The Second Great War ATL.

[Hkelukka]

This is a timeline I've been kicking around for a while.

To start with, here is a list of assumptions that are necessary for the timeline.

1. In OTL, one of the main formative experiences of Hitler’s personality as it was during the period of the 2nd world war was his experiences in the 1st world war. Specifically, his experience following the gas attack.

2. In OTL, he was injected with, a large quantity of amphetamines to combat Parkinson’s, this resulted in a steady collapse of his faculties followed by a period of insanity. I put the start of the actual insanity somewhere around 1942-43.

The POD is during the 1st world war. During Hitler’s stay in the hospital ITL, instead of as in OTL going into a mentality of all inferiors must die, he goes into a mentality of all inferiors must be enslaved.

Now, it isn’t a much of a change, true. But it is sufficient to alter the events of the 2nd world war in a radical way. Instead of seeking to expel or eliminate unwanted people, they instead seek a more "humane" treatment. Instead of a strong focus on the purity of the race as a whole, he is more concerned with improving the individual and through that, the race.

The change can be summed up into this.

"The best Jew is better than the worst German, but the average German is better than the best Jew. Therefore to know a race is not the same as to know the individual, as we act on the individual level, we must know the individual."

In effect this means the Nazi view of other races is closer to the master and their cattle, than it is to the OTL view or Human and vermin.

These are still Nazi's with all that it implies, the only difference is that they are closer to the old Prussian view of inferiors than they are of the OTL Nazi view.

So, this small change butterflies across the German nation during ww2 and produces a very different timeline.

So, long story short, it’s a work on WW2 ATL, don't expect it to be 100% accurate on all details or the way you would expect it to be. It is a work of fiction and treated as such, I'm not spending thousands of hours researching the background for this.

I plan to break this into 10 small chapters each no more than 2 pages long detailing an important event sometime in the years between 1930's-1950's

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1920-1934, Hitler slowly gains more and more power until eventually becoming the Fuhrer.

In 1933, Hitler gives a speech on the emancipation of women and their role in the workplace. In it he outlines a place for the women in the work place, that while the traditional woman had no reason to be emancipated, times have changed and in the world, it is those best adapted to change that survive, and the German people must survive.

Incentives are created for women to join women's organizations, and to create jobs and to increase the need for German produce. Physical health, intelligence and labor are greatly valued in the new German society.

This new influx of labor lowers the cost of hiring German workers in a period when there is massive unemployment. At the same time the government engages in large investments into infrastructure boosting German GDP growth rates to somewhat higher than OTL.

The real reason for the Emancipation of women in Germany is to free more Men for the coming war effort.

1935 Nuremburg Race Laws

The Nazi's set about to create a comprehensive system of racial classification. In the completed system, there were 4 main levels of race, and three classes within every race. And hundreds of myriad classes and races not listed here.

The 4 races were

The Germans. Anyone who had at least 75% German ancestry.

The Non-German Europeans. Anyone who while not German, were of one of the many non German Western European races. (French, Italian, Spanish etc...)

The Non European Civilized. Anyone who is classified as civilized but not European. This would include Slavs, Jews, Chinese, Japanese and so on. The Nazi state considered anyone East of Germany to be Non-European. With the exclusion of the Greeks.

The Non Civilized. Anyone who lacks a state or any of the common trappings of large scale societal organization. (Africans, Indians, Natives, Sami…)

And the classes were simply based on classification within that society into either better, average or worse.

This new system of classification meant that a 1A, that is, better than average German could marry anyone from 1A,1B,1C,2A,2B,3A. It meant that someone of Jewish ancestry could marry a German, assuming that the Jew was a well to do respected member of the community.

The laws were designed to allow the best of any civilized society to marry into Germany, while prohibiting the worst elements from mixing. The thought being that this way, they could let nature select the best of all societies and mix them into Germany while keeping majority of the marriages between pure Germans.

The idea being that no one would miss a few disgruntled Jews moving out, but they would miss someone with billions moving out.

This would color the Nazi thinking in the future. The concept of allowing the best of any civilized race to live in Germany while actively seeking out and stripping of citizenship anyone they deem unfit would prove a cornerstone of their society.

Even the worst can improve their station if they strive for it, and even a pure German can find himself in trouble if he falls from his station.

