Hitlers biggest War Mistakes

Like I said he was obliged to do it because of a treaty he signed with the Japanese(Roberto?). Why would he not declare war on the USA? They were probably gonna do it to them and plus he wasnt stupid enought to lose a key ally during the war.

 

But Germany got precisely zip from the Japanese (unless you count a few plane-loads of rubber) apart from the fact that they further stretched the European enemies of Germany. However, they would have done this with or without German 'support'.

The best thing Hitler could have done was quietly forget his treaty...

 

So? Hitler cared not the least about honoring treaties. IIRC he had a non-aggression pact in place with Stalin when he invaded Russia.
Declaring war on the US was incredibly stupid. The smart move IMO would have been to try and divide the allies and give encouragement to the segments of the US populace that was strongly isolationist by being very careful not to provoke any incident that could provide the political capital Roosevelt needed to spur the US people into war. Americans were so angry at Japan and focused on defeating the Japanese that I think that many would be willing to ignore what was going on in Europe.

 

But even before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour, the American government had already decided that in case of war, Germany would be the primary enemy. Could they change their policies after promising the British their support?

 

Yes they also used loopholes in international treaties. Such examples of American planes accidently making their way to Trenton Ontario instead of Trenton New Jersey. Also landing planes near the border of Canada and than being towed by tractors over the border and flews to Canadian bases. Some great looholes they found. It was an accident, and technically we didnt give them arms we landed them and they dissapeared.

Edit: Totally forgot my point about Russia.
Russia had to be invaded for several reasons. Hitler wasnt as stupid as people and historians percieve him to be. If Stalin had the power to invade Hitler he would have done it but was unable to do it because of 'the great purge'. Also as part of the non agression pact Germany was supposed to send Russia war machines such as tanks and planes in return for wheat and other materials. Germany recieved the grain but they did not send any planes or tanks to Russia. Don't you think Stalin would be evan more suspicous as time went on and Germany didnt exactly do what they said they would do? Plus I am confident in saying if his army was powerful enought to attack Hitler he would have.

1. Soviet army was not that strong.
2. Suspicious activity by the Germans. (Would you as a leader army your enemy?)
3. Hitler thought he could conquer Russia very quickly. What was it 6 weeks that he thought it would take?
4. It was also attempt to show Germany they were fighting their enemy from the begining of the party, Communism!!
5. It would also show the Britain that they had a common enemy that they could fight togethor.

I would like to clarify point 5 a bit. The Capitalist countries such as Britain and USA thought of Communism as a great enemy to their way of life. Hitler in no way wanted to fight Britian which is why he tried to offer peace with them several times, and a contributing factor to the British escape at Dunkirk. Hitler attempted to force Britain to accept peace or have a huge amount of their men die. Unfortinutely for Hitler that did not work. Also according to his own "Aryan" race Britain was a close relative of the "Aryan" race. Invasion of a Capitalist enemy would show that they had a common enemy in the communists and could join forces to defeat them. Also if Hitler defeated communist Russia he would have large support in the United States as according to their government Communism was one of their biggest if not the biggest enemies.

(Actually the 5 points pretty much generalize much of which is mentioned in the paragraph aboves and below it)

 

Of course. Roosevelt changed his mind after telling the American people when running for reelection that he would not send their sons off to fight in a European war didn't he? One of the things that permitted him to renege on that promise was the attack on Pearl Harbor and another was Germany declaring war on the US.

 

don't forget the moustace. he stole it from charlie chaplin[/quote][/quote]
.
Actually untrue
.
.
the short moustache got fashionnable during WW1 when the soldiers had to
shave to wear gas masks , for a better fit .
the one who wanted still to wear one had to do with the "short " version .
After the great war it became a statement ( I fought in the trenches )
many people wore it , in many countries , charly chaplin is an accident !
.
.
.

 

I'd say that's different, in times of election there are always promises made that aren't kept but in international diplomacy that is not so easy to do. If you choose not to support your allies, well... They might rename their fries.

Seriously though, could the US truly have cut all their ties to Britian and focused on Japan alone after all the agreements that had been made before December 1941? It seems unlikely to me.

 

Supporting your allies does not necessarily mean going to war for them (as the French and other European allies of the US, in contemporary times, would no doubt agree. )
You overstate the case somewhat also. The US was not faced with only those two extremes; going to war or "cutting all ties". Had the US public been utterly opposed to joining the war in Europe Roosevelt could not have forced the country into that war, he needed Congress to go along and they would not likely have gone against the wishes of the majority of voters.

 

A couple of quick points -

1) As far as I know no formal agreement was made saying that the USA would help out with Germany. Lots of subtle (and not-so-subtle) hints, statements, etc, but nothing particularly binding.

2) Did various European 'Allies' have treaties with America saying that they would join her in foreign wars not sanctioned by the UN? If no, is that really an issue of being allies, it is a question of friends choosing not to get involved.

 

If you are making distinction between "friends" and "allies"
I would tend to say that most European countries are Allies of the US (as NATO members )though it doesn't necessarily follow that they are friends.

 

very true...

although NATO of course is a defensive-only alliance...

 

I'm not too sure what NATO is now ,
it is formaly a defensive alliance
I'ts also a source of ressources and manpower for various theaters
and functions whom often transmute itselfback and forth into an U.N. or
europeen union helmet .

 

NATO seems at least in my eyes happen to be a force which has much potential but it is under utilized.

 

That's one of the problems , such a powerful organisation , in fact a western
military coalition , has plenty of people thinking
.........where could we use it ......

Like if the use of extreme military violence was some kin of police ,
full of fluffy toys , which would with a magic wand make all the politicians
made problems disapears
:kill:
it's sloppy thinking by sloppy politicians

 

I think Hitler's one true mistake was invading Russia with just PanzerII and IIIs. Cause when the war turned against him the Russians were churning out more T-34's than the Germans could produce thier tanks. But if I was Hitler, I'd wait until the Tiger II was in the millions, then attack Russia.

 

A couple of problems with that...

The Tiger II was developed as a direct consequence of wartime experience - no war, no Tiger II

The T-34 was only available in very limited numbers in 1941, and few if any were in the Western bit of the CCCP. Besides, Germany had already defeated France, a nation that had more and superior tanks.

 

His worst mistake was to invade France first and then try to convince the Brits to join him against the Russians.

If you invade France, seems you will try to invade Britain soon. Then, the brits were not convinced by Hitler at all.

His great mistakes were in the field of Diplomacy and Economy. You have to show how powerful your army are(He did it), So, you move your finger on the tables of the countries's capitals. (A thing in which the British are masters and the American are trying to learn and Apply)

 

dude Hitler didn't want a war with Britain in the first place.

 

What was Hitlers biggest mistake?

Not putting Germany on a complete war footing from the start, and realizing it's full war potential until to late, and declaring war on the U.S.

The week beginning 5th Dec, '41, the Soviet counter attack, plus the declaration of war on the 11th, meant that Germany was kaput.

This more or less sums it up for me......

The Germans...

Tactical experts, poor strategists and logistics is a dirty word.

If you consider that the invasion of such a vast country with a force built for a short war, not total War, then it was indeed a folly from the start.

I have yet to see a convincing statement that shows Germany could have won in the East without changing the whole German premise for the invasion and the building of German Armed Forces and industry in the late 1930's. To have succeeded would have required differences that the Nazi's and their leader would never have adopted.

No matter how good your forces are operationally and tactically, if they do not have a strategy that is sound they cannot win.

Germany proved this in two wars.