Great timeline there
@Saint_007
Thanks. It could use some more work; I'll hopefully post a potential revision soon.
Reasonable to point out that Italy might bring the Nazis to war with the imperials.
So instead Italy stays allied with France in the entente after ww1
At which point,
WW2 itself is almost entirely butterflied away. Germany's
Anchluss of Austria was only possible because the Italians were content to do nothing. Prior to that, Mussolini and Hitler were at the loggerheads over who controls Austria, something they nearly had a fight over had the two not joined forces in the Berlin-Rome Axis. With Germany forced to stand down, its standing would be harmed and it would need a more careful approach to expansion. It would be unlikely Hitler would have gotten as far as he did without Italian support, not unless Italy pulled a massive "head in the sand" political stance.
Italy, France and Poland are the entente. I presume that Nazi Germany can sweep through Italy as they did France. It'll help keep things on schedule regarding Barbarossa.. Perhaps Spain joins the axis after to try to take Italian and French colonies.
Actually, that's not going to be at all easy. While the Italian Army was the laughingstock of WW2, that was mostly due to lack of sufficient training and competent officers due to the massive bloating Mussolini had subjected it to in the interwar period, Italian
terrain is going to be a nightmare for armor. Germany must cross the Alps, defended by some of the most surprisingly competent mountain troops in the world, the Italian
Alpini. While the rich Po river valley isn't too far off from Austria, you have to cross some truly brutal rough terrain to get there, and unlike Northern France, a
blitzkrieg would be counterproductive, if not a complete failure.
Admittedly, there are other ways; Germany managed to wrest control of Albania and Greece from Greek forces rather swiftly and brutally, despite them being some pretty rough mountain terrain that would favor defenders. Once they manage to get through, they can take the Po river valley, then work their way down the Appenine mountains - but it would not be easy, not by a long shot, unless Italy surrenders once they get through the northern mountains.