Monday 6 June 2011

What would have happened if Hitler focused on the Allied Powers , Part Deux

Click the image to open in full size.
Operation Sealion - The Planned Invasion of Britain
You could say this is a revised version of the What would have happened if Hitler didn't invade the Soviet Union post, but more revised.

Operation Sea lion:

In recent historical speculation, most historians have speculated that , if it hadn't been for Operation Barbarossa (thats the invasion of Soviet Union) Hitler would have been the Fuhrer of the European Continent, his empire would've stretched from the reaches of Prussia to the Atlantic Ocean. In this post, I shall examine and (try to) accurately Speculate (if such a thing exists) what would've happened if Soviet Russia and the Third Reich hadn't collided.

Note- This post will not delve into the Holocaust nor will it involve much of the Russians, it is purely speculative with facts that would back up the claims.

Now, we all know the fact that Nazi Germany had an invasion plan for mainland Britain,Operation Sealion it was called. So here are the plans illustrated in this map.

As illustrated above (to the left) , the plan was to sent the 16th Army corps into the present Dover area, with the 9th Army Corps attacking Brighton, needless to say about the 6th Corps. But what Hitler needed for this invasion, was:
  1. Air Superiority- This would give the Germans an edge in their invasion and would prevent the RAF from interfering in their plans.
  2. Occupying the Royal Navy - Obviously, the Royal Navy was quite dominant to that of Germany, so hence the initial plan was to attack the Home Fleet with U-Boats and occupy ships positioned in Malta and the Mediterranean as well as the North Sea.
Hitler's conquered Europe. The Full extent of Nazi Germany
Now, assuming this invasion succeeded and the British soon surrender (they would probably HAVE to). Germany turns its focus to North Africa, also assuming that Gen. Montgomery has (I know its far fetced) still been fighting (Just because Britain was invaded, didn't mean they couldn't fight overseas). Germany would now bolster its Afrika Korps and this would eventually wear down the Brits at Egypt. Eventually, after an unknown period of time (I assume a Month), Germany conquered Alexandria and Cairo and are now literally on the Banks of the Suez Canal. Should this Canal fall into Axis hands , it would cut off Whats left of European Britain from the Rest of Her Empire in India and Asia. 

Axis Conquests outside Europe:

During this time, we could expect the island of Malta to finally fall, after a long siege had exhausted the civilian population. Gibralter would, if I am somewhat correct, been attacked and conquered by Nationalist Spain, headed by General Franco.

Now, assuming also that the Suez Canal is lost, the Allied forces in the Middle East now face the thread of a continuing offensive into the Middle East by the Afrika Korps. Chances of Arab Uprisings (no Pun intended ) now are very much high, with Iraq looking unstable. Eventually, the Germans would push the Allied Powers into the Iraqi Pocket. That is, into the province of Basra. It can only hope to escape if it had a Dunkirk style evacuation all the way to the Qatari side of the Gulf.

And during this time, we address another issue. The Neutrality of Turkey, surely by this time It is quite hard for Turkey to remain all that neutral when surrounded by conflict. Assuming that if Turkey joins the Axis, we could be seeing a potential reincranation of the ottoman empire (though highly unlikely) or else if they joined the Allies, they would form a protective bulwark against occupied Greece and Bulgaria, and could possibly stage an offensive into the Balkans!
The Reconquista , what would've happened if Mexico joined the Axis

Now, what about other prospective (or opportunistic) Axis nations ? Well, No doubt Italy would've had been the main powerhouse of the Mediterranean. But what about Mexico ? They would've and could've joined the Axis, so could Argentina. For a fact, Argentina's president at the time had a liking of Hitler and his ideology (it was believed that he was a Fascist himself). So.. you need not require me to paint an image of an Argentinean battle against Allied countries in South American such as Brazil (compared at the time, Brazil had a weaker army).

The outcomes and the Speculations continue to build up. No one really will know what would've happened, unless it did.

For Further Reading:

The following are a recommended books about this topic and of what would happen if Hitler did in fact, conquer the world (not literally!) , if anyone is interested.

Fatherland by Robert Harris
A Damned Fine War by William Yenne, Bill Yenne
If Britain Had Fallen by Norman Longmate

I've just written this because I was bored, to be honest. 
Although, I welcome all viewers to post their comments and suggestions towards what I should blog about. I very much appreciate it.

Why More Maps Should Be Upside Down

If you've utilised a map at any point in your life, whether it's Google Maps to find out which right turn you just missed on the hig...