Question:
How would Europe look like if Nazi Germany won the war?
PeteHoffen
2013-12-30 13:45:19 UTC
Bonus Question: What's Hitler biggest war strategy mistake?
Ten answers:
2013-12-30 14:07:02 UTC
Germany would return to pre-WWI borders. All of Europe would be setup as fascist puppet states similar to the Soviet satellite states. The UK would remain free because of US intervention and a resulting stalemate, especially if the US got the atomic bomb first as in the real time line. If the Soviet Union survived the war, the cold war would have had three "combatants" once they recovered and another war in Europe would have been inevitable as the Russians made a drive for Slavic freedom/hegemony.



The US would have remained paranoid throughout the post war period as it imperialized and attempted to exert its influence as in the real timeline. It is likely that many German Americans would be accused of spying and become targets of the paranoia.



As for Hitler's biggest war strategy mistake, his policies caused the most brilliant people in Germany to defect to the United States because they were anti-Semitic and militarized science. This allowed the US to develop the atomic bomb that would have won the war regardless of any other events. It is feasible that Germany could have fought the Soviets to a stalemate. It is almost even feasible that they could have fought the US to a stalemate and taken over Europe.



But no conclusive victory would be possible for Germany once the US built the atomic bomb, and it was the German government's poor decisions in treatment of Jews and the academic community which allowed this to happen.
MajorArmedMan
2013-12-30 13:53:26 UTC
The entire Europe would be flooded with Nazi culture, such as how the Jews were bad, rename street with Nazi-like names, and stuff like that.



Hitler's biggest mistake was to attack the Soviet Union. Russia is huge. Second Hitler didn't prepare for a long war, he figured it would be over in 6 months, why worry about winter. Third he switched objectives. Throughout 1941 the objective was Moscow. He failed to take it by Dec 1941 when winter set in and his armies froze to a halt, literally. In the spring he changed his objective to the Baku Oilfields and sent the lions share of his forces south. The result was Stalingrad where he lost something like a third of all of his forces then in Russia. Finally as time went on the Russians got smarter. In the beginning Stalin refused to let anybody withdraw when it looked like they were going to get surrounded, but time and again the Panzers would encircle whole armies and the Russians would lay down their arm. The Russians lost well over a million men in the first year to this, most of them never fired a shot. So Stalin finally started to let his forces withdraw when necessary otherwise he was going lose his whole army. The Russians also started arranging their defenses in depth. The Germans would punch through a portion of the Russian line and find more forces in front of them. Finally in Stalingrad the Russians literally lured the Germans into a trap. The Germans figured the Russians were to stupid to exploit the weakness they left in the line so they kept pouring more men and material into the city. It literally became like a sock with $10 of quarters in the bottom of it. Russians massed several armies on the thin spots, and simply waited for a snowstorm to ground the Luftwaffe. When they sprang the trap it rolled over the Romanian and Hungarian armies like a steamroller. There was nothing the Germans could do because all their tanks and soldiers were in Stalingrad.
Lord Britannia
2013-12-30 13:56:14 UTC
As much as i hate this question because this man is evil and vile beyond description. The Jews would be wiped out in Europe if not the world. Israel would never be created. Communism would be destroyed,all political opponents would be rounded up and killed. No freedom, no democracy and once all the Jews were rounded up there would be another scapegoat then another then another.. Until all that is left is people that the ideology is supposed to "protect" then it turns on them too.

His biggest mistake during the war was Operation Barbarossa an invasion on two fronts was totally stupid and invading Russia is a logistical nightmare due to it's size. Also Hitler didn't learn from Napoleon he forgot to pack winter clothes.

But to sum up what an awful scenario if Hitler had won
USAFisnumber1
2013-12-30 15:03:07 UTC
They would control from the Urals, Finland, Norway, Great Britain, all of Europe down to Spain, and most of the Balkans. Sweden and Switzerland would be left alone as they were more help to the Germans as "neutrals" than they would as conquered nations. Spain and Francho would be allies.

Ireland will be left alone but will keep a very low profile. The Russians will surrender their nation west of the Urals and build up behind it. Italy will have all of north Africa and the middle east.



Hitler's biggest mistake was not taking out Great Britain and instead attacking the USSR. They new from WW ONE that they could not win a two front war yet he goes and starts one.
Soldier
2013-12-31 06:47:50 UTC
Nazi Germany. Nazi Germany.



Rocky Marciano. Rocky Marciano. Every time we get on a good military subject, someone has to bring up Rocky Marciano.



There seems to be so much discussion of Nazi Germany that this seems like the History Channel. Since this is like the History Channel, I am expecting posts on Ancient Aliens to continue to increase too.



You don't even give us enough facts to make a rational argument.



When did he win? How did he win? Are we to assume same Allies on each side? What role did technology plan in the victory?



In this imaginary world, would it be possible that Jewish financial interests worked out an arrangement to finance the war in exchange for self-deportation to the pro Nazi state of Israel? Is the pro-Nazi Israel a client state of Germany that rules the middle east in order to provide oil for German industries?



Most importantly, would the Communist have released Ancient Alien Zombies on the West?



LOL - as for as the post about speaking German - we don't speak English in America.



Enjoy
Gazza
2013-12-30 13:56:41 UTC
I think the question should be. What would the USA look like if the Nazis won the war?

You would probably be talking German too.



Hitler made a big mistake having an eastern front and a western front. Don't f^ck with the Russians.



LOL @ soldier. I know the Americans can't speak or spell the English language properly, but how's their Spanish?
SxD
2013-12-30 15:23:37 UTC
Europe would be in a golden age - 0% unemployment, a strong, wealthy middle class. People would be proud of what had been accomplished. People would be satisfied with their lot in life, the abundance of wealth, consumer goods, natural resources. They would be proud of their military and would support them. The people would have a positive attitude. There wouldn't be adversarial interest groups fighting over how best to screw over the people for their own benefit.



