| Fourth Great War | |||||||||
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| Timeline: An Honorable Retelling | |||||||||
 Clockwise from top left: Bharatian troops in the Battle of Aizawl, Columbian invasion of Battle Mound, the Commonwealther Air Force preparing for the Bombing of Strasbourg, Alaskan forces in the Battle of Boise, a German soilder receiving first aid during the Battle of the Rhine, the Rhomanian army in the Battle of Nicopolis |
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
Allies: United States Russia Germany China RhomaniaOthers | AFDN: France Bharat Alaska Sovereign StatesOthers |
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Main Allied leaders: Alf Landon Andrei Ivanovich Shingarev Wilhelm Pieck Dai Li Themistoklis Sofoulis
| Main AFDN leaders: Charles Maurras Savitri Devi Sergey Taboritsky Theodore G. Bilbo
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The Fourth Great War, sometimes referred to as World War IV or Great War IV, was a global conflict that lasted from 1938 to 1946. It was primarily fought in Europe, Columbia and Asia, between the Allied powers and the Alliance of Free and Democratic Nations (AFDN). The war was the deadliest conflict in human history, with over 90 million casualties, largely due to the genocides conducted by France, Bharat and the Sovereign States throughout the war.
Following the end of the Third Great War, varients of fascism began rising throughout the world, especially in France, who had lost its entire empire following the war. In 1938, despite being warned against such an act, France invaded Wallonia-Luxembourg on 1 May, triggering declarations of war by Lublin and Rhomania, beginning the Fourth Great War. After the invasion, the eight-month period known as the "War of Nothing" took place, after which in early 1939 France invaded Germany after being refused military access, capitulating the nation in August with the capture of Berlin. France's other allies later joined the war effort, with Hungary invading Czechoslovakia in November 1939.
Bharat had become drastically radicalised in the 1930s under the premiership of Savitri Devi, which resulted in the Triple Alliance being formed in 1935 between China, Japan and Thailand. In February 1940, India invaded Thailand despite the existence of the alliance, fully beginning the war in Asia. Meanwhile, in North Columbia, the white supremacist Sovereign States backed by Alaska invaded the United States in June 1940, dragging the latter nation into the war. France would also invade Poland in April 1940 after a Polish aircraft shot down French bombers in a well-publicised incident of Polish neutrality backfiring. The Polish front would prove to be one of the most difficult for French forces, with high resistance and cold weather putting the advantage towards the Poles.
North Italy began to get involved militarily as well. In May 1940, they launched an invasion of Austria-Slovenia. A month later, they began military operations against Tuscany, Romagna and Slavonia. The rest of 1940 would see the establishment of puppet regimes in the occupied territories across the world, and no significant action, excluding the Swedish invasions of Denmark-Norway and Finland in September of that year.
1941 would begin badly for the Hungarians, as despite successes in Czechoslovakia, the invasions of Dacia and Serbia would end up stalling rapidly. Meanwhile, Sweden would successfully sue for peace against the Finns, ending the First Winter Front, while North Italy invaded Naples and Latium before going on to launch offensives against Rhomania. That July, France continued its largest offensive in Europe, the invasion of Poland and Russia. However, worrying news would come from Columbia. The SSC had seen huge defeats across 1941, and was now effectively out of the war. Alaska, too, was also running into trouble, and the U.S.C. would now begin its major counteroffensives into the Alaskan and Confederate heartlands.
The French invasion of Poland and Russia would end up going horrifically wrong, as the eastern weather prevented the French from seizing Warsaw and Krakow. In Asia, Bharat would begin to suffer from attacks by China and Japan on key industrial centres, and their hold on China would begin to gradually slip away. Meanwhile, the Czechoslovak and Dacian armies were beginning to push the Hungarians out and towards Budapest. 1943 and 1944 would see more pushbacks- the French were gradually driven out of Lublin and Russia, Finland declared war on Sweden in June 1943, Germany would begin military action in Brandenburg and the Italian peninsula was invaded by the Allies. In July 1943, Hungary was now under occupation.
By 1945, the French were being pushed back on all fronts, the Bharatis were being pushed out of Bangladesh and the Alaskans were nearly exhausted thanks to continuous U.S. and Russian bombing raids on their oil facilities. Germany was now able to participate in military operations against the AFDN. North Italy was now fighting on two fronts, France was having to deal with the Castilian and German assaults, and Alaska was now trying to sue for peace. The Bharatis, however, would not give up. In late 1945, a huge naval landing in Normandy would spell the end for Maurras’ regime. Within 11 months, Paris was seized and the French had surrendered, and Alaska had done the same. Sweden had been overrun by the Finnish, German and Danish-Norwegian armies and the SSC was completely destroyed. Bharat would conditionally surrender to the U.S. after the emperor of Bharat would lead a coup against Devi’s government and hand her over to allied authorities, thus ending the war in Asia.
Background[]
Post-war Europe[]
French Commune soldiers during the Battle of Avignon, 1921.
Europe was drastically changed following the end of the Third Great War. The French Empire was dissolved following the 1921 Revolution, with the Second Republic being proclaimed in its place. The Treaty of New Amsterdam significantly humiliated the French nation - France had its borders reduced to its pre-1789 borders excluding Corsica, had to pay massive reparations to the Allies and worst of all had to accept all the blame for starting the war. France was still at that time in a civil war between the Second Republic and the Commune of France. The civil war ended in 1923 with the victory of the Second Republic.
Josef Šnejdárek in Banská Štiavnica during the Hungarian-Czechoslovak War, 1919.
Meanwhile, the territory of the Hungarian Empire had been fighting for independence since 1918. The fighting between Czechoslovakia and Hungary ended in 1921 after the signing of the Treaty of Zagreb. Although the Hungarian government led by Mihály Károlyi was not satisfied with the treaty, they did not want to commit another conflict with Czechoslovakia. In 1922, a military-political alliance was formed between Czechoslovakia, Dacia and Serbia under the name Belgrade Entente, which aimed to maintain order in Central and South-Eastern Europe and mainly to face possible conflicts with Cisleithania or Hungary.
Ideologies such as communism and fascism also began to spread in Europe after the war. (WIP)
Post-war Columbia[]
Theodore G. Bilbo, the Prime Minister of the Grand Confederation from 1935 until 1942.
Great changes also began in Columbia after the war. In the Grand Confederation, the monarchy was abolished and replaced by a republic. A party called the First Union Party became popular in the Grand Confederation and came to power in 1934 after Huey Long became Prime Minister. On 8 September 1935, Huey was shot and died of his injuries two days later, leading to the declaration of a state of emergency that brought Theodore G. Bilbo to power and under his rule, the Grand Confederation became a fascist state.
Sergey Taboritsky, the Prime Minister of Alaska from 1921 until 1946.
Meanwhile in Russia, the monarchy was abolished in 1917 creating the Russian Republic while Alaska was under the control of the former government of the Russian Empire and was finally recognized in 1920. In 1921, Sergey Taboritsky becomes the Prime Minister of Alaska. Under Taboritsky control, Alaska becomes a fascist state. (WIP)
Conclusion and legacy[]
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