1938 The confrontation with Germany
- Thread starter chris N
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Britain was being pulled in many different directions Labour was opposed to intervention but the recent actions by Stalin had undermined that opposition. Prime Minister Halifax was not in favor of war but he was facing growing pressure within the party to take action or resign. The French had told him that they were prepared to act and if Britain did not support France a key cornerstone of British Defense policy would be undermined. To avoid that Halifax agreed to support the French. Britain and France would bomb the Soviet oil fields from the Middle East and the Royal Navy would support the French landings in the Baltic.
In The Dawn's Early Light the RAF Bombers had reached their target and the bombs rained down. The French Bombers hit an oil refinery and pipeline. The explsions rocked the region and the fires were out of control. Their had been some problems and no one was sure that they would make it home. The French were attempting to make it back to Syria while the RAF Bombers were flying over the Black Sea.
The Red Army reached the Baltic coast splitting th country in two and was now attempting to destroy the French and British. The Estonians were still holding the line but with the Red in Latvia it put a real strain on the defense forces. The Estonian 13th and 15th Brigade along with the French moved to strengthen the defenses and rescue the retreat French forces and the Latvians
Germany was at this point very concern with the aggression by the Soviets. It was still in a recovery mode from the Czech-German war of 1938 but it had gotten to the point that all of the divisions of the Army were fully equipped and enough equipment was available to mobilize perhaps another 10-12 divisions. The Chancellor had decided to begin a call up of reservist and to strengthen German defenses in the East. He had spoken with the Polish President on the Phone and had also consulted with the French and British Ambassadors.
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Germany's Chancellor was not very happy with the way that things had gone. He had seen enough fighting in the First World War and he hoped that the Communist in the East would pull back. He had spoken to the Czech President and assured him that Germany's call up was not aimed at his country but was aimed at being ready should the Communist continue their war of aggression. In East Prussia the Eighth Army had been reactivated and reservist their had been called to the colors. The Landwehr was now also activated and Poland was asked for permission to move 3 more divisions from Germany to East Prussia..
Germany issued the following statement to the world Press from the office of the Chancellor: The German Government is gravely concern with the conflict in the Baltic region and urges the USSR to end the aggression. It further states that Germany will not allow the conflict to spread into Lithuania. It also supports the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Romania.
Stalin was not sure if the Germans were bluffing or not but he felt that he could not back down. The British were in southern Latvia and were prepared to withdraw into Lithuania . Morale was not good as the Russians seemed to be unstoppable. The 2pdrs could not stop the Russian Giant tanks but special rounds fired by the 18/25pdrs could but there was not enough of them.
Any chance of correcting the spelling of DeGualleOther than "Keep going!", no, no comments.
The German Chancellor was reluctant to get Germany involved in another conflict. The man who had been the Bavarian Crown Prince and the Commander of an army group on the Western Front in the First World War was all to aware of the price that may have to be paid should the conflict grow. After a conversation with the Kaiser he decided to address the lower house and state the case of why Germany was on the verge of going to war.
In a speech that lasted 90 minutes the Bavarian made the case for why Germany could not stand by. He asked the German Parliament to authorize the use of force and the calling up of all reservist.
In a speech that lasted 90 minutes the Bavarian made the case for why Germany could not stand by. He asked the German Parliament to authorize the use of force and the calling up of all reservist.
The Man who was nicknamed The Bavarian was hoping that the Germany's action would cause Stalin to really think twice about what he had done and back down. German military leaders had met with the Lithuanians and the Poles. A further delegation's had met with the Italians and Romanian military in the Romanian capital..
German High altitude recon aircraft were taking picture of most of Western Russia. They knew that the Red Air Force could not reach them. Photographs were taken of key targets. The Bavarian Knew war and he knew that if he had to fight it would have to be a knock out blow.
German High altitude recon aircraft were taking picture of most of Western Russia. They knew that the Red Air Force could not reach them. Photographs were taken of key targets. The Bavarian Knew war and he knew that if he had to fight it would have to be a knock out blow.