War makes for Strange Bedfellows – A Second World War timeline

[BurkeanLibCon]

War Makes for Strange Bedfellows – A Second World War timeline​

"Only in firm co-operation with a Great Russia will Germany have the chance of regaining her position as a world power"​

- Hans von Seeckt, February 1920​

“If for fear of making an alliance with Russia we drove that country into the German camp we should have made a mistake of vital and far-reaching importance"​

- Lord Chatfield, May 1939​

There is no doubt that the Second World War has defined both the last half of the twentieth century and the beginnings of twenty first. The war’s sheer brutality and scale left the world reeling in its wake, and with the advent of the atomic bomb a new fear descended across the world, that of Mutually Assured Destruction. In the aftermath of WWII, the world became divided into two ideologically-based camps who rarely see eye-to-eye except in the view that the other side was a plague upon the earth and following the other’s destruction, a heaven on earth would emerge under their leadership.

How this state of affairs came to be is still a topic of historical discussion, but it can be traced back to a few events in late 1939 that set the world on course for destruction as it had never seen before.

 

[BurkeanLibCon]

Chapter 1 - A Pact for a Pact
London
25 August, 1939​

Our tale begins in August 1939, a few days following the signing of the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, otherwise known as the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.

The pact came as a shock to the world. Germany and the Soviet Union had spent the best part of a decade at each other's throats, especially Germany. Since the early 1920s, Adolf Hitler had vigorously called for not just the conquest of European Russia, but for its complete resettlement with Germans, a process which (in Hitler's mind) meant the complete extermination of its inhabitants. This hatred between the two states led to them supporting opposing sides during the Spanish Civil War and Soviet support for "Popular Front" governments in Western Europe from the mid-1930s onwards. And yet, here they were. These two, seemingly ideological opposed, totalitarian dictatorships coming together in agreement not to attack one another. The rest of the world was understandably shocked by this sudden and very public volte-face, perhaps none more so than the governments of the United Kingdom and France, they had been negotiating with Moscow for months before Stalin's sudden change of heart. What wasn't publicly announced though were the secret provisions which carved Eastern Europe up between the Germans and the Soviets, provisions which would become very important within the next few months.

The signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact in Moscow, 23 August 1939

In response to the pact, the British government reiterated their commitment to Poland by making their previous declaration of April 1939 official. So, two days after the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was signed, a Polish delegation arrived in London to sign a military alliance with the British government. The signing of the pact took Germen leader Adolf Hitler by surprise, and as such he delayed his planned invasion of Poland from 26 August to 1 September [1].

Among the terms of the Anglo-Polish alliance were promises that both nations would assist one another if attacked by a "European power", although both parties had differing views on what that term meant. The British were keen to add a secret provision to the pact, according to which the phrase "European power" would mean Germany. The Polish were not happy with this and insisted against the secret clause, pointing to their already existing alliance with France which aimed against threats from Germany and the Soviet Union. Eventually the British government relented and the proposed clause was never added [2]. The final agreement was signed by British Foreign Secretary Lord Halifax and Polish Ambassador to the United Kingdom Edward Raczyński. The dye was cast.

Viscount Halifax, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs

Edward Raczyński, Polish Ambassador to the United Kingdom.


Footnotes
- [1] Hitler did this OTL as well.
- [2] The POD. In OTL the secret provision was added.

Comments?

 

[BurkeanLibCon]

Chapter 2 - Shot by Both Sides
Poland
August - September 1939​

Of course Germany couldn't just attack Poland out of the blue, that would look far too suspicious. The German leadership was aware of this and took steps to create a believable causes belli. This took place in the form of Operation Himmler, a series of false-flag attacks throughout 1939 in order to present a state of affairs in which Poland was aggressing Germany, rather than the other way round. This Operation culminated on 31 August 1939 in the Gleiwitz incident, a staged attack against the Gleiwitz radio tower led by SS-Sturmbannführer Alfred Naujocks, with the goal of seizing the tower and broadcasting an anti-German propaganda message. In order to make it more believable, 43-year-old Franciszek Honiok was murdered by the SS, dressed up in a Polish uniform and filled with bullet holes to keep up the appearance of Polish aggression.

SS-Sturmbannführer Alfred Naujocks, the instigator of the Gleiwitz incident

Franciszek Honiok, the first fatality of the coming war

Needless to say, the rest of the world was not convinced by this Polish “attack”, not that they had much time to react anyway due to the next day’s more dramatic turn of events.

At 04:45 on 1 September 1939, German battleship Schleswig-Holstein fired on the Polish military transport depot at Westerplatte, although some German units had crossed the border even earlier. The first shots had been fired. The war had begun.

SMS Schleswig-Holstein firing on Westerplatte, September 1939

The response from Britain and France was one of immediate condemnation, and both nations soon delivered ultimatums to Hitler demanding immediate withdrawal from Poland. But Hitler did not withdraw, and as such, the United Kingdom and France declared war on Germany on 3 September 1939. They were joiuned by the British Dominions of South Africa on 6th and Canada on the 10th. With the exception of the pitiful Saar Offensive, which ended by 16 September, there was no direct aid given to Poland by the Anglo-French Allies. With the Western Allies and Germany now at war, Stalin prepared to fulfil his side of the deal. On 15 September, Molotov and Japanese Ambassador Shigenori Tōgō concluded a ceasefire agreement that ended the Battle of Khalkhin Gol. With any "second front" threat posed to the USSR by Japan now removed, Stalin ordered the Red Army to invade Poland on 17 September.

With the entry of over 800,000 Red Army troops into Poland, the Polish government finally decided that the war in Poland itself was lost. The 25-battalion Korpus Ochrony Pogranicza (Border Protection Corps) was ordered by Rydz-Śmigły to fall back and not engage the Soviets and the rest of the Polish army was evacuated into Romania where it would make its way into France. Meanwhile, in London and Paris, a political storm was taking shape.

Edward Rydz-Śmigły, General Inspector of the Polish Armed Forces

When the Soviets crossed the border, they acted in violation of the Anglo-Polish and Franco-Polish military alliances, the former of which specifically called for mutual defence against attacks by a "European Power". What that term meant had been left deliberately ambiguous in order to prevent negotiations back in August from breaking down. Now, it had to be decided, was Britain now at Russia as well, or would they leave eastern Poland to Stalin's mercy? After Stalin's invasion began, Polish Ambassador Raczyński meant Foreign Secretary Halifax in order to discover the British government's reaction. In this matter he was told that it would be decided following a meeting of the war cabinet [1].

On the evening of the 17th, the war cabinet met in Downing Street to discuss Russia's intervention in Poland. At first, it seemed that only the First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchll, and Secretary of State for War, Leslie Hore-Belisha, who believed that war with the Soviet Union was something to prepare for, with Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain advocating restraint in trying to balance out cabinet opinion. Foreign Secretary Halifax brought up the issue of the British guarantee, and whether the term "European Power" included Russia or not. Initially, Chamberlain was sceptical of declaring war on Russia. He hoped that Stalin could eventually be drawn into an alliance with Britain against Hitler, but as the night wore on this view began to wane. Eventually, by 11:00 that night, a decision had been made. Britain would deliver an ultimatum to Stalin the next day just as they had done with Hitler on 2 September. The terms would be almost identical, calling for the withdrawal of Soviet forces from Poland by 12:00 on 19 September. If these terms were not met or if no indication was given by the Soviet government that they would be undertaken, then Britain would declare war on the Soviet Union.

Chamberlin's war cabinet, September 1939
Standing: Sir Kingsley Wood, Winston Churchill, Leslie Hore-Belisha, and Lord Hankey.
Sitting: Viscount Halifax, Sir John Simon, Neville Chamberlain, Sir Samuel Hoare, and Lord Chatfield

The next morning, Chamberlain contacted French Prime Minister Daladier to inform him of the British position. Daladier immediately approved and gave assurances that France would join him in the ultimatum. At 13:30 Moscow time, British Ambassador Sir William Seeds and his French equivalent Paul-Émile Naggiar received important telegrams from their governments containing the terms of the ultimatum and instructions to deliver them immediately. Later that afternoon, both men met with Molotov to deliver the terms. The meeting between the three men was brief but formal, and the ambassadors soon departed to pack their belongings and leave Moscow for their home countries.

Sir William Seeds, British Ambassador to the Soviet Union

Vyacheslav Molotov, People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Union

The ultimatum was delivered to promptly delivered to Stalin. Upon reading the terms, he was quite surprised by the actions of the British and French governments. He had no war plans specifically against them, and the Anglo-French Allies had no real means of fighting him either. He instructed Molotov to ignore the ultimatum. As the deadline rolled around, no announcement from Moscow was received. Chamberlain announced on the BBC on 19 September 1939 at 18:00 that the United Kingdom was now at war with the Soviet Union. The French government made similar announcements at the same time. Whilst the Allies had just enhanced their images as the protectors of freedom against totalitarianism, the war had just moved into a new phase. Soon, its true magnitude would show.

Meanwhile, back in Poland, the military situation continued to deteriorate. Despite order's not to engage, the Poles and Soviets fought each other on many occasions, such as the Battle of Grodno and the Soviets executed numerous Polish officers and POWs. By 28 September, the Soviets were encountering German units advancing from the west. Poland was now completely defeated. The last defenders on the Hel Peninsula held out until surrendering on 2 October whilst the last major Polish units to surrender were General Kleeberg's forces following the Battle of Kock on 6 October. The Polish campaign was now over. The world was dividing into two camps with the British and French in one camp, and what appeared to be a quickly-emerging German-Soviet alliance in the other.

Footnotes
- [1] In OTL, Raczyński was rebuffed and told that any decision to go to war with Russia would be Britain's alone.

Announcement
I have been uploading quite eagerly over the last couple of days. The writing of this timeline won't continue at this same speed however. I do need to concentrate on my studies as my primary focus, so I will be slowing the pace down to one new update per week as my goal from here on in.

Comments?

 

[BurkeanLibCon]

Chapter 3 - David and Goliath
The Scandinavian Campaign (Part 1)
October 1939 - March 1940​

The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939 had earmarked half of Poland and the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Finland as a Soviet sphere of influence, with Lithuania added following a revision of the dividing boundaries in Poland. Following the destruction and division of Poland in October 1939, Stalin moved to bring the Baltics under his wing.

The escape of Polish submarine ORP Orzeł from Estonia to the United Kingdom on 18 September provided the impetus to deliver an ultimatum to Tallinn on the 24th, resulting in the signing of the Soviet-Estonian Mutual Assistance Treaty which gave permission for Soviet military and naval bases to be established inside Estonian territory. Latvia followed suit on 5 October and Lithuania on the 10th, both states submitting themselves to almost identical conditions.

Soviet troops entering Estonia following the signing of
the Soviet–Estonian Mutual Assistance Treaty

However, Stalin's planned expansion north into Finland hit a dead end when the Finns did not submit to Soviet conditions. Previously, relations between Helsinki and Moscow had been strained but were relatively calm throughout the 1930s following the 1932 Soviet-Finnish Non-Aggression Pact. Following Stalin's total seizure of power during the Great Purge, Moscow had been beginning to turn up pressure of Finland to cede territory to them. In autumn 1938, anti-German Finnish Foreign Minister Rudolf Holsti resigned during negotiations with the Soviets over Suursaari Island, leading Moscow to believe his resignation was the result of the Finnish government allying itself with Germany. The Finnish government quickly denied the allegations. Throughout the rest of 1938 and into 1939, the Soviets continued to send low-level delegates to negotiate with the Finns. Helsinki correctly assumed, however, that these envoys were working for a higher state organ, the NKVD.

Following the start of the war in Europe in September 1939, the Soviets moved to speed up any negotiations with Finland to fulfil their side of their agreements with Germany. On 5 October, the Soviet Union invited the Finns to Moscow. The Finns responded to these requests by sending their ambassador to Sweden, Juho Kusti Paasikivi, to negotiate whilst the Finnish Defence Forces were quietly mobilised under the guise of "additional refresher training".

Juho Kusti Paasikivi, Finnish Ambassador to Sweden
and chief negotiator for the Finnish government in October 1939

The Soviets demanded border adjustments from the Finns including moving the border on the Karelian Isthmus westward to only 30km east of Viipuri, Finland's second-largest city. The Soviets also demanded the destruction of all Finnish fortifications in the Isthmus. The Soviets also demanded the cession of the Kalastajansaarento Peninsula, the islands of Suursaari, Tytärsaari and Koivisto in the Gulf of Finland as well as demanding a 30-year lease on the Hanko Peninsula in order to establish a military base there. In return for Finnish compliance, the long-desired areas of Repola and Porajärvi would be transferred to Helsinki.

Back in Helsinki, the government was divided on how to respond to the Soviet demands. President Kyösti Kallio and Commander-in-Chief Mannerheim were willing to accept the Soviet conditions whereas Foreign Minister Eljas Erkko and Defence Minister Juho Niukkanen strongly opposed them.

