Forget everything you think you know about Austria-Hungary and the Great War, it's all lies.
Here is the truth.
Here is the truth.
A Nation of Heroes - The Austria We All Wish We Could Be
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A Nation of Heroes
The Austria We All Wish We Could Be
“You know what?” Said one German landser to another, “I’m glad we have those Austrians on our side.”
“I know what you mean,” said the man next to him. “They’re sons of bitches in a fight!”
Meanwhile, somewhere in Serbia…
The Serbs were on the move again, retreating. They had done nothing but retreat these last few days. The Austrian army had crushed their initial attempts at defending the border, and now they were moving through the countryside.
And the Austrians were drawing ever closer to Belgrade.
On the ridge above the road along which the retreating Serbs shuffled, a man in a green uniform stepped out from behind a tree. In his hands was a weapon, shorter than a rifle and made entirely of steel. The soldier aimed the weapon in the middle of the Serb column, and pulled the trigger.
An explosion rocked the Serbian soldiers off their feet and onto the ground.
A great cry resonated all around them as fierce looking men, with weathered skin and worn uniforms, leapt out from behind trees and camouflage nets. They wore green uniforms, and green caps with red feathers sticking out from them. In their hands they gripped automatic pistols and long edged knives.
If the Serbs ever had a chance it died when most of them decided fighting wasn’t an option. They threw down their rifles and either ran or held up their hands in surrender. Those that did not were short work for the Austrian army-men.
When the dust cleared, twelve Austrian soldiers had taken fifty-four Serbians prisoner. Another twenty-one were considered casualties.
This was not an isolated incident. All over the Serbian countryside, which had become the first battleground of the new war, the same thing was happening.
The Austria We All Wish We Could Be
Chapter One
“I know what you mean,” said the man next to him. “They’re sons of bitches in a fight!”
Meanwhile, somewhere in Serbia…
The Serbs were on the move again, retreating. They had done nothing but retreat these last few days. The Austrian army had crushed their initial attempts at defending the border, and now they were moving through the countryside.
And the Austrians were drawing ever closer to Belgrade.
On the ridge above the road along which the retreating Serbs shuffled, a man in a green uniform stepped out from behind a tree. In his hands was a weapon, shorter than a rifle and made entirely of steel. The soldier aimed the weapon in the middle of the Serb column, and pulled the trigger.
An explosion rocked the Serbian soldiers off their feet and onto the ground.
A great cry resonated all around them as fierce looking men, with weathered skin and worn uniforms, leapt out from behind trees and camouflage nets. They wore green uniforms, and green caps with red feathers sticking out from them. In their hands they gripped automatic pistols and long edged knives.
If the Serbs ever had a chance it died when most of them decided fighting wasn’t an option. They threw down their rifles and either ran or held up their hands in surrender. Those that did not were short work for the Austrian army-men.
When the dust cleared, twelve Austrian soldiers had taken fifty-four Serbians prisoner. Another twenty-one were considered casualties.
This was not an isolated incident. All over the Serbian countryside, which had become the first battleground of the new war, the same thing was happening.
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Chapter Two
Paris - 1921
An Austrian infantry sergeant is seated at a private table in the back of a French café. Coffee is in the wide bowl-like cup on the table in front of him, in his hands he holds a thin penny-dreadful about Bavarian warrior-mages fighting French invaders. It’s crap, but its entertaining crap.
At the table next to this Austrian sergeant is a German sergeant of the Stormtrooper Corps. The Stormtrooper is just as weathered and combat-experienced. The German randomly remarks to himself and his brew, “During the war I killed twenty-six Frenchmen.”
The Austrian looks up from his book and remarks, “During the war I only killed thirteen Frenchmen.”
The German sergeant barks with victorious laughter.
But the Austrian is not finished, “I also killed thirty-one Serbs and twenty-five Russians.”
The German ceases laughing, and buys the Austrian a drink.
Chapter Three
Although partisans never amounted to any significant force, a few regiments of the Austrian army were stationed in Serbia until the end of the war.
