Chapter Summaries

Benito complained that the Warsaw Treaty had left Italy with Libya but not Tunisia, while Adolf explained that the treaty was a ploy to mislead Britain and France rather than a lasting settlement. Benito was reassured that Germany would keep pursuing expansion, as Italy depended on German ambitions to create opportunities for its own advancement.

• Benito told Adolf that Libya was a poor substitute for Tunisia and lamented that Italy had not gained control of Tunisia.
• Adolf argued that Britain and France would never surrender Tunisia through negotiations and that only war could secure it.
• Adolf said the Warsaw Treaty was a scrap of paper meant to confuse Britain and France while Germany expanded its armaments.
• Benito felt reassured when Adolf said Germany had never cared about the treaty's terms and viewed its concessions as an unexpected benefit.
• Benito worried that Germany might otherwise choose peaceful development, leaving Italy with few options because of its limited land, resources, and markets.

Benito persuaded Adolf that the Axis powers should target Britain and France before confronting the Soviet Union, and Adolf revealed that Germany planned to use the Eastern European military exercise to disguise preparations for a surprise attack on France. Benito agreed to prepare Italy secretly, leaving the two leaders committed to a deception campaign against France.

• Benito argued that Italy would benefit more from Germany attacking France and Britain than from a war against the distant Soviet Union.
• Adolf agreed that the Axis powers needed to avoid a two-front war and discussed controlling strategic routes such as the Suez Canal and the Strait of Gibraltar.
• Adolf revealed that the Warsaw Conference and the joint military exercise in Eastern Europe were intended to conceal preparations for a surprise attack on France.
• Benito offered to prepare Italy to attack France alongside Germany, and Adolf told him to move troops covertly while publicly appearing ready to fight the Soviet Union.
• Adolf and Benito agreed to keep their plan secret and make France believe the Axis powers would attack the Soviet Union.

Adolf watched a vast Axis military exercise on the Polish-Soviet border as Soviet officers feared Germany might use it as cover for an invasion. Meanwhile, Germany secretly moved military supplies to Metz, leaving railway workers to suspect war was approaching without knowing whether France or the Soviet Union was the target.

• Battalion Commander Kacheryev and his company commander watched the Axis exercise and worried that Germany might suddenly attack Soviet Union.
• Kacheryev warned that Germany’s growing military strength and hostility made the exercise a serious threat, and ordered close observation and readiness for war.
• Germany used the eastern-front tensions to draw attention away while its forces and supplies gathered quietly in Western Europe.
• A freight train carrying tanks, artillery, and ammunition arrived at Metz railway station, where German soldiers unloaded the equipment.
• Old Peter told a younger railway worker that the buildup might signal war and guessed Germany was reinforcing its western border in case France attacked while it fought Soviet Union.

French Second Bureau agents in Metz gathered evidence that Germany was reinforcing its western military hub, but team leader Tré questioned whether Germany planned to attack France or the Soviet Union. Baudel urged him to report the danger to France, leaving the agents facing an uncertain German strategy.

• At a railway yard in Metz, old Peter warned that war’s costs had been forgotten, while a young worker argued Germany should defeat France and seize resources.
• German Defense Force personnel unloaded supplies and moved them to Metz’s barracks and warehouses, strengthening the city behind the Siegfried Line.
• Tré received Baudel’s report that German troops and supplies were gathering in Metz and that controls had tightened.
• Tré noted that Germany’s massive exercises and troop buildup in Eastern Europe made its intended target unclear.
• Baudel urged Tré to report that Germany might attack France and argued that France should prepare rather than gamble on German intentions.

Tré sent Germany intelligence back to Paris, where Colonel Douss warned Bonnel and General Gamelin that Germany’s western buildup threatened France. Gamelin dismissed his concerns, trusting the Warsaw Pact and the Maginot Line.

• Tré took Baudel’s advice and began telegramming France the intelligence gathered about Germany.
• Douss told Bonnel that Germany’s peace guarantees were untrustworthy and that its growing western forces signaled ambitions against France.
• Douss argued that France’s fear of war, economic weakness, and military decline made it unlikely to challenge Germany, even if Germany fought the Soviet Union.
• Douss brought intelligence of Germany’s western buildup to General Gamelin and warned that it might precede an attack on France.
• Gamelin dismissed Douss’s warning, citing the Warsaw Pact, the Soviet threat, and the Maginot Line.

France prepared to hand French Libya over to Italy while avoiding any diplomatic complications. Governor Deponti and Secretary Clyde expected Libyan residents and resistance groups to make Italy’s takeover difficult.

