Eisen, Blut und Fernhandel -German Unification in the 1860s

[ZhugeLiang]

Hope southern China makes it out okay

If we're lucky, Fuzhou becomes the capital of southern China - perfectly positioned before Guangdong and Shanghai!

 

[Wolf1965]

Story Post

Best Regards from Exile:

From Ernst Jünger's book "In Stahlgewittern" (Storms of steel), 4th edition 1918

The little artillery

Few members of the brass had read General von Fabeck´s report of his time in Mongolia or the foreign nations his book. Once again human nature showed the folly of non-knowledge. His riveting description of the Mongolia Expedition showed not only the life of the men in the task force or the beauty of the land, but equally clear the power of the machinegun. Time after time, the task force mowed down infantry and cavalry with deadly ease on the mainly flat highlands. Or his estimate that a machinegun had the firepower of a hundred men.

There are many reasons given by those who did not recognise the value of this weapon why they did not. I personally consider stuck in the past as the most fitting one for the majority. But in the end, the reasons do not matter. The Weltkrieg became the bloodbath it was due to people who did not recognise enough, on all sides.

But while oversight ruled, not everywhere the lesson was missed, if with time lag. The Bavarian Army, on the lookout how to solve the manpower problems in a time of very high militarisation in 1902, finally in my opinion, since General von Fabeck is a member of the Bavarian Army, saw a solution in the machinegun. The number of the machinegun companies was tripled. The other German states followed only shortly before the Weltkrieg, after exercises during which the Bavarian forces won repeatedly. Unfortunately, the up-gunning of the other federal states was not finished when the war began.

Other nations learned from the experiences of the Mongolia expedition as well. China, Japan and Russia were the other major powers who recognised that the machinegun was a force to be reckoned with. A number of medium powers found that out as well. Sweden is the prime example here. The degrees of success varied among the nations.
What interested me highly is the disconnect of so many people everywhere. The Great Powers used machineguns in the colonies and proxy wars of the pre-World War era and often somehow missed the fact, that these weapons would do their scything of blood wherever and against whoever they encountered.
The Brush of Entropy ended many an attack and many more lives during the war. We hated the enemies MG-nests, we loved our own. When the artillery is the Queen of the battlefield, then the MG is it's princess. A princess of death for many, no matter the side. A princess of hope in an attack. A princess of modern times, not clothed in silk, but the silvery sheen of metal.

From the book "Erschaffen aus Stahl - Das Werden der Industrienationen", 9th expanded edition 2016 (Created from Steel - The Becoming of the Industrial Nations)

It depends on the various definitions, claims and indicators you use, what you would call a nation. Therefore, the number of nations on our planet fluctuates with who you talk to. While there is a consensus about the major and regional powers, especially the small and or young nations are a constant topic of political debate in some regions of the world. One of the most widely accepted listing of Earth's nations is the one of the Confederacy of Nations, which we use for this book.
According to the Confederacy's listing, today there are 144 CN member nations, 11 nations in the early stages of gaining membership, 4 nations which left the Confederacy on their own, 5 nations which were kicked out of the CN for serious infractions and 38 nations which never were members. So the Confederacy recognises 202 nations at the moment, from small ones, like the Vatican and the Chiefdom of Tinariwen to massive ones, like Tsarist Russia or Efisga.
With sparsely populated nations like the Vatican again to the bustling cities of the two Chinas, harbouring a fifth of all humans.
But from all these nations only a tenth can be considered industrialised, despite large efforts from others nations to close the gap. And it is not only the multitude of activities from the established Industrial Powers to stay on top which hinders this gap from closing, scientific research over time found out that pure effort is not enough.
Your nation has to bring several geographical, geological, population-related, even climatic conditions to the table to just start successfully. While you can offset a couple of deficits with advantages elsewhere, for instance there are several industrial nations comparatively lacking in ground area, your nation needs at least some features to have a chance to become competitive.

 

[Wolf1965]

