Reichsfuhrer Heydrich

The coup of April 20, 1964 saw the removal and execution of Albert Speer and the rise of SS Reichsfuhrer Reinhard Heydrich to the position of world leader.

Due to Speer's refusal to attack Japan over its nuclear program as well as his plans to initiate multi-party elections, Heydrich struck against the Reichs Chancellor. He found numerous allies throughout the Reich: party members afraid of losing their place in the upcoming elections; Wermacht, Luftwaffe, and Kriegsmarine commanders sure that Speer was prepared to enact further budget cuts to the military; industrialists promised the renewal of slave labor and less government intervention. Heydrich built a coalition among these men before embarking on his daring strike for power.

Known as Operation Phoenix, the SS rounded up Speer and his closest allies the night of Germany's greatest triumph: landing an Aryan on the moon. Only Goebbels avoided imprisonment, his usefulness as a propagandist a sure asset the SS could exploit to explain the shift in power and prevent full-scale civil war. President Goering was quietly retired to his estate at Karinhall and his office fused once more with that of the chancellor which was in turn fused with that of Reichsfuhrer.

Speer would be put on trial and found guilty of betraying Germany for his refusal to strike at Japan, for his undermining of the military, and for threatening to dissolve the Party. Found guilty on all charges, he was executed and denied a state funeral, branded a traitor instead and his body cremated with the ashes scattered.

Heydrich proved an adept leader. Realizing the importance of Speer's programs and government design, he did little to upset them. The bureaucrats and technocrats continued to work smoothly under his reign, though the government increasingly found itself integrated into the SS with the requirement of a rank structure, uniforms, and swearing of allegiance to the Reichsfuhrer.

Heydrich's first act was to prepare for war with the Japanese Empire. Military leaders were saw their budgets swell as reserves were mobilized and plans made. He signed a treaty with President Vlassov offering the Russian leader the return of Siberia in exchange for his invasion of said Japanese province following the initial German strike. Vlassov readily accepted under the condition that no German soldiers would move through Russian territory and an extension of their non-aggression pact be included. Secret negotiations with India assured her neutrality in the war to come in exchange for Burma.

June 21, 1965, Heydrich initiated Operation Sunblossom. From three aircraft carriers which had covertly moved into the Pacific via Chile, the island of Honshu was struck by numerous nuclear weapons destroying key cities such as Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Nagasaki, and Hiroshima. Russian forces immediately struck into Siberia surprising Imperial Troops still confused following the collapse of the Japanese High Command. German forces would strike into Western China through Central Asia and take advantage of the uprisings of the Chinese who saw the Germans as liberators. The Japanese grip on China proved tenuous despite nearly thirty years of occupation (and wiping out three-quarters of the Chinese population through their "three alls" program). The Japanese quickly lost control of the Chinese Provisional Government which proclaimed independence in September. Within three months the war was over. Sporadic fighting continued with scattered pockets of Japanese forces, especially in Southeast Asia, but the main phase of the war was finished. China would be recognized as an independent entity as would Manchukuo, Tibet, and Korea, though German industrialists were already looking for ways to penetrate the new markets. Southeast Asia (French Indochina, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and Siam) remained in Japanese hands though with the collapse of authority in Japan itself, General Umezu declared a military junta under his rule. Siberia was turned over to Russia while India was informed that if they wanted Burma they would have to earn it "with their own blood." The Japanese home islands suffered greatly for the remainder of 1965. Millions died in the nuclear strikes, tens of millions more in the starvation and chaos caused by the sudden collapse in their infrastructure. The Emperor and the entire royal family were wiped out dispelling the myth of his immortality and power. The Empire of Japan was no more.

Heydrich would be noted for numerous wars during his reign including Yugoslavia, Turkey, Afghanistan, and the states of the Arabian peninsula where slaughter and bloodshed reached epic proportions as Heydrich demanded the wiping out of all untermenschen. Full scale war with Iran nearly occured following the capture and sacking of Mecca and Medina by the Wermacht. Though Iran would eventually back down, a jihad was declared and an insurgency begun though failing miserably as the native populations dwindled and the insurgents found it increasingly difficult to blend in.

Heydrich would turn his attention to other matters. The remaining untermensch in Africa, Europe, and Asia under German hegemony would be culled as factories began to move into China and Machukuo to make use of the cheap labor within. Also on the economic side, a treaty was drawn up to include all nations outlawing trade barriers, tariffs, and other boundaries to German economic dominance in the international arena. With cheap labor derived from Asia, no power could match Germany's low costs of production. No country dared resist under the threat of nuclear extinction.

Heydrich began to foster and support fascist parties abroad. Their greatest successes came in South America. Following their success in Brazil, the National Congress was dissolved and the and power centralized in the executive while Argentina and Chile ascended to membership in the Germanic Union. The National Socialist States and Confederate States of America would also see ascension to the Germanic Union. Switzerland would see an increase of funding and support for the rise of a pan-german movement aimed at the union of Switzerland to the Germanic Union. It would also see itself blockaded and pressured politically until anschluss occured in 1972 finally uniting the whole of Europe under one power. Brazil would likewise join the Germanic Union in 1972.

Brazil proved a pet project for Heydrich. A country long noted for its interracial past, the Reichsfuhrer, the SS, and the leaders of Brazil worked to turn the public against those dubbed untermenschen via a gradual series of repressive laws and edicts. Blame for economic stagnation, political instability, and more were laid at the feet of non-whites. Soon camps began to arise with the properties and assets of non-whites being transferred to the government for distribution among the whites further solidifying their support for the regime's assaults. Many close friends of Heydrich stated that the Reichfuhrer took excessive glee in watching the steady change in Brazil. Brazil would join the Germanic Union in 1974.

Through Argentina and Chile, Heydrich was able to fight proxy wars drawing numerous nations into conflict with the Reich. Chile battled Peru and Bolivia as Argentina fought Uruguay, Parauguay, and Bolivia.

In space, Heydrich ordered the construction of weapons platforms. Fearing that keeping nuclear weapons on the ground would leave them vulnerable, launch platforms were constructed in orbit as a threat to those who would challenge the almighty power of the Reich. Construction of these platforms would continue until the mid-eighties with the final warhead being shipped into space in 1987.

The Church would undergo further change as pagan ceremonies began to be introduced and Christian values were stripped out. The figure of Jesus was increasingly buried with Hitler taking far greater prominence. This would culminate in the shift of the calendar from Christian (AD) to a Reich (DR) centered numerology with year 1 being the Christian year 1932, the year that Hitler was elected president and the Third Reich established. The usage of the Christian system would only continue in the United States of America, Central and parts of South America.

Those few Jews still alive continued to hide from the all reaching hand of the SS in South America and the United States.

Heydrich would die in 1976 (44 DR) from a heart attack. At his lavish funeral, the new Reichsfuhrer proclaimed Heydrich Hitler's true successor, a valiant Aryan, and a conqueror whom Germania should worship and remember for all time.

SOURCE: Harpenau, Franz Rise of the Reichsfuhrer: Heydrich the Great

Albert Speer: Reich Chancellor

Albert Speer

Reich Chancellor: 30 April 1945 - 20 April 1965

Many have called Speer the most reluctant world leader to ever take the political stage. Yet that did not stop him from becoming the brilliant leader that he was.

An apolitical man, Speer was first drawn to politics at a Party rally he attended in December 1930. There, he was amazed to find himself swept up in the oratory of the Fuhrer. Speer claimed to have been quite affected, not only with Hitler's proposed solutions to the threat of Communism and his renunciation of the Treaty of Versailles, but also with the man himself. It was this attraction to Hitler that would draw Speer into the Party and up to the highest echelons of power.

Despite numerous offers during the early years of the Reich, Speer turned downed numerous posts, instead wishing to focus on the architecture that was making him famous throughout Germany. He was determined to leave a defining mark on the Reich, his obsession with his works bordering on the manic. It was only through Hitler's personal request that Speer accepted the post of Armaments Minister during the Atlantic War. In that post, Speer demonstrated an excellent ability to recognize and recruit talent, manage, and lead. It was also in this post that Speer realized the inefficient system of conflicting and overlapping offices that hindered productivity in the Reich. He would learn quickly how to overcome those who stood in his way, centralizing authority in his hands.

It was a surprise to Speer when he spoke to Hitler on the night of the Fuhrer's 56th birthday. Hitler's health was failing and he believed he could no longer fulfill the obligations of his office. Speer tried to counter Hitler's arguments, but the aged leader would hear none of it. Hitler was not bitter that his body was failing him and that his time to retire had come. The Fuhrer had returned Germany to its proper place as a world power. He had led the Reich to victories over all the western powers. Germany was whole again. His duty was done. But Hitler could not leave unless he was sure that his Reich was in proper hands. The Fuhrer had already decided to split his office back into its two former parts. Goering was to receive the office of Reich President. Hitler wanted Speer to take the office of Chancellor.

For Speer, the idea of accepting such a post was anathema to what he believed. He had only taken the post of Armaments Minister to see Germany through its war with America. He was not a politician. He was an architect. What he had seen of the political leadership sickened him. He had avoided the corruption of power thus far. To be besieged by such sycophants. Speer had been sure this meeting was Hitler's acceptance of his resignation. He had never dreamed the Fuhrer would offer him such power. But offer Hitler did. "I cannot accept your offer, my Fuhrer. I am no leader. Surely there is someone better suited for this than I."

"You say you are a builder," Hitler told Speer, that old fire rekindled in his blue eyes with Speer caught in the center of them. "What do you build for? You build for the future of the Reich. What I am offering you is the chance to shape the Reich itself. No man can understand this more than you. You are an artist. You see things others can't. You are not corrupted like everyone else. You are about the spiritual. The amorphous shape. You take from the ether and make the abstract real. You cannot deny your talents. I have watched you. Nothing is impossible when you set your mind to it. I have entrusted so many of my dreams to you." Tears shone in the Hitler's eyes as his body trembled. The frail Fuhrer put a shaking hand on Speer's shoulder. "These people need you. I need you. Do not forsake us."

As president, Goering proved more a figurehead than an all-powerful ruler. He was content to sit in the background, stepping out for grandiose state functions in glittering, gawdy outfits. He did little to impede Speer in his post as chancellor, instead wandering the vast halls of his presidential palace. But the threat to Speer's power would not come from above. It would come from below.

