What were the blunders done by the Hitler while conquering the eastern part of Europe?
Answers
Answer:
hitler
Explanation:
Would this alternative German strategy have worked? A German Mediterranean option would have been very different than invading the Soviet Union. Instead of a huge Axis land army of 3 million men, the Mediterranean would have been a contest of ships and aircraft, supporting relatively small numbers of ground troops through the vast distances of the Middle East.
One of the most momentous decisions in history was Adolf Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941.
Operation Barbarossa transformed Nazi Germany's war from a one-front struggle, against a weakened Britain and a still-neutral United States, into a two-front conflict. The Eastern Front absorbed as much as three-quarters of the German army and inflicted two-thirds of German casualties.
Answer:
Explanation:
1. Italy's Invasion of Greece
Mussolini was unhappy in the summer of 1940. Sure, his German counterpart and trusted ally had just conquered France — but he was desperate to get in on the action and not miss the bus. What's more, he wanted to prove to Hitler and the world that Italy was the real deal. To that end, Mussolini unilaterally decided to invade Greece.
"Hitler always faces me with a fait accompli," he confided to his brother-in-law, "This time I am going to pay him back in his own coin. He will find out from the newspapers that I have occupied Greece."
2. Germany's Invasion of Russia
Called Operation Barbarossa, it was the Führer's time to jump the shark. Seeking to fulfil Germany's "destiny" in the East, Hitler was hell-bent on claiming the vast Russian territories for himself, while purging it of both Bolshevism and other "undesirable" elements — namely Jews and slavs. Convinced it would be a walk in the park, he brushed aside military intelligence's warnings, saying, "We have only to kick in the front door and the whole rotten Russian edifice will come tumbling down." Nazi Germany, drunk on its recent success in Poland and France, and further motivated by Russia's embarrassing defeat at the hands of Finland, decided to make its fateful move.
3. Japan's Attack on Pearl Harbor
By late 1941, the Japanese Empire had found itself in an untenable position. Its hyper-expansionist policies and steady encroachment into the South Pacific and southeast Asia made it vulnerable to ongoing military confrontations and economic sanctions, including those from the U.S., Britain, and the Netherlands (the U.S. ceased oil exports to Japan earlier that year). What's more, the U.S. was actively providing military aid to China. At this stage in the war, Japan had two options: either pull out of its recently occupied territories (including China) or grab new sources of raw materials in the resource rich European colonies of Southeast Asia.
4. Hitler's Declaration of War on the United States
After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States declared war on Japan, but not Germany. Indeed, while the US continued to supply Britain with much needed supplies, a ground war involving US troops on European soil was not a given. The anti-interventionist movement in America was still alive and well, as witnessed by the ongoing popularity of folk hero Charles Lindbergh.
5. Hitler's Fixation on Wonder Weapons
Germany produced all sorts of wonderful gadgets during WWII — except the one that mattered: The atomic bomb. While the United States, Canada, and Britain worked on the Manhattan Project — a massive endeavor involving over 130,000 people and costing some $2 billion (the equivalent of $26 billion today) — Germany failed to follow suit. Its nuclear project was disjointed and poorly supported. The Nazis failed to appreciate the finer details of theoretical physics, something it associated with "Jewish science."
6. Hitler's Underestimation of Sea Power
Germany's navy never really got the respect or support from Hitler it deserved. Led by the fanatical Nazi Admiral Karl Doenitz, the Kriegsmarine played second-fiddle to the Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe throughout the war. Yes, Hitler supported the use of U-boats and wolf-pack tactics, but as a man obsessed with land battles, he never quite groked the importance of establishing superiority at sea. After the war, Doenitz attributed this shortcoming to the loss of the war.
7. Germany's Repression of the Occupied Territories
As the Wehrmacht and Red Army fought along the Eastern Front — a region consisting of modern-day Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, Russia and the Baltic states — many of the citizens caught in the middle saw the Germans as potential liberators. Indeed, life under Stalin was no picnic. The regime was heavy-handed, repressive — and murderous. During the early 1930s, for example, Stalin deliberately starved some 12 million Ukrainian peasants in one of history's greatest atrocities.
8. The Inability of the Axis to Get Spain and Turkey to Join the Fight
Spain was a member of the Axis during the war, but it never committed troops to the effort. Led by fascist dictator Francisco Franco, the country steadfastly refused to enter into the thrall. Spain was worried about cutting its oil imports from the US and engaging in yet another war (the Spanish Civil War still fresh in memory). Hitler tried to persuade Franco, but in return he asked for large quantities of grain, fuel, armed vehicles, military aircraft and other armaments. Hitler was so frustrated he threatened to annex Spanish territory. No agreement was ever reached. Hitler famously told Mussolini, "I prefer to have three or four of my own teeth pulled out than to speak to that man again!"