We'll see. After all, I have not mentioned the actions in Asia or Africa yet.
The Band Played Waltzing Matilda
- Thread starter Walter Rodney Kinghorn
- Start date
We'll see. After all, I have not mentioned the actions in Asia or Africa yet.
A message from the President of the United States:
Hello ladies and gentlemen,
As you are aware, this timeline has gotten more than 21,000 views on this website. I speak for all of us when I say thank you for your time (I beg your pardon) to view this timeline. A lot of things are going to happen soon. Big things. Dangerous things. Awesome things.
The war will be long, it will be harsh and it will change the shape of the world forever. As of now, I have no stomach for a fight, none of us do. But I am not naive about the situation this world is in. The German Führer is angry, the Russian Tsar is mad and senile, the Austro-Hungarians are desperate, the Japanese Prime Minister looks over the Pacific with envious eyes and the Brazilians and the Mexicans all wish to carve their own slice of the cake.
I vow as your President, as the President of the United States, to be a part of a fulfilling journey even if I am doomed to fail. Not just for me, but for the millions of people who will contribute to the fight against tyranny worldwide. Not because it is easy. Not because it is moral or right. But because we must.
I thank you for your attention.
Hello ladies and gentlemen,
As you are aware, this timeline has gotten more than 21,000 views on this website. I speak for all of us when I say thank you for your time (I beg your pardon) to view this timeline. A lot of things are going to happen soon. Big things. Dangerous things. Awesome things.
The war will be long, it will be harsh and it will change the shape of the world forever. As of now, I have no stomach for a fight, none of us do. But I am not naive about the situation this world is in. The German Führer is angry, the Russian Tsar is mad and senile, the Austro-Hungarians are desperate, the Japanese Prime Minister looks over the Pacific with envious eyes and the Brazilians and the Mexicans all wish to carve their own slice of the cake.
I vow as your President, as the President of the United States, to be a part of a fulfilling journey even if I am doomed to fail. Not just for me, but for the millions of people who will contribute to the fight against tyranny worldwide. Not because it is easy. Not because it is moral or right. But because we must.
I thank you for your attention.
The Tsar’s Bizarre Adventures + The Big Trouble In A Smaller China
"I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia. It is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma, but perhaps there is a key. That key is Russian national interest.” - Winston Churchill (OTL in 1939), addressing the House of Commons on the 17th July 1938.
"Fuck your sister! How dare you make Shandong's people suffer by not giving us rain!” - OTL quote from Zhang Zongchang, “CHINA: Basest War Lord” from TIME Magazine in 1927. Zongchang slapped a statue of Zhang Xian as people were praying for rain after a famine hit Shandong. After leaving the temple, the next day he ordered the artillery to shoot into the sky until it rained. The next day, it rained. This is where his nickname “72-Cannon Chang” came from.
‘Mother, who was that man?’ asked Feng Xinyue the daughter. Kneeling down, she held her child tight.
‘That was a, a man who was going to bury our father,’ said Mother.
‘But, but Mother, why was he talking about logs?’ asked Feng Xinyue.
- The Angel Among The Corpses, a historical fiction novel based of the atrocities committed by the Epidemic Prevention and Water Purification Department of the Kwantung Army and its two masterminds, Surgeon General Shirō Ishii and Josef Mengele. It was written by Bing Xin (5th October 1900 - 7th June 2003), who wrote a total of 41 non-fiction, fiction and children’s books. These books had settings from the First World War, the Three Kingdoms Period, Chinese history, Sun Yet-sen, the Sino-Japanese Wars, the Mongolian Wars, the Second World War and the postwar period. She won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971, 1975 and 1976, becoming TIME Magazine’s Woman of the Year 1999 and becoming one of the most recognised female writers in the World alongside Jane Austen, Beatrix Potter, Charlotte Harris and Helena Taligatus.
Russia would come into the new decade with a need for change. The support of Britain and France began to wither away as food shipments began to decrease. The changes came as part of the wave of communist uprisings across the world as well as the social activism regarding the more questionable areas of the globe. Russia being one of them.
Despite this, the Palmer Administration would continue to give its support, following confirmation of communist terrorists coming from the Russian Empire. Henry Ford would give his support for industrialisation as he met the Tsar in September 1912 alongside Prime Minister Alexander Kerensky. Ford and the Tsar would express their distrust of the German Revolution, the revolts in the Caucasus region and the Dutch East Indies Emergencies. The introduction of several American entrepreneurs in the country after 1924 allowed industrialisation to continue. Land reforms began, after much argument between Kerensky, the Tsar and the growing Menshevik opposition.
The open-field system that dominated the Russian Empire’s agricultural output would slowly be phased out, as the Tsar and the more rebellions of landowners received kickbacks from Ford, IBM, Standard Oil of New Jersey and other corporations. The enclosing of land began to be taken seriously as many peasants and farmers died from the Polish Flu. Out of all of the deaths in the Russian Empire, three-fourths were farmers. With farmers began to gain bigger strips, which motivated them to grow surplus food. The introduction of tractors in 1925 meant that by 1930, farmers in the Russian Empire were able to produce more. Domestic profits rose as the Tsar encouraged demand along with Prime Minister Kerensky in the aftermath of November 1927.
The industry of the Russian Empire contracted after November 1927. However, with the state capitalist system in place, it hurt less compared to other countries. Kerensky was defeated in the 1928 Duma Election by a coalition of Mensheviks and Cadets, the latter of which became the largest conservative party. Another party was the Union of the Russian Peoples (URP), who won 74 seats. The URP were a volkist, ultranationalist, anti-Semitic political party that was responsible for the Black Hundreds in 1906. Alexander Dubrovin had led the party to victory in the 1923 Duma Elections, riding a wave of anti-Communist sentiments before doubling their gains once again.
The interconnectedness of the Russian Empire and the Third Reich began in the 1920s, as the Russian Tsar requested the use of foreign mercenaries to quell uprisings in Poland, Silesia and other German territories that Russia took in the Treaty of Versailles. At first, the counter-insurgency worked, but as time went on the need for Germans to reunite with their own country came to the fore. It would come to pass in the 1937 Treaty of Danzig, which restored Germany’s 1914 eastern border. It would be a part of the link between a volkist Germany and a more authoritarian Russian Empire.
German engineers would come to the country and begin to modernise much of Russia’s infrastructure from 1926 onwards, with Germany contributing over 65% of Russia’s foreign imports. Russia in turn would become the largest supplier of oil, coal and pig iron to Germany. Both armies trained in tank warfare, new aircraft, new submachine guns and other weapons from the time of the Second Long Depression’s start in 1927 until the beginning of war in 1940.
The Russian Tsar saw nothing wrong with this. This is despite the fact that German and Russian troops were fighting one another from 1914 to 1917. The Russian Tsar saw no reason in political reforms except those that Germany were capable of showing. As the years went by, the Tsar grew more distant from the nations he once fought alongside. The rise of communist and volkist violence across Europe and the world meant that the Tsar could not be convinced of the merits of democratic reforms. The 1933 Duma would show the URP as the largest party with 477 out of 919 seats. The Mensheviks followed with 111, followed by the Cadets (109), Octobrists (100), Trudoviks (64) and the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (41) and other parties holding the remaining 17 seats.
The reforms in place would follow Germany’s step. There would be a massive campaign of modernisation and industrialisation. Factories east of the Ural Mountains would be formed in the hundreds from 1934 to 1937. Unemployment went down to 5.4% by 1935, as labourers were forcibly shipped to new areas of the country along with their families to work in these places. Jews in Russia were given a choice: either be consigned to labour conscription (Germany made it clear that no pogroms were to occur) or they would be allowed to emigrate to Germany. 7 out of 10 Jews within the Russian Empire emigrated between 1922 and 1939. Out of a population of more than 5 million, 3.5 million Jews emigrated. Only half stayed within the Third Reich, with the rest moving on to the Arab State, the United States, France, the First Republic of Italy and Brazil.
The Russian Army, numbering 4 million in peacetime, received new training thanks to German commanders. This was hidden and underground, away from any foreign diplomats from the year 1922 until the revelations made by “White Rose”. The humiliation of the First World War prior to the intervention in the Dardanelles would be forgotten, as most soldiers were equipped with a Russian-model of the MP-32, which would carry a larger drum for ammunition before changing over to the StG 42 in December 1942/January 1943. The Russian Empire would also give more support to the Kingdom of Italy and the Kingdom of Croats, Serbs and Slovenes as well as Japan (more out of necessity father than genuine friendship).
These things helped to bring about the downfall of any resistance from Mensheviks or Bolsheviks. With the death of Lenin and the downfall of Trotsky’s revolutions, communists began to disappear (like Stalin who fled to China before he was killed in Manchuria in the Second Sino-Japanese War). An attempted communist revolution by Julius Martov led to the First Mongolian War from the 6th December 1924 to 9th January 1926. The Second Mongolian War (3rd November 1934 - 25th July 1936) would lead to the downfall of the Presidency of Hu Shih and the annexation of Inner Mongolia into the Russian Empire proper.
Nothing in the world would signify the doom that Russian would bring unlike that of one man. Born in Austria-Hungary and fluent in five languages (French, Russian, German, English and Estonian), the man would claim his ancestry from Batu Khan, worship Vajrayana Buddhism and earn the sobriquet “the Mad Baron”.
Roman von Ungern-Sternberg (10th January 1886 - 26th October 1978)
See those eyes. Those eyes are giving you a chance to run. WHY AREN'T YOU RUNNING?!
China: The Middle Kingdom. Since 1915, the Republic of China was solidifying after Yuan Shikai’s death from uremia. Sun Yat-sen would begin to modernise the country under his rule. Yat-sen and his advisors negotiated with Western Powers, where several nations bargained for the use of the pool of labour to build railways and other facilities. Spain, France, Britain, The Netherlands and Russia all spent their repayments from the Boxer Protocol on railways, schools, churches and other buildings on the coastal regions to prevent nationalisations of their properties in China. Germany and Austria-Hungary not only had their payments declared forfeit, but they both had to pay even more to China after that, which contributed to the hyperinflation and the rise of volkism in Germany before ascending as the Third Reich.
The Revolutionary Period from 1915 to 1922 saw many radical things introduced to China: Universal suffrage for all those over the age of 25, women could vote, the introduction of an income tax, the formation of the Chinese Reserve Bank, religious tolerance for Christian and Muslim minorities in the country, compulsory education for all those over the age of 10, the expansion of tertiary education, the establishment of a silver standard (which meant China avoided the Second Long Depression) and the establishment of the Kuomintang Army, Kuomintang Navy and the Kuomintang Air Force.
The Constitution was changed in 1920 which entrenched much of these new reforms. China was to be referred to as “The United Provinces of China” or UPC, which was to entrench federalism but at the same time avoiding the belief that federalism implied separatism. The UPC was divided into several provinces: Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Qinghai, Gansu, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Tianjin, Beijing, Shanxi, Ningxia, Shandong, Henan, Jiangsu, Hubei, Hebei, Shaanxi, Shanghai, Sichuan, Yunnan, Guangxi, Guangdong, Hainan, Taiwan, Fujian, Zhejiang. The first election was on January 1921, with a 6-year unlimited term for the President.
Anhui and Jiangxi (under the control of the Anhui Clique and its leader Duan Qirui) would be recognised as part of the UPC on the 7th November 1920. Fighting in the area was fierce, devolving into trench warfare. Qirui would sent bandits to rob border towns of any money, which was then used to purchase weapons, hire foreign mercenaries and even bribe townsfolk. Over 7,000 Russians, 1,564 Germans, 23 Americans and 447 Englishmen were hired by the Anhui Clique to train the soldiers despite less than half of the men having actual combat experience. 5 out of 7 Russians were members of the Bolsheviks, with evidence to suggest that they emigrated from Russia itself and from the Dutch East Indies after Trotsky’s revolts failed.
Fighter planes would take to the skies for the first time on the 6th March 1921 facing the Anhui Clique’s own fighter pilots. Just 237 Anhui Clique pilots versus over 2,678 KAF pilots. To suggest that it was one sided was not the case. The Anhui Clique’s pilots were all experienced with pilots such as:
Battles raged on the borders of the disputed area, as villages went up in smoke. Elders that lived their lives through the monarchy of the Qing and the despotism of Yuan Shikai would see another form in the Anhui Clique, as property was forcibly taken as well as livestock and any wealth they carried. According to the Morgenthau Institute Against Racecide, the pillaging that the Anhui Clique committed resulted in the deaths of 100,000 - 250,000 Chinese adults and children with another 290,000 children suffering the symptoms of malnutrition and rickets.
The 1921 Election led to 281,395,200 people voting, the largest electorate in the world at the time which had to be coordinated with the army (even when there was an active rebellion). The voting was counted from March until September that year, with the results not known until the 14th October. Sun Yat-sen faced off against Cai Yuanpei and his Anarchist-Communist Party of China, which was the only major opposition against Yat-sen’s rule. Not only were the votes up for grabs, so were the Electoral Votes (541 in total).
Sun Yat-sen: 517 Electoral Votes and 236,771,774 votes (Elected President until 1927)
Cai Yuanpei: 24 Electoral Votes and 44,623,426 votes
Hu Shih as Vice-President helped to coordinate the army and the vote count, participating in it himself. The government’s use of the military to help coordinate the vote would allow for a speedy count. Sir Robert Ho Tung Bosman as Foreign Minister helped coordinate Anglo-Chinese relations as well as delay the antagonism of Japan. Zhou Zuoren as Culture Minister would write essays every week on the importance of the new institutions that made up the UPC, winning him a great amount of support from the poor and from working class Chinese.
In spite of the good things that the Presidential Cabinet achieved, the Anhui Clique remained solid in their intentions to overthrow the country and the President. The Empire of Japan would elect a volkist party Kokuritsu Saisei Sensen (National Regeneration Front) to government, winning 274 seats in the House of Representatives in the February 1924 election. It was after that period when the Anhui Clique reared its head, attempting to push for the coast by capturing Shanghai. Zhang Zongchang managed to block the advance of the Anhui Clique, giving a much needed victory to the Kuomintang Army on the 7th October 1924 at the expense of over 7,000 casualties compared to the 3,300 sustained by the Anhui Clique.
The next year would be worse.
First came the Anhui Clique, where their forces advanced into Jingmen, Hunan on the 3rd March 1925. The city as well as the lands surrounding it were claimed by the Clique as well as Jingzhuo (9th March), Changsha (15th April), Shaoguan (17th May), Longyan (22nd May) and Hangzhuo (5th June). A total of 100,000 Kuomintang soldiers were captured, with their weapons surrendered to the Clique. For the Clique soldiers that managed to get captured, they surrendered some interesting items. Several thousand units of pistols were found to be copies of the Type 14 Nambu semiautomatic pistol. A weapon that is made in the Empire of Japan. Next came the Type 100 submachine gun, which was made in the Empire of Japan and the Kingdom of Italy.
The fighting seemed to die down, with Zhang Zongchang able to reverse almost half of the Clique’s gains by August. It was that time when Chinese diplomats declared to the world of Japan’s collusion with the Anhui Clique, with many nations ignoring it with the exception of some like Australia and New Zealand. Then the news came. On the 27th August, President Sun Yat-sen suffered a stroke and died. Hu Shih would ascend as the 2nd President of the UPC later that night.
The Anhui Clique was to be assaulted on all sides, until an attack occurred on the 19th September 1925. Crossing the border with artillery holding shells with poison gas, 10,000 Japanese soldiers fired on Korean border towns, with propaganda left in Chinese. With the clear information that China was going to react after the Japanese supplied the Anhui Clique, the Japanese Army attacked Korean towns and blamed the attack on the Chinese. With foreign diplomats aware of Hu Shih’s response to the arms smuggling, they attacked him for the gas attack (when it was a false flag). On the 20th September 1925, 70,000 Japanese soldiers invaded Manchuria and overran the border guards.
The Chinese were pushed further and further back, facing the Japanese Army which would have modern weapons from Germany as well as a constant stream of supplies from the Trans-Siberian Railway. The entire region of Manchuria was surrendered to the Japanese on the 17th January 1927. Hu Shih was humiliated by the Treaty of Shanghai, which forced China to pay a 100 million $USD in reparations as well as letting the city of Shanghai fall under Japanese control.
The Second Great Depression would only twist the blade in the wound. Agricultural produce was suffering a glut, as overproduction came into effect as well as foreign agricultural imports being dumped in China. Prices dropped dramatically and so did the wages of farmers. They soon turned to rioting in rural regions, in Sichuan and in Inner Mongolia. The inability to repay the Japanese in time meant that the cities of Ningde, Fuzhou and Quanzhou were surrendered to Japanese control for a 999 year lease (attacks would resume if Shih did not sign).
The 1927 Presidential Election had Hu Shih face off against several rivals: Cai Yuanpei of the Anarchist-Communist Party of China, Duan Qirui of the Anhui Clique Party, Li Dazhao of the Social Democratic Party of China and Cao Kun of the Anti-Japanese Struggle Front (the only person hitting Shih on the conservative side of politics). The electorate would be 272,746,789 people and 565 Electoral Votes, due to the loss of Manchuria and several port cities to the Japanese.
Hu Shih (Kuomintang) - 71,568,993 votes and 156 Electoral Votes
Cai Yuanpei (Anarchist-Communist Party of China) - 32,116,400 votes and 26 Electoral Votes
Duan Qirui (Anhui Clique Party) - 9,451,773 votes and 8 Electoral Votes
Li Dazhao (Social Democratic Party of China) - 42,714,630 votes and 47 Electoral Votes
Cao Kun (Anti-Japanese Struggle Party) - 116,894,993 votes and 328 Electoral Votes (President until 1933)
Cao Kun would mobilise the Kuomintang forces to face the Anhui Clique for a final showdown from the 9th November 1927. For the next 7 years, the Kuomintang would whittle down the territory of the Anhui Clique until Duan Qirui’s death on the 25th March 1934. This was around the same time when tensions would increase on the Russian-Chinese border as well as Cao Kun’s re-election in 1933. After the surrender of the Anhui Clique, President Cao Kun attempted to reverse the losses from the First Mongolian War by invading Mongolia on the 3rd November 1934 and advancing 50kms before halting on the 9th. Then the Russians came. And then more. And more. And more.
The Second Mongolian War would have seen a total of 3 million Russian soldiers participating in fighting compared to 2.3 million Chinese. The Kuomintang Army was forced on the defensive from the 15th of January 1935 onwards as Russian tanks, given the name of “Cossacks” began to advance on the front lines. The numerical superiority and the weapons that they used gave them the edge, as 2,500 Cossack tanks were deployed versus only 49 Chinese made tanks. For over an entire year, the Chinese were forced to concede ground when they were kicked out of Mongolia proper on the 21st June 1935. Cao Kun attempted to order a counter attack in September, but the Japanese resumed their advance south of Manchuria, moving onto Beijing itself on the 20th September.
