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Celtiaid Am Byth - Sending Signals18 Cyntefin 1127 / 18 May 1637Calais, Kingdom of FranceThommas Souchon had just finished the broad strokes of the design when Maldwyn Ioreth entered carrying an enormous stack of papers. “I got the vellum you wanted. Now, where’s this new design you wanted to show me?”“Oh, you’re back. It’s only just getting towards being finished, but you can see it if you want.” He stood aside and let Maldwyn look over the shapes on the paper. “Actually, I needed to ask you. Celtic metallurgy is good, yes?”“Top notch, really. Why?”“Well, this would need some decent-quality metals, and if it’s going to be something of this scale...”Maldwyn looked at them for a minute, then cocked his head to the side. “I don’t think I understand it.”“Here, let me demonstrate.” Thommas walked a ways away, then held his arms out. “So you know how semaphore flags work, yeah?”“Oh of course, they’re essential to naval communication.”“This is kind of like that, but bigger. So imagine that my arms are the regulator on the paper, the big horizontal one. You can tilt it from side to side, one way or the other.” He shifted the angle of his arms to demonstrate.“Okay, I’m with you.”“And the two at the end, those are the indicators. Imagine that they’re my hands.” He started to make various positions, keeping his arms steady while rotating his hands to different degrees. “You can position the regulator and the indicators to spell out whole words, one at a time, and send the messages that way. The operators can have spyglasses too, to make sure they see them more accurately.”“Ooh...I get it now.” He looked back at the design, and began to mimic Thommas’ movements. “I get it now. We’d have to have two forms of it for French and Celtic alphabets, though. The Celts have a number of marks on our letters that don’t show up in French, and likewise for French in our alphabets.”“Well, I’m sure there could be something worked out. But just think of it. This would be a perfect way to communicate over long distances with rapidity and accuracy.”“Assuming the weather is clear.”“Well, weather is inclement.” He smiled. “But yeah, I think that if your metallurgy works as well as you like to say it does, it would be more than enough to craft a system like this.”Maldwyn nodded. “This is brilliant work, Thommas. Absolutely brilliant.”“So who do we show this to first?”“I don’t know. My first thought is that we should show it to our respective nations first, but I don’t know how we’d manage that. Unless we could muscle our way in to a meeting between high-ranking officials for both our nations, but that’s not much of a thought.”Thommas thought, then sighed. “I think we need to show this to the French officials first.”“Oh really? Why not Cymru?”“Well for one thing, we’re in France right now. But I think that I know how we can meet with a French and a Celtic official at the same time.”“Do tell.”“We should head to Paris, and travel to the Celtic embassy there. There’s bound to be someone that we could talk to.”“Unless you have money for bribes, I don’t know how we’d get in.”“Well, maybe we’ll just have to see about bribe money then.” Thommas was already back at work refining the sketches. “This is important, Maldwyn, I’ve worked on this for a year now and you’re the only other person I’ve shown.”Maldwyn smiled. “So how do you know I won’t just run off with the idea back to Cymru and take all your credit?”“For one thing, I know that if you set foot in Cambria you’ll be killed.”“Hey, the money was just resting in my-”“I don’t need to hear the story. Point is, I don’t have contacts in Cambria, and you don’t have any here in France. But I think that if we can get it into the right person’s hands, it’ll make its way up through the French government and potentially to the King himself.”“Well, now how do you know it’ll get shared to Cymru? How do you know the French won’t just steal it for themselves?”“These are different times, Maldwyn. Our nations are allies now, and the French have eagerly adopted many Celtic practices. Perhaps even if this is seen as a French idea, it would be adopted by the Cambrian government.”“Fair.” Maldwyn looked down at the sketches again. “The indicators should have counterweights. It’ll keep the whole thing balanced.”“Oh, right.” He quickly added them in, then looked it over again. “See, this is why I trust you with this kind of thing.”“So, how do you expect to get this into the hands of anyone who matters? We’re just two common folk who’d come in off the street, would you expect them to listen to us? Sure, I could get us into the embassy to begin with, I’m a Celt myself, but there are a lot of foolhardy ideas in this world. How can a good idea get off the ground?”“That,” said Thommas, “is the eternal question. We’ll have to build a prototype, then.”“A full-scale prototype of this might take a great deal of money. Where would we get investors?”“Here and there, I imagine. France isn’t exactly poor, you know.”“Could have fooled me.”“Hey, even if everyone in France has one Franc to their name, that’s still somewhere around ₣20 million. We won’t likely need anywhere near that amount. Besides, from what I hear your Celtic system of rail roads was the result of a man scraping money from around rural Eire, yes?”“True, true...well, I could try to start the process. People like Celtic songs and dances around here, maybe I could perform in the street. Deeply inauspicious for a start, but then again, when has any start been truly auspicious.”“I’ll speak to Father Casin at the cathedral. He’s beloved in this city, and he likes me personally.”“Oh really?”“I was an altar boy as a child. Nearly became a priest, but then I got caught with the basketmaker’s daughter.”“Ah, that’ll do it.” Maldwyn smiled and kissed Thommas’ cheek. “Just think of what it’d have been like if it had been me.”“One disaster at a time, if you please. Now help me out, I need to make a more refined sketch of this if we can show anyone this and not get laughed out of the room.”
