Long Live the Permament Revolution! - a Trotskyist Soviet AAR.

[ThaHoward]

Communist Revolutions: To Arms! To Arms!

Spoiler: Music.

"To arms! To arms!" a popaganda poster the Bolsheviks.

Following the Great War the Kingdom of Hungary was plunged into a violent era. Hoping to be treated as a victor and an ally the Hungarians ended their relation to the Austrian Empire and made their own republic following the Aster Revolution. The Hungarian People's Republic was founded. But it was not to last for long. Soon the social democrats opened up to cooperate with the Communists from Hungary which again was dictated by Kreml. The two parties merged to create the Hungarian Socialist Party. Hungary had transformed itself into the Hungarian Soviet Republic and would start a nation wide purge of all non Socialist elements. Despite their alliance with the communists the social democrats soon became the victims of another set of purges. Lenin ordered that the social democrats had to be removed from power in order to establish the Dictatorship of the Proletariat, and so it was done. By the 23rd of March the Communists reigned supreme.

Suddenly we find ourselves in Victoria 2.

Béla Kun was the de-facto ruler of the second Socialist State ever established by taking the directions from Kreml and Lenin through his position as foreign minister. Kun was one of the leading figures during the Aster Revolution and during the establishment of the Soviet Republic. Several new ambitious reforms swept over Hungarian society. These included the abolition of the aristocracy, separation of church and state, participation of the workers councils (soviets), free speech, freedom of speech, free education, rights to miniorities and more, meanwhile the Red Guards (or Lenin's Boys) would start their own Red Terror to purify the state and society. The economy was also reformed by nationalizing and socializing the industry and commerce enterprises of Hungary while the farms were collectivized. However this lead to high inflation, food shortages and greater hardship in an economy already riddled with mass unemployment. Despite this the support remained high for the government for having promised the Magyars they would restore their old borders.

Communists soldiers getting ready for war.

The young Soviet state found itself on a collision course with its neighbours of Czechoslovakia, Romania and Yugoslavia who was all not only afraid of an irredentistic Hungary, but feared the spread of communism across its borders. Kun invaded Czechoslovakia following even more Entente demands to Hungarian territory. The Hungarian Army invaded Slovakia, or Upper Hungary, and took control of the area. But the revolutionary government then proved itself to be committed to Internationalist rather than Nationalist ideals. They had no interest in annexing Slovakia, instead they established the Slovak Soviet Republic. The Nationalists felt betrayed and many in the military resigned and the opinion of the masses started to turn against Kun and his Soviet Republic. This blunder was made worse by the French promising Romania to pull away their forces if Hungary ended their occuopation of Slovakia. The loyalist Hungarian Red Army did so, but the Romanians did not uphold the end of their bargain. The small loyalist, yet with low morale, Hungarian Army was then ordered to fight the Romanians. But the weak defenses was quickly overrun by Romania. In August of 1919 the Hungarian Soviet Republic was no more, its members forced to the underground and Kun exiled.

Miklós Horthy the protector of Hungary.

The Romanians and the White Army (nominally under the control of Horthy) took control of Hungary and installed "order" through the White Terror. An attempt to recreate a new Hungarian Republic failed as the Hungarian people elected social conservatives into power which would restore the Kingdom of Hungary. Awaiting their new King, Miklós Horthy was made Regent of Hungary, becoming the head of state of the old yet young kingdom. This ended the Hungarian Revolutions and stability seemed to once more come back to Hungary and the economy improved, but that lasted only until the Great Depression. Global in scale Hungary was not able to be saved from the far reaching effects of the severe economic crisis. Horthy found himself soon isolated as neither the Little Entente nor the Axis wanted to deal with him. Soon the Axis encompassed all of the Balkans with Hungary being only a small isolated island in the middle of fascism. The people started to question the rule of the authorian regime as the economy continued to fall and unemployment was commonplace.*

May it be a little too ambitious to restore the old borders?

It was now the old borders became a hotly contested issue again. Horthy promised the Magyars he would restore most of the old Hungarian Kingdom hoping to reclaim their allegiance. But this failed. Germay promptly refused to grant them any territorial concessions following the Hungarian inability to partake in their war against the Little Entente. This greatly upset the Hungarian people. It was things turned around. As if the Hungarians had forgotten history the underground Party of Communists in Hungary (KMP). Through their legal front of the Socialist Workers Party of Hungary they promised that if they helped the Soviet Union in their struggle against Fascism, Hungary would be able to "liberate the workers of
Transylvania and Vojvodina, and protect the workers of Slovakia and Croatia". Translated to realpolitics this meant "we will annex Transylvania and Vojvodina and claim overlordship of Slovakia and Croatia". KMT managed to take advantage of Hungarian nationalism.**

All power to the Soviets.

Following Trotsky's return to power the Soviet Union saw a massive shift in foreign politics. Several NKVD agents inflitrated Hungary and started to radicalise the social democrats, the masses and train the underground communists. Back in Russia Trotsky made a declaration where he demanded Hungary to create a Council of People's Commissars. These again would be appointed by local working concils or "soviets". In a speech, that was redistributed all over Hungary, he said among other things "(...) a governing body must be created tht can oversee the transition of Hungary into a Socialist State. Once this is done, the Soviets will serve as the analogue to the western system of a cabinet formed by ministers". Over the coming months Soviets among the inudstrial class, the rural population and even the army sprung up. The government's response was to crack down, but the councils responded with mass strikes and action. Following the entryism of Trotskyists to social democrats the social democrats had in effect become communists and supported the soviets. The USSR even went as far as to threaten to go to war if Horthy banned the Councils. The Axis wanted to intervene, but feared outright war with the USSR. Instead they made a total embargo of the Kingdom of Hungary. The population suffered massively and it only fueled their resentment toward Horthy and the Axis.

Horthy is no more.

"The old Great War admiral holds far too much power and influence in his current capacity as Regent, his stance against equal rights and social justice is proving to be quite a problem for our people as a whole. He must be removed from power if our great nation is to find its way" was declared all over Hungary. Late on the 13th of March 1941 an army regiment loyal to the communists took power of the major broadcast centers and the presses. This statement antagonized the Hungarian public who had suffered under unfathomable conditions following the blockade of Hungary. Horthy and the government was blamed for the hardship and they had to be removed. The social democrats sided with the communists in the parliament declaring that "the government have lost all its legality. The only acceptable action of our courageous people is open rebellion". The masses took to the streets by 08:20 demanding an end to poverty, increased rights to the workers and a restoration of Greater Hungary. By 09:00 the Hungarian Army and police was ordered to quell the illegal demonstrations. But the army and police had a coup of their own, KMT loyal officers took power and sent out orders to the soldiers who was sent to all major urban areas to put down the rebellion "all motherland loving patriots must do their duty in the defense of their homeland. The Hungarian Red Army will protect our fledging Revolution!" The Hungarian soldiers and policemen laid down their arms or joined the demonstrations. The Revolution of 1941 was now a reality. Important government buildings was stormed and taken by the revolutionaries. The Parliament convened in an emergency session. There they declared that the KMT was no longer illegal and that the KMT, Socialist Workers Party of Hungary and the Social Democratic Party of Hungary was to form the new government, the Monarchy was to be abolished and replaced by the Hungarian People's Republic. This all happened at gunpoint of course. Meanwhile professional revolutionaries, led by Russian special forces, stormed the residency of Horthy, assassinating him and parading his body through the streets of Budapest before dumping his body in the river. The Kingdom of Hungary was no more.

Mátyás Rákosi stand ready to improve the situation of Hungary, and the Soviet Union.

Mátyás Rákosi was chosen as the general secretary of the KMT, which with the Social-Democrats and Socialist Workers Party formed the coalition of Hungarian Working People's Coalition, and flewn in from the Soviet Union to Hungary. Kun and many of the leaders of the Hungarian Soviet Republic had not survived the purges of first Stalin and later Trotsky and would not witness the Revolution of 1941. Rákosi soon made a decree that abolished all parties except for the ones who made up the Coalition. The KMT held all power. The new state was named the Hungarian People's Republic, claiming to tracing its linegea to the democratic republics of Hungary rather than the Soviet one, and allegedly restoring democracy to the nation. Rákosi was quick to declare "the war forward for the Revolution lies with the Internationale. Standing together with out comrades we will sweep aside capitalist injustice and the looming fascist threat". On the 16th of March, three days after the Revolution, Hungary was at war with the Axis powers on the side of the Soviet Union. Hopes was high for the restoration of Greater Hungary and to improve the conditions of the Magyars. It remained, however, to be seen if this would be fulfilled.

