On May 10th 1940 German armored units begin a push into the Netherlands, ending the phony war. They quickly cut off and surround the French and British troops that have advanced into Belgium, and fierce fighting begins. Having surrounded the French and British troops from the south a group of German panzer divisions reached the coast and begun to push forward. On May 24th they engaged the allied troops in the area, and having met little resistance pushed forward. In a decisive battle that lasted from May 25th to May 27th the German panzer divisions secured the coast and completed the encirclement of allied troops.
After the defeat on May 27th Lord Gort decided on a last ditch effort to reach the coast and to begin an evacuation of the British and French forces. The allied attack was planned for May 29th, but by that time almost all of Army Group B had caught up with the leading panzer divisions. When in the morning of the 29th the allies attempted to break out of the encirclement they were faced with an overwhelming German force attacking from them from all sides with heavy Luftwaffe support. The operation was planned as a persice surgical strike that would allow the bulk of the allied forces to escape, but it turned into a general confrontation with the German forces in the area, and by the end of the day it became clear that none of the allied plans succeeded. Only a small group of British soldiers managed to reach the beach, and the British destroyers waited anxiously off the coast for the troops that would not make it. The bulk of the allied forces surrendered on May 30th after Lord Gort commtted suicide early in the morning. Of the aproximatley 400,000 allied troops that were encircled at Dunkirk only 3,500 made it to the safety of the British ships that were waiting for them in the Channel.
Operation Fall Rot begun on June 5th as German forces penetrated deeper into France. Practically unopposed German troops outflanked the Maginot line and attacked France proper. Paris fell to the advancing troops on June 14th, and on June 22nd the French Second Army Group, which represented the last organized French resistance to the German invasion, surrendered. The French government surrendered three days later.
Hoping to prevent an invasion of the British isles the United Kingdom attacked the French fleet stationed in North Africa. Most of the fleet was destroyed early in July, but in reality Britain was no more secure. On July 10th the Luftwaffe begun its first attack against the RAF, trying to draw the RAF fighters into a direct confrontation. By August the Luftwaffe had won air superiority over the Channel, and had begun bombing runs against air fields in southern England.
Using numerical superiority the Luftwaffe used heavily escorted bombers to draw the RAF fighters out into confrontation. The RAF suffered incredible loses over these weeks, and German attacks on the airfields took a heavy toll on the British. By early September the RAF had barely any operational airfields left in southern England.
The first weeks of September proved to be decisive to the war. Italy launched an offensive against the British forces in Egypt and the Luftwaffe attacks against the RAF intensified. By mid-September the RAF was forced to withdraw their squadrons from southern England, leaving it exposed to the German attacks and acknowledging Luftwaffe air superiority.
Winston Churchill had lost the much support in the cabinet and in Parliament after the loss of the British Expeditionary Force in France. With the RAF retreating, the British cities exposed to German bombers, and with a German invasion appearing imminent his no negotiation policy lost all support. On September 28th Winston Churchill was replaced by Lord Halifax as the British Prime Minister, and peace negotiations with Germany begin.
By October 25th a peace treaty was secured, under which Britain retained its independance, but loses most of its colonies and accepts limitations on its military. Some colonial garrisons continue to resist the peace treaty, but without any outside support they fall quickly. Only a few days later Italy invades Greece with an offensive from Albania.
In April of 1941 Axis troops invade Yugoslavia and quickly overwhelmed the defenders of the country. Partisan attacks would continue in Yugoslavia longer than in most parts of Europe, but they would never grow to present a serious threat to the German Reich. The German army is now able to aid the Italians in Greece and by May Greece had fallen, leaving practically all of Europe under Germany's rule.
The relative peace in Europe was short-lived as on June 22nd the Axis powers invaded their last remaining enemy - the Soviet Union. Spearheaded by panzer divisions the Germans, under the command of Rommel, overwhelmed the initial defenses that the Soviets were able to put up. Using absolutley overwhelming air superiority and incredible mobility of their armored units the Germans advanced swiftly, denying the Soviets a chance to regroup. By July all of Poland and most of the Baltic Countries were under German control, and in the Baltic Countries the advancing Germans were greeted as liberators.
The offensive had to pause briefly to allow for German infantry to catch up, but the Soviets failed to organize any meaningful resistance in the time. By August the offensive resumed in full, supported once again by the Luftwaffe, which eliminated most of the Soviet armored units. In late August a huge pocket of Soviet troops was encircled near Smolensk, and over 700 Soviet tanks were destroyed in the process. In the south the German tanks rolled over Ukraine practically unopposed as the Soviet resistance crumbled.
In early September the Germans scored the biggest victory of the war yet, when the mobile panzer divisions were able to encircle the Soviet troops near Kiev. After a fierce battle over 600,000 Soviet troops were captures and Soviet resistance in the South was practically eliminated. In the North the offensive continued under the command of Field Marshal Rommel.
