Second Chance

Appendix Two: German Responses to the Transition, 1940

The Germans were the first 1940 state to realise what had happened, through the combination of a 747 jet and passengers managing a crash-landing in France and a number of clashes between the modern RAF and the Luffwaffe. The supremely adaptable Herman Roth, an SS officer who passed outside the notice of history, understood some of the implications of the Transition before anyone higher up in the Nazi hierarchy, fast enough to ensure that the RAF’s strike on the crashed jet failed to do more than destroy the jet itself. The jet had been stripped of everything that might be useful; the details of the jet’s construction – common equipment in 2015 – provided the German aircraft engineers with useful tips.

Having sorted out the information and equipment that they possessed – including information sent to them via an agent in Britain – the Germans began a program to avoid repeating the same mistakes as the last time World War Two was fought, aided by a history professor who was unlucky enough to fall into German hands along with his family. In addition, German ranks were ruthlessly purged – with a handful of exceptions – of men who would later betray Hitler. Only Rommel and Himmler, for different reasons, escaped imprisonment or execution.

The immediate German response was to diversify their industry and move at once to a ‘guns and guns’ economy, particularly in the wake of the first British cruise missile attacks. Production of the Panzer IV, and then later the modified Panzer V (which has features in common with both the Panther and King Tiger of OTL) was standardised as quickly as possible, removing the need for superlatively-trained workmen. German propeller fighters, including ME-109s, were also mass-produced, along with a new pilot-training program. Considerable resources were also poured on a ‘semi-V1’ cruise missile, but until 1941 the V1s remained very unreliable, showing a 30% launch failure rate and only 5% impact rate. Until 1941, in addition, the V1s were effectively being fired blindly at Britain; civilian airports were targeted, military airfields were hardly targeted. (This was later discovered to be because of the 2015 airfields not having existed in OTL 1940; the Germans launched at 1940 locations.)

The Germans did attempt to mass-produce a modified ME-262, a jet fighter, but apart from a few prototypes they were unsuccessful. The original design had been improved by hobbyists over the years, but it still required more materials then Germany – even with access to Soviet supplies – could spare. A handful of fighters were produced for special missions, but the bugs were never fully worked out.

Finally, despite considerable protest the Kriegsmarine abandoned any surface program after most of the fleet was destroyed with ease. Production was concentrated on u-boats, attempting to minimise the sound emissions, but the electric-powered ships were never a match for modern submarines from 2015. Once the sonar barrier was established, only a couple of very lucky u-boats were able to make it into the Atlantic. As priorities changed, the Germans abandoned naval programs almost completely.

Longer-term, the Germans concentrated on nuclear, biological and rocket weapons, using the information they had discovered onboard the 747 to force their own programs forward. Jewish scientists were recruited (this truth was kept from Hitler) into the project and used to turn the details in the recovered information into reality. Again, concentration was focused on turning the project into an engineering challenge, rather than developing a whole new field, and progress was steady. The most optimistic estimate placed the German K-Bomb (Kern Bomb) in 1942.

Although the RAF attempted to damage the German economy, the strikes were never as effective as they might have been, largely due to domestic political concerns. For example, dams and slave labour camps were never struck, nor were factories plastered with the level of firepower required to seriously degrade them for longer than a few days. In essence, the Germans managed miracles of short-term production, but at the cost of limited long-term success.

Politically, particularly since North Africa fell to British forces, Hitler worked to pull Italy, Spain and Vichy France into the Tripartite Pact. Although a semblance of independence was permitted, all control remained firmly in German hands, working towards a final German victory. Ironically, this helped the Italian economy; many of the bureaucrats who had strangled it were summarily dismissed or shot by German planners. One particular benefit from this was the development of advanced radar; an Italian had invented the best radar set in 1940 and this was placed into mass production at once.

On the global stage, the alliance with Japan was confirmed and a new alliance was formed with Stalin, who was aware of the judgement of history. Although all sides saw this as a temporary expedient, this new Tripartite Pact managed to work together in reasonable harmony. Cooperation, however, was hampered; several of the best Russian generals of the Second World War were fingered as later traitors by the Germans, weakening the Soviets in the long run.