Greater Mongolia

[GBW]

It appears this thread was lost when the board went down, so here's a repost.

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1911- The Manchu Dynasty of China is overthrown and a republic is established by Sun Yat-sen. On December 1, Outer Mongolia declares it's independence on the basis that it's allegiance had been to the Manchus, not China. That same month, the eighth Jebtsundamba Khutuktu becomes the Bogd Khan (holy ruler) of Mongolia. Russian officers are soon within the newly independent country training a Mongolian Army. China refuses recognition but is in too much internal discord to move troops into the region.

1912- Sun Yat-sen resigns as President of the Chinese Republic in favor of Yüan Shih-kai who soon establishes a dictatorial regime.
In Tibet, the Chinese are successfully expelled and the Tibetans reassert their independence.
Late in the year, the Mongolian-Russian and Mongolian-Tibetan agreements are signed in the Mongolian capital of Niyslel Huree (Ulaan Baatar). The two agreements, respectively, establish a Czarist protectorate over Outer Mongolia and estalish mutual recognition of independence between Mongolia and Tibet. Japan attempts to influence the independence movement in Mongolia with arms and money to no avail.

1913- Sun Yat-sen leads an unsuccessful revolt against Yüan Shih-kai and is forced to seek asylum in Japan where he begins reorganizing the Kuomintang.
Mongolia mobilizes an army to liberate Inner Mongolia. The campaign is called off by an agreement in November in which Russia recognizes Chinese suzerainty over Mongolia and China recognizes Outer Mongolia's right to self-rule and to the control of it's own commerce and industry, as well as an agreement not to send troops into Mongolia.
At a conference at Shimla in British India, Great Britain, Tibet and China tentatively confirm that Tibet is under Chinese suzerainty. Tibet is to be divided into an Inner Tibet, to be incorporated into China, and an Outer, autonomous, Tibet. The Shimla agreement, however, is not ratified by the Chinese who continue to claim all of Tibet as a 'special territory'.

1914- The Great War breaks out in Europe. Japan soon joins the side of Russia and the other Allies against the Central Powers and seizes Kiaochow, the German leasehold in the Chinese province of Shandong.

1915- The Treaty of Kyakhta is signed between China, Mongolia and Russia, formalizing Mongolian autonomy.
Japan presents the Twenty-One Demands to Chinese President Yüan Shih-kai. After the demands of Japanese control over Chinese policy are dropped, partly at the insistence of the United States, the remainder of the demands are accepted by Yüan Shih-kai after Japan threatens to extend their invasion.

1916- Yüan Shih-kai assumes the title of Emperor of China and a rebellion breaks out in Yunnan. He immediately restores the republic but dies in June.

1917- In Russia, the February Revolution occurs in which Czar Nicholas II is forced to abdicate and the Duma forms a provisional government. It's soon followed by the October Revolution in which the Bolsheviks stage a coup engineered by Leon Trotsky. The Council of People's Commissars is established with Vladimir Ilich Lenin as Chairman.
Sun Yat-sen returns to China and begins reorganizing the republic.

1918- The Bolsheviks sign the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with the Central Powers. It is soon rendered moot by the German armistice with the other Allies in November and the Russian Civil War begins between the 'Red' Bolsheviks and the 'White' anti-Bolshevik forces.
Japan begins moving to aid anti-Bolshevik forces and begins fostering a pan-Mongol movement in Mongolia. The Japanese effort gives rise to a nationalist group under the leadership of a man named Damdiny Sukhbaatar, reknowned for his service with the Mongolian Army. The group soon gains the support of the Bogd Khan.

1919- In March, a pan-Mongolia conference is hosted by the Japanese at Chita in Siberia. The participants, led largely by Sukhbaatar, decide to establish a Mongol state comprising Outer Mongolia (including OTL's Tuva Republic of Russia) and Inner Mongolia. The Mongols of Buryatia (OTL's Buryat Republic of Russia) refuse to participate. Japan promises aid to the new Mongolia and sends a limited amount of arms. Sukhbaatar is made commander-in-chief of the Mongolian Army.
In October, a Chinese warlord's army invades Outer Mongolia and marches on the capital of Niyslel Huree. The Mongolian Army, led by Sukhbaatar, routs the warlord's force and another mobilization for the liberation of Inner Mongolia begins.
In December, Mongolia and Japan sign an agreement in Niyslel Huree in which Japan is given rights to develop Mongolia's resources and industry in both Outer and Inner Mongolia. In exchange, Japan is to give military aid to Mongolia in the form of arms, equipment and aides, including even some Japanese 'volunteers' detached from the occupation of eastern Siberia, for the upcoming campaign to liberate Inner Mongolia.

1920- In June, the strengthened Mongolian Army marches into Inner Mongolia and defeats a Chinese warlord force at Hohhot, taking the major city while another Mongolian attack on Hulun (Hailar) also succeeds. By the end of the year, Inner Mongolia is effectively under Mongolian control, though the Chinese warlord-backed Militarist government based in Beijing continues to make off an on attempts to retake the region with no success.
In Siberia, the Bolshevik USSR, or Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, takes control of all of Siberia, except Vladivostok and some Far Eastern territory, from the White dictatorship of Aleksandr Kolchak and defeats another White Russian force under the command of Baron Roman Nicolaus von Ungern-Sternberg near the Siberian-Mongolian border.

1921- Sun Yat-sen is elected president of a self-proclaimed national government at Guangzhou.
In January, Sukhbaatar declares Mongolia's independence from China in Niyslel Huree, including the liberated territory of Inner Mongolia. His military-oriented Dzuun Huree Party forms a coalition government with the civilian-oriented Consul's Group headed by Horloyn Choybalsan and Dogsomyn Bodoo with the Bogd Khan as it's titular head and with Sukhbaatar as Prime Minister. Partly from the advice of Japanese advisors, Sukhbaatar abolishes the feudal system of Mongolia and confiscates the property of many nobles accused of 'pro-Chinese leanings', bringing much needed funds to the national treasury. He also continues the modernization of the Mongolian Army with Japanese equipment and advisors.
The Washington Conference is held, limiting the naval tonnage of Great Britain, the United States, Japan, France and Italy in the Five-Power Treaty. In the Four-Power Treaty, France, Japan, Great Britain and the United States agree to respect each other's possessions in the Pacific; the status quo of fortifications in the western Pacific was to be maintained; Japan is to return Shandong to China.

1922-28- Japan pulls completely out of Vladivostok and Far Eastern Siberia in 1922 and some Japanese forces are allowed to base themselves in Mongolia to guard the frontier with the USSR.
Japanese investment and building up of greater Mongolia's infrastructure begins in earnest, including the building of railroads and the exploitation of rich deposits of coal, iron ore, gold and other minerals. Preliminary oil exploration is also hopeful. Royalties to the Mongolian government, while not as generous as they could have been, still promise to provide substantial profit for the national treasury. Baotao, Mongolia's only port on the Huang He River, quickly becomes Mongolia's boomtown as steel mills and other manufacturies spring up.
In 1924, the last Bogd Khan dies and no successor is named. Sukhbaatar, with the support of the Mongolian military, the Dzuun Huree Party and Japan, proclaims himself Chinggis Khan, or Great Khan, of Mongolia to solidify his power and arouse nationalism across greater Mongolia. He placates the Consul's Group by making Choybalsan his Prime Minister and establishes the Khuriltai, a Mongolian parliament. He institutes measures to reduce the power of the Buddhist temples in the countryside though Buddhism is confirmed as the state religion. The 1920s are a decade of increasing Japanese-driven prosperity with an increasing paranoia of the USSR on Mongolia's northern border and the Chinese to the south, leading to the military having the strongest voice in the government and the creation of local weapons manufacturies building weapons whose designs are purchased largely from the Japanese, though Mongolian Army officers are also sent abroad.
In foreign affairs, Mongolia and Japan begin fostering nationalism in Sinkiang province in western China among the Turkic-Muslim Uighurs, Mongolia for the ethnic ties to the Uighurs, a general anti-Chinese sentiment and a connection to Tibet and Japan for more raw territory to expand into economically. Arms shipped to Uighurs from across the Mongolian border stretch the resources of the Chinese warlords thinner than ever.
In China, Sun Yat-sen establishes the Whampoa Military Academy in 1924 and appoints Chiang Kai-Shek commandant in an effort to help strengthen his Guangzhou-based government's military in it's effort to conquer China from the Beijing-based militarists. To encourage military aid from the West, and with the USSR on the far side of Mongolia, Sun suppresses the weak Chinese Communist Party and imprisons such prominent Communists as Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai. Sun dies in 1925 and Chiang Kai-Shek leads the Northern Expedition in 1926 that, through it's superior military discipline and training, manages to grind its way back north and, by 1928, manages to retake Wuhan, Nanjing and Shanghai. That year, Chiang manages to take control of the Kuomintang.

[GBW]

1929- A Mongolian Army officer in the United States comes upon J. Walter Christie's M1928 'fast tank' with it's innovative track/wheel suspension that's able to run both cross-country and on roads. The officer's reports of Christie's suspension greatly interest the Mongolian Army whose main doctrine is the development of a strong, mobile force able to deal with the vast, largely undeveloped frontiers with their two probable enemies, the USSR and China. With Japan's main focus set on their air power and navy, Mongolia decides to develop their own armored vehicles and expresses their interest to Christie. Christie, however, refuses to sell to a foreign government and also because he feels the chassis can be improved upon.
In October the New York Stock Exchange crashes, soon causing far reaching effects that spread to a Europe still not fully recovered from the Great War and to Asia where Japan's silk trade is devastated. In Mongolia, as the Stock Market Crash's effects spread internationally and Japanese investment slows, Sukhbaatar becomes alarmed at a possible crash of his country's budding prosperity and demands higher royalties from, and a more equal diplomatic position with, Japan. Alarmed at the possibility of losing their investments in Mongolia, Japan agrees to a revision of the 1919 Niyslel Huree Agreement in which Mongolia receives greater royalties but loses a good portion of the military support they'd been receiving. The entire incident begins a period of cool relations between the two countries and causes Sukhbaatar to begin a government program to encourage domestic weapons manufacturies.
In China, Chiang Kai-Shek becomes head of a Nationalist goverment based at Nanjing and generalissimo of all Nationalist Chinese forces. Though greatly weakened by Sun's suppression in the 20s and the capture of some of their major leaders, the Communists still prove to be a seething nuisance in the countryside and Chiang embarks on a campaign to crush them completely before continuing his conquest of China.

1930- The Japanese Kwantung Army, due partly to the rising of the militarists in the Home Islands but mostly to secure a common border with Mongolia to make Sukhbaatar think twice of making more demands of Japan, precipitates an incident at Mukden (Shenyang) and moves into southern Manchuria. The Japanese Cabinet and the League of Nations oppose the move and the Kwantung Army soon pledges to withdraw, though Japanese forces continue advancing into Manchuria. Sukhbaatar, alarmed at the move, is convinced by the military and his Foreign Minister, Dogsomyn Bodoo, that establishing a united front with Tibet and the Uighurs of Sinkiang might dissuade any outside aggression. He has the military begin drawing up immediate plans to move into Sinkiang and prop up an Uighur government.

1931- By early spring, the Kwantung Army manages to occupy all three of the provinces of Manchuria and founds the state of Manchukuo (The provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning and minus OTL's portion of eastern Inner Mongolia), a puppet Manchu state with Pu Yi, the last of the Manchu Dynasty, as regent and emperor but controlled ultimately by the Kwantung Army itself. Japanese forces soon base themselves near the Manchukuo-Mongolia border.
Meanwhile, in early May a Mongolian force marches into Sinkiang and defeats a Chinese warlord's force at Dihua, which is soon given the native name of Ürümqi, and supports Uighur nationalists in declaring their independence from China and forming the state of East Turkestan. Japanese-trained Mongolian officers begin training an East Turkestani army. Foreign Minister Bodoo is soon dispatched to Tibet and meets with the Dalai Lama in Lhasa to establish formal relations and pressure Tibet to declare their own independence and recognize East Turkestan.
The Mongolian move into East Turkestan takes the Kwantung Army by surprise and officers of the army covertly invite Bodoo to the Manchukuo capitol of Xinjing (Changchun) for talks. At the meeting, the army's officials and Bodoo reach the equivalent of a non-aggression pact between Mongolia and Manchukuo and the army hints at possible cooperation between their forces in the future against the Chinese and/or Soviets, which Bodoo respectfully declines.
Along with other governments such as Poland and the USSR, Mongolia once again expresses an interest in Christie's tank designs. This time Christie is interested in dealing with foreign governments since the U.S. military has been disinterested in his designs. Their dealing, however, is frustrated by the disapproval of the American State and Ordnance Departments. In the end, Poland adopts some of Christie's ideas and begin working on their own tank while the USSR and Mongolia each manage to purchase one M1931 chassis each. The Mongolian Army immediately sets about designing their own tank built around the chassis.