Starting in early September the Austrian Army Command began to coordinate one of the single largest land operations in the history of warfare. The plan was come spring; Austrian shock-troops would break through the Russians defenses in Galicia and set about liberating the Ukraine from Russian domination.
In early April Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria died in his bed. The next day his only heir, Archduke Franz Ferdinand was crowned as Emperor of Austria and King of Bohemia, Hungary and Croatia. Emperor Franz Ferdinand immediately set about a post-war plan to reform the empire into a more democratic institution, while leaving the coming war with Russia in the hands of his generals.
Chapter Four
Galicia, Land of Russian Sorrow
“It was not only a material deficiency that led to a Russian defeat. Their general, Aleksei Brusilov was a genius. His journal states that before his death at the front…”
The standard military tactics of the day will not result in a Russian victory over the Austrians. They have more artillery and equipment that we ever shall in this war. Our only course of action is to evade the enemy, and strike like a guerilla force.
General Brusilov put his pen down and rested his chin on his fist. He sat in one of the furnished bunkers of the Galician line, in one of the few sectors that had been able to be reinforced with digging equipment. Despite his views on modern warfare, Brusilov had found that he could not budge when it came to fighting his war, the Czar had given him no freedom. So he had ordered instillations built that might stem the Austrian tide for a month or two before they broke through.
“And what then?” He asked himself, “They free the Ukrainians and we are undone.”
A crash resonated through the underground structure, and dust fell onto the drying ink on the pages of the general’s journal. An aide in a khaki-brown uniform came into the room, “General..”
“It’s an Austrian bombardment, I know! I know!”
“No, sir! They’re coming!”
The operation had been named the Franz Joseph Offensive, in honor of the recently deceased emperor. Some of the Austrians had laughed at that, thinking it was a bad omen to name a military operation after a dead man.
But when the day had come, everyone was convinced of victory.
Men in green uniforms, with short rapid-firing rifles in their hands and round flame-inducing bombs on their belts, burst through the Russian lines with complete success. Casualties were taken, as they always are in war, but the cost of victory was not great. Of the 633,000 men stationed along the front at the beginning of the offensive, 450,000 were taken captive and 125,000 were wounded or killed. General Brusilov was among the Russian prisoners moving west.
Of the 550,000 Austrian soldiers that participated in the offensive nearly 35,000 were wounded or killed. The result was an overwhelming victory for the Austrians, and the destruction of Russians southern armies.
The roads into the Ukraine were open to Austrian occupation.
Later, in the gardens of the Austrian Kaiser…
“More tea, General?”
“No, thank you, your majesty.”
The Kaiser of Austria, has he had come to be known, motioned to one of the waiters standing nearby to refill his own cup.
“How are you enjoying my country?” Asked the Austrian ruler.
“It is very nice. While I do miss my homeland, as any man would, I feel a sort of connection growing between myself and this place.”
The Kaiser smiled, “Very good! I want to make sure you are only comfortable during your stay
Imprisonment, thought the general
here. If there is anything you need, all you have to do is write to me and I’ll see it done.”
The General smiled and thanked his host one more time.
“It is a peculiar case,” explained the Austrian schoolteacher, “that the Russian general and the Austrian ruler came to become friends. They should have been enemies. Their respected countries were at war. This instance only goes to show that while countries may wage war, men may not. Countries are only comprised of their men, men are not comprised of their countries.
“During the course of that short and victorious war, the Austrian and the Russian formed a bond of friendship that existed even after Russia capitulated. Perhaps it was the constant stream of death-threats from Russian patriots that kept Brusilov in Austria, or perhaps it really was as he says in his journal.
The more time I spend in this nation the more I come to love it. With the Kaiser, I toured the mountains and forested hills of Western Austria, and was enthralled by their beauty. If the nations of man ever come to sense and cease their violence, I will remove myself from the military hierarchy of every nation and commit myself to living in peace. And though the memories of Russia call to me, I doubt I will return to her endless sky-way ever again.
I don't get the POD (if there's one at all) but this was entertaining
Yes is difficult to see, besided than Franz Fernidand Survives, i think we have a more effective(the austrio-hungarian generals were pretty good one, but make some chilish mistakes and a bad chain of command is the responsable of not the alone defeated of Serbia and the Galicia Disaster) Austro-Hungary Chief of Staff who make better decision in the war... and teach us than A-H is not a rambshackle Empire(listen that Italian Irredentists) but one who make very bad mistakes...
Brusilov deserted to A-H!!, well his only loyalty was to Russia(regarthless Tsarist or Comunnist), maybe Nickey make more folish mistakes here(another POD or butterflie), and make Brusilov deserted(and train the new Ostrreich Strumtrupper) .
well, waiting for more, like the alternate august crisis and who died in savarejo(if somenone die, isn't it?)
Att
Nivek von Beldo
P.S. The Austrian Corporal who killed the thridteen frenchmen, the thirty-one Serbs and twenty-five Russians, is 'That' Austrian Corporal(you now who I talking about)
Deleted member 1487
Its going to take a hell of a lot to make Austria that effective if the POD is sometime after 1906. I'm currently thinking of one in 1866 after the Austrian loss. Machine pistols in 1914??? The major deficiency of the Habsburg army was its weak budget and the small size. Their training was about the same as any army of the day, but they were woefully under-equipped and very poorly led at just about all levels above the company.
Chapter Five
The Germans wore gray, and the Austrians wore green. That is how they told each other apart. Sometimes Austrian soldiers referred to Germany as Northern Austria, and sometimes Germans referred to Austria as Southern Germany.
“Here comes the Austrians,” said a Landser. His mates looked, and what they saw blew their minds.
The men marching into the German camp wore fresh clean green uniforms,
“They sent us god-damn recruits? Don’t they know this land is soaked with German and French blood? These men will be slaughtered!”
“I don’t think their recruits,” said a third. The green-clad men did not whistle or sing as new recruits often did. Their faces were weathered and tan, their eyes told of combat. These men had seen the wars. Every one of them.
Over their shoulders were slung steel weapons, and round baseball like grenades hung from bandoliers on their chests. In their hats stuck red-feathers.
The Germans, in their dirty mud-stained trench coats, stood outside of their tents and smoked hand-rolled cigarettes.
At the command of their officer, the platoon of Austrians stopped. The Lieutenant, young and intelligent with a pair of merciless blue eyes, looked over the Germans before him. He didn’t say anything. No need to piss off your best friend. The Austrians were here to help anyway, here to help beat the French.
The Next Day
With the coming of nightfall came an air of security. That is when the Austrians were herded up to the front, to the corpse ridden ruts in the earth called trenches. Then in the morning, they attacked.
French mortar-bombs falling to earth whistled as they came down. When they hit the ground a great fountain of dirt sailed upwards. A squadron of Austrians sat in a shell-hole, grenades and automatic pistols in hand. Their leader, the man with the merciless eyes, held up his hand as he peered over the rim of the trench.
Suddenly his hand came down and he shouted, “Throw!” Five of the six men stood and threw the baseball shaped bombs into the French trench. Light explosions could be heard, and then the howls of the wounded.
The lieutenant leapt out of his hole and sprinted like a mad-man to the enemy trench. He leapt over a string of barbed wire before landing feet first in the muddy fortifications of the French. To his left and his right, the black and charred bodies of the enemy lay still. The firebombs had worked.
When the rest of the Austrians reached the trench they began to move throughout it, clearing gun positions and squads of unsuspected riflemen. Automatic pistols and rifles proved beyond a match for the bolt-action rifles of the French infantry, who often used them as spears.
Once the Austrians had taken the trench, which was more than the Germans had ever been able to do, the French reserves were launched in a counter-attack. Fighting like devils, the Austrians beat them back with knife and bullet, but still they came.
The man with the merciless eyes finally broke and called for a retreat, the Austrians turned and fled. Too many were shot in the back by French marksmen as they sprinted across No Man’s Land. Among them, the man with the merciless eyes who’s young intelligent face grew soggy in the water of a shell-hole.
On that late October day nearly three dozen minor offensives took place. Only six could claim any amount of success.
Upon hearing that the offensives failed the Kaiser of Germany is reported to have said, “Well god be damned, they think they are supermen! Running off into No Man’s Land with their guns and their bombs. Why can’t they share their secrets with us?”
To which the Kaiser of Austria replied, “Well you didn’t really ask.”
And that is how the Stormtrooper Corps was born.
A thousand non-commissioned officers and five hundred various officer ranks were sent by train into Austria to train at the infamous Theresian Military Academy. There they learned all about “shock-tactics.” After a three-month course those men left Austria for German military schools,
where they would train and command new Sturmtruppen divisions.
When the first of the German stormtroopers entered combat in late May, they were able to capture a stretch of trench previously impervious to the German rifle divisions in the area. But the time for German-Austrian supremacy was soon to end.
Chapter Six
While the arrival of the British did deaden the Austrian-German Offensive that were cutting into France, it did not completely stop them. The average Tommy was using the same tactics as the average French soldier, without much more success. It wasn’t until early 1917, when the first Australian units entered the war, and the British were able to begin equipping their soldiers with repeating rifles and firebomb grenades, that equilibrium was establish.
“Ya have to understand,” said the old grand pappy in his rocker, “We got medals for jumping out of a god-damn aeroplane. It was in the dead of night, and I couldn’t hear the pilot because I was hanging onto the wing and the engine was right next to him. He had told me he would slap my arm when it was time to let go, and so I waited. We were suppose to land in lakes and small ponds behind the German lines, with the pilots flying low and slow, someone in the high command thought we could make it. He was right. Well, at least, I was right. I made it, and slapped into the water hard enough to break my arm if I had done it wrong. But I didn’t!”
The old man stopped and took a pull from his beer, “So as I was saying. I’m treading water, with my pack getting wet and my equipment probably useless, and I swim to shore. After crawling through the reeds and getting out I sat behind a thick gnarled tree and just listened for a good fifteen minutes. I wanted to make sure that no Germans had heard the plane. When I was sure nothing was coming for me, I drew my pistol and my machete, which was a prize from my days as an Outback Ranger, and set off into the woods.
“I hadn’t gone a quarter mile before I turn around a stone and two Germans and an Austrian are standing right there! One pissing and the other two smoking and looking at the stars. The one pissing saw me, and screamed before falling to the ground with his prick still in his hand. Then I went crazy. I screamed something unintelligible and beast like before leaping upon the man and shooting him directly in the face with my pistol. I then charged the other two men, and shot one in the stomach. He doubled over and groaned as I cut my machete into the neck of the third man. I nearly took off his head!”
The Australian “Frog-Men,” were the most effective of all allied units throughout the war. Their terror campaign behind enemy lines was the root of much confusion and paranoia in the German camp. Though unsuccessful, they even attempted to assassinate both the German and Austrian Kaisers during a state dinner.
To the Germans, the Frog-Men were known for leaving playing cards folding in half and wiped with blood on the faces of the dead. The popular phrase, “You’ll get your card folded,” was born.
Chapter Seven
Newspapers ruffle, as everyone of the soldiers in the dugout is reading one as they puff on their cigarettes and their pipes. The main headline, for all to read, is…
America at War!
Suddenly one of the men laughs. Minutes ago every soldier was rushing to grab a copy, fearing the worst. But the old sergeant, with squinted eyes and large gnarled hands, just laughs. “It’s okay, boys,” he says. “They’re not coming to make war upon us.”
The article read…
As of March 13, 1917 the United States of America and the Confederate States of America officially resumed their long unending war when border skirmishes broke out between patrols along the Virginia border.
President Roosevelt was recorded saying, “This madness has gone on too long, everyone can agree to that. I have no doubt in my mind that it is Confederate aggression that will lead to the downfall of the American Destiny!” The President was then approved in Congress when he asked to reinstate the draft in order to raise troops to garrison the border.
