Great European War (Yellowstone: 1936)

The Great European War was a major military conflict after the Yellowstone Eruption, involving the powers of Germany and the Kingdom of Italy against the United Kingdom, France, Poland, and several other European powers. The Great European War was one of the largest and most devastating conflicts on the continent since the Yellowstone Eruption, causing mass destruction across several regions, including France and the Lowlands.

The cause for the war is widely agreed to be the need for the Germans to relocate their people south, seeing worsening weather conditions and the great loss of crops occurring due to the Yellowstone Eruption. The Germans were facing a refugee crisis with the incoming population of Scandinavians arriving in Germany, pushing the already stricken food problem. Many agree that without such drastic needs, war perhaps might not have occurred in Europe for a few more years.

The background for the conflict can be seen beginning with the re-militarization of the Rhineland and the subsequent joining of the Saarland with Germany, followed by the anschluss of Austria and the uniting of the two countries under one government. This helped prove to Nazi Germany that the allies were not going to engage in a fight readily and gave them some leeway to try to push things in their favor and allowed them some breathing space.

Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War was fought from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939 between the Republicans, who were loyal to the established Spanish Republic, and the Nationalists, a rebel group led by General Francisco Franco. The Nationalists prevailed, and Franco ruled Spain for the next several decades. The war began after a declaration of opposition, called a pronunciamiento, by a group of generals of the Spanish Republican Armed Forces under the leadership of José Sanjurjo against the elected government of the Second Spanish Republic, at the time under the leadership of President Manuel Azaña. The rebel coup was supported by a number of conservative groups, including the Spanish Confederation of the Autonomous Right, monarchists such as the religious conservative Carlists, and the Fascist Falange.

Before the eruption both sides of the Great European War had refused to become involved in the Spanish Civil War. The Axis did however send small amounts of soldiers and aid to help the Spanish Nationalists under Franco.

In July 1936 German involvement began with Adolf Hitler quickly senting in powerful air and armored units to assist the Nationalists. The war provided combat experience with the latest technology for the German military. However, the intervention also posed the risk of escalating into a world war for which Hitler was not ready. He therefore limited his aid, and instead encouraged Benito Mussolini to send in large Italian units.

The Germans would however form the multitasking Condor Legion, a unit composed of volunteers from the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) and from the German Army (Wehrmacht Heer), as well as assisting in moving the Spanish Army of Africa to mainland Spain in the war's early stages. German operations slowly expanded to include strike targets, most notably – and controversially – the bombing of Guernica, which on 26 April 1937 killed 200 to 300 civilians.

German involvement was further manifested through undertakings such as Operation Ursula, a U-boat undertaking, and contributions from the Kriegsmarine. The Legion spearheaded many Nationalist victories, particularly in aerial combat, while Spain further provided a proving ground for German tank tactics. The training German units provided to Nationalist forces would prove valuable, and by the War's end, perhaps fifty-six thousand Nationalist soldiers, encompassing infantry, artillery, aerial and naval forces, had been trained by German detachments.

After Francisco Franco's request and encouragement by Hitler, Benito Mussolini joined the war. While the conquest of Ethiopia had made Italy confident in its power, a Spanish ally would nonetheless help secure Italian control of the Mediterranean. The Royal Italian Navy (Regia Marina Italiana) played a substantial role in the Mediterranean blockade. Italy would also supply machine guns, artillery, aircraft, tankettes, as well as the Legionary Air Force (Aviazione Legionaria), and the Corps of Volunteer Troops (Corpo Truppe Volontarie, or CTV) to the Nationalist cause. The Italian CTV would at its peak would supply the Nationalists with 50,000 men. Italian warships took part in breaking the Republican navy's blockade of Nationalist-held Spanish Morocco and took part in naval bombardment of Republican-held Malaga, Valencia, and Barcelona.

