Gendarme
Posts: 50
Joined: 9/19/2006
From: Chicago, IL, USA
Status: offline
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Greetings, all, this is my first post.
I'm a sometime boardgamer, WWII only so far, but I'm looking forward to two upcoming releases from Matrix as my intro to computer wargaming: World in Flames and this title, Guns of August, as I am very interested in WWI and in gaming WWI (I've only tried a handful of WWI boardgames).
Anyways, to whomever can answer, I have a question regarding Diplomacy especially in regards to Italy.
Officially, WWI began with Italy allied to Germany and Austria as part of the Triple Alliance. As the war went on, the Allies cut Italy a better deal for intervening on the Allied side than the Central Powers did. My question is, will Guns of August allow the Central Powers to make a stronger diplomatic play for Italy?
In several articles and books I've read, there was some ground for Italy intervening on the side of Germany in WWI:
1) Italy's King Vittorio Emanuele III was undecided as to which side to choose, and troops were continually shifted from the Austrian to the French borders of Italy and back throughout 1914.
2) The Italians sought territorial compensation in the form of provinces along the border with the Austro Hungarian Empire as part of the price of intervention on the side of the Central Powers (Trento/Trieste). Berlin entreated Vienna to give in, but the Austrians didn't and Italy declared war on Austria only in May 1915 based on promises made by the Allies in the Treaty of London. Italy didn't declare on Germany until 1916. In any event, Italians were not as enthusiastic about participation in WWI initially no matter which side, so I do not believe an alliance with Austria (who had previously been the enemy of Italian unification) would have been out of the question if the above territories were ceded. But given the internal political situation of Austria-Hungary in 1914/15, I don't know how realistic it would be to have Austria cede any territory to Italy.
3) The original Schleiffen Plan (so I've read) made provision for Italy to send troops to the Western Front on the French-German border, freeing up German troops there for the push through Belgium. Also, the Italians might have launched an offensive along the Italo French border. (They did so in 1940 with negligible results, but their army was not as deficient next to the other powers in 1914 as it was in 1940.) Seeing as that Von Kluck ran out of reserves at critical moments during his drive into Northern France, if he had more troops due to Italian intervention, would the Schleiffen Plan had succeeded with a German entry into Paris? Also, Italy attacking in the south of France, even if unsuccessfully, might have drawn off French reserves from the Battle of the Marne. And one less front for Austria (even though they were able to bottle up the Italians with relatively few troops initially) might make a difference in Austria's other battles.
4) With regards to the Ottoman Empire, according to the Tuchman book Guns of August, the British seizure of two capital ships built by Britain but paid for by the Ottoman Empire really excited Turkish opinion against the British. The German cruisers Goebben and the other one putting into port inside Turkey also swayed the Turks in favor of Germany. Otherwise, before the war, I believe Turkey and Britain enjoyed good relations. It was Enver Pasha who was the main instigator in favor of Germany.
To what extent can the game model some open choices for participation in the War by the Ottoman Empire? Maybe some members here on the list have more info on the Ottomans in 1914, but is an Allied Turkey out of the question?
Other countries that could have gone either way:
Rumania (had a Hohenzollern King), I believe was previously disposed towards Germany but joined the Allies based on the Italian example of wanting to gain ethnically Italian areas at Austria's expense (as the Rumanians showed by invading Transylvania when they entered the war).
Greece (which also had a Hohenzollern as King?)
One last question: How will the game handle neutral countries that managed to stay neutral throughout World War I? For example, the Netherlands and Denmark. Will the game allow for invasions of those countries by either side?
Anyone know what Spain did during those years?
Regards,
Anthony DeChristopher
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