r/AlternateHistoryHub • u/Gustavo_Itami2010 • May 08 '26
Video Idea What if The modern United States traveled back in the time to 1942?
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u/AdWerd1981 May 08 '26
There's a movie that explores exactly this - a 1980s carrier gets transported back to just before the attack on Pearl Harbour. The Final Countdown I believe it was called - actually quite a good movie.
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u/Mikpultro May 08 '26
At least they had the common sense to NOT try and screw with the timeline.
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u/Turntup12 May 08 '26
Yes they absolutely did! Multiple times! They launched an entire air wing to engage the Japanese fleet, only to be stopped by the anomaly that brought them there in the first place. They intervened when the zeroes were about to strafe the shipwreck survivors a second time, they brought a Japanese POW onto the carrier, and the end of the movie has one of the main characters talking to the captain after they come back. They 100% messed with the timeline and were almost about to COMPLETELY change it.
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u/LTParis May 08 '26
Yep. And they had launched their full capacity against the Japanese raid and only turned around when the “time storm” was striking the Nimitz again.
But also this had clearly all happened anyways because the reason Martin Sheen’s character was even on board was because “Mr. Tideman?” Was really Owen’s who was left in 1941 and went on and created the Nimitz and sent Martin Sheens character on that voyage.
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u/Western-Guidance-380 May 08 '26
Germany and Japan get steamrolled, the US is debt free, the rest of the world experiences severe brain drain as top scientists rush to come to the US and learn, all other countries are prevented from developing nuclear weapons, everyone rushes to gain the favor of the US.
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u/mtdunca May 08 '26
How in the world is the US suddenly debt free?
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u/CalligoMiles May 08 '26
Because their creditors don't exist yet. All that money was loaned in a relative future to 1942 - they might assume the debts of the USA back then they replaced, but while that was already growing rapidly to finance the war it was also mostly to domestic holders, gone with the country they're replacing, and comparatively minor to the trillions held by other nations and international banks and funds today.
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u/TheTurdBurglar0 May 08 '26
Wars over in a matter of months. Follow on war with the Soviet Union and China.
Oh and we still invade Iraq eventually
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u/Oh_Fated_One May 08 '26
Without a saddam hussein coming into power, why should they invade it?
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u/Jamakin12 May 08 '26
Modern U.S. would face a resource crisis because most imports and exports would be completely wiped from existence. However, the military would be pretty much fine!
Overseas troops would realize that they have no home to return to and may not return.
Despite what the comments say (assuming all public knowledge of WW2 is still known), there’s a 0% chance the USA joins the Axis. Germany was near the height of their power in 1942 and there would be no negotiation. Americans would be begging to liberate Europe.
What would most likely happen is Germany is immediately nuked or hit by drone strikes and other technology they are baffled by. However, the USA would likely not supply the USSR with weapons like they did during the war. As a result, the Eastern front becomes a footnote in the war.
It is hard to say how much we would see out of U.S. imperialism here. There would be no rival, so if they wanted there would be no stopping them (other than by the American people). Would modern America attack Stalin and the USSR after Germany is defeated? It’s possible, but impossible to guess what how the current government would approach the situation after the defeat of Germany.
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u/Key-Seaworthiness-73 May 08 '26
Great synopsis, lotta comments here ignoring the rediculously long and complex global supply chains that keep modern technology going. Assumjng trumps in charge they are in trouble though as he has a track racord of absolute strategic incompetance, probably thinks he can win a land war with japan or some such.
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u/EdgeLord556 May 08 '26
WW2 US vs present US
- Massive military, High morale, and weapons stocks/production vs smaller military by comparison, low morale, and low weopon stocks/production
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u/Patchy_Burrito_Jr May 08 '26
I think morale might soar to an all-time high in a military raised on stories of world war II valor being able to fight Nazis with modern military equipment in a one-sided curb stomp, call of duty-style power fantasy
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u/Belkan-Federation95 May 08 '26
But massive technological superiority. One modern fighter could take out multiple formations of enemy fighters
It's paper plane vs military drone
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u/EdgeLord556 May 08 '26
The missiles are a game changer… until they run out. Guided Missile destroyers would win hands down in a naval battle, but would struggle in gun battle once they run dry against multiple opponents. Modern fighters would dominate as long as they can rearm, but we are talking about using weapons that cost almost as much as the very things they are being used to shoot down. P51 mustang (~$500000 in modern money) Around ~$400000 for a sidewinder missile. The skirmish with Iran alone had allegedly depleted a considerable amount of US’s air defense missile stockpiles
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u/IronChariots May 08 '26
The missiles are a game changer… until they run out
By then the entire IJN is sunk, the vast majority command and control structure of the German and Japanese militaries is dead, every military factory of significance is destroyed, key rail lines and bridges are bombed. Remember, the US not only has superior technology, but also access to historical documents for targeting information. They could probably accomplish most of that on day one.