Story Post

[FONT=&quot]Best Regards from Beer folks[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
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[FONT=&quot]From the TV-documentation "The End of the Yihequan"[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]The Boxer did not make it easy for the combined forces of the expedition corps. Not only were they a sizeable formation with several influential helpers among the population, they did not shy away from Guerrilla tactics and assassination. The confusing situation in many provinces, with Boxer, Imperial troops and the foreign forces battling it out did the rest.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]It took two years to bring down the insurrection, leaving behind an exhausted China. A quite numerous group of mandarins had gone to the Boxer's side, which now had to be replaced. That was a chance for China to begin changes, but the sheer number of positions to be filled meant that the bureaucracy of China was hollowed out for some time to come.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Dowager Empress Cixi had been exiled to Hong Kong due to British pressure. Executing her would have brought about another rising, the Boxer and what they stood for still popular in certain circles. London was quite happy to have Cixi, the clandestine work to bring southern China into British hands might profit from her presence one day. The western nations were at least partly aware how popular some ideas of the Boxer had been and still were.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Emperor Guangxu had to swallow a lot when the time came to "pay" the Great Powers for their help in securing his reign. Mongolia was lost due to the German expedition there and while on the surface the Mongols were independent now, Germany would keep some influence there. For Beijing the only silver lining there was that Germany would be hard pressed to do anything if China decided to take Mongolia back. They might protest, but there were things more important to Berlin than Mongolia. But that would become important only later on when China had recovered. At the moment the Chinese generals predicted that a move for getting Mongolia back could be made 1906/07.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Manchuria was equally lost to Russia. Nominally it still was part of China, but for those in the know, Russia would take over step by step. At least Russia was still allied to China, which could help getting Mongolia back, even if some parts would have to be given to Russia.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Gone as well was the old ally Joseon Korea. We will put spotlight on that battle in our next episode. For now, it is enough to say that the Japanese-German expedition corps in southern Korea used the changed focus of St. Petersburg to rout the Joseon forces, now devoid of Russian help and supplies. By the time Russia saw that the Korean King's men were unable to hold out alone, it was too late. In spring 1899 the troops of Generals Nogi and von der Goltz reached the Yalu, the classical border river of Korea. King and Queen of Korea, together with 3600 loyalists, crossed the river, going into exile in Russia. This pleased the Tsar insofar as now Russia could lay clandestine claims on Korea, while officially they were for the Korean monarchs.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Smaller losses for China were the regions Yanhai to Russia and Weihaiwei to Britain, which brought most of the northern coast of Shandong into European hands. Italy got a concession near Shanghai, Nantong, the Americans an area a bit further up the Yangtze.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Austria and France actually declined a concession. Vienna simply lacked the funds for another colony in a whole new area of the world, having enough on the plate with what they already had.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]France only took a small border correction in favour of French Indochina , using the focus on China to create facts in Africa, surprising several Colonisers there. Especially Britain with a push into Sudan. Further both Paris and Vienna only reserved some trade conditions.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Likewise, Germany and Japan only took some trade concessions. While the lease of a city would have been interesting, it was not really needed since both nations were already "in the neighbourhood" and taking such a lease would conflict with Berlin and Tokyo's official line of simply helping people against unfit rulers and rebels.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]For the Chinese Emperor and his officials the work was cut out. Mending the rifts in Chinese society, gloss over the losses to the foreigners and finally starting a modernisation. The so-called March-Patent and the 88 Points program were the first steps on Imperial China's way to modern times.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]It is one of the biggest ironies in history that China might have made it through these times as one nation, if not for foreign meddling and several of the main Chinese protagonists of this era "perfectly" choosing the worst options [FONT=&quot]every[/FONT] time. And this was not limited to China. Famous historian Ernst Engelberg named one of his books on the Weltkrieg "Der Weg der Traumtänzer" (The Way of the Dream dancers), because in hindsight it is not fully explainable why the people on all sides did what they did at the beginning of the 20th century. [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Hotel Adlon, Berlin, Germany 1899[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Laki, daughter of a Samoan chieftain, had given her best friend a handkerchief and was now sipping a hot herbal tea herself. For a person born and grown up in Samoa, Europe's weather was atrocious. Most often just cold and the winter was something else! Laki had seen her first snow here and while that had been fun and worthwhile, that winter had given her a cold.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Now on her second tour through Germany, Laki was the "veteran" of the 5 women group. Since she knew what to expect, this time she escaped a cold, unlike her friends. The first snowball fight of their lives was a great fun, but only Laki was adapted enough to see when it was time to return indoors. The Europeans were far more used to snow and cold than the Samoans, where the average temperature was 27°C.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]She and some of her friends were on a tour through Germany. They were not the first or the only Samoan group in Germany right now. The Germans wanted to see the world and so some clever entrepreneurs had gathered groups of Samoan relatives or friends and were showing them off for money in Germany.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]From what Laki had heard from returning compatriots, the trip could give you riches for Samoan standards, but it was partly a game of luck who organised the voyages. Some really wanted them to show the audiences how Samoa lived, others were not far away from peep shows. Some organisers gave them good hotel rooms and fair payment, others were vultures.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]It had not taken long until the German government turned the eyes on the situation. Samoa had been plucked by Germany like a ripe apple and the local government towed the line given by Berlin. As a small society, problems would become known fast and several Samoans dying due to being abused by shady businessmen could turn the comfortable political situation in the southern Pacific sour. In addition, Samoa was a, if small, Navy anchorage and unneeded trouble there should be prevented.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Step by step, the most greedy "tour directors" were put out of business and by the time Laki´s second tour through Germany started, 80% of the tours were government-sponsored and indeed Laki and her friends were among those with preferential treatment. The new shows, while heavily playing with the "noble Savage" stereotype, really were meant to show what Samoa and it's inhabitants were like. (OTL these shows existed too. From a modern standpoint they were borderline, but still way above the human petting circuses in several other western nations because the Samoa shows tried to show, if imperfectly, the life on Samoa)[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Laki was an intelligent young woman and educated at one of the schools the Germans had erected in Samoa. World politics were not the special interest of any Samoan, due to the islands´ rather remote location, except for the High Chieftain and his advisors, who today needed to know some of it. Being in Germany proper did not really change this for the Samoan travel groups, but they would have to be blind and deaf not to learn something. This "about the wider world 101" did show a picture they were not sure what to like and what to dislike. One, two handful of European nations and the United States lorded over the rest of the world. Their development and advanced technology gave them power.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]And it did not stop with pushing other nations around, the leading nations were at odds with each other too. Wars and proxy wars were common, pulling bystander into the mess. Bystanders, who were mostly looked down upon by the big nations. The Whites considered all differently coloured humans to be beneath them. While there were exceptions like Sweden or Germany, even they had some prejudices.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Still, Laki was glad it had been the Siamagis (Germans) who took over Samoa. Yes, took over. She was intelligent enough to clearly see that what bits remained of Samoa's independence, like a seat in the Zollverein, was because of Samoa's behaviour and due to this Berlin let things run without much interference. Other colonising nations simply kicked out any local government and exchanged it with one of their choice.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Samoa had been different. German "Envoy", but de facto Governor, Wilhelm Solf was a philanthropic man and like Governor Schnee, who run a German colony in Africa which name Laki escaped at the moment, a talented administrator.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The Samoans considered the German influence as mainly positive (OTL to this day as well, see here if you want to: http://www.mcil.gov.ws/minister_speeches/enduring_legacy_german_influence.pdf ) and after coming to Germany Laki found out how lucky Samoa had really been. She vowed to herself that after returning home she would sacrifice part of what she gained in Germany to Rongo, the Samoan god of Peace and agriculture.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]At first, Laki had been put off by the intense stares of the Germans aimed at her. She felt like being singled out or doing something wrong, until her interpreter finally told her that intense looks were the norm for anybody. The scrutiny, which many foreigners found intense or rude, was nothing like that. For Germans, really looking at others was a sign of recognising the other as a person, avoiding looking at others was seen as impolite, disregarding them. And Laki soon found out that there really was a sliding scale how intense German stares could be.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Another thing Laki did only relish on her second tour in Germany was a certain freedom. Samoan society was based on some truly ancient, traditional rules, rules which were often tighter than the German ones. Luckily for the young women and men from Samoa, there were situations in Germany where no pre-existing Fa´a Samoa rules existed, like behaviour in the European winter.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Laki and her friends were actually laying down, creating new rules for these situations themselves, without fully recognising it, by being the first Samoans to encounter it.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Today, the really old Fa´a Samoa is no more. While the basic societal structure is still the same, returning Samoans from voyages and German cultural influence and laws changed quite a bit of the way of life. Still clearly Samoan, but not for nothing Samoa is nicknamed "Germany in Polynesia" by neighbouring nations.[/FONT]

 

[ZhugeLiang]

Can Russia take inner Manchuria now, even after there's a large Han majority there?

 

[Wolf1965]

Story Post

And the next update from Beer:

[FONT=&quot]From the reports of the German Ambassador to the USA Nikolaus von Spee[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]After being here for three years, I have to say that I like the Americans. Nice people with the heart on the right spot and I strongly suggest that Germany keeps going on for deeper relations.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]That stated, I have to admit that I do not share the same opinion on the US politicians in Washington and the deeper relations I proposed above are strictly for the US citizens at large, definitely not most of their political capital. I am appalled to say that just seeing two thirds of the US Congress makes my fist wanting to go into their faces and beat some sense into them.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]While the US democracy developed along different lines than the British, their cultural bonds unfortunately led Washington to adopt some traits making them wildcards as well.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The first trait is not the deciding one, since every Great Power, our wonderful nation included, believe in a manifest destiny for their country, but it is the conjunction with several other traits that makes the US an unsure [FONT=&quot]Kantonist[/FONT] for us.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Like the British, Washington is very fond of navel-gazing, often unable to recognise that other nations function differently than them. A lot of international tensions stems from the fact that the US capital believes other nations look at a problem in the same way as Washington does, no matter how different the other nation looks at life.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Making the problem worse is the fact, that in the last decades growing frustratingly common preference to honour agreements fully only when it suits Washington's interests. Perfidious Albion greets here strongly with their long tradition of self-aggrandising "It's right when we do it, it is a crime when others do the same". This is another point I have to raise, why I see it of great importance to keep good relations with the US and try for even better ones. America is one of the mightiest powers on Earth, we have to stop this dangerous attitude from spreading further than it already has.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Coupled with this is a defensiveness bordering on paranoia. The political apparatus in Washington is very quick to decide that any action of another power is directed against or the preparation of a move against the United States, no matter how asinine the "logic" behind that perception is.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]It took me and the embassy's staff two years of research, which would make my former colleagues in the [FONT=&quot]Büro[/FONT] nod approvingly to unearth an unsettling thing about the Caribbean War which is a really good example of how Washington works since quite a time.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Despite the undeniable fact that we and the Americans were fast allied in the Caribbean War, a [FONT=&quot]majority[/FONT] of the "movers and shakers" in Washington were convinced that we would use that opportunity to expand our holdings in the Americas or do other "mischief". Despite it being glaringly obvious that we Germans wanted nothing more than end that war successful and return home, the US capital made a plan to stab us in the back "when we step out of line".[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]An inflated line which existed only in the heads of some idiot Congressmen, because when you are a lying snake you see treason everywhere. Luckily there are some good politicians in Washington as well.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]But this episode shows one thing clearly, the British have a long-lasting, ongoing propaganda campaign against us running in Washington, because some opinions we found parrot English propaganda 1:1 to the word, which shows clearly that somebody whispers into some ears. Would it be original bias, the Americans would use their English, not British English.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]It is sad that my Great-Grandfather Maximilian is dead of old age, so I cannot tell him our findings. He always wondered why the Americans turned on us without warning during the Weltkrieg, leading to him having to fight the Sea Battle of Las Salinas.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I have talked with historian Ernst Engelberg about this all and he is convinced that this goes on far longer than I estimated in the beginning. Some events the Chancellery always wondered about now make sense. According to Herr Engelberg, the English must have begun this after Queen Victoria died, her successor known for his hate for Kaiser Wilhelm II. and by extension Germany.[/FONT]