As the President was besieged, the morale for the front broke under wave of Russian advances. The infamous General Roman von Ungern-Sternberg used chlorine and mustard gas against large concentrations of enemy forces as well as floor flattening (carpet bombing) to wither the enemy strength. The fighting drew closer and closer towards barbarism, as both sides flattened villages and conscripted the men to fight. The women and the children were displaced, with nowhere to go. As the Japanese broke into the city of Beijing, the President ordered a surrender.
Inner Mongolia was to be annexed by the Russian Empire along with Mongolia itself. The city of Beijing was to be occupied the Japanese Empire as well as Tianjin and the entire province of Shandong. Every port was to be taxed the equivalent of $50 USD for every ship that enters (Russia and Japan would split the proceedings).
Prior to the Second World War (1915 - 1940), China would lose a total of 10,268,000 people due to starvation, disease and the fighting. The 25 years of history plus the Second World War would become known as the Bēishāng de suìyuè (Years of Sorrow).
Cao Kun held firm, even when there was no reason to. He moved to Chengdu, which became the new capitol city for the United Provinces. He forced the rebuilding of the Kuomintang Armed forces, with conscription enacted for every man once they turned 18. Private firearm ownership increased as well, with most firearms purchased by the United States. His landslide defeat by Chiang Kai-shek in the 1939 Presidential Election would fuel the flames that would allow China, like a Phoenix to rise.
"Fuck your sister! How dare you make Shandong's people suffer by not giving us rain!” - OTL quote from Zhang Zongchang, “CHINA: Basest War Lord” from TIME Magazine in 1927. Zongchang slapped a statue of Zhang Xian as people were praying for rain after a famine hit Shandong. After leaving the temple, the next day he ordered the artillery to shoot into the sky until it rained. The next day, it rained. This is where his nickname “72-Cannon Chang” came from.
‘Mother, who was that man?’ asked Feng Xinyue the daughter. Kneeling down, she held her child tight.
‘That was a, a man who was going to bury our father,’ said Mother.
‘But, but Mother, why was he talking about logs?’ asked Feng Xinyue.
- The Angel Among The Corpses, a historical fiction novel based of the atrocities committed by the Epidemic Prevention and Water Purification Department of the Kwantung Army and its two masterminds, Surgeon General Shirō Ishii and Josef Mengele. It was written by Bing Xin (5th October 1900 - 7th June 2003), who wrote a total of 41 non-fiction, fiction and children’s books. These books had settings from the First World War, the Three Kingdoms Period, Chinese history, Sun Yet-sen, the Sino-Japanese Wars, the Mongolian Wars, the Second World War and the postwar period. She won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971, 1975 and 1976, becoming TIME Magazine’s Woman of the Year 1999 and becoming one of the most recognised female writers in the World alongside Jane Austen, Beatrix Potter, Charlotte Harris and Helena Taligatus.
Russia would come into the new decade with a need for change. The support of Britain and France began to wither away as food shipments began to decrease. The changes came as part of the wave of communist uprisings across the world as well as the social activism regarding the more questionable areas of the globe. Russia being one of them.
Despite this, the Palmer Administration would continue to give its support, following confirmation of communist terrorists coming from the Russian Empire. Henry Ford would give his support for industrialisation as he met the Tsar in September 1912 alongside Prime Minister Alexander Kerensky. Ford and the Tsar would express their distrust of the German Revolution, the revolts in the Caucasus region and the Dutch East Indies Emergencies. The introduction of several American entrepreneurs in the country after 1924 allowed industrialisation to continue. Land reforms began, after much argument between Kerensky, the Tsar and the growing Menshevik opposition.
The open-field system that dominated the Russian Empire’s agricultural output would slowly be phased out, as the Tsar and the more rebellions of landowners received kickbacks from Ford, IBM, Standard Oil of New Jersey and other corporations. The enclosing of land began to be taken seriously as many peasants and farmers died from the Polish Flu. Out of all of the deaths in the Russian Empire, three-fourths were farmers. With farmers began to gain bigger strips, which motivated them to grow surplus food. The introduction of tractors in 1925 meant that by 1930, farmers in the Russian Empire were able to produce more. Domestic profits rose as the Tsar encouraged demand along with Prime Minister Kerensky in the aftermath of November 1927.
The industry of the Russian Empire contracted after November 1927. However, with the state capitalist system in place, it hurt less compared to other countries. Kerensky was defeated in the 1928 Duma Election by a coalition of Mensheviks and Cadets, the latter of which became the largest conservative party. Another party was the Union of the Russian Peoples (URP), who won 74 seats. The URP were a volkist, ultranationalist, anti-Semitic political party that was responsible for the Black Hundreds in 1906. Alexander Dubrovin had led the party to victory in the 1923 Duma Elections, riding a wave of anti-Communist sentiments before doubling their gains once again.
The interconnectedness of the Russian Empire and the Third Reich began in the 1920s, as the Russian Tsar requested the use of foreign mercenaries to quell uprisings in Poland, Silesia and other German territories that Russia took in the Treaty of Versailles. At first, the counter-insurgency worked, but as time went on the need for Germans to reunite with their own country came to the fore. It would come to pass in the 1937 Treaty of Danzig, which restored Germany’s 1914 eastern border. It would be a part of the link between a volkist Germany and a more authoritarian Russian Empire.
German engineers would come to the country and begin to modernise much of Russia’s infrastructure from 1926 onwards, with Germany contributing over 65% of Russia’s foreign imports. Russia in turn would become the largest supplier of oil, coal and pig iron to Germany. Both armies trained in tank warfare, new aircraft, new submachine guns and other weapons from the time of the Second Long Depression’s start in 1927 until the beginning of war in 1940.
The Russian Tsar saw nothing wrong with this. This is despite the fact that German and Russian troops were fighting one another from 1914 to 1917. The Russian Tsar saw no reason in political reforms except those that Germany were capable of showing. As the years went by, the Tsar grew more distant from the nations he once fought alongside. The rise of communist and volkist violence across Europe and the world meant that the Tsar could not be convinced of the merits of democratic reforms. The 1933 Duma would show the URP as the largest party with 477 out of 919 seats. The Mensheviks followed with 111, followed by the Cadets (109), Octobrists (100), Trudoviks (64) and the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (41) and other parties holding the remaining 17 seats.
The reforms in place would follow Germany’s step. There would be a massive campaign of modernisation and industrialisation. Factories east of the Ural Mountains would be formed in the hundreds from 1934 to 1937. Unemployment went down to 5.4% by 1935, as labourers were forcibly shipped to new areas of the country along with their families to work in these places. Jews in Russia were given a choice: either be consigned to labour conscription (Germany made it clear that no pogroms were to occur) or they would be allowed to emigrate to Germany. 7 out of 10 Jews within the Russian Empire emigrated between 1922 and 1939. Out of a population of more than 5 million, 3.5 million Jews emigrated. Only half stayed within the Third Reich, with the rest moving on to the Arab State, the United States, France, the First Republic of Italy and Brazil.
The Russian Army, numbering 4 million in peacetime, received new training thanks to German commanders. This was hidden and underground, away from any foreign diplomats from the year 1922 until the revelations made by “White Rose”. The humiliation of the First World War prior to the intervention in the Dardanelles would be forgotten, as most soldiers were equipped with a Russian-model of the MP-32, which would carry a larger drum for ammunition before changing over to the StG 42 in December 1942/January 1943. The Russian Empire would also give more support to the Kingdom of Italy and the Kingdom of Croats, Serbs and Slovenes as well as Japan (more out of necessity father than genuine friendship).
These things helped to bring about the downfall of any resistance from Mensheviks or Bolsheviks. With the death of Lenin and the downfall of Trotsky’s revolutions, communists began to disappear (like Stalin who fled to China before he was killed in Manchuria in the Second Sino-Japanese War). An attempted communist revolution by Julius Martov led to the First Mongolian War from the 6th December 1924 to 9th January 1926. The Second Mongolian War (3rd November 1934 - 25th July 1936) would lead to the downfall of the Presidency of Hu Shih and the annexation of Inner Mongolia into the Russian Empire proper.
Nothing in the world would signify the doom that Russian would bring unlike that of one man. Born in Austria-Hungary and fluent in five languages (French, Russian, German, English and Estonian), the man would claim his ancestry from Batu Khan, worship Vajrayana Buddhism and earn the sobriquet “the Mad Baron”.
Roman von Ungern-Sternberg (10th January 1886 - 26th October 1978)
See those eyes. Those eyes are giving you a chance to run. WHY AREN'T YOU RUNNING?!
China: The Middle Kingdom. Since 1915, the Republic of China was solidifying after Yuan Shikai’s death from uremia. Sun Yat-sen would begin to modernise the country under his rule. Yat-sen and his advisors negotiated with Western Powers, where several nations bargained for the use of the pool of labour to build railways and other facilities. Spain, France, Britain, The Netherlands and Russia all spent their repayments from the Boxer Protocol on railways, schools, churches and other buildings on the coastal regions to prevent nationalisations of their properties in China. Germany and Austria-Hungary not only had their payments declared forfeit, but they both had to pay even more to China after that, which contributed to the hyperinflation and the rise of volkism in Germany before ascending as the Third Reich.
The Revolutionary Period from 1915 to 1922 saw many radical things introduced to China: Universal suffrage for all those over the age of 25, women could vote, the introduction of an income tax, the formation of the Chinese Reserve Bank, religious tolerance for Christian and Muslim minorities in the country, compulsory education for all those over the age of 10, the expansion of tertiary education, the establishment of a silver standard (which meant China avoided the Second Long Depression) and the establishment of the Kuomintang Army, Kuomintang Navy and the Kuomintang Air Force.
The Constitution was changed in 1920 which entrenched much of these new reforms. China was to be referred to as “The United Provinces of China” or UPC, which was to entrench federalism but at the same time avoiding the belief that federalism implied separatism. The UPC was divided into several provinces: Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Qinghai, Gansu, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Tianjin, Beijing, Shanxi, Ningxia, Shandong, Henan, Jiangsu, Hubei, Hebei, Shaanxi, Shanghai, Sichuan, Yunnan, Guangxi, Guangdong, Hainan, Taiwan, Fujian, Zhejiang. The first election was on January 1921, with a 6-year unlimited term for the President.
Anhui and Jiangxi (under the control of the Anhui Clique and its leader Duan Qirui) would be recognised as part of the UPC on the 7th November 1920. Fighting in the area was fierce, devolving into trench warfare. Qirui would sent bandits to rob border towns of any money, which was then used to purchase weapons, hire foreign mercenaries and even bribe townsfolk. Over 7,000 Russians, 1,564 Germans, 23 Americans and 447 Englishmen were hired by the Anhui Clique to train the soldiers despite less than half of the men having actual combat experience. 5 out of 7 Russians were members of the Bolsheviks, with evidence to suggest that they emigrated from Russia itself and from the Dutch East Indies after Trotsky’s revolts failed.
Fighter planes would take to the skies for the first time on the 6th March 1921 facing the Anhui Clique’s own fighter pilots. Just 237 Anhui Clique pilots versus over 2,678 KAF pilots. To suggest that it was one sided was not the case. The Anhui Clique’s pilots were all experienced with pilots such as:
- Rudolf Berthold, Bruno Loerzer, Paul Bäumer (German Empire)
- George McElroy and Tom F. Hazell (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland)
Battles raged on the borders of the disputed area, as villages went up in smoke. Elders that lived their lives through the monarchy of the Qing and the despotism of Yuan Shikai would see another form in the Anhui Clique, as property was forcibly taken as well as livestock and any wealth they carried. According to the Morgenthau Institute Against Racecide, the pillaging that the Anhui Clique committed resulted in the deaths of 100,000 - 250,000 Chinese adults and children with another 290,000 children suffering the symptoms of malnutrition and rickets.
The 1921 Election led to 281,395,200 people voting, the largest electorate in the world at the time which had to be coordinated with the army (even when there was an active rebellion). The voting was counted from March until September that year, with the results not known until the 14th October. Sun Yat-sen faced off against Cai Yuanpei and his Anarchist-Communist Party of China, which was the only major opposition against Yat-sen’s rule. Not only were the votes up for grabs, so were the Electoral Votes (541 in total).
Sun Yat-sen: 517 Electoral Votes and 236,771,774 votes (Elected President until 1927)
Cai Yuanpei: 24 Electoral Votes and 44,623,426 votes
Hu Shih as Vice-President helped to coordinate the army and the vote count, participating in it himself. The government’s use of the military to help coordinate the vote would allow for a speedy count. Sir Robert Ho Tung Bosman as Foreign Minister helped coordinate Anglo-Chinese relations as well as delay the antagonism of Japan. Zhou Zuoren as Culture Minister would write essays every week on the importance of the new institutions that made up the UPC, winning him a great amount of support from the poor and from working class Chinese.
In spite of the good things that the Presidential Cabinet achieved, the Anhui Clique remained solid in their intentions to overthrow the country and the President. The Empire of Japan would elect a volkist party Kokuritsu Saisei Sensen (National Regeneration Front) to government, winning 274 seats in the House of Representatives in the February 1924 election. It was after that period when the Anhui Clique reared its head, attempting to push for the coast by capturing Shanghai. Zhang Zongchang managed to block the advance of the Anhui Clique, giving a much needed victory to the Kuomintang Army on the 7th October 1924 at the expense of over 7,000 casualties compared to the 3,300 sustained by the Anhui Clique.
The next year would be worse.
First came the Anhui Clique, where their forces advanced into Jingmen, Hunan on the 3rd March 1925. The city as well as the lands surrounding it were claimed by the Clique as well as Jingzhuo (9th March), Changsha (15th April), Shaoguan (17th May), Longyan (22nd May) and Hangzhuo (5th June). A total of 100,000 Kuomintang soldiers were captured, with their weapons surrendered to the Clique. For the Clique soldiers that managed to get captured, they surrendered some interesting items. Several thousand units of pistols were found to be copies of the Type 14 Nambu semiautomatic pistol. A weapon that is made in the Empire of Japan. Next came the Type 100 submachine gun, which was made in the Empire of Japan and the Kingdom of Italy.
The fighting seemed to die down, with Zhang Zongchang able to reverse almost half of the Clique’s gains by August. It was that time when Chinese diplomats declared to the world of Japan’s collusion with the Anhui Clique, with many nations ignoring it with the exception of some like Australia and New Zealand. Then the news came. On the 27th August, President Sun Yat-sen suffered a stroke and died. Hu Shih would ascend as the 2nd President of the UPC later that night.
The Anhui Clique was to be assaulted on all sides, until an attack occurred on the 19th September 1925. Crossing the border with artillery holding shells with poison gas, 10,000 Japanese soldiers fired on Korean border towns, with propaganda left in Chinese. With the clear information that China was going to react after the Japanese supplied the Anhui Clique, the Japanese Army attacked Korean towns and blamed the attack on the Chinese. With foreign diplomats aware of Hu Shih’s response to the arms smuggling, they attacked him for the gas attack (when it was a false flag). On the 20th September 1925, 70,000 Japanese soldiers invaded Manchuria and overran the border guards.
The Chinese were pushed further and further back, facing the Japanese Army which would have modern weapons from Germany as well as a constant stream of supplies from the Trans-Siberian Railway. The entire region of Manchuria was surrendered to the Japanese on the 17th January 1927. Hu Shih was humiliated by the Treaty of Shanghai, which forced China to pay a 100 million $USD in reparations as well as letting the city of Shanghai fall under Japanese control.
The Second Great Depression would only twist the blade in the wound. Agricultural produce was suffering a glut, as overproduction came into effect as well as foreign agricultural imports being dumped in China. Prices dropped dramatically and so did the wages of farmers. They soon turned to rioting in rural regions, in Sichuan and in Inner Mongolia. The inability to repay the Japanese in time meant that the cities of Ningde, Fuzhou and Quanzhou were surrendered to Japanese control for a 999 year lease (attacks would resume if Shih did not sign).
The 1927 Presidential Election had Hu Shih face off against several rivals: Cai Yuanpei of the Anarchist-Communist Party of China, Duan Qirui of the Anhui Clique Party, Li Dazhao of the Social Democratic Party of China and Cao Kun of the Anti-Japanese Struggle Front (the only person hitting Shih on the conservative side of politics). The electorate would be 272,746,789 people and 565 Electoral Votes, due to the loss of Manchuria and several port cities to the Japanese.
Hu Shih (Kuomintang) - 71,568,993 votes and 156 Electoral Votes
Cai Yuanpei (Anarchist-Communist Party of China) - 32,116,400 votes and 26 Electoral Votes
Duan Qirui (Anhui Clique Party) - 9,451,773 votes and 8 Electoral Votes
Li Dazhao (Social Democratic Party of China) - 42,714,630 votes and 47 Electoral Votes
Cao Kun (Anti-Japanese Struggle Party) - 116,894,993 votes and 328 Electoral Votes (President until 1933)
Cao Kun would mobilise the Kuomintang forces to face the Anhui Clique for a final showdown from the 9th November 1927. For the next 7 years, the Kuomintang would whittle down the territory of the Anhui Clique until Duan Qirui’s death on the 25th March 1934. This was around the same time when tensions would increase on the Russian-Chinese border as well as Cao Kun’s re-election in 1933. After the surrender of the Anhui Clique, President Cao Kun attempted to reverse the losses from the First Mongolian War by invading Mongolia on the 3rd November 1934 and advancing 50kms before halting on the 9th. Then the Russians came. And then more. And more. And more.
The Second Mongolian War would have seen a total of 3 million Russian soldiers participating in fighting compared to 2.3 million Chinese. The Kuomintang Army was forced on the defensive from the 15th of January 1935 onwards as Russian tanks, given the name of “Cossacks” began to advance on the front lines. The numerical superiority and the weapons that they used gave them the edge, as 2,500 Cossack tanks were deployed versus only 49 Chinese made tanks. For over an entire year, the Chinese were forced to concede ground when they were kicked out of Mongolia proper on the 21st June 1935. Cao Kun attempted to order a counter attack in September, but the Japanese resumed their advance south of Manchuria, moving onto Beijing itself on the 20th September.
As the President was besieged, the morale for the front broke under wave of Russian advances. The infamous General Roman von Ungern-Sternberg used chlorine and mustard gas against large concentrations of enemy forces as well as floor flattening (carpet bombing) to wither the enemy strength. The fighting drew closer and closer towards barbarism, as both sides flattened villages and conscripted the men to fight. The women and the children were displaced, with nowhere to go. As the Japanese broke into the city of Beijing, the President ordered a surrender.
Inner Mongolia was to be annexed by the Russian Empire along with Mongolia itself. The city of Beijing was to be occupied the Japanese Empire as well as Tianjin and the entire province of Shandong. Every port was to be taxed the equivalent of $50 USD for every ship that enters (Russia and Japan would split the proceedings).
