บท 64: Miracle of Berlin (July-September, 1914).
Brusilov offensive]
The thought that the death / replacement of the old German establishment could bring peace to the Russian Western Front (Eastern Front in Europe) came to an end quite soon, in reality the interests of the military junta under Falkenhayn were not very different from those of the Imperial Federation or the monarchy.
The most important thing was Germany, not peace or even saving what was left of Germany. The junta was opposed to the communists and the Russian invasion.
In this context, Julio would turn out to be a watershed moment in many respects.
On the one hand, General Brusilov sets the pace for the following parts of the offensive, the possibility of conquering Berlin would mark history in several ways. And it was definitely something that could end most of the ground war in Europe, as it will leave the Imperial Federation alone.
And the Imperial Federation knew this, Louis Alexander Mountbatten and the imperial parliament were not going to let 'rightful Germany' slip out of their hands.
This meant that the British could not allow a separate peace or the Russian-socialist invasion of German territory, therefore something had to be done.
This is why the Falkenhayn junta and the Imperial Federation marked an important operation. It is true that the battle in the Eastern Mediterranean was a considerable defeat, but the Royal Navy still had a lot of freedom of movement in the Baltic and the North Sea.
This is why the British planned a strategic offensive from the north, if the German defense could set up a trap or adequate defense, then the British could attack some of the weakest points of the Brusilov offensive.
By August, this important part of the Brusilov Offensive was marked.
The assault on Berlin was led by General Aleksey Brusilov, with Pyotr Wrangel and Lavr Kornilov in the lead. Sergey Markov on the left flank of the main forces and Mikhail Tukhachevsky in the rear.
Meanwhile the Germans were preparing for their possible 'Last Stand', while the Royal Navy was preparing the Baltic Operation, heading towards Pomerania.
The Russian Empire had won considerable victories in the vicinity of Berlin, closing in on the German trap. The battle for Berlin started around August 16, where the German defense managed to survive until August 19.
When the city was close to falling between August 20 and 21, the British operation of the Royal Navy began in Pomerania and the Baltic.
The battle lasted from August 21 to August 25, where the battle for Berlin was finally decided. The positions of the Russian army in the north (Pomerania) fell in front of a great British operation in the region (an amphibious assault with a considerable number of troops).
Russian troops had to deploy a bit with weakness in the north, however a series of German-British victories in Posen and Lower Silesia turned the Russian withdrawal into a serious problem.
Fortunately Anton Denikin, Mikhail Tukhachevsky and Sergey Leonidovich Markov managed to save a significant part of the retreating Russian forces.
Preventing the Russian armies from being completely destroyed.
The Battle of Berlin resulted in a decisive victory for the London-Berlin Axis.
Russian forces under Brusilov managed to hold Upper Silesia, East Prussia, and West Prussia, but had lost parts of Posen and Lower Silesia.
The front between Germany and Russia had come to a standstill and stalled, a major stain on General Brusilov's record.
The Northern European Front also saw some more action with the fighting between the Royal Navy and the Imperial Russian Navy.
In general, attempts to invade Finland and northern Russia failed miserably, but as always, the borders weren't moving much.
The Russian Air Force continued to bombard Sweden and they managed to expand their operations successfully, towards Norway, railroads and local power grids were destroyed.
*The German victory in Berlin was know as the Miracle of Berlin or the German Miracle. Similar to the Miracle of the House of Brandenburg.
(OOC: But ITL battle of Berlin is more similar to the OTL battle of Warsaw of 1921).
*******
[*Perspective]
Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich was vomiting in a corner, he had survived the Battle of Berlin in Sergey Markov's mechanized unit.
It had been an honor, the Grand Duke was excited about his military career and serving his nation.
But he was not truly prepared for what war was.
The important thing was not the military defeat, the important thing was that the war was a huge moral defeat for humanity.
"I was in the Medved with my companions and my captain, when we found ourselves fighting against German soldiers.
A lucky set of German strikes set our Medved on fire ... I was terrified and at first I couldn't get out, it was almost like being locked in a burning can.
Some of my companions had managed to escape successfully.
