Peace in our time

Updated Sunday 15 May, 2011 12:18 PM

“Peace in our time”

Credit to Scott who inspired this Alternate History.

From a military point of view, the western allies, France and Britain, had lost their best change to stop Hitler without major disruption in 1938. Essentially, the agreement at Munich had offered a reason for doing what they wanted to do – avoid a war. At the price of some land, which did not even belong to them, the allies had peace. However, they had not yet realised that Hitler was fundamentally unappeasable and that nothing short of conceding European dominance to Germany – which would have cut their own throats – would have satisfied him.

There are several different views on the appeasers. One is that they were terrified of a war, which would threaten their positions, and they would therefore attempt to satisfy Hitler without losing anything themselves. Another was that they were cold-bloodedly trying to steer Hitler into a war with the USSR and were willing to sell the Czechs and Poles down the river – as long as the threat of a communist revolution was removed. A third was that they genuinely believed that Hitler was only trying to redress what almost everyone thought of as the unjust treatment of Germany in 1919 and would be satisfied with border adjustments. A fourth believed that Germany was way ahead of the allies and was buying time to rearm.

However, Hitler broke the agreement at Munich and managed to shame Chamberlain, the British PM. The result of this was a series of hasty guarantees from Chamberlain to the eastern European states, including Poland, Turkey and Greece, none of which could hope to hold of a German attack.

However, lets change things a bit here. Let’s assume that Chamberlain believes that Germany is way ahead of the British and is therefore intimidated into being more supine than OTL. When the Germans demand the Polish Corridor, Chamberlain pressures them into agreeing to it. Now, the Poles would have gone ballistic, but they would be unable to resist the Germans on their own and joining the USSR would be suicide of a different sort. The Poles are forced to give in and Hitler’s forces occupy the corridor. Hitler also makes the Poles agree to a whole host of trade deals that make Poland into a satellite of Germany.

Stalin panics. Seriously worried by the German presence, he orders the Red Army to take over the Baltic States. Hitler orders the German army to allow this to happen, as the Nazi-Soviet pact is still in effect. Hitler also encourages Stalin to start moving forces into position to invade Iran – and makes sure that the British know that the Soviets are moving in. Britain becomes very interested in keeping an European peace – at all costs.

Hitler is delighted. He begins by offering British businesses all sorts of contracts. He is willing to buy stuff like radios, trucks, and other stuff that is not really lethal in and of itself, but can be used in the army. Churchill and some others oppose this policy, but can’t stop the resulting economic boom. Mosley and Co. get some of the credit for the rise in British living standards and fascism becomes more popular.

The Soviet threat to Iran convinces Britain to be more careful elsewhere. They tacitly recognise Japan’s claim to much of China and quietly abandon any support for the Poles. Germany and Japan become closer, while the disgusted US grants the Philippines their independence and withdraws into itself. The effect of all this is that most of Europe slowly goes fascist and becomes a German satellite. The British get most of European Jewry to settle in the Sudan and other places that have small populations.

The lack of a massive collapse of British power leads to a more peaceful British empire. India gains dominion status on a level with Canada and Australia in 1942. Events are shattered by the war of 1945.

On May 1^st, 1945, Hitler launches the long-prepared attack against the USSR. German bombers nuke Moscow, Leningrad, Stalingrad, and several other targets of vital worth. German paratroopers take important bridges, while the German army cuts apart the inexperienced and weak soviet army and moves on the important targets. Hitler’s use of Ukrainian, Byelorussian and White Russian nationalists enables the shattered and demoralised Russian troops to be wiped out without much problem. Japan adds to the chaos by striking north, although they take heavy losses, as their tanks are nowhere near as good as the Russian ones. By the end of 1946, Russia is largely subdued and the remaining independent sections are not able to menace the new German Empire.

Hitler then practices nuclear blackmail. Britain is forced to allow a joint German/Italian occupation of Egypt, Palestine and the Middle East. France is forced to surrender Alsace-Lorraine, much of their armed forces and large parts of their African Empire.

All the powers push their nuclear programs as fast as they can, but Germany is far ahead. America, Britain and France share information, but there is a leak and Hitler discovers that Germany’s monopoly is in danger of slipping. He reacts characteristically and demands the surrender of all the nuclear scientists. The French are forced to comply at once, as their scientists are in France, but most of the British ones are in American and effectively out of reach. The American president gambles that Hitler can’t nuke America yet and therefore refuses to hand the scientists over.

That’s disastrous for Britain. The new PM feels he has no choice, but to negotiate a surrender. Churchil, however, has contacts in the army and acts to overthrow him. Hitler loses patience and nukes Newcastle, after which Churchill is overthrown in his turn and the new British government surrenders unconditionally. Hitler occupies a section of Britain (a Dover-London-Brighton line) and declares Scotland independent and Ireland to regain Northern Ireland. This wins him a few friends, but large parts of Scotland are affected by the radioactivity and soon he’s not too popular.

Hitler also forces the British and French to hand over their navy and lands in Latin America. This soon starts a war with America over those lands; although Germany is powerful, America is overwhelmingly powerful in that region and soon occupies the lands. Hitler does, however, make friends with anti-USA factions all over the American continent.

Worse, Hitler manages to smuggle a nuke into New York and set it off. After the dust settles, Hitler claims that the nuke was carried by a rocket and he had a few hundred more. The US is forced to abide by Hitler’s terms and the world falls into eternal darkness……………

“And every story has its end,

The river has its final bend,

And set to wings of stone,

Must gently fly away,

The piper plays his saddest air,

The day is done,

The shadows fall,

The lonely night comes to the land,

And darkness takes us all……..”