Prior to the Second World War (1915 - 1940), China would lose a total of 10,268,000 people due to starvation, disease and the fighting. The 25 years of history plus the Second World War would become known as the Bēishāng de suìyuè (Years of Sorrow).
Cao Kun held firm, even when there was no reason to. He moved to Chengdu, which became the new capitol city for the United Provinces. He forced the rebuilding of the Kuomintang Armed forces, with conscription enacted for every man once they turned 18. Private firearm ownership increased as well, with most firearms purchased by the United States. His landslide defeat by Chiang Kai-shek in the 1939 Presidential Election would fuel the flames that would allow China, like a Phoenix to rise.
The Eighth Crack: White Rose
'Come on!' I shouted to the man, looking to both sides to see that I did not .
'I'm trying, I'm trying,' said Carl, as he stacked the last suitcase into the cars. With the three cars all filled, it had to be all of them. I hoped as much. Slamming the door shut, Carl raced inside my car, which took the vanguard. Alexander drove the second car and the rearguard car would be taken up by a fellow named Konrad who'd I only met three days before now. The drive to the outskirts of the city was but a living nightmare. I saw the posters of the perversion of our world and the message of how "democracy is the necessary sacrifice for the Third Reich". I didn't know what was worse, the Saal-Schutz marching two by two and giving me the eyes of a hungry beast or my fellow colleagues that felt no difference about our society.
Turning to the left and then turning to the right, I hoped that I did not bring the wrath of the SS on me. Shaking my head, I wondered how in the world Richthofen got away with what he did. He has deceived us all, I know it. I was thankful that I was the only o -
'Are you alright?' asked Carl, looking at me with concern.
'I am fine,' I said as we reached the edge of the city, 'but I fear the world will not be so.'
Nodding his head, Carl looked forward. 'I know it is tough, but this was the right choice - '
' - I am not denying that! I am saying that this is going to be far worse than what we or anyone believe. Especially with the work that Otto Hahn and Leo Szilard have done. They are brilliant yes, yes they are,' I said as we raced out of the city, 'tell me Carl, if idle hands are the devil's playthings, what are working hands?'
'Something worse perhaps,' said Carl, looking out to the horizon of the autobahns, 'if and only if Richthofen gets it before Allenby and Doumergue and, who's the American?'
'Charles Curtis,' I said to him, as we sped up to eighty kilometres an hour. In the wide open spaces of the roads, I wonder at what the future would hold. Looking behind, Carl would tell me that the cars remained close behind. All of that hard work, all of those details, they will not be forgotten.
Crossing the border, I took my first real breaths since I started driving. Going further and further along, we managed to get to Amsterdam by midnight.
'Thank goodness for that,' Carl said as we went to the nearest police station. Stepping outside, we closed the doors and we greeted the nearest police officer. After a moment on conversing in German, the policeman beckoned for a translator. It wasn't until 1am, when we were weak and weary, when our mission was done.
'I speak German,' the policeman said, 'what are your names?'
Stepping forward, I took off my hat and brushed back my long greying hair. 'It does not matter who I am, what matters are the briefcases in those cars,' I said, pointing to them. Opening one of them up, the translator read a section of the German text. With his eyes lit up, he took a telephone and called in Dutch, I could not say what he said.
It was six hours later when I stated my name.
'My name is Albert Einstein,' I said, as the Dutchmen saw the plans. The plans for new German and Russian tanks, planes and ships. The plans for the violation of the Treaty of Versailles. The plans that would uproot the hard-fought peace.
To ensure my safety and the safety of the others, we were all given a codename: White Rose.
'I'm trying, I'm trying,' said Carl, as he stacked the last suitcase into the cars. With the three cars all filled, it had to be all of them. I hoped as much. Slamming the door shut, Carl raced inside my car, which took the vanguard. Alexander drove the second car and the rearguard car would be taken up by a fellow named Konrad who'd I only met three days before now. The drive to the outskirts of the city was but a living nightmare. I saw the posters of the perversion of our world and the message of how "democracy is the necessary sacrifice for the Third Reich". I didn't know what was worse, the Saal-Schutz marching two by two and giving me the eyes of a hungry beast or my fellow colleagues that felt no difference about our society.
Turning to the left and then turning to the right, I hoped that I did not bring the wrath of the SS on me. Shaking my head, I wondered how in the world Richthofen got away with what he did. He has deceived us all, I know it. I was thankful that I was the only o -
'Are you alright?' asked Carl, looking at me with concern.
'I am fine,' I said as we reached the edge of the city, 'but I fear the world will not be so.'
Nodding his head, Carl looked forward. 'I know it is tough, but this was the right choice - '
' - I am not denying that! I am saying that this is going to be far worse than what we or anyone believe. Especially with the work that Otto Hahn and Leo Szilard have done. They are brilliant yes, yes they are,' I said as we raced out of the city, 'tell me Carl, if idle hands are the devil's playthings, what are working hands?'
'Something worse perhaps,' said Carl, looking out to the horizon of the autobahns, 'if and only if Richthofen gets it before Allenby and Doumergue and, who's the American?'
'Charles Curtis,' I said to him, as we sped up to eighty kilometres an hour. In the wide open spaces of the roads, I wonder at what the future would hold. Looking behind, Carl would tell me that the cars remained close behind. All of that hard work, all of those details, they will not be forgotten.
Crossing the border, I took my first real breaths since I started driving. Going further and further along, we managed to get to Amsterdam by midnight.
'Thank goodness for that,' Carl said as we went to the nearest police station. Stepping outside, we closed the doors and we greeted the nearest police officer. After a moment on conversing in German, the policeman beckoned for a translator. It wasn't until 1am, when we were weak and weary, when our mission was done.
'I speak German,' the policeman said, 'what are your names?'
Stepping forward, I took off my hat and brushed back my long greying hair. 'It does not matter who I am, what matters are the briefcases in those cars,' I said, pointing to them. Opening one of them up, the translator read a section of the German text. With his eyes lit up, he took a telephone and called in Dutch, I could not say what he said.
It was six hours later when I stated my name.
'My name is Albert Einstein,' I said, as the Dutchmen saw the plans. The plans for new German and Russian tanks, planes and ships. The plans for the violation of the Treaty of Versailles. The plans that would uproot the hard-fought peace.
To ensure my safety and the safety of the others, we were all given a codename: White Rose.
The Ninth Crack: The Pact of Steel + Anglo-French Fury
1938 would be a year where tensions were high and the lines were being drawn on the sand. Manfred von Richthofen, the Führer of the Third Reich, would have the chance to reverse the Great War of 1914 - 1917 (1). Britain would elect Leo Amery for the first time, forming a Conservative-Liberal-Irish Nationalist Coalition bent on checking the ambitions of Germany. Richthofen was more than aware of Britain's advances in Foreign Policy. Appeasement would not work and keeping up the appearance of peaceful intentions would fail upon White Rose's revelations.
What he wasn't aware of was how extensive it was. Allow me to explain: John Robert Clynes, as Labour PM from 1928 - 1938, would modernise the factories in the country. The government would purchase old tools in return that companies and factories purchase newly made British tools, which helped given how there were factories that used 200 year old tools. In the case of the Royal Navy, they were given control over the Fleet Air Arm in 1931 while the government purchased older merchant and commercial ships in favour of companies purchasing ships made in British shipyards (the program expanded to include Australian, Canadian, New Zealander and South African shipyards by 1934). The Dogger Bank Earthquake of 1931 only reinforced the necessity to modernise as buildings were damaged. Shipyards were provided with tax breaks as the number of slipways were reduced by turning them 45 degrees. Less slipways, but there would be more space for modern buildings and for modern ships that were bigger and faster. Chancellor John Maynard Keynes would finance a government-funded training program in the shipbuilding industry, with new techniques such as longer assembly lines and welding for the new ships. There would be more ships for the Royal Navy and for a reserve merchant fleet, which drastically reduced unemployment in areas such as Ireland, Yorkshire, Lowland Scotland and Northern Wales under the "Empire Ships" project for the merchant fleet. These new ships were tailored to be militarised if the situation required them to be impressed into the Royal Navy. With a total of 1.34 million unemployed coal miners alone, such programs would breed confidence once the training began. The expansion of Japanese, German and Russian naval capacity meant that Britain would need to redouble its efforts to built new aircraft carriers. In 1931, the first of 12 aircraft carriers would be built under the new Kitchener-class (after the late Field Marshall), each would carry 60 planes each by the time war was declared. The Mediterranean dry dock in Malta would be moved to Alexandria in January 1935 after much discussions and after considering the Kingdom of Italy to be a belligerent state. Malta, however, would not be given up without a fight. As for Singapore, the fleet that was stationed there was to be relocated to Ceylon. That was also around 1935 where the Dutch would begin co-operating with the British Army, Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy as the Navy and army converted to the Bofor guns. The Two Power Standard would be made like this:
108 subs
17 fleet carriers
8 trade protection carriers
28 capital ships
124 cruisers
29 destroyer flotillas
400 sloops and minesweepers
The Air Force would also be improved, with new bases in Ireland and Scotland for training new recruits, as well as new planes with popped valved cylinders of lower efficiency (making it up on quantity). The Bristol Aeroplane Company developed sleeve valves which came in the form of an engine that was an 18-cylinder radial (known as the Augustus engine)(2) in November 1934. The recognition would mean that anti-aircraft contingencies would need to be considered. After all, the Führer of Germany has his own record of shooting down over one hundred planes. As such, the QF 5.1"/50 with 62Ib shell with its ammo seperate would be the counter to a hypothetical bombing from Germany. The revelations of Germany's post-war reconstruction alerted all areas of the British military to improvise. Frank Whittle would become famous in this time, as he took out the patent for the turbojet engine in 1930, with a working prototype in 1936. Despite having stress over the designs, the prototype worked as Britain tried to maintain its dominance in the air then and in the war.
Having invented the self-propelled gun in the First World War, the British Army would exploit the new weapon thanks to the expansion of the Experimental Mechanised Force (EMF) (3) into a division sized force by 1932 and the formation of an entire corps (made up of British/Commonwealth soldiers) by 1940. The Hispano-Suiza HS.404 auto cannon would be adopted as an anti-aircraft gun for the British Army alongside the Bofors. Intermediate cartridges were introduced to the soldiers as the ".280 British". The Bren light machine gun would be introduced in 1937, with two per 10-man squad within the British Army. The German MP 18 was copied and modified into the Lanpat SMG (4) in 1935, named after George Lanchester and George William Patchett, which would be distributed to the Army in mid-1936. The Boys anti-tank rifle would be introduced to the army in 1936 before being replaced by the Blacker Anti-Tank Gun or the "BAT Gun" in 1942.
The National Investment Board and the We Can Conquer Unemployment plan was implemented in the weeks after the 1928 Election. Businesses that produced quality products in small quantities were motivated to rationalise, exploiting longer assembly lines and single-use machine tooling via Kahn principles. (5). This prevented the need to import from the United States or Germany. The government put in x-amount of funds for modernisation provided the company provides a % of the final cost, with smaller companies banding together to acquire the private capitol's percentage for the modernisation. Mining was improved thanks to the Bucyrus partnership as it introduced drag line open pit coal mines to the British miners, which was implemented along with other reforms for workers such as a raise in unemployment benefits, health insurance and workplace safety laws to prevent workplace manslaughter. This was introduced as well as a protective tariff which meant that all energy used in Britain and Ireland had to use 100% British coal, which helped alleviate the depression in prices from Germany's exporting of its own coal. The overproduction of British motor vehicles would be absorbed by the rest of the Empire, by the Raj, by Northern and Southern Rhodesia, by Windsorland, by the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, by the British-Allied Arab State and by the Caribbean islands under British authority. It would motivate the Empire to move towards larger truck engines, with diesel engine trucks having no more tax imposed on them (much to the anger of the railway companies).
Schools would then encourage curious minds to explore electronic engineering, with vocational schooling open to children 14 years or over. Compulsory education was imposed at all levels, with the school leaving age raised to 18 years of age. The steel industry would be organised to ensure an increase in production. Projects such as the Tyne Tunnel and the Forth Road Bridge would be started in 1929 as well as making the A1 a dual carriageway. The increase of vehicles on the road would then lead to an increase in the roads being upgraded across the country. The entire British canal system would be improved, with one example being the widening and deepening of the Grand Union Canal (while the Grand Contour Canal would not be done until 1951). Electrification would start in 1932. LNER's Liverpool Street to Shenfield scheme would start in 1934 to then finish in 1936, with the extension to Chelmsford and Southend Victoria finished by 1938. The Company's Manchester-Sheffield-Wath scheme would be completed in 1938 as the full scheme of 75 route and 318 track miles. The extension along the CLC to Liverpool Central would be finished by 1940. Shildon to Newport would be converted to 25kV AC single-phase at 50 Hz in 1935 instead of reverting to steam. The London Passenger Transport Board's New Works Programme was brought forward to 1929. The Board wasn't formed until 1930, but it was only implemented schemes that its predecessors had on their "wish list" for years. All the schemes completed include the extension of electric working of the Metropolitan Line to Amersham and Chesham, the Northern Heights, the extension of the Central Line to Denham and the extension of the Bakerloo line to Camberwell. This was done before 1940. The railways would have a modernisation kick via the Railway Facilities Act 1930, which would give companies cheap loans to replace old locomotives and rolling stock. Other projects included: The Severn bridge (completed in 1936) and Humber bridges (completed in 1938), the rail and road tunnels towards the mouth of the River Tees built between 1933 and 1937, the rail tunnels near the mouth of the Tyne built from 1934 to 1938, a road-rail bridge built to the Isle of Skye with the railway extended to Uig and Armadale between 1932 - 1939.
With concerns rising over Germany, it became clear to the Labour-Liberal Government that France was not to be isolated and that Spain and Portugal needed to be on their toes as well. Once the revelations of White Rose came out, Anglo-French relations warmed once both sides realised how far Germany would go to avenge its losses. The First Republic of Italy, the only syndicalist nation in the world, was given a lifeline by France and Britain in 1937 which wanted to maintain its factories. The FRI would rearm as early as 1933, with over 1 million active soldiers by the start of the war.
Prime Minister John R. Clynes and his successor Leo Amery made their intentions clear as they supported the French, the Spanish and the Portuguese as well as The Netherlands and Belgium.
In France, the nationalist, far-right and volkist groups marched out in force following the revelations of White Rose. The majority of the parties and organisations were against German interests, with only the Francist Movement being the only pro-German and only anti-Semitic movement out of them all. Pierre-Étienne Flandin would win a landslide victory in the 1936 French legislative elections with the Right-Centre Coalition winning 62.7% of the vote and a total of 382 seats compared to the Popular Front's 228 seats and the vote percentage of 37.3%. Flandin would coordinate rearmament between the French and British militaries. Flandin would also sign France onto the Treaty of Madrid, which would allow for no seperate peace and for all nations involved to fight Germany and her allies.
In one world, this building would determine the fate of an entire race of men and women and children. In this world, this building would determine the shape of the world.
In 14th November 1938, the Pact of Steel would assemble at Warsaw at the Führer's Palace. It would be where the leaders of the volkist and fascist nations would come together in unity. The nations and organisations represented would be:
The Third Reich - Minister of the State Joseph Goebbels, with the Führer preoccupied with matters over Minister of Production Albert Speer.
The Kingdom of Italy - Prime Minister Giovanni Gentile and the Italian Fasces of Combat
Empire of Japan - Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe and the National Regeneration Front
Kingdom of Croats, Slovenes and Serbs - Chief of State Grigorije Borisavljević and the National Government of Salvation
Armenian Republic - President Drastamat Kanayan and the Sons of the Phoenix
Volkist Front of Canada - Adrien Arcand
Austro-Hungarian Republic - Major General Bernhard Waber, Chancellor
Russian Empire - Prime Minister Anton Denikin
The National Guard of Sweden
British Volkist Party
National Front of France
The Reconstruction Party of The Netherlands (volkists and fascists that were opposed to The Netherlands' overtures to the Allies)
Australian Volkist Party
Argentina - Juan Emiliano Carulla, leader of the Sons of Argentina and Chancellor of the Argentine State
Brazil - President João Cândido Felisberto
Paraguay - President Eusebio Ayala
Republic of Columbia - President Laureano Gómez
Mexico - President Luis Napoleón Morones
Silver Legion of the United States
Afrikaaner Resistance Front
Persia
After the usual pleasantries, the men would sit down at a large table designed for the conference. Over 45 people were hired as translators, 20 who recorded the minutes and a further 2000 would be chefs, waiters, butlers, cleaners and guards for the event. To quote George Orwell:
The first item was the coordination of all forces. Goebbels, as the un-official chairman and acting under the Führer's orders, declared that war would start no later than August 1940. This would give the powers a total of 20 months or so to prepare. Once Germany acts, the rest of the powers were to act, no matter how their situation would be on August 1940. In order to have supplies, Russia committed as much shipping of oil as possible from the Caucasus.
The second item was the end result: Under no circumstances were the powers to surrender and make seperate peace talks. It would take a week of cajoling for the lesser powers such as Argentina and Austria-Hungary to come on side. The Pact of Steel was to resist all efforts by the Allies (they used the term which remained from the First World War) and to strain the resources of their enemies.
The third item: All efforts are to be made for the coordination of intelligence gathering. Spies were to work collectively and any secrets a nation had or any secrets any organisation had, were to be given up to the rest of the Pact of Steel. Fritz Joubert Duquesne was to coordinate his efforts with spymasters within the Pact of Steel, as all operatives trained in detecting double agents, faking paralysis, secret codes, accent training and use of gadgets among other things.
The fourth item: Rumours were confirmed by Goebbels himself. The Third Reich is researching the development and the use of nuclear weapons, using uranium from the Russian Empire. The estimated time frame was nine years. All experts in the field of nuclear science were to convene in Germany during the war, so that the nine year estimate would become four or five-year estimate. The war would be fought, not only to claim parts of the world on a national basis, but also as a delaying tactic for those researching on nuclear weapons.
The fifth item: The disabling of certain ports and strategic points. The Japanese were ordered to seize Hong Kong, Macau and Singapore as quick as possible. The Brazilians, Argentinians and Paraguayans were to take the Falklands, Colombia were ordered to claim the Panama Canal if there was war between the Pact and the United States while the Pact of Steel forces in Europe were to take Constantinople, the Suez Canal and Gibraltar to trap all Allied shipping inside.
The sixth item: All Pact of Steel forces were to give support to guerrilla forces, such as the anti-Anglo British Communist Party and the Irish Republican Party, the anti-Semitic Francist Movement in France, the fascist Silver Legion and its leader William Dudley Pelley, The Australian Volkist Party, et cetera. All guerrilla forces and political movements were to engage in distributing leaflets, protests per month, advertising in newspapers, distributing food to the poor, violence against communists and supporters of the Allied effort. Sabotage was to be done sparingly until popular resistance was assured, then it was to be done until the country either a) sides with the Pact or b) enters into a seperate peace with the Pact. Either result was to be distributed to foreign embassies or to foreigners themselves to destabilise the morale of the public.
