Soviet-Germany 1933-

Soviet-Germany - End of Book I

The Socialist Experiment was complete. The end of the Spanish Civil War in 1939 and the following events closes the first chapter in the history of Germany under communist rule. Before we move on to Book II, let us briefly take a moment and look at a few statistics for the period 1933-1939. NOTE: The numbers used in the graphs are collected in September each year.

Asalto said:

That's really neat concept I must say. Not only the storyline that is very refreshing (incorporation of nationalistic tedencies into Marxist concepts, large political consent for communist takeover, army sympathies...so much better than some sudden coup or something). On gameplay note, I must say I just love what you did to ideology names. Stating detailed name of governing system is so much more attractive than simply using political adjectives.

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Thank you good sir for your compliments And indeed, the vanilla-style usage of political adjectives might fit well behind the names of ministers but I tend to pay more attention to it when it applies to the country as a whole.

Soviet-Germany B2 - C1

Chapter I
Power struggle and Radicalisation
1940-1941​

The Socialist People’s Front entered the year 1940 enriched by war experience. On the one hand, the victory in Spain had strengthened the party since the government had gained international attention. It became infamous to the nations of Europe who had witnessed the capability of the People’s Army. Germany had become a great power again and could re-enter the arena of great power politics. This, however, raised questions within the SPF regarding the German standing towards the Soviet Union. That was the other hand point by which the war experience weakened the party, it was a matter over which it would soon split over.
As was previously discussed, Ernst Thälmann’s re-emergence to the SPF leadership in 1938 was the first step towards this split. Thälmann formed his own faction within the party; a group of old-guard Stalinist die-hards who opposed Wilhelm Pieck’s leadership and policies. Thälmann himself was by far more popular than Pieck who always lived in his shadow. Consequently, Pieck found himself the head of a "right-wing faction"; the milder faction of the party, those who wished to preserve the people's republic and the national road to socialism while keeping a friendly but independent stance towards Moscow. Thälmann, on the other hand, and his old-guard followers, believed that the People’s Republic should develop into an advanced soviet-republic like Russia.

What eventually clove the party in 1940 was the Comintern issue. The war in Spain delayed the issue and the opposing factions stood together but in early 1940, with victory at hand, the question at last remained to be answered: Was the People’s Republic of Germany to become a puppet state of the Soviet Union or an alternative to Soviet-style communism?


The Comintern Question

The Comintern question was by no means a new issue within the SPF; it was as old as the party itself. The KPD had always been the typical Comintern party; it took orders from it, and always asked for its approval before taking decisions. When the KPD took on a dominant role in government in 1933, it must take aim of the other SPF movements and the Reichswehr. Despite this obvious obstacle to Stalin’s power in Germany, the KPD leadership in the SPF maintained a close relationship with Comintern but Comintern’s grip on the SPF slowly deteriorated over the course of the 1930s. In 1937, Wilhelm Pieck had managed to consolidate almost all de facto political power in the country to the party, and influenced by the non-KPD SPF members and his own power ambitions he wondered; why should he now return to the pre-1933 Comintern obedience?




Stalin had no physical force within the SPF, so the party factions themselves had to determine the party policy. In that regard, Germany in its current form was by no means a puppet state. This argument gave Pieck’s faction considerable support and the debate hardened during the first quarter of 1940. Pieck went as far as to openly declare the SPF an independent party which maintained goodwill and cooperation with Comintern but made its own policies.Stalin was of course outraged and turned Pieck into socialism’s enemy number one. A serious Soviet-German split was in the making. In July 1940, a Comintern world congress was held in Moscow where Pieck was accused of “rightist tendencies” and “bourgeoisie sentiments”. Other Comintern member parties in Europe were forced to severe relations with the SPF as the party was excommunicated from the communist community. The party leaders were left in a state of shock for it had never been Pieck’s intention to invoke Stalin’s hostility or a German-Soviet split.


