KIEL MUTINY CRACK

The High Seas Fleet last saw serious action at the Battle of Jutland two years before and had sortied only three times since then, conspicuously returning to port without engaging any Allied ships each time. The concentration itself was break from the norm which didn’t bode well for the sailors. Hipper was warned of the order two days before and began concentrating the fleet at Schillig Roads off Wilhelmshaven. Without approval by the government (because it would certainly be denied) and despite vehement objections by the Chief of the German Admiralty, Adm Reinhard Scheer, Ludendorff issued the Naval Order of 24 October 1918 to the commander of the High Seas Fleet Adm Franz von Hipper. The German High Seas Fleet would provide that sacrifice. To convince the retreating German Army that this was truly the “Endkampf” or “Final Battle”, a valiant sacrifice was needed, one worthy of emulation. Erich von Ludendorff knew he needed to “restore the valor” of the military in order to stop the Allied offensive and gain an acceptable negotiated peace. Morale plummeted among both the military at the front and the civilians at home. The Austro-Hungarian Empire dissolved and with it Germany’s food and oil supply. They might think they can hold out longer, prolonging the war and taking it into Germany proper but its still pretty certain Germany will collapse.By late October 1918, the Allied victories during Hundred Days Offensive tore huge gaps in the Hindenburg Line on the Western Front and the German Army conducted a fighting retreat to shorten their lines and hopefully reestablish a defense.

KIEL MUTINY CRACK

Germany will crack because it still faces the same limitations it faced OTL, especially the failure of L&H to look beyond military production. Its not going to be easy but the western allies will see the need to fight the war to the end and they have the troops, equipment and tactics by this time. It is only from here onwards that loans from the US become so important and they will still occur because the US is getting such good terms. The allies have built up large debts but that at this point still overwhelmingly with Britain. German gets a one-off boost when Russia finally goes down in 1918 but that will be sacrificed in the last thrust in the west. Also if necessary they could pull in forces from other fronts, especially as the German allies collapse. They are running short but no-where near as short as Germany. Without the US the allies won't have the large number of troops that started finally arriving in mid-late 1918 but they will have higher levels of equipment for their own troops, as that isn't going to equipping so much of the US army. Your got a gravely weakened Germany that doesn't have the sense to go for a moderate peace and doesn't have the strength for the overwhelming victory its leadership desire. If victorious Germany of 1918 is in trouble like Britain of 1945, are the matters likely to go to revolution/military mutiny?įrance might have been tempted by a peace on moderate terms but that wasn't on offer and is a world of difference from a French surrender. Germany after a victory in 1918 would be tired, impoverished and unhappy with the military leadership - much like the British of 1945, despite their victory, promptly decided they wanted to get rid of Churchill. The Emperor had officially promised democratic reforms after war in the Easter message of 1917. And they are going to be squabbling about division of spoils. Only the German western front retreated somewhat slower in October-November.Īssuming that the Germans rout French in IInd Marne, how fast could they march for Brest in August 1918? How fast would British retreat?Īs for the first: German home front will be wanting peace. The other routs in First World War include Italian rout after Caporetto, Bulgarian rout on Saloniki front September 1918, Austrian southern front through Serbia in October, Turkish retreat in Syria in October, and Austrian rout by Italians end of October. They had been pretty fast in West in the two weeks before Brest, in winter and with Eastern Front infrastructure.

How fast COULD Germans advance on Western Front in 1918?

Kiel mutiny