I gotta start playing catchup again, because I completely missed Hitler's death.
The Co-Prosperity Sphere
- Thread starter CountofDooku
- Start date
edit: i misread your post and was talking about central Powers candidate for Poland even thogh you write about it in last paragraph
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Yes, but Germany wouldn't like to see a Austrian as the King when Austria still has very open plans to annex more of Poland or to make it their direct protectorate instead of Poland Protectorate under German control to secure the Kaiserreichs eastern border. Just because the Axis Central Powers are one alliance doesn't mean their goals will always be the same. Also a saxon king of poland and the saxon polish royal connection has a strong tradition George I., King of Poland (Jerzy I.) as a catholic, german imperial citizen and someone who spoke fluid French, Italian, Spanish, English, Polish and Czech seamed like a worthy german candidate to me, who is also very monarchic and loyal to the German Emperor and it's institutions, therefore the ideal German candidate. That's not to say Karl Albrecht will not try to get the crown later on one way or another for A-H. ;D
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My failure, I asked for potential good candidates, but then found one myself, still Karl Albrecht may be a potential A-H candidate to get Poland in their sphere of influrence once.
Good for Poland; methinks any attempt to unseat their new priest-king is going to be met with bitter opposition from the Polish people themselves.
Chapter 83: The Kingdom of Yikoku (also Yikukuo or Yijiang, former Yunnan Clique)
Chapter 83: The Kingdom of Yikoku (also Yikukuo or Yijiang, former Yunnan Clique):
The former Yunnan Clique (Chinese: 滇系; pinyin: Diān Xì) was one of several mutually hostile cliques or factions that split from the Beiyang Government in the Republic o China's warlord era. It was named after the Yunnan Province. Cai E is regarded as the founder of the clique when at the request of Liang Qichai in 1915, he declared Yunnan's opposition to Yuan Shikai's monarchy. Cai died from natural causes shortly after the successful National Protection War. His chief lieutenant, Tang Jiyao, took over Yunnan and demanded that the National Assembly be restored. When this was accomplished, Yunnan officially reunified with the national government but kept its provincial army separate due to the Beiyang Army's grip in Beijing politics.
After the second dissolution of the National Assembly, the Manchu Restoration debacle, and the complete domination of the central government by the Beiyang generals, Yunnan joined several other southern provinces in forming a rival government in Guangzhou during the Constitutional Protection Movement. Tang Jiyao was chosen as one of the seven executives of its ruling committee. Within the committee, there was a power struggle between Sun Yatsen's supporters and the Old Guangxi Clique. Tang sided with Sun and helped in the expulsion of the Guangxi executives. In 1921, he was ousted by Gu Pinzhen, whose rule was recognized by Sun. The following year, Gu's army defected back to Tang. Tang sided with Sun again during Chen Jiongming's betrayal. Less than a week after Sun died in 1925, Tang claimed to be his rightful successor and made a move on Guangzhou in a bid to overthrow Hu Hanmin and put himself in charge of the Kuomintang. His forces were routed by Li Zongren during the Yunnan-Guangxi War. Thereafter, Tang joined Chen Jiongming's China Public Interest Party as its vice premier. In 1927, Lon Yun seized control of the clique; Tang died shortly after. Long then re-aligned Yunnan under the Nationalist government in Nanjing but stringently guarded the province's autonomy. Long was a critic of Chiang Kai-shek and joined Wang Jingweis Shanghai Government and the Co-Prosperity Sphere when the Chinese Civil War broke out.
Long Yun (Chinese: 龍雲; Pinyin: Lóng Yún;Wade-Giles: Lung Yun; born in November 27 1884) was governor and warlord of the Chinese province of Yunnan (later Yikoku) from 1927 onward. Long Yun was an ethnic Yi general and governor of Yunnan. He was a cousin of Lu Han. Long Yun participated in the anti-Qing struggle in its early years. First he joined the local warlord's army in 1911 and was gradually promoted to the rank of corps commander. He served in Tang Jiyao's Yunnan Army for years until February 1927, when he, together with Hu Ruoyu, launched a coup and expelled Tang from office. Soon after that he became 38th Army commander in the National Revolutionary Army, at the same time continuing as Yunnan chairman for more than a decade.
After the remarkable "26" coup, Tang Jiyao, then governor of Yunnan, was overthrown by Long Yun and his allies. Long Yun succeeded as the new governor and served as governor of Yunnan from 1928 onward. When he was in power he put forward the goal of building a new Yunnan. He carried out a series of reorganizations and reforms from political, military, economic, cultural and educational aspects. During this period Yunnan was politically clear, had good social stability and a strong atmosphere of democracy. He consolidated and reorganized the economy, expanded paper money in the region and reorganized the tariff tax regulations. He prioritized textile export while reorganizing and developing production of tin ore, tungsten, antimonies, copper, salt, coal and other resources. Another big part of his project was the improvement of infrastructure, which was very poor in Yunnan. To improve it, he established a transportation enterprise that built the Yunnan-Burma Highway, the Diankang Road, the Sichuan-Yunnan West Road, the Yunnan-Sichuan Road, the Yunnan-Guangxi Highway and the Diankang Highway. He also paid much attention to the agricultural parts of Yunnan. He implemented measuring of land and later used the information they achieved to put through a reformed tax collection. He worked to expand grain farming, reduce tax revenue and strived to achieve food self-sufficiency for all farmers. Due to Long Yun's reforms, Kunming (capital of Yunnan) was commonly known as a "democratic fortress".
To remain independent Long joined Wang Jingwei's Shanghai (and later Nanjing) Government in the Chinese Civil War and became a member of the Co-Prosperity Sphere shortly after (renaming his state Yikoku). Becoming a friend of the Japanese Empire over time Long was pleased when the Imperial Japanese Army helped him to build new roads, highways and railroads trough all the mountains, valleys and rivers of Yikoku. Himself of the Yi people minority, Long did not favor them over the Miau, Han and Bai groups that were the majority in his state, but tried to be the ruler for everyone with democratic tendencies. While the Japanese and other members of the Co-Prosperity Sphere were suspicious that the former old-style warlord favored a partly democratic state and later constitutional monarchy with heavy democratic elements and his own National Assembly in Kunming. The results were speaking for Long who hoped that his reforms would attract other people from the Co-Prosperity Sphere to migrate and live in Yikoku so that his small population of 12,042,000 would be boosted. But Tokio was far away and very few Japanese (besides military personal of the Imperial Japanese Army) and very few other citizens from all Co-Prosperity Sphere states came. Despite this the further modernization and industrialization of Yikoku continued. Soon Kunming was connected to Kanton and the Japanese build new roads and railways all the way to Lhasa in Tibet, as well as to the border of British Burma. What Long didn't knew was that many of this projects focused on the war-plans of Japan against the European Colonial Powers and that his state would become a concentration area for Co-Prosperity Sphere Troops.
While the small population of Yikoku allowed only a small Royal Yikoku Army (120,000) when Long crowned himself the elected Monarch, the Imperial Japanese Army knew that they would be enough in this problematic terrain of mountains, rivers and hills against outside enemies. Their main training, leasing and building focused therefore on the Royal Yikoku Air Force whose fighters should protect the eastern parts of the Chinese members of the Co-Prosperity Sphere and these in Indochina together with their own state against enemy fighters and bombers. In a more offensive role the Royal Yikoku Air Force with it's bombers and Japanese allies had orders to bomb the infrastructure in Burma, so that British -Burmes Forces at the Siamese border or reinforcements from India had a hard time defending a possible Burmese Liberation of Co-Prosperity Sphere Forces. Yikoku was one of the few early members of the Co-Prosperity Sphere that had a significant Hui (Mohammedan) population and would remain one of the few member states that did so, despite the later expansion of Siam/Thailand into Malaysia and the creation of Huikoku.
The former Yunnan Clique (Chinese: 滇系; pinyin: Diān Xì) was one of several mutually hostile cliques or factions that split from the Beiyang Government in the Republic o China's warlord era. It was named after the Yunnan Province. Cai E is regarded as the founder of the clique when at the request of Liang Qichai in 1915, he declared Yunnan's opposition to Yuan Shikai's monarchy. Cai died from natural causes shortly after the successful National Protection War. His chief lieutenant, Tang Jiyao, took over Yunnan and demanded that the National Assembly be restored. When this was accomplished, Yunnan officially reunified with the national government but kept its provincial army separate due to the Beiyang Army's grip in Beijing politics.
After the second dissolution of the National Assembly, the Manchu Restoration debacle, and the complete domination of the central government by the Beiyang generals, Yunnan joined several other southern provinces in forming a rival government in Guangzhou during the Constitutional Protection Movement. Tang Jiyao was chosen as one of the seven executives of its ruling committee. Within the committee, there was a power struggle between Sun Yatsen's supporters and the Old Guangxi Clique. Tang sided with Sun and helped in the expulsion of the Guangxi executives. In 1921, he was ousted by Gu Pinzhen, whose rule was recognized by Sun. The following year, Gu's army defected back to Tang. Tang sided with Sun again during Chen Jiongming's betrayal. Less than a week after Sun died in 1925, Tang claimed to be his rightful successor and made a move on Guangzhou in a bid to overthrow Hu Hanmin and put himself in charge of the Kuomintang. His forces were routed by Li Zongren during the Yunnan-Guangxi War. Thereafter, Tang joined Chen Jiongming's China Public Interest Party as its vice premier. In 1927, Lon Yun seized control of the clique; Tang died shortly after. Long then re-aligned Yunnan under the Nationalist government in Nanjing but stringently guarded the province's autonomy. Long was a critic of Chiang Kai-shek and joined Wang Jingweis Shanghai Government and the Co-Prosperity Sphere when the Chinese Civil War broke out.
