They make a desert and call it empire

1. The Shroud over Europe

They make a desert and call it empire
An alternate 20th century TL.



An extract from The Shroud over Europe by J Enoch Powell, written circa 1974

It was once said by one of the great political titans of our history, Sir Winston Churchill, that “The Valkyrie has taken the breath of Europe and made it a desert, and called it empire.” It would — while a misquoting of Tacitus- be an accurate assessment to say that his particularly prescient vision for the collapse of the balance of power in Europe maintained so dearly by these Isles for hundreds of years now. The vindication of his vision, however, came too late for the likes of Chamberlain whose coward like imprudence which cost Europe its liberty and freedom. Leo Amery, however, created a Britain which could deal with the threat of the National Socialists. But alas we came too late,

The nature of the National Socialist Regime in Germany is an insidious one, one far worse than that which we fought against so briefly. It stretches from the Atlantic into the depths of Siberia. It is based on the rejection of the very idea of Freedom which is owed to every Briton and the subject of her vast commonwealth. It teases its population with economic prosperity while it is led by men of unfathomable cruelty. It, however, was not content with this, it was more than delighted with the destruction of centuries of European culture and of its races in the name of its absurd vanity. And the mindset of Fascist Doctrine has spread as well. While we were able to exploit the split in the Fascist world, but even then the Pact of Steel stretches from Germania to Beijing.

We Britons must stand against this particular devilry that opposes us now, for our own societies must be cherished. We oppose our natural competitor that is the United States today, as we have learned to in its peculiar attempts to undermine us. Therefore we Stand as a bastion of freedom in a dark world and will protect all those who stand with us in it. We stand by the likes of Spain, France, and the Persians. We live today in a dark world, one devoid of the warmth that it once had. Perhaps we can carry the torch forwards. Beyond this particularly grim state of affairs.


More coming soon.



 
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Well this is going to be my first TL, one I hope can hopefully entertain all those who read it. There are a series of PODs which shall be occurring in the 1920s which shall evolve into a radically different TL for all parties involved. There are a few hints to what's in this timeline in this OP but it shall start soon.
 
2. The Start of the New Order, a chapter from Political Realities 1st edition by Henry Kissinger.

The Start of the New Order, a chapter from Political Realities 1st edition by Henry Kissinger.

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Heer troops marching down Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile

The success of the Germans in the Second Great War was an achievement seen by many observers both at the time and now to be a remarkable achievement for the Germans. Hitler had done that which Napoleon had not. Europe after the war was forged in steel, with the Stahlpakt dominating the continent. Eventually the other European states of the old continent slowly fell into line, with the Swedes, Finns, Portuguese, Spanish all joining this alliance of Hitler and Mussolini. But to truly understand the war one must understand its initial context.


The rise of National Socialism in Germany was in retrospect an entirely expected phenomenon, once you consider the particular issues and details of the treaty of Versailles and the further humiliations they suffered. It has been suggested by many contemporaries and political commentators that had perhaps had the Kaiser's that we would not have had a Europe not dominated by the Germans. My judgement on the matter is that another Wilhelmine Germany would’ve resorted to revanchism and ultranationalism of the likes that drove the French albeit in a manner less ruthless than Adolph Hitler. I still remain more convinced of the proposals of Leo Amery for an economic bloc based upon mutual cooperation being the best solution, a something which the Germans distorted for their European League.


It was the fact that the remains of the Entente decided to guarantee the independence of the Polish remains a curiosity to many Germans and many who are isolationist in their foreign policy approach. Their reasoning was that Hitler did not want to descend Europe into the same sort of conflict that consumed it before. This assumption however proved fatal, as the German ambitions were far greater in scope and remains arguably one of the greatest miscalculations of the interwar period. The Germans had conducted in secret a pact between the Reich Minister for Foreign Affairs, Alfred Rosenberg and the Soviet Minister for Foreign Affairs, Vyacheslav Molotov. This Rosenberg-Molotov pact divided up Europe into two main spheres, the Germans gaining the majority of Poland, the Soviets the Baltics and the Polish territories east of Ostprussen. This gave the Germans a comfort which they did not have in the First Great War, the ability to focus on a single front. This was combined with incredibly effective usage of combined arms tactics that would later come to be known as Blitzkrieg or lightening war - something which brought great efficacy to the German forces fighting.


