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But' date=' why did Hitler attack the Soviet Union? :dontknow:[/quote'] Let's consider this from the German's point of view. Hitler had eyes on Soviet Union even before World War II started. His agenda was to expand his territory, because he needed land/space to make Germany a great empire once again. He was influenced by the British Empire, who he thought controlled immense territories with their small numbers. British ruling millions of Indians in the subcontinent, fueled his own desire. The Germans hated the Bolsheviks. For them, it was a great ideological war against the Soviets as they feared Stalin would somehow impose communism in Westen Europe. Stalin had his own ambitions, but he was weak against Germany. So he signed the non aggression pact, to get more time to build his army against the Germans. Let's not be naive that Stalin was not going to attack Germany sooner or later. He was a very cunning leader, and created an atmosphere of mistrust. Germany's only chance to win the war was to get hold of the natural resources of the east and be swift about it. Hubert Menzel, a major in the German Army, was pretty clear about invading Soviet Union. it seemed logical to him. And this is what he had to say: "'We knew that in two years' time, that is by the end of 1942, beginning of 1943, the English would be ready, the Americans would be ready, the Russians would be ready too, and then we would have to deal with all three of them at the same time.... We had to try to remove the greatest threat from the East.... At the time it seemed possible". [1] I will even say that had the Germans attacked the Soviets in May of 1941, they would have probably won the conflict by avoiding the harsh winter, which proved to be so detrimental to their efforts. [1] From 'War of the Century' by Laurence Rees.
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Let's consider this from the German's point of view. Hitler had eyes on Soviet Union even before World War II started. His agenda was to expand his territory, because he needed land/space to make Germany a great empire once again. He was influenced by the British Empire, who he thought controlled immense territories with their small numbers. British ruling millions of Indians in the subcontinent, fueled his own desire. The Germans hated the Bolsheviks. For them, it was a great ideological war against the Soviets as they feared Stalin would somehow impose communism in Westen Europe. Stalin had his own ambitions, but he was weak against Germany. So he signed the non aggression pact, to get more time to build his army against the Germans. Let's not be naive that Stalin was not going to attack Germany sooner or later. He was a very cunning leader, and created an atmosphere of mistrust. Germany's only chance to win the war was to get hold of the natural resources of the east and be swift about it. Hubert Menzel, a major in the German Army, was pretty clear about invading Soviet Union. it seemed logical to him. And this is what he had to say: "'We knew that in two years' time, that is by the end of 1942, beginning of 1943, the English would be ready, the Americans would be ready, the Russians would be ready too, and then we would have to deal with all three of them at the same time.... We had to try to remove the greatest threat from the East.... At the time it seemed possible". [1] I will even say that had the Germans attacked the Soviets in May of 1941, they would have probably won the conflict by avoiding the harsh winter, which proved to be so detrimental to their efforts. [1] From 'War of the Century' by Laurence Rees.
Thanks for that detailed response tdigi. Btw, any book you recommend to know about WWII? I want to learn more facts than fiction.
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Thanks for that detailed response tdigi. Btw' date=' any book you recommend to know about WWII? I want to learn more facts than fiction.[/quote'] I have read this in bits and pieces: A Short History of World War II by James L. Stokesbury However, I can recommend some very good documentaries which I really liked: 1. Apocalypse: The Second World War (2009) 2. World War Two: Behind Closed Doors (2008) 3. The Nazis: A Warning From History (1997) 4. Auschwitz: The Nazis and the 'Final Solution' (2005) Watch the above. You won't be disappointed.
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Thanks for that detailed response tdigi. Btw' date=' any book you recommend to know about WWII? [u']I want to learn more facts than fiction.
Its hard to separate them in books as most of these books have been criticized to not so the german side accurately.Discovery channel world war 2 in colour is also good.
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I have read this in bits and pieces: A Short History of World War II by James L. Stokesbury However, I can recommend some very good documentaries which I really liked: 1. Apocalypse: The Second World War (2009) 2. World War Two: Behind Closed Doors (2008) 3. The Nazis: A Warning From History (1997) 4. Auschwitz: The Nazis and the 'Final Solution' (2005) Watch the above. You won't be disappointed.
i liked this answer particularly in quora
He vastly underestimated Soviet strength, as did most German generals. This wasn't totally unreasonable, since the Soviet Union had lost a war with Poland in the early 1920s, and Germany had overrun Poland easily. What he didn't appreciate was how much Stalin had strengthened the Soviet Union.
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Hitler repeated the mistakes of Germany in WW1.Fighting war in 2 fronts.He had a non agression treaty with Russia so he was quite safe in that front.After conquering France in the blitzkreig he thought he could repeat the same in Russia' date='which was never going to be possible.With his better larger forces being occupied in Russia he couldnot really take on Britain in a land battle and had to contend with the air raids.[b']If only he would have finished off Britain after France and then may be thought a Russian invasion it could have meant a victory for the Nazis.There was no doubt that he possesed the best Army in the world then and would have won even in a head on battle againist combined forces of Britain and France.His attack on Russia and Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour sealed the Axis powers fate.
He did start air strikes on London but again, for some inexplicable reason, ended them before they could have had the desired effect. If the air strikes had continued then there was a very real chance of Britain falling.
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He did start air strikes on London but again' date=' for some inexplicable reason, ended them before they could have had the desired effect. If the air strikes had continued then there was a very real chance of Britain falling.[/quote'] Well the Britains held off the air strikes.But if he would have combined the air strikes with a Land Invasion he might have succeded.But then again his better equipped/trained/larger forces were unavailable.I still wonder why after conquering France he stopped his west side movement and started the east front war.He should have just continued to march west.Big Mistake IMO.
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Thanks for that detailed response tdigi. Btw' date= any book you recommend to know about WWII? I want to learn more facts than fiction.
check out these books: World War 2 by Sir Winston Churchill - if you want to study WW2 in detail then there is no better collection of books than this 6 part series by Churchll. A world at arms by Gerhard Weinberg The rise and fall of the third reich by William Shirer The Second World War: A Complete History by Sir Martin Gilbert (this is a brilliant book) The Second World War by John Keegan
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check out these books: World War 2 by Sir Winston Churchill - if you want to study WW2 in detail then there is no better collection of books than this 6 part series by Churchll. A world at arms by Gerhard Weinberg The rise and fall of the third reich by William Shirer The Second World War: A Complete History by Sir Martin Gilbert (this is a brilliant book) The Second World War by John Keegan
Thanks! I will read these very soon. :band:
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