GREAT WAR 1898:

STICKS AND CARROTS

Century Dawn

We know that on new years eve of 1900, in the last few moments of the 19^th century, the soon to be vice president of the United States of America was not celebrating the arrival of a new century. There were some libations happening, nearby, and we know this by the same method that we are sure that Theodore Roosevelt did not feel compelled to join them. At the time, when most people were in the streets and waiting for the bells to chime atop Independence Hall, the former colonel was sitting in his hotel room, in Philadelphia, writing about exactly how he felt. Roosevelt firmly believed that there was little cause to celebrate. He wrote in his journal that he did not bare any ill will towards those who thought the occasion should be marked with revelry, and he remarked that he could hear them from the window of his room, yet Roosevelt was consumed with the greater issues facing not only his nation but, the entire world.

Roosevelt’s frustrations were not due to the greater war that the world now found itself embroiled in. If his writings are to be taken seriously then, it is quite clear that he thought the war was quite necessary. Like so many in the United States, since their defeat at the hands of the Confederate States, they felt much was wrong with the world and Roosevelt seemed to echo the sentiments of his fellow countrymen when he said, “as much as it pains me to say, only fire will purge this evil from our midst.”

The axe that Roosevelt had to grind was only apparent when he discussed the prosecution of the war. This seemed to tear at his very soul because it is clear, from his writings, that he believed his nation not only capable of winning the conflict but, of fixing the world in general. It was a very optimistic appraisal and a tall order considering the position that the United States occupied, in 1898, when the current war began. Despite the fact that no one doubted the emerging power of the US, even after it’s loss of it’s southern states, the nation was still regarded by the great European powers as an agrarian, regional, and somewhat backwater experiment in democracy that had failed. Ironically, this was as true of American allies and enemies alike.

While it was quite obvious that France and Russia had greatly depended on the US during the war, they never saw the aid provided by the Americans as anything substantial. Their attitude had been that the American contributions were little more than conveniences and that they, France and Russia, could still prosecute this war without American aid, if need be. This was not some vague attitude either. America’s allies said as much and were quite open with their opinions.

As much as this infuriated Roosevelt, who had now began to involve himself in foreign affairs in a way that he never had before, he could understand why his nation had not yet won the respect that he believed it so richly deserved. So far, America’s only real venture to demonstrate it’s ability, to project it’s will beyond it’s own borders, had been what Roosevelt had termed, a sight seeing expedition, in China. Despite how crucial this region was considered economically, for the European powers, it was still a backwater, much as North America was. The US adventure also required the participation of the Russians and, without that help, American operations in the Pacific rim were impossible.

America’s most important alliance, with the Boulanger Regime of France, was an unofficial partnership and cooperation between the two powers were always matters of convenience. The multiple treaties between the US and the Czar of Russia were formal but, it was clear who the senior partner was and this was not the United States. If this was how her friends saw her then Roosevelt was under no illusions about America’s enemies.

Roosevelt had come to a conclusion and, apparently, it was as he wrote all of this down. He decided that they could afford to scoff at his nation because their enemies, who were namely Britain, Germany, and Austria-Hungry were well beyond America’s grasp. The US could hurt them by means of hitting their possessions and puppets, such as Canada, Mexico, and the Confederate States of America but, anything else was currently not an option. Roosevelt could not bring himself to understand why no one had even thought to try.

It might seem overly ambitious but, then again, Theodore Roosevelt had never let such a thing stand in his way before. After all, just a little over two years ago he was a minor functionary in the administration of President Elihu Root. He had gone from that to Lieutenant Colonel, then full Colonel, and in twenty two days he would become the Vice President of the United States. If that were possible then why was it not possible for his nation to not only join the ranks of the great powers but, be the most powerful of them all. Roosevelt did not see this as impossible as so many around him might have thought.

Of course, there were many obstacles to be overcome if this were to ever happen. It might seem to many now, and it did to many then, that Roosevelt was an overzealous, crusading, simplistic, idealist but, I would hope that his accomplishments would prove this not to be the case. That is not to say that he was not any of the afore mentioned, it is just to say that Theodore was far more. He saw both his position and that of America, very realistically.

Roosevelt understood that despite the fact that he was about to become Elihu Root’s vice president, the fact was that Root had little use for him besides having that toothy grin on an election poster. Roosevelt knew that the Root administration was not about to let him walk in and start dictating policy any more than Great Britain was about to surrender her fleet. Despite this, he believed that he could make both of those situations a reality and he was willing to try.

