Desert Fox
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But you have to give the man credit that even if we were to take all of his shortcomings into consideration he would still surpass any politician or leader since his time, in terms of his leadership skills and unswerving commitment to his nations revival as a economic and military power. No human is free of faults, but not many have proven to be as skilled and influential leaders as Hitler. In fact, very few personalities in history.He had great willpower,but glorification of hitler's leadership is silly.He made massive errors that doomed the germans to a catastrophic defeat.He was political genius ,but not a strategic one.His pre-war moves were unscrupulous ,brilliant and also part lucky..but after war started he declined rapidly.
True, that was a mistake of strategic significance. He would have given into the RAF's bombings of German cities, it was only a matter of time.1.Abandoning Battle of Britain midway,first by bombing London when RAF was near breaking point.
Then instead of taking Gibraltar through spain and moving a larger part of the wehrmacht instead of rommel's tiny 3 division force into north africa and egypt and the oil fields of the middle east he would have solved the oil problem without ever having to invade russia and caucasus,it would also have surrounded russia from the south as well.Britain's empire would have collapsed as she didn't have eneough land forces to stop a full scale german attempt in the mediterranean.His abandonment of war against britain midway later led to 2-front war and defeat with british soil serving as bridgehead for normandy.
Gibraltar could only be taken by two ways:
1). Either Spain joined the Axis powers and broke its neutrality which was unlikely to happen as Franco refused to get involved in the war.
2). The Germans would take it by force. This option was off the table for various (obvious) reasons, one of which was an armed confrontation with Spain which would stretch the Wehrmacht out when there were much greater priorities at the time (Greece & Yugoslavia). Plus, the Italian navy was still a force to be reckoned with in the Mediterranean.
2.Declaring war on soviet union ignoring its manpower reserves or industrial potential,and assuming bolshevism will collapse and war will be over in 1 campaign before winter.
Hitler really had no choice but to declare war on the Soviet Union due to Stalin's increasing assertiveness towards Europe. In fact Hitler made repeated attempts to persuade Stalin to join the Axis, even offering Britain's Middle Eastern and far East colonies on a platter, but Stalin had territorial demands in Europe which Hitler refused to accept. Further adding to this was the large concentration of Soviet troops and heavy equipment close to the German Soviet frontier.
Time to Face the Truth About World War II | Eric Margolis
Window on Eurasia -- New Series: Stalin’s Expansionist Designs Blocked Signing of Second Molotov-Ribbentrop Treaty
Secondly, regarding the industrial strength and manpower of the Soviet Union which Hitler underestimated, a leader can only make decisions based on the intelligence he is provided by his intelligence services. The Soviet Union was a very secretive society. For example, the Germans were only aware of the Red Army's blunders in the Winter War with Finland (even though they still won), but did not know of the Red Army's spectacular performance in tank and aerial operations in Khalkin Gol. Stalin himself exploited this propaganda of projecting the Red Army as weak and outdated and many were deceived by this illusion, not only Hitler. Here the fault lies with the Abwehr. Thus, the false belief that the Red army was weak and would give in was strengthened by this illusion. Of course, when the Germans did invade and encountered the BT's, the KV's, and the T-34's as well as weapons of other types did they realize how far ahead the Soviet Union was in terms of war preparedness and weapons technology.
3.Declaring war on USA,greatest industrial power on the planet on behalf of japan,when japan refused to declare war on ussr.That too when fighting uk and ussr -total madness.
Here too Hitler had no choice because the US was already actively participating in anti-U-boat operations alongside the Royal Navy in the Atlantic plus the material and economic aid they provided to keep Britain from falling (this was the main reason why Churchill refused to negotiate peace with Germany). The declaration of war gave Hitler a free hand to engage USN vessels in the Atlantic. Prior to that the U-Boats were forbidden to retaliate even when fired upon.
When intel reports are contradictory it is hard to decide what's the actual truth. If the 6th army retreated from Stalingrad that would have meant a rapid Soviet advance sealing off the Caucasus where already more than 500,000 Axis troops were engaged in combat. Here too Hitler's Generals share the blame as well.4.Refusal to believe intelligence reports on soviet reserves calling it a big bluff,and then taken totally aback when those very reserves encircle 6th army at stalingrad.Not allowing 6th army to retreat -leading to total annihilation.
Stalin's economy was already in war footing prior to June 22, 1941. Hitler's main intent was economic prosperity of his people. If he went Stalin's way by maintaining a war economy as soon as he took power in 1933 then the average German's standard of living would have been just as low as that of the average Soviet citizen who lived off of rations and toiled away doing overtime in arms factories.5.Unlike stalin failed in grand strategy,despite all the talks of national socialism's power to mobilize nation failed to mobilize german economy for total war until late 1943.Failed to create a strategic reserve like stalin.Didn't understand value of mass production in industrial war.
And example of this?6.Constant interference with field commanders,fascination with holding devastated territory even if strategically irrelevant leading to several encirclements.
True, some of the party members were taking advantage of Hitler's preoccupation with war planning to exercise more power and authority than they deserved.7.Inability to sack or remove loyal party officials who were sycophants but incompetent and corrupt and hampering german war effort like Ley,goering.Deliberately promoted overlapping spheres of authority to empower his own leading to confusion and inefficiency.
This one's a bit disputed. Some claim the German's couldn't advance even if they wanted to due to various tactical reasons.8.Sparing the BEF at Dunkirk for inexplicable reason.
True, this was a strategic mistake.9.Refused to use women in factories until late in the war.
Regarding the racial theory blinding his views of the Russian people, this is true. However, regarding the formation of an independent anti-communist Russian Army, this was an idea even some of Hitler's Generals were a bit hesitant to enact for various reasons, the main one of which was the danger of this force defecting or turning its guns on the Germans themselves (which did eventually happen).10.Refused to let a pro-german russian force be raised until very late,because of his racial theories which would have alleviated manpower problem of wehrmacht.Brutal racial policy led to soviet people waging total war in return as they had no option.Totally underestimated russian resolve due to his ideas of racial superiority.
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