rinzukitree
Banned
This was me simply copying already existing borders. This was me trying to get my head wrapped around making maps.
Map Thread XX
- Thread starter Balkanized U.S.A
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This was me simply copying already existing borders. This was me trying to get my head wrapped around making maps.
Well Delhi has become a major Islamic centre only centuries after the collapse of the Ummayads and Abbasids, so it would not have been counted within the traditional five Caliphal Sees (or Imamic?) when they be established. Therefore, I would say that Delhi would get a position similar to Mosocw (or Kiev) in Christianity, becoming a junior centre of Islam to encompass all of the Indian Subcontinent
That makes sense - maybe it'd be home to a modern variant of Norn, too.
So how large and populous is alt-Rockall?
Lil' Island in the Sea of Time reference there?
Yeah, that's exactly it.
As for how populous, I don't know, but the overall population density might be lower than Scotland but higher than Iceland, given the location. Not very populous, but with a few large cities, mostly in the south and in the gulf area.Well there’s different variation of what could happen.
Icelandic got It own Bible in the 16th century, at the same time the Danish government banned the use of Stsndard Danish by the native Icelanders, because they saw Icelandic as a purer version of Danish. It’s why Icelandic is such a unique language because it have operated under 5 centuries of mandated linguistic purity.
Faroese on the other hand have another history, they used the Danish Bible until 1937. If we look at vocabulary, it’s pretty much the same as Danish vocabulary and the grammar is also overwhelming similar. It’s not mutual intelligible with Danish but a Dane can learn to understand it very fast and it’s common that the Danish speakers of Faroe Islands simply speak Danish to the Faroese who speak Faroese back. The closest relative of Faroese is the West Norwegian dialects and if Denmark-Norway had survived or Faroe Island had stayed Norwegian Faroese would simply have been seen as a Norwegian dialect and have adopted the Nynorsk (New Norwegian) written standard instead of having developed it own.
The reason why Faroese survived Danish dominance was because there was little immigration from Denmark to the islands, there was a small Danish administration and some Danish and Norwegian merchants in Torshavn.
The language of Rockall (which I now call Rockallmaal meaning Rockall language) could have developed in different ways. The Icelandic development would have been unlikely, it demanded some very specific things for it to happen. The Faroese way is more likely, but here Rockallmaal into some specific problems. It have a far better climate than the Faroese Islands, it’s far more likely that it will receive a seriously influx of Danish farmers to develop the local farming, both Faroe Island and Iceland saw that, but the hostile climate ensured these was limited in numbers and geographic spread. Here you may see something similar to the Scot immigration to Orkney and Shetland. This can lead to different scenarios. A national awakening which do some language purifying, the development of Rockallmaal into a unique Danish dialect or a linguistic split between Danish and Rockallmaal speakers, with the Danes being farmers and burghers and the Rockallmaal speakers being herders and fishermen.
I have always found the idea of Danish speaking area away from the Danish mainland interesting for 20th century reasons. In OTL when Denmark was occupied the areas of Denmark outside Denmark had their own national identities (the few thousands Danes on Greenland. Being the exception, which meant we didn’t see a Free Denmark. But if there’s 3000-4000 square kilometer island with 50-100.000 Danish speakers with a clear Danish identity, it’s far more likely that we would see a Free Denmark joining the allies. It will also have effect on the Danish North Atlantic possessions in WWI, where in OTL the seed of Icelandic independence was laid there with the Icelanders showing they was able to survive on their own (which was why Iceland became it own kingdom in union with Denmark after WWI) here Iceland will have Rockall to feed it, which means Iceland will be fsr more likely to simply stay a autonomous province rather than becoming a kingdom in union with Denmark. As such that would lead to a Free Denmark made out of the counties of Rockall and Faroe Islands, the autonomous province of Iceland and the colony of Greenland. While it would not be world changing it would have some interesting consequence for Denmark that Free Denmark existed under the War and could field maybe 40.000 soldiers (I think Free Denmark would likely have something like 220-250.000 people).
As I have a few times before, thought I'd share some WorldA maps based off a continuing HOI4 game I'm playing with a few other members of the forum from the Shared World's Discord. Started in 1936, players include Germany (me), Japan, USSR, USA (two players), France, UK, Italy, Romania, Brazil and Hungary. Maps are made at the end of each session, thus far we've done four sessions but ive given you three maps and writeups for now, so enjoy! it's a wild ride.
