Hi All,
This is my first AAR. The premise of this AAR is that France continues the fight from an Algeria that is more prepared and integrated. The Scenario starts in 1936, vanilla Armageddon on Hard. I am aware of the strategies for France to survive in 1940, however, I have decided to deliberately lose that battle and continue the fight from her Empire.
I have created one event in this scenario, and that is the ability to replace the Head of State and Head of Government post fall of France. It is inconceivable there wouldn't be a leadership change after that disaster, and this is not modelled for in the game. Please enjoy and let me know what you think. I will post pictures in a few days time, and hopefully some updates too.
- - - - - - - - -
France entered the year of 1936 with growing trepidation. On her borders she faced an increasingly belligerent Germany, a defiant Italy and an unstable Spain. Paramount of these was Germany. Germany under Adolf Hitler had made it clearly known that they intended to re-arm and return Germany to the front of European affairs. An attempt at reapproachment with Italy had proven disastrous as both the British and French held mixed opinions on her hostile takeover of Ethiopia. A golden opportunity to confront Hitler with Italy was missed.
The Social Liberal Party held the power in France during these dark days. However the Premiership of their leader Albert Sarraut had come under fire from as early as January. Despite much of what has been said of him since, it is clear that by this stage Sarraut was beginning to see that Germany could pose a danger. Although there was no substantial shift in diplomacy or rhetoric, quietly behind the scenes Sarraut had ordered the Treasury to conduct a review of its wartime building procedures, and to increase its industrial capacity [1]. He was very careful to do so covertly and indeed only circulated the decision at Cabinet level.
There has been much speculation since then that this was a concession to the Hawk lobby. Sarraut was well aware of his reputation as a dove and he had previously been advised that the election due only six months away was looking to be tight. Whatever the truth of that may be, there is no doubt that this move did help the Social Liberals somewhat - unfortunately for Sarraut it did not assist his position personally.
In March of 36 Germany marched troops into the Rhineland, in what is now called the 'Remilitarisation of the Rhineland.' For several hours the French government seemed paralysed with indecision. Publicly there was no announcement at the Ministerial level. Indeed the only comment offered to the public was a call to arms from members of the Communist Party, members of the Fascist Action Francaise Party and several rogue Government delegates led by Edouard Daladier.
What is now known is that for those key few hours Sarraut was in almost constant contact with the military and his allies the British. Within the military itself the expert advice was that the Germans could easily be repulsed, and that the army would obey its orders. Sarraut shared this advice with his cabinet colleagues who, after much discussion appeared to favour a declaration of condemnation pending further consultation with the British. The British for their part believed it unwise to provoke Hitler or indeed Germany, and effectively refused to back France should she respond with force. Without such a guarantee Sarraut and Cabinet did not proceed with even an official objection. Instead they settled for negotiations on border controls, an offer which Hitler promptly rejected.
With the ability of hindsight it is easy to criticise him. What we now know to be Hitler's obsession to conquer all of Europe was not widely known in those times. The memories of World War I were still very fresh, and it was felt in many circles that Germany had legitimate grievances. Sarraut, though naturally wary of Germany, publicly stated his hopes and desires for peace several times. His cautious attempts for preparation were never publicly revealed at the time, and it is only now when more documents are brought to light that the truth of the matter is revealed.
Although Sarraut acted prudently in trying circumstances, it is accurate to say that the Rhineland crisis damaged him politically. Already struggling with the Hawk lobby, Sarraut was forced to make several concessions in order to bolster his support.
For some years the French economy had been suffering from stagnation. Although it had not suffered from the worst effects of the Great Depression, it had still impacted on the economy substantially. This was foremost in Sarraut's mind when he met with the military to discuss the situation. The battlecruiser Dunkerque had been under construction for a few months and wasn't due for completion for another year. After a heated discussion Sarraut announced he intended to cancel it's construction, arguing it's cost was too excessive. As a concession to the Navy, he promised the construction of 50 Destroyers spread over an eight year period. With the savings from the Dunkerque scrapping he was also able to order the training and equipping of some 20 reserve (militia) divisions.
To the conservatives this was a significant step, and it helped to smother the growing disquiet within the party regarding his leadership - at least until the next crisis. Unfortunately for Sarraut, 1936 was a bad year for political crisis. The next one though, was not from Germany but from the south. It was also to cost Sarraut the premiership.
