markus meecham
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The revolution will get a fat check from the saudi sovereign fund, then will overthrow it!
Rosa's Reich - Red Germany
- Thread starter GlobalHumanism
- Start date
The revolution will get a fat check from the saudi sovereign fund, then will overthrow it!
Chapter VI (1920) | Part III (Ruhr Offensive)
Chapter VI: The Crucible
______________
Time Period: July, 1920
Once the news of the successful capture of Hannover province was relayed south, the second phase of the offensive began. Swinging in circular sweep below Hannover province, the 3rd and 4th battalions of the German Red Army advanced from their encamped positions on the western border of Anhalt province, moving directly on the Ruhr by way of northern Hessen-Nassau.
“The forces of the French bourgeoisie may attempt to goad us into a pitch battle once our shock attack drives them into retreat – but take heed – we haven’t the men or material to match against the numbers of the Allied armies. Focus therefore should be placed solely on driving the French from the Ruhr – then the construction of defensive fortifications within in the heart of the valley,” said Eberlein, commander of the 3rd Battalion to his two junior commanders.
On the morning of July 8th, after advancing for several days straight, both battalions arrived at the outskirts of the Ruhr. Pausing to rest and reform for semi-urban combat, the armored cars were first moved toward the front of the formation to act as the spearhead of the offensive, while simultaneously the infantry was positioned at the flanks and the rear. “We must capitalize on the element of surprise and use it to rout as many of the French garrison as possible; our armored cars will act as the shock to precipitate it,” said Eberlein as he stood pointing in the direction of the valley.
After all preparations were complete the order to advance was called.
Riding in the right flanking car of the armored column, Brandler charged ahead with his direction being aimed directly at the heart of the valley. After a minute, the rest of the infantry began their march from behind.
Down below French troops, listless and disorganized after several weeks of mutinous looting and reprisal violence aimed at the rioting Germans heard the rumbling of the advancing Red Army. As panic began to set in, shouts from troops positioned on the east of valley began to echo out. “The German Army is advancing upon the Ruhr! – The German Army is advancing upon the Ruhr!” Mistaking the troops for a remnant of the Imperial army, the garrison immediately began to form ranks to prepare for defensive action, while simultaneously attempting to contact Paris with news of renewed hostility between the war powers.
However, within minutes the armored column, marked clearly with the standard of the German Red Army smashed into the heart of the hastily prepared frontlines and began to engage the French soldiers; instantly it was understood that it was the army of Luxembourg that had arrived.
“Pull back! – take defensive positions within any mill, factory or high-ground you can find!” shouted one of the mutinous French commanders. “Don’t let the reds penetrate the valley!”
As the initial lines of the French garrison were struggling to pull together a sense of cohesion, in the rear and in the center of the valley, local German worker resistance cells saw the assault as their chance to launch several coordinated attacked throughout the industrial valley.
“Aid from Berlin has arrived! – Liberation from the bourgeois occupiers is at hand!”
After an hour, and with French losses mounting, Clemenceau, who had been informed of the red assault several minutes after the initial advance, desperately tried to come to an agreement on what to do with the French War Cabinet.
“The mutinous rabble of the Ruhr occupation force deserved to be hammered after disobeying direct commands from Paris!” shouted Neville.
“I will not hear any more of this,” responded Clemenceau. “Mutineers or not, we cannot have German soldiers seizing territory rightfully forfeited after the Kaiser’s defeat. To do so would lead to utter collapse of the SPD-Essen regime and potentially bring revolution within our boarders.”
The debate continued with Clemenceau slowly becoming more and more isolated from the rest of the War Council. “The calamity at the gates of Moscow has proven not only to us, but to your political constituency that there is no stomach for adventurist campaigns,” declared another officer.
It was decided – no relief would be sent to aid the mutineers.
Back in the Ruhr, as word of the French War Cabinet’s refusal to send aid made its way throughout the French rank and file, the mutinous soldiers, incensed by the betrayal, abandoned their posts and began to retreat from valley. What started first as a stream of a few fleeing soldiers, soon broke out into a general retreat.
“Abandon your posts – the Ruhr has fallen!” shouted one of the French soldiers.
Witnessing the general retreat, Commander Eberlain ordered the Red Army to pursue them towards the edges of the valley.
By nightfall the Ruhr, along with several hundred French soldiers had been seized by the German Red Army.
______________
Time Period: July, 1920
Once the news of the successful capture of Hannover province was relayed south, the second phase of the offensive began. Swinging in circular sweep below Hannover province, the 3rd and 4th battalions of the German Red Army advanced from their encamped positions on the western border of Anhalt province, moving directly on the Ruhr by way of northern Hessen-Nassau.
“The forces of the French bourgeoisie may attempt to goad us into a pitch battle once our shock attack drives them into retreat – but take heed – we haven’t the men or material to match against the numbers of the Allied armies. Focus therefore should be placed solely on driving the French from the Ruhr – then the construction of defensive fortifications within in the heart of the valley,” said Eberlein, commander of the 3rd Battalion to his two junior commanders.
On the morning of July 8th, after advancing for several days straight, both battalions arrived at the outskirts of the Ruhr. Pausing to rest and reform for semi-urban combat, the armored cars were first moved toward the front of the formation to act as the spearhead of the offensive, while simultaneously the infantry was positioned at the flanks and the rear. “We must capitalize on the element of surprise and use it to rout as many of the French garrison as possible; our armored cars will act as the shock to precipitate it,” said Eberlein as he stood pointing in the direction of the valley.
After all preparations were complete the order to advance was called.
Riding in the right flanking car of the armored column, Brandler charged ahead with his direction being aimed directly at the heart of the valley. After a minute, the rest of the infantry began their march from behind.
Down below French troops, listless and disorganized after several weeks of mutinous looting and reprisal violence aimed at the rioting Germans heard the rumbling of the advancing Red Army. As panic began to set in, shouts from troops positioned on the east of valley began to echo out. “The German Army is advancing upon the Ruhr! – The German Army is advancing upon the Ruhr!” Mistaking the troops for a remnant of the Imperial army, the garrison immediately began to form ranks to prepare for defensive action, while simultaneously attempting to contact Paris with news of renewed hostility between the war powers.
However, within minutes the armored column, marked clearly with the standard of the German Red Army smashed into the heart of the hastily prepared frontlines and began to engage the French soldiers; instantly it was understood that it was the army of Luxembourg that had arrived.
“Pull back! – take defensive positions within any mill, factory or high-ground you can find!” shouted one of the mutinous French commanders. “Don’t let the reds penetrate the valley!”
As the initial lines of the French garrison were struggling to pull together a sense of cohesion, in the rear and in the center of the valley, local German worker resistance cells saw the assault as their chance to launch several coordinated attacked throughout the industrial valley.
“Aid from Berlin has arrived! – Liberation from the bourgeois occupiers is at hand!”
After an hour, and with French losses mounting, Clemenceau, who had been informed of the red assault several minutes after the initial advance, desperately tried to come to an agreement on what to do with the French War Cabinet.
“The mutinous rabble of the Ruhr occupation force deserved to be hammered after disobeying direct commands from Paris!” shouted Neville.
“I will not hear any more of this,” responded Clemenceau. “Mutineers or not, we cannot have German soldiers seizing territory rightfully forfeited after the Kaiser’s defeat. To do so would lead to utter collapse of the SPD-Essen regime and potentially bring revolution within our boarders.”
The debate continued with Clemenceau slowly becoming more and more isolated from the rest of the War Council. “The calamity at the gates of Moscow has proven not only to us, but to your political constituency that there is no stomach for adventurist campaigns,” declared another officer.
It was decided – no relief would be sent to aid the mutineers.
