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

[ThaHoward]

Chapter 26: Waking the Bear.

Spoiler: Music.

(6:00 and 8:30 being the best parts).

"May Workers have nothing to lose but their chains, but they will gain the whole world", Soviet Labor Day propaganda poster.

It was the first of May, or Labor Day. And as custom dictated it was a day of major celebrations and parades especially by the Red Square. Despite the failures in the east Trotsky remained popular among the soldiers of the Red Army and the workers. It was as if when things went good in the Soviet Union Trotsky got the credit, when something went wrong it was the buerocratic remnants of Stalin that got blamed. Anyway. During this parade the Soviet leadership prepared the Red Army for final victory in the east before the new year and they prepared the workers of not only the Soviet Union, but the world for the coming world revolution which would bring on a new era of perpetual peace. Soviet and other communist agents attempted to instigate riots, strikes and demonstrations across the capitalist nations during Labor Day. But they hadn't accounted for the patriotic duty of the workers in the non-socialist nations, nothing of much not happened during Labor Day other than aggressive Soviet rethorics.

Kurchatov is pleased with the extra funding.

As a measure to meet the political demand to launch an offensive by summer the Red Army High Command found a way to pull veterans out of active duty, call back those who were too old to serve or had suffered an injury of some sort and employ specialists and convene them together in specialized training units. These units would be tasked with overseeing the training of the divisions remaining in Europe up to the required level much quicker (and more competent) in order to send them to the far east to prepare for the eventual offensives. Moreover a special decree was written where the nuclear scientist Igor Kurchatov, the father of the Soviet atomic program, and his program was given extra funding. That extra allocation of resources was said to speed up the construction of the experimental nuclear reactor by 10%.

The plan is simple enough..

Mere six days following the creation of specialized training units the 2nd Ukranian Front under Timoshenko was assessed to have reached its desired levels of expertise. The 2nd Ukranian Front would be put under the Siberian Military District and from here be known as the "Transbaikal Front" (but it will be named the 2nd Ukranian Front for simplicity) and was tasked with striking into Mongolia. From the Russian Far East the 1st Belorussian Front (under Rokossovky, renamed to 1st Far Eastern Front during the operation) would strike southward to Vladivostok. From their staging grounds in Mongolia and Vladivostok the two Fronts would create a massive pincer in Manchuria creating a double-envelopment and supported by a third Front. The "Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation", or just Manchurian Operation, would be taken into two stages. Stage 1: Reclaim Mongolia and Vladivostok using two Fronts. Stage 2: Attack Manchuria from the North and East using two Fronts, with one Front in reserve. End goal: Fall of Manchuria and invasion of Korea. In total just under 1.6 million Soviet soldiers was earmarked for this massive operation.

Once more we go on the offensive..

But the actual Far East Front was still holed up in Hong Kong. Despite their tremendous gains the Japanese and Chinese forces had surely but steadily been pushed back. The British had only left a small garrison in Hong Kong and along with the Soviet forces as they were directed toward Japan. However with the much more pressing threats on their Home Islands, from Siam and in eastern China a great number of the Japanese and Chinese forces had been pulled back. Popov who still wanted to redeem himself (and so that he, his commanders and even soldiers escaped the sentence of "coward") and saw again an oppurtunity. This time around he was joined up with Maoist partisans and their objective was to strike straight toward the capital of the Third Guangxi Clique hoping to create a Soviet state there and deprive the Japanese of their needed metals. But most of all he eyed an easy victory and to divert Japanese attention away from the coming Manchurian Operation. 23:00 local time on the 11th of May the entire line opened up with howitzers, rockets and flares upon the unsuspecting Japanese. There was now prolonged bombardment, however, and the Soviet forces attacked almost instantly in the guise of the night pushing the Japanese forces almost all the way back to the river.

All roads lead to Guilin.

On the early morning of the 17th of May the local airfield had been seized by the advancing Soviet forces. Instead of commencing on a broad offensive the majority of Soviet forces focused on crossing the river to the north and the jungles. The river crossing proved to be quickly overran by the Soviet forces, however Soviet armored formations struggled getting through the forest who was riddled with mines and protected by entrenched Japanese tanks. The fighting would drag on for days with no end with the Soviets and Japanese getting into a thug of war. One sie pushed forward, but then the other side repelled them and got pushed back again. But again the main objective was achieved. Several Japanese divisions was diverted from the north and east to the south and Japanese chatter that was picked up by Soviet and Allied intelligence officers revealed that Japan believed this was just the vanguard of a major offensive from the south, with the last attack from Hong Kong simply being a rehearsal.

Combat in Japan.

Despite their overwhelming invasion force the Allied invaders was pushed back to their original landing zones in many sectors. Even between the staging grounds of Neptune and Olympic, Osaka and Hiroshima, Japanese forces managed to cut off the two fronts and envelope several Allied divisions in a pocket. The fighting in the hills and cities of Japan was brutal. "Brutal" is an often overused term, but in this contex it was as brutal, as savage it could get. But the Allied forces eyed an opening. They gambled, just as with the entire Operation: Downfall and made another gamble now. American forces who had been pushed away from their beacheads near Tokyo drove northwards and southwards an offensive dubbed Cobra II. Meanwhile the forces near Osaka who was near to defeat joined in on the offensive and took Nagoya. From there the Japanese forces in the far north of Tohuko drove southward to meet the southward threat.

Why settle for China when you can have Japan?

But it was a ruse, a deception. British commandos and pathfinders backed up by American Marine raiders, Navy frogmen and Army Rangers landed in the ports of Sendai and Aomori. Following their landing the British 1st and 6th Airborne Divisions was joined with the American 101st, 82nd and 11th Airborne Divisions following their months of rest after the invasions of Japan. Once the ports was secured several British armored brigades and reservist infantry divisions joined in and took the northern part of the Japanese main island. This time around the majority of the defenders had already left for the south and the special forces had large contigents of interpertators, military police and Japanese defectors among them and pacified the countryside. By the 21st of May most of northern Honshu was under British occupation. This in turn cut Hokkaido from the rest of Japan.

With these boats we will take Japan!

It had now turned into summer and the Soviet military planners was getting anxious. They didn't get to enjoy the pleasant summer weather as they feared the severe winters of Siberia. Spies, naval experts, military attaches and even Allied planners was consulted. They were given the task of making a naval landing in Hokkaido (northern most main island of Japan) following the Manchurian Operation. To do so they needed dedicated landing crafts as the Allies posessed. The plan to invade Sicily earlier showcased the Soviet shortcomings, but they hadn't really done anything with it before now. So over the next 140 days an extensive shift in production and convertion was made to create dedicated landing crafts to the invasion of Hokkaido.

Nothing new on the western front.

While the Far East was engulfed in war the Balkan Socialist Union officially declared that the claimed Hungarian territory of the Balkan Socialist Union was to be a part of Hungary proper from this day and until a true communist society was achieved. The rest of Slovakia was to be a constituent state of the Balkan Union. This was only met with minor protests from the West with some commentators remarking "the fate Czechoslovakia are again decided by foreign powers. This is nothing but Hitlerism in red coating". But the major powers didn't want to create a diplomatic crisis with Hungary, but most importantly the Soviet Union and Slovakia was seen as a lost cause in a red sea of communist occupation anyway. The focus was on Japan.

So Spain and Sweden (of all nations!) help us out with our invasion of Manchuria.

16:00 local time on the 5th of June something unexpected happened. Swedish special forces and Internation Brigades was given the thumbs up by Soviet High Command to raid the coasts near Vladivostok. They attacked an airfield and soon drove toward the Manchurian border. This was most surprising for the Soviets who believed this area was densley protected by Japanese troops. But appereantly due to the invasions of Japan and China the Japanese troops here had been diverted away from Vladivostok. In response several bomber squadrons was sent to the liberated airfield. These bombers would participate in the bombing of Japan.

These raiders are very handy.

Emboldened by the Spanish and Swedish reports, the Soviet commanders ordered a similar raid on the airfield of North Sakhalin by Soviet ad-hoc commandos and partisans. To their surprise, again, the airfield was unprotected. Soviet command was rapidly established on the northernmost tip of this contested island. As with the airport to the southwest several squadrons of bombers and fighters was sent to this airfield to aid the Manchurian Operation, but also the bombing of Japan. The 2nd Belarus Front under Kuznetsov was planned to be sent to the Sakhalins to prevent the airfield from falling into enemy hands, but also deliver a massive invasion force into the Sakhalins and threaten Hokkaido directly from the north, given Soviet planners a feint hope that an amphibious force might not be needed afterall. The 2nd Belarus Front was renamed the "Maritime Group of Forces" (but again it will be named the 2nd Belarus Front for simplicity) and the liberation of Sakhalin would be taken up as a part of the Manchurian Operation. The combined forces in this operation had grown by several hundred of thousands of men.*

Bombing of Kyoto.

The Soviets put their reclaimed airbases to good use. Other than bombing the infrastructure in Manchuria and harassing their troops and supplylines, Soviet bombers (among them the Nightwitches) headed for Kyoto. Kyoto the ancient capital of Japan had been spared by the Allies from bombing due to it's cultural and historical value. However the Soviets was keen on bringing down Japan and wanted to "show the people of Japan and their leaders that even the city of their holy Emperor are not sacred. We will show them that the Emperor is not invincible". A massive bombing campaign was aimed at the industrial and military centers of the city and it was left in ruins. This greatly angered many of the Allied commanders, but they were perhaps mostly frigthened that the Soviet Union was in the war in the Far East in earnest.

We welcome you!

On the 20th of June several truck, naval and train convoys unloaded their impressive cargo. Thousands of men, weapons, guns and tanks had arrived by the front. The Moscow Front was renamed the 2nd Far East Front and was to be the reserve Front during the Manchurian Operation. With the arrival of the 2nd Ukranian Front the liberation of Mongolia was ordered, meanwhile the Moscow Front was to establish a line from Mongolia and into the Far East and await for Rokossovsky and his men to arrive and liberate the Far East. "Comrades! Death to the Japanese! We will now liberate our Motherland who have been raped by the Fascist menace for too long. To arms! To arms!" was a common phrase among Soviet political commissars by the Front as they wanted to install a fighting spirit among their men.

So it begins, the Battle of Middle Asia.

Following the arrival of the Manchurian forces the Central Asian Fronts was again ordered to go on the attack. The mountains and hills of Sinkiang and western Mongolia was stained in blood. Thousands had perished in the unhospitable lands and thousands more was to die. Despite having liberated great parts of Sinkiang and Mongolia the Japanese and Chinese forces still held their ground in the mountains and hills, and the armies of the Internationale faced the same horrors as the Allies did in Okinawa, Iwo Jima, Palau and Japan. A Soviet NCO wrote "I was a veteran of the worst battles in the grand cities of Europe. But these caves. They were way worse. We couldn't see anything, they were claustrophobic and the enemy could be lurking around every corner. At every moment we risked being cut down by a sword, torn apart by a mine or taken out by a Japanese who blew himself up with a grenade. It's just too much, and outside we are awaited with horrible living conditions and the threat of gunfire and shells". The diary was found amidst his remains in a cave.

Now we'll fix things up!

Despite their impressive invasion force and initial gains, the Allies didn't manage to make further advance in southern Japan. Instead they were in several occasions pushed back to their initial landing zones, and if they were to go on the offensive they would fall by the thousands in the hills, forests and caves of Japan. Despite immense protests from MacArthur and Nimitz, Soviet forces was invited to Japan to help out their situation. Churchill remarked as long as Hell descended upon Japan, he would be positive toward the devil. An impressive force of 30 divisions under Tuchachevsky would reinforce the front around Hiroshima and launch an offensive into Kyushu and take the provincial capital of Nagasaki. Meanwhile 24 divisions under Vasilevsky would strike from Osaka, retake Nagoya (where the Allies went on a tremendous loss) and link up the forces from Operation Neptune with Operation Coronet. Where the Allies named their invasion of Japan for Downfall, the Soviets gave it their own name: Operation Doomsday. Trotsky announced on the radio enthusiastically "It was as I told you. We lost the race to Berlin, but it was we who brought down Hitler! We lost the race to Rome, but it was Ivan who hanged Mussolini! We lost the race to Tokyo, but it is the proud and valiant soldiers of the Red Army who will dethrone the Emperor!"

Oops.

Despite the positive prospects of a final Japanese downfall in Manchuria and Japan, the battles in Sinkiang was as gruesome as ever. This time around an entire division of the Caucasus Front had to succumb to the sheer power of Japanese forces and the unforgiving nature. To make matters worse this was a division specialized in mountain and winter warfare, and even they succumbed to disease and Japanese bayonets. The attacks from Central Asia into Mongolia and Sinkiang was stalled for now.

Some labor reforms are needed.

On the 12th of July a labor reform was passed on by Trotsky. It empowered the Soviets somewhat giving the workers a better working morale, it cut down on some of the bueucracy, tried to stamp out corruption and so on. But most of all construction methods was streamlines and standardrized in a greater degree. That and greater funding paved the way for a minor construction boom in the Soviet economy, or at the very least it made up for a large portion of the male population having perished, made incapable for work or serving by the frontlines.

Hoorah.

On the 25th the planners of the Red Army, Red Fleet and the STAVKA looked on ways to implement a full fledging marine force. A force that could spearhead the coming invasion of Japan - or England. Russia had a proud history of naval landing units, but it was looked into to expand them into a standing force mostly drown from experienced army units and inexperienced (on land combat) sailors to create a total of six marine regiments, a few divisions or even the massive number of 40 marine brigades.

New and bigger bombs!

Following the crippling civil war, chaos in establishing a new administration and the huge costs of the war against Germany, the modernization of the Soviet Armed Forces had been delayed. Despite being tested and approved in 1941, the Tupolev Tu-2 had never fully been taking into production due to the lack of resources and attention. Now it was to replace the aging tactical bombers entirley. Tu-2 was a highspeed day bomber capable of dive bombing, an almost matching singe seat fighters in their speed (528km/h of topspeed, or 325mph). It had a large internal bomb load of 1500 kg (3300 lb) and an external load of 2270 kg (5000 lb), armed with 2 forward pointing 20mm autocannons and 3 rear firing 12.7 (50.cal) machine guns. Furthermore it was capable of holding torpedos. It was a good choice for conducting close air support, strategic bombing aswell as anti-ship duties.

Ivan is ready for victory.

May-July saw bitter fighting between Japan and her enemies. Thousands died in the deserts and mountains of Central Asia, and thousands more in Japan proper. The Japanese forces almost managed to throw the invaders back to the seas, but in the end they were exhausted and depleted. Still the Allies invading Japan wasn't capable of taking out further offensive, but that was a poor comfort for Japan. Their counteroffensive against the invaders was a last spasm in a dying animal. The Allies called upon the Soviet Union for help, and the Soviet Union was ready to deploy a massive force of 54 divisions in Japan proper and 92 divisions in the Russian Far East, Manchuria and the Sakhalin Island. Would this be the final moment for Japan, or would a miracle on behalf of their God Emperor be their salvation?

-----

*Okay so Japan never took the airport in North Sakhalin for some reason. But narrative wise they did, and I haven't used the airport until now. I thought it was fitting to do so now as Sweden and Spain liberated some of my lands.

 

[ThaHoward]

Chapter 27: August Storm.

Spoiler: Music.

We need to spend big on infrastructure..

With the large contigents of Soviet forces arriving in the east a pressing matter presented itself. The preceding five years plans had only focused on expanding infastructure and communication lines in densley populated and industrialised areas. The border regions to Sinkiang, Mongolia and Japan occupied Russia was simply put not prioritized. This led to huge traffic jams and bottlenecks. This further complicated an invasion as many units didn't get their orders, men, weapons, clothes and foodstuff on time. This rendered the Soviet fighting force ineffective for the time being, and plans was drawn up for a huge and hastly major infrastructure. The infrastructure commissar of the USSR said "Infrastructure — we're going to start spending on infrastructure big. Not like we have a choice. It's not like, oh gee, let's hold it off."

The Soviet soldier do not know of defeat!

Meanwhile the exiled Far Eastern Front made huge gains since the beginning of their Guilin Offensive started the 11th of May. However they had bitten over too much and weren't able to swallow and digest their gains. The Japanese and Chinese forces was profoundly beaten on the field of battle, however they were patient. They waited for the the offensive to overstretch itself and cut them off from the south. The Soviet and British forces around Guilin were suddenly cut off from their supplies and a safehaven (Hong Kong). Several divisions, seven of them Soviet ones, were cut off and encircled. The terrain surrounding the pocket was a rugged enviorment with few flat clearings, and rivers and dense forests blocked these clearings. In other words it was nigh impossible for the Russo-British forces to break out of the encirclement. All they could hope for was to hold off the troops until reinforcements arrived or the war ended. The morale was high, however, among the Soviet forces. They withstood several Japanese offensives, but the Japanese plan was clear. Wear them down, and them tear them apart.

The liberation will begin..

Still there was light in the other end of the tunnel. Around 18:00, local time, on the 9th of August the first divisions of the Front under Rokossovsky arrived. Locals streamed toward the Soviet soldiers with flowers, musical corps and gave them a heroe's welcome. One remarked "Rokossovsky have arrived with his valiant men. It was he who rescued Spain from fascism. It was he who cleansed Europe of fascism. Now he has come here to liberate us from our long night of oppression. The northern light have arrived, and it will illuminate the sky". He was right. The sky would be illuminated, however with destructive forces and not natural beauty.

For the motherland!

It took almost a month for the Soviets to fully establish themself. The vast territory they were to fan out on was simply put.. major. The area the Manchurian Operation was to cover was in fact greater than the entire European theater. Moreover the Soviets had to unload at their ports and give each unit their specififed equipment - a major logistical challenge. But on the 22nd 8th in the morning the order was given: "August Storm. August Storm". That was the codeword to begin the first stage of their part of the offensive. To reach the Manchurian border and liberate the Russian far east. A Soviet tank commander said "we're ready to rush into the lands of our motherland. We will drive over our enemies, we will show them no compassion. We will win".

Very well, they fought to the very end at least.

Despite the victories in the north it didn't fare well in the south. Guilin was reclaimed and only two divisions remained by the former protectors of Vladivostok. Despite a heroic rescue attempt by Allied and Soviet transport planes it was not enough. Popov and Mao managed to escape however, but this led to many to surrender as why should they fight when their leaders fled? Still most of the Soviets fought to the bitter end. They called upon the "spirit of Vladivostok" and refused to go down without a fight. A Japanese commander said "I respect them. Even in their hour of certain defeat, in their moment of death they refused to give up. They refuesed to give in. As a true warrior, a worthy opponent to our warriors, they held their lines. Even without weapons they charged forward against us, or battled our charges. The fighting went away from modern warfare to a more ancient one where we fought with swords and bayonets, helmets and shovels. Despite their bravery we knew we would win".

Soviet conquest of South Sakhalin.

Meanwhile the first Soviet forces arrived on the northernmost tip of Sakhalin. The invasion of Sakhalin was a relatively quick affair with few Soviet casualties, however at least 100.000 Japanese civilians sought refugee in the already devastated Japanese Home Islands. The Soviets furthered their bombing campaigns on Japan and the Maritime Group of Forces under Kuznetsov prepared to invade the Kuril/Chishima Islands with the miniority of their contigent, with the majority preparing a naval invasion of Hokkaido putting immense pressure on the Japanese defenses that was in danger enough already to become overrun.

At least our incursion into China opened up the Dragon to other powers.

Then the greatest Soviet military disaster following the Battle of Vladivostok (claiming hundreds of thousands of casualties) occured in southern China. The last Soviet divisions fought to the very end. They had abondoned Vladivostok after hellish conditions and were now put on an another test, but this time the final straw was drawn. Their greatest dream was to distract the Japanese forces so that Vladivostok might again be liberated and to return to their homes. Vladivostok was indeed now liberated and plans was made to pull the Far East Front to where they belonged. But they never got the word of its liberation due to the circumstances, the entire Red Army in the Far East had perished in the end, and their brothers and sisters was ready to avenge them. Still their courage and sacrifice paid off. Japan and their puppet of Reorganized China was distracted from the real threats. Most of eastern China fell to the Allies with the vital port and peninsula of Qindao falling to the Americans. This again blocked a retreat route to Korea and Japan. The noose was tigthening.

A strange view of a Coca Cola billboard during the battle of Japan, set up by American GIs.

On mainland Japan the Allied forces lainghed another offensive after having being almost thrown at the seas. With Japan having no chance of reinforcements from China (Qindao etc being occupied) or Manchuria (the Kwangtung Army being in battle with the Red Army) and the immense pressure from Commonwealth, American and Soviet air forces the Japanese defending forces was nicely put at a disadvantage. Still they refused to yield their homeland and extremely bitter fights was the norm all over Japan, reducing most of the cities and towns to ruins and massgraves.

We stand ready to invade Manchuria.

A map of the planned invasion during its secon stage. Its set to 1945 to confuse Japan.. No other reason..

Early morning of the 2nd of September the last Japanese forces retreated away from the Russian far east. The Front under Rokossovsky capitalized on their victory and rushed to their pre-war border. There they waited. They waited until their plans was perfected. They waited for the second Front to their north and from Mongolia was ready aswell. To start their massive pincer movement. The Storm that had been brewed during all of August was just waiting to be unleashed and take all of Manchuria down with it.

The two Fronts to fight in Japan are taking a cruise vacation aroundthe world.

The two Fronts who were decided to take down Japan had its vanguard in the Bay of Bengal. British and American navies had cleared the last Japanese naval units in the Strait of Malacca just weeks earlier to ensure the safe passage of the Soviet contigents. After weeks on the seas the Red Army was more than ready to let slip the dogs of war and cry havoc.

The Battle of Okinawa have finally come to a conclusion.

After five months of ferocious fighting the Battle of Okinawa was over. The American forces there was exhausted and depleted, having faced the greatest trial of their time. They were rotated out and was given well earned rest, while several Commonwealth troops set up the occupation force. Their horrors was over for now, but they knew they would soon be called upon to Japan, China or Korea when they would be needed.

The battles in China and Japan brutalize. Allied forces invade south Korea.

But Okinawa was not the only island to fall. The Japanese situation was dire. The major ports in China had fallen, and 22 American and Commonwealth brigade-division sized units was sent to invade southern Korea from their bases in eastern China. As with Japan and the many pacific islands this was pure hell for the allies. Still the war ravaged on in Japan and despite the battle going in the favor of the Allies, it was a never ending nightmare for the soldiers on the ground, sea and air.

Communist forces broke Sino-Japanese lines.

The Japanese strategic situation continued to deteriorate. In Central Asia the forces of the Internationale and British India broke the defending lines. The Sino-Japanese forces that didn't surrender was wiped out. Most of Sinkaing and Mongolia was liberated and the Soviet forces was put to a halt for some deserved R&R. When they had gotten enough rest they would strike into the Xibei Free State and inner Mongolia creating a new frontline in the back of the Kwantung Army in Manchuria. The Soviet victory would be total if the 60 Soviet divisions in Central Asia joined into the Manchurian Operation. Japan seeing the potential threat ordered that everyone in Inner Mongolia and the Xibei Free State was to take up arms and protect their lands against the foreign invaders. Including women and children.

Soviet anti-tank men in Manchuria.

The second phase of the Manchurian Operation started. Three Fronts totalling nearly 1.6 million Soviet soldiers descended upon the Japanese. What surprised the Japanese the most was that Soviet forces descended upon them from the deserts of Mongolia, far away from their resupply networks. But it worked. In a matter of days Korea was reached by Rokossovsky. Despite the Kwantung Army being fierce and relentless their total defeat was at hand. The double encirclement on an area the size of western Europe worked. Japan had truly lost their position on the Chinese mainland.

So we're in Japan now.

It's said that a disaster rarely comes alone. Seven in the morning on the first of October the first Soviet forces arrived in Hiroshima. The arrival of these troops quickly concluded the Battle of Hiroshima wich had reduced the city to ruins. Tuckachevsky ordered their troops to hastly secure the bridgehead to Kyushu to invade it. With Japan on the retreat in Sinkiang, Mongolia, eastern China, Korea, Manchuria, Kuril islands and now Kyushu it was truly simply a matter of time before the Emperor, who had fled to Nagasaki, would capitulate. Still the Japanese fought on despite all the odds. They followed their leaders to the very death, dragging their country down with them and thousands of foreign soldiers.

Knocked out T-34s.

 

[ThaHoward]

Chapter 28: Ultimate collapse and obliteration of the Japanese nation.

Spoiler: Music.

Japanese soldiers defending against massed assaults in Manchuria.

Despite Soviet troops arriving in Japan and seeing success in Manchuria, the Battle of Manchuria was far from over. Despite the initial shock Soviet troops had inflicted upon their Japanese adversaries the Japanese quickly found countermeasures to the convential and uncovential measures employed by the Soviets. During the onset of the invasion the Japanese forces was on a grand exercise, making them unavailable for 18 hours. Moreover Soviet bombers had razed Japanese communcation lines, making it difficult to move troops, supplies and orders around the theater. But now on the start of October the Kwantung Army managed to halt the Soviet assault into Inner Mongolia and toward Korea, at horrid losses. The land advance was stopped a good distance short of the Yalu River when even aerial supply became unavailable.*

American troops greets their Soviet comrades.

But this was not a victory for the Japanese. They had merely managed to stall the Soviet shock assault into Manchuria. To make matter worse two entire Fronts arrived in Japan to reinforce the pounded Allied invasion force of Japan, and were ready to take on the shattered Japanese defenses. An iconic picture was taken by the landing zones as Soviet troopers welcomed American ones unto one of their landingcrafts. In addition USA and Britain sent an enourmous contigent to Manchuria consisting of the American 2nd, 3rd, 7th, 24rd, 25th, 40th and 45th Infantry Divisions, 1st Cavarly Division, 187th Airborne Regiment and 5th Infantry Regiment. The British sent 27th British Commonwealth Brigade, 28th Infantry Brigade, 29th Infantry Brigade and the 1st Commonwealth Division to Manchuria.

Both sides were eager to end the war once and for all.

Mopping up the remaining Japanese.

The Soviets didn't wait to assault the Japanese in Japan. Three Japanese infantry divisions had been trapped just north of Osaka holding a vital port. Being encircled the Soviets joined the fray two in the morning on the second of October. An awesome opening assault begun as for hours anti-tank guns, anti-aircraft guns, mortarts, flares, howitzer, rocket launchers, airplanes, machine guns and tanks pummeled the Japanese positions that had for weeks been under attack from the alllied forces. It was quite the sight as thousands of muzzles, tracers, flares and explosions lit up the sky and the ground. This was only a taste of what was to come of several Soviet Rifle Divisions, Tank Divisions and Mechanized Corps prepared to attack the mutiliated Japanese defenders. The Japanese propaganda machinery, however, downplayed the futility of their strategic situation. The only hint the public got about the situation (other than the sheer presence of foreign troops) was "our brave forces just north of Osaka are attacked from all sides by the invading barbarians, sacrifing their lives for our final victory".

The Red Army was the final straw for the ravaged Home Islands.

Meanwhile the 1st Ukranian Front (named the Northern Front under the Japanese Operation) under Vasilevsky bypassed the three Japanese divisions north of the landing zone entirley. Instead they opted to strike northward to Kanazawa on the western coastline while American forces advances toward the same location midland. Just south of Kanazawa several Soviet formations engaged in battle with Japanese forces dug into the hills overlooking the southern passes. But after a merciless artillery attack these defenders were soon rooted out by two specialized mountain divisions and the sheer firepower of 9 rifle divisions and several mechanized corps and tank divisions. The other divisions faced the wrath of the civilian population as they moved northward, but the Soviets had agreed with the British and Americans forces that the Allies should occupy Japan, so unless the Japanese directly attacked Soviet troops they just let them be.

Australia deny us entry into Kokura, but we will reach Nagasaki, and the Emperor, anyway.

After the 19th hour of the 5th of October the first Soviet formation the 6th Tank Brigade set its feet, or rather tracks, on the Kyushu the southern most main island. This led to the remaining Japanese airbase on the mainland to fall to the Allies. Despite this the Japanese employed a few airplanes, and used them mostly in strafing runs or kamikaze attacks on transport ships ferrying the troops from Honshu to Kyushu with great success. But it couldn't stop the combined Allied assault unto Kyushu. The Western Front (named the Southern Front during the Japanese Operation) got one task at hand, and one task only: "Do not look to the left or right. Do not look back. Look only forward. You move forward until you reach Nagasaki and take the Emperor. You stop at nothing". And they did do just that. The Allies begged the Soviets to help them root out the remaining pockets in Kyushu as they did witht he one north of Osaka, but the Soviets ignored that request eager to end the war that had brought untold suffering upon the n once and for all.

A Soviet radio team deep into Manchuria.

But there was a war going on in Manchuria aswell. A Soviet comms sergant recalled one of the battles deep into Manchuria: "Our order was to move by foot deep into forests of Manchuria and set up a relay antenna on a predetirmined location. We moved by night, marched with our backbreaking equipment all night long and laid hidden during the entire day. We kept going like this for three days until we established the antenna deep into hostile territory. This allowed our recon and scout troops to move deep into the enemy lands and establish secure communication with the higher ups, artillery, air support and so on. We prepared well, worked all night to dig foxholes, set up firing zones and dig a hole in the ground for which we could sleep in with total noise and light discipline. During the day we were again completely still, just laying in our positions. One day we saw several Japanese formations move across the field just south of us which we overlooked. We let them pass. But to our east we saw a Japanese patrol head straight toward us. Fortunately we had prepared well and overlooked their entire axis of advance. In front of them was a dog who had gotten the scent of us, ready to attack. But it was left alone, instead its handler was shot. Following that our MG hidden underneath a dense tree opened fire and so did our mines, filling them with bullets and shrapnel. In the confusion the dog turned around and attacked the Japanese adding to the confusion. We took them out, but the Japanese forces who crossed the field naturally heard our engagement. We shifted our focus toward the field and opened fire. Three men was ordered to take down the antenna. The Japanese assaulted us with all they got, but we called in airstrikes. We then retreated and had several tripwires, flares and mines placed out. The pursuers was slowed down by these traps, and before taking down the radio we ordered airstrikes and artillery attacks on our position. We lost our pursuers and found a secondary positition. For the remainder of the war we changed our positions and enabled the or manuever forces to have communication".

One step closer to the final victory.

While Allied forces got some well earned rest Soviet forces moved south toward Nagasaki and some Commonwealth brigades was tied up taking out the remaining pockets of resistance, while in southern Korea the allies engaged in harsh combat. The 6th Tank Brigade found several abondonded fortifications, but soon reported that an understrenght Japanese Division protected the northern approach to Nagasaki. The Brigade followed its orders to "not look left or right, only forward" and pressed unto to the urban and well fortified area north of Nagasaki hoping the division would surrender or retreat to the advancing Soviet forces.

Two hour concentrated artillery fire into northern Korea before the proper invasion of the peninsula.

Soviet troops had amassed on the northern Korean border for quite some time. Now the time for an offensive finally arrived. After correcting the Manchurian front supply routes was opened up to Rokossovsky's Front taking on Korea. A two hour artillery barrage was ordered just after a night long bombing campaign on the border. Motorised infantry and armored formations quickly followed and took several of the vital locations. Their main objective was to secure the fords and foot of the hills. From these hills they substained substantial Japanese artillery attacks. A tank commander reported to Rokossovsky that their advance had been stopped under heavy fire. Rokossovsky replied that this "is a job for the infantry". In Manchuria the lines had all but collapsed during the initial shock of the Soviet invasion. In Korea, however, the Japanese knew for days that the Soviets amassed along the border and had well prepared defenses. The Red Army would engage in brutal cave fights to control the hills and mountains of the border region that lasted for weeks. Unlike the rest of the Manchurian Operation, the defense of Korea proved to be resilient and each meter gained by the Red Army was hardfought.

North meets south.

Still the lone Japanese infantry division defending the southern approach to Kanazawa was beaten back by the Front under Vasilevsky. By the 7th Kanazawa itself was taken and with American troops advancing from the south, north and east only a tiny strip remained for the Japanese division to retreat back to. A small location just south of Tokyo was also under Japanese control, however there was no airports, seaports or transport hubs to reinforce the remaining Japanese soldiers. It would be only a mater of time before all of Honshu, the main Japanese island, had fallen to the Allies. One step closer to victory.

We'll get there eventually, one urban area cleared and Nagasaki will be surrounded and open.

