World War II, commonly known as the Second World War, was a global conflict that lasted from 1939-1945. Although related conflicts began much earlier, these dates are the ones historians commonly agree on. This conflict was regarded as a global war due to the fact that all the major powers of the world were involved. Another reason for this was because the great powers of the world fought on many different locations simultaneously. Convergently, the powers who became belligerents to the conflict were separated into two sides - The Allies and the Axis. The conflict fought by these two sides was the most violent and widespread in human history, involving more than 30 countries. Due to the state of total war that existed between them, the major participants threw their entire economic, industrial and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, leading to the rapid development of lethal weaponry, most notoriously - The Atomic Bomb. This level of commitment effectively expunged differences between civilian and military resources, and led to catastrophic casualties for all sides involved.
The conflict itself led to death and destruction in all forms. Targets were not only soldiers on the frontlines, but civilian populations were too . This led to the mass killing of civilians, in particularly the holocaust, German led atrocities inside the USSR, the genocide of Chinese people by Imperial Japan, strategic bombings of industrial and population centres by Allied Powers, as well as a flotilla of other massacres that led to the death of millions of civilians. As consequence to the sheer brutality, the conflict led to the deaths of 75-95 million people. By far the deadliest war in human history. There were many things that led to this catastrophe, Japan looked to build a large and powerful empire in Asia and in the Pacific. To this end, the Japanese had attacked China using occupied Manchuria.
Background[]
The Second world war has always been regarded as a continuation of the first. The reason for this was because tensions between the victors – The Entente Powers (Great Britain, France, Russian Empire, Italy, United States and Columbian States) and the vanquished – The Central Powers (Austro-Hungarian Empire, Ottoman Empire, German Empire) were largely still very high even after the war’s end. The war to end all wars had left Germany broken, and the major victors in debt. It had led to the inception of new European nations, and a revanchist policy had engulfed the continent as a result.
For Britain and France, the cost of maintaining large empires had only exponentially grown due to the absorption of the colonial territories of the defeated. The newly formed Weimar Republic in Germany was an unstable democracy due to how horrible the post-war economy was. Extremists who promised substantial change sprung up all over the country and had garnered a huge following. Italy, of whom had been guaranteed substantial territorial gains by Britain and France in order to secure the nationsa involvement in the war, only received a fraction of what was promised. The government was corrupt and did nothing, and the Italian economy experienced a downhill spiral immediately after the conflict due to this lack of transparency and corruption.
Spain had not been a belligerent to the conflict, but still, after the war the country had been devastated by the Spanish Flu that killed millions. The final nail in the coffin would be the Spanish Civil War, which was a deadly conventional war between the Republicans and the Nationalists. It was not only a prelude to the horrors of the modern war to come, but added to the tally of the dead in the millions. Even though they had cleverly avoided WWI, the suffering of the Spanish people remained incredibly immense.
Meanwhile, back in the new world, it was a different story. The nations of the western hemisphere (the United States of America & the United States of Columbia) had only been enriched by WWI. Their economies had been mobilized to sell Europe all the ammunition and supplies it needed to fight itsa gruelling war, and when they were both dragged into the conflict, quickly dispatched their opponent as a result of newfound economic strength. By the end of the war, both sister nations were individually richer than Great Britain, and had thus replaced the European power as the main economic powerhouses of the world. In contrast to the post-world war 1 economic recession which plagued the world, both countries experienced an economic boom that made them world’s financial centre. Even so, the Great Depression that followed left both nations economically unhealthy in what was supposed to be the era of post-war prosperity.
Belligerents[]
Axis Powers[]
The main leaders of the Axis (Quadrilateral Pact of Steel) in Europe meet in Berlin, December, 1940, in order to discuss the conversion of Germany's Operation Barbarossa (the invasion of the Soviet Union) into a joint military seizure by the entire alliance in Europe. [Synopsis] Hitler (Centre), the Fuhrer of Nazi Germany; Mussolini (Left), the Deuce of the Kingdom of Italy; and Fernandez (Right), the Francoist Spain's Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Formally known as the Quadrilateral Pact of Steel, was a military alliance between Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, Francoist Spain and the Empire of Japan. It had formally been aggregated in 1939, before the beginning of WWII. The alliance had been formed by these four nations in a bid to keep the nations of Europe from joining the side of Great Britain and France during the coming war by guaranteeing military protection. Indeed, other nations did join e.g. Bulgaria. Benito Mussolini, the Deuce of Fascist Italy, had referred to the alliance as the Berlin-Rome Axis during one of his speeches, leading to the alliance’s more commonly known term of Axis:
Nazi Germany[]
The National Flag of Nazi Germany.
On September the 1st, 1939, a Germany under Nazi rule launched a devastating attack on neighbouring Poland. Hitler demanded a swift and absolute victory over the defiant nation. The terrifying German military machine had met it’s first wave of resistance after years of aggressive foreign policy imposed on European nations by the German Fuhrer. The Wehrmacht marched to Poland a proud army. About 21 years had passed since their forefathers had been forced to return to Germany as a defeated army. After four years of WWI, the Emperor of Germany – Keiser Wilhelm ii, had been forced to capitulate in totality to the Entente Powers, who’s armies ground the Germans down. If Germany did not surrender unconditionally, then the eventual invasion of the fatherland was inevitable.
For Germany, what followed capitulation was absolute devastation. The victors had agreed to meet in the Palace of Versailles in France. There they would decide Germany’s fate. Humiliatingly, Germany itself was not invited to attend the proceedings. As the world’s first black President, Columbian leader - Avery S. Morse, was staunchly against such treatment, but with him being the only one to disagree and with US President Woodrow's neutrality on the matter, there was little he could do. The treaty utterly devastated an already defeated Germany. The French leader – George Clemenceau, had been harshest of all the leaders present. France had been devastated by the fighting, he thus wanted revenge and wished to cripple Germany so it would never be strong enough to threaten France or start the war again. Unfortunately for Germany, he got his way and managed to sway every leader in the room to sign into these harsh terms, portraying a strong Germany as a threat to the new world order.
The full extent of German losses in land as imposed by the Treaty of Versailles.
The consensus of the treaty was a hard pill to swallow for the Central Powers. Germany’s ally, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was to be immediately dismantled. As consequence, new nations were born – The Baltic states (Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania); Czechoslovakia; Poland; Yugoslavia; Hungary; Austria. Germany itself would be considerably shrunk in size. These decisions would subsequently fuel Hitler’s revanchist foreign policy, leading to the second world war. Germany’s overseas empire was also dismantled, resulting in the loss of all of its’ colonial holdings. To add insult to injury, the German people were to take full responsibility for the war, being forced to pay a crushing 132 billion Gold Marks in reparations, an amount Germany certainly did not have. June 28, 1919, German delegates would be forced to sign into a treaty that would ensure that Europe remained in a state of turmoil.
Meanwhile, US President Woodrow Wilson had left the United States promising new hope to the people of the new world. During the treaty, he proposed the formation of a new world order under a newly created "League of Nations". With Columbian States President Morse’s support, all the attendees of the treaty would be signatory to the organization. Now disputes between countries would be settled within the league using debate and diplomacy instead of being resolved on the battlefield. However, under the conditions set by the treaty's demands on the defeated, Woodrow’s new world order was doomed to fail.
Even though Morse supported Woodrow during the conference, his cabinet and most importantly, the Union Congress, did not. The casualties dealt to Columbia in WW1 were caused the by Sister Nations' uncharacteristic involvement in world affairs, the Treaty of Versailles made it almost inevitable that Europe would once again start fighting, and with this league, Columbia would be dragged into the conflict almost immediately. These were the arguments that not only President Avery Morse had to deal with from the government of Columbia, but Woodrow had to take from the US public as well as Congress. Ultimately, both the Union and US Congresses refused to ratify the treaty, and thus never joined the League. The Sister Nations gradually pledged to not involve themselves in Europe’s turbulent affairs, slowly sinking back into isolationism. With no commitment from the main founders, the organization was doomed from inception.
The Reichstag, an edifice in Berlin, and the site of the German Parliament after WWI.
Germany itself had been transformed into a different nation. The end of the war brought about the simultaneous abolishment of the nations' monarchy. Kaiser Wilhelm ii had abdicated from the throne, fleeing to the Netherlands, were he lived the rest of his life in relative obscurity. Germany was now a republic, the Weimar Republic. It was still a relatively large nation, but a shell of its’ former glory. Its' newly formed democratic government was forced to take over an already unstable nation, one that had to adhere to the devastating terms of the treaty that ended WWI. To the people of Germany, their government's tolerance of the treaty was unacceptable. Streets erupted into fights between Communists and the far right-wing extremists trying to start a revolution. Then in 1923, as a result of the reparations mandated by the treaty, the country was devastated by hyperinflation, causing the German currency to collapse. The savings of ordinary Germans were wiped out almost instantly.