1936, After a series of discussions by Hitler and Mussolini, the two agree to found a series of settlements in Italian Libya, designed as a new home for the German Jews and other undesirables. Germany is paying for the transport and giving a small cash incentive for anyone wishing to move to Libya. Italy sets up bi-lingual administration areas in Libya in anticipation. With increasing pressure in Germany and troubles in the Middle East, many take this opportunity to move to Libya.

In exchange Germany recognizes the Italian conquest of Ethiopia and the two forms the Axis. Germany remilitarizes the Rhineland.

The anti-comintern pact is concluded between Germany-Italy-Japan

During the 1936-37 Germany continues to rearm.

1937 At the outset of the 2nd Sino-Japanese war. After much deliberation, Germany decides to maintain support for the Chinese. A large part of this decision comes from the Chinese history. A long history, which paints the Chinese as one of the oldest and wisest people. Compared to the Japanese, which are relative newcomers. In the Nazi ideology of racial history the Chinese seem more likely to win the ensuing conflict.

Japan is seen mostly as a naval power and thus of secondary importance to the Axis future war effort and its main target of the Soviet Union. Towards this Goal, China seems a natural ally.

Germany condemns the Japanese aggression and expels Japan from the Anti-comintern pact.

Germany increases economic and military co-operation with the Chinese.

The battle of Shangai ends in a Japanese victory 3 weeks later than OTL, the Chinese army withdraws in relative order towards Nanjing.

Emboldened by how narrow the Japanese victory was, the KMT decides to employ a significantly more aggressive posture in the coming years.

1938 German union with Austria. Italy supports the union thanks to generous German economic cooperation in the past 3 years. The union will greately increase German and Italian economic cooperation. Unemployed Germans are strongly encouraged to sign up for work gangs which are sent to improve the Italian transport and industrial infrastructure. Work gang duty has become the legal obligation of unemployed lower class Germans. While Germany is still nominally tied by the disarmament treaties, there is no legal binding from using civilian labor. In essence the work gangs have become the second arm of the military. They are well trained and in good physical condition ready for military service but in times of peace kept in hard manual labor to maintain their physical conditioning. Despite the investment cost associated with such a move, the benefit to the coming war, outweigh the cost.

During the years of 1936 to 1939 a total of 1.2 million German men and women have taken part in improving the Italian transport infrastructure.

----

That’s the first post.

I'll answer any questions about the TL.

Thus far, the greatest change is:

1. Germany has a early grand strategic war goal, destroy SU at all cost. Avoid a prolonged naval war. Leave the west well enough alone and fragmented for as long as possible. Do not provide a common enemy.

2. Germany supports KMT during civil war.

3. Germany attempts to alleviate unemployment by renting out work gangs to potential allies in exchange for political or economic concessions. These gangs are independent units that are mostly used for construction of infrastructure and economic facilities. Such as roads, highways, rails, airports, ports. It is a economic drain on Germany but it is part of the larger war-goal and of the political goal of trying all the European minors into a economic dependency on Germany. Most states are eager to use them as they are essentially free, in exchange for a few simple concessions. Such as supporting the Union.

4. Italian Libya has better infrastructure and higher population due to influx of German and Austrian Jews. While packing so many discontents into one location creates a distinctly Anti-Nazi atmosphere in Libya, the harshness of life in their new homes keeps public opinion quiet.

[Hkelukka]

No comments?

Too bad? Badly written? Grammar? Been Seen A Million Times? Stunned to awesome silence? Too little content to comment yet?

[mikegold]

Does Germany not consider at least the Magyars and Finns to be European races? Other possibilities might be the Bulgarians (due to the historic alliance), the Romanians (who are Latins, not Slavs), and perhaps some Caucasian peoples (the Georgians?) And of course there is the weird fascination with the Iranic and North Indian peoples.

[Hkelukka]

The German view of "european" and "not-european" is basically very close to:

"Historic Roman" and "Barbarian"

Rather close to this

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Eu...N_geoschme.svg

Their view would be that anyone east of Germany came in with the Huns and such, and forced the Germans into modern day Germany and into the Roman Empire. And as such anyone East of them is a historic invader while they are the "defenders" of civilization.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...vic_europe.svg

This being a rather good example. As Slavs are viewed as "second lowest class of civilized" (They have a state and a long history of such organizations, while jews and roma are viewed as the lowest "no state of their own")

So in short.

Magyars and Finns are considered "Uralic" and as such are in the same station and say, Chinese or Japanese. While Georgians, and Roma are civilized but stateless (so, lower than Magyars and Finns).