The seventh item: All Pact of Steel forces will support the targeting of Catholics, Protestants or other religious leaders that call for pacifism or declare themselves for the Allied cause. They are to be harassed and motivated towards silence.
The first seven items were dealt with within the month. The whole of December, January and February was now dealt with the carving of the world.
And on the 2nd February 1939, the Pact of Steel Conference would conclude, but the war was beginning oh so soon.
****************************
1. Technically, if Blackadder's last episode was made in ATL, it would be accurate.
2. ATL name for the Centaurus engine, similar to the Alfa Romeo 135 which never gets made in ATL.
3. In ATL, the Eastland vs Westland war game was won by the Eastland Force, with the cavalry reluctantly being transitioned away.
4. ATL version of the Lanchester submachine gun, but the magazine has a larger capacity (75 or 120 rounds per magazine)
5. I would like to personally thank @Sārthākā and his thread 1930s British Sanity Options (Economy, Navy, Airforce and Army) as well as everyone who posted, your advice helped to motivate this post as well as the future of the TL. I appreciate it.
Anyway, I hope that all you like this update. All thoughts, comments and likes are welcome.
NEXT TIME: WHEN THE LEVEE BREAKS (THE PRE-ZEPPELIN VERSION)
Thank you and goodbye for now.
What he wasn't aware of was how extensive it was. Allow me to explain: John Robert Clynes, as Labour PM from 1928 - 1938, would modernise the factories in the country. The government would purchase old tools in return that companies and factories purchase newly made British tools, which helped given how there were factories that used 200 year old tools. In the case of the Royal Navy, they were given control over the Fleet Air Arm in 1931 while the government purchased older merchant and commercial ships in favour of companies purchasing ships made in British shipyards (the program expanded to include Australian, Canadian, New Zealander and South African shipyards by 1934). The Dogger Bank Earthquake of 1931 only reinforced the necessity to modernise as buildings were damaged. Shipyards were provided with tax breaks as the number of slipways were reduced by turning them 45 degrees. Less slipways, but there would be more space for modern buildings and for modern ships that were bigger and faster. Chancellor John Maynard Keynes would finance a government-funded training program in the shipbuilding industry, with new techniques such as longer assembly lines and welding for the new ships. There would be more ships for the Royal Navy and for a reserve merchant fleet, which drastically reduced unemployment in areas such as Ireland, Yorkshire, Lowland Scotland and Northern Wales under the "Empire Ships" project for the merchant fleet. These new ships were tailored to be militarised if the situation required them to be impressed into the Royal Navy. With a total of 1.34 million unemployed coal miners alone, such programs would breed confidence once the training began. The expansion of Japanese, German and Russian naval capacity meant that Britain would need to redouble its efforts to built new aircraft carriers. In 1931, the first of 12 aircraft carriers would be built under the new Kitchener-class (after the late Field Marshall), each would carry 60 planes each by the time war was declared. The Mediterranean dry dock in Malta would be moved to Alexandria in January 1935 after much discussions and after considering the Kingdom of Italy to be a belligerent state. Malta, however, would not be given up without a fight. As for Singapore, the fleet that was stationed there was to be relocated to Ceylon. That was also around 1935 where the Dutch would begin co-operating with the British Army, Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy as the Navy and army converted to the Bofor guns. The Two Power Standard would be made like this:
108 subs
17 fleet carriers
8 trade protection carriers
28 capital ships
124 cruisers
29 destroyer flotillas
400 sloops and minesweepers
The Air Force would also be improved, with new bases in Ireland and Scotland for training new recruits, as well as new planes with popped valved cylinders of lower efficiency (making it up on quantity). The Bristol Aeroplane Company developed sleeve valves which came in the form of an engine that was an 18-cylinder radial (known as the Augustus engine)(2) in November 1934. The recognition would mean that anti-aircraft contingencies would need to be considered. After all, the Führer of Germany has his own record of shooting down over one hundred planes. As such, the QF 5.1"/50 with 62Ib shell with its ammo seperate would be the counter to a hypothetical bombing from Germany. The revelations of Germany's post-war reconstruction alerted all areas of the British military to improvise. Frank Whittle would become famous in this time, as he took out the patent for the turbojet engine in 1930, with a working prototype in 1936. Despite having stress over the designs, the prototype worked as Britain tried to maintain its dominance in the air then and in the war.
Having invented the self-propelled gun in the First World War, the British Army would exploit the new weapon thanks to the expansion of the Experimental Mechanised Force (EMF) (3) into a division sized force by 1932 and the formation of an entire corps (made up of British/Commonwealth soldiers) by 1940. The Hispano-Suiza HS.404 auto cannon would be adopted as an anti-aircraft gun for the British Army alongside the Bofors. Intermediate cartridges were introduced to the soldiers as the ".280 British". The Bren light machine gun would be introduced in 1937, with two per 10-man squad within the British Army. The German MP 18 was copied and modified into the Lanpat SMG (4) in 1935, named after George Lanchester and George William Patchett, which would be distributed to the Army in mid-1936. The Boys anti-tank rifle would be introduced to the army in 1936 before being replaced by the Blacker Anti-Tank Gun or the "BAT Gun" in 1942.
The National Investment Board and the We Can Conquer Unemployment plan was implemented in the weeks after the 1928 Election. Businesses that produced quality products in small quantities were motivated to rationalise, exploiting longer assembly lines and single-use machine tooling via Kahn principles. (5). This prevented the need to import from the United States or Germany. The government put in x-amount of funds for modernisation provided the company provides a % of the final cost, with smaller companies banding together to acquire the private capitol's percentage for the modernisation. Mining was improved thanks to the Bucyrus partnership as it introduced drag line open pit coal mines to the British miners, which was implemented along with other reforms for workers such as a raise in unemployment benefits, health insurance and workplace safety laws to prevent workplace manslaughter. This was introduced as well as a protective tariff which meant that all energy used in Britain and Ireland had to use 100% British coal, which helped alleviate the depression in prices from Germany's exporting of its own coal. The overproduction of British motor vehicles would be absorbed by the rest of the Empire, by the Raj, by Northern and Southern Rhodesia, by Windsorland, by the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, by the British-Allied Arab State and by the Caribbean islands under British authority. It would motivate the Empire to move towards larger truck engines, with diesel engine trucks having no more tax imposed on them (much to the anger of the railway companies).
Schools would then encourage curious minds to explore electronic engineering, with vocational schooling open to children 14 years or over. Compulsory education was imposed at all levels, with the school leaving age raised to 18 years of age. The steel industry would be organised to ensure an increase in production. Projects such as the Tyne Tunnel and the Forth Road Bridge would be started in 1929 as well as making the A1 a dual carriageway. The increase of vehicles on the road would then lead to an increase in the roads being upgraded across the country. The entire British canal system would be improved, with one example being the widening and deepening of the Grand Union Canal (while the Grand Contour Canal would not be done until 1951). Electrification would start in 1932. LNER's Liverpool Street to Shenfield scheme would start in 1934 to then finish in 1936, with the extension to Chelmsford and Southend Victoria finished by 1938. The Company's Manchester-Sheffield-Wath scheme would be completed in 1938 as the full scheme of 75 route and 318 track miles. The extension along the CLC to Liverpool Central would be finished by 1940. Shildon to Newport would be converted to 25kV AC single-phase at 50 Hz in 1935 instead of reverting to steam. The London Passenger Transport Board's New Works Programme was brought forward to 1929. The Board wasn't formed until 1930, but it was only implemented schemes that its predecessors had on their "wish list" for years. All the schemes completed include the extension of electric working of the Metropolitan Line to Amersham and Chesham, the Northern Heights, the extension of the Central Line to Denham and the extension of the Bakerloo line to Camberwell. This was done before 1940. The railways would have a modernisation kick via the Railway Facilities Act 1930, which would give companies cheap loans to replace old locomotives and rolling stock. Other projects included: The Severn bridge (completed in 1936) and Humber bridges (completed in 1938), the rail and road tunnels towards the mouth of the River Tees built between 1933 and 1937, the rail tunnels near the mouth of the Tyne built from 1934 to 1938, a road-rail bridge built to the Isle of Skye with the railway extended to Uig and Armadale between 1932 - 1939.
With concerns rising over Germany, it became clear to the Labour-Liberal Government that France was not to be isolated and that Spain and Portugal needed to be on their toes as well. Once the revelations of White Rose came out, Anglo-French relations warmed once both sides realised how far Germany would go to avenge its losses. The First Republic of Italy, the only syndicalist nation in the world, was given a lifeline by France and Britain in 1937 which wanted to maintain its factories. The FRI would rearm as early as 1933, with over 1 million active soldiers by the start of the war.
Prime Minister John R. Clynes and his successor Leo Amery made their intentions clear as they supported the French, the Spanish and the Portuguese as well as The Netherlands and Belgium.
In France, the nationalist, far-right and volkist groups marched out in force following the revelations of White Rose. The majority of the parties and organisations were against German interests, with only the Francist Movement being the only pro-German and only anti-Semitic movement out of them all. Pierre-Étienne Flandin would win a landslide victory in the 1936 French legislative elections with the Right-Centre Coalition winning 62.7% of the vote and a total of 382 seats compared to the Popular Front's 228 seats and the vote percentage of 37.3%. Flandin would coordinate rearmament between the French and British militaries. Flandin would also sign France onto the Treaty of Madrid, which would allow for no seperate peace and for all nations involved to fight Germany and her allies.
In one world, this building would determine the fate of an entire race of men and women and children. In this world, this building would determine the shape of the world.
In 14th November 1938, the Pact of Steel would assemble at Warsaw at the Führer's Palace. It would be where the leaders of the volkist and fascist nations would come together in unity. The nations and organisations represented would be:
The Third Reich - Minister of the State Joseph Goebbels, with the Führer preoccupied with matters over Minister of Production Albert Speer.
The Kingdom of Italy - Prime Minister Giovanni Gentile and the Italian Fasces of Combat
Empire of Japan - Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe and the National Regeneration Front
Kingdom of Croats, Slovenes and Serbs - Chief of State Grigorije Borisavljević and the National Government of Salvation
Armenian Republic - President Drastamat Kanayan and the Sons of the Phoenix
Volkist Front of Canada - Adrien Arcand
Austro-Hungarian Republic - Major General Bernhard Waber, Chancellor
Russian Empire - Prime Minister Anton Denikin
The National Guard of Sweden
British Volkist Party
National Front of France
The Reconstruction Party of The Netherlands (volkists and fascists that were opposed to The Netherlands' overtures to the Allies)
Australian Volkist Party
Argentina - Juan Emiliano Carulla, leader of the Sons of Argentina and Chancellor of the Argentine State
Brazil - President João Cândido Felisberto
Paraguay - President Eusebio Ayala
Republic of Columbia - President Laureano Gómez
Mexico - President Luis Napoleón Morones
Silver Legion of the United States
Afrikaaner Resistance Front
Persia
After the usual pleasantries, the men would sit down at a large table designed for the conference. Over 45 people were hired as translators, 20 who recorded the minutes and a further 2000 would be chefs, waiters, butlers, cleaners and guards for the event. To quote George Orwell:
The constant struggle of the volkist has been to believe that a certain race was barred from status and from existence based off the evidence of history immemorial. The constant struggle of the fascist has been to believe that a certain race was an ally off the basis of it developing fascist and volkist tendencies and, in his love of propaganda and newspeak, reverse his course of hate and fear-raising.
The first item was the coordination of all forces. Goebbels, as the un-official chairman and acting under the Führer's orders, declared that war would start no later than August 1940. This would give the powers a total of 20 months or so to prepare. Once Germany acts, the rest of the powers were to act, no matter how their situation would be on August 1940. In order to have supplies, Russia committed as much shipping of oil as possible from the Caucasus.
The second item was the end result: Under no circumstances were the powers to surrender and make seperate peace talks. It would take a week of cajoling for the lesser powers such as Argentina and Austria-Hungary to come on side. The Pact of Steel was to resist all efforts by the Allies (they used the term which remained from the First World War) and to strain the resources of their enemies.
The third item: All efforts are to be made for the coordination of intelligence gathering. Spies were to work collectively and any secrets a nation had or any secrets any organisation had, were to be given up to the rest of the Pact of Steel. Fritz Joubert Duquesne was to coordinate his efforts with spymasters within the Pact of Steel, as all operatives trained in detecting double agents, faking paralysis, secret codes, accent training and use of gadgets among other things.
The fourth item: Rumours were confirmed by Goebbels himself. The Third Reich is researching the development and the use of nuclear weapons, using uranium from the Russian Empire. The estimated time frame was nine years. All experts in the field of nuclear science were to convene in Germany during the war, so that the nine year estimate would become four or five-year estimate. The war would be fought, not only to claim parts of the world on a national basis, but also as a delaying tactic for those researching on nuclear weapons.
The fifth item: The disabling of certain ports and strategic points. The Japanese were ordered to seize Hong Kong, Macau and Singapore as quick as possible. The Brazilians, Argentinians and Paraguayans were to take the Falklands, Colombia were ordered to claim the Panama Canal if there was war between the Pact and the United States while the Pact of Steel forces in Europe were to take Constantinople, the Suez Canal and Gibraltar to trap all Allied shipping inside.
The sixth item: All Pact of Steel forces were to give support to guerrilla forces, such as the anti-Anglo British Communist Party and the Irish Republican Party, the anti-Semitic Francist Movement in France, the fascist Silver Legion and its leader William Dudley Pelley, The Australian Volkist Party, et cetera. All guerrilla forces and political movements were to engage in distributing leaflets, protests per month, advertising in newspapers, distributing food to the poor, violence against communists and supporters of the Allied effort. Sabotage was to be done sparingly until popular resistance was assured, then it was to be done until the country either a) sides with the Pact or b) enters into a seperate peace with the Pact. Either result was to be distributed to foreign embassies or to foreigners themselves to destabilise the morale of the public.
The seventh item: All Pact of Steel forces will support the targeting of Catholics, Protestants or other religious leaders that call for pacifism or declare themselves for the Allied cause. They are to be harassed and motivated towards silence.
The first seven items were dealt with within the month. The whole of December, January and February was now dealt with the carving of the world.
- The first would be Mexico, which was to be given the whole of Central America. If the USA entered the war, then the whole of Panama plus the Panama Canal, Texas, Arizona and New Mexico would be given up to Mexico.
- Colombia would be granted the lands of Venezuela north of the Orinoco River, as well as the Peruvians lands down to Marañón River. If Ecuador declared war on the Pact, then the whole of Ecuador would be for Colombia as well as the Galapagos Islands.
- Argentina was to claim the Falkland Islands and South Georgia Island as well as all Chilean lands from the Straits of Magellan until 40 degrees south of the Equator.
- Paraguay was to claim all Bolivian lands south of 20 degrees latitude south of the Equator. Chile was to give up lands that matched the Bolivian border, to then grant Paraguay a sea port for the Pacific Ocean.
- Brazil was to claim all of French Guinea, Uruguay, Suriname and British Guyana and all of Venezuela south of the Orinoco River. Brazil's Pacific coast would be made by the northern border being at the latitude of Cusco, Peru and the southern border being La Paz, Bolivia.
- The Caribbean was to be all claimed by Germany until the former powers of Europe wished to purchase them at whatever price Germany demanded.
- All French possessions in Africa are to be occupied by Germany or returned to a pro-Volkist French Government in future.
- All British territories in Africa are to be occupied by Germany permanently, including the Belgian Congo.
- All Spanish and Portuguese territories are to be handed over to the Russian Empire.
- Liberia and Ethiopia, should they enter on the side of the Pact of Steel, will be granted lands stripped from Britain and France.
- Madagascar will be occupied in perpetuity by Germany and will not come under section 7.
- The State of Israel will be formed out of the territories of the Arab State as well as the Sinai Peninsula.
- The Arab State will be divided between a Jewish state, Persia, a German-controlled Arab state, a pro-Volkist Ottoman Empire as well as the Republic of Armenia.
- The Russian Empire is granted control of Afghanistan and the Right bank of the Indus River. The Empire also has a free hand in the Raj alongside Japan if it may choose to do so. In the event of the United States entering into war, the Russian Empire shall claim the US state of Alaska, the Canadian provinces of British Colombia and the Yukon as well as the US states of Washington and Oregon.
- The Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire shall have a free hand in China.
- The Empire of Japan shall claim the Koreas, Manchuria, all Chinese territory it now holds, Taiwan, Hainan, Indochina, the Malay states, the Dutch East Indies and all of the Pacific islands not occupied by Australia and New Zealand.
- Australia and New Zealand shall retain their Pacific claims under Volkist/Fascist administrations.
- Ireland shall be recognised as a free and independent republic. The United Kingdom is to be dissolved into a rump England, Wales, an independent Cornwall, an independent Isle of Man, an independent Scotland. The Guernsey Islands, the Shetland Islands and Orkney are to be claimed by Germany.
- Denmark shall lose custody of Iceland and Greenland, which shall both go to Germany. Denmark shall lose the Jutland to Germany.
- Norway shall surrender all ports for German and Russian use.
- The Kattegat, Gotland and the city of Stockholm are to be claimed by Germany. All of Lapland that covers Sweden and Norway are to be occupied by Russia, with Norway coming under a Tsarist government.
- The Netherlands is to be in a permanent union with Germany.
- Walloon is to be annexed by Germany, with Flanders remaining as a fascist regime.
- All of France north of the River Seine is to be occupied by Germany forever.
- The Kingdom of Italy is to annex Corsica, Savoy, Nice and the territory of the FRI as well as Algeria, Morocco, Cyrenaica, Egypt west of the Nile and all of Mainland Greece. The islands of Greece are to be maintained by Germany and the Russian Empire.
- The Kingdom of Croats, Slovenes and Serbs is to annex the western half of Bulgaria and the Macedonian region of Greece.
- The Kingdom of Romania is to be carved up between the Russian Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Republic and a pro-German republican Romania.
- Czechoslovakia is to be dissolved and divided between Germany, Russia and the Austro-Hungarian Republic.
- The Spanish monarch is to be deposed and a pro-German monarch or a republican regime should replace him.
- Portugal shall be absorbed into the pro-German regime of Spain after the war. The Azores are to be in German hands.
- All Allied Powers will pay reparations of 5 trillion dollars, to be paid in instalments until the year 2045.
And on the 2nd February 1939, the Pact of Steel Conference would conclude, but the war was beginning oh so soon.
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1. Technically, if Blackadder's last episode was made in ATL, it would be accurate.