Probably a total of 16,000 German citizens fought in the War, including approximately 300 killed, though no more than ten thousand participated at any one time. German aid to the Nationalists amounted to approximately £43,000,000 ($215,000,000) in 1939 prices, 15.5% of which was used for salaries and expenses and 21.9% for direct delivery of supplies to Spain, while 62.6% was expended on the Condor Legion. In total Germany provided the Nationalists with 600 planes and 200 tanks. In total Italy provided the Nationalists with 660 planes, 150 tanks, 800 artillery pieces, 10,000 machine-guns and 240,000 rifles.

The Axis aid would prove to be a precursor to many of the tactics and methods employed in the Great European War, such as the test bombing of Guernica, which aimed to see how effective the Blitz would be. Vastly lacking support from the international community, the Republicans would be defeated, leaving Franco and his nationalist government loyal to Germany and Italy in power.

German Expansionism
With Gleichschaltung established, totalitarian political control over Germany, the German government turned their attention to increasing the nation's area through foreign policy and expansion. The reintroducing of military conscription was order by Hitler on March 16, 1935, ignoring the terms of the Versailles Treaty which had thus far limited the German Reichswehr to only 100,000 men. Although this move resulted in official protests being issued by the United Kingdom and France, the two allies were more serious on enforcing the economic provisions of the treaty than its military restrictions, as many British even believed the conditions set on Germany to be too harsh.

On June 18, 1935 Germany and the United Kingdom signed the Anglo-German Naval Agreement of June 18, 1935, a naval agreement between the two nations that regulated the size of the Kriegsmarine in relation to the Royal Navy. The Anglo-German Naval Agreement fixed a ratio whereby the total tonnage of the Kriegsmarine was to be 35% of the total tonnage of the Royal Navy on a permanent basis. It was registered in League of Nations Treaty Series on July 12, 1935. The agreement would be renounced by Adolf Hitler on April 28, 1939.

On March 7, 1936 German soldiers were ordered into the demilitarized region of the Rhineland, although this too was bet with little opposition from France or the United Kingdom. German chancellor Adolf Hitler would meet in privacy with Arnold J. Toynbee, who was visiting Berlin to address the Nazi Law Society. The limited expansionist aim of building a greater German nation, and the desire for British understanding and cooperation was emphasized by Hitler to Toynbee, who became convinced of Hitler's sincerity, and endorsed Hitler's message in a confidential memorandum for the British prime minister and foreign secretary.

Following increasing violence and demands from Hitler that Austria agree to a union, Schuschnigg met with Hitler on 12 February at Berchtesgaden in an attempt to avoid the take-over of Austria. Hitler presented Schuschnigg with a set of demands which included appointing known Austrian Nazi sympathizers to positions of great power in the Austrian government. The key appointment was that of Seyss-Inquart who would take over as Minister of Public Security, with full and unlimited control of the police forces in Austria. In return Hitler would publicly reaffirm the treaty of 11 July 1936 and reaffirm his support for Austria's national sovereignty. Schuschnigg accepted Hitler's "deal", returned to Vienna and made the changes to his government.

Seyss-Inquart was a known Nazi who sought the union of all Germans in one state. He opposed the violent tactics of the Austrian Nazis, collaborated with Catholic groups, and wanted to preserve a measure of Austrian identity within the Third Reich. One week later, Hitler made a speech in which he stated, "The German Reich is no longer willing to tolerate the suppression of ten million Germans across its borders." This was clearly directed at Austria and Czechoslovakia.

Schuschnigg, in an effort to preserve Austria's independence, scheduled a plebiscite on the issue of unification for 13 March. To secure a large majority in the referendum, Schuschnigg set the minimum voting age at 24, as he believed younger voters were now supporters of the German Nazi ideology. This was a risk, and the next day it became apparent that Hitler would not simply stand by while Austria declared its independence by public vote. Hitler declared that the referendum would be subject to major fraud and that Germany would not accept it. In addition, the German ministry of propaganda issued press reports that riots had broken out in Austria and that large parts of the Austrian population were calling for German troops to restore order. Schuschnigg immediately responded publicly that reports of riots were false.

