Your Finest Hour
Your Finest Hour
Join the Greatest Generation as
GURPS explores the defining event of the
20th century – World War II.
GURPS WWII provides an overview
of the war that transformed the globe,
reviews of the nations and armies in the
thick of the fighting, and descriptions of
their primary weapons and vehicles. It also
includes a modular vehicle-design system,
for tailoring equipment in alternate-history
campaigns or simply perfecting the
unstoppable tank! This is the core book for
a complete line of GURPS WWII volumes
that cover specific nations and theaters, the
naval and air wars, additional equipment,
and much more.
GURPS WWII also comes complete
with a customized version of GURPS Lite,
making it a complete roleplaying game in
a single volume!
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tions have been fixed in this version.
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FIRST EDITION, FIRST PRINTING
PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 2001
ISBN 1-55634-565-8
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Hans-Christian Vortisch
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Edited by Steve Jackson
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• G e n e S e a b o l t
Phil Masters,
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• Monica Stephens
Kenneth Peters,
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Robert Prior, and
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Brian C. Smithson.
GURPS, Warehouse 23, and the all-seeing pyramid are registered trademarks of Steve Jackson Games Incorporated. GURPS WWII, Pyramid, and the names of all
products published by Steve Jackson Games Incorporated are registered trademarks or trademarks of Steve Jackson Games Incorporated, or used under license.
GURPS WWII is copyright © 2001 by Steve Jackson Games Incorporated. All rights reserved. Some art based on photographs copyright www.arttoday.com.
Some art based on photographs from the U.S. and Canadian national archives.
ISBN 1-55634-565-8
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
STEVE JACKSON GAMES
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
The Lion Roars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
The Second Front . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
About the Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Invasion of France Map . . . . . . . . . 14
Depths, Despair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
About GURPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Lightning War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
To the Last Man, Again and Again . . 28
BROKEN CHARGES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Red Tide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
1. THE WORLD
The Battle of Britain . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
The Manhattan Project . . . . . . . . . . 28
Desert Legions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
THE WRITING ON THE WALL . . . . . . . . . 29
AT WAR . . . . . . . . 5
Balkan Reverses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Destination Rome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
THE WAR TO END ALL WARS . . . . . . . . . 6
Sleeping Giant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Destination Berlin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
RISE OF TOTALITARIANISM . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Making Things Right . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Overlord . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Forge of the Soviets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
THE BISMARCK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Into Fortress Japan . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
The New Samurai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
GLOBAL WAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
The Beast in the East . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Rome Revived . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
The Wehrmacht Turns East . . . . . . . 21
Breaking Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
The Nazis Seize Power . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Japan Decides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
The Noose Tightens . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
The Nature of Fascism . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
The Onslaught Slows . . . . . . . . . . . 22
The Sinking Ship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Gambits Across the Globe . . . . . . . . . 9
Pearl Harbor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Onto the Rhine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
The Spanish Civil War . . . . . . . . . . 10
CLIMAX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Poising the Dagger . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Hitler Quickens the Pace . . . . . . . . . 11
Red Uprising . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
GOTTERDAMMERUNG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
The Unknown War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Long Shadows of the Rising Sun . . 23
Moving Fast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
GRAY WOLVES, ASHEN FACES . . . . . . . . 12
The Final Solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
The Battle of Berlin . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Britain and France
Germany Reloads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
A Star in the East . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Take Up the Gauntlet . . . . . . . . . . 12
The U.S. Responds . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Aftermath . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
The Winter War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Total War in the Air . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
The False War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
The Cauldron . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
2. THE COMBATANTS . . 35
Scandinavian Campaign . . . . . . . . . 13
ALLIES SEIZE THE INITIATIVE . . . . . . . . . 27
The Battle of France . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
M
Clash of Titans: Kursk . . . . . . . . . . . 27
ILITARY ORGANIZATION . . . . . . . . . . . 36
The Components of a WWII Army . . 36
2
CONTENTS
Military Unit Names . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Fighter Pilot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Food, Fuel, and Ammo . . . . . . . . . 158
Small-Unit Tactics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Sailor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Gritty Heroes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
