Determined to Destroy Us - An Axis Victory Cold War TL

[SirPaperweight]

DETERMINED TO DESTROY US
An Axis Victory Cold War Timeline by SirPaperweight

"When our party had only seven men,
it already had two principles.
First, it wanted to be a party with a true ideology.
And second, it wanted to be the one and only power in Germany."
Adolf Hitler​

Certainly, much could have been done to avert the great catastrophe of the twentieth century. The French could have stopped the militarization of the Rhineland; the Soviets could have attacked Germany while it was busy with Britain; the Americans could have stepped out of their shell of isolation. Regardless, the Third Reich sidestepped all opposition, crippling the French nation, dismantling the British Empire and conquering the Soviet Union. All of continental Europe was under the banner of the Axis by 1945. What followed was the greatest disaster in the history of humankind. The Nazis implemented their master plan for the domination of Europe, working with ruthless zeal to annihilate Slavs, Jews, homosexuals, Romani, disabled people, communists and anyone else who stood in the way of the Nazi ideals for a perfect society. By the time the Third Reich collapsed, Eastern Europe was thoroughly Germanized. The nation-state of Russia was permanently confined to the region east of the Ural Mountains.

All the while, the world teetered on the brink of nuclear war, as the Third Reich and the United States engaged in a frantic arms race, each trying to get the upper hand over the other. While the Cold War spurred on scientific development, it also saw immense suffering. Bloody proxy wars raged across the world, with guerrilla tactics employed on a regular basis. War crimes were frighteningly common. Behind the Atlantic Wall, Nazi authorities ruled with an almost inhuman brutality, but they eventually learned a harsh truth: even the bloodiest methods cannot stop an angered populace. In the trials it faced, the Reich found itself wanting; the United States emerged as the world's sole superpower, but it inherited an Earth scarred by genocide and war.

This is the story of that Cold War, from the establishment of a new European order in the Treaty of Theoderichshafen to the end of the Nazi regime.

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Hi there. Long time lurker who decided to try my hand at a timeline. It's a bit of a cliche topic, but it’s an interesting cliche; Nazi Germany is highly unlike any other state in history perhaps except the Soviet Union. My goal with this TL is to create a somewhat plausible US-Nazi Cold War, with Nazi Germany still run by Hitler and his crazy ideals. It'll start just after the end of the German-Soviet War (I'm going to be sparse on details about the wars, as this is a Cold War TL). I'll have to jump around in time as I cover different parts of the world. Sorry about that, but I couldn't get everything to flow right without breaking chronological order. I hope y'all enjoy reading this as much as I'm enjoying the process of making it.

 

[SirPaperweight]

PART I
A NEW WORLD​

Chapter I: A New Order

October 1945 saw the world change forever, twice. First, the Third Reich used atom bombs in war for the first time, annihilating Moscow and Leningrad in nuclear fire. Second, the Soviet Union surrendered just days later, asking for a ceasefire so the two powers could discuss terms. The German-Soviet War was over. A Soviet delegation led by Stalin himself arrived at Theoderichshafen (formerly Sevastopol) for peace talks on October 20. The terms were more than humiliating; they amounted to the near-annihilation of Russia as a nation. Germany was to annex all land up to the Ural Mountains apart from Karelia and the Kola Peninsula, which went to Finland. Japan was to receive a portion of the Russian Far East, effectively stealing most Russian warm-water ports in the Pacific. SS troops were to be stationed in the USSR's major cities, watching over industrial sites to ensure that only 1% of Soviet GDP could be devoted to military uses. In addition, the Soviets would be forced to give up their gold deposits and transfer $35 billion worth of industry back into Eastern Europe. The few foreign weapons the Soviets received during the war were to be sold to Germany at low rates.

Back in Berlin, there were a number of questions as to how to divide up the newly-gained conquests in Eastern Europe. All sorts of suggestions were discussed during the war, but the proposal that was ultimately carried out was thus: German Eastern Europe was to be divided into four Reichskommissariaten: Reichskommissariat Ostland, comprising the Baltic countries and parts of Belarus and western Russia; Reichskommissariat Ukraine, comprising Ukraine and land to its east; Reichskommissariat Kaukasus, comprising land on both sides of the Caucasus; and Reichskommissariat Moskowien, comprising the rest of European Russia. Each of the Reichskommissariaten would have a separate administration, but all four would fall under the ultimate supervision of the Reich Ministry of the East, led by Alfred Rosenberg.
​

Europe at the dawn of the Cold War​

​

Alfred Rosenberg oversaw the implementation of the first of the horrors that afflicted conquered Eastern Europe​

​

Joseph Stalin's health deteriorated rapidly after the German-Soviet War​

In the years following the signing of the treaty, the Germans deported seven million Russians east of the Urals. The mass deportations were merely the start of Germany's new plan for Eastern Europe, but for the Soviets, they were a valuable addition to a population that needed rebuilding. They largely settled in the major cities of Siberia such as Omsk, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg or the new Soviet capital of Krasnoyarsk. They formed the basis for a new, ambitious reconstruction plan that involved the rapid industrialization of Siberian cities over a period of ten years. Stalin, even after this great defeat, was forever ambitious.