And another major step toward victory was taken in Kyushu. The 6th Tank Brigade engaged the depleted Japanese infantry division north of Nagasaki. However they proved to be too eager, too aggressive. The Japanese defenders had been reinforced with another full strength Japanese divisision early morning of the 9th of October. Despite intense rocket barrages the well fortified urban area north of Nagasaki staffed with two infantry division overpowered the tank brigade who had difficulties manuevering in the urban terrain. The motorised riflemen was disembarked and ordered to take control of the outskirts of the town, but the Japanese was dug in. Afterall 6 British units surrounded that small town, and hadn't succeeded in taking it. Now the Soviet learned the hardway why the British failed.

Soviet soldiers storm Japanese positions in Manchuria.

Despite the tempoairy setback north of Nagasaki the offensive continued into Manchuria. The Soviets, backed by their American and Commonwealth allies, generally overwhelmed the Sino-Japanese defenders. On the Soviet right flank, the Soviet-Mongolian Cavalry-Mechanized Group entered Inner Mongolia Emperor of Manchukuo (and former Emperor of China) was captured by the Red Army. Still many new recruits, conscripts and reservists was employed. A company commander described his first combat experience: "To our front there was open, inclined terrain with a village and a forest in the other end. The Kwantungs had established their defensive line there, and they put us under significant fire with mortars and machine guns. Shrapnel whined between the trees and cut off the branches who slammed down on our helmets. Our intenstined tied itself up in our bellies, even if we had often trained to familiarize ourself with shots, grenade explosions and the sound of machine guns. But during our training we were on a safe distance or safely in a bunker. Now we were in the middle of it. We were in the middle of a killzone, it was not possible to find cover. And as we were on the offensive we couldn't dig in. Our armored vehicles moved forward as good as possible in the difficult terrain while they covered us with their machineguns. Then our first man got shot. Followed up by another one, and another one. "First and second platoon attack! Third, standby. Machinegun platoon, suppressive fire!" I shouted out, but no one responded. They were scared to be the next victim, as were I. It was up to me to lead the way "Follow me!" I roared and leaped forward with my sub-machinegun. All our training paid off and my men stormed ahead, we advanced a few meters before we had to throw ourself down to cover from machinegun bullets and artillery. The Division laid a new attck plan, powerful flares and searchlights illuminated the ridge in sharp lights all nigh long. Tanks fired their automatic cannons with tracers to specific targets, and the artillery lit it up. It was a terryfing sight. By dawn we renewed our attack, and managed to take the village and the ridge. The Japanese had retreated. The sight that met us was terryfing. Everywhere around us the ground was littered with dead soldiers and horses, and the houses was on fire. We then realized what war really was, and that this was our reality now. We continued our offensive and our airforce demoralized the Kwantung Army, but they continued to fight heroically. We admired our enemy for their patriotism and courage. We respected them".

With these new destroyers we will destroy the fleets threatening our sacred Motherland.

As a part of the naval rearmament the Stalin-1936 program was reinitiated. A total of 18 Soobrazitel'nyi class destroyers was planned to be introduced to the Soviet Navy. Following the Second Russian Civil War and the following war with the Axis the development of new naval ships wasn't longer a priority. But Soviet High Command now realized how much they lagged behind. The new class of destroyers was basically a modified and improved version of the former Gnevny class and was outfitted with an improved machinery, a strenghtened hull and improved AA capabilities.

The Sino-Japanese troops in Manchuria have collapsed along with the homeland defenses.

On the 12th of October, 11 days after the arrival of the Red Army, entire Honshu (except for the peninsula south of Tokyo) had fallen to the combined allied troops. The West Front under Tuchachevsky arrived in full force in Kyushu, with 13 divisions engaging the two Japanese divisions holding the northern approach to Nagasaki. With extreme and ferocious firepower and aggression the small town was about to fall in days with high Japanese casualties. Meanwhile the Front under Vasilevsky was ordered to move straight up to Hokkaido to invade the northern most island. If the Northern Front landed on southern Hokkaido the Japanese defenses would be sandwhiched between Vasilevsky from the south and Kuznetsov with the Maritime Group of Forces and supported by US Marines in the north. Speaking of which, Maritime Group of Forces and US Marines managed to gain control of the Kuril islands fully and had hours earlier successfully established a beachead in Hokkaido. Japan was now attacked on all of its major islands**.

Every hill, cave, bunker, street or trench taken was a hardfought victory.

The Allies advanced, the Japanese retreated. Still bitter the bitter fights continued. The hills surrounding Nagasaki or the northern Korean border was riddled with Japanese troops, hiding in caves and using the area to its fullest potential. The forests of Manchuria and Inner Mongolia was well fortified and so were central Asia. It was a frustrating situation for the allied forces. They were winning, but even then the Japanese refused to surrender. Victory was within their grasp, but each man could fall at any moment.

The proper battle for Nagasaki begins. Again with extreme opposition and destruction.

Noon on the 13th the battle for Nagasaki itself begun as the 7th and 11th Cavarly Divisions reache the outskirts of the bombed out city. However the cavarly of this aged was not the same as just decades earlier. The soldiers was otufitted with machine guns, submachine guns, rocket launchers, recoiless rifles etc. The two cavarly divisions took to the ruins of Nagasaki against 7 well entrenched and desperate Japanese infantry divisions. Confined to a well fortified and tiny strip of land the coming battle would be one of extreme porportions. Despite the city being razed to ruins by the constant allied bombing campaigns, the Japanese defenders managed to utilize the ruins to their benefit. It was mayem, chaos ruled. Every corner, every stone had to be paid dearly. Nagasaki was afterall the last stand of the Japanese Army, and the last stand of Tojo and the Emperor, it couldn't fall. And if it did the invaders had to pay a tall price in blood.

At least Manchuria fell. Inner Mongolia and Korea will soon fall.

11:00 on the 15th of October Manchukuo surrendered. Being pressed from the north, east and south they crumbled in the end to their overpowering foe. Meanwhile Mongolia and Sinkiang had at last been fully liberated and the forces was now focusing on taking on the rest of China, Korea and Inner Mongolia (Mengkukuo). But as the fall of mainland Japan was at hand, the forces in China and Mongolia was tasked to not take unecessary risks. Peace would soon be at hand, senseless assaults wasn't necessary anymore.

The tide is slowly turning to the Soviet side, at the expense of the population of Nagasaki.

After four days of battle in Nagasaki, the overwhelming Soviet soldiers slowly gained the upperhand in Nagasaki. Their tactics was simple. Each building was to be cleared slowly until a block was cleared. Then the next unit should clear out the other block. Meanwhile the areas that was not under assault by ground forces was to be completely wiped out, leveled, with artillery fire and air attacks. The Soviets showed no mercy to their adversaries, it was better that they were anhilated than further losses. At its end the war, who had broken so many "records", peaked in its sheered brutality.

Japanese soldiers trying to put up an organized resistance during the traumatic and disorientated battle of Nagasaki.

Yet the battle raged on, and so did the brutality. At one point a Soviet soldier who stormed a building lasted for 10 seconds on average. The average lifetime for the soldiers in the battle of Nagasaki as a whole was 24 hours. Just one day. The massive bombing of the city laid the city bare and devastated. And the thick, black smoke draped itself over the city as a tomb. A tomb for both the Japanese and the Soviets. For how long would this hell continue?

Hokkaido is invaded from the north and the south. It will fall.

Then on the 20th 11:00 the first Soviet mechanized corps entere Hokkaido from the south. Hokkaido would be sandwhiched and fell with only minor skirmished. It was if even the Japanese had lost the will to fight.

Nagasaki have fallen at a terrible price.

Hours later the white flag was risen above Nagasaki. After thousands of deaths and a devastated city who was now ravaged to a massgrave the military surrendered. Some Japanese soldiers still refused to give up, and either killed themself with a grenade as they surrendered to Allied or Soviet troops (taking the invaders with them in the process) or continued fighting, most of the city (or what was left of it) was under control and only minor skirmished ensued. The Red Army then entered the last location of the Emperor of Japan..

The Emperor give his speech, moments before his "disappearance".

In the presence of the Red Army the Emperor gave his last speech broadcasted to all of Japan and to the world. Among the things he said was "Should we continue to fight, not only would it result in an ultimate collapse and obliteration of the Japanese nation, but also it would lead to the total extinction of human civilization. (...) The hardships and sufferings to which Our nation is to be subjected hereafter will be certainly great. We are keenly aware of the inmost feelings of all of you, Our subjects. However, it is according to the dictates of time and fate that We have resolved to pave the way for a grand peace for all the generations to come by enduring the unendurable and suffering what is unsufferable". But the Emperor wouldn't find peace. The Soviets were furios and called the Emperor for an "Imperialist and Reactionary" and said his kind had to be wiped up. To the shock and disbelief of the rest of the world the Emperor was taken on a walk of shame through Nagasaki infront of his subjects. He was then taken to Siberia and was never heard from again. This greatly angered the Allies who called it a crime and a breach of their mutual agreement and trust.

The cost of the wars.

But the fighting had come to a cessation. Average estimates stated that regular military forces on all sides (minus the Axis-Little Entente War) suffered 24 million losses. That was minus civilian and partisan casualties. The Soviet Armed Forces suffered 7.5 million losses alone, over a third of the total military losses. The deadliest conflict in human history had come to an end. The untold suffering was no more, it was time to come together and heal.

The Japanese government surrender to the United States.

Seeing the Soviet treatment and humiliation of their Emperor the Japanese government never officially surrendered to the USSR. Instead they surrendered to General MacArthur and Admiral Nimitz aboard the USS Missouri. The war that had engulfed the war on fire in 1938 had finally come to an end after five horrifying years. The world celebrated. It was now peace. But it was an unstable peace and the two opposing sides of the western democracies and the adherents of the Permament Revolution had to cooperate to establish a permament peace. For now war seemed unlikely, but anything could happen..

Peace - for now.


------

*Okay so for reason I either lost, didn't manage or forgot to take most screenshots of the fighting in central Asia, Manchuria and Korea. So the stuff detailing that is mostly based upon memory, logic, history and guesses.

**Well the Maritime Group of Forces never managed to leave Ukraine for some reason, I think it is a bug that I saw later on too. However given the actual Soviet invasion of the Kuril island, the planned invasion of Hokkaido and since USA invaded these isles now I think it is fitting narrative wise to make it so it was a joint Soviet-American invasion. In game it was purely American.

So that was the second world war! Next update will be the following peace treaty. Then it should be yearly updates on the developments in the post war world until either a) the next war or b) 1948.

 

[ThaHoward]

Chapter 29: Eastern Betrayal.

Spoiler: Music.

They're afraid of the bombs, but the chemtrails are the real weapon!

The 18th of April 1944 started out as any spring date. The air was fresh and the temperature was warm. Life was blossoming and the birds were chirping. It could be seen as the spring of nations, a new awakening after the long winter that had been the Second World War. For the veterans of the global war and the survivors of the Blitz an all too familiar sight, an all too familiar sound filled their hearts with fear. This Monday would be a day of terror.

The decadent wester powers will feel the Soviet might.

The Radar systems in southern England sounded the alarm. The operators at first couldn't believe the reports that ticked in, and sent it upward to High Command. Then other reports came from Norway, Poland, Denmark and the Netherlands. Fighters was scrambled and their reports confirmined the radar reports. "A significant foreign bomber force are headed straight toward Britain". The alarms of London and other cities again rung in the air. Those who had not kept their improvised bomb shelters was forced down to bombing bunkers or the metrosystem. Panic spread as an attack was at hand.

Trotsky returning from his state visit to USA.

Just mere days earlier Trotsky and top Soviet diplomats, among them the chastised Molotov, had just returned home from a state visit to USA to prepare for the two year anniversary of the German defeat, and to engage in secret talks to engage in a common policy of détente - the hostility between the two blocs had to come to an end. But to the bewildered American host, and the world, the Soviet delegation left without a word. But they soon got their answer. In a speech broadcasted to not only the Soviet Union, to not only the Communist Regimes in Europe, but to all of the world Trotsky said:

"Before the Great Patriotic War the working class had been crushed by the reactionary governments of the United States of America and the British Empire. The great depression had crippled the proletariat. Fascism led on by a dictator in a ridicolous mustache threatened to conquer the world, all the while the Western powers betrayed the proud people of Poland and Czechia and Slovakia. But there was hope, brave and class conscious men stood up to Stalin, a man with an equally ridicolous mustache, and released the progressive and revolutionary Union of Soviet Socialist Republics from his iron grip. The workers had again broken their chains. (...) When we moved forward to liberate all of Europe from Fascism we anticipated this liberation would result in an unprecedented upsurge of revolutionary struggle, we were correct. But the Reactionaries refuse to bow to the winds of change. (...) Make no mistake comrades! It was the might of the Red Army and the Soviet working class alone who saved the world from the Fascist yoke. (...) The economies of the entire capitalist world are in a state of disintegration and the masses of Europe and the colonial world are in rebellion. Look to your comrades in the mines of England, to the oppressed Malayans. The situation is indeed ripe for world socialist revolution! Workers of the world, unite!" The delegations of the Second Internationale returned home from their visit to the US. It was a flimmer of hope this would lead to a de-escalation of the tense world situation, it turned out to be quite the contrary.

What was once welcomed as guardian angels by the allies, had now turned into the fallen angel himself.

The 19th of April: Just as with the day before fighters scrambled. As long as human vision could reveal and even the radars. At moments they blocked out the sun some would later tell. The Soviet Air Force, backed up their allied airforces, sent large numbers of planes headed straight toward Britain. All the comms was shut off. It was complete radio silence. The small nation of Denmark was bypassed entirely, being paralyzed by the sheer power display. Meanwhile the Baltic fleet anchored outside of the Danish isles, threatening to close Kattegat and take the Danish capital. Meanwhile the Northern Fleet stationed in Murmansk blocked the entire Norwegian coast, backed up with naval bombers, light bombers, fighter bombers and medium bombers. The population of a nation reliant on trade across the Atlantic risked starvation, meanwhile bombers and fighters of all sorts headed toward to oblong nation while the Swedish and Finno-Soviet armies mobilized along their common border.

Iconic Spitfires and Mustangs scrambled all over Europe and most importantly Britain to face the new threat, but French and Soviet fighter-reserves was quick to cut them off. The British was powerless with what was happening and could only watch powerlessly on what was happening, trembling.

The Americans responds, carieer battlegroups are sent to the Vladivostok and the Atlantic.

April the 20th: The United States of America vowed that it could not stand by and watch "crimes against peace" and "needless aggression". In response entire American fleets composed of state of the art warships and carieers headed toward the Soviet Union and to aid their European allies. Still they were days away having to undertake the herculian task to cross the Pacific and the Atlantic. The Soviet Air Force dominated the seas surrounding Britain and an invasion seemed inevitable. The Royal Navy had scrambled to face the Soviet and French threats, but the low flying airplanes dominated the scene.

Do they have the bomb?

Meanwhile far away across the pond panic spread there too. Had the Soviets gotten the bomb before them? Even with utmost secrecy it was feared Soviet agents had gotten hold of documents from the Manhattan Project and especially aided by the Germans. Could this bold and dangerous move be explained by the simple fact that the Soviet Armed Forces had gotten hold of a weapon to drastically change the power of balance?

A T-44 column headed toward Poland..

April the 21st: The panic and terror that already existed was only made worse. Reports came in from all continental Allies: "The Soviet Armies are amassing at our borders, ready to invade". Most alarming was the new weapons that was spotted by recon planes and spies. Among them was the T-44, vastly superior by anything the Allied warpowers had in their arsenals. And the reports ticked in. Rows after row with this frigthening tank rolled toward the European borders, taking city after city. Germany and Italy that had been demilitarized was now reported to be swarming by Soviet troops, with hordes of tanks rolling over the borders and paratroopers dropping right into important cities.

Indonesian soldiers return as conquerers of Japan, turns to insurgency.

The Allies was powerless. Any meaningful American aid was still days, if not weeks, away. In the colonies insurgent groups supported and inspired by Mao and Ho Chi Minh rose up. Even in the major Allied cities the workers rose up. Either out of fear or as a chance to install socialism. The seeds of dissent and fear the Soviet Union had planted in the democracies was blooming for full effect. The world was truly gripped by the situation, by the fear and by the terror.

A Soviet bomber returns from its sortie.

April the 22nd: This was the anniversary of the birth of Lenin. Trotsky then broadcasted to the radios of the world, even outright interfering many: "Long live the Soviets". The operation was over. The world had been for a few days been grippe by fear.

The attack vectors of the armies, planes and fleets had in fact been extremely well calculated. It was a test, one of many to come. Right before entering Allied airspace, save for Denmark, they turned right around in a sharp turn. Flying in from all over Europe, Russia and the Baltics they flew straight on attack vectors to major cities such as London, Liverpool and Amsterdam. At the last moment they would turn around. British fighters took to the air to intercept them and hailed them again and again. But there was radio silence. Perhaps to keep them off balance, perhaps to provoke an incident. Still these four days had been nervewrecking. No casualty occured, but the Soviet Union and her allies sent the majority of their air fleets and navies straight toward the Allied nations. It signalled one thing: "We are prepared to strike at any moment". This action who almost led the world to the brink of war was condemned by the United Nations - even among non Allied affiliated nations and threatened with the expulsion of the entire Internationale.

Churchill gives one of his famous speeches. Will it be his last?

Winston Churchill was in the United States when all of this happened. In the position as the Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, or simply Foreign Minister, he remarked the events that transpired and almost went into open rebellion against Lord Halifax saying "appeasment did not work with Hitler. It will not work with Trotsky". But his most famous line was “From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic. From Madrid in Iberia to Bucharest in the Balkans, an iron blanket has descended across the continent." This was followed by “nothing which they admire so much as strength, and there is nothing for which they have less respect than for military weakness.” Mere days later the aggressive Soviet military exercise took place. What would later be dubbed the Cold War was in its infancy risking to nearing the boiling point.

But how did the situation deteriorate so rapidly? For that we need to look closer on the peace after the bloodiest conflict to that date and its immidiate aftermarth...

-------------------

So when I pondered about how to make the peace, I decided to make a little tease. No, war didn't come now, but I will today make a short update about how the world look like following the war. Then I will dive into each nation or region (depending on importance) on how/why they became independent, communist, democratic etc. Hopefully it was a nice change of events with no gameplay. If you're still confused, it was just a major military exercise basically preparing for war and to make the allies sh*t their pants. It is inspired by the OTL Soviet bomber runs during the Cold War, and to a lesser extent those of today.

 

[ThaHoward]

Chapter 30: Paris Peace Treaties.

Spoiler: Music.

The Canadians are either bored or not satisfied with the results.

The Soviet Union had outright rejected any talks to sit down with the Allied powers prior to the fall of Germany, such as the proposed Teheran, Yalta and Postdam conferences. It was said to be a counter-revolutionary tool to oppress the working class. Or other formulations along those lines. However following the capitulation of Germany and Italy practical arrengements had to made in order to reach a consensus. The Commune of France offered their support. As a communist nation who were among the first nations to be invaded by the Axis and enjoying strong ties with western Europe it was agreed that several peace talks would be held in Paris from the fall of Italy and beyond. However the Soviet delegates was impatient, already having established de-facto control over most of Europe, and demanded the talks to be over by the 25th of December, hoping the Allies would consider it as a "Christmas present". Many of these changes, however, was just Allied acceptance of Soviet occupation of most of Europe.

It's good to be a mapmaker in the 30s and 40s.

Europe had been turned to ruins by the war. Despite the rebuild of much of the industry on the continent, the lands, cities and population was still scarred. But it was in these ruins a new and radically different Europe emerged.

-Central Europe: Germany had to cede most of the Moselland and Rheinland to France. East Prussia was integrated as the Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia. Czechia was released as an independent nation, as were Austria with territorial gains in South Tyrol. Luxembourg was again made a free nation following the defeat of the Little Entente. Czechia and Luxembourg however became de-facto puppets of the USSR and Austria was made a puppet of France. The greatest victory for the USSR was managing to gain de-facto control over Germany.

-Balkans: The Balkan Socialist Union recieved major concessions from the former Yugoslavia and Romania. However they failed to gain complete control over Romania as when the Iron Guard regime ended it was in reality made a puppet of the USSR, who wanted access to their seaports and oil. Bessarabia and Bukovina was annexed outright by the USSR as the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic (with some parts going to the Ukraine). The USSR also annexed the port of Zara to gain direct sea access out of the Black Sea.

-A minor conflict also erupted between the Balkan Socialist Union and remnants of Yugoslavia, this led to the creation of the Montenegrian and Serbian states, under control by the USSR. Meanwhile the King managed to return, however only Trieste and Macedonia came under his fold. Albania and Bulgaria managed to become independent and democratic states free of foreign influence.

-Italy, after losing all of its colonies, was made a puppet of the USSR.

Is this the birth of a Pan-Africa?

In Africa Libya was made an independent Kingdom and Ethopia was its own nation again, both free of foreign influence, while Syria and Lebanon became democratic regimes being allied to the UK. In the former French colonies in Africa, France and Britain officially created the Franco-British Union awaiting for a democratic restoration in France proper. However French Africa was in practical manners absorbed into the British Empire.*

China is even more complex now than pre-war.

In the Far East things took a weird turn. Most of China was placed under Soviet control, who in turn made Mao in charge of the People's Republic of China - alltough as a puppet of the USSR. A small portion of Manchuria was made into a Soviet puppet. However large parts of China resisted Soviet aggression with the help of the Allies and broke away from the PRC by creating a popular front between social democrats, liberals and social democrats. Yunnan and the remnants of Guangxi was made independent democratic regimes by the Allies, with USA occupying greater parts of Guangxi. Korea was split in hald along the 38th paralell in accordance with Soviet-American agreements, with the north being under Soviet occupation (who set up a puppet regime) and the south under US occupation. Japan was no longer an Empire, but a democratic republic. The USSR demanded the indepence of Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, however these three nations soon came together to form the Socialist Federation of Indo-China. Siam and Afghanistan became democratic regimes, however free from foreign interference.

There can be only one type of red on the map.

The war was over and the peace was concluded. New democratic regimes popped out over the world, but the communist world absorbed huge amount of lands. It was unlikely that two vastly opposing world views could exist in peace. Afterall the Second World War was a clash between opposing world views.
--------------------

*So the Allies released Libya, Ethiopia, Lebanon and Syria. The two former became non-aligned, the two latter became democratic regimes. Rest of Africa was annexed by UK. The Franco-British Union in Africa is just a homage to that HoI4 event and I think it is a nice touch that exiled Frenchmen want to regain their homeland.

**So here things get strange. I released Manchuria as a puppet, but they didn't get all the land I assigned to them. I also released Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam as puppets, but for whatever reason Germany kept them, now as Germany is my puppet these nations can't be released. Storywise they are.. German, narrative wise they are their own Union. I planned to divide and conquer China, as in releasing all warlords as commie puppets and then rest of China as PRC. But the Allies beat me to taking on the warlords.

So that is a quick overlook over the peace treaty. Next time we will take a better look at Germany (or what is left of it).

 

[ThaHoward]

Post-War World: Lenin zeigt an!

Spoiler: Music.

Extra Kleindeutsche Lösung.

Germany. Beaten now, as a mirror of 1918. A once proud nation now completely broken by shame and years of bombing, fighting on homesoil and occupation. Germany who swept Europe with their blitzkrieg tactics are now again getting the blame for the war. Now the Germans need to stake out their future, to atone with their past. The dream of Greater Germany have been forever shattered and the country took a major paradigm shift, from the extreme right to the far left. But how did all of this happen?

Napoleon would be proud, minus the small detail of being communist.

When Germany was invaded it was the French Army and their militias who took the brunt in crossing into the country from Alsace-Lorraine. Furious over two invasions, two capitulations and the loss of Alsace-Lorraine the Rhineland and parts of the Ruhr was quickly occupied by French troops. This was in accordance with the loose occupation zones the great powers set up as they carved up Germany. But France, only consulting their communist allies, took it a step further. Alsace, Saarland, Rheinland, Moselland and parts of the Ruhr was outright integrated as Federated Communes of France. This naturally incensed the Germans and the Allies alike. As French troops established governmental control over the area it was seen as outright conquest, the very same conquest that had started the horrible war. But the French argued they needed these areas for war reperations, and to prevent the German phoenix to rise up again and attack France on their weak flanks. The Allies protested, but it fell to deaf ears. Supported by the USSR and not wanting to risk an outright war over German territory while they were still fighting their common enemy; Japan. The westbank of the Rhine was lost to France as the annexation were ratified by the Paris Treaties.

Who can deny that Kaliningrad is an integrated part of Russia?

But the westbank was not the only territories Germany lost. East Prussia was absorbed into the Russia, with Memel being returned to Soviet occupied Lithuania. USA and other allied powers headed toward the Paris treaties confident they would put an end to annexations of foreign territories. The newly created UN stipulated it as unlawful and border twists should be resolved diplomatically instead of the point of a gun. But it was the gun who solved this "twist" in the favor of the Russians. Russia had no legal basis in their conquest of East Prussia, but it contained something they desperately needed: An ice free port in the Baltics. Sure Leningrad was mostly icefree, but Soviet trade suffered greatly if and when the port froze to ice. There was no need to liberate East Prussia from Germany as most of the people there were already German, there was Polish miniorities, but they were ignored. It was a cold calculated decision by the USSR. They wanted East Prussia, and they would take it no matter what. East Prussia was as a consequence renamed to the Kaliningrad Oblast, named after Kalinin one of the original revolutionaries who had been murdered at the hands of Stalin, a martyr of the USSR.

The imperialist plans of the western powers!

These annexations stirred nationalist sentiments among the German people. And looking simply a few years back in time German nationalism had proven to be a dangerous concept. Nearing the formal end of the war with Japan, Soviet officials leaked Allied war terms to the German public. It was revealed all of Germany east of the Oder and Neisse rivers was to be given to Poland, while East-Prussia was to split between Poland and Russia. The Allies also put forth conditions to surrender Alsace-Lorraine and Saarland to France, with the westbank being under French economic control. But the greatest crime, according to the Soviets, was that the Allies intended to split Germany into four seperate occupation zones indefinitely. Put simply: The French and Soviet annexations would happen anyway, but the Germans would be required to cede greater lands to Poland and the nation would never again be unified. This caused outrage among the German public, fueled by French, Spanish and Soviet agitators, and the Franco-Soviet deal was the lesser of two evils.

Belgian worker's militias.

Tensions was an alltime high. And professional revolutionaries knew how to turn it all to their favor. Belgian Communards abused their standing among the Allies and started to funnel exiled German revolutionaries, socialist politicians, weapons, propaganda materials and even entire militias into the British and American occupation zones of Germany. All over southern and northwestern Germany radical communist and syndicalist trade unions organized. Not until long these unions became armed (with Belgian weapons and even soldiers) and started a campaign of terror against the hated British and American occupiers. This greatly increased the popularity among the nationalist German population, and as their popularity rose their membership swelled. Despite harsh crackdowns by the British and American forces these militias soon turned their attentions to the industrialists, former Nazi funtionaries and the old aristocracy. They were brought to a "people's court" to "answer" for their crimes and the wealth from confiscated property was redistributed to the people. Where the interwar was defined by their Freikorps, the postwar was defined by the many Rotearmee's. But this campaign of terror couldn't last. Allied forces, except for Belgian, surpressed these uprisings and banned all trade unions and left wing political parties. The entire Internationale condememned this course of action publically and demanded the United States and United Kingdom to end their political repression of Germany. The communists was suddenly seen by many as protectors of Germany, rather than the conquerers they truly were.

German workers organize, with the help of France.

But such activity was not confined to northwestern and southern Germany alone. Afterall the entire Westbank was annexed by the French. They took the chance to set up their own way of decentralized union based commune system. The workers of the westbank was organized and indoctrinated. Long story short workers and former soldiers from the westbank crossed the Rhine into Germany, and the other way around. They would again be politically trained by the French and spread the ideas of revolution and socialism through Germany. Despite the Red Armies and the unions being illegal in Allied occupied Germany they gained support among the population and in many cases set up shadow governments. The French went as far as to arm them, and set up vanguard parties ready to seize power. But unlike the Belgians they ordered them to be cautious. They had to win the hearts and the minds of the masses before they could rise up.

Soviet political commisars model Germany in their image.

The Soviet Union was mostly confined to their own occupied territory. There they set up a communist puppet regime and purged society of any they found necessary. The USSR set up a military regime in their part of Germany. There they sent agents across the border and readied the Red Army to liberate the rest of Germany..

The proposed occupation zones of Germany.

The communists gained support from the population as a whole. Both due to the clandenstine operations, but also that the Soviet Union publically refused to accept the Allied plans to partition Germany (even if France and the USSR ironically did just that between eachother). Instead the USSR sent a note to the Allied military commanders, but also each of the major cities and towns in Germany. It was to be named "Trotsky's Note". Trotsky put forth a proposal for a reunification and neutralization of Germany, with no conditions on economic policies and with guarantees for "the rights of man and basic freedoms, including freedom of speech, press, religious persuasion, political conviction, and assembly" and free activity of democratic parties and organizations. The Americans and British saw this for what it was, a ruse. They refused, but this enraged the German population and the unions created by France and Belgium resurfaced and called for general strikes and massed demonstrations, and terror soon again was on the agenda. Rokossovsky of the Red Army announced that if order was not soon reinstalled by the American and British Military Authorities, then the Red Army would restore order once more.

Moments before allied troops left Germany on its own.

A third world war was immiment. In Berlin American and British tanks faced off Soviet and French ones. But on the 11th hour the American and British authorities accepted the demands of the Trotsky Note, on the condition that Rokossovsky would stand down. He did. Entire Germany (except for the annexed parts) became demilitarized and Germany was barred from having any military force whatsoever. Germany lost the Westbank and East Prussia, but was again a whole nation, free of foreign troops and managed to at least keep their territory east of the Oder-Neisse Line. The first general election was held in the war and terror torn country.

Election posters of the KPD and SPD. Central SPD figures of Otto Grotewohl and Kurt Schumacher. The handshake that made the SED.

An unlikely alliance sprung up. Under the leadership of Wilheml Pieck (KPD) and Otto Grotewohl (SPD) the communists and social democrats in eastern Germany formed the coalition of SED (Socialist Unity Party of Germany) who were soon embraced by the many unions. However large portions of the population was still leaning toward liberalism or conservatism. In response to the SED the various liberals of Germany formed the FDP, and the conservatives wanted to create a union of their own. Men such as Adenauer from the Zentrum wanted to unite all Christian Democrats in one party, but the Zentrum vetoed being in an election with protestants. As a result the various conservative parties remained on the periphery. But it was then the SPD made its masterstroke. Kurt Schumacher, who had been opposed to founding the SED initially, managed to strike a deal with the Communards of France. Germany and France would found a joint-cooperative over the Westbank and freely trade resources between their two countries. Moreover Germans living in the Westbank would be issued German passports, and Germans living east of the bank could freely visit the Westbank. This was by many seen as a practical integration of the Westbank into Germany, and a possibility of a German Army on the Westbank. But they had one condition: the SED had to be in power.

Welcome Herr Pieck, the puppet of Trotsky.

This foreign political coup by an SPD politican who was seen by most of Germans as a moderate socialist and being pro-democratic was godsent for the SED. This combined with major union support (who with Soviet, Spanish, Belgian and French operatives launched a campaign of political violence) for the SED and a weakened center-right led to the victory of the SED. Still the victory margin was quite marginal. But Wilhelm Pick became the first President of the German Federative Democratic Republic. Otto Grotewohl was made the Chancellor and Schumacher the foreign minister. However the KPD soon showed its true feathers. Agents from the Internationale inflitrated the party and SPD members who were not radical socialists were purged. In most matters Pieck proved to be nothing more than a puppet of Trotsky. In the absence of any military force, the Red Armies of the unions and the KPD became the real military and police force of the nation.

Left-Wing gathering in front of the Reichstag.

It was then, by March of 1944 after months of brutal repression the many unions and Red Armies in Germany launched a coup after a massed demonstration outside of the Reichstag. The elected German officials who was moderate SPD politicians or all non SED politicians was arrested under the claims of staging a coup against democracy. After a farce show of trials and a vote in both chambers the German Federative Democratic Republic was reorganized as the German Socialist Republic, no longer being a liberal democracy but a Marxist state. The western Allies was shocked by what just happened and demanded Germany to revert its course. But as Germany was surrounded by both France and the Soviet Union, who announced they would protect the democratic sovereignty of Germany by a call of arms if it was needed to, the United States and Britain only issued void protests.

The restructuring of Germany may begin.

Germany had now turned Communist and was in all reality a mere puppet state of the Soviet Union, or as Trotsky said "the Revolution Triumphant". Time would show if it was communism who finally bring peace and stability to the German lands.


-------------

So that was Germany. I feel that these countries need a little more history to why they suddenly become a puppet and communist regime instead of just "USSR demanded this in a turn of the treaty", so trying to explain why Germany etc. become communist, quickly turn out to be cheesy and just weird. Next one up is Austria and Czechoslovakia.

