the Kremlin wants the French to react and word from Moscow itself will take too long. They have to make a decision on their own. Two major factions arise. On one side are the Internationalists, led by Boris Souvarine, a supporter of Trotsky, who want to fire on the fleet with everything they have available. The idea is that Britain's fleet has shrunken greatly since WWI, mostly due to the Battle of Jutland and a decent number of the remaining fleet being sold off, and that the fleet coming to the Calais coast contains a sizable chunk of the powerful ships in the Royal Navy and that by dealing a decisive blow, they can cripple Britain's ability to fight and that their prime alliegance is to the workers of the world, not just any one nation. On the other side are the Nationalists, led by Maurice Thorez, a supporter of Stalin, who want to leave the fleet be as they believed that Comintern cannot make any meaningful actions against Britain or her allies and that it will only anger people in an unstable society and that their ultimate allegiance is to France, not the world. In the end, both sides are deadlocked and Litvinov must choose a side to break the stalemate as the remaining undecided members would gravitate to him. He decides to side with the Thorez and let the fleet be. However, he urges Thorez to send a squadron of airplanes into the vicinity of the fleet so as to put up some resistance.
As the world watches, Beatty's fleet reaches the designated point and begins the exercise. Germany is on high alert as well as it did not want to be defenseless if Europe is to descend into war once again. Kaiser Wilhelm II is forced by the Reichstag and Reichskanzler Maximilian von Baden to support the British. Even though Germany is powerful, there are many factions and internal divisions weakening it.
During the war, unrest and protests were rising in Germany due to the British blockade which still continued even after Jutland, with less success. This combined with a potato crop failure because of poor Autumn weather and a lack of able-bodied men due to intensive drafting, with most heading to the Eastern Front due to the startling success of the Brusilov Offensive. Most of the remaining crop that had not failed, spoiled on the way to the cities. These events culminated into what is now known as the Turnip Winter. It was called this as turnips came to replace potatoes in the diets of most German civilians and soldiers, much to their disdain. Malnutrition rose, rations dropped both at home and at the front and even though the war in France was still in Germany's favor, the recent losses on the Eastern Front to General Aleksei Brusilov's daring offensive, the failure at Tours in 1914 as well as the 400,000 people dead due to starvation all made the people tired of war and demands that the Kaiser make a less substantial but immediate peace began to circulate. Rations for the navy dropped to such lows that a naval mutiny arose as sailors were angry that they were virtually starving while officers were wining and dining heartily.
In light of these events, Reichskanzler Bethmann Hollweg convinced Kaiser Wilhelm II to make a speech addressing the nation which was delivered to the Reichstag and then published on April 6, the same day as the USPD was established. The USPD was a social democratic party that was formed by alienated members of the SPD, an older socialist party that had drifted to the center and supported the war despite the Second International's objection. The message, being viewed by most of the population a day before Easter, would come to be known as the Easter Message. The message was written as follows.
Kaiser Wilhelm II
"Never before has the German people proved so unshakable as in this war. The realisation that the Fatherland faced a grave emergency exerted a wonderfully conciliatory force, and despite all the sacrifices of blood that we made on foreign fields, and despite all the difficult privations that we bore at home, the will has remained unshakable to risk the utmost for the last, victorious struggle. The national and social spirits were unified in mutual understanding and gave us lasting strength. Everyone felt: what had been built up during long years of peace, amid many internal difficulties, was worth defending.
The achievements of the whole nation in war and need shine before my soul. The experiences of this struggle for our national existence are inaugurating a new epoch in magnificent solemnity. As the responsible Chancellor of the German Reich and First Minister of my Prussian Government, you face the obligation to help fulfill the demands of this time with the proper means and at the proper time. On various occasions you have spoken of the spirit in which the forms of our state’s life are to be rebuilt in order to foster the free, enthusiastic cooperation of all members of our nation. The principles that you worked out on these occasions have, as you know, my approval. I am aware that in giving it, I am following the course of my grandfather, the founder of the Reich, who fulfilled his monarchical responsibilities in exemplary fashion, both when, as king of Prussia, he presided over the organisation of the military, and when, as German Kaiser, he oversaw social reform. In so doing, he created the foundations on which the German people will survive this bloody time in unanimous and wrathful perseverance.
To preserve the armed forces as a true army of the people, to promote the social improvement of all classes of the people, has been my aim from the beginning of my reign. Determined as I am to serve the commonwealth, in hard-tested unity between the people and the monarchy, I have decided to begin the reconstruction of our domestic political, economic, and social life to the extent that the conditions of war permit.
Millions of our fellow countrymen are still on the battlefield. Behind the front, the settlement of differences of opinion, which are unavoidable in connection with a far-reaching alteration of the Constitution, must be postponed in the highest patriotic interest, until our warriors have returned home and can themselves by word and deed aid in the progress of the new age. However, in order to allow the necessary and practical steps in this connection to take place immediately upon the successful end of the war, which I confidently hope is not far off, I wish that the preparations be concluded without delay.
I am especially anxious to see the reorganisation of the Prussian parliament and the liberation of all our domestic politics from this problem. On my orders, preparations for altering the suffrage for the Bundestag were made at the beginning of the war. I now charge you to submit to me concrete proposals from the State Ministry, so this work, which is basic to the structure of domestic politics in Prussia, will quickly be carried out by legislation, once our warriors have returned. Given the colossal achievements of the whole people in this terrible war, I am convinced that there is no room any longer for the three-class franchise system in Prussia. Furthermore, the proposed bill is to provide for the direct and secret election of deputies.
No King of Prussia will fail to appreciate the merits and enduring significance of the Bundesrat for the state. But the Bundesrat will better be able to meet the colossal demands of the coming age if, to a broader and more equitable extent than before, it unifies in its midst leading men from the diverse sectors and vocations of the people, men who are distinguished by the respect of their fellow citizens.
In renewing important dimensions of our firmly established and hard-tested state apparatus, I am acting in the traditions of my great forebears as I demonstrate my confidence in a loyal, brave, disciplined, and highly developed people."
The speech made vague promises of reform to the German government,with people speculating it was referencing the constitution, the Reichstag, or even the granting of women's suffrage. Of course, the speech was vague and no date of implementation or even a guarantee to follow through on this reform was given and with the war ending in a German victory, the Kaiser and his government had not begun any attempts of reform. Hollweg's failed attempts of compromise between the left and the right had alienated many on both sides from the current system, which did not help the situation. A precarious centrist government is maintained as neither side wants to give up ground to the other and both lack the power to swing the pendulum to their liking. This has led to serious grid-locking and extreme inefficiency within most, if not all, sectors of government and the people are unwilling to start another war. In general, a sense of contentedness, stagnation, and apathy has settled into the German society and it's people. Most German citizens are happy to listen to their favorite radio stars and indulge in the great German theatre culture while the communist and revanchists powers grow in might until the day they could strike Germany.
As Beatty exercise commences, a squadron of planes is spotted approaching the fleet. Beatty orders HMS Hannibal and HMS Barham to fire warning salvos while HMS Ark Royal deploys her own fighters to intimidate the French pilots. The sight of the salvos and the planes scare away the French and Beatty is pleased. The exercise continues uninterrupted and by its end, the whole world knows that the Royal Navy holds naval supremacy over the English Channel. The French have been cowed and the Soviets angered, with the German's having to reluctantly support this move. Beatty returns to port with great applause, as many feared that Britain would back down in the face of this provocation. Mosley congratulates Beatty publicly in a speech in London.
Oswald Mosley
"My fellow Britons, the Hero of Jutland has once again displayed Britain's naval might to all the world! The vile communists believed that they could prevent the destiny of these great Isles and their people by flaunting their false strength in our faces. They dare to send their symbols of slavery and godlessness into our beautiful Channel. They expected us to let such a transgression pass, to let such an insult to the British people be. They are wrong! We are a strong and proud race! Intelligent and diligent! Today, we have once again proven that Britannia rules the waves!"
The people continue applaud Beatty and Mosley. The two head to Mosley's office afterwards. Once they sit down Mosley begins to speak.
Oswald Mosley
"I sincerely thank you Beatty. You defended our naval dominance against the Comintern's actions. Your speedy response put an end to the plans of those filthy upstarts."