• Governor Deponti ordered his staff to pack up important belongings and leave local administrative documents behind.
• Secretary Clyde proposed destroying the documents to hinder Italy, but Deponti rejected the idea and reminded him Paris had ordered a smooth handover.
• Deponti told Clyde that local Libyans would resist Italian rule, and Clyde pointed out that resistance groups fleeing Italian Libya had also taken refuge in French Libya.
• Clyde predicted that the local residents and resistance groups would clash with the Italians after France withdrew.

Tripoli formally came under Italian rule as Cyrenaica became a province directly administered by the Kingdom of Italy. High Commissioner Santini and Director Derna discussed why Italy kept the underdeveloped, resistant Tripoli Colony separate from prosperous Cyrenaica, leaving the two regions under different administrations.

• An Italian fleet docked at Tripoli, the French flag was lowered, and Massimi took office as Governor of Tripoli.
• Italian Libya was abolished and became Cyrenaica Province, while Benghazi held celebrations and workers replaced the Governor's Mansion sign.
• High Commissioner Santini reflected on losing his colonial governor's authority and on Italy's decision not to merge Tripoli with Cyrenaica.
• Director Derna explained that Cyrenaica's economic strength, Italianization, and Tripoli's expected resistance made unification difficult.
• Santini noted that deserts separated the regions, while the North African Railway had made Cyrenaica more valuable and economically distinct from Tripoli.

The chapter explains how the North African Railway benefited East Africa and Italy while strengthening Cyrenaica’s case for separate provincial status. Governor Massimi took over Tripoli believing Italy could manage it easily, but the intelligence he received revealed the mess awaiting him.

• The North African Railway gave East African produce faster access to Europe and promised economic and strategic gains for East Africa and Italy.
• Santini argued that Cyrenaica could prosper independently of Tripoli, while Minister Derna credited the railway with earning the province greater attention from Italy.
• Santini said Italy’s rule should center on Rome, not on a unified Libya, and warned that Tripoli’s problems would burden anyone who took responsibility for it.
• Governor Massimi smugly saw off Deponti, who warned that Italy’s ability to take over Libya smoothly remained uncertain.
• Massimi dismissed Antal’s suggestion to investigate a French plot but ordered Tripoli’s intelligence gathered and delivered to his office.
• After reading the intelligence, Massimi gained a preliminary understanding of the mess in Tripoli.

After Italy took over Tripoli from France, Governor Massimi and Vice Governor Antal scrambled to secure the city and gather intelligence, while Cyrenaica Restoration Army contacts saw the change as a chance to unite with Tripoli’s local nationalists against Italy. The chapter left Najjar resentful of Tripoli’s resistance leaders but facing a new common enemy that might force cooperation.

• Governor Massimi recognized that Italy had almost no local support and ordered his people to stay together while requesting troops and intelligence from the mainland and Cyrenaica Province.
• Antal urged Massimi to seek help from Cyrenaica’s border garrisons and the Military Intelligence Bureau, and Massimi agreed to suspend other work until Tripoli was secure.
• Samir told Najjar that the French had abruptly withdrawn and handed Tripoli to Italy, leaving the city’s resistance groups unprepared for the transfer.
• Samir argued that Italy’s occupation could unite Cyrenaica’s resistance organizations with Tripoli’s National Independence Organization against a shared enemy.
• Najjar condemned Tripoli’s local forces for previously refusing cooperation and allowing Cyrenaicans to suffer under Italian rule.

Najjar and Samir discussed the Cyrenaican resistance’s need to cooperate with Tripoli’s local powers, while warning against provoking Italy or East Africa. As the Karamani family weighed its future under Italian rule, Ali proposed using Ottoman ties to negotiate with Italy.

• Najjar agreed to meet Tripoli’s local powers, though he doubted they understood the Italian threat, and told Samir to keep gathering intelligence on the Italians and the Governor’s Mansion.
• Samir warned Najjar that East Africa was even more dangerous than Italy, and Najjar left to seek support from Tripoli’s local powers.
• Hussein told the Karamani family that France would withdraw and Tripoli would become an Italian colony, forcing them to consider how to preserve the family.
• Ali suggested cooperating with Italy to regain some of the family’s former influence, while Hussein and a family elder urged caution and discussed sending relatives and assets to the Ottoman Empire or France.
• Hussein favored the Ottoman Empire as the family’s main refuge, and Ali proposed using its ties with Italy’s Ottoman ally to negotiate with the Italians.

Tripoli's families considered how to negotiate with Italy, while Governor Massimi planned to use and eventually eliminate them as Italy turned the colony into its Fourth Coast. In East Africa, Ernst and Crown Prince Friedrich weighed Italy and Germany's expansion before discussing delays to the Central Asia Highway, which Ernst wanted completed to support the Far East Empire.

