WI: The Soviet Union was at peace with Germany and war with Japan in WW2?

Could this have lead to a German victory in Europe, if for whatever reason, the 'Eastern Front' was in the Far East? Suppose the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was kept, but the Soviets went to war with Japan instead?
 
Could this have lead to a German victory in Europe, if for whatever reason, the 'Eastern Front' was in the Far East? Suppose the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was kept, but the Soviets went to war with Japan instead?
Not possible. If the USSR went to war with Japan, Germany would have to declare war on them.
 

Baskilisk

Banned
Not possible. If the USSR went to war with Japan, Germany would have to declare war on them.
I hope that was a joke...that's pretty much what didn't happen in OTL, except it was inverted...
Besides, I don't think that even Stalin would give Germany an open shot to attack Russia while she was busy wiping up Manchuria.
 

Tellus

Banned
What I meant was that if USSR attacked Japan, there was no way Hitler wouldn't attack USSR, regardless of any agreement made with the USSR.

Uhm, no?

Germany's alliance to Japan was convenient, but thats about it. It was entirely sacrificiable for the Nazis. If for some reason Hitler decided not to invade the USSR, Japan be damned. Furthermore, the Axis pact was defensive only in nature, so if its not clear that the Soviets are the aggressor, it doesnt kick in. Finally, its possible to POD away the tripartite alliance altogether if thats the issue. Frankly, theres nothing impossible in this scenario.

The largest stretch has nothing to do with Japan. Its about convincing Hitler that he shouldnt attack the USSR at the earliest opportunity.
 
Uhm, no?

Germany's alliance to Japan was convenient, but thats about it. It was entirely sacrificiable for the Nazis. If for some reason Hitler decided not to invade the USSR, Japan be damned. Furthermore, the Axis pact was defensive only in nature, so if its not clear that the Soviets are the aggressor, it doesnt kick in. Finally, its possible to POD away the tripartite alliance altogether if thats the issue. Frankly, theres nothing impossible in this scenario.

The largest stretch has nothing to do with Japan. Its about convincing Hitler that he shouldnt attack the USSR at the earliest opportunity.
Hitler wanted to invade the Soviets anyway. I think that if Japan invaded them, he'd take the opportunity.
 
Maybe if Stalin hadn't purged the army and so completely and rapidly curbstomps Japan, Hitler may decide invading the Soviets would be very unwise.
 
Suppose for a moment that someone who actually cared about what was strategicly feasable was really at the helm in Germany. Make that assumption first. Don't say that its ASB that the Germans might have stood by when the Japanese and the Soviets went to war; I am thinking that the Germans might have stood by and let the Japanese grind the Soviet Union into a fine powder in the Far East; and go in for the kill against a weakened Soviet Union, similar to what the Soviets did to the Japanese in 1945 IRL.

I am thinking of combining this with a 1942 start for the war, the Germans giving themselves three more years to better prepare for a quick victory in Europe; which would have been much easier had they not invaded the Soviet Union; but it was still part of the plan from day one.
 
technically the scenario posited by the OP actually happened IRL. Although not officially a declared war, the Soviet Union and Empire of Japan fought several battles from 1938-1939 that were quite large in scale. The Japanese were soundly whipped throughout most of the entire thing and the Russians didn't officially declare war until 1945, but either way it more or less fits the chriteria for the OP's scenario, since Barbarossa didn't get in gear until spring of '41.
 
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