As it says on the tin. Assuming he survives the war, will his experiences on the Eastern Front shape his politics more profoundly than that of the Western Front? Having experienced the vast territory that is Russia would he have a greater appreciation for how difficult it is to conduct a military campaign there and, consequently, will Barbarossa be better prepared for a potentially long campaign?
WI Adolf Hitler served on the Eastern Front during WW1
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I personally have no idea and am actually quite interested myself. So I shall subscribe for future notes. Also, bump
Kongzilla
Banned
If everything goes as OTL, he might be even more over confident of the Germans ability to crush the "Bolshevik swine" pressing further faster and ending in collapse. That or he might go even the opposite way and not their courage or some other buggery and decide to assimilate them and instead destroy the communist only or some such thing.
I have thought about this from time to time. If he had been involved in the Second Battle of Masurian Lakes he should develop some appreciation for how bad winter could be which could impact his Barbarossa plans. It could be used to justify his rejecting Operation Typhoon in 1941 and going on the defensive until spring.
I at least think Hitler would gain an understanding of the immense size of Russia and what logistics a conquest of Russia entails. Besides that, he could have some positive experiences with Ukrainians and Russians and see them in a more positive light (which could mean assimilation rather than extermination). If he still becomes an anti-Semite and an anti-communist, he'll separate those views from his opinions on Slavs, who are ofcourse just 'misled'.
Or amybe he will be sent to a prison in Siberia and join the Reds and become this TLs Stalin.Or if we are lucky, he'll die
The assumption of course is that he survives. Else he would be just another corporal who died pointlessly in the war.
He survived on the west. He'll survive on the east.
I thin the only way he wouldn't survive is if he was fighting for Austria, not Germany. Whether in Italy, Serbia, or Romania, serving for Austria would lead to the death of Hitler.
Because a Hitler that served in Austria wouldn't be the Hitler we know.
Just a note; A lot of Germans who served on the Eastern Front saw the germ of the ideas of lebensraum develop as a result of seeing the comparative poverty and less densely populated land, not to mention the results of the ravages of war, and concluded that Eastern Europe needed German colonists. So it might actually backfire and make him even more anti-Slav than he was OTL.
Many of those who served or read about the campaign in the East drew the wrong ideas about future wars against Russia; that once it's military was defeated the government would collapse, that it was structurally unstable and unable to put up prolonged resistance, etc. These misconceptions were firmly implanted in the OTL German consciousness, and would be even morose in Hitler's due to greater direct experience.
Were there any Ukrainian nationalists or Polish nationalists who provided material support to the German Army during WW1? Such an experience might be a positive one for Hitler who may even reassess his more extreme racist attitudes (although I doubt he would lose his belief in the superiority of Germans/Aryans).
ingemann
Banned
Yes I think this may in fact being the case, Hitler in OTL fought in France in France and saw a country as developed or more than his homeland, that may have created much of his attitude toward the people of East Europe. If jhe fought in Poland on the other hand, suddenly his homeland would seem much more developed and advanced and at the same time he will see Poles not much different from the people of his homeland except that they are subjugated by the Tsar, while farther east they become more alien and the only civilians he can talk to are Jews. So we may see a Hitler, which leave his insane anti-semitism behind and end up seeing Jews as semi-Germans rather than subhumans, one who see Poles as slavified Germans subjugated by the Asian hordes, Russians as inferior but brave barbarians.
Fundamental we may get a Hitler, whose perspective have radical change, one which want to conquer East Europe, but not to settle, but to bring the Poles and Jews back into German.
Not Unlikely. But I doubt it would change his views that much.
Let's say he meets a young officer by the name of Otto Heinrich Frank.
Hitler frequently running orders between his command and Frank's Artillery unit. I Imagine the two of them becoming rather close and this would profoundly change his views towards the Jewish. I believe his Anti-Salvism might still be a factor, but not as high as his Anti-communism.
LOL! That'd be a better ending for him and for tens of millions of other people.