Speer came to discover that without allies, the system Hitler had constructed threatened to consume him. Gauleiters, Ministers, SS, and others all valued their independence, even against their ruler, battling over the pettiest things. Speer would form an alliance with Goebbels and Himmler against these men in order to push his agenda. Himmler proved quite adept at blackmailing many officials into compliance with his vast collection of data collected over the years through the Gestapo. Goebbels also served his purpose securing loyalty from the people while using his intellect to outthink many who would try to undermine Speer's authority. Goebbels was to be the public voice of the quiet, reserved Speer. Of course these men did not freely work for Speer. In exchange for the loyalty of the SS, Speer gave Himmler free reign to continue his racial policies aimed at extinguishing all untermenschen from the Reich as well as to pursue ventures like his soldier-farmer colonies in the Eastern Territories. Goebbels found himself elevated to the post of vice chancellor and President of the Reichstag as well as given free reign to begin his assault on religion, though Speer served to moderate some of Goebbel's actions in this regard.

Speer proved a practical ruler, pushing reforms throughout the Nazi system. One of his first acts was to clear the cabinet of many of Hitler's appointees and replace them with professionals. For the first time in thirteen years, the cabinet became a working organ in government. Speer would delegate his programs to these officials who in turn made his will happen. Speer was quick to clean up a vast amount of corruption in government, though the SS proved exempt from these drives. The average age of government would decrease under Speer to an average of 38. Speer had an affinity for young, driven men who focused their energies into their duties.

The educational system found itself completely overhauled. Appalled by the type of students produced under Hitler's reign, Speer curtailed many of the powers of the Hitler Youth in order to resurrect the intellectual traditions trampled by the Nazis. Many restrictive laws were relaxed allowing for greater freedoms for teachers in the classroom. Crackpot theories, political ideology, and other programs receded from the curriculum. Incentives were also created to encourage students to enter psychology and physics, now stripped of their pariah status as Jewish studies.

The economy would also see reform under Speer. He knew reparations money would not continue forever, that slave labor would only damage the economy in the long run, and that the massive military currently in existence was not necessary, especially with the nuke now in their arsenal. Demobilization was rushed through in order to cut military spending, though a sizable budget would remain. Slave labor was slowly removed from industry creating jobs for the soldiers returning home. Government was streamlined and many unnecessary projects halted, most especially Hitler's building projects though Welthauptstadt Germania would still be realized by 1964. To further encourage economic growth, Speer had an economic union established that included nearly all of Europe, Canada, and South Africa. It forged a single currency, stripped away tariffs, and allowed German business to dominate like it had never done before.

Great strides were made in agriculture boosting yields and turning the Reich into the breadbasket of the world. Advanced fertilizers, farm equipment, and more put Germany at the forefront of food production.

Germany would also establish the first space agency headed by Werner von Braun. Goals made by the agency were to launch the first artificial satellite (1955), to put a man in orbit (1958), to reach the moon (1964), to establish a lunar colony (1979), and to eventually venture out to other planets in the Solar System.

Technology and medicine would flourish during Speer's reign. He invested mass amounts of state funds into education and grants to spur technological growth, doing his best to get the greatest minds to interact with one another. The medical field made rapid gains, in part because of the use of untermenschen for experiments. The first organ transplants, human study (both physical and psychological), dissections, and more allowed for in depth understanding of the human form. Genetics were also pursued with the goal of eventually breeding out recessive genes and enhancing others.

In the shadows of this golden age, the Final Solution was ramping up. With the Jews of Europe wiped out by 1946, the SS added others to their list for extinction. This would include Slavs, Asiatics, Poles, Slovaks, Czechs, Blacks, Homosexuals, Gypsies, the insane, the handicapped, the retarded, Jews outside Europe, and others. Camps began to appear in Africa, North America, and the Eastern Occupied Territories. They would gradually eat away at the pseudo independence of the Central Asian states as well, gradually turning them into reichskommissariats. Tens of millions would die over the next two decades with the SS declaring their work done by 1963 in all German territories. It is estimated that roughly 100-150 million may have died during this period (including in the expanded territories of the European Union).

The Economic union Speer had crafted would lead to the integration of states into the Reich which created a problem for the superstate. How was Germany to deal with this influx of individuals, many of whom may not be of Aryan stock? The SS would step in, doing racial histories and deciding what groups were worthy and which were meant for the camps. One shocking development saw the southern Italians deemed subhuman as well as the Albanians. Many would flee to independent Yugoslavia to avoid the camps. Despite pressure by Himmler, Speer would not authorize an invasion of the slavic kingdom.

With Europe integrating, German influence, and thus SS influence, spread. The SS would make its presence most known in Africa where it quickly rushed to wipe out the natives or use them as slave labor in the mines. By 1963, roughly 15 million blacks remained in the whole of Africa.

Media would undergo a revolution as television emerged. Goebbels proved the most adept at realizing its full potential, using the new media as a way to assimilate many into the regime including those nations newly added to the Reich.

Nuclear power would become the beating heart for this great regime, providing energy to millions at a fraction of cost.

As to religion, Goebbel's served to bring first all German churches and finally all European churches under state control. Dogma was altered to support the state and its goals. This revisionism saw alterations to the Old Testament which stripped out Jewish cultural history and replaced it with an Aryan motif.

The population of the Reich would grow by leaps and bounds. By 1960, the estimated population of the Reich (including those European states added through the union) stood at well over 300 million.

Over the years, Speer's power grew greater and greater as he centralized his authority. One by one he removed those gauleiters against him until all that remained were allies. In full control, the chancellor would make it law that he had the right to appoint and dismiss gauleiters at will. Speer would further undermine local authorities by having all taxes paid straight to the central government which would in turn be doled out to the local governments.

When Himmler died in 1964, Heydrich became the new Reichsfuhrer and a rift began to develop in the alliance Speer had once held with the SS. Though Germany had expanded greatly, independent states still existed such as the United States and Japan not to mention South America and Australia. This angered the Reichsfuhrer who believed that Germany should use their nuclear arsenal to force the world under their hegemony. There was also the issue of open elections. Speer believed it was time to allow for a gradual return to democracy, something many in the Party feared. Speer believed it would make the government more responsive to the people and also break up the stagnating influence of a single party with no challengers. The threat of elections would force those in government to become more dynamic and competive. It would also bring fresh voices to power. But above all, what proved the most damaging to the alliance between Speer and the SS was when it was discovered that Japan was working towards a nuclear weapon. Heydrich presented this information to Speer, advising the chancellor that Japan should serve as a warning to those who would think to challenge Germany's nuclear superiority. The Reichsfuhrer suggested that they nuke every major city in Japan destroying its industrial and cultural base and rendering it incapable of challenging them in the future. Speer was horrified at the idea. The chaos that such an act would bring. The casualties alone would be in the tens of millions. Then there was the threat of destablization throughout Asia following the fall of Japan which could threaten to spill over into German lands. Speer believed dialogue would work best.

Despite warnings from all corners, Speer believed himself safe from the Reichsfuhrer's wrath. The chancellor had the support of the military, the final arbiter of power in the Reich. He had also been gradually wittling away at SS authority, Himmler's obsession with the Final Solution and his colonies blinding him to Speer's eroding of SS authority, whether it be in factory ownership, independent funding, control over the nuclear arsenal, the dismantling of the Gestapo, or the gradual demobilization of the Waffen SS with those remaining divisions being placed under Wermacht control. By the time Heydrich had come to power, the SS had been reduced to a national police force with a foreign intelligence wing. But such a force was more than enough for Reinhard.

With the strength of the SS behind him, Heydrich launched a coup on April 20, 1965.

SOURCE: Blix, Heidi The Reluctant Chancellor

John Foster Dulles

John Foster Dulles - 34th President of the United States
The first president in American history never to be elected, John Foster Dulles' short term in office (12 July 1944 - 20 January 1946) is considered perhaps the most controversial in the annals of the United States.

Biography
Born in Washington, D.C., he was the son of a Presbyterian minister and attended public schools in Watertown, New York. After attending Princeton University and The George Washington University Law School he joined the New York City law firm of Sullivan & Cromwell, where he specialized in international law. He tried to join the United States Army during World War I but was rejected because of poor eyesight. Instead, Dulles received an Army commission as a Major on the War Industries Board.

Both his grandfather John W. Foster and his uncle Robert Lansing served as Secretary of State.

Political career
In 1918, Woodrow Wilson appointed Dulles as legal counsel to the United States delegation to the Versailles Peace Conference where he served under his uncle, Robert Lansing, then Secretary of State. Dulles made an early impression as a junior diplomat by clearly and forcefully arguing against imposing crushing reparations on Germany. Afterwards, he served as a member of the War Reparations Committee at the request of President Wilson. Dulles, a deeply religious man, attended numerous international conferences of churchmen during the 1920s and 1930s. In 1924, he was the defense counsel in the church trial of Rev. Harry Emerson Fosdick, who had been charged with heresy by opponents in the denomination, a case settled when Fosdick, a liberal Baptist, resigned his pulpit in the Presbyterian Church, which he had never joined. Dulles also became a partner at Sullivan & Cromwell, an international law firm. According to Karlheinz Deschner's book The Moloch, Dulles gave assets of $1 billion to the Nazi party in 1932 after Hitler's election, and according to Stephen Kinzer's 2006 book Overthrow, the firm benefited from doing business with the Nazi regime, and from 1933-1934, Dulles was a public supporter of Hitler. However, the junior partners, led by his brother Allen, were appalled by Nazi activities and threatened to revolt if Dulles did not end the firm's association with the regime. In 1935, Dulles closed Sullivan & Cromwell's Berlin office; later he would cite the closing date as 1934, no doubt in an effort to clear his reputation by shortening his involvement with Nazi Germany.

Dulles was a close associate of Thomas E. Dewey, who became the presidential candidate of the United States Republican Party in the 1940 election. During the election, Dulles served as Dewey's foreign policy adviser. Upon Dewey's election to the presidency, Dulles was appointed Secretary of State. It was Dulles who encouraged Dewey's policy of confrontation with Japan which disastrously brought German invasion.

Secretary of State
As Secretary of State, Dulles was one of the pioneers of brinkmanship. In an article written for Life Magazine in early 1941 to describe America's new aggressive approach towards Japan, Dulles defined his policy of brinkmanship: "The ability to get to the verge without getting into the war is the necessary art."

In a foreshadowing of his confrontational style of politics, Dulles received a standing ovation from Congress when, on February 9, 1941, he argued in one speech that "neutrality has increasingly become an obsolete and, except under very exceptional circumstances, it is an immoral and shortsighted conception."