1932- The Foreign Ministers of Mongolia, Japan and East Turkestan hold a conference at Keiji (Seoul) in the Japanese colony of Choson (Korea). An economic pact is signed between Japan, Mongolia, Manchukuo and East Turkestan, easing trade between the four countries and mending relations between Mongolia and Japan. Tibet declined an invitation to the meeting, though its relations with Mongolia are friendly. Japanese investors and mineral explorers soon flood to East Turkestan alongside budding Mongolian investors. A Japanese official at the conference is quoted as calling the pact 'an East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere'. Soon after, the Mongolian Air Force is created as seperate from the Army with the purchase of several aging aircraft from Japan.
The League of Nations finally officially condemns Japan's conquest of Manchuria. In response, Japan pulls out of the organization.

1933- The last organized Communist resistance in China is crushed as Nationalist forces capture Zhu De and other prominent Communist leaders and soldiers. Chiang Kai-Shek has them, as well as Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai, all executed. The development alarms the Militarists of Japan who are wary of a China controlled by Chiang Kai-Shek's Nationalist regime.
The 13th Dalai Lama dies in Tibet and Mongolia and East Turkestan offer their condolences to the Tibetan people. The Dalai Lama's death marks the beginning of Tibet's drift towards Mongolia and away from the neutral course the Dalai Lama had encouraged of his country.
Adolf Hitler of the Nazi Party becomes Chancellor of Germany in January and within three months is voted dictatorial powers by the Reichstag.
In America, Franklin Delano Roosevelt is sworn into the Presidency and promises a 'New Deal' for Americans struck by what's being called the Great Depression.

1934- In the Dzungarian basin of East Turkestan, Japanese explorers discover oil. Desperate for a source of oil not under Western control, Japanese and Mongolian investment flows to the region for construction of a vast oil field. The rapidly growing town that soon springs up nearby is named Karamay, which means 'black oil' in Uighur.
In March, Tibet officially declares their independence from China, renounces the 1913 Shimla Agreement dividing Tibet into Inner and Outer spheres and signs onto the economic pact, now popularly called the EACPS, or East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere, with Mongolia, Japan, East Turkestan and Manchukuo. It's mostly Mongolian investment that soon enters the Himalayan country since the Tibetans frown upon the Japanese zaibatsu, the great family-controlled industrial combines.
Chiang Kai-Shek's Nationalist regime is outraged by 'Japan's aggressive encirclement' of China and tensions between his government and Japan reach an all-time high. The tension soon culminates in a clash between Chinese and Japanese soldiers near Manchukuo in June that Japan uses as a pretext to invade northern China and is soon able to occupy Beijing. Clashes soon take place between Mongolian and Chinese forces as well, but Sukhbaatar, concerned by the outbreak of purges by Joseph Stalin in the USSR, feels more threatened by the massive Soviet threat on his northern frontier than the Nationalist Chinese that the Japanese seem to be driving before them. The newly independent countries of East Turkestan and Tibet soon take Mongolia's lead, though Mongolian, Uighur and Tibetan 'volunteers' are getting valuable experience in modern warfare fighting in China with the Japanese.
Mongolia's first domestically designed tank is approved for mass production, the Huyag Zr34. It's based largely on the Christie M1931 chassis with both a 37-mm main gun and .30 caliber machine gun in a turret, but with rather thin armor. By this point Mongolia's industry is much higher than the Kwantung puppet state of Manchukuo, which is being rapidly built up according to the 'State Socialism' doctrine of the Japanese Militarists, but is still nowhere near the level of Japan itself, let alone any Western powers. The Mongolian industry and economy, however, is getting a large boost by selling weapons and other goods to the Japanese war effort in China.

1935- As part of his effort to 'reconnect Mongolia with the glories of the past' Sukhbaatar replaces the Mongolian flag with the Tuga of Temujin, a standard of nine horse tails. Talk of moving the Mongolian capital from Niyslel Huree to Karakorum, which would prove a more geographically centralized location as well as historically significant, begins circulating. Tensions begin to increase between Sukhbaatar and Choybalsan, his Prime Minister, who wants the government to concentrate more on bettering the every day life of Mongolians instead of the continued military build up.
In China Japanese forces capture the Nationalist capital of Nanjing, as well as Shanghai. To slow the Japanese advance, the Chinese break the dikes of the Huang He River which enrages Mongolia since the Huang He is their only outlet into the Yellow Sea. As the Japanese capture Hankou and Guangzhou by the end of the year, Mongolia makes an agreement with Japan in which Japanese soldiers are allowed to traverse Mongolian territory in their advance through northern China, as well as beefing up the number of Mongolian soldiers on the border with the USSR so that Japan can pull their troops south into China to help with their war effort.
With Nanjing fallen to Japan, Chiang Kai-Shek moves the Nationalist capital to Chongqing. To the south, a small trickle of weapons and supplies begins reaching Nationalist forces from the West across the 'Burma Road'. While helpful, the trickle of supplies from Burma do little to help the declining Nationalist Chinese cause.
Little publicized to the outside world, Tibetan forces, backed by East Turkestani and Mongolian soldiers, reoccupy 'Inner Tibet' from Chinese warlords and regain control of the region for the Tibetan government.

1936- With little Nationalist Chinese presence there, and with the ability to use Mongolian territory as a base, Japanese forces advance quickly across northern China and take Xi'an, Yan'an, Yinchuan, Lanzhou and Xining and are rapidly advancing west towards the East Turkestan border by the end of the year. The Japanese advance in the south is slower by a vast degree due to the much higher Nationalist presence and the harder terrain, though all the ports and a large portion of the coast is in Japanese hands.
Germany offers Japan membership in an Anti-Comintern Pact to combat the Third International, or Communist International, that is dominated by the USSR. Mongolia catches wind of the offer and Sukhbaatar immediately comes out against 'prodding the Russian bear with a stick'. Because of this, and Japan's own reluctance in the face of their successful campaign in the north of China and the anticipated final conquest of the south, Japan eventually declines Germany's offer to the annoyance of Hitler.
Near the end of the year with China's fortunes looking bleaker as time passes, Wang Ching-wei breaks with Chiang Kai-Shek and accepts the premiership of a Japanese puppet government based in Nanjing.
In Europe, Germany occupies the Rhineland and Italy annexes Ethiopia after a successful invasion. In Spain a civil war breaks out between the Popular Front 'Republicans' who won the national elections that same year and the 'Nationalist' insurgents led by General Francisco Franco. Germany and Italy soon take the side of Franco while the USSR supports the Republicans.

1937- Japanese forces in northern China reach the border of East Turkestan by the end of February and, with that front virtually closed except for resistance in the countryside, Japan begins transferring forces not needed for occupation duty towards the south to fight the Nationalists. Japanese strategists are confident the war can be over by mid-1938 or early 1939 at the latest.
The Mongolian Army approves for mass production the Huyag Zr37, their second domestically designed tank. Taking notes from tank design in Europe, this model has a 50-mm main gun, much thicker armor and a further range than the Zr34. For the first time Mongolia has a better weapon than Japan as the Zr37 has obvious advantages over the Japanese Type 97 tank that enters production that same year, which includes wider spaced tracks and a faster max speed. Mongolia still depends largely on Japan for aircraft designs for their Air Force, however.
In the USSR, Stalin begins a purge of the Red Army, including many generals. This increases anti-Soviet paranoia in Mongolia and the Army stations more troops, including more of their armored forces, on their northern frontier with Soviet Siberia. This in turn makes Stalin paranoid of 'Mongol hordes' trying to conquer Russia and more Red Army units are based in the area around Irkutsk and Lake Baikal.
In the latter half of the year, Japan launches a fresh offensive against the Nationalist strongholds of southern China. Fierce Chinese resistance and the much harder terrain deflate the optimistic boasts Japan made earlier in the year as their forces are only able to capture Kaifeng and push to the outskirts of Changsha and the approaches to Chengdu. The frustration of the Japanese Army leads to a fierce firebombing campaign of Nationalist cities near the end of the year that arouses the West's opinion against Japan.

1938- As the year begins a fierce battle begins between Japanese and Chinese forces at Changsha which is soon joined by another battle at Chengdu. The two battles rage for a couple months before they wane and a fresh Japanese offensive is launched a couple months later. Battered, Japanese forces manage to finally take the two devastated cities within the month of June. The Japanese advance is slowed yet more as fresh outbreaks of partisan resistance, due largely to Japanese atrocities to civilians in occupied territory, force the Army to divert forces from the front to help the occupation forces put down the rebels. Nonetheless, the Japanese continue to advance slowly south from Changsha to meet up with their coastal holdings and towards Chongqing, forcing Chiang Kai-Shek to begin preparations for a possible move of the Nationalist capital yet again.
In the USSR, Stalin begins a forced emigration of the Mongols of Buryatia to the western portion of the Kazakh SSR in Central Asia, killing thousands. The news angers Sukhbaatar and the general Mongolian populace and causes the Chinggis Khan to covertly ship arms from the Great War-era, received mostly from Czarist Russia, from East Turkestan to the minorities of the Central Asian SSRs whom the Mongolians also have ethnic ties to.
In Europe, Germany announces an 'Anschluss', or union, with Austria in March and German troops occupy the country. Only months later, Hitler begins to demand self-determination for the Germans of the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia. The tensions of the situation culminate in the Munich Pact of late September in which Great Britain and France allow a German occupation of the Sudetenland. The Pact shakes the confidence of Eastern Europe in the good faith of the Western democracies.

[Admiral Matt]

Again, are you sure a Mongolia could industrialize so quickly and to such a degree?

[GBW]

I do believe that Mongolia could industrialize to such a degree, especially with Japanese assistance. When they took Manchuria, the Kwantung Army by itself established it's own corporations that built up it's industry that produced resources and finished products for export back to Japan. As for Japan itself, their industry built up at a staggering pace between 1930 and 1940 and their government income was sixteen times larger in 1940 than it was in 1931. You also have to consider that the Mongolian government, much like Japan after the Meiji Restoration, was actively helping the industrialization along.

Mongolia also has a larger population in this ATL since it includes Inner Mongolia as well as Outer Mongolia. The Chinese in OTL also killed or forced out and indirectly killed hundreds of thousands, possibly over a million, of ethnic Mongols in Inner Mongolia when Chinese settlers moved in. In addition, the Whites of the Russian Civil War killed a lot of Mongolians while they were there and when the USSR tried to collectivize the livestock in Mongolia when they moved in, many herders slaughtered their livestock instead of turning them over and many more Mongolians died from famine. In the ATL, almost all of these are still alive and another generation has grown up since then, not to mention the Chinese settlers that likely stayed in Mongolia and refugees that may have moved there since from northern China, East Turkestan and possibly some Tibetans too.

The increased population along with the vast, virtually untapped resources of the region along with Japanese rapid industrialization makes for a formidable industrialized Mongolia that, while not the equal of Japan or any other power, is still formidable. However, a lot of that industry and government income is going straight to the military to help build it up in case of a war with either of their giant neighbors, the Chinese or Soviets. That's a constant issue between the military-oriented Dzuun Huree Party that supports the Chinggis Khan Damdiny Sukhbaatar and the civilian-oriented Consul's Group that supports Prime Minister Horloyn Choybalsan. So, while Mongolia has a strong industry and war machine and a transportation network to support it, public works and domestically produced consumer goods are thin, though there is work enough for the population. Mongolia is a large market for Japanese goods, one facet of being a part of the East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere. With the constant threat of the USSR on their northern border, Sukhbaatar has been able to get by on the situation by using the 'Red Scare' and fostering nationalism by calling up the 'glories of the past'.

[GBW]

Here are the war years.

