Tom Cashel
First Post
Hey, Joshua--great idea! Really got me thinking. Here's what comes to mind right off the bat:
Until Hitler began Operation Barbarossa in '41, the Soviets and Nazis were allies! If Hitler dies, and the war fizzles in '41, they remain allies with the Nazis in control of most of Europe and Britain in shambles (the Battle of Britain has been going on for a while). Big empire!
The U.S. was strictly isolationist until Pearl Harbor. Without that event, they stay out of the European theater. There is no Marshall Plan. I will go out on a limb and say that in your scenario, Britain is in decline and the U.S. is nowhere near as powerful as they are in the actual timeline. In fact, Britain probably bears the U.S. quite a bit of resentment for not bailing them out. With the end of the war possibly involving a capitulation on the part of Britain to the Nazis in return for the end of Blitzkrieg, this is even more likely.
The Bomb. You have to consider the Bomb. In your timeline the bomb is never dropped on civilian targets by the U.S. In fact, Werner von Braun's rocket program will probably be a success. The Nazis get the bomb first, they are the first into space, etc. By 2000 you'll have a technological Axis between Berlin and Tokyo.
Japan still has an army. Mao never gains more than a guerilla following. Germany/Soviet Union/Japan would be the superpowers dominating the planet. The U.S. would be analagous to the present (real world) France or Germany. Britain is, at best, a nonentity on the international scene, at worst, a Nazi stooge.
There is the possibility that the Sino-Nazi-Soviet power bloc will make a later bid for worldwide power in the '50s or '60s (WW III), but I am also intrigued by the idea of a war between them and an Arab Empire.
In any case, the U.S.'s involvement in WWII left a lot of European nations owing them a lot of money and favors, and arguably led directly to most (if not all) of the technological and economic power they've enjoyed since then. Without Pearl Harbor, the U.S. simply would not reach superpower status. They would own the Western Hemisphere of a VERY hostile world.
Until Hitler began Operation Barbarossa in '41, the Soviets and Nazis were allies! If Hitler dies, and the war fizzles in '41, they remain allies with the Nazis in control of most of Europe and Britain in shambles (the Battle of Britain has been going on for a while). Big empire!
The U.S. was strictly isolationist until Pearl Harbor. Without that event, they stay out of the European theater. There is no Marshall Plan. I will go out on a limb and say that in your scenario, Britain is in decline and the U.S. is nowhere near as powerful as they are in the actual timeline. In fact, Britain probably bears the U.S. quite a bit of resentment for not bailing them out. With the end of the war possibly involving a capitulation on the part of Britain to the Nazis in return for the end of Blitzkrieg, this is even more likely.
The Bomb. You have to consider the Bomb. In your timeline the bomb is never dropped on civilian targets by the U.S. In fact, Werner von Braun's rocket program will probably be a success. The Nazis get the bomb first, they are the first into space, etc. By 2000 you'll have a technological Axis between Berlin and Tokyo.
Japan still has an army. Mao never gains more than a guerilla following. Germany/Soviet Union/Japan would be the superpowers dominating the planet. The U.S. would be analagous to the present (real world) France or Germany. Britain is, at best, a nonentity on the international scene, at worst, a Nazi stooge.
There is the possibility that the Sino-Nazi-Soviet power bloc will make a later bid for worldwide power in the '50s or '60s (WW III), but I am also intrigued by the idea of a war between them and an Arab Empire.
In any case, the U.S.'s involvement in WWII left a lot of European nations owing them a lot of money and favors, and arguably led directly to most (if not all) of the technological and economic power they've enjoyed since then. Without Pearl Harbor, the U.S. simply would not reach superpower status. They would own the Western Hemisphere of a VERY hostile world.
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