Epilogue
The War that ended all Wars
The War that ended all Wars
The Second War On Communism
After the failed assassination attempt in September of 1941, a second war broke out between the Axis and the remains of the Soviet Union. The details of the incident are still somewhat unclear but the official investigation concluded that a Soviet agent was responsible and the attempt failed thanks to the intervention of two German officers. The documents produced by the investigation commitee were classified for a hundred years. The Japanese response was quick and clear: on Ocotber 1st, 1941, war was declared on the Soviet Union. Hitler joined the effort wholeheartedly, despite of the Heer being completely unprepared. At the time, according to official sources there was only two Armies of reserve troops stationed on the enemy border. Still, they were deemed capable of holding back a possible Soviet attack until more capable units can be redeployed from Spain, England and France.
During the first weeks of the Second War On Communism as it later became called, there were next to no Soviet activity, so the commanders of the border guard troops took the initiative and started offensive maneuvers into Soviet lands. They were surprisingly successful. Evidently the Soviets weren't any more prepared for a war than the Germans. Or at least so it seemed at the time. But the fact remains, by the time the reinforcements from France arrived, the border guards already made considerable progress into enemy territory.
The advance started to slow down with the start of the Winter. A combination of bad weather and the ever worsening supply situation made offensive operations difficult at first and impossible later. As a response, the allies of the Reich sent expeditionary forces to help out. Most historians believe that this was the main reason why the campaign almost turned into a disaster. There's an alternative hypothesis caliming that the confusion of the Axis forces was in fact artificially orchestrated, a calculated risk to strech out the war with the intent of keeping Japan occupied. Of course there's no evidence to support this claim.
Meanwhile fighting continued against the remians of the Western Allies as well. Even though British India surrendered and became occupied by Germany, Nepal and Buthan kept fighting until they were finally suppressed in October and Nocember, respectively. As a consequence of Soviet aggitation, Tibet and the independent province of Xinjiang (Sinkiang) got involved in the war and became deadly battlefields for over a year, going back and forth between Axis and Comintern control.
But Central Asia was not the only region where Communism was searching for allies. In January of 1942, evidence came to light about a conspiracy to bring the new French State under Soviet influence. A German declaration of war and a quick offensive followed and the whole of France was under firm Axis control by early February. Haiti signing the Tri-Partite Pact in April was seen with great concern in both the Dominican Republic and Cuba and the small Caribbean state needed to be saved from her stronger neighbours.
With the Caribbean region secured by June, 1942, the fight could finally be brought to the enemy in Central America: Mexico and Canada were invaded on the 5th of June. The former surrendered quickly but the sheer size of the later and the unfavourable terrain resulted in a long campaign. Canada was finally defeated on the 5th of February, 1943. With both New Zealand and Australia defeated in December and South Africa collapsing in April already, the leaders of the Western Allies had nowhere to run anymore. The Allies Faction was officially disbanded during the month of February, 1943 and with the Allied threat neutralized for good, the entire Axis could focus on puting an end to International Communism. Still, with the logistical and operational difficulties and the deterioration of the situation in America, the campaign against the Soviet Union lasted until January, 1944.
Unternehmen Sternsturm
American concerns were raised already during the Caribbean conflict in April of 1942, but at that time the issue was solved diplomatically, with the United States accepting German intervention to root out Communism from the back-yard of the USA. But during the Canadian campaign, the heavy bombings of military installations and factories in Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick, the differences between the American and German leadership became apparent. President of the United States Fritz Kuhn declared that "German aggression in North America can't and won't be tolerated forever" and that "the United States of America won't allow Communism to take a root in her soil but this will distance itself from the extreme and unnecessary measures taken by the Axis forces in Canada". Relations between the two powers broke down in March and it became obvious that conflict is unavoidable. The American government used a minor border incident between Brazil and Venezuela to intervene citing the Monroe Doctrine from the nineteenth century, claiming that Brazil's membership in the Axis makes the incident a form of European interference and thus an act of war against the United States itself. German troops entered Americen soil on the same day, July 6th, 1943.
