The image here is a romantisation of the arrival of the newly formed Armeegruppe Ost at the Narva frontier with Russia in 1944.

Despite a stalemate in the West, the Reichskanslerei was pressured as early as 1941 to respond to the growing threat of Savinkov’s Russia regime. After consolidating his power, Savinkov vowed to reintegrate the Eastern European territories lost in the treaty of Brest-Litovsk during the Weltkrieg.

The United Baltic State, being close to the large military bases of St.Petersburg was especially at risk for any potential Russian invasion. Home to many German settlers, these Baltic Germans exerted great influence over the German parliament through their ties with the rich Juncker landlords and the Prussian aristocracy of Eastern Germany. Under this pressure, the Kaiser was forced to commit considerable numbers of advisors and troops to the Eastern borders to guard the frontiers of the Reichspakt , even at the height of the 1944 Verdun summer offensives. Adding to this pressure were the Scandinavian Reichspakt allies of Sweden and Finland, who had been the target of aggressive Russian posturing and even border skirmishes during the 1941 Winter Incident.

Despite the relative weakness of the reformed Russian State, it’s close ties to Japan and rapidly expanding arms buildup meant that the Central Powers were now facing the very real threat of a repeat of the Weltkrieg’s two-front war. With the French front in a precarious position, and the remnants of the Ottoman and Austrian empires crumbling to internal strife, it was widely feared that a Russian attack would spell doom for the already strained German Empire.

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Springtime in Narva is part of the 'seasons' series of loading screens by Vincent. In this series, Vincent explores four possible timeslines inside Kaiserreich, framed as paintings set during the four seasons. This particular piece depicts the formation of an allied Mitteleuropean command and includes Polish, Belarussian and Lithuanian soldiers setting up a base near Narva. A polish PT tank can be seen being unloaded from the train, while a Lithuanian, Polish and German officer discuss logistics.

Now, you can get this timeless piece to display on your wall!

• Ayous wood .75″ (1.9 cm) thick frame from renewable forests
• Paper thickness: 10.3 mil (0.26 mm)
• Paper weight: 189 g/m²
• Lightweight
• Acrylite front protector
• Hanging hardware included
• Blank product components in the US sourced from Japan and the US
• Blank product components in the EU sourced from Japan and Latvia