Rump Austrian Empire after World War I Revised

[chris N]

A major clash took place between the demonstrators and the police. It became a full scale battle and Mussolini ordered the army in to support the police. The Generals were unsure that this was the right move and turned to the King to over ride the order. Mussolini ordered the Black shirts in as they were an armed Fascist Militia.. The King had thrown a lifeline to the Generals by ordering a stand down. He met with the Military leadership and prepared to replace the government with a military one.

 

[chris N]

The King ordered the Military to arrest Mussolini and remove him to a secure facility. The Fascist Blackshirt were ordered disarmed. The King was prepared to name a new Prime Minister. While a Fascist the new Prime Minister was also a Military man and far more reasonable than Mussolini. Having spoken to the King he was prepared to defuse things with Austria and reach an agreement with Britain and France.

 

[chris N]

Italy had a new Prime Minister Air Marshal Italo Balboa was the man. The Fascist Party had barely survived the Fall of Mussolini.This man had what he lacked the people liked him. He quickly dealt with the problem regarding Austria and convinced Kaiser Otto that he would have no further problems with Italy. He talked with the British Ambassador and resolved the problems with Britain resulting in a new coal deal. He also convinced the French that the misunderstanding would be resolved and the Russians were reassured that the trade agreement would be honored and that Italy would work with Russia on some warship designs for the Russian Navy.

 

[chris N]

Italy was holding talks with the Russians about allowing Russia to build the newest Italian designed Battleship the which was currently under Construction in Italian Shipyards.

 

[chris N]

Italian Designers who had designed the new Italian battleship arrive in Russia and held meetings with their Russian counterparts. Prime Minister Balboa was hopeful that this would lead to more co-operation and contracts. The Russians signed an agreement to buy the design and hope that the Italians would assist in building it

 

[chris N]

Otto was glad that war with Italy had been avoided. The Austrian Military had been greatly strengthen due to the fear that a war might have to be fought. The German built Ju88 had greatly strengthen the Royal Austrian Air Force ability to strike Italy. Austria continued to buy the T-39 medium tank.
Austrian Intelligence was however quite concern with the growing ties between Italy and Russia. Two of the Czar Constantine class Battleships(the Russian name for the Italian designed Battleships were being built. One in a shipyard near St Petersburg and the other at the shipyard just north of Georgia. These ships had both the German and British Navies very concern.

 

[chris N]

Italy had occupied Albania and it was currently heavily involved in a dispute with Ethiopia but Prime Minister Balboa was attempting to settle the problem. He had also moved to reach an agreement with Greece's Right wing Government. There had been some diplomatic moves to resolve the ongoing Italo-Yugoslav disput. Basicly the British, German and French governments were quite pleased with dealings with the new Italian leader. He was regarded as more reasonable and more of a man who if he gave his word on anything you could count on it as a done deal.

 

[chris N]

Austria began to deactivate some of the reservist units that had been called to the border with Italy and Italy also removed forces from the border region. The Italian Prime Minister moved to ease tensions and prepared to reopen the border. He cracked down on any demonstrations that might cause problems and dismissed some Fascist Party officials.

 

[chris N]

Italian Prime Minister Balboa moved to improve Italian-Greek relations. It was a rethinking of Italian thinking. Trying to gain Greek support by supporting Greek claims against Turkey and Yugoslavia. Greece's right wing government embraced the Italians.

 

[chris N]

Kaiser Otto I had been trying to mediate a resolution to the Hungarian-Romanian Border dispute. He had gotten some help from the Germans and the Poles in trying to come up with a solution that would allow everyone to put the past behind them. Otto had tried to get the French involved in helping to push the parties together. He had gotten the Hungarians and the Yugoslavian Governments to put the Hungarians minority back into Hungary. Austrian-Yugoslav relations had been on the mend. Yugoslavia still considered Italy to be a threat with Bulgaria a strong second.

 

[chris N]

Italy sold some Military equipment to the Greeks>It included Helmets, Teakettles, Mortars.The Greeks were looking to buy tanks and other weapons . They had looked at French, British, Czech and now Italian weapons. Greece had bought most of its weapons from either France or Britain but Italy was offering a better deal.

 

[chris N]

While the Austrian Empire's Diplomatic relations with Italy had improved since the Fall of Mussolini, Otto was not exactly sure that Prime Minister Balboa's diplomatic moves
were really in the best interest of Austria. The Italian leader had repaired relations with Greece and since Greece had a right wing government Another point of concern
was the growing relationship between Russia and Italy. The Italians were helping the Russians to build 2 modern battleships. Russia was selling the Italians oil and talk was assisting them with building the new Russian T-34 tank which would alter the balance of power in the region
Austrian Intelligence was noting activity y both the Italians and Russians in Bulgaria.

 

[chris N]

The Italians had looked at the Russian T-34 tank and were very impressed with it. The tank had a much more powerful 76mm gun compared to the Italian 47mm gun .
It would mean that if the Italians bought it they would have a tank which could outmatch anything that the French,British or Austrians had

 

[chris N]

Italy purchased a dozen T-34 for testing. The Russians were really hoping that they could get the Italians to buy the tank. No sooner had the Italians purchased the tanks than the British and French began to apply pressure. The result was Balboa signed an agreement to buy 245 more.

 

[chris N]

The Italian Army was divided into two camps those that were impressed by the Russian equipment and those that disliked it. Unfortunately for the latter group the Italian Prime Minister was impressed with the Russian tanks ability to function. Both sides agreed that the Russian tanks gun was far more powerful than the 47mm on the current Italian tank. The Russian tanks suffered far fewer break downs. The Italians were working on a new design the P-26.

 

[chris N]

The Russians were offering to sell the Italian military more T-34s plus tank destroyers in return the Italians would assist them with the construction of another 2 battleships plus several cruisers and destroyers. It would be a win win situation for both countries. Russia would sell Italy oil at a special price.. The Italians signed a n expanded trade deal with Russia.

 

[chris N]

Needless to say Austrian Imperial Intelligence had picked up some of the information about arms sales by Russia and Italy. It contacted the Abwehr and Britains MI-6.
Sharing what had been learned and in turn finding out more from the Germans and the British.

 

[chris N]

Austria and Czechoslovkia were now working on a new joint project for a new tank to replace both the T-38 and the T-39. This would be a medium tank armed with a 75mm
gun

 

[chris N]

The Czech engineers were working with their Austrian counterparts to design the new tank. The tank was designed the T-25 Medium tank and would be a giant step forward for the Czechs. It would be equipped with a Skoda 75mm gun and would have an auto loader. This would give the tank to rapidly take on targets. It would also be capable of taking on the T-34 and defeating it. Both countries militarizes expressed strong interest in acquiring the tank.

 

[chris N]

Czech engineers were proposing to modify the T-39 tank body and turn it into a tank destroyer with a 75mm gun and had also proposed developing an APC using the tank body. Germany had been offering the Austrians the sdkfz251 half track but there were those in Austria that prefer-ed to reach an agreement worth the Czech companies