Stalin might have some sense knocked into him and decide to re-professionalize Soviet military leadership.
Paralyzed in Darkness: A Very Different Cold War (TL)
- Thread starter TheReformer
- Start date
Chapter I: Die Interkriege
Die Interkriege
With the west dealt with, for the moment at least, Hitler turned his eyes to the one true enemy - the Soviet Union. While the Litvinov-Ribbentrop pact agreed that both sides would follow a pact of non aggression for a period of ten years - despite German suggestions that it should last 100 - neither side seriously expected the other to maintain it. Hitler knew from the beginning his focus would turn to the soviets as soon as the west had been dealt with - the war in the west simply ended faster than he had expected. Stalin too knew German talk of peace was never intended to last, Hitler's book itself suggested that Germany's new leadership cared little for claims over the east of Europe by Russia and the Soviet Union that now took it's place. Furthermore Nazism and Fascism was created as a reaction to communism and it opposed the ideological belief to the core - war was to come in the east, for Stalin it was merely a matter of when. Stalin - arguably in a rather delusional manner - believed that were the Germans to invade the Red army would be capable of opposing and even defeating the Wehrmacht and as such continued on with his policy of purging supposedly anti-stalin members of the armed forces. Hitler knew however the German Army was not prepared for the invasion of the USSR yet, but also knew that soviet policy of officer purges and general lack of preparation made the USSR weak and as such following the Treaty of Stockholm directed his military command towards what he labelled "The real task: the showdown with Bolshevism".
Germany however did now face significant advantages in it's preparation to defeat the USSR - without the Royal Navy to stand in it's way it was now free to trade with the world without interference, at least with those nations that sought to trade with them anyway. This vastly improved the German war effort, allowing for imports of steel from Norway - who chose to trade with Germany rather than risk angering them or justifying invasion - and Oil from countries such as Venezuela and Persia. This meant Germany was not forced to rely on their connected nations for trade, nations like Romania and even the USSR who had it not been for the lack of blockade would have been Germany's only option to fuel their war effort. Thus, while the Germans were no longer reliant on Soviet economic support, the two sides did however now clash foe the first time diplomatically. Under the Litvinov-Ribbentrop agreement the Soviet Union had been granted domain over the Baltic states, along with regions such as Bessarabia in Romania and Karelia in Finland - the USSR began pressing these claims almost immediately after the agreement. The Baltic states were the first to go, being the first to be invaded only a month after the invasion of France by the German Reich in March 1939. Wanting to avoid involvement of the west in their affairs the Soviets invaded during the conclusion of the war in the west, giving many of the Baltic states little choice but to surrender with only Lithuania seriously considering opposing soviet demands. Many of these states were forced to accept Soviet 'peacekeeping' deployments of troops, then had their Governments disbanded with fake elections in which 99.6% of the votes were faked - only for the elected officials then to propose and vote for joining the Soviet Union. Bessarabia in Romania too soon found itself under soviet occupation after the German Government - now dominant in continental Europe - 'suggested' to the Romanian Government that they negotiate the matter with the Soviets in order to receive territorial guarantees.
Germany too would later demand territorial concessions from the Romanians in order to retain their protection in August of 1939, demanding the return of Northern Transylvania to Hungary to return ethnic Hungarians to Hungarian protection along with the return of small Bulgarian claimed territories in southern Romania to Bulgaria. Once again Romania was forced to accept the demands, changing the borders of eastern Europe for good. Italy too sought to get it's piece of the 'pie' so to speak from the peace, having been granted Yugoslavian land due to standing claims from the first world war Mussolini felt slightly cheated by being denied any French land - despite not having taken part in the conflict. Greco-Italian relations had been declining for months, but by August of 1939 they reached breaking point with naval skirmishes and the decision by Greece to mobilise it's armed forces. Mussolini ordered the declaration of war only days later following a rejected ultimatum on Greece for the transfer of Albanian claimed territories in Epirus, launching an invasion from the Italian protectorate into the heart of Greece. Italy would be surprised however when Greek forces not only held their advance, but then launched a successful counter attack into Albania within a month of the conflict beginning, driving back Italian forces back into Albania to the towns of Himara, Kilsura and Pogradec. This was not only a military nightmare for Mussolini - who was trying to demonstrate Italy's newfound strength - but also a political nightmare when he was forced to turn to Hitler for help.
