If Hitler had invaded Britain during WW2,what do you think the sequence of events might have been?

Question

Do you think that he would have had a fight on his hands?Any sympathizers?Would the Scots have done guerilla war from the hills?How would Britain be different today if Hitler HAD won the war?Would the UK have reacted well to an invasion or not?

Answer 1

Hitler would have still been defeated. He had already bitten off more than he could chew. I think that the British would have continued to fight if they had been invaded with ground troops.

Answer 2

I would suggest you watch 'it happened here' a film that used this idea.
However, if the Germans had invaded, the UK forces would have tried there best to repel and defeat the Invasion, however as the Fleet was not permitted to interdict the invasion beaches or move lower than the Wash unless the Scharnhorst or Gniesenau was involved (both out of action during the June to September period) it would have been a losing battle. The forward defence line was only a small crust, most of the GCHQ Line was a farce and the pill boxes in the worong place. The RAF would have lost the ability to detect most aircraft travelling over the South East. The Home Guard (LDV) would have been treated extremley harshly as they where not in Uniform and would have been seen as Partisans and we all know what happened to them in the occupied countries.
So, as the Germans advanced, further stop lines would have been tried with the limited force availiable until the Germans reached the objective line running along the North Downs (North Maidstone / Dartford to Portsmouth). With this lodgement they could have built up the force on UK soil quickly and then punched the Bristol - Reading line surroounded London and headed into the Industrial Heartland.
With defeat looming, the fleet would have been ordered to Canada or the US along with any free force vessels. All valuable material possible, records, crown jewels, dignitries, and what forces possible would be evacuated across the Atlantic. It was suspected that Canada would not have accepted the Royal Family on a permanent basis to form a goverment in exile due to the dominion status and conflict with minority groups. So a goverment in exile would have been set up on possibly Bahama, Jamacia, or one of the other crown colonies.
All the convoys would have been turned back for America / Canada, the US would have frozen all UK assets and orders would have been transfered to its own forces or those of Canada and Australia / New Zealand.
So what else would have happened. Franco more than likely would have joined forces and taken Gibraltar, Malta would have collapsed, the Middle East would have been next. Syria was still Vichy at that point and already was being used as a staging post for arms going to the Mufti of Iraq and the forces of rebellion in Egypt. With the freedom of movement, it could have been a quick defeat and capture of the Persian fields. I am sure the Soviets would have invaded Iran (they was very willing in 1941 during the Invasion of Russia with Britain to secure the area). This would have pushed a new front up to the Soviet sphere, if the Soviets did not invade, then the threat to the other side of the Mountains would have opened the easier capture of the oilfields.
In the Balkans, the Yugoslavs would not have rebelled against the goverment when they announced they was joining Germany and Italy, as there was no hope of support, Turkey may have joined the Axis powers as a satellite country, especially once the Soviets where looking defeated later. Greece may have joined, that would depend on the Italians.
Ireland would have been stuck between remaining Neutral or Joining the Axis powers, certainley the Irish PM was very pro Nazis and was looking at Northern Ireland as a possible target if the Germans had Invaded the UK.
The rest of the Empire? Well South Africa was split on declaring war in 1939 and was not threatened, so may well have sued for peace. Australia, New Zealand and India would soon be threatened by Japan, certainley if Japan had only attacked European colonies in the Far East the USA would have had a difficult time in declaring war.
Which brings us onto the US and the other American States. South America was unconcerned mainly throughout the war years, only Brazil declared war (until 1945 and the other countries started to follow suit to be in on the UN) due to its ships being sunk. So most would have not done anything. Smae as the Latin states of central America. The US would have turned its attention more to the Pacific threats as the colonies of its own where threatend, as long as the Royal Navy was safely interred in its ports or Canada it would have felt safe. There would have been a small group who would have supported the effort of a limited guerilla tactics against Europe, but it would have taken years to get it right.
Even if the USA did declare war against the Germans an Invasion of the UK or Europe would have been a huge undertaking dwarfing the logistical effort put into Overlord.
So what about those who where left in the UK.
I would expect apart from a period of anger and dispondancy, there would be a buckle under and support of the German Occupational Forces, it would all depend on how the Germans treated the Inhabitants, dont forget the Danes, Norwegians and Dutch where given a great deal of self control and where only clamped down on when the Allies started to get more powerful.
As for Germany, the increase in technology that Britain could have offered it would have given it some great leads, a possible strategic bomber force with the Halifax, Stirling and Wellington planes, scientists who would be forced to work for the Germans which would have increased knowledge of defence and offence wepons that the British excelled in. Also it would have allerted the Germans to the fact that the Enigma codes had been broken and also alerted the Japanese to the fact that there codes had been broken as well.
Anyway, thats my thoughts from what i have read. I could go on even further.

