AXIS vs ALLIES Country 'Situation'

U.K. Situation

Background:

Britain, along with most of its dominions, Crown colonies, and British India, declared war on Nazi Germany in 1939.

Although Britain had increased military spending and funding prior to 1939 in response to the increasing strength of Nazi Germany, its forces were still weak by comparison – especially the British Army. Only the Royal Navy – at the time the largest in the world – was of a greater strength than its German counterpart. The British Army only had nine divisions available for war, whereas Germany had 78 and France 86.

Other Countries 'guarenteed' (giving a casus belli/ reason to declare war):

Poland- Will go to war with Whomever.

Poland- Will go to war with Whomever. .

Greece- Will NOT go to war with Italy (just Germany/Hungary).

Romania- Will NOT go to war with Italy (just Germany/Hungary).

The need for Canada. Canada entered WW2 immediately after the German DOW on Poland. Within 2 months the first contingents of Canadian troops arrived in the United Kingdom.

At Start Forces:

By the war's end, over 1.6 million citizens would serve in military uniform (out of a prewar population of 11 million) and Canada would possess the fourth-largest air force and fifth-largest naval surface fleet in the world

Canadian troops at the start of ww2 were non-Permanent Active Militia (Canada's reserve force), mostly armed with weapons from 1918. At the outbreak of war, Canada's commitment to the war in Europe was limited by government to 1 division (1/3rd of 1 corps), and one division in reserve for home defense.

In CoW America will need to attack Canada and QUICKLY take Canada over and let the U.K. take important territories, and / or outright give the provinces to the U.K.

Canadian Production:

Canada's automotive industry ranked fourth in the world in the output of passenger car and trucks, even though a large part of its productive capacity remained idle because of the Depression. You could (& should) use EXTRA gold to immediately fix your Canadian industries to the proper fully functional industries.

At-Start Battleships in 1939:

Several early 1905-1911 ‘battleships’ of only 18 – 23K long tons were mainly scrapped for metal in the 1920s- 1 sold to Chile. The sole remaining HMS Centurian is at best probably a cruiser in CoW- (destroyed as a blockship in 1944).

Name Guns Year Operational Battles Duty Area

1*HMS Queen Elizabeth 8 × 15 in 1915 Norway, Med. *Being reconstructed/Available 1941

2 HMS Warspite 8 × 15 in 1915 Mers-elKebir, Med.

3 HMS Barham 8 × 15 in 1916 Mers-elKebir, Med.

4 HMS Malaya 8 × 15 in 1916 Med.

5 HMS Revenge 8 × 15 in 1916 Channel fleet, Home

6 HMS Royal Sovereign 8 × 15 in 1916 Med. Fleet (Malta)

7 HMS Royal Oak 8 × 15 in 1916 Atlantic, Home & Malta. EXTRA gold

8 HMS Resolution 8 × 15 in 1916 Home Fleet, Gibralter. EXTRA gold

--HMS Ramillies 8 × 15 in 1917 In 1939 Ramillies sailed for the East, with a stint in the Indian Ocean, Jan. 1940- Feb escorted 13,000 New Zealand troops from Wellington to Suez. April to May 1940 escorted Australian soldiers from Melbourne to Suez.

9 HMS Hood 8 x 15 in 1920 Mers-el-kibir, Iceland area. Sunk by Bismarck at Denmark Straight. 47K ton Bcr.EXTRA gold

10HMS Rodney 9 × 16 in 1927 Atlantic / Home fleet. EXTRA gold

11HMS Nelson 9 × 16 in 1930 Scottish coast. EXTRA gold

--HMS Prince of Wales Pacific

Not Yet Built

HMS King George V 10 × 14 in 1 October 1940

HMS Duke of York 10 × 14 in 4 November 1941

HMS Anson 10 × 14 in 22 June 1942

HMS Howe 10 x 14 in 29 August 1942

Reinforcements from India.

So hey, as you can see the Brits should have 11 BBs at the start. They have 6. The need not only to build their naval yards to level 3 (EXTRA gold), but gold produce 4 battleships. The Queen Elizabeth (for the Queen Elizabeth America has 5BBs, 1 extra; The U.S. needs to have it in the U.K. and give it to the U.K. player day 4).

IF they don't have these ships, the 2 German BBs bolstered by subs and the 4 Italian BBs will cook their goose!

The American Situation:

Pre-War Background:

- There was nomilitary draft in 1939.

- Publicopinion was against getting involved.

- The U.S. in 1939 had not yet emerged from the Great Depression. People were still suffering. It seemed absurd to embrace the burdens of yet another war.

- The U.S. were isolationists and were against overseawars that did not serve U.S.interests.

- Most of themoney and time were spent on domestic economy and fighting the Great Depressionrather than raising a permanent fighting force capable of being prepared forwar.

- It wasn'tuntil Pearl Harbor that the U.S.was finally prepared for war.

- Americanpre-War army was smaller than that of Romania.

- MostAmericans in the 1930s who remembered it (most adults remembering 116,000deaths) looked at U.S.entry into WWI as a major mistake.

-Isolationists were elected in a wave in 1920. They would dominate Congress, asan isolationist mood would dominate the country, for the next twenty years.

- Isolationist senators like Arthur Vandenberg, Bob Taft, and William Borah were very powerful and very vocal.

- Between 1923and 1941, the only Army forces stationed on foreign soil were the garrison ofabout 1,000 maintained at Tientsin, China; so inother words, no troops were abroad.

U.S. Military in the 1930s:

- In 1932 the 24 Regular Army regiments available in the U.S. for field service, 3/4ths of them hosting only a battalion or smaller unit. Battalions are only 300-800soldiers.

Do NOT produce more than the At-Start Corps before turn 6.

- August 1940,the National Guard was ordered to federal service for 12 months in anticipation of U.S, entry into WW2. 400,000+ National Guardsmen were called up to fill units,immediately doubling the size of the Army.

Historic At Start Corps:

I

I Armored Corps

II

III

IV

V West Coast & Pacific

VI

VII

VIII

IX

X Active 1942-45. Pacific.

Notes:

- You can see there are only 7 corps on the Atlantic side 3 of these corps are on the Pacific side. The CoW units are CORPS; American corps are @ 10,000 - 18,000 soldiers. There should only be 7 infantry & 1 armored unit in the U.S.A. plus support Artillery, AT-Guns & AAA.

Air Force:

Army AirCorps, 1 March 1935: 9 groups/ 5 'groups' East U.S.A.

U.S. Atlantic Navy: 4 old mothballed (stuck in port) BBs.

BATTLESHIP DIVISION 5

NEW YORK

ARKANSAS

TEXAS

WYOMING In

CoW America is given 5 battleships at start, so 1 of them (the Queen Elizabeth) needs to be given to the U.K. turn 5.

CRUISER DIVISION 7

WICHITA

QUINCY

SAN FRANCISCO

TUSCALOOSA

VINCENNES

39Destroyers- groups of (5??) DDs.

Early War- 1940 Preparations:

-Authorizingthe doubling of the size of the U.S. Navy (beginning of turn 4, Spring 1940).

-Trading old U.S. Navy destroyers to Englandin return for leases on military bases on English possessions in the Caribbean. U.K. gives Newfoundland &Nassau asap.

-Pushing the Lend-Lease Act through Congress, which authorized the U.S. to sell, trade, lease, or just plain give military hardware to any country he thought would use it to further the security of the United States (Turn 6).

-Naval 'attack on sight German U-boats' off the East Coast )Turn 7).

Lend Lease:

In December,1940 President Roosevelt proclaimed the U.S.would be the "Arsenal of Democracy" and proposed selling munitions to Britain and Canada.Isolationists were strongly opposed, warning it would lead to American involvement in what was seen by most Americans as an essentially European conflict. In time, however, opinion shifted as increasing numbers of Americans began to see the advantage of funding the British war against Germany, whilestaying out of the hostilities themselves. Propaganda showing the devastation of British cities during the Blitz, as well as popular depictions of Germans as savage also rallied public opinion to the side of the Allies, especially after the Fall of France.

