If this specific situation has been discussed in the past, can someone please point me to the respetive thread? Many thanks.
On the 24th May 1940 the German, at the advice from General Rundstedt, halted their armored advance into Dunkirk – the terrain around Dunkirk was considered unsuitable for amour, so the destruction of the Allied forces, chiefly the BEF, fell on the shoulders of the Luftwaffe, which was prevented from significant action due to weather conditions.
Now the POD here is that Hitler, while visiting von Rundstedt’s headquarters on May 24 does not follow his advice. Instead he insists that all efforts are done to cut the last possible escape route – the port of Dunkirk and outlying beaches – and that all available means are used to complete the encirclement and destruction of the surrounded Allied forces.
The rest of the Battle of France proceeds, mostly, as in OTL with the Fuhrer touring the streets of Paris. The mentioned POD, however, brings significant differences for the short coming future. The BEF is destroyed with all the manpower either dead, wounded or in captivity. The British moral is shattered by not only the military losses but also by standing now alone against Germany and having lost so many men and equipment in the Continent.
Following the armistice with the French, the Germans extend peace offers to the British which, now led by Churchill, promptly refuse any idea of a peace that will not restore pre-war borders in Europe. The social and moral situation within the UK is, however, much worst than in our TL.
On Germany side things are not all positive also. In spite of the tremendous success they had in the Western Front, the victory in the Dunkirk pocket was a costly one. Too costly in the eyes of the German Generals who think that the bloodshed to destroy the encircled Allied forces was merely a waste of men and materials, namely the precious armored units.
Further more they became appalled when, some weeks later, at a meeting of the Obberkommando der Wehrmacht Hitler’s plans for the future, especially Operation Barbarossa, became clear. The professional career officers of the German Armed Forces pull together and decide that, in spite of all of its successes, Hitler and the Nazi Party will eventually lead to the doom of the Fatherland. Maybe even some civilians, top industrialists that understand that the way the German economy has been driven will eventually come to a crashing halt, join in the conspiracy.
With the failure, like in our TL, of the Battle of Britain, the conspirators decide to act and in a swift move take control of Germany, incarcerating or killing the figure heads of the Nazi Party and dissolving the existing paramilitary structures. A National Salvation Government is formed including both high military officers and high profile non-Nazi civilians. The concentration camps are emptied and closed, the racial laws canceled and those who survived the Coup and are considered criminals are held to face trial. Free elections are scheduled to be held within six months and the main goal of the new government is to obtain peace in Europe.
Now we have a, practically, de-nazified Germany sitting on top of the world: it occupies half of Poland, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, and Holland, Luxembourg and has defeated the Allies in mainland Europe. However the new regime is not keen on proceeding the war and they fear the Bear on their Eastern border.
How do you think things will proceed from here?