1. His first mistake was during the battl of britain. Germany was doing a good job with britain. Believe it or not but I believe that If hitler kept on bombing the British airfields, runways , and factories, He would successfully destory Britain's accessibility of using aircraft as well as building more aircraft and weapons to fight Germany.If he kept on bombing those places he would definately have an easier time to attack London later on during the war. But as soon as the British mistakingly bombed Berlin Hitler became furious and demanded the bombings of London. With all the fighting concentrated in England, The british havemore time to stock up to defend.
2. Hitler attacked the U.S.S.R. to quickly . This forced him to fight on two fronts. Also, considering that Napolean didn't even conquer Russia due to the disastrous winter. Thats exactly what happened to the Germans.They even had to turn to Canibalism to survive. These are 2 crucial mistakes I believe Hitler made.

Goerring was his biggest mistake. He was a great pilot but a terrible Air Marshall.

Hitler didn't put a foot wrong in the beginning. If Britain had surrendered as it should have then everything would have gone smoothly. Unfortunately, the same deranged lunatic (Churchill) who attacked Hitler in the first place was also too stupid to quit.

It cost Britain its Empire and nearly starved Europe to death but Hitler was stopped from invading and defeating those poor innocent Stalinists.

Attacking Russia was Hitlers his biggest mistake. If the Russo-Nazi pact had held then we'd all be speaking German, Russian or possibly Japanese and the allies would be decried in the history books as bloodthirsty monsters who wanted to take over the World.

:)

man u don't know what you're talking about do you. Its thanks to that lunatic Churchill the deranged nazis lost. Most of the world's people would be eliminated including the poles and jews. Hitler was a crazed idiot smart but too angry and too into his fanatical views which are very outrageous and in plain words stupid. Thank goodness for the allies wooping the dam nazis . The russian pact would had been broken anyway.Its thanks to Churchill that Hitler didn't create any more damage .

It's thanks to Churchill that many casualties had been prevented. Plus speaking German around the whole world would be weird. and to this comment \

"allies would be decried in the history books as bloodthirsty monsters who wanted to take over the World."

Its actually Hitler and Germany's intentions to take over the world. Man you ought to go learn some unbiased history.

..... Believe it or not but I believe that If hitler kept on bombing the British airfields, runways , and factories, He would successfully destory Britain's accessibility of using aircraft as well as building more aircraft and weapons to fight Germany.....

If only.

World War II bombing was so hopelessly inacurate that they'd be lucky to drop within half a mile of a target.
Both sides resorted to attacking densely populated cities to increase their chance to hit something.

--- RH.

we have discussed this before in this thread:
http://sciforums.com/showthread.php?t=52627&page=1

heres what i had to say about it:
regarding all of this
hitler made 4 big mistakes

first is that he found himself in a 2 front war, namely with russia in the east and britain in the west

second, he underestimated the power of the naval arm of his military machine and therefor never developed it

third is he didn't realize the advantages of radar, one of the reasons that britain was able to hold him off

and fourth he underestimated americas ability to produce, the second reason britain didn't fall and ultimatly led to the nazis defeat

leopald the subject is similar but completely different. I'm just discussing 2 crucial mistakes he made and others such as radars. I also forgot to mention that the POLES Yes THe POLISH saved the english's ass. If it wasn't for the Polish pilots fighting for RAF Britain would now demolished to the ground.

Did you guys also know that after the world war Germany stated that If they were to use German tactics and Polish soldiers they would have surely won the war!!
POLISH PRIDE!!!!!!!!!

I also disagree and agree with perplexity. Yes, it is true that the ww2 bombs were very inaccurate, but if Hitler concentrated on Airfields , factories and runways he would surely be able to limit the British amount of aircraft which would allow him to carry on with operation Sea Lion.

But the Polish airmen were just too much for Hitler. They got 1337 skills.

Become involved in a war on the opposite side of America, Russia, Great Britain and France was a fair mistake

But the Polish airmen were just too much for Hitler. They got 1337 skills.