In the south, President Wilson threw of his peacemaker’s garb for a warrior’s uniform when he said, “I call upon every son of the South to take up arms and fight the last fight we need to secure the independence Father Lee won for us so long ago. Come sons! Come patriots! The time for blood is now!”
His speech was met with heated applause.
or POD's, this history is giving me a lot of surprises(like winking said, but i think we have here a more realistic TL-191, now with a focus in the European Front)
Vorwats Ostrreich, in fact that one who i loved of this timeline, when we saw Ostrreich as the proper force who was(has a lot of problem, but be realistic, who wasn't in WW1, and their was no the only empire with minorities... or not Nicky II with the Poles , finnish and the ukranians, the Limeys with the poor Hindis, and etc) rather the cliche colapsing one(with proper training and victories... that is almost impossible in RL)
well, waiting more for the ucronia, like the background of this one, that is vital in any good timeline
Att
Nivek von Beldo
P.S. The Austrian Corporal who killed the thridteen frenchmen, the thirty-one Serbs and twenty-five Russians, is 'That' Austrian Corporal(you now who I talking about)
Hey guys, thanks for all the support! Im going to try and post some new material tomorrow, after work. But Im beginning my week, and its hard to find the time.
About POD:
And no, Hitler has yet to make an appearance.
About POD:
And no, Hitler has yet to make an appearance.
Chapter Eight
After the Franz Joseph Offensive Austrian soldiers began to freely move into the frontiers of the Ukraine unopposed. In villages they were greeted by the locals and offered bread and flowers. Though there were skeptics. Partisans raided Austrian supply lines and shot military constables in the streets at night. Not all of the Ukraine trusted Austria.
It was the Kaiser’s famous speech, made in June of 1915, won the hearts of the Ukrainians.
“Farmers and workers of the Ukraine fear your Russian overlords no more! But do not mistake yourselves by assuming they will be replaced by Austrians! The time of oppression and foreign domination is over for this country. With the capture of Kiev, the Ukraine will become Ukrainian!”
The speech was well planned, and delivered just in time for the capture of Kiev.
The division was comprised of ethnic Ukrainians, but they wore the green uniforms of Austrian army-men. But they did not carry the steel weapons of the Austrians, or wear the red-feathers in their caps. On the shoulders of their uniforms they wore the coat of arms of Ukraine, and they carried the bolt-action rifles that had remained in Austrian warehouses until they were needed. These men were not alone either, but nearly a dozen divisions of Ukrainians had been raised from the volunteers who sought out Austrian authorities. With minimal training, they had been thrown into the front. It was up to the Austrian units to keep them in line, and to train them in the field.
When the Siege of Kiev began, it was not the Ukrainians that needed to be kept in line. Repeatedly, despite heavy casualties, it is reported that the Ukrainians assaulted enemy positions until they were gone. And these troops were notorious for torturing any Russian prisoners they captured.
Boom!
A bomb has exploded near the outskirts of the city, where Ukrainian and Austrian troops are still dispatching the Russian garrison. In the Mariyinsky Palace a platoon of heavily worn out infantrymen is climbing to the roof with a blue piece of cloth in their hands. They handle it carefully, for it is a symbol of all that their people have stridden for.
When they reach the roof they attach the piece of cloth to a spire, and hang it from there. In the wind it unfurls itself. It is blue and yellow, a two piece flag. The flag of Ukraine. The soldiers look out from the roof, and all across the city small sections of soldiers are mounting the flag above every important or tall building.
The Free Ukraine has been born.
With the liberation of the Ukraine the Kaiser of Austria created one of his greatest allies during the war. While Germany was influential on the Western Front, it can be said that the Ukraine was just as influential on the Eastern Front. Austria allowed a free Ukraine just as long as they stayed in the fight, and the Ukrainians were more than happen to comply.
The fight looked almost over anyway.
It was not.
[FONT="]Chapter Nine[/FONT]
“Up against the wall, you dogs!” The Russians in brown uniforms do as they are told as the Men of the Red-Star line up opposite them. In their hands the Bolshevik warriors wield pistols, revolvers, bolt action rifles, and even two captured repeating rifles. They are a motley group, with no clear uniform but a patch sewn above the breast of their tunic.
