History Literature / Fatherland

* ProperlyParanoid: Buhler, Stuckhart and Luther preserved evidence of the Holocaust to protect themselves in the event that the regime later decided to [[HeKnowsTooMuch kill them merely for knowing about it]]. They were right to worry.

** The European Community, the predecessor of [[UsefulNotes/TheEuropeanUnion the modern European Union]], was still formed, albeit it is clear that the other member states are all subordinate to Germany.[[note]]A fair few people in our time have alleged that this part came to be anyway.[[/note]]

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: This is one of the most realistic outcomes of a Nazi victory depicted in fiction. Rather than taking over the world, the Nazi empire consists only of Europe, and is basically no different than the Soviet Union in our universe. Most of the land conquered is also poor and undeveloped except for a guerrilla movement resisting Nazi rule, and the entire empire will most likely collapse in the near future.

* TruthInTelevision[=/=]ShownTheirWork: Robert Harris includes an explanatory note about the historical characters he uses in the novel and their actual fates, as well as the real-life documents that he cites, just in case anyone thought he made up the thing about the Holocaust.

* AgeGapRomance: Xavier March is a depressed divorcee in his 40s, while Charlie is a plucky American reporter in her 20s. The two bond over the course of their investigation into the conspiracy. March doesn't like Charlie at first, owning to her TheGadfly nature, but her youth and energy inspire him to take a greater interest in the wider world. Charlie HasAType for older men, but she's initially weary of March, seeing him as a dog of the Nazi regime; after she sees him out of uniform and learns that he refuses to join the Nazi party, she likes him more.

* BoomHeadshot: [[spoiler:Luther’s fate.]]

* EtTuBrute: [[spoiler:Pili AND Max.]]
* EvilAllAlong: [[spoiler:Nebe and Jaeger.]]

* MayDecemberRomance: Xavier March and Charlie.

* FallenStatesOfAmerica: Averted. While the Nazis did win the war in Europe, America defeated Imperial Japan and remains a functional and free society, and it is all but stated that is pulling ahead of Germany in the Cold War. [[note]]It is noted that even Hitler, the megalomaniacal egomaniac that he was, thought a physical conquest of the United States was impossible. He did foresee a future conflict with America, but his plans for global dominance were more about ''deterring'' future American aggression than actually taking over all of North America, even as a puppet.[[/note]]

* FallenStatesOfAmerica: Averted. While the Nazis did win the war, America defeated Imperial Japan and remains a functional and free society, and it is all but stated that is pulling ahead of Germany in the Cold War. [[note]]It is noted that even Hitler, the megalomaniacal egomaniac that he was, thought a physical conquest of the United States was impossible. He did foresee a future conflict with America, but his plans for global dominance were more about ''deterring'' future American aggression than actually taking over all of North America, even as a puppet.[[/note]]

* FallenStatesOfAmerica: Averted. While the Nazis did win the war, America remains a functional and free society, and it is all but stated that is pulling ahead of Germany in the Cold War. [[note]]It is noted that even Hitler, the megalomaniacal egomaniac that he was, thought a physical conquest of the United States was impossible. He did foresee a future conflict with America, but his plans for global dominance were more about ''deterring'' future American aggression than actually taking over all of North America, even as a puppet.[[/note]]

* KarmaHoudini: Hitler, Heydrich, Goebbels and the other leading Nazis who were responsible for the war and the Holocaust got away with it and are still in power two decades later.

* MinorCrimeRevealsMajorPlot: Doesn't get much more major than [[UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust this one]].

* HeKnowsTooMuch: The plot is essentially driven by March investigating his own government and finding out far more than he should.

* TheStarscream: It is implied that Heydrich arranged for his boss Heinrich Himmler to be [[DroppedABridgeOnHim killed in a a plane crash]] so he could take over the S.S.

* RomanticFalseLead: {{Averted|Trope}}. March suspects Maguire is in a relationship with Henry Nightingale, with his behaviour not helping.
* ShowerOfAngst: Xavi takes a long, long bath after the HeroicBSOD above.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: This is one of the most realistic outcomes of a Nazi victory depicted in fiction. Rather than taking over the world, the Nazi empire consists only of Europe, and is basically no different than the Soviet Union in our universe. Most of the land conquered is also poor and undeveloped except for a guerrilla movement resisting Nazi rule, and the entire empire will most likely collapse in the near future.

