This would cost him his life. On the evening of November 11, 1911, just two months into the Great World War, MacDonald was watching a showing of "My American Cousin" in the Glasgow Theatre when an assassin shot him three times from behind, killing him instantly. The assassin was revealed to be a member of MacDonald's own Scottish Nationalist Party who killed MacDonald because of his "selling out of Scottish independence."
No MacDonald...sure he was a scheming fascist but he wasn't a crazy power hungry racist like Winston Churchill. Of course if alternate Ramsay MacDonald was like his OTL self he probably would have fathered five children by now, when one MacDonald goes another will replace him:

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Malcolm MacDonald- A man whose more awkward than his dad in terms of political and historical context, would make a good Director for Scotland
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Ishbel MacDonald- Youngest hostess of Downing Street, could be a possible candidate for Director of Scotland if MacMurray dies of a horrible heart attack and Malcolm became politically problematic

Also I forgot to mention I have a good candidate for Churchill arch-nemesis (or at least an inspiration) as Britian enters the 20s and beyond, I introduce to you to Oliver Baldwin.

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The Socialist, Labour MP, Brief member of the Democratic Armenian Government and Homosexual son of British Prime Minister of Stanley Baldwin he also tried to implement multiracial inclusiveness on a small Caribbean island whilst Governor (which unsurprisingly got him sacked), he's pretty much everything Churchill would hate...he would make a great Illuminati/Beutelist leader for Churchill to bitch about and be a great leader for the Europans to use.

Good Chapter and keep it up @Napoleon53
 
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Also, given that the Anglos have never been quite about their hatred and desire to enslave/exterminate them, the Irish should probably know the American tactics playbook back to front and have their own versions with the names filed off.
“Its not a Stormtrooper! It’s a...it’s a...it’s a Salamander! The newest wonder weapon in our eternal war of preservation against the Anglo evil”.

Also, would I be wrong in guessing that the Irish are probably supporting the Illuminati? They know they can’t liberate their breathern across the Atlantic but they can use them for cheap canon fodder.
I get the feeling that Ireland is playing the long game of survival, for every one Irish person killed they will kill five Anglos via any means. I get the feeling that the British forces will find themselves in trouble when they try to land in Ireland, they will be gassed, bombed and grindered the minute it will happen. It will be less like D-Day and probably be more like Gallipoli in which the British will find themselves in trouble. Also I get the feeling that Ireland can rely on the refugees from Wales and Scotland and beyond who will fight for there survival no matter what.

I could see Ireland becoming some weird socialist democratic monarchy depending on how things go, probably with the help of James Connolly or someone similar.

Also I get the feeling the Japanese may become the problematic element for the Central Powers and America, I could see them getting into a fight with Viktor over Korea or China (I would find it funny if the Republic of the Divine Fist is saved by Japan spasming at the Tsar by invading probably Qing Taiwan).
 
There no way Ireland is being taken on fact it very confusing how did there fortress get taken and they were Able to land and do it that quickly it doesn’t really make Sense
 
There no way Ireland is being taken on fact it very confusing how did there fortress get taken and they were Able to land and do it that quickly it doesn’t really make Sense
Fort Scotia isn't part of Ireland, it's an island (one of the Hebrides I think) between Scotland and Ireland that Europa used to stop tensions between Ireland and Scotland erupting. Also they haven't invaded it, the Scottish cut the garrisons supplies off and blasted there walls. I think there just going to let the Europans starve instead of directly invading a fortress.
 
I could see Ireland becoming some weird socialist democratic monarchy depending on how things go, probably with the help of James Connolly or someone similar.
I doubt democracy would survive in Ireland. I could see them becoming some sort of twisted royalist/socialist military dictatorship. Maybe the can become the North Korea of the WMIT-verse and eternal boogeyman of the RU

RULE BRITTANIA BRITTANIA RULE THE WAVES
RULE THE WAVES?! MORE LIKE SINK BENEATH THEM, YOU ANGLO DOGS! ÉIRINN GO BRACH! IRELAND FOREVER!!!!
 
