Revenge of the Eagles - HoI2 Kaiserreich MP AAR

[Raptor1]

(This is a sequel to the 1914 MP AAR)

Players:

HunterICX as Austria



Raptor1 as the German Empire



From 1941:

Task Force as Carlist Spain

Background

Das Weltreich

1918-1922

Following the end of the Great War, the German-Austrian alliance was single-handedly dominated the European mainland. Fueled by the massive industrial capacity and resources of the twin Empires and their newely conquered territories and guided by the Kaiser's aggressive foreign policy, the German and Austro-Hungarian armies invaded Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Greece and newely independent Finland and quickly defeated them. Soon after, Switzerland was invaded by overwhelming force and destroyed. Italy followed, invaded in an act of brutal treachery by the Empires for which she fought in the Great War. Soon the only power left in threatening Austro-German dominance was Britain.

In August, 1919, German and Austro-Hungarian troops from the former Ottoman territories invaded Persia in order to get a direct land connection to British India. The campaign took over 2 months as bad roads and infrastructure impeded the Austro-German advance, but finally ended with the complete destruction of the Persian state.

In Spring, 1920, Germany declared war on Britain once more. Pre-positioned troops on the former Persian border and in Indochina invaded India and Burma. Colonial troops attacked the British colonies in West Africa and cavalry divisions raced to capture the rest of the British colonies in Africa. An invasion of Britain itself, heavily defended by dozens of veteren divisions from the Great War, is deemed impossible by the OHL. Instead, thousands of aircraft are deployed along the channel and are sent daily to bomb England, targetting industrial and civilian targets to cripple the country. In Asia, the invasion of India meets fierce resistance but manages to defeat the British with it's numerical superiority. An invasion of Malaya is launched and comes close to taking Singapore, but is repulsed by a British counterattack. Several invasions are attempted at taking the island of Hong Kong but are repulsed by the defending forces. The only offensive success the British achieve by taking Tsingtao in China with it's weak Schutztruppe.

A stalemate ensues as British industry is steadily pounded by increasing numbers of bombers. Factories, railways and supply depots are flattened as air-raid sirens operate constantly for the first several weeks until they too are destroyed by the bombers. Civilians want to argue the government to surrender but are too afraid to leave their homes for fear of the German bombing. Whatever little relief attempts to trickle in from convoys before the final occupation of the British colonies soon meets a blockade by the German navy, which engages and defeats the Royal Navy in several battles. Singapore falls as German reinforcements arrive and supply to the starved garrison runs out, quickly followed by Hong Kong as air attacks pound the defenders of that island into the ground. Tsingtao is reinvaded and occupied along with British Hantan.

An invasion of Britain is finally launched in the end of 1921. The British army, starved and demoralized, surrenders at first sight of the German invasion. German troops advance, meeting little resistance, and occupy the entire country. The British royal family flees to Canada as Britain is finally defeated and absorbed by Germany.

Following the demise of the British Empire, the Kaiser's dream of a 'place in the sun' for Germany was realized. The German Weltreich dominated Europe controlled territories from South Africa to Indochina and the Austro-Hungarian Empire controlled the Balkans and large parts of North Africa. It seemed nothing could stand in the way of the German and Austro-Hungarian Empires.

The Great Collapse

The Russian Civil War

1923-1925

The peace did not last. The people of Russia, wary from the war and seeking to revenge the decisive loss of the Great War, were growing tired of the autocratic rule of Tsar Nikolai II. Since the end of the Great War, democratic and socialist factions in Russia called for a democratic government, with some going as far as demanding the abdication of the Tsar. A string of bombings and assassinations initated by Communist revolutionaries in 1921, culminating with the assassination of Nicholas Galitzine, Tsar-appointed Prime Minister of Russia by a member of the RSDLP on July 3rd, 1923, led to increasing oppression by the Tsarist regime, with protests put down by force and many supporters of democracy and socialism being arrested and executed. On October 1st, 1923, the Central Comittee of the Bolshevik faction of the RSDLP, led by former exile Vladimir Lenin, decided that open revolution is the only way to get rid of the Tsarist rule.