German kids using the German mark (the country's currency) as paper for their kites after it became useless in 1923. This was common practice all over country after the collapse, and most people viewed German currency as being more useless than a piece of paper.
Germany was highly unstable, and this created fertile ground for revolutionary extremists looking to seize power from the democratic government. The NSDAP, commonly known as the Nazi Party, was one of these extremists. Their radical leader - Adolf Hitler, had attempted a coup de’ tat in 1923, although it failed miserably, it gained him nationwide popularity. During his imprisonment as consequence to the failed coup, he had written a book – Mein Kampf, meaning ‘My Struggle’, here he outlined his racist ideology, demanding the German people to re-arm and retake what belonged to them as a “Master race”. The people of the nation were already bitter about the war’s outcome, this was not making things any better. Luckily for the Nazis, in the year 1930, the German economy completely collapse. Huge loans from the United States of Columbia had rescued the economy during the crisis of 1923, the useless German currency, which couldn't even buy a loaf of bread anymore, was replaced with the more powerful Columbian Dollar. But now the Great Depression had taken its' hold on the Western hemisphere, and the depression instantly went global. Columbia withdrew all its’ loans to Germany and demanded repayment, the German economy collapsed instantly.
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German workers building a railroad near the city of Munich. A common example of Germany's public works programs under Adolf Hitler, initiated and maintained in an effort to soak up Germany's crazy high unemployment during the Great Depression.
It would be these conditions among other things that would allow the Nazi party to take control of the German parliament via the Enabling Act of 1933. Hitler had become chancellor of Germany in 1932, and after the death of President Paul von Hindenburg in 1933, successfully merged the offices of the chancellor and the president, becoming the Fuhrer of the German nation. The armed forces were to completely disregard the constitution, pledging undying loyalty to Adolf Hitler, the supreme leader of the German people. Hitler would impose a ruthless autocratic regime with himself at it's centre. All forms of democracy were eradicated, and the gestapo prowled the streets of German cities in search of dissidence. Political scientists of the time now firmly believed that another world war was imminent. From the day he took over, Hitler knew he would have to go to war with France and England. But for now, he had to focus on rebuilding the German economy, which was in shambles because of the Great depression. Hitler spent millions on Public Works in an effort to reduce unemployment. Also, in his earliest breach of the Treaty of Versailles, Germany was to pay no more war reparations to France and Britain.
A German Aircraft Factory in Berlin assembles Heinkel He 111 bombers in 1934. An ever growing sign of German re-armament and military power.
In contrast to other nations, who wanted a more casual, suburban and modern life for their civilians, Hitler wanted a more militaristic and hyper-nationalist Germany. The treaty of Versailles had reduced the German armed forces to 100 000 men, forbidding them from having an Airforce, tanks and submarines. Again, in breach of the treaty, Hitler would unveil his brand new Airforce in 1935, the Luftwaffe, with 2 800 modern planes, this was far more than what Britain and France had at the time. He would then reintroduce conscription in order to grow the numbers of the German army, and would put millions to Germany's Navy, building a large U-boat fleet, these submarines would terrorize the Atlantic during the coming war. Weakened by the Great Depression and not ready for war, Britain and France did nothing to confront Germany. Since the Nazis took over, the vast unemployment rates that plagued the country had become a thing of the past, and Germany's economy had grown exponentially. As a result, Hitler grew more popular.
In 1935, the German Fuhrer would begin his aggressive expansionist program by re-occupying the Saarland district. It had been returned to Germany via a vote by the League of Nations, but due to its' dangerous proximity to the French border, was to be demilitarized for fifteen years. Hitler was never going to let that happen, and would send the troops anyway. With Britain and France offering no response to the occupation of the Saarland by the German army, Hitler would order his troops to occupy another demilitarized part of Germany – The Rhineland, a gross violation of the Treaty of Versailles. At first, the Germans were merely retrieving what was taken from them by the Treaty of Versailles, so there were no grounds for France and Britain to meddle in their affairs. Hitler and his Nazis were seen as nothing more than harmless restorationists whom wanted to revive the spirit of the nation and bring back German pride.
Hitler during the 1936 Berlin Olympics, with the Nazi Minister of Propaganda - Joseph Goebbels to his right, and the Commander-in-Chief of the Luftwaffe - Herman Goering to his far right. These three were high ranking members of the Nazi Party, thus important figures in the leadership of a Fascist ethnocentric Germany.
To the West, the Nazi party was seen as firm, but fair. Of course this was not the case with Columbia, the government had taken note of the Nuremberg laws which discriminated against Jews, Gypsies, Homosexuals and other minorities, and immediately chose to boycott the 1936 Olympics after it was announced they would be held in Berlin. The same thing had almost happened in the USA, but unlike in the USC, the sport administrators of the nation had managed to convince the government to not mix politics with sports. To Columbia, racism was against everything the nation stood for. They had thus been firm on their belief that Nazi Germany would eventually be a threat to world peace, but unexpectedly, the threat to world peace would come entirely from somewhere else, an increasingly aggressive empire in the Pacific was now making its' move against its' weakened neighbour.
Empire of Japan[]
The National Flag of the Empire of Japan.
Even before WWI, China had always been Japan's main target. But to be fair to the island nation, the great powers of Europe also targeted China because of its' problems with stability. Japan had been denied a platform to set up spheres of influence in China by the likes of Germany, Russia and Britain. Because of this, Japan had gone to war with Russia in 1905, and had stunned the world by actually winning. As a result, Japan had been firmly established as a military power, going so far as to sign into the League of Nations after the War to end all wars had ended. During WWI, they had fought alongside the allies, and the benefit was noticeable. Japan's economy had grown exponentially, but there was a problem. The nation lacked the sufficient raw materials needed to accommodate its' rapidly expanding economy and populous. The only feasible solution for the Japanese nation was expansion via military expedition. Their first target would be mineral-rich Manchuria, one of the main breadbaskets of China.
However, Japan needed to be careful, as it was not the taking of Manchuria that was a problem, but the reaction of the two giants from the Western Hemisphere. The Sister Nations had massive naval capabilities, and rousing their roar was not on Japan's hit list. But luckily for the Japanese, the people of Columbia and America couldn't care less about what happened in South-East Asia. The two countries were experiencing the roaring 20s and economic growth was massive. Plus, the Jazz Age had also swept through both countries and the massive amounts of movies from Hollywood and Divinus were now one of the many pleasures that distracted the people of Columbia and America. As a result of these distractions, the problems of Asia seemed so far away. To add to these distractions, the crash in 1929 had caused unimaginable economic downturns across the two Capitalist powers. Now instead of pleasure, their distraction was pain. The prioritization of domestic policy had never been more important, the issues of the world were now secondary, and the sister nations' isolationism only worsened this indifference towards foreign policy. Japan could finally make its' move.
With troops already in Manchuria, the Japanese would invade the Chinese region on September 1931, converting the region into the puppet state of Manchukuo. Japan was instantly condemned by the world for the attack. For the League of Nations, its' tackling of the crisis had been disastrous. Japan instantly exited the league and there was nothing that could be done for Chinese Manchuria. Japan however, wanted more, turning their eyes onto the rest of China. Internal turmoil had left the nation devastatingly weak, a civil war between Nationalists and Communists rendered the nation virtually incapacitated if not completely unable to protect itself against invasion. However, they had to be careful, there were beliefs that the USSR might intervene should they decide to invade all of mainland China. Their solution to the problem was Soviet Russia's natural enemy – Fascism.
Nervous about Stalin’s Soviet Union, the Japanese would agree to sign a pact with Germany in 1936, in an effort to protect themselves against Soviet intervention once their eventual invasion of all of China began. Indeed, in the year 1937, the Japanese would instigate the Marco Polo Bridge incident, using it as a pretext to begin their aggressive campaign to invade all of China. Unsurprisingly, Stalin had instantly sent aid to China, it was revenge for Japanese involvement during the Russian civil war. With massive amounts of material support from the USSR, Chinese cooperation with Germany had come to an end. Even so, by 1937, the Japanese had overrun all of eastern China, including much of the nations' coasts. But due to Soviet aid, a stalemate had slowly set in. As for the League of Nations, although Stalin had rescued the international organization during this crisis, it was facing even worser military threats close to home, and like Germany, it was Fascist.
