Dead by Dawn: The Road to Revolution

[Enigmajones]

Originally Posted by rednax7

Enigmajones, I just want to say that this timeline is a mess, I love it! Everything so much more complicated and murky. This multi-polar world is a just great example of Alternate History, props to you sir.

Aw thanks! It is a bit cluttered, but it was intended to be covering the world. And the world is quite large.

[Enigmajones]

The Belgian Crisis of 1950

After the brutality of the Great War, Belgium was left in a state of utter destruction by 1918 and the nation fought to recover throughout the 1920's. Politically Belgium became far more diverse. After years of Wallon and Catholic domination of the small nation, Universal suffrage was enacted finally giving political options to the Flemish population. As a result of the particular devastation in Flanders during the war, a party was formed composed of Flemish veterans known as the Frontbeweging, whose goal was greater autonomy for the Flemish regions of Belgium and a greater consideration towards their language, which was respected far less then the use of French in the military. Even as the Frobtbeweging pushed for peaceful means to accomplish their goals, the government seemed to ignore their pleas. As a result there was a very radical shift to Right amongst the Flemish population. One such party was Verdinaso, a party inspired by Italian Fascism. Although it did not grow at first, its popularity became far more viable as French businessmen heavily invested in the Wallonie region of Belgium.

As a result economic parity between the two regions became quite large with the Walloons regaining a monopoly over the Belgian government, helped by the rise of Catholic supremacist politicians like Leon Degrelle. Degrelle gained popularity with his Rexist form of religious populism pushing at the divides between Flanders and Walloon. The failure of the Socialist party caused the country to become politically split by 1939. The French government began to send feelers out to the Rexists as early as 1937 as to whether they would be interested in gaining independence. They received enough positive feedback, but La Rocque refused to antagonize the British, who would not take kindly to the dismantling of Belgium. As a result it was only after his death in 1949, that a crisis emerged. In April of 1950, the Belgian parliament, useless for years, received a demand from the Walloon regions to secede. The Belgian government refused and as a result, France invaded to assist the Walloons, easily defeating the Belgian Army in the Battle of Brussels. In London, the government was furious and sent a demand to France to withdraw all troops from Belgium. France refused and expelled the British ambassador from Britain. As a result, the Franco-British War began several days later.

[The Admiral Hook]

Originally Posted by Enigmajones

The Belgian Crisis of 1950

After the brutality of the Great War, Belgium was left in a state of utter destruction by 1918 and the nation fought to recover throughout the 1920's. Politically Belgium became far more diverse. After years of Wallon and Catholic domination of the small nation, Universal suffrage was enacted finally giving political options to the Flemish population. As a result of the particular devastation in Flanders during the war, a party was formed composed of Flemish veterans known as the Frontbeweging, whose goal was greater autonomy for the Flemish regions of Belgium and a greater consideration towards their language, which was respected far less then the use of French in the military. Even as the Frobtbeweging pushed for peaceful means to accomplish their goals, the government seemed to ignore their pleas. As a result there was a very radical shift to Right amongst the Flemish population. One such party was Verdinaso, a party inspired by Italian Fascism. Although it did not grow at first, its popularity became far more viable as French businessmen heavily invested in the Wallonie region of Belgium.

As a result economic parity between the two regions became quite large with the Walloons regaining a monopoly over the Belgian government, helped by the rise of Catholic supremacist politicians like Leon Degrelle. Degrelle gained popularity with his Rexist form of religious populism pushing at the divides between Flanders and Walloon. The failure of the Socialist party caused the country to become politically split by 1939. The French government began to send feelers out to the Rexists as early as 1937 as to whether they would be interested in gaining independence. They received enough positive feedback, but La Rocque refused to antagonize the British, who would not take kindly to the dismantling of Belgium. As a result it was only after his death in 1949, that a crisis emerged. In April of 1950, the Belgian parliament, useless for years, received a demand from the Walloon regions to secede. The Belgian government refused and as a result, France invaded to assist the Walloons, easily defeating the Belgian Army in the Battle of Brussels. In London, the government was furious and sent a demand to France to withdraw all troops from Belgium. France refused and expelled the British ambassador from Britain. As a result, the Franco-British War began several days later.