• Clan Chief Hussein backed Ali's proposal to contact Italy and, if talks failed, seek Ottoman mediation and consult Tripoli's other local forces.
• Governor Massimi told Antal that Italy would temporarily cooperate with Tripoli's families before removing them once it had enough strength to make the colony part of Italy.
• Crown Prince Friedrich warned Ernst that Germany's potential expansion around the Red Sea could threaten East African interests, while Ernst dismissed Italy as a lesser concern.
• Ernst asked about the Central Asia Highway, and Crown Prince Friedrich said Soviet delays meant it would probably not be completed until the middle of the next year.
• Ernst criticized the Soviet Union for slowing construction, especially on the highway's northern section, despite the project's benefits to Soviet trade and security.

Ernst and Crown Prince Friedrich discussed East Africa’s plans for the Central Asia Highway and Germany’s looming war, which would shape Japan’s ability to act in the Far East. In Strasbourg, a bomb hidden in a cart exploded in the crowded central square, leaving the city in chaos.

• Ernst said the Central Asia Highway should be largely complete by the beginning of the next year and operational by midyear so East Africa could intervene in the Far East war.
• Crown Prince Friedrich said Germany had nearly finished its military preparations and would likely begin a new war after digesting the gains from the Warsaw Conference.
• The chapter explained that Adolf’s government relied on domestic and foreign loans to fund Germany’s military buildup and that German creditors expected their interests to be protected.
• On February 12, 1939, an ordinary-looking man pushed a covered cart into Strasbourg’s crowded central square and walked away.
• An elderly German man waited beside the unattended cart and leaned toward it after hearing a ticking sound beneath the burlap.
• The cart exploded, killing the elderly man and several passersby and plunging Strasbourg Square into panic.

After a bombing in Strasbourg, Police Chief Mortlett investigated the attack before the Security Bureau took over, claiming it involved enemy spies. Section Chief Klin revealed that the suspect, Sterling, was working with him to stage a fake interrogation and create propaganda implicating France.

• Vital told Police Chief Mortlett that a man in dark clothes had left a covered wooden cart in the square before it exploded, killing an elderly man and four other passersby.
• Mortlett gathered witness descriptions, had a sketch made, and ordered a manhunt and an investigation into the explosives.
• Section Chief Klin told Mortlett that the bombing involved enemy spies, and Mortlett handed the case over to the Security Bureau after receiving approval from his superiors.
• Mortlett questioned the spy motive but let the Security Bureau handle the case, while the bomber remained at large.
• Klin met the captured-looking Sterling in the Security Bureau's interrogation room and assured him of payment and a new identity with East African nationality.
• Sterling and Klin acted out a filmed interrogation in which Sterling claimed he had avenged his French compatriots, and Klin approved the staged performance.

Section Chief Klin had Sterling poisoned after using him as a scapegoat for the Strasbourg bombing, then the German Security Bureau publicized a story blaming a French-backed terrorist group. Strasbourg Police Director Mortlett feared the staged incident was a fuse for war between Germany and France.

• Klin arranged for Sterling to be taken to the lounge while privately ordering everyone to keep the affair secret and declaring that Sterling could not be allowed to live.
• A German agent poisoned Sterling’s coffee, and Klin entered as Sterling convulsed and instructed the agent to arrange a decent burial after his death.
• The Strasbourg Police Department announced that Sterling had carried out the bombing as a member of the French Lorraine Recapture Association, and Director Mortlett repeated the Security Bureau’s claims to reporters.
• Mortlett said the Security Bureau would release a recording of Sterling’s interrogation, then retreated to his office and told his secretary that the bombing was a pretext for a possible war with France.

German media blamed France for the Strasbourg Bombing Incident, while analyst Manheimer also suggested the Soviet Union and other enemies might be behind it. As French officials argued over Germany’s intentions and the failure of appeasement, Daladier ordered renewed pressure on Germany and called for Britain to prepare for the worst.

• Kohl and his family listened to German radio commentators discuss the Strasbourg Bombing Incident, and Kohl feared the accusations could lead to war.
• Manheimer called France the prime suspect but argued that the Soviet Union or other enemies could have backed Sterling and the bombing.
• Kohl’s wife worried about war, and Kohl decided his family should move away from the border.
• The French government protested to Germany and contacted Britain, but Germany said the investigation was still ongoing.
• Reynaud and Mandel condemned Bonnet’s appeasement policy, while Bonnet argued France could not win a war against Germany.
• Daladier told Bonnet to pressure Germany again and urged Britain to prepare to act if Germany went to war.

