Our Cold War: An Alternate History Interactive Cold War

[Antonio Ferrari]

Chapter 9: Thai victory in Laos, the Great Indochina Game

Lasting barely three months, the majority spent cleaning up the regions of partisans and freedom fighters, Siam had conquered the whole territory of Laos. It had barely lost 700 men from an invasion force of 60 thousand men. Some guerrilla units would strike against some military facilities, but Laos would be considered completely secured by the end of the 40's. Siam would not become a member of the Axis, but was considered friendly towards them none the less.

Asia after the Laos-Thai war

After these initial conflicts, peace in the world seemed to return to normal. There were minimal revolts in either colonies or new states, but for the most part, there were no major conflicts worldwide. This was also thanks to two factors. The first was the creation of the Atomic Bomb, an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or from a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb). It was capable of destroying cities with a single explosion. Germany developed it first and tested it in the Lybian desert with Italian authorization. The US followed shortly with a test in New Mexico. Now, any war could result in the end of the human race if so many of these bombs were mass produced. The second reason was the United Nations becoming far more involved in international affairs, placing embagues or humanitarian aids in many conflics that would follow the early 40's. One such example was the Great Indochina Game.

For Great Indochina Game we referr to a serie of proxy wars between the Axis and the Allies for controll of Indochina. By 1945, the Axis had friendly governments in Siam and Cambodia, while the Allies had a democratic frienly Vietnamese and Khmer state and direct controll of Burma (thanks to British Burma) and Malaysia (thanks to British Malaysia). So far, the balance of power seemed to be stocked on the Allies side, with four out of the six regions of the Indochinese peninsula being pro-allies. Japan had managed to pressure Siam to become friendly towards the Axis, mostly thanks to the fact that Siam was farely isolated and feared for an Allied intervention. Cambodia itself had become an Axis friendly state with the rise of the Kingdom of Cambodia. However, for the Japanese, the major Axis power in Asia, it was relatively hard to support their Indochinese allies. Plans for support of anti Allies government in Liangguang also called for ways to turn Vietnam in a pro-Axis government. On October 1945, the Việt Nam Quốc Dân Đảng, the Nationalist Party of Vietnam, also known as Việt Quốc, begun massive operations in southern Vietnam, moving from Cambodia. This group was heavily supported by the Japanese and the Cambodians, the latter wishing to integrate the Khmer republic. Scared of losing Liangguang as an important ally if Vietnam was to become pro-Axis, Britain was the first to react in support of the Vietnamese government. There were even talks of sending a British expeditionary force against the Việt Quốc.

The Political Situation in Asia, October 1945

Vote Here:

Allies Course of Action:

Allies Course of Action:

Vote Now! [Send troops to Vietnam] [Support Vietnam with weapons] [Give humanitarian aids] [Do nothing]

www.strawpoll.me

Axis Course of Action:

Axis Course of Action

Vote Now! [Send troops in support of the Việt Quốc] [Send weapons to the Việt Quốc] [Give humanitarian aids] [Do nothing]

www.strawpoll.me

United Nations Course of Action:

UN Course of Action

Vote Now! [Create a Peacekeeping task to Vietnam] [Send humanitarian aids] [Do nothing]

www.strawpoll.me

I hope you guys like this new update! Be sure to like(if you like it), comment(please comment so I can learn what your opinion is) and.....follow I guess.

 

[Antonio Ferrari]

Chapter 10: Victory over the Việt Quốc, the Ottoman, Peruvian and Brazilian crisis

After six months of conflict, the Việt Quốc insurgency against the Khmer and Vietnamese governments had failed. Although not completely destroyed, its leadership and the majority of its members was forced to return in Siam and Cambodia, waiting for another opportunity to regroup and launch another uprising. It was a relatively bloodless conflict, resulting in the death of 40 Vietnamese troops and slightly more Khmerian troops, against the 2700 of the Việt Quốc insurgents. However, the United Nations had lost a considerable ammount of prestige for its inactivity: no humanitarian aids or peace keeping forces were sent by either the Democratic Allies or the Nationalist Axis, and many already seemed the similarities between the UN and the League Of Nations, proposed by the United States after the Great War, but a failure of a peace keeping force, having failed to address the Soviet advance against the German friendly states in Eastern Europe, the French support of communist coups against the Benelux, Mexico and Switzerland, the Warlord era in China and the Italian invasion of Ethiopia.

However, now that the Second World War was over, the United Nations could intervene in solving issues that had generated during said war. Both Brazil, Peru and the Ottoman Empire, having taken advantage of the war situation in Asia and Europe, had invaded their neighbouring nations with little to no difficulty. However, the United Nation intended to show its strenght, by pressuring these nations to release their newly occupied land. The Axis powers, however, realized that by supporting Brazil, the Ottomans and Peru, they could gain new useful allies in South America and Arabia. The Ottoman empire was already a pro-Axis nation, being one of the major oil supplier to Germany during the war, and the Peruvian Óscar Benavides government, now the Manuel Prado Ugarteche government, had become members of the Axis after the treaty of Lima between Peru and the Japanese. Brazil, under the so called Vargas Era, was a mostly nationalistic government that could easily become a new member to the Axis, alongside being one of the ABC countries. But what would be the best couse of action for them?

Map showing Peru, Brazil and the Ottoman empire, nicknamed the "Three Thieves" by the Western Allies for their aggression against Ecuador, Bolivia and Iran respectively

Vote here: (please for the love of god vote)

United Nations Course of Action:

United Nations Course of Action

Vote Now! [Declare War on the Ottoman Empire, Brazil and Peru] [Put Sanctions on the Ottoman Empire, Brazil and Peru]

www.strawpoll.me

Axis Course of Action:

Axis Course of Action

Vote Now! [Promise Military invervention in case of UN attack/Sanctions] [Promise Military intervention only in case of UN attack]

www.strawpoll.me

I hope you guys like this new update! Be sure to like(if you like it), comment(please comment so I can learn what your opinion is), vote (this is our Cold War damn it! You're supposed to help shaping the world!) and.....follow I guess.