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1939- In March Germany swiftly invades and occupies the rest of Czechoslovakia while, in April, Italy seizes Albania. Great Britain and France end their 'appeasement' of Nazi Germany and begin establishing an 'anti-aggression' front, including an alliance with Poland, and begin speeding up the rearmament of their militaries. In May, Germany and Italy sign the Pact of Steel, a military alliance that Mussolini calls the 'Axis Pact'.
Meanwhile, the Spanish Nationalists led by Franco enter Madrid in April, ending the Spanish Civil War.
Tensions between Stalin's USSR and Sukhbaatar's Mongolia increase steadily during the early portion of the year, following continued condemnations of the Soviet forced emigration of the Buryat Mongols by Mongolian newspapers and increasing incidents of violence and unrest against Soviet forces in the Kazakh, Kyrgyz and Tajik SSRs by nationalist rebels armed with aging equipment by Mongolia. The tensions eventually culminate in a clash between Soviet and Mongolian forces in May along the most fortified stretch of their border near the Orhon Gol, a river near both the closest approaches to Niyslel Huree from the Soviet-Mongolian frontier and to the Trans-Siberian Railroad as it runs along the southern shore of Lake Baikal and passes through Verkhneudinsk (Ulan-Ude) in the formerly Buryat lands. The Battle of Orhon Gol, as it comes to be called, quickly escalates as the two forces massed in the region rush more forces to the area. In the ensuing struggle, the Mongolian Army and Air Force make a good showing against their 'Red' counterparts and the Mongolian Huyag Zr37 tank proves to be superior to the aging Soviet T-26 and more than an equal to the BT-7, which is also designed around the Christie 'fast tank' chassis. While the training and some of the equipment of the Mongolian forces are superior to the Soviets, the Red Army and Air Force have sheer numbers on their side. After more than two weeks of inconclusive fighting, a surge of Soviet reserves smashes the opposing Mongolian force and crushes the MAF (Mongolian Air Force) fighters in the region and Soviet bombers make runs over Niyslel Huree sporadically over the next two weeks, revealing severe deficincies in Mongolian anti-aircraft procedures. A month after the beginning of the battle, with Mongolian fighters reappearing to increasingly shoot down Soviet bombers and the rest of the EACPS turning their eyes to the conflict, Stalin decides he doesn't want to embroil the USSR in a war in the Far East while the situation in Europe has been heating up. The Red Army pulls back to their side of the Soviet-Mongolian border, taking several prisoners with them, and the Red Air Force stops entering Mongolian airspace. A tentative truce is established between the two and little word of the 'Orhon Gol Incident' reaches the outside world from either the Soviets or EACPS.
The effects of Orhon Gol are far reaching in Mongolia, however. With the wreckage of bombed buildings being cleaned up in Niyslel Huree, Sukhbaatar and the Dzuun Huree Party have gained a political victory over Prime Minister Choybalsan and his Consul's Group party by stating that it was the Consul's Group's continuing opposition to the military buildup that allowed the 'disaster' to happen. As a result, more money is put into military research and development to hurry the new tank design to replace the Zr37 and purchase other advanced weaponry abroad while air raid shelters are built and AA guns emplaced in Niyslel Huree and other cities. The MAF's flight school program also gets more funding and more Mongolian pilots begin getting higher quality training while the call to move the Mongolian capitol to Karakorum also gains strength, it's being further away from the Soviet border one reason among many. Behind the scenes, Sukhbaatar would like nothing better than to oust his political rival from the office of Prime Minister, but Choybalsan and the Consul's Group retain enough support in the Khuriltai and among the people to make that dangerous. Orhon Gol also makes Sukhbaatar and many others in the Mongolian government afraid of another confrontation with the USSR and shipments of small arms to rebels in the Central Asian SSRs of the Soviet Union are ended immediately and reports of the plight of the Buryat Mongols, while not forgotten, are quietly buried.
In August, Germany and the Soviet Union sign a non-aggression pact, increasing worries amongst the British, French and Mongolians. Fortunately for Sukhbaatar, and unfortunately for Europe, Stalin's eye is away from Mongolia. On September 1, Germany invades Poland in a fast military campaign that follows the German 'blitzkrieg' military doctrine. The Soviet Union also invades on September 17 and by the end of the month, Poland is partitioned between Germany and the USSR. Great Britain, France and most of the British Commonwealth declare war on Germany shortly after the invasion. In late November, the USSR invades Finland and is expelled from the League of Nations. The invasion drags out as the Red Army suffers several setbacks against the Finnish defenders.
In China, as Japanese forces advance to the outskirts of Chongqing, Chiang Kai-Shek moves the Nationalist capitol to Kunming, the terminus of the Burma Road. As the Japanese reach the suburbs of Chongqing, their advance in the region is stopped cold by stubborn, if ill-equipped, Chinese resistance. Though Mongolia, East Turkestan and Tibet have declared their independence from China, removing a large amount of possible territory for the Nationalist Chinese, the remaining Chinese territory is still vast and densely populated, causing most of the Imperial Japanese Army's forces to be used in occupation duties in Japanese-occupied territory instead of at the front, where the territory has become increasingly difficult to advance into. Adding to the difficulties of the Japanese are pockets of Communist guerrillas scattered across a good portion of China that, while largely disorganized and without central leadership since the Nationalist capture and execution of their major leaders, are proving to be a major thorn in their side. The IJA begins pressuring Mongolia, East Turkestan and Tibet to send additonal forces to aid in the final conquest of China, but Sukhbaatar, still worried about the USSR to his north, declines and the Uighurs and Tibetans follow his lead.

1940- As the winter passes with relatively little activity on the French-German border, called 'the Phony War' by Western newspapers, the USSR finally gains several victories against Finland and in March a peace treaty is signed, ceding several strategic border areas to the USSR. Further west, the war heats up again in April when Germany launches a surprise invasion of Denmark and Norway, Denmark offering no resistance to German forces while Norway falls in early June. In May, Germany invades the Low Countries and outflanks the French Maginot Line, rushing to the English Channel and forcing the British to evacuate their forces at Dunkirk late in the month. In late June, France signs an armistice with Germany and a collaborative regime is installed in Vichy under Marshall Pétain while a Free French force fights on under Charles de Gaulle. For the next three months, the Germans attempt to bomb Britain into submission and the Battle of Britain, waged exclusively in the air, is fought. In August Italy occupies British Somaliland while, the next month, Italy also invades Egypt from Libya. The Italian advance stalls less than a week into the invasion and, in October, Italy also invades Greece where they also stall. By the end of the year, however, the Axis alliance grows to include Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria.
In China, the war continues to be a stalemate at Chongqing while the Japanese finally gain control of the cities and roads of southeastern China while the countryside, as in all Japanese-occupied territory, seethes with unrest and guerrilla resistance. Word of harsh Japanese reprisals against the Chinese population leaks to the outside world and Sukhbaatar, a hardened veteran of his country's fight for independence, is appalled at the Japanese tactics even though the victims are the hated Chinese. The West, hearing of the atrocities, condemn Japan's tactics and relations between Japan and the United States cool drastically, with some calling for embargoes against the Japanese. The IJA, frustrated at the war in China which by their estimations should have been long over, begins to look for other areas for imperial expansion. Preliminary attempts by the IJA to sound out Mongolia for a possible campaign against Soviet Siberia are met with near hostility, eliminating the USSR as a viable possibility. That leads the IJA to turn their attention south to the resource rich colonies of the West, a West distracted by war in Europe. Isoroku Yamamoto, the Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Japanese Navy, immediately comes out against provoking the West and especially the United States. His calls are heeded by some, but the IJA-dominated government remains set on a possible 'Move South'.
The IJN begins equipping its forces with the Mitsubishi A6M Carrier Fighter, later known as the 'Zero'. The aging design of the Mitsubishi A5M, which has seen spectacular service against the Chinese, is licensed to Mongolia for domestic production and goes so far as to sell some of their own stocks to the MAF. The MAF also expresses interest in the Zero but Japan remains reluctant to hand over such advanced technology to a foreign country, even if they are an ally. Mongolia also comes out with the Huyag Zr40, designed with the lessons of the Orhon Gol Incident in mind. It has a 75-mm main gun and machine gun in a turret but remains lightly armored compared to some Western tanks due to the need for mobility, though it's armor is thicker than the Zr37. It's superior to any of the Soviet tanks the Mongolian Army faced at Orhon Gol, but, unknown to Mongolia, the Red Army that year begins fielding a tank that is more than a match for the Zr40, the T-34. Japan remains deficient in their own tank design and some of the more technologically oriented officers of the IJA begin calling for purchasing Mongolian tanks, which is ignored by the larger number of officers oriented to the old Bushido ways.

1941- With Great Britain standing alone against the Axis across the English Channel, Germany begins shifting it's forces back eastward for a confrontation with the USSR. With Japan's uninterest in facing the USSR, Germany has directly appealed to Mongolia to join the Axis Pact in the hope that they'll provide a second front for the upcoming Operation Barbarossa, the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union. While impressed by the performance of the German military across Europe, Sukhbaatar declines the invitation, though he remains interested in having a strong ally to the USSR's west. Irritated that he has been unable to gain an ally in the Far East, Hitler nonetheless decides to continue his plans to invade the USSR. Germany is soon distracted, however, by the call for assistance Italy sends and the refusal of Yugoslavia to join the Axis. In early April, Germany launches a blitzkrieg campaign into Yugoslavia and Greece, who collapse quickly against the German offensive and in May, Crete falls to German paratroopers. In North Africa, Germany reinforces the beleaguered Italians with their Afrika Korps led by Erwin Rommel. With many British forces having been sent to Greece, Rommel launches a counteroffensive against the British and pushes them back to Egypt, though the Australian garrison in Tobruk holds out against the Axis forces and is supplied by sea. On June 22, the Axis launch Operation Barbarossa and invade the USSR. A substantial portion of the Red Army is destroyed and much of European Russia overrun by the end of the year, but the Soviets manage to hold the Germans off at the gates of Moscow when winter sets in. The first reports of the Soviet T-34 reach Mongolia and stun the Army, as they did the German Wehrmacht. The Mongolian Army immediately sets into motion the designing of a tank based on the T-34, especially the use of sloped armor.
In Japan, with the fighting in Chongqing turning into full urban combat in the city center and guerrillas continuing to hold down many Japanese forces in Chinese territory they've already taken, the IJA and their supporters in the government have reached the point of frustration in which they finally decide to launch their move south, a conviction strengthened by the failure of the Germans to take Moscow. Yamamoto is ordered to draw up plans to eliminate the US Pacific Fleet as an obstacle and he goes along, though not without regret and a feeling of foreboding. The IJA again asks Mongolia to send forces to assist in China to free up Japanese forces for the upcoming campaign, using the reasoning that the USSR is distracted by their war with the Germans. The wording of the Japanese 'request', however, sounds more like a demand and Sukhbaatar balks and refuses, urging East Turkestan and Tibet to follow his lead, which they do. Following the word of the harsh measures the Japanese are using in China and their increasing pressure to have him strip his forces away from his border with the USSR, Sukhbaatar is growing increasingly wary and irritated with his Japanese benefactors and is just starting to consider breaking with the EACPS and bring East Turkestan and Tibet with him. The failure of the Germans to take Moscow has also dissuaded him from the possibility of joining the Axis Pact as an alternative to the EACPS.

1942- In April, after months of preparations, Japan launches it's move south, spearheaded by a surprise strike at the US Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor. American radar spots the incoming wave of Japanese aircraft, but slow response allows the Japanese to sink many of the ships. Nevertheless, the extra time for preparation of air defenses and the scrambling of some air squadrons makes the attack a costly one for the Japanese. In the following pursuit of the Japanese fleet that launched the attack, one of the carriers are sunk and the others damaged. Elsewhere, Japan launches air attacks against Hong Kong, Malaysia and the Philippines and invades French Indochina from the portion of the Chinese-Indochinese border they control. Sukhbaatar immediately declares Mongolia's neutrality in this new war between Japan and the West and East Turkestan and Tibet follow his example, much to the annoyance of Japan. Hitler also does very little in the wake of the Japanese attack on the Allies except offer Japan membership in the Axis so they'll join in the war against the USSR. Japan again declines but they are beginning to look at the possibility of a German entry into the war against the United States.
The Free French and British forces in Indochina collapse quickly in the face of the Japanese invasion and, after some quick negotiations, Japan cedes Laos and Cambodia to Thailand, who soon joins the EACPS and declares war on Britain and the United States. Japanese forces pass through Thailand and swiftly invade Malaya and Burma, taking the Malay Peninsula after two months of fighting and then landing on Singapore Island itself to place the city under siege. The Japanese advance into Burma is also swift, though it takes until September for Rangoon to fall. By the end of the year, however, the Japanese capture Mandalay and Lashio and cut off the Burma Road. Fortunately for the Nationalist Chinese, Chiang Kai-Shek and a good portion of his soldiers have already pulled back into Burma to fight alongside the British and Imperial troops as the Japanese advance along the Burma Road towards Kunming to finish the conquest of China. Further north in China, as the Nationalists pull back when the Burma Road is threatened, Chongqing finally falls to the Japanese. Hong Kong also falls when the British garrison surrenders after a two week siege. Near the end of the year, with the city of Singapore in ruins, Singapore finally surrenders to the Japanese.
Elsewhere, Guam falls to the Japanese as well and landings are made in the Philippines, the Gilbert Islands, northern Borneo, the Solomon Islands and all through the Dutch East Indies. The Japanese advance into Luzon in the Philippines is a slow and grinding affair due to the extra time the US and Filipino forces had to build up their defenses. By the end of the year, however, the Japanese finally manage to take the Philippines with support from further landings and carrier aircraft. British North Borneo and Brunei also fall and much of the Dutch East Indies has also fallen by the end of the year, the government of the DEI surrendering and fleeing to Australia. A Japanese attempt at the invasion of Port Moresby in New Guinea is beaten back in the Battle of the Coral Sea in December.
In North Africa, the front remains active as Rommel launches a counter-offensive at El Agheila in January and attacks the Gazala Line in May, pushing the British back to El Alamein in Egypt where they begin to dig in. Rommel takes Tobruk and reaches El Alamein in late June. In the following battle, Rommel fails to break through the British defenses. In October, the British launch their own offensive under Bernard Montgomery and Rommel begins a sustained retreat out of Egypt and into Libya, frustrating all British attempts to engage him.
In Europe, Britain begins its 'thousand bomber' raids against Germany by attacking Cologne in late May. On the Eastern Front, Germany begins the campaigning season by attacking into the Crimea, besieging Sevastopol in june and taking it a month later, with Soviet resistance in the peninsula ending soon after. Soon after the fall of the Crimea, the Germans drive towards Stalingrad and the oil-rich Caucasus. In mid September, the Battle of Stalingrad begins and in November, the Soviets launch an offensive against the flanks of the German Sixth Army, commanded by Friedrich von Paulus, in Stalingrad and encircles them. A German relief army, Army Group Don under von Manstein, advances towards Stalingrad in mid December and manages to link up with the Sixth Army, establishing a relief corridor and sending reinforcements and supplies to the Sixth Army and bringing wounded out. Hitler demands that Stalingrad must fall and refuses to allow any retreat. The Soviets launch offensives to cut off the relief army as well and Manstein, afraid that both the Sixth Army and Army Group Don will be encircled, tells von Paulus that they would have to pull back from Stalingrad to save their forces before their relief corridor is cut off by the Soviets. von Paulus, hesitant to disobey Hitler's orders, waffles on the issue and his senior officers, who side with Manstein, continue to pressure von Paulus until he finally gives in to the logic of the move. Army Group Don and Sixth Army prepare to pull back west out of Stalingrad.
Near the end of the year, with neither the EACPS or Axis Pact looking attractive to Sukhbaatar, Mongolian officials begin meeting with Allied officials in Kathmandu in neutral Nepal, reachable by both from Tibet and British India respectively. Not much is really accomplished at first except to open the lines of communication between Mongolia and the Allies and plant the seed for future diplomacy.