With the game having begun in 1936, history progressed relatively normally with the defeat of Ethiopia in early 1936 by Italy, though Anschluss came in January 1937 unlike OTL due to the deployment of vast numbers of highly unequipped German forces. In the US, despite initial efforts of the Roosevelt Administration to pursue limited interventionism, a lack of support in the House of Representatives leads to a continued path of neutrality. Meanwhile, in Asia the Sino-Japanese war begins in early 1937 with Japanese forces, driven by small tank forces that broke Chinese lines in key areas in the north, overwhelming Chinese forces and then breaking their defensive cordon by landing at Ningbo on the Chinese coast. In the USSR, the Great Purge has begun with the execution of anti-stalinist members of the party and army, while on the encouragement of Joseph Stalin the Communists in China execute Chiang Kai-Sheck, resulting in the failure of negotiations for a Chinese United Front and the outbreak of war in China between the KMT and Communists once again. Meanwhile in Spain, the civil war erupts in mid 1936 resulting in a significant number of volunteers being sent to the country by the Soviets, Germans and Italians. Initially the conflict sees gains for the Republicans while Nationalist forces sweep up the northern Bilbao pocket, Soviet Tank forces breach the Nationalist line just north of Madrid resulting in a panicked rush by German infantry divisions in-country to halt their advance, ultimately pinning the soviet tank forces and encircling them, leading ton their surrender a few weeks later at the loss of 300 tanks. German forces then began new operations against Barcelona, cutting off Republican forces from their state apparatus in early 1937 and capturing Barcelona a few weeks later, ultimately leading to the rebellion of Socialist CNT-FAI forces against their Republican counterparts in central spain. This rebellion, taken advantage of significantly by German and Italian forces, resulted in the surrounding of Madrid. At this point, France began seriously considering not just limited but full intervention in Spain resulting in a major buildup on the Spanish border - yet it came too late. By the time French forces were in position, German and Italian forces, along with their Nationalist allies, marched into Madrid - ending the conflict for good.
With the Spanish Civil War over, focus on the world stage turned to China wher Japanese forces began to make major advances, taking Nanjing in late 1937. Chinese Nationalist forces, fighting both Communist forces in the west and the Japanese in the east quickly began to crumble. Yet despite this, French forces soon began to arrive in late 1937 in the form of three tank divisions to aid the Chinese defence - this however would quickly prove a failing endeavour. French forces would soon withdraw towards the coast, aiming to leave the country following Japanese victory. However, a change of policy in France would soon see this plan reversed, seeing a Nationalist revival in their defence that would see French tanks deployed to central china to defend from Japanese advances. Unlike last time however, this time the French would prove unable to escape. Much like their soviet counterparts, French tanks would soon be surrounded by Japanese infantry forces in the dense mountains and hills of the region, resulting in the catastrophic loss of nearly a thousand tanks in China. Meanwhile in Europe, in early 1938 German complaints about Czech rule in the Sudetenland results in the Munich Agreement, annexing the region without Czech consent despite initial British hesitation over the policy. In reality, Britain and France only ended up agreeing to the Munich Agreement to buy time - a slowing mechanism to allow them to build up and prepare, having made note of the German-Soviet Technologies agreement focused on tank advances. Germany and Italy had been building up quickly, with Germany deploying around 200 divisions combat ready by the end of 1939, and Italy having annexed Albania in mid 1939. With the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact in September 1939, war in Europe seemed inevitable. Yet a world war would not start in Europe; but Asia. With Japan having defeated the Chinese, Navy elements pushed the country quickly in pursuit of war with the western allies, seeking to take advantage of the chaotic situation in Europe, their strategic position and the fact that the United States was nowhere near ready for a conflict. Japanese forces thus opened the conflict rapidly with the invaison of the Malayan Penninsula in late 1939, advancing far up the penninsula but failing to take Singapore. Meanwhile Japanese forces quickly executed a landing on Borneo, seizing British Malaya and Brunei in the north before sending a significant and battle hardened army into Burma that quickly drove British forces back in the south. The war came as a shock for the British, who failed to anticipate the conflict and thus despite some warnings early on believed the Japanese aggression to be a ruse intended for a later conflict when war inevitably broke out in Europe. France, meanwhile, deployed forces to Indochina but refused to enter the conflict until their forces reached the colony - they never would.
In early November 1939 the world watched as a false-flag event in Silesia prompted Germany to demand from the Poles that Danzig be returned to Germany or face war. Poland, having recieved guarentees from the Allies, quickly rejected and mobilized for a conflict - yet would soon realise they were hopelessly outmatched. Striking in a spearhead south from Slovakia towards Krakow and north from lower Silesia towards East Prussia, Polish forces were quickly dismantled by the German army that defeated the country in 9 days and 22 hours, capturing Warsaw and Krakow before even the fall of Danzig at a loss of only around 12,000 men. Sensing French weakness, German planning quickly turned to the invasion of France, executing a plan to seize the low countries in a rapid armoured strike through Limburg and into the unprotected Belgian rear, and with a seperate strike through Luxembourg and the Ardennes.
