President Robert Todd Lincoln (RTL) entered the Presidency will all the energy and vitality that characterized his campaign for office. Determined to “shake Washington by the scruff of the neck” Lincoln wasted no time in pushing the nominations for his cabinet secretaries though the solidly Republican controlled Senate. Many historians would in later years claim that RTL’s 1901 cabinet comprised some of best political talent since the early years of the American republic. Some of the more notable officials included veteran Republican politician and former vice presidential candidate, William McKinley for Secretary of State. McKinley had been out of political office since losing the governorship of Ohio to George Armstrong Custer in 1892. The post of Secretary of War was filled by a young and energetic New York politician and veteran of the Spanish-American War by the name of Theodore Roosevelt. The appointment of Alfred Thayer Mahan, an accomplished naval strategist and hero of the war with Spain, was significant in that it placed a military man and not a career politician in charge of naval affairs, a first in U.S. history that ruffled the feathers of many Democratic senators.
Attorney General- William H. Moody
Secretary of Agriculture- William K. Ashley
Secretary of State- William McKinley
Secretary of the Navy- Alfred Thayer Mahan
Secretary of the Treasury- Jonathan R. Fisher
Secretary of the Interior- James W. Fulton
Postmaster General- Joseph C. Davis
Secretary of War – Theodore Roosevelt
Legislative Agenda
Once inaugurated, President Lincoln immediately began one of the biggest legislative initiatives in American history. The first and most pressing issue in the early months of 1901 was to jumpstart the American economy. President Lincoln and the Republican controlled 57th Congress repealed nearly all of the protective measures the Custer Administration had imposed on the country at the start of the depression. This not only allowed Americans access to cheaper foreign goods but allowed American businesses to start exported their wares overseas.
To create jobs congress passed several public work initiatives the most important being the American Infrastructure Development Act (AIDA). AIDA would over the course of several years put to work hundreds of thousands of jobless Americans doing any number of public works projects such as building roads, railways, canals, and irrigation systems. This act also increased the level of electrification in America several time over.
Another important bill that RTL and the Republican congress approved was the 1901 Naval Act. More commonly known as the Mahan Act after the Secretary of the Navy, the 1901 Naval Act would put thousands of dockworkers and shipbuilders back to work by dramatically increasing the number of vessels being constructed for the U.S. Navy. Once could argue that the Mahan Act was in a sense just a dramatic funding increase for the naval reforms already underway since the Military Reform Act of 1897, however it is worth noting that without the appropriate funding most of the Custer Era reforms would never have seen the light of day.
Cuba granted Statehood
After being ruled as a commonwealth since 1878, Cuba was officially granted statehood on June 21st 1901, 23 years to the day since the fall of Havana, making Cuba the 47th State. Cuba’s admission was loudly protested by the Democrats who resented the inclusion of a pro-Republican and largely non-English speaking and heavily black territory into the Union. The language issue was partially resolved in that in exchange for statehood, English would be the language of government and be taught alongside Spanish in Cuban schools. However, the Democrats fears about the State of Cuba’s political leanings seemed to have been well founded as Cuba would remain a Republican bastion for decades to come.
Foreign Policy
The single biggest event regarding foreign policy during President Lincoln’s first term was the cementing of an official rapprochement with the United Kingdom. True, Anglo-American relations had been on the rise since their low levels during the Civil War but it was President Lincoln and Secretary of State McKinley who officially acknowledged an Anglo-American sense of brotherhood that would last for decades.
Photograph of one of the millions of Americans that started going back to work as the economy improved.
Milledgeville, Georgia
December 4th, 1902
The United States
Economic Recovery Begins
All though it would take several more years for the United States to fully recover from the Depression of 1897, the economy began to seriously rebound by the end of 1902. Whether this was due to the job programs created by the government or whether it was simply the economic cycle is still debated by economists to this day.
1902 Midterm Elections
The 1902 midterm elections saw only modest Democrat gains in the House and Senate. The incumbent Republicans had more than enough seats to spare and easily maintained their control on both houses of Congress. Although some tried to maintain that the Republican loses was a repudiation of RTL’s policies, President Lincoln countered stating that since only a handful of seats were lost to the Democrats the elections showed that a clear majority of Americans supported his action over the last two years.
Foreign Developments
Upcoming Napoleonic Centennial
Starting in 1902, the Imperial French government began in earnest making preparations for the massive celebrations planned for the 1904 centennial of the coronation of Napoleon I. An enormous equestrian statue of Napoleon I in Paris which had already been under construction for several years was planned to be unveiled at the start of the celebrations. Although still two years away, the French government devoted large amounts of money and resources to what it hoped to be not only a ceremony to remember past glories but , as Napoleon IV put it “a proclamation to the world announcing the emerging preeminence of the French Empire.”
Queen Victoria Dies
On January 3rd, 1902 Queen Victoria, the longest reigning monarch in British history died at the age of 82. Much beloved, her funeral drew an enormous crowd and marked the end of an era in British history. Victoria was succeeded to the throne by her eldest son Edward VII. Although Edward had been largely excluded from power due to his mother’s unusually long reign, once installed as monarch, Edward would play an active role in British politics. Regarding foreign relations, from the start of his reign Edward was known for his distrust of the French, Napoleon IV in particular, and close relations with his brother in law the King of Prussia Fredrick III.
Edward VII
By the Grace of God, King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India
1902
1903 marked the beginning of what would eventually become known as the first wave in the civil rights movement in America. Since the end of the Civil War the racial status quo had been largely maintained arguably due to the long period of Democratic dominance in Congress and the Whitehouse. By the turn of the century however there had been some progress in the north and western parts of the country were Blacks were to a large degree allowed to vote. In the south and some Midwestern states unfortunately African Americans were barred from exercising their franchise by law. This notion however, began to be challenged in the early twentieth century by an ever increasing number of reformers.
It would be impossible to accurately tell the story of the early years of the Civil Rights Movement without first mentioning the most influential of these reformers, Rev. Samuel G. McGuffey and George W. Harley. Harley, an African American from a poor family in Newnan, Georgia, and McGuffey, a wealthy white man from Birmingham, Alabama, both served during their youths in the Spanish American War. At the Battle of Havana, Harley saved McGuffey’s life by dragging the wounded McGuffey to safety into a nearby house after suffering a life threatening wound to the chest. While tending to McGuffey’s wounds, Harley reportedly killed five Spanish militiamen as they tried to enter the house to finish the pair off. This harrowing experience started a deep friendship that would last for the rest of their lives.
Following the war with Spain, McGuffey and Harley moved their families to Atlanta, Georgia. In Atlanta, McGuffey after attending seminary became the minister of an influential Atlanta Baptist church while Harley opened a series of profitable dry goods and retail stores. Although at first Harley and McGuffey were apolitical, the racially motivated 1903 murder of a local black rail worker began their rise to the forefront of the nascent civil rights movement as they together began the first steps of Black-White cooperation in Atlanta for a more inclusive southern society.
Completion of the Central American Canals
The Opening of the Panama Canal on July 8, 1903. One week after the Americans officially completed their Nicaraguan Canal
As both the Nicaraguan and Panamanian Canals neared completion the race between the American and French Canal companies intensified with speculation and beats being placed around the world as to whom would finish first. In the end, the United States won the race after nearly 10 years of construction when the American built Nicaraguan Canal opened on July 1st, 1903 with the U.S.S. Savannah being the first vessel to cross through the canal from the Caribbean Sea into the Pacific Ocean. The French built Panama Canal although started 2 years earlier finished 1 week later on July 8th. (The often reported anecdote that Napoleon IV flew into such a rage that he broke his sword over his knee when he learned the Americans had beaten the French is unfounded.). Regardless, both canals were heralded around the world as monuments to civilization as the new canals shortening the trip from the Atlantic to the Pacific by weeks.