David Beatty
"It was my pleasure your Excellency. I'll take any chance I can to stand up to those revolting communists. I am glad we are now alone, I wanted to talk with you in private, before the military assembly with Fuller and Trenchard.
Oswald Mosley
"What about?"
David Beatty
"It relates to the new theory on naval warfare I have been crafting. It is radically different than the conventional primacy of the battleship. Although there are different strategies using this primacy, such as Fleet in Being, they all revolve around commanding powerful warships, where naval might is measured purely in tonnage displaced, number of guns operating and caliber length. This proves extremely costly, so much so that admirals feel that using these powerful ships could incur a cost so great that anything short of total victory would be pyrrhic in nature. This is a problem, one summarised so perfectly at Jutland. I seek to correct this, to implement a new doctrine."
Oswald Mosley
"And what would you propose?"
David Beatty
"I propose a doctrine centered around the seaplane carrier and the air support it can provide in battle. The introduction of airplanes will effect every aspect of war, on land and at sea. Seaplanes are much cheaper to build than dreadnoughts or cruisers and if the technology were to be improved, they could end up becoming an equal if not significantly more dangerous threat to ships. They can be fielded in larger numbers if enough carriers were present and are far more maneuverable than a colossal dreadnought or even a more sprightly cruiser. There is more to it than that, the reconnaissance benefits, power projection, land support, and many other components that have convinced me to follow through with this."
Oswald Mosley
"What exactly prompted you to seek this new way of naval warfare?"
David Beatty
"It was a variety of factors that impelled me to think on this. But the two most important events were Jutland and the Japanese use of sea-based planes at the siege of Tsingtao. Jutland motivated me to find a new way to fight smarter, not harder, and the Japanese tactics at Tsingtao opened the doors in my mind to those new possibilities. "
Oswald Mosley
"Do you have a name to call this new doctrine?"
David Beatty
"I do not have an official name, I intend to arrive at one by the date of the assembly. For now, I have referred to it simply as the "Pelican Strategy". Its name is self-explanatory."
Oswald Mosley
"I see. Still, it is a very promising doctrine, and if you believe that this is the route to restoring Britain's naval dominance over the world, then I entrust you with great confidence to take the necessary steps to fulfill this vision. With oversight and suggestions from the government and other branches of course. I will never forget how you saved my life and the lives of my brothers-in-arms."
David Beatty
"Thank you. I must be going now as I am very tired from the intensive work over the last 2 weeks."
Oswald Mosley
"Of course, good day to you mister Beatty."
David Beatty
"And good day to you your Excellency."
As Beatty departs, Mosley remains at his desk. He still has much work to do. Chambers and Makgill have recently finished a collaboration on a set of policies that were to be presented to Parliament. These laws would strengthen the powers of the Prime Minister and MI5. Kitson had also sent some more economic policy to present in Parliament. Mosley would have to push these policies through Parliament, he would use the popularity gained from his recent actions to achieve this. Mosley is proud that the British Isles stand stalwart against the world.
Joseph Stalin, Primary Contender to Leon Trotsky's Rise to Preeminence in the Soviet Union, 1925
Maurice Thorez, Head of the Nationalist Party in the French Commune and a Stalinist, 1925
Boris Souvarine, Head of the Internationalist Party in the French Commune and a Trotskyist, 1923
Maxim Litvinov, Soviet Ambassador to the French Commune, 1921
HMS Cairo, a C-Class Light Cruiser in the English Channel, 1925
HMS Aphis, an Insect-Class Gunboat in the English Channel, 1925
HMS Ark Royal, a Seaplane Carrier in the English Channel, 1925
HMS Hannibal, a Majestic-Class Pre-Dreadnought Battleship in the English Channel, 1925
HMS Barham, a Queen Elizabeth-Class Battleship in the English Channel, 1925
HMS Hood, an Admiral-Class Battlecruiser and the Pride of the Royal Navy, the Only of Her Kind, in the English Channel, 1925
Chapter 11: The Isles Stand Stalwart
April 18, 1925
Some time has passed since the infamous London Conference. The members of the Comintern immediately denounced it, saying it was a prime display of capitalist imperialism. Joseph Stalin, primary contestant to Trotsky's rise to leadership of the Soviet Union, stated how he felt to a crowd in Moscow.
Joseph Stalin
"My fellow countrymen, today I stand here to speak out against what has transpired in London 18 days ago. The corruption and greed shown by the Western leaders is microcosm of everything wrong with the old model of government. It is this arrogant and blindingly foolish ideology that will seal the fates of these kings and ministers. Know with certainty that when we overthrow and hang the capitalists, it will be with bullets we made and rope they sold us."
Stalin, being a man of few words, retreats back to his quarters shortly after. The speech helps appeal to some of his softer opponents and even convinces some to side with him. Germany also condemns the event but is unable to fully speak out against it out of fear of seeming in league with the Comintern.
Litvinov is dispatched to Paris to advise the French on what action to take for the foreseeable future, with Grigory Chicherin emphasising aggression towards the British and their newfound alliance instead of towards the Germans due to Molotov's suggestion. Chicherin sends Molotov to Berlin to work with Karl Radek, the Soviet Union's representative in Germany, with plans to ease the Germans to their presence. With this advice from the Soviets, the French stage a naval exercise in the Channel to show off their strength to the British. In response, Beatty sends a petition to Mosley asking permission to stage a naval exercise, much larger than the one the French did, less than 13 knots off the coast of Calais.
The letter also includes a request to have Mosley arrange a meeting between himself, Fuller, and Hugh Trenchard, Marshall of the Royal Air Force, in order to work on cementing cooperation of the Air Force with the Army and the introduction of an innovative theory on how naval warfare would be waged in the next Great War. Mosley signs off on the naval exercise but is sure to let Beatty know that he must avoid war as Britain is not ready for a full-scale one. He agrees to the meeting between the branches and decides it should include not just the respective heads of each branch but also of many of the general staff of them as well as himself.
Beatty, with Mosley's permission, begins to consolidate a fleet big enough to intimidate the French. Beatty would bring the battleships HMS Barham, HMS Hood and HMS Hannibal, the cruisers HMS Achilles, HMS Ambrose, HMS Aphis, HMS Birmingham, HMS Cairo, HMS Calcutta, HMS Calliope, HMS Calypso, HMS Cambrian, HMS Canterbury, HMS Capetown, HMS Caradoc, HMS Cardiff and HMS Carlisle, the destroyer HMS Blenheim, the monitor HMS Erebus and the seaplane carrier HMS Ark Royal as well as 2 dozen or so militarised civilian ships. HMS Hermes was not ready to leave her port as her construction had been delayed due to the Depression. As the fleet converges over the course of the next 2 weeks, Mosley does his best to keep most of the movement secret and the bits that slip through are branded as scheduled movements. These efforts pay off and on the 2nd of May, 3 days before the exercise would go through, the movements of the Royal Navy are mostly unscrutinised by the world. Information relating to the exercise is purposely leaked so as to get the story into international view by the 5th. On the 5th, Beatty's fleet, headed by HMS Hood, steams out towards the coast of Calais.
The French had received news of the exercise and are deliberating on how to respond. Litvinov has no idea how the Kremlin wants the French to react and word from Moscow itself will take too long. They have to make a decision on their own. Two major factions arise. On one side are the Internationalists, led by Boris Souvarine, a supporter of Trotsky, who want to fire on the fleet with everything they have available. The idea is that Britain's fleet has shrunken greatly since WWI, mostly due to the Battle of Jutland and a decent number of the remaining fleet being sold off, and that the fleet coming to the Calais coast contains a sizable chunk of the powerful ships in the Royal Navy and that by dealing a decisive blow, they can cripple Britain's ability to fight and that their prime alliegance is to the workers of the world, not just any one nation. On the other side are the Nationalists, led by Maurice Thorez, a supporter of Stalin, who want to leave the fleet be as they believed that Comintern cannot make any meaningful actions against Britain or her allies and that it will only anger people in an unstable society and that their ultimate allegiance is to France, not the world. In the end, both sides are deadlocked and Litvinov must choose a side to break the stalemate as the remaining undecided members would gravitate to him. He decides to side with the Thorez and let the fleet be. However, he urges Thorez to send a squadron of airplanes into the vicinity of the fleet so as to put up some resistance.
