Subject: 
            Mr Hughes Goes To War
       Date: 
            18 Jun 2001 09:09:28 GMT
       From: 
            mwstone@aol.com (mike stone)
Organization: 
            AOL, http://www.aol.co.uk
 Newsgroups: 
            soc.history.what-if


November 30th, 1916

The mood in the cabinet room was heated. Secretary of War Theodore Roosevelt
was giving forth in the grand manner.

"Mr President,(was there a hint of chagrin in his voice at having to call
another man that?) Is there really anything to discuss? The Germans have been
murdering our citizens on the high seas for over a year. Now they have sunk an
American ship going about its lawful business [unspoken - and if they hadn't
done, a week before election, you probably wouldn't be sitting here now] They
are, to all intents and purposes, waging war against us now. What remains
except to recognise that simple fact?"

Secretary of State Charles Fairbanks responded. "The sinking of the "Algonquin"
may well have been a mistake, as they claim. And anyone who goes through the
middle of a war zone on a belligerant ship has got to accept a certain amount
of risk. If I chose to take my morning constitutional across the Verdun
battlefield, I might not emerge unscathed"

President Hughes let them wrangle for a while, then observed, calmly. "Mr
Roosevelt, as you spent the campaign season pointing out [he did not add "and
nearly cost me the election with your sabre-rattling"] the previous
administration's neglect of national defence has left this country with a
negligible army. If I were to declare a war (which Congress isn't yet ready to
do anyway) without any means of fighting it, I should make this country a
laughing-stock. My own son is at a Citizen's Training Camp as we speak, but he
isn't going anywhere near Flanders until both he and those beside him are
properly trained and armed. Which isn't the case right now. If you seriously
want me to fight, concentrate on giving me the  wherewithal to do so."

And so it was. The Presdent's request for a massive expansion of the US Army
went to Congress. It ran into opposition, extending in the Senate to an
attempted filibuster, but anger at the "Algonquin" sinking helped to see it
through. By next March, the US would have at least the beginnings of a serious
military force.


                        *     *     *

March 5, 1917

The President kept it short. Really, there wasn't all that much more to say.
The Germans had been waging unrestricted U-Boat war for over a month. Several
American ships had already been torpedoed, and in at least one case the
lifeboats had been destroyed afterwards. Now, they had tried to inveigle Mexico
into war with the US, cheerfully offering her three States of the Union as
reward. And their Foreign Minister had brazenly admitted as much to the world's
press. "What kind of people do they think we are?"

Hughes briefly recounted America's grievances, concluding. "It is no longer a
matter of going to war, since for all practical purposes the war is already in
progress. Nothing remains save to make formal acknowledgement of what is
already the case. I therefore call upon the congress to declare , at once, that
a state of war now exists between the United States and the German Empire"

In the event, it wasn't quite "at once". The House complied, but a few
isolationists made a last-ditch resistance in the Senate, which didn't concur
until March 8. But the time had not been wasted. Even as the Senators argued,
soldiers had been assembling at the ports of the east coast, and the first
troopship would sail as soon as the war resolution passed. Ironically, it was a
German ship, trapped in a US port since 1914, and which Hughes had ordered
seized three months before in response to the Algonquin business. By the end of
March, a US regiment was already at the western front

Secretary Roosevelt sought to resign form the Cabinet,and raise a regiment of
his own to fight in France. The President refused, insisting that he was needed
where he was. "Do you think I wouldn't like to be where Charlie is?" He asked;
(Charles Evans Hughes, Jr, had been on the "Lafayette", the first troopship to
sail from New York) but we old men have our work to do right here". Privately,
he had other motives, which he confided to his diary. "I'm not having that man
grandstanding it in France, playing the conquering hero when things go well,
and letting me take the ructions when they don't. If the war takes a bad turn,
I want him as deeply implicated as myself. If he thinks he can undermine me the
way he did to poor Bill Taft, he has another think coming."

Roosevelt was far from pleased, but he complied, observing to Senator Lodge
"The country would not understand my resignation at such a time over such an
issue". Hughes sugared the pill by arranging for all of Roosevelt's sons to go
speedily to France, and promising that Quentin's bride-to-be, Flora Payne
Whitney, would be allowed to travel to Europe for their wedding. TR, meanwhile,
resigned himself to the inevitable, and worked all hours (to the point where
his faily feared for his health) to get the American Army into action. By
Christmas 1917, thanks partly to him and partly to the decisions taken by
Hughes on coming to office, there were six US Divisions in the line. By the end
of February 1918, there would be twelve.


[To Be Continued}
-- 
Mike Stone - Peterborough England
   
Last words of King Edward II.

"I always said that Roger Mortimer was a pain in the - - - AAARGHH!!!"

Subject: 
            Mr Hughes Goes To War - Cont'd
       Date: 
            18 Jun 2001 20:56:05 GMT
       From: 
            mwstone@aol.com (mike stone)
Organization: 
            AOL, http://www.aol.co.uk
 Newsgroups: 
            soc.history.what-if


February 20th 1918

General Erich Ludendorff was in an even fouler mood than usual.

He had not had a good 1917. First of all, the Navy had let him down completely
regarding their U-Boat campaign against Britain. It was supposed to have
starved the English into surrender eight months ago. It hadn't. It was also
supposed to have ensured that no troopships ever made it across from the
States. It had failed even more dismally there. Not a single one had been
intercepted. Then those wimps in the Reichstag had started bleating about peace
"without annexations or indemnities". What on earth did they think the
Fatherland had gone to war for? The sole good news all year was that this new
Bolshevik government was eager to take Russia out of the war. But now, it was
becoming clear that even this had come too late. 

Under his breath, he cursed that dumkopf of a Captain whose torpedo had put
Charles Evans Hughes into the White House.  Not that America wouldn't have come
in eventually, but "eventually" was something he could have lived with.  That
ass Wilson could have been kept talking for months with blather about peace
resolutions and the like. Nor had he shown the slightest interest in
strengthening US forces in peacetime. With any luck, nothing would have
happened till after the declaration of war, which itself would probably have
been delayed. American mobilisation would have been set back months. Their
forces over here would still be negligible, and, with Russia out of it, he
would have a nice big chunk of 1918 in which to settle accounts with England
and France, before those Yanks could start to interfere.

No chance of that now. They were interfering already, pinching off the salient
at St Mihiel, and getting uncomfortably close to the crucial Antwerp-Metz
railway. The local commanders assured him that there was no immediate danger.
The position had been stabilised. But for how long? And more to the point,
merely stabilising things wasn't what he had looked for. He wanted to _win_
this war, using the troops released from the Russian front to deliver a
smashing blow in the west. He had even coined a name for it, the
Kaiserschlacht. And now he was having to confess to the said Kaiser that it
could never be delivered. 

"So what _are_ we supposed to do?" The Emperor's voice cut into his train of
thought. "You seem to be telling me that we cannot win this war. If we can't
win it, presumably we have to get out of it. I thought at the time that we
shouldn't have dismissed the Pope's peace note, but you would have none of it"

"It would have made no difference, Your Majesty. The Entente would have
rejected it anyway. In my opinion, our best hope is an approach to the American
President. He has been talking a lot about a peace of justice and
understanding. All nonsense, of course, but it might be useful nonsense for us
if we can divide him from the others."

"Indeed so" interjected Foreign Minister Kuhlmann, "but he has also been going
on about freeing Europe from military autocrats, and how democracy is the best
guarantee of peace. By which, of course, he means us - the present government
of Germany. Are we all supposed to commit suicide just to please him?

"That will not be necessary. But it would be as well for Your Majesty to
appoint a  new ministry, at least until we have got the peace out of the way.
It will need to have the Social Democrats in it, and a Chancellor with a
liberal reputation. Your Majesty's cousin the Prince of Baden would be
excellent"

The Kaiser looked distinctly unhappy, but agreed. 

                *     *     *     *

The German note (forwarded by the Queen of the Netherlands) reached Washington
on March 5, the anniversary of President Hughes' war message to Congress. It
met a mixed reception in the Cabinet. Several members, including (of course)
Secretary Roosevelt, were opposed to any direct respose, beyond simply saying
that the President would consult with his allies. Hughes rejected this. "They
went to war for their reasons and we for ours. If the enemy are ready to
concede what we went to war for, then I can't ask any more of our boys to die,
just to fulfil some secret deal or other which the British or French may have
made, and to which we were never a party". His reply, nonetheless, was firm
enough. In particular, he asked, were the Germans prepared to immediately
discontinue submarine warfare, and to enter into a peace which would outlaw the
practice for the future? Nor could he ask his allies to agree to any cease-fire
(an essential preliminary to a peace conference) whilst Belgium and much of
France remained under enemy occupation. More generally, did Germany accept that
populations should not be transferred from one sovereignty to another without
their consent?

Prince Max responded by seeking clarification. Was the withdrawal from
conquered territory to be mutual? Would France, for example, resore the portion
of Upper Alsace which she currently held? Would she and Britain restore the
German colonies they had conquered, or for that matter the occupied portions of
Turkey? On the question of submarine warfare, he was willing to suspend this,
but urged that it be accompanied by a lifting of the Allied blockade, at least
insofar as food was concerned. On the sovereignty question, he expressed "full
agreement" with Hughes, urging as a principle of peace that there should be no
boundary changes without a plebiscite.

Hughes' response (influenced by reactions both in Washington and from abroad)
was blunt. No, he could not agree to automatic reciprocity. Whatever might have
been true in other theatres, the invasion of Belgium and France had been a
wanton aggression, which must be reversed without a quid pro quo. Ditto for
U-Boat warfare, which (especially where unarmed and/or neutral ships were
concerned) was hardly to be distinguished from piracy. If the Central Powers
sought Allied withdrawal from conquered colonies, etc, then clearly they must
themselves evacuate _all_ occupied territory, including Serbia, Rumania etc
[this, of course, he knew they could not do, since it would split them in half,
leaving Bulgaria and Turkey cut off]. Regarding plebiscites, he had already
committed himself to support French claims in Alsace-Lorraine, so could not
give such an undertaking there. He was, however, prepared to agree that any
other changes to Germany's borders be determined in that way. However, this
would not be limited to claims of Allied countries. If Germany now accepted
plebiscites as the proper way of determining boundaries, she must grant the
Danes of Schleswig the one they had been promised in 1864, but had never
received. Nor, though Russia's separate armistice had released the Allies from
any obligations toward her, should Germany acquire any former Russian territory
without the consent of its inhabitants

This came as a bombshell in Berlin. Even before it arrived, Ludendorff and
others had been attacking Max  for conceding too much. They still entertained
dreams of "getting Longwy-Briey by negotiation". Ludendorff regarded the
unilateral concessions demanded by Hughes as worthy only of a conquered people,
and "unacceptable to us soldiers". Better to go down fighting than accept such
humiliation. Friedrich Ebert, newly appointed to the government, asked what he
thought the fighting would be for, when he had as good as admitted that they
could not win. Ludendorff responded that the Allies too were near exhaustion,
and would face rebellion at home if they were "unreasonable" about agreeing to
peace. Neither Ebert nor Prince Max found this convincing.

Nor was all sweetness and light on the Allied side. In both Britain and,
especially, France, there was concern that the Boche looked like getting off
altogether too easy. The French had hopes of obtaining a substitute for the
Russian alliance by creating a large, independent Poland at Germany's expense.
She also dreamed of detaching the Rhineland. Britain wanted to see the end of
the German fleet. Nor, beyond a vague reference to invaded countries being
"restored" had Hughes said anything definite about reparations claims. Yet the
military position was hardly such as to justify raising their demands. Apart
from St Mihiel, the line of trenches  was pretty much where it had been for the
past twelve months, and not all that different from where it was three _years_
ago. On the other hand, the fact that the Germans were talking peace at all
suggested they must be running out of steam. Perhaps one more push would do it.

The offensives of March 1918 were the consequence. Field-Marshal Haig returned
to the attack round Ypres. In the south , General  Leonard Wood sought to
follow up on St Mihiel with a northward thrust in the Argonne, whilst in the
sectors between, the French Army launched its first major offensive for nearly
a year.

Results were disappointing. With no exposed salient to pinch off, the AEF made
heavy weather of it. In Flanders, the old obstacle of mud soon raised its head,
whilst Petain. who had never been all that keen, soon called a halt when it was
clear that his allies were making little progress. The main military effect of
these assaults was to bring abrupt ends to the war service of Charles E Hughes
Jr, who would finish the war in a field hospital, and Quentin Roosevelt, who
would kick his heels behind barbed wire for six months, having crash-landed
behind the German lines.

Yet it was enough. Although these assaults all failed to break the German
lines, they had succeeded in breaking Ludendorff's nerve. Convinced that
military collapse was imminent, on March 23 he offered his resignation to the
Kaiser. It was accepted. Field Marshall Hindenburg immediately did the same,
but the Kaiser firmly replied "You will stay. The Fatherland still needs you".
There was a moments silence, then Hindenburg bowed from the waist, with a quiet
"majestat". Ludendorff left the room alone, glaring.

The end came quickly after that. Prince Max sent a third note on March 24,
proposing that military representatives of the Central Powers and the Entente
should meet to conclude a cease-fire "on the basis of the recent proposals of
the President of the United States". General Wilhelm Groener. Ludendorff's
successor, was authorised to speak for all the Central Powers. (Austria,
Bulgaria and Turkey hadn't even been consulted up to now, but were in no state
to argue. Their position was  even shakier than Germany's) On 30 March he met
with Petain , who was authorised to represent the Allies, in Basle,
Switzerland. The terms were brief and to the point

1) Immediate evacuation of France, Belgium, Luxembourg and Alsace-Lorraine. 
2) Immediate cessation of submarine warfare, and recall to home ports of all
U-Boats at sea.
3) Recall, under safe-conduct home, of the German forces in East Africa.
4) Austrian forces to evacuate Italy
5) A cease-fire "in place" on all other fronts. The blockade to continue
6) This armistice to have effect for thirty days, with automatic renewal unless
denounced at 48 hours notice
7) This armistice to come into effect six hours after signature

Groener at once telephoned Prince Max for his approval, which the latter gave,
writing in his memoirs "I was glad that at last the carnage was over, but I
felt like a fox who had gnawed his leg off to escape a trap". Signatures were
exchanged at 10pm on March 31. At 4am on April 1, a date which some feared
might turn out to be only too appropriate, the guns ceased to fire.


[To Be Continued}
-- 
Mike Stone - Peterborough England
   
Last words of King Edward II.

"I always said that Roger Mortimer was a pain in the - - - AAARGHH!!!"

Subject: 
            Mr Hughes Goes To War - Captains And Kings
       Date: 
            25 Jun 2001 20:49:03 GMT
       From: 
            mwstone@aol.com (mike stone)
Organization: 
            AOL, http://www.aol.co.uk
 Newsgroups: 
            soc.history.what-if


3rd June 1918

Prince Max of Baden was in a dark and pessimistic mood. 

Six weeks before, when the Peace Conference started in Lausanne, it had looked
as if there was hope. The Quadruple Alliance had had to abandon Belgium, the
occupied areas of France, Luxembourg and even, to the fury of many,
Elsass-Lotheringen and German East Africa. Yet its armies had retired unbroken,
and it had still held an apparently solid belt of territory from Heligoland to
Mosul and Damascus, and from the Upper Rhine to the Dneiper and the suburbs of
Petrograd. True, the  blockade remained in effect, but with the Ukraine still
under German control, there was a good chance that the food situation would
ease with time, even if the peace treaty took a while to arrive.

Such hopes were starting to look naive now. What the Entente had failed to win
by force, it seemed in a fair (Max smiled grimly at that word) way to win by
diplomacy. In theory, the Central Powers were supposed to be making peace
together, but their solidarity was crumbling fast. France, in particular, (and
with few scruples about consulting her own allies) was making offers left right
and centre to the lesser members of the QA, promising them the lightest of
terms if they would turn against the Reich. Bulgaria was being invited to keep
South Dobruja and a slice of Macedonia (maybe Thrace as well if Turkey wouldn't
play ball) in return for defecting. The Serbs were screaming blue murder at
this idea, but might yet be overruled. Turkey, where Enver Pasha was struggling
to hang on against the ambitious General Kemal, was frankly up for sale,
offering  full co-operation with the Entente in the Black Sea and southern
Russia, in return for a peace of "Status Quo Ante Bellum". France had been
eager to accept (subject to a few special privileges for herself in Syria and
Constantinople) but Gt Britain, the only power to have acually fought on the
Turkish front, took a different view. Lloyd George, with his Gladstonian hatred
of  The Unspeakable Turk, was determined to carve up the Ottoman Empire for the
benefit of Greeks, Armenians, Zionist Jews, and of course a titbit or two for
the British Empire. But there were rumours that his position was insecure. If
he fell, a Tory successor might not share his qualms

And now this. The French, it seemed, were on the verge of a deal with Germany's
most crucial ally, Austria-Hungary. Max felt sick as he recalled the 
conversation he had just had with the Habsburg Foreign Minister. Count Czernin
had been brutally frank. "What use now babbling about treachery, Herr
Reichskanzler? We must do what we have to do to survive. Those slimy Turks and
Bulgars are getting ready to sell us out, and once that happens the Empire's
southern border is wide open. The Hungarians will jump ship like the rats they
are, and make there own deal whilst the Empire falls to pieces. Half our army
has already been demobilised (too many Czechs and others who just couldn't be
trusted with their rifles) and there's no guarantee that the other half will
fight if these talks collapse. Then where does that leave you?" 

It's not that our Emperor wants you to lose Bavaria or Silesia (never mind
Baden), but if it has to be, would you not rather lose them to a German
sovereign than to some gaggle of Jews and Polacks, or a gang of dirty
Socialists who still have the nerve to call themselves German, though most of
them don't know what a Fatherland is? If we collapse, and the war starts up
again, the Entente will just sweep across your southern frontier, all the way
to Berlin. How much of a country do you think you'll be left with then?"

What indeed, thought Max wearily. It wasn't as if they had much of one even
now. The German Army had retired to the 1870 frontier in good order, but morale
was low and desertions were increasing.  One unit in the Ukraine (imitating
their Austrian comrades) had simply walked away and commandeered a train back
to the Fatherland. The Army authorites had not dared to arrest them. In fact,
the east looked bad altogether. The anti-Bolshevik elements who had so far
co-operated with Germany were now detecting a change of wind, and putting out
feelers to the Entente. Their counterparts in Finland had already deserted,
inviting in a British force from Archangel

 And the Navy was even worse. There had been a serious mutiny a few weeks ago,
put down only with the help of  U-Boat crews, newly recalled to port. But now,
of course, the submariners were sitting as idle as the rest of the sailors,
with all too predictable results. If, as was all too possible, there were
another rising, would they put it down again, or join it?

The Kaiser who had appointed him was clinging on by the fingertips. Wilhelm II
had of course returned to Germany, but only as far as Trier, where OHL had been
set up after leaving Spa. Ostensibly, he felt that the Supreme War Lord's 
proper place was with his army, but this fooled no-one . In fact, he did not
return to Berlin because he dared not. He was so unpopular that his presence in
the capital might spark a revolution. Ditto the Crown Prince. Max, Ebert and
Schiedemann were desperately urging them to abdicate, and allow a regency to be
set up for the Kronprinz' eldest son, before the discontent boiled over into
outright rebellion; but they just didn't want to know. And the storm clouds
grew blacker every day

Prince Max felt like weeping

                  *   *   *   *

4th June 1918

The atmosphere in the Chancellery was funereal. Prince Max, Ebert, Schiedemann
and Defence Minister Gustav Noske had discussed the situation for half an hour,
and come to no conclusion save what had been obvious from the beginning - that
they were all being swept toward Niagara Falls in a barrel, and a barrel
studded with nails at that.