Hitler's biggest mistake was invading the Soviet Union prematurely. He should have finished off the UK and taken the initiative against the US. Then Germany and Japan could have tag-teamed the Soviet Union together with a new arsenal of jet-engine powered aircraft, nuclear bombs, tactical ballistic missiles, superbattleships, and divisions of newly created supertanks that only made it to the prototype stage in real history.
towwwdothello
2013-12-30 13:53:05 UTC
Everyone would look the same, dress the same, speak the same, think the same, houses would have been built on mass graves thus raising the elevation. A different religion would have been enforced throughout Europe and Russia. The new breed of human would not be able to recognize the old breed--find it odd or perplexing and kill that which makes it human.



He underestimated his opponents.
caspian88
2013-12-30 15:13:54 UTC
This is presuming a German military defeat of the Soviet Union within two years, but not of the UK (which I consider even more impossible). My descriptions apply to 1950's and early 1960's Europe - anything further than that is basically impossible to describe for reasons that will become clear.



Politically, the European continent would have been utterly dominated by Germany. There would be other "governments," but they could only act as Germany permitted them to do so - Italy, Spain, France, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Finland, Portugal, Slovakia, and Croatia would exist. Italy would have significantly more independence. Most of the rest of the continent would have been annexed by the Reich or by Italy - Switzerland might or might not exist, Sweden probably would remain independent, Norway might be independent but under German control.



Ethnically, Europe would be virtually rid of Jews and Romani, while most Slavs (Russians, Poles, Ukrainians, Czechs, Serbs, etc) would be either slaves (some real, some effectively) or dead. Non-Germans would be second-class, with some having somewhat elevated status (Dutch, Danes, Norwegians, etc).



Militarily, German domination is virtually total. The non-German independent governments under Reich control would have small and weak national armies whose purpose is to protect the Reich and enforce submission among the populations - these forces would often be deployed away from home to further reduce the risk of revolt. For example, there would be a small French army, armed with obsolete weapons, and with large portions of its forces deployed in Yugoslavia or Greece or Denmark to fight partisans or man coastal fortresses.



The German Army has been replaced by the Waffen-SS, which is armed with well-engineered but often overly-complicated equipment (tanks based on the Panther and Tiger I). This force is highly political - promotion is generally based on a soldier's loyalty to the Reich and the Nazi Party's ideals, along with "performance" against partisans in the former USSR - those officers most effective at slaughtering civilians would be promoted over those who are competent administrators at home. The Waffen-SS has occupation forces all over Europe. It is an inefficient, exceptionally brutal, and exceptionally fanatical killing machine.



The Luftwaffe remains independent but also highly politicized. It is primarily composed of first-generation jet fighters and light bombers, plus a large fleet of heavy bombers - prop fighters continue in service for anti-partisan duties. Imagine the 1950's Soviet Air Force - this is what the Luftwaffe would look like. The Kriegsmarine has been rebuilt, but most of its combat ships are out of date - only the submarine service is truly modern.



Economically, German firms dominate Europe, and the rest of the continent is organized so as to enrich the Reich. Exchange rates favor the Reichsmark (which is accepted everywhere), occupied countries pay the cost of their occupation (thus paying for large parts of Germany's military budget), German products have favorable customs rates (making them cheaper abroad and protecting German industry from competition), German firms own favorable concessions on natural resources and many foreign industries, and so on. Much German industry and agriculture is produced via slave labor, who are exterminated through backbreaking work. Germans themselves enjoy plenty of jobs but find it difficult to get high-quality goods - they're poor and don't realize it, since the rest of Europe is much poorer.



Culturally, Europe has been raped. Much of the art of centuries has been looted and sent back to Germany or has been destroyed. Nazi architecture and art abound - grotesque monstrosities designed for their size and aggression. Berlin itself is being rebuilt according to Hitler's plan - its palaces replaced by giant, hideous buildings. All film, theater, and music is propaganda.



In the former USSR, the partisan war there makes the war in Vietnam look like a Sunday School. No quarter is expected or given - prisoners on either side are tortured and executed. Any females, of any age, captured are repeatedly raped and killed by their captors. Any civilians living in the area are subject to extermination by either side, often just for living within miles of a partisan group or for being German settlers. Massive plantations, protected by the Waffen-SS, hold slaves for agricultural work - their model is the American South prior to the Civil War, but made far, far worse. This area is a permanent fighting ground for the Waffen-SS, to "improve" the German people through constant struggle and provide a testing ground for new weapons. The cities of the USSR have been razed, their cultural achievements destroyed and expunged from memory.



Britain remains independent and anti-German. It is heavily militarized - the Royal Navy is the second largest in the world, the Royal Air Force the third largest. The country is literally covered in anti-air weaponry, the Army is massive and very well-equipped, and the people are relatively poor due to the massive costs of national defense but remain better off than those on the continent. Rationing continues. Britain remains in a watchful peace with the Reich, and is permanently allied to the Commonwealth and the United States (also heavily militarized, as much or more so than it was in the 1950's).



Britain and the United States own a total monopoly on atomic weapons (the German atomic program being a total failure), and keep them a secret (German espionage being an utter joke throughout the war). If war breaks out again, German cities will face nuclear fire with no way to strike back.
GodwinsLawProfessor
2013-12-30 14:20:43 UTC
Like the Deep South of United States, but with more monumental architecture.


This content was originally posted on Y! Answers, a Q&A website that shut down in 2021.
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