Different German and Japanese regimes, no WW2

I think that there are lots of ways in which Germany might have had something other than Hitler's regime (though retaining proper democracy in the 40% unemployment context would be hard)

I know less about Japan but feel that some way it could have been prevented from being so extreme.

Just how different would Britain, France and the US be in that case. Also what about Stalin
 

Perkeo

Banned
I think that there are lots of ways in which Germany might have had something other than Hitler's regime (though retaining proper democracy in the 40% unemployment context would be hard)

But by the end of 1932, unemployment was going down rapidly and so was support of the NSDAP (-4.2% between June and November). Had President Hindenburg not betrayed democracy by appointing Hitler as chancellor and signing the dercee that abolished nearly all human rights, I don't see why the Weimar Republic couldn't have survived.

I know less about Japan but feel that some way it could have been prevented from being so extreme.

Perhaps all it takes is no WWII in Europe. The Japanese had the illusion of getting away with their plans when Britain, the US and even moreso France were busy with the war in Europe, but I doubt so if they knew they had to face the rest of the world alone.

Just how different would Britain, France and the US be in that case. Also what about Stalin

I guess most of the following developments will be delayed, but not prevented:
- Fall of the British empire
- Rise of the US as the world's No.1 superpower
- Rise of the USSR as the US' biggest rival

Stalin certainly remains in power for the rest of his life - although there is some uncertainty on how his life will end...

Germany will play a much larger role in the Game, even moreso France. If France and Germany are smart (which they likely aren't) they form an alliance that Britain reluctantly joins, much like OTL EEC. In that case, they are capable of containing the USSR without direct help from the US, which will mitigate the cold war.
 
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Perhaps all it takes is no WWII in Europe. The Japanese had the illusion of getting away with their plans when Britain, the US and even moreso France were busy with the war in Europe, but I doubt so if they knew they had to face the rest of the world alone.

The Japanese went into Manchuria in 1931 and tried to establish a couple of other puppet states in northern China in the mid-1930's before the 1937 invasion. That might have been different if there'd been no depression, as Japan had been taking steps toward democracy in the 1920's.
 
The Japanese went into Manchuria in 1931 and tried to establish a couple of other puppet states in northern China in the mid-1930's before the 1937 invasion. That might have been different if there'd been no depression, as Japan had been taking steps toward democracy in the 1920's.

Economically speaking, I'd say the biggest issue for Imperial Japan is breaking up huge rural landholdings. Too many people were farming tiny, unproductive plots of land. The young men who grew up on these farms lead lives of desperate poverty, making many of them all too susceptible to the lure of ultranationalism during their mandatory stint in the army.

The Depression actually wasn't as terrible in Japan as it was elsewhere, mostly thanks to truly huge levels of military (Kenysian-esque) spending. More than the Great Depression itself, I would say it was the Smoot-Hawley Tarriff that needs to be avoided. After that passed, the Militarists were able to convince many people of Japan's (supposed) need to seize resource-rich lands, to avoid being cut off. Without the tarrif, the goal of autarky should remain just a fringe theory.

The other benefit of no S-M Tarriff is that it should give the industrialists something to do. The zaibatsu leaders/families hold much of the real political power in this time period. In OTL, they ended up siding with the Militarists (just as far too many old Junkers and industrialists did in Germany) because the market for consumer goods dried up, and the government represented the only real way to stimulate demand. They profited handsomely from the great military build-up of the 30s in Japan.

However, I believe that the Zaibatsu are fundamentally a conservative group. They are on top in the Empire of Japan, and they don't want to do anything that might jeopardize their position. Historically, they backed the Militarist's play because they felt like they had no choice. If there is no tarriff in the US, then they do have a choice. They can simply sell consumer goods into the US market. In fact, this might be a boom time for Japanese goods in the US. With so many people on reduced budgets, you might see a lot of people try to save money by moving to cheaper Japanese substitutes. Of course, it was fear of this very thing that let the tarriff pass so easily in the first place.

Sorry if this is all somewhat poorly written. I am fighting off a bad cold atm, and my thoughts are somewhat muddled.
 
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