Prince Charles Ascends or how a car accident saves Europe

[Johnrankins]

July 7,1944
The fall of the Communist Government to the Corporatists happen on this date . Stalin is executed and the leader of the Corporatist rebels negotiate with the Allies.
The negotiations result in the following agreement over the next 3 weeks
1) Russia recognizes the independence of the Baltic Nations.
2) Russia recognizes the Syndicalist Republic of Ukraine.
3) Russia cedes the area on the arc of Sosnovyy Bor to Tosno to Kirovsk to Finland including Saint Petersburg.
4) it is forced to cede the area conquered by Fascist Roman Empire to Rome by Roman insistence. This is not recognized by anyone else and this causes problems for Rome later.

Meanwhile the Russian Corporatist Republic is formed. It has similarities to the Syndicalist Republic of Ukraine as the property of the former USSR is handled in the same way but the Russian Orthodox Church and the peasantry contributed a disproportionate number of members. As such the Russian Orthodox Church is given 20% of the seats in the Duma with the members picked by the Russian Orthodox Patriarch. The Duma's districts are formed in such a way that the rural districts are given 3 times their weight in numbers in seats as compared to urban districts. This smooths down over time as the rural areas become more urbanized. Elections are by a instant runoff voting system. Elections are scheduled for next month.

July 11, 1944
Chinese sailors step aboard one of their light cruisers for the first time. As all of the sailors have had 3 months training on a destroyer before coming on board and being the best and brightest of them things go far more smoothly that the first day of the destroyers. That said they all have had only 3 months training on warships so things aren't THAT smooth. They still have a long way to go before they can be considered trained sailors. In 3 months the best of these will be trained on the USS Wyoming.

July 22, 1944

With the signing of the agreement "Victory Day" is celebrated in Europe, outside of Germany and Russia, obviously. The ink is barely dry when the tensions between the Allies and the Rome Pact start rising. The annexation of parts of Russia by Rome is irritating to the Anglo-French. However, this is swept under the rug for now due to the victory over the Communists.

 

[Johnrankins]

WW2 Military Dead
Allies 1,236,000
Russians 1,603,000
Rome Pact 776,000
Germany 440,000
Japan 1.5 million note :Japanese fatalities include seppeku and banzai attacks. Without suicides and suicidal tactics Japanese deaths would be far lower.
China 1.5 million including malaria victims
US 125,000

 

[Johnrankins]

Militarily there are some very significant differences from TTL ww2 than ours
1) TDs are more prevalent and important
2) Fortifications are more used
3) Due to the war in Russia being less brutal and the one in China far shorter there are about 1/4 the number of deaths of OTL. UK/France actually has considerably more deaths while Germany, Russia, China, Japan and the US have less.
4) Submarine warfare is less used as Germany has no access to the Channel Ports and thus the UK has an easier time of stopping them. In East Asia the war is over quick enough that there isn't as much time for the subs to grind away Air attacks are even more prominent in TTL as a result and surface ships are seen as more useful.. Subs did have an effect but they are lessened.

 

[Johnrankins]

Aug 10, 1944
Russian elections which have the following results
Corporatist Alliance 30%
Peasants Party 25 %
Orthodox Christian Union 20%
Kadets 15%
Others 10%

The government is economically left wing (but not as much as before) and socially right wing. There is a major religious revival in Russia. A feeling that Russia was being punished for "going against God" by becoming Communist due to its avowed Atheism. Slowly over time non Russian Orthodox people become unofficial second class citizens.

It passes the following economic policies
1) Manufacturing plants , mines , oil fields and other large production facilities are turned into corporations with its shares distributed equally among its workers. Workers will not be able to sell its stock for 1 year. After that a maximum of 20% the stock can be sold each year.
2) Large retail outfits (over 50 employees) are to be treated as above with smaller ones divided into equal partnerships. Farmland is divided equally among peasants. The tractors, seeds, fertilizers are taken over by the peasants in a co-op.
3) There is a progressive income tax maxing out at 70%
4) There is a corporate tax that maxes out at 80%
5) There is a 100% tariff that automatically goes down 5% a year for the next 15 years.
6) There are tax credits for railroad building, fertilizer and irrigation equipment manufacture, farm and mining equipment manufacture and for agriculture R&D.
7) All price controls are ended and a bankruptcy law instituted.