Proposed changes to the Karelian Isthmus border

Over the following weeks, negotiations stalled and the Soviet leadership quickly became inpatient with the Finns. On 31 October 1939, Molotov publicly announced the Soviet demands duyring a session of the Supreme Soviet. In response, the Finns send two counteroffers offering up the Terijoki area, much less that what the Soviets wanted. Expecting negotiations to continue, the Finnish delegation headed home on 13 November.

On 26 November 1939, the Soviet border town on Mainila was shelled. Whilst looking like a Finnish aggression, in reality it was a false-flag attack staged by the Soviets. The Soviets were quick to condemn the Finns and present new demands. The Finns would publicly apologise for the incident and withdraw all their forces to 20-25km from the border. The Finns refused, instead calling for a joint Finnish-Soviet commission to investigate the incident. In response, the Soviets withdrew from the non-agresion pact between the two states. War looked imminent.

On 30 November 1939, the Soviets began their invasion. Over 450,000 Red Army soldiers crossed the Finnish border. The Soviet Air Force also bomber civilian areas of Helsinki. Molotov, however, insisted that the Soviets weren't dropping bombs but humanitarian food aid, leading to the RRAB-3 bomb dispenser that was used against the city being nicknamed "Molotov bread baskets". The Winter war had begun.

The Soviet attack contained 21 divisions and was organised as follows:
- The 7th Army was aimed at capturing Viipuri.
- The 8th Army was given a mission to perform a flanking manoeuvre around Lake Ladoga’s northern shore and attack the Mannerheim Line from behind.
- The 9th Army was ordered to cut Finland in half by attacking the Kainuu region.
- The 14th Army was aimed at capturing Petsamo and eventually the town of Rovaniemi. [1]

Despite being vastly outnumbered, with only 9 field divisions, 4 brigades and several small independent battalions and companies, the Finnish Army held a significant advantage, geography. Along Finland’s 1,340km border with the Soviet Union, the only passable points were a series of unpaved roads which gave the Finns a defensive advantage. However, the Finns were also suffering from supply issues with only enough shell, fuel and cartridges for 19-60 days [2]. The ammunition was so bad that during the course of the war, Finnish soldiers would often replenish their stocks by raiding the pockets of dead Soviet soldiers.

The Isthmus front by 7 December (photo)

With Finnish Command deploying defence-in-depth strategy, all soldiers defending the border in the Karelian Isthmus were withdrawn to the Mannerheim Line, the main body of defensive fortifications preventing the Soviets from breaking through the Isthmus and taking Helsinki. Despite early confusion about dealing with Soviet tanks, Finnish soldiers soon improvised several solutions. As the favoured Soviet strategy was frontal attack, it was relatively easy to jam a tank’s bogie wheels with logs or crowbars. Soon, the Finns were fielding a more deadly anti-tank weapon, the Molotov cocktail. The defences at the Isthmus would continue to hold.
In the Lake Ladoga front, the Finns had secured a decisive victory over the Red Army at the Battle of Tolvajärvi. In Central Finland, the Soviets continued to receive a battering from the numerically inferior Finns at the Battle of Suomussalmi, probably the most famous battle of the Winter War. The photo of a destroyed Soviet column at the Battle of Raate Road symbolising this.

Destroyed Red Army column following the Battle of Raate Road

By January 1940, all fronts had ground to a stalemate.

Outside the Eastern Baltic, the political situation was heating up. In Germany, the response was relatively mute. After severing relations with the Finns on 4 December, German involvement in the Winter War ended there. In Britain and France, interest in the region shot through the roof. By January 1940, the first plans, known as "Plan R4", were drawn up by Allied High Command calling for a force of 100,000 British and 35,000 French troops to land in the Norwegian port of Narvik and trek across Norway and Sweden to reach Finland [3]. Whilst there, the Allies would seize control of the mining districts of Northern Sweden to sever supplies to Germany. The main problem with the plan was that the governments in Oslo and Stockholm refused passage to Allied troops, determined to remain neutral in the developing European war.

Map of Northern Scandinavia, showing the port of Petsamo
and the iron ore districts of Kiruna and Malmberget.

With Allied plans to intervene in the Arctic bogged down by Norwegian and Swedish reluctance, the Soviets launched a new offensive along the Karelian Isthmus on 1 February 1940. However, this wasn't the same Red Army that has invaded Finland in late 1939. By now, the Soviet commander Voroshilov had been replaced by the more competent Semyon Timoshenko. Instead of simply reusing their December tactics, the Soviets now advanced in smaller numbers, making it harder for the Soviets tanks to be eliminated by the Finns as they were now protected by infantry. Facing them in the Isthmus was an increasingly war-weary Finnish army, totalling eight divisions with a total manpower of 150,000 troops. By 11 February, after a ten-day artillery bombardment, the Soviets achieved a breakthrough in the Second Battle of Summa. The Mannerheim Line had been broken. By now, the Soviet force in the Isthmus tripled the Finnish numbers, with 460,000 soldiers, 3,350 artillery pieces, 3,000 tanks and 1,300 aircraft under Red Army command. By the 15th, Mannerheim ordered the II Corps to fall back to a secondary line of defence. After almost 2 months, the Finnish defences were beginning to buckle.

Semyon Timoshenko, commander of Soviet forces
in Finland from January 1940 onwards

Following the Soviet breakthrough, the Allies once again began to consider Plan R4, and began to lobby Oslo and Stockholm for passage. Again, both nations denied permission. By this point, the British and French governments decided that they were going to carry out Plan R4, permission or no permission. Even if the Finns sued for peace or were defeated in the end, so long as the iron ore districts of Sweden could be seized quickly and denied to the Germans, the operation would still be considered somewhat successful. Even more so if the Soviets were shown a show of Allied force, as the British and French had another surprise waiting in the wings for Moscow. Whilst the Finns again put out desperate pleas for help, the British and French put the final pieces of their plan together.

The landings in Norway would occur in three landing forces. They were as follows:
- Stratford: Consisting of the 1st Battalion Scots Guards and several anti-aircraft guns. Tasked with occupying Narvik and advancing to the Swedish border along the railway.
- Avonmouth: Consisting of the 146th and 148th Infantry Brigades of the British Army and a French Alpine Brigade. Tasked with occupying or destroying the Sola airfield outside Stravanager and occupying Trondheim and Bergen.
- Plymouth: Consisting of the Hallamshire battalion of the 146th Infantry Brigade. Tasked with advancing eastwards from Trondheim after landing [4].

Whilst the Allies were preparing to engage themselves deeper in the war, the Finns were beginning to back out of it. In early February, Finnish communist Hella Wuolijoki contacted the Finnish government offering to contact the Soviets through Sweden. After approval, she travelled to Stockholm where she secretly met Soviet Ambassador to Sweden, Alexandra Kollontai.

Alexandra Kollontai, Soviet Ambassador to Sweden

After contact with Moscow was established, Molotov extended recognition to the legitimate government of Finland, abandoning the puppet "Finnish Democratic Republic" set up by the Soviets at the start of the war. The Soviets had good reason to want to end the war in Finland. The war had been humiliating as the Red Army had been bogged down for months with a very large number of casualties suffered. the political motivations were also strong. Offering peace now would further deny an ally to the British and French, whilst any potential Allied presence in Norway could be mediated by a somewhat friendly, neutral Finland. By 25 February, the Soviets laid aid their terms to the Finns. On the 29th, the Finnish government accepted the terms in principal and was willing to negotiate. On 7 March, a Finnish delegation headed by Prime Minister Risto Ryti headed to Moscow to complete the finalisation of the terms. Meanwhile, that same day, British and French forces for Plan R4, now known as Operation Silver, were given the orders to begin deployment; just as the political situation in Germany had calmed down [5].


Footnotes
- [1] OTL Soviet formation.
- [2] Same as OTL, the Finns were plagued with shortages throughout the war.
- [3] In OTL, these same plans were developed by February. Here, the added urgency of being at with with the Soviet Union as well has spend up Allied planning somewhat.
- [4] OTL landing plans.
- [5] That's for next time folks...

Comments?

 

[BurkeanLibCon]

Chapter 4 - A Clearer Evening
German Internal Politics
September 1939 - March 1940​

Upon hearing of the Allied declaration of war against the Soviet Union on 19 September 1939, Hitler was alleged to have remarked to Ribbentrop "Now what?" [1]. The Führer had expected a quick victory in Poland without Western intervention, now he was facing war with Britain and France and was possibly being forced into an alliance with his ideological nemesis, Joseph Stalin and the USSR. In less than three weeks, the geopolitical situation in Europe had been turned completely topsy-turvy.

Upon the conclusion of the Polish campaign in October 1939, Hitler began to send out peace feelers to London and Paris offering them peace and an alliance against the Soviets. In return, the German leader asked asked for recognition of his conquests in Poland, something completely unacceptable for the Allies. Upon receiving no reply to his offers, Hitler flew into a rage against the Allies, calling out their "hypocrisy" and "idiocy", ranting that they were "handing Europe to Stalin on a gold platter" [2].

It was in this environment that Hitler was preparing for his campaign against France in the West, and so he cancelled his upcoming speech in Munich's Bürgerbräukeller to mark the 16th anniversary of the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch. However, Hitler changed his mind and decided to go ahead with the speech anyway [3].

Hitler arrived in Munich on 8 November along with top Nazi officials such as Joseph Goebbels, Reinhard Heydrich, Rudolf Hess, Rudolf Ley, Alfred Rosenberg, Julius Streicher, August Frank, Hermann Esser and Heinrich Himmler [4]. The Führer arrived by plane, piloted by Hans Baur, Hitler's personal pilot. Despite concerns of fog that may have cancelled Hitler's planned flight back to Berlin the next morning, Baur was assured by ground control at Munich-Riem Airport that the fog would clear by around 23:00 that evening [5]. Hitler was greeted to the stage by Christian Weber, the Nazi functionary responsible for security for the event at 20:30 [6].

Hans Baur, Hitler's pilot

Christian Weber, the Nazi security manager for Munich.

Unknown to those gathered in the Munich drinking house, a special surprise had been left waiting for them by Württemberg carpenter, Georg Elser. Buried deep in the central column by the stage, Elser's surprise gift for the Führer was certain to go off with a bang.

Georg Elser, the architect of Hitler's
Bürgerbräukeller surprise

At 19:30, Hitler's speech began. During the nearly-two-hour event, he commemorated the failed 1923 coup attempt, honoured those fellow Nazi's who died and also rambled on about the "stupidity" of the British and French governments, accusing them of facilitating a "Judeo-Bolshevik" takeover of Europe. The speech didn't quite go on for two hours, ending by 21:18. Following the concluding honours and salutes, Hitler left the stage from the front. All of a sudden, he heard an intense bang come from behind him. Before he could fully register the noise, his legs began to give way underneath him. A bomb that had been left inside one of the pillars had exploded, sending metal, wood and other material flying everywhere. In all the chaos, one unidentified SA guard threw himself on top of Hitler as part of the roof and ceiling began to collapse, bringing the gallery and an external wall with it. Outside the hall, members of the SS Libstandarte guarding outside immediately began to dig through the rubble and search the wreckage for the leader they had sworn to protect.

Of the nearly 3,000 people inside the hall at the time of the explosion, over 800 people had died and a further 1,500 had been injured. Adolf Hitler was among that latter figure, badly injured but still very much alive. His lieutenants hadn't been quite so lucky. Among the dead were Rudolf Hess, Alfred Rosenberg, Julius Streicher and Rudolf Ley. Himmler and Heydrich had already left just before the blast and suffered little more than shock.

Rudolf Hess (1894 - 1939), Deputy Führer of the Nazi Party

Alfred Rosenberg (1893 - 1939), leader of the Foreign Policy
Office of the NSDAP. Second most prominent victim of the
Bürgerbräukeller bombing after Hess

The Führer was rushed to the nearest hospital for emergency treatment. His legs had been badly damaged, both from flying debris from the blast and the heavy SA man who jumped to protect him from the falling roof. After several hours of surgery, most of the shrapnel had been removed, but Hitler was told he would only be able to walk with the aid of leg braises for short periods of time and would be mostly confined to a wheelchair. Needless to say, he was absolutely furious. Hitler would return to Berlin on 13 November after several days rest at the Berghof.

"The solemn act of state in front of the Feldherrnhalle in Munich (11 December 1939)
for the eight hundred victims of the criminal bomb attack in Bürgerbräukeller on 8 November 1939" [7]
Staged publicity photo, notably hiding Hitler's leg braces.

Following the bombing, Hitler began to resume work for his upcoming offensive in France. When Stalin attacked Finland on 30 November, Hitler mostly stayed out of the conflict, not wanting to aid Stalin too much. Having said this, Hitler did sever diplomatic relations with the Finns on 4 December. With the violent struggle in the north still raging, the 'Phoney War' in the West continued.

However, as the months dragged on, Hitler's health began to deteriorate as a result of injuries sustained during the blast. As the unidentified SA guard jumped on top of him to protect him, Hitler had hit his head on the floor. When combined with his increasing blood pressure coming from the stress of having to be ferried around in a wheelchair and the "medicines" administered by Hitler's doctor, Theodor Morrell, it made for a toxic combination.

