Revolution, Maple Leafs, Chrysanthemes and the Eagle By Beer (and special Thanks to Adler 17 for his contributions)

PoD 1: The PoD that starts all is that in TTL 1848 the uprisings and Revolutions erupt with more force and become more widespread as the result of some early successes. In several cases the nations stand on shaky legs. as one nation hit hard by the Revolution sends a delegation to the Paulskirche Parliament with the young Rising Star Bismarck part of it. Bismarck is against the uprising, but after some time in Frankfurt sees the chance to use the Revolutionaries to give Prussia the position in . He marshals all his influence (he is well connected to the King´s court) to lobby for a Prussian acceptance of a to-be-modified Paulskirche constitution. Prussia thinking seriously about the Paulskirche proposal gives the Revolutionaries all across Europe hope and fresh drive. New revolts pop up or already began ones keep their momentum. Bismarck succeeds and after some gruesome negotiations on second May 1851 a united Germany is born. Several states close to Austria, despite the public opinion internally pro- Unification, decline to become part of Germany. But the more severe strife created TTL saps more of Austria´s strength and during the rest of 1851 and early 1852 all German states beside Austria join Germany. When Sardinia-Piemont with French help begins her Quest to unify anew, overstretched Austria begins negotiations with Germany about what to do. To win time for negotiations and to stop a French allied Italy emerging, Germany and Austria help Guiseppe Mazzini´s Roman Republic. (OTL the Republic was smashed by the French protection of the Papal state, TTL France has other things on her plate first due to the stronger Revolution) While on the Italian peninsular a Civil War goes on, Austria and Germany try to find a solution for the trouble both nations have. In March 1853 they find it and after some tricky treaties Hungary becomes independent but closely allied to Germany. The Austrian half of the Empire (except Dalmatia and Galicia which become Hungarian, but with Burgenland gained from Hungary) accedes into Germany on the second birthday of the united Nation, creating Großdeutschland (Greater Germany). In 1857, both sides of the Italian unification war are war weary. France and Germany, who have other more important (for them) matters at hand, begin joint mediating and on New Years Day 1858 Italy is united.

PoD 2 : In the 1860ties the growing Power of Germany was met with wariness by some circles in Britain, who wanted to preserve Britain´s position as THE Great Power at all costs. In 1864 it seems the time for testing Germany is ripe, when the Danish-German war erupts after Denmark tries to absorb Holstein fully. The British Government, under the weak in foreign matters PM Lord Palmerston, in a hipshot action backs the Danes. But the decision soon turns out to be rash and ill-advised. While Germany´s outnumbered small Navy does not even think about doing more than some coast patrolling against the , the British Army, lacking enough preparation time and fighting against the strategic genius of Moltke, march into an unmitigated disaster. At a battle near Flensburg the British-Danish forces experience what TTL historians often call “Second Waterloo”. The war is soon over after Flensburg. Bismarck, in his quest for stability in Europe, takes all of Schleswig and Holstein (Germany gives Denmark a small part of North-Schleswig back in 1952), but leaves all Danish Colonies in ´s hand. The problem is peace with Britain. Germany never wanted war with Britain in the first place and has no means for bringing her superior land forces to the Isles. The German Navy is no match for the Royal Navy. So a rather tame treaty is a must and even the wish of Berlin, since Germany does not want Britain as a committed foe. On the other hand, the British land campaign was a disaster and resulted in a noticeable Prestige hit. In the “Great Game”, this meant Germany needed some spoils of war to show the world and her populace. Bismarck, as almost always with a feel for the best outcome in foreign matters, wanted . Losing it would not hurt Britain in a serious way, while it could be shown as a token of victory and did improve Germany´s strategic position in the . But the new British Government tried a political play, adding a new chip into the pot. A “chip” called Rupert´s Land. See text below: Germany came to her first colony like the proverbial virgin to a child. Some circles in the , wanting to preserve her position as Great Power Number One no matter the cost, were wary about the German Unifications, but in the turmoil of the revolution years Britain had no chance of intervention. The time for intervention and testing the Unknown seemed to come when the 2. German-Danish War erupted 1864 after Denmark tried to absorb Schleswig and Holstein fully. The decision to back the Danes on short notice and the aftermath was much lamented for decades and the nickname of then Premier Viscount Henry Palmerston, “Lord Firebrand” became a curse in England. On sea Britain had no problems, the German Navy kept hugging the coast and ports, knowing their chances in open battle against the far more numerous Royal Navy. On land however, the British army, thrown into the fight with too much haste and after a string of mistakes in the gathering, experienced the most severe loss of the 19 th . Century. The scale of the disaster at Flensburg surprised even the commanding German Generals von Moltke and von Wrangel, who beat the British-Danish forces most masterfully. Many historians speak of this battle as the “British or Second Waterloo”. The fighting ended soon after, only some small skirmishes were fought until armistice. In the case of Denmark the proceedings were fast. The Danes lost all of Schleswig and Holstein, they could keep their colonies, but had to accept after the peace negotiations with some “rest stops” on Iceland and Greenland for German ships on the route. At the conference with England the problem was how to proceed. Germany had clearly won on land, but had no way to reach England with enough forces, so a negotiated and rather tame peace was a must. On the other hand Britain had lost the land war so miserably a white peace was not in the cards, the world public would not allow it and too much Prestige was lost at Flensburg. Bismarck did not want to make Britain a committed enemy, but after such victory he needed some tokens for the public eye and the other Great Powers to show. Both sides knew it would be a pain to find a solution the 2 nations could live with.

It was one of those sentences only having impact at a special specific time in history, which brought Rupert´s Land into the “haggling”. Britain, in the hope that Germany would soon tire of this “conquest” and would be able to get it back from the “Jerries”, literally pushed the undeveloped, far away region into Germany´s lap. would give Heligoland, which Bismarck wanted as a showcase and Britain could live without, only if Germany took Rupert´s Land as well. It would be a political gamble and a cheap way to peace for Britain. The new British Government, after the Flensburg debacle Lord Palmerston was history, wanted to get back as much international standing as possible. They admired Bismarck´s deft proposal. Loosing Heligoland would not hurt Britain in ways that mattered and Bismarck got the token he needed without creating bad blood. Adding Rupert´s Land in out of own volition, Britain would score points everywhere for her Magnanimity in “defeat”. Despite grandiose looking on paper especially after some embellishment by the British diplomats, Rupert´s Land was basically worthless in it´s present condition. Developing it would be a long, stony road measured in decades, not years. And costly decades at that! The plan was easy; Britain would get lots of prestige for her “sacrifice”, while burdening Germany with a foreign policy stone around her neck. There was even a betting pool established in the British delegation, how long Germany would keep “Rupprechtsland” (the German Name for it) after it became publicly known how undeveloped it was. While the more well-educated in Germany knew this, the public there and in other nations as well were blinded by the British propaganda. Soon the Germans would have a dilemma. Either they kept a grandiose looking, but expensive if one wanted to develop it, Colony or they sold it to someone. Selling it would mean a Prestige loss for Germany and a Prestige gain for Britain, since the Sell would show British superiority at the green table. In the eyes of the public England would have her “lecture”, while it was not really the case. First, Rupert´s Land was more or less company owned, so while looking like Britain lost territory, it was nothing truly important. Second, Germany would have problems with the region considering the travel circumstances. Third, with so much land, no matter it was practically wilderness doted with some outposts, changing hands, Britain would escape costly reparations, because for the public eye it was enough.

Bismarck knew what the British tried to do, but the situation was a mess. According to his biographer, the Chancellor once said during a four eyes talk: “The Brits are a clever bunch. They give us an undeveloped, nearly empty backwater with partly hostile climate and Indians on the other side of the Atlantic, hoping that we tire of it and sell it back to them after some years and get Prestige back for this twice. Once for their supposed magnanimity now and again when we have enough of the wilderness. True, it´s a lot of land and seems to be potentially rich in resources, but we will face a mountain of difficulties. Britain has experience with far away colonies, we do not. So it will come to learning by doing. I´d like to decline Rupert´s Land, not only because of the problems we get, but because the “Limeys” try to circumvent the lecture for interfering in affairs they should not, by giving us something most of Britain will not miss, while looking good.. It´s their right to try for the least hurting treaty, but I don´t think Britain will learn the lesson if they get away with this. Unfortunately, I see no choice but to accept. Having Peace is far better than a stalemate war. Britain is no match for us on Land, we can´t hurt them on sea. I don´t want to punish Britain, just a slap on the hand; we don´t need or want to alienate such a potent power. Other proposals might be “better”, but carry the risk in making Britain an enemy. Let London slap it´s own back for being more cunning than us Germans; two can play this game. They might believe Germany is unable to rise to the challenge, but we will never give back what we get now. Even if I have to visit this wilderness every year!”

Bismarck signs, since consolidating Germany in peace is far preferable to an unneeded war. Now Germany has Heligoland, which is a strategic plus and Rupert´s Land, which she did not want. Now what to do? RL is wilderness, there might be rich resources and farmland, but developing and making it defendable and useful will be extreme costly and it will be the next century before this happens on a major level. The other option is to sell it to someone. But even if it is not in the open, doing this after the fanfare about RL would mean admitting defeat to the British political play. Some would even see it as admitting being unable to the task of developing Canada. Here comes German/Prussian stubbornness in: Doing something 100% or not at all. The German government decides to beat the British in their own game by making Rupert´s Land a success, "even if it kills us". To the consternation of some states, who betted that the Germans would do the more logical thing by selling it. By the time of the great colonial grab, the "crazy Germans" have the first very tender and delicate successes in Canada they can be proud of, but the expense is so great (Hokkaido already produces a small plus, not much still, better than nothing, but that wasn´t cheap either) Germany´s appetite for more colonies went extinct. Only for prestige reasons Germany takes some more colonies. Bits and pieces here and there compared to other colonial powers, several times even exchanging claims, showing the flag, nothing more. The main colony was and is RL. So TTL Germany does not get sucked into great colonial rivalries. It was truly tough for Germany, especially in the early years of the Colony, but she never sold Rupert´s Land back to Britain or to anyone else. One could even say Germany´s colony in the Americas did much for the development of Air Travel. While the Empire did build a capable Fleet over the next couple of decades out of necessity to defend her colonies, Berlin always wanted to reduce the dependency on the British and American dominated High Seas. So Germany became a leader in the skies first with technology, later airplanes and then striking in the space age.

PoD 3 : While a German Canada needs an event chain like above to be plausible, for this PoD there is OTL precedence. It might surprise some people, but during the 1860ties the East Asia section of the Prussian foreign ministry really pushed for annexing or buying Hokkaido as a colony from Japan! For Bismarck only buying was an option, since he wanted good relations with Japan, which he saw (correctly) as an emerging power, but only after German Unification, which topped every other priority. When Unification was achieved, Japan had begun to settle/develop Hokkaido seriously for the first time in centuries, so the price would have been much higher than some years before at the beginning of the Meji-time. Bismarck, rather reluctant when it came to colonies, was not sad about that development and stopped all advance in that direction so it never came to a German Hokkaido. TTL Germany is already unified in the 1860ties and had won the Danish-German war, the first real conflict as a unified nation. National Feeling would be high, since that war made Germany a colonial power already, even if the colony in question was close to worthless for decades to come. Most of Bismarck´s OTL objections are not an issue TTL and even a national Hero, as Bismarck is OTL and TTL, sometimes has to keep his ministries happy. In addition, making Hokkaido a profitable colony is far easier than Canada, esp. when you make a deal with Tokio about settlement by Japanese too. So TTL Bismarck buys Hokkaido in 1867 from Japan, but as a compromise between him and the foreign ministry, the treaty includes provisions about a joint development of the Island by Japan and Germany. Up to a point, at least; Hokkaido will be German after all. A typical Bismarck move. Not only will this foster closer relations with Japan (at this time Japan begins his modernisation, so she will follow Germany´s lead in developing Hokkaido and other areas most of ), the colonial administration can buy some needed goods in Japan directly, reducing the strain on the merchant fleet. And with Japanese and German colonists, the Island will reach a useful number of citizens faster.

These 3 main PoDs, with all the butterflies coming from them, have a heavy impact on TTL History. Unified TTL 20 years before OTL and becoming a Großdeutschland/Greater Germany in 1853 will make Germany an industrial and economic powerhouse a lot earlier, but the colonial acquisitions in 1864 and 1867, one out of necessity for a peace treaty, the other due to lobbyism, do not only focus Berlin away from many foreign affairs, concentrating on colonial development, but change the stream of emigrants coming from Europe. With Germany unified early and rather liberal, a sizeable number of Germans/Austrians who emigrated OTL between 1848-1880 will never move to the New World, their reasons gone. Some will settle in the “new” eastern parts of the Empire, someday tipping the population percentiles there decisively into the Germans favour. From those whose reasons to emigrate did not change, many will go to Rupert´s Land and Hokkaido, not the US or Brazil to name a few. Unlike OTL, where most of the German colonies had climates, etc. disliked by persons willing to settle somewhere outside Europe, TTL Rupert´s Land (at least a big part of it) and Hokkaido can find favour with many would- be settlers. Same with Italy. Unified early, in addition there are losses in the Civil War, means a lot of Italians never leaving. This not only changes the composition of the emigrants in many countries (like the US or esp. Argentina where many Italians went to), but the population growth of the immigrant nations too, which will be slower, due to the lower numbers of settlers coming in. Take the US as an example. OTL in 2005 (I don´t have newer numbers) there were around 50 million Americans of German ancestry and around 17 million of Italian ancestry. TTL, we can halve that

TTL Events who went like or largely like OTL, since they were nearly unaffected by the PoDs (mainly in the early years, since later the changes add up and begin to influence all happenstances) are in the TL without explaining text, like e.g. The Crimean War

The Timeline:

1848 – 1854: The Revolution Years , with the last sputtering out on 4 July 1854 in Namur.(the successful ones ended earlier)

1848 Bismarck, Prussia and the Paulskirche: In autumn, Otto von Bismarck, while opposed against the Revolution, sees the potential gains for Prussia by accepting the Paulskirche Parliament Proposal, if the Constitution is made less “radikal”. He begins lobbying for a compromise proposal in Frankfurt and via his connections at the court in Berlin. He succeeds and in December delegations of the Paulskirche revolutionaries and Prussia begin talks about modifying the future Constitution. At the same time, negotiations with other German States about a Unification begin.

From Heinrich Pleticha´s “Deutsche Geschichte” (German History), fourth updated edition: “Volume 11 covers the Napoleonic Wars, the Congress of Vienna and it´s aftermath in detail, but the main focus will lie on the years between 1848-1854 or as that timeframe has become known often in common parlance: “The Revolution Years and Unifications”

With 160 years hindsight, it´s easy to say that two interconnected events from that time had an impact on Germany´s history which can still be felt today; the liberal Revolution of 1848 and the Rise of Otto von Bismarck. It is another mark on the well-filled scoreboard for strange happenings in German history that a conservative politician, deeply opposed to the Revolution, would become the man to make it successful and creating a style of politics known today as ‘Realpolitik’.

In 1848 the old order of Europe was shaken to the foundations. Inspired by ideas from nationalism and liberalism, the people rose up for more freedom, more power and to end the time of the Mini-principalities dividing Europe. At that time, Bismarck, the later ‘Iron Chancellor’, was in hard opposition against this uprising. He had no overly high position in Prussia´s political sphere, but was well connected to the inner circle around the king and a rising star, respected even by his enemies. When in the summer of 1848 the situation became state-threatening, Prussia, along with other German states, decided to send a delegation to the Revolutionaries ‘Paulskirche-Parliament’ in Frankfurt. Bismarck was one of the delegation members. At first, his stance did not change. Some of the ideas these Rebels had were good and had merit, like giving the Emperor’s crown to Prussia, but the rest… Prussia just had to wait until the rebellion ran out of steam.

Then it became clear to him that, if properly ‘modified’ the Paulskirche movement might be the vehicle to wrest alpha position in Germany from Austria. During the Prussians stay in Frankfurt, the situation all over Europe became worse, the Danube Monarchy one of those hit hardest. Bismarck sensed the beginning of an opportunity. In what might well be his first recorded spark of political genius, the later chancellor mustered all influence he could get and lobbied for his idea before the inner circle and the King. With Prussia earnestly thinking about the Paulskirche proposal, it unintendedly stabilised or started several movements in other states and nations (the revolutionaries saw that even Great Powers could come under enough pressure) and gave the Parliament clout enough to solve the Danish crisis halfway well. In the end, Bismarck succeeded. With Austria and other powers bound by internal uprisings and affairs sweeping over the whole continent, Prussia took the opportunity. The negotiations in Frankfurt took quite some time, but on second May 1851 a new Germany was born. Bismarck, who had a swim or sink crash course in high politics from the gruelling negotiations, became the first chancellor, thanks to his impact on the whole process. Many observers thought the young chancellor was sitting on a hot seat and it would only be some time until an Ersatz came into power, but the Prussian was a lucky draw for Germany. Only few other chancellors in the following one and a half centuries would be of comparable high calibre. To this day, Otto Eduard von Bismarck-Schönhausen, is the chancellor with the longest tenure at the chancellery in Berlin´s Wilhelmstraße.

As he had promised the King (now Emperor), the constitution of Germany was modified quite a bit away from the most radical intentions. Despite Bismarck´s and other conservatives negotiating it was, especially for the time, a very liberal constitution (with some conservative influx). And several reforms later, today Germany´s state order is still based on the compromise found in Frankfurt back then. This 1851 Reich had not the form of the Germany we live in today. Several German states declined, even with strong nationalistic pressure clamouring for unification, to accede, mainly those close to Austria. But the talks with these states never stopped, since during the rest of 1851 and 1852 it became clear that Austrian power was fading, sapped from the internal strife after Metternich´s system failed in 48. One after the other, they sought and found entry into Germany. During that time all major and medium European Powers were occupied with internal matters, the fallout of or even enduring revolutions. The revolutions kept the tensions with France over German unification from becoming “hot”. In several nations it was a close race between the revolutionaries and the old order. During 1852 the situation in the Danube Monarchy became critical. In February, Bavaria, as the last German Federation state beside Austria outside new Germany, became part of the . The Habsburg multi-ethnic Empire began to come apart at the seams when German Austrians close to the revolutionary cause sent a delegation to Berlin for a request to mediating in the conflict. For a time it seemed a war between Germany and Austria was near, but it did not come. To clarify, Austria was no pushover, it was still a Great Power and had the potential might to put down the uprisings. But there were so many fires burning, her allies gone over to Germany or with problems to solve themselves and now with many German Austrians wanting unification, the Habsburgs looked for a way out without the Empire totally disintegrating. In July 1852, with a heavy heart, the young emperor Franz Josef met a German delegation under Bismarck in Salzburg to open negotiations about what to do. Austrian forces were stretched to the limit when House Savoy with French goodwill tried to unify Italy, bringing the whole peninsular in uproar. The Habsburgs had quite a part of northern Italy in possession, but most of the army was busy keeping the other parts of the Empire quiet. This had been the last straw and the main reason for the meeting with the “upstarts”.

Bismarck favoured the “Kleindeutsche Lösung” (Germany without Austria) since it left Prussia stronger in Germany, but an Austria with limited power in Germany would be a power multiplier for the whole nation and still no threat to Prussia´s top position. Under normal circumstances such an outcome was unlikely in the extreme, given Austria´s might, but the years since 1848 were anything, just not normal and it would be still some years to “normal”. Bismarck´s nose for opportunity in foreign matters and his feeling for what is possible laid the foundation once more. The negotiations took until March 1853, with breaks, but the “Großdeutsche Lösung” (Germany with Austria) became reality. On the second birthday of the Second German Empire, the western parts of the Austrian Empire became officially part of Germany.

1848-49: First Schleswig War: Unlike OTL, where Denmark, due to the Revolution in Germany and the unclear leadership, overconfidently ended the cease-fire of Malmö in 1849 and was saved by separate peace treaties with the big German states (troops from several German states were deep in Danish territory at that time, only the treaties enabled Denmark to get control over S-H back, winning against the regional forces), the looming TTL under Prussia brings a negotiated peace in summer 49 with articles close to OTL.

1851 German Unification under Prussian Leadership: After roughly 2 years of negotiations, Germany truly unifies for the first time since the Middle Ages on 2 May. Otto von Bismarck becomes the first Chancellor of the second Reich due to his impact on the whole process. Despite doubts because of his relative youth, he was 36, (likely the youngest chancellor since Rainald von Dassel during Frederick Barbarossa´s reign) time would show his political genius. The Founder or the Iron Chancellor , so called due to a speech about how blood and iron would be a key element in developing the wilderness of Rupprechtsland, was 69 when he retired.