In his drive to isolate Japan and unify a front against further Imperial expansion, Dulles provided some consternation and amusement to the British, Canadian, Australian, and New Zealand ambassadors by his repeated attempts to tell substantially different versions of events to them. Apparently, unbeknownst to Dulles, the men had all attended Cambridge together and followed up meetings with Dulles by comparing notes and reporting the discrepancies to their home countries.

When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, Dulles was not altogether surprised, stating that, "They would drive the Japs back into their caves." However, when Hitler declared war on America, many say they saw the Secretary of State at a loss for words for the first time in his life.

Presidency
Dulles' ascension to the presidency was an unexpected one. Vice-President Charles McNary died February 1944 from complications involving a brain tumor. No new vice-president was named due to Congress' inability to meet in total following repeated attacks on the capital and the war making travel nearly impossible. President Dewey would die in a plane crash, shot down by the Luftwaffe as he attempted to flee Washington D.C. shortly before it fell July 4, 1944. In the confusion following the fall of the American capital, many were unsure exactly who was next in line for presidential succession as no one was sure who was still alive. It would take a week to establish Dulles in office.

Dulles found himself confronted with a difficult situation. American forces had been largely destroyed east of the Mississippi with valuable reserves of manpower now located in German occupied territory along with the bulk of American industry. Army Group South under Colonel General Heinrich von Vietinghoff was tearing through the Dixie states with a ferocity not seen since Sherman while Guderian was consolidating the Wermacht's hold on the east coast as Rommel turned west with his sights set on Chicago.

Dulles was informed by Eisenhower, who had miraculously escaped Washington, that their hold on states east of the Mississippi were untenable and that the best course of action was to gradually withdraw via a scorched earth policy while building a defensive line from Louisiana to Minnesota. This would require the demolition of all known factories, the burning of all crops, and the destruction of bridges and railroad tracks in their retreat in order to leave nothing of value for the enemy. To the surprise of his staff, Dulles said no and instead ordered that a line of communication for possible peace talks be opened through the British.

There have been numerous debates on the exact reason for Dulles' refusal to continue the war. One point is that the plan devised by Eisenhower and the General Staff was not only barbaric (casually outlining the hundreds of thousands of casualties it would accrue while encouraging further destruction to the nation) but would prove wholly inadequate in the long run. The bulk of the American population was in German hands. The ability to raise future armies was unlikely and the industry to arm it was rapidly being lost. There was also the (perceived) threat of an attack from the west by Japan.

A second point made is that Dulles felt overwhelming guilt for having caused the war in the first place. It was his style of diplomacy which forced Japan into an aggressive posture and then drew Hitler's attention. Dulles' game of brinksmanship had killed his friend, Dewey, and nearly destroyed the country. This, coupled with the nadir of American morale, was known to have affected the president deeply. He was seen weeping when told of civilians in Georgia using private weapons trying to hold off Wermacht forces being gunned down. Other atrocities reached his ears but there was nothing he could do to stop it. Ever the religious man, he had to repent this sin of pride and end the war despite what it would do to him. He would become the martyr to save America's future. He had nearly destroyed his country. It was time to sacrifice himself that no one else need die in a war they could not win.

A third point, and the most controversial, is that Dulles had a pro-German attitude which is supported by his past. His attempts to lessen Allied punishments under the Treaty of Versailles, his dealings with Hitler and various German functionaries shortly after the Nazi rise to power, and even donations made to German politicians and businessmen raise questions as to the relationship Dulles had with Hitler and the Nazis; especially after the war when he renewed business contacts with Germany.

1 August 1944, Dulles agreed to an armistice with Germany. On October 31, a peace treaty was signed between the Third Reich and the United States whose main points recognized the following:
The United States had been the aggressor in their conflict
All territory occupied by Germany north of the Ohio River and east of the Mississippi was to remain occupied at American expense (Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and West Virginia)
The American military was to be limited to a 100,000 man standing army (with no more than 10,000 allowed east of the Mississippi River), light tanks were the only armor allowed in the American forces, a navy set at the limits of the Washington Naval Treaty, and their air force was not to employ bombers
Reparations were to be paid
German inspectors were to be allowed into American territory to ensure that the treaty was being followed
The United States was to drop all trade barriers with Germany
Recognized Germany hegemony over Canada

Dulles would later sign an armistice with Japan in early 1945 which recognized Imperial hegemony over Asia and the Pacific (including Hawaii), and returned Attu, Kiska, and Dutch Harbor to the United States thus ending the Pacific War.

The twin wars effectively over, Dulles authorized the first American elections since 1942 (national elections being hard to outright impossible in the east). Dulles quickly found himself rejected by the Republican Party for its presidential nominee. He would retire from politics branded a traitor, returning to New York to take up international law.

Legacy
Dulles' term in office draws divided opinions. There are those who say he didn't do enough, failing to exhaust every opportunity available before surrendering and stabbed America in the back. Others claim he did too much, pushing America into a war it wasn't ready for and then folding when it came time to take responsibility for it. In the Confederate States, there are many who defend Dulles. They state that Dulles saved them when Eisenhower wanted to render their lands barren and sacrifice them for their own survival.

Dulles' name opens many old wounds, the deepest being America's first loss to a foreign power.

SOURCE: Garfield, Richard American Presidents at a Glance

The Wermacht Land

German forces under Field Marshal von Manstein, led by General Rommel, were surprised by the initial lack of opposition following their amphibious landing in Labrador at Makkovik, March 1942. This was not entirely unexpected as American planning did not foresee the possibility of invasion until at least October whereas Hitler had pressed German forces across the Atlantic before they were truly ready as a token means of action in a radical plan. Rommel would later admit that his numbers were so small and poorly armed that even token Canadian military resistance would have sent them swimming back to their ships.

Once their beachhead was secure and their numbers reached adequate size, German forces drove southwest to Goose Bay, where a Luftwaffe base was rapidly constructed. Manstein intended for air support to protect Rommel's troops on their continuing drive southwest to Sept-Iles as well as to protect the vulnerable supply line which stretched across the Atlantic to Greenland and beyond and to serve as a point of air transport easing the reliance on naval craft to ferry men across the Atlantic. It was a bold idea which began to pay big dividends.

American naval forces did not move to threaten Germany's supply line until after Rommel's successful landing at Makkovik. Up until March, the Atlantic Fleet had focused on defensive maneuvers, sailing up and down the east coast. This was part of the reason for the ease of German landings. Another was flawed planning. The majority of the US Atlantic Fleet had believed the Germans would strike further south, New England being the prime candidate with its industrial base and economic importance. Northern Canada was viewed as inhospitable, difficult to navigate, and overall unfitting for a campaign and thus had never been viewed as a possible landing site. If Hitler were to strike, New Brunswick seemed the more intelligent choice with its roads, infrastructure, and proximity to high value targets. Problems of defense were further compounded by the lack of adequate ships to guard the east coast. Rearmament was only a year old and President Dewey had to protect both the Pacific and Atlantic. As such, American naval craft were thinly patrolling when Rommel's force arrived.

Angrily chastising the defensive policy he had been forced to follow, Admiral Ernest J. King turned to actively probing the Nazi Atlantic supply line with destroyers seeking to slow and eventually stop the flow of men and materiel. The initial probes by American destroyers of Germany's Atlantic supply line were the beginning stage of King's future naval plans.

President Dewey was briefed by Admiral King on Operation Viking which called for a sizable portion of the Atlantic Fleet to converge and engage the Kriegsmarine in the North Atlantic, defeat and scatter their ships, and, conditions permitting, send in an invasion force of Marines to seize Narsarsuaq on Greenland where they would then move along the coast to capture or kill all remaining German forces severing Manstein's main supply artery. Manstein's forces would wither and die in the snows of Northern Canada as American would use Greenland as a jump off point to push east to Iceland and then an eventual invasion of Europe.

This plan came into quick doubt following the American defeat at Midway. Parts of the Joint Chiefs asked if risking the remnants of American naval power was wise as the Pacific was now literally undefended. King's plan to assault the enemy sounded far too familiar to Admiral Nimitz's plans for a decisive battle with the Japs and they all knew how that turned out. Should the Atlantic Fleet fail, or worse, be decimated as the Pacific Fleet had been at Midway, what would protect America's eastern seaboard from invasion? With no one to stop him, Hitler could stab anywhere along America's vulnerable coast. The opposition also cited choppy waters, poor visibility, ice bergs, and a dug in enemy waiting for them as reasons to forgo Operation Viking and instead send ground forces to counter Manstein in Labrador while continuing to build up the navy for a future battle with the Kriegsmarine possibly by mid to late 1946. The Japs may have gotten lucky, they pointed out, but was America willing to gamble again with so much at stake?

The argument came to an abrupt end when Operation Viking was outright scuttled following U-48's encounter and sinking of USS Reuben James in a chance meeting in the early morning mists roughly 50 miles south of Qaanaaq. Dewey found the risks of exposing the Atlantic Fleet too great. Better they stay close to home where they could count on air coverage and ground support. King grumpily conceded and called the fleet back to the coast while the Joint Chiefs began to plot troop movements to meet Manstein's advance. This move horrified the Canadians and angered PM King who accused the United States of using his country as fodder to protect itself. Relations between the two countries would become strained.

Sept-Iles fell quickly to Rommel's audacious thrust May 25, but his forces stopped there. With Labrador occupied and the northern coast of the mouth of the Gulf of St. Lawrence in their hands, German forces prepared for yet another naval crossing. Their goal: The Gaspé Peninsula.

SOURCE: Engels, William Rommel and the Ghost Divisions

Japs Threaten Hawaii!

7 December 1942 - With American naval forces shattered, the Japanese have cruised through the Pacific on a rampage and are now returning to finish what they started at Pearl Harbor. From bases on the Palmyra Atoll and Johnston Island, the Imperial navy and air forces have been sending sorties time and again to harass Oahu in what appears to be a prelude to invasion. Supplies have already been virtually cut off by Yamamoto's battleships with only the smallest percentage sneaking through.

The nation's nightmares have been realized with the Japs poised to invade American soil. Many point to Midway as the hinge upon which history has taken this dark turn. With American naval power crippled in the battle, no one could stand against Japanese encroachment. Just three weeks after Midway, Dutch Harbor was invaded by Imperial forces and occupied. Through an island hopping campaign, the Japanese seized Guadalcanal virtually unopposed and continued through Espiritu Santo, New Caledonia, Fiji, Tonga, and Samoa. It has only been in the past month that the Japanese turned north in an assault on Canton and Phoenix islands before their invasion of Palmyra. Contact with Australia has been cut off leading to fears for the future of seven million lives.

