Sweden A Scandinavian power

[chris N]

Sweden's Social Democrat Government seemed to concentrating more on domestic policy. It was trying to make sure that Sweden did not get embroiled in the Russian Civil War. The Social Democrats felt that too much treasure and lives had been spent on the last conflict. Restrictions were being placed on the ability of the Royal Swedish Army to respond to possible threats from The Communist government to the East.
It appeared that the Whites were failing to check and crush the Reds.

Germany did not want the threat from the "Reds" to spread to the West.
Still the Social Democrats were making noises about when would all of Germany's troops be called home. There was also some belief that if Germany did not get involved in the Russian Civil War there would be no problem.
Crown Prince Rupherdt had visited Great Britain and Sweden. He had some doubts about the Wisdom of ignoring the Reds. He also believed that France needed watching and perhaps some help. He was not a believer in continuing to crush an enemy after it had surrender.

[chris N]

1917: The year ended with Europe slowly recovering from the War. In Russia the year ended with the Reds making gains but the situation was still fluid.
The Reds did make an attempt to apply pressure on Arkhangelsk but the Russians were repelled by the superior tactics of the Germans. The Germans had stockpiled food and ammo at Arkhangelsk just in case but they were still hoping to kep the rail line open to the Swedish border.
The Ethnic German troops of General Anderson's command were still able to maintain the link for the Germans but pressure from Stockholm was rapidly shrinking what was allow.
Lenin in 1918 was to make an offer to the Swedish government that if they would stay out of it there would be no trouble between Sweden and the New Russia.
1918: The Ukraine: Sweden had recognized the new Kingdom of the Ukraine.The Kingdom now had been recognized by:Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy, Bukgaria, Romania, Poland Grand Duchy of Courtland, Ottoman Empire, Netherlands and Great Britain.
The Royal Ukranian Army was expanding and Germany planned to reduce its forces to a signal Army Corp with 2 Infantry and 1 cavalry Division. Austria-Hungary planned to recall an Infantry Corp and a cavalry Division by the end of the year as well as deactivating an Army HQ.

[chris N]

Poland 1918 The Polish Army had scored several victories over the Reds in White Russia. The Polish Commander in Chief was decorated by the Polish King.

[chris N]

Polish General Haller was sent to the Ukraine for talks aimed at co-operation between Poland, the new Kingdom of the Ukraine and the Austro-Hungarian forces in the Ukraine.

[chris N]

Sweden was more open to new technology for its army. It adopted a tank design the was based on a German adoption of the British tank design being used by the Royal Army

[chris N]

With the unsettled nature of things Sweden created its own Armored unit based on the new tank design. It was stationed in Finland so as to be able to deal with the Russian threat. Sweden would become the pioneer in developing tanks and would later export then to other nations.

[chris N]

The Estonian Provincial parliament decided to spend its own money so as to strengthen its defenses against a potential Russian attack by the Red Forces.

[chris N]

Spring 1918 The Russian forces of the left have clearly managed to gain the upper hand in the Civil war. The only thing that gives the whites hope is the fact that the Germans have been supplying them with aid and with arms ( Germany has a huge mass of captured Russian weapons from the last wasr and it is more than happy to turn them over to the Whites thus clearing space in warehouses) . The only trouble is that the White forces have lacked training and have tended to leave a lot of equipment behind for the Reds. Red forces have move into western Siberia and are approaching Tsargrad. Should the city fall it is likely that the White cause will be harmed and might collapse.
Thus the Germans and the Poles take a more active role attempting to chew up the Red Army and allow the Whites some time to rebuild and train. Great Britain hads also supplied Cousin Nicky with arms, including some of the new tanks (Mark IV models).

[chris N]

Spring 1919 The Whites have held off the Reds attempt to take Tsargrad and have managed to rebuild their military strength but the Red continue to hold much of Russia and have been nitpicking at Arkhangelsk.
The German Reichstag has begun to pressure the government to bring the
troops home and to limit Russian involvement in the Russian Civil War. The German 5th Mountain Division has been oredered withdrawn from Arkhangelsk. Somme elements are leaving by real whilw most are leaving by train. The Armored train will bring them to St Petersburg. From there shipping will return them to Germany.

The Central Powers forces in the Kingdom of the Ukraine has been further reduced. It will now consist of three corps: Austro-Hungarian XIV Infantry Corp ( 3 Divisions AH), III Austro-German Corp ( 1 German,1 AustroHungarian Disision) XXI Cavalry Corp ( 1 Austro-Hungarian and 1 German Cavalry Division). The Royal Ukrainian Army has increased to 9 Infantry Divisions and 2 Cavalry Divisions.

[chris N]

Summer 1919 The Communist government was informed by Germany and Austria_Hungary that any attack on the Kingdom of the Ukraine would be considered an act of war against all three countries. It was hoped that this would be enough to keep the Reds from doing anything stupid and it would also allow Germany and Austria_Hungary to reduce heir Forces in the Ukraine to a much smaller level.
The German withdrawal from Arkhangelsk proceeded with very little interference from the "Red Bandits". The Red war Minister was bidding his time and then he would take the port and crush the White there.

Next year the Red Army would move against the White Capital and retake Siberia. Then they would retake Polish occupied White Russia.

[Reichenfaust]

Any chance of a Map?

[chris N]

Discussion: I am looking at maps and seeing what I can do. Unfortunately, doing a map takes more time than I have to spare at this point. Still who knows.
1919: Most of the Military advisory mission to the Kingdom of the Ukraine was leaving. A Young Captain Erwin Rommel had just spent nearly a year training part of the Ukrainian Army. Other German officers that had been either there or assigned to the German Army station in the Ukraine included Hans Guderian, Eric Mainstien, Von Kludge and a staff officer named Von Paulus. The overall evaluation of the Royal Ukrainian Army was that it was well trained and Equipped. It was raed as combat capable.
The 3rd Royal Ukrainan Infantry division had engaged Red forces that had entered the Ukraine and had driven them back without outside help.
This was good new as it meant that the German/Austro Hungarian forces could be reduced futher from 3 corps to 2.

[chris N]

The Northern Front: Swedish forces had been working on fortifying the border for the last nearly 3 years. It was finally starting to come together.
There had been little combat between Swedish and Russian forces but that might change with the Withdrawal of the Germans from Arkhangelsk.
Germany left behind 4 battalions of German trained Russian troops. While most of their weapons were Russian their helmets and Uniforms had a German appearance. Since the Red Intelligence was not yet that good regarding the northern port on the White Sea it was believed that the Reds would believe that the Germans still held the town.
A train from St petersburg came at least twice a week with supplies. It was an armored train with Guns and Machine guns manned by ethnic Germans of the Royal Swedish Arm's St Petersburg Garrision.

[chris N]

The Flag of the kingdom of the Ukraine flew over a vast Kingdom. It was a sore point with the Leader of the Russian Reds Lenin.

[chris N]

The Well trained units of the Red Army were sent north to eliminate the Whites hold on Arkhangelsk. Minister Of War sent enough troops under a capable leader to assure that the job was done. After it the Final offensive would be launched to take Tsargrad and expell the Whites from Russia once and for all. Then The Poles would be hrown out of White Russia.

[chris N]

After three weeks of heavy fighting Red Army forces finally took the town of Arkhangelsk. The Red Banner was now raised over this the largest town/ City in the North Under Russian control. Note the Port of Murmansk is located within the Swedish Empire. The Kola Peninsula is also Swedish territory. The German Navy evacuated elements of the White Russian Army under fire from the Red Armys guns.

[chris N]

1919-1920 The Russian Civil War appeared to be widening down as the Red Army appeared to be gaining the upper hand. Red forces had pushed midway through Siberia but so far Tsargrad had not fallen to the Red Army. Germany had transported White forces that had been evacuated from the north and these were now landed to reinforce the dwindling White controlled area of southern Russia.
General Anderson was well aware that the Red army had a corp of three divisions on their side of the border . It did not make him feel safe. The Reds believed that the Swedes had just one division stationed in this portion of the Swedish Empire that included the former Imperial Russian capital .
Thus they had 27 Battalions of infantry and 10 Battalions of artillery. They believed that the Swedes has 9 Battalions of Infantry and three battalions of artillery. General Anderson in fact had 12 Battalions of Infantry, 5 battalions of Artillery and 2 engineer Battalions. Field Marshall Mannerheim had sent the Swedish Armored Brigade to the Region ( 1 tank Battalion, 1 armored Car Battalion and 1 Motorized Infantry Battalion plus a battery of towed artillery). He had also approved recruiting more ethnic Germans.
St Petersburgs population had grown quite a bit since the ending of the War there were now nearly 80.000 people living in the City. While that was down a great deal from the prewar population it was up nearly 70,000 from the population at the end of the war.

[chris N]

Swedish Capital March 1920: Hearing had been held on the Military budget for the next Fiscal Year. The Military was requesting additional money for more personnel and for newer weapons. Some of the parties on the left that were part of the Government majority were totally against spending any more money on the military. There belief was that the new Socialist Government of Russia was no more a threat to Sweden than was Norway. A Finnish Representative then argued that the members of the government majority had taken leave of their senses . Norway was not rule by people that had brutally murdered those that disagreed with them. Norway was an ally that had stood with Sweden during the conflict with Russia. Red Army artillery had fired into Swedish territory damaging a train that was going from St Petersburg to Riga. Tell that to the family members that have had to bury a relative that was on that train.
A Swedish Member from Western Sweden also denounced the government saying I fought in the last war and I know that the threat is real. An Estonian member then called for a vote on the defense Budget. The Social Democrats were stunned when it failed to pass as 12 Social Democrats voted against the Budget. The Swedish Conservative leader called for a vote of no Confidence in the Government. The motion passed and the King disbanded the parliament appointing the Conservatives to lead a caretaker government,

[chris N]

General Anderson decided to teach the Red Army a lesson. His intelligence people located the artillery that had fired on the train that went from St Petersburg to Riga. He decided to act. Using the Mechanized force with the addition of 2 Infantry Battalions (1 of the Elite Ethnic German Battalions and another Swedish Battalion, which had been trained in the German Sturm tactics. He okayed the plan. The Russian Artillery was to be elimated.
The Swedes took the Russians by surprise as Swedish tanks, armored cars were upon then before they knew what was Happening the 3 Grenadier Battalion infiltrated behind the Russians and thus was able to inflict heavy loses. Out of 800 Russian artillerymen just 30 escaped. A further 90 were captured. twelve artillery pieces were destroyed and an further 6 were captured intact. The Swedish force suffered just 1 soldier killed and 3 wounded in the attack.

[chris N]

Summer of 1920: Things became really quiet on the Swedish -Russian Border. It appeared that General Eskell Anderson's agressive action had paid off. The Red Army backed off. General Anderson was recommended for promotion to commander of the IIIrd Corp. the Corp was to consist of the 5th Finnish, 7th Finninsh and the 2nd Swedish Divisions. General anderson's former command the 3rd Swedish Division was sent home.

[chris N]

Lenin was now in control of a large part of Russia. His War Minister was still planning an offensive that would he hope see the capture of the Czarist Capital at Tzargrad and the Caucasus region. Western Siberia was in the Reds hands but Eastern Siberia seemed to be in the hands of the Czarist supported by the Imperial Japanese Army.
Red Agents informed Lenin that Imperialist forces had been reduced in the Ukraine but the Ukrainian Army was well armed and well trained. It would be more than capable of resisting an invasion by the Red Army. Alo warships of the Central Powers still patroled th Black Sea . It also appeared that in the event of an invasion Germany and Austria would send additional forces into the Ukraine.
germany had landed Czarist forces that had been in the north at a port in Czarist Conroled Russia in the south. Germany and Austria had supplied the Czarist forces with massive quantied of captured Russian weapons taken during the last war.
While Lenin wanted back the former Czarist Capital and the Russian lands taken during the great war held by Sweden it appeared that the lands were becoming more and more adjusted to being part of Sweden. The ethenic Russian population was not expelled. In fact they were treated quite well and the Swedish government had made a lot of improvements in transportation, education and healthcare.

[chris N]

Sweden's Ambassador to Great Britain was asked by his country's government to inquire as to whether the British Government might be willing to accept Czar Nicholas II daughters. They had made it to safety of St Petersburgand were staying at the Winter Palace. Sweden felt that they would be safer elsewhere. That was based upon the fact that Swedish Intelligence had twarted 3 Kidnapping attempts and 1 assassination attempt.

Britain finally sent a cruiser to pick them up and they were then transported to Great Britian were they were welcomed by their British cousins.

[chris N]

Lenin had decided that he would offer to sign a peace settlement with Sweden in an attempt to reduce the number of government that where Hostile to the Soviet Union.
The Red Army would then throw all of its forces against the Czarist forces and with any luck this time the White would crack and the Red Army would pour into the Caucasus region.

[chris N]

The Red Army was moving everything that could be spared from watching the Poles to dealing with the Czarist threat> The Red War Minister Promised Lenin that the Flag of the Russian Socialist Republic would fly from Tzargrad. Unforunately one of the Military commanders was Jozef Stalin.
Stalin was a loyal member of the party but a schemer none the less and someone whom semed to hav litle skill with soldiers. Still there were vry capable Red Army Generals and lots of troops nearly 150,000 against Czarist White forces that numbered 53,000.

[chris N]

The TsarGrad Campaign turned out to be a series of disasters for the Red Army. Stalin managed to mess thing up so badly that the White forces managed to turn defeat into victory. The Red Army's Minister of War proceeded to dismiss Stalin from the Red Army and vowed that he would never again command troops. Stalin did not take this well and he made the mistake of plotting against the Minister of War Trotsky and the Minister found out about it. Stalin had to go into hiding and hope that Lenin would order that he be spared.

