The Principal Mistakes of Hitler during World War Two - Essay Example

HITLERS MISTAKES World War One was a disaster for Germany. The war that began as a result of German aggression ended with a total German defeat. The victors of the war, Britain and France, were in no mood to be forgiving after the ceaseless slaughter of the previous four years. They pressed for maximum reparations from Germany for their own economic losses in the Treaty of Versailles. The result was economically crushing for Germany and the German governments that followed the peace. Germany in the 1920s was a poor and broken country. Eventually, Hitler took over, promising a revival, a new Germany that would last a thousands years. But what he gave the German people was more death, more destruction. His multiple mistakes in starting and prosecution the Second World War led to a new and this time total defeat for Germany. This essay will examine a number of those mistakes and show just where Hitler went wrong. Hitler made numerous mistakes during his period of leadership, but among the most blatant and serious was attacking the Soviet Union in 1941. Since the remilitarization of the Rhineland in 1936, Hitler had been on a role. He had successfully annexed Austria and Czechoslovakia, and he had managed what seemed impossible the invasion of Poland and France. His western front was threatened only by Britain which was back on his heels. Therefore his major concern was with the Eastern front. There he had secured peace with Stalin in the Ribbentrop-Molotov compact which had divided Poland. Stalin didnt care what Hitler did to Europe; as far as he was concerned, Hitler could take the whole continent so long as there was peace between the two men. It was therefore a serious error for Hitler to declare war on the Soviet Union. To be fair, he thought that Stalins purges of the army has massively weakened the Soviet Unions defences. Nevertheless, the lesson had been well learnt by Napoleon 150 years earlier, that Russia was never an easy place to invade and that the brutal winters made it very hard to hold ground there. Hitler thought his invasion of the Soviet Union could be complete within a few months, but he overestimated the speed and equipment at the disposal of the Wehrmacht. At Stalingrad, the Soviet army delayed the Germans long enough to effectively freeze them out and encircle the Sixth Army—a devastating blow. Hitler refused to listen to many of his best generals—a crucial error. This is a good illustration of one of Hitlers most significant errors: he never knew when to stop and consolidate his victories. He became hubristic after conquering so many countries and when he finally met obstacles he thought he could roll right over them. He became detached from reality and refused to listen to advice about anything. Another strategic error was underestimated the power of the United States. The Battle of Kasserine Pass in North Africa was especially significant as the first fight between American and German soldiers, and for the bad defeat the Americans faced there. However, it was far better to lose in this way at the beginning of the engagement then later in the decisive days of the campaign. What the American army learned in this loss helped them immeasurably to improve their command structure and strategy when dealing with the Germans later on. This led Hitler and the Germans to undertimate the Americans too. Although Eisenhower can be seen as the most towering figure to emerge from the victories of North Africa. Two other Allied generals also made their name there. The first, General Patton was able to take control over one of the main American armies after the battle of the Kasserine Pass. He was famous for driving his men hard and for his iron discipline which would pay off later in the war. The other famous general of this part of the conflict, equally lacking in political talent, was the British general Bernard Montgomery, who became the hero of El Alamein, the decisive victory of the North African theatre, which protected the Suez Canal and forced the surrender of tens of thousands of German soldiers. The fourth great figure of this part of the war was the German general Edwin Rommel, also known as the Desert Fox, and perhaps the only German officer of the Second World War to earn the respect of the Allies and Western historians. (This was likely due to his obvious intelligence, his humanness and the fact he was not a member of the Nazi party, and that he was later sentenced to death by Hitler.) He too would later play a big role in the invasion of Normandy. Hitler had little patience for his own generals such as Rommel, and completely dismissed the significance of the excellent American and Russian generals who fought against him. He believed the German army was matchless. Initial contact with American and Russian soldiers led the Germans to believe they were correct and indeed the Allied forces fought badly at first. But one of Hitlers biggest mistakes was not understanding that the Allies would soon learn to improve and would get better equipement and more experience and then become much more equal to the Germans on the battlefield. This too was a part of Hitlers hubris. Finally, perhaps Hitlers biggest mistake was not seeking to surrender when it was clear that he had lost the war. If he had chosen to surrender unconditionally the allies, he would have saved millions of lives. The last months of the war were very bloody and they required the Allies to fight for every last inch of territory. He might even have been able to come up with a conditional surrender—although it was against the Allies policy dictated at Casablanca—had he been willing to step down. Nothing was gained by fighting to the last man except the total destruction of his own country. This was a terrible, culminating mistake. The “global architect of human misery” as Max Hastings has described him, made many errors during his time as German dictator. He was hubristic and believe his army was invincible. He refused to learn from past mistakes. He underestimated his opponents. And most unfortunate of all he refused to surrender when it was clear he had lost everything. Work consulted Hamilton, John. "Kasserine Pass". Air Defense Artillery journal (April–June 2005), http://www.airdefenseartillery.com/online/ADA%20In%20Action/WWII/WWII/Kasserine.pdf Keegan, John, The Mask of Command: A Study of Generalship, Pimlico: Random House, 1987. Kershaw, Ian, The Nazi Dictatorship: Problems and Perspectives of Interpretation (4th ed.), London: Arnold, 2000. Kinnard, Douglas. “Eisenhower: From Abilene to the Elbe.” Naval College Review. 56, 1. (2003). Murray, Williamson. “Triumph of Operation Torch.” World War II. Vol. 17, Issue 4 (Sept 2002). Read More