While the Bulgar people http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Khazar0.png belong to the same general group.

These are all groups that are viewed as Civilized Non-European. That means that in the German concept of hierarchy, the Bulgars are above Jews and Roma and other stateless people, they are at the lower ends of the hierarchy.

In practicality this means that alliances will be sought but they will be a strictly Master-Subject style alliances where it is clearly understood that it is the interests of Germany first that are served.

So, in regional terms they would seek alliances with the best nations in the area and use them against the weaker nations in the area and reward the succesful nations. Then they would seek to expand those nations at the cost of their less desirable peoples. Such as taking land from natives and locals and using it for common good, deporting unwanted peoples and so on. They wont use concentration camps, but you will see massive migrations where people simply die of starvation.

Magyars, Finns, Bulgarians, Romanians, Slavic, Lithiuanin, Latvian and Estonian peoples are some of the many potential allies and the Germans will do their best to ally with any of these people against the Soviet Union. And they would help any of these people provided it benefits Germany more in the long term than it would any of them.

In this TL, Hitler views Germany as the logical protector of civilization from the evils that lurk in the East. And much like the Romans that manned the wall in the times before, he too would ally with the locals when it suits them.

Hope that answers.

[Hkelukka]

Anymore comments? I'll be glad to answer any questions.

[ObssesedNuker]

1. Germany has a early grand strategic war goal, destroy SU at all cost. Avoid a prolonged naval war. Leave the west well enough alone and fragmented for as long as possible. Do not provide a common enemy.

Their still going to be drawn into conflict with the West, since Poland is still an objective, and there will still be the OTL brain drain as the intellectual Jews (like Einstein) flee Germany.

Additionally, it appears that this Hitler's invasion of the USSR will be slightly less harsh, but still harsh enough that I think the level of resistance will ultimately be the same. It actually benefits the Soviets in the long-run, since a war of extermination vs a war of slavery means fewer massacres, thus fewer civilian casualties, and thus less of a post-war demographic problem.

[Hkelukka]

True on all accounts ObsessedNuker.

To get to SU, Germany has to go through Poland, and that will bring the western allies into the war. Short of somehow getting Poland into the axis (which wont happen) there isn't any way around it.

There will be a serious brain drain on Germany, but it will be somewhat less than it was in OTL. And many Jews choose to emigrate to Italian Libya instead, due to the generous terms given to them by the German government. Nevermind the fact that the generous terms come mostly from very harsh taxation on Jewish property. In essence Germany is taxing the rich Jews to pay the poor Jews to move to Africa. So while there is a brain drain, the German Jews at this point in history were VERY used to harsh terms and were unlikely to leave. I would say that the brain drain experiences in ATL is approximately 75% of what was in OTL, so still a huge loss but noticably less. (Einstein will leave, but Niels Bohr will stay.)

Freud is treated significantly better in ATL than in OTL and lives in South Austria until he dies of old age in early 41. His books are under restricted access but not burned outright.

The German invasion of the Soviet Union will indeed be considerably less harsh, as well as having a far less ambitious military goal.

The Germans in this TL actually know that you don't fight a landwar in Asia in the middle of the winter, and plan accordingly. In the end this will end up benefitting the SU more than it does the Germans. But due to better planning, logistics and axis minor cooperation the war will proceed in the same general vein as in OTL. With different major events and battles.

The more cautious approach negates both some of the most massive encirclements of the war (first few weeks) as well as the massive winter deathtoll. So by 1943 the battles will be significantly larger than in OTL due to both sides having more available manpower and industrial production.

In the end, Italy will be stronger, especially in Africa, and Germany will be somewhat different in its approach to the minors and SU. But it should make an interesting alternative.

[MerryPrankster]

This is an interesting scenario. The Nazis as the Draka, who are willing to incorporate useful new people into their ruling elite and are willing to prune their own ranks.

(The Draka added "a few score thousand Europeans" like the nuclear scientist from Under the Yoke to the Citizen pool after the Eurasian War and millions of Alliance survivors after the Final War and they sterilized and institutionalized their own "defectives.")

And Einstein would probably be considered a "good and useful" Jew in TTL due to his intelligence and fame--would he be able to withstand the blandishments of Hitler?

[Rubicon]

Originally Posted by Hkelukka

In 1933, Hitler gives a speech on the emancipation of women and their role in the workplace. In it he outlines a place for the women in the work place, that while the traditional woman had no reason to be emancipated, times have changed and in the world, it is those best adapted to change that survive, and the German people must survive.

