A Brief History of the 20th Century: An Alternate timeline

[blah the Prussian]

Without further ado, here is the next update:

Chapter 3

Culture and Politics in the 1920s and 30s

The 1920s was, by all accounts, an age of extremes. The victors of the Great War basked in their triumph, enjoying unheard of prosperity. The losers, on the other hand, fell into poverty and despotism. In the 1920s, culture would enter a new renaissance. Cultural aspects that we now are extremely familiar with, such as the comic book, the major motion picture, and the mass-produced automobile all originated in the 1920s. This cultural development would continue into the 1930s, only ending with the outbreak of the Great Depression.

The first superhero ever originated in Germany. Called Ultimate Man, he was created by comic legend Joseph Geobbells (AN: not a Nazi in this TL; don't worry). Ultimate Man was square jawed, noble, and could do no wrong. Though in later years his character would be criticized for this, audiences in the 1920s were fine with him. Ultimate Man fought against many enemies, particularly Captain America, an evil genius in the employ of the USSA. The First issue of Ultimate Comics came out in 1931. They continue to run to this day.

Russian superheroes were mostly displaced by their German counterparts, but one comic series would end up being possibly more celebrated than Ultimate Man: Batman. Created by Walt Disney, a cartoonist who fled the USSA during the Revolution, Batman’s true identity was Bruce Wayne, a rich boy whose parents were murdered by the Communists. Following their death, he took on the identity of Batman, a rebel leader whose teammates included Bane, a wrestler with super strength, and the Riddler, who confounded his foes with puzzles. They fought Commissioner Gordon, a ruthless PBI (People’s Bereau of Investigation) agent. Batman first appeared in 1933.

The film industry flourished as well. Directors such as Fritz Lang and Leni Riefenstahl in Germany created films that are considered classics even today. Of particular note was Friedrich, a biopic of the Prussian king Freidrich the Great, particularly about the Seven Years War. There were also many films dealing with the First World War, such as Unser Kampf, about Adolf Hitler’s service in the war. These films would all go on to become classics of cinematography.

The German Empire was greatly expanded by the war. It grew to include vast tracts of Africa, as well as a new state in the form of Austria. The new government, under Chancellor Gustav Stressmann, focused on maintaining the state of the German economy, and on colonial development. German Africa was reorganized into the Dominion of Mittelafrika, with a governor appointed by the Kaiser. Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, a war hero who served in Africa, was the governor. The German army, meanwhile, grew complacent. Despite new Panzer Tanks being introduced, they were merely incorporated into existing divisions, as opposed to forming their own divisions.

In America, culture was firmly under the control of the State. Jack Reed died in 1929. He was succeeded by southern demagogue Huey Long. Long was far more dictatorial than Reed, and rejected the Reed Doctrine. Instead, Long steered the USSA towards a more militarist path, expanding the army to the end of “Liberating the oppressed workers of the world from reactionary despotism”. Long also cracked down on dissent in his own country. J. Edgar Hoover, Long’s associate and leader of the PBI, used his secret police to find opponents of the regime and imprison them in labor camps, located in the Great Plains. Long also carried out purges of the army, killing Generals such as George S. Patton and Douglas Macarthur due to suspected disloyalty.

The Third French Empire, and the rest of the Axis, experienced an extreme military buildup. The French army was led by Marshal Charles de Gualle, who revolutionized tank warfare forever. de Gualle recommended that war be carried out with a series of forward thrusts led by tank regiments; the French Renault tank was the best in the world. The French tanks were supported by the Imperial Guard, elite divisions loyal only to Napoleon V. In 1933, the French Prime Minister became Eugene Deloncle; Deloncle would continue his predecessor’s policy of being a yes man for the Emperor. On the world stage, the French and Italians supported Fascist coups against the governments of Spain and Portugal, both of whom were accepted into the Axis. In addition, all of the fascist countries maintained an embargo against all communist nations. While this harmed them economically at first, they had adjusted by 1933.

Japan had been hit hard by its defeat in the Russo-Japanese War, and as such the militarists seemed to be decisively proven wrong about Japan’s course. As such it turned towards democracy after the war, with the Emperor having a more figurehead role. Japan did, however, greatly strengthen and modernize its navy, and build up its army. Under Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku, Japan became the premier naval power of the far east. In light of Chinese aggression, Emperor Hirohito in 1930 signed an anti Chinese defensive pact with the Russian Empire.

Russia under Empress Olga placed an emphasis on building up its strength in the Far East and Central Asia. A great many divisions were deployed there to counter the threat from China and Wang Jingwei’s rhetoric, and war seemed more and more likely. Russia was also threatened by India and Turkey in the Middle East. Russia was led by moderate liberal Prime Minister Vladimir Ulaynov (OTL Lenin. Historically he was radicalized because his brother was executed for trying to kill the Tsar. Here that didn't happen, so he's just liberal.) Russia also granted autonomy to Poland and Finland, as a kingdom and Grand Duchy, respectively. The Empress would be the head of state, but both nations would have their own elected parliaments. For Russia, the interwar period was one of consolidation and liberalization.

As the 1920s came to an end, the world had good reason to be optimistic. The democratic nations of the world had extremely strong economies, and had banded together against Fascism and Communism. The Eurasia Pact was signed in 1932 by Germany, Russia, Japan, Yugoslavia, Korea, Greece, Persia, Iraq, Pakistan, Thailand, and Burma. Against them was the Axis. Along with France, Italy, China, and Britain, the Axis by 1932 had expanded its membership to include Portugal, Spain, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia (who joined to recover the Sudetenland). These power blocks seemed destined to clash. However, the wild card was the Comintern. It was clearly led by Huey Long’s USSA, but Long was a mystery. While Reed had been fine with cooperating with the West, Long seemed firmly against it. Everyone was watching the USSA apprehensively. Then, on June 3, 1933, it happened. The USSA cut all economic interaction with the non-Communist world.

The result, at least in the democratic nations, was catastrophic. All American investments in their economies had disappeared overnight. Countless factories closed down, and as a result unemployment rose. By contrast, the nations of the Axis were relatively unaffected. This was because they had been embargoing the Comintern from the beginning. They relied on it for their economy much less, and what damage that was done was repaired more easily due to the State controlled economies enjoyed by the Fascist nations. The Great Depression had begun.

In Russia, Ulaynov’s liberals fell out of favor due to the economic collapse. In the elections of 1934, they were beaten by none other than Marshal Pyotr Nicholaevich Wrangel. Prime Minister Wrangel began enacting more economically authoritarian measures. He began to move the economy away from reliance on foreign investments, and towards reliance on Russia’s Middle Eastern sphere of influence. The Russian economy somewhat recovered on oil.

Germany was less lucky. Their Chancellor Franz von Papen was not all that competent in terms of economics. Germany’s production went down by significant margins. By 1935, they had fewer tanks than France. The German Luftwaffe was also in a state of disrepair. Germany’s colonial empire suffered as well. In German Mittelafrika, the companies that controlled the region began to exploit the natives more and more to make more money. This prompted many rebellions, as well as von Lettow-Vorbeck resigning because he was not given permission to put a stop to the actions of the corporations.

In Paris, Emperor Napoleon V watched. Watching with him was Oswald Mosley, Benito Mussolini, and Wang Jingwei. They saw the weakness of Germany, the empire that used to stand astride Europe. It was under these circumstances that the Axis made the first move on their path to world domination.

[blah the Prussian]

Chapter Four

Appeasement

By 1934 the French under Napoleon V had rebuilt their economy and their military. French Renault tanks were some of the most fearsome in the world. As such, Napoleon V felt confidant enough to move a French infantry division into the Calais region, which had been demilitarized by the Treaty of Potsdam, on March 20, 1934. The Germans did nothing about these developments. The French had won an important diplomatic victory, one that would set a precedent for the next few years. This precedent was not a positive one.

Meanwhile, Benito Mussolini looked on the Empire of Ethiopia, the last independent African state, hungrily. On April 2 Italy forged an incident where Ethiopian and Italian troops fired on each other. Ethiopian Empress Zewditu claimed that the exchange was on Ethiopian territory. Mussolini announced that the battle took place in Italian Eritrea. Ethiopia had the unfortunate situation of not being protected by any colonial power. As such, Italian troops, without any negotiation whatsoever, moved in to Ethiopia.

Neither of these developments were opposed by Germany because Germany’s chancellor, Franz von Papen, believed in the policy of Appeasement. This meant giving the Axis nations what they wanted, in the rather vain hope that they would eventually stop. Unfortunately, this did not happen. Many historians speculate that f Wlhelm II had not been assassinated, he would have overruled von Papen and stopped France. It is unlikely that France could have beaten Germany in 1934, despite the Great Depression. Such speculation, of course, is useless, as it did not happen, while the history discussed here did. Moving on.

Ethiopia was ridiculously outmatched by Italy. Ethiopian troops used rifles from the Victorian Era against Italian tanks and planes. Some regiments were armed with spears and bows. Despite this, the Ethiopians resisted the Italians heroically, and the Italians took around a year to conquer the country. The Ethiopian Imperial Family fled to Switzerland, where Zewditu died. Her last wish was to see her country free from Fascism.

Meanwhile, in Britain, Lord Protector Oswald Mosley looked resentfully towards Ireland, which had gained full independence after the Great War. The northern part of Ireland was inhabited by a Protestant majority. A fair amount of the citizens there were even ethnically British. In 1935, Mosley sent an ultimatum to Irish President Micheal Collins demanding that Northern Ireland be given to Britain to “protect the oppressed Protestants in the area.” To be perfectly fair to the British, this was true. Britons and Protestants faced heavy repression under the Collins regime. Of course, everyone faced repression under Mosley.

So it was that on April 5, 1935, Mosley met with von Papen, Wrangel, and Napoleon V in Norwich, England to negotiate about the fate of Northern Ireland. Wrangel and von Papen were there as Irish allies, Mosley was there as the claimant to Northern Ireland, and Napoleon was there to represent Catholic Ireland (This was, of course, complete bull; Napoleon agreed with everything Mosley put forward). So it was that, 5 days later, on April 10, the Treaty of Norwich was signed, ceding Northern Ireland to the United Kingdom. In exchange, the Axis would not ask for anything more than they had (Spoiler Alert: This was a lie).

It was at this juncture that Franz von Papen finally realized that to beat the Axis, he would actually require an army! As such, he began to prepare Germany for war. The problem was that the German economy was not able to produce enough planes, tanks, and artillery to stand up to the French army. Even with their Siegfried Line covering the German and Belgian border with fortifications, the Germans would be unprepared to face the French Renault tanks in open combat. This would prove to cost the German Empire more than it’s leaders could have possibly imagined.

France looks hungrily at a weakened Germany, eager to reclaim what it sees as it’s. Italy announces its intentions to rebuild the Roman Empire. China looks to the north, towards Russia, seeking revenge for a century of humiliation. The USSA prepares to spread the world revolution north, to Canada. Communism and Capitalism face off in South America. All of these tensions will come to a head in the Second World War.

[blah the Prussian]

Interlude

Just in Case You Forgot a Bunch of Shit

So! In this section, I will go through the circumstances of every major nation in the world on January 1, 1936. To start with, here are the alliances:

Eurasia Pact:

Ideology: Constitutional Monarchy and Capitalism

Members: German Empire, Mittelafrika, Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Russian Empire, Poland, Finland, Japan, Yugoslavia, Greece, Iraq, Iran, Holy Land Protectorate, Pakistan

Status: The Eurasia Pact is essentially Germany, Russia, and their spheres of influence. While Germany and Russia are reasonably strong, their smaller allies are all weak points, with small armies and suspect loyalty. Poland and Finland are practically autonomous regions of Russia. Belgium is the same for Germany. The Eurasia Pact’s greatest strength and weakness both come from Germany and Russia.

Axis:

Ideology: Fascism

Members: Third French Empire, Italy, Chinese Empire, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New ZealandSpain, Portugal, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Bolivia

Status: The Axis is held together by two things: hatred of the Eurasia Pact, and hatred against the Comintern. All the member nations desire territory, are threatened by Communism, or both. If Communism and Democracy fail, it is quite clear that the Axis will fall apart. For now, however, they are a unified block. With France’s armored divisions, Italy’s Bersagliare shock troops, China’s manpower, and Britain’s navy, the Axis is a formidable fighting force, arguably the most powerful in the world.

Comintern:

Ideology: Communism (duh)

Members: USSA, Mexico, Cuba, India, Middle Eastern Democratic Republic (aka Turkey), Centroamerica, Columbia, Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador, Haiti, Chile

Status: The Comintern is held together by the USSA. The other states of the Comintern depend upon it and only it for protection. The only other Communist states capable of standing on their own are Turkey and India, and they are surrounded by enemies that outmatch them. The USSA, however, more than makes up for this with it’s staggering industrial base and massive military. The Comintern is a force to be reckoned with.

Well, wasn't that educational? Moving on, here we have all the people who are important to this timeline or will be important in the near future:

Huey Long: Premier of the USSA. Long is a very aggressive leader, wanting to spread the revolution to the world. He is also very dictatorial, abolishing the last vestiges of democracy since the Second American Revolution.

Franz von Papen: Chancellor of Germany. He is incompetent, favoring appeasement. He also has handled the Great Depression poorly. Overall, a weak and reviled leader.

Oswald Mosley: “Lord Protector” and dictator of the United Kingdom. A revanchanistic imperialist. A shrewd leader, but not too skilled militarily.

Kaiser Wilhelm III: Emperor of Germany. After constitutional reforms, has much less power than his father Wilhelm II. Is unable to stop von Papen’s appeasement. Not pleased with this and hopes for a resurgence in monarchial power.

Wang Jingwei: Leader of China. While nominal power rests with the Emperor, Jingwei is the one truly in charge. Believes that it is China’s duty to make all of Asia tributaries. Calls this ideology Sinocentrism.

J. Edgar Hoover: American minister of security. Has a lot of blood on his hands. Extremely feared and reviled.

Prince Saionji: PM of Japan. A supporter of democracy, he has so far been able to prevent the Japanese militarists from seizing power. However, it remains to be seen if he will keep this up if war breaks out.

Pyotr Wrangel: PM of Russia. He is a moderate conservative, and has mostly focused his time in control on military buildup against China, as well as on repairing Russia’s economy. An effective ruler.

Tsarina Olga I: Empress of Russia. Has moderate power, but not as powerful as Wrangel. Is well loved by the population for her works of charity and kindness. Also boosts morale of the army.

Emperor Napoleon V: French Emperor of the Bonaparte dynasty. Shrewd in political and military matters, his real strength comes from the fanatical support of his people. In a few more years, he may begin fulfilling his ambition of restoring France to her former glory.

Gerd von Rundstedt: Chief of the German army. Conservative, but with a sense of noblesse oblige, he believes Germany should be arming itself more than it is for the coming conflict. May be willing to take matters into his own hands.

Charles de Gualle: French Chief of the Army. A proponent of the Lightning War tank doctrine. A brilliant commander, but known to be overly stubborn.

King Edward VIII: King-Emperor of the United Kingdom. A Fascist, but has little real power compared to Oswald Mosley. Despite this, he supports his PM.

Benito Mussolini: Leader of Fascist Italy. Bravado and a cult of personality mask the fact that he is in reality an incompetent fool who ruins everything he touches. He also looks rather ridiculous at times.

And those are the people you need to know in order to understand this Timeline! Don't you feel smarter? Finally, we will look at each major power based on three scores: Army, Navy, and economy. Each will be rated on a scale of 1 to 3, with 1 as bad and 3 as good. 2 is medium. Well, lets get started!

Germany

Army: 3 Navy: 2 Industry: 2

France

Army: 3 Navy: 1 Industry: 3

Russia

Army: 3 Navy: 1 Industry: 2

USSA

Army: 2 Navy: 2 Industry: 3

Italy

Army: 1 Navy: 2 Industry: 1

Japan

Army: 1 Navy: 3 Industry: 1

British Commonwealth

Army: 1 Navy: 3 Industry: 2

China

Army: 3 Navy: 1 Industry: 2

Well, that about wraps it up! With this as your guide, you can refer back to it at any point! Isn't that useful? You can thank me later.

[blah the Prussian]

Chapter 1

Germany is Having Trouble, Such a Sad Sad Story

1936, against all expectations, would pass peacefully. During this year, the Allies, Axis, and Comintern deployed their forces across each other’s borders. It was obvious now that war would come. The only question was when.

It is one of the great historical ironies that the Second World War would start on March 5, 1937, around the same country war was avoided for in 1935: Ireland. Oswald Mosley on that day sent an ultimatum to the Irish government: They were to accept King Edward as their head of state and become a dominion of the British Commonwealth within 24 hours, or face war.

The Irish government, of course, rejected. However, they knew they could not fight Britain alone. As such, Ireland turned to Germany, where, to everyone’s surprise, Chancellor von Papen announced his wholehearted support for Ireland. Germany was soon followed by Belgium and the Netherlands. Napoleon V and Mussolini quickly declared that a foe of Britain’s was their foe as well. Hungary, Bulgaria, Spain, Portugal, Czechoslovakia, and Romania all, predictably, declared their support for the Axis. At these declarations, Russia, Greece, Yugoslavia, Poland, and Finland declared for the Allies.

At the declaration of support by Russia, Napoleon V knew he had to be quick. Germany had to be damaged before Russia could project power to the front. As such, French High Command sent messages to all the major Axis countries that Operation Charlemagne was set to begin.