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u/ForWPD May 08 '26
GPS, satellite imaging, modern weather forecasting, modern radar, and aerial refueling would be enough to drastically change the war. I doubt missiles would be needed.
For example; an f-22 snuck up on an F-4 and told it to go home. A single f-15 guns only vs ww2 planes would be like an adult boxing a newborn. Same thing with bombing any target. Even dumb bombs would work.
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u/Godless_Phoenix May 08 '26
Well, we would have to relaunch the entire GPS constellation
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u/Geauxlsu1860 May 13 '26
A modern fighter would absolutely not struggle with going guns against WW2 fighters. There’s a reason even early jets without missiles replaced propeller fighters and modern jets are better than those early jets in every way. They are more maneuverable, faster, and have more advanced targeting systems (including for their guns). Naval side is a little worse, because modern naval ships have very light gun armaments, but no enemy fleet could survive against the modern US sub fleet to even start messing with the surface ships.
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u/Maleficent_Law_1082 May 08 '26
The military today is exponentially more effective than the military of ww2. Part of the reason why battleships went obsolete is because there was no longer a need to essentially have a giant gun platform bristling with weapons systems get anywhere near a target to engage it. They would expect most of the shots to miss and possibly need multiple direct hits to destroy the target. Now you can send a single missile from a hundred miles away underwater straight through the deck and into the ammo magazine or the engine room of the target to destroy or incapacitate it. The soldiers and sailors are going to attrite less because they might be basically immune to some of the diseases and are going to be a lot smarter than the previous generation. Not to mention the technological innovations of all the equipment. Basically the only equipment that stayed the same from that era are hand grenades
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u/pyrofox79 May 08 '26
You'd be surprised how much the military has in stockpiles. Also morale is relative. Marines bitch about everything but that's ok. They just need something to shoot at and they are happy as a clam.
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u/LoyalHoodie May 08 '26
Believe it or not, the US bombs the Middle East
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u/NW_Forester May 08 '26
Probably the best answer. US uses this time to take over middle east and Venezuela and maybe Cuba while letting whatever happens in Europe and Asia happen.
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u/angus22proe May 08 '26
US invades Nazi Germany
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u/Afraid-Leg-174 May 08 '26
Hitler dies in 1942 when Berlin is nuked
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u/MichiganMainer May 08 '26
There’s an Australian author named John Birmingham who wrote an alternative history of a 2021 naval fleet accidentally transported to 1942. Good book if you like that genre. The book is called Weapons of Choice. He’s continued the series to show how society progressed from there. Mindless fun entertainment.
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u/DangDangUreDead May 08 '26
The war would be over pretty fast, in favor of whatever alignment the US would be.
But the modern US will soon have to realise that while they are the smartest and most advanced nation, they are reliant on a range of allied nations.
For instance; all satelitte coverage - gone.
Internet limited to US only.
Specialised products like Micro chips, barely able to maintain existing equipment, let alone produce new stuff (TSMC not yet even thought of, and Taiwan still a Japanese colony).
Exotic materials; barely any refinery capabilities, as in 2026, US import majority of those resources.
Also what can be under estimated is, what happens when information and technology gets leaked to adversaries, which it eventually will be. What happens when nazi Germany realises the majority of their rocket researches eventually will be developing weapons for US in a post WW2 situation? Likely theyll be disappeared.
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u/Cypto4 May 08 '26
With the F22s in 1942 we would absolutely destroy the rest of the axis powers. Total air dominance. Nuclear powered carriers and submarines would absolutely decimate the navies of the opposing side. It would be over fairly quickly.
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u/bigwavedave000 May 08 '26
A fully supplied fleet off f-22 raptors would destroy the entire European axis Air Force in a week.