Then a hand collided with my back. My captain ordered me to leave immediately, but at first I couldn't.
My ears and my head ached. The sound of artillery and bullets was deafening.
Then my captain dragged me out of the tank.
I rolled on the ground until I was able to stand up, my companions were pulling me near that burning can while some Germans were still shooting at us.
My captain died on the Medved, and for a few moments I could still hear him, inside of that fire... ".
-Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich, son of Tsesarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich Romanov.
*******
[Croatia-Slovenia]
The defeat of the Brusilov Offensive in Berlin had effects throughout Europe, the western front of the socialist countries was safe but the Free Republic of Germany could not crush the Prussian Republic.
The Peloponnese also held firm against the Russosphere's siege in the region.
The difficult situation was Croatia-Slovenia, the old German colony-protectorate was surrounded by the Russosphere to the south and east, and the socialist forces to the north and west.
Hungarian troops however were heavily involved in Bohemia and supporting the Russian armies, much further north.
This left only the alternative of the Bosnian offensive. There were troops from Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria supporting, but most of these were more focused in the south (in Albania, northern Greece and the Aegean-Mediterranean).
The Royal Navy had lost the Battle for the Eastern Mediterranean and they had lost Gibraltar, but they managed to successfully use what little infrastructure the Second French Empire had left in North Africa.
With this in mind, they were preparing to launch the railways and ports of North Africa in possible offensives towards southern Italy and the Balkans.
Croatia-Slovenia just had to hold out a little longer ...
Fortunately for Croatia-Slovenia, the remaining Italian forces (those that were not defending the south or supporting the German revolution) and the Bosnian leadership suffered defeats ... humiliating at best.
Product of many factors, first of all internal problems in Bosnia-Herzegovina and the weakness of the remaining Italian forces.
Despite this Croatian-Slovenian good fortune, future British attempts would remain problematic due to the poor quality of the infrastructure.
The Balkans were still a disaster and now there was an aristocratic social Croatia-Slovenia, which would be a thorn in the side of two worlds (the Russosphere and socialist Europe).
*******
[It's Petrograd, not Saint Petersburg]
Anti-German sentiment had increased progressively and enormously since the New Great War, having an extremely anti-German Premier like Mikhail Skobelev also did not improve the views of much of Russia regarding Germany.
Despite this many anti-German proposals were vetoed by Tsar Alexander III ... but now Tsar Alexander III was off duty.
Of course the worst proposals were rejected, but one was promptly accepted.
On August 31 (days after the disastrous Battle of Berlin), Tsesarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich Romanov and Premier Mikhail Skobelev announced the change from 'Saint Petersburg' to 'Petrograd'.
St. Petersburg sounded too German for the Russian Empire, so it was renamed Petrograd (City of Peter, but in a much more 'Russian' way).
A decision that was welcomed at the time, although there were always doubts about whether it was the right move.
St. Petersburg was the Russian gateway to Europe, or at least that was the intention. What was Petrograd?
Some might say that in reality Russia was closing itself off to Europe, choosing the Russian path over the more foreign paths.
The decision would undoubtedly remain during the reign of Tsar Nicholas II, after the Alexandrian period. But since then there has been a constant fight between Petrograd and St. Petersburg (which name is better).
*******
[September Plan]
On September 15, the Second Duma under Mikhail Skobelev produced the September Program (Сентябрьская программа, Sentyabr'skaya programma), a series of general orders about the occupation, logistics and various other projects about the New Great War.
The September Program was a combination of the study of extensive events that had happened so far, the industrial capacities of Russia, as were projects already carried out for years, the state of the armed forces, the distribution of food and medicines, etc.
* Interior situation, occupied territories and puppets.
The Brusilov Offensive was ordered to halt for the time being, so Western Russian forces had to maintain Russian borders and occupied territory.
In exchange for continuing to reject German offensive attempts, while Russian next steps are planned on the European Eastern Front.
A code was created on how the occupied territories should be maintained, maintain logistical needs and deal with the most problematic population.
On the home front, the situation in the Congress of Poland and other parts of European Russia continued quite well. Partly because most of Russia's agricultural and industrial lands were intact.
