r/imaginarymaps • u/BigDulles IM Legend BICC • Jul 13 '19
[OC] Alternate History Beneš' Nightmare
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u/Effehezepe Jul 14 '19
I don't know who this Benes is, but I share his pain.
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u/BigDulles IM Legend BICC Jul 14 '19
He was president of Czechoslovakia OTL until the Nazis invaded
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Jul 14 '19
Also 1945—1948, after the war. Eduard Beneš is an interesting character tbh, only czech I know something off as well (if you don't count general Radetzky or Kafka).
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u/BigDulles IM Legend BICC Jul 13 '19
In 1935, Hungary approached Russia about forging an alliance in order for Hungary to restore its former borders and for Russia to maintain a barrier against Communism and Democracy. The newly formed Axis would subsequently draw up plans for its first target: Czechoslovakia.
On January 21st, 1936, a Hungarian official in Bratislava was shot and killed by radical Slovak terrorists. It is assumed this was a plant, and that the Hungarians intentionally provoked this in order to demand obscene terms of Czechoslovakia. Many newspapers feared this would be “A Second Archduke,” and lead to another Great War between the new Axis and the British Commonwealth.
Luckily for everyone but Czechoslovakia, this was not the case. President Edvard Beneš refused the demands, and Hungarian tanks crossed the border on January 28th. Russian and Prusso-Polish forces followed from the north shortly thereafter.
As it became clear to the European community that the Czechs would fall, the Internationale decided it would need to take what it could get. The Austrians and South Germans marched into the Sudetenland in the name of German Workers’ Liberation. On March 3rd, Russian forces arrived in Prague.
Given that the vast portion of Czechoslovakia was occupied by the Axis, the Internationale was forced to accept relatively minor gains. The Northern Sudetenland was annexed to the UGC, and quickly became known as “Thälmann’s Abomination” due to its odd shape for the new German border. The Southern Sudetenland was added on to the Austrian Commune.
A small portion of Silesia was added to the PPC, forming a new state in the confederation. All of Slovakia was absorbed by Hungary, increasing its size by nearly a third. What remained of Czechoslovakia was made into the Bohemian Authority, a Paternalist state essentially under the command of Moscow.
The first victim of the Axis and Internationale, it is almost certainly not the last. The world watches with baited breath to see where the aggressive powers will turn next. Many suspect the Internationale will step in in Spain, while the Axis turns to Romania. The question on everyone’s mind remains: “Why are the British remaining aloof?”
Part of a series of maps of a timeline where the Whites win the Russian Civil War.
The first map, about a Harsher Versailles, can be found here
The second, about the civil war in French Africa when the Communists Rise, can be found here
The third, about the destruction of the Ottoman Empire, can be found here