Would it be bad if Germany won WW1? No, likely tens of millions less would have died

As a history nerd who has played and modded just about every WW1 and WW2 game out there, I have to conclude that Europe escaping the historical bloodbath requires a German victory in The Great War.

Now I know what you‘re thinking – Germany winning? The bully of Europe running the continent? Well strap in, because this alternative history could have saved 80 million lives.

Germany wins in 1918 = No Nazis, No Stalin, No Holocaust

Okay okay, I know I‘m dropping some bold claims here. But hear me out for a second:

• If Germany knocks France out of the war in 1914 by taking Paris, we get a quick peace
• Even if fighting drags on, the 1918 Spring Offensives break the Allies without US troops
• So no draconian Versailles Treaty heaped on a defeated Germany that crippled its economy

^ Without that cruelty and humiliation, Hitler and the Nazi party stay meaningless fringe whackos.

Check out these sick stats:

No Nazis means no Holocaust. No communist revolution in Russia means no Stalinist purges and Ukraine famines. Even if conflict happened again in Europe, it would be way smaller without ideological madness!

And don‘t forget the 1918 flu pandemic that killed 50-100 million people in large part due to the war conditions.

So based on these sweet counterfactuals, a German victory in WW1 could have saved some 80 million lives or more by preventing the worst conflicts to come. I‘ll take dominated Europe over mass graves any day!

Germany becomes the EU… in 1914

Alright, I admit a victory Germany still takes control of the continent. In the East, they create a land empire linking Berlin to the Ottoman Empire in the Middle East. Their Austro-Hungarian partners see glory too. Oh, and did I mentioned the badass German African colonial empire?

In the West, the Germans annex resource-rich chunks of France and Belgium. Britain keeps its independence but Germany now rivals its naval and economic strength.

Occupied Europe doesn‘t have fun – expect authoritative rule, military repression, and resource exploitation. But Germany needs stability and industrial production, so mass genocide makes no economic sense.

20th century Europe under German imperial management would be grim – but likely better than the chaos we got:

• German hegemony, not total conquest
• Centralized continent much like the EU today
• Stability with authoritarianism
• No idology-driven killing machines

So while it‘s ugly to imagine Germany winning World War 1, had you told the Kaiser this leads to just 40 years of German economic exploitation instead of near a century of apocalyptic war, I think he signs up!

Phew! Now I‘m ready to play some Hearts of Iron 4 as Germany with this epic alternate history in mind. Time to build my uber German empire! Who‘s with me? Let me know what you think would happen if Germany won WW1. This history nerd is signing off!