World War I (Napoleon's America)

This article belongs to the Napoleon´s America timeline.

Causes
World War I was primarily caused by the Russian Revolution. European countries were afraid that the communist ideals of the Bolsheviks would flow to the west and effectively toppled down their empires.

As the nations that didn´t accept the creation of Soviet Russia united to form the League of Steel, they placed trade sanctions and embargoes on Soviet Russia. Germany and Austria also started strengthening their border emplacements and intimidating the new Russia. Soviet Russia, not allowing itself to be threatened and intimidated dismissed the trade sanctions as cowardly and stated that goods from the League of Steel weren´t needed or wanted.

As war started to look more and more likely, France sent half a million troops to reinforce Quebec-Louisiana from Mexico and the USA (both of whom would´ve entered the war against France because of treaties). This was frowned upon by Mexico and the USA, who bordered Louisiana. Both these countries massed their forces at the border and prepared for war in a manner similar to European countries.

In Europe, France wasn´t the only nation to realize that war was imminent, All European powers started conscripting men into their armed forces and massively increasing their weapons production. This wasn´t looked to kindly upon by enemy nations and they started doing the same thing. By late 1908, war was on the doorstep.

Allied Powers
The Allied Powers were fighting due to a wide array of reasons. The European powers were fighting to defend the creation of communist Russia and because they spited the French Empire after half a century of living under fear. The British were allied with Soviet Russia mostly out of traditional rivalry with France, and so was Spain. In the Americas, Mexico and the USA fought agains France because they were bound by agreements to aid nations in war (namely England and Spain).

Mexico
Mexico had probably the second most advanced and third largest armed forces in the world at the start of the war. Their troops, alongside the US and French ones, were the best equipped and the best trained.

Their Navy, however, wasn´t as powerful as the Army. They were behind the British, French, and Balkan navies in terms of numbers, but alongside the Americans, they had one of the most advanced warships of the era, Battleships.

Mexico's Air Force was probably on par with every other power´s air force, except the German Empire, which had a large and effective air force. Mexico's Air Force consisted mostly of Aguila fighters.

A regular Mexican Infantry Soldier carried: Being equipped with large, light, and sharp machetes, Mexican troops were terribly effective in the confined spaces of trenches. Their rifles proved to be somewhat susceptible to jamming in the mud, but were extremely accurate and easy to field strip. The Obregón pistol gained a reputation to never jam, although there were some complains about its accuracy. The combat knife bayonet was rarely used as a weapon, since machetes were more effective and bayonets tended to get stuck in the ribcages of enemies, they were mostly used as tools or last resort weapons.
 * Mondragón Rifle 05
 * Pistola Obregón
 * Combat Knife (doubled as bayonet)
 * Machete
 * Granada de Palo x2 (stick grenade)

In addition to the standarized weapons, infantry also used. The Mexican Army also had a large supply of artillery pieces, since the battles of Monterrey and San Antonio had required of cannons to bomb out the defenders. Since then, the Mexican Armed Forces had renewed their artillery pieces.
 * Maxim-Mondragón Gun
 * NWI Shotgun 00
 * Villa submachine gun (later in the war)
 * NWI Sniper 04

The Mexican Navy was only as large as it was mostly not to be left behind by the large US Navy. The Mexican Navy consisted mostly of cruisers and frigates, although it had some ten Dreadnought-type warships and they were already developing a Battleship. The Navy was well trained and equipped, only lacking experience at the beginning of the war.

United States of America
Before the war started, the USA had a small army, but soon boosted their numbers with their conscription program. In terms of technology, the US Armed Forces were on par with the Spanish Armed Forces and the Balkanian Armed Forces, ranking around 6th most powerful before the war started. The US Navy was one of the most advanced but was still relatively small in numbers compared with nations with small coastlines like Britain and the Austrian Empire.

The Air Force consisted mostly of biplanes with semi-automatic rifles with drum magazines mounted in the aircraft.

