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Pete's Alternate Draka Timeline: Draka 2α

Section 4: 1940–1948+

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Draka 2α Timeline
Section 4: 1940–1948+

Previous: 1917–1939

The Second Great War

• 1940–48: Second Great War. Starts with several European major powers grabbing neutral countries, then Draka gets involved. Crash development of fission bomb by multiple national secret projects, advanced development and small-scale deployment of jet aircraft. Airborne troops in gliders towed by aircraft, and parachuting from dedicated transport aircraft. Autogyro and helicopter first used in combat for battlefield observation and casualty evacuation. Color movies, and black-and-white broadcast television.
  Britain suffers from an initial lack of territory in the Mediterranean; the loss of Malta, Egypt and North Africa to the Domination during the last war leaves them only Cyprus and Gibraltar. The prewar guarantee of Greece and the other Balkan states is based on worldwide deterrence, not on the ability to supply significant assistance to those threatened countries. But in a war of conquest, only direct opposition can stop aggression, and the BEFs are badly handled as fire fighters. Britain gets much egg on its face as a result of this well-intended bluster and idealism.
  Russia makes several blunders that lead to its downfall. First, in believing that experienced border garrisons backed by a great number of poorly trained troops and a vast territory can delay an invasion long enough for the Russian population to generate a counter-stroke, or that vast numbers of inexperienced troops are a viable force for external conquest. They commit a second blunder once invaded, and practically attempt to switch horses in mid-stream by converting to German military equipment without a coherent plan for stockpiling spare parts or providing training to forces in the field. The final Russian blunder is to unleash the entire population in a winter counter-offensive without retaining firm control or good communications.
  The United States spends the war threatening to act if attacked, and does practically nothing but trade with both Britain and Japan.
  Italy flounders throughout the war, saved from complete conquest by the Domination around 1943 only by the threat of German intervention. Even so, it loses Albania, Sardinia, Sicily, the area around Trieste, and most significantly, almost all confidence in the Italian military.
  
  
• 1940: Month-by-month 1940 is here. The condensed version follows:
  

  January 1940

  [Map uses OTL 1917 boundaries outside Europe, slightly modified 1922 in Europe.]

  Germany jumps into Belgium, Austria and Poland regardless of the Anschluss referenda, but their blitzkriegs flounder. Russia intervenes in Poland and grabs the eastern half to honor their non-aggression pact with Germany, and break their Pact of Paris promise. Austria falls apart politically, partially due to machinations by the Vatican. Britain and France intervene in Belgium and enter Germany, are encircled and thrown back, German forces circle around the Surlot Line. France quickly falls, Italy attacks Greece, Japan sweeps down the China coast, Russia crushes the Baltic States. Germany, Italy and then Russia form the Continental Pact. Britain and Italy begin to clash in the Mediterranean. Japan takes over French Indo-China and joins the Continental Pact. The Netherlands voluntarily joins Germany. The Domination attacks Greece and Italian units there. Russia attacks Finland. Britain, Italy and the Domination clash near Malta and the British relief convoy to Cyprus is damaged. The Domination seizes Athens, advances towards Albania, and assists Britain with evacuating Cyprus in exchange for possession of the island and a non-aggression pact. Germany begins bombing England, conquers the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and begins planning a cross-Channel invasion. Kennedy reelected President. Denmark joins Germany; Iceland and Greenland declare independence and neutrality. Russia makes peace with Finland after gaining only a little.
• 1941: Month-by-month 1941 is here. The condensed version follows:
  

  January 1941

  [Map uses OTL 1917 boundaries outside Europe, slightly modified 1922 in Europe.]

  Japan gains more in China. The Domination attacks out of Greece into Bulgaria and Serbia, Russia invades Rumania, Germany hurriedly conquers Hungary, and the Balkans are now divided between major powers. Japan seizes Hong Kong to finally open war with Britain, and then Macau to control the entire Chinese coastline. The Domination wrecks Ploesti then falls back and tries to flank the Germans through Serbia, the Continental Pact pushes the Domination back to Greece and Turkey. Russian operations in the Black Sea and Georgia ultimately fail and the Domination holds Maikop and most of Georgia by the end of the year. Britain invades Norway; Sweden joins Germany, Portugal allies with Britain. Japan seizes Brunei and lands on Borneo, finally enters Peking and begins chasing remaining warlords. Britain is evicted from Norway by Swedish and German forces, the PM allows a War Council to dictate British strategy. The German invasion force construction attracts British attention. Ireland rises against the British with Drakan weapons and unites the island, but is soon quashed by British invasions that restore the status quo but anger America. Germany cuts to the Greek coast, the Domination unexpectedly gains Sardinia. Microwave electrodetector technology invented in U.S., but quickly developed in Domination. The Domination counters Russian moves near the Caspian Sea, and breaks out to seize Turkmenistan and much of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, the Drakan front creeps along the British Afghanistan border. Japan moves into Cambodia and Malaya. The Continental Pact and Draka separately discuss with Spain an attack on Gibraltar. Hawaii admitted as state in one of America's few indications of growing concern about the Pacific to Japan, bringing the USA state flag to 14/14/43.
• 1942: Month-by-month 1942 is here. The condensed version follows:
  

  January 1942

  [Map uses OTL 1917 boundaries outside Europe, slightly modified 1922 in Europe.]

