German Emperor Wilhelm II planned attack on the United States

[Ecthy]

Yeah, I think we should have invaded the Netherlands instead.

[Sikander]

Originally posted by Saint Marcus


You do know that in 1900, the USA wasn't a superpower yet. Without British/French support, it wouldn't have stood much of a chance if it wanted to defeat Germany completely.

In a one on one war between the USA and Germany, it would be a marginal victory for Germany. The Panama canal would have been captured by the Germans, but they wouldn't have been able to effectively invade the American homeland. At the same time, the Americans would have been powerless to retake Panama, and wouldn't even get the oportunity to invade the German homeland. So in the end, Germany would have gotten Panama and that's about it. Though it's unlikely of course that the French or British would have stayed out of the war.

Remember, this is 1900 not 1941.

A reasonably fair appraisal. There are a couple of other factors that might have had an appreciable impact however. Firstly, the Germans would have been at a large disadvantage by being on the offensive at such an enormous distance from their production centers. Without bases their ability to keep their navy operating would have been problematic, and their ability to keep their coal powered transports going would have been extremely problematic. So Germany's first move would be to secure a base of operations which would allow them to stockpile supplies near enough to the U.S. to blockade the U.S. Navy. That is an extremely tall order. Panama would have allowed them to strike both coasts with their fleet, but it is too far from either coast to maintain a decent blockade much less serve as a jumping off point for some sort of invasion. It is also a very long way from Germany.

Mexico on the other hand was an excellent choice if they could have talked the Mexican government into it. It has some good ports on both coasts, and one could strike both Panama and the U.S. fairly easily from there. It's only weakness would be it's surface transportation infrastructure which was pretty bad, and non-existent by German standards. This would have forced the Germans to make an amphibious invasion of the U.S. even if they had managed to acquire Mexico as a base of operations.

The U.S. would have had a lot of problems also. Namely a very small and out-dated Army, and an uneven and somewhat out-dated Navy. However the U.S. was the largest industrial power in the world already, and would be able to predominate militarily over time in a war of attrition, especially one where the Germans would not be able to project a significant portion of it's Army to engage the weak U.S. Army. At sea the U.S. would probably have been forced to play the weaker Navy by attacking commerce / supply lines and picking it's fights carefully to allow it's fleet to build it's strength before fighting for Naval supremacy. Interestingly it might well have been the birth of effective submarine warfare, for the U.S. was one of the leading countries in the development of the submarine, and the limited capabilities of the submarine of the time would have nonetheless allowed a defensive employment of them.

Without Panama, the U.S. would not be as effective at building up and training it's Navy, though the capability for West Coast cities to build ships at this point was less significant than it was to be later, so the net loss of shipbuilding to the whole Navy would have been negligible. Harrassment of the Eastern Seaboard would have definitely effected U.S. Naval operations, especially training. However the large number of good ports, their distance from one another, and the fact that there were many capable of building warships would have presented some opportunities for the Americans to strike back at what would have been a fairly large number of detached blockade groups.

It definitely would have been interesting. Number one industrial power against number 2.

[Saint Marcus]

Yeah, I think we should have invaded the Netherlands instead.

Why? We gave you all those nice aircraft in WW1. You should be grateful to us.

[Ecthy]

True again, thinking of Fokker planes

[Saint Marcus]

True again, thinking of Fokker planes

Exactly. Without us, you will all be speaking French by now.

[Andemagne]

don't you just hate those dam* americans, when they are
so sure of them selves and with no reason

[TCO]

Originally posted by Ecthelion
And it was shown when said pioneer heritage came to action over Japan. Blood thirsty huns.

Yes. It was also shown when Georgie Patton grabbed Rommel "by the nose and kicked him in the ass."

Scoreboard, baby...

[TCO]

Originally posted by Andemagne
don't you just hate those dam* americans, when they are
so sure of them selves and with no reason

Everybody hates a winner...

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by Saint Marcus


You do know that in 1900, the USA wasn't a superpower yet. Without British/French support, it wouldn't have stood much of a chance if it wanted to defeat Germany completely.

