A wolf in sheep's clothing

There came the spring of 1938, and the spectre of a new war haunted Europe again! This time the ominous clouds of the new conflict had been gathering over the mountainous massifs of the Sudetes. The Sudeten-German Party (Sudetendeutsche Partei - SdP), by orders from Berlin, launched a massive propaganda offensive against the Czechoslovak Republic. More >>>

Indian Ocean raid

In the beginning of the spring of 1942 the Japanese occupied the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The British garrisons of the islands left them earlier due to menace from the north, where the Japanese took Rangoon on 8 March, and the south, where the Japanese landed on Sumatra. The enemy presence in the Andaman Sea, in the north-eastern section of the Indian Ocean, meant in the first place the menace to the main forces of the Eastern Fleet in Colombo on Ceylon. The base did not possess any adequate anti-air defence - either anti-aircraft artillery or aircraft. After all, the British air forces in the Indian Ocean was weak as far as the quantity and quality of the equipment is concerned. The forces of the Royal Navy comprised three aircraft-carriers, but the Japanese could oppose them with six ships of the same class. More >>>

Occupation

Occupation of Albania on 7 April 1939 did not crown the Italian imperial ambitions. After all, Albania was supposed to become merely the bridgehead of the Italian fascism in the Balkans, from which soon further aggressions would be launched against Greece and Yugoslavia. The invaders also had perfect knowledge that - despite of official propaganda about the Italian tutelage being received favourably in the broad circles of the Albanian society - Albanian highlanders would never reconcile with the loss of their freedom. They were actually bound to open a new chapter in the history of the Albanian struggle for independence very soon. Yet, Rome believed that resistance sooner or later would be suppressed, and the rule of the iron fist would, with time, turn the annexated country into a calm overseas province of a modern Roman empire. As the Italians issued from such assumptions, they immediately undertook the efforts to create in Albania a strong and efficient administration. More >>>