Germany's Failure in World War II
Germany had launched several successful attacks and was successful in conquering several territories such as Poland, Netherlands and France, that proved Germany is invincible. However, Germany failed in strategic planning. The first obvious attack was on Britain, where its aerial attacks were softened. If they had been strong and steadfast, Germany would have been successful in invading United Kingdom. However, German troops were called back. This was the first silent defeat of Germany. Secondly, it had attacked Russia without proper planning. Russia is a large country with large territory and winter.
Germany's Failure in World War II
In World War I, Germany's failure was because two reasons: inadequate alliances and war of several fronts. During the World War II, Germany was close to achieve its target but failed to win the war. Hitler failed to manage the areas he had conquered and this allowed the opposition to rebel against the German forces in the occupied territories. Organized army, strong alliances, weapons and resources, gave advantage to the Allied Forces and had been successful in weakening German forces during the final stages of the World War II. Even though Germany was successful in conquering territories from Poland to France, it failure was inevitable. The goal of this paper is to analyze why Germany had failed to win the World War II and why it was unable to translate tactical and operational victories into strategic success.
Background
In the year 1939, before invading Poland, preparations were being made to initiate the war. Initial preparations were started as soon as Hitler came into power in 1933[footnoteRef:2]. He had signed the treaty of Versailles, which did not allow Germany to maintain proper army. Therefore, Hitler concentrated on creating an army, navy and air forced in secret[footnoteRef:3]. In the year 1936, Germany recaptured Rhineland, annexed Austria as part of Germany in 1938 and made claims on Bohemis-Moravia and Memel in 1939. These occupations were not taken seriously by European powers. Britain declared war against Germany on September 1, 1939 as Germany invaded Poland[footnoteRef:4]. However, Britain failed to provide assistance to Poland and therefore, it had to retreat to the German forces. This allowed Hitler to believe that he is invincible and no power can avert his dream of conquering entire Europe. Temporary opposition came from Soviet Union but in 1940, Nazis had successfully conquered Denmark and Norway in order to gain access to Norwegian Ports, where Swedish iron ores were secured[footnoteRef:5]. Tactic used by Germany was "lightning war" tactic, where it successfully invaded a territory and forcefully occupied it before the Allied Forces can take any action[footnoteRef:6]. During the 1940, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and France were attacked and invaded. After France's surrender to German and Italian forces, Germany next target was to attack England. [2 S.J. Lewis. The fall of Poland, September 1939. U.S. ARMY COMMAND AND GENERAL STAFF COLLEGE. ] [3: Murray, Williamson A. "The World in Conflict." In The Cambridge History of Warfare.Edited by Geoffrey Parker, 322 -- 29. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2005.] [4 S.J. Lewis. The fall of Poland, September 1939. U.S. ARMY COMMAND AND GENERAL STAFF COLLEGE] [5: Murray, Williamson A. "Strategic Bombing: The British, American, and German Experiences." In Military Innovation in the Interwar Period.Edited by Williamson A. Murray and Allan R. Millett, 96 -- 143. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1996.] [6: Bell, P.M.H. The Origins of the Second World War in Europe. (3rd ed. 2007).]
Invasion of Britain
Germany's next objective was to invade Britain. In the 1940, the Battle of Britain was initiated by Germany through air attacks. The Luftwaffe concentrated on accomplishing supremacy in air battles and was considered to be the first major attack and confrontation. Furthermore, many historians believe that this was the first turning point that affected Germany. Germany armies were divided into three groups, who were part of Operation Sealion. This Operation concentrated on attacking the south coast of England. However, Germany had to face defeats. Herman Goering, who was the commander in Chief of the Luftwaffe, attacks on Britain were not strong. Furthermore, Germans were not successful in defeating radar systems and air warning systems of Britain[footnoteRef:7]. This was the initial stage of the battle. Germany faced losses. However, Commander in Chief of RAF, Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Downing had experienced issues and hurdles because the number of fighters decreases. During this time, Germany changed its strategy. 15 of September was the turning point for Germany and RAF, as Luftwaffe failed to annihilate the RAF forces and therefore, Hitler had no choice but to call back Luftwaffe and thus, it was...
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