Because I CL’ed on the last thread, talking about killing baby Hitler, here’s my wit and wisdom, reposted for your listening and dancing enjoyment….

But it’s an interesting question what would have happened in the absence of Hitler.

Hitler was only able to rise to power because of how the winners in WWI treated the loser, Germany. It might be that in almost any case, WWII happens. And if it happens without Hitler, maybe Germany doesn’t attack Russia, but instead attacks Great Britain first, leaving America no place from which to launch an invasion of the Continent.

After the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, I’ve read that Roosevelt et al. struggled with whether to declare war on Germany as well. Hitler saved us having to deal with that by declaring war on us. A less crazy German leader might have held back, and if Britain were already conquered, we wouldn’t even have an ally to aid in Europe.

Mind you, the war in the Pacific might have gone a lot faster, with us being able to concentrate all our effort there.

These counterfactuals remind me of the old Outer Limits episode, “Controlled Experiment”, where visiting Martians with the ability to slow down and run back time prevent a murder, which changes the future leading to a galactic catastrophe.