The Land of Milk and Honey; A story about alternate Cold War

[Tal Shiar]

THE LAND OF MILK AND HONEY​

the STORY ABOUT AN ALTERNATE COLD WAR
TIMELINE CREATED BY ONE SINGLE STROKE OF LUCK AT STAVKA HEADQUARTERS 1940

Eastern Bloc (1947):
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
Mongolian People's Republic
People's Republic of Xinjiang
People's Democratic Republic of Finland
Polish People's Republic
Czechoslovak Socialist Republic
Romanian People's Republic
Hungarian People's Republic
Yugoslavian Federative Socialist Republic
People's Republic of Austria
People's Republic of Albania
People's Democratic Republic of Greece
German Democratic People's Republic
Socialist Union of Italy
Republic of France
Belgian Socialist Union
People's Republic of Netherlands
People's Democratic Socialist Republic of Luxemburg
Union of Socialist Denmark

Western Bloc (1947):
United States of America
Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Republic of France
Kingdom of Norway
Kingdom of Sweden
Kingdom of Italy
Republic of Turkey
Kingdom of Egypt
Empire of Persia
Republic of China
Kingdom of Netherlands
Kingdom of Belgium
Canada
Republic of Iceland
Republic of Portugal​

 

[calvim]

looks nice, but why is France listed in both blocs?

 

[Anarcho-Occultist]

looks nice, but why is France listed in both blocs?

I’m guessing there’s a communist government in France and De Gaulle’s is still in charge of the colonial empire

 

[Tal Shiar]

looks nice, but why is France listed in both blocs?

Because there are two countries claiming to be a "true France". Continental, which was liberated by the Red Army and United States Army and second, a colonial one (plus Corsica) liberated by the Western Allies alone.

 

[jolou]

looks nice, but why is France listed in both blocs?

The French Republic (The one with election) established in Alger and the Communist one in Mainland france

 

[Tal Shiar]

The French Republic (The one with election) established in Alger and the Communist one in Mainland france

OTL France had large amount of support for Communists - during legislative election on 1945, French Communist Party achieved plurality of seats in a Constituent Assembly (148 of 522). ITTL, France would be liberated by the Red Army, French communists partisans and thus it will get a greater share of votes in the first post-war election. Voter fraud, propaganda machine directed against fascists, right-wingers and centrists, forced alliance with the socialists (just like in OTL Polish People's Republic) should also give them more votes.

 

[jolou]

OTL France had large amount of support for Communists - during legislative election on 1945, French Communist Party achieved plurality of seats in a Constituent Assembly (148 of 522). ITTL, France would be liberated by the Red Army, French communists partisans and thus it will get a greater share of votes in the first post-war election. Voter fraud, propaganda machine directed against fascists, right-wingers and centrists, forced alliance with the socialists (just like in OTL Polish People's Republic) should also give them more votes.

Doesn't make them legally elected. The more democratic one will be in Algiers than in Paris.

 

[Tal Shiar]

Doesn't make them legally elected. The more democratic one will be in Algiers than in Paris.

But it give facade of democracy to the Western Allies. OTL Yalta Conference obliged Stalin to hold free election in Poland and referendum about constitutional changes. Rigged election was used as a excuse for the establishment of a Soviet-style dictatorship.

 

[jolou]

But it give facade of democracy to the Western Allies. OTL Yalta Conference obliged Stalin to hold free election in Poland and referendum about constitutional changes. Rigged election was used as a excuse for the establishment of a Soviet-style dictatorship.

I mean, France is different than Poland. OTL there wasn't any Allied troops in Poland , here you said the Wallies did had troops in France so i doubt the Soviet can do it more freely than in Poland (and i doubt those Brits and Americans will leave their portions of France). And the other reason is that France already have a recognized governement by the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union who already own territory and with likely their own army in Mainland France or in Northern Africa. So it should be harder for them to do their trick (like giving 130 seats to the Communist Party).

And i doubt the public (or the leaders) of the WAllies will care if the Soviet say that their French Republic is the legal one. One is in algiers will politician from all sides when another is in Paris with only Communist in it.

 

[Tal Shiar]

National Unity Front - 44% (240 of 522 seats)

Members: Communist Party of France, Francs-Tireurs et Partisans, French Section of the Workers International (left), various left-wing movements.

Popular Republican Movement - 24% (121 of 552 seats)

French Section of the Workers International (right) - 16% (99 of 522 seats)

Democratic Alliance for the French Republic - 12% (62 of 522 seats)

Elected Prime Minister: Maurice Thorez (Communist Party of France)

 

[thatsbunkers]

Doesn't make them legally elected. The more democratic one will be in Algiers than in Paris.