[FONT=&quot]I am sorry, but my opinion is that we made a mistake after Lucerne 1914. I know that our nation had a lot of repair and reconstruction to do, my Grandfather told me stories from that time when I was a young boy, but politically we dropped a ball there concerning the US. The "vacuum" we left for a time gave the British opportunity to poison Washington against us even more than before. I think we let us blind from the good times we had when some Presidents genuinely liked Germany.[/FONT]

 

[Wolf1965]

Story Post

Something new, free Beer via Wolf:

[FONT=&quot]From Niall Ferguson's book "Politics and Hate - a match made in Hell", BGP 2014[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]In the following chapter we will see one of the most influential errors made by mixing personal animosity and politics. And unfortunately it concerns our nation.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Both King Edward VII and his son, the later George V, disliked the later Kaiser Wilhelm II with a passion and mostly because he had a special spot in the heart of Queen Victoria, which they never had. Especially Edward, who the Queen always held responsible for her husband's early death.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]This animosity clouded their political judgement. Even before Victoria's death, both her son and grandson with their inner circle worked against Germany and for closer relations with France and the USA. As long as the German-friendly Queen lived, anti-German actions were only done in secret, like a covert, dubious agreement with France to slow sales of important raw materials for the Central Powers, to weaken them. (While there are some differences, a similar thing happened OTL as well)[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]After Edward became the monarch, relations with Germany became more and more antagonistic, like the King pushing for an alliance with France despite serious tensions in Sudan and sending propagandists to Washington. It would become a major stepping stone towards the World War. As we all know, while we came away better than some of our allies, Britain lost.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]BUT and this is why I criticise both Edward and George heavily, even if Britain would have won the World War, the mistake was made! Out of animosity and spite, Edward and George pushed for a needless confrontation with Germany, totally disregarding our real naval competitor, the US![/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]To this day, the Germans are no "real seamen". They are and were decidedly land-orientated, seeing and understanding the High Seas differently than we do, Germany is a classic land power. Even at their naval height and no matter the advertisements and propaganda, the German Navy never was the multi-tool the Royal Navy still is.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]German naval doctrines were and are defensive-minded, a modernised Tirpitz-Plan in effect. The modern High Seas Fleet is still a Raider Navy, her tasks protection of the merchant fleet, raiding, entering enemy merchants, hunting enemy warships and some further side tasks. For this, the German Navy is very suitable, being an allied Navy as well, but beyond that, there are better fleets. The US Navy, our Royal Navy, even the Japanese Navy can do things the German Navy can only dream of. For what the Germans want it is enough, but it can never be a real contender to the Royal Navy. This is something King Edward VII and King George V in their animosity filled brains did not want to see. The old Germany was an economic rival, but it never was a rival for the British Empire and it's naval superiority.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The Germans neighbour three Great Powers directly, so they need a certain level of naval power for defence. And even laymen could understand that Germany always concentrated on land, not the sea.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Germany did not care for one second what we did with New Zealand, Kenya or wherever and what we possessed as long as Germany got their part of the world, their place in the sun.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]The old US on the other hand, still recovering from their devastating Civil War and it's no less, pardon the word, crappy aftermath, had returned to be a land of promise. A land which needed sea travel and trade to grow even larger. Decades earlier German Chancellor Bismarck already prophesied that the United States would become a Great Power, one of the Greatest there is. A Power in the need of a really big Navy for commerce defence and war.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]That the US would become the major rival of Britain on the High Seas, was something experts knew as late as the last quarter of the 19th century, but this knowledge was totally passed by George and Edward. They had their personal bogeyman and the establishment did not want to see it differently.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Germany was falsely painted as a greedy Power, a danger to Britain and it's way of life, totally disregarding the general situation at the beginning of the last century.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The result was that Britain went into the World War rather ill-prepared and as one of the richest nations on Earth. After it, Britain was broke and it was not the defeat! Even victorious, we would have been cash-broken! Due to concentrating on the wrong enemy, the Central Powers, we blew our wealth in an unneeded, bloody conflict and with loans from the US the old government made them strong.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]From the moment the Great Conflagration became the biggest conflict ever, the days of the British Empire were counted. The loss of funds was so grave, that in the following decades money stayed tight. London had not enough for all needed projects in the colonies, the British Islands, the Royal Navy. Money was allocated on strong points, some of it was set into the sand and it was not enough either.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The Empire became increasingly unstable and Britain is lucky to still hold the parts it does and our true naval rival the USA grew unopposed and stretched it's wings more and more. The misplaced hate of two Kings is the main reason the British Empire is not what it once was. [/FONT]

 

[FarAwayInWonderland]

I re-read the whole thread only a few days ago and am very happy that a new update has been posted. I can't give any constructive criticism, because I'm not that familiar with all the details of the period, but it certainly looks good and makes for an entertaining read

 

[Wolf1965]

