1941         


The War in the West began earnestly in 1940. In April, Germany took the neutral countries of Denmark and Norway and occupied them. In May, neutral Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg were overrun, as was France. Neville Chamberlain was forced to step down in favour of Winston Churchill, who had in the past strongly opposed the “appeasement” policy of the British and French governments. The fall of France could not be prevented by the sending of British troops, who had to make a narrow escape at the port of Dunkirk. France was forced into a separate peace with Germany. Large parts of France were occupied by Germany. A French government that was under similar restrictions as the Peace Treaties forced on Germany in 1919 was to reside in the unoccupied part of France in Vichy under the leadership of Marshall Petain. It appealed to the anti-Republican and reactionary sentiment in the French Nation (the very word Republic was done away with) and it would collaborate with Germany and become its accomplice in her many breaches of the International rules of war and occupation. The Germans broke their new treaty with France by annexing Alsace and Lorraine. The circumference of the territory held by the Axis Powers are now represented by a line of grey dots on the map.

Italy as always trying to emulate the German successes attacked Greece but was not very successful. Germany was forced to come to its help but first had to overrun Yugoslavia, where a pro-German Regent had recently been ousted by a pro-Allied army and a pro-Allied King. Yugoslavia was carved up. The “states” of Serbia and Croatia were formed, the latter becoming a Kingdom under an absentee Italian Prince, who “reigned” as King Tomislav II for a few years. Montenegro became an Italian "Protectorate" and the rest of Yugoslavia was ceded to the neighbouring German allies. Greece was occupied. All occupied countries with the exception of Denmark joined the war on the Allied side. An air-battle for control of British air space, the “Battle of Britain” was however lost by the Germans. Britain now stood alone under its new Prime-Minister Winston Churchill.