GREAT BRITAIN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Resistance Fighter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
The Ultimate Horrors . . . . . . . . . . 159
Standard Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Dashing, Daring, Do . . . . . . . . . . . 160
Operations and Tactics . . . . . . . . . . 40
4. THE ARMOURY . . . 86
Making It Matter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
Special Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
National Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Intelligence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
PERSONAL GEAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
The Air War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
T
SMALL ARMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
HE UNITED STATES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
The War on the Seas . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Small Arms Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Standard Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
A WWII TRAVELOG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
Weapon Descriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Operations and Tactics . . . . . . . . . . 44
CROSSOVER CAMPAIGNS . . . . . . . . . . . 165
T
Special Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
HE MOTOR POOL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Alternate Tech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Artillery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Intelligence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
BEHIND THE LINES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
M-4 Sherman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
The Marines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
The Resistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
Panzerkampfwagen IV . . . . . . . . . 103
THE SOVIET UNION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Military Missions . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Panzerkampfwagen VI “Tiger” . . . 104
Standard Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Espionage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
T-34 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Operations and Tactics . . . . . . . . . . 47
Jeep 1/
ON THE HOME FRONT . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
4-Ton Truck . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Special Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
GMC 21/
The First Reactions . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
2-Ton Cargo Truck . . . . . 107
Intelligence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Schweres Kraftrad BMW R12 . . . 107
The Lull Period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
GERMANY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
SdKfz 250 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
During the War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
Standard Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
M-3 Halftrack APC . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
The Internment Camps . . . . . . . . . 172
Operations and Tactics . . . . . . . . . . 50
North American P-51 Mustang . . . 110
Port Chicago . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
Special Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Messerschmitt Bf or Me 109 . . . . . 111
Other Home Fronts . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
Intelligence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Mitsubishi A6M Reisen “Zero” . . . 112
Duty or Dogma? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Vought F4U Corsair . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
GURPS LITE
JAPAN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Junkers Ju 87 Stuka . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Standard Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
FOR WWII . . . . 174
Ilyushin Il-2 BARK . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Operations and Tactics . . . . . . . . . . 52
Consolidated PBY Catalina . . . . . . 116
GLOSSARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
Special Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
BASIC TRAINING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Intelligence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
5. WWII VEHICLES . . 117
Success Rolls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Savage Swords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Reaction Rolls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
MEDICAL SERVICES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
DESIGN SEQUENCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Damage Rolls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
Step 1: Pick a Chassis . . . . . . . . . . 118
THE WORLD AT A GLANCE . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
CHARACTERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
The Combatants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Airplane Wings Options . . . . . . . . . 122
Character Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
Aerial Accuracy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
3. C
Step 2: Subassemblies . . . . . . . . . . 127
HARACTERS . . . . 61
Image and Looks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Step 3: Add Powertrain . . . . . . . . . 128
GURPS CHARACTER SHEET . . . . . . . . 178
CREATING A CHARACTER . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Step 4: Add Weapons . . . . . . . . . . 130
Social Standing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
Starting Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Weapon Modules Table . . . . . . . . . 133
Wealth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
Female Roles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Vehicular Weapons Table . . . . . . . 134
Friends and Foes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
ADVANTAGES, DISADVANTAGES,
Step 5: Components . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Advantages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
Vehicles as Cargo . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
AND SKILLS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Disadvantages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Advantages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Step 6: Occupants and
Quirks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Sample GURPS Military Ranks . . . 63
Related Gear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Disadvantages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Crew Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Vehicles Variance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Hand Weapon Table . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