Story Post

[FONT=&quot]Best Regards from from Beer folks.[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
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[FONT=&quot]Ministry of the Interior, Berlin, Germany 1901[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Count Arthur von Posadowsky-Wehner, the current [FONT=&quot]Innenminister[/FONT], thanked Secretary Müller from the Ministry of Economics for his report and waited until the latter left the office before studying the papers on the table again.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The Silesian Noble with his impressive beard had started as a political hardliner, but the office changed him. In the beginning the life of the workers was much removed from the life of the Counts, especially East-Elbian ones, and Posadowsky-Wehner had been among the enemies of the social legislation for economic reasons. But when his rise in politics led him to more and more administrative tasks, he became aware of the problems people of "lesser" birth had.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]The Count became one of the driving forces for the development and expansion of social laws in Germany. New Year 1900 had been the activation date for many reforms already prepared in the dying years of the 19th century and the Interior Ministry was no exception.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]New laws about the cooperation of the Imperial and State governments, in cooperation with Minister of Justice Nieberding the BGB, the new German Civil Code, which is still in force today (ATL and OTL), the complete opening of the Universities for women, reforms of some older social security laws and a new children protection law were just some of the legislation packets becoming active.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]But one thing that had not changed on New Year 1900 was the increasing workforce shortage Germany suffered from. Whole industry branches were clamouring for more workers, but even a population growth of 1 million heads per annum was not enough. The German Industrialisation in highest gear, long important sea lanes and colonies to administrate, growing Armed Forces and infrastructure building needed more and more workers.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]With the Industrialisation in Austria, Russia and Japan getting stronger, the classic pool of useful immigrants for Germany was drying up. While there was a stronger immigration from Bulgaria in the last 15 years, this could not satisfy demand, especially with other traditional regions like for example Russian Congress Poland slowing down to a trickle.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]In addition with the United States becoming an Immigration magnet once again, other pools of potential labour could not be tapped.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Bringing more colonial subjects to metropolitan Germany was equally self-defeating. With the exception of Ezoland and to a certain extend Madagascar and Samoa, the colonies were not all that populous compared to their sizes to begin with. Taking away people from there was akin to making smaller slices of a cake. You got more slices, but the cake was still just one cake, that would not help at all.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Nevertheless, Germany needed more workers, but how? Knowing that it would be problematic with the extreme conservative part of the population, the Count was not that keen on a solution which had been flittering around as an idea in several ministries for some years.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Still, if it was impossible to get workers from abroad, more had to come from within Germany. And that was under the current circumstances only doable by fully opening up not only the universities, but other lines of business for women as well. This would free up men for other jobs and enlarge Germany's workforce pool by the millions.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]How to explain this to the reactionaries would be "interesting" in the extreme. But the report Count Arthur got from the Economics Ministry made it clear that something had to be done and fast, since even with the opening up of further businesses for women it would take time to implement. New apprentices did not fall out of the sky.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]The Count sighed, then lifted the handset and talked to the Ministry's telephone operator. "Give me a line to Hedwig Dohm, please."[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]After some moments a feminine voice answered.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]"Dohm. Good afternoon, how can I help you?"[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]"Good afternoon, Misses Dohm. Count von Posadowsky-Wehner speaking. Would you and some of your friends from the ADF come to my office in the Interior Ministry tomorrow at 10, please? There are several delicate topics to discuss. Since it concerns several segments of German society, your input is needed as well."[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]From the book series "Heia Safari - The colonial Age through the eyes of those who were there" by Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, second expanded edition 1961[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Fashoda, the Sudan and allies by necessity[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]France was one of the Great Powers who saw the Yihequan War as a chance elsewhere. Knowing that Britain was committing rather heavily to the Chinese Operation, Paris only sent the minimum task force needed.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Instead the French bolstered their bases in Africa for a new push against their greatest rival in Colonialism, the British. France wanted a continuous band of Africa from the West to the East, the British from the North to the South. So conflict was a given. There had been tensions and minor colonial wars before, still the situation around Fashoda and the Sudan threatened a larger conflict.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The French government now saw the chance to "solve" this crisis in their favour. With the eyes of the world turned onto China, Paris finally acted. The [FONT=&quot]Grand Armee de Afrique[/FONT] , readied in secrecy over months was in it's starting position a quarter year before the Boxer War was over in late 1900. Using the opportunity, the French forces pushed East, overwhelming the British colonial Guards, creating facts. With Britain's grip on the Sudan still shaky, France made great inroads there, even reaching the Red Sea at one point.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]When China was again under Imperial rule, London turned it's eyes onto that "pesky" situation. Many capitals around the world awaited the British reaction, since France had not withdrawn despite heavy diplomatic pressure. Near Fashoda, a British task force under Lord Kitchener was advancing towards the bulk of the Armee de Afrique under Marchand.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]It was an enigma for many diplomats why France, which had for years been working for closer relations with London was now this headstrong. The solution was shocking for several governments. When the British issued their ultimatum to Paris, the Russians made it clear diplomatically, that in the case of war, St. Petersburg would help France.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]It turned out that late Tsar Alexander III before his death closed an alliance with France. This was not only a problem for Britain, but for us, Germany, too. There had been some plans dealing with a possible two-front-war, but these plans were still in the works, since Berlin had hoped to get Russia back into a treaty. Therefore, the government had held back in several instances and incidents. This being the situation, Berlin was not convinced to win in a difficult war on such a short notice. Not that Germany was all that much inclined to help the British. With von Holstein's murder in China, the main proponent of the unlikely alliance Germany-Britain was away forever.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The new foreign policy makers in Berlin around von Brockdorff were quite aware that the coming King of England hated Germany. In addition, one of the shady anti-German deals the later King Edward was responsible for had become known to the German foreign ministry.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Chancellor von Caprivi actually stated that Germany was saturated and did not champion either side in this conflict for more sand. While this message diffused some war concerns in Europe, in hindsight it might be counted as a mistake. But hindsight is 20/20 and a lot of what we know today was not known back then. I myself was quite shocked when I read the information becoming available years later.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]But back to the topic, what we did not know back then in 1900 was that Paris and London, St. Petersburg just partly, considered our attempt to lower the tension as having blinked. In a way we had, but for different reasons than our enemies believed.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]And these believes would become another reason for the Weltkrieg. Germany's "blinking" convinced London and Paris that cooperation would be the key to bring Germany down. France and Britain disliked each other with a passion but they saw a chance to bring down an important rival.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The two solved the crisis with parting the Sudan. Britain got the North, France the South. For the diplomatic defeat London took, both sides agreed that in a later war, Britain would get more of Germany's colonies.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]For Berlin, getting a war plan for a fight against 3 Great Powers had become a priority against time. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]From the mail of exchange student Roy Kilpatrick 2009[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Hi Guys, love and miss you![/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I have been here in Heidelberg for 3 months now and I am still not nearer the solution to how life is ticking in Germany in my free time. As I told you in the earlier posts, four points are glaringly obvious to me now, at least that.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]One - What they teach us in school, the America First party tells us and whet we read/hear in the news about Germany is mostly crap. Few things are correct, simplifications are the least sins on that topic. While book stuff from President Long's reign is quite out of date, some generalities described therein are fitting! [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Two - The Jerries have a serious case of "Living bipolar is the way" going on. Believe me, some things they consider totally normal and how they mix it...[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Three - I know you will joke about students away from home and parties, but I miss our good Kentucky Bourbon. Oh, it is sold here, the variety of alcoholic beverages in Germany is superb, I have seen stuff I never saw back home, but with international trade zones as they are, our US Bourbon has a feelable tax on it. With my student income, Bourbon will be a rare experience for me here. Not that our Whisky has the highest tax, you should see the Limey´s stuff, with the exception of Campelltown Whisky. Due to one of the oddities of international trade, Whisky from Campelltown has even a slightly lower foreign tax on it than US Whisky, but all other Whisky from the Britannic Commonwealth is quite expensive. I think by the time I am done with my studies, I will be an expert on Irish and Japanese Whisky. Since it is Zollverein internal trade, Whisky from Ireland and Japan is dirt-cheap in Germany by comparison. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Four - The beat of Life runs on different definitions than at home, vastly so.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Ma, Dad, you remember much of the era we coming historians call the [FONT=&quot]Social Drum beat[/FONT], from roughly 1950 to the mid-seventies. Things you told us about, the Flower children, lightening of the strict moral codes, full equality for the Blacks in 1951, new styles of music allowed instead of being banned, when Idaho tried being a corporate state to attract industry or Florida played with Socialism?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Well, like everyone else on the globe, Germany had this era too, but with different parties in power, it developed differently than back home. It began when in 1951 the Social democrats and the Jacobins formed a coalition government. With politicians and the people wanting social change, Germany in their typical "fully or not at all" mentality threw itself into this wind of change. From what I learned, the fifties and sixties must have been the socially wildest time in younger German history.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]But it was too much in too short a time. Afraid of the excesses and upheaval too much change can bring, the more conservative elements of German society rallied around the Alldeutschen, the Pan-Germans, since even the CZP and the Freisinnigen tried to outdo each other with strange ideas.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The early elections 1959 brought about a unitary event. The Doppelkopfregierung (Double head government), a coalition which had never been before and never since then. In the polarised situation, those championing change above else collected around the Jacobins, the more cautious Germans around the Alldeutschen. The only stable government majority which could be formed was one of those diametric opposed parties. What nobody thought possible, the government survived to the next elections. Despite standing one step away from failing almost weekly, the JPD/AD government worked, if with a screeching gearbox. The Germans call this time a political wonder. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]For both the Jacobins and the Pan-Germans, those 4 years became the final breakthrough as major parties in Germany. The JPD gained her reputation as a government-ready party beyond party dogma, more than a pure protest movement. While a lot of their positions are considered too radical or unrealistic, the Jacobins have been part of a German national government another two times under moderate party leaders.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The AP, which had an early high in the first quarter of the 20th century, then a phase of relative weakness in the second quarter, went on to win the 1963 election, becoming what the Germans call a true Volkspartei (People's Party = major Party) in those years. Since then, the Alldeutschen have been continuously in the government to this day. In changing coalitions, mostly as the junior partner, but not seldom as the leading party too.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]As such, their influence exceeds what you would expect when just looking at the party's data.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The Alldeutschen themselves consider the Rückabwicklung (reverse transaction) of many laws from the Social Drum beat time since 1963 and exchanging them with ideas of their own as one of their major successes. "Further Progress, weed out excess and preserve the essence of Germany", as the current party program cites an old election slogan.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Indeed, as far as I can tell, they kept to that slogan. They kicked out a lot of laws back then, but kept equally lots of social innovations they considered a step in the right direction, like on the topic of women's rights and even added off their own. This acting with sound judgement brought them their success.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]

