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Passing the Torches of Leadership |
- By TomStar81
By the end of 1916 nations frustrated by failures, setbacks, and inaction began to remove key members of their governments and military forces. This rejigging of important officials began on November 21, when His Imperial Majesty Franz Joseph I of Austria passed away on the same day that the hospital ship HMHS Britannic, sister to the legendary RMS Titanic, struck a mine and sank in the Aegean Sea. Franz Joseph's death would touch off a period of roughly eight weeks during which several allied and central power officials would be relieved or removed from their posts, either due to edicts and orders to that effect, or in some cases due to the death of the official in question.
Franz Joseph of Austria was 86 at the time of his death, and had reigned for nearly 68 years, during which the world graduated from large-scale agricultural and suburban commercialism to one of industrialization and mechanical contraptions which would lay the groundwork for the modern world. His death due to complications from pneumonia would allow for Charles I of Austria to succeed to the throne, though Charles would have no better luck in pushing his nation and people to winning the war than Franz had. Ultimately, Charles would issue the order that set into motion the abolition of the monarchy in Austria, though until the bitter end he would maintain the he was the rightful heir to the throne of the country and that the republican sentiment in his nation held no sway over his house.
Beginning December 5, a shakeup in the leadership of the United Kingdom resulted in the resignation of Prime Minister H. H. Asquith. It began in November over a discussion of the sale of captured assets; ranking government officials from Asquith's party failed to come to his assistance, signaling the end of his administration. The changing of the government was completed on December 6/7, when Lloyd George was invited to form a government with the blessing of King George V and assumed the role of Britain's Prime Minister.
Following the collapse of H. H. Asquith's government, Admiral John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe, was removed from his post as First Sea Lord of the Royal Navy. Jellicoe's departure followed on the heels of his perceived failure to win a decisive victory against the Imperial German Navy's high seas fleet during the Battle of Jutland, and his pessimism in conducting naval operations against the Central Powers. His dismissal came abruptly in early December when it became clear that David Lloyd George (at the time the newly appointed Prime Minister of the Wartime Coalition Government) would have to sack Jellicoe or lose Eric Campbell Geddes. Jellicoe was replaced by David Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty, himself a veteran of the Battle of Jutland and one whose aggressive approach was contrasted with the caution displayed by his predecessor.
On December 13, French General Joseph Joffre become the next ranking official to fall. He had won great praise for regrouping the retreating Allied armies to defeat the Germans at the strategically decisive First Battle of the Marne in September 1914, but his ability to command began to unwind at Verdun and later during the Somme offensive, when his ideas and the government's ideas about what actions should be taken came into conflict. This was further compounded by inaccurate reports from the frontlines and losses sustained in 1915's offensive operations. In December 1916, Aristide Briand, the French Prime Minister, formed a government, and Joffre subsequently discovered that despite a promotion to the rank of Marshal of France he was now little more than a figurehead for the new regime. He subsequently petitioned to be relieved of his command, a request honored by the Third French Republic. He was replaced in his role as the ranking military officer by Robert Nivelle, an artillery officer in the French Army.
The final loss came on December 29, when Grigori Rasputin, Éminence grise to the Imperial Russian Empire's Tsar Nicolas II, was assassinated by monarchists who were attempting to end his perceived influence over the emperor. Rasputin was thought to have fueled Russia's growing negativity over the actions of the Emperor by giving him false or misleading advice, in the process becoming the scapegoat for Nicholas' poor choices up to that point in the war. Felix Yusupov, an aristocrat with ties to the Imperial family, along with Dmitry, Vladimir Purishkevich, assistant Stanilaus de Lazovert and Sukhotin, killed Rasputin in the Moika Palace. Rasputin survived an initial attempt at poisoning, at which point he was shot, bludgeoned, and dumped in the Malaya Neva River. Exactly what killed Rasputin, and who was most directly responsible for the death, are still matters of debate.
In the aftermath of these shakeups, renewed efforts would be made to break out and beat enemy forces, however in the coming months as politicians and armies began to reposition themselves, new fronts and forces would enter the war, while internal strife and political intrigue would cause other governments and nations to collapse.
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