Ebert was speaking. "- - and even if we offered to concede Silesia and Bavaria
(which would get us lynched) how does that help? Any offer we make to Karl, the
French can always top it. There is no way out"

Noske suddenly sat bolt upright and rapped his fist on the table "Unless we
were to offer him all Germany!"

His colleagues started at him, not sure they had heard aright. Noske continued.
"Look, we can all see that things won't hold much longer. The Kaiser has to go.
So does the Crown Prince. If they were willing to go quietly, we could fix a
regency for young Willi - but they won't, and we have to concentrate on saving
our own necks - and the Fatherland's. If   Karl becomes our Emperor as well as
Austria's, that ensures that both empires stick together through the Conference
 - whch is what we must have. If we let the Entente split us, we are both dead
meat"

Ebert was sceptical. "And how are the Entente going to react to this anschluss?
A German Empire from East Friesland to Transylavania! They would resume
hostilities like a shot."

"Not necessarily. They will certainly insist on some of the Slav provinces
becoming independent. And if the Hungarians secede, of course the Entente will
back them. But President Hughes is on record in favour of national independence
- he might agree to the German parts of Austria staying with the Reich. Anyway,
what the **** have we to lose. The way things are going, Austria will either
turn against us or collapse (maybe both) within weeks - and if either happens
it will leave us at their mercy whether they resume hostilities or not. It is
possible death instead of certain death"

"And what" the Chancellor interjected, "will our own army say about all this?
General Groener might just swallow it - he's from Wurttemburg. So, possibly,
might Prince Rupprecht. But the Feldmarschall is a Prussian through and through
- as are most of the officer corps. Are they going to just shrug their
shoulders while we toss the House of Hohenzollern on the compost heap?"

"They will if it's the only way to survive. You've seen the reports from our
people in Lausanne. The Entente have a bee in their bonnet about our
"militarism". They would like nothing better than to reduce our army to
nothing, close the Staff College, and deny us just about any weapon worth a
hoot. That matters to those "gentlemen" a lot more than the fate of one
dynasty. If we and the Austrians fall apart, the enemy can impose any terms
they like - and that will mean the end of the world for Hindenburg and the rest
of the gang"

Noske paused, fearing for a moment that he had gone too far. He could see
shocked expressions on his colleagues faces, at this show of disrespect for the
revered Field Marshal. Ebert hastily broke the silence. "In any case, the
Hohenzollerns will still be kings of Prussia. You, Herr Reichskanzler, are the
Kaiser's first cousin. If his sons won't co-operate with a Regency, you can
rule Prussia until they see sense." (Prince Max groaned within at the thought
of this further responsibility. Right now it was bad enough just being
Chancellor, without taking on anything more) "Nor do they have to lose the
Empire permanently. If we lay it down that the Kaiser must be a ruling Prince
of full age, and is elected by the Bundesrat or something, that leaves an
opening for them to regain the throne after Karl. We can present this as an
interim arrangement."

"Which it may well be in any case." added Scheidemann. "The way the workers
feel, there may not be any monarch at all this time next year. A lot of them
are screaming for a Republic. You might point that out to the Generals. If that
happens, it won't matter a toss whether the last Emperor's name was Karl or
Wilhelm. If this arrangement holds things together until we've got a peace
treaty signed, then it will have served its turn."

"Which we have more chance of getting under Karl" Ebert observed. "We know that
they were dickering with him for a separate peace right through the last year
of the war. They may not be altogether pleased, but they might be happier with
a Germany under him. He doesn't scare people as much as Wilhelm does"

The Chancellor (himself a Hohenzollern on his mother's side) was none too
happy, but he agreed to give the plan a go. It wasn't as if he had anything to
lose.

*   *   *   *

Emperor Karl I received the news at Eckertsau with stunned disbelief. With the
world going to pieces around him, he was suddenly being offered another throne.
Were they mocking him? On the other hand. The proposal was not without
advantage. The accession of prestige, even if not, perhaps, of much real power
at first, would at any rate strengthen his position at home. The Viennese were
hardly less rebellious than the Berliners, but many German-Austrians were eager
to join the Reich. It might divide the opposition. Had he overheard the
conversation in Berlin, he might well have endorsed Scheidemann's doubts about
the long-term future of the plan, but for him, right now, the long term meant
anything beyond next week.

Empress Zita had no doubts. "They offer us what is rightfully ours anyway. We
Habsburgs were ruling the Holy Roman Empire when Wilhelm's forefathers were
Swabian counts that nobody had ever heard of. Dangerous? Of course it is: but
hardly more dangerous than what we are faced with already. If we are to go
down, we may as well go down gloriously, rather than wait to be devoured by the
hyenas. And if we succeed, it is a glorious legacy to leave Otto."

Karl tried feebly to cool her enthusiasm. "This new crown is elective, not
hereditary. Even if I accept, there is no guarantee that Otto will come after
me"

"Right now" Zita responded, "there is no guarantee that any of us will even be
alive next week. We will have to take the future as it comes. And it was just
the same in the old days. The old Imperial Crown was elective too, but that
didn't stop Habsburgs wearing it for centuries at a time. We must seize the
moment"

And so it was. Karl was still fearful, but, like that group of men in Berlin,
he suspected he had little to lose. And Zita's courage made him feel a bit
ashamed of his own doubts. Without further ado, he summoned the Chamberlain and
told him to admit the German Ambassador.


        *   *   *   *

5th June 1918

Field Marshal Paul Von Hindenburg seemed outwardly as impassive as ever, but
inside he was shaken. He still could hardly credit that Prince Max - the
Emperor's own cousin - had turned on him in this way. And the Bundesrat, it
seemed, had tamely ratified the coup. Even the Prussian delegates - the
Kaiser's own appointees - had either voted "Ja" or found it expedient to miss
the meeting. Karl I was already across the border to confer with what was now
his government.

The Kaiser, needless to say, was fulminating at his colleague's treachery, and
insisting that he would march back to Berlin at the head of his troops, send
the Austrian usurper packing, and wreak summary justice on all the traitors  .
But it was all fantasy. The soldiers were past caring about such matters; they
just wanted to go home, and many would have accepted the Dalai Lama as their
sovereign, if he had brought peace. It was doubtful if a single regiment would
follow Wilhelm east. 

But where did that leave him? Hindenburg had been a loyal Prussian soldier all
his life, with no thought of serving any but Hohenzollern. He had sworn the
most sacred of oaths to serve his sovereign, even to the loss of his own life.
But he served Germany too, and what use staying loyal to Wilhelm II if this
would only plunge the Fatherland into civil war, and leave her at the mercy of
her enemies. Especially as there was no hope of winning such a war. It seemed
that Wilhelm must lose the throne, whether to Karl or to the Entente. So within
the next fifteen minutes he must return Prince Max' call, and tell him that the
Army would accept the change of ruler, and co-operate with the new regime for
Germany's sake. Yet he recoiled from it, sick to think of betraying his
sovereign out of his own mouth.

Finally he decided. "I am going for a walk." he told General Groener. "If the
Prince calls, you know what the answer must be," and with that he left the
room.

The call came some ten minutes after Hindenburg's departure. Groener answered,
firmly assuring Prince Max that he would have the full co-operation of the
Army. The Prince, feeling, as he would write later, "like a murderer who had
just received the Royal pardon" thanked him and hastened to pass on the news.

It was almost another half hour before Hindenburg returned. Briefly, Groener
informed him of what had passed. There was silence for a moment, then
Hindenburg walked across, placed his arm almost affectionately on Groener's
shoulder, and said softly "You have taken a heavy responsibility upon yourself"


        *   *   *   *

The Kaiser received the news in icy silence, staring coldly at the officers,
who looked impassively back. Finally he said. "As you are all determined to
betray me, there is no point in my remaining here. You have made your decision
and must live with it. Good day gentlemen"

He left Trier that afternoon, on a special train to Aachen. From there he and
his party drove to the Dutch border, where his first request to the astonished
officials was for "a cup of good English tea"

Within a few hours, the news of the German coup had been telegraphed to
Lausanne, where Hughes, Lloyd George, and Clemenceau decided to meet next day
to decide upon a course of action

[to be continued]  
-- 
Mike Stone - Peterborough England
   
Last words of King Edward II.

"I always said that Roger Mortimer was a pain in the - - - AAARGHH!!!"

Subject: 
            Mr Hughes Goes To War - The Quagmire
       Date: 
            29 Jun 2001 22:37:45 GMT
       From: 
            mwstone@aol.com (mike stone)
Organization: 
            AOL, http://www.aol.co.uk
 Newsgroups: 
            soc.history.what-if


President Charles Evans Hughes had had a tiring day.

There were times when he regretted his decision to include Mr Bryan in the US
delegation. He had done it for good reason. As he had told a startled Senator
Lodge. "Yes, the man is a nitwit; but he is an influential nitwit and a lot of
people in the South and West still take him seriously. There is no way we can
get our treaty through the Senate without quite a few votes from those parts".
He was always careful to say "our"treaty when talking to Lodge, or indeed to
his Democrat colleague, Senator Pomerene. The most exclusive club in America
was  jealous of its prerogatives, and Hughes would face trouble a-plenty if he
could not get its representatives here in Lausanne to think of it as theirs
rather than his.

The delegation was as bipartisan as he could make it. Apart from the two
Senators, it consisted mainly of present and former Secretaries of State. Elihu
Root (the present SoS) and Philander Knox for the Republicans, Robert Lansing
and (the surprise choice) Bryan for the Democrats. Herbert Hoover (who had a
foot in both camps) was also included. Hughes had even made a pro-forma offer
to include his predecessor in the White House, but it surprised no-one when the
invitation was declined. Where Woodrow Wilson could not lead, he would not
follow. Hughes was not particularly sorry. Had Wilson accepted, it would have
been all but impossible to omit Theodore Roosevelt, and, as his son would write
many years later, the President flinched at the thought of being sandwiched
"between General Gordon on one side and the Mahdi on the other."

Yes, on the whole it was better without the ex-Presidents, even though it had
meant having to leave Bill Taft behind as well, whom Hughes liked better than
either. He recalled a conversation with the British PM, David Lloyd George, in
which Wilson had come up. The Welshman had said. " -  - whether as President of
Princeton University [where] any outspoken criticism of him was a breach of
discipline, or as Governor of New Jersey, or as President of the United States,
he was always 'primus', not 'inter pares', but among subordinates. Dealing with
equals did not come naturally to him" Hughes, something of a loner himself by
disposition, could sympathise with that; but he shuddered at the thought of Mr
Wilson trying to keep these tetchy Senators on board. His own career had
involved dealing with law partners, and, in the last six years before his
Presidency, with his fellow Justices on the Supreme Court. Though not as
enthusiastic as Mr Roosevelt about sports, he could be a team player if he
must, and it had never been more necessary than right now.

The thought of Mr Roosevelt brought a twitch to Hughes' face. TR, he knew, had
never really liked him very much. Even when he was President, and Hughes
Governor of New York, they had had their disagreements. The ex-President had
campaigned for him in 1916, but only as the (ever so slightly) lesser evil to
Wilson.  He had been fond of telling a joke about how the newsboys at Shadow
Lawn (Wilson's country  retreat) had all voted for Hughes, while the ones on
Hughes' campaign train all voted for Wilson. And Hughes suspected that this
attitude hadn't really changed. 

Take that business about the amnesty. Just prior to sailing for Europe on the
"Abraham Lincoln", Hughes had granted unconditional pardon to all deserters,
draft evaders, and persons sentenced for encouraging resistance to the draft
etc. This action had brought an indignant denunciation from Shadow Lawn, where
Mr Wilson accused his successor of "devaluing the sacrifice of those who have
honorably served their country". Even some of his own cabinet had argued that
it was premature, suggesting that he leave the offenders behind bars, or in
hiding, for another year or so. Otherwise, as the Assistant Sec of War, John J
Pershing, put it "anyone determined to save his worthless hide can just sit out
the war in gaol, and take a pardon as soon as the shooting stops." Hughes had
responded (with an eye on Mr Roosevelt) "If he really prefers being a convict
to being one of them, are our soldiers going to want him standing beside them -
especially when the going gets tough? I think they are choosier than that".
Roosevelt had been unwontedly brief, just saying curtly. "The President is
right," but Hughes still wondered if he truly felt that way, or just couldn't
bring himself to agree in public with Woodrow Wilson.

It wasn't that Hughes was a pacifist or anything like that. He considered war
an ugly and dirty business, but one which any country wanting to stay
independent must be willing to engage in if worst came to worst. But he didn't
feel totally comfortable with anyone who threw himself into it as
enthusiastically as TR had. He had reluctantly tolerated the Sec of War's
blistering attacks on conscientious objectors - he didn't agree with them
either, but most of them were honorable enough in their blinkered way. And as
for Roosevelt's notion that war was in some way the male equivalent of child
bearing, Hughes found that both unpleasant and slightly absurd. At times like
that, TR reminded him of a certain kind of schoolboy  - the kind who had made
young Charlie Hughes prefer to be educated at home for most of his "school"
life, and then, at fourteen, to skip High School and go direct to College. 

For his first few days in Europe, he had been able to forget such matters and
just enjoy the hero's welcome he received. After landing at Bordeaux, he had
gone first to Paris, to be greeted by enthusiastic crowds yelling "Vive
L'Amerique" and "Vive Le President" (a lot of them seemed to have trouble
pronouncing his surname). Senator Lodge had observed "They seem to have taken
you to their hearts, Mr  President". Hughes had just smiled "It is all
'Hosanna' now, Senator; but wait until I award some pig farm in Lower Slobovia
to the wrong country. After that you will hear nothing but 'Crucify Him' " He
made a silent prayer to be forgiven the blasphemous metaphor, which as a boy
would have meant being stood in a corner or worse. "Still", he thought, "the
Being who created the human race surely has a bit more sense of humor than my
Father and Mother usually credited Him with"

After Paris and London, he had headed south for Lausanne, calling in en route
to see his eldest son, now making a good recovery from his wound. Then, after
embarrassing Charlie by kissing him goodbye in front of the whole ward, it had
been down to work. There had been trouble almost immediately over the
disposition of the German colonies. Hughes quickly saw that he had no hope of
preventing the Pacific Islands north of the equator from going to Japan - that
had been a fait accompli since 1914 - but he was utterly determined that they
shouldn't be fortified. They lay squarely across the sea routes from Hawaii to
Guam and the Philippines. But, of course, there was a price to be paid for
getting Anglo-French support - he would have to go along with their planned
carve-up of the German possessions elsewhere. What really stuck in his gullet
wasn't so much the deal itself - such things happened in politics - as the way
Lloyd George and Co prattled on about Germany's treatment of the natives, as
though the Allies were running some kind of humane society - did they really
think the Japs would treat their new subjects any better than the Germans had -
or that Belgian rule in that slice of East Africa they were getting was going
to be anything wonderful? If they must drive a hard bargain, so be it, but did
they have to insult his intelligence as well?

And the French could be even worse. Whilst he was up in Paris, he had been
invited to tour sections of the old front line, notably including Rheims
Cathedral and other places of a similar nature. Yes, the ruins had been
terrible to look at, but M Clemenceau's pointed hints that evening about French
reparations claims  had been met with a carefully non-committal answer. One
good thing about all his face fungus was that it helped to conceal what he was
thinking.  Hughes had been in too many courtrooms not to see what was afoot.
They were trying to manipulate him,and he didn't like it

This reparations business promised to be a real mare's nest. Certainly the
Germans ought to contribute something towards repairing the mess they'd made in
Belgium and northern France, but how much? It seemed all but certain that
whatever sum was ultimately paid would be much less than a lot of politicians
over here were egging their people on to demand, to the point where any
realistic figure would fall so far sort of expectations as to endanger the
careers of a lot of important  individuals. No doubt some of them would deserve
it, but it didn't make agreement easy. He could see the whole question having
to be postponed to a second conference, maybe a couple or so years down the
line. If so, he might let Charlie Dawes represent the US - assuming of course
that he was still President then

Perhaps that should be the first business for the new international body to
look into. The Alliance for Peace was starting to look more real. Its draft
charter was half complete already. Though Hughes still wasn't sure about the
name. Ought it perhaps to be "League of Nations", as that British delegate had
proposed? It did have a slightly "crisper" sound to it. Not, of course, that
the thing would be any panacea, whatever they called it; but it might be a
start. And one was certainly needed. As Lodge had put it, with unwonted
coarseness "Europe now is like Classical Greece or Renaissance Italy; the
culture is wonderful, but politically the whole place is one big wh***house".
Hughes had never liked this war, and wanted with all his heart to prevent it
from recurring in the future. The organisation might be a help. 

And the frontier disputes. It was one such which had involved Mr Bryan in his
latest contretemps. He had already made himself unpopular with the Polish
delegation, by cheekily asking, during a debate about the ethnic composition of
the population of Lemberg (or Lvov, or Lviv according to who was speaking)
whether the estimate of the number of  Jews  had been made before or after the
recent pogrom there. Austria's authority was barely a shadow in Galicia and
southern Poland, with such decent troops as she had left concentrated in the
Alps and Macedonia, and the Poles there were almost ignoring Vienna and
behaving as if already independent. Not sure yet if the time was ripe to tackle
the Germans further north, some of them had decided to occupy themselves in the
meantime by getting rid of a few "Christ-killers".  They had, it seemed, been
abetted in this by some of the local Ukrainians, who didn't normally have a
good word to say for Poles, and would co-operate with them in no area other
than Jew-baiting. 

That had been bad enough; but Bryan had now ruffled Polish feathers (and thus,
indirectly, French ones as well) for a second time. His latest interjection had
come during a discussion of Hughes' proposed plebiscite in Posen and West
Prussia. A Polish delegate had started giving them a history lesson (no doubt
some of it true, but how much?) on Poland's centuries-old claim to the regions
concerned, and the cruelties to which they had been subjected under the German
regime. "If there is a plebiscite" he declaimed, "the dead should vote as
well". And, of course, Bryan just had to stick his oar in and tell the man that
he was living on the wrong continent. "You should come and live in America,
sir. You would make a fine Mayor of Chicago." The Pole had not understood the
allusion, but there was no mistaking Bryan's tone of voice. And after having
the Great Commoner's witticism explained to him, he had been even less pleased.

Yet the situation in Poland, and Eastern Europe generally, was no laughing
matter. Russia had collapsed, and the Central Powers moved into the vacucum;
but now they too were losing their grip, as their demoralised and increasingly
insubordinate troops picked up more and more subversive ideas from the local
Bolsheviks. The latter were now engaged in a confused civil war with various
"white" forces, many of whom had been collaborating with the Germans, but were
now trying to break loose and hop onto the Allied bandwagon. A British force
had landed at Archangel and had moved down into Finland, whilst Japan was
getting ready to land troops in Siberia: which meant, Hughes wearily
acknowledged, that he would shortly have to send a US contingent, if only to
keep an eye on the wretched Japs. 

This, of course, had occasioned much of what was going on between France and
Germany's minor allies. If Turkey would switch sides, that opened up the Black
Sea, and gave the French a chance to contact the whites in Southern Russia, and
of "lifting" it from Germans and Bolsheviks alike. Hughes was not over-fond of
the Bolsheviks, but neither did he like this sort of behaviour. What the Allies
were up to in Russia looked uncomfortably like the beginnings of another
imperialist scheme for chopping the country up into spheres of influence,
rather like China was already. That wasn't a happy precedent, and the Russian
people surely deserved better.

