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re: What was Hitler’s worst blunder?

Posted on 3/8/19 at 12:29 pm to
Posted by ksayetiger
Centenary Gents
Member since Jul 2007
68356 posts
Posted on 3/8/19 at 12:29 pm to
Being born
Posted by Deep Purple Haze
LA
Member since Jun 2007
52033 posts
Posted on 3/8/19 at 12:29 pm to
chalking a swastika on the playground
Posted by Tiger in NY
Neptune Beach, FL
Member since Sep 2003
30374 posts
Posted on 3/8/19 at 12:30 pm to
Declaring war on the U.S. after Pearl Harbor.
Posted by Jobu93
Cypress TX
Member since Sep 2011
19223 posts
Posted on 3/8/19 at 12:30 pm to
No strategic bomber.
Dunkirk
Stopping the attack of RAF bases

Then Russia
Posted by cable
Member since Oct 2018
9655 posts
Posted on 3/8/19 at 12:31 pm to
Failure to properly deploy his resources to repel D-Day. His crack troops were nowhere near the actual landing sites.
Posted by ksayetiger
Centenary Gents
Member since Jul 2007
68356 posts
Posted on 3/8/19 at 12:34 pm to
quote:

Eradicating the Jews instead of the Muslims




I like this answer
Posted by udtiger
Over your left shoulder
Member since Nov 2006
99023 posts
Posted on 3/8/19 at 12:35 pm to
quote:

besides going full retard and invading the Soviet Union.


No. This was always the plan and was essentially set out in Mein Kampf. This was why Stalin was ringing the alarm throughout the 1930s. He knew what was coming.

quote:

Dunkirk


There's a lot of opinion that his failure to capture or kill the troops at Dunkirk ruined his chance to knock Britain (and its Navy) out of the war quickly and without an invasion. Britain would have been psychologically wounded, Churchill would likely have been in peril after only just becoming PM and would likely have been forced to sue for peace since a lot of Britain's regulars would have been wiped out/captured.

With Britain (and its Navy) out, there would not have been a viable staging area for D-Day, or bombing runs over Germany and its held territory. Also, the German Navy (including Uboats) would have had almost total control of the North and Eastern Atlantic.
Posted by Priapus
Member since Oct 2012
1950 posts
Posted on 3/8/19 at 12:35 pm to
Hanging out with that dog, Eva Braun. You have Europe to choose from and you choose that?
Posted by doubleb
Baton Rouge
Member since Aug 2006
36122 posts
Posted on 3/8/19 at 12:36 pm to
Initially letting the Brits out at Dunkirk.

Then not getting complete conttol of the Mediterranean, Suez and ME oil right after that,

Britain should have been invaded or at least neutralized before he touched Russia. Not securing his Southern or western flank securely before heading East was a huge blunder.

But the man wasn't rational. He had to fail.
Posted by Bestbank Tiger
Premium Member
Member since Jan 2005
71298 posts
Posted on 3/8/19 at 12:37 pm to
Having Sessions and Bolton in his administration.
Posted by Amadeo
Member since Jan 2004
4822 posts
Posted on 3/8/19 at 12:37 pm to
Not listening to Admiral Doenitz's demand for a hundred more U-boats.
Posted by jeffsdad
Member since Mar 2007
21463 posts
Posted on 3/8/19 at 12:39 pm to
He had to, he was in the Axis pact. But, that being said, he had no control over that situation, it was the japs. Maybe if the japs would have waited and he had gone ahead and invaded GB in the mean time, things would have worked out better for him.
Posted by michael corleone
baton rouge
Member since Jun 2005
5822 posts
Posted on 3/8/19 at 12:39 pm to
Wasting resources in Africa. He could have pulled off the invasion of Russia had he not sent resources to Africa in an attempt to bail out the Italians.
Posted by doubleb
Baton Rouge
Member since Aug 2006
36122 posts
Posted on 3/8/19 at 12:42 pm to
quote:

dmiral Doenitz's demand for a hundred more U-boats.