  The Drakans advance in the Balkans against Italy, then land in Rumania to cut off German and Russian forces that eventually partially escape. Japan begins benefiting from seizing the oil production on Borneo. Britain plans and executes a naval raid on the Persian Gulf after discovering Drakan involvement in Ireland, but the ships are trapped in the Gulf and destroyed, inflicting massive ecological damage to the region. Drakans reach Lake Balkhash, advance along the east Caspian Sea coast, creep along the (still tense with a cease-fire) British India border, and advance through the Caucasus. Russia's inexperienced hordes are not winning, and demands for German assistance lead to the blunder of trying to manufacture and field German equipment without a comprehensive supply and training plan. Japan seizes Singapore and advances into Siam; the young King leads resistance in the bush. The Domination invades and conquers Sicily, and advances through Trieste. Indian pacifists almost cause India to withdraw from the British Commonwealth, provoking a unilateral ban on attacking the Domination throughout the British Empire. The two best Drakan armored Legions thrust to the Trans-Siberian Railroad and effectively divide Russia, the Caspian Sea is encircled, the first Chinese warlords in border fortresses are knocked out. German troops replace Italians and Russians in the Balkans, then Germany invokes their old non-aggression pact and makes peace with the Domination. Part of the German invasion fleet is noticed and attacked, and the RAF and Navy clash with the Luftwaffe over the Channel ports. Japan attacks far eastern Russia and begins marching along the Trans-Siberian Railroad from the east. The Continental Pact breaks down, and Italy makes peace with the Domination too. Germany abandons plans for an amphibious invasion of Britain. The last Russian blunder is to begin a winter counter-offensive by the general population. Spain invades Portugal, and Gibraltar is destroyed with Domination assistance.
• 1943: Month-by-month 1943 is here. The condensed version:
  The Finns take back their losses, then advance on to Murmansk and St. Petersburg. Germany jumps in as well, and thrusts through Poland at St. Petersburg and Moscow, but allocates insufficient forces to the southern border with the Domination to prevent Draka from grabbing the lion's share of the Ukraine and all of the Crimea. Spain gets all of Portugal but Lisbon, then the British temporarily land on the northern Spanish coast, and the Domination invades. The British make a commando raid on Cherbourg, but suffer horribly trying to extricate it. Japan seizes the Pacific coast of Russia and meets the Domination along the Trans-Siberian Railroad at Krasnoyarsk. Finland, Germany, Japan and the Domination divide up Russia, mostly along their lines of control before the end of the year, while still putting down partisans and squashing bypassed holdouts. The Drakans use contact nerve gas at Gibraltar and Madrid. Germany grabs a portion of Spain along the Mediterranean coast, and Draka gets the rest; the Portuguese push back with British help and retake their country. The Domination advances deeper into western China, and captures much of the Russian atomic weapons research data. The Luftwaffe continues to bomb England nightly, but doesn't know they are mostly ineffective. The Japanese advance in Siam is halted. A critical look at Domination equipment and performance causes some minor improvements to be made. Britain accepts worldwide peace with the Domination. Germany exerts hegemony over Finland and Italy, and also makes peace with Britain to begin the "European Peace," then halts most research and development to concentrate on anti-partisan operations and enjoying the fruits of victory. Turning to Japan, Britain begins to push back. Germany begins persecuting some minorities, beginning with selecting who can resettle the conquered territories. Philippines transitions to US protectorate, with first independence referendum scheduled for 1949.

A British poster from their short war with the Domination

[Thanks to The Radium League timeline for uncovering this bit of memorabilia.]

