GVChamp,
don't see how US gets into the war without Hitler declaring on the US.
if Japan still attacks the US, then the entire US focus will be on eliminating japan. Europe-first as an idea was a relatively hard sell...and that was with Hitler declaring war on the US.
isolationism was STRONG, and it would have political suicide for FDR to act otherwise. he tried -very- hard to start a fight.
and the Middle East, securing a good supply of oil in the process. advance troops to the Caucasus and not only do you have an incredibly strong defensive base of operations, a northward "Case Blue" would have been a lot easier.
he didn't plan on it until 1943-1944 at the earliest. IIRC he told his own troops back in 1940 that war was inevitable but that their diplomats would try to delay it, and that ideally they could delay it until 1943-1944...but to expect an attack earlier than that. well, he was right, but he was so surprised that it happened in 1941 that it paralyzed him for weeks.
hitler could have easily seized north Africa and the ME by 1942 with even a quarter of the troops he planned for Barbarossa. the fall of Suez, let alone German troops into Baghdad, would have likely caused a serious political crisis in the UK, perhaps the fall of the Churchill government.
likely at the start. the soviet record in 1941 and 1942 wasn't exactly glorious, and they had the easier job of being on the defensive.
moreover if the Soviets begin an offensive war, they probably weren't going to see any Lend-Lease.
don't see how US gets into the war without Hitler declaring on the US.
if Japan still attacks the US, then the entire US focus will be on eliminating japan. Europe-first as an idea was a relatively hard sell...and that was with Hitler declaring war on the US.
isolationism was STRONG, and it would have political suicide for FDR to act otherwise. he tried -very- hard to start a fight.
So you don't declare war on either, just hammer on Africa, and wait it out.
But Stalin is definitely going to attack you in the mean-time. He will see an opening and he will take it.
hitler could have easily seized north Africa and the ME by 1942 with even a quarter of the troops he planned for Barbarossa. the fall of Suez, let alone German troops into Baghdad, would have likely caused a serious political crisis in the UK, perhaps the fall of the Churchill government.
Your only hope is that he hilariously bungles his offensives, and diverts most of his troops to the Dardanelles.
moreover if the Soviets begin an offensive war, they probably weren't going to see any Lend-Lease.
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