¡La Constitución Vive! - A Spanish parliamentary monarchy
- Thread starter Kurt_Steiner
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The PRC is a Republican non-confessional right party; its main difference from the Conservatives and the BN is they keep religion away from politics.
The PRLD is a Republican lay center-right party. It's a bit more moderate than the PRC.
88. Second Azaña Ministry (1940-1945) -1-
Prime Minister Azaña and the Chief of the General Staff,
General Francisco Franco Bahamonde, 1940.
But for the War and Revolutionary periods (1921-1925) and the Besteiro Ministry (1930-1935), the Liberal party had ruled Spain since 1895 (that is, 36 of 45 years) and it had shaped the history of Spain in those decades. This unparalled record of success at the polls had been possible thanks to reformist stance and the decline of the Conservative party. In that sense, many hoped that Miguel Maura and his PRC would return some popularity to the Conservative ideas. However, Maura's aconfessional stance deprived him of a great number of voters in a time that the Right wing was radicalizing itsel and it was further divided between Gil-Robles and Calvo Sotelo. Eventually, the latter would rise as the most popular politician among the "conservative" Right, but the internal war between the two leaders was to further damage their standing.
Thus, Azaña began to govern without too much worries. During 1940, the USD was torn about the new leader of the party. It would take a few months unitil Justino de Azcárate, one of the two main candidates for the Socialdemocrat leadership, to stand down and support the annointed successor, Diego Martínez Barrio. However, once dust was settled, Martínez Barrio and de Azcárte were to became winning team that would make the fate of the USD during the next decade. But in 1940 Azaña, as it has been mentioned, had no reason to worry about no one... but himself.
After the massive domestic reforms of his first term, Azaña's second term saw very little domestic reforms. The main major piece of legislation passed during this time was the Fair Labor Act of 1940 – which established a new -and updated- national minimum wage. One of the reasons for this was Azaña's decision to create on a Spanish Supreme Court following the Austrian example set in 1927 (1). It had been already attempted in 1872 and 1929. Thus, this would result in the Tribunal de Garantías Constitucionales, created in 1941 (2). However, when the Court was established on February 5th, 1941 along with the Ley de Reorganización Judicial de 1941 (Judiciary Reorganization Bill 1941), it soon came under fire as it was claimed that Azañda had flooded the Court with too many liberals in order to get his way. Recognizing his opportunity to rebound from his bad results in the Elections, Calvo Sotelo became one of the prominent leaders of the widespread opposition against the court-packing plan. Despite the Prime Minister’s arguments, Calvo Sotelo led the way in strongly opposing the plan as a deliberate abuse of executive power. Public opposition and Parlamentarian unwillingness to go along caused the Judiciary Reorganization Bill to be terminated in the Cortes on July 22, 1941. For Azaña, it was a humiliating political defeat. Ironically, he had the last laugh when the elderly members of the Court began to either die or retire during his second term and he simply replaced them by appointing those who would support his policies. By 1942, he was in control of the Court.
By late 1940, the economy stalled and slid into a recession. The Prime Minister responded by pouring money into the public works program and, in addittion to this, the main trade unions, CNT and UGT, began to bitterly fight against each other. WPA, which created over three million jobs. In addition, labor unions, a cornerstone of the New Deal coalition, fractured into bitterly feuding American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations factions. In 1938, in a determined effort to overcome conservative opposition within his party, Azaña intervened in the regional elections to strengthen his hand by helping more reformist profiles to rise in the party backfired tremendously. Instead, the USD won the control of Andalucia, Cantabria and Valencia. As a result of this elections, the days of a reformist Liberal Party were over. Martínez Barrios himself would turn the biggest conservative leader within the Liberal ranks.
By then the international events were to, eventually, eclipse the internal crisis of the two main Spanish parties. The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-39) had led to a full-scale invasion of China. The Russian help was to prove an essential asset for the Chinese Generalisimo, Chiang_Kai-shek. Chiang, a former Japanese protegée, had managed to unite China (1928-1934) and to put her under his thumb with Japanese support. Then, the country had been able to recover and to modernize, but part the countryside was still under the influence of some weakened warlords and Communists. Thus, when Chiang crushed the warlord Zhang Zuolin of Manchuria from the Fengtian clique, a Japanese puppet in 1936, Tokio decided that Chiang was too daring and invaded Manchuria. In 1939, despite heroic resistance and generous support from Gremany and the Soviet Union, China proved unable to withstand the military might of Japan. On July 22, hoping for mercy from the Japanese, President Lin Sen, Chiang's puppet, sued for peace. From Tokyo, Prime Minister Kiichiro Hiranuma laid down the peace terms.
From then on, Japan would rule the land with an iron fist. All of China would be consolidated into a loyal puppet nation. Sen would remain in power, again as be nothing more than a mere figurehead. China was to be tightly controlled by her Japanese masters and the harsh treatment created bitter Chinese resentment towards Japan (which lingers to this day). Across the Japanese home islands came great celebrations over their hard-earned victory. Finally, they had achieved their longstanding aim of achieving hegemony over China. Once her Chinese dreams were fufilled, Japan would begin to search for more Asian lands to conquer. However, this would have to wait. In 1941, with the change in the American leadership, the Japanese Prime Minister, Fumimaro Konoe, wanted to see how it would affect Japanese-American relations before deciding on what to do next. After all, Chiang had been granted assylum by the Roosevelt Administration. Sympathetic towards Nationalist China, the American public responded quite negatively to the Japanese conquest of the country.
Then, the BBC made a chilling statement: “Ladies and gentlemen, word has just reached us that Russia is marching into Finland.”
(1) 1920 IOTL
(2) 1931 IOTL
After several failed attempts to Japanize the islands, Tokio organized a Council of State through which they directed civil affairs until 1935, when they declared the Philippines an independent republic under Benigno Ramos. This Republic is similar to OTL Vichy but with the Kempetai taking care that bussines go in Tokio's ways. And Tokio is now considering replacing Ramo with José Laurel to have a more autonomous regime (under Japanese military protection) that can survive with little Japanese help.