On October 25th, 1923, the Petrograd Soviet, assisted by Red Guards and sailors of the Russian Imperial Navy, stormed the Winter Palace in Petrograd. A full-scale uprising followed the next day, with much of the Imperial government rounded up and replaced by the Bolshevik's. The Alexander Palace in Tsarskoye Selo was attacked in the morning by revolutionaries and the Tsar and his entire family were shot.

By November, Russia has fallen into anarchy. The Bolsheviks controlled much of European Russia, and rallied millions to their cause, while a collection of White generals, supporting both a reinstatement of the monarchy and a democratic government, opposed them in open conflict, additionaly, a number of smaller factions fought against either side or against both.

Early Bolshevik victory came when a White army led by Anton Denikin in the city of Tsaritsyn, a major commercial center in Russia, was encircled by the Red Army and defeated, causing the loss of 200,000 White soldiers in March, 1924. The White generals realized the need to unite in order to defeat the Communists, and rallied under Alexander Kerensky in the Congress of Omsk in April, 1924. A combined offensive from the east towards Moscow was launched under Denikin in June, which met with some early success, but was foiled when the Revolutionary Insurrectionary Army of Ukraine under Nestor Makhno joined Leon Trotsky's Red Army and attacked the flank of the advancing White Army. The war degenerated into stalemate as the losses from the losses in manpower at Tsaritsyn and the Moscow Offensive forced the White Army to cease it's offensive.

Germany and Austria-Hungary, wary of the growing force of Communism, waited for an oppertunity to intervene. This opportunity came when the Revolutionary Insurrectionary Army crossed the border in an attempt to take the Austrian-held Ukraine. The German and Austro-Hungarian government proposed Kerensky to intervene on behelf of the White Army in exchange for recognizing German and Austrian gains in the Great War. Kerensky accepted, and a large Austro-German expeditionary force under Wilhelm Groener crossed the border Ukranian in May, 1925.

Intending to link up with the White Army beyond the Volga, Groener's army marched towards Tsaritsyn, where a large portion of the Red Army was in heavy fighting with Petr Wrangel's White forces arrayed across the Volga. In a coordinated assault, Wrangel's troops crossed the Volga and linked up with German and Austrian troops north and south of Tsaritsyn, enveloping the city.

700,000 Red troops were cought inside the pocket, which included Tsaritsyn and it's surrounding area. In what would be known as the Second Battle of Tsaritsyn, the German and White Russian troops collapsed the pocket in 4 months, eliminating the Red force trapped inside in brutal open and street fighting. The Second Battle of Tsaritsyn is also one of the bloodiest battles in history, with almost 1.5 million casualties recorded for both sides.

With the Austro-German intervention and the loss of Tsaritsyn, the Red cause begun to lose some of it's support. The tide has turned and the White Army begun advancing steadily once more.

The Chinese Intervantion

1925-1926

In 1922, a second revolution by the Kuomintang overthrew the monarchy in China. Soon afterwards, the centralized administration was wrecked as several warlords seized parts of the country with the KMT powerless to stop them. On March 12th, 1925, to nearly everyone's surprise, Xu Shichang, a monarchist, became premier of the KMT. After purging the KMT of people disloyal to him, Xu sent a request to the German Empire to assist him in ending the anarchy in China. An alliance of warlords attacked the KMT, stating Xu was a traitor in October, 1925. The German army in Indochina under Hans von Seeckt mobilized in case of an invasion of German-controlled areas. In December, a skirmish between troops loyal to a local warlord and German troops in Tsingtao caused Seeckt, with permission from the German government, to invade China.

In late December, Seeckt's troops crossed the border from Indochina. The large German east Asian army easily defeated the warlord alliance, and the campaign was finished by late January. On February, 2nd, 1926, Xu Shichang, backed by Seeckt, declared the reinstatement of Pu Yi as emperor of China. A month later, the Treaty of Nanjing, signed by the newely reinstated Qing Empire and Germany, recognizing German assistance, awarded Germany unlimited economic rights in southern China.