Thälmann’s reclaimation of power

In order to appease Stalin and get his support for his party faction, Thälmann went to Moscow in August. Stalin understood he was his only hope of getting the SPF back into the Soviet sphere of influence so he assured Thälmann that he had Comintern’s full support for a party takeover. Was that to happen, Stalin would normalise relations with Germany and the SPF. When Thälmann returned to Berlin he was welcomed like a hero by his supporters whose opposition to Pieck and the current state of affairs had reached a pinnacle.
Pieck began realising that his grip on the party was beginning to slip as many of his communist supporters had switched sides. At a party congress in October he made his last attempt to form a concrete policy for his faction. He declared that the rapid armament production had quickly made the Volksarmee one of the most advanced in Europe and this would continue. The first officially commissioned German tanks since the Great War had just been released from production and Germany had by itself been able to win a war on foreign soil and help create the third communist state in the world, where the Soviets had failed. This, he claimed, was a proof of the German non-dependence on the Soviet Union. To this he added that if the Soviet Union would further try and interfere in the SPF’s foreign policy, Germany would have to reconsider the defence pact since 1933. Just three months before, Pieck had been on the brink of resignation in shock over the German-Soviet split. Now, he and his loose band of supporters had taken a U-turn in policy. Thälmann held a promising speech after which he and his followers left the congress in protest.




Pieck’s statements at the party congress were aimed at defining a clear policy for the “right-wing” faction to strengthen its position. He was mistaken. His clear cut stance worked in Thälmann’s favour who was able to rally many of Pieck’s supporters on his side in fear of Stalin. Two weeks later, the Politburo voted Pieck out of the chair of general secretary. He announced his resignation due to deteriorating health and, unsurprisingly, Thälmann took his place.


The German Soviet Republic

Thälmann formally took over the party on November 6, 1940 with a significant number of supporters at his side. He was more convinced than ever that this was the time for the People’s Republic to evolve into a genuine Marxist-Leninist soviet republic. To do this, he had to first consolidate his power within the party, and then transform the constitution. During the first weeks of December 1940, Thälmann had the entire top leadership of the party and government re-manned. First, Wilhelm Pieck and his closest associates were quietly removed from public life. These included Chancellor Anton Ackermann, Pieck’s silent workhorse in government, and almost all his cabinet. Then, a brutal party purge was initiated. Over 100 party members of all ranks; ministers, government and party officials and laymen were imprisoned and eight top ranking communists were executed. Among them was Arno von Lenski, the socialist-leaning defence minister and chief of staff, who had held the Reichswehr at bay for so many years. Lenski was the highest ranking SPF member who was executed during the purge.
The government finally outlawed the other political parties who had had de jure access to legislation via the Reichstag. Their political organs, which had been censored by the ministry of information until now, were officially banned. Following the series of arrests, some executions were carried out. The former NSDAP leaders, Göring, Goebbels and Himmler were shot in their prison cells among other right-wing political leaders. Gregor Strasser, the former chancellor and a few former Reichswehr generals were also killed. After the purge, Thälmann's power was absolute. He had become a little Stalin, although he did manage to evade his mentor's recommendation of mass-executions of former comrades.




On January 1, 1941, the old modified Weimar constitution was replaced with a new one. The People’s Republic of Germany was transformed into the Soviet Socialist Republic of Germany – or Soviet-Germany. It was a republic based on the Russian model with some improvisations. The economic policy was left mostly intact for the time being as a complete shift towards planned economy might stir up popular unrest. The Socialist People’s Front was dissolved and its successor was the reprised Communist Party of Germany. The other parties and movements that had made up the SPF gathered in five new puppet parties with the right to sit in the Reichstag and pose for elections. The new cabinet included almost only original KPD members. Ludwig Renn, one of the loudest voices in the Thälmann faction, was elected the president of the Supreme Soviet, thus acting as the head of state. Thälmann resumed the title of general secretary of the party but also took on the office of Chairman of the Council of Ministers, whereby becoming the head of government.



