Could the Axis Powers Have Won WWII?: Part II

Harvest of Mars: History and War

“When America had defeated Japan by detonating an atomic bomb, the Führer had sent a V-3 rocket to explode in the skies of New York to prove he could retaliate in kind if struck. After that, the war had dwindled to ... a nuclear stalemate the diplomats called the cold war.”

- Robert Harris, from the novel Fatherland.

In this episode we continue to look at one of the most common “What If?” questions in history: the plausibility of the Axis powers (specifically Germany) winning the Second World War. Also, probably the most complicated. In the first part, we looked at historical patterns and the major factors that greatly favored the Allies. Nevertheless, Germany seemed to be in a good position by the Autumn of 1940, even if it was defeated in the Battle of Britain. The British Empire's position in the Mediterranean and the Middle East seemed vulnerable, the Soviet Union was still collaborating with Nazi Germany, and the United States was still neutral. We pick up the story here and explore possible alternative paths history might have taken. We try to stay true to the historical circumstances and key factors that weighed on leaders and decision makers that made the events of WWII unfold as it did. While the obstacles of an Axis powers seem daunting, maybe there was an alternative path Germany and Japan could have taken for a different outcome.