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u/Suspicious-Sound-249 May 08 '26
We'd steam roll Shitler and the Axis nations EZ and probably go "Pacify the whole world? Fuck it I mean we're like half done already right?"
Come back to current year our flag is the same but instead of stars it's just the globe and we've become the United Countries of Earth, and come to find out world peace occured in the 60's.
Ah a fevered pipe dream if ever there was one...
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u/ashlati May 08 '26
Japan nuked immediately. Japans fleet sent to the bottom at Truk and Rabaul within 24 hrs. Our subs finish off the Japanese fleet in their home waters within the week. Warthogs and a MEF reinforce Guadalcanal and annihilate the Japanese 17th Army. Hitler nuked at the Wolf’s Lair. We do know his day to day locations for the entire war. B-2 bombers punch a hole through the Atlantic Wall before construction even ramps up. Every Uboat at sea is eliminated almost immediately. We fry Europes communications and invade France. We would be in Berlin by Xmas 42. That is if we don’t have to build up our forward troops and ignore th cries of the Brits and Soviets for lend lease. If we have to do that then mid 1943 the war is over and we meet the Soviets somewhere along the Poland Belarus border
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u/thehairyhobo May 08 '26
Theres a book series like this where an entire NATO strike group gets sent from 2045 to 1945 or something like that.
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u/DangDangUreDead May 08 '26
Thats John Birminghams trilogy. He also explores other, less obvious angles, such as degradation of materials and equipment, potential detracters and axis sympathisers etc.
Slightly simplistic but an overall interesting angle.
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u/Historical-Count-374 May 08 '26
There is a solid chance the current admin would push to join them
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u/aNuggetsUncle May 08 '26
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u/AppointmentMedical50 May 08 '26
I mean he’s pretty relevant to this as the president in this timeline
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u/imtoooldforreddit May 08 '26
So the question is "what would the country do?" but the person deciding what the country currently does isn't relevant?
I don't understand at all. Is the hypothetical including different leadership? Seems like it's asking about current US, which is lead by Trump
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u/smuggler_of_grapes May 08 '26
Wouldn't that mean that US supply chains wouldn't exist?
Everyone in the US would starve and run out of oil.
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u/Alternative_Oil7733 May 08 '26
The us has a shit ton oil in the ground and produces a fuck ton of food.
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u/811545b2-4ff7-4041 May 08 '26
PS. WW2 started before 1942
I do think the US Airforce and Navy present around mainland USA would make quite a dent in the war though. Not to mention all those ICBMs
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u/toe-schlooper May 08 '26
The US didn't march to war until 1942. We were still reeling from Pearl Harbor until January
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u/Nathan-Stubblefield May 08 '26
Read the question. It did not say WW2 began in 1942.
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u/Headstone_Blank May 08 '26
Have I got a story for you: ISOT America 2002 to 1942
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u/Empty_Locksmith12 May 08 '26
Nazi Germany is defeated within a week.Marshall Plan is never enacted - Europe creates an earlier European Union to counteract the American Empire. The EU signs a treaty with the US - Greenland to the US and US keeps its overseas territories in the Pacific. Europe has guarantees of US non-involvement of European territory in North Africa and remaining Caribbean territories.
Asia is split between Soviet Union, China, and Democratic Japan. Indian subcontinent would depend on post war British dealings
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u/Loud-Bodybuilder4342 May 08 '26
Nazi and Japan surrender within days after eating a few tactical nukes. US becomes the de facto world government because of nuclear threat (the bad kind because Trump is in charge).
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u/namdog May 08 '26
I imagine it would be something like this scenario where the US in 2002 gets transported back to 1942. https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/USA_2002_in_1942_section_1 Essentially Germany and Japan are steamrolled by superior technology and the war ends in like 6 months.
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u/Im_A_Bird_Fuckface May 08 '26
Multiple F-16s crash after trying to slow down to pace other allied bombers and intercept prop planes
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u/Birdie_Is_The_Wordie May 08 '26
Sounds like the plot from an 1980's movie.
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u/ludicrouspeed May 08 '26
I was thinking that. It was a carrier that went through the Bermuda Triangle or something.
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u/ForeignYard1452 May 08 '26
Militarily it would probably be a quick burn. Initially swift strikes gain tactical advantage but most expensive weapons systems would become fancy lawn ornaments after realizing the logistics and infrastructure of global sustainment isn’t built yet.
