Tu felix Austria... (Interwar Austria)

[Viribus Unitis]

Spoiler

While I've read Wealth of nations and a few economy basics books and have studied in my own time, I'm more general on my knowledge and a bit of what I say is extrapolations and assumptions based on what I know and can guess will logically happen, but thanks for your faith in me
As for the economic side I really like the little change you made that will have a profound effect on the west and more, if only because of the delayed onset of it all giving a potential slower start to recovery and build up against potential threats in the form of future Germany and USSR (possible even making the British more favorable to appeasement and thus give a certain man more leeway into deciding the fate of a few nations in Europe. And I still personally believe when the Depression hits it will be a deeper blow, though not by a significant margin).
The British and French rivalry on the seas depending on when it's conducted could act as a stop gap measure to shore up some work and salaries for their shipyards, but would be as you pointed out wasteful since the ships themselves would have limited value in the next decade or so and would be rather obsolete when tensions come to a blaze. The political effect depending on how casual or serious an affair it is taken as may endear both nations to each other or push them away creating a less united front on handling foreign policy in Europe.
On the matter of character writing and already existing people and/or OCs. I would just suggest giving yourself a lot more creative freedom and not going down the hole of meticulously researching the life and manners of certain personages just so you can write them with a high level of historic accuracy. My suggestion would be having pure OCs, or characters based on certain people you want to write about and put in the story. That would give you the opportunity to have a basis for said character and have you build him up in your vision or to what you think would befit the scenario and position they have found themselves in.
Going back to the economic side of things, while they will be rather catastrophic on most nations, this effect will be minimized and recovered from quicker in some nations than otl.
Austria of course will still suffer but not to the point of near economic collapse, simple because of the won war, the silver and gold they have found themselves in possession of, the expanded territories and more. Now you did mention that with the end of the war, military production that has been heightened to, most likely, ridiculous degrees would suddenly become of little use to the nation and generally unprofitable.
That in combination with The Great Depression will create a few years of turmoil and economic uncertainty, which afterwards would rapidly (in comparison with the US for example) be recovered from and as with the end all such periods a tenuous prosperity will follow. Which depending on how the government handles it could continue for a while in a stable upturn or have a follow-up crash (however unlikely that may be when the story is about Austria). But with their strength and new more dominant position in the region combined with the future economic stability/boom will grant them great influence over their neighbors and especially Germany.
Austria could indeed become a lifeline of support in their most dire times. Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Yugoslavia would end up in a lot more uncertain (as of yet) position in this new Central European situation and will either close up most trade with Austria in an attempt to shore up their "independence" and such or be brought back much closer in the sphere of influence.
As for Italy, they will most likely be a nation paralyzed in all of its functions for the better part of a decade if not more, and that is assuming mercy is granted to them.
Thanks for the extra info man, it's been fun thinking about it and all the consequences it will have.

Click to shrink...

I'll leave most of this standing just as is.

There is already a hint to a certain man in an earlier snip. At last if you are refering to who I think you are...

Britain and France had a race to who supplied more ships to the embargo. It had some knock on effect, not least that a certain Tory backbencher is shouting for more, better, modern ships, but overall a harmless show of pride. As is, the worst was straining two peace time Navies with little additional budget freed up for the task to their limit. As currently planned, ultimately not something that will have a large impact. Yugoslavia, Albania, Greece and Turkey with their participation in the embargo will have more of an effect.

On characters and story arcs. A lot is down for what I find inspiration. There were a few ideas here and there... But I've not yet found anything that half way flows. Maybe I'll manage something closer to the levers of power, maybe not.

And now on to...

Aus dem Schützengraben zu den Sternen, Part 2

30.4.1929​

It wasn't quite a trench line like on the Isonzo, but they'd put in good work since they landed. And it was a good thing that they'd done so, since they'd need them. Even a single Fiat 3000 would be murder on infantry caught in the open. And he could make out several armed with machine guns, even outnumbering the ones with canons.

Ten years ago, he'd have despaired. Now however, they were a bit better equipped.

"Keep your heads down, we've got air support moving in", he reminded his men beside him.

They simply nodded, they knew the drill. Felix resisted turning around, knowing that the howitzers were emplaced and ready at the other side of the river. He did however glanced over to the abandoned farmhouse to their south, where they had emplaced one of their three Oerlikon canons. Tests in Switzerland had shown that those would blow right through a standard Renault FT, and the same should be true for the Italian Fiats. However with their refits and new builds the Italians had played around with different armour plates. He was aware of some that might cause them problems, but had no idea if any of them were actually deployed. He suspected that there was some dimly lit office somewhere in the Evidenzbüro where someone knew more, but he hadn't been told.

Then two Drachen swooped down, their two nose mounted canons booming as they dived down, before the bombs fell out of their open bays, falling amongst the Italian tanks, hiding several of them behind sprays of earth. Then another pair dived in, repeating the attack. A third one followed shortly after, coming in from the south-east.

"Still no sign of any infantry support for them." Jiri noted, headphones on, deeply nestled in the same hole as Felix.

He simply nodded, waiting for Schwarz signal. And then, just as the enemy reached the 1500m mark their howitzers started firing. Just as they themselves they were dug in very well, and the Fiats would need a lot of luck to score a hit on them. The tanks were less lucky, an unlucky one receiving a direct hit from one of the first four shells that were fired.

Felix then gave a signal to Lukas, causing the pyromaniac to grin widely. Several more explosions rang over the field, those having nothing to do with any shells, and everything with preparation. Another tank started burning, and at least two stopped to a halt, probably damage to their tracks.

Several tank started firing back. Probably more to do something, anything, than truly aimed. They didn't have the elevation to engage the aircraft, even if they hadn't already climbed even further. The firing angles of the howitzers were all wrong for the 37mm to respond to, let alone the machine guns. And the rest of them hadn't yet opened fire.

On that thought their three 20mm canons opened up. The three lead tanks stopped dead, one of them even exploding rather spectacular. There seemed to be a pause, but it might just have been perception. Still, the Italians took a long moment to orientate themselves to their new targets and started firing at them. In the time it took them for that, three more had been destroyed.

Felix could see that to the back at least one tank crew had bailed out and was running from the battlefield. While the tank troops held themselves to a certain elite standard, seeing more than half of their number destroyed in a blink of an eye still took a toll. Seeing this, their light machine guns opened up, firing special armour piercing ammunition. They were supplied enough of them, and the tanks they faced were supposed to be the only ones this far east in Italy.