Chinese Civil War
The Empire of China which had been ruled by the decaying Qing Dynasty since the mid 17th Century finely descended into open civil war on February 12, 1903, when the Emperor Zaitian suddenly died sparking a succession crisis and a scramble for the throne. The Chinese Civil War began with a variety of factions vying for power. In the north, around the capital of Peking, the remaining portions of the Imperial government sought to reestablish control over the disintegrating nation. In the south, a Chinese Republic was proclaimed on March 3rd by Chinese general Chen Ching-Kuo in the city of Canton. In the western parts of the empire, ethnic minorities and warlords fought with the Imperials, the Republicans, and amongst themselves for local control. Of additional importance, the Chinese Civil War further estranged the neighboring powers of Russia and Japan who had over the past decade become increasingly more involved in Chinese affairs.
Riding on a list of accomplishments and an improving economy, President Lincoln and Vice President Goff were unanimously re-nominated as the Republican ticket at the 1904 Republican National Convention in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Democrats had a much more divisive time at their convention in Tulsa, Sequoyah. After much debate and several ballots, the Democrats finally selected Henry G. Davis of Virginia and Jonathan Y. Ferguson of Michigan as their candidates for president and vice president respectively.
During the ensuing campaign Davis tried to paint Lincoln as a busy-body reformer and derided the military buildup as a “Republican scheme to impose despotism on the nation.” Lincoln and the Republican press however did a good job of painting Henry Davis as an anti-modern and senile old man (Davis was 80 years old at the time of the election, making him the oldest presidential candidate in American history). The Republican press got further mileage out of Lincoln competing with southerner Henry Davis by drawing comparisons to the Civil War rivalry between Abraham Lincoln and the despised first president of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis.
In the end, RTL was returned to office with nearly as many votes as his 1900 victory over President Custer. The Republicans also retained firm control of both houses of Congress. In his second inaugural address RTL focused on two pivotal issues, first warning the enthusiastic crowd that “Our Union must be ever vigilant against the clouds of war gathering abroad” and then stating the need for greater civil rights for women and ethnic minorities at home.
The Napoleonic Centennial
Napoleon IV
Emperor of the French
1904
1904 was a year of celebration for France’s Second Empire. After years of preparations, the centennial anniversary of Napoleon I’s coronation as Emperor of the French was celebrated in lavish style, dwarfing those of the 1897 Diamond Jubilee for the late Queen Victoria. The celebrations, which started on Napoleon IV’s 48th birthday on March 16th, continued on and off for most of the year, until culminating in one of the largest festivals in history on December 2nd,1904. The French government spared no expense for the festivities. At the center of the celebrations was the enormous equestrian statue of Napoleon I. At a maximum height of 100 meters, the Statue of Napoleon towered over the streets of Paris making it the tallest statue then in existence. The Napoleonic Centennial is also noteworthy for the ostentatious display of French military strength and technology. Massive numbers of French troops and colonial soldiers from every part of the Empire were present in the capital for the never ending procession of parades and demonstrations, leading U.S. Secretary of State McKinley, the head of the U.S. delegation, to remark that “it would appear that the Emperor has gathered together the largest collection of warriors together since the armies of Xerxes.” Arguably more impressive than the number of troops or the giant Statue of Napoleon was the imperial army’s fleet of dirigeables. The largest of which was the airship L'Aigle Impérial (The Imperial Eagle) which made tours around the continent until lumbering over Paris for the final December 2nd celebrations.
After years of preparation and months of celebration, the capstone event of the centennial took place on a cold Friday morning on December 2nd, 1904. On that day, Napoleon IV made his way through the crowded city streets to Notre Dame Cathedral were he reenacted the coronation of his great uncle to the largest assembly of royalty in history. The ceremony not only marked the 100th anniversary of Napoleon I’s coronation but also the 52nd anniversary of the Bonaparte Restoration under Napoleon III, in a sense cementing the imperial family’s hold on power and legitimacy. Not all observers were impressed, Secretary of War Theodore Roosevelt declared the ceremony to be “nothing more than a who’s who of royalist trash” and the “vain pretentions of mediocrity pretending to be a great conqueror.” Others however viewed the massive display of imperial might in a more sinister light such as British Prime Minister Joseph Chamberlain who is ominously reported to have remarked to an aid that “today the Emperor sees fit to mirror his uncle’s coronation. Let’s hope that tomorrow he doesn’t mirror his appetite for war.”
49 Star American Flag after the addition of the State of New Mexico
1905
Passage of the 14th Amendment
The United States Congress, which had largely been returned to Republican control in the 1904 elections, passed the 14th Amendment to the Constitution on February 4th, 1905. Although it was not ratified until the end of the year it did mark the first time the constitution had been amended since 1865. The 14th Amendment states…
Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
Although some have derided the 14th Amendment as short and vague, the amendment did definitively make U.S citizens out of women, ethnic minorities, immigrants, and Native Americans. However, the glaring flaw of the amendment was that it did not state specifically if these groups of people had the right to vote. Some states construed that it did under the clause that “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States.” However, in the southern states, which largely did not vote in favor of ratification, the amendment had little immediate effect on the widespread disenfranchisement of blacks.
New Mexico and Arizona Join the Union
The states of Arizona and New Mexico entered the Union on December 8th and December 10th, 1905 becoming the 48th and 49th states repectively. Together the addition of Arizona and New Mexico completed the settlement of the contingious United States.
Militiamen from the Orange Free State posing for a picture at the outbreak of the war
1905
The Second Anglo-Boer War
In November, 1905 war erupted in southern Africa, when after years of rising tensions open hostilities broke out between the British Empire and the Boer Republics of the South African Republic (commonly referred to as the Transvaal) and the Orange Free State. The exact causes of the conflict are still argued to this day. The British claim that after a border incident where a platoon of British soldiers were ambushed and killed (their slain lieutenant being the son of the influential English banker Charles R. Abbott) the Orange Free State refused the ultimatum to allow British troops access to the small nation to investigate the crime. This refusal eventually led to a chain of events which sparked a British declaration of war on November 13th, 1905. Many Afrikaners however still maintain that the “Lost Platoon” was really trespassing on their land and was sent there by unscrupulous Cape Colony politicians who wanted to create an incident in order to annex the Boer Republic’s for their mineral wealth. Regardless of the causes, by the end of 1905 both sides were assembling their forces for what they hoped to be a short war.
Launch of the NSMI Crocodile
The year of 1905 saw the French Navy launch His Imperial Majesty’s Ship the NSMICrocodile the most advanced submarine to date. Although the Crocodile’s abilities are modest compared to modern day submarines it represented a significant improvement over France’s existing submarine force and a leap in naval technology. Equipped with a diesel engine for surface running and large banks of batteries for underwater travel, the Crocodile was also armed with torpedo tubes both on the bow and stern of the vessel. Many naval strategists at the time, especially in Britain, viewed the Crocodile as a dramatic shift in French naval doctrine which had previously been more focused on larger surface vessels than “ship killers” such as the Crocodile.
The City of San Francisco after the 1906 Earthquake
1906 Midterm Elections
The November 1906 Midterm elections produced little change in the makeup of Congress as the Republicans suffered only moderate losses in the House and Senate, allowing them to retain their control on both houses. Most of the Democratic gains made were in the South where resentment over the newly passed 14th Amendment had angered racial conservatives.
The Great San Francisco Earthquake
On April 18, 1906 at approximately 5:13am the San Francisco area was rocked by an enormous earthquake. Estimated to have measured 7.9 on the Richter scale, the earthquake sparked a series of massive fires which destroyed the majority of the city of San Francisco. An estimated 3,400 people died in the earthquake and ensuing fires making it one of the worst natural disasters in American history.
Photograph of one of the many Boer guerrila bands fighting the British in the Transvaal
1906
Stalemate in South Africa
During the initial phase of the war a series of British outpost and garrisons fell under siege when Boer forces launched a preemptive strike into British controlled Cape Colony and Natal. After initial attempts to relieve these besieged garrisons failed, the British Army increased the number of troops being sent to South Africa, eventually reaching 190,000 the largest British Army sent over sea at that time. Ultimately the Boer offensive into Cape Colony and Natal failed and the British eventually managed to push the Boers out of British South Africa. However the British suffered a surprisingly high number of casualties as the Boers, armed with the latest French magazine fed rifles and machine guns, inflicted devastating losses. Pretoria, the capital of the South African Republic fell on July 25th, 1906. Unfortunately, the fall of Pretoria did not end the war as the Boers began a vicious guerrilla war against the occupying British forces.
