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The Bitter Legacy of Versailles

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Sep 17, 2005
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What would happen if, after the re-occupation of the Rhineland, France declared war upon Germany? What would be the outcome, when Germany is not ready for war, and France is fighting alone, without the allies? What would World War II look like, if it was fought by only two ill-prepared and angry nations, both still within that military purgatory that persisted between World War I and World War II?

Find out, in The Bitter Legacy of Versailles. The AAR will be played from the German perspective, using Hearts of Iron 1.06c, and CORE 0.91. Assuming I can locate a place to upload them, this AAR will use slideshows to tell the tale, complete with music. If not, well, then we'll see. Either way, stay tuned; this'll be good.
 
The Bitter Legacy of Versailles​
The Tale of a Germany on the Defensive​

The year is 1936. It has been nearly twenty years since the "Slave Treaty" of Versailles doomed the german people to over a decade of poverty. From the Weimar republic to the birth of National Socialism, the period from Versialled to 1936 was one of horrors and of change. As 1936 begins, Germany is in the midst of transforming itself from an impoverished shell of it's former imperial self, into a new empire that will rule for a thousand years. At least, that's the plan... Germany is surrounded by jealous and suspicious neighbors, who would like nothing better than to carve Germany up for their own purposes. To the west is France, who's economy was still suffering greatly from the Great Depression. To the east was Poland, where territorial tensions ran high. Even farther east was the Soviet Union, which would like nothing better than to wipe a bastion of Fascism off the map. Will Germany succeed in it's endeavor, and rise to become the greatest empire in the world for a thousand years hence? Or will it be consumed by it's nefarious neighbors?

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Europe in January, 1936.​

Chapter I - The Pincers Close​
January 1 - January 25, 1936​

In January of 1936, Germany's brief experiment with democracy had long since crumbled to dust under the ambitions of Adolf Hitler, and his fellow Nazis. The people were able to look past the prejudices, the trampling of their basic human rights, and the dogmatic fervor of Hitler himself, because the Nazis had brought prosperity at last to Germany, after over a decade of poverty. What they did not know--yet--was that he would plunge them into a conflict that would dwarf the so-called War To End All Wars.

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The men calling the shots in the new Germany.​

The year started off with a heated discussion in among the most powerful men in the Third Reich. Tensions and rivalry were getting more intense by the day on Germany's borders, and Hitler and most of his top advisors met to discuss what to do about it.

"Gentlemen," began Ludwig Beck, Hitler's Chief of Staff. "We are in a precarious situation. We are surrounded by nations that do not like us. The League of Nations is supposed to offer us some measure of security, but who could, or even would, stop France from pouring over the Maginot Line? Who would have the gall to tell the Soviet Union it could not attack us? My friends, the garuntees that come with this so-called League of Nations are paper thin. We are not liked within the international community, and given the League's reputation, I am willing to bet my life that they would ignore our plight in such a situation. We must expand our armed forces. Not just a small expansion, but something massive. I want ten new squadrons of destroyers. I want four squadrons of Fighters. I want two squadrons of Tactical Bombers, and ten divisions of infantry. I want funds poured into research for newer and better weapons!" There were many raised eyebrows accross the conference table, with the exception of Hitler, who remained stolid in expression. With no objections yet, Beck continued. "Gentlemen, no expense must be spared. What good is money, if there is no nation to spend it on? I want this proposal acted upon immediately," he paused, and turned to face Hitler. "Should you deem it acceptable, at any rate."

At this point, Hjalmar Schacht, the Minister of Armaments, took this point to voice his objections.
"You cannot be serious, Beck. Do you have any idea how much that will cost? Let alone the time it would take? That leaves absolutely no fiscal flexibility. It is absurd," he turned to Hitler. "I cannot put into words how much I object to this proposal. I suggest that we continue with the slow but steady plan for expansion that we already have in place."

The arguments continued for some time, until Hitler ordered they be silent.
"That will be enough," he said. "We will use Mr. Beck's plan. Schacht, fiscal flexibility is your job. If we do not have the funding, find a way to get more funding. Dismissed."

With that, the meeting was adjourned. By the end of the day, the motions were in place for the program to go forward. Beck, along with the other heads of the Military's three branches, were enthused, while Schacht went about trying to find more flexibility to the system. As it was, all of Germany's industrial capacity, along with vast quantities of it's resources, would be routed specifically towards this program, leaving little to nothing for anything unexpected.

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Beck's plan is put into action.​

All was going according to plan. There was, of course, more to Beck's plan than was said at the meeting. The full account called for "Agressive Diplomacy", where Germany would appear supremely confident on the international field, by pushing the envelope to the point where the rest of the world believes Germany to be stronger than she actually is. One of the first actions taken was to send troops west of the Rhine, to occupy the city of Cologne. The troops were greeted with cheers and flowers, as the people of Cologne witnessed the mighty German Army march proudly through the town.

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German troops are sent into the Rhineland, in violation of the treaty of Versailles.​

But aggressive diplomacy had it's drawbacks. Whether or not Beck fully realized the consequences of these drawbacks is not known, but he certainly came to realize them very soon. Shortly after the re-occupation of the Rhineland, France--without international support--threatened war upon Germany if they did not immediately remove their troops from the demilitarized Rhineland. In keeping with Beck's policy, this threat was ignored. "They are bluffing!" was the general concensus. In Mid-January, 1936, about 18 years after The War To End All Wars, the French proved to the world that they were most certainly not bluffing. War was declared.

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The French, contrary to their sometimes reputation for capitulation, prove that they have an iron will.​

Without calling an emergency cabinet meeting, Beck ordered that every last Soldier, Tank, Half-Track, Airplane, and all other war-making material be moved to the border with France, along the Maginot Line. He would come to regret this decision.

