1955 AD
French Involvement
The question of French involvement in the Cold War was not one that was to be debated for much longer. With the rise of Communism in Europe and Northern Africa, French President Sam B always found himself asking the same question, 'when is the right time to make a move' and it came. With a new foreign policy on Communism, by keeping it to one area and keeping it to a standstill for as long as possible, Communism could effectively be contained. The French involvement would not have to wait much longer. The time was here.
The first move, not made by France but triggered their military integration was the fall of the democratic government in the Ottoman empire and the rise of a Communist dictatorship in the Ottoman government. The announcement of another Communist government angered the French and military intervention was called for and voted on, overwhelmingly winning. The French launched their new 'containment' idea with the French invasion of the Ottoman empire in 1955.
French invasion
The French invasion was carried out smoothly. The goals of the war were to prevent any more Communist Soviet takeovers in Africa, and put a dent in the Soviet's military and make allies of the Soviet's realize that their system could not and would not work.
Three major battles occurred in the invasion, the Battle of Iznik, which was won by the French, the Battle of Kafa, which the French won and the battle of Bingol, which the communists won.
Location of important places after the French invasion. Bingol is located above the DMZ zone. (Spelt incorrectly)
The importance of Bingol was the need to capture large oil and rubber reserves that could fuel the French army without any needed support from home. However, the Communists had this set strongly in their sights and had the city defended extremely well.
The Soviet Union was quiet during the entire event. They felt the war with China was ten times more important than invading the Ottomans and beginning an actual war with the French, which would result in MAD, Mutual Assured Destruction of the both the Soviet and French states. However, they diverted massive amounts of financial aid to the Ottomans, who accepted it. The French, only days after the invasion announced the stopping of all financial aid to the Chinese after they felt confident enough that the Scandinavians would aid the Chinese enough. The financial aid was diverted to the Ottoman war effort.
Another important detail of the event was the construction of a Demilitarized Zone, which included the construction of about 20 forts, lined up against each other to prevent an Ottoman communist invasion of South Ottoman, until the French were ready to invade North Ottoman. Sporadic fights continued for several months.
To be continued in the next part.
(Note: On the map above, it says 'French Cities captured' this is a mistake; it's meant to say Cities captured by the French.
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