-----

*Here the Hungarians didn't get the trade deals with Germany that took them out of the Great Depression and haven't got any territories from Germany, well due to Germany annexing it all.

**I will try to make Hungary gain their claimed territories (which they will gain from focuses) and make a puppet of Slovakia and perhaps Croatia IF we win the war.

 

[stnylan]

A good Hungarian interlude.

 

[ThaHoward]

A good Hungarian interlude.

Glad you liked it

Except the April to June update sometimes during this weekend.. And there we will see if the Spring Offensive will be a success, a catastrophe or just another stalemate, and of course as Finland is now 100 years IRL we will see if Finland here will continue on their neutral path or embrace communism!

 

[Nikolai]

So it seems the situation is dire on multiple fronts now, with things able to go both ways.

 

[ThaHoward]

So it seems the situation is dire on multiple fronts now, with things able to go both ways.

It's interesting for sure Poland is just a big meatgrinder and the situation in Ukraine is worrying. Perhaps they'll go for Stalingrad, atleast Trotsky won't care so much about losing that. Hopefully Germany will overextend themself in the south.

 

[ThaHoward]

Just a small heads up, due to time constraints next update will come tommorow at the earliest, and perhaps the start of next week.

 

[ThaHoward]

Chapter 13: Liberators, not Conquerers.

Spoiler: Music.

|: Tirallala, tirallala, :| hoi! hoi! Wir sind die Herren der Welt. Die Könige auf dem Meer.

The 1st of April 1941 the Wehrmacht pushed further into southern Russia, their tanks steaming toward Volgograd (the city who was known as Stalingrad) where they posed a threat to the Caucasian oilfields, and could strike toward the soft underbelly of Moscow. The Red Army was helpless in their defense, the mechanized troops and panzers of the German war machine rolled ahead nothing could stop them. Guderian put it bluntly "If the tanks succeed, then victory follows".

As Trotsky said, history does not repeat itself.

Still in the north things were becoming a little brighter. The March Offensive reached almost all of its goals, except for taking East Prussia. This was largely due to most of the German Heeresgruppe Nord and Heeresgruppe Mitte had to divert major parts of their armies to Hungary and to France. Generals such as Rokossovsky managed to take advantage of the new situation nd rolled deep into Poland. General Chuikov of the Leningrad Front said "every german soldier must be made to feel he is living under the muzzle of a russian gun".

At this pace they will reach Moscow before Christmas.

Despite of the Soviet advances in the north, the situation in the south remained dire. Crimea had fallen shortly after Kiev. The Black Sea Fleet was without a homeport while being unable to sail through the Dardanelles. To counter this threat the Transcuacasian Front would be sent away with its nine Mountaineer Divisions to guard Rostov and the approach from Crimea into Russia. This was done despite the German courting of Turkey. If Turkey turned fascist, or simply joined the Axis, the entire southern Soviet front would collapse as it did in the Far East. The Red Army put all their eggs in the basket hoping they would not be crushed under the belts of the Panzerwaffe.

It's a little better than the last times?

Just as the Soviets encouraged nationalist sentiments in Hungary, so did the French. French soldiers was reminded of the threat Germany was to world peace, and especially the annexation of Alsace-Lorraine, Corsica and Savoy. Like Hitler had reminded his people on the humiliation they faced after Versaille, Thorez reminded his people on Compiegne. Alsace was difficult to take as the Maginot Line was turned against the French which needed to be taken(and after that the Siegfried Line). Still in the south the French managed to push hard ahead and retook their lost areas from the Italians and threatened to take on Lombardy.

It goes just as expected.

Despite the high morale and bombastic speeches the Hungarian government did following the Revolution of 1941, the Red Army of Hungary wasn't able to fare well against the German invasion force. But their plan was merely to hold out against they could be relieved by the Soviets and to pull forces away from the eastern front toward Hungary. The question was if the Wehrmacht or the Red Army would get to Budapest first. Until then the Red Army of Hungary saw a surge of volunteers from their Working Councils and the peasantry. They replenished the tall losses of the Hungarian soldiers, still the new recruits was laborers and farmers of trade, not men of war.

Ahead of our comrades, in battle we stand alone, we stand alone. So we push deep in the enemy's ranks.

In middle of April Führer Directive no. 41 was ordered. One of its elements was Case Blue, which stated that Army Group North was to counterattack and take on Leningrad, Army Group Center to hold out against the advancing Soviets and for Army Group South to take Volgograd. The Panzerwaffe of the Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS continued to make gains throughout April. The Germans was outfitted with better Panzer IVs following the threat of the Soviet KV1s and T-34s, while each division was outfitted with elite battalions of panzergrenadiers - mechanized infantrists. Would the Germans be stopped or would Trotsky have to sign the Brest-Litovsk once more?

We liberate Poland first from the Nazis, then from themself.

By the 21st of April the March Offensive, which was later renamed to "Operation Polar Star", made significant breakthroughs. The two Belorussian Fronts under Rokossovky (1st Belorussian Front) and Kuznetsov (2nd) exploited the gaps with the armored brigades outfitted with T-34 tanks, where Tukhachevsky followed up with the Western Front. Where the Germans saw major successes in the south, the center and north broke down following the Soviet Union perfecting their deep operations doctrine. In the chaos that ensued Andrey Vlasov hero of the Russian Liberation Army and now commander of the Leningrad Front worked in tandem with Kirill Meretskov of the Volkoh Front to take advantage of the developing situation in the north. The cities of Königsgrad and Warsaw was reached. In a surprising act Trotsky and the foreign commissary of the USSR invited the exiled Polish government back to Poland and returned their occupied territories - even the claimed Belorussian and Ukranian ones. Trotsky officially announced "we come today as liberators of those oppressed by fascism, not conquerers". If that was true remained to be seen. In eastern Poland the local Ukranians and Belorussian had already formed Soviets that declared loyalty to the Ukranian and Belorussian SSRs (helped with NKVD and Red Army funding) the Red Army also sent generals of their own to function as advisors in these regions, in reality as military governors. As the Red Army pushed further west into Poland NKVD agents and political commissars followed establishing local worker councils and exporting the Permament Revolution to the Polish workers.

First we take Warsaw, then we take Berlin.

20:00 the eastern suburbs of Warsaw was taken and the Germans surrounding it barely managing the Soviets from encircling the city. To the front several newly produced prototype Katyusha rocket launcher system was taken to the front. Along with other self propelled artillery pieces and towed howitzers Warsaw was decimated further by the advancing Soviets. A German soldier recalled the inferno "very little changed fundamentally, except that the proud German soldier had turned into a defeated bundle of misery and the great German army had disintegrated".

The Polish people rise up against their western occupiers, hoping to get occupied by their eastern neighbours.

While the Soviets pushed toward (and later into) Warsaw its people rose up against the German garrison. Hoping to speed up the liberation of Warsaw by taking on the garrison while the majority of the combat troops were by the front. Instead it failed. It only lasted for a few days, but thousands on both sides died. Rokossovksy, being Polish born, was believed to have sympathies with the uprising. Instead he ordered his armies to halt and wait out. The uprising was quelled and the Red Army took the oppurtunity to rest and rearm - and to weaken possible future Polish resistance.

If that is what you really want to..

The fires of revolution had engulfed Finland who found itself in a second civil war, 23 years after the first one. The civil war following the breakup of the Tsardom claimed just under 40 000 lives and still scarred the countryside and the population as a whole. The Second Finnish Civil War still raged on, however fearing Swedish and allied intervention Red Finland officially proclaimed themself as the "Democratic Republic of Finland" claiming that the current republic was a dictatorship and that they would empower the classes. This new republic also fell under the protection of the Soviet Union who in turn sent a political commissar and a military commissar to Finland. This made them a de-facto puppet of the USSR and started their integration into the Union.

