This might seem like a silly thread to make when the whole board is being spammed with Nazi shitposts 24 / 7, but I thought maybe if there was a dedicated thread then we could get more broad and nuanced discussions going. (also I needed an excuse to post this collage I made)Let's start with the who, what, when, where, and why the war actually began. We could just say that Germany's invasion of Poland started the war, though I'm not satisfied with that answer. Were Great Britain and France right to escalate the conflict by declaring war? Why did they only declare war on Germany and not the Soviet Union, who were conducting their own invasion of Poland? If Poland's sovereignty was that important to them, why did they then allow Stalin to conquer them (along with the rest of Eastern Europe)? In a more broad historical sense, why was Great Britain so opposed to German empowering itself? That they would allign themselves with the likes of Stalin and the United States just to destroy them. Did Hitler truly have zero interest in attacking Britain? Was he being genuine when he offered them protection?Another perspective: was World War 2 an inevitable clash between the conflicting ideologies of Fascism and Socialism?
>>18502727Gaydolf Shitler was a British spy serving the interests of international Rothschild capitalStalin saved Europe
>>18502727>Were Great Britain and France right to escalate the conflict by declaring war? No, unlike the invasion of Belgium in the First World War, invading Poland didn’t directly threaten neither Britain nor France’s geographical sphere of influence.>Why did they only declare war on Germany and not the Soviet Union, who were conducting their own invasion of Poland?They didn’t want to go to war against two great military powers at once. Fighting a Nazi-Soviet alliance would’ve been suicidal.>If Poland's sovereignty was that important to them, why did they then allow Stalin to conquer them (along with the rest of Eastern Europe)?Polish sovereignty was never important to them, that was just an excuse. They allowed Stalin to conquer it partly because FDR was a naive fool that trusted Stalin completely and partly because the Soviet Union in 1945 was a much more formidable opponent than Germany was in 1939. >In a more broad historical sense, why was Great Britain so opposed to German empowering itself?A holdover sentiment from the Anglo-German naval rivalry of the early 1900s, made worse by the more than 700,000 British men that died by German hands in WWI which naturally created long-lasting resentment against Germany. >Did Hitler truly have zero interest in attacking Britain?He knew he didn’t have the navy to conquer Britain. He mostly started ordering the bombing campaign against Britain to try to get rid of that thorn in his side by bombing them so severely that they would go to the negotiating table, but he mostly saw them as an unfortunate nuisance rather than a true enemy. He would’ve preferred an alliance with them, what with the British being “Aryan brothers” to the Germans and all that.>was World War 2 an inevitable clash between the conflicting ideologies of Fascism and Socialism?Yes, you can see the roots of this conflict in the Spanish Civil War. Germany and the USSR had conflicting goals in Europe, coexistence was futile.
>>18502759>They didn't want to go to war against two great military powers at once>Polish sovereignty was never important to them, that was just an excuse>invading Poland didn’t directly threaten neither Britain nor France’s geographical sphere of influence>Hitler would have preferred an alliance with the BritishSo why exactly did France and Great Britain feel the need to declare war? Was it really about stopping German expansionism? Or were Brits and Frogs really just butthurt over WW1 so they couldn't contend with a powerful German state?This seems to me like short-sightedness on the part of the Brits and French, who probably just wanted to "balance" the power in Europe and not allow Germany to dominate too much territory. I don't think they realized exactly what was at stake, and they allowed their continent to be ripped in two by globalism from America and socialism from Russia.
>>18502727One thing I wonder about is if the minor Axis powers like Romania, Hungary and Finland had anything to gain from joining Operation Barbarossa. I guess Finland would have gotten better defensible borders with any potential future Russian state but how would have Romania, Hungary or Bulgaria benefited? Was there anything in it for them?
>>18502781Romania did get some territorial gains from Barbarossa. As for the other countries that joined the operation, you have to remember that anti-communism was widespread in Europe at the time, a sentiment which would later be proven right by the Soviet enslavement of Eastern Europe.
In the event Germany got Lebensraum and wins and consequently the communists fall is expediated, would the slavs prefer to have simply emigrated to russia and populate the otherwise sparse regions, Or would they have stayed in their equivalents of autonomous regions? I suppose what I'm wondering is how popular pan-slavism was in the era. Tangently, thinking about this made me wonder why Russias conquest of Siberia never became the equivalent of Britains conquest of America, insofar as population dispersal. Of course the climate makes less of the land arable, but the extent of hostility is I think largely overblown outside of the center of siberia, and I find it surprising how even still how (relatively) little people live in Kamchatka.
>>18503139A lot of Slavs would probably have acted as partisans even after Soviet collapse and would have received funding and weapons from the US and Britain kind of how the Afghan mujahideen got CIA help in our timeline. But a lot of Slavs wouldd probably have fled to any Post-Soviet rump states in order to not get Dirlewangered.
>>18502781>how would have Romania, Hungary or Bulgaria benefited?Have you ever read a history book?Soviets were basically picking them apart before, taking more and more land from them
>>18502727>We could just say that Germany's invasion of Poland started the warIt did. This is not disputable. Germany was warned not to invade Poland, yet they did it anyway, starting the war.>Were Great Britain and France right to escalate the conflict by declaring war?Absolutely. Nazi Germany was a threat to Europe and had to be eliminated.>Why did they only declare war on Germany and not the Soviet Union, who were conducting their own invasion of Poland?Britain’s obligation was to protect Poland from German aggression specifically, there was no such obligation to protect Poland from the USSR (though there should’ve been imo). Furthermore, going to war with both Germany and Russia in 1939 would’ve been near impossible for Britain and France due to the combined power of both those countries. After all, Germany alone was able to conquer France, Belgium, the Netherlands etc in 1940 and kick the British off of the continent.>If Poland's sovereignty was that important to them, why did they then allow Stalin to conquer them (along with the rest of Eastern Europe)?There was no way for the western Allies to force the Soviets out of Eastern Europe in 1945 without starting a third world war, something nobody was in the mood for. Maintaining Polish sovereignty was never the main reason for Britain and France declaring war on Germany. They declared war because Germany was threatening peace in Europe through it’s invasions and the rise of a strong Germany was a threat to both the British and French.>In a more broad historical sense, why was Great Britain so opposed to German empowering itself?The foreign policy of the British Empire in relation to Europe was to prevent the establishment of a European empire that could threaten British sovereignty and interests. This is why Britain went to war with Napoleon and Germany in both world wars.
>>18503790>a European empire that could threaten British sovereignty and interestsWhich is exactly what the USSR was from 1945 onwards. They can come up with the excuse that they were too tired by then to deal with the Soviets, but if that’s true then it just proves that their policy of preventing a dominant European power from forming was pointless all along.
>>18502727>That they would allign themselves with the likes of Stalin and the United States just to destroy them.It was Germany that was allied with the USSR for the first two years of the war due to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. This only changed in 1941 because of Operation Barbarossa. As for the US, they chose to aid Britain throughout the war, even before they themselves were directly involved.>Did Hitler truly have zero interest in attacking Britain?His intention was always to go east. It was the British and French declaration of war that caused the western front.>Was he being genuine when he offered them protection?It’s impossible to know, though Hitler was notorious for not keeping his word.>Another perspective: was World War 2 an inevitable clash between the conflicting ideologies of Fascism and Socialism?I think this is an oversimplification. There were many ideologies at play during the war - national socialism, communism, fascism, democracy, monarchy, militarism, authoritarianism. I view WW2 more as the last great clash of empires. A struggle between countries fighting to preserve and expand their imperial power.
>>18502727Gaydolf Jewtler tried to destory PoleGods and he alongside his vermin nation was justly punished for this crime
>>18503800Western Europe (including Britain) was protected by America’s nuclear umbrella from 1945 onwards. This prevented a Soviet attack against Britain.
>>18503800USSR never gained hegamony over Europe and never threaten UK
>>18503479They only did that to Romania. Hungary and Bulgaria didn't really have any territorial disputes with the Soviets (and the Bulgarians were even secretly sympathetic to the Russians and pretty much refused to fight them). They joined the Anticomintern pact mostly to get territorial gains at the expense of Romania, Greece and Yugoslavia.
>>18503816Slavs always win and rape and colonise germutts
>>18502727WEE WOO WEE WOO WEE WOOinteresting series but quality varies greatly amongst the episodes
Woah my thread was about to fall off the board.. :0