New Advantage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Component Modules Table . . . . . . 143
Thrown Weapon Table . . . . . . . . . . 193
New Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
GENERAL STATISTICS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Character Improvement . . . . . . . . . 194
Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Vehicle Repair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Beasts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
Status/Cost of Living Table . . . . . . . 66
PERFORMANCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
P
Quick-and-Dirty Design . . . . . . . . 145
LAYING THE GAME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
JOB TABLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Ground Performance . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Physical Feats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
CHARACTER TEMPLATES . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Water Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Mental Feats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
National Advantages . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Underwater Performance . . . . . . . . 148
Fright Check Table . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
National Disadvantages . . . . . . . . . 69
Long-Term Travel Speeds . . . . . . . 148
Combat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
4F: Forbidden Disadvantages . . . . . 70
Aerial Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Settling Rules Questions . . . . . . . . 199
Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
V
Injury, Illness, Fatigue . . . . . . . . . . 203
EHICLES IN ACTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
Using the Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Vehicle Movement . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
CAMPAIGNS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Rifleman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Map Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
Jobs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Armor Crewman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Control Rolls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Game Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Artilleryman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Special Movement . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
Tech Levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Marine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Collisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
Recon Trooper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Detection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
REFERENCES . . 206
Paratrooper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Combat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Combat Engineer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Sniper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
INDEX . . . . . 207
Commando . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
6. MOVE OUT! . . . . 157
Old-Guard Officer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
CAMPAIGN STYLES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Bomber Crewman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
War Is Hell! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
CONTENTS
3
ABOUT GURPS
INTRODUCTION
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This book begins a series of GURPS titles on World War II. It
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include:
fueled those efforts with their lives or their souls.
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rules and articles. It also covers Dungeons and
purpose is within its covers.
Dragons, Traveller, World of Darkness, Call
Future titles will add color, and detail, and often stray from matters
of Cthulhu, and many more top games – and
military, but for now we are dealing with the war at its most fundamental
other Steve Jackson Games releases like Illu-
– men and their tools in organized, armed conflict. Despite that relative-
minati, In Nomine, Car Wars, Toon, Ogre
ly limited scope, we don’t think that we have ignored GURPS’ strength
Miniatures, and more. Pyramid subscribers
at providing portable game concepts for cross-genre and high-weirdness
also have access to playtest files online!
campaigns. The descriptions herein will provide you with suitable villains
New supplements and adventures. GURPS
for Golden Age superheroes to tumble by the score, proper defenders of
continues to grow, and we’ll be happy to let you
Earth for a Wellsian alien invasion, the ancestors to modern intrigues
know what’s new. A current catalog is available
rooted in the ashes of the Third Reich, exotic adversaries for late-era pulp
for an SASE. Or check out our website (below).
heroes to pummel, the baseline for any of 1,001 alternate-history scenar-
Errata.
Everyone makes mistakes,
ios . . . or even a straightforward military campaign.
including us – but we do our best to fix our
This book may not agree with every personal vision of the Second
errors. Up-to-date errata sheets for all GURPS
World War. Partly, this stems from the compact, iconic image that most of
releases, including this book, are available from
us have for that war – even the initials “WWII” suggest a tidy and mono-
SJ Games; be sure to include an SASE. Or
lithic affair, the stuff of “The Good War” or “The Great Patriotic War.”
download them from the Web – see below.
A more intense inquiry reveals more dichotomy than dictators. The
Gamer input. We value your comments,
black-and-white affair of one man is a worms’ nest of slithering, gray
for new products as well as updated printings of
motives for another. Revisionist and/or conspiratorial counterexplana-
existing titles!
tions challenge many an “established” fact about the war. An act of sac-
Internet. Visit us on the World Wide Web
rifice that leaves one audience with eyes brimming in tears leaves
at www.sjgames.com for an online catalog,
another with mouths twisting in sneers.
errata, updates, Q&A, and much more.
In the end, the billions of human currents that made up that flood tide
GURPS has its own Usenet group, too:
of violence defy accurate charting. One can only build the largest possi-
rec.games.frp.gurps.
ble body of knowledge, then find out where it leads. This book illustrates
GURPSnet. This e-mail list hosts much of
acts of the highest nobility without placing a halo upon them. It also
the online discussion of GURPS. To join,
describes the cruelest atrocities without underlining the outrage any moral
e-mail majordomo@io.com with “subscribe
observer would feel. Those exercises are left to the individual reader.