On the morning of 12 March the 8th Army of the German Wehrmacht was ordered to cross the border into Austria. The troops were greeted by cheering German-Austrians with Nazi salutes, Nazi flags, and flowers. For the Wehrmacht, the invasion was the first big test of its machinery. Although the invading forces were badly organized and coordination among the units was poor, it mattered little because no fighting took place.

The first non-violent German conquest would be the nation of Austria to the south. After Italy had joined Germany in the Anti-Comintern Pact, quickly removing the main obstacle of an Anschluss of Austria, Germany announced the annexation on March 12, 1938, making it the province "Gau Ostmark" of what was now Greater Germany.

With Austria secured, Hitler turned his attention to the German-speaking population of the Sudetenland border regions of Czechoslovakia. Hitler knew that Czechoslovakia had a modern army backed by a huge armament industry, as well as military alliances with France and the USSR. Despite this, Hitler was prepared to risk war, even as other nations encouraged him to cease his violations of post World War I treaties. Convinced that France would not support Czechoslovakia, Hitler continued with his plan.

Hitler's first order was to seize the Sudetenland, based on the right of self-determination for a unification with Germany. This region formed about 1/3 of Bohemia in terms of territory, population and economy, and was claimed to be vital for Czechoslovakia's existence. With Austria in German hands, this part of Czechoslovakia, equipped with a defense system that was larger than the Maginot line, was nearly surrounded by Germany.

Germany would begin lengthy negotiations with British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and with French leaders, who attempted to appease Hitler by signing the Munich Agreement of September 30, 1938, allowing German troops to occupy the Sudetenland, for the sake of "peace in our time". Czechoslovakia had already mobilized over one million men and was prepared to fight for independence, but was not allowed to participate in the conference. When the French and British negotiators informed the Czechoslovak representatives about the agreement, and that if Czechoslovakia would not accept it, France and Britain would consider Czechoslovakia to be responsible for war, President Edvard Beneš capitulated.

German forces entered the Sudetenland unopposed, celebrated by the local ethnic German population. Soon after, Polish and Hungarian forces also invaded parts of Czechoslovakia, with the Zaolzie area being annexed by Poland. On March 14 Slovakia declared her independence under Jozef Tiso, which was recognized by France, Britain and other important powers. The following day, Emil Hácha accepted a German occupation of the remaining parts of the Czech lands. From the Prague Castle, the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia was proclaimed by Hitler.

An oral ultimatum was presented to Juozas Urbšys, Foreign Minister of Lithuania, by Joachim von Ribbentrop, Foreign Minister of Nazi Germany, on March 20, 1939. The Germans demanded that Lithuania give up the Klaipėda Region (also known as the Memel Territory), which had been detached from Germany after World War I, or the Wehrmacht would invade Lithuania. On March 23, 1939 a German-Lithuanian treaty concluded returning the Memel territory which had been separated from Germany in 1920 and annexed by Lithuania.

With Europe now preparing for war, the German government exerted pressure on weaker governments to place their economies at the disposal of the German war machine. One such case was the German-Romanian economic agreement of March 23, 1939.

Overview
By 1937, Germany began to increase its demands for the Polish held city of Danzig, while proposing that a roadway be built in order to connect East Prussia with Germany proper, running through the Polish Corridor. Poland rejected this proposal, fearing that after accepting these demands, it would become increasingly subject to the will of Germany and eventually lose its independence as the Czechs had. Furthermore, Germany's collaboration with anti-Polish Ukrainian nationalists from the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, which was seen as an effort to isolate and weaken Poland, weakened Hitler's credibility from the Polish point of view.