1851 Preparations: Camillo di Cavour, Prime Minister of Sardinia-Piemont, begins talks with France about help for the Unification of Italy. Napoleon III. sees the potential gains possible for France and assures di Cavour that France will aid Turin in the quest for Italian Unification.

1852 – 1857: The Italian Unification War 1852 Beginning Hostilities: In early 1852, Sardinia-Piemont, with the backing and support of France, begins a military campaign to unify Italy under her banner. Austrian forces can rebuff the first wave, but it is only a question of time until the besieged units will fall. In February, Bavaria, the last German Federation State beside Austria not part of new Germany, becomes a member state. In July, an overstretched Austria begins talks with Germany about the situation of both nations in Salzburg. The negotiations will last (with several breaks) until the next February. The situation with the French-friendly Turin trying to unite Italy, which wants all Austrian possessions there, is a major concern for both Austria and Germany. A French-allied Peninsular has to be avoided. Soon a consensus is reached to try to get Giuseppe Mazzini´s Roman Republic on their side. The democrat Mazzini is hostile to the royalist Sardinians and has an axe to grind with them on several topics. Not the least the old death sentence on him by Sardinia-Piemont. Envoys sent to the Roman Republic by Austria and Germany come back with a positive answer. Both Empires begin to secretly supply the Roman forces to counter the Sardinian advance. In late August Sardinian forces break through the exhausted Austrian lines in Lombardy. The first Battle of Bergamo on 31 August becomes the birthing hour of the Red Cross Organisation after Henri Dunant witnesses the bloodbath. It is a victory for the S-P forces, but the retreating Austrians inflict heavy losses on them In mid-September Sardinian units reach Roman Republic held territory near Rimini. A Roman force, equipped in all quiet with Austro-German supplies, is the first Italian group with comparable combat power to the Sardinians. The ensuing battle is won by the Romans. The battles lines for the future of Italy are drawn.

1853 Großdeutschland: After several months of intense talks in Salzburg, the end of the Austrian Empire in his current form is near. The western (cisleithanian) part of Austria, minus Galizia and Dalmatia, but with Burgenland gained from the Hungarian part becomes a member of the German Empire on second May 1853. The date was set in the treaty concluded in March for the special significance. The Hungarian (transleithanian) part of Austria becomes independent under Emperor-King Franz Josef, but allied with Germany. An artful political knack divined out by Heinrich von Gagern and Ferenc Deak after a request by Chancellor Bismarck enabled Franz Josef to keep the Emperor title, by changing the context and range of the specific title onto Hungary with the use of some “liberal” interpretations of the common history of Germany, Austria and Hungary, despite the millennium-old Kaiserkrone and title “German Emperor” going to the Hohenzollern. The Italian Unification War still rages, both sides unable to score a decisive victory.

1853-56: The Crimean War

1857 : In early summer, after nearly five years of civil war, both Sardinia-Piemont and the Roman Republic are exhausted. At one time this side, then the other was in a better position, but lastly both are too close in strength to win without a mistake by a combatant. Both sides in secret ready most of their reserves for an offensive in northern Italy and a second one in the middle as well. When Austria became part of Germany in 1853, to boost the morale and standing of the Romans, Berlin which had few aims in Italy to begin with, gave much of the Austrian possessions in Italy to Rome. The austro-german units were pulled back into areas with German settlements, roughly everywhere north and east of Lake Garda and bolstered by fresh units. While there were no ethnic German towns this far south, the area around Venice was defended by the Empire too, since the city-state was not really happy with the thought of becoming part of an united Italy and was a base of the former Austro-Venetian Navy.

On 8 June, Sardinia-Piemont scores an important victory at Tusculum near Rome. Rome is encircled and besieged. One day later it looks like a S-P overall victory is near. The northern Army of Sardinia-Piemont can intercept two Roman armies attempting to combine and keep them apart. The S-P forces outnumber the Romans and the leadership orders a split to put both retreating Roman armies down. On 12 June, two battles take place. The northernmost battle sees a grave error by the S-P commander. The Roman Army is able to lure her opponent into South Tyrol, by giving the impression to be in a wild flight. Near Salurn, they meet dug-in German forces. The fight is short. Caught in a disadvantageous position, the Sardinian troops are totally ground down. The other battle, near Trento(Trient), is a much closer thing, but the Romans win these as well. The way to Turin is free now for the Romans. S-P has nothing in northern Italy anymore, which could stop these two Roman armies. But before a counter-siege against the Piemont capital comes to be, France and Germany begin mediating to find a solution. France had lost interest after some tastier opportunities elsewhere popped up, Germany never had many aims in Italy to begin with, beside stopping a French-allied Italy and protecting the German settlements. As long France got the lands promised by Piemont and Germany´s two main interests were sated, both nations would see to end the war.

1857/58: “La Bella Italia” The long unification war between Sardinia-Piemont and the Roman Republic had produced deep wounds. The stalemate dragged the conflict on. But unlike in the beginning, France had tastier targets than to just wait for a French allied Italy and some land from her. Italy would need years to heal, so an alliance was preferable in future not now. Paris knew that Germany, who helped Rome, did not want much on the Apennine. Time to cut this theatre short; Paris contacted Berlin to arrange a proposal both Great Powers could live with. Germany, who had attempted mediation before, but never came far due to France´s strong backing of Turin, was delighted. The second Germany was still young and the growing together was better managed if no external matters interfered. After the battles at Tusculum, Salurn and Trento, with the capitals of both combatants either besieged or soon to be besieged, even the Italians had enough of the bloodshed. In the end, the Treaty of Lugano, where the negotiations were held, contained these main results: 1) Italy will be united with the capital Rome. There will be democratic elections based on the Roman Republic modus operandi with a Consul as chief of government. But Italy will be a monarchy under a king from House Savoy. A king with limited, but still important powers. 2) First chief of government will be Consul Mazzini, with S-P Premier Camillo di Cavour as a member of the triumvirate of Consuls and second in command. 3) France gets 2/3 of the lands promised to her by Turin. All along the Mediterranean coast, only parts in northern Savoy. 4) Germany cedes the former Austrian possessions in Italy to Rome with the exception of the regions with German settlements, no matter if the Germans are the majority or minority. Germany retains German-majority Südtirol, the Trient (Trento) region and the northern parts of the Venetia and Friaul regions. As a gift from Berlin (and to hinder a bone of contention forming), Bismarck cedes the city of and a small corridor leading there to Italy. On the other side, Rome has to renounce all claims on the territory the German Empire keeps. On New Years Day 1858, Italy is officially united.

1861-66: The American Civil War ” In 1861 the problems between the northern and southern US States culminated in the Rebellion of the South. With the Secession of South Carolina, several other States as well and the attack on Fort Sumter, the bloodiest part of US history begins.

1864. German-Danish War After Denmark tried to absorb Schleswig-Holstein fully in disregard of a treaty and dismissing an Ultimatum issued by Germany that Denmark should follow the rules, the crisis became a war on 1 February, when German troops crossed the border. After some success, like taking the psychological important Danevirke without much fight, the German advance began to get even more speed despite the winter weather. Bismarck tried to get the Danes at the negotiation table with very modest peace demands, but Copenhagen refused all.

The sudden British Declaration of War in late March supporting the Danes, who were the Offenders in this crisis, came as a surprise not only for Germany, but the other powers as well. In April British troops were reinforcing the Danish Army. There were thoughts about a major conflict coming with this move by London, but the war was cut short when the German Heer under von Moltke and von Wrangel won an overwhelming victory against the bulk of the combined British-Danish forces on 18. April near Flensburg. The losses were so high on the coalition side that they effectively ceased as fighting forces, soon the words of a “British Waterloo” made rounds. Indeed it was the worst defeat the British had in the 19 th century. In Britain the shock was great, especially after it became known that only a minority of the government had been for “the Danish adventure on the side of the Offender”. A cease-fire was declared and soon a peace treaty was hammered out.

The Battle of Flensburg set a major revision and assessment of many levels of Government and Army in the British Empire in motion. The predominance of Great Britain was not in danger for now, Germany was too focused on Europe, internal matters, weak on the high seas and now solving what to do with Rupert´s Land would keep them occupied even more, but it had been a very hurtful wake-up call. One of the longlasting consequences of the war was the development of a basic framework for military coalition treaties London would now follow. When this framework was first used successful in negotiations with an Indian Principality on 13 June 1864, it was the birthday of the “Concord”, a military, much later even an economic alliance, which is the longest lasting, still existing treaty of it´s kind. (Even if it developed much over time)

Independent of the (partly secret) developments in Britain at that time, Germany took her own lessons from the conflict. The British behaviour in the war had shown Germany several of her weak points too. Like Britain, Berlin began to work on the flaws. One thing now obviously clear was that Germany needed more allies. The Zweibund treaty with Hungary signed on 21 September, a much more encompassing alliance than the 1853 compact, became the nucleus for the Central Powers Alliance, the second enduring alliance on Earth. And like the Concord, the Central Powers are an economic alliance too, even over 3 decades longer than the Concord.

The battle of Flensburg When the British entered the war, Generalfeldmarschall Wrangel and General v. Moltke had 60.000 men to fight the Danish, with further 20.000 men to come as reinforcements. That would have been enough for the 38.000 Danes. But now 150.000 British soldiers, everyone London had on short notice, were arriving. A further 40.000 German soldiers were sent to them, who were fast at the front thanks to the new railways, but there were now still much more enemy troops in Schleswig than German ones. They had followed the Danish army but could not prevent the unification of both enemy armies. Germany was furiously scrambling more units, but it did need time. Because of this near Hamburg a second army was forming, as no one really expected a German victory under these circumstances. In Berlin, Bismarck and the other political leaders tried to find out what made the British help the offenders.

This was the situation. Wrangel wanted originally to retreat, but Moltke convinced him to attack. Moltke, der Große Schweiger, was sure the Danes and British, who were north and northwest of Flensburg would not expect that. Indeed they didn't. The British general John Michel and the Danish general de Meza were both convinced that the Germans would not attack and then would retreat after looking over their more numerous enemies. After that, they intended to follow and push the Germans out. However, de Meza was relieved of his command because he had given up the Danewerk without a fight- although he was ordered to do so.(OTL this happened as well!) He was replaced by general Gerlach, who did not arrive in time for the battle. So the east wing of the British-Danish army was without a supreme commander. This change in command was not known in the British HQ for some time, indeed only when the battle had already started a currier gave Michel the news, so the plan was already for the bin. General Michel had had hoped for a German retreat, since due to the haste with which the British army had to be transported and deployed in Denmark the cohesion was bad. Units had been sent to wrong harbours, more than half of the men in one of his regiments were still in Britain, no time to familiarise with the region were just the highlights of this. Since the Germans did not give him the needed time to get his troops in full trim, Michel had planned to attack the Germans at the flanks from both sides and crush them with superior numbers. So most British soldiers on the western point of the battle area and the British-Danish formation looked a bit like a half-circle. The Danes should attack in the east. But this plan had three flaws. One, with de Meza gone and the vacuum on the high level, the Danes had only a general outline. The second, in the centre the lines were relatively thin. And third there was a gap of one km between the Danish and British units, both sides believing it part of the overall plan. When Moltke saw this line-up, he gave the orders to attack in the east and stay defensive in the west. He had two advantages in addition to the Germans superior command structure. The British and Danish troops used front-loading rifles; not very much improved to the models used a century before. The same went for the artillery. The Germans had 350 cannons, roughly a number like the enemy, but that were new breach loading Krupp guns with greater range and greater rate of fire. And the Germans had also the Dreyse needle gun as rifle. The British were aware of this new rifle, but considered it frail construction and an “ammo guzzler”. This disregard would be mistake. Moltke's plan was to attack the Danes in the east and the centre, while the English would die in the attacks on the German western flank. When the centre was broken, they should try to encircle the enemies in two pockets. 1/3 of the cavalry and one corps under v. Gablentz should attack the Danes. Another corps under the newly promoted v. Alvensleben should attack in the centre, while the two other corps should fight the British flank. The rest of the cavalry should remain hidden in the southwest as reserve. Already at 4 AM the German army went on the battlefield and built some provisorical trenches to fight in. At 8 AM the battle began. Famous conductor Piefke played the Yorckscher Marsch, Hohenfriedberger and Dessauer Marsch through the entire battle and even lost one stick due to a rifle shot. Gablentz in the East made a phoney attack in the very east, while the cavalry rode through the gap and turned. Like at Leuthen and Leuktra, in the western part of the battlefield an oblique order was developed by the German forces. The Danes were caught in surprise and soon enclosed by the cavalry. They had to retreat to the fortress of Düppel, where roughly 10.000 men appeared, most of them wounded. In the “centre”, as it became the British north-eastern flank with the Danish retreat, v. Alvensleben attacked the British lines and managed to break through. The British fled and he followed them as he wrongly assumed the British were on the run on the whole front. How this error developed or if he was under direct orders by Moltke to pursue if given the chance, is not clear. In the west the fighting was the toughest. The British attacked the German positions. Wave after wave attacked. But wave after wave died. The fast firing rifles and the long range artillery let the British die by the thousands. But they were in the majority. Sooner or later they would be bloodied, but victorious. However, at this moment General Michel, fearing encirclement since the southern tip of his forces was already a bit “encased” by the German oblique formation, ordered to attack the forces that had been operating in the back of the British, Alvensleben and his men. When he got the news that there were now British forces in his back, the German commander didn't know how many it were. The British also didn't knew how many Germans were there. Alvensleben rightfully assumed, that there more soldiers than just some stragglers left behind. So he ordered to attack "to lower the disadvantage by numbers with the morale of being the attacker", like he later said. 30.000 Germans fighting 60.000 British, as Alvensleben now fought in the “wrong” direction, to the south, not into Jutland, but helped by their fast-fire rifles once more. When Moltke saw that parts of the British north-easterly units went into the direction Alvensleben broke through earlier, he saw a chance developing. He already knew about the Danes being in a wild flight and had sent orders to von Gablentz to send as many troops as he could spare back to the main forces.

In the meantime Michel gave the orders to crush the Germans completely. He ordered to attack the German south-western flank “spur” with his cavalry to give his southern tip more room before a general storming attack on the German lines. But just when the British attacked, they were counter attacked by the German cavalry waiting in that area since the start, who hit them into the flank. After a short but bloody fight the British cavalry was defeated and retreating. Also some of the infantry regiments there joined the retreat. With the southern tip of the British forces crumbling, that was the signal for Moltke to attack with every soldier he had available. Units moved to the north-east part of the German lines and the returning troops from Gablentz were ordered to attack the British flank there and to make contact with von Alvensleben. His troops smashed on the British, helped by a never-ceasing artillery support, who were now beginning to retreat. But retreating to where? General Michel already got the information his two corps were still fighting the Germans in his back. He wrongly assumed another German army was already operating in his back. Why would the Germans fight in the wrong direction instead of fleeing? Curriers informed him that the north- eastern flank was retreating, caving from a German assault and that the Germans were linking up with the Germans to the rear. When he heard the German cavalry had penetrated his lines from the south and was closing the encirclement, he ordered to attack and to try to escape out of the encirclement. But there were not many troops able to do so. The retreating flanks disrupted the formations, the German pressure from the south-west “up” and from the north- east “in” did the rest. The British were pushed onto themselves. Although indeed the encirclement was penetrable with ease if the British would attack Alvensleben´s force and flee, Michel thought the battle was lost completely, seeing his troops giving way all along the lines. He felt to be decisively encircled and surrendered with his whole army. 30.022 British soldiers had died. 45.048 soldiers were wounded and tens of thousand men captured and prisoners of war. The Red Cross had the first major operation after the Italian Unification War here. The Danes had lost 8.998 men dead and 11.000 men captured. Düppel fell within a few days as there was no hope to hold it. Furthermore the German forces captured 300 cannons. The Germans had lost 16.000 soldiers, most under von Alvensleben. He was again promoted and got the pour le mérite, which is a hint to historians that Alvensleben had at least some general outlines been given by Moltke before the battle. Gablentz, Moltke and Wrangel got the “Blue Max” as well. Wrangel retired after the war and Moltke reformed the German army later even more as his successor. This was the worst defeat of the British Army until the Great War. And the one with the highest casualities in the 19th century.

1864 : On 30. May, a delegation sent to Fort York onboard SMS Möve takes over the reigns of Rupert´s Land from the Hudson Bay Company. With a small military ceremony, the changing of the colours takes place. The Union Jack is lowered and given to the British envoy, then the Black-Red-Gold of the German Empire raised. Over the whole June, first surveys of the situation in Rupprechtsland were made. Groups out of Yorcksburg (renamed Fort York, in honour of the famous General), others coming in via the St. Laurence and overland voyage, meticulously compile the status quo in Canada as far as the groups can travel. When the reports reach Berlin, it is as the government feared: Great, even huge potential if equally large sums are invested, at the moment nearly useless. The question about what to do with this colony divides the parliament.

1866 The Hokkaido Sale : Chancellor Bismarck, who needs the backing of his ministries for his project to curb clerical influence in politics, gives in to the pushing of the foreign ministry to negotiate with Japan over Hokkaido.

1867 : On 11 April, Hokkaido becomes German. During the negotiations, the Chancellor was positively surprised by the Japanese drive for modernisation. This drive gave Bismarck the opportunity to save money. Germany only paid a symbolic sum and the Germans and Japanese would build up Hokkaido together, but the real price Germany would pay was the development help for all of Japan

1867: “The Rodina ascendant” In 1867 the Russian Empire reaches her greatest extent ever. Crimean War and others notwithstanding, Russia grew, but now the maximum is there. The nation is too backwards to go further on her strong spirit alone. Zar Alexander´s reforms aim at reducing that deficit, but it is a stony road.

1869: Breitental (Sapporo) is founded, the first German city founding on Hokkaido. Up to that point, Germany had strengthened existing towns and cities, like Hakodate. Unlike the (unofficial) name the Ainu and Japanese chose, which translates to “Dry River”, the German name is based on the location, a “Broad Valley”.

1869-74: “Der Kulturkampf ” One of Bismarck´s main goals during his time as chancellor of Germany was getting the churches out of politics, especially the catholic church. With the German Empire split roughly 50:50 between Catholics and Protestants, this is a dance on the tightrope even for the Iron Chancellor. At the height of the controversy, two assassination attempts were made against Bismarck and laws like the “Kanzelparagraph” lead to a deteriorating relationship with Italy after Consul Mazzini´s death in 1872 under his devout catholic successors. In 1874, the Kulturkampf comes to an end. The looming big crisis on the Balkans gives Bismarck no choice but to make sure Germany closes ranks fast again. He did not reach all his goals, but the compromise hammered out with the Holy See and other factions, is something both sides can see as a success. The recognized beliefs get the income of a special tax and some additional perks, but have to accept the supremacy of the state in civic life, like e.g. the state is the sole overseer of educational standards, and the churches have to found schools and charities.(the compromise is much like OTL)

1869: „Das Kolonienbesiedlungsgesetz/ Colonies Settlement Act“ Chancellor Bismarck was never a big fan of colonies, but the evershifting tides of fate gave Germany two during his time as leader of the German Government. He may not have wanted Rupprechtsland and Hokkaido, but now they were under his purview and neglecting them was unthinkable for Bismarck. He early saw the potential to shift the emigrant waves from Europe in ways favourable for Germany if the right incentive was given. So after a bit less than two years of development, the “Kolonienbesiedlungsgesetz” passed the Reichstag. It gave settlers moving to the German Colonies some interesting gifts, like some free land, lesser taxes or tax exemptions for years, some free tools among other things. In hindsight, the Kolonienbesiedlungsgesetz, while well-made, had only average impact. It succeeded in shifting the movement waves of the German settlers from the US and other nations to the German colonies, but this was more because of the location than the law. This could be seen when Togoland and South-West Afrika became colonies. The hot climate there kept the number of settlers rather low, despite the advantages given by the Kolonienbesiedlungsgesetz. Still, it pushed the development of especially Rupprechtsland and Hokkaido, to a lesser extent the other German colonies too, forward.