 

[ThaHoward]

Post-War World: Truth Prevails.

Spoiler: Music.

The Anschluss is no more.

Austria and Czechoslovakia had both been annexed by the Third Reich. When the Allies swept from all directions these two nations fell under Allied occupation and soon enough the process was made to establish both countries as independent and democratic republics, with full territorial integrity. However as the months went by and the Paris Peace Treaties was signed the Western powers accepted the ongoing developments. They accepted the integration of Slovakia into the Balkan Socialist Union and the Austrian annexation of South Tyrol. But most concerning, from a western point of view, they accepted the status of both nations as satellite states under France and USSR. How did this happen?

Socialism with a human face, that of Herr Gottwald.

First of all, let us take a look at Czechia and their leader. Klement Gottwald was born as the bastard of a poor peasant and grew up to become a carpenter in Prague, from where he first came into contact with the Social Democratic movement. From there on he served as a foot soldier during the Great War (even if he deserted in the last year) and for some years following the war, however it was the post war era that would define his future career. He quickly became associated as a sports instructor in the many sport associations that was in reality nothing but communist fronts of the Soviet Union and wrote articles in communist propaganda papers. Fast forward to 1929 and he was elected the General Secretary of the KSC, in this position he reformed the party to engage in a "Popular Front against Fascism", but it was not to last. During the end of June Gottwald and the communists, with the support of the French communists, pressured their government to take a firm stance against the German demands for the Sudetenland. As we all know the Little Entente refused the German demand, and the Second World War started on the 1st of July 1938 as a consequence. This led to his defining moment in his career as the Communist Party was outlawed in Czechoslovakia and Gottwald along with the communist leadership had to flee to Soviet Union. Here, however, they were quickly rounded up by NKVD and Red Army officers. The USSR was on the brink of civil war, on the brink of revolution. Some of the communists swore loyalty to Stalin and was brutally executed. Gottwald saw where it was going, and the once Moscow loyal leader turned around and said Stalin was a betrayer of the revolution and hoped that true socialism would come back to the Soviet Union. From now on Gottwald became a hardline Trotskyist, albeit under pressure, and helped organize the return of Trotsky to the USSR. He returned to his homeland riding on a Russian tank.

Propaganda picture of Hungarian and Slovakian soldiers embracing eachother.

Before we move on with the Czechs and Gottwald, another issue have to be adressed. That Slovakia ceded from Czechoslovakia and joined their eastern Union instead. There had long been a growing divide between the Czechians and Sovaks and this divide was only deepened by the Germans as they followed the doctrine of "divide and conquer". However a third party joined the fray: Hungary. In 1941 fueled by discontent and nationalism the regime under Horthy was overthrown and replaced by the dictatorship of the proletariat. One of their promises was to do what the Fascists never did: to return Slovakia to Hungary. Fast forward to the 3rd of June 1942. Slovakia had been for a time under Hungarian occupation and Rakosi proclaimed the creation of the Balkan Union of Socialist States. The parts of Slovakia where the inhabitants were not of a Magyar majority would get their republic of their own, the Slovak People's Republic. The Slovaks had mixed feelings in all of this. In one way they had their own republic, yet on the other hand they made major concessions to the Hungarians and were again under the yoke of another nation. In the end it mattered little what the Slovakians felt. At the negotiation table of the Paris Treaties the Allies had to accept that Slovakia was fully integrated into the Balkan Union. Despite their best efforts to restore Czechoslovakia they had in the end to accept to accept the reality of the situation: Czechoslovakia was no more and Slovakia was a part of the Balkan Union.

Czechian resistance fighter, as you can see he haven't got that much weapon's training..

Back to the Czechs. Despite being outlawed the Communist Party became hugely popular among the Czech population during the German invasion and the subsequent Anschluss. Trained by French and Soviet agents underground communist leaders created people's militias. These militias carried out attacks on the German logistic lines during the invasion and during the occupation they formed the first active resistance and partisan cells in Czechia. Officially being led by the KSC and Gottwald in exile, the Soviets sent several advisors and equipment to the Protectorate of Bohemia-Moravia. The communist resistance was mostly sabotaging German military and political officials and the successes was doubtful, however they spread hope to the population and soon communism became a synonym with resistance and hope. The core of the resistance movement was indeed communists, and for the first years you needed to join the communists to become a part of the active resistance cells. This led to a huge surge of communist membership and popularity. The KPC saw took their given oppurtunity and mied with nationalist slogans the Czech resistance would often cry "Communism is the future!" and "All efforts must be made into reshaping a Free Czechoslovakia to Marxist ideals".

Czech communists ride on a Soviet tank during the liberation of Prague.

Then after years of occupation and struggle the Soviet Union came. As a heroic prosa a Czech Red Army and Police Forces created in exile rode into Czechia on Soviet tanks. With the red flags they came to liberate their country. Soviet and Czechian soldiers came together as liberators of Czechia and the Communist Partisans made a general uprising. The liberation of their homeland had finally come. Despite the war continuing for months with exceptional harsh fightings in Bohemia, the communists was percieved as the liberators. Klement Gottwald made an announcement the Soviet Military Government of Czechia and the KSC that would stake out the future course: "Our Leftward swing is gathering momentum. Support for communism is growing nationwide, and the rate will only grow if we throw more support behind it".

Soviet soldiers greeted as liberators by the Czechs.

Then the Nazis was driven out of Czechia once and for all. The Allies did their best to establish a democratic provisional government in Prague, however the Soviets weren't that interested in such developments. Bohemia and Moravia was firmly under Soviet control and they didn't waste this oppurtunity. While they allowed for a western picked provisional government the real power was vested into the Soviets and the KSC. Each major city got their own Worker's and Soldier's Council, and the same with municipalities etc. These Soviets in turn formed a shadow government that pressured the provisional government under Edvard Beneš - with the support of the massive Red Army - to sign an alliance with the Internationale. In the official statement Beneš announced "Our less progressive former allies can no longer be on. It is time to sign an alliance with the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics to ensure our security against Imperialist aggression". This naturally created a major split between the Western powers and the forced provisional government in Prague. Matters was made even worse then. With little support from the West and a gigantic Soviet presence the government in Prague signed a law that gave more power to the local Soviets and less to the central state. Gottwald announced confidently "this is the birth of Czech Socialism".

The first, and last, election of the Czech Republic.

However the Western powers did not give in to the Soviet Union and demanded that Czechia was to hold a free election. They hoped this would lead to the people electing a government that held true to the principles of liberalism and democracy. But they miscalculated. The KPC was immensly popular and the Soviets (both the Councils and the Red Army) held great power. In many cases candidates was forced to drop out of the election leaving several constituencies with only left wing candidates, on some locations worker's militias and Soviet soldiers even monitored the election booths. However the Western Allies managed to bring in one demand, a constitution that ensured the seperation of power and a functional democracy. The results was overwhelming, the KPC got nearly 40% of the votes, while the National Social Party under Beneš gained around 18%. Beneš accepted a coalition with the KPC, with Beneš becoming the President and Gottwald the Prime Minister.

As any other communist of that time, the Czech communists liked to demonstrate in their sparetime.

This was not to last. The National Social Party and anti-communists saw their chance to purge the communist from the military, police forces and to crackdown on the communist led Soviets who held the real power in the country, meanwhile the anti-communists despite their differences put forth a motion to join in a coalition and ban the KPC. Gottwald responded to this by calling for a general strike and to protect "democracy and the free will of the people" from the "borgouise". Strikes rose up all over Czechia and communist militias marched on the major cities. Outside of the parliament of Prague 100.000 people amassed demanding a communist government. This caught the attention of the Red Army who threatened to intervene, and not before long the Social Democratic Party supported the KPC (beng inflitrated by communists). Beneš being fearful of an outright civil war and a Soviet intervention folded and made the coalition between the KPC and Social Democrats the new government.

The new government is announced.

The KPC, NKVD and Red Army did not waste anytime. The "enemies of the people" was quickly arrested and a reign of terror ensued. A new election was held with the KPC and Social Democrats winning nearly 90% of the votes, a result that is questionable. It was then announced that the Third Czechoslovak Republic had come to an end, in it's stead the Czech Socialist Republic was proclaimed to the thunderous applause of the masses. The Red Army and NKVD secured Soviet primacy over the new republic making it a Soviet satellite, and they secured KPC primacy over the Czech Republic in its whole. Power was decentralised to the Worker's and Soldier's Councils and Gottwald announced his new doctrine of Socialism with a Human Face: "Now as the workers have united and broken the shackles of oppression, we call the people for a greater and collective participation in local and country politics under the Umbrella of the Communist Party we shall breathe new life into the ideals of Communism". What was interesting about the Czech Socialist Republic was that the new Socialist Constitution secured free democratic elections*.

The Czech factories are under Soviet control...

With Slovakia recognized as a part of the Balkan Union the new Czech Republic could focus on its Bohemian and Moravian industry. Under Soviet guidance a 210 days plan was made to open up several new factories in the already industry concentrated areas for the first 70 days, followed up by further 70 day investement. Then for the final 70 days they would create new industrial towns to facilitate for housing to the workers and create new industries outside of the old industries. Then the domestic armament industry and technology would be expanded, which would surely benefit the Red Army...

---------------

*Well in game there is elections every fiffth year. How free and fair these elections really are, I leave up to the reader!

So I meant to do Austria too. But I figured it would be too long, so it was split. Expect the Austrian part later today. Then the plan is as follows: Balkans, Italy, China, Easter Egg and then continue on with the history.

 

[ThaHoward]

Post-War World: Befreiung.

Spoiler: Musich.

Austria may have been liberated, still at any rate they are a puppet..

Austria was a peculiar case. Traditionally stauncly conservative before it turned fascist in 1934 only later to be annexed by Germany - where the Austrian leadership refused a union with Germany as "Austria are more German than [Germany]". In many ways Austria can be said to share equal blame for the world war, or at least being a collaborator, still it could be seen as the victim of German expansion. And it was the latter Austria would be potrayed as, a victim of the war. And following the world war it would take sharp turn to the left and even expan its territory. The leader of the Austrian Soviet Republic was Herr Alfred Klahr, a Jewish born Austrian who had been groomed in Moscow for communist leadership. Klahr was the favorite among the Trotskyist leadership, even before the return of Trotsky he had openly defied Stalin's line and went his own way. Moreover he was staunchly opposed to the Anschluss when all others were, following the annexation he went to the underground and organized the anti-nazi resistance. Right before the liberation of Austria he was made captive by the Nazis, but were soon liberated by the Soviets and helped the Austrian communists rise up.

Austria had changed forever, going from a republic, to a fascist dictatorship to the union with Germany. Now it was a Räterepublik, or Soviet Republic. However it was not without conflict.

Austria's communists have a long history, such as even trying to save the Republic from fascism.

The Austrian Communist Party was established officially in 1918 making it one of the olderst communist parties. It was established due to the general shortage created by the Allied blockade and inspired by the revolutions in Russia the workers of Austria started to organize and civil unrest became the norm. Seeing the successes in Germany and Russia the KPÖ pulled off a coup, but ultimately failed. The Austrian Communists was not nearly enough as professional and organized as their Soviet counterparts. Fast forward to 1933. One of the first actions of the new Austrofascist was to outlaw the KPÖ forcing it to go underground, soon the Social Democratic Party (SPÖ) followed suit and the two parties formed an underground coalition. This underground coalition culminated in 1934 when the KPÖ, SPÖ and democratic forces united to form the militia of Republikanischer Schutzbund - the Republican Defense League. Their intentions was noble, to overthrow the Austrofascit regime and make Austria once more a democracy. Of course revolutionary elements was likely to have more ulterior motives. Anyway over the years the KPÖ managed to distance itself from the Comintern, mostly in its treatment of socialist and social democratic parties. This in turn led to the KPÖ and SPÖ bonding and the communist saw an influx of radical socialists from the social democrats.

Members of the Austrian Freedom Front.

Still Austria was in a Union with Germany, or occupation depending on how you see it. But the Allies, along with the Internationale, had one clear condition for Austria to exist as a sovereign state following the war: they needed to prove it. It is here the KPÖ and its militias enters. Even before the annexation of Austria the KPÖ announced "The view that the Austrian people are a part of the German nation is theoretically unfounded. A union of the German nation, in which also the Austrians are included, never existed and does not exist today either. The Austrian people have lived under different economic and political conditions than the remaining Germans in the "Reich", and have therefore chosen another national development". Moreover the Austrian communists and social democrats had created an expansive underground network and resistance cells already in 1933. With the appereant defeat of Greater Germany being at hand these cells only grew. Many Austrians realized they would get more favorable peaceterms if they joined the winning side and resisted the pan-German union. With the ascension of Trotsky several members of the SPÖ became radicalized and it was difficult to tell large parts of SPÖ and KPÖ from eachother. However these two powers dominated the resistance against Germany. In tandem with this the Austrian Freedom Front was established, and trained, in France and Belgium. This Front who was exclusively communist was intended to be the Austrian military force to liberate and occupy Austria.

The liberation of Vienna by the Red Army.

Then after several offensives and counter-offensives Austria and the rest of Germany was defeated and occupied. The allied powers agreed to create four occupation zones in Austria between France, USSR, USA and UK, but the Soviets was diligent in their effort to set up several Räte - or Soviets. As in Czechia these councils was meant to form a shadow government, however it was mostly foiled in the British and American sectors. But it remained a powerful force in the communist zones. And with the Red Army being the force that liberated Austria with the KPÖ being the leading resistance movement, the communists soon became a powerful and popular force.

The election of 1943.

Soon after the end of the war an election in 1943 was called. Despite it's popularity among the working class, it did not look well for the KPÖ. It was estimated that the SPÖ and the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) would be the contestors for the presidency. Many Austrians even feared an outright communist takeover as the council activities scared them. The fear of a communist takeover led many moderate communists and radical socialists to the SPÖ, this issue was doubled with the mere fact that SPÖ had been the primary working party among the Austrians and that the population was still largely rural and conservative voting for the ÖVP. Still with the fact that it was the communists who had led the resistance and it was the Red Army who liberated Austria led to a high popularity among the voters. The KPÖ slogan during the election was even "It was the Communists who made the greatest sacrifice during the liberation".

The status of South Tyrol was still hotly debated.

But it all changed. It all changed with France. France meddled in the internal election in Austria as they would do in Germany. Another proposal, part bribery, party extertion was as follows: "If a government of the proletariat wins the election who represent communist and internationalist ideals, we will restore South Tyrol to Austria". This was a bombshell in Austrian politics. Suddenly the nationalist voters shifted from the SPÖ and ÖPV to the KPÖ. The western allies was furios. This was nothing short of foreign meddling in an election process, and France promised away land to the Austrians. Promised away lands that was not theirs, who had not been ratified by the UN nor the Paris Treaties. It was abhorrent. In the chaos the USSR and the Communards took their chance to extert control over their councils in Austria. In French and Soviet occupied areas later reports revealed that entire graveyards and thousands of dead or missing soldiers suddenly woke up from their deaths and voted for the KPÖ. Nevertheless the results came in on the 25th of November 1943: The ÖPV scored 36.8% of the votes, SPÖ scored 33.6% of the votes and the KPÖ got the impressive turnout of 33.42% of the votes. The KPÖ didn't win the popular vote, the ÖPV did, but their result was still impressive.

Karl Renner, seen by the left as capitalist and the right as communist. At least his mustache is good looking.

The Socialists and Communist created an uneasy coalition. Seeing as the SPÖ narrowly held more votes than the KPÖ it was the first head of government of the Austrian Republic in 1918 Karl Renner that was elected President. Meanwhile Klahr became the prime minister. Moscow and the far left in Austria was at first relucnant seeing Renner as the champion of a liberal democracy, but Moscow was nevertheless the first to recognize both the independence of Austria and its government as the legitimate government. The KPÖ and SPÖ put forth a several radical reforms, however many of them were not radical enough in the eyes of the left winged elements. Then another issue arose, the Allies.

The masses of yet another country rise up.

The Allies was skeptical. They were skeptical to the fact that the SPÖ had so eagerly accepted extremists into their government (this in a time when social democrats were seen as extremists by many), they were skeptical to the French meddling into Austrian internal politics and they were skeptical that it was the USSR who was the first to recognize this government. As a result the Allies never accepted the new government of Austria and demanded the party who held the popular vote should rule, or a re-election free of foreign intervention. This caused outrage among the Austrian public. They were able to turn the other way to Soviet meddling, after all millions of Russians had sacrificed themselves in Austria and they ignored the meddling of France. Afterall they promised them to return South Tyrol, and held true to their promise, something even Hitler never managed to do. It was then the final spark happened. The SPÖ split in half. Those who supported the Allies and was anti-communist founded "die Sozial Liberale Bewegung", the Social Liberal Movement (SLB). This turned Austrian politics upside down. A liberal party was indeed absent from the election, and now 18% of the SPÖ seats in the legaslative chambers left for the SLB. The SPÖ now only commanded 15.6% of the votes, while the KPÖ-SPÖ coalition had a total of 49% votes, just short if majority. Meanwhile the SLB joined forces with the ÖPV gaining a narrow majority. This outraged the socialists and communists of Austria who called to general strikes. The Renner government was overthrown and the rest of 1943 was dominated by strikes, demonstrations and political violence.

France sends in the troops.

By new year the situation escalated. The USSR demanded that order was to be restored in Austria and the Allied sponsored coup of the democratic elected government was to end and refused to recognize the new "borgouise and reactionary government" and "imperialist puppet regime". The Councils and unions of Austria rose up in open rebellion. The French government sent in the troops to South Tyrol officially protecting it from "Austrofascism". This only escalated the situation as it was made clear that South Tyrol would only be Austrian as long as the KPÖ-SPÖ coalition was in power. Following the invasion of South Tyrol the Soviet Union further backed up their demands with an ultimatum: "obey our conditions, or face an invasion in 48 hours". The situation was extremely tense. But it was the French who struck first. Covertly they invaded (north) Turyol from South Tyrol and Italy. There they established Tyrol as a Council State. Then the situation spiraled out of control - or rather within the control of the French.

And again another Republic are overthrown.

In Vienna hundreds of thousands of protestors marched to the parliament and stormed the palace. The vanguard was the Austrian Free Front e.g the KPÖ and covert Red Army, NKVD and French officers. All over Austria the states was overthrown and the Räte took control. The Allies was insensed, furios. Threatening with war. But France and USSR showed they weren't fooling around. In response they bolstered their occupation zones and demanded the Allies accept the sovereignty of Austria or the Internationale would restore it. Not wishing to risk a third world war, and seeing how doomed their small occupation force was in the midst of communist lands, the Allies withdrew.

The Austrian Republic was no more, in its stead rose the France dominated Österreicherische Ratsrepublik, named the Austrian Soviet Republic in the west. The KPÖ soon took dominance and put all anti-democratic members (the entire ÖPV and SLB) on trial, and with them democracy died. A new era had dawned upon Austria.

 

[ThaHoward]

Post War World: Never failing Powderkeg.

Spoiler: Music.

This is just waiting to blow up...

The Balkans had been the cause to several Balkans Wars and even one of the leading causes to the Great War. Prior to World War 2 another conflict threatened to consume the peninsula, but National Socialist Germany beat them to it. Still the conflicts that existed prior and during the war still existed. The map of the Balkans had greatly changes - as with rest of the world - following the Paris Treaties. The Soviet Union annexed lands that would become the Moldovian SSR and the Free State of Zara. But most telling was the great expansion of Hungary (at least in the non communist world and in the Balkans the Balkan Socialist Union was merely called Hungary), the reduction of Romania and the split of Yugoslavia.

At least Banat and Dobruja was left alone..

Romania the nation that won great swathes of land following the Great War entered into an alliance with Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia mainly to contain Hungarian nationalism and Habsburg imperialism, instead they became one of the first challengers of Hitler's dream of world dominance. This led to their downfall and the eventual Iron Guard coup. By the end of World War 2 most of their lands had ironically been lost to Hungary, while other parts was lost to the USSR and the nation itself was nothing but a puppet of Kreml. When the Red Army moved into Romania and occupied the nation they removed King Carol and the Iron Guard from power and established a regime of their own. During the Paris Treaties Hungary and the Soviet Union was given the rights to occupy Romania, with the Allies being forced to leave Romania within 90 days. The Treaties was harsh on Romania. Northern Bukovina and Bessarabia was annexed by the Soviet Union as the Moldovian Soviet Socialist Republic and all of Transylvania was annexed by the Balkan Socialist Union. The latter, however, also demanded Banat to be returned to Hungary as an autonomous republic, but the Allies in a rare move stood up to the communist demands, and the Soviet Union pressured the Hungarians to stand down on their claims. Still Romania was expected to hold free elections by the Allies, being guaranteed by the Paris Treaties. In the election the Romanian Communist Party, Ploughmen's Front (a left wing agrarian party) and remanants of the Social Democratic Party, and various smaller socialist elements, formed under Soviet pressure to form the Romanian Workers' Party. This coalition won not surprisingly the election (after all all of Romania was under direct Soviet control of that time) and started on a radical platform of reforms. This included land reforms, nationalization of the industries, women's rights reforms, closer economic ties to the Soviet Union, but also persecution of the church and creating a constitution being a mere copy of their eastern neighbour. Not for long nationalists, democrats and monarchists alike was concerned with the developing situation.

The PCR adressing the workers after the failed coup.

Furious over the loss of Greater Romania, fearing an end to democracy or wanting to restore the monarchy these groups banded together to end the nascent communist regime. Biding their time using democratic processes to block communist legaslation from passing, or stalling them, this People's Front planned the coup of the government. This coup was led by the exiled King Michael. Despite taking control over the nation, and arguing the people were on their side, they overlooked one simple fact: Romania was under Soviet occupation. In fact the Paris Treaties had specifically legalized a heavy Soviet military presence. The Soviets on their part said the coup was a violation of the unconditional Romanian surrender and the peace treaties. The Soviet forces marched on the coup and ended it, restoring the PCR to power. The communist regime of Romania only used this coup to tighten their grip. Absurdly the coup to protect democracy in Romania was what in fact led to its end. On behalf of the Romanian government (or more correct, on behalf of the Soviet government) the Red Army purged all who supported the People's Front and the persecution of democratic elements and the church only intensified in Romania. Forced collectivization to meet Soviet demands was only made worse, while the working class was given the freedom of speech association etc. all who were not working class or members of the PCR was stripped of these rights and extreme political oppression followed. Furthermore the constitution now forbade any association with "fascist or anti-democratic nature" which basically meant all non PCR parties and organizations. The democracy of Romania died with the failed coup, a communist regime with total control of the nation was born and the Romanian Royal family suffered the same fate as the Russian and Japanese royal families.

Bulgaria is a mess...

Bulgaria was an oddball out. Despite Soviet attempts they didn't manage to create an all communist regime, instead a shaky Popular Front between the various left wing parties of Bulgaria was formed. During the first years of the 1900s the Bulgarian Social Democratic Party split between the Narrow Socialists and the Broad Socialists. It can be compared to the Menshevik and Bolshevik split in the Russian Social Democratic Party. The Broad Socialists believed in socialism, but wanted to achieve it through reformism, while the Narrow Socialists wanted a revolution, and in fact following the Russian Revolution they were renamed the Communist Party of Bulgaria. But following the Paris Treaties free democratic elections was guaranteed in Bulgaria. But unlike in Romania the Allies didn't bow to Trotsky and his rabid demands. Greek, British and American troops was stipulated to partake in the occupation of Bulgaria. The Red Army and NKVD didn't manage to bully the Bulgarian political system into submission as they did in so many other countries, and from a communist perspective the reactionary powers prevented the people's will. The election resulted in an extremely fragile coalition government between the nationalist Zveno movements, the Communist Party, the Social Democratic Party (Broad Socialists) and the left-wing Agrarian National Union. This government was fragile at best, explosive at worst. The only thing that held it together was the Allied and Soviet military presence and the monarchy who refused to terminate the government. The infighting was so great they could not agree on the head of government. The situation was so desperate that the leader of the exiled Yugoslav Socialist Party was invited to become the hea of government. He was seen by the communists as a champion of socialism and the social democrats as a champion of democracy against the autocratic Yugoslav communists and monarchists. But the situation was feeble. Both the far right and the far left plotted to take control of the government and bring order to the country ravaged by chaos... a chaos that the USSR was sure to take advantage of, afterall a democratic (and Allied) Bulgaria was a direct threat to their Romanian oilfields and Black Sea dominance, this thorn in their side had to be removed.*

...but Yugoslavia is even worse.

And then there was Yugoslavia. If they were a split and divided nation prior to the war, they would now be a practically dissolved nation. The Hungarians was harsh in their claims "Croatia, Bosnia and Slovenia must be united in the Union". But the Allies was more interested in restoring "the Yugoslav nation who fell under National Socialist Occupation" and further claimed that "the demands of the Balkan Union of Socialist States delegation is nothing but unfound aggression, such aggression that plummeted the world into a devastating state of war". Some sort of a compromise was made between the USSR and USA who meditated the UK/Yugoslav and Balkan Union/Hungarian conflict. Neither the USSR nor USA wanted to engage in an open or proxy conflict over Yugoslavia and found common interests. Neither of them wanted a dominating Balkan Union for various reasons, the US to contain the spread of communism and the USSR to not lose their position as the dominant communist force in the region, in addition neither side wanted a powerful Yugoslavia. Again for different reasons. The US feared a powerful Yugoslavia would be dominated by the Balkan Union and USSR and the popular and well organized communist partisans under Tito. The USSR on the otherhand feared a royal Yugoslav restoration that would align itself with the western powers in the middle of their communist sphere.

The allied delegation.

And so the negotiations began. Lord Halifax who wanted appeasment was outmanuevered by Churchill who set up the Soviet strong arming with his own hard methods. He demanded Yugoslavia to be restored, no less, no more. But the American delegation chimed in, fearing it would lead to an outright Soviet occupation. Together with their Soviet colleagues, or rather adversaries, an arrangement had been made. Occupation zones was drafted. The Allies was to continue their occupation of Istria and being granted full control of Macedonia and Albania. Meanwhile the USSR was to continue their occupation of Montenegro and be given full control over Serbia. The Hungarians, in turn, was given occupation rights over Bosnia-Herzegovina and Slovenia. It was then in a surprising turn of events the Balkan Union was given an unforseen concession: "We recognize the historical ties between the nations of Croatia and Hungary. In light of this the Croatian state will be integrated as an equal State, with all the rights it entails, of the Balkan Union of Socialist Republics". This was seen as a move to appease the Hungarians, it is reported Churchill nearly had a heartstroke and consumed a bottle of whiskey following the announcement. But then the next part of the negotiations bore fruits, the occupation zones was to hold free referendums on their status, followed by a free election. The refferendums was basically split into three choices: 1) Become an indepedent. 2) Again become constituency of Yugoslavia and 3) Become an equal republic of the Balkan Union of Socialist Republics. Istria, Montenegro, Serbia and Macedonia all voted to again become a part of Yugoslavia. Albania voted for indepence and the Albanian monarchy under Zog was restored, and as a result the cigarette industry saw a major boom. Slovenia and Bosnia on the other hand voted for association with the Balkan Union, it was later revealed the Hungarian occupation forces fixed these results in their favor.

However following the restoration of Yugoslavia, free elections were held. And it was here a major split between the Allied and Soviet occupied areas was highligthed. Istria and Macedonia elected monarchy loyal governments, while Montenegro and Serbia elected the communists into power (helped by the Red Army and NKVD...). This later led to a major split. Serbia and Montenegro in practical terms created their own indepedent governments of the Kingdom as a whole and hoped for Tito, who was exiled by Prince Paul, to one day return and reunite Yugoslavia. Despite nominally being a part of Yugoslavia, they were in reality directed and controlled from Moscow. Meanwhile Prince Paul only managed to extert his control over Istria and Macedonia, greatly weakening the Yugoslav central government. However all the sides could claim victory despite losing in many areas. Even if Hungary did not manage to extert full control over the Balkans, their lands had increased. Even if Yugoslavia was not made all-communist, the Soviets managed to make the two key states of Serbia and Montenegro into communist puppet states. And while a strong western orientated Yugoslavia wasn't created the Allies managed to get a buffer between Greece and the communist world through the Albania-Macedonia-Bulgaria axis (which in turn safeguarded the Mediterranean and locked the Black Sea) and the vital port of Istria prevented the Adriatic Sea from falling to complete communist domination, and it worked as a buffer between Communist Italy and the Communist Balkan Union.**

Soviet troops formally take control of Zara.

But in all the chaos of the minor players in the Balkans the major players benefited on their expense. By the Paris Treaties the Soviet claim on Bessarabia and Bukovina was ratified. Despite the Soviet Union later portraying their declaration of war as a means to liberate Europe from fascism, it was in fact to gain control over what became Moldovia - and of course as a preemptive strike. This in turn secured their control over the Black Sea with the Romanian puppet regime, or that is mostly as Bulgaria managed to slip through their fingers. Still they gained an empowered Hungarian ally and two more puppet regimes in Montenegro and Serbia. However the Paris Treaties also granted the USSR the port city of Zara as a Treaty City. Their reasoning for this annexation was the same as with East Prussia: to gain a warm water port. But it was a masterstroke from the Soviets, it gave them a port in the Adriatic and outside of the Black Sea. However it came at a price, the USSR was treaty bound to not expand the port in Zara and to keep it demilitarized. That may have been seen as a victory by the Allies, but the Soviets would later prove to not respect treaties that favored them negatively. Their goal in the region was inherited from the Russian Empire: to open up the Dardanelles and Bosphorous and to dominate the Balkans. That goal was nearly achieved.

Mátyás did well for himself, but is he satisfied?

But perhaps those who benefited the most was Hungary. The communist who came in power part due to the nationalists giving their support to the red banners instead of the Crown of St. Stephen due to the regency's failure to reclaim lost Hungarian territory. Now Hungary had expanded. The Balkan Union and Soviet Union can be compared to eachother, as can Socialist Hungary and Soviet Russia. Slovakia, Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia-Herzegovina was admitted into the Union as Socialist Republic - similar to the Soviet Socialist Republics in the USSR. Meanwhile Hungary was granted southern Slovakia as an integral part of Hungary with eastern Slovakia becoming an autonomous region. Northern Transylvania was too taken up as an annexed part of Hungary, while the rest of Transylvania and Vojvodina becoming autonomous regions. And as with Russia and the USSR, Hungary became the dominant part in their diverse Union and many failed to differentiate between the Union as a whole and Hungary. Hopefully Hungary's appetite for territory was stilled. But it was well known that they still longed to include Banat in Hungary, and annex the rest of the Balkans as part of their Union. Hungary had recovered from the Treaty of Trianon, empowered by the USSR and becoming a regional power. And with the Balkan and Soviet Unions communism spread to most the peninsula, threatening to consume all the remaining nations.***

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*So the leader of ingame Bulgaria isn't found anywhere to my best efforts other than the leader of the Yugoslav socialist (democratic) party of that time, it is also ingame described as a socialist government.

**Due to the Allies making Yugoslavia, I couldn't restore Yugoslavia. Instead I puppeted Serbia and Montenegro. Narrative wise they are still officially part of Yugoslavia, but the Yugoslav government have no control over them and they want to make a communist Yugoslavia, all the while they are dominated by the Soviet Union.

***So basically all the Hungarian claims/cores in games are part of Hungary. Areas that do not have significant Hungarian miniorities become narrative wise autonomous regions, and areas without Hungarian cores become "equal" republics of the union. I meant to give Hungary Banat too, but since it didn't have a claim I forgot to do it.. And that's kinda a shame as I wanted to at least restore all of the Kingdom of Hungary, but it also make the map look weird.


So I have altered my plans somewhat. Instead of post war Italy being the next update I will make he next chapter all the way through 1943, then an Italian update, then the next Chapter and then China/Asia, and then it will be moving on with the other chapters. These post war updates can also be seen as backstories to the coming chapters.

 

[ThaHoward]

Chapter 31: After Hitler.

Spoiler: Music.

Celebrations are in order.

The war had come to an end. All around the world the people partook in improvised celebrations. Among the victors the soldiers was welcomed as heroes and the ordinary man and woman was glad that their lives could return to normalcy. No longer was the rationing of basic commodities, you could stay up at late at night, but there was this collective relief of it all being over. That the fear of loss of life, your own or your loved ones, had come to a conclusion. Among the victorious and defeated nations alike. In this euphoria nations came together as one, Soviet and Americans alike was as brothers. But another reality soon sunk in.

Trotsky adresses the nation.

