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I know that there will be many reasons why this can't happen, but among the many improvable battles and campaigns, one incident strikes me as so far undermentioned. This is the action, in which OTL Italian leadership was hell-bent to top all their previously shown incompetence: their regime...

This is an interesting question. We have to think of the German jews at first, as the pressure on the increases right in 1933 and becomes unbearable by late 1938. OTL, due to this long escalation during peacetime, a good deal of them could escape Germany at least at first (notable example...

I think they certainly could, at least for a while. OTL, there is Charles V's successful Tunis operation in 1535 which shows the Spanish ability to wage war south of the Mediterranean. Possible PODs? Butterfly away Henry the Navigator or at least Columbus expedition opening up the Americas...

I refered only to potential US land lease in the case of a prolonged war. Yes, I agree any American involvement would boost French morale. However I doubt German morale would be shattered by this more than by the actual belief in the field. Germans believed the still almost won WW1 despite...

I feel this task gets easier if we clarify that to adopt the system which is e.g. used in (Western) Germany since 1949 is not necessary. In Germany, the election of president and chancellor are effectively not linked to each other. The presidential election occurs (using American terms) by an...

Well, I always had the impression that Britain threw itself under the bus with the AGNA. Allowing the Germans a surface fleet they couldn't even build within decades but be lenient on submarines, the most dangerous weapon Germany could direct against the British Isles. "In February 1932, the...

1. Saarland - the plebiscite was down the line anyways, IIRC. 2. Eupen-Malmedy is actually not worth bothering. Belgium gave the Germans living there minority rights quite early on, so no reason for complaints. 3. Memelland. Again, this is secondary. Hitler pressured Lithuania just because he...

It IS that simple. Manstein's concept was a daring gamble that works on the roll of a 5 or 6. Similar to the Schlieffen plan in 1914, the Wehrmacht went with it not because it was that good - but because all other options led nowhere. I very much refer to Frieser's book "Blitzkrieg-Legende"...

Just throwing it in, do you overlook the South Africa occupied Namibia and operated within Angola?

IIRC, Austrian defences on the Italian border were very thin, only after negoatiaions with Italy ceased reinforcements from Serbia were brought in which saved Trieste in the 1st Isonzo by the nick of time.

It should be. It was under Venice's control all the way down towards Ragusa / Dubrovnik.

The former is important and the latter even more.

Hungary was more powerful than many remember around 1500, considering that even before the Habsburg takeover they were in a union with Bohemia. However, in that region, Prague rather is the intellectual powerhouse. Hungary lacks urban centres back then. In order to pull that off, they'd not only...

My two Lira on the chances and hindrances of this idea.... plus a general comment. While the pinnacle of the Renaissance is the time when historians let the Middle Ages end around 1500, we need to take into account that the start of the Renaissance in Italy is set in the second half of the 14th...

In 1936, Hitler's government was generally seen as a success due to the apparent swift recovery from the Nightmarish depression. While a good deal of the population enjoyed the authoritarian style of government and everyday life , in 1936 it was easy to turn a blind eye towards the crimes of...

Generally, I agree. But I assume there is too little thought about the effects of Austria-Hungary collapsing. Italy will not drop out but see, after all the humiliations, the chance to not only have held out until their arch-enemy broke down ; but to get into Germany before the Western Front...

Just as a short aside... whenever I try to think of mistakes Germany needs to avoid to make that possible, I get the impression that playing the game that successfully, the Germans would win even without US intervention.

Romania and Greece are completely out of the question, as both are independant parts of the Entente. It is as realistic as Woodrow Wilson forcing France and Italy to merge. Albania would theoretically be possible, given its very weak administrative structures at the time. However, Italy saw it...

Franz abdicated when the Electors cosied up to Napoleon to receive higher ranks (Bavaria, Saxony and Württemberg becoming kingdoms).... so no bad feelings there. Even OTL, Prussia couldn‘t compete with Austria directly 1815. It took industrialization, nationalism (Prussia seen as „more German“...

I doubt that this would mean war automatically - the principle of election has been more than a formality in the HRE; the electors always used it to get some....errrrrr.....economic aid from Vienna (or elsewhere). Also, the election of Karl VII. in 1742 didn't cause war, but was possible due to...