Now, the French paratroopers had arrived safely, and Bor-Komorowsky, who had retained command of what was now referred to as the Army of Warsaw, had nearly one hundred thousand men, not too well armed but certainly determined, in and around the city, counting French, American, and Polish paras, the Jewish ZOB fighters, and his own Home Army men. Another quarter of a million Poles were under arms in central and northern Poland, and half that many more in the well-equipped corps under General Anders pushing in from the coast. In the east, the Russians had taken Brest and Bialystok, and in the west, Patton had taken Rostock and his forces were approaching Neubrandenburg, almost due north of Berlin itself Even the American enclave at Chelmno had been reinforced with the bulk of an airborne division and ten thousand Polish partisans. The war would soon be over.
1800 HOURS, 7 AUGUST 1943
NEUBRANDENBURG, GERMANY
Patton was not normally a nervous type, but now he was pacing back and forth in front of the portico of the ornately decorated town hall as a thin rain fell. The other officers present huddled in small groups, mostly by nationality, or stood alone, smoking, lost in their own thoughts. There had been a flurry of radio and telephone messages flying back and forth from Patton’s headquarters to SHAEF headquarters in Paris and thence to London, Washington, and Moscow since late the night before when a German general had been brought in under a flag of truce to announce calmly that a delegation would arrive this evening from OKH in Berlin to negotiate a full armistice for all German armed forces. There had been a lot of hemming and hawing from the professional diplomats and politicians about whether anything could be done without a full political settlement in place, but the Germans had broadcast their intentions via shortwave, and this had been picked up by sets all around the world. Roosevelt, Churchill, and de Gaulle had immediately realized that they would face the unbridled fury of their own people if it became known that they had allowed the fighting to go on for one more day when the Germans had offered to lay down their arms.
Consequently, very few of those officers present, despite the weight of gold braid and medals they wore, had gotten much sleep in the past twenty-four hours as they flew in from all points of the compass. Marshall and Juin had arrived in short order from Paris, as had Montgomery from the southern front, along with Colonel General I.S. Koniev, commander of the Soviet Steppe Front. An invitation to the Italians had been considered, but Churchill had suggested that the presence for Germany’s former allies might unnecessarily create additional tension at the meeting. The Poles were represented, at Church ill’s insistence, by General Sosnkowski, and there were token delegations from the Dutch, Belgians, Greeks, and Yugoslavs as well. Only the Russians had chosen to send a civilian envoy, Foreign Minister V.M. Molotov, to oversee Koniev’s behavior, although the Western Allies were insistent that only military officers actually participate in the talks at this point.
It was still quite light, despite the overcast, when a column of American military policemen riding motorcycles and jeeps rolled into the small square lined with armed troops, just in case the entire episode were some elaborate plot to decapitate the Allied commands. But only three officers disembarked from the German staff car at the center of the procession, two colonels and Field Marshal Erwin Rommel.
Rommel marched somewhat stiffly to the foot of the steps where Patton awaited, and executed a salute which Patton returned smartly. Both men recognized the other and opened their mouths as if to say something, but neither could apparently find the words. Patton turned to introduce Rommel to the other officers present.
What followed over the next two hours was something of an anti-climax. The Germans simply offered a cease-fire to begin at 0600 hours the next morning. German units would hold their positions and surrender their weapons to the first Allied unit to request them. They made no demands other than that their men be treated as prisoners of war.
The Russians had spluttered about demanding an occupation zone in Germany, since their troops would not be able to reach German soil, except for East Prussia, before the Western Allies had occupied the rest of the country. They also insisted that all Soviet citizens found wearing German uniforms, and there were hundreds of thousands of Balts, Ukrainians, and Russians in General Vlasov’s renegade anti-Communist army and in various SS units, be repatriated immediately to the Soviet Union. Marshall pointed out that, since the Russians would occupy East Prussia, that should be their zone for the moment and that, on his own authority, he would gladly accept Russian troops to mount guard in Berlin, but that agreements on all other subjects could await a fuller meeting of their respective civilian chiefs in the near future. And it was over.
CHAPTER 11
CURTAIN
1200 HOURS, 28 SEPTEMBER 1943
POTSDAM, GERMANY
IN THE WEEKS that followed the armistice, the shape of the postwar world rapidly congealed. The German armies still beyond the frontiers raced back home as fast as they could go or dropped their weapons at the first sight of an Allied unit. Dönitz and the government had hit upon the unique formula of surrendering the army and specifically not making any political agreement with the victors. It thus remained to the Western Allies, or at least to the British and Americans, to act as representatives of German interests in the hope of reintegrating Germany into the family of nations, while freeing the government of the opprobrium of agreeing to a humiliating peace as had occurred after the First World War. Russian troops rushed westward and occupied Hungary, Slovakia, East Prussia, and Poland to the east of the Curzon Line. The Italians and British occupied Austria, southern Bavaria and the Czech Republic, which declared its separation from Slovakia under President Benes, and the French occupied northern Bavaria, with the Americans taking everything north of Frankfurt. A four-nation commission was set up to administer Berlin among the primary Allies.