Fascist Italy []
The National flag of the Kingdom of Italy
Even though Adolf Hitler was by far the most prolific of the fascist leaders of Europe, he was not the first one. Fascismo, the ideology that was backed by the axis, had been formed by Benito Mussolini after he had been excommunicated by the Socialist Party of Italy. Like Germany, the Kingdom of Italy was on the verge of anarchy after WWI. Besieged by strikes, riots and massive public dissidence, the Italian economy was in a bad state, and the corruption showcased by government officials only worsened its' effects. So when Benito Mussolini organized far right-wing nationalists to form Fascism, the promises he made to the Italian people did not go onto deaf ears, In fact it was quite the contrary. Although someone in the 21st century would laugh at the idea of creating a fascist state, back then fascism was as legitimate as any other ideology, and belief in its' practicality and effectiveness was high. Support for the fascists was massive in Italy, allowing Benito to seize power in 1922 by forcing the king to make him Prime Minister.
March the 27th, 1922, Mussolini and his supporters during the March on Rome. This event would symbolize Benito Mussolini's rise to power in the Kingdom of Italy, leading to the subsequent demise of the socialist and liberal Parliamentary regimes of the country.
As a totalitarian extremist and class collaborationist movement, fascism suppressed basic civil liberties, crushing liberal and left-wing forces, and soon democracy itself was renounced and abolished in Italy. Like Hitler, Mussolini had played his cards right, and soon he was the II Duce of Italy. The new leader of the Italian people quickly assumed dictatorial powers over Italy, handing all power to the fascists. This success would not go unnoticed as it would be one of the main inspirations that would drive Hitler and his Nazi Party to power in Germany. Like Hitler, Mussolini's foreign policy was aggressive. He aimed to make Italy a world power that eclipsed France and Britain, a “New Roman Empire”. But first, he had to deal with the troubles at home. Under Mussolini, corruption in the government had been rooted out, with the Mafia in Palermo and mainland Italy being slowly strangled by the Duce, soon organized crime would no longer be a huge issue. He then shifted his focus to the military, which he felt was an impotent force that could not bare to shoulder the expectations of the Duce.
The Italian Fleet in the Mediterranean on April 1933. (Detailed Description) four NH 86333 Zara Class Heavy Cruisers with multiple destroyers in the background. This was a symbol of the growing naval prowess of the Kingdom of Italy under Mussolini.
Mussolini had poured millions onto the Airforce, building up a large and advanced fist of air power. The army had been refitted and slowly modernized with new tanks and artillery pieces. To make matters worse, he had unleashed a vast Italian navy in the Mediterranean, it outnumbered the ships of both the British and the French combined. If the British and the French weren't careful, then the Italians would gain full control of the Mediterranean sea, something both Empires did not want. Meanwhile, in his quest to create the New Roman Empire, Mussolini looked to expand Italy's overseas colonies. The first target for conquest would be Abyssinia, modern day Ethiopia. The nation had never been colonized by any European power, and Mussolini looked to change that. Plus, without tanks and artillery, he knew the African nation was relatively defenceless against European expeditionary forces using such instruments of war. The Second Italo-Abyssinian War had begun.
Italian troops (during the invasion of Abysinnia) being inspected by Italian General Girolamo Gabrielli.
Mussolini was angry. The Italians had been humiliated by the Africans during the First Italo-Ethiopian War (1895-1896), the defeat still stung even after 40 years had. However, now it was 1935, and the First World War had taught the Italian army a thing or two about modern warfare. This was a war Abyssinia could not wage for it was not a modernized country, something Italy took note of when it attacked the nation using its' colony of Somaliland as a staging ground. The colonial war was brief, and Italy dispatched its' opponents, merging Abyssinia with Somaliland and Eritrea to form the colony of Italian East Africa. Even though they won, the casualties were humiliatingly devastating considering the fact that the Africans basically had no weapons compared to the Italians. Even so, the whole crisis proved how impotent the League of Nations was. Both Abyssinia and Italy were member states, but the League had done nothing when the latter violated its' Article X by attacking Abyssinia. The nations emperor had to flee into exile.
Hitler and Mussolini meet in Rome (May 16th, 1938)
Germany was the only major European country to support the invasion, which stood as testament to the ever growing romance between the two Fascist powers. Meanwhile, from its' headquarters in Switzerland, the League of Nations had imposed economic sanctions on the aggressors, but such penalties had little effect. To Hitler and Mussolini, this humiliation of the League of Nations proved three things, and this was that the organization was incompetent, thus no longer a threat to their expansionist dreams, and that this was because Britain and France no longer had the stomach to fight. To add to this, Europe was in a state of hysteria as both Germany and Italy had gained a new powerful ally, who's strategic geographical position not only served to augment Axis naval activity in the Atlantic, but bolstered the morale in both the latter nations as this meant they now outnumbered the British and French in Europe. With Francoist Spain joining the picture, the Quadrilateral Pact of Steel would soon be signed in Berlin, Germany after the start of WWII.
Francoist Spain[]
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The National Flag of Francoist Spain.
Spain would be the last of the main Fascist powers of the Axis to rise in Europe. Under Francisco Franco, the nation considered itself to be 'Falangist' in nature. Even so, the similarities with fascism were so identical that fascists like Hitler and Mussolini didn't care much. Unlike the latter dictators, the rise of Francisco as the supreme authority in Spain had been considerably much more bloody. For Franco to become dictator, roughly 1.2 million Spanish civilians paid with blood for his ascension to power. In March 1931, a brutal Civil war had erupted in Spain. This was a war between many different ideologies coming together to fight against what they considered to be "a common foe". On one side, it was the Republicans, made up of Communists, Anarchists and Liberal forces, they were up against the Nationalists, of whom comprised of Fascists and Monarchists. The leader of the Nationalists – Francisco Franco, was exceptionally angry when in 1928 a Republic had been declared, culminating in the removal of the Spanish monarchy, something he regarded as "shocking". Like in Germany, the Spanish King had been forced into exile, fleeing to the United States of America.
The Daily Visage newspaper (was and still is the biggest tabloid in the USC State of Victoria, and is Headquartered in the state's capital city - Victoria City) publishes an article on March 14, 1931, detailing the events happening in Spain and its colony of Morocco. This article details events that would eventually lead to the Spanish Civil War, which began on March 17, 1931.
A popular front had gained control of the Republic, and Spanish Generals began to discuss a possible coup to overthrow the new government. An entire military campaign meant for this purpose had given rise to total civil war. As the civil war continued, by 1932, General Francisco Franco had assumed total command of the Nationalist forces. At first glance it looked as if the latter was disadvantaged. Franco's talented army was held up in Spanish Morocco, meaning they had to cross Gibraltar in order to enter mainland Spain and begin fighting the Republicans. This granted control of the majority of Spanish cities to the Republicans. But when the fighting in the mainland intensified, and pro-Francoists rioted, it became increasingly clear that the Republic didn’t have the manpower to police its' chaotic cities. With aid from the Italian Navy, Franco's forces managed to cross Gibraltar relatively unscathed. What angered the international community was that it had engaged the small Spanish fleet to do so, using a surprise attack and thus physically involving itself in the conflict in Spain. It was already against the Geneva Convention to attack another country without warning (in the form of a formal declaration of war) or negotiations, so politicians around the world were angry at Italy.
The Spanish Civil War. (Upper-Left) Nationalist Forces using the Italian Fiat-3000 Tank, hardware received from Italy (Fransisco Franco's biggest donor in terms of military equipment) during the Battle of Belchite. (Upper-Right) Nationalist pilot inside a Reggiane Re.2000 Fighter Plane (another donation from Italy) during the Spanish Civil War in 1932 (this Italian plane would act as a model for the creation of the German Bf 109 Fighter in 1937). (Middle-Left) An Italian Zara Class Heavy Cruiser sailing in Gibraltar before (along with half of the Italian Fleet) carrying out its orders of assaulting Spanish Naval Forces attempting to prevent Fransisco Franco's best armies from crossing the Strait of Gibraltar from Spanish Morocco and into Spain. (Middle-Right) Anarchist Forces bomb an airfield in Spanish Morocco using a bomber received from the Soviet Union. (Lower-Left) Spanish Communist Forces operating a Soviet M1930 (50-K) Anti-Aircraft Gun. (Lower-Right) Spanish Communist Forces at the Siege of Alcazar.