 

[Antonio Ferrari]

Chapter 11: The end of the Ottoman/Brazilian/Peruvian crisis, the Albanian civil war

The United Nations resolution towards Ottoman, Brazilian and Peruvian aggressions and expansions was a disaster. Heavily backed by the Axis powers, the de facto controller of Europe, they forced the Western Powers to back down and finally recognize their new territories. The Axis actions in Peru, Brazil and the Ottoman empire leaded to these countries to become closer and closer, with Peru being a de facto Axis nation, and Brazil and the Ottoman empire being Axis aligned. Ecuadorian, Bolivian, Kurdish and Arabian freedom fighters who had begun to clash against local authorities were forced to flee to neighbouring countries, although some were captured and executed. In the future, Axis leaders refined their policies toward Peru, Brazil and the Ottoman empire by extending economic and technical assistance, strengthening their military potential and establishing closer cultural ties. None the less, the Brazilian government was forced to grant the United States 51 % of the Santa Cruz oil fields production and de facto controll. Once again, with future Axis intervention, the Brazilians would refuse further cooperation with the United States.

Back in Europe, the situation was grim for the small kingdom of Albania. The previous Yugoslav occupation and the failed invasion of Greece leaded many to be dissatisfied with the royal government. In the south of the country, and in limited portions of Kosovo, anti royalist guerilla movements begun to emerge, with the biggest one being the National Liberation Movement (Lëvizja Nacional-Çlirimtare, or LNC), led by Enver Hoxha. While it had major controll over the countryside, it generally lacked support in the cities, although some cities were under the controll of this anti monarchist movement. This seemed to be an opportunity for the Western Allies to regain some sort of face after their humiliation against the Brazilians, the Ottomans and the Peruvians and to gain a new ally in the Mediterranean. At the same time, the Axis itself begun to support its little ally against these republican rebels.

Albanian Civil War in March 1946

Vote here: (please for the love of god vote)

Allies Course of Action:

Allies Course of Action:

Vote Now! [Send Troops to support the LNC] [Send weapons to the LNC] [Give humanitarian aids] [Do nothing]

www.strawpoll.me

Axis Course of Action:

Axis Course of Action:

Vote Now! [Send troops in Albania] [Send weapons to Albania] [Give humanitarian aids] [Do nothing]

www.strawpoll.me

UN Course of Action

UN Course of Action:

Vote Now! [Create a Peacekeeping force in Albania] [Give Albania humanitarian aids] [Do nothing]

www.strawpoll.me

I hope you guys like this new update! Be sure to like(if you like it), comment(please comment so I can learn what your opinion is), vote (this is our Cold War damn it! You're supposed to help shaping the world!) and.....follow I guess.

 

[Antonio Ferrari]

Chapter 12: The Rome agreement, the Marshall Plan

The Albanian Civil War laster from 30 March 1946 to 16 October 1949. While the Royal government and the Central Powers had managed to regain controll of all Northern Areas, the Southern mountainous regions were too harsh for the Axis powers. The Axis sent a considerable ammount of troops in support of the Albanian government, in particular Italy. The Italian government sent close to 80 thousand personell in the mountains of Albania, facing hostile population and poor infastructure. The Albanian guerrilla, with the advantage of mountains and knowlege of the territory made life for the Italians and Royal Albanians a living hell. On top of that, the Greeks, while still being wary of the Western Allies, allowed for the Albanian guerrilla to enter their territory to strike the Italians.

In support of the Royal government, the Axis granted two Fiat 3000 and 82 Polikarpov Po-2, not a lot compared to the support the LNC movement gained thanks to the Western Allies. The Western Allies also sent volunteers, officers and commandos in support of the LNC, giving them instructions, strategies and military tactics, turning it in an efficent and deadly force. Close to 62 thousand Western Allies personell was present in Albania by 1949.

It was also during this Civil War that one of the first United Nation action occurred, in the form of a Peace Keeping force. During the initial stages of the war, the LNC launched attacks against the Royal government on all mountainous regions of Albania, rather than limiting their efforts in the south. Civilians were often involved in the fighting, and several times buildings and cities were damaged or outright destroyed by the LNC or the Royal government. As such, the United Nations sent a peace keeping mission in Albania, with the task of protecting civilians from "terrorist attacks". It was a rather limited action, and by 1948 UN forces begun to wirdraw from Albania, once the situation begun to stabilize.

In the end there were no clear victors in the war, leading to the creation of a Southern Albanian state, the Republic of Albania, divided by the 41st parallel north. The Souther Government would be recognized on January 1950 with the Rome Agreement. The Civil War left Albania in ruins and in even greater economic distress than it had been following the end of the Albano-Greek war. Thousands languished in prison for many years. Many others sought refuge in democratic countries.

Albania on January 1950

But before the Albanian civil war ended, another problem rose for Europe. The Americans, by far the least damaged nation from WW2, had begun a plan of European recovery, the Marshall Plan, a pledge of economic assistence to all European countries and, later on, even Asian countries, including the members of the Axis. However, the Axis powers begun to fear that, if the Americans begun to support economically their new vassals, they would lose much of their influence. As such, the Axis powers were still wary of American support towards them. And, as a matter of fact, the Western Allies themselves doubted that it was a good idea to support the Axis economically.

Vote Here:

USA Course of Action:

USA course of Action

Vote Now! [Give economic support to all European/Asian Countries (Including Axis if they accept)]

www.strawpoll.me

Axis Course of Action:

Axis Course of Action

Vote Now! [Accept USA Marshall Plan] [Refuse USA Marshall Plan]

www.strawpoll.me

I hope you guys like this new update! Be sure to like(if you like it), comment(please comment so I can learn what your opinion is), vote (this is our Cold War damn it! You're supposed to help shaping the world!) and.....follow I guess. I would also introduce you to an old work of mine.

