The Great War: Difference between revisions

| date = 5 May 1935 -– 14 April 1939<br />

| combatant1 = the [[The_Great_WarFactions_of_the_Great_War#Tripartite_Coalition|Tripartite Coalition]] (France, Austria, Ottoman Empire)

| combatant2 = the [[The_Great_WarFactions_of_the_Great_War#Cordial_League|Cordial League]]

It was fought between the [[TheFactions of the Great War#Tripartite Coalition|Tripartite Coalition]] - (led by [[France]], the [[Ottoman Empire]], and the [[Austria|Austrian Empire]] -) and the [[TheFactions of the Great War#Cordial League|Cordial League]], (led by the [[United Kingdom]] and [[Russia]]). Consequential atrocities and humanitarian crises of this war caused an estimated 100 million deaths worldwide.

The [[Ottoman Empire]] was undergoing aunderwent political modernization in the early 20th century. The rise of the [[Ottoman EmpireSultanate#Clash of Ideologies: Hatayism and Orkhonism%20and%20Orkhonism|Orkhonist faction]] in the Ottoman Grand Congress began fueling a revanchist attitude towards Crimea, which was once part of the Ottoman Empire, annexednow bypart of Russia. afterThe the [[Ottoman Empire#Russo-Ottomanempire Warbegan (1884-1885)|Russo-Ottomanon Wara (1884-1885)]].campaign Theof Ottomansubversion Empireagainst Russia. They began supporting rebellions in Central Asia, eventually culminating the Turkistan[[Turkestan]]'s declaration of independence from Russia in 1924. This negatively impactedharmed Russo-Ottoman relations in the 20th century.

ThroughoutIn the early 1930s, the Orkhonists spread anti-Russian and anti-British revanchist propaganda was scattered throughout the empire. The Orkhonists renewed a territorial claim in Crimea (which was taken by Russia during the 1884-1885 Russo-Ottoman War), based on the sultan's familial relations with the old Crimean Giray dynasty. They also promoted the idea of a Greater Ottoman state, one that controlled Egypt, and therefore controlled the Mediterranean. Throughout the 1920s, the state would enter a rapid pace of industrialization and militarization. They found an ally in Austria and France, who also had their own resentments against the British and Russians. In 1929, the three states formed the Tripartite Coalition, which strengthened their relationship and cooperation.

Meanwhile, at the beginning of the 20th century, the threat of Russian and British influence over Europe loomed largely. The [[Venice#Invasion of the Papal Adriatic %20of%20the%20Papal%20Adriatic%20(1908), and the Alps against Austria %2C%20and%20the%20Alps%20against%20Austria%20(1911-1912)|Venetian invasion of the Papal Adriatic in 1908]], primarily sponsored by the British, angeredoutraged France and Austria. They saw this as another act of Venetian and, by extension, British aggression. Both France and Austria issued diplomatic protests against the British, todemanding restorethe return of the papal holdings occupied by Venice, but nothingto came out ofno itavail. Rising diplomatic tensions eventually led to the Alps War in 1911, when Austria declared war on Venice. Austria called on the French to join the war, but France refused due to the communard government's instability at the time. The war ended in ''status quo ante bellum.'', and Austria was forced to recognize Venice's acquisition of territory in the Marche. This fueled even greater French and Austrian resentment against Britain.

The [[Glossary of terms#Neostabilism|neostabilists]] of Austria saw [[Glossary of terms#Faramundism|Faramundism]], or the ideology of German unification, as a threat to Austrian hegemony in Central Europe. AsAustrian such,Chancellor Emmerich Stefanov workedbegan a campaign on suppressing anyFaramundism German nationalism insidein and on the peripheries of the Austrian Empire. By the 1920s, the neostabilists began to grow concerned about the affairs inIn the Kingdom of Saxony, where Faramundism (and other ideologies deemed by the Austrians as radical (such as National-Republicanism) were freely allowed to flourish. freelyThis concerned the neostabilists of Austria. A British intelligence report in early 1935 reported a military presence building upon the Austrian-Saxon border. As such, the British were on high alert but wanted to avoid resorting to military intervention at all costs should an AustrianAustro-Saxon conflict happen.

On June 7, 1935, Austrian troops finally mobilized and invaded the Kingdom of Saxony. Austrian ambassador to Britain, Friedrich Boehme, reported that it was not an act of war against the Kingdom of Saxony but a response to the Saxon monarchy's calls to quell the "state of anarchy" and restore order. The Saxon government was also reported to be in debt to the Austrian monarchy, which the Austrians used to justify their occupation. Austrian news reported the occupation as "welcomed" by the Saxon public. However, post-war analyses revealed this statement to be largely untrue. Britain, still unwilling to intervene directly, resorted to diplomatic means to resolve the issue, which resulted in Britain eventually recognizing the Austrian occupation on June 27, 1935.

