Point of Divergence[]
In our timeline, Hitler, in a controversial decision, orders his army to halt, so they can regroup; giving the Allied troops at Dunkirk enough time to organize a successful evacuation. This alternate history explores a world in which Hitler never gives the famous order, resulting in the decimation of the Allied armies and a quick surrender by the Western Allies.
The Massacre[]
Instead of ordering his armor to halt, Hitler lets his generals have free reign and they quickly drive the remaining Allied forces back to the beaches; by this time the Allies number but 180,000 men. Although the British attempt an evacuation through the use of civilian ships, as well as their navy, it fails as the sky is dominated by the Luftwaffe and the seas by the Kriegsmarine. After the failed evacuation, General Gort tells the newly minted Prime Minister Winston Churchill that all is lost and that, if they cannot evacuate his army within the week, he will be forced to surrender. Naturally, the British fail to save Gort's force and by the end of the week, he surrenders, he and his men are taken to POW camps.
After Dunkirk[]
With the decimation of nearly their entire armies, the Allies are left with few options. In a last ditch effort to save Britain, Churchill meets with Hitler on Guernsey, which the allies have evacuated, but the Germans not yet occupied. At the conference, Churchill offers a surrender with only one condition, that German soldiers not set foot on the British Isles. Hitler, wanting to eliminate every thorn in his western backside before proceeding with Barbarossa, declines. In September, the Germans proceed with Operation Sea Lion. By this time, both Denmark and Norway have been subdued. The German invasion proceeds with three columns. One lands at Kent and drives to London, another in Devon, which subdues Cornwall, then heads east and drives into Wales. A final force from Norway lands in Northumberland, then splits into two, one drives to the Irish Sea, the other conquers Scotland.
Allied Surrender[]
Although the invasion takes longer than expected (mainly due to Scottish and Welsh partisans in the respective highlands), it eventually succeeds in its objective. Once Britain has been subdued, George VI and Winston Churchill are removed from power and exiled to Saint Helena. Edward VIII, a Nazi sympathizer, regains the throne, and in a mock election, Oswald Moseley is put in power, with the British Union of Fascists sweeping both houses of parliament.
Soon after the new "British" government is put in place, Germany is quick to plan its next move. Operation Valkyrie launches in early summer of 1941 and the Wehrmacht invades Ireland and Switzerland. An invasion of Sweden was also considered, but a pro-Nazi government was installed before the invasion date.
Bermuda Conference[]
As Hitler defeats the Western Allies, the Soviet Union and United States become increasingly wary. Japan, Germany, the USA and the USSR meet in Bermuda to divide up their sphere of influences, each wary of each other's intentions. After the conference, the following agreement was reached.