Spinel lantern from Rukania by HorsesPlease
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Alternate History Writings
Italian Invasion of Albanian (1939) (SV),The Italian invasion of Albania was a brief military campaign which was launched by the Kingdom of Italy against the Albanian Kingdom in 1939. The conflict was a result of the imperialistic policies of the Italian prime minister and dictator Benito Mussolini. Albania was slowly overrun, its ruler King Zog II went into exile in the neighboring SFR Yugoslavia, and the country was made a part of the Italian Empire as a protectorate in personal union with the Italian Crown. But it came at a heavy cost to the Italians., BackgroundAlbania had long been of considerable strategic importance to the Kingdom of Italy. Italian naval strategists coveted the port of Vlorë and the island of Sazan because of their location at the entrance to the Bay of Vlorë and out to the Adriatic Sea. The Italians also wanted to construct a suitable base on Vlorë and Sazan for military operations in the Balkans.Albania, knowing of Mussolini's ambitions, and knowing he wanted to avenge the humiliation of the defeat at Zakynthos, Greece, in 1928. Plus, Albania would provide a key staging ground to invade Greece sometime in the next decade or so. So the Albanian Government began to get ready for the pending invasion.Having placed increased funding for the military, the Albanian Royal Armed Forces would be ready for the moment the Italians, while the populace would be ready to engage in a war of resistance, both passive and aggressive. Their spies in Rome informed Tirana that the Italians would invade Albania in January of 1939, going far as to provide the composition of the invasion force and the landing sites., Invasion: January 7th, 1939The morning of January 7th would see the Italian fleet be off the coast of the Kingdom. To the Italians shock, they saw that the planned landing sights, the ports and beaches, were heavily fortified and well defended. Despite his misgivings, Marshal Giovanni Messe gave the order for the transport ships to head for the shores.The moment the ships landed and opened their doors, MG fire raked down the Italian troops, inflicting heavy losses, with well dug in positions pinning the Italians down. Not even the Italian invasion fleet firing on the positions would dislodge the Albanians. In the mainland, the various cities, towns, and villages would use the time they had to prepare for the Italians., Battle of Durrës: January 7th to February 1st,In the port city of Durrës, the Italians were pinned down on the beach for nearly a month. The Italians were barely able to gain ground from the beach, but when they advanced slowly, they would lose seven troops for every Albanians killed. In spite of the fact that they outnumbered the Albanians 5 to 1, they were having troubles trying to advance.The commander of the Durrës Garrison, Abaz Kupi, issued a directive to hold their ground, while conducting tactical withdrawals when the need arises. He also promised that for every inch of ground lost and for every Albanian killed, the Italians would lose seven troops. The Italians would try to bomb out the defenders with bomber aircraft, though the Albanian Royal Air Force would send in fighter aircraft to harass the Italians.When the Italians managed to enter the city proper on January 15th, they were once again pinned down by the troops using the city ruins and underground to harass the enemy. On the day before the city fell, Mujo Ulqinaku, an Albanian sergeant of the Royal Albanian Navy, volunteered to stay behind and hold the enemy off to buy time for the rest of the surviving defenders to flee.He was last seen alive by Kupi, who stated that Mujo was manning dual M1909 HMGs, giving him the following message to pass on:"Thuaji Madhërisë së Tij dhe popullit të Shqipërisë se sado të vështira apo të vështira të jenë gjërat, ne nuk do të dorëzohemi kurrë dhe nuk do t'i lëmë kurrë italianët të na shkatërrojnë. Rroftë Shqipëria! Rroftë Madhëria e Tij!"(Translation: Tell His Majesty and the people of Albania that no matter how hard or difficult things get, we will never surrender and we will never let the Italians destroy us. Long live Albania! Long live His Majesty!)Mujo would posthumously be awarded the Order of Skanderbeg in 1948. The final stand of Mujo would delay the fall of the city hall by around one day. According to accounts of Italian veterans of the battle, they recounted how despite being close to death, Mujo never gave up fighting. One Italian officer went as far as to state:"Anche dopo cinquant'anni, riesco ancora a ricordare il volto di quel coraggioso e solitario difensore albanese. È riuscito a tenerci a bada tutti per un giorno intero, nonostante fosse bombardato da carri armati, aerei e mortai. Sono stato il primo a trovarlo. Aveva un sorriso sulle labbra mentre teneva la bandiera del suo paese con una mano e una pistola con l'altra. Un difensore così coraggioso, quasi combattuto come un antico legionario romano."(Translation: Even after fifty years, I still can remember the face of that brave lone Albanian Defender. He managed to hold all of us off for an entire day, despite being bombed by tanks, planes, and mortars. I was the first to find him. He had a smile on his face while holding his country's flag with one hand, and a pistol on the otherhand. Such a brave defender, almost fought like an ancient Roman legionnaire.), Air War in the skies of AlbaniaThroughout the invasion, the Italians believed that the Albanians had an antiquated air force, but when they entered the skies, they were horrified to discover that the Albanians had a near ultra-modern air force that was on par with theirs. They also discovered that Albanian pilots were of a superior quality.Italian Airmen were often paranoid whenever facing the Albanians, particularly the infamous 'Devil of the Adriatic Skies', a pilot that was reputed to have