I doubt democracy would survive in Ireland. I could see them becoming some sort of twisted royalist/socialist military dictatorship. Maybe the can become the North Korea of the WMIT-verse and eternal boogeyman of the RU
God how could I forget, this is WMIT. Well I've already hoped that the Japanese Governments in exile get taken over by a royalist/socialist militaristic Empress so if it happens to Ireland I will be pleased. I'm just imaging James Connolly just looking at what he's helped create and just going "...Well at least we're not getting exterminated by the British", starts singing the Internationale very loudly.

RULE THE WAVES?! MORE LIKE SINK BENEATH THEM, YOU ANGLO DOGS! ÉIRINN GO BRACH! IRELAND FOREVER!!!!
As someone who in real life is an Anglo Dog but also a third Irish and Scottish I say this...GOD SAVE IRELAND, MAY THEY WIN AGAINST THE ANGLO SCOURGE, MAY SCOTLAND BE FREE OF THE ENGLISH, MAY BRITAIN SINK INTO THE SEA
 
BREAKTHROUGH 1912: THE EUROPEAN THEATRE

BREAKTHROUGH 1912:

THE EUROPEAN THEATRE
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Russian Imperial troops advance against Hungarian forces

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Russian troops suffering a gas attack seize an Austrian trench

"I am Khan of Khans, Czar of all the Russias, Scourge of God. Though the debauched West may seek to delay my inevitable victory and hide like vipers behind their grinder nests, though they cower from my wrath and righteous fury, I am Viktor, and I shall reign supreme. The insolence of the Bonapartes will finally be crushed beneath my heel. For too long has the inbred family of Corsican gangsters controlled the world. The time is now for a new era! An era of Russian dominance of the likes which not any loyal citizen of our lands has ever dared dream. My legions! You must break through this day and we will free Europe from the grasp of the intolerable vultures of Paris! Before I die I shall stand in that debauched haven of scum and villainy and laugh as I burn it to the ground, forever reminding Europe that no force of evil, be it of man or the Devil, shall go unpunished by the Scourge of God! Even now, those who think themselves safe from my wrath are being visited by the Plague, a new Black Death to punish the West for its wickedness! Onward, my children! Let the blood flow - let it drown us! We shall swim in Europan blood before this war is over! Press on! Press on! To Budapest! To Vienna! To Paris! Urah! Urah!"

- Czar Victor's general orders, June 1, 1912

The morning of June 1, 1912 was a grim one for the Bonapartes. In North America, Quebec City was under siege by the Arctic Fox and the Royal Family was in flight. California was attempting a brave resistance against Joe Steele himself. The United Empire of Brazil and Rio de la Plata, one of the largest sources for Europan troops, was now majorly infected with the Beckie Flu and was seeing deepening divided between its artificially separated Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking populations, verging on civil war. India, too, was barely under control. West Australia was lost. Holland was captured, but the Nordreich had taken the northern Rheinbund. All over the world, the Bonaparte realms were buckling under the unbelievable stress exerted upon them.

And now, on that sunny morning with not a cloud in the sky, the gas came drifting across the fields of the Eastern Front. That yellow-green smog of death crept closer and closer to the Europan trenchlines, trenchlines that had stood since the beginning of the war. Viktor was determined to finally break the Hungarians, Slovakians, and Austrians on the Eastern Front and push toward Vienna. Viktor told his generals he had been praying for hours through the prior night and had been told by God that now was the time to strike. Now, he said, was "The day that we shall send the Western pigs flying. Pity them, as wretched as they are, for they know not yet what I have planned for them." With banners streaming and drums beating, the gas was followed by Russian Imperial troops, all wearing new model 1912 gas masks, all carrying bolt action rifles and short swords and clubs, ready to finally take the trenches away from the enemy after so much death and sacrifice. Unbelievably, Viktor's son, Viktor II, was the man personally leading the attack, age 28 and a spitting image of his father. With a huge golden eagle atop his pith helmet and an elaborate dark green uniform, he made an excellent target. But he also made an excellent scare tactic. Viktor II was supposedly as vicious as his father, killing without mercy and leading his men into the mouth of hell.

