The War That Came Early is an alternate history series by Harry Turtledove, in which World War II begins in 1938 over Czechoslovakia. The number of volumes has not been set. The first volume, Hitler's War, was released in hardcover in 2009 without a series title. Subsequently, the paperback edition was announced as The War That Came Early: Hitler's War. Thus far, six volumes have been contracted for, whilst 5 have so far been named;
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In this series the initial point of divergence occurs on July 20, 1936 with Spanish Nationalist leader José Sanjurjo listening to his pilot's advice and changing the conditions of his flight back to Spain - he thus averts the crash that caused his death in reality. However, in the following two years Sanjurjo makes much the same military and political decisions which Francisco Franco actually made, so that the course of the Spanish Civil War remains virtually the same, except for the name of the Nationalist rebels' leader. Only in 1939 would Sanjurjo take a significantly different decision, attacking and conquering Gibraltar (while in recorded history Franco would carefully maintain cordial relations with the British). This, however, comes after the series' main point of divergence.
The timeline again — and far more significantly — diverges from history in September 1938. UK Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and French Prime Minister Édouard Daladier meet German Führer Adolf Hitler at Munich, ready to take the ultimate act of appeasement and force Czechoslovakia into surrender. However, exactly their supine attitude and manifest wish to avoid war at any price arouse Hitler's predatory instinct. While his generals want to gain time for further building up Germany's armed forces, Hitler feels that the time to strike is now, with his opponents in such disarray. With the excessive British and French concessions, Hitler has no pretext to launch a war; however, news of the assassination of Sudeten German leader Konrad Henlein by a Czech nationalist suddenly provides a pretext. (In actual history, Henlein lived until 1945.) Hitler jubilantly declares that there is no further room for negotiations and that his army will attack Czechoslovakia immediately. Chamberlain and Daladier believe that Hitler himself had Henlein assassinated (which is, ironically, not true) and — much against their will — are forced to declare war in fulfilment of their treaty obligations to the Czechoslovaks.
As a result, World War II starts in 1938 with a German attack on Czechoslovakia, rather than on Poland, almost a year later. As a direct result, both sides are less prepared for war than in history.
This timeline can be considered to have been created by the (fictional) Czech nationalist Jaroslav Stribny, who assassinated Henlein. He is never seen onstage and the reader is given no access to his thoughts and reasoning. Posterity in this timeline would link his name with that of Gavrilo Princip, whose act of assassination had set off the earlier World War.
| Hitler's War | |
|---|---|
| Author(s) | Harry Turtledove |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Alternate history |
| Publisher | Del Rey Books |
| Publication date | August 4, 2009 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover & Paperback) |
| Pages | 512 |
| ISBN | 978-0345491824 |
The War That Came Early: Hitler's War, published in 2009, was the first book in the series. As usual, Turtledove tells his story through a suite of viewpoint characters, mostly young soldiers and junior officers. The novel follows the progression of the war between Autumn 1938 through to the Spring 1939.
The German Army concentrates most of its available forces for the attack on Czechoslovakia, leaving the Siegfried Line greatly under-defended and gambling that the French would not launch any major offensive. Indeed, the French content themselves with a token offensive, conquering some minor German border towns and later evacuating them with no strategic effect, and failing to seriously relieve the pressure on their Czechoslovak ally. The Soviet Union does send airplanes to aid Czechoslovakia, but — having no shared border — cannot send ground troops through the intervening territory of Poland and Romania without risking war with these countries, a step Joseph Stalin is not yet ready for. Czech soldiers offer tenacious and persistent resistance to the overwhelming German forces, with Prague and other cities heavily damaged and a great toll of civilian casualties; also the Skoda works and other industrial centers are totally destroyed, denying Germany use of them for its armament program in the later parts of the war. However, the Slovak Hlinka Guard stages a pro-Nazi rebellion, and many Slovak soldiers — even if not joining this uprising — fight only half-heartedly and tend to desert en masse. After German forces cut Czechoslovakia in two and are joined by Hungarians invading from the south and Poles from the north, Czechoslovak resistance crumbles, with the country's leaders forming a government in exile in Paris. A considerable number of soldiers (mostly Czechs, with some anti-Fascist Slovaks and Ruthenians) also get to France, where they would play a significant role in later parts of the fighting.
