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Rommel Defeats Monty
Topic Started: Aug 16 2012, 01:57 AM (263 Views)
Basil Fawlty
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Post Tenebras Lux
What would change if the Nazis had defeated the British at El Alamein and pressed forward into Egypt, then into Palestine and the Middle East? I'm not talking about strategic changes, like the capture of oil fields, but the cultural-political dynamics of Hitler marching into Israel. How would the Nazis have treated the historic Jewish homeland?
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Simon Darkshade
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Logistically, it is impossible at that point in time. Not on the level of a successful Sealion, but very difficult. First and Second El Alamein were not really close run things and the sheer weight of material and particularly airpower was very strongly in favour of the Desert Army and Desert Air Force.

A better chance is some sort of collapse after Gazala, but Rommel didn't have the logistical capacity to press into Egypt proper. That would also have the effect of putting him within close range of the mass of RAF bases between Cairo and Alexandria.

Setting aside possibility, I think that a Nazi advance into Palestine would be met by heavy Haganah resistance based on Mount Carmel, but that would eventually peter out into smaller scale guerilla warfare. Jewish settlements and Tel Aviv would probably be destroyed, as would Jewish monuments. It would be a heck of a shock to the world and probably result in renewed Zionism among quite a few Jews.
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Basil Fawlty
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All fair points.

It would be interesting to speculate on what sort of reaction that would cause within German circles. Hitler would get a lot of symbolic mileage out of dominating the Jewish homeland. It might even result in a revised Madagascar Plan with Israel as the new destination.
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Simon Darkshade
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The Madagascar Plan was never realistically contemplated and the true intent was always murder.
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Basil Fawlty
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Also very true. Logistical constraints alone indicated the intent -- how do you feed millions people once you get them there, even assuming the Royal Navy vanished and the Germans had complete control of the seas? That is why Israel as a destination would be even more diabolical, from the Nazi perspective.

It wouldn't surprise me if the plan backfired.
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Simon Darkshade
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With the exception of a number of good breaks early in the war, the Nazis had a knack of ensuring backfiring and mess ups.
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Doctor_Strangelove
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.
Edited by Doctor_Strangelove, Nov 11 2016, 10:21 AM.
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Basil Fawlty
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Post Tenebras Lux
Oh dear. Someone is either very bored or drunk.
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Doctor_Strangelove
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Edited by Doctor_Strangelove, Nov 11 2016, 10:21 AM.
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