OOC: Creative, but within limits. Make the outcome and the war as good or as bad as possible. 1939-however long the war lasts
1940-1941
America does not provoke Japan to bomb Pearl Harbor by not placing an oil embargo upon the land of the Rising Sun. This leads to a prolonged war with China, which they cannot win due to the sheer scale of the nation and the fierce resistance they encountered. Sooner or later, the cost of maintaining such troop levels will force them to either scale down or withdraw from the nation within the next decade.
Operation Sealion never occurs and the Uboat campaign, successful in the beginning, ultimately fails as they cannot sink tonnage fast enough. They begin to suffer losses, that gradually mount, which will grow much worse when the US Navy enters in full with far more naval resources.
1942-1943
Pearl Harbor's absence means a later entry of the US into the European War, with Operation Torch delayed. Still, Rommel is under supported, and pressed back gradually by the British who are able to move reinforcements from the Far East with greater ease. When the US does enter the conflict, the North African campaign is brought to a close in the same manner.
Meanwhile, on the Eastern Front, the Germans are sent reeling as they overstretched their supply lines. Stalingrad still plays out, but the Germans are able to succeed somewhat under Manstein. They are better supported from the air, but such matters little on the Eastern Front. Operation Citadel is more successful, but the Germans are still bled white with heavier losses, and are forced to adapt a defensive strategy. The Soviets incur heavier losses, as troops not sent to Italy have been thrown in by the Germans, but they still maintain the advantage. They will continue to launch counter-attacks in the future, concentrating where the Germans are weak.
The US does not seek to acquire an atomic program, its expense being seen as too great for an unproven concept. It desires to fight this war conventionally, putting such funding into more bombers, tanks, planes, and ships.
1944-1945
Italy capitulates after the successful invasion of Sicily, but Mussolini is able to escape to the Reich before he is betrayed. Hitler sends forces into Italy, just at the same time as the Western Allies invade the southern peninsula from the south. The Allied offensive is stalled, and the fighting drags on as the south is mountainous and not country suitable for modern warfare. Rome falls in 1945, with the Allies pushing to the Po to be halted by the Axis.
The Eastern Front collapses after Operation Bagration, with Army Group Center virtually annihilated. German reinforcements are rushed to the East, as the Soviets take advantage to press forward through the gap made. They begin to withdraw in the face of renewed assaults by the Red Army, though they conduct a scorched earth campaign as they did in otl. This slows the Soviet juggernaut, as well as Lend Lease coming about somewhat later. Still, the Germans can only conduct localized counterattacks, while the Soviets hurl a seeming endless wave of tanks and men into the meatgrinder.
By late 1945 and early 1946, the Germans are driven to the Vistula with their forces in the Baltic being cut off. Romania changes sides after the destruction of the revived 6th Army, with Bulgaria following suit. Hungary remains a faithful ally of the Reich, while forces are now withdrawn from Greece and Yugoslavia to handle the disaster which is unfolding. Finland signs a separate peace with the Soviets, giving up claims to its lost territories. The Warsaw Uprising is crushed, destroying the Home Army, while the Soviets prepare to launch their campaign in Poland.
East Prussia is cut off and Warsaw falls, trapping significant numbers of German forces. The fighting is savage, with atrocities committed against the German population in retaliation for the German actions within the Soviet Union. The German population flees West, to escape the Red Army.
West Germany has been devastated by the bomber campaigns, though it is now producing more under Speer than it had prior. Slave labor and pows are utilized to a greater extent, but it is not enough to match the output of the Soviets or the Allies. The Germans are bled to the death in the East, while in the West the Allies now launch Operation Overlord against a weakened beachhead.
In 1946, there is a successful attempt on Hitler's life, bringing Himmler to power. His attempt to make peace with the Western Allies is derailed, as in the East the Soviets have uncovered camps such as Auschwitz and have released files as regards to Nazi attempts at genocide. The Allies press on into France, liberating Paris, while forces are landed in southern France which press northwards. The Germans, with weakened forces, are forced to withdraw to the east towards the Low Countries and their own border.
