I have a serious intellectual question.

[tslust]

Originally Posted by violet lightning

If Hitler hadn't invaded Russia or started the Battle of Britain (the precurser to Operation Sea Lion-the German invasion of Britain) he might have acheived "victory" by keeping what he had conquered up until then. (virtually all of Europe, North Africa, etc) Hitler didn't relish invading Britain, so its possible that they might have reached an agreement or stalemate at least.
After Dunkirk, the Brits and Allies (before the US joined) were pretty beaten up. (But of course not defeated)

As long as Churchill was Prime Minister, it is hard to conceive of Britian negotiating anything with Hitler. In fact Hitler had hoped that the British would've sued for peace after the fall of France. However with the U-boat campaign in the Atlantic, the British were nearly brought to their knees. At one point, even with rationing, they were down to just three months of food left.

While all this was going on, the "Phony War', the fall of France, the Battle of Britian, Hitler and Stalin had a 10 year non-aggression pact that (on the surface) Stalin had no intention of breaking. In some schools of thought along with sketchy evidence, the Soviets were planning and preparing an invasion of Germany. Therefore, according to them, Operation Barbarossa was a pre-emptive attack.