We Will Conquer the Entire World!

[Zagan7]

Africa
September 1940
After the Treaty of Brussels, before the British invasion of Syria

​

Key in the map (lower-left corner).

 

[Zagan7]

Europe
September 1940
After the Treaty of Brussels, before the British invasion of Syria

​

Key:
1. Channel Islands (German Occupation)
2. Andorra
3. Liechtenstein
4. Montenegro
5. Belgium
6. Neutral Zones

D. Adyghe A.O.
E. Karachai-Cherkess A.O.
F. Kabardino-Balkar A.S.S.R.
G. North Ossetian A.S.S.R.
H. Checheno-Ingush A.S.S.R.
J. Abkhaz A.S.S.R.
K. Lazistan A.S.S.R.
L. South Ossetian A.O.
M. Nakhichevan A.S.S.R.
N. Nagorno-Karabakh A.O.

Interwar Europe

​

.

 

[dudedorey]

So is it Italian/Romanian or Romania/British fight coming first?

 

[Zagan7]

So is it Italian/Romanian or Romania/British fight coming first?

Click to shrink...

The latter, in the following chapter, which will be online tomorrow.

 

[ATP]

Poor Mussolini.And Hitler is still sane enough to not trust Anna. Interesting - i read, that he in 1939 arleady belived in envoys from Aghatra giving him advices.
If Anna could use her angel as "Agharta envoy"...
P.S Agharta - mythical hidden city somwhere in Tibet or Mongolia. Supposedly full of demons - which in Indiam mythology is not so bad.

 

[Zagan7]

Poor Mussolini. And Hitler is still sane enough to not trust Anna. Interesting - I read, that he in 1939 arleady belived in envoys from Aghatra giving him advices.
If Anna could use her angel as "Agharta envoy"...
P.S. Agharta - mythical hidden city somwhere in Tibet or Mongolia. Supposedly full of demons - which in Indiam mythology is not so bad.

Click to shrink...

Hitler already knows or suspects that Anne is helped by supernatural being(s). You may want to review the dialogue between Hitler and Himmler from the beginning of Chapter 26. Therefore, if some sort of supernatural being comes to talk to him, Hitler may (correctly) assume that it is Anne's partner / friend who has come to deceive him.

In any case, I think that Hitler only definitely lost his marbles some time in the second half of 1944 of OTL.

 

[Zagan7]

Chapter 49. The First Defeat



In October 1940, the Romanians seemed invincible. In less than three years, they had, almost effortlessly, conquered Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovakia, Ruthenia, Serbia, half of Croatia, half of Greece, then Eastern Thrace and Ionia and finally the rest of Croatia, the rest of Greece and the Sanjak. Starting with a middle-sized country of less than 300,000 square kilometres and less than 20 million inhabitants, Anne's domains had ballooned more than three times, both in area and in population, while the army and the industrial output had increased more than ten times. And, if all that was not spectacular enough, the fact that the total price in human lives did barely surpass 25,000 casualties was nothing short of amazing.

Therefore, while the Imperial defeat in the First Middle Eastern Campaign was expected by the military strategists (because of the much poorer strategic position and more difficult logistics compared to its British foe as well as because of the treacherous Italian interference), nonetheless, it provoked powerful reactions of consternation or fury in the Empire and scorn or relief abroad. In the end, as we shall see, the British occupation of the Middle East would have very important consequences for the Empire, the Axis and the entire War.



July - September 1940, the Middle East

After the independence of Syria and Lebanon with pro-Axis governments (30 June 1940) and the clear pro-Axis turn of the Iraqi government (July 1940), a British invasion from Kuwait, Transjordan and Palestine was expected. In those conditions, important Axis military support was hastily sent to the Middle East, by air by the Romanians for Syria and Iraq, both by air and by sea by the Italians for Lebanon. The aforementioned support consisted in obsolete military equipment, including a small number of military airplanes, artillery and armour, ammunition, military advisors for the Arab armies and about 18,000 Imperial soldiers (in Iraq and Syria) and up to 5,000 Italians (in Lebanon).

The British invasion was stalled until October both by the convoluted diplomatic ballet with the Axis and by the need to assembly sufficient British and Commonwealth forces in the Middle East. When it was clear that a honourable and durable peace with the German Reich was impossible and that the much discussed Italian flip-flop would not happen anytime soon, the British preparations for the offensive against Syria were finalized with the invasion scheduled for the 12th of October.



October 1940, the Middle East

The British forces already deployed in the Middle East were supplemented with part of the British forces from Egypt (because an Italian attack against Egypt was deemed unlikely), colonial troops from India and Africa, Australian and New Zealander expeditionary corps and a symbolic Free French unit.

The invasion of Lebanon was cancelled to avoid fighting the Italians and the invasion of Iraq was postponed until the expected successful conclusion of the Syrian campaign.

In Syria, the Allies had the initiative from the very beginning and did never lose it. The newly created Syrian Army fought bravely but the lack of discipline and shallow strategic thinking as well as the obsolete weaponry and the chronic shortages in ammunition and spare parts made the campaign one sided. The Imperial Legion deployed in Syria, while significantly better armed and led, was unused with the specific conditions of desert warfare and many tanks, airplanes and other vehicles broke because of the heat or the sand and repairing them in Syria was all but impossible.

In those conditions, the small numeric superiority of the defenders proved useless and, before the end of the month, the Allies reached the outskirts of Damascus, the Syrian Army was disintegrating and the Imperial Legion was retreating in good order towards the more easily defensible Aleppo.


The conduct of the Italians was at best duplicitary and at worse actively hostile. The Italian forces from Lebanon and their Lebanese puppets were content to watch the border with Syria and did not even hinder the British in any way, much less join the fighting against them. The Italian authorities from Cilicia and Lycia categorically refused to allow land passage towards Syria for the Imperial armies. The Imperial ships hugging the Mediterranean Coast were frequently stopped, searched or otherwise routinely harrassed by the Italian Navy. The Imperial transport aircraft were followed by the Italian Air Force, ordered to change course, forced to land and wait for days to be allowed to continue their course and, in one occasion, a plane was shot down over the Cilician mountains, officially a case of mistaken identity.

The Iraqis, however, were eager to help their Syrian brethren but unable to do much against the powerful and well organized Allied force. Their actions were thus limited to a series of raids in Kuwait and eastern Transjordan, which failed to achieve any important objectives. The single Iraqi attempt to bomb Kuwait City ended in disaster, with three out of the five Iraqi bombers being shot down by the British defenders. Shortly afterwards, the Allies invaded Iraq as well, advancing from Kuwait towards Basra.

Sandwiched between the Soviet Union and British India, the Iranians remained as quiet as possible.



4-7 November 1940, the Middle East

After the fall of Damascus, the Syrian government retreated to Emesa (Homs) and sent peace feelers to the British. They didn't make it to the British lines because the Romanians read all encrypted Syrian correspondence with ease and the Syrian party was ambushed and captured by the Imperial soldiers. Surrounded by neutral (Kurdistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia), de facto hostile (Lebanon, Cilicia) or officially hostile territory (Transjordan, Kuwait) and with the Syrian army and government in full collapse, the Imperial Legion was doomed.

