Ok guys I am supposed to do this paper in my political science class about how certain political movements affected the world we live in today. Well this got me to thinking…what kind of a world would we be living in if Adolf Hitler had never been born or if he had been killed during World War I. Well it would be a whole hell of alot different then the one we live in today. This is what I came up with.
The Holocaust never would have happened
Israel would never have been created
The balance of power in Europe would have remained the same
The 2nd World War probably would have happend but it wouldn’t have been against a Nazi Germany, but more than likely the Western Powers against a Commmunist Germany and Soviet Union.
China’s future would probably lay more with the western powers, hence it never would have turned communist
The colonial hold that Europe held over much of the world would still remain intact, or it would have been broken alot later than it did.
The United States would have taken alot longer to get out of the Great Depression, and maybe would have never fully recovered. World War 2 officially pulled the US out of the huge economic slump it was in.
There are alot more things that I could put down here but these are a few I thought were more important. I would like to hear what any of you would have to say about this subject. Oh and by the way my paper is due in 2 weeks.
The question supposes that what happened in Nazi Germany would not have happened without Hitler.
Perhaps Hitler was the focus of these events, a response to a movement that would have happened anyway.
What if someone like Rommel assumed his position. Someone who was a better military leader? Maybe he doesn’t hit Russia so soon. Consolidates his position and then defeats Britian. Hitler was a screw up militarily. That saved us a lot of men and time.
Maybe at that point Roosevelt doesn’t get elected for a third term and better economic policies are put in place that end the depression. We focus on Japan and end the war without a nuclear attack. That’s the problem with “what if” history questions. Endless possibilities.
Rommel? Never. He hated politics, he was a straight soldier. Let’s face it, without Hitler the Nazi movement would never have taken the path that it did. Who else would have taken his place? Goering, that fat, morphine addict piece of shit. No. Himmler, a true coward. I don’t think so. No one in the party had the allure and political mind for treachery that Hitler had.
The Nazi movement would have fizzled out long before it would have become a major political force. The communist party in Germany would have likely sealed the deal as the dominant force. But what I am wondering is what else do any of you think would have or would not have happened if Hitler had never existed?
If you eliminate Hitler from the equation but still have a WWII, it is quite possible that Russia would never have been invaded, or at least not without better provisioning.
There are also many instances of Hitler resisting advice from good military officers, which if he had listened, perhaps he could have taken less territory but held onto it.
Who knows?
However, the simplistic assumption that everything would have ended up like today is very hard to support. Find all the turning points that Hitler was involved in… whether political (internally and diplomatically), military or economic and then assume different decisions were made.
Don’t forget all the more “minor” countries in Europe, especially on Russia’s half.
Read up quickly on Romania during WWII. What once was a beautiful monarchy whose capital was referred to as “Little Paris” ended in a horrible communist dictatorship which ruined the country.
I won’t go into details, I’m sure you can research it yourself, or if you want something very quick, just read the Wikipedia article.
[quote]danmaftei wrote:
Don’t forget all the more “minor” countries in Europe, especially on Russia’s half.
Read up quickly on Romania during WWII. What once was a beautiful monarchy whose capital was referred to as “Little Paris” ended in a horrible communist dictatorship which ruined the country.
I won’t go into details, I’m sure you can research it yourself, or if you want something very quick, just read the Wikipedia article.[/quote]
You’re sugarcoating things just a little bit. The only people worse than Ceaucescu and the communists were their fascist predecessors, the Legion of the Archangel Michael, who literally put Jews through a meat grinder. And the last king was a venal, repressive fop who skipped town with a trainful of the country’s wealth.
[quote]Wiggum88 wrote:
Rommel? Never. He hated politics, he was a straight soldier. Let’s face it, without Hitler the Nazi movement would never have taken the path that it did. Who else would have taken his place? Goering, that fat, morphine addict piece of shit. No. Himmler, a true coward. I don’t think so. No one in the party had the allure and political mind for treachery that Hitler had.
The Nazi movement would have fizzled out long before it would have become a major political force. The communist party in Germany would have likely sealed the deal as the dominant force. But what I am wondering is what else do any of you think would have or would not have happened if Hitler had never existed?[/quote]
It’s by no means a foregone conclusion that the communists would have come to power if Hitler didn’t. There were lots of less extreme nationalists and conservatives, particularly among the millions of WWI veterans, who fought the communists, both at the ballot box and in the streets. Read up on the Freikorps, or even Hans von Seeckt and the Reichswehr. Germany could have ended up with a restored monarchy, or a military dictatorship. I tend to think war with Poland would have happened at some point no matter what though.
There were a lot of political forces active in Weimar Germany. Not the least of which was the desire to return back to a Monarchy. It’s a crap shoot how things would have went if Mr Nasty wasn’t around to consolidate power.
[i]
The Weimar Republic (German Weimarer Republik, IPA) is the historical name for the republic that governed Germany from 1919 to 1933. This period of German history is often known as the Weimar period. The republic was named after the city of Weimar, where a national assembly convened to produce a new constitution after the German Monarchy was abolished following the nation’s defeat in World War I. Despite its political form, the new Republic still called itself “Deutsches Reich” (German Empire), the same name used by the German monarchy before 1919. The phrase Weimar Republic is an invention of historians, and was not used officially during its existence.