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89. News of the World: The Russo-Finnish War (February-April 1940)
The first sign of what was to come in 1941 took place in late 1939. That year, the Czarist government forced Latvia and Estonia to conclude mutual assistance pacts which gave it the right to establish Russian military bases. With their military presence attempted to turn the Latvian and Estonian government into puppet regimes, but, as this did dnot work as expected, Petrograd decided to act more directly. When the Estonian prime minister, Kaarel Eenpalu, was murdered in a failed coup d'etat (June 17, 1939), the Russian government invoked the mutual assistance pacts and invaded Estonia on June 23 and, two days later, Latvia. This led to an inmediate reaction by the Western Powers, who moved to support the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, as they feared that they were going to be the next victim of the Russian bear- The British government sold them 10 Bristol Blenheim bombers, 20 Gloster Gladiator and 10 Hawker Hurricane fighters and, along with small arms and ammunition, including a large number of Boys anti-tank rifles. Forty Brewster B-239E fighters came from the United States and eighty Morane-Saulnier M.S.406 figthers from France. A second batch of armament (40 Fairey Battle light bombers, 20 Vickers Wellington medium bombers, 80 Renault R35 and 30 Hotchkiss H39 tanks, along with German 3.7 cm PaK 36 AT guns) would arrive just before the Russian invasion of 1941.
With all eyes set on the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, something unexpected happened. On February 26, 1940, an incident was reported near the Russian village of Mainila, close to the border with Finland. A Russian border guard post was shelled by an unknown party resulting, according to Czarist reports, in the deaths of four and injuries of nine border guards. Even if Finland claimed that there was no artillery units placed there at the time, Petrograd demanded that Finland apologise for the incident and move its forces beyond a line 20–25 km away from the border. Finland denied any responsibility for the attack, rejected the demands and called for a joint commission to examine the incident. The Russian answer came on March 2, when the Czarist forces invaded Finland in several columns. On the extreme Russian right, the VII Army marched against the Mannerheim Line, a Finnish defence line located on the Karelian Isthmus; in the central sector, the VIII Army moved in two columns against Sortavaala and Illomantsi while the IX Army attacked Suomussalmi.
On March 5, the Finnish forces all of the Finnish covering forces had withdrawn to the Mannerheim Line after causing light losses to the enemy and by March 6, Russian units made contact with the main defensive line. During three days, the Czarists prepared their assault, bombarding the enemy positions with aircraft and artillery. In the meantime, the IX Army managed to capture Raate, but. after that, its units were unable to advance further. The main attack against the Mannerheim Line began on March 10, but the Finnish held their ground and by March 16, the Russians began withdrawing and assuming defensive positions until the arrival of reinforcements. On the Koivisto sector, the Czarist forces made better progress but the bad state of the roads delayed their advance. Koivisto fell on March 21. This marked their deepest advance, as the defenders began receiving reinforcements. As the evidence of the offensive's failure mounted, on March 23, General Dmitry Pavlov was relieved of overall command in Finland and relegated to command the Russian forces in the Baltic. He was replaced by General Georgy Shaposhnikov. The VIII and IX Army had no better luck. The opposing enemy force were formed mainly by reservists. The Russian attack made rapid progress, forcing the Finnish troops to abandon their forward posts and were forced to withdraw towards Impilathi and Kollaa. From On March 4, the Finnish forces managed to stabilize the situation as reinforcements arrived and, to the north, the IX Army units stalled at the gates of Suomussalmi. By that time, the Russians stopped and waited for reinforcements. Due to the mounting pressure, theiir spearhead was surrounded from all sides and a whole Russian division was wiped out by March 6. By March 9, the Russian forces were back to their starting positions and the commanders of both Russian Armies were sacked.
From March 13, the Finnish forces had launched limited attacks in the Karelian Isthmus, Finally, the High Command ordered an offensive which started on March 25, with three divisions attacking the Suvanto River line. To achieve surprise, the attack was not preceded by an artillery barrage. The Czarists were taken by surprise,. Several breaches were made in their positions and the mounting pressure forced General Grendhal to withdraw its forces to a shorter line. All the Russians attempts to stabilize the western front and this caused a withdrawal in the eastern front as more units were moved to stop the enemy advance on their right flank. By April 6, the Russian units were back to their starting positions and Michael III fired the chief of staff of the Russian Army Boris Zhukov. The Russian invasion of Finland had proved to be a disaster.
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90. News of the World: The Russo-Finnish War (May-June 1940)
A BT-7S
The arrival of British, French and German military supplies to Finland gave caused a growing paranoia in Petrograd, both in the Stavka and in the Duma. And nowhere was this fear bigger than in the Winter Palace. This was made worse when a Russian mole in the Deuxième Bureau informed the Russians that both British and French were preparing the so-called "Crimean Plan". It consisted of 100,000 French and 35,000 British troops that were to disembark at the Norwegian port of Narvik and support Finland via Sweden while securing supply routes along the way. The plan came to naught when both the Norwegian and Swedish governments denied transit rights to the proposed Franco-British expedition. Nevertheless, it meant a cold shower for the Russian ruler and his government. Michael sat silent after hearing the news. After some moments of deep reflection he closed his eyes and said "If we loose this war, then God have mercy on us and on the Matushka Rossiya!"
With this threat in mind, the STAVKA planned "Operation Gorchakov": the main focus of the Russian attack was switched to the Karelian Isthmus, mainly against the 16 kms stretch of the Mannerheim Line between Taipale and the Munasuo swamp. Tactics would be basic: an armoured wedge for the initial breakthrough, followed by the infantry. The attack against the Mannerheim Line was started on May 21 with feint attacks against Taipale and on the Ladoga Karelia front, while one infantry and two montain divisions smashed the enemy postions at Koivisto. After huge losses and little gain, in the following days the Russians pummelled the enemy fortifications and trenches with artillery and dive bombers while pressure was increased by Petrograd with new attacks in the north, against Lieksa, Kuhmo and Suomussalmi. In Finnish Lapland, probing attacks were laucnhed against Salla. The Arctic port of Petsamo was bombed and the attacked by land forces supported by naval gunfire . Finally, the enemy lines was broken at Koivisto, this time by the 6th Mountain Division. In spite of the mounting casualties, the Russian soldiers kept moving forward. They were reinforced by another infantry division and two armoured brigades, but only on the evening of May 24 they did reach Koivisto itself. Most of the forward line held until then, at which point the Finnish troops withdrew to the Viipuri-Tali line and held there. Although eventually broken, the defenders of the Mannerheim Line succeeded in delaying the Russian advance.
By the morning of May 25 the 40th Armoured Corps had finished its preparations for the continuation of the offensive and advanced in the direction of Hamina The 5th Armoured Division met determined defenders, so it was not until the morning of May 30, they day when Petsamo fell in Russian hands, when the tanks reached Hamina. By then it was clear that the situation was hopeless. The Finnish forces were rapidly approaching exhaustion and there was no hope that the front could be restored. For the Soviets, casualties were high and there was the continuous worry of a Franco-British intervention. Thus, when Finnish Foreign Minister Väinö Tanner arrived in Stockholm on May 27 and negotiated the peace terms with Petrograd Soviets through the Swedes, the Czar no longer held his breath. . On May 30, the Russian peace terms were spelt out in detai. On June 2, the Finnish Government accepted the peace terms and was willing to enter into negotiations. The Petrograd Peace Treaty was signed in Petrogard on June 14, 1940. With it, Finland ceded a portion of Karelia and the frontier between Russia and Finland on the Karelian Isthmus was moved westward to a point 30 kilometres east of Vyborg to the line between Koivisto and Lipola, and land north of Lake Ladoga ; also, existing fortifications on the Karelian Isthmus were to be demolished, and the islands of Suursaari, Tytärsaari, and Koivisto in the Gulf of Finland and Rybachy Peninsula were ceded to Russia.
