Where to begin...
1. Germany DID offer Lithuania to Poland in exchange for Danzig. Offering Slovakia to Poland makes little sense because Poland had no political or economic ties to it, nor did they ever want it (whereas Hungary did). That's not hypothetical, that's history.
2. Yes, Poland was a useful starting position against the USSR. Which is why it was essential that Germany occupy it and exert full control over it.
3. I don't agree that Poland "was not the goal of lebensraum in any way". Generalplan Ost envisioned the complete conquest of Central/Eastern Europe. I get the feeling that I can't go until all the details on this forum, but Poland was included in this plan. I don't see how this can be denied.
4. There seems to be a prevailing view here that Hitler had nothing against Poland but only flew into a fury when Poland supported the West in the Munich Conference. I would argue that Poland did no such thing. Here's an exact quote by Daladier: "Not only can we not count on Polish support but we have no faith that Poland will not strike us in the back." As well as this, Generalplan Ost was the cornerstone of Hitler's foreign policy. Everything Hitler did prior to and during World War II was simply preparation for meeting this goal. From the very beginning of his political career, he stated this again and again and again. Logically, this means that the subordination and conquest of Poland was an inevitable outcome, and that any arrangement between Poland and Germany would be purely temporary.
5. Hitler's insistence on Danzig was not primarily propaganda, it was economically essential for both Germany and Poland. Not having a direct land connection with East Prussia was an economic drain for Germany, but Poland felt it needed access to the sea to maintain economic independence. If Poland were willing to give up Danzig, they would have demanded sea access from somewhere else. Lithuania fits the bill perfectly.
My conclusion is that if you, as Poland, want to ally with Germany, the end result is that you will probably be stabbed in the back, just like Czechoslovakia.
1. Lithuania was not in germanys sphere of influence, and "giving" it to poland would go hand in hand with 2. as it means war with the ussr, then with poland on its side. in game terms (and thats the thing im talking about here first and foremost) slovakia is an incentive to poland, who would get lithuania in the peace conference, while poland becomes more or less the puppet of germany slovakia became irl. with the danzig for slovakia treaty, full control over poland is more or less guranteed.
3. so hungary, slovakia, bulgaria and romania are not part of central/eastern europe (lets not even mention germanys good relations with greece before italy got their ass handed to them), but danemark, netherlands, belgium and norway are? 0france? north africa? dont confuse the general goal of something like generalplan ost with reality, the big enemy was the ussr, not poland (or hungary, romania etc.), and every "peacefull" integration into what we call the axis today eases the way for war with the ussr without risking war with the west. i wont comment on what happens afterwards as alternative history outside of games (and that would take place after ww2 and with that hoi4) doesnt interest me , so your "conclusion" is pretty much unnecessary as it is not what i asked in this thread.
4. wow, one french guy, of mediocre importance in the context of the whole second world war and its buildup, doesnt trust poland, and because poland did not support the allies or ,at the very least, did not not support germany, germany did not cancel their gurantee and broke off their (relativley) good relations with poland and invaded them a few months later, and since that french guy didnt trust the poles, france did not come to their aid when germany attacked. and if you think this is a strawman, please enlight me how i should interpret your 4th point differently.
5. yes, danzig was also important from an economic persepective, but i would still argue that the revocation of the treaty of versailes is of higher importance in full context (germany had way larger financial problems than that), and danzig in particular as dividing germany into two and not only giving a city/region to poland thats heavily populated by germans, been with germany since a bit less than a century and is part of prussian (and in conclusion german) history all the way up to teutonic order (who reformed into prussia and then unioned with brandenburg), and the prohibition of a vote to return either germany or to fully integrate to poland (this whole free city thing) ensured that the treaty will lead to eventual conflict in one way or the other, though which ones more important might just be subjective.
also, next time you number your arguments, please ensure that you dont spread one argument over multiple points (1 and 5 are essentialy one argument or are at least better addressable as one, while 3 and 4 are also the same argumet split in two parts without any real need). not meant to be a personal attack on you , but this is really annoying since my anwers to these points correlate to each other. also, keep in my mind that we are talking about a videogame here, and the possiblities within it, because i certainly do, and dont try to read any political affinity in my posts, you wont find one that represents my ideology particulary accurate, unless you count my perspectives on gamedesign as ideology
