jimcat@rpi.edu (Jim Kasprzak) (05/13/91)
From: jimcat@rpi.edu (Jim Kasprzak)
This is an odd crossposting, but I think it's appropriate. If you
followup to this, please edit the Newsgroups line if your post
isn't strictly related to the military technology aspects. The
sci.military moderator has enough to keep him busy.
A few weeks ago I picked up, from a rare-book dealer, a book
entitled _America Fallen! The Sequel To The European War_. This
book was written in 1915 by J. Bernard Walker, then editor of
_Scientific American_.
The premise of the book is one which should be fairly familiar
to the U.S. reading public since Tom Clancy came on the scene:
"what would happen if another major military power got into a
war with us?" What makes it even more fascinating to me is the
setting, and its treatment of WWI-era warfare.
Briefly, the book's alternate history goes like this: in 1916,
Germany surrenders to the Allies, unable to support its war in
the face of determined resistance and a steady flow of supplies
from the United States to the Allies. Germany agrees to pay
$15 billion in reparations on the condition that it is allowed
to keep its navy. The treaty is signed, and within months,
Germany embarks on its new plan for world domination: instead
of battling the heavily armed European powers and maintaining a
colonial empire in Africa, it will invade the barely-defended
United States, and force that country to pay a $20 billion
indemnity and repeal the Monroe Doctrine, opening the way for
German domination of South America.
The details of the German invasion plan in the book make it
obvious that Walker had excellent knowledge of the state of
U.S. military preparedness at the time (which was pretty
dismal). He shows how it would have been ridiculously easy
for a small invasion force to overrun the coastal defenses
of cities like Boston and New York, opening the harbors
for the enemy fleet to come in and force the city to surrender
under threat of bombardment.
What especially impressed me, though, was his use of military
technology which, for 1915, must have been on the cutting edge.
The German invasion is spearheaded by submarine raids on the
naval shipyards at Boston, Brooklyn and Philadelphia. The
initial raids to capture the shore batteries use bicycles and
motorcycles to move quickly. (I didn't even think there were
large numbers of motorcycles in existence in 1915.) And the
bombardment of New York uses seaplanes (called "hydro-aeroplanes"
in the book) for artillery spotting.
Another interesting factor was the difference in communication
technology between 1915 and today. The German raids were able to
totally isolate the shore forts by disabling all the railroad
tracks, cutting the telephone and telegraph lines, and capturing
the radio ("long-distance wireless") transmitters. At that point,
the only communication going into or out of the isolated spot
would be by people on foot. Needless to say, this sort of isolation
would be completely impossible to achieve today - witness the
communications out of Baghdad and Kuwait City during the Gulf War.
The overall message behind the book, though, is more reminiscent
of Gen. John Hackett's _Third World War_ than of _Red Storm Rising_:
over and over Walker points out how foolish it was of the United
States to neglect its defenses, and how vulnerable it had left
itself to invasion and takeover by a prepared enemy. And unlike
Hackett or Clancy, Walker doesn't use a deus ex machina ending to
save the Good Guys. The book ends with the Germans in control of the
entire Eastern seaboard from Virginia to Maine, and the United
States has no choice but to accept Germany's terms of surrender.
I wouldn't mind further discussing WWI-era military technology
or "imaginary war" books in general if people are interested,
but this is getting quite long already.
Again, be careful with followups. Posts about alternate-war books
should go to rec.arts.books only.
--
Jim Kasprzak, computer operator @ RPI, Troy, NY, USA
Disclaimer: RPI pays me to work, not to think.
e-mail: jimcat@rpi.edu or kasprzak@mts.rpi.edu