This comes on the tails of a Nazi invasion in Labrador where German beachheads get stronger everyday. How long before they drive south to our borders?

President Dewey went on record in a speech to Congress: "America is facing her greatest test. The armies of darkness are closing in to smother the last glimmer of democracy in the world. Though we face anihilation, America will survive. We must be brave, be vigilant, and fight not only for ourselves but for the salvation of the world. We cannot, must not fail or else the world itself shall be lost."

Many wonder what the president will fight with. With rearmament barely two years old, already bottlenecks have stifled lines of production. After the loss at Midway, Congress pressed the Dewey to increase the Army to 100 divisions, robbing expanding industry of manpower and trashing schedules slowing down our military growth. With Hitler on our doorstep, the need for men at the borders is greater than ever yet production has only recently been streamlined and fear runs through the nation that we may be too late to stave off the Devil and his forces.

SOURCE: Courier-Journal

Goering Joins the Invasion

Reich Marshal Goering struggled to remain relevant in the American campaign. When the Fuhrer had first declared war on the United States, the Reich Marshal hadn't realized the consequences of that action.

Naval power was essential for both supplies across the Atlantic and to ferry troops for the planned invasion. Grand Admiral Raeder received more and more of Hitler's attention as the campaign's planning progressed pushing Goering to the periphery; a place he was not used to. There was also animosity between the two men over the Graf Zeppelin. Raeder had managed to create a naval aviation arm; something Goering viewed as an invasion of his field. That this man might now garner Hitler's attention completely away from him was too much.

Goering was quick to offer his own opinions on the planned invasion. Yes, initial naval strength would play a part but the length of the supply line and its continued vulnerability to America's Atlantic Fleet made it seemingly untenable. The Reich Marshal offered a solution. Airfields could be built on Iceland and Greenland and, once Rommel's forces landed, more fields could be built or seized in Canada. These airfields could then be used as an additional supply line, a Luftwaffe artery which could carry men and materiel through the air much more safely and at a fraction of the time. These airfields could resupply Luftwaffe craft on their long trek while longer ranged aircraft was in the works. Goering stressed the positives of his ideas: faster build-up, less risk, and proven via Operation Wotan.

Hitler liked the idea of a second supply line, especially with the enthusiasm it generated in the Reich Marshal. The Fuhrer thus planned for the initial wave of invasion to be naval to be supported by, and possibly superseded by, the Luftwaffe's air supply.

Raeder and Goering eyed each other wearily.

SOURCE: Groening, Oskar The Reich Marshal

Hitler's American Strategy

Upon Hitler's declaration of war against the United States in October 1941, the Kriegsmarine was ordered to Greenland where naval facilities were greatly enhanced for a future assault on the United States. SS, Luftwaffe, and Wermacht forces also increased both on Greenland and Iceland with an expansion of airfields and barracks. The Kriegmarine's needs would take utmost priority in the days to come.

An act by Hitler proved incredibly wise prior to his declaration of war with America. Realizing war with the United States would come sooner or later, Hitler had signed a treaty in early 1941 with Vichy France which dealt with the eventual withdrawal of German troops and the end of occupation. One of the clauses inside dealt with a change in French naval power. That clause required the turning over of the French Fleet in its entirety to Germany with France being granted the limited rights of a Coast Guard. Effectively, it gave Hitler a navy at little cost.

As to why a build-up of German forces in the Western Hemisphere went unopposed, this was due to the isolationist attitude of Garner. Greenland, despite its declaration of independence following Denmark's invasion in 1939, was not recognized by President Garner. Once the United Kingdom had signed the armistice of the same year, they recognized German rights to Denmark's former possessions. Iceland and Greenland would fall soon after as German forces occupied both islands. All will to resist the Nazis was sapped when no support came from either Britain or America.

An initial naval response by the United States to Germany's encroachment of their hemisphere was not to be had for the remainder of 1941. The reasons for Dewey's reluctance to launch an invasion of Greenland to oust German forces are many. First, under the administration of Garner, the American military had stagnated. Not a single new plane, ship, or battalion was created during his presidential term. Second, American rearmament had only begun in early 1941. The United States was not yet strong enough to fight on one front let alone both and defend the nation. That would have to wait until mid to late 1942. This led into the third point, the fact that American naval power had taken an incredible blow at Pearl Harbor. Dewey simply did not have the ships or the men to spare for an invasion even on a limited front such as Greenland. Fourth was the weather. Estimates placed the loss of aircraft alone at 10% due to environmental conditions in the best conditions. Combine the frigid, strong winds with fog and ice and the numbers got worse. Finally, President Dewey had never contemplated having to fight on both fronts. He and most of the General Staff had believed Hitler and the Nazis would be too busy with their European conquests to bother in Japan's affairs, so it came as a shock when Hitler declared war.

With German troops just off their northeastern border, Prime Minister Mackenzie King began mobilization of Canadian forces. He also concluded a defensive pact with the United States allowing American troops to enter Canada to serve in its defense. King was wary of Hitler's men just off his shores and did not want to serve as a jumping off point for German hegemony in North America.

The United Kingdom found itself in an uncomfortable position. Though it was allied with the United States against Japan and Canada was a part of the Commonwealth, it was neutral in America's conflict with Germany. UK Prime Minister Halifax was not interested in another war with Germany. Financial ties aside, Britain's economy was faltering and her forces were already heavily engaged in Southeast Asia trying to stave off the Japanese and hold India. He had held the wolves off in '39. The last thing he wanted was an invasion of Britain. Thus Hitler's supply line from Europe to Greenland was uncontested.

The conflict was beginning to heat up on America's Atlantic Coast.

SOURCE: Oldham, Geoffrey Reaping the Whirlwind: The Atlantic War

Hitler Declares War on the United States

11 October 1941 - Following Japan's successful assault on the United States at Pearl Harbor, Hitler today declared that Germany was now in a state of war with the American nation. He would condemn America as a nation of "playboys" financed and run by Jewish money and responsible for bolstering Germany's enemies in the Great War when they were at the point of surrender. Hitler would later say:

"It is a fact that the two conflicts between Germany and the U.S.A. were inspired by the same force and caused by two men in the U.S.A.-Wilson and Dewey. History has already passed its verdict on Wilson, his name stands for one of the basest breaches of the given word, that led to disruption not only among the so-called vanquished, but also among the victors. This breach of his word alone made possible the Dictate of Versailles. We know today that a group of interested financiers stood behind Wilson and made use of this paralytic professor because they hoped for increased business. The German people have had to pay for having believed this man with the collapse of their political and economic existence.

"But why is there now another President of the U.S.A. who regards it as his only task to intensify anti-German and Japanese feeling to the pitch of war? I tell you it is economic. He has no solution for the problems of his country. Their decadent lifestyle brought a bill they cannot pay. A threatening opposition was gathering over the head of this man. He guessed that the only salvation for him lay in diverting public attention from home to foreign policy. Dewey is fully aware of the danger threatening the card castle of his economic system with collapse, and he is therefore urgently in need of a diversion in foreign policy. He was strengthened in this resolve by the Jews around him. Thus began the increasing efforts of the American President to create conflicts, to do everything to prevent conflicts from being peacefully solved. For years this man harboured one desire-that a conflict should break out somewhere in the world.

"But Mr. Dewey has gone even farther. In contradiction to all the tenets of international law, he declared that he would not recognize certain Governments which did not suit him, would not accept readjustments, would maintain Legations of States dissolved long before or actually set them up as legal Governments. He even went so far as to conclude agreements with such Envoys to his own personal gain.

"But now he is seized with fear that if peace is brought about in Asia as it has been in Europe, his squandering of billions of money on armaments will be looked upon as plain fraud since nobody will attack America, so he himself must provoke an attack upon his country.

"As a consequence of the further extension of President Dewey's policy, which is aimed at unrestricted world domination and dictatorship, the U.S.A. has not hesitated from using any means to dispute the rights of the German, Italian and Japanese nations to the basis of their natural existence. The Government of the U.S.A. has therefore resisted, not only now but also for all time, every just understanding meant to bring about a better New Order in the world. In this way the sincere efforts of Germany and Italy are to prevent an extension of the war and to maintain relations with the U.S.A. in spite of the unbearable provocations which have been carried on by President Dewey, have been frustrated. Germany and Italy have been finally compelled, in view of this, and in loyalty to the Tri-Partite act, to carry on the struggle against the U.S.A. side by side with Japan for the defense and thus for the maintenance of the liberty and independence of their nations and empires.

"Our enemies must not deceive themselves-in the 2,000 years of German history known to us, our people have never been more united than today. The Lord of the Universe has treated us so well in the past years that we bow in gratitude to a providence which has allowed us to be members of such a great nation. We thank Him that we also can be entered with honour into the ever-lasting book of German history!"

SOURCE: Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung

Annexations Mark Fuhrer's Birthday (Excerpt)

20 April 1941 - To mark the Fuhrer's 52nd birthday, Norway, Denmark, Holland, and Flemish Belgium will be annexed to the Reich. Grand pomp and ceremony will be held in the Reichstag to celebrate the expansion of the Reich and the ongoing leadership of our Fuhrer.

Already there is much to applaud. With the end of the second Great War and the collapse of the Soviet Union, peace and prosperity have spread throughout Germany. The demobilization of the Wermacht has allowed sons, brothers, and fathers to return to their families while the newly acquired eastern frontier provides room for future generations. The economy thrives and Germany stands leader of all Europe.

SOURCE: Völkischer Beobachter

German War Machine Back on the March

9 April 1941 - Hitler has recognized the new republics of Uzbekistan, Tajikstan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan, sending in German troops to occupy these infant governments against the hostilities between Russia and Japan. These five countries had been battling for independence from Russia since the Second Treaty of Best-Litovsk last year. Many see Hitler's recognition and occupation of Central Asia as a stab in the back to Russia as well as a land grab. Too weak to protect both its western and eastern borders, Russia has remained quiet on the situation. Anonymous sources state that treaties are already being prepared allowing German military bases within the new republics as well as economic concessions and more.

The Tiger Tank

Design

The Tiger differed from earlier German tanks principally in its design philosophy. Its predecessors balanced mobility, protection, and firepower. They were sometimes outgunned by their opponents.

