Ok, it’s the beginning of 1942, and for the Allies, things are looking, well, kinda bleak. France, one of the great powers of the world as recently as 1939, is now occupied by the Nazis, who are in total control of the north and west of France, and who have installed a puppet government in the south and east of France. Great Britain is alone in Europe, and it very dependent on imported goods, but Nazis are threatening British shipping in the Atlantic with both surface boats and U-boats. The Soviet Union has lost almost a million square miles of territory to Nazi Germany, and the Germans are at the doors of Moscow and Leningrad, and in the south have captured much of the Ukraine.

The Italians, with German help, have captured Greece and Cyprus, and are also trying to gain territory in North Africa, pushing towards British-held Egypt and the vitally important Suez Canal.

British naval control of the Mediterranean and the North Sea is threatened by German air power and U-boats.

In the Pacific, the United States has lost its entire battleship fleet, though some will be back in action before the end of the year. The Japanese have captured the US territory of the Philippines, and the British holdings of Singapore and Hong Kong, and are threatening Indonesia and Australia. The Japanese navy has also driven the British navy out of the Pacific, and now the only area that the Royal navy is really in control of is the Indian Ocean.

So that’s a quick summary of how things are looking for the Allies. Looks pretty grim, actually. Let’s take a closer look at each area of the world, and just how close the Axis is to completely taking over the world.

Last episode, we left the German soldiers freezing off ihr Gesäß in the the early, harsh Russian winter of 1941. But there was more going on in the winter of 1941 than just frozen Germans. I mentioned back in episode 113, which was about the rise of Hitler and fascism, that the Germans had made a pact with Italy and with Japan. Both the Germans and the Empire of Japan regarded the Soviet Union as their most dangerous potential enemy, which is why they signed a treaty. This is actually going to work against them here in just a minute.

Last episode, I said Hitler might have done better in the long run if he hadn’t had Germany attack Great Britain. Well, after that mistake, he decides to double down, and make an even bigger mistake. He is about to fall victim to one of the classic blunders - never get involved in a land war in Asia! Well, technically, he doesn’t get all the way to Asia, but he was trying to.

Anyway, it’s going to be an even bigger mistake than not continuing to bomb the RAF bases in south and east England. And it’s going to lead to the biggest invasion in human history, the deadliest battle in human history, and the biggest tank battle in human history. And, the deadliest overall campaign in human history. So many people are about to die.

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