The Russo-Japanese War On October 10th, 1906 the Empire of Japan declared war on Russia after negotiations broke down between the two nations regarding their respective spheres of influence in Manchuria as well as their stance on the Chinese Civil War. Within hours of issuing the declaration, the Japanese Navy attacked the Russian ports of Vladivostok and Port Arthur damaging the Russian fleet before being forced to withdraw. Although winter was fast approaching, the Japanese Army immediately sent tens of thousands of troops north into Manchuria while at home mobilizing hundreds of thousands of more troops for the war effort. Nicholas II was shocked by the Japanese attack and began mobilizing an army of over half a million men to combat the Japanese. The Russians also ordered their Baltic Fleet to redeploy to the Pacific to relieve the blockaded ports of Vladivostok and Port Arthur. In China, both the Republican and Imperial factions were outraged by the thousands of Japanese and Russian troop pouring into Manchuria. However, as the civil war was then raging throughout China there was little either side could do about the conflict.
Russian troops defending Port Arthur in Manchuria
1906
Last photograph of Otto, King of Bavaria (1890-1907)
1907 would go down in history along with other years like 1492 and 1789 as marking the beginning of a new era. Indeed many historians would remark later that the twentieth century didn’t start on 1900 but on 1907 when the world would be drastically and irreversible changed.
The Bavarian Crisis
The series of events that would ultimately lead to the Great War began in the Kingdom of Bavaria. This largely Catholic south German state had lived an uneasy existence for most of the past century due to it being wedged between the larger powers of Prussia, Austria-Hungry, and farther to the west, Imperial France. Since 1890, Bavaria had been ruled by King Otto who succeeded to the thrown after the death of his brother Ludwig II. Of questionable mental health, Otto’s reign had been largely controlled by Otto’s uncle, Prince Regent Luitpold. On August 3, 1907 King Otto at the age of 59 mysteriously died, presumably of a heart attack. Without heirs, Otto’s regent Prince Luitpold claimed the thrown as King Luitpold I. At the age of 86, the conservative anti-Prussian Luitpold was hardly the breath of fresh air that many Bavarians wished for, who had since 1864 been ruled by two possibly insane kings (Ludwig II and Otto) and now an octogenarian.
Luitpold
King of Bavaria
Unhappiness about the ascension of Luitpold soon led to rumors and accusations that he had orchestrated the death of his nephew in order to seize the throne. Unhappiness led to unrest when demonstrations against Luitpold in Munich turned into riots. Things became volatile when on September 17th, 1907, in what many historians view as a fatal mistake, Luitpold called out a reserve regiment of fusiliers to quell the rioters. Why Luitpold chose a reservist regiment instead of more loyal regular troops has been the subject of much debate but it would appear that the aging Luitpold didn’t want to “sully the reputation” of the Bavarian Army by putting down “rabble.” Furthermore Luitpold believed that the fusiliers could prove their loyalty to the new regime by squashing the rioters. In the end, the reservists refused to fire on their countrymen and soon joined the rioters.
These developments might have petered out had not the lower house of the Bavarian parliament, which deeply resented Luitpold’s apparent usurpation of the monarchy, then decided to adopted the armed rioters and mutinous troops as “The Bavarian People’s Guard.” Luitpold in retaliation dissolved Parliament on September 25th. Refusing to dissolve, the Bavarian Parliament on September 27th abolished the monarchy and declared the existence of the Bavarian Republic. Anti-monarchist rebellions soon spread to other Bavarian cities. Luitpold, who by this point had fled to Rosenheim where loyalist troops were gathering, requested that France and Austria-Hungry send troops into Bavaria in order to crush the rebellion. In turn, on October 1st, the republican Bavarian leaders requested that Prussia send forces to “protect their German brethren.”
Declarations of War
“This is the moment we have been waiting for!” Napoleon IV is reported to have exclaimed upon learning of the Bavarian Republic’s August 1st request for assistance. Tensions had been building in Europe for decades and the moment was now right, thought Napoleon, to finally settle the score. Russia was heavily engaged on the other side of the world against Japan, and Britain was fighting a brutal guerrilla war in South Africa. With these two powers distracted, Napoleon believed that France could once and for all could deal with their Prussian nemesis. On the morning of October 3rd, 1907 Napoleon IV appeared in person before the Imperial Senate and requested a declaration of war against Prussia “in order to safeguard the nations of Europe and their legitimate rulers from Teutonic aggression.” The Imperial Senate overwhelming granted the Emperor’s request, despite the fact that at this point the Prussian government had not even agreed to send troops into Bavaria in support of the Republican rebels. Austria-Hungry and the south German states of Wurttemberg and Baden all followed suit within 12 hours and declared war against Prussia. Czar Nicholas II was distraught when he heard the news of the war’s outbreak. Although already fighting a major war against the Japanese in the east, he realized that Russia could not afford to see Prussia, its biggest ally, succumb to Russia’s enemies. Reluctantly, Czar Nicholas II successfully asked the Russian Duma to honor their treaty obligations. Therefore, on October 5th, 1907 an already war weary Russia declared war on France and Austria-Hungry.
With Russia in the war, the King of Italy, Umberto I, was convinced that Italy too should come to Prussia’s aid. Although there were many in the Italian government who believed that entering the war would be akin to committing national suicide, Italy’s preexisting treaty with Germany as well as Umberto’s desire to gain French territories in North Africa and settle irredentist claims against Austria-Hungry were enough to secure an Italian declaration of war against France and Austria-Hungry on October 8th. On October 9th, after intense pressure from Emperors Napoleon IV and Maximilian, the Ottoman Empire declared war against Prussia, Italy, and Russia. The Great War had finally begun.
On October 11, 1907 the French 6th Army launched Opération Rivoli, the invasion of the Kingdom of Italy, with over 210,000 men. Occurring just three days after Italy honored its defensive alliance with Prussia and Russia and declared war on the French Empire, the massive French invasion into Northwestern Italy shocked the world. Indeed, most military experts before the war’s outbreak believed that France’s strategy in a general European war would be to rush as many troops as possible towards central Europe to guard against potential Prussian or Russian offensives into their ally Austria-Hungry. Napoleon IV however viewed the situation differently. With Russia distracted fighting Japan, it would be some time before the Russians could mount a serious offensive in Europe, freeing the French to attack Italy, the weakest of the Alliance members. Napoleon believed that occupying Italy would provide a second route to Austria-Hungry and ensure Entente domination of the Mediterranean Sea. Furthermore, Napoleon hoped that by knocking Italy out of the war early he could intimidate the Balkan states and Greece and keep them from entering the war.
The Italian Army was caught completely unprepared by the Imperial onslaught. The Italian King, Umberto I, believed that he would have weeks if not months to prepare his forces as the French and Austrians would be busy fighting the Prussians and Russians in the north. Unfortunately now just days into the war, his still mobilizing army was being squeezed between the French in the west and a significantly smaller Austro-Hungarian force in the east. Having introduced conscription at the turn of the century, the Italian Royal Army could muster around 300,000 men at the start of the war. Although outnumbering the attacking French, the Italians were horribly deficient in terms of machine guns, artillery, and aircraft.
Frightened Italian units in the Piedmont region began to fall back immediately. French naval superiority in the Mediterranean allowed for the heavy shelling of Genoa on October 15th which the Italians began fortifying in earnest. In the east, the Italians did manage to score an early victory against Austria-Hungry on October 23rd when they successfully repulsed an attack on the Isonzo river. On October 26, Turin fell to the advancing French after a valiant holding action by two Italian divisions allowed most of the Italian troops to escape east to Novara where the Italian army was planning to make a stand. A stand that many felt would decide the Italian campaign.