The plan initially went off without a hitch, paratrooper forces landed in Antwerp, seizing the city in a surprisingly bloody but worthwhile battle that distracted Belgian forces while the Armoured spearhead seized Maastricht and crossed into North Belgium. Belgian forces, primarily dig in around the German border, quickly were surrounded as light armour, complimented by medium armour divisions to break up enemy lines, punched through and seized Brussels. In the south, German armour easily overwhelmed Luxembourgian forces and pressed on into the ardennes where they met little resistence on account of German paratrooper landings in Glider planes in the region, preventing French delaying advances. German Paratroopers additionally would land south and west of Sedan, yet would meet brutal resistence by French soldiers on the extended Maginot line who fought tooth and nail to prevent the Paratroopers organizing as it would allow attacks on Sedan from both the north, east, and south. German armour did eventually arrive at Sedan, but met constant delays resulting in a drawn out battle that initially looked as though it may stall the German advance completely. Thankfully the presence of a single German Grosstraktor Heavy Tank division allowed the breaking of the French line and a rapid advance to cut forces at the Maginot off from the French forces in the north that had dug in on the Belgian border. British forces, fighting a losing battle in Malaya and Burma, were not deployed to France bar one division with limited air coverage being provided - essentially dooming the French defence by conceding the Germans full air supremacy.
The Netherlands quickly would be whittled away by the German 6th Army that seized Amsterdam in early February 1940 prompting the Dutch surrender in Europe, though they would go on to play a major role in the far eastern theatre. German forces advancing from Maastricht and Brussels meanwhile soon reached their strategyc target of Roubaix, northern France. Here, the flat land, combined with the relative salient of the province in the French line allowed German forces to relentlessly press on the French line in a bloody battle that saw French forces desperately hold off German forces despite the collapse of their line at Sedan. Attacked by air and by paratrooper forces in their rear, the line eventually buckled resulting in the total collapse of the extended maginot line and the disintegration of the French army that quickly became overwhelmed as French forces attempted to flee the country, hotly pursued by German armour that sought to seize the channel ports before they could get to sea. While a secondary line was attempted on the Loire river, crossings at repeated points soon compromised the defence and the battle for france was essentially lost... except for in Paris. Despite the flight of the French Government, six Motorized divisions of the French army refuted the order to leave Paris an open city and fought tooth and nail to protect it, resulting in over a month of brutal fighting as ten German infantry divisions and two armoured divisions tried repeatedly and failed repeatedly to break the city, only doing so after having captured almost all of France anyway and once Paris had been turned into a mess of rubble. This did however allow some French divisions to escape, notably including several cavalry divisions which would play a vital role in the Libyan campaign of 1940 against Italy.
Italy meanwhile had been fighting their own war against the French with significant early success. Despite the best French efforts and some Italian defeats, Italian forces soon proved capable enough to drive the French back as far as the Rhone River, securing a significant chunk of France for their own occupation while also claiming Corsica. In North Africa however the situation was somewhat more dire, with the strategic decision having been made to abandon Ethiopia pre-conflict, the battle over Tobruk proved a challenge to the ultimately outnumbered Italians who faced armies from across the British Empire. Despite having medium tanks and having made headway in Tunisia, Italian forces proved incapable of being able to break the British frontline into Egypt, instead facing a counter attack that began with the landing of four French cavalry divisions on the Libyan coast, capturing key Italian ports early in the conflict and before the fall of France. This led to the strategic decision to flee Libya entirely, with Italian tanks leaving Tobruk only days before British forces surrounded six Italian infantry divisions in the town, ultimately destroying them a few weeks later. Italian forces in Tunisia would manage to escape, allowing Italy to save face in what was a costly and failed campaign.
Axis attention now turned to two new theatres; Yugoslavia and the nordic countries. Germany began early by invading Denmark and Norway in a daring and risky Operation Weserubung that involved landing infantry in Copenhagen and invading the small country from the south, while simultaneously landing seven Fallschirmjager divisions in and around Oslo to capture the port there using gliders. This, thankfully for the German high command, went off without a hitch, immediately leaving the British with the decision not to try and help the Norwegiens and beginning a three month infantry campaign by in the mountainous country to secure it, culminating with the surrounding of over 90% of the Norwegien army at Trondheim in May 1940. Yugoslavia too would soon feel German aggression as the Government of Prince Paul opted not to join the Axis, resulting in the quick invasion of the country in the same month. Britain too would begin to feel the heat hit home as German forces began bombing Britihs factories across the south of the country; aided by both light and heavy fighters, Germany would retain air superiority over Britain for years but would never attempt an invasion due to the entry of the United States in the war in January 1940.