As the world watches, Beatty's fleet reaches the designated point and begins the exercise. Germany is on high alert as well as it did not want to be defenseless if Europe is to descend into war once again. Kaiser Wilhelm II is forced by the Reichstag and Reichskanzler Maximilian von Baden to support the British. Even though Germany is powerful, there are many factions and internal divisions weakening it.
During the war, unrest and protests were rising in Germany due to the British blockade which still continued even after Jutland, with less success. This combined with a potato crop failure because of poor Autumn weather and a lack of able-bodied men due to intensive drafting, with most heading to the Eastern Front due to the startling success of the Brusilov Offensive. Most of the remaining crop that had not failed, spoiled on the way to the cities. These events culminated into what is now known as the Turnip Winter. It was called this as turnips came to replace potatoes in the diets of most German civilians and soldiers, much to their disdain. Malnutrition rose, rations dropped both at home and at the front and even though the war in France was still in Germany's favor, the recent losses on the Eastern Front to General Aleksei Brusilov's daring offensive, the failure at Tours in 1914 as well as the 400,000 people dead due to starvation all made the people tired of war and demands that the Kaiser make a less substantial but immediate peace began to circulate. Rations for the navy dropped to such lows that a naval mutiny arose as sailors were angry that they were virtually starving while officers were wining and dining heartily.
In light of these events, Reichskanzler Bethmann Hollweg convinced Kaiser Wilhelm II to make a speech addressing the nation which was delivered to the Reichstag and then published on April 6, the same day as the USPD was established. The USPD was a social democratic party that was formed by alienated members of the SPD, an older socialist party that had drifted to the center and supported the war despite the Second International's objection. The message, being viewed by most of the population a day before Easter, would come to be known as the Easter Message. The message was written as follows.
Kaiser Wilhelm II
"Never before has the German people proved so unshakable as in this war. The realisation that the Fatherland faced a grave emergency exerted a wonderfully conciliatory force, and despite all the sacrifices of blood that we made on foreign fields, and despite all the difficult privations that we bore at home, the will has remained unshakable to risk the utmost for the last, victorious struggle. The national and social spirits were unified in mutual understanding and gave us lasting strength. Everyone felt: what had been built up during long years of peace, amid many internal difficulties, was worth defending.
The achievements of the whole nation in war and need shine before my soul. The experiences of this struggle for our national existence are inaugurating a new epoch in magnificent solemnity. As the responsible Chancellor of the German Reich and First Minister of my Prussian Government, you face the obligation to help fulfill the demands of this time with the proper means and at the proper time. On various occasions you have spoken of the spirit in which the forms of our state’s life are to be rebuilt in order to foster the free, enthusiastic cooperation of all members of our nation. The principles that you worked out on these occasions have, as you know, my approval. I am aware that in giving it, I am following the course of my grandfather, the founder of the Reich, who fulfilled his monarchical responsibilities in exemplary fashion, both when, as king of Prussia, he presided over the organisation of the military, and when, as German Kaiser, he oversaw social reform. In so doing, he created the foundations on which the German people will survive this bloody time in unanimous and wrathful perseverance.
To preserve the armed forces as a true army of the people, to promote the social improvement of all classes of the people, has been my aim from the beginning of my reign. Determined as I am to serve the commonwealth, in hard-tested unity between the people and the monarchy, I have decided to begin the reconstruction of our domestic political, economic, and social life to the extent that the conditions of war permit.
Millions of our fellow countrymen are still on the battlefield. Behind the front, the settlement of differences of opinion, which are unavoidable in connection with a far-reaching alteration of the Constitution, must be postponed in the highest patriotic interest, until our warriors have returned home and can themselves by word and deed aid in the progress of the new age. However, in order to allow the necessary and practical steps in this connection to take place immediately upon the successful end of the war, which I confidently hope is not far off, I wish that the preparations be concluded without delay.
I am especially anxious to see the reorganisation of the Prussian parliament and the liberation of all our domestic politics from this problem. On my orders, preparations for altering the suffrage for the Bundestag were made at the beginning of the war. I now charge you to submit to me concrete proposals from the State Ministry, so this work, which is basic to the structure of domestic politics in Prussia, will quickly be carried out by legislation, once our warriors have returned. Given the colossal achievements of the whole people in this terrible war, I am convinced that there is no room any longer for the three-class franchise system in Prussia. Furthermore, the proposed bill is to provide for the direct and secret election of deputies.
No King of Prussia will fail to appreciate the merits and enduring significance of the Bundesrat for the state. But the Bundesrat will better be able to meet the colossal demands of the coming age if, to a broader and more equitable extent than before, it unifies in its midst leading men from the diverse sectors and vocations of the people, men who are distinguished by the respect of their fellow citizens.
In renewing important dimensions of our firmly established and hard-tested state apparatus, I am acting in the traditions of my great forebears as I demonstrate my confidence in a loyal, brave, disciplined, and highly developed people."
The speech made vague promises of reform to the German government,with people speculating it was referencing the constitution, the Reichstag, or even the granting of women's suffrage. Of course, the speech was vague and no date of implementation or even a guarantee to follow through on this reform was given and with the war ending in a German victory, the Kaiser and his government had not begun any attempts of reform. Hollweg's failed attempts of compromise between the left and the right had alienated many on both sides from the current system, which did not help the situation. A precarious centrist government is maintained as neither side wants to give up ground to the other and both lack the power to swing the pendulum to their liking. This has led to serious grid-locking and extreme inefficiency within most, if not all, sectors of government and the people are unwilling to start another war. In general, a sense of contentedness, stagnation, and apathy has settled into the German society and it's people. Most German citizens are happy to listen to their favorite radio stars and indulge in the great German theatre culture while the communist and revanchists powers grow in might until the day they could strike Germany.
As Beatty exercise commences, a squadron of planes is spotted approaching the fleet. Beatty orders HMS Hannibal and HMS Barham to fire warning salvos while HMS Ark Royal deploys her own fighters to intimidate the French pilots. The sight of the salvos and the planes scare away the French and Beatty is pleased. The exercise continues uninterrupted and by its end, the whole world knows that the Royal Navy holds naval supremacy over the English Channel. The French have been cowed and the Soviets angered, with the German's having to reluctantly support this move. Beatty returns to port with great applause, as many feared that Britain would back down in the face of this provocation. Mosley congratulates Beatty publicly in a speech in London.
Oswald Mosley
"My fellow Britons, the Hero of Jutland has once again displayed Britain's naval might to all the world! The vile communists believed that they could prevent the destiny of these great Isles and their people by flaunting their false strength in our faces. They dare to send their symbols of slavery and godlessness into our beautiful Channel. They expected us to let such a transgression pass, to let such an insult to the British people be. They are wrong! We are a strong and proud race! Intelligent and diligent! Today, we have once again proven that Britannia rules the waves!"
The people continue applaud Beatty and Mosley. The two head to Mosley's office afterwards. Once they sit down Mosley begins to speak.
Oswald Mosley
"I sincerely thank you Beatty. You defended our naval dominance against the Comintern's actions. Your speedy response put an end to the plans of those filthy upstarts."
David Beatty
"It was my pleasure your Excellency. I'll take any chance I can to stand up to those revolting communists. I am glad we are now alone, I wanted to talk with you in private, before the military assembly with Fuller and Trenchard.
Oswald Mosley
"What about?"
David Beatty
"It relates to the new theory on naval warfare I have been crafting. It is radically different than the conventional primacy of the battleship. Although there are different strategies using this primacy, such as Fleet in Being, they all revolve around commanding powerful warships, where naval might is measured purely in tonnage displaced, number of guns operating and caliber length. This proves extremely costly, so much so that admirals feel that using these powerful ships could incur a cost so great that anything short of total victory would be pyrrhic in nature. This is a problem, one summarised so perfectly at Jutland. I seek to correct this, to implement a new doctrine."
Oswald Mosley
"And what would you propose?"
