Future WI: 1945

[KJM]

(It is January 1 1945. The Allies have liberated France and have all but won the war against Germany. There's still Japan, though.)

Since we have nothing to do at the moment, are there any thoughts anyone would like to share? Y'know, about what the future will be like?

[Constantinople]

Huh? I'm not sure what you are trying to say...

[Yellmic Wigwawa]

(It is January 1 1945. The Allies have liberated France and have all but won the war against Germany. There's still Japan, though.)

Since we have nothing to do at the moment, are there any thoughts anyone would like to share? Y'know, about what the future will be like?


I think we can safely assume that Germany will be defeated some time this year - my guess is April - June.

I believe Hitler will either commit suicide or will simply disappear. He may well have prepared some escape route already, surely he can't fail to see that the war is lost.

Assuming the Soviets take Berlin, I can see Germany being occupied by the USA. Soviet Union & GB for a few years. Leading Nazis will be shot on capture.

As for japan, I can't see anything other than a long, bloody conflict. Possibly if we can persuade the Soviet Union to declare war on them, we may be able to defeat them without an actual invasion of Japan itself, which would be unimaginably costly in lives and money.

In the medium term future, I would expect Germany & Japan to be poor, backward countries for the forseeable future, probably both would be occupied by foreign troops for 10 years, then they will be about 25 years behind everyone else. France & GB will probably try to form a common foreign policy and may emerge as the chief rivals to the SU and the USA. The civil war in China will go on and on and on ......

Don't be too surprised to see the beginning of the end of European colonial empires before the end of the twentieth century - say in about the late 1980s. I will stick my neck out and say fully half of France & Britain's African colonies will have some form of self-government before 2000.

[Ivan Druzhkov]

(once again, the arch-Stalinist from WI: 1930 emerges from the mists)

Well, the offensive in the West is going smoothly, and with our Western Allies FINALLY comitting some troops to the fight against fascism, I could see the Red Flag wafting over the Reichstag by May, if not sooner. With any luck, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Yugoslavia, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Greece will join the brotherhood of Socialist nations.

Considering the pro-Soviet feeling running in the West right now, I could safely expect a relaxation of tensions and a greater mixing between the socialist and capitalist camps. Who knows? Maybe you'll find your way to socialism before long.

Personally, I feel that imperialism's day has passed. With the stories I heard about unrest throughout the British and French empires, and the damage and losses both those countries recieved, we may be on the verge of a mass wave of de-colonialism.

As for my home country, we have suffered greatly, but with the Boss's firm hand on the ship of state, we will rebuild, repair, and restore ourselves to strength.

[KJM]

our Western Allies FINALLY comitting some troops to the fight against fascism
What the... ?

So what have the Allied forces been shooting at all this time? :rolleyes:

[wkwillis]

What the... ?

So what have the Allied forces been shooting at all this time? :rolleyes:
1942-95% of German casualties are facing the Russians.
1943-90% of German casualties are facing the Russians.
1944-80% of German casualties are facing the Russians.
1945-60% of German casualties are facing the Russians.
I could be wrong on these numbers. This is just off the top of my head.

[fred_smith]

I can't see the British and French colonies completely evaporating, after all, they've just won the war. Britain will re-elect Churchill in 1945, of course. And I believe we should join forces with France in rebuilding. There are big changes on the way, of course.

[ljofa]

Actually, I think we need to be listening to General Patton and take the fight to the Russians. They clearly cannot be trusted and Stalin is cut from the same cloth that Hitler is. Remember the Katyn Forest Massacre? Remember the Warsaw Uprising and how Stalin refused to lift a finger. Mark my words - he's trying something on and will probably attack the west unless we attack him first. He won't stop at Berlin.

The Japs might take longer than 1945 to defeat. We might be able to clear them out of the Pacific and take the fight into Japan proper by the end of the year but their Kamikaze attacks will take their toll on shipping and the army. If there were only a way to end the war sooner - but we can't use poison gas against civilians...

[Forum Lurker]

I'd expect a naval campaign to simply starve them out. Remember, they're heavily populated islands without that much arable land.

For the Russians, I'd like to say that they couldn't possibly want to prosecute a war, with their massive numbers of casualties against the Nazis, but you're right that Stalin doesn't appear to be the most rational of commanders-in-chief.