• 1944: Drakan "killsweeps" in their conquests depopulate the countryside of all but penned (new) serfs, the Drakan military, and partisans. These operations consist of armed convoys to population centers, where small groups are forcibly removed to processing and holding camps, but large ones are processed practically "in place." The aims are to remove all rural and farm residents, isolate food production from the conquered population, and force partisans to expose themselves by farming or attacking food distribution centers. Any resistance is dealt with by death, including mass impaling and forcing the victims to dig pits for use of heavier-than-air nerve gas. German anti-partisan efforts usually leave populations in place until reprisals are no longer effective, then they resort to removal of the able-bodied to labor camps, followed by execution of all that remain.
  The British push forces through Siam into Malaya and Indo-China. The Japanese often resort to mass banzai charges when placed in a hopeless situation, rather than surrendering, so their fanatic defenses usually result in costly jumps forward by the British once they've isolated groups of Japanese. The British bomb and blockade enemy-held ports, interspersing a methodical land advance with "leapfrog" amphibious assaults along the coastlines. Singapore is among the first successes, although forcing all of the Japanese out of the nearby countryside proves difficult. Siam is one of the few areas entirely cleansed of Japanese troops, as the King is able to rally local troops to finish the job after the British move on. Increased support is given to the Chinese warlords still opposing the Japanese, but the supplies can move initially only by narrow trails or by air transport. Japan puts more effort into opposing the Commonwealth advance outside China, content to hold the coast and Manchuria, but occasionally dispatches punitive expeditions against troublesome warlords. Australian troops scour New Guinea and other islands for Japanese, and land on Borneo. After one minor Japanese landing in the Aleutians, hoping to begin a northern island-hopping campaign, Canadian troops enter the conflict. These soon make major landings on the Pacific coast above the Amur River, and begin advancing on Vladivostok.
  The European Peace holds, as Germany and the Domination combat partisans and rebuild in the conquered territories. Italy struggles to assimilate refugees and construct a credible military deterrent.
  Kennedy is reelected for an unprecedented third term, with the slogan "He kept US out of War" masking the political corruption that ensures his victory.
• 1945: The British continue their leapfrog tactics in Indo-China, holding major ports and strategic points that are beset by cut-off Japanese. Denied port facilities, the Japanese attempt infiltrating supplies and troops by small-scale amphibious landings, but the Japanese losses in merchant shipping have made transports scarce and also priority targets for the British air and naval forces. Chinese warlords have a road built to improve the flow of British supplies, and begin pushing back the Japanese towards the southeastern coast. Australian and Canadian troops advance, but terrain and numbers, respectively, favor the Japanese so progress is slow. British long-range bombers operating out of China begin to strike targets on the Japanese Home Islands.
  A general French uprising has some local successes within the Tours government's jurisdiction, but German troops enter and firmly suppress the revolt, then dissolve the puppet government to put all of France under direct German civilian or military control. Sympathetic uprisings in Poland and German-held Spain are less successful, leading to widespread reprisals and many mass deportations to labor camps. Forms of racism increase in German government propaganda, as the doctrine of "German Mastery" is proclaimed; no "Master Race" though, as even non-Orthodox Jews and other marginal groups are counted German so long as they support the Militarist government's policies.
  Popular resentment of the prevalence of corruption and open criminal influence on the police, particularly in major cities, begins to bring an American reform movement into focus.
• 1946: The persecution of unpopular minorities within Germany, and almost every non-German in the conquered territories, culminates in the German Purity Laws. Further uprisings occur across much of German-held Europe, including public protests in the annexed territories. The Reich government gives power of summary execution or deportation to many agents of the state, including police and all military personnel. A significant fraction of the population in Germany and German-held territory is now in forced labor camps or being employed as domestic servants for high-ranking Germans and farm workers for German settlers.
  The Domination begins secret talks with Germany regarding a joint operation against Italy, or at least allowing Domination conquest without interference. The German Militarists are intrigued, hoping to distract rising popular discontent with another military campaign ("a short victorious war"), although the talks bog down over the partition line. "Rationalization" of the German–Domination borders in Spain, the Balkans and the Ukraine is a good idea, but neither side wants to give up anything. Tension slowly grows between these two great powers astride Europe.
  Britain explodes the world's first fission warhead at a small island in the Orkneys on November 2^nd. It is a disaster for their atomic weapons program, as the blast wave effect on the water around the island was severely underestimated, and several Royal Navy ships observing the test are capsized by the tidal wave with great loss of life. The wave is noticed as far away as Voe in the Shetland Islands, but the National Secrets Act muzzles any mention of the event; a cover-up ascribes the deaths to an accidental multiple naval collision.
  By the end of the year, the British have secured the oil-producing areas of Borneo, and extended their reach to within easy striking distance of Hong Kong.

Another British poster, posted mostly in Australia and Canada

[Thanks to The Radium League timeline for uncovering this bit of memorabilia.]