1875+: “The Social Security Program” After the German Unifications in 1851 and 53, the nation’s industrialisation got a breathtaking speed. By 1875, Germany had already overtaken Britain, the Great and Industrial Power number 1 of that time, in several fields and many forecasts were sure that Germany would have the most powerful industry in the world around the turn of the century. But this fast growth came like everywhere else at a cost. The living standards for whole groups of German society were bad. Bismarck, for whom the stability of Germany was of outmost importance, saw the need to show these people the worth of their nation, esp. the Catholics after the Kulturkampf. The chancellor began a series of social laws, revolutionary in their scope. State-found pensions, universal health care, a guarantied number of work holidays and several things more. While it were Bismarck´s successors who expanded the security net to it´s modern extent, it was him who started it all. In a time with rampant capitalism, Bismarck´s reforms and laws made Germany the forerunner in social standards. In addition to stabilize German society, it had the, calculated in, effect of a rising again popularity for Bismarck, which had taken a strong hit during the Kulturkampf.

1877: “Sforza Italia” Italy had recovered quite well under the leadership of Consuls Mazzini and di Cavour. Both had kept cordial relations to France and Germany. But after Mazzini´s death in 1872 (di Cavour had died some years earlier) a new generation of Italian politicians took their places. Unlike the “Forgers of Italia”, who had believed in the idea that friendly relations with the 2 mightiest neighbouring Great Powers were better for Italy, their successors were influenced by the nationalists around Garibaldi. Italy had to become a Great Power herself, no matter the cost, like the Roman Empire had been. And the situation was good. France was busy gathering more colonies, Germany was busy with her colonies, the Hungarians focused on the Balkans and Italy had the chance to use being overlooked First, the new Consuls used the Kulturkampf in Germany as a convenient cover to secretly and unilaterally “scratch” Article 9 of the Treaty of Lugano, were Italy recognised the German possessions. Treaty or not, Italy wanted them. Italy began to send out expeditions to found colonies and soon the “Tricolori” flew over parts of central and the horn of Africa. True, Italy was not in the shape to take on France or Germany in a direct confrontation, but Rome used the wriggle room it had to great effect. Italy took great care not to get into the limelight. The first time Italy´s rise in power began to get noticed was at the Berlin Congress to stop a crisis in the Balkans. Germany had no interests in the Balkans except stability there, so Bismarck had invited the Great Powers to mediation talks in Berlin. Overall, the Congress was a success, the looming war was stopped, but several sharp observers noticed Italy´s conduct and handshaking as what it was: First steps on the highest level of influence. One such observer was the British delegation and they invited the Italians to London for bilateral talks at a later date. Italy´s slow, but consistent rise in power might come in handy for Britain. Newspapers in Italy commented on the Congress with “Sforza Italia” roughly meaning “Italy advances forward”.

1878 : Hokkaido has 400.000 inhabitants, which was a large leap from before the Meji-Time. The first settlement drive with roughly 3 Japanese settlers for every German settler made the jump possible, but after 1872 the number of German settlers began to rise in comparison to the Japanese settlers with the German Kolonienbesiedlungsgesetz” (Colonies Settlement Act) beginning to take on speed.

1879: “The Sale” The Drei-Kaiser-Abkommen about friendly relations between Germany, Hungary and Russia from 1865 had made Russia´s western border rather save. So St. Petersburg could focus the view on other regions. Alaska was one region in trouble. The Bear had only very few settlements there and the influx of settlers and mavericks from the began to shift the political balance there. Knowing only to well what happened to Mexico when Texas became full of US settlers, Russia decided to hold on and began a settlement program. Soon it became apparent, that Alaska was Russia´s Rupert´s Land. Developing it right would be very expensive. Unlike Germany, who concentrated solely on the development of motherland and the 2 colonies, Russia was a major player in the Great Game and had to spread the available money far more. When Gold was found in Alaska, the Tsar had enough. Gold was a valuable resource, but Alaska was a region not really important to Russia. Especially now with US venturers streaming in, Russia had to invest too much in comparison to the gains to keep it. So Russia looked for a buyer. The Germans waved off friendly. They had enough to do with their actual possessions. In the end, the Americans bought it for 19 million $, a large sum back then.

1881-1902: “Rule Britannia” Like in the time after the defeat of Napoleon, for a second time, the British Empire is the obvious leading Great Power on the Globe. France being the main rival for influence, Russia completes the top three. Two other Powers able to challenge the status quo, but not doing it are the United States and Germany. The US is steadily growing, but still recovering from their Civil War (1861-66), which wounded the nation in more than one way. The high number of deaths, the devastations, especially by Sherman´s army in the South, isolationism and the lingering social tensions slow the US down. Germany, whose industrial might surpasses even Great Britain´s in several fields, is too absorbed by a combination of specific internal/external matters to haggle for more international influence. Developing the 2 main colonies (not to forget the handful of showing- the-flag newer colonies), expanding Infrastructure in Germany proper, a revolutionary social security program, rising military spending to keep up with other arming Powers and an ingrained abhorrence for much debt leaves the government not much room for costly foreign policy adventures.

1883/84: “Hello, we are the new owners!” To say that Germany´s first years in Rupprechtsland had been difficult, was an understatement. The “To Do” list was long and got longer with each passing week. Several new laws like the Kolonienbesiedlungsgesetz and huge sums of money helped turn the corner, but every step had been hard fought. In essence, Germany had spent the first two decades to get the already existing settlements and strategic points under control, leaving the rest of the territory to itself. Now, with the basics secured, Germany and her settlers began to spread out from these “Islands of Civilisation” to meet a new problem: The Indianer! (Germany TTL uses “Indianer” for the native Indians as a grouping name exclusively to this day. There is no chance to misinterpret, since Indians from India had always been called “Inder” in German) Not only were there hundreds of tribes, they had their own languages, friends and enemies between each other. And more, some tribes were sitting on parcels Germany needed to develop. One thing was clear for the colonial administration, trouble was straight ahead. The opinions how to proceed were varied, ranging from the hawks to the doves views. In hindsight, it is obvious that luck, so often missed on the Indian side, was with a lot of tribes in that instance. The German stereotype of the native tribes was shaped by fictional Mescalero Apache Chieftain Winnetou from novelist Karl May. May´s positive portrayal of the Indians in his popular books, during a time when negative stories abound across Europe, Canada and the US, did much to offset the negativity in the German-speaking areas. By the time Germany could begin to try to get all of her colony under control, in the German mindset there were two types of Indianer: Those like Winnetou and the “Others”. This dichotomy of thought was unsurprisingly found in the colonial administration as well. And it would serve as the unconscious blueprint for the treatment of the Indians. Tribes halfway close in behaviour to Winnetou and/or possessing skills useful for the Germans, got a descent treatment from the start, while the other tribes were pressured a lot and after 1890 pushed into Reservations. The friendly Nakonabi (OTL most often called Assiniboine), for instance, reminded the German bailiffs much of Winnetou and they knew a lot about the buffaloes, what most Germans did not. So the Kolonialverwaltung tried to find a solution useful to both sides. In cases like the Metis, who had problems with the Newcomers from the beginning, the Germans just set up shop and hard luck to the Indians. “My way or the highway” to quote the proverb.

1884 “The End of an Era” After a whopping 33 years (made possible by Bismarck´s style of politics and circumstances of the time) as chancellor, a record still unbroken, Otto von Bismarck retires to private life. His successor becomes Leo von Caprivi, an ex-General.

1885 “Das große Tauwetter/The Grand Thaw” That Germany and France had been archenemies for a long time was nothing new. When Germany united, France, who had been the aggressor in the last decades, naturally assumed that sooner or later Germany would ring in the next round of hostilities. But it did not come. There was the usual sabre-rattling on both sides, but from Paris´s point of view there was a baffling silence across the border. The deeply ingrained mistrust kept relations cool, until in 1868 the new government of France wanted to divine out what kept the Germans so absorbed. During the 1870s Berlin and Paris took mini- steps toward the easing of tensions. Some vague cooperation began between German Chancellor Bismarck and French Premier Jules Ferry during and after the Berlin Congress. It culminated in the “Kamerun-Togoland-Vertrag”(Cameroon-Togoland-Treaty), which became an early foreign matters success for Chancellor Caprivi, who took over from Bismarck a year before. He and Ferry settled a difficult colonial matter without fuss. Caprivi, like Bismarck not the biggest fan of colonies and fully satisfied with what Germany had, but aware of the need for showing the flag, had a solution to benefit both nations. For accepting the German claim on Togoland(Togo), Berlin would give Paris all her claims on Cameroon. There were other bilateral points in the treaty, but this was the main component. For France it was a no-brainer. Togoland was small and her main resources were wood, cocoa and tropical fruits. Cameroon was a bigger fish and another stone in the French wish for a “colonial band from west to east in Africa”. In addition Togoland would be a buffer between French possessions and the British in the region. Caprivi was pleased too. Togoland was small, so the imperial budget was not taxed much more, she had raw materials Germany could not produce, like cocoa and Germany showed she was present. Giving away Cameroon, while being more worthful, was better in the long run. Germany got some trade matters done in the treaty, the relations with France became better and Germany stayed out of the fierce colonial competition in equatorial Africa. A German newspaper commentator nicknamed the years leading up to this treaty “Das große Tauwetter”, which soon found entrance into the history books. In the early 1890s France turned her focus clearly outside Europe, so the Tauwetter came to an end, but it left the relations between France and Germany markedly improved.

1885 “The Exchange” Not only with France did Chancellor Caprivi exchange claims, but with Britain as well. Germany got, officially now, Donnersbucht and the surrounding territory, which had been strongly under German influence for a territory near Sudbury. In exchange for the town of Lunenburg at the Atlantic coast as a harbour for Germany, Britain got a large stretch of land in Newfoundland and . 1916 “The Alpine Front” Unlike other frontlines, the general fighting zones stayed rather static from the start. The British and Italian forces tried to fight their way into Germany and France, but the mountains of the Alps helped the defenders. With other fronts, like the Galician, South-Bulgarian and Franco-Belgian fronts, more important for now, the French 7 th and 5 th German Armies harnessed their strength by staying defensive, except for diversionary attacks.

1885: “Caprivi´s Trade policy and Made in Germany ” While Leo von Caprivi followed Bismarck´s footsteps in several fields, he was a proponent of a new course in others. Unlike Bismarck, who had operated moderately in economics, Chancellor Caprivi began an aggressive trade policy to export German Goods to the far corners of the world en masse. For the first time since Unification Germany showed her economic muscles openly. In Britain, this was noticed fast and steps to curb the rising popularity of German products in the Empire were made, including the Merchandise Mark Act. London, in the misguided conviction that only Britain could produce high quality industrial products, intended the labels “Made in…” to show inferior products and animate the people to “buy British”. While initially successful and wide-ranging, the protectionist law backfired spectacularly in some cases. The label “Made in Germany”, due to the reliable, high quality goods Germany produced, went on to become famous in short time. German manufacturers began applying the label voluntarily to make themselves more distinct from other producers. Even before the turn of the century, nearly every product leaving Germany carried “Made in Germany” on the boxes.

1890: “The Metis Uprising” The two-sided way the Germans treated the Indian tribes in Rupprechtsland bred trouble. Whereas the Nakonabi were often seen in the villages in southern Rupprechtsland or the Haida selling their fish in the west, the Metis saw their way of life in danger. Making the situation more complicated was the fact, that many Metis had French ancestors. At that time the relations between France and Germany were becoming more cordial, but there was no way a German Administration would allow French as a second official tongue anywhere in German Territory, as the Metis wanted. With time, the fronts hardened. In 1890, Louis Riel and Gabriel Dumont, two Metis leader , proclaimed an independent Metis nation; Other tribes, who had problems with the Germans or tribes loyal to them, flocked to the uprising in numbers. This step by the Metis and what came after had a lasting effect on the relations not only between the uprising tribes and the Germans, but between the native Indian tribes as well. For every tribe with a chip on their shoulder, there were 2 who considered the Germans a major improvement over the British. The following conflict opened a rift between the two Indian sides, which has not closed until present day. Weakening the Rebels position additionally was the fact that the Cree did not participate in the uprising. The Germans up to a point enforced the strict hunting rights of the motherland, which meant that the buffalos never went that close to extinction as OTL. With the Cree not impoverished and with chieftain Big Bear´s death in 1888 the major Cree opposition against the whites was gone. The Germans, who until then had acted very reserved in colonial matters since their position in Rupprechtsland was still improving, took the gloves off. Tall Talks and resentment were one thing, open rebellion another, to be dealt with in European fashion. Supported by Indian Auxiliaries (mainly Scouts) from the Blackfoot, Nakonabi, Ojibwe and some Cree subtribes, the Tiroler Landesschützenregiment 1 and the Bayrische Schneeschuhregiment 3, forerunners of the famous Gebirgsjäger (mountain infantry), were tasked with ending the Metis alliance. Despite some decent results using Guerilla tactics, the Metis and their allies ultimately had no chance against Heer troops. In July 1890 near Saskatun (Saskatoon) the deciding battle was fought and won by the Germans. Their tribe brothers bought Riel and Dumont time to flee, but they were caught in Batoche one and a half week later. The German Colonial Administration took decisive action during the legal trials. Louis Riel and Gabriel Dumont were sentenced to lifelong exile, the Metis and their allies were forced into Reservations, their languages banned. The tribes, who sent Auxiliaries or proved otherwise loyal, received gifts, sometimes in the form of specific rights. This had long-lasting effects as well. For instance, the Haida Tribe to this day plays a major role in the fishing industry on Rupprechtsland´s West Coast, which goes back to a regulation made in 1890. Another effect, already stated above was the shift in loyalities between the tribes. The Blackfoot and the Nakonabi had been long time enemies before the “Whites” came, now they were on the same side and old friendships had died as well, when tribes stayed loyal to the Germans or drifted to the Metis side.

1891 “The marriage of the decade-sort of” On 5 July, the most gossiped about marriage of the late nineteenth century took place. The Crown Prince of Hungary, Rudolf von Habsburg, married the Baroness Maria Vetsera in the Mathias-Church in Budapest. And to make the scandal worse, Princess Stephanie of Belgium, Rudolf´s former fiancée, the engagement broken by him, was there as well and rather satisfied looking. The marriage made huge waves, in and out of Hungary. Rumours popped up and changed with enormous speed. “Out of well-informed circles” came the rumour that something big had to have happened at a holiday of the imperial family at Mayerling two years before. Some even spoke of attempted suicide or murder by foreign agents, but the Habsburg family remained tight-lipped to this day on that matter. Fact was, that after that holiday the young Baroness was seen with the Thronfolger in rising intervals and in early 1891 the marriage preparations were announced and invitations sent out. In recent years, with old archives becoming open to the public, a group of historians and reporters found out, that some of the more outrageous rumours were true! Rudolf and Stephanie planned the breaking of the engagement together to escape a dynastic marriage, both having already met the persons they wanted to marry. Rudolf took the blame on himself, since a breaking by Stephanie would have made her a pariah. It was a big gamble by Rudolf since back in that age, the breaking of an engagement could lead to serious trouble with the subjects, since rules were stricter then. But the two conspirators would be proven right by time that his outgoing personality could repair the damage to his honour. Ruling from 1916- 1940, Rudolf became a King and Emperor well-liked by his subjects. Interestingly, the researchers found not a single sheet of paper on the holiday in Mayerling, which in the meticulous bureaucracy of the Central Powers nations, was a hint in itself that “something” had happened there, but they could not say what it was.

1896 “Spaghetti and Tea” In the Age of the backroom diplomacy, it was difficult to keep an overview of the haggling going on. So most nations did miss the importance of a “simple” state visit of Italian Consul Salandra to London. Ever since the Berlin Congress, London had carefully courted the Italians and fanned their jealousy and irredentist thoughts against France and Germany. And now, in November 1896, the seed had grown with Italy secretly joining the Concord. Some years later, France would be the first victim of this secret alliance during the Cameroon-Crisis.

1897 “Reassurance” In the last years of his Chancellorship, before he had to step down due to health reasons, Leo von Caprivi could be proud of many achievements, but especially of his new trade policy. German trade goods were steadily capturing more share of the world market. Still, this success had it´s downside as well. Russia became especially angered about Germany´s aggressive trade policy and relations got tense. Tense enough that Russia after losing an important customer of it´s wheat to Germany, St. Petersburg did not renew the Three-Emperors-Treaty in 1897. Caprivi and many others in Germany´s government were baffled by this, since no matter how friendly nations were in that age, some competition was the norm, just fewer with friends. Today we knew it was the first effect of the British wooing of St. Petersburg behind the scenes. Caprivi recognised the danger of the development even if he did not know the reasons. It was years before the alliance with France, so Germany faced a two-front war if things went bad. To counter this threat, he did something his antecessor would have done too. In fact, both had talked about the situation during a joined breakfast they did in regular intervals, despite they did not like each other much personally - Realpolitik. The result was the Rückversicherungsvertrag/Reassurance Treaty. It was not what the former treaty with Russia and Hungary was, but the two Central Power nations at least got benevolent neutrality in the case of war from Russia and vice versa. In 1905, the treaty was rendered void by the circumstances surrounding the defeat of Russia in the Russo-Japanese War.

1898: “Fashoda-Crisis” Like OTL, the crisis can be solved peacefully, but TTL with France and Germany sharing “only” their traditional enmity and since the “Tauwetter” improved relations, the tensions between Britain and France remain strong. Indeed, Fashoda deepened the rift between the two nations, with Paris looking for ways to improve her position.

1899-1901: Ein Platz an der Sonne/“A Place in the sun” After Leo von Caprivi´s stepping down due to health reasons, Bernhard von Bülow, a true hawk, becomes Chancellor of Germany. With the race for the last unclaimed spots on Earth still going on, Bülow wanted the Empire to adopt a more aggressive foreign policy. His proposed goals lead to a schism in the Reichstag. While even the calmer voices acknowledged Bülow´s claim that Germany is underestimated on the world stage, (considering she is in the process to dethrone Britain as the industrial leader, maybe already being the leader) due to the pragmatic, reserved, but inspired foreign policy made by Bismarck and Caprivi, Bülow´s “Place in the sun” vision is radical. Even many Nationalists see no need for that, since when looking on the globe, motherland and colonies combined cover around 7 million square-kilometers and jumping into the colonial free-for-all to gain more wilderness would be not worth the potential costs. "A place in the sun" becomes something of a proverb, since the Kaiser made it popular in some of his speeches, but even Wilhelm II., who hopes to bring the Reichstag to expand the Fleet, a pet project of the fan of all things maritime, openly rejects costly adventures in "JWD". "Germany", he said, "is satisfied with what she has. The money is spent more wisely in bettering our lands, than sink it into getting hot wilderness to complement cold wilderness at the pole." In 1901, von Bülow is at the end. For the first time in history, the German Nationalists and the Socialists share the same opinion on a leader: Bülow has to go. The new chancellor will be Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg, a man with a hand for conciliation.

1902: “1. German Naval Law” Around the turn of the century, Germany faced a new problem for her. Germany had always been a land power and her potent armies over the times showed it. But with possessions spread all around the globe, the Empire had to rely increasingly on her small navy. Since Rupprechtsland and Hokkaido became colonies, a modest increase in naval power was enough to control the important sea lanes in peace time, but not much more. A war on sea against a medium power, Germany could win, but against other Great Powers the outlook was dark. Germany had powerful ship designs since her rapid industrialisation, matching or even surpassing those of other Powers, but the total number of ships stayed low for a Great Power. With the tensions all around the globe on the rise and massive armament programs going on, something had to be done. The time Germany spent quasi-self-absorbed came to an end out of necessity. Arming on land had never been a problem, Germany always trying to stay state-of- the-art, but on sea, the experience was limited. Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg, very aware of the vulnerability of the sea lanes and the political consequences of a massive increase of the German Navy, esp. considering Britain, was for a moderate course. Navy Minister Tirpitz on the other hand, championed the enlargement of the Flotte to a first class navy on all counts. Since there was no acute danger for Germany, the chancellor´s proposal was accepted. The German Navy was to be enlarged by a third with the most modern ships available. While improving Germany´s naval power significantly, it was not on a scale which could worry sea power like the Royal Navy, so tensions with the other Great Powers stayed low or non- existent.

1904 “The Rhodesway” In 1904 Britain finished one of the most ambitious projects of that time: A railroad from Alexandria in Egypt to Cape Town in South Africa. As early as the 1880s Cecil Rhodes had lobbied for such a railroad to show the world British prowess and for the development of her Majesty´s colonies in Africa. For that goal Rhodes did nearly everything. He was the driving force behind the “Exchange” of 1885, where Germany and Britain exchanged land and claims. After he became PM of Britain, Rhodes pushed the construction forward so much, that the London Times nicknamed the project “The Rhodesway”. A name that would keep sticking. The new railroad gave Britain a lot of prestige, Rhodes had been right.