The British had become aware of the situation between Germany and Poland. On 31 March 1939 the Anglo-Polish military alliance was formed by Britain and France, ensuring that Polish independence and territorial integrity would be defended with their support if it were to be threatened by Germany. On the other hand, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and his Foreign Secretary, Lord Halifax, still hoped to strike a deal with Hitler regarding Danzig and possibly the Polish Corridor, and Hitler hoped for the same. Chamberlain and his supporters believed war could be avoided and hoped Germany would agree to leave the rest of Poland alone. German hegemony over Central Europe was also at stake. In private Hitler revealed in May that Danzig was not the real issue to him, but pursuit of Lebensraum, living space, for Germany.

With tensions mounting, Germany turned to aggressive diplomacy as well. On 28 April 1939, it unilaterally withdrew from both the German-Polish Non-Aggression Pact of 1934 and the London Naval Agreement of 1935. Talks over Danzig and the Corridor broke down and months passed without diplomatic interaction between Germany and Poland. During this interim, the Germans learned that France and Britain had failed to secure an alliance with the Soviet Union against Germany, and that the Soviet Union was interested in an alliance with Germany against Poland.

In May 1939, in a statement to his generals while they were in the midst of planning the invasion of Poland, Hitler made it clear that the invasion would not come without resistance as it had in Czechoslovakia. With the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact on 23 August between Germany and the Holy Russian Empire, Germany neutralized the possibility of Russian opposition to a campaign against Poland and war became imminent.

Invasion of Poland
Germany had a substantial numeric advantage over Poland and had developed a significant military prior to the outbreak of the conflict. The Heer (army) had some 2,400 tanks organized into six panzer divisions, utilizing a new operational doctrine. It held that these divisions should act in coordination with other elements of the military, punching holes in the enemy line and isolating selected units, which would be encircled and destroyed. This would be followed up by less-mobile mechanized infantry and foot soldiers. The Luftwaffe (air force) provided both tactical and strategic air power, particularly dive bombers that disrupted lines of supply and communications. Together, the new methods were nicknamed "Blitzkrieg" (lightning war), and had been tested to some degree on the battlefield of Spain.

Aircraft played a major role in the campaign. Bombers also attacked cities, causing huge losses among the civilian population. The Luftwaffe forces consisted of 1,180 fighters, 290 Ju 87 Stuka dive bombers, 1,100 conventional bombers (mainly Heinkel He 111s and Dornier Do 17s), and an assortment of 550 transport and 350 reconnaissance aircraft, would carry out these operations, launching significant strikes against the Polish. In total, Germany had close to 4,000 aircraft, most of them modern.

Pre Invasion
A plan for invasion was devised by General Franz Halder, chief of the general staff, and directed by General Walther von Brauchitsch, the commander in chief of the upcoming campaign. Their plan called for the start of hostilities before a declaration of war, and pursued a doctrine of mass encirclement and destruction of enemy forces. Logistic support was to be provided by the six panzer divisions in the area, as well as a small number of mobilized infantry, including the Schützen regiments, forerunners of the panzergrenadiers, rapidly moving troops to concentrate against localized portions of the enemy front.

Poland's terrain was well suited for mobile operations, with flat plains containing frontiers totaling almost 5,600 km (3,500 mi). The weather also cooperated, allowing for easy mobilization into Poland.

The main German attack began over Poland's western border, led by Army Group South commanded by General Gerd von Rundstedt. German forces attacked from German Silesia and from the Moravian and Slovak border to the south. General Johannes Blaskowitz's 8th Army was to drive eastward against Łódź, while General Wilhelm List's 14th Army was to push on toward Kraków and to turn the Poles' Carpathian flank. Concurrently General Walter von Reichenau's 10th Army, in the centre with Army Group South's armor, was to deliver the decisive blow with a northeastward thrust into the heart of Poland.

A secondary route of German attack began from northern Prussia, consisting of Army Group North under General Fedor von Bock, comprised of General Georg von Küchler's 3rd Army, which was to strike southward from East Prussia, and General Günther von Kluge's 4th Army, which was to attack eastward across the base of the Polish Corridor.