2. ATL name for the Centaurus engine, similar to the Alfa Romeo 135 which never gets made in ATL.
3. In ATL, the Eastland vs Westland war game was won by the Eastland Force, with the cavalry reluctantly being transitioned away.
4. ATL version of the Lanchester submachine gun, but the magazine has a larger capacity (75 or 120 rounds per magazine)
5. I would like to personally thank @Sārthākā and his thread 1930s British Sanity Options (Economy, Navy, Airforce and Army) as well as everyone who posted, your advice helped to motivate this post as well as the future of the TL. I appreciate it.
Anyway, I hope that all you like this update. All thoughts, comments and likes are welcome.
NEXT TIME: WHEN THE LEVEE BREAKS (THE PRE-ZEPPELIN VERSION)
Thank you and goodbye for now.
Yes, but it will depend on the domestic industries of the Pact members. Germany, Russia and Japan, yes.
But places like Paraguay? It will be hard.
Organisations such as the Silver Legion (United States), Volkist Front (Canada) or the Francist Movement (France) will have to rely on hand-me downs, smuggling and other means to obtain the latest weapons. In the case of political parties and organisations like these, the method is to destabilise the democratic government, subvert the morale, gain popular movement and either force the country into backing the Pact or surrender.
Hope that makes sense. I'll write the next chapter tomorrow.
Thanks for asking.
Going to post a one shot given how it is the 11th November before the dam breaks.
Lest We Forget, ladies and gentlemen.
Stay tuned.
Lest We Forget, ladies and gentlemen.
Stay tuned.
ONE SHOT: 24th August 2015 (Remembrance Eve)
'Alright ladies and gentlemen, please make your way out of the classroom,' said Mrs Halliburton, closing up the history book and moving to the door. Taking a sip of my drink, I left all of my school materials on the table.
'Walk with me Walt,' said Lily, bringing her hair into a ponytail. Making my way out of the classroom, I walked with her through the hall. Out in front of us all, the teachers and Year Twelve students fixed up the portraits of every Prime Minister, all 41 of them (1). Every single one of them was staring at us, even my ancestor, my own great-great-grandfather.
'Walt,' said Ms Teller, 'are you fine with doing the Ode?'
'Yes,' I said before she walked forward. Forward and forward, we all filled up the hallway.
'C'mon, push up, c'mon,' said some boys from Year Eight, giving each other the hip and shoulder as we turned right into the open air. Storming towards them, the teacher called out to them.
'Behave! Otherwise you will be held back in class,' he said, 'I'll put the five of you on behavioural tracking if you play up.'
'You're going to do fine - '
'- Ah what? Sorry what was that?' I said, looking to Lily, not realising that she was talking to me.
'I said "you're going to do fine", you idiot,' Lily smirked, trying not to laugh. Looking behind me, I snuck a kiss on Lily's cheek.
'You better be careful about what you say,' I said, trying to be serious. Lily moved closer to me as we reached the outside, a path that was between two buildings.
'Or what? What would you do?' Lily said, whispering in my ear and making me think of a few things that aren't on my mind when I am at school. Having a wicked smile, I gathered with all of the other students on the oval. With Lily on my side, I looked to the hill that we just walked down upon.
At the roof of one buildings, the Australian flag was draped down while the Union Jack was draped down on the other, where they were large enough to cover the windows of the two-storey buildings. The flagpole itself was half raised and the microphone and speakers were being turned on. Every time I had free time, I was being told about the sacrifices of my ancestor, Walter Rodney Kinghorn. Of what he had done in the Dardanelles Front, in the First East Indies Emergency and in the Second World War. I had to wonder if he wanted this. Having the life that he did, having the kids that he did. My second-cousin was the Premier of Victoria, my father was going to run as an alderman for the Corangamite Shire and my grandfather was a footballer for the Hamilton Imperials before joining Essendon and leading it to victory. Suffice to say, I was up against stiff competition. Set against a stand, there would be a portrait of King Henry IX of Great Britain and Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Rhodesia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan and all her dependencies (2). Beside the portrait was another portrait, but this time it was the Governor-General. His second-cousin, Elizabeth Windsor.
Stepping to the microphone, the Principal called us to attention.
'Ladies and gentlemen, students of Corangamite College, today is a special day. Seventy five years ago, your grandparents and your great-grandparents would spend their days as you would. Doing your work, spending time for your loved ones, saying your prayers, patting the dog and going out of your way to not cause trouble and to have the best life possible. You and your ancestors did this. You are doing this in the time of peace. You have the luxury of comfort just like every Australian right now. You are free.
'For your ancestors and mine, freedom was not a luxury that they could afford. Germany, Japan, the Russian Empire, Brazil, Argentina and other like-minded countries believed that freedom corrupted man. That man was to become subservient to the state in such a way that your individuality was to be crushed underfoot in the name of volkism and fascism. In 1938, the Pact of Steel came together to carve the world, in such a fashion that would guarantee the destruction of many millions of people had we not resisted. The freedoms that this country has, that this section of the British Empire has, would all have been swept aside had these people gotten into power.
'You all know your history. Tomorrow will be the seventy fifth anniversary of Operation Brunhild, the invasion of the First Italian Republic and the start of the Second World War. For almost eight years, the world joined together to end the vile ideal of man subservient to the state. The ideals of this country and the British Empire were preserved in spite of the hatred of the Pact. Humanitarianism, parliamentary democracy, our Bill of Rights, free markets, Christianity, the diversity of human races, our shared history as members of the British race and our individualism. These things survived the hellfire of the First World War, whether it was during the offensive at Marne where Paris was threatened, the numerous gas attacks in Lorraine, the storming of the Dardanelles under machine guns and artillery, the terrorist attacks that led to the deaths of the French President or the Armenian Racecide. These things have not hurt us and the Second World War and all of its events would never ruin, never desecrate and never tarnish the sweet feeling of freedom that we have.
'Manfred von Richthofen was a normal man, shattered by the news of his country losing the First World War before falling into a brief revolution. He was a determined man, determine to unite the world and damning the consequences. His actions led to the deaths of tens of millions of people and eight years of violence, which repeated themselves through the rest of the century. While you may never know the sting of war, you will feel it. Your ancestors paid a price to live one more day and that meant either fighting or contributing to the war effort. Your ancestors made the bold stand here, in Australia, that you were not going to see Britannia fall. Your ancestors stood alongside the South Africans, the Indians, the Arabs, the New Zealanders, the Rhodesians, the Windsorians (3), the Canadians, the Caribbeans, the Irish, the Scots, the Welsh and the English. Your ancestors stood by them even though Germany was not next door. Even though Japan was not next door. Your ancestors, out of principle, chose the path.
'You will all learn about the war soon enough. About Australia's contributions to it and to the inevitable victory of our empire and of our allies. I would now like to invite Callum Oates and Henrietta Jones, our Year Twelve School Captains, to proclaim the Ode to Remembrance,' the Principal said, stepping away from the podium. Coming to the microphone was a lanky, 6 foot 5 boy with skin like milk and a black-haired buzz cut and a girl with big glasses, puffy cheeks as well as her hair in a bun.
With a clearing of their throats and looking at each other before looking out to us, they proclaimed.
With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children,
Australia mourns for her dead across the sea.
Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,
Fallen in the cause of the free.
Solemn the drums thrill: Death august and royal
Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres.
There is music in the midst of desolation
And a glory that shines upon our tears.
They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted,
They fell with their faces to the foe.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
They mingle not with their laughing comrades again;
They sit no more at familiar tables at home;
They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;
They sleep beyond Australia's foam.
But where our desires are and our hopes profound,
Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,
To the innermost heart of their own land they are known
As the stars are known to the Night;
As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,
Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain,
As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,
To the end, to the end, they remain.'
Taking in a deep breath, they stood by the side of the Principal and the teachers. Taking his turn at the microphone was a man by the name of Michael Kenna, the head of the local RSL. His medals were pinned to his shirt, as he stood tall with his red-ruddy face and his dark, greying hair. He came to our school one time and told of how he stood alongside the Afrikaaners, the Rhodesians and the New Zealanders in Africa, "The Bloody Blackie Continent" he said with not much concern for his language (4). Fixing up the microphone, he would proclaim the poem.
'In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Soldier. Long long ago
Workers asked to fight, face the foe,
Take thy arms and fix bayonet,
Hell's hatred not faced you yet
In Flanders Fields.
We are the Living. A long long past
Since loved ones seen, nothing will last,
Charge up and rise from trenches lain,
Arise to face the guns, becoming slain
In Flanders Fields.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.'
Taking in a deep breath, he stood by the side of the Principal, the teachers and the students.
Taking his cue, a member of the local cadet school would bring the bugle to his lips and blow. In that minute or so, I felt a tightening pain in my hand. Looking to her, I saw what Lily was doing. Her father, her father held this day as special as his own birthday, wearing that poppy everyday in exchange for the pinkie finger that he lost. He lived through the mess and she came into the world because he was alive, because he was free. My great-great-grandfather, Walter Rodney Kinghorn, he would live for Australia and for Byaduk. He fought for the kids he raised, the country he served and the government he would eventually be a part of. And as the bugle died down, I clenched her hand tighter.
Five minutes of silence would occur. The peace of Versailles would be torn to shreds, seventy years ago tomorrow. It would lead to carnage that would tear up the world. It would not be forgiven or forgotten. Even to say the word Germany seems strange. It is a far-away word, like egads or by jove. It is in the past. Why shouldn't I speak of the new states. Of Prussia and the like? The humourless bastards. They know nothing but war, even when they served under different nations. Wiggling my fingers with Lily's fingers, I forgot about all that.
She would make me forget that. All of the bitter slings and arrows that are long gone. Only the good that was here, the sight of King Henry, the most powerful bachelor on the planet and the sight of his cousin as one of the longest serving Governor-Generals in the Empire. The sight of the flag.
With the flag raised to the top, the bugle was played again. As that happened, I looked to Lily. Moving to her ear, I had to whisper.
'I love you,' I said, 'more than you'll ever know.'
Moving to my ear, she whispers. 'I want to show you my appreciation,' she said, before moving away and kissing me on the lips as we all broke off. Walking with her, I had no doubt in my mind that I was going to be reprimanded.
But I knew that I had a reason to appreciate this day of days. That my ancestor could live to fight for this country and that her father could escape from Indochina alive (5).
LEST WE FORGET
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1. Australia still has that nickname of the "coup capitol of the world", both in OTL and ATL.
2. Remember, King Edward VIII did not abdicate because he married Diana Mitford and not Wallis Simpson. King Henry IX is Edward's grandson, born on the 28th September 1977 (aged 37 in 2015 ATL).
3. White and black citizens of Windsorland.
4. ATL version of the Vietnam War
5. The Anglo-French War, which will be shown soon enough.
All thoughts, comments and likes are welcome. I will start work on the next post tomorrow.
LEST WE FORGET
'Walk with me Walt,' said Lily, bringing her hair into a ponytail. Making my way out of the classroom, I walked with her through the hall. Out in front of us all, the teachers and Year Twelve students fixed up the portraits of every Prime Minister, all 41 of them (1). Every single one of them was staring at us, even my ancestor, my own great-great-grandfather.
'Walt,' said Ms Teller, 'are you fine with doing the Ode?'
'Yes,' I said before she walked forward. Forward and forward, we all filled up the hallway.
'C'mon, push up, c'mon,' said some boys from Year Eight, giving each other the hip and shoulder as we turned right into the open air. Storming towards them, the teacher called out to them.
'Behave! Otherwise you will be held back in class,' he said, 'I'll put the five of you on behavioural tracking if you play up.'
'You're going to do fine - '
'- Ah what? Sorry what was that?' I said, looking to Lily, not realising that she was talking to me.
'I said "you're going to do fine", you idiot,' Lily smirked, trying not to laugh. Looking behind me, I snuck a kiss on Lily's cheek.
'You better be careful about what you say,' I said, trying to be serious. Lily moved closer to me as we reached the outside, a path that was between two buildings.
'Or what? What would you do?' Lily said, whispering in my ear and making me think of a few things that aren't on my mind when I am at school. Having a wicked smile, I gathered with all of the other students on the oval. With Lily on my side, I looked to the hill that we just walked down upon.
At the roof of one buildings, the Australian flag was draped down while the Union Jack was draped down on the other, where they were large enough to cover the windows of the two-storey buildings. The flagpole itself was half raised and the microphone and speakers were being turned on. Every time I had free time, I was being told about the sacrifices of my ancestor, Walter Rodney Kinghorn. Of what he had done in the Dardanelles Front, in the First East Indies Emergency and in the Second World War. I had to wonder if he wanted this. Having the life that he did, having the kids that he did. My second-cousin was the Premier of Victoria, my father was going to run as an alderman for the Corangamite Shire and my grandfather was a footballer for the Hamilton Imperials before joining Essendon and leading it to victory. Suffice to say, I was up against stiff competition. Set against a stand, there would be a portrait of King Henry IX of Great Britain and Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Rhodesia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan and all her dependencies (2). Beside the portrait was another portrait, but this time it was the Governor-General. His second-cousin, Elizabeth Windsor.
Stepping to the microphone, the Principal called us to attention.
'Ladies and gentlemen, students of Corangamite College, today is a special day. Seventy five years ago, your grandparents and your great-grandparents would spend their days as you would. Doing your work, spending time for your loved ones, saying your prayers, patting the dog and going out of your way to not cause trouble and to have the best life possible. You and your ancestors did this. You are doing this in the time of peace. You have the luxury of comfort just like every Australian right now. You are free.
'For your ancestors and mine, freedom was not a luxury that they could afford. Germany, Japan, the Russian Empire, Brazil, Argentina and other like-minded countries believed that freedom corrupted man. That man was to become subservient to the state in such a way that your individuality was to be crushed underfoot in the name of volkism and fascism. In 1938, the Pact of Steel came together to carve the world, in such a fashion that would guarantee the destruction of many millions of people had we not resisted. The freedoms that this country has, that this section of the British Empire has, would all have been swept aside had these people gotten into power.
'You all know your history. Tomorrow will be the seventy fifth anniversary of Operation Brunhild, the invasion of the First Italian Republic and the start of the Second World War. For almost eight years, the world joined together to end the vile ideal of man subservient to the state. The ideals of this country and the British Empire were preserved in spite of the hatred of the Pact. Humanitarianism, parliamentary democracy, our Bill of Rights, free markets, Christianity, the diversity of human races, our shared history as members of the British race and our individualism. These things survived the hellfire of the First World War, whether it was during the offensive at Marne where Paris was threatened, the numerous gas attacks in Lorraine, the storming of the Dardanelles under machine guns and artillery, the terrorist attacks that led to the deaths of the French President or the Armenian Racecide. These things have not hurt us and the Second World War and all of its events would never ruin, never desecrate and never tarnish the sweet feeling of freedom that we have.
'Manfred von Richthofen was a normal man, shattered by the news of his country losing the First World War before falling into a brief revolution. He was a determined man, determine to unite the world and damning the consequences. His actions led to the deaths of tens of millions of people and eight years of violence, which repeated themselves through the rest of the century. While you may never know the sting of war, you will feel it. Your ancestors paid a price to live one more day and that meant either fighting or contributing to the war effort. Your ancestors made the bold stand here, in Australia, that you were not going to see Britannia fall. Your ancestors stood alongside the South Africans, the Indians, the Arabs, the New Zealanders, the Rhodesians, the Windsorians (3), the Canadians, the Caribbeans, the Irish, the Scots, the Welsh and the English. Your ancestors stood by them even though Germany was not next door. Even though Japan was not next door. Your ancestors, out of principle, chose the path.
'You will all learn about the war soon enough. About Australia's contributions to it and to the inevitable victory of our empire and of our allies. I would now like to invite Callum Oates and Henrietta Jones, our Year Twelve School Captains, to proclaim the Ode to Remembrance,' the Principal said, stepping away from the podium. Coming to the microphone was a lanky, 6 foot 5 boy with skin like milk and a black-haired buzz cut and a girl with big glasses, puffy cheeks as well as her hair in a bun.
With a clearing of their throats and looking at each other before looking out to us, they proclaimed.
With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children,
Australia mourns for her dead across the sea.
Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,
Fallen in the cause of the free.
Solemn the drums thrill: Death august and royal
Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres.
There is music in the midst of desolation
And a glory that shines upon our tears.
They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted,
They fell with their faces to the foe.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
They mingle not with their laughing comrades again;
They sit no more at familiar tables at home;
They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;
They sleep beyond Australia's foam.
But where our desires are and our hopes profound,
Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,
To the innermost heart of their own land they are known
As the stars are known to the Night;
As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,
Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain,
As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,
To the end, to the end, they remain.'
Taking in a deep breath, they stood by the side of the Principal and the teachers. Taking his turn at the microphone was a man by the name of Michael Kenna, the head of the local RSL. His medals were pinned to his shirt, as he stood tall with his red-ruddy face and his dark, greying hair. He came to our school one time and told of how he stood alongside the Afrikaaners, the Rhodesians and the New Zealanders in Africa, "The Bloody Blackie Continent" he said with not much concern for his language (4). Fixing up the microphone, he would proclaim the poem.
'In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Soldier. Long long ago
Workers asked to fight, face the foe,
Take thy arms and fix bayonet,
Hell's hatred not faced you yet
In Flanders Fields.
We are the Living. A long long past
Since loved ones seen, nothing will last,
Charge up and rise from trenches lain,
Arise to face the guns, becoming slain
In Flanders Fields.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.'
Taking in a deep breath, he stood by the side of the Principal, the teachers and the students.
Taking his cue, a member of the local cadet school would bring the bugle to his lips and blow. In that minute or so, I felt a tightening pain in my hand. Looking to her, I saw what Lily was doing. Her father, her father held this day as special as his own birthday, wearing that poppy everyday in exchange for the pinkie finger that he lost. He lived through the mess and she came into the world because he was alive, because he was free. My great-great-grandfather, Walter Rodney Kinghorn, he would live for Australia and for Byaduk. He fought for the kids he raised, the country he served and the government he would eventually be a part of. And as the bugle died down, I clenched her hand tighter.
Five minutes of silence would occur. The peace of Versailles would be torn to shreds, seventy years ago tomorrow. It would lead to carnage that would tear up the world. It would not be forgiven or forgotten. Even to say the word Germany seems strange. It is a far-away word, like egads or by jove. It is in the past. Why shouldn't I speak of the new states. Of Prussia and the like? The humourless bastards. They know nothing but war, even when they served under different nations. Wiggling my fingers with Lily's fingers, I forgot about all that.
She would make me forget that. All of the bitter slings and arrows that are long gone. Only the good that was here, the sight of King Henry, the most powerful bachelor on the planet and the sight of his cousin as one of the longest serving Governor-Generals in the Empire. The sight of the flag.
With the flag raised to the top, the bugle was played again. As that happened, I looked to Lily. Moving to her ear, I had to whisper.
'I love you,' I said, 'more than you'll ever know.'