1905: “The Russo-Japanese War/Sea Battle of Imabetsu” Despite being neutral in the conflict, selling to both sides and not firing a shot, Germany would play an important part in the war and the consequences. When the War broke out, Germany had sympathies for Japan due to the long contact with Tokyo over Hokkaido, but the situation in Europe and the rather good relations with Russia left no choice but steering a strictly neutral course and trying to duck it out. Much was speculated, why Russian Admiral Roschestwenski shortly before the deciding battle chose to try his breakthrough to Vladivostok using the Tsugaru Street as passage. While he speculated correctly or was lucky in predicting that Admiral Togo was waiting for him in the Korea Street, the bottleneck between Japanese Honshu and German Hokkaido was not less dangerous. Most experts think that critical fuel levels are the reason, why the Russian Task Force did not use the northern and safest solution between Sakhalin and Hokkaido to reach the Japanese Sea. The German Pacific in Hakodate was on station and followed the Russian Fleet inside German waters to guard her neutral borders. After the catastrophic loss at the sea battle near Imabetsu aspersions from circles in Russia blamed Germany for alerting the Japanese Fleet and being secretly in league with Tokyo. This led to a rapid decline in relations and a rapprochement of St. Petersburg to Britain´s Concord alliance.

1905: “The Cameroon Crisis” The decades long quarrel over who owned which part of Central Africa between France, Belgium, Italy and Britain nearly went to a full-blown war. London was able to do deals with Belgium and Italy, so France stood alone and became the loser, her “Grand Cameroun” reduced to the rump claims Paris got from Germany 20 years earlier. This crisis is seen by TTL historians as one of the important steps to the World War, since the events sealed the enmity between London and Paris.

1906: “The and the 2. Naval Law” After the success in Africa, Britain shocked the other Great Powers with the Dreadnought, a milestone of a . Not only was she of unprecedented combat power, only a few nations on Earth had the know-how and infrastructure to attempt a comparable design. Britain seemed to rule the waves more than ever before. Dozens of would be competitors were left behind, unable to really catch up; only a few nations remained as a serious competition. But the ship had a drawback for Britain too. In the now outclassed Pre-Dreadnought , the British Empire had a strong numbers advantage. Dreadnought wiped the slate clean, so to speak. The few nations able to build a comparable ship could begin the race to reach the Royal Navy from a much better point. London knowing this, tried to counter with the “2-Power-Standard”. Britain would build double as many as the closest Navy had. In Germany, fear about the British stranglehold on the High Seas in combination with their alliance-building on land began to spread. For decades, Germany had mostly kept to herself, only wooing a small circle of friendly states. All done to develop and grow strong in peace. Now Britain had, more or less official, with Italy, Russia and the Ottomans three major Powers on her side. The Russians and the Turks might hate each other, but, honour where it´s due, London was good at juggling problematic partners. Normally this would not have raised much alarm; Germany had made few enemies in the last half-century, but after what had happened to France in Africa just months back, doubts about the British position in relation to Rupprechtsland popped up. Despite being a black hole for money, German Canada showed the first fruits of the investments done. The region had massive potential and would with time become an important part of the Empire, but considering the recent political developments, could Britain be eying Rupprechtsland, now that Germany had done the hard foundation- laying? Was London looking to encircle and pressure Germany? The unexplainable breakdown in the relations with Russia after Imabetsu pointed that way. Only prodding behind the scenes could have set Russia the flea into her ears, that Germany had been secretly working against the Bear. For once, France could not be the culprit. Strengthening her worst colonial enemy by driving Russia in Britain´s arms as a concept was ludicrous. No, it could not have been Paris. And from the other Great Powers only the British Empire had the diplomatic clout and skill to bring about such a turn in the Russo-German relations. (What Germany could not know, was that the Russian Navy leadership after the debacle of Imabetsu had needed a scapegoat to prevent being sent to Siberia and fabricated false evidence of German “foul play” before and during the Sea Battle. When in 1908 all came out, Russia could not let knowledge of this affair get out, the Prestige loss would have been terrible. St. Petersburg tried to repair the relations with Germany after that, but due to the events coming, it would be the 1930s before the relations reached a level “before Imabetsu”.)

Berlin wanted and needed to do something to counter a possible horror scenario. Chance had it, that in 1906 the Navy budget for the next 2 years had to be set. In the face of the possible threat, Bethmann-Hollweg and Tirpitz came to an agreement, which was just short of Tirpitz´s maximum goals. Germany´s defence was of paramount importance. As one Government member said: “We might have to take on the largest land nation and the strongest Navy on Earth simultaneously due to Russo-British desires for World Domination; so our forces need every ace we can give them.” Only weeks later the for the first 4 German Dreadnoughts were laid down.

1906: “Women suffrage in Germany ” When the first female police officers with full legal enforcement powers (there had been female officers since the later 19 th century, but never with full powers) were sworn in early 1903, Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg surprised the nation with the announcement that His Majesty’s Government had decided that from the next national voting in 1906, women would have full active and passive voting rights as well. There had been pressure for women suffrage for quite some time, but the deciding factor was not a political viewpoint and there were enough reactionaries to push back that law for years, it was a problem Germany was facing that even the hardliner of the conservatives accepted women voting rights.

With Germany´s rapidly growing industry, the beginning armament race, huge infrastructure projects in Germany and especially the colonies as the most important points among others, there was the simple fact that Germany was running out of her male work force, already working in the various capacities. There were only two solutions; one was taking foreign workers. All political parties were loath to do that. There were questions about the quality of the “mercenaries”, the protection of German inventions from theft and after the Metis Uprising a bit over a decade earlier, no one wanted more foreigners “from dubious locations” as one MP told it, in Germany. So the other solution, opening the various work fields fully for the German women, won “by default”. With that decision made in 1903, women suffrage was done too, since when the women did the same work as the men, they had to get the same votes as well.

1906: “East meets West” After Russia more or less openly made an alliance with Great Britain and her allies, Japan´s situation, despite being victorious against Russia months before, became fragile. Japan alone stood no chance against the Concord, should it come to that. So Tokyo decided to join the Central Powers.

1906 “German citizenship law-‘In two easy steps’” One of the goals of the 1848 revolutionaries had been the creation of a full national citizenship. It was one of the great ironies that for the first 50 years of the second Germany’s existence the state citizenships remained in force with Germany tacked on. In theory, citizenship law was easy, but the devil is in the details. The questions the commission tasked with developing the law were many. Should it be given via blood relations, no matter the place of birth? Or should the birthplace be the deciding factor? If the former, which lineages should count? What to do with the colonies? And so on. A combination of factors like bureaucratic red tape in the federal states, balancing the various viewpoints, new developments in law theory delayed the early until 1906. Unlike the US for instance, the commission had decided to use the “ius sanguinis”, blood relation would govern who was eligible for citizenship. There were additional clauses for immigrants or special cases which would undoubtedly arise, but for the law commission the main work was just beginning. In 1906 there were several hundred tribes living in Germany and her colonies. And the commission was about to investigate each one according to a catalogue of topics if that tribe would be counted among those who would be eligible for citizenship. A work of years, due to events in between, it would be 1923 before the Reichsbürgergesetz would be made. The acquisitions of the World War, with the war delaying work further, brought the number of tribes to well over 1200.

1907: “The Enemy of my Enemy…” Not only in Berlin was convened about the ever-faster shifting storm of diplomatic deals, backstabbing and crisis. In Africa and South East Asia the next conflict with Britain and her allies was coming nearer and nearer and France had no powerful allies of her own. In his memoirs French Prime Minister Maurice Rouvier wrote: “The, admittedly farfetched, idea of an alliance with our hereditary enemy came to me after I read about the Frankish Empire one evening to relax after a long debate of foreign affairs. At one time in history, both nations were together and even when the Frankish Empire began to fall, East and West Frankia, our forerunners, worked together for a time. “Only” the status of Lotharingia made us true enemies later. If it functioned once, there was the chance it would do so again. What was there to loose? The Limeys had encircled us and were poised to grab anything we had. La France could not stand by and wait for it to happen. The next week was spent arranging things and then I was off to Berlin, for a first meeting with Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg.” Maurice Rouvier died before the alliance he and Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg concluded had her first true test in 1916, but he saw it work during both the Saigon and the Jeju-do crisis.

1908: “The Saigon Crisis” It was not a full year after France became a member of the Central Powers, when the first “test” came around. Several British ships to and from had been attacked by pirates, so the Royal Navy detached some escorts. On 2 September, in the dusk the Escort “Suffolk” sighted suspicious boats and open fire immediately. It turned out they were patrol boats from the French forces in Saigon. Once again the diplomacy saved the world mere centimetres away from war, but in the background joint preparations between Germany and France went reasonable well. Which was very important for both Paris and Berlin.

1910/14 “The Janesch-Crisis” When in 1906 Bernhard Sattler found some fossils near Lindi, he had surely no notion what would come out of his luck. Sattler was lucky again when the local British Governor did not really believe in Darwin and the evolution. He was rather amused that the “Jerry” was willing to spend a load of money for the right to buy “stones”. The Governor sold the Tendaguru Hill to Sattler. At first, nobody in London took notice. This changed when the first newspaper reports about the unusual rich fossil reservoir made rounds. In 1909, Werner Janesch and his expedition had begun to search Tendaguru in earnest and were amazed. Tendaguru was a dream come true for archaeologists. The British media spewed nationalistic vitriol and pushed the research into a political crisis with that. In 1910 Britain accused Germany of being backhanded, allegedly having bribed the Governor and other untrue things. It got so bad that Berlin, despite being still saying that it is not a German problem if British officials were inept, to stop the crisis from getting really hot, came up with a compromise. Germany would give back Tendaguru in late 1913, until then Germany would search her property. When in 1914 British researchers went to Tendaguru, they found out that Germany had been thoroughly. Only some small fossil rests could be found, Germany´s official expeditions had excavated everything else. The outcry of the British media was enormous, but Downing Street had to admit that Germany had done nothing wrong. Still, the British felt slighted.

1916: “Franz Josef I. of Hungary assassinated” On 8 March the world was stunned by the assassination of the venerable Emperor of Hungary. During a visit of Mostar, Serbian Terrorists attacked the imperial car convoy. 11 persons, including the 2 assassins, perished that day. Franz Josef, hit by two bullets, died 20 minutes after the attack, his alleged last words were: “Sissi, you´re here? How…I understand, it´s time to go, isn’t it?” His death was the last building block on the road into the “Great Conflagration” as the World War is sometimes called TTL.

1916 – 1921: “The World War” Backed by Russia, rebuffed any try by Hungary to investigate Serbian government involvement in the assassination of the Hungarian Emperor. When the Hungarian Ultimatum ran out on 8 April, the Hungarian declaration of war and the following DoW from Russia against Hungary, pulled all major Powers of Europe in the conflict and due to the alliances treaties several non-European Powers as well. An unprecedented bloodbath, that war was fought to absolute exhaustion.

1916 “Surprise, surprise!” The opening days of what would become the World War were an ice-cold surprise for the Central Powers. The CP had a plan for the war, but when the fighting began, it was clear that the Concord never intended to solve the Serbian Crisis peacefully. During the month between the assassination of Franz Josef and the Declarations of War, the Central Powers had, like the Concord, mobilised and began to move into position, but unlike the other alliance, Berlin and Paris thought that Serbia would ultimately fold and accept the Hungarian demands. With the Russians battering the Hungaro-German lines in the East, attacks from the south and west against Bulgaria, Italian troops hitting the German and French lines in the Alps, Serbian troops raiding southern Hungary, messages from the colonies about Concord units invading, it was obvious that the Concord had used the assassination to force a war. There was no way the preparations of the Concord were so advanced without them wanting to fight. But the biggest surprise was the British. Their opening moves showed that they had learned a lesson from the trashing they got at Flensburg decades earlier. Helped by being an island, Britain in all secrecy expanded the army to an unprecedented level. In the aftermath of the defeat in the Danish-German War the British Empire built up a mass army. Their training and leadership was not on the same level as the French or German ones, but the rift had been made smaller by London. British units and advisors helped in the East and the Ottomans, lent more push to the Italian attacks, led the fight in the colonies and shocked both Berlin and Paris with a Belgian-British offensive against the channel ports and the raids on Aachen and Luxemburg-Stadt.

1916 “Fortress Belgium” Another nasty surprise, one that let heads roll in both the German and French Secret Services, was the preparedness of Belgium. When Belgium joined the Concord in 1905, it was clear that under normal circumstances, it had no chance to stand long against either the French or the Germans. So, with British help and funds, Belgium was turned into a veritable Fortress, from which the British and Belgian troops could strike. Conquering Belgium would be a long and bloody affair.

1916 “The Coastal Campaign ” To bind French and German troops, stretching CP lines, British and Belgian units, already waiting for the moment the DoWs became active, went on the offensive, broke through the still building French lines and seized quite a bit of the channel coast. Units waiting in Kent, soon landed to strengthen the positions there.

1916 “Sea Blockades” The early stages of the World War found the CP caught on the wrong foot. The Concord had prepared for the strike, only waiting for the Declarations of War, whereas the Central Powers, who had believed in another last minute crisis solving, were not fully prepared, with many units still on the way to their appointed positions. This was true for the navies as well, even if not as much. The German East Asia Squadron was at full war strength, led by 4 “Derfflinger” and “Seydlitz”-Class BCs. The French Squadron in Saigon, led by 2 “Normandie”, as well. The German ´s 1. Aufklärungsgeschwader (1. Scouting Squadron) had slipped through to Brest, before the Royal Navy bottled up the North Sea. Rear-Admiral Hipper intended to use his 7 BCs in conjunction with the French fleet to harass the Limeys Atlantic traffic to the utmost. Despite the number disparity in Dreadnoughts between the two alliances was not that high, in , which were perfect for blockades and trade interdictions, the Concord had a large advantage. And Britain had sprung a trap for the CP ships bound to North America. Knowing that a large battle in the was rather unlikely, considering the Germans Baltic Fleet had only Pre-Dreadnought BBs, London convinced St. Petersburg to secretly send 4 of her five dreadnoughts in the Baltic to Halifax, three weeks before the war began. Together with a mixed British /Battleship squadron, the Concord would be able to cut off Germany from Canada (at least from the Atlantic routes), France from St. Miquelon and stop most of the CP trade with the United States. If they wanted to counter that force, the CP would have to commit significant Dreadnought forces at long range, weakening even more important theatres, making this unlikely.

1916 “Banzai no Vorwärts!” The Concord plans for the North America, Europe and Africa theatres were well-made and succeeded in catching the Central Powers on the wrong foot. The British-Russian idea to act like there would be a political solution to the Serbian Crisis, obfuscating the Concord attack preparations, paid rich dividends. In most areas the Central Powers were forced on the defensive. In one theatre, which was deemed relatively unimportant since the war should be over before Christmas, the Concord preparations were not as well as elsewhere: The Pacific. Deemed too far away from the main battles and even the larger Concord manpower pool (compared with the Central Powers) having limits, only a basic plan had been developed. Worsening the situation was the fact that with the focus of London and St. Petersburg somewhere else, it slipped through the cracks how strong the Central Powers were in the area. It was unknown in London that both land and sea forces, be it French, German or Japanese were at full strength.

Not even a month into the war, it was now the time for the Concord being surprised. Weiheiwei overrun, Sakhalin only days from falling, Hong Kong burning and Singapur besieged. Japanese forces flooding into Manchuria and the Russian , Concord sea traffic interdicted in large areas. Admirals Hayao and von Spee on a rampage, Victoria and bombarded from sea.

1916 “Strassers Flug (The Strasser Flight)” In May 1916, when it was definitely clear that the Concord had cut the sea routes to Rupprechtsland, the hour of Peter Strasser came. Strasser, then a Fregattenkapitän (Commander) and CO of the Navy Airships, had done much for the development of Zeppelin technology. His enthusiasm was fanned even more when in 1913 he read about the usefulness of Zeppelin LZ 7 which Graf Zeppelin, the inventor of this type of Airship, in 1910 donated as a cargolifter for the (still ongoing) construction of the railway to Yorcksburg on Hudson Bay in Rupprechtsland. Strasser had a vision of a Zeppelin large enough to transport a sizeable cargo or bomb load across the Atlantic or to Japan. The problems were legion, but after brainstorming with engineer Hugo Eckener, he felt confident enough to propose a stronger research for the to Admiral Pohl. The Admiral enabled him to explain his proposal again to the General´s Staff. The Staff considered Strasser´s plans rather dubious, but definitely interesting. While farfetched, considering the newness of the technology, it might be possible to circumvent the Concord´s might on the High Seas. Zeppelin and competing company Schütte-Lanz were tasked with the development of a true long-range Airship. In late 1915 LZ 46(GR), GR standing for “Große Reichweite”(long range), was delivered in great secrecy to the Airship base in Nordholz. Especially some new inventions by Schütte- Lanz made this Zeppelin a big jump forward. Strasser was amazed with the new ship. It had some typical birthing problems, but he felt that Heer and Marine now had a real plus in the air. To show his conviction and silence the “doubting Toms” he proposed a supply run to Canada, commanded by himself. There were doubts, but on 9 May 1916 LZ 46 left her base for Rupprechtsland. Like all “First of” things the flight was a battle against nature and mechanics. After 54 hours flight time, LZ 46 had reached French St. Pierre. Strasser, who was sure by now, that if he wanted to reach Garrysburg (Winnipeg) non-stop, he could, decided to deviate from the plan for a bit of morale raising. He wrote his reasoning and the accumulated flight data in the log, then gave the order to land on Saint Pierre. The citizens of the small French territory in the Atlantic were overawed by the big Zeppelin. Strasser gave them a part of the supplies he transported, taking post and more importantly, observations on Concord shipping and military vessels, with him. After a hearty meal, some small talk via translator and a ship check, LZ 46 began the last leg to Garrysburg, leaving St. Pierre and the feast the people were having due to the unsuspected Zeppelin arrival, behind. 38 hours later, the church bells in Garrysburg began to sound, when LZ 46 touched down safely. Another big Hello conducted. After a full day of rest for the crew, Strasser talked with Oberst (Colonel) Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, the commander of the German Forces in Rupprechtsland. At the moment, the British did not operate against German Canada on a high level, but that would change over time. Lettow-Vorbeck had beaten back the first forays, but a regular traffic with the motherland for supplies and troops would be very important in the long run. And the propaganda machine of the Concord was beginning to run. Riel and Dumont, the exiled Metis leaders, were in British Canada, pushing for the conquest of German Canada. A thoughtful Peter Strasser boarded LZ 46. Despite some problem with the weather, the Zeppelin, helped by the winds, needed only 70 hours to reach Europe near Brest. Now in friendly territory again, Strasser contacted Berlin via radio. His stunning voyage would become a major morale push for the Central Powers. He was ordered to land in Paris, a German delegation was already on the way with a priority train. The post from Saint Pierre he had on board and the voyage itself, were important for the moral of the Central Powers after the losses of the first weeks. It seemed the whole of Paris was on the streets, when Strasser and his crew were driven to the Elysee Palace. There was a big celebration in Paris and one day later in Berlin, but the most important result of the flight was for the militaries of the Central Powers. Strassers successful trans-Atlantic flight opened the eyes of the “brass” for the possibilities of air travel and combat. The Central Powers began to force the research and development of “Aeroplanes” and Zeppelins, giving them an early lead over the Concord. But the reaction was not long in coming.

1916 “Raid on Nordholz” It did not take long for news about LZ 46´s trans-Atlantic flight to reach the Concord nations. It was clear that Britain and her allies had to counter this new threat. Well, it was simply impossible to build a comparable design out of thin air, but there were other means to deny Germany her advantage until the Concord had such airships as well. Strasser´s home base in Nordholz was not far from the coast and it might reap rich dividends to risk running the German minefields. It took more than a week to find a hole in the cordon. It was a high-risk operation, but from what the british scouts gathered, the German High Seas Fleet was aware of the gap, but had not had time to close it up. Still, it was only a matter of days, 1, 2 weeks at most until the German would close the gap. So the Admiralty in London decided to risk the 1. Battlecruiser Squadron under Sturdee for a raid on the Airship base. And they were rewarded. The raid succeeded. The BCs bombarded the base and destroyed it. Even more, the British task force escaped with acceptable losses, considering the important Airship base was destroyed. With all German in France or Hokkaido, the alarmed HSF could only catch and sink the Indefatigable, before the faster British force left the range of the German Battleships. The Concord could celebrate a victory until it became known that the Germans were hurt, with the base 3 Zeppelins had been lost, but the main target, LZ 46 and her crew, had been on a scouting mission over the Baltic when Nordholz was attacked.