The Tiger I represented a new approach that emphasised firepower and armour at the expense of mobility. Design studies for a new heavy tank had been started in the late 1930s, without any production planning. The real impetus for the Tiger was inspired by the quality of the Soviet T-34, which German forces briefly encountered during Operation Wotan and whose plans fell into German hands following the Soviet collapse. Although the general design and layout were broadly similar to the previous medium tank the Panzer IV, the Tiger weighed more than twice as much. This was due to its substantially thicker armour, the larger main gun, and the consequently greater volume of fuel and ammunition storage, larger engine, and more solidly-built transmission and suspension.

The Tiger I had frontal hull armour 100 mm thick and frontal turret armour of 110 mm, as opposed to the 80 mm frontal hull and 50 mm frontal turret armour of contemporary models of the Panzer IV. It also had 80 mm thick armour on the sides and rear. The top and bottom armour was 25 mm thick; later, the turret roof was thickened to 40 mm. Armour plates were mostly flat, with interlocking construction. The armour joints were of high quality, being stepped and welded rather than riveted.

The tank was too heavy for most bridges, so it was designed to ford four-meter deep water. This required unusual mechanisms for ventilation and cooling when underwater. At least 30 minutes of setup was required, with the turret and gun being locked in the forward position, and a large snorkel tube raised at the rear. Only the first 495 units were fitted with this deep fording system; all later models were capable of fording only two meters.

The rear of the tank held an engine room flanked by two floodable rear compartments each containing a fuel tank, radiator, and fans. The petrol (gasoline) engine was a 21-litre 12-cylinder Maybach HL 210 P45 with 650 PS (641 hp, 478 kW). Although a good engine, it was inadequate for the vehicle. From the 250th Tiger, it was replaced by the uprated HL 230 P45 (23 litres) of 700 PS (690 hp, 515 kW). The engine was in V-form, with two cylinder banks at 60 degrees. An inertial starter was mounted on its right side, driven via chain gears through a port in the rear wall. The engine could be lifted out through a hatch on the hull roof.

The engine drove front sprockets, which were mounted quite low. The eleven-ton turret had a hydraulic motor powered by mechanical drive from the engine. A full rotation took about a minute. The suspension used sixteen torsion bars. To save space, the swing arms were leading on one side and trailing on the other. There were three road wheels on each arm, giving a good cross-country ride. The wheels had a diameter of 800 mm and were interleaved. Removing an inner wheel that had lost its tire (a common occurrence) required the removal of several outer wheels also. The wheels could become packed with mud or snow that could then freeze. Eventually, a new 'steel' wheel design with an internal tire was substituted.

The tracks were an unprecedented 725 mm wide. To meet rail-freight size restrictions, the outer row of wheels had to be removed and special 520 mm wide transport tracks installed. With a good crew, a track change took 20 minutes.

The internal layout was typical of German tanks. Forward was an open crew compartment, with the driver and radio-operator seated at the front, either side of the gearbox. Behind them the turret floor was surrounded by panels forming a continuous level surface. This helped the loader to retrieve the ammunition, which was mostly stowed above the tracks. Two men were seated in the turret; the gunner to the left of the gun, and the commander behind him. There was also a folding seat for the loader. The turret had a full circular floor and 157 cm headroom.

Turmzielfernrohr TZF 9cThe gun breech and firing mechanism were derived from the famous German "88" dual purpose flak gun. The 88 mm Kwk 36 L/56 gun was the variant chosen for the Tiger and was, along with the Tiger II's 88 mm Kwk 43 L/71, one of the most effective and feared tank guns of World War II. The Tiger's gun had a very flat trajectory and extremely accurate Zeiss Turmzielfernrohr TZF 9b sights (later replaced by the monocular TZF 9c). In British wartime firing trials, five successive hits were scored on a 16"x18" target at a range of 1,200 yards. Tigers were reported to have knocked out enemy tanks at ranges greater than a mile (1,600 m), although most World War II engagements were fought at much closer range.

Another new feature was the Maybach-Olvar hydraulically-controlled pre-selector gearbox and semi-automatic transmission. The extreme weight of the tank also required a new steering system. Instead of the clutch-and-brake designs of lighter vehicles, a variation on the British Merritt-Brown single radius system was used. The Tiger's steering system was of twin radius type, meaning that two different, fixed radii of turn could be achieved at each gear, the smallest radius on the first gear was four meters. Since the vehicle had an eight-speed gearbox, it thus had sixteen different radii of turn. If a smaller radius was needed, the tank could be turned by using brakes. The steering system was easy to use and ahead of its time. However, the tank's automotive features left much to be desired. When used to tow an immobilised Tiger, the engine often overheated and sometimes resulted in an engine breakdown or fire, so Tiger tanks were forbidden by regulations to tow crippled comrades. The low-mounted sprocket limited the obstacle-clearing height. The tracks also had a bad tendency to override the sprocket, resulting in immobilisation. If a track overrode and jammed, two Tigers were normally needed to tow the tank. The jammed track was also a big problem itself, since due to high tension, it was often impossible to disassemble the track by removing the track pins. It was sometimes simply blown apart with an explosive charge. The standard German Famo recovery tractor could not tow the tank; up to three tractors were usually needed to tow one Tiger.

Although the Tiger I was one of the most heavily armed and armoured tanks of the war, and a formidable opponent of Allied tanks, the design was conservative and had some serious drawbacks. The flat armour plates were unsophisticated in comparison to the sloped armour of the Soviet T-34, requiring a massive increase in weight to provide for sufficient protection. The tank's weight put severe stress on the suspension, whose complexity made maintenance difficult. The sophisticated transmission system was also prone to breakdowns.

A major problem with the Tiger was its very high production cost. The German designs were expensive in terms of time, raw materials and Reichsmarks, the Tiger I costing over twice as much as a contemporary Panzer IV and four times as much as a Stug III assault gun.

Design History

Henschel & Sohn began development of the vehicle that would eventually become the Tiger I in January 1937 when the Waffenamt requested Henschel to develop a Durchbruchwagen (Breakthrough tank) in the 30 ton range. Only one prototype hull was ever built and it never was mounted with a turret. The Durchbruchwagen I general shape and suspension greatly resembled the Panzer III while the turret would have greatly resembled the early Panzer IV C turret with the short barreled 7.5cm L/24 cannon. Before Durchbruchwagen I was completed a new request was issued for a heavier 30 ton class vehicle with thicker armour.
This was Durchbruchwagen II which would have carried 50mm of frontal armour and mounted a Panzer IVC turret with the 7.5cm L/24 cannon. Overall weight would have been approximately 36 tons. Only one hull was ever built and a turret was not fitted. Development of this vehicle was dropped in Fall of 1938 in favor of the more advanced VK3001(H) and VK3601(H) designs. Both the Durchbruchwagen I and II prototype hulls were used as test vehicles til 1940.

On September 9th 1938 Henschel & Sohn received permission to continue development of a VK3001(H) medium tank and a VK3601(H) heavy tank, both of which apparently pioneered the overlapping main road wheel concept, for tank chassis use, that were already being used on German military half tracked vehicles such as the SdKfz 7. The VK3001(H) was intended to mount a 7.5cm L/24 low velocity infantry support gun, a 7.5cm L/40 dual purpose anti-tank gun, or a 10.5cm L/28 artillery piece in a Krupps turret. Overall weight was to be 33 tons. armour was designed to be 50mm on frontal surfaces and 30mm on the side surfaces. Only four prototype hulls were completed for testing. Two of these were used to create the 12.8cm Selbstfahrlafette L/61, also known as Sturer Emil.

The VK3601(H) was intended to weigh 40 tons, carry 100mm on front surfaces, 80mm on turret sides and 60mm on hull sides. The VK3601(H) was intended to carry a 7.5cm L/24, or a 7.5cm L/43, or a 7.5cm L/70, or a 12.8cm L/28 cannons in a Krupp's turret that looked very similar to an enlarged PzIVC turret. One prototype hull was built followed later by five more prototype hulls. The six turrets intended for the prototype hulls were never fitted and ended up being used as static defences along the Atlantic Wall. Development of the VK3601(H) project was discontinued in early 1942 in favor of the VK4501 project.

German combat experience with the French Somua S35 cavalry tanks, Char B1 heavy tanks, and the Matilda I and Matilda II infantry tanks in June 1939 showed that the German Army's Panzer arm needed a better armed tank with better armour protection. Superior German tactics overcame the problems with the superior enemy armoured units but the Germans did take notice.

On May 26th 1940, at an armaments meeting, Henschel and Porsche were asked to submit designs for a 45 ton heavy tank to be ready by June 1941. Porsche worked to submit a updated version of their VK3001(P) Leopard tank prototype while Henschel worked to develop an improved VK3601(H)tank. Henschel built two prototypes. A VK4501(H) H1 which used the 88mm L/56 cannon and a VK4501(H) H2 which used the 75mm L/70 cannon.

Unlike the Panther tank, the designs did not incorporate any of the innovations of the T-34: the width benefits of sloping armour were absent but the thickness and weight of the Tiger's armour made up for this.
On May 1, 1940 Germany launched Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union. The Germans were surprised to find themselves opposed by Soviet designs that could outclass anything they were currently fielding. These were the T-34 medium tank and the KV-1 heavy tank. The T34 was almost immune to everything but the 7.5cm L/46 PAK40 anti tank gun and the legendary 88 mm gun flak 18/36. Panzer III's with the 5cm L/60 and the 5 cm PaK 38 anti tank guns could penetrate the sides of a T-34 but had to be very close. The KV-1 was immune frontally to all but the 88mm FLAK 18/36.

The emergence of the Soviet T-34 was a great shock; according to Henschel designer Erwin Aders, "There was great consternation when it was discovered that the Soviet tanks were superior to anything available to the Heer". An immediate weight increase to 45 tons and an increase in gun calibre to 88 mm was ordered. The due date for new prototypes was set for 20 April 1941, Adolf Hitler's birthday.

Porsche and Henschel submitted prototype designs and they were compared at Rastenburg before Hitler. The Henschel design was accepted as the best overall design, especially because of the problem-burdened Porsche gasoline-electric power unit and its use of large quantities of copper, a strategic war material. Production of the Panzerkampfwagen VI Ausf. E began in August 1941. Porsche, awaiting orders for his Tiger tank, had built 100 chassis with some of them used for his Tiger prototypes. After not winning the contract it was ordered to use these chassis for a new heavy assault gun/tank hunter. In Spring 1942 ninety-one hulls were converted into the Panzerjäger Tiger (P), also known as Ferdinand, and after Hitler's orders of 1 February and 27 February 1943, Elefant.