On January 15, a declaration of goodwill towards the Soviet Union and the world communist movement was released and shortly afterwards, the KPD was again invited to the ranks of the Comintern. The declaration also noted the Soviet Union’s hegemony in the communist world. Stalin immediately took what was his. On the Comintern’s demands, Thälmann initiated additional purges within the KPD itself to clean the party of all unorthodox communists, imagined and unimagined, executing 19 party members and banishing or imprisoning hundreds.
Naturally, renewed fear of a counter-revolutionary invasion from the West blossomed and the first joint staff meeting of the Germanarmy and the Soviet Red Army was held in February 1941. Indeed, the next task was to prepare for war. After almost ten years, the revolution in Germany was complete and either the capitalists would invade like they did in Russia in 1917 or, in good time, the revolution would be carried abroad. In either case, the German government continued to favour and nurture the sword and shield of the revolution: The Volkswehr.

SomeDude said:

There are no more good outcomes for Germany now...

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Hehe, don't be hasty, the Germans are a proud nation Stay tuned!

Asalto said:

I spy blue blood in position of the chief of people's air force.

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Well, like I said earlier, I did not pick and choose the ministers, they were chosen by the mod/game. Allthough I did customly mod Thälmann in. He was for some strange reason not included at first.

Soviet-Germany B2 - C2

Chapter II
The Sword and Shield of the Revolution
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The Defence of the Revolution

National security had always been a vital political issue since the communist takeover in 1933. For two reasons must the party always consider the possibility of a pre-emptive attack from the Allies. First, Germany had violated the clauses of the Versailles Treaty on armament and army size and on the reparation payments. Second, if the West was unwilling to occupy Germany for those reasons alone, it would surely be able to use them as a casus belli to remove the communists from power. This fear of counter-revolutionary attack naturally reached new heights after the events of early 1941.



In reality though, the Allies were neither ready to go to war over the Versailles settlement nor to enforce a counter-revolution. They lacked the willpower to defend the treaty and even though they had their concerns about how Soviet-Germany might affect the communist movement in their homelands, they were too disintegrated to take serious actions. The French would never attack Germany alone so they buried themselves behind the land fortifications and defensive lines. The British feared the thought of another Great War and continued their reluctance to guarantee France, especially without the Americans, and the Americans had contracted themselves from international affairs and maintained a stern isolationist policy. Wilhelm Pieck’s U-turn policy in October 1940 did not convince his comrades on the Comintern question, but his remarks on the Volksarmee were true. His doctrine of army supremacy was acclaimed by the new leadership and since the army was now in the hands of the proletariat, it would become the cornerstone of the defence of the revolution. Military priority in state-funded research was continued and better yet; according to the third four-year plan announced in April 1941, an even greater amount of funds was allocated to the research centers than before.




The Volkswehr and the Red Army

The joint staff talks of the Red Army and the German Volkswehr continued over the course of the next months. However, German and Russian military traditions clashed during the talks and this aroused both parties. The meetings were clumsy and the generals differed in opinions on defence strategy and final authority. They were not able to produce what their respective governments wanted as it soon became apparent that the authorities had different priorities.
The Russian aim was to submit the German army under the grand defence strategy of the Soviet Union. Soviet national interests lay in Eastern Europe and Stalin was eager to have Germany as a buffer zone against Western retaliation in the case of Soviet expansion. But above all, his main ambition was to use German-Soviet military cooperation to extend his influence over the country. The German army, on the other hand, wished to use the Red Army manpower for support in the event of an invasion from the West, under a German command. As a result, all talks of Soviet military presence in Germany were postponed.

German scientists and theorists met on several occasions with their colleagues from the Soviet Union where blueprints and the latest military theories were exchanged. It would be a great benefit to the Russians since the Germans were far ahead in military research. This added further do the division between the two militaries, since it became apparent that the mighty Red Army was by far less developed and organised than the Volkswehr had previously predicted. The myth of the German military dependence on the Soviet Union, which Pieck had been so eager to unravel, was beginning to fade. It was an early indicator of what would later lead to a change in attitude of the German leadership on its standing toward the Soviet Union. Of course, all such ideas were irrelevant for the time being. In his opening speech on a German-Soviet friendship congress in Berlin in March 1941, foreign minister Walter Ulbricht declared the "greatest military alliance in the history of the world" in which the "Red Army [supplies] the manpower and the Volkswehr provides the firepower. Together, under Comintern’s flag, they will police the world revolution”.


