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Post by John Marston on Feb 6, 2021 9:46:21 GMT
A new lecture! After years of inactivity and the board lying in a dusty condition, Gerd von Rundstedt , Don Quixote de la Mancha and I have decided to revive the lecture tradition. So we are going to present a lecture on the most disastorous war in the history of humanity - The second world war. Points discussed - 1. Introduction 2. Prelude - World War I 2a. Italian Invasion of Ethiopia 2b. Spanish Civil War 2c. Japanese Invasion of China 2d. Anschluss 2e. Munich Agreement 2f. Gleiwitz Incident 2g. Molotov-Ribbentrop pact. 3. Blitzkreig in Europe 4. Operation Sealion, Yugoslavian coup 5. North African Campaign 6. Barbarossa the blunder 7. Retreat of the Empire 8. Fall of the Nazis 9. Japanese role in ww2. Note - These will be based on Wikipedia and the book - "The Rise and fall of the Third Reich" 2. See that this is also going to be the place for communication between Gerd von Rundstedt , Don Quixote de la Mancha and me so please don't mind if there are some informal posts  |
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Post by John Marston on Feb 6, 2021 9:56:59 GMT
Introduction -
The second world war... the most devastating war ever fought in the history of human lives. Fought viciously between two blocks of power - the Axis comprising of the Nazi Germany, with the charismatic Hitler leading it, along with the Duke Mussolini's Italy and also Hirohito's Japan. The second power bloc - the Allies, comprising of the largest empire ever known to man - The British and all it's colonies, initially led by Neville Chamberlain, the person who tried to follow the policy of appeasement to Hitler, rivaling that policy with France and succeded by the wise and brave leader Winston Churchill, supported economically and later militarily by the US, under Roosevelt. Also, we have the last minute switcher USSR, led by the powerful and patriotic Stalin along with numerous other small countries, throwing everything they have into war.
This was indeed a world war. Many countries were created, many countries were destroyed and our world was changed forever. It resulted in the awakening of US, making it as a dominant power, dethroning Britain, who was the world power at that time. It also resulted in the rivalry of two other power blocs - The NATO vs The Warsaw Pact. Well, that's a different story for another time.
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Post by John Marston on Feb 6, 2021 10:25:03 GMT
World War I was another major engagement between major powers of the world - The triple alliance, comprising of Germany, Austria-Hungary and the triple entente, comprising of Great Britain, France, Russia and US, roughly after the exit of Russia. The first world war created major Social and political changes in Europe. Here are some for different countries - Russia - The Tsarist government, after failing Russia was overthrown and a provisional government for Russia has been set up, commonly known as the February Revolution. However, Vladimir Lenin, after returning from exile, formed the 'April Theses' and demanded the government to fulfill them. However, they refused to do so. Hence, Lenin formed the Bolsheviks party, allied himself with the Military Revolutionary Committee under 𝘛𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘴𝘬𝘺 and overthrowed Kerenskii the Prime Minister of the Provsional Government. Austria-Hungary : The Austro-Hungarian empire broke up, never to be unified again. The empire was split up into different countries, some part of its territory was taken over by the victorious belligerents. It was an empire that was already weakened by internal problems and the emergence of nationalist sentiments is invited to a war that could not be won by an ambitious neighbour and ends up being divided up. I feel that it was bound to happen and ww1 accelerated the process. US - The US actually started it's journey of being the economic muscle of the world through this war. Americans became prosperous due to the demands of the war, which was supplied by the Americans to her allies. There was a production boom there and America would therefore, continue to dominate the world economically, at least untill now. Ottoman Empire - The Ottoman Empire collapsed as a result of nationalist feelings among the Balkan states, which started to assert themselves and declare them independent. Great Britain - Great Britain started to lose out as a world hegemon after this war. Though it was still powerful than any country at that time, it was chipping itself in. Rise of taxes to fund the war expenditure, unrest among it's colonies were just a few problems. Great Depression was the last nail in the