With little real interest in committing to a conflict in Greece, Hitler was infuriated by the incompetence of the Italian army causing such grave distractions during preparations for Operation Barbarossa as well as Operation Tannenbaum which Hitler had authorized preparations for while Germany prepared for invading the USSR. Germany agreed to back up Italy's invasion however to close their southern front and ensure Italy was not entirely thrown out of the Balkans, beginning with their invasion through Bulgaria - who aligned with the Axis following the defeat of Yugoslavia - in 1940. Greece, having surprised the world and the allies by their ability to defeat the Italians now became subject to a rapid blitzkrieg campaign by experienced and better equipped German forces that effectively cut off the vast majority of the Greek army in Albania after their advances. With virtually no forces standing in their way, German forces reached and took Athens by the end of January 1940 where the Greek Government surrendered and subsequently fled to the UK. Italy then occupied most of historical Greece, with Bulgaria being granted all of their historical claims along the coast of the Aegean Sea including the city of Thessaolniki. This campaign would prove to the Germans that their Schwerpunkt and Blitzkrieg strategies worked successfully even in different environments and geographical regions, but equally it demonstrated Italy's lack of preparation for a conflict and uselessness of their armed forces - something Hitler would not quickly forget.
Germany would next turn it's eyes on Switzerland, aiming to invade and defeat the small and neutral nation within the first few months of 1940. Hitler passionately hated the Swiss with German officers claiming that after the fall of France destroying the country was often a subject of lengthy ranting by the Fuhrer. The country however had the advantage of massive and significant geographical defences that were not easily overcome. Any invasion from the direction of Burgundy would almost certainly fail due to the river Doubs and vast forests in the region and as such German planning instead turned to a feint attack on the river by infantry supported by engineering units followed by a mechanized push through the north of the country to surround any drawn out Swiss troops. The invasion officially commenced on February 12th 1940 when the German 12th Army under List began feint attacks against Swiss border positions. Having justified the war on the pretext that throughout the battle for France the Swiss air force had forcibly pushed German aircraft out of their airspace Germany claimed it had been attacked by the Swiss Government justifying military action. While Swiss forces initially fought delaying actions, they were largely unable to hold German advances as 21 Divisions pressed into the country. The advance would be slow and hard due to the mountain passes that the Swiss violently denied German access to, but within a week of the conflict much of the main Swiss plateau had fallen to German control while Italian mountaineer divisions advanced from the south against Swiss bunker positions. But while the majority of the country would be occupied within a matter of weeks, several Swiss fortified positions would end up holding out for up to three months with the final positions giving in due to food shortages on May 29th 1940.
Switzerland from there would be divided between the Axis powers, with Burgundy taking a significant section of French speaking Switzerland, Italy taking the southern Italian speaking Cantons such as Ticino and Germany annexing the remaining German speaking segments of the country. The Swiss had fought bravely and while never expecting victory had secured the moral defence of their nation for the future to come by holding back the Nazis for as long as they could. The west perceived this action as a violent breach of international law with Britain's new Government condemning the conflict and refusing to recognise the illegal occupation. France too responded with criticism, but aware of their current instability and effectively at the mercy of Germany they felt incapable of responding to the crisis or supporting the Swiss in any meaningful manner.
France and Britain themselves had their own internal issues to deal with anyway, faced with defeat at the hands of the Germans France's Government had almost immediately collapsed after the resignation of Edouard Daladier with Paul Reynaud being forced to pick up the already shattered pieces. Riots erupted across the north of the country due to shortages of even basic provisions like bread as what was roughly calculated to be around three and a half million Frenchmen and women fled now German controlled territories to the east of the country, often pushed by German soldiers, while French communists began taking advantage of the chaos. By late April two whole cities had fallen under the control of Communist militias in Nantes and Marseilles with insurgent groups propping up all over Paris taking over neighborhoods and creating effective no-go zones for French Government forces and police. The now battered and demoralised French Army was forced to deploy against their own countrymen to seize control of the cities back which led to mass desertions and looting in population centres near the conflict. The situation deteriorated to such a degree that Britain had to offer sending their own dilapidated and poorly equipped armed forces to France in mid June 1939 to help secure the peace and retain stability in a peacekeeping role which the French Government accepted to an extent, though only a small number of lightly armed troops were dispatched in a policing role. The city of Calais however remained relatively stable with several British divisions being deployed to the city and the establishment of a provisional Calais Government by April headed up by french elected local officials supported by the British Government.