David Beatty
"I propose a doctrine centered around the seaplane carrier and the air support it can provide in battle. The introduction of airplanes will effect every aspect of war, on land and at sea. Seaplanes are much cheaper to build than dreadnoughts or cruisers and if the technology were to be improved, they could end up becoming an equal if not significantly more dangerous threat to ships. They can be fielded in larger numbers if enough carriers were present and are far more maneuverable than a colossal dreadnought or even a more sprightly cruiser. There is more to it than that, the reconnaissance benefits, power projection, land support, and many other components that have convinced me to follow through with this."
Oswald Mosley
"What exactly prompted you to seek this new way of naval warfare?"
David Beatty
"It was a variety of factors that impelled me to think on this. But the two most important events were Jutland and the Japanese use of sea-based planes at the siege of Tsingtao. Jutland motivated me to find a new way to fight smarter, not harder, and the Japanese tactics at Tsingtao opened the doors in my mind to those new possibilities. "
Oswald Mosley
"Do you have a name to call this new doctrine?"
David Beatty
"I do not have an official name, I intend to arrive at one by the date of the assembly. For now, I have referred to it simply as the "Pelican Strategy". Its name is self-explanatory."
Oswald Mosley
"I see. Still, it is a very promising doctrine, and if you believe that this is the route to restoring Britain's naval dominance over the world, then I entrust you with great confidence to take the necessary steps to fulfill this vision. With oversight and suggestions from the government and other branches of course. I will never forget how you saved my life and the lives of my brothers-in-arms."
David Beatty
"Thank you. I must be going now as I am very tired from the intensive work over the last 2 weeks."
Oswald Mosley
"Of course, good day to you mister Beatty."
David Beatty
"And good day to you your Excellency."
As Beatty departs, Mosley remains at his desk. He still has much work to do. Chambers and Makgill have recently finished a collaboration on a set of policies that were to be presented to Parliament. These laws would strengthen the powers of the Prime Minister and MI5. Kitson had also sent some more economic policy to present in Parliament. Mosley would have to push these policies through Parliament, he would use the popularity gained from his recent actions to achieve this. Mosley is proud that the British Isles stand stalwart against the world.
Joseph Stalin, Primary Contender to Leon Trotsky's Rise to Preeminence in the Soviet Union, 1925
Maurice Thorez, Head of the Nationalist Party in the French Commune and a Stalinist, 1925
Boris Souvarine, Head of the Internationalist Party in the French Commune and a Trotskyist, 1923
Maxim Litvinov, Soviet Ambassador to the French Commune, 1921
HMS Cairo, a C-Class Light Cruiser in the English Channel, 1925
HMS Aphis, an Insect-Class Gunboat in the English Channel, 1925
HMS Ark Royal, a Seaplane Carrier in the English Channel, 1925
HMS Hannibal, a Majestic-Class Pre-Dreadnought Battleship in the English Channel, 1925
HMS Barham, a Queen Elizabeth-Class Battleship in the English Channel, 1925
HMS Hood, an Admiral-Class Battlecruiser and the Pride of the Royal Navy, the Only of Her Kind, in the English Channel, 1925
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Glory to the British and Her Majesty’s Navy! They will fight off the stagnating Huns and godless Communists and rule the seas with the glorious Union Jack flattering in the fresh air of British imperialism!
This Seaplane carrier doctrine is going to evolve into a true carrier doctrine I hope
I think Winston Churchill will be in Moseley's party, due to both of them wanting to stick it to the Commies and the Huns, and wanting to restore the Empire
Lord_Vespasian
Banned
His legacy is mixed and causes divides in the party, it's not a big deal however as he resigned after the war ended and left public life in disgrace. Some view his unwillingness to go to war with Germany until Belgium was invaded as weakness that led to the British being unable to scrounge up significant numbers at Marne but some view it as trying to keep the peace and protect the empire from collapsing. Generally speaking though most people hold more hatred towards the French government for being so weak as to not stop the Germans at Marne.
Yes. His miscalculations at Gallipoli did cost him a lot of public support and since Britain didn't invent the tank this time around(they were trying to just hold the line) he doesn't get that praise that he got OTL but within the party he's mostly liked as he wanted to attack Germany earlier and never wanted to shrink the armed forces, although like I said, Gallipoli does hurt his reputation more than OTL as Britain lost the war.
Lord_Vespasian
Banned
When you walk into a bar to get some beer and the bartender says Hallo instead of Hello
Lord_Vespasian
Banned
Chapter 12 should be finished and out today at 12. Stay tuned 
. Also the weather where I live is bipolar, help
. Also the weather where I live is bipolar, help
The Art of War
Lord_Vespasian
Banned
The Sun Rises Yet Again
Chapter 12: The Art of War
May 17, 1925
All the general staff of the three major branches of the British military are gathered. J. F. C. Fuller leads the Army, David Beatty is head of the Royal Navy and Hugh Trenchard represents the Royal Air Force.
They all have their best men with them today, hoping to put their best foot forward.
Fuller brings Liddell Hart, Bernard Montgomery, Edmund "Tiny" Ironside, Alan "Shrapnel" Brooke, Archibald Wavell, John "Tiger Gort" Vereker, Claude "The Auk" Auchinleck and a plethora of officers from the Camberley Staff College.
Beatty brings Reginald Henderson, Russel Grenfell, Lumley Lyster, Charles Madden, Herbert Richmond, Andrew "ABC' Cunningham, Reginald Drax and numerous naval officers of the Greenwich Royal Navy College.
Trenchard brings Arthur Harris, Hugh Dowding and Charles Portal as well as several other theorists and pilots from the Cranwell Royal Air Force College.
All have rehearsed and prepared their speaking points and are ready to deliver them.
Mosley joins the men into the conference room. As the men sit down in their respective groups, Mosley is the first to speak, standing in an elevated position, equidistant to all the groups, signifying his superiority and respect to all branches.
Oswald Mosley
"Gentlemen, today we are here to discuss the strategies, tactics, operational procedures, technological and doctrinal innovations, potential synergy between the branches and, of course, the direction, focus, and goals of Britain in the coming decades. Let us discuss the issues with vigor and passion but also with the tact and courtesy necessary to keep a proper pace and to prevent senseless bickering. Now, the Army underneath J. F. C. Fuller may take the floor."
J. F. C. Fuller
"Thank you your Excellency. As we all know, the army needs a major overhaul. The outdated tactics of the early years of the war cost us dearly. It wasn't until late 1917 that commanders and generals finally understood some of the tactics needed to fight effectively in that truly modern war, but by that time it was too late. Even Field Marshall Haig, for all his efforts, could not turn the war in our favour, even the victory at Lyon was not enough. With this costly and terrible lesson, I believe the General Staff and I have reached several conclusions that will benefit the army. The first of these is to develop a large and powerful tank corps, emphasising speed, decisive breakthroughs and the encirclement of enemy forces. This will be crucial to our success in our continental endeavors as most of our foes will have numerically superior armies. We will have to take inspiration from Napoleon, especially his victories at Austerlitz, Helmuth von Moltke the Elder, Clausewitz and many other military geniuses. Defeat in Detail, mass mobility, armored breakthroughs, superior firepower and rapid encirclement will be essential to ensuring sustained success without incurring abhorrent butcher's bills like in the Great War or, as I prefer to call it, the Seminal Aberration. We must also expand the NCO corps so as to exercise effective control over the massive armies of the modern age. Individual initiative and deviation from certain aspects of the overall strategic plan to achieve meaningful tactical success must not only be allowed but encouraged. The radio and its coming advancements will help generals and field marshals maintain efficient and tight control and communication with the front-line and to react in real time, even faster than the telephone. However, even if this becomes so widespread as to allow obsessive direction of all forces, this should not be pursued or desired. Men at the front-line, officers and infantry, must be allowed to make their own decisions. We cannot account for everything and an insistence that we can or should will lead to unnecessary bloodshed. A doctrine of autonomy, if you will. We must also seek to improve our understanding of the three C's of warfare, Command, Control and Communication, or C3 for short as well as the 9 Principles of War: Direction, Concentration, Distribution, Determination, Surprise, Endurance, Mobility, Offensive Action and Security. These 9 Principles do not stand on their own but instead overlap, forming the Law of Economy of Force. Furthermore, the 9 Principles are joined into 3 groups with 3 principles each, the Principles of Control are 1, 4 and 7, the Principles of Pressure are 2, 5 and 8, and the Principles of Resistance are 3, 6 and 9. Improving our understanding of these concepts will allow us a better view of the battlefield in its entirety."