Mark Felton Productions in The elephant, the lynx, the two wolves, the dragon, the eagle, the griffon vulture and the bull

Greeting my friends. To those who don't know who Mark Felton is, he is a British historian with a Youtube channel which covers various largely unknown events of WW1, WW2, the Korean War, the Vietnam war and so on. But what if he existed in my most prolific timeline, The elephant, the lynx, the...

www.alternatehistory.com

Mark Felton Productions in The elephant, the lynx, the two wolves, the dragon, the eagle, the griffon vulture and the bull, based on one of my longest timelime so far. What if Mark Felton existed in my timeline?

Mark Felton is a British Youtube Historian which covers various largely unknown events of WW1, WW2, the Korean War, the Vietnam war and so on. Here's his channel:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfCKvREB11-fxyotS1ONgww/videos

And here is the The elephant, the lynx, the two wolves, the dragon, the eagle, the griffon vulture and the bull timeline link for context:

The elephant, the lynx, the two wolves, the dragon, the eagle, the griffon vulture and the bull.

History is written by the victors. We all know that. In our world, WW1, at the time know as "The Great War" or "The war that would end all wars", was won by the Entente powers, composed by England, France, Italy, Portugal, Japan, Belgium, Brazil, China, Costa Rica, Cuba, Greece, Guatemala...

www.alternatehistory.com

 

[Antonio Ferrari]

Chapter 13: The refusal of the Marshall Plan, the Bulgarian coup d'etat

After several heated discussions regarding the Marshall plan, the United States decided to reach out for the German and Japanese government. However Wilhelm III believed that economic integration with the West would allow Axis Bloc countries to escape German and Japanese control, and that the US was trying to buy a pro-US re-alignment of Europe and Asia. As such, the leaders of the Axis therefore prevented Axis Bloc nations from receiving Marshall Plan aid. The German empire's alternative to the Marshall Plan, which was purported to involve German subsidies and trade with the Balkans and Eastern Europe, became known as the Ribbentrop Plan (later institutionalized in January 1949 as the European Union, a similar thing occurred with the Japanese Co-Prospherity Sphere). Wilhelm III was also fearful of a reconstituted Russia; his vision of a post-war Russia did not include the ability to rearm or pose any kind of threat to the German empire.

However, with the formation of a democratic government in Albania, the Axis also felt itself threatened by the Western Allies, who were also getting the support of Greece. In order to counter it, the Austrian government decided to get heavily involved in the Balkan region, working on a new ally in the form of Bulgaria. On 21–25 February 1948, the mostly democratic Bulgarian government suffered a Axis supported coup, which leaded to the relatively strong Union of Bulgarian National Legions party. The western allies were shocked by the bravaldo of the Axis powers, who seemed to have calmed down compared to the early days of the cold war. With this action, all hopes for cooperation with the Axis went down the drain. The United States limited its efforts to Western Allies aligned government, rather than Axis aligned government. But the question now was: what to do?

Many saw the Bulgarian coup as a violation of international laws, and believed that intervening militarily to reinstall the previous democratic government was the wisest move. However the problem was that said war would lead to another world war, this time against the Axis powers. Many sought to put sanctions against the Bulgarians and the Axis, but this would mean getting the Bulgarians on the Axis side, on top of alienating the latter even further. And finally, many believed that a defence force was to be formed to contain Axis expansion, with the fundation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO.

Vote Here:

Western Allies Course of Action: https://www.strawpoll.me/42731111

I hope you guys like this new update! Be sure to like(if you like it), comment(please comment so I can learn what your opinion is), vote (this is our Cold War damn it! You're supposed to help shaping the world!) and.....follow I guess.

 

[Antonio Ferrari]

Chapter 14: WW3 breaks loose

On March 1948, after failed negociation between the Western Allies and Bulgaria, the former, now part of an international organization called North Atlantic Treaty Organization (or NATO in short), declared war on the new Bulgarian government alongside the Kingdom of Greece. In response, the Axis powers declared war on NATO. The Western Allies, at first, tried to limit the conflict to Bulgaria only, limiting themselves by invading important locations, such as Plovdiv, where a new Bulgarian government, held by the previous semi democratic government, was held. By the end of March, NATO had controll of about half of Bulgaria.

However, on April 23 1948, the Axis counterattacked against the still relatively limited NATO troops, pushing them back. While NATO had become a formidable force on par with the Axis, Germany had invented the Blitzkrieg, or Lightning War, and was even the first nation to implement it against the Soviets before the French intervention during WW2. After pushing NATO troops from Bulgaria, the Axis begun the next phase of the operation. On a conference in Berlin on 13 April 1948, it was decided to to have a "Balkan first" policy in the war. After having pushed out NATO troops form Bulgaria, Axis troops begun the invasion of the Republic of Albania and the Kingdom of Greece. The Republic of Albania was the first to fall, followed by Greece on 14 May 1948.

The Southern Balkans in May 24 1948, with Greece being under military occupation

After the fall of the Balkans, the war begun to escalate worldwide. While both the United States and the German empire had controll of nuclear weapons, both sides had too few of them and did not wish for a nuclear conflict as for now. Now that the Balkans were under Axis controll, the next step was deciding which regions to focus first. Some wanted to capitulate the West as soon as possible, in order to gain new ports for an invasion of Britain and connect forces with Spain. Others believed that the best course of action would be to finish off the remaining Russian state and integrate it into the German allied Russian empire. Others thought of invading Scandinavia in order to access raw materials and to gain full controll of the Baltics. Mussolini also proposed to focus on the African and Mediterranean front, in order to take controll of the Suez and Gibraltar, important naval bases for Britain: without these the British navy would had to circumnavigate the entirety of Africa to gain supplies from India and to protect its Asian possessions form the Japanese.

The Japanese were also pondering on the next course of action. The Japanese Army opted to finish off the Russian Federal Republic in order to support its European allies. A portion of the army also supported an invasion of China, as it would result in the Japanese obtaining large ammount of manpower and agrarian fields. The Navy instead sought for a campaign in the South with allied Siam and Cambodia, also to support Spanish concessions in the region and to obtain controll of rubber and oil fields. Then, a small portion of the navy also sought to take the war on the Pacific, in order to demoralize the United States from continuing the war.