After the war was over, the STAVKA reviewed the lessons of the Finnish campaign and demanded reforms. Discipline was reinforced and clothing, equipment and tactics for winter operations were improved (and the need for tank-infantry cooperation was stressed) . The development of the T-34 tank was also rushed (the first tanks – the Model 1940 – entered in service in early August 1940) as the T-26 and BT tanks had proved highly vulnerable to the enemy tank-killer teams using Molotov cocktails. Meawnhile, a small numer of BT-7 were converted to the BT-7S level, which was to incorporate sloped armor similar to the T-34. The armor was angled to protect the tank from 45mm rounds. The KV-1 (Model 1939) had proved to be highly resistant to anti-tank weapon but prone to frequent breakdowns, and more heavy tanks were demanded to replace the outdated T-28. Orders were given for the reformation of the tank corps as it was deemed unwieldy and difficult to control, so the tank brigades became the basic armored formation and the Tank Corps were renamed as Tank Divisions in January 1941, made up by a headquarters, three tank brigades, and a motor rifle brigade, but still lacking artillery, reconnaissance and engineer units, and rear support elements.
In Western Europe, the Russo-Finnish war caused an impression. resident Roosevelt issued a strongly-worded condemnations of Russian aggression. Public opinion, particularly in France and Germany, sided with Finland and demanded from their governments effective action in support of "the brave Finns" against their much larger aggressor. As a consequence of her attack, both Germany and France severed their diplomatic relations with Russia and the British withdrew their ambassador in Petrograd, but the failure to help Finland in any meaningful way hurted the popularity of the Western governments. In France, Édouard Daladier resigned as Prime Minister and was replaced by General Maurice Gamelin while his deputy, Général Alphonse Georges, was appointed Commander-in-Chief Général d'armée to replace Gamelin. In London the days of Sir Samuel Hoare as Prime Minister were numbered.
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91. Second Azaña Ministry (1940-1945) -2-
Madrid, 1940.
The Russian invasion of Finland was cause of little trouble to Azaña. The Spanish public opinion was not concerned with such a distant war and there was no international pressure that forced the Spanish government to take any inmediate action about it, as it was made clear when the Spanish ambassadors in Berlin, Paris and London contacted the governments of those countries. Azaña, meanwhile, reacted to the new situation with a mixture of surprise and uncertainty, indicative of the unexpectedness of the Russian attack. Though virtually every analyst knew a war between Russia and her neighbours was certain as long as Petrograd kept its irredentive claims over its neighbouring countries, very few had predicted Russia would attack so soon. Almost reflexively, Foreign Minister, Augusto Barcia, immediately announced Spanish neutrality on July 10, 1940, even if neither side took much notice of it. Despite Barcia's declaration, Azaña became quickly convinced that Spain would become involved in the war to some degree or another. Many Right voters were deeply touched by Michael III's declaration that Russia was only protecting their right to become great again. and a few dozens departed to Russia, volunteering to serve in the Imperial armed forces. In August, French and British agents began contacting Spanish ammunition manufacturers that were more than happy to have bubssiness with them. Azaña, however, did his best to attempt to limit the arms deals, even if there was no danger that the Russian navy would target Spanish merchant vessels.
The Spanish public opinion on the war was, unsurprisingly, divided. As it has been mentioned, Right voters naturally supported Russia. Few at all, at least openly, sided with Britain or France, who were blamed for their inaction during the Spanish Revolution of 1923-24. The democractic Germany was not included in their prayers, either There was, of course, a vocal group preaching isolationism, claiming that nothing good could come from another war and pointing out at the dire result of the Spanish intervention in the last conflict. Whatever happened beyond the Pyrenees was not Spain's business, claimed voices like Miguel de Unamuno. The neutralist group, however, was a minor one. The Liberal and some Leftish voters were against the totalitarian ways of the Russian czar and advocated to join the Western democracies. Finally, a smal group, unable to accept the aggresive Russian ways not to forget their indignation over France and the United Kingdom's neutrality during the Revolution, advocated supplying both sides of the conflict. Thus, no matter how Azaña chose to proceed, he would win support from some Spaniards and the opposition of some other ones. Though he attempted to concentrate on his domestic reform agenda, the Prime Minister saw clearly that foreign events were to dictate part of his next actions. He could not stop the flow of volunteers to Russia or to and France, nor could he stop merchants from selling their wares abroad. After all, the Spanish goods needed markets. Thus, it did not take long for Azaña to unveil his plan. 'Britain and France are seeking only to defend themselves from naked aggression', he announced to the Cortes on July 27, 1940. Thus, his government, with the Parlamentarian blessing, elaborated a series of laws which not only authorized Spanish volunteers to serve in the French (but no the Russian) military and offered a 'loan' of military supplies and equipment to the French. Paris immediately accepted the offer, and Paul Baudouin, the French foreign minister, expressed France's gratitude for Azaña's 'generous commitment.'
Though many criticized such a blatantly pro-Allied policy, Azaña's aid package was not as altruistic as it seemed. With the energies of the Western Demoracies fully devoted to rearmament, shortfalls were sure to emerge in vital sectors of the French, British and German economies, forcing them to rely on trade with foreign nations. Spain would be perfect trading partner and this would infuse the Spanish economy with bigger markets and new capital that would end the country's economic woes. Combined with the reforms of the Government, the rise in global food prices brought on by the war, Spain was at last enjoying an economic prosperity it had long been denied through the 1930s. No even the Communist coups in Zagreb (June 23, 1940) and in Belgrade (January 5, 1941) that turned Croatia and Serbia into two Bolshevik regimes under Vladimir Ćopić and Živko Topalović broke the Spanish economic boom.
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92. News of the world: the Balkans
Carol of Romania and Boris of Bulgaria
at their arrival to Petrograd.
