Christopher Nuttall - Ragnarok

Overall, just how long would the Reich actually last ?

Hitler will die at some point, shortly after the war. His health was already failing before he killed himself in OTL. Unless he does something to create a long-term governing structure for the Reich , there is almost certainly going to be a major dispute over the succession, not least because Hitler liked playing his subordinates off against one another. Himmler would seem to be the heir presumptive, but there would be other candidates. Speer? Goering? Or someone who rose in power past the end of 1945? It’s very tempting to imagine a civil war following the death of Hitler, as the SS attempts to take complete control and the other factions actively resist it.

The Reich would presumably have a handful of nuclear weapons by 1950, unless — for whatever reason — nukes are never used in this timeline. I suspect at that point global politics would effectively freeze, just as they did in OTL. The Reich would maintain its dominance over Europe, while America built a NATO-analogue or went back to sleep (assuming there was no Japanese War). Britain would want to try to maintain its empire, but it would be incredibly difficult to do anything of the sort.

A nightmare would have descended across the Reich . Even in Germany, Germans would not be safe from the SS — war-wounded veterans, amongst others, would be targeted for elimination. Entire populations deemed inferior would be exterminated. Millions upon millions would be ruthlessly slaughtered or enslaved. It would be the end of the world as they knew it.

But would this Reich last for a thousand years?

That , of course, is the question. I believe the answer is very definitely no , barring a considerable — and unlikely — degree of political reform. The economy would grow weaker and weaker — while the US moved ahead — while no application of military force would be able to hide the Reich’s underlying weaknesses. Would there be a semi-peaceful collapse, as Harry Turtledove speculated, or my outright civil war?

Perhaps we should be grateful that we will never know.

Abwehr — German Military Intelligence

Bund Deutscher Mädel (BDM) — League of German Girls/Band of German Maidens, female wing of the Hitler Youth.

Einsatzgruppen — SS extermination squads

Gastarbeiter — guest worker

Gau — an administrative subdivision.

Gauleiter — the party leader of a regional branch of the Nazi Party; later, regional leader of a district.

Generalmajor — Major General

Germanica — Moscow, renamed after the war

Hauptsturmführer — SS rank, roughly equal to Captain.

Heer — The German Army

Herrenvolk — master race

Junker — German nobleman

Kessel — ‘caldron,’ German military term for trapping an enemy formation.

Kinder, Küche, Kirche — Nazi slogan, roughly “children, kitchen, church.”

Kriegsmarine — The German Navy

Lebensborn — literally ‘font of life.’ SS-run program for increasing the German population, including measures to encourage breeding and the kidnapping of ‘Aryan’ children from non-German families.

Lebensraum — ‘Living Space.’

Luftwaffe — The German Air Force

Mausefalle — ‘Mouse Trap’

Mutterkreuz — Mother’s Cross

Oberfeldwebel — Heer rank, roughly equal to Master Sergeant

Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW, ‘Supreme Command of the Armed Forces’) — The German General Staff.

Obergruppenführer — SS rank, roughly equal to Lieutenant General.

Obersturmführer — SS rank, roughly equal to First Lieutenant.

Ordnungspolizei — Order Police (regular police force)

Reichsführer-SS — Commander of the SS

Reichsgau — an administrative subdivision.

Reichssicherheitshauptamt (RSHA) — Reich Main Security Office

Sigrunen — SS insignia (lightning bolts)

Standartenführer — SS rank, roughly equal to Colonel.

Sturmbannführer — SS rank, roughly equal to Major.

Sturmann — SS rank, roughly equal to Private.

Strumscharführer — SS rank, roughly equal to Master Sergeant.

Swinehund — German insult, literally ‘pig dog.’

Untermensch — subhuman.

Untermenschen — Subhumans, plural of Untermensch.

Unterscharführer — SS rank, roughly equal to Second Lieutenant.

Vaterland — Fatherland.

Volk — The German People.

Volkssturm — German militia.

Wehrmacht — The German Military (often taken to represent just the army ( Heer )).

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August 1942. London is in flames. Heinrich Himmler’s Germany stands triumphant in the West, its “Most Dangerous Enemy” forced to the peace table by a hailstorm of nerve gas and incendiaries. With Adolf Hitler avenged and portions of the Royal Navy seized as war prizes, Nazi Germany casts its baleful gaze across the Atlantic towards an increasingly isolationist United States. With no causus belli , President Roosevelt must convince his fellow Americans that it is better to deal with a triumphant Germany now than to curse their children with the problem of a united, fascist Europe later.

As Germany and Japan prepare to launch the next phase of the conflict, Fate forces normal men and women to make hard choices in hopes of securing a better future. For Adam Haynes, Londonfall means he must continue an odyssey that began in the skies over Spain. American naval officer Eric Cobb finds that neutrality is a far cry from safety. Finally, Rear Admiral Tamon Yamaguchi must prepare himself and his men to fight a Pacific War that is far different than the surprise attack Imperial Japan had once planned but never executed.

Acts of War is the first novel of the Usurper’s War series, which charts a very different World War II. As young men and women are forced to answer their nation’s call, the choices they make and risks they take will write a different song for the Greatest Generation.

H.M.S. Exeter

North Atlantic

1330 Local (1030 Eastern)

12 September

Whether or not Eric was all right was likely a matter of opinion. He wasn’t flying anymore, as the weather conditions had started to become much worse since he’d left Ranger ’s deck that morning. The base of the clouds had once again descended, and he estimated that the ceiling was well under ten thousand feet. At sea level, visibility was under ten miles, and an approaching squall promised to make it less than that very soon.