April 1st, 1943. Four men are meeting
to discuss the maps and territories of a new world. Sitting around a large mahogany
table are Adolf Hitler, Winston Churchill, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and
the man everyone fears the most, Joseph Vissarionovich “Man of Steel” Stalin.
Wait a minute, you’re now thinking. That never happened. It couldn’ t have happened. These four
dudes never met to discuss this kind of thing, and Adolf “Adi” Hitler, was certainly never
invited to draw up plans for dividing the world. Yes, viewers, we agree, but this isn’t real life.
Today we will look at an alternative history, and things in our new world are very different.
Let’s start with some truths, though, before we get into the nitty-gritty
of our whacky alternative future. As you know, at the start of the war, Hitler’s
army quite shockingly blasted its way through Europe. The Blitzkrieg was more effective than
people had thought it could be. At this point, the Soviet Union and Germany had signed
the German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact, an agreement that both nations wouldn’t scrap with
each other for the next 10 years. As the saying goes, that piece of paper was so worthless the two
may as well have used it to wipe their backsides. After Germany invaded Poland on September 1,
1939, the Soviets did the same on September 17. The short version of the story is that
Poland got bashed in the West by Germany and bashed in the East by the Red Army. As you
know, the Germans marched on and on. The British then got out of an embarrassing situation in
Dunkirk, after which Hitler told his troops: “My confidence in you knows no bounds. You have not disappointed me… The greatest battle in
the history of the world has come to an end.” Churchill knew what was coming.
He said later in a speech: “Hitler knows that he will have to break us
in this Island or lose the war…if we fail, then the whole world, including the United States,
including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age.”
No one gave Britain a chance. Those in the US who knew the war's ins and outs understood
only too well that Britain was about to get steamrolled. Some politicians in the US said
it was better to do business with Hitler rather than waste the lives of young men in another
foolish European war. After all, the US was becoming the world's new powerhouse. Still, a lot
of other people understood the threat Hitler posed to mankind, and they wanted to fight.
The Soviet Union was another matter. Hitler wanted to annihilate its people.
For now, Britain was on its own, facing down the most frightening force on the planet. On
July 10, 1940, the Battle of Britain commenced. Hitler was not intending to invade Britain
by land. He did have a plan for that, Operation Sealion, but he’d rather not let it
get to that. After all, that little island had been all but impossible to invade over the
centuries. Hitler thought he could do it, but his commanders warned him of how hard it
would be. So, he thought if his air force could do enough damage, the Brits would back out of the
war and leave Hitler to do his worst elsewhere. So, the battle was fought in the skies.
British Spitfires and Hurricanes went up against Germany’s Messerschmitt Bf 109s,
and the bombers, the Ju 87s. These skirmishes happened frequently, and the British were
much better than most people had thought. On one day alone, August 18, the Germans lost 69
planes. The British lost 34. Churchill said later, “Our airmen have had a grueling time, but
as each day passes the more magnificently, they seem to carry on the fight.”
He was right. For once, Germany was looking like the weaker side. Hitler was not
a happy man. The British weren’t supposed to be this good. They didn’t just have air
superiority in terms of skills, strategy, and arguably hardware, but they had very clever
technicians down below that could jam German radio signals and read German communications.
By October, the Luftwaffe had lost 1,294 planes compared to Fighter Command’s 788.
This was an embarrassment to Hitler, so, he did what anyone would do and decided it was
time to kill a bunch of British civilians. Hit them where it hurts, he thought, and the
country would turn against its leaders. On September 7, Hitler started a bombing
campaign, what the British called The Blitz. The Germans dropped tens of thousands
of tons of bombs on important English sites and also on the people, who, it seems,
were quite resilient. Not what Hitler wanted. We won’t explain everything that happened here as
we need to move on. All we will say is that this time Hitler was no match for the enemy. Still, the
Germans were far stronger in terms of their entire military. They’d just been beaten in the air.
Many of the British had celebrated as if they had won the war, and that was that, but all
they’d really done was wafted away a bird of prey. If it were a video game, they’d only
beat the first boss on level one. Like in many video games, the boss had retreated, vying
to return and finish the job the next time. In Hitler’s mind, that’s exactly as things stood.
He just dusted himself down and told himself he’d finish off those damned Englanders later.