Armament Production and Upgrades



The four-year plan of 1941 gave way
for a campaign in army upgrades.

In early 1941, German economic power had weakened a bit since its miraculous rise in the mid 1930s. The political unrest of the previous year and the radicalisation of Marx-Leninist principles following Thälmann’s takeover had spread dissent throughout the nation. The replacement of ministers and staff responsible for the planned state production left its marks on the performance. Some factories were closed and others became inefficient due to lack of import. When the smoke had cleared in the ministry of industry, a new four-year plan was introduced in April 1941. The previous plan from 1937 had launched the building of five new battleships for the still undersized Volksmarine. Also, production had begun on six new motorised divisions and two new staff field HQ’s. Due to the war in Spain these new projects had been put on hold until 1940. The new plan, scheduled in two phases, allowed for continued armaments production at full speed but the new projects were again postponed. The first phase was to focus all armaments on upgrading the existing army whose equipment was not up to date with the latest in military technology.
That’s how it went for the next year. By June 1942, much of the army had been upgraded, including the armoured divisions. The Volksmarine projects were put on full speed while half of armament resources went on to finish upgrading the motorised infantry.

By that time, the state-funded research centers and universities across Germany blossomed. In July 1942 a theoretical breakthrough in the field of computing science took place which would lead to the development of the world’s first electronic computers. The government realised that the military industries couldn’t quite catch up with the rapid speed of the technological progress. Just when the troops had been trained and equipped with the latest weapons and the most modern killing machines in the world the scientists declared them obsolete. The ministry of industry stressed its worries to the government: The nation’s vast state-run industries must stop mustering high tech weapons to the army and begin producing industrial goods for export. The Politburo would not hear of such talk, as it was considered "unsocialist" to prioritize market demands. If the industries were to serve the common good, the authorities dictated, they would continue producing armaments and consumer goods.




The debate went on for the remainder of the summer but in September a compromise was reached. The second phase of the four-year plan which was projected to have the industries go back to the production of motorised divisions and battleships was changed. It was decided to build more factories and infrastructure in Prussia and the divisions were again put on hold. The project was scheduled to be finished in one year. By doing this, the industry would be better able to keep up with the technological level of the nation. Of course, this was not only practical for military purposes. Ernst Thälmann saw it as the essence of scientific socialism when he addressed factory workers in Breslau in September: “Germany has become a genuine Marxist worker’s state. As our scientist research the latest in industrial and military technology, the workers produce, with amplitude efficiency, goods for the whole of society and supply the People’s Army with the latest mechanisms of defence. Remember; only by producing more can we accelerate our society’s transition to communism, and carry the revolution abroad.”

Thälmann was cheered both by the public and his party comrades as the government had come up with a clear policy leading to a brighter future. But one thing was beginning to bother him and the leadership. Just two years previously, they had faithfully accepted Soviet peerage in the communist world but the rapid modernisation of Germany and the German army was casting a shadow on the worker’s paradise in Russia. Without publicly admitting it, Thälmann was beginning to realise that it was just a matter of time before Germany would surpass the Soviet Union and when that happens, the KPD must be prepared to challenge its big brother on the leading role in the communist world.

Additionally, Thälmann's rhetoric of a world revolution and military buildup was not only heard by the big brother in Moscow. Relations with the capitalist West and reactionary South were deteriorating swiftly and communist parties around Europe were gaining momentum, unleashing heavy pressure on their governments. As the year 1942 drew to a close, the desperate cries of counter-revolution could be heard from fascist Italy and the war-torn and divided Iberia.

whatguts said:

does the NWO incorporate events from communist germany mod? or are you going to tell your own story?

