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Springtime of Nations II: A European Republic Quest

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I have some questions:

1. Do we have any options to sponsor or activate sympathetic movements or pro-republican/autonomy movements in the League to help us?

2. Is there any way we can import food, raw materials or other goods through a third party like one of the Balkan states?

3. As mentioned earlier, are we taking in any volunteers from abroad either as guest workers or for the military?
 
Traveller76 said:
I have some questions:

1. Do we have any options to sponsor or activate sympathetic movements or pro-republican/autonomy movements in the League to help us?

2. Is there any way we can import food, raw materials or other goods through a third party like one of the Balkan states?

3. As mentioned earlier, are we taking in any volunteers from abroad either as guest workers or for the military?
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1. Voting for any of the numerous party programs that had this as one of their planks in the previous turns. At this point, presumably, what infrastructure and organization we've managed to build will spin up its action on its own.

2. The Entente is neutral and will likely not impose a blockade until we start winning decisively. Trade through our ports on the German Bight will proceed unimpeded except by Russian and Scandinavian commerce raiding. Likewise trade transshipped through the Netherlands, Belgium, and France, with the exception that this may be impeded rather less, if at all, by Russian and Scandinavian commerce raiding.

3. Below the level of abstraction.
 
OOC: Imagine versions of this pamphlet in various languages like Danish, Swedish, German, Polish, Russian etc in the League.

WHO WILL PAY FOR THIS WAR?​
FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS, there is no doubt you have received news of war between the Triple Alliance of Germany, Italy, and Spain and the Imperial League of Austria, Russia, and Scandinavia. You will have read about this in the newspapers, perhaps you have already heard the patriotic speeches in the town squares and in the church pews. You will have heard about sacrifice, duty to God and Country and national honor, perhaps even words about how the war will be quick and over before Christmas and every solider will come home in medals and glory. We have one question for you however.

Who will pay for this war?
​
Will it be the owner of the large estates as they collect the crops for taxes? Will it be the owners of the factories supplying munitions and equipment to the Armed Forces? Will it be the Nobility who will lead the troops from the safety of the rear? Will it be the owners of the utilities who can raise prices to any amount now that the war is happening? They will not pay, they will gain vast profits from this war and live in comfort while others serve.


What about the wives, sisters and mothers, the fathers and grandfathers who will lose their young men to war? What about the veteran solider, crippled and broken, unable to find work? What about the people forced off their lands that they have had for generations? The villages who will lose their young people to war or who have to emigrate for work? What of the orphans and widows who have to struggle to survive? They will be the ones to pay as they have in previous wars.

Why fight for a system that throws you away?​

Instead of taking this punishment, you should change the system! The mines, factories, the railroads should belong to be people who use and operate them! You should be able to decide your government, with freedom of language and religion and voting for both men and women. Your children should have free education to let them advance and the elderly should be cared for.

You should not pay for other's man's pride!
​
 
Adhoc vote count started by Whenyouseeyou on Jun 15, 2023 at 8:29 PM, finished with 162 posts and 118 votes.
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I'm still in favour of Case Eagle, mostly for political reasons rather than the military ones already outlined. Our pretext for this war only involves Austria, not our other enemies. If we take a defensive posture on the other two fronts, then it looks a little bit less like we're making a play to become hegemon of Europe, and a little bit more like we're just trying to unite the German nation once and for all.

It almost worked in the leadup to World War 2, and it might be helpful now. Some decision-makers in other countries will be inclined to let us go that far if we can be stopped from going any further, which will affect their calculations in a way that works in our favour.
 
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    • Scheduled vote count started by Etranger on Jun 14, 2023 at 10:28 PM, finished with 168 posts and 120 votes.
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    • The September 1897-November 1897 update is now posted on Patreon for all $5 patrons and above. It will remain there for about 24 hours and then I'll post it in the thread. Thank you to everyone, patron or otherwise, for your continued support and participation.
     
    Given the war, these are probably somewhat inaccurate now.

    Stats Comparison 1895 to 1893

    Format is Current vs. Past

    Demographics
    62.77 million people vs. 61.05 million people
    48.96 million eligible voters vs. 47.62 million eligible voters.
    78% eligible voters vs. 78% eligible voters
    1.4% pop growth vs. 1.9% pop growth

    Social Reforms

    Base income is now Adequate and has stopped growing.

    Community Depots and Progressive Education are new. They are Minimal and growing.

    Foreign Affairs

    We are now at Adequate in the new Overall category for diplomatic relations, worsening with the US, and we are also worsening with France and Britain.

    External relations are adequate and no longer improving for the US and Britain.


    War

    The professional army is now Large and has stopped growing in quantity.

    The conscript reserve is at Huge and has stopped growing in quantity.

    The gendarmerie is at Medium and has stopped growing in quantity. Equipment has started improving.