Adolf’s government used the staged Strasbourg Bombing Incident to demand that France surrender the alleged culprits, turning the dispute into an ultimatum and bringing Europe closer to war. The chapter ended with Germany declaring that it would use force if France failed to comply.

• French leaders Reynaud, Bonnet, and Daladier argued over France’s past policy toward Germany and the political constraints that had weakened its response.
• Adolf, Hermann, and Halder discussed Germany’s plans, assessed the expected war against France, and considered the roles of Italy, Spain, and the Soviet Union.
• Germany’s media blamed France for the Strasbourg Bombing Incident, inflaming public opinion in both countries and prompting European nations to react.
• On February 17, Daladier denied France’s involvement and called for calm, while Chamberlain and other countries supported restraint.
• On February 18, Adolf rejected France’s denial, demanded that it hand over the alleged culprits, and issued an ultimatum threatening force.

After Germany declared war on France, Britain committed to supporting France and sent troops across the Channel, while French leaders prepared for conflict and civilians braced for defeat. Germany formally delivered declarations of war to Britain and France on February 25, 1939.

• France mobilized its forces along the German border and Maginot Line, reinforced its borders with Italy and Spain, and sought troops from its colonies.
• Chamberlain and Halifax agreed that Britain had to stand with France, and Chamberlain promised military support if Germany attacked.
• On February 20, 1939, Britain publicly backed France and sent troops into the country, while Daladier called on the French people to defend their nation.
• In a Paris beer hall, workers Lyon and Hilfer lamented France's decline and Germany's growing strength, but accepted that they would have to fight.
• Germany formally delivered declarations of war to Britain and France on February 25, 1939.

After Germany declared war on Britain and France, Japan's military leaders debated whether to attack the Soviet Union or seize resources in Southeast Asia. The meeting ended with most army and navy officers favoring Southern Advancement, leaving Itagaki Seishiro's Northern Advancement proposal defeated.

• Itagaki Seishiro argued that Japan should attack Soviet forces in the Far East and remove the threat to its rear.
• Yonei Mitsumasa opposed a war with the Soviet Union and urged Japan to seize British and French colonies in the Nanyang region for resources.
• Nagano Osami, Yamamoto Isoroku, Yoshida Zengo, and other naval officers backed Yonei Mitsumasa's Southern Advancement proposal.
• Umezu Yoshijiro supported prioritizing defense against the Soviet Union while avoiding escalation, and Sugiyama Gen favored Southeast Asian infiltration after stabilizing the Far East front.
• Tojo Hideki called for abandoning Northern Advancement and pursuing Southern Advancement, leaving most military leaders against Itagaki Seishiro's plan.

Japan’s military leaders debated expanding the war south and considered seizing the Dutch East Indies for its resources and strategic waterways. Itagaki warned that East Africa might intervene, but Yonei argued that Japan would have to confront East Africa in the Nanyang region eventually.

• Itagaki Seishiro accepted that Japan should prioritize the Far East battlefield while gathering intelligence on the Nanyang region.
• Yonei Mitsumasa proposed annexing the Netherlands’ East Indies, citing its oil, rubber, food, and other strategic resources.
• Yonei identified Sumatra’s oil fields and control of the Strait of Malacca and Sunda Strait as key economic and military prizes.
• Itagaki Seishiro warned that East Africa’s ties to the Netherlands and its interests in the East Indies could lead it to intervene against Japan.
• Yonei Mitsumasa argued that Japan would inevitably face East Africa in the Nanyang region, making an early attack on the East Indies a way to confront that obstacle.

Japan’s military leaders agreed to pursue a Southern Advancement strategy, using an attack on the Dutch East Indies to test East Africa’s response and secure vital straits. The decision reached the Kwantung Army, where Tsuji Masanobu argued that Japan should attack the Soviet Union as well, leaving the dispute unresolved.

• Yonei Mitsumasa and Tojo Hideki persuaded Japan’s military leaders that attacking the Dutch East Indies could test East Africa’s intentions and advance Japan’s expansion into the Nanyang region.
• Itagaki Seishiro and Yonei Mitsumasa argued that Japan needed to seize Sumatra and the Strait of Malacca and Sunda Strait, and proposed preparing a pretext to attack the Netherlands.
• Japan’s military leaders agreed to report their plans to the Emperor and prepare for either a German declaration of war on the Netherlands or a staged incident in Batavia.
• Tsuji Masanobu complained to Komatsubara Michitaro that Japan had abandoned the Northern Advancement Plan, while Komatsubara explained that resource shortages made a southern campaign necessary.
• Tsuji Masanobu insisted that Germany and the Soviet Union would soon go to war and urged the Kwantung Army to attack Soviet forces in the Far East, accusing the Navy of opposing the plan out of jealousy.