Bravo for the Polski pilots!

Whatever mistakes Hitler made, surely they were the correct ones! Eh??? ;)

Its very good he made those mistakes because if he didn't I wouldn't exist

Fuck you

Who is this directed towards? Did I offend you, or are you talking about something else?

1. Hitler was too obsessed with Stalingrad.

I also disagree and agree with perplexity. Yes, it is true that the ww2 bombs were very inaccurate, but if Hitler concentrated on Airfields , factories and runways he would surely be able to limit the British amount of aircraft which would allow him to carry on with operation Sea Lion.
i disagree
the british airfeilds were bombed and hit
but the spitefires and hurricanes kept flying
there were two reasons for this
first of course is radar which warned britain before the germans cleared the normandy coast
second is the british didn't make the mistake of grouping its planes at an airfeild
they were able to take off and land on a grass airstrip

one of the major reasons for hitler to switch to night raids was to avoid the RAF

Hitler's crucial mistake was that he became too greedy and impatient. Just like Napoleon.

Who is this directed towards? Did I offend you, or are you talking about something else?
it wasn't i who wrote it. Must have been my brother.Ill ask him when he comes back.

i disagree
the british airfeilds were bombed and hit
but the spitefires and hurricanes kept flying
there were two reasons for this
first of course is radar which warned britain before the germans cleared the normandy coast
second is the british didn't make the mistake of grouping its planes at an airfeild
they were able to take off and land on a grass airstrip

one of the major reasons for hitler to switch to night raids was to avoid the RAF
Lets start with this. Hitler had an airforce way larger and powerful than the RAF. Hitler could have completely destroyed them and would have had his way with operation sea lion.

i disagree
the british airfeilds were bombed and hit
but the spitefires and hurricanes kept flying
there were two reasons for this
first of course is radar which warned britain before the germans cleared the normandy coast
second is the british didn't make the mistake of grouping its planes at an airfeild
they were able to take off and land on a grass airstrip

one of the major reasons for hitler to switch to night raids was to avoid the RAF

This is correct. The air bases were hardly more than grass fields plus a few sheds; by the time a bomber got that far the fighters would all be in the air to meet them, and if a field was bombed it was easy enough to land nearby or at an airfield elsewhere until the craters were filled in, which was not such a big deal, just a matter of shovelling soil and shifting turf.

It was not like nowadays, with just few to pick from. There were dozens of landing strips all over the country, and many still exist more or less as they were, in East Anglia.

-- RH.

Even if Hitler had succeeded in invading Russia, for how long would he have been able to maintain control?

Another of Hitler's mistakes was getting Charlie Chaplin to film his biography (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Dictator). Nobody would take him seriously after that...

I think his biggest mistake was being a frigging murderous lunatic bent on world domination. That one kind of sticks out.

Geoff

This is correct. The air bases were hardly more than grass fields plus a few sheds; by the time a bomber got that far the fighters would all be in the air to meet them, and if a field was bombed it was easy enough to land nearby or at an airfield elsewhere until the craters were filled in, which was not such a big deal, just a matter of shovelling soil and shifting turf.

It was not like nowadays, with just few to pick from. There were dozens of landing strips all over the country, and many still exist more or less as they were, in East Anglia.

-- RH.

Didn't the Germans go after the radar sites at one point? That might have been a better play; that and concentrating on industry.

Hitler's intelligence arm didn't help much either in identifying targets; I understand their performance was like something out of Monty bloody Python.

"Ooooh, are you off to do your 'coastal installation sightseeing' today, Mr. Bimmler? I understand the daffodils around the concrete pylons are lovely this season."

"Ya, ya, zey are much like mein Arborium back home in Berl - ach! I am meaning Danzi - Ach! I mean Munche - nein, am not having flowers, am wwvvindow-vasher from Brantford!"