After the conclusion of the Polish theatre (for now at least) was marked by a brief pause in the German operations in Europe. It was called the phoney war in which only low level conflict occurring, typically with u-boats being used to attack and raid Entente shipping. This changed with the German Invasion of Denmark and then Norway which led to the highly unsuccessful British-Norwegian campaign and the British seizure of Iceland and Greenland. Inside of the UK this helped spark the downfall of Neville Chamberlain and his particular premiership, with the Norway debate catalysing the direction of the war. Chamberlain came to face increasing pressure to resign from within its own party in a time of national unity. His strongest opponents came in the form of Winston Churchill who represented the most radical of the anti-appeasers and the Amery-Eden group who represented a more moderate wing, with the two personalities of Anthony Eden and Leopold “Leo” Amery increasingly entering the public eye. His remarks in the commons have become particularly important in symbolising the national desire at the time by quoting the old great parliamentarian Oliver Cromwell:

“You have sat too long here for any good you have been doing. Depart, I say, and let us have done with you. In the name of God, go!"
His earlier saying was heard more loudly, however:

"Speak for England!"
Upon realising that he could not unite the country behind him, he made preparations for his resignation. His ideal candidate for a successor was Edward Wood, or Viscount Halifax. Halifax, however, sat in the House of the Lords, and knew there would be great difficulty in governing from that particular House. Leo however on the advice of Eden sensed an opportunity to he a candidate which would appeal to Chamberlain’s sensibilities and the two together presented the more elder Leo as a potential replacement for Chamberlain with Eden resuming his position as Secretaries of State for Foreign Affairs. Eden also took great care in presenting Churchill as a useful propagandist but used the image of Gallipoli to discredit Churchill’s approach to the war as well as also pointing out the lack of readiness of the British forces. Leopold advocated for the full utilisation of the Empire to create “Fortress Britannia” one unassailable by the German forces and one which should further intervention be needed could be used to ward of the German threat. It did not help Churchill or Chamberlain that their main coalition partners in Mosley’s Social Credit Party strongly opposed intervention in Europe as a “warmonger’s folly” and that the King Edward VIII did so as well (whether this was due to latent sympathy for the National Socialist Regime remains unknown) who applied increasing pressure for Amery and said they would resign from the National Government. With this Chamberlain resigned on the 10th of May, after learning of the Nazi invasion of the Netherlands and Belgium, choosing Leo Amery to serve as his successor.

leo-amery.jpg

Leopold "Leo" Amery, the new Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury
The coming battles in the Lowlands and France however proved to be a bloody but decisive route, with the French in particular suffering great losses. Their leadership suffered considerable mismanagement of what we're supposed to be superior forces, both in terms of numbers and in quality. However it is believed that the Maurras regime’s efforts to strengthen the nation. Yet due to this misallocation and the failure of the Magnio line British forces were able to evacuate from Dunkirk after a series of defeats pushed them off the continent. Hitler, content to leave the British on “their natural castle” orientated his intention to his greatest ambitions, the Soviet Union. Intelligence leaks from the time suggest that the Italians may have been planning two invasions, one in the Balkans and one in Egypt to occur far earlier than it did. However Egypt was completely abandoned and their Balkan adventures were also held off well into Operation Barbarossa in 1942. Regardless the greatest changes to Europe were about to take shape.
The next chapter shall be from the Journal of Albert Speer.
 
Please give your thoughts on this so far by the way. Your input shall be helpful.

- Reich Minister for Foreign Affairs Alfred Rosenberg, how is he different from the wine seller?
- King Edward VIII stays on the throne, did he forget about marrying Simpson or did he never meet her?
- Charles Maurras as leader of France, is this the result of 1934?
- Barbarossa in 1942, or is it the Balkan invasion that is 1942?
 
I'm guessing no Balkans (or faster without British intervention), so earlier and more successful Barbarossa?
 
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