Life In Lilliput During World War II

                                                       — DOUBLEHEADER TODAY —

Image courtesy of inc.com

Game 1. THE GERMAN OCCUPATIONS OF THE VATICAN CITY AND SAN MARINO

The Real Stories Behind These Forgotten Episodes in the Italian Campaign of World War II

(These two events are basically unrelated, but I just want to cover them both here because each of these stories is relatively brief.)

VATICAN CITY

The above image is an aerial photograph of St. Peter’s church in Rome’s Vatican City. Image courtesy of thoughtco.com

 As I am sure everyone is aware, the Vatican City is an independent country in addition to being the worldwide headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church. During World War II, both Hitler and Mussolini had a very strict “hands off” policy when it came to their dealings with Vatican City. Both Hitler and Mussolini considered the Vatican to be primarily a religious establishment and not a military threat, so both of these leaders felt that it would be wrong to apply military force to an organization that is primarily religions and humanitarian in focus. Plus, Roman Catholicism was the religion for a large portion of both Italy and Germany’s population at that time, and still is to this day, so both Hitler and Mussolini felt that it would be very foolish to risk alienating substantial portions of either nation’s population by harassing the Vatican. In light of the Vatican’s spiritual and political importance, neither Hitler nor Mussolini wanted to be perceived as being against the Vatican, yet both the Zio-American Empire and (((Britain))) had no problems leveraging the Vatican’s political and cultural clout to further their agendas against Axis war efforts.

While Hitler, Mussolini, and The Pope (who genuinely desired peace in the world) always had cordial relations with one another; however, this was not the case within the high levels of Vatican that rested below the station of the Pontiff.  Despite appearances, the Pope himself was never truly in charge of the Vatican during World War II, and whatever Pope that currently occupies this office is not really in charge of the Vatican either. Those below the Pope in the Vatican’s official hierarchy during World War II, whom I referred to earlier, were really nothing more than crooked opportunists that were perfectly willing to support Hitler and Mussolini…so long as it looked like their side was going to win the war.

That being said, as long as Hitler and Mussolini appeared to be in a position of strength they could both enjoy at least some support from the Vatican, but the opportunists within the ranks of the Vatican’s Cardinals would have quickly switched sides and supported the Allies if it looked like the Allied side had gained the advantage. On top of their willingness to neglect principles and simply back the winners, every one of the opportunist turncoat cardinals in the Vatican was also out for their own personal advancement just as much as they were singularly interested in advancing the interests of their organization.

The above image is a photograph of Pope Pius XII, who was Pope during World War II. Image courtesy of wikipedia.org. 

The slippery and turncoat nature of the Vatican’s upper echelons made them a lot like Italy’s King Emmanuel and the rest of the Italian Monarchy. Theoretically, Mussolini was subordinate to King Emmanuel; however, this was really not the case in practice. Italy endured an uneasy partnership between Mussolini and the old-guard Italian aristocracy for many years, that is until the Italian monarchy set out to undermine Mussolini and forsake the interests of their nation in favor of their own personal gains. So, when things appeared to be going badly for Mussolini and his cohorts, the traitorous Italian monarchy and the rest of Italy’s opportunistic and selfish aristocracy began to look for ways to curry favor with the Allies.

After his political party was sabotaged from within by a crowd of money-hungry, unprincipled, and power-mad opportunists, that was when Mussolini’s government truly began to totter on the brink of collapse. Unfortunately, Mussolini only began to realize that he had placed his trust in the wrong people when it was far too late for him to salvage the situation. It was in the last days of his governance when Mussolini finally realized that the aristocrats who had professed their loyalty to him earlier were now betraying him and played him for a fool.

When the Italian royal family and the rest of the Italian aristocracy officially rebuked Mussolini, that was when the opportunists within the Vatican saw the right time to make their move. For the opportunists within the Vatican, the actions associated with “making their move” involved colluding with the Zio-American and (((British))) intelligence services by allowing them to use the Vatican City as a base of operations to undermine the Axis powers.