Back to the drawing table.

Back to the Eastern Front, back to the topic at hand. The Red Army realized that Operation North Pole was a success. While East Prussia had not been taken, all of the goals in Belarus had been met and the German assault into southern was stalled for now. In the south the Wehrmacht was preparing for a future offensive following the defeat of Hungary. But the Red Army, being under the sway of the Cult of Offensive, wanted to take the fight to the Germans - yet again. Their plans was ambitious. They were to cross the Oder-Neisse line, reach Hungary and cut off the German advance in the south while the Transcaucasian Front held Rostov and the Crimean strait. This new front wide offensive was simply called the "Dnieper-Oder Offensive" translating into the Soviet ambitions of moving the entire Eastern Front to the west of the Oder and Dnieper rivers.

We must remove the stain of Prussian Militarism from the map!

This started immediately the Battle of Königsberg. The city had already been under bombing from air, land and sea for several days without end. 20:00 a three hour bombardment by Soviet artillery started, followed by the Soviets shocking through the first line. The Soviet rifle divisions quickly went through the first defense line, because its defenders had been largely eliminated and the remainder were demoralized by several days of intense bombing. By noon, the Soviet leading regiments reached the second defensive line, where its progression was halted by a stronger opposition, forcing Soviet commanders to use their reserve forces. Three hours later, the second defense line was overrun in several places.

Hungary have actually done quite well for themself.

Meanwhile the Germans became desperate and needed to quickly end the Hungarian threat before they could deal with the renewed Soviet offensive. Still the German offensive was put to a halt, for now. The Hungarians saw hope in the end of the tunnel, would Tukhachevsky sweep in and cleanse Hungary of the looming fascist threat?

Now we roll ahead to Berlin!

Then Warsaw fell during the late hours of the 25th, and just before midnight Königsberg fell. After four days of vicious street fights both cities fell. Both being huge victories to the Red Army. One symbolizing Prussia, the other a free Poland. In both cities the Germans mounted a valiant defense, but the lines around the cities was quickly overwhelmed and the Soviets managed to win in pure numbers. Both cities however was left in total ruins, the war had forever changed the regions. With renewed confidence and numerical superiority the Red Army continued on their western thrust.

German Panzergrenadiers in souther Russia, remaining undefeated champions.

Despite their disastrous defeats in Prussia and Poland, the German war machine continued on their once percieved victory march to the east. In Ukraine and southern Russia the Soviets didn't manage to break through and the Germans still held the vast steppes. Would Army Group South be the victors in the war, or did they have to retreat to assist in the collapsing central and northern fronts?

The fronts are very different from one and another.

It was the first of May and millions had perished. The snow was melting away in most places, revealing the millions of unburied corpses. But where the cessation of winter usually bring about hope, there was still much desperation in the air. In the north the Red Army was breaking into West Prussia and Danzig, trapping several German divisions in the East-Prussian gap. Herculian efforts would be needed to close the gap or to escape from it. All the way to the Far East the Japanese advanced further into the Soviet Far East, while the Soviet divisions there didn't manage to break the Japanese lines despite concentrating their efforts in a small area, hoping to cutt off the advancing Imperial Army. Now it seemed as if they risked being cutt of themself completely. Hungary found itself pushed back, losing ground everyday while the Red Army didn't manage to break through, there was a flicker of hope for the Magyars, but it was mostly darkness. In Ukraine and southern Russia the Red Army didn't manage to break the German lines, instead they had to call off their offensive there. Instead several Soviet divisions overextended themself to the east of Kiev being encircled by the Germans. This was a force of three mechanized corps, four rifle divisions, one airborne brigade and one calvary division. It would be a disaster for the Ukranian Front if they were cut off.

Trotsky in his usual posture.

Meanwhile Trotsky used his skills as a master orator to the fullest. He was loved by the people and the soldiers was inspired him to great deeds during the two Russian Civil Wars. During the 1st of May he ordered a May Day parade in Moscow. Following the impressive parade he held a speech where he appeleaded to Soviet patriotism and nationalism rather than ideology and internationalism. Religion was again allowed and images of a Ukranian babuskha making the cross to Soviet troops was circulated. All to improve the Soviet morale for the coming test. Conscription was broaden extensively, where by the end of April the Red Army had no more recruits to refill their ranks, the age of conscription was now lowered to 18, giving the Red Army some 3.6 million more men to send to the meat grinder*. He then made his famous speech about the state of the union, about how it evolved from 1936 and until today:

The liberators of Europe.

"The Soviet Union had grown decadent and weak. Lands that should have been inside our borders was outside, taunting us with their borgouise installed "independence" whilst our army remained weak. Our production lines faltered, our workers needed direction and jobs, but all they got was oppression. Economically we was the laughing stock of the world, unable to fulfill our basic needs. But worst of all we was led, led astray, by the parasitic Joseph Stalin. There was a lot to fix within our nation, and we started by finishing our five year plan. Meanwhile Stalin was obsessed with the so called Trotsky plot, but the workers said "Trotsky is what we need to bring us back to greatness"."

Trotsky will make USSR great again.

"So you, the people, made breakthroughs in engineering, and fed our industry with new tools, new construction, new construction methods, you rebuilt the Soviet Union to be bigger and greater than ever before. Our army needed direction, and they got it from men as Rokossovky, to be ready for when the Revolution arrived and spread out all over the world. The Baltics all embraced us, and in the future Japan, Poland, Persia, Iraq and Germany shall be set free by the permament revolution. But you waited, and meanwhile you rebuilt our glorious nation and made it fertile again. Joseph Stalin still tainted our nation, his small mustache going along with a small dicktatorship, but mother nature herself opened up her arms to embrace the revolution as it came along. The Soviet Union itself was healing. During the Fourth International the great minds of Europe and the Soviet Union met to pave the way for not only my return, but the revolution to fully heal our nation and putting socialism back to the world and the greatness that it deserve. Stalin's time in power came to an end, indeed the permament revolution arrived. Socialism in One Country failed, and the true revolution returned. To arms! Now we are at war, to unite all the workers under the permament revolution and the Soviet Union! To arms, let the world know and fear!"**

-----

*Extensive conscription was chosen when I literally had 0 in manpower, it gave me 3.60M in manpower.

**This speech is shamelessly plagiarized by DDRJake as Trotsky Ruins Russia..

 

[stnylan]

The ideological crusade is starting to gear up - some truly hard-fought battles it sounds like.

 

[ThaHoward]

The ideological crusade is starting to gear up - some truly hard-fought battles it sounds like.

It's just getting started

I chose to split April into its own chapter due to the many things happening. May and June will be its own chapter, coming soon perhaps even today.

 

[ThaHoward]

Chapter 14: The German army is a machine - machines can be broken.

Spoiler: Music.

Soon you can come home.

The war had engulfed Europe in flames for almost three years, while the battle of titanic proportions between Germany and Russia lasted for just over half a year. Europe was in flames, entire areas laid to waste and millions of men and women who had perished or would be forever scarred. But the war raged on, and there was no end in sight.

We're gonna hang up the washing by the Oder.

By the 5th of May the Red Army continued on with their determined offensive on the norhtern front. Danzig fell to the advancing mechanized corps in a matter of days. The Germans suffered heavy casualties in the East-Prussian gap, but the Soviets lost many more. As the Germans was unable to hinder the Soviets from advancing, the Soviets was unable to break through. It was a true meat grinder. Down in the south the liberation of Ukraine did not go as anticipated. The advanced Soviet forces who was to take on Kiev was caught in a pocket earlier. They perished in the Kiev pocket, and the Germans sent their forces to the advancing main front. One can't do anything but feeling sorry for those who were caught in said pocket. It was ordered that all soldiers who surrendered would be branded as traitors to the state, but not only them but their entire families. They had to choose between sealing their fates with Soviet justice or German bayonets. Nevertheless, Kiev was still far away.

Let us roll over Europe.