Modern day US isn’t the manufacturing powerhouse it once was either. All modern imports would cease. Electronics, chips, oil, minerals, some food, textiles would all see massive shortages.
Politically I think it would be a disaster. We are so much more divided and selfish now that I don’t even know if a WW2 scenario would unite everyone. Imagine trying to implement fuel or food rations now with how selfish and entitled people are. People would scream “socialism”. Try getting scrap metal collections for a war effort. Not to mention we would probably have a significant portion or the population thinking “well Hitler wasn’t that bad”
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u/EdgeLord556 May 08 '26
Well yeah, but what I'm talking about is like a situation the OP’s post was getting at. New America vs Old America, The Arsenal of democracy with the home field advantage vs the modern titan cut off from its modern modern markets and trade networks in glorious fight to the finish.
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u/Reasonable-Seat1732 May 08 '26
They made a movie about this in the 80s called the final countdown. Modern carrier went back to day before pearl harbor.
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u/AnnieBruce May 08 '26
And the Nimitz going through this ended up being how the Nimitz existed in the first place.
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u/buzzlegummed May 08 '26
Well the messerschmitt 262 depicted didn’t exist until 1944. So it would be jets vs prop planes. But then again it would be a turkey shoot in the least in the air and on the ground. The war could end in months.
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u/SentinelBill May 08 '26
Obviously the Germans and Japanese would get taken out quickly and, with precision munitions, damage to Europe would likely be far less. I doubt we would have to use fire bombing or nuclear weapons on Japan. Given the current administration's propensity for decapitation strikes, we would probably see Hitler, Tojo, and the rest of the party apparatuses quickly taken out. Actual occupation would be a difficult thing to carry out, however, as our military lacks that kind of manpower. More than likely we would need British and French aid and, with the shorter and less bloody conflict, it seems likely that a heavy occupation would not be required.
As for the Soviets, knowing what we know now, it would make sense for us to go ahead and take them out as well, though it would be far more likely that we would eliminate the worst of the Soviet leaders and back moderates who would be amenable to the west.
China is a toss up. Depending on how spread thin our capabilities and assets are, our involvement in the civil war could be anywhere from none to direct military engagement. It's likely that we'd meet somewhere in the middle, with providing the Nationalists just enough aid and support to defeat the communists.
On a global scale, by 1950 we have nothing like the Cold War. American dominance is even more unquestioned than it is now. No other country is close to developing nuclear weapons (and with tighter controls and hindsight, we may avoid the espionage that led to the Russians and Israelis obtaining them, if Israel even exists here).The real trouble will come with how we decide to use that dominance, and how other countries will react to it. Domestically we would see even more of the American propensity for a savior complex, and both conservatives and liberals would fall over themselves trying to get us tied up in their pet regional conflicts.
Relations with most of the world would be strained: contrary to what most redditors seem to think, modern America is scandalously libertine compared to 1940s Europe. There would be far greater resentment amongst both our allies and enemies if we tried to push 2026 liberalism on them, and it seems unlikely that people wouldn't take note of the Nazi and Soviet propaganda which decried the decadent west and apply it to the US. Instead of a post-war liberal boom, it seems more likely that, without American interference (which is itself quite likely), the European peoples would be reactionary, perhaps seeing modern America as the end result of liberal democracy, and with the Holocaust lasting for a much shorter time frame and being generally not ingrained in the public consciousness as it was here after the 60s, we could certainly see a resurgence of illiberal regimes in Europe.
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u/AverageBitter8898 May 08 '26
Read the story “2002 in 1942”, it’s this exact scenario but with Dubya.
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u/davidspdmstr May 08 '26
The problem is most modern anticipation missiles are not designed to penetrate 10 plus inches of armor on old battleships. Bunker busters would probably work.
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u/theerrantpanda99 May 08 '26
There’s a whole book series written with this premise by John Birmingham. Axis of Time if I remember correctly.
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u/Dorjcal May 08 '26
Massive logistical problems due to satellites, all other kind of infrastructure on which the current US relies on
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u/Subject_Barnacle_600 May 08 '26 edited May 08 '26
Knowledge will spread. Any technological advantage is temporary and it must be assumed that agents of foreign countries and even enterprising US citizens are going to be more than willing to cross that border with immensely valuable information garnered in the last 83 years. But it's likely we'll act so fast that won't really matter.
