World War 2?

Question

Do you think it was a mistake for Adolf Hitler not to finish the war with Britain first before attacking its ally Russia?

Answer 1

Yes it is. He could have defeated Britain first before attacking Russia.

However, it's not all that simple.

Newly discovered documents from the German and Russian historical archives seem to indicate that Russia itself had been planning to attack Germany even before Hitler launched his invasion of Russia. Most of these documents were destroyed by the Russians after the German surrender and before the formation of the Nuremberg War crimes tribunal. This is to erase any trace that may suggest that the German invasion of Russia was in fact a pre-emptive strike, instead of the widely accepted historical knowledge today that it was an unprovoked aggressive attack by Germany on Russia. The Russian plan supposedly called for the preparations to be completed by the end of 1941 and for the actual attack on Germany to start by January 1942.

If Hitler was privy to such knowledge about the Russian plan from the available German military intelligence information, then he had really no choice but to attack Russia first, before the Russians could organize their plans, which Hitler did by deciding to invade Russia on June 22, 1941

Hitler and his generals were fully aware that fighting a two-front war was not a good idea at all. On the other hand, Hitler realized that the war with Britain would be a long battle, which may take at least more than a year more before Britain could be finally defeated. If he concentrated on defeating Britain alone without doing anything against Russia, then it meant giving the Russians the opportunity to complete their plans and strike first.

Answer 2

Hitler admired Britain, and regretted that he had to go to war with what he viewed as a worthwhile potential ally in the new Aryan world order. Other than the German speaking countries Britain had the most in common with Germany - and was a powerful country. Fortunately Britain didn't see it that way.

Personally I think Hitler could never have won against the Soviets - he was making the very big assumption that if Moscow fell then they would surrender. True, the USSR had a colossal central government, but then they do have an awful lot of country east of Moscow with which to fight from. Had Hitler successfully invaded Britain then he wouldn't necessarily have had more troops to fight Russia with - Blitzkreig wouldn't have worked so well on Britain, as he'd have had to have moved his army over the sea beforehand - not just drive over the border like before. Germany would have lost large amounts of troops and would also have to pacify the country with more.

Answer 3

Never attack Russia in the winter. Going on an offensive during the winter months was a no no. The war was not lost by combat moves it was lost do to a lack logistical support. Thank goodness hitler made the same mistake Napoleon did before him.

Answer 4

Russia was always the prime target for Hitler. He tried to bomb Britain into submission in 1940 but failed. If he could have crossed the Channel, he might have had a chance but he didn't and he invaded Russia, one of the greatest blunders ever in military history. If you have an enemy in the West (Britain) you don't attack someone new in the East (the USSR). Once Barbarossa (his attack on Russia) began, he had given up defeating Britain.

Answer 5

Obviously but it was never his original intention to fight Britain, he was only ever interested in expanding eastwards.
He never thought France and Britain would come to the defence of Poland.He had hoped to finish off Russia pretty quickly but the Italian failure in Greece forced him to postpone Operation Barbarossa by six weeks which meant that winter stopped his advance before he could take Moscow.
So he ended up fighting on two fronts . Always a big disadvantage

Answer 6

He made the mistake of bombing London in the first place. The original plan was not to bomb London at all, due to strict orders from Hitler himself. He knew that it would bring the country (England) together and bring their moral to new levels. But not finishing the war with Russia was a big mistake as well.

Answer 7

He should have concentrated in one front at a time. This will make his success rate higher. When he invaded a country, he can use that countrys resources to open a new front. But by opening too many fronts, he made all his resources too thin and spread out.

To your question, the possibility of totally invading Britain could happen but it will take some time. It is a good thing that he made this mistake.

Answer 8

Hitler may not have had a choice in whether to invade the Soviet Union. Information revealed in Edvard Radzinsky's biography of Stalin points out that Stalin's plan was to let Germany continue to move west, then come in and liberate Europe from Nazi rule.

Answer 9

Hitler made many mistakes usually based on his flawed reasoning ~~

Answer 10

He probably was getting bored with all the bombing raids at night with Britain and thought that raping and pillaging Russian villages was more entertaining.