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This is my own story, the shift from a people's democracy to a soviet republic in 1940 was a custom made event. However, the original event in 1933 which created the people's republic (i.e. leninist), the choice of ministers and the military alliance with SOV is the NWO mod.

Soviet-Germany B2 - C3


The Fascist Powers

Extreme political movements gain their support in times of social, economic or political turmoil. This was exactly the kind of state Central and Eastern Europe experienced after the Great War. In Russia and Germany, communism prevailed and in Italy, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Portugal fascist regimes ascended to power. In itself, fascism was the ultimate opposite of communism; an ultra-reactionary and nationalist ideology which would not have appeared in its current form if it were not for the existence of communism. According to Marx-Leninism, fascism was the extreme reactionary form of capitalist society. Just as the communist parties were the elite fighting force of the socialist order, the fascists were the vanguard of the existing order.
Therefore, relations between the fascist states and Soviet-Germany had always been very stiff. During the Spanish Civil War, Italy was on the verge of following Germany’s example and send its own expedition to Spain and with the establishment of a People’s Republic in Spain and an increasing communist domestic activity in Eastern Europe, Benito Mussolini, the fascist leader of Italy, became fearful of his country's security. But he was not alone in harbouring such worries. In the aftermath of the Spanish War, Antonio Salazar, the reactionary ruler of Portugal, became Mussolini’s foremost ally along with the fascist dictator of Austria, Engelbert Dollfuss. Salazar couldn’t stand the thought of having to tolerate a communist state at his borders instead of his friend Franco and Austria and Italy now had a common enemy in their backyard. In 1939, Mussolini signed a separate friendship and cooperation treaty with the two dictators with promises of mutual assistance in the event of emergencies, however one might interpret that.




Revolution in Austria

When the historical role of the Habsburg Empire of Austria came to an end in 1918, many Austrian Germans felt there was no need for an Austrian state anymore. The main obstacle to a German-Austrian union was the Treaty of Versailles which forbade it. When communists came to power in Germany in 1933, all such ideas became irrelevant. Dollfuss avoided as much contact with the new government he could and concentrated his foreign policy southwards. Austrian communists however, became as strong as ever, receiving more support from their German comrades than they had ever received from the Soviet Union.
On March 10, 1943, disaster struck the Dollfuss regime. The Austrian communist party tried to stage a coup with a promised support from Thälmann’s government in Berlin. Communist militants stormed the Vienna army barracks and occupied government buildings, even managing to capture Dollfuss himself and murder him. With the capital and nearest areas under their control, they immediately declared a revolution had begun and proclaimed a socialist republic. On March 16, the communists sent a formal request to Berlin asking for military assistance. Thälmann did not hesitate; the German army had already posited the whole of military district A on the Austrian borders, waiting for the call. On March 20, however, the legitimate Austrian government sent a distress call to Mussolini asking him to honour the cooperation treaty. Mussolini waffled a bit at first. He knew he would be initiating a major war which would most likely include the Soviet Union but two days later, he reached a decision. In hope of scaring the Germans off, he signed a declaration of war addressed to the Soviet Union. He was quite convinced that the Soviets were of a little threat to him since the Italian Navy would keep the Red Fleet out of the Mediterranean. Now, he laid all his hopes on the Germans calling off the attack.





Annexation of Austria

The government in Berlin was shocked to hear of Mussolini’s declaration of war. An emergency government meeting was held and it was decided to carry out the attack anyway. The next day, Foreign Minister Ulbricht and the Army High Command met with representatives of the Soviet Army and the Soviet ambassador. Moscow promised its full support, but under pressure from the Volkswehr the Red Army was asked to leave all land divisions behind for the time being. The Red Air Force on the other hand, was asked to cover the German army from above. Stalin was irritated by this, as he had wanted to use the opportunity to station Soviet troops in Germany and have the situation put under Soviet military command, but he gave in. The air force was given full authority to cooperate with the Germans. The High Command immediately put together a commission to draw up further invasion plans in Italy and on March 24, the Volksarmee crossed the German-Austrian borders.