Look at the resources they used up building the Bismark and other such toys that could have been used on subs or more practical weapons.
Posted by OMLandshark
Member since Apr 2009
108826 posts
Posted on 3/8/19 at 12:43 pm to
I’m going to go with a different one, and it is the Invasion of Yugoslavia. Hitler should have just let that coup happen and worry about it after Hitler finished off the Russians. What the frick was Yugoslavia going to do anyway? Instead it delayed him from getting to Russia by 2 months. Had he had those extra two months, he would have taken Moscow destroying the Soviets intelligence center.
This post was edited on 3/8/19 at 12:48 pm
Posted by Chad504boy
4 posts
Member since Feb 2005
166423 posts
Posted on 3/8/19 at 12:43 pm to
killing millions of jews.
Posted by GeorgiaTiger678
Atlanta
Member since Jan 2019
267 posts
Posted on 3/8/19 at 12:43 pm to
His first major mistake was letting the British escape at Dunkirk, had he destroyed what was left of the British and French armies trapped in the Dunkirk pocket there was a good chance the British would have likely sued for peace. There were already high level talks amongst British cabinet members about the need for peace even after the British escape, imagine if the British army had been destroyed.

His next major mistake was switching from strategic bombing of Britain to bombing the major cities. The RAF was in dire straights due to their airfields being constantly bombed and the destruction of their factories necessary for continuing the war effort. This also cemented British resolve against the Germans. You can add in the lack of the development of a long range bomber here too, the Luftwaffe only had medium to short range bombers which limited their scope. This will also come back to bite his arse in the Soviet Union. Fighting a two front war is basically impossible unless your nation is a Superpower like the USSR or the USA was during this time. Having the British looming off the coast of France would lead to Hitler committing hundreds of thousands of forces in Norway, Denmark and France to repel a potential British invasion, troops that could have been used on the Eastern Front.

The next blunder came in the Balkans, after the Italians invaded and were promptly thrown back by the Greeks, Hitler needed to delay his invasion of the Soviet Union in order to bail the Italians out of their own blunders in the Balkans. Imagine if the Wehrmacht had a few more weeks of good weather in their attempt to take Moscow, they very likely would have been able to secure the city which besides being the capitol of the USSR was also the communications and railway hub in the USSR.

Moving onto the invasion of the Soviet Union itself perhaps Hitlers biggest blunder was not recognizing the importance of the the Soviet populace itself, specifically the Ukrainians. Due to the Holodomor and the effects of collectivization and Stalins purges Ukrainians and many Russians were not loyal to Stalin, hell they treated the Germans as liberators when they first arrived. But instead of utilizing the manpower of this conquered populace Hitler decided to start genociding these civilians which of course led to huge amount of partisan saboteurs who the Wehrmacht would have to constantly have to deal with while they occupied Soviet territory. Imagine if Hitler was able to utilize a few million Ukrainian and Russian troops in his sieges of Moscow and Stalingrad and have even more in factories making tanks, planes, refining oil etc.

His purges of Jewish intellectuals did him no favor too as these individuals would have helped him to acquire nuclear weaponry before any other nation in the world. Famously Einstein was one of those who fled and while he was not directly involved in the development of the bomb, he did warn Roosevelt that the Germans were trying to acquire one.

If I had to nail it down to one reason it has to be invading the USSR while the British were still active, had he finished off the British before turning his attention to the Soviets then he would have been fighting a one front war against an enemy hated by the rest of the world. The Americans realistically would have not had a chance at gaining a foothold in Europe had they decided to enter the war. They would have used Iceland as their launchpoint for European operations which isnt very well suited for being a huge military stronghold, isolated and lacking proper infrastructure suited for military means.

I can go more in depth on a few other topics if anyone has some questions.
Posted by 777Tiger
Member since Mar 2011
73856 posts
Posted on 3/8/19 at 12:43 pm to
quote:

Getting married on his last day.

was pretty much all downhill from there for him
Posted by Masterag
'Round Dallas
Member since Sep 2014
18810 posts
Posted on 3/8/19 at 12:45 pm to
quote:

What was Hitler’s worst blunder?



honestly, his belief in the supernatural. it's what motivated him to keep going at every point, he had convinced himself that this was his duty and it was a calling higher than himself. it was always going to end in this way, because he never considered the fact that he could be completely wrong about everything. so in other words, his ego.
Posted by gumbo2176
Member since May 2018
15213 posts
Posted on 3/8/19 at 12:47 pm to
Starting WWII in the first place.

But yes, invading Russia after making a pact with Stalin that he wouldn't do so was a monumental blunder, and to be caught in their ridiculous winter conditions virtually unprepared was just as bad.

Then add to that his reluctance to allow his generals to pull out of hopeless situations cost Germany untold numbers of soldiers lives and equipment lost.
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