1943- In China, the Japanese advance steadily into Yunnan from the east and from the west along the Burma Road. While the remaining Chinese defenders put up a good fight, they're malnourished and low on ammunition, surrendering Kunming to Japanese forces by mid July. Japan declares 'total victory' over the Chinese. Chiang Kai-Shek, with the Allied forces in Burma along with his Free Chinese forces, vows to liberate China from the Japanese. In Burma, the Allied forces launch an attack into Arakan in February but are soon forced to withdraw in May in the face of a monsoon. The rest of the year passes uneventfully along the Burmese front except for Japanese bombing runs over Calcutta.
In the Pacific, the Japanese launch an invasion against New Caledonia in January, landing forces in the Loyalty Islands of Lifou, Maré, and Ouvéa and on New Caledonia Island itself. The Loyalty Islands fall quickly enough for the Japanese, but on the mountainous terrain of New Caledonia, the Japanese face entrenched American defenders that force the Japanese to barely hold onto their beachhead, let alone advance towards the chief port of Nouméa. An American fleet is soon dispatched to the area along with land-based American and Australian aircraft. The Battle of New Caledonia is fought and is a disaster for the Japanese, who manage to sink two American carriers before their fleet is ravaged and destroyed as an effective force, forcing them to withdraw northwards where further Allied attacks will damage the fleet further. The Japanese forces on New Caledonia are soon defeated, with most committing suicide rather than surrendering, and the Loyalty Islands, after an extensive bombardment by Allied warships, are also retaken by early March. The brief New Caledonia campaign is a disaster for the Japanese that effectively destroys their offensive capability in the Pacific, forcing them to the defensive. In May, American forces land on Guadalcanal and soon after take Henderson Airfield, building a new airstrip in a little under two weeks and allowing US aircraft to assist the Marines in fighting the Japanese. The fighting is fierce as both sides rush reinforcements to the battle but, by early December, Japan evacuates the island, taking heavy casualties from American forces in the process. In New Guinea, Japanese offensives overland towards Port Moresby are held back by Australian forces and, not long after the end of fighting on Guadalcanal, the Japanese are pushed out of Papua New Guinea. Admiral Yamamoto, concerned with the reverses in the South Pacific, considers flying south to boost morale among the soldiers but, in the end, decides against it. New Georgia also falls by the end of the year and American and Australian landings are made in Japanese Northeast New Guinea.
In North Africa, British forces under Montgomery take Tripoli in January while Rommel finally ends his retreat by manning the Mareth Line in Tunisia. Rommel holds back the British for months, but he's now aware that it isn't possible to retake Libya from the British, let alone advance into Egypt. These facts, in addition to the reverses on the Eastern Front, force him to recommend pulling the Afrika Korps out of Tunisia. Hitler and Mussolini refuse and Rommel begins the construction of additional fallback defensive lines towards Tunis. Montgomery finally breaks through the Mareth Line in late August but find themselves facing another line, just as strong though Rommel's forces are becoming increasingly ill-equipped. At the end of the year, the fighting in Tunisia continues.
In Europe, von Manstein and von Paulus begin the withdrawal of their forces from Stalingrad in early January. Army Group Don and Sixth Army take heavy casualties as they fight off Soviet forces chasing them from Stalingrad and assaulting their flanks. By mid January, both armies have made it across the Donets River to establish a defensive line against the Soviet forces and manage to blunt Soviet attacks on their position. Hitler rages at the disobeying of his orders but is calmed somewhat by the General Staff, who saw the logic in Manstein and Paulus's move. Manstein and Paulus are relieved of their current commands and assigned to other fronts. A Soviet attack towards Kharkov is held back in February but another attack in July encircles the German force defending it, after another order from Hitler to stand their ground, and they're forced to surrender. At the end of the year, the Soviets are nearing the outskirts of Kiev.
In Mongolia, the reverses suffered by Japan in the South Pacific and by the Axis in North Africa and the Eastern Front convince Sukhbaatar that the Allies are the ones who are likely to win the wars in Europe and the Pacific. In Kathmandu, Nepal, the Mongolians express Sukhbaatar's view of the situation and concerns over the USSR in the post-war world. Since the British and Americans hold the same concerns over Stalin and wouldn't mind having a power to fill in the vacuum created by a Japanese defeat and counterbalance the USSR, negotiations immediately commence. The Allied officials state that they want Mongolia to leave the EACPS, end the selling of oil to Japan from East Turkestan and enter the war against Japan, providing another front on the Asian mainland. In return, Britain and the United States will support Mongolia at the negotiations table with Stalin and allow Manchuria and Korea to fall under Mongolia's sphere of influence, in addition to East Turkestan and Tibet, in the post-war world. When the Mongolians ask about China, the Allies state that they will reinstall Chiang Kai-Shek's Nationalist government to the discontent of the Mongolians. They state that the Chinese will try to retake Mongolia and its allies as soon as Chiang Kai-Shek gets back on his feet, to which the Allies say they'll offer aid in the event of such an occurrence. Above and beyond that, the Mongolians argue, they want to make sure the Nationalists will remain as weak as possible in the post-war world and suggest that they either let Japan keep the islands of Hainan and Formosa (Taiwan) or allow them to become governments independent of Chinese rule. The Allies immediately refuse the idea of letting Japan keep them and argue that Hainan would be too undefendable in the event of a Chinese attack. The matter of Formosa, however, remains open and the Allies decide to bring the issue up at a future date. After consultations with Sukhbaatar, the Mongolian diplomats agree with the Allied proposal as it stands with the matter of Formosa to be decided at a later date. They warn, however, that it will take some time to reorient their forces away from the Soviet border to face the Japanese and they'd rather have as much surprise on their side when they attack as possible. That includes continuing to sell them oil from East Turkestan until shortly before Mongolia's entry on the Allied side. The Allies agree with the Mongolians and Mongolia promises to enter the war before the end of 1944.

1944- Following extensive negotiations between German and Japanese diplomats, both sides realize they need another front to be created against the USSR and USA respectively. The two countries reach an agreement in which Japan will formally join the Axis Pact and Germany will declare war on the United States while Japan will declare war on the Soviet Union, the two sides hoping that doing so will give them enough breathing room to go back on the offensive. On January 17, German and Japanese state radio announce the entry of the Empire of Japan into the Axis Pact and, the next day, Hitler declares war on the United States of America. In the following days Hitler waits expectantly for the Japanese declaration of war against the USSR but soon realizes that none is forthcoming. While Hitler rages at the betrayal, the Japanese ambassador to Germany states that Japan shall declare war on the Soviets 'once a satisfactory strategic situation exists in the Pacific theatre'. Stalin, noticing the lack of a Japanese declaration of war on the USSR, decides to return the favor and continue his offensives against the Germans. In Mongolia, Sukhbaatar, while surprised at the announcement, remains set on his course to join the Allied war effort and Mongolian forces continue discreetly to move south from the Soviet frontier. Within a month of the German declaration, the first American troops arrive in Britain.
In Burma, the British and Chinese launch new offensives into Arakan in January but face heavy Japanese resistance. The Allied offensive soon loses steam and are forced to fall back in the face of a Japanese counteroffensive launched in March that starts pushing the Allied west into India towards Imphal. The Japanese manage to lay siege to Imphal by June when, unexpectedly, Japan finds themselves with another front. On June 2, Sukhbaatar announces over the radio that Mongolia has officially pulled out of the EACPS and declares war on the Empire of Japan and Manchukuo. Within the hour of his announcement, the Mongolian Army and Air Force launch their invasion of Manchukuo and Japanese-occupied northern China, their forces coordinating closely in a copy of the German blitzkrieg tactics witnessed in Europe. Individual thrusts aim towards Qiqihar, the Manchukuo capitol of Xinjing, Mukden and Beijing. Further west, East Turkestan and Tibet follow Mongolia's example and declare war on Japan, their forces moving east into Qinghai province. In Manchukuo, Qiqihar and Mukden fall within the first week of the invasion, the Kwantung Army taken surprise and finding the Mongolian tanks, supported by fast-moving cavalry, to be extremely lethal. Xinjing, immediately renamed it's old name of Changchun, falls soon after and Pu Yi, the Emperor of the Japanese puppet state, is captured and sent back to Niyslel Huree after he surrenders Manchukuo to Mongolia. Mongolian forces then turn south from Qiqihar towards Harbin, from Mukden towards the port of Dalian at the end of the Liaodong Peninsula and from Changchun towards the Yalu River and towards Harbin from the southwest. Further south, Mongolian forces reach Beijing where they face light Japanese resistance and encircle the city, then race south and capture Tianjin and Shijiazhuang before the Japanese assemble a cohesive force to defend against the Mongolian forces. Beijing surrenders in late June and Mongolian troops march victoriously into the city to Chinese crowds that ironically welcome them as liberators. The Forbidden City is immediately garrisoned and the art treasures within are secretly looted and sent back to Niyslel Huree. Back in Manchuria, Japanese forces are starting to stream south of the Yalu River in disorganized hordes while Dalian is quickly seized and Harbin is put under siege in early July, a large portion of the Kwantung Army still defending it. By this point many Japanese airfields have been captured and all of the intact Zeros and other 'advanced' aircraft they find are immediately shipped back to Mongolia for study. In early August, while Mongolian troops begin to consolidate their hold on Manchuria outside of besieged Harbin, a Mongolian force crosses the Yalu River into Korea and manage to advance to the Taedong-gang River before the Japanese defenders manage to hold them back with fanatical determination. A Mongolian offensive in early September, spearheaded by Huyag Zr40s, manages to push south of the Taedong-gang and move south towards P'yongyang which is captured on September 18. From there, the Mongolian advance slows but continues to grind south, besieging Seoul and Inch'on and moving forces further south by the end of the year. In northern China, East Turkestani and Tibetan forces capture Golmud in Qinghai from light Japanese garrison troops and continues to push east across the plateau towards Xining, which falls in late June. The East Turkestani/Tibetan force soon after meets up with Mongolian forces at Lanzhou which they jointly capture, then move on to take Xi'an and Taiyuan by the end of the year. In Manchuria, Harbin finally surrenders in mid November, putting all of Manchuria in Mongolian hands. In Burma, the Japanese lift the siege of Imphal in mid June and pull back to more defendable positions so that forces can be rotated back north to face the new Mongolian threat. The Allied forces immediately launch a counteroffensive which is held back by the Japanese defenders.
In the Pacific, the New Georgia island group in the Solomons falls completely into allied hands in late January while in New Guinea, American and Australian forces continue advancing against the Japanese and enter Dutch New Guinea. US Marines make landings on New Britain in March and take the island within a month, the Americans announcing soon after that the remaining Japanese in the Solomon Islands are trapped. American landings are made in the Marshall Islands in February and the island group falls within two weeks. By the end of the year, the rapid American advance takes Wake Island, the Admiralty Islands, Saipan, Tinian Island and Guam with the first landings made in the Philippines near the end of the year. Bombers based on Saipan make the first bombing runs on the Japanese Home Islands, bombing Tokyo and doing light damage.
In Tunisia, the Afrika Korps' supply situation has become increasingly dire during the early months of the year with most resources going to the Eastern Front and the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force gaining more and more dominance in the region. Rommel continues to ask to withdraw his troops from Tunisia where, he feels, they can no longer accomplish anything worthwhile and are in danger of being trapped. Only when Montgomery's forces manage to breach a defensive line in April and head for Tunis is Rommel given permission to withdraw. Most of the remaining Afrika Korps and their Italian allies manage to withdraw to Sicily and southern Italy before the British take Tunis. The Vichy forces in French North Africa promptly go over to the British side when Tunis falls and, angry, Hitler has Vichy France occupied. The British attempt a landing in Sicily before the Americans begin arriving and are promptly pushed back into the sea. Britain decides to await American reinforcements before trying anything else against Italy.
In Europe, the first all American air attack takes place in September. On the Eastern Front, the Germans launch an offensive towards Kharkov in March and penetrate deep into the Soviet lines, smashing into Kharkov's defenses before the Soviets pinch off the supply line of the attacking force and encircle it, then head straight for Kiev, which falls in early April. Further north, the siege of Leningrad is relieved in January and Soviet troops advance into Poland. In late May, the Soviets launch an offensive into the Crimea and capture Sevastopol a month later, the German forces in the peninsula surrendering soon after. In June, the Soviets launch an offensive into Finland and Finland calls for and gets a cease-fire in September. Minsk falls in July and an offensive is launched into the Balkans in September, taking Bucharest by the end of the month. The British invade Greece in October and take Athens as the Axis forces begin to withdraw from the Balkans. By the end of the year, the Soviets occupy Estonia and take Riga and are moving on Budapest.
In late November, a conference is held in Tehran by the Allies and is attended by US President Franklin Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin, Mongolian Chinggis Khan Damdiny Sukhbaatar and Free Chinese Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek. The first item agreed upon by all five leaders is the continuation of the war until the unconditional surrender of both Germany and Japan. On the European front, the US, Britain and the USSR begin planning the coordination of their forces against Germany and a joint British-American invasion of Italy to get the mostly green American troops some experience and an invasion of France in 1945 with the Germans hopefully distracted by the invasion of Italy. Any discussion of post-war Germany, they feel, is premature at the moment, though the British and Americans are concerned with how close the Soviets are drawing. Stalin is annoyed that he won't be able to go after Mongolia after the war and that he won't be able to achieve any aims in the Far East. When the topic turns to Asia, the British and Americans announce their intention to reinstall Chiang Kai-Shek's Nationalist government in China to which Sukhbaatar reluctantly agrees. They also state that they will recognize the independence of Mongolia, East Turkestan and Tibet to which Chiang Kai-Shek reluctantly agrees. It's when the possibility of an independent Formosa is brought up that the two begin arguing. Chiang Kai-Shek argues, rightly, that it's a Mongolian ploy to keep China as divided as possible and insists that Formosa should be returned to China. Sukhbaatar argues that before 1921, the Mongolians were victims of Chinese imperialism and they continued to try to reconquer his country off and on during the 20s. In the end, Chiang Kai-Shek is in the worst diplomatic position of any of the leaders there and it's decided that Formosa will be occupied by American forces and the island will vote its fate at some future time. The Allies also declare Mongolia's influence over Manchuria post-war and the establishment of an independent Korea. Sukhbaatar also pledges to withdraw his forces from northern China after the war. Sukhbaatar and Roosevelt also reach an agreement in which the US Army will be able to establish airfields in Korea to bomb Japan and Japanese positions in China from once the peninsula is secured by Mongolian forces. Sukhbaatar also mentions the research facility his forces discovered in Manchuria labelled Unit 731 and the Allied prisoner and Chinese test subjects they liberated. News of the atrocities comitted there will soon be used in anti-Japanese propaganda, though the scientists, research and prototypes stockpiled at the facility have already been taken back to Mongolia.

