Quote:
Originally Posted by johndallman
If the Germans of this world control the Caspian and the Volga, they can use that route into Russia, and then use the railway routes from there back to Germany. But it's easier to take the oil by barge to Sevastopol or Odessa on the Black Sea and use the railway from there back to Europe. |
Wouldn't both the Danube and the railway be heavily targeted by Allied bombers? Or can British/American bombers not reach there (without a USSR base)?
Maybe bombers would be sent out of British Mesopotamia, to focus on the Caucasuses directly?
That would play into...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Apollonian
If they're worried about Nazi Germany replacing Russia as their great threat across the Black Sea, they might let the Allies take some liberties - nothing like allowing warships through the Bosphorous, but perhaps looking the other way at special ops or raiding to cripple the oil barges.
On the other hand, Turkey might throw its hand in with the Axis. While it probably won't contribute a lot of firepower, it turns the Black Sea and maybe the Eastern Med into an Axis lake; no problem with oil supply there, since you can ship it to the Balkans, Italy, maybe even Marseille.
Of course, both the Allies and Axis are going to be keenly aware of these possibilities, so Ankara and Istanbul are going to be very interesting places to set an espionage game...
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The position of Turkey. I think the government would try to remain strictly neutral, uphold every official aspect of that - that was of importance to Hitler, who didn't interfere in Turkey because it was so officially neutral. But Istanbul would be full of spies & intrigue.
But Britain flying bombing raids through Turkish and/or Persian airspace could muck things up. Of course, maybe the Nazis are flying raids on British Mesopotamia and Persian Gulf.
Nazi control of Caucasus would also have an effect on Persia and French Syria.
Would Nazi Germany attempt to land on & outright control French Syria? That would threaten British Middle East (and its oil). Maybe Nazis could offer Turkey Syria and northern Mesopotamia (now Kurdistan, which post-Ottoman Turkey had claimed after WWI) to Turkey if it joined the Axis.
The Shah of Persia had flirted with Nazi Germany pre-war, to balance against British & Russian influence. That had been stopped when the war broke out, but with USSR beat and Britain stretched, and Nazis reaching the Persian border in the Caucasus, might get reignited. Persian oil could go up the same route as Caucasus oil.
If it's only late 1942 on this parallel, probably a lot of the possibilities just haven't had time to happen yet. Turkey and Persia are still flirting with the Axis, French Syria hasn't yet been seized by Nazis or British, etc.