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Editor says, what if the Central Powers had won the Great War? Please note that the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of the author(s). This story was published in the December 2012 edition of Changing the Times Magazine.
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In 1919, on this day the seventh Chancellor of the German Empire Georg Friedrich Graf von Hertling passed away in Berlin. He was seventy-five years old. An installment from the Central Powers Victorious thread.
Central Powers Victorious Part 1 Death of a PuppetHertling became professor of philosophy at the University of Munich, and while professor he published books on Aristotle (1871) and on Albertus Magnus (1880). From 1875 to 1890, and again from 1893 to 1912, he was a member of the Reichstag, and from 1909 to 1912 he led the Centre (Catholic) Party faction in the Reichstag. In 1891, the Regent of Bavaria made him a life member of the upper house of the Bavarian Landtag.
As leader of the largest party in the Bavarian Landtag, in 1912 Hertling was appointed Bavarian Minister-President and Minister for Foreign Affairs by Luitpold, Prince Regent of Bavaria. King Ludwig III later elevated him to the rank of Count. Following the outbreak of World War I, Hertling supported the policy of Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg but declined to become his successor in 1917. After the fall of Georg Michaelis in November of that year, however, he accepted appointment as German Chancellor and Minister-President of Prussia.
Given his age and conservatism, he was not equipped to overcome the influence of the military high command, led by Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff. Like Michaelis before him, he was increasingly seen as a puppet of Hindenburg and Ludendorff, who constituted a virtual military dictatorship in the last year of the war.
In the final year of his life, Imperial Germany was a victor power making a formal transition to military dictatorship. There was growing evidence that von Hertling was fighting to reassert civilian authority. A power struggle developed. But it was simply not possible to turn the clock back five years, and in any case Ludendorff was seriously considering a formalization of the military dictatorship at the point when von Hertling passed away. Ludendorff was determined to ensure that he would have no successor...
Entry posted by Todayinah Editor
© Alternate Historian, 2004-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Central Powers Victorious Source: Wikipedia Labels: Georg von Hertling, German Empire, Central Powers, Great War, Germany. Editor says, thanks to Jeff Provine for his contribution to the development of this post. We have repurposed significant amounts of content from Wikipedia.
~ A victorious Imperial Germany turning into a military dictatorship? NOT a good combination...
~
the military dictatorship of Ludendorf and Hindenburg is unlike to last after a Central Powers victory.
Srangely enough, in order for this to mtake place. t5he Chancellor must throw his weight about and make sure the "military dictatorship" of the dynamic duo does not take place - as it was Ludendorf's plan, imitating the plan in East prussia in 1914 whiuch lead to defeat in the summer of 1918.
1) Col Max Hoffman, L and H's military genius comes with them, instead of remaining in the East.
2) The Chancellor and the Emperor insist they follow his plan and he has a free hand.
3) The is thus no intended Battle of Annihilation intended in Flandres, as Ludendorf's theories tell him the British army is the strongst army and not time lost by diversions.
4) The break through in June at Marne II in the middle and head for Paris. the French as they always said, fall back on Paris.
There is a cease-fire with the French, the germans threaten the Channel ports.
The Brtish and Lloyd-George now have what they have been talking about and feared - 1- 3 million hostages in France.
landsdowne is swiftly sent to Basel to accept Cousin Willi's Peace Office presented by Alfred Duke of Clarence and Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Cousins George's and Willi's uncle and British royal duke.
Landsdowne signs.
Meanwhile Woodrow Wilson and Pershing are wrong footed, not being in position to attack in time.
FDR as the young assistant naval secretary in France inspecting "his" marine corps is furious.
5)
~ Lookng forward to the sequel to this where Ludendorff and his new wife convert Germany to neopaganism,
~ Unclear how the Central Powers pulled it off. Did the U.S. actually honor its pledge of neutrality in this TL, instead of tilting more and more toward Britain before formally entering the war in 1917? And if so, why? Was there no Lusitania? Did Wilson's adviser Col. Robert House die or get the sack--or was Wilson even elected? Details, please.
~ The central Powers can do it provided they do not bodge the offensive of 1918 - which is what Ludendorff did by wasting time and resources in diversionary attacks, trying to lure away forces from Flanders.
Finally in July the french attack his rear and the troops were attacking SE in the opposite direction at Marne II.
The Flanders offensive, although the artillery has arleady been sent there, is then cancelled.
See
1918 The Unexpected Victory.
Victory 1918 John Palmer
© Today in Alternate History, 2013-. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
