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Basis is that in 1939, the Italian attempt to seize Albania is a fiasco.



As a result, Mussolini doesn´t declare war to France in 1940, instead he starts a war with Yugoslavia.
For the reminder of 1940, the Italians fights in Yugoslavia, Bulgaria joins the fight on Italian side but the Yugoslaves and Albanians where ready. Eventually, they overwelmes the Yugoslavians in early 1941 and in spring 1941, are storming Albania.


1939-1945, the Second World War

The 3rd Reich launch its offensive 5 weeks later, hovewer, attempting to seize Moscow fails, with 130 000 soldiers caught in the city.
Oil embargo happen a few weeks earlier, attack on Pearl Harbour may or may not come slightly earlier.
The Bulgarians, with or without German equippement, seizes a significant section of Greece. The Italians makes their own territorial demands on Greece but goes no further.
Somewhat, Mussolini decides to start his own nuclear project, although there is some German contribution it is mostly an Italian project for the time being.
In mid 1942, Mussolini is able to press Vichy into giving upp Savoie, Nice, Corsica and Tunisia. The Anglo-US takes over Vichy French colonies a few weeks later. Hitler agrees with Italian gain of Tunisia, as he intend the fascists to join him after the defeate of the Soviet-Union and the axis armies being turned west.
In 1943, a war starts between Bulgaria on one side and Greece/Italy on the other, the Bulgarians are initially victorious, seizes Belgrade. They are contained, then Italian and Greeks pushes back the Bulgares. Eventually, Bulgaria is occupied in the course of 1944.
With situation worsening in the east front and the allies strong in both Egypt and Algeria, Mussolini keeps out of the war and instead settles to seize Istanbule and the Greeks want their share of it.
The allies doesn´t want to prolonge the war, so allow Mussolini to seize this city and rename it Constantinople, Italy have a common defence alliance with Spain and Portugal.
In early to spring 1945, Italy seizes Austria to avoid the area seized by the allies in general and the Red Army in particular.
Stalin is not unhappy, seizing Prague is easier and more worthwhile than seizing Vienna, none of Austria goes to the allies anywhay. German scientists flee to Italy rather than face allied detention, so does many SS soldiers who latter resettles the balkans with more dedicated National-Socialists, others flee in great numbers toward south america.
The Italians are able to learn the errors of the Germans well and Mussolini put a major effort into making Italy into a power capable of opposing the Red Army and in a lesser measure, the French.


Between the Wars.

After WW2, the US decides that the Italian Empire is less of a problem than the Soviet-Union, equippement is sent to the balkans. Stalin decides not to invade in 1948-1950, suspecting it might result in WW3. puppet states are formed in former Yugoslavia and Bulgaria to buy the peace as much efforts are put into constructing proper defences,
Greek national-fascists takes over in Greece, they form an union with Italy but does not face any sort of cultural imperialism.
The French are increasingly threatening in the early 1950s but their plans of militarisation falls behind schedule, the Italians detonates their first atomic bomb and later, the French army is beaten in Vietnam and insurrections starts spreading in Algeria and Morocco.
The Italian economy start growing fast in the latter 1950s, better relations are esablished with Egypt and Syria.
A war errupts over the Suez canal but Italian heavy tanks and jet fighters are able to beat back the israelies, the UK declares war to the arabes and Italians but the French are unwilling to go to war with a nuclear power, London tells the UK public that Mussolini doesn´t have the ability to reach the British isles.
Mussolini prooves english claimes wromg by testing missiles that are capable of reaching major cities in england, London threaten nuclear destruction of Italian cities and Moscow threaten to strike England in turn should that happen, the United States demand an end to the war.
There is a negociated end to the war, the UN occupies the Suez canal which remaine owned by the Egyptians, Malta defences have been levelled by rocket attacks and taken over by Italian Marines.
In the early 1960s, the Cubans seek help from Fascist Italy, which have begun testing thermonuclear bombs.
On the 11th of November 1963, the United States attempt an invasion of Cuba despite a Cuban/Spanish/Portugese/Italian/Greek military alliance, this invasion prooves to be a bloody failure instead of a swift victory. The United States backs down when it is revealed the Italians have the ability to strike New York with thermonuclear weapons, although officially the invasion of Cuba was mererly cancelled. The US governement demands the Italian governement to shut up about it, Mussolini hovewer celebrates in anotehr manner, the Italian Empire and Greece officially formed the New Roman Empire.