Vote Here:

European Axis Course of Action:

European Axis course of Action

Vote Now! [Invade Eastern Europe] [Invade Russian Federal Republic] [Invade Scandinavia] [Focus on the Mediterranean and Africa]

www.strawpoll.me

Japan Course of Action:

Japan Course of Action

Vote Now! [Invade Russian Federal Republic] [Invade China] [Invade South East Asia] [Focus on the Pacific]

www.strawpoll.me

I hope you guys like this new update! Be sure to like(if you like it), comment(please comment so I can learn what your opinion is), vote (this is our Cold War damn it! You're supposed to help shaping the world!) and.....follow I guess.

 

[Antonio Ferrari]

Chapter 15: the fall of the West

After the fall of the Balkans, the Axis decided to focus on Western Europe first, and create a defensive line in the remaining fronts. The Germans decided to abandon some territories in the Ural regions in order to have the possibility of solely defending the strategic Ural mountains and to wirdrew from Kola and Karelia. They were even willing to cede them to the Western Allies given the chance. In the East, the Japanese reached news that the European Axis would not focus on Russia or help them in the conquest of China, so they simply decided to focus on the southern Asian holdings in a lightning campaign. Japan's navy was largely untouched during the Second World War, and the German navy, combined with the Italian one, was already a titan in Europe. The United States could not focus it's entire potential against either, and even if they could produce far more ships than Japan, first, they needed to be deployed, second, focusing too much on Japan meant that the West would be left undefended.

Generally speaking, many members of the Western Allies were not ready for War. Britain, America biggest ally, had stopped rationing only recently, and had not yet fully recovered. A massive portion of its navy was sunk when trying to deal with the French, who had an almost equally strong navy. The US public saw no real reason to enter a war for Bulgaria out of all places. And as for the US remaining allies, they were mostly South American countries, lacking the strenght to compete with the Germans, the Japanese and the Italians, the British commonwealth, which too didn't really want to fight the Germans, especially after many veterans had become friends with other German veterans in the campaign in France and Russia, and occupied governments in China, Vietnam, Khmer, the Indonesian arcipelago, France and Siberia. While they could easily secure South America, conquering Peru and the Central American Republic rather easily, they knew that defending the rest would be a different kind of pain.

April 10 1948, Fall Rot, the German plan for the invasion of France, begun at full swing alongside the Japanese attacks on the Indonesian arcipelago, Indochina, Burma and New Guinea. The Japanese also secured a few islands, but the Pacific was not their focus. They only needed to defend themselves, and the closer they were to the Home Islands, the harder it would be for the Americans to penetrate in Japanese space.

After the treaty of Mexico city granted Germany several territories in Western Europe, the Germans had favourable terrain for invading France. Even the Spanish had eliminated several problems regarding the invasion of France, since they owned the Pyrenees. Italy would find itself stuck in the Massif Central, but even impenetrable mountains could not protect France from three fronts. The Germans had reached Paris in a matter of days, and several American and British troops remained trapped in mainland France. The fall of France was a significant development in the Western front, as the Germans and their allies had free hands for other fronts. However, the Germans knew that not even the might of the Japanese was enough to prevent the American hordes to simply retake France. Operation Sea Lion had long been planned in the case of war with Britain. In fact, it was even planned before the beginning of the Second World War. The German not only kept their navy after the Great War, but also continued to expand on it during World War 2 and in the aftermath. By now, it was on par with Britain at its height. While without doubt the British still had considerable power in the sea, the days where the British navy was uncontested were far away. The US navy could not support the British too much, as they also had to focus on the Atlantic, the Mediterranean and the Pacific. The US might produce an aircraft carried a day, but even that would not be enough. In reality, maybe it can, but not as it currently stand, especially since its new enemies seems to be at the very least on par when the US has to divide its fleet.

On 25 June 1948, the Germans, alongside its allies in Europe, begun Operation Sea Lion, the invasion of the UK. The first step, weirdly enough, is in Africa, with Italian troops beginning a limited attack in Egypt with lessons learned during the North African campaign against the French. Mussolini could have easily ordered a full invasion, but he knew that his objective was to simply distract the British in Africa. The latter could not afford to lose the Suez canal, so they and some American troops were forced to send reinforcements there. It was believed that the Axis would attack Africa in an attempt to starve the British isles, like many tried before. But they were wrong.

While the British and Americans were busy with the increasingly stronger Italian army in North Africa, on the 1st of July German paratroopers land in the British isles, followed by the landing of 11 infantry divisions. After the bridgeheads were secured, the Germans sent 11 Panzer divisions. A further landing in Cornwall was enough to break the initial Allied defences. The Germans reached London, but were unable to conquer it. To avoid having painful memories of the Eastern Front, namely hand to hand combat in cities with the threat of encirclement, the Germans decided to surround the city, bombing it into oblivion. While they knew that Britain would not just throw its hand in the air and surrender, they also knew that the UK were not the Soviet Union, or at least not as suicidial. And, unlike the Soviets, German aircraft could bomb anything in sight in the British isles.

George VI of England and Prime Minister Winston Churcill fled to Canada, and soon after the British armed forces had to surrender. By the time the king and the prime minster had fled Britain, the Germans held half of England, and London was on the verge or breaking. On 25 August, new British government was formed under the leadership of Oswald Mosley, a government close to the Axis similar to the one of Petain in France. They would later join the Axis powers. While technically speaking all of the British empire belonged to the new Oswald government with the exception of various regions which were to be handed to the Germans, the Japanese and the Italians, under the leadership of the king and Churchill a government in exile was formed, forcing the Axis to continue the fight.

Map of the world, 30 August 1948

After the fall of Western Europe, the German government begun to ask the United States to accept peace with the Axis, the only conditions the United States had to pay were to cede the Philippines and some islands to Japan, to wirdred from Peru and Central America and from the territories they occupied in European Russia. Many in the congress saw no reason to continue the fight with the Germans, owning Europe. Others hoped to negociate with the Germans in order to fight another day, and others did not intend to surrender at any cost.