    The Marinewehr training is now at Adequate and has stopped improving. Quantity and Equipment have begun improving.

    Fort quality has ticked up to Adequate and shipyard quality is now improving.

    Interior


    Finance

    In Principal Debtors, the US has gone up to Large.

    Commerce

    Economic Growth has stopped decreasing. It is now Medium.

    Commercial Output has dropped to High.

    Commercial Growth has stopped decreasing. It is now Low.

    Public Works

    Power generation and proliferation are now Adequate.
    Education

    Secondary education quality is now High and has stopped improving.
     
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    The Great Eastern War: September 1897-November 1897
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    • The Great Eastern War: September 1897-November 1897​

    The first shots of what will come to be known as the Great Eastern War are fired on October 13, 1897, as German troops cross the German-Polish border and open fire on the Russian troops stationed there. However, this is not a simple regional conflict; gunfire soon echoes out in Austria, Bohemia, Denmark, Italy, and on the Baltic and Mediterranean Seas. This is true war, a kind of general warfare not seen since the fall of Napoleon almost a hundred years earlier, and it shows no sign of quickly abating.

    Jutland
    An objective of surprising urgency for its small size and the limited capabilities of its nation, the Jutland peninsula is the site of the first true pitched battle of the war, as the soldiers of IX Army under General Richter sweep into Scandinavian Denmark with a vengeance. They are met by the Royal Scandinavian Army (in actuality three armies) outside Padborg, where Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian soldiers have assembled to fend off the inevitable German invasion.

    The Scandinavians have done a creditable job of setting up fortifications outside the city, both permanent and field works, and so Richter does not oblige them by simply charging in headlong. Instead, IX Army's heavy artillery, including a pair of superheavy rail guns, begin reducing the fortifications, albeit with limited material effect to the actual concrete and earthworks. What the rail guns do manage is to tank Scandinavian morale, as most of the soldiers seem to believe that the entire defense was a doomed effort from the start, and few soldiers are eager to defend a useless peninsula in the face of superior German numbers and firepower.

    A week of heavy shelling later, Richter orders the advance at dawn. Frazzled and sleep-deprived from constant bombardment, the Scandinavian soldiers nevertheless put up a serious effort at holding off the Landwehr for several hours, but ultimately buckle under the sheer weight of rifle and cannon fire just after noon. Cohesion among the Scandinavian forces finally breaks down completely when the senior Swedish general orders the retreat without consulting his Danish and Norwegian counterparts. While the Swedish forces retreat in reasonably good order, the other two armies are in chaos and manage to extract themselves much less cleanly. All three generals are thoroughly disheartened when the Germans simply keep coming after them, and after another pair of brief skirmishes, the retreat turns into a rout.

    Only about half of the Scandinavian soldiers previously deployed to Jutland manage to retreat to the island of Fyn via the Great Belt ferries; the rest are killed, wounded, or captured, including several high-ranking officers and, most notably, the Norwegian general. Having thereby disarmed the Scandinavians of the Sword of Damocles hanging over northern Germany, General Richter sets up defensive positions along the eastern side of the peninsula and orders the rest garrisoned.

    Western Poland
    The Russian Imperial Army responds to the German declaration of war by nearly pre-empting Landwehr movements, deploying multiple divisions from no fewer than twelve different armies in a three-pronged attack on Stettin in Pomerania, Kustrin in Brandenburg, and Breslau in Silesia. Their aim, it seems, is to overwhelm the Republic with sheer numbers and thereby seize eastern Germany: a quick, decisive knockout blow.

    Unfortunately for the Russian commander, his army groups are only half-mobilized and he faces three full commands of the Landwehr along the Oder: I, III, and IV Armies, under the overall command of General Schmidt. The numerical advantage is still in Russia's favor, but by nowhere near as much as might otherwise be hoped on the Russian side. Russian forces hit I Army at Kustrin, III Army at Stettin, and IV Army at Breslau, laying siege to the extensive fortifications and defensive works at all three points.

    Despite multiple spirited infantry charges and a reasonably heavy artillery bombardment, German forces are stuck fast in their positions and repulse each attack with storms of rifle, cannon, and machine gun fire. This is the first incidence of the Maxim gun, a weapon that recently came into general circulation in the Landwehr, being fired in wartime. The efficacy of barbed wire, proven during the German Civil War, quickly becomes apparent as multiple Russian infantry and cavalry maneuvers are stymied by lengths of the twisty stuff.

    Russian hopes begin to die as two more German armies, VII and VIII, are rapidly redeployed from their aborted offensives via rail. VII Army strikes south from Kolberg at the Russian forces besieging Stettin while VIII Army loops up from Oppeln to support IV Army at Breslau. Both army groups strike their respective targets from the side and rear, encircling vast numbers of Russian troops and squeezing them in an unbreakable vise. After nearly a week of fighting, the two trapped Russian commanders give up within days of each other.