Operation Charlemagne was a rather ambitious plan that called for the cooperation of all the Axis Powers. On March 6, it was put into action. The plan stipulated that Germany would need to be defeated fast. To do this, the heart of German industrial capacity was targeted: The Rheinland. First, Britain would do an amphibious invasion of the Netherlands, using marines and paratroopers to capture key cities before the enemy could react. This phase went off without a hitch. Amsterdam, Rotterdam, the Hague, and Antwerp in Belgium were all captured.

Meanwhile, in Ireland, the British launched Operation Cromwell, storming towards Dublin from Ulster. The newly rebuilt Royal Navy prevented Germany from coming to Ireland’s aid. Dublin fell on March 10, the Irish unable to stop the British. Ireland surrendered soon after. However, elements of the Irish army went underground as the IRA (Irish Republican Army), a group dedicated to liberating the island once again.

Meanwhile in Europe, Germany shifted some of its troops in Belgium north towards the British, who were quickly expanding their beachheads in the Netherlands. This proved to be a mistake when the French launched their end of Operation Charlemagne. French forces, spearheaded by their tanks, launched an offensive into Southern Belgium on March 12. There German army was too small to oppose the ferocity of their assault. By arch 13, the Germans were in retreat. To the north, the British launched a new attack south, both linking up with French troops and encircling the German army in northern Belgium by March 20. So far, Operation Charlemagne had gone quite well.

This would change when the Italians entered the picture. In their phase of Operation Charlemagne, the Italians were to use their alpine troops to seize the Austrian and Bavarian Alps, threatening German positions in Elsas-Lotheringen. The Italian troops were crushed by their German counterparts, ensuring that the Germans would not be threatened from behind. As such, the French had to move to the next phase of the plan alone.

After the encirclement of the Germans in Belgium, a section of the Rheinland lay borderline undefended. As such, the Germans shifted troops from Elsas-Lothringen to the border with Belgium. This was exactly what De Gaulle had wanted. On March 25, the French launched a new attack against German positions in Elsas-Lothringen. The attach was successful. Metz fell on March 28. The entire region fell on March 29. That same day, however, the German army launched a counterattack that stopped the French advance. The lack of the Italians had meant that the third phase of Operation Charlemagne failed.

This is not to say that things were going well for the Allies. The Netherlands and Belgium surrendered on March 28. British and French troops then pushed into Hannover, but were stopped by severe German resistance on March 31. From April 1 to April 10, the French army tried to advance further into the Rheinland, but were stopped at every turn.

Meanwhile, in the Balkans, the war was quite chaotic. As the Polish army invaded Czechoslovakia, the Czechs attacked the Sudetenland, but failed miserably. They would surrender on April 2, after both Prague and Bratislava were taken by Germany and Poland, respectively. Yugoslavia was assaulted by Italy, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Romania from all sides. The Italians were able to overrun Slovenia, Croatia, and Bosnia, but the Yugoslav army, with help from Greece, was able to hold the one in Serbia. The Greeks, meanwhile, attacked into Bulgaria, with limited success. In the Middle East, the Italian army in Egypt attacked the Russian Holy Land Protectorate, but were repulsed.

None of these bright spots, however, changed the fact that the Allies were losing, badly. This was clear to Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt, supreme commander of the Imperial German Army. It was also clear to Kaiser Wilhelm III. The two of them met to organize a coup against the obviously incompetent von Papen. On May 1, 1937, von Rundstedt and a cabal of army officers led a coup against Papen, declaring the new Chancellor to be the former. The Kaiser ordered the German army to recognize von Rundstedt as Chancellor for as long as the war continued. Von Papen went into retirement.

Von Rundstedt’s first act as Chancellor was to declare that the state controlled all industries. Said industries were immediately repurposed to the military. The new Chancellor now had emergency and absolute authority as well. He instituted a draft for all men aged 18 to 30. Women replaced the men in the factories. The first month of war had been hard on Germany, but now it had a new leader to restore its former glory.

Then Napoleon V played his trump card.

Authors note: If you got the reference good for you!

[blah the Prussian]

Chapter 2

Operation Huangdi

As Oswald Mosley sent his ultimatum to Ireland, the Chinese government announced its neutrality. This was a great relief to the Russians, who moved a sizable portion of their armies in the Far East, Siberia, and Central Asia to the European theatre. This was a mistake.

There was a great many things that should have risen alarm bells in the Russian high command. Firstly, the French did not issue any protest at the Chinese apparently dishonoring their alliance. Secondly, the Chinese kept a huge amount of troops on the border with Russian Siberia. Despite all this, Russian High Command remained in wishful thinking, transferring more and more troops to Europe.

On May 15, 1937, The Empire of China declared war on the Russian Empire and all of its allies. In Manchuria, Chinese forces launched an immediate offensive towards the Russian city of Vladivostok. Meanwhile, Chinese cavalry launched raids into Siberia and Central Asia. The only thing opposing them was Russian militia. The cavalry raided oil supplies in Central Asia, and did damage to the Trans Siberian railway, harming the flow of supplies to the troops in the Russian Far East. These were the first stages of Operation Huangdi, the full scale Chinese invasion of Russia, named after the great Chinese emperor who unified ancient China.

The reaction of the Russian high command was chaotic and panicked. Aside from a few border garrisons against Romania, the Polish and Finnish armies would do the fighting for the Russians in Europe. Fortunately for Russia, it was not lacking in competent generals. Pyotr Wrangel was the Prime Minister as well as chief of the army. Serving under him were Marshals Zhukov, Smirnov, Vlassov, and Tukhachevsky. Unfortunately, these Marshals made one key error: assuming that the Russian Far East could be held.

The Russian battle plan involved sending cavalry to retake the Trans-Siberian railway. Once this was accomplished, more troops would be sent to the Far East to relieve the embattled garrison of Vladivostok. What this plan ignored was that the Chinese simply had far more troops in the area. However, Chinese general Prince Aisen Goro Pujie did not press the attack on Manchuria, in anticipation of this Russian strategy. He planned to make the Russian Far East a deathtrap, but only after a sufficient number of Russian troops took the bait.

Meanwhile, Russia’s ally Japan had not been idle. When news of the Chinese declaration reached Tokyo, the Imperial Japanese navy launched raids against Chinese ports all across the country. At the battle of the Formosa strait (June 5, 1937) the Chinese navy was obliterated by the IJN, the Japanese Aircraft Carriers being used in conjunction with the Zero fighter to great effect by Grand Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto.

Meanwhile, a Chinese army under the command of general Chaing Kai Shek invaded the Russian protectorate of Korea on May 20, 1937. While they met initial success, crossing the Yalu River on May 22, the Koreans provided staunch resistance, especially in the mountains in the north. This problem was compounded by the arrival of the Japanese Expeditionary Force, 500,000 strong, under General Hideki Tojo on May 25.

Meanwhile, Chinese land in the Pacific was coming under Japanese attack as well. A Japanese army of 100,000 attacked Formosa under General Hayashi Senjuro, while 200,000 more attacked the Philippines under General Tomoyoki Yamashita, both on May 25, 1937. The IJA managed to dislodge the Chinese defenders of Formosa on April 2. The Philippines fell on April 5, the puppet government surrendering to the Japanese. With the fall of the Philippines, the IJN ruled the Pacific. All that was left was to take the Chinese “tributaries” in the Pacific.

In Siberia, things were not going as well for the Allies. The Russians had rushed 400,000 men to the defense of Vladivostok alone, facing a Chinese force of 600,000. However, Pujie did not launch his assault on Vladivostok, much to the surprise of the Russians. Instead, the Chinese launched an offensive towards the Pacific Ocean from Northern Manchuria, beginning on June 6. The Pacific was reached by June 15. With that, the entire Russian Army of the Far East (500,000 men, all told) was cut off from the rest of Siberia. Vladivostok was besieged by 600,000 troops, while Chinese cavalry moved North to secure the rest of the Far East. For Russia, it was a disaster.

Following this debacle, the Russian High Command had an emergency meeting. Marshal Vlassov was of the opinion that an immediate counter offensive had to be launched to relieve the Vladivostok garrison. Marshals Zhukov and Tukhachevsky, however, argued that Russia did not have sufficient troops to relieve Vladivostok. Zhukov argued for a complete abandonment of Eastern Siberia, using the delay that the Far Eastern Army would cause the Chinese forces to reorganize outside the city of Novosibirsk. Tukhachevsky concurred, pointing out that Russia had ample territory to trade for time. If the Russians met the Chinese outside of Novosibirsk, the Chinese would be at the ends of their supply lines, and the superior Russian organization, morale, and technology would show. Army chief Wrangel and Empress Olga agreed with Zhukov and Tukhachevsky. The Russian armies in Siberia would execute a fighting retreat to Novosibirsk, where they would meet up with the Russian Forces from Europe.

The Russian Army of Siberia, under the command of Marshal Anton Denikin, did just that. Whenever the Chinese launched an assault, Denikin would have one division counter that assault. As the Chinese advanced, Russian Cossak cavalry charged their lines whenever they were weakest, further delaying the offensive. This continued until the month of November, when the Russian Siberian Army met up with the East European Army, under Marshal Zhukov, at Novosibirsk. Altogether, the Russian forces numbered 2,000,000 men. Facing them was a Chinese army of 2,400,000 men. The Russians were at the end of the line. The Vladivostok garrison had surrendered in October. If the Russians lost Novosibirsk, the Chinese would have a base from which they could attack into Central Asia, and maybe reach even European Russia. Novosibirsk was the decisive battle of the Siberian Front.

The Chinese November Offensive was launched on November 15, 1937. Chinese troops struck to the north and south of Novosibirsk, hoping to encircle the 1,000,000 Russian troops in the city itself. However, Marshal Zhukov had learned from the Vladivostok campaign. His troops used an elastic defense strategy, retreating in the face of Chinese offensives, only to move out of their way and attacking their flanks. The Chinese would then be forced to retreat.

By December 1, Pujie could plainly see that his offensive had failed. However, Wang Jingwei demanded that the city be taken before 1938, making Operation Huangdi a complete success. Pujie was forced to go on the attack. On December 2, against his better judgement, Pujie ordered a complete attack into Novosibirsk. However, the winter weather greatly benefitted the defenders. On December 10, Zhukov ordered a counterattack, pushing the Chinese from the city suburbs by December 25. However, Chinese reinforcements brought the Chinese army up to 3,000,000 troops, forcing Zhukov to stop an offensive that would now surely be overwhelmed, digging in in the Novosibirsk suburbs on December 27. The next 4 days passed without incident.

And so, Novosibirsk had not proved to be the decisive battle that either the Russians or the Chinese had expected it to be. The Chinese assault into Siberia had been stopped, that much was true. However, the Chinese still remained incredibly strong outside of Novosibirsk, outnumbering the Russians, who were still bringing reinforcements to the region. Winter also proved an insurmountable obstacle for the offensive prospects of both armies. Both China and Russia resolved to suspend all offensive operations until Spring. As 1938 dawned over Siberia, the war was a stalemate. However, the eyes of the world were not focused on Siberia anymore. With Britain embroiled in continental war, Huey Long made his move.

[AsherAzon]

Hey, I just wanted to say thank you for writing this. I've greatly enjoyed reading this and can't wait to see the next part. Good job, really well done.

[blah the Prussian]

Hey, I just wanted to say thank you for writing this. I've greatly enjoyed reading this and can't wait to see the next part. Good job, really well done.

You're welcome. Thanks for the feedback!

[blah the Prussian]

Sorry to say this, but this will go on Hiatus until Summer vacation, as I have exams.

[blah the Prussian]

Well, turns out I have time before the exams after all!

Chapter 3

War Plan Red

Ever since the Communist victory in the Second American Civil War, North America had been a divided continent. The USSA and its Communist allies sought to establish dominion of the continent, before spreading the Revolution to “Bourgeoisie” Germany and “Feudal” Russia. However, in both North America and South America, the Communists faced severe opposition. In South America, the alliance between Brazil, Argentina, and Bolivia stood strong against Long’s puppets. In North America, the Dominion of Canada, also controlling Alaska and New England, stood against the Americans, along with the rest of the British Empire.

Long and his inner circle had long planned to take over Canada and establish hegemony over North America. The plan that they developed was called War Plan Red. The American army would launch a full frontal assault on Canada. Meanwhile, the American navy would make sure that the rest of the British Empire could not reinforce their dominion. Meanwhile, Long trusted his allies in the South to handle Brazil, Argentina, and Bolivia. Of course, as American author and later exile in Germany John Stienbeck taught us, the best laid plans of Mice and Men go awry.

British Imperial General Staff was not stupid. They knew full well that Long was planning something. As such, they had passed the Canadian Defense Act, whereby every Canadian male citizen had to be trained in combat in school, and, in turn, every male Canadian citizen between 18 and 35 were required to be in the army at all times. Thus, the Canadians had an extreme well trained standing army, as well as one that was large for a nation of its size. In addition, the USS navy was actually pretty terrible. It was large, but outdated, and had no aircraft carriers, which American Grand Admiral Ernest King had called “a cowardly gimmick”. Meanwhile, the Royal Navy was about the size of the USSN, but was more advanced. On the other hand, it also had to concentrate on the German High Seas Fleet. Finally, the British had kept a large force in reserve on the Home Islands, ready for deployment in Canada should Long declare war. Over all, the operation would not be the walk in the park that the Americans expected it to be.

On March 15, 1938, Long declared war on Canada to “liberate the oppressed Canadian proletariat from the yoke of the British Empire”. The US army outnumbered the Canadian army two to one. Immediately, an American army moved into New England. However, they faced severe Canadian resistance around New York City, and were bogged down in the forests of Upstate New York. This problem was compounded by New Englander “Collaborators” who would rather live in Canada that America. They were led by Charles Lindberg, an American fascist and an excellent fighter pilot. Meanwhile, Canadian guerrilla militias around the Great Lakes and the Pacific Northwest stalled the American advance in those areas as well. Over all, the Americans are unable to break through against the better trained Canadian soldiers.

Meanwhile, the war at sea was not going America’s way either. The British Caribbean Fleet defeated the USSN decisively in the Battle of Bermuda, where the USSN was outmaneuvered by the British Corsair bombers. American Puerto Rico was stormed the following day.

In South America, the war was a stalemate. In the North, the Brazilians were holding the line at the Amazon rainforest which was proving to be an insurmountable barrier for the Latin American Communists. Meanwhile, Argentina was pushing in to Chile, winning easily, but the Peruvian army was routing the Bolivians. Whoever won on their front first could reinforce their collapsing ally. It was a mixed bag.

By June, it was clear to American high command that the strategy of attacking into heavily fortified New England had failed. Long, however, knew that Canada could not risk a counteroffensive into America from New England. As such, Long could afford to redeploy troops from the New England front to elsewhere. As long as a stalemate in New England could be maintained, other fronts could be advanced.

That front would be the Pacific Northwest. On June 15, Long ordered the redeployment of the American Fifth army, under the command of George Marshal. They arrived on the Pacific Northwest front on July 30. I really shouldn't have to tell you when the Fourth of July offensive began. It did, however, bog down initially, with the American troops taking heavy casualties agains heroic Canadian resistance. On July 15, however, superior American numbers ld to a breakthrough, and they reached the gates of Vancouver by July 16. The American army then spread out, surrounding the city. More American troops were rushed into the gap in Canadian lines. It looked like the decisive battle for North America had been fought.

Fortunately for Canada, they had a commander who they thought could save them in their darkest hour, and who, even today, is counted amongst the greatest generals ever: Georges Vanier, the Arctic Fox. Born in Quebec, Vanier had served with distinction in the First World War and the Canadian intervention in the Second American Civil War. He was placed in command of the Canadian army of the Northwest on July 20.

Immediately, Vanier recognized that the current front line could not be held. He rushed troops to Winnipeg, in Central Canada, as he split his army in half. Half joined the defense of Winnipeg. The other half, under the personal command of Vanier, retreated north, to the Canadian tundra. On July 25, Marshal moved East, towards Winnipeg. Vanier’s men in the North, however, outflanked the Americans, and launched a reckless counter attack, coordinating it with their comrades in Winnipeg as a pincer movement. The Americans were pushed back on August 1, and Marshal was humiliated.

In August, it was clear to American high command that they had to deal the decisive blow to the Canadians, and fast. One more failed offensive, and winter would come, bogging down the Americans and ensuring that the war would drag on for at least one more year. Marshal decided to launch an offensive towards Vanier’s men in the north. The offensive was launched on August 9. However, the Canadian army in Winnipeg came to the rescue of Vanier’s men this time. By September 1, the Americans had been pushed back and humiliated yet again. The USSA would have to settle down and wait for winter to end.

Throughout the Canadian winter, lasting from October to March, more and more British troops were moved to Canada. It appeared that the Canadians would very easily be able to resist the American invasion. Unfortunately, it was not to be. It would not be the Americans that ultimately led to the fall of Canada. No, it would be Canada’s own high command. For on March 28, 1939, Canada launched a counter offensive. That was a rather stupid idea.

Operation Brock was the name of the planned Canadian offensive to push the Americans out of Canada. It was named after General Isaac Brock, the commander who defended Canada from America in the War of 1812. It is hard to say where exactly the plan went wrong. Vanier certainly objected to it. Perhaps the biggest problem with Operation Brock was that it should never have been attempted. The Canadians had an undoubtedly superior defensive position. They could very well have continued to bleed the Americans white. However, the Canadian high command became overeager and attacked too quickly, squandering any defensive advantage that they may have had.

