Alternate History - 1939
An alternate history map I did a while back.
Go figure.
Alternate History - Europe circa. 1939
Europe was a place of radical change coming into the 19th century. The French Revolution, the rise and fall of Napoleon, the Liberal Revolutions in the mid-1800s, the rise of nationalism, and the scramble for colonies would help drive Europe to the heights of its power.
In Italy, the Liberal and nationalistic movement were at its fever pitch. Sardinia-Piedmont, led by the House of Savoy, held dreams of unifying the peninsula under their banner while in the south Garibaldi controlled the Kingdom of Two Sicilies. By 1860, Sardinia’s plan seemed accomplished. Already Tuscany, Parma, Modena, and Romagna voted in favour of unification and Garibaldi successfully liberated Sicily-Naples. In 1861, Italy was declared a united nation-state under the Sardinian king Victor Emmanuel II. The new nation was strengthened even more with the addition of Venetia after the Austro-Prussian War.
However, the transition to a united Italy was not smooth for the South. Also known as ‘Mezzogiorno’, the South was afflicted with numerous economic and social liabilities. Transportation was poor, harvests deplorable, and unemployment high. The Southern economy greatly suffered after the Italian unification and the process of industrialisation was interrupted. Poverty and organised crime, though already a persistent problem in Southern Italy, grew worse after the unification.
Italy had emerged by 1870 as a united national state. The nation had little sense of unity, however, because of the massive gulf between the poverty-stricken South from the industrialised North. Constant turmoil between labour and industry weakened the social fabric of the nation. Widespread corruption among government officials prevented the government from dealing with these problems. Universal male suffrage was granted in 1912, but it did little to stop the corruption and weakness in the government.
Germany was also a hotbed of Liberal nationalism in the 1800s. Prussia, under the skilled leadership of Otto Von Bismarck, the ‘Iron Chancellor’, was able to unify Germany under their leadership. The victory over France in the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, proved Germany was a power to be reckoned with, and Prussian troops were seen as the finest in Europe. Many nations began to change their tactics and modernise their forces in recognition of this new power. An arm raced developed between the major powers, and it led to a rapid advance in military technology.
The scramble for colonial possessions, the rise of modern military technology, and hundreds of other factors created a power-keg among the European nations, where one spark might set it off. That spark was in the Balkans, where Ottoman influence was deteriorating immensely. By the late 1800s, Rumania, Greece, Serbia, and Montenegro had all declared their independence from the Ottoman Empire. Bulgaria however, became a semi-autonomous province under Russian protection while Bosnia & Herzegovina was placed under Austro-Hungary’s administration.
In 1908, Austro-Hungary took a drastic step of annexing Bosnia & Herzegovina. Serbia was outraged. Supported by Russia, Serbia was determined to create a large, independent Slavic state in the Balkans. Austro-Hungary, which had its own Slavic minorities to contend with, was equally determined to prevent this from happening. Serbia vowed in revenge while Austro-Hungary was convinced that Serbia was a serious threat.
On the 28th of June 1914, a Bosnian Serb named Gavrilo Princip, assassinated Archduke Francis Ferdinand and his wife Archduchess Sophia. His actions caused a catastrophic domino effect. Ultimatums were declared, treaties were broken, and troops were mobilized as nations took up in arms. By August 4th, all the great powers of Europe were at war. The ‘war to end all wars’ had begun.
The Great War of 1914-1918 was a bloody affair. Much of the fighting took place in on the Western Front, the zone between Germany and France. Thousands of young men were slaughtered when stalemate occurred and trench warfare erupted. In the Balkans, Austro-Hungarian and Bulgarian troops conquered Rumania & Serbia. The Eastern Front was more productive for the Central Powers as they inflicted heavy losses on the Russian troops and captured large swaths of Russian territory.
The Great War was the final straw for Romanov Russia. Already dissatisfied with the Tsarist regime and suffering from starvation, the Russian people revolted. Revolt against the Romanov dynasty erupted throughout the empire and under immense pressure, Tsar Nicholas II stepped down. Confusion followed the Tsar’s absence and the Bolsheviks, a revolutionary group led Vladimir Lenin, seized power. Soon after coming to power, Lenin signed a treaty with Germany and withdrew Russia from the war.
Russia’s withdraw briefly benefited the Central Powers. Germany was now able to send most of its troops to the Western Front in hopes of overrunning France. However, their hopes were dashed when the United States entered the war in 1917. With the addition of 2 million American troops, the Allies were able to turn the tables against the Central Powers. By 1918, Austro-Hungary, Germany, and their allies agreed to an armistice, thus ending the Great War.