On 16 February 1940, following a meeting between Hitler and a number of his generals, the Führer began to talk about the war situation. he began by stating that Soviet conquest of Finland may jeopardise Swedish iron-ore shipments, and that the Allies may be drawn into intervening in Scandinavia. Before long, it had turned into another rant about British "stupidity" for allegedly allowing for "communist domination" of Europe. Suddenly, he stopped. According to one eyewitness, Hitler began to complain of headache before drooping in his chair. It was abundantly clear he was having a stroke. Despite attempts to resuscitate him, it was no use. The Führer was dead.

Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1940), Führer of Germany
and leader of the Nazi Party (NSDAP)

The immediate aftermath of Hitler's death was chaotic. According to Hitler's will, his successor was to be Hermann Göring. On 17 February, he was formally names as Hitler's successor, accepted by all major Nazi figures including Himmler (for now). At a special cabinet meeting on that same day, at which both Himmler and Heydrich were present, Göring announced he would be taking the title of President, vacant since the 1934 death of Paul von Hindenburg. The reason for this was so that title of Führer could be left solely for Hitler. And since Göring was trying to shore up his own power base against figures such as Himmler and Bormann, upstaging Hitler and possibly losing support would have been a bad idea. Once the meeting broke up, Göring met with Heydrich to discuss several issues. The most prominent of which was Himmler, Heydrich's boss and Göring's rival for power. Like Himmler, Heydrich was a brutal and devout Nazi, possibly more so than Himmler himself. Hitler was known to have referred to him as "the man with the iron heart". However, he was also pragmatic, unlike Himmler, and was able to see that supporting the new President rather than his own boss would be better for securing his own position. For his own part, Göring was willing to do anything to remove Himmler from his position. His power base came primarily from the Wehrmacht and old Prussian aristocracy, who despised the SS and the Waffen-SS (both under Himmler's command) with a passion due to their radicalism, even by Nazi standards. Together, the two men concocted a plan to eliminate Himmler and secure their own powerbases.

Reinhard Heydrich, the "Man with the Iron Heart"
and Göring's partner-in-crime

Hitler's funeral, due to take place in Linz on 28 February was the perfect opportunity to strike. Following the elaborate ceremony, with speeches from many Nazi ministers, figures as well as Wehrmacht leaders, the party leadership was due to return to Berlin. After taking off from Hörsching airport, Himmler's plane was suddenly lost over the Bavarian Alps and was never seen again. It is believed that the plane was rigged to explode but the rumours have, to this day, never been proven.

The coffin procession during Hitler's funeral in Linz, 28 February 1940

With his main opponent now out of the way, Göring now undertook the reorganisation of Himmler's empire. The Waffen-SS was dissolved and its soldiers merged with the Wehrmacht. The more radical SS officers soon found themselves on the wrong side of trumped up charges of treason and what was left of the SS was placed under the command of Heydrich. Elser, the man who had planted the bomb in Munich, had been arrested on the same evening of the attack. By now, he was rotting in a cell in Dachau. Despite some resistance to the new order of things, the political situation in Germany had calmed down by the beginning of March. The first major wartime challenge for the new Reich leadership was about to take shape as the Allies launched Operation Silver on 7 March.

Hermann Göring, President of Germany from 1940 onwards


Footnotes
- [1] Hitler said something similar after the Anglo-French declaration of war OTL.
- [2] I made this one up.
- [3] Hitler did exactly the same in OTL.
- [4] Hitler travelled with the same people in OTL.
- [5] In OTL, the fog was the main reason Hitler decided to return to Berlin earlier, narrowly dodging Elser's bomb. Here, with a clearer report, he decides to go ahead of planned.
- [6] Hitler's original intended start date for his speech. In OTL, he started at 20:00.
- [7] Slight alteration of the original caption. In OTL, there were only seven deaths as the most people had left the hall before the blast. The "solemn act of state" also took place on 11 November rather than December.

Comments?

 

[BurkeanLibCon]

Chapter 5 - A Silver Lining
The Scandinavian Campaign (Part 2)
March 1940
​

Announcement
To prevent this update from becoming too big, I've split it into two parts. The second part will come shortly.

At 05:30 on the morning on 7 March 1940, the troops stationed at Scapa Flow received the orders to begin Operation Silver. By 20:00 that evening, all ships were ready with troops and equipment loaded on board, and the first ships departed the bay at 20:15. Earlier that afternoon, the ambassadors of the United Kingdom and France delivered a message to the governments of Norway and Sweden, which accused both states of being unable to uphold their neutrality citing transportation of “aggressive war materials” and sheltering German ships within their waters, the latter making reference to the Altmark Incident of February 1940 [1].

The planned landings in Norway were split into several landing forces. The landing forces had three key landing targets, Narvik and Trondheim. The forces were split into the following categories:

Stratford – Commanded by Major-General Pierse Joseph Mackesy:

Consisting of British, French and Polish troops, landing force Stratford would land in and occupy the port city of Narvik and advance across the border into Sweden with the aim of capturing the Swedish mining district of Kiruna.

Order of battle [2]:

British 24th Infantry Brigade – Commanded by Brigadier William Fraser
- 1st Battalion, Scots Guards
- 1st Battalion, Irish Guards
- 2nd Battalion, South Wales Borderers

British 15th Infantry Brigade – Commanded by Brigadier Herbert Edward Fitzroy Smith
- 1st Battalion, Green Howards
- 1st Battalion, King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry
- 1st Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment
British 148th (Territorial) Infantry Brigade – Commanded by General Harold de Riemer Morgan
- 1/5th Battalion, Leicestershire Regiment
- 1/8th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters

French 27e Demi-Brigade de Chasseurs Alpins – Commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Sèrge Valentini
- 6ème Bataillon Chasseurs Alpins
- 12ème Bataillon Chasseurs Alpins
- 14ème Bataillon Chasseurs Alpins
French 13th Foreign Legion Demi-Brigade – Commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Raoul Margin-Vernerey
- 1er Bataillon
- 2ème Bataillon
Polish Independent Highland Brigade – Commanded by General Zygmunt Bohusz-Szyszko
- 1st Demi-Brigade
- 1 Battalion
- 2 Battalion
- 2nd Demi-Brigade
- 3 Battalion
- 4 Battalion
Troop, 3rd The King’s Own Hussars [3]
- 203 Battery, 51st (Westmoreland and Cumberland) Field Regiment, Royal Artillery
French 342me Independent Tank Company
Landing at Mosjøen, Mo I Rana and Bodø:
“Scissorforce” - Commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Colin Gubbins
- British Nos. 1, 3, 4, and 5 Independent Companies
British No. 2 Independent Company (landing at Bodø only) – Commanded by Major Hugh Stockwell

Also attached to Stratford were a number of goods cars and flat cars to transport troops, supplies and heavy equipment such as artillery and trucks for the advance from Narvik along the Iron Ore Line into Sweden.

Avonmouth – Commanded by Major-General Carton de Wiart:

Landing force Avonmouth had the task of landing at and capturing the city of Trondheim as well as capturing the airport at Værnes.

Order of battle [4]:

British 146th (Territorial) Infantry Brigade – Commanded by Brigadier Charles G. Phillips
- 1/4th Battalion, Royal Lincolnshire Regiment
- 1/4th Battalion, King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry
British 148th (Territorial) Infantry Brigade – Commanded by General Harold de Riemer Morgan
- 1/5th Battalion, Leicestershire Regiment
- 1/8th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters
French 5e Demi-Brigade Chasseurs Alpins – Commanded by Général de Brigade Antoine Béthouart
- 13ème Bataillon Chasseurs Alpins
- 53ème Bataillon Chasseurs Alpins
- 67ème Bataillon Chasseurs Alpins
260th Heavy Anti-Aircraft Battery, Royal Artillery
55th Field Company, Royal Engineers

With the expectation that all forces should arrive in Norway by 20:30 on 9 March, the landing forces departed at separate times, with Stratford departing first as it had the longest distance to cover.

In Norway, their government had received the Allied note on the afternoon of 7 March. In response, the Norwegian cabinet had ordered the mobilisation of four of the army’s six field brigades [5]. Unbeknownst to the cabinet besides Defence Minister Birger Ljungberg, regulation in place meant that the mobilisation would be carried out in secret and soldiers would receive their orders by post [6]. The attitude of the Norwegian government from the 7th onwards was cautious. Oslo reinforced their previous declarations of neutrality but were silent towards the Allied accusations for fear of further provocation. Whilst hoping for continued peace, Norway was faced with impending war and preparing for it.

Birger Ljungberg, Norwegian Minister of Defence

In Sweden, the situation was similarly confused. Since the Soviet attack on Finland in December 1939, the government in Stockholm had been aiding the Finns by shipping weapons and ammunition whilst allowing for volunteers from Sweden to fight alongside the Finnish army. Taking advantage of the fact that Germany and the Soviet Union was merely co-belligerents at this point rather than full allies, despite both being at war with Britain and France, Stockholm declared itself “non-belligerent” in the Finnish-Soviet war whilst proclaiming neutrality in the war with Germany. The Swedes were walking a delicate diplomatic tightrope, trading iron-ore with Germany whilst aiding Berlin’s de facto ally’s enemy.

When the Allied note was received by the Swedish government, the situation was highly tense. The Swedish armed forces were completely unprepared for war. Not helping the situation was the fact that during the Finnish campaign, Sweden had sent over 50,000,000 ammunition cartridges, largely from its own supply, to the Finns, further adding to their own shortages. Furthermore, there were no fortifications along the Norwegian border owing to the agreement securing the dissolution of the personal union between Norway and Sweden in 1905.

The Swedes had already mobilised 100,000 men along the border with Finland to deter any Soviet aggression. After an emergency cabinet meeting on the evening of the 7th, the mobilisation system was reorganised so that orders could be distributed by letter. The following day, Prime Minister Per Albin Hansson made a public radio broadcast announcing that Sweden would maintain its neutrality but reserved the right to all actions necessary to maintain it [7]. Following the mobilisation organisation, over 320,000 men would be mobilised in a few weeks. Whether that many men would be needed or not would be discovered shortly.

Footnotes
- [1] The Altmark incident still occurs ITTL.
- [2] Order of battle for Rupertforce in the Norwegian campaign of OTL plus the British 15th Brigade
- [3] In OTL, the King's Own Hussars were deployed with three Light Tank Mk VI's, but the Polish ship MS Chrobry that was carrying them was attacked by German aircraft and was destroyed leaving the troops with no tanks.
- [4] OTL order of battle for Mauriceforce plus the British 148th Brigade, 260th Heavy Anti-Aircraft Battery, Royal Artillery and the 55th Field Company, Royal Engineers.
- [5] The exact same order was given on 8 April 1940 in OTL.
- [6] The orders were distributed in the same way in OTL.
- [7] The Swedish government said the same thing to the German government during Operation Weserübung, although it was passed in a diplomatic note instead of a public announcement.

Comments?

 

[BurkeanLibCon]

Chapter 6 - Scandinavian Surprise
The Scandinavian Campaign (Part 3)
March 1940​

At 21:39 local time (20:39 GMT) on the evening of 9 March 1940, the landing ships of the Stratford landing group entered the Ofotfjord, led by HMS Renown. After most of the Allied destroyers had peeled off from the main group to capture the outer batteries of the fjord, only three were left (HMS Renown, HMS Hardy and the French destroyer Tartu) to contend with the two old costal, defence ships in the harbour, the Eidsvold and the Norge. Despite their age, they would be able to inflict substantial damage to the destroyers. However, this firepower wouldn’t be necessary as the captain of the Eidsvold, Odd Isaachsen Willoch, correctly recognising the Union Jack and French tricolour. The captain of the Renown assured Willoch that they were “coming as friends” [1]. After radioing to the captain of the Norge, Per Askim, the allied force was allowed to proceed. After being allowed passage, the troops landed in the port of Narvik with little resistance, with Norwegian troops in the area commanded by Konrad Sundlo surrendering after Sundlo was killed by French troops after roughly an hour of fighting [2]. During the fight, Sundlo had forgotten to order the destruction of the bridge at Norddalen. It's capture was a major boon to the Allies.

The Allies could now prepare for their advance into Sweden.

Norwegian troops with an M/01 7.5cm field gun during their brief battle with the Allies at Narvik.

In Trondheim, resistance was non-existent. A well targeted shot from the British light cruiser HMS Glasgow severed the power cables for the harbour’s searchlights, rendering them useless. The Allied ground forces landed in Trondheim unopposed. The airfield at Værnes was captured soon after unopposed.

In Oslo, King Haakon VII was notified of the invasion by an aide at around midnight on the 10th local time. His message to the King was “Majesty, we are at war” to which Haakon’s response was “With whom?” Upon discovering that it was the Allies including the British, he was stunned. His country had an extremely close relationship with the British. Why would they stab Norway in the back like this?

