(This post is about pages 453-457)
So this part of the reading is mostly about the end of any sort of German advantage in the war, and focuses on Hitler's belief that he could (in late 1944) still win the war in the West, despite a significant lack of supplies. He thought that, even with few German troops, he could beat the weaker Americans and British with a surprise offensive. At this time, no one expected Hitler to attack, but he didn't want the Western front to turn into a bloody stalemate (he really had learned from WWI), and did make some progress. But he didn't have the troops to fight anymore, especially with two fronts, which leads me to the question: would it ever have been feasible for Germany to win a war against the rest of the world? Yes, they had allies, but Italy was weak and Japan far away, so this lack of troops and supplies was an eventuality. Maybe if things had continued to go as they had at the beginning of the war, Hitler could have won, but as soon as America became involved, every German soldier became a irreplaceable necessity. American troops could be easily and quickly replaced, but Germany is much smaller, and had been fighting for much longer. What do you guys think? Could Hitler (given some stroke of luck) have won the war after America became involved? And how probable was their lack of supplies?
I think maybe if Hitler had focused on a single front war instead of opening up the Russian front it could've been feasible to conquer Europe. Then he would've had more time to resupply and grow his army, making it easier to move through Europe and then eventually onto Russia, if Hitler hadn't been so hasty I think it may have been possible, he just overestimated the ability of his current army.
ReplyDeleteI don't think there's any way Germany could have won after the US entered. I mean the US had everything, and i mean everything. They had non-stop supplies, and endless amount of people, military plans that could blow anyone out of the water, and they had a solid government that knew what they were doing. Hence when you look at all the US had it seems like Hitler should have just crawled under a rock right then and there.
ReplyDeleteNo, I don't think they could have. Given the fact that German troops were needed everywhere, there was no way Germany could have supplied the much-needed manpower. I think that Hitler had all the right tactics down, but he just didn't have the numbers to see them through. He needed troops fighting on two fronts, and that wore his army right down to the bare minimum. It just wasn't possible anymore.
ReplyDeleteI think that they could have taken all of Europe. I mean anything is possible. I agree with tess in the fact that if Germany had been more strategic in their attack then they would have been able to suppy their troops better and then it would have been eaisier for germany to win the battles . I think that the two front war killed germany's attack. If they had waited for a win on one front before they started the war on the second front i think they could have taken all of Europe.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Tess, that if Hitler had only had one front instead of two, their success would have been more possible. It was ridiculous to hope to win the war while fighting two fronts, so if they hadn't ever started the front against the Russians, their troops wouldn't have been so spread out, they wouldn't have gone through their supplies as quickly, and they might have been able to replenish their falling soldiers better. It's possible that they could have won, but when the U.S. got involved, it became more unlikely. But as Sarah said, anything is possible!
ReplyDeleteHonestly i do nto think there was anyway of Germany being able to defeat teh rest of the world. No this does nto come from my hate for Germany, but more just their location , size, and lack of really helpful allies. Germany had no allie really supplying them with new attrition all teh time, bc all their allies were being attacked. Whereas before the US got involved they were able to supply GB and France. It think even if Hitler had stayed focused on one front at a time, still eventually the allied powers would have been too strong and Germany and their alleis too weak to continue. Eventually they would have run out of supplies to even compete.
ReplyDeleteI don't think Germany really could have pulled through after the US got involved; anything is possible, true, but they would have had to have A LOT of luck to turn the tides. I don't think Hitler could have helped himself in not having a split-front offensive, nor have the organization needed to take on the US. We've discussed before Hitler's lack of qualifications as a military leader, and I don't think he could have taken on the US.
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