Wirtschaftswunder Weimar Germany

[uk 75]

The British Economist JM Keynes argued that the economic punishment of Germany sowed the seeds for conflict.
If in 1919 the horrors inflicted by the Russian Revolution had prompted the Western democracies to take a less punitive attitude to the new German Republic a prosperous and peaceful Europe might have been possible as it was after 1949.
The technical innovations often attributed to Hitler's perverted Reich like autobahns, high speed trains and advanced civil aviation all took place in the Weimar Germany so often derided by Germans and foreigners alike.
It took Adenauer and De Gaulle to break the cycle of Franco-German conflicts, but perhaps in our alt 1919 two such figures could be found.
Both the US and UK would have welcomed a stable, democratic Europe but they might also have felt the chill of its industrial and technological muscle. Britain in 1919 still basked in past glories and sought to preserve its Empire.
The aircraft that might have emerged from this new world might well have astounded.

 

[Rule of cool]

What part/s of the ToV would you loosen, they’re all harmful in their own way?
· War guilt and unlimited (in theory) reparations.
· Loss of 1/8 of pre-war territory, particularly in the East where they won.
· Limiting the armed forces to 100,000.
· No military aircraft, heavy artillery, tanks and warships over 10,000t.


The ToV is said to have fostered the V2 rocket as a replacement for the banned super heavy artillery, so loosening that provision could have far reaching consequences. While Germany would not pursue ballistic missiles so vigorously they wouldn’t be behind in artillery and tanks by the 30s.


A looser ToV could have big impacts for the Navy, perhaps it isn’t scuttled at Scapa Flow and Germany is invited to participate in the Washington Conference and Treaty. Germany could be given the same allowance as France and Italy, with 5 capital ships; my guess is Germany would finish the 2 other Bayern class battleships and the Mackensen class battlecruiser.


That said WW1 and Germany’s role in it are major interests of mine and I think the world would have been a more peaceful place if Germany won the long war. However this is a technically oriented forum and less interested in that sort of speculation.

 

[royabulgaf]

Keep the German military small, at least for now. Militaries cost money the Germans don't have. End reparations by 1924, to pick a date. Perhaps a customs union with Poland and the Little Entente? The big problem is going to be ethnic Germans and Hungarians left behind in new countries.