Alternate historical writing contest
- The Random Leftist
- Nov 30, 2019
- 5 min read
Months after Germany broke the Munich agreement and invaded Czechoslovakia and days before the infamous Molotov-Ribbentrop pact was signed, another alliance involving significant powers was proposed. On the 15th of August, 1939, the USSR had secretly offered to Britain and France to Allie against the Third Reich. The terms were that the USSR was allowed to send troops to the Polish border to combat the Germans. For obvious reasons, Poland would object to this plan. As for Britain and France they’d never respond to the offer. Despite military officials in all countries being aware of the proposition. The alternate history question to ask is what if Britain and France had agreed to the proposal the USSR had given?
There are many things to consider when pondering how this scenario would play out. Such as army size. The USSR promised to send 120 infantry divisions (each with some 19,000 troops), 16 cavalry divisions, 5,000 heavy artillery pieces, 9,500 tanks, and up to 5,500 fighter aircraft and bombers. France at the time had 5,000,000 men in reserve, 99 divisions, 4,200 tanks, about 11,000 guns, 2,916 planes (1,114 fighters, 1,002 bombers), 7 capital ships, 1 aircraft carrier, 19 cruisers, 70 destroyers, 75 submarines. Britain had 16 combat-ready divisions at the time. Germany, in comparison, had 98 divisions, which in total combined had half a million men. Another nation to include in this discussion is Poland. Which in total, had an army of over a million men. In our timeline, Poland was capable of holding off both Germany and the USSR for 35 days.
Now yes Poland would initially refuse to allow Soviet troops across their border. However in a timeline where the USSR declared war on Germany at the same time as Britain and France, thus making it an allied power from the very start. Along with the British and French governments insisting to Poland to allow Soviet troops to cross their border in order to help them fight the Germans. Poland might just have to stomach it’s pride and let the Soviets pass. Since the German army would be busy fighting the Soviets and Polish in east Britain and France could have time to mobilize their forces and strike at Germany's west accurately. Another thing to put into consideration is how smaller nations would react to the beginning of the war. In our timeline, many countries joined the axis in 1940 when it looked like Germany was unstoppable. However, in a timeline where Germany would be enveloped in a war with the USSR in 1940, and western Europe remains unoccupied, some nations may make different choices. Now admittedly, Germany had already made several agreements with countries in Southeastern Europe, so the possibility of them joining the allies is possible but unlikely. Another major question is when Britain and France will launch an offensive into Germany? In our timeline, there was an eight-month period called the phony war, where there was little to no fighting between France, Britain, and Germany. Also, without Germany occupying France, Japan might be more reluctant to attack the various European colonies in Southeast Asia. One thing all these factors have in common is that they all come into play in a scenario where Germany does the same things it did in our timeline. However, what if Germany behaves differently to the establishment of the Alliance between France, Britain, and the USSR. What if Germany took a more diplomatic approach. Now the words Hitler and diplomacy aren't synonymous with each other, but as mentioned earlier, Germany did sigh a plethora of treaties before embarking on its campaign to rule Europe. Germany was also willing to wage proxy wars to further its interest. Some historians believed that France was on the road to having a civil war similar to Spain's. In a timeline where Britain, France, and the USSR are allied. Germany could attempt to drive a wedge between Britain and the USSR by exploiting the rising tensions between the political left and right within France. However, on the other hand, since the USSR and France would be in an alliance, the far-left in France would be appeased and wouldn't be as aggressive in its efforts to seize government power. It should also be noted that Germany's actions also depend on whether Britain, France, and the USSR go public with their alliance or keep it secret. Now it would make more sense for the allies. So that will more likely than not be what occurs.
Now that we've discussed the context of the scenario, it's time for you to write about it will play out. Oh yes, don't think that title was a mistype. This will be a contest to see who can create the best description of how the alternate scenario I just described would play out. I order to participate in this contest, and one must follow this list of rules.
No Alien space bats. To clarify, "Alien space bats" is a neologism for plot devices used in an alternate history to mean an implausible point of divergence. So basically, you can't have something occur in your scenario that is impossible in real life, so no alien invasions.
No extra points of divergence that aren't linked to the primary one. This should be pretty self-explanatory but no making any divergences that happen that happened before the point of change on the 15th of August 1939, so world history has to play out the same before that event. However, exceptions can be made for activities that relate to that event. Say a government official that would oppose the alliance is removed from power, or an office that would be in favor of the coalition is granted more power. Also, with that said, these officials must be high ranking British government officials from our timeline, not alternate ones.
Lastly, the scenario must go to modern-day. So there at least needs to be one sentence dedicated to every decade after the beginning of the scenario.
The contest will end on the 9th of May in 2020. When the contest is over, depending on how many submissions there are. We will either do a top 5 or top 10 of our favorite submissions. Well, there you have it, the context, the rules, and the dates. As long as you abide by the rules, the world is your oyster, and you can craft an alternate timeline almost unrecognizable from ours. You could make a world where Germany suffers a much more swift defeat than in our timeline or one where no war breaks out but rather a cold war between the axis and allies in Europe. As for how you can submit your scenarios, either send to Marcus or me right here, or you can DM them to me on my Instagram https://www.instagram.com/lieutenant_tarn/ and if the author wants we’ll even post excerpts of their works or even publish it on here.
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