The Tiger was essentially still at the prototype stage when first hurried into service, and therefore changes both small and large were made throughout the production run. A redesigned turret with a lower, safer cupola was the most significant change. To cut costs, the submersion capability and an external air-filtration system were dropped.

Production History

Production of the Tiger I began in August 1941, and 1,355 were built by August 1944. Production started at a rate of 25 per month and peaked in April 1944 at 104 per month. Strength peaked at 671 on 1 July 1944. Generally speaking, it took about twice as long to build a PzKpfw VI as another German tank of the period. When the improved PzKw VI Ausf B Tiger II began production in January 1943, the Tiger I was soon phased out.

Combat History

Tigers were capable of destroying the American Sherman at ranges exceeding 1,600 m. In contrast, the Soviet T-34 equipped with the 76.2 mm gun could not penetrate the Tiger frontally at any range, but could achieve a side penetration at approximately 500 m firing the BR-350P APCR ammunition. The T34-85's 85 mm gun could penetrate the Tiger from the side at over 1,000 m.

From a 30 degree angle of attack the M4 Sherman's 75 mm gun could not penetrate the Tiger frontally at any range, and needed to be within 100 m to achieve a side penetration against the 80mm upper hull superstructure. The US 76 mm gun, if firing the APCBC M62 ammunition, could penetrate the Tiger frontally out to just over 500 m, and could be at ranges in excess of 1,000 m to achieve penetration against the upper hull superstructure. Using HVAP ammunition, which was in constant short supply and primarily issued to tank destroyers, frontal penetrations were possible out to just over 1,500 m. It is worth mentioning that many of the penetration capabilities at longer ranges had little relevance compared to combat engagements of the real war, especially that which was fought in North America, where engagements rarely happened outside of one kilometer due to dispersion and chance for human error, which is amplified greatly as range increases regardless of the ability of any cannon. For example, while a 76 mm gun could penetrate the front armor of a Tiger I at 500 meters in tests, during real combat, a 76 mm gunner would probably never find himself in a position to actually attempt such a feat.

As range decreases in combat, all guns can penetrate more armour (with the exception of HEAT ammunition, which was rare in World War II). The great penetrating power of the Tiger's gun meant that it could destroy many of its opponents at ranges at which they could not respond. In open terrain, this was a major tactical advantage. Opposing tanks were often forced to make a flanking attack in order to knock out a Tiger.
The Tiger was first used in action in March 1942 near Makkovik.

In the Tiger's first actions in North America, the tank was able to dominate Allied tanks in the wide-open terrain. But there were drawbacks. The tank's extreme weight limited the bridges it could cross and made drive-throughs of buildings, which may have had basements, risky. Another weakness was the slow traverse of the hydraulically-operated turret. The turret could also be traversed manually, but this option was rarely used, except probably for a fix of a few mils.

Early Tigers had a top speed of about 45km/h over optimal terrain. This was not recommended for normal operation, and was discouraged in training. Crews were told to not exceed 2600RPM due to reliability problems of the early Maybach engines at their maximum 3000RPM output. To combat this, the Tiger's top speed was reduced to about 38km/h through the installation of an engine governor, capping the RPM of the Maybach HL 230 to 2600RPM (HL 210s were used on early models). Despite being slower than medium tanks of the time, which averaged a top speed of about 45km/h, the Tiger still had a very respectable speed for a tank of its size and weight, being nearly twice as heavy as a Sherman. But the tank had poor radius of action (distance a combat vehicle can travel and return, in normal battle conditions, without refueling). Surprisingly for such a heavy tank, the Tiger had a lower ground pressure bearing than many smaller tanks.

The Tiger's armour and firepower, however, were feared by all its opponents. In tactical defence, its poor mobility was less of an issue. Whereas Panthers were the more serious threat to Allied tanks, Tigers had a bigger psychological effect on opposing crews, causing a "Tiger phobia". Allied tankers would sometimes evade rather than confront a Tiger, even a tank that only looked like one, such as the Panzer IV with turret skirts applied. In the American campaign, it could take four to five Shermans to knock out a single Tiger tank by maneuvering to its weaker flank or rear armour. An accepted Allied tactic was to engage the Tiger as a group, one attracting the attention of the Tiger crew while the others attacked the sides or rear of the vehicle. Since the ammunition and fuel were stored in the sponsons, a side penetration often resulted in a kill. This was a risky tactic, and often resulted in the loss of several Allied vehicles. It took a great deal of tactical skill to eliminate a Tiger.

Tigers were usually employed in separate heavy tank battalions (schwere-Panzer-Abteilung) under army command. These battalions would be deployed to critical sectors, either for breakthrough operations or, more typically, counterattacks. A few favoured divisions, such as the Grossdeutschland or some of the low-numbered Waffen-SS divisions had a handful of Tigers.

On 4 October 1943, a single Tiger tank commanded by SS-Oberscharführer Franz Staudegger from the 2nd Platoon of 13th Panzer Company of 1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler engaged a group of about 50 Shermans around Harrisburg. Staudegger used all his ammunition in destroying 22 American tanks, while the rest retreated. For this, Staudegger was awarded the Knight's Cross.

On 10 April 1944, a single Tiger commanded by SS-Unterscharführer Willi Fey from the 1st Company of sSSPzAbt 102, engaged an American tank column, destroying some 14 out of 15 Shermans, followed by one more later in the day using his last two rounds of ammunition.

The Tiger is particularly associated with SS-Haupsturmführer Michael Wittmann of schwere SS-Panzerabteilung 101. He worked his way up, commanding various vehicles and finally a Tiger I. In the Battle of Marietta, he destroyed over two dozen Allied vehicles including several tanks.

Over 10 Tiger tank commanders had over 100 vehicle kills on their account, including: Kurt Knispel with 168 kills, Otto Carius with 150+ kills, Johannes Bölter with 139+ kills, and Michael Wittmann with 138 kills.

SOURCE: Schuster, Albrecht The Armored Beasts of Hitler's Army

Operation WOTAN: August 7, 1940 -September 24, 1940

Operation WOTAN Begins
On X-Day Panzer Group 1 was in action on the southern side of the encircling ring around Kiev; Guderian’s Group 2, leaving XXXXVIII Corps at Priluki, had disengaged from the encirclement’s northern side and had concentrated around Glukhov; while Panzer Groups 3 and 4 were still deeply committed to the battles at Briansk and Vyasma. The long advance to battle which they would have to undertake meant that they would enter late into the second stage of WOTAN. Guderian, impatient to march, decided that if the other groups were not in position by X-Day then he would open the operation without them. His formations moved forward, and at dawn on the misty morning of 9 August, the order came: “Panzer marsch.” Guderian named as his Group’s first objective the road and rail communications center of Orel. General Geyr von Schweppenburg’s XXIV Panzer Corps, with 3rd and 4th Panzer Divisions in the line, advanced up the Orel Road, while Lemelsen’s XXXXVII Panzer Corps, fielding 17th and 18th Panzer Divisions, flooded across the lightly undulating terrain to the north of the highway.

Guderian’s soldiers were confident. On the eve of the offensive Heini Gross, serving in one of the panzer battalions of 4th Division, wrote “Last evening the Corps Commander visited us. There were several speeches and then we all sang the ‘Panzerlied.’ Very, very moving. Tomorrow at 05:30 we open the attack which will win the war.”

Guderian’s first blows smashed the left wing of Yeremenko’s Front and within a day had crushed Thirteenth Red Army. Soviet counterattacks launched by two Cavalry Divisions and two Tank Brigades were flung back in disarray by 4th Panzer Division. Through the gap which had been created XXIV Corps struck for Sensk, captured it and drove on towards Orel while XXXXVII Corps swung northeastwards for Karachev and Briansk. To the north of Guderian, von Weichs’ Second Infantry Army brought about the collapse of Yeremenko’s right wing when it split asunder the Forty-third and Fiftieth Red Armies. Within two days Panzer Group 2 had driven 130km through the Soviet battle line against minimal opposition. A breach had been made between Orel and Kursk and Kesselring directed the other Panzer Groups to reach and pass through “Guderian’s Gap,” in order to begin the exploitation phase of WOTAN. That order drove Kleist’s Panzer Group 1 northwards from the Kiev ring and was to send Groups 3 and 4 southwards once the main part of their forces had been withdrawn from the Vyasma encirclement battles.

On 11 August, the first air drop was made to Guderian’s Group. Friedrich Huber in a Flak battery recalled, “Fighter aircraft circled above us to drive off any Russian machines. Then the Ju-52s flew in, approaching from the west at a great height, descended lower and circled. They roared low above our heads, the yellow identification stripe [carried by aircraft on the Eastern Front] glowing in the sunlight. A cascade of boxes and the first flight climbed, circled and flew back westwards. In less than ten minutes forty Ju’s had supplied us. Another flight of forty came in, delivered and flew off to be followed by a third wave. This is an idea of the Fuhrer, of course. Simple and effective, swift and efficient…”

Stavka’s reaction to the 2nd Panzer Group attack was sluggish and the weak tank attacks against XXIV Corps were repulsed with heavy loss. Guderian’s Group gained ground at such pace that it was confidently believed the hard crust of the Soviet defense must have been cracked. But it had not. Supreme Stavka ordered that Tula, on the southern approaches to Moscow, was to be held to the last, and the fanatical Soviet defense of the area between the city and Mtsensk brought the first check to 2nd Panzer Group’s drive.

Kesselring, who had been elated at the fall of Orel on 12 August, intended to capitalize on that success by changing WOTAN’s thrust line. Hitler had ordered this to the northeasterly: Dankov-Kasimov-Gorki. That original direction Kesselring now changed so that it marched northwards from Orel, via Mtsensk and Tula, to attack Moscow from due south.

Guderian’s Panzer Group Checked at Mtsensk
It was Colonel Katukov’s armor positioned south of Mtsensk that checked Guderian. A post-battle report, by the staff of XXIV Panzer Corps described the first two days of battle:

“The unit confronting us on Tula road was 4th Tank Brigade. They fought with a terrifying ferocity, even their crews assaulting us with small arms once their tanks had been destroyed. We overcame such resistance by calling Stuka strikes and by setting up lines of our 88mm anti-aircraft guns and employing these in a ground role.”

