DBWI: Germany Defeats France in 1940

How silly can they get? France was a modern country and it is ludicrous to assume they would compromise security to such an extent to have their armed forces using civilian lines.

I can see it in an emergency, if the military hasn't had time to rig its own secure wire network. It's not as silly as it seems to us in the 21st century, but most calls were switched through human operators at exchanges and in trunk lines. William Shirer, in his Paris Diary, notes the problems CBS had in arranging telephone calls for William Murrow in London and the correspondents in Berne and Rome. The French network was overtaxed, and neutral broadcasters could wait for the official communique from HQG: "Nous avons gagné."

This was not only a French problem, but plagued all the warring powers during the War. They haven't yet released the archives from Paris but some of the British confidential dispatches were released in 2009. How much do you send over the air, with the possibility that your messages have been heard and deciphered by the enemy? On the other hand, if you're moving fast, you don't have time to lay wires. In the initial phases of the German attack, civilian phone lines could be commandeered by the Republic, and, IIRC, were in the Ardennes.
 
OOC: I, too, am up for working on a TL like that... though given we've established that it involves defeating a Nazi-Soviet alliance, I think that the war will last longer than 1944. Maybe the Germans switch sides at that point after a military coup ousts the Nazis?
 
OOC: I, too, am up for working on a TL like that... though given we've established that it involves defeating a Nazi-Soviet alliance, I think that the war will last longer than 1944. Maybe the Germans switch sides at that point after a military coup ousts the Nazis?

The German phase of the Franco-German War lasted until 1944; the proxy wars against the Soviets lasted until 1948. Some say 1949.
 
OOC Post: Okay, I've prepared a summary of TL changes that people have proposed in this thread to help if we do make this into a shared timeline project.


  • French tank divisions reacted quickly to German breakthroughs.
  • Daladier was in charge of France from 1933 onwards. He took France off the gold standard and boosted their economy.
  • The Ardennes were properly defended due to better Allied intelligence information about German movements.
  • Britain and France carried out Operation Pike to try and cut off the flow of oil to Germany in December 1939, bringing the USSR into the war.
  • Fall Gelb started in April 1940 instead of an invasion of Norway.
  • The Meuse defensive line was forced to retreat. French reserves stopped German advances at the Oise in a difficult and close battle. German logistics were run ragged by this point.
  • Rommel and Hoth were killed by random chance.
  • Counterattacks by the French in the Meuse region.
  • Fort Eben-Emael did not fall for six days, though the German glider assault attempt is famous. Belgium did not surrender.
  • The Dewoitine D.520 was produced in sufficient numbers to make a difference in the French air defence. More British aircraft were sent to France as part of the BEF due to the more stable situation. This prevented German air superiority and made the whole airspace contested. The Arsenal VG-33 interceptor also had time to be introduced.
  • French and British tactical doctrines were more influenced by de Gaulle, Liddell, and Hart.
  • The French tried to issue radios to their tanks, but couldn't build quite enough to equip all of them.
  • Singapore did not fall to the Japanese later, as they were not fooled by the Japanese and knew that the defenders outnumbered the besiegers. However, Japanese troops stayed in Malaya for many years, not being dislodged for a long time.
  • The French attitude to the war was as stubborn as WWI's.
  • Britain and France enacted Plan R4 sometime in late 1940 to support Finland against the USSR, which left Norway very irritated with them. Finland was in the Allied camp. Germany did not recieve supplies of iron ore from Sweden.
  • The Italians did not join the Axis, but stayed neutral until Mussolini was overthrown internally later and joined the Allies. Hitler made threats against Italy which led to this, but they didn't have the resources to break through the Italian Alpine Line.
  • American and Dutch forces did not withdraw but fought on in the Philippines and Dutch East Indies. They lost in the end, but held on longer rather than retreating (higher casualties than OTL, but with overall benefit to the war).
  • A Midway equivalent occurred in the Indian Ocean, losing three Allied carriers (Ark Royal, Glorious, Bearn) and putting Furious in drydock, for two Japanese (Akagi, Kaga).
  • Royal Oak was never sunk in Scapa Flow. Hood was not destroyed by one lucky hit by Bismarck.
  • Force Z: Prince of Wales and Repulse were severely damaged but not sunk by Japanese air attack. Unlike in OTL, where the carriers were left behind, they had the air cover of fighters from Indomitable and Hermes.
  • The Holocaust did not occur on the same scale.
  • The Nationalists won the civil war in China.
  • The Third Republic continued well after the war. A British codified constitution was drawn up in 1946 and the first elections in the new proportional representation system were in 1948, with the Russian Front stable enough to allow it.
  • FDR lived until 1949 and Adlai Stevenson became President, succeeding Roosevelt in his fifth term.
  • The war with the Soviets ended with the Allies having sufficient a-bombs by 1949 before the Soviets could produce one. The mere threat of deploying them meant they were never used in anger and ended the war in 1949. Warfare to liberate Eastern Europe continued through 1948.
Undecided elements I notice: When did the USA join the war in this TL? Did Japanese plans change thanks to the Nazi-Soviet alliance and the non-fall of France?
 
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