WI: Britain Joins the Axis?

Many people on here discuss what would have happened if Britain was defeated in the Battle of Britain, but what if perhaps someone like Chamberlin remained in power and paired up with the Axis for potential economic benefits and supplied Nazi Germany with weaponry?
 
Why would Chamberlain do that? He didn't trust Hitler at all. Appeasement gave Britain (and France) a chance to rearm for the inevitable clash. Chamberlain is not going to support the Axis.
 
Even Halifax wouldn't have entered a military alliance with the Nazis. Only Oswald Mosley or Edward VIII would be willing to ally with the Nazis and they were discredited long before the creation of the Axis Powers.
 

nbcman

Donor
Barring the conquest of Britain and installation of a puppet government, there isn't any British government that would be possible which would be able to go from opponent of the Nazis to Nazi collaborators. The British for decades before WW2 were interested in maintaining a balance of power in Europe and would not follow an ascendent Germany without being forced into it.
 

Ramontxo

Donor
Dunkirk evacuation fails. Chamberlain is followed by Halifax. Hitlers offer good terms and Halifax accepts (very difficult but not impossible). General elections are held and a pro axis party led by David Lloyd George wins...
 
Problem is in a failed Dunkirk - Britain is still only ejected from the Continent having left a slightly larger portion of it army behind (in May 1940 the British Army was over a Million strong) than OTL and by this time the Word of Germany was worth less than piss steam

In order to achieve the OPs conditions you have to have a 'not nazi' and 'not Communist' government in power in Germany in order for Britain to have any chance of becoming an ally with them unless the Communist nation is Russia!

But Entente Cordiale is spelt the same in France, Germany and Britain so you might have a situation where Britain and Germany draw closer in the first decade of the 20th C instead of Britain and France

One idea that I often suggest for this is Napoléon III beats the Germans in 1870 and remains in power with the 3rd Republic never happening and France becomes the dominant aggressive nation in Europe.
 
Mosley was an unusual fascist in that he wasn't territorially expansionist, more interested in holding on to what Britain already had. Bright enough to see that another major war would significantly damage Britain. In the highly unlikely event of his achieving power might have co-operated more with Hitler but would probably not have been hugely different in policy from Chamberlain/Halifax. Might have sacrificed Poland but couldn't have tolerated any German expansion westwards. Benign neutrality probably the best the Axis could hope for.
 

nbcman

Donor
Well, I guess I'll change the question. What if Churchill reluctantly accepted Hitler's peace offering, for fear of major repercussions if the UK battles Germany?
More so than OTL? The UK was aware of the threat of starvation from attacks on their supply lines as well as the potential use of chemical agents by the Germans. What new 'repercussion' are you considering? There was no realistic threat of invasion in 1940 as has been discussed in numerous previous threads.
 
General elections are held and a pro axis party led by David Lloyd George wins...

Splutter. David Lloyd George leading a pro-Axis party? The David Lloyd George who ended Chamberlain's premiership by telling the House that the PM either had to fight the war to the fullest, or resign and let someone who would lead the fight do so? The David Lloyd George who supported Churchill for PM precisely because he felt whatever else Churchill might be, he was a fighter? The David Lloyd George who was pretty aggressive against any back-sliding amongst MPs who "didn't have the stomach for the fight"? That David Lloyd George?

To be honest, Churchill proposing Prohibition is more likely.
 
This really belongs in the ASB section.

A - It is very hard to see any British government of the day aligning with Nazi Germany particularly if they have been busy engaging in a world conquest spree. Even Mosley would have seen them as a threat.

B - I am not sure that Germany would have had the hard currency to import weapons on a meaningful scale, my limited understanding is that their economy as it headed into the war was in poor shape for anything other than a war. Thus the economic benefits of allying with Germany seem limited.

C - sales to a peaceful Germany were of course possible, but I sense that is not really the question here.
 
I think the POD would have to come at least 8-10 years before the war, like maybe Britain completely unravels during the Depression and Mosley or some other far-right type is able to make inroads in parliament. I don't see it happening under any mainstream Labour, Liberal, or Conservative leader.
 
As far as the actual consequences go...a lot might depend on Japan, because with Britain as part of the Axis, you'd have to think Europe falls under fairly solid Nazi control and Germany is able to focus more on fighting the Soviets, at least assuming that Hitler still decides to double-cross Stalin. Given the political pressures on FDR not to take the U.S. into a "foreign war" and the fact that setting the stage for a D-Day-style invasion would be even more difficult, I'm not sure I see him or any other American President launching a war of European liberation against the Nazis. However, if Japan is still set on expanding into the Pacific and attacks the U.S., then presumably that means the U.S. doesn't quit until both Germany and Japan are defeated.

I'm also thinking that this might spell the end, or at least the shrinking, of the British Commonwealth. Would Canada, Australia, and New Zealand -whatever their ties to the mother country - really tolerate having their people and resources pulled into the Nazi war effort?
 
Non Nazi Germany and Eastern Europe are attacked by a communist France and USSR on 1943, then the "Axis" is Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia UK, Italy, Spain, Romania, Poland, Bulgaria, Turkey. Finland, etc.
 

Ramontxo

Donor
Splutter. David Lloyd George leading a pro-Axis party? The David Lloyd George who ended Chamberlain's premiership by telling the House that the PM either had to fight the war to the fullest, or resign and let someone who would lead the fight do so? The David Lloyd George who supported Churchill for PM precisely because he felt whatever else Churchill might be, he was a fighter? The David Lloyd George who was pretty aggressive against any back-sliding amongst MPs who "didn't have the stomach for the fight"? That David Lloyd George?

To be honest, Churchill proposing Prohibition is more likely.
I stand rebutted. But leaving apart the name of the pro axis candidate i do believe that after an hypothetical peace agreement between the UK and the Nazis elections would have to happen. And with the Tories totally discredited there are only two options, one would be Labour the other hell....
 
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