Trotsky didn't adress his nation and his people safe in Moscow or in the symbolic city of Leningrad. Instead he traveled to Vladivostok. His first course of action was to hold one minute of silence before the newly erected statue portraying the Heroes of Vladivostok. He told his people to celebrate their victory against fascism and the triumph of the revolution. But he also urged caution. Their collective path had been one of many trials and millions of deaths. The two Russian civil wars and the two great wars came at a major cost. He urged his people to not waste the sacrifices of the Soviet soldier and worker. Now the ordinary socialist man and woman had to be ever more vigilant than ever and to rebuild their own Union but also to extend a hand of solidarity to the proletariat of Europe. The USSR was to take an active part in the rebuilding of Europe and shaping of the world.

Europe is in ruins.

Still the many festivities was met with a major hangover. The world was in ruins. The economies of Europe was broken. Even the once mighty British Empire was ravaged by the war with their cities still suffering from the bombing, South Africa and India finalizing their independence and with the economy in ruins. Ethnic conflicts was again on the agenda on continental Europe with many taking their revenge in their own hands. Post war Europe brought around the greatest refugee crisis. The world was falling apart. Meanwhile the once so cordial relations between the East and West was proven to the public to be merely superficial. There was no longer any "in Uncle Leo we can trust", there was no - official - camaraderie between the soldiers of the opposing blocs, instead they jealously guarded their borders and occupation zones. The peace established was starting to crack and it was showed that a major restructuring of the economy and society was needed to get the wheels turning again. But two powers emerged as major winners: USA and USSR. Both nations was mostly unaffected by the war on their homeland. Yes, heavy fighting took place all over Ukraine and the Far East. But the major industrial centers was left alone, and Ukraine was quickly rebuilt. These two nations was the leading powers of the world and both had disparate views on how the new world order was to be. A conflict was looming, a conflict over ideas, a conflict of world domination.

The anti-capitalist politics are pursued more aggressively.

Russia had never been a naval power. During the Napoleon Wars, the Great War and now the Great Patriotic War it had relied upon its army. A German officer remarked that naval and aerial warfare simply didn't fit Russian mentality. Throughout history the nation had almost exclusively waged war on land and got their soldiers from the vast countrysides. The Russian nation had never been seen as a seafaring nation, it was its near inexhaustible infantry, armor and artillery won the war. But this was to change. The Soviet leadership recognized the importance of a major navy. It was the navy who was the ultimate power projection of the Portugese, Spanish, German and British Empires. And now the United States projected its power through their frightening navy. It was decided the Red Fleet needed a major expansion. The first order of bussiness was to increase the funding to the completion of research into shipmodels and then the creation of several wharfs and naval dockyards. Following this special committees was made to create a new naval expansion plan. Stalin had issued the 1936 Naval Plan and it was unrealistic to finish. It was unrealistic due to the Russian Civil War and the Second World War draining resources, but also from the get go. It was used in Soviet propaganda to highlight the "madmanship of the dictator". The 1936 plan called for the creation of no less than 24 battleships, 22 heavy cruisers, 20 light cruisers, 145 destroyers and 344 submarines. The new naval plan was ordered to be finished by the end of 1943.

The UN have its first session.

The United Nations was founded in April 1943, but it was incepted well before that. In 1940 the Allied powers (including the USSR) declared their intention to establish the United Nations, that it was to be the ultimate arbitrator in international disputes in order to not repeat the great catastrophes of 1914 and 1938. It paved the way for basic rights for all people. The permament members of the Security Council was the Soviet Union, France, Britain and USA with each of these nations having the right to veto proposals. However already on the onset of this new supergovernmental organization problems brewed. The whole project almost fell apart over a personal dispute between Trotsky and the first Secretary-General. The first UN Secretary General was no other than Trygve Lie. The casual observer might not bat an eye, nor heard of him, but this was the very same man who held Trotsky in virtual arrest in Norway. An arrest that deeply insulted Trotsky who had ever called the Norwegian government for capitalist lackeys and "so called socialist" ever since. This led to a lasting split among the Norwegian labour movement, with one half of the labour party shifting toward their traditional Soviet ally (after all, they arrested Trotsky to not antagonize Trotsky) while another half shifted toward the Allies. It was the last half that remained in power. But that is a digression. Trotsky was furious. His closest associates was reportedly afraid the aging man would suffer from a stroke. Trygve Lie remained in his position from massive US pressure, but this would only foreshadow the growing US-USSR conflict not only within the UN, but the world at large. For the years to come the UN was parayzed between by the US-Soviet conflict, a conflict that often led to the UN failing in its primary mandate; peacekeeping.

Belgium is changing sides. Not that surprising all things considered..

Following the end of the war Belgium got economic and military aid from the USSR and France. This aid was meant to rebuild the country but also to pull it away from Britain. Belgium had developed uniquely from the other communist nations, by that it was made up by cooperatives and unions and had formally gotten rid of the government. However these unions and cooperatives formed a de-facto government. The Belgian economy underwent major transformations, it was the unions who elected government members and they again helped control the cooperatives. One of the first tasks at hand for Co-operative was ensuring total employment, citing it as a proof of their system's superiority over the capitalist nations. After that it was declared the Congress of Unions primary only justification for existance is to ensure the workers have the best conditions possible, reforms was made so that the cooperatives was under workers's control and not some oversight committee. As the cooperatives was slowly forming the congress of unions realized the industries was mostly located around Brussels, as a consequence the many industries and cooperatives was spread all around the Belgian countryside. The Belgian anarchists even went so far that saying this ended the tyranny associated with mass ubranization. Later on these cooperatives enjoyed in some sort of market system that would later be named for Market Socialism. The successess and errors of the anarchist Belgian experiment would pave the way for the later, and unlikely, Italian coalition of anarchists, syndicalists, unionists, radicals and communists. Enough with digressions. The economic system of Belgium wasn't all that idyllic and had its shortcomings. The western powers pressured Belgium to revert their anarchist society back to capitalism and liberal democracy. However the Soviet Union and France came to their aid. In the end it resulted in the Belgians terminating their alliances with the British Commonwealth and the USA. This led to a major shift of power. The Allied powerbase in Europe was reduced to only Denmark and the Netherlands on the continent. The Soviet Union responded with an overt campaign to overthrow the governments of Europe and install socialist-puppet regimes in their occupied territories.

The United States are boycotting us, and FDR have this reactionary smirk all over his face.

Mere days following the victory over the Axis the world situation deteriorated further and further. Roosevelt and the American administration was forced by their legaslative bodies and administration to boycott the Soviet Union. They knew the Soviet Union relied upon the USA for their oil exports and other American goods such as grain. Roosevelt, however, gave the Soviets a choice. Revert your current destructive foreign course and we will revert the boycott. He hoped to not block the USSR away from American economy, he knew this would weaken the US economy and possibly result in a tradewar with the other global superpower. In an undisclosed conversation with his Secretary of State they both agreed that an actual embargo of the Soviet Union would be disastrous. But Roosevelt was forced by conservative, anti-communist and plain scared elements in society. Roosevelt and Truman managed to create a bi-partisan (that is between the progressive and liberal Democrats and Republicans) agreement with the Republicans under Wendell Willkie and Alf Landon to create a new and more radical economic platform called the Fair Deal. This Fair Deal would create major changes in American economy, but this was concerning for many Democrats and Republicans alike. It was seen as nothing but socialism, in an age where the Red Hydra was feared. In order to gain leverage on the conservatives and progressives alike (afterall many Republican progressives such as the late Borah was both progressive and isolationist) by strongarming the Soviet Union. The embargo would be seen as a big victory against the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union would back down, communism wouldn't spread in Europe and the Fair Deal could be implemented. However Trotsky didn't back down. He lashed out against the American government calling them reactionary and all sorts of less than pleasant names. Agents who had inflitrated years earlier American society to radicalize the unions and workers in the Steel Belt showed the fruits of their work. The unions of the Stell Belt joined together in one union and called for a general sit down strike. This paralyzed US economy and despite it not being violent the government needed to respond. Some of the more hardline Governors sent in the National Guard to deal with the strikers, but this backfired. This lead to more sympathy among the strikers as they were simply sitting there singing songs before shell shocked troops came in with bayonets at the ready and assaulted them. However these instances was few and was exaggerated by Soviet and left wing propaganda to appear to be the norm. The Federal Government intervened and had a sit down with the union leaders finding ways to improve the economy. This caused more division in American society as the left got legitimacy, while many feared socialism being on the rise. However by the end of the day centrist solutions prevailed.

The NKVD are watching you.

But the Soviet Union was not without its fair share of problems aswell. It would be the understatement of the century to claim the NKVD was an intelligence service with little oversight. It can be said it grew to be a branch of the government in its own right, perhaps even a state within the state. Following the purges of the Stalinist supporters it was the left wing revolutionaries (by Soviet standards, by western standards ultra left extremists) and Trotskyists who remained in the NKVD. The powers of the NKVD was grand before the assassination of Stalin, but now it was frightening. The NKVD saw it as their purpose to spread the world revolution. Fair enough, Trotsky had more or less only strengthened the NKVD in this regard. However it was also the NKVD that plotted against Stalin, it was the NKVD who invited Trotsky back. They also saw it as their holy purpose to ensure that the Soviet Union remained true to their revolutionary principles, to seek out progress and not revert to capitalism or fall into revisionism. And Trotsky knew this. But where Stalin would have led society into mass purges and civil war, Trotsky instead embraced it. Hearing that many were dissapointed of lack of major progress a choice was made.

The 19th Soviet Congress.

After a meeting with top NKVD officials the 19th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was held in Moscow. From its inception in 1920 it had been held annually, however Stalin in his paranoia ended these congresses and only one had been held following the Trotskyist coup. The Congress would decide upon the future course of the Soviet Union and the Communist Party. During the 10 days of this Congress hints was made of changes in Soviet society regarding women's rights, empowering of Soviets, new labor reforms, scaling the back of usage of certain camps and discussing future directions in foreign policies. Stalin then got the brunt of accusations against him, all negative developments that had happened after the past year, even after Trotsky came to power, was blamed on Stalin as the Communist Party "fell victim to the ambitions of Stalin". New and radical ideas was being implemented and it was decided these were to be revealed during the First Congress of the Internationale. This other congress was to be a similar congress only for the Communist states and parties (such as the British Communist Party and radical elements of the Labour Party) to decide the future course of the communist and socialist movements as a whole. It was hoped this Congress would be dominated by the Soviet Communist Party.

The T-34 underwent an extensive upgrade.

But the wheels kept turning around. And so did the T-34. The T-34M prototype was looked into and developed. By westerners it would be called T-34-85 1943, 1944 or 1945 depending on which year it was produced. However it greatly improved the aging T-34 tank to make it become even more formidable. Gone were the days of poorly welded armor plates, the gaps was filled. The engines was and transmissions was improved, with improved sights, better spacing and communications. However the most frigthening aspect was the replacement of the 76.2mm cannon with various versions of an 85mm cannon. This was inspired by the German Tiger tanks and was capable of knocking out any of the American and British armor of the time. The T-34M/85 versions would remain the prime T-34 tank for years to come.*

Propaganda footage of anti-Stalinist policies.

In December a series of much more aggressive de-Stalinization policies followed. These were mostly symbolic, such as there was entire events propped up where statues of Stalin was erected only to be torn down by well choreographed angry masses, all taken on the camera. Many propaganda films was made making the Soviet generals, NKVD officers and Trotsky look like saviours of some sort against Stalin who plotted with Hitler to end the Soviet Union. This helped rebuild the nation and give them some sort of collective purpose in their common fight against Stalin and now the capitalist world. They were warned about preventing the return of another Stalin and to be ever vigilant and do their part to spread the fires of revolution and protect the beacons of light all across the world, otherwise menacing figures such as the bulldog that is Churchill would conquer all of Europe..

The T-44, still not as reliable as the T-34M and 85, but it have potential.

By the end of 1943 the top secret T-44 tank reached its final testing before entering mass production. It was in many aspects a major leap forward. Alltough it was still outfitted with the 85mm gun of the new T-34 it had proven to be able to wield a massiv 100mm cannon that the T-34 could not. It offered a more powerful engine, greater cross country riding (being less reliant on using the death traps of roads) and a much stronger armor, managing to take much more of a beating. It was also outfitted with handles so that infantrists could sit on the tanks as they did on the other Soviet tanks, only this time having actual accessories to support tank riding. However it had much greater internal space than the T-34 and a much lower silhouette than the T-34 making it harder to hit and to observe by the enemy. It was a major step forward and the development of a new tank to replace the T-34 had been long requested by the Red Army but been neglected due to the war. Now the replacement had arrived, but it was still similar to the T-34-85 in many aspects so the latter remained the main tank - mostly because it was cheaper to produce. However once improvements to the T-44 such as the 100mm gun and even thicker armor it would become the Soviet main battle tank.

Propaganda poster to justify the increase of the Soviet Army.

Logic entails that during the end of a major war the Armed Forces demobilise. But this was not the case. Both sides engaged into an arms race with their tank forces and their naval power (the very things the interwar treaties wanted to prevent) and the Soviet Congress ratified a massive increase in the Soviet Armed forces. Major funds was put into developing new and devastating rockets, improve their air force and artillery force and to set up several new divisions. A total of 84 Rifle Divisions, 10 Airborne Divisions, 6 Naval Infanrty Regiments, 7 Armored Brigades and 1 Motorized Rifle Division was planned to be recuited by 1945. When the 1944-45 Army expansion plan was over it was planned to create another 126 Rifle Divisions, 1 cavarly division, 5 Mechanized Corps, 15 Tank Brigades and 14 Naval Infantry Regiments by 1945-1948. The 1944-45 expansion plan was deemed to be the minimum for an aggressive war against the Allies.

The experimental reactor are ready...

On the 17th of December the clandenstine prototype of the nuclear reactor in Moscow was finished. By New Year it was planned this reactor would undergo the process of enriching uranium ((actually constructing it)). This would lead to devastating potential in the arms industry and great potential of new energy sources.

...but the USA have come a much longer way than us.

But the Americans managed to find the various Soviet agents and exectured them outright for treason. This was not declassified until later and the Soviets never got another word from their agents what truly happened. A Soviet agent was caught while he was to transmit the following message to his superiors in Moscow: "Urgent. Americans will finish bomb within the next year". This never reached Moscow however who was now completely blind to American progress and couldn't use their successes to help their own program. The temperature of the world was slowly rising in the shadows of the cold war...

The First Congress of the Internationale are about to begin.

Then on the 22nd of December the Soviet Union called out for "First Congress of the Internationale" as the Soviet Congress had detirmined. The Soviets sure did like their congresses. The aim of this congress was to unite all the communists and socialists of the world into a single goal, to together develop a common foreign policy and even economic policy. They hoped to unite the entire socialist world and to create unrest in the non communist nations for an eventual takeover. The Congress was to be held over the New Year and it was first debated if was to be held in Moscow, Leningrad or Paris. But it was then decided it was to be held in Brussels to further insult the British who considered Belgium as their own backyard.*

Project 22 are resurrected.

As a part of the expansion of the Red Fleet it was looked into a new and improved Heavy Cruiser to lead other cruisers and desoyers into battle and raids. Still it wasn't decided exactly how many would be produced.

Soviet Navy on an excercise in the Black Sea.

But that was decided by a decree right before New Year. The 1944-1945 Naval Plan was drafted. It called for the following warships to be created in addition to those already in production: 4-6 new battleships, 2 aircrat carriers, 3 battlecruisers, 11 heavy cruisers, 7 light cruisers, 29 destroyers and 52 submarines. This was considered the minimum for an aggressive war with the Allies, however the Navy itself was not meant to conduct aggressive manuevers, only defensive ones. For going on the offensive another naval plan was in the making that would expand the Red Fleet further. Meanwhile the Red Fleet continued to rattle its sabers and show off its strength. In the Black Sea there was weekly manuevers where the Turks often believed the Soviets wanted to run straight through their strait, the Baltic Fleet already ignored Danish sovereignty in their strait and provoked the Royal Navy time and time again. The Navy was the incarnation of Soviet foreign policy: renewed confidence and much more aggressive without qualms to use power. The USSR had solidfied their position as a global superpower.



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*As you can see the T-34 version have better hard attack and piercing than the T-44, so it will be in production for a while (along with the T-44) until I gain a better T-44 version.

**This will be more important later on. I think I will make a post of its own regarding the International. The actual focus is named "The Comintern" in game.

 

[ThaHoward]

Post War: Red Retribution.

Spoiler: Music.

The Italian Union of Socialists, Communists, Syndicalists and Anarchists.

Contrary to what the name suggests there was little unity in the Italian Union. With secession movements in the north and south and a political history of violence and chaos the two opposing blocs of the world held its breath during the election of 1944. Both superpowers put their prestige and poured immeasurable into the two opposing sides hoping to be crowned victor. In the end it was a strange, and unstable, political alliance democratic-socialist-communist unions, anarchist-syndicalist unions and the Popular Democratic Front (socialist and communist parties) that held the day and announced that Italy was now a Socialist Republic that should henceforth be known as the Italian Union. But the road there was long and only the smallest of margins could have turned the winds to the right instead of the left.

Why work when you can strike.

The stage was set even before the second world war. What happened in the years of 1919 and 1920 would later be known as the Bienno Rosso - "the two red years". This red biennium led to the rise of fascism which again led to the ultimate Italian defeat in the Second World War. As in the rest of post Great War Europe Italy was in a state of economic and political crisis which the Bolshevik revolution in 1917 did nothing but pour fuel on the wildfire. Strikes, lockouts, demonstrations and revolts was not commonplace - it was the norm. Several factory councils, dubbed Italian Soviets by later historians popped up all over Italy and demanded the government to accept their demands and to accept these councils as an actual part of the economy. Many contemporaries believed the nation was on the brink of a revolution.

The Italian communists was somewhat influenced by the USSR.

But the revolution didn't come. The Communist Party of Italy (PCI) splintered from the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) over ideological issues. In short the PCI didn't want the PSI, who had already supported the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, to accept reformist elements in their ranks. Moreover they were dissapointed by the PSI as they didn't push for a social revolution, but rather with the various moderate and radical unions who did not want a complete transformation of society, but rather used the strikes as leverage for labor reforms. But these reforms never came, instead an industrial crisis emerged and the workers experienced massive layoffs and wage cuts. Instead of a far left revolution the country experienced a far right one. But it was in this dissapointment the communists in the PSI formed the PCI in 1921, but it would only last until 1926 as it was outlawed by Mussolini and later on in the 1930s it was forced out by the Stalinists as it was labeled "Trotskyist" becoming a victim of one of the many purges of Stalin. PCI would only become a minor player not really accomplishing anything of notice. However the radical socialists was still a major force. The PSI wasn't really a party that accepted capitalism and the liberal democracy and during the Red Years it managed to grow to 250.000 members while the major socialist union General Confederation of Labour (CGL) reached two million members. However these unions and the PSI would suffer the same faith as the Communists and become victim of the Black Shirts before being outlawed alltogether. Despite these major setbacks the seeds of revolution was sown.

Syndicalism is on the rise.

Still the PCI and SPI did not hold a monopoly on radical leftwing streams during these Red Years. Anarchists and syndicalists joined together with the common goal of abolishing the state, and together with unions, communists and socialists they wanted to improve the conditions of the workers and use the situation for revolution or reforms. The Italian Syndicalist Union now enjoyed a strength of 300-500.000 members, and their ranks was further boosted by the return of Malatesta, a close friend of famous anarchist Bakunin. However like the other left wing parties, the syndicalists would outlawed. However it is worth mentioning that before the rise of fascism several syndicalists creaed the ideology of national-syndicalism. This would aspire several syndicalists and Bolsheviks, such as Mussolini, to create the right wing ideology of fascism.

Mussolini was a speedbump for the social revolutionaries in Italy..

As mentioned several times Mussolini outlawed the left wing elements. Following the two Red Years the Blackshirts, who would later inspire the SA, "restored order" with extreme brutality. A witch hunt for left wing extremists began and the right wing extremists showed them no mercy. This culminated in the March of rome in 1922 where the Blackshirts marched unopposed to the capital and transformed the nation into the fascist dictatorship that Mussolini led from then on. The rest is history as we know it and as such the period under Mussolini won't be examined in detail, rather the time after his death and the Italian capitulation.

But a Resistance is led by the communists here too.

Still we need to back up a little, to look on the underground activities in Italy during the war. Like in the other fascist nations it was the communists and socialists who formed the nucleus in the resistance against their government, usually under the guidance of Moscow and Paris. However the Italians was in the unique positions that the anarchists in Belgium and the exiled Spanish anarchists and syndicalists ventured to Italy to create an anarchist government (or rather remove the government?) there. This created strong and vibrant anarcho-communist and anarcho-syndicalist communities in Italy. Still it was the communists and socialists armed, trained and funded by Moscow, Paris and Madrid who was the most organized and appealed to the larger segments of population. Moreover the communist resistance movement had one major benefit: the advancing Red and Communard Armies. Along their way these two armies dealt with opposing resistance cells brutally, and in the rear echelons NKVD agents and political officers rooted out all potential enemies of the communists. With their iron fist Left Wing resistance members became the only liable provisional governments who in turn made factory councils the norm. This practice would have gotten out of hand if American and British forces did not establish authority in their occupatiopn zones, however the Belgian communists took the chance to flood the nation with exiled and trained anarchists into Italy.

The first election in post-war Italy, it was somewhat divesive.

The election of 1943 was an election of extreme division. The Christian Democracy becae the ruling party among the center and right, being opposed to the resurrected PSI and PCI. It was believed not only among the Italians themself, but the USA and USSR, that this election would be an election that would stake out the future of the Italian nation. The Christian Democrats went on the offensive all guns out coming with half truths and straight made up statements such as in the communist nations parents eat their own babies - literally. Still the PSI and PCI didn't join forces in a coalition such as that the Christian Democracy (DC) was founded upon. This was for various reasons. Prior to the war the PSI had been the major force on the left, getting as much as up to 30% of the votes, and believed they could remain this position without joining forces with a splinter group. Moreover the PSI followed general European trends where the party was split between a radical left associating more with the international cause and the right who were social democrats, basically wishing to strengthen the workers within a capitalist system. The PSI feared that joining in a coalition with either the DC or PCI would upset the current balance of the party and lead to its certain fracturing between radicals and moderates. Still the PSI and PCI was highly popular among the Italian population who had either been culled to support of left wing politics by the menacing NKVD or believed the far left was the only viable option to the far right.

The communists didn't win!

But the left didn't win. The DC gained around 35%, the PSI 21% and the PCI 19%. Alcide de Gasperi was made Prime Minister of Italy, however with major backing of a coalition between various conservative and monarchist parties. Washington celebrated with champagne (with few of the precious bottles being still around after the French embargo of USA, democracy and moderatism had prevailed in Italy. Or so they believed..

Non Syndie unions band together.

With the new government the various trade unions in Italy managed to join in together to form a coalition. This coalition was meant to counter the growing syndicalist and anarchist threat. The government supported this merging and was even an active part in it. You see, in Italy there was not only socialist and radical trade unions there existed Christian trade unions as well. In solidarity with their common brothers in faith the government supported these unions. However it was believed that these moderate elements would help moderate the radical sentiments in the unions. It was believed these unions protect workers from demagogues from the left and right and come under guidance from the priests and subtly the government. Boy were they wrong.

And the strikes are back at it again.

The Social Christian Party was founded a few years earlier by Italian Christians who refused the Marxist and Socialist approach to equality, yet were opposed to the general trends of capitalism. This party was a true counterweight to the radical socialism espoused by the PSI and PCI during its inception, however French, Spanish and Soviet intelligence services began a covert operation to slowly radicalise this party over the years. The Christian Socialists would inflitrate the Christian unions and was seen as many as moderate, when they in fact were nothing but. Meanwhile the general union member and leader was radicalised by foreign agents and local radicals. However this was not what sparked the unrest of 1944. No that was the Austrian acquisition of South Tyrol. This led to a general outrage among the populace and the radicals unions did what they could to incite to demonstrations and contempt against the DC who were now looked upon as "weak and incompetent". While it was in reality a communist takeover of South Tyrol, this was soon forgotten. The demonstrations soon turned to demonstrations against rising prices and falling wages. The rage was mixed with the uncertain economic situation. Already during the Congress of the Internationale it was decided to fund Italian radical elements while Italy was to be blocked off economically along with all western aligned nations, and those investements were paying off. The unions in general soon became very much radical, and it was no longer about wanting to reclaim South Tyrol, but about the incompetency of the government.

Syndicalists, anarchists and just disillusioned men take to the streets yet again.

Still it was the syndicalists and anarchists who were the first to openly revolt. They decided the legitimacy of the government had ended and established small syndicates of their own. Among them were Belgian Militias and International Brigades. Several factories were made so called co-operatives based upon the Belgian model and any enemy of the working class was viciously purged and denied entry. The government sent in police forces against the syndicates and the non-syndicalist demonstrations alike. This led to catastrophy as the non-syndicalist and syndicalist unions made an alliance and called for a general strike across the entire country. The already failing economy was paralysed and outright revolution threatened the nation.

In solidarity with their fellow workingmen, the Communist Red Guards mobilize.

The police was pushed back by the syndicates that armed themselves, however the remnants of the Italian army and right wing paramilitary groups joined in to crush these revolts and left wing demonstrations. This was god sent (ironically) for the radical left. It was all too reminiscent of the fascist methods that ruined the nation. The communists who had under the training and aid of the Internationale sent in their Red Guard militias. These moved in to protect the massive demonstrations, strikes and even the syndicates. Their official purpose was to "protect the workers and people from fascists and violence, in stead of the ruling government who fail to provide its citizens their most basic rights". Day by day the Red Guards were joined by de-mobilized soldiers and even active duty soldiers and even in remaining industries vanguards took control over the factories declaring them "worker councils". However in this situation where the US and UK threatened with outright invasion if the situation progressed further France and the USSR meditated some sort of truce. Of course it was all a well planned ruse by the Internationale as we will see later on. The truce was basically that the PCI would stand down their Red Guards, the Army and police would be recalled and the worker council's would follow suit and the unions end their strikes. The price was re-election.

Rare footage of a social democrat gathering under attack by what was later revealed to be the NKVD.

The election would be held in April of 1944. The Cold War reache a new height and ime pronounced the possible leftist victory to be "the brink of catastrophe". However the right opposition within the PSI declared it would cede from the party and create the Socialist Unity Party in opposition to the left and in support of the liberal democracy. However that experiment was short lived. With the Communist world surrounding Italy several communists intelligence officers and even soldiers was sent in covertly. These agents did what they did best: to purge. Moderate socialists and unionists was either bullied to submission or wound up sleeping with the fishes. In the end the moderate unions fell in to the radical socialist line, and the Socialist Unity Party was no more.

Despite pressuring the nation into a re-election and violence, it's appereantly the far left who are democratic..

For the election the PSI and PCI joined forces into a coalition to form the Popular Democratic Front (FDP). This front in turn would be taken over by Marxists and revolutionaries and would proclaim their task was to protect the Italian democracy from the borgouise and reactionaries.

The masses are given the election results.

Yet the FDP new they couldn't rely on a democratic election alone to gain victory. An alliance with the syndicalists had to be made. Long story short the communist states sent in million of dollars in black bags to fund the FDP campaign to aid their victory. But the election was not only supported in monetary terms, in true cold war themes Soviet agents waged a covert war against American agents. Lives on both sides were lost and the two nations were on the brink of war as they battled over the Italian election. NKVD agents assassinated democratic leaders, and American agents assassinated communist leaders. However the communists had the upperhand with the unions. It was reported that the syndicates forced their members (that is whoever happened to be trapped in their experiments) to vote for the FDP, meanwhile the trade unions shipped entire buses with their members to the polling stations under the "protection" of Red Guards. These Red Guards, aided by foreign agents, also rounded up entire districts making sure they voted for the correct party. It was this dirty play that led to their victory.

Communism came to stay in Italy.

The election results came in. By the smallest margins the FDP was elected to office. 52.6% of the population voted communist and 31% for the Christian Democracy, the rest was evened out between various conservatives and liberals. But the results was clear, the communists won. The following day there would be no peaceful transition of power, frigthened the King, who hadn't been unseated despite the majority of the population being republican, refused to acknowledge the new government and the Christian Democracy was forced to continue their rulership. Aided by the Red Army and the French Army the Red Guards seized power and arrested all non FDP politicians and party members as they were now enemies of the state and subverting democracy. The Red Army was supposed to stay in Italy until the situation had calmed down, and the government was to be advised by NKVD officers and Soviet political commissars. Italy had turned into a puppet. Meanwhile the syndicalists and anarchists, who held much of the northern industry, was given seats of power and the Italians based their new model on how to run the industry to prevent a civil war. Officially the Italian Union was to be a stateless nation rund by co-operatives, syndicates and councils. In fact there was little unity, it was the loose coalition between radicals socialists, communists, anarchist and syndicalist that held the Union together, but most importantly it was the Soviet and French military occupation that helped Italy remain a communist nation and within the Soviet sphere.

 

[ThaHoward]

Chapter 32: Southern Thrust.

Spoiler: Music.

Hungarians taking photos by a tank.

While the eyes on the world was centered around Brussels life in the communist bloc went on. Efforts was made to create closer cooperation between the Soviet Union and her puppets and the first of the many reforms in Soviet economy came into place. Abortion restrictions was reverted (as time went by Soviet women had on average one abortion during their lifetime) and working conditions was improved. It was decided that within the year the various Soviets should again have a great say in the running of the economy. Still society was prepared for war. They were reminded that the revolution was still threatened by counter-revolutionaries, reminded that they needed be prepared for future sacrifice.

The Soviet Christmas present to the Orthodox Church.

Soviet domestic violence increased in many areas. On the 7th of January in a twisted and sadistic event the NKVD, police and mobs went on a massively anti-clerical campaign. Atheism was again the only allowed religion in USSR, but this time around it was much more radical. Prior to the world war it was allowed to be religious in private as along as it was not in public and in major gatherings. Now it was banned all together. During the revolution Americans and others had bought off several churches such as the Cathedral in Smolensk. Now that was over with. Part to end religion and part to give the finger to USA. The many churches and cathedrals and other invaluable cultural momuments was completely destroyed. Blown up in the air. This aggressive atheistic stance was decided by the Soviet Congress (not to be confused with the one in Brussels) earlier. It was provoked that the increasingly powerful Orthodox Church demanded more power. During the Great Patriotic War religion was again allowed and even encouraged, mostly to bring the people together an create a sense of unity, opium to the people as Marx would have said. Opium to alleviate the masses from the horrors of war. But now the war was over. The Orthodox Church misread the situation and demanded earlier on the year constitutional clarifications on the legal status of the Church. During the Soviet Congress there was real debates on if the Church should again be a part of society or be allowed in private. However some fanatical priests demanded entry and even demanded that the Orthodox Church should be the state religion and going as far to make it the only allowed religion. This was unheard of. A delegate responded in anger "We are a modern, secular state!" in a much harsher language than expressed here. Some said that these priests were provoked by the NKVD or even being agents, but that will never be known... The conflict dragged on during 1943 and culminated on the 7th of January 1944, the Orthodox Christmas. The Patriarch of Russia (being supported by the other Patriarchs aswell) used his position to pressure the government and rally the commoners around him. The people were still deeply religious afterall. Citing the displeasure, and general hardship, among the hardship the Patriarch voiced his concerns over the secularization of society and the increasingly hostile Soviet foreign politics. He directly challenged the Soviet government. It was here Trotsky showed that he was truly the successor to Lenin and also Stalin and the Tsars. He responded saying "Root out these narrowminded elements!" Religion was banned alltogether on the 7th of January, and police and NKVD troops marched in and arrested the clergy and put them on farce trials. The Churches was blown up and robbed off value. But it was not limited to the Church, all other faiths in the massive empire suffered the same faith and all who protested was brutally repressed. This anti-clerical violence soon spread to all other communist nations, to the terror of the western world. This was Trotsky's Christmas gift to the Patriach.

Lenin will crush the enemies of the revolution!

One of the first steps to bolster Soviet capabilities was to put the hypothetical design of the Lenin Class Battleship into effect. Despite not fielding the same awesome firepower as the four Superheavy Battleship Sovetsky Soyuz (the pride of the Soviet navy) class it was a general improvement of the Soviet battleship fleet as it had higher speed, better detection, lower production cost an less need of manpower than the Superheavy Battleships. It was first put on the drawing table to counter the impressive German Bismarck and Tirpitz battleships and the equally impressive US South Dakota class. These two classes disregarded various naval treaties, and while these battleships were not the scourge of the seven seas as they used to be it would nevertheless be a threat to the US and Royal Navies - especially in defensive roles. Four of them was planned to counter the South Dakota Class, one were planned to lead each of the four fleets, while two others were considered to bolster the Baltic and/or Black Sea fleets. Great fanfare was made during the announcement of the ship as it was named after the great leader and founder of the Bolshevik movement. It was hoped these ships would honor their namesake and spread the revolution.

