Hitler's Victory

For the same subject treated quite well in fiction, look for a copy of Len Deighton's "SS GB". You follow the path of a British cop who has to answer to Nazi officers as he first investigates, and then is drawn into, a resistance movement. The resistance schemes to draw the sympathy of the isolationist USA, looking for America's intervention in the European war. This could help you flesh out some of the concepts in "Hitler's Britain." And, frankly, I'm a bit annoyed with the summary that suggests a likely ineffectual British resistance. That scarcely jives with the Brits who survived the bombing of London, and who rescued the troops at Dunkirk. For those of you who know Len Deighton's work, you won't be wasting your time, if you can find the book.

This is a speculative documentary showing what would have happened if Nazi Germany was successful in invading the British Isles in 1940 . Alternative history literature is full of this " What if " which comes as no surprise because who knows how human history would have developed if Hitler had succeeded with Operation Sealion ? Real history is compelling whilst alternative history is intriguing . But - and it's a massive BUT - speculative fiction shouldn't be given the same respect as historical fact same as science and religion should be viewed as being compatible . On the surface HITLER'S Britain might be of some interest but if you have any knowledge of the second world war you'll be irritated by historical conjecture masquerading as fact and bits that are just plain wrong

Early in the story we're told that the Nazis had a campaign of rape , murder and looting in Poland but treated the French with politeness and kindness . Well of course they did because Nazi Germany was unique in its ideology in that people were viewed due to their ethnic origin . Poles being Slavs were viewed as being " untermenschen " and unworthy of existence being in theory of Asiatic descent . Western Europeans were viewed by the Nazis as being pure bred Ayrans hence the mass genocide seen in Eastern Europe wasn't seen in the occupied countries of Western Europe. I also have to question what is meant by " politeness and kindness " not committing genocide doesn't automatically qualify something as being polite

There's also a lot of " artistic license " used in Hitler having to conquer Britain . In reality the Nazis didn't have the seaborne logistics to conquer the island so you have to ignore this . What can't be ignored is that the documentary states " 4,000 panzers are landed " because there's no way the Wermacht had that amount of panzers in 1940

After the invasion Churchill is killed by a Luftwaffe raid and the Nazis install a puppet government where many individuals named in the Nazis " black book " are liquidated . Often in alternative history Oswald Mosley is head of this puppet state but to its credit HITLER'S Britain speculates that Lord Halifax would be installed . That said Britain had its own black book where people with Nazi sympathies - one of whom would be Mosley - were to be executed before the Nazis took control . I'm guessing that the producers didn't have knowledge of this black book ?There's also a ridiculous insert showing Ante Pavlic who described as " The puppet ruler of Yugoslavia " when he was in fact the puppet ruler of The Independent State Of Croatia

As the time-line goes in to 1941 the dubious storytelling then starts collapsing as it tells how Operation Barbarossa is delayed due to the Nazis invading the Balkans and Greece . It suggests if the Nazis invaded the USSR in May they might have succeeded in conquering the country . But would they ? It was only a short delay . One of the enduring myths of the war is that because some forward German units were within sight of Moscow in the early winter of 1941 the Balkans campaign effectively caused a big enough delay in the Germans plan to make it to Moscow before winter set in . This remains a myth because the Germans didn't have the logistics to get enough men and equipment to the Soviet capital . It also ignores the certainty that the Soviets would have defended their capital with the same brutal intensity seen at Leningrad and Stalingrad

Perhaps the most ridiculous aspect is that after winning the war is that the Nazis then embarked on an atomic program and rocket program . The problem with the former is that for decades a large proportion of the German scientific and engineering elite were Jewish and they'd left the country taking their expertise with them . There was some evidence the Nazis were trying to attain an atomic capacity but were a long way behind American research and hadn't got round to even the fundamental aspects . As for the latter why would they be setting up a rocket program ? In this alternative world they're not fighting a war anymore hence there'd be no V weapon program

In short this is a very disappointing " What if " documentary . If you've got a knowledge of the second world war then you'll recognise that despite having to give the show some slack some of the " facts " aren't facts at all and are just plain wrong and will have you putting your foot through the TV . It's about as accurate as Mel Brooks THE PRODUCERS

This documentary is about what if Germany invaded Britain during World War II. It was a goal of the Nazis to overtake the world. This documentary describes the possibilities of the horrors that would happen to it's population. The Jews would be taken away after they are stripped of their businesses. They would be branded with yellow stars of David like all the others nations. They would placed in ghettos and sent to concentration camps in Eastern Europe where they would be killed. The Royal Family would evacuate to Canada. Churchill's secret army of Auxiliaries men and women would be more active and risk their lives to retake their country as the resistance. This documentary asks what would happen if Germany was successful. We must all stop and pause to thank that they weren't and never invaded Britain at all. The Britons knew Germany's horror in occupied Europe by those refugees.

This documentary is actually the first part of a (two-part) miniseries entitled "Hitler's Britain."

Part One gives a terrifyingly convincing picture of what might well have occurred if the Nazis had launched a successful invasion of Great Britain in 1940. It suggests that eminent appeasers, such as Neville Chamberlain and Lord Halifax, would have collaborated with Hitler and that "enemies of the Reich" (Socialists, Freemasons, and of course Jews) would have been rounded up and shot or sent to the European death camps.

Part Two visualizes the collapse of British military resistance within a few months of the invasion, the activating of Churchill's civilian underground fighters, and their ultimate destruction. That would have left Hitler free to perfect his long-range missiles and launch them in waves against the Soviet Union and the United States.

Having lived through the World War 2 Blitz (in Liverpool), and knowing how the Nazis treated many millions of so-called "Untermenschen," I believe that these two documentaries provide a clear idea of what the British people's fate would have been under Nazi occupation.

A very interesting book that preceded both Deighton's SS-GB and this movie, was "The Man in the High Castle" by Philip K. Dick. (He's also the author of many fantastic stories that have made it to the screen: Bladerunner; Total Recall, Screamers, Minority Report, Paycheck, A Scanner Darkly).

In the Man in the High Castle, the US is divided up between Japan and Germany after winning WWII. Japan gets the West Coast, Germany the East Coast.

READ IT!! it's fantastic! and while you're at it, also read It Can't Happen Here...