In the meantime, the Germans did not stand idly while the Americans were deciding, and were preparing for the next course of action. Some believed that the best course of action was to finish up the Russian Federal Republic for good. Others wanted to strike at Scandinavia and its rich iron ores. Then there was Mussolini, who hoped to consolidate North Africa and the Mediterranean.

In the East, the Japanese were making progress in South East Asia, but they too wondered what to do next. Should they assist the Germans in defeating the Russian Federal Republic? Or should they strike at China? Many in the Navy sought to conquer Australia and New Zealand, and others opted for an attack in the Pacific ocean. However, with British Raj in chaos, some sought to attack Burma in order to support the Indian rebels.

And as the world was filled with Chaos, both the Ottoman empire and Brazil looked with interest at the international scene. Should they help the Axis and expand their empires? Or should they stay out of the conflict, at most sending volunteers?

Vote Here:

United States Course of Action:

United States Course of Action

Vote Now! [Fully accept German conditions] [Compromise with the Germans] [Continue the fight]

www.strawpoll.me

European Axis Course of Action:

European Axis Course of Action

Vote Now! [Invade the Russian Federal Republic] [Invade Scandinavia] [Focus on the Mediterranean and North Africa]

www.strawpoll.me

Japan Course of Action:

Japan Course of Action

Vote Now! [Invade the Russian Federal Republic] [Invade China] [Invade Australia and New Zealand] [Invade Burma and support Indian rebels]

www.strawpoll.me

Brazil and Ottoman Empire course of Action:

Brazil and Ottoman Empire Course of Action

Vote Now! [Join the War on the side of the Axis] [Remain neutral but send volunteers and trade] [Remain neutral]

www.strawpoll.me

I hope you guys like this new update! Be sure to like(if you like it), comment(please comment so I can learn what your opinion is), vote (this is our Cold War damn it! You're supposed to help shaping the world!) and.....follow I guess.

 

[Antonio Ferrari]

Hello, weird question for you all:

Are there any movies fearuring Churchill tanks?

 

[Sky Alkemade]

This somewhat feels like a bit of a wonky kaiserreich.
Perhaps go a bit in detail into economics? I feel like the massive navies and motorized armies are spawning out of nowhere. It might not be your skill but I would prefer some detail.

 

[Antonio Ferrari]

This somewhat feels like a bit of a wonky kaiserreich.
Perhaps go a bit in detail into economics? I feel like the massive navies and motorized armies are spawning out of nowhere. It might not be your skill but I would prefer some detail.

I will next chapter. It won’t be a poll chapter but just an explaination of several nations evolutions in the interwar years, WW2 and WW3

 

[Antonio Ferrari]

This somewhat feels like a bit of a wonky kaiserreich.
Perhaps go a bit in detail into economics? I feel like the massive navies and motorized armies are spawning out of nowhere. It might not be your skill but I would prefer some detail.

In the meantime, could you please vote in the poll?

 

[Antonio Ferrari]

Chapter 16: Germany prior to the Second World War

To understand how the Germans managed to rise from the ashes after the Great War and become one of the dominant powers of Europe, we must look back at its past.

The June 28th, 1914 assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, was the proximate trigger of the war. Long-term causes, such as imperialistic foreign policies of the great powers of Europe, such as the German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, the Russian Empire, the British Empire, France, and Italy, played a major role. Franz Ferdinand's assassination by a Serbian nationalist resulted in a Habsburg ultimatum against the Kingdom of Serbia. Several alliances formed over the past decades were invoked, so within weeks the major powers were at war; via their colonies, the conflict soon spread around the world.

The Germans, who had plenty of enemies in 1917, decided to restrict their submarine operations as a mean to maintain the United States neutral. When the Russian Revolution ocurred in the East, it seemed like Germany had won. Germany and Austria begun setting up several puppet governments, who begun quickly unloved by the people living in the area. In the West too the Germans were losing ground quickly and, taking advantage of the situation, the Soviets, who had eliminated the White Army movement as a threat, decided to move in to recapture lost ground. The Soviets promised freedom to the various client states, which begun to secretly support the Soviets, waging a guerrilla warfare against the Germans. Both the Western Allies and the Soviets thought that victory was near, but to everyone's surprise, the Germans managed to held. In the West, the Germans had held the combined Franco/British forces at Lille. In the Italian front, the Austrians held the Italians at the Tagliamento river, and in the East the Germans managed to hold the Polish kingdom. In all honesty, another combined Entente/Soviet attack could had broken the Germans. But both sides were on the verge of Revolution, and the Entente Powers did not trust the Soviets. On 11 November 1918, an armistice was signed, ending the war. The Germans had to cede all their colonies, Ukraine, Belarus, Alsace-Lorraine to the Soviets and Entente Powers, and Austria had to cede several territories to Italy and Serbia. However, neither the German nor Austrian armies or navies received any sort of limitations. Only Austria had to cede its navy to Italy and Serbia, but only because they lost access to the sea.

The Germans could continue to maintain a large army, did not have to pay reparations, and could have an air force and a navy, and the same thing applied to the Austrians, navy aside. To many Germans nothing seemed to have changed. Some even claimed that they actually won the war, although gaining very little. The Kaiser managed to remain in power, but his position was far more limited than in the past. During the Austrian Revolution, a period of internal tumoil in the Austro-Hungarian empire, the Germans managed to re-establish order under the sole condition of gaining Galicia.

After an initial period of consolidation of Poland, the Germans planned for revenge. Had the communists not attacked in the East, the war might have been won. On top of that, Communism was a scary ideology for the farely conservative German government, and after the French Communist Revolution, they begun to feel surrounded. Surprisingly, an old ally had came to support the Germans in this time of need, in the form of the British. While there was some slight hatred between the two nations, the British could not allow the Communists to take over Europe. They already were collaborating with the new Italian Fascist government to contain the threat of communism in Europe, and were willing to turn a blind eye in case of an Italian and Austrian invasion of Yugoslavia.

The German armed forces were greately expanded, the navy became a force to be recon, and new mechanized forces were made. The first indigenous German tank, the Panzer I, was manufactured in 1929. German military spending was increased even further, and by 1938, the time of the German invasion of the Soviet Union, Germany had around 3800 tanks and 12.000 aircraft, and the navy too become a significant force.

As the military was improved year by year, the more nationalistic aspects of German society begun to become heavely infulential in politics, and many saw Italian fascism as a form of inspiration, a new type of government that could contrast the Communist, satisfy the workers and bring Germany back to glory. On 31 July 1930, the German National People's Party, or NDV, leaded by Alfred Hugenberg, won the election by 40% of the votes. The new nationalistic government was far more tame compared to Italian fascism, but it borrowed many elements, such as the Party almost complete controll of all institutions and the creation of Brownshirts, heavily inspired by Italian Blackshirts.

Alongside the British and the Italians, it supported the Nationalists during the Spanish Civil War, until the beginning of the Second World War with the invasion of the Soviet Union. The German advance had gained considerable momentum, taking the Soviets by surprise and having advanced from Minsk to the north to Uman in the south, but the French intervened alongside the Soviets, surprising the Germans in the West. Thanks to the British the Germans managed to avoid an eccessive loss of the navy. As a matter of fact, the German navy saw very little combat during WW2, and it was mostly the British who carried the naval warfare.

The French and their Western Communist Allies had gained considerable momentum in the West, but were soon plagued by supplies issues and anti-communist resistance. In an attempt to cause a revolution in the Austrian empire, the French had switched from attacking North, toward Berlin, to attacking South, reaching Bavaria and cause another Austrian revolution akin to the one shortly after the Great War. However, at Nuremberg their efforts went in vain, as the Germans resisted against all odds, leading to the French 6th Army ending up encircled. After this, the already manpower-lacking French were soon invaded in Normandy by the British, and decided to throw one last dice against the Germans at Hannover in the Battle of the Bulge, the last French offensive of the war and a complete failure, their only result having the British reaching Paris rather than the Germans. The latter managed to recover prestige after the capture of Moscow.

After the war was over, the Germans knew that now that the threat of Communist was over, a new opponent rised against them, in the form of the British and the Americans. The Germans and their allies did not stand idle while its enemies grew in size and influence. Having learned from WW1, the new puppet governments were higly autonomous. Cooperation with its major allies, Italy, Austria and Spain in Europe and Japan in Asia become fundamental. And the navy, alreadly largely intact after the Second World War, and with plenty of fuel from Austria puppet in the Caucasus, was increased in size.

With plenty of steel, coal, manpower and oil, motivated people with no intention to be submitted like in the Great War, the Germans become a formidable force and a threat once again, something that showed during the initial stages of World War III with the fall of the West.

I hope you guys like this new update! Be sure to like(if you like it), comment(please comment so I can learn what your opinion is), vote (this is our Cold War damn it! You're supposed to help shaping the world!) and.....follow I guess.

 

[Antonio Ferrari]

Chapter 17: Italy prior to the Second World War

The kingdom of Italy was among the "victors" of the Great War, but had gained little to nothing in the treaty of Versaille. The Italians lost 2,150,000 soldiers in the war, of which 651,000 were dead. While the Western front is considered one of the worst front that has ever occurred in history, with mud, trenches and the inability to advance, the Italian front was even worse. Fighting at high altitude in impassible terrain, fighting the cold as well as the enemy and gaining little to no ground.

While the Italian army was farely advanced, its general staff was still unprepared for a new kind of warfare that was the Great War. This was demonstrated by Luigi Cadorna 11 battles over the Isonzo river, where the Italians made little gains for heavy casualties. In fact, the Italian front risked to collapse after the Battle of Caporetto from 24 October to 19 November 1917. None the less, the Italians played a key role in the ending of the conflict with the Battle of Vittorio Veneto from 24 October to 4 November 1918. However, the Austrians were able to hold the line at the Tagliamento river. None the less, as tumoil was hitting the empire, they were forced to cede several regions to Italy. The Kingdom of Italy was promised Istria, Trento and Dalmatia in exchane of entering the war on the Entente side.

It solely received Trento, almost risked to lose Istria and Dalmatia was handed to the Serbians as a British and French political move to limit Italian dominance over the Adriatic sea. This leaded to the myth of the Vittoria Mutilata, or Crippled Victory, which leaded many Italians to feel betrayed by the Entente. Then, chaos ensued in Italy. Many wanted a communist revolution, like in Russia or, later on, in France. In several regions the Italian government had lost controll. It was in this situation that the Italian Fascist Party, leaded by Benito Mussolini, rised to power. It promised to solve the economic and political situation in Italy, to turn the kingdom into a Great Power and to end the threat of Communism.

Fascists moving towards Rome during the March on Rome

The Fascist movement become a rather popular movement to counter the evergrowing force of Communism. Even democratic countries saw Italian Fascism as a contingency plan, in particular Britain. The British actively collaborated with the Italians, even granting them land in Africa and collaborating in the elimination of the Senussi rebellion in Libya. The British also helped the Italians searching for oil in Libya, resulting in a possible way to fuel mechanized troops and the navy.

Italy developed militarily alongside the Germans, the Austrians and the British, preparing themselves for a confrontation against France and, possibly, Yugoslavia. From the lessons learned in the Alpine Front, they developed mostly small, nimble tanks that could move in the mountainous terrain, most notably the CV 33 and CV 35 tankettes, later on replaced by the M13/38 and M13/39 medium tanks, a force to be recon with their 47 mm gun.

In order to damage enemy fortification as best as possible in the Alpine front, the Italian Air Force, the Regia Marina, was improved, creating some of the finest fighters of the war. Collaboration with the British, the Germans and, later on, the Americans, allowed them to create heavier tanks, such as the P26/39, Italy heaviest tank in the war.

Italy was one of the main supporter of the Nationalists in the Spanish Civil War, but were also the thorn in France side during the Second Western Front, preventing all French forces to move into Germany. During the invasion of France, they also played a key role into smashing French lines at Mentone, resulting in a major push into France. Unlike in the Great War, the Italians where well payed for their sacrifices, gaining controll of various territories in France east of the Rodano river, Corsica, Dalmatia, Tunisia and Djibouti.

