Why did Germany lose World War Two?

Hitler’s underestimation of the Russian’s played a large part in the German defeat. The German attackers believed that Soviet Communism was a corrupt and primitive system that would collapse “like a pack of cards”. The evidence of how poorly the Red Army fought in 1941 confirmed theses expectations. More than five million Soviet soldiers were captured or killed in six months; they fought with astonishing bravery, but at every level of combat were out-classed by troops that were better armed, better trained and better led. The situation seemed beyond help and yet within a year Soviet factories were out-producing their German counterparts. The Red Army had undergone on a thorough transformation of the technical and organisational base of Soviet forces, and a boost of morale produced the first serious reverse of the German armed forces when Operation Uranus in November 1942 led to the encirclement of Stalingrad and the loss of the German Sixth Army.

The Battle of Stalingrad was a catastrophic failure in Hitler’s futile attempts to gain lebensraum – living space – in the East. In this battle over a quarter of a million German soldiers were killed and ninety thousand were captured, of whom only five thousand would ever return. This failure marked the downfall for Germany as they had lost an irreplaceable percentage of their army and also it created public unrest and was used as an example of the disasters to which Hitler was leading the German people. After this it was almost inevitable that Germany would lose the war. Hitler’s tactic of Blitzkrieg – Lighting War – which had worked so well, especially with the conquering of France, did not work when attacking Stalingrad but he carried on despite this. In this way Hitler proved that he was unable to adapt to different types of warfare.

Hitler’s poor choice of allies also contributed heavily to his defeat in World War Two. His first main ally, Italy, was a weak and volatile country and was a millstone round the Nazis' neck. Italy indirectly caused the delay to Operation Barbarossa, which postponed its start from mid-May to the end of June 1941, which was significant because the Germans might have been able to defeat the Red Army before their winter, which wreaked havoc on the German army and caused many deaths. Also Italy changed side to the Allies as soon as it seemed like Germany was going to lose. Japan would only have made sense as an ally if it had attacked the Soviet Union in the Far East. Hitler's main alliance was based on ideology, not on shared interests. The other less powerful Axis states like Hungary and Romania tended to follow in step with Germany in an effort to gain territory. Japan also attacked America at Pearl Harbour, which was definitive in drawing America into the war and ultimately determined that Germany would lose World War Two:

"To the Congress of the United States: Yesterday, December 7th, 1941 - a date which will live in infamy - the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan. I ask that the Congress declare that a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese empire."

The Soviets were reliant on American aid. There was enough food in the end to ensure a meal for every Soviet soldier; the Allies provided 14 million pairs of boots and 360,000 trucks, which all helped to keep the Red Army fighting with growing efficiency. Without Allied aid, Stalin later admitted, “We would not have been able to cope”. This reliance on American aid indicates just how much the Allied war effort owed to the exceptional material and logistical strength of the United States. The ability of the world’s largest industrial economy to convert to the mass production of weapons and war equipment is usually taken for granted but this transition from peace to war was so rapid and effective that the USA was able to make up for the lag in building up effectively trained armed forces by exerting a massive material superiority.

The failure of the Luftwaffe – Germany’s air force – and in turn the successful operations conducted by the RAF were pivotal to the eventual defeat of Germany. In the Battle of Britain in 1940 Hitler failed to achieve his objectives of destroying Britain's air defences, or forcing Britain to negotiate an armistice or an outright surrender. This is considered his first major defeat and a crucial turning point in World War II. The fact that he failed to destroy Britain’s air force was also important as Germany was crippled by the unforgiving onslaught of bombs. The bombing forced the German Air Force to divert most of its fighter force to the defence of Germany, and to reduce sharply the proportion of bomber aircraft produced. Secondly, the bombing placed a limit on the ability to produce armaments in enough quantities that matched the opposition. Bombing provided the key difference between the western Allies and Germany.

There are many other factors that explain victory and defeat but without Soviet resistance and reform, American rearmament and the western air power, the ability of the three major allies to wear down the German and Japanese resistance would have been highly questionable. However in my opinion, the factor that proved fatal for Germany was Hitler’s misjudgement. There were two instances in particular where Hitler’s judgement was to contribute towards his downfall. Firstly, he believed that the Red Army was a primitive force, incapable of prolonged resistance, which proved to be the contrary. Similarly he was wrong in his insistence that the USA would take years to rearm and could never produce an effective army. It is therefore clear to see that Hitler’s errors in judgement were the most prominent reasons as to why Germany lost the war.