Long Yun (Chinese: 龍雲; Pinyin: Lóng Yún;Wade-Giles: Lung Yun; born in November 27 1884) was governor and warlord of the Chinese province of Yunnan (later Yikoku) from 1927 onward. Long Yun was an ethnic Yi general and governor of Yunnan. He was a cousin of Lu Han. Long Yun participated in the anti-Qing struggle in its early years. First he joined the local warlord's army in 1911 and was gradually promoted to the rank of corps commander. He served in Tang Jiyao's Yunnan Army for years until February 1927, when he, together with Hu Ruoyu, launched a coup and expelled Tang from office. Soon after that he became 38th Army commander in the National Revolutionary Army, at the same time continuing as Yunnan chairman for more than a decade.
After the remarkable "26" coup, Tang Jiyao, then governor of Yunnan, was overthrown by Long Yun and his allies. Long Yun succeeded as the new governor and served as governor of Yunnan from 1928 onward. When he was in power he put forward the goal of building a new Yunnan. He carried out a series of reorganizations and reforms from political, military, economic, cultural and educational aspects. During this period Yunnan was politically clear, had good social stability and a strong atmosphere of democracy. He consolidated and reorganized the economy, expanded paper money in the region and reorganized the tariff tax regulations. He prioritized textile export while reorganizing and developing production of tin ore, tungsten, antimonies, copper, salt, coal and other resources. Another big part of his project was the improvement of infrastructure, which was very poor in Yunnan. To improve it, he established a transportation enterprise that built the Yunnan-Burma Highway, the Diankang Road, the Sichuan-Yunnan West Road, the Yunnan-Sichuan Road, the Yunnan-Guangxi Highway and the Diankang Highway. He also paid much attention to the agricultural parts of Yunnan. He implemented measuring of land and later used the information they achieved to put through a reformed tax collection. He worked to expand grain farming, reduce tax revenue and strived to achieve food self-sufficiency for all farmers. Due to Long Yun's reforms, Kunming (capital of Yunnan) was commonly known as a "democratic fortress".
To remain independent Long joined Wang Jingwei's Shanghai (and later Nanjing) Government in the Chinese Civil War and became a member of the Co-Prosperity Sphere shortly after (renaming his state Yikoku). Becoming a friend of the Japanese Empire over time Long was pleased when the Imperial Japanese Army helped him to build new roads, highways and railroads trough all the mountains, valleys and rivers of Yikoku. Himself of the Yi people minority, Long did not favor them over the Miau, Han and Bai groups that were the majority in his state, but tried to be the ruler for everyone with democratic tendencies. While the Japanese and other members of the Co-Prosperity Sphere were suspicious that the former old-style warlord favored a partly democratic state and later constitutional monarchy with heavy democratic elements and his own National Assembly in Kunming. The results were speaking for Long who hoped that his reforms would attract other people from the Co-Prosperity Sphere to migrate and live in Yikoku so that his small population of 12,042,000 would be boosted. But Tokio was far away and very few Japanese (besides military personal of the Imperial Japanese Army) and very few other citizens from all Co-Prosperity Sphere states came. Despite this the further modernization and industrialization of Yikoku continued. Soon Kunming was connected to Kanton and the Japanese build new roads and railways all the way to Lhasa in Tibet, as well as to the border of British Burma. What Long didn't knew was that many of this projects focused on the war-plans of Japan against the European Colonial Powers and that his state would become a concentration area for Co-Prosperity Sphere Troops.
While the small population of Yikoku allowed only a small Royal Yikoku Army (120,000) when Long crowned himself the elected Monarch, the Imperial Japanese Army knew that they would be enough in this problematic terrain of mountains, rivers and hills against outside enemies. Their main training, leasing and building focused therefore on the Royal Yikoku Air Force whose fighters should protect the eastern parts of the Chinese members of the Co-Prosperity Sphere and these in Indochina together with their own state against enemy fighters and bombers. In a more offensive role the Royal Yikoku Air Force with it's bombers and Japanese allies had orders to bomb the infrastructure in Burma, so that British -Burmes Forces at the Siamese border or reinforcements from India had a hard time defending a possible Burmese Liberation of Co-Prosperity Sphere Forces. Yikoku was one of the few early members of the Co-Prosperity Sphere that had a significant Hui (Mohammedan) population and would remain one of the few member states that did so, despite the later expansion of Siam/Thailand into Malaysia and the creation of Huikoku.
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Chapter 84: Attack on Emperor Otto in Prague
Chapter 84: Attack on Emperor Otto in Prague:
Emperor Otto of Austria-Hungary had just survived a assassination attempt in Belgrade during a victory parade after fall of Yugoslavia. While shocked that some Serbian Nationalists did not take their loss and annexation by Austria-Hungary lightly he couldn't really blame them. But his advisers and guards had warned the Emperor that such visits were dangerous when anti-monarchist, pan-Slavic, anarchists or communist terrorists would try to kill someone of the Imperial Family again. Therefore the next public speech of Otto was held in Prague, Bohemia inside what was former the Czechoslovakian Republic. Here the supporters for Otto and the Empire were bigger and despite some anti-Austrian-Hungarian protests, violent rebellions like in annexed Serbia were quiet rare. To secure the safety of Emperor Otto, the loyal Croatian Guard was coming with him to Prague to help with the Security. The Croatian Guard was happy that Austria-Hungary gave them more independence then former Yugoslavia and they even helped to beat down Serbian rebellions and partisans for the Empire. Because of that the Emperor was more safe with the Croatian Guard around, but their mere presence in Prague was seen as a outrage by some, even many Germans.
Emperor Otto meanwhile was not only in Prague to boost his popularity, but also to speak to the conglomerate of Škoda Works, who had once again ecome the largest arms manufacturer in Austria-Hungary. Škoda was now responsible for modernising the United Austrian-Hungarian Army (even i the Austian and the Hungarian Army remained separated parts of the same army, just like the Czech, Slovak and Croatian Army that was integated into them). Otto's main concern was that Austria-Hungary would once again perform poorly, so modernisation of the Army even before the Navy was his main goal. After all the Adria and the Black Sea could be both simply held with the help of the Italian and Ottoman allies, while the Soviet Union's Red Army posed a serious threat for the Empire and it's Balkan Domination. Nearly jelous Otto looked towards his brotherly ally of the German Empire, where Field Marshal August von Mackensen (Nicknamed the Last Hussar) was responsible for creating the modern German Tank Army (the new Hussars, or Mechanized Hussars as the Tank Crews called themselves). With responsibility for his own Empire as well as the Austrian-Hungarian Protectorate in former Southeast Poland that was called the Kingdom of Ukrainia, Emperor Otto was very concerned that Austria-Hungary had to industrialize more to maintain a modern army that could stand against the Soviet one in the Ukrainian plains.
The speech in Prague had gone well for Emperor Otto and pleased he returned to Prague Castle. But on his way the convoy was stopped by what looked like a accident by two cars. In reality it was a assassination attempt by a communist, pan-Slavic, anarchists movement, backed by Josef Stalin who hoped that the death of Emperor Otto would once again lead to the split up of Austria-Hungary into smaller Balkan States and weaken the Axis Central Powers as his direct and most dangerous rivals and enemies in Europe. The assassination was executed by a Serb, two Slovaks and four Czechs that tried to kill Emperor Otto on his way back to the Prague Castle. Thanks to Otto's Austrian-Hungarian Royal Guards and his Croatian Guard Loyalists, the Austrian-Hungarian Emperor survived the assassination attempt and one Czech and Slovak assassins were killed in the shooting. Driving faster to get Emperor Otto to the safe Prague Castle, the remaining three Czechs, one Slovak and Serb tried to kill the Emperor with a bomb that damaged his car and killed his driver, but the Croatian Guard and Austrian-Hungarian Royal Guards killed the assassins, captured one and secured Otto inside a armored car for the rest of the way. Only one Slovak assassin got away later trying to get into contact with other anti-Austrian-Hungarian groups, but was captured. With Otto save the k.u.k. Evidenzbüro (Evidenzbureau), a recreated directorate of military intelligence of the Austria-Hungarian Empire, headquartered in Vienna, Austria investigated the assassins, linking them to other communists, anarchist, and pan-Slavic movements whose members were soon arrested and imprisoned or killed for treason.
Emperor Otto of Austria-Hungary had just survived a assassination attempt in Belgrade during a victory parade after fall of Yugoslavia. While shocked that some Serbian Nationalists did not take their loss and annexation by Austria-Hungary lightly he couldn't really blame them. But his advisers and guards had warned the Emperor that such visits were dangerous when anti-monarchist, pan-Slavic, anarchists or communist terrorists would try to kill someone of the Imperial Family again. Therefore the next public speech of Otto was held in Prague, Bohemia inside what was former the Czechoslovakian Republic. Here the supporters for Otto and the Empire were bigger and despite some anti-Austrian-Hungarian protests, violent rebellions like in annexed Serbia were quiet rare. To secure the safety of Emperor Otto, the loyal Croatian Guard was coming with him to Prague to help with the Security. The Croatian Guard was happy that Austria-Hungary gave them more independence then former Yugoslavia and they even helped to beat down Serbian rebellions and partisans for the Empire. Because of that the Emperor was more safe with the Croatian Guard around, but their mere presence in Prague was seen as a outrage by some, even many Germans.