During this civil conflict, Franco and his Nationalists had received massive aid from Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany. This aid was not only meant to test brand new military equipment for both countries, but to ensure that Fascism had a new major ally. To this end, Italy not only provided half the boats used by Franco's forces to cross Gibraltar, but had also sent military advisors, planes and tanks to assist the Nationalist forces. Nazi Germany had mostly sent newly built armoured cars, artillery pieces, mortars and tanks to Franco's forces, thus effectively playing their part. Because of this massive aid, the conflict quickly turned in Franco's favour. The Second Spanish Republic tried in vain to appeal for the help of Britain and France. Attempting to recover from the Great Depression and with fears that involvement would start another European war, London and Paris refused, declaring a policy of non-intervention. Comically, Italy and Germany had also signed into this policy, but broke it anyway. The League of Nations failed yet again to stop the hostilities in Spain, and apart from humanitarian aid from the USA and USC, the Republic received no assistance from Europe’s powers.
In response to British and French refusal to assist the Republic of Spain in its' war against Franco's forces, Josef Stalin, the leader of the Soviet Union would be the one to offer military assistance to the Republic. Even so, by the time Soviet aid had arrived, the aid Franco had been receiving from Italy and Germany since the beginning of the conflict had brought the Republic to the brink, proving to be a decisive factor in the proxy war between the USSR and the Fascist powers of Europe. By 1934, Franco’s Nationalist forces had gained complete control over Spain, and the Republican government was gone. With massive economic aid from Germany and Italy, Franco would slowly repair Spanish industry whilst enforcing a ruthless regime with himself at its' centre. Like his counterparts, Franco's Dictatorship was aggressively expansionist, and was already threatening neighbouring Portugal. Franco demanded that the two nations unite the Iberian Peninsula into one strong nation. By 1935, tensions with the Portuguese government were at an all time high.
Spanish troops marching in the city of Coimbra, Portugal during the 7th of October 1935.
Fortunately for Franco, Portugal hadn’t really recovered from the Great Depression, and when Franco made demands to unite the nation with the economically stronger Spain, a great portion of Portuguese civilians, in particular pro-Francoists, began demanding for the two nations to unite. All in all, a staunch majority of Portugal’s people were opposed to Franco’s demands regardless of economic recession. Even so, with German and Italian backing, Franco was very confident and relentless. As a result, on October the 7th, 1935, heavily armed Spanish troops would march into Portugal. The Portuguese military would offer some resistance, but after Hitler’s Luftwaffe threatened to bombard Portuguese cities, the government fled and the Portuguese military instantly surrendered, plus, due to the fact that there was a huge number of Portuguese soldiers who sympathized with Franco’s cause, fear of disloyalty made the Portuguese Army certain they would lose. So to save lives, they gave up before they even began. Again, the League of Nations was useless. Spain had annexed Portugal without much trouble.
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A sample of a 1938 newspaper article that would eventually be published in the front cover of the New York Times (a US Tabloid based in New York City). The article details the Columbian government's unilateral oil embargo on Spain.
Attempting to keep the peace in Europe, the British had agreed to meet with Franco’s delegates in the Portuguese city of Lisbon. The consensus of the Lisbon Conference were that Britain would not interfere with Spanish efforts to incorporate the colonies of Portuguese Angola and Mozambique into Franco’s newly revived Spanish Empire, in return the Spanish promised to not formally ally themselves militarily with Nazi Germany or the Kingdom of Italy. With British assurance, Francoist Spain would send its’ colonial representatives to its’ newly acquired colonies in Africa. With their homeland conquered, Portuguese colonial officers and soldiers would instantly submit to Franco’s rule, in particularly when Spanish troops began moving into these colonies in order to enforce Francisco’s fascist and oppressive rule on the African natives, not that the Portuguese weren’t guilty of abusing the natives themselves. Meanwhile, the Super-States of the Western Hemisphere were too busy trying to repair their damaged economies to care, Columbia and America would not interfere, although Columbia would impose a unilateral oil embargo on Spain in early 1938 after reports of the increasingly severe abuse of the African natives in Spanish colonial territories continued to persist.
Francisco Franco (Dictator of Spain) meets his ally, Adolf Hitler (Dictator of Germany).
With his empire built, and Spain turned into a major world power once again, Franco could finally chase his economic and military endeavours. Up to that point, his country had survived from subsidies and loans from Berlin and Rome. To compensate, he would put more pressure on his colonies, atrociously using natives as slave labourers to increase the extraction of natural resources from the colonies, which he would deliver to Italy and Germany in massive bulks, helping to fuel German and Italian arms build-up. In return, he would ask for more loans from Germany and Italy, this would increase the abuse on the African natives of Spanish colonies, leading to many of them fleeing to neighbouring colonies in an effort to escape the oppression, but with a European colonized Africa, that was relatively impossible. Franco’s absolute control of all forms of media in Spain would ensure that most of these crimes against humanity were covered up. Meanwhile, as he tightened his regime’s control back home, Spain was beginning to look more like a police state.
Picture taken on the 27th of February 1939, shows a Spanish Weapons Factory that is designed for the manufacturing of anti-aircraft guns, tank cannons, anti-tank guns as well as a variety of other large guns specifically meant for large scale warfare. This was a symbol of the ever growing military strength of Francoist Spain.
With trade, as well as the massive loans that he got from Italy and Germany, Franco would quickly build a unified Spanish military, with a modernized Army, Airforce and Navy. Spanish industry also began to grow. In an effort to further modernize Spain’s military, Franco’s government would give arms contracts to Columbian weapons corporations, allowing the production of the latest tanks and planes for the growing Spanish army. Naval experts from Italy and Germany would be the main builders of a modern Spanish Navy. In order to build balance with Germany’s U-boat fleet, like Italy, Franco preferred a large surface fleet of destroyers, cruisers and battleships, creating a powerful naval fist against the British Royal Navy. To military experts, this coordination of military tactics and prowess between these three countries only meant one thing – they were gearing up for a war.
Allied Powers[]
Although the military alliance was formalized during different time intervals, the Allied Powers are described as the list of countries who fought against Germany and Japan under the umbrella of mutual support against aggressive Japanese Imperialism in Asia and Fascism in Europe. The alliance was made up of Great Britain, France, China, Soviet Russia, Columbia and America. Under the administration of the Allied Control Council, the alliance comprised of countries with different political systems, of whom subsequently put aside these differences as a response to the dire war-time situation. This political ambivalence was particularly more prominent with the awe-inspiring alliance between countries that had despised each other for roughly two decades - the communist Soviet Union and the imperialist Britain and France:
Britain and France[]
The National Flag of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
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The National Flag of the Third French Republic
The end of the First World War not only brought devastation to countries that had previously been part of the Central Powers, but the Entente also felt the sting. After World War I had swept through Europe, the victorious powers of Britain and France were devastated. War was taking a toll on Europe’s financial stability, and even after the Great War had ended, the economies of Britain and France never really recovered. Meanwhile, there was economic boom in the Western Hemisphere, industry and commerce was rapidly expanding. As a result, many Europeans, including citizens of France and Britain, opted to pack their bags and be shipped off to Columbia and America as refugees. Luckily the Sister Nations needed the labour pool, to this end, many of these refugees were not only admitted, but naturalized into citizens. Even Columbia had sent a fleet of ships to African colonies in an attempt to retrieve as many refugees as possible, even going so far as to smuggle many of them out. In Europe, many investors opted to take their money to the roaring economy of the New World. This meant a lot of capital was leaving the continent, thus impoverishing its’ nations.
Meanwhile, both Britain and France had to face the expensive costs of maintaining empires that were now swollen from the absorption of those that once belonged to their now defeated opponents. Strikes and unemployment in both nations only worsened the post-war economic recession, and the horrific casualties of that war made the citizens of both countries staunchly opposed to the instigation or involvement of future conflicts. British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin adhered to the wishes of the people that elected him by getting rid of conscription, handing over the protection of Western Europe to a reluctant France. As a result, Britain maintained a small professional army whilst France had a large conscript one, and when the Great Depression came in 1929, both countries instantly abandoned any plans to modernize them. Funding to both armed forces would only increase once Germany’s aggression became more apparent, but by then the war was already about to begin. Another issue for both countries was France’s population, in addition to thousands having migrated to the New World, the nation’s birth rate had been experiencing a decline throughout the 1920s. It was thus concluded that by the 1940s, France would experience a manpower shortage. So the nation adopted an entirely defensive military strategy.