From the Second World War, after a period of recover and consolidation, Italy had come out stronger. A dominant power in the Mediterranean capable of competing with the British, and a veteran of desert warfare, Italy was a powerful ally for the Germans in the Mediterranean and North African Front during the 3rd World War.

I hope you guys like this new update! Be sure to like(if you like it), comment(please comment so I can learn what your opinion is), vote (this is our Cold War damn it! You're supposed to help shaping the world!) and.....follow I guess.

 

[Antonio Ferrari]

Chapter 18: Austria-Hungary prior to the Second World War

While Germany was in a critical situation after the Great War, it was nothing compared to the situation Austria had to endure. Despite being able to hold the Italian offensive at the Tagliamento river, this didn't stop the various ethnic groups of the Empire to rise up in rebellion. Firsts to rebel were the Czechs, followed by the Galicians, a region inhabited by Poles and Ukrainians, and then the entire empire felt into chaos. The period from 1918 to 1921 is known in Austria as the "warlord era of Europe", as the political situation in Austria was similar to China prior to the Communist Party takeover.

Some claim that the almost collapse of Austria was the main reason behind Germany's acceptance of the Entente armistice, as the Germans had to send a considerable ammount of troops to Austria in order to restore order in the region. However, the Germans decided to include the region of Galicia to their Polish vassal, as a move to gain the support of the local population. The Austrian government felt betrayed from this move, but could not do anything to stop the Germans. As a result from the collapse, Austria had to cede Trento, Istria and South Tyrol to Italy and Bosnia, Croatia and Slovenia to Serbia, which declared itself the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. In the remaining regions, the Austrian government had to deal with Czechs, Slovaks and Hungarian rebels. Their actions were nothing compared to the European Warlord Era, but still hamptered Austria to modernize and prosper.

That was until the Fatherland Front rose to power. The Fatherland Front (German: Vaterländische Front, VF) was the right-wing to far-right nationalist and corporatist ruling political organisation of the Federal Empire of Austria. It claimed and aimed to unite all the people of the Austrian Empire, overcoming political, ethnical and social divisions. Established on 20 May 1933 by Christian Social Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss as the only legally permitted party in the country, it was organised along the lines of Italian Fascism, except that the Fatherland Front was fully aligned with the Catholic Church.

Fatherland Front rally, 1936

The Fatherland Front allowed for the creation of a solid Austrian state, while also granting high levels of autonomy to the Hungarians, Czechs and Slovaks living in the Empire. With the rise of the Fatherland Front, there was a repacification with Italy and Germany, in exchange of an alliance against a common enemy in the form of the Communists of Russia and France. Indeed, the Soviet Union had contributed heavily in granting weapons to the rebels that plague Austria during the Warlord Era, as a mean to spread the revolution to the Balkans.

Like with Italy, Britain immediately saw Austria as the best alterative against Communist and to stabilize the Balkans, as the communists parties of Romania and Yugoslavia were beginning to creep inside their state societies. As such, the British government, although not to a scale to which the Germans did, granted support to the Austrians in the form of Economic and Military collaboration.

It's military was modernized in order to avoid the same humiliation they felt during the invasion of Serbia and the Russian invasion of Galicia. The Czech regions in particular were the main tank production grounds of the Empire, as well as the production of aircrafts.

During the Second World War, the Austrians were keen in the support of the German Army Group South, handling the Ukraine and the Caucasus. It was the Austrian armies that allowed the Germans to rush to the West against the French, by holding the Russians at bay. They also supported Italian efforts in Yugoslavia and held the line against the Romanians. After the war, they regained controll of all territories they had lost in the Great War, with the exception of Galicia, still in Polish controll. They also gained full controll of the Balkans and the Caucasus, and the Ukraine became their vassals.

They would play a key role in the Third World War in the invasion of the Russian Federal Republic, alongside supporting Bulgaria during the Greek invasion. And this time, it doesn't look like they are going to collapse any day now.

I hope you guys like this new update! Be sure to like(if you like it), comment(please comment so I can learn what your opinion is), vote (this is our Cold War damn it! You're supposed to help shaping the world!) and.....follow I guess.

 

[Antonio Ferrari]

Chapter 19: The end of the Third World War

After several disagreements regarding the best strategy against the remaining Western Allies forces, the European Axis agreed that the best strategy was to knock out the Russian Federation, while recapture land in Scandinavia. Mussolini would invade Egypt in order to make sure that North Africa was secured from the British Government in exile, but mostly played a defensive role. The main objective was Russia. However, despite the best efforts of the Germans, and the invasion being successfull at first, the Germans couldn't advance much further from the Urals. Plagued by supply issues, and with considerable Russian resistance in the interior, the Germans could not drive much further in the Ob river, and it didn't seem like they would be able to hold Central Asia from both rebels and Western forces.

In Scandinavia things went even worse. The Germans could not advance at all, being stuck against Western forces and guerrilla. The poor infrastructure and the heavily wodden areas did not allow for the infamous German blitzkrieg, and Finnish soldiers become feared among the Germans. In fact, the Western Allies even threatened to capture Petrograd itself.

However, while the Western Allies were holding well against the European Axis in Russia and Scandinavia, the same could not be said in Siberia. With all their efforts focused on the West, they could not stop the Japanese hordes which, unlike the Soviets, were far better organized and did not count on human wave tactics to achieve victory. Soon, all efforts in defending the west were nullified when the Japanese isolated the Federal Republic of Russia, reaching all the way to the Lena river.

On a positive note, the Japanese were stopped in their invasion of India, having essentially being unable to push beyond the Irrawaddy river. The invasion of of the British Raj was a disaster for the Japanese, with countless casualties and no gains.

The various victories against the Western Allies attracted both the Ottomans and Brazilians to join the Axis side. The Ottomans quickly moved to invade British territories in Arabia, but while at first successfull, they were halted by Western Forces thanks to better equipment and better trained soldiers. Even in the conquered territories, the Ottomans had to spend considerable resources, such as the siege of Kuwait City.

