War 1935- The Second Great War

Here is a timeline that I have been working on for a while now. It involves a point of divergence in 1918, with the Russian Revolution and the Treaty of Versailles. Well, here goes....

The Second Great War, 1935
The World on the Eve of War
Great Britain- the British Empire in the 1930s under Stanley Baldwin is a very tumultuous sector of the globe. Major riots occur almost daily in India, where Gandhi’s Free India movement is riding a wave of not entirely non-violent protests. The British Government has created the new dominion system, by which India has been granted pocket home rule, in exchange for more military commitments in case of a war. Back in the British Isles, Ireland remains part of the British Empire, and few plan to establish an independent Eire anytime soon. In the Orient, things are looking bad for the British as well. In 1931, a Baathist coup in Iraq replaces the pro-British government with a right-wing, German backed one. This severely cuts into British oil supplies, and more deals are made with Holland about the extraction of oil from the Dutch East Indies. In the Hejaz, the successor to Prince Feisal rules the region under British protection, in exchange for access to Red Sea oil. Despite these problems, the British Empire remains committed to the Entente, and these problems help to solidify public opinion against the Germans.

France- During the 1934 right wing activity in Paris, the Parti Social Français (successor to the Croix-de-Feu League) was able to establish a government through an unlikely alliance with the Socialists, Liberals, and the Radical Centrists against the much larger, more radical Communist party. Marshal Henri-Philippe Pétain, riding on the title of ‘Héros de Verdun,’ became the new Premier of the French Fourth Republic. The new form of French government created a more powerful executive, and instituted a policy of dirigisme over the French economy. The far-right felt alienated from the new ‘Populist National Front,’ and Albert Lebrun was made president under Pétain, with Colonel François de la Rocque as prime minister. The Colonel was soon forced to co-operate with his new allies, and Léon Blum and Édouard Daladier became co-ministers in the new alliance. Although initially shaky, the Populist National Front has emerged as the strongest government France has seen since that of Adolphe Thiers. The government, a mixture of moderated right-wing nationalism and left-wing populism, has the support of most of the French population by 1935, through promises to restore France’s national glory and power, while helping the working classes through social legislation. With a Nazi Germany next door since 1923, France has taken a harder line towards Germany, and as such has increased her military power- both on land, sea, and air- through innovation using the tank and airplane.



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The French Aircraft Carrier Béarn in 1935

Germany- the German Reich is led by Anton Drexler, cofounder of the Nazi Party. He came to power in 1923 with the successful Beer Hall Putsch, after the death of Adolf Hitler during the coup d’état. While less fanatic than Hitler in this timeline, he is still anti-Semitic and authoritarian, and he uses propaganda and secret policy extensively. The German Jews are subject to discrimination, but most are allowed (forced) to leave the country. The people of Germany, less enticed with Drexler than with Hitler, support the government and the leader nonetheless who led them out of the humiliation following the Versailles Treaty. The government still operates with the use of the SA, under Ernst Röhm.


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Anton Drexler, Chancellor of Germany in 1935

Versailles Treaty- the Treaty of Versailles is notably different than in our timeline. The territorial lines remain relatively unchanged from our timeline (with the notable exception of Prince Wilhelm’s land, the only colony Germany was allowed to retain), but the economic sanctions imposed on Germany were much more lenient, with guarantees by Germany that they would repay their reparations by contributions to the European economy and to help repair the damages inflicted on the Entente. In Germany, Paul von Hindenburg was established as the president of the Weimar Republic on 23 November 1919. He ruled somewhat effectively, but discontent over the territorial losses to Poland, Belgium, and France helped the Nazis establish control with the Putsch. Hindenburg remained nominal president until his death in 1933. The treaty did not limit the size of the German military, so the Nazis were allowed to begin reconstruction and restructuring. This has proved a double-edged sword for Germany though, as many of the strategies of the previous war have not been thoroughly revised, and innovation has been stalled by matérial from the last war.

Russia- With the October 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, it seemed to the world that a communist power would soon emerge on Europe’s eastern frontier. However, the 1917-1926 Russian Civil War progressed differently than in current history. Instead of leaving Russia in 1918, Alexander Kerensky was able to pull together enough of the disparate White forces into an opposition government and military against Lenin and Trotsky. Officially recognized as the only government of Russia, this White front managed to secure Ukrainia, most of Siberia east of Omsk, and the region around Murmansk and Archangel with Entente, American, and Japanese assistance. The Bolsheviks were confined to European Russia, where they attempted to expand to the west to counter their fortunes in the east. The 1919-1921 Polish-Soviet War saw the first use of highly mobile warfare since 1914, with both sides advancing and retreating several hundred miles in the course of several weeks. By 1921, the Poles had defended Warsaw from two attacks (the latter of which involved Soviet use of chemical weapons on the city), and had pushed the Soviets back to Smolensk. The war then turned to Central Asia to decide its fate in the civil war. The Soviets initially held most of the territory, but a British Expeditionary Force from India helped the Whites evict the Reds from most of Central Asia by 1922. With the situation looking grimmer for the Bolshevik cause, a major power struggle played out in Moscow. Lenin was killed in a street mob fight, while Trotsky left the city for the south, where he gathered the remaining Soviet forces around the cities of Rostov and Volgograd. Here, the war continued until 1926, when French forces and Cossacks from Ukrainia; Whites, Americans, and Japanese from Siberia; and British, Poles, Czechs, and Italians from Poland surrounded Volgograd. The city held in a 5 month siege before falling due to famine conditions in the city. Trotsky was discovered to have fled internationally through the port of Odessa, while most of the other Soviet leaders were held trial for treason against the Provisional Government in 1917. Several dozen of the remaining Bolsheviks were shot, and the new Russian Republic (co-incidentally with the same borders as the Soviet Union) was formed in 1926 in Moscow, with Alexander Kerensky as head of state. Kerensky, with his effective leadership during the civil war, was re-elected 3 times, so he remains as president of Russia in 1935. The Russian Republic is sympathetic to the Entente, but is not in an economic or military position to aid it. Several military purges were conducted in the late 1920s-early 1930s to root out Bolshevik loyalists.

United States- In 1935, the United States is under the capable administration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. In the 1928 election, Roosevelt was elected to the position of Representative from New York, and later that year, made Speaker of the House following the hasty resignation of Nicholas Longworth (son in-law of Theodore Roosevelt) after a notorious bootlegging scandal came to light. In June 1929, only 6 months after his inauguration, Herbert Hoover resigned as President in response to the public outrage over the stock market collapse earlier than year. When several other top administration officials were forced out from public pressure, Roosevelt, a popular Democrat, was sworn-in in 1930. His New Deal policies of the early 1930s helped him to sweep the 1932 election, and with more reforms granting better economic stability, Roosevelt looks to easily take the ’36 election as well.

The Americas- With less opportunity for investment in the German economy during the 1920s, American investors instead turned to South America. The slightly right-wing governments became enthralled in endless supplies of American money, and quickly ran up debts into the tens of billions (In 1928, the Summer Olympics were held in Buenos Aires, built with money taken from American banks. They were heralded as the most extravagant and lavish games ever.) This economic pyramid of sand was occluded by the fact that the American economic system was based on high speculation on the New York Stock Exchange. America in the 1920s experienced an even more intense ‘Roaring Twenties’ than in our timeline, while Europe, with much less American investment, remained less frivolous. By the time 1929 rolled around, however, the time for play was over. The stock market lost an estimated $ 40 billion of its worth in one day, in what would later be known as ‘Black Monday,’ on 18 March 1929. During the New Deal and Recovery, the Federal Government took control of significant sections of the U.S. economy, instituted major public works projects, set price controls, and introduced a permanent system of economic interventionism into the previously-liberal American economic system. The near-total collapse of American international investment led to the bankruptcy of several South American nations within a week, and a South American ‘World War’ broke out in 1929 and lasted until 1931. The war was ended by Entente brokering and German incentive-giving, resulting in the nations of Colombia, Brazil, Chile, Bolivia, and Ecuador becoming allies of the Entente, and Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Peru, and Venezuela leaning toward (and on)Germany. With new sources of resources available to supply growth, Germany furthered its military re-arming and economic re-invigoration.


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Floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Black Monday, 1929

Italy- Italy after the Great War progressed much as it did in our own timeline, with Benito Mussolini and the fascists coming to power in 1922 with the March on Rome. Mussolini continued to lead Italy effectively through the mid-twenties, even remaining with the Entente. A critical failure, however, occurred in 1931 with the attempted colonization of Ethiopia. At the Second Battle of Adowa, the Italians were completely routed by the Ethiopians under the emperor, Halle Selassie. The crisis forced Victor Emmanuel III to ‘fire’ Mussolini and replace him with Alcide de Gasperi. Some of the Fascists resisted, but a relatively bloodless month in 1933 led to the removal of the Fascists from all but the fringes of society. Italy renewed its alliance with France and Britain in the 1934 Stresa Agreement, committing all three powers to checking the growing German power on the Continent.


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Alcide de Gasperi, Prime Minister of Italia

The Entente- the Entente was the direct descendent of the Triple Entente in the Great War. Italy remained in the Entente instead of joining Nazi Germany, and several South American states have joined the Entente. At the outbreak of war in 1935, several other European states and others around the world joined the Entente in war against the Central Axis.

Central Axis- consisting of Nazi Germany, plus the puppet state of Austria, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania , and the Turkish State. In 1932, Lithuania, in response to the 1921 establishment of the Foch Line as the Polish-Lithuanian border, joined the Central Axis on a promise from Germany for a Greater Lithuania. This crisis nearly led to war, but quick management by the League of Nations led to a resolution which changed the border little, but led to Poland fully joining the Entente camp. The Turkish Empire, led by Kemal Pasha (the Ottoman Empire was carved up into new states by the Allies after the Great War) has re-unified Anatolia and several former Ottoman territories in a 1924-1928 war with the French, British, White Russians, Greeks, and Italians. The new state consists of most of Turkey except a small area around Smyrna (the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne granted Turkey all of its former European and Anatolian territories, except for the small Smyrna exclave), along with Armenia, Kurdistan, and parts of northern Mesopotamia. The new state of Transcaucasia, declared independent from Russia in 1926, quickly organized a right-wing government of Georgia and secular Azerbaijan against the Muslim conservatives (quite a miracle in this scenario.) In Finland (one of the few nations in Europe to receive major American investment), the economic collapse led to a turn toward the right, and the government is funded, supported by, and influenced by Nazi Germany.

Japan- A member of the original Great War Allies, the Empire of Japan has not entered the imperialistic phase experienced under Tojo and the military clique. The government has remained cordial with China, and seeks to expand its economic, not imperialistic, dominance over Asia. That said, it still wishes to expand into the Pacific, and is ready to do so at Germany’s expense (Germany has kept all Pacific territories, even Prince Wilhelm’s Land.) Heavily industrialized and a major producer of military and non-military matérial, Japan’s membership in the Entente would be key to a major conflict where large quantities of supplies can be produced away from a major front. The largest buyers of Japanese goods are China, the United States, Europe, and the Entente in South America.


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The emperor of Japan in the Showa Period, Hirohito

Causes for the War- German revanchisme in Europe in the 1920s and 1930s led to a general remilitarization across the Continent. The European nations on the Entente side; France, Italy, the Low Countries, Greece, Great Britain, Portugal, Poland, Esthonia, Latvia, Denmark, Yugoslavia, and Norway; are all members of a secretive military exchange of arms and military officers. The Entente also planned a strategy of holding the Germans at a line between Antwerp, Liége, the Ardennes, and the Maginot Line in France; a Trieste-Trent-Swiss border line in Italia; the Metaxas Line in Greece; Poland east of Warsaw; the Kattegat of Norway; and a zone east of the Amsterdam-Rotterdam Line in Holland. The Central Axis, with only a narrow corridor between Austria and Hungary to link Germany and the rest of the axis, looked for ways to improve their long fronts and strategic weaknesses. They found it in Yugoslavia.

Yugoslav Coup- On 12 April 1935, the German SA, operating secretly in Sarajevo, assassinate the Yugoslav Prime Minister Džafer-beg Kulenović ,while he is on a state visit. A new government is declared the next day, under the leadership of the Croatian Ante Pavelić and the fascist Ustaše movement. The new government, under heavy influence from Berlin, leaves the Entente and joins the Central Axis on 18 April 1935. The Entente Council, meeting in Amsterdam, declared the new Yugoslav government forfeit, and presented an ultimatum to Germany. If the Germans do not withdraw all forces from Yugoslavia, restore a legitimate successor government to the assassinated Prime Minister, and have Yugoslavia leave the Central Axis, then a state of war would exist. Drexler, confident in his nation’s military capability, shot back a scathing reply demanding the return of all pre-Great War German territory in exchange for leaving Yugoslavia. The French, not even bothering to send a reply, began mobilization on 1 May, 1935. When the first French divisions entered the Saarland, the Germans declared war. The Entente collectively declared war on the Central Axis, followed shortly by a declaration by the Axis. Ironically, the Second Great War was triggered in the same area as the first had been.
Major Nations of the Entente.........................................................................................................................Major Nations of the Central Axis
France...............................................................................................................................................................Nazi Germany
Great Britain.....................................................................................................................................................Kingdom of Rumania
Kingdom of Italy................................................................................................................................................Kingdom of Hungary
Spanish Republic..............................................................................................................................................Kingdom of Bulgaria
Kingdom of Belgium.........................................................................................................................................Albania
Holland.............................................................................................................................................................Nazi Austria
Esthonia...........................................................................................................................................................Turkish State
Latvia...............................................................................................................................................................Lithuania
Poland..............................................................................................................................................................Finland
Hellas..............................................................................................................................................................Ba’athist Iraq
Portuguese Republic.......................................................................................................................................Transcaucasia
Denmark..........................................................................................................................................................Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Norway............................................................................................................................................................Argentina
Republic of China............................................................................................................................................Paraguay
Kingdom of Iran..............................................................................................................................................Uruguay
Empire of Japan..............................................................................................................................................Peru
British Raj of the Empire of India...................................................................................................................Venezuela
Chosŏn
Kingdom of Egypt
Empire of Ethiopia
Liberia
Union of South Africa
Australia
New Zealand
Arabia
Kingdom of Yemen
Brazil
Republic of Chile
Panama
Bolivia
Ecuador
Colombia
Costa Rica
Nicaragua
El Salvador
Mexican Republic
Dominican Republic
Dominion of Canada
 