To defend against an increasingly aggressive Germany, the French had constructed a series of fortifications along their eastern border called the Maginot Line. The problem was that they hadn’t bothered to build line across the entire channel, meaning Germany could bypass the fortifications via Belgium. This would prove to be a fatal mistake during the war. Plus the Maginot Line made it clear to Hitler that France’s ability to wage an offensive war was diminishing, meaning it could never invade Germany, a weakness the Fuhrer would take note of. What made things worse was that both France and Britain were well aware of the fact that they were outnumbered by the Italian Navy in the Mediterranean. The mighty British Royal Navy as well as the French Fleet were both clearly being overstretched by overseas commitments. Plus, the naval build up of the Spanish Navy meant that it was probable cause to predict that Germany and its’ allies would soon begin competing with Great Britain for control of the English Channel, which was unacceptable to the British leadership. To add to these problems, even though Great Britain and France had sufficient air forces, they were outdated and outnumbered by the very advanced German Luftwaffe.
As consequence to all of this, when Hitler violated the Treaty of Versailles and Italy attacked Abyssinia, it made sense for these two European powerhouses to do nothing. Even so, the British and the French weren’t stupid, and drastically increased spending on their militaries. Of course this had negative economic consequences for both, and these economic issues were exponentially worsened by the Great Depression. Facing this economic decline combined with a resurgence of German power close to their borders, one might say it wasn’t that surprising when these two Capitalist powers turned to a Communist power for help.
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics[]
The National Flag of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
Of all the belligerents of WWI, non had it tougher than the Russian Empire. Although fighting in the rest of Europe had ceased by 1918, the Russian Empire was still embroiled in a brutal civil war that had started in the year prior to the aforementioned. In February 1917, the nation's despotic leader - Czar Nicholas II, had been forced to abdicate from the throne, allowing the Duma (the Russian Parliament) to take over in his place as the nation's Provisional Government. The Communists had been one of the main driving forces behind the removal of the Tsar from power, and after the Provisional Government made it clear that it intended to continue the devastating struggle against the German Empire, the Bolsheviks had toppled them from power as well. With the Communists acting as Russia's new Provisional Government, it had been agreed that democratic elections would be held, and a new constituent assembly would usher the nation into a new dawn as a Republic. The election results would come as a shock to Vladimir Lenin and his Bolsheviks, as they didn't even get a quarter of the constituent assembly, as a result, Lenin would order his Red Army to close this new parliament, and would instantly assume power.
Although the real Russian Revolution ended in October 1917, this blatant abuse of power from Lenin would be one of the main reasons why his opponents would decide to take up arms against his newly established regime. From Imperialists who wished to see the return of the monarchy, to liberals who wanted a democratic Russia, all of Lenin's enemies would ally with one another in their fight against him. Emboldened by outside interference and support from the United States, Japan, Britain and France, the Whites (as they were now collectively known) would instantly escalate their conflict against the Communists, culminating into the Russian Civil War (1917 - 1922), a devastatingly violent conflict that would see the deaths of more than 5 million people. Ultimately, the Communists would come out on top after disastrous division within the White Army led to its complete annihilation. On December the 30th, 1922, Vladimir Lenin would declare the creation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, a Socialist Federation made up of Constituent Republics. This Union would not be recognized until February the 1st, 1924, by the United Kingdom.
Unlike its WWI allies, Russia was not only devastated by the World War, but by a subsequently grueling civil war after Russia had withdrawn from its fight against Germany and its allies. As a result, upon coming into power, the Soviets were ruling a war-ridden state that not only saw a massive economic regression, but was plagued with famine and poverty. Millions had died from the civil war, and the nation had been peeled off its territories in Eastern Europe by the Central Powers, even after the war had ended, these territories would not be not returned, but merely transformed into independent states by the victorious Western Allies, something the Soviet Communist Party was clearly opposed to. Upon the annihilation of the White Army, War-Communism was seen as ineffective, and was thus replaced with the NEP (New Economic Policy) by Lenin, which saw the cultivation of small scale commerce within the newly formed union.
Even though Lenin had led the Reds to a successful Communist Revolution, he would not live to see the creation of his Communist utopia. On the 21st of January, 1924, Vladimir Lenin would see an early passing, and his death had instantly led to the creation of a massive power vaccum within the Soviet Communist Party, and thus the USSR as well. Although Kamenev, Rykov and Zinoviev were seen as possible successors to Lenin, many expected Leon Trotsky, the man who successfully led the Red Army to victory during the Civil War, to be the one to take his place. Unknowingly, Josef Stalin, the General-Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party, had been using his underestimated position to gain more power by putting his supporters in strategic positions within the Communist Party. By the time Lenin died, Stalin had gained massive amounts of influence within the Soviet leadership. Lenin lamented the very though of Stalin succeeding him, taking into account the fact that although he was a reliable, shrewd but loyal follower of the Communist movement, he was too brutal and dispassionate to be the leader of the Soviet Union.
After Lenin passed away, Stalin shockingly took over as the new leader of the Soviet Union. Clearly Stalin was way more cunning than what his enemies took him for, and conveniently enough, most of them simply disappeared, or found themselves arrested by the NKVD. Trotsky would be exiled from the Soviet Union in 1929, and a Stalinist Dictatorship immediately took ahold of the Soviet Union. A Cult of Personality quickly developed around Stalin, and the USSR would become a Police-State. Stalin's careless handling of power created even more enemies for him, and thus escalated his dangerous paranoia, which would culminate into the Great Purge of 1936, a time of immense excess mortality and terror within the USSR. More than 700,000 people are thought to have perished from the purges. This purge not only targeted potential dissidents to the Communist Party, but opposition to Stalin's rule as well. As a result, members of the Communist Party were not spared from the purges. Stalin would also target military officers, no one was safe, and any hope of a possible overthrowal were instantly dashed. Amid efforts to radically transform Soviet Agriculture, Stalin would preside over one of the most terrible peace-time disasters in Soviet history, a 'Great Famine' that would kill millions of people within the Union. Even though the numbers are not exactly clear as Cold War historians from the West would distort information via revisionism and misinterpretation, the disaster clearly killed an immense number of people.
Even so, Stalin's rule was not entirely horrible, although his abrupt abandonment of Lenin's NEP led to stumbles along the way, his policy of "Socialism-in-one-country" would revolutionize the Soviet economy, allowing it to quickly catch up with its Western counterpart. Josef Stalin would implement a series of Five-Year-Plans in an effort to collectivize agriculture and rapidly industrialize the Soviet Union. The first of these plans would be the First Five Year Plan (1928 - 1932), which would radically augment Soviet Industry and mechanize the nation's agriculture. In order for the plan to work, Industrialist firms and engineers from abroad, particularly the USC, USA, Germany and UK had been invited into the USSR, thus making a vital contribution in Soviet Industrialization. The first plan was so successful, that its objectives had been reached ahead of schedule, allowing Stalin the liberty to implement a Second Five Year Plan (1933 - 1938), which saw a continuation of rapid industrial growth. Due to Stalin's five-year-plans, the Soviet Union had been rapidly transformed, developing from a predominantly poor agrarian state, to a massive industrial power. As the colonialist Empires of the West declined, the Soviet Union continued to grow stronger.
Increasing Soviet Military capacity and capability was one of the main reasons why Stalin's economic development plans put an emphasis on Industrialization. Plus, with the rise of Fascism in the West, Stalin knew that the peace established in Versailles would not last for long. Amid increased German aggression, Stalin saw it fit that he should propose an alliance to Britain and France in April 1939. After a series of telegrams and meetings between the representatives of the three nation's, it became clear that negotiations were going nowhere. The Red Tsar of the Soviet Union despaired at Britain and France's cowardice to confront Fascism, and so he decided an alternative be used against the German threat. In order to circumvent a militarily emboldened Germany, thus buying his nation time to prepare for war properly, Stalin proposed terms that he felt would satisfy Hitler's insatiable hunger for territory, whilst protecting and expanding the borders of his Red Europe, allowing him to not only create a small buffer between the USSR and Nazi Germany, but establish peace terms with Hitler's Germany. Hitler was also interested in talks, as although he doubted that France and Britain might oppose him, still felt a little uneasy about attacking Poland without proper preparations concerning his eastern flank (which was dominated by the Soviet Union). As a result, on August 23, 1939, Ribbentrop (the German Foreign Minister) as well as Molotov (the Soviet Foreign Minister) would convene in one of the most shocking meetings in diplomatic history, meeting in Moscow, USSR (the Soviet Capital), where they would sign a Non-Aggression Pact, cementing peace between the two nations for the next ten years, or so Stalin thought. To Hitler, the pact, like most treaties Nazi Germany had been involved in, was just a piece of paper.