In 1919, victorious Allies met at the Palace of Versailles, on the outskirts of Paris, to draw up a peace settlement. Woodrow Wilson, the American president, had draw up a peace plan called the Fourteen Points and the practice of ‘self-determination’. The other Allies however, had much different ideas. France for example, was determined to make Germany pay for the war and secure absolute security from more German invasions. Italy switched sides to gain territory while Britain wanted to repair economic damages from the war.
Another problem presented at Versailles was Eastern Europe and Ottoman territories. Free from Russian control, the Ukraine declared itself independent and wanted to be recognised. Rumania joined the Allies under the promise that Transylvania, a historical region home to many Rumanians, would be ceded back from Hungary. Hungary however, did not want to give up Transylvania and the nations bickered over who had proper control. The Ottoman territories of Syria and Mesopotamia were debated, as whether on or who should acquire these newly freed territories.
Finally, after months of vigorous and heated debates, the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28th, 1919.
The Germans considered it a harsh and dictated peace. The treaty declared that Germany (and Austria) were responsible for the war and had to pay reparations to the Allies. Germany’s army was reduced to a hundred thousand men, its navy cut back, and its air force eliminated. Part of Germany, called the Rhineland, was occupied by France and demilitarised. Alasce & Lorraine, provinces taken by Germany in 1871, were returned to France.
Versailles Treaty also fragmented the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Russian Empire and the colonial German Empire. New nation-states emerged from the lands of the former two empires: Austria, Hungary, Bosnia, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, the Ukraine, White Russia, Croatia, Moldova and Czechoslovakia. White Russia later changed its named to Byelorussia while Moldova acquired access to the Black Sea. Slovenia did not receive independence - instead it was divided between Italy and Croatia. Macedonia’s desire for autonomy from Serbia sadly, was ignored.
Germany’s colonial possessions were divided among Britain and France. German Cameroon was partitioned into British & French Cameroons. German East Africa and Southwest Africa became British colonies. In the South Pacific, Australia seized German Guinea, as well as German Samoa, Caroline, and Marshall Islands. The only colony that Germany still controlled was German Tunisia, which was granted autonomy after Versailles.
For the most part, the Versailles Treaty’s reception ranged from lukewarm to resentment. Germany felt humiliated and greatly angered at the treaty. Rumania was upset that Hungary still controlled Transylvania, despite being promised. Both Italy and the United States felt dissatisfied by the Versailles Treaty. For Italy, it was land acquirements were not sufficient enough, while the United States, disillusioned by the war and aftermath, adopted isolation.
As the 1920s came around, those nations not decimated by the war enjoyed a remarkable economic boom. In the United States, the economy boomed while places like Harlem became vibrant centres of art and culture. France and Britain also prospered, due to more active trade with the US and imports from their colonies. For many Europeans and Americans, the 1920s seemed like one great party. Stock market was booming, trade was increasing, and the future looked bright.
In reality - sadly - prosperity was only for the selective few. There were still immense problems in the post-war years.
Germany (now called the Weimar Republic or Weimar Germany) was dealing with serious inflation. In addition to the hefty war payments, workers went on strike and the government paid their salaries by printing more paper money. By simply printing more money, prices went up and the German mark soon became worthless. Thanks to the American Dawes Plan, which granted $ 200 million in loan(s), Germany was able to recover from the rapid inflation. The loan opened heavy investment in Germany which - in returned - briefly spurred European prosperity.
In Hungary, the problem was the Rumanian minority. Rumanians were not pleased that they were still under Hungarian dominance and clamor to join Rumania. Hungary was determined to keep hold of Transylvania, due to the area being rich in resources and the significant populations of Hungarians living there were still loyal to Hungary. Violent clashes broke out between the Hungarians and Rumanians living in Transylvania, prompting Hungary to put down the clashes with military force. Finally under immense pressures from neighboring nations, governments, and protests, Hungary gave Transylvania semi-autonomy.
After Lenin’s death in 1924, there was a struggle of power in Russia - now called the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). In 1928, Joseph Stalin became the leader of the USSR. Stalin was determined to industrialise Soviet Russia as soon as possible. He ordered factories to be built and steel production to commerce. Over several years, heavy industry sprang up and the USSR was on its way to becoming on of the world’s top industrialized nations.