Due to the immense size of the United States and the speed of the German offensive, the American forces had no chance to defend on a broad front. They penetrated the Canadian front in Alberta and Saskatchewan, cutting off the forces in Vancouver but their front quickly collapsed in Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire and New York in the North and on the entire border in the South. Despite some initial problems with supplies, American resistance was credited more to the size and decentralization of the country rather than their military prowess. US President Fritz Kuhn presented an unconditional surrender on December 2, 1943, making the American Campaign even shorther than Operation Barbarossa. Most historians agree that the reason is most likely the convinient timing: at the outbreak of the war, Germany already had two Armies stationed in both Mexico and Canada.
The World Council
During the last two years of the conflict known as The War that Ended All Wars, a new organization, the World Council was formed to serve as a global government responsible for worldwide and international issues. Despite the initial reluctance of some countries in South and Central America (and also Finland and Afghanistan), by the Summer of 1944, every single country on Earth joined the new organization with the only exception of Switzerland, which was declared a neutral country. There's considerable speculation to this day about the reason of this sole exception. The most popular explanation involves some secret pact between the leaders of the Axis (although the wildest theories talk about a Swiss mastermind conspiring to rule the World through the World Council), but suffice to say that a single country in the middle of Europe can't pose a threat to global peace.
The success of the World Council is unquestionable. There wasn't a single armed conflict since the end of the Panama Campaign on June 16, 1944. That's the longest period of time without a war in recorded history and quite possibly since the birth of mankind. The monetary unification of 1951 helped global trade reach unprecedented hights and the spread of technological knowledge allowed formerly uncivilized regions to integrate into the global community. Strict rules, efficient regulations and fine-tuned logistics allowed famine to be a thing of the past while preventing overpopulation. And with the recent breakthroughs in the field of interstellar travel, the World Council might very well turn into a representative body for Earth on the interstellar community!
And as for our heroes...
Anna and Hans
After the incident in June, 1941, Anna and Hans Grübermann fled the Reich. Anna's original plan was to move to the United States but they only got as far as Switzerland before the French State was overrun by Axis forces. With no better idea they settled in Wiedehorn, a small village at the Bodensee. They were quite surprised at the declaration of Switzerland's sovereignty guaranteed by the Reich. Rumor has it that Hitler and Mussolini couldn't get to an agreement over the partition of the country and at the suggestion of Hirohito, they both agreed to keep Switzerland independent. Others say that the country simply bought its freedom. But whatever the truth was, Anna and Hans lived in Wiedehorn until their deaths in the early 1980s. They named their only child Erhard. He grew up to be an electronical engineer and became one of the most well-known computer-scientists of our time.
Martin
In 1943 Martin Lederer had a huge fight with his long-time fiancee, Alexanderina Kobori. She moved back to Bucharest and they never talked again. He worked in the Ministry of Propaganda and Public Enlightment until his retirement at the age of 65. After that he started writing books. Most of his work was based on war stories in a nostalgic and patriotic tone, "post-realistic", as he described it. His old secretary, Erwin became his chief rival in his post-retirement occupation as well, trying to capitalize on his success with his own line of cheap copies. Some sources state that the scandal in 1981 (involving a certain young man claiming to be the unlawful son of Martin) was originally his fabrication. The scandal turned out to be a hoax (he never got into another relationship after Alexanderina) but it left a ditry stain on his reputation. He never married and died in Berlin, in 2005 at the age of 93.
Joachim
After the war, Joachim left the Kriegsmarine, declining an offer to make himself a career there. In 1944, he moved to the United States and started his own steel company. Business started really good but the bank that originally financed the project disappeared without a trace and the company would probably have gone bankrupt if not for Wilhelm, who unexpectedly donated a small fortune to Joachim in November, 1945. He got married in 1950 and had four children: three girls and a boy. He had a strange habit which he never explained even to his wife or children: up until his death in 1983, every year on Christmas morning, he arranged for an advertisement for as many newspapers around the World as he could afford at the time with the following text: "I will be arriving with the 6:11 to the Munich Train Station. If you could meet me there, please, write to this address!" This strange excercise kept all his acquaintances scratching their heads.
Wilhelm
After participating in the American campaign, Wilhelm von Walsrode retired from the Heer in the rank of Colonel. The futility of Erhard's sacrifice pushed him over the edge and he lost all of his faith in the system. He commited suicide in December, 1945, one of the coldest winters of the decade.
Index
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