Recaps

Britain promised Indian autonomy to secure an army against Germany, but German forces defeated the Anglo-Indian forces and captured Delhi. As Indian leaders sought terms, Oscar’s ministers considered placing India’s princely rulers over much of the country while keeping it under German control.

• Tilak, Gandhi, Nehru, and Jinnah agreed to cooperate with Britain after Baron Charles Hardinge promised India autonomy and eventual independence, and millions of Indian youths enlisted.
• Qin Tian ordered the Indian Ocean Fleet and Pacific Fleet to blockade India, while Germany prepared to invade and Britain rushed weapons to the colony.
• German forces landed at Alibag, defeated the Anglo-Indian Army, captured Mumbai, and advanced inland as General Howard’s forces fled.
• Lord William Nicholson’s forces were routed at Ajmer, and the German 8th Army Corps captured Delhi on April 16.
• The Indian National Congress and Green Party Alliance sent representatives to Germany, while Mir Osman Ali Khan secretly offered the support of the Princely Rulers in exchange for protection of their interests.
• Oscar and his ministers discussed giving the Princely Rulers authority over Indian territories in return for wealth and annual taxes, while Germany retained control of foreign policy and stationed troops there.
• Wachth presented part of Germany’s proposal to Mir Osman Ali Khan, who was astonished by the opportunity.

Germany divided India among its princely rulers, claimed its temple treasures, and launched a population campaign. After Karl I withdrew Austria-Hungary from the alliance, Oscar used the decision as a pretext for invasion, while Hungary and Bohemia withheld support and German forces advanced toward Vienna.

• Mir Osman Ali Khan pledged Hyderabad’s loyalty to Germany, offered five billion marks, and proposed Oscar as Emperor of India.
• At a Berlin banquet and meeting, the Princely Rulers swore allegiance as Bülow promised to divide India among them and announced Germany’s taxes, military presence, and land-selection contest.
• Mir Osman Ali Khan won the donation contest with 15 billion Marks and became Viceroy of India, while the rulers pledged to defend their new lands against Britain and Indian independence.
• Qin Tian was crowned Emperor of India, and German troops looted temples, killing protesters before Mir Osman Ali Khan persuaded Germany to halt the destruction.
• Oscar set a twenty-year Family Planning Policy to grow Germany’s population, while German authorities coerced occupied French families and forced Balk to cooperate to protect his imprisoned son Bedok.
• After Franz Joseph I died, Oscar prepared for war as Karl I accepted Wilson’s promise of American support and withdrew Austria-Hungary from the Allied Powers.
• Oscar demanded that Karl I retract the withdrawal, but Karl refused, and Germany declared war on January 19 while the United States waited to see how events unfolded.
• German forces crossed into Austria-Hungary as Bohemia opened its borders and Hungary kept its troops in barracks, leaving Karl I to call for a larger army while German forces advanced toward Vienna.

As the Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed, Karl I fled with its navy while Germany annexed Austria and pursued the fleet. The German and Austro-Hungarian fleets met east of Socotra Island, where the battle for the fleet’s survival began.

• Karl I’s ministers gave up on resisting Germany, and Baron von Berchtold went to Berlin to seek peace, but Oscar demanded the dissolution of the empire and Austria’s annexation.
• Bohemia, Hungary, Dalmatia, Croatia-Slavonia, and other states withdrew their support, while the United States and Britain held back from intervening.
• German forces advanced on Vienna, defeated its defenders, and took the city as Archduke Friedrich surrendered the Austrian military.
• Karl I escaped Vienna, learned that Austria had been annexed, and sailed from Trieste aboard the Austro-Hungarian Monarch with Admiral Anton Haus.
• Karl I ordered the fleet east through the Suez Canal and toward the Indian Ocean to avoid German forces, while Admiral Hipper led the Combined Fleet in pursuit.
• After the German fleet caught up east of Socotra Island, Haus prepared the Austro-Hungarian ships for battle, and Hipper ordered the German fleet to attack.

Germany destroyed the Austro-Hungarian fleet, then chose to avoid war with the United States while expanding its carrier program and pursuing arms control. After the Berlin conference deadlocked, Oscar turned to securing the Azores as a naval base, first through negotiation and then by force if necessary.

• Admiral Hipper’s German fleet destroyed the Austro-Hungarian capital ships, and Admiral Anton Haus went down with his flagship as the empire’s navy was annihilated.
• Oscar rejected attacking the American fleet, and President Woodrow Wilson ordered the American fleet to withdraw after Germany defeated Austria-Hungary.
• Karl I escaped to the United States, met Wilson, and announced an Austro-Hungarian government in exile, but his call for resistance gained little support.
• Oscar expanded Germany’s carrier and military programs as the United States, Britain, and the Island Nation began strengthening their own forces.
• Oscar invited major powers to a Berlin arms control conference, but the delegations deadlocked over naval tonnage limits and Bülow suspended the talks.
• Oscar ordered Wachth to negotiate with Portugal to buy or lease the Azores and told the Cabinet and military to prepare a plan to seize them if talks failed.