What was really the key in winning WWII ?

Question

I mean Hitler almost conquered all Europe and the resistance was really hard and millions died. but what do you think that really made the difference ?

Answer 1

What tipped the balance was Hitler`s Germany having to fight on several fronts at once.
His biggest mistake was in his over-confidence - he believed that his way was the only way.
He made mistakes constantly but unlike a leader such as Winston Churchill he never accepted his errors or learnt from them ,he took upon himself the role of supreme leader of the German armed forces and rarely if ever listened to his Generals who were actually fighting the war in his name..
IF he`d let his army continue on to Dunkirk in 1940 the remaining Allied forces would have been demolished and the war would have finished shortly after.
IF he`d then invaded Great Britain he`d have had access to our Naval fleets and then the whole world would have felt the footfalls of his jack-booted thugs.
IF he`d let his army carry on into Moscow he`d have beaten the Russians before they`d had chance to regroup and rearm and become the threat that they ultimately became.
And this was all BEFORE America was attacked by Japan and was forced to get off it`s fat lazy backside and join in the crusade for a "free world".
It`s easy to think that it was America finally entering the war that tipped the balance ,easy if you`re arrogant AND American that is LOL ,but without the resolve of Great Britain and Her Commonwealth ,without the sheer stubborn strength of Russia there would have been NO war for America to claim it won by itself.

Answer 2

By far the greatest single factor in the Allied victory in WWII was the German declaration of War on the US on December 10, 1941. The Germans did this because they were hopeful that the Japanese would declare war on Russia (as they were obliged to in the Tripartite Pact) but didn't. If the Germans did not declare war on the US the war would have been far different:

1) First and foremost, America's isolationist tendencies would have made us feel that the Pacific was ours and to let the British, Russiand and Germans have their war in Europe.

2) In all likelihood 'Lend Lease' would have been revoked, meaning that a large portion of the supplies the British and Russians were receiving would never have happened.

3) As the war in Europe in 1942 would have progressed without the United States, the British would have been defeated in N. Africa by the Africa Korps and probably lost both Gibraltar and the Suez Canal. (It was the American landings in North Africa that created the pincer movement which allowed the British to move from the East and the Americans from the West that led to the defeat of Germans in Tunisia)

4) This victory in Africa, as well as there being no threat of invasion in the cross-Channel attack, the bulk of the German army which was tied down in Sicily, Italy and France would have been deployed to the Eastern Front to meet the Russians onslaught. Or, these forces could have moved from North Africa and into the Middle East, taking over the worlds oil supply.

5) However the events would have played out, the Germans would have had time for their 'superweapons' like the V-2 and the Me262 (the world's first jet fighter) to be mass produced. These would have brought victory against the Russians

So, to sum up, the above 5 reasons I feel that the entry of the US into the war was the greatest reason for Allied victory.

Answer 3

The Battle of Britain was, in my opinion, the turning point of World War II.

The German military had, for the most part, conquered all of Europe. If England had fallen, it's doubtful that America would have even entered the war. Such an effort would have seemed (and been) futile.

England provided a perfect base of invasion into German-conquered Europe. D-Day would have been impossible without England.

Besides the logistical side of the war, the Battle of Britain turned the tide of WWII by showing that the German war machine was not invincible. The bravery and fortitude of the English people provided inspiration and hope to a war-weary world.

Answer 4

#1. THE CHARACTER OF THE RUSSIAN PEOPLE
The army Hitler entered the war with the best in the world. They were prepared to fight a modern war with the resources they had and has the most up to date strategy and organiztion in the world. They may not have had all the leading technology, but they knew how to use it and there was lots of fanatical young Nazis just clambouring to do so. That is why they managed to subjugate all of continental Europe. Then Hitler decided to go after the Soviets. He sent all of his best army units east with instructions to take European Russia from the Soviets. Those superior units did exactly as they were told and made it to the gates of every major industrial city in Russia and then blasted the sh*t out of them. Then winter hit and the Russians fought back. Inspired by their patriotism the Red Army went into to battle sometimes only with their fists and the determination to take back their home. There was just so many of them that were ready to die just to get the Nazis out and their enemy just didn't have enough resources human or otherwise to keep what they had taken. In turn Hitler just kept dumping more and more men and weapons in and they just kept disappearing. In the end, when the rest of the Allies showed up to the "party" Hitler just didn't have what he needed to stop them because Russia had eaten them alive.

