What if~The Phony War Never Happened?

During World War 2 as the Nazis and the Soviets invaded Poland, there was a slow time between September of 1939, and the Spring of 1940 (which the Nazi Blitzkrieg began).

This is called the "Phony War" where both Britain and France basically sat with their thumbs up their butts and did nothing. Which proved to be a big mistake as this gave the Nazis plenty of time to prepare for their Blitzkrieg which led to Paris being ripe for the taking by the Nazis and forcing the Brits and the French to retreat.

But what if in an alternate reality, the Brits and the French didn't hold back and tried to stop the Nazis before the Blitzkrieg? What if, the Phony War never happened?

This is what this wiki page will try to cover. But first, some historical context. You part of this page you can just scroll down to the "What if?" if you just want to read about the scenario.

## Real History

As you know already, in September 1, 1939, Nazi Germany invaded Poland and the USSR deployed troops to try to stop them, and then both the Nazis and the Soviets then agreed to a "Non-aggression pact".

Between September of 1939 and to the Blitzkrieg (in the Spring of 1940) is when the Phony War began where Great Britain, France, Germany and the USSR just......................sat around and......you know, did nothing.

France was too afraid to launch an offensive because of a potential counter-attack by the Nazis, and it's military also lacked the necessary discipline as well as having primitive technology (as they used old-fashioned communication methods rather than using the radio; a new piece of technology for the time). The Brits also haven't fully committed to the war either as they sent only 200,000 soldiers to aid France, and both also dropped Anti-Nazi Propaganda messages on Germany and its allies instead of bombing them.

Except for the Norwegian Campaign in April of 1940, these decisions by both nations proved to be a huge mistake as this gave the Nazis plenty of time to get ready to invade Western Europe, and they did a month later; the Nazi Blitzkrieg had begun. Within just a few weeks, the Nazis occupied France and placed Britain in grave danger, that is until the United States got involved.

## What if?

So, now your favorite question. What if the Phony War never happened? What if the France and Britain didn't hold back and gave the Nazis time to prepare for their invasion of Western Europe.

Let's say that both the Brits and the French took the Nazi threat seriously, and France in particular bolstered their defenses, used more up-to-date military technology and even had was more stringent in disciplining their troops, and decide to go on the offensive before the Nazis even had a chance to get ready for "the Blitzkrieg".

France did had superior technology in some points over the Nazis, their main Battletank (the Char B1) did had the tech capabilities to go up against the German Panzers (mk.3 and mk. 4) but they lacked the communication technology which is the use of Radios. In this alternate reality, the Char B1 had radios installed and used them, and they as well as the Brits decide to attack the Nazis. Though the Nazis put up a pretty good fight, but are no match against the invading British and French forces and are defeated. Lets also say that the Brits and the French invade Fascist Italy as well, like Germany, Italy falls within a matter of weeks.

So, what happens now? One thing's for sure, the USSR isn't invaded by the Nazis, but that doesn't mean it won't be invaded period.

In our reality, Winston Churchill had a plan to attack the USSR after Nazi Germany fell in May of 1945 called "Operation: Unthinkable" where the west would attack the USSR. The big reason why his operation never saw the light of day is because by the time WW2 ended, Britain as well as France (and even the US) exhausted a lot of their manpower as well as their resources to launch an operation at this magnitude, so attacking the Soviet Union (despite it losing over 17 Million soldiers during the war) would be suicide because of their manpower.

Even in this alternate reality, it would still be suicide to attack the USSR because they would be have a lot more manpower to defend their "Mother Land".

Though, what happened in our reality with Operation Barbarossa could happen with Unthinkable. Because Stalin has purged a lot of competent military leaders in the Red Army in the 30s, and it'll still happen in this alternate reality.

So, instead of the Nazis it'll be the Brits and the French invading Russia. Though they can choose not to, but for the sake of this scenario, let's say this happens.