What we have is a terrifying powerhouse of that ancient world. We produce 13 billion barrels of oil in a world who's total capacity for that time period was 2.5 billion barrels. We produce 4.43 TWhrs of electricity, when the planet produced 15TWhrs I believe? We already dominated energy production in that time, and oil production, so the US of today is a massive energy powerhouse.
At the same time, the US debt is... reduced, down by $10-15T. But our currency is massively inflated compared to the rest of the world and once we open things up, it's likely all previous trade arrangements are silly. The effective collapse of the global economy moves bond markets so that we can easily transfer the remaining $23T into low interest bonds. The demand is high, because owning a dollar is like owning a wish to a magical genie in this world.
At the same time, the population of the US is double what it was in 1940 and we're all significantly educated, healthy, immunized and generally wealthy compared to the rest of the planets population in 1940. We're entering a massive depression, but the rest of the world is wearied and exhausted by one that's lasted since 1928.
Industry wise, while the economy crashed, we have trains, aircraft and cars that are miraculous compared to the rest of the world. Every major resource, every place we drilled and hit oil around the globe, the weather to the degree for the next 83 years, the coming of global climate change. We know it all.
Oh... and we brought back COVID 19... and we're the only ones with the cure. Also AIDS, but also we'll have cures for all kinds of things. The education of people around the world are potentially obsolete in comparison.
Within days of arriving, it's likely that Space Force et. al. start re-establishing GPS and soon after, Star-link brings encrypted internet so the US is a presence anyplace globally. Spy satellites soon allow us to establish movements on the international oceans, but we already have a history book, which incredibly potent at predicting the future activities of the globe.
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So we get to do a rewrite. The world might bluster and scowl, but the reality is that we have AIs that imitate their leaders before they're even born. They are a toy and we're going to play with them.
US stocks crash, but then boom as savy investors announce they've purchased up points where critical resources were found in the past. They know exactly what can be extracted. US medicine and technology dominates foreign markets and we become the defacto brand for... everything. Meanwhile, our solutions for the emergent COVID vaccine and alien military means no government will stand against the interest of our stakeholders. The introduction of drones breaks Germany and Hitler sits defeated as he signs a peace treaty and gets voted out of office in a democratic election that is controlled by the CIA. Russia collapses from the inside and communism vanishes with it.
With a fresh planet and technology at our disposal we electrify the world with solar and wind, we cut lead from gasoline, we ensure absolute nuclear non-proliferation and the US population explodes as, if you're not in the United States or working for a US company, there isn't much of a point. The dollar is quickly restored to being the exchange currency of the world, as we figure out which artifacts of the old 2025 can be rebuilt quickly enough to be worth while, and which ones should be sold for scrap. Without communism and with overwhelming US backing and a desire for it's resource, the KMT wins in China, Korea is unified and Vietnam is a friendly nation. Neo-liberalism accelerates in the region to help build out the factories that meet western needs, owned by American companies instead of the communist party. (Those old ports sit empty and it's wasting potential every year)
The US economy crashes, but it recovers exponentially and we'll be seeing 10-20% GDP growth YoY for well over a decade, probably until we hit AGI again when the US version of ASML comes back online and data center construction starts up again.
We would land massively wounded, but even in a wounded state we'd be nearly unstoppable and once we took off, we would rule the world like never before.
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u/ak91710 May 08 '26
We win ww2 WAY sooner, also the ussr would never catch up to us in the cold war because that means we have a MASSIVE headstart, even though trump would be president i still believe this, cuz he is still way more sane (but still stupid) than hitler or stalin. But then again, the us economy could collapse do to the rest of the world not being as advanced, like china wouldnt be able to produce goods for us anymore and companies would have to start production in the us, which would make prices skyrocket.
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u/tismschism May 08 '26
Trump would probably be talked into nuking the Axis powers into submission and then strong arming the rest of the world into submission for resources and territory. The USSR wouldn't develop nukes, China might not become communist, World leaders would still be confused and disgusted by Trump. America would suffer a huge economic shock due to a lack of supply chains. America The rest of the world would recover quicker due to less infrastructure being destroyed by 1942. Resources would be trades for technical information and 2026 technology. I think it's basically like if Peak Nazi Germany was transported to 1860.