On March 28, the Canadian army under Vanier in the north moved around the American army outside of Winnipeg, attacking its rear. At the same time, the Canadian army in Winnipeg, reinforced by a sizable British army, launched a full scale assault on the American positions. Meanwhile, Vanier’s men moved even further south, attempting to completely encircle the American army before they could escape. Marshal, however, noticed what was going on and had an armored division launch an all out assault on Vanier’s lines. This operation delayed the Canadian attack long enough for most of the American troops to escape.

Marshal’s army retreated south back into the USSA. The Canadian high command could have declared the offensive over and won a great victory. However, despite Vanier’s protests, they demanded that the attack continue. So it was that the Canadian army attacked fortified American positions on April 15. And, so it was that the Canadian offensive failed miserably. The Canadians were left bloodied and disorganized against the spirited American defense. On April 29, Marshal ordered a counter offensive against the Canadian positions that smashed their army, driving them back across the border. By July 1, the offensive had reached the Great Lakes.

Canada was by now clearly defeated, and yet the Canadian people were determined to resist with all they had left. The USS army pushed forward more throughout the year. Even at this stage, they still were taking unfavorable casualties in comparison to the Canadians. It didn't matter. By August, it was clear that Canada could not win, as American troops stood outside Ottowa, Canada’s capitol. The British Imperial General Staff evacuated the British army, and the remnants of the Canadian army, from Canada. On September 2, Canada surrendered to the USSA. The predominantly English speaking provinces of the country were annexed into Long’s growing empire, while Quebec was given “independence” as a de facto American satellite. But, as the war in America ended, the war in Europe was heating up again.

[blah the Prussian]

Chapter 4

The Turn of the Tide

On the Western front, 1938 had been a year of stalemate. The German army was besieged on most fronts; in the Rhineland, it was faced with the French Army, in Northern Germany it was faced with the British, and in the South, it was faced with the combined armies of Italy, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria. The Southern Front was in actuality rapidly shifting to become the newest epicenter of the war.

1938 had played our, on paper, like something of a repeat of the stalemate of the First World War. The French were no longer advancing along the Lotharingian fields, they were now fighting in the urban heartland of Germany. Each city became a fortress as the Germans, having evacuated all civilians, garrisoned every room in every house in every front line city. The streets of Western Germany became deathtraps. In the gaps between cities, the Germans had adapted well to the logistics of Tank warfare; if the French committed any large amount of soldiers to battle, the Germans would merely use their tanks to strike at the enemy’s flanks, leading to the risk of encirclement and forcing a withdrawal. At the same time, Germany lacked the manpower to launch any offensives of its own. So it was that the stalemate continued.

In the beginning of 1939, German high command decided to focus on the weakest link in the Axis: Italy. The Italian army had proven itself to be poorly trained, poorly equipped, and poorly led. Further, they lacked something that had proven to be crucial to the success of any army in the war so far: their tanks were some of the worst in the world. This was a weakness the newly promoted German Field Marshal Hienz Guderian was determined to exploit.

Guderian planned a massive three pronged German offensive to encircle and destroy two full Italian armies, an offensive that was launched on May 3, 1939. Prong one would reach the Mediterranean coast around the city of Udine. Prong two would take Trieste, and prong three would take Dubrovnik.The Italian army had nothing that could really compete with the German tanks. Their Bersagliare light infantry were lethal in the mountains. The northern Balkans, however, were not the mountains. The Italians were crushed by the Panzer offensive. By July, the encirclement was complete. A large portion of the Italian army was destroyed. The Italians rushed to garrison the new front line at the Alps. Meanwhile, the Bulgarians, Romanians, and Hungarians rushed to guard the Balkans. The Southern Front was divided in half.

Meanwhile, the British, smarting from the defeats in Canada, were preparing a new victory in Europe to placate the public. German factories in the Rhineland were operating at a reduced capacity, due to the heavy fighting going on in the region. As such, the Germans had transferred much of their industry to the province of Saxony, which had become the new industrial heartland of the German Empire. Mosley planned a massive air offensive against Saxony. The idea was to threaten the German industrial heartland with bombing, luring the German Luftwaffe out of hiding. The decisive air battle would be fought, and, it was hoped, the Royal Air Force would achieve air superiority once and for all. From there, they could devastate the German industrial heartland, hopefully breaking the stalemate in the Rhineland. Mosley was convinced that the war would be won or lost in the air.

What would be known to future generations as the Battle of Saxony began on June 13, 1939. A massive armada of British aircraft took off from airfields in the occupied Netherlands and northern Germany. As they moved towards Saxony, they met the Luftwaffe in the air. At first, the Royal Air Force slowly moved to control the skies. However, Luftwaffe airfields were closer to Saxony than the British airfields, meaning that more German planes could be brought to bear in a given engagement. On July 20, the British prepared what they hoped would be the decisive strike. However, the Germans sent several squadrons of fighters and bombers to London, as a diversion. It worked; 25% of the British planes moved to defend London. The Luftwaffe then proceeded to decisively beat the RAF over Saxony, even taking out some of their airfields. For the Germans, it was an important triumph. German air superiority had been established.

By winter, Guderian prepared for yet another offensive, this time to tidy up a front that had been regarded as a sideshow before, but now had been elevated to an extremely important theatre. The Balkans now threatened the flank of the German front against Italy, and had to be cleaned up before any push against Italy could be made. So it was that, beginning in August, Guderian launched one of the most rapid conquests in history.

German air superiority over the Balkans had long been a fact of life, but Guderian took advantage of it like no one had before. Launching the largest airborne assault in history, the Luftwaffe dropped paratroopers behind enemy lines all across the front. Meanwhile, The German Panzer crews started their engines, blasting through enemy lines. They were assisted in this assault by partisans in occupied Yugoslavia. Belgrade, capitol of Yugoslavia, fell in early September. The Bulgarian army was crumbling.

Meanwhile, against Hungary, the German blitzkrieg was even more successful. Two German pincers closed around roughly half of the Hungarian army. Meanwhile, a large German force too Budapest. The capitulation of Hungary took roughly a month. The Germans then moved against Romania. Romanian dictator Ion Antonescu vowed to fight to the end. Romanian King Micheal I, however, had other plans. Micheal staged a coup against Antonescu, taking control of the government and capitulating to Germany before Romania was invaded. Bulgaria capitulated soon after. Thanks to Guderian’s brilliance, the Balkan Front was closed in two months.

Meanwhile, on the Western Front, General De Gualle once again saw opportunity. Guderian had withdrawn a great deal of soldiers to the Balkans to aid in his offensive. De Gualle planned a new strategy to counteract the German fortifications. On September 1, 1939, the French tanks, with their new Louis XIV heavy tanks, launched a full frontal assault on the German positions. The Louis XIV was superior to any tank the Germans had, and they managed to make quite a bit of headway by the end of the first week, threatening to encircle German positions in the cities of the Rhineland. The German commander, General Franz von Epp, feared encirclement, and panicked, withdrawing from the Rhineland completely. The French had taken the Rhineland relatively bloodlessly. Despite all of this, 1940 began with yet another stalemate. German and French troops stared each other down across the River Rhine.

So it was that, from the River Rhine to the mountains of Northern Italy, the stalemate had returned. And yet, in the Asian front, the action was very real.

[blah the Prussian]

I am in the process of adding images to the timeline. I am currently adding images to the WWI section. Check them out!

[blah the Prussian]

Well. Been a while, huh? I was caught up in a bunch of stuff so I didn't have time to write, and unfortunately I won't have time to write for three more weeks. Rest assured, however, that I will not let this die. I will see this through to the end. In any case, here's the next update:

Chapter 5

The Bear, the Dragon, and the Rising Sun

Of all the nations who participated in the Second World War, only one would benefit greatly from it at relatively little cost. That nation was the Empire of Japan. At the start of 1938, Japan had taken all of the Chinese Empire’s pacific islands, as well as the Chinese tributary of the Philippines. Now, as Japanese bombers were bombing Chinese cities almost with impunity, Japan prepared to move into Southeast Asia.

In February of 1938, Japan attacked the Chinese tributary of Malaysia. The army of Malaysia itself was quite weak, as well as outdated. They were, however, safeguarded by a substantial Chinese force. Japanese Field Marshal Yamashita, however, utilized every advantage Japan had. He made use of Japan’s elite, well trained infantry to secure beachheads around the north of the country, in the jungle. In this way, they were able to cut the Chinese army off from supplies. The Japanese assault against the cut off Chnese divisions and the Malaysian army began on February 24. It was hugely successful, forcing Malaysia to surrender by March 15.

The surrender of Malaysia was only one of the woes China suffered in March. In accordance with Huey Long’s declaration of war against Britain, the Democratic Republic of India, led by Shripad Dange, declared war on the Axis, including China. The massive Indian army moved into the Chinese tributary Burma, sweeping aside token Burmese resistance. Burma fell by April 2. For China, the Southeast Asian heater had become extremely important.