Time to enrich some uranium..

By December the F1 reactor in Moscow was finished, and by the 13th of January it was decided an entire plant was to be created around it to harness its power and to use it to enrich uranium. Another 10 plants and reactors was planned to be produced in the Atomgrads, the closed cities, to enrich uranium and plutonium and to assemble the bombs. The uranium to fuel these came from the colonies of Belgium, making Belgium one of the greatest contributors to the Soviet nuclear program, falling just behind the former Soviet spy rings in the Manhattan project. Talks were conducted between the French, Soviets and Belgians to wether or not allow the Belgians to possess nuclear power of their own.

Kronstadt Base made the reovlution possible in Petrograd, it will now export the revolution out of the Baltics.

Following the naval expansion plan the construction of the Kronstadt Class was announced to be resumed. Like most of the Soviet naval plans the Kronstadt Battlecruiser was cancelled due to the war. However now the construction of these cruisers was back on track with three of these sleak beasts being planned, their role was to lead the recon and first contact elements of the battlefleets. The armament would be similar to the Bismarck Class, giving it substantial firepower for its size and speed. Three of them was ordered and was planned to mainly complement the Baltic and Black Sea fleets.

Bukharin is released as a reduced man from imprisonment.

Following the line of more political openess and an end to the Stalinist and Tsarist policies several members of the so called Right opposition was released from imprisonment. It was decided on the Soviet Congress they were victims of Stalin's purges and machinations rather than enemies of the state. Bukharin and other members of the Right Opposition had been imprisoned by Stalin since 1937 and were scheduled to be executed in 1938 during the Great Purge. However they were saved by sympathising party functionaries and left wing Red Army and NKVD officers. In exile many members of the Right opposition enabled the return of their former enemy Trotsky hoping for greater political freedom when Stalin was overthrown. Instead they were put right into imprisonment. At least now in 1944 the first members of the Right Opposition was released and while they were under house arrest members such as Bukharin was called on to help on future economical developments of the USSR. It remained to be seen for how long they would be tolerated, if they would have a say at all or if this was the first step to democratization of Russia.

The hostilities have now ended, so we will finish these Chapsomething cruisers.

With the risk of things repeating itself, the Chapayev cruiser class was reintroduced after being delayed by, you guessed it, the war. It had good speed and overall armament and the first batch was ordered to contain six of these cruisers for the Baltic Sea fleet, four to the Black Sea fleet and one for the Pacific fleet. After that first batch another six cruisers was envisioned to fill in the gaps where it was needed. Most likely to the Black Sea fleet to bolster its future, envisioned, role as the Mediterranean Fleet.

At least we learned something from the American invasions in the Pacific.

The USSR reevaluated their doctrines of amphibious assaults and naval landings. This was based in part on their landings in the Kurill, Sakhalin and Hokkaido islands, but primarly on US advancements in the area. Entire crafts that was dedicated to house smaller crafts and airplanes was created, while tanks could be transported to the beaches by landing crafts. Gone were the doctrine of ramps dropping down on the front. Rather the ramps was put in the back. This might seem superficial, however it meant that soldiers could disembark in relative safety and not right into a wall of bullets. These methods would be specifically tested during the opening of the Bosphorous and Dardanelles.

The time have come to liberate the Iraqis and Iranians from Imperialism. Who are we kidding, time have come to secure their oil.

During the Congress of the Internationale all of the delegates agreed that the revolution should be spread in Europe and not third world countries, moreover imperialism was denounced. But the Soviet Union was above this. In backroom dealings Molotov and other members of the Soviet diplomatic corps pressured several communist leaders, many who were now established as minor pawns of the greater Soviet empire. Soviet High Command was ordered to finalize their battle plans for the Southern Thrust Strategic Operation, or simply called the Southern Thrust. The Army, Air Force and Navy had to work closely to devise an invasion plan, meanwhile NKVD and other intelligence and foreign services was to spread disinformation and unrest in the nations of Iran and Iraq to create a casus-belli while they would try to navigate through the Allied web to prevent western entaglements and a third world war. Many high ranking officers failed to talk Trotsky and the Soviet leadership out of the war. Many generals and officers were concerned it would lead to a war they couldn't win. But Trotsky replied sternly "we won against Germany didn't we? Back then I was told "we can't win this war" but we did. And we will be the victors of this war too, and the Allies will back down as the cowards they are". The stage was set, the Soviet war machine would consume the Gulf.

All power back to the Soviets.

During the spring of 1944 Soviet society had a spring of its own. The Soviets was reconvened to form the basis in industries and the average working man was given significantly increased rights, while women was guranteed the same rights as men. Education was provided to all (if you were in districts with schooling opportunities) and efforts was made to create even more schools. The peasantry was promised to get more lands and would be able to rent confiscated land for five years at a time, meanwhile significant investments was made by the state to mechanize the immense and backwards agricultural sector - much of these mechanizations was from confiscated German equipment. But perhaps the greatest contributor to the renewed economic activity in the USSR was that new batches of recruits and standing units on peace duty was re-classified as Construction Brigades. These highly motivated young men was required to spend 6 months of their military duty on great labour and construction projects all over the Soviet Union, where construction of infrastructure, mechanization of the farms and industrialization of Central Asia and Siberia was the main focus. This new economic reform plan was called "Perestroika" meaning rebuilding. Despite the appereant liberalization of the economy and that Bukharin managed to get some of his ideas into this Perestroika it was far from a capitalist or liberal system. The economy was still centrally planned and even if the empowered Soviets had a larger say in the economy they had to fall into the line of democratic centralism. Private ownership was still forbidden and in fact larger crack downs was carried out on private lands and property.

These tanks will cut any armor, Iraqi or American, in half.

The LT tank family was being introduced to the Red Army where it was enviosened it would replace the many KV-1 variants. The LT stood for "Lev Trotskij". Several prototypes and earlier models of the KV-85, LT-85/LT-1 and LT-2 had already been produced. However these saw little use in active combat roles, and practically functioned as gapstops to the much deadlier LT-3 (from now being simply reffered to LT). Still the KV-85 (an improvement of the KV-1) saw success on the battlefields of Japan, and the LT-2 with its 122mm gun and 100mm thick front armor was reported to take out Panthers and even Tigers head on, something the other Soviet and Allies tanks didn't manage to accomplish. By the end of April 1944 the LT was accepted by the Red Army and it was ordered this marvel was to replace the KV tanks. The LT had a devastating 122mm gun (in comparison the newest T-34 had 85mm, KV-1 had 76.2mm, while the KV85 had 85mm, the Tiger had an 88mm gun while the heaviest allied tanks had 95mm guns) and thick armor. The LT also had a very low profile making it difficult to hit, still it was prone to mechanical failures in its earlier models. However it was a major step forward for the Soviet armored forces, and with the T-34-85s and T-44s they would become fatal adversaries to the Allied tank force. While the LT family was expanded and improved upon, secret research was made into development of the LT-7. Pure terror on tracks.*

The many ethnic groups of Soviet Russia.

By the 1st of May it was declared that heeding the calls of the Soviet Congress and the Soviets the earlier Tsarist and Stalinist practises of Russian nationalism was reverted. It was declared by the Commissar of the Interior that the modern Soviet Republics do not trample on its own minorities of its own nation. Rather the different cultures, languages and history should be shared to create a better nation and one unified in their love for the entire nation, freedom and democracy, rather than out of fear by a tyrant or a god. A Commisariat for minorities was created and it might have apperead as if the - percieved and actual - intolerance of the Tsarist and Stalinist regimes were gone, still the war on religion (who hit Muslim areas equally hard as Christian ones) still raged on, in this tolerant republic there was no tolerance for religion and the Russian and Slavic peoples were very much the dominant forces.

Tsargrad is ours.

In May the plans were finalized for the Southern Thrust. The propaganda machines went on full steam in the Soviet Union, the liberal democracies and the targeted nations to wage an information war and to sow discontent. The military had been given their plans, in total four Fronts was to invade Iran and backed up by thousands of airplanes. Millions of young men and even boys were recalled away from their leaves, construction brigades and civillian lives. War was again on the horizon. However the Allies had been decieved by the Red Army and their mastery of Maskirovka. The massive naval, land and air exercises (that almost led to war) in Europe, toppled with outright Soviet and French violations of the Paris Treaties and toppling of democratic regimes diverted Allied focus away from the Middle East, given the Red Army a chance to mobilize for an actual war further east.. The respective Fronts practically prepared for the coming wars, sending out men to their meeting places covertly and preparing supply nodes. Meanwhile the High Command of the Soviet Armed Forces was given another task. They were to finalize their plans to invade Turkey and to claim the straits. While the military prepared to invade Turkey the civilian government and bureaucracy was tasked with integrating the straits directly into the Soviet Union. While the military prepared to invade Iran the Black Sea fleet and air forces became increasingly aggressive against their southern neighbour. In part to divert attention, in part to conduct reconnaissance and training for the coming invasion of Turkey. Daily Soviet planes violated Turkish airspace while the war ships positioned itself combatative against Turkish ports and submarines was even reported to run straight through the straits..

Soviet and British sphere of influences in Iran, before the Shah moved against the Soviets. Note how most of the oil belongs to the British..

But why a conflict over Iran? To understand that one have to study hundreds of years of history. In sort it can be said that during the Great Game the British Empire won over the Russian Empire, still the two Empires managed to carve out their own slices of influence in the nation trapped between two Great Powers. During the Great Game the British mostly wanted to secure Iran due to it posing a direct threat against the Crown Jewel, while Russia feared their soft underbelly being exposed. Now it was more about oil. Oil was the fuel (duh) of the modern armed forces. However the British controlled most of the Iranian oil through their Anglo-Persian Oil Company. The Soviets wanted some of the black gold for their own, but backed up by USA and Britain the Shah managed to wrest the Russian sphere of influence out of Trotsky. This of course enraged the Soviets. Soon a propaganda campaign begun among the population against the Anglo-Persian Company and the Shah aswell. The Internationale embargoed all of the Iranian nations leading to great unemployment and economic crisis, a crisis that the Shah and the Company got the blame for. But Iran had something the USSR needed, especially following the US oil embargo, and they would take it whatever the cost. In their eyes this was just a means to survive US attempts to strangle the revolution, for the Soviets their very nation was at stake (without oil and fuel the Soviet Army was a paper tiger, the Soviet Union was open to attack, securing oil was equal to securing their survival). Meanwhile Soviet authorities fabricated claims that the Shah supported the Nazis and even housed several Nazi war criminals in Iran. This of course was fabrications, but it gave them sufficient support for war. Britan and USA tried to oppose Soviet military action, but was outmanuevered by France and USSR who denied any western approaches. However they agreed that an outright invasion of Iran was not

The invasion plans of Iran are drawn, and the bombing begins.

By the end of May the Soviet ambassador issued an ultimatum to the Iranian government: the Shah have to abdicate. A government of the people are to come into power. Iran will nationalize the Anglo-Persian Oil Company. All Iranian aggression towrd the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics are to cease and the Soviet Armed Forces are to assist in bringing order to the nation. All National Socialist war criminals are to be handed over to incoming NKVD divisions. If these demands are not met within 72 hours the Soviet Union will conduct limited operations to secure the region". These demands were unheard of. First of all nationalizing the oil company would put Iran on collision course Britain leading to a potential British invasion. The Shah was not at all interested to abdicate, let alone turn Iran into a Soviet puppet and open up to occupation. Then there simply was no Nazis in exile in Iran so that demand was impossible to fulfill, and the raids in question was too either Soviet fabrications and even some extremist jihadists and nationalists who wanted to fight both "Atheists" and "Crusaders". As a response on both sides of the border on the early hours of the first of June trenches were dug, while Soviet massed artillery and armored waves was getting into position. Meanwhile Soviet commandos and NKVD units raided the Iranian borders officially to pacify Iranian raiders, but in reality to probe their defenses and prepare for an invasion. Meanwhile air attacks was started. First the air bases was targeted for several days, day and night alike. Then it continued for weeks increasing in volume. First it was low key bombings, but in the end it turned into mass destruction and bombing of Iranian defenses, cities and even targeted strikes to hit the Shah, his family and the government. The air campaign was projected to last for 42 days and include over 100.000 sorties, that would make it the greatest and most devastating air campaign in history. That was a power statement in itself. All that was missing was a declaration of war and an invasion..**

Some new and bigger guns are needed.

But let us back up a little. Before the Soviets escalated the world into conflict they had improved their weapons. The PPS-43 was generally an improvement over the PPS-42 being lighter and still having the same firepower and accuracy, albeit a somewhat lower rate of fire. However 700 rounds per minute was deemed.. sufficient. The various Soviet AA, AT and Howitzer artillery was also improved. The 25mm AA gun was made the standard, being capable of both disrupting air sorties and to take out lightly armored vehicles and make partial kills of such vehicles. The already battletested 152mm howitzer was made with a lower silhouette making it more effective to cover from counter-artillery duties. The equally well tested 45mm AT gun was given a munitions upgrade to compensate for increase in armor and being replaced (in taking out state of the art armor) by the more powerful 57mm AT gun who was effective against Panthers and Tigers. The coming battleground in the Middle East would show if these new weapons were up to the test..

We will beat the Polish into space.

Sergei Korolev was an early proponent of rocket science in the Soviet Union. However due to the persecutions of Stalin he was imprisoned. However when Trotsky came to power he was after much deliberation rehabilitated. Following the German defeat and Operation Osoaviakhim most of the German rocket scientists and rocket prototypes was put into Soviet hands. Korolev would become again the leading scientist, and by the end of June most of the resources that had been put into creating the first nuclear reactor in the USSR was instead given to Korolev and his NII-88 institute. They looked into methods to improve the rocket artillery of ground and air forces, but also to develop the R-1 and R-2 missiles based upon the German V-1 and V-2 prototypes. For the initial conditions of his research Korolev wrote: "All structures on Gorodomlya island were renovated and living conditions were quite decent for those times. At least married specialists received separate two- or three-room apartments. Visiting the island, I could only envy them, because I and my family lived in Moscow in a shared four-room apartment, where we had two rooms of 24 square metres (260 sq ft) combined. Many of our specialists and workers lived in barracks without most elementary necessities. [...] This is why life on the island behind barbed wire could not compare at all to prisoner of war conditions". Stil their research would have major impact on the world as a whole...

Marshal Kuznetsov make a surprise thrust into Afghanistan to outflank the Persians.

The bombing of Iran raged on. Cities was turned to ruins, units was harassed constantly, radio towers was bombed and so were the few roads. Despite this awesome, if not overwhelming, display of air force the Soviet High Command knew that Iran posed a major threats to their troops. Of course they knew the Red Army would win by the end of the day, however the Iranian forces had dug in along their common border for months, being prepared by an invasion. To make matters worse they were deeply entrenched in mountain regions. Now what the Soviet Union wanted to was to gain a quick and easy victorywith minimal casualties to both bolster morale at home (a prolonged war now would be a disaster), to show the power of the Red Army and the longer the war dragged on, the more likely it was for Britain or America to intervene. Kuznetsov was then given the task of directly violating the Paris Peace Treaties. He was to launch a surprise attack again Afghanistan from the north and into the south. From there he would, after taking control of the buffer nation, go to their common border with Iran. By that time Iran should be engaged in conflict along their common Soviet borders, that led the Front under Kuznetsov the oppurtunity to strike into eastern Iran and take the mountain passes without opposition and encircle the Iran forces near Turkmekistan. On 1300 hours the 7th of July 1944 war had broken out. Soviet troops moved into northern Afghanistan without a declaration of war nor any prolonged air campaigns or raids as in Iran. The campaigns in Iran was a deception for the true strike into Afghanistan. Only when first contact was made a formal declaration of war was presented. The Soviet Union was projecting its powers, invading a sovereign nation and testing the Allied response..

Soviet air force prepare to take on Afghanistan once more..

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*So IS stands for Iosef Stalin (or something like that), our good pal Joseph Stalin. I doubt they would have named it that under Trotsky so I made it the LT tank, the Lev Trotskij tank. When it comes into prodcution it will be renamed, and the other IS tanks (4, 6 and 10) will be variants. Now.. IS-7 is a superheavy tank in game.. well we'll see if we will give these monsters a chance. But considering we have 4 superheavy battleships, perhaps

**Okay so there was no air raids etc for over a month prior to the invasion, but I think it was fitting to the story.

Also as a disclaimer, just going to repeat it, the events during the narrative do not reflect My personal opinions one way or the other.

 

[ThaHoward]

Chapter 33: The Great Gambit.

Spoiler: Song.

One of the first bombs during the massive bombing of Afghanistan.

12:30 the Soviet-Afghan border was littered with fire. Thousands of artillery shells tore up the weak Afghan defenses. There had been rumors of a war with the Soviet Union, but most of the Afghans didn't believe in it. Why would the Soviet Union attack them? There had been no prelude to war, the Red Army had already beaten the previous fascist regime and their conflict was with Iran, not Afghanistan. Hours earlier the Afghan Army, trained and outfitted by British and Indian officers, partially mobilized and was sent to the borders of Iran, USSR and Muslim-India just in case hostilities broke out and to deal with occasional border raids or refugees. But none saw this coming. It was first believed by the Afghan authorities, by the time the few messages arrived, that this was a minor incident and just a few border conflict. However this was a full scale invasion. The entire border was lit up dug in and concealed artillery of all sorts, and engulfed by intense persistent cannon fire - what the Germans called "Trommelfeuer" or "drum fire". . Still the Afghan leadership was led to believe this was just minor incidents. Soviet recruited agents (some simply young boys who were given radios to spot targets for a few rubles) managed to give away several target locations and to spread disinformation in the local authorities. Entire communication and governmental centers in the border regions was taken out by air strikes with near ridicolous accuracy. Following the shelling the airforces was re-routed from Iran and toward Afghanistan bombing border units, supply nodes and roads. No one escaped the intense, yet short, bombardment of the Soviet land and air forces. Messages from recon forces on land (having inflitrated the lands days earlier), by sea and locals gave the Soviet government a conclusive report: All Afghan forces in disarray. Most units near the border have been defeated or scattered". Kuznetsov then gave the order: Invade.

Two tankers pose before the invasion. It might be their last picture, or just one for bragging.

But let us back up a little. The invasion of Afghanistan was a major watershed in history. It was a major risk that would manifest the Soviet position in the world as a whole. If they won in Afghanistan the power balance would drastically change in the Soviet favor, if they got bogged down and faced defeat (in order to not escalate it further) they might have to pull out and face major humiliation. The Afghan invasion and its results would very well define the entire Southern Thrust and perhaps even the state of the Cold War. Marhsal Kuznetsov was specifically selected to lead the Afghan Front. An aggressive commander was needed to subdue Afghanistan before a possible Allied invasion would manifest itself. Moreover Kuznetsov had shown during the years of the war that he could pull off wonders with stretched out supply lines, or being outright out of supplies*. That was needed now. The Soviet High Command was paranoid. Paranoia was perhaps the actual casus-belli of the entire Southern Thrust. Paranoid the British and Americans would cut off the world's oil supplies from the USSR, but worst of all to use their influence in Turkey, Iran and Afghanistan to make a direct attack into Russia and the Caucasian and Kazakh oilfields. But they were also terrified of a possible British intervention in Afghanistan, the current chaos in western Europe, Iran and India needed to be taken advantage of. Afghanistan needed to fall before the Allies could muster a response. While Kunetsov inspected his mechanized corps (five in total) he gave them all the same orders: "You are the spearhead and the vanguard of the Red Army an the fate of our glorious Union. You are to go forward no matter what. You are to be relentless, you are to be aggressive and you will stop at nothing. If you see enemies on your flanks, do not look on them. Speed ahead. If enemy positions are in your way do not stop. Do not back up, do not even fire on them! Run right over them. Stop at nothing. Bypass entire divisions if you have to, your goal is not to engage the enemy. Your goal is not to occupy and secure your rear, let the infantry handle that. Your task is to race toward Kabul, Herat and the Iranian border. Stop at nothing".

Soviet mechanized infantry rolling over Afghanistan. T-44s in the backround, note the low profile and long barrels.

Back to the invasion. The aggressive doctrine by Kuznetsov was followed to the letter. Light T-60s spearheaded the assault into Afghanistan with little regard for their own safety. They didn't wait for the artillery fire to cease, instead they rolled right into the lion's jaw, sometimes even ahead of the airforce. In the confusion Afghan forces let them pass right through, later on it was revealed the Afghans believed it was tanks of their own fleeing from the bombardment. The mechanized infantry rolled along with T-34s and T-44s right into Afghanistan. This was the first time the Soviet armored infantry would use APCs in large scale assaults and not trucks. It was a hallmark in many regards, the first time the USSR employed large scale fully mechanized units, T-44 tanks and pure Deep Operations doctrines. The armored Soviet forces followed their Marshal's orders. They bypassed several retreating Afghan units entirley, not firing upon them or taking prisoners only reporting it to the advancing forces behind them. The commander of one of these APCs remarked their aggressive thrust into Afghanistan: "We crossed from Turkestan and right into Afghanistan. The air was littered with thick smoke, our flying angels couldn't be seen, but their presence could be felt as in the horizon we saw retreating units being hunted down, slaughtered like cattle. All around us halpless men walked around as living question marks, or I correct that. They walked around, but they were in a state between life and death, they weren't truly alive. All around us trucks was on fire and charred corpses littered the area and horses laid around in pure agony with no one able to put them out of their misery. As we ventured further into hell the enemies were all around us. We developed in all haste new tactics, gone were the days where the machine gunner supported us from the half-track and the infantrists disembarked on safe distance. No, now we were supposed to ride into battle firing from within our APCs and only disembark if it was an absolute emergency. The machine gunner, and later squad leader in the back of the truck wanted to fire upon the enemies before they did it. But we weren't allowed. "Conserve the ammo" I replied, they weren't worth it. We had one objective in mind and that was to race toward Kabul".

Three days into the invasion, the first Soviet land forces make contact with their enemies.

The aggressive tactics of the Soviet forces bore fruits. The mechanized corps was to engage i the deserts and then if possible circumnavigate the mountains and valleys in northern Afghanistan. Kabul and Herat was their goals, it was believed if these two major cities was taken the Afghan Army would be pacified and the Soviet forces could roll on to the west and into Iran. Three days into the conflict at 15:30 the first forces made proper contact with Afghan forces. It was reported they were still in disarray and barely managed to hold up any resistance. A British "advisor" wrote about the initial shock and defenses in his memoars: "Soviet bombers of all sorts threw themselves over the Afghan divisions as they retreated, while the formidable Soviet artillery bombarded all the roads (if it could be called that) day and night. The worst scenes happened when the units with horse-towed equipment retreated to the south. All ways was blocked. Then terrible scenes unfolded. I have never seen anything like it. T-44s and T-34s literally ploughed their way through the retreating forces on their way to Kabul and Herat. They didn't stop, they just drove through and fired upon all who moved, those who were in their way was rammed.. Both on and along the roads to the south it was littered of shot up trucks and horse corpses. Even ambulances full of wounded was ablaze. Brave officers, British and Afghan side by side, wanted to clean up the mess, but with little luck. I took command of a local battlegroup to organize a defense in the mountain regions from the Soviet armored divisions. From the heights I could see all over the wide valley. Enemy planes dived continuously down and shot at everything that moved. I saw the smokeclouds from exploding bombs and burning vehicles, and wounded who were picked up by donkeys and lorries fleeing for their lives. It was unpleasant scenes that developed, but there was nothing we could do. An ancient crusader chant came to mind "Man, horse and cart along, but God's hand stroke them all down".

Mountain troops assaulting one of the many mountains of Afghanistan.

The border regions, mostly plain deserts, was secured. Now perhaps the most difficult task came. To secure the many valleys and mountains of the north, infamous ones like Tora Boah and Shah-i-Kot. The armor had secured the deserts, but Kuznetsov knew it was suicide to let their armored formations pass into these death traps. The far western armored divisions was ordered to bypass the mountain ranges and to head toward the west and the east. Those who headed to the west were to secure the Iranian border regions, while those heading to the east would try to cut off the mountains trapping all the Afghan forces in a major pocket, confined to the mountains. This was a job for the specialized mountaineers who had proven their battle prowess in the ugly battles of the Carpathian Mountains and the Austrian Alps. They scaled the mountains while they still had the iniative, and soon the Infantry followed behing. They rooted out most of the Afghan forces in the mountains, however they would primarly act as observers for the massive arty force and air force. The mountains would be pounded with bombs, mostly to prevent enemy forces from establishing blocking positions. All of this was to enable the Mechanized forces to race through the mountains in safe passages and straight into Kabul.

Paratroopers being inspected before their audacious air assault.

However one vital part of the Soviet campaign was to establish complete air dominance. To do they the only Afghan airport capable of housing a military force was in the eastern most bulge between Sinkiang, USSR and India. A perfect bufferzone that could only be accessed from the west. On the first hours of the invasion Soviet fighers, fighter bombers and light bombers moved toward the airfield. Powered with rocket systems they bombarded the airfield from the air hoping to take out so many of the planes while they were still stationary. However it was now perhaps the most daring operation would be ordered during the short Afghan invasion. The paratrooper divisions and brigades that had been wiped out during the invasion of Germany had been reinstated. During the invasion of Germany they would conduct extreme bold jumps deep behind enemy lines, despite all of these divisions being wiped out they manged to create several pockets and even take out airfields. Now these daring high risk units were back on the field. Their mission was simple: take the airfield. And so they did. The first Brigade to jump was before the first bombings, days before in fact. They jumped out in the surrounding mountains and for days they would provide overwatch for the bombing and the next step. Then during the bombing of the airfield and during the shock of the general invasion a Brigade jumped in close proximity to the airfield. As they parachuted down they were under fire by the limited selection Afghan machine and AA guns. Still it was horrid for the paras as they dropped down into shrapnel and bullets. However they managed to land safely outside of the airfield and soon surrounded it taking all the strategic rossroads and heights. However they soon came under heavy Afghan assaults, but they managed to dig in and repel the Afghans due to superior training, armament and air support. Then in the chaos of it all the third Brigade landed straight on the airfields with their gliders. They stormed out of the gliders with ligh submachine guns and seized the airfield with remarkable few casualties. These airborne troops proved they were worthy of their forebearers during Operation Icebreaker. For the entire invasion of Afghanistan they would be cut off from the rest of the invasion force and under constant attack by Afghan infantrists and cannons, but they held their positions and were relieved by the end of the war.

One of the British war vessels who mined the Strait of Hormuz.

Other than furious international condemnation the British reacted physically. The British joined their American allies and embargoed the Soviet Union. This led to a further escalation as the rest of the Internationale embargoed Britain. It spiraled further down as the entire British Commonwealth joined in on the embargo and the US pressured all of the Americas and the other Allies to join in. There was now no official trade between the two Blocs. However the British sent out their Navy to the Strait of Hormuz. A Soviet Naval Bomber patrol was flying across the Persian gulf when it spotted several destroyers and cruisers down below. It dived to check it out, but the air was filled with shrapnel and flaks. The British fired they warning shots and hailed the Soviet pilot on the radio "turn around or we will fire directed shots". The Soviet pilot had no choice but to turn around. The Royal Navy and Royal Airforce took control of the Persian Gulf and the oilfields in southern Iran and in Iraq aswell. They claimed that any "foreign vessel or aeroplane entering outlined regions will be sunk or shot down". It couldn't be mistaken, Britain was prepared to protect its assests. The British followed up by mining the strait of Hormuz to prevent any Soviet naval activity. The Soviet Union on their part claimed this was nothing but a violation of international laws, an unlawful aggression and came with the dubious claim they had to liberate Iran from British occupation.

A Soviet pilot proudly show off his rocket system after a successfull hunt.

The Soviet pilot had a new toy to play with; High Velocity Aircraft Rocket, or Holy Moses as the Americans called it. It would become iconic during the invasion of Afghanistan as the Soviet fighters dived in and sweeped the area as they unleashed rockets with high accuracy (at least greater than normal bombs). This shocked the Afghan troopers who had never seen anything like that. A assymetrical balance in technology and tactics led to the Afghan forces routing in face of Soviet offensives rather than stay and fight.

The British, erhm I mean Indians, had some problems of their own..

But where was Britain? Other than condemnation and blockades the Soviet Union feared an outright British intervention. But it never came. Part of it was timing. Over the years the independence movement grew in the British Raj. The British Raj got its independence, however not in the way many enviosned. Instead the British King continued to be the Emperor and the Viceroy continued to be the leader. The British Ra was transformed into a federation in a personal union with Britain, however the British government was still to appoint the ruler of India. This very confusing arrengement could be entire textbooks of its own, but it won't be included in detail here. Suffice to say this led to great resenment among the natives. Muslim Indians claimed they were snatched off their promised liberty in the now British and Hindu-Prince dominated country. As such Pakistan and eastern Pakistan broke out in outright rebellion. The Soviets took their oppurtunity to launch their Southern Thrust in the middle of the Indo-Pakistan War. Pakistan worked as a buffer of some sorts, an an informal agreement came between the British Empire and the Soviet Union. The USSR was not to intervene in Pakistan (who had initially strong communist sympathies, mostly to gain Soviet support) if Britain did not intervene in Afghanistan. Anyway the British and Indians was in little position to intervene into Afghanistan as the bordering regions was in a state of civil war.**

Afghan soldiers got hold off artillery pieces behind Soviet lines.

Despite their major setbacks and the collapse of their frontline the Afghans managed to pull themselfs together, mostly as Soviet forces struggled to conquer the mountains. Their chantry was "hold them off as long as possible outside of Kabul and our British friends will come to our aid". The Soviets now paid in full for disregarding their rear areas, just rolling straight ahead to score a quick and decisive victory. This led to the local population not being under control, taking left behind Soviet equipment and joining the fight with their brethren. Killzones was set up in the mountains taking out Soviet supply columns and infantrists heading toward the armored units getting out of food, fuel and munitions and infantrits to reinforce the lines. A Soviet infantry officer detailed an attack: "These attacks showed that while the Afghans might be poorly trained and equipped, they had high morale and guts. The frontline troops reported the Afghan Army had retreated, and they needed to replenish their troops. We drove through a so called safe pass, however we were soon under fire. We were peppered by heavy machine gun fire, the bullets slammed through our trucks going straight through them and resulting in fatal results. We had to disembark and take cover under heavy fire. Then the fire stopped, and we continued on then we were under fire again and it continued. It went on like this several times. We realized it was the same guys who ambushed as time and time again, but we didn't know how many they were and what their full capabilties were. We concluded, after advising with armored recon elements, to take another path around the ridge. It was supposed to be safe, but it wasn't. Again we were under heavy fire. The lead truck got hit and blocked our path forward. We were ordered to back up, but it was taken out too. The fire continued and the trucks was set ablaze. I will never forget the sight of men running out of their trucks on literal fire, those who were not would be ripped apart by the heavy machinegun fire. It was confusion, we now got a small taste of what our enemy experienced during our invasion. But we reorganized and managed to fire upon on our enemy with mortars and anti-tank guns. But it continued to fire. Our shots was getting just above them or just short, but they fired on us and pinnes us down. Soon they went dry, and they retreated. We followed them but they were like mountain goats. It was disheartening, two guys managed to do this much chaos without anti-tank or arty to back them up. We continued on, and then we realized they were stalling us with great courage as we headed right into an enemy trench system".

Days into the invasion the Afghans saw the foreign machines of war were not invincible.

The Afghans dug in and clinged to the mountains with their teeth. Despite not being able to take out the new T-44s they mined the many passes and ambushed lighter armored tanks with assymetrical tactics. They even managed to take out several Soviet tanks. Kuznetsov's worst nightmare was starting to take form. His armored formations was bogged down in disfavorable mountain terrain and taking moderate casualties on top of it. However in the west Herat was firmly under Soviet control and the mountains was closed into a pocket, with recon troops reaching the Helmand river in the south and taking control over the area. However Kuznetsov ordered the offensive to a halt. Combat with guerilla and regular army units alike were to be avoided. Mountain cavalry and infantry divisions was to assault Kabul from the north-east across the mountain passes and the north-west over the Kabul River.

Kabul is taken, but the Afghans put up fierce resistance.

21:30 on the 17th of July Kabul was taken by the mountain cavalry division. However it was under immidiate counterattack by Afghan forces and despite superior forces the battle was undecided. Whole five Rifle Divisions was ordered into Kabul to reinforce the Afghan capital. All over the mountains fierce fighting took place and the Soviets were low on supply. Kuznetsov realized this was a "make it or break it" moment and that this fight was only a small taste on what was to come in the mountain fights in Iran. He ordered his men to "hold the line. Go on the offensive and kill as many fascists as you can. Avenge their rape on your motherland!"

