AussieHawker
Banned
So France and Great Britain after a few rounds of appeasement with Germany, set Poland as a trip wire which of course led to war in 1939. So What if the Western Allies were distracted by the time Hitler set his eyes upon Poland. A multi round option. Pods in the 1930s so the situation aren't completely alien to the rough pre ww2 situation.
- Italy. This assumes that Hitler hasn't tied himself as a co belligerent/war ally to whatever mess Italy get into. But say that France and Britain go to war with Italy over some flashpoint, such as Greece or North Africa. Maybe Italy is a bit better prepared, and thus more confident without the drain of resources that was the Spanish civil war.
- Japan. Again assumes Germany won't be dragged in. Japan goes to war over France and Britain's East Asian colonies, or perhaps a alt tripwire somewhere. USA isn't involved.
- Soviets. Less likely then the former two, as the Soviets were still more internally focused on building the nation, and purging. The war would also be a difficult one for either side to prosecute, with fighting based around long range air raids or fighting in the rough Central Asian region. Perhaps the flashpoint was something to do with Iran, with the Soviets pushing too far thinking the W Allies wouldn't protect Iran.
- Combos of selected options. Such as Italy and Japan teaming up, or jumping in to exploit what they see is weakness, after one of them starts the conflict.
- Any other plausible options. Maybe Irish issues distracting Britain, with France not wanting to go in without their support.