Major countries of the new Europe
France
The failed 3rd Republic (1870-1940) survived the Great War intact, but it´s days were already numbered by then. The old Republic was known for constant changes of government and weak presidents. During the chaotic and politically polarized prewar era the French leaders carried out an unrealistic and aggressive policy that in part drove the Europe to war with known results. When the country surrendered in 1940 the power was transferred to the temporary government of Field Marshal Philippe Pétain. This new government was assembled in Vichy. Pétain was an old warrior from the Gear War, and now his prestige was required to save the unity and the future of the French state. The most important name of the new French policy was, however, his Prime Minister Pierre Laval (1886-1968). Vichy was a transition government that aimed to guide the country out of the war and integrate it to the future of New Europe. Dealing with the past was painful and difficult. The corruption of the French political system was seen as the prime reason for the current situation. Pétain and Laval answered to this challenge by demanding a national revolution (Révolution Nationale).
Vichy Government was also troubled by sabotages conducted by the communist Resistance, payments of war reparations and the occupation of Northern France. Laval was actively promoting French interests and sought to maintain the important status that France had in Europe. The main goals of his policy were the end of the occupation and the lifting of the French status in the postwar Europe. In the final years of the WWII France was in a state of civil war. In summer 1944 the communist partisans began a campaign of terror against the government and this development was culminated when the Western Allies tried to invade Normandy in June 1944. The failed invasion and massive Allied air raids devastated the countryside of Contentin peninsula and Normandy. After two more years of war the mood of common Frenchmen was already grim and bitter when the annexation of Elsass-Lothringen was de fact o recognized by the Western Allies in the Zürich Accord in 1946. The German occupation lasted until 10th of August 1949, when France finally reunified. A new France, Etat Français, rose from the ashes of the III Republic. The new Bonapartist legislation solved the problems of the former ineffective parliamentary system. Pierre Laval became the first president of the new France. The rotten principles of "Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité" were replaced with a new motto: "Travail, Famille, Patrie." The goal was to build a solely French continental power with Charlemagne and the Franks as ideals. The French-German cooperation was seen as the key for European unification and renewal: These old foes simply had to put away their mutual hatred and start to build a smooth, brotherly and equal relations as new, equal allies. Even though the political cooperation was quite slow in the first years, the economical integration between the two major powers in Europe had begun as soon as the armistice had been signed. Especially the French aviation industry benefited from this cooperation. The key figures in this new joint effort were German Minister of Armaments Speer and his French colleague Bichelone. These two young and talented men quickly found a common ground and slowly began to build up the foundations of friendship between the old enemies.
New national unity could only be achieved with heavy sacrifices. Terrorism made rebuilding difficult and the eradication of communism was also slow. Laval´s strong, independent foreign and internal policy were slowly gaining him domestic support. Laval relentlessly sought to improve the lot of France in the New Europe. In order to pursue his goals he used his presidential powers to bypass the national assembly and ruled with the support of referendums. Laval passionately supported the ”Europe of Nations.” His drive towards European integration was finally rewarded after the death of Hitler in 1951, when the community of New Europe was created in the Conference of Vienna. Ever since this major change in European geopolitics, France has been the most active country in NE and is currently seen as the supporter of smaller nations against the supremacy of Germany. Her active policies include a major and active role in the WEU, the all-European military alliance. France has also sought to maintain her active and independent diplomacy on a global scale. Germany has so far prevented French attempts of further European integration, since the creation of an European federation would weaken the ruling position of Reich in the continent.
General de Gaulle and his CFLN movement maintained their hold of the African holdings of the former French colonial empire.
One of the main principles of New Europe were self-sufficiency of European greater economic sphere. In addition the French government supported the pro-fascist Arab forces during the Middle-Eastern War. Yet this was the last Axis attempt to regain French colonies, and the remaining parts of French Empire remained loyal to Free French movement led by de Gaulle. In the metropolitan France the internal dissent slowly kept growing within the French society. When Pierre Laval finally died, the unstable political situation erupted in the form of a general strike and wide riots in the summer of 1968. After this unrest was quelled, the French political centre unified and formed a new government with the national right (Parti Populaire Français). Relations with Germany were normalized and a program of economic revival was initiated when banks and major corporations were nationalized.
