The Mistake That Made Hitler Lose World War II

Adolf Hitler, the infamous dictator of Germany, invaded and occupied nearly all neighboring countries. Austria, Poland, Norway, Belgium, Denmark, and France—all these countries—were invaded by Hitler. In the south, Italy was under the rule of another dictator. Mussolini. Mussolini allied with Hitler. They were working together. Thus, the only major European countries not controlled by Axis powers were Germany, the Soviet Union, and Britain.

There was a peace agreement between Germany and the Soviet Union too. So Hitler did not have to worry about the Soviet Union because the Soviets wouldn’t attack Germany due to the peace agreement. This meant that Britain was the last European country to oppose Germany. On the other side of the world, America didn’t want to be involved in this war. They stayed away. This begs the question: how did the situation change? How was Hitler defeated?

The Delusion Of Hitler

Hitler thought that since the fighting was over, Winston Churchill would want to sign a peace treaty with Hitler. Churchill wouldn’t want to put his country at risk since Germany was so much stronger. But the opposite happens. Winston Churchill gave an iconic speech. Churchill clarified that there would be no peace treaty between Britain and Germany.

The war against Germany would continue, and Hitler planned Operation Sea Lion to invade Britain. The Nazis had come up with a remarkable strategy to attack Britain. The problem was that there was no land connection between the UK and mainland Europe. So the Nazi army couldn’t be deployed. If they were to try sending ships, the British Royal Navy had more ships than Germany. The Germans would be at a loss. Hitler then decided to establish control over the air space.

The German Air Force, or Luftwaffe, had 2,600 aircraft. The UK had only 700. So on July 10, 1940, Hitler attacked Britain from the sky. German Air Force Luftwaffe attacked by bombing. Their initial motive was to destroy aircraft, airfields, and manufacturing factories.

The smaller British Air Force, one-fourth the size of the German Air Force, tried its best to defend the country. It was a tough fight. But eventually, the British had to incur heavy losses. Eventually, the Germans also began attacking at night. 24 August 1940 was such a night. When some German pilots mistakenly bombed London, that led to the death of many civilians.

Winston Churchill was astounded by this war. Cities were being attacked. He decided to do the same. The UK retaliated by bombing Berlin. Previously uninterested in bombing London, Hitler changed his strategy and decided to destroy the city after witnessing German cities being bombed.

15 September 1940

Hitler ordered the German Air Force to carry out an all-out, decisive attack. But shockingly, the British successfully stopped the German Air Force attack. This day is now known as Battle of Britain Day. What were the reasons behind this? You might be wondering how the overpowered German Air Force, with more aircraft, fell to the British Air Force. The reason is quite simple. Whenever a country is attacked, the invader aims to gain something. But for the defending country, it is a matter of existence.

There is a large difference in motivation among soldiers. Battle Of Britain Day was one of the first major losses for Hitler. For the first time in World War 2, Hitler faced a loss. Hitler knew that there was little chance of this mission being successful. So Operation Sea Lion was postponed and Hitler shifted his focus from the UK to the Soviet Union.

Interestingly, Hitler was not interested in invading Britain. Hitler wanted to sign a peace treaty with Britain. Instead, he preferred to focus on the Soviet Union and defeat it so that Britain could be convinced to sign the peace treaty.

Why Invade the Soviet Union?

The real reason behind this was Hitler’s ideology. He despised communists. He also believed that capturing a large country like the Soviet Union was essential for Germany to become the world’s leading superpower. Germany would then control a lot of land. Hitler was having Megalomania. Megalomania is a mental condition where a person has an exaggerated belief in his power. He believed that he was the ruler of the world. He was driven crazy with power. However, attacking the Soviet Union was a major mistake for Hitler. This became a turning point in World War 2.

Hitler’s plan was simple. Just as he had invaded France, he intended to invade the Soviet Union by dividing the German forces into three parts. The first group would travel across the Baltic region towards Leningrad, where Stalin resided. The second group would attack Moscow. The third group would attack from the south, traveling through Ukraine. This operation began on June 22, 1941. The army of the Soviet Union was much larger than Germany’s. They had twenty thousand tanks. And the Germans had only six thousand tanks.

