May, 1945. The war rages on in Europe. It's now been over a year since Mussolini declared that Italy must help bring down Hitlerism, or Italy would always be playing second fiddle to Germany, but the only real accomplishment has been making this war look more like the last one. Germany proved unable to decisively defeat Italy, thanks in part to the Alps, but while Italy had bragged of being able to kick in the door of Germany and causing them to implode, in reality it simply evened the odds between the Germans on the one side, and the Soviets and Allies on the other. All fronts have become more or less static, no one can amount a strong enough offensive to overcome the defensive lines for long, and it's looking more and more like the Great War.
The effect, of course, is devastating. The Great War brought many countries to their breaking points, and the same is true now as well. All the major combatants have now mobilized - and lost - enough men to have major impacts on their societies. First it was Britain and Germany, but now it is Italy too, and even the hugely populous Soviet Union. Spain may not be there yet, having only entered the war last year, but they appear headed the same way. For now Germany appears to be in better shape than the rest, but that may only be because they mobilized a higher percentage of their society first. Whether they could last another year at the current rate and not start to look a bit thin is anyone's guess.
Meanwhile, America retains the role it had in the first World War - that of the banker. To be sure, their domestic politics have imploded, and they now oscillate between fascist and communist administrations far too frequently. But they're still sitting pretty in comparison, and playing both sides, in both sides and materiel support. It would appear their main objective is prolonging the war, and Europe's misery, all for the profits that come with their exports. But if they were to pull a 1917 all over again, it could be a decisive factor in deciding which side is on top of the rubble heap.
In Italy, the spring offensive was mostly ineffective. Turkey had entered the war on the side of the Axis last year, a blow to Italy, but one could see why. Romania had secured the Caucasus, and the Soviets looked on the ropes. Bulgaria had fallen to German regiments. And the Italian Middle East was lightly defended. It looked like a great opportunity. But Italy reinforced with troops from Africa - Britain no longer being a major threat there - and stopped the Turks at Baghdad - just before the rich oil fields. The goal of the spring offensive had been to strike east towards Istanbul, and to liberate Bulgaria. The Axis heavily defended that area, however, and Thessalonike was the only city of note to be taken. Slightly more success was had in the west, where weak German defenses allowed the steel mills of Lyons to be captured by Italy, solving a steel crunch at what may prove to be an important time. But once more Italy finds itself short of supplies, and with no real way to defeat Germany, only to gradually wear it down.
There is one face card that Italy has, a new one - rocketry. The hope is that by bombarding German industry with rocketry, perhaps the material advantage can be changed, and with it the war. The first rocket site has been built deep in the Alps, with more being constructed, and improved technology being researched. Strategic bombers, having been ignored for so long, would take far too long to build up, never mind the dearth of long-range fighters to clear the way. But rockets... perhaps with those the war can be prevented from lasting forever.