Incentives are created for women to join women's organizations, and to create jobs and to increase the need for German produce. Physical health, intelligence and labor are greatly valued in the new German society.

This new influx of labor lowers the cost of hiring German workers in a period when there is massive unemployment. At the same time the government engages in large investments into infrastructure boosting German GDP growth rates to somewhat higher than OTL.

The real reason for the Emancipation of women in Germany is to free more Men for the coming war effort.

You do know that more women was employed in Nazi-Germany OTL then there were in any of the democratic countries in western Europe? IIRC something like 60-65% of all German women were employed.
So your entire premise here falls on its head.

[Hkelukka]

No, he wouldnt. Judging by his pre/during/post- War remarks, he would still leave. The Germans try furiously to retain him and any other Jew of global fame, specifically scientists. Going so far as to grant blanket immunity to their friends and families and relocating them to calm, sparsly inhabited areas. Thus Freud, along with several other notable Jews are moved to Austria. To many, including Einstein it is an impossible trade and he quietly relocates to the US sometime in the late 1930's. Significantly later than in OTL but still a few years pre-war.

The Nazi's didn't do the whole bookburning in TTL, but they did confiscate books and limit them to academic or heavily edited versions.

They were banned from being university professors (tenured or otherwise) but not from teaching their specific area of expertise. In effect this means that they were not officially on the university payroll and were listed as visiting experts. A largely technical move meant to make it so that all classes with a Jewish teacher have to be initiated and concluded by a German teacher. Including exams and grading of students.

This had the effect of making Jewish teachers subservient to their German counterparts, and were allowed to visit purely at the discretion of the German teachers.

So, in effect this means that if you choose to stay and participate in society you'll always be a second class citizen but allowed to live and prosper, as long as you remember your place, and contribute.

The idea is that if you have say 1000 well to do Jews after everyone else of Jewish heritage has been forced out, and of those 1000. 10 fail in business and fall to a lower class, the 10 are deported and the 990 are allowed to have 10 more children.

This way the Nazi establishment feels that they maintain a strict control over their Jewish population, regulating their numbers to remain sufficiently lower and get the best from them while getting rid of the rest. Even without bookburning or nights of broken glass life can be made so miserable and leaving can be made so enjoyable that most choose to leave. Difference being that of those that leave a large portion to go Libya, where the Italian government is encouraged to give them large grants of land and citizenship. In turn the Germans agree to improve the Italian infrastructure. This in effect to create a toehold of Germanism in Africa that can be exploited in the future.

The Jews might leave Germany, but Germany wont leave the Jews. Would be the driving ideology. Push the Jews into Africa and once its good for German settlement, pick up the Jews and move them deeper into Africa. Sort of using them as the first front of civilization. Using Jews to push away the Africans and Arabs is similar to using the Bulgarians to push away the Russians.

[Hkelukka]

Originally Posted by Rubicon

You do know that more women was employed in Nazi-Germany OTL then there were in any of the democratic countries in western Europe? IIRC something like 60-65% of all German women were employed.
So your entire premise here falls on its head.

Yes, once the war was well on its way and there was no other choice. But in 1930's the German view was for women to "stay home and breed". Nazism was a distinctly anti-feminist ideology in OTL. I'm changing that to a more practical view where women are still strongly encouraged to breed and maintain the home, but if they have the energy they should apply themselves to labour just as men do.

The slogan 'Emancipation of women' was invented by Jewish intellectuals and its content was formed by the same spirit. In the really good times of German life the German woman had no need to emancipate herself. She possessed exactly what nature had necessarily given her to administer and preserve; just as the man in his good times had no need to fear that he would be ousted from his position in relation to the woman.

In fact the woman was least likely to challenge his position. Only when he was not absolutely certain in his knowledge of his task did the eternal instinct of self and race-preservation begin to rebel in women. There then grew from this rebellion a state of affairs which was unnatural and which lasted until both sexes returned to the respective spheres which an eternally wise providence had preordained for them.

If the man's world is said to be the State, his struggle, his readiness to devote his powers to the service of the community, then it may perhaps be said that the woman's is a smaller world. For her world is her husband, her family, her children, and her home.

This shows the specific OTL Nazi ideology towards women. This being from a speech by Hitler on 1934.

http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/...cument_id=1557

I've replaced that with a view of these spheres not as "provedence preordained" but as averages. So that the average woman would be content with staying at home, but to be Nazi is to strive to be more than the average.