The image above shows the Italian King named Victor Emmanuel II who was the reigning monarch during Mussolini’s time as Italy’s head of state. Image courtesy of wikipedia.org

The Americans and (((the British))) both tried to get Stalin involved in their Vatican-based spy operations as well; however, Stalin refused their gracious offers. Stalin declined any offers to work in collusion with the Vatican because he did not believe that Hitler would be stupid enough to not notice what was happening in the Vatican, and Stalin also believed there was no way that Hitler and Mussolini’s people would allow sneaky Allied activities within the Vatican go un unpunished.

After the traitorous Cardinals within the Vatican officially began to “get cozy” with the Allied forces, a steady and considerable stream of American and British intelligence assets began to travel back and forth from the Vatican City to other parts of Europe. Having access to the Vatican City was a true jewel of an intelligence asset because both Hitler and Mussolini made it official policy for people on board official diplomatic flights that were associated with the Vatican to fly in or out of the airport in Rome without ever being searched or forced to answer questions.

After the lower ranks of Cardinals within the Vatican discarded their support for Mussolini and Hitler, Italian officers who remained loyal to Mussolini that were assigned as liaisons with Vatican City quickly noticed what was going on, yet they were unable to remedy the situation because of Italy’s sorry state of affairs. The officers who remained loyal to Mussolini felt that they could not do much to remedy the situation within the Vatican, yet they did notify Himmler’s SD Security Service counterespionage division. After learning of the Vatican’s internal treachery from his Italian allies, Himmler knew that he would need incontrovertible evidence of betrayal and sabotage if wished to contact Hitler and gain his official permission to deal with the threat from within the Vatican. In other words, Himmler knew that he had to catch the Zio-Americans and (((British))) in the act of colluding with the Vatican before he could take any decisive action.

The problem that Himmler faced when he was looking to acquire evidence of treachery from within the Vatican was the fact that in order to dig up real evidence of the Vatican’s wrong-doing, he would be forced to go against orders clearly stating that he was not to meddle in the internal affairs of the Vatican. So, if Himmler wished to address the treason problem within the Vatican, he would have to act on his own initiative and go against explicit orders issued by Hitler himself. With his back against a wall, Himmler took a big risk and ordered his SD personnel to detain the next Vatican-affiliated “diplomatic” flight that tried to either land or depart from the airport in Rome.

The image above is a photograph of Heinrich Himmler. Image courtesy of Wikipedia.org

Of course, Himmler issued orders to detain all future Vatican-sponsored “diplomatic” flights in or out of the airport of Rome, and Himmler made his move without notifying the Vatican or anyone else for that matter; and oh boy, Himmler and his men truly hit the jackpot when they detained the next Vatican-sponsored “diplomatic” flight at the Rome airport. After their first detention of a Vatican-sponsored “diplomatic” flight, the Himmler’s SD bagged a shocking number of Zio-American and (((British))) intelligence assets. After officially catching the Vatican in the act of supporting Allied war efforts against Germany and Italy, that was when Himmler finally secured the ironclad proof he needed to petition Hitler for permission to root-out the nests of rats that was scurrying around within the walls of the Vatican.

Even after solid proof of the Vatican’s treason was presented to Hitler, the German chancellor still absolutely forbade any use of military force against the Vatican because he believed that the Roman Catholics of Germany would never understand nor accept any reasons for using military force against the Vatican. In light of the delicate political situation that taking action against the Vatican presented, Hitler simply asked Himmler and his SD men to deal with this problem themselves in as quiet and discreet a manner as possible. During his meeting with Hitler, Himmler also affirmed that he and his men would manage the “Vatican Problem” with as much discretion and subtlety as possible. After Himmler gave his assurance the he and his men would not simply charge into the Vatican with guns blazing, Hitler then gave Himmler his imprimatur to deal with the treasonous people within the Vatican as Himmler saw fit.

