Storm Front (Twilight of the Gods Book 1) (43 page)

The SS takes it a step further.  Polygamy is technically legal in Germany East, with one man being married to two or more women.  Typically, the second wives would have been married already, then lost their husbands to an insurgent attack. 

Contraception is banned to women with less than three children - there’s a thriving underground trade in condoms and American-made Pills - and abortion is rarely permitted.  Women who are
not
full-blooded Germans can expect a contraceptive injection after having their second child. 

Notably, a fake paternity claim can get a woman thrown into a concentration camp.  The party takes bloodlines
seriously
.

***

Of all the nations in Europe, the only one that holds any form of true independence is Switzerland.  The Swiss, by dint of mountains, an armed population and a willingness to deploy every weapon at their disposal to protect themselves (it is generally believed that the Swiss have nukes) maintain a careful distance from the
Reich
.  Sweden and Finland claim to be independent, but their economies are dependent on Germany.

Vichy France controls the remains of France and French North Africa, a giant territory in Africa.  The government has sought to secure
some
form of status within the
Reich
, but as Hitler’s dislike of France pervaded German foreign policy, it is clear that Vichy France holds very little freedom of movement.  Over the years since the end of the war, vast numbers of Frenchmen have immigrated to North Africa, where they have tried to build new lives away from the looming power of Nazi Germany.  Vichy has not hesitated to exterminate vast numbers of Arabs and Africans to provide living space for the colonists.

The French are not permitted more than a small army in mainland France, nor are they permitted nukes, modern aircraft or warships.  It is generally acknowledged that the French habit of conscripting males for two years, giving them basic military training and then releasing them makes the French more powerful than they seem on paper, but the French lack the tanks and air support to stand up to the Germans. 

The Free French control French Polynesia, but are otherwise utterly powerless after the end of the war. 

Italy started the war with high hopes, which were rapidly quashed by Britain in 1940, forcing the Germans to step in to help.  Once the war was finished, Hitler allowed Italy to keep Libya, Ethiopia, Egypt (apart from the Suez Canal), Greece and large parts of the Balkans, but not much else.  The latter two, in particular, are constantly restive; Italy would like to simply abandon them, but the fascist government is afraid of the German reaction.  Italy has a strong infantry force; it is generally agreed that its navy and air force wouldn't last long if pitched into battle against the NAA (see below) or the Germans.

Spain, Turkey and Portugal did very little heavy lifting during the latter half of the war, Portugal (a former British ally) in particular did absolutely nothing beyond a
pro forma
declaration of war on Britain in 1944.  Hitler was incensed when Franco failed to take Gibraltar and assumed, perhaps correctly, that the Spanish were trying to play both sides against the middle.  Accordingly, while Turkey was rewarded with tracts of sand in the Middle East, none of the three powers received much else for their puny efforts.  (It is probably lucky for Spain that Hitler died before remembering he had to settle accounts with Franco.) 

In 1985, the Turks have a powerful army and air force; Spain and Portugal have strong armies, but little else.  Both states account for a considerable degree of immigration to South and Latin America. 

***

Opposing Germany is the North Atlantic Alliance; an association of America, Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, Iran, Iceland and Brazil.  All of these states, with the exception of Iran, are democracies and most of them have powerful navies.  Britain and Iran serve as the forward bases for alliance striking power; both states play host to sizable American air bases as well as their own not inconsiderable forces.  There are occasionally degrees of friction amongst the alliance partners, but the threat of the Third Reich keeps them unified.

The NAA faced its greatest test in 1980, when German-backed Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands.  (It is generally believed that the Reich authorised the invasion to test the alliance’s resolve.)  While British forces reoccupied the islands, American and Canadian warships stood ready to intervene if the Germans pushed matters.  The German Navy was reluctantly forced to admit that it couldn't hope to save the Argentineans and the war was concluded in 1981 with a British victory.

***

The British Empire was replaced by the British Commonwealth in 1951, when India was formally granted independence from the British Crown.  The remaining states of the empire (India, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa) agreed to merge their resources into an alliance, mainly to prevent the United States from completely dominating the NAA. 

South Africa, however, formally withdrew from the Commonwealth in 1965, after friction arose between the more liberal-minded states and the apartheid regime.  Oddly, despite allying with Nazi Germany the year later, South Africa is still remarkably liberal compared to the Nazis - it’s population of Jews, for example, remains untouched despite being marked for extermination by the
Reich
.  Even so, with a growing war underway, it remains unclear just how long South Africa can survive.

***

Iran was formally occupied by Britain and Russia in 1941, after the Iranian Government was caught attempting to set up links with the Germans.  Maintaining the occupation, however, proved increasingly difficult and, after the US entered the war against Japan, it was agreed that a US force could relieve the Anglo-Soviet occupation force.  In partial compensation, Iran was added to the lend-lease program and received billions of dollars worth of war material and economic assistance. 

As of 1985, Iran is still a monarchy, but otherwise remains fairly liberal and a strong ally of the United States.  Relationships with Britain are cool and strictly formal. 

***

Japan was invaded in 1944 by the Americans, after the Japanese Government refused to surrender.  (Nukes were not available yet.)  The combination of fanatical resistance (the US was still shooting diehards in 1955), mass starvation and the near-complete collapse of government power led to the death of roughly 60% of the Japanese population, even though - as American forces tightened their control over the islands - the Japanese began to seem more human to their occupiers.  Although officially banned, relationships between American servicemen and Japanese women started almost at once.  Many of these relationships were between black soldiers and Japanese girls.

