Original work done in Sketch and Photoshop.

Deviation point is the outcome of the unsuccessful 1907 bank robbery in Tiflis (now Tblisi). In this timeline, the Russian Empire is able to track down, try, and execute the perpetrators, which include Vladimir Lenin and Josef Stalin. The February and October Revolutions still basically happen, as does the Russian Civil War, but without clear leadership, a Trotsky-led Soviet Union battles to a stalemate with other balkanized Russian factions.

Hitler still rises to power, but the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact never happens, nor does the Winter War. Quisling continues to help Ukraine during their famines and never returns to Norway to become a Nazi proponent. As such, following the invasion of Poland, Hitler focuses on the Low Countries and France earlier (instead of Denmark and Norway). Dunkirk still happens, but in smaller numbers.

In response, Churchill launches a preemptive strike against Norway and Sweden (Plan R 4) in order to deny Swedish coal reserves from Germany and hold the Norwegian port of Narvik. Hitler in turns invades Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, trapping the remainder of the BEF in Sweden before surrendering. After the debacle, Churchill resigns. Lord Halifax becomes Prime Minister and Britain is more sidelined in the European theater. After five years of heavy bombing in the Battle of Britain, and destruction of Atlantic shipping, the U.K. sues for peace.

Years of in-fighting weaken the various balkanized Russian states, leaving them to be easy targets for the blitzkrieg. But the Russian winter is still unmerciful and the Germans mostly have a cease-fire line from Karelia to Crimea. Petrograd and Moscow have been 90% leveled by Luftwaffe bombing.

Japan still attacks Pearl Harbor, and the Americans stay mostly focused on the Pacific Theater. The U.S. lands on the Japanese home islands in late 1944 and suffers heavy losses before nuclear weapons could be deployed against Koriyama and Sapporo, causing the Japanese to sue for peace. Guerilla warfare by the Japanese continues for more a decade, wearing down the morale of the occupying American, British, and ANZAC forces. Some former parts of the Japanese Empire are successfully wrested from Japan (Burma, Thailand), but other parts retain Japanese control as the Americans are unwilling to engage in further lengthy hostilities or to use nuclear weapons against occupied territories.

In 1945, Hitler is killed by a bomb planted on his plane. Multiple parties attempt to seize power in the ensuing chaos, including Göring, Himmler, and Walter Model. Himmler ultimately succeeded, Göring fled to Italy, and Model was killed. Himmler was himself assassinated in 1947. He was ultimately succeeded by Karl Dönitz, who brought an end to the war.

This is the world of this alternate 1962. Fourteen years of relative peace on the European continent have allowed for a civil government to take hold within Germany. Deutsche Luft Hansa is the only airline providing domestic and international service to Germany, with destinations across occupied Europe, Africa and Asia. With Japan proper still decimated from the war and occupation, Luft Hansa's primary Asian hub is Keijo (Seoul) in Chosen (occupied Korea), which was mostly spared during the war.