The sharedtechnology included the cavity magnetron which the Americanhistorian James Phinney Baxter III later called "the most valuable cargoever brought to our shores" the design for theVT fuse, details ofFrank Whittle'sjet engineand theFrisch-Peierls memorandum describing the feasibility of an atomic bomb. Though these may beconsidered the most significant, many other items were also transported,including designs for rockets, superchargers, gyroscopic gun sights, submarine detectiondevices, self-sealing fuel tanks andplastic explosives.

1941 Troop/ Army Expansion:

During this same period, the U.S.government began to mobilize for total war, instituting the first-ever peace time draft.

EXTRA GOLD purchase options:

American WW2 excellence:

Red Ball Express.

The RedBall Express was a famed truck convoy systemthat supplied Allied forces movingquickly through Europe after breaking out from the D-Day beachesin Normandy in 1944. In order to expedite cargo to thefront, trucks emblazoned with red balls followed a similarly marked route thathad been closed to civilian traffic. These trucks were also given priority on regular roads.

So maybe EXTRA GOLD used to repair ALL damage on 1 particular front's Armor/ Mot./ Mech. inf speed.

'At its peak,the Express operated 5,958 vehicles, and carried about 12,500 tons of suppliesa day.' Thissimply equals extra vehicle speed (gas).

American Mass Production.

'The Americanswere leaders in mass-producing large durable goods at low cost - cars,especially. This translated to mass-producing medium cruiser tanks (the M4 Sherman)almost as quick as they could roll a Buick off the assembly line. What's more,these were brand new machines, they had not spent months and months sloggingthrough the desert and one pitched battle after the next, and the Americansbrought plenty of spare parts for them.'

'They were designed to be easily repairable and incredibly reliable, and they could move a lot quicker than the German armor. In a stand-up fair fight, the Sherman loses every time.

So EXTRA GOLD purchased level 5 factories at Detroit & ??? 'During World War II, the Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant built a quarter of the 89,568 tanks..."

' By thetimes Japanese bombs fell on Pearl Harbor,American arms production had equaled that of NAZI Germany--and that was justthe beginning of an American industrial tidal wave which would overwhelm theAxis.'

Excellent Supply:

'In February1942 we prescribed the first American ration. It was not, however, until mid-or late summer that practically all American troops were being fed the standard American ration. Since that date all American troops have been so fed, exceptin a few isolated instances where small detachments or individuals are awayfrom United States Army centers.' You know, good meals with Spam, Beans& of course, cigarettes. 'Our ration in the European Theater of Operationsis excellent.'

So maybe EXTRA GOLD to repair 1 set of damaged infantry units per 'rest' period- talk to the game admin.

Ghost Army.

'The Ghost Army was a U.S. tactical deception unit- the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops.The 1,100-man unit impersonated other U.S. Armyunits to deceive the enemy. They put on a "traveling road show"utilizing inflatable tanks, sound trucks, fake radio transmissions and pretense. They staged more than 20 battlefield deceptions very close tothe front lines.

So maybe 1 EXTRA GOLD purchased corps at the front? 1 inf. corps that you force march retreatbefore combat- as a 'fake unit.' Message your opponent if he's actually going to come into contact with it (retreat it when you're off-line!)

Soviet Situation.

Background:

The Soviet Union signed a non-aggression pact with Nazi Germany, theMolotov–Ribbentrop Pact, on 23 August 1939. In addition to stipulations of non-aggression, the treaty included a secret protocol that divided territories of Romania, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Finland into German and Soviet "spheres of influence", anticipating potential "territorial and political rearrangements" of these countries.

Germany invaded Poland on 1 September 1939, you, as the new Stalin will order your own invasion of Poland. Russia wll probably attack Finland and engage in the Winter War. The Soviets will annex the countries of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and probably parts of Romania(Chisenau).

The bulk of your fighting will take place on the Eastern Front—including a continued war with Finland. To the Soviets, ww2 will be an up front and personal war of monumental savagery.

It has been suggested that Stalin had made aggressive preparations beginning in the late 1930s and was preparing to invade Germany in the summer 1941. He believes that Hitler forestalled Stalin and the German invasion was in essence a pre-emptive strike, precisely as Hitler claimed. This theory was supported by many. General Fedor von Boch's diary says that the Abwehr fully expected a Soviet attack against German forces in Poland no later than 1942.

Historically the Russians appeared blind to the Nazi leader’s true intentions. In the months before the German advance, they brushed off dozens of reports from Soviet spies warning that an invasion was imminent. They also accepted Hitler’s cover story that the sudden presence of German troops on the Soviet border was merely a move to keep them out of range of British bomb strikes, and even ordered his troops to not fire on German spy planes despite numerous “accidental” invasions of Soviet airspace. Stalin’s had a puzzling trust of the Third Reich...

Missing Units:

Baltic Fleet

1 BB

2 cruisers (total)

Black Sea Fleet

1 BB & a total of 5 cruisers (total)

'Siberian' Troop Transfer:

Large numbers of veteran and well equipped Siberian divisions were deployed protecting the USSR’s eastern borders against a possible attack by Japan on 22nd June 1941. They were then apparently transferred west from October to November 1941.

These divisions were released from October to November 1941, after Stalin had learned from his spy network in Japan, run by Richard Sorge, that the Japanese had no intention of attacking the USSR. Apparently by November 1941 these same Siberian divisions were being encountered all along the front protecting Moscow.

These are EXTRA units, not available in the game. They would have to be purchased with EXTRA GOLD- to buy the necessary extra manpower.

EXTRA corps Create early turn 6 (finished early turn 7- Plan ahead for this, otherwise they'll be late to the front or cost you TONS of EXTRA gold to fast build them). These are artificially created units- when you're usually out of manpower.

This included 18 rifle divisions, one mountain rifle division, three tank divisions, three mechanized divisions and three mountain cavalry divisions. The transfers occurred mainly in June (11 divisions) and October (nine divisions).

Cow 'Siberian' corps produced:

3 Infantry corps

1 Medium armor

1 Motorized corps

1 Commando

EXTRA corps Create turn 7

CoW 'Siberian' corps produced:

3 Infantry corps

Other EXTRA gold produced troops-

Partisans:

In 1941 there were 90,000 active partisans in the conquered areas of Russia. Now many of these are represented by the lowered CoW morale, which lengthens construction & repair time, and out-right increases the chance for a open rebellion. They were also in the Ukraine, Russia, the Baltic States, Yugoslaviam etc.

But some wold be out-right 'corps' sized partisan units. Until futher research dictates the allowable Soviet partisan builds are:

3 on the 1st turn of German invasion- (probably 1941).

4 on the 2nd turn (probably early 1942).

5 on the 3rd turn,

Etc.

How Partisans operate in CoW:

When the rare occurrence of an out-right rebellion happens behind German lines,

OR

When the Russian liberates/ takes an initially owned Baltic States, Soviet or Romanian territory, he may IMMEDIATELY and fully build a 'partisan' unit (up to the allowable yearly build limit with EXTRA gold). AND if the pocketbook allows, fully complete the build right then with EXTRA gold.

Partisan Facts:

'By November 1942, Soviet partisan units in Belarus numbered about 47,000 personnel.'

'January 1943, 56,000 partisan personnel,'

'and by the end of 1943 numbers reached about 122,000, with about 30,000 put behind the front line in the course of the liberation.'

PAY ATTENTION to this!

There is an extra, additional option to use EXTRA gold to do the same in Romania (like the historic partisans in Yugoslavia) using the same Partisan 'corps' production amount.

....................................Late 1941 Late 1942 1943 Late 1943 Late 1944 Total

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------Total 648,000

Partisans in Romania:

3 on the 1st turn of German invasion- (probably 1941).

4 on the 2nd turn (probably early 1942).

5 on the 3rd turn,

Etc.

French Situation.

The French Army on the eve of the German attack was commanded by General Maurice Gamelin with its headquarters in Vincennes, on the outskirts of Paris. It consisted of 117 divisions with 94 committed to the North-Eastern front of operations. The North-Eastern Front Command was held by its Commander-in-Chief, General Alphonse Georges..

The French air force was large in size, but most of its planes were out of date. And on the ground the concept of modern tank warfare - the concentrated armored thrusts made by Rommel and Guderian - had yet to be accepted by a French command that was still obsessed with infantry. None the less, the battle figures speak for themselves. Of the 3,000 tanks the Germans deployed, 1,800 were put out of action. Of 3,500 planes they lost 1,600. In a month of fighting they lost 50,000 dead and more than 160,000 wounded. It was a genuine combat.

