Ideas/Suggestions for a Realistic No WW2 Timeline?

[theman7777]

I'm thinking about making a timeline in which the 1930s balance of power is to some extent maintained. My thought is that the basic POD would be something along the lines of the Marco Polo Bridge incident not happening, or being successfully deescalated. (How likely would this be?) The secondary POD would be Hitler dying unexpectedly in the time between the occupation of Czechoslovakia and the invasion of Poland, with Göring taking the reins subsequently. (Would this be the most likely outcome, or at least fairly likely? I know Hitler designated Göring as his successor in September '39 but what about prior to that?) Fearful of war bringing about the end of the Nazi regime, Fuhrer Göring uses his status as a more trusted figure in the west to ease tensions somewhat, and abandons plans to invade Poland.

Now I'm well aware that the Nazi German economy was largely a sham built on unsustainable economic practices. One of my biggest questions for this thread is how long would it take for the bubble to burst, and what would be the Nazi response? Considering how totalitarian German society was at the time, it seems like the Nazis could hold on to power for a while even if the economic situation deteriorates. The question is essentially what would happen politically and economically to Germany if they had abandoned the idea of going to war? How would the Nazis attempt to handle the resulting economic crisis? How would they attempt to hold on to power? How effective would they be at such attempts? Etc.

As for the Japanese, I'm more just generally interested in how y'all see things playing out for them. Obviously the economic situation wasn't as unstable as Nazi Germany, but their conquests were still similarly motivated by a need for resources and such.

I know most of the questions being asked deal more with how the 40s would look like if the Axis didn't go to war, but feel free to make suggestions beyond that limited scope. (ie: what would decolonization look like, how would the Fascist powers attempt to expand their spheres without direct military action, etc)

Any thoughts?

 

[The Galaxy]

The French and the British call Hitlers bluff when he annexes the Rhineland. For example by moving in their troops, Hitler would have pulled back.

If Czechoslovakia had chosen to fight back there is a chance that there would have been a military coup against Hitler. If the previous scenario is fulfilled then this increases, even more so if the French, British and the Soviets promise air support for Czechoslovakia.

The Spanish civil war can be avoided, if the government arrests the people who are behind it, as they were given the opportunity by the police who had identified the coup makers and their plans, and presented it a week before the coup, but the government chose to wait for it to start.

In Asia diplomacy may possibly prevent it, if the French British, Soviets and Americans all pledges in the 1920s to declare war on Japan if Japan attacks China. Or there is some type of Soviet Chinese alliance where both parties declare mutual protection in case of foreign aggressors.