coffin. France - French post-war society had to face the consequences of a mass death experienced on an unprecedented scale. Reintegrating the demobilized soldiers into civil society also constituted a major challenge in the immediate context of the post-war economic reconversion, which resulted in the birth of an original mass movement, the veterans’ movement. Beyond the return of the men, dismantling the wartime representations which had pervaded the whole society proved a long process which would not end until the mid-twenties. Germany - Germany was shattered after the war. Germany lost its overseas colonies, a tenth of its population, 13 per cent of its territories, 75 per cent of its iron and 26 per cent of its coal to France, Poland, Denmark and Lithuania. The Allied Powers demilitarised Germany to weaken its power. The War Guilt Clause held Germany responsible for the war and damages the Allied countries suffered. Germany was forced to pay compensation amounting to £6 billion. The Allied armies also occupied the resource-rich Rhineland for much of the 1920s. Many Germans held the new Weimar Republic responsible for not only the defeat in the war but the disgrace at Versailles. This directly sown the seeds to World War 2, about which if possible, will be another lecture. Now, Gerd von Rundstedt will continue. |
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Post by Gerd von Rundstedt on Feb 6, 2021 14:34:09 GMT
Italy in Ethiopia -
The Italians were wanting some more land after they had an economy in shambles, and having been hurt more by WW1 than they wished. In addition, they got , like, half of the land they wanted from the Austrians. When a new fascist government tried to come into power, the Italians were all too happy to agree. They tried to find a country they could easily invade and prove to the world the Italians were one not to be messed with. In addition, they did not want to have many people killed (from their side), so they chose Ethiopia. Many important names were called for this, such as Rodolfo Graziani, the "Pacifier of Fezzan" (it sounds extremely lame in English), Pietro Badoglio, Commander of all armed forces, and perhaps one of the Greatest Italian Generals of the war along with Messe, the Duke d'Aosta. They made an extremely well planned Italian (oxymoron alert) sweep across Ethiopia. Badoglio was given the superior force, but the tactical finesse in this operation goes to Graziani, although Ethiopia became famous for his slaughtering of Ethiopian priests suspected of trying to murder him. After that, they wanted control of the Adriatic, so Giovanni Messe invaded Albania, which only elevated Italy's Imperial Desires.
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Post by Don Quixote de la Mancha on Feb 6, 2021 19:07:06 GMT
The Spanish Civil War Preparations to War Starting in July of 1936 and lasting till April of 1939, this conflict was starting to erupt after the polarization of the Spanish Republic. After the election of 1936, which saw a Popular Front Victory, the government, fearing a coup against them by fascist generals, started sacking them and assigning them to faraway places. A conspiracy started by Emilio Mola, which planned to depose the republic and put up a republican dictatorship, similar to Salazar's Portugal. Franco, who we will meet much more later, was an important figure in the military because of his role as former director of the military academy. Franco even wrote a letter to the Prime Minister warning him of the army's disloyalty but the Prime Minister didn't do anything. The Coup The 17th of July 1936, the coup was to be started, the plan was a swift execution of the coup to seize the major points of the republic, and take Spanish Morroco. They initally took Seville, Cordoba, Morroco, the Canarie Islands, Palma and Zaragoza. Main resistance being in the Basque country and the Republic still controlling Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia. The Results The Nationalists failing to take any major points, with the exception of Seville, which would allow the landings of Franco's African Army (the best, trained, equipped army of Spain). The Republic still controled much of Spain and with popular support, it seemed they could win. The Two Factions After the coup, there where 2 factions created, one called the Popular Front, comprising all the leftist groups and received aid from the Soviet Union, but nothing more.It was comprised militarly mostly by militias of communist, anarchist groups and international brigades who would comprise many notable figures, such as Tommy Douglas, Georges Orwell and Ernest Hemingwa.The second faction was called the Nationalists, they were comprised by monarchists, fascists and right-wing