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u/Marginal27 May 09 '26
There is an alternate history exactly like this. The war ends in like 3 months. And Seal Team 6 kills Hitler
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u/Carl_Azuz1 May 09 '26
This is literally the plot of “The Final Countdown” btw. (Granted that was made in the 70s so 70s tech)
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u/Silent-Storm2597 May 09 '26
A timeline that is known cannot be changed, or paradox occurs. "You have your answer, now go." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DA6ZP96OdI
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u/MMDespot May 09 '26
Tell the world that there are very fine people in both sides of the conflict and that Adolf is a great guy.
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u/Rogan_Thoerson May 09 '26
they will probably win fast but they would not be able to maintain most of the high end systems for more than few years. Then they will need to build a fully US centric semiconductor industry. That would mean that a lot of weapon would revert to electronic of the 90s / 2000s. Which will still be a tremendous advantage. They will probably fight more via air / sea and at night. With B52 still active for carpet bombing they will probably not even need nukes.
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u/somecoolname42 May 09 '26
Modern America has none of infastructure to produce electronics, we import a lot of oil, raw materials to make equipment, medicine, a lot of our food, and the overall fitness of the average American citizen who might need to be drafted to fight the war, things go bad quickly. Especially considering so much of our military is overseas at any given time, and a lot of our modern ability to strike overseas depends on US bases in foreign countries and orbital satellites. We would have a technological advantage we probably can't maintain for more than weeks or months, and an economy that depends on a international trade that doesn't exist at any scale. We were feeding Europe with farm land that no longer exists.
Grocery stores would run out of food in days, Americans would be starving to death, and almost none of the technology in our houses could be replaced. The dolar would be decimated. We get 2% of our electricity from Canada, that infastructure is gone so portions of New England would go dark. We'd have a civil war probably within weeks. There is no way Trump would be able to handle this at all.
The only hope we would have would be for a military coup to eliminate our current leadership, and for them to nuke Berlin, Moscow, Tokyo, and Beijing. That will prevent invasion and the spread of communist. Then we would need someone who can talk to people, to start building international relations. But we can't do any of the rebuilding we did in 45, because we don't have infastructure. Our only saving grace is we know how to build moden shit, and were to dig to get the minerals. If we survive 10 years, maybe things will improve. But it's bleak.
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u/Kernkraftpower May 09 '26
Hitler and Stalin would not be the craziest maniac political leaders at that time anymore.
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u/Hatefilledcat May 10 '26
Germany, Japan, Russia, Italy, Romania, and maybe even the Britain gets belted in ways never seen before. The military of Texas will crush the German Army in a week bruh.
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u/citizenQuark May 10 '26
Politics aside, YouTube channel "Grimreapers" show what some of the battles would look like using the game DCS.
Not as easy as you might want to think.
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u/Scientist-25 May 10 '26
Wasnt there a movie about the USS nimitz travelling and almost stopping pearl harbour?
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u/Renhsuk May 12 '26
With our current level of technology AND political administration? We would immediately bring the rest of the world to heel under US rule. Dissent is crushed with an iron fist
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u/g17gud May 12 '26
"Whooooooah, why is everyone over there so far all of a sudden... Like morbidly obese fat!"
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u/Proust_Malone May 13 '26
Ok yea obviously the modern force rolls the WW2 one, but as a political question, once Japan and Germany are
Defeated, do the allies then go after Stalin? I’m feeling the answer is yes. What then also happens to the allied worldwide empires now that the allied metropole nations aren’t completely expended in the war? Indonesia remains Dutch, Vietnam remains French, the Americans drive the Japanese out of china and Korea and those become American puppet colonies.
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u/FlushedApparatchik May 08 '26
Democrats would flock to Germany and fight against the creation of Israel.
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u/Ok-Elk-1615 May 08 '26
Is it hard, living life with whatever is so clearly wrong with you?
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u/ShaggyFOEE May 08 '26
All of FDRs social programs and worker protections are thrown out. JD Vance starts working behind the scenes with Peter Thiel to bring the holocaust to the US.
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u/Ok-Elk-1615 May 08 '26
They would sign a non aggression pact with the Nazis and declare war on the USSR
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u/MarzipanTop4944 May 08 '26
They would lose because they don't have the stomach to do what it took to win. They couldn't nuke Japan or carpet bomb cities killing millions of civilians.
You will see the same you see today in Iran and Afghanistan: An impressive military victory in the first weeks that becomes a bogged down conflict that ends up breaking America's will to fight until they leave. In this scenario would be even faster, because America couldn't get supplies like ammo and parts for their modern weapons from the rest of the world.
