What if world war ii

Mussolini's fate was sealed. As for the Japanese, they would be ground to powder. United States forces played a direct role in defeating Germany, but also forced Hitler to keep huge military forces in Western Europe rather than sending them to reinforce his armies fighting against the Soviet Union, where they would likely have been a decisive factor against the Soviets. Instead, the German invasion of Russia failed after the effort that culminated at Stalingrad, and the German forces in Western Europe were eventually pushed back anyway, beginning with the landings at Normandy.

Your questions are hypothetical. They invite speculation. One of the delights of the alternate history genre of fiction is that its authors generally expend some considerable effort on the notion of history itself, especially the way in which history unwinds out of a skein of causes both large and small.

In these novels, large and familiar causes and conditions and forces roll out across the world, but small human details, such as a missed appointment at the Reichs Ministry, an overlooked telegram, Hitler's mistress Eva Braun's choice of perfume on a fateful day, or a random batch of sunspots that interferes with a particular radio transmission, sometimes cascade into a vastly different history than the one with which we are familiar.

Philip K. Germany then bombs the U. Robert Harris, Fatherland , another one in which Germany wins the war, although the U. Germany continues a drawn-out war with the Soviet Union, and Britain turns into a fascist state. Newt Gingrich and William R. Forstchen, , in which the U.

New York: Houghton Mifflin, One of the delights of the alternate history genre of fiction is that its authors generally expend some considerable effort on the notion of history itself.

And history is replete with reversals of alliance in the face of new circumstances. Thus, long before Nazi Germany could have realized its ultimate aim of world conquest, the rest of the world would have surely set aside their differences in the face of this obvious, massive, and implacable threat. The result would have given the United States footholds in south and east Asia at the very least, while it is unlikely that Germany would ever have acquired the ability to project armies across the vastness of the Atlantic Ocean, much less the Pacific.

The best it could have done would have been to create a fleet of transatlantic bombers like the notional Amerikabomber which, incidentally, seems to have been designed with the idea of a one-way trip culminating not in a traditional bombing run but rather in crashing into New York City skyscrapers.

The B began development in , at a time when it seemed as if Hitler might indeed overrun all of Europe. The first prototype flew in and the huge six engine bomber became operational two years later. By , the United States possessed an arsenal of more than fifty atomic bombs. It is highly doubtful that Germany would have achieved any atomic weapons by that time, given how behind its nuclear program was.

To subscribe, click here. In , a web of complex alliance commitments threatened rapid escalation into Great Power war. Two years later, Russia allied with France. This led Germany to strengthen its ties to Austria-Hungary, and Britain to entertain deeper entanglement with both France and Russia.

American obligations and operational plans cover a spectrum from the U. Temptation of a coup de main to radically improve power and prestige. Seeing Serbia as the epicenter of Pan-Slavism, Emperor Franz Joseph imagined that this menace could be contained by a decisive defeat of Serbia. The assassination of his heir, Franz Ferdinand, provided an opportunity.

In sum, those who see reminders of events a century ago in developments today are not deluded. But as Professor May would remind us, on the other hand, there are significant differences as well. Clash of civilizations: As argued by Samuel Huntington in his Clash of Civilizations , deep differences in values and worldviews between civilizations are a significant systemic factor favoring conflict.

On this dimension, is more dangerous than a century ago. In , Europe was the epicenter of civilization and its leaders masters of the universe. Most of the crowned heads of Europe—from the Arctic Circle to the Mediterranean—were blood relatives, with the tsar and the kaiser addressing each other as Nicky and Willy.

Nonetheless, as Huntington noted, a fault line between Western Civilization and Eastern Orthodoxy ran right through the Balkans. Significant differences between values in Beijing and Washington include hierarchical harmony vs. Financial foundations of hegemonic power. In , the United States is the largest debtor in the world. Much of this comes from foreign lenders, with the largest share held by China.

In , the European competitors had contiguous physical borders. This created incentives for rapid mobilization, accelerating the pace of decision-making in crisis.

Nonetheless, as a Pacific power with alliances and bases throughout Asia, the U. Moreover, as a result of advances in technology, there are no borders in space and cyberspace. Nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction. In , the thought that a Pan-European war could be so devastating that it would end a millennium in which European leaders ruled the world was almost inconceivable.

In , the balance of military power among the major states of Europe was fragile. The U. Moreover, all of the states were active participants in a delicate game of power-balancing.