Meanwhile the T-34 was upgraded to the 1941 variant. The T-34 saw great successes, still it had obvious breakdowns (literally) compared to the German counterparts. The 1941 variant upgraded its armor and was given a new and superior cannon. Meanwhile the T-60 calvary tank was being tested before it could be fully introduced in the Red Army. The idea was for the T-34 to replace all light tanks (such as the BT-7 and T-26) except for a few light tank brigades. While the light tanks was being slowly replaced by medium armor the T-60 was to remain in the light tank brigades, motorised rifle divisions and to slowly replace the horses in the calvary divisions*.

Better late than never?

Despite the successes in Poland and Prussia the Germans still held the advantage in south Russia and Ukraine and posed a threat to the industrial heartlands of central Russia. The new five years plan had already facilitated for building up the industry in the Urals and Siberia, and on the 15th of May the last large scale evacuation was started. Factories was literally packed up and sent to the east, while the workers lived in horrific conditions in improvised homes. The scorched earth tactics of the old was taken to an entirely new level.

For once it was actually peacful.

By the 11th of May the Second Finnish Civil War ended in a total victory for the Democratic Republic of Finland - or Red Finland. Finland already being a satellite of the USSR now petitioned to formally become a part of the USSR. The military and political commissars already in place in Finland was quick to accept these demands and Finland was integrated as a part of the Soviet Union as the "Democratic Soviet Socialist Republic of Finland" on paper having more autonomy than the other member states, and being given Karelia back. The western powers gave out small and formal protests, but accepted it not wanting to antagonize their eastern ally. Trotsky was ecstatic saying that they had now fulfilled Lenin's dream to reclaim the old Tsarist territories in the Baltics. That without bloodshed - minus the civil war of course, and with a lot of foreign pressure.**

One can but hope it will end soon.

"There can be no room for the indiviual. We all have to do our part for our glorious motherland and bring her to victory against the barbarian Teutons, our ancestors look upon us to see if we can depose of the dictator as they did it with Napoleon. Must of us will face their end, but it is all necessary for not only our proud nation, but for the workers of the world. Your deeds will be immortal" Trotsky said as he tightened his grip upon the Red Army and Soviet society. All had to do their part now. The Red Army had to be more aggressive, and the workers had to work for longer shifts. Meanwhile the Germans got stalled in southern Russia being just short of Rostov. Getting bogged down in the mud and spring rain they could not march forward. Rokossovsky enthusiastic told his men "the German army is a machine - machines can be broken".

A well deserved rest.

On the 17th of May the Dnieper-Oder Offensive was paused. Soviet and German troops alike was exhausted. The gains by the Soviets had impressed all of the world, even themselves. Posen and even parts of Germany herself had been reached and the world held their breaths to see what would happen next. For now the battered and exhausted troops on both sides got well deserved rest - as much as it was possible with air combat over their heads, the fear of bombardments, being harassed constantly and the horrid conditions of the trenches. Meanwhile Andrei Grechko was appointed Field Marshal of Finland, effectively taking control of the Finnish Army (now renamed the Finnish People's Army) who was on paper an indepedent branch in the Soviet Armed Forces. Their task was to liberate Finnmark in Norway from Germany - and to take Narvik depriving Germany of their iron ores.

Oops.


In the Far East the Red Army was cut into three major pockets. Neither of them had any sea nor air- ports to speak of and were on their own. Not wanting the wrath of the Soviet justice system they launched a desperate counteroffensive to reclaim Vladivostok. But the Japanese held firm in the streets of the ruined eastern port. Around 30 divisions was trapped in these pockets. If they were unable to break through hundreds of thousands of Soviet soldiers would fall to the Japanese, losing the Far East.

One blow from the west, and one blow from the east, and the National Socialist abomination will cease to exist.

On the 8th of June the battle pause was no more. Tens of thousands of katyusha rockets and artillery shells bombarded the German positions. The bombing of Berlin and major German cities was intensified. Where the Soviets pressed on from the east, in the west the French and Spanish troops broke into Belgium and even parts of Alsace. The Germans was being sandwhiched.

Soviet soldiers battling in Stettin.

By early June the Soviets saw gigantous success and repeated their swift conquest of Danzig by reaching Stettin - Germany proper. The Germans fighting on their hometurf, and risking to exposing Berlin, fought with tooth and nail. The soldiers of the Red Army had to fight bitterly street by street. SS troops was sent to Stettin with orders of "no retreat". The streets of Stettin would be filled with blood, and it was only a small taste of what was to come.

New arms, new opportunities.

The fighting in a war is important, but so is the supply of these men. The Soviet Union had been in constant logistical deficits and their French allies wanted to help their situation by providing them with a steady shipment of light tanks and trucks. The Red Army also looked on oppurtunities to mimick the personell carriers of the Germans. The BTR M1941 was being developed hoping to replace the trucks in the heavy armored and medium armored tank brigades in the future. The trucks the motorized infantrists used would also benefit from increased armored protection. Still the trucks and the APCs would only protect against small arms and shrapnel and be outfitted with a medium machine gun for fire support. The close air support capabilties was also expanded with the IL-2 slowly being introduced to one day become part of production lines and support the advancing Soviet forces.

The Oder have been crossed.

By mid June Stetting fell. The Oder had been crossed. The last natural defense before Berlin was no more. Was this the end of Germany?

German soldiers pinned down.

The once proud German Army was faltering. As Rokossovsky said it was breaking down. Undermanned and undersupplied they faced severe hardship as the allies gained control of the skies and pushed on from the east and the west. The army that had once taken the Balkans and France by storm was now pressed from all sides and had to fight in a defensive war. Their armed forces was spread out thin between France, the Low Countries, Italy, fighting the British in the Balkans, Greece, Hungary, Ukraine, southern Russia and now the Fatherland itself. But the Germans kept on going, kept on fighting until total victory could be achieved or when Germany was no more.

The second battle of Kiev begins.

By the very end of June the Sovits pressed on into Ukraine taking advantage of the increasingly demoralized Axis forces. Kiev was reached by the Soviets and yet another cyclus of death and bitter fighting ensued. The Soviets had vast numerical superiority, still the Axis troops managed to inflict massive casualties on the Red Army. Despite this the Red Army embraced war of attrition to the fullest. What they had learned from the war was simple: The Germans don't have the manpower and production to keep up a prolonged assault. We do. We attack and attack and attack until we create a small breakthrough in their lines which we will exploit to the fullest.

Take this.

The eastern front was devastated. Areas that had once been filled with greeneries and people was now no more. Areas laid waste, entire cities was emptied. And destruction kept on rolling with the advancing German and Soviet soldiers where ever they went. The war went into another bloody phase.

British armored forces landing in Bremen.

Trotsky had pressured the Allies to open up a second front. They had done so in the Balkans, but it had developed into a war similar to the Great War, with both sides sitting bogged down in trenches unable to move forward. In the Netherlands an ambitious and risky plan was employed by the British. And they paid dearly for it. Trotsky hoped for the British Army to assist his French and Spanish allies, instead they chose a diferent route. Several aiborne divisions dropped around Bremen. Royal Commandos and other commandoes raided German strong points all over Bremen and Wilhemlshaven. Bremen was then invaded from the north as several tank and armored brigades worked in tandem with infantrists who invaded by sea. The beaches had been shelled by British battleships and bombers. Germany was invaded.

Operation Plunder open up yet another front, the British hope to plunder away the spoils of war from us, and Berlin.

The Germans responded by diverting several divisions to Wilhelmshaven and Bremen fearing to lose the two cities. But this proved to not be the main force. A few days later on the 29th the British launched an even greater invasion around Hamburg with its mainforce driving toward Kiel and toward Bremen. The Germans realized they risked losing their northern coast to the British and the Soviets. Such a loss would make the blockade during the First World War as a mere inconvenience. But the British made one last unanticipated move: several cruiser tanks and fast moving units was sent toward the east, toward Berlin. The Soviets who had been building up their forces for the final push toward Berlin now launched an unprepared attack toward the well entrenched Germans defending the approaches to their capital - sending thousands of men toward majorly unnecessary deaths. Time would tell if the British or the Soviets would be the first to reach Berlin - if any of them did at all. The race for Berlin had begun.

While the Germans face setbacks, the Japanese continue forward unhindered.