Although of course the number of Russian deaths in the New Great War and the prolonged exposure to war after years of peace generated anti-war sentiments. Nationalism, propaganda, and various pro-war positions could counter this (up to a point).
In the eastern parts of Russia, the situation was going relatively well, the military occupation of the region was still necessary for the time being.
But the central government was already making moves with local allies, such as the Mongolian Social Democratic Labor Party or the Bogd Lama, local Chinese generals, native administrators, etc.
But all this had to be accompanied by certain promises, money, important positions, infrastructure, technical-educational support, etc.
*Reconstruction.
Similar to the promises to occupied territories, the government of the Russian Empire gave vague promises of a new Reconstruction Plan, for the countries allied to Russia in the post-war period.
A plan very similar to what Tsar Alexander III had carried out in the Middle East after the fall of the German Empire.
The exact extent of the reconstruction program was vague, but Russia was a huge economy, more importantly, it was a trustworthy country with concise policies regarding the development of its allies.
In exchange for resources, particular positions (rights, lease, etc.) and cooperation, among other things, technical-military aid, railways, rights (favorable deals), etc. were offered.
It would be an issue in the post-war years and for the different governments following this period, which will be discussed later.
* Mega-projects.
Shortly after the announcement of the program, on September 21, one of the biggest Russian projects was finally finished. The trans-Balkan railway.
The railway running from the western part of Tsargrad to the Mediterranean, passing through Bulgaria, Serbia and Montenegro, with branches in North Macedonia, Albania and Bosnia (for obvious reasons, the Greek parts of the project broke down ...).
The railway soon also joined the railway system of the Bulgarian-Russian border on the Black Sea coast and was able to expand into Romania, becoming an important part of the Russian influence in the Balkans, its logistics system and its commercial initiatives (New Silk Road ).
The next major priority project was the Thai Canal, which was (tentatively) completed between 1916 and 1918.
British attempts to destroy the project during the New Great War failed.
Opinions within Russia:
True, the program was possible and well-intentioned, but it demonstrated the gaps within current Russian policy. It was unknown if Mikhail Skobelev's Premiership was the right Premiership to run the September Program.
After all, it was the War Duma.
It was considered that there were more possible alternatives, such as a second Premiership of Pyotr Stolypin or the Premiership of a new party-candidate (the socialist Iosif V. Stalin).
Negative opinions about the program itself were few, some saying that it was not very explicit. But in general there was excitement, Moscow would undoubtedly continue to be one of the main economic centers of Europe and the World in the post-war period.
*******
[*Perspective]
On July 15 there was a very strange meeting, the condition of Tsar Alexander III continued to deteriorate and he was transferred from Saint Petersburg (not yet Petrograd) to Moscow.
There he was being cared for by some of the best doctors in the Russian Empire, the Second Duma government could keep an eye on his condition and Tsesarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich could be closer for when the time came ...
But in the midst of all this, they had also come to visit some curious items.
On the one hand a promising medical student, born in the Governorate of Korea, and on the other hand Grigori Rasputin (a kind of ... friend, of Tsesarevich Nicholas).
"It is an honor." Kim Hyong-jik pronounces respectfully greeting the Romanovs present (Tsar Alexander III and Tsesarevich Nicholas).
The young Korean was bringing some medicine for the Tsar, while Rasputin was inspecting the Emperor of All-Russia.
"Greetings." Emperor Alexander III greets kindly.
"He's definitely in a terminal state." Rasputin exclaims tactlessly after examining the tsar for a few moments.
"Tell me something I do not know." The Nicholas Tsesarevich mentions, Rasputin was a strange colleague (funny and not influential in the government, but strange).
"Well, I don't know if you've ever seen-" While Rasputin and Nicholas were talking about strange things, young Kim Hyong-jik was showing the emperor a picture of his young son (Kim Il-sung).}
After a bit of talk about families (very disparate families, the Kims of rural Korea, the Rasputins of Siberia, and the Romanovs, emperors of Russia), the Tsar and the Tsesarevich were alone.
"You know, it was really fun being in the same room with Rasputin and Kim Il-Sung's father." Alexander III mentions.
