The Bade of 1776: A TL based off "The Grasshopper Lies Heavy"

[Imperial Advocate]

"I have not become the King's First Minister in order to preside over the liquidation of the British Empire."

– Winston Churchill, 1942.

Hello all! This is my first TL and it will be on the world of "The Grasshopper Lies Heavy". First, a little background, the book has it's origins in the novel "The Man in the High Castle", a double blind look of how a person in an axis dominated world would view an allied victory. To summarize the novel explained in the book, the UK wins in Europe singlehandly? The USA defeats the Japanese but never bothers in Europe? Britain annexes all of Europe? Then Britain turns into a racist empire? Then the British win over the USA?

This all may sound ASB but my take on this concept will be different in this TL. I will follow the general tropes in the novel, except for a few and make everything more realistic rather than a speculation by a random writer in an Axis dominated world. I will also base this TL on the world that Bruce made a while back. The way Bruce did his world in very believable and realistic, even though some elements are inevitably implausible. I will make my first post very soon and give me suggestions and stuff.

 

[Imperial Advocate]

Chapter 1 Part 1 - Big Trouble in Little Miami

On November 11 in Miami, president-elect Franklin Delano Roosevelt was touring. Crowds teemed on the streets and cheered on their soon to be president. Many nationwide viewed FDR as a possible hope for healing America reeling from the Great Depression. After years of poverty and inept leadership, radicalism emerged in America. Fascists and communists threatened the free way of American life and many viewed that FDR represented as a middle ground. As the president just concluded a speech to the people in his car as it slowly drove trough the streets, a deluded anarchist under the name of Giuseppe Zangara runs up to FDR and shouts "Too many people are starving!" and fires gunshots at FDR. Due to his sporadic shooting, none his FDR but wounds Anton Cermark and others around him. Zangara was quickly apprehended by the crowd and officials went to aid FDR.

A rare photo of FDR greeting a crowd in Miami moments before the assassination attempt, circa 1933

After the whole chaotic ordeal, FDR was unscathed from the assassination attempt but Mayor of Chicago, Anton Cermark, was wounded. FDR met the victims of the assassination attempt at the hospital, his standing partner, Anton Cermark received a single bullet wound in the chest but miraculously, he lived despite his life threatening wound he received. Many would say the bullet didn't damage nay vital organs, he was spared. As for the assassin, Giuseppe Zangara he was found guilty due to his assassination attempt and sentenced to 80 years in prison. He was known when he said this line when he was escorted from the courthouse, "Four times 20 is 80. Oh, judge, don't be stingy. Give me a hundred years.".

Anton Cermark after being wounded during the assassination attempt, circa 1933

With FDR in the White House, he immediately began to persue his "New Deal" campaign to fix America's economy and to bring the USA out of the depression. The main thing was to reform the economy to prevent another depression from happening and go about on investing in public works, to rebuild infrastructure and to give jobless folks a job. The recovery was slow and took much needed time. FDR also wanted America to get involved in the world stage and fight the rising tides of fascism more but many remember the days of WW1 and how that little "expedition" amounted to nothing for the American people. Many felt America should not get involved in the world stage, as the Founding Fathers once warned. But when foreign aggression washed on the shores of America, the American people had no other choice...

[The POD is Anton Cermark not dying as a result of the bullet wound, I needed SOME change ya know]

 

[Imperial Advocate]

Chapter 1 Part 2 - The Final Countdown to War

Roosevelt was massively successful in his "New Deal" policies he enacted. The US economy was rapidly recovering from the depression and rescued the optimism for the nation as a whole. Massive infrastructure projects sprouted up across the nation, dams were constructed to tame the great wild rivers and use them for hydroelectric power for the masses, grand new railroads were built to transports America's manufacturing goods, everything was in a boom. Many viewed the "New Deal" as technocratic, with many technocrats praising Roosevelt as a champion of technocracy. The New Deal not only affected America, it also inspired their former WW1 allies across the Atlantic Sea.

A new highway overpass being built in rural California, circa 1936

In London, the British economy was struggling to get over it's WW1 trauma. For years, the British Empire grew in land size but the economy didn't and the times of prosperity of pre-1914 never seemed to return. British advisors visited the USA and were surprised how quickly the USA rebounded from the depression with the "New Deal" in action. Many advisors though the British needed a "New Deal" of their own so when they returned, they showed the government under Neville Chamberlain how to salvage the British economy with a British style "New Deal". Churchill, not yet in government, threw his support behind the act, saying "This act will not only fix the British economy once again, it will restore our glory!". In 1936, the Parliament passed the "Economic and Infrastructure Redevelopment Act" aka. the Churchill Plan because of Churchill involvement in the making of the act. Many technocrats across Britain were enlisted to join the government and old industrial areas in decay were rejuvenated again. The economic situation recovered at a fast pace, by 1939 before the outbreak of war, the British economy was doing as well as it was back in 1914 before WW1.

A new modern residential district being built in Central London, circa 1938

Bad news also emerged from Europe, in which Nazi Germany continued to expand it's evil reign. The British primarily focused on rebuilding industrial might and economic recovery rather than European affairs. In 1936, the Germans re-militarized the Rhineland. In 1938, the Germans marched into Austria and annexed it. Finally in 1938, the Czechoslovak Crisis broke out in which the Germans demanded the Sudetenland. Under the policy of appeasement, the British and the French allowed the Germans to take the Sudetenland and to end their expansion. The Munich Conference brought the false notion of peace to Europe, as Hitler planned to expand further and exploit the weakness of the French and British. In 1939, Germans troops marched into the remains of Czechoslovakia and carved it up into pro-German client states of Bohemia and Moravia and Slovakia. Churchill called on the Parliament to expand the Churchill Plan to prepare for the inevitable war in 1938 but Chamberlain rejected, claiming that mobilization is a obvious suicide towards another war.

Germans troops march in Prague after the invasion, circa 1939

Meanwhile in the British Raj, Indian independence champion, Mahatma Gandhi, continued to perform peaceful protests against the British colonial government. The so called "Half naked Indian fakir" as Churchill named him was becoming an increasing problem for the British in India, as many Indians sympathized with Gandhi's anti-British cause. In 1938, as Gandhi was walking in Calcutta in the darkness of the night, he contacted a unknown man in the darkness of an alleyway. He quickly pulled out a machine gun and shot down Gandhi, killing him immediately. The death of Gandhi angered the population of India as many nationalists blamed that the murder was set up by MI6 agents but the British government claimed that it was a radical Hindu nationalists who was responsible for the murder of Gandhi. The Gandhi Dilemma is still unresolved to this day, with the British government refusing to leak any evidence.

Mourners of Gandhi at his funeral, circa 1938

 

[Imperial Advocate]

Chapter 2 Part 1 - Here we go!

The so called "20 Year Armistice" at Versailles was quickly unraveling. Hitler exploited the fledgling League of Nation and continued to expand. Britain was too busy fixing their economic situation and France was too meek to sacrifice another war on the scale of WW1 again. The Western powers allowed the Nazis to take over Austria and the Sudetenland due to many feeling that Germany was treated to harshly at Versailles. In the months to war, Hitler then was able to force Lithuania to cede the Memeland to Germany. Then Hitler demanded that Danzig be returned to the German Reich and sent an ultimatum to Poland. The Polish refused, knowing it was another futile Nazi attempt top steal land from the Polish nation. Nazi Germany declared war on Poland on September 1, 1939 and Germans troops crossed the border. The British and the French could no longer tolerate Nazi expansionism and they too stood behind Poland and declared war on the German Reich. The Second World War began in Europe.

German troops tear down Polish-German border gate, circa 1939

The Soviets then jointly invaded Poland after signing a non-aggression pact with them. Soviet divisions crossed into Eastern Poland. With the Germans tactic of "Blitzkrieg", the Polish army was defeated swiftly and the nation was partitioned between the Soviets and the Nazis. The Soviets then forced the Baltic States to sign "cooperation" agreement with the Soviets and allow the Red Army to station in their countries. The Soviets then declared war on Finland as an attempt to build up land defense to protect Leningrad from a possible German attack while in truth, was to drag Finland back into the Russian jackboot like in the Tsar's days. Meanwhile, in the West, there was no action between the Germans and the Western Allies. This time period from 1939-1940 was nicknamed the "Phony War".

British expeditionary forces in leisure at a battlefield post, circa 1939

When 1940 came along, the Germans were no longer willing to sit and took action. In April of 1940, German troops Blitzed trough Denmark and Norway. The British sent a division and naval squadron to protect the Norwegian from falling to the Germans. Despite helping the Norwegians very much, most of Norway fell under the Nazi jackboot. Neville Chamberlain became very unpopular within the House of Commons due to his humiliation with Germany in 1938 and his reluctance to fight German aggression against Norway and Denmark. In May 10, he resigned as prime minister and Winston Churchill took over power. Churchill took power just as the Germans invaded the Lowland countries and penetrated into France itself. The Maginot Line defense crafted by France failed and the Germans stormed into Paris while the British expeditionary forces fled from Dunkirk.

British troops wait for ships to pick them up from Dunkirk, circa 1940

In France, the Germans routed the French army and poured into French territory. By a few months time, the entirety of North France was overran. Within the French government, there was a drift between the pro-armistice Petain and the anti-armistice Charles De Gaulle. With proclaiming that France will never bow to the Germans, he gained popularity and became the next leader of France while Petain was expelled and mutinied to the Germans. The French government fell under the control of Charles De Gaulle and also effectively split between the pro-armistice faction and the anti-armistice faction. Charles De Gaulle fled to Algeria with the loyal French navy in July of 1940 and refused to surrender to the Germans. Petain collaborated with Hitler but faced a more punitive treaty, with Italy annexing all French land to Rhone River and Germany taking a large slice of land in the North. Hitler set up RK Burgundy out of Belgium and occupied French territory and carved out a puppet state of Brittany.