Minor setbacks aside the Soviet spirit remain high. High as the airforce paving the way.

It was if that speech, along with massive airsupport and a fresh batch of vodka, renewed Soviet spirits. All Afghan counterattacks failed in the coming hours and they retreated as the Red Army cleared out the mountain ranges. T-34s and assault guns dug down into the dirt only leaving their turrets capable transforming them into forts. Meanwhile the T-44s, KV-1s and LT-2s began a massed assault on all retreating Afghan forces killing hundreds and taking thousands of prisoners as all roads out of the mountains was blocked.

Despite their best efforts, the initial shock was just too much for Afghanistan.

Then on the 18th of July the Afghan Army faced complete collapse. This was added up by a complete government collapse and takeover. Exiled Afghan communists was put into power in Herat and Kabul and they were ordered to cooperate with the former socialist Republican government. The new "Democratic Republic of Afghanistan" was given the task with controlling the population as the Soviet Union had no interest in occupying the nation and engage in costly counter partisan operations. Their eyes were fixed to the west.. Afghanistan underwent its third regime change in a few years and were now firmly under Soviet control.

We'll make up the losses with new ships..

In just over a week the Red Army blitzed over Afghanistan. It was seen by many as a Soviet mastery of modern blitzkrieg. Learned by the Germans the hard way, and perfected during the course of the war. But as the Germans it was more situational and muddled than that. Kuznetsov and the Soviet High Command feared a war of attrition in the mountains of Afghanistan and Iran that would lead to a British intervention, and again a World War that Mother Russia and her allies were not ready for. The Soviets and Kuznetsov took a huge gamble with desperate, yet innovative, tactics as bypassing entire divisions of enemy forces and facing the risk being cut off. The idea was contrary to previous Soviet doctrine, now attrition would not be embraced, but a swift victory at minimal losses on both sides were to be achieved. The road to Iran was now left open, however the shadow over the heavy losses in the mountain attacks still loomed over the Soviet forces ready to enter Iran. And while Kuznetsov was seen as a hero there was no chance to celebrate, and there was no chance to occupy Afghanistan. As soon as the Afghanistan Front reached the Afghan-Iranian border.. the Invasion of Iran began.. Still Trotsky declared, full of hubris with a stern, and somewhat relieved, Marshal Kuznetsov standing besides him, during the final inspection of the invasion forces "we did what our ancestors never could - with this Great Gambit we won the Great Game". Afghanistan fell, and Iran was next on the target list.

Decades later Afghanistan was still in a ruined state after the the Anglo-Soviet invasion and the following Soviet invasion during Southern Thrust.
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*So he have the Commando (I think it was called) trait that was needed in the mountainous and low infastructure regions of Afghanistan.

**Sooo.. well India is indepedent, but still with a Britsh Viceroy? Now I just use an Indian-Pakistani war as an excuse for why the Allies didn't intervene in this conflict.

And I count myself lucky the Allies didn't intervene! But for how long will it last?

 

[ThaHoward]

Chapter 34: Countenance.

Spoiler: Music.

A common sight in Iran the past month, it would only increase in magnitude.

The world were still in shock, unable to respond, baffled. In around a week's time the Red Army marched into Afghanistan, toppled the government an there was no clue they were coming that way. Iran was the hotspot and the Soviet forces invading Afghanistan was believed to be near Iran. The Soviet Army showed it mastered modern warfare, their rapid conquest was a premonition of what was to come. Let's not forget the bombing campaign over Iran. The Iranian airforce and supply routes was crippled. Alltough the 42 days campaign had been cut short it set the stage for a Soviet invasion. Moreover it forced the British who could not intervene by land due to the Indo-Pakistani Civil War to mine the Strait of Hormuz, furthermore Britain and USA sent several advisors and rumors had it they allowed entire combat brigades to Iran.

SBS troops in Iran. The British would regret this.

Britain expected the USSR to be reasonable. In their assessment the increase of Allied air, naval and land presence would deter the Soviets from invading Iran and taking control of the contested oilfields. But it had the complete opposite effect. The Soviets demanded the Allies to retreat their forces, the Allies meanwhile claimed they were protecting their own interests and safeguarding the Iranian nation. USSR responded this was nothing but Imperialism, ironic, and yet again demanded US and Britain to withdraw their "violation of Iranian sovereignty". It didn't help much by that SAS, SBS and Marine Raiders were put into Iran to help the government put down the growing Tudeh Party (Iranian communists) and their secret Army and Tudeh officers in the Iranian Army. The Tudeh was gaining traction among the Iranian population for their anti-British sentiments, radical social policies and in fact as an alternative to a Soviet invasion. However the Allies helped the government to initiate a widescale crackdown on these groups to prevent them turning. But it backfired. This infuriated the unpredictable Trotsky and the extremist Soviet government and NKVD. War might have not been the planned solution, but it was appereant the Iranians and British wouldn't back down. In response Soviet commandos and paratroopers was inserted into Iran, a few days later they were recalled. But Iranian border guards pursued the intruders, with them were the SAS. Despite the USSR violating Iranian airspace and territory, they were appaled the Iranians dared to raid their homeland. Worse off they were aided by the British, in public this was pictured by the Soviet propaganda machine as a Anglo-Iranian effort to invade the USSR, Iran had to be invaded to prevent a large scale war. Of course that it was the USSR who started the crisis was glanced over. Trotsky gave the all clear signal to his Marshals he said "the western imperialists are weak. They have no spine and they will cower before the Soviet might and revolution".

Soviet supply convoys readying to open up the Persian supply corridor..

Worrying reports entered Allied and Iranian intelligence agencies. There was an increase of cross border activity, the Soviet chatter on the radios was off the charts before suddenly going silent. Recon planes provided photographs of dug in Soviet positions. During the night to the 30th of July a border post reported "kilometers of trucks, tanks and horses" heading toward the border. They then went silent. The local Iranian colonel didn't report this further up ahead. It was later revealed that most of the Iranian senior officers in the border regions was Tudeh inflitrators. In the north the Fronts that had been spared of the horrors of Afghanistan the morale was high. "The T-44s, the assault guns, half tracks and assault guns were revving up. It is an extraordinary sound to listen to hundreds of tanks starting up their engines, vrooming. Then they started to roll, it was magnificent. We were prepared for war, anxious and eager. Some of us was not that eager, they were the veterans of the Great Patriotic War. Where we smiled, sang, joked and laughed, they were silent and expressionless".

The invasion of Iran begins. Hopefully Teheran will be rapidly conquered, time is of the essence.

By 15:30 war was officially declared. The Iranian government managed to regain control over their border forces and the Tudeh officers were either hanged or they escaped to their Soviet cousins. 12 days passed since the Treaty of Herat was signed. The barrels had just gone cold as the Soviet Army invaded yet another country. The Iranian border regions had been subject to thousands of tonnages worth of explosives. The defenses was pounded to pieces. A young Iranian soldier described the invasion: "we were laying in the mountain passes, we were a mere platoon that managed to get to the pass and we were deployed on a thin line. We got reports of impending Soviet armored forces, but all we could muster were our "recoil rifles", not suited to take down modern armor. The recoil gunners was ordered to focus on the tanks and not the infantry, us the riflemen had to wait for the infantrists to arrive to shoot at them. We were only given 15 shots each. The first Soviet armored units arrived, lightly armored. The recoil rifle opened up fire, round after round. We were getting anxious, the armored wagons fired on us with machineguns, at last the driver was shot and it stopped. But a half track came and unloaded its cargo a squad worth of infantrists who rushed toward cover and spread out their menacing machine gun fire, pinning us all down. I realized it was now or never, I lunged backward and stood up, aimed and fired. He was down. But then pure mechanized beasts arrived and slaughtered us all. They steamed right ahead, we had to give up. We then realized we couldn't hold off the crusaders".

Iranian soldiers are given the recent news, cheering before getting sent to the front.

There was special mood in the country. One of grief and one of anger. One of great anxiety, yet one of patriotism. A superpower was openly invading their nation. A nation that had conquered half of the world, still it brought people together. Days earlier the population was split between monarchists, democrats and communists. Secularists and fundamentalists. Pro-British and Anti-British sentiments. Now the Iranian people were unified as one people, the foreign invasion was the glue that held them together. The day following the invasion the Shah informed the people of the invasion and patriotic fervour were widespread. It only remained to be seen for how long this would last as the Red Army desecrated their homeland.

Five days into the campaign: The mountains are holding up, but the Afghan flank are collapsing.

Five days into the invasion. On the north-eastern front it was limited successes. One breakthrough into the Iranian lines were achieved, however along the rest of the front the Iranians managed to stave off the Soviets, with the Soviets even risking to be repelled in several engagements. On the north-western line the Red Army was winning the battles, however the battles in the mountains was hard fought with slow progress being made. These mountains was not suited for large scale offensives, let alone mechanized ones. In the east however from Afghanistan significant gains were made. True most of the battles were losing batles in the mountains, however one of the border provinces were conquered by the Soviets. This region enabled the Soviet units to ascend unto flat terrain, areas well suited for mechanized offensives. Moreover due to the rapid Soviet conquest of Afghanistan most of the Iran-Afghan border wasn't protected as the Iranian focused on their northern flanks. This opened up for Soviet advancements into defenseless areas.

British and American planes arrive to Iran. They never officially participated, but they kinda did anyway.

The Soviet Union invaded yet another country. The Soviet takeovers and toppling of democratic regimes was provocative enough for the Allies, blatant invasions, and that for precious oil resources, were on a league of its own. The US and UK motioned an act in the UN for the USSR to pull out its forces from Iran and end their occupation of Afghanistan, if these demands were not complied a United Nations multinational military force would intervene. However these motions failed. First of all France and USSR vetoed them. Then their was another issue, most of the member states of the UN was aligned to the Internationale. A UN intervention could never come through. USA and Britain who wanted to resolve the war through the UN now faced a major dilemma. By going forth with a war after being voted down in the UN it would jeopardize the entire UN project, if they did not they risked a hands off Soviet approach. Instead they went for a middle ground. Ever since the Soviet overt ambitions in Iran the two great powers supplied Iran with arms and airplanes. Most of these were, however, outdated. Now they sent entire combat forces to not only train and advise the Iranians, but also to take an active combat role. The new and state of the art air wings would support the Iranians in their defense against the Soviet air forces. These forces were of course unofficial ones, but it would mark the first time Soviet and Anglo-Americna forces engaged in open combat.

A confiscated camel, perhaps it will be a new age of camel soldiers. This was taken to Russia.

The war dragged on. Soviet tanks was stuck in the mud. Infantrists had a hard time climbing the mountains. The worst Soviet fears apperead to come to fruition: a deadlock. The Iranians realized they could not win the war in the long run. Instead their aim was to drag out the war, make it into a war of attrition. In time the British and Americans would be sure to intervene once the issues in Pakistan and the UN were handled, and once invasion fleets and armies were assembled. Hope was in the horizon. The longer the Soviets was pinned down in the mighty mountains, making insignificant gains the greater the odds were for a Soviet withdrawal or Allied intervention. The Soviets realized this too. It was then Rokossovsky ordered his mechanized corps to "ram through the mountains" and drive straight toward Iraq and the oil fields in Kuzestan to both secure the precious oil and to secure Iraq, and in turn Kuwait, in case of escalation. "We will get there no matter what".

Tabriz have fallen in the west. The north-east and east are slowly taking grounds..

11 days passed and the important city and node of Tabriz fell after vicious fighting. Rokossovsky's aggressive thrust worked out, the armored divisions spearheaded out of the mountains and fanned out to the east and to the west. Tehran was within striking distance. The Iranian cause only worsened as all fronts in the east managed to achieve major breakthroughs. "They fought like hell with tooth and nail. But in the end we had the gods with us. The gods of artillery, firepower, tanks, airpower and supply was on our side". The Iranians were in disarray and an oderly retreat to Tehran and the inland mountain ranges begun. In addition with the help of British forces the Iranians set their oil wells and refineries on flames. The primary goal was scorched earth, denying the Soviets their needed oil. The secondary goal was of operation significance. Entire air plane armadas had to turn around as they couldn't enter the thick smoke. The smoke from the burning oil wells blocked out all vision and enabled Iranian elements to move around for the first time without being harassed from air.

The Iranian defensive lines were more reminiscent of an earlier war.

Day after day went by. Destruction was at an all time high. The ancient nation of Iran had never seen such unprecedented violence before. It was war between two different eras. The industrial war machine of the Soviet Union ravaged the Iranian lines. The Iranian air force was all but destroyed, only the unofficial British and American forces provided air cover. Most of the Iranian soldiers had perished in the fighting, either as casualties, prisoners of war or even deserted to join the communist militias. "It is hopeless", an Iranian colonel told one of his American aides and continued "they outpeform us on every field. Of the 15.000 men in the divison we started with, 16.000 are now accounted for. That is over 100% casualty rate. The replacements we get are either inexperienced airmen who have just been lumped together as there is no air force anymore or 15 year old boys who have been told we will get the final victory. They come in with high morale, believing they will serve their country. But the Soviets can't be stopped, they are just too well equipped. If we don't get any help we're doomed.

All the good stuff is in the south, but the Iranian spirits will be broken when we take their cities and not they oil. A map of the Allied operation.

16th of August, the offensive went on despite fierce Iranian resistance. Despite being well entrenched, they lacked the proper tools, so to speak, to withstand the Red Menace. Concerning bulges were forming all around the fronts, threatening to create pockets. From Afghanistan the Front under Kuznetsov threatened to enter the southern and central oilfields. In the north east Soviet forces had broken through taking out the only airfield capable of air operations and threatened to envelope the well entrenched Iranian forces in the mountains. Meanwhile in the northwest the valiant Iranians failed to guard the flank. The entire frontline collapsed under the sheer weight and aggression of the Soviet forces. They fell back to Tehran and the Iraqi borders, the road to Iraq and Tehran was open and the superior Soviet forces knew how to take advantage of it. Orders were given to the armored units to not engage the Iranis and instead encircle them and only engage those who tried to break out or advance into favorable defensive positions. In the meantime US and British High Command planned on an intervention into Iran. However they debated on how it was to be handled. The general plan was an invasion from Iraq, the Raj and an amphibious assault on Iran. From there they would head on the Soviet frontlines and establish "no-go zones" while spearheading straight toward Tehran, securing the Iranian capital. However there were several issues, for starters Pakistan was not under control and Iraq was reluctant to allow Anglo-American troops to enter their land, both to not provoke the increasingly aggressive USSR and as they feared a British occupation. That left in reality only an amphibious landing as the only feasible option, however that had its disadvantages, namely that the Strait of Hormuz had been mined, and that it would be a massive logistical undertaking. Then it was another issue, such an endeavour needed a massive force. Afterall 95 Soviet divisions invaded Iran. If the Allies aided the Iranians they needed an equal or greater force, any smaller force would run the risk of being beaten. However if they sent a strong force it opened up the rest of the free world to communist aggression. The Anglo-American alliance was caught between a rock and a hard place. But for every moment they deliberated and debated they brought the Soviets one step closer to Tehran.

A picture says more than a thousand words.

The Iranians retreated in the north west. It was not pretty. Their goal was to protect the oilfields in Arabistan/Kuzestan and to shield Tehran. Instead the Soviets annihilated the divisions who fled to the west, and started to trap the divisions fleeing to Tehran in a small pocket. A survivor told his story. "We were ordered to leave our positions the night to the 20th and break out toward Tehran. The opening was around five kilometers wide, and we only saw a few hostile patrols in the area. For our deathly exhausted group it was an inhumane ordeal to fall back during the darkness of the night. The closer we came to the opening the more grim the sight that met us became. On the roads there was vehicle who was peppered with bullets until they were torn apart, others were on fire. Ammunition exploded and tankettes burned. Many places the poor horses were on their backs kicking with their legs up in the air feverishly until someone came and put them out of their suffering. The same happened to men. Out on the fields it was equally chaotic as on the roads, and from all directions we came under enemy fire into the sprawling masses. Anti-tank shells, rockets, bullets and bombs from the air, it was all the same. It was a slaughter house. We had to get through a village, there it was a small operation's staff set up by the Army and Christian advisors. With them they had these Sherman tanks. They took the lead and we jumped on them with the wounded. While the enemy bombarded the village with anti-tank and artillery shells we pressed on. Destroyed tanks and wrecked trucks was prun straight over. The wounded we came across were given space, however soon there was no more space. To the best of our ability we gave them first aid, but in the end all we could do was to pray to God. We disembarked to protect immobilized tanks and tankettes the anemy AT guns had taken out. Two generals who had their divisions wiped out shook their heads over our attempt to break free. But they joined us and fought by our side. But we couldn't escape the inferno, the enemy pressed on and we were pressed back to our divisions".

Following a massed mechanized assault Tehran fell. Some Iranians escaped, but 15 divisions were trapped.

On the 20th Tehran was taken. After a short, but grim, battle the city itself was taken and in ruins. Thousands of Iranians was taken prisoners, many more fell. Right to the north of Tehran 15 infantry divisions had been herded into a pocket. Only a few divisions managed to escape the pocket, and they launched a counteroffensive toward Tehran, but to no effect. The two fronts then amassed to thrust south, east and to pacify the pocket where hundreds of thousands of Iranian soldiers were trapped. It was quite the achievement, the entire western Iranian army had perished in the pockets close to Iraq or were trapped just north of Tehran. The Iranians fought valiantly, but there was no turning around now.

AA guns light up the sky.

The Soviets were quick to establish their military presence in Tehran. Thousands of AA batteries was set up in Tehran and around it. It lit up the sky, literally, with tracers as Anglo-American bombers were reported in the area. This effectively disrupted their bombing run as they headed back to their bases in the Arabian Peninsula and Greece. It had been a terrifying conflict for the Iranians who lost hundreds of thousands as they Soviets pushed aggressively southward.

"Respect my authoritah" - leader of the Iranian Communist Authority.

Tehran was in ruins. Still they were - officially - greeted as heroes. Just before the Soviets entered the city and established formal control Soleiman Eskandari with an alliance of socialists and communist took power in Tehran. They followed the old Bolshevik slogan and promised "peace and bread" to the people of Iran. Iran was, however, put under Soviet political control. It took the Soviet forces less than a month, 24 days in total, to establish control over Iran. Tehran itself fell in 20 days. It was a huge Soviet success, it showed they were able to overcome a dug in enemy and pursue a high risk operation with major aggression to achieve their goals. The Americans and British were defenseless, and now the eyes of the Red Army turned yet again to the west.. to the oilfields of Iraq. The gate to India was secured, now they needed to securre the gate to the Suez canal. The very idea of a British Empire was under attack.

Propaganda picture showing the Iranians celebrating their "liberation".

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So that was the invasion of Iran. Now I must say I am very surprised, very much indeed. The Allies did nothing. They didn't guarantee them or invite them to the Allies. Perhaps Lord Halifax is the root to all of this. Now we will see if they will stand up to Trotsky as they eventually did to Hitler, or if they will let him conquer all of Iraq, Turkey and the Aegean Islands while he's at it.

Now there was some very harsh fighting and I was afraid the assault would come to a standstill and it would all develop into a trench war and that it would prompt the Allies to intervene. But then the much needed breakthrough was needed, and the Iranians then just.. collpased and Tehran was taken with ease. Things could've been very different if the Soviet Army was still in the mountains fighting. Now we'll see if the next chapter will be about China/Asia or if we will continue on with the Southern Thrust.

 

[ThaHoward]

Chapter 35: Desert Storm.

Spoiler: Music.

Retreating Iraqis.

The bullets snapped over their heads, the explosions in the distance quaked the ground. The little armor and vehicles they owned were being picked down by dive bombers. They dived from the clouds firing rockets or autocannons with great precision either on tanks or anti-aircraft guns. Once they vanished into the clouds a second set of larger bombers carpet bombed their axis indiscriminate. Death and carnage was everywhere. Soldiers were fleeing away from the frontlines and the convoys leaving their charcoaled brothers in arms behind and tons of equipment. Some reorganized to put up a fight and crossed into no man's land, but they were taken apart by the armor, machine guns, AA and AT guns positioned on the far side. Once they were pinned down in the open desert the Katyusha rockets opened up and left nothing but desolation. It was five day into the war. The Iraqi defenders were in full retreat in the face of a superior and uncomprosmising enemy toward British Kuwait and Transjordan. But they only had one highway to advance one highway on. This highway was under unwavering enemy bombardment from land and air. It would simply become known as Death's Highway.

Trotsky is turning Iraq into a parking lot for his armored forces.

The Soviets gathered evidence of Iraq violating the treaty they held with the USSR and the Allies. The treaty stipulated that free elections were to be held in Iraq and all parties were allowed. However following the success of the Iraqi Communist Party and the Soviet aggression in Afghanistan and Iran the members of the party faced mass persecution - led on by American and British special operators. Surviving Iraqi communists fled to the now Soviet occupied Iran and instigated terrorist attacks into their homeland. British authorities assured the Iraqi government they would stand by their side in case of a conflict with the USSR. Following the line of the Anglo-American alliance the Iraqi boycotted the entire Internationale for their aggression against peace. Things got out of control. Right wing elements in the Iraqi military leadership agitated for war with British support against the USSR (both to prevent an outright invasion and to take Arabistan from Iran) and shots rang through Bagdad. The Golden Circle failed in a military coup. However they managed to take control of several border units and shots were reported to fired into Iran. The Soviets didn't let this opportunity pass. They demanded British troops to end their "occupation of Iraq" and to restore democracy in Iraq and open up the oil cranes again. They were given a two week deadline. Iraq was close to accepting it, but they were assured by the local British commanders in two week's time they would manage to muster a sizable fleet and expeditionary to make the Soviets think twice. Furthermore, the British commander argued, the Soviet Union giving a two week deadline was a hint of the Soviet military not being ready for yet another invasion, and British intelligence reported the Red Army was busy occupying Iran and nothing hinted of an invasion, and that wanted peace rather than war. He was wrong. It was all a ruse. The Soviets had prepared for the war before the minor crisis, even before the invasion of Afghanistan. Their units had moved into position in secrecy and already knew exactly what to do. On the 9th of September 06:33 local time, not even 24 hours into the deadline, Bagdad was bombed. The Royal Palace was targeted hoping to decapitate the Iraqi leadership. In the and confusion disarray NKVD commandos and Iraqi communists blew up radio stations, warehouses, mined roads and attacked local government officials. Then a massive bomber fleet followed bombing all major cities, roads and airports while fighter bombers and light bombers attacked moving and stationary Iraqi units. Iraq war covered in flames and smoke.

It's on.

Midnight to the 10th Soviet troops recieved their order to attack. Soviet officers fired flare guns that illuminated the Iraqi defenders and added the shock and fear into their attack as thousands of armored vehicles crossed the borders led on by tons of artillery shells and rockets. Soviet fighter bombers flew right past them and blasted with their autocannons and bombs denying any Iraqi advance - or retreat. The British had two airbases in Iraq and these were labeled as high value targets. The British was given the ultimatum to evacuate their personell within morning or they would be caught in the crossfire. The British were stoic however and stayed their ground. The British commander requested the local British forces were to engage the Soviets head on, stalling their massive assault waiting for a coordinated relief force. But the reply never came. Reports flooded in from British advisors and observers that the Iraqi forces was falling behind on every front, one reported "all I see is fire". Soviet armored forces spearheaded straight past the Iraqi static forces, the tactics they developed in Afghanistan and Iran was being utilized to its fullest in the flat terrains of Iraq. The deadline for the British expired and no answer was recieved. On the horizon Soviet Pe light bombers appeared heading straight toward the British base. The British officer remarked that the Soviet pilot didn't fire, instead he fled lowly toward them and gestured them to evacuate the command post. Then he turned around in an exaggerated motion and destroyed the command post on the ground. If this was a noble gesture or one to prevent escalation is up to debate. Hours later the British recieved their order: Evacuate.

The Iraqis were woefully unprepared for war.

The Iraqis was unprepared for the war, and they were on their own. Their strategy involved holding out long enough for the Allies to meditate a peace or intervene. But they would be left in the same position as Iran and Afghanistan; help never came, they were on their own. This would later be called "the Western Betrayal". The British was afterall not this all powerful and omnipresent Empire. The Iraqi bravely mustered their defenses, but with no airforce or armored force to speak of they were no match for the Soviet onslaught. The war neared its third day and Bagdad was within artillery range being pounded from the air and the ground. All over the front Iraqis mustered brave counterattacks, but were subsequently slaughtered. Only in Basrah and further north on a crossing to the vital Tigris river the Iraqi managed to put up some sort if resistance. However they were resoundly beaten back time and time again on the flat desert terrain. To the north in Kurdistan the Iraqi Army and Kurdish militas (excelling in mountain warfare) envisioned a staliant defense in the mountains, holding off the Soviet thrusts toward Mosul and Bagdad. However the Soviets mastered Deep Operations, or Blitzkrieg as it was called by the westerns, and totally ignored them. Their was no operational value in getting bogged up in fighting some mountain troops, these strongholds would be bypassed. The real value was to end the war.

Soviet tank destroyers create the first ever traffic jam in Iraq.

However the massive assault had its limitations in the mostly feudal country. A Soviet tank commander remarked sarcastic "what hold us up is not enemy fire, but traffic jams created by us" and it was a truth to it. The Soviet invasion force got held up due to logistics and the poor infrastructure in Iraq (which had been mostly been destroyed by the Soviet invasion force), there was only sporadic attacks on the Soviet ground forces. The artillery and air force dealt with the Iraqi army in the distance putting up a barrage fire that denied entry toward the Soviet convoys. However Soviet armor was specifically designed to have great crossroad abilities, especially the new T-44. So why didn't they cross the deserts? They were afraid of mines and unforseen Iraqi threats such as imported British and American tanks. But once the engineers and recce teams found no signs of such things the Soviet armored force spread out and attacked with full speed ahead, quoting Patton "lead me, follow me, or get the helld out of my way".

In mother Russia we're used to not having roads and bridges.

But by the Tigris the Iraqis was putting up a resistance. Local commanders realized, saying local as the Iraqi command structure collapsed there was no command and control efforts to speak of, the Tigris river was a vital crossing point. If it was crossed the fertile crescent would fall. Moreover it would enable the Soviets to hold the Euphrates making it impossible for an Iraqi relief into the crescent and in turn encircle both Bagdad and Basrah. The capital couldn't fall, and neither could Basrah the vital port city and only means for a foreign relief force (the Iraqis still believed the British would arrive in full force to Basrah and Kuwait from India). The local Iraqis put up a harsh resistance. Over a bridge anti-tank guns and recoiless rifles were positioned to strike at the incoming Soviet armor crossing the bridge. But they knew standing up head on to the Soviet tanks would be doom. Instead they waited for the first Soviet recon tanks and T-44s to cross the bridge and into the village. Then they blew up the bridge and attacked the forward elements trapped in the village while mortar strikes and AT weapons fired across the bank. The Soviets suffered casualties. Two T-60s had to be abondoned, but the T-44s held up and fought their way out of the village. Soon the village was leveled by rockets and bombers. And to the shock of the Iraqis they saw Soviet tanks cross the river by sea, while others covered them from the far side of the river with engineers setting up an improvised bridge. "It was then I realized we had lost this war from the very beginning" the Iraqi commander said.

Baghad have fallen.

On the 14th Bagdad itself was reached. The city had for days been bombarded with barrages and from the air. The city was left in ruins, but still the Soviet commanders dreaaded the moment they had to engage in close quarters in the metropolitan. The plan actually detailed for the city to be besieged and forced to surrender. However one daring Soviet armored-recon battalion commander realized this would give the Iraqis an oppurtunity to organize their defense, their entire war plan relied upon a swift victory to give neither the Iraqi nor the Allies a chance to organize and mount a defense. He instead reported that he were to probe the defenses of the city, instead he attacked. He drove all the way to the heart of the city where he came under heavy fire. He reported back and the rest of the Mechanized Corps followed in with their T-34s, T-44s and LT-3s and APCs. They took control of the city center and the King of Iraq, but was under heavy fire. 10 Rifle Divisions rushed into the city center, and after a few hours of fighting the city was put under the control of the Iraqi communists and the local police force. It was a short blitz into the city center with great improvisation. A battle that was expected to cost thousands of lives and last for weeks ended with the loss a handful of Soviets and within a few hours. It was if nothing happened.

Another key strategic point will fall.

Further to the south the Iraqi still held the Tigris river despite several Soviet units managing to cross it. This enabled a cordinated Iraqi retreat toward Basrah and Kuwait, however this would result in severe Soviet bombardment and air raids giving the retreat route the name of "Death's Highway". In Basrah the Iraqi forces were fighting valiantly, but the Soviet pressure was immense. A cavalry engaged in the battle, taking advantage in the holes created by the armored forces and filled the gaps with Soviet infantrists as the normal infantrists couldn't keep up with the armor and keep up the momentum. It was only a matter of time before Basrah would fall and seal the southern theater for ever.

The first Soviet troops to enter took a picture of Mosul before its destruction.

Meanwhile to the north the Soviet forces disregarded the stalwart Iraqi defenses. Instead they drove straight toward Mosul. Unlike the commanders in Bagdad they didn't want a siege of the city, but neither did they want a deadly close quarters battle. Instead on the approaches into Mosul all hel reigned upon the ancient city leaving it to nothing but ruins. Soviet troops and armor assaulted the ruined city from the farside of the river.

And now Mosul fell..

After intense bombardment from air and land the city fell. The Iraqi and Kurdish defenses was decimated and the Soviet armored forces took control of the area. The area was pacified with Iraqi and Kurdish communist support and the Soviet soldiers was only given time to eat before they were again on the move. Having not slept or rested for days they were given "tank candy" to keep them awake and focused as they moved south to secure the crossings of the Euphrates, completely boxing in the remainder of Iraqi army.

And then Basrah, now it is nothing left in Iraq but sand. And oil of course, but that is not that important..

Two days later Basrah fell. The British contigent in Kuwait was put on high alert and even raided into the contested area. If Kuwait fell it would spell disaster for the British. But the Soviets weren't interested in starting a world war over Kuwait. They were quick to start to cross into the Iraqi heartland from the Euphrates with five mechanized corps crossing the river. The battered and weakened Iraqi division was no match for the battle hardened and technologically superior Soviet tanks. Now for the first time they were supported by the Rifle Divisions who hadn't got into battle yet. "Today is a good day to be an infantrists! No more waiting, now we will show what we are made of!" a Division commander told his men as they attacked the Iraqi defenders in full force. The interior of Iraq was to fall, making a substantial operational success for the Red Army as they were no longer hindered by the Euphrates and Tigris. One cavarly division advanced to the north west along the Euphrates river to take on the retreating Iraqi forces along Death's Highway and secure the eastern crossing of the Euphrates, a Rifle Division was tasked with protecting the weakened Mechanized Corps who took Basrah after intense fighting while five fresh mechanized corps would go to the west and encircle the Iraqi Army

Soviet bombardment of Iraqi positions.

The war was coming to an end. Aggressive and highly mobile Soviet armored units spearheaded the assaults and decacipated the Iraqi forces, while the Rifle Divisions mopped up the defenders. The Soviet forces were highly effective and mass Iraqi desertions were commonplace. A Soviet mechanized infantrist wrote, dissapointed, about his experiences in the war. "We sat in the back of the cramped up BTR for days and days. We sat their with our legs and backs aching. We slept in it, we ate in it we even did our things in it. We were supposed to support our armor, but we never got the chance. Only the machine gunner and the driver got some sporadic action. We were always on the move, we couldn't take any stops to rest or camp or whatever, we had to be on the move constantly. Even when the APC or armor stopped we had to sit in the back cramped up to not lose any time. We sat there, literally just sat there, for days without an end. The only time we got out was when one of the men went mental and shouted he had to "get out get out get out". We looked to the horizon and saw a mighty sight taking us all by awe, the entire horizon was covered in smoke and explosions".

The mop up begins.

20:00 local time on the fighting was in reality over. The operational plans was altered to move toward the British border and trap any Iraqi units who were in the crossfire. The secondary objective was to totally pacify Death's Highway. It was in these last fights that the first true Soviet casualties mounted. The infantrists were softer targets the Iraqis actually managed to take on. Meanwhile in their pursuit of total aggression there was no rearguards to speak, no one to protect their flanks and supply lines. Iraqi soldiers and militias who had been bypassed attacked these supply convoys. Yet it was nothing compared to the losses on the Iraqi side.

Iraq fell, not really a shocker.