Woah! This surprised me.

Awesome update!

[Enigmajones]

Originally Posted by TheInfiniteApe

Woah! This surprised me.

Awesome update!

Yeah, I was meaning to get back to this and I needed to post about Belgium starting the war, so this was my way of hammering one out. I'll be posting a few more updates about the Balkans, Central Europe and maybe a summary of the Western War in China, before getting to my update on the World War.

[Enigmajones]

Got a map coming up from Sumeragi

[Enigmajones]

Tan=Republic of China (Beijing)
Yellow= Empire of Japan
Dark Blue= Republic of China (Guangzhou)
Red= Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
Dark Red= Kingdom of Korea( Japanese Self Governing Territory)
Grey= Tibet (British Backed)
Light Blue= Xianjiang (KMT Client State)

[Enigmajones]

Italia-New Rome

Italy entered the Great War in an attempt to take control of Italian populated area's within the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The war was not popular with large parts of the population and much strife preceded the actual entry of Italy into the war. By the end, Italy had failed to gain all that it wanted and had lost over 600,000 lives to the war. As peace took hold in Europe, nationalists became more prevalent in Italy, as a result of anger over the failure to take territory seen as Italian. One such nationalist who became prevalent in the political community, was Gabriele D'Annunzio. D'Annunzio, a nationalist writer who had fled to France in the 1880's, returned to Italy as war drew imminent. During the war he famously volunteered as a pilot for the Italian Air Force and dropped Italian propaganda over the city of Vienna in early 1918. This stunt caused D'Anunnzio to become a bonafide celebrity, which was expanded on after his demands for the annexation of Fiume to Italy were ignored. D'Annunzio would not be deterred and along with 2,000 nationalist irregulars captured the city of Fiume from its allied occupiers. He then tried to get Italy to annex the city, which has an Italian majority population. Italy refused, and D'Anunnzio declared the creation of the Italian Regency of Carnaro, a state which would use several ideas closely related to what would become Fascism. D'Annunzio even declared himself Duce or leader of the Regency. In 1920, Fiume was made into its own independent city, the Free State of Fiume, in a situation not unlike that of Danzig, however this still displeased D'Anunnzio who declared war on Italy itself. The regency was destroyed after an attack by Italian military who evicted the nationalists from Fiume in Christmas of 1920.

Returning to Italy, D'Annunzio retired to writing in his lake front home. His writings were one of the influences on the young activist and master orator, Benito Mussolini. Mussolini, a former Marxist and veteran of the Great War, created a movement called Fascism and began to march against Socialists and communists. Mussolini found a following and in 1922, performed a daring "March on Rome", in which he forced the hand of King Vittorio Emmanuele the Third to make Mussolini the new Prime Minister, in order to avoid civil war in Italy. In his first year as a Prime Minister, Mussolini was able gain dictatorial powers from the government, legal at the time, and incorporated the MVSN, aka the Blackshirts, the military wing of the National Fascist Party, into the military of Italy. In 1923, Italy invaded and occupied the Greek island of Corfu, proving the powerless nature of the League of Nations. It is considered by many, that the Corfu incident gave Mussolini the license to be more bold in his actions. Around the same time the Squadristi, the unofficial version of the MVSN and avid Fascist supporters, began to attack and kill prominent socialists and liberals, although there was hope that these actions would lead to an end to Fascist rule by the opposition, an anti-fascist movement never came to fruition.

During the late 20's, Mussolini began to dismantle all constitutional constraints on his office, turning Italy into a police state completely under his own control.
By 1930, Mussolini was in complete control of Italy, and ordered the construction of new "Fascist" towns that espoused everything that Fascism stood for. He also orchestrated many construction programs, putting people to work while maintaining internal growth. He also supported the Italianization of non Italians in Italian territory. He supported massive immigration to Libya, which he referred to as Italy's "Fourth Shore" after the merger of Tripolitania, Cyrenaica and Fezzan. He also supported immigration to Italian East Africa, although it was substantially less successful then the effort in Libya. In Libya, Mussolini had put his presumptive heir Italo Balbo in charge, as what many saw as an attempt by the Duce to humble the ambitious Balbo, who had become a darling in the west, whose skills as a pilot were renowned, on par with the American Lindbergh. Balbo however, took to the job with zeal and gradually turned Libya into the most profitable colony in Italy. It is commonly said that Balbo was the father of Modern Libya. Mussolini believed that by exiling Balbo he could weaken him, instead he gave the steadfast young politician his own power base.

In 1934, Italy and Austria joined with the Reichswehr government of Germany to defeat the Nazi's in the south of Germany. It was this intervention in the German Civil War that finally justified Mussolini's arms spending and military buildup. However, gaining an ally was simply not enough for Mussolini, and he began to agitate for Imperial conquest. And in late 1934, he orchestrated the Wal Wal Incident, in which Italian and Ethiopian troops had a skirmish on their shared border in Africa. However, this war did not go as planned. When Italy launched its invasion, it received sanctions from Great Britain, France and Japan. Britain and France, worried about the seeming rise in Italian power, warned Italy against such an action, and while France pledged support to the Ethiopians, Britain merely boycotted Italian goods, in what became known in British daily papers as the Pasta War. France almost went to war with Italy at this point in Europe, but Britain warned that the situation on the continent was to fragile and that Britain would work to end the conflict as quickly as possible. Taking this response as a rather cryptic one, France could do nothing as French Somaliland was occupied by the Italians. As a result the French launched an invasion of Libya, and launched ships from Madagascar to Italian Somalia. The French were joined in the war by the Japanese. In Japan, Pro-Ethiopian sentiment was high, and the Emperor Tensho approved of an "African excursion to prove the superiority of the Japanese soldier". The Japanese Navy, small and modern, was useless as anything but a regional force, but the Japanese Army was a force to be reckoned with. After sending 70,000 troops to French Indochina, they boarded French ships en route to Africa. The Japanese would be essential to the aquatic attack on Jubaland.

The assault on Juba in the summer of 1935 was a success and the Franco-Japanese force marched on a and successfully took Mogadishu. The Japanese troops then moved into Ethiopia and met up with Ethiopian forces and helped defeat the Italian army during the Christmas Offensive, which helped force the Italians out of Ethiopia. As everything began to go bad for Italy, Balbo and his Libyan forces defeated the French force in the Battle of Fezzan. This would be considered the only Italian victory of the war, which forced Mussolini to capitalize on Fezzan, after the war, ensuring the continual survival of Balbo. By the time 1936 had rolled around, French reinforcements in Ethiopia had taken Eritrea from the Italians along with French Somaliland. Italy was forced to sue for peace in Spring of 1936. At the Treaty of Cairo, Italy lost Somaliland to the French and was forced to cede Eritrea to Ethiopia, a feat largely attributed to the Japanese diplomats at the table in Cairo. It forced Italy to pay reparations for starting the war to Ethiopia, Japan and France. As a result of the war, Ethiopia began to exercise its power as an independent nation and began to build a modern navy with French help. Remaining ethnic Italians in Eritrea and Somaliland relocated en masse to Libya, home to Balbo, hero of the Fezzan. Many veterans were in favor of overthrowing Mussolini and installing Balbo and riots broke out across Italy. When it looked like Italy was on the brink of civil war, Balbo came to Rome and spoke to the masses on behalf of Mussolini, swearing his own "eternal loyalty to our Duce". It was with this broke that Balbo kept himself alive even longer. The riots subsided and Balbo returned to Libya.

As a result of the failure in Ethiopia, Italy's imperial ambitions were forced to take a backseat to practical practices. In 1940, Mussolini set into motion a joint Greco-Italo Invasion of Albania, by which the territory was split into Italian territory and Greek North Epirus. This small war would be followed by Italian assistance in the Third Balkans War. This would be the end to Italian militarism on an international stage. By 1950, Italy was a first world nation with a strong economy and a people used to the rule of Mussolini, while a counterculture grew throughout the cities of Northern Italy. The south and Libya became the base of Fascist political control, while the North, originally the birthplace of Fascism, became home to more radical interpreters of Fascist ideology. Their ideology, followed the writings of D'Annunzio to the letter and gave birth to what was called "Italian National Socialism". When Il Duce died at the age of 72 in 1955, the calls for a free election began to become more public, with massive marches in Milan and Genoa calling for the Grand Fascist Council to be dissolved. Instead of answering their demands, the Grand Fascist Council elected Italo Balbo, aged 59, to be the new Il Duce of Italy. This caused an uproar of civil disobedience in the North resulting in harsh government crackdowns, as the year turned to 1956, a fragile peace had been created, all weighing on the shoulders of Italo Balbo.