The conference held at Potsdam in September 1943 was a stormy affair in light of the Communist regimes that were being set up in Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, and Slovakia, but Churchill and a still relatively healthy Roosevelt were able to stave off Stalin’s demands for further advances in Central Europe. While the governments of Western Europe had been concerned about the possible influence their local Communist parties might have following the armistice, it resulted that the rapid end of the war and the dominant role of the Western Allies in liberating the region had deprived the Left of some of the popularity it had gained during late 1941 and 1942 when only the Soviet Union seemed to be actively resisting the Nazis, and these parties soon dropped down into the single digits in terms of voter support.
The map of Europe was significantly redrawn at the conference, with Poland being bodily dragged westward to the Oder-Neisse line and Germany losing all of East Prussia to both Poland and the Soviet Union. Except for minor nibbling at the borders, Finland was left in a neutral status, and Stalin’s other territorial gains were recognized. One major surprise was the old-line Communist Tito, frightened by Soviet encroachments in the Balkans and encouraged by generous Western financial support, who declared himself to be much more of a socialist in nature and who held remarkably free elections, resulting in an overwhelming victory for himself as president. Tito’s conciliatory policies toward the various ethnic groups in the patchwork nation quickly bound up the country’s wounds and set it on the road to economic and political recovery.
Talk soon shifted to plans for dealing with the one remaining Axis partner, Japan. Soviet troops were already being diverted to the Far East for an offensive into Manchuria, and Roosevelt finally derailed General MacArthur’s plans for the liberation of the Philippines as a useless sideshow, focusing all of America’s immense resources on a drive across the Central Pacific toward the Japanese home islands. As is well known, the rapid collapse of Germany and the Soviet invasion of Manchuria, coupled with American advances to Guam, Okinawa, and Iwo Jima in late 1943 and early 1944, thoroughly disheartened the Japanese high command and government, already staggering under the intense bombing campaign an
d the destruction of the Japanese merchant fleet by American submarines. Then, on the eve of the planned American invasion of Kyushu, timed to coincide with the Russian conquest of southern Sakhalin Island and the destruction of the Japanese army in Manchuria, a palace coup in Tokyo resulted in a peace offer not unlike that given by the Germans, with no preconditions required other than the continuation of the Emperor as titular head of the nation. Thus the Second World War ended.
As a footnote, it has often been speculated whether the Americans would have dropped the atomic bomb on which they had been frantically working at the time of the Japanese surrender. The most credible version is that some kind of demonstration would have been arranged to convince the Japanese of their utter defenselessness in the face of this new weapon, but the contrary argument is that the dropping of one, or even two atomic weapons would not have been more horrific than the fire bombing already taking place on a regular basis of Japanese cities and that this would not have affected the decision-making process in Tokyo one way or the other. Since the bomb, which was only finally developed in 1949 after funding was decreased, has never been used in combat, we may hopefully never find out.
After the initial euphoria of the Allied victory wore off, and this was not long in coming, inevitable tensions arose between East and West, due to the incompatibility of the two political systems, but several factors served to minimize this effect. First of all, while the Western powers were displeased with the puppet regimes set up by the Soviets in Eastern Europe, the fact that these nations had all been active allies of the Germans in the invasion of the USSR, a certain amount of leeway was allowed. Secondly, with an extensive buffer zone established both by the Soviet Union’s own extension westward and the creation of a number of viable and violently anti-German states across the width of Europe, even Stalin could rest easier and thus decreased the size of his own army almost on the same scale as did the British, French, and Americans. The victory of the Chinese Communists over Chiang Kai Shek in their civil war in 1947 reinforced this sense of security in Moscow without needlessly adding to the apprehensions of the West. Lastly, with security issues on the margin, attention could be focused on the economic recovery of the continent and the institution of the plan that bears Eisenhower’s name, one in which America’s vast wealth could be shared with all of the belligerents, including the former enemy. While the Soviet Union’s participation was grudging at first, the rapid recovery of Germany and Poland in particular made a parallel effort on Russia’s part a necessity.
The war crimes trials at Nuremberg were a traumatic experience for Germany, but a cathartic one as well. Hitler and Himmler were already gone, and a number of other prominent architects of the hellish Nazi world vision had cheated the victors by committing suicide before the armistice; but enough leaders remained, headed by Kaltenbrunner and a host of lesser Nazi officials to at least slake the thirst for vengeance of the victims of the terror. With no imminent threat to the West now being posed by the Soviet Union, Germany was disarmed and left with a simple force of gendarmes while token Allied forces continued the occupation for some years. It has been argued that one reason for the near-miraculous economic recovery of Germany, despite substantial reparations payments, was the advantage of not having to sustain a defense budget.
