I don't think the Caucasus drive was halted by anything other, really, than Hitler's flawed capabilities, again splitting his army groups at the crest of victory. Agree on Kursk and Stalingrad. On the wonder weapons, sorry - I thought you were talking about the prototype "secret weapons" existing more in Hitler's fancy than anywhere else (wasn't there an x-ray bomb planned?). Close - just came across this: http://greyfalcon.us/restored/AN%20INVENTORY%20OF%20NAZI%20SECRET%20WEAPONS.htm Agree, the jets in development would have posed a serious threat. Can't imagine what an allied pilot must have thought on seeing the me-262 buzz by.
Hey I just picked up one of the volksjagers last night. (not the actually one.) well its a volks something..... I think they are trying to figure out what hitler did wrong to not repeat the mistake while taking out the Jews.
No way this is a perfect sentence may be americans played small roll in destruction oh Hitler But this post(good one) force me to accept your words ,may you have a dominating writing skills to convince others
I got a red rep on this post??? Supposedly attacking members??? WTF is this? Does anyone see how is this an attack???
All kidding aside. If the US and British hadn't landed at Normandy and pushed the Germans back to Berlin, the Russians would have lost the war. In fact, Normandy is a good example of how Hitler's drug use impeded the Wehrmact's ability to conduct operations. Hitler was sleeping when the Normandy landing took place and the Panzer reserves could not be released for a couner attack without his orders. The Volksjager (people's fighter) piloted by masses of Hitler Youth produced in numbers between 2,000 to 4,000 a month would have overhelmed the Russians. The Volksjager was contructed of wood and other cheap materials and could be assembled by low-skilled and non-skilled labor
Bogart, can't agree, but we've both given our respective views on why we have concluded as we do. I only want to add here that I have seen nothing that indicates Hitler was impaired. He was simply duped by a great disinformation campaign, Operation Fortitude. We convinced Germany the landing that would come, and they knew it would come, would come at Pas de Calais, North of Normandy. Putting Patton in charge of this dummy invasion only cemented the ruse, since the Germans could not conceive of an invasion under anyone but Patton. The consequence was that Hitler refused to release anything south, convinced Normandy was the ruse and the real invasion would be Pas de Calais. Add to this a significant structural weakness in the Wermacht - if individual units displayed remarkable adaptive ability (to a striking degree, really, given Nazi Germany's corporatist structure, military and civil), command level operations couldn't fart without asking permission from Hitler. So, while seeing the invasion and calling in that it was the real deal, they had to sit while der Fuhrer told the Calais tanks and infantry to hold tight. By the time he realized his mistake, too late. Nothing to do with drugs. An amazing piece of disinformation and good luck. Normandy was the largest invasion in human history, and it came in like a lightfooted mouse. He would return the favor 6 months later, in the Bulge, his "last gamble" that amazingly enough also came off as an almost complete surprise.
Regardless of the ins and outs of it all what is clear is that hitler bit off more than he could chew.
gifted? TAKEN Id say, not gifted. you really should read first: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/soviet_german_war_01.shtml Maybe Red Army entered Berlin cos they defeated some three million soldiers of Germany and her allies ? Not much to argue with you as you dont know the facts.
I wouldn't put so much emphasis on the "wonder weapons" as much as on weapons and material in general. The Germans simply ran out of the myriad of "stuff" needed to wage a modern war.
You are completely confusing two separate things: The total war effort on the Eastern Front. The final campaign to capture Germany at the end of the war. Thank you very much for that baseless personal attack. Arguments like that really make it so easy for me too look like a genius.
If there is to be one "winner," America takes the crown. Monty sat on his hands too long once allied initiative gained momentum, and he just blew the politics on this one, for there is no denying he was a glory hound, the lion's share of sacrifices made were American, and it was Patton's verve, his genius (and American blood) that made Bastogne and after one for the ages. I own Band of Brothers and have watched it dozens of times. I voraciously consume the stories told by vets themselves of this frozen inferno, and my son will know what grandfathers accomplished in those spare months, with little but a set of cajones and each other. That said, personally, I think too little attention has been paid to the superlative soldiery and valor displayed by the British XXX Corps in holding the Meuse bridges and stopping the German advance. They drew one line in the sand and I don't think this important achievement has been given nearly enough coverage in the recounts of contributions made. Why?