There's one thing you have to understand is that the reason why the USSR joined the Allies during WW2 is because it had the same enemies as the Brits, the French, and eventually the Americans, they hated the Nazis and the Japanese just as much as the west did. But the USSR wasn't "bosom buddies" with the west as the west already hated the Communist government that established themselves after the Russian Civil War, in fact the USA didn't even recognize the USSR until sometime in the late 1920s. During the Russian Civil War however, the west did aid the White Army though futile their efforts were. So, it makes sense a bit why the west would attack the USSR.

You may know already know that the USA was also reluctant to join the war as around ¾ of the American population wanted their country to stay neutral. In this alternate reality with the Phony War never happening, Britain and France may request help from the US early. Just like in our reality, they would be reluctant to help and because the Brits and the French are the ones that attacked Germany instead of the other way around, it'll be more so.

But there are a few factors that would go against this particular issue. One is that the relationship that the west had with the USSR as well as the threat it poses. The other, is the Japanese.

No matter what happens in Europe, Japan would attack the US as they had their own reasons to do so, not because Nazi Germany was the aggressor. So, the USA would join the war as it did in our reality. But instead of attacking Germany first, it would be the USSR.

I also asked myself this question. Since the Allies attacked Nazi Germany first before the Holocaust began, would this make the Allies the bad guys? No.

I did research and studies on the Holocaust, and the conclusion is that Nazi Germany had this idea ever since Hitler became chancellor of Germany in 1933. The Holocaust wasn't some giant event that took place in WW2, it was supposed to be in stages. By 1939, there were a good number of concentration camps in Nazi Germany and its occupied areas such as Austria and Czechia. So, the Holocaust would have still happened in this alternate reality, just not on the scale as we know it, and thus the world would have a bigger Jewish population than in our reality.

This Alternate WW2 would see British, French, and eventually American forces along with German and Italian freedom fighters facing off with the Soviets. Though, for a while the Allies would push the Soviets back to the Ural Mountains, but the Soviets would regroup and push the Allies back to Europe, and they end up at a stalemate in (surprise) Germany. There's no telling how long the stalemate would last, but a treaty of some kind would eventually be signed, so the Brits, French, Germans and Italians get Western Europe, and the USSR would get Eastern Europe.

What about the Pacific Theater?

Well, the US would win. No matter what.

But, with a twist.

What Americans routinely forget is that it wasn't just the Atomic Bombs that forced Japan's surrender. It was also the Soviet invasion of Japanese occupied Manchuria. But with the USA at war with the USSR, this particular invasion never happens. Perhaps the Allies would come up with their own operation to try to liberate Manchuria or even try to aid the Chinese to liberate the province. Either way, it'll take another month or so for Japan to finally throw up the white flag.

Now, what about Atomic and Nuclear weapons?

Well, they will still be constructed during this WW2-A. But there would be a more closer competition between the USA and the USSR. But that doesn't mean the Soviets would get the bomb before the Americans because with the USA having a technological advantage. What it does mean however, is that the USSR would develop a Nuke a year or so earlier and thus would develop a Nuclear arsenal sooner.

The other question is would there be a cold war?

That is hard to say. Since there was active conflict between the west and the USSR, things could escalate into WW3 which means............................

Well, you know.

Still, this is a hard question to answer. Since this is so far from the point of divergence from our reality.

World War 2 would still happen if the Phony War never occurred, because it already started (no duh). But it would have a few twists. Like No D-Day, no North Africa Campaign, the Brits and the French invading the Soviet Union instead of Germany making the Soviet Union the bad guys, and the Allies would be more involved in the Pacific theater with no Soviet invasion of Manchuria. It could also bring about WW3 since the relationship between the west and the USSR is already terrible (even more so than in our reality).

Perhaps it could also bring about a fascist movement against both Allied and Soviet occupation in both Italy and Germany. But we'll never really know how this would play out if the Phony War never happened.

That is it for this wiki page. What do you think would happen if the Phony War never happened? Don't forget to check out my Games and Movies wikis as well. Until next time, this is JohnnyOTGS signing out.