I'm half-expecting the USA and Britain to bomb Caucasus oilfields without Soviet consent as soon as the Axis get close enough (and they think the Soviets cannot win anymore), as they will say "Fuck Stalin, we won't let the Jerries have all this nice oil".

Which will further cement hatred towards the British and Americans in post-war Russia.
Axis-Central powers: “has oil fields in the Caucasus.”
Allied bombers: Cowabunga it is.
Stalin: “confused screaming”
BTW, when the battle of Moscow will occur, there will be a Russian version of Downfall, right?
Would there be parodies like today?
 
Once the Red Army completely pulls out of Eastern Siberia, that will free up some IJA divisions to push into India.
Thanks to Taikoku and their National Han Chinese allies the Japanese actually have the troops in Burma for some pushing deeper into India, but untill the British/ Allied airraids from there into Southeast Asia and China start to become a problem in 1943 (together with Chindits Expedition and the Arakan Offensive into Burma, convincing them that their outer South Asian defensives need to be increased a Indian (Assam/ Bengal) offensice like Bose is pleading for will not happen (just as OTL). Japan hopes for Indian anti-british uprisings, but is worried to commit to much army and navy forces into India and the Indian Ocean for now, fearing they might get cut off or be wasted and that such losses could weaken their main war against the United States in the Central Pacific. That might however change, once Yamamaoto's outer island defense parameter had been established and the Japanese believe themselve to be secure in the east thanks to the recent American losses (around 1942/43) untill the American new build carriers/ battleships can upkeep to the losses and allow them for their own new strong offensive against Midway, the Solomons and New Guinea and finally go on a full.out offensive of their own, showing the Japanese some troubling times. At the same time by 1943 Stalin will push for a Second Front in Europe at every chance, getting the ALlies to focuss on that major operation as well soon TTL.

Axis-Central powers: “has oil fields in the Caucasus.”
Allied bombers: Cowabunga it is.
Stalin: “confused screaming”
BTW, when the battle of Moscow will occur, there will be a Russian version of Downfall, right?
Would there be parodies like today?
Yeah Stalin will explode when that happens, despite if he can take it away from the ACP. And yes there will be a Downfall like chapter for Stalin TTL too (with some twists :p ;D). ^^
 
Chapter 598: The Austrian-Hungarian Ace
Chapter 598: The Austrian-Hungarian Ace
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Born on February 23, 1918, Bernd Gallowitsch would become one of the most famous Austrian-Hungarian Air Force Aces of the Second Great War. Rewarded with the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for his extremely battlefield bravery and successful military leadership, he became famous during the Eastern Crusade, mainly in the Kingdom of Ukrainia and the Caucasian Region. During this daring missions, Gallowitsch would shoot down 64 enemy aircraft, mainly Soviet Union Red Army ones and destroy 23 of their tanks in around 480 combat missions. For his daring, heroic missions Bernd Gallowitsch was not only rewarded, promoted and decorated but made a figure of propaganda for the Austrian Air Force as a branch of the Austrian Army, who itself was a branch inside the Austrian-Hungarian Army. In 1942 Gallowitsch was part of the forces that provided aerial cover for the encirclement of the Georgian Red Army of the Soviet Union, the captured of the Caucasian Oil Fields and the stop of the Red Army counter-offensive in the northern Caucasus and Volga region. Being viewed as a ace and hero Gallowitsch soon lead his very own small wing and later squadron on the Eastern Front during the Eastern Crusade. The so called Gallowitsch Wing and the later Gallowitsch squadron was one of the most elite air force group of the Axis Central Powers during the Eastern Crusade and played a huge part in stopping the Soviet counter-offensive, across the Volga, by destroying many of the Soviet Union's pontoon bridges and ships that they tried to use to get over the river front. Despite this fame and victories, Bernd Gallowitsch would become even more be famous for flying one of the first jet fighters and leading one of the first jet fighter units of the Austrian Air Force and the combined Austrian-Hungarian Air Force. Bernd Gallowitsch would later write a book about aviation and aerial fights, titled “From above the Alps to the Caucasian Mountains” that would become a standard lecture for ongoing Austrian-Hungarian fighter and bomber pilots of the future. What fewer would know about Gallowitsch, was that he was a shareholder of the Austrian Airlines (AA), Austro Air (Au Air) and the Austrian Air Services (AAS). While Austrian-Hungarian in nature they were direct competitors of the Hungarian Airlines (HA), the Hungarian Air Transport Company (HATC) and the Magyar Air Services (MAS) in the Balkan Peninsula and Southeast Europe. This meant that after his military career retirement Gallowitsch would become massively involved in the air aviation that tried to better connect and integrate the Austrian-Hungarian Empire with it's depending puppet states and protectorates in the Balkan Peninsula and South-East Europe. Bernd Gallowitsch later died on December 13 1984 in Vienna and was rewarded a state funeral by the Austrian Chancellor and the Austrian-Hungarian Emperor.
 
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Speaking of A-H, how loyal and patriotic is the population ?

IOTL, while Hungarian population was mostly loyal, it was to Hungary. Not to an union with Austria (even pre-WWI, relations between A and H were always rocky, and the two remained united mostly to maintain their dominance over others and great power status).
Likewise, Austrians were mostly loyal to the Nazis, but because the Reich represented them as Germans.

And things are much worse for the other nationalities, which had been oppressed by the two main ethnic groups pre-WWI, gained their independence, and then lost it again to their old masters.

All of that might have been grudgingly accepted by the people in normal times. But then, the rulers embarked A-H in a war of conquest that the common people likelt cared nothing about.

Well, right-wingers might have been happy to join an anti-Bolshevik crusade (that said, they might not have been happy with their people paying the price in blood and money, especially the Czechs, Slovaks...). And I guess that (except a part of the elites) nobody cared about fighting Britain (let alone the USA), nor fighting in North Africa...

I know that Mussolini did basically the exact same thing in Italy (which made most people unhappy but not enough to topple him until Italy proper got invaded). But, Italy had a strong common national, cultural and ethnic identity, and a shared trauma (of being the smallest of Great Powers since the end of 19th c, losing the First Ethiopian War, having so few colonies, then the "mutilated victory"), meaning the majority of Italians were somehow on board with dreams of dominating the Med.

Austria-Hungary doesn't have this background of shared strong identity and wounded pride, so the people would be less inclined to suffer and die for grandiose dreams.

There's also the fact that Mussolini represented something new (at least in the beginning), while the Habsburgs are the old order. The one that failed and caused the catastrophe of 1918.
And finally, Benny's charisma. That the A-H regime doesn't have.
 
Speaking of A-H, how loyal and patriotic is the population ?
Depending on the ethnic group, political, cultrual and other various things quit differently.