Because desperate times called for desperate measures, the Romanians captured and deposed the Syrian Government and Chief of Staff, practically dissolving the Syrian State and making its northern third a de facto part of the Empire. With about one quarter of the Syrian population loyal to the Empire, the Romanians began a frantic reorganization of the Syrian Army remnants into a fight capable force. However, it was too little, too late. Emesa had to be abandoned with the fortified positions around Aleppo soon remaining the last important Romanian stronghold in Syria.



9-13 November 1940, the Middle East

After the fall of Basra, the road to Baghdad was open and the Iraqi army was unable to stop the Commonwealth forces. In those conditions, a group of Iraqi officers arrested the pro-Axis Iraqi Government and announced the surrender of the Iraqi forces under their control to the Allies. A short civil war ensued with a small group of Iraqi loyalists fighting the plotters with Romanian help in and around Baghdad. The loyalists were unable to retake the capital before the arrival of the Allied forces and, together with their Romanian backers, had to retreat to Mosul. The Iraqi loyalists, by then utterly dependent on the Imperial Expeditionary Force, proclaimed their allegiance to the Empire, which amounted to a de facto annexation of northern Iraq (without the Kudrish areas) to the Empire. The representatives of the Iraqi Kurds proclaimed their independence and contacted their brethren in neighbouring Kurdistan asking for the merger of the two Kurdish countries.



15-17 November 1940, the Middle East

After a short round of negotiations with the authorities of Independent Kurdistan and the Kurds of northern Syria and Iraq, the Empire officially announced the dissolution of both Syria and Iraq, with most of their territories being annexed to the Empire and the Kurdish areas of both Syria and Iraq merged into Kurdistan. Unfortunately for Anne, the official annexation of the Middle Eastern countries did not amount to much because most of the claimed territory had already been overrun by the Allies and only about one quarter of the Syrians and one sixth of the Iraqis were loyal to the Empire.

Elements of the small Kurdish Army crossed the borders with Syria and Iraq, being warmly welcomed as liberators by the local Kurds. The Allied position was ambivalent as they did neither recognize the Unification of the Kurdish Lands nor oppose it in any meaningful way. Iran was the only country to issue a strongly worded condemnation of the Kurdish annexation of northern Syria and Iraq, surely due to their own Kurdish minority.



6-19 November 1940, the World

It is possible that the Imperial Expeditionary Force would have already surrendered by mid-November if not for important developments elsewhere.

When most of the proceedings of the late October Boston Conference were released to the press in early November and made public, they provoked a powerful reaction all over the World but especially in Italy. Suddenly, the small part of the Italian establishment and population who had believed Mussolini's seemingly demented ramblings felt totally vindicated and branded Italo Balbo and most of the members of the Grand Council of Fascism as traitors.

With more and more Italians voicing their open support for Mussolini and the Axis, the situation of the Balbo Government became precarious. Because of the ongoing agitation, the Government felt that the sanatorium in which Mussolini was held was no longer secure and decided to move him to an undisclosed location. The pro-Mussolini faction, probably informed by a mole from the government, attacked the convoy which was transporting the deposed Duce. The ensuing firefight resulted in the deaths of dozens of fighters on both sides, including Mussolini himself. To this day, it is not certain who had actually fired the shot which killed Mussolini as Balbo's supporters insist that he died of a stray bullet and his opponents argue that he was assassinated in cold blood.

The death of Mussolini brought the country on the brink of a civil war between factions whose political position were unclear and overlapping or contradictory. In fact, most Italians hated the Romanians but still wanted to continue the war on the side of the Axis in order to conquer vast territories in Africa. The generally accepted idea was that, while the Romanians were dangerous, the Axis would surely win the war and, therefore, changing sides was not only immoral but also completely insane.



20-21 November 1940, the World

With his popularity in free fall and an armed uprising against him, Duce Italo Balbo committed suicide (according to the official narrative) or was assassinated (according to numerous conspiracy theories), plunging the country into an increasingly deeper chaos. Interestingly, it was King Victor Emmanuel III, not the Grand Council of Fascism, who appointed Emilio De Bono as acting Prime Minister of Italy (and not as Duce, the title being quietly abolished).

Hitler's opinion of the Italians turned from bad to abyssmal but he refrained from invading Italy lest it tilted the delicate balance towards it actually joining the Allies. Anne, however, saw her chance and did not listen to Hitler. The Empire issued an ultimatum to the Italian colonial authorities in Crete, the Dodecanese, Lycia and Cilicia, asking them to allow free passage to Syria for the Imperial Army and bases for the Imperial Navy to keep the sea lines open and secure from British attacks. When the Italian Governors accepted the ultimatum, Anne was actually angry, as she had hoped for a casus belli.



23 November - 3 December 1940, the Middle East

The Imperial Armed Forces began to pour into the Italian Crete, Dodecanese, Lycia and Cilicia, de facto taking control of those territories while de jure maintaining the fiction of continued Italian rule. For the Middle Eastern campaign though, it was too late. With the fall of Aleppo on the 26th and of Mosul on the 29th, the battered remnants of the Imperial Expeditionary Force crossed the border into neutral Kurdistan where they were officially interned but actually allowed to "escape" over the border with Cilicia.

After taking Syria and Iraq (with the exception of the areas annexed by Kurdistan), the Allies occupied Lebanon in five days, as the Italians surrendered without a fight, and crossed the border into Cilicia, where a stable frontline was quickly established in the Cilician Mountains, close to the border with the Hatay.


The Middle Eastern theatre of the war would not see any significant military actions during the following months.


The situation in Italy stabilized eventually, with the country narrowly escaping a full fledged civil war, but its international standing did never fully recover from the series of blows it had received during the previous months. Italy did neither leave the Axis, nor commit fully to it, with its military, political and diplomatic clout continuing to fade into irrelevance.

 

[Zagan7]

The British Occupation of the Levant
December 1940

​

Legend:

• National colours as usual
• Black Lines: National borders
• Grey Lines: Internal borders
• Fuchsia Lines: Various claims in Iran
• Orange Lines: Maximum limits of the Imperial control in Syria and Iraq in November 1940
• Brighter Area: Territories under British or Kurdish rule with a significant proportion of Imperial loyalists

.

Notes:

• The Hatay has been annexed to Cilicia but it has been overrun by the British.
• The Kurdish annexations of Syrian and Iraqi territories are neither officially recognized, nor actively contested by the British.
• Rump Syria (without the Hatay and the Kurdish territories) has been merged with Transjordan to form the Kingdom of Syria, ruled by King Abdullah I.
• Lycia and Cilicia (and also the Dodecanese and Crete) are Italian territories under Imperial military control.

.

 

[Zagan7]

Romania and Its Environs
1 January 1941
After the British Occupation of the Levant
Previous maps from this series: January 1938, March 1938, May 1938, November 1938, January 1939, September 1939, January 1940, March 1940, May 1940, July 1940, September 1940.