On June 22, 1941, a bunch of Russian border guards at the Bug River bridge in Poland
were called over by some German guards. The Germans said they just wanted a chat. As the
Russians got closer, thinking nothing was amiss, they were all shot down by German machine guns.
Before you could say, “Oh my Stalin,” about 3.6 million Axis troops were walking towards the
Soviet Union, intending to kill in numbers like had never happened before. Hitler,
hubristic as always, thought his armies were far superior to those commie devils,
and he’d have this over and done with in no time. His confidence ultimately lost him the war.
But what if this didn’t happen. What if instead, Hitler focused on Britain, throwing as much
manpower as possible at the little nation. That’s 3.6 million Axis troops not fighting in the Soviet
Union and instead being sent to invade Britain. We know from various biographies of Stalin
that his aspiration was to spread communism around the globe. He hated the Germans and
distrusted Hitler. He was just waiting for the Germans to weaken before he attacked them.
Some scholars say he had a written plan to attack Germany in 1941, but that’s been debated.
As the Germans fought, Russia made money by selling the Germans oil and food, so we think that
if the Germans concentrated entirely on beating Britain, Stalin would have probably bid his time.
He would have waited. He might have been half-mad, but he was as canny as they come. Britain and
Germany fighting to the death would have been wonderful for Stalin and his dream of world
domination. He would have waited it out while using German money to strengthen his military.
The Nazis would not have launched Operation Sealion, though, while the RAF had so much
control in the sky. But what if that air battle just went on and on? Since no one
was winning outright, it would have turned to what’s called a war of attrition. That’s
when two sides try to wear each other out. Let’s also imagine that now Hitler has decided
to keep fighting in Britain, he’s made the clever move of concentrating on bombing British
airfields. Also, in this scenario, Hitler accepts the help that Italy’s Benito Mussolini,
and receives high quality fighter aircraft from his fellow Facist ally to maintain his war
effort in the British skies. Many academics agree that things would likely have been different if
Germany had done this. Nonetheless, Hitler would still have hoped for Britain to capitulate and
sign a deal. He never wanted to throw everything in the German arsenal at Britain. That was
dangerous. Still, let’s just imagine he did. Hitler knew that the Brits had the best navy in
the world. Launching a land invasion would have been darned miserable for the Germans. The
proud British would have thrown everything at the Germans, too. As a German naval commander
said, “A German invasion of England would be a matter of life and death for the British, and they
would unhesitatingly commit their naval forces, to the last ship and the last man,
into an all-out fight for survival.” Germany lacked good landing crafts, so getting
troops, tanks, and other vehicles across to England would have been hard, to say the
least. It would have meant a huge swathe of the German army being killed and God knows
how many British. Basically, this battle would have become the main part of the war, somthing
akin to Operation Barbarossa in our timeline. No one doubts that the Germans had a stronger
military, but invading that island would have been very hard. Napoleon found that
out himself, and he was not exactly lacking when it came to military prowess.
Still, Germany would have launched this land attack from various points in France: Dunkirk,
Calais, Boulogne, Le Havre, and Cherbourg, to name a few. Hitler’s troops would have landed
in many places, including Dover, Brighton, and Portsmouth. German ships and submarines
would have also created a blockade, attempting to prevent Britain from getting supplies. Remember,
this is only possible if he gains air superiority, but if Germany had ignored the Soviet
Union, we think that this isn’t unlikely. The problem is that the Kreigsmarine wasn’t as
powerful as the British Navy, not even close, but in this scenario, since the Luftwaffe
is successful, life is very precarious for the British ships. Still, at the start
anyway, many of the Rhine river barges that the Germans use are unsuitable for the
operation, and many men die, despite Germany having spent months devising their plan.
Even so, Germans do land on various British beaches, and their tanks make it across, too. The
Royal Navy starts shelling these troops, and the Germans suffer huge losses of manpower. To add to
the misery, many of the German tanks break down, and fixing them is impossible. The Germans
also have shortages of fuel, food, and ammo. Many of the German soldiers are captured,
so the British have to build POW camps for them. All this happens over many months, and
for sure, Hitler at times really regrets he went through with the invasion. Nonetheless,
he’s all in now. Pulling out is not an option. More German infantry and mountain divisions
get across to England, as do Germany’s motorized infantry and Panzers. Meanwhile,
the German war industry is working overtime, which includes using factories in France. The
Germans also make good use of their POWs. Let’s remind you again that almost all of Germany’s
war effort is now concentrated on this invasion. Over the months, the Germans launch airborne
divisions. These divisions have the most success at Folkstone, an important port from
which the Germans can use to resupply their troops in England. They don’t succeed in
landing at Brighton, where German ships and troops are continually under heavy fire. As
Germany tries to take more ports and harbors, the country suffers an astounding number
of casualties, but so does Britain. One of the main issues for the Germans is that
its planes are unable to destroy Britain’s many ships and motor gunboats. Even though the
Luftwaffe remains strong, it’s still overwhelmed by the sheer number of British destroyers in the
water. Also, British merchant ships have seemed to avoid catastrophe for the most part. It’s German
mines, not air assaults, that have done the most damage to British ships. German confidence
is bolstered by the fact its mines are too much for British minesweepers to deal with.
