My idea for this ATL comes from the Dogger Bank Incident on the 21st October 1904, at the height of the Russo-Japanese War. In the incident, a Russian warship fired on a British trawler, thinking it was a Japanese warship, and killed 3 sailors. What if that led to a diplomatic incident, and the start of World War I 10 years early? I imagine France would quickly enter Russia's side, and Germany Britain's side. What would be interesting about this scenario is just as much fighting would occur in Africa and the Pacific than in Europe, making it even more of a World War than the the OTL one.
World War One in 1905
- Thread starter NiceMonster42
- Start date
22nd October 1904, London
The British diplomat stared at his Russian counterpart with contempt.
"Last night, one of YOUR country's warships fired on a trawler. Three men died, which is something we shall not ignore. You have got to remember, our civilians have been killed by you. So we give you an ultimatum. Russian warships are not to enter the North Sea for any reasons until your war with Japan ends. Any intrusion of this will result in our entrance into your war."
The Russian left without an argument. Their puny ultimatum would not lead to such an action.
24th October 1904, St. Petersburg
The Russian naval command were preparing for action. Their ships would enter the exclusion zone and stand off the Royal Navy. Maybe then the British would rethink their scaremongering...
The British diplomat stared at his Russian counterpart with contempt.
"Last night, one of YOUR country's warships fired on a trawler. Three men died, which is something we shall not ignore. You have got to remember, our civilians have been killed by you. So we give you an ultimatum. Russian warships are not to enter the North Sea for any reasons until your war with Japan ends. Any intrusion of this will result in our entrance into your war."
The Russian left without an argument. Their puny ultimatum would not lead to such an action.
24th October 1904, St. Petersburg
The Russian naval command were preparing for action. Their ships would enter the exclusion zone and stand off the Royal Navy. Maybe then the British would rethink their scaremongering...
On the 24th October 1904, five Russian warships entered the North Sea, sailing towards Dogger Bank, where the whole business had started a mere three days ago. Their mission was to deliberately criticise the British ultimatum.
Early the next morning. Five British warships appeared within the sight of the five Russians. The night before, a trawler had seen the Russian warships and had reported to the navy. One warship sailed directly at the Russians. One of the Russian commanders saw this as an act of aggression, and fired. In just a few minutes the two equal squadrons were in the thick of battle. The first Russian volley had severely damaged the first warship. Its relative defenceless was a dangerous gamble which payed off badly. Around 10 minutes into the battle, the British were already one warship down.
The battle raged for an hour, even though no declaration of war had been released. The Battle of Dogger Bank, as it would later be called, is the first battle of the First World War proper.
The Russian ships had the element of surprise. Despite losing two warships, the Russians routed the British, who were down to two ships. The routers managed to reach Great Yarmouth.
The government were appalled. The Russians had destroyed three warships, killing hundreds of men. At 5pm on the 25th October 1904, World War One started. Britain declared war on Russia. The two largest empires in the World were at war...
Early the next morning. Five British warships appeared within the sight of the five Russians. The night before, a trawler had seen the Russian warships and had reported to the navy. One warship sailed directly at the Russians. One of the Russian commanders saw this as an act of aggression, and fired. In just a few minutes the two equal squadrons were in the thick of battle. The first Russian volley had severely damaged the first warship. Its relative defenceless was a dangerous gamble which payed off badly. Around 10 minutes into the battle, the British were already one warship down.
The battle raged for an hour, even though no declaration of war had been released. The Battle of Dogger Bank, as it would later be called, is the first battle of the First World War proper.
The Russian ships had the element of surprise. Despite losing two warships, the Russians routed the British, who were down to two ships. The routers managed to reach Great Yarmouth.
The government were appalled. The Russians had destroyed three warships, killing hundreds of men. At 5pm on the 25th October 1904, World War One started. Britain declared war on Russia. The two largest empires in the World were at war...
Hmm... Perhaps I should change that. Maybe have the battle I wrote a second ago as a routine Russian mission looking like an attack. Thanks for the feedback, anyway.
Ryan
Donor
also, the Russian Baltic fleet was hilariously incompetent, there's no way they'd be able to inflict that sort of damage on the RN (tbh the Russians would be lucky to even damage a RN ship and not lose all theirs in the process)
One of the biggest hurdles for this idea seems to be that the Russian government really did not want war with Britain, and IOTL Nicholas II ordered his ministers to sort things out diplomatically. It is very hard to see the Russian Navy doing anything overtly aggressive in the days to follow the incident - they would need St. Petersburg's orders for this, and the Tsar would most likely not order it to attack the British fleet.
Therefore, the Royal Navy would need to deliberately attack the Russian Baltic Sea Fleet to spark off a war. That seems somewhat unlikely, too.
Therefore, the Royal Navy would need to deliberately attack the Russian Baltic Sea Fleet to spark off a war. That seems somewhat unlikely, too.
I think this TL requires a bit of a rethink as the problems you guys have pointed out are very true. I think the best bet is an alternate Dogger Bank Incident where Russian warships fire at a very distant British warship, thinking it is a Japanese one.
Also the problem with a GB/RUS war is that it will involve others joining in and become a WW. (Treaty's and just opportunities to exploit) both GB/Rus may well not want that.
An on the sea you will have a Russian fleet, fighting a much larger and potential better version of the IJN (who supplied the ships and training
) can you guess how this is going to turn out ?
JSB
An on the sea you will have a Russian fleet, fighting a much larger and potential better version of the IJN (who supplied the ships and training
) can you guess how this is going to turn out ? JSB
As i remember the Russian Navy had a inadaquate coaling capacity. To send the fleet to the far east they had to contract British coal transport to refuel them along the way. Any Russian fleet remaining would likely have the same problem, to attack the British fleet in the NOrth Sea they would have to find coaliers, or contract to refuel in Denmark, Germany, or Norway.
I thought the French grudgingly supplied them with coaling stations for the journey?
At least one. probably more. The trick was Britain had the largest & best organized coaling transport industry. Frances navy had a strategy of providing light local naval forces for colonial maritime protection. Its heavy battle fleet was organized for the eastern Mediterranean & nothing else. To deliver the mass of coal needed to propel the Russian fleet it was pretty much a British thing, even if some of the coaliers were not British flagged. One of the ugly little secrets of the US White Fleet global tour was they had to contract with British coal suppliers. US industry was unprepared - lacked the ships, for the task. So, if you needed to bunker up 30+ warships @ Madagascar or Cochin China it was a British contractor who made it happen.