types. They had the best part of the spanish military and with the best spanish generals of the time, knew how to use it. Not only that but they received massive support from now Nazi-Germany and Mussolini's Italy, who gave the nationalists the airforce they needed to get an edge. How Franco became Leader 20th of July 1936, the leader of the coup, Sanjurjo died in a plane crash, this split the power between Franco in the South and Mola in the North. AT the 1st of October 1936, Franco was confirmed commander in chief of the nationalists. What Happened In 1937, Nationalists controled Basque country and Madrid was about to fall. Since 1936, several "White" and "Red" terrors, Reds killed catholics did unspeakable things to several churches and burnt down several iconic religious monuments. Whites, on the other hand, murdered non-catholics, leftists and many more. By 1937, Catalognia was seperated from the Republican mainland. Madrid had yet to fall, but the writing was on the wall.By 1939, Catalognia was taken by the nationalists and Madrid was taken, on the 1 of April 1939, Franco declared victory. Although fighting was over, franquist reprisals of republicans were common and many captured Popular Front soldiers were shot dead. Several participants fled towards France to escape, among them Pablo Neruda. The number of casulaties is even now unclear and estimates lay between 2 million and 200 000.Franco was one of the only fascist governments to survive the 2nd world war, his rule would last until 1975 where he restored the monarchy and handed power over to Juan Carlos I who, once Franco dead, would restore democracy. Now it is up to John Marston to continue |
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Post by John Marston on Feb 8, 2021 3:58:26 GMT
Japanese invasion of China - The result of a toilet break. Let me start this by telling a story. Our story takes place at the Lugou (Lu Ditch) Bridge in Beijing’s Fengtai District. The original was built in 1189 by Emperor Shizong to extend the city’s reach. In the 13th century, Marco Polo visited China so Europeans renamed it after him. Fast forward to 1868. Impressed with Europe, Japan launched the Meiji Restoration to modernize itself by copying all things western. And since Europe had carved up the world, Japan decided to do the same, starting with China. This raised the Sino-Japanese tensions Japan, therefore, invaded in 1894, launching the First Sino-Japanese War, which ended the following year to China’s loss. Japan then gobbled up more Chinese territories in the east. Come to our timeline - 1937 The Japanese used to do military manuevers intimidating the civilian of Fengtai. It was one of the walled cities used to protect Beijing against invasion. They used to enter Fengtai every now and then, though the Chinese owned it. Enter Private Shimura Kikujiro. During the maneuvers, he decided to go on a bathroom break. However, the convoy moved on and he was lost. Since it was night time, he took some time to get back to his base. The Japanese returned to their camp and found out that Shimura Kikujiro was missing. The Japanese send some men and demanded the Chinese to search the town for him.
The Chinese refused. They had sealed the town’s gates hours before, and the thought of letting a Japanese soldier in past sunset was ridiculous.
According to those same files, however, shots were fired – though it still isn’t known where they came from and who the target was.
A little past midnight, a small Japanese infantry unit tried to breach the city’s walls and were repelled. They then issued an ultimatum, promising a bigger attack unless Wanping opened its gates to them.
Chinese reinforcements arrived at 4 AM. Some 45 minutes later, the mayor was returning to his town when he saw the Japanese troops massing. He had barely made it past the gates when the shooting started.
Thus the Second Sino-Japanese War began on July 8th, 1937 at 4:50 AM. Though the fighting ended with a truce two days later, the countdown had begun. Now that is a perfect example of butterfly effect. Gerd von Rundstedt, will continue now. |
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Post by Gerd von Rundstedt on Feb 8, 2021 15:20:39 GMT
Anschluss -
"Anschluss" is a German word meaning "union," and refers to the Union of the Austrian Peoples with the Third German Reich. First, a little bit of Background. Ever since the end of the Austro-Prussian war, Both the Austrians and the Germans wanted to be unified. However, the leaders, just involved in a war that overturned the ruling power in the German Confederation, this was not a viable option. The Austrians did not want to lose their self-government, and Neither did the Prussians. However, Union was always an underlying desire.