Area: 980,000 km² (0.66% of the World land area)
Population: 68,000,000 (2.96% of the World population)
Including Crete, the Dodecanese, Lycia and most of Cilicia, not Including the International Straits Area​

Key:
1. Denmark (German occupation)
2. Sweden
3. Latvian S.S.R.
4. Montenegro (Italian Protectorate / Personal Union)
5. Tunisia (Italian Protectorate)
6. Neutral Zones (Saudi Arabia, Iraq, British Kuwait)

D. Adyghe A.O. (Russia)
E. Karachai-Cherkess A.O. (Russia)
F. Kabardino-Balkar A.S.S.R. (Russia)
G. North Ossetian A.S.S.R. (Russia)
H. Checheno-Ingush A.S.S.R. (Russia)
J. Abkhaz A.S.S.R. (Georgia)
K. Lazistan A.S.S.R. (Georgia)
L. South Ossetian A.O. (Georgia)
M. Nakhichevan A.S.S.R. (Azerbaijan)
N. Nagorno-Karabakh A.O. (Azerbaijan)


Notes:

• Bohemia-Moravia, Poland and Slovenia are German Protectorates.
• Albania, Montenegro and Tunisia are Italian Protectorates.
• Denmark is under German occupation.
• Ionia (and Imbros and Tenedos) are parts of Greece.
• Crete, the Dodecanese, Lycia and Cilicia are Italian Protectorates under Imperial (Romanian) military control and administration.
• The International Straits Zone is a Condominium of the Eastern Roman Empire, the Soviet Union, Italy and the German Reich.
• Rump Syria, Lebanon, rump Iraq, the Hatay and a small part of Cilicia Proper are under British occupation.
• Rump Syria and Transjordan have been merged into Greater Syria, under King Abdullah I.
• Kurdistan was enlarged with the ethnic Kurdish areas (and more) of Syria and Iraq.
• Rump Turkey is a People's Republic, a Soviet Puppet State (like Finland and Mongolia). There are no plans to turn it into an S.S.R.

.

 

[godofsmallthings]

The Kurds made it out like bandits.

 

[Zagan7]

Chapter 50. Before Barbarossa



December 1940, French Equatorial Africa

The British had established the so called Free French Forces and hoped to use them to take control of various French Colonies from the French Vichy Government. However, the death of the charismatic General De Gaulle, the Mers-el-Kébir disaster and the Brussels Peace Treaty contributed to an increased legitimacy of the Vichy Government and a pitifully small enrolment in the Free French Forces. Because of those factors (and the poor performance of the small Free French Force in the Middle Eastern Campaign), the British shelved their plans to subvert the French Colonies as impracticable.

Thereafter, the British concentrated on a single French Colony, the former Belgian Congo, which was considered strategically important because of its natural resources, including Uranium, and, more importantly, not recognized as such by his Majesty's Government due to the way in which it had been acquired (sold by the Belgians under duress in the Brussels Peace Treaty). The long and undefendable borders of the Congo with the British territories of Sudan, Uganda, Tanganyika and Northern Rhodesia, the presumed bitterness of the local Belgians towards the French takeover, the short time passed since the annexation, the lack of important French troops deployed in the vast interior of the colony and the proximity of the Katanga mines to Northern Rhodesia, all contributed to the British hopes of a quick and mostly bloodless takeover and no expected declaration of war.

Taking into account the available forces and the position of the French troops (mainly around Leopoldville and the lower course of the Congo River), the final invasion plans called for a quick seizure of the Katanga Region and adjacent territory in the south and east of the Congo, followed by an expected easy defense against any possible but logistically difficult French attacks through the jungles of Central Congo.


The British and South African invasion of the Katanga fared exceptionally well and the whole region was overrun in less than one week. Deciding to take advantage of their momentum, the Commonwealth forces took Ruanda-Urundi and advanced further into the Congo until they encountered determined French resistance near Leopoldville.


After the British rejected a French ultimatum to withdraw from the Congo, France officially declared war to the United Kingdom and to South Africa on New Year's Eve. France did not join the Axis and did not become a German ally but rather a co-belligerant against the United Kingdom (and, later, against the rest of the Commonwealth).



January-June 1941, the World

The Franco-British War of 1941 was purely a colonial war, limited to the high seas and the French and British overseas territories and with absolutely no military actions against the mainland of either Britian or France.

During the first month of the war, the United Kingdom occupied French Guyana, the French Caribbean (except Guadeloupe, which held out until April), the French Indian Ocean Colonies (except Madagascar, which held out until March) and French India. At the same time, Canada occupied Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Australia occupied New Caledonia (completed in February) and other French Pacific Islands and New Zealand occupied French Polynesia.

The war had its most fierce battles in Africa. With the exception of northern Chad, all of French Equatorial Africa was occupied by the British, while Gambia, Sierra Leone, the Gold Coast and small parts of Nigeria fell to the French. With both the British and the French unwilling or unable to devote more resources to the African theatre and because of other developments elsewhere, the frontlines in Nigeria and Chad stabilized with an unofficial ceasefire coming into effect.

Thus, from June 1941, the French Colonial Empire was de facto limited to their contiguous territories in West Africa (French Indochina and the French Concessions in China were already under de facto Japanese control).


The planned British invasion of Italian East Africa did not materialize at that time because of a series of factors: a lack of available troops to fight both the French and the Italians at the same time, the total passivity of the Italians who did not threaten British Somaliland, Kenya or the Sudan in any way, a lingering hope of Italy changing sides and the relative lack of natural resources in that area (compared to French Equatorial Africa).



April 1941 - Onwards, Equatorial Africa

Despite the avowed neutrality of Equafrica, the British occupied it for good measure, probably afraid of the effects of the prior Romanian meddling in the small territory. However, the British, after doing several half-hearted tests on random Equafricans, decided that the locals did not pose any threat and did not intern the civilian population as it had been initially proposed. During the following weeks, taking advantage of the small and thinly spread British forces and the general disinterest in the region, the Equafricans began to spread into the neighbouring French Equatorial Africa (Gabon and Cameroon), using jungle paths known only to them.

The modus operandi of the Equafricans was simple, yet effective. Small, lightly armed bands surrounded a remote village or tribe, then captured it in the name of the Imperial Crown. In that way, the loyalty to the far away Empire spread in rural Africa like a disease, which remained undetected by the British authorities for several months. Not coincidentally, desert-dwelling Bedouins acted in the same way in remote areas of Syria, Iraq, Transjordan and even as far as northern Saudi Arabia. Obviously, the number of "converts" in both cases was relatively small (because attacks against larger towns or cities were not feasible) but anything was better than nothing.



January - May 1941, Europe

With no German attacks against civilian targets in the United Kingdom and little to no submarine, naval or aerial warfare, public support for the continuation of the war against Germany began to dwindle. Moreover, the extension of the war against France was deeply unpopular and widely viewed as a naked imperialist venture. The April attacks against Narvik, which ended in an embarrassing failure, were severely criticised both by the establishment and by the public at large. Most historians agree that, had Hitler not invaded the Soviet Union, a general peace between the British Commonwealth and the Axis would have been achieved before the end of the year.



February - May 1941, Italy and Its Possessions

While the internal situation in Italy stabilized, the Italians seemed anaesthetized by their real and percieved misfortunes and utterly unable to commit to any coherent foreign policy course. On one hand, they were at war with the British, whose African territories they coveted (especially Egypt, Sudan, British Somaliland, Kenya, Uganda), on the other hand, they hated and feared the ascendant Romanian Empire with whom they were nominal allies. In any case, Italy had become almost an international pariah, deemed completely untrustworthy both by its enemies and by its allies. Even worse was that the morale of the Italian soldiers and civilians was extremely low, as they didn't know whom to fight and for what purpose. An attack against the British Empire in Africa was widely considered doomed to failure, while even successfully defending the remaining Italian possessions in the Balkans against a possible Romanian attack was deemed unlikely.


