While "Germany wins World War II" is a common theme in late 20th-century science fiction, it's hard to reach that outcome after the spring of 1941. Britannica contributor John Keegan proposed a scenario whereby Hitler sets aside his anti-Slavic prejudices and preserves the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. Instead of proceeding with an invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, Hitler instead moves on the Middle East, capturing vital oil supplies and placing his armies within striking distance of British India. Mussolini's blundering invasion of Greece actually furthers such an enterprise, and the Nazis would have been poised to launch a revised Operation Barbarossa with a supplementary thrust through the southern Caucasus. The western third of the Soviet Union would have been trapped in an enormous pincer, and the Black and Caspian seas would have been German lakes.
Such a result essentially relies on Hitler not being Hitler, but if we set that fact aside, it is possible to envision the Third Reich and its clients ruling the entirety of mainland Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East by the end of 1942. The Holocaust proceeds completely unchecked into new territories, Nazi control of the Suez Canal severs Britain’s tie to India, and the remaining Allies would be hard pressed to crack this enlarged Fortress Europe. Fascists and sympathizers around the world ride the coattails of these victories. Charles Lindbergh and the America First movement advocate pro-Nazi isolationism in the U.S., while Oswald Mosley endorses full collaboration with Hitler. European colonies in Asia become an extension of the Reich, leading to a possible clash with Japan over influence in the Pacific. Hitler, who was indifferent towards naval power, could have found himself facing a decisive showdown with a Japanese carrier fleet in the Mediterranean.
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