DBWI: Chamberlain Said Yes

Just an idle though really, what if at that conference in Munich Neville Chamberlain had been a bit softer on Hitler and had allowed him the Sudetenland (IIRC, Chamberlain was concerned that adding another commitment would overstretch theBritish Army)? Would he have survived politically if he'd won that concession do you think? And how would the World be different today?
 
No way. Surely the Czechs and Benes would have fought him regardless, just as they did. The utter stomping Hitler received during the German War is testament enough that the Czechs weren't going down without a fight.
 
No way. Surely the Czechs and Benes would have fought him regardless, just as they did. The utter stomping Hitler received during the German War is testament enough that the Czechs weren't going down without a fight.

Yeah, even if it was alone, the Czechs would have defended their territory. However without British or French assistance and Germans able to concentrate all their might they likely would have fallen ITTL after a few months of heavy fighting. Depending on how long this takes, Poland was certainly Hitler's next target, and he probably would have made the same demands for return of territory as he did with the Czechs. The Germans would be much stronger by then compared to 1938 and the allies probably would want to contain before it was too late.

Presuming Hitler goes to war anyway (the German economy basically couldn't go on without some sort of conquest) it'll probably take far longer to finally defeat Germany due to the resources they acquired from the Czechs. Poland will likely wither against the strengthened Germans allowing them to withstand French and British offensives with much of their might. You might see Lord Gort in the Reichstag in 1941 instead of 1939. Although an even worse prospect could be the USSR also joining in on the offensive against Germany, it may shorten the war but in the long term you could have the potential of the Iron Curtain today being at Berlin rather than the Baltics...
 
I still just don't see it. Given Gort's tactical prowess and the fact that he's generally regarded as one of the greatest military masterminds of the 20th century, surely this alone would've culminated in Germany's defeat in Europe in 1939 regardless of a possible appeasement from the great Chamberlain in the Munich Agreement. That's not even mentioning Gamelin either, whose siege of Stuttgart was absolutely pivotal.
 
Last edited:
I still just don't see it. Given Gort's tactical prowess and the fact that he's generally regarded as one of the greatest military masterminds of the 20th century, surely this alone would've culminated in Germany's defeat in Europe in 1939 regardless of a possible appeasement from the great Chamberlain in the Munich Agreement.

I know I'm looking at things pessimistically here, but it's hard to grasp how much of a disaster this would have been. Gort was excellent but the BEF couldn't fight alone in 1939, it would have required the French to have the same amount of confidence in facing 50 German divisions rather than just the 15 divisions of unfit WW1 veterans they faced in OTL 1938. Gamelin just wasn't as much of a risk taker as that would require. 1941 is maybe a bit too bleak, but I see a real chance of the nightmare continuing until 1940. :(
 
Very true. Perhaps the Italians could've even entered, which isn't too far-fetched given the political alliance between Mussolini and Hitler, and then things probably would have shaped up pretty badly, all things considered.
 
I don't like to think about it, Poland would surely be in a much worse position and likely Germany's next target. I think we can agree that the German War was an inevitability.
 
Very true. Perhaps the Italians could've even entered, which isn't too far-fetched given the political alliance between Mussolini and Hitler, and then things probably would have shaped up pretty badly, all things considered.

I don't know about that, Mussolini actually considered intervening in the dying days of the German War on the Anglo-French side but he got scared off by the Italian lack of preparation and the idea of being bogged down in the mountains much like the Italian experience of WW1, you'd probably need to have German on the brink of victory to get the Italians in, which would most likely require Inter-dimensional Time Butterfly's to intervene.
 
OOC: I'm really enjoying this. The bit I wrote about Gamelin and Gort being "military masterminds" literally made me laugh out loud.
 
I don't know about that, Mussolini actually considered intervening in the dying days of the German War on the Anglo-French side but he got scared off by the Italian lack of preparation and the idea of being bogged down in the mountains much like the Italian experience of WW1, you'd probably need to have German on the brink of victory to get the Italians in, which would most likely require Inter-dimensional Time Butterfly's to intervene.

He got scarred off by the possibility of a Balbo led military coup, you mean. Unless the war lasts until 1941 (giving the RA time to prepare), or the Anglo-French alliance adds in massive weapon subsidies, the Italians will stay out of it rather than throw troops away in mountain passes. Unless... what if the Austrian revolt actually happens in the new time line, with Italian support?
 
He got scarred off by the possibility of a Balbo led military coup, you mean.

After the Republican coup in the 50's, didn't Gasperi's police uncover some documents that clearly stated Mussolini planned to assassinate Balbo using anti-aircraft guns while he was being transported via aircraft or something to that extent? Probably fake, but worth noting.
 
After the Republican coup in the 50's, didn't Gasperi's police uncover some documents that clearly stated Mussolini planned to assassinate Balbo using anti-aircraft guns while he was being transported via aircraft or something to that extent? Probably fake, but worth noting.

I read about that, but thought it was a bit much. I mean, why not use a battleship to bombard his house? Having a entire gun battery 'in' on the assassination isn't the sort of thing you can keep quiet, and if word got out that you tried (much less succeeded) probably would have caused a revolt.
 
True. I was always interested in history class about Balbo's coup in the mid-40's. Mussolini's arrest at the hands of the Italians is eerily similar to Hitler's, after all.
 
True. I was always interested in history class about Balbo's coup in the mid-40's. Mussolini's arrest at the hands of the Italians is eerily similar to Hitler's, after all.

I'm not sure you could call what happened to Hitler an arrest. Didn't a rogue SS unit storm his estate? I seem to recall that they found his head over a mile and a half from the rest of him. And they're still looking for the right leg. At least Mussolini stayed in one piece.
 
OOC: LOL

Egh, yeah, in the classical sense I suppose it wasn't much of an arrest. The Hurricane that ended up dropping a 500 pounder on his estate evidently found his mark, I suppose.

OOC: What I'm alluding to here is that an RAF Hurricane bombed Hitler's estate in conjunction with your "rogue SS unit."
 
Just an idle though really, what if at that conference in Munich Neville Chamberlain had been a bit softer on Hitler and had allowed him the Sudetenland (IIRC, Chamberlain was concerned that adding another commitment would overstretch theBritish Army)? Would he have survived politically if he'd won that concession do you think? And how would the World be different today?

But he did.

He offered Hitler all of Czechia that was 50% German.
He made various commitments to ensure that Sudenten German rights were honored.

Hitler demanded ALL of Sudentenland. Neville didn't say no; he said "Ok, I'll meet you halfway".

This sort of revisionism neglects the true historical record, where Chamberlain flew out to Munich to meet Hitler in person to avert war--an unprecedented move which underscores how determined he was to find a reasonable answer. But Hitler wasn't a reasonable man.
 
OOC: This thread is both hilariously impractical yet practical at the same time. Ugh, appeasement. Such a sad mark on the face of humanity.
 
Top