The Footprint of Mussolini - TL
As long as the war continues, he's not going to shake up the cabinet. After the war, things will be different.
Don't worry though. A certain event will occur by the end of the year in the halls of government that will make OTL's Alger Hiss case look like a filler story in the tenth page of a county newspaper.
Eisenhower, surely. The question is, since he has not been mentioned in this timeline yet, does he have his OTL prestige? He was the supreme commander, de facto if not de jure, of the western allied effort from Normandy onwards, or thereabouts, in our timeline. In this timeline, he might be too minor an individual to be known, if he never got that particular job.
The Destroyer of Worlds
Hey all. Just ending the war in the Pacific now. We'll go back to the fallout of Churchill's speech in Europe soon enough after a summary of the Nuremburg Trials.
The Destroyer of Worlds
The Death Spiral: Stalin 1941-1953 by Alexi Ivanovitch
Buoyed by Wallace’s grand promises, Stalin eagerly set out on his invasion of the Far East. Vasilevsky would get the starring role and become the new face of the Soviet military following Zhukov’s ‘martyrdom’. On February 24th 1945, guns were blazing across the Russian Pacific region, and more than a million men began pouring into Manchukuo. Japanese forces were materially and mathematically outmatched and resorted to their one ace once again – chemical weapons. Given the location of Unit 731, it was hardly surprising, but the average Russian soldier had never seen gas before as a combat weapon (the Nazis using almost all of its against their resisting countrymen and the West). As it was close to the end, the Japanese threw everything they could – including the bubonic plague. The only thing that served to do was make surrender as difficult for Japanese soldiers against the Russians as the Americans. Despite such a brief fight, it quickly descended into some of the most hateful fighting of the War. Many Japanese settlers even killed themselves and families (sometimes at IJA gunpoint). For their part, the Soviets looted and raped in various cities, so much so that the Chinese Communists sent a letter to Stalin demanding he keep the troops in line – a rare point of descent in a relationship that would grow even more lopsided in the future.
Of course, the Japanese had little chance, but observers were quite impressed with the speed of the Soviet advance. Within ten days, the Soviets had already struck into Korea. By the end of March, the Soviets had successfully taken Pusan, thus all but clearing out the Korea peninsula. They wasted no time in establishing Kim Il-Sung as the leader of this new, united, Communist Korea. Elections would be held at the end of the year, putting the Communists on top with results so preposterous that even Pravda refused to report the figures. It would be the birth of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and it would be one of the most avowedly Stalinist states in the whole world, united under virulent Anti-Japanese propaganda.
Perhaps even more impressive than the conquest of Manchuria and Korea was the ultimate march south towards Beijing. The Soviets, aided by the Chinese Communists under Mao, were able to launch an attack towards the Chinese capital by mid-April from what was once Manchukuo (though not after having stripped the region of almost two thirds of its heavy industry). By now, it was obvious not only that the Japanese weren’t putting up a great fight but that the War wasn’t ending anytime soon – thus allowing time for the Russians to take time to absorb their latest territories, killing political dissidents in the thousands. The alliance of Soviet and Chinese forces (now including Chiang’s forces if only in a mostly secondary role) were able to seize Beijing by the end of spring on May 28th. By now, Chiang had realised the scale of the potential disaster that awaited him. If this kept up, the Soviets could sweep to Hong Kong and install Mao as puppet leader. As a way of buying time, he announced to Moscow his intentions of forming a coalition government with Mao. The Communists would govern the north and the Kuomintang would mind the south. Foreign policy and other national matters would be decided as a group. Stalin was quite pleased with this, as he had been traditionally friendly to Chiang and saw the coalition government as an excellent way to increase Communist influence over the nation of nearly a billion souls. After some arm-twisting, Stalin convinced Mao to go with it. The invasion and subsequent advances by the Sino-Soviet armies were so successful that by the time the war was over the Japanese had lost all territory in China north of the Yellow River and a good deal of everything south of it. While this may sound like an incredible achievement, it wasn’t all that incredible in context of the Pacific War. With the Regia Marina’s help, Britain and France had re-occupied Indochina (the latter already dealing with the angry Viet Minh, being funded by Washington). Britain would retake Singapore by the end of the war too not to mention Italy’s own adventures in the region.
While the crushing defeats in China certainly had an effect, it was ultimately the Manhattan Project that would deliver the final blow. No matter what was going on in Asia, the Japanese Militarists were highly pleased that the Americans weren’t invading and considered it a validation of their strategy. The Americans were too afraid to invade and therefore they had to end the war – or so the thought went. In reality, the Americans had realised that an invasion was unacceptable and had to resort to a new method, which they bet the house on. Every resource available was flung into the Manhattan Project with a desperation bordering on zeal. If this didn’t make Japan quit, nothing would. Japan might have to starve to the last man woman and child. On the news that the first bomb was hours from falling from on Hiroshima on August 4th 1945, Wallace prayed that Japan would surrender. The explosion that struck Hiroshima killed 80,000 people in the blink of an eye and killed perhaps as many as 200,000 in the subsequent cancers and firestorms. While the Japanese leadership were baffled, they were not convinced the Americans had enough of the weapons on hand. While Churchill and Mussolini were shocked at the scope of the weapon, Stalin was unmoved, seeing as he knew about it in advance from Wallace. Then, days later on August 7th, another nuclear detonation struck Kokura, destroying the ancient city and killing another 60-80,000 people. [1]
Finally, at this point, the Emperor had enough. Yes, it appeared the Americans were indeed not going to invade. Instead, not one American would die and the Japanese as a people would go extinct thanks to these terrible new weapons. There had been some hopes Italy or the Soviets would help broker a decent peace, but with the former unmoved and the latter now devouring her Asian territory, it was obvious that the time had come. The use of the bombs was only the final straw. Japan was bombed, gassed and nuked – and now they couldn’t even lay a finger on the Americans. Hirohito ordered that Japan surrender. After a mercifully brief coup attempt, the word finally reached the Allied powers on August 13th: Japan would surrender unconditionally.
Emperor Hirohito would give his famous announcement on Japanese radio on August 13th, the first time the Emperor had talked to the Japanese people. It would also be his last as Emperor. Under the terms formally signed on August 31st, Emperor Hirohito would abdicate (though he would be spared war criminal trials). Douglas MacArthur, the new occupational governor, was initially favourable to keeping Hirohito, but the renewed hatred of Japan in America following the use of biological weapons had led to Hirohito stepping down in favour of his fourteen year old son, Akihito. The role of the Emperor itself was reduced entirely to a ceremonial one, with all claims of divinity thoroughly renounced. Hirohito’s brother, Yasuhito, would become the regent. Wallace was favourable to abolishing the monarchy altogether, but MacArthur convinced him that it would help the Japanese adjust to a new era. The Showa (昭和) Era had come to an end, a time remembered with dread by many Japanese for how it ended. A new era under Akihito, the ‘Banwa (万和) Era’ had begun, which means ‘the Great Peace Era’ (ironic considering the number of wars that spring up around the world in the following years). The term had been deliberately chosen by the Americans to attempt to remove militarism from the Japanese psyche.
Of course, another excellent way militarism had been removed was by simply having the militarists dead. Many of the Japanese leadership had died following the surrender, most notably Hideaki Tojo, who shot himself in the heart. With Tojo’s death, the star of the subsequent Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal was General Shirō Ishii. He had attempted to buy off the Americans after himself and his organisation had fled Manchuria following the Soviet invasion. However, the American population was desperate for blood following the various outrages Japan had committed against them. Ishii and most of Unit 731’s higher-ranked members were given nooses. MacArthur managed to convince the defendants to keep the Emperor and his family’s name clean from the various wrong doings the Japanese had committed during the fighting. Yasuhito would prove an extremely pro-West regent and co-operated exceedingly well with MacArthur. He would particularly build a strong rapport with the British in the darker years of the Wallace Presidency. Hirohito himself would quietly retire to the Japanese countryside, writing his memoirs in 1960, apologising for allowing the militarists to take over Japan. He died in 1988, specifically denying a state funeral to preserve Japan's image abroad.
As MacArthur began the process of working out how to organize a state that had only known feudalism for thousands of years and attempted to turn it into a modern democracy, he had to swallow his anger when the news came in on September 30th. That was the day the first Soviet forces landed in Hokkaido. Quickly, a Soviet administration was formed on the island (with the historically marginalized Ainu population receiving a disproportionate share of power, owing to their more Russian-based ancestry). However, unlike Patton, MacArthur believed that it was best to work within the system to try and stop Wallace’s worst instincts. As he set about how to rebuild Japan, he would lay the seeds for a resurgent power.
[1] – The original target for Fat Man, but weather on the day forced the move to Nagasaki. As every drop of sweat was thrown into the Bomb this time around (rather than seeing it as just one potential solution) the bombs come a few days earlier.
The Destroyer of Worlds
The Death Spiral: Stalin 1941-1953 by Alexi Ivanovitch
Buoyed by Wallace’s grand promises, Stalin eagerly set out on his invasion of the Far East. Vasilevsky would get the starring role and become the new face of the Soviet military following Zhukov’s ‘martyrdom’. On February 24th 1945, guns were blazing across the Russian Pacific region, and more than a million men began pouring into Manchukuo. Japanese forces were materially and mathematically outmatched and resorted to their one ace once again – chemical weapons. Given the location of Unit 731, it was hardly surprising, but the average Russian soldier had never seen gas before as a combat weapon (the Nazis using almost all of its against their resisting countrymen and the West). As it was close to the end, the Japanese threw everything they could – including the bubonic plague. The only thing that served to do was make surrender as difficult for Japanese soldiers against the Russians as the Americans. Despite such a brief fight, it quickly descended into some of the most hateful fighting of the War. Many Japanese settlers even killed themselves and families (sometimes at IJA gunpoint). For their part, the Soviets looted and raped in various cities, so much so that the Chinese Communists sent a letter to Stalin demanding he keep the troops in line – a rare point of descent in a relationship that would grow even more lopsided in the future.
Of course, the Japanese had little chance, but observers were quite impressed with the speed of the Soviet advance. Within ten days, the Soviets had already struck into Korea. By the end of March, the Soviets had successfully taken Pusan, thus all but clearing out the Korea peninsula. They wasted no time in establishing Kim Il-Sung as the leader of this new, united, Communist Korea. Elections would be held at the end of the year, putting the Communists on top with results so preposterous that even Pravda refused to report the figures. It would be the birth of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and it would be one of the most avowedly Stalinist states in the whole world, united under virulent Anti-Japanese propaganda.
Perhaps even more impressive than the conquest of Manchuria and Korea was the ultimate march south towards Beijing. The Soviets, aided by the Chinese Communists under Mao, were able to launch an attack towards the Chinese capital by mid-April from what was once Manchukuo (though not after having stripped the region of almost two thirds of its heavy industry). By now, it was obvious not only that the Japanese weren’t putting up a great fight but that the War wasn’t ending anytime soon – thus allowing time for the Russians to take time to absorb their latest territories, killing political dissidents in the thousands. The alliance of Soviet and Chinese forces (now including Chiang’s forces if only in a mostly secondary role) were able to seize Beijing by the end of spring on May 28th. By now, Chiang had realised the scale of the potential disaster that awaited him. If this kept up, the Soviets could sweep to Hong Kong and install Mao as puppet leader. As a way of buying time, he announced to Moscow his intentions of forming a coalition government with Mao. The Communists would govern the north and the Kuomintang would mind the south. Foreign policy and other national matters would be decided as a group. Stalin was quite pleased with this, as he had been traditionally friendly to Chiang and saw the coalition government as an excellent way to increase Communist influence over the nation of nearly a billion souls. After some arm-twisting, Stalin convinced Mao to go with it. The invasion and subsequent advances by the Sino-Soviet armies were so successful that by the time the war was over the Japanese had lost all territory in China north of the Yellow River and a good deal of everything south of it. While this may sound like an incredible achievement, it wasn’t all that incredible in context of the Pacific War. With the Regia Marina’s help, Britain and France had re-occupied Indochina (the latter already dealing with the angry Viet Minh, being funded by Washington). Britain would retake Singapore by the end of the war too not to mention Italy’s own adventures in the region.
