So after typing a long description of the US military involvement in World War Two, In a thread asking why the US is so weak in HWW, I have decided that it would be fun to try this in a full on post! Country by country, I will write in a summary about a nations involvement in the war. To start things off, we have the United Kingdom. I’ll be focusing more on the British Isles, kicking the can down the road for the rest of the commonwealth. Now let’s get started!
So the United Kingdom after the First World War was a bit less antagonistic than the French. They pushed for less harsh punishments against the Germans, and acted as a moderate between the US’s self-deterministic ideals, and Frances want for for punishment against the Germans. But after the war, the Uk reached its height. Its enemies were defeated, it had taken plenty of land from the Ottomans, German colonies, and along with the US had the most powerful naval fleet on Earth, scrapping the German one. However the bloody war had taken its toll, and the UK didn’t want to start another war with the Germans, while a dark force rose to power in 1933…
Appeasement is a well known thing. Britain and France, hoping that the Nazi Germans would stop demanding lands and concessions if they gave in, giving German lands to them. It started with Rhine and Saarland, Germany demanding military and economic access to their territory. The allies gave in, war was unpopular, and the land was the Reich after all. Then came Austria, which voted to unite with Germany. Well it was democratic, so there wasn’t much that could be done. Then Czechoslovakia and the Sudetenland, and since it was German they had to give in! Then Germany took all of Czechoslovakia… not cool. The Allie’s had had enough. The Italians had also become fascist, aligning with the Germans and taking Ethiopia (using chemical weapons, by the way). Spain had fallen in a civil war too, and while it was too damaged to ever be a threat, the spread was scary. Something ahead to be done. Knowing that the Germans would eye Poland next, they promised its independence. The world got ready…
Meanwhile in Asia the Anglo-Japanese alliance had fallen apart after a series of racism, unfair treatment and falling amounts of mutual interests, ending officially in 1923. They had mostly ignored each other, but with growing Japanese military strength, and an invasion of China, relations fell. Though the UK didn’t actually do anything. After the Japanese attack on Nanking that left even the Nazis scared through, the US and UK began embargoing Japan, hitting the resource scare island hard by blocking vital Coal, Oil, Metal and more exports to them. Little did they know, Japan was planning something…
Hell broke loose in Europe, 1939. Poland refused German demands for Danzig, Germany invaded. Poland held out insanely well considering the circumstances, but with little allied help other than a tiny and failed French offensive, Poland would lose, the nail in the coffin being a Soviet invasion in the east. It seems the Germans and Soviets were planning to carve Eastern Europe between them. But the allies could do little, not helping the Poles or Finns once the Russians attacked them. Then followed the Phony war, where both sides did little. The Germans swiftly invaded Denmark and Norway to secure the Swedish steel supply and British support failed to save them. The UK later occupied Iceland to prevent it from falling to the Germans. And as the Germans prepared, and attack on the western front was coming.
The allied situation was not perfect in 1940. Even with massive empires, the British and French had many issues. While The British Expeditionary Force was well trained, they only numbered about 400k, meanwhile France mobilized millions. British tank doctrine was not perfect either, with infantry support tanks and scouting cruisers rather than a combined arms idea being used, German tanks may have not been as good 1v1 As France and the United Kingdom, but they knew how to use them better… and in the sky the RAF had to pick up some slack against the powerful Luftwaffe, since the French Air Force wasn’t the most powerful. Bad allied coordination, a strong German offensive through the Low Countries leading the allies into a trap, ended in a swift encirclement of the entire BEF and the greatest of French forces. Thanks to overstretched German supply lines, Hitler had to stop his advance, and with the help of French forces sacrificing themselves, the BEF along with other allied forces managed to escape, while the weakened France was forced to fall. Italy joined the war, and things were looking bad for the United Kingdom..