[Enigmajones]

Franco-British War: 1950-1954

What began as what many thought would erupt into a Second Great War, would end with a nation neutered and an empire is disarray. The French declaration of war was not as much an actual declaration as an act of war. The French forces in French Somaliland invaded British Somaliland in Late April of 1950. The French also invaded the Belgian Congo, which remained loyal to the Belgian remnant in Flanders, taking most of the territory by August. The British forces in Africa, caught off guard, decided to launch an invasion of French Somaliland, while blockading France. The blockade worked perfectly and effectively ended all contact between the French colonies and Metropolitan France. In mainland France, there were about 300,000 colonial troops anyhow, included with the population, the French were prepared to take on the British. The British immediately made landings in Flanders and began to push their way into Walloon territory, which was backed entirely held by French forces. Degrelle's Rexist Army were a largely show military, with the French military taking 90% of all battles. The British and French began the Battle of Brussels in November of 1950, just as British Somaliland fell to french Forces. At the same time, an Australian-Japanese force steamed towards French Indochina and began the Battle of Indochina. By December, French troops had seized Malta in a daring raid. This resulted in the French disruption of the Royal Navy's hegemony. A month later, in January of 1951, British forces had seized the French Levant, facing only minor resistance in Aleppo, in fact the Mesopotamian Brigades were greeted as liberators, and were left to occupy the French territory as the British regulars were moved to the French Front.

Throughout 1951, the British continuously attempted to make landings on the Channel coast of France. The French seizure of the Channel Islands made the option of invading from Jersey impossible. Attempts to break into Nord-Pas-de-Calais failed consistently, as the French military was adamant in not bringing the battlefields to France. As a result throughout 1951, Belgium was a battlefield, with the fight for Brussels taking center stage. The Battle of Brussels would continue into late September, when British troops finally broke through French lines, resulting in a horrific retreat by French forces. By December of 1951, much of Belgium had been liberated by the British, as the Royal Navy's blockade and the bombing by the Royal Air Force on French coastal towns began to take effect on the civilians in France. The French military was not prepared to give up and launched a daring raid on India in December of 1951, landing troops on the west coast of the Raj. Indian self rule had been enacted in 1938, but there was still a lot of support for total and complete independence from Britain, about equal to those who supported greater autonomy within the commonwealth, but the independence supporters were far more militant. Thanks to the French "invasion" the Indian Freedom Movement rose up against British forces. In South Africa, the white population viewed the Indian revolt with disgust and launched an invasion of the Belgian Congo as 1952 began. As 1952 progress, the British gained allies. After the French were defeated at Lille and Metz. The invasion of Metropolitan France was met with aid from Italy, who launched an invasion across their border with France. The Portuguese and Spanish also joined in, invading the French colonies near them in Africa. By the end of 1952, the French had been defeated in India, which was open in revolt, France controlled very little in Africa besides Somaliland and Madagascar in anything but name and British forces were outside of Paris, whilst Italian forces were outside of Lyon.

As 1953 started, President Laval relocated the government to Orleans and began to assess the situation in France. Lava made contacts with the Italians, and Mussolini wanted Corsica and all of French territory east of the Rhone River as payment for exiting the war. Laval immediately declined, as Paris was torn apart by war. By the time Paris fell in July of 1953, the city had been largely level, with such landmarks as the Notre Dame left to rubble and the Eifel Tower good for nothing other then scrap metal. When French forces were defeated in Somaliland by December, Laval decided to finally contact London and ask for their terms. The last fighting ended in February of 1954 when Laval surrendered officially to British forces. France was forced to cede their territory in Morocco to Spain, Tunisia and Algeria to Italy, Gabon and French Guinea to Portugal, French Somaliland North to Ethiopia and Corsica, French Somaliland South, French Indochina, the French West Indies, French Guiana and the remainder of French Africa to Great Britain and Northern Ireland. In regards to mainland France, the French military was gutted so that it could only hold up to 50,000 men at any time, forced to have a demilitarized zone with all neighboring nations, the elimination of the French Navy and the cession of everything East of the Rhone River to Italy. There was also a clause in the Treaty of Orleans (1954) which called for free elections in France. These free elections resulted in the French Socialist Workers Party receiving the Presidency. Belgium was reunited and payed war reparations by France. and while the end of this war seemed good for the United Kingdom, all was not well. In the massive new territory the British faced numerous revolts, including those in India, Indochina, Corsica and smaller scale revolts throughout Africa. The British Empire would be stuck in these Colonial wars throughout the 1950's and into the late 60's, ending in the humiliating fall of Delhi and the Red Coalition across Asia.

[Enigmajones]

Comments anyone? World War coming up.

[rednax7]

I really am looking forward to it.

[Enigmajones]

Originally Posted by rednax7

I really am looking forward to it.

Thanks! Me too.

[Cylon_Number_14]

I'm a tad confused as to why all those countries dogpiled on France in 1952-53. Also, where did the French troops that raided western India come from? Lastly, I kinda doubt that France would lose Corsica and the land on its Italian border... though since OTL Germany got that kind of treatment in 1919 I guess its possible.

My minor quibbles aside, this TL is fascinating and I look forward to seeing how you prevented Japan from attacking the European colonies it coveted, since Japan is still on good terms with Britain as of 1954.

Lastly, from several updates back, I like how you reversed the US ideological transformation of the 1930s so that the Republicans are the left-leaning party now. Not that it's too important, but I feel you used a bit of "handwavium" in getting a Democrat elected in 1924; regardless I like all the risks you have been taking with this story.

[Enigmajones]

Originally Posted by Cylon_Number_14

I'm a tad confused as to why all those countries dogpiled on France in 1952-53. Also, where did the French troops that raided western India come from? Lastly, I kinda doubt that France would lose Corsica and the land on its Italian border... though since OTL Germany got that kind of treatment in 1919 I guess its possible.

My minor quibbles aside, this TL is fascinating and I look forward to seeing how you prevented Japan from attacking the European colonies it coveted, since Japan is still on good terms with Britain as of 1954.

Lastly, from several updates back, I like how you reversed the US ideological transformation of the 1930s so that the Republicans are the left-leaning party now. Not that it's too important, but I feel you used a bit of "handwavium" in getting a Democrat elected in 1924; regardless I like all the risks you have been taking with this story.

After the easy conquest of British Somaliland, and the occupation of Italian Somaliland, the French really were focused on forcing the British into a peace. The attack on India was really a raid. An attack on the West Coast that was easily repelled by Indian Force, however as India is in a very different mood in this world, the attack is hyped up by the Indian Independence forces. As for McAdoo in 1924, yes I admit to some handwavium there, as I wanted a POD in America, after 1923, which is my POD. The dogpile on France was a knee jerk reaction. The Italians have a major hard on hatred for the French and the Portuguese and Spanish are just be oppurtunists. As for Japan, the Southern Strategy was held in high regard by the IJN, who are marginalized in this timeline. And thanks, Im trying for originality, while remaining as realistic as possible. It will end up a very different world by say 1990. Thanks for reading and Im working on the next update, so stay tuned!

[Enigmajones]

A Dragon, Once Felled, Rises

After the death of Chiang Kai-shek in 1937 and the exile of the KMT to Yunnan, where they were under nominal protection of the French Army, who had entered the province to protect French interests in the are. It was in Kunming where Zhonghan began to set up his new government. It was completely based around the Blue Shirts Society, which was declared as the new party of the Republic of China. As a result there were officially three Republic of China's. One based in Guangzhou, one in Beijing and one in Kunming. Of course the Kunming Republic, unofficially referred to as Yunnan by the Western world. While the Guominjun battled against the Beiyang Army, Zhonghan began to build his forces. With French assistance, he disassembled the Tusi system of tribal leaders, who he saw as an obstacle to complete loyalty. These tribal clearings were completed by 1943, with resentment against Zhonghan and the Blue Shirts amongst the local populace at an all time high. During that time, violence by the largely Han Blue Shirts against the Yi population was on the rise, leading to the formation of the Yi Liberation Army, who had ethnic and socialistic overtones, who began to attack KMT installations throughout the province.

