Ha, ha.
If the Nazis, by some incredible fluke, survived WWII, they'd collapse economically and become a hellhole state that wouldn't have the resources to even begin to think about a moon program.
Could they cobble together a grapefruit-sized satellite and launch it on a V2 derived vehicle? Sure, if they wanted to spend the money. Them getting SOMETHING into orbit by.... 1950 say, is believable. Getting a man into space would be much much harder, and probably not affordable. The moon? Nope. No way.
If the Nazis, by some incredible fluke, survived WWII, they'd collapse economically and become a hellhole state that wouldn't have the resources to even begin to think about a moon program.
Could they cobble together a grapefruit-sized satellite and launch it on a V2 derived vehicle? Sure, if they wanted to spend the money. Them getting SOMETHING into orbit by.... 1950 say, is believable. Getting a man into space would be much much harder, and probably not affordable. The moon? Nope. No way.
NapoleonCorinII
Banned
I like some of the images, may do a bit of editing and use it for nation games.
Max Sinister
Banned
Good work with the pictures. Just one nitpick: "Bei", not "Bie".
And "Fatherland" had the core of some ideas. Settling in the East, fighting and working for the new Europe and such.
And "Fatherland" had the core of some ideas. Settling in the East, fighting and working for the new Europe and such.
I just posted this in another thread about Japan, but I imagine that if the Japanese Army had won the skirmish of Khalkhin Gol against the Soviets in 1939 (or a number of other skirmishes taking place in the 1930s), I can imagine the Japanese Army's "Strike North" doctrine becoming more influential over the Navy's "Southern Path" doctrine.
In that case I can imagine Japan striking northwards towards resource-rich Siberia in 1941, invading the Soviet Union as part of Operation Barbarossa, and leaving Pearl Harbour alone.
This has two effects: The Soviets would be in a much more difficult situation, facing dual fronts in the East and the West. And the Americans would have a more neutralist stance, delaying their entry into the war for at least a year.
Under such a scenario I can imagine a prolongued war and the Axis reaching a negotiated peace with the Allies some point after 1946-1948, with Nazi Germany probably getting to keep most of Europe under its thumb. (With the exception of Britain and Neutral Spain and Portugal, perhaps France or Southern Italy if the Allies manage to push into there)
Under such a scenario (similar to the Fatherland novel) I can imagine a Cold War developing between a Western Hemisphere led by the United States and the Axis led by Germany, a space race could be considered a logical development from that, with the Nazis probably getting the first satellite and first man on space much like the Soviets did in OTL, but the Americans still getting to the Moon first.
The German economy, even controlling much of Europe, would be in dire straits during this hypothetical Cold War: autarky, state-controlled economic planning, nationalizations, wage controls and command economy were integral to the Nazi ideology since the moment Hitler dismissed Hjalmar Schacht and gave control of the economy to the likes of Göring and Walther Funk.
Short of major reforms or an earlier collapse, Nazi Germany by the 1970s will be looking much like the Soviet Union did, a stagnating command economy with massive breadlines, cash-strapped, and quickly losing ground to the more dynamic United States.
Assuming that Germany has most of Europe under control up to the Urals in the east, ignoring whether or not the USA ever went to war with Japan - if Japan goes north and no PH very likely - there are a lot of resources available even with the inefficiencies of the Nazi economy and implementing Generalplan Ost. Since a peacetime Nazi economy would not be as centralized as the USSR, it will be more flexible and resilient - not that it won't have major problems just it will be less brittle than the USSR. Also in this scenario, postwar Germany will be starting from a better place than the postwar USSR. The USSR before the war was still pretty backwards, and suffered a lot of damage and population loss and yet was still able to pull off some rather decent space events before it all fell apart. I expect that Nazi Germany will be able to do better from this because of starting from a more advanced state and having a less fragile economy.
It is not unreasonable to see the Nazis ahead of the US/UK in space at least to begin with, and the Nazis first to land on the moon and even first to set up some sort of permanent base there. I think the "space race" would start sooner, and the US/UK setting up a base on the moon as soon as possible after the Germans do. I do agree eventually for internal deficiencies in the Nazi economy they would fall behind, but I think we'd see more human presence in space (space stations/LaGrange stations), presence on the moon or even a Mars landing before 2000.
It is not unreasonable to see the Nazis ahead of the US/UK in space at least to begin with, and the Nazis first to land on the moon and even first to set up some sort of permanent base there. I think the "space race" would start sooner, and the US/UK setting up a base on the moon as soon as possible after the Germans do. I do agree eventually for internal deficiencies in the Nazi economy they would fall behind, but I think we'd see more human presence in space (space stations/LaGrange stations), presence on the moon or even a Mars landing before 2000.
