Vladimir
Banned
After the US oil embargo, Japan wanted to defeat the United States for access to oil and a secure Asian empire. However, there were voices in the Japanese government that argued against an attack on the United States. They instead wanted to invade resource-rich Siberia.
I think that this might ensure a very different outcome on all fronts. With an invasion of Siberia, the Soviet Union would have been stretched thin in deploying forces to protect itself, and that could have compromised it on both fronts. Its only hope would be to commit to first driving out the Germans, then focusing its attention on the Japanese, though Stalin might think that he has an endless number of potential soldiers, and then simultaneously commit millions of poorly armed and trained young men to both fronts, stretching the Soviet Union's resources to the limit. Even if the Soviets opted to focus on the Germans first, the Japanese might have launched a new offensive when the tide began to turn, knowing their turn would come next. They had a base in China from which they could penetrate deep into the country and maintain a steady logistical chain.
At the same time, the United States is sympathetic to the Allies, but its hands are tied without an attack. Without America, Britain stands alone, and can only defend itself. There is no chance of liberating Europe. Without America, Britain might also find itself in a more serious situation during the North African campaign and Battle of the Mediterranean. The Germans and Italians may have even been able to win those fights, especially if the Soviets were forced into surrender early on, and the Germans could transfer reinforcements to the Western front.
The Battle of the Atlantic might have been the death-blow to Britain. With US participation limited to "neutrality patrols", U-Boats could have wreaked even more havoc on British merchant shipping, and the US could have been helpless to stop the process. Already broke from the war, devastated from the Blitz and possibly from a failed Operation Sea Lion, facing starvation and economic ruin, Britain might have been forced to cave. I can forsee Britain proposing some sort of formal arrangement, but Hitler, still smarting from Germany's defeat in World War I and the humiliating peace terms that followed, demanding unconditional surrender, and the British eventually being forced to cave, with the Germans either flat-out occupying the country or imposing humiliating peace terms.
Thoughts? Alternate scenarios?
I think that this might ensure a very different outcome on all fronts. With an invasion of Siberia, the Soviet Union would have been stretched thin in deploying forces to protect itself, and that could have compromised it on both fronts. Its only hope would be to commit to first driving out the Germans, then focusing its attention on the Japanese, though Stalin might think that he has an endless number of potential soldiers, and then simultaneously commit millions of poorly armed and trained young men to both fronts, stretching the Soviet Union's resources to the limit. Even if the Soviets opted to focus on the Germans first, the Japanese might have launched a new offensive when the tide began to turn, knowing their turn would come next. They had a base in China from which they could penetrate deep into the country and maintain a steady logistical chain.
At the same time, the United States is sympathetic to the Allies, but its hands are tied without an attack. Without America, Britain stands alone, and can only defend itself. There is no chance of liberating Europe. Without America, Britain might also find itself in a more serious situation during the North African campaign and Battle of the Mediterranean. The Germans and Italians may have even been able to win those fights, especially if the Soviets were forced into surrender early on, and the Germans could transfer reinforcements to the Western front.
The Battle of the Atlantic might have been the death-blow to Britain. With US participation limited to "neutrality patrols", U-Boats could have wreaked even more havoc on British merchant shipping, and the US could have been helpless to stop the process. Already broke from the war, devastated from the Blitz and possibly from a failed Operation Sea Lion, facing starvation and economic ruin, Britain might have been forced to cave. I can forsee Britain proposing some sort of formal arrangement, but Hitler, still smarting from Germany's defeat in World War I and the humiliating peace terms that followed, demanding unconditional surrender, and the British eventually being forced to cave, with the Germans either flat-out occupying the country or imposing humiliating peace terms.
Thoughts? Alternate scenarios?