With the failure of appeasement, the PM of the UK, Neville Chamberlain resigned. Winston Churchill took over. Although quite the racist and a bit of a war monger, he inspired the British populace, making already low hopes of the UK surrendering fall apart, especially after the UK bombarded the fleet of the puppet Vichy French regime in Algeria to oblivion. It was clear there wouldn’t be an easy surrender, so the Germans had to try other means. A last ditch attempt would be a sea invasion, but the powerful royal navy wouldn’t allow for such a thing, and they also needed air supremacy. Germany attempted this in the Battle of Britain, but superior British fighter production (Germany had a weird war economy at this point.) along with American lend lease prevented the Germans from gaining any superiority, and bombings of cities didn’t have the desired effect. Italy tried to take Egypt, but this failed and turned around on them, with Germany having to step in to help in Africa. Italy also failed to defeat Greece from their gold in Albania, forcing Germany to turn around to their south. They dragged newly fascist Romania, Hungary and Bulgaria into the war, tried the same with Yugoslavia (who refused) and invaded them, then took down Greece in a bloody campaign. Britain tried to support Greece, but to no avail. Even Malta and Crete fell to the Germans (but not without casualties on their side). But still, the UK was holding back Rommel in Egypt, took down Iraq, and was surviving against German bombs and U-Boats, with US support. Now this didn’t mean that the UK was not strained, but they were alive. And after ignoring warnings from his own and British intelligence, Stalin faced an invasion from the Germans (and many other axis powers, even Spain!), and vengeful Finnish forces in 1941. This gave the UK an ally, and although the Soviet Union was pummeled, they had managed to hold off the Germans from complete victory. But news came from east… something both good and bad.
The US and allies were attacked by the Japanese. A surprise offensive even crippled the British East Indies fleet, and swept through south east Asia, taking French indochina from the puppet Vichy regime. The US was now in the war, as Germany and Italy declared war on it. With the US now Committed to helping Britain win the war, the situation in Europe was looking better, even if Asia was falling. But while pulling back from south east Asia as Asian joined the Japanese and Indochina was taken by Japan, Panicking British forces took food and other resources and stockpiled them, and with the fall of Burma and Malaysia there was no where to import food. 3 million would die in that famine. But in Midway the Japanese were halted, commonwealth forces along with Americans were starting to turn the tide, and in Europe the same thing happened. The Soviet victory in Stalingrad heavily damaged the Germans, and the British push for Operation Torch, which was meant to take North Africa and Italy out of the war was launched. It succeeded. The Italian people, angry at their failures in the war, such as the lost of East Africa and Italy, ended up outing Mussolini and switched sides. Although the Germans put him back in charge in a puppet regime, he would eventually be killed by his own people. This attack on Italy also gave crucial experience and lessons on amphibious assaults, and although it bogged down it would add another front it the war, closing the North African one.
So the United Kingdom after the First World War was a bit less antagonistic than the French. They pushed for less harsh punishments against the Germans, and acted as a moderate between the US’s self-deterministic ideals, and Frances want for for punishment against the Germans. But after the war, the Uk reached its height. Its enemies were defeated, it had taken plenty of land from the Ottomans, German colonies, and along with the US had the most powerful naval fleet on Earth, scrapping the German one. However the bloody war had taken its toll, and the UK didn’t want to start another war with the Germans, while a dark force rose to power in 1933…
Appeasement is a well known thing. Britain and France, hoping that the Nazi Germans would stop demanding lands and concessions if they gave in, giving German lands to them. It started with Rhine and Saarland, Germany demanding military and economic access to their territory. The allies gave in, war was unpopular, and the land was the Reich after all. Then came Austria, which voted to unite with Germany. Well it was democratic, so there wasn’t much that could be done. Then Czechoslovakia and the Sudetenland, and since it was German they had to give in! Then Germany took all of Czechoslovakia… not cool. The Allie’s had had enough. The Italians had also become fascist, aligning with the Germans and taking Ethiopia (using chemical weapons, by the way). Spain had fallen in a civil war too, and while it was too damaged to ever be a threat, the spread was scary. Something ahead to be done. Knowing that the Germans would eye Poland next, they promised its independence. The world got ready…
Meanwhile in Asia the Anglo-Japanese alliance had fallen apart after a series of racism, unfair treatment and falling amounts of mutual interests, ending officially in 1923. They had mostly ignored each other, but with growing Japanese military strength, and an invasion of China, relations fell. Though the UK didn’t actually do anything. After the Japanese attack on Nanking that left even the Nazis scared through, the US and UK began embargoing Japan, hitting the resource scare island hard by blocking vital Coal, Oil, Metal and more exports to them. Little did they know, Japan was planning something…
Hell broke loose in Europe, 1939. Poland refused German demands for Danzig, Germany invaded. Poland held out insanely well considering the circumstances, but with little allied help other than a tiny and failed French offensive, Poland would lose, the nail in the coffin being a Soviet invasion in the east. It seems the Germans and Soviets were planning to carve Eastern Europe between them. But the allies could do little, not helping the Poles or Finns once the Russians attacked them. Then followed the Phony war, where both sides did little. The Germans swiftly invaded Denmark and Norway to secure the Swedish steel supply and British support failed to save them. The UK later occupied Iceland to prevent it from falling to the Germans. And as the Germans prepared, and attack on the western front was coming.