Emperor Otto meanwhile was not only in Prague to boost his popularity, but also to speak to the conglomerate of Škoda Works, who had once again ecome the largest arms manufacturer in Austria-Hungary. Škoda was now responsible for modernising the United Austrian-Hungarian Army (even i the Austian and the Hungarian Army remained separated parts of the same army, just like the Czech, Slovak and Croatian Army that was integated into them). Otto's main concern was that Austria-Hungary would once again perform poorly, so modernisation of the Army even before the Navy was his main goal. After all the Adria and the Black Sea could be both simply held with the help of the Italian and Ottoman allies, while the Soviet Union's Red Army posed a serious threat for the Empire and it's Balkan Domination. Nearly jelous Otto looked towards his brotherly ally of the German Empire, where Field Marshal August von Mackensen (Nicknamed the Last Hussar) was responsible for creating the modern German Tank Army (the new Hussars, or Mechanized Hussars as the Tank Crews called themselves). With responsibility for his own Empire as well as the Austrian-Hungarian Protectorate in former Southeast Poland that was called the Kingdom of Ukrainia, Emperor Otto was very concerned that Austria-Hungary had to industrialize more to maintain a modern army that could stand against the Soviet one in the Ukrainian plains.
The speech in Prague had gone well for Emperor Otto and pleased he returned to Prague Castle. But on his way the convoy was stopped by what looked like a accident by two cars. In reality it was a assassination attempt by a communist, pan-Slavic, anarchists movement, backed by Josef Stalin who hoped that the death of Emperor Otto would once again lead to the split up of Austria-Hungary into smaller Balkan States and weaken the Axis Central Powers as his direct and most dangerous rivals and enemies in Europe. The assassination was executed by a Serb, two Slovaks and four Czechs that tried to kill Emperor Otto on his way back to the Prague Castle. Thanks to Otto's Austrian-Hungarian Royal Guards and his Croatian Guard Loyalists, the Austrian-Hungarian Emperor survived the assassination attempt and one Czech and Slovak assassins were killed in the shooting. Driving faster to get Emperor Otto to the safe Prague Castle, the remaining three Czechs, one Slovak and Serb tried to kill the Emperor with a bomb that damaged his car and killed his driver, but the Croatian Guard and Austrian-Hungarian Royal Guards killed the assassins, captured one and secured Otto inside a armored car for the rest of the way. Only one Slovak assassin got away later trying to get into contact with other anti-Austrian-Hungarian groups, but was captured. With Otto save the k.u.k. Evidenzbüro (Evidenzbureau), a recreated directorate of military intelligence of the Austria-Hungarian Empire, headquartered in Vienna, Austria investigated the assassins, linking them to other communists, anarchist, and pan-Slavic movements whose members were soon arrested and imprisoned or killed for treason.
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Sounds like a cassus belli for Operation Barbarossa...and Hachi-Go. Romanov Restoration, 'ere we go!
It clearly does not help having the possibility for peace during the already quasi-war between ACP and Soviets. ^^
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In the event of a Romanov Restoration though, it wouldn't be possible to return to the pre-WWI absolute monarchy. That said, the constitutional monarchy would be more akin to that of either Imperial Germany or Imperial Japan (if the Russians/Romanovs would get more autocratic while still retaining a constitutional framework) than to Britain. Also, while a return to monarchy in Russia is possible, in addition to at least a semblance of constitutionalism, one way to further cement popular support (apart from not trying to genocide everyone) for the monarchy is to get the Russian Orthodox Church on side. Not too difficult, TBH.
Chapter 85: The Modernization of the Co-Prosperity Sphere
Chapter 85: The Modernization of the Co-Prosperity Sphere:
In it's attempt to overcome the European and American dominance in Asia and the Pacific the Japanese and other Zaibatsu of the Co-Prosperity Sphere tried to modernize their handicraft business as well as their industries and overall economy. At the same time their agriculture needed similar modernization, just like their armies and navies did before (and some still did right now). A testing ground for this new ideas and equipment was the Empire of Manchukuo and Yankokuo as well as to a extent Taikoku, Yikoku and after that the other member states, including the Japanese Empire. To do so quicker, some of the Co-Prosperity Sphere Conglomerates and Governments focused on what they called the Kama Strategy (named after the Japanese farming equipment that was also employed as a weapon). This so called Kama Strategy focused on building trucks and farming equipment similar to the former German Leichttraktor, that was used for military training with tanks under the Weimar Republic to secretly re-militarize with modern equipment. Clearly the mighty Japanese Empire and the Co-Prosperity Sphere did not need any secret militarization, their idea behind the Kama Stategy was different.
The whole strategy focused on cars, trucks and tractors that were produced as regular civil equipment, but could very easily be converted into auxiliary military equipment, by adding a few armored plates, machine guns or even small, light cannons. This also meant that the same armored cars and tanks could be easily be reconverted into civil equipment for farming and rebuilding if it needed to be. Size and output of these vehicles dependent on application, with smaller tractors used for law mowing, landscaping and truck farming, while larger tractors were used for vast fields of wheat, maize, soy, and other bulk crops. At first the Japanese Empire and the Co-Prosperity Sphere did rely heavy on importer European and American models, like the Ford Fordson and later Ford-Ferguson or others. But they quickly used this bought models, just like they did with captured or bought weapons from overseas to create their own variations and models out from them in own, smaller production lines. Some of this machines would later be used as light tanks in the Pacific and China or to help the Co-Prosperity Sphere Armies and Navies thanks to engineer corps build railways, roads, airfields and even fortified positions and bunkers way faster than otherwise.
In it's attempt to overcome the European and American dominance in Asia and the Pacific the Japanese and other Zaibatsu of the Co-Prosperity Sphere tried to modernize their handicraft business as well as their industries and overall economy. At the same time their agriculture needed similar modernization, just like their armies and navies did before (and some still did right now). A testing ground for this new ideas and equipment was the Empire of Manchukuo and Yankokuo as well as to a extent Taikoku, Yikoku and after that the other member states, including the Japanese Empire. To do so quicker, some of the Co-Prosperity Sphere Conglomerates and Governments focused on what they called the Kama Strategy (named after the Japanese farming equipment that was also employed as a weapon). This so called Kama Strategy focused on building trucks and farming equipment similar to the former German Leichttraktor, that was used for military training with tanks under the Weimar Republic to secretly re-militarize with modern equipment. Clearly the mighty Japanese Empire and the Co-Prosperity Sphere did not need any secret militarization, their idea behind the Kama Stategy was different.
The whole strategy focused on cars, trucks and tractors that were produced as regular civil equipment, but could very easily be converted into auxiliary military equipment, by adding a few armored plates, machine guns or even small, light cannons. This also meant that the same armored cars and tanks could be easily be reconverted into civil equipment for farming and rebuilding if it needed to be. Size and output of these vehicles dependent on application, with smaller tractors used for law mowing, landscaping and truck farming, while larger tractors were used for vast fields of wheat, maize, soy, and other bulk crops. At first the Japanese Empire and the Co-Prosperity Sphere did rely heavy on importer European and American models, like the Ford Fordson and later Ford-Ferguson or others. But they quickly used this bought models, just like they did with captured or bought weapons from overseas to create their own variations and models out from them in own, smaller production lines. Some of this machines would later be used as light tanks in the Pacific and China or to help the Co-Prosperity Sphere Armies and Navies thanks to engineer corps build railways, roads, airfields and even fortified positions and bunkers way faster than otherwise.
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Chapter 86: The United Baltic Duchy
Chapter 86: The United Baltic Duchy:
Created out of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, Duke Adolf Friedrich of Mecklenburg recreated the Monarchy of the Baltic Federation, the so called United Baltic Duchy. Dividing all three former nations into the new Cantons of Kurland (Courland), Riga, Lettgallen (Latgale), Südlivland (South Livonia), Nordlivland (North Livonia), Ösel (Saaremaa), and Estland (Estonia) he avoided a Ultimatum by Josef Stalin to make them Soviet Republics. Each Canton would gain it's own elected parliament and a reestablished Regency Council consisting of four Baltic Germans, three Estonians, three Latvians and three Lithuanians that were appointed to help Adolf Friedrich reign. While all this looked good on paper the United Baltic Duchy heavily dependent on protection by the Axis Central Powers, mostly the German Empire, even if Austria-Hungary supported them as well as Finland, Poland, Romania and Turkey against the Soviet aggression and demands. When the Soviets protested harshly and demanded that Germany and the rest of the Axis Central Powers stopped all support for the United Baltic Duchy, Finland, Poland, Romania and Turkey as well as letting White Ruthenia and Ukrainia be absorbed into their counterparts, the Soviet Republics on the other side of the border, Duke Adolf Friedrich knew that the days left for talking and peace was counted. Because of this events Adolf hoped to unify and reform the former armies and navies of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia as quickly as human possible. The Duke ordered new streets and railroads to be build, so that his small army could redeploy and move quicker and to strenghten the industry that would supply the new state. With the Baltic Landeswehr Gesetz ("Baltic Territorial Army Law") he created the legal foundation upon the new combined army should work and operate.
The Baltic Landwehr or Baltische Landeswehr ("Baltic Territorial Army"), the united Armies of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. The former Lithuanian Army had 28,000 troops and owned 118 planes, the Estonian Army had 16,000 soldiers and the Latvian Army had 23,000 men. Once combined and with a new structure, the united forces known as the Baltic Landwehr (67.000 soldiers for now) were growing with new recruits and volunteers to counter the threat by the Soviet Unions Red Army. The Baltic Landwehr quickly grew to 140,000 men and later 180,000 mostly recruits supported by their own industry as well by the Germans with weapons, vehicles, supplies, tanks, fighters and bombers to form a modern army for the United Baltic Duchy with it's 7,200,000 citizens. Despite this power, the forces alone would have had no chance against the Soviet Red Army that had gathered troops at the Baltic border that numbered 435,000 soldiers, around 8,000 guns and mortars, over 3,000 tanks, and over 500 armored cars; over 500,000 troops in total. The German Empire, seeing the United Baltic Duchy like Finland as the Northeastern border of the Axis Central Powers combined both German Expeditionary forces in the Region to the new Army Group North (German: Heeresgruppe Nord) and brought 1,200,000 soldiers with their armies to the region. In the North they supported the Finnish Army (340,000 soldiers, 64 tanks and 228 aircraft) in the ongoing Winter War skirmishes across the heavily fortified border with 400,000 German soldiers against the 760,000 fighting Soviet soldiers, with their 6,541 tanks and 3,880 aircraft, while the United Baltic Duchy received 800,000 German soldiers to support their independence. With the standstill in Finland and the increasing tensions between the rest of the Axis Central Powers and the Soviet Union more and more Red Army troops were withdrawn from Finland towards the main frontier against the Axis Central Powers. In Moscow, Stalin ordered to draw new battle plans for this situation, just like Wilhelm III did in Berlin.
Created out of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, Duke Adolf Friedrich of Mecklenburg recreated the Monarchy of the Baltic Federation, the so called United Baltic Duchy. Dividing all three former nations into the new Cantons of Kurland (Courland), Riga, Lettgallen (Latgale), Südlivland (South Livonia), Nordlivland (North Livonia), Ösel (Saaremaa), and Estland (Estonia) he avoided a Ultimatum by Josef Stalin to make them Soviet Republics. Each Canton would gain it's own elected parliament and a reestablished Regency Council consisting of four Baltic Germans, three Estonians, three Latvians and three Lithuanians that were appointed to help Adolf Friedrich reign. While all this looked good on paper the United Baltic Duchy heavily dependent on protection by the Axis Central Powers, mostly the German Empire, even if Austria-Hungary supported them as well as Finland, Poland, Romania and Turkey against the Soviet aggression and demands. When the Soviets protested harshly and demanded that Germany and the rest of the Axis Central Powers stopped all support for the United Baltic Duchy, Finland, Poland, Romania and Turkey as well as letting White Ruthenia and Ukrainia be absorbed into their counterparts, the Soviet Republics on the other side of the border, Duke Adolf Friedrich knew that the days left for talking and peace was counted. Because of this events Adolf hoped to unify and reform the former armies and navies of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia as quickly as human possible. The Duke ordered new streets and railroads to be build, so that his small army could redeploy and move quicker and to strenghten the industry that would supply the new state. With the Baltic Landeswehr Gesetz ("Baltic Territorial Army Law") he created the legal foundation upon the new combined army should work and operate.
The Baltic Landwehr or Baltische Landeswehr ("Baltic Territorial Army"), the united Armies of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. The former Lithuanian Army had 28,000 troops and owned 118 planes, the Estonian Army had 16,000 soldiers and the Latvian Army had 23,000 men. Once combined and with a new structure, the united forces known as the Baltic Landwehr (67.000 soldiers for now) were growing with new recruits and volunteers to counter the threat by the Soviet Unions Red Army. The Baltic Landwehr quickly grew to 140,000 men and later 180,000 mostly recruits supported by their own industry as well by the Germans with weapons, vehicles, supplies, tanks, fighters and bombers to form a modern army for the United Baltic Duchy with it's 7,200,000 citizens. Despite this power, the forces alone would have had no chance against the Soviet Red Army that had gathered troops at the Baltic border that numbered 435,000 soldiers, around 8,000 guns and mortars, over 3,000 tanks, and over 500 armored cars; over 500,000 troops in total. The German Empire, seeing the United Baltic Duchy like Finland as the Northeastern border of the Axis Central Powers combined both German Expeditionary forces in the Region to the new Army Group North (German: Heeresgruppe Nord) and brought 1,200,000 soldiers with their armies to the region. In the North they supported the Finnish Army (340,000 soldiers, 64 tanks and 228 aircraft) in the ongoing Winter War skirmishes across the heavily fortified border with 400,000 German soldiers against the 760,000 fighting Soviet soldiers, with their 6,541 tanks and 3,880 aircraft, while the United Baltic Duchy received 800,000 German soldiers to support their independence. With the standstill in Finland and the increasing tensions between the rest of the Axis Central Powers and the Soviet Union more and more Red Army troops were withdrawn from Finland towards the main frontier against the Axis Central Powers. In Moscow, Stalin ordered to draw new battle plans for this situation, just like Wilhelm III did in Berlin.
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Thank you very much, but it will get even crazier once the war starts ...This is the best time line imo. Nice one mate
Chapter 87: The Empire of Chosen
Chapter 87: The Empire of Chosen:
After established economic and military dominance in Korea in October 1904, Japan reported that it had developed 25 reforms which it intended to introduce into Korea by gradual degrees. Among these was the intended acceptance by the Korean Financial Department of a Japanese Superintendent, the replacement of Korean Foreign Ministers and consuls by Japanese and the "union of military arms" in which the military of Korea would be modeled after the Japanese military. These reforms were forestalled by the prosecution of the Russo-Japanese War from 8 February 1904, to 5 September 1905, which Japan won, thus eliminating Japan's last rival to influence in Korea. Under the Treaty of Portsmouth, signed in September 1905, Russia acknowledged Japan's "paramount political, military, and economic interest" in Korea.
Two months later, Korea was obliged to become a Japanese protectorate by the Japan-Korea Treaty of 1905 and the "reforms" were enacted, including the reduction of the Korean Army from 20,000 to 1,000 men by disbanding all garrisons in the provinces, retaining only a single garrison in the precincts of Seoul. On 6 January 1905, Horace Allen, head of the American Legation in Seoul reported to his Secretary of State, John Hay, that the Korean government had been advised by the Japanese government "that hereafter the police matters of Seoul will be controlled by the Japanese gendarmerie" and "that a Japanese police inspector will be placed in each prefecture". A large number of Koreans organized themselves in education and reform movements, but Japanese dominance in Korea had become a reality.
In June 1907, the Second Peace Conference was held in The Hague. Emperor Gojong secretly sent three representatives to bring the problems of Korea to the world's attention. The three envoys were refused access to the public debates by the international delegates who questioned the legality of the protectorate convention. Out of despair, one of the Korean representatives, Yi Tjoune, committed suicide at The Hague. In response, the Japanese government took stronger measures. On 19 July 1907, Emperor Gojong was forced to relinquish his imperial authority and appoint the Crown Prince as regent. Japanese officials used this concession to force the accession of the new Emperor Sunjong following abdication, which was never agreed to by Gojong. Neither Gojong nor Sunjong was present at the 'accession' ceremony. Sunjong was to be the last ruler of the Joseon dynasty, founded in 1392.
In May 1910, the Minister of War of Japan, Terauchi Masatake, was given a mission to finalize Japanese control over Korea after the previous treaties (the Japan-Korea Treaty of 1904 and the Japan-Korea Treaty of 1907) had made Korea a protectorate of Japan and had established Japanese hegemony over Korean domestic politics. On 22 August 1910, Japan effectively annexed Korea with the Japan-Korea Treaty of 1910 signed by Ye Wanyong, Prime Minister of Korea, and Terauchi Masatake, who became the first Japanese Governor-General of Korea.
The treaty became effective the same day and was published one week later. The treaty stipulated:
Many Japanese settlers were interested in acquiring agricultural land in Korea even before Japanese land ownership was officially legalized in 1906. Governor-General Terauchi Masatake facilitated settlement through land reform, which initially proved popular with most of the Korean population. The Korean land ownership system was a system of absentee landlords, only partial owner-tenants and cultivators with traditional (but no legal proof of) ownership. Terauchi's new Land Survey Bureau conducted cadastral surveys that reestablished ownership by basis of written proof (deeds, titles, and similar documents). Ownership was denied to those who could not provide such written documentation; these turned out to be mostly high-class and impartial owners who had only traditional verbal cultivator rights. Japanese landlords included both individuals and corporations such as the Oriental Development Company. Many former Korean landowners, as well as agricultural workers, became tenant farmers, having lost their entitlements almost overnight.
By 1910, an estimated 7 to 8% of all arable land was under Japanese control. This ratio increased steadily; during the years 1916, 1920, and 1932, the ratio of Japanese land ownership increased from 36.8 to 39.8 to 52.7%. The level of tenancy was similar to that of farmers in Japan itself; however, in Korea, the landowners were mostly Japanese, while the tenants were all Koreans. As was often the case in Japan itself, tenants were forced to pay over half their crop as rent, forcing many to send wives and daughters into factories or prostitution so they could pay taxes. Ironically, by the 1930s, the growth of the urban economy and the exodus of farmers to the cities had gradually weakened the hold of the landlords. With the growth of the wartime economy, the government recognized landlordism as an impediment to increased agricultural productivity, and took steps to increase control over the rural sector through the formation of the Central Agricultural Association, a compulsory organization under the wartime command economy.
In 1925, the Japanese government established the Korean History Compilation Committee (조선사편수회, 朝鮮史編修會), and it was administered by the Governor-General of Korea and engaged in collecting Korean historical materials and compiling Korean history. Even some mythology was incorporated. The committee said that Korea had once hosted a Japanese colony called Mimana, showing the close relations and common ancestors of Japanese and Korean (Chosen) people. The Japanese government conducted excavations of archeological sites and preserved artifacts found there. The Japanese administration also relocated some artifacts; for instance, a stone monument, which was originally located in the Liaodong Peninsula, was taken out of its context and moved to Pyongyang. The National Palace Museum of Korea, originally built as the "Korean Imperial Museum" in 1908 to preserve the treasures in the Gyengbokgung, was retained under the Japanese administration but renamed "Museum of the Yi Dynasty" in 1938.
The Governor-General of Korea instituted a law in 1933 in order to preserve Korea's most important historical artifacts. The system established by this law, was intended to counter the deleterious effects of the speed of economic development as well as the lack of concern by Japanese developers for Korean cultural heritage on Korean historical artifacts, including those not yet unearthed. Gyeongbokgung, the Korean royal palace, was demolished during the Japanese occupation. In 1911, shortly after the annexation of Korea by Japan, ownership of land at the palace was transferred to the Japanese Governor-General of Korea. In 1915, on the pretext of holding an exhibition, more than 90% of the buildings were torn down. Following the exhibition, the Japanese leveled whatever still remained and built their administrative headquarters, the Government-General Building (1916–26), on the site. Restoration of Gyeongbokgung to its former glory has been undertaken since 1990. The Government-General Building was removed in 1996 and Heungnyemun (2001) and Gwanghwamun (2006–10) were reconstructed in their original locations and forms. Reconstructions of the Inner Court and Crown Prince’s residence have also been completed.
A series of anti-Chinese riots erupted throughout Korea in 1931 as a result of public anger against the treatment of Korean migrants in Manchuria. In the small town of Wanpaoshan near Changchun, "violent clashes" broke out between the Chinese and Korean residents. The Governor-General of Korea announced there were more than 100 dead Chinese victims. Approximately 127 Chinese people were killed, 393 wounded, and a considerable number of properties were destroyed. The worst of the rioting occurred in Pyongyang on 5 July. The Chinese further alleged the Japanese authorities in Korea did not take adequate steps to protect the lives and property of the Chinese residents, and blamed the authorities for allowing inflammatory accounts to be published. The anti-Chinese sentiments benefited the Japanese, as these sentiments "displaced attention and resentment away from Japanese imperialism". As a result of this riot, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Kijuro Shidehara, who insisted on Japanese, Chinese, and Korean harmony, lost his position.
Attempts were made to introduce themodern household registration system. This brought about the abolishment of the Korean caste system. In 1911, the proclamation "Matter Concerning the Changing of Korean Names" (朝鮮人ノ姓名改称ニ関スル件) was issued, barring ethnic Koreans from taking Japanese names and retroactively reverting the names of Koreans who had already registered under Japanese names back to the original Korean ones. Later, however, this position was reversed and Japan's focus had shifted towards cultural assimilation of the Chosen (Korean) people; an Imperial Decree 19 on Korean Civil Affairs (조선민사령; "勅令第19号「朝鮮民事改正令」") went into effect, whereby ethnic Koreans were forced to surrender their Korean family names and adopt Japanese surnames.
From 1940 onwards, labor shortages as a result of conscription of Japanese males for the military efforts of the Second Great War led to the allowance of females in the workforce and organized official recruitment of Koreans to work in mainland Japan, initially through civilian agents. As the labor shortage increased with the Chinese Civil War, the Japanese authorities extended the provisions of the National Mobilization Law to include the conscription of Korean and other Co-Prosperity Sphere state workers for factories and mines on the Korean peninsula, Manchukuo, the other member states and the involuntary relocation of workers to Japan itself as needed. Over all more then 5,400,000 Koreans conscripted, about 670,000 were taken to mainland Japan for civilian labor. Those who were brought to Japan were often forced to work under appalling and dangerous conditions. Apparently Koreans were better treated than laborers from other countries, but still their work hours, food and medical care were very poor. Up to 43,000 ethnic Koreans lived in Karafuto alone. Most Koreans in Japan were drafted for work at military industrial factories in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Japan did draft ethnic Koreans into its military for the Co-Prosperity Sphere for the Imperial Chosen Army, using ethnic Koreans most of them voluntary, and highly competitive. In 1938 this volunteers had a 14% acceptance rate and in 1940 the Imperial Chosen Army had 300,000 soldiers, a number soon increased by a conscription law. During the Second Great War, Chosen would produce seven generals and numerous field grade officers (Colonels, Lieutenants and Majors). The first and the best-known general was Lieutenant General and Crown Prince (and later Chosen Emperor ( Hwangje) Uimin (also known as Yi Un, Euimin and Ri Gin). The other six were graduates of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy. They were: Lieutenant General Jo Seonggeun; Major General Wang Yushik; Lieutenant General Viscount Yi Beyongmu; Major General Yi Heedu; Major General Kim Eungseon (also military aide and personal guard to PrinceRi Gun); and Lieutenant General Hong Sa-ik, who would help greatly in establishing the Imperial Chosen Army as a force of the Co-Prosperity Sphere.
Officer cadets had been joining the Japanese Army since before the Annexation by attending the Imperial Japanese Army Academy. Enlisted Soldier recruitment began as early as 1938, when the Japanese Kwantung Army in Manchuria began accepting pro-Japanese Korean volunteers into the army of Manchukuo, and formed the Gando Special Force. Koreans in this unit specialized in counter-insurgency operations against communist guerillas in the region of Jiandao. The size of the unit grew considerablyand included such notable Koreans as General Paik Sun-yup. Historian noted that during the Japanese occupation of Manchuria, the Gando Special Force "earned a reputation for brutality and was reported to have laid waste to large areas which came under its rule." With the growing conscription all Korean males were drafted to either join the Imperial Chosen Army, or work in the military industrial sector, and soon over 18,000 Koreans passed the examination for induction into the army. Koreans provided workers to mines and construction sites around the Co-Prosperity Sphere . The number of conscripted Koreans reached its peak when nearly 2,000,000 Korean males were inducted into the Imperial Chosen Army. Later members of the Imperial Chosen Army would serve in China and the Pacific fighting alongside their Japanese combats and other soldiers of the Co-Prosperity Sphere.
With the recreation of the Empire of Chosen under Hwangje (Emperor) Ri Gin who had married the Japanese Princess Masako of Nashimoto in 1920 and residing with her in the Gyeongbokgung Chosen Palace a independent Korean (Chosen) Nation emerged and signed the treaty with Japan (Nippon) and Manchukuo in April 1935 that would create the Co-Prosperity Sphere. During the next five years the number of Japanese in Chosen would increase steadily until 2,000,000 of the 24,000,000 citizens were Japanese. At the same time many Koreans immigrated to the Empire of Manchuria to increase the already huge Korean population there and at the same time lower the majority of Han Chinese on orders of Emperor Puyi. From 1910 onward the railway kilometers of Chosen increased from 1,000 to 6,000 while the number of stations rose from 100 to 683. Of the only 8,000 telephones in Chosen in 1910 the number increased to 60,000 in 1940 and 64,000 in 1941. The overall industrialization of Chosen under the Japanese and inside the Co-Prosperity Sphere saw a increase from 4% overall work in the industrial sector and over 85% in the agriculture sector on 1910 to a 42% work in the industrial sector with only 42% of the population left in the agricultural sector. The overall production in Chosen between 1910 and 1940 increased equally drastically. From 100 Million Yen in Forestry in 1910 the number increased to 240 Million Yen in 1940. Agriculture, despite shrinking compared to the industrial sector rose from 250 Million Yen in 1910 to 384 Million Yen in 1940. Chosens Fishery increased from 40 Million Yen in 1910 to 380 Million Yen in 1940 thanks to modern fisher boots and modern converting industry. The overall Industry in Chosen grew from nearly 0 Yen in 1910 to 375 Million Yen in 1940. This combined with the Imperial Chosen Army with 1,000,000 - 1,500,000 troops in Korea and Manchuria and another 500,000 - 1,000, 000 fighting in China or Indochina and later Southeast Asia and the Pacific for the Co-Prosperity Sphere, the Empire of Chosen became a powerful and important member of the Yen-Block.
After established economic and military dominance in Korea in October 1904, Japan reported that it had developed 25 reforms which it intended to introduce into Korea by gradual degrees. Among these was the intended acceptance by the Korean Financial Department of a Japanese Superintendent, the replacement of Korean Foreign Ministers and consuls by Japanese and the "union of military arms" in which the military of Korea would be modeled after the Japanese military. These reforms were forestalled by the prosecution of the Russo-Japanese War from 8 February 1904, to 5 September 1905, which Japan won, thus eliminating Japan's last rival to influence in Korea. Under the Treaty of Portsmouth, signed in September 1905, Russia acknowledged Japan's "paramount political, military, and economic interest" in Korea.
Two months later, Korea was obliged to become a Japanese protectorate by the Japan-Korea Treaty of 1905 and the "reforms" were enacted, including the reduction of the Korean Army from 20,000 to 1,000 men by disbanding all garrisons in the provinces, retaining only a single garrison in the precincts of Seoul. On 6 January 1905, Horace Allen, head of the American Legation in Seoul reported to his Secretary of State, John Hay, that the Korean government had been advised by the Japanese government "that hereafter the police matters of Seoul will be controlled by the Japanese gendarmerie" and "that a Japanese police inspector will be placed in each prefecture". A large number of Koreans organized themselves in education and reform movements, but Japanese dominance in Korea had become a reality.