In fact, the situation in the Italian Balkan possessions was quite bad, with renewed insurgencies in Montenegro (where most of the countryside was lost) and Dalmatia and various levels of unrest in Albania and the Ionian Islands. In those dire circumstances, where the Italian soldiers were unwilling to engage in attrocities against the insurgents, the Italian Government decided to cut its losses and get rid of the tiny but troublesome Montenegro while reinforcing Italian rule in Albania and the territories annexed to Italy Proper.

For Italian Dalmatia and the Ionian Islands, the solution was simple but brutal. Almost the entire native population was expelled to Romania, with up to two thousands dying en route, in what would remain the greatest Italian crime perpetrated during the war. To soften up the deal, Italy officially ceded the Romanian-occupied Protectorates to the Empire (Crete, the Dodecanese, Lycia and Cilicia) because, with their entire population fiercely loyal to the Empire, ever holding those areas again was a pipe dream. The most unexpected development was the organization of referenda in Albania and Montenegro, whose citizens were bluntly asked to choose between Italy and the Empire.

The Empire declined the offer to send observers, not wanting to legitimize the continued Italian rule in Albania. Germany, Spain, France and Sweden did and the referenda were considered relatively fair, under the circumstances. As expected, the Albanians chose Italy with a clear majority of 84.8% (71.3% turnout). In Montenegro, the result was more even, with just 55.6% choosing the Empire (64.0% turnout). Nonetheless, the Italians duly recognized the results and vacated Montenegro in two weeks.


Montenegro was admitted to the Empire on the 22nd of April and joined to Serbia as another Autonomous Region. As expected, the fighting died out in the following days.

Crete and the Dodecanese were added to Greece. Lycia and Cilicia were joined into a ninth Imperial State: Turkey.




The Romanian final preparations for the invasion of the Soviet Union (and the People's Republic of Turkey) will be presented in an upcoming chapter.

 

[Zagan7]

Romania and Its Environs
10 May 1941
After the annexation of Montenegro & al., before the start of Barbarossa
Previous maps from this series: January 1938, March 1938, May 1938, November 1938, January 1939, September 1939, January 1940, March 1940, May 1940, July 1940, September 1940, January 1941.


Area: 990,000 km² (0.66% of the World land area)
Population: 70,000,000 (3.05% of the World population)
Not Including the International Straits Area​

Key:
1. Denmark (German occupation)
2. Sweden
3. Latvian S.S.R.
5. Tunisia (Italian Protectorate)
6. Neutral Zones (Saudi Arabia, Iraq, British Kuwait)

D. Adyghe A.O. (Russia)
E. Karachai-Cherkess A.O. (Russia)
F. Kabardino-Balkar A.S.S.R. (Russia)
G. North Ossetian A.S.S.R. (Russia)
H. Checheno-Ingush A.S.S.R. (Russia)
J. Abkhaz A.S.S.R. (Georgia)
K. Lazistan A.S.S.R. (Georgia)
L. South Ossetian A.O. (Georgia)
M. Nakhichevan A.S.S.R. (Azerbaijan)
N. Nagorno-Karabakh A.O. (Azerbaijan)


Notes:

• Bohemia-Moravia, Poland and Slovenia are German Protectorates.
• Albania and Tunisia are Italian Protectorates.
• Denmark is under German occupation.
• Ionia, Crete and the Dodecanese are part of Greece.
• Lycia and Cilicia are part of the newly created Imperial Federal State of Turkey.
• The International Straits Zone is a Condominium of the Eastern Roman Empire and the Soviet Union.
• Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, the Hatay and a small part of Cilicia Proper are under British occupation.
• Kurdistan was enlarged with the ethnic Kurdish areas (and more) of Syria and Iraq.
• Rump Turkey is a People's Republic, a Soviet Puppet State (like Finland and Mongolia). There are no plans to turn it into an S.S.R.

.

 

[Zagan7]

Africa
June 1941
After the Franco-British War
Previous map from this series: September 1940.

​

Key in the map (lower-left corner).

 

[Zagan7]

Partisan Warfare in Equatorial Africa
Summer of 1941
After the British Occupation of French Equatorial Africa and Equafrica
Previous maps from this series: February 1940, May 1940.

​

Violet: Remote, rural, forested or marshy areas controlled by Imperial loyalists in and around Equafrica (approximative extent).


Note: This is obviously the last map from this short series. The Equafrican Republic does not exist anymore (and it would be never recreated) and the extent of the Imperial loyalist partisan activity in Equatorial Africa would soon extend way beyond the limited perimeter of these maps. The future Empire of Africa will be shown in future maps of Africa.

 

[ATP]

Better fate for Mussolini and Italy then in OTL.At least, french colonials troops would not gangrape italian womans.
France had good technology - -their tanks was better then british,and planes just as good. Could romanian get some prototypes and made for themselves ?

P.S In OTL,soviets except killing about 25.000 officers and other elite members send to Gulag or Kazachstan more then million poles, at least 300.000 died there.
Germans murdered more then 30.000 elite members and about 300.000 till 1941. How existing polish state changed that ?

 

[Zagan7]

1. Better fate for Mussolini and Italy then in OTL. At least, french colonials troops would not gangrape italian womans.

2. France had good technology -- their tanks was better then british, and planes just as good. Could romanian get some prototypes and made for themselves?

3. In OTL, soviets except killing about 25.000 officers and other elite members send to Gulag or Kazachstan more then million poles, at least 300.000 died there. Germans murdered more then 30.000 elite members and about 300.000 till 1941. How existing polish state changed that?

Click to shrink...

1. Umm, Mussolini is already dead in TTL in late 1940. Italy seems a little better than in OTL, at least so far.

2. That is correct. Yes, like in OTL, Hitler sent captured equipment, which he didn't consider good enough for the Wehrmacht, to his allies. Yes, the Empire is working to reverse engineer them. Of, course, some time will pass until indigenous production would be started.

3. Yes, that was tragic, that the Nazis and the Soviets had like some kind of competition, who would murder more Poles.

Yes, in TTL there is no General Government, but a Polish State. Sure, it is far from a free Poland. It is a small rump state with no access to the sea and under German military occupation and with a formal German Protectorate. But it is still Poland, with a functioning Polish Government, albeit with German overseers. The situation is not good by any means, but it is still incomparably better than OTL.

Yes, the Germans are controlling the Polish economy and are plundering the country. Sure, if somebody says something against Hitler or the Nazis, he will be sent to a concentration camp. But, unlike OTL, there are no expulsions, no arbitrary arrests and killings, no German settlement, etc. All that is true for the rump Poland. Obviously, in the annexed territories (West Prussia, Upper Silesia and Posen) the situation is much worse. Additionally, the Jews have no protection from the Polish State. They had their Polish citizenship removed, are put to hard labor in concentration camps and, when unable to work efficiently anymore, they are sent to Romania.

In conclusion, the Poles hate both the Germans and the Russians and hope to be liberated by the Romanians and to join the Empire.

 

[ATP]

Sorry for being unclear.Mussolini in OTL was tortured and killed,now he is only killed. I would take it as better fate.
Romania as last polish hope - in this scenario it is possible.I read, that romanian planned to produce better versiona of P.37 bomber/D instead of B/ and P.46 light bomber/B instead of A/. light bomber would be only slighty betterthen Fairey Battle,but P.37D would be good till at least 1944.There were planes for next medium bomber, P.49 - romanian could made it,too.

