History (Hoch Himmel Flotte)

Hans Grickheim was born on the streets of Berlin in 1848. His parents were in poverty and were forced to abandon Hans. He was found by an elderly couple and taken to a nearby orphanage. Hans lived in the orphanage for most of his childhood life. From humble beginnings Grickheim grew from an orphan boy to a national hero and admiral.

Grickheim's Early Life
See Biography of Hans Grickheim for complete article.

Childhood
Hans was taken to an orphanage when he was only ten months old. The orphanage was not wealthy and Hans had encountered troubles while he was a child. His fellow orphans were not kind to him. He often dreamed of soaring far above all of his worries and problems. At five, Hans was far ahead of his classmates in math and science. The nuns at the orphanage took Hans into private tutor classes. By ten, Hans was studying aerodynamics and propulsion. He was immensely interested in flight and engineering. Using common objects and materials, Hans built miniature hot air balloon models. The nuns at his orphanage were amazed at his skill at the models. A wealthy Prussian couple came and observed Hans's skill and intellect. They had no children and wihsed to adopt one. When Hans was twelve, the Grickheims adopted him. The Grickheims hired tutors and professors to teach Hans. By fifteen, Hans was one of the best educated engineers in Berlin.

Early Adulthood
Hans Grickheim enrolled in Freidrich-Wilhelm University when he was 17 in 1865. Hans's innovations in engineering amazed his professors. Hans's thirst for knowledge made many professors and teachers enjoy teaching him. In 1869, when Hans was 21, he could not be taught anything more. Hans returned to his adotive parents mansion. They were amazed at how much he had learned. The Grickheims were supportive of Hans's projects and supplied him with his budget. Hans's dreamse were finally coming down to earth when his began construction of a propelled air balloon. In an institute outside Berlin, Grickheim built his first working balloon. It used a steam engine and had a specialized rudder that made the balloon fully steerable. The prototype worked and Hans took his parents on its maiden voyage. The Grickheims were extremely impressed and continued funding their son's project. A better version of the airship was built in 1871. Bismarck met with Hans and observed the Grickheimship II's flight. The Chancellor was very interested and put huge funding into Hans's project. By 1875, Hans and his team of engineers had launched four more ships. The project became more and more popular and famous engineers such as Haenlein, Eckener, Zeppelin and Schwarz joined it. By 1880, there were twelve airships in Grickheims fleet. Aluminum replaced wood as the major material in airship construction.

Airships in the Military
After Graf Zeppellin joined the Airship project, the military became interested in an airships use in the military. Big guns and artillery are very effective against the airships. In 1890, five of Grickheims airships were modified to serve in the military. Medium and heavy artillery are used on the ships to eliminate the enemy cannon before it threatens the ship itself. Other airships have smaller guns to use against infantry. The best role for military airships is the role of reconnasaince. With their long range vision and near invulnerability to infantry, the airships seve as great scouts. Economic growth in the 1880s and 1890s allowed the military budget to be greatly heightened. By 1895, the Sky Fleet was large enough to be considered a seperate branch of the military.

Effects of Airships
From the 1870s to the 1900s, the size and influence of Grickheim and his teams's airship fleet. Half of the fleet was military and was used as a show of German power. The commercial fleet was used for transportation. Because of this, Germany began to feel an economic boom from the 1880s to the 1890s (see above). Easier access to colonies was an important factor as well. African German colonies grew in wealth and population. With more effective modes of transportation, goods from the colonies could be taken back to Germany. Airship bases were extablished in various cities throughout the empire. Most cities with large bases grew in size because of great access to the skylanes. Mail ships were faster and had more cargoe room. This class of the fleet earned much public recognition. The citizens of the German empire enjoyed quick transportation, communication, and globalization. Other nations became drawn into Germany's sphere of influence. Both the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Italy built airship bases and traded intensely with Germany. Although trade blossomed, very few airships were built and put into service outside of Germany. This meant that Italy and Austro-Hungary were dependent on Germany for trading rights and communication. By gaining massive amounts of money from so many sources, Hans Grickheim became unbelievably wealthy. He poured almost all of it into the fleet. by 1890, the airship sky fleet measured 132 (64 in military, 68 in civilian).