Nevertheless, questioning British motives wasn’t going to stop their attack. Immediately, an emergency cabinet meeting was held at half past midnight on the 10 March. The military situation for Norway was bleak. The Allied invasion had only gone on for just over three hours and yet they had captured all their main objectives. Narvik, Trondheim, Bergen and Stavanger were now under occupation. With the loss of their major harbours, the Norwegian army had lost arms depots for mobilisation centres. Armed resistance had been sporadic, uncoordinated or often non-existent. Further military resistance was useless. Many Norwegian commanders had welcomed Allied troops ashore and believed they were in Norway to protect from German or Soviet attack. That possibility also scared the Norwegian government. Resist and potentially allow German or Soviet forces to crash in through the back door or accept the sting of the invasion and accept Allied “protection” of Norwegian territory. As much as it hurt to accept, the latter option was decided upon.

At 00:47 Oslo time, Norwegian Foreign Minister Halvdan Koht met with the British ambassador, Sir Cecil Dormer, and requested a ceasefire. After 3 hours and 8 minutes, the Allied invasion of Norway was over.

Halvdan Koht, Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs

Next, the Allies began to advance on Norway's neighbour, Sweden. Much like Norway, Sweden had no plans on how to stop an invasion and most of their northern troops were mobilised on the border with Finland to prevent the still-ongoing Finnish-Soviet War (now known as the Winter War) from spilling over into Sweden. On the other hand, that war looked to be winding down leaving roughly 100,000 armed men who could be redeployed if-needs-be. Around two hours after the Narvik landings at 23:00 local time, Swedish Prime Minister Per Albin Hansson was notified of the attack through the Norwegian embassy. An hour and a half later, Norway surrendered.

Per Albin Hansson, Prime Minister of Sweden

Hansson was determined to maintain Sweden's long held neutrality. After the swift capitulation of Norway, it became more likely that protection of that neutrality may well have to be done by force. The Iron Ore Line was the only form of transportation in the region as there were no roads linking Narvik and Kiruna. Major General Archibald Douglas, commander of Upper Norrland's troops (Övre Norrlands trupper), was alerted of possible attack from Norway and ordered to transfer 20,000 troops to the Norwegian border, up from the requested 10,000 on the 7th. Other than that, Stockholm could only wait and see what would happen. Everyone in the Swedish government and armed forces waited with baited breath, hoping for the best since they were underprepared for the worst.

Later on that morning, Sweden would get its answer. The worst had come. The station master at Riksgränsen near the Norwegian border had attempted to call his counterpart in Kiruna Central Station around 07:28 local time to inform him that British troops were disembarking at the station and that more troops would be continuing down the line towards Kiruna. But to his horror, the line was dead. The British-French-Polish forces continued down to the line. At this point, their luck was almost astounding.

At 08:11 on the morning of the 10th, the trains would begin arriving in Björkliden. here, the Allies luck ran out. Unlike Riksgränsen, the station master was able to call forward to Kiruna of the impending danger. After the announcement of "This is Björkliden. We are under attack from military forces. Repeat. We are under attack from military forces" and the audible sound of gunfire in the background, the station master at Kiruna called Major General Douglas, and Major General Douglas then phoned Hansson. When Hansson was informed of the invasion, he was apoplectic. Sweden's neutrality, after 125 years, had been broken. He immediately order Swedish State Railways (Statens Järnvägar) to shut off power to the line. The Allied advance was stopped dead in its tracks 2 miles outside Björkliden, with heavy fighting continuing to take place in the town itself. Hansson called an emergency cabinet meeting.

Sweden was under attack.

Footnotes
- [1] The Germans told Willoch the same thing OTL. When he didn't believe them the Germans opened fire on the Eidsvold, killing Willoch.
- [2] In OTL, Sundlo surrendered without a fight. However, since he was pro-German and collaborated with the Quisling government in OTL he'd probably resist an Allied invasion.

Comments?

 

[BurkeanLibCon]

Apologies for the late release. Now, without further ado...

Chapter 7 – When I Least Deserve It
The Scandinavian Campaign (Part 4)
March 1940​

With the trains stopped outside Björkliden, the initial aims of Operation Silver had failed. Despite this, Norway had been secured and Germany’s supply of iron ore was under threat. The operation had been a huge gamble. The British and French governments had assumed that the Norwegians and Swedes would ultimately allow for the troop passage following initial verbal protests. The Norwegians had indeed caved in after a few hours of confused and often sporadic resistance, it was assumed in London and Paris that Sweden would do the same. That is, if Sweden did what the Allies expected of them.

The response in Stockholm was confused and Hansson’s government unsure of how to act. There were a number of troops from the Skidlöparbataljonen (Skirunners Batallion) of the Norrbotten Regiment in the town of Abisko deployed quickly following the Allied ultimatum with a few more troops from the Norrbotten Regiment in Björkliden itself, though the Swedish government believed that the Allied force numbered more that their battalion. Further still, the political consequences of a military resistance couldn’t be calculated. However, simply allowing Allied troops across their territory could very easily bring upon Sweden the wrath of Germany or the Soviet Union, possibly even both. The last thing the Swedish government wanted to happen was the flattening of their cities by either the Luftwaffe or indeed the Royal Air Force. It seemed that no matter what Sweden did, the chances of them becoming involved in the expanding European war were becoming more likely, especially as more news from the north was recieved.

Swedish troops fighting in Björkliden

Details weren’t entirely precise, but reports were coming in of the battle between Allied and Swedish troops inside the town of Björkliden, with the Swedes forced to retreat to an ad-hoc defensive line outside Kiruna to save on low ammunition. If the previous response had been confusion, the greater clarity of the situation now turned that mood into anger.

The immediate response from Stockholm was to summon the British ambassador, Sir Victor Mallet, before the cabinet in order to explain his government’s actions.

Sir Victor Mallet, British Ambassador to Sweden

Mallet insisted, like his Norwegian counterpart, that they were “coming as friends" in order to aid Finland against the Soviets, and that Allied incursion would be limited to northern Sweden only. He then proceeded to inform the Swedish government of the British and Allied offer to them. The Swedish government would allow the Anglo-French troops through Swedish territory in order to aid the beleaguered Finns, in return the Allies would pledge to defend Sweden from any German or Soviet attack. The ambassador then departed to return to his embassy, leaving the cabinet to discuss the proposal.

All members of the cabinet believed the proposal was a farce. They believed that if the British were allowed to occupy the railway; they would seize control of the iron ore mines. However, rejection of the proposal would almost certainly mean further escalation with the Allies into full-blown war.

Foreign minister, Christian Günther, was the first to comment. He believed that accepting the proposal would likely result in a German retaliation against Sweden. He pointed out that the Swedish air force was nowhere near capable of taking on the Luftwaffe and that the Germans were capable of securing “immediate and complete domination in the air” [1] and could destroy every city in the country. His sentiments were echoed by defence minister, Per Edvin Sköld, who also said that Sweden’s six army divisions would be hard-pressed if faced with war due to equipment shortages. Every member of the cabinet opposed granting control of the Iron Ore Line to the Allies, although some members were more open to compromise than others. Eventually, a decision was made. The Swedish army’s six divisions would be fully mobilised and more troops would be sent north in case of continued escalation. The Riksdag would be informed of ongoing events and the Swedish government would let the Allies know that they were willing to “use any means available to us to defend our neutrality and independence” but would continue to negotiate with the Allies in the hopes of defusing the situation.

Christian Günther, Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs

Per Edvin Sköld, Swedish Minister of Defence

That afternoon, the Riksdag met for an emergency session to determine Sweden’s response to the Allied (mostly British) invasion in the north. A national emergency was soon declared, and the British demands would be rejected and the government’s request for mobilisation was approved. The Anglo-Swedish War Trade Agreement signed in December 1939 [2], was also to be annulled. Despite these measures, negotiations with the British government continued, scheduled for the next day.

At 17:30 Stockholm time, Prime Minister Per Albin Hansson went on Sveriges Radio to announce the invasion of their country and their response. He announced that a state of emergency had been declared and that the armed forces were to be fully mobilised, including the calling up of reservists. Notably left out of the broadcast were the continued negotiations with the British since Hansson wished to avoid provoking either the Germans or the Soviets into retaliating against Sweden. Following his speech, civil defence announcements were made stating that the air raid sirens would be tested that evening (10 March) at 19:00. All non-essential public gatherings were prohibited, and cinemas, theatres and sporting events were closed until further notice. Churches and schools, however, would remain open. All those who were listening were now aware that Sweden was preparing itself for war. Hansson left the studios with tears in his eyes, knowing that it was now unlikely that all-out war could be prevented.

Hansson delivering his war speech to the Swedish people, 10 March 1940

The next morning, the cabinet again met with Mallet. The atmosphere was colder than ever. Mallet, who had privately opposed the invasion, believing a neutral Sweden to of greatest aid to the Allies, but nonetheless doing as his government had told him to, again reiterated the British offer. Again, the Swedish government rejected the advances. With the collapse of negotiations, and the continued escalation of fighting in the north, it appeared that efforts to keep Sweden out of the war were doomed to failure. Unbeknownst to Mallet, four Vickers Wellesley bombers from No. 37 Squadron RAF departed from Bardufoss Air Station at 14:30 that afternoon, headed for Kiruna. They weren't carrying bombs though, but leaflets printed prior to the invasion attempting to explain the British and Allied perspective on things [4]. Unfortunately, the Swedish anti-aircraft gunners weren't that receptive. British papers were met with Swedish bullets as Bofors 40mm anti-aircraft guns managed to shoot down 2 of the Wellesley’s, killing the whole of one crew which crashed into the city itself killing 73 people including the whole crew. The second bomber crashed outside Kiruna killling all but two of the bomber crew who were captured and spent the rest of the as POWs in Storsien for the rest of the war.

Aftermath of the British bomber crash in Kiruna

The "bombing" of Kiruna was the last straw. When news Prime Minister Hansson, he wept.

At 18:15 in the evening of 11 March 1940, a weary ambassador Mallet was handed Sweden's declaration of war on the United Kingdom and was instructed to leave Stockholm immediately. The French ambassador received similar treatment.

For the first time since 1815, Sweden was at war.

Swedish front, as of 13 March 1940

Two days later, on the 12th, Finland signed the Moscow Peace Treaty. The Winter War was over, and with it the Allied excuse for intervention in Scandinavia in the first place.

The treaty forced the Finns to cede the following the the Soviet Union:
- The Rybachy peninsula
- The Gulf of Finland islands of Suursaari, Tytärsaari, Lavansaari, Peninsaari and Seiskari
- Part of the Salla region
- Approximately half of Finnish Karelia, including the city of Viipuri.
- The port of Hanko was to be leased as a naval base for the Soviet Baltic Fleet for 30 years.

Additionally, the Canadian nickel mining company INCO had its operations in Petsamo seized by the Finnish government at the request of the Soviets [3]. This caused outrage within the British and Canadian governments, but little action could be taken as the mines had been occupied by the Soviets since late 1939.

Finnish territorial concessions to the Soviet Union as stated in
the Moscow Peace Treaty, signed 12 March 1940

The brutal terms shocked the Finns and saw condemnation from Britain and France, but with the military situation quickly deteriorating, the Finns had no choice but to sign. When forced to sign, Finnish President Kyösti Kallio quoted the Book of Zechariah by saying “May my hand, which is forced to sign such a paper, wither” [5].

By 13 March 1940, war had undoubtedly come to Scandinavia.

Announcement
Sorry for the sporadic upload schedule but I'm very busy at the moment with my studies. I try to upload when I can but this isn't taking priority right now. So right now, the best I can do is a new update once per week or two. Thanks for being so patient in waiting.

Footnotes
- [1] Günther said the same about the Luftwaffe in February 1940 in OTL
- [2] OTL agreement still signed here.
- [3] The Petsamo nickel mines were a somewhat controversial issue in OTL, when the Soviets agreed to withdraw from the mines partly due to British pressure. Here, the British is at war with the Soviets and have no such leverage. Thanks to Anarch King of Dipsodes for pointing this out.
- [4] I made this bit up.
- [5] This was a real quote of from Kallio.

Comments?

 

[BurkeanLibCon]

Chapter 8 – Married to the Soldier Mob
Political Fallout from Scandinavia
March 1940​

The invasions of Norway and Sweden had sent the geopolitical world into frenzy. News of the attack reached Berlin early on the morning of 9 March. The news caught Germany’s leadership completely off guard. Norway had been Germany’s main target for intervention in Scandinavia. Indeed, Germany had her own plans to invade Norway, codenamed Operation Weserübung. However, the plan was rendered moot as any landing troops would be slaughtered without the element of surprise the Allies had taken advantage of. Hitler’s death in February 1940 had worsened matters, as the Führer had died before naming who would command the operation. It wasn’t until the 29th that command of Weserübung was given to General Nikolaus von Falkenhorst [1], a commander experienced in Arctic warfare from serving in Finland during the Great War. The delay left very little time for Falkenhorst to react to the Allied attack. The situation in Sweden also worried the German leadership. If the iron ore from Sweden was cut off, the German war effort would be severely crippled. They couldn't let Sweden fall. Later that day, Göring delivered a speech to the Reichstag castigating the British and French, condemning their “monstrous violation of Swedish and Norwegian neutrality...completely ignoring their governments’ wishes”. Göring then proceeded to offer “military and economic support to any state that wishes to protect themselves against British aggression”. The statement was interpreted by Britain and France as an offer of alliance to Sweden, possibly Denmark as well.