Another tank blew up, with several fully on fire. This seemed to be the last straw, the remaining few crews abandoning their vehicles.

Felix left his Schützenloch, several men following him immediately. There were enemies to secure, and the, again, hold until relieved.

Spoiler

For once halfway happy with the fighting. Even if it still feels somewhat sterile, detached... But Felix is one of the few man who stayed in the Army since the last war and kept on soldiering, so some of that fits the character.

 

[Viribus Unitis]

Spoiler

Something that I probably should have dug up sooner. It existed in a very basic form for a while. Should add in nicely to economics discussions

Gamper, Hans (1988): Introduction to Twentieth Century Austria, Bozen: Tyrolia Verlag

Czechoslovakia


To an observer now it might seem odd that for a short while after the Great War Czechoslovakia and Austria were at odds. With their relative small size, common interests and shared history they would nowadays appear to be natural allies, but that wasn't always so.

When the Habsburg Dual Monarch broke up, at the end of the Great War, relations were strained. A lot of this is down to the fact that nationalists dominated this early Czechoslovak state, people who had campaigned for a separate state for years by that point and had little love for anything Austrian, Hungarian or least of all, Habsburg. Some of them had been exiles, some of them had fought in the various Czechoslovak Legions against the Dual Monarchy, others, like Czechoslovakia's first Prime Minister Karel Kramář had even been in prison for treason.

Records show that there were attempts from the very beginning to renew relations, but in those early years from 1918 to 1920 they mostly went unheard. Despite this, rumours persist that material aid was offered from Austria to Czechoslovakia both during the Polish-Czechoslovak War as well as against the Hungarian puppet Soviet Republic in Slovakia*.

It was in late 1920, after the Austrian nationalist Christian-Socialist Party gained a majority, that relations started to noticeable get better. The Brno Accords deal with a wide range of topics, removing a lot of obstacles in the continued cooperation between the two nations. It cleared questions as to the remaining public debt of the Habsburg Monarchy, it resolved outstanding disputes over ownership, notably the Skoda Chemical Works at Moosbierbaum, and cleared the status of Czechoslovak citizens working and living in Austria. Notably many of those questions were solved in favour of Czechoslovak interests.

In this phase one can also observe a change in Czechoslovak public discussions towards Austria. Blame for past real and imagined slights is more and more shifted towards the Monarchy and Hungary, and away from Austria. This might be down to political rapprochement, but might also have been down to a genuine political shift in sentiment, as the nationalist Czech National Democratic Party lost influence, and several Sudeten German parties gained influence.

It was also in 1920 that one high profile project started, to the annoyance of the Christian-Socialist's own right wing, that stood as a symbol of Austrian appeasement towards Czechoslovakia. This was the founding of the Bohemian gymnasium in Vienna, providing Czech language schooling. It taught in a way that students would graduate with both Czech and Austrian Matura. The school books that were provided there were also sold to Czechoslovak schools at a very low price. This is still credited by many scholars as an important counterpoint to a developing anti-Austrian view point in national Czechoslovak historiography.

Several other treaties and accords followed over the next decade, gradually increasing ties. Important were the at the time overlooked Gmünd Treaty of 1924. While several economic partnerships were introduced into it, such as the one that allowed joint developments of Puch and Skoda to dominate car racing circles for nearly a quarter century, there were several secret clauses included. Some are kept secret to this day, but from what had become known it created the basis for adopting a common rifle cartridge and detailed military purchases that were used to create and train the Austrian Shadow Army. It is speculated that some of the still secret clauses dealt with tank development and the training of Austrian tankers in Czechoslovakia.

Other treaties dealt with reaffirmation of standards due to a joint heritage, or creation of new ones, easier access to the others labour markets and better access to markets. A lot dealt with the shipments of iron, both as ore and processed, from Austria into Czechoslovakia, and coal going the other way.

While access had been disrupted for a couple of years, a lot of companies were happy to reaffirm and deepen old ties from the Monarchy. Economic ties deepened to the point where, with both countries still on the same gold standard, in the border areas as well as some parts of Vienna one could pay with Austrian Kronen and Czech Koruna interchangeable.

Czechoslovakia deploying two brigades of their Army in support of Austria in the Austro-Italian war making them a de-facto co-belligerent was rightfully seen as a catalyst for still deepening relations.


*I dislike the English translation of that one, but it's the accepted one. That one has nothing to do with Soviet Russia, and everything with Socialist Hungary (also called the Soviet Republic, different from the post WW2 People's Republic). I in fact like the term "Räterepublik" better, since the Hungarian one is from what I understand closer to what happened in Germany than Russia, but that's the common convention.

Spoiler

To be honest, if you want a stronger, democratic independent interwar Austria, you're best bet is probably closer ties to Czechoslovakia. That isn't easy and means giving up other things (like a Habsburg restauration in Austria), but it gives a fighting chance. There are probably people who can point out holes in this one all day long, but for now it'll have to do. And there are even a couple things that just didn't want to fit in, like how both countries started to be a "Schutzmacht", a protective power for the minorities in the other.

 

[Viribus Unitis]

Aus dem Schützengraben zu den Sternen, Part 3

4.5.1929​

Felix threw himself again a tree again. Somewhere ahead someone was firing at them. One of their carbine model Carcanos if he was right. At least it wasn't their own guys shooting at them again, and hadn't that been a laugh when the Heimwehr jokers who were to relieve them turned up and promptly shot at them. That there were Fiat tanks around was no excuse for that, they were clearly not in an operational condition.

Sebastian once again untied to surplus helmet he carried at his belt. That thing had several dents by now, showing that there actually were Italians that could shoot accurately. As he slowly raised it, suspended on the butt of the rifle, the Italian took a shot.

There, that bush was moving. Felix carefully lined up a shot and fired himself, a scream showing that he had hit something. A return shot however showed that it wasn't vital, or that he had buddies. It seemed that at the very least the Italian commander in Adelsberg* had seen what was coming. Unlike many other, who had been caught off guard when Austrian troops moved through the Friaul and then started mopping up the border troops towards Yugoslavia, he had used the time to quickly extend the fortifications around the town towards threats from their side as well. It made them a pain to dig out.

For all the pain they were, he didn't envy those German coal miners from the Ruhr. They hadn't learned the military lesson to never volunteer, unless you are the elite, and even then only when clearly thought through. They had found themselves with those nifty, if somewhat raw new pattern machine pistols, some Czech imported body armour, and the order to dig out the Italians from the natural caves of the area and the extensions they had dug all around and across the border.