The Allies outmatch the Germans in manpower, tanks, and airpower. Due to their rapid advance, they pause to get their supply chain in order. Depots are established, and the Germans do not possess the resources to take advantage of this as only a skeleton force is left in the West. Holland is liberated by Commonwealth forces, which include troops from Australia and New Zealand, though it is primarily Canadian. Granted, Holland has been ravaged by starvation, in which resources have been stripped to feed the Germans.
1947-
The West is quiet, while the Soviets have renewed their offensives. They advance into Hungary and have driven the Germans back into Germany itself. Berlin is on the horizon, but the Soviets must wait until they bring their overstretched forces to strength. The Germans succeed in some localized counter-attacks, which are quickly regained by the Soviets. Soon, the Soviets bring 2 million men to close on Berlin, while German offensives in Hungary result in the destruction of such forces.
Himmler is overthrown as the Western Allies cross the Rhine, and German forces are withdrawn from Italy now in earnest. Mussolini is hanged in Milan, while Goebbels attempts to rally the nation against the hordes of the East. Most of Western Germany is falling rapidly to the Allies, but the Soviets have advanced further than they did historically as the Battle for Berlin has begun. They reach the border of Denmark, and soon the East Germany which is to come will be much larger.
Berlin falls, and is virtually destroyed, though the Soviets have incurred greater casualties. The Allies meet and celebrate the Fall of the Reich, while the government under Donitz negotiates a peace with the Allies in May of 1947. The Soviets have incurred a greater number of casualties, but have extended the Iron Curtain westwards. The US under Truman plans to maintain a force in Western Germany, though many forces are demobilized and sent back to the States.
1948-1950s post-war
The Western nations are devastated and Socialist governments take power, establishing welfare states. De Gaulle, who was killed in 1940, is not there to reform the republic which soon gives way to two other republics before stabilization. The US gives Marshal Aid to the Western powers and defers their debts, though it is much smaller than previously. The grip of the European powers is forever broken, and they withdraw leaving chaos in their wake by 1950. India is lost by Britain, the African colonies soon follow, and there are risings in the Middle East.
The Holocaust has killed far more than in our timeline, with the few Jews that remained migrating to the United States. Monarchies dominate the Middle East, being seen as a bulwark against Soviet expansion. Israel never comes into existence, with the Arab powers becoming more focused on differences of sect. Iraq is a basketcase, Egypt is aligned to the West, Persia turns to the Soviet bloc, and Turkey opts to join the new NATO which has formed.
The Communists are successful in Greece, with the assistance of Titoist forces. The death of Stalin causes chaos in the Soviet bloc, but soon Marshal Zhukov takes the reins after a successful coup against Beria. He will be displaced by Khrushchev, but both do not withdraw Soviet forces from the Eastern satellites. A rising against the Communists is crushed in East Germany, Austria, and Hungary with great violence. Yugoslavia breaks off all ties, and the two eye each other with contempt.
Japan is still militaristic, but has yielded to circumstances, and has withdrawn to Manchuria in the face of the the Nationalist counter-attacks. Their only success has been annihilating the forces of the Communists, with Mao being killed in a skirmish with Japanese forces. The West turns its focus to the East, opting to bring the Japanese into their orbit while the Nationalists gravitate towards the Soviets now that the Communist threat is eliminated. China is lost to the West, but it has been ravaged by Japanese.
The Japanese remain strong in Manchuria, Korea, and Formosa. Indochina has never been occupied, and it gains its independence following the French withdrawal. The Japanese, with the support of the US, intervene to the halt the spread of Communism. The Chinese support the Vietnamese and send reinforcements, in which both sides once more are killing each other. This drags on, until the Japanese evacuate the country in earnest
