Chapter Summaries

General Zhukov agreed to surrender Moscow’s defenders to the Germans in exchange for guarantees that their lives and freedom would be protected. After the surrender ceremony, Zhukov entered a prisoner-of-war camp and took his own life.

• The German military envoy offered General Zhukov a place in Russia’s future government if he surrendered Moscow, and Zhukov agreed on the condition that his soldiers would be protected, not forced into labor, and freed after the war.
• Lieutenant General Kruglov and Major General Lyapin learned that Moscow would surrender in three days, and Zhukov decided not to inform Chelyabinsk.
• Russian troops who opposed surrender were arrested as the news spread through Moscow’s defenders.
• On June 30, General Zhukov surrendered Moscow’s defenders to Marshal Guderian, though some holdouts continued fighting in the city.
• After entering a German prisoner-of-war camp, Zhukov committed suicide with poison he had carried with him.

After Russia’s strongest forces surrendered, Oscar and his ministers discussed the terms Germany would demand to end the war. They agreed on territorial changes, a partitioned Russia, restricted Russian forces, and 100 billion Marks in reparations.

• The Russian garrisons in Moscow and Yuzefgrad surrendered, leaving Russia’s remaining forces unable to threaten Germany.
• Oscar summoned Wachth, Ribbentrop, Manstein, Raeder, and Kesselring to discuss the final cleanup of the Russian front.
• Ribbentrop proposed German control of lands south of the Don and Volga rivers, the return of Belarusian territory, and a division of Russia along the Urals.
• Wachth proposed demanding 100 billion Marks in reparations, with half going to Germany and half to its protectorates and client states.
• Oscar approved the proposed terms for dealing with Russia.

After the German advances and the Russian army’s weakness made further resistance impossible, Andreyev and the Politburo agreed to seek peace with Germany. Molotov was assigned to lead the negotiations and told to protect Russia’s interests.

• At the Politburo meeting, Andreyev called for Zhukov to be expelled from the Party, but Marshal Shaposhnikov defended him and revealed that Zhukov had committed suicide.
• Shaposhnikov said Russia had just over three million remaining troops, mostly poorly equipped second-line units, and could not stop another German advance.
• Molotov, Mikoyan, and Kalinin urged the government to end the war, and Shaposhnikov said the army supported peace negotiations.
• Andreyev secured the Politburo’s unanimous decision to negotiate peace with Germany and appointed Molotov to lead the talks.
• Andreyev told Molotov to safeguard Russia’s interests, and Molotov recognized that the instruction was a trap.

Molotov realized Andreyev had assigned him peace talks with Germany to undermine him, but he planned to use the negotiations to win German backing for his bid to become Russia’s Supreme Leader. On July 3, he flew to Moscow to begin talks with Ribbentrop.

• Mikoyan warned Molotov that Andreyev’s proposal could make him a scapegoat for accepting Germany’s harsh peace terms, and Kalinin worried that Andreyev would target them if he gained power.
• Molotov, Mikoyan, and Kalinin discussed removing Khrushchev and offering Shaposhnikov support in exchange for his backing.
• Molotov said Russia had to make peace even at a high cost, then revealed his plan to secure German support and outmaneuver Andreyev.
• Kalinin and Mikoyan agreed that gaining Germany’s support mattered most and promised to watch Andreyev while Molotov negotiated.
• On the morning of July 3, Molotov flew to Moscow to begin peace negotiations with Ribbentrop.

After the war, Molotov arrived in ruined Moscow to negotiate peace with Ribbentrop. Ribbentrop demanded vast territorial concessions and the division of Russia, leaving Molotov to report the terms to Chelyabinsk.

• Molotov flew over Moscow’s ruins and saw Russian prisoners of war rebuilding the city under German-imposed labor conditions.
• Ribbentrop greeted Molotov at Moscow Airport, and the two traveled together to the negotiation venue.
• Ribbentrop demanded that Russia cede the territory south of the Don and Volga Rivers, including the Caucasus, to Germany and return occupied Belarusian territory to the Kingdom of Belarus.
• Ribbentrop proposed establishing a democratic Russia west of the Ural Mountains and Ural River while leaving the eastern territories under Molotov’s government.
• Molotov objected that the terms would tear Russia apart, but Ribbentrop threatened to continue the German offensive if Russia refused.
• Molotov said he would report Germany’s terms to Chelyabinsk.