On the other hand, they weren't wrong in considering Bolshevism dangerous - and
it could easily spread. It was difficult to get reliable information about the
situation in Germany itself, but the Vienna Embassy was keeping him abreast of
conditions in the Hapsburg Empire, and they were pretty desperate. (He was glad
that he had resisted pressure to declare war on Austria-Hungary as well as
Germany - that embassy was a useful "window" into Central Europe) If things
didn't improve fast, there could be a Bolshevist state stretching from Central
Asia all the way to the Rhine. 

Had it perhaps been a mistake to insist on continuing the blockade? Yet his own
Navy had supported the British on that point, and back in March the enemy had
still seemed formidable - there had been no certainty that the war would not
resume. No, it had been the right decision at the time. But things were looking
different now. Perhaps it was time to reconsider the question - in regard to
foodstuffs at least. Hughes nodded to himself. He would raise the matter with
Lloyd George.

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a knock on the door. It was Senator
Pomerene, with Lansing and Hoover behind him. "Mr President. This telegram just
came from our Embassy at the Hague. The Kaiser and Crown Prince have fled
Germany and crossed into the Netherlands."

"No loss" Hughes curtly responded. "We're well rid of the pair of them: but do
we know who's running Germany now?"

"Yes, Mr President. They have proclaimed Karl of Austria as their new ruler.
From the sound of it, they are trying to set up an Empire of all central
Europe. The French will never buy it, and I doubt if the British will. It looks
as if the  talks may well break down"

[to be continued]
-- 
Mike Stone - Peterborough England
   
Last words of King Edward II.

"I always said that Roger Mortimer was a pain in the - - - AAARGHH!!!"

Subject: 
            Mr Hughes Goes To War - Business In Great Waters
       Date: 
            05 Jul 2001 00:18:49 GMT
       From: 
            mwstone@aol.com (mike stone)
Organization: 
            AOL, http://www.aol.co.uk
 Newsgroups: 
            soc.history.what-if


Ambassador William R Willcox pondered the confused situation

He had never been  overjoyed about this particular assignment. It had, all too
plainly, been a tactful way of "pensioning him off" after the election campaign
of 1916. Even though the Republicans had won, they were mostly of the opinion
that it was no thanks to him. And he could see their point

He still shuddered at how close he had come to throwing away the election. With
hindsight, it had been incredible folly to arrange for Hughes to visit
California and not appear with Hiram Johnson. He (and the Republicans) had been
saved only by that wretched U-Boat Captain. Had the "Algonquin" not been
torpedoed when it was, causing Hughes to interrupt his campaign tour for a
meeting with Republican leaders in Chicago, then the error might never have
been rectified. As it was, by the time Hughes' rescheduled California trip took
place, the Primary was over, and Johnson the anointed Republican candidate for
Senator. So naturally they appeared together. Even so, the result had been
frightfully close. Willcox remembered how his stomach had knotted up as the
late returns came in, reducing their lead from 5,000 to 2,000, to 1,000, then
500 - and finally stopped at a wafer-thin 416. Only in Minnesota (256) and New
Hampshire (87) had the Republican margins been narrower.

So, they had won. But it had come too late and too narrowly to save Willcox,
and he had reluctantly accepted the Vienna Embassy as his retirement gift. It
would have been churlish to have refused, given that the President was himself
making a sacrifice of principle in offering it. Hughes was normally a stickler
for merit appointment, and had gone against his own convictions (and taken some
editorial gunfire for it)  in order to let  his campaign manager down lightly. 

Still, he thought with a wry grin, what goes around, comes around. He had
recently heard from Washington that the elderly party hack who superceded him
as National Chairman had, in his turn, been put out to grass in favour of some
young whippersnapper from Indiana, by the name of Will Hays. He didn't know
much about the guy, save that he was  connected with the new-fangled film
industry which had received a boost from the war. "Well, best of luck sonny",
Willcox thought; "I hope you get more joy out of it than I ever did".

For a time, as war clouds gathered, he had wondered how long his new job would
last. Over in Berlin, they had never got to send anyone at all. There had even
been wild rumours that the post would go to Theodore Roosevelt, but it had not
come to pass, and the Wilson holdover, James W Gerard, had still been keeping
the seat warm when Germany proclaimed unrestricted U-Boat warfare, and
diplomatic relations ended. Several times, it had appeared that
Austria-Hungary, too, would soon be at war with the US, and he would be on his
way home.  But it never quite happened. In December 1917, with reports coming
in of American ships torpedoed by Austrian submarines, a breach had seemed
imminent. But the Austrians had insisted that the submarines concerned were in
fact German, masquerading under the Austrian flag, and Willcox had chosen to
believe them. Indeed, they might even be telling the truth. The Germans were
distinctly uneasy at the continuing diplomatic relations between their
principal ally and what was fast becoming their principal enemy, and might well
have been seeking to cause trouble. He had frantically telegraphed Hughes,
urging that the case was unproven. A few days later, there had been a small but
significant event. A French steamer, with two Americans on board, had been sunk
by an Austrian submarine. Not only had the ship's company been given ample time
to take to their lifeboats, but the Austrian captain had towed the boats forty
miles to the Balearic Islands. In the end, the war resolution had stayed,
unused, in the President's desk drawer.

Willcox was glad. In the eighteen months that he had been having dealings with
this young Emperor Karl, he had found, quite simply, that he liked the man. His
wish to do the best by the people of his Empire, and in particular to bring an
end to the war that was ruining them, was transparently genuine. Several times,
Willcox had entertained hopes of detaching the Habsburg Empire from her ally
(and, increasingly her master) to the north. It had come to nothing, in part,
at least, because Karl was a bit too decent for his own good. He did not seek
to betray his allies by a separate peace, but rather dreamed of bringing the
entire war to an end - and Berlin had not yet been ready for that. The
Ambassador sometimes wondered if Karl hadn't reached the throne too early. He
had never known Franz Josef, not having arrived in Vienna at the time of the
old man's death, but from what he had heard, the latter might well have been
better suited to take the hard decisions now required than his more idealistic
successor. Even now, it was an open secret that Karl had received offers from
France of an easy peace if he would co-operate with them in dismembering
Germany - and was, even in his now desperate situation,  still hesitating to
accept the lifebelt

And now this: Willcox doubted if any previous US diplomatic representative had
been in quite such a confused situation. The sovereign to whom he was
accredited had, it seemed, just been called to the throne of a nation with whom
America was still officially at war. Did that mean that Karl was now an enemy
ruler, and that Willcox should ask for his passports? It seemed absurd to take
such a step now that the fighting was over. Or was it over? Would this business
lead to the failure of the Lausanne conference, and send everyone back to doing
their arguing with guns? He hoped not, and certainly had no intention of
anticipating such an event. For the moment, he was standing carefully on
technicalities. Since the US had not yet recognised Karl I as German Emperor,
and perhaps never would, he continued to behave as Ambassador to Austria only,
and took no official notice of the new dignity which Karl had so dubiously
acquired. In dealings with Austrian officials, he was careful to stick to "your
emperor" or "His Imperial Majesty", as appropriate, without being too specific
as to precisely what country or countries this particular Imperial Majesty was
Emperor of.

Willcox looked again at the message he had just received. So the Emperor, back
in Vienna now after an overnight journey from Berlin, wanted to see him
urgently. What did this portend?

*    *    *    *

The US Delegation to the Lausanne Peace Conference digested the news. Robert
Lansing spoke first.

"I do not see what possible choice we have, Mr President.  I know this Kaiser
Karl  has a better public image than Wilhelm did. But at the end of the day he
is another of the same stamp. He's an absolute monarch, who sits where he does
because some ancestor of his carved out a kingdom in blood and lorded it over
the people there. I don't see how any durable peace can be made on that
footing". 

"As a matter of fact", Elihu Root responded, "I thought he was where he was
because the representatives of the German people had invited him. At all
events, those Social Democrats are about as representative as anyone. The
parties to their right stayed loyal to Wilhelm virtually to the end, so if we
don't deal with them and we don't deal with the people behind Karl, then as far
as I can see that only leaves Liebnecht and his Bolshevists - and I take it
none of us want them in power. We stated at the outbreak of war that we did not
claim any right to interfere in Germany's domestic institutions, and I'm not at
all sure that we have any grounds for abandoning that position. He smiled
cynically at William Jennings Bryan, sitting at Lansing's left. We did not go
to war to teach the Germans to elect good men - nor to crown them either. "

That was a dig at what Bryan - and his then political chief, Woodrow Wilson -
had been doing in Mexico a few years before. Bryan took no offence. "Indeed;
and if American children are to go through life fatherless because of what we
decide today, then we owe it to them to be sure that their fathers' deaths are
truly unavoidable." Root nodded his head in acknowledgment of what was,
virtually, a direct quote from his own speech against the Vera Cruz expedition
in 1914. How long ago that all seemed.

Senator Pomerene broke in. "That is all very well, but what exactly did we go
to war for, if not democracy? And if that descendant of thirty or so
generations of blue-blooded robber barons is a democrat, then I'm George the
Third. I really have to agree with Mr Lansing. We are here to give the world a
new start. We need to align ourselves firmly with the progressive  (Secretary
Root's face went stony at that word, whilst the President's expression was
almost unreadable behind his whiskers) forces here in Europe. These dynasties
carved out their little bailiwicks at the sword's point, and they have plunged
the world into a bloodbath. If one of them comes out of this war with a bigger
kingdom than they started with, it simply makes a mockery of what we fought
for."

Henry Cabot Lodge looked doubtful. "As I remember it", he responded, "we fought
because our citizens were being murdered on the high seas, not because other
nations had forms of government with which we disagreed. And also because the
Germans were making deals with neighbouring states to dismember our country. 
There is not the slightest evidence that Karl was involved in the Zimmermann
business. Knowing the Germans, I doubt if he was even informed - and  Austria's
role in the U-Boat war has been minimal. We declared war to eliminate a danger
to the United States. If Karl and his regime also pose such a danger, then we
must act against them; but I respectfully urge that we seek a bit more
information before we sign up to any irrevocable decisions. Have we heard
anything from Ambassador Willcox yet? Has he expressed an opinion ?"

"As it happens" President Hughes spoke for the first time. It was a hangover
from his years as a judge; he was used to sitting in august dignity up on the
bench and letting the lawyers argue back and forth "The Ambassador telephoned
me around midday. Apparently  the Emperor has invited him to an audience, and
if it went to schedule then they should be talking right now. I'm expecting him
to call me back this evening."

"What do our allies say about that?" asked Lansing. "It was my impression that
they wanted urgent action. Are they prepared to wait upon Mr Willcox?"

"Clemenceau didn't want to." The President responded. "I think he resents our
having a window into the enemy camp which he lacks access to. But Lloyd George
is willing to delay. I appealed to him as one Welshman to another" (The
President's father, David Charles Hughes, had emigrated from South Wales to the
Lower Hudson Valley in 1855. His only son was born there seven years later)
"And while he is talking tough I get the feeling that he doesn't want the war
to restart if there's any way to avoid it. The British fought (officially at
least) to get the Germans out of Belgium. They've got that. Their Dominions
wanted to get rid of those German colonies on their doorsteps. They've done
that.  The main things left on their shopping list - and ours - are the U-Boats
and the German fleet - and reparations, of course. That question will run and
run. They also have genuine concerns about the balance of power, even if they
don't like using the phrase these days. But all in all they've already had a
reasonable payment on account, and can hope for more if we keep talking. But
Karl had better offer something. The press on both sides of the ocean will soon
be yelling its head off about this 'German colossus across the middle of
Europe.' Lloyd George and Clemenceau don't have the benefits of our
Constitution. They aren't serving for fixed terms and they could fall any time
- especially if they seem to be giving in to the Germans. It had better be
good"

*    *    *    *

"Their Imperial Majesties will see you now, Your Excellency"

Majesties? Nothing had been said about the Empress being present as well. Did
it signify something? Then, as he was ushered into the chamber, Willcox noted
that there were no interpreters present. Evidently this private audience was
going to be as private as possible in this "walls have ears" environment. It
made sense now. Zita had finished her education in a convent school on the Isle
of Wight, and her command of English was a good deal better than her husbands.
Given that even Karl's English was better than Willcox' German, this was a good
way to avoid any third parties listening in. Karl indicated a small desk, with
three chairs around it. Once they were seated, he got straight to the point.

"I assume, Mr Ambassador, that your President has heard the news by now"

"Indeed he has, Your Majesty. As, of course, have all the Allied leaders. And I
have to say it has not gone down at all well. Even though the union is under
you, to most of our people this still looks like a disguised German takeover of
your Empire. The idea of, in effect, allowing Germany to double her population
is alarming in the extreme. Do you really expect us to accept that?"

"Yet the Entente were ready enough to talk to me last year." Responded Karl.
"And for that matter certain of them have been eager to talk to me this year -
as I think you know. And if Germany is crushed while Austria is let off
lightly, then do we not - - inevitably (he hesitated there, and Zita had to
quickly supply the word) become the predominant power in Middle Europe. The
Germans will hate you, so who can they turn to but us"

"Unless, of course," Zita put in "they choose to ally with the Bolsheviks. Does
your President want that?"

He certainly did not. Willcox knew that beyond a doubt. Hughes (and Root) had
rejoiced at the fall of the Romanoffs, and had spoken with joy about "the
coming of democracy to Russia". The dashing of those hopes, with the
destruction of Kerensky's regime by Lenin and Trotsky, had been a cruel blow to
him, and Willcox suspected it had served to reinforce the President's caution
about seeking to "democratise" the former enemy powers. His disclaimer of any
wish to interfere with the German system of government, which had been somewhat
"pro forma" when first made at the outbreak of war, now seemed to have
hardened. Indeed, the occasional telegrams the ambassador had received from
Hughes, and their rarer phone conversations, suggested that the President was
getting more cynical about Europe with every day that he stayed there. 

He brought himself back to the matters in hand. "If you are worried about
Bolshevism" he observed, "it would be well to co-operate with Mr Hoover and his
relief efforts. Some of the reports I am hearing from the Balkans are quite
appalling, and he tells me that the occupation forces there are sometimes less
than helpful."

"As far as the Balkans go," said Karl, "he will find us less of a problem. I
have ordered Feldmarschall Von Mackensen to contact your General Guillamat at
Salonika. We will be retiring from Serbia, Montenegro and Albania within the
next few days. Such troops as we still have in Turkey and Bulgaria are also
being recalled."

Willcox nodded. So it had come at last. There had been countless rumours
floating around of possible deals with Bulgaria and/or Turkey, clearing the
Allies' way into the Black Sea. Evidently Karl (or whoever was advising him)
had decided not to wait. He was pulling back to the Austrian border, leaving
his treacherous allies without any bargaining power, to seek from the Entente
what terms they could. It occurred to him that this might lead to some
ding-dong Anglo-French quarrels over the disposal of the Ottoman Empire, and
would clear the way for both of them to get further entangled with the White
Russians. Also, the Serbs and Italians, between whom no love was lost, would
now come face to face across the wreckage of Albania The political morass was
getting ever deeper.

"What about Poland?" he asked "She has had promises of freedom from just about
every party in this war, but she is still occupied. What is to happen there?"

"I have already ordered the release of General Pilsudski, and hope to speak to
him soon regarding an agreement there. It is our sincere hope that Poland and
the Empire can enjoy happy relations in the new Europe. I offered to surrender
Galicia over a year ago, if it would help to end the war. That offer still
stands. Indeed, if Russia remains Bolshevik, a strong Poland may well be
needed, as a barrier against their evil influence"

"This is encouraging, sir, but I notice you make no mention of Italy. What is
your position regarding her claims?"

The genial expression on Karl's face disappeared. His manner had suddenly
become much colder. "Those districts of Tyrol where Italian people live may
unite with her. (In fact, Willcox knew, this was already a fait accompli. The
Austrians had recently pulled back from Trent in order to straighten their
line, and the local authorities had proclaimed union with Italy without waiting
for such pettifogging details as treaties) I will also to let a vote be held in
 Trieste and its surrounding country. But that is all. I will yield no German 
land to them. Nor any Slav land whose peoples do not wish it. If the Entente
demand that, then they must renew the war."

"And" Zita added "your President has said many times that people should govern
themselves. Will he really send young Americans to die, so that thousands of
people shall be put into a country where they have no wish to be?"

Before Willcox could respond to that, Karl spoke again, in a different tone of
voice. "One more thing, Herr Ambassador. If there were one thing - just one -
that I could do for your President, what would he ask for?"

Willcox thought for a moment, then replied as firmly as he was able. "The
U-Boats, sir. But for those wicked things, my country would never have been
drawn into this war." He was confident of this. He had been with the
President-to-be when the news came in of the "Algonquin" sinking, and would
never forget Hughes' anger. It had shown him a side to the man which up till
then he hardly knew existed. "It was those devilish machines which made this
into America's war. Until then it was only Europe's and none of ours. When you
murdered - - " He brought himself under control, seeing the look in the Royal
couple's eyes. More calmly. "If there is one thing he would like more than any
other, it is for all the U-Boats to go to the bottom of the sea for ever."

There was a long silence, then Karl's voice, softly. "He shall have them." 

*    *    *    *

"NO!!!"

Admiral Von Cappelle almost screamed his refusal. "The U-Boats have served the
Fatherland well and honourably. It would be disgraceful to agree to this. We
should seem to be admitting all the Entente's calumnies against our brave men.
And who is to say we shall not need them again, if this conference fails. As it
may well do if we show this kind of weakness. It is plain invitation to our
enemies to raise their demands."

"Need them for what?" Karl tried to keep the fury out of his voice. A Royal
Habsburg should not be arguing in this way with a subject.  Also, he noted that
not once had Von Cappelle addressed him as "Majesty". It might be that he just
forgot himself in his indignation, but Karl suspected plain rudeness. 

"The Entente have plenty of supplies. And we never made much impression on
their convoys at the best of times. As far as I can see, all the submarine war
brought us was disaster. I warned your - - the High Command in 1916 that
declaring Unrestricted U-Boat war would be unwise. Needless to say, I was
ignored."

Von Cappelle tried another tack. "In any case, the order cannot be carried out.
The submariners would never tolerate the humiliation. If ordered to do this,
they will rise up and shoot the man who gave such an order, and all the Navy
would rise with them"

Gustav Noske broke in. "With all respect, Admiral (he made the word "respect"
sound almost insulting) the sailors will do no such thing. The U-Boat men shot
dozens of them to put down the April mutiny, and they haven't forgotten. If the
submariners try anything like that, their "comrades" will cheerfully slit their
throats for them." He turned to Karl. "If your Imperial Majesty (he stressed
the titles) is convinced of the necessity for this action - -"

"I am.". At that, Von Cappelle put up one last resistance "It is impossible.
You cannot ask - -"

Karl's face was like a stone image. "If that is your resignation, Admiral, it
is accepted." Von Cappelle turned from one to the other, with the look of a
trapped animal on his face. Then he saluted shakily and left the room. 

Karl turned back to Noske. "In the circumstances, we had best regard the
Admiral as no longer in line of command. If you would transmit the necessary
orders immediately."

*    *    *    *

President Hughes watched the sinkings from the bridge of the "Abraham Lincoln".
Not far away, Admirals Sims and Beatty were likewise watching, from their
respective flagships. It was done with little ceremony. The U-Boats - over two
hundred of them, they seemed to go on for ever - sailed up to the rendezvous
point. A screen of destroyers kept station between them and the VIPs, in case
of any last-minute suicide attack. There was none. 