Still where the Germans faced defeats in the east Japan moved forward by every day. Time would tell if they would prevail, and if so the USSR risked being attacked by their soft underbelly, and of course the Axis still posed a threat deep into southern Russian territory. The war had just begun.

-----

*All light tanks battalions are planned to be slowly replaced by medium tanks. Except for in the one light armored template, calvary divisions and motorised divisions.

**The game crashed shortly after Finland became a puppet. This time around they won the war first and then the event fired. This time Finland was annexed. I thought it was a similar event that fired, so I didn't expect it to be annexed. Story wise Finland was a puppet until they won the war, and then became part of the USSR. Still we welcome anyone who are willing to join us

 

[stnylan]

The Race to Berlin is on!

 

[Nikolai]

Race to Berlin, yes. But at the same time, how quickly is the Eastern Front collapsing? Is there a need to divert forces soon?

 

[ThaHoward]

The Race to Berlin is on!

It's on!

Race to Berlin, yes. But at the same time, how quickly is the Eastern Front collapsing? Is there a need to divert forces soon?

If you mean the far east, they are holding up. It's mostly a stalemate. The plan was to move into Manchuria on a broad front, but it didn't work as the Japanese moved their troops faster around. Then the second front from Sinkiang and Mongolia, but it's a stalemate there too.

They are getting reinforcements from newly recruited divisions. But currently I'm using an extreme type of Schlieffen Plan: focus on the west and then the east. The forces main objective now is to concentrate on Vladivostok and Korea, while Japan spread their forces thinly in empty lands, they can have the forests and snow if they want to. Hopefully the east hold out until Germany is dealt with but the situation in the east is ever developing.

Edit: Due to Finland becoming a part of the USSR (ironic as it happened on the day of Finnish indepence while I played it) there will be a short Finnish chapter tommorow or thursday at the latest. July-September update are likely to come Thursday or Friday, the weekend at the latest

 

[ThaHoward]

Communist Revolutions: You cannot make a revolution in white gloves.

Spoiler: Music.

Following their Russian masters into strikes in 1917.

On their struggle to independence the Finnish people had been subjected to several wars and revolutions. The people of Finland had been divided into two distinct groups since they were annexed by Russia from Sweden. The upper class of Swedish speaking nobles state officials and the Finnish speaking population. Following the Russian takeover Finland enjoyed rapid industrialization in the 19th century. While the general conditions of living increased, this lead to further class divide and the working class become more aware of their situation in society. The differences between the Scandinavian-Finnish cultures and the Russian ones also deepened. In short while Russia faced its own revolution in 1905 so did Finland. Finland created a parliament of their own and wanted increaed autonomy. Nikolai II. however didn't want much of it. The gains by the Finnish people in 1905, and the 100 years of increased awarness, was mostly undone by the autocratic Tsar. Following this revolution a severe program of Russification followed, called by the Finnish people for "the Second Period of Oppression". Where Finnish nationalists earlier wanted more autonomy or complete home rule, many moved now toward outright independence.

Russian servicemen made the Finnish realize they needed to revolt to be free, and join the Soviets.

But as Russia plunged into revolution in 1905 they did so too in 1917. And as Finland followed in 1905, so did they in 1917. An important factor was the Russian soldiers and policemen (something the Finnish had on their own before the policies of Nikolai) became radicalised by the two revolutions of 1917. But the most crucial elements was the economical crisis that had followed during the war and the subsequent revolutions - Germany had been Finland's greatest trade partner, and the economic boom was stalled by the revolutions, and southern Finland faced starvation during the Russian Civil War. The resentment toward the Russians grew and toward the Finnish government. The socialists had gained the most votes during the various elections, but were not granted it in the parliament. And while the economic downturns and unemployment was due to the war and the revolutions in Russia the government of Finland was blamed. 8 hour workhours was demanded, better working conditions, higher wages and so on were demanded and strikes and demonstrations was commonplace. The socialists gained traction in their opposition to the government from the masses and radicalised further by the Russian revolutions. Just a minor spark was needed to light up the northern light.

The First Finnish Civil War.

By the 27th of January 1918 the First Finnish Civil War started. The various socialist and communist parties and unions on the left declared southern Finland (the most industrialised part) to be the Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic (or a name decided by Lenin, upsetting many Finnish) after the Red Guards took power. Red Finland, as it was also known, hoped to establish a new socialist state, but was opposed by White Finland. War, which had largely been absent during the Great War, had now finally arrived to Finland.

Gustav Mannerheim, his name clings in German and Swedish. No wonder he put down the first attempt of a communist Finland..

But the dreams of a socialist state in Finland was crushed. Crushed by the interests of the Allied powers to contain socialism, by the Germans who wanted to enforce the Peace of Brest-Litovsk and the Finnish people itself. Gustav Mannerheim was the commander in chief of the White Finnish Army and danced masterly to get the support from Germany and the Allies. Northern Finland remained loyal to the newly formed republic. In May absolute power was given to the Regent of the Kingdom of Finland. Near the end of 1918 Mannerheim was made regent.

The ruins of Tampare following the first civil war.

The war lasted until the 15th of May 1918. The Reds faced their defeat as Germany intervened and invaded in April, this led to the Reds losing Helsinki and retreated to Petrograd outside of Finland. What was once a pacifist labor movement had now stained itself in the blood of the innocents. Finland was now made a protectorate of the German Empire - until the Kaiserreich fell. Many of the socialist leaders and intellegista was sent to prisons, exiled or faced death. But it was not only war that ravaged Finland, but Red and White terrors throughout the entire war. Suffice to say Finland had been torn apart by war and there was a rift in the population that looked difficult to mend.

Three of the socialist parties of Finland. In 1941 only the SDP (top left) are still around. SKP are illegal and the last is defunct.

Let's look a little back on important factions during and inbetween the two Finnish civil wars. Social Democratic Party of Finland (SDP) stand out as perhaps the most important. The party was founded in 1899 and its importance grew in accordance to the growing working class of the Finnish population and especially the increased political and social awarness following 1905. By 1916 it gained 47% of the votes in parliament, in 1917 it lost the majority and in 1918 they rebelled along with other socialists. Despite losing most of its leadership to purges by White Finland and losing its legitimacy among the right-wing majority the SDP had major support in the working class. But this support was challenged by the Communist Party of Finland (SKP) and the working class was divided between the two factions. The SDP hoped to gain more votes and acceptance and took a more patriotic line, alienating itself from her Scandinavian sister parties, but also the revolutionary parties.

The SKP was a revolutionary split from the SDP wanting a more hardline approach. The SKP was banned in Finland, but setup several fronts such as the Socialist Workers' Party of Finland (SSTP). Like the SKP the SSTP was formed of radical leftists who split from the SKP and was in reality a legal socialist party controlled by the SKP leaderhsip in exile. Most of the Finnish politicians saw through this disguise and wanted the abolition of the party. It suffered many arrests and got its final demise in 1923 when it joined the Comitern. The communists in Finland had been expelled and was outlawed, but revolutionary sentiment continued to grow.

Workers of Finland, unite (with the Soviet Union)!

This escalated following the increasingly aggressive foreign politics of the USSR following the return of Trotsky. The NKVD set up routes for former Finnish revolutionaries to smuggle weapons, manpower, funds and orders into Finland. When the USSR demanded a bufferzone it enflamed the situation further. Both the right and left radicalised by the the Finnish government succumbing to Soviet pressure. Even patriotic social democrats demanded more radical approaches to the USSR to reclaim Karelia. All the while the NKVD pulled out the Entryist doctrine on the SDP where by 1941 the party was no more a nationalist social democratic party, but a part of socialist revolutionaries, in March the SDP, along with the SKP, joined the Fourth International. The Finnish government wanted to ban the SDP but was afraid of a revolt of the masses. But they got so anyway in 1941. Trotsky incited the situation by demanding the workers of Finland of to rise up against their German puppets. This resonated well with many due to the allegations of the government colluding with the German Reich to reclaim Karelia. Support for centrist and democratic parties collapsed as the left sided with the communists in soliarity with the USSR and the right sided with autocrats welcoming the Germans to reclaim Karelia from the Russians.