Kesselring’s disobedience of Hitler’s order forbidding Panzer Army Group to become involved in pitched battles had resulted in Guderian’s drive faltering. To retrieve the situation OKH moved Second Infantry Army from 2nd Panzer Group’s left flank to its right and gave the infantry force the task of capturing Tula. Guderian’s Group, relieved on 16 August, then raced for its next objective, Yelets to the northwest of Voronezh and some 160km distant. Its advance was still unsupported. The other Panzer Groups had still not yet reached the breached area.

Hitler had correctly forecast that Stavka’s slow reaction to WOTAN would allow the Panzer Army Group to gain ground swiftly and Guderian met little organized opposition en route to Yelets. It was principally ill-trained local garrisons reinforced by untrained factory militias who came out to contest the German advance. Lacking adequate training they were slaughtered.

The crossing of the Olym river might have delayed Guderian more than the Russian enemy, but Hitler’s insistence upon extra pioneer units to accompany the Panzer Groups had proved him right and six tank-bearing bridges were erected in a single day. On 20 August Guderian’s reconnaissance detachments entered the outskirts of Yelets and quickly captured the town. The leading elements pressed on: the next water barrier was the mighty Don where Panzer Group 2 could expect to meet serious resistance unless the river could be “bounced”. For the Don crossing Guderian demanded the strongest Stuka support. His Divisions moved towards the river ready to cross on 23 August.

At dawn on that day the Stukas, the Black Hussars of the air, flew over the battle area and systematically destroyed everything which moved on the Don’s eastern bank. Yelets came within the defense zone of Voronezh and was ringed by deep field fortifications and extensive mine fields. “We attacked under cover of a smoke screen across a vast, flat and open piece of ground towards the Don,” explained Hauptmann Heinrich Auer. “On our sector the bluffs were over 100 meters high but upstream where they were almost at water level the Pioneers constructed bridges. We motorized infantry crossed in assault boats, then scaled the bluffs to storm the bunkers and trenches. The Stukas had bombed the Ivans so thoroughly that they were ready to surrender…

“It is not true that the crossing was easy. It was not but at its end we had broken the Don river line. Our panzers crossed the first bridge at about 1400hrs and came up to support us. Together we fought all that night and most of the next day. By the afternoon of the 24th we had reached the confluence of the Don and the Sosna, to the west of Lipetsk, and dug in there. The panzers left us at that point and wheeled north towards Lebyedan…”

Kleist Moves North
On 12 August, Kesselring ordered Kleist’s Panzer Group 1 to advance on a broad front, “…left flank on Kursk and the right on Gubkin…to drive northeastwards to gain touch with Guderian at Yelets.” Once he was in position on Guderian’s right Kleist was next to strike southeastwards and capture Voronezh before changing direction again, northwards to create the western wall of the salient.

Kleist’s Group, like Guderian’s, had not had to cover such vast distances as either Hoth or Hoepner but its advance had been slowed by deep mud and by a surprising fuel famine. A mechanical defect in Elekta, the ground identification signal apparatus, caused the Ju transports to overfly Kleist and to airdrop their cargoes over Guderian. It took nearly four days to identify and to rectify that fault, by which time Kleist was so short of fuel that his Group’s advance was reduced to that of a single Panzer Company. Drastic shortages call for radical action and Kesselring’s solution was direct. Every Heinkel III in VIII Air Corps was loaded with fuel and ammunition and the massed squadrons touched down on the Kursk uplands at Swoboda where Kleist’s Group had halted. A single mission was sufficient to replenish it and the Divisions resumed their drive across the open steppe-land.

On 23 August Panzer Group 1 forced a crossing of the Olym downstream from Guderian, and in the area of Kastornoye the point units of 1st and 2nd Groups met. Later that afternoon the main force of both groups linked up and a solid wall of armor extended from Gubkin to Yelets. Kleist Group moved out immediately to capture Voronezh but that city was not to be taken by coup-de-main. It was a regional capital with half a million citizens, most of whom worked in its giant arms factories. As in the case of Mtsensk, Stavka ordered Voronezh to be held at all costs, intending that Mtsensk be the northern and Voronezh the southern jaw of a Soviet pincer. Those two jaws would be massively reinforced and, when the Red Army opened it offensive, they would trap the Panzer Army Group and destroy it.

Hoepner Struggles to Reach Guderian’s Gap
Hoepner’s Panzer Group 4 had been so heavily engaged in the encirclement operations at Smolensk and in the continuing fighting around Vyasma that it could only withdraw individual Panzer Regiments from the battle line. Acting upon Kesselring’s orders these marched southwards to gain contact with Guderian now driving hard for Yelets.

On the Mtsensk sector Vietinghoff grouped his XXXXVI Panzer Corps in support of Second Infantry Army which was fighting desperately against the heavily reinforced Fiftieth Red Army. Stalin had ordered that Soviet formation in order to hold Mtsensk and Tula and form the northern pincer of Stavka’s planned counteroffensive. When Stumme’s XXXX Corps reached Vietinghoff he handed over the task of supporting Second Army and struck eastwards across the Neruts river, passed south of Khomotovo and halted at Krasnaya Zara where he positioned his Corps on Guderian’s left flank. Detained by the Vyasma battles and slowed by mud, neither Stumme’s XXXX nor Kuntzen’s LVII Panzer Corps had gained touch with Vietinghoff by the evening of 23 August, but late that night, to the west of Guderian’s Gap, the first elements of both Corps reached their concentration areas.

24 August, Vietinghoff swung towards Yefremov where his advance struck and dispersed the Twenty-first and Thirty-eighth Red Armies, both reinforced by workers’ battalions armed with Molotov cocktails and other primitive anti-tank devices.

Hoth Reaches Guderian’s Gap
Like Hoepner’s Group, Hoth’s Group 3 disengaged piecemeal from the Vyasma operation, then concentrated and began to march southwards, en route to “Guderian’s Gap.”

Through the end of August, Hoth drove his Group forward at top speed. Kesselring’s dispositions for the advance of Panzer Army Group to Gorki had long been redundant, but a rearrangement brought Panzer Groups 2 and 3 shoulder to shoulder forming the assault wave with 4 and 1 preparing to line the eastern and western salient walls respectively.

On the evening of 23 August Hoth’s Group gained touch with the others and halted at the junction of the Sosna and Don rivers with Hoepner’s Group on one flank and Guderian’s on the other. “Our pioneers worked all night bridging those rivers,” said Panzer Captain Wolfgang Hentschel, “so that the advance could press ahead.”

Panzer Army Group Drives on Gorki
Early in the morning of 25 August, Kesselring, set up his Field Headquarters in Yelets and coordinated the great wheeling movement which would bring the Panzer Groups in line abreast ready to advance towards Gorki, some 650km distant. WOTAN was behind schedule and it worried him, for every day’s delay served the enemy’s purpose. When his subordinates demanded time to rest their men and to service their vehicles he could give them only three days. WOTAN’s third phase had to open on 27 August. Military Intelligence had indicated that the Soviets were about to carry out a major withdrawal and Panzer Army Group had to be ready to exploit any weakness shown by the Red Army during that retreat.

The series of battles leading up to Gorki created a period of bitter fighting, of relentless attack and desperate defense. Weeks in which the sable candles of smoke rising in the still summer air marked the pyres of burning tanks. In essence, the course of operations from 27 August to the middle of September was characterized by the Soviets being confined to the towns along the salient walls from which they mounted furious attacks against the panzer formations ranging across the open countryside and destroying such opposition as they met. In its advance from Yefremov via Dankov to Skopin, Panzer Group 1 was so fiercely attacked by Red forces striking out of Novmoskovsk, that Guderian was compelled to detach Geyr’s XXIV Corps to support Kleist until an infantry Corps reached the area. A similar action was fought at Ryazan against an even heavier offensive, supported by troops of the Moscow Front, switched on internal lines from west to the east flank. Panzer Group 1 was fortunate in being aided by nature on the Ryazan sector. The river Ramova was not a single stream but a mass of riverlets running through marshland-a perfect barrier against Soviet armor striking from the west and from the northwest. Kleist needed only to patrol on his side of the river and concentrated the bulk of his force on the high ground between the Ramova and the Raga, the latter river forming the boundary between Panzer Groups 1 and 2.

Guided by reconnaissance aircraft and supported by Stukas the panzer formations of each Group dealt with any crisis which arose on a neighbor’s flank. An analysis of Russian tank tactics highlights the difference between the Red Army’s highly skilled, pre-war crews and its more recently trained men. A post-battle report stated:

The enemy’s second attack (on the right flank) made good use of ground, coming up out of the shallow valley of the river and screened by the low hills on the eastern side of the road. This wave of machines got in amongst the artillery of 3rd Panzer Division which was limbering up ready to move forward. Hastily laid belts of mines and flame throwers drove back the T26s…The third attack was incompetently mounted and a whole tank battalion moved on the skyline across a
ridge. Our anti-tank guns picked the machines off and destroyed the whole unit…

Kesselring’s handling of his Army Group was masterly and he coolly detached units to bolster a threatened sector or created battle groups to strengthen a panzer attack. His energy and presence were an inspiration to his men.

Guderian’s Group, bypassing towns and crushing opposition, moved so fast that on 5 September, Kesselring was forced to halt it at Murom until Hoth and Hoepner had drawn level. The towns of Kylebaki and Vyksa fell to Panzer Group 3 on the following day and Hoth detached his LVI Panzer Corps to help take the strategic road and rail center of Arzhamas against the fanatic defense of a Shock Army specially created to hold it. With the full of Arzhamas on the 7th, the Soviet formations opposing Panzer Group 4 broke. As they fled Hoepner sent out his armored car battalions to patrol the west bank of the Volga, while 2nd and 10th Panzer Divisions went racing ahead to pursue the enemy and to gain ground. Wireless signals advised Hoepner that Bogorodsk had been taken, then that the advance guard had seized Kstovo and later that day had pushed on to the Volga. But Hoepner desperately needed infantry reinforcements and Kesselring sent in waves of Ju-52s, each carrying a Rifle Section. Within five hours two battalions of 258th Division had been flown in. The 5th and 11th Panzer Divisions of XXXXVI Corps moved fast to support Stumme’s XXXX Corps while LVII Corps continued with the unglamorous but vital task of strengthening the salient walls. By 10 September the Panzer Army Group was positioned ready to begin the final advance to Gorki. Group 1, on the left, had reached the Andreyevo sector and Guderian was advancing towards Gorki supported by Hoth’s Group 3. Meanwhile Hoepner’s Group 4 crossed the Volga against fanatical resistance and massive, all-arms counterattacks, and went on to establish bridgeheads on the river’s eastern bank.