[chris N]

Sorry for no updates but the recent hurricane knocked out electric power to this part of Connecticut and it only recently was restored.

[chris N]

1921 Lenin ordered the War Minister to prepare the Red Army for one more attempt to crush the Czarist State in southern Russia> Tzargrad was a thorn in Lenin's said. Secretly the Soviets were attempting to get the socialist parties in Germany, Sweden and Austria_Hungary to stay out of the conflict. They had also sowed the seeds of distrust in the Kingdom of the Ukraine with the Czarist State.
Sweden's new right of Center government was steering a rocky course. It had to avoid alienating any of its members for fear of losing a vote of confidence and seeing a new election with a possible return of the center left government. The government had just passed a new budget that would fund another 5 years of constructing more fortifications. The government was increasing its funding and it would pay nearly 150 % of what had been spent in 7 years in 5 years instead of seven.
Germany the Social Democrats had once more returned to power and were determined to restrain spending on the Imperial German Military but even more so to remain uninvolved in the Russian Civil War.

[chris N]

Summer 1921 Swedish Intelligence reported that units of the Red Army had left the northern part of Russia. There had been 90,000 Red Army troops in the North but now agents reported that barely 19,000 remained. Intelligence agents based in Estonia also reported that the 40,000 Red Army troops that had been watching Estonia now totaled 10,000. It appeared that they had gotten aboard trains but nothing else could be learned.
A further clue came from a Swiss diplomat that reported seeing trains with troops passing through Moscow.
General Eskil Anderson came to the conclusion that there would be a big offensive in the south of Russia. Sure enough in midJune the guns of the Red Army oped fire on the White positions near the border. The final Red offensive was under way to eliminate the White hold on any part of Russia. Spies were slowly able to put together a picture of the Red War effort- over 250,000 troops, 600 guns 50 tanks and 100 planes. After 3 months of fighting the Czar and the leadership fled to Georgia and then were rescued by the Royal Navy. By the fall the White were barely holding onto Armenia.

[chris N]

Lenin was quite happy that the Red Army had finally rid Russia of the Czarist blot. He was assured that sooner or latter Armenia would fall to the Red Army. However, it would seem that the White forces were finally commanded y a capable Russian General who knew how to use every advantage that he had. The mountainous terrain was allowing him to negate the Red Army's superior numbers. He had inflicted several defeats and if the army could just get more guns and a steady source of Ammo and food he was sure that he could keep the Reds out of Armenia.

[chris N]

Lenin in 1922 was happy he now controlled most of what hat been the post war Czarist Russia. The few Czarist forces were stuck in Armenia and his General assured him that they couldn't last. The Red Army had regain a tiny slice of White Russia from the Poles. A decision was reached that for the time being the attempts to export the revolution and recover more Russian territory would come to an end. Lenin and the Party needed time to solidify their hold on Russia. The Soviets wanted to establish diplomatic relations with Sweden and the Grand Duchy of Courtland. The Republic of France had exchanged diplomatic relations with The new Russian Government.

Sweden's Center right government was continuing to fund the defense line buil to defend the new territories. Surprisingly it had not attempted to undo all og the reforms instituted by the Social Democrats but modify them to some extent and then put in some reforms of their own. Sweden was offered one of the older German Battleships that was similar to one that they had built. The Germans also offered to build a Baden class Battleship for Sweden. This was meant to keep the German Shipyards active.

[chris N]

Poland was quite happy that it had managed to defeat the larger Red Army but it was sure that the Russian were determined to restore Russia to it 1914 border. Thus the Poles started talking defense policy with the Ukraine, Sweden and the Grand Duchy of Courtland.

[chris N]

1924: Japan has withdrawn its forces from Eastern Siberia but it still is supplying the White forces with arms and money to key resistance to the Reds going.
Lenin's health has begun to falter and it looks like the Soviet's might need to seek a new leader. Trotsky continues to lead the Red Army as Minister of War. Joe Stalin is trying to make a comeback and is slyly attempting to worm his way back into the leadership.
Armenia continues to be held by the whites. The white forces have attempted to re-enter Georgia but have been unable to expand their foothold..
Lt General Eskil Anderson has been named to command the 2nd (Swedish) Army based in St Peterburg. He is the yougest General in the Swedish Army.

Port Gustav Adolphas (Murmask ) has been growing . It is now the largest Port in the North.

[chris N]

Spring of 1924 Soviet Leader Lenin has become Ill and doctors seem unable to stem the decline in health. If he is very lucky he might last a year or two at the most but most experts believe that he will be lucky if he makes it to he end of the year. A new leader will be chosen but Lenin has already named a successor .
Britain reluctantly decides to establish diplomatic relations with Soviet Russia becoming the second European nation to do so. Sweden's Parliament debates a proposal by the the Social Democrats in 1928 to establish diplomatic relations with Soviet Russia. After much disagreement the proposal passes in the lower house and Russia and Sweden exchange Ambassadors.

[chris N]

1928 General Eskil Anderson is named to the post of Inspector General of Fortification. He and his staff are to inspect all of the fortifications built on the frontier with Russia since the end of the war and report back to the Parliament. General Anderson finds that a great deal of progress has been made and there is still a need for more construction especially with artillery positions and antitank guns.
His report is received by the Parliament and leads to another debate over military spending. Forces on the left attempt to cut spending on fortifications citing improved relations with the Soviet state but forces on the Right mistrust their Russian neighbors and are able to convince the Social Democrats to continue Spending on THE WALL.

[chris N]

Lenin surprisingly managed to hang on longer than the doctors thought was possible. Finally in the fall of 1926 the feared Power struggle began. Trotsky
supported the chosen successor while Stalin attempted to make a come back.
Stalin however , was not able to achive his goal and was instead banished to one of the backwaters of the Soviet Empire trying to out the Czarist toehold in his native Georgia. The Czarist had not firmly established themselves in Armenia.

[chris N]

1926 Germany's Chancellor on a visit to Sweden made a surprising offer to the King of Sweden. It was an offer to sell the SMS Baden to Sweden.Germany would overhaul the ship converting it from coal to oil. Sweden would provide the new AA guns for the ship and some of the machinery. Germany would be selling the ship at an almost give away price with Sweden paying only that plus the cost of the overhaul.
Germany wanted to build a new Capitalship and this would allow them to do that. It would also be scrapping or selling off some older battleships.

[chris N]

Sweden: After much debate the Swedish Parliament approved the purchase of the former German Battleship SMS Baden. A new name for the ship had not been chosen( okay my Scandinavian friends how about some suggestions for a name). One Proposal was to name it after Gustav Adolphus.

[chris N]

Leftist Parties were encouraged to demonstrate against the Swedish purchase of the German Battleship by the Soviet Embassy. The Reds were doing everything that they could to prevent any strengthening of the Swedish and other European countries.
Poland refused to establish relations with the Soviet state. In fact its intelligence service exposed a Russian spy ring and its members were tried and convicted by the Polish court and Hung.
There were several disturbances within the German Empire and they were ruthlessly crushed. Evidence continued to be gathered that the Soviet Union was behind these acts.

[chris N]

Swedish Intelligence was becoming quite aware of a connection between the Soviet Embassy and the political parties on the left. It was also carefully looking at the connection with some of the left-wing unions. The Swedish Intelligence Diector was getting information from his fellow Scandinavian intelligence heads. Many were concern about an infiltration of the government or unions by outsiders. The Grand Duchy also became involved and the new director of German Intelligence a Captain Canarias was also willing to share information. The Soviets had throught that they were smart but the watchdogs were onto them.

[chris N]

Germany had already begun a study of a modernization of the Baden/Bayern Class of Battleships and the refit of the Baden for Sweden was to see how those ideas might work out. The refit would take 3 years and might require additional work before it was complete.( drawing courtesy of Wolfsshipyard)

[chris N]

Discussion: Since there has been no input from other the name of the new Battleship will be the Gustav Adolphus. Next I have been working on a map but it was destroyed do to some damage to it when it happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I will see if I might be able to redo it and then have it scanned into the computer.
As things stand now the Soviets have control of Russia that was not lost in the peace agreement signed by Russia with the Central Powers. There are two exception: White forces continue to hold Armenia and part of Georgia and in the Far East the Whites continue to hold out due to Japanese aid with Arms and money. Still in the Far East the Red Army has been slowly able to push further to the East.
Stalin has yet to be able to get a post in the Central Committee which would allow him to grab the reigns of power.

[chris N]

Sweden: Secretly the heads of the Intelligence Agencies for Sweden, Denmark and Norway were gathering in Southern Sweden not that far for the Border with Norway. The was growing concern about the attempt by the Soviets to subvert the Governments of the West. Among the people that arrived was the former commander of Sweden's 2nd Army General Eskil Anderson. The General had secretly run intelligence operations across the border into the Soviet State. His people knew more about the strength of the Red Army and its capabilities than anyone else in the West. But he had also be instrumental in destroying a Soviet attempt to set up a spy ring in St Petersburg.
The Norwegian director was afraid that the peace movement in his country was being subverted by the Reds. All too few in the government took the threat seriously.
The recent collapse of the Monarchy in Spain and the rise of the Spanish Republic was something that few in Europe were paying attention to. But the Swedish government notice that one of the first things that the new government did was to recognize the Soviets as the legitimate government of Russia. Spain began a radical slide to the left. Predictions were that it might well lead to a Civil War.

[chris N]

1929 A recession has now begun in the world the aftermath of the Great war and too much overspending in the 1920's. Unemployment rises and there are problems. Many governments move to cut their spending and Sweden is no exception. However, the recession does not turn into a Great Depression in this time line but it does shake things up and greats instability for a time.
The Austro- Hungarian Empire goes through the next stage of Kaiser Karl I Federal reforms. His efforts at reforms disturbed the Hungarians but resulted in the Czech, Slovenians and Croatians feeling more a part of the empire.

[chris N]

Sweden's trade pact with its fellow Scandinavian Nations was helping the country to weather the recession. A number of sweeping arrest in Sweden, Norway and Denmark and the expulsion of a number of Soviet diplomats brought down the Government of Sweden. The scandal allowed the Conservatives to win power. Russia retaliated by expelling Swedish diplomats from the Soviet Union.
The Swedish Army was asking the Government to fund the purchase of a new advanced army tank for the Swedish Army. It would replace the obsolete tanks currently in service. The Parliament okay the purchase of240 tanks over the next 5 years.

[chris N]

Sweden's new tank was a massive improvement over the WWI era tanks that were too heavy and poorly armed. They also had a tendency to break down. The new Swedish tank would be armed with a quick firing 37mm antitank gun. The Swedish arms maker was also working on some tank designs that the Austro-Hungarian Empire had express an interest in buying and producing within the Empire.
Swedish Intelligence was spending a lot of time trying to figure out what its neighbor to the east was up to. It was believed that the Russians were making an all out effort to rebuild their industrial base. The Russians had lost a lot with the independence of the Ukraine. Industry and agricultural lands had been lost. The Soviets were having to import grains from the Ukraine in order to feed their people.
The Russians were also developing new tanks and aircraft to better defend the Motherland.

Sweden's ethnic German troops were able to cross the border and discover some things that the west didn't know. Below is a photo of the new Russian tank that had broken down and was left by its crew.

[chris N]

General Anderson's special troops had managed to smuggle the broken down T-26 and leave behind wreckage after setting off an explosive charge.
The St Petersburg Grenadiers had gotten to be very good at doing these undercover missions. The tank was loaded aboard a railroad car and immediately the engineers went to work building a series of boxes around it so that no one could tell that it was a tank.
Cloak and dagger games were being played in the former Russian Imperial capital as Soviet Agents attempted to find out what was going on and at the same time avoid the Swedish Secret Police.
General Anderson was ordered to return to St Petersburg and assume command of the 2nd Swedish/Finnish Army.
Meanwhile French and Spanish Republican military and diplomati personnel were treated to a military displat showing off more of the Soviet Military hardware.

[Reichenfaust]

Very interesting, and I love the idea of Carl Gustaf as a battleship.... Keep it up!

[ThomasTheviking]

I have been away from the forum for a while. Good to see that this TL is still very much alive and kicking!

[chris N]

A French officer discussed what he had seen in Russia while having lunch with the Swedish and Danish military attaches in Paris He talked about a very large tank that the Soviets had. It was called the T-28. The Scandinavians were very careful in their questions so as not to alarm the French officer. The Danish officer made a sketch based upon what he had heard. His drawing proved to be very close to the actual Soviet heavy tnak.

[chris N]

Sweden's Navy was going to send the recently overhauled Battleship Kalmar on a cruise to the US. A decision was made by the Swedish Government to make the voyage a "Scandinavian" effort. Denmark and Norway were asked to send naval personnel. These Scandinavian sailors would replace some of the Swedish personnel assigned to the ship. A Norwegian was selected as the new Navigation officer and a Dane became the Executive officer. Roughly 80% of the crew remained Swedish and the remaining 20% was either Danish or Norwegian. The new crew members trained on the ship in late March through April, In Early May the ship set sail from southern Sweden on the Longest Voyage by a Swedish Warship in modern times.
It stopped in Norway to top of its new oil tanks before heading for its first stop in Iceland.
The voyage was uneventful except that it was buzzed by a Royal Navy seaplane. A British cruiser the HMS Dragon then seemed to stay with it for the voyage to Iceland. The citizens of Iceland greeted warmly the arrival of the first Swedish Battleship to visit the island. They also warmly greeted sailors from their home country , Denmark. The Battleship stayed
5 days and then left for a brief stop in Greenland.
Next the battleship headed south and again it appeared that the Canadians were keeping an eye on them. The Battleship stopped at Boston for 4 days and then at Newport, Rhode Island for 3 days.
Finally it arrived in the Port of New York for a 12 day stay.
Leave was granted to the crew with a 1/3 of the crew getting 4 days.
The ship then left for Delaware visiting the state that was the home at one time to Sweden's colony in North America.
By mid June the Swedish battleship refueled headed back across the Atlantic viva the shorter route. By the beginning of July it had arrived in the Channel and stopped at one of the Channel ports in Great Britain.
The ship then continued to Sweden reaching its home port and leave was granted to all. The Swedish Captain held a dinner for his officers thanking them all for their professionalism and help in making the voyage a success. He wrote a letter to the Danish and Norwegian admiralties commending the officers and sailors that each had sent. He also mentioned the outstanding efforts of the Danish Engineering officer and the Norwegian navigator.

