Drapeaux de Victoire (Flags of Victory), a French AAR
Jun 11, 2021 20:25:35 GMT -6
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Post by toastaroony on Jun 11, 2021 20:25:35 GMT -6
Drapeaux de Victoire
Chapitre Un: L’apocalypse qui nous réveille
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Chapitre Un: L’apocalypse qui nous réveille
5 years had passed since the last shell fell on the western front. Europe, and indeed the world at large, had been ravaged by the largest war the world had ever before encountered. Epithets such as 'The Great War' and 'The War to End All Wars' were commonplace, but these names were deceiving. All sides looked at their opponents with sheep's eyes, knowing full well that the other had a plan for vengeance. Despite the radical political restructuring, great anger still thrived in the world stage, waiting for one side to strike. Wracked by strife at home and abroad, the shadow of war had scarred all nations deeply. It would still remain unknown as to how long peace would endure. All knew it was not a question of if, but rather, when, war clouds would extend once more over the continent.
Greek Battleship Marathonos, ex-Prince Eugen, off Herakelion, Crete. Originally destined for France, through a deal, the ship and technical expertise was traded for an unfinished battleship and tens of thousands of drachmae.
National attitudes and political systems in other nations had too been restructured. As the war began to wear on Germany, the military took increasing moves to take power from the impetuous Kaiser. Eventually, the German government was almost entirely run by a sort of quasi-junta, with head military leaders such as Ludendorff and Hindenburg making most, if not all of the decisions. As the war strained Russia to the brink of collapse in the east, and with American reinforcements looming in the west, the German government sensed an opportunity to end the war quickly by transferring all forces westward, in an attempt to take Paris, ending the war in a German victory. However, things would not pan out in such a fashion. While the initial offensive gained much traction, French resistance stiffened, and grew almost fanatical as German forces closed towards the capital. The advance finally came upon the city of Compiègne and the surrounding forest. The French forces, prompted by the dire situation, took hold at the confluence of the Oise and Aisne rivers, preparing countless defensive works to hold the Germans. The German attack was stunned by such tenacious defence, coupled with Anglo-French counterattacks around other parts of the front and overrun supply lines, the Germans withdrew from the high-water mark of their offensive.
In Europe, much had changed in the political landscape. Both the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires were faced with overwhelming debt, political strife, and ethnic turmoil. The Austro-Hungarian empire, or rather its constituents, launched a mass political campaign for independence in Eastern Europe. This strained the war-weary nation to the brink, and shattered into the parts that had once made it up. Of great concern to the Allied Powers was the k.u.k. Kriegsmarine's ships, as it was unknown at the time whether the political situation would stabilize in Eastern Europe or not, and the prospect of battleships falling into the hands of certain powers would be, to say the least, undesirable. In the end, most of the ships were divided up amongst the Mediterranean powers. As for the three remaining Tegetthoff class Dreadnoughts, the only ones completed by the k.u.k. before its demise, Tegetthoff was ceded to Italy, and with the absence of a naval treaty, commissioned as Regina Margherita. Viribus Unitis was taken by the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (Yugoslavia) as Jugoslavija, and Prince Eugen was originally to be ceded to France, but was sold by France to the Greeks in return for the unfinished Bretagne-based Vasilefs Konstantinos and additional cash payments. Prinz Eugen would be commissioned as Marathonos. As for the Ottoman Empire, a similar fate befell the crumbling empire. Frustrated by outright ethnic revolution, the intrepid T.E. Lawrence, and international pressure regarding the Armenian Genocide, Ottoman Asia fractured with Turkey remaining the core of the dead shell that remained. In terms of major ships, the only two of which were the ex-Goeben and Breslau, they remained in Turkish hands.