Ribbentrop pressed Molotov to accept Germany’s harsh peace terms, including reparations and strict limits on Russia’s armed forces. He then offered German support for Molotov’s leadership bid, and Molotov promised that Russia under his rule would become Germany’s ally.

• Ribbentrop demanded that Russia and Democratic Russia pay 100 billion Marks in reparations over twenty years, with resources available as payment.
• Ribbentrop demanded that both Russias limit their armies to 500,000 men apiece and possess no navy or air force.
• Molotov said he would report Germany’s terms and warnings to the leaders in Chelyabinsk.
• Ribbentrop told Molotov that Germany preferred him over Andreyev as Russia’s leader and threatened to destroy any anti-German successor.
• Molotov welcomed German support and promised that, if he became Supreme Leader, Russia would never again oppose Germany and would become its close ally.

Molotov accepted Germany’s harsh peace terms in exchange for its support in his bid to become Russia’s Supreme Leader. In Chelyabinsk, Andreyev rallied the Politburo to reject the terms, unaware that Germany might enforce them by force.

• Molotov told Ribbentrop that Andreyev would oppose the German terms, and Ribbentrop said Germany would make Andreyev understand its will.
• Molotov’s entourage delivered the proposed terms to Chelyabinsk, where Andreyev condemned them as a threat to Russia’s existence.
• At an evening Politburo meeting, Andreyev blamed Molotov for bringing the demands back, while Mikoyan and Kalinin defended him.
• Zhdanov and Kaganovich joined Andreyev in attacking Molotov, and Andreyev declared that Russia would reject the terms.
• Kalinin and Mikoyan smiled at Andreyev’s decision, while Marshal Shaposhnikov looked at him as if he were an idiot.

Marshal Shaposhnikov chose to support Molotov after learning that Germany backed him, undermining Andreyev’s bid for leadership. After Russia rejected Germany’s terms, Emperor Qin Tian ordered an air attack, and German forces began movements toward Chelyabinsk.

• Kalinin and Mikoyan invited Marshal Shaposhnikov to discuss Andreyev’s rejection of Germany’s terms and offered him senior military and Politburo positions if he supported Molotov.
• Mikoyan revealed that Ribbentrop had promised German support for Molotov, and Marshal Shaposhnikov pledged to back Molotov as Russia’s Supreme Leader.
• Molotov relayed Russia’s rejection of Germany’s terms to Germany, which had already prepared a contingency plan.
• Wachth reported the rejection to Emperor Qin Tian, who ordered Manstein and Kesselring to proceed with the established plan.
• German forces made movements near Moscow and Yuzefgrad toward Chelyabinsk while preparing an air attack for the following morning.

Germany launched a massive Strategic Air Force raid to force Russia to accept its terms, sending bombers and long-range fighters toward Chelyabinsk. As the formations neared the city, news of the attack reached the Russian Provisional Government.

• Before dawn on July 5, German crews prepared aircraft while pilots received orders to bomb Chelyabinsk.
• Four strategic air groups took off, including 960 BF-110 fighters, 480 H-11 bombers, and 960 H-21 bombers.
• German officers and soldiers watched the enormous formation gather and expected the raid to force Russia to submit.
• General Spee reported the deployment to Field Marshal Kesselring and Field Marshal Milch, who discussed the raid's expected damage and possible follow-up attacks.
• The German formations drew closer to Chelyabinsk, and news of their deployment reached the leaders of the Russian Provisional Government.

After Germany sent a massive bomber formation toward Chelyabinsk in retaliation for the Russian Provisional Government rejecting its terms, the Russian leadership withdrew its air force and prepared to take shelter. The German bombers reached the undefended city and began their attack.

• Russian radar operators detected a German formation of at least a thousand aircraft approaching Chelyabinsk and reported it to Marshal Shaposhnikov.
• Shaposhnikov refused to send the depleted Russian Air Force to meet the Germans and passed the warning to the Politburo.
• Andreyev angrily blamed Shaposhnikov, but the Russian Provisional Government's leaders fled to a basement as residents sought shelter.
• At 8:40, the German formation arrived over Chelyabinsk and found the city's air defenses abandoned.
• The German bombers descended and released their bombs, destroying buildings across Chelyabinsk.