The near-complete destruction of large parts of Japan effectively extinguished the native culture.  In its place, a strange combination of Japanese and American influences took form, particularly when Japan was opened to settlement by Americans.  Black Americans, in particular, were encouraged to move (a consequence of Civil Rights, embraced by Truman) and eventually created a very mixed culture.  Japan is about the only place in the alliance where racism can be said to be completely non-existent and, indeed, claiming multiracial ancestry is regarded as a badge of honour.  (Claiming to be one-eighteenth Cherokee would be seen as rather puny.)

Japan is formally a US Territory.  There is a strong statehood movement in both Japan and mainland America, but so far Congress has refused to admit Japan. 

***

President Truman, once he succeeded Roosevelt in 1943, started breaking down racial barriers within US society almost at once.  This met with heavy resistance from some sections of the American population, although the combination of the threat from Germany (particularly once Germany led the way into space) and the existence of Japan as a sinkhole for ‘radicals’ kept the opposition largely muted.  An economic boom, powered by the war (and the need to keep a strong defence against Germany) has largely transformed American society.

As of 1985, American-led efforts to colonise the moon and mine the asteroids have started to bear fruit.  Combined with a powerful ABM system - and a navy that is second to none - a number of Americans have seriously proposed leaving the Reich to collapse under its own weight.  However, the President and most of Congress remains committed to holding the line until the Iron Curtain (a term popularised by Winston Churchill) falls for good.

***

The Chinese barely noticed when the European War ended; Chinese Nationalists, Chinese Communists and various warlord factions were engaged in a bloody civil war from 1944 (after Japan was invaded), once the Japanese armies in China were either exterminated, repatriated back to Japan or absorbed into various Chinese militias.  China remained torn apart by war until 1951, when the Chinese Nationalists - with a great deal of American assistance - defeated most of the warlords.  The remaining Chinese Communists retreated into Manchuria and held out until the Nationalists finally agreed to a ceasefire.  North China is now the only genuinely communist state on Earth.

China saw substantial economic growth after the end of the war, but an increasing bent towards authoritarianism saw China slowly slip into the German orbit.  However, the combination of distance and wariness of German racial theories ensured that the Chinese were never full-blooded allies and, with the Chinese economy growing rapidly, the threat of a clash between the Chinese and Germans has become a viable possibility.  Thankfully, the vast tracts of wasteland between China and Germany East ensure that war is unlikely to result. 

Korea is a relatively stable democracy and an American ally.  With the US unchallenged in Asian waters, most of the other states in Asia have followed suit.

***

Although the
Reich
appears stable, a number of problems bubble below the surface.

The first, and most prominent, is the South African War.  What began as a genuine effort to assist South Africa against its black population has snowballed into a major war against an elusive and deadly enemy.  Thousands of German troops have been killed and thousands more have been badly injured, with only a relative handful of the wounded formally acknowledged as such.  The war has become a death match, sucking up German resources at the end of a very long supply chain while thousands of South Africans seek to flee their country as it is consumed by civil war.

The second is the constant arms race with the United States.  Although Germany achieved a number of successes in the early stages of the Cold War, the defection of Von Braun in 1950 and the introduction of Nazi Ideology into German schools crippled German science and, despite their best efforts, Germany has fallen behind in the arms race.  The deployment of the American ABM system has forced the Germans to invest billions of
Reichmarks
in building a new force of ICBMs, SLBMs and other weapons.  Trying to match American deployment of smart weapons, stealth aircraft and other advanced systems may prove beyond the
Reich’s
capabilities.

The third, connected to the second, is a growing economic crisis.  The
Reich
is simply not very efficient; in a sense, it has all the weaknesses of a command economy without any of the strengths, a problem caused by the division of German economic facilities among the various branches of the state.  In particular, intelligent young men are fleeing Germany for America where they won’t have to work in an inefficient system.  Furthermore, social security payments (particularly to mothers with more than three children) are slowly draining the system dry. 

In trying to tackle these problems, the
Reich
may have sown the seeds of its own disintegration...

Appendix: German Words

Abwehr -
German Military Intelligence

Bund Deutscher Mädel
(BDM) - League of German Girls/ Band of German Maidens, female wing of the Hitler Youth.

Einsatzgruppen
- SS extermination squads

Gastarbeiter
- Guest Worker

Germanica
- Moscow, renamed after the war

Hauptsturmfuehrer
- SS rank, roughly equal to Captain.

Heer
- The German Army

Herrenvolk
- Master Race

Kriegsmarine
- The German Navy

Luftwaffe
- The German Air Force

Mutterkreuz
- Mother's Cross

Oberfeldwebel
-
Heer
rank, roughly equal to Master Sergeant

Oberkommando der Wehrmacht
(OKW, 'Supreme Command of the Armed Forces') - The German General Staff.

Obergruppenfuehrer
- SS rank, roughly equal to Lieutenant General.

Ordnungspolizei
- Order Police (regular police force)

Reichsführer-SS
- Commander of the SS

Reichssicherheitshauptamt
(RSHA) - Reich Main Security Office

Sigrunen
- SS insignia (lightning bolts)

Standartenfuehrer
- SS rank, roughly equal to Colonel.

Sturmbannfuehrer
- SS rank, roughly equal to Major.

Strumscharfuehrer -
SS rank, roughly equal to Master Sergeant.

Untermensch
- Subhuman.

Untermenschen
- Subhumans, plural of
Untermensch.

Unterscharfuehrer -
SS rank, roughly equal to Second Lieutenant.

Vaterland
- Fatherland

Volk
- The German Population.

Wehrmacht
- The German Military (often taken to represent just the army (
Heer
)).