Back in the Ruhr, as word of the French War Cabinet’s refusal to send aid made its way throughout the French rank and file, the mutinous soldiers, incensed by the betrayal, abandoned their posts and began to retreat from valley. What started first as a stream of a few fleeing soldiers, soon broke out into a general retreat.
“Abandon your posts – the Ruhr has fallen!” shouted one of the French soldiers.
Witnessing the general retreat, Commander Eberlain ordered the Red Army to pursue them towards the edges of the valley.
By nightfall the Ruhr, along with several hundred French soldiers had been seized by the German Red Army.
I forget, was the treaty of Versailles ever signed ITTL? Because if so, I don't think the Entente is going to be able to enforce the treaty ITTL.
Edit: I rechecked and there isn't a treaty of Versailles signed yet. It's going to certainly be a lot different ITTL though when the situation has settled down enough for the Entente to stomach signing a peace treaty with Communist Germany.
Edit: I rechecked and there isn't a treaty of Versailles signed yet. It's going to certainly be a lot different ITTL though when the situation has settled down enough for the Entente to stomach signing a peace treaty with Communist Germany.
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This must be Lenin and Stalin's worst nightmare democratic communism outside of the party line they do loving crafted so they could dominate the party.
Especially since Marx said that Germany would be the model communist country.
At least for Lenin, it's his wet dream. He was very worried of Russia's chances if it had to carry the world revolution on its own shoulders. He was expecting to be a spark for the proletariat in more industrialized countries, not to be forced to do all the heavy lifting with a mostly agrarian one. This means he can probably ease up a lot. And will probably take Germany's lead in making the democratic structures somewhat functional, simply because he's not desperate and has people looking over his shoulder.
Stalin is harder to know. He built a lot of his influence on his control over the party structures. On the other hand, he hasn't invested himself in a Russian focused strategy, and mostly did so OTL because other ideas were clearly failing. He's unlikely to rise up as high, with the committed internationalists staying strong. Expect to see him as a backroom dealer rather than a prominent figure.
Remember that Stalin is dead in this timeline and Lenin was forced to share power with the left SSR's and Makhno's black army in exchange for their help in the siege.
50/50. He lost the monopoly of his power but the Revolution was expanded beyond his wildest dreams. If he plays his cards well, he can still be able to hold on power untill his death.
I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop. All things are going way too well for the communists. Surely there must be a backlash and reaction as a result of the aggressive revolution?
It's sure to come once things settle down some, but for now the rest of Old Europe is truly spent (in terms of manpower, in terms of will, in terms of wealth) and in no position to be making a war of reaction. They're far more concerned with holding their own positions, France most especially.
The same conditions which produced revolt and revolution in Russia and Germany aren't that far off from what the French are going through. The English may have it better, but the Italians are already in the middle of a civil war.
There's no room for any concerted response beyond holding their ground, the revolution has the momentum for the moment.
Chapter VI (1920) | Part IV (Ruhr Occupation)
Chapter VI: The Crucible
______________
Time Period: July, 1920
Ruhr Occupation
With Hannover province and the Ruhr now firmly occupied by the council communists, party leaders in Berlin urgently drafted new directives for the German Red Army. Though the provinces of southern Germany still remained outside of Berlin control, it remained the Grand Coalition’s intention to achieve total revolutionary victory through popular uprising rather than force of arms. Thus, in both private and public announcements signed by Chairman Luxemburg herself, a proclamation of victory over the French occupiers was made along with a general report of what the Red Army’s goals in each territory.
“Our brave People’s Army will not be occupiers but liberators for workers in the newly freed territories of our republic,” read one line of the public statement.
