Britain In 1940 (Evacuation at Dunkirk)

[mrclark303]

These personal stories from this pivotal point in World history really are fascinating.

Had Britain been forced to the negotiation table, (invasion would likely have failed and the Germans knew it) and an accommodation reached with Germany, 20th century history would have been quite different..

I've always been sceptical regarding the rifle shortage. The reality was there were still many hundreds of thousands of Enfield's in storage from WW1 after Dunkirk. I've always been of the impression that the big 'gun drive' from the the US was more of an attempt to win over the American public, part of dragging Uncle Sam into the war.

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[Flying10uk]

Had Britain been forced to the negotiation table,

The result for Britain may well have been something like "Vichy France" and Germany may still have invaded at a later date when it was better prepared.

[mrclark303]

The result for Britain may well have been something like "Vichy France" and Germany may still have invaded at a later date when it was better prepared.

I don't see it F10. The invasion of the UK was played out in the late 1960's as a series of war games at Sandhurst.

The Germans loose, as they simply can't support the number of troops needed. The RN and British Army would have worn them down with an eventual withdrawal or surrender inevitable.

The UK was in a very difficult position from France geopolitically and geographically.

The interesting thing would be what would happen to the third Reich without the UK's involvement.

Quite possibly, Hitler wouldn't have declared war on the US after Pearl Harbour and the US would have taken on the Japanese alone.

The Third Reich could well have stayed in place for decades until it collapsed under its own weight like the Soviet Union eventually did.

Or would the German invasion of Russia still have failed leading to a Europe eventually occupied by the USSR?

Certainly, without Britain, the US probably couldn't have become involved in Europe, even if it wanted to, without a European base it would have been quite impossible.

There are so many possible variations in play that could have altered the outcome.

One things for sure, had the UK agreed peace terms with Hitler instead of fighting on, the world would have looked very different today...