With the destruction of the syndicalist 'Socialist Republic of Ukraine,' The Empire had once again used military power to enforce its influence. Across Europe, Germany was responsible for rising tensions; Her annexation of Belgium and Denmark, the Poles bowing to German power, and the enforcement of (German) order in Ukraine worried all syndicalist strategists and commentators. Germany was clearly cementing her role as the dominant world 'mega-power,' a term born in the mid-1930s to describe the rise of individual nations that exert disproportionate influence and power over the rest of the world.
The Internationale; officially consisting of, in 1937; the Union of Britain, the Commune of France, the Commune of Sweden, and the Commune of Norway; met in Paris, in August of 1937. Officially, the only agenda was "...to further the Glorious People's Revolution..." but unofficially, two items were of priority. First, The Internationale discussed how much support would be proffered to any syndicalist revolution in the United States of America. Rising tensions in the states, along with a myriad of other issues, had already fractured the nation; it was merely a matter of time until an 'official' breakup was finalized. Secondly, "...containment of German Imperial aggression, here in Europe, as well as globally, [was] of the highest priority." The Internationale had noted that Imperial military commitments had spread her forces thin; very thin. Thus, a hard line was taken; Any further Imperial aggression towards
any syndicalist nation would be treated as an affront to
all syndicalist nations, and would be acted upon accordingly.
In response to this, the
KOHL (Imperial Supreme Army Command) ordered
Heeresgruppe West (Army Group West) to began a massive fortification update on the Franco-Imperial border. In addition, the newly-independent
Kaiserliche Luftwaffe (
KL; Imperial Air Force) made no effort to hide their movements; light and medium fighter units were moved to newly upgraded bases near the border. Heavy fighter units were in held in reserve in the heartland of Germany, to serve in the
zerstörer or 'bomber-destroyer' role. The Air Force had also placed an equal emphasis on close air support (CAS) and strategic bombing (SB), and had reserves -- although somewhat small -- of both types of aircraft. The ground-attackers, however, had shone in their CAS during the Ukrainian intervention, and thus the
KL did begin to trend towards focusing on CAS and light bombers. This latter decision would prove to be hugely helpful in the coming months.
KL Pilots and Airmen of Jagdgeschwader 16 pose before a Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (BFW) Bf-109 C-4. The 109 was tested as a possible replacement for the aging Fokker D.XXI (the first monoplane of the KL), the KL's primary light fighter. While many pilots praised the 109's maneuverability, low-altitude rate-of-climb, and relatively heavy armament for a light fighter, the design ultimately lost out to the Heinkel He-100. While early models of the He-100 were outgunned by the Bf-109; The 100 sporting x4 7.92mm machine guns; while the 109 was armed with x2 7.92mm machine guns, an engine-mounted MG-FF/M cannon, and two under-wing (or wing-root) mounted MG-FF/M gunpods; Heinkel assured the KL that the 100 could be up-armed without any performance penalties (which it would be; later models would even bear up to x2 12.7mm HMGs and up to x3 20 or 30mm minengeschoss cannons). Indeed, performance was the primary reason the 100 was chosen over the 109; the 100 went on to set world speed records, and was continually upgraded throughout the war. The 109 would be adopted instead as the KL's primary medium fighter in 1937. The KL was unique, in that it was the only Air Force to classify fighters into the light/medium/heavy classes. As a medium fighter, the 109 was called upon to function as a fighter-bomber, supplementing ground-attackers; and as a high-speed interceptor, when heavy fighter armament wasn't called for, but speed was. The 109 would continue in service around the world, after the end of the 2WK. Of particular note was the German-Jewish pilots whom served in the 2WK and then joined the new Jewish State of Madagascar's Air Force. The Madagascan Air Force was equipped with late-model 109s by the Imperial government. In support of the Jewish Evacuation in Palestine, the 109s were flown from Madagascar to the Imperial air base at the Suez Canal, and then flew sorties over Palestine in support of Madagascan ground troops and Imperial Marines.
Within a month of The Internationale's blanket guarantee of any aspiring syndicalist nation, the Netherlands would fall. Early in the morning on 7 September 1937, Queen Wilhelmina was forced to abdicate her throne and flee her Kingdom. She, much like monarchs before her, called upon the Kaiser to reclaim her nation from the radicals now running it; The Germans were unprepared to allow an ally of their greatest foes to lie so deeply in on German territory.
According to contemporary reports, Wilhemina was lucky to escape with her life, and only dedicated troops of her Royal bodyguard unit were able to guarantee her safety while traveling.
The
KOHL spared no time in directing all forces on peacekeeping duties in Flanders-Wallonia and Denmark (the peace was not hard to keep in either, prospering constituent state, anymore) to the Dutch border. With relentless ground-attack from the
KL, tens of thousands of Imperial infantrymen and cavalrymen swarmed across the Dutch border, their disorganized ' Batavian People's Army' quickly collapsing under the pressure.
