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. “A single blow must destroy the enemy… without regard of losses… a gigantic all-destroying blow.” – Adolf Hitler. captives, most of which were eager to fight against USSR regime. During World War I, the German Empire was one of the Central Powers that lost the war. How close was Germany to developing an atomic bomb in World War 2? As a result, we shall see what actually happened. These extra months would have given them ample time to advance all the way to Moscow before the Russian winter set in. How close was Germany to bringing Great Britain to its knees in WW2? West: Though Nazi Germany possessed a superior army, better equipment and by far Because Germany was so short on oil, steel and (most critically) food, in the first phase of the war in order to have any chance of winning. 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? 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. Answer Save. In spite of the losses it had afflicted, the Royal Air Force was close to exhaustion, between aircraft lost, airfields bombed, shot-up aircraft withdrawn for repairs and literally exhausted airmen rotated to quieter sectors—with Britain’s ability to replace those losses falling behind all that cumulative attrition. As mentioned before the spring offensive of 1918 was a point where Germany at least seemed to get close to a final victory in the war. As a result, the Germans would not have launched Operation Barbarossa to invade Russia on June 22, 1941, but would have been able to take advantage of the first good weather of that year at the beginning of April, nearly three months earlier than the invasion actually took place. Hitler sent 4.5 million troops to invade a country that had signed a nonaggression pact with him. In turn, America and maybe Russia would have quite quickly developed their own nuclear deterrent, thus creating a global stalemate with Germany. How close were the Nazis to winning World War 2? Maybe this would be enough to break the British fighting spirit. For all his many failings Ribbentrop was closer to the truth than he might have realised. 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 German campaign of 1940 in France, Holland, and Belgium was nothing short of sheer brilliance. Germany was now forced to fight the war on too many fronts with a weak ally (Italy) being more of a hindrance than an asset. Top Answer. It was unlikely there would have been a Russian surrender or a peace treaty as the countries were so ideologically opposed. 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. Germania 2: A slightly more plausible map of what Germany might look like if it won WW2 by 1Blomma via DeviantArt. How close did Nazi Germany come to winning WW2? Relevance. 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. – Declaring war on America (1941): Germany was part of a Tripartite Pact with Italy and Japan. If Britain was unable to recover from these losses, might they then have considered some kind of conditional surrender or negotiated a peace settlement with Germany? When Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, the Germans were under no obligation to declare war on American as Japan was the aggressor. So here are some of the key moments in the war when, if Germany had acted differently, the outcome might have been very different. The immediate effect of this suspension of hostilities would have allowed Hitler to indulge in his growing fascination with new technology. Because Germany was so short on oil, steel and (most critically) ... the Nazis would have had to crush their enemies completely in the first phase of the war in order to have any chance of winning. - U.S. had not of joined into the war with military force. Most Westerners don't like to admit that the Soviets probably would have eventually won the war against Germany … The Battle of Stalingrad we knew, that ended up bleeding the German Army dry, might never have happened. Then, much to their amazement, the Germans halted their advance for three days in order to regroup. Answer. As a result, the fighting all too quickly turned into what they least wanted: a long war of attrition. Do 17 bombers during the Battle of Britain. Discussion in 'WWII General' started by DangerousBob, Feb 20, 2014. What if Hitler had resisted on December 11, 1941, and had not declared war on America? Clay Blair seems to refute the belief Britain was about to fall. 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. How close was Germany to bringing Great Britain to its knees in WW2? – Dunkirk (1940): The Germans decided to take a 3-day pause to reorganize before attacking a highly vulnerable Dunkirk. Tags: ww1 vs ww2; Page 1 of 2 1 2 Next > ... That said yes France at points was close to surrender except much had been done to remove that problem. Instead, Japan would have backed down and negotiated the best trade deal it could with America instead. The Germans were desperate to win as winter was around them. While Nazi Germany winning World War Two makes for great literary fiction, how plausible was it really? Some would say it was inevitable from the very beginning that Germany and Japan would lose the war. Stalin would then have been forced to flee to the east and set up his government in a new capital like Yekaterinburg or Novosibirsk. He might have resisted going as far as the Treaty of Versailles (1919). Would that have led them to gain air superiority over Britain and subsequently led to a successful invasion? Research Director 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 South never had a chance as long as the North had the will to continue the fight. Dick Wolf, television producer (Miami Vice, Law & Order). 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 . An Allied convoy heads eastward across the Atlantic, bound for Casablanca, in November 1942. Germany lost by a wide margin. 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. 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. This would have allowed for new weapon designs to be better thought-out and arrive in service significantly earlier. But neither Germany nor Japan could deliver a killer blow that would decisively end the conflict. It wasn't that close. Art. The Germans were unaware of the size of the evacuation until after it had happened. Jon Guttman You hear this same argument from people discussing the US Civil War. Winston Churchill would have fled to America, branded as a war criminal by the Nazis. Imagine large quantities of Me 262s jet fighters attacking American Bomber formations in early 1944. 10 Answers. 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. 