[chris N]

Sweden's attempt at Scandinavian unity had paid of the voyage of the Kalmar had received good press in all three nations. The commendation by the Captain of the Swedish battleship for the part that the Danish and Norwegian sailors had played also was well received.

Sweden was also attempting to expand its trade with its allies in the Central Powers. The sale of tanks to the Austo-Hungarian Empire had been the first of what it was hoped to be greated trade and contact between the two.

Crown Prince Otto Hapsburg was scheduled to visit Sweden. His father's health had required him not to travel and the Emperor had recently gone through a bout of sickness.

[chris N]

The 1930's was bringing change in technology. A lot of the military equipment that had been used 20 years ago was becoming obsolete.
During the last Great War tanks and armored cars had played a small roll but it would appear to some that they might play a greater role in any future conflict. Airplanes were also changing with greater speed and range.
It would appear that moving people by Seaplane and soon transport plane would soon be a common occurrence. Thus a Swedish or Scandinavian Airline might be a good idea.

[chris N]

1931: The Red Army had ousted the White forces from Georgia. Now all aid for the whites would have to come from either Turkey or Persia. The Turks had little desire to see the Reds arrive on Turkeys border so they allowed German and Austria_Hungary to continue to ship arms into the country. The Whites were capable of producing small arms and mortar ammo but not artillery and ammo for the guns.In addition they had no means to produce aircraft.
The Gustav Adolphus was nearing completion and would soon be turned over to the Swedish Navy. Sweden was in the process of a 10 year plan that would see the construction of 3 cruisers and 12 destroyers plus 6 submarines and 18 MTB boats plus 2 icebreakers.

[chris N]

Technology was changing and it was requiring nations to spend more to update their military. Sweden had spent money building defensive works that might neutralize any Soviet Threat to Port Gustav Adolphus. The Swedes
had build hidden gun positions near the port equipped with 11 inch naval guns . Along the coast of the White Sea was a battery of 11 inch Naval guns that would neutralize any threat from Arkhangelsk .
Sweden had spent a great deal of money and labor building defensive works along its border. They were designed to allow the smaller Swedish Army to stop or delay the Red Army long enough for reinforcements to arrive.

Germany was interested in Sweden building another heavy Gun battery which would close the White Sea. Thus neither Soviet nor any other ships could enter the White Sea.
In Mid June a Swedish task force left Sweden bound for the far North. Germany had agreed to send 2 light cruisers, 2 destroyers and a tanker with the Swedish force. Destination was Gustav Adolphus and a probe into the White Sea.

[chris N]

The display of Naval strength by Sweden and Norway in the Far North with German assistance sent a clear message to the rulers of the Kremlin not to mess with the Scandinavians and Germany.
Germany's aging Kaiser was present for the laying down of the new Battleship Bismarck and the launching of the recently overhauled Gustav Adolphus. One ship was a modernization of Germany last major Battleship and the other was a new generation of warship.

[bolhabela]

Could we get a map before world war 2 please? I am interested in the borders of Sweden and Austria-Hungary. This is a wary interestin thread please keep up the good work.

[chris N]

I am hoping to get up a rough map either today or sometime in the next few days. It will be Europe the way it looks in 1930.

[chris N]

Now everyone should have a rough idea of how Europe looks. Didn't turn out as well as I would have like it to but its done..

[pike]

Now everyone should have a rough idea of how Europe looks. Didn't turn out as well as I would have like it to but its done..

Thats a great map i like it and Sweden looks awsome.:D

So far TL is great but you know you can never hear enough from Ukraine. Have the germans got a plan to build its economy is it working so on and so forth. What dose africa look like again?
Will Germany attempt to form an economic pact with the Chinese in this TL like in OLT Willmar republic did. Will this relationship improve chinas standing in the world more than OLT because of Germany winning WW1 and possible swedish involvement. I have just finished rereading some of your TL and i cant seem to get a good picture of german africa if you could provided a some names of german african territory that would be good and maybe a map. Some advice give germany a 5 year economic development plan for africa. It will pervent confussion over what is happening in africa as always happens in most Euro concentrated TLs.

Good luck the updates Chris N.

[chris N]

The Ukraine: With the end of the First World War the Germans and the Austro-Hungarian Occupation forces carried out a lot of changes to the country. The railroar systen was changed from the Russian guage track to the more uniform European system to allow the more rapid movement of supplies and troops from the west to the east.. German and Austro-Hungarian Companies invested money into the country in Agriculture,Minning and in other industries. The country began to boom under the outpouring of money. The Austro-Hungarian Government took the lead in helping to rebuild the country into a modern society. Established was first a military government and then the Ukrainians were allowed to assume more responsibility for their own country. Trade agreements were signed.

[chris N]

Another Map

[chris N]

Here is a look at the Far East in this time line.

[chris N]

Here is a closer look at western Europe. France is showing more Anti_Italian attitude than anti_German. The French people are really angry at the Italians.

[chris N]

Here is a closer look at the Southern Balkans and the Middle East. Bulgaria made a lot of territorial gains as a result of it fighting on the Central Powers side.

[Reichenfaust]

Nice update, cannot wait to see the future.

[chris N]

Sweden's military and its intelligence assets were very concern with what was happening on the other side of its border. While the White Russian forces continued to hold onto parts of the old Russian state that grasp was a lot weaker than it had been. In the far East it was the Japanese that continued to provide the White forces with money and arms to keep them going. The recent seizure of Manchuria by Japanese forces had created problems for the Republic of China. Chang Kai Shek was close to eliminating the Communist in China. The Germans were training his army and selling him arms. They had also provided money and encouraged trade. The Chinese leader was proving to be more willing to listen in this time line. Thus reforms were being made that would end corruption in the military and make it a more effective machine.

In Japan the Emperor and the government were able to provide enough breaks so as to slow the slide toward militarism. Thus it would appear that a clash between Japan and China would not happen until long after Chang crushed the communist.

Germany still had its sphere of influence in the Shantung Peninsuliar. This was a check of any futher expansion of Japan into China. The German Far Eastern Squadron currently consisted of a Battlecruiser, three light cruisers, three destroyers and 2 gunboats. Germany had a military garrison consisting of a Fortress Defense Battalion ( 4x11" and 8X5.9" guns) and 1 Infantry Battalion. But there also were European Reservist and even Chinese serving the Germans.

[chris N]

1932: the Battleship Gustav Adolphus was turned over to the Swedish Navy in June of the year. It was the most powerful warship ever to have been entered into the service of Sweden. This would allow Sweden's other battleship to make a longer appearance in the far North. In June of that year an allied force of Swedish, German and Norwegian Warships entered the White Sea. It was clearly a signal to the Soviets that the White Sea was not going to become a Soviet lake. Any attempt by the Russians to build a northern fleet would be met by Sweden.

[chris N]

France was by the early 1930's also beginning to rebuild the French Navy and readying for the next possible war with Italy. The French Public saw Italy more than Germany as enemy number 1. A country that had taken part of metropolitan France and its colony territory.

[chris N]

The Ottoman Empire had also sent its Battleship back to Great Britain for an overhaul so as to make it more modern and capable of meeting the challenge in the Black sea

[chris N]

Discussion: It took a while to do the maps and I think that some did not turn out as well as I had hoped. There are problem simmering in Europe. The Soviets want to finish off the Whites and thus regain that territory. They also would like to topple the government of the Ukraine and regain a lot of the territiory that was taken by Poland and the Grand Duchy. Yes, Sweden is also a country that the Reds would like to trim.
In the Balkans, there is the question will Serbia remain a part of the Austro_Hungarian Federal Empire or will it be allowed to become independent again. Bulgaria also hag become a lot larger but will the Macedonians and the Greeks want to remain or will they trigger a war.
The Ottoman Empire avoided being in the last war and the Young Turks seem to be driving the Empire to reform. The question is will the Arabs attempt to start an attempt to break free and will they end up being crushed by the Turks.
Romania is not happy with its borders and the Austro_Hungarian Emperor is now thinking about a possible solution that could defuse the problem once and for all.
France hates Italy now more than it hates the Germans. There seems to be a move toward the Soviets in order to neutralize the Germans.
Italy had gained a lot of territory but there are politicians that want the Italian Empire to grow more. Some would have Italy seek to conqueror Ethiopia and Albania but would that really solve Italy's problem?
Germany has been at peace since the war. It see a possible threat to it from the East but not from France. It is also concern with Japan and its gobbling of Manchuria. Germany's relationship with the Chinese government is strong and it appears that their manufacturers stand to make a lot of money.
Norway and Denmark have a better relation with their fellow Scandinavian
member-Sweden. Trade and co-operation is better than ever. The Swedes
fear that the next war may just be around the corner as they see the Soviets as trying to put all of the pieces of the Russian Empire back together. That would be bad enough but they also seemed determined to
make the West have a Communist Government too. The result is that Sweden is torn between those who see the threat and those that just want to get along. The Social Democrats have a strong hold on the government but the territories to the East seem to be electing people that se the threat and will not be ignored. It would appear that the 1930's will see a growing unrest.
The Spanish Republic is beginning to see that Unrest as the forces on the left pull it in one direction and those on the right in the opposite direction. Much as the Spain in our time line there will be a moment of Destiny.

[Reichenfaust]

I like your maps, they are better than nothing, as well it was kind of you to provide an update on world events. Keep it up, and good work.

[chris N]

Germany was in the process of modernizing some of its older capital ships and at the same time building new ones. The Older Battleships were now up for sale as most of the older 12 inch gun ships were considered obsolete.
Still Germany thought that it might be able to sell them to one of the Latin American states as the alternative would be to scrap them and to try to use th guns on fortifications. Below the modernized Battlecruiser.

[chris N]

Britain had sold off or mostly scrapped a lot of its older Battleships . It did however decide to modernize the Royal Soveriegn and Queen Elizabeth classes.

[chris N]

Italy was also building new warships and modernizing its older ships.

[chris N]

Germany was looking at a design for a very fast Battlecruiser armed with 8x 11 inch guns.

[chris N]

Below a refitted WWI Italian Battleship

[chris N]

Ttaly was prepared to strike at Ethiopia to increase her holdings in East Africa. It was also trying to convince the British to sell them British Somali-land. There were also those that desired to increase Italy's position in Europe by a move into Albania. The question was what would the reaction of Austria-Hungary,Bulgaria and Greece be. If the two Central powers members objected then Italy would face a big problem. It was expected that Great Britain and perhaps France might also object.

[chris N]

The Austro-Hugarian Royal and Imperial Navy had completed 2 battleships in the 1920's , which would need to undergo modernization to face the threat of the airplane. Below the navy's Budapest.

[chris N]

With two ports the Soviet Navy began to work on building a new battleship and repairing two Czarist ships that they had captured.

[pike]

Thanks for covering Ukraine its a big country in Europe that always seems to get brushed under the covers.

Thanks for clearing up africa as well with the awsome map.

[chris N]

The Ukraine: Germany and Austria_Hungary had agreed to a German proposal to create a small Ryal Ukrainian Navy. The Germans would be transferring 2 Emden II class light cruisers and 4 destroyer to the country.
This was to help protect the Ukraine from the attempts by the Soviets to rebuild its Black Seas fleet based on the east coast.

[chris N]

Soviet Navy. Two former Battleships of the Imperial Russian Navy had fallen into Soviet hands and had been modernized, The Soviets were eage to regain a fleet on the Black Sea and on the White Sea. This was cause for concern on the part of the Ukraine, Bulgaria, Romania and the Ottoman Empire on the Black Sea and Sweden and Norway on the White Sea and Artic.

[chris N]

By 1936 the Soviets had finally eliminated the final White hold on the Caucasus region and had finally also eliminated the White hold in the Pacific.
The Red Army had emerged in Triumph over its White opponent. how it began to really prepare for the next war. The war of liberation of the Motherland.
The Russian I=15 fighter was consider a top fighter.

[chris N]

Russia by military action and threats was moving westward. Here is the Map of 1935. To be noted the Italians took a great risk and annexed Albania. This created strained relations with Bulgaria, Greece and Austria Hungary. Then something happen in Spain that triggered the start of a war between the Left and the Right.

[Keezih]

This is very nice and interesting but you should make a better map and perhaps a world map. The problem is the borders, you should learn how to make atleast better borders.
Show the world map!!!!!

[chris N]

Spain exploded after there was an incident at a Catholic Chuch. The gunning down of a Catholic priest and a nun was the straw that broke th camels back. Supporters of a restoration of the monarchy had enough of the Republic. They launched an armed attack by elements of the military determined to end the republic once and for all.

