Why did Germany lose WW2?

+79 votes
asked Jun 17, 2019 in Culture & Society by PatriceBrune (260 points)
edited Aug 1, 2019
I thought they are supposed to a military might rival that of the USA or of those other superpowers? Why did Germany lose WW2? Bad decision in general? Is it because they invaded Russia instead of allying themselves with them? Does their failure from the WW1 carry over so they have fewer resources for the new war?

4 Answers

+23 votes
answered Jun 18, 2019 by Mohammad (990 points)
edited Jul 6, 2019
Germany’s only real chance of winning is by winning the initial invasion on the Soviet Union, which they fail. If the Nazis manage to take over Moscow before the winter of 1941, they could have had a higher chance of taking over the far more disrupted Russia. Moscow was essentially a hub for railroad system. This railroad allows the Soviet to send troops quickly to the parts of the country that need defending. Beside that deployment advantage (double of what the Germans generals calculated), the rail worked through autumn rain, while the road Nazis took do not.

Hitler underestimates this, along with thinking that the Soviets are a weak enemy. Sadly, they are just as strong as Germany, with Stalin behind the reign to strengthen the military might right in time for the German invasion. That’s not to say that Russia did not suffer any damage to her ranks. 5 million casualties were reported at the start of the onslaught and yet Soviets still manage to repel it. Operation Barbarossa failed and Germany was one step back in the war.
+6 votes
answered Jul 17, 2019 by VenButts (300 points)
edited Jul 28, 2019
Why did Germany lose WW2?  I agree with the answer one. Operation Barbarossa, which is the invasion on Moscow, was critical to the victory of the Nazis. The Italians failed to contribute enough to the Axis war effort, failing the invitations to Greece, Yugoslavia and the North Africa. The Nazis were forced to step in and delay that critical operation. Hitler planned for a four-month long war with the Soviets, avoiding the Russian winter, but by the time of the delay, winter is coming and the Nazis clothing is inadequate. Autumn rains made roads difficult to travel on, slowing down the military vehicles advancement. German’s strongest strength is in its mobility, which lost out to the might of the Russian railroad. Then Nazis will get annihilated in the winter and the rest is history.
+4 votes
answered Jul 29, 2019 by WaylonJulia2 (250 points)
edited Jul 30, 2019
Germany lost WW2 because of their strongest allies, Japan, decided that it was a good idea to bring the USA into the war. You could argue that Germany probably should have seen it coming and stop Japan from doing that exact thing. The USA will later on continue to give support to the various nations in need. That entry of USA created a new dimension on how the war could go. Winston Churchill at the time somehow managed to persuade Teddy Roosevelt to his cause to aid Europe as well, further strengthening the British army, which was only losing out in number.
+3 votes
answered Jul 11, 2019 by KlausBrabyn1 (340 points)
edited Aug 7, 2019
Hitler embraced all the wrong technology. As much as the Nazis are portrayed these days in the movies as those experimental, with advanced technologies, with underground mad scientist creating super soldier serum of sort, Hitler was more outdated. Since he failed to build a navy to rival the British, he still insisted on attacking them with battleships. These battleships got defeated easily by air attacks from aircraft carriers and submarines which were the fad of those days. On the bright side, Hitler did not condone the use of the biological weapon, so there’s that.
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