P.S It probably too late for that,but what about recruiting Tesla ? his energy weapon would be handy.

 

[avatar11792]

Is Romania putting any effort in building up its transportation infrastructure, like high quality roads? Half of Romes success was high mobility across the Empire from their great roads. A system such as the German Autobahn or US Interstate Highway System would be quite viable.

 

[january1may]

P.S It probably too late for that,but what about recruiting Tesla ? his energy weapon would be handy.

Click to shrink...

It was probably too late for that by the time Anne was crowned; he was significantly injured in 1937 and never recovered.

Otherwise, however, he's an excellent candidate, and it's very possible that he was sent to Romanian Serbia off-screen at some point.

 

[Zagan7]

1. Sorry for being unclear. Mussolini in OTL was tortured and killed, now he is only killed. I would take it as better fate.

2. Romania as last polish hope - in this scenario it is possible. I read, that romanian planned to produce better versiona of P.37 bomber/D instead of B/ and P.46 light bomber/B instead of A/. light bomber would be only slighty better then Fairey Battle, but P.37D would be good till at least 1944. There were planes for next medium bomber, P.49 - romanian could made it, too.

3. It probably too late for that,but what about recruiting Tesla? his energy weapon would be handy.

Click to shrink...

1. I see. Moreover, in TTL, his legacy is a little better than in OTL. After all, he died earlier, he had less humiliating setbacks and he wasn't tied to Hitler as much as in OTL.

2. That is correct. Romania can build a lot of things. The only problem is the lack of funds for everything.

3. Yes it is too late. Moreover, Tesla was already well past his prime and his state of mind was precarious.

Is Romania putting any effort in building up its transportation infrastructure, like high quality roads? Half of Romes success was high mobility across the Empire from their great roads. A system such as the German Autobahn or US Interstate Highway System would be quite viable.

Click to shrink...

Yes, it is. Roads, railroads and other infrastructure projects have already been mentioned in one of the earlier chapters. There is progress, albeit slower than desired. Moreover, there is much geographic inequality in the road system. It is better in Hungary, Croatia, western and southern Romania and worse in other parts of the Empire. Currently, the most attention is given to the improvement of the roads in Bulgaria, to better link the core of the Empire with Salonica and Constantinople.

1. It was probably too late for that by the time Anne was crowned; he was significantly injured in 1937 and never recovered.

2. Otherwise, however, he's an excellent candidate, and it's very possible that he was sent to Romanian Serbia off-screen at some point.

Click to shrink...

1. That is correct. See also my answer to @ATP above.

2. No. He is still in the USA and he will not play any role in TTL.

 

[Zagan7]

Chapter 51. The Crash



3 April 1941, Constantinople, International Zone of the Straits

Anne had had a busy day. In the morning, she had attended yet another difficult meeting with the Soviet Vice-Governor Sergei Vinogradov, who had protested the Empire's actions in the International Zone, which was treated almost as an integral part of the Empire (except for the presence of foreign troops). Shortly after noon, Anne had conferred with the Ecumenical Patriarch, Benjamin I, about the proposed ecumenical meeting with the Pope. Later that afternoon, she had visited the site of the future triumphal arch, where the excavations for its foundations had inadvertently disturbed a potentially important archaeological site.

Anne was tired, annoyed and slightly agitated. Constantinople was a vipers' nest, full of spies, intrigues and danger. As in her previous life, she had a morbid fascination with the City, oscillating between deep hatred and guilty desire. She disliked her frequent visits, yet she longed for the day she would throw the Soviets out to finally turn Constantinople into her Imperial Capital. At that moment though, she just wanted to go home, to Bucharest, to her loving husband and wonderful baby girl.


Late in the evening, Anne and her staff boarded the Imperial plane, which was getting ready for take-off. Elaine, who was sitting next to Anne, bent her head towards her friend, whispering her name.

Anne (yawning): "Yes, Elaine. Are you comfortable?"

Elaine (calm): "Yes, I am. These seats are comfy... It's just that there is a bomb onboard."

Anne (irritated): "Again?! I'm sick of this sh... of all these attempts on my life. They will never stop, will they? Just how many of them were so far? Eight or nine?"

Elaine: "Ten. Five this year, four the previous year and the lone one back in 1939. Three bombs, one grenade, four snipers, one attempted vehicular ramming and one use of poison. Pathetic."

Anne: "Yes, I'm sick of it... Who are the culprits this time? I hope it's the bloody Bolsheviks!..."

Elaine: "I think it's the Italians this time."

Anne: "Oh, that would be even better... Elaine, I'm really thinking to let it blow up this time. Do you think you could save us, you know, somehow land the damaged plane safely? If the bomb is not very powerful to tear the whole damn plane apart, of course. I mean... You know..."

Elaine: "I'll be right back."

************


Elaine: "Whew. Yes, it's doable. The bomb will probably rip a hole in the lower part of the fuselage and we may lose some luggage. Apart from that, it may sever some of the control levers, which may render the plane inoperable. Without me, the result would likely be a difficult crash-landing, with a number of casualties. But, of course, I will be able to intervene and save the day. Do you really want to let it explode?"

Anne: "Yes. And then I'll throw the Italians out of the Balkans! Yes, let's do it!"

Elaine: "This is going to be fun. It will explode in about 47 minutes. You'll have to remove your shoes, buckle up and keep your mouth shut. I'll remind you shortly before the blast... Are you afraid?"

Anne (laughing): "Me? Not at all. What's the worst that could happen?"

Elaine: "You will certainly feel the shock. You may feel some pain. Your eardrums may rupture if the bang is strong enough, which I am unable to estimate accurately just from looking at the bomb. You'll be fine. Mostly."

Anne: "Works for me."

Elaine: "Shoudn't we inform the crew and the rest of the passengers?"

Anne: "No, I don't think so. Everything will be more natural if they just don't know. Let's hope that there will be no casualties."

Elaine: "I believe there will be none. I'll do my best... But, what if somebody dies though? If standing up, someone may bang his head on something. As I said, I'll do my best but I cannot make a promise."

Anne: "Don't worry. If they die, their sacrifice would not be in vain, but for the motherland. Thousands of soldiers died for Ionia and some other thousands died for naught in the doomed campaign in the Levant. Here, a mere handful of casualties will bring more power to the Empire than all those thousands... I mean, obviously, I do cherish each and every life but, in this case, it's really worth it as other lives will be saved."

Elaine: "I see. You feel the guilt, but you are too proud to admit it. Don't worry, I forgive you. Again. But, please, try to sin no more. Do it for me if not for the Creator."

************


The Imperial Plane took off from Constantinople and headed northwards. It would have landed in Bucharest four hours later but, when passing close to Odrin (Adrianople), the bomb exploded and all hell broke loose.

Anne was suddenly jolted forwards and upwards by enormous inertial forces. The seatbelt held Anne in place, compressing her abdomen and chest, forcefully pushing the air out of her lungs and almost knocking her out in the process. Moments later, Anne looked around and cursed. The blast had been significantly more powerful than Elaine had expected. A huge hole, about four metres in length and almost two metres in width had been opened in the floor of the cabin. Below, there was nothing. The fuselage was ripped apart and the luggage compartment was gone, possibly the fuel tank as well. Several chairs were missing and so were their occupants and at least one stewardess. Anne cursed again, loudly that time, and started to cry.