Answer 3

The Brits would have fought tenaciously and desperately. But, depending on the exact time and plan of the invasion, I think the Germans would have won. They had the experience and the equipment to win the ground war. The naval war would have been made unimportant with no England to defend. There would have been an underground, just as there was in France and the Low Countries. But in the long run it's hard to say if any type of armed revolt would have been effective. And without England to stage from the USA would not have been able to invade Europe, at least not for many more years. If Germany had won, the whole world would be a different place, not just UK.

Answer 4

The simple answer is that nobody knows. One guess is as good as another.

First of all, Hitler would have had to successfully invade. He would probably have met such fierce resistance that it would have been a Pyrrhic victory - he might have won but with such heavy losses that it was not worthwhile. Loyal Britons would have conducted guerilla warfare and industrial sabotage and farmers would have burned their crops to deny food to the invaders.

It is likely that there would have been some collaborators as there were in all the occupied countries.

However, it is unlikely that the Germans would have had an easy time of it. Just among my own large extended family there would have been dozens of able bodied, determined men and women who would have done everything in their power to fight against the occupying forces.

As far as Hitler winning the war, it is unlikely that he could have done so. By late 1944 he was running out of oil, and five years of war all over Europe as far as the Urals had resulted in virtual famine. What crops were still tended were insufficient to feed the population. Many cities lay in ruins which meant that industrial production was severely limited.

Instead of wondering what would have happened if Hitler had won it would be better to spend one's time studying how he got into power, the terrible things he did and the mistakes he made. Hopefully, that way, future Hitlers can be prevented.

Answer 5

Why should Britain have been any different from any other European country? Here is a possible scenario:
The Royal family flee to Canada
The Jewish people (around 500,000, many of whom had escaped to 'safety' in England from Hitler's Europe) would be rounded up and sent to the extermination camps in Poland
All of Germany's known political enemies would be rounded up and liquidated (the Nazis already had a list of these). Trade unions and the Labour party would be suppressed.
There would have been plenty of people willing to collaborate with the invaders, notably the pathetic Duke of Windsor, who would have been put back on the throne as a puppet ruler, along with Queen Wallis.
A government would be created like the Vichy regime in France, willing to work with the invaders and take their orders from them.
The mass of the population would just have gone along with the New Order, as long as it did not affect them too much.
Remember that Hitler had a lot of respect for Britain and its Empire. Before the war there were plenty of people in high places who considered Hitler to be a better alternative to the Communists. There would have been some resistance, but once the Nazi conquest was an established fact, I doubt if people would have resisted actively. And the BBC and the press would have crumbled and taken their orders from their new masters.

Answer 6

Know Your History
When would Hitler have invaded?
1940 the US Wasn't involved yet and Isolationism would have kept us from getting involved.Isolationism did not come to a screeching halt until Pearl Harbor.
Invadind The UK and not Russia was the only move Hitler could have made which MAY have won Germany the War instead of Losing it.
IF an invasion of the UK succeded (BIG IF lot,s of variables involved) The Nazi's wouldn't have had to worry about a 2 front War and could have dealt with Russia at their leisure.
Witout England to ally with The US would have fought A Pacific War ONLY in my opinion.
But like I said they may or may not have succended personally I think the shock effect would have been enough to topple England but THANK GOD we'll never know because
Mucah as i Respect The Wermacht of WW2 I DESPISE The Nazis as much if not more than one of my Heroes Field Marshall Erwin Rommell did.

Answer 7

Who knows. You would have hoped that the British army would have thrown the German army into the sea, and failing that a resistance movement would have made occupation unsustainable, but the lack of resistance in the Channel Islands is not very encouraging.
The British army at the time was reeling from the defeats in France/Belgium and had lost vast amounts of equipment. Although the German army had shown its tactical superiorouty (Blitzkrieg) it had never planned for a seabourne invasion, and there was not really a lot of stomach for it in the German high command, I think they hoped that Britain would surrender.

