What if Germany invades Florida?

[Akelo]

Hello everybody! I am a new user. I wanted to know, if Hitler had the cujones to invade the U.S. through Florida, what would happen?

 

[Naomasa298]

It's not a case of having the cajones to do it, it's about having the means to do it. Look at the effort and planning that the Allies had to put in to invade France - and that was an invasion launched from Britain.

Germany would first have to gain control of the North Atlantic, which would mean defeating Britain and rendering the US Navy ineffective, and then acquiring a base from which to launch to launch the invasion, such as Cuba.

*And* this would have really have to have happened in 1940 or 1941, before the US's massive economic output could simply overwhelm German materiel resources.

 

[Earl_of_Rochester]

His best bet would have been to send a few troops to Mexico and try to antagonise a border war like in WW1.

 

[diddyriddick]

It's not a case of having the cajones to do it, it's about having the means to do it. Look at the effort and planning that the Allies had to put in to invade France - and that was an invasion launched from Britain.

Germany would first have to gain control of the North Atlantic, which would mean defeating Britain and rendering the US Navy ineffective, and then acquiring a base from which to launch to launch the invasion, such as Cuba.

*And* this would have really have to have happened in 1940 or 1941, before the US's massive economic output could simply overwhelm German materiel resources.

Agreed. If he couldn't get his forces across the English Channel, then there is no reason to believe that he could have gotten them across the Atlantic Ocean.

 

[diddyriddick]

His best bet would have been to send a few troops to Mexico and try to antagonise a border war like in WW1.

IIRC, the Zimmermann telegram backfired on the Kaiser.

 

[constantine]

If by some miracle Germany were able to conquer Britain, defeat the British and American fleets, occupy the Atlantic and Caribbean Islands, then build up the massive amounts of shipping required to support an army capable of occupying the United States. Why would they land in Florida and start their invasion by trudging through hundreds of miles of swampland? Wouldn't an invasion into Canada and down towards New England from Newfoundland or an invasion of the Carolinas or Georgia from Bermuda make more sense? Or maybe even an invasion of Texas from the Caribbean, allowing their superiority in armour and aircraft (which they would no doubt have if they managed to take the Atlantic Islands) to be used to full effect on the Great Planes and splitting the country in half.

 

[Salah]

What's so special about Florida that he would start there, even if he did have the time and resources to attack American soil?

 

[Belloc]

Cuba or Mexico would have to join the Axis alliance in order to make this feasible. Otherwise it would utterly fail. The chances of either country joining however were very slim. Even if they did join, an invasion would still be very difficult to pull off.

 

[Gorge123]

Why Florida?

 

[Naomasa298]

Disneyworld.