WI. The WAllies get to Berlin first.

[Mike Stearns]

I think the best scenario that's possible would be for them to ignore Berlin and any other major static holdouts, simply surround them with troops to stop any major movements, and then push on into Poland and Czechoslovakia. And even for that you would need to seriously convince FDR.

I don't think that they would ignore Berlin. Its too politically important. The borders of the occupation zone may have been more or less set in stone by 1944, but the Stars and Stripes or the Union Jack flying over the Riechstag, coupled with what the KGB is telling Stalin about the Manhattan Project, would send a powerful message to the Soviets. "We chose to bail you out of your jam with the Germans, but we didn't really need to. We could have won the war by ourselves. You are the junior partner in this alliance and you owe us big time."

 

[Ariosto]

Alright, I've looked into this further, especially in regards to the French Zone, and it seems the French had gotten what they wanted; it would then be a matter of compensating the British and American Zones for that loss, an issue that can be forced given we are discussing Allied control of Germany at least to the Oder.

Thurigen and a smither of Saxony likely ends up in the American Zone. Not sure on the British, as it may be western Mecklenberg or western Magdeburg, with adjustments elsewhere. Of course, we would have to consider that that Western Silesia would likely remain German here, either under Soviet or Polish occupation.
​

 

[corditeman]

Led astray by the OP title...

...Wondered if the popular 'Where's Wally?' had somehow strayed onto AH. What a wonderful possibility...

...Alas, back to reality.

I did try to argue for an Allied push east in HMS Heligoland 1945 POD, but there was a lot of argument that it wouldn't be politically acceptable, so the US and UK don't hold onto very much and Stalin prevents the division of Berlin. This prevents that travesty, the Berlin Airlift, so I'm not grieving, and it puts the Harz Mountains and other areas in Western Germany.

 

[katchen]

If Stalin didn't like the deal he was getting, he could simply attack Japan and insist on a share of the Japanese occupation (that is if he didn't wind up with the whole Japanese Archipelago considering that the US was bogged down in the Philippines in Sept. 1944. And/or Stalin could carve out an occupation zone in Italy forcing either a divided Italy or a Communist Italy in 1948 ( has anyone done either one as a timeline?) which would have been untenable for the Vatican.
Seriously, how would the West cope with the Communists winning an upset victory in Italy in 1948 despite the CIA's best efforts?

 

[Blackfox5]

Regardless of who takes Berlin and when, the occupation zones will remain the same as IOTL. The only major changes is that the US will be able to extricate more Nazi scientists and rocket data, leaving the Soviets much poorer when they go to develop their own rocket.

Major changes in the postwar balance of power can only happen if the US or British Armies reach other capitals in Eastern Europe first. As others have mentioned, Prague is not one of those capitals. Many people seem unaware of how Czechoslovakia was treated much differently than the other nations in Eastern Europe. Czechoslovakia could very well have avoided the fate of becoming a Communist satellite, but the POD is in 1948, not 1945.

The US would need to reach Vienna, Budapest, or Warsaw first to substantially change the history of those countries after WWII. Warsaw is probably not possible, but Vienna and Budapest just might.

 

[Aber]

The US would need to reach Vienna, Budapest, or Warsaw first to substantially change the history of those countries after WWII. Warsaw is probably not possible, but Vienna and Budapest just might.

Austria was occupied by the 4 powers as agreed - how would its history change?