#2. GASOLINE- The Nazis were actually one of the greatest and earliest proponents of "alternative" fuels in the world and I say "alternative" somewhat sarcastically because the Nazis didn't have a choice. Every once of petroleum continental Europe burned in the forties was imported and Hitler couldn't get past that. Gasoline/diesel was put in the tanks, planes, and u-boats and that was it. Everyone else walked. All the food the soldiers ate, all the munitions coming from the factory, all the PoWs. They all travelled by steam train, which of course is very suceptible to aerial bombing, or horse back. On the other side the Americans were all too glad to supply their allies with fuel to kick a little ***. Their food came by truck. Their bombs travelled by truck. Etc etc. The Nazis just couldn't compete with that.

#3. HITLER HIMSELF

It was Hitler's idea to go after the Soviets. It was Hitler's idea not to invade Britain and eliminate the Allied foothold in Europe. It was Hitler that decided to back up Mussolini in Italy. It was Hitler that diverted troops into the strategicly useless Balkans. All of these ideas cost the Nazis big time. Imagine what would have happened if Hitler hadn't lost his eastern armies, the government of the British Empire was being run out of Ottawa because Nazis were parading through the streets of London, and the only land routes the western Allies had into Europe were through the Alps of the rugged, roadless hills of the Balkans? V-10 Rockets would have been hitting New York, Boston, and Philadelphia by 1950 on a scale that would make 9-11 look like a quiet news day.

Anyway, I hope I contributed something worthwhile to the discussion

Answer 5

Even though all the other Jewish physicists fled Germany, Heisenberg stayed behind. He was put in charge of the Nazi atomic bomb program. Rumors have persisted that he did his best to make sure the Nazis did not develop an atomic bomb [even while the he was the one responsible for giving Hitler successes, cause whoever gave Hitler failures was usually executed. Think of the genius it took.] Because of a letter drafted by Enrico Fermi and others and then signed by Einstein and sent to FDR, the US project began at Los Alamos under the direction of Oppenheimer. It was started in order to use a device on Germany, but before it was confirmed to be a successful invention, VE occurred. So, Truman used it on the Japanese to bring about VJ instead.
Overall, the second most important reason the Axis lost was the US entering into the war. Not only did we have resources available in our territory, we had the industrial infrastructure to convert them into the machines of war, from individual weapons to vehicles to aircraft.

Answer 6

Battle of Britain. If Britain had not been able to repel the Germans on it's own, and had come under German rule, then there would have been no D-Day, no invasion, nothing to stop Hitler apart from Russia. The US wouldn't have helped at all had we fallen, and there would be no safe place to launch an invasion from. Once they had Britain conquered they wouldn't have been fighting on two fronts and might have been able to stop the Russians too.

Answer 7

There are many reasons that one can think off.
1. Naval dominance of the Allies which prevented the Axis forces from supplying occupied territories or extracting resources from there.
2. Lack of natural resources in the Axis nations
3. Smaller population and industrial base among the Axis nations
4. Invasion of Russia
5. Axis troops were streched to the limit to hold large hostile territories in Russia (German), North Africa (mostly Italian), East Asia (Japan).

Answer 8

I think its because of Hitler's stupid decision making--sending the German Army into Russia without winter gear, setting up the loss at Moscow, then doing the same at Stalingrad the next year. Some historians believe Hitler was strung out on methedrine prescribed by his doctor, that would contribute to his insane decisions. Another was splitting up the German Army's advance on Moscow, sending half to capture Leningrad--if he had kept it consolidated it probably could have taken Moscow.

Answer 9

Patton in my opinion was the driving force, but the British also appeared to tighten the walls and that makes it kind of a mutual earning for the victory, but overall, I would have to give the U.S. the winning key because the drop on Dorminy was the biggest D day winning play despite the horrible loss. teh U.S come out a winnner taking over France and the Germans surrending or getting their butt kicked heavily somemore.

Answer 10

Germany overextended themselves. First in small ways by invading Yugoslavia and Greece. Then in a big way by invading Russia. Hitler even helped the Allies by officially declaring war on the US following Pearl Harbor.

Had Germany concentrated against England in Malta, and North Africa, they might have had success.