IOTL, while Hungarian population was mostly loyal, it was to Hungary. Not to an union with Austria (even pre-WWI, relations between A and H were always rocky, and the two remained united mostly to maintain their dominance over others and great power status).
Likewise, Austrians were mostly loyal to the Nazis, but because the Reich represented them as Germans.
And things are much worse for the other nationalities, which had been oppressed by the two main ethnic groups pre-WWI, gained their independence, and then lost it again to their old masters.
Austrians and Hungarians are quit happy, same goes for Ukrainians as they live in somewhat authonomy. Slovakian independence as a protectorat from Czech unification to Czech Slovakia is mainly supported as long as this independence idea is as a protectorate and state of A-H. Czech is much more free then Bohemia Moravia under the Nazis, but surroundet by Sudetenland (German Bohemia and Moravia) as Slovakia. They also have much more independent internal authonomy as nation states inside Austria-Hungary aka the United States of Austria. Romanian minorities are not very happy, as they are force to resettle in the rump-state of Romania or live in heavily Hungarian dominated regions once again. Slovenes and Croats are like Slovaks and Hungarians encouraged to their own ethnic national independency as a protectorate and member state. While the Slovene one is targeted against Czech ideas of Czechslovakia, the Slovene and Croat ones (as well as partly Mohammedan ones in Bosnia) are targeted against pan-Yugoslav Serbic hegemony once again

All of that might have been grudgingly accepted by the people in normal times. But then, the rulers embarked A-H in a war of conquest that the common people likelt cared nothing about.

Well, right-wingers might have been happy to join an anti-Bolshevik crusade (that said, they might not have been happy with their people paying the price in blood and money, especially the Czechs, Slovaks...). And I guess that (except a part of the elites) nobody cared about fighting Britain (let alone the USA), nor fighting in North Africa...

I know that Mussolini did basically the exact same thing in Italy (which made most people unhappy but not enough to topple him until Italy proper got invaded). But, Italy had a strong common national, cultural and ethnic identity, and a shared trauma (of being the smallest of Great Powers since the end of 19th c, losing the First Ethiopian War, having so few colonies, then the "mutilated victory"), meaning the majority of Italians were somehow on board with dreams of dominating the Med.

Austria-Hungary doesn't have this background of shared strong identity and wounded pride, so the people would be less inclined to suffer and die for grandiose dreams.

There's also the fact that Mussolini represented something new (at least in the beginning), while the Habsburgs are the old order. The one that failed and caused the catastrophe of 1918.
And finally, Benny's charisma. That the A-H regime doesn't have.
Reguarding the war, most forces used in the East are either Hungarian or Austrian, as the protectorad and puppet forces are much worse eqipped and trained, so they work to safe the supply lines against partisans or their own ehtnic states inside the USAustria, while they often see no true action in combat on true frontlines (Eastern Crusade or Africa). A-H tries to make the Emperor a unifying figure and greatly point out that unified the Balkan (often including suggestions of Bulgaira, Romania and Greek to join as ethnic nation states to the USAustria too) has much more economic, political and military power to safeguard their independence and authonomy together as a protective alliance and union against the barbaric Red Army hordes from the east that allready spread communist uprisings and rebellions on the Balkan, as well as protect them from German and Italian hegemony over the Balkan and Danube regions. More about that will follow in a chapter about the Danube Federation (the A-H try to form their own internal Block and Faction inside the ACP, similar to Itali-Spain, Germanic States and France).
 
So basically, the Croats, Slovenes and Bosniaks got a better deal than with the Serbs before, and Slovaks than with the Czechs, so all those groups support the Empire, and the Czechs while unhappy (as they were better off independent) don't want to rock the boat as they have internal autonomy and might lose it if they rebel.

Nationalities (other than Hungarians and Austrians) not getting conscripted, and A-H not getting bombed by the Allies (and the Axis dominating North Africa meaning Allies are far from the Balkans), likely does wonders to maintain this equilibrium as well.

Also, who is currently occupying Serbia proper ?

Finally, how did the Neo-Ottomans get so much success ? While pre-1938 Turkey was an industrial nation, I don't think Turkish industry was able to support
  • Caucasus campaign against the Soviets
  • The participation in invasion of Greece
  • An anti-British massive campaign in Syria, Iraq and Persia
  • The Cyprus campaign
Especially right after a civil war.

Overall, under Atatürk, Turkey developed its military-industrial complex enough to be respected as a neutral, but NOT to pursue wars of aggression.

Then, there's the problem of divided Turkey. An important part of the Turks supported Kemalism and were happy with the non-aggression policies and secularism. Then there were the Communists (and other left groups).

An Islamist regime (even if it's mild) wouldn't fly well to those people.
A regime that emerged through a coup wouldn't be seen as very legitimate.

And finally, even in the Islamist and/or anti-Kemalist parts of the population, everyone remembers that the Ottomans (because of Enver's grandiose dreams) led the country into complete complete disaster (only Kemal saved them, precisely), after 5 million deaths.

I can't see the general population of Turkey (including the numerous Kemalists and Communists) supporting a dynasty that caused and lost the previous war, and came back through coup, into wars of conquest.
And even if Turkey was united enough, there's still the problem of industry.
 
So basically, the Croats, Slovenes and Bosniaks got a better deal than with the Serbs before, and Slovaks than with the Czechs, so all those groups support the Empire, and the Czechs while unhappy (as they were better off independent) don't want to rock the boat as they have internal autonomy and might lose it if they rebel.

Nationalities (other than Hungarians and Austrians) not getting conscripted, and A-H not getting bombed by the Allies (and the Axis dominating North Africa meaning Allies are far from the Balkans), likely does wonders to maintain this equilibrium as well.

Also, who is currently occupying Serbia proper ?
Very true, the fact that A-H is for now secure from the war, fighting and bombing of all sords does wonders, they also portray themself as a safeguard agaisnt the communist uprising, takeover and tyranny of those people planned by Papa Stalin. It's a little bit like Italy OTL, as long as the Allies were not in Sicily war support and victory dreams stayed strong.

As for Serbia, it is occupied by Austrian and Hungarian forces, together with some local Croat and Mohammedan militias who are all too willing to help to extend their anti-Serbian policies onto former Serbia as well. Something Austria and Hungary are not too eager to stop as they believe the Serbian denial of their ultimatum caused them WW1 and loosing it in the long run, once things got out of control.

Finally, how did the Neo-Ottomans get so much success ? While pre-1938 Turkey was an industrial nation, I don't think Turkish industry was able to support
  • Caucasus campaign against the Soviets
  • The participation in invasion of Greece
  • An anti-British massive campaign in Syria, Iraq and Persia
  • The Cyprus campaign
Especially right after a civil war.

Overall, under Atatürk, Turkey developed its military-industrial complex enough to be respected as a neutral, but NOT to pursue wars of aggression.

Then, there's the problem of divided Turkey. An important part of the Turks supported Kemalism and were happy with the non-aggression policies and secularism. Then there were the Communists (and other left groups).

An Islamist regime (even if it's mild) wouldn't fly well to those people.
A regime that emerged through a coup wouldn't be seen as very legitimate.

And finally, even in the Islamist and/or anti-Kemalist parts of the population, everyone remembers that the Ottomans (because of Enver's grandiose dreams) led the country into complete complete disaster (only Kemal saved them, precisely), after 5 million deaths.

I can't see the general population of Turkey (including the numerous Kemalists and Communists) supporting a dynasty that caused and lost the previous war, and came back through coup, into wars of conquest.
And even if Turkey was united enough, there's still the problem of industry.
That is true, Turkey's Neo-Ottomans are massively supported by Germany and A-H. It is actually German Armies often pushing into the Caucasian Region and the Middle East. Turkey got stuck in Georgian SSR TTL even with Azerbaijan betraying the Soviets and helping cutting of the Red Army Group there until the Germans arrived. Same is true for the Middle East, they "invaded" Syria as a fello Fascist French territoy alongside other Axis Central Power forces to quickly secure it before outright declaring it annexed (a move not fully agreed upon by the Germans that might still rise some Turkish-French Axis tensions later on), but quickly run into problems once they faced true British resistance past Syria. From there on they only advanced further with the help of local pro-ACP rebels, partisans and militia behind allied lines as well as massive German Army support over land, so the majority of this "conquests" except for the Syrian one are more a German blitzkrieg then Ottoman rebirth as a dominant military power or strong industrial nation. Without such massive support TTL the front there might quickly collaps like it did to the Ottomans OTL.
 
Chapter 599: Imperial Japanese Navy: Armed Merchant Cruisers
Chapter 599: Imperial Japanese Navy: Armed Merchant Cruisers
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Ever since the First Great War, when the Germans had used several merchant raiders, namely the Möwe (Mowe), Wolf and Seeadler with quit some success. 32 ships were sunken or damaged over the course of fifteen months by Wolf, while Möwe managed to sink 42 enemy merchant ships. Imperial Germany's raiders sank a total of over 300,000 tons of Allied shipping, while sending back captured prize ships containing important materials like rubber, whale oil or titanium that was otherwise unavailable to Germany. This German success was the mane reason for the Japanese Empire to convert two of it's passenger-cargo vessels (AIKOKU and HOKOKU MARU) originally two passenger-cargo vessels built for the Osaka Shipping Line’s South America route made so called armed merchant cruisers (AMC) out of them. At the outbreak of the Pacific War, Japan had already converted, or outright build 42 AMCs with the intention to disrupt the naval trade going to those parts of mainland China, that were not part of the Co-Prosperity Sphere. As merchant ships converted into armed vessels and employed either for convoy protection or commerce raiding, they were surprising and therefore often deadly. They were disguised as merchant ships, but equipped with hidden cruiser-size guns, false funnels, torpedo tubes, mines, floatplanes for scouting and wore false colors, markings and flags. Their appearance was used to trick enemy merchant ships into approaching thinking they were but harmless steamers. Their speed, combined with their floatplanes, enabled them to search large areas of ocean for prey. Once located, the auxiliary cruiser's big guns could defeat any merchant or smaller combatant. Their experience during the Chinese Civil War was so great, that Japan actually secretly armed much of it's civil ships with at least a deck gun - 152-mm/(6-inch)/50 cal. single mount guns, and a anti-aircraft gun - 76-mm (3-inch) or 80-mm (3.15-inch) single mount AA gun and 7.7-mm single mount MGs , sometimes even torpedo tubes and mines. Some of these were meant to be used against enemy merchant ships, others had the intention to protect the Japanese own transport fleet against enemy aircraft, ships or even submarines to a extent. All of this worked out like a charm during the Chinese Civil War, where most of the AMCs were raiding under Han Chinese National, Yankoku or Taikoku flags, often even crewed with civil ship crews or the naval forces of these Co-Prosperity Sphere states.

This changed greatly, when the same strategy was tried out against the Allied nations during the Pacific War, even if some of the Japanese AMCs enjoyed some early successes. However four of their ships, including the Hokoku Maru were quickly sunk and the growing need of replacement transports thanks to allied losses and more transports were needed to supply the Japanese and Co-Prosperity Sphere far-flung Pacific Empire. Some even talked about re-conversion of some of the AMCs, others simply wished to decrease their program to build new AMCs and rather focus on building more transport ships. By the end of 1942 around five of the AMCs had been sunk while one, the Hasu Maru crewed mainly by Chinese and Indians under Japanese Officers and Captain Ishikura Tadasaki raided the Indian Ocean and caused havoc to the surrounding East Indian Coast and West Australian Coast, by raiding allied ships, convoys and even naval harbors and bases across the Indian Ocean. Their most daring attack with the AMC Hasu Maru during this time was the raid of the Ceylon Convoy heading to the Allied forces on the Burmese-Indian front-line. In this operation Captain Tadasaki managed to use his Indian and Chinese crew to pose for him and become a part of the allied Ceylon convoy northwards. In the cover of the night, the Hasu Maru then prepared their weapons, using it's hidden torpedo tubes deck guns and anti-aircraft guns to unleash hell on the surrounding Allied merchant and transport ships from within their middle. Hasu Maru and Captain Tadasaki would finally end their raids alongside seven other AMCs in 1943 to allied ships.

However their daring raids and tactics inspired the Japanese Wokou Programm, that not only tried to continue the use of AMCs but actually upgrade these civil merchant vessel looking ships to seaplane and midget-submarine tenders, that would be able to patrol, search, and hunt to devastate even larger areas of the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean, by serving as tenders and transports for seaplanes and midget-submarines with torpedoes to massively increase their range and are of operation, even behind enemy lines. With ongoing Japanese transport ship losses, these Wokou missions changed and their ships began to carry much more naval soldiers in attempts to not only raid and sink, but actually board and capture Allied merchant and transport ship convoys, so they could bring them and their resources back to Japan, were they could help keeping up with their own losses. The tactic was so successful that some Japanese Wokou Crew later knew the Japanese Liberty Ships like their own designs, while it forced the Allies to undergo various counter-measures. One of these measures was to only fill their transports in the Pacific Ocean and Indian Ocean (and later the Atlantic Ocean too, once the Axis Central Powers started similar captures) with enough fuel to get to one of the forward bases, or their target destination, but not the whole way back to the enemy coasts. Often this forces the Co-Prosperity Sphere and the Axis Central Powers to tow captured ships, making them slow traveling targets for Allied submarines and bombers, so that mainly the Japanese often used the captured Allied crew and Prisoners of War as a means to prevent such attacks.
 