[chris N]

Spain May 1935 after three months of the Civil War (Red Brown- Nationalist/Red Republicans)

[chris N]

The Spanish Civil War was seeing Austria_Hungary, which had family ties to the last Monarchy, join Italy and Germany in supporting the Nationalist-Monarchist Alliance against the Republicans. While there were many in the Swedish Government that sympathized with the Monarchist Sweden and ts fellow Scandinavian countries decided to remain neutral.
The Republicans received aid in the form of arms from the Soviet Union (some of which arrived free but some had to be paid for. The Soviets sent "advisers" and there were volunteers from Serbia, Albania,America, Britain, France and Italy that decided to fight for the Republic. Italy agreed to send troops. Austria_Hungary would only send volunteers.
By the end of 1935 the Nationalist/Monarchist had made gains as seen by the map below:

[chris N]

1936 Russian Arms and advisers were pouring into the Spanish RepublicThe Republic was also receiving Volunteers from Latin America and from Europe.

On the Nationalist/Monarchist side General Franco had been rising as the commanding General of the Nationalist .However, a new figure was emerging as the Star of the right General Jorge Dias De Bivar. The man was a descendent of a person that was quite well known to the history of Spain. He had several things that Franco lack- Charisma, good looks and the ability to inspire his men. He was also well liked by the "European allies" and was also a man who tended to gasp the problem and the solution much faster than the General from Africa.

It was inportant that the war be brought to a quick end before it would ruin Spain. DeBivar asked the Germans and the Austro-Hungarians for air support. His intention was to take the capital and then tke the North. Franco and the Italians would drive the Republicans away from the coast.
One would see who had the better planes Germany and Italy or the Russians.

[chris N]

Spanish gold was being sent to Russia to pay for more arms. The Russians were sending more weapons. The T-26 tanks were proving to be better than what the Nationalist/Monarchist had. Germany and Austria-Hungary were sending anti-tank guns and anti-tank rifles. Germany had sent Me109s, He111, Ju-87 and Ju-52s. Austria Hungary was sending Hungarian Made tanks while Germany sent PzkpfI tanks.
De Bivar wanted to have the war over as soon as possible.

[chris N]

DeBivar had already decided that he would seat the Bourbon pretender to the throne as soon as the Civil War was over. He could not do it until then for fear of driving the Carlist away.
The General talked with the German and Austro-Hungarian advisors which included a Erich von Mainstein.

[chris N]

As Summer approached it was clear that the days of the Spanish Republic were numbered. Marshal De Bivar called upon the Republicans to surrender in order to spare the nation from more destruction. Only those guilty of war crimes would face harsh punishment.
The Soviets urged the Republicans to continue the fight but by July the Nationalist forces were in control of all but a small port where Spanish Republicans were fleeing aboard ships even as artillery rounds impacted the port.
On July 27th,1937 the Royalist flag flew from every part of Spain.
It was estimated that 99,000 Republican Soldiers had died in the war and nearly another 200,ooo had been wounded. The Soviet and other foreign volunteers that had serves in the International Brigades or with the Republican army suffered 18,000 KIA out of 27,000 and a further 6,000WIA.
The Royalist had suffered 98,000 wounded and 100,000 WIA. The Royalist allies had suffered 9,000 KIA (mainly Italians) and 12,000 WIA ( again mainly Italians as only Austina-Hungary had sent ground forces)

[chris N]

The Spanish Civil War was now over. The destruction to Spain was not as bad as Our Time Line but to those who had lost homes or businesses it was awful. There were trials of Republican soldiers and politicans that had issued orders that had resulted in the death of POWs, murder of Civilians and torture.
Still Marshal De Bivar did allow a process to be set up that would allow those that had not committed war crimes to go home. The announcement of the selection of a new King did cause some problems with the Carlist forces that had fought for the Nationalist. But the Marshal wanted to ensure that the monarchy was re-established before some group of Generals or a Certain General from Africa might seek to retain power.

The Marshal would retain command of the military but hoped to restore an elected legislature within a year. Plans were for the coronation of the new King within 6 month.

[chris N]

What were the lessons of the War in Spain? Well it had proved that the Soviet Union was capable of producing weapons that were quite good. The Spanish Republic's military had fought with great determination but with most of the professional military defecting to the Royalist side. Still without the assistance of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy the war would have gone on much longer.
De Bivar found that the forces that he eventually commanded were ill prepared to fight the new war . They were instead quite prepared to fight World War I. Having served with the Central Powers during the last War the Spanish commander had seen first hand the shock tactics.
Any future war would see a greater role for air power and for the tank.

De Bivar used air power to hit certain targets. He wanted to limit damage to the Spanish economy and to the people. He knew that for Spain to recover quickly he would need to be careful with the use of force.
Spain Battleships were so badly damaged during the war that they would have to be scrapped. Spain would take at least 2 years to recover enough to make progress to be prepared to move ahead.

Germany and Austria-Hungary were both ordering newer aircraft and tanks. Sweden was also moving ahead with plans to strengthen its army and its air force.

[chris N]

The Soviets began to expand their military in preparation for a possible war.
The Soviets wanted to apply pressure to force country's like the Grand Duchy of Courtland to return Russian land. The Soviets also were eager to attack the Poles to regain land lost to them during the Russian Civil War.

Sweden was also ordering planes from the US and Germany and stepping up its own production.

[chris N]

Poland was very aware that it was in the Soviets cross hairs. Since the start of the decade the Polish government had been increasing its military spending as much as possible. It had a fairly large army with reserves but it did not have enough modern tanks. Most of its tanks were either tanketees or Machine gun armed tanks. It had only in 1937 started to equip the army with tanks armed with a 37mm gun. It had the excellent Bofors 37mm antitank gun, which was also used by the Swedish Army.
Poland carried out training exercises but like many of the other European powers in Europe it was still more prepared to fight a World War I style war than a modern one.

[chris N]

Despite changing times the Polish Cavalry seen below was considered to be the elite of the Polish Army. Mechanized units had grown to four and was expected to double again by the end of 1939.

[chris N]

Meanwhile thousands of miles to the East the Soviets and the Imperial Japanese army were clashing. There was disputes over the borders of Mongolia and Manchuria. There had been clashes between the to nations since the early part of the decade. Mostly they were small engagements either along the Manchurian/Soviet Border or now the Manchurian /Mongolian Border. It seemed that each time the conflict got a little bigger. Below Russian tanks about to engage the Japanese.

[chris N]

With no war against the Chinese to worry about the fighting began as a small incident along the Manchurian -Mongolian border. The Soviets decided to teach the Japanese a lesson and escalated the fighting. The Army commander on the Japanese side ordered additional forces sent. And so the fighting grew to become a giant struggle that neither side could give in.
Japanese armor was thrown unto the struggle.

[Reichenfaust]

So, hopefully Poland will see some proper resistance to the Soviets.

[pike]

Seems like the perfect time for the chinese to enter the fray against the Japanese and there mongolian alies. Providing they can get there shit together of course. Some fascinating butterflys from the possible sale of german battle ships to china. It would be interesting to see how the Japanese react to loseing the domination of the high seas so early on.

[chris N]

China had just finished the Chinese Civil War. The Nationalist without having to worry about fighting a war against the Japanese were able to use the full weight of the Chinese army against the Communist and totally crush them.
China however, is in no condition to start a war with Japan. Chang is busy trying to consolidate power and eliminate the Warlords as a separate power.

As far as China buying the surplus Warships of either the High Seas Fleet or the British Home fleet there are a number of problems with that.( I tried that before having China buy several of the old British Battleships. It triggered a war as Japan moved to preemptively removed the threat at sea). Another problem is that for China to build a navy it would need a lot more trained Naval officers and enlisted men. it is somewhat doubtful that China would have enough of either to man the capital ships and the destroyers and cruisers that would be needed to support it. However let ne see if I can try something that might work.

[chris N]

China had been seeking to build a navy that was powerful enough as to protect the country from invasion. The Chinese had approached the British but Japan had appealed to the British not to do that. In view of the old 1905 treaty that had been renewed for 25 years Britain had refused to sell the Chinese any of their old capital ships.

Vice Admiral Lee Soong then visited Germany. The Germans had ships that they could sell but there was the problem that China lacked the officers and enlisted men to man them. The Chinese had set up a Naval Academy in 1932 and the first class had graduated in 1936. It had hired some exUSNaval officers as instructors. A German Naval officer thought of an answer to the problem of getting the ships to China. They would sail from Germany with a crew that constituted of Mostly German Naval officers and enlisted men plus a few Chinese and sail to the US. There they would pick up more Chinese sailors that had been trained in the US and some of the German personnel would go home. The ships would them sail viva the Panama Canal to the US west coast before refueling and then heading across the Pacific. Arrangement were made to refuel the ships at Truk Island in the German Caroline Islands. They would then sail to the German base in China flying the German flag. Upon arrival the ships would be turned over to China.

[chris N]

France was rebuilding its navy and it launched two new Battlecruisers to challenge the Italian Navy.

[chris N]

Fighting between Russia and Japan was increasing in intensity. What had started as a clash between forward elements of a Japanese Infantry division and Soviet Mongolian Cavalry and Infantry units had escalate. The Japanese through in the entire Infantry Division and some addition armor while the Soviets had now increased to a corp. Air and artillery units resulted in increased fighting. For three days the fighting grew in intensity. More troops entered the fray and it appeared to be growing so fast that it might well turn into a war in fact. Soviet I-16 fighter joined the batle.

[chris N]

For nearly 4 months fighting between the Soviets and the Japanese Army escalated. The Soviets threw more forces into the battle and so did the Japanese commander in Manchuria. What had started our as an engagement between a Soviet/Mongolian Corp and a Japanese division grew to be three Japanese Infantry divisions, a Tank Brigade and a cavalry Brigade supported by nearly 300 combat aircraft vs a Soviet infantry division, 3 armored Brigades, 3 cavalry brigades and a Mongolian Cavalry division and Infantry unit and 300 aircraft. The blood letting was incredible.

Soviet tanks were better than the Japanese but the Japanese were able to gain air superiority. Finally the fighting began to die down as cooler heads in Moscow and Japan began to calm things down. So foe the rest of 1937 things remained calm.

[chris N]

Poland was well aware that it was the Target of the Soviets. The Soviets had made no secret that they considered that Poland had stolen Russian lands during the Civil War and it wanted them back. Unfortunately a lot of Poles had resettled in these lands so there was no way that Poland would give them back.

The Kingdom of Poland had a good relationship with Austria_Hungary, after all the Cousin of its Emperor sat on the Polish throne. Still there was the question of whether the Empire would go to war for Poland. The Poles had attempted an alliance with the Ukraine but there was a lot of distrust between the two nations and even the Grand Duchy was distrustful.
Germany's relationship with Poland was cool. There were those in Germany that wanted to support the Polish state as they considered the Soviets to be a real threat to Europe. Still there was a tiny minority in Poland that felt that Poland should have an outlet to the sea.
Polands army trained for the next war and its industry struggled to provide it with the weapons it would need.

[chris N]

Sweden had purchased the rights to manufacture the He100 for the Royal Swedish Air Force. A decision was to produce as many as 240 of the fighter aircraft. The Spanish Civil War had shone the Swedish Air Force that they needed a more advanced fighter. Below it is shown with Swedish Markings..

[chris N]

The Kingdom of Spain also expressed a desire for a limited number of the HE-100. Forty of the planes were to be manufactured in Germany for Spain and anothe 110 would be produced in Spain.

[chris N]

Sweden was attempting to catch up with the change in technology. Unfortunately Sweden needed a lot more than it could afford to pay for. The navy was receiving more new warships but plans to continue that expansion had to be scaled back as the Swedish army needed a lot of equipment that it was short on. Sweden was already manufacturing a well made 37mm anti-tank gun It had been exported to Poland and to the Grand Duchy and even Great Britain had purchased 60 of them. Now production was being increased as the Royal Swedish Army needed more to equip its divisions.It was estimated that the Swedish army had just 40 of the guns available of the 10 divisions. There were at least another 20 that were in fortifications. Now Sweden ordered 240 of the guns hoping that it would have them on hand before any war.

The He100 was to become the standard air Force fighter but even as it was entering production the air Forces experts were saying that nore planes would be needed. It was expected that no massive improvements would be made until the B model was manufactured (after the first 60 planes). Feedback from pilots and mechanics would let the manufacturer
know what to do. Sweden was also providing training schoold for Denmark and Norway's fledgling air forces . The Swedish Military found that it was to everyone benefit for joint training.

[chris N]

Poland reported several border "incident" with the Soviets along the Polish-Soviet Border.

[chris N]

Poland was hurrying the manufacturing of tanks and other equipment . They were well aware that war in the east was most likely to happen all to soon.
Poland's best tank was the TP-7 but there were not enough of them. Still the Poles had to sell some to the Grand Duchy so as to gain Foreighn Capital for the purchase of equipment need.

[chris N]

Plans were already in the works for a more powerful medium tank but it was not expeceted to be ready to enter production until 1939. The TP-10 was expected to be more heavily armored and armed than the TP-7.

[chris N]

The Poles were doing everything possible to counter the Soviet threat. The problem was that Poland lacked the Industrial base that Germany or the Soviet Union had. ItHad come a long way since the Kingdom was formed but 20+ years is not a long time in which to build thing.
The Poles had copied the British Vickers tank, which had caused problems with the Bristish as they felt that Vickers should have been paid for the copies that they had made but Poland lacked money. Below the Polish Vickers E tank

[chris N]

Poland's Army commander went north to Sweden for talks with the Swedish Defense Minister. Poland was attempting to gain all of the help that it possible could. It would need more of the 37mm Anti-tank guns manufactured by the Swedish arms company. But was really needed was assurance that Poland could count on help.
So far the Grand Duchy to the North had offered no help. It was scared to death of the Russians. It knew that its military would have a very hard time resisting the Soviets. Only the fact that German companies had investments in the country gave them assurance that Germany would not standby and allow a Soviet invasion.