Italy
Italy entered the war as a proud and unified country and the birthplace of fascism, but ultimately success avoited Il Duce. The warlike policy initiated by Mussolini proved costly to Kingdom of Italy. By 1943 her stockpiles of strategic resources were practically used up, and the defeats met in Africa, Mediterranean and Soviet Union had cost Italy at least one-third of her whole armed forces. In addition the army was still ill-equipped with obsolete weapons, and the morale of the troops was faltering as the Allied invasion of the Italian mainland grew nearer. The separate armistice in Eastern Front did little to cheer up the common Italian people who were fed up with the costly war that was going badly. And there was worse to come. After they drove the Axis troops out from Africa, the Allies invaded Sicily with the support of mafia in July 1943. When the military situation just seemed to get worse day by day, the Great Fascist Council drove Mussolini out from office with voices 19-8, and the king Vittorio Emmanuelle III named Field Marshal Pietro Badoglio as the new Prime Minister. In 8th of September Allies landed in Naples and Badoglio announced the Italian surrender in an open radio broadcast. This truce that had been secretly made in Cassible near Syracusa at 3rd of September marked the beginning of the Italian tragedy. Germans reacted to Italian betrayal with methods similar to 1941 when an anti-German coup had taken place in Yugoslavia. German troops encircled and disarmed the Italian units in Greece, Balkans and in the Italian peninsula itself. According to the armistice protocol the remaining units of Regia Marina had to be interned to Malta, but Luftwaffe made a swift strike against it with new radio-guided bombs and sunk battleships Roma and Littorio. German paratroopers occupied Rome, and the new Government of Badoglio fled to south. Badoglio now declared war on Germany and his government joined to the Western Allies. At the same time the two strong antifascist parties in Italy – the Socialists and the Liberals – created a committee of national liberation, CLN, that quickly began to organize partisan units. The Communists who had strong support in Northern Italy refused to accept it, and created the CLNAIN, the Committee of National Liberation of Northern Italy that also established communist cells to every German-occupied town. The relations between CLN, CLNAIN and the Badoglio Government were poor to begin with and soon got worse. In 12th of September a German commando team liberated Mussolini who could now in turn create a new government of the Italian Social Republic, Repubblica Sociale Italiana, to Northern Italy. The capitol of this new republic was established to Sálo. At the same time when Badoglio collected volunteers for the Allied cause, RSI hastily organized police- and armed forces of her own to battle against the communist partisan brigades.
With reinforcements from the former Eastern Front the Germans managed to stop the Allied advance to the outskirts of Monte Cassino, and the frontlines in the mountains soon became stable. After various setbacks and mounting casualties the Allies shifted their focus to the planning of the upcoming invasion of Western Europe, a change of policy strongly demanded by the Americans. Meanwhile the development of the new army of RSI faced many problems. The extreme wing of fascists led by Ricci demanded a purely political fascist army. He was opposed by Graziani who represented the conservatives royal to Mussolini. In the end a compromise was reached when the regular army was supplemented by the National Guard, Guardia Nazionale Repubblicana. This force of 150 000 blackshirts was responsible for the internal security duties and anti-partisan warfare. In spring 1944 Civil War broke out in Italy. The communist Red Brigades increased their recruitment efforts in Northern Italy and protested against the RSI by strikes. Luckily for the RSI it´s enemies were too divided to form a unified front since the power struggles soon turned to internal fighting between the different anti-fascist factions. The Marxist Garibaldists fought not only the Fascist Black Brigades but also waged war against Socialistic Matteottes and Liberal Giustizia-units. In July 1944 the Western Allies supported by Italian partisans and ”Badoglite" volunteers finally managed to enter Rome that had been declared an open city by the Germans. This proved to be their last success in the Italian theatre of operations - after the Treaty of Kirovograd the Allies lacked necessary numerical superiority to advance further northwards. The following summer was a repeat of the previous one – again the partisans manned the hills and established numerous small ”free states” to the countryside, and held out for few weeks or months until put down. The cold winter and lack of supply were a serious challenge to many partisan groups and often these volunteers ultimately simply returned to their villages without making any fuss about it. The front remained stable and by the time of the armistice in 1946 the Western Allies were still in the Apennines in front of the solid German field fortifications. In the peace of Zürich Vittorio Emmanuelle gave up his crown and Badoglio became the first Prime Minister of Democratic Republic of Italy. Yet he refused to acknowledge the independence of RSI, and the Italian question was left unsolved. The divided Italy became the symbol of the Cold War.