After a few minutes, the skeleton crews climbed out and rowed across to the
accompanying supply ships. Shortly after, the demolition chrges exploded. Less
than half an hour after their arrival, it was all over. The supply ships were
on their way back to Germany, and the U-Boats were piles of scrap metal at the
bottom of the North Sea.

Hughes looked out in silence for a few minutes, then gave the order to return
to port. There was still much left to resolve, but the danger of renewed war
had receded. The Italians were furious at Karl's defiance, but their army was
as tired and rebellious as the Austrian, and they were in no shape to fight
again. If they were to get their frontier on the Brenner, others must conquer
it for them. Clemenceau was still far from happy, but he had no intention of
fighting alone. The Tiger could remember the long years when Bismarck's
diplomacy kept France in helpless isolation, and did not intend to see those
days  return. Lloyd George was increasingly satisfied with the way things were
going, and had the Cabinet's agreement that war should be renewed only in
concert with the US - and Charles Evans Hughes had said no.

But they weren't out of the wood yet. Some newspapers and politicians back
home, though delighted to see the U-Boats gone, were still grumbling at his
"excessive leniency" toward the enemy. And back at Lausanne, long hours of
dreary argument about Russia, Turkey, the reparations bill, and a great deal
else besides, still lay before them.

Hughes turned at the sound of footsteps from behind him. It was Bryan. "A good
day, Mr President. " he said. 

"A very good day" Hughes agreed. "I only wish it were the last day of the
conference. I shall be glad to get home." He paused. "I was just thinking. If a
couple of hundred votes had gone the other way, back in '16 in California, it
would be Mr Wilson standing on this bridge." I wonder how he would be handling
it."

"I don't think so, sir." Bryan's face was very sombre. "Mr Wilson is a good
man, but since I came to Lausanne I have thanked the Lord each night that he
isn't here. I do not think that he could have endured it. The stress and strain
of it all would have killed him by now."

"It may kill me yet" responded Hughes. But of course, as a mere Republican, I
suppose I'm expendable". 

They both smiled.

[To Be Continued]
-- 
Mike Stone - Peterborough England
   
Last words of King Edward II.

"I always said that Roger Mortimer was a pain in the - - - AAARGHH!!!"

Subject: 
            Mr Hughes Goes To War - Business In Great Waters
       Date: 
            07 Jul 2001 19:13:58 GMT
       From: 
            mwstone@aol.com (mike stone)
Organization: 
            AOL, http://www.aol.co.uk
 Newsgroups: 
            soc.history.what-if


In a message dated 7/7/01 12:55:51 PM GMT Daylight Time,
melville3133@optushome.com.au writes:



>With Karl's niceness as a person and willingness to compromise I hope you 
>can get a plausible way of less loss of territory in the Treaty of Lausanne 
>- particularly in the East (Posen, West Prussia etc) - maybe even joint 
>German/Polish control over Danzig?


I think you can safely assume that the Germans do a lot better. Remember that
even OTL the High Command in 1919 believed itself strong enough to defeat the
Poles. What they couldn't cope with was the likely Allied invasion from the
Rhine bridgeheads, if they rejected the Treaty of Versailles. 

On this TL, such an invasion is far less likely. The Armistice was nowhere near
as tough as OTL's, so Germany is better armed, and can defend the Rhine if
worst comes to worst. Also, the Habsburg Empire, though looking distinctly
fragile, has not disintegrated, so Germany's southern flank is much better
covered, and there is no Czechoslovak army to aid the Poles.The British and
French armies are worn out and eager for demobilisation, and the British in
particular look like getting most of what they really want from the Peace, so
are reluctant to sacrifice more lives for what they consider secondary
objectives. The French see things differently, but they have suffered a lot
more casualties than the British, and aren't going to fight alone.

In this situation, it all hangs on the Americans, whose army is easily the
freshest and least "blooded", and would resume fighting if ordered to do so.
However, if I have read Hughes right (I am still awaiting any comments about
that from David Tenner and other "American experts" on this ng) there is a
pretty good chance that he won't give such an order. The son of a Welsh
immigrant, so far as he has any sympathies other than for the US (and I see him
as having very few) they would be towards Britain rather than any Continental
power. He wants a peace that will last, but to a far greater degree than Wilson
he is here purely as a US President, and has no ambition to be the first
President of the World. 

The next episode (if the last two generate enough interest to justify doing
one) is likely to contain more about the Polish question. Karl has already
released General Pilsudski (who had been interned by the Germans for proving an
insufficiently docile puppet) and is hoping to meet with him soon. They will
have differences over Posen and Westpreussen, but Pilsudski has ambitions on
other fronts as well - and Karl detests the Bolsheviks. Stay tuned.


-- 
Mike Stone - Peterborough England
   
Last words of King Edward II.

"I always said that Roger Mortimer was a pain in the - - - AAARGHH!!!"

Subject: 
            Mr Hughes Goes To War 6 - Home And Away
       Date: 
            25 Jul 2001 18:53:16 GMT
       From: 
            mwstone@aol.com (mike stone)
Organization: 
            AOL, http://www.aol.co.uk
 Newsgroups: 
            soc.history.what-if


I thought I'd let yoou see this little snippet I just found on alt.talk.royalty
- for anyone interested the thread is "Polish and Saxon Succession"


From: dmaqgregor@hotmail.com  (Daniel MacGregor)

Question: what should Pilsudski have done?  Followed Admiral Horthy
and proclaimed himself Regent?  And who could have been chosen as
king?  Any German or Austrian would have been persona non grata to the
Allies.  Witness Finland, where the Kaiser's brother-in-law had been
chosen king.

And, looking back at the period, I know of two instances of a
suggestion for a candidate.  The man who became the original head of
the Monarchist League proposed Prince Sixtus of Bourbon-Parma over
Archduke Karl Stefan's Czartoryski and Radziwill sons-in-law.  (Would
that he had lived as long, and had as many children, as his brothers
Xavier and Felix.) In OTL, that would have given us totay Queen
Isabelle, with a La Rochefoucauld Crown Prince.

-- 
Mike Stone - Peterborough England
   
Last words of King Edward II.

"I always said that Roger Mortimer was a pain in the - - - AAARGHH!!!"

Subject: 
            Mr Hughes Goes To War - Homw And Away
       Date: 
            11 Jul 2001 20:25:13 GMT
       From: 
            mwstone@aol.com (mike stone)
Organization: 
            AOL, http://www.aol.co.uk
 Newsgroups: 
            soc.history.what-if


His return to the US had had two original purposes. Firstly, to attend the
funeral of Vice-President Fairbanks, who had died during the President's
absence, and secondly to see to the appointment of a new Chief Justice, the
ailing Edward White having submitted his resignation. Not that there was any
real doubt about the new man. He (and CJ White) had decided long ago on that.
But Hughes had been concerned about the possible reaction of the Democratic
Senate. In the event, though, all had gone smoothly enough. Enough Southern
Democrats, and indeed some of the less radical northern ones, had joined with
the vast majority of Republicans (the feuds of 1912 were beginning to seem
remote, with all the new issues) to confirm Chief Justice Taft by a comfortable
margin.

However, whilst Hughes was back in America, he received the news that he had
another and more portentous funeral to attend. As the President , along with Mr
Taft, who was also invited, helped to carry Theodore Roosevelt's coffin on its
last journey, he was shocked to realise that tears were streaming down his
face. Why, for heaven's sake? He hadn't loved TR, indeed a lot of the time he
hadn't even liked him. Yet there was no disputing the gap that he had left. And
say what you would, the ex-president had worked like a Trojan to whip the US
army into shape for the European War. Much of the time he had put in 20-hour
days, and it had occurred to more than a few that this workload had in all
probability hastened his death. Yes, the Rough Rider had died for his country,
as surely as any casualty in France. And Hughes was very touched by Roosevelt's
final gesture of inviting himself and Taft to be mourners. (Even at such a
moment, of course, there were limits to TR's forgiveness. Woodrow Wilson
received no invitation) It made Hughes feel a little ashamed of some of the
things he had thought about this man. "Yes, Teddy", he silently confessed to
the ghost, "you were a bigger man than me - even if you were a bull moose in a
china shop at times. But the world can't count on having someone like you
always available when needed. I've got to make a peace that lesser beings like
me will be able to work with" Then he turned again to the task in hand ,
rehearsing the words he would speak in memory of the passing of a giant.

*    *    *    *

Mr Wilson, of course, was making trouble for the Administration every way he
could. He had largely kept his head down during the war, taking a correct and
patriotic line, with occasional carping at  Hughes' conduct of it. But with the
Armistice he had no further need for restraint. Having opened hostilities by
denouncing his successor's leniency to "traitors" and shirkers who had opposed
or evaded the draft, he was now taking up that crazy Anglo-French proposal to
demand the extradition of the Ex-Kaiser from Holland, and put him on trial for
launching the war. Hughes, indeed, had no particular sympathy for Wilhelm. His
response, on learning of the Kaiser's flight, had amounted to "good riddance",
and he saw no reason whatever to modify that view. Wilhelm II, in his opinion,
had been one of the most worthless lumps of nothing ever to occupy a throne
(and where European thrones were concerned, the competition was very stiff in
that respect) and in fleeing abroad and abandoning to its fate the country he
had led into disaster, he had shown himself at his true worth. Yet now, when
the architect of evil was totally disgraced, his late enemies were bending over
backwards to redeem him in the eyes of the German people, blithely inviting him
to play the martyr before some kangaroo court in Paris or wherever. And Hughes
knew enough about the Kaiser  - the man could be a consummate actor when he
wanted to be - to have no doubt that he would take full advantage of such a
rostrum. 

Besides, the whole business went against the grain for the lawyer in him.
Hughes believed strongly in promoting the rule of law, between nations as
between men, and he had been moved by Lloyd George's plea that humankind must
learn to shun war "as a civilised being today shuns a murder". Yet even mass
murderers weren't sentenced under retrospective legislation. And some of the
things he had heard his allies come out with had frankly scared him. When he
had raised this point in Lausanne, Clemenceau had virtually accused him of
being a pettifogging legalist, asserting that the victorious allies were
bringing a New Order to the world, and should not allow themselves to be
hamstrung by the fusty precedents of the old one. Hughes had kept his temper,
but with difficulty. "As far as I'm concerned, M Le Ministre, these
pettifogging legalisms exist for good reason, and in my view it is most
irresponsible to contemplate tossing them in the ash  can so that jingoists can
revenge themselves on some third-rate European royal. That kind of 
'revolutionary justice' is for Bolsheviks, and I haven't the slightest
intention of imitating that bunch of gangsters in the Kremlin. The days of the
guillotine are over, at least in the political life of the civilised world" 

Unfortunately, that position did not seem to have universal acceptance. Perhaps
M Clemenceau could be forgiven to some degree. His Jacobin heritage no doubt
led him to have more sympathy for "root and branch" methods than a civilised
leader ought to have. And France was unlikely to come out of this conference
half as well as Britain stood to do. In a way, one could understand his wish to
console the French public by offering them the Kaiser's head on a plate.  But
Hughes found it disturbing that Lloyd George, too, seemed to have a sneaking
admiration for such tactics. He recalled a snide remark LG had made about
Winston Churchill, when the latter urged military intervention against the
Bolshevik regime "His ducal blood recoils at the massacres of Grand Dukes over
there". Well, Hughes too had reservations about intervention, and believed that
nations had to fight their own internal battles. His own troops at Vladivostok
were mainly there to keep an eye on Japan, and he was resisting pressure to
allow a deeper involvement. As for Grand Dukes, most of what he knew of them
was not favourable, and they were an institution that the United States, thank
you , did very nicely without. Yet, as far as he could see, they had just as
much right to go on living as any other persons. Nicholas and Alexandra had
been an unimpressive pair, but they did not deserve what happened to them - and
their children certainly didn't. Hughes had been almost physically sick when
the story was reported to him. According to one version, the Tsar's
haemophiliac son had somehow not died at once, and one of the executioners had
finished the job by kicking the child's head in with a steel-toed boot. Of
course, this might turn out to be exaggerated - there were no impartial sources
in that theatre - but if you believed even half the stuff emanating from
Russia, then its current rulers were capable of just about anything. 

There seemed to be a kind of mental disease in the air; a belief that if you
got in the way of "progress" it was somehow ok to push you aside without too
much concern for legal niceties. Perhaps this was only to be expected in
Russia, a barbaric sort of country at the best of times; but Hughes had an
uneasy feeling that such attitudes could spread - and that this little tiff
about the Kaiser was an early warning that even western leaders were not immune
from infection. Indeed,  American ones were showing  susceptibility. Hughes had
always had a good deal of respect for his predecessor, admiring Wilson's
scholarship and his regard for the Constitution. But now here he was climbing
on this bandwagon, as if he had totally forgotten what "ex post facto" meant,
and why punishment on such a basis was forbidden. And given his southern birth,
he could not be unaware of the precedents. Legally speaking, the North had had
a far better case for hanging Jefferson Davis than the Allies could ever come
up with against Kaiser Bill, yet even in the bitterness that followed Lincoln's
assassination, they had let the idea drop, and let him go home to be judged by
history alone. Indeed, this, more than anything,was what had enabled the
President to bring Lloyd George around. His "fellow Welshman" had a tremendous
admiration for Abraham Lincoln, and Hughes had eventually persuaded him that
the Great Emancipator would never have gone along with this particular scheme.
Clemenceau had accepted defeat, but was plainly furious. He was also demanding
full Allied support for the claims of Poland, which was vociferously asserting
its right to Posen, Upper silesia and a generous slice of West Prussia,
including the solidly German port of Danzig, and a strip of coastline which
completely severed East Prussia from the rest of the Reich. Hughes had agreed
to demand plebiscites in the areas concerned, but was unwilling to go further,
which (unless Emperor Karl and General Pilsudski reached their own deal) would
mean another dust-up with the French. The way things were going, France might
even refuse to sign the peace at all.

Yet there were a lot of good people in Europe, and Hughes was hearing from
them. Every day in Switzerland, thousands of letters had poured in,   from
Allied, neutral and enemy countries alike, some of them addressed only to
"Monsieur Hugges , La Suisse" or in an equally precise fashion. Thanks to the
efficiency of the Swiss Postal Service, they reached him none the less. In
particular, he had been surprised at the way the proposed League of Nations had
apparently caught people's imaginations over here. Hughes himself had been
dubious about the idea at first, considering it well-meant but of only doubtful
utility. Its principal supporters among the Americans in Lausanne had been
Lansing, Hoover and Bryan, though Senator Pomerene appeared sympathetic. Lodge
had been even more doubtful about it than the President, and remained a bit of
a sceptic even now. He had waxed  indignant at the British insistance that each
of their Dominions should have its own seat and vote in the League. It was
quite out of order that the British Empire should thus give itself six votes to
America's one. Hughes had reminded him, tactfully, of the fact that such places
as Haiti, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic would also have one vote each,
and, considering how their current governments had become such, could be pretty
much relied on to toe the US line. "Senator, if the British vote their rotten
boroughs, you may rest assured that I will vote ours." All jesting aside,
Hughes was now a firm supporter of the League. There was clearly a groundswell
of opinion amongst the ordinary folk of Europe, in favour of the new
organisation. After what they had been through, they wanted something different
from the international order (or disorder) which had produced the war, and
Hughes would serve them as best he could, and as far as his prior duty to his
own country allowed.  He was awed, though, and more than a little disturbed, by
the almost worshipful tone of some of the letters, whose authors apparently saw
him as some kind of Messiah, who could "make all things well". He saw all too
clearly that there was no way he could possibly satisfy all the hopes that were
being placed in him, which put him rather in mind of the Roman Triumph, where a
slave had to stand behind the victorious general, and keep reminding him that
he was only a man. Hughes did not need the reminder, but was coming to the
conclusion that a lot of his European admirers did. Soon, he knew, reality
would break in in them in the shape of the completed Peace Treaty, and he
wondered what those good folks would think of him then.

*    *    *    *

Emperor Karl I of Austria, German Emperor and Apostolic King of Hungary, etc
etc,  was a weary and disillusioned man. He had had high hopes that his gesture
of last month, agreeing to the destruction of the U-Boats, would lead to a
speedy 
peace. Yet still things dragged on. The food situation was starting to improve,
as more men were returning to the land, with even quite a few soldiers now
doing their duty to Kaiser and Fatherland with ploughshares rather than swords.
Yet the improvement was desparately slow, and would continue to be until they
got a peace treaty, and with it the final lifting of the blockade. There had
been some relaxations in it, at the urging of Mr Hoover on the other side, but
judging from the reports he got from various corners of the Empire, it was
still too little, too late. 

For pity's sake, he thought, do they not realise they are playing with fire?
The Spartacists were defeated in Berlin, but some of those Freikorps that I had
to do it with are almost as dangerous. They have scant respect for me, and see
me as just a stopgap ruler to be jettisoned at their convenience. If they try
anything, I can order the Reichswehr to resist them, but will it obey? So many
of those army officers are Prussians, and still hanker after the Hohenzollerns.
Nor would they take kindly to my using Austrian troops to maintain order in
Prussia. And if the conservative forces don't hang together, who's to say the
Reds won't try again, maybe under someone a bit smarter than Leibnecht. He
shuddered at the thought, those butchers in Moscow ruling an Empire clear to
the Rhine and the Alps. Would they do to little Otto what they had reportedly
done to Alexis?

Yet the Entente were still fiddling while Rome burned. Why, only last week, his
representatives in Lausanne had to fend off a demand that the Treaty include an
explicit confession that Germany and her allies were solely responsible for the
war, and for all damages resulting from it. Even if he had believed that, which
he didn't, how long would he survive were he to outrage German feeling by
allowing their wartime sacrifices to be branded as some sort of criminal
enterprise? When asked what was the purpose of this clause, the response had
been that it was needed to provide a legal basis for the Entente's claims to
reparations. Yet Karl had already agreed that a Reparations Commission be set
up after the conclusion of peace, to determine what payment was appropriate. So
how would this additional clause make it any more legal than it would be
anyway? At times he wondered if the French, and maybe others, weren't setting
out to try and break up the conference, in the hope that they could improve
their position by provoking him into another round of hostilities.

And he was still bitter at the way all attempts to discuss colonial questions
had been brushed aside - even by President Hughes. Perhaps it was too much to
hope that they would give back territories of which they "had seizin" since
early in the war. It was hard enough resisting their claims to places they had
not conquered. He was more or less resigned to losing Bosnia to the Serbs, and
parts of Transylvania and the Banat to Rumania - the Magyars were choking over
that, though it was a considerable reduction on the enemy's initial demands.
But did they have to throw in gratuitous insults at the way Germany ran her
colonies. It wasn't as if they had anything to brag about. He had seen reports,
in an American German-language newspaper routed through Switzerland, of what
was happening to Black soldiers lately returned to their Southern states. One
such, a corporal decorated for gallantry in France, had objected to being
pushed off the sidewalk by a white youth. He had been hanged, that same
afternoon, from a cottonwood tree on the outskirts of town. Others, in like
case, had undergone even more interesting forms of execution. Nothing was
happening to the killers. Yet summary executions performed by Karl's troops in
Serbia and elsewhere - against people engaged in partisan warfare against them
- were described as "atrocities" in American and other Allied papers.
Hypocrites, the lot of them.

A respectful knock on the door recalled Karl to the matter in hand. A
chamberlain announced the arrival of General Pilsudski. He was ushered to his
seat. After the usual courtesies, they got down to business.

"It is good of your Majesty to see me so promptly. I sincerely hope we can
reach an agreement that satisfies Poland's natonal aspirations."

