Why did Germany lose the Second World War

By Oliver Goggi

'What was the main cause of Germany's defeat in the Second World War ' asked Samri.Following are a summary of reasons why the Allies won the war.

• Firstly, and probably most significantly Hitler overstretched his resources, particularly in the case of his invasion of Russia. The strong fight put up by the Russians at Stalingrad and the heavy German losses suffered on the eastern front decimated Hitler's forces. Hitler didn't anticipate Stalin's willingness to lose millions of troops in key battles.

• America joined the war following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour. This added an extra element to the allied attack.

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The atom bomb

• The development of the atom bomb was an indication of the superior threat that the allies had. The atomic bombs dropped at Hiroshima and Nagasaki prompted the Japanese surrender in August 1945, three months after the Germans. Generally speaking a lot of the winning and losing of the war came down to fire power, and technology.

• The enigma code was broken. Some say that this helped Britain and the allies in planning certain offensives such as D-Day.

• Conflict within the German ranks is another attributing factor. There are theories that Hitler's second in command was getting too powerful and not necessarily agreeing with Hitler about key issues, such as the final solution.

• Hitler hadn't reckoned on the hefty involvement of Britain in the war. He is said to have been surprised when Britain fought against Germany in the first place thinking they would remain neutral or maybe even sympathetic to Germany. This is highlighted by Edward VIII relations with Nazi Germany, and him being forced to abdicate after a 325 day reign.

• A crucial ally to Germany, Italy and Mussolini failed to deliver on a number of occasions. They were poor at fighting generally, as seen in campaigns at Greece and North Africa - they often stayed out of key disputes.

• The allied airforces carried out blanket bombing missions over much of Germany (eg. Dresden). These were effective but at a huge cost to allied lives. This is also true of the suicidal missions that the parachute regiments were thrown into.