PBS airs "Hitler's Victory," an alternate history with significance to American patriots

[risk]

Hitler's Britain (2 ´ 50'), produced by AAC FACT™, Lark International for PBS and Lion Television, examines one of the most intriguing questions of our time: what would the Nazis have done if they had conquered Britain? Told in two equally compelling parts, Thinking the Unthinkable: The Nazi Occupation of Britain and Churchill's Last Stand: The Secret of the British Resistance, Hitler's Britain will examine the unsettling possibilities of an alternative world order, and the chilling consequences that Hitler's victory would have had on the UK and beyond. Using reconstruction and graphic manipulation, the programme shows how Hitler's plans would have transformed Britain from a gentle, free-spirited country into an unimaginably harsh and repressive regime.

[Poohbah]

Sea Lion may have been a joke--but we didn't know that at the time, and there really wasn't a British Army able to fight in 1940.

It would have been the ultimate asymmetric conflict--can tactical airpower, a far superior army, and an improvised amphib force have won out over tactical airpower, an outstanding navy, and an army that was a shadow of what it had been a year earlier?

[Poohbah]

We would've simply have based our troops in Ulster.

[Remedy]

the unsettling possibilities of an alternative world order,

CULTURE : Hitler's Forgotten Library: The Man, His Books, and His Search for God

One of the most heavily marked books is Magic: History, Theory and Practice (1923), by Ernst Schertel. When I typed the author's name into one Internet search engine, I scored eight hits, including sites on Satanism, eroticism, sadomasochism, and flagellation. When I typed his name into Google, I scored twenty-six hits, including sites on parapsychology, astrology, and diverse sexual practices. According to a Web site for Germany's sadomasochistic community, Schertel wrote numerous books on flagellation and eroticism, and was "a central figure" in the German nudist movement of the 1920s and 1930s. Hitler's copy of Magic bears a handwritten dedication from Schertel, scrawled on the title page in pencil. A 170-page softcover in large format, the book has been thoroughly read, and its margins scored repeatedly. I found a particularly thick pencil line beside the passage "He who does not carry demonic seeds within him will never give birth to a new world."

[muir_redwoods]

So, it's a good thing so many Americans are armed, I guess. At least that's my inferrence.

[jackbill]

What most of the "FDR conspired to drag America into WW2" folks do NOT realize is that Lend-Lease and the "Neutrality Patrol" (which was anything BUT neutral) were actually quite popular moves at the time.

What is your definition of "quite popular"? As I remember it, it was not a majority opinion at the time.

[elbucko]

It's good to remind people, especially on the left, that they would have been the first to bite the dust if Hitler had won.

That's for sure. Hitler used the German Left to get into power, then shipped them off to the camps when he had it all. The Left never learns this lesson about their lack of good judgement.

[Poohbah]

What is your definition of "quite popular"? As I remember it, it was not a majority opinion at the time.

60+% of the American public supported Lend-Lease.

The majority of the American public did not support actually entering the war.

[Euro-American Scum]

I saw it. It was very interesting.

Has this already aired in the U.S. If not, do you know when?

[risk]

In short, the concept of the show is entertaining, but highly unlikely. Winston was not going to let Jerry on his Island.

Interesting. Also interesting is that it was the committment to blocking that outcome that made the difference. We need that sort of resolve today. After history is written, it looks easy. But while history is unfolding, we're going to lose people, we're going to lose battles, and we're going to feel hopeless at times. Never forget, never forgive, and resolve to die on your feet. That is the best deterrent.

[elbucko]

The Japanese did Churchill and FDR a great service (regardless of any conspiracy tales out there).

They certainly did. Can anyone imagine invading Afghanistan and Iraq without 11 September, 2001.

[AveMaria]

>>>>Ireland actually supported Germany in the beginning for historical reasons, so I'm not sure if our forces would have been welcomed there initially<<<<

It is also important to remember that Hitler's narrow mindedness caused him to be defeated in his invasion of the USSR. Stalin was very strongly hated by many Russians, and by many residents of the former Soviet Republics, who did not want to be part of the USSR.

If Hitler had taken advantage of the ethnic divisions of the USSR, he could have armed anti-Stalin forces in the various Republics, and turned them against Stalin's forces. But Hitler's racist contempt, especially of the Asiatic and Muslim sectors of the USSR, caused the nationalists of those states to feel that they were better off with Stalin - the devil they knew.

[elbucko]

Sealion was really a half-assed joke. Britain was never in serious danger of invasion.

I couldn't have said it better.

[Sid Rich]

It would have been interesting to see how a major air drop (a la Crete)would have factored into Sea Lion.

[Susannah]

I saw this on KQED last night, and it was awesome! You've simply got to see it. It's available on DVD, but I didn't catch the details on how to buy it ($20) and I don't see them online anywhere.

Most PBS channel films can be purchased online...go to the following site and click on 'shop': http:/www.pbs.org Also, if you are in the USA, should be able to purchase by calling 1-800-PLAYPBS.

[aristeides]

Did you see how fast we had troops in North Africa after Hitler declared war on us in 1941... matter of months.

11 months, actually.

[Reaganwuzthebest]

We would've simply have based our troops in Ulster.

That's right, or Belfast area.

[Poohbah]

The Fallschirmjaeger would have fared much better than they did in Crete, because the Royal Navy would have had a much tougher time closing the Channel than they did closing the Eastern Med.

[Poohbah]

Belfast IS in Ulster.

[aristeides]

I'm confident that the Russians would have continued to beat the Germans in the East.

Continued to? Hitler attacked Russia June 22, 1941. If he was going to beat Britain, he would have done it before that. And without Britain to supply her (and provide her with intelligence,) Russia would have had a much harder job surviving a German invasion.

[aristeides]

It's good to remind people, especially on the left, that they would have been the first to bite the dust if Hitler had won.

I suspect a lot of the left would have turned into collaborators. (It happened in France.)