The Crimea as part of Germany is a nice nod to the Crimean Goths.
Though I'm wondering, why is Italy split in two?
Ok, short summary:
This timeline does not have a single "point of departure". It's basically a slightly tongue-in-cheek thought experiment predicated on the question "what if the Nazis were a bit smarter"? And so the Nazis avoid their most stupid mistakes (like not using the "liberated" nations of the USSR against the Soviets) and in effect narrowly win the war.
1941 - Germans reach Moscow, the Soviet government evacuates. Bitter fighting rages in and around the capital. In winter, the Soviet counter-offensive nearly cuts of the Moscow salient, but the German lines hold due to superhuman efforts of the troops and the use of paratroopers to plug the gaps in the line. Fortunately, Germany has prepared for the eventuality of winter fighting and there's at least proper clothing for the soldiers.
1942 - Fall Blau in southern Russia; Soviet oil fields in Caucasus are captured and the Red Army progressively runs out of fuel. Battle of Stalingrad nearly ends with disaster when the Romanian, Hungarian and Italian flanks collapse under Soviet pressure, but German reinforcements arrive in time to prevent an encirclement.
1943 - Soviet transportation and logistics begins to collapse as Moscow was the hub of the Soviet railway network. The Soviets make one more attempt to capture Moscow, but again fail to achieve victory. The Finns sever the Murmansk railway and the only northern port capable of receiving US lend-lease supplies is subsequently captured by German/Finnish troops.
By this point the Soviet Union is collapsing and Stalin therefore chooses to seek a cease-fire with the Germans. The Western Allies' effort to invade Sicily following their victory in Africa fails to convince Stalin to continue fighting. Germany and the USSR sign a peace treaty in summer 1943 - the River Volga becomes the new border. However, he continues to fight the Germans by proxy, using the partisans in the occupied territories.
1944 - Operation Overlord, the D-Day landings, fail, largely due to Luftwaffe's ability to contest Allied air superiority with their new jet fighters, which thankfully entered serial production on time. Americans fail to take Omaha and the Brits are unable to connect with the American sector at Utah. The massive German armoured counterattack that follows threatens to lead to another Dunkirk; the Allies withdraw, leaving behind large numbers of dead and tons of equipment. Eisenhower resigns. The failure of the landings convinces Stalin that he shouldn't renew conventional war in the East.
1945 - Implementation of new Wasserfall-type SAM systems over Germany and the mass use of jet fighters stops the Allied bombing offensive in its tracks. The losses are so high that strategic bombing needs to be temporarily suspended. At the same time, the Germans shower Britain with their V-1 and V-2 missiles. The failure of Overlord leads to Labour victory in the British general election, Churchill is replaced by Atlee.
Japan surrenders when the Americans drop two nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Germany warns that any attempt to use weapons of mass destruction against it will result in "retaliation in kind". New electric submarines begin to once again strangle Britain of vital supplies.
1946 - The Allies prepare a plan for final victory over the Third Reich: they plan to accumulate dozens of nuclear bombs and then hit all major German industrial cities in one massive bombing offensive. The devastation, loss of life and destruction of war-making capacity will then, undoubtedly, break the German will to fight and lead to their surrender. However, nuclear bomb production rate is low and a sufficient number of bombs won't be available until 1948, which is too late. President Truman thus orders a "nuclear warning shot" - one bomb is to be dropped on Berlin, followed by an ultimatum to Germany to withdraw from all occupied territories or face annihilation. However, the nuclear bomber is shot down by a German jet interceptor before it reaches its target.
Later that year, Germany invites reporters from neutral countries to witness its first nuclear test in the steppes of Astrakhan. The detonation of a nuclear device causes panic in Britain, which fears it would bear the brunt of German nuclear retaliation should the Allied nuclear bombing plan go ahead. Atlee thus agrees to send peace negotiators to Zurich for peace talks with Germany. The Americans have no option but to follow suit.
Peace (more like permanent cease-fire, Korea style) is signed.
Now, changes:
- Italy is split between southern, pro-Western Kingdom of Italy, a member of NATO, and northern fascist Italian Social Republic (RSI), an ally of Germany and a founding member of the New European Union.
- the Netherlands (Netherlands and ex-Belgium) are under civilian NSDAP administration; officially they're not part of the Reich, but in effect they are protectorates. In the East, the Baltics and Belorussia have a similar status.
- Bohemia-Moravia and the General Government of Poland are annexed to the Reich as "autonomous" protectorates.
- Ukraine has been established as an "independent" state and given large tracts of southern Russia to administer.
- Caucasus is a federation of republics, under German oversight.
- Crimea (Gotenland) and St. Petersburg are annexed to Germany.
- France is eventually released as an independent ally under a fascist government. It loses Alsace-Lorraine (duh!) and some territories in the north and south (to RSI). Germany maintains military presence along the channel coast under the guise of the Western European Union - effectively a joint European military under German command.
- Finland is given huge territories, including the whole of Karelia, Murmansk, the Kola peninsula and parts of Finnmark in addition to the territories it recovered from the USSR. This is German reward for its help in the war; Finland also remains as the only democracy (more or less) in the New European Union.
- Greece loses territories to Bulgaria and Albania; parts of its territory are semi-independent.
- Romania is compensated for its loses to Bulgaria and Hungary: it recovers Bessarabia and is given a part of south-west Ukraine (trans-dniestria).
- The rump Russian state is released as the "Federation of Moscovy"; it is a member of NEU, but doesn't have voting rights. Along with Ukraine it serves as a buffer between the USSR and Germany; Germany maintains military presence in both.