1916 Raid on Nordholz 27. May 1916 The evening before Sturdee let his ships slip out of the harbour. He had control of the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron consisting of HMS Indefatigable, HMS Lion, HMS Queen Mary and HMS New Zealand. The light HMS Birmingham, HMS Lowesoft, HMS Arethusa and HMS Aurora were escorting the four battlecruiser for their raid as well as 24 . As well all 65 old 30 knotter type destroyer, now hopelessly outdated, were used to break a barrage into the German minefields. These boats were expendable and had only an emergency crew. It was estimated that half of the boats were lost at the end of the day. Sturdee knew timinig was everything. After recognition he had only 54 minutes until the HSF would close the gap, trap his ships and sink him! Only if EVERYTHING went good he had a chance. But the destruction of LZ 46 was worth it. The ships approached at night. And the German coastal defense did not know anything. Indeed the British ships slipped through all defense perimeters. They arrived at 3.30 AM in the area, where, according to secret service informations, the last gap was within the minefields. But with gap you couldn't say there were no mines. Only fewer. Sturdee had hoped to enter a German patrol boat for getting a paper for the save channels within the fields, but then the danger was too big it could make a distress call. And then everything would be lost. So he had to sacrifice old . Indeed 15 were lost when they had passed the minefields, but the rescue of the crews went through without a hitch. The next problem was only a few miles next to them. In the very range was a mighty rock with a number of 30,5 cm coastal guns: Heligoland. He had now to be fast and hoped not to be seen. And again luck was with the British Admiral. He passed Heligoland without complications. After leaving the ranges of the batteries of Heligoland he came into the range of the batteries of Wangerooge and Wilhelmshaven was only some dozen seamiles away. Now he had to act fast, still precise. As it just seemed he would stay undetected, especially as it was slightly foggy, the radio station of HMS Lion reported getting hectic radio traffic within the German frequencies. A moment later he got to know why. A destroyer remarked a small civilian fishing trawler. The "Seute Deern" was on her way back to Cuxhaven with a load of fish, when she saw some big black shadows on her way. She came out of the dark in the west and could see the silhouettes of the British ships against the lightening eastern sky. Due to the light fog she came nearer without being undetected as her course crossed the British fleet. The Käpt'n of her, Hans Petersen, was a man of 65 years. For over 50 years he drove to the sea. And he saw something was wrong. The ships, clearly military vessels, were not heading towards the Jade. And the silhouettes were also strange. Suspiciously he neared the British. When he saw the British silhuettes more clearly the experienced recognised them as enemies, he sent out a distress signal via radio(Petersen´s trawler doubled as a sea rescue ship in peace time) and reported British warships within German territorial waters! Although the German Naval command did not want to believe it, they alarmed the fleet. The Weser and Elbe defense squadrons consisting of the predreadnoughts SMS Preußen and SMS Schleswig-Holstein (Weser) and SMS Pommern and SMS Hessen took course with some older torpedoboats. In the Jade SMS Ostfriesland and SMS Thüringen of the rapid action force made ready to intercept the British ships. As SMS Helgoland was in dock and SMS Oldenburg had engine troubles, SMS Friedrich der Große joined the two ships. As well as the SMS Baden, the HSF flagship, joined the other Battleships. Admiral Ingenohl cursed his bad luck. With Admirals Hipper and von Spee in France and Hokkaido, all German Battlecruisers were away. Against the British speed was essential. Ingenohl had to hope that he could catch the "Tommies" with his slower BBs before they slipped away. Sturdee thought he was detected but did not want now making the error of being detected at once, if he fired at this old trawler. He ordered to ignore it and to proceed to Nordholz. But based upon the direction of the ships the German Naval command already anticipated the target of the British ships. So the crews based in Nordholz were warned and were ordered to retreat into bunker or out of the range of the base. Within 10 minutes most people had left the base. Only 10 soldiers remained there as guards. All except one died in the following bombardment. Sturdee knew he had little time- very little. He proceeded into an attack position, when suddenly splashes of heavy guns rained upon him. SMS Preußen and SMS Schleswig- Holstein fired upon him. He ordered his ships to ignore them for the moment and concentrate on Nordholz. He ordered the older 30 knotters to engage the enemy ships. However, they were not fully operational and were so clearly inferior to the German torpedo boats, although they were many more. However, a few moments later HMS Queen Mary was hit on her port side amidships. And the German predreadnoughts were on starboard. "Damn" he said, when he saw the Elbe defense squadron of SMS Hessen and SMS Pommern. The latter had hit HMS Queen Mary with her first salvo! Sturdee ordered the 30 knotters also to attack them. Everything should now be done try to detract the Germans from him. And these old boats were expandable. However, for a moment the old boat commanders were not knowing, whom exactly to attack. So some stopped the attack on the Weser squadron, some resumed it and some stopped. So the advantage of the numerical was gone. The old torpedo boats of the S 90 class were now able to push the attackers away and sink 6 of them for the loss of two own. In the meantime Sturdee was in range. He knew he had less and less time. And this time his flagship was hit twice by SMS Schleswig Holstein. One into the , the other hit into the crew quarters, where 48 of the crew died. He could finally give the orders to fire, Nordholz was near. The first salvos of the ships had no effect, but the seventh lead to a tremendous explosion. Three older Zeppelins and the H² gas magazine exploded. The whole base was destroyed. Nevertheless Sturdee gave the order to fire some more salvos to be sure. Now, 41 minutes after detection, he gave the order to retreat. The 30 knotters, who had sunk 4 more German torpedo boats but also lost 8, were ordered to take the lead. However, he was now encircled by the predreadnoughts. He did not fire on them yet, but they had hit the HMS Queen Mary four times, HMS Lion five and HMS Indefatigable once. Only HMS New Zealand was not yet hit. "I bet, my fellow collegue will say it is because he wears the piupiu, a Maori skirt a chieftain he once donated to the ship. He will be lucky and not hit if wearing this skirt. Yes, yes, yes." Sturdee thought after taking one last look at the cloud rising over Nordholz. "But now out of this hell." Now his ships were free to hammer on the predreadnoughts. All were hit and severely damaged. But they stayed in line and hoped to buy time for the HSF. Sturdee however, gave the order to break through with full speed and not see behind. He thought he was lucky again, but then HMS Indefatigable was hit into a boiler room, reducing her speed to just 20 kn. Additionally he saw 4 battleships coming out of the Jade bay. He had just passed Schahörn Island. The predreadnoughts were still shooting at him. SMS Pommern was taking water and had a list but she still stayed. SMS Hessen was also damaged heavily as well as SMS Preußen. Only SMS Schleswig-Holstein was hit just twice and fully functional. Sturdee had to get rid about them as fast as he could and ordered his destroyer to attack them. At this moment turret Q on HMS Lion was hit, but the 28 cm shell was a dud. Nevertheless the turret was disabled. As it did not explode Sturdee did not get to know about the flaws in the construction and of the shells. As well his crews failed to hit the German ships more. Another flaw, which was not detected and would finally lead to a catastrophe. But not that day. The British destroyer tried to attack the predreadnoughts, which were now united in one single line. Two older torpedo boats were sunk at once, when they met the newest of German destoyers, the vanguard of the fast response squadron, not high sea torpedo boats. They were built in 1914 and 1915 when the German command was persuaded to test the destroyer-type as a weapon, because of French and Japanese proposals and insistance. They and the concentrated fire of all German ships, also the predreadnoughts stopped firing on the battlecruiser to fight the destroyer, lead to the destruction of half of them. They could sink 4 further torpedo boats and damaging 4 destroyer, but had to retreat. Nevertheless Sturdee was getting out of range of the light forces. HMS Indefatigable was still limping behind. Perhaps... No. The four German battleships were now in range, coming in at flank speed. The first salvo were only near misses, but with the second SMS Ostfriesland hit HMS Queen Mary's bridge. None of them survived there. Also SMS Baden hit another boiler room of HMS Indefatigable. The Heligoland battery also opened fire but with only one hit on HMS Queen Mary, which destroyed a 6" , it was in vain. Sturdee had no other choice than ordering HMS Indefatigable to attack the enemy. He knew she was lost, but she would buy time for him. He had now some distance and got soon out of range of the German guns. The fate of HMS Indefatigable was being hit by no less than 20 torpedoes fired by the German destroyers and torpedo boats. She rolled to the side and sank. 560 of her crew survived and were "guests of the Kaiser".

In the meantime more 30 knotter were sacrifised to cross the mine barrages again, but with the task force on the way they came in, only stray mines were problematic. When Sturdee thought he was out of danger, HMS Aurora struck a mine and was sinking. HMS Aurethusa and 2 destroyer remained at her to take the crew. Sturdee rightly assumed that Ingenohl and the HSF would not try to catch him, as he was too fast and it might be a trap. Well, there were no British battleships waiting outside the minefields, but he was very fast. The concept of the British battlecuiser system was now proven by him and his forces and was the future of modern naval warfare. Not these slow battleships. For the battlecruisers this fight was over. On the Aurora the situation was critical, her fellow ships had to go or they might be caught by the Germans. So the captain of the Aurora told them to flee. The British ships gave a distress signal and then retreated. In the meantime the "Seute Deern" had arrived at Heligoland to wait for the British retreat. But now hearing the distress signal, Petersen set course towards the sinking position of the British cruiser. However, his trawler, a DGRS (Deutsche Gesellschaft zur Rettung Schiffbrüchiger) rescue cruiser and some other smaller vessels could only rescue 61 men out of the cold water. In the aftermath the British had lost HMS Indefatigable, HMS Aurora, 10 destroyer and 39 of the 64 30 knotters. Of the thousands of men only 484 were rescued by the British. A further 787 were rescued by the Germans and would not see England again until the end of the war. The rest was dead. There were also 456 dead and 284 injured on his other ships. HMS Queen Mary needed a few months in yard and HMS Lion, too, although not as bad. Only HMS New Zealand was ready for action. The Germans had lost the Nordhorn base and three air ships. LZ 46 however was on patrol. 10 torpedo boats were sunk, 252 Germans had died. Four destroyer were damaged slightly. The battleships were not hit. However, the predreadnoughts were all damaged intensively. Konteradmiral Scheer, who was commanding them, had luck to bring them all home. He was promoted to Vice Admiral later for his actions. And given the task to build up a new plan. Furthermore HMS Indefatigable lay at a position where she could be investigated in Ebb Tide. So she was investigated. And a German constructor found an achilles heel, the armour configuration. He gave the news to the SKL. Now all German naval forces had to be informed. But how to do so with Spee? Here LZ 46 would make her first famous voyage to Japan. But that's another story. Ingenohl's request for resigning was rejected. It was seen mostly as a bad luck day for him and the HSF and since both parties demanded the victory, you couldn't fire a victor. Nevertheless he was more and more out of the decisive decisions, and half a year later his second request was accepted. Scheer replaced him. Scheer had to regroup and redo much in the coastal defense. Some of his officers remembered an invention by a certain man named Hülsmeyer and his Telemobiloskop (aka RADAR). A team was set up to develop this new Funkmeßapparat.

1916 “The real birth of the and Armee de l´Air ” Had there been still detractors of airships and airplanes in the Central Powers, they were silenced by Strassers Flug and the Raid on Nordholz. If the Concord considered the new Zeppelins a threat, something had been done right. The loss of Nordholz Base hurt bad, but could have been worse. The Zeppelins lost had been older, smaller designs and most of the crews had survived the bombardment. A lesson had been learned and paid for. All future Fliegerhorste (Air Bases) would be further inland, even those of the Navy. The new Zeppelins would be based on LZ 46´s plans and further refinement was already ordered. Development of airplanes was also accelerated since Strassers Flug, as impressive as it had been, had not been a walk in the park and promoted “Führer der Luftschiffe”(Commander of all Airships) Strasser had reported openly what Zeppelins could and could not do. The larger Central Powers nations (as well as the larger Concord nations) had established air services years before, but those were subgroups of Army and Navy. But in autumn 1916 that ended in the Central Powers. The rest of spring and all of summer the CP had build up the air services to such a degree, that they became independent arms of the national forces. New airfields and bases had been established, work on the Zeppelins ran round the clock, new Spad and Albatros fighters had been sent to the units, while manufacturers like Junkers, Fokker, Nieuport, Mitsubishi were developing new designs of their own. By the time of the last autumn offensives, France and Germany fielded the largest air services, now called the Luftwaffe and the Armee de l´ Air. And it showed. The scouting, transporting, attacking enemy planes and positions done by the air forces helped the armies significantly. At the Western Front, French Roland Garros and German Max Immelmann, followed Strasser and his crew as new Heroes in the Sky. “Die Adler von Lille” (The Eagles of Lille) became the idols of many pilots. Far away in the Pacific, dogfights were seldom, but Mitsubishi´s first fighter plane, the Zero, went on to become a symbol of CP air power in the region.

1916 “The Royal Air Force ” The Concord did not sit still either. They too had recognised the usefulness of airplanes and airships. And with the Central Powers rising use of this new weapons, London and St. Petersburg were poised to counter them. But unlike the CP, research into airships was never on the same level. Despite being well industrialised, esp. Britain who once spearheaded the Industrialisation, the Concord nations lacked the capacities for production and storage of the needed gases on the scale competitive Concord airship fleets against the CP Zeppelin fleets demanded. Still, the Concord had developed an ace of their own, the Rolls-Royce “Planter”, the world´s first strategic bomber, even if at that time no such designation existed. It was needed since the bases of the CP air forces were built further inland after Nordholz. In Russia the plane of a young engineer named Mikojan showed some promise, but until it could be produced, the British Avro and Sopwith planes were used at the Russian front too.

1916 “Never a second Flensburg/ Battle of Rößel ” The Eastern Front had been a depressant for the CP after the Concord attack. Prepared Russo-British forces had stabbed deep into German and Hungarian Territory. The outnumbered CP troops had fallen back, giving space. The Concord attack was forced by the British Expedition Army; they wanted revenge for the failure at Flensburg in 1864. Their motto: Never a second Flensburg. Deeper and deeper the Concord went into Galicia, Posen and . Against the onslaught stood the still outnumbered 4. and 6. Armies under Generals Hindenburg, Hoffmann and Crown Prince Rupprecht von Bayern. Still outnumbered, since German and French reinforcements went to Galicia first. The Hungarians fought well and fierce, but they were attacked from 3 sides (East, south and west). It seemed that beside the East Prussia thrust, the Concord wanted to knock out Hungary to divide the CP lands. In August, the Concord began a new thrust in East Prussia. It was an ambitious plan: Advancing through the southern part, then driving north to the coast, bagging East Prussia and everything still in it. When the Concord armies reached the Masurian lakes, the Germans decided to make a stand, despite being outnumbered nearly 3:1. But the superior area knowledge in the confusing landscape, additional artillery and a large superiority in Zeppelins and airplanes, convinced the Generals to try this risky gamble. The battle raged for nearly a week, due to the landscape divided into several theatres. It saw the emergence of the first Eastern Front ace, a young Leutnant named Loewenhardt. The battle was irrevocably decided on the evening of the sixth day, when the vanguards of the 6. Army under the Crown Prince reached Deutsch-Eylau and the fortified positions in Johannisburg, denying the British-Russian Forces any escape in the South, sealing off the border region between the two towns. Several officers, like Hoffmann, von Francois or von Mackensen and the Bavarian Crown Prince showed exemplary leadership, encircling 3 Armies. The battle saw new ideas, with LZ 46, the most famous of the 6 Zeppelins available for the battle, delivering 2 times some troop contingents to important locations in advance. And the battle showed the worth of scouting anew. The German Generals were always kept up to date by airplane and Zeppelin reconnaissance, a deciding factor in the difficult to observe terrain, whereas the Concord forces ran nearly blind into their doom, their planes kept away by errors in judgement and opposing CP fighters. The German forces were able to concentrate locally, in essence fighting a succession of smaller battles, always on the move, until they had the Concord troops surrounded. In their eagerness to conquer East Prussia fully fast, encircle the German forts at Lötzen and Johannisburg, cutting off the whole province, the Concord made the mistake to move over confident through country which gave the defenders some advantages, enabling them to force a fight when opportune. The battle was soon compared to both Teutoburg Forrest and Cannae. Teutoburg Forrest because the Germans like their ancestors before, used the location, their own strengths and the flaws of the enemy against him in similar fashion, with the exception that this time the Germans had the better tech. And with Cannae, because like Hannibal more than 2000 years before, the Germans encircled the larger army with their fewer forces. As fitting for a confusing battle spread over such a wide area, another parallel to Teutoburg, the battle was named a bit misleading. While heavy fighting was in areas like Hohenstein or Willenberg to name some, the battle was named: Schlacht von Rößel (Battle of Rößel). Probably because the last desperate attempt of the Concord forces to break out of the cauldron was mowed down near Rößel by German machineguns and artillery. Shortly thereafter, the battle was over, the Concord surrendering. The defeat was very serious, because in the German sector of the Eastern Front, the CP now were in the better position, forcing the Concord to withdraw from their lines in Posen as well or risk encirclement there. In Posen and East Prussia the momentum had changed, favouring the CP now. One sidenote of the Battle of Rößel was the first meeting of two young officers who would years later become famous Generals themselves: John F. Fuller and Erich von Manstein. When after the Concord´s surrender the curious Manstein asked about the background of the BEA´s motto, considering the Flensburg-Battle was quite a time in the past, he came into a talk with Fuller. Both soon developed a respect for each other. When the clearly sad Fuller was taken away to the other prisoners, Manstein´s dry bonmot soon made the round in the troops and not long after the newspapers: “If it is any consolation, Captain, in part you stayed true to your motto. You have lost tremendously, but at least we are not at Flensburg, aren´t we?”

1916 “Trenches of the West-the Bulge of Lille” In the West, soon after the initial attacks and counter attacks, both sides had begun to fortify their trenches. The murderous fire the new weapons like machineguns were capable of delivering had made that a necessity. After the Central Powers had recovered, the easy advance of the early days was over for the British and Belgian troops. This was made clear with the “Second Wave”. This Concord offensive was a great success in grabbing more territory, but the losses of life were equally appalling. After the offensive the Concord held quite a part of northernmost France. From a line Fecamp to some kilometres beyond St. Quentin, everything north was Concord-held. Only a small strip of land along the Belgian border the Central Powers defended ferociously. The so-called Bulge of Lille. Here the trenches were so fortified that despite being attacked from both sides, the defenders held out, inflicting harsh losses on the Concord. For well over a year, this frontline would be near static.

1916 “The Fall of Lunenburg” When the War broke out, it was clear for Oberst von Lettow- Vorbeck, the Commander of the Schutztruppe in America, the he would not be able to hold the town in . Lunenburg and the surrounding territory had been gained in 1885 during the great Exchange with Great Britain, giving Germany an Atlantic port. In peace time it was no problem that between German Rupprechtsland and Lunenburg were several hundred miles of British Canada. Transit rights via road and rail had been part of the Exchange treaty, but with Britain an enemy now, it was only a question of time until the storm on Lunenburg would begin Lettow-Vorbeck had called the town commander before the telephone lines were cut and ordered him to hold out as long as he could, then no heroics. Surrender for the sake of his men and the civilian population. Germany had fortified the town since she got it, but it was clear with the supply routes across the Atlantic cut off by the Concord, it would be a matter of time until Lunenburg had to give up. Commander of the beleaguered fortress was Oberst Friedrich Kreß von Kressenstein. He and his men were able to stop the first massive assault. They might have been outnumbered, but Lunenburg was prepared for the siege. Kressenstein, an artillery specialist, which showed positive effects more than once during the siege, did everything he could, still with time the territory held by him shrank, but to the delight of the OHL Lunenburg was still in German hands at the beginning of September. 4 ½ months after the war broke out. Few had thought that possible. But the trickle of supplies Lunenburg got by Zeppelin and U-Boots helped much and the fact that like at Rößel the German forces used their airplanes well. Their Recce flights helped anticipate attacks and they attacked the British-Canadian forces whenever opportunities arose. But in October Kressenstein knew their time was nearly up and no matter their skills, the Concord had overwhelming numbers arrayed. Not only had the trenches outside the German enclave grown massively, after being humiliated time and time again in the sky, the Concord had brought airplanes over the Big Pond and in numbers to overwhelm his Jasta (short for Fighter Squadron). He was proud of his men, they had delivered more than one blow and had held out longer than hoped for. Still, after the probing attacks in the last 4 days, a big push was close, which would bring devastation to Lunenburg. Kressenstein began to ponder surrender as he had agreed with Lettow-Vorbeck. Unknown to him, this would not be his fate. Since July, the defenders of Lunenburg had evacuated as many persons as they could on the departing Zeppelins and . The last supply run had returned to Europe 2 days before, so no one believed they would or could return before the surrender. But in the night before the defenders wanted to raise the white flag, two Zeppelins and a reached Lunenburg. They had order to evacuate Kressenstein and some others, before the town would fall. Kressenstein did not want to leave his men, but the orders were directly from the OHL. They wanted to save the man, who held off so many attackers for so long, for the war effort. With heavy hearts, newly promoted Generalmajor Kressenstein and 38 other persons left Lunenburg shortly before dawn. The following afternoon, Lunenburg surrendered to the Concord forces.

1916 Battle of Kauai: 28 November 1916 Since several months the Pacific had become more and more a Japanese/German lake. For Concord merchant ships it became more and more dangerous to cross. Not only because of Admirals Spee and Hayao, but also because of the many light cruisers patrolling the area. And now the Central Powers ships also came into the Indian Ocean. SMS Emden even had entered the harbour of Madras near nightfall one day, sunk the Russian cruiser Zhemchug with torpedoes, shelled the oil tanks and some ships and then retreated. The old destroyer HMS Eden was just then entering the port and surprised soon sunk. Furthermore, the last ship with tea from India for this season was sunk by SMS Königsberg near Aden. All patrols did not find her. And as the SMS Emden was finally cought by HMS Sydney, the older armoured cruiser SMS Scharnhorst and SMS Gneisenau appeared and sank HMS Sydney on greater distance. Such things could not be tolerated by the British Royal Navy any more. It was decided to react with a show of force. So a plan was made to trap the CP forces one by one. As the got to know from Room 40 that Spee was operating alone in the Mid-Pacific and Hayao was well away near Singapur, it was decided, that Admiral Craddock would act as stool pigeon, while Sturdee with a Battlecruiser squadron would follow him. Once Spee would be attacking Craddock, Sturdee would attack Spee and sink him in concert with Craddock´s ships. Craddock was given HMS Warrior, HMS Cochrane, HMS Natal and HMS Achilles. Sturdee had as flagship the battleship HMS Orion and the battlecruiser HMS Invincible, HMS Australia and HMS Inflexible. The battlefield would be near Hawai'i, to camouflage Sturdee between the Isles and to squeeze in Spee against the neutral US waters, denying him manouver space. To round out the task force "Clean Pacific", they would be accompanied by the HMS Fearless, HMS Active, HMS Liverpool and HMS Yarmouth.

As soon as Spee got the news that four British armoured cruiser under Craddock were seen in the Pacific, he presumed it was a trap. It might be not, but Maximillian von Spee just could not believe the British were so hard-pressed, that they would send only "Predreads". There had not been a true sea battle since the british raid on Nordholz in May, only some skirmishes by light forces. So both sides still had enough Dreadnought ships. Although Hayao was not in range, there were still some ships at Kure suitable for a counter-trap. Soon he talked to the Japanese commanders there and after some persuading he had a nice surprise to take with him. As he heard the British ships were nearing Hawai'i, where they stopped a German freighter, he set course. His ships were the Seydlitz class battlecruisers SMS Alvensleben, SMS Wrangel and the Derfflinger class battlecruisers SMS Moritz von Sachsen and his flagship SMS Lord Marishall Keith, ironically named after a born Scot, who had left after some troubles with the English and had become an outstanding General under Frederic the Great. The light cruiser SMS Dresden, SMS Leipzig and SMS Nürnberg followed. The Japanese ships which left Kure under Taisa Isoroku Takano were the new German built Kongo class battlecruisers Kongo and Kirishima as well as the two semi battlecruiser Ibuki and Ikuma, which sailed from Okinawa. They were followed by the light cruiser Chikuma, Hirado and Yahagi, the best light cruiser the Japanese had available.

The battle started in the early morning hours, when both fleets met at Kaua'i. Spee wanted to use the first light of the day for shooting, since the weather and forecast were clear and he would be coming out of the darkness and the British would be good silhouettes in the rising sun. The Japanese commanders saw that as an outstanding sign when they heard about the plan, before they set course to their meeting point. Spee started to attack Craddock with a surprise for him. However, Craddock still thought the plan would work. He was near to the island of Kaua'i close the shoreline of Halehomaha. Only a few miles away from the beach. The US cruiser guarding him was just within the territorial waters. However, when the battle drew closer, nervous radio messages came from her. And the message to both parties was not to cross the national waters of Hawai'i. However, the USS Tacoma was for none side a serious opponent. The captain of the Tacoma knew what was at stake and to be on the sure side, he radioed his superiors: "German capital ships sighted on interception course to British force. Squadron strength. Battle imminent. Will observe and if needed defend national waters. Help might be needed."

The German battlecruisers concentrated the fire on the first ship in the line, HMS Natal, as it was tought to be the flag ship. However, HMS Warrior was the last one as she had communicated several times with the Tacoma. So HMS Natal was hit four times by 30,5 cm shells within the first five minutes. Ond detonated on her bridge, one knocked out a 23,4 cm gun and two hit the sides. She had already a list when suddenly the British battlecruiser and HMS Orion as flagships appeared. The Germans at once changed their target onto HMS Orion and turned away. They were still near to the Beach and were followed by the British columns. Sturdee saw he was closing in to the German ships even with his battleship. He did not get the danger, the aggressive spirit instilled into the officers of the Royal Navy had taken over. He infact did not realize it, even when the captain of HMS Orion told him that he doubted that the Germans could not sail faster.

HMS Natal was limping behind. The last salvos of the battlecruisers had hit her six times. She was on fire and still listing, more and more. She was ordered to run to and even to be interned, however, she didn't had the luck. As the fire took the last engine room the electricity and with it the pumps died. The captain was the last one to go into the boats. They had the order to remain at sea and not to run to the coast, unless there were injured seamen.

Suddenly, at Ha'ena Point Spee turned North East. "Now we have him." Sturdee said. He though Spee saw no escape than to fight. However now his coulumns were crossed the T by the Germans. Just at this moment four other big ships and a number of light cruiser appeared behind the small peninsular. Now 16 14" guns and 40 12" guns fired on the leading ships. Sturdee cursed and gave the order to turn away. As he couldn't do so south he had to go north east, parallel to the Germans and Japanese at first.

HMS Orion was the first target. Salvos splashed on her repeatedly. Nearly every moment she seemed to be hit. Only her aft guns were operational. She was now making just 12 knots. And only the older semi battlecruiser were now in an angle she could fire upon. That was true for the other British ships too with their aft guns. Ikuma and Ibuki were hit several times. However, they also hit HMS Cochrane several times, as they were now ordered to pressure the armoured cruiser. One hit from Ibuki lead to a tremendous explosion, when the aft magazine was hit.

In the meantime HMS Orion was burning under the concentrated fire, did not move and was slowly sinking. SMS Dresden would eventually finish her with a torpedo. Spee's next victim was HMS Invincible, the next in the line. She was hit with a great accuracy, but she also found the distance to SMS Alvensleben. She was scoring her third hit, when three 14" shells fired by Kirishima hit her into the belt. It was like a super torpedo hit. She was now taking water heavily, when the next salvo hit again at the waterline. The engines became inoperable due to the heavy flooding on starboard. When a counter-flooding failed, the Invincible already having a 17 degrees list, the crew left the sinking battlecruiser.

At this moment Sturdee was already dying. Just several minutes after the British turn a shell from SMS Lord Marishall Keith detonated directly outside the bridge, the explosions force letting loose a rain of deadly splinters mortally wounding everyone except the captain and the helmsman, who survived heavily wounded.

In the meantime Ibuki and Ikoma, as the easiest targets on the CP side, got more and more hits. Too much for Ibuki, which was taking much water. Although both ships limped out of the battle, Ibuki had to be given up. Also the other Central powers ships were hit, but not as bad as they pounded back. The last salvo of Ikoma had hit HMS Achilles into the . She was now out of control and slammed into HMS Australia. HMS Inflexible could only barely evade a collision. However, that was her luck as she now was on the way out of the trap and obscured a bit by the crashed ships. She was not hit often and could run at full speed.

HMS Australia became a burning wreckage together with HMS Achilles, unable to manouver they were sitting ducks, the German-Japanese Battlecruisers with salvo after salvo. When the fire reached the front magazine of Australia both ships exploded. The last british ship HMS Warrior was hit several times. When Admiral Craddock saw his ship began sinking and had no chance, he gave the order to abandon the ship.

Among the cruiser the fight was a bit more even, but although SMS Leipzig and SMS Nürnberg were seriously damaged, HMS Fearless and HMS Active were sunk by the German cruiser, while HMS Yarmouth was sunk by the Japanese. Only HMS Liverpool could escape and follow HMS Inflexible.

Although his ships were not so damaged, except Ibuki and Ikoma, the British had done enough damage to his ships that Spee decided not to follow HMS Inflexible, preserving strength was more important. SMS Alvensleben was hit four times by 14" shells and 8 times by 12" shells. She lost 48 men and was taking water. However, she would made it home without big problems. She was the most badly hit German ship. SMS Wrangel was hit by seven 12" shells. She lost 18 men. SMS Moritz von Sachsen had only wounded and was hit four times by 12" shells and once by a 14" shell, which did not detonate. SMS Lord Marishall Keith was hit twice by a 14" shell and 6 times by a 12" shell, suffering 30 wounded. Kirishima was hit three times and lost 4 men. Kongo only twice with 15 wounded. Ibuki was hit 28 times altogether. 168 men were lost with her. Ikoma was hit 16 times but managed it limping home. 101 men were dead. Of the British fleet HMS Orion was lost with all but fifty hands. They were headed by the unconcious captain, helmsman and an ensign with two men, who were sent to look what was going on on the bridge, as no orders came from there. As the fire was everywhere when they tried to go to the med station, they ordered everyone they encountered on the way to the life rafts. The fifty sailors were later catured by Hirado. HMS Australia and HMS Achilles lost her total crews except 15 resp. 8. There were no survivors by HMS Chochrane. However, nearly 700 managed to escape from HMS Warrior and HMS Natal lost also "only" 360 considering the damage. 10 of twelve British ships were sunk, while the CP only lost one of 14. 2.688 British sailors were taken , including Admiral Craddock, who was prisoned in his room in the Vierjahreszeiten Hotel at Breitental, but could walk at his free will under his word of honour in Breitental at day, like many other British sea men. Although most of them were not residing so good. He became a friend of Spee in time. As the US cruiser did not allow any boats to land on Hawai'i only a few swimmer and two boats made it to there, barely 100 men, who were interned for several years.

The US ambassadors protested harshly at the German, Japanese and British governments because of fighting so near to the US coast. Although it was recognized by Washington that it were the British who tried to use the neutral waters for their advantage first, especially the Japanese involvement was seen critically due to Japanese designs on the Hawaii Islands. Despite Taisa Tanako giving his word of honour that his forces never entered territorial waters during his attack preparations, the US Government did not believe him This had consequences in the future.

The German and Japanese press celebrated a victory, while the British was shocked. They blamed the dead Sturdee and his tactical mistake to fight so near to the coast as the reason for this catastrophe. So they didn't realize that the British battlecruisers had a targeting problem and the armour configuration was faulty as well. The 14" dud shell and the cordite residue were checked in Japan. There the Japanese found something the Germans did not know yet, since HMS Indefatigable´s magazines were inaccessible: The Cordite was not stable enough. Indeed it was a wonder that no british ship simply exploded after a hit into the turrets! Important news for the CP navies.

Vice-Admiral von Spee was promoted to full admiral and got the Pour le Mérite as well as the Order of the Rising Sun by the Tenno himself. Taisa Tanako was made a Baron by the Tenno and got a Pour le Merite from the Kaiser for the precise and laudable combined attack on the Concord forces.

1916: Convoy battle of SC 85 When Rear-Admiral Franz Hipper was ordered to go to Brest with his battlecruisers, he got a nice addition to his force: SMS Rupprechtsland. This ship was a Kolonie (Colony) class battleship, which had just been completed and on trials in the Baltic. The Kolonie class had been developed alongside the Derfflinger and Bayern classes as a fast battleship for use in the colonial-based squadrons of the HSF, hence the name. She´d been earmarked for the Med as a test-bed, but now with the war, she was attached to Hipper. The ship was in so far a nice surprise, as it was a battleship able to keep up with the battlecruisers. It was also a trial ship for the new oil fired turbines and had as first ship of the HSF only oil firing boilers. Her sister, SMS Böhmen, which was still being built, had Diesel engines, also as a trial. If the engine configurations were successful, the next classes would be equipped with those and the younger existing classes would be upgraded after the war. When Hipper arrived at Brest, the French ships were not truly ready for war, as the French (and Germans) had not expected a war. And so it was at first planned not to go out alone, but to wait for help. It lasted several months, until Hipper, already wanting to do something, was given the order to make a sortie. The German and French fleets would also make sorties. Coincidentally it was just the time of the battle of Kauai, when the sortie was planned. Indeed after the news of the battle arrived, with the stunning defeat of the Royal Navy, the sortie was accelerated. At first the French fleet and Hipper´s First Scouting Group sortied. The Royal Navy in believed it was sure to keep the base there. The fast British ships, which had been stationed in Portsmouth to keep watch on the French, would be able to catch the Frogs and Jerries at Brest while the Grand Fleet was all able to cope with the HSF. But also the HSF sortied, not detected by the British submarines in the German bight (indeed one of the boats, E 8, had hit a mine, another had problems with the propulsion and was not in the patrol area but in a "safer" area for repair and the third was subpressed by German destroyers. It dived and did not dare to surface until several hours later. The Brest sortie was soon detected and Beatty as well as the fast wing was sent to catch them. However, as soon as they got the news about the HSF leaving Wilhelmshaven, they were called back to assist the Grand Fleet. Surprisingly the RN had not expected such a case and was not battle ready, when the HSF appeared off Scarborough. All these months the Germans had been very hesitant to commit their main fleet, so this sortie was a surprise. After about an hour the harbour and parts of the city were destroyed. Four destroyers, which tried to defend the city were sunk and the HSF on the way back. The Grand Fleet would follow her but were not able to catch Scheer, who had enough head start. The Grand Fleet was criticised a lot, but they didn't know it should come worse. Although they heard the French returned to port as did some smaller ships of the Germans they assumed Hipper returned as well. That this sortie by Hipper and the French was a feint to cover the attack on Scarbourough, which was considered as the main target. But that wasn't the case. Hipper's capital ships had detached from the rest of the Franco-German fleet. Hipper received signals by U 40 on her way back from patrol. A great convoy of 40 merchant vessels and some escorts was located: SC 85. U 40 had no eels left but remained in position to shadow the convoy. The Grand fleet had expected a sortie of the battlecruisers, but thought they would be detached into units of 2 ships and then spread over the ocean as a search net. Then they would be “plucked” off by the Concord as soon as they were sighted. But Hipper with his intel could remain a single unit. And he intercepted the convoy. The convoy guards were six old predreadnoughts, HMS Triumph, HMS Swiftsure, HMS London, HMS Venerable, HMS Implacable and HMS Dominion. HMS Dreadnought was the only serious opponent for Hipper. As well 2 light cruiser, HMS Blonde and HMS Blanche and the eight destroyer HMS Basilisk, HMS Beagle, HMS Bulldog, HMS Foxhound, HMS Grasshopper, HMS Harpy, HMS Mosquito and HMS Nautilus were escorting the convoy. In the dawn of December 1st, 1916 Hipper made contact with the convoy. At first the British commodore Pakenham thought they were British ships, since CP surface vessels were rare in the Atlantic so far, but then the other ships turned. HMS Dreadnought was the lead ship, while in the North were HMS London and HMS Venerable and HMS Dominion and HMS Implacable in the south. In the rear HMS Triumph and HMS Swiftsure were the last ships. At 8:30 AM Hipper´s force opened fire. They were very effective against HMS Dreadnought, which was hit several times. When the German ships closed in, also the first merchants were hit. HMS Dominion and HMS Implacable opened fire to give the merchants a chance. Pakenham knew that 8 German dreadnoughts he could not stop with his forces, just delay to give the freighters a chance to flee. But how many would make it? Most of them could not make more than 8-9 knots. The convoy was dissolved. The addition of these two old cruisers meant a “relief” for HMS Dreadnought. However, SMS Rupprechtsland still fired on her. HMS Dreadnought had hit SMS Derfflinger three times, but she had lost 3 of her turrets and was burning, Hipper had concentrated fire on the sole British dreadnought. The speed was also reduced. If it wasn't worse, SMS Lützow had found the range as well and the two Germans hit her with nearly every salvo. One salvo hit her machineries and speed was reduced again to 5 kn. Another salvo hit the waterline and she took water. The next salvo hit Dreadnought´s last firing turret, X. Only the wing turret on the port side was able to fire, but to do so she had to turn. With the next hits she burnt more and more and took more and more water. Then another hit in the engines let the ship lay dead in the water and sinking. Commodore Pakenham gave order to abandon ship. HMS Dominion and HMS Implacable were hit, too, a number of times, although they could hit SMS von der Tann one time and SMS Goeben twice. After about 24 hits HMS Dominion was hit into her engine rooms. Cold water came in. She listened to starboard. Then she suddenly capsized and sank. HMS Implacable was sunk after a hit into an empty coal bunker lead to a coal dust explosion. She capsized, too. Both happened within a few minutes. Now the other four predreadnoughts had formed a line to give the merchants a chance. The merchants were already badly hit by the German secondary and tertiary guns. 8 had already sunk, 4 in sinking condition and other 12 hit. The British destroyers now crossed the line of the predreadnoughts to make a torpedo attack. Unfortunately the lead ships had to go into the fire zone of the battlecruisers and SMS Rupprechtsland, which all attacked the last four predreadnoughts, but had secondary guns to deal with the torpedo attack. HMS Harpy was hit by two 30,5 cm and a 35 cm shell. She exploded. The following ship, HMS Bulldog was hit by four 30,5 cm shells and sank quickly, the third, HMS Foxhound was only hit by one shell, but lay disabled in the water to be sunk by German secondary guns later. The other 5 ships were able to penetrate the area quickly but then were welcomed by the German 15 cm secondaries. HMS Basilisk and HMS Beagle were sunk soon. Of the other destroyer HMS Mosquito was hit in the rudder outside the torpedo ranges and was driving long circles. At the end she was sunk, too. HMS Mosquito and HMS Nautilus managed to launch her torpedoes, but missed barely SMS Rupprechtsland. Only HMS Nautilus could escape. In the meantime all four British ships were hit. They had only scored once on SMS Rupprechtsland. And HMS Triumph and HMS Swiftsure with their 23,4 cm guns could not fire yet, as they were still out of range. Indeed they would be able to fire only a single salvo. Soon the four ships were sinking. Only HMS Triumph was still swimming in the water. Dead, but not sinking. A 60 cm torpedo fired by SMS Rupprechtsland ended her. Now the way was free for the Germans to sack the merchants. Of the forty ships 30 were sunk and two taken as prize. Only eight ships escaped. And to add insult to injury, one of them hit a British laid mine later. Hipper had spent up a lot of his ammunition and set course on Brest. When Beatty heard about the catastrophe, he steamed south with his battle cruisers to catch Hipper, rightly believing Hipper going back to Brest instead to another French Atlantic port. But when he reached him short of Brest, the French fleet waited there for First Scouting´s arrival and Beatty decided to retreat in face of superior numbers. He protested as no other British ships had followed him. Hipper came home and got the Pour le Mérite for his action. His ships suffered only few hits and 18 Germans had died. However, nearly 3.000 British sailors had died or taken PoW. In England First Sea Lord Winston Churchill had to resign after this catastrophe, Lord Fisher taking back the command. Also Admiral Callaghan was replaced by Admiral Jellicoe. And Beatty said he would kill Hipper if he met him. Two such disasters after the successful raid earlier that year and many small victories in the Med, had shaken the Royal Navy a bit. But these days laid the foundation for the heavy battles of 1917, Britain itching to retake her place as premier naval power! Hipper knew, such a good opportunity as SC85 would not come again or at least soon. The British did make mistakes, but normally they learned from them, at least in naval warfare. His next victory would have to be harder earned.

1916 “To Vienna once more- the Fall of Yambul” Bulgaria was the roadblock on the way to Budapest and Vienna for the Turkish troops, who had been helped by the British. They wanted to take Vienna this time to avenge the two losses in earlier centuries. Relentless the Concord forces attacked the Bulgarian lines, which had been hastily reinforced by what the other CP nations could spare. Not much, since Hungary was attacked from three sides by Serbia, Russia and a landing on the Dalmatian coast by the Italians. Germany and France sent a bit more, but they needed their soldiers on other fronts more as well. Beside the French and German contingents, Sweden had sent a company!

