Rump Austrian Empire after World War I Revised
- Thread starter chris N
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The Assassination of the Yugoslav King in 1928 was believed by some Intelligence agencies the work of Italian agents as part of a plan to destabilize the country. The Austrians believed that the current Regent was weak and possibly corrupt. The Austrian Intelligence however becamed convinced that Mussolini might act in Africa possibly against the Ethiopians.
1932 The Hapsburg family was very concern regarding the health Of Karl I . It appeared that the illness that had struck the Kaiser in 1920 had returned and Otto had had to take over all of the royal duties that he father had previously done. In all of the Catholic Churches of the empire a request for prayers for the Kaiser had been asked. An Envoy from the Vatican had come with a letter from the Pope.
Several rooms in the Palace had been converted into a mini hospital as a decision had been made to keep the Emperor at home. Thus at least 1 doctor and 3 nurses were available at all times. Should conditions worsen the staff would increase. The Emperor personal doctor came every other day. Crown Prince Otto would stop and see his father every day and then he was busy in his father's office in the palace handling affairs of state. He would met with the Chancellor and the Defense and Foreign Ministers
The Austro-Czech fighter went through testing and approval was given to the construction of an additional 18 fighters in early 1934. Finaly approval was given in late 1934 to the production of 120 fighters with an option for a further 90 planes. The Czech Air Ministry approved the deal and production began in both countries.
The Austrian Army was by the 1930s beginning to replace a lot of equipment that dated to the Great War. It had adopted a light Machine gun that was of Swiss design but was being made in Austria. The Austrians got together with the Czechs to produce a new 47mm Antitank gun that would be better than the current Austrian gun. The Austrians were looking for a tank that would be armed with a 47mm gun. The Czechs were already working on a new design which would eventually be the T-38. The Austrians had looked at the design and had decided to try some improvements. They had also thought about altering the design to create a tank destroyer and an APC.
The Austrian Army had improved its rifle and had developed a submachine gun. The had a 20mm antitank rifle and a new light machine gun. The military improved a lot of the WWI artillery pieces and had ordered several newer lighter weight guns. The empire had to stretch out its plans as the treasury was limited in the amount of money that was available. Here it was 17 years since the end of the Great war and still the nation was rebuilding from the damage.
On May 10,1934 Kaiser Karl I passed away and the Austrian Empire entered into a period of Mourning. Funeral arrangements were to be made. The Pope would be saying the funeral mass in Vienna. Among the people to attend were the Prince of Wales, Kaiser Louis I of Germany, Queen of the Netherlands, King of the Belgians,King of Bavaria, President of Czech Republic, President of Poland, King of Sweden,, King and Queen of Greece, President of France, King of Romania, President of the United States, King of Hungary, President of Finland, Prime Minister of Russia, King of Yugoslavia, King of Bulgaria, King of Denmark, King of Norway.
The family celebrated the life of the late Kaiser Karl I and Otto deliver a speech which pointed to all of the things that he had done in his life that might not have been known.His father cared about the people and sought to make a government that everyone could be proud of. He worked with his neighbors to make things better for all.
He gave a voice to all of the people of the Austrian Empire.
Privately he met with the German Kaiser, the Bavarian King and the British Crown Prince.
He gave a voice to all of the people of the Austrian Empire.
Privately he met with the German Kaiser, the Bavarian King and the British Crown Prince.
The Official Ceremony was held May 21,1934 making Otto the replacement for his father. In actual fact he had held all of the responsibilities for the last 5 months. Once again there were foreign guest to witness the swearing in. France's Premier came as did the Prince of Wales and his younger brother. Germany's Kaiser and Chancellor, Ruphart the King of Bavaria, The King of Hungary , The Czech President, The Italian Crown Prince and Foreign Minister and a Polish delegation which included two of the Hapsburgs living in Poland.
The Italian government attempted to sound out Austria regarding a conflic with Yugoslavia. Otto and the Austrian Government expressed no interest in a conflict with their neighbor. The Italians also sounded out Hungary and Bulgaria. Only the Bulgarians showed a firm interest in the idea while the Hungarians were interested in recovering territory inhabited by ethnic Hungarians. The Austrian Government passed along the Italian Inquiry to French and British Intelligence.
While some leader were trying very hard to prevent another conflict in Europe there were others that were willing to start a fight to gain territory. Some places were at the tipping point like Spain. Many had thought that Russia had stabilize but the truth was there still was a lot of problems in Russia. Alexander Krensky had stabilized the country and he had made progress. The peace had come in time to prevent a slide into chaos but even 17 years after the war there were problems that still need to be solved Russia was far more industrial than it was in 1914.
Many looked at the clashes that were taking place in China. The Nationalist had clashed it the communist and finally eliminated them but now the Japanese were becoming a problem.
Many looked at the clashes that were taking place in China. The Nationalist had clashed it the communist and finally eliminated them but now the Japanese were becoming a problem.
Kaiser Otto I Traveled to the Czech Republic for talks with the Czech Government. He was going to discuss some joint weapons programs but more than that he wanted to discuss Italy and Yugoslavia. It was Otto's view that Italy was becoming more aggressive and the likelihood of war breaking out in the region between Yugoslavia and Italy was growing. He also believed that Turkey might make a move to recover some of the lands lost to Greece triggering a wider war.Otto had only supported limited modernization of the Austrian Imperial Navy as he could not see any reason to spend large sums of money on a fleet that could be bottled up. Currently the fleet consisted of 2 modernized old Battleships, 1 heavy cruiser, 2 light cruisers and 12 destroyers, 2 Minelayers, 4 minesweepers,36 MTB and 9 submarines.
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There was some debate in the Imperial Parliament regarding the Imperial Navy Some favored scrapping the two battleships and replacing them with another cruiser and some more submarines. Croatian Members of Parliament however wanted them kept to deter any seaborne attack on the coastline. Otto had been told by his father that the Imperial Navy needed to be retained. Germany was trying to convince Austria to buy a German made Battleship which would be better armed than the old Austrian relics.
Kaiser Otto I was not really interested in expending money on building a "Grand Fleet". He was convinced that the navy needed ships to protect its coastline and ports. But did Austria need new Battleships that was something that he was not convinced. The Germans were offering an improved designed ship which would be better armed and faster than the relics left over from the old Royal and Imperial fleet. Austria had limited oil production and thus would have to import more from either the Romanians or the Middle East. Already Romanian oil was in high demand by German, Italy,Yugoslavia and Greece.
The Austrian Imperial Army began to improve as it adopted a Swiss designed light Machine gun and began to look at a new Heavy Machine gun.. The Austrians were now producing the improved Czech 47mm Antitank gun which had a better punch than their former Austrian anti tank gun. The Austrians were reworking some of their artillery pieces to make them better. The Austrians were testing some Czech made tanks.The Austrians also wanted an armored personnel carrier.
The Austrian Army had taken a prototype T-38 Czech tank and had taken it and made some changes to the tank They had enlarged the tank and had then reworked the turret. Instead of the 37mm gun they had replaced it with the new Czech designed 47mm gun. They had used an Austrian designed engine. The Czechs were then invited to look at the alterations and provide feedback.
The Austrian Army was really pressing for a more powerful tank than the T-38 design. They were pushing the altered design that they had done a mock up. The Czecks had come and looked at the tank and believed that they could actually produce the tank. It would be more powerful than the T-38 and could more than match the German design. They had also looked at proposals to use the T-38 body to form an APC.