The Allgemeine Ostasiatische Gesellschaft, AlgOstAsien GmbH, was formed to exploit the Southern Chinese concession zone, and, under the Board of Directors and Alexander von Falkenhausen, von Seeckt's right-hand man, now has de-facto control of the area.

The Rise of Syndicalism

1926

The overextension of the German military was clear to those who sought to undermine the Empire's power. Most powerful of these were the Syndicalists, socialists who work to undermine the capitalist system by organizing the workers to bring down capitalism through actions against it's industry rather than through political action. Several of these movements popped up across the world after the Great War, with many working underground in German occupied territory.

First to act was the Confédération générale du travail in France. France was nominally indepent, but was in fact ruled by a German-controlled puppet regime under Henri Philippe Pétain. On March 1st, 1926, after much planning and conspiring with labour and military leaders, the CGT announced a general strike to cripple the French industry. An ultimatum was delivered to the French government to resign immediately. Pétain pleaded for Germany to intervene, and an army under Oskar von Hutier crossed the border, but it's supply was cut off by Syndicalist partisans and soon forced to surrender to deserting French divisions. The French government fled to North Africa, where it established a government-in-exile. The Federation of Communes of France was proclaimed April 2nd, 1926, on the 10 year anniversary of the Great War.

On the very same day, the Anarcho-Syndicalists in Southern Italy and Sicily rose up in revolution. The Austrian occupation force was forced to retreat but managed to hold the line, though the brothers Giesl von Gieslingen, who commanded the occupation, were killed guarding the retreat. The Austro-Hungarian government asked Germany for help in crushing the rebellion, but was informed that no troops were left to spare after the disaster in France. On April 25th, 1926, the Republic of the Sicilies was declared by the Congress of Sicilian Unions in Southern Italy and Sicily.

Next, remnants of the Trades Union Congress, conspiring underground with the British resistance, declared open revolution against the German occupation on June 1st. Public support of the revolution was overwhelming, as memory of the German bombing and invasion were still fresh. The German garrison was soon overrun and the TUC declared the formation of the Union of Britain on June 15th. In India, encouraged by the British revolt, a Syndicalist state was formed in Bengal 4 days later.

On July 1st, 1926, the remnants of the Red Army surrendered to Groener's expeditionary force and the White Army. 2 days later, the Russian Republic was proclaimed with Alexander Kerensky as it's president. Minor factions continued fighting on, but the Austro-German expeditionary force was called back to return control of the revolting territories.

Fall of the World Empire

1926-1927

The Syndicalist uprisings were just the start of a wave of revolution that swept across the German and Austro-Hungarian Empires. On July 4th, 1926, German governor in Scandinavia Heinrich Brüning was assissanated by a British-backed Norwegian Syndicalist, sparking revolution all across Scandinavia.

The now rapidly-evacuating German army in India leaves a power gap which causes the subconinent to descend into civil war between local warlords, princes and Syndicalist Bengal. In the northwest, Canada-backed Delhi managed to grab and occupy all of Northwestern India. To protect themselves from attack by the 2 nations to the north, the southern rulers allied and created the Princely Federation.

In Africa, French and British-supplied revolutionaries started harrasing the German colonial empire. Military governor Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck managed to fight these, but the pressure only increased as time pressed on.

Sultan Abdul Mejid II, returning to the Turkish occupation zone, proclaimed the return of the Ottoman Empire on October 9th, 1926. Promising a new era of Ottoman power, the Turkish people flocked to join the Sultan's cause. The newely reconstitued Ottoman army thrust west, across the Bosphorus, where it, together with a large uprising, routed the Austrian army from Thrace. To the south, despite their differences, the people of the Ottoman Empire's former Middle Eastern territories were quick to throw out the German Empire and join the Sultan. Between the Ottoman Empire and Delhi, the German South Asian army became trapped in Persia, where it surrendered to another uprising led by the Persian monarchy.