Defending Prussian troops at the Battle of Saarbrucken
October 20, 1907
At the outbreak of hostilities, Entente and Alliance forces immediately began jockeying for position along Prussia’s southern border in what would become one of the most intense fronts in the Great War. This however, was not what Prussian strategist had predicted. Prussia’s prewar battle plan had called for a holding action against France in the west and a decisive thrust through Bavaria and into Austria to capture Vienna. This offensive was to be supported by Russian armies in the east who would divert Austro-Hungarian troops by driving towards Budapest. The Prussians believed that once Vienna and Budapest had fallen the Austro-Hungarian empire would collapse. Afterwards the Russo-Prussian armies could turn west and finish off France. Unfortunately for the Prussians and Russians, real world conditions made the implementation of this strategy impossible. Russia was bogged down fighting the Japanese in the Far East, and at the moment could not muster sufficient forces to invade Austria-Hungry. Although there were some in the Prussia General Staff who wished to launch the invasion of Austria anyways, King Fredrick III overruled them stating that it “would leave our beloved Kingdom dangerously exposed.”
With the Prussians unsure on how to proceed it would be the Entente who would make the first moves in central Europe. The first order of business was to “secure” the south German states of Bavaria, Württemberg, and Baden. Although technically members of the Entente, the French and Austro-Hungarians took no chances with their allies’ loyalties. In a matter of days these small German states were occupied by advanced elements of the French and Austro-Hungarian Armies. The Prussians too tried to seize as much south German territory as possible but in most cases French armored car units supported by mounted infantry beat them to the best defensive positions. In later years it would be revealed that the French had begun partially mobilizing their forces two weeks before the start of the war, which might account for their early rapid movements along the German front. Furthermore, Entente forces in south Germany used heavy handed methods in procuring supplies from the local population and forced tens of thousands of south German subjects into the military to fight against the Prussians. Needless to say these abrasive tactics caused serious resentment amongst many in the south German states.
The first major battle of war occurred on October 20-21, 1907 when the Imperial French First, Second, and Third Armies launched the Saar Offensive. Aimed at depriving Prussia of an important industrial region, this massive offensive of over 650,000 troops would illustrate to the world the true horrors of war in the twentieth century. At the two day long Battle of Saarbrucken, French and Prussian armies squared off for the first time. Prussian machine guns mowed down lines of advancing French infantry, until either being outflanked by armored cars or obliterated by French artillery. This battle is also noteworthy for the first recorded use of aircraft for combat when a French reconnaissance plane dropped grenades on a unit of defending Prussian infantry. The costly battle ended when the Prussians decided to fall back north of the Mosel River to avoid being caught between the three way pincers of the attacking French armies.
By the end of October the German front had largely stabilized. Bavaria was occupied mostly by Austrian and Bavarian Royalist troops. The French 4th and 5th Armies took up strong defensive positions north of Darmstadt and Nuremburg respectively. And in the west at the densest part of the front along the Mosel River, French and Prussian troops dug in for what would both sides had begun to realize would be a long and grueling campaign.
The Bulgarian Civil War When war erupted in early October, 1907 the Ottoman vassal state of the Principality of Bulgaria followed its master in declaring war on the Alliance. Many however in orthodox Bulgaria disliked the war from the start as it made them fight with Muslims against fellow Christians. On October 14th, less than a week after the official declaration of war, a group of progressive Bulgarian Army officers attempted a coup against Bulgaria’s leader, Prince Regent Asen. Prince Asen managed to escape from the conspirators but was forced to flee the country. On October 16th the Tsardom of Bulgaria was proclaimed with the pro-Russian Ferdinand Maximilian Karl Leopold Maria as monarch. Tsar Ferdinand declared that Bulgaria was “forever free and independent” from the Ottoman Empire. On October 19th, in a move eerily reminiscent of France’s during the Bavarian Crisis, the Ottoman Empire declared war on Bulgaria in order to return Asen to the thrown and regain control over their former vassal.
The Balkans enter the War
The Turks’ declaration of war against Bulgaria sent shock waves through the Balkans. The Ottoman Empire still controlled a significant amount of territory in Europe, territory that the newly created Balkan nations desired. Furthermore, many in these Slavic and Orthodox nations felt a deep since of kinship with the Russian Empire. Now, with Bulgaria in the war, it seemed to many that the time was ripe to settle the score with the Turks. On October 23, 1907 Serbia’s King Alexander I declared war on Turkey. Greece and Montenegro followed suit and declared war on the Ottoman Empire within a week. Although the other Entente powers reactions were slow, a factor which no doubt aided Serbia, Greece, and Montenegro’s decision to enter the war, France and Austria-Hungry eventually did declared war on the Balkan states on November 3rd. The Kingdom of Romania was the last Balkan state to join the Alliance on November 6, 1907 after it became apparent that Romania would have a bleak future in an Austrian/Ottoman dominated Balkans.
The Russian Front
With the Entente focusing on Italy, Prussia, and now the Balkans, Russia was largely spared the initial onslaught of the war. Already heavily engaged against Japan in the east, Russia was now forced to fight three major powers in the west. Roughly two weeks after Russia entered the war, the Russian Duma passed a series of laws that would became known as the October Acts. These forward thinking measures not only placed the Russian Empire on a total war footing but, unlike the preparations of most other wartime belligerents, prepared Russia for a long war. These include such things as a massive conscription act, expanding the existing rail network, and a dramatic industrialization plan.
Ottoman Soldiers entering Tbilisi
November 9, 1907
In an October 7th meeting in St. Petersburg, Czar Nicholas II and the Russian General Staff decided to pursue a generally defensive strategy until they had amassed sufficient forces in European Russia to advance into Entente territory. The Ottomans however struck first by launching a surprise offensive into the Caucuses. The Turks made good progress against the lightly defended region capturing thousands of Russian troops at the Battle of Tbilisi on November 9th.
As winter approached the Russian and Balkan theaters were in a state of flux with millions of troops being mobilized and shuffled to their respective fronts. Russia was biding its time while it built up its forces. The Ottoman Empire was launching a major offensive through the Caucuses, and the simmering Balkan states had entered the war.
Recruitment poster for the expanding British Army
1907
With the outbreak of war in the autumn of 1907 the United Kingdom, the greatest industrial and naval power in Europe, declared its neutrality and watched uneasily on the Entente powers aggression. Great Britain’s policy towards Europe had always been to maintain a balance of power, in other words not letting one country dominate the continent. Imperial France however, with its declaration of war on Prussia, was beginning to challenge this notion.
In a sense, the current disposition of many in Britain was an inversion of their policy 50 years ago. During the Crimean War (1853-1856), the United Kingdom fought with France and the Ottoman Empire against Russia whom they saw as a serious threat to their south Asian possessions. Furthermore, there were several British policy makers at the time who feared that rapidly industrializing Prussia would challenge Britain in a naval arms race. By the early 20th century however, the geo-political situation was very different. Anglo-French relations had been souring for decades as the French Empire had industrialized and expanded at an alarming pace. Russia had also liberalized into a functioning constitutional monarchy and focused its attentions away from British India, two things which greatly improved Russo-British relations.
In short, as 1908 approached anti-Entente sentiments in the United Kingdom were on the rise. Large segments of the British public felt a since of kinship with what they viewed as Protestant Prussia’s heroic stand against Napoleonic aggression. The French blockade of Russia and Prussia in the North Sea was also causing considerable tensions as the Royal Navy was uneasy about France’s presence in its home waters. In light of these developments and the ongoing guerrilla war in the Boer Republics, Britain in late 1907 began to greatly expand its navy and army.
Kingdom of Spain
A deeply conservative monarchy, the Kingdom of Spain at the start of the war favored the largely catholic Entente. The sorry state of the Spanish military and the few foreseeable gains for entering the war however, kept Spain neutral.
Kingdom of Portugal
Following the lead of its chief ally the United Kingdom, Portugal maintained in 1907 a pro-Alliance neutrality.
Kingdom of Belgium
Its independence and perpetual neutrality being guaranteed by the 1839 Treaty of London, Belgium maintains a very strict neutrality in order to stay out of the war.
Kingdom of the Netherlands
An important Prussian trading partner, the Netherlands favors the Alliance but is careful to not upset the French.
