Little Entente ISOT

[melanie]

All the countries that made up the Little Entente in the 1920s, but as they exist on January. 1, 1999 get sent to the 10th of November 1942. France, which was the main backer of the Little Entente, comes along as well.

[stevep]

    melanie ,

   Well with France from 1999 as well its a no contest.  It has powerful military forces and of course nukes so Nazi Germany is toast.  Parts of it literally if they don't surrender quickly enough. 

  Without them its fraught for everybody.  The Czechs and Romanians will have some decent forces - albeit without logistic support/supply in some cases - and also lie across supply lines into both the Balkans and southern USSR.  Not sure of the status of the assorted fragments of Yugoslavia with the divisions between then although unlikely to see Croatia being a Nazi ally here.  Both Tito's partisans and the Axis forces trying to defeat him have gone however.  At a time when the Soviets are starting Operation Uranus and also of course it means the Germans are likely to start questioning the loyalty of the down-time Romanian forces, which they depend on in the east.  Plus the Axis have lost control of the industry of Bohemia and Slovakia and their primary oil source in Polesti as well as of much of the Danube as a supply line.

  I would suspect that the LE [Little Entente] nations would be defeated without France as their too isolated from both western and Soviet aid - the latter they would view as dubious.  However their really going to screw over a lot of Axis forces and resources in the fight and also so much of their industry and logistics so it could take a year or so off the war.  The Soviets unfortunately might be the big gainers, especially with Axis forces being withdrawn from the USSR, despite the crisis there to counter the even greater crisis that has just occurred.

  The allies might get a big local gain if the Germans decide they can't intervene in French N Africa against Operation Torch as they need the forces further north.  Which would leave Rommel and the Italian forces in Libya isolated and forced to surrender so probably by the end of the year all the coast of N Africa is in allied hands.  Which might enable earlier landings in Sicily and points north but, assuming the LE lose how quickly would German forces be back to support the Italians?  I can't see landings in the Balkans because the allies won't really have the forces and the US was fanatically opposed to the idea.  The down side of this is that the inexperienced forces involved OTL lack a lot of the actual combat experience they gained OTL and with the removal of some of the dead wood as well.  Which could be nasty when they face real opposition.

  Its possible that if they can get their act together in the chaos they find themselves in the LE can survive until probably Soviet forces arrive to 'assist' them but its going to be very bloody.  Mind you were any of them in NATO at that stage and possibly have some other, probably US forces also based there.  Which wouldn't make a big difference as their even more isolated from supply but would aid and also make it more of a priority for the west to get aid to them ASAP if they can.  Possibly if they can hold on and the western allies could be persuaded to invade Greece, although it would be a dangerous operation and possibly also Bulgaria switches sides then something could be held in the region.  Which would mean the Balkans and a chunk of central Europe would end up in the western camp as well as the war ending a lot quicker.

  Anyway, as I say with 1999 France its a walk over for the up-timers and allies.  Without them its a complex and interesting scenario.

[melanie]

OK maybe France was overkill. Exclude them.

[stevep]

Sept 11, 2022 12:21:57 GMT melanie said:

OK maybe France was overkill. Exclude them.

  Well when your talking about something which defeats the Nazis quickly overkill is good - unless its something as evil or worse and much as I dislike the current French government I wouldn't say they fitted into that capacity.

  Mind you the interesting thing with a scenario including 1999 France is the post war effects.  Instead of a defeated, humiliated and divided France your got something which is clearly the most powerful nation in the world which will upset the US and Stalin and also cause some issues in London.  How it uses that power and how it deals with issues like decolonization, especially in Algeria, technically a part of metropolitan France and possibly also FIC would be interesting.  Also how it deals with Stalin and the Soviets.  I could see it seeking to exclude the Soviets from any position in Europe probably as far back as its 1938 borders, possibly also seeking to minimise British and American influence on the continent.  Definitely going to be tensions between the US and France as to who leads the western world.

  Similarly the cultural differences between the 1999 world with much stronger rights for women, minorities, religious freedom etc [especially in France but also to a degree in parts at least of the LT powers] and the 1942 world which is far more repressive on many issues.

  Then your got the issues of displaced people such as French etc in 1942 who were outside the affected area - which of course would include a certain de Gaulle as well as a lot of the Vichy figures in N Africa - and similarly non French/LT people from 1999 brought along with those states.