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General Overview of Major Fronts in 1935- Entente
Europe- In Western Europe, the Entente controls all of Belgium, France, Italy, and Holland in May 1935. Luxembourg is neutral. The Entente has 163 total divisions available for use for these fronts. Major prepared lines are as follows:
- The area around Groningen is to be abandoned, and forces withdrawn to hold the north side of the Afsluitdijk Dike. The majority of Holland is untenable, so in an effort to shorten defensive lines, the Entente has drawn a line from just east of Amsterdam, down to the east of Utrecht, then to the east of Rotterdam. This area will be supplied through the port of Rotterdam
- In Belgium, the Entente lines start at Antwerp, before heading south along a line about 10 miles east of the Dyle River. From here, it turns south to include the fortress of Namur, continues south to Givet, then to the north of the River Meuse, before turning east through Luxembourg to meet up with the western end of the Maginot Line.
- In Italy, the Entente plans to retain the city of Fiume to deny the Central Axis a naval base on the Adriatic. A line will run along the Italian border in a general fashion toward the Swiss border (the Italians have no desire to repeat Caporetto.)
In Southern Europe, the Entente realizes that the Metaxas Line plan and the advance into Albania will leave a large gap north of the city of Edessa in far northern Greece. The Entente suggests that the Greek Army fall back past Salonika to reduce the length of the front significantly. The Greeks, as first reluctant to abandon all of their Great War gains, along with the naval base at Salonika, agree when an offer of 19 French and Italian divisions are deployed to bolster the Greeks. The Smyrna enclave is withdrawn to the city itself, and the civilian population is currently being evacuated to mainland Greece. Although the Greeks are optimistic about the chances of holding the city, the French and British both remember Gallipoli, and realize that the city will likely have to be abandoned before the close of 1935.
In Eastern Europe, the Lithuanian situation poses a distinct problem to reinforcing Poland. The Poles have a plan to make a fighting withdraw to the center and east of the country, leaving Danzig and the untenable Polish Corridor in Axis hands. As for Estonia and Latvia, the likely hood of German assistance to Lithuania is high, so the Entente decides against committing major forces to holding them. A winterized offensive into northern Finland is planned for January 1936, and bombing campaigns against German naval, air, and land forces in the south of Finland will commence immediately, using Norway as a base. Denmark will likely fall, so plans are made to assist the Danes in the evacuation of their military to Norway, then to Britain to be deployed on the Belgian and Dutch fronts.
Middle East- In the Middle East, the main Entente threats are the Turkish advance into Syria and the Levant, and the Iraqi mobilization in the south to seize British Kuwait and the oil fields in Arabia. Already stretched with 3 fronts in Europe, the Entente decides to commit mainly colonial, some ANZAC, and whatever Canadian forces not in Europe to the assistance of Arabia. The British formulate Operation: Magic Carpet, the innovative deployment of paratroopers to capture key sites in southern Mesopotamia, while avoiding the major forces near Basra. Once the city of Nasiriyah has been secured, the colonial forces and the Arabian divisions will swing around through the desert to encircle the majority of the Axis forces (mostly Iraqi and Turkish, but with German command and armored elements.) Once the south has been captured, drives will be made to Baghdad, then toward Mosul, where the Entente will meet up with the Persian drive toward Mosul, where all forces will move into Turkish Armenia by October 1936.
South America- In South America, the Central Axis Front is divided into 3 zones: Venezuela, Peru, and Argentina. The established Entente plan since 1934 has been to concentrate mostly on the Argentine sector, attempting to isolate Venezuela, and cutting off Peru through naval action in the south-east Pacific. The Marine Nationale, Royal Navy, and the Regia Marina have plans to move several battleships, destroyers, and subs to Brazil, the Caribbean, and Chile to combat the German and South American navies (supplied with modern German ships and subs.) The rest of the combined Entente fleet is to be used in actions to clear and hold the Mediterranean, and to blockade the German fleet in the Baltic. With only 4 aircraft carriers in active service, the Entente also plans to construct 1 new French carrier, 1 new Italian carrier, and several new British, French, and Italian battleships and cruisers. The Central Axis has a plan to deploy most of its combined fleet to the Mediterranean and the Pacific and South Atlantic, vividly remembering how the German surface fleet sat useless in Kiel and Hamburg after the Battle of Jutland in 1916.
On the land fronts, Paraguay has immediate plans to invade the Gran Chaco region of Bolivia, while Peru seeks to regain lost territory from Chile, to expand farther south, denying Bolivia any sea access, and also to expand its reach to the north into Ecuador and east into Brazil. Argentina seeks to seize all of Patagonia, and has signed a pact with Peru to divide up most of Chile between them. Uruguay greedily eyes the area of Porto Allegre in southern Brazil. Venezuela has designs on Guiana, and has immediate plans to invade the British sector in South America; it also wants eastern Colombian territory, access to Panama, and parts of northern Brazil. The Entente powers don’t have plans for territorial conquest, but most seek to gain something out of the eventual peace settlement.
Pacific- The Germans realize the hopelessness of defending their territories in the Pacific, but still hope to tie up Franco-Italo-Anglo-Japanese forces in a costly island-hopping campaign. Starting in 1933, the Germans began fortifying the city of Rabaul, and have transformed the city, and several of the Carolina Islands into the finest fortresses in the world (compare Rabaul to British Singapore.) The Japanese Navy will be the primary Entente striking force, with Entente expeditionary forces from Australia, the Indies, and Indochina, with naval forces from the Atlantic through the Panama Canal.
Indian Ocean- not exactly considered a major theatre by either side, the Germans nonetheless have sent several U-boats in an attempt to disrupt Entente shipping through this area.
 
May-December 1935
Europe- In May, most of the month was spent by all belligerents mobilizing and arming. The first offensives commence only in the final days of the month. Since the outbreak of war, the Spanish Republic and Czechoslovakia have joined in with the Entente. In June, the Central Axis initiates the German Fall Gelb. The plan involves a dual advance from East Prussia and Pomerania to cut the Polish Corridor, and to force the Poles out of Silesia and away from the Poznan sector. The counter Entente plan involves a withdrawal from Danzig and the Polish corridor, so the Germans commit most of their Eastern Front forces to taking an area that had already been evacuated. This intel catastrophe is soon discovered, as the weaker Lodz Offensive is bogged down by fierce Polish resistance, aided by a few French units participating in training actions when the war broke out. The Germans only manage to advance 17 miles in 2 weeks, while the rapid rearrangement of Entente forces has wreaked havoc on the Lithuanian drive toward Vilnius. In Czechoslovakia, the Germans launch attacks to capture the Sudetenland, but the strong defensive salient successfully repulses them. In lighter-defended Ruthenia, the Hungarians make a few gains. Farther to the south, the Central Axis plan goes slightly better. The Greeks decide to change their minds again, and revert to insisting on the Metaxas Line to retain Salonika; while the Greek Army also advanced quickly northward, sweeping aside the weak Albanian forces. This forces the Franco-Italian divisions to rush toward the Macedonia Gap, arriving just in time to provide resistance to the Hungaro-Romanian offensive. With most of their artillery still in Piraeus, left behind because of the mad rush to the gap, the French and Italian motorized divisions (without vehicles) are forced into untrained mountain warfare. With a lack of adequate rifles and mobilization, these forces make a fighting retreat back toward Central Greece. This unavoidable fallback finally persuades the Greek commandant, Alexander Papagos, to withdraw from the Metaxas, but it is too late to save half of the Greek army in this region. Papagos, the cavalry divisions, most of the artillery, and about 1/3 of the infantry reached Salonika before the Bulgarian-German offensive cut them off. In Albania, the Greek army falls back about 20 miles, but lose very few is this retreat. The new line was drawn south of Salonika, running through Greece to the Adriatic through southern Albania. The Greek cause looked lost, but the rapid deployment of 6 British, 4 French, and 3 Italian divisions persuaded the Greek government to not ask for a cease-fire.
In Western Europe, the Entente initiates the Franco-Belgian Plan XIX. This involves the rapid deployment of Entente forces to the Dyle Line, while the Dutch make a retreat to Holland proper, the French deploy to cover the Sedan Gap and the Meuse, and the Italians fallback to pre-prepared defensive positions. The plan goes surprisingly well, except for the fact the German offensive is launched the day before Plan XIX is executed. This change of timetables forces the Entente to rush their plan, and allows a German breakthrough toward Sedan. The Germans sweep through Northern Holland, surrounding a Dutch Army before it could withdraw to Haarlem. The Germans, still ‘tainted’ with the tactics of the first war, attempt a direct drive through Belgium, then to France. This offensive first hits the fortress of Liége, and the city and its forts last for 8 weeks before being taken. One fort however, Fort Hollogne, does not fall, and proves to be a major thorn in the German passage through the city area. The attack, already slowed by the Liége excursion, is further hindered when a minor German general, Manstein, recommends an offensive through the Ardennes. Drexler agrees, and several divisions are drawn from the main assault force toward the south. The Germans penetrate the lightly defended east quickly, but encounter fierce Belgian resistance in the western forest. These units could not hold out long against panzer tank columns, and as such they fell back toward Sedan and the Meuse. On 22 October 1935, the Battle of Sedan commenced. The Germans, crossing the one remaining bridge over the Meuse in this area, the Pont des Conquistadores, establish a foothold over the river. The French Command in Paris, fearful of a complete encirclement of the armies in Belgium, orders the reserve French Ninth Army from the defense of Paris into a direct attack on German forces at Sedan. The last minute arrival of reinforcements saves the beleaguered French defenders, and the French Armée de l’Air, using the brand-new, untested Dewoitine D.520, succeed in bombing the remaining bridges and the German pontoon bridges, and strafing and destroying several Panzer columns. The German offensive is pushed back toward Bastogne, while Manstein is sent in disgrace to Finland to direct the forces there. The main drive toward Brussels-weakened by Liége, Holland, and Sedan-slams up against the Dyle Line. By 14 October, the British had landed 70,000 of the 200,000 strong BEF, and they arrived just in time to shore up the defenses of the Line near Antwerp and north of Brussels. The German offensive is halted on all lines except one, an SA panzer division near the town of Gembloux, Belgium. The Battle of Gembloux commences on 1 November 1935, seeing the first major use of offensive, infantry-supported tank use by the French. A large air battle raged overhead, featuring both advanced designs, such as the Dewoitine, the British Bristol Blenheim bomber and the Boulton-Paul Defiant, and the German Arado Ar E.561; and bi-plane designs, such as the Belgian Avions Fairey Fox, the Czechoslovak Avia B.534, and the Italian Caproni Ca.310. The mixture of old and new technology proved quite interesting, as the faster German planes often overshot their targets, allowing for the biplanes to attack, while the newer Entente planes stayed in close pursuit of the Germans. The land battle was equally fierce, with heavy Belgian and Czech resistance around the town itself. This force destroyed a total of 22 panzers in a total of 4 days, earning some divisions the French Croix de Guerre, and the British France-Belgium Land Force Star. The Germans lost an estimated 30,000 soldiers, 46 panzers, and 21 planes, while the Entente lost around 20,000 soldiers, 14 tanks, and 11 planes in the 23-day battle. The Entente victory in the Battle of Gembloux effectively halted German offensives in the West for the foreseeable future, as more troops were having to be redeployed to fight the Entente on other European fronts.