General Nikolaus von Falkenhorst

In Moscow, Stalin also condemned the "unprovoked" attack on Scandinavia. Well aware of the PR hit from his own attack on Finland, he was keen to stress that the Soviets had only acted in “self-defence against Finnish attack”, referring to the shelling of Mainila. His defence wouldn't stand in an honest court, but at least the world was now facing towards Britain and away from him. Stalin was still concerned, however. On 27 February 1940, an unmarked Lockheed Model 14 Super Electra reconnaissance aircraft from RAF Habbaniya overflowing Soviet airspace over Azerbaijan had encountered anti-aircraft fire and a Soviet fighter had attempted an interception before the aircraft got away. This increased Soviet fears that the Allies may try to disrupt oil production in the Caucasus [2]. Coupled with the deployment of British forces in Norway, and Stalin’s fear of encirclement of the Soviet Union being appeared to be coming true. There were two main options Stalin could choose at this point. He could either try to open peace talks with the British as neither Britain nor Russian forces had actually fought one another on land, nor was he an official ally of Germany. The other option was to strengthen his relations with Germany, turning the existing German-Soviet economic and territorial agreements into a fully-fledged military alliance against the British and the French. Stalin chose to keep his options open and wait a little longer to see what would happen.

Joseph Stalin, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union

Oil refinery at Baku, c.1912

Lockheed Model 14 Super Electra, a similar one to the reconnaissance plane buzzed by the Soviets.

The situation in Sweden was also changing. The frontlines were hardly moving given the harsh climate and the difficulty of supplying troops, with the frontline settling outside the town of Björkliden. Neither side had a large air presence in the area either, but the British had better planes such as the Hawker Hurricane which could inflict greater damage on their Swedish counterparts. When the offer of assistance from Germany was received on 16 March, Stockholm accepted the offer. Over the next two weeks, Germany’s 10th Air Corps under the command of General der Fleiger Hans Geisler stationed themselves inside Swedish territory. The deployment made the British and Allied situation even worse as the RAF’s capabilities would be stretched thin operating against German planes in central and southern Sweden. As of now, no German ground troops were deployed in Sweden.

To the south, the Danish government was extremely concerned by the situation. Since the end of the Great War, the Danes had held a pacifistic foreign policy directed towards neutrality and even unilateral disarmament. Since the outbreak of war in September 1939, Danish troops were pulled back from the border to avoid allowing Germany a casus belli to invade. In some regards, the fears were unfounded as the Germans had no immediate plans to invade Denmark, instead planning to seize Danish airfields by diplomatic means [3]. The invasion of Norway had disrupted this policy. With British troops to the north, a resistant Sweden to the east and Germany to her south, Danish neutrality looked all but certain to be violated. The Kriegsmarine wished to secure Danish ports to outflank the British blockade and make access to the Atlantic easier. The Luftwaffe also wised to control Denmark’s airfields in order to dislodge the British from Norway and for easier access to Sweden should it be needed. The German leadership was therefore determined to gain control of Denmark’s facilities at almost any cost. However, Göring wished to take advantage of the damage done to the Allies and was initially reluctant to invade the small northern kingdom and negotiations were initiated instead. Eventually, however, it was realised that military action would have to be taken and a plan was drawn up. However, the plan – codenamed Operation Hindenburg – did not call for ground invasion, but a series of aerial strikes to take out the Danish Army Air Service. It was believed that a quick strike would be enough to scare the Danish government into cooperation.

At 06:20 local time on 17 March, Luftwaffe Messerschmitt Bf 110s appeared over Værløse Airbase, where the entire four squadron of the Danish Army Air Service was located. As the aircraft approached, a Focker C.V–E reconnaissance aircraft was attempting to get airborne. However, it was shot down by Hauptmann Wolfgang Falck at an altitude of 50 meters, killing both crew members [4]. The Bf 110s then proceeded to strafe the base under heavy anti-aircraft fire. They managed to destroy 14 aircraft and badly damaged a further 11 as they taxied for take-off. Most of the Danish air force had been wiped out in an instant [5].

Destroyed Focker C.Vs at Værløse following the German raid

News reached the government in Copenhagen at around 06:40. Immediately, the government was called to Amalienborg Palace for discussions with King Christian X and commander-in-chief Lieutenant General William Prior.

Lieutenant General William Wain Prior, Chief of the Royal Danish Army

During the discussions, several formations of Heinkel He 111 bombers flew over Copenhagen dropping a series of leaflets known as "OPROP!", explaining that Germany was taking pre-emptive action to protect Danish neutrality and independence from "British warmongering". The threat to the Danish government was clear, surrrender or the Luftwaffe would bomb civilian cities. The government understood that the military situation was hopeless. Mainland Denmark had no major natural obstacles where drawn-out resistance could be sustained, and the destruction of the air force left cities vulnerable to unopposed bombardment, the prospect of which terrified the government. With the option available to them, only Prior favoured continued resistance. Stauning contacted German ambassador, Cécil von Renthe-Fink, to inform him that resistance would cease Denmark would accept German conditions for a ceasefire, which came into force at 07:12 that morning. After just 52 minutes, Denmark had been brought to heel, with just 11 Danish deaths and not a single German one. Denmark would spend the rest of the war under German occupation. Britain responded three days later by occupying the Faroe Islands.

Cécil von Renthe-Fink, German Ambassador to Denmark

Thorvald Stauning, Prime Minister of Denmark

Northern Europe by the end of March 1940

Meanwhile, in Berlin, planning was continuing for operations on a new front. Across the English Channel, the Allies were also planning their next moves.

Announcement
Firstly, apologies for the late updates but I've been very busy recently. Once I've pushed through this important period of studying, I'll try and return to a more predictable update schedule.

Footnotes
- [1] In OTL, Falkenhorst was named on the 21st. Here, the delay caused by Hitler’s death (combined with the Allied invasion a week after his appointment ITTL) scuppers the operation completely.
- [2] A similar incident took place on 5 April 1940 in OTL when a Lockheed Super Electra was intercepted over Batumi.
- [3] This was Germany’s initial plan in OTL. Hitler’s decision to invade Denmark wasn’t made until 1 March 1940 OTL. Here, Hitler dies in February and the Nazi leadership have been more concerned with restoring order in the meantime.
- [4] This happened during OTL's invasion of Denmark.
- [5] In OTL, 11 aircraft were destroyed and 14 were heavily damaged.

Comments?

 

[BurkeanLibCon]

Apologies for the delays. The next update (Chapter 10) is mostly written by now as well and will be out soon.

Chapter 9 – Look West
Western Front Planning
October 1939 – March 1940​

Back in October 1939 OKH General Staff Chief, General Franz Halder, had submitted the first plans for Fall Gelb, the invasion of the Low Countries and France. Much like the old Schlieffen Plan of 1914, it envisioned a frontal assault through central Belgium that would end with the Allies thrown back behind the River Somme. Estimated casualties for the operation were in the region of 500,000, and the main assault against France would not begin until 1942 [1]. No one was happy with the plan, not even Halder and especially not Hitler. However, his suggestion of a decisive armoured breakthrough like had happened in Poland was opposed by Halder and other Generals such as Walther von Brauchitsch who didn’t believe such as strategy would work against a Western European army like the French [2]. Other generals were also unhappy with Halder’s plan. General Gurd von Rundstedt, commander of Army Group A, complained that it went against the tradition of Bewugungskrieg that had guided German military policy since the 19th century [3]. He believed the key to a breakthrough needed to encircle and destroy Allied forces lay in the Sedan. From late October onwards, Rundstedt began to agree with his Chief of Staff Generalleutnant Erich von Manstein that a new plan was needed, one that would make Army Group A as strong as possible, at the expense of the more northerly Army Group B.

General Franz Halder, Chief of the General Staff of the German Army High Command (OKH)

Generalleutnant Erich von Manstein, Chief of Staff of Army Group A
and namesake of the Manstein Plan

Whilst Manstein was drafting plans, he was joined informally by Generalleutnant Heinz Guderian. Guderian suggested concentrating most German armour at Sedan and having them advance straight to the English Channel without waiting for the infantry. This plan would be risky as German armour could end up cut off, but it could (if successful) end in strategic Allied collapse. Between 31 October 1939 and January 1940, Manstein submitted a series of increasingly radical memoranda to the OKH, all of which were rejected, never reaching Hitler. Then, something happened which changed the situation immensely.

On 10 January 1940, a Messerschmitt Bf. 108, piloted by Major Erich Hoenmanns, crash landed in Mechelen in neutral Belgium after losing direction due to poor weather. It is believed that Hoenmanns had mistakenly cut off fuel supply to the engines by moving a lever in the cockpit [4], which caused the engine to splutter to a halt Hoenmanns to attempt to land the plane as the engine spluttered to a halt. As the plane descended, both wings were torn away by two Canadian poplar trees as Hoenmanns sped through them. The nose section was then torn away by the heavy engine. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair and Hoenmanns had been killed instantly upon impact [5].

Major Erich Hoenmanns

Hoenmanns's plane after the crash

Had Hoenmanns been alone on that flight, the incident would pass without concern, except that a German Major would have died after crashing in neutral soil. However, Hoenmanns had been carrying a passenger, Major Helmuth Reinberger, who was responsible for the supply of the 7. Flieger-Division (7th Air Division) [6]. This division had been earmarked as the force that would drop behind Belgian lines at Namur the minute a German invasion was launched. What Hoenmanns had been unaware of was that Reinberger was carrying secret documents detailing the plans for a German invasion, scheduled to begin on the 17th. In the crash, Reinberger had also been killed, leaving the plans intact when two Belgian border guards, Sergeant Franz Habets and Corporal Gerard Rubens [7], were alerted to the incident by a local farmhand.

Major Helmuth Reinberger

Initially, the Belgians disputed the authenticity of the documents, but they did make clear the general outline for German attacks against the Netherlands and Belgium despite not mentioning a specific date. After it was confirmed that the information in the plans corresponded with a warning given by Italian Foreign Minister, Galeazzo Ciano [8], that the Germans would attack Belgium around the 15th, it was deduced that the information was indeed correct. The French liaison officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Hautcouer, was handed a copy of the plans, as was the British commander, Lord Gort. Neither man was informed as to how the Belgians had gathered the information. The Dutch and Luxembourgish monarchs were then warned by King Leopold III by phone using pre-arranged codewords.

Leopold III, King of the Belgians

John Vereker, 6th Viscount Gort, commander of the British Expeditionary Force in France

On the 12th, the French Chief of Staff, Maurice Gamelin, met with his highest operational commanders and the Chief of Military Intelligence Colonel Louis Rivet. Whilst Rivet was sceptical about the authenticity of the captured plans, Gamelin believed it was a great opportunity to move the French Army into Belgium in preparation for his decisive offensive into Germany scheduled for 1941. Gamelin also hoped that the French and British would be able to entrench themselves in central Belgium primitively should the Germans proceed with their invasion. As such, Gamelin ordered the 1st Army group and the adjoining Third Army to move up to the Belgian border [9].

Maurice Gamelin, Chief of the Army Staff of the French Army

In Berlin, news of the incident sent Hitler and his generals into a frenzy. On the 11th, Hitler sacked the commander of Luftflotte 2, General Helmuth Felmy, and his chief of staff, Colonel Josef Kammhuber. Nevertheless, the invasion was to continue as planned on the 17th [10]. On the 12th, General Jodl wrote in his diary “If the enemy is in possession of all the files, situation catastrophic! [11]” Hitler was furious about the compromising of the plans and began demanding an invasion be launched as soon as possible.

General Alfred Jodl, Chief of the Operations Staff of the German Armed Forces High Command (OKW)

Over the course of the 14th-15th January, the crisis reached its apex. Gamelin ordered that Allied troops should move up to the Franco-Belgian frontier to be ready to enter at a moment’s notice. However, no invitation was given by the Belgians as the anticipated attack that day never happened. Hitler had been convinced by Jodl to delay the attack due to the extremely poor weather conditions which would have likely prevented any meaningful advance and with practically the entire invasion plan falling into Allied hands meant they would be able to predict Germany’s every move. It wasn’t easy to convince Hitler to delay the attack. His reduced capabilities following the Munich bombing had made him even more irritable. Had Hitler decided to proceed with the attack, it could very well have changed the course of the war [12].

Sensing an opportunity, Manstein managed to get a member of his staff to deliver a copy of his plan to Hitler before Halder was able to sack him and send to him to East Prussia [13]. On 20th January, Hitler convened a meeting with Manstein, General Jodl and General Rudolf Schmundt, the Army’s Chief of Personnel. The next day, Hitler ordered that Manstein’s plan to be adopted [14]. Halder, at the same time, went through an “astonishing change of opinion” becoming a champion of Manstein’s ideas. It would persist as the main German battle plan under Göring following Hitler’s death in February. Whilst the Germans were planning to spread the war westward, the Allies were planning to spread it in the other direction.

