second world war

What if the Washington naval treaty of 1922 had allowed the British Royal Navy to keep its prior two power standard and build the Nelson class battleships and complete the rest of the admiral class (HMS Hood’s class) rather than have the same amount of capital ships as the American Navy? For...

Olav V was 14th in the line of succession to the British throne on the 21st November 1938. Assume the following changes: Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester killed in France in May 1940. Prince George, Duke of Kent dies in cocaine overdose in late 1920s; hushed up by royal family. Mary, Princess...

"They say the sun never sets on the British Empire. They will soon learn a lesson that Icarus knows all too well." -Tomoyuki Yamashita Buildup Following their successes in China, the IJA decided to temporarily rest and upsize their military rather than continue a rapid expansion. Military...

OTL: In March 1939, Lithuania proved to be the last territorial acquisition for Germany before World War II. Up to this stage, the United Kingdom and France followed a policy of appeasement, while Italy and Japan openly supported Germany. But instead of continuing his policy of expansion, what...

Hey all, So, George VI refused to leave Buckingham during the Blitz, opting instead to stay in London with his subjects. On 13 September 1940, the King and Queen were very nearly killed, when a German bomb exploded in the courtyard at Buckingham Palace while they were still there. What would...

Similar to the scenario of the game Paradise Lost.

So lets just say for our purposes that the MN dispatches the two Dunkerque class battleships and a small task force, say elements of the Force de Raid, a light cruiser, two large destroyers, and three or four smaller destroyers, to help the British intercept the Bismarck when she sorties. The...

As it says on the tin. In OTL work was suspended in june 1940. What if it wasn't but instead work on the Tirpiz was suspended (and thus the Tirpitz was never completed)? I guess the Graf Zeppelin could have been completed in late 1940 or early 1941. But then? What could she have done? It's...

As the title suggests, Germany builds another battleship* instead of building its never commissioned aircraft carrier. What impact does this have on North Sea operations? *perhaps a Scharnhorst sub-class armed with 15" guns, iirc there was a plan to replace their triple 11" turrets with double...

So the IRGC's naval forces operate a large number of speed boats (often colloquially called Boghammars in reference to the Swedish company that built some of them for Iran in the 80s). These are generally quite small, generally weighing in at less than ten tonnes displacement, powered by...

As the title suggests, I'm interested to hear people's ideas as to the CMP Programme's potential fate, in the event that Nazi Germany A) knocked out the Soviet Union and B) secured hegemony over Europe west of the Urals, with the Second World War reigniting in the mid-1950s. @CalBear used lack...

After watching the Forgotten Weapons video about the AN/M2 "Stinger" machine gun a few weeks back, I've come to wonder why the US Military didn't try to adapt the M1919 into a GPMG. Army Ordnance clearly had the idea during WWII with the M1919A6, equipping the M1919A4 with a pistol grip and...

This idea was inspired by David Fletcher's book British Military Transport, 1829-1956, and an interesting point he made regarding the British Army and the DUKW. According to Fletcher, in December 1942 the British Truck Mission in Washington DC gave the Ministry of Supply's requirement for...

How can you get Japan to become communist and China to become fascist before WW2 and keep them in that position during WW2? How much would change in WW2? What would the Second Sino-Japanese War look like, if there is one? How long would Communist Japan last? Discuss. I'm not talking about...

I have read that the demand of unconditional surrender greatly assisted German and Japanese propaganda and helped prevent internal dissension since it helped the Axis powers to paint the Allies as intending to impose the harshest possible peace. Was it wise to make the demand? What might have...

Jeff Pearce, in his book (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1510718656/) about the Second Italo-Ethopian War wrote: This was not true in the Ethiopian war. Fewer than 200 volunteers would be able to make it to Ethiopia in OTL. But… what if there was a timeline in which this was not true...

Assume a scenario in which the Soviets have been defeated (Germany annexing Russia up to the Urals) and America is neutral (no Pearl Harbour and no subsequent flashpoint which brings them into the war), but more than willing to provide Britain with any funding or supplies (Lend-Lease, etc.)...

Most CP victories involve a German victory in Europe and an Entente victory in the colonies, so let's start with that as our set-up. The war is over by 1919, the Septemberprogramm has been enforced in Europe, establishing German dominance on the continent, yet, in Africa and the Middle East...

That's right, it's everyone's favourite sea mammal - but the topic of this thread is not about how Sea Lion would go if launched (it would fail miserably), but rather its aftermath. Namely, after Sea Lion ends in a British victory and the German forces are repulsed/surrounded and captured, then...

Most recent discussion thread (with link to the original) Post-war borders, 1952 by Zek Sora The Falcon Cannot Hear: The Second American Civil War 1937-1944 by Ephraim Ben Raphael "Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the centre...