Grand Duchy of Luxembourg
Situated dangerously close to some of the most intense fighting of the war, the tiny country of Luxembourg was desperate to stay out of the fighting. Luxembourg however, was unsuccessful in getting other neutral nations such as the United Kingdom, Belgium or the Netherlands in signing a defensive agreement to officially guarantee the small Duchy’s independence.[1]
United Kingdom of Sweden and Norway
Although despite having some irredentist claims against Russia, the United Kingdom of Sweden and Norway favored the Alliance. This was mostly due to Prussia being an important export market for Swedish iron, a commodity that was desperately needed in the Prussian war effort.
Kingdom of Denmark
Christian IX
King of Denmark
Having lost the southern provinces of Schleswig and Holstein to Prussia in 1864, the Kingdom of Denmark resents their powerful southern neighbor. At the start of the war, Napoleon IV offered the return of those provinces if Denmark would enter the war against the Alliance. However, the aging King Christian IX refused the offer, stating that the “current disparity of forces does not lend itself to Denmark joining the war at this time.”
Persian Empire
Having been ruled by the Qajar dynasty since 1794, the Persian Empire deeply resents the encroaching powers of Imperial Russia and Britain. Furthermore having suffered territorial loses to Russia in the 1880’s Persia is seriously contemplating joining the war against the Alliance.
China
Although both the Imperial and Republican factions in China are officially neutral, the ongoing conflict between Russia and Japan in Manchuria has severely strained the already abysmal Sino-Japanese and Sino-Russian relations. Clashes between Chinese elements and Russian and Japanese forces are not uncommon but both sides are two distracted by the Chinese Civil War and the Great War respectively to become heavily engaged.
The United States of America
American Secretary of State William McKinley and Secretary or War Theodore Roosevelt
1908
From the start of the conflict the United States has maintained a firm pro-Alliance stance. The reasons for this are several fold. First, the United States dislikes France’s encroachment in the New World as seen in the Panama Canal and France’s alliances with Brazil and Colombia. Secondly, the United States has an enormous German, Russian, and Italian immigrant community. Thirdly, the constitutional monarchies of the Alliance are perceived to be more democratic than the more authoritarian and imperialistic Entente powers. Finally France, having declared war on Prussia first, is viewed as the aggressor and a warmonger.
Although at the start of the war a clear majority of Americans favored neutrality, the Republican administration or President Robert T. Lincoln began increasing America’s readiness for war. The military buildup of the past few years was accelerated over the objections of the more isolationist Democratic party. Secretary of State McKinley and Secretary of War Roosevelt, both staunch Francophobes, also began making plans to put pressure on France to end the war. Furthermore, thousands of Americans, many of German extraction, joined the von Stueben Brigade to fight against France on the German Front.
Empire of Brazil
France’s most important ally in South America, the Empire of Brazil maintained a decidedly pro-Entente stance towards the war. Although at the start of the war Empress Isabela I turned down a request from Napoleon IV for Brazil to join the war, Brazil continued to provide France with large quantities of raw materials and agricultural products. Both of which were desperately needed for the French war effort.
[1] ITTL there was no Treaty of London (1867), Luxembourg has maintained an uneasy independence based largely on a 1869 bilateral agreement between the French Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia to have Luxembourg serve as a buffer state.
The Battle of the Mosel
and the
Invasion of Luxembourg
French troops posing for a picture in Luxembourg City
February 24, 1908
First Battle of the Mosel
On December 2nd, 1907 the First and Second Imperial French Armies launched a massive offensive north from the recently conquered Saarland across the Mosel River in order to invade the Prussian province of the Rhineland. The offensive was a disaster for the French from the start. Although the French preceded their attack with an enormous artillery bombardment, the River Mosel proved a formidable obstacle to their advance. For a full week the French tried in vain to expand their tiny lodgments on the north bank. On December 9th, the Prussians counterattacked regaining all of the north bank and most of the city of Trier. French losses were staggering with modern estimates around 220,000 casualties while Prussia suffered only 98,000. The French commander, the aging Marshal Anatole Philippe, was relieved of command and replaced by 56 year old Marshal Ferdinand Foch.
Ferdinand Foch
Marshal of France
Second Battle of the Mosel While the Alliance Powers were celebrating their victory at the Mosel River over Christmas, Marshal Foch was developing a radical new plan to reverse French fortunes. Named Opération Hannibal in honor of the Carthaginian commander at the battle of Cannae, the audacious plan called for the First and Second Imperial French Armies to again attack north across the Mosel River to fix the Prussians while elements from the recently won Italian campaign would “traverse” neutral Luxembourg bypassing the Mosel River and flank the defending Prussians. Emperor Napoleon IV was concerned about the backlash from invading Luxembourg, a neutral nation, but decided in the end that it was worth the risk.
On the morning of February 22nd, 1908 the second Battle of the Mosel began with the First and Second French Armies again attacking north. Surprised that the French would launch a major assault in such harsh winter weather the Prussians rushed additional troops to the river. On February 23rd a composite force of 6th Army elements and fresh units invaded Luxembourg. The Luxembourgers only managed to put up a token defense as the French moved rapidly through their tiny country. Within a matter of days the invading French made good use of armored cars and mounted infantry to smash through the lightly defender Prussia-Luxembourg border and race to the Rhine. On March 3rd, 1908 French forces reached the outskirts of Bonn on the Rhine. The Prussian commander Alfred von Schlieffen is reported to have said of the French flanking attack through Luxembourg that it was “a damn good idea.” Nearly encircled, the defending Prussian forces on the Mosel had no choice but to attempt to withdraw to the east bank of the Rhine. By March 10th the battle was over with France having scored an enormous victory at the cost of 90,000 casualties. Prussian loses were placed around 170,000 including large amounts of artillery and supplies that had to be left behind.
Flag of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg
Foreign Reaction to the Invasion of Luxembourg
Foreign reaction to the French invasion of Luxembourg ranged from plain shock to total outrage. Officially, Luxembourg’s independence was guaranteed by a 1869 bilateral agreement between France and Prussia. Many foreign powers like Britain therefore viewed Luxembourg’s invasion as a flagrant disregard for international law. France’s invasion of this small neutral nation also drove other smaller powers such as Belgium and the Netherlands further into the Alliance camp. In the United States the invasion turned the already Francophobic public more and more towards the Alliance.
Painting of Bulgarian seperatist fighting the Ottomans February, 1908
Austro-Hungarian Monarchy
The Austro-Hungarian Monarchy entered the Great War in a precarious place both geographically and politically. As of November, 1907 Austria-Hungary found its self literally surrounded by enemies with Prussia to the north, Italy to the southwest, Russia and Romania to the east, and Serbia and Montenegro to the south for a minimum of six different fronts. Of these Russia posed the most direct threat to the Dual Monarchy as Prussia was largely tied down fighting France in the west. As such, at the outbreak of the war Austria-Hungary launched an offensive into Russian Poland towards the city of Warsaw. When Warsaw fell on January 7, 1908 Austro-Hungarian Emperor Maximilian I proclaimed the creation of the Kingdom of Poland to be created out of all the polish lands of Russia and Prussia. This was not only meant to stir up the polish subjects of Russia and Prussia but also to try and physically divide the two allies from each other. Although this new Polish state was quickly recognized by the other Entente powers the response from the local population was not nearly as enthusiastic as was hoped for. The Poles loyalty to their Russian masters was largely due to the increasing levels of autonomy given to Russian Poland in recent decades. Furthermore, the capture of Warsaw created a large salient into Russian territory that was increasingly feeling pressure from the Prussians in the west and the Russians in the east. Efforts to expand the “Warsaw Salient” were sharply curtailed with the entry into the war of the Balkan states which required the redeployment of hundreds of thousands of Austro-Hungarian troops.
Although less than a year into the Great War and on the winning side, Austria-Hungary was already by the summer of 1908 feeling the destabilizing effects of the war. Many revolutionary groups saw the war as a chance to create independent states or merge with neighboring homelands instead of remaining subjects of the heterogeneous Austro-Hungarian Empire. Furthermore, with neighboring Russia gathering strength it was becoming increasingly crucial to knock out the smaller Alliance powers so the Entente could concentrate their forces for the inevitable Russian counterattack.