The 'Second Prussian Intervention,' as it would become known, was described in the press as "Yet another quick jaunt across the border." Neither the government nor the press truly believed The Internationale would respond as they had promised should another syndicalist nation's sovereignty be violated; They were wrong.
With the collapse of the Batavian Commune, the final straw had been placed. The Internationale officially declared war on The Empire, and her allies & subjects, on 12 September 1937, widely recognized as the start of the 2WK.
Imperial infantrymen on the border prepared to man their new defensive positions, while the new
panzer and motorized divisions prepared, behind the lines, for a new tactic, the 'armored spearhead.' From Dunkirk to Mühlhausen, a hard line, called the
Kaiserlinie (the Emperor's line) by Imperial troops, was drawn. The French would vastly overestimate how spread thin the Imperial Army was, and how greatly underestimate the new German fortifications; and would take the disastrous first steps of the war. Tens of thousands of Fernch troops, utilizing 1WK tactics against 2WK weaponary, were marched into the
Kaiserlinie as if into a meat grinder. Within days, the Commune had "replaced" her generals on the border, and these tactics stopped. British transports, in order to avoid the now-massive Imperial Navy, skirted across the English Channel just days before the war began. The French quickly swept into Switzerland, and Swiss syndicalists quickly declared the the 'Helvetic Commune' had voluntarily joined The Internationale.
Rushing to defend this new and vulnerable border, the Kaiser personally ordered the
4. Jäger-Armee to the Imperial-Swiss border. The
4. Jäger-Armee was a new venture, concentrating the specialist units of the Imperial Army under one command. Most
Gebirgsjäger, Alpenjäger, and
Ski-Jäger (mountain troops) units were assigned the
4. Jäger-Armee; The
KOHL also assigned new, experimental units, the
1., 2., 3., 4., &
5. Marine-Sturm-Division. The German military had not wielded proper Marines for decades, and thus this would be the initial test for them. The Marines would accompany their mountain-soldier brethren (most Marines had been selected directly from the various mountain units) to the Swiss border, and would defend this precarious position well. Once the border had been secured, the Marines would be sent to Dunkirk, where they began planning their invasion of the Union of Britain.
The Franco-Imperial and Imperial-Swiss border on 12 September 1937; The outrbeak of the Second Weltkrieg
An Imperial Marine in the early-war uniform. Note the Karabiner 98 kurz; While standard infantrymen would utilize the Kar 98 into the mid-war era and beyond, Marines quickly replaced it with a rugged, all-purpose, rifle-caliber, select-fire weapon, the MjG 42 or Marinejägergewehr 42. Marines, already selected from the most elite mountain troops, would quickly gain a reputation as the Kaiserreich's most elite troops. While nominally Naval servicemen, they were seconded to the KOHL. The Army would vie for ever more control over them, particularly as they grew in prestige; while the Navy would fight to maintain control. Eventually, a compromise was reached; The Marines would become an autonomous arm of the Navy, with its own rank structure and their own command staff (including a flag officer equivalent to the Großadmiral of the Imperial Navy; the General der Marine-Jäger) about halfway through the 2WK.
Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, the chaos of the start of yet another Great War collapsed the already-teetering United States of America. The nation would ostensibly split into 3 nation-states, although the federal government held on in the Midwest, and the northern South Atlantic region/Greater Washington D.C. area for several months. However, the main contenders for the American state were the Combined Syndicates of America in the North and Northeast; the American Union State in the eastern-Midwest, the South, and the southernmost-Northeast; and the Pacific States of America on the West Coast. The federal government held virtually no de facto authority over all of the regions they claimed to maintain control over, and within months, all territory save for Washington D.C. proper were occupied by either the PSA, CSA, or AUS.
A contemporary tactical map shows the situation on the eve of the 2ACW. Note that while the federal government claimed large swathes of the nation, actual control of most of the areas would quickly fall under one of the new successor-states.
While The Empire had another Great War on her hands, the Kaiser personally authorized arms shipments to the American Union State, and sent a 'Letter of Friendship and Support' to President Huey Long himself. The Empire would, over the course of the next few years, ship hundreds of thousands of small-arms (albeit outdated models), old artillery, and even 'war-weary' fighter aircraft to the AUS. The 2ACW would rage on for years; even with heavy German support -- including volunteer divisions of 2WK-experienced combat veterans once the War in Europe was nearly over -- the AUS would struggle against syndicalist traitors to the north and separatist vipers to the west for years to come.
In our next lesson; The experimental 'armored spearhead' smashes through French lines, and 'The Long Advance' across France begins; German Marines fall back from the Imperial-Swiss border once syndicalist attacks slow, and prepare for an invasion of the UoB; the UoB launches a surprise naval-invasion of North Denmark, and it's up to German military policemen to repel.