What if Hitler Stopped After Poland

raharris1973

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Politically, Hitler could not afford a multiyear phony war and he would run out of capital to buy oil from Romania, Hungry, and products from neutrals such as Italy.

So, did the German general staff argue for or against an offensive in the west by May 1940.

Some say they argued against. (and were overidden of course) Why wasn't the German high command unanimously pro the earliest invasion?
 
They were still cut off from those countries in 1945 and yet they had their smokes!

I knew a lady in college who lived in Belgium during WW2. She spoke of having oranges. I said, "How did you get oranges?" She told me most stuff came from Spain, including overseas stuff.

I think Bulgaria paid for it's Messerschmitts in tobacco.

Spain certainly produces oranges and in quantity. They also grow in the south of France. British Intelligence assessed the effectiveness of German rail communications between North and South France by monitoring the price of oranges in the Paris markets. Railways blocked, price goes up. Railways open, price goes down.
 
Plus, simply stopping after Poland really, really requires a different leader.

Hitler's whole POINT of the war was to take Russian farmland. Taking Poland and stopping? For him that would be like a sports team getting to the semi-finals of a tournament and then dropping out.

Still, Hitler having a heart attack or stroke (possibly a 9mm cerebral haemorrhage) would allow the possibility of such a stop.


OT3H, as others have pointed out, Britain and France are rearming fast, have a lot more slack in their economies, and will be able to roll over the Rhine in 1942 or so.

So, stopping at Poland doesn't make much sense there, either.
 
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