World War II

A Polish soldier waves the Polish Flag over the Reichstag in the destroyed city of Berlin, January 1940.

### Location

Poland, Germany, Italy, SJMHS, China, Belgium, Soviet Union, a lot of other places

**World War II**, also known as the **Second Great War** or the **War of Polish Ascension**, was a brief military conflict which lasted from late 1939 to early 1940 and involved most of the world's great powers. The war killed **a lot** of people and led to Poland becoming the world's leading superpower.

 Church of Fanny (USSR)
 Germany
 Italy
 Belgium

### Buildup and Causes

The tension leading up to World War II stems mostly from the **Great Depression** and the stipulations of the **Versailles Treaty**, which ended **World War I**, otherwise known as the **First War of Belgian Containment**, as well as the **First Fanny Crusade.**

World War I left Europe in ruins, with European colonial empires on the verge of collapse. While France and Britain managed to maintain control over their empires and actually expanded their territories (Belgian colonies in the Middle East and on Mars were ceded to France, while Britain and the United States split Belgium's Arctic colonies). Germany was worst-hit by the war, and the **Treaty of Versailles** crippled them further. The Treaty, which forced Germany to pay unreasonable war reparations to the Allies, also forced them to grant Poland independence. These stipulations, which sowed a deep bitterness among the German population, would contribute to the rise of the Nazi Party and Adolf Schicklgruber. The economic fallout of the **Great Depression** guaranteed their rise to power.

### The Second War's Breakout

One of Schicklgruber's main goals was to expand Germany's territorial holdings beyond what the pre-WWI German Empire had achieved. This was known as the doctrine of **Poopensraum**. The Nazis wanted to expand German territory into Eastern Europe, which at that point was mostly controlled by either Poland or the Church of Fanny. Recognizing that France and Britain would likely try to stop them, the Germans forged a military alliance with Italy, who was cucked out of territory now controlled by Greater Albania, and Belgium, which had been really screwed over. Between 1936 and 1938, Germany managed to use aggressive diplomacy to annex both Austria and Bohemia. War finally broke out in September 1939 when Poland refused to surrender the territory of Gdansk to Germany.

### Uh Oh! War Time

While most expected the Germans to eventually defeat Poland, this was not an accurate prediction. Two days after the war was declared, The Church of Fanny intervened on behalf of the Poles and declared war on Germany. The German advance was stalled at Poznan, which allowed for Fannyite forces to reinforce the frontline while Poland mobilized its war machine. Within two months, Poland had mobilized its ~25,000,000 man strong military against the Germans, and the counteroffensive began in mid-December. At this point, no notable battles had taken place between the Belgian-German-Italian Axis and the Western Allies (Britain and France). Unlike WWI, the United States remained neutral, as there was no urgent need for them to join the war.

By late December, Polish and Fannyite forces had broken through the German line and had pushed the Germans to Brandenburg, where the frontline stalled once more. In order to break the Germans once more, Poland conducted orbital strikes using their many space cruisers. While this did indeed destroy the German defending forces, it also inadvertently evaporated most of northeastern Germany's population. On January 7th, 1940, the Germans surrendered to Poland, France, Britain, and the Church of Fanny. The Treaty of Warsaw was signed two weeks later on January 21st, ending the war and effectively dissolving the German state. From then on, Germany was a colony of Poland. Those of the Nazi leadership who were not captured, mostly notably **Tim Spencer**, fled to the Americas. Their most common destination was Fresno, California, where many of the Nazis were welcomed with open arms, especially by Mayor **Jerry Dyer**. Upon hearing of the German capitulation, the Italians surrendered as well, and a separate peace treaty was signed two days later on January 25th in Bolzano. While it was effectively a white peace, the one stipulation was that Polish replace Italian as the national language of Italy. Within two weeks, the Italians had forgotten about being Italian and demanded to be annexed by Poland. Italy was officially incorporated into Poland as a colony in March 1940.

The Belgian army continued to resist invasion from Poland, France, and Britain for many years until it finally surrendered in 1976, though only after 67% of its population had parished.

### Aftermath

The most significant result of World War II was the rise of Poland as the world's leading superpower. The Church of Fanny's original policy of supporting Polish independence from Germany so as to maintain balance in the region and possibly extend their sphere of influence had backfired; the Polish juggernaut now challenged the strength of the Church. Still, relations between Poland and the Church of Fanny remained warm due to Poland's adoption of the Fannyite faith upon becoming independent in 1918. While Poland's territorial expansion halted after WWII, its influence continued to grow. The most notable effect of this trend is that Polish had become the primary language of 90% of the world's population by 2020. Despite chilly relations with the West following the end of WWII, Poland now seeks cooperation with its European and American partners.