Chapter 600: The Danube Federation
Chapter 600: The Danube Federation
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(Blue represents the Danube, White the Peace of the Unified Federation and Gold their Wealth and Growth working together)

Inside of Austria Hungary, King Otto (Franz Josef Otto, or Otto von Habsburg), knew of the problems and weakness of the former Austrian-Hungarian Empire regarding it's nationalities and ethnic groups. Like seen with the Russian Empire, the Chinese Empire or later Yugoslawia, multi-ethnic states could not survive while being democratic and republican he believed. Emperor Otto II therefore had pushed for the Untied States of Austria, or the United States of Austria-Hungary. He knew the loyalty of his subjects could be much better even of the Austrians and Hungarians were loyal to the Austrian and Hungarian part. Ethnicity, political, cultural and religious differences proved to be a hard task when trying to hold all of this together. Austrian-Hungarian unity was a means to dominate the Balkan Peninsula and South-East Europe while being a Great Power together. Then after the First Great War the various ethnic groups had their nation states fulfilled and became independent. However unhappiness soon broiled inside Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia, as the people there soon felt patronized and ruled by the dominant Czech and Serbian ethnic groups, a fact Austria and Hungary would soon exploit. Under military and economic pressure and with the horrors of a Soviet Union invasion growing many of the former nation stated rejoined the reborn, strong Austian-Hungarian Empire as so called Protectorate States, wishing their internal independence and autonomy to be secured by a powerful ally in central Europe. To manage this, Austria-Hungary quickly used the same national feelings and ethnic bound that had once split it's Empire, to tie it closer together. Slovakian, Slovenian and Croatian independence was encouraged as new member States, to create a pro-Vienna, pro-Budapest opposition to any Czech and Serbian dreams of reviving Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia ever again.

More free then under their former Czech and Serbian masters, these new member states of the Untied States of Austria-Hungary could elect their own parliament and decide their internal affairs freely as long as they did not concern or endanger that of their overall multinational constitutional monarchy state. With the creation of Bohemia and Moravia the German States dominated in numbers and voices, while smaller ethnic groups like Slovenes (inside Caniola) Slovakians (inside Slovakia), Poles (inside Galicia), Ukrainians (inside Lodomeria, the former East Galicia) and Croats (inside Croatia) had their own independent ethnic provinces and states. All of those were encouraged to their own ethical, national independence as protectorates and later states. Some Czechs however dreamed off Czechoslovakia still, just as some Serbs wished for Yugoslawia to be recreated, while most Romanians in Transylvania wished to return of being a directly Romanian ruled Kingdom. However as the Czechs (Austria, Bohemia, Moracia and Slovakia), Serbs (Bosnia, Italian Greater Albania and Burlgaria) and Romanians (Hungarians in the west Hungary and east in Szeklerland, as well as Ukrainians in East Galicia/ Lodomeria) were now surrounded by pro Austrian-Hungarian groups that mostly had disliked how they had ruled between the First and the Second Great War, they did not outright rebel or misbehave to much in fear of losing their own benefits and freedoms they had just gained because of doing so. They even had nearly total internal independence and autonomy and Otto II even had made their native tongues the lingual-franca on pair with German and Hungarian.
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However this ethnic groups all being happy for now did not mean much in the history of Austria-Hungary, so Otto II intended for more then just simply independent states and protectorates. Austrian and Hungarian propaganda greatly portrayed the Communist evil and a imminent Soviet Union Red Army invasion to conquer all of the Balkans, like Russia had tried for so long. Czechs and Serbs were thereby portrayed as the natural allies of such Communist ideas because of their long, close ties to the Russian Empire, further discrediting both groups in the eye of the rest, as Communist rebels fought in the southern Balkan and Greece to establish their own Proletarian Dictatorships during the Second Great War. Therefore the Eastern Crusade was portrayed as a necessary first strike, while it in reality was also a means of the German and Austrian-Hungarian National Monarchists and Fascist Royalists to get rid of the last opposition to their Hegemony over Europe. They however portrayed it as fight for liberty and justice, as they liberated the non-Russian ethnic groups of the Soviet Union and Otto II even granted the Ukrainians a open border to the Kingdom of Ukrainia as well as a vote in it's elections, while remaining part of Austria-Hungary. Luckily for Austria-Hungary the War in Africa and the East was still far away, no Allied bobmer could reach Austria-Hungary unlike Germany and the majority of troops fighting there were Austrian and Hungarian only, together with a few anti-Bolshevik volunteers. Unlike Germany and Italy, or even it's own allies and puppets Romania, Bulgaria and Greece, Austria-Hungary lacked a strong common national, cultural and ethnic identity, knowing full well that so many of them once before died for the ambitions and dreams of the Hapsburg Monarchy in the last Great War. Therefore the majority of the ethnic minorities only served in anti-partisan activities behind the front, or were fighting communist rebels and other traitors inside their own borders as a militia. So to get the majority of his population onboard, Emperor Otto II knew he lacked the charisma of a Hitler or Mussolini. While former Serbia was more or less a military-border once again with Austrian, Hungarian and even some Croatian, Boznian Mohammedan forces fighting any Communists and Serbian Nationalists Movements and Rebels there.
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As a result Emperor Otto II had the vision of a new Empire, a Austrian-Hungarian United States that would encourage it's minorities to work for, not against it. Internal autonomy, self-determination and independent voting in a constitutional monarchy was only a first step in the right direction for Otto, as he revived the idea of Trialism, the idea that the Austrians, Hungarians and Croats would have a equal status and representation, to get the Croats on board to support the Empire. Otto meanwhile dreamed up a United States of Austria-Hungary that would embrace this idea even more. Therefore Otto would remain the Emperor, while at the same time being the King of Deutsch-Österreich (German Austria), in personal union with Deutsch-Böhmen (German Bohemia) and Deutsch-Mähren (German Moravia). At the same time Ungarn (Hungary) in personal union with Székely Land (Seklerland), Slowakenland (Slovakia), Galizien (Galicia), Lodomeria (Lodomerien or Wolhynien, also Ukrainien), Croatia-Slavonia (Croatia and Slavonia/ Kroatien und Slavnien) Bosnia-Herzegovinen (Bosnia-Herzegovina) and Serbien-Montenegro (Serbia-Montenegro) would each get their own independent King as his subject. To do so the former Protectorates, Ethnic States and Crownlands (Kronländer) would have to be turned into their own independent Kingdoms underneath him as the Emperor. Otto's brother Archduke Robert would become King Róbert I of Ungarn/Hungary, his other brother Archduke Felix of Austria would become King Feliks I of Slowakenland (Slovakia), Otto's next brother Karl Ludwig (Charles Louis) would become King Karl I or Carl I of Bosnia-Herzegovinen (Bosnia-Herzegovina), followed by Otto's last brother Rudolph, who would be names the King Rudolf I of Galizien (Galicia). As Otto had no other brothers, his father's Charles I/ Karl I brother (Otto's uncle) Archduke Maximilian Eugen of Austria's sons (Otto's cousins), Archduke Ferdinand of Austria became Ferdinand I of Lodomeria (Lodomerien/ Wolhynien/ Ukrainien), while his brother (Otto's second cousin) Archduke Heinrich of Austria became King Heinrich I or Henry I of Croatia-Slavonia (Croatia and Slavonia (Kroatien und Slavnien). The territory of Serbien-Montenegro (Serbia-Montenegro) meanwhile remained a Kingdom without a King, but under a military General as it's head for the duration of the Second Great War in a sort of Generalgouvernement/ General Governorate or military-border. These regional Kings were intended to give their Kingdoms a more unifying national sense while at the same time encouraging their growing loyalty of the Greater Empire of Austria-Hungary.