Enter World War One. The Germans are humiliated and The Austrians' power practically obliterated. The garbage called the Treaty of Versailles (pretty much what the French wanted to do after WW2) was signed. The Reichsmark undergoes ridiculous inflation. Perfect conditions for an angry Austrian who loves Germany to rise to power. Him and his party, The National Socialist Worker's Party had pretty much the same ideals as Bolshevism, but with a right-wing way to get there. They quickly rose to power with Hitler's oration skills and their promises of a stronger Germany. Once they came into power, the Reichstag passed the Enabling Act, allowing Hitler to not have to have his ideas go through the Reichstag, basically making him a dictator able to do whatever the flip he wanted. He blamed the Jewish Bolsheviks (nearly all Bolshevik leaders were Jewish, so Hitler decided that nearly all Jews were Bolsheviks, a logical fallacy) for Germany's WW1 defeat. Enter the Holocaust. Finally, Hitler souped up his military and reoccupied the Rhineland, in flagrant violation of the Treaty of Versailles. The British and French were outraged and declared war on Germany immedi- They did absolutely nothing.
Enough with the background, now on to the Anschluss. With a struggling economy, practically nonexistent military, and civil unrest, when Germany offered a union of the two states with Austria in 1938, they jumped at the chance. It didn't help that Austrian Nazis had been working on this for years. The Prime Minister, Konrad Schuschnigg called for a referendum two months later, and the Austrians nearly launched a coup. The only reason they didn't was that Hitler managed to *cough* Persuade *cough* the Prime Minister to allow it immediately. The Wehrmacht crossed the border in March, with cheers. On 12 March, Austria officially signed a plebiscite making it part of the Reich and for the majority of the people for the majority of the war, it went excellently. Short answer: Austrian and UN claims that Austria was "the first victim of the Hitlerites" are complete Bullcrap.
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Post by Don Quixote de la Mancha on Feb 9, 2021 22:48:23 GMT
Ah the Munich Agreement, epic failure of the Allies or attempt to save time ?
First let's talk about Czechoslovakia, created with the Treaty of Versailles in the aftermath of the Great War, the country contained a fair amount of germans and german speaking people (22%). This was caused by the Treaty whom, it seems, gave a little piece of Germany to everyone, including Czechoslovakia.
So, in Europe, tensions are rising. Everybody tries to either prepare for war or prevent it. Although Hitler and his group have been preparing, Chamberlain and Daladier, on the other hand, wanted to avoid this at all costs, they had, especially the French, experienced the War on a whole other scale, they had seen losses of 27 000 men in a day. They had experienced the wreckage that was Verdun and Vimy.
So, to avoid war, or some say give enough time for us to prepare, Chamberlain called this meeting to calm Hitler and keep the peace in Europe. The Allies proposed thatt only certain areas of Czechoslovakia would be ceided to Germany and Czechoslovakia would keep it's independance, assuered by France and Britain. Chamberlain entered Cologne for prelimanary discussions within which a plan to pressure the British would be executed, an assitant would enter the room warning Hitler about more killings of Germans in Czechoslovakia and Hitler would enter in a crazed fury, all of this was, of course, pre-arranged. hitler, fearing he had gone too far, later called Chamberlain and accepted to only take the Sudetenland. On the 28th of September 1938, Hitler signed, with Mussolini, Chamberlain and Daladier, the Munich Agreement. After the signature of this treaty, Chamberlain rushed home and proclaimed "peace in our time". If only they knew the horrors that would unfold. Hitler would not respect this treaty and would later annex the whole country and re-establish Slovakia as a country. The appeasement strategy would be most immenetly described in this treaty, Hitler wanted something, Britain said no, then it said ok but after no more and the cycle restarted. Chamberlain would be associated with the failure of keeping peace and the weakness of the Allies during those times.