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The Dyle Line, Autumn 1935

On the Italian front, the weak Hungarian and Croatian defensive divisions, although high on morale and mountain fighting skills, do little to stop the massive Italian drive east. The Italians punch straight through the ‘Rijeka Line,’ capturing the city of Fiume on 28 September. In the north, the Austrian divisions have slightly more success, but only manage to hold the Italians, not defeat them or crush the offensive. Supported by French and British built-planes in the Regia Aeronautica, the offensive makes good progress into Slovenia, before Italian Marshal Badoglio orders a general halt to allow supplies to catch up, and to allow forward units to be rotated. At this point, the German Luftwaffe struck, causing major disruption in the front lines, but causing no major general retreat. Concurrently, the Italians were involved in an amphibious landing at Zara, on the Adriatic. The landing went successfully, and several discontented, loyalist Yugoslav units defected to the Entente and marched toward Zara and Fiume. The Italian Regia Marina, along with the Marine Nationale and the Royal Navy fight the Central Axis Combined Fleet Mediterranean in the Battle of the Ionian Sea on 6 November 1935. This was the first battle in history that featured light aerial attacks on surface ships with fighters. Although not causing major damage to the Axis fleet, French planes from the Béarn catch the Axis on the lower side on the innovation spectrum. The British, taking notice of the new French strategy, begin launching their planes (originally planned for attacks on land targets from the sea) from the aircraft carrier HMS Arc Royal. The planes, although not equipped for attacks on ships, cause major problems from the smaller frigates in the Axis fleet. With the German Battleship Ludendorff damaged by fire from the Vittorio Veneto and the Strasbourg, and several smaller Romanian destroyers suffering heavily from the aerial attacks, the Central Axis quit the battle and sailed for the Black Sea. After this battle, the Axis surface navy would not enter the Mediterranean as a unified force until 1937.

South America- In Venezuela, the Plano General V is executed, the invasion of Guiana. The forward Venezuelan forces, equipped with semi-modern German guns, vehicles, and 1931 German biplanes quickly overrun the light British garrison east of Georgetown. The low individual quality of the Venezuelan soldier quickly was discovered, as the French and Dutch garrisons were moved east to support the British. In the years leading up to the war (before Brazil, Colombia, and Chile joined), the Entente had reinforced these colonies in case of the entire continent falling under the German sphere. Faced with opposition from superior technology, the Venezuelans’ offensive was quickly stalled, and about half of their gains retaken. Also in the plan was an invasion of Brazil and Colombia, to conquer parts of the Amazon, and to capture access to Panama. The Brazilian front was lightly defended, but the dense rainforest and local natives loyal to Brasilia made advancement difficult. In Colombia, the Llanos Offensive was the most successful, as the German-bought tanks work best on its flat, expansive terrain. To man and supply the three-pronged offensive, the Venezuelans were forced to move forces away from Maracaibo. Here, the joint Entente (Franco-Dutch-Colombian) force executed Operation: Dynamo, and made both an amphibious landing to capture the city and control the lake and its oil wells, and reinforced with an invasion across the border. The Venezuelans, panicked from the sight of French landing craft on the docks of the city, quickly fall back before rallying on the outskirts of the city. Here, they are decisively beaten by the Dutch Expeditionary Force. The Colombian offensive quickly overwhelms the light border defensives (in some areas little more than a low wooden barrier with a few watch outposts), and advances on the city. By 18 October 1935, the Entente is in control of the city, and the Entente Caribbean Flotilla sails into the city on the 20 October.


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Bolivian soldiers in the Battle of the Gran Chaco, 1935

