Stories of the Forgotten Heroes

1917

This year is generally regarded by most historians as the Annus Horribilis for the Entente, punctuated from time to time with good news, increasing the fleeting hope that somehow, peace will spring forth. On most fronts, the German Army is impenetrable, dominating the course of every battle they engage in or are engaged in. Despite being under attack most of the time the German morale is still strong, and most of the soldiers and commanders are aware that victory is the only guarantee for them to have their place under the Sun. The effects of the British blockade also start to be felt harder on the Home Front, soon to reach the soldiers in the trenches. Eerily similar to the previous year, 1917 soldiers will see violence on a higher scale than before, scarring the collective memory of all participants for years to come.

On the Eastern Front, the Central Powers will bring the collapse of the Czarist Empire after three years of intense fighting. Allowing Lenin back into the country, thus creating a destabilizing factor that the Russians could not afford in the climate of that year, proved to be successful for German interests. Unable to command the loyalty of his troops and subjects, Nicholas II Czar of All of Russia is forced to abdicate. He is replaced by Kerensky who brings a semblance of democracy but refused to sign a separate peace treaty with the enemy which will bring catastrophe to his Nation. The internal divisions which the Germans created will ripen in 1918, forever changing the course of history.

On the other side of the Russian border, in the Kingdom of Romania, August von Mackensen is ready to humble the only remaining ally of the Entente in the region, capable of hindering their plans for a Europe only they envisioned. Fielding troops from Austria-Hungary, Germany, and Bulgaria, the Central Powers launched a three-pronged attack. Thus, the Battle of Marasesti (also known as the Romanian Verdun after the use of the motto They Shall Not Pass which the Romanians had borrowed from their French allies and the massive bombardments), Oituz, and Marasti commenced at the same time. Despite being launched in complete secrecy, the Romanians had reinforced their lines with the enemy throughout the previous year and 1917, fighting with extreme bravery in the plains and the mountain passes of Romanian Moldavia, managing to keep the lines as intact as possible with coordination from a French Military Attaché, General Berthelot. Heavily outnumbered, and lacking the military support which they had been promised throughout 1916, the Romanians will manage to weather the storm, thus earning the respect of the German Field Marshall. Forced with annihilation since the Russian Front had collapsed on their old border, a separate peace treaty was signed at Bucharest. This sparked the ire of the Entente for it saw in this act a treachery which would sour the relationship between the Allies well into 1919. Signed only by politicians of the day which had remained in the free capital of Iasi, the act lacked constitutional legitimacy since King Ferdinand refused to ratify it with his signature as required by the law concerning treaties. More importantly, the Treaty of Bucharest meant the loss of Romania's access to the Black Sea and the Mountain Passes to the Austro-Hungarians in the eventuality of a German victory, a humiliating move which the Romanians will be quick to rectify once the situation of the army improved.

In the West, France has to reckon with a brutal mutiny that forces the Hih Command to execute soldiers for insubordination. In some sectors, like the one at St Mihiel, the troops will even attack and kill their officers. This represents the single most dangerous moment that France has to face internally. In Flanders, an operation to reconquer Ypres ends in disaster. The Third Battle of Ypres proves to be a costly affair for both sides, but especially for the British and the Canadians fighting there. It is here that the fields of poppies will be seen in the mud and blood of the battlefield, a stark reminder of the high cost of human life that this war has demanded without being satiated in the least.

In the South, the Kingdom of Greece is forced to enter the war with a cunning plot devised by the British. Since the start of the war, Entente troops had been quartered in Salonic without permission to leave the country and fight the Germans in Serbia. Threatening the Greek government with a coup, they quickly join the war. To make this show of force more palatable, the Greeks are told they will be considered at the peace table for any territorial gains. Reviving the idea of Megali Greece, the politicians in Athens are quick to profit from the carving of the Ottoman Empire but the initial push against the Bulgarians, aimed at helping the Serb liberation, is unwise unfortunately since the positions had been heavily entrenched. The British, mindful of the Sykes-Picot Treaty, desire to gain as much territory in the Levant, coercing the Arabs to join in a revolt against their overlords with vague promises of statehood. The Balfour Declaration will also guarantee support for the concept of a Jewish state in Palestine.

Good and bad news will arrive on the tables of the Field Marshalls on both sides. The United States of America, coaxed into the war by the British with the Zimmerman Telegram finally woke the sleeping giant from its slumber. Despite their entry, the number of soldiers would remain limited at the start, because the United States had no standing Army at that moment, but now equipment and ammunition can be sent in higher quantities than before which the Americans do. Financing the Entente, argues Germany, underlies their entry, thus Woodrow Wilson will create the Points, a plan for the redrawing of the borders under a national and ethnic standard.

This piece of good news is dwarfed by the crushing defeat of the Italian Army at Caporetto. The joint armies of the German Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire cause the collapse of the enemy lines. Luigi Cadorna, the Butcher of Isonzo as most soldiers called him, is forced to resign at the pressure of the Entente as Italy loses over 255'000 soldiers wounded or captured. Their allies will form new battle lines which will be maintained by them until the Italian Army can resume operations, also beginning the process of exporting weapons and supplies to cover the lost ones.