scored eleven kills during the first engage on January 10th. Italian pilots recounted that whenever they spotted his aircraft, a Polikarpov I-16 with the grim repair on the sides and a white nose paint, they would try to flee back.Nothing is known about the pilot, only that he came from the northwestern corner of the kingdom, his father was a minor count, and that his last name was Përmeti. What can be certain was that he was a great fighter pilot, racking up one hundred and one kills, and that he was still alive sometime in the 1980s.On the night of January 16th, several dive and torpedo aircraft took off and flew towards the Italian Invasion Fleet. These pilots knew that it was to be a suicide mission, but given that they were trained in night bombing and torpedo training at the Bay of Kortar in the SFR Yugoslavia, they knew how to handle the attack run.The Italians were not expecting the enemy to attack them, let alone at night. So it came as a shock when the floodlights spotted the Torpedo Planes were flying towards her. Not all the AA crews were on station to repel the planes, and things got worst when the Dive Bombers made their runs. By the end of the run, several ships were sinking or heavily damaged.When it became clear that the Italians would overrun the country, most of the air fleet would head to the SFR Yugoslavia, while the reminder would head to Greece. 3/4 of the fleet would assembly at the Northern border of the SFR Yugoslavia, while the reminder would be at the Southern border. The plan was executed perfectly and they managed to escape., Naval WarfareContrary to the expectation of many, the Albanian Royal Navy never left their ports to engage the Invasion Fleet, as it was decided that the fleet would be split up and sail to Yugoslavia and Greece. The Southern Fleet would be light, giving them the best chance to head to Greece, while the Northern Fleet would distract the main invasion fleet and sail for the SFR Yugoslavia.However, the Northern Fleet would occasionally have to fight off Italian Destroyer fleets attempting to sink the Northern Fleet. On June 18th, the word was sent and the two fleets set off for their respective destinations. The Northern Fleet would take the brunt of the Italian assault, yet they were able to hold off any losses and yet inflict the heaviest price on the Italian Invasion., Ground War and the Battle of Tirana,The ground war was harsh on the Italians, as they often got ambushed by partisans, and in battles with the Albanian Royal Army, they were stunned to see the Albanians holding their ground. The tanks the Italians had were inferior to the more superior tanks of the Albanians and when engaging in fortresses, it took weeks to overwhelm one.The final battle came as Italian troops converged and attacked the capital, Tirana, on the 27th of July. The capital had been fortified extensively to the point that for every street and house, around twelve Italians would die. Zog II and the Royal Family stayed to support the people and encourage the defenders to fight, alongside the Prime Minister and the Cabinet.Transport aircraft were on standby at the heavily fortified Tirana International Airport to transport the wounded out of the country and into Yugoslavia. Prior to the battle, hundreds of thousands of civilians were trying to flee the country. Albanian Airlines and JAT Airlines had set up evac flights, offering civilians a chance to flee.Meantime, personal wounded during the campaign were also evacuated. The defenders of the capital would fight toot and nail to inflict a heavy cost to the Italians, with reports stating that some of the defenders went out with only their fists, others with bricks, and some with canes.On June 5th, the Italians would suffer a tremendous blow. Prince Ferdinando, 3rd Duke of Genoa, who happened to the grandson of Victor Emmanuel II and by extension, the second cousin to King Victor Emmanuel III, was inspecting the frontlines, reporting for the King and the Prime Minister.Accounts vary on what happened next. One account stats that the Prince lifted his head up to look at the Palace center when a bullet went clean through his head. Another stated that a shell exploded nearby and shrapnel shredded the Prince, where he bled to death in front of his troops.What all accounts can agree was that the death of the Prince was a blow to morale, with the King allegedly being in depression over the loss of his cousin, who was reportedly close with him. Benito Mussolini offered his condolences and even went as far as to resign, but the King didn't allow it., saying he needed Mussolini at the helm.As the days began to pass and the city was close to falling, the people urged that the cabinet and the Royal Family evacuate to safety. The only member of the cabinet that decided to stay on was Enver Hoxha, then Deputy Minister of Infrastructure, who would stay on to lead the Albanian Communist Partisans during the War of Liberation (1939 to 1944). King Zog II, the Royal Family, and the cabinet evacuated on June 16th.On June 17th, the last flights from the international airport occurred and around eight thousand defenders were still fighting against the Italians when on June 19th, it was decided that the continued fighting was affecting the civilians that were still in the city, and so, with a heavy heart, the defenders laid down their arms and surrendered.Over eight thousand surviving defenders were taken prisoner by the Italians and soon, the conquest of Albania was complete. But at what cost? It was discovered that of the 14,700 Italian troops that were involved in the battle, around 5,000 were killed or wounded., AftermathThe conquest of Albania was not the quick campaign that the Italians had hoped for. Of the 22,000 troops that were sent to conquer Albanian, more then five thousand were killed or wounded, a high cost that the Italians paid. On June 20th, Victor Emmanuel III added the title of King of the Albanians