Moving to my ear, she whispers. 'I want to show you my appreciation,' she said, before moving away and kissing me on the lips as we all broke off. Walking with her, I had no doubt in my mind that I was going to be reprimanded.
But I knew that I had a reason to appreciate this day of days. That my ancestor could live to fight for this country and that her father could escape from Indochina alive (5).
LEST WE FORGET
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1. Australia still has that nickname of the "coup capitol of the world", both in OTL and ATL.
2. Remember, King Edward VIII did not abdicate because he married Diana Mitford and not Wallis Simpson. King Henry IX is Edward's grandson, born on the 28th September 1977 (aged 37 in 2015 ATL).
3. White and black citizens of Windsorland.
4. ATL version of the Vietnam War
5. The Anglo-French War, which will be shown soon enough.
All thoughts, comments and likes are welcome. I will start work on the next post tomorrow.
LEST WE FORGET
That was just for Armistice Day, which was today.
It signifies the end of the First World War, on the 11th November at 11am.
In ATL, there will be a celebration of Remembrance Eve: 24th August, one day before the start of the ATL Second World War.
To me, such a celebration would signify the end of peace, security and life. From then on, all would be at stake. It would be the combined forces of the imperial and democratic powers versus the volkist and fascist powers. A struggle that would lead to the deaths of tens of millions and hundreds of millions more if Richthofen had his way.
I reckon such a date would be celebrated in this world.
Anyway, all comments are welcome.
It signifies the end of the First World War, on the 11th November at 11am.
In ATL, there will be a celebration of Remembrance Eve: 24th August, one day before the start of the ATL Second World War.
To me, such a celebration would signify the end of peace, security and life. From then on, all would be at stake. It would be the combined forces of the imperial and democratic powers versus the volkist and fascist powers. A struggle that would lead to the deaths of tens of millions and hundreds of millions more if Richthofen had his way.
I reckon such a date would be celebrated in this world.
Anyway, all comments are welcome.
When The Levee Breaks
Now is the time for action. All of Germany must awaken from its slumber. The world has awoken a sleeping giant and filled it with a terrible resolve. In the name of volkism and fascism, Germany AWAKE!
GERMANY AWAKE!
- Manfred von Richthofen, addressing over 40,000 Nuremberg citizens on the 24th August 1940. The codename "Germany AWAKE" was the confirmation for Operation Brunhild to begin.
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'Mama, can I go to the movies, please mama?' asked Valentino Farruggia, 'Comrade Party-Cell Secretary Gandolfo wanted me to come, he wanted me and the entire Local Party Cell to attend the new André Deed movie. Please mama, may I go?' (1) Looking to her son, Demetria Farruggia stepped away from the Pitina that she was making (2). Having a look at his face, Demetria kissed his forehead.
'Oh, mama, please - '
'Valentino, you behave now. You may go with Comrade Gandolfo, but you must be back to do your chores and to say grace at the table. Your father will not be happy to have another son absent from the house,' she said, before hugging her son and letting go. Having lived in the Kingdom before witnessing the Revolution, Demetria wished for some normality. That the only worry would be who her sons would want to marry and that her husband would return from the factory.
Making his way on foot, Valentino rushed past house after house after house. Before he could say his own name, he arrived at the front of the cinema along with the dozen other members of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia Youthful Revolutionary Vanguard Party Cell of the First Republic of Italy.
'Greetings Comrade Farruggia,' said Gandolfo D'Antuono, the Party-Cell Secretary, 'have you got your money?' Tapping on all of his pockets, Valentino pulled out the money for the ticket. A 5 lira bronze coin, with the faces of Giuseppe Mazzini and Giuseppe Garibaldi (3) on one side and the President on the other side. Pulling out the money they needed, the members purchased a ticket for the new André Deed movie.
Sitting down, the lights would dim and the camera would start rolling. At first, there would be the ten minutes, showing a message of the President himself.
"Every child that is born in this country is a child that will live in the greatest nation on Earth. We are the envy of our southron neighbours, the rotten fascists that have forsaken their fellow blood for thirty pieces of silver, delivered by the hands of the devil Richthofen. Under no circumstances shall the glorious First Republic fall under the foolish fascistic capitalist spell of the Pact of Steel or the Allied Powers."
Looking at the screen, Valentino wondered about the chance to use it. Despite the fact that he was fifteen, he wanted to do something with it after seeing Armies in Sleevies, a Marx Brothers film (4) as well as the James Stewart movie You Can't Take It With You. He wondered about the characters that he could think of, of the places that he would establish. After seeing The Mechanical Man, he wanted to do something about automatons and maybe about robotas as well(5).
With the music starting, the film would begin. The movie, would begin with a chorus of booming sounds, as it showed flowers. Raising an eyebrow, Valentino wondered what was going on.
'Comrade Valentino, you certainly know how to pick your movies,' said the Party-Cell Secretary, hiding his sniggering. Looking back to the film, Valentino had a double take, until it clicked. The character, he realised who it was. It was André Deed himself! As he was kneeling down on the grass and talking to his daughter, the booming sounds continued.
'What is happening?' asked a woman in the front row of the seats. Slamming the door open, several men armed with rifles came in.
'Please, come with us now!' shouted the head of the group, wearing red bands on both of his arms instead of just one like his subordinates. Without a second thought, Valentino and the entire Party-Cell group ran out of the cinema along with the rest of the cinema goers. The projection would stop and the lights would turn on as a rat-tat-tat sound was heard from the distance.
Stepping outside, Valentino could see people running in the direction of his house, running south. Opening a case, the soldiers handed rifles to the Party-Cell members, one by one.
'To the north, there is a barricade that you all need to go to. Go now!' shouted the leader of the soldiers. Running together, the Party-Cell members and the seven soldiers rushed north to a firefight in one of the northern streets. For several months now, Valentino Farruggia had been training with a rifle and a pistol. For several months, Valentino Farruggia had wondered if they would come. For several months, he did not want that to happen.
Yet it did.
With one giant roar, three dozen men charge, all of them in green-grey and with a snarl to their faces. Germans.
Before he could think of anything else, a tank shot brushed away three men as well as Gandolfo. Before that day, he never knew how far blood would splatter.
He never wanted anything other than a chance of watching a film.
For the next eight years, he would have no choice anymore.
*************************
Going down, going down now, going down going down now, going down, going down, going down, going down Going down, going down now, going down going down now, going down going down now, going down Going d-d-d-d-down Woo woo
****************************
1. André Deed, in the syndicalist First Republic of Italy, has a very receptive audience. He doesn't have the failure of his film career post-war. His more serious work, such as the 1921 sci-fi L'uomo meccanico (The Mechanical Man), is received well in the technophilic FRI as well as the audiences that have Futurist beliefs. Italy, at least in the north, will have a different film industry later on.
2. Pitina is an OTL Friuli-Venezia Giulia cuisine. It is a meatball made of smoked meats, mashed with a knife and mixed with a paste of garlic as well as red wine and salt and pepper before being blended into a mortar. It is to be smoked over several days and served as cold cuts.
3. Mazzini and Garibaldi have their lives reinterpreted in a perspective of republicanism, Italian nationalism, Italian unionism and social democracy. Although more hardline syndicalists wish for a more radical reinterpretation, there is not a lot of incentive to do so.
4. The five Marx Brothers go to MGM after their contraction with Paramount expired in 1933. This film is a parody of the Napoleonic Wars and it contained some not-so subtle references to a certain German ace and dictator. It would be banned in Germany in 1935, one year after it was released. The First Republic however do not have such censorship.
5. From the Czech word Robota, meaning "forced labour". Also, it is referenced in R.U.R., a 1921 play which popularised the word "robot". In ATL, the original Czech word becomes popular, although the word "automaton. Robotas is a reference to the play, where robots are manufactured human beings instead of being made out of metal (much like OTL Blade Runner or the re-imagined cylons from Battlestar Galactica). Automaton means OTL robot.
Anyway, thanks you all for watching. It is a short update, but I wanted to have that sense of urgency and that sense of splitting from normality.
All likes, comments and thoughts are welcome.
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25th August 1940 - Short Update
The British Ambassador to the Third Reich, five minutes before midday, handed the final note from His Majesty's Government. It stated unless Germany and her allies withdraw from the territories of the First Republic of Italy before 6pm, a state of war will exist between the Third Reich and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
As of now, no such undertaking has occurred. It is with a heavy heart that the Third Reich has refused all attempts to reverse course. A state of war now exists. This country is now at war with Germany.
- King Edward VIII, addressing the Parliament in an emergency session at 6:05pm.
*****************************************
King Edward VIII: It would be my greatest achievement and I felt so much heartache, not just that day but for the eight years that I and you saw. I am proud, I am humbled to know that Britain and all of the countries of the world managed to achieve the impossible in spite of great opposition.
Francis Buckley: Even France? (1)
King Edward VIII: I do not blame the French for their attitude. They are the product of their history as we British are the product of our history and you are the product of American history. They were defeated at Sedan and Metz and while they signed the dictated peace, Paris rose in red revolutionary fervour, the sort of fervour that died in the Dutch East Indies and in the Caucasus. They dictated the peace to the Germans in 1917 as we did. Then when the Third Reich rose up, we were more or less enraged on the same level as the Chief of State of France.
Francis Buckley: Do you believe that France were right in their attitude during the Battle of France?
King Edward VIII: The Germans, the Russians, no one has the right to desecrate the artefacts of the past. I made that clear when I saw what happened at the Louvre -
Francis Buckley: Was it true that you wanted to quote, "Melt Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag and then sell it for scrap to the dockers at Portsmouth"?
King Edward VIII: As the King, I speak only for the 1 billion or so people of the British Empire. You will need to ask them.
Transcript of episode 5475 (23rd June 1970) of Francis James Buckley's "The Writing Line", a show hosted by Buckley, an author and journalist as well as an amateur historian. (2)
****************************************
1. It has been mentioned before, but it will occur soon.
2. ATL version of William F. Buckley. No socking Gore Vidal so hard in the goddamn face that he stays plastered, but there is something interesting that he'll do soon enough.
Just a short update.
As of now, no such undertaking has occurred. It is with a heavy heart that the Third Reich has refused all attempts to reverse course. A state of war now exists. This country is now at war with Germany.
- King Edward VIII, addressing the Parliament in an emergency session at 6:05pm.
*****************************************
King Edward VIII: It would be my greatest achievement and I felt so much heartache, not just that day but for the eight years that I and you saw. I am proud, I am humbled to know that Britain and all of the countries of the world managed to achieve the impossible in spite of great opposition.
Francis Buckley: Even France? (1)
King Edward VIII: I do not blame the French for their attitude. They are the product of their history as we British are the product of our history and you are the product of American history. They were defeated at Sedan and Metz and while they signed the dictated peace, Paris rose in red revolutionary fervour, the sort of fervour that died in the Dutch East Indies and in the Caucasus. They dictated the peace to the Germans in 1917 as we did. Then when the Third Reich rose up, we were more or less enraged on the same level as the Chief of State of France.
Francis Buckley: Do you believe that France were right in their attitude during the Battle of France?
King Edward VIII: The Germans, the Russians, no one has the right to desecrate the artefacts of the past. I made that clear when I saw what happened at the Louvre -
Francis Buckley: Was it true that you wanted to quote, "Melt Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag and then sell it for scrap to the dockers at Portsmouth"?
King Edward VIII: As the King, I speak only for the 1 billion or so people of the British Empire. You will need to ask them.
Transcript of episode 5475 (23rd June 1970) of Francis James Buckley's "The Writing Line", a show hosted by Buckley, an author and journalist as well as an amateur historian. (2)
****************************************
1. It has been mentioned before, but it will occur soon.
2. ATL version of William F. Buckley. No socking Gore Vidal so hard in the goddamn face that he stays plastered, but there is something interesting that he'll do soon enough.
Just a short update.
The End Of The Start: Opening Moves
The invasion of the First Republic of Italy had unsettled the Allied Powers. The First Republic was seen as an anomaly for the world as the first syndicalist state, where the foreign opinions of it were less than favourable. It wasn't until the mid-1930's when Britain and France began to normalise relations in the attempt to prevent the Kingdom of Italy from claiming the FRI.
But there was a spanner in the form of the Third Reich and the Austro-Hungarian Republic.
On the 25th August 1940, a total of 35 German/Austro-Hungarian infantry divisions, 4,300 guns, 1,100 tanks and 6,800 aircraft attacked the north Adriatic coast of the FRI. At the same time, 80 infantry divisions, 4,817 guns, 1,170 tanks and 2,360 aircraft from the Kingdom of Italy invaded north. With over two million enemy soldiers to the north and south, the First Republic was shocked into action. They had a total of 3,400 aircraft, 1,870 guns, 256 tanks and a total of 110 divisions of infantry. Bear in mind, said infantry was comprised of 2,200,000 soldiers. Only 500,000 were soldiers of the Red Army of the First Republic. 200,000 were members of the Party-Cell Vanguard, men and boys between the age of 12 - 21 with a further 1.5 being irregular partisans and militias(1).
The Po Valley was a strategic point, as it was once the beating heart of the Kingdom of Italy. Under the High Command of the Air Force and its leader Walther Wever (2), the German air power was focussed on the industrial targets of the First Republic as was the intention of Wever, Richthofen and Reich Minister for Armaments and Ammunition Fritz Todt. The ability to make new guns, tanks and aircraft (or the chance to build spare parts) diminished astronomically. By the end of the month, the German-Italian bombings led to the FRI's manufacturing to be 41% of the 1939 average, with it decreasing to 19% of the 1939 average by October.
Large concentrations of Red Army troops were avoided or encircled, with many of them putting up a fight or being put to flight. Any attempt to retreat and regroup was met with an ever advancing enemy, who used a larger concentration of tanks, artillery, planes and infantry in unison. 100 men wearing their work clothes and armed with a rifle with a half-dozen magazines would not be able to match up against a tank or 1,000 rushing German or Italian soldiers. Towns were destroyed or sidestepped as the advance continued. Venice was claimed on the 28th August, with only 215 Pact soldiers killed compared to 4,526 Red Army soldiers. Further and further inland, the Red Army attempted to put up a fight. But as the days passed and as the planes dominated the sky, the FRI attempted to engage in guerrilla warfare. Families attempted to flee into rural areas, with their weapons with them. Sacrificing their industries, the Red Army attempted to ambush, to trick and to deceive. For the Italians in the south, it proved to be a headache. For the Germans, it gave them a purpose to bomb and shoot and advance.
On the 2nd September Trento, Padua and Verona were taken. An amphibious invasion of Genoa cracked the stronghold of the First Republic of Italy. The Battle of Milan stopped the German advance until the city was taken on the 9th. The Free Republic of Italy was reduced to less than a third of its territory by the 15th. President Di Vittorio demanded nothing less than "A People's War" to carry on the struggle. Every member of the Party-Cells, even teenage girls, were called forward to defend the country. Some put up a fight, while most surrendered.
The Kingdom of Italy, in its meetings with the Pact and with the Third Reich, made it clear. Under no circumstances were the FRI citizens treated like dirt. Upon releasing towns and cities into the Kingdom of Italy's custody, they were given the rights pertaining to citizens. "They are to be treated as returned property of the Italian race" quoted Giovanni Gentile, who remained Prime Minister at this time. The strategic bombing led to massive displacement of people, both the workers and their families. Captured Red Army soldiers were given the chance to join the Italian Army, while families were given the chance to rebuild their lives. If and only if they rebuilt the factories. Quite a large number of rural people, who were closet anti-syndicalist, monarchist and pro-Kingdom, gave their support to the Gentile regime. German soldiers withdrew from the region to the border, leaving only 5 for every 100 Italian soldiers. German foodstuffs even gave their support to the newly homeless Italians in the north. Despite the FRI being non-existent in name and reality by the 19th September 1940, the Red Army and the FRI citizens gave resistance in secret.
The event would define the future of Italy forever, as thousands would have their homes destroyed and their industries burnt to the ground. Of course, those same thousands, between 100,000 - 400,000 men, women and children according to the Morgenthau Institute Against Racecide would be put to labour conscription by the Kingdom of Italy to rebuild those same homes and those same industries. This does not include the 250,000 Italians that were forcibly transported across Central and Eastern Europe for conscripted labour.
********************************
1. It took 1 month, 5 days for Poland to be claimed by both the Soviet Union and the Third Reich, with over 1 million Polish fighters.
2. Wever did not die from his OTL plane crash.
But there was a spanner in the form of the Third Reich and the Austro-Hungarian Republic.
On the 25th August 1940, a total of 35 German/Austro-Hungarian infantry divisions, 4,300 guns, 1,100 tanks and 6,800 aircraft attacked the north Adriatic coast of the FRI. At the same time, 80 infantry divisions, 4,817 guns, 1,170 tanks and 2,360 aircraft from the Kingdom of Italy invaded north. With over two million enemy soldiers to the north and south, the First Republic was shocked into action. They had a total of 3,400 aircraft, 1,870 guns, 256 tanks and a total of 110 divisions of infantry. Bear in mind, said infantry was comprised of 2,200,000 soldiers. Only 500,000 were soldiers of the Red Army of the First Republic. 200,000 were members of the Party-Cell Vanguard, men and boys between the age of 12 - 21 with a further 1.5 being irregular partisans and militias(1).
The Po Valley was a strategic point, as it was once the beating heart of the Kingdom of Italy. Under the High Command of the Air Force and its leader Walther Wever (2), the German air power was focussed on the industrial targets of the First Republic as was the intention of Wever, Richthofen and Reich Minister for Armaments and Ammunition Fritz Todt. The ability to make new guns, tanks and aircraft (or the chance to build spare parts) diminished astronomically. By the end of the month, the German-Italian bombings led to the FRI's manufacturing to be 41% of the 1939 average, with it decreasing to 19% of the 1939 average by October.
Large concentrations of Red Army troops were avoided or encircled, with many of them putting up a fight or being put to flight. Any attempt to retreat and regroup was met with an ever advancing enemy, who used a larger concentration of tanks, artillery, planes and infantry in unison. 100 men wearing their work clothes and armed with a rifle with a half-dozen magazines would not be able to match up against a tank or 1,000 rushing German or Italian soldiers. Towns were destroyed or sidestepped as the advance continued. Venice was claimed on the 28th August, with only 215 Pact soldiers killed compared to 4,526 Red Army soldiers. Further and further inland, the Red Army attempted to put up a fight. But as the days passed and as the planes dominated the sky, the FRI attempted to engage in guerrilla warfare. Families attempted to flee into rural areas, with their weapons with them. Sacrificing their industries, the Red Army attempted to ambush, to trick and to deceive. For the Italians in the south, it proved to be a headache. For the Germans, it gave them a purpose to bomb and shoot and advance.