The outbreak of the European war comes in the nick of time to give a new lease of life to Republican Spain which faced an imminent collapse. France reverses its former "Non-Intervention" policy and a flow of munitions across the Pyrenees helps the Republic win the Battle of the Ebro and reunite its territory which was cut in half by the Nationalist rebels some months before; the International Brigades, which had been on the point of being withdrawn from Spain, remain there "for the duration". Subsequently, however, Spain becomes a backwater, forgotten by the rest of the world with the spotlight turned elsewhere; both Spanish sides are alike starved of supplies by their respective patrons, who need the munitions for fronts deemed to have a higher priority. The Spanish war becomes stalemated, with neither side able to make any decisive move. Sanjurjo turns his attention to conquering Gibraltar, the British enclave held for centuries on Spanish soil. Spanish Nationalist troops suffer great loses from the naval artillery of the moored British warships, but with the aerial help of the German Condor Legion British resistance is overcome and the Royal Navy ships are forced to withdraw into the open sea. Conquest of Gibraltar is a fillip to Spanish national pride and to Sanjurjo's personal reputation, and might have strategic implications for later moves of the war in the Mediterranean; however, by depriving the British Empire of a highly valued strategic asset, Sanjurjo irrevocably ties the Spanish Nationalist cause with that of Nazi Germany, foreclosing any chance of surviving in power past a German defeat. A few weeks later, however, a British task force retakes Gibraltar.[2] Towards mid-1939 the long-deadlocked Madrid front becomes active, both sides moving reinforcements there. The Nationalists aim to finally conquer the city, while the Republicans — who deploy to Madrid the International Brigades — seek to push them away decisively and end any further threat to the Spanish capital.
After having taken a minor part in the dismemberment of Czechoslovakia, the staunchly anti-Communist Polish government openly tilts to the side of Germany, considering that of their two neighbouring dictators, Adolf Hitler is the lesser evil in comparison with Joseph Stalin. Consequently, Polish-Soviet tensions grow until finally bursting out into open war, with Stalin accusing Poland of oppressing its Bielorussian minority and launching an invasion with the proclaimed aim of liberating these people (and regaining formerly Russian territory which the Soviet Union had to cede at the Peace of Riga, concluding the Polish–Soviet War in 1921). The Poles ask for the help of Germany, becoming its formal ally, and getting some military aid — mainly fighter planes.
The Soviet advance stalls, due to the Polish-German resistance (and to the harsh mid-winter conditions). Though not committing ground troops en masse, Germany finds itself fighting a two-front war, its nightmare from the 1914–1918 war — which increases the urgency of quickly winning the war on the Western Front. It also means that Germany can spare no resources to the conquest of Denmark and Norway, so the Scandinavians are left to watch the war from the side-lines. While air raid regulations and wartime rationing become part of daily life in both London and Berlin, in neutral Copenhagen the lights are on at night and life goes on as usual.
For some years previously, there had been a power struggle inside the Japanese military and political establishment, with the admirals pushing towards a naval war aimed at wresting control of the Pacific from the US, while the generals — particularly those of the powerful Kwantung Army — preferred an attack on the Soviet Union as an extension of Japan's ongoing conquest of China. The news of the Soviet Union becoming entangled in a war with Germany and Poland, and not doing very well in it, tips the balance in favour of the generals. The Japanese shift from an undeclared, low-intensity border war with the Soviets at the Mongolian border to an all-out invasion of Siberia, with the clear strategic aim of cutting the Trans-Siberian Railway, the sole, long extended supply line of Vladivostok. Cutting the line would mean that the city — and the entire Soviet Far East — would swiftly become untenable and fall into Japanese hands. Well aware of this, the Soviets fiercely contest the Japanese advance north of the Amur River and hold the invaders off the vital railway line. Meanwhile, the Americans present in Japanese-occupied China — for example, at the American Legation in Peking — are worried at the increasing arrogance and aggrandizement of the Japanese Empire. Marines attached to the legation glare at the Japanese soldiers in control of Peking and long for a chance to come to blows with them. However, decision-makers at Washington, D.C. are content to see the Japanese direct their aggressive energy at the Soviets. The US continues to supply Japan with fuel and scrap metal — in effect tacitly supporting the Japanese war effort.