A tertiary attack led by Army Group South's allied Slovak units from Slovakia would be launched from the south. The German armed forces also planned for the German minority to assist by engaging in diversion and sabotage operations through Volksdeutscher Selbstschutz units prepared before the war.

The Polish political determination to deploy forces directly at the German-Polish border, based on the Polish-British Common Defense Pact, shaped the country's defensive plan. Poland's most valuable natural resources, industry, and population were located along the western border in Eastern Upper Silesia, making it an important target by Germany.

Polish policy centered on the protection of disputed regions, since many Polish leaders feared that if Poland were to retreat from the regions disputed by Germany, Britain and France would sign a separate peace treaty with Germany similar to the Munich Agreement of 1938. The fact that none of Poland's allies had specifically guaranteed Polish borders or territorial integrity certainly did not help in easing Polish concerns.

For these reasons the Polish decided against fortifying the bulk of their armed forces behind natural borders such as the Vistula and San rivers, advised by France and many Polish generals as a better choice, choosing to fortify the German border. In case the Polish army was pushed back from the border the armed forces would then choose to retreat, although slowly behind prepared positions, giving the nation time to complete its mobilization in preparation of a counteroffensive, aided by Poland's allies.

Polish forces were stretched thinly along the Polish-German border and lacked compact defense lines and good positions along disadvantageous terrain. This strategy also left supply lines poorly protected. One-third of Poland's forces were massed in or near the Polish Corridor, making them vulnerable to a double envelopment from East Prussia and the west. Another third were concentrated in the north-central part of the country, between the major cities of Łódź and Warsaw. The forward positioning of Polish forces vastly increased the difficulty of carrying out strategic maneuvers, compounded by inadequate mobility, as Polish units often lacked the ability to retreat from their defensive positions as they were being overrun by more mobile German mechanized formations.

All three German assaults were to converge on Warsaw, where the main Polish army was to be encircled and destroyed west of the Vistula. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, and officially began the Great European War.

Invasion
The first regular act of war took place on 1 September 1939, at 04:40, when the Luftwaffe attacked the Polish town of Wieluń, destroying 75% of the city and killing close to 1,200 people, most of them civilians. Five minutes later, the old German pre-dreadnought battleship Schleswig-Holstein opened fire on the Polish military transit depot at Westerplatte in the Free City of Danzig on the Baltic Sea. Without a formal declaration of war yet issued, at 08:00, German troops attacked near the Polish town of Mokra. Later that day, the Germans attacked on Poland's western, southern and northern borders, while German aircraft began raids on Polish cities. The main axis of attack led eastwards from Germany proper through the western Polish border. Supporting attacks came from East Prussia in the north, and a co-operative German-Slovak tertiary attack by units from German-allied Slovakia in the south. All three assaults converged on the Polish capital of Warsaw as planned.

The Allied governments of France and the United Kingdom declared war on Germany on 3 September, however, they failed to provide any meaningful support. The German-French border saw only a few minor skirmishes, and the majority of German forces remained engaged in Poland. Despite some Polish successes in minor border battles, German technical, operational and numerical superiority forced the Polish armies to retreat from the borders towards Warsaw and Lwów. The Luftwaffe gained air superiority early in the campaign, and by destroying communications, the Luftwaffe increased the pace of the advance which overran Polish airstrips and early warning sites, causing logistical problems for the Polish. Many Polish Air Force units began to run low on supplies, lessening their combat strength and virtually removing all air opposition.

By 3 September Günther von Kluge's forces in the north had reached the Vistula river, about 10 kilometers from the German border at that time, Georg von Küchler's forces had begun approaching the Narew River, and Walther von Reichenau's armor was already beyond the Warta river. By 8 September German armor had reached the outskirts of Warsaw.