Something the Brits never expected was the German “Seilbomb,” or rope bomb in English. This
is a secret weapon the Germans have been hiding. They are used at night, hitting power grids when
German Messerschmitt Bf 110s fly low over England. This is a disaster for British residents who lose
power repeatedly over the months of the attack. Regarding residents, Britain’s war effort
is now at the forefront of everyone’s life. People suffer. They lack food, but it doesn’t
matter. More men join up to fight the Germans, and the women work around the clock in the
factories. The 59,192 people in Britain registered as Conscientious Objectors, change their mind.
Hardly anyone is not involved in the war now. Most people are willing to fight to the death.
The war is everything. Over five million Brits are mobilised for this invasion, and the armies of
the Commonwealth arrive, too, at least when they are able to get past German blockades.
But it’s the same for the Germans, who can match Britian man for man. Its navy is
being expanded all the time, too. Much work has gone into transforming barges into landing craft
designed in various ways to take people, tanks, armored vehicles, or artillery across the channel.
While we tend to think of sea battles involving big warships, German success in this
invasion relies on landing craft. Getting men and equipment onto land is tricky, to
say the least, which is why in real life, the D-Day landings took so long to plan out.
For the Germans, getting tanks down ramps is problematic, and it takes U-boats, destroyers, and
torpedo boats, to help keep those landing craft safe. It should also be said that both sides have
huge cross-channel guns that are causing a holy mess in the water. The Germans have more of these
than was expected, and the British lose a number of destroyers and smaller craft because of them.
Still, as it happens, even when the Germans do reach the coast, some of the tanks fall off
the ramps in what would look comical if it weren’t deadly serious. The Germans at least
have their Schwimmpanzers, swimming tanks, which are able to float in the water and
have a propeller to move them forward. They also have the Tauchpanzers, which, being
totally waterproof, can drive through the water. Little do the British know that the Germans have
converted 100s of tanks this way. They've also developed the Seeschlange (Sea Snake),
a floating bridge that can be attached to ships from where vehicles and men can
disembark. The Germans make these things at an astonishing rate, knowing
how important they are. In fact, much of the German equipment used in this
invasion is state of the art, hardly even tested before. They’re not just throwing all
their manpower and machines at the British, they’re also throwing all their brainpower.
At the same time, the entire fleet of the British Navy is now focused only on this
invasion. The Navy actually gets hoodwinked, though, by a sneaky German plan named Operation
Herbstreise. This consists of a huge convoy of German transport ships sent to England's
east coast. The Brits have to defend this, so British ships head to this area.
The reason this is sneaky is because those German transports are totally empty. The
movement is a ruse to draw the British over to the east while a German invasion force is
carried on barges to the southern coast. We should also state that while the US
isn’t fighting, it is sending arms to the British under the Lend-Lease agreement.
This helps the British cause considerably, and since the equipment arrives at northern ports,
there’s not so much the Germans can do about it. So, with all this effort, could Germany
have successfully invaded Britain? Most historians conclude that no, it couldn’t
have happened, not even with Germany’s full force. Just getting supplies, 1000s of
tons of them, across the channel would have been a logistical nightmare. We guess in our
scenario today, many things have to go right for the Germans for them to succeed. Weather would
have also played a big part, and would have been critical to Germany's success in this invasion.