Emperor Otto's plans for the Dual Monarchy (Doppel-Monarchy) or Danubal Monarchy (Donaumonarchie) however did not end there, as he planned to incorporate the Kingdoms of Bulgaria, Romania and Greece into the Austrian-Hungarian Empire and the United States of Austria-Hungary (or Greater Austria). To do so Austria-Hungary established the so called Danube Federation as their own internal faction inside the Axis Central Powers to counter balance the German and Italy-Spanish Blocks. Cleverly using their new own Kings as means to form the individual national ideals and loyalty into a overall Austria-Hungarian one, Emperor Otto encouraged Bulgaria, Greece and Romania to join his Danube Federation, where free trade and a defensive pact would determent their future relationship to each other. With the United States of Austrian-Hungarian Scheckel (or USAH Scheckel) as a unifying currency for the overall region. Secretly it was Emperor Otto's plan to use the Danube Federation to further incorporate these independent Kingdoms as new States and Kingdom under himself as a Emperor of the whole Danubal/ Balkan Peninsula region. Often the United States of Austrian-Hungarian Propaganda therefore protracted the Soviet Union as the big enemy, barbaric hordes at their gates, that were ready to overrun Europe and enslave them all, as they already tried in the Balkans with their Communist supported uprisings, here and in the rest of the world, that would according to Vienna only increase, should the Soviet Union and it's Red Army not be stopped as soon as possible.
 
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Great chapter.

About the Ottomans, their success was actually the Heer's success...
But wasn't it a logistical nightmare to transport the Heer across Turkey ? In sufficient numbers (plus equipment) to launch serious campaigns into Caucasus, Iran, Iraq and Syria at least. How much forces did the Germans send there ?

Actually, could you do a chapter summarizing how much forces all the ACP nations have, and how much forces are deployed on each front (Atlantic Wall, Morocco, West Africa, Egypt, Ethopia, Syria, Iraq, Caucasus, Western Front). And also their industries.

Because I know that the ACP have France, Spain, Poland and Turkey on board ITTL (with both their militaries and industries), and Japan is much stronger (so the British and US have to send more forces in Asia).
But still, how do they manage to guard the Atlantic coast, fight several major fronts in Africa and Near/Middle East, while invading Soviet Union... And mostly win or at least avoid losing everywhere.
 
Great chapter.

About the Ottomans, their success was actually the Heer's success...
But wasn't it a logistical nightmare to transport the Heer across Turkey ? In sufficient numbers (plus equipment) to launch serious campaigns into Caucasus, Iran, Iraq and Syria at least. How much forces did the Germans send there ?

Actually, could you do a chapter summarizing how much forces all the ACP nations have, and how much forces are deployed on each front (Atlantic Wall, Morocco, West Africa, Egypt, Ethopia, Syria, Iraq, Caucasus, Western Front). And also their industries.

Because I know that the ACP have France, Spain, Poland and Turkey on board ITTL (with both their militaries and industries), and Japan is much stronger (so the British and US have to send more forces in Asia).
But still, how do they manage to guard the Atlantic coast, fight several major fronts in Africa and Near/Middle East, while invading Soviet Union... And mostly win or at least avoid losing everywhere.

Sure the last chapter coming out of your question and suggestions was great so why not?

Short answer now is in Turkey mainly the railways and the air force were used to quickly cover as much ground as possible (similar to how Franco's Army was flown to mainland Spain OTL (but it was nightmareish horror and nearly failed). However most of the buildup came over many months and the early stages in the Middle East and Africa were much smaller forces kind of like Rommel OTL.

Making the chapter about the ACP numbers will however require some research deeper to give at least mostly accurate or logical numbers in a little more detail, so that chapter will take additional time (however more forces then OTL as Poland and French POW were rearmed and reused on side of the ACP or not killed or dearmed in the first place.

A major player for the ACP is the USA is right now still starting to drawft and rebuild it's main forces that will change 1943 and we will see some major action in Europe then too not only Africa and the Middle East. ;D
 
Chapter 601: Burma in Turmoil
Chapter 601: Burma in Turmoil
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The Imperial Japanese Army, the Royal Burmese Army and the Imperial Taikokuo Army inside of Burma had not only to deal with the Allied (mostly English and British Raj) forces along the Burmese-Indian Border Frontline, but also with internal uprisings of various ethnic, religious and even political groups and ideologies against the ruling Buddhist-Burmese Copropsist Nation State. Their main problem was the fact that the Shan State Communist Party (Burmese: ရှကွန်မြူနစ်ပါတီ; abbreviated SSCP), and the Mon National Liberation Army teamed up with the People's Revolutionary Party (PRP, or Socialist Burmese Party) as well as other socialist and communist influenced Student Groups and Rebel Groups, like the Anti-Fascist Royalist Organization (short AFRO) and many of them joined the Communist Party of Burma (Burmese: ဗမာပြည်ကွန်မြူနစ်ပါတီ; abbreviated CPB) that organized most of the ethnic minority uprisings and promised a fair, socialist multinational People's Republic of Myanmar in Burma, by overthrowing the hated Coprospist Monarchists with Allied help from supplies and weapons without even dreaming about letting the British take over once again after they had kicked out the Co-Prosperity Sphere. However the differences of linking the various rebel groups and ethnic tribes across all of Burma, while being physically separated by mountain ranges, Burmese ethnic loyalist land and the Royal Burmese Army alongside it's militia and Co-Prosperity Sphere supportive armies made it nearly impossible to form a strong and consisted resistance that would be able to pose a serious danger to the Burmese and Japanese Coprospists. Luckily for this resistance however, the 1943 Allied Offensives in Arakan and the Chindit's long range penetration deep into Burma posed a serious threat to the Japanese Empire and the Kingdom of Burma in this outer defense parameter of the Co-Prosperity Sphere, that would buy the Burmese uprising groups enough time to form the Anti-Fascist Royalist People's Freedom League (Burmese: ဖက် အဖွဲ့ချုပ်, abbreviated AFRPFL and also known as hpa hsa pa la by its Burmese acronym) as a first unified anti-government coalition of parties, rebels and uprising ethnic groups against the Coprospist Burmese Kingdom in 1944.
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Their unified movement to resist against the Burmese Kingdom however would take another major hit, when after 1944 the Allies and the Comintern started to agree to peace talks and slowly got out of the Second Great War against the Axis Central Powers and the Co-Prosperity Sphere. To still remain the major political opposition and strong military resistance, against the Rangoon and later Mandalay governed Buddhist, Burmese Coprospist National State, the AFRPFL unified resistance movement started to invest in Opium to finance their operations and became masters of crafting new alliances and factions, whenever the Burmese Kingdom managed to strike a deal with one of the rebel groups to incorporate them into their state and armed forces. As a response the Burmese Kingdom tried ethnic cleansing and the Burmesezation of various ethnic minority regions, nearly bringing the country into a ethnic civil war with full ethnic cleansing, until the Burmese administration changed it's federal structure to self-administrated states (like Chin or Kachin) for the ethnic minorities, while the rest of the country would be administrated as provinces as they were Burmese dominated. This eased some of the tensions, while the continued Burmese Royal Army military campaign also had devastated most of the minority tribes power to fight by then, as many even used child soldiers, while those anti-Burmese rebels captured alive were used as force labor by the Coprospist Burmese Government to rebuild the damage done by the rebels. For nearly the next eighty years the Burmese industry and economy would heavily depend on this prisoners of war, or life-sentenced criminals of all kinds for cheap forces labor to compete inside the Co-Prosperity Sphere and the rest of the world, while the Burmese petroleum, bran, teakwood, cutch, minerals or even skins often only served to enrich the Burmese ruling ethnic group. This would remain one of the main reasons, why the Socialists and Communists organizations, parties and remained so long important for the minorities and the poor inside of the Burmese Kingdom for decades.
 