Fuller, Hart, and Montgomery are the primary advocates of these radical views and alterations to warfare, with Ironside being the first of the old guard to embrace it. With these 4 men combining their efforts, they manage to sway the majority of the room to their viewpoint, with the last few naysayers being suppressed when Mosley assures he intends to fully back these ideas. After this, the rest of the army staff go up and express the needs for proper recruitment tactics, improvement of mobilisation speed and efficiency as well as research and development of more advanced technologies to improve the amphibious capabilities of the army. With the army staff having finished with everything they desired to speak about, Mosley once again calls the attention of all involved.
Oswald Mosley
"Most impressive and convincing Mister Fuller. With that done, the Royal Air Force under Hugh Trenchard shall now take the floor."
Hugh Trenchard
"Thank you Sir Mosley. With the advent of the fighter plane came the introduction to entirely alien dimension of warfare, the skies. No longer is it sufficient to hold land and naval superiority; one must maintain control of the land, the seas and the skies if he is to ensure that his men can operate with impunity. At the moment, military aviation as whole is in its infancy, only just over a decade ago was it ushered into the world. Despite its complications and uncertainties, military aviation holds the potential to completely shift the way war is fought. With the introduction of stronger engines, we will soon see the debut of heavier-than-air aircraft into practical military use. With these larger and more powerful planes, we can begin to develop even heavier payloads for our bombers. This opens up gateways to a new way to weaken an enemies' war effort and morale of their citizenry without even moving our ground troops. It is something Arthur Harris, Charles Portal, the rest of my colleagues, and I have spent many hours if not days theorising about. We were having difficulties reaching a name until it dawned on me, the perfect moniker for this idea of aerial warfare, Strategic Bombing. Harris, however, felt it was far to modest and kind for our enemies and instead favoured Strategic Destruction and we as whole agree. This idea would mean the development of advanced bomber craft capable of carrying extremely heavy and frighteningly destructive payloads and travelling the long distances required to strike the industrial heartland of the enemy. It would also mean developing fighters capable of escorting the bombers to their target and back to base. With this, we will strike fear into the hearts of our enemies'. They will wonder will dreadful uncertainty whether or not the towns and cities of their people are safe from our righteous fury."
This proposal immediately resonates with most if not all in the room. Both on a practical and symbolic level, it is very appealing. Fuller eagerly stands up to speak.
J. F. C Fuller
"Trenchard, I believe I speak on behalf of all in this room that your proposal is a most sound one. The vile communists and dastardly Huns will be drowned in a sea of hellfire and brimstone delivered from the British Isles!"
The room erupts into cheering. Only Mosley's commanding presence and voice manages to calm them down, back to the stoic and professional composure that they began with. Fuller begins to speak again
J. F. C. Fuller
"But we must also not forget another role the air force must fulfill, that being the assistance of ground forces on a tactical level. These very same bombing capabilities can be scaled down from destroying cities to destroying fortifications, troops, bases and any other objects or persons that seek to oppose our forces."
Hugh Dowding stands up and begins to speak.
Hugh Dowding
"I concur. As much as I agree with the merits of strategic destruction, I also believe we must not forget the most crucially important role the air force played in the Great War, assistance of ground troops. From carrying out reconnaissance runs to detailing where the next artillery bombardment should be directed towards, to dropping bombs onto enemy troops, the airplane proved it is capable of working in synchronous harmony to achieve fantastically destructive results. Development of more agile planes with a shorter range and smaller payloads, designed not lay waste to an unsuspecting town but instead to a hapless enemy battalion, will help us achieve great success. This doctrine of air support in close proximity to ground forces is extremely important. I believe we can refer to it as Close Air Support?"
The room sounds in agreement.
Hugh Dowding
"The challenge is in balancing these two approaches to ensure neither is ignored. This should not prove to be too difficult as both rely on the use of bombing ground targets to achieve goals. One is strategic, the other is tactical."
Hugh Trenchard
"I agree wholeheartedly! We must also reinforce the idea that the RAF is an independent organisation, deserving as much respect and freedom as the Army and Navy. One of the first steps toward this end is to abolish the Royal Navy Air Service and transfer it's resources, personnel and duties to a new group, the Fleet Air Arm, which will be underneath the RAF's control instead of the Royal Navy."
This idea is well received. With Trenchard and the Air Force finished, Mosley uses the brief silence to keep the momentum going.
Oswald Mosley
"Such ideas are most exciting to hear Trenchard and I have the utmost confidence that the RAF will successfully develop and implement them into the next war. Now, David Beatty and the Royal Navy may speak."
David Beatty
"Thank you Prime Minister. It is with great shame I mention the defeat at Jutland. That singular event perfectly encapsulates everything wrong with our naval doctrine. We need a new naval doctrine, even if the one we used was the right choice during the war, we can no longer hope to compete with Germany in the field of battleships. Even if we were to begin a massive fleet construction program, Germany will still have a bigger populace and economy and a several years head start. This problem is the Gordian Knot of the British Navy in the modern world. And like said knot, it can not be solved by simply building more titanic ships or pulling the knot harder. It can only be solved by looking at the problem from a new position, finding a previously unthought of solution. For Alexander, it was cutting the knot in half with his sword, for Britain, it is forging a bold, new way to wage war on the high seas. I believe sir Lyster, sir Henderson, sir Grenfell and I have talked and laboured extensively on this. To understand the merits of this doctrine I am to expound requires the ability to set aside one's biases to see what is best. This new doctrine shifts the focus of our navy from the vaunted dreadnoughts and battleships, from the idea that naval power is exclusively determined in number of guns, caliber length and tonnage displaced, of constructing and maintaining the biggest and largest ships, towards a less ostentatious but certainly more efficient fleet composition. Britain's navy, if she wishes to be successful in the coming conflicts, must place ultimate primacy on her carriers rather than her dreadnoughts. Aviation will fundamentally change how war is fought on the seas, as it has and will on every other front. With aviation advancing faster and faster, we will be able to build planes able to take off and land on carrier decks without ever touching the sea. We can make these planes faster, stronger, more agile and we can arm them with stronger, faster and more accurate torpedoes. Soon, the greatest danger to the enemies ships will no longer be the tremendous thundering of a dreadnought's salvo but of the hum of an airplane propeller and it's torpedo crashing into the sea. The HMS Hermes, still under construction, will serve as the basis for all future carriers. In addition, we must also take into account the power of the submarine. The ability of submersible craft to wreak havoc on the shipping tonnage of a nation must not be underestimated. We are all extremely lucky that Germany feared the intervention of the U.S. into the war and were unable to fully carry out their plan to starve Britain as they could not sink American ships too close to the Home Isles. Submarines must be developed, this will be easier than thought as the submarine's prime weapon, the torpedo, will also be in use by the naval air force and thus advancements in one field can benefit the other. The submarine can also remain hidden from the enemy and can infiltrate deep into enemy seas if need be. Submarines can also, if a situation demanded it, deal heavy or fatal damage to a larger ship, even a dreadnought. This shows we must also be vigilant for any advances in submarine technology by our enemies, especially from the Germans. To do so, we must develop our existing depth charges to be even more effective and accurate, able to penetrate the watery depths that enemy submarines will lurk at. The dreadnoughts, battleships and other ships will fulfill a purpose, that of serving as escorts and screens for the carriers. This doctrine of cooperation between carriers for winning naval engagements, submarines to strangle commerce and imports to a nation and destroyers to counteract enemy submarines shall be referred to as the Floating Fortress Doctrine. Unlike the dreadnought, which the term is incorrectly applied to, this doctrine forms a true fortress, with every ship and plane serving a purpose in the fleet just as every soldier and building serves one in a fortress and it's accompanying areas."
