Table Of ContentFFIIRRSSTT EEDDIITTIIOONN,, FFIIRRSSTT PPRRIINNTTIINNGG
PPUUBBLLIISSHHEEDD NNOOVVEEMMBBEERR 22000011
ISBN 1-55634-565-8
9!BMF@JA:RSTUTSoY`Z]ZdZnZj
Printed in
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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
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unstoppable tank! This is the core book for
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Additional Material by Shawn Fisher, David Pulver, Lead Playtesters
Sean Punch, William Stoddard, and John Freiler and Shawn Fisher
Hans-Christian Vortisch
Playtesters
Edited by Steve Jackson Michele Armellini,
Roland Boshnack,
GURPS System Design • Steve Jackson
Creative Director • Philip Reed Frederick Brackin,
GURPS Line Editor • Sean Punch Brandon Cope,
GURPS WWII Line Editor • Gene Seabolt Nelson Cunnington,
Production Manager • Gene Seabolt Peter Dell’Orto,
Design and Production • Gene Seabolt Phil Masters,
Prepress Assistant • Monica Stephens Kenneth Peters,
GURPS Errata Coordinator • Andy Vetromile Robert Prior, and
Sales Manager • Ross Jepson 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.
GURPSWWIIis 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
BROKENCHARGES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17 Red Tide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28
1. THE WORLD The Battle of Britain . . . . . . . . . . . .17 The Manhattan Project . . . . . . . . . .28
AT WAR . . . . . . . . 5 Desert Legions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 THEWRITINGONTHEWALL . . . . . . . . .29
Balkan Reverses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 Destination Rome . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29
THEWARTOENDALLWARS . . . . . . . . .6 Sleeping Giant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 Destination Berlin . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29
RISEOFTOTALITARIANISM . . . . . . . . . . . .7 Making Things Right . . . . . . . . . . .19 Overlord . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30
Forge of the Soviets . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 THEBISMARCK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 Into Fortress Japan . . . . . . . . . . . . .31
The New Samurai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 GLOBALWAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .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
GRAYWOLVES, ASHENFACES . . . . . . . .12 The Final Solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 The Battle of Berlin . . . . . . . . . . . . .34
Britain and France Germany Reloads . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24 AStar 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 ALLIESSEIZETHEINITIATIVE . . . . . . . . .27
The Battle of France . . . . . . . . . . . .14 Clash of Titans: Kursk . . . . . . . . . . .27 MILITARYORGANIZATION . . . . . . . . . . .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
GREATBRITAIN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39 Resistance Fighter . . . . . . . . . . . . . .85 The Ultimate Horrors . . . . . . . . . .159
Standard Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40 Dashing, Daring, Do . . . . . . . . . . .160
4. T A . . . 86
Operations and Tactics . . . . . . . . . .40 HE RMOURY Making It Matter . . . . . . . . . . . . . .160
Special Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41 National Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . .161
Intelligence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41 PERSONALGEAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .87 The Air War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .162
THEUNITEDSTATES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42 SMALLARMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .91 The War on the Seas . . . . . . . . . . .162
Small Arms Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . .92
Standard Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43 AWWII TRAVELOG . . . . . . . . . . . . . .163
Weapon Descriptions . . . . . . . . . . . .94
Operations and Tactics . . . . . . . . . .44 CROSSOVERCAMPAIGNS . . . . . . . . . . .165
Special Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44 THEMOTORPOOL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .100 Alternate Tech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .167
Artillery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .101
Intelligence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44 BEHINDTHELINES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .168
M-4 Sherman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .102
The Marines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44 The Resistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .168
Panzerkampfwagen IV . . . . . . . . .103
THESOVIETUNION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45 Panzerkampfwagen VI “Tiger” . . .104 Military Missions . . . . . . . . . . . . .169
Standard Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46 Espionage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .169
T-34 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .105
Operations and Tactics . . . . . . . . . .47 Jeep1/4-Ton Truck . . . . . . . . . . . . .106 ONTHEHOMEFRONT . . . . . . . . . . . . .170
Special Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47 The First Reactions . . . . . . . . . . . .170
GMC21/2-Ton Cargo Truck . . . . .107
Intelligence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47 The Lull Period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .170
Schweres Kraftrad BMWR12 . . .107
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 GGUURRPPSSLLIITTEE
JAPAN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51 Junkers Ju 87 Stuka . . . . . . . . . . . .114 FOR WWII . . . . 174
Standard Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52 Ilyushin Il-2 BARK . . . . . . . . . . . .115
Operations and Tactics . . . . . . . . . .52 Consolidated PBYCatalina . . . . . .116 GLOSSARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .174
Special Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53 BASICTRAINING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .175
Intelligence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53 5. WWII VEHICLES . . 117 Success Rolls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .175
Savage Swords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53 Reaction Rolls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .176
MEDICALSERVICES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54 DESIGNSEQUENCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .118 Damage Rolls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .176
