All the builds are in. We’re now in the Spring Turn, 1902. Will Austria find an ally to save it from its grim-looking future? What will Turkey do with its two new fleets and should Italy be worried? Will we see Germany and Englad drop the gloves while France exploits its free hand in Spain and Portugal? The Daily Dissembler will bring you all the details and expert analysis in the coming week. Players, the deadline for the Spring 1902 turn is next Saturday, September 27th at midnight, EDT.
Results for Fall, 1901 (Adjustment)
General Notices:
Order resolution completed on 19-Sep-2014 at 07:09:16 EDT
Order Results:
Austria: No Build
England: England: Builds F lon
France: France: Builds A par
Germany: Germany: Builds A mun
Italy:Italy: Builds A rom
Russia:Russia: Builds A mosRussia: Builds A stp
Turkey:Turkey: Builds F conTurkey: Builds F smy
These are momentous evens I can't wait to see what happens.
ReplyDeleteWe will soon see the real relationship between Russia and Turkey.
ReplyDeleteA commentary by General Sir Erasmus Blatt, geo-political and military correspondent for the Rioters News Agency.
ReplyDeleteWhat a coup! In one fell swoop, the Emperor of Austria-Hungary has forfeited his status as a maritime power. The loss of Trieste has left his orphaned fleet languishing at Pireaus. Its survival must now be at the Porte's sufferance, for it is difficult to see how Austria-Hungary can retain for long its fleet without the means of sustenance nor support.
But what were the Central Powers about? Neither Germany nor Austria-Hungary has come out well from the early exchanges. The Kaiser can congratulate himself on at least achieving one build this fall. That is one more than the Emperor can count on.
The Emperor will need allies, and those soon. Having no reason to look for friendship from the Kaiser (what IS that army doing in Bohemia?) nor from the Czar (did the Emperor really believe he could 'liberate' Warsaw?), and with Italy unlikely ever to give back the 'Jewel of the Adriatic', there remains only the Sultan to offer the slightest hope. Whatever the Sultan will be buying in the coming year or two, it will be in a 'buyer's market.'
Irony of ironies. Italy re-enacts the Fourth Crusade by stabbing in the back the defender of Christendom from the dreaded Turk. Finding little solace from his co-religionists, the Emperor must needs turn to the Infidel... Well, he may well get more honest dealings thence, at that. The 'Sick Man of Europe' seems to have benefited from some revivifying physick - haply Austria-Hungary will receive a dose of the same. At least as the winter gloom brightens into the 1902 spring, the Emperor might after all have better reason for optimism than the Kaiser. Much depends upon where Turkey goes from here.
For the Porte seems to well on the road to re-establishing itself as a European Power, and a force to be feared. The Czar had best look to his southern realms, for the Black Sea is in danger of becoming a Turkish lake before long. This might lead after all to the Czar and the Emperor patching up their differences in order to present a united front against Turkish expansion. If, however, Italy and Turkey are working in concert, your correspondent likes not the chances of the Austrian Empire lasting much longer, nor yet the Russian.
General sir Erasmus Blatt continues...
ReplyDeleteWhat of Western Europe? Your correspondent suspects that by keeping its hands off the Iberian Peninsula, France is playing a very deep game. With nothing to fear from Italy, who will have its hands full in the Balkans and the Eastern Med for the time being (and Italy will also want shortly to secure the wealth of Tunisia), the Second Republic will its free for operations in the Low Countries, possibly continuing into the Rhinelands and Bavaria. But France can afford to prevaricate whilst she picks the low hanging Iberian fruit during the course of 1902. She could have afforded it better still had she plucked at least Portugal during this past year, then she could have picked up Spain on the return journey, having secured two builds during the autumn months (Holland having been seized as well). No doubt the Republic had pressing reasons for deferring the otherwise agreeable task of securing its south-western flank - for instance, to ensure Italy kept its eyes averted eastwards.
from its own point of view, Italy has begun well by inflicting a stunning defeat upon the Empire. The Kingdom is well placed to make further gains, especially if she has some kind of Understanding with Turkey. No doubt the rest of Christendom will blame Italy for its betrayal, but Italy owes little enough to its alleged co-religionists. Indeed, had your correspondent the ear of King Victor-Immanuel, he would be advising him to watch his back at all times. 'Perfidious Albion' has nothing on France for duplicity...
Meanwhile, are we looking here at a Brittannic-Gallic detente after centuries of enmity - an entente, withal? With just two supply bases available in the Low Countries, one of which is already in France's grip, who will win the remaining one? That Britain and France have some sort of Understanding seems likely - but what is its true nature? Non-aggression or full Alliance? No doubt events during 1902 will better inform us.
That leaves the Kaiser, more than likely without a single friend upon whom he can rely. He will have to deal, and deal as none other of the Hohenzollern House has dealt before. He may find a friend in the Czar, but he will probably need one among the Western powers as well. Which should the Kaiser prefer? In any case, even if anyone is prepared to listen, it will be as a supplicant - a mendicant indeed - that he will be entering talks. That is not a good harbinger of Germany's future.
Your correspondent's prognostications for the next year or so: The Kingdom of Italy, the Second Republic and the Porte in the ascendant; whilst the Central Powers, and possibly Russia, struggle simply to survive. What of the Island Kingdom, then? It is too early to state with certainty, whether triumphs or disasters await her in '02 or '03.
31 December 1901.
Just looking at the map closely, I reckon I would prefer to have Turkey in this present situation. Turkey can be tough to play if Austria-Hungary and Russia are [a] on the qui vive, and [b] work together from the gun. In that case Turkey drives into the Balkans, grabs Bulgaria, and comes to a grinding halt. Permanently. But once let the Turkey out of the bag... well one game I recall with that country ended just as I was hammering at the gates of Edinburgh. Of the rest, Italy seems to be having the most fun, right now...
ReplyDeleteSir Rupert Mudrake has just ordered a handsomely sized cheque cut and sent to General (ret) Blatt. Circulation through the Daily Dissembler is going through the roof with his astute commentary. American readers hang on his every word to make sense of this convoluted crisis in the Old World.
ReplyDeleteThe General (ret) offers his fulsome thanks to Sir Rupert. Right now he has his eye on a villa in the Cote d'Azur to spend his twilight years...
DeleteDoes the General know something about France that we don't?
DeleteInteresting first year!
ReplyDeleteI'd recommend shading in the controlled 'neutral' supply points in major powers colours for clarity.