Geoff

his biggest mistake was not to listen to his generals and deciding to do things his way effectivly signing every one of his troops to death every time he launched and offensive e.g stalingrad where his generals advised him to pull out as the troops were week and being overpowered yet he ordered them to stay and fight on. yet these very troops could have been pulled back to berlin rested and then have been sent back out onto the streets of berlin to help fight

Hitler should have declared a unilateral truce with Britain after Dunkirk. he should have avoided contact where possible, and absolutely not have undertaken the Battle of Britain.

I think there was enough of a nascent fascist element in Britain that if Hitler had been patient Britain would have rotted from within. America probably would have stayed out if Britain wasn't under immediate threat, and if Hitler had maintained a defensive posture against Stalin he could have consolidated his hold on Europe and then gone after the Middle East's oil reserves. By 2006 the Third Reich could have been a superpower.

Didn't the Germans go after the radar sites at one point? That might have been a better play; that and concentrating on industry.


Radar during the Second World war consisted of tall pylons, radio masts which were difficult to see from any distance, let alone the chance to hit with bombs, so the expectation of success was low, not to mention the chance to know if damage was done or not.

c.f. http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/classic/A612334

After the two successful attacks on Ventnor Chain Home Radar Station, Germany never again attacked any of Britain's radar sites, a fact which puzzled British officers for some time. The reason behind this has since been discovered.

German Intelligence assumed that no serious damage had been done to any of the radar stations that were attacked. This was based upon reports from General Martini who had continued to detect transmissions from the Ventnor area after both attacks, which they assumed meant that the station was still operational. Intelligence assumed that the radar operations room and the equipment were deep underground, and that further heavy bombing would be wasted.

No German agent during the war learnt much about the British radar system. Had they done, German Intelligence would have discovered that the power and receiving rooms were extremely vulnerable to attack, and that the raid on Ventnor had been a devastating success. It is certain that had German intelligence discovered the full effect of their attack on Ventnor, more radar stations would have been increasingly bombed, with devastating consequences.

---

One strategic mistake Hilter made was to modify the Me262 from pure fighter to a fighter bomber. The delay made these advance jets too little too late.

well put.

One big mistake A.H. made was to declare war on the United States immediately after Pearl Harbour. If he had not done that, it could be that America would have concentrated all their attention on a war in the Pacific. They would have taken a lot longer to get involved in a European war, where they would've been fighting other white people instead of asians. It's possible that the European war could have lasted into the 1950's if America had not become involved in Europe, or delayed doing so.

well put.

My God! A compliment!!

One strategic mistake Hilter made was to modify the Me262 from pure fighter to a fighter bomber. The delay made these advance jets too little too late.
german jet technology came too late in the war to have any effect on the outcome

One big mistake A.H. made was to declare war on the United States immediately after Pearl Harbour.
hitler doing this makes absolutly no sense
the last thing hitler wanted was war with america until operations were complete in europe

but you do raise a good point
it has been estimated that if america stayed out of the war for another year and a half that the situation would be very different indeed

in fact, hitler publicly tried to court the american government to side with the nazis before the war began.

MUCH different situation, had that happened im sure.

one big mistake by hitler was not to kill himself earlier

I think his biggest mistake was being a frigging murderous lunatic bent on world domination. That one kind of sticks out.

Geoff

Quoted for truth imo... Talk about propaganda all you want, but the allies didn't burn large quantities of jews at a time.

Hitler's mistake is that he did not develop a nuclear bomb fast enough to be used in the war. All he had to do is combine people in one place and nuke them.

Another Hitler's mistake is that he fought with too many powerful countries with too small of a population, same thing as the F-22's today...yeah they are powerfull and efficient in battle...but their cost means you can have only few of them...whereas the opponent has almost as good Su and Mig planes and such in large quantities...

Hitler should have declared a unilateral truce with Britain after Dunkirk . . .
An interesting contribution! We know now, as archives are progressively made public, just how desperately Hitler tried to make peace with Britain. He had relied on the opinion of Foreign Minister Ribbentrop that substantial elements of the British establishment were sympathetic to Germany. He could not see why Britain would want to continue a conflict which it could not afford without becoming hopelessly in debt to America.

We know now something of the struggle that took place between the "War Party" and the "Peace Party" in Britain. Churchill had taken control of the machinery of propaganda and prevented the British people from learning of the opportunity for peace. He also had command of the intelligence services. The War Party triumphed at enormous economic cost to the British nation; not to mention the cost in human suffering.

Hitler could have declared a truce, sure . . . but it takes two sides to make peace. Churchill had been bought and paid for by the Jews, and he was intent on war. In any case, he seems to have had a particular personal hatred of Germans, which may well have been based on his singular failure to impress them with his personal qualities (drunken egotistic aristocrat) when visiting the country.

His biggest mistake took place during d- day. During the raid Hitler was sleeping. Hitler had positioned many panzer tanks near the beach. But they could only be touched with his permission. Since Hitler was sleeping all the generals were to scared to inform him and gain permission for the use of the panzer tanks. If hitler hadn't needed permission the panzer tanks would have completely eliminated the allies.
This would make d-day a complete failure.

If the allies would not have been successful Hitler would have probably won the war.

His biggest mistake took place during d- day. During the raid Hitler was sleeping. Hitler had positioned many panzer tanks near the beach. But they could only be touched with his permission. Since Hitler was sleeping all the generals were to scared to inform him and gain permission for the use of the panzer tanks. If hitler hadn't needed permission the panzer tanks would have completely eliminated the allies.
This would make d-day a complete failure.

If the allies would not have been successful Hitler would have probably won the war.

:eek: are u serious? u are joking? do u really think d-day had much to do with outcome of hitler's failure?...All i can say is that in future they develop a time machine and go back in time to know the real history.

hitler should have left russia alone because the russians put to rest the notion that the germans were invincible. that alone could have had a phsycological impact on the german moral.

Hitler's largest mistake was declaring war on the US period.

That was Japan's mistake, actually.

That was Japan's mistake, actually. it was both of the countries in a way.

Churchill had taken control of the machinery of propaganda and prevented the British people from learning of the opportunity for peace.

this is irrelevant.
hitler made peace pacts and non aggression pacts with every single country he invaded.

Polska kicked everyone's ass

Hitlers biggest mistake was to take command of high level military decisions. Early on during WWII all the campaign decisions were made by Military Commanders and their support staff. But after the near fatal attack on his Transport aircraft (i can't be bothered posting a link, if you search google you'll find info on that), Hitler took command of the military machine and its decision making. Subsequently Hitler lost every single campaign after that.

That plus a very good book i read a few years back (can't remember what it was) paints a good picture of a conspiracy theory that Hitler had a double he used for things like speeches and public events when he'd rather be doing other things. The rest of it goes along the lines of Hitler was killed during that attack on his Transport aircraft and the double took over. The double obviously had no idea how to do things :P

I don't exactly buy that conspiracy theory but it does raise an interesting point

Hitlers Mistakes
- Battle of Britain, Luftwaffe had to travel a long distance over the ocean, plus the British had Radar, so they were at a significant disadvantage.
- Concentration camps and trains - The people he killed could have contributed to the war effort. There was a shortage of trains to move troops to the front, because they were being used to ship people to concentration camps.
- Underestimating the USSR, Hitler should have made a treaty with Japan to not attack China, and instead attack the USSR from the east. While Germany attacks from the west. Even if Hitler didn't attack the USSR, the Russians would have probably attacked him later on.

Someone mentioned his mistake on declaring war on the USA. The USA was preparing to enter the war anyway, so it would have made no difference.

Also Japan only officially declared war on the USA, it was actually the USA who initiated the war much earlier. Japan wasn't interested in invading US territory, only in invading China and SE Asia. The USA forced them to attack. If Japan had attacked the USSR instead of China, then they could establish an overland route for oil, and the USA may have been less likely to force an attack.