On 12 and 13 September a vast air fleet, under Kesselring’s direct control, launched waves of raids upon Gorki. Stukas bombed Russian strongpoints and gun emplacements, until there was no fire from Soviet anti-aircraft batteries to defer the Heinkel squadrons which cruised across the sky bombing Gorki and the neighboring town of Dzerzinsk at will. The impotence of the Red Air Force is explained in a Luftwaffe report covering the period from the opening of WOTAN: “Soviet air operations were made initially on a mass scale but heavy losses reduced these to attacks by four or even fewer Stormovik aircraft on any one time…[they were] nuisance raids which had little effect…” The total number of enemy aircraft destroyed during the period was 2700 but the report does not state aircraft types: “…the Soviets could produce planes in abundance but not pilots sufficiently well trained to challenge our airmen…”

Resistance to the infantry patrols of 29th Division which entered both towns on the following day was weak and soon beaten down. Opposition on the eastern flank had been crushed and when Kleist Group secured Andreyevo, to the southeast of Vladimir the western sector was also firm. A German cordon, with both flanks secure, extended south of the Gorki-Vladimir-Moscow highway.

On 14 September Panzer Army Group Headquarters ordered a defensive posture for the following day in anticipation of massive Russian attacks. Those assaults came on the 15th and 16th, employing masses of infantry, tanks, and cavalry supported by artillery barrages of hitherto unknown intensity. Furious though those assaults were they were everywhere beaten back by German troops who knew they were winning: as one German major put it, “Thank Heaven for Ivan’s predictability. He attacks the same sector at precise intervals. Once his most recent assaults have been driven off we know things will be quiet until the stated interval has elapsed. When that new attack comes in we are ready for it. His tactics are almost routine. A very long preliminary barrage which ends abruptly. Then a short pause and the barrage resumes for five minutes. Under its cover his tanks roll forward and as they come close our panzer outpost line swings round and pretends to flee in panic. The Reds chase the ‘fleeing’ vehicles and are impaled on our anti-tank line…It never fails…”

But those days had been ones of deep crisis causing a signal to be sent to all units on the 17th for the defensive posture to be maintained throughout the following two days. Where possible, the time was to be spent in vehicle maintenance so that when the attack opened against Moscow, every possible panzer would be a “runner.”

Causes for Concern
On 9 September, the Field armies reported to OKH that losses from casualties and sickness were not being made good. Statistically, each German Infantry Division had lost the equivalent of a whole regiment and that scale of losses was also reflected in armored fighting vehicle strengths. When WOTAN opened only Panzer Group 4 had been at full establishment with Groups 1 and 3 at 70% and Panzer Group 2 at only 50%. To OKH the worrying question was whether Kesselring’s Army Group would be so drained of strength that it would be too weak to fulfill its mission. On the same day a memo from Foreign Armies (East) advised Hitler that the Red Army in the West had 200 front-line Infantry Divisions, 35 Cavalry Divisions, and 40 Tank Brigades, with another 63 Divisions in Finland, the Caucuses, and the Far East. That memorandum went on to warn that “…the Russian leaders are beginning to coordinate all arms very skillfully in their operations…” The warning was clear: WOTAN should be cancelled. Hitler ignored that warning. The operation would continue.

The second week of September was highlighted for the infantry and panzer forces around Mtsensk and Voronezh by a series of major Red Army offensives.

The Intelligence Section summary of 20 September reported, “The Siberian troops first encountered (on 15 September) maintained their attacks until yesterday morning. These attacks were bravely made but badly led. Prisoners stated that they had been foot marching for six weeks…There are 36 Divisions still in the Far East preparing to move westwards…”

Supreme Stavka, in desperation, were dredging the depths to stave off German conquest and launching major offensives with their reserves. Those at Mtsensk and Voronezh, made to close “Guderian’s Gap,” were the major ones. Whole Divisions of NKVD troops were concentrated in both areas and swung into action with such élan that their initial attacks forced the German infantry to retreat. But Stavka had made two errors. Firstly, so great a concentration of men in the cramped Mtsensk appendix restricted the armored formations, and secondly, although at Voronezh there was room for maneuver the garrison was equipped with only undergunned, light, T26 tanks. The fighting at both places was bitter and both sides knew that its outcome would depend upon which of them broke first. It was the Soviets, bombed from the air, pounded by artillery, and facing the fire of German soldiers fighting for their lives, whose morale cracked. Although the NKVD still marched into machine gun fire as unwaveringly as the Siberians or the cadets of the Voronezh military academies, the German troops sensed that the enemy’s spirit was gone. General Lothar Rendulic, commanding 52nd Infantry Division, wrote “Stavka recognized…that the standard Russian infantryman’s offensive quality was poor and that he needed the prop of overwhelming artillery and armor.” In the Mtsensk and Voronezh battles the Red Army’s armor and air support was eroded, and without those buttresses the Soviet infantry lost heart and were slaughtered. This paradox-initial fanatical struggles followed by a sudden and total collapse-was a feature encountered during the subsequent stages of WOTAN. The failure of the NKVD and the Siberians to crush the Germans affected the morale of the ordinary Red Army units encountered by the Panzer Army Group.

The presence of the Siberians on the battlefield was countered politically. Messages between Berlin and Tokyo were followed by belligerent, anti-Soviet editorials in semi-official Japanese newspapers. These alarmed the Kremlin, which halted abruptly the flow of Siberian Divisions to the west, for these might be needed to fight in Manchuria. The surge of reinforcements from the central regions of the Soviet Union also slowed as Panzer Army Group’s advances and Luftwaffe air raids cut railway lines forcing the Red Infantry to undertake wearisome foot marches to the battle front.

The Westward Advance to Capture Moscow
On 19 September, Sovinformbureau announced “The battle for Moscow has resumed with attacks…by the fascist Army Group von Bock…Waves of enemy troops made one assault after another…” On the same day OKH also reported that Maloarchangelsk had been captured without resistance and that German formations were within 7km of Aleksin. It concluded “Weak enemy attacks indicate that the Red Army’s resistance is beginning to crumble…”

Concurrent with the opening of Army Group Center’s offensive against Moscow, the leading elements of Panzer Army Group having spent two days regrouping and replenishing, began their westward drive. Hoepner created a strong battle group from units lining the salient’s eastern wall and sent it out to gain the area between Kstovo and Balaxna. Battle group Schirmer not only enlarged the bridgeheads on the Volga’s eastern bank but also cut the main east-west railway line.

While Panzer Groups 2 and 3 completed their regrouping, Panzer Group 1, echeloned along the salient’s western wall, was defending itself tenaciously against the Red Army’s fanatical assaults. Pioneer detachments working at top speed repaired the railway line between Michurinsk and Murom so that Infantry Divisions could be “lifted” by train to release the panzer formations for more active duties; and one Corps of Kleist’s Panzer Group promptly struck and seized Krasni Mayek to protect Panzer Army Group’s southern flank.

On 19 September, under a lowering sky, Panzer Group 2 on the right of Moscow highway and Panzer Group 3 on left, moved from Gorokovyets to open WOTAN’s final phase. The number of “runners” with each Group had sunk considerably in the bitter fighting but the Field workshops had repaired damaged vehicles and had cannibalized those too badly wrecked to repair. The first waves of Panzer Group 2 disposed 200 machines and Group 3 nearly 240. Throughout the two days of inactivity relays of transport aircraft brought in only shells and fuel. With petrol tanks filled to the brim and covered by a rolling barrage the two Groups advanced side by side westward towards Moscow. At midday the September gloom vanished to be replaced by cloudless blue skies. The Stukas which had been grounded reentered the battle, taking off from advanced airfields outside Murom, Kylebaki, and Vyksa. Opposition to the German advance, light to begin with, grew despite the dive bomber raids, and the combined forces of XXIV and XXXXVII Panzer Corps were able to advance only slowly on the northern side of the highway. The two Corps of Panzer Group 1 made better progress along the southern flank bouncing across marshland.

Panzer Group 4’s war diary entry of 21 September records that 2ns Panzer Division (XXXX Corps) was attacked south of Kstovo by what was estimated to be a whole Division of Cavalry. The horsemen’s assaults to break through the Group’s front were crushed with almost total loss, but that series of charges had unnerved many German soldiers who saw with horror wounded horses galloping across the battlefield screaming in pain. Shrapnel had disemboweled others who dragged their entrails leaving swathes of blood in their wake.

Panzer Group 1 reported minimal opposition on 24 September, not the furious assaults out of Vladimir and Sudogda that had been anticipated. 1st Group’s right-wing Corps, amalgamated with the left-wing Corps of Panzer Group 3, attacked and gained ground quickly. The frontline soldiers realized that the weak opposition they were meeting indicated that the Red Army was all but defeated. One of these soldiers, Sergeant Strauch, said “24 September. We found the bodies of a number of their Commissars, all shot at point-blank range. If the Party isn’t executing them then the rank and file are…”

The recce battalions of Groups 2 and 3 approaching Vladimir met the phenomenon of large, organized bodies of Red Army troops standing, lining the roads, waiting to surrender. The officer commanding one group told General Geyr von Schweppenburg, who was riding with the recce point detachment, that revolution had broken out in Moscow, the government had been overthrown and its leaders shot. Von Bock’s soldiers were already in the capital’s inner suburbs. A flurry of signal messages confirmed the story. General Vlassov, a former dedicated communist, whose Twentieth Army had up to now staunchly defended the northwestern approaches to Moscow, was leading a military junta which had sued for peace terms.

“Our battalion and two others were ordered from the armored personnel carriers and into passenger trains. Russian officers, many with Tsarist cockades, escorted us…After several hours we reached Moscow’s West Station and marched to the city center. Units of Bock’s Army Group were already there and in Red Square an SS detachment was blowing up Lenin’s tomb. At dusk massed searchlights lit up the flag staff over the Kremlin and deeply moved we saw the German War Standard flying at the mast head…”

The war in Russia was over. Now there would be a period of tidying up, politically, socially, and economically. The population had to be fed, the Red Army demobilized, and Russia incorporated into the Reich’s New Order. Hitler was triumphant. His battle plan Operation Wotan had won the war on the Eastern Front.

SOURCE: Reich Historical Archives