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That's extremely debatable and a very US-centric point of view. The general consensus is that Hitler's single biggest error was the invasion of the Soviet Union
by _dw7s 5y ago
That's extremely debatable and a very US-centric point of view. The general consensus is that Hitler's single biggest error was the invasion of the Soviet Union.
- AnimalMuppet 5y agoI'd place that as his second biggest error. And yet... Stalin was going to attack Hitler eventually, maybe 1942 or 1943. So the pre-emptive attack has it's virtues. Could he have conquered England in time to get be ready for war with Russia when it came? And, could Russia have done as well as they did without US materiel? (I freely acknowledge that Russia did most of the bleeding in World War II. I don't want to minimize that at all. But US materiel was also essential to them.)
- _dw7s 5y agoI agree with what you are saying. But US materiel could have come with or without an actual war declaration. Actually, war was declared by Germany on December 11, 1941, and the USSR was declared eligible for lend-lease aid on November 7, 1941. Declaring war on the US or not, Hitler would have still dealt with (partially) US funded Soviets just because it attacked the USSR in June 22, 1941 so that is not an argument. Of course, it's hard to judge, as aid can (and was) accelerated.
- thejohnconway 5y agoAs a primary war aim, I'm not sure you could call the invasion of the Soviet Union a strategic error. The whole war was an error, therefore Hitler's biggest error was the invasion of Poland.