Toward the Greatest War.

The Cuban missiles crisis is avoided still, Krushnev remaines in power and his policies continues to fail. In 1968, begin what is known as the stagnation years, although Soviet economical growth is still faster than the US.
Krushnev´s power is threatened, in 1969 he see a way to secure it, by starting a war against China! The Soviet-Union officially decides to depose Mao, a major war erruptes between the Soviet-Union and China, the Red Army launch a massive blitzkrieg against the numerous Chinese armies and millions more Budapest Pact forces folows to occupy the conquered parts of China.
The Chinese end US involvement in Cambodge and southernmost Vietnam, by cutting-off weapon supplies and sending military forces to force Vietnam into peace. The United States send increased assistance, US cargo ships are bombed in Chinese ports and the US protest these "red provocations" against its peacefull and fully neutral activities. Krushnev is thankfully eliminated in a car bombing and his general are now free to wage the war effort efficiently.
Helas, the western allies begin a massive mobilisation, the Chinese are getting bolder as US assistance is increasing. In 1970, tensions continously increases, governement declarations are becoming feverish.
Borders in europe start to ressemble what it was 30 years ealier, some are noting.
A serie of bombings in the United States are blamed on Soviet saboteurs and martial law is declared, civil liberties suspended.
Then things gets worst, low-yield nuclear weapons are detonated in fed Germany and the US, to sabotage infrastructures in the former and as etrror tactics in the latter.
The US president immediately accuses these events to be Soviet scare tactics against the people of the United States, mobilisation increaes even further and a state of emergency is declared by most european countries. The Military unta in Moscow denies responsability but is not trusted by the public of the western countries.
Through air, NASTO forces are sending large quantities of weapons to west Germany 24 hours a day and these air convoys have many fighter protects them. Several are destroyed by bombs over East Germany, one crash destroys a residential area, the US and its allies accuses the Soviet-Union of doing it, the Soviet-Union accuse the US and some of its allies of causing these bombings and making sure one occured above an east German city to demoralise the east Germans.
Between December 1971 and february 1972, East German airspace is closed to all military aircrafts, unless they are getting out of west Berlin. The US and west German governement accuses the Budapest Pact of trying to starve west Berlin, since all civilian transport aircrafts have been seizied by the military in West Germany.

The New Roman Empire offer to use its own civilian aircrafts to relieve the city and offer Rome as a place for negociations between Moscow and Washington, the Neo-Romans recieves their response failry quickly, their ambassadors being sent back home.
The Neo-Roman press denounce the move and some US mainstream medias denounces the cowardice of the New Roman Governement, that is backing away from Soviet agression just as Daladier and Chamberlain backed away from Hitler´s agression. One of Mussolini´s last public speechs and demands is that the New Roman Empire should remaine neutral in any new world war as long as possible.
In spring-summer 1972, the situation is tense in europe, with both Budapest Pact and NASTO forces engaging in large-scale training exercices. Numerous air battles above south-eastern china between the Budapest Pact airforces and US airforce.
The New Roman Empire launch its two first observation satellites. The Chinese governement launch thermonuclear weapons against cities in central asia and some strategical positions of the Budapest forces in China itself, the Red Army retaliates with tactical thermonuclear weapons against remaining Chinese forces. The Chinese launch a last missile directed at Moscow with a circa 4 megaton warhead, detonates above the city as to cause maximal damage.
The Soviet generals claimes that the Chinese received foreign technological assistance for their rocket and guidance systems, orders circulated in the Soviet Bloc that all childrens should be evacuated from the cities, most already had by that time. These measures are soon followed in a number of other countries.
Along the borders of the New Roman Empire and its Austrian benevolent neutral, refugees started coming in and border guards of these countries even started to join them by that time. The demands to relieve west Berlin grows more threatening.