1945- In Europe, the Soviets besiege Budapest in mid January but are facing increasing resistance from the Germans who are being urged to ever greater defense by Hitler. In Poland the Soviets advance towards Warsaw but stopped east of the city by prepared defenses and determined defenders. In the skies, British and American bombers are increasingly taking control of the skies over France and Germany, but from all appearances Germany still has a lot of strength left. Warsaw falls to Soviet forces in late February and the Nazi extermination camps are discovered and revealed soon after, worse even than the Unit 731 facility discovered by Mongolia. In Italy, the Allies invade Sicily in mid January and secure the island within a month. A week later Italy surrenders and American landings are made at Salerno and Taranto the next day. German forces occupy Rome but Mussolini, in his attempt to escape to German territory, is killed. The Allies enter Naples in early March and march swiftly northward to face the Gustav Line south of Rome. In early June, Allied forces launch a massive invasion of Normandy that nearly fails in the first hours but soon capture Cherbourg and Caen. In the east, the Soviets launch an assault on Berlin in late May and advance their forces west towards the Rhine. On August 6, an American B-29 drops an atomic bomb on the German city of Frankfurt and, three days later, on Bremen. The Allies demand Germany's immediate surrender or further atomic bombs will be used. Hitler, having fled to his retreat in Berchtesgaden when Berlin came under threat, refuses to surrender. Within days, however, he is killed by military officers who call on all German forces to surrender to the Americans and British. In Italy and France, German forces lay down their arms and American and British forces promptly occupy France, the Low Countries and northern Italy but find themselves face to face with Soviet forces when they reach the Rhine, though they roll into Austria easily enough from Italy since Soviet forces are still held up in Hungary.
In Korea, Seoul and Inch'on both surrender to Mongolian forces in early February and by mid March, Mongolian forces reach Pusan on the southern tip of the peninsula. Over the next couple months the Mongolian military will begin the process of rooting out the remaining Japanese holdouts throughout the Korean peninsula, helped largely by local Koreans. The first American bombers, as well as Lend-Lease supplies, begin arriving in Korea in April. American B-29s begin making runs all across the Home Islands, from southern Karafuto, or Sakhalin, to Kyushu. In northern China, Mongolian forces make slow progress into Shandong despite increasing American air support. The commanders on the ground, with Japan seemingly on the ropes, are more content to hold the gains they have taken which has crippled the Japanese position in China. In the Pacific, the campaign in the Philippines grinds on, the Japanese forces under Yamashita giving ground grudgingly against the Allies. Before the V-E day, American forces manage to take the islands of Iwo Jima and Okinawa in preparation for a possible invasion of the Japanese Home Islands. In the wake of the atomic bombing in Germany, the Mongolian conquest of Manchuria and Korea, the increasing devastation being wrought by American bombers and a new American threat to use atomic bombs on Japan, Admiral Yamamoto, who opposed the war in the first place, convinces Emperor Hirohito to give in to the American demands and, in early September, Hirohito broadcasts over the radio for his country to surrender and for all Japanese forces to lay down their arms. In early October, a formal surrender is signed in Tokyo Bay. World War 2 is over.

_____

Any comments? Thoughts on how the post-war world may appear?

[GBW]

No comments? I'm curious (if anyone is actually interested in this TL, that is) what some thoughts on the post-war situation would be.

[Admiral Matt]

Well, I think Mongolia's accomplishing a little much (and having some incredible luck), but overall it's good. I guess China is safe from communism for the moment? I doubt it will last. The nationalists were just so incompetent...

[DuQuense]

If the Americans occupy Formosa, then there will be no Massacare of the largely japanese middle class. I predict a move in the 80's to reunite with Japan, with the Americans having the same kind of problems they are currently having in Okinawia.

?What will the five nations [Tibet, East Turkestan, Manchuria and Korea] call themselves?

?What will Mongolia's policy be towards the Dino-Hunters?

[G.Bone]

will there be a map later on of this altered world?

[GBW]

Well, I think Mongolia's accomplishing a little much (and having some incredible luck), but overall it's good.

How so? Are you referring to the campaign in Mongolia/Korea/Northern China? You have to consider that Manchkuo in this TL has no real depth compared to the Manchukuo of OTL which had a portion of Inner Mongolia, so a fast moving force would be able to overrun it fairly quickly. Also, Japan never had the Nomonhan incident to give them lessons about the Soviet military and Mongolia has provided a sort of buffer, so the Kwantung Army in the region isn't as large or well-equipped. In China, Japan has had far greater success than OTL and it wasn't a constant front during the war either, so the Japanese forces left in China were largely there for occupation duty while the more elite units were transferred to the fronts. Those, in additon to the pressure the Allies were providing in the Pacific and Burma, provided for the relative swiftness of the campaign. I will admit they were fairly lucky that Japan didn't pay more attention than it should have to the Mongolian forces that were moving south from the USSR border to theirs.

Interesting thought on Formosa, but Japan didn't really use the island as much for Japanese colonization as they did other conquests. I'd think that the native ethnic Chinese population would still outweigh them by quite a bit.
As for Okinawa-like problems, part of that is the fact that three quarters of the American forces based in the entirety of Japan are in Okinawa. Still, I take your point. Such opposition will still likely rise up if the Americans keep bases after the plebiscite takes place to determine Formosa's future. Any thoughts on how that vote might go? A return to China? Independence? Possibly even a return to Japan? I'm thinking it will likely take place once Formosa is rebuilt and the situation has stablized in mainland China one way or the other.
As for the paleontoligists (that's correct, isn't it?), I'd guess that Mongolia won't give them any real troubles since Mongolia has pretty much thrown its lot in with the West as opposed to the USSR.

With regards to the map... perhaps so. You'll have to bear with me, though, since I'm not very experienced with that sort of thing.

Now, I was wondering what some thoughts are with regards to the changed situation in Europe along with other changes. The Soviets have managed to reach the Rhine in northern Germany without much of anything being discussed about the post-war occupation beforehand since the Americans entered three years later than OTL. Since the Americans are in Austria and the forces in southern Germany are sooner to surrender to them than the Soviets, what are some thoughts on the possibility of a Communist North Germany and pro-West South Germany? North Berlin and South Berlin? Would the Allies allow Austria to be part of a South Germany? Also, what are the repercussions of figures like Erwin Rommel and Isoroku Yamamoto still being alive at the war's end, especially since Yamamoto helped convince Hirohito to surrender? Will Rommel be the one to form the South German Army?
Another piece of information that wasn't mentioned in the TL-- Japan is keeping southern Sakhalin Island, or Karafuto to them, and the Kuril Islands. I'd expect the Americans to rapidly militarize the border on Sakhalin with the Soviet northern portion.

[Ace Venom]

Keeping Karafuto and the Kurils may be plausible since the Soviets were unable to occupy them. Without the communists in China, there's no point in letting the Japanese keep Formosa. However, Formosa could become a protectorate of the United States. But even so, a plebiscite is more than likely to occur.

[Admiral Matt]

Well, its hard to believe that anything that happened in the TL could lead to Mongolia having a bigger, or even equal industrial base to Manchukuo. After all, they are largely industrializing with Japanese aid.

But my real problem is less tangible: the TL seems forced. A sort of ideal of what could have happened for Mongolia. The conflict with the USSR escalates only just enough, Mongolia avoids siding with the Japanese, and then the Nazis, and then, with no direct provocation, turns on the Japanese and comes to be a dominant power in East Asia. It all seems a little much for a country whose industry is unlikely to be a match for such powerhouses as Hungary or Romania.

[GBW]

Well, its hard to believe that anything that happened in the TL could lead to Mongolia having a bigger, or even equal industrial base to Manchukuo. After all, they are largely industrializing with Japanese aid.

Manchukuo largely industrialized with Japanese aid as well, and that with a regional army forming its own corporations to exploit its resources. Mongolia has had a longer period to industrialize during the 20s and around the early 30s, Mongolian industrialists started setting up on their own and went so far as to start investing in East Turkestan and Tibet.

The Orhon Gol Incident is similar to the Nomonhan incident of OTL, when Soviet and Japanese forces fought at the Mongolian-Manchurian border. The Soviets could very well have escalated it to the point where they could have invaded Manchukuo and Korea in 1939 but didn't. Stalin was the cautious type and he didn't want to get involved in a war in Asia when oppurtunities were opening in Europe, his hope being that the West and Germany would wear each other out in a World War 1-style conflict and then the USSR would sweep in and take over Europe. I think that applies to the ATL as well.
Mongolia did side with the Japanese. Or do you mean not in China or the Pacific? The reason Mongolia didn't enter into those wars is because they were constantly worried about the 'Red Threat' to their north and didn't want to send their soldiers to assist purely Japanese military goals, possibly giving the Soviets the chance to swoop down and conquer them. As for the Nazis, Sukhbaatar was looking at joining the Axis in purely military terms. He was never fond of National Socialism's doctrines and when the Germans failed to take Moscow, that was when he gave that up as an option. Many people at the time, when they saw the Germans held back at Moscow, realized that Germany wasn't going to defeat the Soviets.
Also, as time passed, Japan was looking to be less and less appealing as an ally as the Militarists took power during the 30s and when Japan initiated their Move South. From the attack on Pearl Harbor, which was not as great a success as OTL, to the failures at Coral Sea and especially the botched invasion of New Caledonia, it became clear that Japan wasn't going to win.

Finally, Mongolia's foreign policy is based on preserving its independence in the face of two looming threats: the Communist threat posed by the USSR to the north, and the Imperialist threat posed by China to the south. Aligning themselves with Japan served that purpose until Japan became too aggressive and their defeat looked inevitable, the same is true of the Germans. Sukhbaatar and other Mongolian politicians also realized that if they tried to go it alone, even with East Turkestan and Tibet on their side, they might stand a chance against the Chinese but definitely not the Soviets. So, with the the three powers of the EACPS, USSR and Axis eliminated as possible allies it left only one choice: the Western Allies.
Besides, Mongolia may be the dominant power in East Asia but they're now as aligned with the United States in the USA/USSR post-war world as Britain is, perhaps more so. Mongolia and it's regional allies are by no means a power by themselves.

[GBW]

Not much for an update for now, just the immediate post-war agreements reached by the Allies. Again, comments and thoughts are welcome.

_____

Terms of the Potsdam Agreement, October 15-November 21, 1945, negotiated by Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin, American President Franklin Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, as well as their respective foreign ministers:

1. Germany is divided into zones of control to be divided amongst the Soviet Union, the United States, Great Britain and France. Austria is to be divided into zones of control divided amongst only the United States and Great Britain. A four-power Allied Control Council is also to be established for matters regarding the whole of Germany.

2. The zones of control in Germany will be as follows (Based on present day German states): USSR- Berlin, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Sachsen, Sachsen-Anhalt, Niedersachsen, Bremen, Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein. France- Nordrhein-Westfalen, Rheinland-Pfalz and Saarland. Great Britain- Baden-Württemberg and Hessen. United States- Bayern and Thüringen. (Note: Berlin is entirely in Soviet hands and hasn't been divided between the USSR and the Western Allies.)

3. The zones of control in Austria will be as follows: United States- Vienna, Upper Austria, Lower Austria, Burgenland, Styria, Carinthia, Salzburg and eastern portion of Tyrol. Great Britain- Vorarlberg and western portion of Tyrol.

4. All former German territory east of the Oder and Neisse Rivers is transferred to Polish and Soviet administration, pending a final peace treaty.

5. The German population of the aforementioned territories and other portions of eastern Europe are to be transferred to Germany.

In addition to these points, the Allies also agree on establishing a new system of rule for Germany that outlaws National Socialism and abolishes Nazi ideology; disarming Germany and preventing its again becoming a military power; and fostering democratic ideals and introducing representative and elective principles of government. The German economy is also to be decentralized and monopolies broken up, with the development of agriculture emphasized in reorganizing the German economy.



Terms of the Yokosuka Agreement, December 8, 1945-January 3, 1946, negotiated by American President Franklin Roosevelt, Mongolian Chinggis Khan Damdiny Sukhbaatar and Chinese Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek, including their foreign ministers as well as the British foreign minister as an observer:

1. Japan will be put under immediate Allied military occupation, the occupation under the command of American General Douglas MacArthur.

2. A Far Eastern Commission, representing several Allied nations and an Allied council in Tokyo, is to supervise general policy.

3. Japan is to be stripped of most of the empire it had conquered since the First Sino-Japanese War, with the exception of the southern half of Karafuto, or Sakhalin, Island. The rest of Japan's former empire shall be confiscated in the following manner: the US military will administer the Northern Territorires (Kuril Islands), the Ryukyu Islands and the Bonin Islands. The US military shall also occupy the island of Formosa and the Pescadores and establish military facilities to assist in said occupation. The status of Formosa and the Pescadores shall be determined by a plebiscite to be held no sooner than 1955. The status of the Caroline Islands, Marshall Islands and Mariana Islands shall be determined at a future date.
Korea shall be occupied and administered by the Mongolian military until such time as a free election of a new government is held. Manchuria shall be directly annexed by Mongolia to give them direct access to the sea and, in return, the US Navy will be allowed to construct a naval base at the chief port of Dalian. (Sukhbaatar claims close ethnic ties with the Manchus for this point and also points out how vulnerable Mongolia will be to China without Manchuria, as witnessed by the Chinese destruction of the Huang He River's dikes in 1935 that devastated Mongolia's only outlet to the sea. It goes without saying that the people of Manchuria won't be happy.)

4. The Nationalists are officially recognized as the legitimate government of China and Chiang Kai-shek the head of state.

5. China officially recognizes the independence of the countries of Mongolia, Korea, East Turkestan and Tibet. China shall also abide by the results of Formosa and the Pescadores' plebiscite, no matter the outcome. (Though this is initially agreed to by Chiang Kai-shek, it is never ratified later on and China continues to claim the aforementioned countries and territories.)

In addition to these points, Japan is to be rapidly demilitarized and steps taken to bring forth a "peacefully inclined and responsible government". Industry is to be adequate for peacetime needs but war-potential industries are to be forbidden. Until these conditions are fulfilled Japan will be under continuing Allied military occupation.

(Final Note: Yes, Roosevelt is still alive. My thinking is that a one front war in the Pacific isn't as stressful as OTL's two front war was so, while still sick, he's still alive to participate in the two conferences.)

[MerryPrankster]

I think this is a pretty cool scenario. Shall we continue it into the Cold War era?

[Sean Swaby]

GBW, nice TL you have here. I can help with the map for Germany (for East Asia it may be a bit more difficult to find a base map...). About the occupation zones of Germany and Austria. In OTL they were actually based somewhat on the positions of the various allied (American, British, French and Soviet) armies at the time of the victory in Europe. The French army was in Wurttemburg and Tyrol, the British had entered northwest Germany and were going to enter southeast Austria from eastern Italy (if Italy had been divided into zones and occupied then most likely the eastern half would be the British Zone and the western half the United States Zone to reflect the positions of the armies). The Americans had burst into central and south Germany and from there entered northern Austria. The Soviets had conquered Vienna and eastern Austria and had conquered eastern Germany. Taking a look at the Zones you will see that they pretty much reflect this situation with some minor (and a couple major) changes here and there.
So if your zones reflect the positions of the armies, then fine, if not then I would like to suggest that you change them.

But here is the map

[GBW]

Sean Swaby: Thanks for the map, it looks good.

Here's the continuation. Again, comments and thoughts are welcome.

_____

Late 1945- In the waning days of the war the Mongolian Army adopts the Huyag Zr45, the long awaited tank to counter the Soviet T-34. It has a long-barreled 90-mm main gun and machine gun in a turret and properly sloped armor that is formidably thick while still allowing widely spaced tracks and mobility. It is roughly equivalent to the German Panther but with slightly thinner armor and, in some aspects, not as refined engineering. It is still an impressive model, even by the standards of late World War 2, and the Army puts it into production with the intention of making it the main tank for the Army and completely phasing out older models like the Zr34, Zr37 and Zr40. The first Mongolian-produced Zero also rolls out of a factory but the Air Force is hesitant to order full production, instead expressing interest to the United States for some of their more advanced fighters.
In Indochina, British troops occupy the French colony after the Japanese surrender and soon face a Vietnamese nationalist movement, albeit a disorganized one, that tries to establish an independent republic. The British do their best to break up the movement and soon allow French troops to return. The French, with British assistance, soon begin to reassert their authority and start supressing the native resistance. It's clear by the end of the year that the French and their British allies have the upper hand.
In Yugoslavia, the Communist government of Josip Broz Tito, supported by both the USSR and Britain, is victorious in the national elections, from which their opposition abstained. A federal people's republic is formed soon after.

1946- The General Assembly of the United Nations meets for the first time in London. The permanent members of the Security Council are the United States, Great Britain, France, the USSR, Mongolia, China and Brazil. Brazil was added to break the deadlock created by the membership of both Mongolia and China, as well as their being the only South American country that actively contributed to the Allied war effort.
Winston Churchill, in a visit to the United States, makes a speech in Fulton, Missouri in which he warns of the expansive tendencies of the USSR and coins the term 'Iron Curtain'.
Communists come to power in Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria and Albania, largely with Soviet assistance in the cases of the first two.
In Japan, a new constitution is adopted and among the points are the public disclaiming of divinity by Emperor Hirohito. Douglas MacArthur, the head of the military occupation, forbids the use of public funds to support Shinto.
The aging Korean Prince Yi Kang, son of Kojong the last Korean Emperor before the Japanese annexation of the country in 1910, and his family are brought out of exile in Japan by Mongolian authorities and taken to Seoul where they serve as a rallying point for Korean nationalists. By the end of the year, Yi Kang is crowned as the new Emperor of Korea amidst the drawing up of a Korean constitution, reviving the Yi Dynasty. The new Korean military is being armed largely with Japanese arms captured by Mongolia, though they are also being sold older model Mongolian tanks.
Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist regime is reinstalled in China with it's capitol at Nanjing, Beijing being considered too close to the Mongolian border. The looting of the treasures that were stored in the Forbidden City in Beijing is discovered soon after and remains another point of contention between Mongolia and China. Chiang soon embarks on a campaign to mop up the remnants of Communists in the countryside with American aid and advisors.
Trials are held in Germany and Japan for officials and officers accused of war crimes. Among those who are eventually cleared of charges are Erwin Rommel, who is popular in the West for his exploits in North Africa and his assistance in overthrowing Hitler after the atomic bombs were dropped, and Isoroku Yamamoto, after a hard trial in which his prewar opposition to the war and his success in urging Emperor Hirohito to surrender helped in clearing him.
In Indochina, French forces have, with British assistance, effectively crushed organized resistance by the Vietnamese nationalists in Annam, Tonkin and Cochin China, though simmering guerrilla resistance continues in the countryside. The Federation of Indochina is formed within the French Union and greater self-government is granted to its component states of Laos, Cambodia, Annam, Tonkin and Cochin China, which is largely accepted by the Laotions and Cambodians.
In the United States, President Franklin Roosevelt dies in early February and is succeeded by his Vice-President Harry Truman.

1947- At the Paris Economic Conference, the European Recovery Program, or Marshall Plan, is instituted to foster economic recovery in certain European countries following the devastation of World War 2.
The United Nations places the Caroline Islands, Marshall Islands and Mariana Islands under American administration and are placed in the US Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.
Communists come to power in Poland, Hungary and Romania, solidifying Soviet control over their bloc of nations in eastern Europe.
The USSR begins covertly sending arms and advisors into Manchuria to arm rebels discontented with the Mongolian annexation and to organize a Manchurian Communist party. Among those sent are a Vietnamese Communist named Ho Chi Minh who has been living and training in Moscow since the 20s. He helps found the Communist Party of Manchuria and will soon establish a training institute where he teaches a unique blend of Marxism-Leninism and Confucian-inspired virtues that will attract many students. In the wake of Chiang Kai-shek's continuing campaign against Communists in China, many Chinese Communists begin fleeing to Manchuria where they latch on to Ho's budding organization.
Cominform, or the Communist Information Bureau, is organized to reestablish information exchanges among the European Communist parties following dissolution of Comintern in 1943. Its members include the parties of Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, France, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Romania, the USSR and Yugoslavia.

1948- Korea officially gains its independence in March. The new government is a constitutional monarchy in which executive power is nominally held by the Emperor but is practiced by a Prime Minister and a council of ministers. Legislative power is held by a Parliament. Mongolian Chinggis Khan Damdiny Sukhbaatar stands side by side with Korean Emperor Yi Kang in Seoul at the ceremonial changing of the flags at the Imperial Palace that officially transfers power from the Mongolian military government to Korea. The scene is also the beginning of Sukhbaatar's big push to legitimize himself as Mongolia's monarch and establish a hereditary line.
In China, Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist forces crush the largest pocket of Chinese Communists outside of Xi'an, utilizing their increased mechanization and mobility created by advice from American advisors and equipment obtained from the United States and Mongolia. Mongolia's industry is getting a large boost, especially their truck industry, by increasing orders from the Nationalists, who have no better place to order from in the region. This same year, Chiang Kai-Shek is the first President elected under a new, liberalized constitution.
In Europe, a breach occurs between the Yugoslav and Soviet Communist parties and Yugoslavia is expelled from Cominform. Tito immediately pursues an independent course in foreign relations.

1949- Sukhbaatar travels to Europe to make a tour of European capitols and to make state visits with various Europrean monarchs, again in his drive to legitimize himself as Mongolia's monarch. His European tour includes visits to London, Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Oslo, Stockholm and a tour of the Western-occupied southern Germany. He's received well in Europe and seems to be the embodiment of the perfect Mongol Khan with his driving energy, traditional Mongolian clothes and personality.
In Germany, two seperate countries are created. In the Soviet-occupied zone, the Communist German Democratic Republic, more commonly known as North Germany, is formed with its capitol at Berlin while the Federal Republic of Germany, or South Germany, is created out of the American, British and French occupation zones with its capitol at Augsburg.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO, is established by Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal and the United States and holds its headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. The treaty calls for collective self-defense and is also designed to encourage political, economic and social cooperation.
The USSR explodes its first atomic bomb, making it a nuclear power and causing a spike in tensions between the Soviet bloc and NATO in what is being termed the Cold War.

1950- The East Asia Treaty Organization, or EATO, is established by China, East Turkestan, France, Great Britain, Korea, Mongolia, Tibet and the United States and holds it's headquarters at Seoul, Korea. Like NATO, the treaty calls for collective self-defense and is supplemented by an Asian Charter that affirms the rights of Asian peoples to equality and self-determination and setting forth goals of economic, social and cultural cooperation between the member countries. EATO military bases soon begin construction in Mongolia and East Turkestan to guard their borders with the USSR.
In Mongolia, after years of discussion and laying out of plans, the construction of a new capitol at Karakorum begins. The plans call for preserving the existing fortress-like Buddhist Erdene Zuu Monastery at the site as well as a granite turtle left over from the city's destruction at the hands of the Ming Dynasty. The new plans call for building three additional granite turtles in addition to the remaining one to keep the city from getting flooded by the Orkhon River, a Palace of Tumen Amgalant, or Infinite Tranquility, in which the Chinggis Khan will reside and will be the seat of executive power, a Khuriltai Hall for the legislative Khuriltai to meet, the Naadam Colosseum where the national holiday of Naadam will be held and the best horse racers, wrestlers and archers from throughout Mongolia will compete as well as residential and commercial districts. Just outside the city will be a secure compound in which the Mongolian Army and Air Force will have their offices.
After a ten-year regency, the 14th Dalai Lama assumes full powers in Tibet, as does the 10th Panchen Lama.
In East Turkestan, the often fractious nature of country's government is finally solved when a general that is popular amongst most of the factions of the country for fighting the Chinese during the Japanese invasion and then the Japanese during World War 2 is given the title of Sultan and becomes the monarch for the Sultanate of East Turkestan. Mongolia, Korea and Tibet immediately recognizes the new government and is soon followed by the United Nations.

1951- In San Francisco, California, a peace treaty is signed between Japan and most of its opponents in World War 2, including Mongolia, East Turkestan and Tibet. India and Burma refuse to attend the conference, however.
The Communists in Manchuria get their first real attention when they attack a Mongolian Army supply depot outside of Harbin, kill all of the soldiers guarding it and make their way back into the countryside with most of the weapons and supplies stored within. Up to this point opposition to Mongolian rule has taken the form of protests in the major Manchurian cities and scattered guerrilla-style attacks against lone outposts. Ho and the main bases for the Communist guerrillas are based largely in the heavily forested Da Hinggan and Xiao Hinggan mountain ranges in northeastern Manchuria.

1952- The first hydrogen, or thermonuclear, bomb is exploded by the United States at Enewetak atoll in the Marshall Islands.
Great Britain explodes its first atomic bomb, making it the world's third nuclear power.
The military occupation of Japan finally ends and the country assumes full sovereignty.

1953- In the USSR, Stalin dies cerebral hemorrhage and his body entombed next to Lenin's in the mausoleum in Red Square in Moscow. He is soon replaced by Georgi Malenkov as Premier of the USSR while Nikita Khrushchev becomes first secretary of the Communist Party.
The USSR explodes its own thermonuclear weapon this year, causing apprehension in Mongolia. Though Mongolia has amassed a secret stockpile of biological weapons based on what was taken from Unit 731 in World War 2, Sukhbaatar realizes that nuclear weapons are something else altogether and approves the creation of a Mongolian atomic bomb project under the auspices of the Army.
In the early months of the year, the Communists of Manchuria launch a series of well-coordinated attacks and ambushes across the northeastern portion of the region, seizing all the major cities of the area along with the Mongolian and EATO bases along the Amur River. Ho Chi Minh declares the Socialist Republic of Manchuria in Harbin and is immediately recognized by the USSR and other Soviet bloc countries in eastern Europe. The Mongolian Army immediately begins rolling forces towards the region while the Air Force quickly begins launching strikes against Communist forces in and around Harbin and Qiqihar. Sympathy for the Communists grows quickly throughout Manchuria and Communist-led uprisings take place in Changchun, Mukden and Dalian. The uprisings in Dalian and Mukden are quickly crushed with limited help from US Navy warships in Dalian. Fierce fighting breaks out in Changchun, however, as the Mongolian Army forces that had been massing there for a push against Harbin get caught up in street fighting against guerrillas that are rapidly reinforced as the Communists send more fighters into the city. Soon, the local commander realizes he's losing tanks at an alarming rate in the confined streets of Changchun and orders his forces to pull back south of Changchun to regroup and get reinforced. Communist Manchurian forces quickly take the city as the Mongolians pull out and the red flag is raised over Changchun, giving the Communists control over two-thirds of Manchuria. Checkpoints are immediately established along the old Mongolian-Manchurian border and the Air Force bases itself at Hulun to launch strikes deep into Communist-held territory and along the Amur River to try and stop the flow of supplies from the USSR. Clashes between Mongolian and Soviet aircraft soon take place, increasing tensions to such a point that the Air Force is reluctantly forced to shift their operations further south from the border, allowing for more and more supplies to be slipped across the Amur into Manchuria. A Mongolian offensive towards Qiqihar from the old Inner Mongolia in October is a disaster as the Mongolian tanks run into Communist forces armed with Soviet anti-tank rockets and by the end of the year, the Communist Manchurian forces are also launching katyusha rockets at Mongolian forces. Sukhbaatar fumes over the obvious Soviet aid being provided to the insurgents but is only able to bring it before the UN where not much is able to be done. American President Eisenhower calls on EATO to aid Mongolia against the 'Communist incursion' but some of the member countries, such as China, state that it's an internal Mongolian matter. Nevertheless, American aid and 'advisors' soon arrive to assist the Mongolian military, as well as East Turkestani and Korean troops. Tibet is hesitant to get involved, its politics having mellowed upon the accession of the two Lamas in 1950, along with the British and French.

1954- In Indochina, the French have finally reached an agreement with the Vietnamese rebels following the years of resistance following the French reoccupation in 1945. Annam and Tonkin are merged into the state of Vietnam that is still within the Federation of Indochina. Many Vietnamese are unhappy at the fact that Cochin China isn't part of Vietnam but, largely, many Vietnamese accept the new arrangement. Low-level resistance to French rule continues in Vietnam and Cochin China, however and, this same year, revolts break out in French Algeria and quickly spread.
In May, Mongolian forces launch offensives into Communist-held territory in Manchuria and, with infantry support, manage to encircle the cities of Qiqihar, Changchun and Harbin. Advancing into the cities is slow but by September, all resistance is crushed in the three cities. The success in taking the three major cities of the region proves to be less fruitful than they thought when heavy resistance continues in the countryside of from the mountains in the region that the Communist guerrillas have turned into fortresses. By the end of the year, it even appears that the cities themselves are only technically in Mongolian hands as sporadic ambushes and bombs target Mongolian officials and soldiers and their allies within the cities.

1955- The military occupation of South Germany and Austria ends and both countries join NATO. South German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer appoints Erwin Rommel to be his Minister of Defense to help build the South German military.
The Warsaw Treaty Organization, or Warsaw Pact, is established by Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, North Germany, Poland, Romania and the USSR. It is the Soviet bloc's response to NATO and is a mutual defense treaty.
In the USSR, Malenkov resigns as Premier and is replaced by Nikolai Bulganin.
In Algeria, the native National Liberation Front carries out more extensive attacks on French colonists, forcing the French to respond with severe reprisals.
Fighting continues in Manchuria with Mongolia and its allies trying to regain control of the countryside and force Communist forces out of the mountain ranges and forests. Napalm is introduced to the Mongolian Air Force from their American allies and Mongolian aircraft begin a sustained campaign of napalm bombing the mountains and sections of forest to flush the Communist guerrillas. The fires grow out of control at some points, though, forcing Mongolian soldiers to take on firefighting duty by building breakfires, etc. The first attack by the Manchurians outside of Manchuria also takes place when an explosion hits a police station in Hulun, forcing more soldiers to be stationed at the checkpoints.
The plebiscite is held in Formosa and the Pescadores on whether they will rejoin Chiang Kai-Shek's Nationalist China or become an independent country. The plebiscite comes out a point when the popularity of the Nationalists is at a low with much of China still devastated by World War 2 and Chiang Kai-Shek's campaigns against Chinese Communists, in addition to rumors of rampant corruption amongst Nationalist politicians and even military officers and budding warlords taking control of the sparsely populated provices bordering with East Turkestan and Tibet. Formosa and the Pescadores end up voting for independence and the Republic of Taiwan is formed and enters EATO.

[MerryPrankster]

Seems cool so far, but what is Ho Chi Minh doing in Manchuria?

[GBW]

Matt: In OTL, Ho Chi Minh studied revolutionary tactics in Moscow during the early 1920s and then, as a Comintern member, was sent to southern China in 1925 to provide help to the Chinese Communists. While he was there, he also visited Indochina and started the Communist movement there and lived between Moscow and China in the 30s.

In the ATL, Sun Yat-sen supressed the Chinese Communists from the early 20s and Mongolia didn't fall into the Soviet sphere of influence, so Ho wasn't sent to China and thus was unable to go on to Indochina. So, up to post- World War 2, he remained in the USSR until the Soviets decided to send him to Manchuria. He couldn't very well go on to China with Chiang Kai-Shek crushing the remaining pockets of Communists, let alone on to Indochina, so he's made Manchuria his cause for the moment to spread the Revolution.

[GBW]

The timeline continues. Feedback is welcome.
_____

1956- In Korea, Yi Gu ascends to the imperial throne after his father Yi Kang dies. Though he is the second son of Yi Kang, the eldest son, Yi Kin, was unpopular due to his marriage to a Japanese commoner and willingly gave up his right to the throne. Yi Gu's wife, though Japanese, is of the nobility and so moderately more acceptable to the Korean populace, especially since the royal family was exiled in Japan and had no real choices.
At the 20th All-Union Party Congress in the USSR, Nikita Khrushchev delivers a 'secret' report on 'The Personality Cult and Its Consequences', denouncing the rule, policies and personality of Stalin. A program of 'Destalinization', which has already begun, is supported and continued by Khrushchev.
Revolts break out in Poland and Hungary, forcing the Polish government to reconsider its policies while in Hungary, the popular anti-Communist revolution centered in Budapest leads to a new coalition government that declares Hungary neutral, withdraws it from the Warsaw Pact and appeals to the United Nations for aid. One of the new government's ministers, however, forms a counter-government and asks the USSR for military support. The Red Army immediately rolls into Hungary and supresses the revolution.
Following the nationalization of the Suez Canal by Egypt, as well as the expulsion of British oil and embassy officials, Britain and France invade the Suez Canal region. The UN intervenes and an armisitice is brokered. UN peacekeepers replace the British and French forces at the Suez Canal.
Along with other peoples deported from their homelands by Stalin, such as the Chechens, the Buryat Mongols are repatriated from the Kazakh SSR back to the Buryat lands and Verkhneudinsk is renamed Ulan-Ude. The news is cheered in Mongolia while not necessarily easing tensions with the USSR, considering the situation in Manchuria.
In China, Chiang Kai-Shek is overthrown and executed by officers of the Army for 'imcompetence and rampant corruption', last year's plebiscite in Taiwan in which the island nation chose independence highlighted as proof, as well as how Japan pushed the Nationalists completely out of China during the Second Sino-Japanese War, or World War 2. Many in the Kuomintang and Army support the coup, but a sizable portion of loyalists to Chiang rise up against the coup while, further in the west, the local warlords take advantage of the situation to increase their own power in the region. By the end of the year, even the largely supressed Chinese Communists rise up and China effectively plunges into chaos, the new military government that overthrew Chiang controlling little more than the capitol of Nanjing and some of the surrounding area. The other nations of EATO watch on with concern and some say it's '1911 all over again'. The United States, having supported Chiang Kai-Shek's regime, is hard-pressed to find a side to take in the conflict and, though supporting the new government in Taiwan as China's legitimate government is briefly considered, decides to take a wait-and-see approach and intervene only if it appears the Communists somehow gain the upper hand.
In Algeria, the National Liberation Front, or FLN, gains the support of virtually all Algerian nationalists, controls much of the countryside and is organizing frequent attacks in the cities, especially Algiers.
In Manchuria, the fighting continues inconclusively with large sections of the Communist-held mountain ranges scorched by napalm bombardment and attacks remaining frequent inside the cities. The checkpoints between Mongolia proper and Manchuria see increased violence as the Communists either attack them outright or launch mortars or katyushas at them, though no additonal bombings take place outside of Manchuria.

1957- In Korea, the government responds to the continued Communist insurgence in Manchuria and the apparent political collapse of China by outlawing the Communist Party and imprisoning prominent Korean communists, including Kim Il Sung. The move is largely accepted by the Korean populace as they see Korea as being under imminent threat against the 'Red menace' with the Soviet-sponsored Communist insurgence in Manchuria just to the north.
In the USSR, Khrushchev begins a program for decentralization of industry, gaining him needed political capital. A faction lead by Malenkov, Vyacheslav Molotov and Lazar Kaganovich tries to remove Khrushchev from leadership but Khrushchev, supported by Georgi Zhukov, instead removes them from important posts. By the end of the year, Zhukov is also relieved of his posts.
The first artificial satellite, Sputnik I, is launched by the USSR, spurring the largely dormant American space program and beginning what will be called the 'space race'.
In Algeria, the French successfully put down the resistance and the FLN is forced to concentrate on guerrilla activities in rural areas. The French also construct electrified barriers along Algeria's borders with Morocco and Tunisia in order to reduce the infiltration of men and supplies, though resistance to French rule is rapidly increasing in those two regions as well.

1958- In Europe, the European Economic Community, or EEC, is established by France, South Germany, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Italy. The EEC begins working on a large scale to promote the convergence of national economies into a single European economy.
In the USSR, Khrushchev replaces Bulganin as Premier, becoming undisputed leader of both the state and party.
In North Africa, the French have for the moment gained the upper hand against the various rebels in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia and put forth the idea of a Federation of North Africa that is based largely on what has happened in Indochina, with the component states of Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia having greater self-government. Many French colonists immediately come out against the idea, though the rebels don't immediately reject it. After managing to bring the colonists to the table, tense negotiations commence.
The US launches the first American satellite in January, Explorer I. Also, NASA is formed.
In Mongolia, amidst the continuing violence in Manchuria, the Mongolian capitol is officially moved to completed Karakorum and Damdiny Sukhbaatar takes residence in the Chinggis Khan's Palace of Tumen Amgalant, where the Chinese treasures taken from the Forbidden City are displayed along with various paintings and pieces displaying Mongolian history. Additions to the plans of the city were added along the way, including the Choybalsan Institute, named in memory of former Prime Minister Horloyn Choybalsan who died in 1953, that will become the headquarters for archaeological and paleontological expeditions within Mongolia, as well as a museum for paleontological, historical and technological exhibits that include the Christie M1931 tank chassis that spawned Mongolia's domestic tank industry and, indirectly, its burgeoning truck and automobile industry.
After over thirty years, a 10th Jebtsundamba Khutuktu, the third ranking ecclesiastical authority after the Dalai Lama and Panchen Lama, is born in Mongolia and recognized by the country's Buddhist monks and the Lamas in Tibet, the 9th having passed on unnoticed. Sukhbaatar, who remembers the days when the Jebtsundamba Khutuktu was also Bogd Khan, or holy ruler, of Mongolia, publically welcomes the news of a new Jebtsundamba Khutuktu while pointedly ignoring the title of Bogd Khan. Privately, he's worried over anything that casts doubt on his rule and the passing of it on to his eldest son and reassures himself that it will be some years before this new Jebtsundamba Khutuktu will be installed. Nevertheless, Sukhbaatar immediately introduces to the Khuriltai an amendment to the Mongolian constitution that will firmly seperate the church from the state in the hope of avoiding a return to the feudal days when the Bogd Khan and monasteries ruled Mongolia.