Hell was a polite term for what they were marching toward. The Europans had also equipped themselves with gas masks and now opened up unrelenting fire with grinders and rifles, mowing down hundreds of Russians. But all over the front, the sheer number of Russians was overwhelming the Europans. Viktor was determined to break them, here and now, no matter the cost. Scores of men died cheering the Czar's name, happy to die for their god-emperor. Aeroships, most damaged beyond belief and only barely running, still fired upon the Europan positions, blasting craters behind their lines and terrifying the field nurses, horses, and supply handlers. And one of the many young Austrians currently firing blindly into the ever-growing blot of green on the horizon was a young man named Adolf Schicklgruber, son of Alois Schicklgruber, the mayor of their hometown of Branau. Adolf was a wiry young man with an impressive Napoleon IV mustache, curled at the tips, and he was fighting like hell for his country. His father had ingrained in him a sense of Austrian nationality, and he wasn't even particularly fond of Europa. But Austria was a part of Europa, and he would not desert it as the wild Slavic demons were coming to burn it to the ground. He cheered "Heil Osterreich!" as he fired away, striking a distant Russian in the chest. Up above, Europan aeroplanes soared, blasting a huge Russian aeroship out of the sky. He cheered again, only this time all along the line he was joined by his comrades. They knew this was potentially a turning point in the war. If they failed here, it was likely the beginning of a retreat to Vienna. They could not fail. "They shall not pass," he muttered to himself as he methodically reloaded his gun and began blindly firing it once again.

A shell whizzed overhead, hitting some twenty yards behind him. He could see two Austrians completely torn to shreds by it, with one being barely a puddle of red paste and the other literally blown in half. He tried not to look too long. Any second now and the Russians would be upon them. The green blob grew closer, the early morning sunlight glinting off the glass eyes of their gasmasks. A few yards down the trench a gunner slumped over on his grinder, a bullet through his forehead. Adolf dashed through the mud and blood that saturated the trench and pushed the man's corpse off the gunner seat. Then he opened up a tenacious burst of rounds on the attackers. He could see red mists come spraying out of the green blob. He became so enraptured in mowing down the Russians he practically lost all self-control, keeping up his fire even as the Russians began to swarm the trenchline. Suddenly, another shell burst overhead. With a blinding light and a deafening noise, Adolf lost all self-awareness altogether.

When Adolf came to his senses, he realized he was on a gurney in the back of a medical wagon, a piece of shrapnel lodged in his left shoulder. He groaned and blinked his eyes. It seemed to be late afternoon now. Through the smoke of gunpowder and the smog of gas still lingering in the air and burning his nose, he could make out hundreds of his comrades following behind the wagon, some sprinting around it. He could hear other similar wagons all around. Slowly, he raised himself up on his stretcher and asked a gaunt young nurse sitting next to him in the wagon, "What happened?"

The nurse looked distraught and she told him, never making eye contact, "The... The Russians and Romanians overran our position. We have been ordered to retreat to Budapest. All is lost. The spirits of the men are broken. I'm so afraid."

Adolf sat there in shocked disbelief. It couldn't be! The Eastern Front had held for almost a year! They had killed tens of thousand of Russians. "That can't be true," he said to her. "We were holding! We always hold! We are the vanguard of the Empire!"

The frail blonde woman looked him in the eyes and said, "That is not all. The entire front is breaking. Serbia and Montenegro have betrayed us. King Ivan III has taken up with the League and invaded Albania and Dalmatia. We're crumbling. The Slavic devils are coming for us all. We're completely fenced in. The officers say it'll be just weeks before they march on Vienna."

Adolf felt red-hot rage surge through him. "No!" he exclaimed, raising his fist and gritting his teeth. "The Fatherland is forever! Never have we known defeat! We must turn around and hold off the Slavic devils! We must send them to their deaths for daring to trod on one inch of our sacred soil! We... must do... something. Anything!"

The nurse clutched a crucifix hung about her neck. Slowly, she replied, "I... I fear I will be raped. There are stories of what the enemy has done already. When they enter the homeland, I... I don't want to imagine what those demons will do to us!"