Still, the quality made a difference. The Turkish troops, especially those trained by British advisors, were not bad, but the CP forces defending southern Bulgaria were first rate. For months, like a rock the defenders withstood the attack waves, but then additional Concord forces from several nations arrived to give more “punch”. The Central Powers could not spare more forces and so step by step they were pushed back. Especially hurting was the loss of the city of Yambul, with the largest airplane and Zeppelin base in all of the southern Balkans. But then came Rößel, which restored morale fully and the lines stabilised for winter with the South-East of Bulgaria in Concord hands.

1916 “The Alpine Front” Unlike other frontlines, the general fighting zones stayed rather static from the start. The British and Italian forces tried to fight their way into Germany and France, but the mountains of the Alps helped the defenders. With other fronts, like the Galician, South-Bulgarian and Franco-Belgian fronts, more important for now, the French 7 th and 5 th German Armies harnessed their strength by staying defensive, except for diversionary attacks.

1916 “All quiet on the northern front ” Of all fronts, the one in Lapland was only seldom in the news. Sweden did not have the manpower for massive invasions, but just holding the lines up north forced Russia to station a not so small force in Finland. Forces that were missed on other parts of the frontlines. Actually just pinning down Russian-British forces by being there, Sweden did something for the Central Powers war effort. But the main benefit of Sweden on the CP side was that Sweden´s iron ore did not go to the Concord nations. On first look, this was not such a big thing, but it forced the Concord to import iron ore from other sources, which often meant long ways and high prices. Even today Sweden´s iron deposits are one of the most important on the globe. Sweden´s army was well-entrenched in case of a Concord invasion, but if the opportunity would arise, they were poised to stage an invasion into Finland, no matter how small and to avenge Poltawa. Should this case ever come to pass, Germany had promised Stockholm 1-2 divisions to add more strength to the push. But it did not look that way on Christmas 1916, 7 ½ months into the war. There had been some probing attacks by both sides, but nothing else. In any case, an attack by anybody had to wait until early 1917. No one would try such a thing in the northern winter.

1916 The Quiet before the storm Despite the bloody campaigns in Europe and East Asia, fighting in the colonies was nearly non-existing during 1916. There were some skirmishes, recce missions, but not much more. In early spring 1917 this all changed. With the frontlines in Europe and Asia set until “campaign season”, the Concord with its superior number of soldiers, began attacking the colonies of the Central Powers in earnest. While the “starting signal”, the Battle of Donnersbucht in Rupprechtsland, was an utter failure for the Concord, elsewhere it went better. German Southwest Africa was besieged and attacked from 3 sides and it was just a matter of time until the German forces there had to surrender or flee. The CP ruled the Pacific, but attacking and capturing the German-held Bismarck-Archipelago and Bougainville from New-Guinea and Australia was just a short hop for the Concord forces. Attacks on French Cameroon and other colonial possessions of France were also conducted. For the moment, with most of their best troops needed elsewhere, the Central Powers stayed on the defensive for the whole 1917 and while many territories could be defended, there were several lost. And if the CP HQs would or could not send more troops or supplies in 1918, more colonies were to be imperilled.

1917 The Battle of Donnersbucht (Thunder Bay) The Battle of Donnersbucht, starting on March 17th 1917, had a long preparation time, several months in fact. When the war was only a few days old, an old Metis Leader appeared in the bureau of the British-Canadian army command in Montreal. He claimed to be Louis Riel. He would offer the British troops to fight the Germans in Rupprechtsland. These troops should be of Metis and other Indian tribes, all who were disappointed with the German rulership. The British colonel sent a memorandum to the British High Command in Canada, which supported this idea. From there the memorandum was sent further to London. In London this memorandum got additionally an abstract for fast reading. In it was written that the use of Indians in Canada was supported. Nothing more. However, as in contrast to other languages like German, where "Indianer" is the term for the natives of America and "Inder" for Indians, the English has for both the same name. Unfortunately Col. Wakefield, who had just come back from India to Britain to become member of the staff planning section, did only read the abstract. He had much to do, especially with the planning of the next invasion steps in East Prussia. He only read Indians and did only think about his former comrades, who had complained not to have anything to do. That soon France and Japan would make offensives into Asia was never considered to be a real threat. So the plan was made to use Indian troops in the North America campaign 1917. The planning had occurred in summer 1916. By then it was clear that most of the Indian army would needed to be fielded elsewhere. Nevertheless 12.000 Indians were trained to fight in Canada. But they did not get training for fighting in snow and winter conditions. Indeed this training was only training how to use a rifle, especially as the area of operation should still be secret. However, as these units were trained, they were soon needed at the front fighting the French and Japanese, so this was not problematic. Other troops were ordered to be used in Canada. But they were mostly the worst troops of the Indian army. Only a regiment of Ghurkhas and a British regiment were added to them. So about 16.000 soldiers should depart from Bombay in February 1917 to land in March. As there was indeed no officer in the planning who served in Canada before and the general secrecy about the operations area, the soldiers were not given winter cloths. But unsurprisingly in March 1917 winter was still ruling in Donnersbucht. At day temperatures were hardly over 0°C. In the night it was usually about -10°C. The plan was originally to attack in the east and in the south. 4.000 Indians should attack with Canadian forces in Québec and 12.000 soldiers should land near Donnerbucht in an amphibious landing operation. And like every other landing this should fail, well all except one failed in the Great War. This plan was not known by the Germans, but they heard rumours and could guess the general outline based on the situation. Like the fact that there was only one really suitable position at the Great Lakes for a hostile landing: Donnersbucht. So all autumn and winter the Germans could make preparations. Shortly before the force should depart, most officers met their new troops for the first time. The Indian Expeditionary Force C was lead by Major General Arthur Aitken, a man who never served anywhere but India and who refused the use of modern weapons like MG, as they could give his soldiers a "defensive spirit". Furthermore, as most of the soldiers were away the first time out of their villages and their quality was questionable, the intelligence officer, Capt. Richard Meinertzhagen, a man who knew Africa well, but not Canada, regarded this force the "worst of the Indian army". He noted: "I don't dare to imagine, what will happen, should we meet a serious opponent." And this one came in the person of Oberst (Colonel) Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck. Furthermore morale in the Indian force was rather low. Most feared the Germans and the cruelty of their scalp hunters, the Indian men eaters. These problems were boosted when the departure was delayed and the soldiers were not allowed to leave the ships. For nearly two weeks they had to live in the ships with Diarrhoea. The ships moved finally after 10 days of waiting. When the ships just entered the St. Lorence River, the leading ship, the only ice breaker of the squadron, run over two mines laid by an U- boat a few nights before. As also a Zeppelin had passed this quadrant, it was assumed the Germans now had mines deployable by Zeppelins. The fear of mines grew within the naval officers of this landing unit. Because of the ice on the Great lakes and the lack of ice breakers it lasted longer to pass them. In the meantime the 4.000 Indians were landed to fight the Germans in the east. However, they had no winter cloths and the Canadian forces were also not ready. Acquainted with their lands, they simply thought it was nearly impossible to attack now and more, with the exception of some coastal towns, German Quebec was mostly empty. However, their complaints never reached the HQ as the destroyer, which should bring them over the ocean, as telegram was not considered safe enough, was sunk by a U-boat torpedo with all hands. And when the letters finally reached London in the second attempt, this time via a normal post ship, it was too late. The 1st Brahmans and the 94th Infantry regiments were de facto out of action. Although Brigadier J.M. Steward showed own initiative by trying to cross the border to Rupprechtsland far more to the west at Schreiber, close the northern point of Lake Superior, his forces met resistance by 4 companies of the Schutztruppe. Although he had five times as many soldiers, 4.000 against 800, the Germans, mostly Cree and Nakonabi Indians, attacked them at the flanks and in the rear with skies and snow shoes. That, the cold weather, the slow advance and the completely lacking supply led nearly to a catastrophe. Steward retreated. The Germans lost only 78 men, while the British had lost 1.268. Only 426 were casualities in the fightings. The others died of hypothermia and other weather related maladies. Indeed both regiments had to be transferred back to India and to be raised again, as most soldiers were no longer combat able. While this small battle in the wilderness had no really significant result, the next battle had, the true battle of Donnersbucht. In the early morning of March 17th the British squadron arrived at Donnersbucht. There was still much ice on the water and Captain Caulfield of HMS Fox feared about mines in the harbour. So it was decided to land near the village Silbereiland, which was evacuated. When the Indian troops entered the town, all buildings were blown up. However, no further action than the landing took place for over three days. None of the regiments, the North Lancashire Regiment, the 63rd Palmacotta Light Infantry, the 98th Infantry, the 101st Grenadiers, the 108th Infantry and the 73rd Carnatic Infantry, moved much further into the land, giving the Germans even more time to prepare. They had build up a defensive line on both sides of the Marie Louise Lake. Here the Germans had plenty MG nests and snipers. When everything was landed, which lasted nearly four days, it was too late to attack. The Indian soldiers were cold, so most had a fire going to keep warm. These fires were the first target of the German forces. Many Cree and Nakonabi were excellent archers. Silently from some positions they fired arrows with dynamite loading into the fires. Although that was done only at few positions, dynamite-loaded arrows had terrible flight characteristics, the panic of the Indians, which had grown in the nights before, lead to a chaos. Soldiers fired in all directions. Mostly they hit nothing, but still many ‘friendly fire’ occurred. General Aitken, who was still on the flagship HMS Fox, thought it was an artillery attack by the Germans and thus ordered to fire the ship's artillery. But most shells hit the own troops, so the firing was stopped. When the chaos was over, 495 Indian and 68 British soldiers laid dead in the snow, a further 688 wounded. On the other side the Cree, Nakonabi and some Blackfoot forces of Lettow-Vorbeck, the Schutztruppe companies 1-10, the Bavarian Schneeschuh-Regiment 1, and the 1. Freiwilligen Regiment under Lt. Col. Thomas von Prince, who had a British father but was refused by the British army, so he joined the German army and was ennobled for the fights against the Metis, were about 6.000 men. On the dawn of March 22nd, it had become slightly warmer, however, snow had fallen after the chaos had stopped. Soon the British forces entered the forests on the German side. After three miles the most advanced British troops found a stake. On it a skull was mounted and a scalp was nailed on it. Indeed the skull was real but part of the education means of the local Gymnasium. And the scalp was only a part of pig skin with horse hairs. It terrified the Indians so much that they did not recognize the Cree and Nakonabi Indians, who crawled to them over the snow in white overcoats. Their battle cry and the use only of Tomahawks, knives and pistols, let the Indians flee. Although only 200 Germans had attacked 2.000 British, the Concord forces had to retreat. In this moment the snipers in the trees shot the British officers in their red coats to add more confusion in the Indian ranks. Again chaos surged, units fired into the trees and more than once hit their comrade before them. Units were advancing, while other flew. Captain Meinertzhagen even had to shoot an Indian officer, who wanted to flee with his sabre on the hand running towards him. The British forces had to retreat to the point where they came from. The next night was less eventful, although some Indians fell victim to the Blackfoot, Cree and Nakonabi, who used silent weapons this time. Lettow-Vorbeck continued his plan of ‘Death by a thousand cuts’. Most of their victims were not found until dawn. However, as it was forbidden to make a fire, several soldiers died on Hypothermia.

March 23rd saw another British offensive attempt. This time they met no one. When three young lieutenants remarked, that the Germans had fled and thus giving them no possibility to see action, they climbed on a small hill to see the situation better. They were not totally without caution, but once they looked carefully over the top, all three fell, hit into their heads by the German snipers. This time the British started at once an attack run on the positions, where fire came from. But it was a well fortified line with MG nests. Fast many British soldiers laid dead in the snow. They had reached the German defence line but were not able to get through as company by company was shot by the MG nests. The British-Indians retreated again. But this time they did not flee. The Ghurkhas and the North Lancs might have had been able to crush through the lines, but they were diverted between the worst Indian soldiers and had no effect this time. The very next night was the same like the nights before. Aitken, who was still on HMS Fox and not in the battle line like v. Lettow-Vorbeck, ordered to attack the Germans at both sides of the lake, he got the news of the second defence line just before sunset, in a feint but to attack with most soldiers over the lake. Although the ice was strong, it was hardly strong enough for 4.000 men. Aitken did not count with the possibility that the layout of the German lines was a trap. When the Indians attacked in the dawn the ice was prepared with dynamite. Additionally 6 7,7 cm guns were aiming on the lake as well as MG nests and several thousand rifles. A huge explosion destroyed the ice on the lake. Artillery fired on the Indians as well as MG and rifles. Of the four thousand soldiers roughly 800 could escape. However, now the Lancs and the Ghurkhas used this moment where the Germans were focused on destroying the Indians for a combined attack. They were able to break through the western defence line. A fierce fight man to man happened there. And it didn't look well for the volunteer troops of the German (and Scandinavian and Irish and even some Russian) colonists. Then, however, 4 Ojibwe companies, held in reserve by Lettow-Vorbeck, arrived as reinforcements. With their Tomahawks and pistols they attacked the Ghurkhas and threw them out of the lines. The first company was completely killed. That led to the retreat of the Lancs, who also left under high losses. The volunteers and the Ojibwe bled as well, but the lines held. Now finally the ship artillery fired again as support. Although they got clear target informations by the Lancs, they did not shoot into the thick of fighting, as friendly fire was feared after the disasters before. So the support fire was relatively useless. One hit the German Lazarett, which was full of British and Indian soldiers. By now, Aitken had enough after reading the messages coming in. He had not set foot on land even once and he ordered a retreat. The Indians and British went on their ships and set course for British Canada, even leaving some delayed units behind. 5.858 British soldiers had died and 1.408 were missing. A further 2.589 soldiers were wounded. Only 1.877 men made it back on the ships. The Germans had lost 208 men, among them von Prince. The next morning Capt. Meinertzhagen, the commander of the scattered units still there, arrived with a white flag at the German lines. He was brought to Lettow-Vorbeck. After congratulating him for his victory, "Das war Made in Germany", both agreed to look for the wounded, dead and missing. A truce was made. As there were no capabilities for prisoners of war on this scale in Rupprechtsland, the captured British and Indian soldiers were released on their word of honour not to fight against Germany and her allies in this war again. This battle was a great morale boost to the colony. However, it supplied v. Lettow-Vorbeck with 8 QF 13 3" light guns, which had not been used during the battle as they were stuck in the snow, 24 MG, nearly 4.000 Lee-Enfield rifles and about 2 million rounds. Germany could celebrate a win, but Lettow-Vorbeck´s thoughts were on coming counter attack Britain would surely do. He doubted that the ‘Tommies’ would present him such lousy trained and led forces again. The fight for Canada and Rupprechtsland had only just begun in earnest.

1921 “Belgium occupied” The only sovereign nation on the Concord side which would stay fully occupied was Belgium. The CP did not like how Belgium had become the jump board of the Concord for a second front in their own backyard. For a bit more than two decades the small nation was controlled by France and Germany. In the late thirties there were first steps undertaken by the CP to give back independence, despite pressure from the right-wing parties. Then came the North American Crisis in 1940. What happened during the crisis on both sides of Atlantic and Pacific Ocean, convinced Berlin and Paris to void the program to Belgian independence. And in 1943 the second treaty of Verdun sealed Belgium´s fate.

1922 “The HZM” It is a common misconception to think that the victory in the World War was the pivotal starting point for the rise of the Central Powers to the position they occupy today. Yes, the won war was very important, since a loss would have ended many ambitions, but the historical savvy recognise the difficult starting position the CP had been in. When the war was over, the Central Powers were worse off than the Concord in a certain sense. During the whole war the CP had been seriously outnumbered, a large percentage of the world against them; a mix out of top weapon technology, strong will, sound tactics had carried them through. With Millions dead or maimed, the economies in tatters, Paris, Berlin, Stockholm, Budapest, Sofia and Tokyo had their work cut out, especially considering that even with the peace treaty regulations the Concord nations seemed to be able to recover faster. It was a German idea that brought the turn. As far back as the turn of the century, there had been thought projects about an alliance which was not only military, but economic and up to a point political as well. In a phase of rampant nationalism, this idea had been shelved, but now what could be lost? “We can be more than the sum of our parts” was the mantra of the German delegation, when they showed the raw concept to the combined leaderships. In face of the problems ahead, the idea was well received by the governments and negotiations about a final version of this concept began near immediately. The long war and hardships had brought the CP nations much closer together. On 13 May 1922, the Central Powers upgraded their alliance with the results of these negotiations. The Handelszone-der- Mittelmächte (Trade Zone of the Central Powers) was born.

1923 “Das Reichsbürgergesetz-the Imperial Citizenship Law” In 1923 at last Germany got her citizenship law, the Reichsbürgergesetz . The commission tasked with it had absolved a mammoth program. With the war acquisitions counted in, there were living more than 1200(!) different tribes in Germany and her colonies, several hundred alone in each Rupprechtsland and Neu-Guinea. And each and every one had been assayed if they would be given citizenship. In the end, 602 tribes, roughly 47%, had been chosen, based on history, loyalty, general relatedness and compatibility. The others were counted as inhabitants, not citizens. Individual members of these tribes could apply for citizenship, but not the wholeness of the tribes. With a lot of non-Germanic tribes now part of Germany, some changes in society began, even if the vast majority of citizens stemmed from Germanic tribes, being the largest by headcount. One of the most obvious signs of these changes was when in 1948 Chieftain “Wipfelreiter/Treetop Rider” in full ornate opened Parliament season in Berlin as Father of the House.

1930 “Oscar and Kini” In the early 20 th century, a new medium captured it´s audience. The movie. By 1930, movies had become a fast part of free time. Every Great Power had a “Dream Factory”, a city with concentrated movie studios, some even several cities. The most important were Hollywood in the US and Babelsberg in Germany. Legendary directors like Ford, Lang, Lubitsch, Hitchcock or actors like Bogart, Flynn, Wayne, Albers, Rühmann worked there. Independent of each other, the makers and actors of the movies in both nations thought that an award for outstanding results should be created. In 1930 both nations had their first award ceremony. The US award soon became known as “Oscar”, because the statue reminded someone of his uncle and the name stuck. The German award became known as the Kini (Bavarian dialect for King), because the sculptor shaped the statue roughly after the likeliness of King Ludwig II. of Bavaria, who had been a huge sponsor of the arts. Both awards became the most coveted pieces of “hardware” in the film business, with the masterpiece being able to win both an Oscar and a Kini, since the academies had different tastes it was hard to do so.

1933 “Remembrances” In 1933, the People´s Battle at Leipzig had it´s 120 th anniversary. There were big events around it, with wide media coverage by radio and newspapers. But the historical most important of the events would not be disclosed until a decade later. During a meeting between the German and French governments during the festivities, Chancellor Adenauer stated that the time after Napoleon had been the longest in which no war between Frenchs and Germans had taken place. Both nations could become so much more, if the old enmity would be finally overcome. Both standing together, despite reservations, since 1907 was a first step. It was time to bury the hatchet once and for all. Adenauer proposed a top secret commission, tasked with finding a solution for the various standpoints, most importantly the common borderline, which had been fought over for more than a millennium. It took a decade for that, then, in 1943, France and Germany ratified the second Treaty of Verdun.

1934 “Der Föhrer gibt bekannt/The Föhrer notifies“ When in 1931 his time in the Kaiserliche Heer was over, Sergeant Major Adolf Hitler already knew what he wanted to do in civil life. During a holiday in 1925 in a Munich beer garden he had met by chance the famous comedian and cabaret artist Karl Valentin. They had a nice talk and Valentin was impressed by Hitler´s oratory skills. He made Hitler a proposal: If he wanted to use his talent as a speaker, Valentin would help him open some doors to famous clubs and varieties. So Hitler went to Munich and Valentin stayed true to his promise. By 1933, Hitler had become a personal tip as a cabaret artist and comedian. But his real breakthrough came in 1934 with his political satire program “Der Föhrer gibt bekannt”, where he played the pompous dictator “Föhrer von Europien”, complete with uniform and all. In the show Hitler spoofed actual news and topics with cabaret and bombastic speeches, giving commentaries ranging from the hilarious to the cynical. He was soon one of the major cabaret artists of his time and got a monthly radio show in 1936. It was during this time when he met a newspaper and radio reporter named Joseph “Jupp” Goebbels. They became friends and combined their oratory talents, with Goebbels becoming “Minister of Notification” in the show. By 1939, both the show and the Hitler/Goebbels duo were a hit and famous. And they stared in their first movies, soon working with stars like Heinz Rühmann, Hans Albers or Charlie Chaplin, who often shot movies in Babelsberg, the German movie mecca. Hitler even became a friend of Chaplin and in 1941 they realised a masterpiece of satire. The comedy movie “The Dictators”: Hitler and Chaplin (Goebbels had a support role as a minister) played two related dictators, who equally frantically as unsuccessful try to conquer the world. The movie became not only a “blockbuster”, they got several Oscars and Kinis as well. Including an Oscar for Goebbels as best supporting actor, who nailed it by his “Total War” speech. The Oscars were a surprise, since the two dictators showed subtle traits of several Concord nations. Hitler´s attempts into serious drama were well received by critics, but rather unsuccessful with the public. They loved him as a comedian and his beard and the phrase “Der Föhrer gibt bekannt/The Föhrer notifies” became practically trademarks. In 1955, he was still famous, but his show was beyond the zenith. With a last movie “Nursing home for dictators”, once again with his friends Chaplin and Goebbels, Hitler retired from the stage and lived with his wife Eva Braun near Berchtesgaden until his death in 1970. “Nursing home for dictators” first failed at the box office, but became a hit in the mid-sixties. When Hitler died, the news opened up with: “The Föhrer notified one last time.”