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Beck orders all the troops to be moved to the Maginot Line.​

While the armies were still mobilizing, a spectacle appeared over the Maginot Line.
"Look!" yelled a German soldier to one of his platoon-mates, stationed along the Maginot Line.
"What do you see?" inquired another soldier.
"I think.. airplanes? Do you think it's the French?" The second soldier craned his neck and shielded his eyes with his hand.
"By god, I think those are airplanes!"
The two soldiers scrambled to their feet, yelling for the radioman, just as the sound of bomb concussions began a scant ten or so miles away.

The planes in question were three squadrons of French tactical bombers. Led by a general named Bollier. On January 20th, above German troop concentrations along the Maginot Line, they released their bombloads. The first weapons used in a war that promised to be long and arduous. They would pay a heavy price for starting the war, however. Just as they turned to head back to France, four squadrons of German Fighters, led by General Kesselring, intercepted them. Without escort, the three French bomber squadrons suffered immense casualties before limping back accross the border. With that, the Second Great War had begun.

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The first shots are fired.​

On Germany's eastern border, events were brewing which would make Ludwig Beck regret sending all of the troops towards France. Poland sent forth an ultimatum to Germany: Relinquish Konigsberg, Elbing, and the border territory of Opeln, or face war with Poland. Hitler addressed his advisors on the issue:

"Men. We are caught in the pincers of two ravenous beasts. Alone, we could handle them. Together? We must make concessions. If most of our troops were not in the west, I would say we fight a defensive war against Poland, and fight an offensive war against France, but Mr. Beck has seen it fit to send all of our troops west. We must give in to Poland's demands, and hope that it satiates their appetite."

It did not. Two days after giving in to the demands, Poland declared war. The border was practically undefended, after all. Germany now faced war on two fronts, was facing new resource and industrial shortages, and did not have an army big enough to face up to the immediate threats. Would it survive?

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The Polish border.​
 
Last edited:
-Samuel- said:
What would happen if, after the re-occupation of the Rhineland, France declared war upon Germany? What would be the outcome, when Germany is not ready for war, and France is fighting alone, without the allies? What would World War II look like, if it was fought by only two ill-prepared and angry nations, both still within that military purgatory that persisted between World War I and World War II?

Find out, in The Bitter Legacy of Versailles. The AAR will be played from the German perspective, using Hearts of Iron 1.06c, and CORE 0.91. Assuming I can locate a place to upload them, this AAR will use slideshows to tell the tale, complete with music. If not, well, then we'll see. Either way, stay tuned; this'll be good.
Click to expand...

i'm in! :D
 
-Samuel- said:
It did not. Two days after giving in to the demands, Poland declared war. The border was practically undefended...
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damn, worst case scenario! do you think that you will be able to last two years? :wacko:

oh, how did you 'force' both countries to DOW?

intriguing start! ! ! ! :cool:

and, GOOD LUCK! you sure gonna need it. :D
 
Now you see why you never give in to territorial demands?! I strongly recommend you go for Poland first. You aren't gonna punch through the Maginot line, and DoWing Belgium is likely to get more countries attack you. You should be able to upload slideshows to geocities, if they still have free registration. You can't post them directly here, tho', you just have to give us a link.
Anyway, good start, I once contemplated doing something similar, but never got around to it. Just ignore the navy and build masses of infantry, you're going to need them very soon.
more :D
 
Infantry and more infantry, Do as Jopi says and you might stand a chance.

BTW nice to see a classic HoI AAR, keep it up!
 
Interesting, interesting...

I say, Hitler APPEASING the Poles has quite some appeal.
 
Quite interesting! A game where Germany is not the aggressor!

Well, I suppose Germany did agress with the Rhineland occupation and all. But you know what I mean.

Well, good luck, and keep it up! I would say 'Welcome to AARland', but with the search function disabled, I can't confirm whether you are a new writer or not!
 
Could you not simply start a game as France, have them declare war on Germany over the Rhineland, and then switch back to Germany? Seems to me to be the most effective way of getting the outcome you want, and you don't appear to have gotten so far into the AAR; it should be fairly easy to play back up to the point you had reached.
 
das said:
I say, Hitler APPEASING the Poles has quite some appeal.
Click to expand...

This isn't particularly ahistorical as such; Hitler's policy, almost up to 1939, was to maintain good relations with Poland. (Including the signing of a non-aggression treaty in the early part of Hitler's dictatorship.)
 
You should try what Paul Hanson suggests, or else edit the game file to remove France from the Allies and be at war with you. If those fail then save right before the event and just keep reloading until it plays out like you want it to. This AAR has an interesting premise and I want to see how Germany fares. :)
 
VILenin said:
You should try what Paul Hanson suggests, or else edit the game file to remove France from the Allies and be at war with you. If those fail then save right before the event and just keep reloading until it plays out like you want it to. This AAR has an interesting premise and I want to see how Germany fares. :)
Click to expand...

I'll give it a shot. I'd rather try to re-create it without editing anything. Which means saving right before the Re-Occupation of the Rhineland, and doing it over and over again until France declares war, and Poland demands territory.
 
You might be doing that for some time... Editing will be much faster.
 
anonymous4401 said:
You might be doing that for some time... Editing will be much faster.
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editing the game save file, or, the event? how difficult would it be to change the event percentage to say, 90 % ? ditto for any other events that you want to fire? whatever you do, good luck! :)
 
Didn't think of that. :eek:o Yes, editing the events themselves would be much easier...
 
anonymous4401 said:
..Yes, editing the events themselves would be much easier...
Click to expand...
so, who gets to help -Samuel- to edit the events he needs to edit? i suspect that you are much more capable than i am... but, if necessary, i am willing to try. :)
 
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