The same could not be said about Brazil. Brazilian forces blitzed into British Guyana, liberated Peru, and even invaded Venezuela and Colombia, creating a puppet state called Great Colombia. This was followed by a Brazilian invasion of Perù and Argentina. American forces were absent in South America at the time, not expecting such a move from the Brazilians. The South American states were far more ill equipped than their Brazilian counterparts, on the other hand.

With the situation deteriorating, the United States decided to compromise with the Germans for a peace treaty. And with that, on December 13 1948, the Third World War was over.

Map of the World, 11 Decmber 1948

It didn't even last an year, and casualties were few for a world war, but essentially reshaped the wolrd and its new balance in it. Overnight, Japan became the dominant power in Asia, Western Europe was occupied by the Germans and Britain had collapsed. Replacing it was the British Union, leaded by Mosley, and the Commonwealth of Nations, a loosely federation composed of the colonies of the British Empire. The Third World War shocked the United States, now essentially the last bastion of democracy in this new world. They quickly annexed the British Carribeans and occupied Yucatan and Canada, turning them in puppet states.

Russia was partitioned along the Lena river, with Japan obtaining a puppet state on the Eastern Side, while the Germans granted what was in the West to Tsarist Russia. Italy gained controll of the Mediterranean, and Algeria became an Italian vassal. Spain too gained a vassal in the form of Mauretania. Niger, Senegal and Madagascar, which were occupied by the British, were granted full independence. Gabon, Central Africa, Congo, Rwanda and Burundi became German vassals. Northern Ireland was granted to Ireland as a neutral power in order to deprive the Germans of a foothold there and as a way to gain the support of the Irish for a new air base against the Germans. Scandinavia remained firmly under Western Allies controll thanks to the efforts of the Finns.

With the end of the Third World War, the Second Cold War period begun. And the Americans knew that if a Fourth World War occurred, they would not hesitate to use the nukes.

I hope you guys like this new update! Be sure to like(if you like it), comment(please comment so I can learn what your opinion is), vote (this is our Cold War damn it! You're supposed to help shaping the world!) and.....follow I guess.

 

[Antonio Ferrari]

Chapter 20: The Central Asian Revolt

After the Third World War, the Germans had managed somehow to gain the support of the Russian population, resulting in a peaceful quelling of the Russians in the new Tsarodom. There were still some actions in and there, but by the 1950's, Russia was largely pacified. The same could not be said about Central Asia, however. Since the beginning of the German occupation, the new Turkestan Protectorate was the head of several separatist movements that, during WW3, only continued to increase in size. The Germans never had much controll of the protectorate outside of the cities, and some unrecognized states begun to form under the rebel groups. We had the Alash Republic, a mainly Kazak state and the rebel state which held the most territories, the Kivian State, one of the smallest of the rebel groups, and the Bukhara republic. Then there was the Second Basmachi movement, inspired by the Basmachi movement during the Russian Civil War after the Great War, intended in creating an independent, unified Central Asian state. The Second Basmachi movement fought both against the three states mentioned, the Central Asia Liberation army, a Pro West movement that received equipment and training from the United States in Afghanistan, the Germans and the German allies. Indeed, among the various groups in Central Asia, some decided to remain loyal to the German cause. In exchange, they would receive independence, but remain members of the German block.

Central Asia in November 07 1950

For the West, the Central Asia revolt could be used to their advantage in creating a Pro-West Central Asia, in order to further reinforce their position in Asia. While Southeast Asia was essentially lost, having become a Japanese puppet, some in the West thought that gaining control of Mainland Asia would had allowed for the Western Allies to contrast the Axis somewhat. Central Asia could also be used as a base to strike the Baku oil fields in a future war against the Axis. Now the question was: how to intervene?

Some believed that a surprise attack on the Germans could be achieved: the United States, the main leaders of the Western Allies, were not that damaged from both the Second and Third World Wars, while the Germans had lost many men and seemed tired of war. But many others believed that either sanctions or continuing support to the rebels was the right thing to do. In particular, they thought that they could try and gain the support of both the three major rebel groups of Alash, Khivia and Bukhara to create an unified, pro-West Central Asia.

Vote here:

What should the West do?: https://strawpoll.com/xoeuxg9yx

I hope you guys like this new update! Be sure to like(if you like it), comment(please comment so I can learn what your opinion is), vote (this is our Cold War damn it! You're supposed to help shaping the world!) and.....follow I guess.

 

[Antonio Ferrari]

Chapter 21: German victory in Central Asia, voting in Africa

Despite the successes of the Central Asian rebels, the United States wanted to avoid war with the Germans as much as possible at the moment. American people had no intention to go to war, and the US wanted to save face in case of another German victory. During this period, support for the Central Asian rebels diminished even further, and, on January 1951, the Germans declared victory against the rebels, with the last remaining pockets of resistance being the Second Basmachi movement. It was the lack of coordination between the various rebel groups that doomed them, allowing the Germans to pick them up one-by-one.

Central Asia in 1951

Another problem for the US was regarding elections in Africa. Central Africa, Senegal and Madagascar were the only remaining independent states that were neutral in the Cold War contest. With their elections coming near, some in America feared that these countries could join the Axis powers, as some heavily African nationalistic parties were popular in these three countries. Many in the United States were hoping to heavily influence the elections in these countries using Commonwealth bases. Others believed to orchestrate coups in case nationalistic movements seemed to develop in the region.

Vote here:

What should America do?: https://strawpoll.com/jp9c71281

I hope you guys like this new update! Be sure to like(if you like it), comment(please comment so I can learn what your opinion is), vote (this is our Cold War damn it! You're supposed to help shaping the world!) and.....follow I guess.

 

[Nonoene64]

So far this timeline is good.

 

[Antonio Ferrari]

So far this timeline is good.

Good to hear. Any suggestions?

 

[Nonoene64]

I think , there could be some friction between Austria-Hungary and Italy because of Dalmatia , some Austrians migt be unhappy , but what do I know , it's your timeline and this could be bad suggestion .