Boxer Rebellion
In 1899, the Boxers in China rebelled. Unlike OTL, Germany, Italy and Austro-Hungary contributed much more to the war cause. Germany's two allies sent soldiers and finance to the German army in China. German war airships bombarded rebellious cities with mostly efficient results. First generation paratroopers see action during the conflict as well. German air strategies evolve during the air fleets first use. Several Chinese towns were continually bombarded even after surrender. The Germans were too enthusiastic to excercise their military might to stop. A reliable and experienced German governor is sent to occupied China. Unlike OTL in which Germany only had the Shangdong province as a sphere of influence, Manchuria and much of China that was unclaimed in OTL was German influenced. Shangdong was treated almost as a colony. Airship bases sprung up throughout the German Shpere of Influence, eager to join the rapidly growing industry. Chinese resources are used to buil more airships for communication/transportation in China. To prevent future rebellions, military bases and institutes are built in Beijing and other cities. Kaiser Wilhelm made a public remark about building up German economic interests in the Far East. If the Chinese will participate, Wilhelm says, they will be rewarded.

The Oil of the Ottomans
In 1902, a German prospector in Libya finds oil. He was assigned to find a new source of oil for the airship industry. The Ottoman sultan entertains the idea of becoming an oil producing country. German and Italian contractors help build oil wells and refineries in Sicily and Libya. By 1904, several refineries existed in Tripoli and Cyrenaica. After growing rich off selling oil to the Germans, the Ottoman sultan allows oil drilling in Palestine, Iraq, Jordan, and Turkey. Tens of millions of barrels of oil were sold each year from the Ottomans alone by 1910. Airships travel across the Mediterranean daily to deliver and transport the oil. Airship bases and oil wells spring up all over Libya and the Middle East. Many Turks move to Libya to supply the well workers and sky sailors with food and other needs. Sicilian port towns swelled with size and wealth from the trade. To protect the vital trade routes, Italian and German ships and airships guarded the Aegean. The Ottomans became close trading partners with the Germans and Italians. The Turkish military budget became huge and many more soldiers were recruited to protect the precious oil welsl from any threat of attack or invasion. The Cretan Republic soon became rich from trade as well. It's directly in the middle of most vital sea and sky lanes. The Republic of Crete has close ties with Greece, and thus Greece became an ally of Germany and Italy. Even when the Balkans War begun, Greece declared itself neutral.

The Balkans Wars
In 1912, the Balkan League of Bulgaria, Serbia, and Montenegro declared war with the Ottoman Empire. Admiral Hans Grickheim and his armada of German airships assisted the Ottomans during the battles in Thrace and Macedonia. The numerically inferior Turks were able to anticipate enemy movements and forces thanks to Admiral Grickheims reconnasaince. Because Greece was neutral, its relatively strong sea fleet could not hamper Turkish troop ships as in OTL. This quickly gave the Ottomans an advantage. The Balkan League was also down about a hundred thousand men because of Greek neutrality. Bulgaria's industrial foundries were bombarded by German and Italian airships. The Ottoman advance on Bulgaria formed a massive trench system. The Turks formed clever tactics such as decoy attacks and tunnel ambushes. Austro-Hugary entered the war against Serbia in very early 1913. Repeated air raids crippled the Serbian economy in the north. The Italian navy refueled and rested in the abundant Greek ports. Bulgarian intelligence discovered this in November 1912. This greatly angered the Balkans League members. In January 1913, Greece was persuaded to enter the war on the Turkish side. If the Greeks did, they would receive most of modern Greece west of Thessaloniki and most of Macedonia. The offer was accepted. With Greek soldiers covering from the Serbians, the Turkish army mobilized for a full on invasion of Bulgaria.