Not waiting for the Italians in the bushes to find their courage, he gave a quick hand signal. Lukas pulled an egg grenade from his bandoleer, something that was decidedly not standard gear, and threw it forward. A bang, then shrapnel hitting the tree he hid behind. A good reminder that while grenades had an expected kill radius, it was the unexpected that killed you. In pairs they moved forwards, again and again ducking behind trees. They quickly reached the suspicious bush, and found that there had in fact been two Italians. Neither had survived the grenade. And neither held any clue where the bunker that was supposedly on this hill was hidden. There had been a clear path of new growth that might have been used as a road a few years ago, but it ended in the middle of nowhere. It might as well have been just some wild or not so wild forestry operation. As they fanned out they had then come under fire.

"Right, back to the path. Let's see if Schwarz had managed to scare up those old recon photos that got us sent out here." he told his men.

It was drudge work, but it had to be done. He knew the man were looking forward to a night in town. The locals back in the city had been far warmer than the last few stops, the fact that their new occupiers not just didn't frown on spoken Slovenian, but in many cases actually spoke it, or at least something close enough to make themselves understood, certainly helped. And it had been a popular tourist destination, with all the comforts that implied.

As they nearly arrived at the clearing that was the end of the path, Sebastian tripped. Felix nearly started to scold him, but the Gefreite had stopped. He hit the dirt again and again. Wood on the ground, below a layer of dirt. Not something uncommon in the woods, especially somewhere where logging might have taken place not too long ago. But as more and more wood was revealed it became clear that it wasn't some branch or even stump. It was clearly wood planks from a sawmill, not some random detritus.

"Everyone, grenades ready. Gruber was so polite to announce us with knocking, no need to disappoint our guest by not bringing gifts."


*German for the city of Postojna

Spoiler

You might want to look up the Postojna Cave, it's quite impressive. It wasn't the only cave in the area and the Italians heavily fortified it OTL, since there was a railway running though the town. I don't know the exact date for the cross-border tunnels, but I'm simply including them here.

 

[Viribus Unitis]

Gygax, Josef: Mercenary. Part 2

18.4.-1.5.1929​

I talked to a few man, and just as I though most were easy to convince. There were a few who hesitated, mostly over a girl, and I reassured them that they didn't have to come. That alone convinced more to join with my idea anyway. The entire thing was made easier by me spinning a tale spanning the centuries, of the great Swiss mercenary tradition.

In the end I raided my savings to equip this mob, though the pay out at the end promised by the Austrians and backed with Zürich banking, would more than make up for it. I played my contacts and managed to appropriate first line Army equipment for us, enough for 80 men. It was there that I learned that Austria was buying up the G11 rifles from stockpiles, and the Army had decided to use this to go ahead with adopting a new rifle as they had planned for a while. This also meant that our cartridges suddenly got added to the Austrian logistics on a large scale, and that they were providing more of a bonus as a result. When I did the calculations afterwards It turned out to be more than enough to retire to some European colony with enough land to never leave it again. Or as it were, enough money for two or three years of my party lifestyle right there in Zürich, even after I paid out some of it to the men.

At the same time I also hired Kaspar Lötscher. He'd been in some trouble recently over public indecency and similar, mostly down to some of the new synthetic drugs that were turning up. I had known him however as a Major in the Army, and a good man. So I'd put him in charge, officially of the second Zug I'd formed, but for all practical purpose of the entire unit that I'd created. He certainly was better trained for it than I.

We then boarded the train to Feldkirch to cheering crowds. I hadn't been aware that it war was this popular, the volunteer I had known about having moved alone or in small groups without public notice. There also hadn't been a lot of media attention to Swiss volunteers, though several papers had noted that the Liechtensteiner Regiment was more Swiss than Liechtenstein.

The train ride passed in a celebratory mood, beer and cigarettes were passed out, making me doubt the entire thing for the first time. I'd seen the whole thing as an adventure, I'd sold them on an adventure, but they were acting like a group of schoolboys on the way to their first vacation without parental supervision. They'd all had their Army training, but I was now worried about how they'd react when they might not have a warm meal for days, no beds to sleep in, getting shot at by the enemy all day and most problematic of all, lacking the certainty of going home immediately if something goes wrong.

When we dismounted the train in Austria I was surprised that there were several young woman waiting at the station platform. They dutifully checked passports before allowing them into the station building and the wider city. When they arrived at our group, the lead one did a double take, all of us wearing army uniforms and rifles, and then simply told us to join the other volunteers on the other side of the city. She even detached one of her girls as a guide.

I was surprised to learn that this sorting station for "volunteers" usually served as a court house. An old man, a judge, even told me when we got talking that sentencing was easy at that time. If you were guilty, you went to the penal battalion. If you were innocent, you went to the training battalion. Easy as that.

Processing went surprisingly quickly, though they wanted pretty detailed information on all men. We were sent onwards to an empty barracks afterwards, where we were tested to ensure we actually knew what we were doing. At the same time our group was also bulked up with some more Swiss volunteers.

Three days later we boarded trains again. We were brought to Landeck and then loaded onto truck in the middle of the night. In the early morning we were told to dismount the trucks, and were greeted by a young Austrian Army officer. I remember him cynically greeting us, with the observation that since we were Swiss, we'd obviously could hike.

As I looked around what he had said sunk in. My father had been an avid mountaineer, and taken me hiking often enough. It wasn't a problem. The problem was the mountain ahead, illuminated by the early morning sun, as we in the valley were still in the dark of the night. My father had a picture of it hanging in his study, since it was the first Dreitausender he'd climbed outside of Switzerland.

Taking up position on the Ortler was a bit more than just being able to hike.

Spoiler

I had this whole rant about grand conspiracies and unintended consequences. But I'm a bit too tired to write it all up. In short: If you pull a multi-layered conspiracy where you can't be certain of the complete trustworthiness of even the inner circles? Yeah, sooner or later there are gonna be side effect. As hinted here, synthetic drugs took a step forwards in the 20s. Switzerland and Zürich especially are something of a hot spot.

The Ortler is one of those positions in WW1 that killed more soldiers than the enemy. And that front needs someone guarding it again. Who better than some Swiss mountain folk from right across the border?