So staying at home and tending the family is good.

Tending the family and the home AND being employed is better.

And many young women are drafted into women only work gangs to produce healthy bodies. If the ATL Nazi hierarchy is brutal on men, and it is far more so than OTL, it is considerably more so to women as well.

So, to illustrate my point, I've rewritten that part of Hitler's speech below:

"The role of the woman was never tied to the family and to the house. In the good old days of German life, the German woman was free to choose who she married, and was free to commit to a life of serving the community. Not until the Jewish influence and its corruption were the women forced to stay at home. This Jewish influence has imprisoned half of the German Folk at home, without firing a shot this corruption has defeated half of our Folk. It must end..."

And so forth. Hope that clarifies a bit what I mean.

[mstross96]

Really Intresting timeline so far.
Keep it going.

[Rubicon]

Originally Posted by Hkelukka

Yes, once the war was well on its way and there was no other choice. But in 1930's the German view was for women to "stay home and breed". Nazism was a distinctly anti-feminist ideology in OTL. I'm changing that to a more practical view where women are still strongly encouraged to breed and maintain the home, but if they have the energy they should apply themselves to labour just as men do.



This shows the specific OTL Nazi ideology towards women. This being from a speech by Hitler on 1934.

http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/...cument_id=1557

I've replaced that with a view of these spheres not as "provedence preordained" but as averages. So that the average woman would be content with staying at home, but to be Nazi is to strive to be more than the average.

So staying at home and tending the family is good.

Tending the family and the home AND being employed is better.

And many young women are drafted into women only work gangs to produce healthy bodies. If the ATL Nazi hierarchy is brutal on men, and it is far more so than OTL, it is considerably more so to women as well.

So, to illustrate my point, I've rewritten that part of Hitler's speech below:

"The role of the woman was never tied to the family and to the house. In the good old days of German life, the German woman was free to choose who she married, and was free to commit to a life of serving the community. Not until the Jewish influence and its corruption were the women forced to stay at home. This Jewish influence has imprisoned half of the German Folk at home, without firing a shot this corruption has defeated half of our Folk. It must end..."

And so forth. Hope that clarifies a bit what I mean.

Sorry but no, the German women were employed already in the 30ies before Hitler came into power, there is no great pool of unemployed labour to tap into by 'emancipating' women for Nazi-Germany. Hitler and the Nazis could rant and rave about women's place in 'the New Order' but facts are facts, women in Nazi-Germany were employed to a much greater degree then in any western European country.
Where were they employed? In the agricultural sector, i.e. small family farms.

If you want to write a timeline were Nazi-Germany manages to free up substantial amounts of labour for use in factories, the only way to do so would be by enacting land-reforms where smaller farms are added together to create larger farms, thus displacing the population of the smaller farms. But this goes against the very core of Nazi ideology: Aryan families farming the land.

[Shogo]

It looks like a pretty damn interesting twist on Nazi Germany.

[ObssesedNuker]

Originally Posted by Hkelukka

The Germans in this TL actually know that you don't fight a landwar in Asia in the middle of the winter, and plan accordingly. In the end this will end up benefitting the SU more than it does the Germans. But due to better planning, logistics and axis minor cooperation the war will proceed in the same general vein as in OTL. With different major events and battles.

It was rather more complex then that, but I see your point. The big problem with Germany taking a less ambitious plan (for the Axis) is that the Soviets will be able too rally much more effectively, evacuate more industries, and retain more resources for longer periods of time. Not to mention giving the Red Army time to take stock of the situation more accurately and plan accordingly.

The more cautious approach negates both some of the most massive encirclements of the war (first few weeks) as well as the massive winter deathtoll.

This is actually a big deal even in the relative short term. The greater preservation of the frontier armies as well as the armies deployed further back means the pool of trained Red Army personnel and extra-equipment will be much greater. While there were legions of deficincies in the formations of June 1941, these formations were still much better trained and equipped then the ones in, say, September of the same year. The preservation of that skilled manpower and their equipment will allow the Red Army too reorganize faster and more effectively then OTL.

So by 1943 the battles will be significantly larger than in OTL due to both sides having more available manpower and industrial production.

More like by 1942. The mobilization potential of the USSR was immense, even more so with the preservation of their front forces. Although I am assuming Hitler commits Germany to a total war footing earlier? By maintaining priority of requipping the Eastern Front, he can offset some of the advantages the USSR would be handed through the above...

