US Civil War in the 30s balkanises it into a Japanese-leaning Pacific Republic, a Communist Midwest, a Canada-leaning rump US in New England and a reactionary South, similarish to Kaiserreich. Nazi rise to power, Italian fascism and Japanese militarism all happen on schedule.
Leon Trotsky wins the power struggle following Lenin's death and sponsors a revolution in Finland, which is followed by a short and brutal Soviet invasion.
Britain (with Edward VIII as King) and France really freak out, especially as Poland, Sweden, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Greece, Yugoslavia, Romania and Bulgaria look to Hitler and Mussolini for protection from the Soviets. The Soviets annex the Baltics and ally with Republican Spain. Portugal are kinda allied to both the Western Bloc and the Axis.
Alliances in 1936
Axis Pact
- Germany
- Italy
- Japan
- Hungary
- Yugoslavia
- Romania
- Bulgaria
- Greece
- Sweden
- Poland
- Czechoslovakia
- Confederacy
- Pacific Republic
Western Bloc
- UK
- France
- Netherlands
- Belgium
- Denmark
- Norway
- All the dominions except Ireland
- USA
Comintern
- USSR
- Mongolia
- Spain
- Chinese Communists
- United American Syndicalist States
Neutrals
- Republic of China
- Portugal
- South America
- Siam
- Turkey
- All the traditional European neutrals
Spain kicks off and the WB and Axis covertly aid Franco, starting an informal anti-Commie co-operation. The Commies are aiding Spain, with the Soviets much more involved than OTL and Germany and Italy sending "volunteers". The International Brigades aren't really a thing, but the UASS send volunteers.
Trotsky encourages the Republicans to invade Salazar's Portugal which
immensely pissed Britain off. By this point, Churchill, a noted anti-Communist and anti-Fascist, is PM and he goes all out on Spain, ending the war in 1937. This makes Trotsky panic as his list of allies are growing rather thin, so he manages to get Chiang and Mao to both ally with him and fight the Japanese. He focuses on Asia, funding many anti-colonialist movements, including those of Ho Chi Minh and Subhas Chandra Bose. In doing so, he becomes a major enemy of Japan, who are constantly demanding Hitker and Mussolini do something.
The South is now under the control of a fanatic named Fake Jeatherstone and, inspired by Hitler, he invades the UASS in early 1940. This is the spark that leads to World War II. The Soviets can't really help them but decide to attack Japan as a distraction, joined by the two Chinas. He also encourages uprisings in India, Indochina and the Dutch East Indies, distracting France, Britain and the Netherlands. The East Indies and India are hugely important to their owners so the UK and the Netherlands commit most of their troops there. France are pretty leftist and see no reason to help the reactionaries.
On the American Front, it devolves into bloody trench warfare in Kentucky and Missouri, with gas being used on troops and civilians, creating basically the nightmare of British strategic planners of the 20s and 30s. The USA are strictly neutral and are selling to both sides while Canada are reluctantly supporting the reactionaries by distracting the UASS with ghost units mixed with real soldiers. The PR are initially neutral before invading the UASS from the west, leading to a reactionary breakthrough that allows them to take Chicago in 1942, the UASS capital. However, the war devolves into brutal guerilla warfare with both sides committing atrocities.
In Asia, there is a brutal war in Manchuria between the Chinese/Soviets and the Japanese. It is looking bad for Japan but Trotsky has to withdraw troops to send to Europe so the front solidifies into a WW1-style stalemate. India turns into guerilla warfare with the British, supported by the BIA, winning. Indochina is slipping away from France, who don't realise how bad the situation is. Siam is still neutral. An attempted Chinese invasion of Taiwan is easily defeated by the IJN, who seize Hong Kong and a lot of territory on the south coast.
In Europe, the Soviets launch a three-pronged offensive. In the north, they invade Sweden and Norway with the goals of Oslo, Stockholm and Copenhagen. In the centre, they smash through the Polish and East Prussian borders with the aim of Berlin. In the south, they invade Romania with the aims of the Ploesti oil fields and the Mediterranean coast. Unfortunately for them, building up a huge and unpurged army is unsubtle and the Nazis and Poles are heavily prepared for them. Due to pure numbers, they take most of East Prussia, leaving a pocket around Konigsberg, and reach Posen. In the Battle of Posen, fought between October 1941 and January 1942, the Soviets are routed in freezing conditions, with Boston sides losing about 1.8 million soldiers, and begin a long retreat. In other news, Konigsberg is taken. Sweden and Norway aren't as heavily defended so Sweden is completely taken leading to the long Siege of Copenhagen between the Soviets and the Nazis/Danes/Brits before Field Marshal Manstein relieves the city in July 1942. Norway is completely taken despite the efforts of Britain. They make progress through Romania and take the oilfields, leading to problems for the allies. They take Bucharest and push into Bulgaria, where they suffer some minor setbacks but reach the Mediterranean at Thessaloniki in autumn 1942.
The south consolidate their control over the midwest and face some rebellions, but deal with them brutally. The PR sets up a puppet state in the plains states and Minnesota.
As the Soviets have withdrawn most of their men, the Chinese begin to squabble which leads to a resumption of the civil war in May 1943, allowing Japan to break out of Manchuria and rapidly advance, taking Beijing, Xi'an, Shanghai and Nanjing, throwing China into chaos. However, they run out of momentum soon after and Xi'an is retaken by Chiang in September 1944. Vietnam is completely taken by Ho, who establishes the Socialist Federal Republic of Indochina, quickly defeating the French throughout the rest of the colony. The Indian Crisis is resolved but it is agreed that a Federal Republic of India will have independence on January 1st 1945, with Nehru as President and Jinnah as Prime Minister. The Dutch are still struggling in the East Indies, so they are aided by the Australians and British who turn the war around.
The Allies continue pushing the Soviets back and retake Warsaw and East Prussia but they suffer a bad defeat at Brest in March 1944. Manstein pushes into Sweden, where the Soviets quickly collapse, liberating Norway and Sweden. He pushes into Finalnd which collapses into chaos as he gets bogged down and partisans gets out of hand. At the time of Brest, he is 350 km away from Leningrad. Yugoslavia, Hungary and Italy launch a huge offensive in spring 1943 and they successfully cut off the Soviets (who surrender) and push into Ukraine, with Kiev falling in April 1944.
The WB want to initiate peace talks with the Soviets, which the Axis are hugely opposed to for ideological reasons. By this time, Trotsky has been couped by the Red Army. However, Hitler knows he can't continue without British and French support so the two sides decide to negotiate in neutral Istanbul. The Treaty of Istanbul is signed on December 15th 1944 and states that status quo ante bellum borders will occur with the exception of America, where a neutral Midwestern Republic will be established.
However, this does not stop fighting in Finland or Asia. Finland breaks out into another civil war between Communists and Anti-Communists, which ends when Panzers roll through the country setting up a nazi-aligned authoritarian state. This kicks off the Cold War, with the Soviets doubling down on funding revolutionary movements, causing unrest in Poland, Yugoslavia, Greece, Romania, France, Ireland and the UK. Belgium, France and the UK become more closely aligned with the Axis. The Japanese are pushed back into Manchuria again, and the borders solidify. The Chinese Civil War begins again. And there you have it, a cold war between fascists and communists.
Damn. Too many good timeline ideas and so little time.
