Speculative History Question: World War II?

Question

If Hitler, Mussolini, and Hirohito had done everything right and the Axis powers won WW2, How would the world be different today? What might have been some pros and cons also?

Answer 1

Sometimes the 'speculative scenario' is so far removed from reality that there's no point 'going there'. But this is 'worthwhile' because it is an exercise in 'political speculation' that most current day politicians would fail miserably at - if they even knew how to begin, or even realized that it was part of their job. The point I'm making is that politicians should speculate on where the world will be at 'sometime in the future' based on what they do today, and that requires imagination, and imagination needs to be 'trained' by stretching it - and these 'what-ifs' are a good way of doing that.

Here's a simple trace... The UK in knocked out of the War early on, compliant Governments are set up all across Europe. Hitler marshalls his forces and attacks Russia. The US remains strictly neutral, and Russia is defeated in a quick campaign that concludes before the winter sets in. A nationalist Government is set up in Russia along theocratic lines. Japan strikes the US at Pearl Harbour, presumably sinks all of the US fleet (including the aircraft carriers), and follows up by invading Australia. India rebels against the English and joins a Japanes led Asian 'Economic Union'. The US sues for peace and withdraws into complete isolationism. South America becomes a satellite of Hitlers Europe. Mussolini is deposed and assasinated by Hitler, Franco flees to South America which then becomes a contested battleground, with the US covertly supporting Franco. Hitler develops the atom bomb and uses it in South America, and on the Russians who have begun to re-assert themselves. The average life of the average US citizen (which now includes Canada) is relatively prosperous. Japan gets bogged down in civil unrest in China, Europe moderates Hitlerism and returns to more or less democratic Governments after his death, Russia is a basket case and Arab and African States shake off their European colonial masters. Chinese forces invade Japan and take over control of the Asian economic community. South America is a wasteland, after the Hitlerians pursue a 'destroy the village in order to save the village' policy on a country-wide scale. Pros and Cons? It really depends on where you are standing, and if someone is dropping a bomb on that particular spot, or building a factory that manufactures bombs.

The lesson, apart from that last bit of perspective, from all of this is that the forks in the road occur constantly, and the branches can take you a 'long way from home'. Folk should think carefully before they open their mouth, and before they undertake 'regime change'. And remember that 'doing nothing' - on the other hand - is not an option, because even strict isolationism 'has an effect on the world', even if only by allowing things to happen elswhere that the US would otherwise have checked or prevented altogether.

Answer 2

alot depends on what you define as "winning" WWII. Does Hitler establish a European Empire? or does he go on the conquer the United States? What happened to Great Britian, which had staunchly resolved to fight to the last?

Remember that Hitler originally pursued the U.S.A as a potential ally (probably for the same reason it pursued Russia as an ally), and if that was the case, Japan winning against the U.S's sole attention would have been an extremely long shot. The only way I can see Japan "winning" in this case would be if if ignored the U.S completely.

If we were going to assume a moderate victory, I think the biggest difference would be ideological. Force alone can not sustain a nation, and the Nazis would have starved themselves the way the USSR did.

Ideological Fascism would have ended up like Ideological Communism, where people think of them as misguided humanists, not Tyrannical monsters. People would think of Nazi Germany like "well, they weren't a TRUELY uncorrupted fascist nation. Fascism is inherintly good, but the Nazis just didn't do it right."

People would have been as indifferent to the Holocaust as they currently are to the Soviet Gulags.

Joe McCarthy would still have been remembered as a tyrant because he pursued Fascist spies, not Communist ones.

Instead of punk teenagers wearing trendy shirts with Che Guevara on them, the shirts would have pictures of Joseph Goebbels.

The Swastika would have been more favorable emblem for rebels than the Hammer and Sickle.

Instead of the chic downtown New York nightclub named the "KGB bar", it might have been the "SS bar."

"American Fascist Party" instead of the "American Communist Party"

In other words, it would have become the trendy economic model of choice for rebels and statists, whose only apology is that the Nazis weren't true fascists.

Answer 3

Military career would have been very appreciated. You could have been killed just for saying something against the regime,like Idiot War, and who started it, as it was in the comunism,America and Russia would have eventually make a coalition with them. But Germany was racist, they would have eventually turn against the Japan and start an internal war, probably won by Germany.

After Hitler died by old age in 1960, probably his successor would have lost some power, and this start the Years of the Revolution, as it was in America but with less freedom.
The Zeppelins would have been very popular instead or airplanes.
German language would have been as known as English.
And last surely Hitler would have wanted to put his hands on Jerusalem and make there a new World Capital.

In rest all Hollywood movie stars would have been more in musicals than in war movies.The harassment against the Jewish would have been lifted gradually after 1950 till 1990.
Yet many innocent people would have died or suffer, many of them even Christian.

Probably the race for space would have been more accentuated than ever, and already in 1970 would have had a base on the moon.

Princess Grace Kelly would have been called,Kelly von Monaco under the protectorat of German Empire.
In society gestures of salute and symbolistics agreed by the Germany would have been normal, and clothes would have been less free, like in a military country, till 1960.After that would have been an intense mediatic propaganda ment to hide that People would have been asked to make great sacrifices, to hide the war,to let the impression of a great prosperity under German nation. As in every regime, till 1990, would have declined economically, and collapse in the 1990, along with the comunism.


Yet the history didn't want this way.Don't you think it was a wise decision, for the better?

Answer 4

Hitler had everything going for him, he absolutely should have won the war, lucky for us he was KooKoo. Had the americans not been able to take out the Japanese aircraft carriers at Midway, The war would have gone on for a lot longer. The cons would be the obvious loss of our personal freedoms, the pro's would be that no one would be allowed to be idle, lazy and unproductive sponges on society. I think we are better off, but if our young folk don't get some inspiration, then some country who has been able to inspire their youth is going to royally kick their lazy butts and move in..

Answer 5

Probably not so different. Fascism would have eventually collapsed, just like communism did. The economical forces behind that process would have been too great to counter.

Answer 6

A world ruled by fascists. That doesn't sound good at all. Pros = zero, Cons = many.

Answer 7

If the axis had won, you wouldn't be able to ask your question.

Answer 8

If---------- There is no real answer when asking a question starting with "IF"...........

Yours is a "hypothetical" question that cannot be answer with anything but a hypothetical answer, which will really mean nothing ...

Answer 9

we were speaking German today.