On 11 November 1935, Armistice Day, the Battle of Curacao commenced between the Entente Flotilla and the German Kriegsmarine. Fresh from their beating at the Ionian Sea, the German fleet was itching for revenge, and foolishly attacked the Entente Flotilla off of the Dutch Antilles. A lone German U-boat launched the torpedo that exploded off of the bow of the cruiser HMS Exeter. Although the blast cause minor damage, the Béarn (rushed to the Atlantic to fight the Germans in the Caribbean) deployed his air wing, which began dropping depth charge torpedoes, and the Ouragan, HMS Basilisk, HMS Bedouin, and the Armando Diaz dropped depth charges as well. The U-boat, caught in the concussion waves of the multiple explosions, was tossed about, and sunk due to a hull failure. The Entente Flotilla then turned its attention to the large Venezuelan-German fleet to the south. The Axis fleet did not launch any aircraft, but the HMS Ark Royal, the Béarn, and the Aquila deployed their air wings to intercept the fleet. The planes did not carry bombs to take out a battleship, but they were enough to heavily damage some of the destroyers and smaller cruisers. The battle quickly swung in favor of the Entente Flotilla, until the arrival of 4 German U-boats from Argentina. The subs unleashed their deck guns, causing the cruiser Trieste to fall back from its attack on the pocket battleship Deutschland. The German fleet looked as if it could be saved, when the Vittorio Veneto unintentionally rammed a U-boat. The Italian battleship suffered some damage, but the U-boat was completely destroyed. With 3 U-boats of 5 destroyed in 2 hours, the Deutschland heavily damaged, the aircraft carrier sunk, and several cruisers and frigates at the bottom of the sea, the Axis fleet broke off and steamed toward Montevideo. The Central Axis presence defeated in the Caribbean, the Venezuelans were isolated from their other allies. They would have to fight the Entente alone. In the south, the Central Axis, more consolidated and unified, launched a tank blitzkrieg on the Gran Chaco. The Bolivians, stuck with Great War-era equipment, but with good experience fighting in the mountains from the 1929-1931 South American War, abandon the Chaco and withdraw to better defensive terrain. The technological superiority of the Paraguayans wins the day, but the Chilean and Brazilian air forces (bolstered with European planes, pilots, and training) did not wish to see their ally taken, and the Entente split in two. They dispatched as many planes as they could to Bolivia and the influx of equipment helps the Bolivians stop further advances. In Argentina, the naval landing on Tierra del Fuego has captured most of the island, which was lightly defended. The Chileans launch the Patagonia Offensive to the north, and advance quickly through the undefended Andes passes. In Uruguay, the Brazilians cross the border, and advance down the coast with naval support. The arrival of the remaining Axis fleet, however, forces a quick withdraw of the navy back to Rio de Janeiro. The Axis put most of their ships into port at Montevideo for repairs, unaware that the Entente Flotilla had shadowed them from Venezuela. On 21 December 1935, the Entente initiated the blockade of the Rio de la Plata delta. This trapped the entire Atlantic Axis fleet in the bay, of which about 1/3 of the ships were still undergoing repair. The Entente launched aerial bombing sorties on the docked ships, taking the rest of the U-boats, 2 German cruisers, a Romanian frigate, and a Venezuelan heavy cruiser. With the loss of the only aircraft carrier at Curacao, the meager anti-air defenses of the remaining ships did little to stop the bombing raids. By the end of the day, the Entente fleet had sailed up the river to Montevideo, and the combined air-sea attack wiped out the remaining Axis fleet. Now, the only Central Axis naval presence that remained was in the South Pacific, the Baltic, the Black Sea, and a few U-boats in the Indian Ocean. The Battle of Montevideo effectively severed the link between the Central Axis spheres, and allowed the Entente to cut the Axis in two. Seeing the massive value of naval air power, the Entente accelerated its plans for more aircraft carriers. On 30 December 1935 the French aircraft carrier Joffre was launched from Toulon, 4 months ahead of schedule. The ship, carrying 40 new aircraft (Dewoitine D-790 and navalized RAF Armstrong Whitworth A.W. 29 bombers,) is deployed to the Pacific to aid the Japanese against Rabaul. The British plan to launch their Illustrious-class aircraft carrier by April 1937, and the Italians plan to launch another ship to supplement the Aquila, the Taranto,by July 1936.


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New Britain Island

South Pacific- In the Pacific, the Japanese began naval operations against the Carolina Islands, starting in October 1935. The German Pacific Fleet, containing mostly Great War-era ships, quickly abandons all of the islands and sails for Rabaul. Here, the massive guns and fortifications pose a major threat to Entente shipping lanes to Australia and Japan. The Japanese, French, and British create Operation: Kamikaze, the invasion of New Britain at Cape Goucester, an advance up the island, and the naval, aerial, and land attack on Rabaul. The air attack would come from the new Joffre and from airbases in the Solomon Islands. The French divisions from Indochina and the British-Australian forces would be combined into the Entente Expeditionary Force Pacific. The landing would take place from Franco-British cruisers and destroyers, while Japanese aircraft carriers would conduct bombing runs and drop paratroopers behind the beach defenses. The two forces would take the western tip of the island, then move to take Kimbe, then on to Rabaul. After German forces in the Pacific were either eliminated or isolated, then the Japanese and Entente would move to Chile, to help against the Peruvian navy, and to the Mediterranean to prevent Central Axis naval incursion. The attack on Cape Goucester took place on 23 November 1935, and started with a two-day naval bombardment from the Jeanne d’Arc, Chacal, Fantasque, Sufferen, Algérie, Adroit, Dunkerque, Repulse, Ajax, Prince of Wales, Nagato, Ise (who also launched some aircraft for bombing runs), Chiburi, Mikura, and the Nomi. This large fleet comprised most of the Marine Nationale not in the Mediterranean, parts of the Royal Navy from India, and the ships not involved in the Carolina Islands from the Japanese. The first land units went ashore at 0900, with the Japanese paratroopers landing a few hours later. The German coastal defenses were light, and most of the German forces here were either in training, had pre-Great War equipment, or both. The Franco-British forces quickly captured the beaches, while the Japanese attacked the outposts from the rear. The German AA guns only shot down 2 Japanese planes, whose pilots bailed out over the sea and were picked up by French landing craft. By the end of the battle, the Entente had raised the new flag, the inverse of the Society of Nations flag, over the airfield at Cape Goucester on 1 December 1935. The German forces all along the island fell back to either Kimbe or Rabaul, and the Entente quickly secured most of the island. Concurrently, ANZAC forces from New Guinea made an offensive into Prince Wilhelm’s Land. The Germans here, unlike on Cape Goucester, were well entrenched around the cities of Madang and Lae. In the rainforest, the ANZAC offensive was stalled, and the forces slogged through the inundated jungle and German ambush. By the time the offensive reached Madang, it was down to 60% fighting capacity. The New Britain offensive objectives, originally thought to require more soldiers, were quickly met, and French and British forces landed at Port Moresby to reinforce ANZAC. The Fantasque and the Suffren were redirected from New Britain to bombard Madang, in assistance of the land offensive. The city was captured on 17 December 1935, at the cost of 12,000 ANZAC and Franco-British soldiers. The remaining Germans were shipped to internment camps in the center of Australia. The city of Lae was captured three days later, and it was discovered that the Germans had set up concentration camps to purge the native population of the colony. An estimated 200,000 natives were estimated to have been killed between 1933-1935. Stunned by the quick successes on New Britain, the Entente commander in the theatre, Henri Giraud, earned a new respect for the Japanese, and offered the Japanese commander the privilege of taking the city of Rabaul for the Empire of Japan. The central command in Paris surprisingly agreed, and Japan was allowed its first territory in the South Pacific, the islands of New Britain and Bougainville. To achieve the latter, the Japanese suggested an offensive quickly, so that the Entente could move to support Chile. The Entente planned an amphibious/aerial assault on Bougainville in February 1936, or as soon as Rabaul and Kimbe were taken.

As 1935 drew to a close, Marshal Pétain sent a telegram to Alexander Kerensky, hinting for Russian entry into the war. With Poland and Czechoslovakia isolated, and the Axis Mediterranean fleet not completely destroyed, 1936 looked bleaker for the Entente in Europe. The most optimistic projections predicted a Polish collapse to Lvov by May 1936 unless a breakthrough occurred in Lithuania, and outlined the Entente retaining only France and Belgium west of the Dyle Line, Italia, Portugal, Spain, Great Britain, most of Greece, and Norway by 1937. A new front was needed to sap German strength, and the Entente looked for it in Russia. In Spain, a growing number of right-wing militants, under the direction of an unknown general named Francisco Franco, began threatening violence unless the Socialist government under Manuel Azaña called for new elections (ones the Fascists would rig, no doubt.) The French and British began moving forces along the Catalonian border, in case a military coup allied itself with the Central Axis. Meanwhile, in Mexico City, Leon Trotsky contemplated the Second Great War, and how it could turn fortuitous for socialist revolution in the ‘Third World.’ The Central Axis Summit in Munich, 29 December 1935 drew up a plan for the invasion of Norway to help take the North Sea, a new offensive against Italia, and more support for the Turks against the British, Persians, and French Colonials. Anton Drexler saw in Turkey and Iraq a keen opportunity to end the war prematurely for the Axis, if he could start a coup in Persia, and cause a bit of trouble in India. This plan hinged, however, on the small state of Transcaucasia, and whether it could restrain itself from expansion into the Caucasus. In the Americas, the South American War rages, and both sides’ plans have not entirely failed. Venezuela has been isolated, the Axis Atlantic Fleet destroyed, but Paraguay has captured the Gran Chaco far too quickly, and the Argentine advance toward the Straits of Magellan has the Entente worried. In America, most of the population views the war from the sidelines, with the people split between the Entente, and the wealthy business elite favoring the Germans. Roosevelt knows it is far too early for direct American intervention, and sees a lucrative deal once France and Britain need to start buying war matérial. The year comes to an end auspiciously for the Entente, but the future looks slightly dimmed by the prospect of European war, and a prolonged conflict in South America.
 