A regular United States Infantry soldier carried: The US troops were very effective at repelling charges because of the reliability of their WSARs, which were said to never jam (that is false, there were reports of WSARs jamming). The Colt 93, also rarely jammed and was powerful enough to take down an enemy with a single shot. The Trench Knife was almost as effective as the Mexican machetes, since it had spiked brass knuckles and a sharp point to go through helmets. The bayonet had the same problems as all others and was mostly used as a last resort weapon. The Mk. I grenade had many problems since it had a complicated igniting mechanism, and thrown grenades were often returned by enemy troops.
 * WSAR (Winchester Semi-Automatic Rifle)
 * Colt 93 Pistol
 * Trench Knife Mk. II
 * Bayonet
 * Mk. I Grenade. x2

The US Armed Forces also used:
 * Maxim-Mondragón gun
 * Trench Gun
 * Springfield rifle (sniper rifle)
 * Thompson submachine gun (later in the war)

The most powerful branch of the US Armed Forces before and during the war was the Navy. Their navy was extremely advanced technologically and had a lot of experience due to frequent training exercises and war games before the war started.

British Empire
The British Empire had a very well-trained and experienced army due to attempted invasions in the recent past. The army had served a lot less than the navy had in the past 50 years, they had repelled a few small-scale invasions in the southern coasts, but the Royal Navy took the credit for maintaining England´s sovereignty. Before the war, England had the most powerful navy in the whole world, they had to lest they would be defeated by an ambitious France. Their navy was extremely experienced and numerous, it would have to deal with the combined threats of French and German navies. The Royal Air Force was relatively small compared to their large army and navy, the air-force consisted mostly of spy planes and a few Sopwith Camels.

A regular British Infantry Soldier carried:


 * C99 (Carbine Model 99)


 * Webley Mk. VI revolver


 * M. 04 Bayonet


 * Mills Grenade x4

Due to lack of an effective close-quarters weapon (bayonets suffering the same cons as the previous ones) the British Infantry resorted to homemade weapons through most of the war. Entrenchment tools, maces, and small sledgehammers were used.

Also used were:


 * Maxim Gun


 * Lee-Enfield rifle (sniper rifle)


 * Sten Gun (later in the war)

Due to the important nature of their war, the British Army had to fight to protect their homeland in their own home-front. British troops were reputed for their bravery and their "never fall back" policy. Although they were pioneers in the creation of tanks, they didn´t count on the Germans creating their own model so soon and distributing it to their forces in England. When their Navy was defeated and France succeeded in establishing a large invasion force in the counties of East Sussex and Kent, the Royal Navy had to fall back and ships that had a small enough displacement were sailed to London to serve as artillery emplacements to defend the capital city. The Air-Force served mostly as scouts and sometimes as harassers to the invading forces, but they were mostly outdone by the German Luftwaffe.

Soviet Russia
The Soviets definitely had the largest armed forces for the duration of the war, but they also had the worst equipped armed forces for at least the first half of the war. Having an Army of several million meant that not all of them could be equipped with state of the art technology. Their Navy had many powerful ships but was very small in size, since most of the military budget went to the Army. The Navy had around 14 Dreadnoughts and 1 Battleship at the beginning of the war, but lacked in support vessels such as cruisers and frigates. SInce Soviet Russia has a very small coastline that isn´t frozen for the whole year, their Navy was the smallest of all powers during WWI.

The Soviet Air Force was quite large but consisted of mostly obsolete planes, and with them facing off against the greatest air power of the time (Germany), they had to keep updating and replacing their obsolete aircraft.

A regular Soviet Infantry Soldier carried: The Soviet Russian forces had been equipped with outdated weapons up till 1905, when they started their modernization program. Most of the weapons were designed and built right before the war broke out, which didn´t give the Soviets a lot of time to distribute the new weapons to their large armed forces. The weapons, however, were known for they rugged reliability and there were absolutely no reported jams in the Tokarev rifle and pistols for the duration of the war. With their bayonet being shorter than average and their troops being extremely disciplined and trained in its use, it made for an effective weapon and no other CQC weapon was needed. The wire-cutter knife was used for what its name implies and was also a superb CQC weapon, with it being so short and easily concealed. The Soviet grenades were based on the German design and proved to be as effective.
 * Tokarev SVT 07
 * Tokarev TT 06
 * Bayonet
 * Wire-Cutter Knife
 * Grenade x4