The Communist coups in Zagreb (June 23, 1940) and in Belgrade (January 5, 1941) were the final stage of a long decade of political strife that followed the end of the Great War. The National Council of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs and the Serbian government had formed in 1924 a joint government which was to be headed by Nikola Pašić. However, this agreement was rejected by the regent, Alexander Karađorđević, producing the new state's first governmental crisis in which was to be the first of many royal interferences in government matters . This would set the political scene of the new country that would ultimately led to its downfall. The matter was resolved when the regent suggested replacing Pašić with Stojan Protić, a leading member of Pašić's Radical Party. Thus, the new government came into existence on 20 December 1924. Troubles soon arose when the Democratic Party, that dominated the government, pushed for a highly centralized state that led the Croatian delegates to move into opposition. Further internal troubles followed, as the Radicals were not happy with their small role in the government and this resulted in a chronic political wilderness when one Democratic-Social Democratic government fell under the boycott of the oposition, the parliament became stalemated and the government ruled by decree.
Finally, on January 1933, using the ongoing political crisis as an excuse, King Alexander abolished the Constitution and introduced a personal dictatorship. Opposition politicians like Vladko Maček were arrested and others, like Svetozar Pribićević went into exile, along with the Croatian deputy Ante Pavelić, who would work to establish a revolutionary organization. By 1936 Alexander decreed a new Constitution which turned Yugoslavia into an one party state, with half the upper house directly appointed by the King, and legislation could only become law with the approval of one of the houses alone and by the King. Croat opposition to the new régime was strong and, in late 1939, the Croatian People's Party (CPC) led Vladimir Ćopić, generously funded by Rome, began to conspire to put and end to Serb hegemony and dictatorship. The government launched a widespread repression but opposition to the dictatorship continued, A failed coup d'etat (October 9, 1939, led to a purge of the army and the rise of the Serbian Communist Party led by Živko Topalović. As the situation further deteriorated and more purges followed against the army, the civil servants and the opposition, on June 23, 1940, Ćopić led an ambitious takeover in Zagreb that proclaimed the creation of the Socialist Republic of Croatia (SRH - Socijalistička Republika Hrvatska), The Italian Socialist Republic (RSI - Repubblica Socialista Italiana led by Benito Mussolini (1) recognized at once the SRH and began to deploy military forces to the Croatian border to dissuade Belgrade from trying to invade the new Republic.
The terminally ill King Alexander (he would die on December 30, 1940) had to swallow his pride and, as much as he would had love to launch an invasion of Croatia, he had to face his isolated position as both the recently restored Second Little Entente (which included in this second edition the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Hungary and Slovakia -2-) nor the Anglo-German-French alliance (the Munich Pact) had their attention focused on the Russian threat. His death would only further increase the chaos as his weak and indecesive son Peter became King Peter II and dictatorship collapsed at a very fast pace around him. Hardly a week later, a Communist coup would turn Serbia into another Totaliarian regime, the People's Republic of Serbia (SRS - Narodna Republika Srbija) on January 5, 1941. This would led to a change in the alliance system of the Balkans. In Romania, King Carol II and his strong man, general Ion Antonescu, had attempted to isolate themselves from the crisis looming in Europe by first leaving the First Little Entente in late 1939 to placate the Russian bear, which, in turn, led to the breakdown of the alliance, as Slovakia and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth moved closer to the Western Powers and asked them help while Finland tried vainly to appease Russia. Then, Antonescu led a bloody purge of the pro-Russian Iron Guard led by Corneliu Zelea Codreanu, who was murdered by the police. Once thus tamed, the Iron Guard was reorganized under Horia Sima and became closely controled by Antonescu. However, a few months later the Bulgarian government of Bogdan Filov signed the Sofia Treaty with Russia and thus became its ally. Antonescu and Carol II, fearing that the price for that alliance was the return of the southern Dobruja and with the mounting diplomatic pressure of Petrograd upon their shoulders, finally gave up their isolationist position and moved closer to Russia. This would result in the so-called "Royal Pact" when Michael II of Russia, Carol II of Romania, Boris III of Bulgaria and their prime ministers met in Petrograd to sign the Tripartite Alliance on February 17, 1941.
(1) Benito Mussolini (1883–1961) became thet First General Secretary of the Central Committee n of the Socialist Unity Party on July 25, 1939 and would held the position until his death, on April 28, 1961. He had succeeded the previous First General Secretary, Amadeo Bordiga (1889-1939), and would, in turn, be replaced by Fausto Guilo (1887-1979), who would led the RSI until his death, in 1979. Mussolini would be the longest serving First General Secretary of the RSI.
(2) The Second Little Entente was signed by the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Hungary and Slovakia on July 5, 1940
93. The invasion of Poland and the Allied plans for Russia (September - October 1940)
Polish Anti-Air machine gun at Warsaw
The threat of the Russian invasion had a sober effect upon the politics of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The bickering between Polish and Lithuanian politicians was left aside to present a common front to the common enemy. The military forces were kept away from the border to avoid any incident that may give Russia an excuse as in the case of Finland. Only the Border Protection Corps remained in their positions with the bulk of the of the Combined Army remained further back. Meanwhile, seventeen French ships with materiel were heading towards Poland, carrying fifty tanks, twenty airplanes and large quantities of ammunition. Covering the Polish border, the Czarist armies had deployed ten field armies, containing between 750,000 and 1,250,000 troops, split between two army groups.
This time there was no claim of being attack, as in Finland. At 05.00, September 15, 1940, Russian forces crossed the Polish-Lithuanian border. Two days later, the Allied governments declared war on Russia and German forces entered in Poland to support the Polish defences as the frisrt elements of the French Expeditionary Force began to embark to the East and the RAF and the Royal Navy deployed in the Baltic and in Western Poland. The Brześć Litewski fortress held for three days (15-18 September) while the Russian 29th Tank Brigade conquered Lwów on September 18. Wilno was taken on the 19th after a two-day battle, and Grodno on the 24th after a four-day battle. By September 28, the Red Army had reached the line formed by the Narew, Western Bug, Vistula and San rivers with modest losses but failed to do much damage to the defenders, even if the armoured losses had been worrying: three hundred and forty six tanks (7% of the whole armoured force), even if most of them had been temporary put of action due to mechanical breakdowns. Also, 66 planes had been shot down by the Allied forces. The Russian forces then digged in and waited for reinforcements as the German and French forces joined hands with their Polish allies and massed along the frontlines. Thus, by early August, 138 Allied Divisions with 20,000 guns, 8,000 tanks and 6,000 aircrafts were deployed along the front, facing 160 Russian Divisions with 36,000 guns, 21,000 tanks and 7,700 aircrafts.