 

[Viribus Unitis]

Spoiler: Disclaimer

For once not as an ALT book format, the post that might get me into serious hot water... Since most people here probably don't know it, Austria in the First Republic and in the Second Republic until 2003 was a de-facto two party nation. This went through all of society, banks, shops, roadside assistance, everything. It belonged to either the CS/ÖVP or the SDAP/SPÖ, though I realise that many people never questioned this and weren't fully aware of this. Also probably news to most under-30 people. And so is the historiography of interwar Austrian political history. It's a partisan issue, and you can get torn apart for only using the wrong nomenclature. So writing an ATL where the whole thing doesn't end in escalating tensions up to open armed conflict?
Though as planed in the future of this ATL some of those same tensions will boil over. Burgfrieden only lasts so far. And I hope you can see at least some of the seed in here.
OTL notes at the end of each section, since it seems appropriate here. Additional warning: mostly written from memory - I take correction if someone spots any obvious mistakes, espcially for the pre-1918 parts.

Parties and Paramilitaries


Christlichsoziale Partei (Christian-Socialist Party; short: CS)

The movement that became the CS started with the Maigesetz of 1868. It undid several parts of the 1855 Concordat leading to protests. Amongst the perceived most serious grievances were the transference of judicature on church marriage to secular courts, removal of all church oversight of schooling and the newly created category "no religious confession" de facto legalising atheism.

They were a catholic conservative party from the start, but in accordance with their name, they supported a lot of reforms in accordance with catholic social teachings of Pope Leo XIII. However soon after, in an attempt to show broader appeal they started closer cooperation with German nationalists and anti-Semitism. The "Christian" was seen more and more as a counterpart to the "Jewish" liberals.

It worked and the party advanced to one of the biggest of the Habsburg Monarchy, Karl Lueger as it's most famous member becoming mayor of Vienna.

After the Great War there were changes within the party. While the party basis were still the catholic milieu, the small business owners and farmers, the petite bourgeoisie, the new party leader, Nepomuk Hauser attempted to steer a new course. While with the Great War and it's deprivations still close, the return to many of their social teachings in focus was well met. An attempt to turn away from Großdeutsche and anti-Semitic through were more fraught.

While his careful manoeuvring in coalition with the Social-Democrats had been given credit to prevent the chaos of the German or Hungarian Räterepublik, after the first CS minority government in 1920 it caused party internal tensions. Hauser had to go, but his protégée Ignaz Seipel managed to continue his course. Seipel attempted an all inclusive way forwards, using the newfound mineral wealth of the nation strategically to strengthen business while at the same time taking care of the needs of the workers. From Social-Democrat side this was seen as attempting to undermine class cohesion and an attack on the proletariat, by uniting all others against them. It didn't help that there were regular clashes between between member of the (proto-)Schutzbund and the then CS close Heimwehr. This went as far that in 1924 a worker attempted an assassination of Seipel.

A steady narrow minority of CS, alone or more often in coalitions with various minor parties of the right, made for a succession of unstable governments. In the late 1920s it was the growth of small companies and the success of catholic worker movement especially in Western Austria that allowed Seipel to form a relative stable government with a clear enough majority. While he had attempted to keep open relations to the Social Democrats all along, it was this phase where he finally made some inroads, leading up to the grand coalition during the Austro-Italian war.

(Of course OTL was more difficult. The leaders OTL were more in favour of an Anschluss, more Anti-Semitic, harder on the SP. There was the incident at Schattdorf that didn't happen here, with all that rat tail that one had, poisoning any attempt of reconciliation with the SP. Also better economic growth means less austerity, that felled more than one government due to in-party conflicts, and a slightly bigger increase in voters, in turn meaning less need for closer work with the extreme right. Of course then, when Seipel in OTL offered the SP the option of a coalition in 1931 they refused it, according to later SP chancellor Kreisky they lost the last chance for a democratic Austria right then. In 33 OTL there was a CS putsch, Austria became an authoritarian dictatorship, somewhat similar in character to those of Franco, Salazar and Pilsudski. "Ständestaat" in the more conservative historiography, "Austrofascism" in the socialist one. And then of course came the Anschluss...)


Sozialdemokratische Arbeiter Partei (Social-Democrat Workers Party, short SDAP or SP)

Founded in 1888 as a socialist party encompassing all people of the Cisleithanian part of the Habsburg monarchy, the party quickly grew under the auspice of Victor Adler. They followed a social-democrat path, pushing reform over revolution. This gave them a more universal appeal. In 1907 they managed to push through the universal male suffrage* and then grew 1911 to the biggest party in the Reichsrat, due to their expanded voter base. They were one of the parties that supported the war efforts during the Great War, though there were dissidents in the party.

After the war ended they held the majority in the remains of the (German-Austrian) Reichsrat, and as such governed the country as coalition leaders, pushing through several social reforms. However the experience of the war and a shift towards the revolutionary opinions of Karl Renner and Otto Bauer lost them voters, and saw them replaced with the CS as strongest party.

It was the new more party line of Otto Bauer that caused some problems. "Austromarixms" was thought to be revolution through democracy and tried to bridge the gaps between the second (social democrat) and third (communist) International. This commitment to revolution caused friction towards the right, both in party and out of it, but at the same time a commitment to democratic process brought along a rift towards the Soviets.

Added to this actions taken by the SP caused some problems. They formed scattered paramilitary formations into the Republikanische Schutzbund, stroking fears of a violent socialist takeover. Meanwhile they also proclaimed the new party program in 1926, known as the Linzer Programm. The language used was very much that of the revolutionary far left, causing additional problems.

Meanwhile Vienna had administratively separated from it's surrounding Lower Austria. This made it the socialist stronghold in Austria, and the local government moved ahead with building it up into a socialist model city. Especially the "Gemeindebau", a socialist housing program received international attention.

While low level difficulties persisted, the lack of any high profile clashes slowly prepared the way for coalition government.

*as an aside, since before the ability to vote was tied to paying tax, this stripped all woman who could vote before this point of the ability to do so

(Of course, OTL there were those high profile clashes, and I've also left out just how Großdeutsch the party was OTL and TTL, since it doesn't fit TTL narrative – not because it didn't exist TTL. OTL after the CS putsch the SP was in several steps restricted until they became illegal(the final step came with the Februaraufstand/Austrian Civil War), some of them later claimed they found some kinship when they shared prison cells with the Nazis. Renner was OTL the highest profile proponent of the Anschluss when it happened, despite being part of the left wing of the party…)


Großdeutsche Volkspartei (Greater-German Peoples Party; short GdP)

After the Great War various German-nationalist splinter parties fused together in 1920. They basis was mostly made up by the bourgeoisie, and they were anti-Semitic, anti-clerical, economically liberal and their primary political goal was unification with Germany.

