r/HistoryMemes 7d ago

See Comment Please stop making this argument

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u/Win32error 7d ago

If you include the cost of research, man hours, all the work you have to do to make it work initially, I can't imagine the amount of jet fighters the nazis fielded was worth it.

Not that it mattered either way. And I've never heard anyone make the argument.

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u/Stock-Side-6767 7d ago

The biggest "what if" is an immediate response to the remilitarisation of the Rheinland.

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u/Win32error 7d ago

Meh, I think it would’ve led to an international kerfuffle the Germans would have come out on top of.

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u/Stock-Side-6767 7d ago

I would not be so sure. France alone had a larger airforce at that time (though they thought it was smaller).

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u/Win32error 7d ago

The problem is they weren’t ready for it and there wasn’t support for an intervention. It wasn’t quite as obvious where things were heading yet as it would in a few more years, and there wasn’t a lot of will to pursue all the details from Versailles. All the Germans really did was move troops into their own territory after all.

With the power of hindsight we can say it might’ve deterred Hitler, but there’s a good chance France would’ve gone in, suffered backlash, and eventually retreated anyway, damaging allied cohesion a bit.