“Take aim!” Barks the commander. His men shoulder and sight their weapons.
“Ready!” The air is tense.
“Fire!” Thunder rocks the earth. A dozen White Russians fall to the earth, dead. As they slump down into their eternal sleep the commander of the Bolsheviks laughs, “See what happens when you face the might of the people! You sleep! Forever!” He laughs deeply, from the chest, and spits through his yellow teeth.
We were in some little dirty Russian city on the road to St. Petersburg. My platoon, of only fifty-two men, had taken up defensive positions in an apartment building overlooking a four way intersection. Across the roads a group of White Russians had forged a bastion from the ruins of a similar building. Through the days our marksmen would trade shots at each other, or any man unlucky enough to show a bit of uniform.
One day we randomly fell into a vicious firefight with those Russians, during which we received reinforcements. With our numbers replenish we felt confident enough to launch an assault by crossing one street, and then the next until we were right in with them. The men prepared their truncheons, daggers and pistols for the assault.
But before the order could be carried out, another band of Russian soldiers wandered into the intersection. Men of the Red Star. No communication was carried out between my men and the White Russians, but we instantly ceased firing upon each other and focused our efforts on the horde of Bolsheviks pouring into the city.
These men were dirty, hairy and covered in muddy rugs. Most of their weapons were rusty or dysfunctional. Rifles were used as spears, pistols as clubs. One man made to stab me with the sharpened leg of a chair before I was able to shoot him three times. They were literally a mob.
Then came their rifle companies.
The fight became a hundred times more vicious. The Red Russians occupied the apartment between the White Russians and my men. For nearly the entire day we traded fire with the Bolsheviks until night fell. I posted double-duty guards around our perimeter, expecting an attack.
In the morning they were gone. But we found all of their wounded and those that had frozen to death in the night.
Hauptmann Erwin Johanne Rommel, Zwei Strumtruppen Armee
November 8th, 1916
“It is only because of the very informal truce between the Russian Empire and the Pan-Germanic Forces that Bolshevism did not overtake the East. Any student can read that the back-and-forth teeter-totter of the East was far more uncertain in outcome than the Western Breakthroughs ever were. It was not until mid 1917 that the final Bolshevik forces under Leon Trotsky were arrested in the ruined city of Vyborg.
“After the war the Russian Empire was reorganized into the new Russian Kingdom, which borrowed heavily from the parliament system of Great Britain. Nicholas II returned as the head-of-state with German and Austrian backing. Any questions?”
One student raised his hand.
“Yes, Gregory?”
“Teacher! My foot hurts! May I go to the nurse?”
“No, sit down and be quiet!”
Please tell us the POD
The timeline is aweasome, the battles are very good, but again, how we have this scenario(again hard to see).
And about Ukranie... that means, that A-H will ceded Galicia to the new Ukranie State?(maybe Kingdom and a lesser Habsburg can take the throne), or some similar ..
good timeline in general, you're crealy show the face of A-H that nobody tend to know
Att
Nivek von Beldo
The timeline is aweasome, the battles are very good, but again, how we have this scenario(again hard to see).
And about Ukranie... that means, that A-H will ceded Galicia to the new Ukranie State?(maybe Kingdom and a lesser Habsburg can take the throne), or some similar ..
good timeline in general, you're crealy show the face of A-H that nobody tend to know
Att
Nivek von Beldo
Ukraine was created as a free-state, with no connections to Austria besides the Austrian government backing them up in terms of supplies, weapons and advice. The only reason so many Ukrainian divisions were raised so quickly was the promise of a free Ukraine. Galicia was annexed by Austria at this point in the war.
While I may have some skill with delivering the story, I do not have any skill with developing POD's and studying the ripples of effects they have on history. As of now, there are no POD's within this story. Feel free to make up your own.
Work continues, later today.
While I may have some skill with delivering the story, I do not have any skill with developing POD's and studying the ripples of effects they have on history. As of now, there are no POD's within this story. Feel free to make up your own.
Work continues, later today.