@Gargantua:
The Destruction of Britain, Russia, America, etc, is no simple feat.
When would the Axis powers had drawn the line, if say - they were winning? Was total world conquest the goal ? I don’t think so. But I’m looking for other peoples thoughts here… ?
I mean, would Japan have invaded continental USA? Or Germany? Or would the Axis have sued for Peace after accomplishing the bulk of their “noble” goals :D.
For the record too, what was the Japanese Goal? They attacked us, and as culturally methodical as they were (are) they must have had a grand strategy in place? What was the premise? Oil alone?
During WWI, Britain and France had imposed a food blockade on Germany which resulted in hundreds of thousands of hunger-related deaths. This food blockade was continued into 1919 to force Germany to sign the Versailles Treaty.
Germany was (and is) a net importer of food and of raw materials, and a net exporter of manufactured goods. The money from manufactured goods sales is required to pay for the necessary food and raw materials. During the Versailles Treaty, draconian reparations payments to Britain and France used up much of the money obtained from manufactured goods sales. This meant that Germany lacked the money with which to import the needed quantities of food. Germans often went hungry in the '20s, at least during bad economic times.
The Weimar Republic borrowed large quantities of money from the United States in order to lessen the suffering of the German people. While this borrowing was helpful over the short-term, it created another long-term financial burden for Germany. As Germany borrowed more and more money from the U.S., interest payments became increasingly burdensome.
The situation worsened in the late '20s and early '30s, as the British and French empires, as well as the U.S., began closing their borders to German imports. Germany’s ability to pay for anything was contingent on export of manufactured goods. Its financial situation was precarious enough already, without the loss of three of the largest markets for its exports. The less Germany exported, the less food it could afford to buy.
Nazis’ views were deeply affected by these life experiences. Hitler envisioned a Germany which had enough living space, or Lebensraum, to feed its people, regardless of the existence of a food blockade or bad economic circumstances. He also observed that no one had ever imposed a Versailles Treaty on the United States. He wanted Germany to be equally secure against Versailles Treaties. His envisioned method for achieving this was to cause Germany to have the same strength in relation to Europe that the U.S. had in relation to North America.
Hitler believed that by conquering the Soviet Union, he could achieve both Lebensraum and a Germany strong enough to resist future Versailles Treaties. In addition, conquest of the Soviet Union would strike a serious blow against communism. (Though communists would continue to exert influence in Western nations.)
Victory for Germany meant four things. 1) Conquest of the Soviet Union, or at least the portion of the Soviet Union west of the Urals. 2) A peace treaty with whatever portion of the Soviet Union Germany didn’t conquer. 3) Peace with the Western democracies. 4) A long-term program of resettling the western portion of conquered Soviet territory with Germans; in order to create a long-term increase in the population base of Germans.
If a nation is weak, it risks being forced into war by a stronger neighbor. That risk may have been heightened for Germany, due to the fact that both Stalin and most Western democratic leaders were hostile to Nazism. Hitler’s long-range plan for Germany involved making it too strong to become a target for anyone. Had Germany achieved this long-range plan, Hitler’s core objectives would have been met.