In Asia, meanwhile a decisive battle for the survival of the British Empire in the east was ongoing. British Imperial forces had managed to stall Japanese advances into the Malayan penninsula earlier in the year, with the Japanese trying but ultimately failing to land several marine divisions in Singapore harbour to break the deadlock. American forces would enter the fray in January 1940, with divisions being deployed to both Britain and India when President Roosevelt finally managed to convince Congress of the importance of American support for Britain due to the sheer intensity of German and Japanese aggression, an act that probably only occurred due to the high level of cooperation between Britain and the United States after Prime Minister Winston Churchill came to power in the aftermath of the annexation of Czechoslovakia and failure of the Munich agreement. Meanwhile Japanese forces continued to drive into Burma, though this would not prove the decisive battle of the campaign. That would instead come when Japanese forces landed successfully in south India at Chennai, deploying around 24 divisions to the region and quickly sweeping up much of the south in a surprise offensive that the British struggled to face. This would change quickly though when a Dutch marine division based in India successfully landed in a counter-naval landing at Chennai, taking the port from the now overextended Japanese forces and in doing so cutting their near enough sole source of supply. While Japanese forces would immediately begin work on a new port further south, this proved fatal for the Japanese units in the region which could not be supplied by land, sea or air. This ultimately resulted in the destruction of a vast swathe of Japanese divisions, a massive loss for the Japanese who immediately pivoted to a defensive doctrine, especially following the loss of north Borneo by the Japanese to dutch units.
the only other final development in Asia would be a minor Soviet conflict in north west China, with the Soviets invading the region only to return it to the control of the now strengthened Chinese communists who had made territorial gains from the Sino-Japanese war.
The plan initially went off without a hitch, paratrooper forces landed in Antwerp, seizing the city in a surprisingly bloody but worthwhile battle that distracted Belgian forces while the Armoured spearhead seized Maastricht and crossed into North Belgium. Belgian forces, primarily dig in around the German border, quickly were surrounded as light armour, complimented by medium armour divisions to break up enemy lines, punched through and seized Brussels. In the south, German armour easily overwhelmed Luxembourgian forces and pressed on into the ardennes where they met little resistence on account of German paratrooper landings in Glider planes in the region, preventing French delaying advances. German Paratroopers additionally would land south and west of Sedan, yet would meet brutal resistence by French soldiers on the extended Maginot line who fought tooth and nail to prevent the Paratroopers organizing as it would allow attacks on Sedan from both the north, east, and south. German armour did eventually arrive at Sedan, but met constant delays resulting in a drawn out battle that initially looked as though it may stall the German advance completely. Thankfully the presence of a single German Grosstraktor Heavy Tank division allowed the breaking of the French line and a rapid advance to cut forces at the Maginot off from the French forces in the north that had dug in on the Belgian border. British forces, fighting a losing battle in Malaya and Burma, were not deployed to France bar one division with limited air coverage being provided - essentially dooming the French defence by conceding the Germans full air supremacy.
The Netherlands quickly would be whittled away by the German 6th Army that seized Amsterdam in early February 1940 prompting the Dutch surrender in Europe, though they would go on to play a major role in the far eastern theatre. German forces advancing from Maastricht and Brussels meanwhile soon reached their strategyc target of Roubaix, northern France. Here, the flat land, combined with the relative salient of the province in the French line allowed German forces to relentlessly press on the French line in a bloody battle that saw French forces desperately hold off German forces despite the collapse of their line at Sedan. Attacked by air and by paratrooper forces in their rear, the line eventually buckled resulting in the total collapse of the extended maginot line and the disintegration of the French army that quickly became overwhelmed as French forces attempted to flee the country, hotly pursued by German armour that sought to seize the channel ports before they could get to sea. While a secondary line was attempted on the Loire river, crossings at repeated points soon compromised the defence and the battle for france was essentially lost... except for in Paris. Despite the flight of the French Government, six Motorized divisions of the French army refuted the order to leave Paris an open city and fought tooth and nail to protect it, resulting in over a month of brutal fighting as ten German infantry divisions and two armoured divisions tried repeatedly and failed repeatedly to break the city, only doing so after having captured almost all of France anyway and once Paris had been turned into a mess of rubble. This did however allow some French divisions to escape, notably including several cavalry divisions which would play a vital role in the Libyan campaign of 1940 against Italy.
Italy meanwhile had been fighting their own war against the French with significant early success. Despite the best French efforts and some Italian defeats, Italian forces soon proved capable enough to drive the French back as far as the Rhone River, securing a significant chunk of France for their own occupation while also claiming Corsica. In North Africa however the situation was somewhat more dire, with the strategic decision having been made to abandon Ethiopia pre-conflict, the battle over Tobruk proved a challenge to the ultimately outnumbered Italians who faced armies from across the British Empire. Despite having medium tanks and having made headway in Tunisia, Italian forces proved incapable of being able to break the British frontline into Egypt, instead facing a counter attack that began with the landing of four French cavalry divisions on the Libyan coast, capturing key Italian ports early in the conflict and before the fall of France. This led to the strategic decision to flee Libya entirely, with Italian tanks leaving Tobruk only days before British forces surrounded six Italian infantry divisions in the town, ultimately destroying them a few weeks later. Italian forces in Tunisia would manage to escape, allowing Italy to save face in what was a costly and failed campaign.