They still provided the CS the needed votes for coalition governments several times, and profited greatly from internal conflicts in that party, largely on anti-Semitism and pro-German questions.

(OTL of course they were quite similar. A minority party that provided just enough votes to tip the scale. They more and more were cannibalised by the CS and a growing NSDAP. TTL of course, CS internal conflicts over the "German Question" and anti-Semitism somewhat reverses that trend.)


Landbund (Land Association [maybe Farmland Association, maybe Rural Lands Association]; short LBd)

Founded in 1922 the Landbund was a German-nationalist Agrarian party. They were anti-capitalist, anti-liberal, anti-Semitic and pro-German. Their main supporters were larger farmers, but they also were voted for by forestry workers and owner of small businesses.

They had a different, but complementary clientele on the right to the GdP. Similarly they were called into coalitions some times. On the level of the Länder they did better than the GdP however. Especially in Carinthia and in Burgenland they managed to gather a significant following, mostly down to perceived preferential treatment of the Croat and Slovene minorities, but also the perceived threat of Yugolavia and Hungary.

(Pretty much as OTL, up to now. Slightly weaker in the two mentioned Bundesländer however. Again OTL cannibalised by the CS and NSDAP)


There were a variety of splinters and other minor parties, mostly to the right, that some that managed to gain mandate, more that didn't. The communist party was the most prominent minor party on the left, but hasn't managed to receive a mandate yet.


Heimwehr

The Heimwehren were a heterogeneous group of various paramilitary organisations that were founded more or less independent from each other. In Tyrol, Carinthia, Styria and the Burgenland they were mostly founded to protect from perceived or real encroachment of the neighbouring countries on German territories. In other places, like Vorarlberg or Vienna, they were more generally founded to combat a perceived threat of armed socialists or the perceived equally socialist Volkswehr, that later was transformed into the Bundesheer.

While generally seen as close to the CS, especially in that early period, there were significant Großdeutsche sentiments amongst the leaders of the Heimwehr. When various socialist groups were organised into the Schutzbund, this resulted in a reaction and the additional growth of the Heimwehr. Yet politically the Heimwehr was seen more and more unreliable by the CS, supporting the German-nationalist parties just as much as the CS. While their roughly 300.000 members were recruited en mass during the Austro-Italian war, plans were made to limit it's post war influence and size.

(Start pretty much as OTL, there they however were tied closer to the CS as time went on, on a general pro-German anti-Semitic platform. With increasingly political leader they also stood as their own party in later elections, the Heimatblock. Later they merged into the Vaterländische Front, the single party of the authoritarian dictatorship.)


Republikanischer Schutzbund

In 1923 Julius Deutsch formed various scattered socialist paramilitary groups into the unified Schutzbund. In this he received covert aid from head of the Bundesheer Theodor Körner. The organisation is a reaction to perceived threat from the Heimwehren and the general rough fighting in the streets. By 1929 they counted some 75.000 members, most of whom would participate in the Austro-Italian war as part of Schutzbund formations.

(Names the same, but very different from OTL. With TTL Volkswehr absorbed/reformed into the Bundesheer under Körner, there is no ready made cadre to recruit from as a basis. Though more support from Körner kept in his position makes up for a lot, as do general shadow army adjunct concepts. Of course OTL it was the Linz Schutzbund that kicked of the February Uprising/Austrian Civil War in 1934. Today we know that incentive for this had come from the NSDAP, to create in incident where they could intervene in Austria. Any way, illegality, fighting, dying, executions were in the works for the OTL Schutzbund after 1930)


Sturmschaar

By 1923 the CS leadership grew wary of some of the Heimwehr leaders and decided they needed their own paramilitary organisation, and founded the Sturmschaaren. They were recruited mostly in the west of Austria amongst catholic student, journeyman and teacher associations. While they never gathered anywhere near the membership of the Heimwehr, their close association with the CS meant that they were co-opted for the Shadow Army and received better training and equipment than their paramilitary counterparts. By 1929 they counted some 50.000 members. Taking part in the earliest fighting as Strumschaaren, they were quickly reorganised into Army units, with only the few "pure" Strumschaar units keeping their paramilitary uniforms.

(And that's completely different. OTL founded as the Östmarkische Sturmschaar in 1930, for similar doubts concerning the Heimwehr. Fought in the civil war with the Heimwehr and the Bundesheer against the Schutzbund and then were disarmed and reformed into a "cultural association" in 1936)

 

[Viribus Unitis]

Spoiler

And something new again. I teased it in an earlier post. Once again, at the beginning of the war, from yet another perspective. And some of those Tales will follow people even closer to the levers of power than this one here takes us.

Tales from the Homefront, Story 1

20.-21.4.1929​

"Fräulein Nowak", her employer called out to her.

"Ja, Herr Thaler?" she answered.

"I'm certain you aware of the current situation." he told her.

"Yes, my fiancée has been deployed to the front somewhere, he couldn't tell me details." she answered.

He paused for a moment, and then told her: "As you are aware, I work with the supply command, newly commissioned as a Major. As such I am intimately aware of the upheavals our country goes through."

She simply nodded, as he continued: "With more than half a million working man called up to fight, there is a lack everywhere. It wouldn't reflect well on my position if I kept on employing a domestic aid, if she could be used elsewhere. I'm certain my wife will hate me if she has to take care of the children on her own, but it's what it is."

She hesitated for a long moment, then asked: "Herr Thaler, are you firing me?"

"Not quite. I'd actually like to offer you a different job. With so many man moving forwards to training or front-line slots, we are short staffed. If you want you can have a job aiding combat logistics by tomorrow morning." he offered her.

-

She went through her work in a bit of a daze. Working as a domestic aid had never really been the idea of a long time career. It had been something to get some money to the side, so that she and her future husband could afford a house on their own, just as her parents had built one when she was little. She'd been aware, that after the lean couple of years immediately after the war there had been a shortage of work, but since then there had always been the chance of both partners working. It hadn't been something she had though about, but it was there.

As she slowly walked along the Schwechat towards the west of Baden and the new neighbourhoods there, the heard a familiar face calling her out.