 

[Samuel Von Straßburg]

Some very interesting developments, particularly the hint about Ireland. Will that be a part of Germany's war plan??

 

[Wolf1965]

Story Post

Fresh from Coventry:

[FONT=&quot]Huebert "Huey" Long[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Huebert "Huey" Pierce Long (30th August 1893 - 8th September 1975)[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]US President (1936-44, 1948-52)[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Huey Long, 33rd and 35th President of the United States, is counted among the most controversial politicians in US history. Even his nicknames show this. Called by his supporters "the Highway Pres(ident)", for his massive road building programs, his enemies mutated it to obviously ambivalent "the Highway Man".[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Long shares the distinction of having served non-consecutive terms in office with just 2 other Presidents, Glover Cleveland and Ralph Bittner. Politically Long's presidency has to be seen as one of the most successful, which earned him many honours in life and after death, but is tainted by the methods he and his inner circle used, which included nepotism and massive coercion. Rumours persist to this day, that Franklin D. Roosevelt, who feared a potent rival for the 1936 elections, ordered the assassination attempt on Long in Baton Rogue in 1935. Many Americans see it as a sign that Long died on the 40th anniversary day of the failed attempt.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Americans connect the name Huey Long with ending the Great Depression in the US, massive infrastructure works and social legislation. While his famous "Share the Wealth" program survived only in a severely trimmed down version, since the full version was unenforceable against most of the US elites even with coercion, it laid the foundation of most later US social legislation.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Despite coming from the Deep South, Long is noted for never playing the "Race card" to stir up political opportunities. "WE ALL are Americans" is a famous quote from his 1948 election campaign. Indeed, Long shocked the establishment when he made the highly talented young Black Martin Luther King Secretary of the Interior in 1951. The first black US minister, who got the Peace Nobel Price ten years later together with his mentor, with his successful term in office did much to lift the continuing cultural segregation in the United States. While even today there are remnants of this in the US, it is nothing compared to what it was in the early fifties.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A bit of wormwood is that Huey Long did all this not only to help the Blacks, but a very big part of it was to snub many of the elites, which had always worked against him. He was a President of the "average masses and the poor", few among the wealthy and well to do stood at his side.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]This political situation was a major impact on his foreign policy as well. Huey Long had been a vocal opponent of stabbing the German Empire in the back during the World War. During his presidency he fully normalised the relations with the Central Powers again. Additionally he fully opened the US market for investments from the Zollverein zone.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]It helped to normalise the relations with Central Powers and Zollverein even more, but it was not only done for that. To end the depression and to finance the costly social and infrastructure programs, the US economy had to grow again and needed money. More trade and investments with the loaded Zollverein was important for these goals. A useful side-effect was that Huey Long could gain support among the traders, helping to stabilise his presidency.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Introducing a Bismarckian style health insurance in 1943, against heavy opposition, is one enduring legacy of Huey Long and another punch against the often British-friendly elites. His end in Washington came in 1952.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]By that time, Huey Long had gathered too many enemies among the leading class, too many decisions made against the establishment or better the rich establishment. His nepotism and smaller shady deals finally caught up with him, his bullying tactics run their course. Making Martin Luther King Secretary of the Interior was the final straw which galvanised his enemies. Long was still popular among the masses, so they set him the pistol onto the chest, so to speak. The President, who had played with the thought of running for a fourth term, was now coerced himself. Only by retiring from Washington with the end of his current term, Long's dirty laundry would be kept secret.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]It was another time and his enemies were not truly sure how the population would react if Long's methods came to light. Huey Long on the other side was interested that his reforms lived on and his reputation. So that deal made it. Long retired due to health reasons back into his native Louisiana, where he spent his time advancing his convictions and working on his reputation.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To show that he was not fully sidelined, he co-founded the All American party. His family became a political dynasty mainly in the South, but with some influence nationwide as well. 1961 he got together with Martin Luther King the Peace Nobel Price. 1975 Huey Long died in his house in Baton Rogue, capital of his home state of Louisiana. His methods came to light only a decade after his death. But while it made him more controversial than before, Huey Long's reputation as one of the USA´s most important presidents and reformer took few damage since he was already dead. [/FONT]

 

[Wolf1965]

First update on the new board for this TL. Best regards from Beer folks.


From the Internet-lexicon "Earthpedia" 2015


The Zollverein


official Name: Deutscher Zollverein (German Customs Union) 1834 - 1870

Der Zollverein (The Zollverein/Customs Union) 1870 - present


established: 1st January 1834 (second oldest still existing international Organisation)


Legal status: begun as the first major intergovernmental organisation, today a Confederation


Capital: traditional yearly rotation between members, but a fixed executive seat in Berlin, Germany, the so-called "Hardenberg Quarter"


Largest Cities: Tokio, Hanseong, Batavia and Berlin


Member States: Austria, Bulgaria, Chile, Congress Poland, Courland, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Liechtenstein, Madagascar, Mongolia, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Togoland


Associated Nations: Emirate Trarza, Higashi Afurika, Korat, Macedonia, Mexico, Philippines, Tonga, Vietnam, a special treaty situation exists concerning Texas and Tsarist Russia


Area: 13.62 million km² (without associated nations)

Population: 1.1 milliard/billion (without associated nations)

Pop. density: 80.7 per km²

Leadership: Zollvereinskonferenz for the Economics, Gesandtenrat/(Governmental) Envoys Council as advisory forum for the national governments


Languages: German, Japanese, Dutch are the main languages, followed by the official languages of the member states, then comes a myriad of regional and local languages. Due to the splintered and partly difficult accessible territories of the Zollverein a precise tally of all spoken languages is not available, but is above 1200


GDP: 53.22 billion/trillion $ (PPP), 51.14 billion/trillion $ (nominal)


While it is neither the largest, that would be the North American Trade Zone and Tsarist Russia, nor the most populous, which is the Britannic Commonwealth, Economic zone, the Zollverein remains the most influential economic power.

Founded in 1834 as the first major international organisation, the first ever was the Bureau for the Rhine shipping, the German Customs Union, as it was called back then, had been made to incite more economic growth and cooperation among the German principalities.


For two and a half decades it did exactly that. In the museum section of the Friedrich von Motz Building, the executive HQ of the Zollverein, named after the Prussian politician who prepared the Zollverein signing and died before he could see it come true, the original contract can be seen.

