History of Magic in the Near Past (1935-1945, World War II period.)
Known to the non-magical and magical world alike as World War II, the period of 1935-1945 was one of the most tumultuous in history. To visit it again from the Magical perspective sheds some more light on things, as well as reveals some startling revelations.
Important events preceding the war era.
November 11th, 1918. World War I ends, and the Wizarding World is somewhat shocked to realize that they had no hand in perpetuating the peace, which was engineered entirely by the Muggle military leaders of the day, in the form of defeating the German army. This is an especial blow to prominent magical politician Jules Farnsworth, whos entire campaign to become Minister of Magic had hinged on being able to bring about peace. He lost the campaign, and was later found dead, having apparently committed suicide by picking a fight with his Venomous Tentacula.
June 28th, 1919. Signing of the Treaty of Versailles. The Wizarding world was again kept out of the proceedings. Later opportunists would attempt to cash in on this fact for political gain, saying that World War II would never have happened if they couldve engineered a better peace treaty.
September 8th, 1926. Germany admitted to the League of Nations. Rumors that a seer predicted that the fragile peace is going to crumble very soon are largely ignored.
The Wars Era starts.
September 14th, 1930. Nazi (National Socialist,) party elected to power in Germany. Rumors that leading members of the Nazi part, as well as the election, were being manipulated by magical influence are mostly ignored. Seers across Europe, and the world, are predicting trouble, and belief is starting to spread. Witches and wizards in Germany see the writing on the wall, and begin to quietly quit their homeland.
1933 The winds of battle start to roar, as the Nazi party obtains the Enabling Act and begins to wreak havoc. It would later be discovered that a wizard named Hans Grindelwald had made a deal with Adolph Hitler, ensuring him the votes he needed to pass his Enabling Act, in return for unspecified, future favors. Hitler agrees, and the Enabling Act passes.
June 30th, 1933. Night of the Long Knives.
A bloody massacre, in which an unknown number of Hitlers political enemies were put to death in various unwholesome ways. In addition, a second Night of the Long Knives, was happening literally under the Nazis noses, as Hans Grindelwald set about the grisly work of removing those Wizards and Witches who were in a position to topple his plans, either directly, or indirectly, by foiling Hitler.
August 19th, 1933. Hitler proclaims himself the Fuhrer of Germany. Rumors that Hans Grindelwald personally aided in this, by applying the Imperious curse.
(A mostly-erased note is visible in the parchment here, if one looks /very/ closely, it reads Ask someone what Imperious is.)
August 12th, 1938. Germanys military forces mobilize. War is imminent, and most Magical peoples either hide themselves well indeed, or beat a hasty retreat. Unconfirmed reports of an unidentified flying object shot down by a patrolling BF-110G, which is a twin-engined propeller driven aircraft with armament flown by the Germans of the period, was in fact, a Wizard on a broomstick, who was trying foolishly to escape by air.
(Included at this point is a picture of a BF-110G idling on a field while serviceman service the aircraft, and a roll of parchment detailing the BF-110, including its G variant night-fighter.)
November 9/10th, 1938 Night of the Broken Glass. Massive, bloody riots in Germany, lots of burning of property of Muggles who were representative of a race known as Jews. Surprisingly little damage to the Magical inhabitants still in Germany.
March 15/16th, 1939. Nazi forces invade Czhechoslovokia. The Wizards of the area are stunned, and attempt to flee, mostly with large success. That the Nazis have actually launched a war of conquest so soon wasnt something that the Wizarding world considered. In all nations around Germany and Czhechoslovokia, the Wizards begin making plans to leave.
(Yes, Czechoslovakia is misspelled.)
With the Nazi invasions starting, the Wizarding world generally either packed up and left, or made arrangements to hide, with the exception of those in Great Britain. Some, seeing the writing on the wall, (especially those who were squibs, or were Muggle-friendly,) began to make plans to help in the tossing off of Nazi Germanys oppression, some even going so far as to leave magic behind to join the armed forces. The most notable of these was Stanford Stemmings, otherwise known as Stan the Strange, born as Stamstrung Malfoy, who, after a notorious blazing row with his father in Diagon Alley, left his wand in the care of the proprietor of the Leaky Cauldron inn, and promptly went to the nearest recruiting station, joining the infantry, where he participated in victorious action in Egypt, and other African/Middle Eastern states.
It is worth the noting, now, why so many Wizarding people up and moved, in the face of advancing Nazi Germany. It is noted in most historical texts that not only was Hans Grindelwald using the chaos of the war to invade rich Wizarding homes, for the simple and sole purpose of profiting himself, but that the Nazis themselves killed more than a few Wizards and Witches in their mass executions, and other assorted unpleasantries of war. For that reason, many magical people found it simply easier to pack up, and visit relatives in other parts of the world, or go on a long vacation, rather than stay.