The Second Civil War begins.

In a matter of days several Red Guard units was created along the borders of Russia and most importantly in southern Finland. These Red Guards was formed up by reservists, militant socialist, exiled communists and also Russian soldiers and agents. By mid March southern Finland saw a major surge of exiled Finnish communists to their lands who openly declared several workers councils and held strikes that demanded more democracy and social programs. The 30th of March 1941 the Red Guards took power in southern Finland (including Helsinki) and the border regions to Russia. Several divisions joined with Red Finland, while many remained loyal to White Finland. In the north the Finnish Republic was replaced again by the Finnish Kingdom. Friedrich Franz, Hereditary Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and member of the SS was elected King. Finland hoped to gain the support from Germany in this radical move.

Finnish White troops looking awfully like German troops.

While this secured the support from Germany, the Germans was able to only send a few volunteers and advisors to Finland as they were occupied with their own issue to put it nicely. This move also alienated themself from the Allies, the US and their Swedish neighbours. Still the Swedish government, facing the threat of a communist takeover themself, They might have supported Finland indirectly to contain Soviet expansion, but now they remained neutral as the USSR was looked upon as the lesser evil. They didn't want to empower Nazi Germany. This led to a brutal war in Finland who was still covered by white snow. In a matter of minutes she was covered in red snow instead. While the armies had roughly the same strength ratio by the start of the war, Red Finland had the upperhand by bordering the Soviet Union (who exported arms and soldiers to the Reds) and holding the industrialised heartland of Finland. Still a bloody and brutal civil war would tear the country apart for two months.*

The red flag is victorious, claiming yet another thousands of lives in its endless revolutionary appetite.

Mid April Red Finland understood they couldn't stand on their own in the long run. Fearing a similar end as the one in 1918 they started negotiations with the USSR. By the 20th of April a shocking turn of events took place. Red Finland, who started to gain the upperhand in the conflict, declared themself as the "Democratic Republic of Finland" and was formally a democratic state with seperation of power with a social and liberal constitution. The name was not only chosen to give the false impression of a democracy in order to gain the loyalty of moderate socialists and democrats, but also to gain the support from Finnish nationalists - this time around the Finnish people itself chose the name, and not Lenin or Trotsky. Finland was independent of Russian interefence, or so they said. SKP and SDP joined forces to create the Finnish People's Democratic League (SKDL). This party was in reality controlled by the SKP and from Moscow. Finland was now a Soviet puppet, and from the Soviet Union thousands of "volunteers" streamed into the Finnish trenches to aid them. While the people and soldiers of the Democratic Republic of Finland believed they was fighting against German overlordship and the borgouise, they were in reality controlled from Moscow.**

The coat of arms and the flag of the "Democratic" Soviet Socialist Republic of Finland and its theoretical borders.

In May the war ended. While the war engulfed the trenches and fronts in flames, behind the lines the NKVD and Moscow loyal SKP members started a second Red Terror. The leadership of Red Finland was now composed of Soviet loyalists. Following the end of the war the Finnish Army changed its name to the "Finnish People's Army" and was in reality controlled by Andrei Grechko and the Kreml. After a few days of one sided negotiations the Democratic Republic of Finland agreed to become the Democratic Socialist Soviet Republic of Finland. It was sold as that Finland was still to have complete self rule and autonomy, and the fact that they could keep their own constitution, government and being a Democratic Republic was major selling points. Another selling point to the public was the one of nationalism. The USSR had learned its lesson on the power of nationalism during their Great Patriotic War, as it was called, and the revolution in Hungary. The Finland was officialy given the lost area of Karelia back - and a major expansion to the east. But the most persuasive argument was the one of the gun. The SKP had purged most of the old government, senior officers, politicians and bureaucrats to obtain a pure socialist state. In this vaccum Finnish socialists trained in Russia filled the spots, along with actual Russian state dignitaries, officers and commissars was sent to Finland to "tempoairly" fill in the lost government positions to get the government up and running again. Finland was now again part of Russia.

The Finnish People's Army stand ready to liberate their Norwegian cousins.

The Finnish People's Army was given no time to rest, and no opportunity to get home to their families. The first order of the day was to expand the Finnish Army*** and to march on to Finnmark. Vague promises was made that in the coming liberation of Norway Finland was to be given Finnmark and on a later day Lappland in Sweden to boost the morale of the Finnish troops and give them the impression they were fighting for Finland and Norway rather than the USSR. And so the entire Finnish Army mustered along the Finnish-Norwegian border, ready to step into the war and do their part.

-----

*Of course it didn't happen like that. The King is chosen as to explain why the Allies didn't do anything, and as a homage to the Hungarian focus tree.

**Trying to give somewhat of a realistic explenation to why Finland wanted to become a puppet, and later part of the USSR.

***I'm using the Finnish templates to get the Finnish Army up to 1939 start date levels.

 

[stnylan]

I rather like this digression, provides a nice little break and change of perspective.

 

[ThaHoward]

I rather like this digression, provides a nice little break and change of perspective.

A good! That have been the point all along, to get a little away from the main story. We'll see in the future if it might be other side chapters.

 

[ThaHoward]

Chapter 15: Götterdämmerung

Spoiler: Music.

A German soldier who died for his fatherland.

War had come to Germany. Three years ago the Wehrmacht blitzed its way through eastern europe, before shifting its focus to the west knocking the once proud French army out of the war, humiliating them and restoring the former glory of the German Reich. But when the German war machine was preparing for war in the east, the paranoid Red Army struck first with devastating force. Despite massive Soviet losses they were pushed back into Germany. The British was coming toward Berlin in the west and the Soviets from the east. Th downfall of Germany was at hand.

We must take Berlin at every cost, we can't allow the British to steal our prize!

The British invasion of fanned out from their beachead. Appereantly they were to take on the north western coast of Germany and claim Kiel. But while the German defenders was occupied holding out Kiel and Wilhelmshaven against the British sent their commandos, paras and fast moving cruiser tanks to the east. To Berlin. Meanwhile the Soviets became desperate wanting Berlin no matter the cost. The Red Army leadership wanted to take the oppurtinity to rest and recover. To rebuild their strenghts, but the political elite overruled the Red Army. Berlin was to be taken by any means, at any cost. Thousands of artillery shells flattened the German fields. But the Soviets was unprepared for an attack at this point and unleashed wave after wave on German defenders. The civilian population formed Volkssturm units where the elderly and children was given cheap anti-tank weapons to hold Berlin. In their effort to be on the attack two Soviet divisions overextended themself in Stettin becoming encircled.

Germans surrendering to the Soviets heading for Berlin.

Despite this the Soviets pressed on gaining ground at a horrible cost. Everywhere they went they were faced with fierce German opposition, but they knew they could not give up. Not now, and as cowardice was treason. By the second of July the Soviets broke through the outer German lines racing toward Berlin. Leaving the dead and wounded behind and their supply routes undefended. The Soviets was ordered to take Berlin no matter the cost, failure was not an option.

The destruction of Berlin.

Then the battle of Berlin started. Men, women, children, disabled and the elderly was called into battle. Most of the German forces were at the outskirts near the Oder-Neisse line to hold the Soviet advancing forces at bay. But Berlin got pummeled by Allied bombers, fighter-bombers and dive bombers alike. On the ground thousands of guns, rockets, howitzers and mortars fired upon the city. The fighting took to the streets, but the militias who held the city had were no match for the professional soldiers who wrestled the street by street from the defenders. A Norwegian volunteer in SS-Wiking said "it was hopeless. We came here to fight in a crusade against Bolshevism. Instead we were fighting a hopeless battle in Berlin. We understood that we would lose and so I deserted. I and many others did so. We left for Tempelhof airport and then I got home hiding in the mountains".

Glorified picture of British commandos assaulting Tempelhof.