Simultaneously, the two Red Army battalions station in Hannover and the Ruhr respectively were instructed to take defensive positions and extend enlistment opportunities to any willing German workers. As general popular support for the Luxemburgists was at its highest, thousands flocked to their banner in Hannover. However, within the Ruhr, as the uprising that prompted Berlin’s intervention was began by leftist factions outside of Luxembergist influence, hearts and minds had to be won. “We must entice the disparate voices of these peoples to join Rosa’s revolution,” said Eberlain over a dinner set up in one of the liberated French army garrisons. Thus, upon receiving permission from Berlin, several worker communes were set up as places of dialogue between Luxemburgist party delegates in Ruhr worker representatives.
“The coucilization programme, voted into law by the Berlin Congress, has been successful in providing economic liberation to the German working class; by following this path both you and the workers you represent could experience the same!” declared one Luxemburgist official at one of the early meetings.
“It’s not the councilization programme that concerns our people, but the political program, especially in the midst of this still active revolution – one not need to look too far (Moscow) to see what war-time necessities may end up coercing the powers in Berlin to do,” replied a worker delegate.
With political negotiations continuing between the two sides, on July 2nd, Rosa called a leadership meeting of the Grand Coalition. “Dear comrades, we stand upon the precipice of total victory in the German phase of this revolution; our revolution. However our victories in the Ruhr and Hannover will represent the end of our flirtation with military adventurism; a reality that I must remind you that I have personally abhored. No, our final victory will be achieved through the pen, the strike, and the spoken word – the combination of which will solidify the morality of our struggle and the degradation of the bourgeoisie’s to peoples of not only Europe, but the world,” she said in an opening address.
After she concluded she then ushered to Paul Levi.
“And in our first act toward achieving there will be a brief cessation of peace overtures toward the French government. As our envoys have yet to be answered, I believe it’s time we wait and see what the effects of Clemenceau's chauvinist interventions will wrought upon his bourgeois republic.”
______________
Paris
The die had been cast.
Clemenceau’s inability to coral cabinet support to send aid to assist the mutinous garrison in the Ruhr precipitated an even larger threat Third Republic. Not only were the French troops regions still in mutiny over the Moscow disaster, but soldiers that returned home, but had yet to be demobilized, were seething with insurrectionist fervor. With the remaining, disorganized rabble of the retreating Ruhr occupation forces only weeks away from reaching Paris, the French government feared a soldier backed revolution was imminent.
“Sir, reports from the officer core throughout the northern and eastern regions are dire; insurrection and mutiny is spreading throughout the home garrisons – there’s even word soldier communes are being set up – what do we do?” said one the staffers in an emergency July 3rd meeting between Clemenceau and his cabinet. “I think it may be time to abandon Paris,” suggested another.
Unsure what such a move might do to the already floundering public support in his government, Clemenceau sat in chair bewildered at what had befallen victorious France in only two short years.
A decision had to be made, though with Lloyd George losing his will for war and the Communists in Russia and German on the march, his options remained limited.
______________
______________
Time Period: July, 1920
Ruhr Occupation
With Hannover province and the Ruhr now firmly occupied by the council communists, party leaders in Berlin urgently drafted new directives for the German Red Army. Though the provinces of southern Germany still remained outside of Berlin control, it remained the Grand Coalition’s intention to achieve total revolutionary victory through popular uprising rather than force of arms. Thus, in both private and public announcements signed by Chairman Luxemburg herself, a proclamation of victory over the French occupiers was made along with a general report of what the Red Army’s goals in each territory.
“Our brave People’s Army will not be occupiers but liberators for workers in the newly freed territories of our republic,” read one line of the public statement.
Simultaneously, the two Red Army battalions station in Hannover and the Ruhr respectively were instructed to take defensive positions and extend enlistment opportunities to any willing German workers. As general popular support for the Luxemburgists was at its highest, thousands flocked to their banner in Hannover. However, within the Ruhr, as the uprising that prompted Berlin’s intervention was began by leftist factions outside of Luxembergist influence, hearts and minds had to be won. “We must entice the disparate voices of these peoples to join Rosa’s revolution,” said Eberlain over a dinner set up in one of the liberated French army garrisons. Thus, upon receiving permission from Berlin, several worker communes were set up as places of dialogue between Luxemburgist party delegates in Ruhr worker representatives.