Axis attention now turned to two new theatres; Yugoslavia and the nordic countries. Germany began early by invading Denmark and Norway in a daring and risky Operation Weserubung that involved landing infantry in Copenhagen and invading the small country from the south, while simultaneously landing seven Fallschirmjager divisions in and around Oslo to capture the port there using gliders. This, thankfully for the German high command, went off without a hitch, immediately leaving the British with the decision not to try and help the Norwegiens and beginning a three month infantry campaign by in the mountainous country to secure it, culminating with the surrounding of over 90% of the Norwegien army at Trondheim in May 1940. Yugoslavia too would soon feel German aggression as the Government of Prince Paul opted not to join the Axis, resulting in the quick invasion of the country in the same month. Britain too would begin to feel the heat hit home as German forces began bombing Britihs factories across the south of the country; aided by both light and heavy fighters, Germany would retain air superiority over Britain for years but would never attempt an invasion due to the entry of the United States in the war in January 1940.
In Asia, meanwhile a decisive battle for the survival of the British Empire in the east was ongoing. British Imperial forces had managed to stall Japanese advances into the Malayan penninsula earlier in the year, with the Japanese trying but ultimately failing to land several marine divisions in Singapore harbour to break the deadlock. American forces would enter the fray in January 1940, with divisions being deployed to both Britain and India when President Roosevelt finally managed to convince Congress of the importance of American support for Britain due to the sheer intensity of German and Japanese aggression, an act that probably only occurred due to the high level of cooperation between Britain and the United States after Prime Minister Winston Churchill came to power in the aftermath of the annexation of Czechoslovakia and failure of the Munich agreement. Meanwhile Japanese forces continued to drive into Burma, though this would not prove the decisive battle of the campaign. That would instead come when Japanese forces landed successfully in south India at Chennai, deploying around 24 divisions to the region and quickly sweeping up much of the south in a surprise offensive that the British struggled to face. This would change quickly though when a Dutch marine division based in India successfully landed in a counter-naval landing at Chennai, taking the port from the now overextended Japanese forces and in doing so cutting their near enough sole source of supply. While Japanese forces would immediately begin work on a new port further south, this proved fatal for the Japanese units in the region which could not be supplied by land, sea or air. This ultimately resulted in the destruction of a vast swathe of Japanese divisions, a massive loss for the Japanese who immediately pivoted to a defensive doctrine, especially following the loss of north Borneo by the Japanese to dutch units.
the only other final development in Asia would be a minor Soviet conflict in north west China, with the Soviets invading the region only to return it to the control of the now strengthened Chinese communists who had made territorial gains from the Sino-Japanese war.
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As I have a few times before, thought I'd share some WorldA maps based off a continuing HOI4 game I'm playing with a few other members of the forum from the Shared World's Discord. Started in 1936, players include Germany (me), Japan, USSR, USA (two players), France, UK, Italy, Romania, Brazil and Hungary. Maps are made at the end of each session, thus far we've done four sessions but ive given you three maps and writeups for now, so enjoy! it's a wild ride.
With the game having begun in 1936, history progressed relatively normally with the defeat of Ethiopia in early 1936 by Italy, though Anschluss came in January 1937 unlike OTL due to the deployment of vast numbers of highly unequipped German forces. In the US, despite initial efforts of the Roosevelt Administration to pursue limited interventionism, a lack of support in the House of Representatives leads to a continued path of neutrality. Meanwhile, in Asia the Sino-Japanese war begins in early 1937 with Japanese forces, driven by small tank forces that broke Chinese lines in key areas in the north, overwhelming Chinese forces and then breaking their defensive cordon by landing at Ningbo on the Chinese coast. In the USSR, the Great Purge has begun with the execution of anti-stalinist members of the party and army, while on the encouragement of Joseph Stalin the Communists in China execute Chiang Kai-Sheck, resulting in the failure of negotiations for a Chinese United Front and the outbreak of war in China between the KMT and Communists once again. Meanwhile in Spain, the civil war erupts in mid 1936 resulting in a significant number of volunteers being sent to the country by the Soviets, Germans and Italians. Initially the conflict sees gains for the Republicans while Nationalist forces sweep up the northern Bilbao pocket, Soviet Tank forces breach the Nationalist line just north of Madrid resulting in a panicked rush by German infantry divisions in-country to halt their advance, ultimately pinning the soviet tank forces and encircling them, leading ton their surrender a few weeks later at the loss of 300 tanks. German forces then began new operations against Barcelona, cutting off Republican forces from their state apparatus in early 1937 and capturing Barcelona a few weeks later, ultimately leading to the rebellion of Socialist CNT-FAI forces against their Republican counterparts in central spain. This rebellion, taken advantage of significantly by German and Italian forces, resulted in the surrounding of Madrid. At this point, France began seriously considering not just limited but full intervention in Spain resulting in a major buildup on the Spanish border - yet it came too late. By the time French forces were in position, German and Italian forces, along with their Nationalist allies, marched into Madrid - ending the conflict for good.