Chapter 602: Fascist Royalism: Romanian Michaelism (Mihaiism)
Chapter 602: Fascist Royalism: Romanian Michaelism (Mihaiism)
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The ground work for the Romanian Fascist Royalism had been paved by the Royal Dictatorship of King Carol who had suspended the Constitution, seized emergency powers and declared martial lawafter the so called Goga-Codrenau pact, a plan of the Iron Guard to withdraw its candidates so that the anti-Semitic right would win the elections with a majority. Afterwards Carol proclaimed martial law and suspended all civil liberties under the grounds that the violent election campaign was running the risk of plunging the nation into civil war, while quickly getting rid of involved Prime Minister Goga in exchange for the Romanian Eastern Orthodox Church Patriarch Elie Cristea, who had widespread respect in the majorly orthodox country. Carol then drafted a more authoritarian and corporatist constitution, turning his nation into a de facto absolute monarchy, while legitimizing this step with a plebiscite under not so ideal conditions, as the verbal vote simply wrote down all who remained silent when asked if they were in support as yes votes. Carol then informed the Germans that he wished closer ties to their government and quickly afterwards did the same to Austria-Hungary too. In April 1938 he crushed the Iron Guard, by imprisoning their closest ally and Interior Minister Armand Călinescu trialing him for treason. However Carol's favor in the population was shrinking after he agreed to give Austria-Hungary back it's former territories in exchange for the Axis Central Powers supporting the remaining Romanian States integrity and independence, even guaranteeing so against Soviet Union claims. In exchange Romanian Oil would go to the Axis Cental Powers to form closer ties between the involved nations. At the same time Carol secretly plotted to place Romania into the British economic sphere. Chancellor Hitler then negotiated with Carol, demanding him to install Codrenau as Prime Minister, knowing that he could possible be replaced Carol killed all Iron Guard Leaders inside his prisons on 30 November 1938.

Afterwards the National Renaissance Front was formed as the only remaining legal party. The Axis Central Powers agreement and guarantees for Poland and other East European Nations against the Soviet Union brought Carol a little closer to their camp then. Around the same time Romanias old enemies Bulgaria and Hungary had surrounded the country with Axis Central Powers states, giving it no true chance then to sigh a economic treaty with Austria-Hungary and Germany, as the Axis Central Power influence on the Balkan Peninsula grew further. But just like in Poland before, Great Britain and France proposed Soviet Union Red Army forces to march trough this countries to defend them from German and Austrian-Hungarian ambitions. Something their governments were unwilling to accept as they did not trust Stalin to not annex them outright once his forces were inside their borders. Some like the German National Party (of the 800,000 people strong German minority), that joined the National Renaissance Front outright opposed King Carol and were in support of a Axis Central Powers guarantee for Romania, as the Soviet Union demanded Bessarabia from the kingdom. Carol meanwhile proposed a defense line around his country, only called the Imagiont Line by his subjects, as they suspected the line was considered to be a purely imaginary version of the Maginot line and that the money raised by higher taxes would go to the king's Swiss bank accounts. Still trying to negotiate between the Allies and the Axis Central Powers carol felt that a tamed Iron Guard could help support his rule, reforming it as the Royal Iron Guard and incorporating it as a paramilitary wing into the National Renaissance Front. With German and Austrian-Hungarian support Carol rejected the Soviet ultimatum for Bessarabia, knowing that the loss of the region without fight would be a national humiliation. That the British and French not guaranteed his independence the same way then Germany and Austria-Hungarian were willing to, brought him and his kingdom closer to the Axis Central Powers. By 1940 Carol's personal cult had reached extreme highs as did his his prestige.

Shortly after Carol invited a German military mission to train the Romanian Army and sworn in a new government headed by Ion Gigurtu with Sima Minister of Arts and Culture. Gigurtu had been a leading figure in the anti-Semitic National Christian Party in the 1930s, was a millionaire businessman with many connections to Germany and was a well-known Germanophile. For all these reasons, Carol hoped that having Gigurtu was Prime Minister would win him Hitler's good-will, and thus prevented any further loss of territory to Axis Central Powers like Bulgaria and Hungary. But inspired by the Hungarians, the Bulgarians soon demanded the return of the Dobruja territory, lost in the Second Balkan War of 1913. Having lost the Allies with his too close ties to the Axis Central Powers, Carol was forced to accept the ceding after nearly going to war over it. Around this time Carol had on 9 July 1940 imprisoned General Ion Antonescu after the latter had criticized the king, charging it was the corruption of the royal government that was responsible for the military backwardness of Romania, and hence the loss of territory to Hungary and Bulgaria. Both Fabricius and Hermann Neubacher, the man in charge of the Four Year Plan's operations in the Balkans intervened with Carol, saying that Antonescu's "accidental death" or being "shot while trying to escape" would "make a very bad impression on the German headquarters" as Antonescu was known to be a leading advocate of an alliance with Germany. On 11 July 1940, Carol had Antonescu freed, but kept under house arrest at the Bisțria monastery. The guarantees of the remaining Romanian state by the Axis Central Powers were quickly accepted by Carl.