However, the Man of Steel himself would not live to see the plan's implementation. The stresses of war (and perhaps more importantly the stresses of failure) weakened his body, and he found himself moving in and out of the hospital on a regular basis. His deteriorating health finally failed him on August 13, 1949, and he suffered a stroke that proved fatal. Nobody was terribly sad to see him go. His declining health in the years before his death opened up a vicious battle for succession. Court politics was, for better or worse, part of the Soviet political scene, and people in the highest levels of government clamored to curry favor with Stalin and undermine their enemies. The dictator's impending death only intensified this process.

The man who came out on top was Mikhail Suslov, a young ambitious propagandist who advanced up the ranks due to his making friends in high places. He was a hardliner who had Stalin's complete trust, and thus could easily position himself to succeed the ailing dictator. With absolute power achieved, Suslov pledged to continue down Stalin's path; the reconstruction plan would go ahead without revision, terror as a political tool would continue, and Soviet industry would remain dedicated to heavy industry as opposed to consumer goods. If international observers hoped for a change of course in the Soviet leadership, they were deeply disappointed.
​

Mikhail Suslov, the new ruler of the Soviet Union​

 

[jolou]

Very interesting , i will follow this !
(Will a certain french General made an apparition ? )

 

[Ratmancampidori]

Watching this, can't wait for updates
I wonder where these proxy wars will take place?

 

[Erin Go Bragh]

I am sure that the terms of any such agreement would have prohibited the Soviets from devoting a lot of remaining industry to their remaining military.

 

[SirPaperweight]

I am sure that the terms of any such agreement would have prohibited the Soviets from devoting a lot of remaining industry to their remaining military.

Good point, I actually haven't thought about that. Although, how would the Germans enforce such an agreement? They just got through with years of devastating war (to be fair, so did the Soviets), and it's not like they can easily march across the Urals to enforce their will.

 

[Ratmancampidori]

Good point, I actually haven't thought about that. Although, how would the Germans enforce such an agreement? They just got through with years of devastating war, and it's not like they can easily march across the Urals to enforce their will.

Include an SS occupation force, maybe only a division of well armed troops. If the Soviet's break the agreement then the troops will punish the Soviets.
An idea for the reparations could include forcing the Soviets to pay for those reparations by transferring industry in to Germany, giving up their gold deposits and selling the German all the land lease equipment they received.

 

[MERRICA]

Just something, I don't think that there would be any Liberal young generation in Nazi Germany. Most likely the post war generations would either fall into the "Full-on Waffen-SS Himmler wankfest" generation and " Slightly less Full-on Waffen-SS Himmler wankfest."

 

[SirPaperweight]

Include an SS occupation force, maybe only a division of well armed troops. If the Soviet's break the agreement then the troops will punish the Soviets.
An idea for the reparations could include forcing the Soviets to pay for those reparations by transferring industry in to Germany, giving up their gold deposits and selling the German all the land lease equipment they received.

Yep, I think I'll add both later. Thanks!

 

[John Dusk]

Just something, I don't think that there would be any Liberal young generation in Nazi Germany. Most likely the post war generations would either fall into the "Full-on Waffen-SS Himmler wankfest" generation and " Slightly less Full-on Waffen-SS Himmler wankfest."

Especially since every generation that comes of age during and after the war would be raised and indoctrinated entirely in the Nazi worldview, with virtually every young person in the Hitler Youth and the League of German Girls. It would quickly reach a level of fanaticism and ideological devotion comparable to Imperial Japan.

 

[arrowiv]

Consider me subscribed. Keep it up!

 

[SirPaperweight]

Very interesting , i will follow this !
(Will a certain french General made an apparition ? )

I make no promises.

Watching this, can't wait for updates
I wonder where these proxy wars will take place?

You'll find out in a few updates or so.

Just something, I don't think that there would be any Liberal young generation in Nazi Germany. Most likely the post war generations would either fall into the "Full-on Waffen-SS Himmler wankfest" generation and " Slightly less Full-on Waffen-SS Himmler wankfest."

Especially since every generation that comes of age during and after the war would be raised and indoctrinated entirely in the Nazi worldview, with virtually every young person in the Hitler Youth and the League of German Girls. It would quickly reach a level of fanaticism and ideological devotion comparable to Imperial Japan.

True, the Nazis are going to hammer their beliefs into the mind of every child in the Axis. It's worth noting, though, that indoctrination only goes so far when your regime can't deliver results for the people. Look at the USSR OTL.

