Was a German invasion of Britain in 1940 ever feasible?

[TheReckoning]

Option 2.

The two opportunities for Sea Lion being launched would’ve been either if the British infantry at Dunkirk had been destroyed instead of evacuated, or if Germany had won the Battle of Britain. A total victory in the latter case is very unlikely (although not impossible), but the possibility of the Luftwaffe capturing the English Channel and putting the RAF on the defensive is certainly plausible.

However, Sea Lion being successful would’ve been totally impossible. The RN was simply so much more powerful than the Kriegsmarine that even if both the infantry had been knocked at Dunkirk and the RAF defeated during the Battle of Britain, getting sufficient troops across the channel was simply not feasible.

Thus, Germany posed no existential threat to the UK during WW2.  

[TheReckoning]

It was considered as a serious threat in Britain throughout 1940 and was certainly seriously considered as an option by the Nazi high command throughout that year: even if we ignore the known existence of blueprints, plans and proposals, their actions alone are suggestive of this - there would have been no point in the Battle of Britain otherwise.

That‘s completely false. German High Command, including Hitler, were well aware that invading Britain would be, in all likelihood, completely suicidal. But they hadn’t given up making Britain back down through other means. One of those means was a defeat in the air so Britain would accept peace terms. That was the main reasons for the Battle of Britain, although it’s possible that if the defeat had occurred decisively, Hitler may have ordered an invasion.

In my opinion, it might’ve been better for the UK to actually not prepare for the invasion on the surface, entice Germany to invade, utterly annihilate them, and keep fighting from that point.

[TheReckoning]

It was considered as a serious threat in Britain throughout 1940 and was certainly seriously considered as an option by the Nazi high command throughout that year: even if we ignore the known existence of blueprints, plans and proposals, their actions alone are suggestive of this - there would have been no point in the Battle of Britain otherwise.

That‘s completely false. German High Command, including Hitler, were well aware that invading Britain would be, in all likelihood, completely suicidal. But they hadn’t given up making Britain back down through other means. One of those means was a defeat in the air so Britain would accept peace terms. That was the main reasons for the Battle of Britain, although it’s possible that if the defeat had occurred decisively, Hitler may have ordered an invasion.

In my opinion, it might’ve been better for the UK to actually not prepare for the invasion on the surface, entice Germany to invade, utterly annihilate them, and keep fighting from that point.

Even if the Nazis had no chance to successfully invade Britain, they still could have potentially killed millions of civilians and no sane nation would risk losing millions of their own civilians.

I mean, only 150,000 French civilians died in the Nazi invasion of France, and that was a successful invasion. “Millions of dead civilians” would be reserved for countries which had populations the Nazis viewed as inferior, while the Nazis actually considered English people as Aryans.

It’s a pretty incontrovertible fact that if Nazi Germany could’ve been tempted into attempting Operation Sea Lion, millions of lives would’ve saved in the end, as the Germany would’ve been defeated so strongly it might prevent them from even attempting Barbarossa.