British heroes are generals. German heroes are field marshalls. American heroes are infantry sergeants. OK, but seriously, could it be your place of view? Perhaps in Britain they teach the kids less about Patton and more about Monty? Stephen Ambrose was born in Illinois, not Oxford.
Hahahah - that's probably a truism, Will (re American sergeants, British Generals, German Field Marshalls). I do think Monty has been unfairly maligned by history. I view his North Africa performance, for one, as nothing short of brilliant in transforming the moribund corps in place to kick Rommel in the teeth. He will never be able to live Market Garden down, and it is too easy to point to him as too cautious, and to easy to point to Patton as the Avenging Angel. But neither man was a "type," and personally I think so many variables go into success or loss that the best a good general can do - and both Monty and Patton were great generals - is to plan and to act, and history declares whether the General was right or wrong based on who won and who lost. Horrible example, but to borrow from Bernadette Devlin, I think it was, who when asked about what happened to the religious aspect to the Troubles, was reported to have responded: "God is always on the side of the winner." I think something of the same can be said for the imputation of genius in generalship.
The measure of a great general is success. So, if you have a greater adversary... well... history is going to dump on you. You know what they call the second greatest general, right? The term is "loser." There are a few exceptions. History smiles with remarkable favor upon Erwin Rommel, for example. Hannibal is another glaring example. He gets great credit for winning a campaign though brilliant out-of-the-box thinking and incredible ard-nosed leadership - and yet the end result was the sacking of Carthage by the Romans under Scipio. Monty, of course, won. Really. Axis: 0; Allies: 1. It seems to me that Monty's somewhat poor reputation comes as much from his interpersonal skills as his military skills. Monty's military decisions would have been the right ones -- had the Germans acted differently. But his interpersonal skills were such that they would always be offensive to an American audience.
The above also piques my curiosity on the concept of total war extended to mass media - how much a general's march up the Italy was conflated with the press's use of it for mass consumption, for instance. Very different from, say, Livy's account of Hannibal. Monty, I think, really blew it in the press gatherings, post-Bulge. Ike always had such a tough time keeping the egos (well, Monty and Patton, really) at bay, and Monty made this one a nigh-impossibility.
You are confusing numbers, 3 millions isn't 3 thousands. Numbers hurt? I know, you cant change them and 1 + 9 wont be 1. Wait, wait, were you too busy to capture Berlin yourself then ?))) personal attack?))) You wish. Now some reading for ya: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Who_won_World_War_2 http://www.fff.org/comment/com0302c.asp http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4508901.stm ans so on, waiting for some links where it says US won the war please.
WW2 was fought in the Pacific as well. The Americans were fighting in North/Africa/Italy, France/Normandy, Strategic Air Campaign, Pacific Island Hopping/New Guinea /Phillipines/Owkinawa and Pacific Naval War. McArthur accepring the Japanesse surrender aboard the "Mighty Mo" Formal Surrender of Japan, 2 September 1945 http://www.maritimequest.com/warship_directory/us_navy_pages/us_navy_battleship_photos/uss_missouri_bb63/japanese_surrender/surrender_01.jpg[img] [img]http://www.maritimequest.com/warship_directory/us_navy_pages/us_navy_battleship_photos/uss_missouri_bb63/japanese_surrender/surrender_03a.jpg
There are pretty detailed descriptions of each battle available. Both North Africa and Italy were a bizarre mixture of very easy battles and some real death gigs. Being a collectivist at heart, Roosevelt did maintain strong federal control of the media -- at the time. That mainly extended to newsreels and wartime reporting. Books written in the decades immediately following the war are much more reliable. Patton's insane ego was somehow "quaint", "charming", and "encouraging." He was a rebel, and Americans love rebels. Monty's ego was somehow more pompous and silted. It's odd, but he actually grew up fairly poor and still managed to come across to Americans as a rich brat.
To be honest, I think it is by definition that any nation at war is necessarily under a "collectivist" paradigm. I don't think FDR was unique in national control over the media - every power extant at the time did the same thing. That's interesting about Monty. Didn't know about his poor background, but it also strikes me as odd, given what I do know of England and class differences, even to the level of language usage and accent. If Monty grew up poor, it seems he did everything he could to ensure his background was dusted from his boots. He does come off upper class.