On October 1st, the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force ( SHAEF) after heated political discussion, Generaloberst Walter von Brauchitsch became the Supreme Allied Commander. France, determined not to have any British general commanding French troops, took the peculiar decision of favouring German generals instead. Hence von Brauchitsch nomination. The structure of the SHAEF was divided like this:
Supreme Allied Commander: Generaloberst Walter von Brauchitsch (Germany)
Deputy Supreme: Allied Commander, Général d'armée Gaston Billotte (France)
Chief of Staf: General-major Oscar Michiels (Belgium)
Deputy Chief of Staff: Lieutenant General Sir Henry Royds Pownall (United Kingdom)
Deputy Chief of Staff (Air): General Alfred Keller (Germany)
Air Force Commander-in-Chief: Général Jean Charles Romatet (France)
Deputy Air Force Commander-in-Chief: Vice Air Chief Marshal Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory (United Kingdom)
Naval Forces Commander: Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay (United Kingdom)
On October 5, they set to draw up four different basic approaches for a campaign in the East in 1941. One envisaged a quick and decisive campaign, two a medium length campaign but with different initial objectives and the fourth envisaged a campaign of indefinite length based on attrition that was automatically discarded. All options had one element in common: They called for the destruction of the main Russian forces deployed on the Western border during the initial phase of the operation.
Option 1. The knockout blow.
This strategy would attempt to crush Russia in a single, six-month campaign. It was to be divided into two phases: Phase 1 would envisage the, encirclement and destruction of the enemy armies along the border; the following phase 2 would see simultaneous advances by all the Allied army groups towards the line Petrograd-Moscow-Volvograd, with the main point of effort in the center. In the diplomatic front, the maximum efforts were to be made to enlist Finland and Hungary as active participants. Even if this option might end the war in the East in a single campaign, the insecurity of the assesment of Russian force generation capabilities threw a great shadow upon it. If the operation should fail, the SHAEF commanders admited that they would be very badly placed to conduct a long-term war.
Option 2. Moscow.
This option envisaged a two year campaign that would be completed by the end of 1942. The focus of the first season was to be Moscow. Again, it was to be divided into two phases: the first, aimed at encircling and destroyed the enemy armies to the west of the Pripet Marshes and capturing Smolensk; the second one, to build a defensive line along the Narva-Novgorod-Velikiye Luki axis while the main effort would take place towards Moscow. In 1942 Petrograd would be taken along the Ukgraine, Volvograd and the Caucasus. Even this option would rely on a progressive reinforcement of the operationf froce, it was considered logistically feasible with a high degree of certainty, However, it would leave the economically vital Ukraine largely in Russian hands for a full year.
Option 3. The Ukraine and the Caucasus.
A variation of Option 2. The main difference would be phase two, as holding operations were to be held north of Pripet on the line Narva-Novgorod-Velikiye Luki–Smolensk-Yelnia and the main force would be shifted to the south. Again, the destruction of the main Russian forces south of Pripet was deemed essential and would be followed by an advance on the Volga to the Brjansk-Orel-Voronesh-Volvograd-Grozny-Novorossijsk axis. It was expected that the Caucasus, Moscow and Petrograd would fall in 1942. The diplomatic advantge of this option was an easier way to persuade Hungary and it would make possible to exert stronger pressure on Turkey in 1942. From a logistical point of view, this was am ore realistic option than the two previous ones and it would allow to capture economically vital regions and thus severely damage the Russian economy and the mobilisation effort.
On October 10, 1940, it was decided to plan for a two-year war with the Volga-Don line the ultimate objective for 1941 (Option three). It would open on June 22, 1941.
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94. The road to the invasion of Russia (October 1940- January 1941)
Pearl Harbour,
January 15, 1942
The Allied invasion of Russia (Operation East Wind) began on June 22, 1941. Even if war had been going on for more than a year, it caught by surprise the Russians. Since the end of the operations in October 1940, the war had been reduced to raids and skirmishes between Russian and Allied forces while the Western Powers built their militar infraestructure and reinforced their armie for the "big push".
On September 12 1940, the German Cruisers Prinz Eugen and Blücher ran into a Rusian battlegroup led by the battleship Petropavlosk. The German ships exchanged fire with the enemy as they turned back and were able to escape without suffering heavy damage thanks to the support of the RAF Blenheim bombers from No. 45 and No. 55,. that launched a surprise against the enemy ships and hit the Petropavlosk with one bomb, while loosing four planes in the process. A week later, the British submarine HMS Parthian was lost with all hands during a patrol of the Baltic shores. Russain air raids would began on October 16, 1940 when Ilyushin Il-4 bombers attacked Königsberg, and Danzig on the following day. Dudwal, A Polish pilot, podporucznik Hieronim Dudwal (KIA June 7, 1941), who had shot down the first Russian plane of the war, an Il-4 over Brześć Litewski (September 15, 1940), became the first ace of the war when the shot down his fitfh plane on October 28.
Then, a surprise came from the United States. The world awoke on November 6th with the history-making news that the United States had elected a new President. In Russia, Willkie’s victory was taken with worry. The Czar was concerned about his “peace through strength” platform. In Berlin, London, Paris and Warsaw the governements were anxious to see how far the new President would go to help them. Meanwhile in the United States, the Democratic Party, despite losing the White House to the Republicans, is able to maintain their majorities within both houses of Congress.
Then, on January 15, 1942, Japanese planes attacked the naval base of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Ironically, unlike his predecessors, Willkie was not openly hostile towards Japan. Indeed, appraising the escalating situation, the Republican President believed the economic pressures exerted onto Tokyo by the previous Democratic Administation were wrong and counterproductive. “Japan is the leader of Asia,” he told to his ecretary of State , Arthur Vandenberg, “She controls a huge portion of that continent. We Americans have to accept that fact.” Vandenberg agreed with his president. The Land of the Rising Sun would not pose a dangerous threat as long as the United States treated her with respect. Supporting Vandenberg’s call for negotiations were the military chiefs. Chief of Naval Operations Robert L. Ghormley spoke for his colleagues when he warned that continuing the oil embargo would force Japan to seek other sources. If the United States went to war with Japan, it would take America’s attention away from Europe.
Despite that the turn of events was favorable to Japan, the new Prime Minister, Hideki Tojo balked at the first news that were arriving from the White House. From his point of view, the new Foreign Policy of the United States would not strangle Japan, but it would “tie our hands.” Tokyo decided to play with time in late December and to continue with the negotiations with the United States and with the attack plans prepared by the Imperial General Headquarters. According to them, the Japanese would strike south against Burma, Malaya, and the Dutch East Indies. By seizing vital raw materials and the rich oil fields, Japan would become self-sufficient and would no longer depend on the United States' good will. On December 3, 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy produced a bold plan, carefully crafted by Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto (who, nevertheless, was against going to go to war with the United States), called for a preemptive strike against the American naval base at Pearl Harbor. Two days later, Emperor Hirohito gave his approval for war against the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands. Almost a month later, on January 4, the carrier task force set sail for Hawaii, under the command of Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo, made up by six carriers and three hundred sixty carrier planes.
