Professional Documents
Culture Documents
2-28-18
After completing the heading, please list the following content for the plan:
Adolf Hitler, a man who swept the Germans up to incredible victories, was also the main reason
Germany ultimately lost the war. He refused to accept reality, took no advice from his Generals and then
made poor decisions. This way he ensured a relatively quick end of Nazi Germany.
Having no luck in enticing England to join in the fight against the USSR Hitler had to look for other, less
powerful countries. Italy was a natural choice, having an ideology similar to the Nazis, but when WWII
started their military equipment was already outdated. Other countries like Romania and Hungary were
enticed into the Axis, but neither could provide high-quality military assistance. In the case of Italy, Hitler
had to bail out his ally who started more than one ill-fated attack.
Hitler saved the German army from catastrophic defeat in the winter of 1941 – 1942 when he ordered
his troops to stand and fight against the Russian counter attacks after their failed operation to capture
Moscow. At that point, a decision to withdraw could well have caused a total collapse of the German
front and an early defeat in Russia. After this, feeling vindicated, he took this policy too far and allowed
not a single unit to withdraw. He went so far as to give orders down to regimental and even company
level, bypassing normal military channels. His decision to deny the German 6th Army at Stalingrad to
withdraw caused its complete destruction. In later battles, he denied the army to pull out to more
favorable terrain or to shorten the lines. This caused the German Army countless casualties that it could
ill afford.
On December 11, 1941, Germany declared war on the United States, in response to what was claimed to
be a series of provocations by the United States when they were still neutral. This occurred 4 days after
December 7, 1941 when the Empire of Japan launched its surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. According to
the terms of the Anti-Comintern Pact signed with Japan, Germany was obligated to come to the aid of
Japan if a third country attacked Japan, but not if Japan was the aggressor. Nevertheless, the German
government (Hitler) chose to declare war on the United States. This proved to be a godsend for both
Churchill and Roosevelt who soon agreed on a Germany First strategy which meant the destruction of
Germany took precedent over Japan.
In December 1941 when the attack on Moscow stalled, the Soviets launched a massive counterattack
which threatened to rout the Germans bringing them to the brink of disaster. Hitler did not wish to
accept the facts, and he began removing officers from their command for not obeying orders or when
they proposed to withdraw. Hitler did not believe in giving back captured territory (see reason 9), so in
the biggest shake-up of Germany’s military high command, he declared himself commander in chief of
the army. He would train it “in a National Socialist way”—that is, by personal fiat. He would compose
the strategies, and the officers would dance to his tune.
Having won spectacular victories early in the war under his supervision, Hitler considered himself a
military genius. However, when the tides of war changed, Hitler blamed his Generals for not carrying out
his “brilliant” orders. Causing a downward spiral of mutual mistrust, in the end, Hitler only listened to
himself (see reasons 9 and 6). For instance, his plan to launch the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944,
despite his Generals misgivings, caused Germany to lose valuable men and material making the job of
the final defeat of Germany easier for the Allies.
Hitler was certain of a quick victory over the USSR, saying to his Generals “We have only to kick in the
door, and the whole rotten structure will come crashing down.” Since victory would be achieved before
winter set in, there was no need to prepare for the Russian winter. However, being unable to capture
Moscow in the autumn of 1941 and force a Soviet surrender his troops had to face the full onslaught of
arctic cold in their summer uniforms.
3. The attack on Greece
Fully aware of the urgency to launch the assault on the USSR right after the thaw ended and Russian
roads became passable again, Germany ended up bailing out Italy (see reason 10) in their misadventure
in Greece. This military operation caused a 6-week delay of the attack on Russia. This delay meant that
first the autumn rains and then winter arrived before Operation Barbarossa could be completed and the
Russians destroyed.
2. Battle of Stalingrad
One of the costliest battles ever fought in a war, the Battle of Stalingrad became a turning point for the
second world war. Driving for the oil fields in the Caucasus the German 6th Army could have bypassed
or surround the city to take care of it later. However they were ordered to take the city itself and thus
were forced to fight for every city block, house and room causing massive casualties. Then the Soviets
launched an offensive and surrounded Stalingrad, trapping the 6th Army in a vast pincer movement.
Hitler refused to allow the 6th Army to break out towards friendly lines, making their destruction
inevitable.
Hitler’s prime target had always been Russia but to secure Germany’s western flank and avoid a war on
two fronts Germany decided to attack France and Britain first. France was taken care off in a matter of
weeks but after losing the Battle of Britain Hitler had only partially achieved a secured western flank.
Then he declared war on the USA (see reason 7) and now Germany was forced to fight Britain and the
USA in North Africa, Italy and finally France. Hitler was constantly dividing his forces between two fronts.
Having to focus his strength everywhere meant he could not secure a decisive victory anywhere,
ultimately invited defeat.