Soon, world attention shifts away from the other war theatres to the Western Front, where the German Army launches its bold effort to implement the Schlieffen Plan of 1914, using the armoured striking force they lacked in the previous war, and knock France altogether out of the war. In the dead of winter a massive surprise attack is launched on the neutral Netherlands. The Dutch Army, caught completely unprepared, resists to the best of its ability, but German bombers destroy defenceless Rotterdam, and rather than have more of their cities suffer the same fate, the Dutch government surrenders after five days. Belgium, which earlier refused to let French and British forces deploy on its soil, does so belatedly when already invaded. After three weeks of fighting Belgium is overrun and King Leopold — lukewarm to begin with — surrenders. The Germans than proceed to invade France, by-passing the Maginot Line by way of the Ardennes. However, though the French are pushed back again and again, the force of the German Blitzkrieg is not as overwhelming as it would have been had the German arms industry gotten another year of producing more advanced tanks. With the war launched in 1938, they have to rely heavily on the Panzer I, a light tank intended originally for training. Also, with an active Eastern Front against the Soviets, the Wehrmacht can't concentrate all forces westwards. Much of the Allies' armaments are inadequate or obsolete, too — artillery antedating World War I and air forces still having many biplanes (which on some occasions are able to hold their own in aerial battles with more modern types). Still, the Allies are not broken, and wage a fighting retreat deeper and deeper into France. Through Dunkirk and other Channel ports are conquered by the Germans, making communications with Britain difficult, the British Expeditionary Force remains united with its French ally, as well as with some Belgian forces continuing to fight despite their country's surrender, and with highly-motivated exile Czechoslovak troops.
The continuation of bitter fighting and the absence of the expected French collapse cause disappointment among German officers, who feel that Hitler had acted precipitously in launching the war. A conspiracy of conservative officers is foiled by the Gestapo, with the conspirators executed or sent to the Dachau Concentration Camp. In the aftermath, a widespread witch-hunt is launched throughout the German Army, targeting also many officers who had not been involved in the conspiracy at all. This increases the feeling of frustration and disaffection in the German ranks, added to the increasing fatigue of the ongoing hard fighting. The Germans advance southwards, capture Verdun without the massive toll exacted there in the previous war, get further south than in the 1914 Battle of the Marne and penetrate into the outskirts of Paris. The French capital is heavily bombed, with the Eiffel Tower destroyed — as are many other private and public buildings. Still, though neither Daladier nor Chamberlain are inspiring war leaders, resistance continues with the defiant proclamation "Paris is the front, here we will stop them". The Allies also start deploying armour effectively, having learned from their German opponents and with the French command at last listening to the advice of their best armour expert, Colonel Charles de Gaulle. The German forces prepare for a decisive push, to surround and conquer Paris, but are confronted by a massed force of determined French and British troops, as well as Czechoslovaks and African Black soldiers from the French colonies. The exhausted German soldiers are stopped and the Allies — to their own soldiers' surprise — manage to start pushing them back. The Germans are in a predicament, with no strategic achievement to show for the months of grueling fighting, overextended and their flank threatened by French forces at the Maginot Line, by-passed but not defeated. The war is going to continue on two fronts, West and East — the name of the next volume.
With Nazi Germany already straining its resources for external war in November 1938, there is no Kristallnacht of Germany-wide pogroms and burning of synagogues. Still, discrimination and persecution of Jews becomes ever more intensive and oppressive. Even Jews completely assimilated in the German culture, who thought of themselves as Germans (and as patriotic Germans) are driven beyond the pale, not allowed to join the Army even when they want to (and when they had served with distinction in the previous war) nor being allowed to use the air raid shelters when Allied bombers start arriving overhead. The conquest of Czechoslovakia, the Netherlands, Belgium and Northern France expose an increasing number of additional Jews to the racist brutality from which German Jews suffered since 1933. The Jews have no clear idea how far the Nazis intend to go, but they have many reasons to feel foreboding and start assuming that they could count themselves lucky to be still alive at the war's end. Still, as long as Poland is Germany's ally and not an occupied territory, Oświęcim remains an obscure Polish provincial town, not known by its German name: Auschwitz.
| West and East | |
|---|---|
| Author(s) | Harry Turtledove |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Alternate history |
| Publisher | Del Rey Books |
| Publication date | July 27, 2010 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
| Pages | 448 |
| ISBN | 978-0345491848 |
The War That Came Early: West and East, published in July 2010, is the second book in the series. Both locked into two-front wars, neither Germany nor the Soviet Union makes significant progress against the other in Eastern Europe.
France and the United Kingdom successfully attack Germany in Western Europe, but Germany invades Denmark and southern Norway. Meanwhile, Japan advances against the USSR in Eastern Asia. There is little change in the Spanish front, and German Jews are now being forced to wear the Yellow Star — while Polish Jews are fighting alongside German soldiers.
The Japanese successfully sever the Trans-Siberian Railway, cutting off shipments delivered to Vladivostok. Cold weather and mosquitoes take their toll on the Japanese soldiers, and skirmishes with the Russians are commonplace. Despite the distance from the industrial areas of Russia, Soviet soldiers still maintain modest air and artillery superiority, though they are still inaccurate, and both sides duck for cover during artillery barrages. Japanese attacks on Vladivostok proceed much like their attacks on Port Arthur in 1905, suffering tremendous casualties for very little ground gained.
