![]() For all his ineptitude, Hitler was the only Nazi to unify operations through grand strategy -which admittedly, may have been by design- and the only Nazi to understand the importance of oil – choosing to focus on Baku over Moscow. And to say Hitler had no strengths as a commander would also be inaccurate. To say Hitler was not assisted in the fall of Germany then, would be inaccurate. We know of course how badly Rommel mismanaged DDay, how Model couldn’t lead an offensive to save his life, how Halder tried to sabotage the careers of his fellow officers, how Busch single-handedly destroyed his own army, how Muller authored the Commissar Order, and how Goering played a fatal role at Stalingrad. And Hitler’s generals should not escape culpability for their own strategic mistakes. However, on the flip side, we know that nobody ever truly leads alone. Literally this list just goes on… which only gives credence to the saying if Hitler is smart enough to fight WWII, he’s smart enough not to start it. Not obtaining alliances with Spain or Turkey ![]() All or nothing gambles at Kursk & the Battle of the Bulge Failure to grasp total war concepts or mobilize German industry Putting Goering in charge of the Luftwaffe Bombing London over airfields (Sealion was also a joke) Failure to seize the initiative at Dunkirk Dismal human rights record (arguably the worst in history) ![]() Engineering a war on the US, USSR, and UK (three greatest powers) at the same time! ![]() Declaring war on the USSR (for the sake of “living space”) To be sure, no one person is more directly responsible for WWII or the fall of Germany than Adolf Hitler. Had he only listened to the generals they say, the war might have turned out differently. ![]() The narrative we all hear of course (from Manstien, Guderian, Rundstedt, and others) is that Hitler was a bumbling amateur who micromanaged his generals to insanity who in addition to his meddling and temper tantrums could only see the ideological value or political consequences of a military objective. I really only have an amateur’s grasp of WWII and Hitler’s role in it, but the truth of Hitler’s responsibility for the downfall of Germany is probably more complicated than what many of his former generals have led us to believe. ![]()
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