GURPSnet-L” in the body, or point your web
A subject so massive would have resisted our editorial efforts without
browser to gurpsnet.sjgames.com.
a similarly massive amount of assistance. The contributors to this book
The GURPS WWII web page is at
may not have given blood, but they assuredly shed their share of sweat,
www.sjgames.com/gurps/books/ww2/.
and possibly a few tears. The editor invested money, effort, and trust in
equally high measures. Those things that impress you – those things with
Page References
which we hope to delight even the most serious student of WWII – are to
their credit. Given an average level of subjectivity, some readers with pre-
Rules and statistics in this book are
vious interest in WWII will feel that this book contains errors of omission
specifically for the GURPS Basic Set, Third
or misrepresentation, or even of the factual variety depending upon the
Edition. Any page reference that begins with a
source at hand. Those should all be attributed to the author.
B refers to the GURPS Basic Set – e.g., p.
B102 means p. 102 of the GURPS Basic Set,
Third Edition. Page references that begin with
CI indicate GURPS Compendium I, CII to
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Compendium II, VE to Vehicles, or HT to
Gene Seabolt joined Steve Jackson Games in 1997 after more than
High-Tech.
a decade of newspaper reporting and editing. He has since served in a
For a full list of GURPS abbreviations,
variety of roles, including his current portfolios of GURPS WWII line
see p. CI181 or the updated web list at
editor and production manager. He lives in Austin with his wife, Lee;
www.sjgames.com/gurps/abbrevs.html.
son, Shane; and a player to be named later. He enjoys being fat, dumb,
and happy, and hopes that his sons will possess the same luxury.
4
INTRODUCTION
5
THE WAR TO END ALL WARS
Roughly speaking, World War II began where World War I
far to go. The jackbooted, Pickelhaubed troops still made it a
left off. Known prior to 1939 as the Great War, or the World
near thing – pushing to within 40 miles east of Paris – but the
War, WWI left some of its survivors proclaiming that its end
timely French use of railroads to redeploy troops solidified the
would introduce lasting peace. A generation later, its own child
lines that they now shared with the British.
would eclipse “the war to end all wars.” In any analysis of the
second war, the origins of the first one bear some attention.
The Butcher Shop Opens
Those lines stretched 400 miles from the English Chan-
Looking for Trouble
nel to Switzerland, with troops digging in and stretching razor
In the early 20th century, Germany could, and often did,
wire along their length. With no room to maneuver, the
boast of being the greatest of Europe’s Great Powers. It had
remainder of the war on the Western Front degenerated into
the most industry, more citizens than any rival save Russia,
sheer carnage. Entrenched machine guns mowed down
and a Prussian-model army that kept the neighbors mindful of
assaulting troops. Whole battalions disappeared in massive
their manners. This all remained new and heady stuff to the
artillery barges. The battered earth transformed into a thin,
Germans, who had spent centuries as a hodgepodge of bick-
stinking mud that could swallow up an errant soldier. Dead
ering duchies and city-states, often trampled over by real
comrades rotted among the logs in trenchworks. Tens of thou-
nations in the course of their real wars.
sands of men routinely died for gains measured in yards.
By 1871, the Prussian Prime Minister Bismarck had
In the east, with fewer troops fighting in more space, Ger-
changed all that, by means of a few short, decisive military
many was winning a more traditional war of movement against
campaigns. The Prussians had drubbed France, taken Alsace
Russia, despite Austria’s bumbling aid to the Central Powers’
and Lorraine as their prize, unified Germany under their King
cause. In the west, everyone was losing, and being bled dry in
William, and promoted William to Kaiser of the Second
the process. Still, the British held the trump card, because their
Reich. (The Holy Roman Empire had been the first.)
navy kept industrial Germany blockaded. Each passing day
William’s successor, Kaiser William (or Wilhelm) II, want-
narrowed the odds for the increasingly hungry Germans.
ed to emulate Bismarck’s dash, but possessed only a fraction of
his good sense. Blustering and heavyhanded, Wilhelm II
U-Boats and Doughboys
shaped a fervid German patriotism, and worried the rest of
Aware of their peril, in early 1917 the Germans began
Europe by spoiling to further cement Germany’s place on the
unlimited submarine warfare, hoping to counterstarve Great
world stage, this time under his banner.