In June 1907, the Second Peace Conference was held in The Hague. Emperor Gojong secretly sent three representatives to bring the problems of Korea to the world's attention. The three envoys were refused access to the public debates by the international delegates who questioned the legality of the protectorate convention. Out of despair, one of the Korean representatives, Yi Tjoune, committed suicide at The Hague. In response, the Japanese government took stronger measures. On 19 July 1907, Emperor Gojong was forced to relinquish his imperial authority and appoint the Crown Prince as regent. Japanese officials used this concession to force the accession of the new Emperor Sunjong following abdication, which was never agreed to by Gojong. Neither Gojong nor Sunjong was present at the 'accession' ceremony. Sunjong was to be the last ruler of the Joseon dynasty, founded in 1392.
In May 1910, the Minister of War of Japan, Terauchi Masatake, was given a mission to finalize Japanese control over Korea after the previous treaties (the Japan-Korea Treaty of 1904 and the Japan-Korea Treaty of 1907) had made Korea a protectorate of Japan and had established Japanese hegemony over Korean domestic politics. On 22 August 1910, Japan effectively annexed Korea with the Japan-Korea Treaty of 1910 signed by Ye Wanyong, Prime Minister of Korea, and Terauchi Masatake, who became the first Japanese Governor-General of Korea.
The treaty became effective the same day and was published one week later. The treaty stipulated:
- Article 1: His Majesty the Emperor of Korea concedes completely and definitely his entire sovereignty over the whole Korean territory to His Majesty the Emperor of Japan.
- Article 2: His Majesty the Emperor of Japan accepts the concession stated in the previous article and consents to the annexation of Korea to the Empire of Japan.
Many Japanese settlers were interested in acquiring agricultural land in Korea even before Japanese land ownership was officially legalized in 1906. Governor-General Terauchi Masatake facilitated settlement through land reform, which initially proved popular with most of the Korean population. The Korean land ownership system was a system of absentee landlords, only partial owner-tenants and cultivators with traditional (but no legal proof of) ownership. Terauchi's new Land Survey Bureau conducted cadastral surveys that reestablished ownership by basis of written proof (deeds, titles, and similar documents). Ownership was denied to those who could not provide such written documentation; these turned out to be mostly high-class and impartial owners who had only traditional verbal cultivator rights. Japanese landlords included both individuals and corporations such as the Oriental Development Company. Many former Korean landowners, as well as agricultural workers, became tenant farmers, having lost their entitlements almost overnight.
By 1910, an estimated 7 to 8% of all arable land was under Japanese control. This ratio increased steadily; during the years 1916, 1920, and 1932, the ratio of Japanese land ownership increased from 36.8 to 39.8 to 52.7%. The level of tenancy was similar to that of farmers in Japan itself; however, in Korea, the landowners were mostly Japanese, while the tenants were all Koreans. As was often the case in Japan itself, tenants were forced to pay over half their crop as rent, forcing many to send wives and daughters into factories or prostitution so they could pay taxes. Ironically, by the 1930s, the growth of the urban economy and the exodus of farmers to the cities had gradually weakened the hold of the landlords. With the growth of the wartime economy, the government recognized landlordism as an impediment to increased agricultural productivity, and took steps to increase control over the rural sector through the formation of the Central Agricultural Association, a compulsory organization under the wartime command economy.
In 1925, the Japanese government established the Korean History Compilation Committee (조선사편수회, 朝鮮史編修會), and it was administered by the Governor-General of Korea and engaged in collecting Korean historical materials and compiling Korean history. Even some mythology was incorporated. The committee said that Korea had once hosted a Japanese colony called Mimana, showing the close relations and common ancestors of Japanese and Korean (Chosen) people. The Japanese government conducted excavations of archeological sites and preserved artifacts found there. The Japanese administration also relocated some artifacts; for instance, a stone monument, which was originally located in the Liaodong Peninsula, was taken out of its context and moved to Pyongyang. The National Palace Museum of Korea, originally built as the "Korean Imperial Museum" in 1908 to preserve the treasures in the Gyengbokgung, was retained under the Japanese administration but renamed "Museum of the Yi Dynasty" in 1938.
The Governor-General of Korea instituted a law in 1933 in order to preserve Korea's most important historical artifacts. The system established by this law, was intended to counter the deleterious effects of the speed of economic development as well as the lack of concern by Japanese developers for Korean cultural heritage on Korean historical artifacts, including those not yet unearthed. Gyeongbokgung, the Korean royal palace, was demolished during the Japanese occupation. In 1911, shortly after the annexation of Korea by Japan, ownership of land at the palace was transferred to the Japanese Governor-General of Korea. In 1915, on the pretext of holding an exhibition, more than 90% of the buildings were torn down. Following the exhibition, the Japanese leveled whatever still remained and built their administrative headquarters, the Government-General Building (1916–26), on the site. Restoration of Gyeongbokgung to its former glory has been undertaken since 1990. The Government-General Building was removed in 1996 and Heungnyemun (2001) and Gwanghwamun (2006–10) were reconstructed in their original locations and forms. Reconstructions of the Inner Court and Crown Prince’s residence have also been completed.
A series of anti-Chinese riots erupted throughout Korea in 1931 as a result of public anger against the treatment of Korean migrants in Manchuria. In the small town of Wanpaoshan near Changchun, "violent clashes" broke out between the Chinese and Korean residents. The Governor-General of Korea announced there were more than 100 dead Chinese victims. Approximately 127 Chinese people were killed, 393 wounded, and a considerable number of properties were destroyed. The worst of the rioting occurred in Pyongyang on 5 July. The Chinese further alleged the Japanese authorities in Korea did not take adequate steps to protect the lives and property of the Chinese residents, and blamed the authorities for allowing inflammatory accounts to be published. The anti-Chinese sentiments benefited the Japanese, as these sentiments "displaced attention and resentment away from Japanese imperialism". As a result of this riot, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Kijuro Shidehara, who insisted on Japanese, Chinese, and Korean harmony, lost his position.
Attempts were made to introduce themodern household registration system. This brought about the abolishment of the Korean caste system. In 1911, the proclamation "Matter Concerning the Changing of Korean Names" (朝鮮人ノ姓名改称ニ関スル件) was issued, barring ethnic Koreans from taking Japanese names and retroactively reverting the names of Koreans who had already registered under Japanese names back to the original Korean ones. Later, however, this position was reversed and Japan's focus had shifted towards cultural assimilation of the Chosen (Korean) people; an Imperial Decree 19 on Korean Civil Affairs (조선민사령; "勅令第19号「朝鮮民事改正令」") went into effect, whereby ethnic Koreans were forced to surrender their Korean family names and adopt Japanese surnames.
From 1940 onwards, labor shortages as a result of conscription of Japanese males for the military efforts of the Second Great War led to the allowance of females in the workforce and organized official recruitment of Koreans to work in mainland Japan, initially through civilian agents. As the labor shortage increased with the Chinese Civil War, the Japanese authorities extended the provisions of the National Mobilization Law to include the conscription of Korean and other Co-Prosperity Sphere state workers for factories and mines on the Korean peninsula, Manchukuo, the other member states and the involuntary relocation of workers to Japan itself as needed. Over all more then 5,400,000 Koreans conscripted, about 670,000 were taken to mainland Japan for civilian labor. Those who were brought to Japan were often forced to work under appalling and dangerous conditions. Apparently Koreans were better treated than laborers from other countries, but still their work hours, food and medical care were very poor. Up to 43,000 ethnic Koreans lived in Karafuto alone. Most Koreans in Japan were drafted for work at military industrial factories in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Japan did draft ethnic Koreans into its military for the Co-Prosperity Sphere for the Imperial Chosen Army, using ethnic Koreans most of them voluntary, and highly competitive. In 1938 this volunteers had a 14% acceptance rate and in 1940 the Imperial Chosen Army had 300,000 soldiers, a number soon increased by a conscription law. During the Second Great War, Chosen would produce seven generals and numerous field grade officers (Colonels, Lieutenants and Majors). The first and the best-known general was Lieutenant General and Crown Prince (and later Chosen Emperor ( Hwangje) Uimin (also known as Yi Un, Euimin and Ri Gin). The other six were graduates of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy. They were: Lieutenant General Jo Seonggeun; Major General Wang Yushik; Lieutenant General Viscount Yi Beyongmu; Major General Yi Heedu; Major General Kim Eungseon (also military aide and personal guard to PrinceRi Gun); and Lieutenant General Hong Sa-ik, who would help greatly in establishing the Imperial Chosen Army as a force of the Co-Prosperity Sphere.
Officer cadets had been joining the Japanese Army since before the Annexation by attending the Imperial Japanese Army Academy. Enlisted Soldier recruitment began as early as 1938, when the Japanese Kwantung Army in Manchuria began accepting pro-Japanese Korean volunteers into the army of Manchukuo, and formed the Gando Special Force. Koreans in this unit specialized in counter-insurgency operations against communist guerillas in the region of Jiandao. The size of the unit grew considerablyand included such notable Koreans as General Paik Sun-yup. Historian noted that during the Japanese occupation of Manchuria, the Gando Special Force "earned a reputation for brutality and was reported to have laid waste to large areas which came under its rule." With the growing conscription all Korean males were drafted to either join the Imperial Chosen Army, or work in the military industrial sector, and soon over 18,000 Koreans passed the examination for induction into the army. Koreans provided workers to mines and construction sites around the Co-Prosperity Sphere . The number of conscripted Koreans reached its peak when nearly 2,000,000 Korean males were inducted into the Imperial Chosen Army. Later members of the Imperial Chosen Army would serve in China and the Pacific fighting alongside their Japanese combats and other soldiers of the Co-Prosperity Sphere.