Lets assume that Germany did occupy the UK, I would imagine it would have been little different from what went on in other countries. The king and government would be in exile in Canada (there were advanced plans for this to happen if invasion took place), along with the national gold reserves (which where moved out of the Bank of England to the Martin's bank building in Liverpool for transportation to Canada in case of invasion)
Eventually the Russians would have defeated the Nazi's a couple of years later, say 1947, but instead of stopping halfway through Germany they would have occupied all of Europe including Britain, so we would have ended up speaking Russian not German.

Would the U.S. have sat by and let this happen? I doubt it, but would they have had the ability to build an atomic weapon without many of the German scientists involved in the Manhatten project who escaped through Britain, or have a jet engine which at the start of the war was only being developed by Britain and Germany.

There is a novel by Len Deighton called SS GB which is set in London during the fictitious occupation, and is all about how easily the country asimilates to Nazi rule. The hero is a colaborator who rebels to help the King escape internment, but the book is a good exercise in looking at how things might have been.

Answer 8

Hello,

The BBC did a good what if scenario on this subject about 3 years back. The figured Britain would have been taken in about 6 weeks and most resistance crushed. The nazi heiracchy had a big proscription list that rivaled the Roman Dictator Sulla's as to who was the most important to be rounded up and taken care of (Churchill at the top) right down to authors like George Bernard Shaw and HG Wells toward the bottom. It was amazingly detailed to the "t".

Their new leaders stationed there were quite ruthless and had their ways of dealing with trouble makers and the lot. The infamous Reinhard Heydrich was slated to recieve a posting as a possible military governor and head of internal security.

The Germans tended to leave personal property alone and let the average Joe continue with their lives and businesses though the round up of Jews would be inevitable.
As for resistance the program said forget it! Churchill's home guard would have no doubt tried hit and run tactics against the occupiers but we all know the price. The Germans would have gone into the nearby village and rounded up the townsfolk. 10 shot for an enlisted man; 50 for an officer and if the official was high ranking the whole village might be exterminated and wiped off the map like Lidice after Heydrich was assassinated there. The majority of Brits would not liked to have lived under that sort of pressure of terror and reprisal and informants would be very quick to warn the nazi authorities of any plots or planned attacks. Such resistance would have died in a few short weeks.

After that, communications would be taken over, restricted and heavily regulated, industry reorganized and a new civil service with both Germans and English collaborators would be put in place.
The King and Royal family would live in more or less house arrest and no doubt war criminals from Churchill to old Montey would have their date at Newgate on the gallows.

Cheers,

Michael

Answer 9

First of all, you are changing how the whole war would have gone. And second, what time period are you talking about, before or after the US became engaged in the war? If you are talking about before the US became involved, the Germans threatening to invade Britain would have gotten the US involved very quickly to defend Britain. This would have had quite an interesting result, because Japan might have become involved also to help defend Germany, and it would have been a tough battle.

I have always said that if Japan had not attacked the US at the time it did, and Germany had more time, the Axis Powers might have won the war against the Allies. If Germany had completely crushed France, and then moved onto Britain, without an attack at Pearl Harbor, the war might have gone very differently. Note, Hitler and Japan wouldn't have attacked Russia yet either, and Hitler's Germany and Russia, from what I remember, had a peace agreement at the time. Thanks, hope you like my answer!

Answer 10

well pertaining to your first question the Germans would not have had any fight on their hands because the Homeguard did not have many experianced soldiers. many of the home guard were very old men and there were not eogh weapons for everyone in the Homeguard. I am sure that the Scots would have fought a guerilla war against the Germans. but I think the saving grace of Briton was her airforce the radar stations and the Royal Navy.

Answer 11

A few thoughts about the possable outcome if Great Britain falls during 1940-1941

Spain seizes Gibraltar

Italy seizes Malta

The United States seizes the West Indian Dominions

Turkey enters the war on the Axis side and seizes Cyprus

Argentina seizes the Falkland Islands

Ulster (Northern Ireland) becomes a Vichy type province

Indian Nationalists (and probably Egyptian too) proclaim immediate independence and sue for peace.

In short, all the undecideds grab all they can, as quickly as they can.