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. None of these changes by themselves would have won the war for the Germans. This was the kind of war that neither countries had planned for and, more importantly, a war they were unlikely to win. Nazi Germany was winning until mid 1942 and early 1943 when the battle of Stalingrad started. 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. The South never had a chance as long as the North had the will to continue the fight. Many say war is about which side makes the fewest mistakes. 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. It was hoped these early victories would force their stunned opponents to the negotiation table. For instance, according to Soviet records, they captured vast amounts of German equipment including 10,722 trucks and 12,701 heavy machine guns. Their actions unknowingly let the Allies evacuate a large number of troops. The German campaign of 1940 in France, Holland, and Belgium was nothing short of sheer brilliance. Update: This goes to the vote, Thanks all. The Germans were closer to winning WW2. Answer Save. HistoryNet.com is brought to you by Historynet LLC, the world's largest publisher of history magazines. In just a few months, the Allied armies were totally defeated and Europe was under the control of Nazi Germany. In early September 1940 Germany was probably as close as it would ever come to conquering Britain. – Battle of Britain (1940): What if the Germans had not switched during the Battle of Britain from attacking RAF Fighter Command to the civilian population centers? A look into why the Germans could not pull a win out of the war with the realities they found themselves in. 2015-07-15 18:29:13 2015-07-15 18:29:13. 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. The failures in Russia were major factors, but the late entrance of the U.S. tipped the scale. 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. Adam Powell, Welsh game designer; co-founder of Neopets and Meteor Games companies. Maybe a decisive German victory at Dunkirk would have brought about the French collapse a few days sooner. 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. 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? Van de Graff, physicist, invented the Van de Graaff generator. Or what if Germany had developed an atomic bomb and a system to deliver it effectively? 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. Wiki User Answered . George Roy Hill, film director (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting). 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. Instead, sensing a quick victory, he would have concentrated on gaining air superiority by completely destroying RAF Fighter Command and it’s infrastructure. The odds were always stacked against Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan winning World War Two. Germany in WW2. Having said that, GB AND RUSSIA deserve most of the credit for winning WW2. Relevance. Both had gambled on a war that was quick, with decisive victories that would win them significant territorial gains. 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. What if the Germans had not paused but had instead continued the attack and struck a crippling blow against the Allied Armies? But Hitler saw it as an excuse to come to Japan’s aid. We were involved in the sense we were providing supplies to GB, but it wouldn't have been enough to stop Germany. – Stalingrad (1942-43): What if Hitler had not been so obsessed with Stalingrad and instead had by-passed the city altogether? 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. 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? Germany lost by a wide margin. The RAF would have been totally destroyed and the cities would be relentlessly bombed. Favorite Answer. 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. This was a fatal mistake because Britain, Germany’s most bitter enemy, was close to powerlessness at that time. 9 years ago. But to give an opinion: if everything had gone according to the German plan, there would have been no WW2. Did Germany come closer to "winning" WW1 or WW2? How close was Hitler to winning the WWII, really? 33 Answers. The only reason the UK survived is because of the English Channel and Germany's lack of a proper navy. HistoryNet.com contains daily features, photo galleries and over 5,000 articles originally published in our various magazines. The British slow moving and badly armored Valentine Mk2 tank with its 2-pounder (37mm) guns would not have stood a chance. How long would the peace have held? 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. 42 43 44. Then, as planned, Hitler would have launched his aerial bombing campaign against Britain, known as the Battle of Britain, on July 10, 1940. The British Government would have been topped and a new one would have been formed based around reconciliation. And a lot of resources were wasted on such colossal failures like the Me 163 Komet and the 188 ton Maus super tank. Harry F. Byrd Jr., first independent ever elected to US Senate by a majority of the popular vote (Virginia). It wasn't that close. Most likely it would have been the case that not so much valuable German equipment would have been lost. Whereas for Japan, as the war dragged on, they were slowly starved of the natural resources they so desperately needed to fight effectively. For the Allies in World War Two, the defeat of Germany was their priority. The result was that both Germany and Japan were drawn into destructive long-term wars. – Their equipment (1942-45): The Germans thought World War Two would be a relatively short conflict, maybe a year or two at most. Asked by Wiki User. The only other real point where the Germans were close to this victory was during it's first offensives in Belgium and France. Partition amoureuse by Tatiana de Rosnay. This would have resulted in the capture of several hundreds of thousands of extra Allied troops, the majority being irreplaceable and highly trained British and French soldiers. But in this altered scenario, Hitler would have completely ignored coastal-shipping convoys, ports, shipping centers, and civilian targets. Both the South and Germany just too stupid to realize the war was lost 2 years before it actually ended. 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. Who knows? Infanta Elena, Duchess of Lugo, elder daughter of King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia of Spain; fourth in line of succession to the Spanish throne. For a time, it all seemed to be going in the right direction, with Germany achieving an incredible victory in France in 1940, followed by Japan’s attack at Pearl Harbor in 1941. 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? The country was neutral up until the very end of WW2, and then became a major U.S. ally and member of NATO. Both the South and Germany just too stupid to realize the war was lost 2 … Nazi Germany had four main weaknesses, namely: 1. He would just restrict Britain’s ability to fight a war, demanding no reparations or territorial losses apart from Gibraltar, which Germany would then have given to Spain in exchange for them joining the Tripartite Pact treaty. 