On the 2nd September Trento, Padua and Verona were taken. An amphibious invasion of Genoa cracked the stronghold of the First Republic of Italy. The Battle of Milan stopped the German advance until the city was taken on the 9th. The Free Republic of Italy was reduced to less than a third of its territory by the 15th. President Di Vittorio demanded nothing less than "A People's War" to carry on the struggle. Every member of the Party-Cells, even teenage girls, were called forward to defend the country. Some put up a fight, while most surrendered.
The Kingdom of Italy, in its meetings with the Pact and with the Third Reich, made it clear. Under no circumstances were the FRI citizens treated like dirt. Upon releasing towns and cities into the Kingdom of Italy's custody, they were given the rights pertaining to citizens. "They are to be treated as returned property of the Italian race" quoted Giovanni Gentile, who remained Prime Minister at this time. The strategic bombing led to massive displacement of people, both the workers and their families. Captured Red Army soldiers were given the chance to join the Italian Army, while families were given the chance to rebuild their lives. If and only if they rebuilt the factories. Quite a large number of rural people, who were closet anti-syndicalist, monarchist and pro-Kingdom, gave their support to the Gentile regime. German soldiers withdrew from the region to the border, leaving only 5 for every 100 Italian soldiers. German foodstuffs even gave their support to the newly homeless Italians in the north. Despite the FRI being non-existent in name and reality by the 19th September 1940, the Red Army and the FRI citizens gave resistance in secret.
The event would define the future of Italy forever, as thousands would have their homes destroyed and their industries burnt to the ground. Of course, those same thousands, between 100,000 - 400,000 men, women and children according to the Morgenthau Institute Against Racecide would be put to labour conscription by the Kingdom of Italy to rebuild those same homes and those same industries. This does not include the 250,000 Italians that were forcibly transported across Central and Eastern Europe for conscripted labour.
********************************
1. It took 1 month, 5 days for Poland to be claimed by both the Soviet Union and the Third Reich, with over 1 million Polish fighters.
2. Wever did not die from his OTL plane crash.
Thoughts and comments are appreciated. Thank you all for watching this TL!
The End Of The Start (Part 2): BEAT TO QUARTERS AND CLEAR FOR ACTION!
The invasion of the First Republic of Italy had sidestepped the predictions of the Allied forces (officially named as the Alliance), but it also gave them a chance to arm themselves. What was once considered a joke in 1920 became the headline news in 1940. The British were the first to react on the 26th August 1940, declaring war and passing an emergency military budget under the new Prime Minister Horace Michael H. Allenby following Leo Amery's declaration to voluntarily demote himself to Foreign Secretary (1). Allenby's first priority was the transition of children to rural regions far from possible bombing targets. This would lead to over 1,827,000 children and adults being relocated for the duration of the war (2). At 10pm that night, the National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1938 would be enforced, conscripting every able-bodied man from England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland between the age of 18 and 41 (3), with all colonies declaring war either earlier that day. At 3am on the 27th August, Prime Minister Pierre-Étienne Flandin oversaw the French Army's mobilisation. That same day, the Governments of Portugal, Spain, The Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and all of their colonies would give out the orders as well.
The news was only heightened when a British cruise ship, SS Cornwall, was sunk 20km west of Jutland with over 146 British and Irish passengers drowned on the 28th August. The culprit was a German U-Boat which advanced only to prey upon shipping, not a cruise ship. The deaths were recorded and the 41 survivors were taken in by nearby Danish fishing boats. The British Ambassador was beyond furious and the Prime Minister was doubly so on the 29th. It was King Edward VIII who stated the words (which are up for dispute by historians and biographers) "Melt Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag and then sell it for scrap to the dockers at Portsmouth" upon seeing the picture of dead bodies floating in the North Sea.
President Huey Long of the American Independence Party and a fervent isolationist, declared in front of the Statue of Liberty on the 27th August 1940 that quote:
The ball was already rolling, the plane already took off and the men were already marching before the Louisiana man finished speaking that afternoon. (4). He attempted to lobby for civilian regions to not be bombed by either side. Britain, France, Spain, Portugal, the Kingdom of Italy, the Third Reich, The Netherlands and the Kingdom of Greece would issue statements following such a request, "if and only if the (insert Alliance/Pact of Steel) does not follow through on the threat".
The Swiss Government, surrounded on three sides, ordered a general mobilisation on the 27th August 1940 in case the Pact of Steel wished to invade the mountainous country.
A joint operation between the Luftwaffe and the Royal Italian Air Force would lead to three FRI battleships being sunk in the early hours of the 28th of August, as they attempted to raid the Adriatic coastline of the Kingdom of Italy. The deaths of over 2,000 sailors and crew would be the first of many to come, even in this month alone. The First Republic of Italy would see carpet bombing and mass encirclements of forces, which would decimate much of the resistance given against the Pact soldiers.
The invasion helped to trigger the efforts of the Pact of Steel members. Once the call was given, it could not stop. Russia, within one FUCKING WEEK, mobilised 2 million fighting men. Now, let us be clear here. This is the Soviet Union where it was reeling from its Xth purge under Joseph Stalin. No, no. Due to the larger investments that Germany made in Russia from 1920 onwards, there was no OTL Ukrainian famine of the 1930's or even the Great Purge. There was the pogroms which did disenfranchise Russian Jews (in order for Germany to receive them), but these did not lead to a death toll exceeding 1 million. (5)
The Russian Empire in 1940, with its continued emphasis of natalism, industrialisation, volkism, and absolute autocracy, had a population of 245,000,000 people. 2 million fighting men was but a sliver of its possible manpower. The weaponry that Russia had was the equivalent to that of Germany, as the managed to spam out hundreds of thousands of sub-machine guns and rifles and even tanks. It would lead to the Finnish Revolt of 1940 being crushed within 12 days after the 25th August and the invasion of Romania on the 27th September 1940.
During this time Rafael Merry del Val (Pope Innocent XIV) lobbied to both sides to disarm and to enter into mediation, condemning the advance into Italy in the 1940 encyclical Ad Para Bellum Para est ad perditionem devorans (To Prepare For War Is To Prepare For Destruction), written on the 11th January 1940. Rome itself was far from the front, but it was just as noisy. The College of Cardinals all demanded for a Papal condemnation of volkism, which was made so in the papal bull De falsitate et Fascism (The Falsehood of Fascism) on the 28th August 1940. The Pope demanded an audience with Giovanni Gentile on the 1st September, where the Pope and the Italian PM went for over seven hours debating on philosophy and nationalism. The Pope threatened to excommunicate Gentile, his War Cabinet, King Victor Emmanuel III and any high-ranking general. His pleas were ignored. On the 2nd September 1940, Pope Innocent XIV suffered a sudden heart attack in his sleep, paraphrasing Luke 23:34 by stating "Father forgive me, for I do not know what I must do" before resting in his bed.
The 1940 papal conclave was conducted as news of the reunification multiplied and of the moves made by both world powers. Cardinal Gennaro Granito Pignatelli di Belmonte would become Pope Clement XV (1940 - 1948), writing a papal bull condemning Volkism and Fascism and openly writing to leaders across the world to lay down their arms. He was one of many thousands of people pushing against the tide of fighting and bloodshed, but they would push on nonetheless. His work would be carried on by future Pope Clement XVI (1948 - 1954), Pope Innocent XV (1954 - 1956) and Benedict XVI (1956 - 1981).
In the Far East, the Japanese Empire would make its moves on the coast of Japan, pushing into Anhui and south of the Yellow River on the 26th August 1940. Russian Far East forces would strike west from the 28th August to Xinjiang, hoping to unite the Muslims of Central Asia under the banner of the Tsar. Britain, France, The Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand, the new Second Republic of the Philippines, China and the United States were watching closely.
When the news arrived of the surrender of the First Republic of Italy, France, Britain and the Allied Powers were on high alert. Australian Prime Minister Jack Lang was forced to resign due to a leadership challenge by anti-war Frank Anstey (Labour MP for Bourke). Without the numbers to form government, Lang gave in to a "Wartime Coalition" with Walter Massy-Greene (Nationalist Party MP for Richmond, NSW) as Prime Minister, Earle Page as Treasurer, John Curtin as Minister of Labour and Public Works and Thomas Playford IV as Minister of Defence (6). Massy-Greene would become the 12th Prime Minister of Australia on the 29th August 1940. He would lead the country for the rest of the war.
In South America, the first shots would begin as Colombian troops advanced south into Peru.
By the time September 1940 came around, hell would rise and so would the body count.
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1. Halifax doesn't touch a ministry in the ATL Second World War
2. OTL's number was 1,473,000. The number includes children and adults with disabilities and their carers, teachers as well as mothers with preschool children. With the improvements to the roads and rail, along with a greater infrastructure program, the relocated people will have less hassle. There will also be less of the psychological damage that some children had when separated from their parents or relatives.
3. ATL version of The National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939 with OTL wording. The greater presence of an anti-democratic from (Pact of Steel) meant that it was introduced and passed earlier than the ATL Second World War.
4. Long defeated Henry Wallace in the 1936 Presidential Election. Long picked the former AIP Governor of Indiana (1928 - 1936) William E. Jenner as his Vice-President as they attacked Wallace's support for desegregation and national health insurance.
5. That is a reason why this war is EIGHT YEARS LONG. Maybe.
6. Playford never became Premier of South Australia. He will have quite the career ahead of him.
All likes, comments and thoughts are welcome.
NEXT POST: SEPTEMBER - DECEMBER 1940
Thank you all, we now have over 24,000 VIEWS! Thank you so very much. I'll see you all later.
The news was only heightened when a British cruise ship, SS Cornwall, was sunk 20km west of Jutland with over 146 British and Irish passengers drowned on the 28th August. The culprit was a German U-Boat which advanced only to prey upon shipping, not a cruise ship. The deaths were recorded and the 41 survivors were taken in by nearby Danish fishing boats. The British Ambassador was beyond furious and the Prime Minister was doubly so on the 29th. It was King Edward VIII who stated the words (which are up for dispute by historians and biographers) "Melt Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag and then sell it for scrap to the dockers at Portsmouth" upon seeing the picture of dead bodies floating in the North Sea.
President Huey Long of the American Independence Party and a fervent isolationist, declared in front of the Statue of Liberty on the 27th August 1940 that quote:
The United States of America and all of her lands thereof shall not waste our men, shall not waste our resources and shall not waste our treasures on the warmongering that is being conducted on the other side of the Atlantic by the Corporate-Warmonger-Collective. This group of people have been responsible for the wars that have crippled the nations of Africa, South America and Asia. They are more than powerful enough to seek profit even in Europe itself. All sides must come to an immediate resolution.
The ball was already rolling, the plane already took off and the men were already marching before the Louisiana man finished speaking that afternoon. (4). He attempted to lobby for civilian regions to not be bombed by either side. Britain, France, Spain, Portugal, the Kingdom of Italy, the Third Reich, The Netherlands and the Kingdom of Greece would issue statements following such a request, "if and only if the (insert Alliance/Pact of Steel) does not follow through on the threat".
The Swiss Government, surrounded on three sides, ordered a general mobilisation on the 27th August 1940 in case the Pact of Steel wished to invade the mountainous country.
A joint operation between the Luftwaffe and the Royal Italian Air Force would lead to three FRI battleships being sunk in the early hours of the 28th of August, as they attempted to raid the Adriatic coastline of the Kingdom of Italy. The deaths of over 2,000 sailors and crew would be the first of many to come, even in this month alone. The First Republic of Italy would see carpet bombing and mass encirclements of forces, which would decimate much of the resistance given against the Pact soldiers.
The invasion helped to trigger the efforts of the Pact of Steel members. Once the call was given, it could not stop. Russia, within one FUCKING WEEK, mobilised 2 million fighting men. Now, let us be clear here. This is the Soviet Union where it was reeling from its Xth purge under Joseph Stalin. No, no. Due to the larger investments that Germany made in Russia from 1920 onwards, there was no OTL Ukrainian famine of the 1930's or even the Great Purge. There was the pogroms which did disenfranchise Russian Jews (in order for Germany to receive them), but these did not lead to a death toll exceeding 1 million. (5)
The Russian Empire in 1940, with its continued emphasis of natalism, industrialisation, volkism, and absolute autocracy, had a population of 245,000,000 people. 2 million fighting men was but a sliver of its possible manpower. The weaponry that Russia had was the equivalent to that of Germany, as the managed to spam out hundreds of thousands of sub-machine guns and rifles and even tanks. It would lead to the Finnish Revolt of 1940 being crushed within 12 days after the 25th August and the invasion of Romania on the 27th September 1940.
During this time Rafael Merry del Val (Pope Innocent XIV) lobbied to both sides to disarm and to enter into mediation, condemning the advance into Italy in the 1940 encyclical Ad Para Bellum Para est ad perditionem devorans (To Prepare For War Is To Prepare For Destruction), written on the 11th January 1940. Rome itself was far from the front, but it was just as noisy. The College of Cardinals all demanded for a Papal condemnation of volkism, which was made so in the papal bull De falsitate et Fascism (The Falsehood of Fascism) on the 28th August 1940. The Pope demanded an audience with Giovanni Gentile on the 1st September, where the Pope and the Italian PM went for over seven hours debating on philosophy and nationalism. The Pope threatened to excommunicate Gentile, his War Cabinet, King Victor Emmanuel III and any high-ranking general. His pleas were ignored. On the 2nd September 1940, Pope Innocent XIV suffered a sudden heart attack in his sleep, paraphrasing Luke 23:34 by stating "Father forgive me, for I do not know what I must do" before resting in his bed.
The 1940 papal conclave was conducted as news of the reunification multiplied and of the moves made by both world powers. Cardinal Gennaro Granito Pignatelli di Belmonte would become Pope Clement XV (1940 - 1948), writing a papal bull condemning Volkism and Fascism and openly writing to leaders across the world to lay down their arms. He was one of many thousands of people pushing against the tide of fighting and bloodshed, but they would push on nonetheless. His work would be carried on by future Pope Clement XVI (1948 - 1954), Pope Innocent XV (1954 - 1956) and Benedict XVI (1956 - 1981).
In the Far East, the Japanese Empire would make its moves on the coast of Japan, pushing into Anhui and south of the Yellow River on the 26th August 1940. Russian Far East forces would strike west from the 28th August to Xinjiang, hoping to unite the Muslims of Central Asia under the banner of the Tsar. Britain, France, The Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand, the new Second Republic of the Philippines, China and the United States were watching closely.
When the news arrived of the surrender of the First Republic of Italy, France, Britain and the Allied Powers were on high alert. Australian Prime Minister Jack Lang was forced to resign due to a leadership challenge by anti-war Frank Anstey (Labour MP for Bourke). Without the numbers to form government, Lang gave in to a "Wartime Coalition" with Walter Massy-Greene (Nationalist Party MP for Richmond, NSW) as Prime Minister, Earle Page as Treasurer, John Curtin as Minister of Labour and Public Works and Thomas Playford IV as Minister of Defence (6). Massy-Greene would become the 12th Prime Minister of Australia on the 29th August 1940. He would lead the country for the rest of the war.
In South America, the first shots would begin as Colombian troops advanced south into Peru.
By the time September 1940 came around, hell would rise and so would the body count.
*************************
1. Halifax doesn't touch a ministry in the ATL Second World War
2. OTL's number was 1,473,000. The number includes children and adults with disabilities and their carers, teachers as well as mothers with preschool children. With the improvements to the roads and rail, along with a greater infrastructure program, the relocated people will have less hassle. There will also be less of the psychological damage that some children had when separated from their parents or relatives.
3. ATL version of The National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939 with OTL wording. The greater presence of an anti-democratic from (Pact of Steel) meant that it was introduced and passed earlier than the ATL Second World War.
4. Long defeated Henry Wallace in the 1936 Presidential Election. Long picked the former AIP Governor of Indiana (1928 - 1936) William E. Jenner as his Vice-President as they attacked Wallace's support for desegregation and national health insurance.
5. That is a reason why this war is EIGHT YEARS LONG. Maybe.
6. Playford never became Premier of South Australia. He will have quite the career ahead of him.
All likes, comments and thoughts are welcome.
NEXT POST: SEPTEMBER - DECEMBER 1940
Thank you all, we now have over 24,000 VIEWS! Thank you so very much. I'll see you all later.
The End Of The Start (Part 3): September - December 1940
Europe
Alfred Jodl would lead the 2nd Army into the First Republic of Italy alongside Gusztáv Jány's 4th Austro-Hungarian Republic, forcing the surrender of the FRI on the 19th September 1940, along with the 1st and 2nd Italian Armies under Pietro Bagdolio and Roldolfo Graziani. The First Republic of Italy would be re-organised under the control of the Kingdom of Italy. All of the syndicalist, communist and anarchist propaganda and symbols were torn down. Between 100,000 - 400,000 men, women and children were conscripted to rebuilt factories and then work in them, as well as being forced to build public works. For the conservative farmers and lower classes that were disenfranchised by the FRI soon found themselves either as collaborators or as conscripted labour. The Red Army and the more devoted of FRI citizens found itself cornered with little resources in rural regions, hiding from Italian soldiers or from collaborators.
France was in a panic, with the French Army mobilising close to 2 million men by the time that the FRI had surrendered. The Maginot Line was guarded with more than enough reserves. Philippe Pétain was the head of the Army. Angry over German aggression, Pétain would rally the French for the inevitable attack. General Maxime Weygand approached Pétain would present an experimental tactic to deal with the Germans. It was the idea of the "Hedgehog Defence", a plan that would be revealed in March 1940.
In the rush to clear out the opposition, the Pact of Steel organised Operation Burning Furnace. Army Group West, commanded by Field Marshal Erich von Manstein, contained the German 4th Army (Günther von Kluge), the German 5th Army (General Curt Liebmann) and the Russian 2nd Army (General Ivan Konev) (1). Over 1,250,000 men would be assembled as well as 7,800 artillery, 3,500 tanks and 15,000 aircraft. The goal would be thus: On the 1st October 1940, Army Group West would step inside The Netherlands before moving down to Belgium and the French border before there is any great resistance. In other words, it would be a remake of the Schlieffen Plan, although with a greater amount of armaments.