Interesting. How do you get a non-imperialistic Japan?

And it does not seem Germany has much of a chance..
 
Interesting. How do you get a non-imperialistic Japan?

And it does not seem Germany has much of a chance..


Well, technically, the POD is in 1910, but this has little influence on world affairs, and the de facto POD is still 1918. After the annexation of Chosun (Korea), the Japanese government, still remember the Shandong Incident, in which the Imperialist European powers forced Japan to return the peninsula to Chinese hands to maintain a balance of power. Japanese policy changed after the Korean Annexation, after a realistic appraisal of the industrial might of Japan as compared to the Entente in Europe. The government realized that the only way to maintain the empire was to avoid a war with Europe, not to start one over imperialist expansion. Therefore, after the Great War, the liberals in control of the Japanese government kept Japan with the Entente, seeing the massive economic potential for Japan in a future war, as well as safeguarding the empire.
 
January-July 1936
South Pacific- The first gunshot of the New Year is heard on the island of New Britain, around the city of Kimbe, at 0700, 1 January 1936. The Entente forces make a drive to assault the city from the north, but the German defenses are bolstered from the German forces throughout the islands converging on this city. The French and British only manage 2 miles along the road to Kimbe, and the Japanese even less. In a combined offensive on 3 January, the French and British witness firsthand a Japanese banzai charge. The Japanese rush the German machine guns in a mass wave, and hundreds are cut down before the line is broken. The French and British, while flanking the main German redoubt, see the field littered with Japanese corpses. A French naval officer participating in the attack, Henri Honoré d'Estienne d'Orves, later reported to Giraud,

“It was terrible, hundreds of them, bloodied and thrown about the field, some caught in barbed wire, others in German machine gun emplacements. The stench of death was overpowering, and the Japanese only seemed to be concerned with capturing the redoubt, regardless of cost in life.”

The city of Kimbe fell on 28 January 1936, and final preparations were made for the offensive on Rabaul. Casualties for the New Britain campaign numbered so far, 2200 French and British (about 65% at Kimbe), 4000 Japanese (again, 70% at Kimbe.) After the rest of New Britain was secured for the Entente, the Japanese, French, and British began the push toward Rabaul. The offensive did not encounter any German resistance up to the first defensive line of the city, but the dense rainforest and heavy rains prevented most of the heavy artillery from making the trip up the island. The Entente Flotilla Pacific and the Japanese fleet sailed up to Rabaul, and began bombarding it from the sea. To the surprise of the Entente, the Germans still had several fighters in the city, and minor air skirmishes went on for several days. The offensive was to be conducted in two parts; the navy would bombard for several days the city, then send amphibious Japanese and British forces to land on the beaches south of the main citadel. The land attack would approach from the south, clearing the city of any Germans, before linking up with the beach landings. The unified Franco-Anglo-Japanese force would then assault the main fortress, supported by naval bombardment and aerial sorties. On 7 March 1936, the naval bombardment of Rabaul commenced. Much of the city proper is heavy damaged, and civilians are killed attempting to flee; those in the bunkers survive the shelling. On the beaches of the city, the Anglo-Japanese amphibious force is greeted by armed civilians and a few Germans not yet in the fortress. The force quickly captures the beach, and moves into the city. The urban warfare takes a heavy toll on the soldiers, who take severe casualties from snipers in buildings and mined streets. On 9 March, the main offensive started, and Entente forces poured into the city from the south. The French colonial and Foreign Legion were the first to meet up with the Japanese in the waterfront district, and the British soon broke through to the beaches. By the morning of the 22 March, most of the city had been captured, leaving only the German fortress. The navy switched to close support of ground forces surrounding the citadel, and shells from the battleship Dunkerque demolished the sea wall section of the fortress. Aircraft from the Joffre, Ise, and Akagi dropped bombs on the anti-air defenses and main guns, but with the loss of 1 Dewoitine and 2 RAF bombers. The German commander of the fortress, Claus von Stauffenberg, realized that the cause was lost as soon as the first Entente soldier landed at Goucester, but did not want to be responsible for losing the German Empire. He gives a message to his subordinate, telling him to send a message to the Entente announcing the German surrender at 1200, 14 March 1936. Shortly after the final gun batteries and machine guns die down, Stauffenberg pulls out his service pistol and shoots himself in the head with it. As the final Germans surrender, Henri Giraud, as promised, allows General Kuribayashi to raise the flag over Rabaul. The Empire of Japan has won a valuable territory today, and they look to expand it in the near future.
On 2 May 1936, the landings on Bougainville commence after a 3 day naval bombardment of Arawa Bay, north-west of the city of Kieta. The general plan was for the French and British to land here, while the Japanese land concurrently across the island at Empress Augusta Bay. The two forces will press inland, then meet up north of Bagana Mountain, secure the south of the island, then move north to take the fortress of Sohana. Once this has been taken, the main German territories in the Pacific will have been taken, and only a few islands in the Carolinas will remain in Axis hands. However, more troubling for the Entente is the lack of combat with the German navy. The Axis would be stupid as to provide no resistance to the Entente conquest of their only colony, so the lack of naval sightings has Giraud worried. The fleet might have sailed to the Carolinas and be hiding out in the ocean somewhere, or it could be around the horizon, waiting for the Entente Flotilla to disperse. He could not spare any Dewoitines for recon duty, so instead he used dated Avro 621 Tutor biplanes. The range of these was limited, and only a few could be launched at a time because of the necessity to launch fighters and bombers from the Joffre. The Japanese flotilla had already sailed to Empress Augusta Bay, and reported no naval sightings on its voyage. The French and British encountered heavy resistance around Arawa, given its proximity to the main city, Kieta. The Germans had set up beach pillboxes, but few of them were properly manned and equipped, giving the French Foreign Legion ample opportunity to breach the line. By the morning of 9 March, all of the pillboxes had been either destroyed or taken, mostly in flanking action. The force moved toward Kieta, having suffered 1800 casualties on the first day alone. The Japanese landing went much better, with no resistance until they had penetrated 10 miles into the island. At Kieta, the bluffs surrounding the fort provided good positions for German machine guns and artillery, but once again shortages of supply prevented the full exploitation of these advantages. The Franco-British force quickly captured the port, with assistance from naval planes from the Flotilla. Several more landing craft came ashore at the docks, reinforcing the Entente division for the assault on the fortress. On the Japanese front, the meager German resistance was brushed aside, and the offensive reached 5 miles to Kieta before the fortress finally fell. Under heavy ship gun fire, part of the fort wall collapsed, allowing the Entente to pour in and eliminate all resistance. The scene was similar to that at Rabaul, with thousands of natives discovered to have been killed by German soldiers because of racial inferiority. The French and British lost 2200 total in the offensive, while the Japanese lost only 90. The forces, now linked at Kieta, turned north toward Sohana.


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Japanese Forces advance quickly on Bougainville

Meanwhile, the German battleship Hindenburg spotted the Japanese carrier Ise, and open fire with its 15 inch main guns. The first salvos missed, but the next slammed into the side of the ship. Ise responded by opening fire with her 14-inch guns, damaging one of the Hindenburg’s aft main turrets. The first and only carrier-battleship hybrid in use or existence, Ise launched 6 experimental Kawasaki Ki-5 fighter planes to attack Hindenburg.