Britain. The Kaiser’s generals realized that this would propel
Allied to Germany, Austria felt confident in doing some
the United States – a populous industrial giant dwarfing even
shoving of its own in 1914 after Bosnian terrorists killed the
Germany – to join the Entente Powers opposing them.
heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdi-
They had reason to hope that the war would be over
nand. Austria demanded that Serbia let it investigate the assas-
before the United States could mobilize. The Russians were
sination in Belgrade. Serbia refused, so Austria declared war
reeling; in March, riots broke out, and by November the Sovi-
July 28. Russia declared war on Austria to protect Serbia. Ger-
ets had taken over from the czar and sued for peace. The war
many declared war on Russia, and assuming that France also
in the east was won.
was spoiling for a fight, ensured as much through haughty
If not collapsing, the French and British were at least
demands. Armies across Europe began mobilizing.
wobbling. The Germans had been dishing out a bit more than
they took in the west, and now they were beginning to find a
The Schlieffen Plan
means to make real gains through their new stormtrooper tac-
The German army staff had foreseen fighting France and
tics. Instead of sending hordes of men forward in headlong
Russia at once. In 1905, the chief of staff, Count Schlieffen,
rushes, the Germans were training their best soldiers to
developed a daring plan to knock out France in one blow, then
advance in small groups, using cover and concealment, thor-
turn east for the more tedious task of chewing up vast Russia.
ough reconnaissance, and decentralized command.
His plan placed most of Germany’s army on its right wing
The new tactics were too little, too late. The Germans did
facing France. These troops would drive through Belgium and
not have enough reserves behind their assault divisions to cap-
Holland, sweeping down toward Paris. In the meantime, the
italize on their gains, and in June 1918 the stormtroopers ran
German left wing would give way to the French. As the French
up against fresh American doughboys. Many more were ship-
pushed east, the German right’s sweep would cut off, encircle,
ping over from where those came from, and the German pub-
then help destroy the pointed part of the French spearhead. Its
lic knew it. On Nov. 3, German sailors mutinied when ordered
fighting troops lost, France would have to sue for peace.
to steam forth on a Wagnerian do-or-die sortie. On Nov. 9,
Schlieffen had retired in 1906. His successor watered
Kaiser Wilhelm conceded that the war was lost, and stepped
down the plan that he inherited, eliminating routes through
down. The fighting ended two days later.
neutral Holland, weakening the right wing, and failing to
More than 8 million died in World War I’s meat grinder.
understand the need to retreat on his left. Thus, when the Ger-
The millions who survived it returned to civilian or public life
mans launched their gambit Aug. 17, the right wing had too
permanently scarred.
6
THE WORLD AT WAR
RISE OF TOTALITARIANISM
The chaos in the Great War’s wake opened the door for a
kickstarted the Russian economy by the time of his death in
variety of repressive, and usually aggressive, regimes to seize
1924. A host of Soviet officials, including one Josef Stalin (see
and consolidate power across the globe.
pp. WWii104-105), inherited the reins of power.
Stalin held no interest in sharing. In order to both consol-
FORGE OF THE SOVIETS
idate his own power and force-feed industrialization to his
country, he revitalized the Soviet secret police that Lenin had
Germany’s terms of surrender returned the vast tracts that
reduced in power after the Civil War. By 1937, Stalin and his
the Soviets had ceded in exchange for peace, but the new Bol-
NKVD ruled a country dotted with countless new factories.
shevik regime was not yet done fighting. An army had formed
All of Stalin’s serious rivals had been slain, along with mil-
in the home of the Don Cossacks, and in 1918 began a civil
lions of peasants, in a reign of terror spanning the 1930s.
war between the Whites (imperialists of one stripe or another)
and the Reds (Communists).