Naturally, the pact came as a shock to Britain and France, how could a Fascist state and a Communist nation sit down for anything. Both nation's could not be blamed for such an assertion either, as Fascists and Communists despised each other to the core ideologically. Either way, the non-aggression pact was official, and yet again, both colonial Empires were powerless. At least that they knew, but what they were not aware of was a secret clause within the non-aggression pact. This clause, detailed explicitly that Poland would be broken up between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. To Hitler, this meant that both nation's shared the risk should France and Britain decide to declare war in the defense of Poland, a perfect arrangement in his eyes. In return, Stalin's Soviet Union would have a free hand when it came to the Baltic States. Although Russia, now the Soviet Union, had survived years of unrest, war and chaos due to an incompetent monarchy, it was not the only major belligerent of WW2 to have gone through such tough times, and China, a nation that also experienced a revolution due to a declining monarchy, was also going through a period eerily similar to that of the Soviet Union, post Russian Revolution.
Republic of China[]
United States of Columbia & United States of America[]
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The National Flag of the United States of Columbia
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The National Flag of the United States of America
Despite the turbulent situation overseas, with the rise of Germany and Fascism in Europe, as well as an increasingly expansionist Japan, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the man that led America through the Great Depression, promised the American people that the USA would stay away from a possible conflict in Europe should war break out there. Columbia's people were also very unsympathetic to Europe's Fascist dilemma, and promised to vote out any President that deliberately involved the USC in a possibly massive ground war in Europe, one of which would probably be the possible scale of WW1. With the rise of Italy and Germany, the USSR as well as the decline of France and Britain, many around the world sensed that another World War was on the horizon, particularly when Spain also became Fascist. But in order to be apprised as to why the Sister Nations were so anti-war when it came to Europe and its unrestful geopolitics, one would have to take you all the way back to the conclusion of WW1, the war that signaled an eventual decline to European Imperialism, and jumpstarted the US-Columbian industrial-capitalist machine.
After the American Civil War, Industry in the Western Hemisphere, particularly Columbia, had grown exponentially. By 1867, the Columbian economy was clearly bigger than that of Great Britain, by 1889, the US economy had done the same, relegating the British to the third spot. Many economists of time, began to predict a shift in the geopolitical and economic landscape of the world, and it would clearly favour the Sister Nations of the Western Hemisphere, regardless of the fact that Britain maintained a massive colonial empire, whilst ruling the waves. In an effort to continue outflanking the British economically, as Europe began to mobilize for war, the Sister Nations would mobilize their economies for the purpose of supplying the belligerents of said conflict. As a result, during the terrible events of WW1, whilst war and destruction engulfed the European continent, America and Columbia, well protected by their geographical barrier (i.e. the sea) both pledged neutrality in the conflict. Of course this had been done with the intention that both nations would, like always, profit from the spoils of a large European war, as all the belligerents involved, whether they liked it or not, where in need of weapons, which both the Columbian and American Industrial machine could supply in abundance. This massive supply of arms to Europe would allow both the USA and the USC to basically get handed Europe's colonially acquired gold, jewels and wealth, massively stimulating the economies of both countries. Of course, because of Columbia's Anti-War Bill, the USC was left behind for about a year or so, not only slowing down the Columbian economy, but allowing America's economy (which took advantage of the market opened up by Columbia's abscence) to catch up quite exponentially. Of course, the Union Congress promptly repealed the Federal Anti-War Act of 1911 under the nation's first Black President - Avery S. Morse, meaning that by late 1915, the Columbian Arms Industry was back in full business when it came to selling weapons to a wartorne Europe.
As Columbia and America continued to profit from Europe's destruction, both countries grew even stronger, meaning although they were isolationist, they could not ignore world events forever. The sinking of the British owned ocean liner - Lusitania, due to an attack by a German U-boat as elicited by the sheer brutality of the war in Europe, had not only caused the death of more than a thousand British, but the deaths of 128 Americans. The apology America received from Germany spoke volumes in relation to the growing respect, and perhaps fear that European countries felt with regards to the Sister Nations. Of course, America's acceptance of the apology without consequences was labelled as weakness by many British and Columbians. Indeed, the British looked to take advantage of Columbia's willingness to punish anyone who harmed Columbian civilians, regardless of where they were. The British looked to use French spy - Danette de Falco, whom under the alias of Penn von Fahrion, who had become a sailor in the German navy, and served as a Chief Communicator in the U-boat Schnell Hindenberg 5VI, the largest U-boat in the German fleet. Using his position, Falco would falsify orders from the German High Command, making it look as if an attack on a tourist ship had been ordered from above. As a result, on March the 12th, 1917, setting off from German East Africa, the U-Boat had been apparently been ordered to head for Cape Town, apparently (according to Falco) on a mission to destroy the transference of essential war materials from the Union of South Africa (a British Protectorate) to Great Britain. As the the small cruise-ship coming in from the USC docked on the coast of Cape Town during a visit to the Union of South Africa, the 244 Caucasian Columbian tourists, 137 British tourists, as well as the 144 American tourists, would find themselves under attack from torpedoes fired from said U-Boat. The attack had been so heavy and sudden, that only 6 British, 15 Americans, as well as 8 Columbian nationals survived what the international community would dub as the Cape Crisis.
Civilians back in the USC erupted with rage, and the Morse administration immediately looked to hold the German government accountable for the cowardly attack. Rightfully so, the German government denied any involvement in the attack, but their arrest of Falco (whom, after German officers had found out about, attempted to escape German East Africa and head northwards for British East Africa) had been well documented, and since the German government thought it unwise to lie about the issue (as it would not take long before the Americans as well as the Columbians put two and two together), fully divulged the details of why Falco was being trialed for treason in Berlin. Upon interrogation by Columbian officials, Falco maintained that he had been ordered by German officials to attack the cruise-ship under the pretext that its cargo was detrimental to the German war effort. When President Morse demanded Falco be transferred to the USC, where he was to stand under a special tribunal in Lexington AD, the German government refused. As an absolute monarchy, Kaiser Wilhelm ii was adamant in his conviction to not take orders from a "foreign negro", as unlike Morse, who was elected by the "Columbian people's ignorance", he had a divine right to rule as king. Many attribute the king's racist epithets and attitude to be the reason why he would order the Reichsgericht (German Supreme Court) trialing Falco to sentence him to death. The execution of Falco immideately elicited a response from the Columbian government, leading to an imposition of unilateral sanctions against Germany by the Morse Administration. If anyone wanted to trade with Columbia, they could not trade with Germany, and this included the Central Powers. Although many Columbians were against Germany's attack of civilians in Cape-Town, and thus supported Morse's response, many in the United States regarded Morse's trade embargo on Germany to be an act of executive overreach, as it adversely affected American trade with Germany, both Columbia and America's largest customer in the Central Powers. Ultimately, the Cape Crisis would culminate on the 30th of March 1917 during a state visit by CS President Morse to Cuba, where talks where going to be held about continued US influence in the small island nation. Unknowingly to Morse, the German government, in an effort to get rid of the Columbian trade embargo before it did some real damage on German relations with the super-states of the Western Hemisphere, had hired an American White Supremacist by the name of John Tobius, along with a team of five disgruntled Cubans, to assassinate Morse during his visit to Cuba. Unfortunately for the German government, the British had intercepted the telegram being sent to the would-be assassins in Havana, and immedeately sent to the Columbian government.
The Zimmerman Telegram as it would be dubbed by British media would immedeately result in President Morse's request for a declaration of war against Germany on the basis of attempting to assassinate the President of the United States of Columbia, continued unrestricted submarine warfare in the north atlantic, as well as their attack on the Columbian cruise-ship in CapeTown. With the request having been submitted on the 2nd of April, 1917, the joint Union Congress would vote in support of said proposal on the 4th of April, resulting in Columbia's declaration of war against Germany. The Cape Crisis had ended disastrously for the German Empire, and as Columbia mobilized for war, the USA immideately declared war on Germany as well under the basis of Germany's violation to cease its use of unrestricted warfare in the north atlantic (which included the sinking of American and Columbian merchant ships), as well as America's compliance with Article 6 of the ATA Defence Charter of 1867, which obligated America to assist in the protection of Columbia's military interests, as required vice verse under said charter. The US Congress would grant Woodrow his wish on April the 10th, 1917, meaning a state of war now existed between the United States and the German Empire. With the Western Hemisphere now gunning for a Germany already ground down by France and Britain, the Germans became even more desparate, and began expending resources they did not have in an effort to sieze Paris and sue for peace before the Americans and the Columbians arrived. This course of action would only serve to further weaken an already battered German army, and as supplies dwindled and the Americans and the Columbians arrived, began to be slowly pushed back. In order to avoid an all out invasion of the Fatherland, the German government would surrender unconditionally to the Entente Powers (the Allies) by signing into the disastrous Treaty of Versaiiles.