Soon after, Henderson, Lyster and Grenfell elaborate more on the "Floating Fortress" doctrine. Explaining how battleships are expensive to construct and that Germany will not stand for it. How pursuing this naval arms race of battleships with Germany would bankrupt Britain and plunge them into another depression, one potentially worse then the one currently experienced. They also explain how battleships and large cruisers are obvious targets for the enemy, more so than a carrier due to their established mythos while the carrier has none. They expand on the reasons why naval aircraft would become more deadly than anything before it and the need to advance anti-air defenses for both land and naval forces. The old guard are less enthusiastic towards this line of thinking than the army was to Fuller's. However, Mosley's approval and commendation of Beatty and his colleagues sway them over and soon they come to understand the merits of what they are saying. Trenchard fully supports this strategy. In the previous years he has had to vehemently defend the air force from budget cuts and being absorbed into other branches, which would destroy its independence as well as having to work vigorously to establish and entrench an esprit de corps for the Air Force. He views increasing the importance of aviation of the Air Force in field of naval combat would further help the Air Force command the respect and attention the other branches maintained.
With everyone having said their piece, Mosley announces that conference is over and that all in the room could return to their work except for Fuller, Beatty and Trenchard.
Oswald Mosley
"Gentlemen, I commend you for the excellent job you did today. Due to your efforts, Britain is another step closer to regaining what is her's. I also wish to inform I have been in contact with several scientists. Men such as John Ambrose Fleming, Oliver Joseph Lodge, Lewis Fry Richardson, Albert Beaumont Wood, Robert Watson Watt, and Édouard Branly as well as the Royal Society. They have all been working om several different versions and pieces of technology, the use of radio waves to detect enemy planes as well as improve current radio transmitters to allow more efficient communication and the use of sonic vibrations to detect enemy submarines. I have asked if they could combine their efforts to develop advanced radio and sonic detection systems. They all agreed and I am setting up the buildings and gathering the resources they require as we speak. Soon, you will have advanced submarine detection capabilities and communication from the front to high command will become much faster and early plane detection systems will help us fend off any potential bombing campaigns. I believe the combination of all the ideas of war into a two phrases. Cyclonic Conflict for the strategy and Whirlwind Warfare for the tactics. You are now dismissed."
The men are pleased by this news and return to their jobs. About 2 or so hours have passed since they first met and Mosley has other things to do. He has been working continuously with Chambers and Kitson to improve the economic situation as well as to increase the power of the Prime Minister. With the economy recovering, his successful attempts at demonstrating the power Britain still possessed, and the world famous London Conference have all led to even faster rising level of nationalism and loyalty to the country and to Mosley himself. Many view Mosley as the bringer of a new Golden Age for Britain and its people. He is extremely popular with the military as he has always advocated against reducing the military and shrinking the Defense Budget. Within a year's time, Mosley could call a snap election to increase the Victorian Union's numbers in the House of Commons dramatically . Mosley is determined to shatter the democratic elements of British society. In time, the people would learn to view him and the King as the ultimate authority on all matters. As he enters his office, he notices something on his desk, something that had not been there before. He approaches it and realises it is a book with a message on top. Mosley reads it.
"My dear friend Mosley, I sincerely hope you enjoy this book. It is a most fascinating look at the destitute state of Paris and, by extension, the Commune as a whole. Hopefully, this book can serve as an apology for my neglect of your birthday. The book is written by an English man going by the name P.S Burton. However this seems to simply be a pseudonym and not his actual name as I could not find any P.S Burton. I will write to you if I discover this author. I hope all is well with Cynthia as well as Vivien and Nicholas.
Sincerely,
Henry"
He looks at the book. The title reads "Down and Out in Paris". It appears to be intriguing and so he begins to read it. As he flips through the pages, he engrosses himself in the personal accounts of P.S Burton within France. The high crime rate, widespread destitution, poverty and famine, the inept Communard police forces, and the general volatile state of the city. He lays the book down, knowing he cannot finish the approximately 130 pages in a single sitting, not with his job. He swears to finish it as quickly as he can and once done, to find out who this P.S Burton really is. Mosley could find use for a man of such talents.
Basil Henry Liddell Hart, One of the Premier Theorists Underneath Mosley, as Seen in the Great War, 1916
Bernard Law Montgomery, One of Britain's Most Skilled Commanders, 1925
William Edmund Ironside, One of Britain's Most Distinguished Commanders, Famous for His Service Underneath the British Expeditionary Force to the Russian Whites, 1921
Alan Francis Brooke, A Talented Artillery Commander, Renowned for Integrating the French Creeping Barrage System into the British Army at the Battle of Vierzon, 1910
Claude John Eyre Auchinleck, A Masterful British Commanding Officer Who Displayed His Talents in the Mesopotamian Campaign Against the Ottomans. Despite Limited Forces Due to Problems in France, He Achieved Routine Success Against Larger Ottoman Forces and Almost Seized Baghdad But Was Ultimately Defeated When the Massive German Counter Attack Began in 1918 After France Surrendered, 1923
Hugh Montague Trenchard, First Head of the Royal Air Force and Primary Advocate Against Its Opponents in the Years to Come Following Its Creation, 1919
Arthur Travers Harris, A High Ranking Staff Member in the Cranwell Royal Air Force College and Essential Co-Creator of Strategic Destruction, Gaining Inspiration From Herman Göring's Use Of Heavy Bombings to Suppress Native Revolts in Mittleafrika, Much to the Dismay of Statthalter Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, 1915
Arthur Lumley St. George Lyster , Captain of the HMS Danae and a Member of the Greenwich Royal Naval College as Well as a Vocal Advocate For Carrier Primacy in the Royal Navy, 1921
Andrew Browne Cunningham, Commander of the British 1st Destroyer Flotilla and the Destroyer Base HMS Lochinvar, He Gained Respect For His Excellent Service in the Mediterranean, His Assistance During the Bordeaux Evacuations, and His Navigation of the Atlantic Coast and the Gulf of Guinea to Ward of German Attempts to Annex British and French Colonies in West Africa Such as Guinea, Ghana, Benin, Nigeria, and the Ivory Coast, 1925
Charles Edward Madden, British Admiral and a Skilled Commander. Leader of the 1st and 3rd Battle Squadrons, He Escaped Certain Death When an Illness Struck Him Just Over a Week Before the Battle of Jutland. If He Had Not Been Recovering From His Illness at Home He Would've Died Along With Jellicoe When His Ship Exploded ,1922
Chapter 12: The Art of War
May 17, 1925
All the general staff of the three major branches of the British military are gathered. J. F. C. Fuller leads the Army, David Beatty is head of the Royal Navy and Hugh Trenchard represents the Royal Air Force.
They all have their best men with them today, hoping to put their best foot forward.
Fuller brings Liddell Hart, Bernard Montgomery, Edmund "Tiny" Ironside, Alan "Shrapnel" Brooke, Archibald Wavell, John "Tiger Gort" Vereker, Claude "The Auk" Auchinleck and a plethora of officers from the Camberley Staff College.
Beatty brings Reginald Henderson, Russel Grenfell, Lumley Lyster, Charles Madden, Herbert Richmond, Andrew "ABC' Cunningham, Reginald Drax and numerous naval officers of the Greenwich Royal Navy College.
Trenchard brings Arthur Harris, Hugh Dowding and Charles Portal as well as several other theorists and pilots from the Cranwell Royal Air Force College.
All have rehearsed and prepared their speaking points and are ready to deliver them.
Mosley joins the men into the conference room. As the men sit down in their respective groups, Mosley is the first to speak, standing in an elevated position, equidistant to all the groups, signifying his superiority and respect to all branches.
Oswald Mosley
"Gentlemen, today we are here to discuss the strategies, tactics, operational procedures, technological and doctrinal innovations, potential synergy between the branches and, of course, the direction, focus, and goals of Britain in the coming decades. Let us discuss the issues with vigor and passion but also with the tact and courtesy necessary to keep a proper pace and to prevent senseless bickering. Now, the Army underneath J. F. C. Fuller may take the floor."