Hitler briefly ordered panzer divisions from Army Group Center to be redirected to the North and South, but after vehement opposition to the plan from Field Marshal Rommel Hitler reconsidered. Rommel was confident that with the force of all of the Army Group Center he could capture Moscow before the end of the year. On October 2nd Rommel begun his push towards the Soviet capital.
The weather deterioarated but with the support from the Luftwaffe Rommel was able to push forward, coming within a few miles of the capital on October 31st. He was forced to hault briefly to regroup, but when intelligence indicated that a major group of reinforcements was coming from Siberia to relieve the Soviets at Moscow Rommel ordered the attack to continue.
On November 2nd the 3rd and 4th Panzer Armies pushed to the north east, with the hope of surrounding Moscow. The 2nd Panzer Army pushed towards Tula at the same time, and routed the Soviet Army stationed there before the reinforcements from Siberia arrived. On November 12th the 4th Panzer Army crossed the Moscow canal and came within 15 miles of the Kremlin. General Zhukov advised Stalin to dig in and wait for the reinforcements from Siberia, but Stalin was in a panic and ordered an immediate counter-offensive. Over the next four days Rommel's troops encircled and decisivley defeated the Soviet armies at Moscow, taking control of the city by November 17th. When the Siberian troops arrived on November 22nd they could do little but watch.
Stalin died during the German assault on Moscow. History is not kind enough to tell us whether he committed suicide, was killed by one of his leutenants, or simply died as a result of the fighting, but in the aftermath of the assault Lavrenty Beria emerged as the Soviet leader. He escaped the city prior to the German assault and now entered into negotiations with the Germans. On December 5th a cease fire was signed, and by December 19th Beria agreed to a peace treaty.
Beria gave up Karelia, the Baltic States, and Ukraine, and agreed to limit the Soviet Union's military. There was talk of freeing the Central Asian republics, but Beria was able to keep them. He also made it clear that no German troops would be stationed in the Soviet Union the way they have been in the United Kingdom, and that the Soviet Union would retain its independance. After assessing the situation Rommel and Goring urged Hitler to sign peace, fearing that they would not be able to repeat the success of the initial campaign. Reluctantly, Hitler agreed.
But the World was not at peace, since less than a month ago, on December 7th, Japan launched a surprise attack against the United States and the remaining loyal European garrisons in the Pacific. While Germany chose not to participate in the war directly, all European governments were instructed to give full support to the Japanese war effort. The single most significant European contribution to the Pacific war was United Kingdom's agreement to hand over parts of its fleet to Japan, after Germany threatened to topple the fragile British government.
Japan continued to advance against European garrisons in former colonies and against United States forces in the theater. In effect, only the United States, Australia, and New Zealand remained active opponents of the Japanese. On February 28th, the joint Japanese-British navy engaged the allied navy and all but destroyed it, allowing for an invasion of New Guinea to take place. The attack was repelled by the American and Australian navies in the Battle of the Coral Sea, but the Japanese inflicted far heavier loses on the Americans, and afterwards the United States navy in the Pacific was practically destroyed.
By April the Japanese had secured all former European colonies, as well as the Philippines. The only allied presense in the Pacific was now the American naval base at Pearl Harbor, including the American Pacific Fleet's three remaining aircraft carriers. The Japanese fleet moved decisivley towards Hawaii, and on June 5th it was sighted by American forces near Midway Island.
Together the Japanese and British fleets held more than a 4:1 advantage over the Americans, and in the ensuing battle all three American carriers were sunk at the cost of five Japanese carriers. While the Japanese suffered heavier loses in the battle, the American Pacific Fleet ceased to exist as the outcome, and all of the Pacific now laid before the Japanese. California could easily be the next target.
There are unsubstantiated allegations that the German navy took part in the Battle of Midway. Some American survivors claim that at least one German destroyer was present, and that some of the American ships were attacked by, presumably German, submarines. The United States navy never confirmned the allegations, and they remain in the sphere of consipracy theories.
The Germans did chose to interfere in the conflict, however. Possibly knowing that in the long-run the Japanese victories were unsustainable, or possibly wishing to maintain their influence over Japan, the Germans made it clear that it was time for a peace agreement. Hitler personally visited Japan during the negotiations, and eventually both sides came to an agreement.
The United States recognized Japanese gains in the Pacific and agreed to cede the Philippines. In return the Japanese accepted United States control over parts of the Pacific and agreed to not persue any further territorial gains from Austrialia, New Zealand, or the United States. The peace was unpopular in the United States, but the thought of a Japanese attack on California was even more so, and no President wanted to be in office when that took place.
By early August of 1942 the World was once againt at peace, for the first time since 1938.
To be continued later