to the Italian Crown, alongside that of Ethiopian Emperor, though he was never considered as such.Zog and the Royal Family would set up a government-in-exile in Belgrade, encouraging the Albanian people to resist the Italian and later German occupation, repeating the famous last words of Mujo Ulqinaku. The Government-in-Exile had a difficult relationship with Hoxha, as he often made it clear that after the war, there would be a referendum on whether to abolish the monarchy or not.Hoxha only answered to Belgrade, as he, for whatever reason, had a good raport to the League of Communists in Yugoslavia. Hoxha began a rather well known name in Albania, so much so that the Italians had offered a hundred million Italian lira bounty on him. He and Zog II would be engaged in a popularity contest after the war.Hoxha was made Deputy Prime Minister of Albania after the war, from 1945 to 1949, while being Defense Minister from 1946 to 1954. He ran for and was elected Prime Minister in 1955, though he was never sworn in as he was assassinated after just twenty days as Prime Minister-elect. Rumors persist to this day that King Zog II had organized the assassination, though there is evidence to suggest the British and French were behind the assassination.After the war, the Albanian Government would get to work to rebuild the country, as well as rebuild the armed forces. Joining the Belgrade Pact in 1948, alongside the Marshall-Suslov Plan a year later would see the country make major strides and improvements in the coming decades and make the Kingdom stronger.King Zog II died in 2012 at the age of 112, after a reign of 102 years, the longest reign of any Albanian Monarch. He surpassed the record of his great-grandfather, who ruled from 1850 to 1910. His great-grandson, Leka I, is King of Albania since then. The last surviving Albanian veteran of the war is currently 119 years old, while the last surviving Italian veteran is 117 years old.
Albania prepares against Italian Invasion (SV)The Albanians were aware that Italy intended to conquer Albania and expand the Italian Empire, designed and dreamed of by Benito Mussolini, Prime Minister of Italy since 1922. The Italians were expecting to face a weak, ill-prepared, and demoralized enemy when conducting the invasion in 1939, but they encountered was beyond their imagination., BackgroundAfter World War One, the Albanian Government wanted to be ready to deal a heavy blow to any nation that wanted to attack or invade the Albanian Kingdom. Thanks to their ally, the SFR Yugoslavia, they undergo a weapons program to improve their armed forces, with improvements to military education.The Albanian Government's main concern was the Kingdom of Italy, whose aggressive actions under Mussolini worried them, as they assumed, perhaps correctly, that Italy would go for them in the next decade or so, as the nation would be a staging ground for a future war against Greece., Naval DepartmentKnowing of Italy's goal of turning the Mediterranean Sea into their sea, the Albanian Royal Navy began an ambitious naval program to challenge the Italian Royal Navy. The program started in 1924, just one year after the Corfu Incident. Ilir Kuçana, Rear Admiral of the Albanian Royal Navy and Minister of the Navy, proposed an audacious program to challenge the Italian Royal Navy.Known to the inner circle as 'Project Adriatic Sea', it called for the following to modernize the Albanian Royal Navy:5 Battleships of the Richelieu-class French designs 4 Aircraft Carriers of the US Essex Class Design 10 Battlecruisers of the British Experimental G3 Class 24 Cruisers, 12 Light Cruisers and 12 Heavy Cruisers 35 Submarines of the British S Class Design55 Destroyers of the US Farragut Class The Albanians had the advantage of advance shipyards, where they could construct the ships the Navy dreamed of. There was the plan to render the shipyards and docks unusable should the Italians invade. Times were a bit rough for the Albanian people during the Great Depression, but thanks to precautionary measures by the SFR Yugoslavia, the Albanians managed.By the time of the Italian Invasion, the Albanians had four Battleships, four aircraft carriers, seven battlecruisers, fifteen cruisers, nineteen submarines, and thirty-five destroyers. The fleet engaged the Italian fleet only at the end of the campaign, at the sea close to the claimed maritime border of the Socialist Republic of Montenegro, a member of the SFR Yugoslavia, on June 14th, five days prior to fall of Tirana.The fleet split into two groups, with the Northern Fleet, comprised of three battleships, three aircraft carriers, six battlecruisers, eight cruisers, twelve submarines, and twenty destroyers, heading to the SFR Yugoslavia to be interned there, while the Southern Fleet, which comprised of the reminder of ships, to sail south to Greece, to do the same. The Southern Fleet left on the night of June 12th, while the Northern Fleet left on the morning of June 13th.A day later, the Northern Fleet encountered the Italian Invasion Fleet. The lead ship of the Invasion Fleet, the Francesco Caracciolo of the Francesco Caracciolo-class battleship design. The Albania aircraft carriers were placed close to the shore while the battleships and heavy cruisers would take up the front screen.The Naval Battle would begin with the Albanian battleship, the ALS Skanderbeg, opening fire on the fleet of sixty-four warships, followed by the ALS Tirana, and several other destroyers, with the submarines operating in stealth. The aircraft carriers launched torpedo and dive bombers to attack the fleet.The battle was said to have been ferocious, gunfire being rapid, while the Italian AA Guns ruthlessly shooting down scores of aircraft, though they suffered heavy damages, with the Italian Battleship Littorio suffering major damage from consecutive dive bombs and torpedo's. By evening, the Italian Fleet withdraws, having lost twenty-nine ships and having another