We cannot be sure but, if his journal entry of that night is correct, and this is truly when Theodore decided on a new and bold crusade then, not long after midnight on the first day of the new century, it must have seemed as if it were cursed from the start. It was barely twelve minutes after midnight when the first sounds of war visited Philadelphia since the British had occupied the city, during the America Revolution of a century past. The not too distant explosions that shook the very room that the future Vice President was sitting in were not from artillery or ships. Roosevelt was well aware that Philadelphia was safe from such attacks. He was no stranger to the sounds of war at this point and, he was also aware of the new weapons being employed by his nations enemies. That’s why Roosevelt knew the attack could come from only one direction, the sky.

The raid on Philadelphia, in the very starting minutes of the new century, was by the Confederate States First Air Flotilla which, consisted of seventeen airships, all of whom were now on their very first combat mission. This was the first service seen by any such vehicles, built by the CSA, since the CSS Thunder had raided Cincinnati just under a year earlier. These new zeppelins were very different from the Thunder which had delivered a small group of soldiers on what today we would call a special operations mission. These airships were larger, faster, and built to do only one thing, drop bombs from the sky. That is what caused the explosions that Roosevelt heard on that night and, this raid was not unique. It was in coordination with the allies of the Confederacy, all of which were hitting targets on three different continents, on the same day.

Several hours earlier, in Europe, Germany had launched her newest ‘sky trains’ that were also on their very first combat missions. They carried monikers such as Wunderzeppelin and Das Uberzeppelin. Starting with the LZ-54, followed by every subsequent airship, they were aircraft of truly monumental size and scope. Each craft had multiple gondolas, most of which supported a single engine and two crewmen (per engine) to keep the propellers spinning. The LZ-54 had eighteen engines and some of the later models would have over twenty. It allowed them to fly faster, at higher altitudes, and with more stability than any of the previous models. Even more important than that was that they could fly much further. All of France was now easily within range of the German air fleet as were cities such as the Russian Capital of St Petersburg.

The battle of the Ionian Sea had proven, once and for all, that the Zeppelins had practical uses. They certainly had limits but, their detractors found that they no longer had an argument against them. These clouds of war were not just useless toys. It also changed the minds of many of the benefactors of the airship as well. The first bombing campaign against France had been largely a failure and this was how the Zeppelin’s had come to be in the service of the navy. Now with such a decisive victory under their belt, even men like Admiral Tirpitz had began to wonder if maybe that first land bombing campaign had simply not been executed, or supported, properly. The desperation to end the war was certainly enough to convince the Germans to give a land bombing campaign another try, hence the LZ-54 and her sister airships.

The only allied power not completely on board with this new strategy was the British Empire. While the operations in the Ionian Sea were enough to convince the Salisbury Cabinet that airships were worth pursuing, and vigorously at that, the needs of the British were quite different from that of Germany and the CSA. No matter how many troops that Britain sent to the Balkans, her war was still mainly one at sea. Commerce raiding was still the number one concern in Britain and the Zeppelins were seen as a means to protect vital merchant convoys and sea lanes. This is why British efforts to bomb the enemy into submission were half hearted at best. Her new airships, nowhere near as large or complex as those of her allies, would not participate fully in the bombardment of France or the US. They would limit their land targets to naval bases and enemy ports such as Brest on the Brittany peninsula. Most of her airships would begin joining her far flung fleets in an effort to decisively tip the balance of the naval war.

It is very hard to say if any of the leaders of the allied powers understood what was happening on that night. Some of them hinted in their letters and journals, although, it has to be stated, that many of these sources were from many years later when the authors were afforded the clarity of hindsight. That is why I believe that, on that first night of the new century, the leadership of all the nations were quite unaware of the milestone that had been reached and even passed. They had just crossed a line that they had reached in very small steps. This might explain why no one ever understood that it had, indeed been crossed.

On the very first night, of the very new century, war had just gone from being something that happened on distant battlefields, prosecuted and limited to professional soldiers and sailors, all of whom had some idea of what they were getting into and were normally there because it was their job. Now everyone was going to know war, whether they chose too or not. The past conflicts that were governed by at least some rules, whose gross brutality was moderated by some attempts at civilized behavior, were now gone. The limits once endorsed, by the very men who did the killing, would be no more. Desperation had combined with technology to produce a conflict like no other in history. Soon, the devastation, just like the war itself, would become totally encompassing and nothing would be out of bounds.