WI: Axis Nepal

[SinghSong]

The swastika may have been a symbol found across the Indian subcontinent, but it was actually Rana-era Nepal which commandeered it as a political symbol of power, elitism and supremacism first, from whom Hitler took inspiration and whose example led Hitler to do the same (and to sponsor the 1938-1939 German Expedition to Tibet, passing through Nepal along the way, in his belief that the Nepalis represented the only pure race of "ancient white Aryans" in India). To this day, Nepali voters still mark their preferences on electoral ballot papers by stamping them with swastikas. And Adolf Hitler is reported to have said, "If I had Gurkhas, no armies in the world will defeat me." So, how much of an impact might it have had if the Kingdom of Nepal and the Gurkhas had altered their alignment during the interwar period, and sided with the Axis rather than the Allies?

 

[lerk]

The British Indian Army might see some more action than they did IOTL, but unless the Nepalis try to engage in some guerilla warfare I can't imagine that the Nepali theater will last long. We might see an earlier abolition of the monarchy.

 

[napoleon IV]

Why would Nepal do this? Nepal was very friendly with Britain and there's very little the Germans can give them (especially once the conflict starts and Nepal gets completely cut off from the outside world). There's literally no upside and Nepal would be easily crushed. The only way I could see this happening is if Japan invaded India and somehow conquered it, but there's basically no chance of that occurring.

 

[lerk]

Maybe Nepal could be annexed into an independent Republic of India. When India became independent there was some talk about going after Nepal and Bhutan as a part of getting rid of the UK-aligned princely states, but Nehru decided to drop it. If India decided to annex Nepal as a punishment for it joining the Axis I can't imagine many would care.

 

[Persephone]

Why would Nepal do this? Nepal was very friendly with Britain and there's very little the Germans can give them (especially once the conflict starts and Nepal gets completely cut off from the outside world). There's literally no upside and Nepal would be easily crushed. The only way I could see this happening is if Japan invaded India and somehow conquered it, but there's basically no chance of that occurring.

While the idea of an Axis Nepal reclaiming the territory of Greater Nepal from British India pleases me greatly, this is more or less what would happen.

 

[I Saw A Red Sky]

Was this something even talked about IOTL or are you just leaning on the swastika thing?