The German Air Force bombed Chelyabinsk into ruins, and the destruction weakened the Russian Provisional Government leaders’ resistance to Germany’s demands. At a new meeting, Andreyev defended continued defiance, but Kalinin, Mikoyan, and Shaposhnikov moved against him as news arrived that German ground forces were advancing on Chelyabinsk.

• German bombers devastated Chelyabinsk while Marshal Shaposhnikov agreed to support Molotov’s side at the next meeting.
• Zhdanov urged Andreyev to stop resisting, but Andreyev insisted the Russians could retreat farther east.
• After the bombing ended, the Russian Provisional Government leaders emerged from their shelters and saw the ruined city.
• Andreyev called for defiance at a meeting, but Kalinin and Mikoyan argued that Russia had to admit defeat.
• Marshal Shaposhnikov announced that German ground forces had set out from Moscow and Yuzefgrad toward Chelyabinsk.

Marshal Shaposhnikov backed Molotov, shifting the Russian Provisional Government toward accepting Germany’s terms and defeating Andreyev’s opposition. Molotov learned the Politburo had approved the agreement, leaving him poised to become Russia’s Supreme Leader as he and Ribbentrop prepared to end the war.

• Shaposhnikov argued that Russia could not withstand the German offensive, and Mikoyan and Kalinin urged the leaders to accept Germany’s terms.
• Khrushchev, Zhdanov, and Kaganovich joined Molotov’s side, while Andreyev denounced them and left the meeting.
• Mikoyan informed the leaders that he would tell Molotov they had agreed to accept all German conditions.
• Molotov’s secretary delivered news from Chelyabinsk that the Politburo had approved the agreement and that several leaders supported Molotov.
• Molotov told Ribbentrop that Russia had accepted Germany’s conditions, and Ribbentrop congratulated him on his likely rise to leadership.

Germany and Russia signed the Moscow Peace Treaty, ending the war and dividing Russia into two states under heavy German influence. Emperor Oscar chose Timoshenko to lead Democratic Russia and ordered German loyalists placed throughout its government and military.

• Ribbentrop and Molotov signed the Moscow Peace Treaty, which imposed territorial losses, reparations, and military limits on Russia and Democratic Russia.
• Molotov consolidated power in Chelyabinsk and became Russia's Supreme Leader, while Shaposhnikov took control of the military and Andreyev was sidelined.
• Oscar and his ministers selected General Timoshenko to become President of Democratic Russia, with Manstein arguing that Timoshenko's conflict with Russia would keep him loyal to Germany.
• Oscar ordered German agents placed throughout Democratic Russia's government and military so Germany could maintain control if Timoshenko turned against it.
• Timoshenko pledged loyalty to Oscar and the German Empire, and Russia split into two countries.

President Roosevelt and his advisors assessed the consequences of Russia's surrender and the threat Germany now posed to the United States. They discussed America's limited ability to strike Germany and its efforts to rebuild the Navy, leaving Roosevelt to consider a land defense and a negotiated peace if victory proved impossible.

• General Marshall and Admiral Harold Stark explained how German strategic bombing had devastated Chelyabinsk and helped force Russia to surrender.
• Roosevelt asked whether American bombers could strike Germany, and Marshall said they lacked a safe European base.
• Hopkins warned that Germany's defeat of Russia left it free to concentrate its strength against the United States.
• Roosevelt asked Stark about naval expansion, and Stark listed orders for twenty-four aircraft carriers and many other warships, while noting the fleet would take until the latter half of next year to recover.
• Hopkins proposed strengthening the Army to resist a German landing and seek a dignified peace if defeating Germany became impossible.

General Marshall briefed President Roosevelt on expanding and training the US Army’s armored forces, while Admiral Stark warned that German submarines were disrupting South American trade. Roosevelt ordered greater arms production and new shipping routes as the United States prepared for a possible German attack.