After being given an official “green light” to deal with the problems within the Vatican, Himmler and the SD then swept into Vatican City totally out of the blue. Himmler’s careful preparations before this daring and unexpected raid on the Vatican ensured that the surprise was total; therefore, a large number of (((British))) and Zio-American intelligence assets were rounded up in this bold operation. Himmler’s decisive raid on the Vatican yielded a treasure trove of valuable intelligence material and a large number of Vatican officials who were directly involved in this treachery against the Axis powers were also corralled and arrested. In the aftermath of that day, Zio-American and (((British)) intelligence efforts were dealt a severe blow and Stalin was proven right.

The Swiss Guard, who are the ceremonial “bodyguards” of the Pope, were totally confused about what was going on while Himmler’s raid on the Vatican was taking place, so the Pope simply told his body guards to holster their antiquated weapons and return to their barracks while Himmler’s SD simply ignored them.

The Vatican Swiss Guard may be seen as a silly anachronism in today’s world because they still wear  Reniassence-era military uniforms; however, this organization is actually a legitimate national military and the Vatican Swill Guard does possess modern firearms and they do know how to use them. Image courtesy of reddit.com

As per Hitler’s specific directions, after Himmler’s first raid on the Vatican had concluded, the SD occupied The Holy Sea permanently in order to prevent a repeat of what had just happened. Although Himmler and the SD did maintain an armed presence within the Vatican for quite some time after Allied intelligence activities were stopped, Himmler and his cohorts continued to make a point to never inhibiting any legitimate religious activities performed by The Catholic Church. So, there is it is, you now have the real story about what happened at the Vatican during the years of World War II, as opposed to the lying narrative of propaganda that one normally hears concerning this episode in history, yet it is still a rare occasion when you hear anything at all about Himmler’s raid on the Vatican.

SAN MARINO

Image of San Marino courtesy of covidpasscertificate.com

Image of San Marino courtesy of foursquare.com

Map of San Marino courtesy of insider.com

San Marino is a tiny nation of about 30,000 people that is located in a relatively isolated part of the Apennine Mountains in Northern Italy. Due to its small size and its remote location, this Lilliputian kingdom was overlooked during the Italian unification campaign during the late 19th century. During the days of the Italian unification, San Marino had a show “army” of less than 20 men who were armed with ancient weapons, so this nation’s only point of significance was the fact that it boasted some of the highest mountain peaks in that part of Italy. During World War II, both Hitler and Mussolini gave clear instructions that the neutrality of San Marino was to be strictly respected. Luckily, for the San Marino residents who are living today, their nation is regarded as yet another hapless group of people who fell victim to the scourge of German aggression; however, the truth is somewhat different — it was the Americans who were actually the aggressors.

In the later part of World War II’s Italian Campaign, the war front in Northern Italy had settled down for a time, and during this lull in the fighting, the American Front ran along the southern border of San Marino. As a consequence of the fighting having reached the borders of San Marino, the political boundaries of this tiny nation formed a big bulge in the German lines that was opposite those of the Zio-American Empire’s front lines. As the German army and the Zio-American forces faced one another, the towering mountains of San Marino overlooking a large portion of the war’s front lines. During this portion of the Italian Campaign, neither the Zio-American artillery nor their German artillery unit counterparts were very effective and the reason for these problems with artillery piece accuracy could be traced to neither side having good places to position spotters for either artillery strikes or attacks from aircraft.

In light of the stalled military initiative, local Zio-American commanders began to cast covetous eyes on the maintains of San Marino. But of course, the Zio-Americans knew that these attractive spotting perches were considered neutral territory; none the less, since when have the rights of weak nations been allowed to stand in the way of the Zio-American Exceptionalism. So, with a fitting disregard for the sovereignty of San Marino in mind, the Zio-Americans laughed about how they were going to occupy the mountains of San Marino and then take the Germans by surprise under the premise that the poor San Marino residents could not do a damn thing to stop their plans.

