Bruno had changed the timeline in more ways than he realized. Not only had things begun to move quicker than they had in his past life, such as the Russian Revolution of 1905 being moved up a year because of the sheer degree of losses which Russia suffered during the Russo-Japanese war as result of Bruno’s actions in the region.
But France had begun devising a proper plan on how to invade and defeat Germany in the event of the outbreak of war much earlier in this life than they had in the last one. For instance, currently a group of French Generals were gathered in France to discuss the issue.
And standing among their ranks was the newly promoted Général de brigade, Leon Sinclair. The man had done well to hide his Marxist sympathies over the years, especially during the troubled times that his comrades suffered after the Germans had assassinated the previous French Chief of Staff while successfully pinning the blame for their attack on local French Marxist groups.
In doing so, Leon had raised to a significant rank within the French Army, especially after his performance in Madagascar. Which would no doubt help his comrades in the future when they finally began their long-planned revolution.
However, for the meantime, the man sat and listened to generals much older than himself as they debated on how best to proceed with the invasion of Germany and the annexation of the so called “Lost Territories.”
Quite frankly, it was a disputed matter, as the regions in question had been gained by the French during the 17th centuries from the Holy Roman Empire but were considered German long before that. Hence why the capital of Alsace Lorraine, or as the Germans properly referred to it as Elsass-Lothringen, was a city named Strasburg which under French rule had been francized into Strasbourg.
Truthfully speaking, the territory had been German for much longer than it was French, but it had still been French for hundreds of years before the Germans Reclaimed it in 1871. Because of this, the land was currently more French than German, as only a single generation of its population had lived under the German banners.
No matter what you called the region, or who you thought it rightfully belonged to, the fact remained it was a significant eyesore in the eyes of the French who had wanted to reclaim the region since their humiliating defeat in 1871. And thus, Alsace Lorraine was a large part of their current discussions.
Not only that, but the reason they were preparing for the upcoming Great War now in 1906, rather than in 1912 when they should have first come up with such a plan, was because Bruno had thoroughly convinced the Kaiser that war between the Great Powers was an inevitability at this point, and that preparations should be made long in advance.
These preparations, especially in the form of border fortifications at Elsass-Lothringen, proved to be a severe provocation to the French. Hence why the French Generals were now talking about a potential invasion of the German Reich.
Part of these discussions, much like they had been in Bruno’s past life, involved marching through Belgium and violating its neutrality in order to enter Germany. That’s right… It was planned by both the French and the Germans to cross through Belgium at the outbreak of the war.
The only difference is, during Bruno’s past life, Germany had succeeded before the French could do so. And hence why Britain ultimately joined the war. That was honestly a mere excuse, as the British had already long since promised to have the backs of the French and Russians by the time the war broke out in 1914.
Speaking of differences between this current timeline that had changed as a result of Bruno’s actions. In Bruno’s past life, Kaiser Wilhelm II, although having a bad reputation and largely taking the blame for the outbreak of the war after it had concluded. Had in all reality done everything within his power to prevent the war from beginning.
For example, the Kaiser solely had the purpose of declaring war in the case of defensive wars only. Offensive wars were declared upon a vote by the Bundesrat. Not only that, but the blank check he was commonly held responsible for giving Austria-Hungary was actually done while he was away on vacation by one of his ministers.
Upon his return, and realizing that the Russians were mobilizing their forces in support of Serbia, Wilhelm begged his cousin Tsar Nicholas II to stop and prevent the outbreak of an unnecessary war. And while Nicholas agreed, he had ceded his power to stop the mobilization during the creation of the Russian Constitution in 1905, when the Russian Revolution ended, and he had formed the first Russian Constitution.
Because of this, the Russian Generals, and State Duma overrode his attempts to stop the war between Russia and Germany before it really began. Ironically enough, had the Marxists not revolted in 1905, and forced the Tsar to concede much of his power, and instead the Tsar still reigned with absolute power in 1914, millions of lives could have been spared, and Germany would have steamrolled the French and British without having to fight a two-war front.
Meaning that it was ultimately the democratic elements of the constitutional monarchies that had caused the war, rather than the Monarchs themselves. Despite the fact that most people believed that monarchs like Kaiser Wilhelm II and Tsar Nicholas II were to blame.
But this was neither here nor there, because in this life, Bruno had thoroughly convinced the Kaiser that war between the Great European Powers were an inevitability, and because of this France was preparing for it six years earlier than they otherwise would have by ultimately introducing the Plan XVII in 1906, rather than in 1912.
Which, ironically enough, played right into Bruno’s hands, who had prepared to wage a defensive war long enough for the mass implementation of tanks, armored cars, motorized transportation, and aircraft to support a full-fledged advanced into Paris.
Leon, of course, had remained silent throughout the discussion. As he was a mere Brigadier General, but, he wholeheartedly agreed with the plans to invade Germany, and Belgium as he would never forget the day that the German soldiers advanced into Paris in 1871 and humiliated his country with the proclamation of their Empire in the palace of Versailles.
Because of this, he looked forward to the day the war began, while all others were dreading the possibility, even if they must prepare for it.
