WI: Britain goes ahead with "Operation Vegetarian"

You might need America to avoid entering the war in Europe. Even if Hitler declares war on America after Pearl Harbor, an isolationist president would still be inclined on focusing on Japan, at most bumping up protection for convoys to the Allies, or offering aid at a lower cost.

That essentially splits the war in two, with Japan against America and China in the East (with cameos from Britain) and Germany and Italy against Britain and the Soviet Union (with cameos from America) in the West. That 1944 could have the war in Asia end early, but the war in Europe will probably be far bloodier, and with no clear end in sight. I could easily see Churchill and Stalin, more out of desire to avoid the annihilation of their countries than anything else, resorting to chemical and biological warfare, especially if they still manage to get the upper hand on Germany in the air.

Germany's reaction would likely be the the most damaging they could achieve. Hitler was the 'maximum retaliation' kind of guy. Both the Luftwaffe in the Blitz and OKH on the Eastern Front will start to involve chemical and biological weapons. Given the vast size of Bomber Command, and the relative ineffectiveness of German long-range bombers, it's safe to say that Britain could destroy Germany, but not without taking massive losses of their own.

The 'Iron Curtain' would still be in Germany, but it may be more accurate to say that it will simply be Germany, or what's left of it. Depending on how many are left, the Allies may decide to offer relocation, Canada and Siberia being my guesses. Britain and the USSR might set up some provisional governments in Germany to oversee the rebuilding of civilization in the habitable zones, and of course denazification and the combing for German war criminals (and yes, looking for enemy war criminals in the poisoned wasteland of your creation is hypocritical, but ya, boo, sucks to you, Fritz), plus putting down any attempts to set up some kind of Nazi underground state. Relations between West (minus America) and East may be more cordial, as a Third World War is unlikely to happen in Europe (the attackers would need to cross what is now the least hospitable land on Earth), and the two main powers by that point would be running on fumes. The '50s (the war would end a few years after 1945) would be marked as a period of reconstruction (maybe aided by a 'Thanks for kinning the Nazis an' such' Marshall Plan and a downsizing of the military.
 
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