The Entente Powers were even less fond of Communist
THE NEW SAMURAI
revolutions than they were of German imperialism, so they
Those last Entente troops to leave Russia in 1922 had
aided what had grown to be a variety of White forces. This
been Japanese, a people with a recent history of lingering past
assistance included small naval, infantry, armor, and air
their welcome on the east Asian mainland.
forces, as well as war-surplus tanks, which had made a lack-
Realizing that global competitiveness required a true
luster debut crossing the western trenches late in the Great
nation-state, the Japanese had modernized almost overnight in
War. The Bolsheviks countered this threat with armored cars
the 1860s-70s, toppling their shogun and replacing him with a
that the British had given Russia during the Great War, and a
strong emperor and a Prussian-style constitution. Seeking to
few captured French and Polish tanks.
emulate Bismarck on the battlefield as well, they invaded
China in 1894, then suffered deep shame when Western pow-
ers conspired to bully them into giving up their gains. Regard-
less, in 1905 the Japanese navy inflicted on the Russian navy
the first modern military defeat of a Western power by an
Eastern rival. They then entered China to stay.
When the Great War broke out, Japan weighed its Ger-
man stylings against its long, friendly relationship with
Britain, then joined the Entente Powers. Probably no other
country profited so much for so little in that war, as the Japan-
ese took over German colonies and concessions in exchange
for relatively light fighting that cost some 2,000 dead.
The Second Reich’s collapse left Japan questioning the
model for its own society. When the 1920s opened with eco-
nomic collapse and natural disaster, political upheaval resulted.
The military solidified its hold, with the emperor as something
of an influential figurehead and the country’s small group of
In 1919, the main White army spread north from the Black
industrialists usually bowing to the military’s wishes. A civil-
Sea, a sister army drove east from the Baltic, and the Poles rap-
ian government existed, but if it got out of hand a dutiful offi-
idly advanced between them. In Siberia, a White force made no
cer could be found to assassinate any offending officeholders.
progress despite U.S., French, and Japanese aid, but a 100,000-
man Czech ex-POW army was fighting its way back home.
The Other Master Race
Despite their gains, the Whites failed to coordinate their
A deepening racism accompanied Japan’s rapid social
efforts, then fell prey to a Red army making all it could of its
evolution. This partly stemmed from the modified bushido
interior lines, transferring armies from one front to another. In
code developed in the 1870s to infuse the nation’s first con-
an ill-run war, even a little strategic execution went a long
script army with a high esprit de corps. By the 1930s, racism
way. By 1922, the Whites and Poles had been repulsed, and
had perverted the code to a merciless savagery, leading to the
the last Entente troops left the Soviet Union. The Czechs had
policy of “the Three Alls – Burn All, Seize All, and Kill All.”
also made it home, after fighting both Russian armies.
The Japanese also were reacting in kind to Western bias.
The 1894 snubbing in China had created deep resentment,
Blood and Tractors
even more so when Russia immediately claimed similar Chi-
Forswearing any foreign adventures, the Soviet leader
nese gains without European protest. For the most part, West-
Lenin set to work rebuilding Russia’s shattered economy. This
ern powers treated Japan in accordance with the Kaiser’s
required easing back on his own hard-edged Communism. His
nickname for the race: “The Yellow Peril.” The Japanese did
New Economic Policy legalizing small capitalistic ventures
not overlook these offenses.
