If the nazis won?

[Seret]

If the Germans developed Type XXI a year or two earlier they would have naval supremacy. Plus nuclear bomb is all they needed.

One of the biggest strategic lessons of WW2 was that the dominant weapon at sea is the aircraft. That's why the Germans considered air superiority over Britain a precondition of risking a cross-channel amphibious operation. If they ruled the skies the Royal Navy would have been restricted to operating in bad weather only.

I think it's a bit unlikely to consider a WW2 where Germany didn't attack Russia; pushing east was Hitler's main objective for the war. Attacks on the Low countries, Scandinavia, France and Britain were just intended to secure Germany's rear in preparation for the main fight. The Germans probably would have been ok with a peace treaty with Britain. They even tried to make offers (Hess famously parachuting into Britain to try and open talks). If we're imagining a world where Hitler's government survives the war then you're implicitly talking about one where they won on the Eastern front. That's a big enough fight that you can certainly see plenty of demand for wunderwaffen. I think Von Braun still would have found himself in the rocket business, there would have been demand for weapons that could hit deep into the Russians' Siberian industrial base.

Edited June 17, 2014 by Seret

[78stonewobble]

I understand but that was not what I asked, I stated what would Von B would do if they had won.

I think it's the wrong question. The question should be, would the **** leaders have been interested in Von B beyond military needs? And if so, what would those interests be?

...

No, I don't think **** germany could have won the war per say, but they might have fought it long and hard enough to possibly have negotiated more favourable conditions including their own survival. Especially so with nuclear weapons.

EDIT: Remember that germany only really entered wartime levels of production very late in the war. If they could have done that earlier and with some of their newer most advanced technology. It would have made for a much harder victory for the allies and presumably more drawn out war. Even if, in the long term, population and ressource wise they could not compete with the US, Russia and these nations access to other countries and further ressources.

Edited June 17, 2014 by 78stonewobble

[Jouni]

As far as I understand, Hitler had two main targets in the war. France, because the countries had a long history of defeating and humiliating each other in war, and Russia, because there were communists and room to expand.

The Nazis could have won the war by defeating the Soviet Union in 1941, and they still had some chances in 1942. By late 1942, Germany's allies started to believe that the war had been settled and the USSR would eventually win.

Assuming that Germany had won the USSR, it would eventually have made peace with the UK and the US. Neither side had any real capacity to fight each other, so continuing the war would have been pointless.

[KasperVld]

I don't think this type of thread belongs on the KSP forums, and we all know it will only head one way. Closed