Talk:Post war (See Paris and Die)

I'm not sure if anyone is still here, but if they are, would you mind answering a few questions.

1) What year is it right now?

A: I only took this time line to the early 1950's. The further you go, the more speculative the TL becomes.

2) Is Rommel still alive?

A: It doesn't matter because Rommel no longer has any power or prestige.

3) Is it reasonable to assume that France is now a relatively weak state propped up by the UK?

A: Yes and No. France's prestige is very low and it is not allowed to have a significant military. But it would still be strong economically.

4) Has the Cold War started in this timeline yet?

A: I don't see why a Cold War would exist in this TL. True, there is strong anti-communist sentiment but most countries would consider Germany to be a good buffer against Soviet expansion. Also nuclear bombs in this TL have not been used in a war so nations would allow their wars to become "hot" and not "cold".

If it has, is there a third, Germany-headed facsist bloc, including Italy and maybe a few other European countries?

A: Germany would be a very nationalistic country which you could most probably call fascist, but the Nazis would not necessarily run the show. Also Germany would also consider Italy to be unreliable (especially after Mussolini is off stage) so a German/Itialin alliance is unlikely.

5) To me, it seems that, due to the distribution of their territories, war between the US and the UK is very possible. Would it be reasonable to think that a third world war, a la Harry Turtledove's first world war (which had the USA, Germany, and Austria against Russia, Britain, France, and the CSA) could start?

A: You can spin any story you want but a USA/UK war or Turtledove WW3 seems unlikely.

Here is how I'd see a possible 1950's:

The UK would be having great difficulties maintaining an Empire, despite increased oil revenue and political prestige. Its efforts would be spent keeping what it already has, not in trying to get more.

France would be in a mood to prove itself and would become involved in some small wars in Africa.

Because the USSR's foreign policy is focused on Germany, Russia would not provide any significant support to socialist movements in Central or South America (bad news for Casto in Cuba, for example). The USA is free to interfere in Central American politics and would do so to aid business interests. The USA would also be interested in the Pacific rim: Philippines, Japan, and China. America would leave India and Indonesia to European interests. I don't see any obvious reason for USA and UK to go to war, or for them to be less than cordial to each other.

The USSR and Germany do not trust each other and have a well armed boarder, they both have nuclear weapons and do not need a long range delivery system. So if we were to continue this TL further, something could happen in Lithuania or Poland to start a shooting war between the Soviets and Germany. Both countries would feel they have an undermanned conventional army and would start dropping nukes. Berlin, Warsaw, Minsk, and Kiyev would undoubtedly be hit. Once nukes started flying, the rest of the world may freak out and try very hard to get the two sides to stop fighting. It really wouldn't matter which side "won" the war as both sides would lose. Only after the power of nukes has been demonstrated on real cities could some sort of "Cold War" develop, and nations would ramp up production of nukes to OTL levels.

I'm really interested in starting a new account here, so any input would be appreciated.

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