THE WORLD AT WAR
7
ROME REVIVED
THE NAZIS SEIZE POWER
When the Great War began, Italy unabashedly bid itself out
In 1871, the victorious Germans had made France pay a
to the rival blocs, landing on the side of the Entente. Italy’s
stiff war indemnity. In 1919, the French returned the gesture.
army muddled along to little effect in the Alps, but afterward the
The French bill was no smaller, perhaps 15 times larger, than
nation profited with a handsome scattering of new territories.
the original. Regardless, Germany couldn’t pay it. Over-
During the war, an outspoken socialist war protester
whelmed with these reparations, the newly installed liberal
named Benito Mussolini decided nationalism and war were the
democratic Weimar government chose to hyperinflate away its
right course after all. He lost his party membership, but
internal debt. This turned into
gained a uniform and some new political backers.
paupers almost all Germans
Italy suffered the postwar unrest seen elsewhere.
except the real-estate rich.
By then an ex-corporal in his mid-thirties, Mussolini
The Germans persevered,
Even before the
proved an effective organizer, his flamboyance and
regaining their prewar industri-
oratorical skills outweighing a serious attention deficit
al output in the late 1920s.
Nazis took power,
disorder. Dressing his mostly war-veteran followers in
Then the U.S. stock market col-
black shirts, he formed the first Fascist party, dedicat-
the German
lapsed in 1929. The global rip-
ed to aggressive nationalism and combating socialists.
ples drowned the German
people had no
In 1921, he won a seat in Parliament. The next year,
recovery. This was more than
his National Fascists marched into Rome in a gesture
the nation could bear. As else-
intention of
far more symbolic than military. A weak King Victor
where, extremists had been agi-
Emmanuel III invited Mussolini to form a cabinet.
giving up their
tating – one such group, the
Mussolini set about turning his position into a dic-
National Socialist or Nazi party,
martial prowess.
tatorship. Suspending parliament in 1928 and mollify-
had attempted a 1923 Bavarian
ing the Catholic church by 1929, Il Duce (the Leader)
coup that earned a jail term for
enjoyed a solid grip on power and popularity by 1930.
one of its leaders, Adolph
Given time, not all Italians would admire their erratic, boister-
Hitler (see pp. WWii110-111). In the 1932 elections, Hitler took
ous Duce with a penchant for buffoonery and dreams of Impe-
a more legitimate course. The Nazis won 230 Reichstag seats.
rial Roman glory, but they had to admit that things had quieted
down and, at least on the surface, gotten back to business.
One Bitter Corporal
As with Mussolini, Hitler enthralled a significant portion
of his countrymen, while repulsing a substantial minority. A
THE NATURE OF FASCISM
brave and combat-tested Great War corporal, Hitler appealed
to his fellow veterans’ belief that less sturdy elements back
Mussolini would not be the last former socialist to
home had betrayed the soldiers winning the war. He hurled
become a Fascist, and at first glance it can be hard to find
new levels of invective at the Jews, a group that much of his
differences between right-wing Fascists and the leftist
audience already felt comfortable abusing, and one that many
Communists they so vigorously opposed. Both desired
perceived as well worth robbing. He preached the racial supe-
totalitarian regimes with the will to spread their rule; both
riority of the blue-eyed and blonde “Nordic race,” and prom-
desired a centralized state with little room for entrepre-
ised to make room to expand by expelling the Slavs to the east.
neurial capitalism; both disregarded human rights.
It wasn’t pretty, but it did strike a nerve with a people vil-
The difference could be summed up as oppor-
lainized for a war that they felt they had fought in self-defense.
tunism. While Communist movements sprang from sin-
President Hindenburg wanted nothing to do with the little Aus-
cere political principles, the Fascist movements adapted
trian import, but the army persuaded him to name Hitler chan-
to whatever got them power quickest. Thus, they picked
cellor in 1933. By 1935, no one (except Hitler himself) doubted
bloody fights with the much-feared Communists in the
the near-absolute authority wielded by der Führer (the Leader).
street, campaigned on the promise to keep the Commu-
nists from spreading more violence, and once in office
Shadow Rearmament
took credit when they themselves quit starting fights.