Poland and Germany had had some differences since the country came into being but Germany had allowed Swedish arms to come into Poland through Danzig. It had also allowed other materials to transit Germany bound for Poland. Germany also did not want the Soviets any closer than its current border.
The Kingdom of the Ukraine and the kingdom of Poland both shared the same enemy and they had much in common. The Ukraine had the largest Roman Catholic population of any part of the former Russian Empire and much of the History of the Ukraine and Poland had been tied together. Part of that history had not been a happy one fro the Ukrainian people. But there were ties as the son of the Polish King was a contender for the Ukrainian throne and they shared the same enemy.
The Ukraine did have one thing that Poland didn't have: the presence of German and Austro-Hungarian troops. There were barely 4 divisions of them there but it was enough to cause the Soviets to think twice.

Sweden was being cautioned by its Scandinavian allies not to get embroiled in an alliance with Poland. As it most surely would drag the nation into a war. A war that Sweden was not ready for. General Eskel Anderson would have said that if Sweden didn't stick with allies it might end up having to face the Soviet Union alone.

[chris N]

The Grey line on the map indicates a line of fortifications. Sweden constructed its line from 1916-1935. Poland had been building its since the end of the war.

[chris N]

IRELAND: Ireland became an issue that the Liberal Government had to deal with. With Britain staying out of the war the Irish people were demanding expanded rights and more self rule. Unfortunately the Liberal government was finding problems in getting the bill passed. The Irish Unionist refused to allow the rest of the country to get more self rule for fear that it would weaken ties with Great Britain.
By 1916 there was starting to be more of a strain between the Irish and the British Parliament. Increasingly there was growing a belief that it might take an armed struggle to win the rights enjoyed by people in Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
Finally the Home Rule Bill of 1917 was passed but it proved to be less than what had been hoped for. It was the straw that broke the camels back so to speak. The was a split between those that favored the establishment of an Irish Republic and those that wanted an Irish King on the Irish Throne.
The only thing that both sides now agreed to was that the time had come to break away from British control. Strikes began to break out as a means of bringing pressure to bare on the British economy.
It would appear that weapons were being smuggled into Ireland. The Weapons included Lee Enfield rifles made in Canada. There was also a glut of Military weapons left over from the war and despite the efforts of the Customs service they were smuggled into Ireland.
Finally the Volunteers struck and siezed contol of Dublin on Easter Sunday 1920. The Heart of British rule in Irleand fell to a shock assault by well armed and trained Irish troops.

[chris N]

Ireland: With control of the overseas telegraph connection word spread around the world of the Irish declaration of Independence. There were those in the British Government that argued against attempting to use force to crush it. It would be better to reach a peaceful settlement even if it meant letting Ireland go. Unfortunately, they were not listen to.
Britain attempted to use military force to crush the rebellion. It quickly found that the Irish were well armed and trained and quite capable of inflicting heavy loses on the British Columns. The Irish had gain access to all of the weapons that had been stored in Ireland. Giving them artillery, armored cars and yes even some tanks.
The reaction form the US was quite unfriendly when the British attempted to use force. It was an election year in the US and the Irish were a key voting block. Some Irish units stationed in India Mutinied. After 2 years of fighting and failing to make progress other than a naval blockade the British Government finally reached a deal that ended the fighting and granted Ireland total self rule as was Canada and Australia.
However, Ireland in 1924 declared full independence and severed all tied with Great Britain . There was now a brief 6 month fight between radicals and the Leaders of the government. An attempt to kill Michael Collins leader of the Irish Military failed. The radicals were crushed.
Next became a struggle in the Irish Parliament over whether to remain a republic or restore the Irish Monarchy.

[chris N]

A vote was held and the public passed a restoration of the Irish Monarchy by 52 to 48. Now the Irish Parliament would have to come up with a list of canidates and then the public would vote on the list. In order to win a victor would have to have won 52 % of the vote. Thus there might be as many as 4 to 5 votes by the public.

[chris N]

The list of candidates included the following families: O'Toole, O'Byrne,O'Kelly,O'Neil, O'Brien,Mcillycuddy and O'Donoghue. That was 7 possible candidates. The first vote was held on March 1925 and eliminated was O'Byrne and Mcillycuddy.
It was decided that the second vote was to be held in late May 1925 and if there was no winner the third vote would be held in July of 1925.
The Second vote reduced the number of canidates to 3 O'Kelly, O'Donoghue and O'Neil.

[chris N]

July 1925 proved to be the final vote and O Kelly managed to cross the threshold by winning the magic 52%. O'Neill got 25% and O'Donoghue got 23%.
The Ceremony was to be held On August 16,1925.

[chris N]

Borders of Kingdom of Irland with Great Britain.

[fredleander]

Being Scandinavian.....I would say that this is to late in time. There was a nordic movement going around in the late half of the 18th century....but mostly in a "romantic - historical" way focusing on the common background of the Nordic countries. Eventhough Norway was officially part of Sweden until 1905, three distinct national characters have evolved at this stage.....which it why I have been argueing that the POD has to be a lot earlier.
Even during the Swedish-Norwegian Union there were specific clauses that Norwegian forces (these were distinctly separated from the Swedish and funded by the Norwegian Parliament) were not to be used outside of the Union. There was an opening for using part of the Norwegian forces in Sweden to offload eventual Swedish forces sent abroad.

The Union could have been upheld by adhering to Norwegian claims but that would have resulted in less Swedish control of Norway.

[chris N]

Ireland spent the rest of the 1920's recovering from the War for independence and the brief Civil War. The Kingdoms relation with Great Britain remained strain for a time. It took time for the wounds to heal.
The Kingdom had to decide as to how big a military it would need and from whom would it buy the arms that it couldn't manufacture.

[chris N]

Poland: Tensions between Poland and the Soviet Union were increasing. Sweden had agreed to sell the Poles additional antitank weapons . It agreed to provide some of the weapons on credit but Sweden could not afford to provide large amounts of arms on credit as it needed the money to finance arms purchases for its own military.

Poland was thus pushing its own arms industry to its limit and spending the maximum that it could afford to.

[chris N]

Poland was attempting to make the most effective use of the weapons that it had. They included armored trains and fortification. Poland had built fortifications along its border with Russia. It had been advised on how to build fortifications by both the French and the Czechs of the Austro_Hungarian Empire.
Still more clashes were taking place in the East between the Soviet Union and Poland as a result of a cease fire in the East between the Soviets and the Japanese.

[chris N]

The Swedish military had purchased more than 200 Swiss made Solothurn 20mm antitank rifles as a means to give the infantry some defense against Soviet Armor. It was also order a Finnish made 20mm antitank rifle as soon as they could be manufactured.

[chris N]

The Austro-Hungarian Empire was ordering a huge number of new light machine guns it was a competition between the Czech company and the Swiss-Austrian Solothurn product, The British had adopted the Czech model changing the caliber to 303 and calling it the Bren Gun.

[chris N]

Ireland adopted the Solothurn Light Machine gun and its anti tank rifle for its army. It wanted more firepower but did not want to adopt any British made weapons. The army had several hundred American Made Thompson Submachine guns and was debating about whether to buy more or swith to one that would be the same caliber as its Light machinegun.

At this point Sweden was considering adopting a new light machine gun for its army. It was still keeping the Danish made one for its reserve units. A Finish arms Manufacture had already won contracts for several new weapons that would equip the army (see below).

[chris N]

1938 Things appeared to have calmed down. Fighting between Poland and Russia came to an end. Some in the Swedish and Polish Parliaments rose and called this period The False Peace. They were not alone. In Great Britain Winston Churchill was warning that there was a war coming and that the Communist in the East would likely trigger it.

Germany had been building new ships and the German army was modernizing a great deal.
France seemed to be shifting from the parties on the left to those on the right. The country had only begun to stabilize since the end of the Spanish Civil War. There were those that wanted a war with Italy to regain the part of France lost during the Great War. Relations with Germany were better than those with Italy. There were problems but not the anger that existed with relations with Italy.
Austria-Hungary had been going through an economic boon. The reforms that Karl had made had helped to strengthen the Empire. The Hungarians were still gripping about the Federal system that gave a voice to the Czechs, Croatians, Slovenians etc.
The Imperial Army had also received new weapons. The T-35 tank was finally being replaced by the newer T-38 tank. The T-38 tank was regarded as a match for the German Pzkpf III and the Soviet T-26. It was fast and fairly well armored plus it had a good gun.
The Empire had good relations with Poland and the Ukraine. Kaiser Karl's health was not good recently but he was younger than Kaiser Wilhelm II.
The German Emperor's health was in decline and his son was taking on more responsibility
Sweden was well aware that relations with Germany might be key to the Kingdoms survival but the two countries were not as close as they had been more than 2 decades ago. Bavarian Crown Prince Rupherdt had suceeded his father as the King of Bavaria. He had crushed an attempt by leftist extremeist to sieze control of the country in the 1920s and had taken a dim view of the rightwing extremeist that had made noise.

[chris N]

Ireland 1938 The Kingdom of Ireland was celebrating 13 years of independence. It was also facing the fact that it was going to have to spend more money modernizing its army, Navy and Air Force. The Irish air force at this time had 6 planes and 90 personnel. It had just purchased some trainers from the US as well as 9 refurbished P-36 fighters. The Royal Irish navy had 1 gunboat,1 minesweeper and 2 MTB. It was the Royal Irish Army that was the biggest of the three services. Currently it consisted of 3 Brigades. Each Brigade consisted of Brigade HQ 3 Infantry Battalions, 1 Artillery battalion and an At Gun Bn. That was on paper. Currently each brigade lacked 1 infantry Battalion and the Anti-Tank gun Battalion was just being equipped with the Bofors 37mm gun. There were 2 Cavalry Brigaes( 2 Horse Squadrons, 1 Armored car sqdn and one Artillery Battalion)., There were 2 reserve Infantry Brigades, 1 Air Defense Battalion (15x40mm AA Guns), 2 Coastal Defense Battalions ( the two Battalions manned an odd assortment of exRoyal Navy guns.
The standard Field gun was a modernized 18pdr which had been brought up to the standars of the British army 18/25pdr. The Irish had 5 tanks all of which were hopelessly obsolete. An Austro-Hungarian Officer, whose ancestors had come from Ireland was attempting to advise the Irish on what they might need with the help of the Swedish and American military attaches.

The Kimgdom was trying to prepare its military to fight the next war and not the last one. Ireland had the chance to buy tanks from Germany, Sweden, Austria=Hungary (either the Hungarian or the Czech) or from France. The only problem was there was not a lot of money to get everything. Great Britain was still regarded as a possible threat which was a road block into buying the Planes and military equipment from them.

[chris N]

Great Britain 1938 a lot of the ships that had been around in the time of the First World War were gone. Britain had sold them or scrapped them.
The Royal Army was still short of new modern weapons. it too had to make do with modernized 18pdrs as both production and money were lacking. The Bren Light machine gun had replaced the Lewis gun in almost all of the active duty British Army units but there were still reserve units that needed the guns replaced.
The RAF was just now starting to receive the new Hawker Hurricane fighter in numbers that would allow the replacement of Gloister Gladiators. Another new fighter the Spitfire was just coming out and it would be some time before it would be available in numbers.
The Royal Navy had ne Battleships and it was starting to receive new shps. There needed to be more destroyers. Parliament was reluctant to authorize more construction when there was no naval arms race. germany was building new capital ships but it was selling or scrapping older ships
The sale of three Battleships to China had provided Germany with a reason to build newer shps and had also given it the gold to pay for the construction.

[chris N]

Relations between Japan and Germany hit a really rough patch after Germany sold three capital Ships to China. The Germans were considering selling some cruisers and destroyers to China. Germany could use the money and it would allow her to build more modern warships. However, the US sold the Chinese 12 four stacker destroyers that dated from 1918-24. The US had been training Chinese sailors to help man the warships.

The Governments of Scandinavia held a summit in the Danish Capital to discuss a variety of issues including trade and the Current World situation. Denmark stated that it did not want to get dragged into another war. The Swedish Prime Minister stated that while there had been talks with the Grand Duchy and Poland there was no treaty between them and Sweden requiring them to go to war if the Soviets attacked one of the three.
Norway expressed some concern that the Soviet Union appeared to be building a Northern Fleet that could endanger Northern Norway and the Northern Part of the Swedish Kingdom.

[chris N]

The Swedish Navy was growing larger as some of the new warships began to enter the fleet.

[chris N]

Sweden also began to have a submarine fleet. Swedish Submarines benefited from help from the Germans,

[chris N]

The P-36 was in service with the US Army Air Corp. Swedish Air Force, Irish Air Force, Chinese air Force, Greek Air Force, Dutch Air Force and the Portuguese Air Force.

[chris N]

Hawker Hurricane was entering service in the Royal Air Force and in a number of the Commonwealth countries. Finally the British Government okayed the sale of the aircraft to the Royal Irish Air Force. 27 of the planes were to be sold to the Irish government as a peace offering.

[chris N]

Germany had seen its premier fighter plane in combat during the Spanish Civil War, Now The Me-109 was entering the Luftwaffe in larger numbers and it was now to be produced for the Austro-Hungarian Empire's Air Foce by a Czech aviation company.

[chris N]

Sweden had already purchased the Ju-86 for its air force and for its airliner. But there was a discussion that Sweden might need a new bomber to replace the WWI German bombers that had been removed from service as being a death trap when facing modern Soviet Fighters.