• General Marshall told Roosevelt that army expansion had slowed so new units could receive adequate training, and that the M26 heavy tank and M5 light tank had entered mass production.
• General Marshall proposed expanding the US Army from twelve armored divisions to at least twenty-four before a clash with Germany, and Roosevelt ordered arms factories to produce tanks and armored vehicles at full capacity.
• Admiral Stark reported that German submarines in the southwestern South Atlantic had sunk many merchant ships traveling from South America to the United States.
• Admiral Stark warned Roosevelt that disrupted imports of rubber, saltpeter, and nonferrous metals were affecting war preparations despite American stockpiles.
• Roosevelt ordered the United States to find new shipping routes and urged his officials to use every means to resist Germany.

President Roosevelt’s advisers warned that Germany was preparing to invade the United States and urged him to strengthen coastal defenses and compel Britain to honor its alliance. The chapter ended with Admiral Harold Stark describing the formidable British fleet that could help challenge Germany.

• General Marshall told Roosevelt that intelligence indicated Germany was building landing ships for an invasion and urged stronger East Coast defenses.
• Admiral Harold Stark warned that the Caribbean islands also needed reinforcements, and Roosevelt ordered more troops sent there.
• Hopkins argued that the United States had to fight with all its strength and make Britain join the war under the alliance treaty.
• Marshall and Stark described Britain’s potential contribution, citing its large army and powerful fleet of battleships and battlecruisers.

President Roosevelt sent Advisor Hopkins to Toronto to press Churchill to honor Britain’s alliance with the United States and help resist Germany. Churchill warned that Germany’s naval victory and control of Europe made defeating it seem increasingly unlikely.

• Roosevelt ordered Hopkins to meet Churchill and insist that Britain cooperate with the United States against Germany.
• Hopkins flew to Toronto and met Churchill at the British Prime Minister’s residence.
• Hopkins raised the American Navy’s defeat in the Battle of the Azores, which had halted Britain’s plans to retake the British Isles.
• Churchill said Germany’s powerful navy and its crushing of Russia had left it dominant in Europe and difficult for the Allies to defeat.

Churchill considered Britain’s worsening position as Germany gained the upper hand and concluded that Britain had to cooperate with the Republic of America to resist the German offensive. He committed Britain to the coming war and ordered a major expansion of its army and navy.

• Hopkins warned Churchill that Germany intended to destroy its enemies and urged Britain and the Republic of America to join forces.
• Churchill told Hopkins he would give his answer the next afternoon, though he had already decided to cooperate.
• At an emergency Cabinet meeting, Anthony Eden, Sir Kingsley Wood, David Margesson, and Sir Dudley questioned whether Britain could avoid fighting Germany.
• Churchill rejected the idea of peace and said Britain had to help the United States hold back Germany’s offensive.
• Churchill ordered David Margesson to expand the Army to 1.5 million men and form ten Armored Divisions.
• Churchill ordered Sir Dudley to accelerate construction of N3-class Battleships, G3 Battlecruisers, and Colossus-class aircraft carriers.

After Germany defeated Russia, Oscar and his military leaders planned how to fight the remaining enemies: the United States, Britain, and the Island Nation. They chose to defend in the Pacific while attacking across the Atlantic, leaving the Island Nation for later.

• Germany withdrew most of its forces from the Russian front, leaving a small contingent to maintain order until Democratic Russia could take control.
• Oscar convened a military conference to decide which of Germany’s two remaining fronts to prioritize.
• Manstein explained that the General Staff Headquarters recommended a defensive posture in the Pacific and an offensive in the Atlantic.
• Oscar agreed that Germany should defeat the United States and Britain first, then use its strength to destroy the Island Nation.

Oscar’s commanders assessed the strength of the United States and Britain and planned a North American landing after another naval battle and six months of preparations. He also ordered Army Group E and the 8th Air Group to reinforce the South Seas against the Island Nation, then promoted Rundstedt to Field Marshal.

• Manstein described the expanding American Army and the powerful British Navy, and Raeder warned that British participation could have made Germany’s Azores victory far costlier.
• Lütjens proposed destroying the remaining American and British naval strength in another battle, and Oscar approved the plan.
• Manstein said transport ships and landing craft could be prepared within half a year, so Oscar scheduled the North American landing for six months later.
• Manstein warned that the Island Nation was reinforcing the South Seas, and Oscar assigned Rundstedt’s Army Group E and the 8th Air Group to strengthen the region.
• Oscar ordered Raeder to send warships to reinforce the Pacific and Indian Ocean Fleets, then promoted Rundstedt to Field Marshal.