Unarguably, French commanders made terrible strategic errors. Will you make the same mistakes?

VICHY FRANCE:

France had several regular and irregular army forces during World War II; this was partially due to a major geopolitical change. Following the lost Battle of France in 1940, the country switched from a democratic republican regime fighting with the Allies to an authoritarian regime collaborating with Germany and opposing the Allies in several campaigns. These complex opposing forces were called, in a simplistic manner, Vichy French forces and Free French forces. They fought battles all over the world from 1940 to 1945, and sometimes fighting against each other. These forces were composite, made of rebel factions and colonial troops; France controlled a large colonial empire, only second to the British empire.

VICHY FRANCE (Shortened Reasons

When 12 (2/3rds) of these items happen/ are attained the offer for a Vichy France may be given by the Germans. Vichy is then accepted by the French.

(Short Version)

1. Fear of Collapse

2. Forces pushed back

3. Inadequacy

4. Lacked reserves

5. Low morale

6. Chaos/ Loss of Communication

7. Battle Losses: .

8. Defeatism

9. Fall Rot (Case Red) in progress.

10. Loss of weapons/armor

11. Lacks air support

12. Lacks significant U.K. support

12. U.K. evacuates

13. French leadership openly loses heart

14. Germans swing southwards/ pass the initial defense line

15. Speed of invasion

16. Blitzkrieg Victorious

17. French troops pinned

18. No concentrated counterattack

:

Where:

Lyon, France's second-largest city, would have been a more logical choice butmayorÉdouard Herriotwas too associated with the Third Republic. Marseilles had a reputation as the dangerous "Chicago" of France. Toulouse was too remote and had a left-wing reputation. Vichy was centrally located and had many hotels for ministers to use.

Terms:

1. Germany kept 2 million French soldiersin Germany as prisoners doing forced laboras hostages to ensure

2. French Army Disbands.

3. Army Reduced. Remaining troops:

Vichy French Metropolitan Army

Reduced to 100,000 (to maintain domestic order).

-1 French Infantry Corps remains in France.

-The French forces were to remain under the overall direction of the German armed forces.

-Anti-aircraft force of 10,000 men (keep 1 corps).

-All volunteers. France MAY produce up to 2 new infantry/ motorized infantry.

-Deprived of tanks and other armored vehicles.

-Had (created) 1 cavalry unit.

Vichy French colonial forces

Reduced in accordance with the terms of the Armistice.

In the Mediterranean area alone, Vichy had nearly a 150,000 men under arms. The French may have up to 5 corps AND 5 support Artillery OR AT-Guns, or AAA. In North Africa and Syria.

4. France had to pay the occupation costs of the German troops. This was 20 million Reichmarks per day, paid at the artificial rate of twenty francs to the Mark, 50 times the actual costs of the occupation garrison.

5. Had to pay a heavy tribute in gold, food, and supplies. France gives ½ remaining resources to Germany.

The greater part of the overseas French colonieswere originally under Vichy control.

6. French Navy is taken out of the war.

7. Troops kept in Syria.

French Navy Options:

'The Vichy Government it repeated its earlier pledge not to allow French naval forces to be used offensively against the British.'

'Admiral Jean-François Darlan, Vichy naval commander- Based on prior political and military events, it was expected that the naval, units and personnel would resist an Allied invasion.'

'Early in the morning of the 8th, French planes attacked the fleet and soon afterward shore batteries, aided by the Jean Bart, opened fire.'

'On 19 June 1940 France's Admiral Francois Darlan gave his oath that the French Fleet would not be allowed to fall into German hands and that an armistice would be rejected if the Germans made such a demand.' Darlan asserted that if, subsequently, the Germans should attempt to seize any ship of the fleet, it would be scuttled by the French.

Maginot Line

Fight on for 1 more game 'hour,' then surrenders.

Notes:

Low morale of French Leaders

Churchill asked General Gamelin, Where is the strategic reserve? "There is none" Gamelin replied. Wegand said “Weygand now asserted it would not take long for the French Army to disintegrate.”

Maginot

Swiss border and the Maginot defenses were cut off from the rest of France. Most units surrendered on 25 June, and the Germans claimed to have taken 500,000 prisoners.

Of the 58 major fortifications on the Maginot Line, just 10 were captured by the Wehrmacht in battle.

Vichy Territories:

Toulouse

Montignac

Montpellier

St Etienne

Lyon

ClermontLimogesNice & Grenoble, Marseille and the island of Corsica (Ajaccio) are still Frenchbut occupied by the Italians.

Free French Forces (under General Charles de Gaulle)

Brigadier general Charles de Gaulle commands willing to pursue the fight as Free French Forces.

Free French Forces were created in 1940 as a rebel faction of the French Army, refusing both the armistice (they were called « the fighting French ») and Vichy's authority. Its allegiance was toward General de Gaulle and its HQ was in London; later moving to Algiers. Starting as a limited force made of volunteers from metropolitan France and French colonies but also from other countries (such as Belgium and Spain). It evolved to a full army after its merger with Giraud's Army of Africa, then with new recruits from the French Resistance

At first, de Gualle and the Free French only operate south of the Sahara desert (Madagascar & Italian East Africa).

How the Vichy troops fight:

... in November 1942, the Allies launched operation Torch in the west, an invasion of Vichy-controlled French North Africa. An Anglo-American force landed in French Morocco and Algeria. The long-term goal was to clear German and Italian troops from North Africa, enhance naval control of the Mediterranean, and prepare an invasion of Italy in 1943. The Allies had hoped that Vichy forces would offer only token resistance to the Allies, but instead they fought hard, incurring heavy casualties.

German Situation.

Germany managed to greatly increase her resource base by conquering France and the Low Countries, territories with a population of 60 million, a GDP of nearly 30 billion dollars and steel production of 15 million tons, in aggregate, France, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg they were slightly larger than Britain. Germany also conquered Denmark, Norway, Greece, Yugoslavia and Poland, further increasing her empire. By the time of Barbarossa, Germany’s empire controlled huge resources: It had a population of 250 million and a 1938 GDP of around 100 billion dollars, larger than the United States.' Germany couldn’t simply make the French, Dutch and Polish to fight the war for them with the same degree of commitment, specially considering the retarded Nazi policies over the occupied territories. Thus, Germany’s economic resources during the war mostly consisted of her own resources.

In reality, Germany was not prepared for war in 1939. The German economy of the 1930’s continued to satisfy both civilian and military requirements, even after September of 1939 when production should have shifted to military needs. Hitler believed that he could have it both ways, “Kanonen und Butter” - that is, satisfying the civilian population at home by not placing restrictions on their consumer product consumption, while at the same time satisfying the production needs of Germany's military forces. In fact, Germany was not geared for total war production until 1944. This indicates that German economic and military resource management efforts were not optimally configured for a nation at war previous to that time, and in 1944, the tide had already long since turned.

In terms of human resources, Germany should have increased the hours of a workday to way beyond a regular “9-5” day early in the war. Women were not considered as a serious alternative work force until late in the war either. In 1939, German industries utilized 2.62 million women. In July of 1944, German industries still only utilized 2.67 million women. This average was maintained from 1939 to 1944.

In 1940, Germany was still importing 20% of foodstuffs, 66% of oil and 80% of rubber.^[40] It possessed only two to three months of rubber and three to six months of oil supplies.^[40] Because of the expected naval blockade, the Soviet Union would become the only supplier for many items

Steel

Sources

42% Germany

38% Sweden

20% Conquered Territories

Germany had to import iron ore needed to produce the steel which was the backbone of the country's war industries. The major source was Sweden, a neutral country. Before the War, some 75 percent if Sweden's iron ore exports went to Germany. And after Germany launched the War, the Swedes were terrified of a German invasion. During the winter, the Swedes had to ship their iron ore through Norway, one reason the Germans invaded that country

For example, in 1942, Germany produced 30 million tons of steel - but only 8 million tons of that was directed towards military production efforts (airplanes, guns, munitions, supplies, tanks, etc.).