At 07:48, January 15, 1942 the first Japanese wave gave Oahu a rude wake-up call. Hell lasted for ninety minutes. Surprisingly, vital oil depots, maintenance shops, and dry dock facilities were not targeted. When the second wave left Pearl Harbor at ten o’clock in the morning, eighteen ships were either damaged or destroyed (USS Maryland, Nevada, Oklahoma and West Virginia damaged, California heavily damaged, Arizona, Pensylvania and Tennessee sunk), 245 planes damaged or destroyed and over 2,500 Americans were either dead or wounded. The Japanese, by contrast, lost sixty-five planes.
IMHO, Willkie is one of those good presidents wasted because they met someone even better than him. So let's give him a chance!
95. Second Azaña Ministry (1940-1945)/ First Martinez Barrios Ministry -3-
Diego Martínez Barrios,
the new Spanish Prime Minister
Manuel Azaña wrote his resignation letter as Prime Minister of Spain and president of the Liberal party while resting for a few days in the house that his brother-in-law, Cipriano de Rivas Cherif, had in La Prasle, in France. When he returned to Madrid in January 1942, he met with Diego Martinez Barrios and other members of the Liberal Party to prepare his succession in the post. The meeting went smoothly and, on January 16, 1942, Azaña stepped down from the premiership and was replaced by Martinez Barrio.
The new government took the same approach to the international events. There were no changes in the position of Spain and her bussines with the Allied nations went as usual. However, in London many were convinced that Spain would become involved in the war to some degree or another. In Spain itself, those who had fought (or someone from their families) on the revolutionary side twenty in the 1920s, feelt deepley touched by the situation, as Europe was united again fighting a Totalitarian Power that wanted to enslave the world. A few dozens departed to Germany to join their army, in spite of the language barrier. A few hundreds travelled to the Italian Socialist Republic due to closer ideological links, and joined their armed forces, as they were sure that the RSI would not stand idle while the world was in danger. Meanwhile, the Spanish industriy kept providing the Allies with weapons and supplies.
Portugal's declaration of war in November 1941 was in many respects solely a diplomatic move but put the Martinez Barrios government in an awkward situation. Relations between the two countries had been had been tense at the best of times in the previous two decade, specially with the restoration of the monarchy, In 1931, with the unstable Republic sunk in an endless crisis, the army rose in revolt and demanded the return of the monarchy. Thus Manuel II would come back to Portugal to reign. Constitutionally, it was as if the last twenty one years had never happened. Manuel returned from his British exile, leaving London on May 23 1931 and landing at Lisbon on 25 May. He was crowned on October 23. Suddenly, the political chaos came to an end. Elections were called and won by the Catholic Center Party led by António de Oliveira Salazar, that would become the prime minister of Portugal until 1948, after winning four General Elections. He was, of course the leading political figure of the period. In Spain, the return of the monarchy was well received, but as soon it became clear that the new regime was returning to the old was that caused the Revolution of 1910, diplomatic relations frozed at once. To Spaniards, the Portuguese monarch was a mere autocrat, too much like the hated Czar for comfort and so different from King Federico I .
Meanwhile, as the world plunged further into war, the war boost to the Spanish economy was showing promising results across the board. On May 10, Plácido Álvarez-Buylla, the Minister of Indutry, reported to the Cortes that many of the first state-owned enterprises had paid off their initial costs and were ready for public auction. Besides providing with tens of thousands of Spaniards wit ha real, long-term jobs in productive sectors of the economy, the rush of privatization provided the government with a massive influx of revenue. Boasting a sudden budget surplus, Spain turned its attention to defense appropriations. The first step was to improve the navy. Since the Naval Plan of the 1920s, the fleet had been received little attention compard with the remaining branches of the Armed Forces. Thus, from 1930 to 1940, three heavy cruisers, fifteen destroyers and three submarines had joined the fleet. The Minister of the Navy, José Giral, sensing the opportunity, proposed an ambitious naval rearmament program: two aircraft carriers, and several more cruisers and destroyers to be completed within just two years. The new prime minister eagerly endorsed Giral's proposal, even if he thought that two years was not enough time for such an ambitious program. However, he knew full well that reconstruction of the country must take precedence over reconstruction of the navy. Spain was after all, a neutral country in Europe's war. In any case, the prime minister approved the a reduced program of naval expansion: one aircraft carrier, six cruisers, twenty destroyers and fifteen submarines to be built in the next three years.
The Japanese attack against the United States put further diplomatic pressure on the Spanish government. The Spanish-Japanese War of 1905 and the ensuing "Desastre of 1905" was still fresh in some minds but Martinez Barrio was inflexible. Spain had not the means to interve in such a distant war. Thus. bussiness went as usual in spite of the jingoístic campaign launched by Gil-Robles in the Cortes. However, in March 1942, measures to counter Russian influence in Spain and North Africa were taken. a Spanish delegation was sent to France and Germany to collaborate on this issue and, in May, Spain permitted the British to set up an air base on the Canary Islands in exchange for further British investment in the Spanish industry. Finally, On June 19, 1942, Spain also broke off diplomatic relations with Japan, Russia, Bulgaria and Romania. . In some cities like Madrid and Barcelona, the people started to protest against such a situation which included some harassment of German communities. However, the government stand firm and neutrality remained. even if when Russia launched its big counteroffensive in October 1941, the government accepted in February 1942 to permit volunteers to join the German Army on the condition they would only fight against Russia on the Eastern Front and not against Japan.
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If D. Manuel II keeps a similar profile as OTL (I'm assumming he lives longer than 1932 as in OTL), he would have very poor relations with Salazar, unless Salazar stays loyal to the ideology of the Catholic Center Party (Christian Democracy) and to the importance of free elections. The premiership of Salazar as a member of the Catholic Center Party under a king, also implies the party stayed monarchist as it was in the beginning.
There also the issue of royal succession.
Does D. Manuel II has children unlike OTL?
If he doesn't, he will be forced to pick a relative from the Miguelist Branch, and given the legal issues that several of the relatives of that branch had (did they die some years before as in otl?), the likely choice would be D. Duarte Nuno, the father of OTL present day Duke of Braganza. D. Duarte Nuno has the added benefit of accepting democracy.
Just another small nitpick, if you don't mind:, if the monarchy is reinstated in 1931, and assuming there were elections no later than 1932, which Salazar won, this gives a period of 16 years until 1948, which would mean 4 legislatures, unless Salazar would not have a stable parliamentary majority in several elections.