Aug 15, 1944

Enlai Motors is started in Shanghai. It is the first auto company in China. It is very small and caters to the the lower upper class. People poorer than that can't afford cars and the even richer buy more prestigious American cars. It starts out slow but within 10 years are able to sell to the upper ends of the growing upper middle class. They are joined by other companies in a year and after a decade there is a full fledged car manufacturing boom in China.

August 25,1944

With the end of the war and the re-establishment of government in Russia , Great Britain starts withdrawing its troops. France starts its withdrawal a day later. Any ideas of a strong Russian resistance movement die stillborn, it is clear the Allies are leaving anyway so why get shot for nothing?

 

[Johnrankins]

Sept 6, 1944

Russia asks the US for food aid saying that there will be mass starvation in Russia without help. The US Government asks US citizens to donate food or money to help feed Russia. The Russian Orthodox Church in the US requests generous donations from its followers in the US . The first food shipment is ready in 3 weeks and it arrives in Russia within 2 months. Food donations from the US are able to keep Russia from starving that winter.

Sept 10 , 1944
A major victory parade in Rome is held . Rows of tanks and artillery roll past Mussolini's booth with planes flying overhead. Il Duce is at the very height of his popularity . People are given the day off as it is declared a "National day of celebration" by the Roman Senate.

Sept 24, 1944

A similar military parade is held in Peking with CKS in attendance. Although his popularity isn't as high as Mussolini's at the moment it is considerably higher than OTL and he has no real rival. His mood is also quite different. Although he is quite happy the various wars he had are over he is worried about the possible eventual return of the Japanese. The parade is as much a warning to the Japanese as it is a celebration.

Oct 12,1944

Unrest begins developing in Yugoslavia . People there are becoming unhappy about the unequal trade agreements with the Roman Empire. They were willing to go along with them as long as the war with the USSR was going on but now that the war is over they want the agreements renegotiated. Right now the fascist government can keep it under control but it is worried about what will happen in the future. They aren't too keen on getting into a war with Rome over it .

Oct 23, 1944

The first time Chinese sailors come aboard the RCS Peking (Formerly the USS Wyoming) which is the new flagship of the Chinese fleet. These are the best and the brightest of the new recruits. The American officers aboard her notice a bit of a haughty attitude among the new recruits and they give tests designed to curb the arrogance of some of these recruits. They want to make sure that the crew will be confident but not cocky.

 

[Johnrankins]

Nov 5, 1944

China buys 100,000 surplus Garand rifles from the US. CKS is using them to replace the rifles in his better units. Although some were sent during the war, it was far from enough to rearm the entire Chinese Army.

Nov 13, 1944
Japan starts conducting tests on radar sets. Although still far from US/British standards they start improving within a year.

Nov 21, 1944
China starts mass producing 6 /53 guns both as replacements for any worn out barrels on their light cruisers, and far more often, as coastal guns. Although far from the best , it is hoped that they will be able to fire on any landing craft that gets past the destroyers and dive bombers. They will eventually be accompanied by more powerful 12/50 guns being studied now. Once they are in place hostile ships will have to start being careful around the Chinese coast. The coastal guns are protected by 90 mm antiaircraft guns,

Dec 5, 1944
The Chinese start sending out their Wickes Class destroyers with Chinese enlisted and Western officers and NCOs(mostly American). The junior NCOs doing shore duty are slowly being replaced by newly promoted Chinese enlisted with the Westerners awaiting the arrival of the new destroyers once built.

Dec 15,1944

The Chinese start building Po Class destroyers which are based on the Wickes Class destroyers but with 3 less torpedo tubes but an additional two 3/23 AA guns.

 

[Johnrankins]

Jan 5, 1945
China buys 300,000 1903 Springfield Rifles which are cheaper than the Gerands and use less ammo. He gives them to regular units . The Carcanos he has are given to militia. 20,000 M19 Browning Machine Guns are also purchased. The Breda 30s are sold to the Kingdom of Indochina.

Jan 10,1945
The Romans build a naval base in Saipan . The number of sailors in the base outnumber the military age males on the entire island. Roman settlements are encouraged by the government as it wants an outpost on the Pacific and this is the best that they got. The sad result of this is that there are more Romans on the island than natives within 20 years.

Jan 23,1945
The US , the British Empire and the French Empire form a customs union. Protectionism was seen as a major cause of the Great Depression and no one wants to see that repeated, also the US feels that the money it is owed is more likely to be paid back with free trade. Great Britain and France are pleased with the privileged position it gives them in the US market.