4th quarter 1939 Steel Usage:

Total military - 8.590.000 tons

Civilian sector - 7.320.000 tons

Export - 1.730.000 tons

Total civilian - 9.050.000 tons

Total steel - 17.640.000 tons

The civilian sector thus consumed 41.5% of the total German steel production. When Speer reorganized the German economy when Fritz Todt died and he replaced him, it is clear to see where the slack came from.

Aluminium

Aluminium was another vital metal needed by the German war industry. And Germany had to import virtually all of the bauxite ore needed to produce aluminum.

Hungary was a NAZI ally and Yugoslavia's invaded and occupied by the Germans (April 1941). Norway was another vital source of aluminum.[Frøland].After failing to defeat Britain and then invading the Soviet Union and declaring war on America, the Germans needed vast quantities of aluminum, much more than the quantity needed to build the relatively small force used to achieve their early victories.

Coal

Cobalt

Cobalt was another strategic metal, used to produce military grade steel. Chromite ore was mined in only a few countries in the world. It was Turkey’s most important export. NAZI Germany was Turkey’s major trading partner during the 1930s. More than half of Turkey’s exports were to Germany before the War.

The Soviet Union provided Germany substantial quantities of cobalt under the terms of the NAZI-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact.

Tungsten

Tungsten called wolfram by the Germans was needed to harden steel needed for machine tools, armor, and artillery. The only European source at the time was Portugal and Spain. Because Germany did not occupy Portugal and Spain, they had to pay for the tungsten. Portugal was the main source.

Copper

Germany had to import some 70 percent of the copper it needed for its war economy. Before the War, Germany got most of its copper from Britain. It was re-exported from South Africa, Canada, Chile, and the Belgian Congo. Brutish-occupied Cyrprus was also a source of copper before the War. After the War began, the Soviet Union began supplying copper to the Germans. After invading and occupying Yugoslavia, the Bor copper mine proved an important source. Sweden was another source.

Oil

Germany was particularly deficient in access to petroleum, a necessity for the modern mechanized war it planned to wage. The Blitzkrieg was mobility. And this required vast quantities of oil. Germany's answer to this was a synthetic petroleum industry, but this did not even meet the country's need in peace time. Germany before and during the War. A major objective of German diplomacy was to bring Romania with its Ploesti oil fields into the Axis. This gave the Germans their only important source of natural resources and after occupying the country, did not have to pay the Romanians for their oil, it was their contribution to the war effort. Another source of oil in the early phase of the War was the Soviet Union. The Soviets which under the terms of the NAZI-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact agreed to provide the Germans large quantities of oil and other important natural resources. These deliveries ended abruptly after Hitler invaded to destroy his former ally and its people in addition to seizing those resources for Germany (June 1941).

Production Factors:

There are two more important issues that come up when discussing the German war economy.

Women in the workforce and butter over guns

1). German women stayed at home taking care of the kids instead of working in the factories

2). The Germans continued to produce lots of civilian goods throughout the war because Hitler did not want to disadvantage the population.

Conclusions:

It was not wastage and bureaucratization but rather the lack of vital resources that affected production. The best way to describe the German war economy is scarcity management. The Germans responded to resource limitations by investing in new technologies (hydrogenation plants etc), in infrastructure and by shifting resources to important projects. They also substituted German workers (that were drafted by the armed forces) with forced and slave labour.

Notes:

- According to the standard account prior to Speer’s appointment as Armaments minister in 1942 there was widespread wastage and under utilization of industry.

- During the war, 37% of Sweden's exports were shipped to Germany.

- September 1939 to the end of 1943, there is a near-perfect correlation between the allocation of steel to ammunition production and the quantity of ammunition produced. When plenty of steel was allocated, ammunition production was buoyant. When the steel supply was restricted, so was the production of ammunition, and this relationship holds both before and after February 1942.

- Production rose because more inputs of raw materials, capital and labor were invested. At the same time workers became better at producing weapon systems whose specifications had been fixed for a long time.

- 1930’s infrastructure helped boost production.

- For example tank production significantly increased thanks to the expansion of existing tank facilities and by building new factories, especially the gigantic Nibelungenwerk in Austria

Italian Situation.

Restrictions:

1. Italian industrial sector was relatively weak compared to other Europeanmajor powers. Italian industry did not equal more than 15% of that of Franceor of Britain in militarily critical areas such as automobileproduction: the number of automobiles in Italy before the war was around 374,000, in comparison to around 2,500,000 in Britain and France.

2. In 1940, Italy produced 4.4 megatonnes(Mt) of coal, 0.01 Mt of crude oil, 1.2 Mt of iron ore and 2.1 Mt of steel. By comparison, Great Britain produced 224.3 Mt of coal, 11.9 Mt of crude oil, 17.7 Mt of iron ore, and 13.0 Mt of steel and Germany produced 364.8 Mt of coal, 8.0 Mt of crude oil, 29.5 Mt of iron ore and 21.5 Mt of steel. Most raw material needs could be fulfilled only through importation, and no effort was made to stockpile key materials before the entry into war.

3. Almost 40% of the 1939 budget was allocated for military spending.

4. Italy's extreme debt position

5. By the end of the war, the Italian economy had been all but destroyed; per capita income in 1944 was at its lowest point since the beginning of the 20th century

6. The Italians, however, were not concentrated in one place. They were divided between the 5th army in the west and the 10th army in the east and thus spread out from theTunisianborder in western Libya to Sidi Barrani in Egypt. At Sidi Barrani, Graziani, unaware of the British lack of numerical strength

Therefore...

Italy needs to give all but the following $ and resources to the world bank (Sweden

$- 500,000

Goods- 270,000

Steel- 67,000

Oil- 100,000

Italian Surrender Conditions:

- Loss of Rome.

OR

1. Following the surrender of the Axis powers in North Africa.

AND

2. Italy loses Sicily.

AND

3. ALLIES are preparing to land on the Italian mainland (ships seen debarking troops onto the mainland).

AFTER the armistice is announced by Allied radio (via a Newspaper post), part of the Italian navy will be scuttled, some of it’s troops will remain loyal to Mussolini, and a few will turn ALLIED.

Yugoslavian (Romanian) Situation.

Background:

Yugoslavia joined Axis on March 24, 1941 - only member of the government who refused to sign the "Pact of Steel" joining the Axis was the Croatian minister, Vladko Macek (HSS - Croatian Peasant Party). After the signing Cvetkovic assured Hitler that Yugoslavia "...would be ready to cooperate with Germany in every way." In fact, Paul had been cooperating since 1939 with Nazi goals.

On March 30 the Yugoslav Foreign Minister made a formal statement to the German envoy that the new government respected the Axis pact and that Simovic was "devoted to the maintenance of good and friendly relations with its neighbors the German Reich and the Kingdom of Italy." Simovic believed that his close personal friendship with several top Nazis, especially Reichmarschall Goring, would save the day.

In our game, without Romania being the 4th AXIS member, we substitute the Yugoslavians for them. They had a Serbian Yugoslav monarchy- Regent Prince Paul who personally sympathized with the Western Allies. He attempted at establishing a friendly stance with Germany and Italy. Yugoslavia was reluctantly pressured into joining the Axis alliance, and it prompted mass demonstrations and an overthrow of the regency.

The Yugoslavians may attack the USSR when Germany does.

YUGOSLAVIA, who is substituted for Romania- 686,258 men under arms in the summer of 1941 and a total of 1,224,691 men in the summer of 1944 that SHOULD be in the scenario:

By April, 1941

Army:

28 inf divisions, 3 cav divisions, and 35 independent regiments. (Each had 1-3 inf regiments and 1-3 arty bns.

About 1,200,000

Royal Yugoslav Army was still largely equipped with weapons and material from WW1

Artillery:

4,000 artillery pieces (800 modern).

6 motorized artillery regiments

812 Czech37mmand 47mmanti-tank guns.

2,300 mortars including 1600 modern 81mm pieces, as well as twenty four 220 and 305mm pieces

Limited Troop Production:

Army Comparisons- by numbers recruited:

Yugoslavia- 700,000 at the front, later 1.25 million

Germany 18 million

Russia 34.5 million

Therefore Yugoslavia may only use it's starting troops, and their Capitol's Industry to produce troops. That is they may only produce troops in ONE place.