Footnotes
- [1] This was Halder’s plan in OTL.
- [2] The prevailing belief among OKH early on as well.
- [3] Rundstedt believed the same about Halder’s plan in OTL.
- [4] The likely cause of the crash in OTL as well.
- [5] In OTL, Hoenmanns survived unscathed. Here, he’s not so lucky.
- [6] Reinberger’s OTL role at the time of the Mechelen incident.
- [7] The border guards who arrested Hoenmanns and Reinberger after OTL’s crash.
- [8] Ciano also warned the Belgians in OTL of an impending German attack in early 1940.
- [9] Gamelin ordered this in OTL as well.
- [10] All occurred in OTL as well. (You’re probably tired of the OTL footnotes, I promise you it gets interesting soon. Don’t worry.)
- [11] Jodl’s entry for the 12th as well.
- [12] I’m sure this would be a popular discussion topic for alternate historians ITTL.
- [13] In OTL, Manstein was sacked as Army Group A’s Chief of Staff on the 27th January. However, he managed to get his plan shown to Hitler before Halder could transfer him to Stettin.
- [14] In OTL, Manstein’s plan was adopted on the 18th February. Here, the Manstein plan is adopted earlier due to a worse Mechelen incident.

Comments?

 

[BurkeanLibCon]

Chapter 10 – Look East
Southern Front Planning
March – April 1940​

Following the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, the British and French governments became increasingly worried about Soviet oil shipments to Germany. As such, after the German-Soviet invasion of Poland and subsequent Anglo-French declarations of war, planning for a strategic attack on Soviet oil-producing facilities in the Caucasus. As the Winter War in Finland raged on, the plan grew momentum. On 17 January 1940, Gamelin submitted a report to French Prime Minister Édouard Daladier containing the following:

“Dependence on oil supplies from the Caucasus is the fundamental weakness of Russian economy. The Armed Forces were totally dependent on this source also for their motorized agriculture. More than 90 percent of oil extraction and 80 percent of refinement was located in the Caucasus (primarily Baku). Therefore, interruption of oil supplies on any large scale would have far-reaching consequences and could even result in the collapse of all the military, industrial and agricultural systems of Russia [1].”

Édouard Daladier, Prime Minister of France

Maurice Gamelin, Chief of the Army Staff of the French Army

As the fighting in Finland continued to rage, planning by the Anglo-French also continued and by mid-March the plans for “Western Air Plan 106 [2]”, codenamed “Operation Pike” were complete [3].

Baku oil fields

To perfect the plans, the British undertook several aerial reconnaissance missions in the area using a high-altitude and high-speed method developed by Sidney Cotton. Several unmarked and disguised Lockheed Model 14 Super Electra aircraft loitered over Soviet air space for several hours at a time over the course of several months. On one such mission on the 27 February 1940, a Lockheed had encountered enemy anti-aircraft fire whilst hovering over Baku [4]. Following the recon missions, it was discovered that the facilities at Batum in Georgia and Baku in Azerbaijan were vulnerable to air attack due to their locations by the Black and Caspian Seas respectively. Therefore, to maximise the element of surprise, the more challenging target of Grozny was to be hit first [5].

By April, 4 squadrons of Bristol Blenheim Mk IV bombers had been transferred to Middle East Command:
- No. 11 Squadron RAF
- No. 14 Squadron RAF
- No. 45 Squadron RAF
- No. 84 Squadron RAF [6]
Each squadron containing 48 bombers. In addition, they possessed several Vickers Wellesley bombers for night missions. 11 Squadron and 45 Squadron were earmarked for striking Grozny, 14 Squadron would be tasked with raiding Baku whilst 84 Squadron would hit Batum.

Bristol Blenheim IV bomber

Vickers Wellesley bomber

The French component of the operation composed of a force of 65 Martin Maryland bombers and 24 Farman F.222 heavy bombers from Syrian airfields such as Homs and Palmyra. Due to the range of the French bombers (1,100 nautical miles for the Martin Maryland) they would almost exclusively focus on Batumi. All in all, the operation was supposed to last 3 months and drop a total of over 1,000 short tons of bombs on Soviet targets [7]. After Turkey and Iran, the latter somewhat tepidly, granted the Allies permission to overfly their territory, the operation was given the go-ahead for the 28 April 1940.

Map of the situation in the Middle East, April 1940.
Allied targets inside the Soviet Union: Yellow dots
Allied bases involved in Operation Pike: Green dots

As expected, the Soviets weren’t unaware of this pattern of thought and had anticipated Allied attacks in the area. In early March 1940, the leading staff of the Transcaucasian Military District mapped out a war game in which the “black” forces attacked the “red” forces with the aid of “blue” and “green” forces, only to be repelled by the “reds” and an offensive launched into Erzurum and Tebriz [8]. In the Caucasus area, the Soviets had also increased the number of anti-aircraft guns and fighter aircraft should any incursion of their territory take place.

The first major Allied strategic bombing raid of the Second World War was about to take place.

Footnotes
- [1] Quoted from Gamelin’s OTL report. (Source: Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Pike) ITTL, the report is produced earlier than in OTL due to the state of war with the Soviet Union.
- [2] OTL original name for Operation Pike.
- [3] In OTL, the plans for Pike were ready by April. Here, the war has pushed things up by about a month.
- [4] See Chapter 8 for more info.
- [5] Same plans as in OTL as well.
- [6] Whilst researching, I discovered that these squadrons all ran Bristol Blenheims and were based at RAF Habbaniya in 1941. I hope that using them here isn’t too out of the question. Feel free to point out if I’m wrong.
- [7] All part of OTLs plans for Operation Pike.
- [8] This exercise happened in OTL as well in late March, and yes, the colours were the same too.

Comments?

 

[BurkeanLibCon]

The Situation in Europe as of April 1940​

Blue: Allies (United Kingdom & Dominions [not shown] + France)
Light Blue: Under Allied occupation
Burgundy: German-Soviet bloc (Germany + Soviet Union)
Orangish-Red: Under German occupation
Yellowish-Orange: German client states
Purple: Sweden (co-belligerent of Germany)

The Western Front remains in a state of "Phoney War". Denmark has fallen under German occupation whilst Norway has capitulated to the British. The Scandinavian Front remains a stalemate whilst Finland has had an arm and a leg ripped off by the Soviets, and the Allies are preparing to bomb Soviet oil fields in the Caucasus.

 

[BurkeanLibCon]

Just one last late Christmas present for you all, Chamberlain's war speech on Russia. I've tried to write this in a style that would seem appropriate for Chamberlain to deliver, hope you enjoy.

Neville Chamberlain's Declaration of war on the Soviet Union
19 September 1939​

"It was little over two weeks ago that I last addressed you from Downing Street, to inform you that once again this country was to undertake involvement in a war on the continent against Germany. The cause of our declaration was their deliberate and flagrant attack against Poland. As such, we, along with France, fulfilled our obligations to the Poles and declared war on Germany to show the world that we would not tolerate such violations of peace. Since then, the Poles have been bravely resisting this evil onslaught unleashed upon them.

However, Germany would not be the only problem faced by Poland. On Sunday, September 17th, Joseph Stalin – the leader of Soviet Russia – ordered his troops to cross the Polish border in the east, most likely in accordance with the agreement he signed with Hitler in Moscow in August. We did not expect such an attack from the Russians. Only weeks before their treaty with Germany, we were engaged in talks with the Russian leadership with regards to containing the threat from Germany.

But it is now clear to us that Stalin had no interest in containing Hitler, nor of preserving the peace. His only interest, like Hitler, is conquest. Conquest and subjugation to brutal Bolshevik ideology. His interest was in the destruction of Poland by any means necessary, including the use of military force.

This development was completely intolerable to us. As such, we and France announced to Moscow that we would fulfil our obligations to Poland against any attacking nation. The British ambassador in Moscow then handed the Russian government a final notice yesterday, on the 18th. They were to inform us by 12 o’clock on Tuesday September 19th that they were prepared to immediately withdraw their forces from Poland, or a state of war would exist between them and ourselves. Regrettably, no reply from Moscow was heard, and subsequently this country is now at war with Soviet Russia.

I know that many of you will be wondering what is to happen now, and I cannot blame you for wondering. We now face the greatest enemies this country has ever faced in its entire history. In my broadcast on September 3rd, I informed you that we would be fighting evil things. Indeed, the evils of Nazism and Stalinist Bolshevism represent the greatest threat to peace, to justice and to everything that is good. But we have a clear conscience. We have now resolved to finish this job by any means necessary. I know that you will all continue to play your part in this struggle, just as you were before, whether you be in the fighting services on the ground, or working in Civil Defence ensuring the safety of our people, or in wartime manufacturing, producing the tools we need to finish this job. The tools we will need to strike back the forces that strive against us, and ensure that the right and the good will triumph.

May God bless you all."

Neville Chamberlain
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

I'll get back to writing the regular chapters now, but I have exams to revise for so there might be some delays.

 

[BurkeanLibCon]

Chapter 11 – Bombs and Mountains
Operation Pike
April – May 1940​

On the afternoon of 28 April 1940, 96 Bristol Blenheim bombers of No. 11 and No. 45 Squadron RAF took off from RAF Habbaniya and began to fly over Iraq – and then Turkey – on the approach to the Soviet city of Grozny. The first Allied strategic bombing raid on the Second World War was now taking place. Unfortunately, many planes were unable to find their targets. Of the 96, less than 35 actually found their targets [1]. The attacks over Baku that evening by 14 Squadron were more successful with over 45% of the bombers successfully striking their targets, lighting the night sky with bright orange flames. Overall, the first night of operations for the British had been less successful than hoped for. The French strike on Batum had been most successful of the 28 April raids, with most of their Martin Marylands striking their targets, which included the port on the Black Sea [2]. During the Batumi raid, civilian areas of the city had been hit, which gave the Pravda publishing machine plenty of propaganda for the next day’s paper.

Oil refinery in Grozny hit by Allied bombers [4]

Stalin was, as expected, outraged by the attacks. He was quick to condemn the “unspeakable evil imperialist aggression” and vowed revenge for dead Soviet citizens. He ordered that anti-air defences in the Caucasus be stepped up and that any efforts to make an overture to the Allies be stopped [3]. As far as Stalin now saw it, Britain and France were his main enemies. In order to fight them more effectively, he finally settled on deepening relations with Göring’s Germany. To this effect, he dispatched Molotov to renegotiate the existing German-Soviet agreements in the hope of building a formal military alliance between the two [5].

The few daylight raids brought similar, if slightly lower, success rates. By day 4 (2 May 1940), Allied bombers had begun to face resistance from Soviet Polikarpov I-16s and I-153s who managed to shoot down 5 bombers approaching Baku. Anti-aircraft guns had also been moved into place, but few of the troops possessed the newest 37mm and 85mm guns.

Polikarpov I-16

Polikarpov I-153

On the political front, the Soviets were now attempting to persuade Turkey and Iran to stop Allied bombers flying over their territory. On the 5th, the Soviet ambassador in Ankara, Aleksey Terentyev, presented Turkish president İnönü and Foreign Minister Saracoğlu with an ultimatum threatening to bomb Turkish cities unless they stopped French and British military aircraft from violating their airspace. Not wanting to bring Turkey into the war, İnönü complied and informed the French and British governments that they would no longer be able to fly over their territory to carry out attacks on Russia. Iran did the same on the 8th.

İsmet İnönü, President of Turkey

The withdrawal of Turkish and Iranian support for the operation severely hampered Allied operations. Their main routes to Batumi and Grozny were finally cut off. Daytime raids were halted after this point. Despite this, night raids over Baku continued as the Ankara and Tehran had little means of stopping the Allies.

On 15 May 1940, the night raiding of Baku was temporarily halted as events further west now took precedent…

Footnotes
- [1] RAF Bomber Command had a terrible accuracy record in early-to-mid 1940, so this isn’t too unreasonable a success rate.
- [2] Whether by accuracy or by luck is up for you to decide since this is my first real attempt at describing an alternate military operation, and I don’t know how accurate it seems to you.
- [3] I made a brief mention of this in Chapter 8.
- [4] This is actually a picture of the Columbia Aquila refinery in Romania during Operation Tidal Wave
- [5] As of TTLs April 1940, Germany and the Soviet Union are co-belligerents fighting common enemies, and not formal allies.

Comments?

 

[BurkeanLibCon]

Chapter 12 – The First Salvo
Western Front (Part 1)
May 1940​

Since the outbreak of war in September 1939, the Western Front had remained strangely quiet, despite heavy conflict at sea and the exporting of military action to Scandinavia and the Caucasus. Even after the forceful entry of Norway, Sweden and Denmark into the war over the winter of 1939-40, there had been no bombing raids into German or Western Allied territory. The same could not be said of the Soviet Union, however, as Operation Pike had only hardened their resolve to fight to the bitter end. The Germans too were conscious of time and knew that sooner or later, they would have to strike into the west in order to avoid the inevitable Allied offensive, burying Germany in an avalanche and steel and fire. To have a chance of winning this war quickly, they would have to achieve what they had failed to do in four years in the last war, knock out France and force Britain to capitulate. That German offensive would come in the spring of 1940.