fifteen severely damaged.The Albanian Northern Fleet suffered several damaged ships, yet not one was sunk. Around a hundred and sixty-three aircraft of the three aircraft carriers were lost or damaged, around a quarter of the naval air wing. However, they made it across the maritime borders of the SFR Yugoslavia and interned, with the Albanian Northern Fleet being interned at the Bay of Kotor in the SR Montenegro. When the SFR Yugoslavia declared war on Italy in 1941, the Albanian Northern Fleet would be attached to the Yugoslav People's Navy, 3rd Adriatic Fleet.The Albanian Southern Fleet miraculously escaped unharmed and traveled all the way to the Gulf of Laconian in Greece, where it was interned until during the Italo-Greek War of 1940, where the Southern Fleet joined the Greek Royal Navy in naval warfare, and then was evacuated to Egypt. In 1945, the Northern and Southern Fleets were reunited at the Bay of Durrës in a jubilant parade at the end of the European War., Aerial DepartmentAt the end of the First World War, the Albanians were late in developing an Air Force, having just six American Vought VE-7 trainer aircraft, with seven French Nieuport 28 fighter aircraft, nine Phönix C.I Reconnaissance Aircraft, and two Imperial German Zeppelins as compensation.However, with the threat of Italy being prominent, the need to have a modern air force became apparent. Bajram Fevziu, the former Chief of the Albanian Royal Staff, was made the first Minister of Aviation, and already, he began to undertake the task to improve the nascent Albanian Royal Airforce.He started with requisitioning decommissioned factories and aging facilities, ordering six new military bases to be complete by 1933, and setting quotas for new aircraft. Funding was secured through financial aid from the SFR Yugoslavia. Next, he managed to procure several foreign designs, again with help from the SFR Yugoslavia.Drafting 'Project Skanderbeg Air', the project called for the following to bolster up the Albanian Royal Air Force:150 Torpedo Bomber Aircraft (German and American)350 Dive Bomber Aircraft (German and American)1200 Fighter Aircraft (American, Soviet, and British)770 Bomber Aircraft (Soviet, American, British, and German)550 Attack Aircraft (American and Soviet)800 Transport Aircraft (American and German)350 Maritime Aircraft (British and American)Aviation Schools were set up across the entire Kingdom to train pilots to become elites, the best of the best. Emphasis was placed on dive bombing and torpedo runs, to inflict heavy losses on the Italian Imperial Fleet, while ground attack aircraft were trained to attack ground troops, and then fighter aircraft pilots were trained to the extreme.When the Italian invasion came, of the planned 4,170 aircraft that Albania was supposed to have, they had around 2,062 aircraft at the ready. Despite reaching around half of the planned project, the Albanian Royal Air Force would inflict heavy damage on the Italians during the invasion., Ground Force DepartmentIn the Army department, there was a need to modernize. Throughout the history of the Kingdom of Albania, from it's independence from 1850, the Albanian Royal Army had only ever been in conflict three times:Albanian War of Independence (1850)Albanian Intervention into Ottoman-Held Northern Greece (1863-1866)World War One (1910-1918)In the three conflicts, the Albanian Royal Army had some success, but also had difficulties in combat, despite the limited training from Yugoslav advisors. After the end of the First World War, the performance of the Albanian Expeditionary Force was put under scrutiny by Ministers of Defense and War.To that end, Zog II (who succeeded his great-grandfather in 1910 at the age of 10) ordered that the Royal Army undergo an intense modernization program immediately. The reparations from the defeated Central Powers were deemed inadequate for the Royal Army. Veteran Officers from the Yugoslav People's Army were sent to Albania to put the Albanian Royal Army through intense and rigorous training.Volunteers and conscripts were put through combat and weapons training. Candidates for Officer training were selected from the best of the best and given eighteen hour courses in training. The Minister of Education also encouraged quick partisan formation training so that in the event that Albania was conquered, the students would be quick and ready to fight from the countryside and mountains.In terms of weapons, King Zog II, the Ministers of Defense and War knew that there needed to be adequate weapons with which to put up a good fight. So in the spring of 1923, two months after the Corfu Incident of Greece, the three traveled up to Yugoslavia to meet with President Josip Broz Tito to discuss the prospect of weapons.It was agreed that Yugoslavia would sell the Albanians weapons, while the Albanians were to convert/build new factories to produce weapons. The plan, codenamed 'Zog's Spear and Shield', called for:Two whole Army GroupsSix Field ArmiesFifteen Army CorpsThirty DivisionsThere were to be construction of land guns, alongside the construction of fortresses across Albania, all under the control of the Ministry of Defense, to ensure that for every fortress that fell, a heavy cost would be paid for each and every fort. In terms of weapons procurement and production, they would have the following:Rifles: vz.24, M1900 Springfield, Type 38 Rifle, Mannlicher–Schönauer, Gewehr 1898 Rifle, MAS 1929, and Mosin-Nagant Rifle Semi-Auto Rifles: Howell Automatic Rifle, Farquhar–Hill Rifle, Fusil Automatique Modèle 1917, M1 Garand, M1933 Johnson Rifle, and Charlton Automatic Rifle.Submachine Guns: Thompson SMG, Tokarev Model 1927, PPSh-28, PPSh-30, PPSh-36, Stener Gun, Erma EMP, and the M1-1936 Grease Gun Machine Guns: Vickers MG, M1887 MG, Bergmann MG 15, M1906 HMG, M1909 HMG, Lewis LMG, DP-27 LMG, DS-30 HMG, Lahti-Saloranta M/26, VMG 1927, Bren LMG, and M1900 BAR LMG Pistol: Mauser C96, Luger Pistol, M1910 