The Chinese high command reacted to these developments with panic. Their response was to shift a great deal of men from the Siberian front and to the Southeast Asian front. This amounted to an entire field army, under Chinese general Zhu De. This army, creatively titled the Southeast Asian army, took up defensive positions in Siam, repelling the Japanese army under Hayashi Senjuro on May 1. Zhu then shifted west, repelling the Indians from Rangoon on June 14, 1938. The Japanese and Indians regrouped in Malaya and northern Burma respectively, setting up defensive positions. Zhu, recognizing that he could not advance any further, set up defenses of his own. By June, the Southeast Asian front was beginning to resemble the Western Front of the First World War. It would remain so for quite some time.

Meanwhile, in Siberia, the Chinese armies moved against Novosibirsk once again in March of 1938. At the second battle of Novosibirsk, Russian armor showed its superiority. Chinese troops attacked in human wave attacks against the entrenched Russians, but the T-34 tank was used to great effect by Marshal Zhukov. The Chinese exhausted themselves after a week of fighting, and Zhukov counterattacked in April. Although the offensive did succeed in destroying a large amount of Chinese divisions, the Russian tanks had to withdraw back to Novosibirsk after a few weeks due to lack of supply. Zhukov waited until summer for the big offensive to recapture territory.

In Korea, Korean and Japanese troops continued to feed Chiang Kai Shek’s forces into a meat grinder. The Chinese attempted to strike south towards Pyongyang in March, but they were again stopped by the mountains in northern Korea and by spirited Japanese counterattacks. The Chinese were pushed back across the Yalu river by May, but dug in so as to repulse attacks against their positions.

By July, Zhukov had prepared the offensive designed to decisively break Chinese power in Siberia, called Operation Mars. On July 15 of 1938, a massive Soviet Tank assault started, smashing into the lines of the Chinese armies. As the Chinese were sent reeling, the Russian infantry was sent in to finish the job. Russian forces turned south, reaching Ulaanbataar, capitol of Mongolia, by November, despite a great sea of strain on Russian supply lines. The Chinese army was in full retreat on the Siberian Front.

If the year of 1938 had proven one thing, it was that the Chinese war doctrine of massed infantry assaults was woefully outdated. Their troops had been unable to break the defenses of Imperial Japan, manned by the elite Japanese infantry. Meanwhile, Tsarist Russia skillfully combined infantry assaults with tank warfare, and made mincemeat of the Chinese soldiers. Since then, China was firmly on the defensive. However, a dragon is at its most dangerous when cornered in its nest, especially when said dragon boasts seemingly endless manpower.

[blah the Prussian]

Chapter 6

Into Italy

As 1940 began, German Imperial high command began measures to deal a knockout blow to the junior partner of the Axis alliance: the Kingdom of Italy. The Italian performance in the war so far had been utterly laughable. With the sole exception of the Yugoslavia campaign, the Italian army had met with no success whatsoever against their enemies. Thus, it was deemed to be the weakest link of the enemies of the German Empire, and the place upon which the hammer of Teutonic fury would next fall.

Unfortunately, while the Italian military had proved to be utterly pathetic thus far, the geography of the Italian peninsula provided a unique challenge to the mostly tank orientated German military. The north of Italy was highly mountainous, and mountains were notoriously poor tank territory. Thus, Hienz Guderian’s panzers were redeployed to defend the Western Front, and the task of bringing il Duce to his knees was given to the one officer in the German army with widespread experience in mountainous warfare: Erwin Rommel.

Rommel had served on the Alpine front against Austria-Hungary in Tyrol. He had risen to the rank of Colonel with his heroism on the field, and had a great deal of experience with fighting in the mountains. As such, German high command gave Rommel command of an elite infantry corps, the Alpine Corps, which had the objective of breaking through Italian defenses in the Alps and opening the way for the main German army.

Rommel would have a rather monumental task ahead of him. The now general was facing an Italian army that outnumbered his Alpine Corps 2 to 1, led by Italian Marshal Rodolfo Graziani, a known stooge of Mussolini. Rommel’s advantage stemmed from the fact that he was facing Italians, and poorly led Italians at that. Graziani had only got his position due to his friendship with Mussolini, and by extension Mussolini’s desire to have the Italian army firmly in his camp. The price he payed for a loyal military was a woefully inadequate one, as Rommel’s offensive would soon make clear.

As April of 1940 began, Rommel launched his assault into the Italian peninsula. His first major worry was the main powerbase of Graziani’s army, based in Udine. It would soon become apparent that Rommel’s brilliance would come not in fighting battles, but in avoiding them. The Alpine Corps cut like a scythe around Udine, pushing first west and then turning south to under defended Venice. As a result, Udine was encircled. Graziani tried to break out, but Rommel’s men now held the mountains.

The German army funneled more men, this time under Guderian, through the path opened by Rommel. The Italians under Graziani held firm in Udine for three months, but ultimately starvation and mutiny forced Graziani to surrender his command. The German army now turned further west, towards Milan, where they hoped they would be able to secure the entirety of the Alps and push south, along the open Italian coastline. It was at Milan, however, that the remans first learned that the Italian peninsula was not going to be delivered to them so easily.

The French Army of Italy, under Marshal Maurice Gamelin, had been sent to relieve their beleaguered Italian allies. Napoleon V, it seemed, had also recognized the weak link Mussolini represented in the Fascist chain. As such, he had reinforced that weak link with 500,000 Frenchmen, ordered to defend the Alps to the last. At Milan, the Germans, outnumbered and overextended, were forced to retreat in the face of determined French resistance. Napoleon hoped that with this victory, the Italians could turn things around. What could he have possibly been thinking?

The Italian offensive against German positions from Ferrara was, you guessed it, a failure. Rommel’s mountaineers utterly crushed the renewed Italian offensive, this time led by General Giovanni Messe. This latest defeat led to a massive festering of popular dissent in Italy against the Mussolini regime. This dissent was supported by King Victor Emmanuele III, who had always distrusted Mussolini but now had moved on to open opposition. Thus, in November of 1940, with dissent in Italy already on the rise, the King ordered the arrest of Mussolini and the replacement of his government with a monarchist regime. A royal guard loyal to Mussolini, however, got word to the dictator as the coup was being planned. Mussolini fled Rome, raising his Fascists in rebellion against the monarchists, led by Marshal Pietro Bagdolio, and, of course, the King. The Italian Civil War had broken out.

For Germany, this news could not have come at a better time. They quickly signed a ceasefire with both the Monarchists and the Fascists, turning over their occupied territory to the Monarchists. The Fascists, of course, received the territory occupied by the French. Rommel and Guderian, elated by their victory, resolved a new offensive to take Milan in the spring of 1941. Truly, nothing could possibly prevent a German victory now!

Algerian Desert, First French Empire

February 15, 1941

Jules Gueron climbed down into the bunker, putting his protective goggles on. He was incredibly young for a nuclear scientist, but was considered pone of the most brilliant in his field. This moment was the most important in his life. He looked down at his watch. It would happen in five, four, three, two, one. A blinding flash erupted in the distance. A massive mushroom cloud burst from the earth, engulfing everything above ground. Gueron felt tears streaming down his face. He had done it.

France had the bomb.

[blah the Prussian]

Chapter 7

Operation Napoleon

On March 15, 1941, at 8:00, a massive air fleet took off from a French airport in Cologne, occupied Germany, escorting one bomber. That bomber was carrying one of the most important cargoes in world history: the first ever atomic bomb. Their target was the fortress city of Dusseldorf, where a massive portion of the German army was concentrated. At around 8:30, they reached their target. Hordes of German planes rose to meet them, but one plane slipped through the onslaught: unfortunately for the Germans, it was the one carrying the Bomb. At 8:45, the bomb exploded over Dusseldorf. The entire German army defending the city was wiped out.

Just 15 minutes after the explosion, the French army of the north, ready for combat since 6 a.m., launched a massive offensive through the Dusseldorf gap. The German army around what was left of Dusseldorf was in a state of shock, and retreated in the face of the merciless French advance. The French army was advancing at a rate unseen since the beginning of the war. Napoleon V, triumphant, declared the war to be won. To do so, however, was to severely underestimate the spirit of the people of Germany.

As the French advanced through northwestern Germany, the German army suffered defeat after defeat. In the end, though, none of these defeats meant anything. This was because, for every battle, the Germans were able to extract themselves in good order. Field Marshal von Manstien, the supreme commander of German forces in the west, would garrison each city, make the French bleed for it a little, and then withdraw before the French were able to threaten his army in any meaningful way. However, he had to take a stand against the French somewhere. That somewhere would be in the city of Hannover. It was in Hannover that the decisive battle of the European theatre would be fought.