The war had not only exponentially stimulated trade between the Western Hemisphere and Europe, but it also enriched Columbian and American financial institutions as the rate of loans given to Allied countries had increased exponentially from 1914-1917. By the time the war was over, only Columbia and America were on the verse of an economic boom due technological progress, which in turn led to the mass production of goods, thus allowing the electrification of both countries, the creation of new mass marketing techniques, and due to both countries being Laisezz-faire Capitalist nations, allowed for the availability of cheap credit and increased employment, which in turn allowed for massive consumption of goods and services in both nations. By the time the 'Roaring Twenties' started and America and Columbia began to experience an even bigger economic boom, both Sister Nations, individually had larger markets than Europe combined. As the post-war recession began to badly affect the already injured economies of Western Europe, European investors, seeing the massive growth in economic activity in the USA, began to flood the US-Columbian market, ready to invest in the Wall Street Stock Exchange in New York City, as well as the Liberty Stock Exchange in St.Liberty. The investment spree on both the US and CS economies became so intense that it even led to the 1924 Euro-Capital Flight Crisis of Western Europe, which continued to impoverish the continent. Although the positive effects of the Roaring twenties were so influential that they began to have a positive effect on the European continent, particularly from early 1925 and onwards, many Europeans, seeing the massive economic growth in the new world, opted to pack their bags and head for the United States of America as well as the United States of Columbia, leading to a massive migration of Sicilians, Italians, Englishmen, French, Russian, Slavs, Chinese and even Africans. As refugees, many of those leaving Europe had no intention of going back, the New World was to be their new home.
Due to both Columbia and America having massive chunks of industry as well as being blessed with an overwhelming abundance of natural resources, it was only natural that their economies, with the right policies, would explode. As US-Columbian Industrial appetite for labour began to grow, more and more migrants hit the shores of US and CS coasts, meanwhile the lexical financial policies of both nations allowed the banking systems of both countries to go on a lending spree. By the 1922, both Columbia and America had become the largest creditor nations on earth, holding a lot of external debt from European countries looking to rebuild after the war. This economic boom would also give birth to the Jazz Age, which began in Columbia and quickly spread into the United States and Europe like wildfire. Hollywood and Divinus instantly became the film-capitals of the world, producing an overwhelming number of movies, and giving birth to a Cinema Boom that would result in decline of the old Vaudeville theatrical genre, making way for a new era in entertainment. The Columbian city of Koralia instantly became the gambling hub of the world, having about 66% of the world's casinos, one of the first cities in history to have an economy largely driven by entertainment and gambling, and due to this, the city has grown into a huge tourist attraction ever since, with people from all over the world coming into the city to try their luck. Of course, due to America's prohibition bill having been passed by the US Congress, this meant that the prohibition era in the United States was beginning to take its hold on commerce, thus due to the Volstead Act of 1919, which was coupled with a prohibition in gambling, the economy of Vegas had been hindered, and would be nothing compared to Koralia until the later years to come. Even so, the USA would open up the world's first mall, and the automobile industry in both nations would explode, with America's Ford as well as Columbia's Merx Motors Inc. being the largest automobile companies in the world, and the two main competitors for the international automobile market. Aviation also saw a massive stimulation as a result of the economic growth, with Charles Lindbergh's first solo nonstop transatlantic flight from Roosevelt Field in New York to Paris-Le Bourget Airport in France, being one of the greatest milestones of the decade. The United States, together with various Columbian investors, would pull its resources and build the Empire State Building in New York City, a tower that would become the tallest building on earth for decades to come, standing as a symbol of the dominance of the Western Hemisphere. With so much wealth, both Columbia and America would provide loans for a European economic boom as well. It was clear that due to the economic boom of the New World, both Columbia and America housed two of the largest economies on earth, places where investors from all over the world wanted to do business, and the world's new commercial-hubs, individually outpacing Europe in terms of economic growth.
Although the economic growth in the New-World was undeniably astronomical, it was also very unstable as well. Due to both nations using the economic doctrine of Laisezz-faire Capitalism, active government involvement in the economy was virtually non-existent. The Columbian government vehemently believed that without pure capitalism, their nation's Aurtarky Doctrine (which America claimed to be using as well, although this was not the case due to the US government's oppression of African-Americans) would be contravened. As a result, the Columbian government was even more anti-interventionist than the Hoover Administration (1929 - 1933). This meant that government regulations of the economies of both nations were relatively low, and capital could move freely. As a result, this would lead to the 1929 Wall Street Crash in the USA, followed by the Liberty Collapse in Columbia. The crashes were a result of fears of over-speculation by the Federal Reserve Banks of both nations, which in turn led to over-selling by the people who held shares in the two largest stock exchanges in the world. Since a lot of people had gain overnight wealth as a result of the Stock Exchange, people ready to try their luck flooded banks in order to ask for loans that they would use to buy shares from Wall Street and the Liberty Stock Exchange, and since financial regulations where very lexical, many of these people received said loans, albeit at the price of people's life-savings (as banks did not have money to finance these loans, and thus used the pool of revenue entrusted to them by the people of Columbia, America and even Europe in many instances. Meaning it was a huge gamble on the part of the money-grubbing bankers). Ultimately, the supply of stocks dwarfed the demand and prices instantly bottomed out. As a result, banks who had been giving loans to people who would subsequently invest in the stock exchanges, ended up holding debt from people who could not pay it back (due to severely poor returns from the Stock Exhchange as well as the crash of share prices), whilst they themselves owed a lot of money to people who had deposited money into them via bank accounts. As a result, banking failures had caused the great depression, and the great depression in turn caused banks to collapse under pressure as people instantly flooded banks looking to withdraw their money. By the time a whole lot of them arrived, the banks had been cleaned out, and forced to close, people instantly lost their life savings as a result. In fact, by 1933, depositors saw US$367 billion (of 1930s dollars) disappear like smoke due to banking failures from the USC and the USA alone. The Wall Street Crash and the Liberty Collapse would result in a cataclysmic web of events that would lead to the economic meltdown in history - Great Depression, a time of economic strife and pain in not only the New World, but globally as well.
Initially, Americans and Columbians were distracted by the spoils and pleasures of the roaring 20s, but the dark 30s now meant that both countries were distracted by economic regression and pain. The problems of Europe and Asia seemed so far away, and Isolationism led to dispassionate. The rise of Franco, Mussolini and Hitler, didn't mean anything to Columbians who had lost their homes, their livelihoods, their lifesavings and their national prestige. When Japan attacked Manchuria, Columbian civilians were staunchly anti-interventionist, vowing to vote out the President should he deploy Columbian forces to war in the Pacific. The US government faced a similar dilemma, and Asia and Europe was to be the last of their priorities as the leaders of these two vast nations. Indeed, both the US and the CS governments took heath of their people's demands and moved to begin fixing the economy of the New World. This process of recovery would begin in the United States of Columbia, with the Jordan Reforms of the administration of President Joyner P. Jordan (1929 - 1934), Columbia's second black President. President Jordan would begin implementing his reforms on early August 1932, culminating in his National Economic Strategy (NES), which would be the basis in which President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933 - 1945) would base his New Deal economic policy on, in an effort to battle the economic aftermath of the Great Depression. Both the NES and the New Deal would be made up of three phases (Relief; Recovery and Reform). This meant that the government would actively participate in repairing the economies of both countries respectively. In simpler terms, both governments would introduce temporary aid programs that would help uplift citizens from deepened poverty, thus halting the continued deerioration of their economies (i.e. relief), temporary investment initiatives from the government would then be used to restart the flow of consumerism and demand, allowing a basis for further investment into supply from private capital, thus helping to repair the economy (i.e. recovery), and lastly to increase regulations on the free market via permanent policies and institutions so that an economic disaster similar to the Great Depression can never occur again (Reform). Although many anti-communists labelled the policies as socialist, they did help both economies to recover, albeit still facing the after-effects of the Great Depression, with Columbia's unemployment rate soaring to 14%, whilst America's was at 17% (although a great improvement fom the height of the great depression, where unemployment in the USC skyrocketed to about 28%, whilst that of the USA climbed to 25%). Due to the success of the New Deal in repairing the American economy, Rosevelt would remain President of the USA until the day he died whilst Jordan finished his term and refused to run for the second time by choice, although many Columbians were very unhappy about his decision to do so, meaning he most probably would've been voted back into office had he run for the 1934 CS Presidential elections.
