Let's try this again...
Warriors of the North said:
With the Swedish Occupation Zone being established in Germany/Austria, work was needed to improve the Swedish Intelligence Service. The service had traditionally been the weakest of the Swedish agencies...the nation choosing to rely on her allies to provide the information they needed on the world. That had all changed with the UN Intervention (more commonly called the War of Liberation). If it had not been for Swedish Intelligence, the UN would not have known of how weak and (relatively) undefended Germany truly was. If it hadn't been for the brave spies, Europe would still be under the Nazi yoke...instead of being rebuilt by the UN Security Forces.
Because of this, money was put forth from the expansive Swedish treasury to fund an increase in the number of spies, and the number of cells worldwide. The Soviet Union and Japan were the largest by far, both nations seen as the biggest threat to global stability (Italy was too preoccupied with Britain, and had lost most of its navy in any case. Bulgaria and Spain were far too weak). Because of this, the Intelligence cells in both states were drastically expanded, especially as Soviet forces crept ever closer to the Swedish troops garrisoning the Polish, Hungarian, and Romanian borders.
While the Intelligence service performed their duties and was expanded, the first nations of occupied Europe had their governments restored to power. These two states were Denmark and Czechoslovakia. While any number of nations could have been restored from the Nazi occupied territories, there were simple reasons why these two were chosen first. Denmark for the fact that it was relatively untouched during the occupations and resultant War of Liberation. Czechoslovakia, alternatively, for the fact they were the first victim of Hitler's regime (Austria was generally seen as a willing participant), not to mention the bravery of the Volunteer Division.
While work continued in the other occupied states to get them back in condition for the government and local authorities to regain control, the independence of Denmark meant Sweden lost exclusive control over the strait into the Baltic. A small price to pay in the long run.
The newly reestablished Czech government was quite willing to enter the Nordic League (by now, more well known as the New Entente in most circles). Sweden had been the only nation to stand by the old government during the dark days after Munich, so the Czechoslovaks had no issues with allying with the Swedes. Especially once the volunteers returned home after so many years in exile. These men spoke highly of the Swedes they had served with, and that was a key impact on the Czech government.
That, and the looming fact that Hungary could only last so long against the Red Tide. When (not if,
when) Horthy fell, the Czechoslovaks knew they would be on the frontline should Stalin decide he wasn't satisfied with spreading the Revolution to the remaining minor states in the Axis. Allying with Sweden provided something of a safety net, as the nation was seen as one of the most powerful in the world due to their triumphs in recent years.
In fact, for the first time in centuries, Sweden was legitimately seen around the world as a Major Power. The Swedish military was still small compared to the swarms of men Russia could throw at her enemies, but the troops were highly skilled and perhaps the best-equipped in the world. In addition, while they still lacked the ability to produce carriers or battleships, the Swedish Navy was expanding with highly-advanced cruisers, believed to be sufficient to cover the Baltic.
Overall, while few in number, the Swedish troops were the envy of the world.
A reminder came from the Balkans however...a reminder that while they were powerful, Sweden and her UN allies were still not the strongest nation(s) in Europe. Romania had fought harder than anyone could have reasonably expected to keep the Soviets out of their nation after Germany fell...but the tides of Soviet men were seemingly inexhaustible. The Russians pushed the Romanians and their Hungarian allies back to the Hungarian border, taking Ploiești and Bucharest. The Romanians fought on despite this, bleeding the Soviets for every inch of land.
The end-result was perhaps inevitable however. Despite vigorous UN protests for
both sides to end the war, the Soviets continued to fight. The Romanian government was receptive and likely would have bowed out if it had been their choice...but Stalin was never known as a lenient man. Hungary, Romania and Turkey had joined with the hated Nazi's to invade Mother Russia...and for that, they would pay. Thus, while Swedish troops in Serbia watched across the border, Romania officially surrendered to the USSR. A communist puppet government was installed, as Soviet and Romanian troops captured what few Hungarians were in the nation after attempting to defend it.
Only one nation in the Balkans remained neutral (albeit technically at war with America)...Bulgaria. While Tsar Boris' government was not the most free or lenient in the world, at least it had stayed out of the European wars. Now, as the Romania/Bulgaria border was garrisoned by masses of Soviet men and material, it became clear that the last 'neutral' Balkans nation was quickly becoming isolated. Italy would be unable to protect them in the event that Stalin chose to 'export the Revolution'. Greece
wouldn't help, and both Turkey and Hungary were near defeat themselves. Should those nations fall, all that remained in the Balkans would be the Swedish Occupation Zone (currently in the process of being handed over to local authorities), a borderline hostile Greece, and Communist controlled Romania and Turkey.