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Post by Gerd von Rundstedt on Feb 15, 2021 15:25:31 GMT
Confession: When I first saw the name of my section I didn't know what the heck it was. Then, when I read Wiki on it, I realized it was just another name for an incident called in America, "Operation Canned Goods." OK, so Hitler wanted to Invade Poland for the Land to sustain the German population, called Lebensraum. (Also, Poland was the country in Europe with the highest proportion of Jews to "Aryans") However, he needed an excuse to do it. So he called in a favor from the Schutzstaffel, or SS. They dressed in Polish uniforms and assaulted a minor German radio station on the border. Hitler threw a big hissy fit and hammed it up for propaganda purposes. He had all of those officers publicly shot in a firing squad and gave Poland Germany's dissent. This is the spark that lit he powder keg, much like the gunshot from Gavrilo Princip 25 years back, and started the descent (get it? descent? dissent?) into warfare. Don Quixote de la Mancha, your turn, and I apologize for being so late? |
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Post by Don Quixote de la Mancha on Feb 15, 2021 20:37:17 GMT
Ah, the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, the planning of the fall of Poland.
In August of 1939, one month before the outbreak of World War 2, the nations of Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics both started talks for a non-agression lasting 10 years, or at least in theory. This treaty would determine the borders between the Soviet Union and Germany if the border with Poland would come to "change". Signed by Stalin, Molotov and Ribbentrop a german diplomat who will later be seen in the Nuremburg Trials, this treaty allowed both countries to expand without worry into Central Europe. This was, of course, not disclosed to the public and was not revealed to the public until the Nuremburg Trials. This "secret pact" would not only concern german/soviet expansion into Poland but also Finland, Latvia, Estonia and even Romania. The germans were received with majestic receival by the Soviets and Stalin officially attended the negociations. All of these negociations were done in the backdrop of German agression of Czechoslovakia and the Munich Conference. The Soviets were afraid of possible German agression *laughs in hindsight* and Germans were scared of Soviet interference in the coming war. The treaty was signed August 23rd 1939, daus before the outbreak of the war. If the gains of the Germans from the treaty were lost once the war was over, the gains of the Soviets would linger on to this day. Provinces of Finland, notably are still part of Russia. This treaty would set up the Second World War quite literally and set up some of our modern day borders.
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Post by John Marston on Feb 19, 2021 14:36:56 GMT
Blitzkreig In Europe Finally... After many months of persuading the people to support him in the war (on the excuse of the Gleiwitz Incident), Hitler attacked Poland. The poles put up a stiff resistance. But they were steamrolled all the way. They were advancing rapidly, at a pace which sent chills into the spines of the people all around the world. It was the most efficient and the finest war machine the world has ever seen. The planned destruction of Warsaw had been on the cards before German tanks and troops rolled over the border into Poland at the start of September 1939. Three months before the invasion, a plan to replace the Polish capital with a small German town had caught the eye of Adolf Hitler. They had, after just 8 days of fighting, reached the outskirts of Warsaw. Finally, Germany's (not to be offended) partner in crime, USSR, without a formal declaration of war on 17 September 1939, invaded Poland from the east, sixteen days after Germany invaded Poland from the west. The Poles had to bog down before them, though localized resistance continued in some pockets. Eventually, it took 4 months for Germany to completly occupy Poland. Polish fighters served in different units, from France and Britain. Meanwhile, the allies were pretty slow to respond. Britain declared war on Germany on September 3, though they almost sent neither troops, nor supplies to the brave Polish fighters. Finally, Hitler turned his eyes on France. Preparations went on full fledged, though the commanders were worried about the success of the plan. France was experiencing a lot of political turmoil, and it had energy devoted only for her internal affairs. Hitler took advantage of this and pushed into France. The wet and damp conditions around Antwerp and a strong fortification made one thought it was imbreachable. But the Nazi attack was so effective that it was conquered in just a few days. Finally, in this backdrop, happened the Dunkirk evacuation to bring the "Bring the boys back". France too fell in 6 weeks, thus securing the immediate western front for the Nazis. Gerd von Rundstedt will continue |
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Post by Gerd von Rundstedt on Mar 1, 2021 15:04:18 GMT
Operation Sea Lion & Yugoslavian Coup:
I must admit that I laughed out loud when I read the subject I would be working on today. An impossible plan and a revolution in Yugoslavia for the four hundredth time. But, let's get to it. First, Operation Sea Lion. I will assume you also mean to include the battle of Britain in here, so here goes. Germany in 1940, triumphant over France. Britain was alone with not one, not two, but six (count 'em: Germany, Italy, Slovakia, Romania, Vichy France, Hungary, with another six if you count the nonannexed German Lands of Bohemia-Moravia, Oesteuropa, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Holland). Britain's Dominions Make the Count 27 for Britain, not including remote Islands in the middle of the Atlantic, Caribbean or Pacific. Britain appeared to be in Danger with the Overwhelming German Air superiority in numbers, in combination with the Luftwaffe bombing of British Airbases, the Germans seemed (to both sides) to be sure to win. However, the British launched a much-propagandized bombing raid of Berlin (which did nothing significant). This enraged Hitler, who, under the dissertational advice of the Italian General Giulio Douhet, ordered London to be bombed into the Stone Age. This allowed RAF fighter pilots to regroup and, in massive dogfights, demolished air superiority for the Germans, thus saving Britain.