Even though Roosevelt had promised his people that America would stay out of Europe's politics during the 1936-7 US Presidential Elections, he was pretty sure that like in WW1, America (and thus Columbia) would be dragged into yet another European conflict, plus tensions with Japan where a cause for concern. As a result, in 1935, he initiated a nationwide military re-armament program called the Roosevelt initiative X. Columbia, inspired by Roosevelt's initiative, also began to re-arm from mid-1937. Despite the horrific effects of the Great Depression on both economies, the CS and US Armed forces underwent a massive process of modernization so as to ensure that both the USC and the USA were not left behind by Europe militarily. The Sister Nations thus began mass production of the latest fighters, bombers, tanks, warships and weapons. Columbia even began doing heavy research on jet engines, rockets and even helicopters, with the intention of incorporating these technologies onto their military. The Americans on the other side were also beginning to do some extensive research on nuclear energy, with the intention of building superpowerful weapons using it, in fact, this research was regarded to be so important that not even Columbia, America's closest ally, knew. This massive investment in military technology during the 1930s as well as later exploitation of it would ensure that both Columbia and America were well ahead of the world technologically.
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Christina J. Holloway, the President of the United States of Columbia from 1939 to 1949. She is also history's first female President (i.e. Head of State) and is largely famous for Presiding over Columbia during WW2 and its immediate aftermath.
Meanwhile, in the Southern continent of Columbia, the United States of Columbia was swearing in a new President - Christina J. Holloway (1939 - 1949), Columbia first female President. Before going into politics, Christina was a model as well as an actress for silent, and then later, sound films. She was highly respected in Divinus, Columbia's film industry. Unlike a lot of Presidents (from either the US or the CS), Christina was truly an inspiration for most as she did not grow up under a wealthy family, and was actually a farmgirl from the USC State of Eusia, meaning her journey from rags to riches was very encouraging. Although the very thought of a female president in the USA at the time was unthinkable for many Americans, Columbian society was far FAR ahead of both the USA and Europe in terms of human rights, anti-bigotry and egalitarianism. Although many Americans lamented the though of Christina being President, many Columbians were actually very happy over her appointment, and although she did not win via landslide, her victory still proved that the Columbian people were willing to give her a chance. As a natural hard-worker, many Columbians were hopeful over her appointment. She made many promises to Columbians, and these included massive reparations to Afro-Columbians affected economically by the racism of the 1800s, a maintenance of isolationism from Europe and its internal affairs, the protection and promulgation of growth for the Columbian economy etc. Many believed she could achieve everything she was promising, and unsurprisingly, both Roosevelt and Holloway maintained the tradition of friendship between the heads of state of the USC and the USA, and as the Sino-Japanese war in SE Asia grew worse and the conflict in Europe drew closer, continued re-armament programs, these would come in handy during WW2.
The Axis Advance (1939 - 1940)[]
The Campaign for Lebensraum Begins - The Wehrmacht Invades Poland[]
Germany had signed a Non-Aggression Pact with Poland in 1934, but as proven by the Nazi Party's total disregard for international law, many political scientists at the time were convinced that this was another worthless piece of paper to Hitler and his party. Indeed, Hitler would unilaterally withdraw from the pact on the 28th of April, 1939, after talks over the Free-City of Danzig and the corridor splitting Germany in two broke down. Hitler was bloody livid at the defiance shown by the Poles, and the British and French guarantee of Polish independence on the 31st of March, 1939 did not make things any better. Tensions between Poland and Germany were at an all-time high, and Hitler, realizing that the British Imperialists planned to oppose him instead of backing him, made preparations to fight both France and Britain in conjunction with Poland, hence the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact on the 23rd of August, 1939. The Poles, unwilling to back down and enboldened by Western support, had increased the deployment of troops to the Polish-German Border. War with Germany, seemed imminent.
After all diplomatic antics had been exhausted, on September the 1st, 1939, Germany would launch an all-out invasion of Poland using the staged Gleiwitz Incident as a pretext for this act of outright hostility. To Hitler's surprise, France and Britain would honour their guarantee to Polish independence by declaring war on Germany. Hitler was furious, and ordered his generals to immediately begin plans for the total invasion of France. Undeterred, the Germans would continue their relentless invasion of Poland. The Poles were significantly disadvantaged both numerically and technically, having only 39 Divisions, which amounted to a total of 1,000,000 troops, standing against a 66 Division strong Heer (the German Army), which totaled 1,500,000 German troops on Polish territory. With only 4,300 Artillery Guns, 210 Tanks as well as 670 Tankettes, the Polish Army stood little chance against the heavily armed German Army, which had 9,000 Artillery Pieces, 3,000 Armored Fighting Vehicles, as well as 2,750 Tanks. The German Luftwaffe were also significantly more powerful, and having deployed 2,400 Aircrafts against Poland, gained total air superiority almost immediately after proving to be more modernized than Poland's 800 Aircrafts, which in addition were being operated by relatively inexperienced pilots in comparison to the Germans. The Poles were not only outnumbered and outgunned, but were about to face a new form of warfare to which they had not been accustomed to - Blitzkrieg.
The New German Weapon - Blitzkrieg[]
Going into this conflict, the Germans had pursued a brand new, never-seen form of offensive warfare - Blitzkrieg. Devised by General Franz Halder (the Chief of the General Staff), and directed by Field Marshal Walther von Brauchitsch, this new military doctrine sought to pulverize enemy divisions via mass encirclement movements. Giving justice to the doctrine's commitment to fast-paced warfare, the Germans used massive mechanized armored divisions in an effort to outflank and surround their enemies. Although the German military was far from being completely mechanized, regular units were fitted with fast-moving self-propelled artillery, and were to be supported by Panzers as well as truck-loaded infantry in order to assist in the rapid movement and maneuverability of troops. Bewildered Polish Infantry divisions would be isolated from each other and picked apart by the Germans. The Luftwaffe's total air-superiority over Poland also severely hindered Polish reconnaissance operations, not only hindering their efforts to evade encirclement after encirclement as the German strategy became clearer and clearer, but providing significant cover for German troops on the ground. The Poles were clearly ill-prepared for this form of warfare, and were at the mercy of the German military.
Unsurprisingly, the Anglo-French commitment to Polish independence was largely symbolic in that both nations would not support the Poles materially, essentially leaving them to fend for themselves against the German onslaught. Although to say they did nothing would be a far cry as immediately after declaring war on Germany, both France and Britain would initiate an entire naval blockade of Germany, akin to WW1, in an attempt to starve Germany off the minerals, metals, food and textiles it needed to continue fighting the war. Consequently, the Germans would respond by launching the U-Boat campaign against the Allies, essentially sinking merchant ships transporting supplies to Britain. This would ultimately escalate into the Battle of the Atlantic between the Axis Naval Affiliation (ANA) and the USC, USA and Great Britain. Meanwhile, the war in Poland raged on as the Poles found themselves being pressured by the Germans, not only leading to the surrender of swathes of their manpower, but forcing them into a slow retreat eastwards as the Germans gained more ground. Ultimately, the final nail in the coffin would be the Soviet invasion of Poland from the East, leaving the small yet formidable country no chance against the two giants simultaneously crashing down on it from two sides.
The Soviet Invasion & The Partitioning of Poland[]
As agreed during the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact in the Soviet Capital, the 800,000 strong army of the USSR would invade Poland on the 17th of September, 1939. This was a clear violation of the Riga Peace Treaty and the Soviet-Polish Non-Aggression Pact. By this time, the Polish Army had already been largely defeated, and plans to retreat and reorganize along the Romanian Bridgehead had been formulated. However, the Soviets, under the pretext of protecting the interests of Belarussian and Ukrainian minorities of Eastern Poland, seeing as the Polish Government had fled the country, thus meaning the Poland as a nation "ceased to exist", invaded the already pulverized country from the east. In reality, it was clear to competent political circles that the Soviet Union was reclaiming territory siezed from it after WWI by the Polish right-wing Dictatorship that was in power. Furthermore, Stalin was drawing a line between the Soviet Union and Nazi German advance as the non-aggression pact between the two was in itself ample evidence of their abhorrence of one another. With the Soviet invasion, plans by Polish military officials to regroup and to reorganize for the fight against Germany were instantly shattered, and Poland found itself being overrun on two fronts. The severely outnumbered Polish battalions in the eastern hemisphere of the nation, which amounted to a meagre 25 battalions, would be ordered by the nation's Commander-in-Chief Edward Rydz-Smigly, to retreat and not to engage the massive Soviet tidal wave that was overflooding the nation, although this would not prevent clashes between the Soviets and some Polish soldiers and locals from occurring as the Poles attempted to defend their nation.