Eltab
Lord of the Hidden Layer
Your mission, should you choose to accept it …
At the beginning of World War One, the German battlecruiser Goeben must be prevented from reaching Constantinople.
Headache Part One: the easiest way to achieve that is for Goeben to run into a British or French cruiser squadron and get into a fight. Which means you have to 'persuade' several admirals to do something they want to do anyways. BUT how do you control the fall of shot so that Goeben takes damage and must run for the nearest neutral (read: Italian*) port, likely to get interned / scuttled?
IRL, Goeben did make it to Constantinople. The ramifications were disastrous for the Ottoman Empire, Russian Empire, and the Balkan nations. A generation later Germany too was drawn into the conflagration ('We were winning WW1 but were backstabbed'). And there is a Palestine to argue over to this day because the ex-Ottoman province of Syria was split up.
Headache Part 2: What is so bad that happens in the Alternate History that 'let Goeben get through' looks like a BETTER alternative?
* less likely: or Greek or Spanish
At the beginning of World War One, the German battlecruiser Goeben must be prevented from reaching Constantinople.
Headache Part One: the easiest way to achieve that is for Goeben to run into a British or French cruiser squadron and get into a fight. Which means you have to 'persuade' several admirals to do something they want to do anyways. BUT how do you control the fall of shot so that Goeben takes damage and must run for the nearest neutral (read: Italian*) port, likely to get interned / scuttled?
IRL, Goeben did make it to Constantinople. The ramifications were disastrous for the Ottoman Empire, Russian Empire, and the Balkan nations. A generation later Germany too was drawn into the conflagration ('We were winning WW1 but were backstabbed'). And there is a Palestine to argue over to this day because the ex-Ottoman province of Syria was split up.
Headache Part 2: What is so bad that happens in the Alternate History that 'let Goeben get through' looks like a BETTER alternative?
* less likely: or Greek or Spanish