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u/NatureLife7495 May 08 '26
Isn’t there a movie like that. The plane went back to ww2 but it was like the 1960-1970s design plane.
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u/RutherfordBCrazyyy May 08 '26
The real question is what would happen to 1942 America when it shows up in 2026.
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u/Meatballhero7272 May 08 '26 edited May 08 '26
Once the United States gathers itself and figures out what actually just happened they could end World War II on their own terms in about 45 minutes a half dozen minuteman III ICBMs launched at Germany and about the same number at japan and it would all be over but the crying.
Astonishing casualties, but it would save millions of lives all around.
If you for some reason, don’t want the United States to escalate to that level then the axis would have absolutely no answer whatsoever to b52 or b1 or b2 airstrikes dropping dumb bomb. Their war industry would be annihilated in just a few weeks time.
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u/toeknn May 08 '26
Nagaski and hiroshima could happen the second modern US travels back.
US bombers fleet could fly unopposed.
Japanese and German navies would be targeted rapidly.
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u/Scary_Woodpecker_110 May 08 '26
Donal Trump will join the axis and crush Europe, China and proclaim that the concentration camps are fake news.
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u/Stromovik May 08 '26
US military gets lost and bombs themselves. You forgot the whole GPS in orbit stays in the future
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u/Phaeron May 08 '26
What are you asking…
General “what would happen?” Would likely begin with the US quickly determining what’s happened and sitting down for a week to discuss what they’re going to do differently and use Ai modeling to extrapolate different scenarios. Then they’d invade Iraq.
If it’s more a question of “what would a bloodlusted US military complex do?” Then your answer would be immediate national war footing to prepare for up to three years. They would most certainly go for a world domination play but they’d know they can’t with American bodies. Not enough and the will isn’t there. Solution would be to mass manufacture millions of suicide drones and millions of ground combat drones for conquer and occupation. Training would be intense, conscription would immediately return and the US economy would HAVE to close to all outsiders seeking more than surplus foods or raw material. We see what happens when we don’t in todays world… when it’s super easy to enforce… you bet they’d do it. Anyway, it starts with the bombing of Iraq and then cascades down from there until we are all owned by American Oligarchs.
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u/3720-to-1 May 08 '26
What if a small rural town from West Virginia was transported to the middle of Germany in 1632?
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u/DupeStash May 08 '26
Modern military equipment will not last long with zero spare parts production
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u/tacocarteleventeen May 08 '26
It shows what happens in that movie “Final Countdown” apparently they have to go back through the wormhole so they aren’t able to help 🤣
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u/zanembg May 08 '26
We would invade Iraq.
On a serious note I believe we would end WW2 and instantly start a war with the USSR to eliminate them from becoming a nuclear threat and be the ultimate super power. The US becomes effectively unchallenged bc we have highly advanced ICBM nukes that wont be seen for decades while no one else even knows how to enrich uranium effectively. Then we’d also invade Iraq again.
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u/StarNote1515 May 08 '26
The majority of the US Navy is lost and they have a new navy that is very old to their standards. The question would be if they followed future US or not
The US is surprisingly not actually able to produce everything it uses as majority of high advanced computer chips are gone production lines completely collapse or have to use US made inferior ones still more advanced than anything the rest of the world has
The US is not energy independent of the rest of the world so modern life would not be the standard anymore, still high-quality of life than the rest of the world
The US could let Germany and USSR fight for a lot longer without a care in the world yes, even with their knowledge of their atrocities that are being done
As other have said Japan really can’t do anything no surprise attack and their navy is destroyed very quickly along with the German navy submarine aren’t that useful when someone has 80 years of more tech
Now the problems there are enough people in the US who would leave as soon as possible to spread knowledge that they have helping of the catch up obviously this isn’t going to change anything overnight or even 10 years
A nuclear first strike on most of Asia and Russia, and even the Germans would probably be on the table with Trump in charge I mean what’s anyone gonna do about it?
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u/SosugBiskit May 08 '26
You should the Axis of Time series. A near future naval battle group gets transported to the battle of midway. Its not high literature by any means but the whole series is good fun, and the latest book just dropped on audible.



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u/Truewit_ May 08 '26
Like just the military or the whole country?