FieldMarshal
Banned
At the end of the Cold War and the cusp of the 1990s, Germany was reunifying and Japan was an economic powerhouse. This alarmed many analysts and politicians of the time; in the former case, many Europeans (particularly Brits and Poles) and the Soviets feared the prospects of a reunified Germany. Some merely feared that Germany would economically dominate Europe; others feared a resurgence of fascism and a desire for expansionism. Then - British PM Thatcher actually privately agitated against German reunification, stating once "we fought the Germans twice, and now they're back!"
Same for Japan in the East - some feared that Japan would arise as the world's dominant economic power, wielding great influence over the economies of the world, while yet others feared Japan might decide to flex a few more muscles. These fears pervaded the literature of the early 1990s, from academic texts such as George Friedman's The Coming War with Japan to technothrillers like Harold Coyle's The Ten Thousand, Larry Bond's Cauldron, Ralph Peter's The War in 2020, and Tom Clancy's Debt of Honor.
Of course, things didn't quite work out that way. Germany did not swing to the right - if anything, it's far too liberal, but I digress - and while it does hold a goodly deal of economic power, it lacks many of the other attributes of a superpower. Japan, meanwhile, suffered severe economic setbacks in the 1990s, and while they are certainly no slouch today, they are nowhere near the all-powerful superpower the world feared they could become.
So, your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is with a POD of December 31st, 1989, turn both Germany and Japan into major military and economic superpowers by 2017. Bonus points if one or both nations develops an autocratic right-wing government. Grand prize awarded if the two form an alliance.
How would the world develop in response to the resurgent Axis Powers?
Tl, dr: make the unlikely premise (pushed by alarmist columnists and paperback authors bummed that the fall of communism robbed them of feasible villains) that Japan and Germany would revert back to their WW2 antics in the post-Cold War era a reality.
Same for Japan in the East - some feared that Japan would arise as the world's dominant economic power, wielding great influence over the economies of the world, while yet others feared Japan might decide to flex a few more muscles. These fears pervaded the literature of the early 1990s, from academic texts such as George Friedman's The Coming War with Japan to technothrillers like Harold Coyle's The Ten Thousand, Larry Bond's Cauldron, Ralph Peter's The War in 2020, and Tom Clancy's Debt of Honor.
Of course, things didn't quite work out that way. Germany did not swing to the right - if anything, it's far too liberal, but I digress - and while it does hold a goodly deal of economic power, it lacks many of the other attributes of a superpower. Japan, meanwhile, suffered severe economic setbacks in the 1990s, and while they are certainly no slouch today, they are nowhere near the all-powerful superpower the world feared they could become.
So, your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is with a POD of December 31st, 1989, turn both Germany and Japan into major military and economic superpowers by 2017. Bonus points if one or both nations develops an autocratic right-wing government. Grand prize awarded if the two form an alliance.
How would the world develop in response to the resurgent Axis Powers?
Tl, dr: make the unlikely premise (pushed by alarmist columnists and paperback authors bummed that the fall of communism robbed them of feasible villains) that Japan and Germany would revert back to their WW2 antics in the post-Cold War era a reality.