Let's say that there is no uprising in Yugoslavia during the Second World War. There is no uprising in Yugoslavia, Yugoslavia joins the Axis Powers, which causes for there to be no reason for the invasion of Yugoslavia, which in turn suggests that forces preparing for Operation Barbarossa are not delayed.
In OTL (If I am correct) the Invasion of Yugoslavia caused for Operation Barbarossa to be delayed five weeks.
So, what happens if Operation Barbarossa comes out on schedule and invades Russia 5 weeks earlier?
What are the short term, and long term affects.
Your thoughts, good people of AH.com.
I don't believe that the invasion was delayed that much, due to the rains and resulting mud. Let's say 2-3 weeks. The effect was more due to the worn out nature of the committed troops which were needed for the invasion of Russia, but later on, also the drain of occupation troops, which would have been far better used against the Russian partisans.
Does the invasion of Greece still happen? Or due the Italians take care of it themselves? I don't think the effects are really all that great in the short term, as the logistic troubles will still hamstring the Germans while the earlier start won't give enough time to get to Moscow, as the strength was not really there. Basically the Germans would have had more time before winter to realize that the thrust at Moscow was not going to work out and settle down before the weather really hits and perhaps bring up winter supplies before it get really ugly.
So not much appreciable changes, but in the long term the Germans have many more resources to commit to Russia, while the Yugoslavs are able to continue to ship the German the necessary resources that they require. This means about 3-400,000 more Germans in Russia. This is definitely not a war-winner, as these will be occupation troops, but the Soviet partisans will be that much more hard pressed, perhaps saving more German lives. It also means more supplies and resources for the Eastern front, but will this substantially change things? I doubt it. In the long run the result is the same, except Yugoslavia is now invaded by the Soviets and remains a part of the Eastern block, but with less damage. Perhaps Tito and the communists revolt later in the war and install their leader to appease the Soviets.