Tempelhof became perhaps the most important area to control in Berlin. From here the few remaining Stukas and fighters battled the Soviet and British forces nearing the city. However it was also here transport planes flew German generals and politicians out of Berlin. The British ordered a daring raid on the airport as they got reports of Hitler and top nazis escaping Berlin. During the night of the 3rd British commandos was inserted behind German lines by air, riverside and air. They dropped into all of Berlin and right into the airport itself. Fierce battles took place. Most of the British forces in Berlin faced relatively easy opposition as they fought against the Volksturm and undermanned German adhoc units. However here they were up against elite Fallschirmjägers and SS-Panzergrenadiers. Despite the odds the British who dropped right into Tempelhof and other German strongholds broke through the German lines. Tempelhof fell and Göring was captured by the commandos. Göring who was in many ways the second in command of Hitler was then mocklingly named "Herman Meyer" by the British commandos, but their prie Hitler managed to escape. The evacuation of Berlin was stopped. The city was on its own now.

Goddammit.

Hours later Berlin fell when armored columns blitzed through the city. With the demoralized German troops who was left behind surrendering to the British forces. Still in the east the Germans of the Oder-Neisse line held the line. Despite the Soviet orders of taking Berlin at all costs, the Germans defended their homeland at all costs. Around Stettin they even managed to pull off a counterattack reinforced by the SS-Wiking Division. The loss of Stettin and the crossing of the Oder was undone by the start of July. But the Soviet offensive played into the hands of the British. The Germans was distracted by the eastern front and neglected the rapid British assault from the west. The price of this was that Berlin was lost. But Hitler and most of the German high command had fled to Vienna making that the new provisional capital of Greater Germany.

The Red Army continue onward.

No doubt the Soviet leadership was dissapointed with not taking Berlin. Several senior and junior officers were sent to Siberia or executed for incompetence, but most of the generals was kept for the coming offensive. The northern front on the Oder-Neisse line collapsed as thousands of Germans (Wehrmacht, Volkssturm and SS alike) laid down their arms as Berlin was lost and they were abonded by Hitler. The few who remained fled to the west to reclaim Berlin or reinforce the western divisions preparing for the coming battles.

Finishing up the leftovers around Berlin, and the capitalists of USA undermine our economy.

Almost two weeks into July the encircled forces in Stettin was relieved and only a few German units was left behind to stall the Soviet and British advance, facilitating for the rest of the German divisions to fall back and create a new line of defense. In other words the remaining German units was given a death sentence. The allied forces was now at an advantage and in London the British Prime Minister Lord Halifax announced that "by Christmas the war started by German and French who dragged all of the world with into disaster by their ambitions will come to an end". However the USSR had severe logistical problems. The USA expanded their lend lease program significantly to the Soviet Union seeing the risk of a Red Army collapse in Europe. This on the other hand tied up a massive amount of convoys, convoys which the Soviet Merchant fleet simply did not have. The Soviet economy and war effort suffered until they could get all their convoys*.

In normal circumstances the Germans would be deprived of their iron sources by now.

In the north the Soviet-Finnish forces broke through the German lines, being better trained and acclimatized for the cold Norwegian summer in the north. 7 AM on the 17th of July Narvik was liberated. The Finnish forces was met with Norwegians who welcomed them with flags and open arms. The liberation of this small city wouldn't in most circumstances be one of importance. However Narvik held an ice free port during winter. And during winter the massive iron exports from Sweden could only be transported from Narvik to Germany. When winter was coming Germany would now be without iron. In turn this would affect their war industry.**

Germans counterattacking the British.

As the British made a lighting and shocking attack into Germany, taking Hamburg, Bremen and Berlin with shocking brutality the Germans responded with a greater force. Several Waffen-SS units, and other supporting Wehrmacht units, who were fanatically loyal to the Nazi regime refused to give up. They attacked the light British forces who were stretched out thin and started a bloody battle. Their mission was to throw the British back to the sea and liberate their home country. All over the British occupied territories German civilians formed militias and Volksturm units to take part in the battle. The battle of Berlin was not over.

We'll continue until the Axis run out of manpower, no matter the cost.

The show must go on. And the war must too. All over Germany and Poland heavy fighting took place. The British had been completely pushed back to the Soviet lines. The Waffen-SS counteroffensive was matched by its success only in its brutality. It showed that despite the lines into Germany being broken and Berlin taken, the German people was not ready to give up.

The Red flag overlooking Berlin.

The Germans counterattacked. With them the Tiger tank had been rushed into production and it had the fearful 88mm gun. Soviet infantrists, and tanks, proved to be unable to penetrate the thick armor of the new tank. Moreover the 88mm gun managed to penetrate the armor of the T-34 and KV-1. A new king had come to the battle. The Waffen-SS led the counterattack on Berlin with several army armored and motorised divisions. The counterattack came from the west and south into the city and the city who had been mere weeks earlier been taken by a lightning strike from the British was now contested mainly between Soviet and German troops. The suffering of the people of Berlin was not over, and not by a longshot for the soldiers of the Red Army and the German Reich.

It's about time we learn something from our wars.

The toll of war had been massive on the Soviet Union. Millions of lives had been lost during the World War and the Civil War. Efforts was made to get the officercorps into shape. The Red Army needed new armor and doctrines to break through the German lines. They needed to draw on all the experiences from the year that had passed to finally defeat Germany - and then take the fight to Japan.

Das Reich counterattack the British invaders.

The Germans kept on going, being motivated by their successes around Berlin - despite losing the city itself. The British was completely eradicated by the German counter offensive and the invasion of Germany was now fully in the hands of the Internationale. However the British Army managed to take Berlin and create confusion in northern Germany, the Red Army took this confusion to make significant advances they would likely not be able to make otherwise.

The Rhine is crossed, Berlin have fallen, what is next?

By August Spanish, French and Belgian troops made a reverted Schlieffen Plan: They crossed into Germany from Belgium and the Netherlands, and soon the Rhine was crossed. Would the Germans by the Siegfried and Maginot lines be encircled from the allied forces crossing the Rhine?

Summer draws near to an end, but the frontlines are just as static as ever.

By the end of August both the Soviet and German offensives and the western one came to a halt. Both sides was exhausted and the lines stretched out thin. Despite the standing orders being to attack, attack and attack trenches formed with neither sides being able to cross out. Even Berlin was split in half with the ruins of the city turned into a death trap. In Eastern Poland Germany went again on the offensive hoping to eclipse the Soviet-British forces there striking down to Romania. Initially it looked as if they would reach Eastern-Prussia, but then mother nature opened up drowning the areas with rain. This again flooded the eastern Polish marshes and the plains turned into mud. Neither sides managed to make progress. The Red Army and British Army had been saved from a total encirclement from Romania to the Baltics. In the west the British again launched an amphibious invasion...

Waffen-SS retake north-western Germany at a terrible cost.

This time around the Germans was prepared. Bremen was evacuated prior to the invasion and the city itself was torn apart, leveled, nothing but smoldering ruins left. The Waffen-SS had taken the command of the northern German forces and were merciless in their efforts to reclaim their fatherland. The British sent a small vanguard near Bremen before a major armored force came who would roll over all of northern Germany. Instead they were pushed out. Lord Halifax was shocked by the losses and ordered that their only continental commitment was the 23 divisions in eastern Poland. Halifax was an old proponent of appeasment and believed that Germany was forced to attack Poland due to the aggressive foreign policy of the Little Entente. Now that Poland and Belgium was liberated the British was to go back to their own strategy of not committing their troops to the continent, and instead relying on the Royal Navy and Airforce to blockade Germany and prevent a naval invasion***.

Sweden need to be liberated from Sweden - and invade das Reich.

After the annexation of Finland to the USSR and their People's Army advancing through Norway liberating it, arms and NKVD agents and revolutionaries poured into Sweden from both Finland and Norway. The Swedish government and society had issues with left wing revolutionaries all since Finland gave up parts of Karelia, but now a paralell society in Scania developed making a seperate government of its own. The Swedish people was deeply polarized and would at any moment break into open conflict.

The Germans dig in, and the Soviets have a hard time getting forward.