The Second World War – Christopher Armlong
While the crushing defeats in China certainly had an effect, it was ultimately the Manhattan Project that would deliver the final blow. No matter what was going on in Asia, the Japanese Militarists were highly pleased that the Americans weren’t invading and considered it a validation of their strategy. The Americans were too afraid to invade and therefore they had to end the war – or so the thought went. In reality, the Americans had realised that an invasion was unacceptable and had to resort to a new method, which they bet the house on. Every resource available was flung into the Manhattan Project with a desperation bordering on zeal. If this didn’t make Japan quit, nothing would. Japan might have to starve to the last man woman and child. On the news that the first bomb was hours from falling from on Hiroshima on August 4th 1945, Wallace prayed that Japan would surrender. The explosion that struck Hiroshima killed 80,000 people in the blink of an eye and killed perhaps as many as 200,000 in the subsequent cancers and firestorms. While the Japanese leadership were baffled, they were not convinced the Americans had enough of the weapons on hand. While Churchill and Mussolini were shocked at the scope of the weapon, Stalin was unmoved, seeing as he knew about it in advance from Wallace. Then, days later on August 7th, another nuclear detonation struck Kokura, destroying the ancient city and killing another 60-80,000 people. [1]
Finally, at this point, the Emperor had enough. Yes, it appeared the Americans were indeed not going to invade. Instead, not one American would die and the Japanese as a people would go extinct thanks to these terrible new weapons. There had been some hopes Italy or the Soviets would help broker a decent peace, but with the former unmoved and the latter now devouring her Asian territory, it was obvious that the time had come. The use of the bombs was only the final straw. Japan was bombed, gassed and nuked – and now they couldn’t even lay a finger on the Americans. Hirohito ordered that Japan surrender. After a mercifully brief coup attempt, the word finally reached the Allied powers on August 13th: Japan would surrender unconditionally.
The Rise, Fall and Rise of Japan by Mariya Takeuchi
Emperor Hirohito would give his famous announcement on Japanese radio on August 13th, the first time the Emperor had talked to the Japanese people. It would also be his last as Emperor. Under the terms formally signed on August 31st, Emperor Hirohito would abdicate (though he would be spared war criminal trials). Douglas MacArthur, the new occupational governor, was initially favourable to keeping Hirohito, but the renewed hatred of Japan in America following the use of biological weapons had led to Hirohito stepping down in favour of his fourteen year old son, Akihito. The role of the Emperor itself was reduced entirely to a ceremonial one, with all claims of divinity thoroughly renounced. Hirohito’s brother, Yasuhito, would become the regent. Wallace was favourable to abolishing the monarchy altogether, but MacArthur convinced him that it would help the Japanese adjust to a new era. The Showa (昭和) Era had come to an end, a time remembered with dread by many Japanese for how it ended. A new era under Akihito, the ‘Banwa (万和) Era’ had begun, which means ‘the Great Peace Era’ (ironic considering the number of wars that spring up around the world in the following years). The term had been deliberately chosen by the Americans to attempt to remove militarism from the Japanese psyche.
Of course, another excellent way militarism had been removed was by simply having the militarists dead. Many of the Japanese leadership had died following the surrender, most notably Hideaki Tojo, who shot himself in the heart. With Tojo’s death, the star of the subsequent Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal was General Shirō Ishii. He had attempted to buy off the Americans after himself and his organisation had fled Manchuria following the Soviet invasion. However, the American population was desperate for blood following the various outrages Japan had committed against them. Ishii and most of Unit 731’s higher-ranked members were given nooses. MacArthur managed to convince the defendants to keep the Emperor and his family’s name clean from the various wrong doings the Japanese had committed during the fighting. Yasuhito would prove an extremely pro-West regent and co-operated exceedingly well with MacArthur. He would particularly build a strong rapport with the British in the darker years of the Wallace Presidency. Hirohito himself would quietly retire to the Japanese countryside, writing his memoirs in 1960, apologising for allowing the militarists to take over Japan. He died in 1988, specifically denying a state funeral to preserve Japan's image abroad.
As MacArthur began the process of working out how to organize a state that had only known feudalism for thousands of years and attempted to turn it into a modern democracy, he had to swallow his anger when the news came in on September 30th. That was the day the first Soviet forces landed in Hokkaido. Quickly, a Soviet administration was formed on the island (with the historically marginalized Ainu population receiving a disproportionate share of power, owing to their more Russian-based ancestry). However, unlike Patton, MacArthur believed that it was best to work within the system to try and stop Wallace’s worst instincts. As he set about how to rebuild Japan, he would lay the seeds for a resurgent power.
[1] – The original target for Fat Man, but weather on the day forced the move to Nagasaki. As every drop of sweat was thrown into the Bomb this time around (rather than seeing it as just one potential solution) the bombs come a few days earlier.
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Dolan
Banned
MacArthur: "Well lads, no modern military for you, Japanese... But well, Samurai and Shinobi sounds cool enough."
The war has finally been won, an inevitable result dragged out too long by virtue of excessive use of chemical weapons by the axis. The peace has already been lost, courtesy of Wallace turning his naive stupidity into a meme in record time.
This China, with anti-intellectual communists in the north and deeply corrupt nationalists in the south, will be interesting to see develop further. Both are likely to severely shoot themselves in the foot by their flaws and tendencies, but if they don't they actually work together, temper each other's flaws and curtail the excesses of communism early, we could see China rise to glory much quicker than OTL.
As for Patton - he will probably make for a poor president with his ego and lack of tact, but he will make for a superb presidential candidate. He is also very loyal to the core ideals of the USA as far as I can tell.
This China, with anti-intellectual communists in the north and deeply corrupt nationalists in the south, will be interesting to see develop further. Both are likely to severely shoot themselves in the foot by their flaws and tendencies, but if they don't they actually work together, temper each other's flaws and curtail the excesses of communism early, we could see China rise to glory much quicker than OTL.
As for Patton - he will probably make for a poor president with his ego and lack of tact, but he will make for a superb presidential candidate. He is also very loyal to the core ideals of the USA as far as I can tell.
Wow, the abdication of Hirohito shocked me. And surely would shock the Japanese even more (albeit the loss of Hokkaido will be likely more devasting in their psyche especially long term). But I guess the Americans were too incensed than TTL in not wanting him still as Emperor after the war.
The US army is growing pissed at Wallace... Well at least the generals. At this pace, for 1948 they would in block support Republican and sway the veterans's vote.
And if the Americans won't stop to finance the Viet Minh now the French are back, they will lose the support of Paris for good - London was already lost and Rome was never in game to begin with.
The US army is growing pissed at Wallace... Well at least the generals. At this pace, for 1948 they would in block support Republican and sway the veterans's vote.
And if the Americans won't stop to finance the Viet Minh now the French are back, they will lose the support of Paris for good - London was already lost and Rome was never in game to begin with.
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Thomas Wilkins
Banned
Damn, this war was a wild ride. Somebody make a wiki box for this war.
Surprised to see Hirohito go because I see him as a man that had little control of events that destroyed his country. One good thing about this is that Militarism is now dead as the Japanese people would be scarred as much as the Germans into apologizing for their past.
USA has gotta stop supporting the Viet Minh as they're basically communists fighting their ally.
Wallace would be a name as poisonous as King John in England for being such an asshole.
I hope Mussolini becomes TIME magazine's Man of the Year.
Surprised to see Hirohito go because I see him as a man that had little control of events that destroyed his country. One good thing about this is that Militarism is now dead as the Japanese people would be scarred as much as the Germans into apologizing for their past.
USA has gotta stop supporting the Viet Minh as they're basically communists fighting their ally.
Wallace would be a name as poisonous as King John in England for being such an asshole.
I hope Mussolini becomes TIME magazine's Man of the Year.
Interesting end in the Pacific- now we have the Wars in China, Dutch East Indies, Thailand, and lots of Islands to finish since most of them declared independence from their coloninal Masters post the surrender still occupied or not.
Will France and Holland brutalise their colonies like otl or might we see an alternative set of options?
Will France and Holland brutalise their colonies like otl or might we see an alternative set of options?
Dolan
Banned
likely OTL brutalizations without US voice of decolonization being throughly put on deaf ears due to Wallace's (perceived) betrayal.
Especially if US keep funding them.