In short, the Allies, both East and West, had managed to construct a peace that did honor to the victory of their armies on the battlefield rather than merely to create a new scenario for world conflict.
IMAGE GALLERY
Hitler accepts the ovation of the Reichstag in Berlin after announcing the peaceful annexation of Austria in 1938. Little did the rest of the world know that over the next three years the Third Reich would violently extend its dominions from the Atlantic to the Volga and from North Africa to the Arctic.
General George C. Marshall, US Army. America was the last major combatant to enter the war, joining the conflict when the Japanese attacked its naval base at Pearl Harbor at the end of 1941. But when the United States finally did come in, Hitler found himself with his greatest challenge. FDR naturally wanted to keep Marshall in Washington, DC as his chief adviser, but it was difficult to argue against letting him command in the field the most important US venture of the war: the counter-invasion of Nazi-held Europe.
American industrial capacity ramped up with amazing speed once the US entered the war. Above is a look at a Douglas Aircraft plant in Long Beach, California, where women workers perfected the plexiglass nose turrets of A-20 attack aircraft.
An American shipyard readying a plethora of transport vessels, dubbed “Victory Ships.”
For the New World to launch counter-invasions across both oceans, a clear superiority in seaborne capability needed to be established. The US Navy, as seen above, was able to achieve this.
The Germans were never able to come close to the firepower the US and British could deploy on the seas, but the Germans had their own response in U-boats. Every Allied convoy had to be prepared to stave off the stealthy vessels that lurked beneath the surface.
General George Patton was named commander of the US Army that would cut through German-held territory in France, and then Germany itself. A dynamic leader, he also had advantages in terms of material supply. While the US had to fight with its left hand against Japan, the Germans had to fight with their left against the Soviet Union, a much larger and more fearsome opponent.
Infantry troops on both sides often used their armored vehicles as protection during an advance. Sometimes this instinct would backfire, as their tanks became the main focus of enemy firepower.
Generalleutnant Erwin Rommel, former commander of Germany’s 7th Panzer Division during the conquest of France, and then of its Afrika Korps. When the Allies invaded France, Rommel was foremost in securing its defense. And Allied generals such as Patton, Montgomery and Marshall could never be quite sure what Rommel had up his sleeve.
The Germans had unveiled their new Tigers by early 1943. There was not a tank in any Allied arsenal capable of matching them, and it was only the Germans’ inability to build enough of them that kept them from being decisive.
The Allied invasion of France began with a massive airborne assault. Though the paratroopers were never able to make strategic gains, the chaos they sowed in the enemy’s rear was enough to influence the outcome, as well as gain great respect for the brave paratroopers themselves.
Here we see American troops practicing opposed beach landings prior to the invasion of France. Though some such landings indeed needed to take place, in southern France the Americans relied primarily on ports such as Marseilles and Toulon to more easily unload their troops and supplies.
An American M-8 tank rolls up Route 7 south of Montélimar, France, past the wreckage of a German convoy. About a mile to the right of his location is the village of Allan, where a short but costly battle between US M-8’s and a rearguard Panther took place.
In another view from Route 7, vehicles burn in the destroyed German column caught on the road by US artillery and fighter bombers. The Germans used every sort of conveyance, including civilian buses, in their hasty withdrawal.
While Anglo-American leaders found him problematic, there was no denying the inspirational effect Charles de Gaulle had on the French populace. He is shown here, upon his triumphant return to his home land, along with General Leclerc, commander of the French 2nd Armored Division (center), and General Koenig (right), commander of the FFI. Memorial du Maréchal Leclerc et de la Libération de Paris, Musée Jean Moulin, Ville de Paris
General Bernard L. Montgomery, seen here in North Africa during the period when he personally vied with Rommel. Once the invasion of France had taken place the British general constantly urged the Americans for more influence and responsibility in the campaign.
Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg, who executed the plot to kill Hitler.
While the Germans fell back in France, Field Marshal Albert Kesselring guided a more successful defensive campaign in Italy.
The Allied invasion of France could not have occurred without establishing air superiority in advance. US “heavies,” operating in daylight, knocked out rail marshalling yards, communication centers, and bridges as their first priority.
The German fighter fleet rose to the challenge, as per the Focke-Wulf 190’s shown below. But once long-range Mustangs came in on the Allied side to protect the bombers, the Germans became gradually overwhelmed in the air.
The first winter battles were hard on America’s main battle tank, the M-4 Sherman, as they were no match for the Tigers and Panthers that the Germans began unleashing in 1943. However, the Germans could never make enough “zoo animals” to match the vast number of Shermans, who, supported by their Tank Destroyer cousins, gradually gained superiority on the battlefield.
Second Front: The Allied Invasion of France, 1942–43 (An Alternative History) Page 34