This plan was conducted due to the necessity of having all members of the Pact of Steel mobilised, which was estimated to be on the 20th January 1941 at best. With Czechoslovakia subjugated on the 16th September, there was a wait for the German 7th Army to arrive as reserve along with the Russian 2nd and 3rd Armies. Having more than enough men to conduct the assault (and having the Italians on France's southern border kept them at bay), the Pact of Steel had no concerns regarding the numbers. As for a victory itself, what concerned men like Heinz Guderian and Richthofen was the BEF or the other Imperial forces (Canadians, Australians, New Zealander) landing in the Netherlands and Belgium, hitting the west of Germany while France was on the defensive. Despite the necessity of taking out Paris and her government, all other obstacles had to be cleared, even those that shared the beliefs of the fascist Pact of Steel states (aimed explicitly at the Netherlands and its National Vanguard Party). Given how easy the FRI and Czechoslovakia fell, it seemed optimistic. This was confirmed when Fritz Joubert Duquesne and his spy ring discovered evidence of a planned offensive using British, Irish, Canadian, Spanish and Portuguese troops which would land in The Hague and Rotterdam before striking Germany's west. (X)
On the 1st October 1940, the first German and Russian troops march over the border near the city of Winschoten. The Netherlands, following the First World War and the rise of volkism, developed a fervent militarism. Boys as young as 10 were given training in firearms and military discipline, with many of these boys now between 16 and 18 as of 1940. They would stand alongside the Royal Netherlands Army under General Henri Winkelman that was stationed in the Friesian Islands and in the north of the country. The German 4th Army faced resistance from Winschoten lasting 10 hours, before the 1st RNA retreating to the city of Groningen before the army could be encircled. The Dutch airforce faced a dogged enemy, strong in firepower and even stronger in numerical terms. Assen, Rotterdam, The Hague, Amsterdam, Utrecht and Arnhem were firebombed by the Wehrmacht, with over 70,000 deaths over a single week. On every road, in every town, the Regular Army and the National Vanguard Party gave resistance but it was all futile. Prime Minister Meinoud Rost van Tonningen was ordered to flee to Britain, despite wishing to stay and fight. Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands (aged 60) fled to London on the 6th October 1940 with her two children Princess Juliana (her eldest) and the presumptive heir according to Salic Law Prince William (2). Tonningen relented and fled the country for London at 11pm on the 7th October, when Pact of Steel forces captured Amsterdam five hours later by the Russian 2nd Army. Once on the ground, Tonningen ordered for a radio connection to the Netherlands. From the 8th October, Tonningen would rally the people to fight on, however possible, every day for five hours. He would list the atrocities of the Pact of Steel and the number of people killed by Pact of Steel soldiers in the country. Much had been discussed over the contents of Tonningen's radio speeches, over whether or not the numbers were true or whether the atrocities matched the depictions he gave to the listeners.
The Royal Netherlands Navy under the command of Vice Admiral Conrad Helfrich would escape with the entire retinue, which was 9 cruisers, 18 destroyers, 34 submarines and about 100 smaller vessels (3). The RNN would move to London, before it was decided that the Dutch Government-in-Exile and the RNN would be stationed in Ceylon on the 9th October. This would be to check the Russian ambitions on the Persian Gulf and the Middle East. On the 14th October 1940, a total of 60,000 Dutch citizens and 50,000 Belgian citizens fled across the border to Ostend in Belgium, where Belgian, French and British ships (military and civilian) evacuated the refugees. Around 32,000 of the Dutch citizens are either military age men or boys trained by the National Vanguard Party, while 18,000 of the 50,000 Belgian civilians were military age men. Tonningen, fearing the loss of the Dutch East Indies, suggested that the military age boys and man be sent to the Far East to defend against Japanese aggression. Despite the controversy over the age of the youngest volunteers, the British Prime Minister does not veto the idea and neither does Viscount Gort (commander of the BEF) or King Edward VIII.
On the 28th October 1940, the Netherlands surrenders, with a General Government organised under Anton Mussert (4), a former member of the National Vanguard Party that was expelled after attempted to kill Tonningen. Belgium stood its ground in spite of the cost. King Albert I (5) would be damned if he saw his country suffer under the same fate it did over 20 years ago. Members of the National Vanguard Party went across the border to assist partisan efforts to resist the Germans. The General Government was meant to organise under fascist/volkist troops from Belgium and the Netherlands, which had to be replaced by German and Russian troops when the native Belgians and Dutch did not rise in great number to become collaborators. The effort to resist the Pact of Steel doubled and doubled again when Prince Leopold would be killed in a firebombing of the city of Ghent on the 4th November. Having lost his eldest son, King Albert ordered the people to resist. Over 25,000 soldiers and NVP members from the Netherlands fight alongside the Belgian forces for quite longer than what Richthofen and the other Pact of Steel members expected. Ivan Konev and his Russian 2nd Army advanced to Ostend and the Belgian coast by the 11th November, cutting the resistance off from British shipping. The resistance would continue to be supplied by French airplanes until the new year.
Meanwhile, the German 4th Army advanced to the south-eastern section of Belgium, until the 3rd French Army (General Charles-Marie Condé) advanced and defeated the Pact of Steel forces at Tournai (19th November 1940) and Mons (21st November 1940). The presence of the French Army in Belgium helped to rally the Belgians to last the winter, whilst it halted the Pact of Steel's ambitions in Western Europe. Richthofen, on the advise of his generals, would wait for reinforcements come springtime.
The invasion of Romania on the 27th September 1940 was conducted by the 8th Russian Army (150,000) under General Vladimir Zakharovich Romanovsky. Unlike the Western Front, there was a severe delay between the Greek, Bulgarian and Romanian forces. The Romanians had their 1st, 3rd, 4th and 5th Armies against the Russians on the 28th September to then hear news of the German 6th Army, Austro-Hungarian 1st, 2nd and 3rd Armies advancing through Transylvania on the 1st October. Before the Bulgarians and Greeks could react to Romania's aid, the Yugoslavian forces of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Yugoslavian Armies advanced from the west alongside the 4th Italian Army on the 11th October.
Romania lost control of its oil fields, which were spared by Romanovsky's orders as the 9th and 12th Russian Armies advanced south. On the 23rd October 1940, the Kingdom of Romania surrender, with the King imposed under house arrest. It would be at the southern border where the last of the 2nd Romanian Army joined the Bulgarians and Greeks in their resistance.
Denmark, Norway and Sweden all prepared for the inevitable.
South America: The 1st, 4th and 5th Colombian Armies advanced south of the Caquetá River on the 15th September following a barrage of chlorine gas shells as well as airstrikes from the Colombian and Brazilian Air Forces. The advance did not slow down until the forces reached 20km south of the Amazon River, nullifying the gains that Peru held for only 16 years. The mechanised divisions of the 3rd Peruvian Army managed to halt the advance at the Battle of Iquitos on the 26th October before slowing down for the year.
As for the rest of the year, the nations of Chile, Bolivia, Venezuela, Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina would stare at each other as they each mobilised without any action. Compared to the action of Europe, many Latin American writers and historians would dub this people the "Guerra falsa" or "False War" (6).
North America: The US Presidential Election would see the fight between isolationism and interventionism, which was made clear when Theodore Roosevelt III won the Republican Party Nomination on a platform of "Lend-Lease", enforcing the Monroe Doctrine and ordering all Pact of Steel ships stay east of 50th Meridian West. Huey Long continued his drive for isolationism, which was strong as the war in South America remained confined to Colombia and Peru.
Fearing intervention, incumbent President Long fought against it as he believed that corporations such as Standard Oil were a part of it. Roosevelt attempted to disarm the concerns, using the evidence of White Rose and from the Allied Powers, stating that there had to be intervention on behalf of Britain, France and the other Allied Powers. The electoral map is thus:
The re-election of Huey Long would another term in the White House for the American Independence Party. As for him, well.........................
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1. OTL Generals in charge of their armies, although Konev was a Corps Commander and not a General. In ATL, he is promoted to General earlier.
2. Fictional character. Also the actual heir to The Netherlands.
3. OTL Royal Netherlands Navy is five cruisers, eight destroyers, 24 submarines, and smaller vessels, along with 50 obsolete aircraft
4. One of the OTL leaders of the National Socialist Movement in The Netherlands when it was occupied by Nazi Germany.
5. He survives his mountaineering death.
6. ATL version of the Phony War.
EDIT: Wrote some extra detail before the German invasion of the Netherlands. Helps to justify the "Schlieffen Plan 2.0" a bit. If it doesn't, then please say so.
I hope you all enjoy this post. This is but a sliver of what is about to happen. All likes and comments and thoughts are welcome. See you all later.
Thank you all for over 25,000 VIEWS!
Alfred Jodl would lead the 2nd Army into the First Republic of Italy alongside Gusztáv Jány's 4th Austro-Hungarian Republic, forcing the surrender of the FRI on the 19th September 1940, along with the 1st and 2nd Italian Armies under Pietro Bagdolio and Roldolfo Graziani. The First Republic of Italy would be re-organised under the control of the Kingdom of Italy. All of the syndicalist, communist and anarchist propaganda and symbols were torn down. Between 100,000 - 400,000 men, women and children were conscripted to rebuilt factories and then work in them, as well as being forced to build public works. For the conservative farmers and lower classes that were disenfranchised by the FRI soon found themselves either as collaborators or as conscripted labour. The Red Army and the more devoted of FRI citizens found itself cornered with little resources in rural regions, hiding from Italian soldiers or from collaborators.
France was in a panic, with the French Army mobilising close to 2 million men by the time that the FRI had surrendered. The Maginot Line was guarded with more than enough reserves. Philippe Pétain was the head of the Army. Angry over German aggression, Pétain would rally the French for the inevitable attack. General Maxime Weygand approached Pétain would present an experimental tactic to deal with the Germans. It was the idea of the "Hedgehog Defence", a plan that would be revealed in March 1940.
In the rush to clear out the opposition, the Pact of Steel organised Operation Burning Furnace. Army Group West, commanded by Field Marshal Erich von Manstein, contained the German 4th Army (Günther von Kluge), the German 5th Army (General Curt Liebmann) and the Russian 2nd Army (General Ivan Konev) (1). Over 1,250,000 men would be assembled as well as 7,800 artillery, 3,500 tanks and 15,000 aircraft. The goal would be thus: On the 1st October 1940, Army Group West would step inside The Netherlands before moving down to Belgium and the French border before there is any great resistance. In other words, it would be a remake of the Schlieffen Plan, although with a greater amount of armaments.
This plan was conducted due to the necessity of having all members of the Pact of Steel mobilised, which was estimated to be on the 20th January 1941 at best. With Czechoslovakia subjugated on the 16th September, there was a wait for the German 7th Army to arrive as reserve along with the Russian 2nd and 3rd Armies. Having more than enough men to conduct the assault (and having the Italians on France's southern border kept them at bay), the Pact of Steel had no concerns regarding the numbers. As for a victory itself, what concerned men like Heinz Guderian and Richthofen was the BEF or the other Imperial forces (Canadians, Australians, New Zealander) landing in the Netherlands and Belgium, hitting the west of Germany while France was on the defensive. Despite the necessity of taking out Paris and her government, all other obstacles had to be cleared, even those that shared the beliefs of the fascist Pact of Steel states (aimed explicitly at the Netherlands and its National Vanguard Party). Given how easy the FRI and Czechoslovakia fell, it seemed optimistic. This was confirmed when Fritz Joubert Duquesne and his spy ring discovered evidence of a planned offensive using British, Irish, Canadian, Spanish and Portuguese troops which would land in The Hague and Rotterdam before striking Germany's west. (X)
On the 1st October 1940, the first German and Russian troops march over the border near the city of Winschoten. The Netherlands, following the First World War and the rise of volkism, developed a fervent militarism. Boys as young as 10 were given training in firearms and military discipline, with many of these boys now between 16 and 18 as of 1940. They would stand alongside the Royal Netherlands Army under General Henri Winkelman that was stationed in the Friesian Islands and in the north of the country. The German 4th Army faced resistance from Winschoten lasting 10 hours, before the 1st RNA retreating to the city of Groningen before the army could be encircled. The Dutch airforce faced a dogged enemy, strong in firepower and even stronger in numerical terms. Assen, Rotterdam, The Hague, Amsterdam, Utrecht and Arnhem were firebombed by the Wehrmacht, with over 70,000 deaths over a single week. On every road, in every town, the Regular Army and the National Vanguard Party gave resistance but it was all futile. Prime Minister Meinoud Rost van Tonningen was ordered to flee to Britain, despite wishing to stay and fight. Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands (aged 60) fled to London on the 6th October 1940 with her two children Princess Juliana (her eldest) and the presumptive heir according to Salic Law Prince William (2). Tonningen relented and fled the country for London at 11pm on the 7th October, when Pact of Steel forces captured Amsterdam five hours later by the Russian 2nd Army. Once on the ground, Tonningen ordered for a radio connection to the Netherlands. From the 8th October, Tonningen would rally the people to fight on, however possible, every day for five hours. He would list the atrocities of the Pact of Steel and the number of people killed by Pact of Steel soldiers in the country. Much had been discussed over the contents of Tonningen's radio speeches, over whether or not the numbers were true or whether the atrocities matched the depictions he gave to the listeners.
The Royal Netherlands Navy under the command of Vice Admiral Conrad Helfrich would escape with the entire retinue, which was 9 cruisers, 18 destroyers, 34 submarines and about 100 smaller vessels (3). The RNN would move to London, before it was decided that the Dutch Government-in-Exile and the RNN would be stationed in Ceylon on the 9th October. This would be to check the Russian ambitions on the Persian Gulf and the Middle East. On the 14th October 1940, a total of 60,000 Dutch citizens and 50,000 Belgian citizens fled across the border to Ostend in Belgium, where Belgian, French and British ships (military and civilian) evacuated the refugees. Around 32,000 of the Dutch citizens are either military age men or boys trained by the National Vanguard Party, while 18,000 of the 50,000 Belgian civilians were military age men. Tonningen, fearing the loss of the Dutch East Indies, suggested that the military age boys and man be sent to the Far East to defend against Japanese aggression. Despite the controversy over the age of the youngest volunteers, the British Prime Minister does not veto the idea and neither does Viscount Gort (commander of the BEF) or King Edward VIII.
On the 28th October 1940, the Netherlands surrenders, with a General Government organised under Anton Mussert (4), a former member of the National Vanguard Party that was expelled after attempted to kill Tonningen. Belgium stood its ground in spite of the cost. King Albert I (5) would be damned if he saw his country suffer under the same fate it did over 20 years ago. Members of the National Vanguard Party went across the border to assist partisan efforts to resist the Germans. The General Government was meant to organise under fascist/volkist troops from Belgium and the Netherlands, which had to be replaced by German and Russian troops when the native Belgians and Dutch did not rise in great number to become collaborators. The effort to resist the Pact of Steel doubled and doubled again when Prince Leopold would be killed in a firebombing of the city of Ghent on the 4th November. Having lost his eldest son, King Albert ordered the people to resist. Over 25,000 soldiers and NVP members from the Netherlands fight alongside the Belgian forces for quite longer than what Richthofen and the other Pact of Steel members expected. Ivan Konev and his Russian 2nd Army advanced to Ostend and the Belgian coast by the 11th November, cutting the resistance off from British shipping. The resistance would continue to be supplied by French airplanes until the new year.
Meanwhile, the German 4th Army advanced to the south-eastern section of Belgium, until the 3rd French Army (General Charles-Marie Condé) advanced and defeated the Pact of Steel forces at Tournai (19th November 1940) and Mons (21st November 1940). The presence of the French Army in Belgium helped to rally the Belgians to last the winter, whilst it halted the Pact of Steel's ambitions in Western Europe. Richthofen, on the advise of his generals, would wait for reinforcements come springtime.
The invasion of Romania on the 27th September 1940 was conducted by the 8th Russian Army (150,000) under General Vladimir Zakharovich Romanovsky. Unlike the Western Front, there was a severe delay between the Greek, Bulgarian and Romanian forces. The Romanians had their 1st, 3rd, 4th and 5th Armies against the Russians on the 28th September to then hear news of the German 6th Army, Austro-Hungarian 1st, 2nd and 3rd Armies advancing through Transylvania on the 1st October. Before the Bulgarians and Greeks could react to Romania's aid, the Yugoslavian forces of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Yugoslavian Armies advanced from the west alongside the 4th Italian Army on the 11th October.
Romania lost control of its oil fields, which were spared by Romanovsky's orders as the 9th and 12th Russian Armies advanced south. On the 23rd October 1940, the Kingdom of Romania surrender, with the King imposed under house arrest. It would be at the southern border where the last of the 2nd Romanian Army joined the Bulgarians and Greeks in their resistance.
Denmark, Norway and Sweden all prepared for the inevitable.
South America: The 1st, 4th and 5th Colombian Armies advanced south of the Caquetá River on the 15th September following a barrage of chlorine gas shells as well as airstrikes from the Colombian and Brazilian Air Forces. The advance did not slow down until the forces reached 20km south of the Amazon River, nullifying the gains that Peru held for only 16 years. The mechanised divisions of the 3rd Peruvian Army managed to halt the advance at the Battle of Iquitos on the 26th October before slowing down for the year.
As for the rest of the year, the nations of Chile, Bolivia, Venezuela, Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina would stare at each other as they each mobilised without any action. Compared to the action of Europe, many Latin American writers and historians would dub this people the "Guerra falsa" or "False War" (6).
North America: The US Presidential Election would see the fight between isolationism and interventionism, which was made clear when Theodore Roosevelt III won the Republican Party Nomination on a platform of "Lend-Lease", enforcing the Monroe Doctrine and ordering all Pact of Steel ships stay east of 50th Meridian West. Huey Long continued his drive for isolationism, which was strong as the war in South America remained confined to Colombia and Peru.
Fearing intervention, incumbent President Long fought against it as he believed that corporations such as Standard Oil were a part of it. Roosevelt attempted to disarm the concerns, using the evidence of White Rose and from the Allied Powers, stating that there had to be intervention on behalf of Britain, France and the other Allied Powers. The electoral map is thus:
The re-election of Huey Long would another term in the White House for the American Independence Party. As for him, well.........................
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1. OTL Generals in charge of their armies, although Konev was a Corps Commander and not a General. In ATL, he is promoted to General earlier.
2. Fictional character. Also the actual heir to The Netherlands.
3. OTL Royal Netherlands Navy is five cruisers, eight destroyers, 24 submarines, and smaller vessels, along with 50 obsolete aircraft
4. One of the OTL leaders of the National Socialist Movement in The Netherlands when it was occupied by Nazi Germany.
5. He survives his mountaineering death.
6. ATL version of the Phony War.
EDIT: Wrote some extra detail before the German invasion of the Netherlands. Helps to justify the "Schlieffen Plan 2.0" a bit. If it doesn't, then please say so.
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There was less of a necessity to have a quick victory, yes, but it was also meant to deny the BEF entry through Amsterdam and the Channel coastline of Belgium as well as make all of the volkist parties/organisations/nations fall into line (given how The Netherlands is explicitly anti free-speech, conscription for little boys and authoritarian in nature, it was to put the Dutch in their place). I will edit the last post to give a better explanation. Not because I am instantly unhappy with it, but because I would rather explain in-universe than give a half-arsed explanation after the fact (like what D&D did for Game of Thrones) (1).
1. Not saying this because I watched season 8, but because I read the books. If the last two books were like the show's ending, then so fucking help me G-D I'll piff the book across the room.
Just edited the post so it makes more sense. All comments and thoughts are welcome.