[chris N]

France was trying to sell its tanks to the Irish and the Romanians. It was part of an effort to finance further expansion of the French arms industry by sales to other nations, France clearly believed that another war was becoming more likely. Below the French R-35 .

[chris N]

Sweden seemed to be caught in between desires. On the one hand it wanted to avoid a war with the Soviet Union but on the other hand it knew that to ignore the threat would only result in it coming about. The question was an attempt to form an alliance with Poland, the Kingdom og the Ukraine and the Grand Duchy in Sweden's interest. There were those in Denmark and Norway that thought that if it followed the alliance route it would just encourage the Soviets to strike first.
So Sweden continued to attempt to strengthen its army.

[chris N]

Germany had been in the Process of modernizing its fleet. Two battleships and battlecruisers had been started near the beginning of the decade and had joined the fleet by 1937. Two additional battleships and 2 battlecruisers had also been started and were expected to joint the fleet by 1940.
The Germans had 2 aircraft carriers that should be ready for sea trials . The first ship would be ready in 1938 and the second in 1939.

Germany had sent a Light battlecruiser based upon the design of the cruiser Prinz Eugen to the Far East.

[chris N]

Black Sea: A former battleship of the Imperial Russian Navy had been overhauled and was now returning to sea. It was the First Russian Capital Ship to be on the Black Sea since the Russian Civil War.

[zeppelin247]

how strong is Britain now that it did not get involved in world war two

[chris N]

Britain is in somewhat better shape than it was in Our time Line. It did not have the expense of have to fight the was both in terms of Money and in lives. On the other hand it did not gain the experience in fighting the war. The closes that Great Britain came was fighting the Irish War of Independence.
The result has been that the British Navy remains the strongest of the services. Britain agreed to some ship building limits during the first have of the 1920's but then it started to scrap battleships or sell them off. Replacing the ships with newer vessels.
The RAF gained no combat experience in the First World War but the aircraft being built now are the same. Radar is just now beginning to become more important.
The British Army is lacking a lot of modern weapons and is playing catch up. British observers did report on the Spanish Civil War.

[chris N]

Sweden's newest Battleship together with the new light cruiser and 2 destroyers have left for a visit to Great Britain. They will also visit Ireland and Iceland. A final stop in Norway before a visit to the German Naval base and then home.

[chris N]

The visit to Great Britain by elements of the Swedish Navy was an attempt to show the British that Sweden was a player too. It was also an attempt at increasing contact with the Royal Navy.
Sweden was increasing its Navy as it now would have to project power to the far north.

The Swedish Air Force was looking for bombers that could be used to strike at targets both on the land and at sea. It did not want to have to depend upon just Germany.
March 7,1938 Sweden and Poland sign a trade Pact
March 9,1939 Sweden and the Grand Duchy sign an agreement selling modern arms to the grand Duchy .
Mach 15,1938 Germany signs an agreement with the Grand Duchy that allows a German Military advisory Mission.
April 1,1938 Poland and Romania sign a mutual aid pact.

[chris N]

Sweden had signed a contract with a British company for the purchase of 78 twin engine Bombers. The British bombers would allow the Swedish air Force to strike deeper into the Soviet Union both at land targets and at Naval target.

[chris N]

France's Air Force was receiving modern fighter aircraft as the country attempted to modernize tis air Force. To make up for a slow production rate the country was also seeking to order additional aircraft from the United States until production caught up Still the new French Fighter was thought to be a match for the German and Italian fighters.

[chris N]

Soviet production of weapons increased in 1938 ad the Red Army went through more growing pains. The Red Army's Military staff was already drawing up plans for a was that would see it regain a lot of lost territory. It appeared that the Soviets were also preparing for an eventual war with the Ukraine.
Stalin had started to make a comeback on his plan rise to Chairman of the Supreme Soviet.

[chris N]

French Fighter. This fighter was the premier fighter of the French Armee de Air It was expected to be able to beat the Fiat fighters of Italy and hold its own against the Germans. France was not seeking a war with Germany but it was heading for one with Italy. To the East the Soviets were hoping that a war between Italy and France would break out so as to divert attention from Operation Red Star designed to recover a lot of Russian territory held by Poland and the Grand Duchy.

[chris N]

The SMS Bismarck was going through Sea trials.

[chris N]

The SMS Scharnhorst and her sister ship were rearmed with the new twin 15"/47 twin turreted guns in place of the tripple 11" guns. It would give the ships a bigger punch and would create a standard gun within the navy's capitla ships.
Bellow the SMS Gneisneau tries out its new guns in the Baltic.

[chris N]

The Z-25 class destroyer was perhaps the most powerful destroyer to have ever joined the Imperial German Navy. It was the first of many new ships planned for the expanding Navy.

[chris N]

The SMS was sent on a show the Flag Mission to Norway.

[chris N]

Poland was looking toward France to acquire rights to produce some of the French designed tanks for its army as well as the French Fighter plane,
Poland was well aware that that the chances of a war with the Soviet Union were going up with each passing day. Polish intelligence was aware that the Red Army was expanding and the Red army seemed to be preparing itself for breaking through fortifications.

[chris N]

Russian Aircraft seemed to be violating the Polish border more and more ofter. Russian and Polish fighters had as a result engaged one another over Polish territory. Below a Russian fighter unit moving to engage Polish aircraft near the border.

[chris N]

Kaiser Wilhelm II was briefed on what was happening in the East. Luftwaffe High Altitude aircraft were even now violating the Russian border and photographing the Western part of Russia. Germany was using two bases in the North: One base in the Finnish provenience of Sweden and in the Grand Duchy. The Luftwaffe was about to move some of its secret recon aircraft to the Ukraine for a more in depth look at the Soviet Union. Below a special recon version of the JU-86.

[chris N]

Romania was also getting increasingly nervous as it received reports from Poland on what was happening in the Soviet Union. Romania was increasing spending on its military. tanks and aircraft were needed.

[chris N]

The Royal Irish Air Force was carrying out training missions using its new Hawker Hurricane. These missions took the aircraft over all of Ireland and over the Irish Sea and out into the Atlantic. The Commander of the RIAF wanted his pilots to be capable of carrying missions anywhere Ireland might be attacked. Meanwhile a number of countries expressed an interest in buying the Irish P-36 fighters. They were Greece, the Kingdom of the Ukraine and the Grand Duchy.

[chris N]

Poland was not about to roll over and die. The Polish military was determined to bled the Red Army white if it attempted to invade Poland. Poland had built medium bombers so that it might inflict damage on the Soviet Industry and rail lines that would supply the Red Army.

[chris N]

Germany reduced its forces in the Kingdom of the Ukraine and Austria-Hungary followed suit. It was believed that the Ukrainians were capable of defending the country. The Ukraine was finally able to convince the Irish to sell them the P-36 aircraft and thus the Ukraine gained more fighter planes. The Romanians also sent a training unit into the Ukraine as the Ukraine had ordered some of the Romanian IAR-80 fighters for its air force. It was hoped that by the summer they would have 48 of the planes in service.

[chris N]

France was moving closer to war with Italy. The French had been moving troops into position.The French deployed 6 Infantry divisions, 4 Alpine divisions, 2 Armored and 2 Motorized divisions as par of the assault force.
The plane was to smash through with the armored and Mechanized divisions to the alpine passes and to seal them off. The Italian Army in occupied France would be dismantles. Frances;s Colonial Army would push the Italians out of southern Tunisia thus restoring thing to the way that they were before the last war. Italian factories and rail line in Northern Italy would be bombed. Plans were for a short war.

[chris N]

Meanwhile in the East the Red Army was going through an expansion phase as it prepare for a possible war in the West. Plans were being drawn up for a war with the Ukraine and with Poland and the Grand Duchy.
Russia was trying to use intimidation to get the Grand Duchy to give back the land.
The Soviets were aware of what the French planned to do and hoped that as a result they would gain the time to reduce the Kingdom of Poland to a rump state and perhaps over run the Ukraine.

[chris N]

Soviet war plans were now set that would unleash the Red Army against both the Grand Duchy and Poland. The goal with the Grand Duchy was to recover territory that was Russian. With Poland the eventual goal was to take back all of White Russia and thus turn Poland into a rump state.

In the West the French would Unleash three thrust with a goal of reaching the old Franco-Italian Border and then sealing it off. In North Africa the French Colonial Army would push the Italians out of Tunisia .

[chris N]

The Soviet Plan For Stage 1 of the offensive looked like the following on the Soviet planning map.

[chris N]

Sweden: The Deutch-Nordic Oil Company had been formed to explore for possible oile finds in Sweden (including Finland, Estonia and the added territories) both Germany and Sweden were hoping to find additional sources of oil in Europe.

[chris N]

Below is the French Plan coded Named Operation Napoleon, for the liberation of French occupied Southern France. At the same time the French Colonial Army in North Africa would attrack the Italians and expell them from Tunisia.
France removed forces from facing the Franco-German border as a signal to Germany that this war was between it and Italy.

[chris N]

Nationalist China had gone on a shopping sree in the US purchasing both the P-36 and the new P-40 (which was just going to be entering the US Air Air Corp Service.) Here are some of the first P-40's entering Chinese service in the Summer of 1939.

[chris N]

France had managed to keep its plans fairly Secret. The Soviets intelligence agents were well aware of it and it gave the Soviet Army's Military planners great confidence that their plans would be more likely to succeed with the French action. With the Start of the new Year the French plans were to launch it(Operation Napoleon) by Mid-March. There was a great deal of desire in the French Military to seek revenge for the Italian Stab in the Back.

[chris N]

Sweden and Germany were providing arms and equipment to the Grand Duchy. Both wanted to strengthen the Grand Duchy's defenses and hopefully send a signal to the Soviets to not do that.
Sweden was stepping up production of military weapons and had sent a shipment of Antitank guns to Poland by rail through the Grand Duchy and by sea through Danzig.

March 15,1939 Frenh aircraft attacked Italian bases in occuppied France and at the same time French artillery fired on the Italian positions. Nearly 16 French Divisions smashed there way through the Italian defences on a race to the old French-Italian border of 1914.
In North Africa the French Colonial forces from Tunsisia and Algeria struck at the Italians.

[chris N]

The French had brought up a second wave of 12 divisions to mop up the Italian forces left behind during the break through. The goal of the Break through forces was to reach the border and seal it. The Italian forces were ill-prepared to fight the French. They had no tanks and not enought anti-tank guns. Mussolini was furious at the defeat suffered by the Italian Military. He was told that it would now be impossible to regain the territory. It would be best to accept defeat and reach an agreement with the French that could result in the return of the Italian Pows.

Even as the Fighting was begun the Soviets waited until the second day of the war and then launched an offensive into the Grand Duchy's Russian territory and against Poland. As expected everyone's attention was on France and Italy so the Soviets would have nearly a week or more to push their offensive

[chris N]

The Red Army ran into the grand Duchy's Frontier Defense Foce. Using defensive fortifications they were able to inflict loses on the Soviets using the Swedish made Bofors anti-tank gun. They even captured a Soviet T-26 tank. Below a Russian tank destroyed in combat

[chris N]

The Grand Duchy's forces had to retreat to avoid encirclement . It was a war that saw all too much lose of life by the defenders.

[chris N]

Yet the loses were not one sided. The Polish army had defensive fortifications alon their border with the Grand duchy. Polish defenses were strong and the 5th Mechanized Cavalry Brigade and a cavalry brigade arrived to strengthen it. The 19th Polish Infantry division also arrived to stem the Russian thrust.

[chris N]

Swedish made tanks moved to the east in the Grand Duch as that country attempted to keep the Soviets as far as possible from the old border.

[chris N]

The Polish Air Force lost 60 aircraft to the Russian surprise attack but the Poles showed that they could fight back. Polish light bombers struck targets in the Grand Duchy held by the Red Army and at Rail connections inside Western Russia. Polish Pilots had lots of hours flying and they proved to be quite capable of shooting down Russian Fighters and Bombers.

[chris N]

As the War entered its 4th Day Germany was starting to react. It had called up reservist and had landed troops in the Grand Duchy. Sweden had gone on full alert and a call up of military reservist had begun. All those that were nearing completion of their service were told that they would remain on duty with the Royal Swedish Military. Swedish Arms manufactures were informed that the government was requiring faster delivery of arms, At the same time Arms orders were increased,
There were reports of a clash of Ukrainian and Soviet troops. also large numbers of Soviet tanks were spotted entering both the Ukraine and the Eastern part of the Grand Duchy.

[chris N]

The War in the East has expanded into a major conflict. The Soviet Union is now fighting in the Ukraine, Poland and the eastern Part of the Grand Duchy. Sweden has been assured by the Soviet Government that there will be no was with Sweden. They would however like to discuss some border adjustments.
The Grand Duchy has received a note from the Soviets stating that if they will accept giving all of the Russian lands back to the Soviet Union they will receive a treaty guaranteeing their new borders and a 10 year non-aggression pact.

The Soviet Union has ordered its Black Sea fleet to escort an invasion force to the Crimea. The intention being to retake the giant naval base and shipyard on the Peninsula. The Royal Ukrainian Navy has 2 ex German Navy light cruisers and 4 destroyers at the port. There are some 12" coastal defense guns manned by the Navy and a 600 man Naval Infantry Battalion. It has been strengthen by a battalion of Naval Cadets and a Militia Battalion.
Poland has asked for help from the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Germany. The Ukraine has pleaded for help from Germany, Austria-Hungary, Romania and Great Britain.
The ex-Irish P-36 fighters have been flying a lot of combat missions against the Red Air Force. More Planes are needed.
Two squadrons of Romanian Fighters have been flying Combat missions with the Poles against the Rusians. Romania had planned to send more but with the war in the Ukraine it has decided to send forces there instead.