National attitudes and political systems in other nations had too been restructured. As the war began to wear on Germany, the military took increasing moves to take power from the impetuous Kaiser. Eventually, the German government was almost entirely run by a sort of quasi-junta, with head military leaders such as Ludendorff and Hindenburg making most, if not all of the decisions. As the war strained Russia to the brink of collapse in the east, and with American reinforcements looming in the west, the German government sensed an opportunity to end the war quickly by transferring all forces westward, in an attempt to take Paris, ending the war in a German victory. However, things would not pan out in such a fashion. While the initial offensive gained much traction, French resistance stiffened, and grew almost fanatical as German forces closed towards the capital. The advance finally came upon the city of Compiègne and the surrounding forest. The French forces, prompted by the dire situation, took hold at the confluence of the Oise and Aisne rivers, preparing countless defensive works to hold the Germans. The German attack was stunned by such tenacious defence, coupled with Anglo-French counterattacks around other parts of the front and overrun supply lines, the Germans withdrew from the high-water mark of their offensive.
Artist's depiction of a French Infantry attack. The blue and red uniforms worn during the conflict would endure for many years afterwards as a symbol of resistance, patriotism, and commitment to France.
Seeing the writing on the wall and realizing that Germany and her allies were quite possibly in the best position they could have, they made peace. Germany, much to the chagrin of France, was allowed to retain Alsace-Lorraine. Resistance by German diplomats and unwillingness to see the war draw on any further by the Allies netted Germany control of Südwestafrika and the Bismarck Islands. No restrictions were placed on the German navy, though some minor ships were ceded, primarily to France as placation. In the post war aftermath, and a result of political maneuvering between the army and the new provisional civilian government, Germany began an arduous trek towards democracy. However, some elements of the German army began to purport the myth that it was not indeed the French, British, Russians, or their own supply lines that had doomed the offensive, but rather the German Jewish population. Only the sands of time would tell what would come of this.
Britain, on the other hand, while having suffered bombing raids and terrific losses at Gallipoli and the horrendous trench fighting in mainland Europe, escaped relatively fairly from the war, and certainly ahead of the rest of the Great War's combatants. Her navy remained the premier power in the world, her colonial empire was stronger than ever, and relations with her principal ally, the United States, remained solid.
The English Grand Fleet during maneuvers. The victors of Jutland would remain the principal naval force in Europe and the world at large. However, in the 1920s, other nations looked to unseat this hegemony.
However, relations with Mainland Europe had noticeably soured. Germany was frustrated by its inability to inflict a decisive loss on the Royal Navy, France was outraged by England's seeming unwillingness to prosecute the war further, Russia was apprehensive regarding a Russo-English alliance after Britain had failed to interdict in the landings at Riga during Operation Albion, and all were shocked that they would be limited in naval tonnage if a naval treaty would be signed. Anglo-Italian relations remained rather indifferent, as there was not much reason for either side to distrust the other. In total, England would continue to lead the world, but it would remain to be seen how long such dominance would last.
Italy, the giant of the Mediterranean, had mostly remained as it was pre-war. The dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was welcomed in Italy, who was quick to seize coastal territory to strengthen their position in the Adriatic. Italy's navy had been slow to adjust after HMS Dreadnought and her contemporaries had been constructed, but was able to field few, but relatively modern warships. However, one of the strong points of the Italian navy were her light forces, an example of which being the venerated MAS torpedo boats.
However, political unrest, fueled by skyrocketing debt and post war ignominy regarding the battles for the Isonzo and the outdated tactics employed by those such as General Luigi Cadorna, had contributed to a rising political philosophy in Italy, Fascism. Only time would tell whether democracy would thrive, or if the trains would run on time.
Across the Atlantic Ocean, the United States stood atop a new zenith of power. Nearly physically untouched by the war, industry in the US stood stronger and more powerful than ever. While the policies of Woodrow Wilson had divided the nation between interventionism and isolationism, and after failing to ratify entry into the League of Nations, the United States once more committed herself to the American continent. The stern opposition to the league of nations, and in particular, the very hostile reaction to the Racial Equality Clause proposed by the Japanese, had soured relations, especially with the bill's two primary supporters, Japan and France. France had also, perhaps unreasonably so, viewed part of the war's losses on the Americans as they had not intervened earlier. The United States' course was as of yet undetermined, but with more battleships and battlecruisers on the way to swell an already massive navy, it seemed Columbia would spare no expense in defending herself.
