Chapter 30: The United Nations, Yugoslavia, and Switzerland - June 20 to August 22, 1941
The events between the War in the West and the beginning of Unternehmen Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union, can be described in two major sections. The first section, the events unfolding between June 20 and August 22, 1941 will be discussed in this chapter.
On June 23, 1941, the United States of America formed what it called the United Nations, a new alliance meant to replace the defeated Allied powers. While no other nations joined the alliance immediately, every nation in the world that wasn't a member of the Axis or Comintern began to prepare their citizens for the global war they felt was imminent. This universal attitude was due to the complete defeat of the Allies, a general fear of the Axis, and the fact that the United States, the very symbol of isolationism, had finally broken out of its shell and became involved in international politics. The Axis as a whole took a moment to reflect on what had happened. Argentina's leader, Augustin Justo, was particularly nervous, and repeatedly wanted Germany to confirm its commitment to the alliance.
The USA creates the United Nations (Author's note: despite what the text says, no one's at war, except for the Chinese and Japan)
(Author's note: this is mixed news; every non-aligned nation just lost 20 neutrality. That means the US will possibly declare war on me, but it also makes nations like Portugal and Finland much easier to bring into the Axis, since invite acceptance is tied to neutrality. For now, the UN only contains the USA, but there are lot of nations floating in that corner of the triangle and its only a matter of time until they all join.)
The second major international development occurred on June 25, when the Spanish Republic publicly mobilized its military. This was an expected development, as the Reich blatantly supported the defeated nationalist uprising and now occupies the valuable city of Gibraltar. It was natural for the Spanish to feel threatened, although the Reich had no plans at the time to deal with Spain in any way. However, the loss of Gibraltar was not to be risked, and two garrison divisions were deployed to the city, in order to ensure that it would not fall before reinforcements could arrive.
The third major development was Yugoslavia's signing of the Anti-Comintern Pact on June 26. The Yugoslavian government had hoped to seek German protection from Bulgaria and Hungary, both of whom had lost land to Yugoslavia as part of the Treaty of Neuilly and Treaty of Trianon, respectively. However, the population of Yugoslavia was furious, as many people wanted to remain neutral and not sign the Pact. Quickly, a coup took place in Beograd and killed the royal family. The new government immediately nullified the Pact.
The Reich had two options: it could allow the murder of the previous government and snub to Germany's authority to go unpunished, respecting the will of Yugoslavia's people, or it could punish the offenders. Hitler decided on the second option. However, he had no plans on keeping the nation intact. Hungary and Bulgaria would receive their claims, and the nation would be split.
Germany invades Yugoslavia immediately after the coup takes place
Two days after the coup and subsequent invasion, Finland's National Socialist government approached German ambassador Wipert von Blücher about signing the Anti-Comintern Pact, on the condition that Finnmark in Norway, the Torne River Valley in Sweden, the Khola peninsula, and all of Karelia be given to Finland in addition to areas lost during the Winter War. In return, Finland would join any potential attack against the three nations. Von Blücher relayed the request to von Ribbentrop, who then forwarded it to Hitler. Hitler agreed to the terms and Finland joined the Axis Powers.
Finland joins the Axis (Author's note: the Finns didn't fire the decision I made that would allow them to make the offer described above. They joined via a regular invite due to the neutrality loss event. Finland will, however, have a decision that demands the land in the terms above, so if they don't take the land they I will have a choice to transfer it.)
The war against Yugoslavia was slow, mainly due to the mountainous terrain in Slovenia and Croatia. While Heeresgruppe C was making its way to Beograd, on August 5, von Ribbentrop received word that the Republic of China, despite its initial defeats, had defeated the rebellious nation of Mengjiang, had retaken East Hebei, and was pushing into the puppet state of Manchukuo. The speed of which China recovered had greatly impressed the Reich, and Hitler felt he had made the correct decision, despite von Ribbentrop's objections.
The ROC pushes into Manchukuo
On August 13, Heeresgruppe C had finally taken Beograd, while Bulgaria had taken Scopia. Upon Yugoslavia's surrender, since the royal family no longer existed, the country was partitioned. Bulgaria and Hungary both received their former land, the Reich annexed Lower Styria, and the "autonomous" nations of Croatia and Serbia were created. Mussolini, threatening to leave the alliance, demanded southern Slovenia and the Dalmatian coast. Unwilling to lose Italy as an (although incompetent) ally, Hitler agreed to the request and Italy received what it had asked for. In practice, Croatia and Serbia were no more independent than Ireland or the United Kingdom; their foreign policy was dictated by the Reich.
Yugoslavia is partitioned
The following day, Admiral Raeder celebrated the Reich's latest victory by launching the Europa-class carriers KMS Europa and KMS Germania. These two ships would form part of the core of fleets 4 and 5, and were expected to be finished in just under 3 years.
The two Europa-class carriers were launched on August 14, 1941
On August 18, 1941, with Heeresgruppe A in position along the Swiss border, the Reich delivered its final ultimatum to Switzerland: "deport French war criminals". Most scholars agree that the Reich's claims at the time were bogus and manufactured, and some recently discovered memos describe that von Ribbentrop's foreign ministry could think of no other excuse to justify the invasion of neutral Switzerland. It was known that Hitler personally despised the Swiss, as "Germans who had been led astray". However with the United Nations being a real potential enemy, care had to be taken else the US guarantee the borders of Germany's neighbors.
Naturally, the Swiss, believing that their extensive mountain fortifications would win the war, rejected the ultimatum. Two days later, Heeresgruppe A had won the battles of Bern and Zürich. On August 22, 1941, Switzerland was partitioned between Italy and the Reich. Italy, which again hadn't participated, demanded the Italian-speaking province of Ticino, as well as the Southern Alps. Since Italy didn't participate in the invasion, it was only given Ticino.
Bern is quickly taken by Heeresgruppe A with minimal losses
Switzerland is partitioned along ethnic-lines, with Italy receiving Ticino and the Reich annexing the rest of the country.