• 1947: Month-by-month 1947 is here. The condensed version:
  The British pause to mop up the Japanese lurking in the countryside throughout southeast and northeast Asia. Japan begins taking desperate measures to increase forces and gain resources, including giving the Domination most of the Siberian territory in exchange for supplies of oil provided by rail. The British are upset, but the Drakans talk down the benefits to Japan and point out ways to interdict the flow — which Britain does using rear-area raiders rather than airpower.
  Adolf Hitler dies unnoticed. A group of Army officers and diplomats, encouraged by outspoken religious opposition to the racism and repression, tries a coup in Berlin on the night of May 12^th. The Chancellor is killed but the Prime Minister takes refuge at the Domination embassy and is rescued by loyal troops.
  The second atomic test is carried out on May 14^th in the Great Western Desert of Australia under extreme safety precautions. The War Council finally approves series production of atom bombs in mid-June, and several months go by while a small stockpile is built. Use against Japan is likely but not yet approved.
  The United States becomes an atomic power on September 20^th, and the Domination joins the club on September 22^nd. A second bomb is demonstrated for the Archon and visiting (acting) Reichschancellor to try to scare Germany into amalgamation with the Domination. The third Drakan test is of the plutonium-based design based on Russian work, which is produced exclusively after the first batch. So, the British and Americans know each other has the bomb, the Domination has shown it to Germany as a "big stick", and apparently Germany and Japan have none.
  After the unsuccessful coup of May 12^th, the German Reich comes under the control of Helmut Grandosch, the Prime Minister and Acting Chancellor. He declares martial law within Germany for several months, and allows loyal security forces to make massive arrests of anyone suspected of conspiracy against his government. Although he publicly denies it, he feels some personal gratitude to the Domination for saving his life during the coup attempt, and the Drakan ambassador is able to cultivate a warm friendship over the months of martial law. In their exchanges, Grandosch begins to realize that Germany is approaching the Domination's model of a hierarchical society. This, and a demonstration of the Drakan atomic bomb during a state visit to the Domination late in the year, results in a secret deal to voluntarily amalgamate Greater Germany and the Domination. A plan is developed during the lengthy show trials of the coup leaders and other conspirators. A vast expansion of the forced labor camps begins, adding enormous capacity for processing and holding, but no new arrivals. Heightened military and police readiness and anti-riot training is ordered throughout the German Reich. The Domination deploys units near the German border that are strangely (for the Domination) trained to resolve riot situations with minimal loss of life and maximum non-lethal captures. After seeing the Domination's advanced weaponry, Grandosch orders the German jet aircraft and atomic bomb research programs resumed secretly, but it will take months to catch up. Although the Reich government makes careful inquiries of Britain, America and Japan, none of the other great powers admits to having any weapons like the vaguely-described Domination atomic bomb. So plans proceed within Greater Germany to voluntarily amalgamate with the Domination of Draka, although there is unease at doing so with no visible external threat.
• 1948: The amalgamation announcement is scheduled for February 20^th, at the conclusion of the rebels' trials. However, "leaks" begin occur several weeks earlier, as a few among the thousands privy to some amount of the plan let slip what they know to friends or relatives. The British Royal Intelligence Service does some uncharacteristically speedy and competent synthesis of multiple sources, and successfully presents their information to the War Council on February 16^th. The British ambassador in Berlin is immediately authorized to inform the Acting Chancellor that Britain also possesses atomic weapons, and the message arrives in time to avert a disastrous shift in world power.
  Grandosch decides to quietly cancel amalgamation and try steering a course between the Domination and the British Empire, hoping to threaten alliance with the other if one becomes aggressive with their "super weapon." But too many high-ranking Germans know that the Reich was about to join with the Domination, and the sudden cancellation of the plan for no apparent (below the Chancellor's inner circle) reason fosters a rumor mill of epic proportions in the halls of power. Although the Domination knows something isn't right in the Reich as February 20th approaches, there are no details as Grandosch now refuses to talk with his Drakan friend. Helmut Grandosch appears at the closing session of the rebels' trials, but makes only a speech about the just punishment of criminals and that he is now taking the Chancellor title until the next elections, not the grand announcement that some expected. Instead of the expected riots among the lower classes, there is a vague unease among all Germans for two days, until an "underground" newspaper breaks a garbled version of the truth. In the meantime, the Domination is demanding to know what happened, and is getting the brush-off from German diplomats. The newspaper report, quickly repeated and then officially denied in a way that validates it, sets off unrest among practically all the peoples of the German Reich. These range from the forced laborers and "free" factory workers who would become serfs in the Domination, to the German nationalists who would rather die than let German culture drown in the Domination's pastiche. An uprising that dwarfs all the previous ones erupts throughout the Reich, and the Chancellor finds he must make another fateful decision alone.
  To Be Continued…

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