Manfred von Richthofen Survives; Kicks Ass!

Probably No Holocaust, But The Battle of Britain is Fought Air Force vs. Air Force

As opposed to the Battle of Britain in OTL being fought air force to air force?

So, we Have a Kinder, Gentler Germany, That Actually has a REAL Shot at an Invasion of England!

A kinder, gentler Germany that still managed to start WWII and wage it the same way to the point that it can still fight the Battle of Britain. Impressive. :rolleyes:
 
As opposed to the Battle of Britain in OTL being fought air force to air force?

A kinder, gentler Germany that still managed to start WWII and wage it the same way to the point that it can still fight the Battle of Britain. Impressive. :rolleyes:
OTL's Battle of Britain WAS Fought Air Force to Air Force, Right up Until The Luftwaffe Accidentally Bombed London, Then it Became a Slugging Match to See who Could Kill More Factory-Workers ...

As for The Battle of Britain Actually Occurring, it Would have Been Inevitable in Any Version of The War that Saw France's Surrender from an Anglo-French Coalition ...

So as I said, a Kinder, Gentler Germany, that has a Better than Even Shot at an Invasion of England!
 
OTL's Battle of Britain WAS Fought Air Force to Air Force, Right up Until The Luftwaffe Accidentally Bombed London, Then it Became a Slugging Match to See who Could Kill More Factory-Workers ...

The Luftwaffe making the transition from fighting the Battle of Britain against the RAF to bombing British population centers in the aerial bombardment campaign known to history as the Blitz doesn't change the fact that the actual Battle of Britain was still a fight between two opposing air forces.

As for The Battle of Britain Actually Occurring, it Would have Been Inevitable in Any Version of The War that Saw France's Surrender from an Anglo-French Coalition ...

So as I said, a Kinder, Gentler Germany, that has a Better than Even Shot at an Invasion of England!

Uh, you rather massively missed the point here...
 

Kaptin Kurk

Banned
The head injury is a great point, and to keep the timeline interesting, I definately support it as being a segway fot the Red Baron into politics even if he was historically resident.

So, supposing he gained some of Hitler's traits but not all of them? Megolomania, desire for ultimate power? Probably anti-semeticism, but his aristocratic background means his anti-semeticism probably wouldn't reach to the level of Hitler's. (Would Einstein emigrate, if the Jews were merely talked about badly behind their back rather than targeted for de-propertizization and execution?)

Anyways, there's a least a small chance of a Monarchal Restoration. If Richtofen realy is a Hitler analogue, maybe he has himself declared Kaiser in the 1930's. (He war relatively minor nobility, if I remember correctly, so he might have to rule as a furher instead.)

Nevertheless, being the best Ace in history up to that point...at a time whne air combat was still viewed as chivalrous...coudl have major reprocussions in history. For instance, I wouldn't post war Britian think of him as a Gentleman rather than an upstart....even if his policies were largely the same as Hitlers?

I could see Richtofen giving a speech saying "This is the wrong war" and the British public actually listening to him....maybe I'm wrong....but his aristocratic background and service in the most aristocratic and "chivalrous'' branch of service surviving into the modern era couldn't help but help, not?


Either way, if we get Manfred into policial power, I doubt WWII would happen as historical. I think he'd have 1/3rd chance of pushing for Anshluss, 1/3rd chance of taking checklosvlokia....and 1/2 of 1/3rd chance of pulling of Poland withough starting war.....and near a 1/3rd chance of backing off before poland. And if the war does start...I could see a larger chance of negotiated peace....and very little chance of holocaust/total war/no negotiatins/Manfred being hung at the end or committing suicide.
 

Kaptin Kurk

Banned
I just wanted to add: Any PoD that doesn't involved Manfred just becoming another poitical in the concentration camps. (Let alone, escaping to another country) is probably quite interesting. I like major departures, so Manfred as ruler of Germany post head injury is sweet. But, even if you butterfly away the head injurty to butterfly away his change in flying style which probably got him killed post head injury (Historians note he became much more aggressive and got 'target fixation' after the head injury) you might still get an interesting an new WWII with him as head of the Luftwaffee..
 
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