Exactly what it says on the tin. How could you get a three-way cold war after 1900? (No Nazi Germany surviving, please, that's just ASB)
just out of curiosity, why is Nazi Germany surviving ASB. I can postulate a Nazi Germany surviving or even winning WW2. It wouldn't be our Nazi Germany, but it would be a Nazi Germany..... although ran differently and probably with not so many disgusting racial traits.
I know some people are going to say...."Buts that not Nazi Germany, just a paternal dictatorship with the same name." I would respond by saying sure, but given the quirks of AH, any AH Nazi Germany that is identical to ours is ASB not the fact that they won or lost.
I know some people are going to say...."Buts that not Nazi Germany, just a paternal dictatorship with the same name." I would respond by saying sure, but given the quirks of AH, any AH Nazi Germany that is identical to ours is ASB not the fact that they won or lost.
A more benevolent, but still Imperialistic Japanese Empire which survived through WWII by not attacking the Western Allies, instead focusing on China and supporting nationalist movements in the Pacific and Asian colonies (some of which succede, due to Europe being unable to maintain their control due to an extended WWII, as the US joins later). Affectively, on a small military scale and larger diplomatic scale, forming the Greater Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere.
This seems like the most reasonable possibility with a POD after WWI.
I think the best chance for a three way Cold War requires a POD that changes WWI. A good POD might be Britain not getting involved in the war, leading to a German victory on both fronts by 1915 or 1916. This leads to a German-dominated Europe in tension with the British Empire. The possibilities for the third power are pretty broad here: probably the best bet is a resurgent Russia that wants to get back at Germany but has no reason to think favorably of Britain. Other possibilities could be the United States, Imperial Japan (which could have its eyes on colonies belonging to both European blocs), maybe even a surviving Ottoman Empire.
What about a Russo-Japanese alliance?
I really don't think you grasp the limitations of AH: when we discuss points of divergence, we do not include "and then nation X began behaving in an entirely uncharacteristic way" or "and then Hitler became nicer." People are not dice or coins: their behavior is not determined by random chance. They have histories and ideas and ingrained behaviors. Any Hitler-and-the-Nazi-party run Germany with Hitler unchanged up to, say, 1922 is going to be a horrible place: of course the details will vary, but the essential character will be similar, since Hitler and the other main players will be broadly as OTL - they are highly unlikely to have a Road to Damascus moment.
(Anyhoo, it's _hard_ for Germany, any Germany, to establish itself as the Overlord of Europe post-WWI and the Russian revolution. Big Kid on the Block, yes, but establishing enough of a mastery of Europe and its resources to challenge a continental monster like the US? HARD.)
Bruce
What about a Russo-Japanese alliance?
SourceHad Russia stayed in the war until victory over Germany had been
achieved, it is possible that Japan would have been more successful at the Versailles Peace Conference.
It is not improbable, for example, that Russia would have supported Japan in the fight for racial equality.
Moreover, had friction developed between Russia and Britain over the division of spoils in the Near East, it is possible, especially in view of the decreasing popularity and effectiveness of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, that a Russo-Japanese bloc could have crystallized in the Far East to counter the developing Anglo-American coalition.
Quite conceivably, the isolation of Japan at the Washington Conference in 192111922 and the return of Shantung rights to China could have been avoided.
Russia and Japan could have further demarcated their spheres of influence in China, leaving essentially the western regions to Russia and the coastal part to Japan.
As Sazonov indicated in 1915, when he spoke of long-range objectives of Russia and Japan, there was no basic clash of interests between the two countries.
A more benevolent, but still Imperialistic Japanese Empire which survived through WWII by not attacking the Western Allies
Actually I grasp the concept quite well. Thank you. But consider, take a POD of Sept 1936. Hitler boards his Ju-52 after the Nuremburg Rally, to fly back to Berlin, or where-ever. The POD is that the Ju-52 crashes. Hitler is dead. Goering becomes Hitler's successor. It would be easy to write a timeline where Goering keeps power in Germany for 2 years, long enough to ensure the annexation of Czechoslovakia and the run up to Poland, then dies, or is overthrown, or even resigns (very doubtful). I haven't checked to see who would be Goering's successor, but it could be an army field marshal dependant on how Goering dies or is replaced.
That FM would likely keep the Third Reich as the name of the German state, and keep the Nazi flags and other trapping of the Third Reich. Why? Well, the people were pretty happy for the most part, the Nazi's were making Germany strong again, they had jobs, and some of the lost bits of the country had been returned. Of course, the Nazi name would be correct. It would be politically foolish not to. That is an AH Nazi government in charge, its no longer the same as our TL and diverting more and more each day. However, its still NAZI GERMANY.
The Nazi party by definition is extremist. Having them decide to suddenly become Nazi-lite would be counter to the party ideology and the kind of people who joined the party and lead the party because of that ideology.Now Lord Protector says that for Nazi Germany to win, it must survive by defeating or keeping its enemies at bay. Nazi Germany had 3 enemies, the UK from 1939 onward, the Soviet Union from 1941 onward, and the US after Dec. 1942. Beating the UK would be almost impossible with a POD in 1936, but forcing it to sue for peace might not have been. Given a war starting in 1939 but that resulted in UK soldiers being trapped on the shores of France, but rather than the miracle at Dieppe, they are overrun and captured, it is possible that either the UK would sue for peace or that Germany would offer terms and the UK accepting them. Even if it means that Germany doesn't occupy most of France, they could still claim Alsace and Luxembourg with justification. Peace with the Allies in 1940 means that this Nazi Germany can turn more attention to the Soviets in 1941. Not maybe ground troops, but the Luftwaffe would be more involved as they wouldn't have to be fighting UK bomber raids and such, nor would they have fought the Air War.
The invasion of the Soviet Union could go different easily too. This Nazi Germany, would be more pragmatic about things, since the extremists would no longer be in power. If Ukrainian rebels approached them and asked for permission to form a liberation army, it might very well be granted. If the Germans play their cards right, they could force the Soviet Union to the table sometime in 1942 or 1943.