By now however, his actions to give up Romanian territory to the Axis Central Powers had discreet him by his people, and in early September 1940 enormous demonstrations broke out all over Romania demanding that Carol abdicate. On 1 September 1940, Sima who had resigned from the government gave a speech calling upon Carol to abdicate, and the Iron Guard began to organize demonstrations all over Romania to press for king's abdication. On 2 September 1940, Valer Pop, a courtier and an important member of the camarilla first advised Carol to appoint General Ion Antonescu as Prime Minister as the solution to the crisis. Pop's reasons for advising Carol to have Antonescu as Prime Minister who was partly because Antonescu, who was known to be friendly with the Iron Guard and had been imprisoned under Carol, was believed to have enough of an op positional background to appease the public and partly because Pop knew that Antonescu for all his Legionary sympathies was a member of the elite and would never turn against it. As the increasingly large crowds started to assemble outside of the royal palace demanding the king's abdication, Carol considered Pop's advice, but was reluctant to have Antonescu as Prime Minister. As more and more people started to join the protests, Pop feared that Romania was on the verge of a revolution that might not only sweep away the king's regime, but also the elite who had dominated the country since the 19th century. To apply further pressure on Carol, Pop met with Fabricius on the night of 4 September 1940 to ask him to tell Carol that the Axis Central Powers wanted Antonescu as Prime Minister, which led to Fabricius promptly calling Carol to tell him to appoint the general as the prime minister. Additionally, the very ambitious General Antonescu who long coveted the Premiership now suddenly started to downplay his long-standing antipathy to Carol, and he suggested that he was prepared to forgive past slights and disputes.
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On September 5, 1940, Antonescu became Prime Minister, and Carol transferred most of his dictatorial powers to him. As Prime Minister, Antonescu was a man acceptable to both the Iron Guard and the traditional elite. Carol planned to stay as king after appointing Antonescu and initially Antonescu did not support the popular demand for Carol's abdication. Antonescu had become Prime Minister, but he had a weak political base. As an Army officer, Antonescu was a loner, an arrogant and aloft man with an extremely bad temper who as a consequence was very unpopular with his fellow officers. Antonescu's relations with the politicians were no better, and as such Antonescu was initially unwilling to move against the king until he had some political allies. Carol ordered Antonescu and General Dumitru Coroamă who commanded the troops in Bucharest to shoot down demonstrators in front of the royal palace, an order that both refused to obey. It was only on 6 September 1940, when Antonescu learned of a plot to murder him headed by another member of the camarilla General Paul Teodorescu that Antonescu joined the chorus demanding Carol's abdication. With public opinion solidly against him and with the Army refusing to obey his orders, Carol was forced to abdicate. Carol who had been forced under Hungarian, Bulgarian, German and Austrian-Hungarian pressure to surrender parts of his kingdom to foreign rule, was finally outmaneuvered by the pro-German administration of Marshal Ion Antonescu, and abdicated in favour of Michael in September 1940. He went into exile, initially in Mexico, but ultimately settled in Portugal. Carol and Lupescu settled in Mexico City, where he purchased a house in one of Mexico City's more expensive districts. During the Second Great War, Carol tried to set up a Free Romania movement based in Mexico to overthrow General Antonescu. Carol had hopes that his Free Romania movement would be recognized as a government-in-exile by the Allies, and would ultimately lead to him being restored. The closest Carol ever got to having his Free Romania movement recognized came in 1942 when President Manuel Ávila Camacho allowed Carol to stand besides him while reviewing his troops. Carol would have liked to operate out of the United States, but the American government refused him permission to enter. However, Carol was in contact with two Eastern Orthodox priests living in Chicago, namely Father Glicherie Moraru and Father Alexandru Opreanu who organized an unsuccessful campaign in the Romanian-American community to pressure the American government to recognize the "Free Romania" committee as the legitimate government of Romania. To advance his cause, Carol published a magazine in America called The Free Romanian and published several books in both Romanian and English. A major problem for Carol's efforts to mobilize the Romanian-American community was in 1924 the U. S government brought in the Immigration Control Act, which drastically limited immigration from Eastern Europe into the United States. As such, the majority of Romanian-Americans in the 1940s were either people who immigrated prior to 1924 or their children; in either case, Carol did not mean much to them.

Thanks to that the Iron Guard and the Fascist Royalists in Romania under General and Conducător (Leader instead of Prime Minister) Antonescu created a new pro-German, pro-Austrian-Hungarian and pro-Fascist Romanian Nation State that officially joined the Axis Central Powers, leading to German and Austria-Hungarian troops entered the country, officially to secure it's sovereignty against the Soviet Union claims and ambitions. The new King Michael had once before ruled from 20 July 1927 to 8 June 1930 and now hoped that closer ties with the Iron Guard, as well as the foreign powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary to get rid of Ion Antonescu to rule once again like his predecessor, with a personal cult in a totalitarian monarchy. With help of the Germans who in return got the Ploiești oil refineries that provided about 30% of all Axis Central Powers oil production as Kaiseröl (Emperor's Oil). He had however also ambitions of becoming King of all Romanians once again, as well as expand his nation state by taking Russian or even Hungarian and Bulgarian territories if he had a chance. Therefore he supported the German-led invasion of the Soviet Union during the Eastern Crusade and Romania annexed Soviet territory as the Transnistria Governorate with Odessa as it's capital, clashing with claims by the Kingdom of Ukrainia in the region. Tensions grew and Austria-Hungary had to negotiate between both Axis Central Power member states. Romanian Forces fought alongside the other Axis Central Powers one in the Ukraine, Crimea and Caucasus Operations and Campaigns.

Michael was glad, when Austria-Hungarian turned into the United States of Greater Austria/ the United States of Austria-Hungary as a more democratic, parlamentarian monarchy and the Romanians inside Austria-Hungary's new States enjoyed widespread autonomy and independence. Michael understood that by joining the Danube Federation he could help the economy of his country and have closer ties to Austria-Hungary and the Axis Central Powers, who unlike the Allies had truly stood by their word to protect and defend Romanian independence. This close ties would later in 1948 lead to his marriage of Archduchess Charlotte of Austria (German: Erzherzogin Charlotte von Österreich), the sister of Austrian Emperor Otto II in 1948 that would further increase the close ties and alliances between Austria-Hungary and Romania and ultimately lead to the incorporation of Romania into the United States of Austria-Hungary after being a part of the same internal Axis Central Powers faction and alliance, the Danube Federation before. With the birth of his first of five sons, Crown Prince Gareth on 26 March 1949 Romania would officially become a part of the United States of Austria Hungary (also known as the United Danube States or United Balkan States) and King Michael would be the King of all Romanians under Austrian Emperor Otto once again.
 
How big is each side army and naval forces?
There will be a upcoming chapter about that, but the Axis Central Powers (thanks to Poland, France, Spain, Ukrainia, Russia, Turkey ...) and the Co-Prosperity Sphere (thanks to Taikoku, Yankoku ...) have a few million soldiers more then OTL, while the Russians have lost a few million more then OTL thanks ot the two-front attack on them.
 
