Recaps

Oscar helped Germany prepare for Italy’s defection and led the German-Austro-Hungarian campaign against Russia’s Southwestern Front. After Italy joined the Allies, the German 8th Army Corps attacked the Russian 4th Army Corps at Chełm and broke through its defenses with artillery and tanks.

• Falkenhayn became Chief of the General Staff and, with Oscar’s support, planned to reorganize the Western Front while Germany attacked Russia in the East.
• Italy weighed its options, rejected Germany and Austria-Hungary’s demands, and joined the Allied Powers in exchange for weapons, loans, and promised territories.
• Wilhelm II approved reinforcements for Austria-Hungary and formed the 9th Army Corps under Hindenburg, while Oscar reassured German leaders that Italy’s army was weak.
• Oscar arrived at the Eastern Front and persuaded the Austro-Hungarian commanders to follow his plan for the German 8th Army Corps to strike the Russian 4th Army Corps while Austrian forces held the Carpathians.
• Grand Duke Nicholas approved Ivanov’s plan to hold the Germans at Chełm while three Russian corps attacked the Austro-Hungarians, and the German 8th Army Corps launched its attack on October 7, 1914.
• Seeckt’s artillery and the German 8th Air Corps devastated the Russian guns and defenses before Rommel led tanks and infantry toward Chełm.
• Rommel’s tanks crossed the Russian anti-tank trenches, broke through the forward positions, and forced Dimitriev to evacuate Chełm and withdraw.

German forces captured Chełm, Zamość, and Lviv while Russian attacks against the Austro-Hungarian defenses failed. The Russian armies retreated, suffering catastrophic losses as German and Austrian forces pursued them.

• German forces broke through the Russian defenses outside Chełm, then bombarded and captured the city after the Russian relief corps was destroyed and the defenders surrendered.
• As Russian forces attacked across the Carpathian front, Austro-Hungarian artillery and infantry held their positions and repelled repeated assaults.
• German troops captured Zamość and advanced on Lviv, where François and Rommel's forces shattered the Russian defenses and seized the city and its supplies.
• After learning of the defeats at Chełm, Zamość, and Lviv, Ivanov requested permission to retreat, and Grand Duke Nicholas ordered him to save his remaining troops.
• Austrian forces pursued the retreating Russians while the German 8th Army Corps moved south and German aircraft attacked Russian columns.
• The Austrian 3rd Army Corps encircled Brusilov's Russian 8th Army Corps, and more than a hundred thousand Russians surrendered after Brusilov escaped.
• The Russian 3rd Army Corps lost most of its force during the retreat, while the 11th Army Corps escaped into Russia and the Allied forces had destroyed more than a million Russian troops.

Russia’s catastrophic losses led to the Bolshevik uprising, which toppled Nicholas II and pushed the new government into a harsh peace with Germany. Germany secured major territorial and financial gains, while Austria-Hungary remained its ally and Crown Prince Karl became increasingly isolated.

• Grand Duke Nicholas reported Russia’s shattered Southwestern Front, and Nicholas II approved rebuilding the armies while trading territory for time and seeking Allied munitions.
• Oscar refused to continue the eastern offensive and returned the 8th Army Corps to Germany, but Crown Prince Karl persuaded Austria-Hungary to attack Russia without German support, and the Austrian forces were defeated.
• Britain and France arranged munitions and a loan for Russia, while Ulyanov and Joseph launched an uprising in St. Petersburg after Tsarist troops killed protesting workers.
• The Bolsheviks seized power and captured Nicholas II’s family, and Joseph secretly arranged for Nicholas II, Empress Alexandra, and their five children to be executed.
• Oscar persuaded Wilhelm II to negotiate with the Bolsheviks on severe terms, and Trotsky led Russian talks with von Kiderlen-Wächter as the German armies advanced toward Russia.
• After the Bolshevik leadership split over Germany’s demands, Ulyanov secured support for peace, and Trotsky signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, ceding major territories and agreeing to reparations.
• Wilhelm II backed Oscar’s plan to compensate Austria-Hungary with money and support for expansion instead of Russian territory, and Franz Joseph I accepted the arrangement.
• Wachth deliberately snubbed Crown Prince Karl in Vienna, weakening Karl’s standing among Austro-Hungarian nobles as he resented Germany’s gains in Russia.

Germany challenged Britain’s supply lines and clashed with the United States over its Prohibited Navigation Zone. After the Königsberg rammed Nevada, President Wilson withdrew the American fleet, leaving Germany free to prepare for a decisive fight with Britain.

• Churchill approved Jellicoe’s plan to disguise armed merchant ships as bait, and the British traps sank more than a dozen German submarines before Oscar ordered German submarines to sink British vessels instead of capturing them.
• Oscar and Tirpitz pushed Germany to prioritize defeating Britain and France before the United States could intervene, and Wilhelm II approved plans for a naval battle followed by an army offensive toward Paris.
• Germany warned the United States to stop supplying the Allies, but Wilson’s cabinet asserted America’s right to trade and ordered a fleet to escort American merchant ships.
• Germany declared the Prohibited Navigation Zone and seized or sank hundreds of merchant ships, prompting Wilson to send Admiral Fletcher’s fleet across the Atlantic.
• As the American fleet approached the zone, Raeder’s Königsberg rammed Nevada, and Spee’s battlecruisers arrived before the Americans could retaliate.
• Spee rejected Fletcher’s demands to hand over Königsberg and Raeder, while the American and German fleets held a tense standoff and exchanged protests.
• After his cabinet debated whether to remain or withdraw, Wilson ordered Fletcher to take the American fleet home, and Spee reported Germany’s victory.
• Oscar and Tirpitz welcomed the American retreat and turned their attention to Germany’s planned decisive battle against Britain.