No WWII. US Military 1945

unless Germany and Hitler are not a threat, meaning there's peace in Europe, meaning there is no late 1930s rearmament for Britain and France, meaning they've got nothing to fight Japan with.....
Actually, it means they've got nothing to distract them from throwing their full weight against Japan. The full strength of three navies against one. Japan might be overconfident, but they weren't stupid.
 
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Actually, it means they've got nothing to distract them from throwing their full weight against Japan. The full strength of three navies against one. Japan might be overconfident, but they weren't stupid.

Yes - a resergent Japan and a benign Germany means that the Royal Navy (easily the best funded of the 3 Services) gets a much larger slice of teh Post Depression pie such as it would be.

Instead of all that resource going to the RAF and the Army in order to build them up for a continental war - the Navy would be more able to order enough aircraft for its carriers and enough suitable MPAs earlier than OTL
 
Yes - a resergent Japan and a benign Germany means that the Royal Navy (easily the best funded of the 3 Services) gets a much larger slice of teh Post Depression pie such as it would be.
But if there's a benign Germany, there is no pressure for British re-armament in the late 1930s.

With a beign Germany, Hitler doesn't rise in 1933, the 1936 remilitarization of the Rhineland does not occur, etc. You can just imagine the accountants in the Treasury Office advising the Chancellor of the Exchequer that significant cuts can be made to the forces. On the plus side, the Brits now have more funding for health care, education, infrastructure and investments in societal improvements. But the downside is likely no Spitfire, Mosquito or Lancaster, the three most important RAF aircraft of WW2. Japan's invasion of China won't be sufficient to motivate British's accounts to invest in the military, and besides, with the French in FIC, Malaya is safe.

With a benign Germany the Nelson class may be Britain's last dreadnoughts. Unless Italy is still a roaring Fascist concern - perhaps they invade Germany?
 
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But if there's a benign Germany, there is no pressure for British re-armament in the late 1930s.

RN will still almost certainly be built to the limit of any treaty's (or similar if not treaty's ie 2 power other than USN, ie IJN/RM)

Without Germany Japan will have to face a potentially massive RN eastern fleet (+USN + MN) and will therefore be very unlikely to come south?
 
But if there's a benign Germany, there is no pressure for British re-armament in the late 1930s.
Except that Japan is upping the game, so Britain will too, as will the US, and possibly France. Sure they won't do too much army building, but Navy and Air Froce will be a definite.
 
Except that Japan is upping the game
No they're not. The OP states that we have a confined Japan with no Pacific War until at least 1945 on beyond, see below....

I am assuming here that without a European war Japans aggresion is confined to a China Incident & no Pacific War emerges, at least before 1945, & is not threatening that year.
 
No they're not. The OP states that we have a confined Japan with no Pacific War until at least 1945 on beyond, see below....

Simply by walking out of treaty's (2LNT) they are upping the game from 1936, in terms of navel rearmament.
 
What would the lack of Nazis have to do with the 1934, 1936, and 1938 naval acts?

The rise of the Nazis, their explicit repudiation of the Versailles disarmament, and Hitler's bellicose rhetoric, made it seem to everyone that Great Wars were still in the future, much more than a few years before. There would be some on-going development, but little of the sense of danger that existed OTL.
 
The rise of the Nazis, their explicit repudiation of the Versailles disarmament, and Hitler's bellicose rhetoric, made it seem to everyone that Great Wars were still in the future, much more than a few years before. There would be some on-going development, but little of the sense of danger that existed OTL.
It's quite possible that Poland, Germany, and others would be increasingly concerned about Stalin and the USSR rolling across Europe. If this becomes a bigger threat, perhaps we see an early NATO-like organization. There's nothing like a common enemy to bring everyone together. Though a growing Soviet threat would lead more to army and air force rearmament, like naval.

Getting back to the OP and original topic..... As for the USA, with no threats in Europe beyond possible Soviet intentions on eastern Europe, and a confined Japan in China, I'd say the isolationists win both White House and Congress, and US-rearmament 1919 onwards seems very different.
 
But if there's a benign Germany, there is no pressure for British re-armament in the late 1930s.

Granted without war there would be no need for a massive number of MPAs but there would also be zero need for 1000s of 4 engined bombers using up half the Military Budget!

With a beign Germany, Hitler doesn't rise in 1933, the 1936 remilitarization of the Rhineland does not occur, etc. You can just imagine the accountants in the Treasury Office advising the Chancellor of the Exchequer that significant cuts can be made to the forces. On the plus side, the Brits now have more funding for health care, education, infrastructure and investments in societal improvements. But the downside is likely no Spitfire, Mosquito or Lancaster, the three most important RAF aircraft of WW2. Japan's invasion of China won't be sufficient to motivate British's accounts to invest in the military, and besides, with the French in FIC, Malaya is safe.

In 1938/39 the 1939/40 Defence budget was increased to.......4% of Government spending and that included a massive expansion of the army and new battleships, Aircraft carriers lots of planes etc etc - it increased to a whopping 8% after the declaration of war and then rapidly spiralled up as things got more serious.

Before that time most of the aircraft that were flying in 1940 had been in development since the early 30s - so while there would be a reduced development speed I still think that these aircraft would see service.

With no resurgent Germany then no rapid expansion of the army is required, no bomber command is required, no massive investment of the military infrastructure and industry in the UK is required.

So even with a less than 4% Budget the Navy will probably end up with more even if the only real threat is Italy and Japan

With a benign Germany the Nelson class may be Britain's last dreadnoughts. Unless Italy is still a roaring Fascist concern - perhaps they invade Germany?

They would have to get past the mighty Austrian Army first :D

And what the navy builds probably depends on the 2nd LNT and what everyone else does - Germany was a small Littoral Navy in pre 1936 and had very little to do with the Naval Treaties and Britain was still planning to build new Battleships and Carriers come 1937.
 
Absent a need for a emergency rearmament program for Frances ground and air forces from 1937 I'm wondering if the naval air arm would be pursued? I dont know anything about the history of the Bearn to 1938, or the plans for the naval air force.

Similarly was the pressure for restablishing the Brit fleet air arm in place circa 1937, or is it more likely to stagnate under RAF control?
 
Would there really be peace in Europe or more like a Cold War situation. All parties in Weimar-Germany wanted to nullify Versailles and get some sort of territorial adjustments.

Hungary was looking at Romania and Czechoslovakia, the Soviets were looking at Eastern Europe and Italy was looking at Africa and the Balkans.
 
Cold War. Similar to the pre nazi conditions of 1920-1934. A lot of threats & some border skirmishes. It takes bat shit crazy like Hitler to start anything major. Until the Great war generations are elderly and out of power the odds are against anything serious starting. The leaders of the nazi era had no stomach for another war & had to be dragged into it.
 
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