Post by Airy W on Apr 11, 2017 23:22:54 GMT -6
Applause went up throughout the Capitol building as Congress ratified the new treaty
A multi-lateral arrangement between the 8 great powers of Germany, Britain, France, Russia, Japan, Italy and the United States, the 1909 Treaty of London put a definitive end to the arms race between nations. Although an extension upon previous treaties, the great duration now agreed to by all parties made it very certain that no arms race would be possible.
The man of honor in Washington DC that night was Admiral William Sims "the man who ran the wire on the whole world and made them thank him for it." Sims had been a proponent of a "Rangers", battleships with two turrets but a high speed of 26 knots. Meanwhile the other nations of the world had been following the path of Great Britain in building "Dreadnought" type vessels with eight or ten guns and a traditional speed. While many of criticized Sim's priorities the choice of Rangers would pay off immensely because the Rangers were finished a year before the HMS Dreadnought could have taken to the seas. Furthermore, the three Rangers were completed so quickly that the nations of Europe were not even aware of their completion. Sims had taken advantage of this out of date information when outlining the American position in the 1906 Berlin Naval Conference. By agreeing to stop completion of all battleships that had no yet undergone sea trials, Sims appeared to have been sacrificing six american battleships when in fact he was only giving up three. The first three Rangers were rushed to their trials just before the treaty was signed and thus the great diplomats of europe had been tricked into grandfathering in the three largest ships in the world as "Heavy Cruisers".
At first the world had been furious at the American trickery. Tensions with Britain in particular were very high throughout 1907. The United Kingdom repeatedly threatened to pull out of the treaty which would have surely prompted war. However President Roosevelt had, at Sim's advice, agreed to adopt an uncharacteristically peaceful tone in order to mollify tensions with Britain. As a result the tensions faded. The Fait Accompli was quickly becoming accepted. The United States of America would have three great warships while the other nations would have none...
Every nation's national pride chafed at accepting that there would be no competition with the United States but they saw the benefits to accepting the treaty. The press had spoken about "Dreadnought" battleships as harbingers of a great war to come. In fact the sale of these ships to Brazil, Argentina and Chile (at heavy discounts) had quickly been followed by a war in the South American continent which many foreigners blamed on the Dreadnoughts. Perhaps this was why in 1908 the nations had agreed to a symbolic extension of the treaty by another two years. But the great triumph came in 1909 when the nations of Europe agreed on a five year extension. That treaty would hold. And whereas before Great Britain had threatened to nullify the treaty now they seemed reconciled. Sims was a con man and a charlatan but the nations of Europe seemed happy to have fallen for his trickery. Peace would reign in Europe. There would be no arms races and no great wars.
And they all lived happily ever after
The End.
(A bit of an unconventional AAR I know... But I'm rather proud of the fact that I have effectively won the game in an unconventional fashion. I have three warships that can easily defeat anything else in the world one on one and will retain that advantage indefinitely!)
A multi-lateral arrangement between the 8 great powers of Germany, Britain, France, Russia, Japan, Italy and the United States, the 1909 Treaty of London put a definitive end to the arms race between nations. Although an extension upon previous treaties, the great duration now agreed to by all parties made it very certain that no arms race would be possible.
The man of honor in Washington DC that night was Admiral William Sims "the man who ran the wire on the whole world and made them thank him for it." Sims had been a proponent of a "Rangers", battleships with two turrets but a high speed of 26 knots. Meanwhile the other nations of the world had been following the path of Great Britain in building "Dreadnought" type vessels with eight or ten guns and a traditional speed. While many of criticized Sim's priorities the choice of Rangers would pay off immensely because the Rangers were finished a year before the HMS Dreadnought could have taken to the seas. Furthermore, the three Rangers were completed so quickly that the nations of Europe were not even aware of their completion. Sims had taken advantage of this out of date information when outlining the American position in the 1906 Berlin Naval Conference. By agreeing to stop completion of all battleships that had no yet undergone sea trials, Sims appeared to have been sacrificing six american battleships when in fact he was only giving up three. The first three Rangers were rushed to their trials just before the treaty was signed and thus the great diplomats of europe had been tricked into grandfathering in the three largest ships in the world as "Heavy Cruisers".
At first the world had been furious at the American trickery. Tensions with Britain in particular were very high throughout 1907. The United Kingdom repeatedly threatened to pull out of the treaty which would have surely prompted war. However President Roosevelt had, at Sim's advice, agreed to adopt an uncharacteristically peaceful tone in order to mollify tensions with Britain. As a result the tensions faded. The Fait Accompli was quickly becoming accepted. The United States of America would have three great warships while the other nations would have none...
Every nation's national pride chafed at accepting that there would be no competition with the United States but they saw the benefits to accepting the treaty. The press had spoken about "Dreadnought" battleships as harbingers of a great war to come. In fact the sale of these ships to Brazil, Argentina and Chile (at heavy discounts) had quickly been followed by a war in the South American continent which many foreigners blamed on the Dreadnoughts. Perhaps this was why in 1908 the nations had agreed to a symbolic extension of the treaty by another two years. But the great triumph came in 1909 when the nations of Europe agreed on a five year extension. That treaty would hold. And whereas before Great Britain had threatened to nullify the treaty now they seemed reconciled. Sims was a con man and a charlatan but the nations of Europe seemed happy to have fallen for his trickery. Peace would reign in Europe. There would be no arms races and no great wars.
And they all lived happily ever after
The End.
(A bit of an unconventional AAR I know... But I'm rather proud of the fact that I have effectively won the game in an unconventional fashion. I have three warships that can easily defeat anything else in the world one on one and will retain that advantage indefinitely!)
What was the designated treaty ship max-tonnage & guns?_(edited)_Screenshot_(739).png?width=180&height=180&fit=bounds)