But there was a huge difference. The German technology was much better than the Soviet’s. This is why Hitler still had the upper hand in this war. To protect itself, the Soviet Union joined hands with Britain. And became a part of the Allied Powers. They formed a plan together to send supplies to the Soviet Union army. They decided on a route through Iran. But the problem was that the Iranian Government favored Hitler. This is why the UK and the Soviet Union invaded Iran together.

This was not very beneficial because Hitler’s Blitzkrieg strategy helped Germans invade a hundred kilometers within two days and occupy a large amount of Soviet Union territory. They were only three kilometers away from Moscow. By this point in time, Hitler and his military commanders had some disagreements. Due to this, the next German advance was delayed till October. It started getting colder. The cold season gave the Soviets an advantage. They were accustomed to fighting in the cold.

On the other side, Japan and the Soviet Union found their second advantage there. Japan and the Soviet Union had signed a non-aggression treaty. In December 1941, another twist came to our story. Japan attacked the USA’s Pearl Harbour base without any provocation. More than 2,300 American troops were killed. Before this incident, America did not want to be involved in World War 2.

But after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, America had had enough. At this point, America officially declared war against Japan and entered World War 2. America entered the alliance with the Allied Forces. It included major countries like the UK, the Soviet Union, and China. America took a few months to prepare for the war before entering it. Till then, by early 1942, countries like Thailand and Cambodia were only invaded and occupied by Japan.

Biggest turning point in World War 2

At one point, in Stalingrad, the German army had almost won over total control. But the Soviets continued fighting till the very end. The battle of Stalingrad was the deadliest battle during World War 2. Finally, the Soviet soldiers were successful. Nearly 300,000 German troops present in Stalingrad were surrounded by Soviet Soldiers.

These soldiers surrendered in February 1943. This was the biggest turning point in World War 2. After some months, the Italian citizens threw out dictator Mussolini. The civilians were fed up with their circumstances and revolted against their dictator. Mussolini was executed by Italian partisans living in villages. A new Government was formed in Italy and this new government decided to stop fighting the Allied Forces.

The Terrifying Operation

Steadily, confidence among the Allied countries was rising. In November 1943, Stalin, Roosevelt, and Churchill met in Tehran to discuss how World War II could be ended. June 6, 1944, marked another historical day. Known as the D-Day. On this day, the Allied Forces began a terrifying operation to land on the battlefields. More than 150,000 British, American, and Canadian soldiers landed on Normandy beaches in France. They were to fight the German army on land to free France. This was a dangerous situation for Hitler. Hitler had directed his army to focus on the Soviet Union.

They were facing losses due to the cold and could not defeat the USSR completely. And now they were being attacked from the Western front as well. So Hitler decided that it was better to withdraw the army from the Eastern front and to focus the counterattack on the Allied forces moving in from the West. As soon as Hitler withdrew his army from the Soviet Union, there was a major counterattack from the Soviets. Within two months, the Soviets regained around 600km of territory from Germany. Allied Forces landed in Southern France too. One after another, countries were being liberated. Hitler’s army was being thrown out.

The Fall Of Germany

Germany was being attacked from three sides. Hitler planned his last major offensive. The Battle of Bulge. In the forest region of Ardennes, the German army intended to drive back the Allied forces. Before formally invading Germany, Allied Forces carried out devastating aerial bombings on German cities.

In February 1945, the Yalta Conference was held in Crimea. In it, it was announced that any country that would declare war on Germany could join the Allied Forces in attacking Germany. The last 4 months of World War 2 were the most painful because almost 30,000 people were killed every day. Finally, in May 1945, Berlin was surrounded by The Soviet Army. Two days before that. On April 30, 1945, Hitler took his own life. On May 8, 1945, Germany surrendered formally. To ensure that there are no more World Wars, the United Nations was established.

Conclusion

The fatal error that sealed Hitler’s fate in World War II was that he thought his army was stronger than it really was. He didn’t realize how determined and well-prepared the Allied forces were. This mistake became very clear after he failed to win the Battle of Britain and made the disastrous choice to attack the Soviet Union.