Jan 30,1945
Although the US and the Rome Pact don't create a full fledged customs union they do lower tariffs in respect to each other as the US wants to make sure Rome can pay it back.

Feb 5, 1945

After a series of riots in India a law is passed granting India independence in 6 years. The 6 years is a transition period where the Indians are allowed to run their own affairs more and more until independence day. The transition is somewhat smoother than OTL but not as much as hoped. The Englishmen running the country are not thrilled at training their replacement in most cases. However India is not portioned in TTL.

Feb 12, 1945
The Philippine Government signs an agreement giving a 99 year lease to a naval base and an airbase in the Philippines. Not only does it bring in much need cash it more importantly protects it from the Japanese Empire and the Chinese Republic which many Filipinos are worried about. Japanese occupation was short but brutal and they don't want to repeat it the moment the Americans leave.

Feb 30,1945

A major trade agreement is made between the US and China. It drastically reduces tariffs between the US and China.

 

[Johnrankins]

Mar 3, 1945
GB and France form the Anglo-Franco Alliance as a long-term alliance. It is known as the Alliance for short. It is a defensive alliance only, that pledges support to the other only if attacked.

Mar 5, 1945
Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg as the Benelux Alliance known as Benelux for short. It is also a defensive alliance only and is considered friendly to the Anglo-Franco Alliance.

Mar 8, 1945
The Baltic States and Finland form the Baltic Bloc another defensive alliance that is considered friendly by both the Anglo-French and Benelux.

Mar 12,1945
The Nordic Alliance is formed between Sweden, Norway and Denmark. The four alliances start having discussions on forming one big alliance for democratic Europe.

Apr 5, 1945
The Chinese destroyers start coming back from their shake down cruises. Some of the Chinese enlisted are promoted to petty officers 3rd class with some promoted to second class by the end of the year. The best of the Western petty officers of those ranks are promoted to serve on the new destroyers being built, some are no promoted but assigned to the new ships and the rest are let go. Most of those join the Royal Indochinese Navy which needs petty officers with experience but for lower pay than they had with China.

Apr 7, 1945
The Chinese light cruisers go on shakedown cruises. The cruises go fairly well as you have experienced NCOs and officers.

Apr 15, 1945

The Japanese government makes an evaluation of China. It states any invasion of China, should it prove to be necessary, would be "problematic". The shorelines are starting to be covered by 6 inch coastal guns which can easily sink any invasion craft that they use. The coastal airspace is mostly protected by Chinese fighters. The army is becoming professionalized with 200,000 regular troops, 300,000 reservists and 500,000 militia with both the regulars and reservists armed with decent rifles and the militia with Carcanos. Their machine guns are much better than those that Japan faced during the war. They have Stuart and Grant tanks with some artillery. The regulars are much better trained.

China now has an actual navy. It is composed completely by destroyers at the moment but light cruisers and battleships are going to be active soon. The navy isn't as good as the Imperial Navy but should at least damage some of its ships if it came to a fight. The Imperial Navy should easily defeat the Chinese Navy at the moment but an eye needs to be kept on it. With the Chinese building more destroyers 2 Aoba class heavy cruisers 3 Sendai Class Light Cruisers and 8 Asashio Class Destroyers should be built.

Japan's newly built Shiratsuyu class destroyers go on their shakedown cruise.

 

[Johnrankins]

Apr 30,1945
The Chinese buy 100 90 mm AA/AT guns, 100 105 mm Howitzer and 50 M10 Tank Destroyers from the US.

May 3, 1945
The four European alliances begin discussing how a unified European alliance would work. Little is accomplished at this meeting except that the name will be the United Democratic European Alliance.

May 28, 1945
The Chinese light cruisers come back and they go through the same process of promotion as with the destroyers. The lower petty officers are becoming increasingly Chinese. The Chinese battleships go on their shakedown cruise. As they have the cream of the Chinese Navy things go pretty well. They certainly aren't up to Japanese standards though. Japan takes the recommendations and start building the warships.

June 3, 1945
Anti-Roman riots break out in Yugoslavia . Some Roman businesses are burned . Yugoslavian troops are able to put it down for now before Roman troops get involved. Mussolini sends a stern warning to the rioters and a half a dozen infantry divisions are involved in military exercises.

June 8, 1945

Chinese destroyers train as entire squadrons for the first time. There is a mock battle between two of the squadrons where much is learned by the new Chinese junior petty officers. It is mainly the 101 minor maintenance problems that can crop up even in a mock battle with green enlisted ratings.