"Cilly! I barely recognised you." she told the newcomer. Cäcilia wore a blue labourers coverall, stained all over, and had cut her hair short.

"It fits me better than the stuff my parents want me to wear, right?" Cäcilia answered. It was very different. Cilly's parents wanted nothing more than their daughter finding a good match, unlike herself.

Speaking of: "Shouldn't you still be in that finishing school, convent, internat, whatever, to learn how to snag a young nobleman in a court that didn't exist since we could barely walk?"

"I quit, obviously" Cilly told her "Walked right out and then straight into the Ministry for Industry. With the current emergency labour laws, there's nothing my dad can do about it."

"So you got a job?" she asked.

"Yeah, we're still retooling the old machine part factory, but by this time next week we'll be producing those neat little machine pistols. They call them Ersatz-Gewehr and they swear it's enough for everyone that doesn't see front line service, but might need one anyway." Cilly enthused.

"And you can do that? I though you've only been taught etiquette and dancing the last couple years." she asked.

She looked unsure for a second, before she proudly proclaimed: "We've got the normal workers still teaching us. But in a week or three they'll all be training to be soldiers, aside from a few specialists and the really old folk. We'll manage."

-

Usually she had Saturdays off, but today she woke up early and caught the tram into Vienna. The streets were empty, she couldn't remember the last time seeing so few cars on the streets. And of those underway, most drivers carried the red-white armbands showing that they had been called up to service in one way or another. The mood was otherwise subdued as well, expect for that group of young man who told her at the station to come celebrate their last days of freedom with them.

Even when she had to change trams at the usually so lively Gürtel, there was little traffic, though as she then neared the Arsenal it started to pick up a bit. As she approached one of the guards busy checking everyone who entered the complex, she was intercepted by a young man. If she remembered what Alois had taught her right, he was a cadet.

"Can I help you, Madam?" he asked her.

"Yes, Major Thaler had offered me a job, and told me to be here today if I wanted it." she answered.

"Very well. Wait here please. I've got to confirm that. What is you name?" he told her in a hurry.

"Susanna Nowak." she simply answered.

Spoiler

So I know people like Thaler. They still exist. He's got the good government job, so even if he doesn't need it he employs a domestic aid, because it gives him status. But with the war going on a man in his position can suddenly no longer afford to do so in order to keep his perceived public perception. So he's at least nice enough to actually organise another job instead of just firing her. Susanna - and yeah, the same those letters are addressed to - suddenly finds herself far closer to secrets and power than she realises yet.
Susanna and Cäcilia both come from upward mobile middle class families. Though how that manifests is a bit different. Cäcilia's parents have very clear ideas what they want for their daughter, and it isn't what she thinks she wants.

 

[Viribus Unitis]

Spoiler

I had something else planned today, but was busier than expected. So have something out of my buffer.

Interesting note: Nothing here is outright ASB. Provided financing and interest, everything could have been done OTL. Of course, the point will come where the Austrian oilfields just can't keep up with demand, but OTL there was a short while in the 1960s where Austria provided enough oil for it's own transportation needs.

Gruber, Francesca (2001): Boom and Bust. A history of the Austrian oil Cartel, Innsbruck: University Press

Austria's first oil refinery was the Raffinerie Floridsdorf, founded in 1864. At first it was supplied primarily with oil from Galicia, and then later as the rail network expanded also from Romania. During the Great War the company was considered vital for the war efforts and produced mostly fuel for the existing motorised vehicles.

After the war however, the usual sources for oil were cut off.

It had been speculated for a long time that oil was available under the Viennese basin. First exploitative drill took place in 1918, confirming this. Regular oil production started in 1919 at Zistersdorf.

In the wake of this, a second refinery was founded in Vösendorf by the Dabubia Mineralöl GesmbH.

While this early success allowed for limited production, negotiations were still underway with both Poland and Romania for renewed access to the traditional suppliers. By 1923 Czechoslovak aid allowed for a breakthrough and in cooperation with Royal Dutch Shell, and oil from Ploesti once again flowed to Vienna. It appeared that it was Shell's plan to buy out the refinery at Floridsdorf and with it large parts of the Austrian oil market, but these plans were halted by the continued profitability of it as well as Austrian efforts to organise it's oil producing and refining companies into a cartel, the OMV.

Aside from Romanian oil, effort were also made to regain access to the oil fields at Drohobycz, but the Polish government proved reluctant, especially of plans to expand production in cooperation with OMV and the transportation through Czechoslovakia.

Another partner Austria looked to was oversees. OMV had started oil exploration and exploitation in Venezuela. While some of it's oil was exported into Austria, most was sold elsewhere. The fact that Austria was landlocked at the time and the associated tariffs made it unprofitable.

Still, the exploitation of the domestic Marchfeld oil found backers both economical and political. By 1929 and the Austro-Italian war, domestic oil production was enough for transportation and heating needs, but not for the petrochemical industry as well.

While already in use in the US, natural gas will still a novelty in Europe. However in several Austrian cities lighting, heating and cooking gas was provided from coal gas since before the Great War. It was then in 1924 that in cooperation with the Gaswerk Simmering natural gas was captured during oil extraction. This gas was then mixed with the existing town gas. It allowed the company easier competition with the expanding electrical supply, but also led to several disasters. The most notable incident was in Linz, 27 people were killed in a gas explosion in 1928, after natural gas was started to be added to existing coal gas. It was concluded that the addition caused hemp-based seals to dry out, allowing gas to escape the gas line. This lead to new regulations not just concerning seals but safety overall, massively decreasing the incidents of gas explosions. Despite early problems, natural gas had been very successful. Even when it's use for lighting had gone out of favour, most cities in Austria are still primarily heated by gas.

Spoiler

And once again I'm dangerously mixing OTL and ATL, giving ATL reasons for things that happened OTL... But then again, writing history is in the end writing a narrative.

 

[Viribus Unitis]

Tales from the Homefront, Story 1, Part 2

21.4.1929​

"Fräulein Nowak. Don't tell my wife I said this, but this is more important work than you did for us before. Now you won't have to care for three unruly children, but hundreds." Major Thaler told her.

As he led her through the busy hallways of one of the Arsenal buildings further back. Still in the same red brick, but obviously newer than the buildings they passed to the front.