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The hybrid battleship-carrier, the Japanese Ise off of the coast of Bougainville

The aircraft carrier Akagi also launched 12 Mitsubishi Ki-38 fighters to join the attack. The Entente Flotilla, sailing around the island to join the Japanese fleet, learned of the attack, and steamed toward the Hindenburg. With no support ships other than the destroyer Prinz Eugen, the crew of the Hindenburg knew that this was an attack of desperation, a last-minute hope that the attack on Bougainville might be hindered. The Entente Flotilla, now closing on the battle, opened up with its main batteries. The Joffre launched half of its air wing, while the HMS Ark Royal, sailing directly from Montevideo, also launched planes. The two fleets merged, trapping the Hindenburg in a vice. The Prinz Eugen managed to escape the grip by sailing directly between the Ark Royal and the Strasbourg, but the heavy guns of Strasbourg laid down a withering barrage onto the main tower of the ship, causing an explosion in one of its main turrets which ripped the ship apart (the turret was directly over the ammunition magazine and the fuel stores.) Only 73 crew members of the Prinz Eugen were picked up by the Suffren. Back on the Hindenburg, Admiral Doenitz orders the ship to ram the Joffre in a last ditch effort to wipe out the new French carrier, but alas, the main engine turbine explodes from an internal fire. With the ship crippled, Doenitz gives the order to scuttle the ship, and orders all crew to evacuate. He himself even leaves the ship on a lifeboat, and is picked up by the hospital ship Bristol. It is here that he meets his friend from Rabaul, sub-Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg. With the remaining German navy presumed to have headed toward Peru, the assault on Sohana continues. The Entene plan is this: The French and British will land a small force on the western shore of the island of Buka, directly north of Sohana. The Japanese will land forces in Matchin Bay, south of the fortress. The Japanese amphibious will meet up with the Franco-Anglo-Japanese force marching up the island, and will be the first to attack the fortress from the south. After the Franco-British expeditionary force has secured Buka, it will move south to bombard the fortress from the north. The Entente Flotilla and Japanese Navy will sail through the Buka Passage, clearing it of mines before shelling Sohana. The landings at Buka start on 29 May 1936, quickly taking the island in only 11 days. The Entente force on Bougainville reaches the north just after the Japanese amphibious lands. The amphibious, carrying most of the operation’s artillery, sets up positions around Sohana on 8 June 1936. The British minesweeper Ajax sails up the Buka Passage, but finds it to be un-mined. The Buka force, bombarding the citadel from the north, crosses the channel with assistance from the Mikura. Here, a breakthrough is achieved, and the German defenders in the northern citadel collapse. In the south, resistance is more fierce, but bombers from the Joffre force them to abandon their defensive positions for cover. After the complete collapse of the fortress, the German commander, Henning von Tresckow, surrenders his sword to Henri Giraud, who had just landed ashore. Tresckow is then placed in light- internment on the Bristol, where he meets Doenitz and Stauffenberg. The three German commanders discuss the war, and how quickly the Entente wiped out the German resistance in the Pacific. The three, already discontented with Drexler’s regime, begin a discussion of Germany after the war, and how the war might be shortened by the Entente, with their help of course.

Europe- In Europe, General Maurice Gamelin, supreme commander of Entente forces in Europe, called a war conference. Badoglio wanted more aerial support to the Yugoslav front, which he argued could split the Axis in two, allowing the Turks to be cordoned off and dealt with. The British, on the other hand, wanted to recapture the Rhine delta to link the Amsterdam-Utrecht-Rotterdam front to the Dyle Line, while the French preferred an assault into the southern Ardennes and into southern Luxembourg to harass German supply lines to the Dyle Front. All plans would require considerable redistribution of forces, which could allow a German offensive to break through the Dyle Line. Since few German divisions had been deployed to support the Balkans, the Italian front was not modified. Josef Pilsudski demanded immediate action to save Poland, which at this time had been pushed back toward Lodz, once the full German offensive concentrated. Gamelin reassured Pilsudski that aid would come quickly, and moved up the timetable for the Finnish Offensive by 3 weeks to start 2 days later. He also deployed several RAF divisions and Armée de l’Air legions to Norway, to step up bombing of German targets in the Baltic. Following the suggestion of newly promoted General Charles de Gaulle, he approved an Ardennes Offensive to recapture the southern sector of Belgium, and southern Luxembourg. This would relieve the tenuous French line north of Sedan, already under pressure from Central Axis heavy artillery and constant bombing. Several more air units are deployed to Sedan to counter this threat as well. Papagos warns that if not immediately reinforced, the Smyrna Exclave will have to be evacuated, in light of a recent Turkish mobilization in Anatolia (Kemal Pasha has just now gotten the Turkish army reequipped with modern German guns, replacing the antiquated Great War technology.) Gamelin orders Admiral François Darlan to evacuate Smyrna, first starting with the Greek military forces, then the civilians. The city of Strasbourg is also finally evacuated, after communication problems between Metz and the city. In Poland, the Germans manage a steady advance toward the Vistula, despite taking high casualties. Farther to the north, Lithuanian offensives only capture a few miles of territory in January, despite significant German bomber support from East Prussia. By March however, the entire Vilnius Territory has been captured, and Lithuanian aspirations of a Greater Lithuania are finally realized. The cost to Lithuania has been very high however, with 60,000 dead in the entire campaign. The city that is now theirs, Wilno, lies in ruins, and much of the surrounding countryside is devastated with artillery shell craters and trenches. In Czechoslovakia, the German offensives continue to be met with failure, but the Luftwaffe has almost eliminated the Czech air forces, and is involved in bombing sorties on Prague and Pressburg. In Ruthenia and Slovakia, the Hungarians continue to advance, although at a snail’s pace due to the lack of effective motor vehicles in the mountainous terrain. Germany, wanting to prevent what is left of the Kriegsmarine being bottled up in the Baltic, launched a pre-emptive invasion of Denmark. This came too late to prevent the Danish Army from evacuating, as the last divisions were ferried across to Norway four days before Copenhagen fell. The Danes, bound for Holland and Antwerp, were fully deployed on the Western Front by 1 June 1936. In Scandinavia, the Winterized Offensive finally arrives in Narvik, Norway, and is deployed across upper Lapland by 1936 January 14. The force mainly comprises of French divisions trained for Alpine combat, and a few Canadian divisions from the Northern Territories. The Canadian troops lack adequate training in coordination with forces other than the British, while the French have only around 30 planes able to be used in the icy north of Europe. The Finnish defenders, while having good training in the north and being supported by German officers and advisors, were using dated Great War-era rifles and howitzers, lacking training and supply of modern weaponry. On 1936 February 2, the first French expedition crossed the border and advanced 5 miles. The Finns, having expected an attack from Russia, had diverted most forces away from the Norwegian border. A few ships of the Entente Flotilla were sailing toward Murmansk to capture Finland’s only major port on the Arctic. A few troops were offloaded at the port district of the city, and the mostly Russian population helped them quickly defeat the small Finnish garrison. Most of the Axis forces this far north were Entente sympathizers sent to a quiet front; therefore, defections were almost as common as advances. The Germans in the sector were quickly overwhelmed by the rapid French-Canadian advances, although the rough terrain of Lapland hindered most of the motorized Entente divisions. By 1936 March 28, most of the Axis forces had been driven into the south of the country. At the Battle of Suomussalmi, the beleaguered Finnish defenders made a last stand against the Entente steamroller. The French advance, finally far enough south to allow the Dewoitines to be effective, commenced heavy aerial attacks against German relief forces coming from Vyborg. The Canadians advance from the west, cutting the city off from the rest of the Axis by capturing the bridge across a semi-frozen lake. On 1963 April 6, the city surrendered, and the Germans withdrew to the Hango-Tampere-Helsinki Triangle. Here, the newly-thawed Baltic allowed the powerful Axis Fleet Baltic to send much needed aid to the Axis land forces. The province of Karelia and Helsinki were captured on 1936 April 29, and Tampere fell the next day. The Finnish government officially declared Finland’s abdication from the Central Axis, and signed the Narvik Agreement with Britain and France, officially making Finland a member of the Entente. The conditions set were that all German forces must be expelled from the nation, and Entente forces must be allowed to remain in Finland in preparation for action in Esthonia. The Germans, furious at the Finnish betrayal, deployed an extra two divisions to hold Hango and deny the Entente its excellent naval and air bases. The Entente also extended another invitation to Russia for entry into the war, bidding Entente passage to the Baltic States with Russian military intervention to aid Poland in exchange for a return of some Finnish territory in the north. This time, Kerensky is more receptive, seeing the quick Entente victory in Finland as assurance than Germany could not easily march into Ukraine and Byelorussia as they had 17 years earlier. The Russian Duma passes a vote, 21-15, to enter the war on the Entente side by 1936 September. This bit of news sends Pilsudski into frenzy, as his demands for relief for Poland are finally being realized. However, the Finland Campaign does little to directly aid the Polish cause, and the lack of halts to the German offensive push the Polish Army all the way back to downtown Warsaw. The city is quickly surrounded, and the 20,000 Polish forces still in the city were evacuated on barges up the Vistula River. The city held out until 1936 17 May, when the last defenders surrendered. The entire Polish government and the majority of the Polish Army had escaped, however, and had re-established itself in Lvov, setting up new defensive lines on the Upper Vistula and the Bug Rivers. By June 1, the farthest Axis drives had reached the city of Kock, east of Warsaw. In the north, the Poles withdrew from the Wilno salient, and the Axis had established a complete encirclement of Poland. In Latvia and Esthonia, which had been up to this point ignored by the Axis, were preemptively occupied by Germany. The outnumbered Baltics fell back to the north, with the Latvian army trapped northwest of Riga, and the Esthonians holed up around Reval. In Czechoslovakia, the Hungarians have been cleared out of Ruthenia, after the breakdown of their offensive following Polish aerial assistance. The advance on Slovakia, however, easily rolled over the flat plains south of Pressburg. In Czechia, the Germans finally break through the Sudetenland Line, and quickly roll across the flat countryside toward Prague. The city is evacuated, and the Army withdraws from the sector, and marches toward Ruthenia. The Poles send two divisions to assist the Czechs, and the new line is established in the far east of the country. The Hungarians annexed their desired territories, while the Germans expanded into Sudetenland and directly annexed the Czech sector. In occupied Poland, the Germans link East Prussia to mainland Germany, and annex the Poznan sector and Katowice. Krakow is also annexed. The Central Axis has effectively eliminated the large Entente Salient in Central Europe, establishing a strong link between Turkey and Germany. However, most of the Polish and Czech armies escaped to the free zones, Finland has virtually fallen, and the Baltic fleet is no longer safe from Entente assault. The new link allows Germans forces to be quickly shuffled around, and more are deployed to the Dyle Line, and to Yugoslavia to counter the impressive Italian gains. In the Balkans, the political map is drastically changed from its pre-war frontiers. Hungary is given a slice of Romanian Transylvania and parts of Yugoslavia, Bulgaria gains northern Hellas and Macedonia, while a new Croatian state is created, centered on Zagreb. A Serbian German puppet state is set up in Belgrade, and all of the former Yugoslav republics are under de facto German military administration.
 