Battalions of Free French troops land in Algeria after the fall of France, circa 1940

Meanwhile in Finland, the Winter War ended with the Soviets gaining some territory from the Finns but at a costly amount of causalities. The Soviets also forcefully annexed the Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania into the Soviet Union and integrated them as new SSRs. The Germans then turned their attention to Africa and the Balkans. Mussolini's failed invasion of Greece dragged the Germans into their Balkan campaign, delaying Hitler's plan for an invasion of the Soviet Union. The war in Europe was only picking up though, things were about to get bigger when the honeymoon between Stalin and Hitler ended.

World War Two in Europe as of 1940 after the Fall of France and the start of the German Balkan Campaign

 

[Imperial Advocate]

Chapter 2 Part 2 - Under the Jackboot

Meanwhile in Britain, Churchill ordered to expand the Churchill Plan into the newly built British industry and the entire empire as a whole to mobilize all of British society for the war. He transformed the British economy into a fully fledged war economy to face the modern German one. Quotas were high in the factories but propaganda encouraged to produce for king and country. The British maximized production to all level high to produce military equipment to fight off the Nazi war machine. Another smart mind working for the British cause was brilliant pioneer computer scientist Alan Turing. He was quickly welcomed by technocrats and he was a major figure in a crew of code breakers to break the infamous Enigma Code the Germans used. Both scientists and workers untied against the Nazi menace and Churchill was confident that despite the odds the British face, victory is possible.

The code breaker "Bombe" computer which broke the Enigma Code, circa 1941

By this point in time, the German war machine seemed unstoppable. Yugoslavia was steamrolled by the Axis powers and mutilated and partitioned among them. The Greeks on the other hand lost control of the mainland but retreated to Crete. Churchill saw this as his chance to prove the new worthy might of the British military and to finally blunder the Germans. A Royal Navy squadron headed to Crete in April 1941 with thousands of empire troops and a few Free French divisions. The Germans landed one of the first ever paratrooper invasions into Crete. Unfortunately for the Germans, stiff local resistance and the combined forces of the British and the French ultimately picked off the paratroopers and the entire operation ended in a disaster for the Nazis. Hitler was upset but decided to scrap future invasion plans for Crete and to focus his troops for the war against the Soviet Union. the victory greatly boosted morale in Britain, with the Crete operation being the first success of the British during WW2.

German paratroopers land in a field in Crete, circa 1941

In Africa, the Italians continued to blunder. They did manage to take over French and British Somaliland but they were only futile expeditions. The British launched a full scale invasion of Italian East Africa in January of 1941 and quickly advanced. The Italians were very weak and lead by incompetent generals and had a general lack of resources due to Axis shipping being blocked by the British controlled Suez Canal. By late 1941, Italian East Africa was conquered by the British and the newly proclaimed “Jewel of the Italian Empire” was no more. Italian East Africa was divided into occupation zones administers by the British. Deposed Emperor, Haile Selassie was invited back to Ethiopia to be restored as emperor. In January of 1945, Haile Selassie was restored as emperor of Ethiopia again.

A British armored vehicle takes down a Fascist Italy monument after the Fall of East Africa, circa 1941

In Italian Libya, things looked even bleaker for the Italian army. Even with German backup to defend, the Axis couldn’t hold their lines when facing the Anglo-French onslaught from Tunisia and Egypt. With the success of the British in Italian East Africa, Libya was conquered relatively smoothly by Anglo-French forces. The axis lost humiliatingly and lost thousands of troops in an encirclement at Tripoli in mid 1941. The loss of the Italian colonies to Anglo-French forces made Mussolini’s reputation back in mainland Italy decline. Many in Italy’s government felt that Mussolini was a inept leader and a Nazi dupe. Many were secretly discussing how Italy was in need of new leadership and was totally unprepared for the war.

British tanks in the Libyan Desert as they mach on Tripoli, circa 1941

In mid-1941, the turning point in the war occurred. For months, Hitler was planning to invade the Soviet Union ever since he wrote Mein Kampf in the 1920s. He though all land to the Urals was rightfully German and occupied by “Asiatic Judaeo-Bolsheviks”. Hitler launched a surprise attack at the Soviet Union in June of 1941. Stalin was shocked that how Hitler stabbed him in the back so quick, he thought that after the 10 years expired as the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact stated, that war was inevitable. The Germans annihilated the unaltered Red Army, the Baltics and the Ukraine fell within months and to make things worse, Finland joined the Nazis to regain lost territory from the Winter War.

The Northern German army was heading towards Moscow but Hitler was unsure of a march to Moscow at first but the thought of capturing the heart of communist appealed to Hitler so he approved. German united marched towards Moscow and surrounded the city and barraged it with artillery. Stalin refused to leave and remained in the Kremlin, where he died from an artillery shell hit the Kremlin. Despite the heavy resistance the Germans faced in Moscow, the capital fell to the Germans in late 1941. To make things worse, Leningrad fell to the Germans around the same time.

Barricades in the streets of Moscow during the Battle of Moscow, circa 1941

The Soviets after the death of Stalin turned their leadership in a emergency government led troika and moved their capital to Yekaterinburg. The Soviets joined the British cause to hold back the German advance. The Red Army was devastated and was in near collapse and the Soviet needed urgent support. Churchill accepted the Soviets into the allies, doing anything do fight back the Nazi advance. The British began to send supplies to the Soviets and even send divisions to fight in Moscow to defend it from the Germans The situation in Leningrad was much more grim, with all sides of the city surrounded by the Finns and the Nazis, cut off from Soviet and British support. While the war in Europe was expanding, a new front would open up in Asia...

World War Two in Europe in mid-1941

 

[Imperial Advocate]

Chapter 2 Part 3 - The Rising Sun

While the war just began in Europe, in Asia it already started. In 1931, the Japanese invaded the Manchurian region of China and spun it off as a puppet state ran by deposed emperor of China, PuYi. The Japanese then launched a full scale invasion of all of China in 1937. The Japanese managed to conquer Northern China and the coastal regions but the struggled to conquer the nationalists inside inner China. The Japanese were denounced for their invasion and war crimes they committed in China. The Japanese signed an alliance with Germany and Italy in 1936, forming the Axis. When the 1940s came along, many in the military of Japan planned to expand greatly into Asia and create the empire they desired to acquire since WW1.

Chinese civilians flee Imperial Japanese troops, circa 1938

In late 1940 after the fall of France, the Japanese and their Thai allies invaded Indochina with a surprise attack. The French didn't have time to respond to Japan for this so they let them off for now. The Indochinese people though of the Japanese as liberators after experienced decades of French colonialism but the Japanese merely replaced the French. Indochina was rebranded "Japanese Indochina" and exploited the people as bad as the French did. The Vietnamese rebelled and two rival groups emerged, the VNDQQ, a pro-KMT Vietnamese rebellion army and the Viet Mihn, a communist partisan group. Also with the conquest of Indochina, the Japanese were able to launch a new front in the Second-Sino Japanese War. Japan's conquest of Indochina frustrated many Asian nationalists, with many viewing the Japanese near or even worse to the Western colonizers.

A Viet Mihn guerrilla army, circa 1940

In the USA, president Franklin D. Roosevelt after running two terms officially decided not to run for election in 1940 to respect the two term limit and placed Rexford Tugwell as democratic nominee for the election. Due to the democrats being viewed positively throughout the USA due to FDR's "New Deal" and it's success, the democrats led by Rexford Tugwell won the election of 1940 against republican Wendell Willkie.

A portrait of American president Rexford Tugwell, circa 1940

The Japanese officially decided to achieve their imperial ambitions and take on their rival, the United States. In 1941, the Japanese declared war on the USA and the UK and invaded the Philippines and British Malaya. Rexford Tugwell recently withdrew the Pacific Fleet from Pearl Harbor to Panama which were spared the Japanese raid on the Hawaii oil tanks. The "Battle of Hawaii" resulted in the US losing a majority of their oil supplies in the Pacific and nearly 2,000 died to the raging inferno that tore trough the Pearl Harbor base from the oil tank explosion. The American people were outraged as this blatant act of Japanese imperialism and in late 1941, the United States declared war on Japan. Hitler didn't declare war on the US yet, fearing that the US would funnel supplies to the UK and the USSR and scramble his war campaign in Europe. Mobilization and recuperation was delayed due to their loss of oil in Hawaii and the US still inexperienced from going to war.

An oil tank explodes in Pearl Harbor after the Japanese raid, circa 1941

The Japanese went on the offensive in Southeast Asia, the Philippines continued to resist the Japanese invasion led by American troops, with Japanese troops eventually overwhelming them in May 1942. The Japanese also landed troops in Borneo and attack the Dutch East Indies. In mid-1942, the Dutch East Indies fell to the Japanese. From Thailand, the Japanese invaded Burma but after too much overstretching their forces in Indochina and the East Indies, the offensive in Burma wasn't a total success and a British counteroffensive halted the Japanese at the Irrawaddy river, saving the British Raj from Japanese invasion. In Malaya, the Japanese overran the entire British colony and laid siege to Singapore.

Unfortunately for the Japanese, the Singapore army was led by by "Mad" General John Shmittins. John used to be an advisor for the Japanese back in the 1920s and knew that the Japanese ere the toughest fighters and how surrender was the worst thing a solider could do. When the Japanese surrounded Singapore, he aroused his troops and despite the little resources they had. He and the Japanese engaged in house to house combat in Singapore throughout 1942, the Japanese were shocked at the Generals constant refusal to surrender. In late 1942, General John and his remained army withdrew from Singapore and continued to resist in the jungles of Malaya, gaining support of the local Malayans.