In the central plains of China, the armed forces of Zhang Zuolin under his son Zhang Xueliang, had attacked across the agreed upon the border to take advantage of the weakened KMT. Xueliang led the main force in an attempt to capture Shensi from the Guominjun, only to be caught in the Battle of Yanan, which was a bloodbath. While a force lead by Wu Peifu managed to strike through KMT territory and capture the Wuhan, severing the KMT territory under Hu-Hsiang from the territory under Li Zongren. Zongren, against the National Socialist overtones of Hu-Hsiang, but hoping to rule the KMT, fought viciously to retake Hupei from the Beiyang Army. However, his forces were stalled and he was defeated by May of 1938, with Beijing ruling the Southern provinces. In the North, the National Socialist Republic of China was proclaimed by Hu-Hsiang with the fall of Guangzhou, after the Guominjun defeated the Beiyang Army at the Battle of Yanan in the Summer of 1938. After the dislodging of the Beiyang Army, Xueliang ordered a retreat and a ceasefire. With the fall of Guangzhou, the National Socialist Republic was left in control of Inner Mongolia, Kansu and Shensi, receiving funding from Moscow, and totally isolated from the world. Xueliang, who had lost prestige after his failure at Yanan, regained his heroic reputation after he lead the Conquest of Sinkiang province, holding the territory for the Republic of China. The only remaining pockets of resistance were in the Yunnan where Zhonghan managed to remain in power until France was toppled in 1954. The new Republic of China, the officially recognized one, would become allayer in east Asian politics, even if they were seen as a tool of the Japanese.

[iddt3]

A few things, first off Japan, due to her geographic position and the colonies she already holds before the PoD, needs a good sized navy, at least on the order of France. While marginalization of the Naval factions will reduce the navy, it certainly won't be "small".

The Franco British war also seems off. The stakes for both sides aren't that high, and IIRC they are still technically allies. There's no compelling reason for either side to go to war, and I can't imagine any halfway sane French leadership trying to force one. At best the French take Belgium, loose most of their colonies and get blockaded, at worst it's a bloody stalemate. Western Democracies going to war with each other, especially after WWI just strikes me as staggeringly unlikely, especially with a not super friendly regime next door in Germany.

The KKK was also going to be on the way out in America in all likelihood, their leaders were pretty crazy and the mood in the country was turning against them.

[Enigmajones]

Originally Posted by iddt3

A few things, first off Japan, due to her geographic position and the colonies she already holds before the PoD, needs a good sized navy, at least on the order of France. While marginalization of the Naval factions will reduce the navy, it certainly won't be "small".

The Franco British war also seems off. The stakes for both sides aren't that high, and IIRC they are still technically allies. There's no compelling reason for either side to go to war, and I can't imagine any halfway sane French leadership trying to force one. At best the French take Belgium, loose most of their colonies and get blockaded, at worst it's a bloody stalemate. Western Democracies going to war with each other, especially after WWI just strikes me as staggeringly unlikely, especially with a not super friendly regime next door in Germany.

The KKK was also going to be on the way out in America in all likelihood, their leaders were pretty crazy and the mood in the country was turning against them.

It was about 30 years afterwards. And the government wasn't sane. After the death of their leader, the French government was in the hands of mentally unstable people. Highly unstable. France is not anywhere close to a democracy, I thought the fact that a Croix-de-Feu leadership was in charge made that clear, but I guess its not a given, I'll make a post about France. And the Japanese navy isn't small by a moderate navies standard, but its not the massive power it would become. And the Japanese scrap much of their old navy, as you can only retain an old navy for so long. Yeah the KKK were going out, I have admitted to Handwavium in that field. Not much room for POD's that don't involve a goddamn President Long, so I sort of fixed that a little.

So besides that, whats the opinion on the timeline.

[Tsao]

Originally Posted by Enigmajones

A Dragon, Once Felled, Rises

National Socialist China?

Also, suscribed.

[Enigmajones]

Originally Posted by Marshal Duan

National Socialist China?