The strategic significance of Hannover was clear. It commanded a central position in wester Germany. If the French were to take the city, they would be able to cut off the German army defending the border with the Netherlands. Furthermore, if the French were to secure Hannover, they would have established a clear supply depot, through which they would be able to make a drive on Berlin itself. It would be no exaggeration to say that the Battle of Hannover would be a fight that von Manstien could not lose, for the sake of Germany and for the sake of democracy everywhere. It was with this in mind that von Manstien did what no one expected him to do. He attacked.

On the surface of it, this plan was madness. The French were the ones supposed to be attacking! The French, however, were badly overextended. Their soldiers were exhausted, and had low morale. Furthermore, the supply lines to Hannover were constantly being harassed by German partisans, who were understandably displeased by the destruction of Dusseldorf. These partisans also had an effect on the French morale. Finally, von Manstien had two new toys to play with. The first was the iconic Panther IV medium tank, which combined speed with firepower in a way no other tank of the era could match. This would prove crucial for the strategic implications of the coming offensive. The second advantage was one that the French were already abundantly familiar with. Dr. Albert Einstien and his think tank, working in the utmost secrecy, had been able to develop an atomic bomb just a few weeks after the French. However, the German scientist Werner von Braun had also developed the first working rocket a few months earlier. Von Manstien saw the potential of these two weapons combined. So it was that on June 4, 1941, a V1 rocket with an atomic bomb attached to it was launched from the city of Munich. Its target was one that would make the name Erich von Manstien one of the most controversial ones in military and political history: Paris.

Paris was the center of the French high command. On the morning of June 4, that high command went up in flames. Napoleon V was dead. His son and heir was dead. His two daughters were dead. His wife was dead. His entire high command was dead. The Arc d’ Triomphe was dead. The Mona Lisa was dead. Countless civilians were dead. Paris was dead.

Also dead was a full 1/3 of the French Army of Germany. The instant the bomb hit Paris, von Manstien ordered his army to advance. The French army was in chaos. Their commanders demanded orders from Paris that never came. The fast moving German Panzers surrounded and annihilated whole French divisions. To the north, aided by a Dutch revolt, the French and British were pushed out of the Netherlands. Within a month, the French had been pushed back to the Rhine, their armies shattered, their economy ruined, their leaders dead, their homeland in chaos. Any sane leader would have surrendered. Unfortunately, France did not have a sane leader.

The only one of the French General staff outside of Paris at the time of the explosion was the most zealously nationalistic of the French Generals: Charles de Gualle. De Gualle moved quickly once he had taken stock of what had happened. He declared himself to be regent for life of France, and, as the only Marshal left in the French army, he was obeyed. He used the army to suppress any dissent to his rule. By the end of July, de Gualle’s rule was unquestioned. And France would not go down without a fight.

[henrymidfields]

So, wait, the two atomic bombs would be dropped not on two Japanese cities, but one in a German one, and the other in the French capital?! Ouch! Now, I don't know which scenario is better, to be honest.

Also

... Any sane leader would have surrendered. Unfortunately, France did not have a sane leader.
The only one of the French General staff outside of Paris at the time of the explosion was the most zealously nationalistic of the French Generals: Charles de Gualle. De Gualle moved quickly once he had taken stock of what had happened. He declared himself to be regent for life of France, and, as the only Marshal left in the French army, he was obeyed. He used the army to suppress any dissent to his rule. By the end of July, de Gualle’s rule was unquestioned. And France would not go down without a fight.

Holy f***, this really sound like some of the more fanatical Japanese high commanders before the broadcasting of the Gyokuon-hoso (literally "broadcast by the Emperor's voice")on August 15, 1945, who tried to kill the people delivering the record of the Japanese Emperor's speech in accepting surrender, so that they could intercept the record and keep the war going. (Go Wikipedia/Google up the Gyokuon-hoso if you don't believe me.)

Also, in regards to the Japanese defeat in this version of the Russo-Japanese War, I wonder if this is what the Japanese needed to avoid the real-life disaster in the form of World War II... As a Japanese myself, some of the events between 1918 and 1941 make me wonder whether there was a point of potential oppourtunity to back away from the catastrophe that my grandfather witnessed in horror...

Anyway, please keep up the awesome work!

Edited October 19, 2015 by henrymidfields

[blah the Prussian]

So, wait, the two atomic bombs would be dropped not on two Japanese cities, but one in a German one, and the other in the French capital?! Ouch! Now, I don't know which scenario is better, to be honest.

Also

Holy f***, this really sound like some of the more fanatical Japanese high commanders before the broadcasting of the Gyokuon-hoso (literally "broadcast by the Emperor's voice")on August 15, 1945, who tried to kill the people delivering the record of the Japanese Emperor's speech in accepting surrender, so that they could intercept the record and keep the war going. (Go Wikipedia/Google up the Gyokuon-hoso if you don't believe me.)

Also, in regards to the Japanese defeat in this version of the Russo-Japanese War, I wonder if this is what the Japanese needed to avoid the real-life disaster in the form of World War II... As a Japanese myself, some of the events between 1918 and 1941 make me wonder whether there was a point of potential oppourtunity to back away from the catastrophe that my grandfather witnessed in horror...

Anyway, please keep up the awesome work!

There are two key differences between France's situation here and Japan's: firstly, the French army is not nearly as utterly dominated as the IJA was at that time. They still, for example, occupy core German territory. Secondly, the Emperor of France is dead, so there is no longer anyone to say "surrender". As such, the position of France is still far stronger than the position of Japan, although, if it wasn't obvious, they are going to lose this war. As for Japan, the defeat in the Russo-Japanese war discredited the militarists while strengthening the civilian government. In hindsight, I shouldn't have had Germany seize Taipei, as Britain would have something to say about that, but whatever. Adding to this is that for various reasons Hirohito is more assertive than he was in our world, and so will challenge the militarists on significantly more. Thanks for the feedback!

[henrymidfields]

There are two key differences between France's situation here and Japan's: firstly, the French army is not nearly as utterly dominated as the IJA was at that time. They still, for example, occupy core German territory. Secondly, the Emperor of France is dead, so there is no longer anyone to say "surrender". As such, the position of France is still far stronger than the position of Japan, although, if it wasn't obvious, they are going to lose this war. As for Japan, the defeat in the Russo-Japanese war discredited the militarists while strengthening the civilian government. In hindsight, I shouldn't have had Germany seize Taipei, as Britain would have something to say about that, but whatever. Adding to this is that for various reasons Hirohito is more assertive than he was in our world, and so will challenge the militarists on significantly more. Thanks for the feedback!

That is very true, actually. By 15 August 1945, real-life Japan's situation was pretty much worse than the 1930s version of square one, with the Allies already in Okinawa, and Russians having just started to overrun Manchuria. In comparison, alternate!-metropolitan France still seem to remain intact, unless if I am reading wrong.

As far as the alternate!-Russo-Japanese War is concerned, have we had the Anglo-Japanese Alliance Treaty of 1902 as in real life? (The negotiations, if I remember correctly, started back in 1899.) Because if it was the case, and assuming that the alternate-timeline treaty is the same as the real one, then Britain would be obligated to join the Japanese side in the alternate war. (The alliance treaty stipulated that if two nations would go to war against either Japan or Britain, then the other ally is required to declare war against the belligerents.)

Edited October 22, 2015 by henrymidfields

[blah the Prussian]

That is very true, actually. By 15 August 1945, real-life Japan's situation was pretty much worse than the 1930s version of square one, with the Allies already in Okinawa, and Russians having just started to overrun Manchuria. In comparison, alternate!-metropolitan France still seem to remain intact, unless if I am reading wrong.As far as the alternate!-Russo-Japanese War is concerned, have we had the Anglo-Japanese Alliance Treaty of 1902 as in real life? (The negotiations, if I remember correctly, started back in 1899.) Because if it was the case, and assuming that the alternate-timeline treaty is the same as the real one, then Britain would be obligated to join the Japanese side in the alternate war. (The alliance treaty stipulated that if two nations would go to war against either Japan or Britain, then the other ally is required to declare war against the belligerents.)

Metropolitan France, except Paris, is intact. I really should go back and clean up the earlier chapters; a just as good POD for a Russian victory is that the Russians refuse to surrender and let the Japanese advance as far as they like, only to get crushed in the end. Realistically, with the Russians just not sending the Baltic Fleet to Tsushima, that would make the Russian public more open to continuing the war. To add to that, I should get around to adding pictures to the rest of the updates.

[henrymidfields]

I really should go back and clean up the earlier chapters; a just as good POD for a Russian victory is that the Russians refuse to surrender and let the Japanese advance as far as they like, only to get crushed in the end. Realistically, with the Russians just not sending the Baltic Fleet to Tsushima, that would make the Russian public more open to continuing the war. To add to that, I should get around to adding pictures to the rest of the updates.