Japanese troops lay siege to Singapore from a hill, circa 1942

By 1942, the Japanese reached their territorial height in Asia. Stretching from the East Indies to Manchuria, the Japanese amassed a huge empire in such little time. Things after 1942 would only go bad for the Japanese in Asia. The Americans established new oil tanks in San Diego and used their untouched navy against the Imperial Japanese Navy. The industrial production the American had overwhelmed the Japanese industry and after Japanese defeats in face of the American in 1942, the Imperial Japanese Navy would decline while the American navy grew in power. The Battle of Hawaii ended in a decisive American victory and they would continue their island hopping campaign in Micronesia and eventually to the Japanese home islands...

The Pacific Theatre in 1942 after the Fall of Singapore

 

[Imperial Advocate]

Chapter 2 Part 4 - The Turning the Tide

In Europe, Nazi Germany continued to reign uncontested in mainland Europe but at this point, problems started to challenge their dominance. The British navy defeated the Italians in Africa and their navy, securing British dominance in the Mediterranean Sea and slashing the dreams for Mussolini's colonial empire. Mussolini 's popularity plummeted among Italians after the humiliations in Africa and the naval battles with the British army and the German domination over Italy and their influence over Mussolini. Beginning in 1942, many high ranking Italians and the Italian monarch himself, Victor Emmanuel III, were plotting to rid of Mussolini and end Italy's participation in the Axis, but another huge mistake will strike the Axis.

American had not yet intervened in the war in Europe yet. Hitler also didn't declare war on America yet because he didn't want to scramble his chances to defeat the British. The Americans on the other hand have been supplying the British with supplies and food and this was irritating the Germans due to the resources helping the British to carry on the war effort. Beginning in 1940, the Germans engaged in unrestricted submarine warfare, with u-boats patrolling the North Sea and the North Atlantic for merchant ships of all kind. In 1941, American vessels were targeted by German u-boats and thousand of Americans lost their lives when Germans cruelly torpedoed both passenger and merchant fleets. The Germans then sank an American naval ship in early 1942 and Rexford Tugwell could not tolerate this German aggression. The USA declared war on the Germans. Hitler scoffed, he thought the Americans were "mixed race" people and know nothing about battle like the German people did, but for Britain, Churchill knew from then on, the Germans were condemned to be defeated.

Rexford Tugwell announces the declaration of war against Germany and their allies, circa 1942

The Americans landed troops in Free France, already staffed by British troops. The British and the Americans planned to knock Italy out of the war and to secure a foothold onto mainland Europe. The Americans agreed but also recommended a mainland invasion of France from Normandy but Churchill though of that war plan as ridiculous, thinking that the Germans would mow down the troops with their superior Luftwaffe due to France's proximity to Germany. In mid 1942, the allies launched a campaign in Sardinia, Corsica, and Sicily against Italy and Vichy France. The Italians, weak in morale, failed to prevent allies landing in Sicily and Sardinia. Corsica also fell swiftly to the allies. The anti-Axis sector in the Italian government was growing stronger, and began to collude with the allies to overthrow Mussolini. As a result of the Vichy failure to defend Corsica from the allies, the Germans destlaibhsed the Vichy regime and placed the entiryt of France under German occupation. This caused many forme German collaberators of France to join the Free French, increading their army and making them more powerful.

A pro-allied Italian propaganda poster depicting the allied victory in Sicily, circa 1942

While the allies were on the offensive, the Soviets were on the defensive. The Germans, with Moscow in their hands, could no longer go on the offensive in Northern Russia, with supply lines being stretched thing and partisan resistance being very intense. Hitler proposed a full on offensive into the Southern Caucasus to seize the Baku oil and to finally being the death knell to the Soviet Union. In this operation nicknamed "Case Blue", the weak Soviet presence in the Caucasus proved easy for the Germans to face and Southern Russia quickly fell under German occupation in 1942. The British were fearful of the German getting hold of the oil at Baku so sent troops into the Caucasus to halt the German offensive. In Stalingrad, Red Army remnant troops fanatically defended onto Stalingrad as the Germans laid siege to it. With British reinforcements arriving at the scene, the Germans were prevented from taking all of the Caucasus. The Battle of Stalingrad began.

A famous photo of Berlameï Fountain in the ruin of Stalingrad, circa 1942

The British not only supplied Stalingrad with troops, they also pledged divisions to fight in Northern Russia to free Moscow from the Germans. The British and the Turks made an agreement, the Turks would allow British troops to enter Turkey and would commit minor troops to help in the war in exchange for British protection of Turkish cities form German bombardment. With Turkey in the allies camp, the British secured a foothold in the Middle East which allowed them to funnel supplies to the Soviets in their struggle against the Germans with the Bosporhous Straits secure unlike what happened back in WW1. The Germans did to minor raids on Istanbul but never really bothered with Turkey, sparing them.

The British assigned their very own generals to lead the Red Army and to train the remnant Red Army and new division from Siberia. The British armed them with modern weaponry and the newest military tactics. The British also armed partisans groups fighting in Russia, heroic British pilots would drop off food and ammunition to the partisan groups to help sabotage the German lines. British spies were sent to the partisans to leak them information on the German's supplies. The Red Army combined with the efforts of the British managed to end the German advance in the Soviet Union and eventually, advance on the Germans. The Battle of Stalingrad eventually tuned into a stalemate, but eventually, the allies would emerge victorious over the German invaders.

A Soviet guerilla groups equipped with British armed weapons, circa 1942

By this point, the Germans were on the retreat from now on. For the Soviets, the war would not be easily won with British troops. When they went to liberate Moscow, the Germans resisted and the Red Army only with the support of the British was that possible. Thousands of lives perished in the Second Battle of Moscow and simply driving the Germans was a bloody slog for the Red Army to do. After the Germans retreated, Moscow was looted and destroyed by the German army. The British supporting the entire Soviet war effort in WW2 heavily stained the public perception of the communist party, with many viewing them as weak and unreliable. The British entry into the Soviet Union also spread ideals of the West and how the quality of life is much better there, destroying Soviet exceptionalism propagated by the communist party. By this point, the Soviet Union's future seemed bleak after the war with the Germans finally concluded.

Europe 1942 after the German Operation Case Blue and the Allied Sicily Offensive

 

[Imperial Advocate]

Chapter 2 Part 5 - The Wrath of the Eagle

The war in Asia went well for the Japanese from 1941-1942. The Japanese amassed a large empire within two years, but they would enjoy that for only so soon. In Early 1942, the Battle of Hawaii was raging between the Japanese and the Americans. The Japanese did bombing raids against cities and naval ports a to weaken Hawaii's defense forts for a Japanese invasion. The primary way to land Japanese troops in Hawaii was to defeat the American navy and assume naval dominance. However, due to the American Pacific Fleet being stationed in Panama, the odds were against the IJN. The Pacific Fleet arrived to the Battle of Hawaii and got in it's first fight with the IJN. The Pacific Fleet defeated the IJN in Hawaii and denied IJN naval dominance. In late 1942, the Battle of Hawaii decisively concluded in an American victory.

The USS Arizona suffers damage from a torpedo attack in the Battle of Hawaii, circa 1942

This loss destroyed the Japanese ambitions at dominance in the Pacific. The IJN had to do a tactical retreat from Hawaii and Midway and hold down in the Marshall Islands. In other parts of the Pacific, the Japanese were slowly being rolled back. In Papua New Guinea, the Australians had been holding their line since 1942 and did a counterattack, taking back land lost to the Japanese. The Americans also were victorious at the Battle of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands against the IJN in 1943. The Americans were also victorious in Tarawa in Micronesia and landed troops in New Britain 1943 too.

The US strategy in the Pacific was to do a "Island Hopping Strategy" in which American forces would capture islands in Micronesia all the way to the Philippines sand ultimately to the Japanese home islands. Taking the islands from the Japanese was no easy task, with many Japanese soldiers believing in the "Bushido" warrior spirit in which one would fight to the death. Many Japanese would do suicide attack against allied soldiers and in 1943, start doing Kamikaze suicide attack with their airplanes against allied ships. In Alaska, the Japanese were expelled from Attu and Kiska Island after their brief occupation. In Burma, the British launched a minor offensivce in Southern Burma.

American troops in the jungles of Papua new Guinea during the Battle of Guadalcanal, circa 1943

The Japanese began to fear that the locals would rise up as a response to the allied offensive and their promise for liberation. In 1943, after the last of the American resistance was cleaned up, the Japanese negotiated with the exiled First Philippines Republic government who were in exile since 1900 ever since the American occupation. The Japanese promised that they would be free again under a Filipino led government but under the Japanese sphere of influence. The Filipinos agreed and set up the Second Philippine Republic in 1943. The president was to be Jose P. Laurel.

Jose P. Laurel, the president of the Second Philippine Republic from 1943-1945

In America, industrial production by this point was in full swing. The Japanese simply could not catch up to American production and fell behind in nearly every sector. with the surplus of resources, the Americans had plenty of airplanes to spare and were able to bomb the Japanese home islands. In 1942, the American launched the Doolittle raid on Tokyo, with success. By 1943, American bombers could reach the Japanese home islands and decimate Japanese industry and cities. The war also spurred up America's economy to new heights. Even though the American economy was rebuilt by the new Deal by FDR, the world war helped bring back growth and helped wipe away the last vestiges of the Great Depression.