"I never thought I'd hear someone say that." Nicholas laughs, sincerely, but sadly. The time where his father was going to die was drawing near every second.
*******
[International]
July 1, in the port of Dover, the Imperial Federation begins to copy part of the Russian designs while conducting its own research (mainly in internal details), for the construction of aircraft carriers.
Australia officially annexes the territory of Western Papua New Guinea.
The Moscow Film School creates a department for the development of professional stunt actors. Giving a boost to safety in the film industry.
July 4, the French military junta (main barracks located in Chad and Sudan), manage to successfully reject the British invasion attempts in the south and west.
This victory for Philippe Petain makes him, in the eyes of the rest of the military and governors of ... what remains of the French colonial empire, a legitimate 'Generalissimo'.
The People's Republic of France begins to train 'Bundists', revolutionary socialists of Jewish origin.
Reform socialist Jews are frowned upon by the Jules Guesde administration.
It is true that there is less anti-Semitism than under the Second French Empire, but Guesde does not like non-radicals (seeing reformists as possible revisionists).
More than 40 people die in the Hippo Wars (Mississippi Delta).
July 5, various police tortures are carried out against the Irish revolutionaries captured in Northern Ireland.
The region with a Protestant majority increasingly becomes a huge fortress-prison of the British Empire against the rest of Ireland (Catholic, separatist, etc).
On July 6, the famous Uruguayan poet Delmira Agustini was murdered in her home in Montevideo by her ex-husband Enrique Job Reyes (Reyes shot him twice before shooting himself).
One month after the couple divorced.
Under the Batllismo reforms, women had had more freedom for divorce, but socially it was still frowned upon. This is how part of this incident happened.
100 years after her death, Agustini is honored with a statue in her honor along with other women victims of gender violence.
July 8, the struggles between the right and left factions of the Kuomintang intensify.
John Davison Rockefeller Sr. celebrates his 75th birthday by playing golf with Frank C. Folger, President of Standard Oil, Elias Johnson of New York and A.L Gifford of Tarrytown.
July 9, Charlie Chaplin's career begins to skyrocket within the People's Republic of France, after showing talent for directing and acting.
Including not only entertainment, but propaganda purposes against the Social Aristocracy.
(OOC: A world with The Great Dictator is a bad one).
July 10, the government of the Free Republic of Germany creates the
Betriebsrat (translated as Workers Council in English or Rabochiy Sovet), an invention of the NEP by Vladimir Lenin and Karl Liebknecht for the organization of jobs in the socialist republic.
This idea, associated with the Dictatorship of the Proletariat and democracy in the workplace, reinforces part of the power of the proletariat within the state.
It soon became popular with hard-line and orthodox socialists in France and Italy. In Iberia the concept is adapted to the regional courts and cantons that exist (they are not very different on paper).
July 12, the foreign minister of the Prussian Republic of Almania, Arthur Zimmermann, fails to make an acceptable peace treaty with the Allied Bloc.
This due to certain exaggerated requests of Zimmerman to the allied governments. Including a 'White Plan'.
A plan of the union of the London-Berlin Axis with the capitalists of the Allied Bloc against the socialist states of Europe. Rejected by Russia and her allies (including Japan), the United States and Argentina considered it a bit more (but very briefly).
July 14, James Connolly's Ireland adopts the "Ooibreacha Comhairle" or simply "Comhairle" (Workers Council, or just Council).
Irish trade unions, organized by William O'Brien, play a huge role in the establishment and operation of such Comhairle.
July 18, the Royal Navy is composed of 540 ships and more than 50 seaplanes. As inspected by King Albert Victor I and Prime Minister Louis Alexander Mountbatten.
Mohandas Gandhi dies in prison.
July 19, the Imperial Parliament launches a campaign of extreme violence against the Irish Revolution, which sounds easy and useful but does not do much in trying to crush the revolution.
July 22, the French purges against various anarchist circles within the People's Republic of France are successful.
Jules Guesde learns of this after seeing several of the examples of anti-anarchism in the Iberian peninsula, led by Francisco Largo Caballero and the small regional communist parties.