J. F. C. Fuller
"Thank you your Excellency. As we all know, the army needs a major overhaul. The outdated tactics of the early years of the war cost us dearly. It wasn't until late 1917 that commanders and generals finally understood some of the tactics needed to fight effectively in that truly modern war, but by that time it was too late. Even Field Marshall Haig, for all his efforts, could not turn the war in our favour, even the victory at Lyon was not enough. With this costly and terrible lesson, I believe the General Staff and I have reached several conclusions that will benefit the army. The first of these is to develop a large and powerful tank corps, emphasising speed, decisive breakthroughs and the encirclement of enemy forces. This will be crucial to our success in our continental endeavors as most of our foes will have numerically superior armies. We will have to take inspiration from Napoleon, especially his victories at Austerlitz, Helmuth von Moltke the Elder, Clausewitz and many other military geniuses. Defeat in Detail, mass mobility, armored breakthroughs, superior firepower and rapid encirclement will be essential to ensuring sustained success without incurring abhorrent butcher's bills like in the Great War or, as I prefer to call it, the Seminal Aberration. We must also expand the NCO corps so as to exercise effective control over the massive armies of the modern age. Individual initiative and deviation from certain aspects of the overall strategic plan to achieve meaningful tactical success must not only be allowed but encouraged. The radio and its coming advancements will help generals and field marshals maintain efficient and tight control and communication with the front-line and to react in real time, even faster than the telephone. However, even if this becomes so widespread as to allow obsessive direction of all forces, this should not be pursued or desired. Men at the front-line, officers and infantry, must be allowed to make their own decisions. We cannot account for everything and an insistence that we can or should will lead to unnecessary bloodshed. A doctrine of autonomy, if you will. We must also seek to improve our understanding of the three C's of warfare, Command, Control and Communication, or C3 for short as well as the 9 Principles of War: Direction, Concentration, Distribution, Determination, Surprise, Endurance, Mobility, Offensive Action and Security. These 9 Principles do not stand on their own but instead overlap, forming the Law of Economy of Force. Furthermore, the 9 Principles are joined into 3 groups with 3 principles each, the Principles of Control are 1, 4 and 7, the Principles of Pressure are 2, 5 and 8, and the Principles of Resistance are 3, 6 and 9. Improving our understanding of these concepts will allow us a better view of the battlefield in its entirety."
Fuller, Hart, and Montgomery are the primary advocates of these radical views and alterations to warfare, with Ironside being the first of the old guard to embrace it. With these 4 men combining their efforts, they manage to sway the majority of the room to their viewpoint, with the last few naysayers being suppressed when Mosley assures he intends to fully back these ideas. After this, the rest of the army staff go up and express the needs for proper recruitment tactics, improvement of mobilisation speed and efficiency as well as research and development of more advanced technologies to improve the amphibious capabilities of the army. With the army staff having finished with everything they desired to speak about, Mosley once again calls the attention of all involved.
Oswald Mosley
"Most impressive and convincing Mister Fuller. With that done, the Royal Air Force under Hugh Trenchard shall now take the floor."
Hugh Trenchard
"Thank you Sir Mosley. With the advent of the fighter plane came the introduction to entirely alien dimension of warfare, the skies. No longer is it sufficient to hold land and naval superiority; one must maintain control of the land, the seas and the skies if he is to ensure that his men can operate with impunity. At the moment, military aviation as whole is in its infancy, only just over a decade ago was it ushered into the world. Despite its complications and uncertainties, military aviation holds the potential to completely shift the way war is fought. With the introduction of stronger engines, we will soon see the debut of heavier-than-air aircraft into practical military use. With these larger and more powerful planes, we can begin to develop even heavier payloads for our bombers. This opens up gateways to a new way to weaken an enemies' war effort and morale of their citizenry without even moving our ground troops. It is something Arthur Harris, Charles Portal, the rest of my colleagues, and I have spent many hours if not days theorising about. We were having difficulties reaching a name until it dawned on me, the perfect moniker for this idea of aerial warfare, Strategic Bombing. Harris, however, felt it was far to modest and kind for our enemies and instead favoured Strategic Destruction and we as whole agree. This idea would mean the development of advanced bomber craft capable of carrying extremely heavy and frighteningly destructive payloads and travelling the long distances required to strike the industrial heartland of the enemy. It would also mean developing fighters capable of escorting the bombers to their target and back to base. With this, we will strike fear into the hearts of our enemies'. They will wonder will dreadful uncertainty whether or not the towns and cities of their people are safe from our righteous fury."
This proposal immediately resonates with most if not all in the room. Both on a practical and symbolic level, it is very appealing. Fuller eagerly stands up to speak.
J. F. C Fuller
"Trenchard, I believe I speak on behalf of all in this room that your proposal is a most sound one. The vile communists and dastardly Huns will be drowned in a sea of hellfire and brimstone delivered from the British Isles!"
The room erupts into cheering. Only Mosley's commanding presence and voice manages to calm them down, back to the stoic and professional composure that they began with. Fuller begins to speak again
J. F. C. Fuller
"But we must also not forget another role the air force must fulfill, that being the assistance of ground forces on a tactical level. These very same bombing capabilities can be scaled down from destroying cities to destroying fortifications, troops, bases and any other objects or persons that seek to oppose our forces."
Hugh Dowding stands up and begins to speak.
Hugh Dowding
"I concur. As much as I agree with the merits of strategic destruction, I also believe we must not forget the most crucially important role the air force played in the Great War, assistance of ground troops. From carrying out reconnaissance runs to detailing where the next artillery bombardment should be directed towards, to dropping bombs onto enemy troops, the airplane proved it is capable of working in synchronous harmony to achieve fantastically destructive results. Development of more agile planes with a shorter range and smaller payloads, designed not lay waste to an unsuspecting town but instead to a hapless enemy battalion, will help us achieve great success. This doctrine of air support in close proximity to ground forces is extremely important. I believe we can refer to it as Close Air Support?"
The room sounds in agreement.
Hugh Dowding
"The challenge is in balancing these two approaches to ensure neither is ignored. This should not prove to be too difficult as both rely on the use of bombing ground targets to achieve goals. One is strategic, the other is tactical."
Hugh Trenchard
"I agree wholeheartedly! We must also reinforce the idea that the RAF is an independent organisation, deserving as much respect and freedom as the Army and Navy. One of the first steps toward this end is to abolish the Royal Navy Air Service and transfer it's resources, personnel and duties to a new group, the Fleet Air Arm, which will be underneath the RAF's control instead of the Royal Navy."
This idea is well received. With Trenchard and the Air Force finished, Mosley uses the brief silence to keep the momentum going.
Oswald Mosley
"Such ideas are most exciting to hear Trenchard and I have the utmost confidence that the RAF will successfully develop and implement them into the next war. Now, David Beatty and the Royal Navy may speak."
David Beatty
"Thank you Prime Minister. It is with great shame I mention the defeat at Jutland. That singular event perfectly encapsulates everything wrong with our naval doctrine. We need a new naval doctrine, even if the one we used was the right choice during the war, we can no longer hope to compete with Germany in the field of battleships. Even if we were to begin a massive fleet construction program, Germany will still have a bigger populace and economy and a several years head start. This problem is the Gordian Knot of the British Navy in the modern world. And like said knot, it can not be solved by simply building more titanic ships or pulling the knot harder. It can only be solved by looking at the problem from a new position, finding a previously unthought of solution. For Alexander, it was cutting the knot in half with his sword, for Britain, it is forging a bold, new way to wage war on the high seas. I believe sir Lyster, sir Henderson, sir Grenfell and I have talked and laboured extensively on this. To understand the merits of this doctrine I am to expound requires the ability to set aside one's biases to see what is best. This new doctrine shifts the focus of our navy from the vaunted dreadnoughts and battleships, from the idea that naval power is exclusively determined in number of guns, caliber length and tonnage displaced, of constructing and maintaining the biggest and largest ships, towards a less ostentatious but certainly more efficient fleet composition. Britain's navy, if she wishes to be successful in the coming conflicts, must place ultimate primacy on her carriers rather than her dreadnoughts. Aviation will fundamentally change how war is fought on the seas, as it has and will on every other front. With aviation advancing faster and faster, we will be able to build planes able to take off and land on carrier decks without ever touching the sea. We can make these planes faster, stronger, more agile and we can arm them with stronger, faster and more accurate torpedoes. Soon, the greatest danger to the enemies ships will no longer be the tremendous thundering of a dreadnought's salvo but of the hum of an airplane propeller and it's torpedo crashing into the sea. The HMS Hermes, still under construction, will serve as the basis for all future carriers. In addition, we must also take into account the power of the submarine. The ability of submersible craft to wreak havoc on the shipping tonnage of a nation must not be underestimated. We are all extremely lucky that Germany feared the intervention of the U.S. into the war and were unable to fully carry out their plan to starve Britain as they could not sink American ships too close to the Home Isles. Submarines must be developed, this will be easier than thought as the submarine's prime weapon, the torpedo, will also be in use by the naval air force and thus advancements in one field can benefit the other. The submarine can also remain hidden from the enemy and can infiltrate deep into enemy seas if need be. Submarines can also, if a situation demanded it, deal heavy or fatal damage to a larger ship, even a dreadnought. This shows we must also be vigilant for any advances in submarine technology by our enemies, especially from the Germans. To do so, we must develop our existing depth charges to be even more effective and accurate, able to penetrate the watery depths that enemy submarines will lurk at. The dreadnoughts, battleships and other ships will fulfill a purpose, that of serving as escorts and screens for the carriers. This doctrine of cooperation between carriers for winning naval engagements, submarines to strangle commerce and imports to a nation and destroyers to counteract enemy submarines shall be referred to as the Floating Fortress Doctrine. Unlike the dreadnought, which the term is incorrectly applied to, this doctrine forms a true fortress, with every ship and plane serving a purpose in the fleet just as every soldier and building serves one in a fortress and it's accompanying areas."