But did it? That is the story, but the The Truth is that the Germans hadn't a chance. For one thing, they needed both massive air superiority as well as massive naval superiority, otherwise there wasn't a chance for them to land. They didn't have the industrial capabilities to pull this off with a Hungry Soviet Union on their back, as the combined American and British industries were nearly not enough. Nor did the Germans have Mulberries, a very useful tool. But let's pretend that they managed to land 45 and 1/2 divisions on Britain magically. The British retreat fifty miles. Now you have a huge German army group with no oil because the Royal Navy is cutting off their supplies. Okay, pretend the Royal navy is gone. The Krauts still have those 26 dominions and Colonies around the world to go. Good job, Hitler. This is what you get for trying to make a global superpower (saying they will never surrender) surrender.
To be continued:
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Post by Deleted on Mar 2, 2021 5:58:36 GMT
Operation Sea Lion & Yugoslavian Coup: I must admit that I laughed out loud when I read the subject I would be working on today. An impossible plan and a revolution in Yugoslavia for the four hundredth time. But, let's get to it. First, Operation Sea Lion. I will assume you also mean to include the battle of Britain in here, so here goes. Germany in 1940, triumphant over France. Britain was alone with not one, not two, but six (count 'em: Germany, Italy, Slovakia, Romania, Vichy France, Hungary, with another six if you count the nonannexed German Lands of Bohemia-Moravia, Oesteuropa, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Holland). Britain's Dominions Make the Count 27 for Britain, not including remote Islands in the middle of the Atlantic, Caribbean or Pacific. Britain appeared to be in Danger with the Overwhelming German Air superiority in numbers, in combination with the Luftwaffe bombing of British Airbases, the Germans seemed (to both sides) to be sure to win. However, the British launched a much-propagandized bombing raid of Berlin (which did nothing significant). This enraged Hitler, who, under the dissertational advice of the Italian General Giulio Douhet, ordered London to be bombed into the Stone Age. This allowed RAF fighter pilots to regroup and, in massive dogfights, demolished air superiority for the Germans, thus saving Britain. But did it? That is the story, but the The Truth is that the Germans hadn't a chance. For one thing, they needed both massive air superiority as well as massive naval superiority, otherwise there wasn't a chance for them to land. They didn't have the industrial capabilities to pull this off with a Hungry Soviet Union on their back, as the combined American and British industries were nearly not enough. Nor did the Germans have Mulberries, a very useful tool. But let's pretend that they managed to land 45 and 1/2 divisions on Britain magically. The British retreat fifty miles. Now you have a huge German army group with no oil because the Royal Navy is cutting off their supplies. Okay, pretend the Royal navy is gone. The Krauts still have those 26 dominions and Colonies around the world to go. Good job, Hitler. This is what you get for trying to make a global superpower (saying they will never surrender) surrender. To be continued: But sir, Germany has advantage in Air and Royal Navy was defenceless against luftwaffe. The original plan was to destroy Airforce of Britain and then with no one to stop their bombers , they could bomb any British ship daring to enter the formerly "English" Channel. Simple plan , right , but here enters Hugh Dowding. As of "Never Surrender" , definitely Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa will not surrender but it will be difficult to hold India , where the independence movement was at its height and Africa which was mostly defenseless without supplies from Britain and it's commonwealt. Also, we have seen that there were pro-Nazi groups in UK , so they will take power and like Vichy regime , they could turn British into pro-Germans by propaganda and if they heard a speech of Hitler saying Germans and British are Anglo-Saxon brothers, why wouldn't they support them. |
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Post by Gerd von Rundstedt on Mar 2, 2021 14:03:58 GMT