As the war itself started to get into swing in 1939, most British Witches and Wizards in Britain started making plans as to how to help other magical peoples, mostly by being prepared to accept refugees. Thus, on July 10th, 1940, when Nazi aircraft started roaring over London itself, (Known as the Battle of Britain,) it came as a complete shock to the Wizarding world. As did the Blitz, wherein Diagon Alley itself got hit with incendiary bombs no less than three times.
(Attached at this point to the essay is a look at the Battle of Britain, as per a set of oral histories passed to Nathan from his grandmother, about how the man who might have been his Grandfather flew and died in a Supermarine Spitfire, defending London in the Battle of Britain, and how his grandmother, and the man who would eventually be his grandfather, were medical workers during the Blitz. Also attached is a file on the Supermarine Spitfire.)
As the Blitz was going on, Wizarding interest in the affairs of Muggles started to rise, as a direct result. Investigation by the average Wizard or Witch yielding shocking information about the Nazi actions, which served to either galvanize the Wizard or Witch against them, or was used as another saw from which some Witches and Wizards used to further denounce Muggles in whole (Conveniently overlooking the fact that the majority of the Muggle world was banding together to eradicate the Nazi aggression and oppression.)
As the Blitz came to an end, the Wizarding world of England was truly incensed. Whether Muggle or Wizard, everyone agreed; a foreign aggressor had hit their homeland. The number of brave young Wizards and Witches who chose to go and fight alongside their nonmagical countrymen soared, as did those who began to quietly make their way into Nazi territory, to engage in guerilla activities. A lot of the misfortunes that the Nazis chalked down to bad luck were, in fact, the actions of English Witches and Wizards getting some of their own back.
As December 7th, 1941 rolled around, very few Wizards or Witches paid attention to the war brewing in the Pacific ocean. They had their own concerns, namely Hitlers Night and Fog decree, and getting their vengeance on Nazi Germany. Meanwhile, Hans Grindelwald was wiping out Wizards who got close to Berlin, while increasing his own personal fortune, at the expense of both Muggle and Wizard alike.
June 13th, 1944. The German V-1 buzz bombs start falling. Miraculously, none manage to hit Diagon Alley, although the misses were close, to say the least (one even fell into Charing Cross Road,) but overall, were nowhere near as damaging as the Blitz.
On July 20th, 1944, an internal assassination attempt on Hitlers life is foiled completely through the efforts of Hans Grindelwald. Hitler rewards Grindelwald richly.
September 17th, 1944. Operation Market Garden begins, and it is quite the bloodbath. Only the courageous efforts of a group of British and Dutch Wizards and Witches who nickname themselves the Arnhem Knights allow the Allies to claim victory in Arnhem, and free the city.
On April the 28th, 1945. Italian wizards, who had been totally quiet until now, sprung their master plan. They captured Mussolini in a daring raid, fed him truth potion, interrogated him, and then handed him over to the Muggle Italian Partisans, who promptly had him drug into the street and hung.
August 6th/8th, 1945. The Wizarding world is shaken as the first true shock is handed to them by the Muggle world: The Atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki haven given the Wizarding world a reason to pause and think. Two cities of untold thousands, erased literally in an eyes blink. The Muggles have proven that they have a power that far exceeds any destructive force of magic. Even more shocking is that, since that time, they have not used that power again.
August 14th, 1945. In eight days, Japan has gone from a nation that would require untold loss of life to defeat or at least force into surrender, into a nation that cant surrender fast enough.
September 2nd, 1945. World War II ends officially with the surrender of the Japanese empire on the deck of the Battleship Missouri, in Tokyo bay. Never before, nor since, has a war cost so much in terms of military and civilian lives. The Wizarding world can breathe a sigh of relief, that the main bloodshed is over, and life can start going on.
December 15th, 1945. Hans Grindelwald is cornered by Albus Dumbledore, a relative newcomer to the scene, who took it upon himself to track down the magical menace, in his private lair in Germany. A titanic battle ensues, during which Grindelwald is accidentally killed when a spell of his rebounds off of a shield thrown up by Dumbledore, and severs the support for the chandelier, which falls onto Grindelwald. Investigation of his lair reveals an enormous amount of illegitimately gained goods, money, and his personal diaries, which start off with Grindelwald advancing Hitlers ambitions for his own gain, then advancing to Grindelwalds ambitions of dominating the magical world, as Hitlers turn to domination of the Muggle World. They become increasingly frantic as the war bears on, and finally read as the words of a man on the fringe of insanity.