Colt Pistol, FN Model 1909, TT-29 Pistol, and Browning Hi-Power Shotguns: Winchester 1907 Model, Ithaca 30, and KS-28 Model Flamethrowers: ROKS Flamethrower Model, M1/M2 Flamethrowers Anti-Tank Rifle: PTRS-30 and PTRD-31 Battle Rifles: Fedorov Avtomat, M1900 BAR, AVS-28, and Charlton Automatic Rifle.In addition, there was to be the following of Anti-Tank, Anti-Air, Tanks, Mortars, and Rocket Launchers:AT Guns: 37mm Gun M1 AA Guns: Hotchkiss 13.2 mm machine gun, Oerlikon 20 mm cannon, and Bofors 40 mm L/60 gun. Mortars: M2 4.2-inch mortar, 37 mm spade mortar, 107mm M1938 mortar, M2 Mortar, and 120-PM-30 Mortar Tanks: BT Series, T-26 Tank, M2 light tank, M3 Stuart light tank, M4 Sherman, KV Tank, and M3 Lee Tank.Rocket Launchers: Katyusha rocket launcher, M8 (rocket), Z Battery Launcher, and Mattress Rocket Launcher The amount of weapons that Albania would have would ensure the they would have a fighting chance against the Italians. Of course, many of the weapons would be sent north Yugoslavia when the Italians began to gain the upper ground, while some of the weapons would be kept on for the Partisan War that would come., End ResultIn the period from 1923 to 1939, the Albanian Royal Armed Forces had undergone such change that when the Italian Invasion came in 1939, the Italians were stunned at how well trained and well armed the Albanians were. Even when the Italians administered the Albanian Colony from 1939 to 1943, and later the Germans from 1943-1944, the Albanian Partisans would give no end of grief to the occupiers.The modernization would continue on when Albania joined the Belgrade Pact in 1948, ensuring that they would get the best military hardware from the SFR Yugoslavia.
Vereinigte Republik DeutschlandThe exploration of Germany late in 1965, when Danish and Swedish forces reached the borders with Hungary, Poland and Czechoslovakia, revealed a country in complete disarray. All large cities, centres of industry and every foreign military installation had been heavily bombed, to the point that several bases were assumed to have suffered 100% casualties. The pre-October War population of both the FRG and GDR had been annihilated. Estimates put the casualties at over 30 million, almost half the pre-war population of both Germanys combined. Berlin and Bonn had both been completely destroyed, unsurprisingly; however, some cities remained largely intact and had weathered the post-war horrors by effectively hunkering down, arming their police with the heaviest weapons available and rationing food and water. Kiel, surprisingly, had emerged damaged but in decent condition. It was here that the Scandinavian Union hosted the European Conference of Reconstruction with representatives from Austria, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Spain and the British Commonwealth on 21 January 1966. All parties decided that they would throw whatever resources they had to establish functioning national governments in Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands; aid in the rebuilding of these countries’ defences and economies; and aid in the repatriation of refugees wherever possible. It was, unfortunately, telling that Turkey and Eastern European countries were exempt from this plan. The USSR had annexed parts of Turkey and were setting up puppet governments of their own in the remainder; and the Sverdlovsk Kremlin had laid claim to the rest of the Eastern Bloc. The USA was showing no inclination to get involved in helping or making overtures towards the Soviets; and the surviving countries of Europe were in no position to challenge the Soviet government.Plans for Germany were quickly put into play. By the end of 1966 a provisional government had been established in Magdeburg, the largest surviving city after Kiel and the biggest in a central location. New rail lines were laid across the countryside, replacing the crippled original tracks; autobahns were cleared; and supplies began moving between the remaining cities. Initially, the convoys had to be guarded by foreign troops, for fear of being attacked by the remaining bands of outlaws still roaming the post-apocalyptic landscape; although this job would eventually fall upon German forces after the military was rebuilt with British, Danish, Swedish and Swiss equipment. The survivors were eager to put their horrific past behind them. The new constitution of the reunified Germany, drawn up by the liberating powers with assistance of the US government, was similar to the pacifistic constitution of Japan. There were key differences, of course: the parliamentary system was based on that of the pre-WWIII West Germany, with the Chancellor acting as head of government and the President a largely ceremonial role appointed from within the two houses of the Bundesparlament (Federal Parliament), the Bundestag (Federal Diet) or Bundesrat (Federal Council). Each state would have its own single-house legislature, the Landtag (State Diet), headed by an Erster Minister (First Minister) and cabinet. As part of the pacifistic constitution, enacted primarily to placate the Soviets, Germany would be forbidden by law from joining any international defence pacts or possessing any weapons that could be classed as “offensive” based on range or capability. The new military would be known as the Nationale Selbstverteidigungstruppe, or National Self-Defence Force. Three elements were created: the Deutsche Heer (German Army); Deutsche Marine (German Navy); and Luftwaffe (Air Force). Policing would be carried out by state-administered forces (Landespolizei, or State Police) held to a national standard by the Ministry of the Interior; this Ministry would also oversee the federal Bundespolizei (Federal Police) directly. German police would be routinely armed, especially since armed groups were still at large. Their training, equipment and methods were more along the lines of the French Gendarmerie than the traditional British police