The Soviet Russian forces also used:
 * Mosin-Nagant rifle (sniper rifle)
 * PPSh submachine gun (later in the war)

Soviet Russian troops were known for their quasi-suicidal charges across no-man´s-land. Their large numbers enabled them to sacrifice quite a lot of troops to accomplish their objectives and still retain numeric superiority. The Air-Force was practically destroyed at the beginning of the war and the remaining planes were used mostly as spotters for the deadly-accurate artillery strikes. Although the Soviet Russian Army didn´t have a tank after most of the other nations had theirs, the wait was worth it, since their design, the T-1, was the most effective tank of the whole war.

Spain
Spain had probably the weakest armed forces of the all the allies. After 30 years of independence, the Spaniards still couldn´t rebuild their once-great nation. They had an average sized army, but it was mostly equipped with foreign weapons and during the war the countries that sold weapons to Spain couldn´t afford to loose those weapons. This is one of the reasons why Spain was armed with ripoffs of other nations´ rifles at the beginning of the war. The Spanish Navy lacked capital ships such as dreadnoughts and battleships, but had a large number of cruisers and frigates. In addition to these the Spanish Navy had a very large fleet of gunboats (300+) at the beginning of the war. The Spanish Air Force consisted of a few bought Sopwith Camels and indigenously manufactured CR.22 fighters. The Spanish Armed Forces only made it through the war because of regular shipments from Mexico and the USA.

A regular Spanish Infantry Soldier carried: Spanish soldiers were outdone on almost every aspect by their French counterparts. They had a smaller army, navy, and air force and their weapons were outdated compared to the ones the nations in the League of Steel used. The most effective branch of the Spanish Armed forces was the Navy. Dozens of gunboats were sent to fight or stall dreadnoughts and cruisers. They swarmed the larger ships and their speed and small size allowed them to avoid shelling and enabled them to get within close range of the enemy ships. The Spanish Navy prevented the invasion of mainland Spain, but couldn't avoid loosing the Balearic Islands.
 * RM 98
 * PM 96
 * PM 98 bayonet
 * Combat Knife
 * Granada de Palo (Exact copy of the German Stielhandgranate)

League of Steel
The League of Steel was originally a political alliance of European nations that had empires. Germany, Austria, France, and the Balkan Confederation opposed the creation of a communist Russia because they feared that communist ideals would spread to their population and they´d soon have to deal with their very own revolutions. As a series of escalating events and incidents lead to war, the League of Steel became a military alliance instead of a political one.

German Empire
The German Empire had the second largest armed forces before the war (almost as large as the Soviet Russian Armed Forces). They also had by far the best strategies and most advanced tactics at the time. The German Army was well equipped with semi-automatic rifles, steel helmets, and tunics. The German Navy was the third largest in Europe (after the Royal Navy and the French Navy), but it was also very close in technological prowess to the Royal Navy and it had a large number of Battleships for the time. The German Luftwaffe was by far the best air-force of WWI, it had fighter, scout, spotter, and bomber corps, as well as armored zeppelins for ground attack and support purposes. It was also the largest and most advanced air force of the time.

A regular German Infantry Soldier was equipped with: The German Army was the third best before the war. They had superb training, and equipment. Their infantry troops were very effective at holding trenches because of their semi-automatic weapons and helmets. The German helmets were very effective because they were made out of steel and had a spike on top that prevented over-the-head stabbings. German troops were terribly effective because they worked in combination with artillery, tanks, and airplane support.
 * Gewehr 01
 * Luger P07
 * Bayonet
 * Stielhandgranate x4

The individual infantry weapons were very effective, but were prone to jamming in the muddy trenches. The Luger was a great pistol but was prone to jamming with certain cartridges. The German Army faced trouble in CQC because their serrated bayonets often jammed when attacking an enemy, which would make a rifle-less soldier a very easy target. This forced German troops to use their shovels as weapons and sometimes the ornamental spike on top of their helmets was sharpened to be used in head-butting. Their grenade was terribly effective and had a larger range then most others before the war, that's why the design was copied by many nations.