Allied troops entering Rome.
Southern Italy was governed by an antifascist-democratic government until 1948, when the communist were left to opposition and the civil war that had required over 600 000 casualties was officially over. The Fascists remained as the sole party in the north. Mussolini himself did not live long after the peace, and after Red Brigades finally managed to assassinate him in 1946, Il Duce was replaced by a directorate of three members led by the Party Secretary of the Fascist Party, Alessandro Pavolini. The country was among the first to join the New Europe and WEU. At the same time the South approached the Western world and became one of the first signatory members of NATO. The wide economic support from the US lifted the standards of living in the poor south and supported the international position of Badoglio´s government. The pro-Western Italian regime could also take pride from the fact that it held Rome, the ancient capitol. The United States enabled the South to recover economically, and even though it´s economy continued to be mainly agrarian-based, it´s GNP slowly rose to the levels of wealthy and industrialized Northern Italy. The RSI had inherited the majority of Italian national resources, industry and centers of education, but political corruption, the terrorism of the Red Brigades and economical crises shocked the recovering economy. Outside the peninsula the RSI held the region of Istria, a group of Dalmatian Islands and Elba. A zone of barbed wire fences, minefields and police garrisons was soon erected to the border during the Cold War as a part of the "Iron Curtain" of the New Europe.
Iron Curtain in a valley in southern Apennines.
United Kingdom
Even though the British mainland was never invaded and the country was thus spared from the fate of becoming part of the "New Europe", the German wartime blockade made life in the UK increasingly difficult. But despite the military defeats, poverty and the threat of outright famine Winston Churchill (1874-1965) was able to rally his nation and give them hope. Only the failure of Operation Overlord and the following defeat of the Allied Bomber Command proved to be too much for his career. In July 1945 a new Government took office when Labour surprised many by winning the elections. The signs of war weariness could be seen everywhere after Normandy. The German peace proposal of 1940 was raised back to public discussion, and some noted that Germany had promised to support British supremacy in seas and colonies in exchange of German hegemony in the continent. In the House of Lords Churchill was increasingly often accused of being a warmonger who had damaged the cause of the nation by continuing the already lost war while selling the Empire to the Americans. As Germany then continued the ”Blitz” after years of peace with large-scale missile attacks against southern England, the British government decided that the war should be ended – with honorable terms of course, but as quickly as possible nevertheless. Lord Halifax was summoned back from the United States and he became the New Secretary of Foreign Affairs, and the leader of the British peace delegation. Churchill continued to support his cause from the opposition. He was firm in his opinion that fascism should still be opposed, no matter the cost, and that the policy of ”unconditional surrender” had to continue. But the general mood in the Government was that the US might well be able to still win in the long run, but that would also mean the downfall of Britain who would have to face the direct consequences of such prolonged conflict. But even the Americans seemed reluctant to continue the war in Europe after the catastrophe of Normandy, especially when it was increasingly clear that Stalin was not willing to restart hostilities in Eastern Front in the near future. Thus the negotiations mediated by neutral Sweden in fall 1945 finally led to the Peace of Zürich in 22nd of April 1946, and the Axis and Allied spheres of interest in Europe were determined for the first time.
After they had won the postwar elections, Labour announced that their priority goal would be the rebuilding of the country. The party initiated a wide range of social reforms and increased the state control of many important industries. The generous Marschall-aid from the US enabled the British economy to quickly recover from the war. But the defeat after so great sacrifices had deeply affected to the general mood of the people, and the war was followed by a long season of nationwide pessimism and turbulent internal politics. The Marschall Plan and the ”Iron Curtain” that rose to the shores of Europe separated Britain from her prewar trade markets and further increased the economic links to the United States. The dismantling of the British colonial Empire had began already during the war, but after the defeat in the WWII the British capabilities to maintain control of her former colonies declined rapidly due the difficult economical situation. The 1950´s witnessed the process where the Empire was gradually transformed to British Commonwealth that originally included 36 independent member states. While the official mission of this international organization was to help the developing countries towards independence, democracy and economic prosperity, British troops were still engaged in several conflicts in the former empire in Suez, Kenya, Yemen, Malay Emergency etc.
Rioters clash with police in Northern Ireland during the 1960s.
