After Much Stalling...
we finally get to WORLD WAR II!
1939-Charles de Gaulle demands that Italy cede Provence and Corsica to France. Italy, counting on Anglo-German support, refuses Germany's demands. Outraged, de Gaulle launches a "Guerre de Foudre" (French for "lightning war) against Italy on September 1. Britain and Germany declare war on France on September 3. Italy surrenders on September 17. Benito Mussolini is installed as the head of a puppet state and the Italian royal family is sent into exile.
At the same time, Poland demands Slovakia from Hungary. When their demands are refused, Poland invades Hungary on October 4. Events in Europe are spiralling out of control.
In Asia, Japan continues its assault on China. Chinese resistance is hampered by interneccine conflict between the Chinese Republican government and insurgent Communists.
1940-With Italy subdued, France turns its sights on Germany proper. France attacks Germany through the Belgian Ardennes. However, the Germans are quickly able to bounce back from the suprise offensive, and a stalemate develops in the Rhineland. Newly elected German chancellor Adolf Hitler vows to crush the French aggressor. What the Germans don't know, however, is that French soldiers are capturing Jewish civillians in the occupied zone and ferrying them back to France to be placed in forced labor camps.
The French Air Force plans an assault on Great Britain to soften it up for invasion. Operation Sealion, as the campaign is named, commences in June. However, the British are resillient and fight back against the would-be invaders. The French lose a great deal of their planes, and de Gaulle is forced to call the invasion off in September.
In eastern Europe, Poland invades Bohemia and Moravia. Germany, distracted by the fight against France, is unable to do anything about the Pole's advances. The Polish army turns its attention to Posen and East Prussia, occupying the Prussian provinces.Romania is the next to fall, with Polish forces pouring over the Hungaro-Romanian border.
Next, Poland turns on the Soviet Union. Poland launches Operation Wladyslaw (named after the 17th century Polish king who claimed the throne of Russia), the invasion of the Soviet Union. At first, the Poles make stunning progress. However, the onset of the Russian winter slows down the Polish offensive.
Meanwhile in Asia, the Japanese launch an invasion of German Indochina.
In North America, the CSA and FPRA both watch world events with apprehension. Confederate president Cordell Hull wants to keep the CSA neutral for as long as possible, though he knows that a threat to the CSA is inevitable. FRPA president William Z. Foster also pledges neutrality, though he denounces the fascist aggression against Poland. The Lend-Lease act allows for aid to the beleaguered USSR.
After years as an informal alliance, France, Poland, and Japan sign the Pact of Steel, pledging to defend one another if one of the signatories is attacked.
1941-Spain joins the war on the Fascist side and invades Portugal..
Japan makes a grave mistake in December, when they attack the CS naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. The CSA declares war on Japan on December 8. France and Poland declare war on the CSA. The FPRA also declares war on the Fascists, in the name of supporting the USSR.
1942-The CS and US armies have their first confrontation with the French in North Africa. After a series of early setbacks, the US-CS-UK-DE forces win a major victory at El Alamein in November.
In the Pacific, the CS Navy faces off against the Japanese juggernaut. The CS manages to check Japanese expansion at Guadacanal and Midway.
The leaders of France and Poland meet in Paris in June to discuss the "Ultimate Solution"-the extermination of Europe's Jewish population. For the occasion, the Polish have constructed death camps in the Polish heartland. The French have constructed their own death camps in Italy and Belgium. de Gaulle greenlights the operation, and orders that all Jews captured after June 16 be placed in the death camps.
1943-The Allies (as the CS-US-UK-DE bloc has come to be know) make plans to liberate Italy.
Meanwhile, the Soviets defeat Polish forces at Stalingrad and Kursk. The Poles are pushed out of the Ukraine and Romania and sent on the defensive.
In the Pacific, the CS and Japan enter into a stalemate.
The invasion of Italy goes as planned, albeit with great difficulty. Benito Mussolini is captured, tried for treason, and executed.
1944-The Allies invade Spain and topple the pro-France government.
With the bordering nations falling to the Allies, France is forced to withdraw much of its forces from Germany to protect its southern tier. Freed up, the Germans take back Posen and East Prussia from Poland.
The Soviets tear through Belarus on their march towards Poland.
The Japanese empire is beginning to collapse. The Chinese have managed to stop their infighting long enough to put up a strong fight against the Japanese invaders. German Indochina is liberated in November.
1945-Harry Truman is elected president of the CSA. He vows to wrap up the Confederate war effort.
German and Soviet forces both breach the Polish border, meeting up at the Vistula River. Poland is divided into German and Soviet occupation zones. Hungary is occupied by the USSR.
The Allies push into France from Italy and Spain. As the Allied armies near Paris, de Gaulle commits suicide in April. The remainder of the French government surrenders on May 1. France is divided into CS, British, and German occupation zones. Belgium is reconsituted.
As the Fascist countries fall, the Allies discover the extent of the Franco-Polish campaign against the Jews. The camps in France, Belgium, Italy, and Poland are uncovered, along with withered corpses and emaciated surivors. It is estimated that three million Jews were killed by the Fascist regimes. This ruthless purge comes to be known as the "Holocaust."
In the Pacific, the Japanese have been driven back to their home islands. However, they refuse to surrender, and the CSA does not want to risk a costly invasion. So they turn to their trump card-the newly developed atomic bomb*. The Confederate Air Force drops a bomb on the city of Hiroshima on August 18. When the Japanese still do not yield, the CSA drops a second bomb on the city of Nagasaki on August 25. At this point, Japanese emperor Hirohito sees the futility of continuing to fight and pressures the Japanese military to surrender. Japan formally surrenders on September 2. World War II is finally over, but new troubles linger on the horizon...
No sooner did FDR take