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A few days ago I made a thread about keeping Stalin out of conquering half of Europe, having thought more about it, I came up with this scenario in particular, I would like to discuss.

Basically, imagine that after Stalingrad Hitler is out (either killed or couped) and the new guys in charge realize Germany has no way to win the war. They are faced with the same choice Japan had to make: Either be occupied by the western allies or Stalin.

After contacting the western allies they agree to an unconditional surrender (likely with some deal like limited immunity to the new leadership or something along those lines), on the condition that they will surrender but only to them, not Stalin.

I know this scenario is implausible but it is not completely impossible, Japan surrendered unconditionally and they were way less likely to surrender after they saw the prospect of a Soviet invasion. Churchill (the same guy who proposed Unthinkable) had a bad enough view of the USSR that he would likely be willing to consider this.

The new German leadership (which still have troops in Russia) as well as the allies contact Stalin with an ultimatum: Germany is defeated and they will withdraw, but Stalin has no legitimate claim to any territory that is not Russia (this means of course no Ukraine, let alone Poland and Germany).

What would be the outcome of this? Would this have effects in the upcoming cold war? Would Stalin agree or keep fighting even if it means he will now have to fight what is left of Germany + the allies?
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