Major Crimson
Here occasionally and quietly
So the "Great War" is a tried and tested AH trope - the WW1 equivalent when industrial warfare reaches such a point that a multilateral Great Power Conflict becomes that horrific, bloody slog usually replete with trenches, rapid technological advancement, machine guns, early aerial warfare and so on.
But what point in OTL tech/time does this become viable? Effectively what you need are Empires big enough to engage in such a conflict (indeed the immediate conflict itself is almost unimportant, as it can quickly snowball into a major conflict ala OTL WW1) but what really makes it a "Great War" is, in my mind, the adoption of particular technologies.
The key developments needed, I think, are:
We see the inklings of some of these in earlier conflicts (ACW, Crimea, Franco-Prussian War, etc) and some mainstream AH has pursued inbetween scenarios; TL-191's Second Mexican War very deliberately is painted as a half-way house between the ACW and WW1. Looking at the casualty rates and brutality of fighting in certain parts of the American Civil War, some of the basics are already there but clearly not enough. Likewise the Franco-Prussian War has more important hallmarks (rapid mobilisation via railroad, theatre-level planning, modern heavy artillery) but ends too quickly to demonstrate the real Great War trappings. In part this is because of the political pressures on both sides, particularly France, but absent those pressures, could France have dug in and dragged out the war into something altogether more world changing?
I think most of what you need for a Great War in this fashion is in place by at least the mid-1890s, following the adoption of the Maxim gun. Of course, the war would (as in our own Great War) lead to a massive acceleration in war technology so perhaps such a conflict could come earlier? The 1880s or even 1870s? As mentioned above, is the technology of the Franco-Prussian War sufficient for such a "Great War"?
So yeah, thoughts? Anything I'm missing or have overlooked?
But what point in OTL tech/time does this become viable? Effectively what you need are Empires big enough to engage in such a conflict (indeed the immediate conflict itself is almost unimportant, as it can quickly snowball into a major conflict ala OTL WW1) but what really makes it a "Great War" is, in my mind, the adoption of particular technologies.
The key developments needed, I think, are:
- Mass adoption of repeating rifles (perhaps specifically bolt action but any repeater might do)
- Adoption of *reliable machine guns (recoil or gas operated)
- Adoption of modern artillery
- Development of state infrastructure sufficient to mobilise huge portions of the male population in a rapid manner
- The development of modern theatre level war plans (?)
We see the inklings of some of these in earlier conflicts (ACW, Crimea, Franco-Prussian War, etc) and some mainstream AH has pursued inbetween scenarios; TL-191's Second Mexican War very deliberately is painted as a half-way house between the ACW and WW1. Looking at the casualty rates and brutality of fighting in certain parts of the American Civil War, some of the basics are already there but clearly not enough. Likewise the Franco-Prussian War has more important hallmarks (rapid mobilisation via railroad, theatre-level planning, modern heavy artillery) but ends too quickly to demonstrate the real Great War trappings. In part this is because of the political pressures on both sides, particularly France, but absent those pressures, could France have dug in and dragged out the war into something altogether more world changing?
I think most of what you need for a Great War in this fashion is in place by at least the mid-1890s, following the adoption of the Maxim gun. Of course, the war would (as in our own Great War) lead to a massive acceleration in war technology so perhaps such a conflict could come earlier? The 1880s or even 1870s? As mentioned above, is the technology of the Franco-Prussian War sufficient for such a "Great War"?
So yeah, thoughts? Anything I'm missing or have overlooked?