Having just read the original post again there is no doubt that WW2 gave a boost to all engine technologies but with Jet engines WW2 was the start it was the cold war that kept it going. On the allied side the jets did not make any significant contribution to the outcome. However even as WW2 was coming to an end the cold war was starting, fear of Soviet expansion was what drove aircraft development even before WW2 ended.
US jet engine development without WW2?
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kool kitty89
Senior Master Sergeant
Had German and Soviet expansionism developed differently in the late 1930s ... or even just from 1939 onward, it may have set the stage for an earlier cold war situation with military R&D and armament production spurred by looming/perceived (and real) threats rather than active 'hot war' conflict. (and more isolated parallel cold conflicts like the Russo-Finnish front)
Granted, if nothing else, you already had the East Asian conflict developing with Japan's expansion, and some possible select conflicts in Europe and possibly the Middle East (or Africa). Had the Finnish front opened back up before any aggressive actions were taken by Germany, then we might have seen that turn into something closer to the previous Winter War with mixed support/supplies from neutral states and/or allies. (Germany being allied in that situation would complicate support from Britain to be sure, and obviously also complicate Soviet-German relations more or less depending on the extent of aid)
I'm less well versed in the intricacies of pre-war French politics, but I recall some significant degree of political/social instability there as well.