1959- In Cuba, the country's dictator Fulgencio Batista flees the country in the face of the withdrawal of American aid for his regime and a much publicized guerrilla war waged by Fidel Castro. Castro soon takes control of the country.
In Mongolia, Damdiny Khan of the Sukhbaatar Dynasty, founder of Mongolia's independence, dies at the age of 66 in the Palace of Tumen Amgalant. His death is mourned across the country and many world leaders or their foreign ministers attend his public funeral. His body undergoes the traditional Mahayana Buddhist funeral rites before being interred in a tomb beneath the Palace of Tumen Amgalant. His eldest son becomes Yumjaagiyn Khan, Mongolia's new Chinggis Khan. Only a few weeks after Damdiny's death the amendment regarding the firm seperation of church and state comes to a vote in the Khuriltai and is passed with a comfortable margin. Nevertheless, several months after his ascension to the throne Yumjaagiyn gets his own monks and ecclesiastical experts and tries his best to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the newest Jebtsundamba Khutuktu. The issue of the legitimacy soon becomes a heated debate between the pro-legitimacy faction that forms a good portion of the monks and monasteries that are backed by the ecclesiastical authorities in Tibet and the smaller anti-legitimacy faction that has the support of the Chinggis Khan. Most of the Mongolian populace don't get very excited over the issue, the people having long believed more in the transcendent values of the 'church' rather than the clerical hierarchy, of which they are fully aware of the faults and human fallibility of individual and groups of monks. Still, when the people do pay attention to the issue they largely find it unnecessary because it doesn't really matter one way or the other due to the seperation of church and state and believe that Yumjaagiyn would be better served paying more attention to the Communists in Manchuria.
In Manchuria, the first American support troops arrive to assist the Mongolian military in its fight against the Manchurian Communists.

1960- At an EATO obervation post on the Mongolian border with the Buryat lands in Soviet Siberia, an American reporter is visiting when a group of Buryat Mongols attempt to flee to Mongolia. Before his horrified eyes, the Buryat Mongols are cut down by Soviet machine guns before they can reach the border and he takes several pictures of the scene. The pictures are published widely throughout the world and bring condemnation down on the USSR. When a US spy plane operating from a base in East Turkestan is shot down over the USSR later in the year, Khrushchev cancels a summit conference in Paris and tensions increase.
In North Africa, a tenuous agreement is signed in which the Federation of North Africa is created to still be within the French Union. Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia gain a large measure of self-government, even to the point of allowing Sidi Muhammad to remain Sultan of Morocco. A strip of northern Algeria, however, that is centered around Algiers remains a part of metropolitan France. The French colonists are unhappy with the arrangement but the Army in North Africa is well enough pleased with the arrangement to continue supporting the government in Paris. Low level violence in rural areas continues and many prominent nationalists in the three states begin calling for a timetable for full independence.
France explodes its first atomic bomb, becoming the world's fourth nuclear power.
In Mongolia, Niyslel Huree is officially renamed Sukhbaatar in honor of Damdiny Khan. Sukhbaatar still remains one of Mongolia's larger and more prosperous cities depite the move of the capitol to Karakorum.
In Manchuria, some in the Mongolian Army have been pressuring Yumjaagiyn to secretly use some of their stockpile of biological weapons against the Communists ever since his accession to the throne. They had pressured Damdiny as well, but he always refused. Yumjaagiyn, however, finally approves the use of bubonic plague bombs against the insurgents and the Mongolian forces in the region are given antibiotics sufficient to minimize the effects on them. The plague bombs are secretly dropped on Communist-held mountains and the effects are almost immediate. Hundreds of the rebels soon die of the plague and the USSR quickly slips their own antibiotics across the border to assist them. Mongolian and other EATO soldiers are also soon effected but are promptly treated with antibiotics. Many American advisors in Manchuria soon become suspicious of the outbreak and the ready supply of antibiotics. When Ho Chi Minh, who survived the plague bombardment, comes forward with a nearly intact portion of bomb casing and lays blame on Mongolia, there are heated arguments between Mongolian Army officers and their American advisors. The American ambassador in Karakorum brings the issue before Yumjaagiyn, who denies the reports as 'Communist propaganda'. Even worse than the toll on the soldiers of either side is the spread of the plague to the general population of Manchuria and some parts of eastern Mongolia and northern Korea, as well as Vladivostok in the USSR. Yumjaagiyn immediately puts a halt to the use of the biological weapons, seeing just how much of a disaster the move has become in many ways. The only real success the bombardment had was to give the Soviets and the Manchurian Communists pause to consider the lengths Mongolia apparently will go to crush the rebellion.

1961- The USSR launches the first man into space, cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, to the shock of the world.
In Cuba, Fidel Castro expropriates US landholdings, banks and industrial concerns, leading to a breaking of diplomatic relations. He also declares himself a Marxist-Leninist and aligns himself with the Eastern bloc. In July, a force of Cuban exiles trained by the American CIA land at the Bahêa de Cochinos, or Bay of Pigs. American President Nixon authorizes air support for the landings and, soon after, direct assistance from the US Navy. After a few weeks of fighting, Havana is captured by the rebels and Castro and his closest associates are killed, supposedly in action. The successful Bay of Pigs invasion provokes outrage and anti-American demonstrations in Latin America and Europe and the UN calls for the immediate withdrawal of American forces from Cuba. A couple months later, American forces withdraw and are replaced by UN peacekeepers. The new pro-US Cuban government forms a republic.
In Indochina, a fresh wave of violence breaks out against French rule, disconcerting many in France who thought they had just brought about some stability by the formation of the Federation of North Africa. French forces immediately begin suppressing the resurgence of Vietnamese nationalists.
In Manchuria, the Communists launch a coordinated series of uprisings within the cities of Qiqihar, Harbin and Changchun that once again seize the cities for the Socialist Republic of Manchuria. Along with a push from their strongholds in the mountains, Mongolian and EATO forces are forced to largely withdraw from the upper two-thirds of Manchuria to the coastal Liaoning province and eastern Mongolia. Ho Chi Minh and other prominent Manchurian Communists soon make a show of treating people in the cities and countryside effected by the bubonic plague with antibiotics, scoring a major propaganda victory. Fed up with the prolonged conflict in Manchuria and soured towards Yumjaagiyn after the use of the plague bombs, Korea announces its intention to withdraw its forces from Manchuria and does so by the end of the year, instead stationing them along the Yalu River to defend Korea itself from possible Communist attack. The Communists make an attempt to push forces into Liaoning to seize Mukden, but the Mongolian military has maintained a strong presence in the vital coastal province and the Communist forces are thrown back in disarray. Consul's Group politicians in the Khuriltai and Yumjaagiyn's cabinet begin pressuring to come to some sort of arrangement with the Manchurian Communists.

1962- The US launches its first man into space, astronaut John Glenn, who circles the Earth three times.
In Indochina, the French grant Vietnam its independence outside of the Federation of Indochina but within the French Union and include Cochin China with the rest of the country. They also, however, install Bao Dai, former Emperor of Annam, as head of state for Vietnam, making it virtually a puppet. While many grumble over having Bao Dai as head of state, most are content with the fact that Vietnam is now whole and at least semi-independent. Soon, Laos and Cambodia begin agitating for their own independence and the dissolution of the Federation of Indochina.
In Manchuria, the Mongolian Army attempts to roll into the Communist-held territory as they had before but, this time, they face battle-hardened veterans that are much better equipped with Soviet weaponry. Casualties are high and they make it only to the outskirts of Changchun and Qiqihar before more organized uprisings take place in Mukden and Dalian that make the Mongolian force outside of Changchun pull back to crush it. The Communists attempt to follow up on it by trying to seize Mukden but are themselves thrown back again. The rest of the year passes with inconclusive fighting on the outskirts of Qiqihar and an extensive bombing campaign by the Mongolian Air Force against Changchun and Harbin. With the relative lull in fighting, the pressure on Mongolia to put an end to the nearly decade long conflict increases.

1963- Britain applies for membership in the EEC and is accepted.
The Federation of Indochina is officially dissolved and Laos and Cambodia become associate states of the French Union.
Following more inconclusive fighting in the early months of the year in Manchuria, the pressure on Yumjaagiyn has become strong enough that he calls for a cease fire with the Communist Manchurian forces and for talks to commence regarding the political future of the region. After some discussion between the Soviets and Manchurians, Ho Chi Minh agrees and a cease fire takes effect. The Mongolian Foreign Minister meets with Ho and other Manchurian officials in Mukden where he makes Yumjaagiyn's first offer of allowing Manchuria autonomy. The offer is immediately rejected and fierce negotiations commence. It soon becomes clear that Mongolia is trying to give up as little as possible while Ho wants nothing less than all of Manchuria independent under a Communist government. The US sends diplomats to assist with the negotiations and both sides very gradually begin to give ground as the negotiations drag out into the end of the year.

1964- In North Africa, the dissolution of Indochina prompts the Sultan in Morocco, the Bey in Tunisia and the FLN in Algeria to clamor for the dissolution of the Federation of North Africa, the FLN adding the additional demand of turning over Algiers. The French government soon finds itself in a precarious position as both the native governments of North Africa and the French colonists and Army have their own agendas that are directly opposed to one another. Paris tries to play the factions off of each other long enough to find a solution to the problem.
Early in the year, Mongolia detonates its first atomic bomb, making it the world's fifth nuclear power. The news directly effects the negotiations with the Manchurian Communists as Ho and Khrushchev fear that Yumjaagiyn may drop one on Harbin or some other major Manchurian city, a view that the Mongolian Foreign Minister encourages with ominous wording that the American ambassador frequently speaks to Yumjaagiyn about after every meeting. Nevertheless, a final agreement is reached in May in which the Socialist Republic of Manchuria gains its independence with its capitol at Harbin and makes up the provinces of Heilongjiang, Hinggan, Nenjiang and Jilin (OTL's provinces of Heilongjiang and Jilin), while coastal Liaoning will remain a province of Mongolia. Ho and others are unhappy that Liaoning will remain a part of Mongolia and begin funneling rebels and weapons into the province without the direct knowledge of the Soviets. By the end of the year, all Mongolian forces have pulled out of the newly independent Manchuria and Red Army 'advisors' have replaced them alongside the Manchurian Army.

1965- In North Africa, the violence in the rural areas intensifies and sporadic attacks are made within major cities against colonists and French officials. The native officials of the three component states of the federation do little to combat the attacks and continue to demand their independence, their patience obviously growing thin. The French Army begins suppressing the attacks and incidents between French forces and local police forces take place, plunging the entire region to the brink of open armed conflict by the end of the year.
In Mongolia, Manchurian-backed rebels begin terror attacks against Mongolian military and police forces and political officials across Liaoning. Yumjaagiyn, fed up with the entire 'Manchurian mess' and not about to give up Mongolia's only outlet to the sea, sets the Army to begin a campaign of systematically rounding up all Chinese and Manchus of the province and deporting them into China and Manchuria. Cities such as Mukden and Dalian are emptied first, leaving behind only Mongolians and other minorities such as Koreans and foreigners from abroad, followed by smaller cities and the countryside. The rebels do their best to try and disrupt the deportations but are finding that their traditional 'hiding in a school of fish' doesn't work nearly as well with all the 'fish' being actively deported and the leftover population unsympathetic to their cause. By the end of the year, attacks by the rebels have decreased dramatically and huge refugee camps have sprung up outside of cities such as Changchun and Harbin in Manchuria and Peking in China, plagued by bad sanitation, lack of food and even the ongoing bubonic plague that is still loose in the countryside. The USSR, Manchuria and many European countries, both NATO and Warsaw Pact, denounce Mongolia's 'ethnic cleansing' of Liaoning and mark it as comparable to anything the Imperial Japanese or even Nazis did. Demonstrations take place in American cities regarding the continued American support of Mongolia.
Late in the year, Tibet pulls out of EATO and declares itself a neutral, citing 'certain actions' by Mongolia as of late. In reality, the Tibetan pullout has been a long time coming due to the neutrality course the Lamas have been pushing for ever since their ascended to power.
In China, a charismatic young warlord named Shing Rong (who doesn't exist in OTL) based in the isolated Sichuan province has been quickly gaining the support of other warlords and even Communist rebels across western China and has built himself an army. This year he seizes the cities of Chengdu, Xining and Kunming and begins advances into northern China.