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Realistic alternate WWII, emphasis on German better/worse outcomes

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stevegallacci:
There are all kinds of scenarios to conjure up rationales for Luft'46 stuff, but most are massively implausable or worse.
However, there are all kinds of things that could swing things radically for better or worse, depending on your point of view/desired outcome.

My simplest suggestion and personal fav is the "get Russia out of the war early". And the quickest/simplest way to do that is get Stalin killed. Especially if earlier in the war, when countering the Germans was still in doubt. Stalin dying then would likely leave the Soviet Union without the focused and ruthless leadership needed for the times, and it is entirely possible that Soviet resistance to the Germans might collapse with internal fighting. Later, as the counter-offenses catch on, Stalin may not be as vital to continued efforts, but the threat of power politics behind the lines could jepordize the front. All kinds of things to play with.

What that would do for Germany is refocus all that war effort to the west and south. "Fortress Europe" could become a reality rather than a slogan. The massed resources now NOT on the eastern front would make North Africa (if done early) more "interesting" or the invasion of Italy a much nastier affair and Normandy impossible, again depending on timing.

Depending on timing again, lessons learned, or not learned, may well skew German and Allied war thinking. The gun and armor race in the east might not have been fully appreciated or acted on in the same way, for example. That could alter how much of what kind of gun and armor would develop thereafter.
If Russia falls too early, Germany might well get too cocky and de-emphasis advanced tech even more than they did in RL. Similarly, they would likely not get into a proper total war economy any sooner than in RL. On the other hand, the Allies would have all that much more motivation to  go all out to make up for the loss of the Soviets who had been doing all the heavy lifting heretofore.

Anyway, this is all just a first toss out for fun and frolic.

fulcrum:
With russia out of the war, it would give more motivation to the scientists who were building the first atomic bombs to develop them faster, if it is possible.

GTX_Admin:
Agreed, getting Russia out of the war certainly would help.  Apart from allowing Germany to avoid splitting of forces/focus, it would potential go en up a great deal of resources.

An interesting book that looks into this is called "Hitler's Panzers East: World War II Reinterpreted", by Russell H.S. Stolfi.  This isn't so much an alt history but rather a study into whether Germany could have successfully concluded Operation Barbarossa and thus have defeated the USSR in late 1941.  Despite not being the most well written book I've read, the author puts forward a very convincing case that this was indeed very possible and goes through many aspects and in doing so, discounts many of the typical counterarguments put up (e.g. the Germans left the attack too late due to Greece etc; the Germans underestimated the Soviets and didn't stockpile enough supplies etc.).

Regards,

Greg

stevegallacci:
For Luft'46 types, having Russia out later, end of '43, early '44, would also mean that commitment to advanced designs would happen. And with massed divisions now available to the west, the RL invasions would not be possible, giving Germany time to get more mature hardware up and running for '45 and possibly beyond.

Logan Hartke:
Realistically, I've always been convinced that any "Germany wins" alternate WWII storyline has to being no later than December of 1941, maybe as early as June of 1941, because there's nothing Germany could do but delay the inevitable after that point.

Cheers,

Logan

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