Is it going to be the old "Destroy/relocate all existing property and deny them to the enemy, let the enemy in until wintertime, starve them, and crush them."? Hahahaha, pity the Japanese soldiers that ends up falling for the Russian Winter Trap just like Napoleon and his French troops did a century earlier!

But, yeah, that probably would be better - at least then Russia/Japan's diplomacy issue with Britain and others wouldn't need as much change. The Anglo-Japanese Alliance was intended to be in force for five years, so you could have the alliance cancelled in your alternate 1907, without the renewal that happened in real-life 1905.

PS Thanks for adding me to your friends' list.

Edited October 23, 2015 by henrymidfields

[blah the Prussian]

Is it going to be the old "Destroy/relocate all existing property and deny them to the enemy, let the enemy in until wintertime, starve them, and crush them."? Hahahaha, pity the Japanese soldiers that ends up falling for the Russian Winter Trap just like Napoleon and his French troops did a century earlier!

But, yeah, that probably would be better - at least then Russia/Japan's diplomacy issue with Britain and others wouldn't need as much change. The Anglo-Japanese Alliance was intended to be in force for five years, so you could have the alliance cancelled in your alternate 1907, without the renewal that happened in real-life 1905.

PS Thanks for adding me to your friends' list.

Yeah, basically. Japan really was never going to beat Russia in a total war situation, and to illustrate that even the militarists refused to attack the Soviets when Hitler asked them. And you're welcome.

[blah the Prussian]

Chapter 8

Birth of the Postwar Peace

Following the defeat of Canada in 1939, the USSA faced no real opposition. Their only remaining enemies on the continent were the Anti Communist South American nations, Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Bolivia. Although Huey Long’s South American allies were struggling against this coalition, by 1940 500,000 American troops had taken up the majority of fighting duties in the South American front. The Axis advance was first halted, then outright pushed back. To aid the Communist advance, partisans in the anti Communist countries, particularly Native American peasants, rose up, making life extremely difficult for the Axis. By 1941, the South American Front had been completely closed, and Communist puppet governments were set up in the defeated nations, Thus, Long was free to prepare to expand his influence past America’s “backyard” and into the wider world.

The first step on Long’s planned conquest train was Africa. The French and German colonial forces had been engaged in heavy fighting around equatorial Africa, but French North Africa, the main prize, had been thus far untouched. An American expeditionary force launched in mid 1941 intended to change that. On March 17, 1941, just two days after the destruction of Dusseldorf, the expeditionary army landed in Casablanca. By that point, superior American industry had lead to the USSN being superior to the Royal Navy by 1940. Thus, in combination with the fact that virtually the entirety of the French army was fighting in Europe, the landings were unopposed. The landings were commemorated in the American propaganda film “Casablanca”, which was popular in America but no where else. Napoleon V considered sending troops to stop the American attack, given that the French nuclear program was located in North Africa, but decided against it. France already had a nuclear device, he reasoned, and according to Operation Napoleon, only one nuclear bomb was needed to assure victory. Once the Germans had been knocked out, the French could wheel around and face the Americans. Thus, the Americans took French North Africa unopposed.

By June, The German counteroffensive was in full swing, and it was clear that France was going to lose the war. Huey Long was determined to convert at least some of Europe to Communism. It was with this in mind that he ordered the American army to launch Operation Roosevelt, the American invasion of Spain and Portugal. Anyone pointing out the irony of a Communist nation naming an operation after a rich, capitalist, imperialist President were, of course, given a free date with the Secret Police. The invasion was launched on July 1.

To begin the invasion, American forces landed at the port of Cadiz. The outnumbered and under equipped Spanish forces gave little resistance before retreating. In addition to that, Communist partisans, long repressed by the regimes of Spanish dictator Francisco Franco and Portuguese dictator Antonio Salazar, rose up all across the peninsula. It seemed as though the back door to France had been kicked open.

It was with this in mind that Huey Long invited Acting Chancellor von Rundstedt of Germany and Prime Minister Wrangel of Russia to Ankara, Turkey, to discuss the European order following the conclusion of the war. At the start of the conference, Long demanded and got Spain and Portugal as new Communist Republics and de facto satellites of the USSA. The two main points of contention in the conference were France and Italy.

In Italy, the Italian Civil War was mostly winding down, with monarchist forces holding Rome against Mussolini’s Fascists and mopping up resistance to King Umberto in the north. In the South, however, Italian communist partisans had proclaimed the Socialist Republic of Italy (ironically similar sounding to Mussolini’s Italian Social Republic), and Long wanted that Republic recognized. After much haggling, it was agreed upon by the three leaders that the Socialist Republic would be recognized by all three powers as long as it could win. It also had to promise that it would not attack the Monarchists, only the Fascists, and that the two Italies would coexist. The Socialist Republic and the Kingdom agreed to these terms. The next issue on the table was France.

At the time of the rise of Napoleon V, French Communist and demagogue Maurice Thorez had fled to the USSA to escape persecution. Ever since then, Long had been loudly proclaiming Thorez as the rightful leader of France. As such, he demanded that at least part of France be given to Thorez. Germany and Russia, however, protested against this loudly. This was because they were supporting Henri, Duke of Guise, the scion of the former French Royal Family, for the throne of France. In the end, it was decided that each party could set up their own regime in whatever (if any) portion of France they occupied.

That left Britain. Britain, uniquely among the European Axis powers, had a mostly intact military and command structure even in 1941. Germany supported the establishment of a Kingdom under the brother of Edward VIII, Albert. Long, of course, desired a Communist state. With no power occupying any of the core British land, that issue was tabled for the moment.

Overall, both sides in the Conference of Ankara went home disappointed. Long desired a guaranteed sphere of influence for America, given that the American position in Iberia was tenuous at best. The Capitalist/Monarchist powers, meanwhile, essentially had to deal with the prospect of Communist powers holding territory in Europe, which could threaten their hold on France and possibly northern Italy. The Cold War could be said to have started with the congress of Ankara.

By October, the armies of Spain and Portugal had, for the most part, disintegrated in the face of the American advance. However, much like Napoleon before him, Long would find out that to conquer Iberia was not that simple. Catholic guerrillas rose up against the new Communist puppet governments across the nation, responding violently to the persecution of the Catholic Church. Long, however, didn't care. With Iberia as a staging ground he funneled more and more American troops to Europe for the commencement of his assault on Gualist France: Operation Franklin. Long would have his piece of France, and no matter what his generals said.

[henrymidfields]

Is the Casablanca movie in this alternate history the very same thing as the actual one? I wouldn't mind knowing if the film producer was the very same person too.

I also had a look at Huey Long just now, and I saw that in real life he was one of the implementers of the New Deal. It does make me wonder whether the democratic/capitalist system of the USA tempered his more extreme aspects in his left-wing politics. Thank you for an interesting take on a real-life socialist senator. =)

[blah the Prussian]

Is the Casablanca movie in this alternate history the very same thing as the actual one? I wouldn't mind knowing if the film producer was the very same person too.

I also had a look at Huey Long just now, and I saw that in real life he was one of the implementers of the New Deal. It does make me wonder whether the democratic/capitalist system of the USA tempered his more extreme aspects in his left-wing politics. Thank you for an interesting take on a real-life socialist senator. =)

Nah, its not the same one; far more heavy handed propaganda mostly having to do with how the Americans are liberating Africa from the vile Fascists. The main protagonist is a Moroccan resistance fighter who needs to avoid the French police until the Americans come. The natives are portrayed as oppressed natives needing the enlightenment of Communism, ironically not at all dissimilar to how Africans were portrayed in European media; just replace "Communism" with "civilization". Regarding Long, he historically was far more authoritarian about implementing the New Deal than FDR. He had some good ideas, he just refused to recognize that America wasn't ready for them. In this world, he is by no means a Stalin analogue; Long is much more of an ideologue than Stalin; picture him ass being a slightly more pragmatic Trotsky in terms of foreign policy, and domestically something similar to Lenin.

[Moblin Major General]

Some questions:

If and when the USSA breaks apart, will the American Federation (if you call it that) be as potentially corrupt as modern Russia?

Will Britain be apart of NSTO (North Sea Treaty Organization)?

As for other points, I would like to do an alternate history on what would happen if William Jennings Bryan was elected in 1896, or if Herbert Hoover were re-elected.

[blah the Prussian]

Some questions:

If and when the USSA breaks apart, will the American Federation (if you call it that) be as potentially corrupt as modern Russia?

Will Britain be apart of NSTO (North Sea Treaty Organization)?

As for other points, I would like to do an alternate history on what would happen if William Jennings Bryan was elected in 1896, or if Herbert Hoover were re-elected.

No spoilers! Just so you are aware, not everything here will mirror what happened in our world. I have different plans for Britain. Suffice it to say, though, it will have fallen far by the time the war is over. Both of those ideas sound quite interesting. A suggestion for the second one: in 1933 FDR was almost shot by an Italian Communist. That would be a good way to get him out of the picture for Hoover.