A single hot tear came down his cheek. His eyes stung from the gas, but he barely noticed through the pure horror and disbelief which currently filled him. Adolf reached over and held the nurse's hand. "My lady, as long as I live and breathe not a single Russian shall defile our home. We shall renew the struggle! Wars always have twists and turns, but God will not allow the Oriental vampires to take our home. I have faith!"

As the wagon trains switched over to supply trains and the race to Budapest began, Schicklgruber could sense the panic in the air. Never before had he seen such fear, not in all the long months of the war so far. Not during the worst gas attack had the men been like this. They seemed beaten and broken. He wept as he rode in a tightly packed train car with other wounded comrades. He wept for his country. For the first time, it was giving ground to the League. He wondered if they would ever take it back.

Adolf was not unique. All over the front, men could not believe the Russians had broken through. Major Wilhelm Zimmer, of the Austrian cavalry, tried to lead an assault of willing volunteers on Romanian forces currently plowing through Transylvania in an attempt to delay the invaders from butchering the wounded currently in retreat. Though they were effective at securing some more time for the army and some civilians to make an escape, they ended up completely annihilated to the last man, with Zimmer becoming a legendary figure for all Austrians for his noble sacrifice. Transylvania already had a massive Romanian population that desired reunification with Romania anyway, so some citizens there actually joined the Romanian army to throw off the Europan yoke.

In the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, one of the most contested regions of the Eastern Front, the Russians had initially pushed back the Europan forces there in the early weeks of the war, but repeated chemical attacks had repulsed them at the beginning of 1912. Now, following the June breakthrough, the Russian hordes were sweeping over it once again, demanding the loyalty of the ethnic Slavs there. These Slavs included the Ruthenians and the many Poles who had called the region home since the forcible eviction of most Poles from the Nordreich in the last century. Even worse, Nordic troops were pouring into Bohemia, finally opening that front up. Galicia and Lodomeria was alone. In late June, General Melchior Niedzwiecki, an ethnic Pole who had joined the Russian Army in the early days of Viktor's reign, was proclaimed Tsar Melchior I of Ruthenia, officially breaking the region off from Bonaparte-Habsburg rule.

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Tsar Melchior of Ruthenia

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Flag of the Tsardom of Ruthenia

The rout of Europan forces from the Eastern Front was catastrophic and Paris was stunned. Field Marshal Perrault had just pushed back a force of Nordreichers from liberating Holland and had regained his reputation after the Glucksburg debacle, but now his comrades, Austrian-born Field Marshal Luka Breunig and Dalmatian-born Field Marshal Timo Pregl were collapsing in the east. As Breunig's forces, which included Adolf Schicklgruber, collapsed, morale plummeted in Perrault's ranks once again. Making matters worse, the flu was ravaging Western Europe, disabling about 18% of his men and leaving him weak if the Nordreich would attempt another push through to Holland. Meanwhile, in Spain, the situation was becoming grave in Catalonia, where locals were now rioting in the streets, chanting "Death to Caesar! Death to the man who steals our sons!" Local Spanish garrisons, many with long-standing hatreds of ethnic Catalonians, declared martial law and put many of the Catalonians in prison camps, where thousands would die of starvation, abuse, and neglect. In Portugal, there were loud calls to declare neutrality and to pull out of the war before their African colonies were completely overrun by Nordic colonial troops.

But all was not lost, for in mid-August, as the trenches were dug around Budapest, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and the Kingdom of Northern Italy finally brought their power to bear, with the North Italians smashing through the Serbian Army in Dalmatia and sending them staggering back to Sarajevo and the Sicilian Navy blasting the occupied Albanian coast and sending ground forces in in short order. Serbia's gains were ripped away at the sacrifice of thousands of Italian lives. But all was not well still on the Balkan Front. In Greece, King Vasilios the Bastard, the Nordic puppet, was assassinated by a palace servant in Athens, plunging the region back into instability and leaving the path open for General Petros Floros, a man with the backing of Europa, to seize power. However, this was not to be. In mid-September, Prince Alexander, the rightful heir to the Greek throne, came galloping out of the east at the head of a massive army of Greek exiles, Bulgars, Bosnians, and Russians. By November, Greece was finally under the control of one monarch and General Floros was captured and executed. Greece was likely the most war-torn region in the world. Over 30% of the population had been killed or wounded since the civil war had begun almost seven years earlier. The Serbian Army rallied from Alexander's victory and once again took back Albania, at massive cost, and attempted but failed to break the North Italians in Dalmatia. In response to the assistance Muslim Albanians had supplied the Europan invaders, the Serbs began a massive genocidal campaigns against the Muslim population there, making the owning of a Koran punishable by death. Mass executions were a common sight, and the festering corpses of the murdered laid in enormous pits with flu victims. The King of Serbia, Ivan III, once a client state of the West, now proclaimed himself Tsar Ivan I of Grand Serbia.