Keep up the good work!
If D. Manuel II keeps a similar profile as OTL (I'm assumming he lives longer than 1932 as in OTL), he would have very poor relations with Salazar, unless Salazar stays loyal to the ideology of the Catholic Center Party (Christian Democracy) and to the importance of free elections. The premiership of Salazar as a member of the Catholic Center Party under a king, also implies the party stayed monarchist as it was in the beginning.
There also the issue of royal succession.
Does D. Manuel II has children unlike OTL?
If he doesn't, he will be forced to pick a relative from the Miguelist Branch, and given the legal issues that several of the relatives of that branch had (did they die some years before as in otl?), the likely choice would be D. Duarte Nuno, the father of OTL present day Duke of Braganza. D. Duarte Nuno has the added benefit of accepting democracy.
Just another small nitpick, if you don't mind:, if the monarchy is reinstated in 1931, and assuming there were elections no later than 1932, which Salazar won, this gives a period of 16 years until 1948, which would mean 4 legislatures, unless Salazar would not have a stable parliamentary majority in several elections.
Keep up the good work!
Salazar is going to be whatever he needs to keep the post. Right now ("then"?) in Portugal the king is considered as the saviour of the Portuguese democracy, so, if he says "then sun is out", even if it's midday, the average Portugese is going to bed. So Salazar is going to make his mind going close to the king's. As Elections are going to be "free" even if a bit rigged.
O Patriota is going to live a bit longer but he'll die childless, so Dom Duarte Nuno will be his successor.
Too true about the number of legislatures...
96. Operation "East Wind": the First Allied Offensive in Russia (June 22 - September 1. 1941)
German Panzer IIIs marching east to link with
De Gaulle's tanks at Smolensk
The Allied offensive completely caught by surprise the Russian command, who not only utterley failed to grasp the magnitude of the offensive but also to properly react to it. It began with a sudden attack against the bulk of the Baltic Fleet at Kronshtadt. It was a small version of the Japanese Operation Z against the Pacific Fleet, and it achieved a similar result when, at 06.40 June 22, 1941, 48 Fairey Swordfishs from the HMS Glorious and HMS Courageous aircraft carriers managed to attack almost unnoposed the Baltic fleet. They sunk one battleship (Petropavlosk) and two destroyers and damaged two battleships (Gangut and Imperator Nikolai I), the heavy cruiser Admiral Nakhimov (1) and two destroyers. Only four aircraft were shot down by the anti-air defenses. The Russian fleet was left without capital ships in one night. Repairs to Gangut took about four months, to Imperator Nikolai I seven months; the Petropavlosk required such an extensive salvage work that he was still being repaired when the war was over in 1944. Meanwhile, the Black Sea Fleet remained holed up in Sevastopol as Turkey closed down the Dardanelles. However, only five days later, Admiral Vladimir Filippovich Tributs sortied with two two cruisers and 14 destroyers into a unsuccessful foray into the Baltic Sea. However, until the two damaged battleships were repaired by mid-1942, the Baltic fleet would not threaten the Allied supremacy in the Baltic Sea. However, one year later the Russians would try to avenge themselves in a raid against Köningsberg, as we shall see. Meanwhile, the efforst to disrupt Allied traffic in the Baltic Sea were limited to destroyers raids and, mainly, the torpedo bombers of the Russian Naval Aviation.
When the ground offensive began on 07.15 hours, June 22 it caught the Russian army completely by surprise. The Russian Northwestern Front was broken by the German Army Group North and its units simply walked over the enemy lines. When, on June 25, the 8th and 11th Russian Armies were ordered to withdraw to the Dvina River, they had lost half of its fighting force and all of its tanks of its two armored corps. However, on June 26, von Manstein's panzers reached the river first and secured a bridgehead across it. The Northwestern Front was then forced to abandon the river defenses, and on 29 June Stavka ordered the Front to withdraw to the defences on the approaches to Leningrad. Not even then the Russian defeces would hold, as the German captured Pskov on July 8 and marched towards Petrograd. However, they would not reach the Russian capital.
In the opening hours of the invasion, the French and British air forces destroyed half of the Russian air units of the Central Front either in the air or in the ground and destroyed the enemy communication lines. The confused Russian movements and a sudden but brief storm which reduced visibility troubled the initial Allied attacks The Russian artillery fire managed to stall the first assaults until the French heavy artillery opened on the enemy guns and the British infantry rushed forwards supported by Matilda tanks. The Russian fought valiantly for almost wo weeks, when the northern side of their lines suddenly collapsed, with many units surrendering. Shortly afterwards, the French armoured units cut the south and west roads and a general attack followed. Beresford-Pierce crossed the Bug River, bypassed Brest Fortress and presssed on towards Minsk as the other British armorued frocese pressed towards Vilnius. In spite of the Russian counter attacks, the Allied forces were able constantly to turn their flanks and the counterattacks collapsed. The Russian 6th Cavalry Corps was annhilated in the fight. Thus, on June 25, the Russian began a general withdrawal towards Minsk, which fell on the 28, completing the encirclement of two quarters of the Western Front in two pockets: three armies were annihilated and the Allied captured 425,000 Russian troops, 2,750 tanks, 10,000 artillery pieces and mortars. Then, the German and French forces resumed their advance on July 5.
The northern section of Army Group South faced the largest concentration of enemy forces. Furhermore. the Pripyat Marshes and the Carpathian Mountains were a serious challenge to the army group. The German 1st Panzer Group and the French 6th Army attacked and broke through the enemy lines, while facing piecemeal attacks by the Russian mechanized forces, which were decimated by antitank fire and air attacks. On June 30, after another failed counterattack on the 1st Panzer Group, the Russian forces (the Southwestern Front) began to withdraw east, to the new Borodino Line, to defend Kiev. The typical of Belarusian summers storms slowed the Allied progress from July 2 onwards, giving time to the Russians to reorganize its defences and to launch a massive counterattack against Army Group Center on 6 July, loosing 25% of the tanks used in the four-days battle, most of them destroyed by the air attacks. On July 7 Wellington and Blenheim bombers carried out raids on the Russian air bases at Smolensk and Bryansk, which were put of action. The armoured pincer of the 2nd Panzer and 3rd Panzer Group that closed around Smolensk trapped three Russian armies. In the resulting battle of Smolensk (July 8-22), the Russians armies were annhilated: 72,000 soldiers were wounded and killed and 500,000 were captured; 1,400 tanks and 3,000 guns destroyed or captured, In exchange, the Allied forces only had 16,000 casualties.