The Germans have slowly introduced the Panzer III, a tank with thicker armor and a turret large enough for the whole gun crew. Panzer IIIs prove formidable against their French counterparts, but their arrival is delayed by a lack of resources and that most of Germany's armored units were sent to fight on the Eastern Front. The Nazis have completely occupied Denmark and are fighting with the British in Norway. Sweden displays its neutrality by printing both Allied and Nazi propaganda, but Stockholm is still heavily fortified in order to defend Sweden's independence. German U-boats have to take extra measures to avoid targeting neutral merchant ships, while experimenting with the snorkel. The British and French successfully launch an offensive, driving the Germans into a slow retreat towards the French border. Some of the German military high command launch another coup against Hitler, but this, as well as the previous one is put down. In the aftermath, many Germans suspected of being disloyal, from ordinary privates to generals, are arrested by the SS and Gestapo.
Germany ramps up its troop commitments to Poland, sending Panzers and infantry to cut off the Russians in the disputed territory. In response, the Russians intensify the war, launching a full scale invasion reaching as far as the Vistula River before being stopped and pushed back.
Tension mounts between American forces stationed in Shanghai and the Japanese Imperial army. The Japanese and well-to-do Chinese collaborators drink in fancy bars, while the Japanese show off their success in Russia, likening it to the 1905 Russo-Japanese War.
| The Big Switch | |
|---|---|
| Author(s) | Harry Turtledove |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Alternate history |
| Publisher | Del Rey Books |
| Publication date | July 19, 2011 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
| Pages | 480 |
| ISBN | 978-0345491862 |
The War That Came Early: The Big Switch, published in July 2011, is the third book in the series. In this there truly is a big switch, as France and England join Germany for a campaign against Russia as the Japanese assault on the Western Nations is about to begin.
The Russians at Vladivostok finally surrender due to a lack of food. Due to a shortage of trained bomber pilots in the far east, the Soviets take experienced co-pilots and retrain them as bomber pilots. The Japanese force their captured Russian prisoners to go to a Unit 731 facility, Bataan Death March style, where they are experimented on by the Japanese. The Russians make peace with the Japanese on the basis of the new border being the current front line so the Russians can concentrate on their enemies to the west.
The Germans are slowly retreating as the British and French counterattack. The Allies evacuate Norway, leaving it to the Germans. Rudolf Hess parachutes into Scotland in a bid to convince Britain and France to join Germany and Poland in their campaign against the Soviet Union. Winston Churchill is the primary voice of opposition against this, but he dies, in an apparaent accident, after being hit by a drunk driver. The Allies agree to this plan, sending their troops into Russia to fight the Soviets. The German Army withdraws from France, being only slightly harried by a few stubborn Francs-tireurs. The Czechoslovakians who continued to fight after their country's defeat are disgusted, and head to Spain to fight the Fascists there. A few groups in France and England consisting mainly of disaffected soldiers and politicians wonder if a coup may be necessary to stop their countries' descents into police states.
The Germans and their Polish allies drive the Soviets out of Poland and into Belorussia. The Soviets suffer many major defeats, and the German army is at the gates of Smolensk by the beginning of winter. English and French troops arrive to bolster the German and Polish defense against the Russian counterattacks. The obselescent SB-2 is consigned to night bombing missions as the much better Pe-2 is now available and the SB-2 is unable to defend itself against fighters such as the Bf-109. The Soviets take a measure of revenge on the British by attacking Scapa Flow with long range bombers. The Baltic is dangerous waters for both sides as it teems with mines and patrol aircraft.
President Roosevelt alarmed at Japan's aggression, freezes the flow of oil and raw materials to Japan. Shortly later, on Sunday, January 12, 1941, Japan launches surprise attacks on French Indochina, the Philippines, the Dutch East Indies, Hong Kong, Malaya, Hawaii, and a few minor targets. The Asiatic fleet is devastated, anchored at Cavite and attacked without warning. At Pearl Harbor, the Americans have warning of the attack and only lose a carrier and a battleship, as well as some fuel storage facilities.
The Spanish Civil War is in a Stalemate, which does not change throughout the book. When France switches sides, the regiment of Czechs are sent to Spain to help the Republicans.
Jews in Germany are forced to bear a new name. Jewish males will have to have the new first name of Moses, and Jewish females have the new name of Sarah. In the Czechoslovakia, the Jewish population is consigned to ghettos.
The two historical viewpoint characters are marked as such
Allied combatants:
Axis combatants:
Other:
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