"As do I, general. You are probably aware of the reforms which I am already
introducing into the Empire. Czech speaking districts of Bohemia and Moravia
are to form an autonomous Crownland, whilst the Slovenes and Dalmatians will be
united with the Kindgom of Croatia. As for Galicia, you Poles have been ruling
it since 1868, and no doubt will continue to do so."

"All very interesting, Your Majesty; but that falls a long way short of
Poland's rights.  We are not some province seeking the boon af a bit more
self-government. We are a nation. The Kingdom of Poland was proclaimed nearly
two years ago by Your Majesty's own predecessors, Kaisers Wilhelm and Franz
Josef. And I tell you frankly that union with Germany - even personal union -
simply will not do. We have spent the past three years in "association" with
Germany, and it has not been a happy experience. If we are to be a monarchy -
not everyone on the Regency Council wishes that - then it must be under a  King
of our own - and not one so closely related to Your Majesty as to appear a
dependent"

Karl had a sudden thought on that point, but did not voice it yet. He moved the
subject on. "And what sort of boundaries will your country be aspiring to? I
presume it will be somewhat more than the existing ones." The Kingdom of Poland
as proclaimed in 1916 had consisted only of the "Vistula Provinces" of the old
Russian Empire, and had included no German or Austrian territory. "Are we then
talking about the boundaries of 1772? They were somewhat extensive"

Pilsudski did not reciprocate Karl's smile. "Those were, indeed, the last legal
boundaries of our country - before it was extinguished in one of the great
crimes of history. And more immediately, we have a common interest in keeping
the Bolsheviks as far to the east as possible. However, please understand that
I cannot abandon the Poles in Posen and Silesia to the cruelties of Prussian
rule. Nor West Prussia either. And we need access to the sea."

If by that you mean a corridor splitting Prussia in two, then there is little
point in talking. How long do you think I would keep my new throne if I agreed
to that. I have consented to plebiscites in the areas you mention, in
discussions with the Entente. But that is as far as I can possibly go, and
given how thoroughly Poles and Germans are mixed together, it is hardly
possible to guarantee that the votes will necessarily go the way you want.On
the other hand, I have no problem about granting you free zones in the ports of
East and West Prussia. I am sure they can do with the trade"

Pilsudski was none too happy about that, but was uneasily aware that he could
not conquer Prussian Poland without Entente support - and that was doubtful.
That wretched American ambassador was feeding Hughes a pro-Habsburg line, Lloyd
George was increasingly occupied with supporting his Greek protege's claims
against Turkey, whilst Clemenceau, though Poland's strongest ally, was
stubbornly reluctant to fight unaided. He turned to the question of
Austro-German forces in Lithuania and western Ukraine. Would Karl order them to
co-operate with the Polish Regency, and encourage local "Whites" to see their
future in association with the Polish kingdom? Karl would. There were few
Germans living there to cause difficulty, and his occupation troops were eager
to be home. Indeed, he could offer Pilsudski the use of several German
Freikorps. Though anti-Polish, those men were even more anti-Bolshevik, and
would be useful against the Red Army on the Dneiper and Dvina Rivers. 

Finally, they reverted to the question of a Polish monarch. Pilsudski could see
no obvious solution. The Poles were unwilling to accept a German sovereign,
whilst Karl was unwilling to tolerate someone  likely to be his enemy. Then
Karl said "There is one possibility we have not discussed. He is not a German,
and indeed has fought on the Entente side throughout this war - but I would
trust him"

"A relative of yours?" Pilsudski sounded suspicious.

"Only by marriage" responded Karl. He named the man. Pilsudski was
non-committal, but agreed to discuss the proposal with the Regents. Not long
after, a courier was on his way to Belgium.

*    *    *    *

As the "Abraham Lincoln" drew into Bordeaux, President Hughes was thoughtful.
He had used the voyage to try and put some finishing touches on the Charter of
the League. At times this had involved protecting the document against its most
ardent supporters. Why, one genius had tried to include an article making it
obligatory for members to use military force to uphold the League against
aggressors. Hughes had explained, as tactfully as he could, that taking away
the Congressional prerogative of declaring war - which such a clause
effectively did - would not exactly enhance the chances of getting it through
the Senate. He also thanked his lucky stars that he had dealt with that little
matter before Senator Lodge got to hear of it. The man would have had a fit,
and rightly so.

The outcome on the Race Equality clause was far less happy. This was something
the Japanese had asked for, and Hughes had been anxious to comply. He had been
pretty tough on the question of the Pacific Islands, and would have liked to
mollify Japan  by this concession, which was, after all, a perfectly just one -
by no means always the case with Japanese claims. But he soon found out that he
couldn't carry his people. Apart from Lodge and Hoover, even his own delegation
had been hostile, and matters were even worse back home. He had softened it up
as much as he could, making provisions that every country retained full control
over its own franchise and immigration laws. But it foundered on the rock of 
Southern opposition. Various highly publicised - not to say disgraceful -
incidents involving "uppity" Black war veterans had made Southern attitudes
even harder than usual, and it soon became evident that such a clause, however
watered down, would make it impossible for almost any Southern senator to vote
for the Treaty. Hughes had worn himself out in argument, but they were
immovable.

So, in the end, the clause had been removed. Hughes had made the best of a bad
job, securing promises from as many of the Southern gentlemen as he could, that
they would indeed vote "Aye" in return for this change. In fact, his chances of
winning Senate approval were better, now, than when he first came home. Yet
somehow he could not blot out the still small voice, whispering to him that he
had sold his soul.

*    *    *    *   

The Lausanne Conference resumed on July 10. There wasn't too much left to do.
The Charter of the League was pretty well complete, though the Japanese were
still grumbling about the Race clause. There were still matters unsettled in
Poland and the Baltic, and a last-minute attempt to raise the Bohemian
question. Professor Thomas Masaryk, who had only lately extricated himself from
Russia, .was promoting (with French support of course) a scheme for a
"Czecho-Slovak" state comprising most of the northern half of Austria-Hungary.
He conveniently slurred over the fact (of which Hughes, fortunately, had
already been apprised ) that this state would include three million Germans -
as against six million Czechs and two million Slovaks - and be hemmed in on
three sides by Austro-German territory. As if that wasn't enough, the Slovaks
had already sent a representative, one Monsignor Hlinka, who made it clear
that, whilst anxious for cultural autonomy in Hungary, and protection against
Magyarisation, they had no particular interest in uniting with the Czechs. So
much for that idea.

But the big news came on July 15, when Paderewski, now heading the Polish
delegation, solemny read ot he message he had received from Warsaw, where the
Regency council had assembled following Pisudski's agree,ment with Karl.

"The Polish people this day call to the throne the most high and noble Prince, 
Sextus, son of Duke Robert of Parma, to be King of Poland, Grand Duke of
Lithuania, of Galicia and Lodomeria - - -"

And so on for several more impressive titles. It remained to be seen how well
Prince Sixte, or, to use the name under which the Archbishop of Cracow would
shortly crown him at Czestochowa, King Sigismund IV, would succeed in making
them good. But that matter, at least. was for the moment decided.

*    *    *    *

The Treaty of Lausanne was signed on July 20. When the Conference opened, many
had forseen a grand signing ceremony, but in the event it was all low key,
Count Czernin signing for Karl, then President Hughes for "Amerique Du Nord" (a
name chosen to put him first in the alphabet), followed by the other allies.
Elsewhere in Switzerland. other conferences went on, to conclude peace with
Bulgaria and Turkey. But that was a footnote, and most of the journalists were
already leaving town. 

There had been rumours that many of the Allies would refuse to sign, for one
reason or another, but in the event they nearly all did. Clemenceau read out a
long message, stating that he accepted the treaty under protest, and that it
fell far short of justice for the crimes committed against France and others -
and then signed it. Orlando, the Italian representative, actually did refuse to
sign - Short of renewed war, Karl would yield nothing to Italy beyond Trent and
Aquileia, plus a plebiscite in Trieste,  and the Allies had not been prepared
to force him. This led to a brief "supplementary" conference to bring him
round. Italy had already been promised boundary changes expanding Libya at the
expense of  Egypt and Algeria, and of Italian Somaliland at the expense of
British East Africa. Lloyd George finally bought her acquiescence by agreeing
to cede British Somaliland as well, and conceding Italy's right to annex
Abyssinia or establish a protectorate there. At the same time, France received
Gambia in West Africa, plus the New Hebrides, which had hitherto been under
joint Anglo-French administration. To enable Lloyd George to sell this deal to
his Cabinet, it was further agreed that Antarctica should be annexed to the
British Empire. The little village of Port Stanley, in the Falkland Islands,
became officially the capital of an entire continent, if a rather thinly
populated one. These arrangements having been completed, Italy finally signed
the Treaty on July 30. In the end the only country not to do so was China, as a
protest against the Japanese acquisition of Shantung. No doubt The Argentine
would have done likewise, on account of the Antarctic deal, had she been there,
but fortunately she had never declared war so that problem, at least, did not
arise.

President Hughes had left Lausanne on July 23, leaving Root to represent him at
the "Dead Dog Party" as the supplementary conference had been nicknamed. His
return to Bordeaux was a quiet affair, for there were no cheering crowds now. A
few people gathered to shout "Hughes, c'est Boche!", but most just ignored his
departure. After boarding the "Abraham Lincoln", the President went straight to
his bunk, and slept in until almost 11am next day. He suspected he would need
all his energy when they got home.


[To Be Continued]

[Note - I understand that Czestochowa is pronounced "Chester Hova" to rhyme
with "Jehovah". Appropriate, I suppose, for a major Cathedral City - and no
doubt President Arthur would approve]
 


-- 
Mike Stone - Peterborough England
   
Last words of King Edward II.

"I always said that Roger Mortimer was a pain in the - - - AAARGHH!!!"

Subject: 
            Mr Hughes Goes To War - To Your Tents, O Israel.
       Date: 
            15 Jul 2001 21:42:17 GMT
       From: 
            mwstone@aol.com (mike stone)
Organization: 
            AOL, http://www.aol.co.uk
 Newsgroups: 
            soc.history.what-if


President Hughes' reception on arriving home was friendlier  than his send-off
at Bordeaux had been, but not by all that much. And he got the impression that
many of the cheers were simply for the fact that he'd returned, rather than for
anything in particular that he had done whilst he was away. 

Some of the responses were predictable. Ex-President Wilson denounced Lausanne
as "a betrayal of what our young men died for". Hughes, he maintained, had
thrown away the greatest opportunity offered any US President since the days of
Washington. "It was given to him to make the world anew, and he chose instead
to stick a patch or two upon the old one."  In particular, the League of
Nations Charter was an anaemic ghost of what it needed to be.

Rather to Hughes' disappointment, even some of those who had worked with him in
making the Treaty now seemed to be distancing thmselves. With Lansing and
Pomerene, this was perhaps to be expected. After all they were loyal Democrats
and this was a Congressional Election year - though that hadn't stopped Bryan,
of all men, from defending the settlement vigorously. It was his first real
venture onto the world stage (even as Secretary of State he had always been in
Wilson's shadow) and he was rather proud of it. More serious, though, was the
attitude of Herbert Hoover. Though eager to get the blockade lifted, he had
never been happy about the President's readiness to deal with the "monarchical
autocrats of Central Europe" whom America had been fighting "to get rid of"
(though in fact the US government had never committed itself to doing any such
thing). Hoover was a popular figure due to his relief work, which had made him
a household name, and his grudging attitude was a serious blow . 

All in all, Hughes reckoned he could count on most Republican Senators from
Eastern states, the bulk of Democrats from the South - provided they kept their
side of the sordid little bargain they had extracted from him in  July - and
some at least of the Westerners - his cultivation of Mr Bryan might pay a few
dividends there. He had a majority, he knew, but ratification needed
two-thirds, and that was highly problematic.

*    *    *    *

If American reactions to the Peace had been less than enthusiastic, German ones
were indignant. 

Tirpitz and Von Capelle, to name but two, were spitting rivets about the naval
terms. These reduced the German fleet to lkess than half the size of the
British, and laid down that at any given moment, not more than two-thirds of it
was to be in north European waters  - a provision which control of Gibraltar
and Suez put Gt Britain in a strong position to enforce. Coming on top of the
destruction of the U-Boats, this had the big Navy people foaming at the mouth.
There was also general dissatisfaction about the Reparations Commission.
Although it hadn't even met yet, many Germans were already anticipating the
worst.

But the big storm came over the eastern frontier. When Karl agreed to
plebiscites in West Prussia, Posen and Upper Silesia, many Prussians had
convinced themselves that this would be merely a formality, and that al the
votes would, in the end, favour the status quo. In two cases out of three, they
were proved right. Upper Silesia voted to stay German by almost exactly two to
one, whilst Westpreussen/Marienwerder, voting as a single unit, did the same by
a much slimmer margin. The voting here was more geographically polarised, and
there was a tense moment when the Poles started arguing for a division of the
area, which would have given them a tiny strip of coast a few miles west of
Danzig. However, the American commissioner, after taking one look at the
straggling, convoluted frontier that this would produce, turned to his British
colleague and asked "Are they serious?"After a moment's hesitation, the
Englishman had agreed. The Frenchman, of course, took the Polish side, but was
outvoted.

In Posen, however, there was a different tale. The voting there went 56-44 in
Poland's favour. Now, of course, it was the Germans' turn to argue for a
division, but they too got a negative response. Not only was it harder here to
draw a clear line of separation, but of course to do so would have meant
allowing Poland the same in the other plebiscite areas - so that Germany would
have ended up losing more than she gained. Some districts, adjoining
Brandenburg and Pomerania, would remain German anyway, having been left out of
the plebiscite, but aside from that, the province must go to Poland as a whole.

There was a storm of fury at this news, not least from Hindenburg, who was born
in Posen, and horrified at the thought of being thus turned into a foreigner.
The legal side of this wasn't too hard to fix - Karl and Sigismund quickly
signed an agreement (similar to one made earlier in respect of Galicia) that 
persons born in the area but now resident in other parts of the Empire should
retain their current nationality.  But the old Feldmarschall was still unhappy
to see his birthplace signed away. The German military commander in the
province saw things the same way, and it took a direct order from Karl before
he, very grudgingly, pulled back his forces to the new boundary line.

If his reaction was sullen, that of others was downright rebellious. On 3
October, just a week after the evacuation of Posen, news arrived in Berlin that
several Freikorps regiments in East Prussia, under Colonels Hermann Ehrhardt
and Walther Von Luttwitz, had seized Konigsberg an proclaimed a provisional
government there. Further reports soon followed, announcing that the putschists
were marching on Berlin. 

Freidrich Ebert, recently appointed  Chancellor to enable Prince Max to
concetrate full time on the Prussian Regency, hastily telegraphed the news to
Karl, who was in Vienna. The response he got was, if possible, even more
disconcerting. The Emperor, it seemed, was lying unconscious in hospital, where
he had  been rushed after collapsing with a suspected heart attack. 

*    *    *    *

Hughes looked grim as he read the telegram from Ambassador Willcox. The
Emperor, it seemed, was out of action. Was he sick, or had he been poisoned?
Every kind of crazy rumour was apparently flying around. And it seemed that
these ultra-nationalists were in process of staging a coup. If they succeeded,
he could stop worrying about getting his precious treaty through the Senate.
The new German government would tear it up, and, quite possibly, Europe would
be at war again in a matter of weeks.

*    *    *    *

Empress Zita arrived in Dresden On October 4, just in time to meet the German
Cabinet which had hastily "adjourned" there. They had, it seemed telegraphed
Frankfurt-on-Oder ordering the garrison there to move north and intercept the
rebels. The response had been a bleat about how wartime comrades, who had
fought side by side against the common foe right through the war, could not be
asked to shoot one another down. That garrison, of course, included quite a few
troops just withdrawn from Posen. Telegrams to several other military bases in
the north-east had been met with ominous silence. Half the Prussian army seemed
to be convinced that Hindenburg was about to declare for the coup, but so far
there was no word from Hannover. The South German states, thank God, appeared
to be still loyal, and Prince Rupprecht was bringing the Bavarian Army north
post haste, with Baden and Wurttemburg troops not far behind. But if the
revered Hindenburg declared aginst him, there was no certainty as to what his
troops would do.

"And where exactly are the rebels now?" Zita enquired. 

"In Bromberg" Noske replied. They seem to be waiting there for another Korps to
arrive from Danzig. We just got a wire from the local SPD headquarters, and
things are quite ugly there. It seems that, having nothing better to do while
they wait, they have been amusing themselves by smashing up the local  Jewish
quarter "

Indeed", observed Zita, "that seems to be a favourite pastime with these
groups." She smiled grimly. "It strikes me that if only we had a regiment or
two composed of all Jews, it would fight for us to the death against that lot."

At this point General Arz, who had accompanied Zita from Vienna in an
ill-defined role as Military aide/advisor, suddenly broke in. "But we do, your
Majesty"

*    *    *    *

Major David Greenbaum hastily examined the map. The Galician Regiments were
mostly stationed at Teschen and Olmutz, and would have to move fast if they
were to reach the neighbourhood of Berlin before the rebels did. The telegram
from Dresden had come as a bolt from the blue. These troops were at present the
"Cinderella" of the Habsburg Army, an administrative anomaly kicking their
heels in barracks until they were reassigned in the army reorganisation which
everyone presumed to be imminent. Galicia, of course, had united to Poland
following Karl's agreement with Pilsudski, but it had been agreed that , on the
one hand, Galicians currently in uniform should be released at once to the
Polish Army, whilst any Galician, soldier or civilian, who chose to do so was
entitled to retain his former nationality. The net effect, after their Polish
soldiers and most of their Ruthenians had decamped to Poland, had been to leave
the Monarchy's  Galician Regiments (as they were still called) almost entirely
Jewish. A high proportion of Jews, it seemed, were uneasy about their   future
in the new Poland, even under Karl's brother-in-law, and had opted to remain
Austrian subjects. These remnants had been consolidated into three Regiments,
and left on garrison duty near the border of their old homeland, where they
jokingly referred to themselves as "King David's Legion" or "The first Jewish
army since Masada" But now, it seemed, the joke was abruptly turning serious.

*    *    *    *

Colonel Ehrhardt looked with  unconcealed distaste, and more than a little
incredulity, at the Jewish officer facing him. 

Greenbaum had commandeered every available train, and rushed his troops across
the Silesian border and through Breslau, then bypassing Frankfurt with its
doubtfully loyal garrison,  and assembling at Kustrin, where Zita herself had
now arrived to join him. The whole business was highly irregular. Indeed it was
far from clear just what authority the Empress had to be doing any of this. She
claimed to have received verbal authorisation from Karl, but no-one else seemed
to have witnessed this. Not that it mattered to Greenbaum, who had no illusions
as to what he, and Jews in general,  could expect if those Freikorpsers came to
power. 

"I don't know what you think you are doing, sticking your nose into an affair
between Germans, but I strongly urge you to get out of the way before you get
hurt. I understand that the Italian woman is at Kustrin, and we will of course
be taking her off your hands. The Provisional Government has ordered her
arrest."

"I assume, traitor" Greenbaum's voice was very cold "that you are referring to
Her Imperial Majesty. If so, I can confirm that she is indeed here. But if you
want her, you will have to get past us."

*    *    *    *

For two days the opposing forces stared at each other. Ehrhardt was frantically
telegraphing other military units appealing for reinforcements. He was uneasily
aware that Rupprecht was now in Saxony, and moving north with a force much
superior to his own. Above all, he sent message after message to Hannover,
desperate to secure the endorsement of the one man whom all German soldiers
would follow. But no answer came. The Prussian Sphinx remained as enigmatic as
ever. Finally, with Rupprecht only 50 kilometres away, he gave the order to
retreat.