In spite of such a great triumph, the Allies began to have problems, as their logistical needs were bigger than expected, along with the enemy stiffening resistance. Thus operations were now slowed down to allow for resupply and to adapt strategy to the new situation. Unaware of the great victory achieved at Smolensk, which had opened the gates to Moscow and with the panzers reduced to a snail's pace in their advance towards Petrograd, the Allied turn south to the industrial center of Kharkov, the Donbass and the oil fields of the Caucasus in the south. By mid-July, the French and German forces had advanced within a few kilometers of Kiev below the Pripyat Marshes. In the last big battle of the 1941 campaign, three Russian armies were trapped near Uman. After eliminating the pocket (21,000 Russian casualties and 200,000 POWs, along 300 tanks captured or destroyed), the Allied crossed the Dnieper. August would see the Allied forces marching towards Kharkov, pushing back the enemy forces who would not allow themselves to be trapped or encircled again. Something had changed in Russian tactics. When in early September Krasnograd was reached, the advance came to a stop. Due to the losses and the logistical troubles, the Allied attack was finally called off by the SHAEF, Kharkov and the Dobass were still unconquered. However, the Allied forces need time to refit, after such an incredible campaign that had worn out their ranks. Reinforcements were to take its time to arrive, but it was thought that the Russian armies had been dealt such a crushing blows that they could not recover from them. After all the Caucasus, Moscow and Petrograd were expected to fall in 1942.
The Eastern front at the end of the
First Allied Offensive (June 22 - September 1. 1941) -2-
(1) OTL Kirov heavy cruiser, the Project 26/Kirov-class cruiser, not the Kirov/Admiral Ushakov missile cruiser.
(2) Ignore "Leningrad"... those mapmakers, unable to correctly spell Petrograd, you know....
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97. Operation "Autum Flower": the First Russian Counter-Offensive (October 18 - December 11, 1941)
French H35 tanks abandoned during the withdrawal to the Dniester.
Even before the Allied offensive came to an end, the STAVKA was working to turn the tide. Over 18 divisions, 1,700 tanks, and over 1,500 aircrafts were transfered from Siberia and the Far East just as the Czarist forces digged and reorganized all along the front jsut as the Allies recovered from their strenuous campaign and reduced the few strongpoints that they had left isolated in their back (Odessa) and Army Group South resumed its advance east and south on September 15th to capture the industrial Donbass region and the Crimea. However, the Russian Southern Front launched an attack on September 26 on the northern shores of the Sea of Azov against elements of the French 11th Army, which was simultaneously advancing into the Crimea. On October 1st, the 1st Panzer Army under Ewald von Kleist swept south to encircle the enemy forces and, by 7 October the Russian 18th Army was isolated and four days later it had been annihilated: 53,146 men captured, 106 tanks destroyed or captured as well as 371 artillery pieces of all types. This defeat allowed the Allies to capture Kharkov on October 24.
Meanwhile, a small affair was developing in the center part of the front. On October 18, a Russian armoured assault took place against Novgorod. British air reconnaissance had observed the Russian moving troops but they thought it was the Russian commanders consolidating their defences. Then, on October 25, two armoured columns made an outflanking move around Lake Ilmen towards Staraia Russa. The British withdrew from the area, followed up by the Russian tanks and, all the sudden, the whole Northern Front sprung into action as the 4th (Ivanov) and 54th (Fedyunisnky) Armies advanced all along the line, towards the Baltic. Caught by surprise, the British withdrew to the Narva-Pskov Line, forcing the rest of the front to go backwards to cover the gap in the north. They were to do so as the Russian launched and all out offensive. Air reconnaissance on October 27 revealed that twenty-five Russian armies were attack in a front that went from the Gulf of Finland to Konotop, with six more pressing the Allied lines to the south, from Krasnograd to the Sea of Azov.
The small affair had grown out of proportion.
On October 26, Gambier-Parry was informed of a large enemy armoured force advancing on Cholm and ordered the destruction of the supply down there, which left the British Armoured Divisions, already been reduced by losses and breakdowns, to 60% of its original strenght, with little petrol to move their tanks. In the end, the Division managed to extreicate itself from such a sticky situation and to reach their own lines, even if only 17 cruiser tanks and 30 light tanks managed to do it. On October 29, the 3rd Canadian Motor Brigade repulsed an attack at Lugo, giving time to the Allied Northern Front to complete its withdrawal towards the Narva-Pskov Line.
Then the Russian hammer the Allied Army Group Center as the 22nd Army (Vostruskhov) broke through the enemy lines with ease and conquered Vitebsck on October 27. That day, a general withdrawal was ordered to the Nevel-Orshi Line. However, the bulk 3rd Panzer Division was captured with the sudden enemy advance enveloped both of its flanks as the rest of the Allied forces in the area had withdrew faster than the German unit. Just a small kampfgruppe could broke out, leaving behind extensive demolitions. Thus, reinforcements were rushed to the Nevel-Orsha line, which departed from Poland on October 29. A Canadian rearguard was rushed to Smolensk to block the enemy advance and to give time to their comrades to fall back. They held the city for two days, by which time most of the Allied forces had succesfully withdrawn. By November 15, the Allied had withdrew to the new defensive line. The Allied withdrawal was helped, with no doubt, by the logistical problems of the Russian forces, as for instance the ones of the 5th Armoured corps, which was out of fuel and stranded near Luego; or the ones of 3rd Army (Purkaiev), who had its vanguard crossing the marshes between Velikiye Luki and Cholm while the rest of the force straggling behind for 30–40 kms. Many Russian units run out of suplies several times while moving forwards towards the enemy lines.
On November 25, Czar Michael II appointed General Anton Denikin as commander of the STAVKA. Denikin, who had recently turned into active service after the Finnish Campaign, fixed Warsaw as the objective of his forces. However, before that, he decided to put an end to the Allied forces surrounded at Kiev since November 8. It was a mistake that was to cost dearly to the Russian forces, as the Allied Army Group South had withdrawn with too haste and was in a complete disarray while trying to organize a defensive line along the Dniester. up to the Pripet. Kiev was was defended by a force of about 125,000 German and French troops, well stocked with supplies led by the German 6th Army's commander, Field Marshal Walther von Reichenau, Thus, on December 11, a Russian attempt to invest the city ended in defeat with heavy casualties for the assaulting units. Three days later, with the last French rearguards reaching the Joffre line (Tighina-Vinnitsa-Korosten line), "Autum Flower"was over.
The Eastern Front would remain quiet until December 20, when Romania and Bulgaria entered the war and forced the Allied evacuation of the Bessarabia (Operation Alphabet December 23, 1941-January 12, 1942).
The Eastern front at the beginning of 1942.
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