Ways Germany could have won WWII

[Kontiki]

I'm curious as to how people think Germany could have been victorious in WWII.

For this discussion, I'd like to have answers that are both plausible and somewhat specific. Also, assume the allies still act in the manner they did. Responses like "keep the Americans out" are too vague - how could Germany have done this? "Win battle X" also falls into this category - how could they have won it? Or, is it impossible for Germany to have won?

Discuss.....

[MRT144]

killed hitler in a martyrful way, and then put someone with military acumen in the head office


BTW you dont have a time machine do you?

[Capt Dizle]

One thing that Hitler might have done is not to invade the Soviet Union and separate himself from Japan.

I don't think the English could ever have invaded and liberated France. The US would not have come into the war if Germany had not been allied with Japan.

Hitler could have just sat on France and the part of Europe he conquered and built and grown stronger.

The wild card was the Soviets. They were arming themselves and might have attacked. But I doubt it.

Then Hitler would have been in the race for the atomic bomb.

So my position is that Hitler should not have invaded the Soviets nor pressed the war with England.

[The Pioneer]

This is not a very popular thing to discuss. I think that if he didn't open the eastern front he could've gotten away with it. Either that or if he didn't declare war on the US, he could've let the Americans fight their war in the Pacific, instead he gave Roosevelt a reason to assist Churchill. He made both the Russians and the Americans his enemies , what was he thinking? These two countries had vast amounts of resources and lots lots of man that were turned into soldiers.

So long...

[Edan]

What do you mean by "won" WW2?

How about (very vague, but):
Germany succeeds in preventing troops from retreating at Dunkirk, thereby demoralizing the Allies?

Germany doesn't attack Russia, and concentrates on the Western Front instead?

Germany doesn't attack Poland, and is satisfied with awhat it got at that point (Course, then it wouldn't have been world war 2)

Germany kills Dr Jones and captures the Ark and the Grail?

[gsmoove23]

Pretty easily I think. Even if he had entered into conflict with the soviets if Hitler had simply allowed his generals to handle it and not overplayed his hand so much...

[Kontiki]

I read an interesting article by John Keegan in the book What if? He speculates that if Hitler pressed south through Turkey into the Levant and onto the ME oil supplies in 1941 rather than launching Barbarossa, he may have won the war. Germany would then have had all the oil it needed, been able to defeat British forces in North Africa with a pincer movement, and been well positioned to attack the Soviet Union from the south as well as the west. This movement into SU would have taken their oil supplies, greatly hurting their ablilty to defend/counterattack. Further, Turkey (which was neutral) and French Syria were very lightly defended and shouldn't have presented much of a problem for German forces.

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

By forming an alliance with the USA, Britain, Japan and France.

[gsmoove23]

Was the Mid East a major producer of oil at that point? I thought that came later.

[Capt Dizle]

Edan makes a good point. Hitler's stopping before the war mushrooms wouldn't necessarilly be a victory in a world war.

But really the war with the West was thrust upon Hitler. He did not want it. Hitler's goal was always conquering the Soviet Union.

Maybe Hitler could have won if he had circled and isolated Stalingrad and Moscow rather than attack them directly?

[gsmoove23]

war with the west was thrust upon him? If only the allies woulda just let me have Poland!

[Andrew1999]

I'm not sure you can say "don't attack the USSR." Pounding Russia was one of Hitler's main goals--it would be like saying they shouldn't have invaded Poland.

The US Navy was at war with the German Navy from the middle of 1941 (via anti-submarine warfare). Throw in Lend-Lease and the US was pretty close to being a belligerent anyway. Active alliance with the UK against Japan would have turned into active support in Europe pretty quickly.

[Kontiki]

Originally posted by The Pioneer
This is not a very popular thing to discuss. I think that if he didn't open the eastern front he could've gotten away with it. Either that or if he didn't declare war on the US, he could've let the Americans fight their war in the Pacific, instead he gave Roosevelt a reason to assist Churchill.

Something tells me that even if Hitler didn't open the eastern front, sooner or later Germany and the SU were going to come to blows. As for declaring war on the US, I think jimmytrick dealt with that. By allying himself with Japan, Hitler pretty much sealed his fate vis-a-vis the US. In fact, I have a feeling that the US would have gotten involved in Europe eventually anyway.

[Sandman]

They could have occupied Poland only up to the Danzig corridor, claiming 'self-determination'. The West might have let Germany off the hook.

[Kontiki]

Originally posted by gsmoove23
Was the Mid East a major producer of oil at that point? I thought that came later.

It wasn't nearly as dominant as it is today, but Iran already had fairly sizeable production, and I think things were starting to get fired up in Saudi Arabia too.