By April 1 1943, the Austrian main defence line had been broken and the army retreated. A few Italian divisions had joined them but they seemed not to be able to put up much resistance. The battle plan was simple; I Motorkorps, consisting of three motorised infantry divisions advanced towards Vienna and II Motorkorps, drove south in the direction of Graz. In the capital, the Germans were greeted by the communists who still controlled the city, and on April 6, Graz was reached. The Italians quickly retreated behind their borders as the Austrian army surrendered. The country was immediately set under military control and two days later the Austrian Communist Party signed an agreement of unification of the party with the KPD and the abolishment of the Austrian state. A plebiscite would be held later once the Italians had been dealt with.




The Mediterranean Axis

If Thälmann was shocked by the Italian declaration of war, Mussolini was even more terrified when he heard of Germany's actions. In addition, he should have been fully aware of the efficiency of the German army from the Spanish Civil War experience, yet he was surprised when he witnessed how the motorised divisions swept through Austria and crushed the Italian units defending it. He was sure that the Germans would not stop at the Italian border and that the struggle would be hard so he immediately gave the order to the Italian army to transfer almost all its troops stationed in Libya and Ethiopia to the mainland.
On April 9, an Italian commission arrived in Lisbon, acting as though the situation was under full control, despite Mussolini's panic. Salazar was reminded of his treaty promises and was informed that if he would invade the People’s Republic of Spain, the Germans would have to support it which would relieve the Italian front. With the German army on two fronts, Germany and Spain would be crushed. The convinced and proud Salazar agreed. On April 10,1943, The Mediterranean Axis was formed in Lisbon; a military alliance of Portugal, Italy and its puppet government in Albania and only two days later, Salazar anxiously launched the attack his generals had been preparing and planning for months. Portuguese troops crossed the borders of the poorly defended communist Spain and advanced almost unhindered.




Operation: “Tyrol”

By that time, the German leadership was in high spirits; Thälmann himself arrived in Vienna to supervise the unification process while the High Command presented the Italian invasion plan Operation: “Tyrol” to the government in Berlin. Needless to say, the joy turned into trauma when the news of the fascist military alliance reached Germany. As the Portuguese army swept through Spain, the German leadership again held an emergency meeting with Soviet representatives present. They decided to stick with the “Tyrol” plan as it was and send an expeditionary force to Spain. The IV German Army consisting of four infantry divisions and I. Panzerkorps's three armoured divisions, all stationed at the Italian borders, were scheduled to be transported to Spain as soon as they arrived in Wilhelmshaven. The troops would then meet up with a larger Soviet force under a joint command. On April 20, 1943, Operation: “Tyrol” was launched:

OPERATION: "TYROL"
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I Army Command, consisting of I and II Motorkorps (3xMOT), I Panzerkorps (3xARM) and I Kavalleriekorps (3xCAV) and 7 infantry divisions, form spearhead A whilst II Army Command forms spearhead B, consisting of 13 infantry and mountain divisions within the time frame: April 20 1943 – May 17 1943.

• The shock troops of I Army advances across the Italian borders in the east with a lightning speed, capture Venice and Brescia.
• II Army; the infantry and the Austrian mountain divisions slowly proceed through the northern part of Italy into the southwest ultimately capturing Milan, Turin and the strategic locations of the Alpine region.
• Having secured these targets, spearheads A and B form a defensive line along the river Po.

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[To be continued...]

SomeDude said:

Seems odd the other Spain isn't getting involved.

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Let's just say the other Spain was exhausted. Having almost lost the war to Franco it wouldn't stand a chance against Portugal. I imagine the two Spains more like North and South Korea, rather than for example East and West Germany.