Half a minute later, Anne composed herself and continued to assess the situation. Except the howling of the wind, there was silence. Was she partially deaf? Her ears were aching but, even with ruptured eardrums, she should have been able to hear the engines. So, there was no power. Anne looked out the window. The plane was descending rapidly but it was clearly not falling down. It was either gliding or being supported by Elaine. A guard, his face full of blood, was shouting something but Anne was unable to hear him. She dismissed his concern with a hand gesture. People have died. At least five out of eight in the cabin, who knows how many more in the cockpit and in other areas of the plane. Anne sighed. They died because of her. She would take them to Paradise with her after all that madness would be finally over, a hundred-odd years from then.

Anne smelled smoke. There was a fire somewhere in the belly of the aircraft. That was not good, she supposed. But she didn't smell kerosene and that was certainly good. Another shock, a much lighter one. Something had been ripped apart from the rest of the plane. Possibly an engine. Good riddance. It wasn't working anyway. She looked down. A field. Probably corn. That would do. Better than rocks, anyway. Anne thought of Mihai and Victoria. And of her parents and brothers. They would learn of the crash before learning that she was fine. They would be worried sick. Well, not Victoria, she was too young. Her precious Victoria.

Anne looked down again. The ground was coming up towards the plane, opening up to engulf it. She braced for impact and clenched her teeth. She was not afraid, only pissed off. Just seconds to go...

A shock. Quite a gentle one in fact. The nose of the plane had touched the field at a very small angle. Just a light brush on the corn. Or whatever it was planted there. It seemed too good to be true. And it was. Another shock, stronger that time. Then another one. Metal screeching. Metal against soil. The metal was stronger but the soil had the advantage of quantity. The metal was tearing itself apart like paper. A wing was ripped off and hauled back towards the sky. The fuselage started to roll over and break apart. The inertial forces were too great for Anne. The pain was bearable, soaked in adrenaline as she was, but the blood was being rushed away from her brain and she finally fainted.


Some time later, Anne regained her senses. She was still firmly buckled up in her seat, only that the floor was now the ceiling and she was hanging upside down. That was odd. Elaine should have taken her out. Really odd. Anne looked around. The other passengers were nowhere to be seen. No, there was somebody in a corner, legs bent in an abnormal position, motionless. Another sigh. Whatever. She was on her own. The ceiling, now the floor, was about two and a half metres downwards. Piece of cake.

A quick check first. Arms, legs, they responded. She was sore but otherwise fine. Some blood in the mouth, source unknown. Hopefully not from the lungs. Anne simply spit it out. The seatbelt seemed stuck but opened up when forced. She was free. A sharp pain in her left arm, almost unbearable. Anne couldn't support her weight and let go. She fell down on the ceiling below. A muffled thud. Everything was alright. No it was not. The ceiling was hot. Was there a fire still burning somewhere or was it just due to the friction? Anne stood up. A little unsteady, a little wobbly. That was expected. She wouldn't run but she would walk. A large hole in the fuselage. A couple of metres and she was out.


The wreckage was indeed burning. Anne thought to run away but she changed her mind quickly. There was no fuel tank in sight. There would be no explosion. There was wreckage everywhere. And there was nobody around. Nobody alive. Anne sat on the ground and yelled like an animal.

Elaine. Where was Elaine? Where was everybody? Anne stood up and ran back towards the fuselage, looking for Elaine, for anyone. Anne looked around in a frenzy, ripping the damn corn apart with her bare hands, bleeding her fingers and palms. Then she circled the wreckage and found two bodies. They were obviously both dead. Anne reentered the damaged cabin. The guard from the corner, with the broken legs. No, dead as well. Anne yelled again. She was alone. Elaine was nowhere.

Anne went out again. She was very tired and she felt weak. She was bleeding. Not much but still bleeding. She laid down in the corn, waiting for help. She was thirsty but that would have to wait. Her hearing was slowly improving and the annoying ringing subsided. Someone was calling her name. It was Elaine. Anne jumped on her feet, felt dizzy and fell back down on her back. The corn was rather soft. That was good. She stood up again, slower, more carefully, and followed Elaine's voice. It was coming from the fuselage. From below the fuselage.

A white wing, reddened by blood and blackened by soil. What the bloody hell? Elaine was bleeding! That was impossible! What the...

Anne: "Elaine! ELAINE!!!"

Elaine: "Don't shout. I'm fine. Well, almost. I just can't push this plane off me and my hands are stuck beneath it. Hold my wing, please. I'll be just fine."

Anne: "No! That can't be! You are an immortal entity! You are not made of flesh and blood! You are all powerful! Come on, Elaine, please tell me that all this it's nothing but a sick joke!"

Elaine: "How I wish it were so... Yes, I'm not from this realm but my three dimensional avatar inserted into this World is made of flesh and blood and it's the only one I have. The Creator will not grant me another one just to have fun with you. I'm sorry. But I'll be alright. I promise."

Anne: "Yes, you'll be fine. I'll get you out of there."


Anne tried to push the fuselage to roll it over, but it weighed tonnes and she was only human. She tried to pull Elaine from her wing, to no avail. When helped finally arrived, less than half an hour later, Anne was like in a trance, digging a hole in the dirt with her nails, trying to free her friend and guardian angel.

The peasants from a nearby village, Sladun, had seen the crash and four of them rushed to the scene in an oxen cart. The Bulgarian peasants were shocked to see their Empress who, in a visibly altered state of mind, was digging a hole under the wreckage while talking to an imaginary person.

Radov: "Empress, we go Odrin. Hospital. Find car main road. Near."

Anne (yelling): "No! I said dig! It's an order, damn it. Dig!"


Four healthy peasants, used to hard work, finished the job in less than ten minutes and Elaine managed to extricate herself from the wreckage. Minutes later, Anne and Elaine were laying in the cart on a bed of hay, with the peasants walking beside it. Anne and Elaine held their hands, smiling. Everything was going to be just fine. Elaine's wing hurt and it was clearly broken but she didn't want to spoil Anne's relief.

Anne (whispering): "You should have turned visible. They thought I was speaking to myself."

Elaine: "Would it have been any better if they saw an injured angel? They would have been either excommunicated or sent to an asylum for lunatics."



4 April 1941, Odrin, Bulgaria, the Empire

Shortly after midnight and less than two hours from the crash, Anne was resting in a hospital bed in Odrin, surrounded by the Imperial Guard. Still in stealthy mode, Elaine was laying at the foot of the bed, undetected. Still hurt but in a mischivious mood, she was tickling Anne's soles from time to time, eliciting random bouts of laughter and angry looks.



5 April 1941, Bucharest, Romania, the Empire

After having her minor injuries tended in Adrianople, Anne and her retinue travelled by train to Bucharest, where she was finally reunited with her husband and daughter. Because Elaine's wing was looking quite bad, Anne insisted that medical attention was needed. Elaine was adamant that she would not accept to be seen in that condition by anyone but she approved of Mihai's ingenious idea.



6 April 1941, Bucharest, Romania, the Empire

Dr. Florian Paulescu, considered the best veterinary surgeon in Bucharest, was ushered into the Imperial Palace where the Empress was anxiously waiting for him.

Paulescu (bowing): "My Empress..."

Anne (smiling): "Come, come, follow me..."