The people paid price for industrialisation. Workers laboured long hours for low wages. Consumer goods were poorly made and hard to find. Housing shortages were common and many families were packed into single-room apartments. The environment suffered greatly with rivers becoming polluted and air quality became poor.
In addition to the economic ‘policies’, Stalin also launched the collectivisation of farms. Peasants resisted this move and Stalin brutally enforced it. Those who opposed were either put to death or sent to Siberian labour camps. In some places, particularly around the Volga basin, Stalin used famine to control people. Eventually, all farms were collectivised - at the expense of millions of peasants dying to famine.
The American stock market crashed in 1929 and soon after most of the world was plunged into an economic depression. With millions of dissatisfied and unemployed people, political instability brewed.
In Southern Italy, already suffering from poverty and unemployment, massive revolts broke out against Rome. By 1931, the rebels declared all of Mezzogiorno the Kingdom of Naples, with Naples as the capital. Italy did not recognise Naples as independent and civil war erupted soon after. Two years of fighting and widespread guerrilla warfare followed, and the Italian countryside was devastated. In 1934, both Italy and the Kingdom of Naples signed an armistice to stop the bloodshed. Rome finally recognised Naples as independent nation and pulled troops out of Mezzogiorno.
However, it was a pyrrhic victory for Naples; most of its territory (save Sardinia & Sicily) was in ruins and its economy in shambles. Naples soon found itself economically dependent on other countries’ investments and wealth. At the same time, Naples tried to find allies for defense if Italy tried to invade again. In 1936, the Kingdom of Naples singed the Ionian Alliance with Greece. The Ionian Alliance was a defensive pact between the two nations that guaranteed both had each others' back.
Fore the most part, democracy that was established in 1919 ceased to exist by 1938. Almost all were replaced by dictatorship and authoritarian regimes. In Byelorussia, communist revolutionaries seized the government and proclaimed the Soviet Socialist Republic of Byelorussia (SSRB). Immediately it established relations with the USSR, whom was quite pleased by the emergence of another communist nation. Soviet Byelorussia soon benefited from its relations with Soviet Russia, who eagerly invested in the tiny country.
Democracy failed in most Eastern European nations for several reasons. These states had little tradition of political democracy. In addition, they were mostly rural and agrarian. Many of the peasants were illiterate, and much of the land was still dominated by large landowners who feared the peasants. Ethnic conflicts (ex. Transylvania) also threatened these countries.
Powerful landowners, the churches, and even some members of the small middle class feared reform, communist upheaval, and ethnic conflict. For this reason these groups looked to authoritarian governments to maintain the old system. Only Czechoslovakia, which had a large middle class, a Liberal tradition, and a strong industrial base, maintained its political democracy.
In Spain, too, political democracy failed to survive. Led by General Francisco Franco, Spanish military forces revolted against the democratic government in 1936. A brutal and bloody civil war began. Foreign intervention complicated the Spanish Civil War. The Fascist regimes of Italy and Germany aided Franco’s forces with arms, money, and men. Adolf Hitler, the leader of Germany, used the Spanish Civil War as an opportunity to test the new weapons of his revived air forces.
The world was shocked when German bombers bombed the city of Guerncia, killing roughly a thousand people. During the Civil War's height, several autonomous provinces of Spain broke away and declared independence. By 1938, Catalonia, Galicia, Basque Country, and Navarre were independent. Galicia and Navarre declared neutrality while Catalonia and Basque Country only sought out to defend their borders from Spain. The Spanish Civil War ended in 1939 when Franco’s forces captured Madrid and established a dictatorship that favoured large landowners, businesspeople, and the Catholic clergy.
In Germany and Italy, the failure of democracy led to the rise of totalitarian governments.
By the 1930s, many Germans were upset with the Weimar Republic and angry at the Versailles Treaty. It was this kind of situation that Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party were able to rise to power. In 1933, Hitler became chancellor of Germany. Once in power, he immediately set out to control every aspect of German life. Hitler also began persecuting the Jewish people, blaming them for most of Germany's woes.
Italy fell under the Fascist control of Benito Mussolini. Mussolini, leader of the Fascist Party, was able to rally Italians for support and named himself 'Il Duce'. In 1935, Benito led his fascist Italy on a quest for expansion. Italy occupied the rest of Slovenia and invaded Abyssinia in Africa. Soon after, in 1937, Italy aligned itself with Nazi Germany with the Anti-Comintern Pact.
Slowly, but steadily - the gears of war were turning again...
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My fingers hurt >_<