Soviet-Germany B2 - C4



Operation: “Gramsci” and Operation: “Reconquista”

The Italian army proved a worthy foe for the Germans in comparison with Franco’s forces during the Civil War. For the first time the German soldiers experienced serious casualties. But the Volksarmee was nevertheless far superior to the Italians and by May 14, 1943, it had reached Venice and the river Po in north-western Italy. By that time however, the Portuguese had occupied almost all of communist Spain and the German Army High Command was beginning to fear that they might not be able to ship the expeditionary forces in time. The expedition finally arrived in Vigo on the Spanish Atlantic coast on May 12.
Soviet troops had landed in Bilbao a few days earlier but were trapped in the city due to organisational problems and lack of supplies. The Soviet expedition would turn out to be a total failure. Not only did it never manage to leave the city because of a total fiasco on behalf of the Red Navy who failed to give them sufficient supplies for three months but they also managed, with the uncivilized behavior of the Soviet soldiers, to gain the hostility of the local population. In addition, only a third of the projected expeditionary force reached Spain. The rest was stuck in Mallorca throughout the remainder of the war. It was clear, that the Soviet Army was by no means ready to wage a war in overseas territories yet.




Therefore, Operation “Reconquista” was planned without consulting with the Soviets at all. The tanks of I Panzerkorps were to attack the Portuguese capital while the four infantry divisions of the IV Army marched towards Madrid. Meanwhile in Italy, the infantry divisions of the II Army were making their way slowly through the mountainous terrain of northern Italy while the motorised I Army waited to advance over the river Po. The German High Command received information that the main bulk of the Italian Army, the divisions from Africa, had landed in Southern-Italy. To occupy as large area as possible before they arrived, it authorised Operation: “Gramsci”; a quick attack south towards Rome, even though "Tyrol" had not been fully completed according to plan.


The Volksmarine Catastrophe

Both operations started off well. Throughout the end of the month, German and Spanish troops slowly managed to gain the upper hand against the Portuguese. The People’s Republic of Spain had finally managed to organise and mobilise a suitable army which was surprisingly efficient against the Portuguese. The latter were also no match for the German tanks who crushed all their encounters. Despite this, it proved problematic to hold on to the conquests as the Portuguese strategy involved small and mobile groups of infantry. The German IV Army was far too slow for them and the armoured corps needed infantry support to defend the territories they occupied. The expedition was in the need of more infantry divisions so it was decided to send a transport fleet into the Mediterranean and transport some troops from the Italian front. This would be a fatal error.




The Volksmarine leadership knew that it was a dangerous task. The Italian Navy was not the greatest in the Mediterranean, but it certainly was more capable than the People’s Navy and the Soviet Red Fleet. The latter was even unable to ship the rest of the Soviet troops in Mallorca to Spain because of Italian naval superiority in the Mediterranean. But the Spanish campaign must have more troops. The whole People’s Navy, a total of 18 vessels lead by Grand Admiral of the Navy himself, escorted the transport ships through the strait of Gibraltar and into the Mediterranean Sea. On May 20, en route to the Adriatic, they encountered an Italian fleet off the coast of Malta. The sea battle was a complete disaster for Germans. The inexperienced and underdeveloped Volksmarine was utterly defeated by the Italians. Grand Admiral Bettenhäuser barely escaped with three ships and one of them, the light cruiser SMS Königsberg, was so damaged that it sunk on its way safety in Mallorca. When the news reached the ministry of defence and the Volkswehr general staff in Berlin, all hell broke loose. Surely, the Volksarmee High Command as well as the general staff and the ministry had authorised the operation but someone had to take the blame. Upon returning to Germany, Grand Admiral Bettenhäuser was sentenced to a court-martial and shot on charges of disobeying orders. Naturally, the fiasco and its conclusion created consent within the armed forces.


