Was the Normandy Campaign the decisive event that sealed the fate of Hitler's Germany - Essay Example

Was the Normandy Campaign the decisive event that sealed the fate of Hitler's Germany? The Normandy Campaign, prosecuted by the Allies, was a decisive event that began to seal Hitler's fate, but it was not conclusive. The war, at that point, was largely lost. The fighting on the Eastern front had destroyed the better part of the Wehrmacht, and reduced Hitler's ability to obtain oil and other important resources. Furthermore, the Allies also had a foothold in Africa and were climbing Italy's boot.

No one can doubt that Normandy was an important beachhead. It permitted American, British, and Canadian soldiers to coordinate their approach to Germany and opened the door to Freedom for France, Belgium, and the Netherlands. It was however not well-organized and hardly the dynamo it is portrayed as by some scholars (Murray, 417). However, it is still possible to see Hitler losing the war within the same time frame without Operation Overlord. It is important to recall that the Americans would soon have nuclear weapons.

The Germans were not as fanatical as the Japanese, and would surely have surrendered faced with the A-bomb. Could the Russian have defeated Hitler without a second front in the West? No one can dispute that the Russians were shocked by Hitler's invasion and took a long time to organize a counter-offensive. But once the Soviet machinery ground into action, there was little that Hitler was able to do. His opportunity to take Russia lay in surprise and a strike attack (Davies, 203). When this finally failed at Stalingrad, the war for Germany turned dramatically.

The loss of the Sixth Army and the incompetence that led to it, began to sour the German people on the Nazis. Morale dropped dramatically. The Western Front was a minor skirmish compared to the Eastern Front. Even if war in the West was resolved, it is very unlikely that Hitler would have been able to defeat the Soviets following Stalingrad. Works consulted Davies, Norman, No Simple Victory: World War II in Europe, 1939–1945. (Penguin Group: 2008). Murray, Williamson and Allan R. Millett, A War To Be Won: Fighting the Second World War, (Cambridge, Massachusetts: 2000)