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Dalmatians flee into Italy to escape Serbian genocide

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Starving Muslim Albanians pass out bread rations courtesy of the Italian Army

The war had ceased any semblance of normality or respect for the rules of war. Every side was hastily rounding up and executing dissidents as quickly as possible. Everywhere in Europe was the location of genocidal campaigns of extermination and the abuse of civilians. Gas attacks rolled across the battlefields and aeroships began dropping flechettes, metal spikes, over towns that refused to cooperate. As winter set in, the Europan forces tried one last push against the Nordreich in Bohemia, failing quickly and sending them scurrying back to Vienna and Budapest. The Reich has already set up trenchworks all across the Bohemian border to last until spring and Kaiser Eitel Wilhelm gave simple orders: "Not an inch of ground is to be lost." Bohemia was declared a client kingdom under Eitel Wilhelm's cousin, Heinrich, who became King Heinrich I of Bohemia. His forces, mostly ethnic Germans and Bohemians sick of Europan and Austrian domination, eagerly joined the Central Powers, holding the line bravely against the Europan assaults.

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Flag of the Kingdom of Bohemia

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King Heinrich of Bohemia, House of Hohenzollern-Wettin

Even though winter fell, early, cold, and harsh, across the continent, there was still heavy fighting. The Sicilians attempted another assault on Albania, but only managed to barely capture the southern coast and heavy snow held them down. At the same time, King Massimiliano of Italy died, and his only son had died in the war some months before. With no other legitimate heir available and facing increasing calls for unification of the peninsula, Caesar allowed Northern Italy to merge with the Two Sicilies to form the Kingdom of Italy. Despite celebrations of unification, much of Italy was currently racked with famine and the flu, and it had overextended itself badly. It would hold Dalmatia and the southern Albanian coast for the rest of the year, but the Serbians were fighting tooth and nail over every inch of ground.

And last, but not least, Britain had commenced its invasion of Ireland, which would quickly rival Greece in its scope of violence and genocide. Fort Scotia would fall in September, leaving the coast of northern Ireland wide open to invasion. Wales was forced into the Britannic Union with a fascist puppet government answering to Churchill, and in July the Britannics had seized the Isle of Man, taking away yet another of Caesar's titles: Lord of Man. Now it was October, and Scottish troops were landing at Ballycastle and the English hammer hit hard at Bangor. But King Dominic was not about to go down without a fight. The English celebrated as they marched on Belfast and Lisburn, but their joy was to be cut short. Dominic began "gassing the hell out of them," instructing his men, "Take no prisoners. Give no quarter. As none shall be given to you. Long live Eire." General William Casey, of the Irish Army, was particularly vicious, gassing even medical staff and field nurses. The Irish knew this was a war of extermination. Churchill wanted to annihilate the Irish "race" from the face of the earth. As the snows came down that Christmas and the fighting slowed, with the Britannic Union still only holding beachheads and minor locations, the Irish Chemical Weapons Command was about to unveil their newest project: weaponized anthrax. Several Europan-made aeroplanes were used by the Irish to spray anthrax-laced gas over the encamped Scottish and English forces.