Everything was in place in a small but well lit back room. In the centre, there was a large table, where what seemed to be a very large bird was strapped to the table with leather belts and covered with a white sheet, with just the injured wing being visible.

Anne (fidgeting): "Umm... She... It is already sedated. You may proceed."

Dr. Paulescu was startled by the size of the bird which didn't appear to match any known species.

Paulescu: "I don't recognize the species. May I take a look at its body?..."

Anne: "No! Definitely not!... It's an... experimental hybrid. A dodo. Yes, we try to revive the dodo by cross breeding increasingly larger pidgeons. If the experiment is successful, it would be made public. After we conquer Mauritius, of course. We must release them in their natural habitat..."

Dr. Paulescu did not believe Anne's frivolous story but he remained silent and tended the broken wing. He removed the feathers and down from the injured area, cleaned the wound, set the delicate bones straight, applied an ointment and immobilized the wing in a light cast. He would come again to visit the patient a couple of times during the following weeks.



April 1941

Eventually, Elaine's wing healed completely but the ordeal made her a little more cautious with her irreplaceable avatar. In a similar manner, Anne became more cautious herself. She was constantly under the watch of the Imperial Guard who made sure to keep all foreigners away, she did not visit the International Zone again for the remainder of its existence and she spent increasingly more time in the fortified concrete heart of the Imperial Palace. Sure, Anne loved the risk and the adrenaline, but she had a duty to her people and to her family. The duty to live and the duty to lead.


The Italian authorities cooperated fully with the ensuing investigation but the difficult internal situation in Italy hampered their efforts and the perpetrators remained at large. In the end, with the invasion of the Soviet Union imminent, the Italians de jure abandoned long lost Crete, Dodecanese, Lycia and Cilicia and ceded them and rump Montenegro to the Empire, while cementing their rule in Italian Dalmatia, the Ionian Islands and Albania (see the last sections of the previous chapter).

The official result of the investigation was a convenient lie -- that the perpetrators have been Italian traitors under British payroll. The United Kingdom replied that should that have been the case, they would have succeeded in their mission. In any case, the start of Operation Barbarossa rendered the whole issue moot.



20 May 1941

Hitler informed Anne that the German invasion of the Soviet Union would commence on the 1st of June. Anne renewed her promise to join the war with a parallel invasion of Soviet Turkey within one week from the start of the hostilities. De Bono was not informed because Hitler did not trust the Italians anymore. The War was about to get larger. Much larger. And the Empire was ready. Well, almost.




And, with this chapter, the first part of this story is finally over. The second part will commence soon, with the start of Operation Barbarossa, the largest military operation in the history of mankind.

 

[ATP]

German started 22 in OTL and was stopped 30km from Moscow.If they attack 3 weeks earlier,then either Leningrad or Moscow would be taken.
Soviets could live without Leningrad, but Moscow was important rail hub - without that,soviet union probably would fall. And Ann would be fighting Adolf the mad all on her own.

 

[january1may]

German started 22 in OTL and was stopped 30km from Moscow.If they attack 3 weeks earlier,then either Leningrad or Moscow would be taken.

Click to shrink...

Leningrad probably would be taken if they make it there before winter (not guaranteed). Moscow... might end up getting "taken" by being encircled and starved (like OTL Leningrad, and you know how that one ended), but I doubt that fighting in Moscow will be significantly less active than, say, OTL fighting in Stalingrad.

OTOH, the rail hub thing means that encircling Moscow will have nearly the same demoralizing result as taking Moscow, and, IIRC, the Romanians have promised to work on the southern areas, which frees slightly more forces for the northern half.

But yeah, it looks like the Cold War might end up being Anne versus Adolf... and I'm not very sure which side is going to win that.

 

[Zagan7]

German started 22 in OTL and was stopped 30km from Moscow. If they attack 3 weeks earlier, then either Leningrad or Moscow would be taken.
Soviets could live without Leningrad, but Moscow was important rail hub - without that, soviet union probably would fall. And Ann would be fighting Adolf the mad all on her own.

Click to shrink...

Leningrad is safer than in OTL because there is no Continuation War (Finland is a Soviet Puppet with Soviet troops deployed in the country). The Germans (and, possibly, Swedes and Norwegians) would have to liberate Finland first in order to be able to encircle Leningrad.

Anne does NOT want the Soviet Union to collapse completely. She needs a long German-Soviet war, the longer, the better. From Anne's point of view, Leningrad, Stalingrad and the Caucasus may fall, but Moscow would better hold. Of course, she would take the Caucasus.

The Soviet Union and Nazi Germany should both be utterly exhausted before Anne takes them both down, just like the Arabs defeated both the Byzantines and the Persians after the war which weakened both of them. Of course, this is just a plan and no plan survives contact with the enemy.

Leningrad probably would be taken if they make it there before winter (not guaranteed). Moscow... might end up getting "taken" by being encircled and starved (like OTL Leningrad, and you know how that one ended), but I doubt that fighting in Moscow will be significantly less active than, say, OTL fighting in Stalingrad.

OTOH, the rail hub thing means that encircling Moscow will have nearly the same demoralizing result as taking Moscow, and, IIRC, the Romanians have promised to work on the southern areas, which frees slightly more forces for the northern half.

But yeah, it looks like the Cold War might end up being Anne versus Adolf... and I'm not very sure which side is going to win that.

Click to shrink...

See my answer to @ATP above. Anne would like to have both the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany severely weakened but not completely destroyed. And yes, urban fighting in Moscow would be horrific and Anne wants nothing of it.

About a hypothetical cold war, please don't forget the Americans (and the British who are not easy to take out either). It's complicated but we shall have more details soon enough.

 

[Zagan7]

Chapter 52. The Opposing Forces



The Axis invasion of the Soviet Union, scheduled for the 1st of June 1941 and codenamed Operation Barbarossa, was by far the largest military conflict in history. In this chapter, we will present a summary of the general military and political situation of the combatants prior to the start of the hostilities.

Operation Barbarossa occured during World War Two (of which it immediately constituted by far the greatest part so far), which had begun almost two years before with the German invasion of Poland and the French, British and Commonwealth declarations of war against the German Reich and had continued with the Phoney War, the German invasion of Scandinavia and the Occident, the fall of France, the entry of Italy and Romania into the war and the British invasion of the Levant.

The two opposing military alliances which fought World War Two were the Axis (Germany, Italy, Romania, Japan and their puppets / minor allies) and the Entente / the Allies (the United Kingdom, the British Dominions and their puppets / minor allies). Obviously, immediately after the start of Barbarossa, the Soviet Union automatically became a member of the Allies. Later in the war, more countries would join the alliances (and some would change sides).



The Axis

The German Reich was by far the most powerful member of the Axis, with an economic and military might easily surpassing that of the other Axis members taken together. The only areas where other Axis powers bested the Reich were the navy (Japan) and social cohesiveness (Romania).

The German Reich fully controlled three Reich Protectorates (Bohemia-Moravia, Poland, Slovenia), three occupied countries (Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium), and one puppet (Norway) and partially controlled one weak nominal ally (Sweden) and one defeated country (France). Luxembourg was an integral part of the German Reich. Of all those countries, the only one which still controlled overseas territories was France, with Algeria, French West Africa and the occupied British Colonies of Gambia, Sierra Leone and the Gold Coast.


Italy was by and large considered an unreliable ally, ready to backstab the Axis at the first sign of weakness. Hitler would have invaded it together with his Romanian ally in order to secure his southern flank if not for three important reasons: doing so would have postponed Barbarossa with possible catastrophic results, the fall of Italy would have made Romania stronger and more dangerous and the threat posed by Italy was considered insignificant, a small German force deployed in the Alps being all that was needed to defend the Brenner Pass indefinitely against any concievable Italian attacks.

Italy controlled several overseas territories as integral parts of the country (the Adriatic Islands and Italian Dalmatia, the Ionian Islands, Lybia), two protectorates (Tunisia, Albania) and one large colony (Italian East Africa).


Romania, officially the Eastern Roman Empire and also known as the Empire, was a massive country in south-east Europe, including former Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovakia, Carpathian Ruthenia, Pokuttya, Serbia, the Sanjak, Montenegro, most of Yugoslav Macedonia, Croatia, Greece, European Turkey and parts of Anatolia. It was larger than the German Reich, more populous than Italy or France and with an industrial might about equal to that of Italy.

Romania enjoyed the advantage of friendly populations, numerically important and geographically compact in Tiraspol, parts of Soviet Turkey around Bursa, parts of southern Kurdistan, the Hatay, northern Syria, northern Iraq, Equatorial Africa and numerically limited and geographically scattered in other parts of Europe and the World.


Japan, situated on the other side of the World, seemed content to wage its parallel war in China and the Pacific and, according to Anne, was unlikely to join the war against the Soviet Union.

Japan controlled four colonies (Korea, Karafuto, Taiwan, Micronesia), several puppets in China (of which the most important was Manchuria) and the military occupied but officially still French Indochina.


Countries neutral but friendly with the Axis included: Spain, Iran, Thailand and, possibly, others. Switzerland, fully enclaved in Axis territory, was, by necessity, accomodating to the Axis. The Vatican City, which controlled the Holy See and the Roman Catholic Church, was, de facto, a Romanian puppet. The remaining European microstates (Andorra, Monaco, San Marino, Liechtenstein) were, obviously, totally insignificant.



The Entente (the Allies)

The Entente and its sister pacts in Eastern Europe (the Little Entente and the Balkan Entente) had lost many members, starting in 1938: Romania, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Yugoslavia, Greece, Turkey and, finally, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium and France.


The United Kingdom was by far the most powerful member of the Entente, position which would be usurped by the Soviet behemoth after the start of the German invasion.

The United Kingdom controlled vast territories around the Globe: the Empire of India, dozens of Crown Colonies on all continents (relevant to the European war theatres being Gibraltar, Malta, Cyprus, the Suez Canal, Kuwait), Protectorates / LoN Mandates (relevant to the European war theatres being Palestine, the Trucial States, Bahrain, Southern Arabia), puppet / client states (Oman, Nepal), occupied territories (Iceland, Faroe, Syria, Lebanon, the Hatay, Iraq, Egypt, French Equatorial Africa, Equafrica), etc.

For a full list, you may want to check this comprehensive Wikipedia article.


All four British Dominions were also part of the Allies: Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa. Australia and New Zealand could not devote all their military power to help the British war effort in Europe because of their fears of Japanese expansionism in the Pacific.


Unlike OTL, the Free French Forces were all but insignificant. Moreover, also unlike OTL, there were no governments in exile and no armed forces in exile for any of the following countries: Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Greece, Norway, Belgium. The only significant government in exile was that of the Netherlands, which controlled the Netherlands East Indies and several small possessions in the Caribbean. Other governments in exile were those of Luxembourg and Ethiopia but their power and influence were almost nil.


In virtue of its state of war with Japan, China could be considered as a member of the Allies but it had no influence whatsoever on the European war theatres.


Countries neutral but friendly with the Allies included most of the countries in Latin America and, most importantly, the United States of America, which was by far the World's greatest economic power and had the potential to quickly become its greatest military power as well.


Of course, with the start of Barbarossa, the Soviet Union and its puppet states (Finland, Turkey, Mongolia, Tuva), became part of the Allies.



Axis War Plans

The German Reich had carefully planned Operation Barbarossa for a long time. Using crucial information from Anne, the Wehrmacht prepared for a long and difficult campaign, set more reasonable aims, stockpiled important quantities of winter gear, tested its military hardware in Norway and tweaked it in order to better withstand the rigours of the Russian winter. It is unknown why Anne had talked at length about the problems created by the freezing Russian winters but not of the possibly even greater trouble created by the spring thaw and autumn rains which resulted in immense quantities of mud. She might have been unaware of the problem or she might have withheld the information on purpose.


The invasion was set to proceed on several fronts with the following war aims:

1. The Arctic Front, tasked with the invasion of Finland, using German units from Norway and northern Sweden, helped by Norwegian and, possibly, Swedish units. Its aims for the first year of the war were to liberate all of Finland, push to the White Sea in order to sever the Murmansk Railroad and attack both Murmansk and Leningrad.
2. The Northern Front, tasked with the invasion of the Baltic States. Its aims for the first year of the war were to liberate Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia and to attack Leningrad from the south, thus completing its encirclement.
3. The Central Front, tasked with the invasion of Byelorussia. Its aims for the first year of the war were to take Byelorussia, Smolensk and to set fortified positions near Moscow.
4. The Southern Front, tasked with the invasion of Ukraine. Its aims for the first year of the war were to take the Ukraine all the way to the Don river and the city of Rostov. In the meantime, Romanian units from Bessarabia were supposed to occupy Transnistria, southern Ukraine and Crimea.
5. The Asian Front, tasked with the invasion of Turkey, was meant to be a purely Romanian endeavour. The Romanians were expected to liberate Turkey and to advance into Georgia and Armenia.
6. A possible Siberian Front, opened by Japan from Manchuria and Korea was deemed unlikely.

.
Italian regular troops and anti-communist volunteers from Spain, Portugal, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Poland, Switzerland and other countries would be invited to join the Crusade against the Godless Bolshevism, shortly after the start of the hostilities.

Several naval actions were also planned, using the Kriegsmarine against the Soviet Baltic Fleet and the Romanian Imperial Navy against the Soviet Black Sea Fleet.


The war aims for the second year of the campaign (after assuming defensive positions during the winter) included the capture of Murmansk, Archangelsk, Leningrad, Moscow, Stalingrad, Astrakhan, Baku and all of Central Russia and the Caucasus. A possible Romanian invasion of Soviet Central Asia from Iran was also considered.

If the Soviet Union were to continue fighting even after those losses, the war aims for a hypothetical third year were to take the remainder of European Russia all the way to the Ural Mountains and to advance deeper into Central Asia and Western Siberia. It was estimated that, if the Japanese wouldn't join the war even in those circumstances, it would take more than five years to reach the Pacific, not because of the continued Soviet resistance but because of the increasingly untractable logistical problems in the Siberian frozen expanses.



The Soviet Union was unaware of the imminent disaster, just like in OTL, therefore absolutely nothing was done to mittigate the effects of the upcoming assault. Moreover, a clever and unexpected Romanian diversion in the south further confused the Soviets.



On the 1st of June 1941, at 02:00 Central European Time, from the Arctic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea, millions of Axis soldiers and thousands of airplanes and tanks were ready to cross the border into the Soviet Union and its puppet states to start the greatest invasion ever attempted in history. How would it play out remains to be seen in the following chapters.