History Literature / TheWarThatCameEarly

* {{Antivillain}}: Most German viewpoint characters, including Ludwig Rothe, Theo Hossbach, Willi Dernen, and Julius Lemp are relatively good guys who happen to be on the wrong side of the war. Not so Japanese viewpoint character Hideki Fujita whose participation in the killing of prisoners moves him out of the "anti" and squarely into "villain" territory.

Another in a long line of {{alternate history}} novels from HarryTurtledove, ''The War That Came Early'' features a WWII that never happened. It's 1938. In Spain, Marshal Sanjurjo's Nationalist forces are still struggling against the Republicans, while in Europe UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler prepares to send his untested and unready army into action in Czechoslovakia, following the assassination of a Czech Nazi. Britain and France move to protect their Czech ally, even as UsefulNotes/JosefStalin's Soviet Union looks hungrily at Poland, and Japanese troops in the Far East prepare to march into Siberia. With America still refusing to enter the war, and Fascist sympathies on the rise in Britain and France, the question of just who is going to end up at war with who becomes anybody's guess.

** Additionally, [[spoiler: Theo, Hans-Ulrich, and Julius are moved out of the "villain" category in the end when they show themselves unwillingto crush the Munster uprising and ultimately fight against the Nazis in the civil war.]]

** [[spoiler: In the end, Chaim feels the need to get out of Spain lest he wind up in a camp. This despite his heroism, including being wounded, in service to the Republic. Additionally, due to aninnocent mistake, Ivan Kuchkov, his CO, and his comrades are all sent to a gulag.]]

* [[spoiler: BittersweetEnding: Hitler is assassinated and the Nazis are overthrown, to be replaced by a more reasonable government that makes peace and ends discrimination against Jews. The Holocaust is averted. Much of Eastern Europe is kept out of Stalin's hands. However, the Jews face an uncertain future in Germany, the Czech part of Czechoslovakia remains under German rule, Germany is expected to develop nuclear weapons, Stalin still got the Baltics and parts of Poland, and Spain is under a radical, possibly Stalinist, regime. Not to mention that the war with Japan is still left unfinished.]]

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Lemp, Steinbrenner and Witt. Witt is revealed early on to be this in that he helps keep Saul/Adi's secret. [[Spoiler: In the end, all three of them fight against the Nazis in the civil war.]]

* FinalSolution: Ultimately averted. Between a two-front war with the Soviets, French, and the British, an alliance with Poland (which makes its three million Jews, killed OTL, off limits, and [[spoiler: growing domestic unrest against the Nazis that culminates in the assassination of Hitler and a civil war]], the Nazis are unable to carry this out.
** [[spoiler: Given the tone of Hitler's speech that was interrupted by his assassination, it is implied that, had he not been killed, he would have begun the FinalSolution in earnest.]]

* WhatTheHellHero: Halevy gives one of these to Vaclav when the latter makes prejudiced comments about the Slovaks.

* FinalSolution: Put on hold for the moment, with Hitler not wanting to alienate his British and French allies by publicly exterminating the Jews. Now that Britain and France have turned on Hitler, however, the odds are not looking good for the continued safety of Germany's Jewish population.

Another in a long line of {{alternate history}} novels from HarryTurtledove, ''The War That Came Early'' features a WWII that never happened. It's 1938. In Spain, Marshal Sanjurjo's Nationalist forces are still struggling against the Republicans, while in Europe UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler prepares to send his untested and unready army into action in Czechoslovakia, following the assassination of a Czech Nazi. Britain and France move to protect their Czech ally, even as JosefStalin's Soviet Union looks hungrily at Poland, and Japanese troops in the Far East prepare to march into Siberia. With America still refusing to enter the war, and Fascist sympathies on the rise in Britain and France, the question of just who is going to end up at war with who becomes anybody's guess.

* AlternateHistory: And how. Germany wrecks her army invading Czechoslovakia and cannot fully conquer Paris. Stalin's invasion of Poland turns everybody against him, resulting in France and Britain allying with Germany and invading the USSR. Japan attacks first the USSR and then the USA, unleashing germ weapons to help with the latter. The US fights Japan, but does not intervene in Europe (at least as of the time of this writing). Then a military coup in England, coupled with revolt in the French army causes the British and French to switch sides again. And in the background, the UsefulNotes/SpanishCivilWar between the Republicans and the Nationalists (led in this timeline by Jose Sanjurjo, rather than FranciscoFranco) continues unabated.