[Shogo]

I thought a big part of the ability of the USSR to rally in the way they did was the whole "This is a war of extermination." thing.

Even this not as evil Nazi Germany should be able to manipulate those people in the Soviet Union who hate Stalin and his government.

[Deckhand]

I am wondering how the apparently much closer relationship between Italy and Germany prewar will affect British and French planning. If Italy is in off the hop, do we see a 2 or 3 carrier Taranto in 1939?

[ObssesedNuker]

Originally Posted by Shogo

I thought a big part of the ability of the USSR to rally in the way they did was the whole "This is a war of extermination." thing.

Simply put: no. The Russian populace in particular gladly devoted themselves too the war effort even though the Germans were still plowing through area's that were pre-dominantly inhabited by Belarussians and Ukrainians. Secondly, the attitude taken towards communists (and partisan attacks) is still likely too be little different then in OTL... with all the relevant crimes that came from that and the resistance it provokes.

[Hkelukka]

Originally Posted by Rubicon

Sorry but no, the German women were employed already in the 30ies before Hitler came into power, there is no great pool of unemployed labour to tap into by 'emancipating' women for Nazi-Germany. Hitler and the Nazis could rant and rave about women's place in 'the New Order' but facts are facts, women in Nazi-Germany were employed to a much greater degree then in any western European country.
Where were they employed? In the agricultural sector, i.e. small family farms.

If you want to write a timeline were Nazi-Germany manages to free up substantial amounts of labour for use in factories, the only way to do so would be by enacting land-reforms where smaller farms are added together to create larger farms, thus displacing the population of the smaller farms. But this goes against the very core of Nazi ideology: Aryan families farming the land.

Yes, they were employed, but the core of the Nazi policy was to remove women from the workplace. This had to do with the two spheres policy Hitler initiated that I quoted earlier. In his view women had no place to work in any meaningful public work.

Now, in TTL, the women are encouraged to work when ever possible. The downside to this is a reduced population growth during the late 30's early 40's. Time spent at work is time spent away from breeding. But in the TTL Nazi view this is a good thing, for now, since when they go to war sometime in 1939-1950 or so, they don't want to worry about the children. Once the war is over and they do have the lebensraum, then they breed, but for now, they work. That is the thinking of the party leadership at this time. Towards that they encourage women to seek employment when possible. This won't mean tens of millions of women working full time. It will amount to maybe half a million to a million more women in light to medium-light labor which frees up men for the military and the work gangs.

It is a small droplet granted. But it is a difference between a noticably anti work, pro family view of OTL Nazi's. And we are talking about 1930's labor numbers, not after the total war footing. It all adds up to about 500.000 more people working for 5 years. So in the grand scheme of things, comparing it to GDP growth rates that it causes we are talking about things in the 0.*% range, so it won't be much, nor is it a important topic, more of a guideline into the mentality of TTL nazi's.

[Hkelukka]

Originally Posted by ObssesedNuker

It was rather more complex then that, but I see your point. The big problem with Germany taking a less ambitious plan (for the Axis) is that the Soviets will be able too rally much more effectively, evacuate more industries, and retain more resources for longer periods of time. Not to mention giving the Red Army time to take stock of the situation more accurately and plan accordingly.

This is actually a big deal even in the relative short term. The greater preservation of the frontier armies as well as the armies deployed further back means the pool of trained Red Army personnel and extra-equipment will be much greater. While there were legions of deficincies in the formations of June 1941, these formations were still much better trained and equipped then the ones in, say, September of the same year. The preservation of that skilled manpower and their equipment will allow the Red Army too reorganize faster and more effectively then OTL.

More like by 1942. The mobilization potential of the USSR was immense, even more so with the preservation of their front forces. Although I am assuming Hitler commits Germany to a total war footing earlier? By maintaining priority of requipping the Eastern Front, he can offset some of the advantages the USSR would be handed through the above...

USSR will have a significant advantage in terms of Axis military coordination lacking the drive they had in OTL and also, being able to put up a much more determined resistance. There will still be mass surrenders but less so than in OTL. But the USSR will have several large hinderances due to better Axis foreign policy, significantly less lend-lease, better axis coordination in Asia and later US war-entry. These will combine to create a 1942-1943 front where both sides are at their absolute best. Battles on the scale of Op Bagration several times over.