[[File:French soldiers in Savoy in August.jpg|thumb|302x302px262x262px|French soldiers on the 9th of July during heavy fighting.]]

==== Great Britain and Portugal's entrance in the war (July 1935) ====

Portugal, Britain's ally, also declared war against France and Austria. On the same day, Russia and Britain signed the 2nd Cordial Accord, a military alliance with the purpose of defeating the Tripartite Coalition, effectively merging the Russo-Ottoman conflict with Britain's war against Austria and France.

By the end of 1935, the Tripartite Coalition was able to make significant gains in Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. Ottoman troops were able to occupy huge swathes of territory in Crimea and in the steppes, while the Austrians pushed south and invaded Naples with the help of Sicily A joint Ottoman and French force was also able to take control of the Suez Canal and parts of the Sultanate of Egypt, hampering the naval power of Britain and her allies. On the colonial front, France launched invasions into British territory, and was able to occupy Portuguese Guinea and parts of British East Africa. The French were also able to capture the island of Vandiemensland in Oceania.

==== SecondThe PhaseWar (1936-1937)in Africa ====

=== Third Phase (1937-1938) ===

After July 1937, the Tripartite Coalition struggled to keep their new territorial gains. In August 1937, Norway formally enters the war on the Tripartiteside Coalition'sof sidethe Cordial League. A joint Anglo-Norwegian invasion of Tripartite-occupied Pomerania is launched on the 3rd week of August, and liberatedliberating a significant portion of westernWestern and centralCentral Pomerania. Subsequently, the British launched a naval invasion into French-controlled Niger.

After several significant losses in Africa and North Germany, Camille Laframboise of France and Stefanov Emmerich Stefanov of Austria engineerengineered a military operation aimed to shock Great Britain and Russia and distract them from the other active fronts of the war. It also aimed to close what Camille Lafamboise saw as a gap between the Tripartite's Coalition's zone of control: the Rhine and the lowLow countriesCountries. The plan was dubbed ''Operation Vendémiaire'' (lit. "Operation Grape Harvester" in Occitan). Operation ''Vendémiaire'' was launched on September 7, 1937, and began with attacks on the neutral Netherlands and Rhineland.

France had hoped that the Netherlands would easily capitulate, considering that they recently [[Russo-Corean War|came out of a war in East Asia]], while also expecting Rhineland to respond poorly to coordinated Austrian attacks on their eastern border. However, the plan did not do well as anticipated. The French were able to capture Antwerp by the end of September, but the Dutch were able to put up a significant resistance and prevented the French army from moving northward. Instrumental to the defense was Dutch admiral Louw Verduijn, who was vehemently anti-French and a close ally of the King of the Netherlands. By the end of the year, with British reinforcement, the Dutch were able to push back the advancing French and forced a retreat. In Rhineland, the Austrians were able to capture Erfurt and Goettingen, but were forced to retreat after being defeated by an Anglo-Rhenish force in the Battle of Alsfield.

==== Russo-Ottoman Compromise of 19371938 ====

[[File:Russo-Ottoman Compromise.png|thumb|238x238px|Russo-Rumelian Compromise of 19371938]]

Initially unknown to the rest of the Cordial League, the Russians had already made deals with the Ottoman Sultan after the capture of Constantinople back in June 19371938. This was the the Russo-Turkish Compromise of 19371938, which created a new Rumelian National Republic and Constantinople made a Russo-Rumelian condominium. Demilitarized zones (DMZs) were also created on the Rumelian and Ottoman side bordering Constantinople.

The Congress of Amsterdam was a larger conference held by the members of the Cordial League, to discuss the post-war fate of the Tripartite Coalition. The conference lasted from September 1938 to April 1939. The congress was slowed down due to conflicting interests between Russia and Britain. The pre-arranged secret Russo-Ottoman Compromise of 19371938 came under fire during the conference, with Britain lambasting Russia's diplomatic approach. As a compromise, Britain let Russia keep Constantinople, on the condition that Cyprus is ceded to Britain, and Russia is to go without an occupation zone in France.

France would not be reunited until 1944 (five years later after the war), with a liberal democracy installed and heavily audited by Britain.

=== TripartiteLegacy Coalitionand impact ===

==== MembersThe ofPost-War theNations Tripartiteof CoalitionEurope ====

==== PoliticalOther Nations ====

==== Technological ====