WI: Austro-Hungarian Armored Cars

http://www.schoene-aktien.de/OestrDaimler4.jpg
Do you see that little beauty?
As far as I know, this was the first armored car ever, developed by Austro-Daimler and shown to Emperor Franz-Joseph in 1904. While the car was pretty good, it scared the emperor's horses and thus he did not support it. This, plus the conservative staffs in both Germany and Austria-Hungary effectively made this project stillborn.

So, here a WI: WI Franz Joseph decides: "If it scares my horses, it will scare the enemy's horses in a war as well. So, let's build some and conduct some manoevers."

How do you think would this influence the developements of amored cars and later tanks?
 
It would certaily pave the way for Günther Burstyns motorgeshütz in 1913, giving Austria-Hungary an edge.

GB motorgeschütz.JPG
 
As I understand it, A-H had considerable technical ability for artillery, so perhaps they could have produced the best tank in the world well before the British.

The trouble is Conrad and his generals made such a pig's ear of their campaigning, that very likely some of these tanks would have fallen into the hands of the Russians.

This raises the interesting possibility of the Russians deploying tanks against the Germans.
 
Would be fun to imagine, but he wouldn't =/. At the start of the 20th century I guess it would seem anti-democratic to go in an armored car.

I would also like to know what would have happened if the Archduke would not have taken a wrong turn that day and encountered his assasin in a dark allyway
 
I would also like to know what would have happened if the Archduke would not have taken a wrong turn that day and encountered his assasin in a dark allyway
If you use the search, you can find more threads about it than you can shake your fist at.

Anyway, do you think other nations would pick up armored cars (and maybe tanks) sooner if A-H went with them? Maybe Russia?
 

Thande

Donor
Not saying it's particularly likely (given how long it took to form dedicated tank battle groups in OTL), but it would be interesting if A-H had set up an experimental 'armoured cavalry' force of these in the early 1910s, and then after the 1914 incident had decided to punish Serbia by sending them straight at Belgrade rather than waiting to build up a conventional force.

It would be a situation like 1939 in Poland OTL - the Serbs' conventional army could have been quickly crushed, BEFORE Russia-and-therefore-Germany-and-therefore-France had begun calling up their armed forces...averting the descent into WW1 and shocking the world by the example.

(Assuming, of course, that this armoured car was capable enough to be such a paradigm-breaker vs conventional 1910s forces).
 
Not saying it's particularly likely (given how long it took to form dedicated tank battle groups in OTL), but it would be interesting if A-H had set up an experimental 'armoured cavalry' force of these in the early 1910s, and then after the 1914 incident had decided to punish Serbia by sending them straight at Belgrade rather than waiting to build up a conventional force.

It would be a situation like 1939 in Poland OTL - the Serbs' conventional army could have been quickly crushed, BEFORE Russia-and-therefore-Germany-and-therefore-France had begun calling up their armed forces...averting the descent into WW1 and shocking the world by the example.

(Assuming, of course, that this armoured car was capable enough to be such a paradigm-breaker vs conventional 1910s forces).

It could perhaps have been used by the A-H to set up an experimental Armoured Cavalry group, but I don't think in the light of the time that it would have been used to a quick pre-mobilization strike at Belgrade. But possibly it could have thrown the Serbians off as a surprise and provoked and early capture of Belgrade. That might have set the Germans off on the armoured principle, but the in-availability of American tractors as the basis for the motorgeschütz would be a severe draw-back.
 

MrP

Banned
Hm, this thread must've been in my head when writing PlC. By '14 A-H has several squadrons, triggering the deployment by other countries. They have the potential to make up for some of the initial scouting deficiencies that led ultimately to the loss of Galicia - if only because they'll increase the number of recon units available. It also has the potential, if it spurs other nations to develop their own armoured cars, to augment their scouting capabilities, too.
 
The problem with this WI is that automobile technology was still in its infancy and an A-H armored car was quitely possibily prone to break downs and suffered from limited range and payload. While it is useful, several squadrons is not going to do a blitz and capture Belgrade. Besides, the Sebrian terrain is not suitable for mobile warfare anyway.
 

MrP

Banned
The problem with this WI is that automobile technology was still in its infancy and an A-H armored car was quitely possibily prone to break downs and suffered from limited range and payload. While it is useful, several squadrons is not going to do a blitz and capture Belgrade. Besides, the Sebrian terrain is not suitable for mobile warfare anyway.

I agree with the former points, but the latter point isn't quite accurate. The OTL invasion was for the west of Serbia, and was aimed at one of the few flattish bits. I don't know precisely what that bit of Serbia looks like, mind, but that's why Conrad chose it.
 
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