With the recreation of the Empire of Chosen under Hwangje (Emperor) Ri Gin who had married the Japanese Princess Masako of Nashimoto in 1920 and residing with her in the Gyeongbokgung Chosen Palace a independent Korean (Chosen) Nation emerged and signed the treaty with Japan (Nippon) and Manchukuo in April 1935 that would create the Co-Prosperity Sphere. During the next five years the number of Japanese in Chosen would increase steadily until 2,000,000 of the 24,000,000 citizens were Japanese. At the same time many Koreans immigrated to the Empire of Manchuria to increase the already huge Korean population there and at the same time lower the majority of Han Chinese on orders of Emperor Puyi. From 1910 onward the railway kilometers of Chosen increased from 1,000 to 6,000 while the number of stations rose from 100 to 683. Of the only 8,000 telephones in Chosen in 1910 the number increased to 60,000 in 1940 and 64,000 in 1941. The overall industrialization of Chosen under the Japanese and inside the Co-Prosperity Sphere saw a increase from 4% overall work in the industrial sector and over 85% in the agriculture sector on 1910 to a 42% work in the industrial sector with only 42% of the population left in the agricultural sector. The overall production in Chosen between 1910 and 1940 increased equally drastically. From 100 Million Yen in Forestry in 1910 the number increased to 240 Million Yen in 1940. Agriculture, despite shrinking compared to the industrial sector rose from 250 Million Yen in 1910 to 384 Million Yen in 1940. Chosens Fishery increased from 40 Million Yen in 1910 to 380 Million Yen in 1940 thanks to modern fisher boots and modern converting industry. The overall Industry in Chosen grew from nearly 0 Yen in 1910 to 375 Million Yen in 1940. This combined with the Imperial Chosen Army with 1,000,000 - 1,500,000 troops in Korea and Manchuria and another 500,000 - 1,000, 000 fighting in China or Indochina and later Southeast Asia and the Pacific for the Co-Prosperity Sphere, the Empire of Chosen became a powerful and important member of the Yen-Block.
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Shadow Master
Banned
Excellent work sir! I don't know enough about history to comment on the majority of your changes, unfortunately, but love the story just the same!
Thank you very much, but until now the changes are actually not so many even if these few already have drastical impact on the world.
Chapter 88: The Kingdom of White Ruthenia
Chapter 88: The Kingdom of White Ruthenia:
(the Kingdom of White Ruthenia and it's counterpart; the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic)
King Wilhelm of White Ruthenia, the younger brother of German Emperor Wilhelm III of the newly formed Kingdom of White Ruthenia with it's at the moment 1,400,000 inhabitats had no easy task ahead of him. As the successor of the former Belarusian People's Republic and a state that claimed all of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (with it's 4,150,000 people) to be once liberated from the Soviet Union and reintegrated in it's own state he had clearly big ambitions. At the moment the overall situation of White Ruthenia looked not that good, the infrastructure, no matter if roads or railroads was very poor, just like the industry and administration. That was one of the main reasons why his Royal Ruthenian Army focused more heavily on Cavalry instead of mechanized trucks, mobile infantry or tank forces at the moment. It was a old method to use cavalry in this terrain and region, dating back not only to the First Great War but even to the Napoleonic Wars. In the White Ruthenian land full of marshes, forests, streams and lakes and lacking modern roads, railroads not to mention highways it was the best and fastest possible form of transportation for the majority of the Army at this point. King Wilhelm focused on strengthening the White Ruthenian Army as well as the people of White Ruthenia, by slowly modernizing the country and building modern schools and universities under a new, unified White Ruthenian school system.
(White Ruthenian Nationalist Corps under King Wilhelm of White Ruthenia)
Because of the Soviet repression of the White Ruthenian (Belarus) people that started in 1917 after their conquest and had it's worst time till now in the 1930s, as well as the discrimination of White Ruthenians in the Second Polish Republic throughout the preceding decades, a significant part of the White Ruthenian pro-independence movement chose to collaborate with the German King under his new Government. To strengthen the identity of the new state the White Ruthenian Language was once again encouraged to use the Latin instead of the Russian Cyrillic Alphabet and while most spoke Russian by now, King Wilhelm encouraged that White Ruthenian would be used as the official and daily language from now on again.
In the 16th century, the first Latin known renderings of Belarusian Cyrillic text occurred, in quotes of Ruthenian in Polish and Latin texts. The renderings were not standardized, and Polish orthography seems to have been used for Old Belarusian sounds. In the 17th century, Belarusian Catholics gradually increased their use of the Latin script but still largely in parallel with the Cyrillic. Before the 17th century, the Belarusian Catholics had often used the Cyrillic script. In the 18th century, the Latin script was used, in parallel with Cyrillic, in some literary works, like in drama for contemporary Belarusian. In the 19th century, some Polish and Belarusian writers of Polish cultural background sometimes or always used the Latin script in their works in Belarusian, notably Jan Czeczot, Pauluk Bahrym, Vincent Dunin-Marcinkievic, Francisak Bahusevic and Adam Hurynovic. The Revolutionary Democrat Kalinowski used only the Latin script in his newspaper Peasants’ Truth, in Latin script: Mużyckaja prauda; six issues in 1862–1863).
Such introduction of the Latin script for the language broke with the long Cyrillic tradition and is sometimes explained by the unfamiliarity of the 19th century writers with the history of the language or with the language itself or by the impossibility of acquiring or using the Cyrillic type at the printers that the writers had been using. In the 1920s in the Belarusian SSR, like the Belarusian Academic Conference (1926), some suggestions were made to consider a transition of the Belarusian grammar to the Latin script (for example, Zmicier Zhylunovich for "making the Belarusian grammar more progressive"). However, they were rejected by the Belarusian linguists (such as Vaclau Lastouski). From the 1920s to 1939, after the partition of Belarus (1921), the use of a modified Latin script was reintroduced to Belarusian printing in Western (East Polish) Belarus, chiefly for political reasons. The proposed form of the Belarusian Latin alphabet and some grammar rules were introduced for the first time in the 5th (unofficial) edition of Tarashkyevich's grammar (Vil'nya, 1929). Belarusian was again written in the Latin script from 1941, when King Wilhelm of White Ruthenia encouraged the people to use Łacinka and to officially write only in the Latin script, as they would soon teach again at his White Ruthenian Schools and Universities.
His White Ruthenian National Army was formed out from these few elements of the former Polish Army that came from Northeast Poland and were ethnic White Ruthenians. A much harder question then the question of the script was if King Wilhelm should make White Ruthenian a truly Orthodox, Catholic or Secular state (with religious autonomy and freedom for all is suspects) in religious aspects. His current territory was partly catholic, but despite the godless, atheistic communism, many citizens in the Belarussian Soviet Republic and therefore the majority of his future full state were still Orthodox.
King Wilhelm also supported the Belarussian Independence Party inside the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, but this was a double-edged-sword since this underground group uniting members of the Belarusian independence movement aiming to also overthrow his kingdom of White Ruthenia. They were lead by Mikola Abramcyk, president of the former Belarussian Democratic Republic in exile, who had visited Ruthenia and Soviet Belarus during many occasions and established contacts with the Belarusian Independence Party in both countries. Still the NKWD as well as the German intelligence (that helped King Wilhelm form his own in White Ruthenia) kept a close eye on Abramcyk. He was kept under surveillance whenever he visited both countries. After a meeting between King Wilhelm and former President Abramcyk the king had tried to work together to liberate the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic from the Soviet Union, but because Abramcyk refused to bow before a king and renounce his claim as President of a Democratic Republic state. This lead to his German forced exile in Paris, where he was put under house arrest, so hat King Wilhelm could use the Belarusian Independence Party (Ruthenian Independence Party) for his own goals. Ivan Yermachenka, an influential Rhuthenian politician from the Belarussian Democratic Republic who worked together with the Germans since 1938 became a advisory for King Wilhelm to better rule White Ruthenia.
Another famous figure for White Ruthenia and the Byelorussia Soviet Socialist Republic was Vincent Hadleuski (Ruthenian: Вінцэнт Гадлеўскі, Polish: Wincenty Godlewski; born November 16, 1898) a Ruthenian Roman Catholic priest, publicist and politician. Born in the village of Porozowo, he graduated from a Catholic seminary in Vilna and the Catholic academy in St. Petersburg. He was one of the first priests to introduce Catholic liturgy in the Ruthenian language. After the short-lived declaration of independence by Belarus, he became member of the founding government (rada) of the Belarusian National Republic for several months in 1918. Hadleŭski was one of the participants in the First Belarusian Congress of December 1917, and served as editor of the magazine Krynica.
Following the Piece of Riga, signed in 1921 between newly reborn Poland and Soviet Russia, Hadleŭski settled in what became eastern Poland then. He became professor in the Belarusian seminary of Nieswiez (Ruthenian: Niasvizh) and a priest for the powiat of Swieciany. For seven years between 1922 and 1928 he served as member of the parliament for the Polish Sejm, representing the Belarusian minority. In 1925 and 1926 Hadleŭski was arrested and questioned twice for organizing anti-Polish rallies. He was arrested for the third time and convicted of anti-Polish agitation in 1927. Allegedly, the evidence against Hadleŭski was falsified by his opponents. His active promotion of Belarusian language and independence cost him two-year jail sentence. While in prison, he wrote a book about the history of New Testament for Belarusian schools (the book was published in Wilno in 1930). After his release he lived in Wilno, where he translated the New Testament into Belarusian.