Kingdom of Serbia and the Principality of Montenegro
Within weeks of entering the war in late October of 1907, Serbia and Montenegro launched a quick offensive to capture the small strip of Ottoman territory that separated the two nations. This effectively severed the small land connection between Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire. Although having to leave considerable forces on their northern borders to defend against Austria-Hungary, these two nations began pushing into Ottoman held Europe starting in the winter of 1908. Slowly but surely, the Serbs began liberating territory that the Ottomans had held for centuries.
Kingdom of Romania
With its chief war aim to annex the Romanian majority areas of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Romanian invaded Transylvania in December of 1907. After initial success, the Romanian offensive ground to a halt as Austro-Hungarian reinforcements began arriving in mass. The Kingdom of Romania also sent troops into neighboring Bulgaria to support its efforts in gaining independence from the Ottoman Empire. These troops however were pushed out of Bulgaria in April, 1908 by a strong Ottoman counteroffensive.
Kingdom of Greece
Greece attacked swiftly into Ottoman held Thessaly beginning in late November, 1907. Unlike their fellow Balkan allies however, they meet with less success as a grueling war of attrition set in as the Greeks made slow and painful progress as they crawled their way north.
Flag of the Kingdom of Greece
The Sublime Ottoman State
The Ottoman Empire was initially caught off guard by the Balkan nations joining the war on the side of the Alliance. However, starting in the spring of 1908 the Ottomans began pouring their troops into southeastern Europe. This caused Turkish fortunes to improve, starting in Bulgaria where in early April the separatist forces of the so called “Kingdom of Bulgaria” had been pushed back into Romania. By the end of June, 1908 the Turks had largely slowed or stopped Alliance gains in the Balkans and would soon be able to launch their own counteroffensive to regain lost territory.
Ottoman victories in the Balkans came at a price elsewhere though. The massive redeployment of troops caused the Ottoman offensive in the Caucasus’s to grind to a halt. Furthermore, a rebellion was fomenting on the Arabian Peninsula, which was producing a series of embarrassing small scale defeats for the Turks. The Ottoman’s claims that the rebellion was being fomented by the neighboring British did nothing but exacerbate deteriorating Anglo-Ottoman relations.
Less than a year after being attacked by the Empire of Japan in October of 1906, the Russian Empire was forced to honor its treaty commitments with Prussia and entered the Great War against the Entente Imperiale. Since then the Russians had suffered an almost unbroken string of defeats from being pushed back in Manchuria by the Japanese, to losing the Caucasus to the Ottomans, and having half of Poland taken by the Austro-Hungarians.
Despite these loses however, Emperor Nicholas II realized that the Empire’s position was not as perilous as it might appear. Nicholas knew from the beginning that his country’s vast population and territory favored Russia in a long war. As such Nicholas and the Russian General Staff took their time in training their armies, expanding the nation’s rail network, and building up the munitions industries necessary to wage the war. By the summer of 1908 the Russian Empire was ready to go on the offensive.
The Far East
The Empire of Japan suffered its first serious defeat of the war in early June of 1908 at the battle of Khabarovsk. At the battle, Russian forces decimated the Japanese 3rd Army and relieved the city which had been besieged for months. Following this victory the Russians launched a general offensive which over the next few months began pushing the Japanese back towards the Korean Peninsula. Several major battles ensued at places like Harbin and Changchun in which casualties on both sides would invariable reach into the tens if not hundreds of thousands. On November 28, 1908 Russian troops lifted the siege of Vladivostok which had been encircled by Japanese forces for almost a year. As winter set in the front stabilized as Japanese forces began to construct an impressive line of fortifications, collectively known as the Mutsuhito Line, running from Port Arthur on the Yellow Sea then along the Yalu River to Chongjin on the Pacific coast.
The Baltic Fleet
A few months after the outbreak of war against Japan and after much debate the Russian Navy’s Baltic Fleet was ordered to the Pacific to relieve the blockaded ports of Vladivostok and Port Arthur. News of Russia’s declaration of war against France however reached the Russian fleet as it was passing British Hong Kong. In what would become one of the most celebrated events of the war, the commander of the Russian Fleet, Admiral Igor Golubev, decided not to proceed north to fight what would in all likely be a losing battle against the Japanese. Instead, he directed his fleet to raid Entente shipping in the Pacific. Over the next 15 months, the Baltic fleet would sink or capture hundreds of French, Austrian, Turkish, and Japanese vessels from Indochina to the Philippines to New Guinea. Using coal and food commandeered from captured enemy ships the Russian fleet was largely able to sustain itself. Furthermore Great Britain, the Netherlands, and the United States provided the Russians with intelligence and secret shipments of fuel and provisions that allowed the Baltic Fleet to stay one step ahead of the Entente. The climax of the campaign came on August 7, 1908 when the Baltic Fleet successful escaped from a Franco-Japanese task force sent to stop it of the course of Guam, sinking the French cruiser the NSMI Napoleon II in the process. On January 3, 1909, after sailing north around the Japanese home islands, the Baltic Fleet successfully breached the Japanese blockade of Vladivostok, completing one of the most memorable episodes in Russian naval history.
The Caucasus
On July 24, 1908 Russian forces on the Caucasus front launched Operation Pytor. Named in honor of Peter the Great, the Russian offensive liberated the city of Grozny from the Ottomans, and began pushing the Turkish lines southward. Although the Turks would make the Russians pay dearly for every mile gained, Russian superiority in numbers gradually wore the Ottomans down. By February 2, 1909 Tbilisi was liberated from the Turks after a ferocious battle in which both sides suffered over 100,000 casualties.
The Warsaw Campaign
Starting in July of 1908, in what would be called the Warsaw or Polish Campaign, the Russian Army began pushing the Austro-Hungarians out of Russian Poland. Russian manpower soon began to tell as the noose tightened around the Warsaw Salient. Reading the writing on the wall, on October 11, 1908 Emperor Maximilian I ordered the beginning of a withdrawal of Austro-Hungarian forces from Poland. On November 9, 1908 Warsaw was officially liberated by Russian troops. Much to their credit, the Austro-Hungarian Army conducted an impressive fighting withdrawal south towards their own borders inflicting serious casualties on the attacking Russians. Although the Warsaw Campaign was an important victory for the Russian Empire their inability to trap the retreating Austro-Hungarian Army passed up a golden opportunity to inflict a serious defeat on the Entente.
Attacking French Infantry during the Rhineland Offensive
May, 1908
The Rhineland Offensive
1908 would see Prussia’s fortunes in the Great War plummet to new lows. After the disastrous defeat at the Second Battle of the Mosel in March, the Prussian General Staff did their utmost to hold onto the northern portion of the west bank of the Rhine. Unfortunately for the Kaiser’s troops, their efforts proved to be to little to late. On April 30, 1908 France again took to the offensive and launched a massive attacked northward from their lines west of the Rhine River. The Rhineland Offensive would prove to be a slow and arduous campaign, consisting of a series of battles as the Prussians were forced and further and further north. The Prussians were able to inflict serious casualties on the assaulting French as they fell back to prepared positions. In the end, French tactics and superior numbers of armored cars and aircraft forced the Prussians to complete their withdrawal to the eastern bank of the Rhine by August 2, 1908. Napoleon IV was reported to be overwhelmed, congratulating Marshal Foch on the victory he declared “At last, those Teutonic barbarians have been evicted from our God given soil and the natural eastern border of the Empire has been secured!”
The North Sea
After Italy’s withdrawal from the conflict, the North Sea became the dominate naval theater of the war. The Imperial French navy was the largest Entente player in the region and was primarily concerned with stopping supplies from reaching Prussian and Russian ports. Understandably the Alliance was determined to break the blockade. Another factor which complicated the North Sea Theater was that it was almost entirely surrounded by neutral nations such as Great Britain, the premier naval power of the day. By the winter of 1909, the situation in the North Sea was becoming increasingly tense due to several high profile incidents. Chief among these were the “accidental” sinkings of the British freighter Baldwin in June of 1908 when it tried to run the French blockade and of the American passenger ship Hartford, enroot to Sweden, on January, 5 1909 costing over 300 American lives.