In another armoured exhibition stand directly beside it, the original 1860 German expansion to the treaty and a copy of the Japanese one can be visited there.

The decisions of the Eulenburg Expedition came as a shock for the people back home in the German Principalities. The Zollvereinskonferenz, the ruling body, was sceptical at first too. But after political pressure and economical promises and possibilities could be seen, the Zollverein green lighted the inclusion of Japan into it. It was a ten years test phase, so what? If it became troublesome, both sides would shake hands and go their own way, if a positive direction could be seen in 1870, one would have to be an idiot to stop it.


The men deciding back then did not know it, but their vote started the rise of the Zollverein to the position it holds today. They were both lucky and not. It was luck that the Germans met the Japanese at that time, with Japan beginning to try to reach modern times, but what came after was not simply luck. The distance between Europe and East Asia might have felt greater than it is today due to modern possibilities, but in the l860s an economic zone of then 60 million people was something that made a statement by just existing. A twentieth of the world population on a catch up race during a time when most of Earth was pre-industrial had obvious potential.

Here a bit of luck helped again, in that most competitor powers considered the problems the Zollverein faced as too many and the economic sciences everywhere were still developing beyond Smith, List and Say. Due to this, the potential of an economic union between the German Principalities and Japan was predicted very differently depending on who did it.


This is not to say that the problems were small, far from it, but they were solvable. Indeed, the formidable challenges drove Germans and Japanese to greater efforts for a number of reasons, not the least prestige, economy and standing. The first years were frugal and difficult, but after a regular traffic schedule could be implemented, some early successes could be plucked. Seriously helping was the compatible outlook on life Germans and Japanese had, later experiences with other nations showed that the success of the Zollverein could not be replicated everywhere.

Another thing the Zollverein showed, as did the NATZ, Britannic Commonwealth and Union Romanique to name a few, that strong or strengthening economies drove technical progress. A famous example is the development of the Zollvereins steamer, a custom build ship series to solve the transport problems Germany and Japan faced or the Space program of the Britannic Commonwealth is only possible in it's current form due to the nations forming it, which they could not keep up alone.


When the 10 years test phase of the expanded Zollverein was over, various, but enough positive developments could be seen and the membership of Japan became permanent. Many historians doubt that even then it was fully clear to the acting persons that they had sent the Zollverein to a glorious future.

As said above, in the 1860s-1870s the Zollverein had more than double the population of the US or metropolitan France or Britain, which shows the potential for industrialisation the Zollverein already had. And more crucially, the other western powers underestimated this potential greatly, due to self-centeredness, arrogance or incomplete data.

In the beginning, with the staring difficulties of the expanded Zollverein clearly visible, it seemed that the sceptics were right, but with every more year passed, the "bugs" were weeded out and the rapidly progressing technology available finally tackled the transportation problems.

By 1885 it slowly became obvious outside Germany and Japan that the Zollverein was not the pushover it competitors first pegged it to be. Germany and Japan were now in a phase of development they called later on High Industrialisation. And not only that, the Zollverein used it's now rather polished reputation to gain more colonies.

When the 20th century dawned, Britain, the industrial world leader, felt the breath of Germany and Japan on the neck. In fact, in some economic areas the Zollverein had overtaken the British Empire already. The rapid rise of the Zollverein was one reason for the World War. The British Empire, a bit too sluggish in reaction to the economic competitor, saw no other choice to stop the Zollverein than by war. Despite Britain claiming other reasons for decades, it finally came out in the sixties that it were mainly economic reasons why the British went into the Great Conflagration.

(Actually OTL economic rivalry was a far greater reason for the UK´s WW1 war entry than officially stated too, see, among others, Niall Ferguson)

The Big War or the Weltkrieg in German, was a "Zero hour" for All involved. The Zollverein no exception. The scars left on it's member nations changed the organisation with them. For a century now the Zollverein is rigidly keeping up an autarky on basic food and materials. During peacetime this autarky plays no role in world trade, but during a war they want to be able to hold out on internal production alone. A repeat of the Great Conflagration, where all sides underestimated the destructive powers unleashed and suffered from shortages, has to be prohibited.

Even before the Weltkrieg economist Friedrich Naumann proposed a change in the Zollverein. Away from just Germany, Japan and their colonies towards including some allies and conquests to form an economic zone with some inklings of a Confederation to strengthen all members.

After the bloodbath the first real industrialised war turned out to be, Naumann´s ideas about a closer cooperation became influential. Everybody wanted to recover fast and the aftermath of the war did not only lead to the expansion of the Zollverein, but the formation of the Union Romanique and some years later the Britannic Commonwealth.

1915 Austria, Bulgaria, Kurland/Courland (the Federation of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania created by the Central Powers), Ireland, Poland, Sweden and, if applicable, their colonies joined the Zollverein. Mongolia, still in the process of becoming it's own nation, was associated at the same time and fully joined 1922.

Further nations joined, the most important being the Netherlands or signed variously deep-going Association treaties over time and today the Zollverein has 20 full members, eleven associated nations of which two have a very limited and specifically designed association treaty.

The Zollverein itself is still based on the treaty of 1834, the expansion of 1870 due to Japan's now permanent membership, the "Naumann-Proposal" and the 1982 upgrade due to the global changes in the meantime, which included a loose Confederation clause.
The economic system of the Zollverein is a Coordinated Market Economy with Stakeholder value model, often nicknamed the German-Japanese School or Berlin Capitalism.

The Zollverein dominates manufacturing and trade, is highly innovative with a high standard of living and bundles various, diverse influences of it's member nations in a new whole. In economic classes one question is often, why the Zollverein dominates not more considering it's sizeable advantages.

Like every organisation, the Zollverein has advantages and disadvantages. With the exception of the Britannic Commonwealth, no other major economic block has such dispersed holdings as the Zollverein, which needs massive transportation expenses. The northernmost point of the Zollverein is Kaffeklubben Island close to the North Pole, the southernmost Cape Hoorn. From Albrechtsburg in the West it stretches to the Bentheim Islands and Easter Island in the East, with the member states spread out over the area.

connected with the point above, is the second "flaw". The Zollverein is much more socially inclined than Free Market Economies like the Britannic Commonwealth. A lot of money goes into social and infrastructure programs. One example would be the massive desalination plants, which purify water to be sent to arid and desert regions of the Zollverein, where with great effort desertification is stopped or sometimes even reversed. But that does not come by cheaply.

 

[Tyr Anazasi]

Interesting developments.

 

[Dain]

Shipping cost as a major drawback seems weird - does that mean there are some barriers in place that prevent ship transport from being as ridiculously cheap as it is in OTL?

 

[Samuel Von Straßburg]

I like the social and infrastructure programs, particularly the reversal of desertification.

 

[Wolf1965]

From the mail of exchange student Roy Kilpatrick 2009


Hi, love you all!


Despite the late hour - or early hour depending on how one sees it, I have to write you about my day! I've been to my first "Arminstag" Armin's Day celebration!


Yep, the very same celebration we always joked about how gullible and dumb the Germans have to be to believe that Samoan warriors were at Teutoburg Forrest. Well, that holiday is another painful example how few and often distorted things the various world regions know about each other.

I mean, when I am back home in Ohio we have reports in the newspapers what is going on in Bonners Ferry, Id or if it is bigger news even stuff from, say Paulatuk, in Efisga´s backend. We are well informed what is going on in our part of the world, as it should be I say as a future historian, but we have very limited and often skewed news from elsewhere. I do not know who is mainly responsible for that state of being, but it should change and is something I will write our senator a letter. At least the travel guides should be better researched, it would have prevented part of the social clusterfuck I experienced in my first weeks here.