Remember that Yugoslavia is substituted for Romania.

PRODUCTION LIMIT:

The Yugoslavians may only produce non-milita units in their Capitol (ONE territory).

PRODUCABLE UNITS:

Infantry

Militia.

Tank Destroyers at level 2. This is when the AXIS destroy Soviet armor- using the captured soviet guns, the Marder Tank Destroyers. The Germans, Yugoslavians & Hungarians may produce 1 TD for every 2 Soviet armor destroyed.

Units available IF Yugoslavia takes over Romania:

The Yugoslavians may produce Infantry, militia, 1 light armor, 1 medium armor, 1 fighter, 1 tac bomber at Bucharest. In Constanta the Yugoslavians may produce Infantry, militia, Artillery, AT-Guns & AAA.

Research:

Militia- any

Infantry (Lvl 1 infantry only

Armor (Lvl 1 armor only).

1 light armor unit. They had only 2 tank battalions equipped with 110 tanks, 1 of which had Renault FTmodels of WW 1 origin and the other 54 modern French Renault R35tanks, plus an independent tank company with 8 Czech SI-Dtank destroyers.

Research Available In 1942:

Infantry lvl 2

light & medium armor lvl 2

Artillery lvl 2 (simply more numbers)

AAA guns lvl 2

In 1944:

AT Lvl 3 (Pak 40s)

Artillery lvl 3 ('some' 150s)

Yugoslavian Research Notes.

Basic 1942 Romanian (Yugoslavian) division's artillery:

- 24 – 52 (75mm M 1897 field guns and 100mm howitzers)- so that's lvl 1 artillery (eventually).

- During the 1930’s, Romania boasted a huge but obsolescent army, firmly tied to the doctrines that had evolved from the first World War, particularly those of her close ally, France. King Carol embarked on modest programs of reform, but the army remained poorly equipped, particularly in terms of motor transport, communications equipment and anti-tank weapons.

- A German training mission was sent in October 1940 (and so would have been to Yugoslavia as well) in an effort to modernize the Romanian Army and met with some success in terms of infantry tactics, but resistance from other branches, particularly the artillery.

- Each infantry regiment had ...a very modest allocation of anti-tank weapons.

- [infantry] Overwhelming reservist, initially under-trained, always under-equipped... limited offensive potential... stubborn on the defense.

- The 1942 infantry division decreased manpower in favor of more artillery and specialist troops as a result of lessons learned in Odessa.

- 1942 AT additions: Pak 97/39 75mm guns.

Commando:

2 organized as "alpine" units. Yugo get's to use 2 Commando corps.

The Yugoslavians/Romanians had 24 battalions, trained to act independently, with good artillery support. SO, you, as the Yugo player could have 4 Commando (Alpine) units, but... you would have to use them VERY responsibly. As JUST in your mountains. Otherwise, like the historical Romanians they would be converted back into regular infantry and 'stink up the joint.'

Air Force 1 anti-aircraft arty. 3 brigades with a total of 14 bomber, eight fighter flights.

Aircraft strength was estimated at 500 with a further 300 reserve and training aircraft. These totals included 30 Italian Savoia-Marchetti bombers, 70 Dornier Do 17Ks and50 Bristol Blenheims.

73 fighters were German Bf 109Es (although only 46 were serviceable when war broke out) and 40 were Hurricanes.

Navy:

1 training cruiser

6 DDs

2 Subs

Starting Resources- Give all but these resources to our World Bank (Sweden

$ = 75,000

Goods = 50,000

Steel = 30,000 (no 'coking' for coal- modernization will take 'assistance')

Oil = 10,000 (ineffective at providing infrastructure)

Rares = 100,000 (minerals: Aluminum, Barium, Bauxite, Beryllium, chromite, clays, copper, etc).

Yugoslavian Economy:

1938 GDPs:

(1) United States: 84.7 billion

(2) Germany: 46.0 billion*

(3) UK: 27.51 billion

(4) USSR: 23.02 billion

(5) France: 16.18 billion

(6) Italy: 8.68 billion

(?) Denmark: 1.9

(?) Yugoslavia: 1.69 billion

(?) Hungary: 1.45 billion

- Yugoslavia ... borrowed large sums of money from the West during the 1920s. When the Great Depression began in 1930, the Western lenders called in their debts, which could not be paid back.

- the mining industry was well developed due to the nation's abundance of mineral resources, but since it was primarily owned and operated by foreigners, most production was exported.

- Yugoslavia on the whole was the third least industrialized nation in Eastern Europe after Bulgaria and Albania.

- The country remained largely undeveloped throughout the interwar years.

- 77% of the population were peasants.

- A few commercial farmers existed, but most were subsistence peasants.

- Illiteracy rates being 51.5%

- ineffective in providing infrastructure.

- Manufacturing was limited to Belgrade and the other major population centers

- High taxes and declining agricultural prices during the depression years of the 1930s

- Before WW II, was one of Europe's economically least developed and poorest countries.

- In 1918, 75 percent of the population depended on subsistence farming (growing just enough for their own needs) for their livelihood.

- By the time World War II came to Yugoslavia, the kingdom was already on the verge of collapse.

- From 1918 to 1941 Yugoslavia's economy was dominated by peasant farmers who worked small landholdings

- Before World War II, Yugoslavia was one of Europe's economically least developed and poorest countries.

- [after the war] entirely dependent on the Soviet Union for manufactured goods.

- very poor economic infrastructure.

- among the most underdeveloped countries in Europe.

Sweden/Hungarian/Slovakia Situation.

Sweden- Background:

Sweden maintained its policy of neutrality during World War II. When the war began on September 1, 1939, the fate of Sweden was unclear. But by a combination of its geopolitical location in the Scandinavian Peninsula, successful realpolitik manoeuvring during an unpredictable course of events, and a dedicated military build-up after 1942, Sweden managed to maintain its official neutrality throughout the war.

At the outbreak of hostilities, Sweden had held a neutral stance international relations for more than a century, since the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815.

During the German invasion of the Soviet Union, Sweden allowed theWehrmacht to use Swedish railways to transport (June–July 1941) the German 163rd Infantry Division along with howitzers, tanks and anti-aircraft weapons and associated ammunition, from Norway to Finland. German soldiers traveling on leave between Norway and Germany were allowed passage through Sweden — the so-called permittenttrafik. Iron ore was sold to Germany throughout the war. And for the Allies, it also allowed the Allies to use Swedish airbases between 1944 and 1945.

Swedish Equipment:

The Bofors 40 mm, a Swedish auto cannon, was exported to most warring countries in thousands of examples, making it the most common anti-aircraft weapon of the war. So, lvl 3 AAA.

Tanks:

Stridsvagn L-60 (215 total)

Strv m/42 (342 total- Nov. 1941)

Both made at Landsverk, 102 at Volvo (Landskrona, Sweden)

Planes: J 22 fighters (1943)

Able to produce & upgradable: Infantry, Militia & AAA. Tanks, fighters & AT-regiments in limited numbers.

Hungary-Background:

During World War II, Hungary was a member of the Axis powers. By 1938, Hungarian politics and foreign policy had become more stridently nationalistic. Hungary benefited territorially from its relationship with the Axis. Settlements were negotiated regarding territorial disputes with the Czechoslovak Republic, the Slovak Republic, and the Kingdom of Romania. In 1940, under pressure from Germany, Hungary joined the Axis. In 1941, Hungarian forces participated in the invasion of Yugoslavia and the invasion of the Soviet Union.

Later, while waging war against the Soviet Union, Hungary engaged in armistice negotiations with the United States and the United Kingdom. Hitler discovered this betrayal and, in March 1944, German forces occupied Hungary. When Soviet forces began threatening Hungary, an armistice was signed between Hungary and the USSR by Regent Miklós Horthy.

Territories Annexed.

In November 1938 after the1st Vienna Award, Hungarian troops occupied the disputed areas of Slovakia and Carpatho-Ukraine. In the occupied region an eight corps was established. After the break-up of Czechoslovakia in March 1939, the whole of Carpatho-Ukraine was occupied and, a little later, following the brief Slovak–Hungarian War, a strip of land in East Slovakia.