By July of 1939 Marseilles and Nantes had largely been brought back under control with the French Government banning communism and communist parties from operating altogether in order to maintain security. The United States, somewhat horrified by the scale of the humanitarian crisis unfolding in France, had begun shipping food and medical supplies to France with the support of other western nations to support the crisis stricken Government there. Britain by contrast - untainted by conflict or harsh Stockholm treaty terms - had continued the process of rearmament, however this was marginally put on hold to respond to the crisis in France and due to the resignation of the Government of Lord Halifax for new elections. Churchill's decision to split from the Conservatives following their agreement of peace terms with Germany had decimated any authority left behind the Prime Minister's position, forcing him to call a new general election. The King was reluctant to accept the proposal, but did so after pressure from the Prime Minister and Government leading to a General election being called for June 1939. From the beginning of the election it was clear the Government was headed for a catastrophic defeat; while peace may have been the right thing to do in the eyes of many in power in Britain, the fact is Britain didn't take to being - at least how they saw it - defeated before they even got the chance to personally use a pitchfork on a German well. Labour under Attlee came into the election with a defiant message, vowing not to bow down to Germany, to invest billions into a renewed war economy and public works programs along with the creation of greater public services and state support. Not only was their policy better than that of the Conservatives; who effectively promised stability and continuation, but their argument that the Government could have formed a Grand Coalition and fought on was too. Furthermore attacks from the now aptly named "Patriots Party" under Churchill were relentless, accusing Halifax of selling out to the Nazis, of abandoning Britain's position in the world and abandoning Britain's long standing position on the stability of Europe. Founded by a sizable group of 25 or defectors from the Conservatives including Anthony Eden, Churchill, Duncan Sandys and Brendan Bracken the young party experienced an influx of members and supporters allowing them to overcome Churchill's questionable personality and past experience in favour of opposition to the war.
The result of the election in the end was not surprising, Attlee's Labour obliterated the sitting Government taking a sizable majority from what was one of the biggest electoral swings in British electoral history. Facing a split vote between the Conservatives and Patriots Labour gained a massive number of seats, even when accounting for the losses for the Conservatives to the Patriots, Liberals and various other parties. Attlee was subsequently invited to form a Government in the name of the King on June 23rd 1939.
Attlee's Government would be the first Labour Majority Government in history, but it would enter office during a time of grave global instability. Their first action however was to begin expanding the British Armed Forces, transforming national service into a policy not only designed to support the military, but also to support civilian industry. Attlee took a significant amount of inspiration from US President Roosevelt and his 'new deal' policy, vastly increasing deficit spending in favour of massive infrastructural works projects and refocusing the economy on reequipping Britain's outdated Armed Forces. Within months the RAF would be doubled in size, filling it's ranks with fresh recruits, new Aircraft including the Spitfire and Hurricane designed only a year and two years respectively prior. New 'RADAR' Installations were constructed across the country with the technology given to France too in order to better prepare the country's air defences with new agreements between the French Republic and United Kingdom in regards to security arrangements. British forces would, while already being deployed on policing missions across the country, also be deployed on the front line against the supposed state of Burgandy - but while Britain prepared for a possible future conflict, Germany was almost ready to begin a new one.
For those of you wondering what's going on in Burgundy btw, you'll find out in the post after the next one as next time i want to handle Barbarossa, then you'll get info on the 'state of Europe' so to speak!
At least in the short term, Republicanism is going to be very popular in Britan, I don't expect it to go anywhere but it will be mainstream due to current Kings pro Nazi attitudes. He probably will have to abdicate eventually
Wouldn't they just change monarchs instead of becoming a republican government?
That's why I said it would not get any where,still Edwards activities are going to leave a stain on the house of Windsor and the monarchy for a long time
Same reason as the change from Battenburg to Mountbatten - to obsfucate the German connection.
In this case, the change from Windsor to (X) would be to shake the Pro-Nazi stain of the current King's sympathies, perceived or actual.
They cannot pertened he wasnt in the family. that be just a stupid gimick and everyone would know it
Absolutely, however, it works.
It works because enough of the British public that matter want it to work.
It works because of the belief in the idea of the King or Queen being somehow special and separate from the person themselves.
It's a very strange mental situation we British mostly have, an incredible ability to just accept certain things and just deal with it.
Love of tea, succession of Royalty, the delusion that we're good at cricket, all the same.
One question? How likely is it that by the end of this thing that the only place polish is spoken is the suburbs of Chicago
Really enjoying this. Thanks for creating it. Just one question, does Germany ever station troops in Ireland or gain the use if Irish west coast ports? Thanks again.
No any such agreement would lead to an automatic British invasion
I mean it is interesting as the new Fine Gael party in the 1930s was led by Eoin O'Duffy who would later become the leader of the National Corporate Party. A FG government led by O'Duffy would lead to very interesting butterflies for the UK and Ireland.
Not in the TL so far - who knows though, may happen later! Though as said above, if that were to happen under the current agreement the British would probably flip out so...