Or maybe worst case scenario, Patton doing his coup and throw New US Support on European Colonizers instead.
Well seeing Wallace general attitude i think that he will support the Viet Minh, believing that's even for France own good and he (as many americans at the time) was an anticolonialist (well the colonial empire of the other naturally); ironically in the long term can be good for France (no costly war in Indochina and no defeat, time to concentrate in Algeria) and for the american interest (Vietnam was not really fond of the chinese, both communist and nationalist and can be ITTL Yugoslavia).
Depend, for a type like McArthur working outside the system can also mean, retire from the Military making a political statement against the current administration while at the same time declare the will to be a candidate for the presidential election
Well even if the idea that ITTL special relationship is not betweel Washington and London but between Washington and Paris
is nice; by now Wallace had burn too many bridge in europe directely and frankly i don't see him as a type to support the return of colonial administration; it will be also interesting his reaction at the situation in the DEI (OTL the USA gave Netherland an ultimatum regarding stopping their military campaign to regain control of Indonesia...but ITTL depend what was the ground situation and frankly Washington had a lot less leverage in general againt the Europeans)While the brass will not be pleased (to use some polite words), the rank and file plus their families will not, at least in the short period, be very angry as it brought Japan to surrender (or at least helped), they will be once it will become clear what kind of price Wallace has paid and they basically conquered Asia for the URSS while gaining very little .
Regarding future crisis, well even OTL the years between the end of the war and the death of Stalin were rife of conflicts
- the first arab-isrealian war: ITTL Italy will give Israel a lot of logistical and material support and the arab defeat will be also more decisive, probably earlier division between pro-european Israel and pro-URSS arab states
- Berlin crisis: this time without american airlift (maybe exchange Berlin with North Iran or Czech republic)
- Czechoslovackia coup, here probably secession crisis between prowest Czech republic and communist Slovackia
- Straits Crisis...ITTL will be the same, but probably without the americans as Stalin will try to test RA resolve, Anglo-French to give Italy support to stop communist incursio
- North Iran...se above
- Red China...ITTL Korea with probable war
- Sweden...Stalin will try to make her ITTL Finland and by now full of Finnish refugees, try to desperately forming a Nordic block with Denmark and Norway for both military and economic reason, try to get support from the great powers
- Communist pressure over Hungary and Romania to gain concession and try to test european resolve
- German military rebuild...probably sooner than OTL without NATO existence
My 2 cents to this:
- Sweden in TTL will almost certainly join the "West European NATO-sans-US". The Swedish Social Democrats back then were about as unChampaign Socialist as it gets, they wont have any red tinted glasses regarding the USSR, certainly not with the fall of Finland and it's refugees.
- You for got the Suez Crisis. Sooner or later either Nasser or whoever strongman is in charge of Egypt will try to nationalize the Suez. Now the simple answer to that one would be that in TTL it'll result in a joint Anglo-French-Italian intervention deepening the Euro-US split. However by whatever time it happens, the U.S. might very well be in full anti-Wallaceism backlash mode and decide to back the British and the French to the hilt so as to not drive them into the RAs arms and mend fences.
Thomas Wilkins
Banned
France helps America gain freedom, America repays by helping guerrilla group fighting France.
Depend if they, like Eisenowher OTL think that try to work with Nasser is the best mode to prevent him to go to the SOviet, plus anticolonialism was widespread in the USA pubblic opinon at the time...so unless the strongman at the time is openly communist, Washington will be critic of any retaking of Suez by force
France helps America gain freedom, America repays by helping guerrilla group fighting France.
Well, the Americans (after Wallace) would have essentially two choices to cause a wedge between the Europeans in their favour:
- amend with the British but going decisively anti-Soviet;
- work with the French but respecting their imperialist choices.
Point is, there may be the possibility for an Italian-American gradual reconciliation? For sure, hardly with a Democratic President. But a Republican one has to be cautious as well.
Thomas Wilkins
Banned
Why not both? You can't screw one ally for another. You need the help of everyone who's not a communist if you're gonna regain your international standing.
I hope a future president does TTL version of Nixon going to China and shake Mussolini's hand.
Plus the French by the time of a new president and a possible change of policies will be too tied with the British to do that