The German campaign in the west began on 10 May 1940. At 04:35, the 1st, 2nd, and 10th Panzer Divisions crossed the Luxembourgish border at the border crossings at Wallendorf-Pont, Vianden and Echtermach. Despite the Schuster Line defences, these were easily surpassed by using wooden ramps to pass the tank traps. At 05:30, Genera l Charles Condé of the French 3rd Army dispatched aerial reconnaissance over Luxembourg having been ordered to advance into the country if the Germans attacked. At 06:00, the French 3rd Light Cavalry Division entered the country [1].

German troops crossing the Schuster Line into Luxembourg

By 07:45, Grand Duchess Charlotte left the country and crossed the French border following consultation with her ministers. At 08:00, she was joined by Prime Minister Pierre Dupong and his entourage who met up with French troops in Longlaville. By this point, Luxembourg City was surrounded by German forces [2]. Meanwhile, Air Marshal Arthur Barratt, deeply annoyed by French reluctance to make use of air power, ordered 226 Squadron RAF to attack German tank columns with its Fairey Battle bombers. They flew without escort. After encountering flak, in which most planes were damaged, they broke off. Most escaped, except for one which crashed near Bettendorf. The crew of three were pulled from the burning wreck by German troops, one of the airmen died later in hospital of his injuries [3]. By the evening, most of Luxembourg was occupied by German forces.

Air Marshal Arthur "Ugly" Barratt

In the Netherlands, the war began early in the morning as residents awoke to the sounds of German aircraft above. This invasion saw use of paratroopers to seize key strategic points in anticipation of ground troops. Kampfgeschwader 4 (KG 4) destroyed 35 aircraft at the naval airfield at De Kooy. The Duitch soon lost most of their medium bombers after KG 4 struck Schiphol. By the end of the 10th, the Dutch were left with just 70 aircraft following more German attacks. When the ground attack followed, by the day’s end German troops reached the Meppel-Groningen line in the north whilst in the south they had captured the strategic city of Maastricht [4].

The attack on the Hague wasn’t quite so successful, however. Paratroopers failed to capture Ypenburg airfield in time for the airborne infantry to land in their aircraft. The first eighteen Junkers were all shot down, turning the airfield into a wreck. The remaining force were forced to land in nearby fields and towns, dispersing the troops. Ockenburg and Valkenburg were captured, although the latter was problematic as the airstrip was unfinished and landing planes became stuck in the soft soil.

In Belgium, on the evening of the 9th (the day before the invasion), the Belgian military attaché warned the government that the Germans would attack the following day. The Belgians had been extremely worried about a potential German invasion since the capture of their plans following the Mechelen Incident [5]. When the plans were discovered, the Belgians took the plans seriously after initially suspecting a ruse. Deducing that Germany wouldn't use this plan anymore, they predicted that the Wehrmacht would move to the English Channel after cutting through the Ardennes. Despite warning the British and French of their discovery, they were ignored [6]. After the warning came in, the Belgian government was quick to act. Following a brief cabinet meeting, King Leopold phoned the French Grand Quartier Général to inform them of the imminent attack at 21:35 on the evening of the 9th [7]. Gamelin was woken up at 23:00 having just nodded off and ordered the Dyle Plan to commence [8]. The Allied forces moved up to the Belgian border, only to be informed by the Belgian guards that they couldn’t enter due to Belgium’s neutrality. A few arguments erupted between some French officers and Belgian guards while a series of telephone calls between the French High Command and King Leopold confirmed that the Allies couldn’t enter unless the Germans invaded, which they did at 04:35 on the 10th. The first Allied troops to enter Belgian territory were the British 12th Royal Lancers in their armoured cars at 04:57, just over twenty minutes after the German invasion began [9].

British troops moving into Herseaux in Belgium, 10 May 1940

The German invasion began with airstrikes over bases and communications centres. The centrepiece of Luftwaffe operations on the 10th of May was the fall of Fort Eben-Emael. Reichspräsident Göring [10] had been looking forward to the Luftwaffe’s widespread usage in the upcoming campaign, enhanced following the success of Operation Hindenburg in March [11]. The attack on the fortress commenced at 04:30 with fourty-two gliders carrying nearly 500 airborne Fallschirmjäger troops departed from Cologne. Under orders of radio silence, the pilots of the tow-planes navigated by a series of signal fires pointing them towards Belgium [12]. Two gliders were prematurely lost as one’s towrope snapped, and another cut its rope too early [13].

A DFS 230 troop-carrying glider, similar to the ones used by the Germans against Eben-Emael


After the rest reached their targets, they released their towropes 20 miles from their targets at an altitude of 7,000 feet. The gliders landed inside the perimeter of Eben-Emael, defended by the Belgian 7th Infantry Division. The Germans made use of flamethrowers and special explosive devices to disable the defences. The Belgians were overcome within 24 hours. The main Belgian defensive position had been successfully breached, throwing Belgian and Allied plans into chaos. As the German 18th Army began pouring throw the captured Eben-Emael towards the Albert Canal, it was yet to be seen whether the German advance could be stopped.

Footnotes
- [1] So far, all OTL.
- [2] All OTL as well.
- [3] this rescue happened in OTL as well.
- [4] Apologies for the scant detail on the Dutch campaign as I want to focus primarily on Belgium, but the fight in the Netherlands mostly follows the OTL path.
- [5] In TTL, the Mechelen Incident went worse for Germany with the whole plan captured intact. See Chapter 9.
- [6] The Belgians deduced the Ardennes move in OTL as well. And just like in OTL, they were ignored by the Franco-British Allies.
- [7] In OTL, they were informed at 01:00 on the 10th.
- [8] This happened at 06:30 on the 10th in OTL.
- [9] The Lancers entered Belgium at 13:00 on the 10th in OTL.
- [10] See Chapter 4.
- [11] TTL’s name for the invasion of Denmark, see Chapter 8 for more.
- [12] This is how the German pilots assaulting Eben-Emael navigated in OTL.
- [13] This happened in OTL as well, leaving command of the operation in the hands of its second-in-command, Oberfeldwebel Helmut Wenzel, as the commander, Oberleutnant Witzig, was in one of the lost gliders.

Comments?

 

[BurkeanLibCon]

Chapter 13 – Look North
The Scandinavian Campaign (Part 5)
March – May 1940​

The military campaign in Sweden had by now settled into a stalemate with little ground action by either side. By April, Luftwaffe units from the 10th Air Corps, commanded by Generalleutnant Hans-Ferdinand Geisler, had based themselves in Sweden. However, they had been limited by orders of the Swedish government to limit their campaign to tactical attacks on British targets inside Sweden. The reason for this was to avoid RAF bombing of major Swedish cities and to avoid looking like an aggressive German ally to maintain international sympathy for Sweden’s “defensive war” against the British [1]. However, the Germans did manage to extract a key concession from Sweden in the spring of 1940.

Generalleutnant Hans-Ferdinand Geisler

In April, Göring sent Ribbentrop to Stockholm to meet with Prime Minister Hansson with the intention of building a more formal Swedish-German alliance. Despite German promises of a Swedish sphere in Scandinavia including Norway, Denmark and possibly Iceland, Hansson declined and continued to insist on a limited campaign to drive out the Allies from the north, reminding the German foreign minister that Sweden remained a key supplier of iron ore to Germany, the sources of which were actively being targeted by British forces. Frustrated by political concerns, Göring begrudgingly instructed Ribbentrop to accept for now. To keep Berlin placated, Hansson gave Ribbentrop verbal and written assurances that Sweden would not sign a separate peace with Britain or France without Germany’s approval, backed up by a formal letter by Hansson to Göring on 27 April 1940. This understanding became known as the “Hansson-Ribbentrop Agreement” [2]. Upon arrival back in Berlin on the 31st, Ribbentrop remarked to his wife Anna “Rather than go through that again, I would prefer to have to have three or four teeth taken out” [3]. In the end, the Swedes had further entangled themselves in the growing European war whilst Germany had been forced to concede military objectives in Scandinavia to keep the Swedes on side, for now...

Joachim von Ribbentrop, Reichsminister of Foreign Affairs

Per Albin Hansson, Prime Minister of Sweden

To the east, Finland found herself in a very tight sport indeed. The Winter War had cost her more than 25,000 dead and 40,000 wounded and she had lost 9% of her territory and 80% of her industrial capacity to the Soviets, and 12% of Finland’s population had been forced from their homes. To her east lay Soviet Russia who were not considered to be friendly to the newly pruned Finnish state. When the terms of the Moscow Peace Treaty were announced, Finnish flags across the country were flown at half-mast. When two of Prime Minister Ryti’s cabinet resigned, a new government was formed. After initial difficulty filling the post of foreign minister, G. A. Gripenberg, the ambassador to London, was appointed [4]. Replacing him in London was energetic former Prime Minister, Toivo Mikael Kivimäki [5].

G. A. Gripenberg, Finland's new foreign minister

Toivo Mikael Kivimäki, new Finnish ambassador to the United Kingdom

Finland needed allies if she were to survive. During the waning days of the Winter War, Finland had reached out to Sweden to discuss the idea of a Nordic Defence Alliance. However, the idea was scuppered by the British invasion of Norway and Sweden as well as Soviet opposition to the plan. Despite this, the Swedes attempted to maintain close ties to Finland, despite now being de-facto allies to Finland’s enemy’s co-belligerent [6]. The traditional ally of Britain seemed like a good ally. In April 1940, the British sent Charles Hambro, the under-secretary of the Ministry of Economic Warfare, through occupied Norway to Helsinki to sign a war trade treaty with Finland. Relations with Helsinki had cooled since the Moscow Treaty and subsequent nationalisation of Anglo-Canadian firm INCO, but wartime concerns trumped this [7]. In the treaty, the Finns agreed to give Britain control of strategic export materials in exchange for Britain sending arms and supplies to Finland [8]. As 1940 progressed, and tensions with the Soviet Union continued to grow, only time would foretell Finland’s fate.

The situation to the west in Norway was complicated. After the British invasion, the German, Soviet and Swedish diplomatic missions had been evicted, the latter only reluctantly once the Swedish front bogged down. Despite this, Norway (led by Prime Minister Johan Nygaardsvold) officially remained neutral. This situation benefitted the Swedes as they wouldn’t have to worry about an expanded front against them opened by the Allies, and the Norwegians since they didn’t have to worry about being forced to fight their Nordic neighbour (for now that is). The RAF had taken control of several airfields in Norway during this time, including Stavanger and Narvik to protect Norway from any potential attack from the skies.

Johan Nygaardsvold, Prime Minister of Norway

Whilst Denmark remained under German occupation following Operation Hindenburg [9], the country also remained officially neutral. Indeed, the similarities to the Norwegian occupation were not missed by observers, and Denmark became known in German government circles as the “ideal protectorate”. Out in the North Sea though, Denmark’s empire was dismantled. The Faroe Islands were quickly occupied by Britian following Copenhagen’s capitulation. Further north, Iceland remained untouched by the war. On 18 March 1940, the day after Denmark fell, the Icelandic government declared King Christian X to be unable to undertake his duties in Iceland, and by resolution of the Althing, they were subsequently handed to the government in Reykjavík (headed by Prime Minister Hermann Jónasson) as well as responsibility for costal defence and foreign policy [10]. However, the island’s refusal to accept Britain’s offer to join the war “as a belligerent and an ally” as well as German diplomatic presence in Iceland continued to worry the Admiralty in London who began to plan for an invasion of Iceland should the need for Icelandic bases ever arise, likely if the bases in Norway were ever lost.

Hermann Jónasson, Prime Minister of Iceland

Footnotes
- [1] ITTL, Sweden’s position is describable as akin to Finland’s in OTL as they wish to remain somewhat separate from Germany but are ultimately allied with them. Except here, Sweden has greater claim to fighting a defensive war against a foreign power due to Operation Silver (see Chapter 6), unlike OTL Finland in 1941.
- [2] Inspired by OTLs Ryti-Ribbentrop Agreement of 1944.
- [3] Hitler said the same thing to Mussolini in OTL after meeting with Spanish dictator Franco.
- [4] In OTL, Gripenburg was considered for the job but was deemed to be too unpopular with Germany.
- [5] As opposed to OTL, where Kivimäki was sent to Berlin.
- [6] Bit of a mouthful, sorry.
- [7] See Chapter 7 for the Moscow Peace Treaty.
- [8] A similar treaty was agreed by London and Helsinki in OTL as well, but the German invasion of Norway made it useless.
- [9] See Chapter 8 for more info.
- [10] The Icelandic government did the same thing after Denmark capitulated OTL; except here it happens earlier.

Comments?

 

[BurkeanLibCon]

Chapter 14 – All Loud on the Western Front
Western Front (Part 2)
May 1940​

After the fall of Eben-Emael, all the Allies plans fell into total disarray. It’s fall allowed for the Germans to rapidly advance to the Albert Canal, establishing bridgeheads across before the British could reach it. With the questionable nature of the Dyle Plan thrown out of the window, you’d think the Allies would change their plans. But no, the French maintained their rigid commitment to their timetables, as if blind to the events on the battlefield. This was not helped at all by the poor communication among the French Army, with Gamelin leading the war effort from the Château de Vincennes in the French countryside [1]. It was as though the French High Command had never heard the phrase “no plan survives contact with the enemy [2]”.