On the 19th of September the last of the Iraqi forces surrendered to the Red Army, who in turn installed the Assyrian Yusuf Salman Yusuf as the leader of Iraq. Officially democracy was restored to Iraq and British Imperialism was ended. However in reality it had all been replaced by Soviet occupation and imperialism. The Southern Thrust Strategic Operation was a major success. Iraq fell in less than 10 days with minimal Soviet casualties. Meanwhile the Allies were paralyzed unable to take advantage of the situation and stop the Soviets diplomatically or by force. However a Third World War with the Soviet Union was not wanted by most of the public nor politicians and even soldiers in Britain or America, a mere year following the conclusion of the Second World War. The Soviets had proven the superiority of their offensive doctrines and their T-44 and LT tanks, tanks the Allies had nothing to counter with. In many ways these wars can be looked upon as live exercises toward a war against the Allies, and as a show of power and testing Allied commitment toward Soviet containment.

53000 casualties in the invasions, after WW2 50.000 may not seem as high casualties.

During the Southern Thrust Strategic Operation the Soviets suffered around 53.420 casualties, the majority of them being wounded soldiers. Soviet forces proved they mastered the art of war and could take down entire nations in a matter of days with low casualties. Still lest not forget the fates of those poor souls who fell. In Iran, Afghanistan and Iraq local governments was installed and tasked with running the day to day governance under Soviet "guidance and protection". The decorated heroes, generals and marshals of the invasion returned home to the USSR being welcomed by a parade. It was as if the brutal Soviet invasions to secure their strategic goals and oil supply was over. But while the western world was shocked by such a display of force and paralyzed, and the communist world cheered the return of the heroes the Soviet armies in the Ukraine and in the Middle East turned their eyes. Their gaze was set on the Bosphorous and the Dardanelles...

Soviet soldier inspecting Death's Highway.


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After these rather intense invasions the focus will go a little back toward the Post War settlement of China, and then we'll move forward again looking at 1944.

Now I wonder, are the Allies in the right to avoid war by letting the USSR having a field day?

 

[ThaHoward]

Post War: Domesticating the Tiger.

Spoiler: Music.

Mao is said to get a total makeover on the 8th of March.

China entered the war with Japan fractured, but in their common struggle they founded a United Front against Japan. However due to Japanese military advances and aggressive politics, combined with help from neither the Comintern nor the Allies, the United Front soon fell to Japan occupation. As China was reorganized into Japanese needs and would fight on the side of their former adversary during the world war, Chinese communists fled to the USSR while democrats fled to the western powers. The former KMT fell to insignificance as they failed to safeguard the middle kingdom from the Rising Sun, and foreign powers wanted to bet on the safe horse. However when Trotsky and his supporters took control over the USSR in '38, the Stalin loyal Mao too were pushed aside. When the CCP returned and took control of large swaths of China, aided by Soviet and French occupation troops, Mao was kept as the official head of state due to his popularity, however the real leadership of the new People's Republic was in the hands of Moscow loyal agents..

Chen as with Trotsky being exiled, and they became close buds.

The change of power can be traced back to the exile of Trotsky and Chen Duxiu. Chen was one of the founders of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and was a central part in the revolution that overthrew the Qing dynasty and the later democratization of China. Later on he was one of the key figures in establishing the CCP, however this was not to last. Following the rise of Stalin, and the purges, a new line was established in both the USSR and in Communist China. Stalin attacked the former Leninist leadership in the USSR and Mao supported this new Stalinist line. Chen who was opposed to the Stalinist line and openly opposed to Mao was soon pushed out of the party leadership and was soon forced to exile following the Long March. It was in this exile he formed close bonds with Trotsky and joined the International Opposition against Stalin and in Chen's case Stalin. Then in '38 an awakward situation was created as Mao was exiled to Moscow due to the Japanese occupation of China, and Chen was welcomed to Moscow by his partner Trotsky. Mao fearing for his life fell into the line of Chen and Trotsky, however his life was only saved by the grace of his popularity among the Chinese Red Army and the peasantry. Chen was groomed as being the new leader of Communist China, however he was to succumb to sickness in 1942 a single year before the sun set over Japan.

Mao and Ming appereantly being close friends.

Mao's position appeared to be secure at first glance, however there was another contender to the throne. Wang Ming. Ming was through the 30s a senior figure within the CCP and he, as with Chen, opposed Mao's new line and criticized him for deviating from Orthodox Marxist thinking. With the return of Trotsky this power struggle can be seen in the contex of a wider struggle. A struggle between Trotskyism and Stalinism, between the USSR, through the Fourth International, and the CCP. Naturally Ming fell under the wings of both Trotsky and Chen who needed an established figure in opposition to Mao. With the death of Chen and the defeat of Japan Ming's position was mostly secured in the CCP and China at large. Mao was reduced to a mere figurehead, whereas the followers of Chen and Ming was given key positions in the party leadership and the new government. Ming was promoted to the head of government, the party and effectively the de-facto leader of the PRC. Under his leadership the new Maoist doctrine was largely discarded, instead Marxist Orthodoxy became the official state religion so to speak. In practice this meant that the newly founded People's Republic of China (also known as Chinese Soviet Republic) was put under Soviet leadership and largely depended upon Soviet economic aid and direction. This bond would only be further cemented with the return of the Soviet advisors..

The influential foreign advisors to China and the Soviet trained 28 Bolsheviks.

Foreign advisors was determinal during the early days of the Communist Controlled China. Among them were the German Otto Braun (crazy smile) and the Soviet advisors of Pavel Mif (crazy hair) and Grigory Voitinsky. However they quickly fell out of grace with the CCP as their advise was.. poor resulting in the deaths of thousands of Communist soldiers and the near extinction of the Chinese Red Army, resulting the Long March. This in turn led to the popularity of Mao who was seen as their saviour, while the foreign advisors and the Soviet trained 28 Bolsheviks (where Ming was their unofficial leader) was seen as damaging to the communist cause. This led to the exile of foreign advisors, and upon their return to the USSR Stalin's paranoia increased. Some were seen as foreign agents, while others were seen as Trotskyist agents. In short this shifted these advisors to the left toward Trotsky, and upon his return the position of Ming and the 28 Bolsheviks was strengthened, which again led to the strengthening of the foreign advisors. When most of China fell to the communists these advisors, among others, were made into full fledging political commissars and they were given the task to oversee China transforming into a true socialist society. During the Congress of the Internationale it was decided the CCP was to cede its authority to these commissars. In effect the PRC was reduced to a Soviet puppet state.

We can't allow anyone to challenge our take on socialism.

However all of China wasn't under the control of the communist. In southern and central China an alternative was set up: the social democrat Zhang Lan. Following the liberation from Japan he managed to unite moderate socialists, communists and democrats in a grand coalition. This coalition would in turn be aided by the US and Japan to purge of radical elements and invite exiled leftist KMT elements. A process of democratization was started with the support of the US and Japan (who was now democratic). However the US was still skeptical to this new Republic of China due to their communist and socialist leanings. However the Republic of China became a real counterweight toward the People's Republic of China and would go on with their vision of socialism. They embarked upon creating a welfare state and to transform the economy into a "Socialist Market Economy", mostly being based upon agricultural cooperatives. However the PRC and USSR saw a grave threat in this Republic and started to inflitrate the Chinese Democratic League. Many hardliners in the USSR and PRC (such as Mao) egged on to a war with South China. However South China was under the protection of Japan, and a war with Japan would drag USA into the war. Reunification of China through violent means was discarded as official policy during the Congress as it was decided that communist revolutions in Europe, and not Asia, was to be the main objective for the Internationale. However China was still a powderkeg read to explode, with both blocs having vested interests to secure the massive nations for themself..

Remnants of the Warlord Era, at least they got their independence secured.

To the farthest south of China, neither Communists nor Democrats managed to secure their position. This was mostly due to the Republic of China laying claims to Yunnan and Guangxi. The USSR knew their influence only reached so far, instead they supported these two former warlords to remain independent from the Republic of China, and instead rely upon Japan. This would in turn weaken South China and cause national uproar as it was seen as an extension of the Japanese occupation. Border conflicts soon erupted in Guangxi between the now Independent Guangxi Republic, Republic of China and the People's Republic China. The United States of America sent a peace keeping force to occupy most of the resource rich Guangxi - and to contain communism. This of course led to many Chinese seeing the Americans as foreign occupiers and led to greater sympathies with the PRC who was seen as the only state capable of ending US occupation. China could at any moment fall into a conflict between the landlocked South China and North China with its claim on the resource rich coast. If either side invaded the other, there was a real risk of open conflict between the USA and USSR over Chinese primacy.*

Korea is also split with each of the halves backed by a superpower.

However the conflict between East and West was not limited to China. As in China, Korea was split between a communist north and a US backed south. During the Paris Treaties it was agreed upon by the US and the USSR that the Korean Peninsula was to be split between two occupation zones on the 38th parallel. The south was kept under American occupation, however the north was given nominal independence by the USSR. But Kim Il-Sung, a mythical figure, refused to abide by the requirments of the Internationale. Alltough they would join into a military alliance with the USSR, they refused to abide by the terms of the Congress. According to Kim and the North Koreans, Korean unification was up to the Koreans and not the Soviets nor the Americans. This spoke to the hearts of the South Koreans who hoped for national liberation, but also to hardline Chinese and Soviets who hoped for North Korea to invade South Korea, and potentially spread communism to all of Asia. Volunteers in the thousands from the USSR and PRC streamed toward Korea who was backed up by Soviet arms. They hoped this Korean Wildcard would be the spark to a war of liberation in the Far East.**

Korean soldiers rehearsing with Soviet weapons on an invasion of the south.
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*Okay so Republic of China and the warlords are Dominions of Japan, and USA annexed some parts of Guangxi. Exciting and confusing times.

**Korea was released as communists. I do not know if another nation did it or if it is scripted. Anyway it is kina cool as I forgot about Korea and wanted to make a north and south Korea. And as USA now annexed south Korea and north Korea being communist, the situation is actually the same as it was in our timeline. So that is fascinating. Manchuria still have a one province state as you can see.. in universe it is a part of the PRC.

Okay so this is the last of the - planned - post war updates. It was just to give a little glimpse into the Chinese situation and to explain why China was made a puppet of the USSR, which will likely not result in a Sino-Soviet split as we saw in our timeline, mostly because Mao is under the control of Moscow loyal communists and foreign political commissars. Next update should be regarding the rest of 1944.

Now if you want a more lengthy explanation of how the communists came to power, I'll be a party booper and just say that the Red Army managed to gain control over these areas and not the other areas as in Korea. The update was more to outline the weird Chinese situation and why the PRC are so loyal to the USSR and won't start a civil war on its own. (And speculations for Waking the Tiger: Wang Ming being Orthodox Marxist path (the path taken by the PRC here), Mao the Maoist path (duh) and Zhang Lan being social democracy).The specific details I leave up to the reader

 

[ThaHoward]

Chapter 36: Crisis.

Spoiler: Music.

The Red Army will liberate the world..

Fall of 1944. Trotsky was at the apex of his power. Despite his initial shaky ground his feet was firmly planted within society and he held the party in a tight grip. None dared to challenge the supposedly all-mighty leader of the arguably most powerful nation on earth, perhaps in history. Trotsky was the man who'd saved Russia from total collapse and he was one of the original revolutionaries. Now he'd enabled the fires of revolution to spread across the entire European continent and through most of Asia. He became some sort of living mythical person, beloved by the people for liberating them and restoring Russia's greatness - a country that had a few years earlier been considered backwards and was remembered only for its humiliations. Now after taking down the Axis he was seen as a greater hero, a larger than life person, as he openly challenged the old great powers and in turn humiliated them. The people would follow Trotsky. With his position more secure than ever he laid out the foundation of further democratization (on his terms of course) of society and economic reforms. His first action was to announce he would start a program to rehabilitate and release those who'd been imprisoned under Stalin - granted they accepted the official party line, after an extensive course of re-schooling and that they were revolutionaries of the socialist persuasion. However for the ordinary worker their greatest "gift" as Trotsky called it, a gift to celebrate the victories in the middle east, was the re-introduction of the 8 hour and vacation to all workers. For future economic and political reforms, Trotsky simply told his respective ministers: Do it. They were to come up with reforms that pleased Trotsky (and the looming Soviet figures who coveted Trotsky's position) and the people. Failure was simply put not an option.

A good way to celebrate peace is to create more guns.

Moving onwards. Instead of lasting peace the Second World War would only bring about greater tension and an arm race. Like the Great War it failed to be "the war to end all wars". Instead it only enabled further wars of direct continuation. Further advances was made in artillery technology, specifically AT and AA guns. Among the anti-tank guns the Soviet employed the 45mm M42 and the 57mm ZiS-2. The M42 was well used, but proved to not be effective against Panthers and Tigers, it was however projected it could knock out or disrupt lighter Allied armor, however it was simply not enough. The anti-tank rounds was upgraded to penetrate thicker armor. However it was the ZiS-2 gun that would be the prime tank killer. It's shells was highly effective managing to penetrate up to 90mm of armor and with a semi-automatic function it could fire as many as 25 rounds per minute. With the new and improved AT rounds its features would become even deadlier, and caputred American and British tanks from the Southern Thrust proved it could penetrate any of the Allied tanks.

On top of that the many Soviet AA-guns also got upgrades. The various ligth AA guns (25mm, 37mm and 45mm, mostly effective to disrupt modern air forces and surpressing infantry and light armor) and the heavier guns (76mm and 85mm, in addition to creating a formidable flak defense being excellent tank killers) was given new radar systems to better track and predict enemy airforces. Their barrels and munitions was also given upgrades to substain their fire with greater proficiency and do more damage.

Who do these Turks think they are holding us locked up in the Black Sea?

September was coming to an end and despite the Southern Thrust Strategic Operation coming to a close the day before, Trotsky ordered his military to prepare for a war with Turkey. This war had been brewing for a while in what was known as the "Strait Crisis". The gateway between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean was of significant importance, both to control trade and to detirmine who could enter and leave the two seas. The Soviets recognized that Turkey allowed British and American vessels to access these straits (violating treaties)* endagering the Soviet powerbase around the Black Sea. And during WW2 the increasingly nationalist Turkey allowed Axis naval forces to access the Black Sea, but the Red Fleet was confined to Sevastopol. Moreover in a potential war against the Allies the Mediterranean approach to the Black Sea and the Balkans needed to be controlled. This was simply put a matter of national security. Meanwhile the British, naturally, feared that if the Soviets gained control of these straits it would endanger not only Greece, but their hold on the Mediterranean and a two sprung attack on the vital Suez Canal; one from the straits and one from Iraq. The Soviets regularly sat down with American officials (the fact that the British was left out signified their lessened importance, and the exclusion of Turkey that it was a play between two superpowers) to solve the issue peacefully as the Turkish refused to allow Soviet military vessels to have access, while allowing non-Black Sea vessels to enter the Black Sea without the Soviets having a say in it. Their position was that they should be allowed to cooperate with the Turkish on who was to enter the Black Sea and to let their vessels flow through. Then the situation escalated further as the battleship of USS Missouri (the feared Mighty Mo) was allowed to pass through. The official US explanation was that it was simply delivering the mortuary urn of the late Turkish Ambassador home. However the Soviets brushed off these claims saying it was blatant American provocation and show of force, and further Turkish violation of the 1936 treaties. The situation escalated and negotiations between the USA and USSR broke down.

They're a step up at least.

The Soviet armored force was slowly being mechanized as the infantrists in the heavy and medium armored brigades was becoming fully mechanized. Furthermore all the Mechanized Corps was now solely outfitted with T-34s and T-44s.** This greatly increased the strenght and mobility of the Red Army, however the aging BTR M1941 and BA-30s needed to be upgraded for better speed, mobility and protection. The solution was the BTR M1943. Based upon the US M-42 halftrack and German halftracks it would come in two versions, one with a standard machine gun and another one with an AT-gun, giving it the ability to take a much more aggressive stance in armored operations. The underlying idea was to continue on the work during the Southern Thrust and let the APCs conduct offensive operations and assisst the tanks rather than just being a mediumof transportation.

We'll give you a show of force!

The Crisis escalated further. The 7th of October the Soviets presented a note to the Turkish Foreign Ministry which expressed that the way Turkey was handling the straits no longer represented the security interests of its fellow Black Sea nations. It concluded that the regime of the straits was no longer reliable and demanded that the Montreux Treaty be re-examined and rewritten in a new international conference, or the USSR would be forced to take action. The Red Fleet increased its naval presence in the Black Sea, having Soviet vessels perform maneuvers near Turkish shores. The ground troops taking part in the Southern Thrust was dispatched to the eastern Soviet-Turkish border, while the communist nations of the Balkans was putting their forces on high alert. The United States responded by sending a naval task force toward the Mediterranean and reinforce the British fleet there. Despite the US and British having qualms about the situation, they refused to reaffirm their support to Turkey, claiming it to be an internal matter between the USSR and Turkey. Part of this can be explained by that Roosevelt was in the middle of an election, being too hard on the Soviets now could lose him votes, being too soft could cost him votes aswell. Still the US Secretary of State sent a telegram to his British counterpart saying "In our opinion the primary objective of the Soviet Union is to obtain control over Turkey. We believe that if the Soviet Union succeeds in introducing into Turkey armed forces with the ostensible purpose of enforcing the joint control of the Straits, the Soviet Union will use these forces in order to obtain control over Turkey…. In our opinion, therefore, the time has come when we must decide that we shall resist with all means at our disposal any Soviet aggression and in particular, because the case of Turkey would be so clear, any Soviet aggression against Turkey. In carrying this policy our words and acts will only carry conviction to the Soviet Union if they are formulated against the background of an inner conviction and determination on our part that we cannot permit Turkey to become the object of Soviet aggression."

These new bathtub toys will help us run through the straits.

The expansion of the Red Fleet was well underway. First of the Kronstadt Battlecruisers was finished and sent off to the Black Sea, and only one of the dreaded Superheavy Battleships remained. This new and improved Red Fleet would be a modern fleet, however it would still lag behind the British and Americans in numbers and quality. Despite this it was amply used in Soviet propaganda as a way to prove the Soviet position as a superpower and it, as the Soviet media was unchallenged, portrayed it as the most powerful navy on the globe, ready to take on the decadent Royal Navy who enforced imperialist oppression across the world.

Pew pew.

In October of 1944 the direction of the rocket and diversity programs was concluded. Sergei Kurolev was to focus on rockets to improve the Katyusha rocket systems, rather than far fetched (as it was seen as by then) programs to create cruise missiles and ballistic missiles.

Again this is just for scientific and peaceful reasons!

With the first Soviet nuclear reactor in Moscow now being capable of enriching uranium, three new sites was ordered. They were to be codenamed Arzamas-16, Sverdlovsk-44 and Chelyabinsk-40. Mostly located in the desolate areas to the east of the Urals the Arzamas-16 would be tasked with atomic weapon research and design and warhead assembly, Sverdlovsk-44 would enrich uranium and Chelyabinsk-40 would prouce plutonium and produce components. This was of course all very hush hush and was located in closed Atomgrads, none were to enter or leave. The Belgians also proved determinal to all of this as they held vast uranium deposits in Congo, and talks was held that Belgian could run a paralell program with the Soviets, German scientists also flocked to these Atomgrads giving their expertise as they had developed nuclear reactors of their own. Still the road to a nuclear weapon was far into the future, all the Soviets could hope for was that the US hadn't acquired a weapon of mass destruction on their own..

Turkey are clearly the ones preparing for war... The Soviet Union have no record of toppling and invading neighbouring countries..

Then the crisis evolved further. Soviet manuevers grew bolder. The Soviet Airforce amassed and flew onward to Turkey daily and nightly. As Trotsky toured Georgia and Armenia to personally rouse his men in case of a war, a Soviet submarine was caught trying to get past the straits. It was revealed it malfunctioned and had to resurface. Turkish coastguard rushed toward the immobilized submarine, but the submarine hailed them three times ordering them to turn around. But the coast guard didn't listen. With its mounted cannon it fired three warning shots. Two of them went above them, but the third went straight through the pipe of one of the Turkish vessels. The message was clear: back off. The Turkish vessels stopped, but refused to turn around. They demanded the submarine to surrender, but the crew turned it down. Instead a large contigent of Soviet fighter-bombers and naval bombers circled around them until they ran out of fuel, then another contigent would replace them and then those who refueled would turn around. It was an impressive sight. The Soviets upped up their naval manuevers and overtly violated Turkish naval borders, with bombers even heading straight toward known Turkish naval bases, dropping leaflets encouraging their desertion and a social revolution.

Then on the night to the 9th the Kronstadt battlecruiser was followed by 8 destroyers. Led on by fighters and bombers (who paved the way with close warning shots) they openly ran into the straits and dispersed the Turkish coastal guard. The destroyers secured the submarine, however the commander of the Kronstandt was ballsy. He went on into the Aegan Sea and stood face to face with the lead American battleship there. Both warships lined to take up shots, both firing warning shots. The American admiral wrote in his diary "there I was, staring down my opponent. Both of us having the power to start a third world war or keep the fragile peace". Then two Soviet fighters dropped down from the cloud breaking the awkward silence. But they maintained radio silence and was on an attack course, but they broke away without firing a single shot. Meanwhile Kronstadt had turned around in the cover of the mist and the fighters and returned to the Black Sea. It was a close call, but mostly a show of force. The Soviet Union was not afraid to project its power. The next day Trotsky heared about the incident and rattled his troops. The truth was twisted a litte, and it was said the Kronstadt turned around the American battlefleet when it was to enter the Black Sea, and the immobilized submarine was said to be attacked by the Turks. Trotsky gave his soldiers a clear message: The Americans and the Turkish are out to get us.

A later dramatiation of the assassination.

The increasingly nationalist, bordering fascist, population of Turkey was fed up with the Soviet aggression. Words came out that during his visit to Armenia, Trotsky was assassinated by a Turkmen. Emboldened by the assassination of the devil himself a holy war was declared on the Soviet Union. For their oppression of muslims in their own borders and their crusades in Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq and soon to be Turkey. It was confusing, the Soviet Union was labeled both as Christian Crusaders and militant Atheists. Inside the USSR several radical and dissatisfied people in Turkestan attacked the Soviet authorities there, in a strange move the Cossacks who felt threatened by the Soviets also rose up and demanded their autonomy. In Turkey the people took to the streets and attacked the consultates and embassy of the USSR, demonstrations turned into violence, and the Soviet ambassador and NKVD liason was assassinated. Despite the Turkish government putting own the rebellion, the damage was done. It turned out Trotsky survived the assassination attempt, the assailant tried to end him with an ice-pick (as Stalin ended his days) but failed as an officer shot him with ten shots. The NKVD quickly concluded the assassin was employed by the Turkish and claimed they had the evidence to back it up.

They won't see us sneaking in behind..

There was now little hope for peaceful resolution to the Strait Crisis. USA tried to intervene and meditate a peace, however they lost their influence as Congress blocked any attempts for a US intervention, and the public turned against the Turkish following the acts of terror in Turkey and the USSR. The Soviet plan was simple. They counted on the Turkish seeing the massive Soviet buildup to the east. Despite the major ground force assembling, the mountains of Turkey was in favor of the defender. Meanwhile to the west Turkey was protected by the neutral nation of Bulgaria and the Allied nation of Greece. Simply put an invasion had to come from the east and the Turkish counted on the British and American fleets coming to their aid. However the Soviets devised a plan of their own. Let the Turkish hold these perceptions and navally invady from the Ukraine and pacifiy the straits before the British or Americans have a chance to intervene. A war against the USSR in Turkey would be hopeless if the Soviets quickly took control of the straits, and that would lead to a swift backdoor conquest of Turkey. The plans was set into motion, a massive invasion from east. But it was a deception for the real attack in the south. It would also be a hallmark for the Soviets as it would be their first independent large scale naval invasion.

The (U)SSRs are getting a tad greedy aren't they?

The Strait Crisis was made only worse with Armenian and Georgian demands of an integration of their claimed territories. It was claimed these areas was stolen from them, however the leadership of the USSR never offically supported or debuffed these claims. It gave them yet another casus belli and turn the public against Turkey. Reports, both fabricated and half-truths, poured in claiming Turkish aggression against Armenian, Georgian and Orthodox minorities in eastern Anatolia. This actually led to some sympathies outside of the USSR. The Armenian and Georgian SSRs claimed they wanted to protect their fellow brothers and sisters and restore order to the region.

This got nothing to do with the current situation, we want peace.

For the impending war the aging tank destroyer and assault gun arsenal of the Red Army was improved. Moreoever the AA batteries was modernized further with even newer radards and target systems, as well as auto-loading mechanisms for the heavy AA guns. The Red Army was no longer the outdated and undersupplied force they had been when they entered the war, they were now a top modern force to be reckoned with.

The American election was polarized, and its effects will be felt by the entire world.

All the while the USA was in the middle of an election. For the Republicans General MacArthur was elected as the Republican candidate. He was seen by many as the conservative choice, and his military status made many believe he was the right man for the job. The right man to contain communism and safeguard America. His runningmate was the more moderate New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey. The Democrats re-ran Roosevelt and Truman, which created much controversy as no President had ever been seated for three terms, following in the traditions of Washington. Now he was running for a fourth term! Roosevelt and Truman came initally out strongly, saying only they could provide lasting peace and security. Moreoever the liberal Democratic and progressive Republican Fair Deal program was well recieved. However with the early death of Wendell Wilkie the Fair Deal coalition fell apart, and as the situation on the world stage worsened, the focus moved away from providing education, jobs and healthcare to all and to extend a hardline over the Red Menace to keep it in check. The Fair Deal program was blocked and had to be watered down in the election. The coming results was expected to be very narrow between Roosevelt and MacArthur and the American society was becoming more polarized. This only worsened when the American economy started to hit a wall following their loss of potential oil supplies and their complete removal from European markets and Trotskyists elements seized power in the many socialist parties in America. They weren't expected to gain a fair share of the popular vote, but they were nevertheless organized and ready to spread chaos in the election and polarized society, of course they were funded by the Soviets and NKVD.

Soviet soldiers cross into Turkey from Armenia, perhaps for a vacation...

But the election of USA wasn't center stage for the world. Alleged Turkish fascist militias attacked Soviet border patrols. The Soviets claimed these attacks was ordered by the Turkish central government, and demanded that Turkey was to restore order and give up the straits in a joint Soviet-Turkish controlled zone. They were given a 24 hour deadline. No answer was given, and so on 8:00 local time the Soviet troops invaded Turkey. The Straits Crisis evolved into open conflict.
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*Turkey give the Allies military access, at least during the war, that is also from a game perspective dangerous.

**I'll provide a full Soviet OOB later on. But the Mechanized Corps (main armored division) do now have 6 medium tank batallions and four motorised batallions. The medium and heavy armored brigades are now outfitted with two mechanized infantry batallions eached, and are slowly becoming solely medium and heavy armored.

So hopefully my efforts to explain why the war happened make sense. And the election in USA is around the corner, it would be cool if we can see MacArthur and his pipe instead of Roosevel.

 

[ThaHoward]

Chapter 37: Euthanize the Sick Man.

Spoiler: Music

One for each side

The president of Turkey.

Mustafa İsmet İnönü was the President of Turkey. And he refused to give in to the Soviets. He proclaimed that the Straits were sovereign Turkish territory and the Soviets had to abide by international laws and appealed in the UN to stop the Soviet aggression. He topped by saying Trotsky's claims in eastern Turkey was nothing but pure imperalism remiscent of Hitlerism. He demanded the nations of the world to respect international law and protect weaker nations against aggression from great powers. The Americans and British, and the liberal democracies, no doubt sympathised with Turkey. Moreover it was a nation with a strategic location, it was Turkey who was the gatekeeper containing the Soviet Black Sea Fleet and posing a threat to the Caucasian and Romanian oil-fields. Allied military attachés was sent to Ankara to help the Turkish prepare for a war. Vague promises was also made that if Turkey held out for a prolonged time, wearing the Soviets slowly out to the east while holding the Straits open they would intervene. The Allied intervention plan was simple: put in security forces in western Turkey and proclaim it as a no-go zone for the USSR and send in their navies to crush all foreign war vessels who were not confined to their homeports and waters. Then they would negotiate for peace, with the USSR being in the delicate position of having the majority of their army locked up in the Turkish mountains. However it all depended upon the Straits being open for the Allies to intervene in the first place..

One of the few times where the sea not being red is good.

The crisis turned to war was a major hallmark for the Red Fleet. For the first time they were expected to conduct large scale offensive operations of their own. The eastern Mediterranean saw a major Soviet naval presence. The hawks among the American and British governments said that this major naval presence was a chance they should not give up on. The Royal and US Navy had to strike and trap the Red Fleet closing the Suez Canal and Strait of Gibraltar. However the doves won out and the Allied fleets was ordered to anchor up in Gibraltar, Malta, Crete and Cyprus. Still paranoia could be felt at every turn and the Allies waited for a turn to intervene. The Soviet Navy on the otherhand focused on boxing in the Turkish Navy and the straits and to disrupt Turkish trade and potential seaborne reinforcements. The Mediterranean naval presence was proected to be dominant in the Soviet favor, however the Black Sea was predicted to be the battleground. It was here the Black Sea Fleet would prove its worth, to fight its way out of the Straits and claim the title as a Mediterranean Fleet, or if it would be laid to rest at the bottom of the seas.

Soviet Russia master both the sea and air.

But the seas was quiet. The Turkish Fleet was ordered to be in being and only occasionally harass their adversary and strike when an opportunity presented itself. But where the first hours at the high seas were anti-climatic, the war in the air was nothing but that. As per Soviet air doctrine there wasn't to be any air supremacy for the sake of air supremacy. The first air offensive came as a shock and in quick bursts, only supporting their advancing forces 10km into enemy terrain. However as with the wars in Southern Thrust new doctrines was tested, and especially the western variants. Strategic bombing had often been neglected in the Soviet Air Force for the simple reason that "the bombs don't hit their target", instead tactical bombing was favored. However now heavy bombers stroke as deep as Ankara and Istanbul. The once vibrant cities was left as ghost cities as its inhabitants fled their homes and were confined to their basements. Moreover there started be a constant presence of Soviet fighters in the air from the first hour, depriving the Turkish Air Force of any chance to take to the skies and severly hindering their supply routes. This was deemed necessary by Soviet High Command. The Chief of the Air Force reasoned that in a war with British and Americans, who both had major and veteran air forces, the tactics thast was employed against the Germans and Japanese on vast territories couldn't be employed in a concentrated attack on the Allied footholds in Europe. As with the Navy Southern Thrust and now especially the war with Turkey would be a major hallmark, and a testing ground for a war against the Allies.

Not a dream start..

14:00, local time. After 6 hours of intense bombing the Soviets crossed their common borders. In the mountain passes near Armenia and Georgia the first Soviet recon units found themselves in fierce fighting. They were expected to simply walse in, as during Southern Thrust to find an enemy on complete disarray and on the run. Instead they found a well entrenched enemy, composed of no less than 22 infantry divisions, 2 mountain cavarly divisions and 3 highly specialized mountain divisions. The recon units was rapidly pinned down by the Turkish strongpoints, and their light tanks and armored vehicles was no match for the anti-tank weapons the Turkish held was either German and Italian imports, and more lately during the Soviet aggressive stance in the region British and American anti-tank weapons. It dawned upon the Soviet invaders that this would not be a war as the Southern Thrust. The tanks was grinded to a halt and the air force and infantrists alike had difficulties taking the fortified areas. What was meant to be a rapid assault turned into a static war, with the Trotsky tanks (LT-2s and LT-3s) instead of being used as mobile platforms such as the T-44s, T-34s and T-60s were instead dug down with only their turrets being exposed. From there they would provide fire support with their massive 122mm turrets. This was a nightmarish situation for the Soviet High Command, a prolonged war would be shown as a weakness and encourage the Allies to intervene.

Roosevelt won the election.. no awesome pipe president then.

The US election of 1944 was especially close. It was Roosevelt vs. MacArthur. Many saw it as New Deal style Liberalism (or "socialism" by many) vs. American Conservatism. MacArthur made a strong opening swaying voters left and right to his side. For his popular and moderate New Yorker Republican running mate, but most decisively for his popularity as the General that defeated the Japanese. He was portrayed as the right man for the job, to defend America and the world at whole against Socialism. This was the main argument from MacArthur's campaign, America needed a strong character to put them up against the wicked Trotsky and his henchmen. However Roosevelt managed to sway voters to his side by saying that in fact it was he who was at the helm during the war against the Axis, moreover he went back on his promises of the Fair Deal and instead opted to finalize the New Deal, and allocate funds that would have gone to the Fair Deal to instead focus on the Armed Forces. This swayed a lot of conservative and anti-soviet voters, but he lost the support of many in the Steel Belt who had been promised new labor rights. But it was ironically the Soviet aggressive stance in Turkey that sealed the deal. MacArthur had already monopolized on being the anti-soviet candidate even going so far to say that if he were elected President he would order a UN intervention (bypassing France and the USSR) in Turkey and the Middle East. Roosevelt and Truman gambled and said they were to use diplomatic and not military means to solve the crisis, merely to put up another alternative. In the end diplomacy won as when it became clear the USSR had no intention of peace. Many Americans got cold feet at the prospects of another World War, many having served in the Second World War or having lost dear ones, and voted for Roosevelt. However it was a close race. Roosevelt attained 52.2% of the votes and MacArthur 47.1% of the votes. The election was also majorly polarizing and shifted both the Democratic and Republican Party to a more hawkish stance. The few Red Guards and Internationale inspired unions in the Steel Belt announced that if Roosevelt's Fair Deal program was not pursued and the "Anti-Proletarian foreign policy" was not abandoned the industrial powerhouse of the United States of America would be crippled, in the name of international solidarity.

