The other thread talking about U-boat vs surface combatant drifted into the discussion of Operation Sea Lion. The consensus was that Germany did not have the logistic capability to pull it off.
Hitler was not a mere mortal to be detered by reason, on many occassions.
What if he ordered the invasion of England and actually landed a couple of divisions in Dover?
Those troops would probably be wiped out, but not before a bloody battle against the remnants of the British Expeditionary Force and the Home Guard. Germany would do what it could to supply the troops for as long as possible. In the end, Germany would lose Operation Sea Lion.
That's not the important thing though, in my opinion.
The important thing is what followed the cancelled Operation Sea Lion...Operation Barbarossa.
I am an optimist when others are pessimistic. I am a pessimist when others are optimistic. Losing Operation Sea Lion could have been the best thing that ever happened to the Third Reich.
Had Hitler gone ahead with the invasion of Britain, and suffered a humiliating defeat, he may not have had the prestige or resources to invade the Soviet Union. It may have been more politically expedient for Hitler to sit back and consolidate his gains in Europe, and settle for a peace treaty with the United Kingdom.
Both UK and Germany needed to re-arm and recuperate after the big battle.
Soviet Union, fresh off the Purge, needed to reconstitude its officer corp, and develop a new doctrine to fight Blitzkrieg.
If Europe settled on an uneasy peace in 1940 and 1941, Japan may not have attacked the US at Pearl Harbor.
China would be supplied by both USSR and the US to fight the Japanese to a standstill.
The world could be a very different place...
Hitler was not a mere mortal to be detered by reason, on many occassions.
What if he ordered the invasion of England and actually landed a couple of divisions in Dover?
Those troops would probably be wiped out, but not before a bloody battle against the remnants of the British Expeditionary Force and the Home Guard. Germany would do what it could to supply the troops for as long as possible. In the end, Germany would lose Operation Sea Lion.
That's not the important thing though, in my opinion.
The important thing is what followed the cancelled Operation Sea Lion...Operation Barbarossa.
I am an optimist when others are pessimistic. I am a pessimist when others are optimistic. Losing Operation Sea Lion could have been the best thing that ever happened to the Third Reich.
Had Hitler gone ahead with the invasion of Britain, and suffered a humiliating defeat, he may not have had the prestige or resources to invade the Soviet Union. It may have been more politically expedient for Hitler to sit back and consolidate his gains in Europe, and settle for a peace treaty with the United Kingdom.
Both UK and Germany needed to re-arm and recuperate after the big battle.
Soviet Union, fresh off the Purge, needed to reconstitude its officer corp, and develop a new doctrine to fight Blitzkrieg.
If Europe settled on an uneasy peace in 1940 and 1941, Japan may not have attacked the US at Pearl Harbor.
China would be supplied by both USSR and the US to fight the Japanese to a standstill.
The world could be a very different place...
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