Barbarossa

Still smarting from their defeat, the French government called upon Great Britain to actively support its Entente allies by declaring war on Germany. However, without a clear-cut casus belli such as an invasion of Belgium, the Asquith government declined to do so. Instead, it passed a series of measures entitled the Munitions Control Act. This piece of legislation banned all export of raw materials and manufactured goods from the British Empire to Germany and her allies. It also offered a package of soft loans to aid the now Dual Entente war effort as well as closing the Channel to all but British and French ships.

As the summer turned to autumn German troops continued to advance along the Baltic coast. Progress was not particularly rapid. Still, the combined construction of new railways and transport by sea moved sufficient supplies to keep the front echelons rolling forwards, crushing all Russian resistance in their path. When winter finally arrived, they were at the gates of Riga.

If the war with France on land developed into a stalemate, not so the war at sea. Whilst the French fleet had the run of the Mediterranean, albeit with the risk of attack by German and Austrian submarines, their Atlantic Fleet remained bottled up by the threat of the Imperial High Seas Fleet. Elsewhere, German commerce raiding cruisers converted the Indian Ocean into a no go area for the French mercantile marine. Thus, the latter was forced to hire neutral (mainly British) merchant ships to carry supplies from its Far East colonies to the mother country as well to transport supplies ammunition and other materials to Russia. At first vessels carrying French cargoes used direct routes across the Indian Ocean on their way to the Mediterranean. However this ceased after a pair of Italian merchant ships initially failed to halt when ordered to by a German cruiser operating out off Tanganyika. In response, the warship opened fire damaging the superstructure and killing three crewmen. The Italian captains immedia tely surrendered and their vessels escorted into Das Al Salaam where the cargo was confiscated.

On hearing the news, the Italian government repudiated its memberships of the Triple Alliance. It would have gone further and declared war on its former allies but for the threat of an Austro-Hungarian invasion. Instead, it copied Great Britain in pursuing an extremely anti-German foreign policy.

The main route of supplies to France was via Great Britain. Ships would dock in English ports as far apart as Liverpool and Southampton in order to transfer their cargoes to French vessels. These then would run the gauntlet of German submarines and mines on their way to ports on the other side of the English Channel.

With the French also laying mines to counter German submarines, it is not known who manufactured the one that sunk the Lusitania north of Cherbourg; both sides blamed the other. What is not in doubt was that the explosion first blew a hole in the port side before causing the ammunition onboard to detonate. The blast inflicted further damage to the stricken liner and it quickly sunk. Amongst the large number passenger who died were many Americans.

The loss of a few tons of supplies for the frontline was more than made up by the rage that the incident triggered in the British Empire. The Asquith government immediately declared war on Germany. Across the Atlantic the US Senate passed legislation similar to the British Munitions Control Act. However, it stopped short of calling all out war.

The news of Britain’s entry into the war should have been good news for Russia too. However, its haste to join the war the Acquisth government ordered the requisition of two Turkish battleships being built in British yards.