The fall of France would have left Britain in a difficult position if Italy and the Soviet Union both remained neutral. Britain could survive and rebuild, but final victory would require the long work of constructing forces able to return to continental Europe. Neutral Italian shipping could bring overseas supplies into Italy and move them across the Alps, weakening a simple maritime blockade of Germany. Britain would also have to watch Italy, build forces across Canada and the wider Empire, and use Gibraltar to police trade with support from a favourably neutral United States. Soviet trade offered another source of materials, although Germany paid partly with ships and military equipment that strengthened a potential future opponent. The result is a prolonged strategic problem, not an easy German invasion or a quick British route to victory.
Notable Point · 2:57:58-3:12:43
Neutral Italy could prolong an Anglo-German war
A limited-war counterfactual shows how neutral Mediterranean and Soviet trade routes could make Germany harder for Britain to defeat without making Britain easy to invade.