A factory in Detroit mass producing tanks for the war effort, circa 1943

The Americans were also assigning American generals to help the Chinese fight the Japanese invasion. The war in the Far East was going in the likes of the allies and the Japanese were oblivious to this, still believing that victory is in their hands.

 

[Imperial Advocate]

Chapter 2 Part 6 - The Great Offensive

The German grip on Europe was slowly slipping. For years, the German war machine seemed to be unstoppable, that is until now. The allied offensives in Italy and the Battle of Stalingrad was proving this. In Italy, Mussolini's regime was on edge. Low morale in the Italian army was costing them dearly in the war effort and the anti-axis faction had enough of Mussolini. In 1943, the king of Italy, Victor Emmanuel III, officially sacked Mussolini from his position as leader and he was arrested by anti-fascist police. Italy fell under a pro-allied government and they withdrew form the axis and to the allies. Pro-Mussolini factions backed by the Nazis revolted and attempted to take back Mussolini and kick our the "traitors" in Rome. The pro-Mussolini factions had little support from the Italian populous and many Italians barricaded the streets of Rome and fought against the fascists. The attempted fascist takeover was thwarted.

A devastated street in Rome after the Battle of Rome during the coup, circa 1943

With a pro-allied government in Italy, allied forces landed troops with permission. The Germans were enraged by the Italian betrayal and initiated an invasion of North Italy. German troops and allies troops faced contact in Tuscany and fought each other. Due to the mountainous terrain, the German utilized the forts and mountains to bog down the allies offensive and hold them down. The Germans were ruthless against the local Italian population and placed them under strict military occupation. The Germans even annexed chunks of Italy for punishment.

German soldiers apprehend an Italian partisan, Italy, circa 1943

The British also planned an offensive into the Balkans due to the weak German presence in Greece. In mid 1943, British marines landed in the Dodecanese Islands and, surprisingly, faced stiff German resistance. The Germans garrisons eventually capitulated after months of fighting and empty of resources, but in the meanwhile, the British successful landed troops in Greece. Most of Greece fell to the advancing allied forces relatively quickly and within months, all of Greece was liberated. This was mostly in part due to Greek partisan collaboration with allied forces and partisan sabotage of German supply routes and leaking German military information to the allies.

American soldiers fight in Thessaloniki, circa 1943

After all of Greece fell to the allies, the allies continued their advance into the Balkans. Bulgaria decided to switch sides to the allies, which greatly helped the Balkan Campaign. The allies also heavily supplied the very effective Yugoslav partisans to help them clear a way in the Western Balkan region. Allies troops para trooped into Yugoslav partisans held territory and fought off German and collaborator forces. This was very effective, with Serbia and most of Croatia being liberated by allies forces. Hitler was forced to withdraw troops from the Eastern Front to fight the allied forces in the Balkans, helping the Soviets catch a breath. After German re-reinforcements arrived, they managed to stop the offensive but by this point, the allies were turning the tide against the Axis.

Allied troops on a German destroyed bridge in Bosnia, circa 1943

In the Eastern Front, the Soviets also managed to score a victory after years of occupation and losing to the Germans. The Battle of Stalingrad finally concluded in a Soviet victory in part due to the allied support the Soviets received. The Battle of Stalingrad was one of the most hard fought battle in world history, with both sides being fanatic to take the city for themselves. With the Germans on the run, the victory helped to boost the Soviet government image somewhat better among the Soviet people. The Germans retreated from South Russia and into occupied Ukraine. The Soviets tried to take Ukraine but was against defeated by the Germans in a counterattack.

German POWs after capture the victory at Stalingrad, circa 1943

The Soviets attempted to dislodge the Germans from Moscow but fierce German resistance and a weak Soviet army was in no shape to liberate Moscow. The Second Battle of Moscow also was a bloody slog for the Soviets and Western allies alike, with house to house combat. Moscow was a battle torn mess during the Second Battle of Moscow, with many Russian symbols such as the Kremlin and St. Basil's cathedral razed by German forces or destroyed during allies bombing campaigns by accident. The Second Battle of Moscow would continue until 1944.

Europe 1943 after the allied Mediterranean Campaign and the Soviet offensives in the East

 

[Imperial Advocate]

Chapter 2 Part 8 - Hoppin' Islands

With the Great Offensive of 1943 in Europe against the Nazis, the Japanese were still fanatically preventing any loss of land to the allies in the allied offensives of 1943. The Japanese did manage to lose minimal land to the allies but by 1944 they were on their breaking point. The US continued to beat back the Japanese in Micronesia as part of their island-hopping strategy. By 1944, the IJN was a shadow of its former self with Japanese industry unable to replace ships at a rapid rate like how America did it. By late 1944, the Philippines Sea was dominated by the American navy. With most of Micronesia under American control, this put a liberation of the Philippines as possible.

A naval battle between the IJN and the American navy in the Philippine Sea, circa 1944

In September of 1944, allied forces land in Morotai in the Japanese occupied Dutch East Indies. Months later, the American navy fought the IJN in the Battle of Leyte Gulf in October of 1944 which concluded in a decisive American victory. American marines landed in the Philippines and began the liberation of the Phillipines. Also, with naval domination, America was able to conduct devastating bombing raids over Japanese cities. In 1944, Tokyo suffered immensely from firebombing as did many Japanese cities. This but Japanese industry at threat and made them unable to produce military weapons, making their war effort even harder for them.

American bombers firebombs Tokyo during WW2, circa 1944

In China, the Japanese planned to finally end the Chinese Nationalists. In late 1944, the Japanese launched Operation Ichi-Go, a large offensive plan to unite the Japanese army in Guangzhou and the Japanese army in Wuhan. Japanese troops scored a series of victories against Chiang Kai Shek's forces and the Guangzhou Army and the Wuhan Army united, cutting the Nationalists in half. Maoist insurgents also fought against the Nationalists in Hunan, weakening the Nationalist presence in Western China greatly. This humiliation prompted Chaing Kai Shek to give up his position of his role in the military to American general Joseph Stilwell.

Japanese troops advance against Nationalist forces, circa 1944

Even though Operation Ichi-Go was a victory for the Japanese, the war effort against the American and the British was no better. In late 1944, British and Indian forces expelled the Japanese from Burma once and for all. Japanese-Thai forces were able to hold back the advancing British/Indian forces. In the Pacific, Japanese soldiers increasingly relied on suicide charges to halt the American advance. Japanese airplanes also all the time did Kamikaze attacks on American ships. These tactics proved the Japanese were getting very desperate to save their war effort.

Asia 1944 after the Allies offensives in the Pacific and Operation Ichi-Go

Ever since 1939, the US was focusing on a project known as the "Chicago Project". Initiated by Franklin D. Roosevelt, he thought that American participation in WW2 was inevitable and that the US needed to get a head start on an atomic bomb project to defeat the Axis. In a secret compound in Chicago, the US initiated a group of atomic scientists to develop an atomic bomb. The US set up their development of the bomb in Hollomon, Arizona. Other countries such as Canada and the UK were also told of the Chicago Project and they lent resources to the effort. In December 8, 1944 in the desert of Arizona, a large scale explosion was detonated that was never seen on the scale in any explosion in history and rose in a mushroom like shape. The first atomic bomb was officially detonated.

A photo of the atomic bomb dropped in the Hollomon Test, circa 1944

 

[Imperial Advocate]

Chapter 2 Part 9 - At the Reich's Gates

With the Italian and Balkan campaigns being bogged down by the start of 1944, it seems that Churchill's Mediterranean strategy wasn't working as planned. The Germans were successfully holding back the allied offensives and the mountainous terrain provided the Germans with geographical fortresses to stop the allies from advancing any further. Many battles in the Balkans and Italy turned destructive and inflicted high casualties. American generals proposed to the British that a cross channel invasion of France from the British isles would help end the war much quicker and open a new front in Europe. With no other choice, the British accepted the cross channel invasion plan.

A map depicting the allied war plan for D-Day

British and American generals met in London in a secret location to discuss how the allies would be able to secure a beachhead in Northern France. They also needed to figure out when to enact it when the weather was perfect to the English Channel. In spring of 1944, the storms in the English channel calmed and the waves were not choppy. The allied generals decided to enact the Normandy Landings. First, the allies launched a fake decoy to the Germans that the allies will land in Calais. The allies then set up large barges to carry allied troops to Normandy and also a large fleet of ships to support them with airborne support to take down the German Luftwaffe. On March 9, 1944, allied troops landed in Normandy.

A photo showing American troops searing the beach, circa 1944

The Normandy Landing costed large amounts of allies causalities due to German fortification easily gunning down the first allied wave. When the second wave arrived on the beaches, the Germans were overwhelmed and the allies secured a beachhead in the Northern France. In Southern France, the allies launched Operation Dragoon. The operation was a success and the Northern and Southern allied armies linked up in the middle of France in mid 1944. A provisional Free French government was set up after the liberation of Paris in mid 1944. The allies went up into Belgium and liberated them but German elite troops in the Netherlands halted the allies offensive.

Parisians celebrate liberation by allied forces in Paris, circa 1944

In the Balkans, the front was stagnating for a while since 1943 but the allies offensives against Germany made their Balkan allies, Hungary and Romania, fear for a very punitive treaty imposed by the allies when they lost the war. The Romanians king decided to take action immediately and in mid 1944, sacked the fascist Iron Guard from power. The Romanian king switched sides to the allies, promising that land conquered in WW2 would be returned and pre-WW2 borders were to be restored. Hungary tried to do the same but was met with a German in invasion in mid 1944 and a coup took place in which they installed a puppet state ran by the fascist Arrow Cross party to manage civil government. Allied troops moved into Romania and fought the German/Hungarian army.

Allied troops fight the German/Hungarian army in the Carpathian Mountains, circa 1944

With Germans troops being directed to Western Europe and the Balkans, the weak Red Army managed to do offensives and liberated German held land. The Red Army managed to free all land west of the Dnieper River and free Leningrad and Moscow from German occupation. The liberation of Moscow and Leningrad boosted Soviet morale a little but the troika government was still unpopular among the Soviet people. To making things worse for the Soviets, the Germans began to arm local anti-Soviet minorities, especially the Baltic, Belorussian, and Baltic peoples against the Red Army. With many anti-Soviet sentiment among these peoples, they actively fought the Red Army.

Ukrainian pro-Nazi militias inspected by Nazi commanders, circa 1944

The Western allies continued their offensive into the Netherlands and the Rhineland. The allies grew a little too optimistic on their offensive and the Germans managed to exploit this flaw. The allied occupied Rhineland had very few troops stationed there and the Germans launched their last great offensive of WW2. The Germans striked at the allied weak spot in the Rhineland and pushed into allied occupied Belgium. The Germans used the last of their supplies as a bid to push the allies back into the sea. The German offensive eventually lost momentum by late 1944 and the allies defeat the Germans.

In late 1944, the allied nations convened in Reykjavik Iceland to discuss the future of Europe and Asia after WW2. During the Reykjavik Conference, it was decided that how the allies would treat Germany the post war era. A Soviet delegation also participated and they requested that Eastern Poland be ceded to the Soviets after victory no loss. Tugwell and Churchill reluctantly accepted that the Soviets would receive border corrections in Eastern Europe. The announcement of an American atomic weapons and also made during the conference. There were ideas floating to use it on Germany but Churchill rejected, saying that such huge explosion in Europe wouod delay the occupation of Germany and stiffen resistance. The decision was made that Germany would definitively have British and French occupation zones, America was offered an occupation zone by Churchill but Tugwell rejected, stating that American fought this war for freedom and not for a war spoils. The allies concluded that all war efforts should be primarily focused on the front with Germany.

Leaders of America and Britain in Reykjavik Iceland to discuss war plans, then president Roosevelt also paid a surprise visit to advise president Tugwell, circa 1944

British generals in late 1944 proposed a new war plan to outflank the Germans. After the failed Battle of the Bulge offensive by Germany against allies forces, the Germans diverted elite German divisions from the Netherlands to help the offensive. British generals planned a breakthrough into the Ems River due to the withdrawal of elite German forces from the region. Commonwealth troops para-trooped behind German lines near the German-Dutch border. Anglo-American troops then pursued on an offensive into the German borderland and with luck, were able to beat the German fortifications on the border. With Northern Germany open for allied troops, allied troops began to invade. This was a great loss for the Germans and after they failed to gamble on a possible victory at Belgium in mid 1944.

Europe 1944 after the Battle of the Bulge and before Operation Market Garden

 

[Imperial Advocate]

The Journal of Kernel George H. Altee from the Battle of Berlin

Another day of hell for my regiment I lead in this god forbidden place known Germany. We got those bastard huns on the run but even though their empire is on the verge of collapse, they won't break. Their capital of Berlin is just miles away and we finally ought to break the huns will to fight and capture the city within days. It was 4 in the morning when the barrage of our artillery woke us up. We were just told news that the Huns' defense outside their capital were finally broken and that the city was open for invasion. Me and the boys prepped our equipment and spared no time to delay. It was damn dark still, the burning ruins of buildings give the eerie glow that lit the skyline of Berlin.

We spent hours sneaking trough the suburbs of Berlin and the streets were piled up with dead soldiers and bricks of broken buildings. The RAF flew planes over us and engaged in a bombing raid against the Huns' positions and we hid inside a ruined shop. I led a continued march and soon, we faced our first contact, a minor SS division using a sandbag fortress armed with a machine gun were firing at us. A few of us got hit but I was able to avoid the gunfire. I helped save my injured lads out of this bloody mess of hell to safety. Some of my younger lads planned to toss grenades at the position while the older lads would engage in fire with the huns. While were were attacking them, we tossed a few grenades at the position and with damn good luck, were blasted the bastards out of the sandbag position and into the street. We immediately came out from hiding and shot all of the huns dead in the spot.

We continued to march and reviewed the dead huns. We came on the shocking conclusion that these were no ordinary men, they were a SS Youth Division consisted of 12-15 year old boys numbering around 22 killed, a sign of the Huns' desperate will to continue to fight the might of the allies. Our regiment had no time to investigate the scene and continued our march into Berlin. It was high noon and the remnant SS divisions were still fighting in Berlin but increasing amount of allies troops continued to reinforce us and secure victory. After hours of fighting and marching, we finally took a break and took out our beans and bread rations as lunch. After our breaks, we spared no time and continued on, by this point, we were in the heart of Berlin.

We caught sight of our huge British tanks come into Berlin. Another building, it might have been an apartment house or a store, a school or office; I could not tell -- the ruins toppled, slid into fragments. Below in the rubble another handful of survivors buried, without even the sound of death. Death had spread out everywhere equally, over the living, the hurt, the corpses layer after layer that already had begun to smell. The stinking, quivering corpse of Berlin, the eyeless turrets still upraised, disappearing without protest like this one, this nameless edifice that man had once put up with pride.

Next morning day after being exhausted from fierce fighting we encountered last night, we woke up to the most extraordinary announcement. In the speakerphone attacked to a British truck, they blared "ATTENTION ALL BERLINERS. HITLER HAS FLED TO EAST PRUSSIA AND ABANDONED BERLIN! PLEASE STOP YOUR FIGHTING!". It repeated this message over and over again but it never seemed to get over to the huns who regarded the message and bollocks and continued on as usual. A few of my men were lost in the past few days but from the look of the war, victory is near. God bless us all...

 

[Imperial Advocate]

Chapter 2 Part 10 - Endsieg

When 1945 came along, the allies prepared for a full scale invasion of the German fatherland itself. Allied troops were already in Northern Germany by late 1944 after the success of Operation Hanover. The Rhine was occupied but to slow down the allies, German troops detonated most bridges on the Rhine to halt them. Luckily for some allied regiments, some bridge failed to detonate and were also to cross. German troops found themselves to be under equipped and were scraping the bottle of the barrel to find weapons. The Wehrmacht was low in manpower so the SS began to forcefully recruit German civilians to fight. In truth, the "Volkssturm" army have very low morale in fighting the allies forces and many saw Germany's fate as good as doomed.

A regiment of "Volksstrum" armed with weapons, circa 1945

With Anglo-Americans in Germany, the Soviets took advantage of this and launched an offensive into Ukraine and Belarus in early 1945. There was barely any German soldiers in the East so the offensive was a success for the Soviets. All of Belarus and Ukraine to the pre-Barbarossa borders was liberated in a span of a month. The Balitcs were still under firm German control though and would be until German capitulation. The OUN in Ukraine fought an armed insurgency against the return of Soviet forces and this made things even worse for the Soviet offensive into Poland that was to go ahead.

A Ukrainian Insurgent Army militia, circa 1945

Meanwhile in the Balkans, not much action took place every since the D-Day landing in France and the invasion of Germany. Things changed in early 1945 in which Commonwealth troops were sent orders to invade Vienna as a pretense of rumors that the Nazis will travel to Vienna to flee to the Alps so they can set up a government in exile. Allied troops marched into Trieste without any resistance but faced fierce resistance from a SS division Ljubljana but eventually won over them. Half of Hungary was already allied occupied since the start of 1945 and a new series of offensives took place to free Hungary. The 2 months long Siege of Budapest was finally brought to an end and the allies marched trough.

A photo taken of Budapest right after liberation, circa 1945

The allies continued their offensive into Germany uncontested. The "Volksstrum" armies simply saw now point the allied armies and dropped their weapons and returned home in many instances. Only the SS and radical Nazi party militias only fought the allies by this point with everyone else giving up. By April 1945, most of Northern Germany was under allied occupied and were already outside Berlin. The Battle of Berlin began with fanatic SS division holding onto Berlin against the allies. The SS refused any type of surrender to the allies and threw every last man they had at the allied soldiers and tanks. The Battle of Berlin was fought with ferocity on both sides eventually, allied troops defeated the SS and marched trough the ruins of Berlin.

German POWS marching in the ruins of Berlin, circa 1945

Hitler and his cronies managed to flee the fuhrerbunker and to his military headquarters in Konigsberg in April 1945 as a bid to flee Europe from the allies. The allies raced to Konigsberg to capture Hitler. While the allies crossed the Oder River, the Poles under occupation rose up and rapidly retook German occupied land. The uprising was a success with allied air force aiding the Poles against remaining German garrisons and a partisan provisional government was set up in Warsaw. After cracking a code of Hitler's location, British marines landed in Konigsberg in a covert mission and raided Hitler's military headquarters. Hitler attempted to commit suicide but his gun didn't work and the British marines broke into the headquarters and apprehended Hitler himself in May 1945.

The Wolf's Lair in which Operation Crusade took place

With no other choice and Hitler under arrest, the German high command formally capitulated to the allies in May of 1945. In the weeks after, the remaining German armies in Norway, Denmark, Czechia, Slovakia, and the Baltic States would surrender. World War Two in Europe is now brought to an end. Partisans in Czechoslovakia took advantage of the German capitulation and rose up in Prague against the occupation authority. In Slovakia, the puppet government fell like a ripe fruit on a tree to partisan rebels. A new challenge emerged for the allies, the new post war order for Europe.