In the Austro-Hungarian Empire, riots plagued the Balkan countries and the Czech lands. Withdrawing the Austrian army from the occupied Balkans, Greece, Bulgaria and Serbia reasserted their independence. In Egypt and Sudan, a monarchy was established as Austrian power in the region decreased, though Germany managed to hold on to the Suez Canal. Libya rose up against their Austrian masters and defected to the Ottoman Empire, ending the Austrian colonial empire by March, 1927.

Salvaging the Reich

1927-1928

Wilhelm Groener's army, having recently returned from Russia, was sent to Norway in order to avert the Scandinavian revolution. Landing in Kristiania on June 5th, 1927, Groener instituted martial law in the former Norwegian capital and begun to advance north. Howeever, Groener's army soon was counterattacked by hastily raised Norwegian divisions, secretly supplied and equipped by the Union of Britain, under Carl Gustav Fleischer. On June 20th, a coordinated bombing operation by the Norwegian army resistance with the aid of Britain paralyzed the ports of Kristiania and Bergen, cutting all supplies to Wilhelm Groener. 2 days later, an order was given to retreat, and the army was evacuated on July 1st. On July 10th, King Haakon VII proclaimed the independence of Norway from the German Empire. He was followed 2 days later by Gustav V of Sweden.

In Austria-Hungary, revolutions plagued the Balkans, Hungary and other parts of the empire. To combat these, the Austrian army was withdrawn from the occupied territories in the Balkans, where Bulgaria, Greece, Albania and Serbia proclaimed independence. When the Austrian army began withdrawing from Italy, Pope Pius XI, citing the brutal occupation of Italy and growing danger of Syndicalism, asked the Italian people to drive the Austro-Hungarian Empire out of Italy. Many Italians heeded his call, and several duchies arose in Northern Italy, all pledging allegiance to the Pope, who proclaimed the Italian Federation of June 20th, 1927.

Seeing the imminent collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Austrian government declared a cease-fire and asked for the represantatives of each region to renegotiate the Ausgleich of 1867. On July 30th, the new Ausgleich of 1927, which gave almost complete autonomy to the new consistuent states of the Austro-Hungarian Empire - Hungary, Croatia, Bosnia, Bohemia and Galizien-Lodomerien, furthermore recognizing the independence of all new nations which broke free from the Empire. Some radical groups continued to fight on, but those were suppressed by the Austrian army.

The Austrian government urged Germany to salvage what it can and pull out of it's conquered territories. On January 1st, 1928, the German Empire called a cease-fire with all organized resistance groups and invited them to negotiations. 1 month later, on February 1st, the Treaty of Münster was ratified by all attendents. The Treaty recognized the independence of all nations who broke away from the German Empire, in addition to the restoration of independence to Denmark, Switzerland and Finland (As a Kingdom with German King Fredrik Kaarle as it's head, in return for an alliance against the growing threat of the Syndicalists in Finland). Furthermore, the German African colonies were given quasi-independence and proclaimed the Free State of Mittelafrika, with Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck as it's leader.

Several radicalist factions continued fighting on, but for the most part the revolutions died down, along with much of the German and Austro-Hungarian Empires.

Finally, on March 1st, the Russian government pulled their troops out of much of Southern Russia, recognizing the independence of the new states in the Caucasus and Asia in order to avoid a collapse similar to that of Germany and Austria.

End of the Revolutions

1928-1936

Out of the ashes of the global revolution, 3 alliances between the major powers emerged. First, Mitteleuropa, the Austro-German alliance, centered around the idea of control of Central Europe. Second, the Entente, comprising the remanants of the Entente of the Great War, remnants of British Empire led by Canada and exiled National France, which has taken the opportunity to cut off it's ties to Germany in the chaos. Lastly, the Syndicalist International, led by the Commune of France and comrising the Republic of the Sicilies with close ties to other Syndicalist nations such as the Union of Britain.

Generally, the time between 1928 and 1936 is considered as the quietest time for the world since the turn of the century. The peace was only disturbed once by the Great South American War of 1932-1934, which led to the formation of the Union of La Plata between the former states of Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguai.

How much longer the calm will hold is uncertain, some reason it is only a matter of time before open hostility breaks out in such volatile regions as the Balkans, the Austro-Hungarian Empire or war breaks out between the three alliances.