The Luftwaffe was the most effective and feared air force of the war, it was even the deadliest as the allies closed in on Berlin. The airplanes that the Luftwaffe used were the most advanced and they worked perfectly with bombers or as escorts. German pilots received extensive training before being allowed to fly a plane. The Luftwaffe was considered an elite force during WWI.

French Empire
When the war started, the French Empire (consisting of IRL France, Italy, Netherlands and Switzerland) had the most powerful armed forces of the world. They had a very large an effective Army, the second largest navy of the world, which was also very effective, and their Air/Force, based on the German Luftwaffe, was also top/notch. Before WWI broke out, France was the richest country in the world. Its Army was well equipped and supplied and were very advanced for the time.

The Navy was almost as powerful as the Royal Navy, but not quite, since it could never achieve superiority before the war. The French Navy consisted of large numbers of Dreadnoughts and Cruisers, with it having a capital ship ratio of 1:5. It was experienced and the armament in the capital ships was deadly and accurate.

The French Air Force wasn't as effective as the Luftwaffe, but it did not lag to far behind. It had large numbers of fighters and quite a few bombers. The Quebec-Louisiana branch of the French Armed Forces was comparatively less powerful than the Mainland French forces, but by itself they would've still ranked 9th most powerful armed forces before the war.

A regular French Infantry Soldier sported: The French rifle was very accurate but prone to misfirings in the muddy and dusty trenches, the MAB pistol, suffered this same problems but it was worse. It was an effective killer but required to be cleaned before use so it wouldn't jam. The standard-issue bayonet was to long and unwieldy for trench CQC and in turn was mostly never used or sometimes shortened to make it easier to use. The French Kukri-style knife was very effective but still a little short, and since it required the user to slash instead of stab, it often left the user´s torso uncovered. French troops were mostly known for their artillery strikes, which were always accurate and dead-on. Troops were also known for being gentlemen and never striking down wounded soldiers or mistreating POW's.
 * MAS rifle
 * MAB pistol
 * Bayonet
 * Combat knife
 * Grenade x2

The French Navy was very effective a harassing British and Spanish coastal towns, as well as preventing the US and Mexican navies from gaining supremacy in the Gulf of Mexico. The Quebec-Louisiana branch held the Mexican and American armies for so long only because of the refusal of the French troops and citizens to surrender, they feared that their culture would be destroyed by the occupying forces and their legacy forgotten. The Q-L branch was very effective in air warfare as well as slowly falling back while inflicting maximum number of casualties. The Navy was also impressive in its effort of slowing down the inevitable sea supremacy that the US and Mexican navies would eventually get.

Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire Armed Forces wouldn't have made an impression on anyone who compared them to the large Soviet Russian forces, the impressive French Armed Forces, or even the German Armed Forces. Nevertheless, the Austrian forces were very powerful as they sported similar technology to France, and the same tactics that Germany used. They also had an extremely large army and their navy was very powerful as well. The Austrian Army was well equipped and trained and so was their navy. Both were world-class forces before the war started and during its duration. The Austrian Air Force, however, was quite small and consisted of obsolete planes. Even the Soviet Russian Air Force outdid them.

A regular Austrian Infantry Soldier carried: Austrian forces were very effective at working with their southern and northern allies. They were brave, disciplined, and well-trained troops. They were known primarily for adapting to various situations (from fighting in the Russian winter, to the Ottoman desert). Although they didn´t have a specific melee weapon, their bayonet more than made for it since it was smooth-edged and small enough to double as a combat knife. The Austrian Army didn´t develop a grenade of their own, but they bought the rights to the German Stielhandgranate and used it effectively.
 * Steyr 03 rifle
 * Roth Steyr 07 pistol
 * Bayonet
 * Grenade x2

The Austrian Navy worked in synch with the French Navy and helped the Ottoman Navy fight the Russian Navy in the Battles of the Black Sea and Constantinople.