Lloyd George brought the news to his King, who had been following the German
events with alarm, that the rebels were apparently turning back. George V
nodded. "Like the Jacobites at Derby" he said, as much to himself as to his
Prime Minister. "Isn't it funny the way history seems to repeat?"

Without Hindenburg's support, and with the advance on Berlin called off, the
putsch soon fizzled out. One after another, army units which had sat on the
fence whilst Ehrhardt appeared to have a chance of success, now began to
declare against him. By October 10 he was in Stettin, and from there he and Von
Luttwitz fled to Sweden the next day. Karl, now sufficiently recovered to issue
orders from his hospital bed, offered pardon to all rebels who gave themselves
up in the next 72 hours,and virually all did so. The coup was over.

*    *    *    *

The United States went to the polls on 5 November 1918. The results, though not
particularly bad as mid-term contests went, were a clear Republican defeat. The
Democrats won 237 seats in the new House, and would hold 52 in the Senate. A
few days later, the Senators re-assembled to vote, at last, on the Treaty of
Lausanne and on the morning of the 11th, the Presiding Officer,  Senator
Willard Saulsbury of Delaware, announced. "The yeas are 53, the nays are 25,
abstentions three, remainder absent. A two-thirds majority has been obtained,
and  the motion therefore passes." By this less than wholehearted margin the
President had won, yet, for many observers, the most notable feature was the
size of the "remainder absent". No less than fourteen Senators had apparently
decided that other matters, usually back in their home states, were more
important than the Peace  Treaty. Less than four months after Hughes' return,
his work in Europe was already ancient history for many.

The President nodded quietly when the news was brought to him. He glanced up at
the wall clock. It was 11am. The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the
eleventh month. Hughes wondered if that was an omen of some kind. He was sure
that a fortune teller would be able to find some significance in it.

*    *    *    *

Karl too had won, but was also none too happy. It was clear that the Army would
have to be taken in hand. He could not live any longer as a kind of Emperor on
probation. He began dictating the text of a message to the Army, setting out an
oath to be given to all German soldiers at the time of his Imperial Coronation.
By taking it they would expressly bind themselves to unconditional obedience to
him, and disavow all other authority. He needed to strike now, whilst the iron
was hot. The Social Democrats would no doubt have objected had he proposed this
before, and favoured an oath to the as yet uncompleted Constitution. For the
moment, however, they were still in shock from the narrowness of their
survival, and in no mood to argue. As for the Army, it was deeply divided, and
embarrassed that its disunity had been so publicly displayed. Rupprecht was
firmly loyal, whilst Hindenburg, whatever his reservations about the current
state of affairs, was clearly unwilling to push opposition to extremes. Clearly
it was time to act.

*    *    *    *

And in America, just ten days after the ratification of the Treaty of Lausanne,
ex-President Woodrow Wilson told reporters that he would "very probably" be a
candidate for the Presidency in 1920, and the two political parties girded
themselves for Armageddon

[To Be Continued]








-- 
Mike Stone - Peterborough England
   
Last words of King Edward II.

"I always said that Roger Mortimer was a pain in the - - - AAARGHH!!!"

Subject: 
            Mr Hughes Goes To War - 8 - " - - Little Wars Went On"
       Date: 
            17 Jul 2001 14:26:29 GMT
       From: 
            mwstone@aol.com (mike stone)
Organization: 
            AOL, http://www.aol.co.uk
 Newsgroups: 
            soc.history.what-if


Karl felt sad as he read the news from the Baltic.

His attempt to use the Freikorpskampfer against Bolshevik Russia had not gone
as well as he had hoped. It had seemed a smart move last November. Give them a
job they could get their teeth into whilst moving them far enough from Germany
that they couldn't try another rebellion. But of course nothing was ever that
simple. They were, indeed, as anti-Bolshevist as anyone could wish, but they
were also fiercely prejudiced against  Poles, and indeed all Slavs, which
didn't make for easy co-operation in that theatre. In the end, when the Polish
attempt to push east of the Dnieper had run into trouble, the use of Freikorps
reinforcements had caused so many problems that Karl had transferred them to
the Baltic for a direct move against Petrograd, hoping this would compel the
Reds to divert forces  north.

For the moment, that seemed to be working, but only negatively. The Poles had
stabilised their front, holding steady on the Dvina-Dneiper line, but seemed to
have no prospect of advancing further - and the White Russian Armies with whom
they might have combined were retreating fast. The British had done enough to
secure the independence of Finland, but were unwilling to press further, and
would soon be gone from Murmansk and Archangel. Lloyd George had a private
adventure of his own to conduct, down in Turkey, and was eager to unload
himself of the Russian one.  General Denikin, the French protege in the
Caucasus, had missed the chance to unite with the Poles (not altogether
inadvertantly - he was deeply hostile to Polish claims in the Ukraine and
Belorussia.) and had instead marched northeast against Tsaritsyn, so that
Whites and Poles had been defeated separately - and the Japanese and Americans
around Vladivostok showed little inclination to penetrate the interior. 

All in all, it seemed depressingly likely that Bolshevik Russia - for the
immediate future at least - was here to stay. It was becoming clearer every day
that the Freikorps would be unable to take Petrograd by themselves - or even in
combination with local Whites. If Karl wanted to take the place, he would have
to commit regular troops. And this he could not do. The intervention was
already highly unpopular, with most of his subjects just wanting to get their
own lives back together and leave the Russians to stew in their own juice. And
many Germans disliked the Poles as much or more than the Bolsheviks. 
Nor, of course, was there any guarantee that the capture of Petrograd, even if
feasible, would necessarily bring down the Red regime. And if it had to be
followed by a march on Moscow as well - Karl flinched at the thought

The only exception to the mutual antipathy of White Russians, Poles and
Freikorpskampfer was apparently in regard to the Jews. Karl wearily turned back
to the report. When Pskov had fallen to them a few weeks ago, they had
celebrated their victory by rounding up the entire Jewish population, herding
them into the main synagogues, and nailing the doors shut. The buildings had
then been doused with kerosene and set ablaze, whilst the troops had fun using
for target practice any Jew who tried to get out. One small boy (no older than
Otto, the Emperor thought sickly) who somehow escaped had been picked up by one
leg and tossed back into the flames. 

Nor was the Commanding Officer at all penitent when called to account in the
matter. "Where there's Jews, there's Bolsheviks" had been his bland response.
Which, Karl reflected, was not altogether untrue. That vile party did indeed
seem to contain more than its share of Israelites. Yet even as this passed
though his mind, he recalled also those Jewish soldiers who had faced down the
rebels at Kustrin, in defence of Empress Zita. They had given him better
service, as he lay prostrate in hospital, than quite a few "real" Germans. And
the cold "Nits make lice" which had met a reproach about the women and
children, was really too much. It was clear that there would have to be a court
martial. He owed Colonel Greenbaum that much, at least.

It was a pity, for this man seemed an able officer. Since leaving the Army last
year, he had risen rapidly in the Freikorps ranks, despite never having got
higher than corporal in the regular forces. It was all too clear that the
latter were, for whatever reason, missing out on a lot of useful men -
presumably for reasons of social background. Perhaps it was time to consider
forming a new military force, completely "open to talent" providing that its
loyalty could be assured. But that, of course,was the problem. Between the
blazing ideological fires of Nationalism on one hand, and Bolshevism on the
other, plain, old-fashioned loyalty to the Emperor seemed tepid by comparison. 

In the event, Karl's immediate dilemma, at least, was solved for him. A few
days after the massacre report reaching his desk, a new one arrived. The Reds
had launched a massive assault to retake Pskov, overrunning some two-thirds of
the city. By the time relief forces arrived, less than half of the Friekorps
were still alive - and their Commanding Officer was not among them. Karl
sighed. Nothing, of course, could ever be done now about that pogrom. The
culprit was beyond Earthly punishment, and any condemnation would be seen as a
slight on a hero who had died for the Fatherland. Indeed it was going to be
hard enough just refusing him the Pour Le Merite that many were calling for. 
But that wasn't going to happen. Karl knew he could never look those Galicians
in the face if he did it. There would be no Blue Max for Freikorpskapitan Adolf
Hitler.

*    *    *    *  

President Charles Evans Hughes was also less than happy. He had no sympathy for
Bolsheviks, and wished more power to the Poles' elbow - though he feared that
they might be biting off more Russian territory than they could chew. Yet those
Freikorps were an ugly bunch, and he couldn't wait for the moment when Karl
would be willing and able to dispense with them altogether. There were reports
that France might shortly be sending a contingent of her own to Poland - the
Third Republic had finally overcome its discomfort at dealing with a Bourbon -
and he hoped it would be soon. 

Nor had he shed any tears over the crushing of Bela Kun's Communists in Hungary
(they had made their bid whilst Karl was distracted by the Ehrhardt/Luttwitz
putsch - talk about strange bedfellows) but he was uncomfortable at the
brutality with which Archduke Joseph - or more accurately his new Interior
Minister, Admiral Horthy - had suppressed it. The scene in Hungary and the
Balkans seemed to be even uglier than in Germany. The boundary changes in
Serbia and Rumania had led to savage ethnic conflicts, with Bosnian Croats
being expelled one way, and Serbs from Croatia the other. Likewise, Magyars and
- some things never changed - Jews from the Rumanian districts of Transylvania
and Banat were  being driven north into the Hungarian sector, from whence
Rumanians were now being "encouraged" to flee the other way. Disturbingly, Even
Karl, who had always seemed so reasonable before, was now showing signs of a
harsher attitude. Hughes looked at the letter he had just received from
Willcox, detailing his latest audience with the Emperor. Karl had as good as
thrown up his hands and said "Well, what do you expect me to do about it?"

"Mr Ambassador" the Emperor had said, wearily, "I did not invent this doctrine
of nationalism - the idea that every little language has to have a country of
its own - and I frankly wish it  never had been invented. It seems to me a
thoroughly pernicious notion, which has done terrible damage to Europe, and not
least to my own Empire. However, whether I like it or not, it does exist, and I
have to deal with it, and there are only two ways of doing that. Either we draw
our boundaries according to where the people are, with each on their own side
of the line - or else we draw a line, and move the people to fit it.  No doubt
the first course is the more humane - but unfortunately, given how thoroughly
intermingled the peoples are in this corner of Europe, it is also impossible.
So what am I left with?" There was a note in the Emperor's voice which bothered
Willcox, as if he were highly stressed and might be close to breaking down. The
Ambassador wondered sometimes about that "heart attack" Karl had had last
October. Had it really been that, or was it nervous prostration of some kind? 
Certainly, 1918 had been an absolute killer of a year for him, and he might be
close to the end of his tether - with the peace of Europe hanging on his
survival.

[To Be Continued]
-- 
Mike Stone - Peterborough England
   
Last words of King Edward II.

"I always said that Roger Mortimer was a pain in the - - - AAARGHH!!!"

Subject: 
            Mr Hughes Goes To War 9 - Coronation Oaths
       Date: 
            20 Jul 2001 22:21:33 GMT
       From: 
            mwstone@aol.com (mike stone)
Organization: 
            AOL, http://www.aol.co.uk
 Newsgroups: 
            soc.history.what-if


In fact, Mr Willcox' fears were, for the moment at least, exaggerated.

Karl had, certainly, been under a great deal of stress during the past year -
if not, indeed, ever since his first accession in 1916, But he was less unhappy
now than he had been for a while.

In particular, with the defeat of the coup, he now felt confident enough to
start planning for a Coronation. It had been a pleasant surprise to discover
that, so far as the order of service went, he had a virtually complete freedom
of choice, as there were, quite literally, no precedents. Apparently, none of
the Kaisers of the Second Reich had ever been crowned - at any rate not as
Emperors. Wilhelm I had been crowned King of Prussia in 1863, at Konigsberg,
but that, clearly, had no relevance to the Empire, which would not come into
existence for another eight years, nor was Konigsberg a place of any particular
significance for Germany as a whole. Friedrich III, of course, had not reigned
long enough for anything to be done, whilst Wilhelm II's coronation had been
dispensed with as an economy measure - an omission for which there were a
number of precedents in Prussian history, but which rather startled Karl - and
reinforced his feeling that the Hohenzollerns were somehow "not quite the real
thing" when it came to being royal.

Karl, by contrast, was determined that everything be done properly. Chancellor
Ebert was concerned that it might create the wrong impression, seeming an
extravagance at a time of defeat and privation, but the Emperor firmly
disagreed. This was precisely why the ceremony was needed - as a symbol of the
new start after the disaster of 1914-18. A war had been lost (or at any rate
not won) and a regime had collapsed, but the Reich went on. And he would not
feel himself truly Emperor until it had been done.

In the end, Ebert had given in. "There is no reasoning with him on this" he
told Scheidemann and Noske. "He sees this rigmarole as a kind of Holy
Sacrament. So does the Empress. They talked as if I had tried to steal their
rosary beads." For pity's sake, you would think the man had inherited this
crown, by Divine Right."

"As far as he is concerned" Schiedemann responded "he did. He is the heir of a
long line of Holy Roman Emperors, going back all the way to Charlemagne. In
that perspective, the odd fifty years under Bismarck and Wilhelm was just a
little hiccup, not big enough for anyone to really notice. A case of  'as I was
saying when I was so rudely interrupted - - '. He sees the hand of God in what
has happened"  (sotto voce, Noske muttered "A funny way for a Catholic's God to
act - through the agency of a bunch of Galician Jews") "Anyway, he may not be
entirely wrong. The Fatherland does need a morale  boost. With the return of
peace the people have a little more bread now. A bit of circus as well might
not go amiss."

"But then," Ebert refused to be comforted "there's the matter of this oath he
wants the soldiers to take. I've read his proposed text, and it is all wrong.
There isn't a word in it about the Constitution, just a straight pledge of
fealty to Karl Von Habsburg. It made me wonder if he had forgotten what century
he was living in."

"Forget it !" Gustav Noske broke in harshly. There was a distinct edginess in
the Defence Minister's voice. His position had become very shaky since the
attempted coup, when he had been unable either to keep the Freikorps under
control or to persuade the Reichswehr to suppress them. He was no longer
indispensible and he knew it. "Even if the officers did take a Constitutional
oath, they would never keep it. They are not modern men in their thinking, just
a gang of medieval barons who have learned to use gas and machine guns.  To
their minds, an oath of loyalty is something you  take to a man, not to a scrap
of paper with ink on it." Ebert flinched inwardly at the last phrase, and all
the memories it brought back. "And besides - what do you propose we do about
it? He is the Supreme Warlord now. Nobody can stop him giving orders to his own
officers, and if he wants the oath taken in this particular form, then it will
be. Only Hindenburg could really veto it, and from latest reports it is clear
he has decided not to. The Feldmarschall has given up on the Hohenzollerns, at
least for now, and accepted the regime in being - but to his mind, that doesn't
mean us, it means Karl."

Ebert sighed. "It almost makes me wonder if we made the wrong choice last year.
Perhaps we should have gone for a Republic, and d**n the consequences. We
should have had to accept a worse peace treaty, but at least there would be a
chance for real democracy in the Reich."

"Not for long, I suspect" said Scheidemann wearily. "And in any case, that's
all water  under the bridge. If  Karl falls now, either to the left or to the
right, the lot of us fall with him. If Wilhelm comes back, or his son, we'll
all hang; and if the Spartakists and Independents come to power, we shall get
what the Mensheviks got. Perhaps we should be grateful that this man's current
obsession is with minutiae like oaths and coronations. For the forseeable
future, we need him more than he needs us"

*    *    *    *

But complete freedom of choice had the negative side that there were a lot of
decisions to make. Firstly, of course, who was going to crown him? Karl had no
doubt at all about whom he wanted. If it could possibly be arranged, the Pope
himself should perform this sacred rite. Quite apart from the natural reverence
and filial affection which any good Catholic should feel for the Holy Father,
there was another, more personal tie. Quite simply, in Karl's eyes, Benedict XV
was a good man.  In 1917, when a new young Emperor of Austria had been
searching desperately for peace, Benedict had been doing the same, seeking to
deliver Europe from the senseless carnage into which it had fallen. His efforts
had come to nothing, of course, as had Karl's. But the Emperor did not forget,
and saw His Holiness as a kindred spirit. Not merely was he Pope, but he was a
real Christian as well - a combination which, Karl ruefully conceded, had not
always "gone without saying" to quite the extent it ought.

This raised problems both at home and abroad. Internally, of course, Germany
was half-Protestant, and even including Hungary, the combined Austro-German
Reich was close to one-third Protestant. Some way would have to be found to
give them a role in the proceedings. Perhaps, Karl thought, he should follow
the coronation by going north on some kind of "crown-wearing" tour in which
Protestant clerics would participate. He was no narrow fool, he understood
religious freedom; but for his part he wasn't going to be denied it himself -
no one would forbid him to receive this sacred rite from the head of his own
Church

The foreign problem was that since 1870 the Popes had had no dealings with the
godless Italian kingdom which had stolen the Papal States. If Benedict left
Rome to travel abroad and crown the ruler of an enemy power, how was the
Italian government likely to react? Count Czernin seemed to think it could be
done. Ever since Lausanne, the Italians had been in a sulk about how badly they
had been treated, but it seemed they were more angry with their allies, whom
they felt had let them down, than with the late enemy. In a paradoxical way,
Karl's stubbornness in refusing all but the smallest territorial concessions to
Italy seemed to have resulted, not in a permanent estrangement, but in the
beginnings of a reconciliation. Even the failure to gain Trieste, where the
plebiscite gave a narrow but definite verdict in favour of staying Austrian,
had produced anger mainly against the Allied Commissioners who were allegedly
biased against Italy. Even the French, it seemed, had been on the Austrian
side. This last, though not quite true, was at least not entirely unfounded.
Mutual jealousy between France and Italy was such that the French member of the
Commission had probably been more genuinely impartial than on any other
occasion

After "who?" the next question had been "where?" Ideally, Karl would have
preferred Frankfurt-on-Main, the traditional place of Coronation for the Holy
Roman Emperors. But that, of course, was Prussian territory now, and if he were
to hold the ceremony on their territory, the Prussians would inevitably press
the case for Berlin - even though it had no traditional associations with
anything in particular prior to 1871. The same, of course, applied to
Charlemagne's old capital at Aachen. Needless to say, Vienna was impossible. It
would be too plain an invitation to the partisans of Wilhelm II to paint Karl
as a purely Austrian monarch - a foreigner ruling over Germany, rather than a
German sovereign.

At this point, Rupprecht of Bavaria had butted in, urging him to consider
Nuremberg. It too, had associations with the old Reich, having for centuries
been the seat of the Imperial Diet. It had an ancient Cathedral which would
serve excellently for the purpose - and, though Rupprecht was tactful enough
not to say this out loud, it was a nice way to reward him , and the Bavarians
generally, for the loyalty they had shown in the recent crisis, at a time when
the record of many Prussian officers - including a certain Field Marshall - had
been equivocal at best. Though still going through the motions of considering
other sites, Karl was 90% settled on it.