[chris N]

War situation March 20, 1939

[chris N]

By the End of March the Red Army had made progress smashing the grand Duchy's forces and was hammering the Polish and Ukrainian forces.

[chris N]

The Soviet government had received a lot of notes of protest from governments around the world. The Administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt , which had established relations with the Soviet Union at the start of his term as President , was one of the nations.
The Soviet Union had diplomatic relations with: Sweden, China, United States,Italy,Denmark, France,Japan and Bulgaria. Germany had had diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union but it broke off those relation after the big spy scandal.
Germany had moved forces to East Prussia and had finally sent combat troops into the Grand Duchy, It was clearly sending a signal to the Russians to stop where they where in the Grand Duchy or face a larger war.

Germany and Austria Hungary were moving to send forces to the Ukraine, which was being hammered by the Red Army. A shipment of American made P-36 fighters arrived at Odessa and were immediately off loaded. There were more than 79 fighters aboard the two freighters. A shipment of Austrian made 47mm ant-tank guns arrived by train

[chris N]

Sweden had continued to mobilize troops as it believed that the war could expand. The 6 divisions in the eastern part of the empire had expanded to 10 divisions and it was expected to hit 12 by the end of the month and then 16 by the start of April.
Swedish He-100 fighter had engaged Red Air Force Bombers and fighters that were crossing into Swedish Airspace to hit Grand Duchy targets.

[chris N]

Denmark's foreign Minister traveled to Sweden for talks regarding the Crisis in the East. His country was nervous that Sweden would enter the war. He was surprised to see that he was not the only Foreign Minister there. The Norwegian and German Foreign Ministers were there as was the Deputy Prime Minister from the Grand Duchy.

[chris N]

Below Soviet Position April 2,1939

[chris N]

The War in the East the Front April 5,1939

[chris N]

One of the officers in the 31st Royal Ukrainian Infantry division had graduated from the Military Academy in 1924 and had seen six years of service with the regular Army before being promoted to Lt Col. and commander of the 3rd Battalion of the 31st Infantry regiment. He had seen combat against the Red Army before . The result was that he knew how they fought and he got his men prepared for a war that was coming.
The 31st was composed of 3,000 Regulars, 6,000 reservist and 9,000 militia. They were well equipped and after 1934 he became commander of the 31st and he divisions training officer. It was his job to make sure that the Russians were unable to establish a beachhead.
On April 6,1939 Russian warships were spotter off the coast at exactly the spot that he thought that they would be. The 2/31st was deployed in a defensive position. Supporting them were a gun company equipped with 4 x76.2mm guns. He hurried the other 2 battalions of his regiment and requested addition support from the divisions artillery.

The Royal Ukrainian Navy set sail with 2 cls and 4 destroyers. Their mission to destroy the invasion force.

The Russians moved their landing craft toward the beach. The defenders held their forces fire until they were on the bach and then open up with everything that they had, the gun company, Machine guns, Mortars etc.
It became a slaughter. The Russian Battleship began to shell the Beach when they came under attack by the ships from the Ukraine.
The divisions heavy artillery consisting of18x 122mm howitzers and 18x100mm guns joined in the fight.

[chris N]

The Royal Ukrainian Navy (RUkN) two light cruisers and 4 destroyers arrived at the sight of the Russian invasion and launched their attack. The RUk warships crews had been well trained by their German advisers and they proceeded to launch a massive torpedo attack. Thirty -two torpedoes were launched sinking two Soviet transports and two freighters as well as two Russian destroyers. The Soviet Battleship was hit by 3 torpedoes causing massive damage to the ship. A RUKN destroyer was sunk by the battleship and a light cruiser was able to limp away after several near misses.

Several Royal Ukraine Aif Force Fighter arrived carrying Bombs. They were able to hit the Soviet battleship with 3 500lb bombs sending it to the bottom.
The Royal and Imperial Austro_Hungarian Navy was en-route to the Black Sea with 2 Battleships, 3 cruisers and 8 destroyers plus 3 support ships

[TheRoaringLion]

Th Swedes have always had far superior technology, but never the means to effectively deploy it. It's one of the downfalls to being underpopulated... :p

[chris N]

In this timeline part of the ethnic German population that lived in Russia fled to the Kingdom of Scandinavia. This did help somewhat in giving the Kingdom a larger population. In addition the Russian population that remained was treated a lot better than they had been under the Czar or ever more so under the Soviets. The result has been a stable country. The Kingdom also includes Estonia.
Still even with these gains the population difference is too great for Sweden to get involved in a war without allies. Even so the Sweds are being pressed by Denmark and Norway to act cautiously.
Still the aggression by the Soviet Union had shocked a lot of the political left in the country. The Social Democrats seemed to be distancing themselves from those that have supported the Soviet Union.

The War: Polish forces have now contained a Red Army thrust in the south but it appears that the Reds are now deploying some of their heavy tanks. The 37mm guns are ineffective in stopping them. Poland had developed an anti tank round for the French 75mm guns but it only has a limited supply of them. They also purchased some French and Belgian 47mm anti-tank guns but there are only a limited number of them.

In the Ukraine the attempted invasion of the Crimea was a failure the Red Army division was destroyed on the beach and at sea. Unfortunately the Red Army has made some deep inroads in the Eastern part of the
country. A thrust toward the Capital of Kiev was defeated by the Ukraine. Despite being outnumbered the Royal Ukrainian Army had been able to mount a stiff resistance to the Red Army but it lacks enough tanks and Anti-tank weapons. The arrival of Romanian and Austro-Hungarian Air Force fighters has started to balance the battle for control of the skies.
As for ground forces any Austrian forces have been sucked into preventing the Soviets from breaking through and encircling the Poles and cutting off aide to the Ukraine.

[chris N]

Austria-_Hungary after consulting with the Germans ordered the deployment of the 14th Army into the Western Ukraine. the Army had been activated at the start of the year. Being sent East was the country's 1 Panzer Division equipped with the new Czech made T-38 tank and some of the Hungarian AA tanks. there were two mobile divisions each of which had a battalion of T-35 tanks and two infantry divisions,

[chris N]

Below the situation as of April 10th,1939

[chris N]

The Germans sent a corp of the Eighth Army into the Grand Duchy. The Corp consisted of the 1 Panzer Division,6th Infantry Division, 18th Infantry Division and the 7th Motorized Infantry Division. The 1st Panzer Division had 300 Panzers ( unfortunately 1/3 of the tanks were Panzer I and IIs. But luckily some of the Pzkpfs were armed with 50mm guns.

[chris N]

Geneva, Switzerland A peace Treaty was signed by France and Italy effectively ending the war between the two nations. The French military had restored its border with Italy to what it had been in 1914.
France asked Germany for some adjustments to its border with France. The Germans agreed to consider the request and would get back to the French.
This was after a careful presentation.

The Soviet Union asked Sweden to consider a border adjustment. The Russians wanted a buffer zone. It considered that Sweden was too far into what had been historic Russian territory.

[chris N]

Below is the Map of what the Soviets proposed as border changes at the end of the current conflict. While it did not reach what the Soviets had hoped for it would see the Soviet Unions border move further to the west.

[Reichenfaust]

Interesting, though the Swedes should just tell the Russians to go to hell, that it was varangian territory before the bastards conquered it!

[chris N]

The Swedish Foreign Minister called the Soviet Ambassador to deliver an answer to the Soviet request for "border adjustments". Mr Ambassador the government of the Kingdom of Sweden hereby rejects your governments "request" for a readjustment of the border. The border was set by the treaty of 1917 and was radified by the Russian government. Yes we know that you claim that the Tsarist government had no right to sign that treaty. But I would say that we have an even older claim to the land and we are just reasserting our rightful claim to it. We could have claimed even more but did not. You believe that we will be cowed by the actions of the Red Army in Poland and the Ukraine. Let me tell you this we are a free people and will not be bullied by any nation. If you armies or air forces cross our borders they will be repelled. If it is a war that you want you may discover that it will not be Sweden that will crumble but you. You may take our answer to you leader .

[chris N]

The Red Army's senior leadership recommended against expanding the war to Sweden. They were having a hard enough time fighting bothe the Ukraine and Poland. The Grand Duchy's forces had surprised the Red Army by the stiff resistance that they had put up.
Now Soviet intelligence reported that German forces were in the Grand Duchy and moving up to the old border. Question was would they cross it and attack the red army.
Austria-Hungary had also sent forces into the Ukraine. Their navy had also entered the Black sea.
A decision was to press the offensive in the Ukraine and reach the Rive line.

[chris N]

The Red Army threw its heavy tanks into the assault against the Ukraine and Poland and managed to gain more ground. Despite the fact that Austia-Hungary and Romania were helping the Ukraine with Ground and air power the war continued to go badly for the defenders. The Poles were forced back but the Russians were forced to hold back forces so as to be ready should the Germans launch an attack on the Red Army.s rear.

To the north the unexpected happen Red Army Forces had gotten lost and crossed into Swedish Territory. They fired on Swedish troops and thus started the Battle that was to trigger the "Viking's Wrath".

[chris N]

Below the border situation April 24th 1939:

[chris N]

Erik Nelson was a pilot if the Royal Swedish Air Force. He was just 20 years old but had received a commission in the Air Force and had shown great ability. He had been flying one of the new He-100 fighters. He had already encountered a Soviet Fighter which had strayed into Swedish Air Space. He had escorted it back to the border. The next time it had happen the Soviet pilot had tried to shoot him down but he had been the better pilot and had downed him plus a soviet bomber. It appeared that he and his wing man Lars
Peterson were having a busy day.

[chris N]

For the next two weeks the Swedish Army and the Red Army clashed in a series of engagements each of which proving to be nastier than the last one. The Swedish Army of 1939 was well trained and equipped.but then the Red Army was a lot better trained and equipped than the Czar's Army of more than 20 years ago. The Red Army was over confident for its own good.
Battles were tougher .. The Sweds had learned to be more capable of Improvising.

[chris N]

Swedish Armored Units including the new Viking Panzer division, which contained Swedish, Danish, Icelandic, Norwegian volunteers proved to be the Vikings of the 20th Century.

[chris N]

Fighting continued between Sweden and the Soviet Union in their undeclared war. For the soldiers on the ground it was just as nasty as any declared war. The Viking Panzer division had seen plenty of action as these soldiers battled the Russian horde . They proved that the Viking Division was a tough one. Serving with it was the St Petersburg Grenadier Brigade. These soldiers were tough and experienced. They knew how to fight Russians as they had secretly been fighting the Reds for the past 18 years.

After 2 weeks of constant fighting the Russians withdrew to their side of the border.

[chris N]

The Red Army had reached the River line in the Ukraine. The Generals were telling the Central Committee that resistance was stiffing and it would be hard to accomplish a breakthrough with having to fight Poland and the Ukraine, not to mention a possible renewed war with Sweden and Germany and Austria_Hungary entering the War.
Stalin had had his way so far but the Party was divided and he had not been able to achieve total control of the Government and the Party. Tolstoy still had a grip on power by controlling the Military. He believed that it was time to talk peace so that the Soviet Union could recover and prepare for the next war.
Stalin however, convinced the member to make one more attempt before having to agree to a peace. He believed that the Germans would not intervene to save the Poles and the Austro-Hungarians were having problems at home and thus would be unable to throw enough strength to tip the Balance.

[chris N]

The Austro-Hungarian Army had sent 18 divisions into the Ukraine. They were organized into 6 corps each of three divisions. In turn the corps were organized into the 11th Arny and the 14th Army. The divisions included 2 Panzer divisions and 4 Motorized divisions , 2 Cavalry and 10 Infantry.
The Armys best tank was the T-38 Some Hungarian made tanks and armored vehicles served with the armored and cavalry units.

[chris N]

The 1st AH Pz division was racing across the Ukraine to prevent the Russians from breaking through the Ukrainian defenses,

[chris N]

The Red Army continued to hammer the Poles. It was using the heavy tanks to achieve a breakthrough. But the Poles had stated to improvise mounting 75mm guns on tank bodies that had just had machine guns before. Thus the Poles had to give a little more ground but finally in mid April the line Stabilized.
Int the Ukraine the Austro-Hungarian forces had stopped the Red Army from driving deeper into the Western Ukraine and had also stabilized the line. Additional Austo-Hungarian units had driven back a Soviet crossing of the River defense line. The T-38 was a match for the T-26 and the BT-5/7 but not the Heavier Soviet tanks. Not even the 47mm gun was capable of stopping them. The Austrian and Czechs came up with a stopgap measure of mounting a 75mm gun on a T-38 body.

[chris N]

The Red Army continued to hammer the Poles. It was using the heavy tanks to achieve a breakthrough. But the Poles had stated to improvise mounting 75mm guns on tank bodies that had just had machine guns before. Thus the Poles had to give a little more ground but finally in mid April the line Stabilized.
Int the Ukraine the Austro-Hungarian forces had stopped the Red Army from driving deeper into the Western Ukraine and had also stabilized the line. Additional Austo-Hungarian units had driven back a Soviet crossing of the River defense line. The T-38 was a match for the T-26 and the BT-5/7 but not the Heavier Soviet tanks. Not even the 47mm gun was capable of stopping them. The Austrian and Czechs came up with a stopgap measure of mounting a 75mm gun on a T-38 body.

[chris N]

Fighting continued in both Poland and the Ukraine. Germany continued with a military build up in the Grand Duchy and East Prussia but it had not taken the final decision to go to war. There were some in Germany that thought the mere threat of the use of force would cause the Soviets to agree to stop their aggression and talk terms for a reasonable peace treaty Belor the current situation map.