- - - - - - -
[1] This is reflected by a shift to 'Hawk' in the Diplomacy screen
This is my first AAR. The premise of this AAR is that France continues the fight from an Algeria that is more prepared and integrated. The Scenario starts in 1936, vanilla Armageddon on Hard. I am aware of the strategies for France to survive in 1940, however, I have decided to deliberately lose that battle and continue the fight from her Empire.
I have created one event in this scenario, and that is the ability to replace the Head of State and Head of Government post fall of France. It is inconceivable there wouldn't be a leadership change after that disaster, and this is not modelled for in the game. Please enjoy and let me know what you think. I will post pictures in a few days time, and hopefully some updates too.
- - - - - - - - -
France entered the year of 1936 with growing trepidation. On her borders she faced an increasingly belligerent Germany, a defiant Italy and an unstable Spain. Paramount of these was Germany. Germany under Adolf Hitler had made it clearly known that they intended to re-arm and return Germany to the front of European affairs. An attempt at reapproachment with Italy had proven disastrous as both the British and French held mixed opinions on her hostile takeover of Ethiopia. A golden opportunity to confront Hitler with Italy was missed.
The Social Liberal Party held the power in France during these dark days. However the Premiership of their leader Albert Sarraut had come under fire from as early as January. Despite much of what has been said of him since, it is clear that by this stage Sarraut was beginning to see that Germany could pose a danger. Although there was no substantial shift in diplomacy or rhetoric, quietly behind the scenes Sarraut had ordered the Treasury to conduct a review of its wartime building procedures, and to increase its industrial capacity [1]. He was very careful to do so covertly and indeed only circulated the decision at Cabinet level.
There has been much speculation since then that this was a concession to the Hawk lobby. Sarraut was well aware of his reputation as a dove and he had previously been advised that the election due only six months away was looking to be tight. Whatever the truth of that may be, there is no doubt that this move did help the Social Liberals somewhat - unfortunately for Sarraut it did not assist his position personally.
In March of 36 Germany marched troops into the Rhineland, in what is now called the 'Remilitarisation of the Rhineland.' For several hours the French government seemed paralysed with indecision. Publicly there was no announcement at the Ministerial level. Indeed the only comment offered to the public was a call to arms from members of the Communist Party, members of the Fascist Action Francaise Party and several rogue Government delegates led by Edouard Daladier.
What is now known is that for those key few hours Sarraut was in almost constant contact with the military and his allies the British. Within the military itself the expert advice was that the Germans could easily be repulsed, and that the army would obey its orders. Sarraut shared this advice with his cabinet colleagues who, after much discussion appeared to favour a declaration of condemnation pending further consultation with the British. The British for their part believed it unwise to provoke Hitler or indeed Germany, and effectively refused to back France should she respond with force. Without such a guarantee Sarraut and Cabinet did not proceed with even an official objection. Instead they settled for negotiations on border controls, an offer which Hitler promptly rejected.
With the ability of hindsight it is easy to criticise him. What we now know to be Hitler's obsession to conquer all of Europe was not widely known in those times. The memories of World War I were still very fresh, and it was felt in many circles that Germany had legitimate grievances. Sarraut, though naturally wary of Germany, publicly stated his hopes and desires for peace several times. His cautious attempts for preparation were never publicly revealed at the time, and it is only now when more documents are brought to light that the truth of the matter is revealed.
Although Sarraut acted prudently in trying circumstances, it is accurate to say that the Rhineland crisis damaged him politically. Already struggling with the Hawk lobby, Sarraut was forced to make several concessions in order to bolster his support.
For some years the French economy had been suffering from stagnation. Although it had not suffered from the worst effects of the Great Depression, it had still impacted on the economy substantially. This was foremost in Sarraut's mind when he met with the military to discuss the situation. The battlecruiser Dunkerque had been under construction for a few months and wasn't due for completion for another year. After a heated discussion Sarraut announced he intended to cancel it's construction, arguing it's cost was too excessive. As a concession to the Navy, he promised the construction of 50 Destroyers spread over an eight year period. With the savings from the Dunkerque scrapping he was also able to order the training and equipping of some 20 reserve (militia) divisions.
To the conservatives this was a significant step, and it helped to smother the growing disquiet within the party regarding his leadership - at least until the next crisis. Unfortunately for Sarraut, 1936 was a bad year for political crisis. The next one though, was not from Germany but from the south. It was also to cost Sarraut the premiership.
- - - - - - -
[1] This is reflected by a shift to 'Hawk' in the Diplomacy screen