Northern Transylvania, which had been promised to Hungary, was occupied in September 1940, after the Second Vienna Award and a ninth corps established there. 20 Nov. 1940, Hungary joined the Tripartite Pact.

Following Telekis' suicide and by the Fuhrer';s invitation, the Hungarian 3rd Army will joined the Balkans Campaign.

Royal Hungarian Army.

In 1938 conscription was re-introduced. In March 1940 (turn 3), 3 field army commands were formed, each of 3 corps, together with the"Rapid Corps".

On 1 July the so-called Carpathian Group consisting of the VIII Corps and the Rapid Corps, crossed the Soviet border and reached the Dniester within a week, meeting little Soviet resistance. In 1940, Hungary created 3 Army Commands,.

Hungary Army

85,332 (1937)

10 corps (1940)

1,000,000 (1944)

Numbers used for comparison

Germany 18 million total.

USSR- 5 million at start + 29.5 million produced.

Factors:

All Dandar or Light divisions. Factors: inexperience.

1940 Corps: * The army (1st, 3rd and 4th Army) artillery consisted in several independent horse-drawn artillery battalions. Half were equipped with old guns and the other half with modern ones: 150 mm Skoda model 1934 and 105 mm Schneider model 1913.

1^st Army

Inf/Moutain Corps

Inf/Moutain Corps

Inf. Corps

* Artillery

2^nd ARMY 209,000 men.

Replacement (inexperienced) Corps (militia OR low lvl???)

1AD

Mountain Replacement ??2x Bdes)

Replacement/Guard/Light Corps

* Artillery

AAA (Mot)

3^rd ARMY Just under 400,000 men. Romania.

For the invasion of Yugoslavia/Romania … 1 ‘Rapid’ Corp (mot. Inf.)

Replacement Corps

1 AD

Reserve Corps

Outside of Hungary

Cav./Replacement Bde.

At Home:

"Life Guard", Crown Guard, and Parliament Guard units.

Research/ Tech:

Infantry lvl 1

Light Tank lvl 1

Toldi 1939-42 20mm gun. 20mm armor. 40 mm gun (Toldi IIa and Toldi III). Number built 202

Medium tank 1 lvl 1 Turan Med. Tank 1940-1944 40mm Škoda A17 Armor: 50mm. Speed- 47 km/h. Number build 424

Infantry Lvl 1

Artillery Lvl 3. 1/2 Divisional artillery was towed 150mm Skoda.

Tank Destroyer Lvl 3 upon assumption of captured Soviet guns (at a 2 for 1 ratio).

This is using the captured soviet guns. The Germans, Yugoslavians & Hungarians may produce 1 TD for every 2 Soviet armor destroyed (total).

Builds:

The Hungarians may build in 2 territories (in Hungary) UNLESS... they take Soviet factories. Afterwards they may build new units there. They will no longer be limited to what they can build IN THESE NEW TERRITORIES- reasoning, assimilation of new Soviet units & therefore Soviet technology.

Slovakia- Background:

For the German invasion of the Soviet Union the Slovaks placed at the disposal of the Germans a light brigade of 3,500 men which was partially motorised and included a battalion of Czech light tanks (= PzKpfw 38(t) ), and an army corps of 2 infantry divisions and divisional troops. The total strength of the Slovak commitment in July 1941 was 42,750 men..

During August 1941 they sent the infantry back to Slovakia and to form 1 Mobile and 1 Security Units.

.

Turkish Situation.

Background

World War II began during the presidency of Ismet Inonu. Both allies and Axis started putting pressure on Ismet Inonu to bring Turkey in war on their sides. Germans sent Franz von Papen to Ankara to talk with the president. Winston Churchill personally came to meet the president inside a train wagon on 30th January 1943. Inonu met both of them again at the Second Cairo Conference on 4-6 December 1943. Turkey did not take anyone’s side. It remained neutral. Turkey tried to keep equal distance between Allies and Axis.

Till 1941 Roosevelt and Churchill thought that the neutrality of Turkish would help Allies in blocking the Axis by stopping them to reach the oil reserves of Middle East. In early times Axis was continuously gaining victory. So this led Roosevelt and Churchill to rethink on the Turkish participation. Churchill wished ans asked Turks to open front in Balkans. But Roosevelt thought that attack by Turks would not be a good idea. If the Turkish fail, then it would be disastrous moment for the Allies. Inonu knew and recalled the incidents of World War I. He knew that his country had lost much in the 11 years of war from 1911 to 1922. So he was firm to keep turkey out of the war. Inonu wanted security in terms of finance and military for turkey. He wanted guarantee fro United States and United Kingdom to be with turkey after the war.

Economy/ Resources:

- At one of his village tours, Inonu (Turkish President) was approached by a mother who angrily criticized him for the terrible state of the economy that forced her to pay five liras for her daughter’s milk. His reply was: ‘But I haven’t left her fatherless …’.

Turkish Army:

During World War II, Turkey mobilized more than a million personnel. The armed forces were poorly equipped. They were mainly a WW1 style army. They had mixed equipment- several types of rifles for example of which they were short of (asked for 150,000 rifles).

In 1938 the Turkish standing army had 20 000 officers and 174 000 men, including these corps:

2 Artillery (heavy arty).

1 Motorized (cavalry). lvl 1

3 Brigades of Mountain troops (probably = to 2 commandos)

Builds:

Infantry in Istanbul

Militia elsewhere

~ Nothing else ~

Research Tech Maximums:

DO NOT RESEARCH ANYTHING FOR TURKEY!

Infantry- lvl 1

Light armor- lvl 1

Artillery- lvl 1

AAA- lvl 1

At-Guns- lvl 1

~ Nothing else ~

They would only hypothetically increase their tech level with MAJOR AXIS or ALLIED help. This is to be determined and open for discussion. Post as a reply to this thread.

Notes on the Turkish equipment:

- It was ill-equipped with primarily World War I era weapons.

- Support troops were generally not issued weapons because there were simply not enough weapons.

- "The Turkish Army is very short of rifles and has asked us to supply 150,000".

Starting Turkish $ and Resources: (Give all other $ & resources to the world bank- Sweden).

$ - 50,000

Food - 300,000

Goods - 100,000

Steel - 25,000

Oil - 25,000

Rares - Keep their Full amount (Chromite).

Economic notes:

- ... [1926] + 36% ...agricultural production returned to pre-war levels. Industry and services grew at more than nine - - [Turkey's]... share of the economy remained quite low at the end of the decade.

- The government stepped in during the early 1930s to promote economic recovery, following a doctrine known as etatism.

- Growth slowed during the worst years of the depression, except between 1935 and 1939 when it reached six percent per year.

- During the 1940s, the economy stagnated, in large part because maintaining armed neutrality during World War II increased the country's military expenditures while almost entirely curtailing foreign trade.

- The Republic of Turkey ... lacked adequate military and economic resources.

Armor purchased from other countries:

In 1935, 60 T-26

5x t-27 tankettes from the USSR (also, two twin-turreted T-26 mod.)

50 French R-35 light infantry tanks

16 16 British Mk VIB light tanks

60 BA-6 armored cars

later WW2 armor deliveries:

1943- 170 Stuarts and 200 Valentines.

Deliveries began in November and continued through 1943.

22 PzKpfw III & 22 PzKpfw IVH

See 'More tanks delivered' in the Joining either side Rule.

Notes:

- These numbers of tanks are NOTHING. The average division holds 2 regiments @ 450 - 800 tanks each in WW2. The CoW game's units are corps, usually having 2 - 3 divisions, so that's 900 - 2400 tanks per armor unit you see out there. The poor Turks only have what, 120 arm. cars/tanks TOTAL? Russia made 70,000 t-34s alone!

- Turkish T-26 tanks were taken out of service in 1942.

Air force strength

In terms of air force, turkey had 131 first line aircraft in 1937. Out of them only half of them were modern, remaining were old. Turks had a target of increasing its aircraft by 300 till 1938. Turkey had 300 trained pilots but they were not able to fly in the bad weather conditions in Western European air force.

Naval strength

Turkish navy was very weak. It had all outdated battle cruiser (CoW cruiser??). 4 destroyers, 2 light cruisers, 2 gunboats, 6 submarines TOTAL.