THEWORLDATAGLANCE . . . . . . . . . . . .55 Step 1: Pick a Chassis . . . . . . . . . .118 CHARACTERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .176
The Combatants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56 Airplane Wings Options . . . . . . . . .122 Character Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . .176
Aerial Accuracy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .123 Attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .177
3. CHARACTERS . . . . 61 Step 2: Subassemblies . . . . . . . . . .127 Image and Looks . . . . . . . . . . . . . .177
Step 3: Add Powertrain . . . . . . . . .128
GURPSCHARACTERSHEET . . . . . . . .178
CREATINGACHARACTER . . . . . . . . . . . .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
ANDSKILLS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62 Disadvantages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .183
Step 6: Occupants and
Advantages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62 Quirks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .187
Related Gear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .141
Sample GURPSMilitary Ranks . . .63 Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .187
Crew Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . .141
Disadvantages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64 Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .192
Vehicles Variance . . . . . . . . . . . . . .142
Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .65 Hand Weapon Table . . . . . . . . . . . .193
Component Modules Table . . . . . .143
New Advantage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .65 Thrown Weapon Table . . . . . . . . . .193
New Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .65 GENERALSTATISTICS . . . . . . . . . . . . . .144 Character Improvement . . . . . . . . .194
Vehicle Repair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .144
Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66 Beasts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .194
Status/Cost of Living Table . . . . . . .66 PERQFuOiRcMk-AaNnCdE-D . i.r .t y. .D .e .s .i g. n. . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..114455 PLAYINGTHEGAME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .195
JOBTABLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67 Physical Feats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .195
Ground Performance . . . . . . . . . . .146
CHARACTERTEMPLATES . . . . . . . . . . . .68 Mental Feats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .196
Water Performance . . . . . . . . . . . .147
National Advantages . . . . . . . . . . .68 Fright Check Table . . . . . . . . . . . .197
Underwater Performance . . . . . . . .148
National Disadvantages . . . . . . . . .69 Combat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .198
Long-Term Travel Speeds . . . . . . .148
4F: Forbidden Disadvantages . . . . .70 Settling Rules Questions . . . . . . . .199
Aerial Performance . . . . . . . . . . . .149
Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70 Injury, Illness, Fatigue . . . . . . . . . .203
VEHICLESINACTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . .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
I . . . . . 207
NDEX
Sniper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79 6. M O ! . . . . 157
OVE UT
Commando . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .80
Old-Guard Officer . . . . . . . . . . . . . .81 CAMPAIGNSTYLES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .158
Bomber Crewman . . . . . . . . . . . . . .82 War Is Hell! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .158
CONTENTS 3
INTRODUCTION
A GURPS
BOUT
Steve Jackson Games is committed to full This book begins a series of GURPStitles on World War II. It
support of the GURPS system. Our address is attempts to present the facts, balanced between the poles of perspective
SJ Games, Box 18957, Austin, TX 78760. when necessary, but without ignoring the often immense passions of the
Please include a self-addressed, stamped enve- moment. It provides a terse overview of humanity’s single greatest con-
lope (SASE) any time you write us! Resources flict as it played out, the nations who took its stage, and the people who
include: fueled those efforts with their lives or their souls.
Pyramid(www.sjgames.com/pyramid/). It also provides the rules and design systems for modeling the war
Our online magazine includes new GURPS with GURPSmechanics. All of the information essential to this book’s
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. Acurrent 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. Amore 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 [email protected] with “subscribe observer would feel. Those exercises are left to the individual reader.
GURPSnet-L” in the body, or point your web Asubject 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
Rules and statistics in this book are their credit. Given an average level of subjectivity, some readers with pre-
specifically for the GURPS Basic Set, Third vious interest in WWII will feel that this book contains errors of omission
Edition.Any page reference that begins with a or misrepresentation, or even of the factual variety depending upon the
B refers to the GURPS Basic Set – e.g., p. source at hand. Those should all be attributed to the author.
B102 means p. 102 of the GURPS Basic Set,
A A
Third Edition. Page references that begin with BOUT THE UTHOR
CI indicate GURPS Compendium I, CIIto
Compendium II, VE to Vehicles, or HTto 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 GURPSabbreviations, variety of roles, including his current portfolios of GURPSWWIIline
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
55
THE WAR TO END ALL WARS
Roughly speaking, World War IIbegan where World War I far to go. The jackbooted, Pickelhaubedtroops 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. Ageneration 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 firstone 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 hisbanner.
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. Ahost 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-
F S
ORGE OF THE OVIETS 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)
T N S
and the Reds (Communists). HE EW AMURAI
The Entente Powers were even less fond of Communist
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. Acivil-
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-
The Other Master Race
man Czech ex-POWarmy was fighting its way back home.
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