Operation Sea Lion & Yugoslavian Coup: I must admit that I laughed out loud when I read the subject I would be working on today. An impossible plan and a revolution in Yugoslavia for the four hundredth time. But, let's get to it. First, Operation Sea Lion. I will assume you also mean to include the battle of Britain in here, so here goes. Germany in 1940, triumphant over France. Britain was alone with not one, not two, but six (count 'em: Germany, Italy, Slovakia, Romania, Vichy France, Hungary, with another six if you count the nonannexed German Lands of Bohemia-Moravia, Oesteuropa, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Holland). Britain's Dominions Make the Count 27 for Britain, not including remote Islands in the middle of the Atlantic, Caribbean or Pacific. Britain appeared to be in Danger with the Overwhelming German Air superiority in numbers, in combination with the Luftwaffe bombing of British Airbases, the Germans seemed (to both sides) to be sure to win. However, the British launched a much-propagandized bombing raid of Berlin (which did nothing significant). This enraged Hitler, who, under the dissertational advice of the Italian General Giulio Douhet, ordered London to be bombed into the Stone Age. This allowed RAF fighter pilots to regroup and, in massive dogfights, demolished air superiority for the Germans, thus saving Britain. But did it? That is the story, but the The Truth is that the Germans hadn't a chance. For one thing, they needed both massive air superiority as well as massive naval superiority, otherwise there wasn't a chance for them to land. They didn't have the industrial capabilities to pull this off with a Hungry Soviet Union on their back, as the combined American and British industries were nearly not enough. Nor did the Germans have Mulberries, a very useful tool. But let's pretend that they managed to land 45 and 1/2 divisions on Britain magically. The British retreat fifty miles. Now you have a huge German army group with no oil because the Royal Navy is cutting off their supplies. Okay, pretend the Royal navy is gone. The Krauts still have those 26 dominions and Colonies around the world to go. Good job, Hitler. This is what you get for trying to make a global superpower (saying they will never surrender) surrender. To be continued: But sir, Germany has advantage in Air and Royal Navy was defenceless against luftwaffe. The original plan was to destroy Airforce of Britain and then with no one to stop their bombers , they could bomb any British ship daring to enter the formerly "English" Channel. Simple plan , right , but here enters Hugh Dowding. As of "Never Surrender" , definitely Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa will not surrender but it will be difficult to hold India , where the independence movement was at its height and Africa which was mostly defenseless without supplies from Britain and it's commonwealt. Also, we have seen that there were pro-Nazi groups in UK , so they will take power and like Vichy regime , they could turn British into pro-Germans by propaganda and if they heard a speech of Hitler saying Germans and British are Anglo-Saxon brothers, why wouldn't they support them. Please post comments in Random Area. |
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Post by Port on Mar 4, 2021 13:32:12 GMT
But sir, Germany has advantage in Air and Royal Navy was defenceless against luftwaffe. The original plan was to destroy Airforce of Britain and then with no one to stop their bombers , they could bomb any British ship daring to enter the formerly "English" Channel. Simple plan , right , but here enters Hugh Dowding. As of "Never Surrender" , definitely Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa will not surrender but it will be difficult to hold India , where the independence movement was at its height and Africa which was mostly defenseless without supplies from Britain and it's commonwealt. Also, we have seen that there were pro-Nazi groups in UK , so they will take power and like Vichy regime , they could turn British into pro-Germans by propaganda and if they heard a speech of Hitler saying Germans and British are Anglo-Saxon brothers, why wouldn't they support them. Please post comments in Random Area. Where is random area sir though? Also if the Japanese tried to take out the USSR instead of the US when the Germans invaded USSR, Germany would have stood a chance. |
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