Even before the Nazis took power, the German people had
Communists openly preached the (often bloody) end to
no intention of giving up their martial prowess. France had
nobility and wealthy capitalists; the Fascists courted
imposed severe restrictions on the size of the German military,
these factions, intending to usurp their power at the point
for fear it would be left alone to counter a German revival.
of a gun once in control. Communists sought to abolish
This proved a great, inadvertent boon. The German army
national and racial identities; the Fascists realized that it
spent the money saved on non-existent regimental messes for
was far easier to rally people to an existing flag or ethnic
secret research on cutting-edge weaponry. Unhampered by
identity than some intellectual’s political-science thesis.
making existing equipment fit, the secret general staff devel-
The Communists could be ruthless, too, a fact the
oped a grand vision for the future of war.
Fascists didn’t overlook. Once in power, they continued
When Hitler took power, he found a thriving military
to hound the hard-core socialists . . . to the point of war.
machine. He happily accelerated its efforts.
8
THE WORLD AT WAR
The Road
to Manchuria
The Japanese home islands
never had offered an abundance
of natural resources, and as the
Japanese struggled to reach
world-power status, they acutely
felt this limitation. Furthermore,
increasing trade in a depressed
global market meant acquiring
extremely cheap labor.
China could provide both.
Having spent most of the century
with authority split among squab-
bling warlords, China had come
under the relatively far-reaching
rule of Chiang Kai-shek’s Nation-
alists by 1928. Acting without
orders, Japan’s Kwantung Army,
which had been guarding its inter-
ests in China since 1905, attacked
northeast of the Nationalists,
taking Manchuria in 1931 and
spreading southwest for the next
four years. They turned Man-
churia, renamed Manchukuo, into
a Japanese industrial park.
The Chinese Nationalists and
Japanese controlled the cities;
out in the countryside Commu-
nists were springing up every-
where. Chiang would rather have
cleaned up the Communists and
remaining rambunctious war-
GAMBITS ACROSS THE GLOBE lords first, but in 1936 the Japanese forced them
to make common cause. The combined Chinese
As the world’s nations struggled through their recoveries from the
still fell. The Japanese expanded through most of
Great War, the liberal democracies and totalitarian regimes moved in oppo-
populous China by 1938, and the Nationalists
site directions.
joined their Communist rivals hiding in the hills.
Recognizing the supreme importance of self-determination in keeping
In these conquests, the Japanese treated the
the peace, the democracies moved further toward self-rule. From 1919-22,
subjugated Chinese and Koreans with incredible
a series of peace conferences beginning at Versailles took stern measures
brutality. Though they had yet to announce it, the
against Germany – but bestowed their first self-rule on many other cul-
Japanese government already had begun to envi-
tures. The Entente delegates dismantled the polyglot Austro-Hungarian
sion its Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere,
and Ottoman empires. The White rebels might not have recaptured Russia,
in which a Japanese-led consortium of Asian peo-
but they opened the door for self-rule in the Baltic states. The British
ples would free itself of all Western influence.
allowed the Irish Catholics to form their own nation, Eire.
The idea did not sell well, mostly because the
This far-sightedness did not entirely apply to non-Europeans. France
army’s blood-soaked actions spoke far louder than
had no intention of giving up her colonies, but Britain began to speak of
the civilian government’s unifying words.
colonial administration as a temporary affair, with former colonies gradu-
ating to “dominion” status. Neither empire realistically expected to acquire
Adventurism in Africa
new colonies in the face of U.S. and Soviet criticism.
Meanwhile, the totalitarian regimes cast a glittering eye over this state
Not only did Mussolini dream of a new
of affairs, and realized that the world had been left filled with small nations,
Roman Empire, he sincerely believed that the
none too powerful in and of itself . . . The liberal powers could expect to
occasional war improved the moral fiber.
profit by trade, in what had become a fully knitted global economy. The old
Abyssinia (now Ethiopia), which lay between
methods of military conquest and subjugation did more to stir the blood of
two Italian colonies in the horn of Africa, seemed
men who had come to power preaching of duty and death and honor.
to offer a promising candidate for both purposes.
THE WORLD AT WAR
9
