The above scene from The Rocketeer (1991) posits rocket-pack powered Nazi of the Third Reich taking over the world.
But before The Rocketeer, and even before the whole myriad of "Nazis win World War II" alternate history genre fiction, in 1942, the war wasn't a done-deal.
So LIFE magazine published an article in the March 2nd, 1942, issue that gives six different invasion routes to take over the United States.
It's a pretty interesting read, with Japan invading through Dutch Harbor or invading Hawaii, Germany striking the East Coast, and many of them rely on 5th columnists attacking from within.
It's also an interesting look into early WWII American concerns about the course of the war.
This magazine article would be a great resource for any WWII or Inter War period game.
Posts
The Life article is indeed interesting, though more as a window to the worst-case-scenario fears of the time, and how the US government felt it needed to propagandize to build support for the war even after Pearl Harbor, than for any real strategic insight. Neither Germany nor Japan had any real plans along these lines, though I suppose if enough outlandishly lucky breaks had gone their way, they might have drifted in this direction (the Germans had never intended to send troops to Africa, for example, but by late 1942 they were at least contemplating the possibility of Rommel driving into the Middle East).
ReplyDeleteThe Life article was also cited by the designers as source material for the controversial 1990 board wargame, SS Amerika: http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/11766/ss-amerika
Thanks for the comment.
ReplyDeleteIn the midst of history still playing out, I wonder what news articles will have the same effect?