Ireland, where hardliner nationalists still had high hopes of quickly ending of "the occupation of Ulster" provoked the British by establishing diplomatic ties to the states of New Europe and by sending formal condolences when Adolf Hitler died in spring 1951. In South Africa the outcome of the war and the change of British colonial politics were followed by a quick counter-reaction. The Afrikaner National Party won the next elections by a landslide and proceeded to set up the apartheid-system based on racial discrimination, thus distancing itself from the rest of the Commonwealth and warming up its relations with New Europe. A lengthy and bloody civil war of Rhodesia began soon afterwards.
Thatcher became a long-standing figure in the British politics and radically transformed the country.
In the years between 1964 and 1979 Britain was ruled by various governments. Labour struggled to overcome the economical hardships and sought to modernize the industrial system, but the problems of inflation, high unemployment rates and uncompromising worker unions made the job increasingly difficult. The unions ultimately forced the latest Labour government to resign, and Margaret Thatcher of the Conservatives rose to power. Thatcher made a sharp u-turn in policy, and the course was set to American liberalism instead of earlier state socialism promoted by Labour. She legislatively reduced the power of unions, made sharp cuts to social security system and began to privatize state-owned business. She also brought the country closer to United States and increased the British role in NATO. At the same time Thatcher sought to improve the poor self-image of Britain that still suffered from the outcome of the WWII. Thatcher has managed to strengthen the British economy, but at the expense of many common citizens. The divide between the rich and the poor is even wider than in the US. Yet Britain has retained her role as an important ally of the United States through the years, and the relations between London and Washington are as strong as ever.
Zrinyi-class assault guns were one of the few effective weapons in the Hungarian arsenal during WWII.
Hungary
Originally surrounded by enemies, in 1940 Hungary suddenly found herself in a situation where most of her neighbours were friendly Axis powers. Austria had joined the Reich, Slovakia was governed by Tiso and his German-friendly government and in Romania Field Marschall Antonescu had risen to power after territorial confessions to Soviet Union, Bulgary and Soviet Union had led to an internal crisis where king Carol II had left the country and German troops arrived to secure the oilfields of Ploesti. The non-agression pact with Yugoslavia signed in December 1940 was declared null and void when anti-German officers supported by Britain staged a military coup in Yugoslavia in March 1941. Hitler was forced to send German troops to the Balkans, and knowing the Hungarian opinion about the border regions he demanded military access and requested that Hungarian Army would also take part of putting down this coup. After the Yugoslav military junta had surrendered Miklos Horthy, the long-time Hungarian Head of State, gave order to occupy the ethnically Hungarian regions of former Yugoslavia.
When the German assault against the Soviet Union began, Hitler expected military support from Finns and Romanians alone. Romanians hoped that by joining the German cause as brothers in arms they could claim back the Northern Transylvania that was earlier lost to Hungary by the Vienna Dictate. This in turn led the Hungarian military leadership to support the idea of also joining the fray so that the Romanians would not be able achieve a favorite status in the eyes of Hitler. They also anticipated the war to be easy and quick. The Government of Bárdossy and Horthy himself were originally opposed to the idea, but when Bolshevik planes flying without national insignias had bombed the city of Kassa (Košice) the Prime Minister Bárdossy spoke to the parliament in 27th of July 1941 and proclaimed that Hungary and Soviet Union were now at the state of war. A Hungarian expeditionary force of 40.000 soldiers marched towards East and crossed the border in the very same day. This small detachment was initially able to advance quickly because it did not meet any serious resistance during the first few days.
But the Hungarian Army was still poorly armed and equipped since the armaments program initiated in 1938 had not been able to work miracles in such a short period of time. The Hungarian economy also struggled to meet the demands of the war effort, and the consumer goods situation kept getting worse in the front and at home. The country had entered the war too early and too ill-prepared. In addition both Britain and United States declared war to Hungary, and this fact did not help the mood of the home front one bit. The anti-war and anti-German dissent gained ground and the support of the fascist Arrowcross party kept declining as the war went on. In March 1942 Horthy changed his Prime Minister Bárdossy who was considered to be too German-minded to his trusted associate, the careful Miklós Kállay.
