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Das Versagen von der Fuehrer
(The Failure of the Fuehrer) |
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John F Medio |
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The ironic part of this situation is that Hitler recognized the Soviets’ numerical superiority. He told German author Heinz Guderim, "If I had known that the figures for Russian tank strength [10,000] which you gave in your book [of 1937] were...the true ones, I would not - I believe - ever have started this war" (qtd in Stolfi 39, brackets and ellipses in original).
Aside from Hitler’s overall lack of military foresight, he made the mistake of being extremely complacent regarding America’s power. Hermann Goring, chief of the Luftwaffe, said, "they can make cars and refrigerators but not aircraft" (qtd in Barry 31). He was right. Before the start of the war, America produced a measly 6,208 military aircraft. However, something the German’s overlooked was America’s potential for production. They failed to see that, given a purpose, America could out-produce and overpower a small industrial nation such as Germany. By the peak of the war, America was producing 92,272 military aircraft (Barry 30).
When Hitler declared war on the United States in December of 1941 he had a major lapse in judgment. It was well into the war and he knew his situation. Without having secured the Mediterranean, or Russia, he was trying to do too many things at once. Because the Allies still controlled much of North Africa and they had Britain, there were many places from which they
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