But the worst was yet to come for the Allies. On the night of the 11 May, the British 3rd Infantry Division arrived at Leuven on the Dyle. However, the Belgian 10th Infantry Division already there open fired fire on the Brits, mistaking them for Germans. The friendly fire incident only ended after General Montgomery was shot in the chest and yelled out “Argh, shit!” Despite rushing him to a nearby medical unit and giving him urgent medical attention, Montgomery died early on the morning of the 12th from blood loss [3].

General Bernard Law Montgomery
(17 November 1887 - 12 May 1940, aged 52)

That same day, the French 1st Army arrived in the town of Gembloux. Their task was to cover a flat, unfortified position in the Belgian defences known as the “Gembloux gap.” The German plan was to seize the area around Gembloux to draw the main Allied armoured force away from the Ardennes, where the real action was going to happen [4]. The French sent two divisions, armed with SOMUA S35s, forward to engage the Germans in a delaying action to allow the rest of the French force to dig in. The Battle of Hannut was the largest tank battle of the Second World War up to that point [5].

SOMUA S35 tank, like the ones used by the French Army in Belgium 1940

Meanwhile, to the south, the Germans broke through the French defences at Sedan at the same time as the Dutch Army surrendered (except there forces in Zealand). The defeat at Sedan was truly disastrous, allowing for the Germans to begin their almost suicidal charge across Northern France. The Allies faced being cut off and begun a general retreat in Belgium whilst the Germans continued their advance.

The campaign in the west had impacts elsewhere. After the Germans had forced the Dutch to surrender by carpet-bombing the port city of Rotterdam on the 14th, RAF Bomber Command got permission to bomb German targets east of the Rhineland on the 15th. The first raid on the 15/16t, 96 bombers set off to bomb the Ruhr. 78 out of the 96 were charged with hitting oil-related targets. Only 24 hit their target [6]. On the 18th, British bombers took off from Sola Air Station in Norway to bomb the German port of Wilhelmshaven. The next night, the Germans retaliated by bombing airfields and industrial targets in Stavanger and Oslo. The German bombing brought about a Norwegian declaration of war on Germany and the Soviet Union. However, there was no combat between Swedish and Norwegian forces as both sides dug in at the border, continuing the Scandinavian “Sitzkrieg” as the western one ended.

Things continued to go from bad to worse for the Allies. On the 20th, Gamelin ordered Allied forces in Belgium and Northern France to fight south and join forces fighting up to the Somme. Despite Gort’s doubts about the French plan, he fortified Arras and on the 21st, counterattacked the Germans. During the battle, British and French forces advanced 10 miles. The British tanks performed very well, German shells bouncing off the armour of the Matlida IIs. Ultimately however, the Allies had to retreat as their force wasn’t strong enough to consolidate the gained ground. They came away with 400 German prisoners and a major hit scored against the German officer corps.
Whilst advancing on the right column, a group of around 4 Matildas encountered a lightly guarded German staff car. The Matildas proceeded to engage the Germans, causing the staff car to crash off the road, rolling a full revolution in the process. When the crash was examined, there was one sole survivor, but he was in very bad shape. He would die around 10 minutes after several British soldiers pulled him from the wreckage. His last words he dedicated to his wife Lucia and his son Manfred. He was later identified as General Johannes Erwin Eugen Rommel, commander of the 7th Panzer Division.

General Johannes Erwin Eugen Rommel
(15 November 1891 - 21 May 1940, aged 48)

By the 21st, the German advance had reached the English Channel, the best Allied armoured divisions were now trapped.

Situation in Europe as of 21 May 1940

Annoucement
I know this isn't my best update, but I figured I'd save you all a lot of time by cutting out OTL details as I've decided on following a mostly OTL route for the Western Front campaign in 1940. But the deaths of Montgomery and Rommel in early 1940 will have effects later on that I can't disclose now.
Also, is Montgomery's outburst ok? I don't the rules on swearing on the site.

Footnotes
- [1] Butterflies or no butterflies, Gamelin will still be Gamelin. It’s not personal.
- [2] OTL quote from Moltke the Elder.
- [3] This friendly fire incident happened in OTL as well, although Montgomery obviously didn’t get shot. North Africa will be interesting now.
- [4] The OTL German plan as well.
- [5] This was the case in OTL too.
- [6] This was the case too.

Comments?

 

[BurkeanLibCon]

Hi everyone, I thought I'd leave you with this list of the German leadership whilst I write the next few chapters, I also wrote it because few people knew that Hitler died in Chapter 4. What do you guys think?

Leadership of the German Reich, 10 May 1940​

Reichspräsident: Hermann Göring
Chancellor: Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk [1]
Vice-Chancellor: Paul Körner [2]

Reichsminister of Foreign Affairs: Joachim von Ribbentrop
Reichsminister of the Interior: Wilhelm Frick
Reichsminister of Finance: Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk
Reichsminister of Justice: Franz Gürtner
Reichsminister of Economics and President of the Reichsbank: Walther Funk
Reichsminister of Food and Agriculture: Herbert Backe [3]
Reichsminister of Labour: Franz Seldte
Reich Postal Minister: Wilhelm Ohnesorge
Reichsminister of Transport: Julius Dorpmüller
Reichsminister of Public Enlightenment and Propoganda: Joseph Goebbels
Reichsminister of Aviation: Ernst Udet
Reichsminister of Science, Education and Culture: Bernhard Rust
Reichsminister of Church Affairs: Hermann Muhs [4]
Reichsminister for Armaments and Munitions: Fritz Todt [5]

Reichsministers without Portfolio
- Reinhard Heydrich (Reichsführer-SS) [6]
- Hans Frank (Governor-General of Occupied Poland)
- Konstantin von Neurath (Reich Protector of Bohemia-Moravia)
- Heinrich Müller (Director of the Gestapo)
- Hanns Kerrl (President of the Reichstag) [7]

Also attending cabinet
- Erich Raeder (Commander-in-Chief of the Kriegsmarine)
- Otto Meissner (Chief of the Presidential Chancellery)
- Wilhelm Keitel (Chief of the OKW)
- Walther von Brauchitsch (Commander-in-Chief of the Army)

Footnotes
- [1] A generally technocratic figure who tended shy away from public appearances, so I figured he'd be a good Chancellor candidate without posing a real threat.
- [2] Körner is a Göring crony as well as a long-time associate, so no real threat.
- [3] Backe replaced Darré as Agriculture Minister as he was seen as too close to the departed Himmler. Darré was reappointed to the SS Race and Settlement Office but generally sidelined. Backe is generally an ally of Heydrich.
- [4] Replacing Hans Kerrl, Muhs is also a Heydrich ally and a particularly zealous opponent of the churches.
- [5] Todt became armaments minister in March.
- [6] Inheriting the SS as his reward for helping bump off Himmler, Heydrich is at this time beginning to build himself a power base whilst not treading on too many toes yet.
- [7] Kerrl replaced Göring as Reichstag President after the latter assumed the Presidency.
- [8] Like OTL, Meissner sticks around. Somehow he kept his post from 1920 until the 1945 surrender, serving German heads of state Ebert, Hindenburg, Hitler and Dönitz.

 

[BurkeanLibCon]

Chapter 15 – Roman Rumble
Italy
September 1939 – May 1940​

Upon the outbreak of war in September 1939, Germany and Italy had recently concluded an alliance known as the “Pact of Steel” between them. Initially envisioned by Hitler as the “Pact of Blood,” Mussolini opposed the idea since it would have been unpopular in Italy. Therefore, the ending was amended to “Steel [1].”

Benito Mussolini, Prime Minister of Italy (1922-)

Engelbert Dollfuss (1892-1934), Chancellor of Austria (1932-1934)

However, an alliance between Germany and Italy was not a foregone conclusion. Back in 1934, many European leaders were fearful of war in the aftermath of the 1934 Austrian putsch attempt, during which the pro-Italian Austrian Chancellor, Engelbert Dollfuss, was assassinated by Austrian Nazis backed by Hitler.

Following this war scare, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini looked to Italy’s traditional allies, France and the United Kingdom, for an alliance, resulting in the formation of the Stresa Front. This alliance broke apart shortly after in 1936 during the Second Italo-Ethiopian War when Italy was subjected to sanctions by the League of Nations on Britain and France’s initiative.

From 1936 to 1939, the Italian government aided the Nationalist faction, led by Francisco Franco, during the Spanish Civil War, providing both supplies (planes, artillery and tankettes) and men from the Legionary Air Force (Aviazione Legionaria) and the Corps of Volunteer Troops (Corpo Truppe Volontaire, CTV) with the total number of “volunteers” serving in Spain numbering over 50,000 [2]. Germany also sent aid to Franco, gaining valuable combat experience, such as the brutal carpet-bombing of Guernica. However, German aid was limited as Hitler didn’t want to start a war with the West that he wasn’t ready for, as well as to keep the war in Spain going on for as long as possible to keep Europe distracted by tensions there [3].

Guernica following the bombing, 1937

Despite Mussolini’s fascist regime being virulently anti-communist, the Italian government had signed a friendship treaty with the Soviet Union in September 1933, driven by the mutual desire to temper German designs on the Balkans. Mussolini had been the first Western European leader to recognise the Soviet Union in February 1924, continuing the previous governments’ tradition of deepening ties with Russia as far back as the Italo-Soviet trade agreement of 1921 [4]. The ideological differences between Soviet Russia and Italian Fascism were brushed aside and left as internal matters, leaving the two states were pursue more pragmatic goals, namely Soviet desires to trade Italian aerial and automobile technology whilst the Italians were keen on acquiring Soviet resources, particularly coal and oil. The Italo-Soviet ties were dampened in 1936 by the Ethiopian War (in which the USSR joined Britain and France in imposing sanctions on Italy) and the two supporting opposing factions in Spain.

The outbreak of war brought new opportunities for Italy. In December 1939, a commission from the British Air Ministry arrived in Rome seeking to acquire military equipment including around 300 Reggiane Re.2000 Falco I’s [5]. In January 1940, the British order was approved by the Director of Aircraft Contracts. The German government however, disapproved of the sale in March following the British invasion of Norway and Sweden [6]. In response to the German objections, it was agreed that the order would be completed through Caproni’s Portuguese subsidy [7].

Reggiane Re.2000 Falco I

In other economic matters, the British had imposed a selective blockade of Italy upon the outbreak of war in September 1939, primarily aimed at German coal shipped to Italy via Rotterdam. The British did offer to ship coal to Italy in exchange for armaments, something which would have broken the Italo-German alliance, something Mussolini was unwilling to do even as the new German government under Göring drew closer to Stalin in Moscow. Over the spring of 1940, the Germans shipped over one million tonnes of coal a month to Italy across the Alps via train, exceeding even Mussolini’s initial wishes.

In political matters, Mussolini’s prime concern was expanding Italian imperial influence in the Mediterranean. This involved increasing Italian presence in the Balkans and North Africa. The former was a hotly contested zone between the Germans and Soviets who also had interests there whilst the latter would mean conflict with the British. Mussolini was aware that the Italian armed forces was poorly equipped and ill-prepared for war. Additionally, Italian industrial strength was far less than that of Britain and France.

As such, Mussolini was reluctant to enter the war. However, the head of Britain’s Middle East Command, General Sir Archibald Wavell believed that Mussolini’s ego would push him to declare war eventually saying "I think he must do something. If he cannot make a graceful dive, he will at least have to jump in somehow; he can hardly put on his dressing-gown and walk down the stairs again [8]." Indeed, as the Battle of France went further south for the Allies, the more Mussolini believed he could jump in at the last minute before the Allies made peace with Germany and Russia. In Mussolini’s own words: “I only need a few thousand dead so that I can sit at the peace conference as a man who has fought [9].” By 26 May, Mussolini had decided that he would enter the war alongside Germany and the Soviets so he would be able to join in the post-war victory of Germany and Russia. The die was cast.

Footnotes
- [1] This happened in OTL as well.
- [2] All OTL stats as well.
- [3] Hitler’s OTL plan as well. “...A hundred per cent victory for Franco was not desirable from a German point of view; rather were we interested in a continuance of the war and in the keeping up of the tension in the Mediterranean.” Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Civil_War#Germany
- [4] Mussolini was indeed the first western leader to recognise the USSR. It surprised me as well when I first discovered it.
- [5] This commission existed in OTL as well, however their job here will be harder for a few reasons.
- [6] The Germans in OTL initially approved of the order in March, before withdrawing it in April. Here, the Germans are more critical earlier on due to the earlier Allied intervention in Scandinavia.
- [7] This was the decision reached in OTL, except here it is reached earlier.
- [8] Genuine Wavell quote from OTL.
- [9] Mussolini said the same thing in OTL, to Marshall Badoglio.

Comments?

 

[BurkeanLibCon]

After corresponding with @von Adler regarding the Swedish campaign, I have decided to make some alterations to that front of the war.
The edited chapters are:
- 5 (A Silver Lining)
- 6 (Scandinavian Surprise)
- 7 (When I Least Deserve It)
- 8 (Married to the Soldier Mob)
- The April 1940 map
- The map in Chapter 14.

New updates will be out shortly.