Sometimes I think there is a method to this. Since after comparing various editions of travel guides to prevent more oops from happening, it is quite obvious for someone who experienced Germany that the information in guides printed during times we have really good relations with Germany are vastly more accurate than from those printed when relations are strained.

And it is not confined to Zollverein nations, I found similar patterns in travel guides about the Britannic Commonwealth or the African Savannah Union for example.


Gladly, it is not something confined to us Americans, which would have been a major blow to my pride of our great nation. While the news and travel guides about the US in Germany are more varied and accurate than ours on them, there is a fondness of stereotyping. Plainly speaking, since the majority of contact between NATZ and Zollverein is via Texas, most Germans believe we Americans are all Texans and many reports like to play with this stereotype.

The Germans have no idea that several States call Texas the "Loony Star State" instead "Lone Star State" for their reawakened secessionist leanings. But even beyond the political stage, take a New Yorker. His life is quite different from those of a Houstonian.


Anyway, I might have had a beer too much since I veered of track. Coming back to the celebration, it turned out that the Germans celebrate a different aspect than we believed. The Jerries celebrate Arminius and his men for liberating and keeping old Germania free. The victory of the German's ancestors at Teutoburg Forrest meant nothing less than the Germanic tribes were not Romanised and kept developing their unique culture.

For them, today's Germany would not be the same without that victorious battle. This old epochal event is used not only by the Germans, but Dutch and Scandinavians as well to differentiate themselves further from the, for example, Romanians and French.


The Germans have an enthralling Myth or Saga about why they consider, say, the Swedes, Japanese or Samoans their brothers and sisters, but not the French or Ogiek for example, which goes back to the earliest settlement of Europe. There is some, rather flimsy, prehistoric evidence for some of it, but even the Germans themselves admit that most of this epic and gripping story is their Foundation Myth. A Saga like the Nibelungs and penned most probably by a prehistory researcher during Germany's National Awakening phase in the late 19th century. I have to send you a copy, since it is a thrilling read and tells a thing or two how the Germans tick.


Coming back to Arminstag, it was first called Hermannstag, but since to this day no document with Arminius true Germanic name has been found, it was decided in 1922 to use the German form of his Roman name.

It is a feast with food, drink, documentaries and movies everywhere and costume-wearing in several parts of Germany. They celebrate their culture and that they are still here as a people. During the official celebration in changing parts of the Teutoburg Forrest each year, there is always the remembrance and wreath-laying ceremony at the Battle Memorial deep in the Teutoburg woods, by delegations from all parts and tribes of Germany.

These delegations, men and women, are costumed in various dresses from all ages, to show the flow of time. Among the delegations there are people dressed in the garb of Armins´ era, from the Dark and Middle Ages or from the time of Frederick the Great to the Now. You see people in Knight and Samurai armour, frogcoats, tricorn, Kimono and Dirndl, tattooed Samoan warriors, Bentheimian shamans or Himba with their red body paint. Modern uniforms, colourful Landsknechte garb and the wear from the wars against Napoleon. Neuguinea sends a different tribe each year in rotation, since there are so many living there. Today it were men and women from the Asaro Mudmen with their distinctive war paint and masks. Very interesting.

When the official part is over, the Germans celebrate their culture and Way of Life and acknowledge that without that ancient battle it would not be the same. The TV on this day is full with movies and documentaries not only about the Battle at Teutoburg Forrest, but about all parts and tribes of Germany.


So unlike what we believed, that the Germans tried to retroactively bring Samoans to Teutoburg Forrest, Arminstag is about the German way of Life. In essence it is the German Counterpart to our Tee party weekend in the United States. A feast and memorial about what makes us - us.


Bye and Good Night

 

[Wolf1965]

Best Regards from Beer:

From the book "Being drunk on power and arrogance - The recipe for a World War", NZZ Verlag, Zürich 2011

When a century ago the World War broke out, the largest, if not the most hurtful, conflict in written history, nobody awaited neither a long war nor thought much about how the war came to be. Today many people try to decipher how it was possible that the major powers walked into this war with the assuredness of a dreamwalker.
Part of the solution is the changing of the times. Back then, in 1911, every Great Power and some smaller ones thought the sky was the limit - for now. It was an age where humanity believed that life would always go faster, further and higher. The Great Powers had parted the world among themselves, every single one believed to be the center of the universe. Nobody could challenge them except another major faction.

Decades of arrogance, backroom deals, proxy wars, power concentration, cultural imperialism, scientific-, cultural progress and propaganda culminated in a drunkness of power unseen before.
It is staggering how similar in tone the reports in the various state archives are. No matter the crisis at hand, (insert a random Great Power) would solve it with maximum revenue for itself. That could never function for a longer time.
The warning signs were there: The Doggerbank Battle between Russia and Britain in 1904, the Manchurian Skirmish, Weihaiwei, the Equator Race, the Agadir Crisis, various hot spots and skirmishes in the Balkans, the Norwegian Gamble, the Gronauersdorf Stand-off and these are only the most known signs along the road to the "Great Conflagration".

But the leaderships of the Great Powers did not see it or did not want to see it. 19th century thinking (for the most part) coupled with 20th century technology was a deadly mix to come for millions.
The posturing and pushing finally came to a head in the Bulgarian Crisis of 1911. Russia tried to widen her influence and that of her ally Serbia in the Balkans and the eye of St. Petersburg fell on Bulgaria. The Russian government tried to force Sofia to cede the north-eastern province to Russia and a part of the west to Serbia, otherwise it would be war. Since Bulgaria had no official "Big Brother", pushing them around seemed like an easy win.
In their need, the Bulgarians turned to Berlin for help. There were some vague assurances since the Berlin Congress and later ones, even several treaties concerning political situations, but not a full alliance.

The German government had some wriggle room, but there was a lot at stake. The treaties of the last 20 years with Sofia implied German help in case of a crisis, still it was just implied not fixed. Germany was known to be generally uninterested in the Balkans, which was one reason the Russians had targeted Bulgaria, the only Balkan nation in Germany´s sphere of influence. St. Petersburg hoped and counted with Germany´s longtime "Frak the Balkans, leave me alone with that place" stance.
And now once again assumptions took a terrible life of their own. Two decades before, even a single decade earlier Germany might have waved off. But in 1911 Berlin felt they had no choice. "Blinking" now would negatively influence the relations with Austria, who was very interested in the Balkans. Vienna was actually pushing Berlin, eager to get more of the Balakns for Austria.
Pulling back would also negatively influence the relations with other friendly nations and allies. In a time where the various known alliances pointed at Russia, France and Britian to be opponents and enemies of Germany in a major war, losing allies was not a good idea.
Not to forget the, back then, even higher importance of high international prestige.

On 4th June 1911, Germany to the surprise of Russia guaranteed Bulgaria´s independence. Since the statement by Berlin left some interpretation room, it said nothing about Bulgaria´s borders, even if there was some implications to it, Russia still smelled a diplomatic victory in the air, if Germany was just pressured enough. Knowing that France would help in the case of a war against Germany, St. Petersburg pushed on. Even the British would likely help, despite Russia taking Weihaiwei from them in 1908. But London feared Germany´s growth and would beg, steal or borrow to find a reason to attack Germany.
Assured of the help from 2 major powers, Russia, which already had deployed sizeable army units at the western borders, especially in the Southwest, called out general mobilisation. Two days later Germany countered with her own general mobilisation order and like a row of dominos falling, the other major powers followed.
Throughout June, the diplomats tried to find a solution to this armed stand-off, when on 26th June, Russia declared war on Bulgaria. The next morning, Germany declared war on Russia and the alliance systems moved with horrific consequences. Since so many treaties in the last decades before the war had been made in secrecy, with the cards on the table there were many surprises for all sides.
On the first day of the war, the two sides were as follows:

Central Powers: Germany, Austria, Japan, Sweden, Bulgaria, Mongolia

Entente Powers: Britain, France, Russia, Italy, Serbia

Both sides had nations leaning towards them and some of those would enter the war at a later date, but on the first day it were these nations going "for it".

