No Hitler Stalin pact no WW2??

[Derek Jackson]

If Stalin had refused Hitler's offer in 1939 would Hitler have still done something to start WW2?

[carlton_bach]

Very prtobably, given that war was the sole goal of his policy and the only way Germany could stave off economic collapse by '39. Howeer, I'm niot sure it would be the same thing.Perhaps a 'limited' war with Poland, in the hope of mollifying the Western Allies with a replay of Munich? Alternatively, he might have gone against the USSR rightaway, even sought an 'aliance' with Poland. But he really has few good options left, so whatever war follows will be shorter.

[Tetsu]

There is a possibility, that if the Molotov-Rippentrop Pact is refused by the Soviets, that the Germans would plunge into Poland and not stop there. Hitler hated Slavs and Russia more than any other group (besides the Jews, of course.). If Hitler immediately went after the USSR, the Allies would probably let the two nations go at it, since Hitler would be fulfilling his promise as a 'crusader against Communism'.

The USSR, if I'm not mistaken, is quite weak at this point and is definately not the USSR of 1942. If Hitler destroys Russia before going after France and Britain and the other Allies, what happens? Would Hitler perhaps stop for a while, satisfied with his massive Ostland, or would he go after the western Allies at this point? Could he be stopped, provided the USA doesn't enter the conflict?

[zoomar]

I suspect that a move against Poland to "recover" the prewar German eastern border would have been in the cards anyway. Hitler may have moved somewhat slower, however, in hopes he could still finesse the British and French one more time. Since Stalin seemed more intent on shoring up his regime at home than moving west, he may not have intervened, giving the Germans almost as much independence in the west as they had anyway