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#ifhitlerdiedin1939 Profile photo for Thierry Etienne Joseph Rotty
Thierry Etienne Joseph Rotty
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Senior Controller at NATOJul 30
What if Adolf Hitler died at the end of 1939 during World War II?
He would have been succeeded by Erwin Bumke, President of the Supreme Court, as President and Chancellor since the Office of Vice-Chancellor was vacant.

Rudolf Hess was deputy PARTY LEADER, a fact most people miss.

Göring wasn’t designated as successor until 1941.

Now, the Nazis wanted to do everything by the book, shoving Bumke to the side would have been unthinkable.

Bumle, however, would have been influenced by Göring, Goebbels, and Himmler with
Göring carrying the most weight (pun intended).

Göring would have tried to make peace with the Allies, most likely by offering to give Poland back its independence. This would have put Britain and France on a collision course with Stalin who had grabbed the other half of Poland.

This would have been an offer the Allies and Poland couldn’t have refused unless they wanted war with the Soviet Union.

The now weakened Poland would have had to rely on Germany for protection against the Soviet Union.

Göring had always viewed good relations with Poland as an essential step towards an invasion of the Soviet Union. This had always been Hitler's idea as well until 1938 which is why Hitler had concluded a treaty with Poland in 1934. Poland’s strong man Jozef Beck had prevented this planned alliance against the Soviets.

With Beck out of the way, a German-Polish alliance would most likely have become a reality.

This would have ended the war with Britain and France and would have made Stalin look really bad in the eyes of the Allies.

Whether Göring would have pressed for an invasion of the Soviet Union (and when) is not clear.

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