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  1. #1
    Member Member Baiae's Avatar
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    Default Re: If Hitler wasn't such an idiot....

    Whether Germany could have won WWII all depends on what there aims were. Clausewitz teaches to align our methods with our objectives and not to try and achieve something that is beyond your military capacity. Germany was never going to win a war against the US but they could have achieved their aims. If they had started the war with limited objectives and then made peace as soon as they were in a position to obtain them then they could have won WWII.

  2. #2

    Default Re: If Hitler wasn't such an idiot....

    along the lines of what Kraxis said, if you say Hitler was an idiot for his failures then you also have to call him an idiot for his successes.

    the same stubborness and risk taking in the face of considerable odds that lead to fiascos like stalingrad and the two front war against the u.s. and u.s.s.r. is the same stubborness and risk taking that lead to remilitarizing the rhineland, the anshluss with austria, and the two front war against poland, and britain/france. in fact the earlier gambles hitler took held much greater risks and chances of failure than the later ones. but he just didn't know when to quit and he couldn't have known when to quit otherwise he wouldn't have been as initially succesful in the first place. its kinda like a catch-22.

    the same anlysis, in my opinion, holds true for napoleon. napoleon drew up unrealistic plans for the french forces to defeat the austrians in italy in 1796, and when the french army commander complained, he was replaced by napoleon who proceded to defeat the austrians in italy in 1796. he then managed to beat coalition after coalition arrayed against him but didn't know when to stop. whereas you could reasonably argue that the earlier coalitions seriously threatened france, there is no way the spanish or russians were ever planning on marching on paris until nappy had to go get involved there. and like hitler the odds were much greater in the beginning against him than later on, but because the earlier success help feed the megalomania, they couldn't comprehend that if you keep taking risks, eventually your luck will turn.
    indeed

  3. #3
    Nec Pluribus Impar Member SwordsMaster's Avatar
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    Default Re: If Hitler wasn't such an idiot....

    Do you really think there was enough people in Germany+allies to occupy Russia? You would get 1 soldier every 20 square km or so (dont quote me on this, but I actually made a calculation a few years ago, I think the result was somewhere in that range).

    I know that invading russia was the only sollution Germany had provided that the polish managed to read the russian secret messages and let the germans know that Stalin himself was preparing an offensive on Germany.... But still invading russia with the aim of annexing in is a BAD idea. One of the worst things you could possibly do in fact. Russia has to be conquered in small manageable chunks, not marching in a wide front from the White sea to the Black sea.

    And now to another point.
    Do you really think that if the US did not intervene in the war at all the Russians would have been defeated? Or that the Germans would have won? Of course Im only speculating here as there is no possible way to prove it, but I doubt it.

    After 1943 the russians had enough industry recovered and enough weapons to stop and later drive back the germans. Yes, they filled the trenches with the corpses of the soldiers, but they drove the germans back. And they were the first in doing so.

    And as of the US: IMO (and I dont want to offend anyone) the US were waiting to see who would get the upper hand in the war and then ally with the winner. If it wasnt because of the japanese attack, thats what they would have done. They did that in the Spanish war (36-39).

    Ok, enough.

    Regards.
    Managing perceptions goes hand in hand with managing expectations - Masamune

    Pie is merely the power of the state intruding into the private lives of the working class. - Beirut

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