July 30, massive floods in the Xi River (Kwangtung and Kwangs, southern Republic of China) cause more than 3,000 deaths, destroy 112,000 homes, leave 8 million people in need of assistance and cause more than 43 million dollars in damage.
The Sun Yat-sen government is unable to provide all of this assistance due to economic reasons, lack of infrastructure and the weakness of the central government.
The Russian Red Cross and various international aid also offer assistance to this humanitarian crisis in China.
July 31, attempted assassination against French leader Jules Guesde. The French socialist leader survives his injuries.
August 1, crash in various world stock exchanges, the Great Depression and the New Great War continue to send waves through the world economy right now.
It has already been about 10-11 years of the Great Depression and there is still some time to go.
Surrounded by socialist countries, the situation in Switzerland begins to destabilize.
August 2, begins the creation of a diplomatic corps in the territory administered by Mustafa Kemal (socialist leader) in the Republic of Turkey.
Almost all the territory of the Republic of Turkey is administered by the socialists, now they have to seek recognition and foreign aid.
The Imperial Parliament of the Imperial Federation approves a reformist measure created by Prime Minister Louis Alexander Mountbatten, King Albert Victor I and various elites of the Social Aristocracy.
The European Monetary Union takes its first steps, a project for the Imperial Federation to continue dominating its allies (Sweden, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Croatia-Slovenia, etc).
Competing against the Russosphere's own projects and socialist Europe.
August 5, the first electric traffic lights are installed in Europe (Russia and the United Kingdom) and North America (United States and Canada).
August 6, the Royal Navy in North Africa (Algeria-Morocco), begins to prepare for possible operations in southern Italy and the Balkans.
August 8, the Luxembourg Democratic Socialist Republic is officially founded.
August 10, the Revolutionary Bengal begins to develop its own local currency after having de-facto obtained independence.
Despite these successes, the Indian revolution is not yet finished. Unfortunately the Bengali revolutionaries have not been very successful in spreading the revolution due to resistance from British troops.
August 13, important victories of the Royal Navy in the Baltic Sea.
Kameroon, a colony of the Russian Empire, succeeds in defending itself against British invasion attempts.
August 19, President Champ Clark of the United States began to express antiwar and pacifist views in front of Congress, thinking that the United States has had enough.
These views have their support, but they are not as popular due to American revenge after the British campaign in New England.
It is true that Champ Clark had dreams of unifying Anglo-speaking America, but after the failures of the American counter-offensives, he began to express increasingly anti-war views.
August 25, the Miracle of Berlin ends with the Anglo-German victory over the Russian armies at the Battle of Berlin.
August 26, Indian revolutionaries successfully steal some shipments of British arms in Calcutta, British Raj.
August 29, during this day at least between 60 and 70 ethnic Germans (civilians) are killed by the Russian army in part of the occupied territory of Germany during the New Great War.
August 30, the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party successfully absorbs the Social Democratic-Socialist parties in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russian Kurdistan.
September 4, the military junta of the Prussian Republic of Germany agrees to grant 'independence' to the Netherlands and review its border with Denmark.
* Specifiations of treaties between the Imperial Federation and the Prussian Republic of Germany, with the aim of creating a joint condominium in the Netherlands and influencing Denmark in the future.
September 6, problems begin on the island of Java.
West Java comes into the possession of Indonesian separatists of nationalist-Islamist origin, while East Java comes into the possession of communist separatists.
September 9, the social aristocrat Winston Churchill returns to politics after a brief retirement (his fall from the Admiralty), in post-war politics he would take a protégé within the circles of the Social Aristocracy, Oswald Mosley.
Political trials in the Prussian Republic of Germany against the former politicians of the military-monarchical dictatorship of Wilhelm III and Paul von Hindenburg.
The exceptions are generals who swear allegiance and are useful to the New Great War, although their post-war usefulness is debatable ...
September 18, household appliances, more specifically domestic refrigerators (already practical for this time), begin to become very popular in the Russian Empire, the Imperial Federation, Japan, parts of socialist Europe and the United States.
September 27, attacks on civilian Jews occur in the Prussian Republic of Germany and the Netherlands (occupied by the Imperial Federation).
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