With the Spanish Civil War over, focus on the world stage turned to China wher Japanese forces began to make major advances, taking Nanjing in late 1937. Chinese Nationalist forces, fighting both Communist forces in the west and the Japanese in the east quickly began to crumble. Yet despite this, French forces soon began to arrive in late 1937 in the form of three tank divisions to aid the Chinese defence - this however would quickly prove a failing endeavour. French forces would soon withdraw towards the coast, aiming to leave the country following Japanese victory. However, a change of policy in France would soon see this plan reversed, seeing a Nationalist revival in their defence that would see French tanks deployed to central china to defend from Japanese advances. Unlike last time however, this time the French would prove unable to escape. Much like their soviet counterparts, French tanks would soon be surrounded by Japanese infantry forces in the dense mountains and hills of the region, resulting in the catastrophic loss of nearly a thousand tanks in China. Meanwhile in Europe, in early 1938 German complaints about Czech rule in the Sudetenland results in the Munich Agreement, annexing the region without Czech consent despite initial British hesitation over the policy. In reality, Britain and France only ended up agreeing to the Munich Agreement to buy time - a slowing mechanism to allow them to build up and prepare, having made note of the German-Soviet Technologies agreement focused on tank advances. Germany and Italy had been building up quickly, with Germany deploying around 200 divisions combat ready by the end of 1939, and Italy having annexed Albania in mid 1939. With the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact in September 1939, war in Europe seemed inevitable. Yet a world war would not start in Europe; but Asia. With Japan having defeated the Chinese, Navy elements pushed the country quickly in pursuit of war with the western allies, seeking to take advantage of the chaotic situation in Europe, their strategic position and the fact that the United States was nowhere near ready for a conflict. Japanese forces thus opened the conflict rapidly with the invaison of the Malayan Penninsula in late 1939, advancing far up the penninsula but failing to take Singapore. Meanwhile Japanese forces quickly executed a landing on Borneo, seizing British Malaya and Brunei in the north before sending a significant and battle hardened army into Burma that quickly drove British forces back in the south. The war came as a shock for the British, who failed to anticipate the conflict and thus despite some warnings early on believed the Japanese aggression to be a ruse intended for a later conflict when war inevitably broke out in Europe. France, meanwhile, deployed forces to Indochina but refused to enter the conflict until their forces reached the colony - they never would.
In early November 1939 the world watched as a false-flag event in Silesia prompted Germany to demand from the Poles that Danzig be returned to Germany or face war. Poland, having recieved guarentees from the Allies, quickly rejected and mobilized for a conflict - yet would soon realise they were hopelessly outmatched. Striking in a spearhead south from Slovakia towards Krakow and north from lower Silesia towards East Prussia, Polish forces were quickly dismantled by the German army that defeated the country in 9 days and 22 hours, capturing Warsaw and Krakow before even the fall of Danzig at a loss of only around 12,000 men. Sensing French weakness, German planning quickly turned to the invasion of France, executing a plan to seize the low countries in a rapid armoured strike through Limburg and into the unprotected Belgian rear, and with a seperate strike through Luxembourg and the Ardennes.
The plan initially went off without a hitch, paratrooper forces landed in Antwerp, seizing the city in a surprisingly bloody but worthwhile battle that distracted Belgian forces while the Armoured spearhead seized Maastricht and crossed into North Belgium. Belgian forces, primarily dig in around the German border, quickly were surrounded as light armour, complimented by medium armour divisions to break up enemy lines, punched through and seized Brussels. In the south, German armour easily overwhelmed Luxembourgian forces and pressed on into the ardennes where they met little resistence on account of German paratrooper landings in Glider planes in the region, preventing French delaying advances. German Paratroopers additionally would land south and west of Sedan, yet would meet brutal resistence by French soldiers on the extended Maginot line who fought tooth and nail to prevent the Paratroopers organizing as it would allow attacks on Sedan from both the north, east, and south. German armour did eventually arrive at Sedan, but met constant delays resulting in a drawn out battle that initially looked as though it may stall the German advance completely. Thankfully the presence of a single German Grosstraktor Heavy Tank division allowed the breaking of the French line and a rapid advance to cut forces at the Maginot off from the French forces in the north that had dug in on the Belgian border. British forces, fighting a losing battle in Malaya and Burma, were not deployed to France bar one division with limited air coverage being provided - essentially dooming the French defence by conceding the Germans full air supremacy.