The Invasion of Saxony
On the one year anniversary of the start of the war, a combined French, Bavarian, and Austro-Hungarian force invaded the Prussian controlled Kingdom of Saxony. By invading Saxony the Entente chose the shortest route to the Prussian capital of Berlin. Unbeknownst to the Alliance the Saxon offensive was actually intended to draw Prussian troops away from the western part of the country in preparation for the upcoming attack into Hesse-Nassau. Unfortunately for the Entente, the diversionary attack into heavily fortified Saxony cost them tens of thousands of lives and failed to capture the Saxon capital of Dresden before the offensive ground to a halt.
The Hesse-Nassau Campaign On January 6, 1909 the French, along with sizable contingents from their south German allies, launched a massive offensive which, if successful, would put France in a position to win the war. The ultimate goal of the Hesse-Nassau Campaign was to open up an attack route to the north into the industrial Ruhr area of Prussia’s Westphalia Province. Napoleon IV and his marshals believed that if the Ruhr’s armament factories were captured along with the eastern bank of the Rhine the Prussians would be forced to sue for peace. With Prussia out of the way, the French could then mass their forces, and with the rest of Europe subdued, turn and defeat Russia.
The Entente offensive met with great success. Frankfurt fell to the French 4th Army on January 24, 1909. As the campaign continued into February the frigid winter weather only managed to slow the attacking French as the Prussians were forced further and further north. In short, the situation on Prussia’s western front was becoming increasingly desperate. So desperate in fact that Kaiser Fredrick III was reported to have remarked to an aid that if help didn’t come soon “the Kingdom’s cause and the cause of German freedom would be doomed.”
The second half of 1908 would see the Entente win a string of victories against the Alliance in the Balkans. Having regained Bulgaria, the Ottomans launched a massive counteroffensive, known as Operation Osman, in order to link up with their Austro-Hungarian allies. Operation Osman proved to be a great success with the Principality of Montenegro capitulating on October 3, 1909, making it the second Alliance country to drop out of the war. Prince Nicholas and the royal family were forced to flee to neutral Italy.
Serbia also suffered greatly at the hands of the Ottoman Empire. At the Battle of Pristina the Serbs lost 38,000 men over the course of two days. Belgrade even came under siege by the Turks in December of 1908. Romania began to lose ground to the Austro-Hungarians as they were forced to redirect forces to their southern border to guard against the advancing Ottomans. The Kingdom of Greece was in even worse shape. By February of 1909 the Turks had pushed the Greeks back all the way to the Attica Peninsula. Furthermore, Greece being completely surrounded by Turkish, Austro-Hungarian, and French warships was virtually cut off from the outside world. George I, King of the Hellenes, had no illusions about his nation’s prospects if help didn’t arrive soon, estimating that Greece would be forced to surrender in three months if shipments of food and ammunition didn’t arrive.
Ask and you shall receive. The following is the briefest of update concerning Africa. Cheers!
Africa in the Great War 1907-1908
French African Troops in France (note the new steel helmets)
January, 1909
From the start of the Great War through the end of 1908, Africa saw virtually no direct fighting between the Entente and Alliance nations as neither Italy, Prussia, nor Russia had any colonies on the continent. However, the French controlled Suez Canal served as a vital link to the Indian and Pacific oceans and saw an enormous amount of trafficking, both military and trade, for the Entente. North African ports were also used by the Entente navies to conduct operations against Italy and later Russia.
Africa’s greatest contribution to date were the untold hundreds of thousands of laborers and soldiers conscripted to fight for the French Empire. It is also important to note that the colonial garrisons in French Africa had been greatly reduced during these years as all available troops were needed on the Prussian Front. The three remaining independent African states, Liberia, Morocco, and Ethiopia, declared their strict neutrality in the conflict and continued to wait to see who would emerge victorious in the ongoing war.
South Africa
In South Africa, the Second Anglo-Boer War came to a successful end for the United Kingdom when in August of 1908, after nearly three years of fighting, the Boer Republics were finally subdued. In the Treaty of Pretoria, both the South African Republic (Transvaal) and the Orange Free State agreed to lay down their arms, swear allegiance to the crown, and were annexed by the British into the newly created Dominion of South Africa. Although the war cost the British an estimated 15,000 killed it taught the British army many valuable lessons about war in the modern age and proved to be an excellent testing ground for new weapons, new tactics, and new leaders.
Boer Commander surrendering to British Troops
August, 1908
As the 1908 elections approached, the question on the American public’s mind was whether President Robert T. Lincoln would, or should, run for a third term. Over the years much has been written about the unprecedented reelection of RTL for a third term but it is first important to understand the setting and Lincoln’s motivation for seeking reelection yet again.
In 1908, Lincoln, at the age of 65, could look back after two terms in office on a long list of accomplishments. Having taken officer during the height of the Depression, Lincoln and his Republican controlled government had steadily brought the country out of financial destitution through a series of wise measures including reducing tariffs, public work projects, and naval and munitions production. With the passing of the 14th Amendment civil rights were being extended to an ever greater number of Americans, and Cuba, Arizona, and New Mexico had all been successfully brought into the Union. Furthermore, the U.S. Military both on land and on sea were at their greatest strength since the Civil War.
In the end it was probably a combination of factors which led RTL to run for a third term. The most important of which was undoubtedly the war in Europe. Lincoln is said to have remarked to his youngest son William that “What I am suppose to do if America joins the war? Merely watch from the front porch? No son, if war is inevitable I will see my country safely through.” Secondly, Lincoln was a career politician and had been an elected official nearly his entire adult life, and many historians and political scientist have speculated that RTL dreaded being out of the public limelight. Furthermore, some modern day political scientists, such as Conner N. Baymont, have suggested that Lincoln’s desire for a third term was an attempt to outshine the accomplishments of his illustrious father.
The Republican National Convention
Lincoln’s re-nomination as the Republican candidate was far from certain. At the 1908 Republican Convention, held in Nashville, Tennessee, many felt that, while Lincoln had done a remarkable job as president, Washington’s two term precedent should be respected and that it was time for other politicians to get their chance at the White House. Many of the more domestically progressive and isolationist Republicans favored Robert M. La Follette of Wisconsin. Other more business focused Republicans favored Leslie M. Shaw of Iowa. Furthermore, Lincoln’s own Secretary of War Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt of New York was being promoted by hawkish elements in the Republican Party as a possible candidate as well. Lincoln however, wasn’t without friends. On the second day of the convention Secretary of State, and former vice presidential candidate, William McKinley gave a rousing speech where he extolled the “enumerable virtues of our most honorable President.” When interrupted by a shout declaring “no president has ever had three terms!” McKinley retorted “indeed, and we have never had a President like Robert Todd Lincoln!” to the delight of the crowd. On the third day Lincoln, secured the nomination by a safe but not extravagant margin. Vice President Nathan Goff was dropped from the ticket however, and replaced with Gov. Andrew Johnson Jr., a 56 year old Democrat turned Republican and the fifth child of a former governor of Tennessee.
The Democratic National Convention
Having been out of power in both the executive and legislative branches since 1900, many Democrats saw Lincoln’s unorthodox bid for a third term as a catalyst to try and regain control of the government. The Democrats selected Indianapolis, Indiana for their 1908 National Convention. At the convention, the delegates selected progressive Democrat John W. Kern of Indiana to head the ticket. For Kern’s running mate they selected the more conservative Alton B. Parker of New York.
John W. Kern
Democrat from Indiana
1908 Canidate for President
The Campaign
The campaign for the general election was marked by fiery rhetoric on both sides. The Democrats derided Lincolns candidacy claiming that he was a despotic megalomaniac determined to stay in power “until his death or the completion of the ruin of this country.” Lincoln countered with a pledge saying that if reelected this would be his last term as president. The Democrats also argued that Lincoln was determined to have the United States enter the Great War as shown by the massive U.S. military buildup of the last few years. The Republicans responded by stating that if President Lincoln was a warmonger, as the Democrats said, America would surely already be in the war. Instead the Republicans clamed RTL was “the man who kept us out of war.” The largest Republican selling point however was the booming economy a far cry from the Depression of 1897 under Lincoln’s predecessor Democratic President George A. Custer.