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Irish troops mobilize against the Britannic Union

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British troops landing on the shell-pocked Irish coast

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Irish Royal propaganda posters

That same Christmas, in Budapest, Adolf Schicklgruber watched through binoculars as the distant Russian, Romanian, and Ruthenian flags grew closer. It was now or never. Despite thinking that the Russians would hold back until after the snow thawed, the hearty Slavs began their assault on Budapest. Field Marshal Breunig told his men, "This is it, my boys. This is do or die. Today we fight for Western Civilization. This is not for Caesar. This is not for Austria. This is for you. This is for your children. Gott mit uns!" The Battle of Budapest had begun.

But never let it be said that the Great World War could not be made worse. In the east Persia was smelling blood. The flu and racial and religious unrest was brutally tearing the Europan Holy Land apart. The Shah told his generals to mobilize. If the Holy Land could be taken, not only would it rock the Christian world, but it would cut off the last link Europa had to its Indian colonies. The Persian Lion was about to roar....
 
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Vuu

Banned
Let's see, what will be the "trees speaking Vietnamese" meme of TTL:

"The rocks are speaking Serbian!"
"The air is speaking anthrax!"
"The desert is speaking Farsi!"
 
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I know DocBrown or Zoid will make a much better map than I ever could, but here is a rule of thumb map I made for the end of 1912! Some interesting minor things have happened as well and will get covered ITTL eventually: Denmark's African colonies have been taken by the Reich, and Dutch Guiana has seized French Guiana in South America. Also, Greenland and Iceland aren't literal territories of the Reich or America, at least yet, they are just under occupation.

Also, I'd like to remind everybody WMIT is ONLY 4 VOTES behind for a Turtledove and this is the LAST DAY of the contest, so get out there and win one for ol' Napo, your neighborhood obsessive-compulsive Walgreens manager/greaser/alternate history author.

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"I'd like to thank the distinguished members of the board for reading my nightmarish clusterfluck of a timeline, and I promise many more years of Orwellian insanity that is for some reason fun to read. I'd also like to thank my sponsors at SPUD, Succulent Potato Utility Dinner, which pairs nicely with Horton Brand Pounded Tomato Paste Product. Thank you."

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As I previously wrote, Europe is becoming a nightmare. But there are some good things, too: the Italians are seriously kicking asses (something I'm very proud of. My fellow countrymen usually do poorly in war), Ireland is unleashing its gas weapons on the invaders (behold the power of the beans!), and Adolf is fighting tooth and nail to defend his homeland (another thing that makes this TL so unique: an Adolf on the good guys' side). I like the way you're developing him, Napo, and I hope we'll see him alive and well once the war is over.
 
I want there to be the single bright spot here of the Irish kicking Churchill's ass back into the sea

Also, I'd imagine that Bohemia would really amp up the Hussite stuff in their propaganda- maybe the Battle of White Mountain, too.
 
I want there to be the single bright spot here of the Irish kicking Churchill's ass back into the sea
Also unlike Europa, the NordReich and Russia the British have had no experience in dealing with Gas and I doubt they have much gas to fight the Irish back with. I can see Ireland becoming one giant Gallipoli for the British forces as the Irish beat them back into the sea. Probably lead to Purges and increases Fascism in Britian as a result (which is where the Illumanti and Beutelists lay there seeds.)

Also nice to see Italy giving Serbia a bloody nose. Also yay Persia's getting into the game, that should be fun.
 
I have a minor quibble about detail: I thought that the Polish nation faltered because many Poles were pissed off with a Bonaparte as a Pope? The Polish Catholics, in that last update, they were never officially deported, only that they were pissed off with Poland going Protestant, am I wrong?
 
Also unlike Europa, the NordReich and Russia the British have had no experience in dealing with Gas and I doubt they have much gas to fight the Irish back with. I can see Ireland becoming one giant Gallipoli for the British forces as the Irish beat them back into the sea.

Steady on there! Gas masks aren't that difficult to make, for any industrialised nation worth its salt. Gas is an effective WMD, not a magical unstoppable superweapon that somehow trumps being the poorer and far FAR less populous neighbour of a much larger and more powerful country. Ireland vs Scotland would be a more even fight. Ireland vs Scotland and England at once? Not a shadow of a hope.