I don’t think either will be democratic. Algeria will probably end up a Pied Noir apartheid state

 

[jolou]

I don’t think either will be democratic. Algeria will probably end up a Pied Noir apartheid state

Or seeing that if they don't give the right of vote to the rest of the Native they would be dead they decide to give them the right of vote. I mean, they know they can't run elsewhere. And it's still a democracy not a single party state or a military dictatorship. Different circumstance could lead to this development

 

[walmart]

Or seeing that if they don't give the right of vote to the rest of the Native they would be dead they decide to give them the right of vote. I mean, they know they can't run elsewhere. And it's still a democracy not a single party state or a military dictatorship. Different circumstance could lead to this development

They won’t give the natives the right to vote as that would turn free France into Algeria with a white population

 

[Tal Shiar]

Soviet Union

Head of state: Chairman of the Presidum of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union Mikhail Ivanovich Kalinin
Head of government: Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin
Head of ruling body: General Secretary of the All-Union Communist Party Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin.

Mongolia

Head of state: Chairman of the Presidum of the State Little Khural Gonchigiin Bumtsend
Head of government: Chairman of the Council of Ministers Khorloogiin Choibalsan
Head of ruling body: General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Mongolian People's Party

Romania

Head of state: President of the Provisional Presidum of the Republic Constantin Ion PArhon
Head of government: Prime Minister Petru Groza
Head of ruling body: General Secretary of the Romanian Workers' Party Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej

Poland

Head of state: President Bolesław Bierut
Head of government: Chairman of the Council of Ministers Józef Cyrankiewicz
Head of ruling body: First Secretary of the Polish United Workers' Party Władyslaw Gomułka

Bulgaria

Head of state: Chairman of the Provisional Presidency of Bulgaria Vasil Kolarov
Head of government: Chairman of the Council of Ministers Georgi Dmitrov
Head of ruling body: General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party Georgi Dmitrov

Hungary

Head of state: President Zoltan Tildy
Head of government: Prime Minister Lajos Dinnyés
Head of ruling body: General Secretary of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party Mátyás Rákosi

Czechoslovakia

Head of state: President Rudolf Slansky
Head of government: Prime Minister Antonin Zapotocky
Head of ruling body: General Secretary of the Czechoslovakian Workers' Party Antonin Zapotocky

Yugoslavia

Head of state: Chairman of the Presidency of the People's Assembly Ivan Ribar
Head of government: Chairman of the Council of Ministers Josip Broz Tito
Head of ruling body: General Secretary of the Yugoslavian All-Union Workers' Party

Albania

Head of state: Chairman of the Presidum of the People's Assembly Omer Nishani
Head of government: Prime Minister Spiro Moisiu
Head of ruling body: General Secretary of the Albanian Socialist People's Party Koçi Xoxe

Greece

Head of state: Chairman of the Presidum of the People's Assembly of Greece Georgios Siantos
Head of government: Chairman of the Council of Ministers Evripidis Bakirtzis
Head of ruling body: General Secretary of the Communist Party of Greece Nikos Zachariadis

Austria

Head of state: President Friedrich Hexmann
Head of government: Chancellor of the Austrian People's Parliament Johann Koplenig
Head of ruling body: General Secretary of the Austrian Workers' Party Alfred Klahr

Germany

Head of state: Johannes Dieckmann
Head of government: Chairman of the Council of Ministers Walter Ulbricht
Head of ruling body: General Secretary of the German Communist Party Walter Ulbricht

Denmark

Head of state: Chairman of the People's Assembly of Denamrk Aksel Larsen
Head of government: Chairman of the Council of Ministers Alfred Jensen
Head of ruling body: General Secretary of the Communist Party of Denmark Aksel Larsen

Netherlands

Head of state: President Gerben Wagenaar
Head of government: Chairman of the Council of Ministers Paul de Groot
Head of ruling body: First Secretary of the Communist Party of Netherlands Paul de Groot

Belgium

Head of state: Representative of the Belgian Proletariat Bert van Hoorick
Head of government: Chairman of the Council of Ministers Henri Glineur
Head of ruling body: General Secretary of the Belgian Anti-Fascist Workers' Party Julien Lahaut

France

Head of state: President Jacques Duclos
Head of government: Chairman of the Council of Ministers Maurice Thorez
Head of ruling body: General Secretary of the National Unity Front Maurice Thorez

Italy

Head of state: President Pietro Nenni
Head of government: Chairman of the Council of Ministers Mauro Scoccimarro
Head of ruling body: General Secretary of the Italian United Workers' Party Palmiro Togliatti

Finland

Head of state: Executive President Tuure Lehén
Head of government: Chairman of the People's Government Otto Wille Kuusinen
Head of ruling body: General Secretary of the Finnish Socialist Front of Unity Ville Pessi

China

Head of state: President Bo Gu
Head of government: Chairman of the People's Commissars Deng Xiaoping
Head of ruling body: General Secretary of the Chinese Workers' Party Wang Ming