The Netherlands quickly would be whittled away by the German 6th Army that seized Amsterdam in early February 1940 prompting the Dutch surrender in Europe, though they would go on to play a major role in the far eastern theatre. German forces advancing from Maastricht and Brussels meanwhile soon reached their strategyc target of Roubaix, northern France. Here, the flat land, combined with the relative salient of the province in the French line allowed German forces to relentlessly press on the French line in a bloody battle that saw French forces desperately hold off German forces despite the collapse of their line at Sedan. Attacked by air and by paratrooper forces in their rear, the line eventually buckled resulting in the total collapse of the extended maginot line and the disintegration of the French army that quickly became overwhelmed as French forces attempted to flee the country, hotly pursued by German armour that sought to seize the channel ports before they could get to sea. While a secondary line was attempted on the Loire river, crossings at repeated points soon compromised the defence and the battle for france was essentially lost... except for in Paris. Despite the flight of the French Government, six Motorized divisions of the French army refuted the order to leave Paris an open city and fought tooth and nail to protect it, resulting in over a month of brutal fighting as ten German infantry divisions and two armoured divisions tried repeatedly and failed repeatedly to break the city, only doing so after having captured almost all of France anyway and once Paris had been turned into a mess of rubble. This did however allow some French divisions to escape, notably including several cavalry divisions which would play a vital role in the Libyan campaign of 1940 against Italy.
Italy meanwhile had been fighting their own war against the French with significant early success. Despite the best French efforts and some Italian defeats, Italian forces soon proved capable enough to drive the French back as far as the Rhone River, securing a significant chunk of France for their own occupation while also claiming Corsica. In North Africa however the situation was somewhat more dire, with the strategic decision having been made to abandon Ethiopia pre-conflict, the battle over Tobruk proved a challenge to the ultimately outnumbered Italians who faced armies from across the British Empire. Despite having medium tanks and having made headway in Tunisia, Italian forces proved incapable of being able to break the British frontline into Egypt, instead facing a counter attack that began with the landing of four French cavalry divisions on the Libyan coast, capturing key Italian ports early in the conflict and before the fall of France. This led to the strategic decision to flee Libya entirely, with Italian tanks leaving Tobruk only days before British forces surrounded six Italian infantry divisions in the town, ultimately destroying them a few weeks later. Italian forces in Tunisia would manage to escape, allowing Italy to save face in what was a costly and failed campaign.
Axis attention now turned to two new theatres; Yugoslavia and the nordic countries. Germany began early by invading Denmark and Norway in a daring and risky Operation Weserubung that involved landing infantry in Copenhagen and invading the small country from the south, while simultaneously landing seven Fallschirmjager divisions in and around Oslo to capture the port there using gliders. This, thankfully for the German high command, went off without a hitch, immediately leaving the British with the decision not to try and help the Norwegiens and beginning a three month infantry campaign by in the mountainous country to secure it, culminating with the surrounding of over 90% of the Norwegien army at Trondheim in May 1940. Yugoslavia too would soon feel German aggression as the Government of Prince Paul opted not to join the Axis, resulting in the quick invasion of the country in the same month. Britain too would begin to feel the heat hit home as German forces began bombing Britihs factories across the south of the country; aided by both light and heavy fighters, Germany would retain air superiority over Britain for years but would never attempt an invasion due to the entry of the United States in the war in January 1940.
In Asia, meanwhile a decisive battle for the survival of the British Empire in the east was ongoing. British Imperial forces had managed to stall Japanese advances into the Malayan penninsula earlier in the year, with the Japanese trying but ultimately failing to land several marine divisions in Singapore harbour to break the deadlock. American forces would enter the fray in January 1940, with divisions being deployed to both Britain and India when President Roosevelt finally managed to convince Congress of the importance of American support for Britain due to the sheer intensity of German and Japanese aggression, an act that probably only occurred due to the high level of cooperation between Britain and the United States after Prime Minister Winston Churchill came to power in the aftermath of the annexation of Czechoslovakia and failure of the Munich agreement. Meanwhile Japanese forces continued to drive into Burma, though this would not prove the decisive battle of the campaign. That would instead come when Japanese forces landed successfully in south India at Chennai, deploying around 24 divisions to the region and quickly sweeping up much of the south in a surprise offensive that the British struggled to face. This would change quickly though when a Dutch marine division based in India successfully landed in a counter-naval landing at Chennai, taking the port from the now overextended Japanese forces and in doing so cutting their near enough sole source of supply. While Japanese forces would immediately begin work on a new port further south, this proved fatal for the Japanese units in the region which could not be supplied by land, sea or air. This ultimately resulted in the destruction of a vast swathe of Japanese divisions, a massive loss for the Japanese who immediately pivoted to a defensive doctrine, especially following the loss of north Borneo by the Japanese to dutch units.
the only other final development in Asia would be a minor Soviet conflict in north west China, with the Soviets invading the region only to return it to the control of the now strengthened Chinese communists who had made territorial gains from the Sino-Japanese war.