The allied situation was not perfect in 1940. Even with massive empires, the British and French had many issues. While The British Expeditionary Force was well trained, they only numbered about 400k, meanwhile France mobilized millions. British tank doctrine was not perfect either, with infantry support tanks and scouting cruisers rather than a combined arms idea being used, German tanks may have not been as good 1v1 As France and the United Kingdom, but they knew how to use them better… and in the sky the RAF had to pick up some slack against the powerful Luftwaffe, since the French Air Force wasn’t the most powerful. Bad allied coordination, a strong German offensive through the Low Countries leading the allies into a trap, ended in a swift encirclement of the entire BEF and the greatest of French forces. Thanks to overstretched German supply lines, Hitler had to stop his advance, and with the help of French forces sacrificing themselves, the BEF along with other allied forces managed to escape, while the weakened France was forced to fall. Italy joined the war, and things were looking bad for the United Kingdom..
With the failure of appeasement, the PM of the UK, Neville Chamberlain resigned. Winston Churchill took over. Although quite the racist and a bit of a war monger, he inspired the British populace, making already low hopes of the UK surrendering fall apart, especially after the UK bombarded the fleet of the puppet Vichy French regime in Algeria to oblivion. It was clear there wouldn’t be an easy surrender, so the Germans had to try other means. A last ditch attempt would be a sea invasion, but the powerful royal navy wouldn’t allow for such a thing, and they also needed air supremacy. Germany attempted this in the Battle of Britain, but superior British fighter production (Germany had a weird war economy at this point.) along with American lend lease prevented the Germans from gaining any superiority, and bombings of cities didn’t have the desired effect. Italy tried to take Egypt, but this failed and turned around on them, with Germany having to step in to help in Africa. Italy also failed to defeat Greece from their gold in Albania, forcing Germany to turn around to their south. They dragged newly fascist Romania, Hungary and Bulgaria into the war, tried the same with Yugoslavia (who refused) and invaded them, then took down Greece in a bloody campaign. Britain tried to support Greece, but to no avail. Even Malta and Crete fell to the Germans (but not without casualties on their side). But still, the UK was holding back Rommel in Egypt, took down Iraq, and was surviving against German bombs and U-Boats, with US support. Now this didn’t mean that the UK was not strained, but they were alive. And after ignoring warnings from his own and British intelligence, Stalin faced an invasion from the Germans (and many other axis powers, even Spain!), and vengeful Finnish forces in 1941. This gave the UK an ally, and although the Soviet Union was pummeled, they had managed to hold off the Germans from complete victory. But news came from east… something both good and bad.
The US and allies were attacked by the Japanese. A surprise offensive even crippled the British East Indies fleet, and swept through south east Asia, taking French indochina from the puppet Vichy regime. The US was now in the war, as Germany and Italy declared war on it. With the US now Committed to helping Britain win the war, the situation in Europe was looking better, even if Asia was falling. But while pulling back from south east Asia as Asian joined the Japanese and Indochina was taken by Japan, Panicking British forces took food and other resources and stockpiled them, and with the fall of Burma and Malaysia there was no where to import food. 3 million would die in that famine. But in Midway the Japanese were halted, commonwealth forces along with Americans were starting to turn the tide, and in Europe the same thing happened. The Soviet victory in Stalingrad heavily damaged the Germans, and the British push for Operation Torch, which was meant to take North Africa and Italy out of the war was launched. It succeeded. The Italian people, angry at their failures in the war, such as the lost of East Africa and Italy, ended up outing Mussolini and switched sides. Although the Germans put him back in charge in a puppet regime, he would eventually be killed by his own people. This attack on Italy also gave crucial experience and lessons on amphibious assaults, and although it bogged down it would add another front it the war, closing the North African one.
CarKing the 6th of the Abrahamic Caliphate
