Winston Churchill would have fled to America, branded as a war criminal by the Nazis. Could some of the three-quarters of a million Axis casualties at Stalingrad have been avoided? The South never had a chance as long as the North had the will to continue the fight. Not close at all really.They plowed through a bunch of weak and unprepared countries. When Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, the Germans were under no obligation to declare war on American as Japan was the aggressor. – jwenting Aug 29 '16 at 11:33 At the start of the war with USSR , during the first 4 months, Germany had 3 mill. Once relocated, Stalin would have probably carried out a second set of Purges like the ones he carried out in the 1930s, but they would have been motivated by blaming other people for the catastrophic defeat. The German campaign of 1940 in France, Holland, and Belgium was nothing short of sheer brilliance. Art. Hitler sent 4.5 million troops to invade a country that had signed a nonaggression pact with him. Then, much to their amazement, the Germans halted their advance for three days in order to regroup. A hypothetical Axis victory in World War II has become a common concept of alternative history and counterfactual history.Such writings express ideas of what the world would be like had the Axis powers of Germany, Italy, and Japan won World War II.Numerous examples exist in several languages worldwide. The Germans were closer to winning WW2. captives, most of which were eager to fight against USSR regime. Update: This goes to the vote, Thanks all. You hear this same argument from people discussing the US Civil War. Nonetheless, the early successes were spectacular. As a result, we shall see what actually happened. If he had managed to take Britain and therefore divert troops to North Africa no one could have formed a beach head against Europe save the Russians. Nazi Germany had four main weaknesses, namely: 1. 33 Answers. They also rationalized that their production lines were flexible enough to make modifications and upgrades to these existing models. The Germans were unaware of the size of the evacuation until after it had happened. The British Government would have been topped and a new one would have been formed based around reconciliation. The only other real point where the Germans were close to this victory was during it's first offensives in Belgium and France. The chances were that the Allies either would have been slaughtered or, most likely, after a brief resistance, surrendered en masse. It wasn't that close. Alan Parsons, musician (The Alan Parsons Project); producer who was involved with The Beatles' Abbey Road and Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon. HistoryNet.com is brought to you by Historynet LLC, the world's largest publisher of history magazines. Learn the story of the secret commando raid to destroy Germany's Heavy Water facility. And a lot of resources were wasted on such colossal failures like the Me 163 Komet and the 188 ton Maus super tank. This allowed the Allies to secretly evacuate over 330,000 Allied troops back to the British mainland using an armada of big and small boats. How close was Hitler to winning the WWII, really? Relevance. 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But by 1945, the German Federation of Europe would have been a true super power with a strictly maintained dictatorship that was here to stay… for now. But in the altered scenario, the RAF never gets the chance to recover, and within a month it is crippled with few operating runways or squadrons left. Wiki User Answered . Robert J. The failures in Russia were major factors, but the late entrance of the U.S. tipped the scale. I ask this because I have heard wildly different assessments by different people. Relevance. Photo: Bundesarchiv, Bild 101I-342-0603-25 / Ketelhohn [Kettelhohn] / CC-BY-SA 3.0By August, Britain was losing more pilots and aircraft than it could replace. Even their early victories were flawed, like the Battle of France in the summer of 1940 that raged on for six weeks. Neither side for the majority of the war moved more than a few miles either way. An Allied convoy heads eastward across the Atlantic, bound for Casablanca, in November 1942. In reality, the British introducing new tactics and the Germans switching to civilian bombing allowed the RAF time to recover its numbers. This would have lasted for decades, despite much tension, mistrust, and occasional violent flare up between the two countries. But in this altered scenario, Hitler would have completely ignored coastal-shipping convoys, ports, shipping centers, and civilian targets. But if these projects had been canceled earlier on and their resources diverted to more promising projects, the war might have had a totally different outcome. None of these changes by themselves would have won the war for the Germans. The immediate effect of this suspension of hostilities would have allowed Hitler to indulge in his growing fascination with new technology. Who knows? As a result, the fighting all too quickly turned into what they least wanted: a long war of attrition. There was a good possibility America would have thrown all its might against the Japanese, allowing Britain to become isolated and Germany to concentrate on defeating Russia. Lv 7. He might have resisted going as far as the Treaty of Versailles (1919). How long would the peace have held? Did Germany come closer to "winning" WW1 or WW2? How close was Germany to developing an atomic bomb in World War 2? The RAF would have been totally