Quote Originally Posted by PanzerJaeger View Post
An armistice would fall short of Hitler's original goal of total annexation. Also, any deal with the Western powers would obviously require the return of all the nations Germany conquered, except for Poland.
Except for Poland? The Western Allies included the UK, and the UK had specifically gone to war to protect Poland. While the UK might have theoretically bowed out around the time of Dunkirk, leaving Poland under German occupation, there is no way they would have done so in July of 1944. After Overlord succeeded, an Allied victory was inevitable and the Allies knew it. It was just a question of time and cost. I simply do not see the UK allowing Germany to keep control of Poland in any peace agreement at that point in the war. Since the US would never have made a peace without the UK, I see no way for Germany to get out of the war in July of '44 and keep control of Poland.

As I see it, the only things a July '44 peace would have achieved for Germany would have been an improved post-war situation domestially. Germany probably would not have been divided, its infrastructure would have been far more intact, and it would have avoided another year's worth of deaths. The chance of pulling some kind of German strategic victory out of a July '44 peace is a pipedream and nothing more.