Germany already had it´s warplan, the Schlieffen Plan. The basics had been laid by Moltke the Elder after Bismarck´s wish in the 1880s, with Schlieffen taking over after Moltke´s death. Since Germany had to calculate with a several front war, both Moltke and Schlieffen worked with that assumption. At first, a heavy attack on France, then bringing down Russia had been favoured. But already Moltke saw a different solution due to Germany´s situation in East Asia, a Russia first solution. After Moltke´s death Schlieffen kept both variants updated, but latest with von Fabeck´s campaign in Mongolia the Count too chose the Russia option. With Japan´s growth and the general situation this plan sounded a lot better.

In the West, Germany would stay on the defensive. The Italian front had been left undecided, offensive or defensive actions would depend on the developments of the first weeks. The Eastern Front became the main theatre by default now. The Central Powers would attack along the Russian lines in the west, while German-Japanese units would attack out of Mongolia and Korea as well. The Far East was not seen as decisive, but even the Russians could ignore being attacked from two sides only for so long.
The Entente Powers had their own warplans, for example the French Nivelle Plan, which called for crushing Germany and Austria between the French and Russian forces, by pushing from two sides as well. But as Moltke once said: "No plan survives contact with the enemy." Both factions would see this proverb proven again soon in their campaigns.


From the FIFA World cup Final 1954 reportage by Herbert Zimmermann

"There are six minutes left here in Bern... the heavy rain is pouring down on Wankdorf Stadium without pause. The conditions are difficult, but the spectators endure, no one is leaving. and why would they? A Football world cup is just every 4 years and this is without questions the best Football Final I´ve ever seen!
The two best teams in the world right now are showing why they have reached the final. On one side we have the tournament favourites and current champion from Austria, their second "Wunderteam" after Hugo Meisl´s World Cup winners from 1934.

The Austrians are nicknamed the Green-White Puszta-Express, because unlike two decades back when Hugo Meisl´s team was mainly Austro-German and Italian, most players and substitutes today are from the Hungarian part of Austria and play for Rapid Wien and Franzstadt (Ferencvaros) Budapest, both clubs having green-white colours.
Since their shocking surprise win over Brazil in Rio four years back, Austria has not lost a single international match. Hugo Meisl might not be among us anymore, but it was his dedication to professionalism and groundwork which made this record possible. It took time, since the win 1934 Austria had rather mixed results in friendlies and competition matches alike, like the hurtful loss against Italy in 1938, but Ernst Meisl and Gusztav Sebes have formed a team like few other before.

On the other side is our German team with our captain Fritz Walter in a record fourth appearance in the semi-final or better. We might trail double winners Austria and Uruguay in terms of World cups with our single win at home in 1942, but we are the consistent tournament team. With the exception of the Olympics 1928, a preparation tournament, and the Cup in Uruguay 1930, we ended all World Cups among the Top 4.
Like Hugo Meisl in Austria, a farseeing coach formed the Nationalmannschaft and it's style, a name football fans know by heart, Sepp Herberger. The "Chef", in his 23rd year as team manager, once again reaches for a second World cup win. Will it happen?

Fritz Walter, whose star rose in 1942, is in a form reminding the fans of the Cup twelve years ago and today is Fritz-Walter-Wetter. For those who rarely see football it is good to know that the German captain plays his best football in rain and adverse conditions. And considering the Monsoon-like downpour here in Bern today, I´d say adverse hits the nail on the head.
The "FCK-Block", five players and two substitutes come from Kaiserslautern, showed throughout the tournament that there is a reason why the "Red Devils" have been German Champion six times in the last 15 years, but will it be enough?
Coach Herberger has pulled every ace and surprised this morning with his lineup like he did in the first round when he controversially fielded a reserve team in the first match against Austria. This time he exchanged Karl May from Fürth, who made a great game in the semi-final against Brazil, with Hikaru Kawabe from FC Hakodate.
Many questioned this move to replace the proven May with a player who played up to date just 4 matches in the national colours, but the Chef seems to have had the right gut feeling again, since the Austrian right midfield has visible problems with the feisty Kawabe throughout the afternoon.

Still, the Austrians know their power and push against our team relentlessly, but the score is still 3:3, since we equalised practically with the pause whistle. Since then both sides push for the deciding goal, but with the 84th minute running many spectators are beginning to think about extra-time.
A new fast attack by Germany... but Schäfer´s pass to Morlock is blocked by the Austrians. Bozsik, again and again Bozsik, right outside midfielder of Austria has the ball anew... but now he lost the ball to Kawabe... flanking inward... Header from Schäfer... cleared by Körner... Rahn should shoot from the deep... Rahn shoots...GOAL! GOAL! GOAL!"

 

[Tyr Anazasi]

Great update again.

 

[FarAwayInWonderland]

This is one of my favourite TLs on this site and I'm really happy to see it updated. Really intrigued to see how this WWI will play out.

 

[Samuel Von Straßburg]

So it begins........

 

[Wolf1965]

Sorry for late folks:


From the book "Further declarations of war are still accepted here" by Niall Ferguson, Oxford Publ. 2015

When we look back a century, for todays people the attitude of the time when the Great Conflagration began is rather alien. While even to this day conflicts and war are a fact of life, in some regions more than others, the major powers are not keen on going militarily against each other anymore. The World War and what came after, was a big reminder and warning sign what could happen.

Going to war with such a fervor as in 1911 is done today only in very prolonged conflicts on smaller scale, when an old conflict became practically hereditary. Something that goes deeper than the aims and gains of the typical conflicts and proxy wars of our time.

Reading in the now the one liners from all sides of the early World War days says everything. "Further declaractions of war are still accepted here" or "Every stab a Frenchman". The latter is a German one and rhymes in German, but just those two are a synonym of the bloodletting to come.

Decades of unbound nationalism, colonialism, the feeling to be better than anybody else combined with modern weapons became a deadly mix for millions. Both sides calculated with a fast war, like in the "old days". Confined, regional battlefields with acceptable losses. Nineteenth century thinking met twentieth century weapons, few of those in command had an inkling what that really meant.

We know what it meant and names like Beffert, Luxemburg, Masuren, Celtic Sea, Milan, Andaman Sea, Leyte, Charleroi, Nancy, Tarnow are just some of the battles which destroyed a whole generation of young men.

From the book "War aims of the World War", NZZ Druck, Zürich 2000

One thing which made the World War so devastating for all was the way it started. The Great Powers simply sled into it, having played with fire for more than 2 decades. When "the Big One" finally began, an event nobody among the main powers reckoned with, unbelievable from today´s perspective, the question of "what the hell do we want out of this war?" popped up.

And what is equally unbelievable today, is that nobody had thought of more than generalities. Britain wanted to keep the other Great Powers at each others throats, France wanted a piece of Germany, Russia a piece of the Balkans, Austria too, Italy wanted a piece of Austria, Germany wanted to transfom her semi-hegemonial position in Europe into being a full hegemon, Japan wanted her place among Great Powers, Belgium wanted parts of the Netherlands and Germany, Sweden wanted Finland back and so on.

The general war aims were obvious, but how and what further goals should be set into the sights? In most capitals a hurried gathering of thoughts started, a start which would ultimately spread the fighting in all corners of the globe.