The ceremony itself, as far as possible, would be based on the old Imperial
one, though Karl had one innovation in mind. Before the war, he had represented
Franz Josef at the Coronation of King George V, and had been very impressed by
that Handel anthem, "Zadok the Priest." He had decided to include it in the
ceremony at Nuremburg. After all, Handel was German, so the English could
hardly accuse him of stealing it. He would also be keeping to his existing
style of Karl I. He had thought at first of styling himself Karl VIII, which
was what he would have been as a Holy Roman Emperor; but he had always been
Karl I in Austria, and for almost a year had been the same as German Kaiser. It
was faintly absurd to suddenly change now; and as Zita pointed out, he was also
Charles IV as King of Hungary.  Three different numerals was perhaps overdoing
things a bit

 After that, of course, there was the matter of the Coronation oath. The
Chancellor, of course, would have liked him to swear to the Constitution, but
that would be something of a problem given that he and his party rejected the
existing 1871 Constitution as undemocratic, whilst the new one that those
delegates were wrangling over at Weimar didn't look like being  ready in time.
He could hardly swear to a Constitution that had yet to be written. In the end
he had decided to make a specific pledge respecting freedom of religion, and
beyond that to swear to uphold the liberties of the German people "as by law
established". The Cabinet hadn't been entirely happy, but had accepted it.
After all, they had been content for the last fifty years to be subjects of
Prussian monarchs who took no oath at all on their accession. 

And then, of course, it would be time to administer that other oath.

*    *    *    *

Once again, of course, all eyes had turned toward Hannover. But there the
Emperor had a stroke of good fortune, when the ex-Kaiser chose this of all
moments to give forth - a little too publicly - on how his officers had
betrayed him and forsworn their oaths of allegiance in June 1918. "I wish my
Austrian colleague every joy  from this new-fangled oath of his" intoned
Wilhelm II "and may it do as much good for him as the same officers' oaths of
fealty did for me." Whilst he stopped short of referring to Hindenburg by name,
few doubted whom he had in mind - and the Feldmarschall , so rumour asserted,
had been deeply offended by Wilhelm's remarks. When Hindenburg informed a
gathering of War veterans that he saw "nothing contrary to honour" in the
proposed oath, General Max Hoffman noted in his diary that "the Imperial sigh
of relief was audible from Konigsberg to Trieste". "Unsern guten Kaiser Karl"
he wrote, has  been relieved from a difficulty  by his predecessor's
ever-readiness to approach all the problems of the day with an entirely open
mouth"

Some reactions from abroad were even more unkind. Writing about this incident
in "The World Crisis - The Aftermath", Winston Churchill observed that "The
former German Emperor had always considered himself something of a wit. At
times, however he had an unfortunate tendency to give the impression of being
half correct."

*    *    *    *

And so, on Easter Sunday, 1919, Pope Benedict XV placed the Crown of
Charlemagne on the head of Emperor Karl I, while Zadok the Priest and Nathan
the Prophet anointed Solomon King. And the people rejoiced - even if some did
so more wholeheartedly than others. And from Aachen to Transylvania, over
600,000 soldiers, sailors and airmen celebrated the great event by renewing
their oath of allegiance, in the manner he had prescribed.


"I swear by Almighty god this holy oath, that I will be faithful and render
true and unqualified allegiance unto His Imperial Majesty Karl the First,
Emperor of the German Reich and People, the Supreme Commander of the Armed
Forces, and after him to his heirs and successors according to law. I
unconditionally pledge myself, without any  mental reservations whatsoever, to
obey his orders, whether given directly or through the superior officers he may
place over me, and to be ready as a brave soldier to risk my life at any time
for this oath. So help me God !"

There had been grumbles about this in both political and military circles,
especially from those who, once again, wanted an oath to the as yet unborn
constitution. There had also been some quibbling about the reference to "heirs"
given that the Crown was not hereditary; but Karl insisted that an elected
successor would indeed be his heir as far as the Crown was concerned. He was,
frankly, not disposed to make many concessions over this business. He would
never be secure on this makeshift throne until the Army had committed itself to
him, in a manner from which it could not retract without dishonour. This was
necessary, and if it hurt anybody's feelings, military or civilian, that was a
pity but it couldn't be helped.

Karl looked out from the balcony, at the ranks of Bavarian soldiers paraded
before him. He turned to Rupprecht, and administered the oath to him, then
listened while the Prince gave it in turn to his assembled men. When it was
done, all joined in the singing of the Imperial Anthem. Afterwards, Karl would
learn that there had been some disunity at this point. Most regiments had sung
the "Gott Erhalte", but some, particularly in the north, had sung "Deutschland
Uber Alles" Yet, at this moment of triumph, he felt he could live with that

[To Be Continued}  




-- 
Mike Stone - Peterborough England
   
Last words of King Edward II.

"I always said that Roger Mortimer was a pain in the - - - AAARGHH!!!"

Subject: 
            Mr Hughes Goes To War 10 - The Verdict
       Date: 
            28 Jul 2001 21:59:51 GMT
       From: 
            mwstone@aol.com (mike stone)
Organization: 
            AOL, http://www.aol.co.uk
 Newsgroups: 
            soc.history.what-if


As 1919 drew into 1920, the dust had begun to settle in Europe.

In Germany, Karl's authority, and that of the Ebert Ministry, had apparently
firmed up since the Nuremberg Coronation. It had been widely feared that
hundreds of officers would resign their commissions rather than take the
"Soldier's Oath", but in the event there were hardly any refusals in the
regular forces. One or two Freikorps brigades which did refuse were promptly
disarmed and disbanded, under the guns of Reichswehr units which had suddenly
become very punctilious in their support for Karl and his government. The
remaining Freikorps were on notice that they would shortly get the choice of
handing in their guns or else being incorporated into the Reichswehr, and
rumour had it that the latter's current good behaviour had been "bought", in
part at least, by a promise that these rival organisations would come fully
under its jurisdiction

On the Empire's southern border, with pressure being brought to bear by the
newly established League of Nations, the violence began to die down. Further
east, a cease-fire took effect between Poland and Bolshevik Russia, who also
recognised the independence of the Baltic States in return for withdrawal of
support for the remaining White forces. The latter were now down to a few
enclaves, mainly around the Black Sea plus a few in the Far East. Independent
states survived in the Caucasus, but few observers gave much for their chances
of long-term survival. 

Indeed, the bad news seemed to be transferring itself from  Central Europe, the
Balkans, and Russia  to points further south. In Turkey, nationalists under
General Kemal had already extinguished the "Armenian Republic" which Lloyd
George had been promoting in Eastern Anatolia - and were in process of
extinguishing quite a few of its inhabitants as well. Unable to do much about
it here and now, the British Prime Minister, whose dislike of Turkey seemed to
be turning into an obsession, was now encouraging the Greek government - itself
an Anglo-French creation of only three years standing - to take the offensive
against Kemal from the opposite direction - a policy which, many suspected ,
would before long expose the Greeks of Asia Minor to the Armenians' fate.
Meanwhile, Lloyd George's French and Italian allies were quietly distancing
themselves from his policy, and opening discreet contact with the Kemalists -
and some of his coalition partners in London were beginning to wonder whether
he was really indispensible now that the war was over.

In Washington, President Hughes suggested that, as relatively few Jews were so
far showing interest in their proposed "National Home" in Palestine (even the
victims of recent pogroms in Poland and Ukraine seemed to prefer the US as a
destination), it might be an idea to provide refuge there for some of the
displaced Armenians. Lloyd George criticised this as "defeatist", insisting
that it was unthinkable to allow the Turks to benefit from their unspeakable
crimes. Hughes, who suspected that the Turks were in sight of getting their own
way, whether his "fellow Welshman" liked it or not, transferred his approaches
to the French, who half-heartedly agreed to resettle a few in Syria and
Lebanon. This, however, soon led to trouble with the local Arabs, and was
quietly stopped. With a weary sigh, the President sent a message to Congress
urging speedy admission of as many refugees as possible, then turned his
attention to matters which, hopefully, he could really do something about

First off, of course, was the legislation being brought in to enforce the
Prohibition amendment. Hughes was doing his best to get the act "watered down",
to focus on distilled spirits rather than wine or beer, but the Prohibitionists
in Congress seemed to have the bit between their teeth.  It had taken a sharp
protest from most of the churches in America, to remind them to exempt
Communion wine. Hughes wondered if this might lead to a lot of new religions
springing up in the near future. 

Then there was the whole wretched business of debt and reparations. The
Commission was finally down to business, but the Germans were disputing every
point, and pleading every possible excuse - some true, some probably not - for
paying as little as possible as slowly as possible. And short of starting the
war up all over again, there seemed to be not a lot the Allies - or ex-Allies -
could do about it. The trouble was that the Europeans, who were inclined to
blame the US for letting Germany down too lightly at Lausanne, were insisting
that they couldn't start repaying debts to America until some reparation money
was coming in.  Hughes' representative in Geneva, Charles G Dawes, was fighting
all the way against any such linkage, but with little success, and it was
beginning to look as if the best Hughes would be able to do was just spin
things out, and hopefully postpone the bad news until after the election

It would be easy to accuse the Emperor of bad faith, but was it entirely fair?
Karl was no doubt acting on ministerial advice, and Hughes could hardly
criticise the man for acting like a constitutional ruler. And was he any
better? - doing his best to hide from the voters that they were very likely
going to be bilked of money they had a right to. "You and me, Karl" Hughes
thought. "I the representative of American democracy, you a feudalist from a
thousand-year-old dynasty - but we're both playing the same old sordid game.
Are we brothers under the skin?"

Anyway, from the looks of things it might not matter what the voters did or
didn't know. His re-election prospects were none too bright in any case. Too
many people associated him with all the wartime austerities, and longed to get
back to normality - or, as that Ohio Senator insisted on calling it,
"normalcy". Hughes had just made two more Supreme Court appointments, but it
was a mixed blessing, when you considered the reason. The justices concerned,
both Republican appointees, were going now because they didn't want a Democrat
appointing their successors. 

*    *    *    *

The Democratic Convention opened at San Francisco on June 8. The Presidential
nomination was uncontroversial - ex-Presidenrt Wilson was nominated with only
token opposition, but there was one upset when Newton D Baker, Wilson's choice
for Vice-President, was rejected by the Convention in favour of Herbert Hoover.
A lot of rumours spread in connection with this. Wilson, it was said, regarded
Hoover as a "Republican in sheep's clothing" and had threatened to refuse the
nomination if Hoover didn't withdraw. Hoover, by contrast, was said to dislike
the idea of being "buried alive" in the Vice-Presidency, and to have been on
the point of withdrawing when a tactless phone call  from someone at the Wilson
HQ  had offended him so much that he changed his mind. Whatever grains of truth
there might  be in all this, in the end nobody stood down and the ticket
remained as it was.

The Republicans met in Chicago, on July 28. Hughes was renominated, but a
surprising number of votes went to Senator LaFollette of Wisconsin, who had
entered several primaries. The majority picked Governor Frank O Lowden of
Illinois for Vice-President, and endorsed a platform hailing the President as
"the bringer of victory and peace". This was too much for LaFollette, who
thoroughly disapproved both of the war and of the League, and who pointedly
refused to endorse the president for re-election. On 11th August, LaFollette
announced his third-party candidacy, and a largely self-selected group of
"Progressives" nominated him for President and Tom Watson of Georgia for Vice.

Wilson launched himself on a whirlwind tour of the country, denouncing Hughes
for having thrown away  the great victory of 1918, and pandered to "the
monarchical autocrats of central Europe", calling for America to throw its
weight behind a "real" League of Nations instead of the present inadequate
body. Hughes dismissed his predecessor's "irresponsibility", observing that "if
he was so clear in his mind what needed doing in Lausanne, it is a pity he
didn't come with me when I invited him to". Both were duly cheered and
applauded by the party faithful, but  many observers thought they could sense
an undercurrent of doubt - on both sides. As one newspaper put it. "Despite
having perhaps the best choice of candidates since Thomas Jefferson ran
unopposed" [the editor was better informed about current politics than about
history] "one senses a feeling of dissatisfaction. The people are tired of
being lectured about the rights and wrongs of what the President did in Europe,
and want to hear about the price of corn. At times, it is almost possible to
believe that Mr LaFollette might be in with a chance - if only he'd shut up
about Europe"

There was a story of a Democratic Senator in Idaho, on the platform with
Wilson. The ex-President gave a long harangue on all the opportunities Hughes
had squandered at Lausanne. Senator Nugent, following, had given a perfunctory
two-minute endorsement of the candidate's position - and then spent forty
minutes lambasting the Republicans over taxation and farm prices, never
mentioning foreign affairs again. And when Hoover paid a visit to Kansas,
William Allen White noted "when he speaks about the hungry children of Europe,
ladies rush up to thrust their purses into his hands. Yet as soon as he turns
to League of Nations matters, or the reordering of world affairs, within two
minutes both they and their menfolk are starting to look out of the windows" 

In Ohio, a lot of people seemed to be almost ignoring the Presidential
campaign, with more excitement being aroused by the local Senate race. This had
produced a jingle which in the view of many hit a new low for election year
banality - "Harding or Cox?
 Harding or Cox?
 You tell us populi, 
 You've got the vox." 
In the event, it was to be Cox, by a 2% margin.

Will Hays pulled out all the stops, determined to get every last Republican
voter to the polls. By October he was able to tell Hughes that their support
seemed to be holding up better than they had feared, with LaFollette taking
about as many votes from Wilson as from the President. The Democrats had begun
the race as odds-on favourites, but were losing ground because of Wilson's
seeming obsession with goings-on overseas - which the voters were fast losing
interest in. Only the general dissatisfaction with the state of the economy,
and memories of disputes over wartime price controls, was keeping the Democrat
in front. As the election went into its final days, it even seemed that Hughes
might pull an upset.

But it was not to be. On November 2, Wilson received just over 11,000,000 votes
against 9.5 million for Hughes, some 4.8 million for LaFollette, and close to
another million for Socialist Eugene Debs. Hughes chuckled. "If only I hadn't
let him out of jail, I might be winning". The electoral vote was closer, since
as in 1916, Hughes' vote was concentrated in the more populous states , but he
could still muster only 228 against Wilson's 290 and LaFollette's 13. For the
first time in fifteen years, Charles Evans Hughes was out of public life.

*    *    *    *

After the formality of conceding defeat, Hughes offered to arrange for Wilson
to take over at once, as the Democrat had allowed him to do in 1916. It would
have been even easier this time, there being no Vice-President. Wilson had
declined, saying he needed time to complete forming his Administration, and
there was no emergency now to justify such a procedure. Was it his real reason,
or did he just not want to accept any favours from his opponent? No one knew.
Back in the White House, Hughes quietly got on with preparations for his
departure, and his personal future after next March. He wouldn't mind returning
to the Supreme Court , but he very much doubted if Wilson would appoint him
there. No. for the immediate future, it would be back to practising law. Right
now, indeed, he didn't even feel like that. All he did feel like was going to
bed an staying there for a year. He was knocked out

Wilson, meantime, in between choosing his cabinet, was pressing on with a round
of speaking engagements, his schedule as full as if he were still campaigning.
His addresses continued to hammer away at foreign affairs, and a lot of
newspapers, sensing their readers' impatience, were covering them as briefly as
they felt they decently could. This infuriated the President-elect, who accused
Republican journalists of trying to stifle his message. He redoubled his
efforts. Then something happened which gave him all the publicity he could have
wished, and more than all. On his way west, he stopped off to give a brief talk
in Denver. Half way through, he seemed to hesitate for a moment, began to
repeat himself. "The Germans must not suppose that - - they must not suppose -
- the Germans - -" There was a moment of silence, as the crowd looked on,
uncertain what was happening. A woman was heard to ask "Is he ill?" Then, to
the horror of the onlookers, Wilson moved from the lectern, stopped - then
crashed unconscious to the floor"


He was taken back to the train, where his physician, Rear-Admiral Cary Grayson,
was waiting  with Mrs Wilson. An hour passed, then a brief announcement that
the President-elect was conscious, but would not be able to continue with the
tour. The campaign train  headed back east, to Washington, and Wilson was
conducted, in a car with veiled windows, to the house on S Street where he had
been staying since the election. Then several days went by with no
announcements, followed by a short bulletin that he had suffered "a mild
stroke" but that his condition gave no immediate cause for alarm. Those who had
seen his collapse in Denver wondered if they were being told the whole truth,
but could only guess. Very few people were allowed through the Wilsons' door,
and they weren't talking

*    *    *    *

The information coming out of S Street remained scanty. Secretary Root even
telephoned Herbert Hoover to see if he knew anything about Wilson's condition,
but the Vice-President elect was as uninformed as anyone else. Hughes even
toyed with the idea of walking over and knocking on the door himself. Would
they dare to turn away the President of the United States? But he did not do
it.

Nor, in the end, did he need to. The silence continued for two more days, then
a terse bulletin was issued saying that the President-elect's condition was
"giving cause for concern". That was enough to send scores of reporters and
just ordinary citizens gathering round the front door. Their intuition was
justified. At 8am in December 5th, Rear-Admiral Grayson emerged, tears
streaming down his face, to tell the assembled press and public that Woodrow
Wilson was dead.

*    *    *    *

Hughes was deep in thought as he listened to Taft's advice. There had never
been an instance of a President-Elect dying before inauguration, and he thought
it as well to talk over the legal implications with the Chief Justice. In the
event, it was not a long discussion. Both men were trained as lawyers and
judges, and were pretty much of the same mind about how to proceed. Finally,
the conversation drifted off legalities, and turned to other thoughts.

"One thing is for certain." opined Taft. "It was a real blessing that you won
in 1916. Wilson was probably at death's door these last four years. Just
imagine if he had been running the country's war effort in that condition - let
alone representing us in Lausanne"

Hughes smiled faintly. "I remember Mr Bryan once saying that Possibly the only
thing you and he will ever agree on. But I wonder" . He could not - quite -
shed tears for Wilson as he had for Theodore Roosevelt, yet there was a strange
pang all the same, for this man, so like him in some ways yet so totally
different in others, who had become his rival in life, and who, despite his
often monumental faults, had seemed at times to fumble at the latch of
greatness. "He was an odd man, but he seemed to have a greater  range than I
do. Like that little girl in the nursery rhyme, when he was good he could be
very good indeed, but - - . If he'd been in my place, he might have succeeded a
whole lot better than me - or  failed a whole lot worse. But we'll never know
which."

"No Mr President." responded Taft. "I suppose we never will."
-- 
Mike Stone - Peterborough England
   
Last words of King Edward II.

"I always said that Roger Mortimer was a pain in the - - - AAARGHH!!!"

Subject: 
            Mr Hughes Goes To War 11 - Legitimate Succession
       Date: 
            06 Aug 2001 11:47:27 GMT
       From: 
            mwstone@aol.com (mike stone)
Organization: 
            AOL, http://www.aol.co.uk
 Newsgroups: 
            soc.history.what-if


The nation was in shock. Never before had it been deprived of its elected
leader in this manner, and there appeared to be no provision for such a case.
Examination of the Constitution provided little guidance. There appeared quite
simply to have been nothing said in the matter.

Mr Hoover, of course, had no doubts. As Wilson's Vice-Presidential
running-mate, he was the rightful successor, before inauguration as much as
after. And many, indeed, were inclined to accept this. But it wasn't long
before dissenting voices were raised.

First of all, suddenly faced with his accession to the head of the ticket, many
party faithful suddenly noticed things which they had conveniently overlooked
when he was only the tail of it. His political inexperience, and his barely
visible connections with the Democratic Party, loomed strangely larger now that
he was more than just a device to bring out a few more votes. Mr Wilson's
"Republican in sheep's clothing" remark had gathered wide circulation.