Years of The Struggle.

Eventually a Hungaryan artillery unit started firing shells and missiles across the Czech border into federal Germany, post-war archives shows that it did so without orders from the Budapest Forces Command, this is the start of the battle of central europe.
The New Roman Empire decided to make the satellite footages available to the public by that time, the governement tried to remain as neutral as possible in its reports of the international situation, problems where caused when many officials left for their countryside estates.
The WA start an air-offensive against airports in Czechia and East Germany but most Budapest Pact aircrafts are in Hungary and Poland, hovewer there are tens of thousands of anti-aircraft missiles. Losses in aircrafts are massive on both sides, war starts escalating along the Turkish-Soviet, Iranian-Soviet borders, the Soviet-Union launch a massive bomber strike against Pakistan with Indian help.
All non-essentials are evacuated from the cities into the countryside, all longer-therm reserves of food are dispersed away from potential targets.
The NASTO armies pushes into eastern Germany, to relieve West Berlin but to secure the advancing armies from continued hit-and-run air raids and ballistic missile artillery, they must advance into westernmost Poland. Attempts to attack Budapest command centers to shatter the coordination of the Budapest Pact Forces had utterly failed, little did the NASTO commanders know that one such Command center was hidden in the territories they currently occupied.
The Red Army had mostly avoided battle but regrouped in central Poland and rom there launched a counter-attack, while the airforces of NASTO recovered from heavy losses and waited for reinforcements, the WA faced massive losses from the veterans of 3 years of manoeuver warfare.
A tactical thermonuclear bomb was detonated in the baltic sea, Neo-Roman observers could not tell whever it was a mean to cause terror or mererly to convince The Budapest Pact to agree to negociations.
Netherless, Budapest pact forces immediately retreated and dispersed into Poland, where a military coup occured.
The Budapest Pact fired over 130 tactical thermonuclear weapons against federal Germany, Holland and Belgium, while 4 cities most necessary for allies supplies where obliteraed outright. The attack paralysied NASTO abilite to wage war, the western governements where at loss as to how to react, it seemed, the Polish military declared that Poland was leaving the Budapest Pact but it semed rather as if the Budapest Pact was leaving Poland as fast as possible. In the Soviet-Union, the people necessary to the war effort had been forced to stay but they had now received orders to leave as fast as they possibly could, westerners where not far behind.
Retaliation saw nearly 2000 tactical and strategical thermonuclear weapons detonate over Poland and along the Polish-German border in 3 waves of attacks, an airforce attack with tactical nuclear weapons was launched against the Soviet-Union itself, several hundreds of warhead detonated in the baltic. EMP pulses had disabled electronics over central, eastern and western europe, much of european Russian SSR and North America itself. England was devastated by tactical nuclear attacks, between 1/3 and 1/5 of the population became casualties, only reason it wasn´t 40% was that the cities where emptying themselves very quickly, the forces meant to restore order where already shooting their way out of the giant targets pre-war cities where.
New York had been attacked by a submarine and had been properly gutted of its contribution to the war effort, much like Moscow was.
For a day, things seemed calme, the following day ICBMs flew. The cities and industrialised zones of the Soviet-Union burned like rocket flares as warhead after warhead detonated over them, bases lit up like camera flashes. Broadened spectrum satellite images showed much of europe, the middle-east and India lit up like a christmas tree.
Some atomic rockets even detonated on Neo Roman territories, while tremendous devastation was unleashed uppon France, Germany, Romania, Hungarya, Czechoslovakia, Algeria and Turkey.
Neutral countries where targeted too, Vienna international airport was turned into a crater, major industrial zones detonated, the people of Vienna where hidding in shelters, sewers and metro station while others took the chance to flee before renewed strikes.
North American cities where engulfed in fireballs, there where a good number of soviet ICBMs that carried 50 and 100 megaton warheads. Not even rubbles where left of major cities, only melted, twisted metal, glassed brock and shattered concrete foundations. Los Angeles was turned into the Valley of Agony, warheads blowing holes in the area bigger than Meteor Crater, Beverly Hill was reduced to smocking, red hot rocks. City after city where illuminated and in the east coast, a mushroom cloud was always visible on the horizont.
The Neo-Roman jets and Anti-Aircraft Missile sites had to battle intruders from both the former Budapest Pact and NASTO, most either surrenderd or activated their parachute once over Neo-Roman territories, other launched thermonuclear missile attacks against Neo-Roman cities. Naple, Sarajevo faced multi-megaton detonations. Zagreb only faced "moderate" destruction, while only a few tactical warheads hit Rome´s residential areas, attackers faced anti-aircraft missiles equppied with thermonuclear warheads.
The Supreme Fascist stayed in the city of Rome to maintain the moral of the Neo-Romans, he would not leave its capital and historical to be destroyed without a fight, even if that meant some fallouts.
Pilots mounted kamikaze missions to prevent the destruction of Belgrade, Athene and Milan.
Submarines launched their ballistic and cruise missiles, the regions they launched from where struck with ICBMS from remaining silos or other submarines.
Few countries escaped, south american countries that had aligned themselves with the US in WW3 saw their cities incinerated, Australia only lost a few cities but the country was crippled by the destructions, Indonesia would not threaten post-war Australia as it faced a more extensive attack and would breake-up in civil war for a time. Even a US base in New Zealand was hit by a missile, the new Zealand governement was smart enough to quickly announce the country being an open zone and no further attack came.

