A World in Flames: an Alternate World War II Timeline
Prologue
The Road to the Second World War is a long and complicated process, with many events having been declared the “start” of the troublesome times that led to the Second Great War. From the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War to the Second Sino-Japanese War breaking out in mid-1937 to the German annexations of Austria and the Sudetenland of 1938.Prologue
Other historians have argued that the assassination of Franklin Delano Roosevelt in Miami, Florida on February 15th, 1933 by Giuseppe "Joe" Zangara paved the way for international contention to escalate to heights not seen since the years prior to the First Great War. [1] It was undoubtedly an event that had some effect on what befell Europe and Asia as the United States began to withdraw further into isolationism and economic conservatism, much to the documented frustration of France and Britain.
Yet it is this author’s opinion that the Path to War, already doused in the combustible fuels of international tension and conflicting national interests, were set alight following the German occupation of Czechoslovakia on March 15th, 1939.
Czechoslovakia, already de-fanged by the insulting Munich Agreement when their entrenched fortifications on the Czechoslovak-German border were bypassed by France and Britain’s unwillingness for war at that time, was a rump nation surrounded on all sides by enemies. The declaration of the Slovak State on March 14th weakened an already fragile country. President Emil Hácha, a weak-willed man who in better times might have been able to stand his ground, instead found himself verbally and physically intimidated by Adolf Hitler and Hermann Göring in Berlin. After Hitler promised that if Czechoslovakia did not surrender and allow occupation by the Reich, then the Luftwaffe would terrorize the cities of the country. Hácha, knowing full well the devastation the German Air Force could wrought on populated civilian centers due to detailed reports from embattled Spain, caved into German demands. It was later discovered Hácha had suffered a heart attack during the negotiations and that this had a large part in his inability to resist.
The German occupation of Czechoslovakia was a near bloodless affair, though several Czechoslovak units did resist the German invaders but these were mere skirmishes and once it became evident the rest of the country had submitted then so did these bravely defiant units. Hours after Prague was secured, Hitler arrived at the Prague Castle to “see his newly won possession.” Several ranking Nazis accompanied the German Führer, one of them being Generalfeldmarschall Göring. Hitler announced in a publicly broadcasted speech that Czechoslovakia was no more, now the territory that had made up the Czech-half of the former country was to be reorganized into the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. Hitler and Göring, along with their staff, entourage and bodyguards, spent the night in Prague Castle, making an obvious statement to the Czech people that their country now had new overlords. As the night continued and the world came to the realization that the Third Reich had broken its promise yet again, all seemed peaceful within the Castle. However, this was not to last.
The following morning as the Nazi leaders were having breakfast before returning to Berlin, a Czech waiter by the name of Zdeněk Orava pulled a small snub-nosed revolver from a tray of food to assassinate the Nazi dictator and his henchmen.
Three shots rang out before the SS guards could shoot and kill Orava who fell to the ground dead, one of the shots having ruptured his heart. Hitler and Göring were down, but to the relief of the SS guards Hitler was alive, only one of the bullets grazing his left arm leaving it bloody and bruised but the Führer was very much alive. Göring however was not so fortunate. One bullet had hit the Luftwaffe leader’s stomach while the other had lodged itself in his throat, drenching the man’s uniform with blood. Orava, understandably nervous and scared knowing he was soon to die or face torture unimaginable, had his hand shaking when he pulled the revolver from a platter of food. Though the prime target was Hitler, only one shot was able to be unloaded at the German dictator, while the other two hit Göring as the Reich Minister of Aviation flinched when the gun first fired, causing Orava to assume Göring was to charge him.
German propaganda would later state that Göring had bravely thrown himself in the line of fire to save the beloved Führer and that Hitler cradled the Reich Minister in his arms until Göring’s last wheezing breath, swearing to his dying friend and comrade that vengeance would befall any who dared deny Germany its place in the world. According to this fantasized Nazi propaganda, Göring’s last words were for Hitler to take care of his wife and children followed by a ‘Heil Hitler.’ The veracity of these few moments have long been scrutinized by historians, with many labeling it a Nazi myth to lionize Göring and make him a National Socialist martyr equal to Horst Wessel. [2]
Hitler was quickly evacuated from Prague and returned to Berlin. The Führer believed there was a conspiracy around the whole affair and ordered Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler to uncover the plot and apprehend any who were involved. Himmler, privately relieved that one of his chief rivals was now dead, nonetheless sent the ruthlessly efficient Reinhard Heydrich to the newly-proclaimed Protectorate, becoming the feared Reichsprotektor.[3] Over the ensuing weeks Heydrich pursued any leads, ransacking Prague and the rest of the Protectorate in search of conspirators, both real and imagined. Thousands were arrested, few of them would ever be seen again.
[Adolf Hitler, Führer und Reichskanzler of the German Reich, inspecting soldiers outside of Prague Castle, March 15th, 1939. The historic castle would later be the site of the failed assassination attempt on the Nazi dictator's life but that successfully killed Hermann Göring.]
After nearly three weeks of relentless search Heydrich produced his report that there was no overarching Czech conspiracy, but other information was secured, just as much if not more damning than any believed possible. It appeared that for the last three months of his life, Zdeněk Orava was an informant for the French government. The French had wanted to know the ins-and-outs of events going on in and around the Prague Castle, as it also served as the Czechoslovakian president’s residence. The French wanted to know the mettle of the Czechs following the Munich Agreement as they still wished for Czechoslovakia to remain either neutral or to lean into the Anglo-French orbit in any impending European war. Documents, money trails, and confessions of another Czech informant revealed a half-dozen French foreign operatives who were apprehended throughout Czechoslovakia. These agents, operators of the French Deuxième Bureau, were arrested and put on trial. They were all found guilty by association of the attempted assassination of Hitler and the murder of Göring, as well as supporting “insidious anti-National Socialist elements within Czech society.” Their trial and execution, carefully staged, recorded and edited, spread like wildfire through the Reich, angering Germans of all walks of life, even many who were neutral towards or disinclined towards the Nazi Party. Anti-French sentiment flared throughout Germany in mass protests and marches against French interdiction throughout the Reich, carefully orchestrated and guided by the Ministry of Propaganda.
Post-war documents and interviews show that the French did in fact fund money and resources into establishing an informant network in Czechoslovakia following the Munich Agreement, but never was their intention to assassinate a head of state or a high-ranking cabinet member of another nation’s government. Orava it seems, was enraged by the German occupation of his country and felt one last act against tyranny was needed. It is doubtful Orava predicted, or even wanted, what was to follow.
Hitler, already a fierce Francophone from his experience in the First World War, became even more so and in a radio speech in late April declared that Germany would never submit to foreign intervention, whether it be the Judeo-Bolsheviks to the East or those controlled by Stalin’s strings in the West. The French Embassy in Berlin became surrounded by German protesters who yelled slurs and other foul things not anatomically possible at the besieged French officials. Bricks and stones were frequently thrown at the embassy, forcing it to barricade itself in case of being stormed by the people. Fearing international condemnation, Himmler ordered the dispersal of the enraged Germans, whilst Goebbels was able to frame that “The Aryan blood that courses through the veins of the German man has led our people to come to dominate Central Europe throughout history. By French treachery and insidiousness it has flared in defense of our great and noble Fatherland, but for the sake of avoiding war it has been tempered by the love and pursuit of peace that the German Volk desire. But the Judeo-Bolshevik conspiracy that wishes to extinguish the illuminating flame of National Socialism, beware, for our patience is not eternal. Let peace reign, lest the wrath of Germany be unleashed upon its enemies.”
The French, for their part, weathered the abuse as their diplomatic prestige suffered, especially following the arrest and execution of their agents as it led to non-action from the French government aside from frequent and fervent proclamations of denial that the informant network had been created to assassinate Nazi leaders.
In the ensuing diplomatic fallout, the Anglo-French relationship became temporarily strained as Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain’s government was adamant on avoiding, or at worst, postponing war. This did however force the various British and French intelligence agencies to work together to avoid another incident and to help coordinate against their German and Italian counterparts, as well as help monitor Communist activity in their countries and territories.
For Hitler, he had lost a close friend and comrade of many years but Göring’s death had helped bulk up international support for the Nazi takeover of Czechoslovakia and its subsequent reformation. Yet the French involvement, despite it being minor and for completely different purposes, led the Führer to believe that the French and British were in fact actively working against the Reich and its interests, and therefore Hitler’s ambitions. Hitler, in a top secret meeting in the Reichs Chancellery, informed his inner circle and ranking military officers that he believed the Anglo-French Entente would attack Germany within a year, potentially two. The sycophants among the attending Nazis praised Hitler for his insight, while the military agreed it was possible though unlikely as France and Britain were not on a war-time footing or increasing their military production to a level deemed necessary to attack Germany, though they did admit that both countries had begun to rearm at a faster pace following the Munich Agreement.
Only the Abwehr director, Rear Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, was vocal in his opinion that the war would not be started by the Entente but Germany or the Soviet Union. Canaris argued that an understanding with the West should be arranged, particularly with Britain. Canaris had great respect for the Royal Navy, and quite possibly some fear over its size and prowess, as well as its blockading ability. Canaris, as did many other Germans, did not want another Turnip Winter to repeat as the horrors of those lean times still lingered in memory. This disagreement with Hitler would forever taint Canaris in the eyes of Reichsprotektor Heydrich who believed the Abwehr chief had become compromised in terms of loyalty and belief in the Nazi regime. This would later prove a key stepping stone in the rear admiral’s downfall years later.
Hitler, whose goal had long been to seize lebensraum in the East, knew he could not direct his attention eastward until the Entente was taken care of, notably France whose large and modern army proved a threat to the Vaterland’s heartland.
So following the redirection of German military strategy and diplomacy westward, Hitler knew that before he could combat the Entente he must first secure his northern flank…
-excerpt from Edward Galloway’s masterpiece thesis over World War II,
The World at War, Volume I: The Path to War
--------------------The World at War, Volume I: The Path to War
[1] In this timeline, Zangara did in fact assassinate FDR. This made John Nance Garner the 32nd President of the United States. This PoD is one of several for the story.
[2] And here is the other major PoD: Hermann Göring is killed by the fictional Zdeněk Orava.
[3] The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Last edited:
