German assasinators

What if, hypothetically speaking, the Germans were able to assassinate Stalin and Churchill? Lets say Churchill right before he became elected PM, and Stalin (though that would be hard, as paranoid as he was) in early 1940, when they were still "friends". Do you think that would have changed much? A different British leader might have been less likely to keep up the fighting spirit. Chamberlain at least did not have that kind of charisma and intuition about what the people needed to hear by far.
A different Soviet leader might have hesitated a bit more before sending his troops into the meat grinder by the millions like Stalin did. Few other potential Soviet leaders would consider the huge losses Russia endured as "acceptable", and at the same known how to/ managed to rally that much support for the war. It was not simply "fight or be killed", by by appealing to religion and other pre-Soviet era symbols, a lot of Russians actually volunteered to fight.

What do you think?
 
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What if, hypothetically speaking, the Germans were able to assassinate Stalin and Churchill? Lets say Churchill right before he became elected PM, and Stalin (though that would be hard, as paranoid as he was) in early 1940, when they were still "friends". Do you think that would have changed much? A different British leader might have been less likely to keep up the fighting spirit. Chamberlain at least did not have that kind of charisma and intuition about what the people needed to hear by far.
A different Soviet leader might have hesitated a bit more before sending his troops into the meat grinder by the millions like Stalin did. Few other potential Soviet leaders would consider the huge losses Russia endured as "acceptable", and at the same known how to/ managed to rally that much support for the war. It was not simply "fight or be killed", by by appealing to religion and other pre-Soviet era symbols, a lot of Russians actually volunteered to fight.

What do you think?
Leaders assassinated? Morgenthau plan at best, Operation Vegetarian becomes entirely possible. Every Wehrmacht officer over Colonel and every single SS member tried for war crimes?
 
Leaders assassinated? Morgenthau plan at best, Operation Vegetarian becomes entirely possible. Every Wehrmacht officer over Colonel and every single SS member tried for war crimes?


Yeah right...

So the Germans kill First Lord of the Admiralty Churchill. Let's say captain Zahn's torpedoes don't malfunction, and HMS Repulse sinks together with Churchill and Britain's top admirals. Do you honestly think it will lead to vegetarian and the morgenthau plan ?

Now unto Stalin. there was the OTL Operation Zeppelin, but that was in 1940. Either have this tried earlier, or maybe get him to die in an airraid on Moscow in dec 1941. However, let's say he's killed by an enterprising young German agent in 1940, who even makes his escape and succesfully pins the blame on some poor trotskyte.

Result: Germans do much worse during Barbarossa, as it was apparent to everyone BUT Stalin that the Germans were going to attack
 
What if, hypothetically speaking, the Germans were able to assassinate Stalin and Churchill? Lets say Churchill right before he became elected PM, and Stalin (though that would be hard, as paranoid as he was) in early 1940, when they were still "friends". Do you think that would have changed much? A different British leader might have been less likely to keep up the fighting spirit. Chamberlain at least did not have that kind of charisma and intuition about what the people needed to hear by far.
A different Soviet leader might have hesitated a bit more before sending his troops into the meat grinder by the millions like Stalin did. Few other potential Soviet leaders would consider the huge losses Russia endured as "acceptable", and at the same known how to/ managed to rally that much support for the war. It was not simply "fight or be killed", by by appealing to religion and other pre-Soviet era symbols, a lot of Russians actually volunteered to fight.

What do you think?

This is not a good plan for Hitler and Germany. Churchill would want to be replaced by Anthony Eden and Stalin would probably get replaced by V. Molotov.

Germany will ultimately be determined to be behind both assassinations. There's no way Molotov will trust Hitler and he's not going to allow the same level of tactical and strategic surprise Stalin did. Barbarossa probably gains a lot of ground, but never comes close to Moscow.

I think Eden would be smaller on the "Grandoise Schemes" than Churchill. I'm not super sure how he'd serve if he was PM, but peace with Hitler is not happening, not with a martyred Churchill lying in state. The UK will fight the good fight.

It does raise questions about whether the UK will try something like Vegetarian, although I'm unsure that Eden would try that. But the short answer is that the UK and Soviet Union get incrementally better leaders at the helm and Germany does worse.
 
Yeah right...

So the Germans kill First Lord of the Admiralty Churchill. Let's say captain Zahn's torpedoes don't malfunction, and HMS Repulse sinks together with Churchill and Britain's top admirals. Do you honestly think it will lead to vegetarian and the morgenthau plan

1) Sinking a naval ship with a politician on it isnt assassination. No, that, by itself wouldnt create aloud outcry.
2) actually assassinating the major war leaders of both the UK and USSR would, imo. Partly because doing both at once makes it a clear policy choice on the Nazis part.
3) while it might be possible for the nazis to get eg a radical Ukrainian nationalist to assassinate Stalin, theyd pretty much have to get a commando group inserted into britain to get churchill, since the whole german spy network in Britain had been turned.
4) even if Churchill is only 1st Lord at the time, he's the one who's been baying about the Nazi danger. If they target him rather than the PM, what does THAT say to the british people.

I will admit i WAS thinking of Churchill as the inspirational pm, there will be less impact on the british population if its before his amazingly effective speeches.
 
Soviet state security was impenetrable against a planned assassination attempt. An accident or military action certainly could work, but not something as fragile as an assassination plot.
 
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