Results
On election day, the American people kept their trust in Lincoln and returned him to the White House, making him the only U.S. President to date to have been elected to more than two terms. Lincoln’s victory however, was by a significantly smaller margin than his previous two elections with the Lincoln-Johnson ticket carrying none of the southern states except Cuba. The Republicans also managed to hold onto their control of Congress but with a substantially increased Democratic minority.
Lincoln’s 1908 Cabinet
Following his electoral victory, President Lincoln began reshuffling his cabinet secretaries. Following the example of his father, RTL sought to incorporate his former Republican rivals into the government. Leslie M. Shaw replaced Jonathan Fisher as Secretary of the Treasury, and Robert M. LaFollet became the Attorney General. The nomination of La Follette’s, a known progressive, sent a message that RTL was serious about continuing to promote women’s and minorities’ civil rights. Victor Metcalf, a close associate of Secretary of War Roosevelt, became the secretary for the newly created Department of Labor and Commerce.
Vice President- Andrew Johnson Jr.
Attorney General- Robert M. La Follette Secretary of Agriculture- Brandon R. Roland
Secretary of State- William McKinley
Secretary of the Navy- Alfred T. Mahan
Secretary of the Treasury- Leslie M. Shaw
Secretary of the Interior- James W. Fulton
Postmaster General- Kenneth R. Strickland
Secretary of War – Theodore Roosevelt Secretary of Labor and Commerce- Victor H. Metcalf
February, 1909 Few single events have had such an enormous impact of world history as the discovery of the Bonaparte-Hanotaux letters. Handwritten by Emperor Napoleon IV in 1891, to his then foreign minister Albert Auguste Gabriel Hanotaux, the classified letters outlined in detail Napoleon IV’s vision for the French Empire in the 20th Century. Revealed to the world on February 15, 1909 by the London based newspaper The Times, these documents had been smuggled into the United Kingdom by Arnaud Delancy, a French civil servant in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Delancy had long been a closet Republican and was deeply distressed over the death of his brother on the Prussian front in what he viewed to be “an unjust war of monarchial expansion.” In early February, Delcancy stole the Bonaparte-Hanotaux letters from the vault in the ministry’s archives, made his way to London, and defected. It was Delcancy’s hope that by revealing Napoleon IV’s plans neutral nations such as the United Kingdom and the United States would help end the war and topple the French monarchy.
Contents
In the first of the four Bonaparte-Hanotaux letters, Napoleon IV outlines what he believes to be France’s currently precarious geo-strategic position. He claims that in order for the French Empire to survive it most expand within the next few decades before it is overtaken by industrializing larger nations such as Russia. Napoleon also warns that France must prevent at all costs a unified German state from emerging which would naturally become the dominate force on the continent.
The second letter titled “Première Guerre mondiale”, or World War I in English, described how France should use some minor incident to initiate a general European war. In this “first world war”, Napoleon IV foresaw the French Empire, accompanied by her allies Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and the south German states, at war against an Alliance of Russia, Prussia, Italy, and most likely the Balkan nations. Napoleon IV stressed in the letter that everything possible should be done to prevent the United Kingdom from entering the war on side of the enemy. The Emperor also mentions that it would be best if the war could coincide with a conflict between Japan and Russia. The letter continues by then outlining France’s strategy in the war, stating that Italy should fall in 6 months, Prussia in 2 years, and Russia in 3 to 4 years. As detailed in the accompanying map, post war Europe would see French vassal states carved out of defeated Prussia, Russia, and Italy. These vassal states, all of which would have a pro French ally on the thrown, would include the new kingdoms and duchies of Poland, the Ukraine, Westphalia, Belarussia, the Baltic, and Finland. Italy was to be divided into a Duchy of Tuscany in the north, a rump Kingdom of Italy in the south, and a revived Papal States in the middle. France itself would annex northwestern Italy, Luxembourg, and the west bank of the Rhine. The Balkans and Greece would be divided between the Ottomans and the Austro-Hungarians.
The third letter stated that even after France emerged victorious in the world war, it would still not be in a position to ensure global dominance and that another and even larger war of expansion would be needed. Napoleon IV stated that within 18 to 25 years of the first global conflict, a second world war, Seconde Guerre mondiale, would erupt as the defeated powers sought revenge. In this second world war, Great Britain was likely to become a major belligerent. Napoleon predicted that in the inter-war years France will be able to overtake the Royal Navy and when hostilities commenced blockade Britain into submission. When the war ended with France victorious, the British Empire would be dissolved with her African colonies being annexed, Ireland and India made into a French puppet states, and the white British dominions gaining independence. Interestingly, Napoleon wished to annex certain New World possessions such as Quebec, Haiti, British Honduras, the Falkland Islands, and British Guyana directly into the French Empire. Prussia would be reduced to a French vassal, and Russia would be further divided losing virtually all access to the sea. China would be divided between the French and Japanese The third letter also mentions bringing the nations of Colombia, Venezuela, and Brazil into a tighter French orbit. Written in the 1890’s when the isolationist Democratic Party was in power, Napoleon maintained that the United States would most likely not become involved in the world wars “until it was to late.”
The fourth and final letter discussed France’s position at the end the second world war. France would be the dominate power on the planet, controlling the majority of the world’s population and resources. Napoleon IV continues by discussing a variety of matters such as how the French language and Roman Catholicism would be promoted in the conquered territories as a way to bind the Empire together. The Emperor also states that there might be a third world war in the latter half of the 20th Century between France and her allies and the remaining powers of Britain, Scandinavia, the United States, and possibly Japan. However, at this point the French Empire will have grown so strong that no combination of opponents could hope to defeat her. Napoleon closed his the letter by stating that, “God willing, the French Empire will rule the world for the next 5,000 years.”
Henry Campbell-Bannerman
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
1909
February 1909
The term “enraged” can scarcely define the mood in Great Britain when The Times broke the news of the Bonaparte-Hanotaux letters. Francophobia swept the nation, as the cries for war against the Entente Imperiale became deafening. The British Prime Minister, Henry Campbell-Bannerman of the ruling Liberal Party, had up until the letters disclosure done his utmost to keep the United Kingdom out of the War, but now, with the Bonaparte-Hanotaux letters made public, that was impossible. As Great Britain edged ever closer to war, Campbell-Bannerman made one last ditch ever to avert open hostilities. In what has become known as the February Ultimatum, the British Government offered to mediate an end to the war under the conditions that France 1) return all recently conquered territory to Prussia and Italy respectively 2) withdraw all military forces from the south German states 3) renounce any expansionist claims in Europe or overseas, and 4) limit its naval strength to half of that of the Royal Navy’s. Unsurprisingly, Napoleon IV deemed these terms unacceptable as they would nullify all the gains France had made since the start of the war. In an utterly tactless move, the Emperor countered the ultimatum with an invitation for Britain to join the war against the Alliance, stating that “the moment is perfect for His Majesty’s Government to move against our common age old enemy the barbarous Russian Empire” and then after the war Britain would be “offered” dominion over Russia’s Central Asian possessions.
The British government and public were furious with Napoleon’s response, prompting the British Secretary of State for War Richard Haldane to remark “what the Emperor is forgetting is that unlike his Hungarian and Turkish cronies our honor cannot be bought with land stolen from others.” With the ultimatum rejected, the decision to declare war was finally made on February 28, 1909 when after coming to the now obvious realization of what an Entente victory would mean for Britain, Campbell-Bannerman advised King Edward VII to declare war on the Entente powers of the French Empire, Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, the Kingdoms of Bavaria and Württemberg, the Duchy of Baden, and the Sublime Ottoman State. The Empire of Japan, which was viewed as more of a co-belligerent and not an ally of France, did not receive a declaration of war.