1943 “The second Treaty of Verdun” From the Treaty of Verdun We, the sovereign nations of France, Germany and the Netherlands, rightful successors of the realms of East Frankia, West Frankia and Lotharingia, have come together in Verdun again to solve a problem in relation to the realms of Lotharingia, Belgium and Italy. We wish to enhance the peaceful relations between our nations and to cement lasting peace in Europe.

Art.1: The Republic of France cedes the region of Alsace, all French territory on the eastern bank of the Moselle River and beyond, the part of Lorraine between Moselle and Meuse north of a line beginning 8 kilometers north of Verdun to the German Empire. See Map 1 in the treaty annex.

Art.2: The German Empire renounces all claims on northern Lotharingia beyond the parts in German possession after this treaty becomes active. France in reciprocity renounces all claims on German-held Lotharingia in the borders drawn by this treaty. As well as the territory of Lotharingia held by the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Art.3: Claims in southern Lotharingia and Italy have been solved in amiable conference before the need arises. The Claims accepted by all three Treaty Powers can be seen in the annex.

Art.4: The Central Powers, represented here by the German delegation, accept that France will not do a vote about independence in her colonial possessions in 1960.

Art5: The State of Belgium, a British creation, is an attempt by the to sow strife in continental Europe. Since Belgium lies wholly in Lotharingia, the rightful owners of that realm reserve the right to govern this region of Europe for themselves.

Art.6: The State of Belgium ceases to exist with the ratification of this treaty. The regions of Belgian Luxemburg and Lüttich (Liege) will become part of Germany, Wallonia will become part of France and the region of Flanders will become part of the Netherlands. Belgian colonial possessions are already partitioned as decreed by the Treaty of Amsterdam.

1965-73 “The Czech Wave” Fashion or any kind of trend is ever-changing. Sometimes just in the details, sometimes on a big scale. In the mid sixties, some designers, on the search for a “new” trend to set, found it in some traditional Czech designs. The Slavic Czech, while retaining cultural distinctions as did all tribes (Germanic or not) in polycentric Germany, had become steadily more germanised over time. The new trend brought their heritage before the eyes of the broader German public, not only those living in Bohemia-Moravia. It was “new” in a sense, so for a few years all things Czech were en vogue. Some more Czech loanwords made it into the German vocabulary, clothes had typical Czech patterns, the use of the “-ova” ending for women family names was reactivated (which had been used less and less), even some fully Germanic descended women got/took it. Like all trends, it went out of fashion after some years, it did not reverse the ongoing Germanisation of the Czech but left a mark of the time. E.g. Famous Topmodel Daniela Pestova was born during the Wave, so she got a traditional “ova” name ending, while later- born famous biathlete and part-time model Karolina Kurka did not. Or still today even the Germans living far from Bohemia-Moravia know what a “Powidl”-filling is.

1970+ Development of “Das Netz”/ the Internet The rush into Space from the late forties onward gave the two leading power blocks on Earth better computers as a side-benefit. With the power of the calculators rising and their space demands lowering, at the time of the first moon landing by Germany in 1960, the militaries got the idea that connected computers might by a benefit for the Defence of the far-flung territories the Great Powers ruled. Nearly simultaneous, but independent of each other, the Concord and the Central Powers began to experiment into this area of knowledge. It was not easy, hampered by the available tech, but in 1970 the first crude systems began to operate for the armed forces of both alliances. Compared to the modern Internet it was painfully primitive and limited, but it worked. The Decade of Terror pushed the development forward, anything that could be used against the terrorists got funding. With computers getting more and more powerful and smaller, the eighties became the breakthrough in the civilian world as well. First, already beginning in the seventies, the universities and larger corporations used computers more and more then began the age of the home computers. The Zuse Z91 “Heimrechner” (Home computer) and the Gates M3 “Canvas” brought computer tech into the households and became the stars of the First Hour. By 1990, the Central Powers had established a civilian internet, which connected the Core Nations of the Central Powers and worked on integrating the other treaty states. The Concord had already built up such an internet with all treaty nations, but due to pushing the envelope to be first, the Concord net was more error prone and unstable. For a decade, das Netz and the Internet remained a “members-only” club. During that time, both grew to an ubiquitousness within the alliances OTL reached by 2010. And it made the ties between the connected nations even deeper than before. Around the time the new millennia dawned and the relations between the two power blocks got better, universities and corporations began to push for connecting the 3 nets (neutral nations had developed their own version) together to open new markets and research. With some teeth grinding, the governments agreed, seeing the opportunities such a move would bring. The TTL Internet in 2011 has some striking differences to OTL. While connected, it is still a mix of three independent nets brought together more by necessity than anything else and it shows. For security reasons, “Das Netz” (in French Le Reseau, Az Halo in Hungarian or Netsu in Japanese) and the Internet still operate on different standards, Zuse-Neumann-Sony OS (the Hungarian Janos Neumann Margittai/John von Neumann never emigrated since there was no Hitler regime and lived far longer due to never being involved in nuclear bomb research) in the CP and Turing-Gates OS in the Concord, with highly secure and controlled nodes “translating” when surfing both nets. Despite increasing traffic between the 3 nets, the vast majority is intra-net-traffic, most users far too comfortable and content with the possibilities found there. E.g. In CP Europe the online Asahi Shimbun is standard newspaper reading for even the average citizen, but the number of “London Times online” readers outside work related situations is very small. The same goes for the Concord only in reverse.

This, among many other reasons, led to societies which are both more cosmopolitan and provincial at the same time. The average CP nation citizen is far more knowledgeable about the other CP nations (be it cultural, political, etc.) than an OTL citizen would be on the topic of his/her closest friendly nations, but knows less about Concord nations. Intra-alliance integration and cultural cross-pollination in the Central Powers and the Concord is vastly beyond anything OTL, but there is a distinct demarcation against outsiders. Not to the point of racism, but decades of “standing alone” made the two main power blocks on Earth a bit insular.

1975-1985 “The Decade of Terrorism” What the historians nicknamed the Decade of Terrorism was a time unlike any other on TTL Earth. In a time of stability, the Great Powers were totally surprised by the unprecedented level of violence by political splinter groups. That during bad times civil unrest happens, was nothing new, but terrorism in an age of prosperity and growth in both Concord and Central Powers was. Groups like Éclair Gauche, Rotfrontkommando, Fort Sumter Convent, Cromwell Liberation Army in the Great Powers to name some and dozens of other terror groups in the rest of the world took the lives of thousands. Assassinations, terror bombs, kidnapping and the list went on. The most infamous attacks were the assassination attempt on German Chancellor Kohl, the suicide bombing of the US-Senate, the death of Margaret Thatcher in a very suspicious traffic accident (later proven to have been a murder) and the sinking of the Russian Missile Cruiser Gangut. Other VIPs and normal people died in many incidents across the globe. The nations needed years to develop a counter strategy against this mix of ideological and nihilistic attacks. One important factor became the growing overconfidence of these groups. For years, they played the security services of even the greatest powers on Earth, making them more daring and confident of victory step by step. The turning point came in 1984, when two groups were wiped out during a combined raid on the second Mars Mission at Peenemünde Space Center and three others during a terror attack on the Washington Capitol. In Peenemünde, the attack had been anticipated and elite police and military units in waiting had ambushed the terrorists, with the exception of two attackers for interrogation, no quarter had been given. Similar events happened in Washington, but the terrorists there had been gunned down to the last.

2011:German High Speed Train 429“Franz Kruckenberg”, outskirts of the French Capital Sandrine Benedicte de Francois had powered down her Zuse RR 14 “Reiserechner” (Traveller’s Calculator = Laptop) as soon as she felt the train begin to slowing down from it´s cruising speed of 400 km/h. The braking manoeuvre indicating that they would arrive in Paris before long. The last few hours she had expanded and corrected the report of her findings, which would be given to her think-tank after the weekend. Sandrine leaned back into the comfortable seat and enjoyed some minutes of relaxation, seeing the houses of Paris scurrying by. She had been on voyages for most of 2010 and early 2011, like many others from their group. All with the goal to find answers for the questions: What was the status of the CP, in Sandrine´s case France, internally and externally? Had the membership in the Central Powers and HZM truly begun to lead into a melting pot a la USA, erasing the nation states as some detractors claimed or was this just unfound preconception? Well, the first question could be answered with: La France had reasons to be content and proud. Counting the colonies in, France was the 8 th most populous nation, a bit behind Russia and in front of both West-India (OTL Pakistan) and so-called “Free Indonesia”. And what a colonial Empire France had. The largest still existing, spread all over the globe, being centered on Africa. A sizeable part of Africa belonged to France, mainly in the West, North and Central Africa. Several regions were a bit of boom regions, like the “France sur mer” coast (Algerian/Tunisian coast), Agadir or the Leopoldville (Kinshasa) region. And France could influence many other African nations as well. With the exception of Concord-controlled Egypt, Kenya, Rhodesia, Zuid-Afrika, Hungarian , “Südwest” (German Southwest Afrika was a German Federal State since 1960) and Togoland (independent, but still closely aligned to former motherland Germany), Paris wielded significant influence on the “Dark Continent”. But a special kind of joy for all French was the fact that the influence of the “Tricolore” reached into space, further than that of the hated “Limeys”. France had a large space-station, the Charles de Gaulle and a base on the moon; the British had 2 space stations, Queen Elizabeth/Ramsay MacDonald and a base on the moon too, but the French flag flew over the red sand of Mars, at the combined Central Powers Mars Base, as well. La Republique was the sixth largest economy on Earth, unfortunately, in the mind of the French, sharing that place with the British Empire, both being so close in the data. In the CP, France was the third-largest, behind Germany and Japan, and was followed by Hungary on place 4. France had one of the highest standards of living and was one of the “breadbaskets” on Earth, producing a large surplus. But like in everything, it was not all roses for France. While a majority of the colonies were content with being under French rule, in several regions there were independence movements. Not a few sponsored by the Concord. “At least”, thought Sandrine, „with the easing of the tensions since the nineties, this problem gets smaller, with the Concord stopping this practise in public. But how much is still done behind the curtains has to be seen. Holier-than-thou bastards!” Northern Indochina e.g. was still only in French possession because the Governor there let the movement leader know, that he was willing to pack if they forced him, but would “invite” the Japanese in neighbouring Burma for the “send-off party”. For now, the status quo remained, but if France could keep her last bit of Indochina for much longer was doubtful.

2011: Apartment of Dominic Vosgerau, Paris, France Only a few kilometres from the arriving train away, another member of the Sorbonne think tank worked on his reports. Dominic, actually a German law specialist, was “on loan” from a renowned attorney practise for this undertaking. His main work for the last year had been the Comparison of the laws of the Central Powers nations and despite “Das Netz”, he travelled a lot, since many law things could be observed better in person than just reading about it. Soon his time in Paris would be over and he could return to his north-German hometown. One thing Dominic was certain about after all the work; the detractors howling about that the CP had become a melting pot, destroying the Greatness of the member states, making them equally bland had no idea. Yes, there were several fields, especially the economic sphere, with common laws all over the Mittelmächte , but in all other spheres of law, the singular member states retained their independence, like France with his Code Civil. There was some cross pollination during the last 90 years, but even non-specialists could see the obvious differences in the laws and constitutions of the CP members. And the cultural melting pot was equally a product of overactive fantasy. This was the work of the social scientists in the think tank, but he had eyes. Due to several reasons, one of the most influential the danger of the Concord, the states of the Central Powers had grown close and closer during the last century, e.g. in the case of France and Germany to a level not seen since the reign of Charlemagne, but each nation state was still unique. There had been and still was a lot of cultural seepage between the nations, from France to Germany, from Germany to France, from Hungary to Japan and vice versa, Japan to the European Central Powers, Ukraine to Bulgaria, to shorten it, the 20 nations of the CP were very highly interconnected. It had enriched them, but as paradoxical as it may sound, it made them more unique as well. Each nation had taken what they found “worthy” to take and it shaped their cultures, but that did not make them the same. Dominic was convinced, as the others in the think tank, that a melting pot like the USA was, would never be in the cards for the Central Powers. As far as history goes, the United States were young, that Great Power had been shaped in the last few centuries, by illustrious immigrants, who had left much of their heritages behind and created a totally new one there. The Central Powers (and many Concord nations as well) were old by comparison. They proudly traced their ancestry back to the Germanic tribes who had beaten the Romans, the Gaul and Celts, who had been a major power before Rome, the old Madjar Half-Nomads, the Kyushu and Kyoto settlements in Japan and so on. There was a lot of history no one wanted to forget. The cultures of the CP and many Concord nations had been shaped by that, the new additions enriched them, but some basic forms were already set. This was in the big picture as well as the small ones. Taking for example the typical snacks. In France, as Dominic had soon found out, a portion of Kuskus, Falafel and to a lesser degree German Bratwurst were the booming snacks, but they did not dislodge Baguettes with various toppings as the most typical. And it showed the contrast to Germany quite nicely. In Germany, Wurst (sausages) in all variants remained king, but in the last decades Hungarian Langos (German spelling: Langosch) bread stands and Ramen/Udon Noodle soup kitchens had popped up everywhere. Sushi could often found too, but not as much. The big Burger chains had dependences in the CP as well, but far from OTL levels, since TTL as early as 1984 the Guide Michelin judged: “The idea of the ‘Burger’ is a sound one and should be used to create a European variant. Since in it´s existing form the US-Burgers are an attempt of the Concord-Alliance to poison and diminish our European-Japanese cuisine traditions with half- cooked Anglo-Saxon muck.”

2011: Private office of the Kanzalaru, Tokyo, Japan Tenchi Asagawa, Head of Japan´s government, took a hidden look at the clocks on the opposite wall from his desk and wished that local time would be one of those shown there. The taxing meeting he was in would have been over. Despite the special world time piece integrated in his desk´s computer array, Tenchi liked the old-fashioned analogue display chronometers. The first wall chronometers had been installed in 1923, during the reconstruction of the government quarter after the Great Kanto earthquake. The leftmost chronometer showed the time on Japanese Hawaii, 19 hours “behind” Tokyo, the next showed the time in Edmundsstadt (OTL Edmonton)/ German Kanada, while two small displays below showed the time in Speeburg (OTL Vancouver) and Garrysburg (OTL Winnipeg/former Fort Garry hence the German name), the other two most important cities in Rupprechtsland. To the right the next clock showed Toronto´s time, the capital of Canada. Then came the clock for Paris and Madrid, both following GMT. The next chronometer showed Middle European Time, the time of Berlin and Budapest. Then came Kiew´s time and the clock on the far right showed Japanese Burma and French Indochina time. Tenchi knew that his feelings for the old-style clocks were personal taste mixed with nostalgia, but he was rooted fast in the modern times. Unfortunately, this could not be said about Keichi Isade, leader of the ‘Shogunate Party’, one of the other two people in the office. The SP was the gathering of the most conservative and traditional Japanese found. The ‘Shogunates’ were a small fringe movement, most Japanese joked excessively (for Japanese standards) about them, but they were a headstrong minority and by tradition the leader of the political factions had a right to private meetings with the head of government.. And the Shogunate made lot of use of this common law, far more than other political parties. So Tenchi was pleased that Tomoe Sunda, leader of his coalition party, had made his way to the office at the same time as Isade and shared the tirade. For already one hour the two men had to hear complains about the ‘unjapanese’ influences burrowing into the foundations of Japan. This time the main topics were the hair colour of the Japanese children and the import of European Mangas. It turned out Isade had read an article in the Asahi Shimbun, that with the birth of a natural blond Japanese girl two days ago, there were 1400 such children living in Japan and there several thousand more who had blue or green eyes.

Isade went on an on that this was the result of working/living together with Europeans for generations, the Germans especially, since they lived on nearby Hokkaido. Bi-national marriages introduced European traits in the Japanese´s East Asiatic gene pool, which could show up even generations later in otherwise full Japanese children. At the moment this was concentrated in northern and central Honshu. Soon Japan would be blond and blue-eyed like many Germans were! Both Tenchi and Tomoe had no idea how such an event could occur, considering Japan had 251 million inhabitants, but better not disturb the rant, the sooner it would be over. The other topic was the import of European Mangas. When in the thirties of the last century the first US-‘comics’ began to spread into the Central Powers Sphere, attempts were made to create own versions of these picture stories. Some were failures, some were successes. In Japan, these attempts became known as Mangas. The specific drawing style with big, expressive eyes, small mouths and other distinctive features became a big success in the Land of the Rising Sun. At first ‘funnies’ like the comics they were based on, soon the writers and drawers in Japan widened the topics. Science-Fiction, Romance, Fantasy, even Philosophy and cooking! In the European Mittelmächte, Mangas became known as well, but their breakthrough took it´s time. In the sixties finally Mangas became a fast feature of the book and newspaper shops in Europe. The Europeans had created some successful comic formats themselves, but the distinctive style and the very broad range of topics tackled in the Manga stories secured them a place. By the late eighties, some European writers began to develop own stories in Manga- style. The first widely read one was a Manga version of the old German sci-fi comic series Nick der Weltraumfahrer (Nick, The Space Traveller). Over time, several of these European series gained a foothold in Japan and by 2011 it was commonplace to see European and Japanese Mangas intermixed in the various book and Mangastores in Nippon. No one thought this to be odd, well, except some like Isade. Finally, after giving Tenchi Asagawa advice how to stop this influx cold and believing he made his point, a pleased Keichi Isade left the bureau. “Wow, these Shogunates are really one of a kind, are they not?” asked Tomoe.

“Hai, so desu! (Yes, so it is). But it is good that they exist; showing us what we could have become, save for Meji-Sama´s bold choice to lead Nihon out of the tradition-encrusted Tokugawa Age. If people like Isade would have prevailed in leading Japan, we would surely have become pawns of the other Great Powers, a broken colony. Look at us now: We modernised with the Germans and some others help, yes, under their influence we abandoned Kanji and Katakana, leaving only Hiragana and Romanji as used alphabets. We were influenced by Germany´s way to build and some of their social norms and culture, we took in parts of their and our other European allies cuisine in addition to ours and we were and are influenced by them to this day and will be in the future as well. But this wasn´t all a one way street. We exported parts of our culture to them. Our language is now one of the most important worldwide, with millions of children on 4 continents learning Nihongo as first, second or third language. We are the 4 th most populous nation and one of the top four economies in the world. Our flag flies over the pockmarked surface of the Moon and the red plains and mountains of Mars. We are the foremost power in East Asia, even the Yanks and Beijing have to admit that. I, and I believe almost all of our compatriots, would never exchange all that our ancestors and we create in the last 1 ½ centuries for a serene, traditional but subjugated Japan the Tokugawa would have led us in.”

Theodore Roosevelt High School, Charleston, South Carolina, USA

The Concord-Alliance Founding: June 1864 as the Concordia of the British Empire and the Principality of Mysore Type: Military Alliance, since 1956 Military and Economic The 4 leading nations: British Empire, United States of America, Ottoman Empire, Italy Members (as of May 2011): British Empire, Chile, Dominion of Australia, Greece, Italy, Ottoman Empire, Panama, Portugal, USA, Zuid-Afrika

The Central Powers, official name: Die Mittelmächte Founding: September 1864 as the Zweibund of the Empires of Germany and Hungary Type: Military Alliance, since 1922 Military and Economic The 4 leading nations: Germany, Japan, France, Hungary Members (as of May 2011):Bulgaria, Canada, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, Japan,