World War II

**World War II**, also referred to as *The Great Patriotic War*, was a global conflict lasting from 1937 until 1946. World War II was seen as the first major clash between socialist and capitalist/fascist/colonial economic powers, as nations around the world aligned themselves with the Allies (socialist) or Axis (capitalist) powers. Both aircraft and ground warfare played integral roles, and conflict occurred all across Europe and East Asia, including some attacks on the coast of California. The war ended with the nuclear bombings of 7 cities in Danube, the USSR, and Japan, enacted by Germany and the UNASCR respectively.

World War II was by far the deadliest conflict in human history, resulting in more than 90 million deaths, mostly civilians. Tens of millions died due to genocides, including the Holocaust, taking place primarily in Germany, Italy, and Nazi-occupied areas across Central and Eastern Europe. After 9 years, the war ended in a cease-fire following nuclear detonations of several cities across Europe and Japan, resulting in the German Reich losing Prussia, in addition to the continued rise of fascism in the United Kingdom and France.

World War II is often divided into two fronts: the European Front, and the Pacific Front, occurring in East Asia. The causes of World War II are attributed to the Japanese invasion of China on the Pacific Front, followed by the extreme militarization of Nazi Germany and the invasion of Danube and the USSR less than a year later. World War II was considered to have first begun with the Japanese invasion of China, which started on July 7th, 1937, with clashes between Chinese and Japanese soldiers in Beijing eventually leading to a full-scale invasion by Japan. The war escalated with a pact signed between Japan, Germany, and Italy, creating the Axis Powers. The United Kingdom, France, and Spain would join the Axis later, with millions of troops taking part in large-scale invasions. In exchange for the annexations of Luxembourg, eastern territories of Belgium, and southern territories of Denmark into the German Reich, along with major funding and financial support, Axis forces lined up along the borders of Danube and the USSR began a full-scale invasion on July 1st, 1938.

From 1939 to 1942, German forces controlled much of Eastern Europe all the way to Russia, while Italian forces controlled much of the Balkan area. Meanwhile, Japan dominated China and many Pacific islands, as both sides of the Axis secured major victories. However, the Allies would receive major help with the founding of the UNASCR in 1941, with the newly founded nation joining the war the same year, providing troops and aid, mostly on the European front. By 1943, the Allies secured major victories and began succeeding against Axis advances in Eastern Europe, creating a major turning point in the war at the Battle of Moscow. Additionally, after multiple bombings of cities in California, including the Bombing of San Francisco in 1943, which killed tens of thousands and destroyed the city, the UNA began air campaigns against Japanese-occupied islands in the Pacific, deploying island hopping techniques that sent back Japanese troops and assured complete air dominance in the war.

By 1945, the UNA made public the creation of the first atomic bomb, having dropped powerful weapons of mass destruction in unoccupied deserts in Arizona. The UNA could have used it, but was unsure whether or not Britain had already developed nuclear weapons and could retaliate, resulting in a nuclear winter. Additionally, the UNA was confident that it could win decisively through land battles, as Axis forces were beginning to show major weakness. In 1946, Britain implemented dozens of nuclear bombs tested in Central Australia, sparking fears of nuclear war if warfare were to continue. Germany, in occupied regions of Africa, also tested many atomic bombs, exchanging nuclear information with Britain.

Major allied victories continued in 1945, as Axis forces were pushed out of occupied Eastern Europe and back near Germany and Italy, just outside of the main borders the war started. The UK and France continued supplying heavy support, causing a stalemate and no major advances by each side, though the UK and France were severely weakened due to having to spread out soldiers in their colonies to maintain their colonial rule. Likewise, on the Pacific Front, Japanese forces were beginning to be pushed out of Manchuria, showing severe weakness both in air dominance and ground rule. However, despite the Allies' confidence, the war was forced into an abrupt cease-fire as nuclear tensions escalated, and neither side knew whether the other would use their powerful atomic weapons. In 1946, Germany was set back by the death of their leader, Adolf Hitler, caused by physical health complications, leading to massive disorganization, chaos, and further invasion of Prussia. Joseph Goebbels, the successor of Hitler, was furious about the occupation of Prussia and the potential further invasion of mainland Germany, using nuclear bombs as a deterrent. In what was known as the "Night of White Fire", five atomic bombs were dropped over the cities of Prague, Vienna, Bratislava, Warsaw, and Brno, resulting in the deaths of more than 300 thousand, either due to direct impact or radiation poisoning. The next week, the UNA responded with bombs being dropped near two cities in Japan, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, resulting in the deaths of more than 20 thousand, an act the UNA still regrets to this day. These events caused major cities all across Europe, Japan, and even the UNA to be evacuated. These actions also sparked massive flyovers and shoot-downs of any enemy planes in the area to prevent more atomic bombings of the region. Though Germany had the intention of dropping more nukes to avenge its lost territories, all of its planes carrying atomic bombs were shot down by Allied jets, and no major cities were impacted. Britain, Germany, and the UNA eventually worked out peace, promising a cease-fire to the war after several months of high nuclear tensions, and an eventual peaceful resolution.

The war came to an end with the signing of peace treaties in November of 1946, with Prussia gaining independence as an allied-occupied socialist state, Germany and Italy annexing parts of occupied western Danube, Albania being annexed by Italy, Japan's occupied territories in Manchuria being limited to Korea, and mutual agreements towards peace and promises made not to use nuclear forces. In addition, the Axis Powers, in the aftermath of the war, would later create a military alliance, NATO, while the socialist powers would soon respond with their own military alliance, the Budapest Pact.

World War II changed the global political alignment and social structure and set the foundation for the international order of the world's nations during the Cold War and into the present day. Although no major world wars between all capitalist and socialist powers would occur, major proxy wars were fought in places such as India, Africa, Southeast Asia, Korea, South America, and Albania, as tensions between both sides remained heated until the early 2000s. The aftermath of the war also foresaw the creation of Yugoslavia, the Albanian Revolution, the communist victory in the Chinese Civil War, and a massive power shift in the upcoming decades, massively favoring the socialist powers. The Cold War also saw further development and testing of advanced nuclear weapons by all major powers, which were all much powerful than the ones deployed in the war.

## Alignments

### Axis Powers:

#### Participants -

Greater German Reich, Kingdom of Italy, Imperial Japan, United Kingdom, France, Spain, Norway, Sweden, Romania, Bulgaria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark

#### Supported by -

Several African / Latin American countries

### Allied Powers:

#### Participants -

Soviet Union, Union of North American SCRs, SFR Danube, Republic of China, Serbia, Montenegro, Greece