In spring 1942 the 2nd Hungarian Army was sent to front with the strength of over 200.000 men after Germans had requested more troops for Eastern Front. Initially the main task of this force was to form a strategic reserve and to perform anti-partisan warfare and garrison duties in the area of Reichskommissariat Ukraine. After the fall of Sevastopol the bulk of the 2nd Army was transferred to Caucasus, where the swift advance of panzer formations of the Armeegruppe Süd had left wide gaps to Axis lines. After the capture of Caucasus things went pretty quiet in the southern front, and Hungarian troops dug in and settled down. During the next winter the Red Army ended the long period of trench warfare in Caucasus by making a surprise attack with massive force of troops against the poorly equipped and motivated Hungarians who had almost no reserves. The forces in Caucasus, mostly consisting of Romanian, Hungarian and Ukrainian units were badly mauled and driven back by the advancing Soviets, and only a quick counter-attack of German mechanized reserves prevented the total destruction of four Axis armies. The 2nd Hungarian Army losses were over 10.000 men killed and 25.000 more wounded or captured. As the war continued, the Hungarian economy and industry continued to wither, and the threat of famine within the country was very real. In the other hand the Transylvanian question motivated the government to keep on fighting. Romania wanted the northern part of the region back, while Hungary wanted to reclaim the whole region. Thus both countries were afraid to leave the Axis in the fear that Germany would reward ”her better ally” by new border changes in Transylvania. Hungary and Romania also had another border dispute in Bánát region in northeastern ex-Yugoslavia bordering Vojvodina and Romania. German troops occupied the region for the whole war, thus forcing both sides to continue their efforts to meet their goals.
The separate peace with the Soviet Union didin´t much improve the now catastrophic situation of Hungarian economy, since Hungarian forces were still needed in the East for garrison duties. The question of Transylvania and Bánát strained the relations of Hungary and Romania well after the war, since Reich and RSI guaranteed the borders agreed upon in Vienna Dictate. After Horthy died in 1950 the internal pressure from the National Socialist wing in Hungary grew so much that the Arrowcross was able to rise to power with German support. The Party Leader Ferenc Szálas became "nemzetvezetõ", a national leader according to the German example. At the same time the legislation and internal politics were re-organized according to the National Socialist doctrines. The land reform was finished and the working week was shortened. This national reform did happen without difficulties. Szálas ordered his party to start a series of purges aimed against the former intelligentsia and known opponents of the regime, and following orders the secret police persecuted all opponents of the new policy. The violent regime of Szálas and his associates met a quick end when German political situation began to change after Hitler died. Encouraged by the more open policies of the post-war leadership of the Reich the Hungarian people rose to barricades in 1956 and demanded reforms and resignation of Szálas.
As unrest and strikes spread across the whole country Szálas was forced to resign. But Germany did not want to see an important ally fall to anarchy and chaos and organized a military intervention in November 1956. Mechanized SS-units quickly restored order in whole Hungary. The German leadership understood all too well that restoring Szálas to power would be most unwise. His successor was therefore much more moderate András Puskás. During the long period he was in office the life of the common people calmed down, and the grip of the secret police became less harsh. After aged Puskás withdrew from politics the new ”Hungarian Party for Truth and Life” (Magyar igazság és élet pártja, MIÉP), elected István Csurka as the new head of state in late 1980´s.
Romania
After king Carol II had left the country, Field Marschall Ion Antonescu (1882-1958) used his Iron Guard to establish a fascist dictatorship to Romania after Italian model, with Head of State being the young king Michael I. Antonescu ruled as a grey eminence with the king as his figurehead. The painful losses of Northern Transylvania and Constanta were somewhat compensated by the annexation of Transdniestr in the Conference of Vienna. But after decades of Soviet rule the region was in poor shape from the parts of economy and infrastructure, and the number of ethnic Romanians was minimal. After Antonescu died king Michael assigned General Petru Georgescu as his new Prime Minister, and the old soldier firmly continued to follow the principles of his great ideological predecessor Antonescu. During Georgescu´s time Romania greatly improved her defense forces and became the strongest military power in southwestern Europe. Germany has allowed Romania to build a fleet strong enough to control the Black Sea. Georgescu´s policy towards Hungary was wisely chosen détente, and the Treaty of Kolozsvár negotiated between him and Puskás marked an end to all territorial claims for both sides.
At the 1980´s Romania also experienced changes in leadership. The new Prime Minister was a young, nationalistic politician called Georghe Funar. Funar was born in Transilvania, and as a Prime Minister he has strongly advocated the idea of ”revival of Romanian greatness” and the idea of reclaiming whole Transylvania.[/SIZE]
Romanian Fleet during WEU exercises in the Black Sea.