 

[Tal Shiar]

• Only a month and four days after start of the Fall Gelb, Paris, a capital city of the Third French Republic falls to the German advance guard. By the end of an afternoon, a swastika is hung at the Arc de Triomphe, followed by the victory's military parade of the Wehrmacht.
• Joseph Stalin's head is hit by the door.
• Extraordinary meeting of the 18th Political Bureau of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) takes place in Moscow, Soviet Union. Joseph Stalin orders a creation of the plan for the defence in depth and eventual counterattack of the Red Army in an event of the German agression on the Soviet Union.
• Military reforms in the Soviet Union are speeded due to successful German Blitzkrieg and imminent danger of the Nazi invasion.
• Rehabilitation of the thousands of officers imprisoned during the Great Purge is signed into law by the General Secretary Joseph Stalin.
• Draft for the Soviet defence based on Dvina, northern Dnieper and Southern Bug is created by STAVKA.

 

[Tal Shiar]

​

• British raid on Taranto fails.
• 21 obsolete Fairey Swordfish biplane torpedo bombers are destroyed by an Italian anti aircraft defence and Regia Aeronautica.
• By a stroke of luck, HMS Illustrious is sank by the Italian bombers stationed in Taranto.
• Regia Marina remains a powerful Navy in the Mediterraenan Sea, prohibiting British Royal Navy from launching OTL operations or freely shipping through the sea.
• Italian defence of Taranto harbour is studied by the Imperial Japanese Navy's staff.

 

[Adamgerd]

Head of state: President Rudolf Slansky

Unless something changed, he should be the Chairman and the President should be Klement Gottwald

 

[Tal Shiar]

Unless something changed, he should be the Chairman and the President should be Klement Gottwald

He was replaced due to "nationalist deviation, prolonged support for the government of national unity with social democrats and rightists, slow implementation of socialism in Czechoslovakia". He was accused by other members of the Czechoslovak's party who had convinced Stalin to force him to resign. ITTL some things has gone vastly different during and after WW2 but these are spoilers of next TL's chapters.

 

[Tal Shiar]

• June 22, 1941 - Germany, Romania, Finland, Italy, Hungary, Slovak Republic, Croatia launches the largest military operation seen in the World War II until 1943.
• Fall Barbarossa was discovered by the Soviet spy Richard Sorge in Japan and the British intelligence. Both transmitted information to Moscow, Soviet Union about its start date for May 15, 1941 (later changed to June 22).
• Preparation and secret mobilization of the second echelon of the Red Army's forces started on May 15, 1941 along the Dvina-Dnieper-Southern Bug defensive line.
• Northern part of Pripyat Marshes were prepared to receive much of the expected German advance.
• Siberian divisions recalled during December 1940 from their original post were placed between the border and the second echelon to slowdown enemy's advance.

• First strike almost decapitated border units of the Red Army, forcing them to retreat towards more feasible defence lines.
• Soviet Air Forces managed to slowdown Luftwaffe's attempt to establish air supremacy over Soviet skies. VVS received big casualties during the first days of an offensive.
• Units based on T-34 and KV-1 tanks are remarked to be one of the most effective during the initial offensive.
• August 16, 1941 - Dvina-Dnieper-Southern Bug defensive line is achieved by the Red Army.
• August 16, 1941 - September 2, 1941 - brutal battle of Vitebsk stops Wehrmacht's advance at the cost of hundreds of thousands Soviet casualties.
• September 14, 1941 - December 16, 1941 - battle of Kiev ends with a full Soviet victory.
• Siege of Odessa begins.
• Soviet-Finnish frontline moved through few dozens of kilometers due to Red Army's entrechment.

• OTL casualties for the Red Army are never achieved due to lack of pockets (allowance of withdrawal), lack of OTL counterattack order during last days of June, greater preparations for the defence, lack of destruction of the VVS, faster reaction from Stalin (OTL he hesitated from the war in the beginning of an operation). OTL actions are bordering ASB from the military and civillian point of view. As a result, millions more soldiers live, thousands of aircrafts and tanks still exists, waiting for the counteroffensive.
• Most of the industries lost in OTL 1941 are never lost ATL due to faster evacuation or simply frontline pushed more to the West.

• Formation of the Polish Army in the East started.
• First portions of Lend-Lease arrived.

 

[Tal Shiar]

​

• December 16, 1941 - start of the operation.
• Before start of the operation, large movement of Soviet troops was made around Kiev as part of maskirovka campaign.
• German forces augmenting Romanian troops at the southern front were moved to the centre part of the frontline.
• Red Army crossed Southern Bug and established a frontline on Dniester. Romanian armies were crushed at the cost of big casualties.
• Crossing Dvina river operation fails.
• Odessa garrison is relieved by advancing troops.
• January 16, 1942 - end of the operation.