Here, the massive guns and fortifications pose a major threat to Entente shipping lanes to Australia and Japan.

How? How do those things by themselves pose a threat to shipping? The ships can simply sail an extra mile or so off of the coast and the guns are useless. As an anchorage for ships, it can be a threat to shipping, but not due to it's guns and fortifications.

Edit: Also, the Ise didn't become a hybrid Battleship-Carrier until 1943. How is this happening 8 years earlier?

Torqumada
 
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How? How do those things by themselves pose a threat to shipping? The ships can simply sail an extra mile or so off of the coast and the guns are useless. As an anchorage for ships, it can be a threat to shipping, but not due to it's guns and fortifications.

Edit: Also, the Ise didn't become a hybrid Battleship-Carrier until 1943. How is this happening 8 years earlier?

Torqumada

The guns would only pose a major threat to shipping through the Solomans, and the German controlled Carolinas. Since America is not really a major player, most of the Entente shipping from Japan would go this way. Regardless, I'll fix this, I see the logical problem posed by the gun question.

About the Ise, all of the developments of OTL happened several years earlier. In Germany, for example, the Nazis came to power in 1923, and started a re-armarment program ten years earlier than it started in OTL. Given this, the French and British started their advancement drives in the mid-late '20s instead of starting around 1938. This generally carries along to most other powers in the world in an advancement race.
 
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The reason the Ise was converted was because the Japanese had lost full sized carriers in battle to the United States. Since they hadn't lost any at this point in the war in your timeline and the primacy of the carrier had not been established yet, why would the Ise have been converted to a hybrid ship, instead of sticking with it being a battleship? Just something to think about.

Torqumada
 
The reason the Ise was converted was because the Japanese had lost full sized carriers in battle to the United States. Since they hadn't lost any at this point in the war in your timeline and the primacy of the carrier had not been established yet, why would the Ise have been converted to a hybrid ship, instead of sticking with it being a battleship? Just something to think about.

Torqumada

With the global drive for tech. advancement, the Ise would have been an experiment from WWII conducted earlier than in OTL. It might actually work better if it had been in existance earlier, as the older biplanes probably could have been able to actually land on the small deck.
 

MacCaulay

Banned
I'm getting a kick out of this timeline. Pictures and font and the Gran Chaco and whatnot...keep it up! I like it.
 
With the global drive for tech. advancement, the Ise would have been an experiment from WWII conducted earlier than in OTL. It might actually work better if it had been in existance earlier, as the older biplanes probably could have been able to actually land on the small deck.

While thru-deck cruisers were all the rage on the drawing boards, the Japanese will figure out soon enough they are deadends.

I don't see why Hoover will resign from the office just because of the collapse of Wall Street. That doesn't make sense.

I think you should elaborate on you POD and not just wave if off with 'it happened at Versailles'.
 
I'm curious - wither the United States in all this. Unless the Monroe Doctrine has been repealed, the US will take a ... dim ... view of a proxy war in South America.

Also, unless the Depression was much, much worse than in OTL, the United States is the strongest potential combatant in the world. Both sides would be aware of that.

Mike
 
While thru-deck cruisers were all the rage on the drawing boards, the Japanese will figure out soon enough they are deadends.

I don't see why Hoover will resign from the office just because of the collapse of Wall Street. That doesn't make sense.

I think you should elaborate on you POD and not just wave if off with 'it happened at Versailles'.


I was re-examining by POD yesterday actually, and I'm going to revise the part about the Treaty of Versailles to be more detailed about all of the things that happened in the treaty.
 
I'm curious - wither the United States in all this. Unless the Monroe Doctrine has been repealed, the US will take a ... dim ... view of a proxy war in South America.

Also, unless the Depression was much, much worse than in OTL, the United States is the strongest potential combatant in the world. Both sides would be aware of that.

Mike


The Depression ITTL caused a loss of $40 billion of the worth of the stock market in 1 day, as compared to the loss of worth of $14 billion on Black Tuesday in OTL. The reasoning for this is that the American investors sent their money to South America (more financially unstable than Europe), leading to Buenos Aires hosting the 1928 Olympics instead of Amsterdam (St. Moritz still hosted the Winter). The governments went on a spending spree (compare to the debts of the Ismai'il of Egypt between 1850-1880), leading to massive inflation and unsafe investment. When the market crashed, the SA gov'ts lost their main financial crutch, and most collapsed, leading to the South American War. Given this, the American economy is wrecked far beyond what it was in OTL. Although it has recovered some under Roosevelt, it will probably be until the mid to late 1940s before it is back to pre-depression levels. Both sides would still probably like to have the United States as an ally, and the Entente seems like the most likely suspects.
 
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