DDR including Germany east of the Weser river

[Hvalrossen]

How could East Germany controll all of Germany east of the Weser following WW2?

Would this ATL East Germany be more economically feasible than OTL East Germany?

Would ATL West Germany be more miltarised than in OTL due to this POD?

How would german demographics be affected by this POD?

1. Would Western Germany be more densely densely populated due to east to west migration than in OTL?
2. Would East Germany be more agrarian?
3. Would West Germans be more prosporous due to being more urban(assuming Western Germany would be more urban).
4. Would there be more emigration from Germany to other countries?

 

[NukeZeit]

Warsaw Pact control of the Kiel Canal and access to the North Sea probably terrifies NATO. Harder to speak to the other issues but my guess is that E. Germany becomes much more economically viable with the additional territory more than compensating for what was lost to Poland.

 

[BigBlueBox]

Warsaw Pact control of the Kiel Canal and access to the North Sea probably terrifies NATO. Harder to speak to the other issues but my guess is that E. Germany becomes much more economically viable with the additional territory more than compensating for what was lost to Poland.

I agree. North Sea access and control of the Kiel Canal is even better than controlling the Bosphorus.

 

[Alanith]

Warsaw Pact control of the Kiel Canal and access to the North Sea probably terrifies NATO. Harder to speak to the other issues but my guess is that E. Germany becomes much more economically viable with the additional territory more than compensating for what was lost to Poland.

So the Soviet's would be entirely against it? I'm sure the destruction of vast parts of the German populace and industrial infrastructure even in any "Conventional" WW3 scenario was a feature, not a bug.

 

[ObssesedNuker]

D-Day fails or Barbarossa goes even more tits up is the standard solution to any “how do the Soviets gain more territory in WW2” question and they apply just as well here.

 

[Hvalrossen]

I agree. North Sea access and control of the Kiel Canal is even better than controlling the Bosphorus.

Would not Soviet ships in the North Sea still be boxed in by Nato forces, allthough they would have more space to traverse. Would the geostrategic reality really be that altered from OTL?

 

[Arcavia]

Would not Soviet ships in the North Sea still be boxed in by Nato forces, allthough they would have more space to traverse. Would the geostrategic reality really be that altered from OTL?

Yes, but the space the WAllies have to cover means that a breakout is more likely. Furthermore, ITTL the Soviets have much stronger incentive to build up the Red Fleet, in turn increasing their peacetime power projection capacity.

There's also the (for NATO) nightmare scenario of a Soviet amphibious landing on Great Britain...

 

[Ato]

I think the scenario that will be most prominent in NATO planner's mind will be the Soviets first pulling a repeat of Weserubung and rolling over all of Scandinavia in one go.

Going straight to Britain, whilst it would neutralise the largest US airbases in Europe, would require running a viscous gauntlet if submarines and land based air.

 

[Hvalrossen]

Yes, but the space the WAllies have to cover means that a breakout is more likely. Furthermore, ITTL the Soviets have much stronger incentive to build up the Red Fleet, in turn increasing their peacetime power projection capacity.

There's also the (for NATO) nightmare scenario of a Soviet amphibious landing on Great Britain...

The Soviet amphibious landing forces would likely be very exposed during their crossing from mainland Europe to Britain. Such a landing may be more safe if mainland Europe has been secured beforehand.

 

[Jürgen]

A major problem is that no sane people in the west would allow that split. In OTL Bremen was a American occupied exclave in British occupied territory, and it was so because the Weser river was the major transportation route into the American occupation zone.

But let's say it still happen, well for once we have a much bigger DDR with access to the North Sea, which will mean major Soviet naval bases in the North Sea. Denmark likely end up in Soviet sphere, which likely mean a Elbe border and ethnic cleansing of the Germans. While if it doesn't I still see a Eider border or maybe even a Elbe border with no ethnic cleansing (to keep the Soviet as far away as possible). The Nordic Countries are far more isolated from Western Europe, USSR may force through that the Nordic countries have to stay neutrals, which mean a Nordic Union.

 

[Hvalrossen]

I think the scenario that will be most prominent in NATO planner's mind will be the Soviets first pulling a repeat of Weserubung and rolling over all of Scandinavia in one go.

Including Sweden and Finland? From the ATL Germany it would be easier to conquer Denmark, but Norway is more isolated and mountainous, could Norway be taken quickly by the Soviet bloc in such a scenario?

 

[Ato]

Including Sweden and Finland? From the ATL Germany it would be easier to conquer Denmark, but Norway is more isolated and mountainous, could Norway be taken quickly by the Soviet bloc in such a scenario?

Probbably not, but preventing it would figure highly in NATO planning objectives.

 

[Hvalrossen]

Probbably not, but preventing it would figure highly in NATO planning objectives.

Scandinavian countries may also likely be more militarised than in OTL. Characterised by higher military spending, conscription period be longer and a larger standing military.