Chapter 603: Japanese Zaibatsu inside of the Co-Prosperity Sphere
Chapter 603: Japanese Zaibatsu inside of the Co-Prosperity Sphere
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The Japanese Zaibatsu (industrial and financial business conglomerates) were one of the major driving forces behind the creation of the Japanese Co-Prosperity Sphere and it's expansion into Asia. One of the main reasons besides new living space for Japans overpopulated home islands was their need for resources to fuel their industry and military, as well as the wish of the Japanese Zaibatsu to open up new markets and economic regions for them, after the Chinese, the Americans and others had either restricted Japanese migration or Japanese products from entering their countries. Therefore the then created Co-Prosperity Sphere was also the Yen Block, a economic area as well as a political entity, were the Japanese would secure all their needs in resources as well as buyers and customers. Like many National Monarchists and Fascist Royalists in Europe however the Japanese Zaibatsu ideas of how to archive this goal were not very liberal and had nothing to do with a free-marked model. Japanese Zaibatsu therefore used the hegemony of the Yen Block and the Co-Prosperity Sphere to ensure their own dominance over other regional competitors, who mostly also lacked the money and industrial capacity to compete with them.
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In the End this ambitions, ideas and goals lead in cooperation with the Imperial Japanese Army and the Imperial Japanese Navy, who wished to produce their equipment and supplies directly where they were stationed, to the creation of subsidiary companies of the Japanese Zaibatsu, who in return learned a valuable lesson. They could use the sheer masses of Chinese and Asian labor-force to produce the products they wished to create with much cheaper labor force, then they would in Japan, then sell the cheaper produced goods still for a good price in Japan, or quit literally where they had been produced, in the other states of the Co-Prosperity Sphere, that thanks to Japanese limits, taxes and even counter-embargoes to the European and American ones had no choice then to buy the Zaibatsu products, as they remained cheaper or even were the only ones available for the people in this states and region. For any Japanese Zaibatsu the Yen Block and the Co-Prosperity Sphere was a financial dream come true, despite some destruction and losses, as they could get richer then in their wildest dreams, by cheaply mass-producing or building with the Asian labor force masses, while all that sweet, sweet money came back to them in Japan, even that of their subsidiary companies.
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At the same time it helped greatly that the Co-Prosperity Sphere, out of the necessarily need to use the men for the war a soldiers opened up for women in the workforce. This greatly improved the overall available factory workers in the whole Co-Prosperity Sphere, but also dramatically changed their societies, as women were forced out of their traditional roles and now worked and made their own money. This soon lead to other liberties during or after the Second Great War, as women forced their way to have a right to vote and be slowly but steady fully emancipated and on-pair with men before the law in their liberties, rights and responsibilities, including the for them unpopular draft or work inside the fire brigades, police or militia (even if mostly in auxiliary and supportive roles at first, no active fighting or dangerous duties). In many ways the Showa era was seen by many Japanese as a Second Meji Restoration as once again their nation changed dramatically, this time not to get on pair with the once superior European Powers, but to remain atop above them after the Second Great War. This massive increase in resources and manpower helped Japan and the Co-Prosperity Sphere to become the dominant global economy and industrial power on the globe.
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The hegemonic position that the Japanese Zaibatsu had gained during the Second Great War greatly helped most of them to stay at the top of the Co-Prosperity Sphere and global conglomerates and banks even when the Co-Prosperity Sphere itself liberalized more and some of their subsidiary companies also became great players, while at the same time the European and American Conglomerates and states began to fight with them over economical dominance and hegemony over the global marked. This more liberal approach in the 50ies, 60ies and 70ies allowed the former Zaibatsu subsidiary conglomerates to become major players themselves and some of them even would bypass or outlive their founding Zaibatsu themselves. However what would be known in the End as the Japanese Century or the Great Asian Industrial Miracle was not destined, as Japan and the Co-Prosperity Sphere similar to Europe's Axis Central Powers had been severely damaged and partly even crippled during the Second Great War thanks of the bombing of their cities and industries, or the sinking of most of their merchant fleet and transport ships. However Coprospisms strong Asian work ethic, collectivism, totalitarianism and major Zaibatsu corporate proved supreme thanks to the Asian masses getting to the same technological level and skills then the Imperial Colonial European and American Powers had to stay ahead of them before the Second Great War, thereby outmatching them with their sheer numbers, resources and partly the copy of well functioning European models, like automating and assembly line production.




Note: yes it is much like what the kind of neo-imperialist multinational conglomerates OTL do in the third world and poor nations in a way, but ever since the beginning of colonialism and imperialism the concept isn't so new
 
Chapter 604: En Svensk Tiger
Chapter 604: En Svensk Tiger
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Special envoy to the Kingdom of Sweden, Imperial German Air Admiral Hermann Göring, close friend to the Swedish King Gustaf V and his eldest son Prince Gustav Adolf was quit popular inside the German Empire and the Swedish Kingdom, even in other regions of the Axis Central Powers. Nicknaming himself “der Eiserne” (the Iron Man) for his once dashing and muscular figure as a fighter pilot for the German Empire during the First Great War, Göring had become quit corpulent since then. While he managed to loose dome weight after the German Military Coup in prison, his return to power and influence as a Air Admiral and special envoy saw the return of some of his old, bad habits. Being the target of many jokes because of it, no matter how rude they were however, Göring never toke offense in hearing any of these jokes about himself, as he saw it as a sign of popularity, something that made him quit popular among the average people. Because of this jokes about his ego, like saying that “he would wear an air admiral's uniform made out of rubber with rubber medals to take a bath”, his obesity, joking that “he sits down on his stomach”, he once could fly in a fighter, now even a bomber would not be able to take him off the ground” one Italian joke even claimed he had sent a wire to Chancellor Hitler and Emperor Wilhelm after a visit: “Mission accomplished. Pope unfrocked. Tiara and pontifical vestments are a perfect fit.” For most of the returned German aristocracy and Imperial Government this made Görign a strange figure, as many were not so keen about jokes or criticism after what had happened during the Kiel Sailor Revolt that had started the downfall of the Second German Empire. However here in Stockholm friends like the Swedish King and Crown Prince were experienced with his humor and often joined in on it.
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One particular joke had them questioning that the renaming of the Baltic Sea (or Eastern Sea in Germany) into the Teutonic Sea had not been enough after the German Empire recently had renamed the Northern Sea into the German Sea on official maps. Görings last visit had shown him the naval works at Visvy in Gotland, were destroyers, cruisers and even battleships were to be build alongside other Swedish Naval Yards to train in the safety of the Teutonic See far away from Allied bombers and mines. That had inspired Air Admiral Hermann Göring for his very own suggestion; “why ship the Royal Swedish Iron Ore from Gällivare and Kiruna to Germany, if the factories there were bombed by Allies anyway”. As he himself however was responsible for the Battle for Britain and the air safety over the German Empire and in parts the whole Axis Central Powers Europe, he rephrased his idea into; “why not build tanks, aircraft and other German equipment with licensing directly in the Swedish Kingdom, as it would shorten transportation route and was even closer to the British and the Russian Front anyway”. The fact that it was for now also outside the range of Allied bombers was a additional plus for his overall idea in the eyes of the German High Command and the Emperor. Thanks to this agreement the Swedish Kingdom started to build Tiger tanks and Königstiger tanks (named after the German word for Bengal tiger, often wrongly translated Royal Tiger or King Tiger) alongside Focke-Wulf and Henkel airplanes constructed alongside them. The majority of these Swedish build air-force were directed towards the Western Front, mainly to help out in the Battle of Britain, or to fight allied bombers over continental Europe, while the majority of the produced tanks, weapons and infantry vehicles or supplies meanwhile went to the Eastern Front, more accurate the Eastern Crusade in Russia as nearly none of them were going to go to the Middle East or the African Theatres of War.
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