Europe 1945 after the formal capitulation of Germany to the allies

 

[Imperial Advocate]

Chapter 2 Part 11 - Kaboom

With America acquiring an atomic device in December 1944, the allies planned to use the device on the fanatic Japanese government to bring the Pacific War to an end. The engineers behind the atomic device told to the White House that it would approximately take a month to manufacture a single atomic device and the White House planned around February to use the device on Japan. As a prelude to the attack, American planes dropped leaflets to the Japanese city of Hiroshima warning them of a weapon of immeasurable destruction will land on them soon. On Feburary 15, 1945, an American bomber plan disguised as a weather plane flew over the city of Hiroshima and dropped one single bomb onto the city and it exploded into a mushroom cloud shape. Most of Hiroshima was vaporized in an instant after being hit by the world's first atomic attack.

A rare photo of the Hiroshima explosion taken by a rural citizen of Hiroshima, circa 1945

Reports of the Hiroshima explosion was sent to the Japanese military leadership but the high command refused to believe that a massive explosion would not end the Japanese will to fight and they must to the very end. The army's belief in fighting to the end started to foster a split between the navy and the emperor himself, Hirohito. On hearing rumors of Hirohito planned to surrender to the allies, the military placed him under house arrest. The allies received no response and the next step of action will be taken which is another atomic bombing. The allies chose Kyoto as their next target due to it's historic cultural importance to the Japanese. On February 27, 1945, Kyoto saw it's mushroom cloud and the historic city was left as a smoldering pile of ruins.

The ruins of Kyoto after the atomic bombing, circa 1945

The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Kyoto finally made the anti-militarist faction of the Japanese government to perform another coup attempt against the militarists in power days after the atomic bombing of Kyoto. A week long battle in Tokyo decisively concluded in an anti-militarist victory and the ousting of the regime. The new civil administration in Tokyo immediately sent a message to the allies fore stating the the Japanese now formally capitulate to the allies. The rest of the empire, still under pro-militarist regimes, refused to recognize the civilian regime and pledged to fight on. In March 1945, allied troops landed in Japan to support the civilian government against militarist rebels and also launched an invasion of Formosa and Hainan.

A famous photo of the American flag being raised after the brutal Battle of Formosa

In Burma, the British expelled all of the Japanese and started to make incursion into Thailand. In March 1945, the British launched an amphibious invasion of Malaya and took some ports in Sumatra. This attack was met with success and eventually, Singapore was freed by British troops. Thailand switched sides to the allies as a response to the allied success in Malaya and expelled all Japanese troops. The British then marched into Cambodia and South Vietnam to defeat the Japanese there. Nationalist forces in China were also able to cut the Japanese army in half, separating them from Guangzhou and Northern China.

British paratroopers land in Cambodia, circa 1945

The Americans landed troops in Pusan and Jeju, Korea in March 1945 to take out the Kwantung Army whom refused to surrender. American funneled supplies to the anti-Japanese Korean partisans and were also so spark a anti-Japanese nationalist Korean uprising all across the colony against the governor. By April 1945, Korea was liberated by American troops and were able to cross the Yalu river to face against the Kwantung Army in April 1945. The Kwantung Army even went to limits to overthrow Puyi due to fears of his anti-militarist stance and install a military dictatorship. The Kwantung Army threw every last man against the American army but eventually lost all of Southern Manchuria. After being soundly defeated multiple times, the last remnants of the Kwantung Army capitulated to allied forces in June 1945.

American tanks face off against the Kwantung Army in Manchuria, circa 1945

From May-July 1945, the allies mopped up the last of the Japanese army in China and the rest of Asia. In May 1945, the Indonesians formally declared independence from the Netherlands, in which the Dutch government refused to recognize. A portion of the Japanese army in Indonesia merged with the nationalist Indonesian uprising of May 1945. Indochina was placed under Franco-British occupation in the South and Nationalist Chinese occupation in the North. Japan, Korea and Manchuria were placed under American occupation zones. With World War Two now over worldwide, the world thought it would finally see peace but new conflicts would emerge from the legacy of World War Two.

Asia in July 1945 after the last Japanese armies capitulated to the allies

 

[Imperial Advocate]

Chapter 3 Part 1 - Legacy of WW2

After being victorious in the war, the allies had another daunting task to do, rebuilding Europe and Asia. The war left large tracts of Asia and Europe in total ruins and millions of people were displaced in destroyed cities. The British and the Americans emerged in the world as the only two stable powers in the entire world and they wanted to make sure that a war on the scale of WW2 was to never happen again. Famine and disease also tore trough most of war torn Germany and Japan, with allied food supplies and medicine relieving the affects.

Berlin in the aftermath of the Battle of Berlin, circa 1945

For Germany, they were to be placed under occupation zones. The British and the French received occupation zones in Germany. France administered the South, Britain in the North, and joint zones in East Germany and Austria. Vienna, Berlin, and the Ruhr were turned into international zones. The British and the French greatly backed separatist and regional identity groups, such as the Bavarian and the Rhenish separatists. The British and French did this because they planned that Germany cannot exist as a nation anymore due to fear that they could try another bid to dominate Europe again, the US was wary of the plan at first but decided to accept the plan.

Germany under Anglo-French occupation zones from 1945-1950

The Axis powers committed some of the worst war crimes possible. In Eastern Europe, the killing squads of the Einsatzgruppen killed over 3 million Jews in Eastern Europe and millions of Soviet POWs detained by Germany were left to starve in the camps without any proper treatment. Repulsing human experiments also killed thousands carried out by Nazi doctors and Japan's Unit 731. The allies wanted to bring the perpetrators of these war crimes to justice and planned two tribunals, one in Munich for the Nazi leadership and one in Tokyo for the Japanese leadership.

Jewish slaves prisoners in a Nazi labor camp in Poland after liberation, circa 1945

In Munich, the US created a war criminal tribunal for the Nazi leadership took place. Churchill advocated for the entire leadership to be executed outright but decided to go ahead with court. All of the top leadership of the Nazis were sentenced to be hanged for their involvement in war crimes and crimes against humanity. Some figures such as Albert Speer were simply spared and given prison sentences. In Japan, the some thing occurred in which the military clique leadership during WW2 were tried in Tokyo and many sentenced to be hanged.

Major Nazis figures after the conclusion of WW2 in Europe:

Adolf Hitler - Hanged in 1946 for war crimes, genocides, disrupting peace, warmongering, and much more.

Heinrich Himmler - Committed suicide in 1945 after being detained by British troops

Herman Goring - Blown up by the RAF in 1945 during the last days of WW2

Martin Bormann - Hanged aside Hitler in 1946 for involvement in war crimes

Albert Speer - Sentenced to 20 years in prison for involvement in war crimes

Joseph Goebbels - Committed suicide in 1945 during the closing days of WW2

Hitler's corpse after being hanged in 1946, his last words were "Deutsche, hier stehe ich." (Germans, here I stand)

[1] The Holocaust wasn't as bad ITTL due to Hitler's generals convincing him not to waste resources on gas chambers.

[2] The Japanese leadership was much more cleansed ITTL because there is no communism to worry about to let them off the hook to "fight communism" in Japan.

[3] Not too sure what will happen to the German expulsions, probably the Sudeten Germans would be "transferred" still.

[4] Yes, Nazi scientists are still spared, the British need rocket scientist from SOMEWHERE you know...

 

[Imperial Advocate]

Chapter 3 Part 2 - Crisis in the Kremlin

After World War Two, called the "Great Patriotic War" by Russians, concluded in an allied victory, the Soviets were too a victor but barely survive in one piece throughout the war. Without Western support, the Soviets would've easily lost to the Germans. Even with Stalinist industrialization, Stalin's purges to the army caused them to be woefully inadequate. With his death in Moscow in 1941, a Troika of Soviet top leaders took the stop in an emergency government. The Troika were able to score a few victories but they suffered from petty disputes between top leaders. The Soviet people were united against the fascist invades but after Hitler was captured and the Nazis fell, they had a whole new problem to solve, who will lead the union? The CPSU (Communist Party of the Soviet Union) was dominated by two main rival factions, the reformists and the hardliners.

The first main faction in the CPSU was dominated by Malenkov and Khrushchev who were called the "reformists". Their faction believed that the Soviets must create a new NEP for the economy and liberalize the planned economy. They also opted to reach out to the West for financial aid to invest in the Soviet Union and rebuild it from the damage of WW2. They rejected Stalinist terror to some extent (gulags and great purge) and believed that foreign policy should not be to spread communism worldwide, but to mend good relations with the rest of the world and focus on domestic issues.

Khrushchev, leader of the reformist branch of the CPSU

Malenkov, a so called "lite" Stalinist who aligned with Khrushchev

The second faction was led by Beria and Zhdanov and their faction were called the "hardliners". Their faction believed that Stalinist industrialization must continue and turn into war communism to help rebuild the Soviet Union from the damage from WW2 and in no way was a NEP or economic liberalization was to help. They wanted to preserve Stalinism, think that it can help keep the union (forcefully) together and more freedom would cause ethnic riots and separatism. They also wanted to have a inward looking foreign policy and to isolate themselves, essentially Stalin's "Socialism in one state".

Beria, leader of the hardliner branch of the CPSU

Zhdanov, an influential figure in the hardliners

The Soviet Union participated in the post WW2 peace conference in Europe and mainly vied for Western recognition of the Soviet conquests of the Baltic States, Eastern Poland, and small strips of Finland. The Western powers accepted, the Poles tried their best efforts to stop this plan from going trough but they had no choice but to accept the Soviet administration in the East, although still holding claims to it. Besides small territorial gains, many within the CPSU, especially the hardliners, felt that the Soviet Union was scammed by the Western powers in territory for all that they sacrificed during WW2. This was also the straw the broke the camel's back of the CPSU against the reformists, who backed the new border changes.