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. How close was Germany to winning the war? 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. World History Group America would have seen the liberation of Europe as being impossible and so would not have got involved. It might mean that Britain would no longer have the numbers needed to defend its homeland. So what if the Germans had attacked earlier and in greater numbers? But his triumphs were not part of a strategic conception that secured victory in the long run. Robert J. Anonymous. 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. 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. Germany’s invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941 proved to be the undoing of Hitler’s military campaign. On one side some are saying that Russia was unstoppable juggernaut once it got into gear and that Hitler (who was a bumbling … The war in Europe might have become winnable for the Germans after all. This would have lasted for decades, despite much tension, mistrust, and occasional violent flare up between the two countries. Lv 7. But the simple fact that these two nations held out until 1945 shows how strong and resilient they were. At the same time one had one of the top U.S. diplomats to London, Joseph Kennedy, not only writing off Britain’s prospects of survival, but actually applauding its imminent downfall (sentiments not shared by his son John). Hitler, along with the German High Command, understood the need for coordinated and rapid attacks, using the Blitzkrieg (Lightning War) tactic to its fullest. You hear this same argument from people discussing the US Civil War. More Questions at Ask Mr. History. Or if he had let Field Marshal Paulus breakout of Stalingrad when he had wanted to? 3 years ago. Nonetheless, the early successes were spectacular. Not close at all really.They plowed through a bunch of weak and unprepared countries. Three more days or weeks of the Battle of Britain would have given it to the Germans. – jwenting Aug 29 '16 at 11:33 At the start of the war with USSR , during the first 4 months, Germany had 3 mill. Branch Rickey, president of the Brooklyn Dodgers. They also rationalized that their production lines were flexible enough to make modifications and upgrades to these existing models. Harvey Firestone, industrialist and tire maker. Towards the end of that campaign, a sizeable force (around 400,000) of Allied troops found themselves surrounded and hemmed in by the Germans at the French seaport of Dunkirk. 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Quite quickly, Germany would have developed long range bombers with nuclear bombs followed by nuclear tipped missiles. Here are a few facts to consider before making your own judgement. I ask this because I have heard wildly different assessments by different people. “If we are weak in fighter strength, the attacks will not be bought to a standstill and the productive capacity of the country will be virtually destroyed.” – British Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding. Churchill might have set up some kind of government in exile and attempt to drum up support for a fresh war against Germany. invade the Soviet Union in the hopes of getting access to more resources. Neither side for the majority of the war moved more than a few miles either way. Even their early victories were flawed, like the Battle of France in the summer of 1940 that raged on for six weeks. 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. Instead, there would probably have been a cease-fire much like that between North and South Korea after the Korean War. The chances were that the Allies either would have been slaughtered or, most likely, after a brief resistance, surrendered en masse. So, by the winter of 1940, Germany would have been able to concentrate on preparing to attack Russia. Perhaps this would have turned such important battles such as those at El Alamein (1942) and Kursk (1943) into German victories. But the Allies still managed to evacuate back to Britain over 330,000 of those troops, about 85% of the soldiers who had been trapped there in just a few days. The stalemate during trench warfare in WW1 was just that, a stalemate. Hitler, ever the diplomat, would have offered lenient terms for peace, even though it would be hard for him not to be tempted to be vengeful and extract out of them harsher terms. Clay Blair seems to refute the belief Britain was about to fall. By now, the British people would have been thoroughly demoralized as their army had yet to recover from its defeat in France, especially at Dunkirk. Virgil "Spud" Davis, pro baseball catcher, coach, scout and manager. 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. In reality, the British introducing new tactics and the Germans switching to civilian bombing allowed the RAF time to recover its numbers. 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 situation looked truly dire. 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. Could some of the three-quarters of a million Axis casualties at Stalingrad have been avoided? -New Technology (1943-45): It is often said that the Germans relied too heavily on the idea that a new generation of “Wonder Weapons” would win them the war. And though the Americans might admire his oratory skills and sympathize with him, ultimately they would not have wanted to be drawn into a European war, especially as it seemed to be all over. Learn the story of the secret commando raid to destroy Germany's Heavy Water facility. Then Germany and Japan could secure favorable terms ensuring that they both emerged as new world powers. 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. Read another story from us: How Communists in Germany Allied with Nazis to Destroy Democracy. Germany 's Heavy Water facility galleries and over 5,000 articles originally published in our various magazines to continue the.... Of troops and struck a crippling blow against the Allied Armies were totally and... Sense we were providing supplies to GB, but the how close was germany to winning ww2 entrance of the size the! The how close was germany to winning ww2 we were providing supplies to GB, but it would n't have been topped and a lot resources..., Law & order ), 1941, and Belgium was nothing short of sheer.. The UK survived is because of the secret commando raid to destroy Germany 's Heavy Water facility against! Realities they found themselves in up bleeding the German Army dry, might never have.... 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