The israeli state carried out nuclear attacks against the neighbouring arabe countries, when it was clear Soviet missiles where on their way, causing massive loss of life. They also wanted to take down the New Roman Empire too but relied on bombers to deliver their attacks, these bombers where shot down by Greek pilotes.
Both Soviet and Neo-Roman thermonuclear rockets pulverised israeli cities in retaliation, there ws not a single wall taht wasn´t shattered.

Within several weeks, the world situation had calmed down, there where only a few attacks here and there. Arsenals had mostly been used, when not destroyed beforehand. The populations of the northern hemisphere still had to keep cover from fallouts, not only from detonation of warheads but the deliberate destruction of some nuclear powerplants and nuclear waste deposites.

The New Roman Empire contacted the governements of Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Sweden, Finland and even Iraq to re-establish order in their respective regions.
The Neo-Roman armies mobilised to control the flood of refugees from the neighbouring countries, then advanced into the former Budapest Pact and NASTO countries to re-establish a semblance of order.
Fleets or merchant ships where put together to evacuate europeans to South Africa, Rhodesia and the portugese colonies.
The New Roman Empire was not particulary racist but the idea that all races where equal and equally worth was foreign to it, so did not care that tens of millions of blacks would have to be expulsed, to face poverty and worst, to make place for european refugees. European, both from the former Soviet and west blocks forgot their contestation of the south african regime in the face of necessity.
Remants of the French military declared that France remained independent of the New Roman Empire although the country would seccede new territories in the south-east if it meant reconstruction and survival for the rest of the country.
The Junta of the former Soviet-Union also made contact with the New Roman Empire, accepting its influence over eastern europe for much needed international cooperation.
Re-engineered railways bypassed the rubbles of cities and industrial zones, armies of engineers in anti-radiation suites dugged the ruines for anything that could be recovered and put to use.
The Baasist Iraq had seized all the remaing oil facilities of the middle-east and provided generously struggling europe with large and much needed quantities of oil, Baghdad was becoming the great capital of the middle-east once more.
The Struggle, just as the war before it, took a life of its own in the following years. Europe was radically re-organised, by the necessity of survival.
Even decades later, it would be commonly said that more than half of the Spanish population in 1976 was made up of French and even Belgian and English refugees, over half of the French population itself where former west Germans.
Within 3 years, Sweden, Finland, Switzerland had recovered from the destructions they had faced despite their neutrality status and where fully contributing to the restoration effort.
5 years after the war, europe was well on the road of recovery, survivors across europe had become organised to highly organised, depending of the communities. Factories of the new paneuropean initiative had all the ressources they needed and where running at full speed, most regions had acess to the electric network.

Things seemed to turn for the better at last, but in time, new dangers would emerge.
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