Victory in Iberia

Despite the Navy disaster and the lack of reinforcements, the expedition in Spain slowly managed to wear the enemy down and consolidate the occupied areas. This was though mainly thanks to the splendid mobilisation of the Spanish militia which had doubled in size in only one month. Just as Foreign Minister Walter Ulbricht had said about the German-Soviet alliance; The Germans provided the firepower and the Spanish the manpower. On June 10, 1943, German tanks occupied Lisbon and Salazar and his government fled to the south. Five days later, however, the capital was recaptured by Salazar’s troops as the tank corps was recalled to the north in order to hinder a Portuguese encirclement of the city.
Meanwhile in Italy, Operation “Gramsci” was successfully being carried out but was slowed down as the Italians had managed to cluster their whole army against the Germans. On June 21, the advance was brought to a halt in the area around Ancona in Central Italy. The Italians put up heavy resistance in the city itself where bloody house-to-house fights persisted for a whole month. This was mainly the cause of leadership problems in the III Army which lead the eastern assault. The field HQ lost contact with the troops because of lack of communications and misunderstanding among the officers. Apparently, following Grand Admiral Bettenhäusers court-martial, the Volksarmee officers at the front and even some of the top Volkswehr generals in Berlin had become fearful that it was a precedent for wider use of Stalinist terror-discipline in order to win the war.



By July 18, 1943, the IV Army in Spain and the Spanish troops had mostly secured mainland Spain and on that day, I. Panzerkorps arrived in Lisbon for the second time. Three days later, the Portuguese government met with Field Marshall Frick, supreme commander of the expedition, in the city and sued for peace. Salazar was not present when the unconditional surrender was signed for he had committed suicide on the day Lisbon fell. Portugal was defeated and the People’s Republic of Spain had prevailed. Just as had happened three years before in Madrid, The Portuguese Communist Party established a socialist republic in Portugal a few weeks after the surrender. One might imagine how different the outcome of the war in Iberia might have been if the Spanish Republic had joined the war against the communists as both the German and Spanish governments had feared. The truth was thought that the government in Barcelona was, like its communist counterpart, not ready to go back to war in 1943. Besides, it loathed Mussolini and Salazar as much as it had hated Franco, and would not risk a separate war with the People’s Republic only to be absorbed by a victorious Axis after its defeat.


As celebrations were held in Madrid, the III Army HQ had restored orderly communications to the troops in Ancona. On July 26, the II Army in the west launched an assault whereby motorised infantry divisions broke through the Italian defence line and encircled Ancona. Three days later the city fell, after a month of fierce street battles and terrible artillery bombardment. On August 10, German troops entered Rome and Operation: “Gramsci” was successfully concluded. Victory seemed certain. On August 5, The High Command issued, what they believed to be the last operation in the Italian war; Operation: “Corleone”. The plan was optimistic, as it was scheduled only to take three weeks:

OPERATION: "CORLEONE"
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I Army, consisting of mobile troops (I and II Motorkorps and I Panzerkorps) forms spearhead A. The II Army, consisting of infantry and cavalry corps, total of 17 divisions, makes force B. The Operation will be carried out within the time frame: August 5, 1943 – August 23, 1943.

• Spearhead A; The shock troops of I Army will storm their way southwards along the Adriatic coast and capture Taranto and encircle the Italian government in Napoli.
• Force B; II Army attacks the main bulk of the Italian resistance south of Rome and then enters the siege and capture of Napoli.
• I Motorkorps takes the advance of Spearhead A further south into Sicily in case resistance persists.

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Shortly before Rome fell, Mussolini and his government had withdrawn to Napoli and were determined not to surrender despite their hopeless situation. As the German army had slowly progressed down the Apennines during the course of the summer, Mussolini had been planning to win the war by diplomatic means. Although, it was never his intention to sue for peace with the Germans. On the contrary, an Italian delegation, including some of the highest ranking members of the Fascist Party and even representatives of the Pope himself had left Italy in June for Paris. There they had been negotiating with certain right-wing elements from Britain and France to form a unified front against the communist world to save Christian Western civilization from the “satanic forces of Germany and the Bolshevik scourge of Asia”.

But if Mussolini's desperate plan was to work, the diplomats of Western Christian civilization would have to hurry and they surely would need God's blessing if they were to be able to persuade the Western Allies to come to their aid. Only the final clean-up assault remained for the Germans to knock out the last resistance in Italy.

Barvinok said:

Nice work. I'm curious though, what will happen to the Volksmarine? Total scrapping, or some role for it afterall?

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Well, the Volksmarine will take its time to heal the wounds but new ships will be built there's no doubt about that.