In the east, things took a strange course of events in Russia. Exhausted after years of war and centuries of stagnation, a conglomerate of revolutionaries, radicals and moderates, seized the capital and forced Tsar Nicholas II to abdicate in the February Revolution of 1916. The dream of a worker's paradise ran rampant through the fracturing Russia and her equally unstable neighbors. Millions flocked to the ideals of the communist factions, however, the cracks had already begun to show. Ideological differences between the Bolsheviks, Mensheviks, SRs, and various others ran deep and an atmosphere of mistrust brewed between the members of the coalition. With the alliance coming apart at the seams, the less radical revolutionaries turned on the more radical Bolsheviks, and most of the old officers, with some exceptions, rallied their troops against the Reds. The survivors of the short, vicious civil war scattered to wage a protracted guerilla war.
Similarly to the French Revolution a century before, the Russian Revolution's ideas spread rapidly to nations around the world. While in Russia, communist forces were decisively beaten, other movements elsewhere did gain traction.
While having fought in the far east for the Allies, Japan was quick to relinquish its ties with other nations, especially after the failure to accommodate its interests in the League of Nations. While the war had not touched Japan as it had many others, there was great resentment in Japan, similarly to France and Russia, that there was even thought given to limiting naval tonnage while giving Britain and the United States a relatively free hand in such matters. This had been viewed as a stab in the back from their allies, and quickly led to the dissolution of the former Allied Powers. Japan, who had formerly been content to follow in lockstep with the West, soon embarked on a massive naval rebuilding program, aimed at finally demonstrating her autonomy from the rest of the world. No longer would she be chained to those who see her in ruins.
And, for France. France had suffered the most, and had bore the brunt of the Triple Alliance's onslaught in the west. Vast swathes of land had been outright destroyed by the horrors of the War, in the so-called Zone Rouge (Red Zone). Attempts had been undertaken to clean up this area, but entire villages were left in ruin, and the French government cordoned off the area. In addition, French shipbuilding had been set back for years as the army's demands for materiel were far more pressing. Now, after five years, only now had the economy partially stabilized and shipbuilding could resume, though a game of catch up would have to be played in order to reassert a place of power. In France, national attitudes were very different from how they were pre-war. The Entente Cordiale had fallen apart after Britain's refusal to support French demands for Alsace-Lorraine and a new Polish state. Germany remained adamant in her claims of such territories.
The Italian torpedo boats, known as Motoscafo Armato Silurante, or MAS, proved to be an ingenious weapon. While most believed the era of the torpedo boat would be over with the advent of the destroyer, the Italians managed to craft them into still formidable weapons.
However, political unrest, fueled by skyrocketing debt and post war ignominy regarding the battles for the Isonzo and the outdated tactics employed by those such as General Luigi Cadorna, had contributed to a rising political philosophy in Italy, Fascism. Only time would tell whether democracy would thrive, or if the trains would run on time.
Across the Atlantic Ocean, the United States stood atop a new zenith of power. Nearly physically untouched by the war, industry in the US stood stronger and more powerful than ever. While the policies of Woodrow Wilson had divided the nation between interventionism and isolationism, and after failing to ratify entry into the League of Nations, the United States once more committed herself to the American continent. The stern opposition to the league of nations, and in particular, the very hostile reaction to the Racial Equality Clause proposed by the Japanese, had soured relations, especially with the bill's two primary supporters, Japan and France. France had also, perhaps unreasonably so, viewed part of the war's losses on the Americans as they had not intervened earlier. The United States' course was as of yet undetermined, but with more battleships and battlecruisers on the way to swell an already massive navy, it seemed Columbia would spare no expense in defending herself.
In the east, things took a strange course of events in Russia. Exhausted after years of war and centuries of stagnation, a conglomerate of revolutionaries, radicals and moderates, seized the capital and forced Tsar Nicholas II to abdicate in the February Revolution of 1916. The dream of a worker's paradise ran rampant through the fracturing Russia and her equally unstable neighbors. Millions flocked to the ideals of the communist factions, however, the cracks had already begun to show. Ideological differences between the Bolsheviks, Mensheviks, SRs, and various others ran deep and an atmosphere of mistrust brewed between the members of the coalition. With the alliance coming apart at the seams, the less radical revolutionaries turned on the more radical Bolsheviks, and most of the old officers, with some exceptions, rallied their troops against the Reds. The survivors of the short, vicious civil war scattered to wage a protracted guerilla war.