destroyed and the cities would be relentlessly bombed. Do 17 bombers during the Battle of Britain. Germany lost by a wide margin. But his triumphs were not part of a strategic conception that secured victory in the long run. How close did Nazi Germany come to winning WW2? However, there might be one event that, if it had been done differently, could have had a domino effect that might have resulted in Germany winning the war. The Russians unleashed about 3000 tanks the Germans didn't know they had and smashed the German 6th Army and left German morale in tatters. Asked by Wiki User. So, by the winter of 1940, Germany would have been able to concentrate on preparing to attack Russia. Many say war is about which side makes the fewest mistakes. Both had gambled on a war that was quick, with decisive victories that would win them significant territorial gains. It was unlikely there would have been a Russian surrender or a peace treaty as the countries were so ideologically opposed. More Questions at Ask Mr. History. So what if the Germans had attacked earlier and in greater numbers? Germania 2: A slightly more plausible map of what Germany might look like if it won WW2 by 1Blomma via DeviantArt. But to give an opinion: if everything had gone according to the German plan, there would have been no WW2. Instead, there would probably have been a cease-fire much like that between North and South Korea after the Korean War. How close was Germany to winning the war? Having said that, GB AND RUSSIA deserve most of the credit for winning WW2. This would have weakened the Russian war machine even further as top military figures and designers were shipped off to prison camps to die for their perceived failure to halt the German onslaught of 1941. You hear this same argument from people discussing the US Civil War. But none could have forever turned a blind eye to the mass disappearance of their Jewish neighbors and the increasing amount of Nazi propaganda in the heavily controlled “free” press. In turn, America and maybe Russia would have quite quickly developed their own nuclear deterrent, thus creating a global stalemate with Germany. As for the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, despite striking a devastating blow against the American navy, crucially it failed to destroy the American carrier force who were not in port at the time. This was the kind of war that neither countries had planned for and, more importantly, a war they were unlikely to win. What if Hitler had resisted on December 11, 1941, and had not declared war on America? the battle of Britian if lost the UK would have to sue for peace and the Germans could have walked through North africa taking the worlds lagest oil fields and Refinary . Both the South and Germany just too stupid to realize the war was lost 2 … 2015-07-15 18:29:13 2015-07-15 18:29:13. Their actions unknowingly let the Allies evacuate a large number of troops. Taking into account all the setbacks that Doenitz had, was it not possible that Churchill used it as an excuse to gain Roosevelt’s sympathy? Imagine the impact a sizeable number of Panther tanks with their long-barrelled 75mm guns and thick sloped armor would have had in the desert of North Africa in 1942. Harvey Firestone, industrialist and tire maker. Read another story from us: How Communists in Germany Allied with Nazis to Destroy Democracy. Germany - Germany - World War II: World War II is appropriately called “Hitler’s war.” Germany was so extraordinarily successful in the first two years that Hitler came close to realizing his aim of establishing hegemony in Europe. Churchill might have set up some kind of government in exile and attempt to drum up support for a fresh war against Germany. What if the Germans had planned from the beginning for a much longer war and started to develop weaponry like the initially unreliable Panther tank much sooner? The only reason the UK survived is because of the English Channel and Germany's lack of a proper navy. The bombing of London and other cities from that month on never achieved the “terror” factor Adolf Hitler sought, but it did give the RAF the reprieve it needed in the nick of time. The war in Europe might have become winnable for the Germans after all. The situation looked truly dire. invade the Soviet Union in the hopes of getting access to more resources. George Roy Hill, film director (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting). Quite quickly, Germany would have developed long range bombers with nuclear bombs followed by nuclear tipped missiles. How close was Germany to bringing Great Britain to its knees in WW2? However, there might be one event that, if it had been done differently, could have had a domino effect that might have resulted in Germany winning the war. Answer. HistoryNet.com contains daily features, photo galleries and over 5,000 articles originally published in our various magazines. 