This first attempt to establish a liberal democracy in Germany happened during a time of civil conflict, and failed with the ascent of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in 1933. Although technically the 1919 constitution was not invalidated until after World War II, the legal measures taken by the Nazi government in 1933 (commonly known as Gleichschaltung) destroyed the mechanisms of a typical democratic system, so 1933 is cited as the end of the Weimar Republic.
[quote]1. The Holocaust never would have happened
2. Israel would never have been created
3. The balance of power in Europe would have remained the same
The 2nd World War probably would have happend but it wouldn’t have been against a Nazi Germany, but more than likely the Western Powers against a Commmunist Germany and Soviet Union.
China’s future would probably lay more with the western powers, hence it never would have turned communist
The colonial hold that Europe held over much of the world would still remain intact, or it would have been broken alot later than it did.
The United States would have taken alot longer to get out of the Great Depression, and maybe would have never fully recovered. World War 2 officially pulled the US out of the huge economic slump it was in.[/quote]
I think it would- there was a long tradition of anti-semitism in 19th century political thought that would have found its expression sooner or later.
There are plenty of dirty little pseudo-colonies set up under pretensions of ‘restoring slaves to their homelands’ that could easily have taken Israel’s place.
I don’t know about that either- the british empire would have decayed anyway. Germany would have become the advanced technological nation it is today anyway. The french would still smell.
Or a communist germany against the allies and Russia? Or the weimar against the allies and Russia? Or a fascist alliance of Spain and France versus a communist Germany? If the Horse of troy had foaled, would horses today be a lot cheaper to feed?
The revolution in China would have happened anyway. Trust me on this one.
I doubt any european powers would have managed to hold onto any significant overseas properties after the AK-47 was invented. If it ever was?
America would still be the economic giant that it is today- that I’m pretty certain of. If you dig up some figures, you should find that the depression was basically already over shortly before the war started. In any case if the Americans had badly wanted to sell a few billion pounds worth of munitions, I judge them perfectly capable of finding a buyer.
Israel might have been stronger earlier, but less militant (or “on guard”, no offense, lack of a better term). The British had already pretty much guaranteed an Israel. Might have had a two-state solution (the way British colonialism split up large areas into smaller political group, such as Iraq and Kuwait)
Britain sieges St. Petersberg, after Russia invades tries to invade Sweden (again?) looking for a warm water port.
Yep.
Not so sure about 5. Hirohito is still alive, right?
Perhaps.
Some of my own?
United States/Britain/Japan trade rivalry (Japan would have never of signed the tripartite pact, but would have still have had contention with the US, may not have invaded Pearl Harbor. US may not have done Lend-Lease, so they may not have become quite the superpower so quickly).
A British atomic bomb? They would have recieved emigre scientists from Communist Germany, and they did have early govt. work (nothing serious) in nuclear tech pre-dating the Manhattan Project.
With Hitler out of the picture, Germany would still be a humiliated country that lost WWI and was forced to pay hughe compensations.
So the stage was set for conflict.
WWII might not have happened. Or it might have. If Germany had turned communist, would the communist regime be as brutal as in Stalin’s USSR? Would they have joined forces with the USSR? We’ve seen that a communist USSR and China had pretty cool relations. Had they worked together, would they have been happy to go their own communist way? Would they carve up Eastern-Europe between them? Or would they have become confrontational and go for suppremacy in the whole of Europe? If they would, there’s no chance UK & US could have liberated the European continent.
Would prominent scientist have fled from a (perhaps moderate) socialist Germany? Would the UK have been able to withstand the pressure? Would they have enought time and finances to build a nuclear bomb?
The military regime in Japan knew that they would be overpowered by the US economical might. In their absurd logic, they seized what they thought was an excellent opportunity to strike out and eliminate their competitor in the pacific.
Would Japan have joined a German-Russian axis?
Would the US have been able to hold their own against a German-USSR-Japanese Axis?
Australia would probably have been overrun. And the Japanese didn’t care much for their prisoners, military or civlian.
I suppose the point is that what happened couldn’t have happened any other way. If Hitler had never been born, there were plenty of disgruntled ex-WWI soldiers in weimar germany that could have taken his place. For that matter, the original founder of the nazi party or any of the other losers who lead putsches during the depression years could have.
Just think back to when the Treaty of Versailli was sighned at the end of WW1 makeing Germany pay 30 billion and taking blame for the war. With out that treaty Hitler doesnt gain power because the German people were pissed off and he said he was goen to fight for it back which got him in controll.
Also some pointless knowledge…Hitlers mom was thinking of having an abortion with hitler but a doctor talked her out of it. Any way If Hitler doesnt exist there would of been a war just not one of that magnitude and deaths.
[quote]hedo wrote:
The question supposes that what happened in Nazi Germany would not have happened without Hitler.
Perhaps Hitler was the focus of these events, a response to a movement that would have happened anyway.
What if someone like Rommel assumed his position. Someone who was a better military leader? Maybe he doesn’t hit Russia so soon. Consolidates his position and then defeats Britian. Hitler was a screw up militarily. That saved us a lot of men and time.
Maybe at that point Roosevelt doesn’t get elected for a third term and better economic policies are put in place that end the depression. We focus on Japan and end the war without a nuclear attack. That’s the problem with “what if” history questions. Endless possibilities.
Have fun![/quote]
Rommel was forced by Hitler to commit suicide because he basically found out there was a plot to kill Hitler and he kept his mouth shut about it. Show how much he believed in the little asshole.