No, Germany bordered Lithuania in 1939. That strip of land was split in half following WW2; half went to Poland, and half went to Russia. It's a narrow piece of land to support an invasion on, but it could work.
How? Granted, Baltics probably wouldn'trequiremuch in terms of forces but those forces would still need to be supplied by sea. Unless Poles get really bad case of stupids and allow Germans to transit through their territory
Poland refused transport access to the Germans IOTL, because they feared it would lead to Hitler taking over the corridor. And you are using hindsight here. With hindsight letting Hitler take the corridor might be the smartest move for Poland (although even that is doubtful), but they don't have hindsight and expect the British and French to come to their aid.The Poles stupid? Think again. Thinking strictly of Poland and not the rest of the world, this is the smartest move the Poles can make. They didn't do well IOTL.
This WI works very well is the POD is Poland suggesting transport access.
The Poles stupid? Think again. Thinking strictly of Poland and not the rest of the world, this is the smartest move the Poles can make. They didn't do well IOTL.
This WI works very well is the POD is Poland suggesting transport access.
I thought the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact divided up the Baltic states much as it divided up Poland.
The timeline is very different if there's no pact compared to a timeline where Hitler and Stalin divide up Eastern Europe on a slightly different schedule.
and there's little the Allies could do to defend Poland IOTL and the Baltics in this timeline.
I don't think it matters very much if the German army attacking from East Prussia has to be supplied by sea. This isn't Sealion, the Baltic navies aren't the Royal Navy. Nor is surprise a necessity, Hitler was obviously on the path to war, and there's little the Allies could do to defend Poland IOTL and the Baltics in this timeline.
there was a German proposal for Lithuania to jointly invade Poland and they would receive the Vilnius Region http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vilnius_Region
not sure what they expected the Soviet reaction to be?
(not exactly what OP proposed but German troops WOULD be in a Baltic state)
It would put Germans far too close to Leningrad for Stalin to tolerate, it's possible he would declare war right away. Soviet submarines would be devastating on German supply routes, as they can't bottle them up without Finnish help. Wehrmacht is much smaller than it was in 1941 and not as tactically and operationally developed. Armour is mostly PzKpfw I&II, which are inferior to T-26, with LT-38 and handful of PzKpfw III&IV. Luftwaffe would have the biggest edge but it would lack enough airfields to employ it's full power.
Red army would be a mess, but operational situation would be in their favor. Their tactics would be based on employment of infantry formations on wide front, with tanks mostly used in support and lots of artillery.
Neither seide could win decisive victory outright, so it would turn into grinding warfare which German economy was unable to support at that time.
Barbarossa gets launched from the South eventually encircling large numbers of Soviet troops against the Polish border and threatening Stalingrad and Rostov in 1941. Moscow and Leningrad are not threatened in 1941 but the Germans do not suffer as badly in the first winter either.
Definitely a hindsight war but hey - its all AH isn't it.