[Oberon]

--Counter-revolutionary propaganda removed--

[Raptor1]

Shhh! You're spoiling the whole story.

[Raptor1]

I declare the backstory complete! (To anyone bored enough to try to read it)

The actual beginning of the AAR will be here soon, I hope.

[Schroeder]

Looks like you overstretched yourselves a little.

[Oberon]

Originally Posted by Schroeder

Looks like you overstretched yourselves a little.

That's just the backstory Germany is still a powerful nation though, be assured...damn powerful.

[HunterICX]

Great AAR so far
will try to remember to make more screenshots myself the next time so I can add my piece to this AAR

HunterICX

[Oberon]

Damn exploding airships...

[Raptor1]

The John Maclean did indeed pick an interesting date to explode on...

Just proves how unreliable the Syndicalist construction is!

[Raptor1]

The Rest
Of what happened so far

Thread necromancy conducted, this is not over yet...

The Austro-Hungarian War

The Austrian and German armies pour into Hungary and Croatia, encircling Budapest within days. As the fighting drags on, the offensive loses momentum and becomes a slogging match with the Hungarian army. By early July, Croatia has been overrun, but large parts of Hungary are still controlled by Hungarian troops. Breaking the stalemate, the Austro-German armies force a breakthrough and pour the few tank divisions assigned to the offensive through, eliminating most of the Hungarian pocket. By the end of July, the remnants of the Hungarian army are forced into the mountains around Craiova. The Hungarians make a last stand and force back attacks throughout August, but eventually an overwhelming force of over 40 divisions is gathered by the Austro-German armies, finally breaking the outnumbered and under-supplied Hungarian defenders in the beginning of September.

The Austrian Empire formally annexes the Kingdom of Hungary on July 6th, then invades and occupies the remaining Slovakian enclave 5 days later. The Austrian Empire has been restored under a single rule.

The Spanish Civil War

As the Balkans erupted into massive conflict, the shaky stability of the Kingdom of Spain finally erupted into civil war. On May 28th, 1937 the Anarcho-Syndicalists of the FAI, the Federación Anarquista Ibérica, declared open rebellion against the oppression of the Spanish monarchy, seizing much of eastern Spain. With the friendly Spanish throne threatened, Germany begins sending material to the loyalists on June 2nd. On June 5th, the war escalates further as the Spanish Carlists, long opposing the monarchy of Alfonso XIII and encouraged by the weakness of the Kingdom's position, revolt and take over much of the Atlantic coast. The FAI, refusing to side with the autocrat Carlists, declares war on then on June 9th.

Yet another gap in the archives

1937-1941

With the renounciation of the Belgrade Pact and no diplomatic intervention on behalf of the Great Powers, the Balkan powder keg once more exploded into war. The Second Balkan War began as wildely nationalistic Iron Guard Romania declared war on Bulgaria on May 28th, the same day as the start of the Spanish Civil War. Serbia and Greece, allied with Romania, also declare war on Bulgaria. In a further escalation, Greece declares war on Albania.

The American Civil War swings wildely as the USA disintegrates under the pressure of the 3-sided attack. The CSA and AUS hack at each other, taking and retaking the territory that belonged to the USA at the beginning of the war. Eventually, the AUS gains the upper hand and overruns the CSA. Soon afterwards, in an effort to reclaim the Western Seaboard, the AUS declares war on the PSA and defeats it. Finally, the AUS demands the Protectorate of New England back from Canada, which caves in to it's demands, completing the reunification of the former United States under the American Union State.

The Spanish Civil War is concluded similarly, with the Carlists emerging victorious over the former monarchy and the FAI.

Intervening in the Balkans once more, the Austrian Empire invades Iron Guard Romania and occupies it. With the rest of the Balkan states weak from the war, the Austrian Empire, with some German support, invades and occupies Albania, Serbia, Greece and Bulgaria, bringing the Balkans back under Austrian control.

And then...

[Raptor1]

Player roster updated to include the Carlists.