10 Answers. Both the South and Germany just too stupid to realize the war was lost 2 years before it actually ended. At first, this proved to be a good philosophy, but later they became far too worried about introducing new models in case it disrupted wartime production. The British slow moving and badly armored Valentine Mk2 tank with its 2-pounder (37mm) guns would not have stood a chance. Harry F. Byrd Jr., first independent ever elected to US Senate by a majority of the popular vote (Virginia). These extra months would have given them ample time to advance all the way to Moscow before the Russian winter set in. America would have seen the liberation of Europe as being impossible and so would not have got involved. By October 1940, it would have been all over: the Germans would have totally destroyed the RAF, and then the German bombing raids would have started in earnest against British civilian populated areas and factories. What if the disposable Panzerfaust 60, which did not come into full production until September 1944, instead was available on the Russian front in 1943? The result was that both Germany and Japan were drawn into destructive long-term wars. Consequently, Japan would not have attacked Pearl Harbor, fearing a United States which could have potentially turned its full military and industrial might against it. Clay Blair seems to refute the belief Britain was about to fall. It is thought he hoped to win favor with the Japanese and gain their support in the war in Europe once they had defeated America. Then, as planned, Hitler would have launched his aerial bombing campaign against Britain, known as the Battle of Britain, on July 10, 1940. The concurrent German effort to blockade Britain by sea is more problematic—it started out with too few U-boats and as they grew in numbers, so did the escorts and anti-submarine measures to counter them—but there is no disputing the Battle of Britain as a tipping point in the war. Some would say it was inevitable from the very beginning that Germany and Japan would lose the war. Research Director After all, the British and American bombing campaign in itself did not win the war, but combined with D-Day and the victory in the Battle of the Atlantic, these actions had a serious impact in the war in favor of the Allies. Discussion in 'WWII General' started by DangerousBob, Feb 20, 2014. It was hoped these early victories would force their stunned opponents to the negotiation table. This was a fatal mistake because Britain, Germany’s most bitter enemy, was close to powerlessness at that time. America would have had some degree of satisfaction from the situation, perceiving a kind of victory at not having not been dragged into yet another costly foreign war (with Germany) and happy that they seem to have defeated Japan without having to fire a shot. In early September 1940 Germany was probably as close as it would ever come to conquering Britain. Imagine large quantities of Me 262s jet fighters attacking American Bomber formations in early 1944. During World War I, the German Empire was one of the Central Powers that lost the war. In the middle of The Battle of France, a very large Allied force found themselves surrounded in the Northern French seaport of Dunkirk with no chance of either being relieved or breaking out. – Stalingrad (1942-43): What if Hitler had not been so obsessed with Stalingrad and instead had by-passed the city altogether? Taking into account all the setbacks that Doenitz had, was it not possible that Churchill used it as an excuse to gain Roosevelt’s sympathy? There is precedent of countries declaring war on Germany/Japan in 1945 just to be a part of the new world order (United Nations), Turkey being the biggest and most obvious example. In just a few months, the Allied armies were totally defeated and Europe was under the control of Nazi Germany. Branch Rickey, president of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Its radar network would have had large blind spots in it, and German bombing raids would have frequently used these spots to sneak in undetected. A lot of British would have fooled themselves that the Peace Treaty with Germany was not that bad, the only real difference being that their armed forces were slowly dismantled and the occasional German air patrol passed over their cities and towns. Or if he had let Field Marshal Paulus breakout of Stalingrad when he had wanted to? While Nazi Germany winning World War Two makes for great literary fiction, how plausible was it really? The stalemate during trench warfare in WW1 was just that, a stalemate. Maybe this would be enough to break the British fighting spirit. Would that have led them to gain air superiority over Britain and subsequently led to a successful invasion? – Their equipment (1942-45): The Germans thought World War Two would be a relatively short conflict, maybe a year or two at most. Germany’s invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941 proved to be the undoing of Hitler’s military campaign. A look into why the Germans could not pull a win out of the war with the realities they found themselves in. “A single blow must destroy the enemy… without regard of losses… a gigantic all-destroying blow.” – Adolf Hitler. Therefore, they thought their new and cutting-edge equipment such as the MP38 sub-machine guns, the Panzer III & IV tanks, Me 109 fighter aircraft, and Type VII submarine U-boats would be sufficient for this kind of war. How close was Germany to bringing Great Britain to its knees in WW2? The German Strategy was of course to crush the USSR by a two-front attack: The German Panzers were to roll into the USSR from the west, which actually took place on June 22, 1941, and the Japanese Imperial Army was to attack Siberia from the east, which never took place. World History Group In this alternative, less effort would have been made on the invasion of Britain (Operation Sea Lion) and the Luftwaffe would not have suffered the mauling it did at the hands of the RAF. ( Miami Vice, Law & order ) enough to break the British mainland using an of... Either would have been a Russian surrender or a peace Treaty as the North had will. 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