Breakup of the Third Reich

i really dont see them stopping the mass killing under hitler, he was on drugs, sure, but still good enough to live another 10, 20 years.

the extermination camps went to full capacity in mid 42, to the end of the war claimed 11? 12? million victims. scale that up for one or two decades, not even expanding it, there's not much left in the east.

would the army take over while he lives? he would be at the height of the power.

I have heard estimates that he would have did 1952-1960. Let's just pray it is closer to 1952. No the are army would probably only take over after a large rebellion (or just a really failing leading) or during a succession.

Maybe Rommel or Model will seize power? Those two especially the former are actually good people. Model was kind of corrupted though.
 
I have heard estimates that he would have did 1952-1960. Let's just pray it is closer to 1952. No the are army would probably only take over after a large rebellion (or just a really failing leading) or during a succession.

Maybe Rommel or Model will seize power? Those two especially the former are actually good people. Model was kind of corrupted though.

Rommel would be too disgusted with the actions of the SS to ever contemplate leading. In all likelihood, after Hitler orders the Wehrmacht merged into the Waffen SS, Rommel opts to retire.

Model is more likely, but we forget that the top people approved of the holocaust in Germany; Himmler/Heydrich directly executed it; all sorts of Nazi Governors (Hans Frank, Erich Koch, etc) were actively supporting it. Hitler dying doesn't mean it ends; it means there is potentially a political fight in which its challenged. If someone like Himmler, Frank or the like takes power, it likely won't end.

This goes right into the claim I'd made before: Germany will keep the former Poland because the former Poles will be few in number. If their deliberate murder goes into the 1950s, I would add the Crimea and Western Ukraine to their holdings
 
Another problem is that the Nazis would just go broke by the 1970s at best (not insolvent like 1991!USSR, outright broke) due to the fact that they cannot sustain a first world economy on pillage alone. The Autarkic model that the Nazi economy strived for would inevitably cannibalise itself in an attempt to keep itself sustained.
 
Not to mention the culture of internal infighting that Hitler actively encouraged out of a misguided belief that, "survival of the fittest" mean encouraging internal conflict would lead to the best policies emerging. In practice it meant taking out a competent subordinate and stifling the efforts of competing agencies was more in one's benefit than doing a job well. For example the Nazi secret police apparatus was spread across four different agencies with somewhat unclear delineation of responsibility between them. The paper wars are only going to get worse after Adolf dies or becomes too senile to remain in control.
 
I had this thought of them asking assistance from the Red Cross for some emergency, but they send the Red Magen David.
 
Not to mention the culture of internal infighting that Hitler actively encouraged out of a misguided belief that, "survival of the fittest" mean encouraging internal conflict would lead to the best policies emerging. In practice it meant taking out a competent subordinate and stifling the efforts of competing agencies was more in one's benefit than doing a job well. For example the Nazi secret police apparatus was spread across four different agencies with somewhat unclear delineation of responsibility between them. The paper wars are only going to get worse after Adolf dies or becomes too senile to remain in control.
A lot was cased by Hitler's paranoia. Once he's gone I see a more sane distrobution of control.
 
A lot was cased by Hitler's paranoia. Once he's gone I see a more sane distrobution of control.

not really, since the various power blocs will all be scraping whatever power they can get in a post hitler germany.
 
A lot was cased by Hitler's paranoia. Once he's gone I see a more sane distrobution of control.

not really, since the various power blocs will all be scraping whatever power they can get in a post hitler germany.

Hitler can, if he's able, decide his successor. In OTL that was generally Goering. By 1950, Goering's Luftwaffe has failed to defeat Great Britain and has a mixed record. In comparison, the Army has been merged into the Waffen SS, which means that the SS is now both the men who won the war and the men who won the "peace" as it were.

So, the leader to replace Hitler is probably Himmler; Heydrich may very well get Himmler's former office as head of a bloated SS. Born in 1900, Himmler would be a decade younger than Hitler. The man who launched the Holocaust, the efforts to Germanize Poland and the former Soviet Union, etc, isn't going to stop just because he's in charge.

There will be major resistance to Himmler/Heydrich winding up in power. But with the Army and the SS in their corner and the radical ideologues on their page, I think they win. Goering gets a ceremonial Presidency. Military leaders, like Model, can perhaps aspire for some sort of defense secretary post. Moderates and those not buying into Nazist behavior, like Rommel, probably retire and possibly emigrate.

I could see Siegfried Rommel choosing the USA over Nazi Germany.

There's perhaps no long term way to ensure the high life for the Germany people, but in the medium term, squeezing the Vassals, further small conquests (Sweden, Switzerland, possibly Turkey) will continue the empire, and the prospect of free labor until the slavs run out might do so longer.

We won't be so lucky as to have a Wehrmacht/SS Civil war, or a very moderate figure replace Hitler. The man who does is very likely to have earned his stripes doing and running many of the things that make the Nazis evil. They will not turn away.

Does it end in the 1970s? The 1990s? the alterative future? I think they can last a good long time with all the people they have to exploit and resources at their disposal.
 
If that Third Reich breaks up we see the Ukraine, something in the Baltics, some new states in the Caucasus, maybe a unified South Russian/Don-Volga state, and lots and lots of warlords.
 
While we discuss the Third Reich's survival into the 90's, what of Hungary and Rumania? The two would almost certainly go to war over Transylvania, with Hungary attacking to reclaim the whole pie, or Rumania attacking to get the little piece that is Hungary's. A better question is, who would Germany back? I'd have to guess Hungary in most scenarios, especially if there are other oil sources that Germany can exploit, like the Middle East or Baku, thus reducing the reliance on Ploiesti.
 
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