"Our job is to get the gear our soldiers need to them in time they need it. Food, ammunition, medical supplies, fuel, spare parts and thousand of other things. The current chaos is down to several factors. Everything here suddenly went to high gear with actual combat deployments. Additionally the army is about to expand explosively, both causing more work and at the same time meaning that two thirds of the men, half of the workers, of my little department here will be used as cadre for the new units." he monologued at her, with her feeling overwhelmed. She wasn't too sure any more that this was the right decision.

"You've told me you learned to type?" he suddenly asked her, shaking her from her thoughts.

"Eh, yes, that and Steno." she answered.

"Good, good. Both ZSET* and 1/N** already cleared you after your engagement so I can put you somewhere sensitive. We'll probably put you with one of the new positions. Let's you carve out your own niche if you want." he told her, finally leading down a stairways.

A corridors led to the left and the front, giving the impression that those ran around the cellar rooms.

"You should never need any of those rooms." Thaler told her, pointing to the left, "in fact, unless you have a specialist with you, don't enter them at all."

As the walked down the corridors in front, he stopped at the second door, knocked and called in: "Oberleutnant Breitenstein, I've got someone who'll enter the new data for you." he called in.

Expecting another man, she was surprised to see a woman, maybe five years older than her, wearing a conservative dress, but with a red-white armband on her right arm. She was also carrying a big box.

"That her?" she asked, as she handed her the box, before returning to the room.

"Yes, Susanna Nowak, freshly recruited. We'll figure out later just how she fits in. Fräulein Nowak, this is Oberleutnant Elisabeth Breitenstein, she's received a curtsy commission just as I did. She's one of the specialists I mentioned, keeping our infernal machines working."

Breitenstein returned with another box: "For now she'll just have to figure out what buttons not to press, and she'll be ahead of most other Rekruten."

They walked down further, ten more doors, before they stopped and entered. It was a surprisingly small room, maybe one and a half meter by two meter.

Breitenstein pointed out: "That's your phone. 0 gets you to the exchange, that's about all you need to know for the moment. 00 gets you to the city exchange, you shouldn't need that. If you need to call a number outside the military talk to me first. That however, is you terminal."

It was a keyboard as she was familiar from the typing machine she learned on, but it lacked the paper feed. Above it was a small glass window.

Breitenstein set her box down besides it, and then turned to Thaler: "Anything else you need to say?"

He thought for a second, before answering: "With the current situation, we expect people to work a seven day week. There's a catholic service tomorrow at eight, if that is your thing, otherwise be here at least at half past. Though I know that many offices won't empty even during the night at the moment."

He then smiled at Breitenstein: "She's all yours."

The woman nodded and ignored him as he left: "These are reports on foreign volunteers joining the fight. Their slapdash, their incomplete, and they'll cause us trouble. Just the first ten such reports I received contained information of at least three different rifle cartridges that they fire. It's gonna play hell with logistics. Your job is to add those to the central database, so that we can have a better overview of what's needed where."

By then the window had taken a green glow, text and rectangles having appeared.

"See, it's easy. What do we have here. Name, Schweizer Friedrich, date of birth 5.4.1908, unit, Freicorps Passau, and so on and forth. Try not to make typos, they cause exponentiation trouble. Through correcting them is easier here than on paper." she started teaching Susanna. "We did some last minute modifications to allow for more than regular army formations, so there might be a hiccup here and there. If you find a problem, please tell me."

"Otherwise, if information is incomplete, just phone where you think they are. You'll get the run around, people will have more important things to do, but if they suddenly find themselves in the field with bullets they can't shoot and the enemy charging, we'll be at fault."

*Zentrale Evidenzstelle, the civilian/police foreign intelligence service
** Abteilung 1/N, the military intelligence service
(Missing: Staatspolizei, the civilian/police internal intelligence service)

Spoiler

Not yet entirely sure just how to number the "Homefront" snippets. Might change later.
And so we get the reveal of one of the big secrets of success: a primitive computer database. It's centralised, depends on phones, telegraphs and even snail mail to get the data, very limited in application, but the mere fact that they can produce daily consumption reports to a reasonable accuracy is godsend. I might post a short piece on just how difficult to keep logistics straight at a later date just looking at infantry weapons.
Intelligence and a couple other organisations of course have their own computers.
And something that might stand out to people who don't know the type or the time: Thaler and the catholic mass. He's not mentioning that because he's particularly religious, but because to him status is everything. And for him to rise further on the path he envisions he needs to be seen at mass.

 

[Viribus Unitis]

Spoiler

So I'm normally not a gun nut. At all. But I've got sucked down some odd corners of the Internet after I went hunting for some odd side note writing this. This is the result of about 6 weeks of youtube videos about guns playing in the background every now and again...
Threw this together after announcing it in the last update, just so you can see part of why it's so important that Susanna collects information. As said there, soldiers need at least the right calibre bullet when the enemy charges... And this should give you some idea just how difficult that is. But feel free to ignore this, if guns aren't your thing.

Also I've posted an unfinished version of a post peace treaty map elsewhere - if you stumble upon it, please spoiler references to it in this thread.

Böhler, Fabian (2004): The Austrian Army in the Austro-Italian War. 75 Years of Retroperspective, in: Österreichische Zeitgeschichte, Year 52, Nr. 2


As war started the Austrian standard rifle was the M95/25 Stutzen. These were rifles that had been converted from their Great War versions to the new 8x56mmR Spitzer bullets. About 200.000 of them were issued or in stocks when the war started, in defiance to treaties that limited the Austrian military to far less. Yet it was far from enough to equip all Austrian soldiers, let alone volunteer forces coming in.

A first stopgap was drawing on existing unconverted guns from the Great War. Those had survived in some stockpiles, but also as hunting weapon and in use by paramilitary forces. Since the Treaty of St-Germain stated that hunting weapons weren't allowed to fire the same cartridge as military weapons all these still fired the old 8x50mmR Mannlicher with it's round nose, adding significant logistic strain. At first plans were to deploy these rifles to back areas, but their wide spread use by South Tyrolean Schützen together with scarcity of rifles overall quickly changed those plans.

Another measure taken was purchasing the Czechslovak Puška vz. 24. While there had been a short moment when it looked like they'd be produced with a Mauser cartridge, the decision had been made to produce that rifle in the then brand new 8x56mmR. Large Austrian commitments to purchases this calibre for training their Shadow Army most likely made the difference.

Yet even that was far from enough. Additional weapons were purchased from Swiss stockpiles, G11 and K11 in their Schmidt-Rubin cartridge.