In 1939–1940 he edited the collaborationist magazine Bielaruski front and established the Belarusian Independence Party. Hadleŭski's ideology was right-wing conservative and Christian, while most of the rest of the Belarusian national movement at that time was rather leftist, for example as the major West Belarusian political parties - the Belarusian Peasents' and Workers Union and later the Communist Party of West Belarus. In June 1940 Vincent Hadleŭski moved to Warsaw where he worked at the German-organized Belarusian Committee. He later returned to Wilno, when King Wilhelm made it the provisional capital of the now independent Kingdom of White Ruthenia (as long as Minsk wasn't liberated from the Soviet Union) where he became chief scholarly inspector as ell as adviser to the White Ruthenian King and organized education processes in the city's primary schools. While doing that, he kept on promoting the idea of Belarusian independence for the Byelorussia Soviet Socialist Republic and it's unification with the Kingdom of White Ruthenia and organized illegal activity of the Belarusian Independence Party in the name of the King after the former Belarusian President was sent to exile in Paris. Unlike King Wilhelm however Hadleŭski believed that all Ruthenians should become Cathlic and promoted the idea whenever he could. He argued that by doing so the Ruthenian soul and mind would be further liberated from the Russians, Soviets and Orthodox in the east that wished to annex their independent nation state.
(the Kingdom of White Ruthenia and it's counterpart; the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic)
King Wilhelm of White Ruthenia, the younger brother of German Emperor Wilhelm III of the newly formed Kingdom of White Ruthenia with it's at the moment 1,400,000 inhabitats had no easy task ahead of him. As the successor of the former Belarusian People's Republic and a state that claimed all of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (with it's 4,150,000 people) to be once liberated from the Soviet Union and reintegrated in it's own state he had clearly big ambitions. At the moment the overall situation of White Ruthenia looked not that good, the infrastructure, no matter if roads or railroads was very poor, just like the industry and administration. That was one of the main reasons why his Royal Ruthenian Army focused more heavily on Cavalry instead of mechanized trucks, mobile infantry or tank forces at the moment. It was a old method to use cavalry in this terrain and region, dating back not only to the First Great War but even to the Napoleonic Wars. In the White Ruthenian land full of marshes, forests, streams and lakes and lacking modern roads, railroads not to mention highways it was the best and fastest possible form of transportation for the majority of the Army at this point. King Wilhelm focused on strengthening the White Ruthenian Army as well as the people of White Ruthenia, by slowly modernizing the country and building modern schools and universities under a new, unified White Ruthenian school system.
(White Ruthenian Nationalist Corps under King Wilhelm of White Ruthenia)
Because of the Soviet repression of the White Ruthenian (Belarus) people that started in 1917 after their conquest and had it's worst time till now in the 1930s, as well as the discrimination of White Ruthenians in the Second Polish Republic throughout the preceding decades, a significant part of the White Ruthenian pro-independence movement chose to collaborate with the German King under his new Government. To strengthen the identity of the new state the White Ruthenian Language was once again encouraged to use the Latin instead of the Russian Cyrillic Alphabet and while most spoke Russian by now, King Wilhelm encouraged that White Ruthenian would be used as the official and daily language from now on again.
In the 16th century, the first Latin known renderings of Belarusian Cyrillic text occurred, in quotes of Ruthenian in Polish and Latin texts. The renderings were not standardized, and Polish orthography seems to have been used for Old Belarusian sounds. In the 17th century, Belarusian Catholics gradually increased their use of the Latin script but still largely in parallel with the Cyrillic. Before the 17th century, the Belarusian Catholics had often used the Cyrillic script. In the 18th century, the Latin script was used, in parallel with Cyrillic, in some literary works, like in drama for contemporary Belarusian. In the 19th century, some Polish and Belarusian writers of Polish cultural background sometimes or always used the Latin script in their works in Belarusian, notably Jan Czeczot, Pauluk Bahrym, Vincent Dunin-Marcinkievic, Francisak Bahusevic and Adam Hurynovic. The Revolutionary Democrat Kalinowski used only the Latin script in his newspaper Peasants’ Truth, in Latin script: Mużyckaja prauda; six issues in 1862–1863).
Such introduction of the Latin script for the language broke with the long Cyrillic tradition and is sometimes explained by the unfamiliarity of the 19th century writers with the history of the language or with the language itself or by the impossibility of acquiring or using the Cyrillic type at the printers that the writers had been using. In the 1920s in the Belarusian SSR, like the Belarusian Academic Conference (1926), some suggestions were made to consider a transition of the Belarusian grammar to the Latin script (for example, Zmicier Zhylunovich for "making the Belarusian grammar more progressive"). However, they were rejected by the Belarusian linguists (such as Vaclau Lastouski). From the 1920s to 1939, after the partition of Belarus (1921), the use of a modified Latin script was reintroduced to Belarusian printing in Western (East Polish) Belarus, chiefly for political reasons. The proposed form of the Belarusian Latin alphabet and some grammar rules were introduced for the first time in the 5th (unofficial) edition of Tarashkyevich's grammar (Vil'nya, 1929). Belarusian was again written in the Latin script from 1941, when King Wilhelm of White Ruthenia encouraged the people to use Łacinka and to officially write only in the Latin script, as they would soon teach again at his White Ruthenian Schools and Universities.
His White Ruthenian National Army was formed out from these few elements of the former Polish Army that came from Northeast Poland and were ethnic White Ruthenians. A much harder question then the question of the script was if King Wilhelm should make White Ruthenian a truly Orthodox, Catholic or Secular state (with religious autonomy and freedom for all is suspects) in religious aspects. His current territory was partly catholic, but despite the godless, atheistic communism, many citizens in the Belarussian Soviet Republic and therefore the majority of his future full state were still Orthodox.
King Wilhelm also supported the Belarussian Independence Party inside the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, but this was a double-edged-sword since this underground group uniting members of the Belarusian independence movement aiming to also overthrow his kingdom of White Ruthenia. They were lead by Mikola Abramcyk, president of the former Belarussian Democratic Republic in exile, who had visited Ruthenia and Soviet Belarus during many occasions and established contacts with the Belarusian Independence Party in both countries. Still the NKWD as well as the German intelligence (that helped King Wilhelm form his own in White Ruthenia) kept a close eye on Abramcyk. He was kept under surveillance whenever he visited both countries. After a meeting between King Wilhelm and former President Abramcyk the king had tried to work together to liberate the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic from the Soviet Union, but because Abramcyk refused to bow before a king and renounce his claim as President of a Democratic Republic state. This lead to his German forced exile in Paris, where he was put under house arrest, so hat King Wilhelm could use the Belarusian Independence Party (Ruthenian Independence Party) for his own goals. Ivan Yermachenka, an influential Rhuthenian politician from the Belarussian Democratic Republic who worked together with the Germans since 1938 became a advisory for King Wilhelm to better rule White Ruthenia.
Another famous figure for White Ruthenia and the Byelorussia Soviet Socialist Republic was Vincent Hadleuski (Ruthenian: Вінцэнт Гадлеўскі, Polish: Wincenty Godlewski; born November 16, 1898) a Ruthenian Roman Catholic priest, publicist and politician. Born in the village of Porozowo, he graduated from a Catholic seminary in Vilna and the Catholic academy in St. Petersburg. He was one of the first priests to introduce Catholic liturgy in the Ruthenian language. After the short-lived declaration of independence by Belarus, he became member of the founding government (rada) of the Belarusian National Republic for several months in 1918. Hadleŭski was one of the participants in the First Belarusian Congress of December 1917, and served as editor of the magazine Krynica.
Following the Piece of Riga, signed in 1921 between newly reborn Poland and Soviet Russia, Hadleŭski settled in what became eastern Poland then. He became professor in the Belarusian seminary of Nieswiez (Ruthenian: Niasvizh) and a priest for the powiat of Swieciany. For seven years between 1922 and 1928 he served as member of the parliament for the Polish Sejm, representing the Belarusian minority. In 1925 and 1926 Hadleŭski was arrested and questioned twice for organizing anti-Polish rallies. He was arrested for the third time and convicted of anti-Polish agitation in 1927. Allegedly, the evidence against Hadleŭski was falsified by his opponents. His active promotion of Belarusian language and independence cost him two-year jail sentence. While in prison, he wrote a book about the history of New Testament for Belarusian schools (the book was published in Wilno in 1930). After his release he lived in Wilno, where he translated the New Testament into Belarusian.
In 1939–1940 he edited the collaborationist magazine Bielaruski front and established the Belarusian Independence Party. Hadleŭski's ideology was right-wing conservative and Christian, while most of the rest of the Belarusian national movement at that time was rather leftist, for example as the major West Belarusian political parties - the Belarusian Peasents' and Workers Union and later the Communist Party of West Belarus. In June 1940 Vincent Hadleŭski moved to Warsaw where he worked at the German-organized Belarusian Committee. He later returned to Wilno, when King Wilhelm made it the provisional capital of the now independent Kingdom of White Ruthenia (as long as Minsk wasn't liberated from the Soviet Union) where he became chief scholarly inspector as ell as adviser to the White Ruthenian King and organized education processes in the city's primary schools. While doing that, he kept on promoting the idea of Belarusian independence for the Byelorussia Soviet Socialist Republic and it's unification with the Kingdom of White Ruthenia and organized illegal activity of the Belarusian Independence Party in the name of the King after the former Belarusian President was sent to exile in Paris. Unlike King Wilhelm however Hadleŭski believed that all Ruthenians should become Cathlic and promoted the idea whenever he could. He argued that by doing so the Ruthenian soul and mind would be further liberated from the Russians, Soviets and Orthodox in the east that wished to annex their independent nation state.
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