Similarly to the French Revolution a century before, the Russian Revolution's ideas spread rapidly to nations around the world. While in Russia, communist forces were decisively beaten, other movements elsewhere did gain traction. The remnants of the red forces dispersed, and while not active, most of their supporters went into hiding, waiting for an opportunity to reorganize and take the fight back to the new democratic government. Despite these setbacks, a massive naval, army, and aerial rearmament program was underway, destined to restore the Motherland back to par with her European and Asian peers. The future in Russia would hold an unstable outlook.
While having fought in the far east for the Allies, Japan was quick to relinquish its ties with other nations, especially after the failure to accommodate its interests in the League of Nations. While the war had not touched Japan as it had many others, there was great resentment in Japan, similarly to France and Russia, that there was even thought given to limiting naval tonnage while giving Britain and the United States a relatively free hand in such matters. This had been viewed as a stab in the back from their allies, and quickly led to the dissolution of the former Allied Powers. Japan, who had formerly been content to follow in lockstep with the West, soon embarked on a massive naval rebuilding program, aimed at finally demonstrating her autonomy from the rest of the world. No longer would she be chained to those who see her in ruins.
And, for France. France had suffered the most, and had bore the brunt of the Triple Alliance's onslaught in the west. Vast swathes of land had been outright destroyed by the horrors of the War, in the so-called Zone Rouge (Red Zone). Attempts had been undertaken to clean up this area, but entire villages were left in ruin, and the French government cordoned off the area. In addition, French shipbuilding had been set back for years as the army's demands for materiel were far more pressing. Now, after five years, only now had the economy partially stabilized and shipbuilding could resume, though a game of catch up would have to be played in order to reassert a place of power. In France, national attitudes were very different from how they were pre-war. The Entente Cordiale had fallen apart after Britain's refusal to support French demands for Alsace-Lorraine and a new Polish state. Germany remained adamant in her claims of such territories.
Many such propaganda images flew around France, illustrating the desire for revenge against the 'Prussian Eagle'.
In addition, the US was viewed as being too isolationist, and memories of French support early in the American Revolution were cited in evidence. Resentment ran high, and many called for action to be taken against these nations. As a result, French interests fell to potential alliances with three nations: Italy, Japan, and Russia. They were viewed as being, at least partially, amiable to French aims and vice versa. The question still remained, had the glory of the past finally fled from the French, or would they yet reclaim mastery of the European continent?
Author's Notes: While I have written an AAR before, I'm still far from being proficient at it, and any feedback or criticism is welcome! I would also appreciate any writing suggestions. That being said, these opening chapters will be, to say in a phrase, somewhat bland. These are more so to set the foundation for the rest of the story. (As an aside, all chapter names will be related to some historical work or song, bonus points to who can find the origin of it)
This start is not my own work, that belongs to Seawolf and the amazing 1922 start (link here). Of the four options, this is the No Versailles, No Washington Naval Treaty option. This story itself is based on Seawolf's No Versailles start document that is in the mod, edited for a more narrative feel. Without Seawolf's hard work, this would not be possible.
Author's Notes: While I have written an AAR before, I'm still far from being proficient at it, and any feedback or criticism is welcome! I would also appreciate any writing suggestions. That being said, these opening chapters will be, to say in a phrase, somewhat bland. These are more so to set the foundation for the rest of the story. (As an aside, all chapter names will be related to some historical work or song, bonus points to who can find the origin of it)
This start is not my own work, that belongs to Seawolf and the amazing 1922 start (link here). Of the four options, this is the No Versailles, No Washington Naval Treaty option. This story itself is based on Seawolf's No Versailles start document that is in the mod, edited for a more narrative feel. Without Seawolf's hard work, this would not be possible.