The new Soviet border after WW2 in 1945

Not only was the CPSU destroying itself from the inside, so was ethnic violence too. The unity the Soviet people had during WW2 to fight back the fascist invades seemed to vaporize overnight. The German policy of divide and conquer seemed to create detrimental consequences for the post war Soviet Union, with insurgent Ukrainian and Baltic peoples still in open uprising against the Soviet government. A truly bloody instance of ethnic violence was in the Soviet city of Rostov in which Russian nationalists and Ukrainian nationalists engaged in a bloody race riot after the Ukrainians attacked the Russian doing a rally that Eastern Ukraine should be integrated into the Russian SSR. Rostov turned into anarchy and the CPSU in one last act of unity agreed to send the Red Army to suppress the uprising. The riots were suppressed but the Rostov Riots only fueled resentment against Ukrainians and Russian for weeks to come.

The local CPSU headquarters up in flames after OUN terrorists torched it in the Rostov Riots, circa 1945

The CPSU also could draft up no plan to rebuild the war torn Soviet Union. The German invasion destroyed all of the industry build by Stalin's 5 year plan and nearly 30 million Soviet civilians and soldiers perished in the Patriotic War against the fascist invaders. A economic downturn loomed over the Soviet Union and millions of Soviet people were displaced and homeless, with no food on their plates. The Soviet Union was edging every closer to a massive famine breaking out again. The inept treatment of this crisis made many Soviet citizens became disillusioned with Soviet communism and the presence of British troops showed how well fed and treated the Western citizens were back home where with capitalism was.

A plane overlooks the destroyed ruins of the city of Minsk in the Belorussian SSR, circa 1945

The hardliners of the CPSU could no longer tolerate the stalling of these issues and planned to take immediate action. Beria and Zhdanov drafted a quite devious coup plan to take out Khrushchev and Malenkov, purge out the reformists, and install the hardliners to power. In September 18, 1945, NKVD agents secretly planted timed bombs in the bedrooms of Malenkov and Khrushchev, to detonate during the night. During that dreadful night, the bombs went off and their houses were reduced to a burning rubble heap. Malenkov unfortunately died from the bombs but Khrushchev didn't, being stranded out in the night with his car after it got a flat tire. The hardliners send NKVD units out to Moscow and immediately started to arrest reformists.

Khrushchev was furious at the coup that took place in Moscow and was able to round up anti-Stalinist civilians and loyal Red Army militias to help take back Moscow from the coup plotters. A few days after the September 19 coup, Khrushchev led an army of nearly 1,000 soldiers to Moscow, gaining support of other Soviet citizens who resented Soviet communism. The reformist army marched into Moscow and fought NKVD unites in Moscow. After days of street fighting, the weak NVKD units were defeated by Khrushchev's army and Beria and Zhdanov fled to Leningrad. A brief armistice took place between the two sides as they began to rapidly rearm and fight each other. In late September, fighting resumed between the two sides and the Soviet Civil War began.

Pro-reformist militias in a trench during the starting days of the Soviet Civil War, circa 1945

 

[Imperial Advocate]

Chapter 3 Part 3 - Great Patriotic Warlords

The first major offensive in the Soviet Civil War was the reformist's attempt to capture Nizhiy Novgorod. The reformists planned to capture all of the Volga river and basically secure all of land East of the Urals. The hardliners sent a legion of Siberian riflemen to defend the city from the reformist army. The poorly equipped reformist army engaged with the elite riflemen in the city. They lost in the suburbs of the city and were forced to withdraw due to their lack of resources they brought to the offensive. This retreat destroyed any hope for the reformists to take over all land East of the Urals and the gulag guards pledged loyalty to the hardliners after the failed Volga offensive. Despite losing their Volga campaign, the Kazakh campaign was a success, with half of the SSR falling into reformist hands.

Reformist forces retreat from Nizhniy Nivgorod across the Volga, circa 1945

The ethnic groups of the Soviet Union immediately took action to exploit the civil war. OUN nationalists took over village by village and formed a coordinated force. They ultimately declared de facto independence on November 2, 1945. The communist government was loyal to the reformists, with Khrushchev himself being a Ukrainian. Khrushchev was upset at the situation in Ukraine but mainly focused his attention in Central Asia. Reformists forces tactically retreated past the Dnieper River from November-December 1945. Belorussian nationalist attempted to perform an uprising and declared independence in November 7, 1945 but their small militia army couldn't take down the reformist forces. The BFA (Belorussian Freedom Army) signed an alliance with the OUN to help pin down the reformist forces in Belarus. A combined forces of the OUN/BFA managed to strike a series minor victories from November 1945 to January 1946 and turned their struggle into a stalemate.

The Baltic peoples were the first ethnic groups to rise up and declared independence from the Soviet government. In September 14, all three Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania broke away from the Soviet Union. The reformists refused to recognize their independence and attempted to retake them with force in October 1945. The reformists managed to retake half of the land occupied by the new Baltic governments but like in Belarus, the Balts untied as one force in an alliance and was able to pin down the reformist forces. The same situation occurred in the Caucasus, in which Chechens, Georgians, Armenians, and Azeris rose up. To control the ethnic revolts, other more brutal figures in the reformist government used ethnic cleansing and harassment to destroy their will to fight. This technique was successful in the Caucasus and Kazakhstan, with hundreds of villages torches and raped, and no people dared to rise up.

A reformist soldier surveys the ruins of a torched village in Kazakhstan, circa 1945

As the Soviet Civil War raged on, the Poles wanted to regain their land. Already upset at the border changes since the end of WW2, they wanted to launch an expedition into Western Belarus and Ukraine. In October 1945, Polish units cross the Polish-Soviet border on the pretense of creating a "safe" zone for refugees. The Poles showed their true intentions and continued to march and L'viv and Brest fell to the Poles in November 1945. The Poles couldn't continue their expedition by December 1945 due to many reasons. The devastation from WW2 destroyed much of Poland's industry and the Polish army and poorly equipped to continue fighting. The OUN, BFA, and the Lithuanians also resisted Polish troops and forces the Polish offensive into a stalemate. The Finns also launched a minor invasion into North Ingria in October 1945 with success and de facto re-integrated it back into Finland although it would be internationally recognized in 1949. The Turks did also create a "safe" zone in the border in the Soviet border in December 1945, but in truth, it was to keep a watchful eye on the newly independent Armenian state and their war with Azerbaijan.

A Polish bought Sherman tank in the outskirts of Vilnius, circa 1946

In the Caucasus, the entire regions descended into a quagmire of ethnic violence. The reformists also tactically retreat from the violence instead of wasting troops on suppressing the violence in November 1945. The Muslim Caucasus peoples united in an alliance in October 1945 and later in a confederation in December 1945. They were ran by a mix of Islamists and secessionists untied against the Soviets. Georgia managed to break free in November 1945 but Abkhazia declared loyalty to the reformists. In October 1945, Armenia and Azerbaijan both asserted their independence. A few weeks later, the former autonomous region of Nagorno-Karabakh announces that they will unify with Armenia. The Azeris refused this decision and this began the Azeri-Armenian War. Armenians militias with the support of Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh managed to secure the region from Azeri incursion. Armenian miliats tried to take Nakhchivan to cripple the Azeris but the Turks started to send warnings to the Armenain government. The Turks then signed a mutual assistance pact with the Azeri government and started to send arms to the Azeria, a serious blow to the Armenians. In February 1946, the Azeri-Armeian War started to turn into a stalemate and an armistice was declared.

A tore up town in Nagorno-Karabakh during the Azeri-Armenian War, circa 1945

In Soviet Central Asia, they were not spared the violence of the Soviet Civil War. The communist governors in the four stans crumble and declare independence. Uzbekistan and Tajikistan declared independence in October 1945 and in November 1945, Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan declared independence. In the Fergana Vally, random acts of ethnic rioting started to brew in November 1945 and became a sore sport in relations between the four stans, preventing a regional alliance from being created. In Kazakhstan, they had a less fortunate time with independence. Turkmenistan allowed British and Iranian troops to enter their country to protect them from possible foreign aggression. The British accepted and in December 1945, British troops crossed into Turkmenistan and pledged to defend them. The Kazakhs declared independence in October 1945 but reformist forces overthrew the government and it became a battleground between reformist and hardliner forces. Remaining Kazakh independence leader turned themselves into notorious raiders and bandits to sabotage the Soviets. Railroads and supplies were pillaged and even villages were ransacked by them.

A rare photo shows Kazakh bandits in a small gang, circa 1946

The Communist Mongol government was relieved of being a satellite of the Soviet Union but the government de jure was aligned with the hardliners. Communist Mongol troops marched into Tannu Tuva and annexed it in January 1946 due to the low presence of Soviet troops in the region. The hardliners care little, worrying more about the front of the civil war. Mongolia also continued to build up their military in the ever looming threat of the Chinese returning. With the Maoist Insurgency in China, the Mongols gambled all of the chips that it would destabilize China enough that they would be able to nab some land from China and form a pan-Mongol communist state, though this is just a pipe dream. The Far East was under reformist rule, in part of the pro-Khrushchev governor in the region, and they managed secure a large portion of Siberia in December 1945. The Amur region would be lost to an expedition force launched by the Americans to help lay the foundations of a free Russian Republic in March 1946. In April 1945, the Russian Republic was proclaimed in the Far East and was founded by Russian White emigres in exile in America.

