re: #500 RealityBasedSteve

One thing that I haven’t seen as a contra-history is what if Hitler hadn’t gone into Europe, but instead looked east and made his first initial advance against Russia. What would be the response be? Tacit acceptance? I don’t see where the rest of Europe and the US jumping to Stalin’s aid would be on the table, and I have a hard time imagining them marching against Germany from the west. I know that the mutual pact between Japan and Germany makes it a non-player, but Germany could have negated or ignored that.

Just a curious thought on my part.

You mean Hitler skipping over absorbing Austria, Czechoslovakia, and going straight to Poland and on into Russia in 1938-39?

Possibly a different reaction in the West, but probably getting his ass kicked by the Russians sooner, or a major defeat and then possibly being couped by the German General Staff.*

* - Though I do take the various “we opposed Hitler!” claims by the surviving generals with a big grain of salt. Their conspiracies seemed quite amateurish and mere pipe dreams for the most part in terms of serious planning and thinking things through.