There were around 800 officers and 4000 men. The navy of turkey did not have any modern appliances for defending coasts and harbors. All the ships of Turkish naval were defenseless against the attacks.

Dealings with Germany:

- Following long negotiations, Hitler achieved what he wanted and a Turco-German neutrality pact was signed on 18 June 1941. Moreover, Turkey also agreed to supply Germany with chromium, a critical raw material used in weaponry manufacture, for three consecutive years.

- The attitude of the Turkish politicians and the public towards the Germans in those days appears to be a mixed one. Some dignitaries like Sukru Saracoglu,Fevzi Cakmakand Numan Menemencioglu3several times explained how Turkey was ‘entirely on Germany’s side’ in this struggle against Bolshevism. They made it clear that they expected a total defeat of the Soviet Union, which was their sincere desire.Some journalists like Yunus Nadi of Cumhuriyetand Falih Rifki Atay of Ulusargued that Turkey had no designs on the territory or rights of any country, but that she would ‘do her duty to the end’ if the need arose.

- The Nazis spent as much as five million gold Reichsmark to fund some of the important figures in societyand their activities ( to tempt the Turkish government to take arms on their side [40 million people of Turkish origin in the Soviet Union awaiting ‘liberation’ and some form of ‘affiliation’ with Turkey])

- Turkey managed to keep Germany out of her borders by adopting a pro-German attitude between 1941 and 1943. Turco-German neutrality pact was signed on 18 June 1941.

- Ismet Inonu, the national chief, who was the most important decision-maker of that time as the president of the republic. He was not in favor of such military ‘adventures’ abroad, mainly due to his generation’s miserable experiences during the First World War.

For joining either side:

-The ALLIES delivered 370 tanks and the AXIS 44 tanks to Turkey. Obviously there was SOME value to this. Therefore a common sense measure is that whatever side delivers the most tanks to Turkey, is the side that will get Turkey to join the war on their side a bit before they should. That is, when the AXIS takes Egypt & Cyprus, and is 'at the gates of Moscow' the Turks would probably join up (44 tanks delivered by then). if not, only when Stalingrad is taken.

Later, the ALLIES trumped that by sending 370 tanks. This yielded Turkey, on August 2 1944, declared war on Germany and Japan. This was only as the final German defeat became evident. Without those tanks, Turkey probably would have waited until 1945- at the '11th hour.'

More tanks = a slightly earlier join up time.

- The diplomats argued that Turkey did not have the adequate resources to fight a major war and reiterated demands for increased weapons supply.

- Once again, the diplomats argued that Turkey did not have the adequate resources to fight a major war and reiterated demands for increased weapons supply. As part of their delaying strategy, they gave Churchill a long list of requested military machinery which could take several years to supply.

- The early military successes of the Axis forces contributed to increased pro-German sentiment, even in some official circles.

- The Normandy invasion, which began on 6 June 1944, implied that the end of the war in the old continent was approaching. As Turkey was approaching closer to the Allies in the second half of 1944.

- It will be observed that while preserving her neutrality, the country generally collaborated more with whichever side appeared stronger throughout the war.

Spanish Situation.

Playing Spain is a mixed bag. You'll help both the AXIS and ALLIED side, playing single units against Russia, and against African Corps forces and potentially Vichy France.You are mainly trying to stay out of the war, and rebuild your war-torn economy. But in the end, you'll join either the AXIS or the ALLIES; that is,whoever that Spain, in it's wisdom things will definitely win the war (there are rules/ conditions for that).

You, as the new Spanish Leader, like Franco did, has established a fascist government in Spain. Aiming to use Germany and Italy as a model Spain endeavors to establish a modern country that would once again be a world power. This led to the fearin United Kingdom and France that Spain would join the Axis alliance.

The U.K. understood that her strategic garrison at Gibraltar would be in danger. The Fuhrer remained on friendly terms with Franco after the Spanish Civil War, and after the conclusion of the Battle of France (historically) will actively court you to join him in his cause.

At first, the German leader, did not encourage Franco's offer, as the German leadership was convinced of eventual victory. Later on, in September, when the Royal Air Forcehad demonstrated its resilience in defeating the Luftwaffein the Battle of Britain,Hitler promised Franco help in return for its active intervention. This had become part of a strategy to forestall Allied intervention in north-west Africa. Hitler promised that "Germany would do everything in its power to help Spain" and would recognize Spanish claims to French territory in Morocco, in exchange for a share of Moroccan raw materials. Franco responded warmly, but without any firm commitment.

Purchasable units.

Infantry and Militia only.

- 'Spain was forced to rely on imports from its "allies" in order to equipped and maintain its armed forces.'

- 'The Spanish army was equipped with German, Italian and leftover Soviet guns, tanks,artillery and planes.

Research and tech level.

Infantry, Militia, AT-Guns, Light Armor, All ships, all restricted to level 1.

Artillery -Lvl 2.

AAA- lvl 3.

For the AXIS.

At the start of the game you need to send 1 Infantry, the Spanish Blue Division to Munich, Germany,to await it's incorporation into the Wehrmacht. Also you need to send 1 fighter group- the Blue Squadron (Escuadrillas Azules).You will play this infantry, and the fighters.

For the ALLIES.

At the start of the game, you will send units to fight for the ALLIES:

de Gualles FFF (Free French Forces) 1 motorized infantry to Eastern Egypt at the center of Sharm el-Sheikh(the '9th Armoured).It was comprised almost entirely battle-hardened Spanish veterans. It was recruited in Chad, in 1941 and activates Turn 7. Historically it became the first Allied military unit to enter Paris upon its liberation in August, 1944 where several thousand more joined the Free French Forces and fought against the Axis Powers. The Free French Forces (FFF) 9th armoured column fought in General Leclerc's Second French Division, many of them from the former Durruti Column. Its 9th company, was nicknamed La Nueve because it was mainly formed with veterans from the Republican side of the Spanish Civil War.

If your 9th Column ever goes to France, it will meet up with (recruit) a large number of Spanish Maquis (recruit 2 militia) fighting along side French resistance fighters. They would probably have to be fast built with EXTRA GOLD.

Furthermore, 1,000 Spanish Republicans served in the 13th Half-brigade of the French Foreign Legion. The Swedish will provide you with a 1/2 damaged infantry for the FFF. Historically this unit fought in Norway, then Egypt.

Things to do:

1. Get a right of way with Germany (don't abuse this during the game).

2. Get a right of way with the U.K (don't abuse this either). This is for your FFF troops.

3. Prepare to tell Germany & Italy (via game message) what you see crossing Gibraltar (AXIS spies nearby). Don't get caught (repetitively) or this will infuriate the ALLIES. Remember they can invade you if they HAD to.

4. Send the Spanish Blue Division (1 infantry/ receive 1 degraded commando) and 1 fighter to/ at the Munich, Germany territory. They activate when Germany goes to war with Russia.

5. Research,build and send 1 motorized infantry to land in South-East Egypt (The 9th Armoured created in CHAD). Be prepared to work hand and foot with the U.K. player on turn 7 against the Italians, Germans or Vichy France (in Syria).

6. Later in the game prepare yourself to fast recruit 2 FFF (Spanish) side militia, once you get your 9th Armoured to France and take a territory. Hopefully you would work with/ behind the ALLIES and not just get immediately killed.

7. Expect a 1/2 damaged FFF Foreign Legion troop (from Sweden). It will arrive in England.

8. AT START send all but the following Spanish $ and resources to Sweden (the game's World Bank)L

$ - 25,000

Goods - 50,000

Food - 25,000

Steel - 5,000

Rares - 50,000

Oil - 25,000

Joining the AXIS

Spain will join the AXIS when these conditions are met:

The AXIS take Cairo and Suez.

And ONE of the 3 following conditions are met.

1. 6 British battleships are destroyed.

2. The Germans achieve a 6 to 1 air superiority over Britain.

3. A successful Sea Lion is mounted. The AXIS must take 8 English territories.

Swedish Situation.

id like to be Sweden (neutral)

Good day sir 'RG,'

The player Overlord_KC is (was allready) going to play Sweden/ Hungary/Slovakia. Could I interest you in anther country my good man? I'll send you a personal message about the options.