[chris N]

A Proposal was put forward for a peace treaty . this would see the Kingdom of Poland and the Ukraine joined in a Confederation. King Stefan of Poland would become the Emperor of the new state. Below is the proposed new borders. The Soviets would have gained Territory but would also be forced to give some back.

[chris N]

The proposed new country did not sit well with the Soviets. For while they would have gained a lot of territory they would face two problems: 1) the Russians would have to give back land to the new state and 2) they would now face a hostile state with a larger industrial base and a larger population. The New Confederation of Poland and Ukraine would have the capacity to produce a lot of the weapons that Poland had plans to build.

The question was could the Red army deliver a knock out plow that would see to fall of the Ukraine and Poland reduced to a rump state. Then given a few years the Soviet union would have a larger navy and an even larger Army and it could take on the Swedes. Giving the Soviets a window on the Baltic.

[chris N]

Here was what the Soviets Map would look like:

[chris N]

The Final Soviet Map for 1942 would look like this:

[AgentOrange]

And by final map ... you mean what the Soviets want it to look like?

[bolhabela]

Not gona happen. Neither the Germans neither the Austro-Hungarians want the communist so close.

[chris N]

The map is what the Soviet Union's leadership hopes that Europe will look like. This is not to say that it would happen. You are correct in thinking that Germany, Austria-Hungary and Sweden will not let it happen.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire has been attempting to develop weapons such as the Marder III. These self propelled anti-tank guns mounted on a T-38 platform will give them a chance to knock out heavy tanks such as the T-28 and the KV-1.

[chris N]

The Old Headquarters of the Central Powers was reactivated in southern Germany as representatives from Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ukraine, Romania, the Grand Duchy and Sweden arrived. The Poles also sent representatives.
The fighting in Poland had continued but on a lot lower level. It would appear that the Soviets had expended a lot of their munitions and supplies and needed to rebuild. German and Swedish Intelligence indicated that the Soviets would not be ready to launch a military offensive until the 15th of May.

[chris N]

A T=38 tank of the Austro-Hungarian Imperial army was seen undergoing some field maintenance in the field after a battle with the Soviets. The Czech factory was working around the clock attempting to produce more of them. Feedback had resulted in plans for a much more powerful tank to e built the T-25 a much more capable tank.

[chris N]

Soviet diplomats were attempting to reach a peace settlement in Switzerland, In the meantime both sides were jocking for a better position.
The Red Army needed a break to build up supplies and reorganize before beginning the next push while the allies were moving up their forces to stop the Soviets. The idea of a confederation of Poland and the Ukraine received lukewarm support from the Ukraine but a lot of positive response from the Polish Government. Still it appeared that the idea for now had to be shelved.
Austria-Hungary issued the following declaration: If the Soviet forces do not stop their attacks on Poland and the Ukraine(1) and agree to talks to peacefully settle the border disputes by diplomacy then the Empire would consider itself at war with the Soviets. Romania declared war on the Soviet Union in a more direct move. Germany likewise demanded that the Soviets end their aggression.

[chris N]

Russian engineers were already working on a new designed tank to replace to obsolete T-26.
The Russian peace attempts were an effort to buy time for the Soviet Union to increase its military strength and to splinter any alliance that might be formed against the Soviets.

With no indication that the Soviets were serious about peace the Austro-Hungarian Government declared War on the Soviet Union.

[chris N]

Finally Germany ordered its troops to restore the borders of the Grand Duchy and to help the Poles repel the Soviets. German PzIII made their first appearance on the battlefield.

[chris N]

The German 8th Army now became the Command HQ for all 8 German divisions in the Grand Duchy and it also assumed control of 4 Infantry divisions and 1 Mechanized Brigade of the Grand Duchy's Army. The 11th German Army was also moving from East Prussia into the Lithuanian section of the Grand Duchy thus bringing German Forces to 20 divisions.
Two more German Armies were prepared to move through Poland and 2 would enter the Austro-Hungarian Empire for the Ukraine.

[chris N]

May 1939 German forces now crossed into the combat Zone of the Grand Duchy. The German tanks and artillery stuck at the Red Army units. The Germans quickly found out that the Russian super heavy tanks could not be stopped by the 37mm anti tank guns that were still the main stay of the Army's AT weapons. There were some 50mm guns but it was the 88mm gun designed as a flak weapon that proved to be the miracle weapon. Its hitting power stopped the Russian Monsters dead in their tracks.
Below a Russian T-26 Commander surrendering his tank to the tank commander of a PzkpfIII from the 1st Panzer division.

[chris N]

Soviet forces struck at the point of the border whee Poland and the Ukraine first met. The idea was for a giant sweeping that would cut off the Romanian and Austro-Hungarian troops from there supply line.
German forces were moving through the Austro-Hungarian Empire to join in the offensive and the same story was true in Poland.

[chris N]

Russian soldiers were attempting to clear a Ukrainian city. It appeared to be a battle of Snipers as the Soviet and allied forces battled in the ruins.

[chris N]

German Forces were now actively engaging the Red Army. Two German armies were advancing through Poland to relieve the Polish army of the southern sector of Poland Then another two German Armies had moved through the Czech provinces and were entering the western Ukraine.
The Map below show the current action.

[chris N]

The Luftwaffe had begun to bomb Russian rail links and Red Army forces.The battle for control of the skies began to tip in favor of the allies with Austro-Hungarian and German planes entering the fray.

[chris N]

It was now becoming a race to see if the German army could arrive in time to stem the Red Army's Advance. The Soviet leadership demanded that the Red army succeed. The Soviet Military had thrown in a lot of their forces to hammer their way through.
Unfortunately , the Soviet Army commanders in the North was now starting to come under attack from the German Eighth Army and now the Eleventh German Army was also entering the fight.
The Austro-Hungarian Third Army had now deployed one corp to the west in an attempt to stop the Soviets from cutting their line of communication.

The Romanians had deployed two armies in the Southern Ukraine and were attempting to stop a further Russian advance. Additional Romanian forces were rushing to north western Romania. The Romanians were woried about the Soviet thrust.
Romania had received 40 T-35 tanks from the Czech factory. They would be the last tanks made. The factory was now shifting to make more T-38.

[chris N]

The German First Army arrived with the First Panzer Group. The First Panzer Group had the 2nd and #rd Panzer divisions and the 5h Motorized Division.The First Army included the 1st Cavalry Division and 8 Infantry divisions. There were several Tank Destroyer Battalions with the Army equipped with the Marder guns and also present were the Stug III.
Germany was already working on upgrading the Pzkpf IV with a long 75mm gun. The problem was developing it quickly.

[chris N]

Current situation Map:

[chris N]

Fighting between Soviet and German Forces were fierce. The German s proved themselves great at improvising and the fact that they had radios in all their tanks allow for greater ability to deal with fluid situations.

[chris N]

German Paratroopers were able to make their first appearance on the battlefield as they were dropped into the battle.

[chris N]

The Ukrainian Army was fighting a desperate holding action. The Polish Kings youngest son had gone to the Ukraine during the last war with the Glacian
division. he was still considered a pretender to the throne of the Ukraine but was now commanding the 4th Corp of 3 Infantry divisions plus an understrength BN of 25 T-35 tanks. He had also assumed command of all Ukrainian forces in the region. He acted boldly and convinced the Red Army that he had a lot more forcees than he really did. An Austrian Corp had managed to prevent the Reds from crossing the border and attacking him in the rear. Two additiona German Armies had entered the Ukraine and were moving north as fast as they could.

[chris N]

The Grand Duchy, Poland, Germany Austria-Hungary and the Ukraine were all appealing to Sweden to join the war. All were pointing to the aggression by the Soviets and the fact that one could not trust them. On the other hand Denmark was uneasy about Sweden getting involved in the war as was Norway. The political left in Sweden was also against going to war but the unprovoked attack on Sweden and the 2 week war had weaken their position
It appeared that Sweden, which had mobilized more than 25 divisions (Swedish, Finnish, Estonian and Scandinavian) was moving toward joining the war
Sweden was attempting to increase its tank and mechanized force as well as
strengthening its air force before it did..

[chris N]

German Industry was busy working on a long range Bomber capable of reaching the Ural Mountains from bases in East Prussia.
Sweden notified the Central Powers and the allies that Sweden was not ready to go to war. Its industry would need more time to properly outfit the Military.
Swedish and German Planners came up with Operation Odin which would trap the Northern Soviet armies between the forces of German Armee Group Nord and the Swedish Army Group. The earliest that the plan could be carried out was in mid June.

[chris N]

The Luftwaffe was acting to degrade the Red Army's ability to fight. Squadrons of Ju-87 Stukas acted against Red Army positions destroying then and allowing the German Army to advance. However, the Red Air Foce was quick to learn that these planes could be shot down by their fighters. Result was a need to escort them by the Me-109s.

[chris N]

Russian Diplomats offer a peace proposal in Switzerland which would see the Russian withdraw from most of the Grand Duchy and parts of Poland and the Ukraine. the Russians would withdraw from the western part og the Ukraine and part of the Eastern Ukraine but would retain half of what they had gained from Poland.
Those in favor of peace in the west and leftist sympathizers were expected to demand an end to the war and peace.

What it was was a belief by the Russian Military establishment that by ending the war now Russia would get a chance to come forward with more advanced tanks and aircraft. This would give then a better chance.

there was also plans to strike into the middle East by the Soviets .

[chris N]

Sweden had begun deploying its British built bombers. It had also gotten approval from the British Government to build 50 of the aircraft in Sweden.

[chris N]

Meanwhile on the other side of the Worlds. Chinese sailors were taking to sea one of their German built Battleships

[chris N]

The Soviets were making all the right moves to reach a settlement before the war could turn against the Soviets. The Soviets agreed to return a lot of the captures territory.
The soviets were aware that their military had suffered from a lot of problems during the war and a peace of a year or two could give them time to improve their military.

[chris N]

It appeared that a deal was reached at the diplomacy table in Switzerland. The Soviets would withdraw from almost all of the Grand Duchy and most of Poland and the Ukraine. The Ukraine's eastern border would be moved to the west but the country would regain a lot of territory.
The Soviet Leadership had agreed to the deal because it was pretty sure that if the war continued it might lose a lot of its gains. The plan was for a breathing space of a year or two and them with better equipment they would try again. There was even talk of a strike against the Swedish Empire in 1940 or the Middle East.

[chris N]

While the war was in a sort of a pause. Poland and the Ukraine were not at all happy about the prospect of losing territory to the Soviets. They were forgetting the fact that Germany, Austria-Hungary and Romania were all pressuring the Soviet Union for a return of 90% of the territory lost. The map below shows the new borders.

[pike]

From what i have read so far the USSR is hardly in a position to ask for land when half of Europe is against them.

[chris N]

What you said is quite true but the political left in Europe is attempting to stop the war from going on ( it is believed by intelligence that the Soviets are behind this move but it is causing a problem). The Danish government wants Sweden to stay out of the war. Austria-Hungary has been very pro-Ukraine but there is some opposition after an announcement that the soviets would give back most of the land.

[bolhabela]

Since whn is Serbia independent and whay dos it have Ujvidek? (Voievodina)

[pike]

What you said is quite true but the political left in Europe is attempting to stop the war from going on ( it is believed by intelligence that the Soviets are behind this move but it is causing a problem). The Danish government wants Sweden to stay out of the war. Austria-Hungary has been very pro-Ukraine but there is some opposition after an announcement that the soviets would give back most of the land.

Yep that is exactly what i was thinking.

[chris N]

The War in the East was not the only problem that Europe was facing. Leftist Groups in France were demonstrating calling upon the government to reckaim the land lost to Germany but the French government knew that if it did things could go wrong quickly, The result was a decision to unleash to paramilitary police to end the demonstrations.
Mussolini was still recovering from the defeat of Italy by France and its recovery of lands from Italy. Thus the Italian leader was making noises about territory controlled by the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Mussolini wanted the Italian speaking regions and Montenegro . Trouble was the Italian speacking parts of the Empire wanted nothing to do with Fascist Italy. They enjoyed the freedom that they have in the Empire.
The newly restored Kingdom of Serbia had a new ruling family and was a lot friendlier to the Empire. The Kingdom had a smaller military and trade appeared to be good. After 20 years of occupation groups such as the Black hand had be eliminated. The last 6 years had seen more and more power transferred to the new government and ruler.
Soviet forces in the East began a pull back to better positions as the peace agreement hit some snags.

[chris N]

Austria-Hungary decided to be safe and moved additional forces to its border with Italy. Four understrength Fortress divisions were brought to full strength and an Alpine and an Infantry division were also moved to the border. All coastal defense forces were brought to full strength. Forces near Albania had been at Regimental Strength were reinforced to Divisional strength.
Germany warned Italy not to do anything as it would be bad for Germany.
Secretly the Germans and the Austrian were looking to see if someone might be willing to topple Mussolini and they believed that they might have found their man.
No one was sure if the world would see peace or another war more horrible than the last one.

[chris N]

Austria-Hungary was moving troops to its border with Italy and Italian controlled Albania. The last thing the Empire needed was a war breaking out on another front. The Empire had gone from 48,000 troops on the Italian border to more than 90,000. There were still additional forces in route but every soldier sent meant that the chances of a settlement in the East favorable to the Soviets increased.
The man the Austrians and Germans turned to in Italy was not exactly a fan of either country but he was a realist and had no desire to see his nation sucked into a war that would damage it and strengthen the Communist that ruled Russia. He agreed to lead a movement to oust Mussolini from power.