Perhaps the Turkish like mountain retreats better than city life?

8th of November, 1600 local time. There was chaos. It was panic. The unlikely scenario had just happened: A Soviet amphibious assault right into the Bosphorous and the ancient metropolis of Istanbul, the former seat of power for empires. Now the old Russian dream had finally been fulfilled; conquest of Constantinople. Two Rifle Divisions invaded the flanks of Istanbul quickly pacifying the area and taking the defenders with ease. The 131st Motorized Rifle Division was tasked with taking on Istabul directly. And they succeeded. The Soviet soldiers was appereantly baffled themselves: "We heard stories of the assaults in the Pacific and Japan. We expected the worst, we expected a wall of death once the ramps went down. But instead we faced sporadic fighting. The worst fighting was when we entered the city itself to take control, and that from the civilians themself. It was a good day to be a soldier". With minimal casualties the three divisions fanned out to secure their foothold for the rest of the Front. The 100th Rifle Division would strike to the south, securing the local airbase and the Dardanelles, while the 23rd RD and the 131st Mot. RD would advance to the east, taking on Ankara.*

Soviet soldiers hiding in the forests of Ukraine.

But how was this possible? How could the Soviets invade the Straits with such ease? Deception. The Soviet military excelled in deception. In a cunning move they allowed Allied and Turkish signal stations and reconnaissance planes to reveal the planned Soviet invasion force, even leaking parts of the invasion plan to them. However it was a ruse. The plans detailed an invasion from Armenia and Georgia, and an invasion into the Straits itself was not preffered due to the poor state of the Black Sea Fleet and out of fear of the Allies intervenening from such a proposal. Moreover this deception led the Turkish and Allies to believe that there wasn't a force build up in Ukraine and Crimea to cross the Black Sea and into Turkey. The Soviet air movements backed this up, true Istanbul was under strategic bombing, bu the majority of the Soviet tactical and strategic bombing took place to the east, and not along the Straits. But it was all a sham. The real Soviet intention was quickly showed off, the attack in the east was merely to bind up the forces there and lay the Straits vulnerable for an all out assault. This was a crippling blow to the Turkish war effort.

A glorious first true test of the Black Sea Fleet.

Alarmed by recent turn of events the Turkish turned to their Allies. However their pleas for intervention was met with nothing but silence. Perhaps the Allies realized with the Straits lost the war was in effect lost. With the Straits under Soviet control the war was essentially over and the Allies didn't want another Gallipoli, nor attack a Soviet stronghold. The Allied fleets remained in being, the West had again left the Middle East to their own fate. It was then a Turkish strikeforce was sent out to scout the area and sink any Soviet ships in the region, an attempt to end the Soviet Naval Supremacy and prevent further Soviet reinforcements. During the night of the 9th the Turkish fleet got reports of 4 Romanian destroyers escorting Soviet convoys. This was almost certainly either Soviet reinforcements or supplies. With a total of 17 warships, backed up by several submarines and led on by the former German Battlecruiser "Yavuz" the Turkish navy was intent on going for a hunt. But before they reached their target Soviet bombers dropped in from from the clouds and filled the sea with torpedos. The Turkish battlefleet managed to evade these torpedos, except for one light cruiser. This proved to be fatal. In the chaos the lead battlecruiser ordered a retreat, but they soon realized their mistake. The Battlecruiser drew on the Soviet submarine fleet that was reported. In its place another light cruiser and several destroyers departed in the guise of the clouds, take a long turn around and resuce the immobilized light cruiser. Meanwhile Yavuz was hotly pursued by Soviet submarines and naval bombers. The subs tried to penetrate its escorts, but failed as the destroyers blocked their path with depth charges along with filling the skies shrapnel to prevent navl bombardment. This suceeded as three Soviet submarines was sunk. However it was too successfull. The hunt for the Battlecruiser was called off, instead reports ticked in of a Turkish squadron moving toward the light cruiser. What followed was a carnage. The submarine fired their torpedos taking out several destroyers before surfacing and firing their cannons on them. A total of 9 Turkish destroyers were sunk along with the light cruiser to the rescue at the cost of further 3 Soviet subs. After the massacre at seas the crew of the last light crusier, the first to be taken out, a Soviet destroyer was dispatched to destroy it. Once the destroyer lit up a squadron of Turkish submarines ambushed the lone destroyer and sunk it. The Soviets won the battle, the Yavuz strike force was forced back to its homeport, losing 9 destroyers and 2 light cruisers in the process, however at the cost of 6 submarines and 1 destroyer.

Battles in the mountains.

Massacres by the sea was followed by a prolonged massacre in the mountains. Despite their defeats in the west and the Black Sea the Turkish held their position. Under constant and heavy bombardment from Soviet artillery, close air support and interdiction they were true to their common purpose, to contain Soviet aggression. However the sheer Soviet supremacy was taking its toll. But the most important factor was the Turkish command was divided upon their course of action. Were they to stay in place and contain the eastern aggression, or retreat away fro the favorable position to reinforce their heartland?

With this the Black Sea Fleet will become the Mediterranean Fleet.

The days passed by in the snowy mountains of Turkey, and the soldiers on both sides fell in the thousands. But in the Black Sea the last naval battle took place. This time around it was the Soviet and Romanian fleets who were on the offensive. Recon elements reported the Yavuz was spoted. The Soviets led the attack with Sovyetskiy Ukraina at the helm. It was this battleship that opened up with their cannons pounding the Turkish navy. This bound up the majority of the screening vessels and the Black Sea Fleet moved in to te kill, supported by the battleships. The screens valiantly protected the pride of their fleet. However they were sunk. A lone Soviet destroyer took up the hunt on the Yavuz, but it was sunk by a Turkish submarine before being sunk itself by another destroyer. The Yavuz was pursued by several Il-4s and but suffered only minor casualties. Despite managing to escape, it was a major defeat for the Turkish. This finally led to Black Sea dominance by the Soviets, and it sealed their fate. Now the Allies had no motivation to intervene with the Straits seized and the navy defeated.

One pocket here, and one pocket there and the entire Turkish Army will be removed.

By the 14th, nearing midnight, the Iranian and Iraqi government delivered their declaration of war to the Turkish government. Two entire new fronts opened up in the south from, just as the Soviets managed to break the Turkish lines after some 10 days of combat. Most concerning for the Turkish forces was a pocket containing 3 infantry divisions and one mountain divisions. Meanwhile Soviet armored forces spread out from their bulge, with the southern fronts making their move threatening to close off the lines as a whole. However it was still a difficult battle for the Soviets. It was nearing winter in the mountainous region and it swtiched between snowing and raining. "When it snowed we froze, and our weapons malfunctioned. The snow hindered our advance. When it rained we also froze and the ground turned to mud. It didn't help much with the many craters from bombs and shells. It was a muddy hell and we had a hard time moving around. All I could think of was to come home", a Soviet soldier said. For the next days the thousands of Turkish soldiers caught in the pocket would be under serious Soviet attacks, while the invaders prepared to take on the rest of Turkey.

Now to close the major gap..

Four days passed. The Turkish opposition loosened. The mechanized army that invaded was simply too much for the Turkish who was running out of supplies and becoming demoralized following their defeats at seas and in Istanbul. But most importantly the Turkish plan for offensive was basically to hold out in mountains, contain the aggressors and wait for the Allies to intervene by diplomatic means or military force. Now it was out of the window, the Turkish either surrendered en masse, retreated or deserted. Concerningly a salient was created with the Soviets being in a favorable position to committ a pincer from the north and south. This new development was taking even the Soviets by surprise who expected nothing else but brutal fightings in the mountains, remiscent of the fighting in the Alps and Carpathia. Instead the Turkish was beaten by in a matter of days and the Soviet armored and motorized divisions went on with full speed ahead. The Soviets were winning on every front.

Wrong type of Turkey.

In the US the people were preparing. They were preparing to take on the Turkey. But it was another Turkey entirley, it was a turkey to eat. Thanksgiving was right around the corner, and all talk of direct military intervention was called off. A Turkish minister wrote in a letter to a British diplomat "while you prepare to devour turkeys, the Soviets devour Turkey". All hope was out for Turkey, instead the US sent a diplomatic delegation to end the hostilities. The American people were preparing to live a life in peace and prosperity and not wage a war in some far away country.

The Turkish really doesn't like the western part of their nation.

Despite their best attempts, the Turkish couldn't manage to make a unified resistance in the west. By the 22nd of November all of the Turkish European mainland had fallen. Meanwhile Ankara had fallen with most of the government was held captive in Ankara. At gunpoint the Turkish government held negotiations with American and Soviet officials. It was a farce and it was clear what the outcome would be. In Izmir some Turkish government officials and officers gathered to create a provisional government. However it was mostly in vain. Most of western Turkey was under Soviet occupation with Izmir itself being virtually defenseless as the local garrison deserted and joined the nation communist uprising. This uprising was enabled by the collapse of the central government and large parts of Turkey falling under Soviet occupation. Being motivated by agitators, a desire for better living conditions and simply a desire for peace large parts of Turkey turned communist and swore fealty to a communist puppet regime set up in Instanbul.

The Turks are either obliterated or decide that the west is perhaps of some importance.

The Turkish faced defeat after defeat. The Soviet overmight was just too much, too much to bear. The brutality of mechanized warfare tore the Turkish military apart. Still they were a formidable foe. One can only begin to wonder how the war would have gone if the Straits was fortified and shielded from a naval invasion. But three divisions was all it took to spread chaos and prevent an Allied intervention. Still one have to take into account that the combined Soviet Army and Air Force did in fact break the Turkish lines. By the 23rd of November eastern Turkey was virtually defenseless against the Soviet war machine.

That went better than expected.

On the 24th an armistice was signed. The Americans managed to "meditate" the peace, but the Turks was eager to accept it as they were under occupation. The Soviets renounced the claims of the Georgian and Armenian Soviet Republics, however they demanded the straits to come under joint Soviet-Turkish administration. This was of course all a farce. The Turkish was forced at gunpoint to accept the treaty, and the US accepted the gravity of the situation. Once the US government fell a communist coup took place, backed up by the Soviets. The Turkish communists under Sefik Hüsnü. Soon thereafter the Republic of Turkey ceased to exist officially, with the Socialist Republic of Turkey being its successor. The USSR cited the reason to restore order to straits from revolution and civil war to incorporate the provinces of Istanbul, Izmit, Ismir and Bursa into Russia itself. Instanbul who was coveted by the Russians for centuries as "Tsargrad" was renamed to Trotskygrad by the Russian SFSR. This signalized the sheer power and prestige of Trotsky. Yet another nation fell to the Soviet Union, would this be the last of their demands and acts of aggression?

Patton won't stand a chance..

Meanwhile the Soviet Armed Forces continued to improve upon their arsenal. The Katyusha rocket systems was improved to be more mobile and to fire more rapidly with bigger warheards. The AT guns was meant to be standardized with the 76.2 mm ZiS-3 field gun and the 85mm divisional gun D-44. These two anti-tank guns was created to penetrate most armor, even the heavy Trotsky tanks and the T-44 armor head on.

Trotsky need new vacation isles.

But the Soviet demands didn't end. Officially the Soviets stated Greece housed several Axis and Turkish war criminals in the Aegean Islands, and violated their neutrality by allowing the Turkish to use these islands as bases. The Soviets demanded these regions to be handed over to the Soviet Union for the collective security of the world, with the terms being the Aegean islands would be under Greek sovereignty, but with Soviet basing rights. This was an obvious move to further consoliate the Soviet power in the Aegean Sea and move further into the Mediterranean. These claims would escalate into a crisis over the New Year, but for now the US was celebrating thanksgiving, and the Allies would be intent on observing Christmas Peace the following month. This looming crisis would resurface on the new year..

It's 1945, smile!

Trotsky had done it. He had conquered most of the Middle East and finally "opened up" the Straits. The Soviet position was massively increased, but their eyes were fixed on Greece. Trotsky's appetite for power and territory was not stilled. The New Year celebration of 1945 was an awkward one with the coming year being uncertain, would the world be plunged into war in the coming month?

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*So the plan worked, the Turkish Army was tied up in the east and my invading divisions managed to get to the straits. Now if you remember I mentioned a bug where several divisions was stuck in the Kurill Isles, this was that Front. So by issuing the naval invasion it solved that bug, but it takes a lot of time for them to actually get to Ukraine, so that is why it is, as of now, a small naval force invaded the straits.

So that was it. Turkey fell, and only the Aegean Islands remain from my focuses (beside getting a war goal against Britain)! So now it remain to be seen if Greece folds and give us the islands or if it escalate into the third world war. But before that happen, we will have an update on the Second Congress of the Internationale

 

[ThaHoward]

Second Congress of the Internationale.

Spoiler: Music.

The delegates of the Congress march, followed by grand military parades.

1945. The year opened up to much fanfare as the Second Congress of the Internationale was to be held in Paris, the powerhouse of the revolution in western Europe. As with the First Congress delegates from all communist and radical parties, unions and nations were invited. However this time around many delegates and journalists were not allowed to participate in fear of "counter revolutionary" and "subversive" elements. Across the channel and the pond the paranoia was reciprocated; it was deemed treason for any citizen of the United States, United Kingdom and their allies to participate or observing the Congress. As a result only already exiled members were attending, and they had to be vetted by the Internationale. Still the Congress was opened up by a major parade with the leading members of the various communist nations. They were again being escorted and led by the elite forces of their nations. Despite the cold and wet January weather, Parisians flocked to the streets to observe the parade. Following the leaders of the communist nations was military parades of most nations - except for Germany and Italy as they were still officially demilitarized. The newest tanks and vehicles from all nations were paraded around, including the new T-44s and Trotsky tanks and the latest inventions of the other communist nations. Several formations of disciplined and cohesive parade and drill troops paraded around showing off the might of the communist militaries. Overhead endless formations of airplanes flew over Paris, despite the foul weather. But those who basked in the glory was the returning heroes, who was portrayed as liberators in the communist world and oppressors in the west, who paraded in front of the cheering masses. Through the entire Congress military exercises would be held on the plains of France, with selected members of the populace being allowed to observe. The favorite show was when Allied captured tanks was wrecked.

Thorez opens up the Congress.

The President of the Commune of France had the honor to open the Congress. He held a thundering speech about the need of world revolution and the progress France had seen since the inception of the communist regime. After the somewhat erratic speech Trotsky entered. The delegates was silent as they listened in awe to the eldering man who had just survived an assassination attempt and conquered the Middle East. As with Thorez, Trotsky stressed the needs for a final push to world revolution, or else the capitalist and imperialist powers would end the revolution and socialist experiment. He ended his speech by quoting Marx "If we have chosen the position in life in which we can most of all work for mankind, no burdens can bow us down, because they are sacrifices for the benefit of all; then we shall experience no petty, limited, selfish joy, but our happiness will belong to millions, our deeds will live on quietly but perpetually at work, and over our ashes will be shed the hot tears of noble people". In the eyes of Trotsky and many others this justified their new course.

One of the many Bulgarian demonstrations.

During the Congress the situation in Bulgaria was hotly debated. Hundreds of Bulgarians gave heartbreaking testimonies of atrocities by the "white terrorists", most of them were fabricated and it didn't take into account the crimes the communists committed. Still it fielded enough support among the delegates and it became clear a civil war was on the horizon. The Bulgarian communists exclaimed they were "ready to use force" and even buddied up with Trotsky by quoting him "Not believing in force is the same as not believing in gravity". All the communist powers gave their assurances that they would support the Bulgarian cause with weapons, industrial machines, resources and even a full blown military intervention if it was needed. In addition backroom deals was made with the NKVD and other intelligence services who would help the communists to pull off a putsch.

A Norwegian communist poster saying "witness the revolution's light over the world".

Another nation that was up to discussion was Norway. A loyal ally to both Britain and America, it was nevertheless an unstable nation. Being hit hard by recessions, a tradition of radical socialism, months of war on its soil and a heavy Finno-Soviet and Swedish presence during the war enabled the rise of radical socialist movements. In fact the Labor Party was split between communist leaning and democratic leaning members and even MPs. This led to a paralyzation of the government, and it was unknown for how long it could continue. It was decided the Internationale would send several delegates (in the forms of fronts) to Norway to tip the nation toward the Fourth International. There even came pledges to exiled Norwegian communists and socialists than in case of a full blown civil war the Finnish Democratic Soviet Socialist Republic and Sweden would intervene on its behalf. That would certainly put the Allies and the Internationale on a collision course.

Communism bring Europe together.

Following the war the Americans offered an aid program to the former Allies and even the members of the Internationale. This was named the Marshall Plan. However this economic and industrial relief and rebuilding program came not without a cost. All nations who recieved this aid had to carry out reforms making them liberal democracies, this in turn led the Soviet Union, Spain and France to fear Europe moving toward the American sphere of influence and an undoing of the revolution. The American aid was thusly rejected by the Congress of the Internationale. During the Congress they also agreed to block Poland by air, land and sea to prevent American aid to enter the nation that had growing communist elements within its nation. The nations of the Congress also agreed upon to form Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON) which would be the Soviet and French counterweight to the American plan. This was intended to be an economic zone where the richer and more prosperous nations were to aid and rebuild the other nations, to enable socialism and end poverty. However this also reinforced Soviet and French dominance of the other communist nations. Most notably Germany, Italy, communist Yugoslavia, Romania, Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, PRC, Mongolia and Sinkiang agreed to share their five years plans with the USSR. This in effect led the USSR to be in full control of these economies, this was of course all done in the name of international cooperation. In the Rhineland the crisis between Germany and France was solved by Schumacher. He proposed that the Saarland and Rhineland ws to be under French sovereignty, but it was to be under a joint German-French administration. During the Congress Schumacher furthered this to be a free-trade zone (ECSC) between Spain, France, Germany, Austria and Belgium. It was hoped this was to bring about a lasting peace and cooperation in Europe. The last reform by the Internationale for closer European integration was the creation of the Information Bureau of the Communist and Workers' Parties, or more simply "Cominform". This was a forum for the various communist parties of the world to coordinate their efforts outside of the Congresses of the Internationale, however it was still to be a part of the Internationale, just like the ECSC and COMECON. These new reforms and international bodies was welcomed by the Congress, and dreams was made of the Internationale one time replacing the UN, and then on a later date becoming the World Government before ushering the world into utopian communism.

The foundation of the Paris Pact, obviously made to establish everlasting peace.

Perhaps the most important decision was made on the 14th of January. It was then the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance was signed. This was more populary known as the Paris Pact. The Pact was a formalized military alliance between the European nations of the Internationale. It pledged that if one country was attacked, all had to come to its aid - that included preemptive strikes against percieved threats - and further military cooperation. This formalized military alliance was again made a part of the Internationale, but with its proclaimed goal of "containing American and British imperialism" it was a major provocation and on the height of the Aegean Crisis the former Allies founded NATO in response, which consisted formally of USA, Britain, the Commonwealth, Yugoslavia, Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands and Norway. The two blocs in Europe was now clearly set. NATO vs. Paris Pact, with both sides pledging to not demobilize their armed forces, but rather to increase them.

The colors of the First Mechanized Regiment in the National People's Army.

In line with the decision to found the Paris Pact and to increase the militaries of the Pact, Italy and Germany was allowed to - officially - re-arm by the Internationale. Many members, especially French and Belgian delegates, had reservations against allowing Germany and Italy to rearm. First of all many of them still remembered the horrors of the First and Second World Wars, and didn't want Germany or Italy to start yet another war. However the greatest reservations was in fact with regards to NATO. This was a clear breach of the Paris Treaty and a major provocation. When news reached to NATO that Germany was starting to re-arm, the red flags was waving all over the place. Not only was it a breach of the Paris Treaties that were aimed to bring peace to Europe and the world at large, but a militarized Germany and Italy was a major threat to NATO. Nevertheless it was passed in the Internationale narrowly. The German Army was named the National People's Army and was to be comprimised exclusively out of professional soldiers, and their officers had to go through a new education, part militarian and part political, in the Karl Marx Academy. French, Spanish and Soviet political officers also had a major finger in the training and rehabilitation of the German and Italian armed forces. The following day the German and Italian military was officially established in Paris, with foreign press invited. This angered the western powers who threatened with invasion of Germany and Italy if the Paris Treaties was not respected..

Perhaps there are some hope for the British overclass..

For years the Soviets, French, Spanish and Belgian intelligence services placed several spies in British society. The most famous of them was the Cambridge Five, however during the Spanish Civil War many returned home as sleeping spies, and so did many soldiers and officers who had fought alongside the Belgians. Since the last Congress the funding to these cells and British unions and radical elements had paid off. British society was becoming more and polarized and radical as in Norway, and near 40% of the population had open sympathies with the Soviet Union. Clandestine plans was made during the second Congress to create an open insurrection in the industralized city of Liverpool. That would cripple the British industry when the workers, with a professional vanguard, took control of the northern industry and the Red Army invaded England and took the southern industrial heartland. So was the plan.

All in all the upper class delegates workers decided to stay together.

By the end of January the Second Congress of the Fourth International came to a conclusion. It was decided from now on these Congresses would only be held each fourth year, with a pause from now on and until... the end of the coming World Revolution. Yes there was no doubt, the delegates fully expected a war between the Pact and NATO within four years. During the end of the Congress the delegates agreed that "all men and women, workers and peasants of the world are under an eternal brotherhood and readiness. To face the forces of oppression whereever it is, let that be reaction, fascism, imperialism or capitalism. And to be ready to confront them and strive toward and be loyal to the common goal of breaking the chains of the workers". This again translated to full support from the Internationale to the USSR in the Aegean Crisis, and that the members of the Internationale would support the likely communist uprisings in Bulgaria and Norway, and stand united against American or British aggression. During the final act Trotsky announced "The dynamic of revolutionary events is directlydetermined by swift, intense and passionate changes in the psychology of classes which have already formed themselves before the revolution." before they all sang the International. The Internationale and the Pact was ready for war..


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So in short: In case of civil war in Norway or Bulgaria, the USSR will support them. Bugaria will be subjected to a Soviet boosted coup, and so is Britain in a time of war. In case of a pre-emptive war against the Allies (now called NATO, pre-emptive being if they have a wargoal) the non-European members will not be called in as they are not part of the Paris Pact. However if NATO strikes first then they are to join in. If Greece refuse to give up the Aegean Islands, then the Soviet Union have been given the blessing of the (Soviet dominated) International to claim these islands by force.

So there is many areas where a war can be made over. Greece, Bulgaria, Norway or just a war of aggression

 

[ThaHoward]

Communist Revolutions: Poland is not yet lost.

Spoiler: Spoiler.

At least Poland is free now?

After the Great War it was said Italy won the war, but lost the peace. After the Second World War no where was this more accurate than Poland. The German Blitzkrieg campaign through Poland was especially devastating, crippling the nation with ruthless bombing campaigns, innovative use of motorized and armored units combined with atrocities that need no mention. But the hardship for the young free nation enjoying hard fought liberty did end here. The Nazi occupation and Generalgouvernement imposed an oppressive regime to put it lightly. But again, it did not end there. During Operation Icebreaker, the Soviet invasion of the Axis, it is easy to look over that in the Central and Northern fronts most of the fighting actually took part on Polish soil. During the Great War the German and Russian Empires fought eachother with the Polish nation caught in the midst, caught in their fury with total destruction following both armies. History repeated itself. Poland was ravaged and mutilated after the liberation by the blood, sweat and iron of the unstoppable Red Army. But again, it did not stop there, the hardship of the Polish people had not come to an end. On the 9th of July Soviet Belarus and Ukraine demanded Eastern Poland to be returned. This crisis almost turned war, but the Allies abandoned Poland and the Soviet Union gobbled itself further to the west. At first glance one could believe the already strained Soviet-Polish bonds would be forever broken. The Polish government cut off all contacts with the Soviet government, never forgetting their expansionism. But they would never forget the betrayal of their western Allies, and the world was very different in 1945 than 1942..

The reds of Poland.

Despite their later united front the leftist movement in Poland wasn't united being dominated by two parties: Polish Workers' Party (PPR) and the Polish Socialist Party (PPS). The former was the successor of the Polish Communist Party who was banned in 1938 who wanted to establish socialism through revolution, while the latter wanted to achieve socialism through democratic principles. In the end this was two very opposing worldviews, as one wanted to end democracy in one whim, while the other wanted to operate within the frames of the liberal democracy. The PPR was in turn more orientated toward Moscow and Internationalism, while the PPR was orientated toward London and democracy and nationalism. For the first years of the new Polish republic the PPS supported the Republic and were in opposition to the USSR. However the USSR had indeed supported entryism and radical socialism in Poland for years, the coming years would result in their investments paying off..*

A British state visit to the new Poland.


The Third Polish Republic emerged from the ruins of the Second Polish Republic. It's leaders returned to Poland after three years of exile and promises of a new democratic Republic were made. However it quickly turned out to be nothing but a republic ran by oligarchs and the military. Despite the Allies being in favor of democracy and liberty, it was believed Poland was too vital to contain Soviet expansion in Europe. However the Allies turned a blind side to the increasingly authorian regime in Poland. Elections were all but a farce in Poland, the media was controlled by the state and the political opposition was arressted or harassed. It was almost as repressive as the communist nations. The PPS envisioned that the new Poland would be a free Poland enjoying political and social rights. Instead the party was forced underground. This radicalised the members of the PPS (and other social democrats and liberal democrats) who again turned toward the PPR for cooperation and the communist world. If the Allies could not provide political support to Poland, then perhaps the communists (who at least were becoming more democratic?) could save them from the at best illiberal, at worst dictatorship of Władysław Sikorski.

The American oppressors send in planes to oppress the Polish by granting them foodstuffs.

Still the majority of the people at least accepted the current regime. Despite large socialist and democratic leanings among the populace and great resentment of the ruling oligarchs, most saw the regime as a stable regime and Sikorski as a national hero. That was to change. During the onset of 1945 the financial world fell into a minor recession. This recession worsened during January and the already fragile Polish economy nose-dived. Poland was in a stage of economical rebuilding, and just as the arrows slightly pointed upwards virtually all of Europe in 1944 embargoed Poland following the American embargo of the USSR in 1943. This lead to severe grain shortages in Poland and a drop in market activity and jobs, but the Polish nation stood strong - for now. As mentioned a recession broke out in Britain, which then spread to all of the capitalist nations as they were unable to do the much needed world-economy reforms, which the Internationale stubbornly refused. The Polish economy crashed and its banks closed. It is in times of economic and political crisis that the fringe elements of society thrive. The far right was a taboo for obvious reasons, and the military-oligarchic dictatorship of Sikorski couldn't prevent the crisis for all to see. The democratic path was simply too.. moderate and wasn't it afterall the liberals of Britain and America that threw Poland under the bus? It was then the communists and socialists apperead as a Messiah of sorts, the saviour of the Polish people. A way to end the economic crisis and the possibility to prevent an all out war with the Paris Pact. The Americans wanted to break the blockade of Poland and sent several thousands of airplanes an ships toward Poland, full of foodstuffs and industrial goods. But Trotsky would have nothing of it. The blockade of Poland was only worsened, and ships and airplanes were ordered to shoot down anyone who attempted to break into Poland by air or sea. This Polish Air Corridor Crisis almost ended in war, and it ended in famine in Poland, but the Americans became pre-occupied with the ongoing Aegean Crisis. The Americans pulled back on the 11th hour and left the Polish people to itself. Trotsky would brutally break down the Polish people, only to lift it up again in his own image.

The Polish leftist are united under a charismatic commie. Good news for Trotsky, concerning news for Roosevelt - oh never mind, I heard the other day he's a commie too.

In the time of crisis, unemployment and famine Władysław Gomułka entered. Being imprisoned for communist loyalty in 1926, he left for Moscow in 1934 to recieve proper education in Soviet style political correctness. As he returned home to Poland in 1935 he was again imprisoned, but he was liberated as the Red Army fought its way over Poland and into Germany. It was then he encouraged Trotsky to reform a Polish Communist Party, that Party became the PPR. Gomulka became the leader of the Polish communists, and in the time of crisis his charisma managed to merge the PPR and PPS together into the Polish United Workers' Party (PUWP). The communist and radical wings soon took over as the situation back home in Poland only worsened and NATO stood helpless and could only observe the unfolding situation with great concern. Gomulka went on the offensive calling Britain and America for "cowards". He went so far to say that America didn't enter the war until it was absolutely clear the Nazis would win. The British was led by the cowardice of Halifax and only stood by and watched as Hitler conquered the Little Entente, it was argued if Britain and Poland stood up for their democratic brothers Hitler and his perverse ideology could have ended in '38. But the current situation in the Middle East was exclaimed to show that USA and the UK were unreliable allies, that would leave Poland to its own faith. Furthermore the PUWP, who was now firmly Marxist and Revolutionary Socialist, came up with specific economic reforms that were meant to give "bread and work" to all. The PUWP also showed assurances from the Internationale that the COMECON would provide relief to Poland and help rebuild Poland. That it was the communist bloc who starved out the population of Poland was.. ignored.

You guessed it.. pro commie demonstrations.

Late January and early February. The Aegean Crisis reached its height. War brewed over the horizon of the Aegean Sea. But Poland was ignored. The famished and downtrodden nation was left to itself, they were abondoned - again. Or so was the popular belief. The PUWP banded together with moderate socialists and democrats and demanded a free and fair election in Poland, and a withdrawal from NATO to appease the Internationale - in order to break the blockade of Poland. Gomułka soon became the leading figure for Polish democracy and a better economic situation. But the Polish government rejected it, saying it was nothing but treason. This angered the Polish people, and the PUWP along with agents from the Pact agitated the people into action. All over the nation worker's councils was formed, and violent demonstrations and strikes was the norm.

Now the Polish people are truly liberated!

The Polish Crisis boiled over as it did in the Aegean Sea. But NATO couldn't manage to juggle two crisis' at the same time, and Poland was deemed a lost cause. Despite it strategic location, there was little chance of British and American troops managing to reach the young republic before the Baltic Sea was closed off. The Soviet Union demanded the Polish regime was to give in to popular demand and restore democracy, otherwise they were needed to intervene on humanitarian grounds. This came as a shock. The USSR abused their position in the UN to gain the highground, if the Polish government refused they might as well start another world war, but again they had doubts USA and UK would follow through unless they had a UN mandate. But most importantly the people were opposed to the military regime. In the end, as endless columns of Soviet armies closed in on Poland, the junta of Sikorski resigned and fled to Britain to again set up a Polish Government in Exile. The PUWP led by Gomułka took power in Poland, and hours later 9 Soviet divisions crossed into the border of Poland, guarding the new government against any opposition. In the following days an election were held, hastly put together and with PUWP controlled unions, councils and thousands of Soviet troops the results ended not to the surprise of anyone to the favor of the PUWP. In short order the Third Republic was no more, but replaced by the Polish People's Republic with Poland left NATO, and instead became a full member of the Internationale and all its organizations - includinng the Paris Pact and COMECON and the embargo of NATO. Yet another nation fell to communism, and to the south the Aegean Sea was boiling over..

The Polish Army stand with the Paris Pact to liberate the rest of Europe.

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*Remember that I boosted the ideology in Poland for quite some time. After Poland gave up the east to the USSR they turned communist. But I thought that was kinda weird for them to do that then, so until the end of WW2 I cheated and gave Poland a political advisor that protected them against foreign submersive actions (e.g my boosting of ideology isn't that good anymore) and gave them a democratic advisor, so the communists lost a lot of support from the annexation of eastern Poland and until the end of WW2. Then I only removed the democratic guy and let them keep the counter-intelligence advisor (don't remember the title).

**Well so in game they are non-aligned, authorian regime and having Oligarchy as sub-ideology.

And yup! The Communist Revolutions are not over. Poland fell after years of influencing, but we will move forward. The next update will take on the Aegean Crisis and the first period of 1945.

Edit: Some typo corrections.