Peace in our time?

In WWII the Soviets strongly pressured the Allies into creating a western Front to absorb some of the 200 + German divisions facing them; what if before Bagration, etc. could happen (perhaps as a result of the loss at Stalingrad) the German army adopts an elastic defence ideology - ie, flexible defence and large panzer force in reserve, not thrown away at Kursk. Suppose that the Italian landing still happens, but grinding to a halt either on Sicily or the lower reaches of "the boot." Stalin, enraged at what he perceives to be Western duplicity (ie, he thinks Britain and US want Russia to be exhausted) and military weakness, decides to come to terms with Germany. With the stroke of a pen the Soviet government signs away Ukraine, the Baltics, etc.

Stalin believes that he will be able to get it back in a few years, and neither side believes the peace will last, but Germany cannot afford to say no. Uncle Joe finds that things get worse when rebellions break out in central asia and the Caucasus, and carries out another and bloodier purge of the Army (something it is rumored he was planning to do anyway, before his death).

What do the Allies do now? Germany is free to send multitudes of troops to Italy, and France will be even harder to crack now, nor is there any real reason to initiate the second front. And, if possible, might we avoid any possible wankage in the idea of "omg wank wank wank US nukes Europe and Germany surrenders wank wank wank!!"
 
And, if possible, might we avoid any possible wankage in the idea of "omg wank wank wank US nukes Europe and Germany surrenders wank wank wank!!"
Well, the US did develop the bomb to use on Germany, so you'll have to have the Manhattan Project fail somehow. IMO, Germany will be nuked because FDR and especially Churchill were stubborn and had already announced their unconditional surrender plans.
 
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Stalin might invade Germany immediately after it is nuked, but before it surrenders to avoid being labeled a traitor, but the US and UK might go to war against him anyways because "the dirty Reds stabbed us in the back." The USSR might be forced to surrender under threat of nukage like Japan, or the tired Allies will leave it alone and not go to war at all. At the very least, the USSR will be either gone or in a much weaker position than OTL since it doesn't lord of Eastern Europe, so likely no Cold War. The British Empire dies from bankruptcy earlier than OTL, and the US will get its '90s era forty years earlier, only this time it will last much longer since its European competition are bankrupt and the newly-independent states are unstable.

Speaking of Japan, it is still doomed (of course), but since FDR's strategy was "Europe first," it will last longer.
 
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Depends on what the Germans do with freed up resources. If the Germans give the Ukraine some independents and arms them and trains their soldiers to make them a axis state. Then the Ukraine could help buffer the Germans from a future Russian attack.


As far as the nuke goes, a peace deal with the Soviets would free up resources that could be put into jet production to help keep air superiority. That would make a allied nuke attack less likely.


Even if Germany still losses the war, Russia would not own all of eastern Europe. There be a lot less German women giving birth to Russian babies.
 
In the book Third Reich Victorious there's an interesting essay about such a scenario.

Simply put, it sums up that the Germans and Italians halt the Allied advance at Sicily and the German offensive at Kursk is successful.

Stalin feels betrayed by his allies lack of effort and competence and seeks a seperate peace with Germany. There's a nice scene where the US ambassador asks an enraged Stalin how he dared seek terms, and he replies his people have been paying the price of blood while his so called allies had done nothing.

The peace was roughly based on Brest-Livorisk, though hinted at a secret clause tha sold Japan down the river.

As it's a short essay it abruptly ends, and leaves open the question if the allies will continue the war on their own, though it hints at the response to that being negative and also at Japan being sold down the river by the Germans and being the focus of both the Soviets and Allies.
 
Also, Churchill was in favor of liberating Europe through the Balkans instead of France, but Stalin said no. ITTL, the Allies probably will go through the Balkans. At the end of the day, the Soviets won't old Eastern Europe.
 
If the Brits and Americans are not willing to come to terms w/Germany, I could see an extra army being sent to bolster the German troops already there; these would be battlehardened eastern front troops. Also, expect German air defence to expand dramatically, as the black hole known as the eastern front no longer exists. Gestapo and SS units quietly "remove" political contingents that might unhinge the Italian effort (of the reformed "Socialist" Italian republic, as I am aware Mussolini had already been deposed).
 
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