Also, his Prohibitionist views were held against him. Wilson had been cool at
best toward the Eighteenth Amendment, and  had wanted  the  Act of Congress
giving it effect  to be as moderately worded as possible. In the end,
Republicans and Southern Democrats had combined to reject that course, but it
had held the party together for the Presidential race. By contrast. many wets
saw Hoover as an enemy, and it wasn't long before many of them were urging
Governor Alfred E Smith of New York, just re-elected by a thumping majority, to
"enter the presidential contest". As one put it  "The people voted for a
Democrat last month. They are entitled to a real one." Another observed that
"If we're going to vote for a Republican, why not LaFollette? He's far more
progressive"

Back at the White House, Hughes pondered what action to take. There were
basically two that he could see. He could make a public statement, calling upon
all Presidential Electors to vote as they were pledged to do, for their party's
official ticket - which in the Democrat case would mean whatever ticket was
recognised by the National Committee, when it shortly convened. However, as he
observed in a letter to Philander Knox, Hughes was doubtful as to the wisdom of
this course, which might all too easily misfire "I am far from certain as to
the propriety of my seeking to give directions to the electors of the opposite
party as to their proper course to take in present circumstances. And indeed,
being urged to a particular course of action by a Republican President might be
as likely to cause them to do what I would not have them do, as otherwise"

The other possibility was for him to "release" the Republican electors from
their obligation to himself, and urge them to cast their votes for Mr Hoover.
This would surely give him enough additional support to ensure a majority.
After some consideration, though, Hughes rejected this course also. "I think it
highly undesirable to set a precedent, no matter how honorable the purpose, for
members of the Electoral College to vote otherwise than as the people who chose
them would  have assumed. They are elected in the expectation that they will
vote in a particular way, and whilst not enacted into the Constitution, this
has become such a firmly established custom that it might as well be so. It is
not lightly to be departed  from, especially as there appears to virtually no
possibility that anyone other than Mr Hoover can receive a majority in that
body. The worst that can occur is a decision in the House of Representatives,
whose members are not necessarily bound to vote along party lines, and are in
any event answerable for their action at subsequent Congressional elections, in
a way that Presidential Electors are not. If matters proceed so far, it will be
time enough to consider the proper course".  

And that time soon came. The Democratic National Committee met a few days
later, and endorsed Herbert Hoover as the Democratic Presidential nominee, in
succession to Wilson. There were rumours, however, that the vote had been
extremely narrow, and the Committee's members remained close-mouthed about what
had taken place, which only added to the speculation. As Vice-President, to
balance this midwestern Quaker of humble origins, the Committee chose a New
York Episcopalian born with a 24-carat spoon in his mouth, one Franklin Delano
Roosevelt, who had been Assistant Secretary of the Navy in the first Wilson
Administration. It was speedily noted that this office had also been held by
his distant cousin Theodore, before the latter moved on to greater heights.
Senator Hiram Johnson, on hearing of the nomination, drily observed that some
folk in the Democratic Party evidently believed in sympathetic magic.

As for Smith, he maintained an ominous silence until just two days before the
Electoral College meeting, then made a brief and (to some ears) grudging
statement that he did not wish electors to vote other than for the party they
had pledged to.

*    *     *     *

The men who had dominated the Lausanne Peace Conference were dropping away one
by one. Clemenceau had resigned earlier in the year, after being rejected as
President of the Republic. Now Hughes had shared his fate. Of the "Big Three",
only Lloyd George remained, and his long-term future appeared none too secure

The Allied intervention in Russia was virtually over. The few Japanese and
Americans remaining at Vladivostok would soon be gone. The remnants of the last
White army in southern Russia were now kicking their heels in Constantinople,
whilst the British and French worked out what to do with them. In the Caucasus,
the Bolsheviks had gained control in Azerbaijan and Armenia, thus forming a
common border with the Kemalist Turks, whilst Georgia, the only state in the
Caucasus clinging to independence, looked like having a short future. In Persia
and Iraq, the local nationalists were protesting furiously at the British
Protectorates, and were demanding withdrawal of troops. Rumours abounded of
possible Bolshevik intervention there as well.


*    *    *    *

The Electors met in their State Capitals on December 19th, 1920. Some of them
insisted on sending their votes direct to Washington, without revealing what
they were; but within a few days all were known, as Senator Saulsbury revealed
the sealed ones as soon as he received them. Within days, the final vote was
known.

For President -

Hoover        252
Hughes       228 
Smith             26
La Follette    25

For Vice-President -

Roosevelt 255
Lowden     228
Hoover        33
Watson       15

No one had received a majority for either office

*    *    *    *

In Weimar, the Constitutional convention had finally completed its work. There
had been a lot of wrangling on the extent of the Emperor's powers, with the
final version giving him the right to rule by decree in emergency and suspend
various civil rights, but only on the advice of the Chancellor. Karl had been
jealous of his right to appoint the Chancellor, and had at first demanded that 
a two-thirds vote in the Reichstag should be necessary to compel his dismissal.
In the end, he had to give way on this, but had secured agreement that a
no-confidence vote should require a majority of all the Deputies, not merely of
votes cast, so that abstentions would in effect be votes for the Government.
Another innovation was the requirement that such a vote must be "constructive"
not merely rejecting the present Chancellor, but naming a successor in whom the
Reichstag would have confidence. Karl's first response to that suggestion had
been hostile, seeing it as an erosion of his prerogatives, which virtually
allowed the Chamber to dictate whom he must appoint. In the end, it had been
Zita who won him round, observing that "It is easy to get a majority to say
they are against someone; far harder to get them to agree whom they are for. 
If a Chancellor can carry on until a solid majority of these gentlemen are
agreed whom they want in his stead, then whoever you choose will probably
remain until the three of us have grey hairs". Sometimes, Karl thought that the
Empress was getting the hang of this brave new world better than he was

*    *    *    *

Across the United States, people everywhere were frantically counting on their
fingers. The Democrats had majorities in both Senate and House, but the latter,
of course, would be voting by states, with each state casting one vote.  As the
figures were added up, it was realised, with hope or with horror, that the
Republicans controlled 25  state delegations, exactly the number required. The
Democrats had 21 and two were evenly split. All of a sudden, it began to seem
that the Democratic victory was not in the bag after all.

*    *    *    *

Nor was trouble confined to the Middle East. In Morocco, Sheikh Abd El Krim had
raised the flag of revolt, and was leading both French and Spanish a merry
dance in the Rif. He was seconded by another Sheikh, Raisuli, who had been
giving trouble since Theodore Roosevelt's day. The British had problems even
nearer home, as Ireland broke into rebellion for the umpteenth time. Even Black
Africa, which seemed the furthest of anywhere from any prospect of
independence, seemed to be catching the infection. In the former British
Somaliland, recently transferred to Italy as part of the peace deal, the
natives had risen in a test of their new rulers' mettle, which the latter
seemed to be getting the worst of. As a result, Italian bids to make a reality
of their Protectorate over Abyssinia seemed to be ending in dismal failure, as
was their pursuit of similar hopes in Albania.  In Vienna, Emperor Karl smiled
faintly at the recollection of how, just three years back, he had wanted an
Italian colony in exchange for the Trentino, saying that "A negro is less
trouble than an irridentist." It seemed a naive comment now. And perhaps the
loss of  German colonies at Lausanne had not been such a bad thing after all.

Back in Italy itself, labour relations worsened, with a series of strikes
breaking out. The Italian government was tottering toward collapse, with many
declaring Parliamentary government a farce and calling for a "Cincinnatus" with
unlimited powers. The Nationalist poet, Gabriele D'Annunzio, was leading the
charge, with a maverick socialist named Benito Mussolini as his preferred
saviour. There were also industrial disputes in the Empire and France - while 
the French right in particular was up in arms at the way France had been
short-changed at Lausanne. In all three countries, the currency was becoming
badly inflated, whilst in Britain the Pound was being sustained only at the
cost of rising unemployment. Newly formed Communist Parties saw the future as
theirs. Others feared they might be correct.

*    *    *    *

President Hughes greeted the assembled journalists, then got quickly to the
point. It was essential that the nation's uncertainty be resolved.

"When Mr Wilson was nominated for President last June, Mr Hoover was nominated
with him as Vice-Presidential candidate, ready to succeed him in the event of
his death or disability. That is the sole purpose of having a Vice-President at
all. 

Had the tragic events of a fortnight ago occurred after their inauguration,
there would be no question as to what should then happen. Mr Hoover would step
into Mr Wilson's place without any doubt or dispute. Whilst the present case is
a new one inasmuch as the vacancy arises before, rather than after,
inauguration, it seems to me no more than a commonsense interpretation of the
Constitution to see that in this case, too, the Vice-President elect stands
heir to his running-mate's position. 

There has been much discussion in the press and elsewhere of the possibility
that I may be re-elected President by vote of the House of Representatives. Had
the present situation arisen in the normal course of electoral politics, let us
say by Mr LaFollette winning sufficient electoral votes to deny either Mr
Wilson or myself a majority in the Electoral College, then I should indeed do
everything in my power to bring about that result.

But such is not the case. This deadlock arises through a breach of faith on the
part of several electors, who have seen fit to vote for a man who was not the
choice of their state, or even for one who was not a candidate at all. They may
technically have a right to behave in this way, but it seems to me at odds with
the spirit, if not  the letter, of the American electoral system, as it has
grown up over the years. Our government functions through parties, which in
turn act by majority decisions in the machinery thay have set up. Such
decisions made Mr Wilson and Mr Hoover the original Democratic candidates, as
they made myself and Mr Lowden the Republicans ones. Similar decisions have now
made Mr Hoover and Mr Roosevelt the candidates of the victorious party in last
month's election, who were, in my opinion, entitled to the votes of all their
party's electors last Monday.

Were I to be re-elected in such a fashion, it would be widely seen - and in my
opinion rightly so - as a misapplication of the law in order to thwart the will
of the people as expressed on November 2nd. I am, to be frank, displeased, and
more than a little disturbed, that anyone could have supposed that I would seek
to gain another term in such a manner. Accordingly, I have today written to the
Speaker of the House of Representatives, asking him to make it known to the
House that I do  not wish any votes to be cast for me when they shall assemble
for that purpose following the official count of electoral votes.

Furthermore, I hereby give notice that, if re-elected in such a manner, I shall
decline to serve as President of the United States. Rather, I shall, if Mr
Hoover is agreeable, do for him what Mr Wilson did for me at another time of
difficulty and danger for our country. I shall appoint Mr Hoover to be
Secretary of State, and shall then resign the Presidency in his favour,  which
will entitle him, under the Sixth Paragraph of the First Section of the Second
Article of the Constitution of the United States, to act as President until a
President shall be elected, which this case would not be until November 1924. 

I have spoken already with Mr Hoover, who, whilst he would prefer to be
inaugurated on the date laid down in the Constitution, is willing to take
office in the manner I have proposed, should this become necessary. Both Mr
Lowden and Mr Roosevelt have indicated their willingness, if chosen as
Vice-President in the Senate, to immediately resign, so that their can be no
room for doubt as to who is entitled to act. Mr Hoover has indicated that in
such a case he would be likely to appoint Mr Roosevelt Secretary of State, as I
did Mr Fairbanks in 1916, so as not to deprive him of the place in line of
succession to which the result of November's election entitles him.

Fellow Americans, we have suffered a sad loss, but our nation's life goes on.
One man is dead, but the Constitution lives. Whatever may happen between now
and March the fourth, it is my sincere hope that all of us will unite to
oversee the legitimate succession, and deliver the Presidency to the man who is
entitled to it. And it is my fervent prayer that a merciful God will grant this
country his blessing and protection, and guard over the working of our
constitution as over the making of it. 

God bless you all. God bless America"

*    *     *     *

In the event, such elaborate procedures were never needed. In February 1921, as
soon as the votes were officially counted (a little early, but Congress was
giving itself plenty of time) the House went at once to a ballot. Thirty-eight
votes were cast for Hoover: five, despite his express instructions, for Hughes.
Three states were equally divided, whilst the solidly Republican delegations
form Maine and Vermont opted to cast blank ballots. As soon as this result was
known, the Senate elected Roosevelt over Lowden on a virtually straight party
vote, though four "Progressive" Republicans, in a last flicker of Bull Moose,
also chose to abstain. The crisis was over.

And for Charles Evans Hughes, back at the White House, nothing remained save to
pack his bags.

[To Be Continued]


-- 
Mike Stone - Peterborough England
   
Last words of King Edward II.

"I always said that Roger Mortimer was a pain in the - - - AAARGHH!!!"

Subject: 
            Mr Hughes Goes To War 12 - Homecoming
       Date: 
            19 Aug 2001 19:50:46 GMT
       From: 
            mwstone@aol.com (mike stone)
Organization: 
            AOL, http://www.aol.co.uk
 Newsgroups: 
            soc.history.what-if


Ex-President Charles Evans Hughes looked thoughtfully up the stairway as he
prepared to commence his new job.

With the wisdom of hindsight, there now seemed an air of inevitability about
it. His handling of the "succession crisis" as  the press had immediately
dubbed it, had transformed his image in the public mind. From a rejected
politician with not much on his record but a military adventure abroad and a
highly controversial peace treaty afterwards, he had been instantly transformed
into the Great American Statesman, being freely compared with Washington,
Lincoln and other historic worthies

The applause had not been universal. There were more than a few like William
Randolph Hearst, who coldly commented "Mr Hughes did no more, really than was
the plain duty of any honest man in such a  case - yet for doing so he is now
being lauded as a second Father of his Country"; but these were a definite
minority. And there were others whose response had been more Delphic in nature,
like former Vice President Marshall, who oberved that "Nothing has become Mr
Hughes in office like the leaving of it". 

The critics probably did not realise the degree to which the ex-President
himself would have agreed with them. On one occasion Hughes observed testily to
his son "And I didn't rob a bank during the transition period either. How come
they don't congratulate me for that while they're at it. It makes about as much
sense" The younger Hughes didn't argue, but neither did he let such
considerations stop him gaining what benefit he could from his father's renewed
popularity. Later in the year he accepted the Republican nomination for a
Congressional District  in Upstate New York

Predictably, the said father was, in early 1922, approached by several
Republican politicians as a candidate for Governor of New York. Incumbent Al
Smith had attracted some criticism for his attitude during the "succession
crisis" and it was thought he might be vincible this time - if the right
Republican could be found. If elected, of course, Hughes would immediately
become the Republican's obvious choice for President in 1924, (many considered
him that in any case) and not a few people thought that Hoover's readiness to
appoint him stemmed, in part at least, from a desire to forestall this
possibility A cartoon in the New York Herald showed a messenger telling Hoover
"I have some good news and some bad news Mr President. The good news is that
your most dangerous opponent is out of the running. The bad news is that
Governor Smith's worst opponent is out as well"

In fact, he had been less than receptive to the overtures. His daughter's death
in mid-1921 had left him badly cut up, as Helen Hughes and her father had been
very close; when she succumbed at last to a long fight with TB, he had lost any
interest in elective office, indeed not wanting anything much except to be left
alone. In the twelve months after his departure from the White House, his only
intervention in public life had been to submit some proposals to the Senate
Committee presently discussing a proposed 20th Amendment to the Constitution,
to cover the case of the death of a President-elect or VP-elect before
inauguration. It nearly failed over proposals to reform the Electoral College
as well, but after these were dropped, it went to the states early in 1922, and
seemed to be heading for quick ratification. Hughes had addressed the New York
Legislature,  successfully urging his state to ratify, but thereafter had
returned at once to home and family

Then, in March 1922, the situation had changed. Supreme Court Justice John H
Clarke, whom Wilson had appointed in 1916 to take Hughes' place, had suddenly
announced his resignation. President Hoover at once offered Hughes the seat. To
the surprise of many, Hughes immediately accepted. At least, as he told his
wife, it might persuade those New York pols to leave him alone.  

*    *    *    *

Back in Europe, national finances were everywhere in a bad way. The Franc, Mark
and Lira seemed to be in competition to see which could inflate the fastest.
And there seemed little concensus on what to do about it. In the Empire,
indeed, finance minister Walter Rathenau, backed up by several others, wanted
to simply let the currency "find its own level" arguing thta any deflatiionary
measures would increase unemployment and undermine the government's support

Karl was outraged at their attitude. This was his currency they were talking
about - notes and coins bearing his picture. Did these men think it acceptable
to let them depreciate into worthlessness, until they were useful only as
wallpaper - or some other even less dignified use? Did Rathenau not understand
honour at all? Perhaps, Karl thought, there was some truth in the things they
said about Jews - particularly where money was concerned. But he pushed that
thought aside. After all, Hugo Stimmes had taken the same attitude, and he was
not Jewish. In the end, steps were taken to stabilise the currency at about
one-fiftieth of its 1914 value - a worse depreciation than in France and almost
as bad as in Italy. With that, a displeased Emperor had to be content.

*    *    *    *

In fact, however, he had more serious motives for agreeing to take the seat. He
was uneasy at the way the country had been going in the last year or so. Ever
since the Bolsheviks took power in Russia, fear of subversives (especially
immigrant ones) had grown to paranoiac levels, often expressed in ways that
menaced civil liberty. There had been a nasty business in the last year of his
Presidency, when several duly elected Socialist members had been denied their
seats in the New York legislature. Sinking their political differences, both
Hughes and Governor Smith had protested the action, but in vain. And there had
been the murder trial, on the flimsiest evidence, of those two anarchists,
Sacco and Vanzetti - mercifully acquitted after a brilliant defence by attorney
Thomas G Masaryk, an old Czech nationalist who had spurned Karl's offer of
amnesty in 1919, and remained, with his colleague Edward Benes,  in the US.
Hughes had not been keen to take office again, even on the Court, but he began
to feel he was needed.

The Senators had made no difficulties about it. There had been a few jokes
about the Supreme Court becoming a retirement home for ex-presidents and fears
expressed that the  Senate might soon find itself no longer the most exclusive
club in America. But in the end he was confirmed 88-0

*    *    *    *

In the Near East, tragedy succeeded tragedy. The dust had barey settled over
the bodies in Armenia, when the Greek adventure in Asia Minor came to an
equally dreadful end, with Smyrna falling to the Turks in late 1921. King
Alexander of Greece was deposed in an army coup, and his father, Constantine,
restored. For his patron, David Lloyd George, already in difficulties over
Ireland, this was one problem too many, and he was put out to grass in favour
of Andrew Bonar Law. 

Another minority, the Kurds, fared somewhat better. As part of the attempts to
console France for her poor showing at Lausanne, Lloyd George had conceded the
district around Mosul to the French protectorate in Syria, rather than claiming
it for Iraq. This gave the French about half the Kurdish population of the old
Ottoman Empire, and, in the subsequent negotiations, they insisted on a
northern border in the region of Lake Van, which brough the majority of Kurds
within their jurisdiction, and cleared the way for the setting up of an
autonomous Kurdistan under French suzerainty. Kemal was furious. Refusing to
recognise the Kurds as a separate nation (he called them "Mountain Turks") he
stormed that "This land is Turkish and nothing can change that, not even
bayonets". But he could not tackle Britain and France together, and in the end
had to give way

*    *    *    *

On the steps of the Supreme Court building, Charles Evans Hughes spoke a few
words to the waiting reporters, then mounted the steps, to the Courtroom where
Chief Justice Taft was waiting to swear him in. It was a big responsibility, on
top of his private grief, but  he felt a strange sense of satisfation, as if
this were where he naturally belonged. He felt as if he had reachedthe calm eye
of the hurricane, and now all would be well. He passed the open door with a
confident step

It was good to be home again.

-- 
Mike Stone - Peterborough England
   
Last words of King Edward II.

"I always said that Roger Mortimer was a pain in the - - - AAARGHH!!!"