Nice! I hope this continues!
Northstar
Alternate partition of Germany, circa 1948:
All of them are (at least in paper) independent states, except for West Rhine, which is a semi-autonomous puppet of France, where Belgian and Dutch governments have some exploitation privileges.
And this is the ideology map, showing the Soviet aligned states and the Western aligned ones:
And here you have the flags of the socialist German states:
The rest of them have the same as OTL's german states, with West Rhine usig their old flag (the flag of the Prussian Rhine province), Baden-W, Hesse, Thuringia,Westphalia and Hannover using their real flags.
Pd: yes, no Denmark in the map, it's not really relevant here.
All of them are (at least in paper) independent states, except for West Rhine, which is a semi-autonomous puppet of France, where Belgian and Dutch governments have some exploitation privileges.
And this is the ideology map, showing the Soviet aligned states and the Western aligned ones:
And here you have the flags of the socialist German states:
The rest of them have the same as OTL's german states, with West Rhine usig their old flag (the flag of the Prussian Rhine province), Baden-W, Hesse, Thuringia,Westphalia and Hannover using their real flags.
Pd: yes, no Denmark in the map, it's not really relevant here.
I feel like Brandenburg would fit better than Prussia.
Also this is a personal thing, but I really don't like it when (East) Germany/Brandenburg/Prussia gets to keep Silesia bit loses Pomerania. It might make sense, I just don't like it aesthetically. The reverse of losing Silesia but keeping Pomerania is better looking to me.
I kind of appreciate these borders just bracsier I like to see how "misshapen" a country can be.
NB: I don't mean misshapen to be an insult to the authors map, indeed I think it is a rather good one.
I like it, but this might need to go into Chat, even if it is politically neutral.
I just search Wikimedia commons for images of artists and actors. I don't really remember their real names.
I did use the actual German and Austrian royals for the scenario. For Austria its the current descendant from Franz Ferdinand rather from his nephew Karl. For Germany its the current descendant from the eldest grandson of Emperor Wilhelm II rather than from his second eldest Grandson (who is the current head of the Hohenzollern House).
Series 4 – 2020 No World Wars
Map 4.3 – The Great Powers Part 2
The second part of a four-part series showcasing the great powers in "2020 No World Wars" (NWW) scenario.
Links:
Map 4.1 – Worldmap
Map 4.2 - Great Powers Part 1
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Well, touché on Germany. I'm not so well versed in their royal family so wasn't aware of that. For the Austrians though, Franz Ferdinand's marriage was morganatic, meaning his children can't inherit Austria. Of course you could say, that he can just sort that out and get them in the line of inheritance but IMHO its fairly likely the throne still ends going to Karl just to avoid controversy.
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Audrey Tautou president of France ?
Series 4 – 2020 No World Wars
Map 4.2 – The Great Powers Part 2
The second part of a four-part series showcasing the great powers in "2020 No World Wars" (NWW) scenario.
Links:
Map 4.1 – Worldmap
Map 4.2 - Great Powers Part 1
Abyssinia after the Great African War, circa 1944.
The collapse of the Ottomans in the 1880s signified a power vacuum which, thought to Europe as a go-to to get new resources to fuel their dying economy during the New Imperialism era would be cracked into by the revolutionary Egyptian Nationalists, which due to deprived economic support from European powers and no westernization, collapses into itself shortly after. Muhammad Ahmad bin Abdullah, leader of the Mahdist state was able to quickly surge power throughout the majority of the ephemeral Egyptian state, particularly within the south. The Mahdist state as a result would be able to fight off the British empire, aided by Egyptian nationalists newly gaining power within Egypt to reflect the seizing of Egypt by Kitchener, as a result, European focus would be prioritized into America. With no British missionaries, nor any prior knowledge of Christianity, the Nile adapts and Islamizes, transitioning from Maliki Sunni towards a Mahdist-derivation. With Mahdi support the Harar state survives and as a result swiftly defeats the Ethiopian state in future events radicalizing Islamic thought and spreading it throughout animist regions. The surge of communist thought given with religious chauvinism would derive in the weakening Ethiopian state, which, in a similar fashion to the blackshirts in Italy overthrow the monarchy. The idea of 'Hayima Collectivism' swiftly begins within Mali with the overthrow of a Toucouleur successor state, rapidly gaining lands under militarism. This turns to a full-blown conflict in 1932 over the Gao free state. The war ends after 4 years, with the complete collapse of the Ethiopian state and the decisive victory in Western Africa. The Aussa Accords completely dissolved the Ethiopian Popular Republic, granting the Harar emirate three-fourths of the entirety of the state and releasing Bahari as a Mahdi satellite. Remnant satellites of the Ethiopian state aligned themselves with the Egyptian Sharifate in an effort to survive a theoretical Second African War with growing tensions between the traditionalist Islamists and the Ba'athists.
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