Soon after, Henderson, Lyster and Grenfell elaborate more on the "Floating Fortress" doctrine. Explaining how battleships are expensive to construct and that Germany will not stand for it. How pursuing this naval arms race of battleships with Germany would bankrupt Britain and plunge them into another depression, one potentially worse then the one currently experienced. They also explain how battleships and large cruisers are obvious targets for the enemy, more so than a carrier due to their established mythos while the carrier has none. They expand on the reasons why naval aircraft would become more deadly than anything before it and the need to advance anti-air defenses for both land and naval forces. The old guard are less enthusiastic towards this line of thinking than the army was to Fuller's. However, Mosley's approval and commendation of Beatty and his colleagues sway them over and soon they come to understand the merits of what they are saying. Trenchard fully supports this strategy. In the previous years he has had to vehemently defend the air force from budget cuts and being absorbed into other branches, which would destroy its independence as well as having to work vigorously to establish and entrench an esprit de corps for the Air Force. He views increasing the importance of aviation of the Air Force in field of naval combat would further help the Air Force command the respect and attention the other branches maintained.
With everyone having said their piece, Mosley announces that conference is over and that all in the room could return to their work except for Fuller, Beatty and Trenchard.
Oswald Mosley
"Gentlemen, I commend you for the excellent job you did today. Due to your efforts, Britain is another step closer to regaining what is her's. I also wish to inform I have been in contact with several scientists. Men such as John Ambrose Fleming, Oliver Joseph Lodge, Lewis Fry Richardson, Albert Beaumont Wood, Robert Watson Watt, and Édouard Branly as well as the Royal Society. They have all been working om several different versions and pieces of technology, the use of radio waves to detect enemy planes as well as improve current radio transmitters to allow more efficient communication and the use of sonic vibrations to detect enemy submarines. I have asked if they could combine their efforts to develop advanced radio and sonic detection systems. They all agreed and I am setting up the buildings and gathering the resources they require as we speak. Soon, you will have advanced submarine detection capabilities and communication from the front to high command will become much faster and early plane detection systems will help us fend off any potential bombing campaigns. I believe the combination of all the ideas of war into a two phrases. Cyclonic Conflict for the strategy and Whirlwind Warfare for the tactics. You are now dismissed."
The men are pleased by this news and return to their jobs. About 2 or so hours have passed since they first met and Mosley has other things to do. He has been working continuously with Chambers and Kitson to improve the economic situation as well as to increase the power of the Prime Minister. With the economy recovering, his successful attempts at demonstrating the power Britain still possessed, and the world famous London Conference have all led to even faster rising level of nationalism and loyalty to the country and to Mosley himself. Many view Mosley as the bringer of a new Golden Age for Britain and its people. He is extremely popular with the military as he has always advocated against reducing the military and shrinking the Defense Budget. Within a year's time, Mosley could call a snap election to increase the Victorian Union's numbers in the House of Commons dramatically . Mosley is determined to shatter the democratic elements of British society. In time, the people would learn to view him and the King as the ultimate authority on all matters. As he enters his office, he notices something on his desk, something that had not been there before. He approaches it and realises it is a book with a message on top. Mosley reads it.
"My dear friend Mosley, I sincerely hope you enjoy this book. It is a most fascinating look at the destitute state of Paris and, by extension, the Commune as a whole. Hopefully, this book can serve as an apology for my neglect of your birthday. The book is written by an English man going by the name P.S Burton. However this seems to simply be a pseudonym and not his actual name as I could not find any P.S Burton. I will write to you if I discover this author. I hope all is well with Cynthia as well as Vivien and Nicholas.
Sincerely,
Henry"
He looks at the book. The title reads "Down and Out in Paris". It appears to be intriguing and so he begins to read it. As he flips through the pages, he engrosses himself in the personal accounts of P.S Burton within France. The high crime rate, widespread destitution, poverty and famine, the inept Communard police forces, and the general volatile state of the city. He lays the book down, knowing he cannot finish the approximately 130 pages in a single sitting, not with his job. He swears to finish it as quickly as he can and once done, to find out who this P.S Burton really is. Mosley could find use for a man of such talents.
Basil Henry Liddell Hart, One of the Premier Theorists Underneath Mosley, as Seen in the Great War, 1916
Bernard Law Montgomery, One of Britain's Most Skilled Commanders, 1925
William Edmund Ironside, One of Britain's Most Distinguished Commanders, Famous for His Service Underneath the British Expeditionary Force to the Russian Whites, 1921
Alan Francis Brooke, A Talented Artillery Commander, Renowned for Integrating the French Creeping Barrage System into the British Army at the Battle of Vierzon, 1910
Claude John Eyre Auchinleck, A Masterful British Commanding Officer Who Displayed His Talents in the Mesopotamian Campaign Against the Ottomans. Despite Limited Forces Due to Problems in France, He Achieved Routine Success Against Larger Ottoman Forces and Almost Seized Baghdad But Was Ultimately Defeated When the Massive German Counter Attack Began in 1918 After France Surrendered, 1923
Hugh Montague Trenchard, First Head of the Royal Air Force and Primary Advocate Against Its Opponents in the Years to Come Following Its Creation, 1919
Arthur Travers Harris, A High Ranking Staff Member in the Cranwell Royal Air Force College and Essential Co-Creator of Strategic Destruction, Gaining Inspiration From Herman Göring's Use Of Heavy Bombings to Suppress Native Revolts in Mittleafrika, Much to the Dismay of Statthalter Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, 1915
Arthur Lumley St. George Lyster , Captain of the HMS Danae and a Member of the Greenwich Royal Naval College as Well as a Vocal Advocate For Carrier Primacy in the Royal Navy, 1921
Andrew Browne Cunningham, Commander of the British 1st Destroyer Flotilla and the Destroyer Base HMS Lochinvar, He Gained Respect For His Excellent Service in the Mediterranean, His Assistance During the Bordeaux Evacuations, and His Navigation of the Atlantic Coast and the Gulf of Guinea to Ward of German Attempts to Annex British and French Colonies in West Africa Such as Guinea, Ghana, Benin, Nigeria, and the Ivory Coast, 1925
Charles Edward Madden, British Admiral and a Skilled Commander. Leader of the 1st and 3rd Battle Squadrons, He Escaped Certain Death When an Illness Struck Him Just Over a Week Before the Battle of Jutland. If He Had Not Been Recovering From His Illness at Home He Would've Died Along With Jellicoe When His Ship Exploded ,1922
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Well, this is surely interesting! These radical changes to the British military, including the addition of TTL's Strategic Bombing, Floating Fortress, and radio, will surely strengthen Brittania from the Huns!
Not only that, but George Orwell being part of the VU? That would just be utterly shocking! Animal Farm and 1984 will definitely be different!
Not only that, but George Orwell being part of the VU? That would just be utterly shocking! Animal Farm and 1984 will definitely be different!