Consider me subscribed. Keep it up!

Glad you're enjoying it! I'll probably have an update ready later today or tomorrow morning.

 

[SirPaperweight]

Chapter II: The Giant Wakes

1948 was an election year in America, and a significant one at that. President Burton Wheeler, a staunch isolationist who assumed office following Franklin D. Roosevelt's death in 1939, refused to run for reelection. He was leaving the White House with approval ratings in the low tens; he was hated for being, in the New York Times' words, "the man that lost Europe." Additionally, Wheeler was accused of enabling Japanese militarism in China and diplomatic maneuvering in Southeast Asia. Isolationism had been widely discredited in the American consciousness following the German conquest of Europe, and the people refused to dabble in it again. Democratic Party leaders were eager to remake themselves after a disaster of a presidency, and so isolationist candidates were shunned. Ultimately, Missouri Senator Harry S. Truman came out on top. He was a supporter of the New Deal (which was still a relatively popular program), but unlike Wheeler he also supported a United States that was more active in world affairs.

The Republicans, on the other hand, nominated New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey for president and California Governor Earl Warren for vice president. As leader of the GOP's more moderate "Eastern Establishment," Dewey largely supported the New Deal and called for a more internationalist foreign policy. On this, he clashed with Ohio Senator Robert A. Taft, who was a staunch conservative and non-interventionist. In a time of outrage over inaction abroad, however, Taft stood no chance at clinching his party's nomination; he won only a sixth of the delegates at the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia. The Senator would later become increasingly disappointed in America's new role in world affairs.

The outcome of the election was clear from the start. As much as he tried to distance himself from the sitting president, Truman carried Wheeler's stink with him wherever he went. Dewey's promise of a new vision for American foreign policy was much more convincing than Truman's, and his moderate views attracted many Democrats who might have otherwise abstained or voted Truman. Ultimately, Dewey won 56.12% of the vote and 416 electoral votes to Truman's 42.85% and 115 electoral votes. The Democrats held on to both houses of Congress. The presidential election of 1948 represented a dramatic shift in American foreign policy. Previously, the United States was strictly neutral, participating in international affairs only rarely and after great public debate. Now, America embraced a new role: Leader of the Free World. It was to do so gladly.

Truman (red) held on to the Democratic stronghold of the South while Dewey (blue) won the West and North decisively​

Thomas Edmund Dewey, 34th President of the United States of America​

 

[jolou]

So Dewey defeat Truman

 

[Mr Director]

Very interesting. I wonder what's going on in Britain now.

 

[Prince Daemon Targaryen]

President Dewey! Nice!.
Who was Dewey's VP? And who controls congress?

 

[Thothian]

So, the POD is FDR dies in 1939?

The only way I see this keeping the US out of the war is if subsequent presidents pull back on the embargoes on Japan. If they keep the embargoes, the Japanese are still going to hit the US somewhere, and then that's it.

Maybe FDR's death butterflies Lindbergh into really doubling down on his isolationist speaking. And he moves public opinion to the point that the embargoes are dropped.

But if so, where is Japan in all this? Maybe a Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere that carefully avoids giving the US any reason to enter the war, and even signs a trade treaty with the US and is therefore neutral in the Nazi/US cold war.

Imperial Japan as the face of TTL's Non-Aligned Movement?

 

[Alpha-King98760]

I really like this! Consider me subscribed! (It reminds me of "A Valkyrie Rises over Europe").

 

[conor_lehane]

Looks good so far keep up the good work!

 

[SirPaperweight]

So, the POD is FDR dies in 1939?

The only way I see this keeping the US out of the war is if subsequent presidents pull back on the embargoes on Japan. If they keep the embargoes, the Japanese are still going to hit the US somewhere, and then that's it.

Maybe FDR's death butterflies Lindbergh into really doubling down on his isolationist speaking. And he moves public opinion to the point that the embargoes are dropped.

But if so, where is Japan in all this? Maybe a Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere that carefully avoids giving the US any reason to enter the war, and even signs a trade treaty with the US and is therefore neutral in the Nazi/US cold war.

Imperial Japan as the face of TTL's Non-Aligned Movement?

Thanks for the input!

The PoD is that there's a somewhat stronger isolationist sentiment in the DNC, forcing FDR to pick Wheeler as his VP. The oil embargo never occurs and America refrains from supplying Britain with war material. FDR's death in 1939 is a convenient way to get an isolationist left-winger in power.

Japan is still busy in China, wasting troops and materials in their attempt to conquer that country. Their situation is growing more perilous, however, as the US sees them as an extention of Axis influence in Asia.

President Dewey! Nice!.
Who was Dewey's VP? And who controls congress?

Earl Warren is VP and the Democrats hold both houses of Congress.
Briefly forgot that Congress is bicameral. Serves me right for responding to people while doing something else.