Back to the interesting stuff; war. The fronts was becoming a meat grinder, with neither side managing to make any significant gains with their only bet being to throw in lives to soften up the enemy. A young private of the time in Berlin, aged 19, described the situation in his memoar: "Most of the veterans from the civil wars and the opening days of the war was just gone. Mos of us were green, inexperienced who would rather be home. But we had to do our duty, for the revolution and the motherland - or we were traitors. Fighting in Berlin was special. We didn't have proper training and I remeber when we were to clear out a building, we approached it and came under fire. I threw myself down, shit myself and froze. All around us bullets flew, but we didn't know its effects. This was our first time in combat and several of my friends got hit by pieces of stones from their cover as the bullets hit it. It tore apart in small pieces and pierced their flesh and bones, many got wounded and some died. A commisar then dragged me up, literally, and made us all push forward. So we did while taking fire from the machine gun. We entered the building clearing room by room. But we didn't see any Germans. I was then rotated to the front as we were to clear out a room on the top, we were without grenades. My stomach turned around I felt sick, if Germans was in the room they would be waiting for me. I had only a rifle. If I held it ready to fire I would expose myself early, if I held it up down or up I wouldn't be able to fire quickly. I chose to hold it up with a bayonet attached to it. I rounded the corner ready to face my death. I went to the right searching for Germans, but then we were fired upon. That is those behind came under fire, the gunner didn't react to me at first, we learned that later that it was usual. Instead he fired several burst into my comrades who rushed into the room. They were sawn down and ripped apart by the MG. I then saw him hidden well in the midst of broken furniture with a curtain draped around him. I fired, but "click" is all my rifle said. I then rushed forward and stuck my bayonet in his neck. One man had taken out 8 of my comrades in a matter of seconds.

The enemies was everywhere and nowhere in Berlin.

We rushed into the final room, this time I was rotated to the very back. The first who came into the room shouted it was clear. But then they were fired upon by a submachine gun. They fell, but we couldn't see the shooter. Gregor lit up a molotov cocktail and threw it. The fire dispersed and we heard screaming. The swine jumped out of a small cardboard. He had hidden himself in it fired from the inside out. I aimed at him and squeezed the trigger. The commisar then pointed his pistol at me saying "let him suffer". That moment still haunt me. We then took an overwatch position by the window, we then saw Germans emerging from the sewers. The bastards used the sewers to move behind our lines. I then saw a German carrying a light machine gun, 34 or 42 it didn't really matter, behind his neck. I remember our now late lmg gunner told us that the Germans often gave away their mg shooters by carrying their guns in a special manner. Petrov, our best shot, fired at him. It was alhpa omega to take out the mg shooters, they were the main component in the German squads. I looked at him through my binoculars (taken from a fallen comrade) and saw the blood sprout out from his legs in even intervals as a fountain. His comrades came to him, trying to stop his bleeding. I then for a brief moment realised that the Germans was humans too. That they could be passionate and kind too. But I quickly shook away these thoughts. We fired upon them, killing them all. This was war, there were no room for humanity".

Vladivostok is reclaimed, now we will hold on to it until the German defeat.

In the Far East the encircled Soviet Forces managed to coordinate their attacks and reclaim the airport. After that they focused on Vladivostok and after severe fighting they retook the vital port. The Far Eastern Front was for now saved from total destruction. But only time would show how long they were able to hold out against the united strength of Japan and China.

Prague is becoming liberated and Austria will soon fall.

By September the forces under Rokossovsky managed to break through the German lines and took most of interior Bohemia and Moravia. Their orders was to terminate the bulge in their frontline to encircle the German troops and then take Vienna which was now the acting capital of Germany. They hoped to end the war by Christmas.

German troops retreating in Ukraine.

After Berlin was attacked the German high command realized the gravity of the situation. Plans to take the caucasian oil fields and hitting Moscow from the south was abandoned. Several veteran troops was pulled out of Ukraine and southern Russia to protect the Romanian oilfields and reinforce the frontlines in Germany. The German offensive into the USSR was over, the crusade had failed.

Death to the invaders!

While the Germans retreated the Ukranian Fronts managed to create several pockets in Ukraine and southern Russia. In Crimea several divisions took Sevastopol giving the Black Sea Fleet a base of operation again. Along the southern coast of Ukraine several German divisions had been cut off from the retreat. They followed the Führers orders to not give up to the last man, still it was not enough. The German divisions was trapped and would soon be trapped.

The Northern Light will devour Germany.

Following the liberation of Narvik the Finnish People's Army pushed through Norway and reached Trondheim. They were now close to Oslo and Bergen. The Germans had mostly retreated to the mountains of southern Norway and needed to protect the two last major cities. These cities held important ports for the German economy and their uboat fleet.

The cultural capital of Vienna is turned into one of the bloodiest scenes of the war.

Meanwhile Soviet troops had reached into Vienna. Like in Berlin the opposition proved to be fierce. Fighting fanatic German soldiers, Wehrmacht and SS alike, and the Volkssturm every corner, every inch of the capital of the old Austrian Empire had to paid in liters of blood, sweat and thousands of bullets. The fierce German resistance here proved that it was not isolated in Berlin but would be the recurring theme in all of Germany.

With Vienna taken Trotsky can finally enjoy some opera.

On the evening of the 21st of September Vienna was claimed by the Red Army. The city itself was turned into nothing but rubble. Before the assault the city had been bombed for days by bombers, howitzers and Trotsky Orgels. The Soviets had to cross the Danube river into the city which resulted in extreme casualties for the Red Army. But after a week of fighting the city fell. Bratislava was the next target. However those who hoped the battle of Vienna was over would be gravely mistaken...

The Revolution will triumph!

In the middle of the chaos Sweden erupted into civil war. The southern parts of Sweden fell to a well orchestrated coup with the army and police units stationed there joining the new "Folkhemmet" (People's Home) state. If the communists in Sweden prevailed Germany would risk opening up a front into Denmark and south-eastern Norway. Meanwhile the Finnish People's Army in Norway posed a threat to Sweden if Folkhemmet was to join the Internationale and ally USSR. Still in Europe and the Far East there was a war going on. It was now October and the coming months would prove if Lord Halifax was true in saying the war would be over by Christmas.

Will Germany fall before christmas? The Germans think otherwise.

-----

*Stupidly enough I didn't check the amount of convoys. So riight now there's a big deficit in rubber etc.

**An important reason for why Germany went to war against Norway and Denmark was that they feared the port of Narvik would be occupied by UK. Then Germany wouldn't get iron ore from Sweden. In game there is no such simulation, however if Sweden become commie then Germany will be deprived of their iron.

***Lord Halifax and not Churchill became the UK prime minister. Before WW2 Britain relied upon not committing troops to continental Europe and instead focus on their navy and airforce. Here UK won't send troops to Belgium for a while or do any crazy naval invasions, so the narrative reason for that is not stupid AI but rather the British government still clinging to appeasment and having their army staying out of continental warfare.

 

[stnylan]

They are certainly making you work for it ... but the Revolution shall not be stopped. Not by the fascists, nor by the imperialists with their sneaky amphibious shenanigans!

 

[TheButterflyComposer]

This is great! Haven't seen much HOI4 stuff around that isn't that 'everyone is a nazi' start. A nice change and a great campaign to read about. What exactly is the end plan here? A genuine communist war for the whole world? Afro-eurasia? Just Europe?

 

[ThaHoward]

They are certainly making you work for it ... but the Revolution shall not be stopped. Not by the fascists, nor by the imperialists with their sneaky amphibious shenanigans!

You're damn right. Nothing will stop us (maybe USA in the future).

This is great! Haven't seen much HOI4 stuff around that isn't that 'everyone is a nazi' start. A nice change and a great campaign to read about. What exactly is the end plan here? A genuine communist war for the whole world? Afro-eurasia? Just Europe?

Thank you! And welcome aboard The goal is of course nothing less than world revolution. Simple right? But I plan to end it at the 31st of December 1948 at the latest. I also have set restrictions that UK+USA+Allies (except for Poland and Norway due to location) can only be turned to communism through war. Same goes for the Axis. In Africa and Asia I plan to release as many nations as possible, and I suppose Spain and France want some colonies there. I hoped to do the Southern Thrust focuses (puppeting Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and taking Thrace from Turkey) but it can't be done in an aggressive war But first we need to beat the Axis before we can take on the Allies.

I'll try my best to get next chapter up tommorow or Tuesday. Stay tuned.