In 1900, American industry outstripped every other nation in the world, including Germany. I have no doubt that America would have swiftly mobilized and dispatched with the German invasion with pretty minimal damage to American soil. This isn't jingoism, just the facts. Germany would have been outmatched in 1900, particularly 1906 (when this plan would have had to come to fruition). And once again, America would be able to call on Britian and France for help in Europe, thereby crippling Germany's war effort.

[Saint Marcus]

In 1900, American industry outstripped every other nation in the world, including Germany.

Production alone doesn't make a nation a superpower. America's army and navy were piss-poor, and the US certainly wasn't able to project it's power worldwide, unlike the Germans and British (who were superpowers).

Also, like I said, a quick win in Panama would be enough to ensure a marginal victory for the Germans, since it's unlikely the US could retake it.

[joseph1944]

Originally posted by Saint Marcus


Production alone doesn't make a nation a superpower. America's army and navy were piss-poor, and the US certainly wasn't able to project it's power worldwide, unlike the Germans and British (who were superpowers).

Also, like I said, a quick win in Panama would be enough to ensure a marginal victory for the Germans, since it's unlikely the US could retake it.

Wait a min., We had just finnish a war in case someone miss it. It was the war 1898 with Spain. We removed Spain from Cuba and PI. The PI is about 7,000 miles from the US. I just look this up. Tirpitz ordered the construction of 20 BBs between 1889 and 1904. Only 14 were completed by 1900. We had 6 with 3 more being built (laid down 1897). USS Texas, Maine, Indiana, Massachusetts, Oregon, and the Iowa. Granded these BBs were not the greatest in the world, but with a good crew and Capt. they would have done some dammage. Note: the Maine was sunk in Cuba. Another Note: TR was the President and he would have rally the troops to perform better than anyone else in his time. Also we had Jack Pershing the only 6 Star General in History to lead our troops. (In 1918 General Pershing was given the title General of the Armies that included British, French, and American Armies).

[Imran Siddiqui]

Actually in the early 1900s, the American navy was a force to deal with. It was either 2 or 3 since 1900. Britain, of course, was alway #1 .

[SKILORD]

Britain would have crushed them. mabe crushed the germans maybe start a premature WW1. we could've defended ourselves.

the Zimmerman telegram was quite frankly a joke. germany nor Austria had the manpower to put their own troops there and the mexican army...... hahaha

[Dr Strangelove]

Believe it or not, this article actually made it to the second page of the local paper!

It appears that the Germans were going to rely on naval bombardment alone to subdue the Ameicans. A little over a decade earlier this had worked to subdue the Sultan of Zanzibar, so I guess they thought that it would work again in the Americas. Surely you can all see that this would never have worked. Zanzibar is an island country. Shelling the port and the forts put the ruler in direct danger. He surrendered in less than an hour. Shelling the US would have come no where near the American president. By the time he got the news the Germans would probably have exhausted their supply of shells. Sailing back to Germany the British fleet would have sent the entire squadron to the bottom of the ocean. Why? Because the US was Britain's largest area of investment. Before WW I the British actually had more capital invested in Wall Street than in the Imperial colonies.

[Lonestar]

Let's see.....

US Army?
- Smaller than most countries (even by 1914, it was only the 17th worldwide in size).
-Many Large State Militias.
-In 1901, there were still many, many US Civil War Vets who had seen warfare on a larger scale than, well, anyone. This provided a ready-made officer corps. (as it did in the Spanish-American War, notably with former Confederate General Wheeler, although there were many other vets.)
-Therefore, one can assume all the USA would have to do is delay the Germans from invading long enough to mobilize a national army. This, of course, falls to the....

USN
-Not very big in 1900, but certainly bigger than the German navy. Had just came through the Spanish-American war kicking ass and taking names.
-The North Atlantic is a big place. I'd wager the USN could raid and delay/stop altogether a German convoy.
-Of course, without a few years of all out funneling the economy towards war, the War won't end. Unless we include...

Coalition Building
The French would jump on the chance to screw around with the Germans. If they thought they'd get back the Alsace-lorraine, I'm sure they'd be more than happy to let the USA use Franch as a stageing point.

Conclusion
USA RUULZ, EUROPE DROOLZZ!!