Thanks for your interest

Talk to you soon.

What countries are still available? I would love France if it is still free.

Further Spanish Notes:

- Neutrality

- Economy.

Notes on not bringing Spain into the war voluntarily:

- 'Popular war fatigue: the Spanish people had been put through three years of a bloody fratricidal war. Remember, aerial bombardment of non-military targets such as capital cities was a brand-new military technique, and it was terrifying. Spain had just lived through a similar experience to the worst of the Western Front during the Great War, and even twenty years later the populations of France and Belgium had a visceral phobia of any repeat of war. Aside from the Communist Party, there was little stomach to continue the war even among the Republicans who faced death or exile if they lost. Put simply, in three years Franco had lacked the popular support to swiftly win his war, and there was no chance that support would suddenly appear, to bring Spain into Germany's foreign war.

- Caution given the War's Outlook. Again, according to the war's changing circumstances. In 1939, it was not clear that the Wehrmacht would so easily steamroll the French Army. Due to circumstances, France had focussed on a large citizen army, Germany on a small elite one (eg, prioritizing tanks, commandos, warplanes --techniques that were politically unpopular or dismissed by experts in France). In 1914, France had fought German forces to a stalemate; in 1939, the French army was still considered the most prestigious and capable in Europe. It was precisely the rapid destruction of the French army which proved the superiority of a small but technologically advanced army over a large citizen mobilization; until that occurred in Spring 1940, it was not self-evident that Germany was a 'winner'. Yet Britain repelled the Luftwaffe in Spring 1940, and the US joined up in Late 1941. So all throughout the war, for a cautious pragmatist like Franco, it wasn't clear that joining Germany was the clever option. Instead, he sent a contingent of the most ardent Spanish anticommunists to fight the USSR --even then, this was as much a symbolic gesture to placate Hitler, and a pragmatic domestic decision to get rid of the most radical fascists who might trouble his internal new order, than from a sincere desire to get involved in a foreign war.

Notes on Spanish Resources:

- 'Despite lacking cash, oil and other supplies...'

- Material strain: By late 1939, Spain was shattered by three years of total war. Food shortages, disruption to commercial and industrial production, credit shortage with the loss of gold reserves to back its currency... Given that the Nationalists' justification for their insurrection had been the need to ensure stability and public order, they could hardly now prolong the disruption. The country needed a breathing space to rebuild.

- 'Spanish minerals were the only easily-available source for components of several modern armaments, including tank armor and explosives).'

- '...the outbreak of World War II rendered many needed supplies unavailable.'

- 'food was scarce, and, in some years, Spain registered negative growth rates.'

- '... after a decade of economic stagnation, a tripling of prices, the growth of a black market, and widespread deprivation...'

- 'any Spanish intervention would rely, inevitably, upon German ability to supply oil...'

- [1st Oil Embargo] 'To begin with, fearful of a pro-Axis Spain possibly capturing Gibraltar and other strategic Mediterranean sites, Britain enacted a program at the outset of the war whereby shippers in every port around the world had to obtain clearance from the British consul for every shipment to Spain. Royal Navy inspectors who maintained an Oil blockade around Spain...'

Hello Andrew G.

Hey there, I tried to message you using the CoW 'Community,' 'Message' system, but no 'Andrew G.' came up. Please message me there. I'll repeat a bit & explain some French basics. 1st, allow me to say that you'll need to be an active player, as many of the players in this game are very active and skilled. We just want you and the other players to have fun

As for France, it's a tough 'roe to hoe' for them. Germany starts with 55 units + planes, and I believe that France has 28- + planes, give or take. There's much more, but suffice it to say it's a real challenge my good man.

Please check out the French Situation reply to the AXIS vs ALLIES 'Situations' post here, and see if it all seems ok to you.

If you're agreeable, we'd love to have you in our game sir G.

Thanks for your interest. Please let me know how I can contact you other than by replies to our post here.

Let me know

What are the requirements for Spain to join the Allies?

Hiya sir Patton,

That's a very good question. I've scoured the web and here are a few opinions that I've found:

There are 2 things that the Spanish did, that show they would never join the ALLIES.

1. After the war, evidence was found of significant gold transactions between Germany and Spain, ceasing only in May 1945. It was believed that these were derived from Nazi looting of occupied lands, but attempts by the Allies to obtain control of the gold and return it were largely frustrated.

2. The principal resource was wolfram (or tungsten) ore from German-owned mines in Spain. Tungsten was essential to Germany for its advanced precision engineering and therefore for armament production. Despite Allied attempts to buy all available supplies, which rocketed in price, and diplomatic efforts to influence Spain, supplies to Germany continued until August 1944. Payment for wolfram was effectively set against the Spanish debt to Germany. Other minerals included iron ore, zinc, lead and mercury.

These 2 things show that Spain was helping Germany (& itself) till the bitter end. Remember that Germany & Italy had just poured millions of Reichmarks and Lyra and many tanks, planes, and other weapons of war to help them defeat the Republicans in 1939. He/ they were probably grateful, and although not willing to outright join the AXIS, did not wish to turncoat in their support of the AXIS.

So, in my opinion, never.

Other Opinions:

"For me, General Franco is too smart or to cautious to enter war against the Germans..."

"Even in july/august 1944, when the Allies are winning the Battle of Normandy, he had nothing to gain in attacking in south-western France. A region which was liberated by French Resistance units, a majority of them being led by communists and where former Spanish republican soldiers played an important role."

"Again General Franco was probably a "gentleman" and "a man of honor" and stabbing in the back his former ally and the troops which fought in Spain for his cause is a little too much. Also spanish troops fought in Soviet Union against the communists and it seems that the survivors of the Azul Division had a leading role in the spanish army after their East Front experience."

Furthermore...

- A United Nations Security Council investigation conducted after the war found evidence that Spain had allowed German planes to operate from Spanish airfields to attack allied shipping. Spanish ports were secretly used to refuel and repair German warships.

- the (Spanish) state controlled Spanish media consistently broadcast a pro-Axis message. On the 22nd September 1939, the newspaper Arriba encouraged its readers to attack anyone over heard criticizing Nazi Germany.

- A good indication of Franco’s attitude to Nazi Germany is contained in the private letters he wrote to Hitler after the defeat of France in the summer of 1940: ‘Dear Fuhrer: At the moment when the German armies, under your leadership, are bringing the greatest battle in history to a victorious close, I would like to express to you my admiration and enthusiasm and that of my people, who are watching with deep emotion the glorious course of a struggle which they regard as their own… I do not need to assure you how great is my desire not to remain aloof from your cares and how great is my satisfaction in rendering to you at all times services which you regard as most valuable.’

So, would Spain join the ALLIES? Probably never.

James Hartmund wrote:

Good day sir 'RG,'

The player Overlord_KC is (was allready) going to play Sweden/ Hungary/Slovakia. Could I interest you in anther country my good man? I'll send you a personal message about the options.

Thanks for your interest

Talk to you soon.

Sir Royal,

The updated Player List is in the AXIS vs ALLIES # 6 Invite Post - updated as soon as there are any changes. But putting it here is fine too- here goes.

Updated Saturday 11:00 AM, CST

AXIS vs ALLIES #5 Game Player Update:

ALLIES:

*U.S.A. – gabegard

*France – Andrew G.

Soviet – ? ? ?

U.K.- rogodeterSnowl,(including Canada)

AXIS:

Italy- SergeantRock

Germany – James Hartmund

Yugoslavia – RoyalGladiator * Activated when Germany attacks Russia. Historic restricted recruitment and research.

Hungary/Slovakia – Overlord_KC (played by Sweden).

Pro-AXIS:

Spain – ? ? ? (Patton789 is interested) Pro-AXIS. May be activated later. Initial small role. Spain plays only 2 & 1/2 units total against the USSR and several Free French units.

Turkey-? ? ? Pro-AXIS. Activated upon the fall of all of Egypt & Cyprus AND the AXIS doing very well in Russia.

Neutral:

Sweden – Overlord_KC *Note that the Swedish player plays 3 volunteer units in Finland, without officially being at war.

Interested Players: Patton789, General Mussolini, elliot_98, Patfan76...