So, exercising a complete disregard for the sovereignty of San Marino, the Zio-American military forces set up artillery observation posts on the tops of the most appealing mountain spotting perches in the high mountains within the territorial lines of San Marino. After setting up shop at the most prized locations within San Marino, the Zio-American artillery strikes immediately became very effective. As soon as the Zio-American artillery strikes began to land with deadly accuracy, the German commanders immediately knew that this could only happen if Zio-American artillery spotters were perched at suitably high elevations on mountain tops within the territory of San Marino.

Well, this Zio-American breach of San Marino’s sovereign territory changed everything from that point forward because the Zio-Americans had violated San Marino’s neutrality when they started to occupy territory inside of that country. The Zio-American military’s breach of San Marino’s borders simply furnished the Germans with a very legitimate reason to put their own spotters on those mountains as well.

Soon after the Zio-Americans placed artillery spotters within the sovereign territory of San Marino, the Germans quickly dispatched an infantry battalion which wasted no time putting the Zio-American artillery spotters in the bag, then German forces took a position facing the Zio-American front along the southern border of San Marino. Soon after establishing a presence within San Marino, the German military told the people of this tiny country not to worry for their safety and to just carry on with their lives as usual. Immediately after arriving, the Germans assured the residents of San Marino that they were only there to keep the Americans out of the mountains, and fortunately for San Marino’s citizenry, once the Germans moved in, life in their pint-sized country simply progressed just like it did during peacetime.

After the Germans occupied San Marino, it was now time for the Zio-Americans to get hammered by German artillery without having a remedy for this situation. As Zio-American forces got hammered by accurate and well-spotted German artillery strikes that were directed from high positions within the boundaries of San Marino, the Zio-Americans were simply suffering from the fallout of a problem which they had created for themselves.

Game 2. POSTSCRIPT

Other Lilliputian European Nations:

(1) The nation of Andorra is located in the Pyrenees Mountains between France and Spain. Tiny Andorra remained neutral and unmolested during the years of World War II until the Zio-Americans, (((the British)), and the French Resistance (Communists) moved in against the wishes of the Andorran government and the Andorran people. After the sovereignty and neutrality of Andorra was disregarded by the Allied forces, this tiny country became a base for clandestine operations against the Axis powers. Once Andorra became a hub of operations against the Axis powers, the Germans then occupied this small country and put a stop to Allied war activities. After the Germans arrived on the scene and put a stop to all of the Allied monkey business, the people of Andorra were once again left in peace.

Map of Andorra’s location courtesy of worldinmaps.com

Image of Andorra’s capital city furnished courtesy of bbc.com

(2) Liechtenstein is an Alpine nation that rests between Austria and Switzerland. Fortunately, Liechtenstein remained neutral and unmolested during the entire course of World War II, however, many Liechtensteiners, being of Germanic stock, were favorably disposed towards Hitler and the 3rd Reich. As a consequence, the government of this tiny country allowed their citizens to volunteer for the Waffen SS, and 100+ brave men of Liechtenstein served the German Reich.

Map of Liechtenstein’s location courtesy of wikipedia.org

Image of Liechtenstein courtesy of wikipedia.org

(3) Monaco is a tiny half-baked principality on the Mediterranean coast of France. During World War II, Monaco was a playground and gambling mecca for the decadent international rich, and this small gambling den remained solidly anti-German throughout the ware, although the government of Monaco was ostensibly neutral. Despite the government of Monaco mouthing asseverations of neutrality, the governing prince of Monaco still allowed his petty kingdom to be used as a base for clandestine Allied operations against the Axis, that is until Monaco was finally occupied by the Germans. When the Germans got around to occupying Monaco, the locals simply surrendered without putting up any resistance.

Image showing Monaco’s location courtesy of wikimedia.org

Image of Monaco courtesy of wikipedia.org

Heil Hitler deva!

Randall Lee Hilburn