parsifal
Colonel
Hitler did have his strengths, but they were far outweighed by his weaknesses. His strengths are in fact borne of is near total ignorance of military strategy and tactics, his inability to "read" the situation in the same way as a professional soldier. his ignorance of military matters and planning tended to make him impulsive and a gambler. He lacked the ability to plan long term strategies. When things did go wrong, he tended to behave in some fairly irrational ways. When confronted with a difficult situation at Narvik, for example, he was inclined to order his troops to cross the swedish border and surrender to them, rather than surrender to the Allies. Luckily the cooler professionals actually running that campaign were able to see what was really happening and Hitler was "bypassed".
In the Bismarck sortie, Hitler was enraged after her loss, and the apparent allowance by the Bismarck in letting the PoW escape. He harangued Raeder, saying words to the effect...."if had to lose here, why didnt she at least take out the PoW some days before?' Such a position is manifestly irrational. The loss or damge to thebismark was a body blow to the tiny KM, the loss of the POW whilst a painful loss, would do virtually nothing to the capability of the RN to complete its mission. At the time of the first battle, no-one believed that the ship (the Bismark), was about to be sunk. Moreover, his own orders....not to actively seek battle with ships of the same class (ie concentrate on smaller warships and shipping if possible, would have needed to be disobeyed, and moreover still, the primary directive for the whole operation (to dislocate Allied shipping in the western approaches) would have also needed to have been ignored. Hitlers subsequent knobbling of the surface fleet, and his eventaul decision to scrap the fleet (partially averted by Donitz) were all classic examples of military blundering.
In Russia, Hitlers lack of judgement and training just about single handedly caused the loss of the war. His belief in his own genius, coupled with his complete distrust of his own generals, his absolute refusal to accept unpalatable truths, his merciless lashing of his own troops until they could fight no more, his absolute refusal to adopt mobile warfaare tactics, all combined to lose the war in the east for germany.
Comparing Hitlers leadership to the Japanese leadership, is a cop out in my opinion. There were levels of distrust between the two services, and certainly the decision to go to war in the first place are both evidence of lacklustre leadershiup, but the Japanese conduct of their wartime operations, whilst unsuccessful ultimately, was probably only marginally worse than that of the allies, and allied co-ordination and strategic leadership was generally excellent. Where the allies fell down was in battle field leadership.
In the Bismarck sortie, Hitler was enraged after her loss, and the apparent allowance by the Bismarck in letting the PoW escape. He harangued Raeder, saying words to the effect...."if had to lose here, why didnt she at least take out the PoW some days before?' Such a position is manifestly irrational. The loss or damge to thebismark was a body blow to the tiny KM, the loss of the POW whilst a painful loss, would do virtually nothing to the capability of the RN to complete its mission. At the time of the first battle, no-one believed that the ship (the Bismark), was about to be sunk. Moreover, his own orders....not to actively seek battle with ships of the same class (ie concentrate on smaller warships and shipping if possible, would have needed to be disobeyed, and moreover still, the primary directive for the whole operation (to dislocate Allied shipping in the western approaches) would have also needed to have been ignored. Hitlers subsequent knobbling of the surface fleet, and his eventaul decision to scrap the fleet (partially averted by Donitz) were all classic examples of military blundering.
In Russia, Hitlers lack of judgement and training just about single handedly caused the loss of the war. His belief in his own genius, coupled with his complete distrust of his own generals, his absolute refusal to accept unpalatable truths, his merciless lashing of his own troops until they could fight no more, his absolute refusal to adopt mobile warfaare tactics, all combined to lose the war in the east for germany.
Comparing Hitlers leadership to the Japanese leadership, is a cop out in my opinion. There were levels of distrust between the two services, and certainly the decision to go to war in the first place are both evidence of lacklustre leadershiup, but the Japanese conduct of their wartime operations, whilst unsuccessful ultimately, was probably only marginally worse than that of the allies, and allied co-ordination and strategic leadership was generally excellent. Where the allies fell down was in battle field leadership.
Last edited: