London Accords of 1939

**The London Accords of 1939** were a foundational peace agreement signed between the Great Allied Powers and the Axis Alliance which ushered in an era of perpetual peace for over 40 years. The Agreement stressed cooperation on trade, economic development, progress in the sciences, arts, and exploration in exchange for Germany and the other Axis powers being granted the ability to expand their territories on the condition of de-militarization.

Following the ratification of the treaty, the world entered into a long 6 Years War against the Soviet Union and China in which millions of people died or became refugees. The War left a lasting impact which embittered many of the now conquered peoples, destabilization and terror attacks were common-place in the East.

## Background

### The Great War

Following the Great War in 1914-1918, the World swore to itself never to have a large global conflict ever again. Measures were put into place to stop the aggressors from achieving imperial intent with the Treaty of Versailles and dramatic leadership changes in many of the nations that fought in the war underwent. One such change was the full empowerment of the post-war organization known as the League of Nations. With the United States emphatically joining the League instead of retreating into isolation, the organization was empowered with the full support of the victors from the Great War.

### Interim Period and the Signing of the London Accords

The League faced many issues in its startup, for one was the rise of Communism in the Soviet Union. Workers rose up against the nobility and business owners to seize the means of production and create a worker’s utopia. Out of fear of the expansion of Communism, the League focused most of its efforts in the 1920s on squashing Communist and Socialistic ideas in many Imperial possessions of Britain and France.

This large-scale military spending leads to a financial panic in the late 20s where many creditors were forced to demand that debts from the Great War be paid back in full. This placed a large financial burden in countries such as Italy, which had through its imperial expansion became dependent on foreign credit and Germany which was paying war reparations to the allies. As the Financial Panic took root many nations noted that their economies were beginning to shrink and economic depression was upon the horizon. During this time Germany and Italy’s governments changed to support new movements known as National Socialism and Fascism. Many across the world blamed the Soviet Union and many other isolated states for blocking the world’s economic capacity. As such Germany proclaimed itself the German Reich and Italy the Italian Empire.

These two forces proposed a new plan known as the Maaschrit plan which would allow for the conquest of all eastern Europe granted the Western-powers would not interfere. The two pitched their idea to the United States which was undergoing turbulent financial chaos due to overproduction in the automobile and poor harvests because of environmental conditions. If the US agreed to finance their conquest they would give them access to many new resources at a discounted price and new markets to sell their products. Upon the end of the negotiations, the US had agreed to finance the plan and would work on their behalf to halt any response made by France or Britain. After the result of a year of tense negotiation, the final result was made in the now infamous London Accords

### Post-London Accords World

The Treaty granted Germany and Italy the ability to expand east if they agreed to halt imperial ambitions on the western line, the two nations agreed. As a result in 1932, Germany absorbed Denmark, Poland, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary over the course of several months; whereas Italy conquered Yugoslavia, Greece, and Bulgaria. Over several years, together the two defeated the USSR after a skillful maneuver on Germany’s part in creating the largest amphibious invasion in which they invaded through Finland while Pushing through Ukraine causing a breakthrough in the Soviet defenses.

While the German alliance battled the Soviets, while Japan, in Asia, was conquering China in which it left only a small puppet state in its wake. Japan made itself a large empire in the Pacific by negotiating with several Western powers to back away from their colonial possessions giving Japan unprecedented power.

In the aftermath of the 6 years war, there was a massive refugee crisis as many inhabitants of now conquered territory would have to assimilate to their new ruler’s customs. Many Slavic, Jews, Chinese, and other oppressed persons journeyed to nations like the US, Britain, and France to escape tyranny. The world soon settled into a new normal based upon an explosion of art and scientific discovery following the 1939 World Fair in New York.

Following the 6 Years War, the 1939 World Fair in New York proved to be the testing ground for whether peace would last in a world where the Treaty of London had been fulfilled. Scientists and Artists from all corners of the globe journeyed to New York to celebrate the post-war prosperity. One exhibit played a vital role in the creation of Artemis and that is the “Futurama” exhibit by Norman Bel Geddes, an advocate of the architectural design style of streamline moderne. Geddes’s design impacted many architectural designers in the coming decade but none more than William Shmidt, the lead thinker behind the idea of Artemis, who was still but a child. Shmidt began to construct his own similar streamlined designs.

Over the course of 30 years, a renaissance in art and scientific discovery would come about with massive researching initiatives to explore the skies. In 1945 The first satellite would be launched into space, two years later a satellite would take pictures of the sun, the moon, Venus, and Mercury. In 1950 The first man would journey into space and four years later humanity would have its first mission to the moon. Other scientific discoveries came about in the medical field where vaccines would be made to give people immunity to infectious diseases. In the art community, beautiful landscapes were painted representing optimism in man’s progress against nature. Several best selling novels came out of the era focusing around man’s exploration of space and what might be out beyond the stars. Fashion in particular modernized with each decade that passed. As the 60s came about music took a front seat as scientists began experimenting with satellite Transferring sound. Never before had music became so accessible no matter where a person was located.

## London Accord Provisions

The London Accords were divided between commitments made by the Great Allied Powers and the Axis Alliance. The Great Allied Powers led by the United Kingdom, the United States, and France would agree to not interfere in the Axis territorial expansion campaigns easterly so-long as they opened up markets to Western powers. The Axis Alliance agreed to share new resources with the Allied powers in exchange for investment into Education, Infrastructure, and other necessary improvements for the nations. All previous debts required by the Treaty of Versailles would be forgiven and the Axis and Allied nations agreed to integrate closer with one another to pursue peace in Europe and abroad.