As the war went on backline units, mostly two-week conscripts were equipped with captured Italian Carcanos. This was done to free up other rifles for the front, while at the same time minimising the chance of friendly fire due to mistaken identification, the many different uniforms causing enough problems already.

These different guns alone would have been hell on logistics, even with some effort to keep some concentration of certain cartridges to certain fronts. Then one had to add three quarters of a million volunteers, some that came with their own rifles in various calibres, others were equipped by Austria. While the largest group of volunteer supplied gun was the German Gewehr 98 and it's variants, and many additional ones were equipped with these same guns, others were also in use. Be they British Lee-Enfields in .303, French Lebel's in 8x50mmR Lebel, Russian Mosin-Nagant's in 7,62x54mmR or any of several dozen less common guns and cartridges.

The fact that the Armed Forces not just kept on fighting, but often did so in a rapid manoeuvrer warfare had in the past been described as 'pure black magic'. As it is the logistics had often been studied in detail, but even then there are several moving parts that still hadn't been fully understood.

Making all those effort more difficult, rifles weren't the only only weapons that had to be kept supplied.

While the M24, or Steyr-Solothurn machine gun was the primary machine gun, with every additional produced in Austria and Switzerland pressed into use as soon as possible, there were several others in use as well. The Czech ZB-26 again fired the same cartridge, allowing easy integration, but old stocks of unconverted Schwarzlose as well as German 08/15 were in common use as well.

Additionally 20mm Oerlikons served as heavy machine guns, with over 40kg empty they weren't loved by anyone who had to carry them, but they were devastatingly effective against a lot of cover and the Italian tanks. Truck mounted dual Oerlikons officially were designated anti-aircraft guns, but saw a lot of ground use as well, though they were never in enough supply.

Submachine gun were also in common use. Especially in close quarters they were well loved by their users. The primary submachine gun was the Steyr MP26, but as the war went on it was outproduced by the emergency "Ersatz-Gewehr", the MP29.

A novelty infantry weapons were the Austrian 5cm man portable mortars, seeing several imitators after the war as other nations analysed Austrian performance.

Austrian Army Regular formations often carried additional personalised or uncommon support weapons. Many of them didn't see much use, or were even abandoned, due to an inability to get more ammunition for them.

 

[Viribus Unitis]

Moss (1944), Franzerl des Panzerl
Part 12

15.5.1929​

After three weeks the lustre of the ancient city had somewhat wore off, though the woman still held some interest. Thankfully I was the American daredevil journalist, not an Austrian occupier. Though I noticed that at least some girls weren't so disinterested as they pretended. There had also been some locals proposing the return of the name "Welsch-Bern" for the city, to the surprise of the Austrians. They didn't seem to interested however.

Sepperl managed to find me one early morning as I was eating breakfast with Julia. He's obviously been taught some operational security, since he only told me that Michael wanted to talk to me. When I found them at the motorpool, Michael obviously assumed that Sepperl had already spilled the beans, just telling me to hitch a ride with them. As we left Verona their mission was explained to me, and to be honest if I'd known in advance I don't know if I would have come. While an older and wiser me wouldn't, a younger me, not quite knowing what to expect might still have gone.

We left Verona at high speed, a column of at least fifty trucks. We then passed through Villafranca, a city while not officially occupied, de-facto was. I would later learn, that there had been some Italian troops still camped out there, keeping their radios busy. The Austrians knew of course, and used that. So as we passed out of view from the city, we turned right to the north-west, though other trucks moved in different directions. Though I noticed non moved straight on towards Mantua. After half an hour we dismounted the trucks and then went onwards on foot.

It was just infantry moving, nothing heavier than a Steyr-Solothurn or one of their 5cm mortars amongst us. I've been told that the radios were prepared, and we'd have first call on air support, but I still felt exposed. I've seen what happens to unsupported infantry several times the last few weeks, and I'd rather not be on the receiving side.

The area we moved through was by no means empty. The closest larger settlement was supposedly Solferino. It was all agricultural land, and small farms dotted the land. Still, we kept to the hedges that grew between fields and hoped for the best. It was nearly midday as we settled down, in a freshly tiled field on the top of a small hill, overlooking a road that at first glance was just one of many carriage paths. It was slightly more than that however, but not much.

The Schützen had brought blankets with them and buried themselves under them and a layer of soil. They told me that a good hunter should avoid spooking the animals, telling me a bit more of their mentality than I was entirely happy with. Still, spread out over several hundred meters we waited what felt like hours. It didn't really help that they'd placed me away from everyone else, to avoid me accidentally getting shot. Then finally there was noise, a two-stroke-motor slowly moving towards us. Shortly afterwards I could hear hoof beats. Having the luxury of riding trucks nearly everywhere with the Austrian Army, one was quick to forget how much the Italians still relied on horses. And so it was, a small car, carrying the commanding officer, preceded a column of sixteen teams of horses and their carts.

I waited and waited, and nothing seemed to happen. The carriages passed below us, and at what seemed to be the last second a single shot rang out. The cars motor revved and it turned sharply to the left, dropping down into the ditch.

Then more shots were fired. Most of the man driving the carriages dropped in the first salvo, and then the men who had caught a ride started to drop as well, as they fumbled for their guns. And just like that it was over. Most of the Italians were down, bleeding, with only a few having dropped their guns and their hands in the air.

Michael came over towards me and told me: "I hope you got some good pictures. We've recaptured ourselves some good Skoda guns as it is."

I was a bit confused at this declaration, not having heard of any Austrian guns lost, let alone ones rigged for horse transport, but it turned out those were guns captured or handed over after the Great War.

Spoiler

Proactive defence of Verona shown here. Small formation against small formation. Because large Italian formations get hammered from the air before they reach artillery range. Villafranca should be more accurately described as no mans land between fronts, but Moss isn't always reliable.

Also: The Schützen acquire some guns. They will not be as happy with them when they get them back to Verona as Michael is right now.

And really English language? Horse-and-cart? Team of horses? Can't even get a proper compound word at least... I mean it's simply "Pferdegespann" in German. (kinda /s since English usually acquires some foreign word for any gap, but according to my dictionary that's what it is in this case)

Solferino of course was where a Battle between the Kingdom of Sardinia (not yet Italy) and Austria (not yet Austria-Hungary) happened in 1859, and was then credited directly with leading to the creation of the International Red Cross is 1863 (well it only carries the name Red Cross since 1876, but the organisation was founded then)