forces.Economic progress would, naturally, take longer. Germany's industrial heartlands, centred on the Rhinelands and Ruhr Valley, had been heavily bombed with heavy loss of life and destruction of infrastructure. Replacement of the many destroyed factories, power plants, foundries and mines would take a long time, so initially the new Germany would be reliant on the importation of fuel and people. In the short-term, large gas turbine installations were provided by the UK. These consisted of Rolls-Royce Tyne engines connected to English Electric generator sets and, while not mobile, were relatively portable and could be moved around as needed. Hundreds of such generators, nicknamed “pocket power stations”, were provided by January 1969. They would meet the country's power needs until the dams on the Ruhr could be rebuilt and the reservoirs refilled. Coal-fired power stations would provide the energy Germans needed that hydroelectricity could not. As part of the discussions with the Soviets, it had been agreed by all parties that the new Germany would not be permitted to possess nuclear power, be it military or civilian.The “new” country would be known as Vereinigte Republik Deutschland, or United Republic of Germany. The country’s heraldry represented both the reunited nature of the country and its pacifistic bent, with the national flag being based on the older German Empire flag rather than those of East or West Germany; similarly, the traditional black eagle was removed from the flag and naval ensign as this was widely seen as a nationalistic, aggressive emblem outside Germany. The Provisional Government took control of the country on 31 December 1966, quickly passing the new constitution into law. The NS, BP and LP were rapidly brought into being, with training on new equipment proceeding quickly and all three being stood up by early 1968. The first truly national and fully free elections in Germany since 1932 took place in November 1969, marking the start of the country’s new future.
1963 Transport White Paper - post-October War UKThe immediate reality in post-October War Britain was that, in order to move relief supplies around the country, the most important methods would be sea and rail. In the aftermath of the winter of 1962-63, where almost 4 million people died from cold and disease, the need to acquire food, shelter and medical supplies and deliver them to where they were needed became paramount. As soon as Denis Healy became Minister of Supply, he instigated two major projects. Every civilian shipyard in the country that was large enough to do so was turned over to the construction of Commonwealth-type modular transports, while every engineering company with sufficient capacity was making kits to construct temporary “Healyville” housing for the refugee population that still numbered in the millions. Trains, however, would be a different story.Even in the early 60s, mainland Great Britain still had an enormous railway transport capacity. While large amounts of freight could be moved around by Commonwealth-1 and -2 coastal ships, there was still a need to move the food, fuel and materiel from ports to their destinations. Rail was still the best prospect, since the new motorway programme had, understandably, come to a grinding halt. Railways, by contrast, could be relatively easily repaired in damaged areas and pressed into service as both the main method of transporting relief supplies into, and refugees out of, damaged areas like East Anglia, Lincolnshire, Kent and outer London. The main problems being encountered were with the lack of spare parts, standardisation and fuel for British Railways’ fleet of locomotives. BR had attempted to standardise its ageing, diverse fleet immediately after nationalisation, creating the Standard classes of steam locomotive that were intended to replace the older stock as it wore out. However, the decision in the 1955 Modernisation Plan to carry out large-scale electrification and replacement of steam with diesel on non-electrified lines curtailed this project and the last Standard steam locomotive, a Class 9F heavy freight engine named “Evening Star” in reference to an early steam loco that had been named “Morning Star”, rolled off the line in 1960. In 1963, the UK as a whole was lacking in proven, exploitable crude oil resources. What it did have was a huge resource of coalfields in Yorkshire and South Wales that could produce high-quality anthracite to fuel steam trains. With the country’s new fleet of merchant ships adding to the burden on what oil could be exported from the Anglo-Iranian refinery on Abadan Island, the decision was made to switch back over to steam traction instead of diesel. BR’s diesel locomotives would be withdrawn and sold off to countries with more readily exploitable oil resources, while BR would once again start work on standardised steam locomotives that could be easily built in large numbers, to replace the ageing pre-nationalisation engines as they wore out.The railways portion of the 1963 White Paper, drawn up by the British Railways Board at the behest of the Ministry of Supply, detailed the future for steam traction within the UK. Essentially, it laid out how the Board would replace and expand capacity that was wearing out, withdrawn or had been outright nuked out of existence:Creation of a family of “austerity” mixed-traffic locomotives, in both tank and tender engine layouts, utilising as many of the same parts as possible to simplify construction, servicing and fabrication;Renewed production of the Standard Class 9F heavy freight locomotive, albeit in more of an austerity fashion to simplify construction;Upgrade of former LNER, LMS and GWR express steam locomotives in the short-term for long-distance passenger services, with a standardised replacement to take over all express passenger traffic as they wore out;Continued use of diesel shunting engines, due to their speed of construction