    The Russian army commander besieging Kustrin breaks off his fruitless attack and begins to retreat back toward Poznan, but is hit on the march by I and VIII Armies, leading to a pitched battle near Lake Bledno in which the Russians again receive the worst of the fighting, forcing them into a rout. In the general advance following the partial collapse of the Russian front, the Landwehr seizes Danzig, Poznan, Lodz, and Częstochowa, thoroughly outrunning its supply tether in the process. A brief effort at a further push is attempted toward Plock in the hopes that it would open the door to Warsaw, but the Russian defensive effort seems to have stabilized along the Elblag-Plock-Kielce-Krakow line, and General Schmidt calls a halt near the end of November to regroup and reinforce.

    Bohemia
    VI Army under General Dillinger strikes out from Dresden in a lightning attack, aiming to punch through the favorable terrain near Zittau into Bohemia proper and then loop around to hit the pass at Aussig from behind. This typically audacious maneuver runs into determined Austrian resistance at Gabel, where VI Army is bogged down for the better part of two weeks trying to dislodge the Austrian V and VI Armies. Despite the delay, balloon recon eventually informs Dillinger of a weak spot in the Austrian defensive line, at which point a crack division made up of ex-Red Guards promptly blows through it and wreaks havoc in the defenders' rear echelon.

    As German troops pour through the opening, the Austrians are forced to retreat back toward Prague lest they be encircled or broken up, allowing Dillinger to complete his longed-for maneuver and seize Aussig from behind. Despite having length left on its supply lines, VI Army is exhausted and depleted from the start-stop-start of it all, and local republican partisans inform Dillinger that Prague is heavily fortified. Consequently, VI Army stops outside Leipa to allow the supply train to catch up and reinforce its numbers.

    Austria
    II and V Army, under the command of General Speyer, attack across the Inn at two points, with II Army moving from Passau toward Mayrhof and V Army moving from Traunstein toward Salzburg. Both river crossings are hotly contested by the Austrian and Russian defensive forces present, but the antiquated static fortifications that the Austrians rely on are insufficient to deal with rail-pulled superheavy artillery's demoralizing force or the sheer riverine dominance that the Marinewehr brings to bear. By the middle of November, both crossings are in smoking ruins, much of the Austrian river fleet is at the bottom of the Inn, and the German armies are over the river.

    Austro-Russian forces attempt to regroup outside Linz and repulse the German advance, but are dealt a shocking defeat in the first battle near Eferding. The second battle, waged on the outskirts of the city itself, is much harder-fought, and both German armies take moderate casualties as they advance. However, it is the League commander's nerve that breaks first, and the joint force retreats further down the Danube, continually harassed by German river monitors throughout the process, rather than continue to lose more troops over a doomed city. Having satisfied the terms of his orders, General Speyer sets up his field headquarters in Linz and begins preparing for the next attack.

    Italy
    Though possessed of equivalent numbers and superior troop quality, the Allied force in Italy faces some of the most forbidding natural and man-made defenses in Europes: the Austrian Alpine Line. As such, the Italo-Spanish force principally restricts itself to a series of limited probing offensives, keeping up a staccato rhythm of half-assaults and feigned attacks to keep the League defenders pointlessly on guard while recon forces map out the forts' weaknesses. Casualties are modest, and mostly on the Allied side, but the siege of the Alps remains firm at the end of the fall.

    The Baltic
    Upon the official outbreak of war, the German North Sea Squadron transits the Karl-Marx-Canal and links up with the Baltic Squadron, combining the whole of Germany's sea-going might into a single force. However, rather than remain together and seek out a pitched battle, the Marinewehr disperses into hunting packs, each centered around three or four of Germany's surprisingly heavy armored cruisers. These packs begin preying on League shipping in the Baltic while blocking traffic through the Oresund, forcing the combined Russo-Scandinavian fleet to deploy and fight several desultory running battles.

    Perhaps the most decisive engagement of the season comes when Danish, Swedish, and Russian naval squadrons converge between Jutland and Fyn to shield the retreat of the Scandinavian armies. Thus pinned in place, the entire Marinewehr descends on the lead elements of the League fleet from multiple directions, managing to successfully isolate and sink a Russian battleship and its escorts while also savaging numerous Scandinavian light ships. Once the bulk of the combined fleet arrives, the Marinewehr vessels disperse again.

    The Mediterranean
    The fate of the Mediterranean is determined in late November when a battleship squadron from the Russian Black Sea Fleet attempts to enter the Adriatic Sea and break the Italo-Spanish blockade. The Austrian Imperial Navy sails out to assist, while the combined Allied fleet is attacked from two sides.

    A day's worth of fighting later, in which the Alliance ships first turn on and destroy in detail the Russian squadron before about-facing to confront and defeat the Austrians, and the Imperial League ceases to present a meaningful maritime threat in the southern naval theater.
     
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