“The coucilization programme, voted into law by the Berlin Congress, has been successful in providing economic liberation to the German working class; by following this path both you and the workers you represent could experience the same!” declared one Luxemburgist official at one of the early meetings.
“It’s not the councilization programme that concerns our people, but the political program, especially in the midst of this still active revolution – one not need to look too far (Moscow) to see what war-time necessities may end up coercing the powers in Berlin to do,” replied a worker delegate.
With political negotiations continuing between the two sides, on July 2nd, Rosa called a leadership meeting of the Grand Coalition. “Dear comrades, we stand upon the precipice of total victory in the German phase of this revolution; our revolution. However our victories in the Ruhr and Hannover will represent the end of our flirtation with military adventurism; a reality that I must remind you that I have personally abhored. No, our final victory will be achieved through the pen, the strike, and the spoken word – the combination of which will solidify the morality of our struggle and the degradation of the bourgeoisie’s to peoples of not only Europe, but the world,” she said in an opening address.
After she concluded she then ushered to Paul Levi.
“And in our first act toward achieving there will be a brief cessation of peace overtures toward the French government. As our envoys have yet to be answered, I believe it’s time we wait and see what the effects of Clemenceau's chauvinist interventions will wrought upon his bourgeois republic.”
______________
Paris
The die had been cast.
Clemenceau’s inability to coral cabinet support to send aid to assist the mutinous garrison in the Ruhr precipitated an even larger threat Third Republic. Not only were the French troops regions still in mutiny over the Moscow disaster, but soldiers that returned home, but had yet to be demobilized, were seething with insurrectionist fervor. With the remaining, disorganized rabble of the retreating Ruhr occupation forces only weeks away from reaching Paris, the French government feared a soldier backed revolution was imminent.
“Sir, reports from the officer core throughout the northern and eastern regions are dire; insurrection and mutiny is spreading throughout the home garrisons – there’s even word soldier communes are being set up – what do we do?” said one the staffers in an emergency July 3rd meeting between Clemenceau and his cabinet. “I think it may be time to abandon Paris,” suggested another.
Unsure what such a move might do to the already floundering public support in his government, Clemenceau sat in chair bewildered at what had befallen victorious France in only two short years.
A decision had to be made, though with Lloyd George losing his will for war and the Communists in Russia and German on the march, his options remained limited.
______________
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I would suggest to Clemenceau to try to convince Petain to form a emergency goverment before it's 1789 all over again: maybe the old charismatic general can do something to calm the unrest of the Army. Maybe he can use the incompent socialist goverment as a scapegoat and buy some time to negotiate with the mutineers before it's too late. I don't want France to fall to Revolution so easily though: it would be pretty cool to see a clash between a far-right wing France and far-left wing Germany on the Rhine. Maybe a 1871 Civil War's style Civil War it's coming with Commune of France 2: Revolutionary Boogaloo as a result and with Petain and other reactionaries evacuating to North Africa to ironically form a Brittish-backed exile goverment? Btw Where are the French communists in all this? This is their perfect chance after all.
You cannot abandon Paris. Any sensible French government would abandon everything else in France first, because French legitimacy and power is extremely reliant on holding the city. And of course, the city has a revolutionary past, so leaving it without loyal supervision would be handing it to the revolutionaries on a platter. Doing so when the enemy isn't even directly threatening it would basically be a capitulation.
Exactly, doing that absolutely would result in an attempted Paris Commune: par deux.
Though considering how the layout of the city was changed to make doing so a second time harder, im not sure how long it'd last
With the government fleeing, the military being in chaos and the potential agitators heading this way to link with any potential Parisian rebels? I bet it does better than the first one.