The Russian Republic's proclamation in Vladivostok, circa 1945

In the hardliner held territory of the Soviet Union, things were looking very poor. A string of gulag revolts broke out throughout the Urals and Siberia from October 1945 until July 1946 before the intervention. These revolts were caused due to rampant starvation and horrible treatment by gulag guards to the inmates. In POW camps, some of the former Germans POWs escaped and relied on being bandits to survive or ironically, were hired as mercenaries by the hardliners to fight reformist forces. Most other inmates, political prisoners of minor criminals started to get liquidated by hardliner guards. Starting in December 1945 and lasting until July 1946, nearly 100,000 gulag prisoners were shot and executed en masse by guards. This was effective in stopping gulag revolts from breaking out.

A mass grave uncovered in which hundreds of prisoners were shot and buried, circa early 1950s

The food situation was also very dire. The only port city, Leningrad, was under constant siege by reformist forces and already, the infrastructure of European Russia was in total ruins. The farmlands was also a wasteland and the collectivization system collapsed when the civil war began. Food no longer came into Russian cities and villages and the seeds of a colossal famine on the scale of the 1932-1933 famine was planted. In late 1945, the famine began in Central Asia and thousand lied dead in the ruins of the Soviet cities, starved to death. Another catastrophe was also looming, the Soviet water system was already totally damaged and toxic dirty water was supplied to many Soviet villages and cities. A cholera outbreak spread like wildfire in Central Russia in early 1946 and even more perished.

A rare photo taking in Moscow showing how overcrowded the hospitals are, beds had to be placed outside to treat the cholera victims, circa 1946

The hardliners covered up the cholera outbreak and tried their best to censure it from Western journalists. Despite their best efforts, reports arrived in London and Washington about a huge humanitarian crisis in Russia and how the faction give little a damn about the suffering. There were also rumors that the foreign aid sent to relieve the famine and cholera outbreak was stolen and used by the soldiers. The civil war was already sparking fear in the Western world, last time they let the first civil war go naturally with minor intervention, led to the Bolsheviks securing power and the rise of Stalin and his tyranny. Churchill was the most obsessed with an intervention, fearing that if the hardliners win, the future sake of world peace is at stake. The Americans agreed with Churchill and prepared for a full scale intervention in summer of 1946 on the pretense of a humanitarian peace mission to help the Russian people.

*Since I ran out of room to attach photos, here is the map of the Soviet Civil War in Spring of 1946

 

[Imperial Advocate]

Chapter 3 Part 3 - Origins of Churchill's Dictatorship

After the British victory in WW2, Churchill was praised for leading the empire to victory in the darkest of times. Back in 1940, the British faced their darkest hour. Mainland France was on the verge of falling to the German blitzkrieg in and many feared that the British isles were next on Hitler's chopping block. The primary leader for an armistice was Lord Halifax, who was the primary voice for the former policy of appeasement for Hitler's expansion and militarization. With Churchill in power and rejected any notion of a peace deal with Hitler and the axis, Halifax and Chamberlain's former advisories were growing upset with Churchill. Halifax believed that the British should explore the option for a negotiated peace settlement. In May 1940, the proposal and released to Churchill and he opposed the deal and resisted the proposed peace settlement.

Many figures in the British government backed Halifax, believing that Churchill was leading the British Empire into a suicidal war with the Germans and their unstoppable war machine. Clement Attlee, Arthur Greenwood, Sir Archibald Sinclair all support Halifax's proposal for the peace settlement. Churchill tried to get the support of Chamberlain and convince him to support war but he aligned himself with Halifax. They tried to get Churchill to resign as prime minister but he refused, so Halifax tried to plot a coup to depose of Churchill. A battalion of the British home guard assigned by Halifax tried to march into the House of Commons and take it over in June 1940 and they declared a new government. Churchill was not present in the House of Commons but was in a war cabinet meeting. Outraged, he rallied the people of British people to resist the coup attempt, giving a speech that traitors have taken over Britain.

A British tank patrols the streets of London during the June Coup, circa 1940

The British were moved by Churchill's speech and protests broke out across London in defiance of the June Coup. Halifax continued to resist and the coup plot was finally thwarted when the British army sided with Churchill. Pro-Churchill units rolled into London and surrounded the House of Commons and a standoff took place for a day. Fighting took place after a misfire, overwhelmed, the pro-Halifax brigade was overwhelmed and the House of Commons was retaken and the coup perpetrators were arrested. As a result of the June Coup, Churchill assumed dictatorial control of the British government and installed all pro-Churchill politicians to power. No one really cared about Churchill's dictatorial control due to the war being first propriety but after WW2 concluded in an allied victory and the next election was in the horizon, Churchill's iron fist over Britain would be exposed.

The 1945 election was to take place in July but anything resembling a normal democratic election was not present. The Labor Party was greatly weakened and reduced to a weak shell of itself after the June Coup of 1940. When elections took place, there was an influx of propaganda that ridiculed the labor party and lots of pro-Churchill flyers were released into the public. The "New Liberal" party was created in 1946 with the merging of the National Liberals and the Liberals in one party, although its primary use was to curb voters from voting labor. The Conservative Part under Churchill praised itself for Britain's victory in WW2 and promised on a optimistic post war future. Once the ballots went trough, there was numerous rigging and manipulation to make the election look like a victory for Churchill. After the election took place, it ended in a Conservative victory and Churchill continued to be prime minister, and he made sure it was oblivious to the world of the election rigging.

Churchill, victory of the 1945 election - Conservative Party

Hugh Dalton - Labor Party

Clement Davies - New Liberal Party

The British also emerged from the Second World War in relatively good shape economical wise, with them retaining most of their industrial complex from the worst of the Luftwaffe unlike the rest of Europe. The economy was unstable after WW2 for a few year after war formally concluded and the demobilization process from a total war economy to a peacetime economy was difficult due to the whole "total war" and "maximum production" quotes enforced. The technocratic programs instantiated by Churchill during WW2 to help the war effort were preserved by Churchill and was converted for use for a peace time economy. The British economy was still the most powerful in all of Europe in the post war period. With the British economy in good shape, the British managed to pay off much of the war debt accumulated during WW2.

Meanwhile, back in Europe, war was not totally over. Problems started to brew up in Spain, under Franco's fascist regime. Spain was accused of hosting Nazi war criminals by the British and French and demanded Franco to hand them over. Franco rejected at the premise of Spain hosting war criminals and refused any Franco-British investigation into it in March 1946. The British did no military response but sent a secret MI6 agent to stir up a coup against Franco. All of this was part of Churchill's plan to "remove" the last stain of Fascism in Europe and also to get most of Europe on board for the pro-British future European Union project. In June of 1946, MI6 agents were able to foster a split between Spanish conservatives and create a considerable resistance to Falangism. A coup was launched by more moderate conservatives with heavy British backing and was able to successfully depose of Franco. Some hardcore pro-Franco Falangists put up some resistance against the conservative coup but lost. The Spanish monarchy was officially restored and a rightist but non fascist pro-British government took over. Franco was exiled to Venezuela after the coup where he lived until his death in 1977.

Tanks in Madrid following the coup, circa 1946

New plans were revealed for Germany. The British and the French greatly encouraged separate German identities and the program saw a significant degree of separatism, especially among the North and South Germans. In April of 1946, Bavaria officially declared de jure independence and restored the monarchy, abolished back in 1918. The French greatly backed the Bavarians and were among the first to recognize the nation. The British also were prepping Hanover to be integrated back into the United Kingdom. The borders of the old 1815 Kingdom of Hanover were re-established and it was formally annexed back into Britain on October 12, 1950. The Saarland also was annexed by France for "reparations" for WW2. Finally in 1950, after years of planning, Germany was to be split up into many states as it was before 1871. All of the monarchies of the German state were invited back to their thrones and new kingdoms were crafted, such as Rhine and Thuringia. Nearly all of Western Germany was under Franco-British domination to make sure the the greatly industrialized and populated West was to be under protection to make sure the Germans stay down. The Germans were also allowed to still have open borders.

1. Duchy of Schleswig-Holstein (Permanent British presence)
2. Duchy of Mecklenburg
3. Duchy of Oldenburg (Permanent British presence)
4. Duchy of Westphalia (Permanent Franco/British presence)
5. Duchy of the Rhine (Permanent Franco/British presence)
6. Duchy of Hessen (Permanent Franco/British presence)
7. Duchy of Thuringia (Permanent Franco/British presence)
8. Duchy of Palatine (Permanent Franco/British presence)
9. Kingdom of Wurttemberg (Permanent Franco/British presence)
10. Kingdom of Baden (Permanent Franco/British presence)
11. Kingdom of Saxony
12. Free City of Danzig

[1] The Germans ITTL were not expelled from the East but some expulsions took place *cough* Czechoslovakia *cough*

[2] Most of Western Europe ITTL is spared much less destruction than in OTL and emerged from Europe as the least war torn.

[3] There wasn't a civil war in Spain against because most of the government, even moderate Falangists, thought it wasn't worth it over Franco to start another brutal civil war.

[4] The German states will adapt a common currency once the European Union is established, thwarting an economic crisis.

 

[Imperial Advocate]

Sorry for the long hiatus, it was just... this path the timeline was going wasn't fitting the way I wanted it to be. I made numerous changes to the timeline in the past months, radically altering WW2. I was also having trouble with the realistic path I was taking because I was planning on the the British Empire to continue expanding, which wouldn't work for this type of timeline. Another reason is just I lost interest in making a realistic Grasshopper Lies Heavy and wanted to go for more of a looser but not ASB timeline. Sorry if you were into this timeline I was making, if one of you wants to continue it, just ask me and I will allow you to do so. I’m also working on a new one new one soon.

 

[Imperial Advocate]

I just posted my newest Grasshopper Lies Heavy timeline I will begin on. Here is the timeline.