* HeroicBSOD: While reading secret documents, Xavier comes across a [[TruthInTelevision real historical]] note about concentration camp victims' hair being cut off and turned into felt, which was then made into socks for U-boat crews. He [[OutDamnedSpot reacts badly]] to the news that he wore dead Jews' hair during the war.

* OutDamnedSpot: Xavi takes a long, long bath after the HeroicBSOD above.

* TruthInTelevision[=/=]ShownTheirWork: Robert Harris includes an explanatory note about the historical characters he uses in the novel and their actual fates, as well as the real-life documents that he cites, just in case anyone thought [[UsefulNotes/ConspiracyTheories he made up the thing about the Holocaust]].

* PuppetState: We don't see a lot of Europe outside of Germany or territory directly controlled by Germany, but the mentions we get suggest that this is somewhat downplayed. Following the Nazi victory Western Europe has naturally been brought into a European Community which makes them basically puppets. But, in keeping with Hitler's real-life lack of interest in dominating Western Europe (he was more concerned with establishing "living space" in the east) and the fact that dominating Eastern Europe is hinted to basically have turned out to be a resource-draining PyrrhicVictory, it's implied that beyond unfavourable economic ties, making sure that they come second to Germany in sporting contests and doing whatever Germany tells them in terms of world relations Western Europe is more-or-less left alone to get on with things. For example, mentions of a band that is almost certainly Music/TheBeatles becoming popular with the youth and books by Creator/GeorgeOrwell and Creator/GrahamGreene circulating among the black market would seem to suggest that Britain, for one example, has a relatively more liberal public and cultural life than is enjoyed in Germany and the places directly controlled by it.

* PuppetState: We don't see a lot of Europe outside of Germany or territory directly controlled by Germany, but the mentions we get suggest that this is somewhat downplayed. Following the Nazi victory Western Europe has naturally been brought into a European Community which makes them basically puppets. But, in keeping with Hitler's real-life lack of interest in dominating Western Europe (he was more concerned with establishing "living space" in the east) and the fact that dominating Eastern Europe is hinted to basically have turned out to be a resource-draining PyrrhicVictory, it's implied that beyond unfavourable economic ties, making sure that they come second to Germany in sporting contests and doing whatever Germany tells them in terms of world relations Western Europe is more-or-less left alone to get on with things. For example, mentions of a band that is almost certainly Music/TheBeatles becoming popular with the youth and books by Creator/GeorgeOrwell and Creator/GrahameGreene circulating among the black market would seem to suggest that Britain, for one example, has a relatively more liberal public and cultural life than is enjoyed in Germany and the places directly controlled by it.

* ArtisticLicence: In the novel, it is a record of [[spoiler:Josef Bühler]]'s arrest the day after the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch that allows March to identify him (and to start to realise the depth of what he’s getting into). In reality, [[spoiler:Bühler]] did not join the Nazi Party until 1933, though had been working for the party for some time before that.

* CriticalResearchFailure: In the novel, it is a record of [[spoiler:Josef Bühler]]'s arrest the day after the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch that allows March to identify him (and to start to realise the depth of what he’s getting into). In reality, [[spoiler:Bühler]] did not join the Nazi Party until 1933, though had been working for the party for some time before that.

* CriticalResearchFailure: In the novel, it is a record of [[spoiler:Josef Bühler]]'s arrest the day after the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch that allows the police to identify him (and to start to realise the depth of what he’s getting into). In reality, [[spoiler:Bühler]] did not join the Nazi Party until 1933, though had been working for the party for some time before that.

* EvilIsBigger: Justified and deconstructed. The Nazi Reich has a ton of monuments that are bigger than anywhere else. However, March sees this as a sign of how deeply insecure Germany is as a society, that they have to constantly build such behemoths.

* InferioritySuperiorityComplex: The Nazis are fond of overtly and implicitly rubbing their victory in the faces of their defeated foes. Their monuments are bigger than everyone else's. Their sporting teams always win (even, it is hinted, if they have to cheat). And so on. March merely considers this as culture-wide evidence of how insecure and inferior the Germans actually feel deep down: