I feel like China is the one that's actually playing 4D chess

submitted by casparvoneverecBig tiddy respecter from self.debatealtright

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[–]MarkimusNational Socialist 7 insightful - 2 fun7 insightful - 1 fun8 insightful - 2 fun -  (4 children)

Your fixation on hating Hitler is really odd. It's clear from your post you realise the situations of the Third Reich and contemporary China aren't even close to comparable yet you have the like red face meme guy urge to randomly declare you're not an evil Hitler worshipping nazi every 3 seconds. Really weird man.

[–]YJaewedwqewqClerical Fascist 6 insightful - 1 fun6 insightful - 0 fun7 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

I agree his fervor is a bit much, but I do agree with him in the issue that Hitler made multiple blunders early on. I greatly admire Hitler for many reasons, but being a good commander and tactician isn't one of those reasons. He was great at leading the charge, but not at deciding when to do so. There are a plethora of reasons why many of Hitler's generals distrusted and disliked him, and the large and oft-referenced reason of him constantly getting in the way and causing military blunders is probably the most valid.

[–]casparvoneverecBig tiddy respecter[S] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

He was great at leading the charge, but not at deciding when to do so. There are a plethora of reasons w

Hitler had a weird case of not having the stones when it mattered, but having them when it did not.

For example, he lost nerve after the Crete operation and forbade a similar air attack on Malta against the general's protest. Malta would go on to be a key base of operations for Britain during the North Africa campaign.

He stalled the panzers in front of Dunkirk after the failed allied counterattack at Arras. By halting the panzers he let the British army escape and avoid losing over 200,000 men.

He similarly lost nerve during the battle of Britain and instead of concentrating attacks on London, had the Luftwaffe attack random targets with no greater objective.

Arguably his greatest blunder was during the Kyiv incursion. His generals advised him to take Moscow in August while the defenses were weak and winter was far away. Instead, he grew nervous about Soviet forces in Kyiv and diverted the Panzer armies to capture Kyiv. This decision saved Moscow from near-certain capture and robbed Germany of the chance for a decisive victory.

But in other times he showed pigheadedness that doomed German forces. His stand and die orders at Stalingrad, Minsk and right-bank Ukraine merely expedited Germany's defeat.

[–]YJaewedwqewqClerical Fascist 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

I think some of the blunders you mention early on have to do with his admiration for Britain. If memory serves, he wrote numerous times about how he admired Britons and yearned for cooperation with them, so his hesitance to cripple them may be related to that.

[–]casparvoneverecBig tiddy respecter[S] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

True. Hitler greatly admired the British empire and saw them as Germanic brothers. He wanted nothing more than an anglo-German alliance. The British could keep their empire and secure the sea while Germany would build a contiguous and autarkic land empire in Europe immune to blockades.

Parts of the British elite wanted peace with Germany as well but the Churchill faction prevented any such thing. Plus, Britain was forced by the hand of geography as well. Britain is an island country. This is simultaneously a strength and a weakness. Her being an island meant that if a hegemonic force ever cemented itself in Western Europe, she would be vulnerable to blockade, starvation and perhaps, eventual invasion.

German victory over France meant that Britain would either have to become a vassal to the Greater German empire or she would have to fight till the bitter end and hope America would enter the war. They chose the latter. They won the war, but ultimately ended up as a vassal for the American empire instead.