Nah—realistically, there's very little chance that Ireland can beat back the Britannic Union without outside aid, unless we're dumping all realism into the toilet and going full "Muh nationalism! One of our guys is worth a million of your guys!" But they may yet receive outside aid. I don't get the impression that the Nordreich and the Republican Union are particularly close, are they? Perhaps Greater France—a.k.a. the increasingly inaccurately named Empire of Europa—can make a separate peace with the Nordreich, conceding Germany and the Netherlands to Berlin, while remaining in the war against the RU and Britain. If so, the French could attack the British in the Southeast of England. (That relies on Europa having enough of a navy, but I think they do; Britain, the author has said, doesn't have much of a navy, presumably due to all those years of being Versailles-style shackled by France, and the Nordreich's army is already being portrayed questionably stronger than it really would be likely to be, so there's no way the Nordreich had the ability to make a top-class navy too.) A French landing in the Southeast, which is the richest and most populous part of Britain and also the closest part to France, would force a British retreat from Ireland—because ultimately, for any British government of any political affiliation, holding Ireland (or any other foreign country) will never, ever be more important to the British than holding Britain.

The big wildcard in all of that is Russia, which is under a regime that's at least as nasty and batshit insane as the RU right now. Czar Viktor's crusade against France is an element thoroughly alien to Classic, so I have very little idea how it's going to play out. An alt-Russian Revolution would be pretty cool, though. The Russians must have suffered huge losses in this latest offensive, all the while being ruled by a blood-crazed autocrat who makes the worst excesses of Nicholas II look tame. I know the whole TL doesn't really like to have reactions against the crazy nationalists who come into power for much of the TL, but this Russia is much more ripe for revolution than OTL Russia was; and who's to say the revolutionaries wouldn't be pretty mad themselves? After all, blood begets blood; suffering radicalises people, it makes the unthinkable thinkable; and Viktor, an arrogant aristocrat born in the height of privilege, has inflicted one hell of a lot of it…
 
Steady on there! Gas masks aren't that difficult to make, for any industrialised nation worth its salt. Gas is an effective WMD, not a magical unstoppable superweapon that somehow trumps being the poorer and far FAR less populous neighbour of a much larger and more powerful country. Ireland vs Scotland would be a more even fight. Ireland vs Scotland and England at once? Not a shadow of a hope.

Nah—realistically, there's very little chance that Ireland can beat back the Britannic Union without outside aid, unless we're dumping all realism into the toilet and going full "Muh nationalism! One of our guys is worth a million of your guys!" But they may yet receive outside aid. I don't get the impression that the Nordreich and the Republican Union are particularly close, are they? Perhaps Greater France—a.k.a. the increasingly inaccurately named Empire of Europa—can make a separate peace with the Nordreich, conceding Germany and the Netherlands to Berlin, while remaining in the war against the RU and Britain. If so, the French could attack the British in the Southeast of England. (That relies on Europa having enough of a navy, but I think they do; Britain, the author has said, doesn't have much of a navy, presumably due to all those years of being Versailles-style shackled by France, and the Nordreich's army is already being portrayed questionably stronger than it really would be likely to be, so there's no way the Nordreich had the ability to make a top-class navy too.) A French landing in the Southeast, which is the richest and most populous part of Britain and also the closest part to France, would force a British retreat from Ireland—because ultimately, for any British government of any political affiliation, holding Ireland (or any other foreign country) will never, ever be more important to the British than holding Britain.
Yeah I'll agree with you there, although the Irish are planning to use disease warfare which could have some interesting results if any anthrax infected are taken back to Britian. But certainly Ireland is screwed without Europan support in the long run, I can see it becoming a country wide Verdun with the battle ending when the other side is bled dry first.

Yeah if the Europan navy wasn't trying to deal with the Russians I suspect they would have beaten the British by now. They don't even need to advance far, just enough to put the fear of God in the British government.

Also I can see the NordReich making a deal with Europa, probably one that secures the Netherlands, Bohemia and the upper Reichbund for themselves. The NordReich seems to be more about securing a Protestant Germanic Empire than beating the shit of Europa.

But oh god is Russia a wild card. At this point it's possible that it could fall to Revolution or become an even more horrible Tsarist dictatorship.
 
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