How close was Germany to winning World War 2?

Answer 1

Had the Germans kept the war just between Germany and Britain, they could probably have pulled off a victory - that is, a stalemate that would ultimately lead to armistice. A true peace treaty was probably not in the cards, seeing as how Churchill was determined to destroy German military power and Hitler with it. Probably the best time for this situation was Dunkirk. A British collapse here has ramifications through Egypt and the Middle East. German successes in those arenas might have caused the British government to collapse and a more friendly replacement come into power. Note that German war aims in the west were quite modest, mainly a return to 1914 borders and some colonial transfers. A second great opportunity was July 1941. Had Germany gone for Moscow instead of Kiev, it would have altered the war with Russia dramatically. Without going into a lot of detail, the loss of the Russian capital probably creates the opportunity for the Germans to stabilize the eastern front over the next year. A true peace, again, is not likely, but an armistice might have occurred. With most of the western Soviet Union in German hands, Germany becomes blockade and invasion proof, for at least three or four years. Assuming the war in the west continued after a Russian armistice, Germany would have needed to develop weapons systems in order to remain competitive: jets, better subs, atomic weapons (didn't necessarily need a regular A bomb, just a good 'dirty' nuke would have sufficed for parity), rockets, nerve gas. All these were well within their capacity.

Answer 2

During World War I, the German army advanced toward Paris in the spring of 1918. They began their offensive on May 27th and even managed to force the French line back, but the Allie forces stopped the German advance on June 3rd, just five miles from Paris.

Answer 3

Germany took all of France but allowed a puppet French government to set up in Vichy

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During WW1 German troops came withing 70 km (43 mi)of Paris before being halted. After the initial push into France, the war settled into a static stalement where Trench warfare became the norm.

Answer 4

German soldiers captured Paris and occupied the city from June 16, 1940, until August 25, 1944.

Answer 5

30 miles