* ''Last Orders'' (upcoming)

Another in a long line of {{alternate history}} novels from HarryTurtledove, ''The War That Came Early'' features a WWII that never happened. It's 1938. In Spain, Marshal Sanjurjo's Nationalist forces are still struggling against the Republicans, while in Europe AdolfHitler prepares to send his untested and unready army into action in Czechoslovakia, following the assassination of a Czech Nazi. Britain and France move to protect their Czech ally, even as JosefStalin's Soviet Union looks hungrily at Poland, and Japanese troops in the Far East prepare to march into Siberia. With America still refusing to enter the war, and Fascist sympathies on the rise in Britain and France, the question of just who is going to end up at war with who becomes anybody's guess.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: In-universe. A campaigner for FDR compares the 1940 election, where Democrat FDR runs against Republican Willke and third-party candidate Landon, to the 1912 party, with the 1912 election, in which Democrat Wilson ran against, and defeated, Republican Taft and Bull-Moose (Teddy) Roosevelt. In so doing, he says that, once again, a Democrat is running against a Republican and a Bull-something. Peggy, who is attending the rally, reflects that the speaker is implying what cannot be said directly in a public forum, that Landon is bull''shit''.

* FireForgedFriends: Vaclav Jezek, a Czech soldier who initially has a very poor opinion of Jews, and Benjamin Halevy, a French-Czech Jew who is assigned to him as a translator. The two soldier through the first Franco-German War, and the Spanish Civil War together, becoming very close even as they continue to mock one another.

* AlternateHistory: And how. Germany wrecks her army invading Czechoslovakia and cannot fully conquer Paris. Stalin's invasion of Poland turns everybody against him, resulting in France and Britain allying with Germany and invading the USSR. Japan attacks first the USSR and then the USA, unleashing germ weapons to help with the latter. The US fights Japan, but does not intervene in Europe (at least as of the time of this writing). Then a military coup in England, coupled with revolt in the French army causes the British and French to switch sides again. And in the background, the SpanishCivilWar between the Republicans and the Nationalists (led in this timeline by Jose Sanjurjo, rather than FranciscoFranco) continues unabated.

* TheBigBad: Hitler, Stalin, and the Japanese Emperor all share the role within the context of WWII; in the Spanish Civil War, Marshal Sanjurjo takes the role.

* PoliticallyIncorrectHero: Vaclav Jezek makes some unflattering remarks about Jews before getting to know Benjamin Halevy, and Pete [=McGill=] and the other Marines are quite racist in their descriptions of the Japanese.

* TankGoodness: Averted by Ludwig Rothe and Theo Hossbach's Panzer II, which while not quite a case of TanksForNothing, is a very fragile vehicle. Played straight by the Panzer III and IV, and especially the Tiger. On the Russian side the T-34 and KV-1 definitely fullfill this role.

* YourCheatingHeart: Peggy Druce has a drunken one night stand with American consul Constantine Jenkins while trapped in Berlin. Back home, her husband Herb has an affair with a woman named Georgia.

* WeaponsOfMassDestruction: The Japanese employ a plague bomb against the American forces stationed in the Hawaiian Islands.

* TankGoodness: Averted by Ludwig Rothe and Theo Hossbach's Panzer II, which while not quite a case of TanksForNothing, is a very fragile vehicle. Played straight by the Panzer III and IV, and especially the Tiger. On the Russian side the T-34 and KV-1 definitely fullfill this role.

* SniperDuel: ''West & East'' features two of these between Vaclav Jezek and German snipers Fegelein and Puttkamer, both of whom are sent specifically to hunt him down. Vaclav wins out both times.

Another in a long line of {{alternate history}} novels from HarryTurtledove, ''The War That Came Early'' features a WWII that never happened. It's 1938. In Spain, Marshal Sanjuro's Nationalist forces are still struggling against the Republicans, while in Europe AdolfHitler prepares to send his untested and unready army into action in Czechoslovakia, following the assassination of a Czech Nazi. Britain and France move to protect their Czech ally, even as JosefStalin's Soviet Union looks hungrily at Poland, and Japanese troops in the Far East prepare to march into Siberia. With America still refusing to enter the war, and Fascist sympathies on the rise in Britain and France, the question of just who is going to end up at war with who becomes anybody's guess.

* AlternateHistory: And how. Germany wrecks her army invading Czechoslovakia and cannot fully conquer Paris. Stalin's invasion of Poland turns everybody against him, resulting in France and Britain allying with Germany and invading the USSR. Japan attacks first the USSR and then the USA, unleashing germ weapons to help with the latter. The US fights Japan, but does not intervene in Europe (at least as of the time of this writing). Then a military coup in England, coupled with revolt in the French army causes the British and French to switch sides again.
* {{BFG}}: Vaclav Jezek, a Czech soldier uses an obsolete antitank rifle as a sniper rifle.