Also, suscribed.

Yeah, its very different, not something I was going for, but heah it happens.

[Enigmajones]

President Of the United States

29. Warren Harding: 1921-1923: Died In Office: Republican
30. Calvin Coolidge: 1923-1925: Republican
31. William G. McAdoo: 1925-1933: Democrat
32. John J. Blaine: 1933: Died In Office: Republican
33. Joseph France: 1933-1939: Died In Office: Republican
34. Alf Landon: 1939-1945: Republican
35. Thomas E. Dewey: 1945-1953: Democrat
36. Robert Taft: 1953: Died In Office: Republican
37. Earl Warren: 1953-1961: Republican
38. Lyndon B. Johnson: 1961-1969: Democrat
39. John F. Kennedy: 1969-1973: Republican
40. Thomas Eagleton: 1973-1977: Democrat
41. John C. Carter: 1977-1985: Republican

President of Germany
1. Friedrich Ebert: 1919-1925: SPD
2. Hans Luther: 1925: Non-Partisan
3. Walter Simons: 1925: Non-Partisan
4. Paul Von Hindenburg: 1925-1934: Non Partisan
5. Kurt Von Schleicher: 1934-1955: Non Partisan
6. Reinhard Heydrich: 1955-1968: Non Partisan

[Enigmajones]

The Great Crisis

In December of 1954, President Kurt Von Schleicher took ill. As the caesar of the German State, Von Schleicher had presided over the most peaceful period in German History since before 1914. Under his rule, politics had become something of unimportance and he became the one unifying figure in German life. The National Socialist rebels had been reduced to nothing but occasional roadside bandits, with the majority fleeing for China, where Otto Strasser had become a prominent member of the government in Xian. However, with Von Schleicher becoming more and more sick as the days went by, the government began to panic. In 1954, Reichskanzler Hugenberg had passed away and the post had remained empty. The Reichswehr was also split, with two major camps forming. The first major camp, was the Rommel Faction. Erwin Rommel, a tactical genius, was a General who had served valiantly in both the Civil War and the 1st Danzig War, was considered by most to be a liberal, who was supportive of calling free elections and abstaining from war. The other camp was lead by Admiral Reinhard Heydrich. Heydrich, as leader of the Reichsmarine, was considered one of the most popular military personnel of the time, having taken the command of the Reichsmarine out from Schraeder, the man who built the Reichsmarine into a naval force to be reckoned with. When Von Schleicher died, the country looked ready to plunge into chaos. However, before anything could occur, Rommel threw his support behind Heydrich, who was sworn in as President in February of 1955.

Heydrich immediately began to prepare for war. He fully mobilized the Reichswehr and ordered naval manuevers in the Baltic Sea, near the Polish border, in hopes of sparking a conflict. He made contact with Balbo, Dolfuss, Horthy, Codreanu and Tukhachevsky about whether or not they would intervene in a war with Poland. Balbo rebuffed the overtures of the German Foreign Minister, as he was still pacifying Italy's territory in Algeria, Tunisia and Rhone-Alps. Dolfuss was reluctant to enter the war with Poland, but was agitating against Czechoslovakia. Horthy, facing a Fascist coup at home, declined and Cordreanu replied in the negative, as he prepared his forces for a possible two front war against Hungary and the USSR. Tukhachevsky was the only leader to respon positively. He had been planning since 1951 on an all out invasion of Eastern Europe, targeting the Baltics, Finland, Poland and Romania. The German entry was seen as a positive in Moscow, and the two agreed to not fight one another as they invaded Poland. As a result war seemed ready to boil over. In Western Europe, Polish pleas for assistance were ignored, as British forces were busy suppressing a Communist Revolt in the North of India as well as facing large guerilla attacks on their occupiers in France.

As the New Year rolled around, it appeared that war was unavoidable. On January 3rd, 1956, the USSR occupied the Baltics in a huge strike and launched the invasion of Finland, Poland and Romania. Poland, who had been building defensive structures all over their respective borders, was unable to hold the Soviet Army and by early February, Lwow had been captured and much of the East was occupied, to compound their troubles, the German army surged across the border and occupied the Corridor, striking down and begininng the Siege of Warsaw. The World War had begun.