The UN Security Council debated long and hard on what to do in this situation. While Boris held on to the crumbling Axis and was resistant to leaving it, that didn't mean leaving Bulgaria to the not-so-gentle care of Comrade Stalin was a preferable option. And few doubted that if Bulgaria was left alone, that it would stand alone. Thus, Sweden sent a simple message to Moscow...Gustaf would guarantee the independence of his fellow Monarch. If Stalin attacked Bulgaria, he would be attacking the UN. A marked decrease was seen in the amount of Soviets along the border in Romania...and a collective sigh of relief came from the war-weary UN.
With one crisis averted, the UN authorities began handing over control to the native governments and pulling out of occupied Europe, with the exception of Greater Germany, where significant work would need to be done to clear out Nazis (General Rommel proved a welcome supporter in this endeavor due to his popularity amongst the German people). While Czechoslovakia and Denmark were released first, they were by no means the only nations Sweden restored to their proper governments (albeit with some heavy influence from the ruling Social Democrats).
First was Poland, given parts of Germany and East Prussia as reparations for the damages Hitler had done to the nation. There was some serious risk in doing so, considering Danzig had been the flashpoint for the Second Great War. Because of this, the UN made it very clear to the Polish Government, that Danzig would be a
fully free city, in addition to giving the eventual German government rights to maintain neutral traffic between what remained of East Prussia, and Germany-proper. While the Poles publicly complained of these conditions, privately the new Scandinavian-style government agreed to all the conditions...they had no desire for a revanchist Germany on their border once more, not when Stalin still held so much Polish territory...and could possibly have dreams of taking the rest of the nation to continue restoring the Russian Empire.
Belgium and the Netherlands were restored at the same time, as both of their governments had escaped more or less intact from the German occupation. The UN was unable to restore all their former territory however. The Belgian Congo was currently a warzone as the Italians held onto the the territory that had been given to them during the Great Betrayal. And the Dutch East Indies had been under Japanese control...though the natives had staged a large-scale revolt while Japan was busy in Siberia, declaring a new nation of Indonesia. It was doubtful that either nation would regain their colonies, something that lead to some serious discontent...though there was little that could be done about it.
The Balkan States were the final nations, and it was here that Sweden encountered difficulties. Yugoslavia would never work...there were too many ethnic issues in the area for a Pan-Slavic state to survive long, especially as it would almost certainly become dominated by the Serbians once more. Because of this, the Yugoslav territories were split into their constituent pieces. Serbia regained independence, roughly along its pre-Great War borders. Montenegro also was restored, the small Kingdom returning to its former holdings. Slovenia was a new nation, sitting astride the border between Italy and Austria.
However, one nation was a true compromise in the vein of Yugoslavia itself.
I made the flag myself. I couldn't get quite the right shades of red/blue, so if the center seems off, that's why.
The Independent State of Croatia, a German puppet with an Italian monarch, would never have survived long. However, the idea of a Greater Croatia had some serious traction in the UN, with the knowledge that splitting Yugoslavia too far would leave a spread of weak nations that could never stand up to Soviet-controlled Hungary/Romania. While there were good arguments for an independent Bosnia, the problems with that were simple...Montenegro and Slovenia were already weak nations. The Serbs could only do so much...and splitting the State of Croatia into a majority-Croat state and a majority-Bosnian state would leave them both unable to properly defend themselves. The problem came from the fact that Greater Croatia, or the Independent State, would cause ethnic tensions with the Bosnians, who would have valid reasons for seeing themselves as second-class citizens in such a nation.
Armed with this knowledge, a compromise was decided upon. With Slovenia independent, the rest of the Independent State of Croatia would be reformed into the Kingdom of Bosnia-Croatia. Both Bosnians and Croats would be equally represented (at least in theory) in this new nation, giving the combined states the economy and manpower to provide (with the Serbs) a strong front in the Balkans, and protect the weaker states (Slovenia and Montenegro).
There was an inbuilt plebiscite system to poll the Bosnians and Croats after a decade of joint rule on if they wanted to split into separate nations, but for now, the Kingdom would be a bulwark against aggression in the Balkans.
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I thought long and hard on what to do with Bosnia. While I realize this experimental Kingdom is likely as not to fall apart when it hits that decade mark, right now I need a stronger front in the Balkans if the Soviets decide to go hostile. And splitting Bosnia and Croatia would just leave the two of them too weak to provide much (even united its only something like 12 brigades upon release, and I have no idea what they may, or may not, be building).
I also realize that the modern Bosnia and Herzegovina Coat of Arms is wrong for the time period. I just like it