There are others matters, too, such as military intelligence. In this regard, the British
were arguably the kings of the world. Still, if Germany’s spies, under Operation Lena, had
been successful things could have been different. And then, even if somehow the Germans managed
to occupy Britain, they would have had to rely on the help of British fascists to maintain
control. Hitler, of course, as outlined in his “Black Book,” would have made sure all his
enemies were captured and likely executed. In reality, Germany’s invasion would have
weakened the military so much that the Soviets could have jumped in later and exploited Germany’s
vulnerabilities. Europe falling to the fascists or the communists was not great news for the US. As
Churchill had warned, it could have been next. The relationship between Germany and the US
and the Soviet Union was a complicated one. Let’s remember Time magazine had Stalin as Man
of the Year twice, and Hitler won it in 1938. This didn’t mean Time was saying
Hitler was a good man, just that he had considerable power. He had the most
influence that year, good or bad. Time wrote: “Without loss of blood he reduced Czechoslovakia
to a German puppet state, forced a drastic revision of Europe's defensive alliances, and
won a free hand for himself in Eastern Europe by getting a ‘hands-off’ promise from powerful
Britain (and later France), Adolf Hitler, without doubt, became 1938's Man of the Year.”
We mention the Time thing only because we think it shows how powerful the US thought Hitler
was. As Time said, Hitler was changing the face of Europe, and most American people had
no intention of getting involved with that. We have to ask if Pearl Harbor would have
happened in this alternative reality because, if it had, the US might have joined the war
and helped Britain out. If that were the case, maybe the Germans wouldn’t have been
successful in invading Britain. Still, had the Germans not fought the Soviets, we
don’t think the Japanese would have launched their attack on the US. After all, it would have
been worrying about that massive Red Army that was twiddling its thumbs in the Soviet Union.
Even so, had Britain been down on its knees, the US would have understood the existential danger to
itself. So, let’s imagine the UK and the US end up defending Britain after a German invasion.
This would have been one hell of a brutal war. Meanwhile, the Soviet Union would have been
watching with glee as these three powers weakened themselves. If this had happened, the Soviet
Union could have quietly grown into a beast. We think that the British, Americans, and other
allied nations would have been successful, but things would’ve ended much differently than
in our timeline. Japan wouldn’t have been hit with nuclear bombs, but the Brits and Americans would
have still made them. We just don’t think in our alternate timeline that the war would have lasted
long enough for the bombs to be ready for use. Germany would have agreed to
pull out of the war if conditions were fair. That’s why the meeting that
we talked about at the start takes place. The Soviet Union and Germany were always far
behind the Brits and Americans when it came to making the atomic bomb. There’s a chance they
could have used it on Germany, but as we said at the start, that meeting takes place in 1943,
before the bombs were tested. With an allied US and UK, Germany agrees to retreat without the
use of nuclear bombs, but if the war had gone on, they would undoubtedly have been used on Germany.
We haven’t even mentioned the Holocaust, which would have been found out at one point or another,
but as it stands at that meeting, many things are unknown outside of Germany. The Nazis make sure
to cover much of it up before and after they sign for peace. Of course, since the year
is 1943, and Germany hasn’t invaded Russia, what happens in those camps is considerably
different from what happened in real life. Still, Germany would have gone ahead with its
extermination program no matter who they attacked. After all, the hatred towards the Jewish
people was one of the main driving forces of the Nazi party. Their paranoia of ruling Jewish
agents and their belief in Aryan superiority would have been the same in any scenario.
So, what if that meeting took place and Germany agreed to stand down as long as it
got what it wanted in terms of territories? Germany would have been considerably weakened
fighting the Allies in Europe, and the Soviets would have remained untouched while making money
in the war. If later, Stalin launched attacks in Asia and also against Germany. There’s a
chance the US and UK would also be involved. The Communists, as happened in real life,
would have taken much of Eastern Europe, and in this reality, Stalin may have moved into
western Europe. Germany would be destroyed, not being strong enough to defend itself.
The Cold War was unavoidable. The Soviet Union would be the strongest country since the US and
UK had thrown so much into their war with Germany. The one thing that scares and annoys Stalin,
though, is the fact the alliance of the US and UK come up with the nuclear bomb before he does.
As happened in real life, a Cold War would have ensued, just with a stronger Soviet military and
a weakened Allied military. Still, the outcome, in the end, would have been pretty similar to
what happened in real life. What might have been different is the US launching a nuclear strike
against the Soviets. We’re just not sure what the Soviets would have had to do to make that happen.
It’s very likely, though, that those first bombs could have fallen on Russia rather than Japan.
Now you need to watch “Hitler's Plans for the World if He Won.” Or, have a
look at “Europe if Hitler Won.”
