In December 7th, 1941, the Kidō Butai attacked the German Pacific Fleet at Lae. This destroyed the Imperial German Pacific fleet, destroying 8 battleships. But what if “The Day of Infamy” never happened?
Kaiserreich DBWI : Japan never attacks Lae (OTL Pearl Harbor)
- Thread starter Admiral Bloonbeard
- Start date
Arkocento
Donor
Then German east asia dies in a whimper instead of a bang. Face it, German focus was entirely on dealing with the Commune in 41, they had just encircle Cologne and forced the French back for the first time since the war started in 39'. The Vietminh had already forced the Germans out of damn near all of Indochina with Hanoi holding out until only three days after Lae. Take the Japanese out of the equation and it still falls.
Frankly, European holdings in Asia were dropping like flies. Indonesia was ablaze with Batavia having fallen months earlier to the Natives, The Lucknow Summit had diplomatically cut India out of the Entente, and the Legation Cities were collapsing due to pretty much every country having pulled funding to deal with the Second Weltkrieg. If the Japanese do nothing, what really remains of German east Asia though? Brunei, Malaysia, and German New Guinea (plus some pacific islands) All of which were dealing with unrest as is.
In OTL the German Empire was so focused on dealing with the after effects of the War that the only colony they attempted to maintain any control over was Sudwestafrika, which they practically cut loose in the 50s, the Germans would probably do the same in German East Asia.
Frankly, European holdings in Asia were dropping like flies. Indonesia was ablaze with Batavia having fallen months earlier to the Natives, The Lucknow Summit had diplomatically cut India out of the Entente, and the Legation Cities were collapsing due to pretty much every country having pulled funding to deal with the Second Weltkrieg. If the Japanese do nothing, what really remains of German east Asia though? Brunei, Malaysia, and German New Guinea (plus some pacific islands) All of which were dealing with unrest as is.
In OTL the German Empire was so focused on dealing with the after effects of the War that the only colony they attempted to maintain any control over was Sudwestafrika, which they practically cut loose in the 50s, the Germans would probably do the same in German East Asia.
I’m with @Arkocento here. Colonialism in East Asia was over, especially since Germany was as you say desperately trying to fight off the French. If Japan hadn’t moved in, not much would have changed except for a more chaotic post-war order for Asia: the GEACPS, whatever its faults in the early years, did let a number of Asian countries pull together. And over time it did become an equal partnership (especially with Indonesia).
Of course, it did lead to some tension with the Commonwealth of America - Chairman Flynn didn’t care, but some elements in the military felt that it was rightful American territory. Though with the detente between the Internationale and the GEACPS, that got quietly dropped. And the two ended up cooperating against Voynist Russia...
Of course, it did lead to some tension with the Commonwealth of America - Chairman Flynn didn’t care, but some elements in the military felt that it was rightful American territory. Though with the detente between the Internationale and the GEACPS, that got quietly dropped. And the two ended up cooperating against Voynist Russia...
At least it was largely bloodless thanks to Chen Jiongming's United Provinces of China negotiating an agreement with the Legation Cities where they got limited autonomy in exchange for being annexed by China.
SOME tensions? I think Japan’s fate was sealed when they attacked Pearl Harbor in order to eliminate their last rival in the Pacific. They assumed the United States, who was neutral in the first Weltkrieg was a non military nation, boi were they wrong. They still had an enormous beef with Britain and France over loans they haven’t payed back yet, not to mention the large German population in America...
OOC: First of all, I had it that Japan and America didn’t fight one another - if you read the post, it has the GEACPS being a power post-war and detente between them and America.
Second, it’s not the US any more - the Syndicalists won ACWII and created the Commonwealth of America under Elizabeth Flynn.
OOC: Why the fuck is the OST-Aspen fleet in fucking Hawaii instead of Singapore where they can actually be used to defend Germanies East Asian colonies
Well, the battleships sunk at Lae was eventually repaired anyway, it was not a huge loss for the Imperial German navy. Not to mention they got none of the carriers. While Tsingtao fell easily, you gotta admire Albert Kesselring and the brilliant performance of the Asien Korps at Malaya and Singapur. I mean, colonialism wasn’t gonna last forever anyway (OCC : OTL, the colonial empires after World War 2 fell anyway)
OOC: My post had it that basically the former German and Dutch colonies became allies of superpower Japan - this post contradicts that...
IC: Well, Syonan (Singapore) is a prefecture of Japan these days despite the defence. Ultimately, Lae and the battles that followed ended German power in the Far East and paved the way for Japan to be the dominant power there. A title it arguably still holds, albeit with Indonesia being the major economic power in the GEACPS.
Germany does have fleet in Singapur. A lot of the repair work on the battleships damaged at Lae was done at Singapur. Bear in mind Japan got none of the carriers BTW, and got decisively defeated in the “Battle of Saipan” (OTL Battle of Midway)
OOC: Dude, that's not how DBWIs work. It's a collaborative process. The posts I'd given beforehand had set up Japanese victory in Asia and post-war great power status, along with Syndicalist America. That means, subsequent posts have to work within that framework. Even from the OP - once you start a DBWI going, it's out of your hands.
Arkocento
Donor
How did that cooperation end though? Sure the Japanese pushed all the way to Lake Baikal, but it was a temporary victory, by the mid 40's The Fengtian Clique entirely dropped out of the GEACPS and Joined the United Provinces. The Settlement that Japan was forced into lost them all of Transamur, and left them clinging onto only Korea in mainland Asia. Sure the GEACPS is a party of Equals now, but that wasnt out of choice It was out of desperation. The United provinces of China is the Dominant power in Eastern Asia, with the GEACPS existing as a coalition designed to prevent them from expanding control.
And What did Chairman Flynn do after negotiating the peace settlement that Damn near destroyed Mantetsu at a stroke? She patted herself on the back, and returned to focusing on internal issues. Japan was incredibly succesful at establishing a sphere in Southeast asia and Indonesia, but it cost them any foot hold in China, something they took decades to recover from.