and ease of operation. This would be the only remaining use of diesel traction in the new British Railways.The Plan was duly approved by the UK Emergency Interim Government of Ted Heath in June 1963, with the goal being to have the first of the new mixed-traffic engines coming off the line by the end of the year. This exceedingly tight timescale was met, in part because of the two designs being based on one existing type renowned for its capability and simplicity of construction. Despite the intentions of the drafters of 1955’s Modernisation Plan, steam would remain the primary method of traction for British Railways for many years to come. It would be well into the 1980s before replacement of steam with diesel and electric traction became a reality, and steam engines would remain in BR mainline service until the end of the century.Air transport would see major developments in the aftermath of the October War. Initially, turboprop transports would provide transport for passengers and cargo, the latter providing a priority service for freight that would have otherwise gone by sea. Damaged road and rail sections could be bypassed by air. BEA's existing fleet of Viscount and Vanguard airliners would be supplemented by variants of Hawker Siddeley's Avro 748. Aside from domestic routes, BEA's aircraft would fly between the UK and Ireland, Scandinavia, Iberia, Italy, Malta, Greece, Yugoslavia, Cyprus and North Africa. BOAC, on the other hand, would primarily fly either transatlantic routes with de Havilland Comet 4 jetliners and 400-series Bristol Britannia turboprops; or long-range "Commonwealth" routes to Africa, Asia and Australasia. Plans to replace most of these turboprop-powered aircraft with jetliners were well advanced, with new airliners based on the de Havilland Trident and Avro Vulcan ready to leave the drawing board by 1964.Finally, road transport would have to be addressed. The shortage of petroleum meant that roads would take a lower priority than other modes of transport; but plans were put in hand to improve and repair the network. Firstly, hauliers would be effectively nationalised by being brought under direct government regulation, basically making HM Government PLC their sole client. Road building would be stepped up once railway reconstruction was complete; and while the building of further motorways was shelved it was announced that major A-roads would be upgraded to dual carriageway standard and centres of population bypassed to prevent town centre gridlock. A scheme was also drawn up involving government savings for everyday people that would allow for the purchase of private motor vehicles. Similar to the Volkswagen scheme set up in Nazi Germany, it involved people making weekly token payments; in return, they would receive an 'economy car', one of several choices that would use a large number of common components to save on maintenance and construction costs. The car ownership plan would likely not come into being until 1965 at the earliest, so details were light in the 1963 Transport White Paper; however, it was likely that the Austin/BMC Mini would form the basis of the vehicles produced due to its simplicity. Similar schemes would be set up for farmers to allow the acquisition of Land Rovers, tractors and other mechanised farm equipment. This would, of course, have the side effect of providing more employment in a near-bankrupt world.
Technology
[FD-AU] McDonnell Douglas F-15A (49th FIS) by etccommand
Architecture
Nickelodeon's Ed Edd N Eddy (KOA Lore) V2 by Catholic-Ronin
Alternate History Characters
Jurgen Heydrich: 1935 and 2007 by AlbertW25
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The Battle for Antarctica by BrandonScottPilcher
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Kentucky Colonial Empire by Flagmexico123
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Maps I
[GURPS] Bonaparte-5 by RvBOMally
Flags II
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:iconagentofthemessiah:
AgentOfTheMessiah Featured By Owner Nov 27, 2017
I would like to join
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:iconmoenchii:
moenchii Featured By Owner Dec 2, 2017  Hobbyist Digital Artist
Then click on Join...
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:iconagentofthemessiah:
AgentOfTheMessiah Featured By Owner Dec 2, 2017
Ok
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:iconartaxes2:
Artaxes2 Featured By Owner Nov 19, 2017  Hobbyist
Submissions should be sent to the appropriate folders. Remember that, people !
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:iconlordomegaz:
LordOmegaZ Featured By Owner Jan 8, 2018  Hobbyist Digital Artist
does ti take a while for submissions to be accepted?
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:iconynot1989:
YNot1989 Featured By Owner Nov 18, 2017  Hobbyist Digital Artist
Why is this group affiliated with CSAsupporters?
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:iconmoxn:
moxn Featured By Owner Nov 25, 2017  Hobbyist Digital Artist
Unfortunately, alternate history tends to attract lost-causers and racists who feel like actual history didn't go their way. They seem to be only a minority in most of our communities, at least.
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:iconmikeman29:
mikeman29 Featured By Owner Nov 19, 2017
This is news to me, honestly. But if there is a reason, it might have to do with things like maps and such that could fit within the guidelines of the Alternate-History group. Otherwise, I have no idea.
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:iconbeastboss:
Beastboss Featured By Owner Nov 19, 2017  Hobbyist Photographer
Why do you care?
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:iconynot1989:
YNot1989 Featured By Owner Nov 19, 2017  Hobbyist Digital Artist
Because I have an extremely low tolerance for armchair skinheads and casual racists.
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