When Adolph Hitler invaded Poland in 1939 with his patented blitzkrieg strike, he "blitzkrieged" the world. No one expected it and no one was prepared for a world war. It is was the only act of military intelligence Hitler ever displayed. The stage was set for him to capture Continental Europe. When Paris fell on June 14, 1940, the war was all but won – had a military strategist been in charge. Even someone who as able to think logically about war could have finished this one. Somehow, Hitler managed to lose.

One must ask, "How is such a feat possible?" The answer: do not prepare properly. Hitler was poised to do more damage in Europe than Napoleon could have dreamed of, yet failure to prepare himself and his army cost Hitler that honor. To prepare a country for war, several things must be done: a strategy must be established, the necessary resources must be assessed and gathered, and adversaries must be assessed. The first of these, strategy, is the most important. A commander in chief must choose a strategy and see it through; failure to do either of these will surely cause defeat. The second, resources, reflects preparation for the strategy. A strategy can only be accomplished if the appropriate resources (i.e. men, production, military arsenal, etc.) are present. Third, a commander in chief must know the strengths and weaknesses of his opponents; failure to assess these correctly leads to certain demise. If Hitler had abided by these simple guidelines, the deutsche mark would be

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