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Hitler's failure
What was the main cause of the German defeat in the Second World War?
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No best answer has yet been selected by smari. Once a best answer has been selected, it will be shown here.
For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.1) Overstretched resources - blitzkrieg was too effective
2) Invading the Russians about 2 months later than he should have so the Germans got bogged down in a Russian Winter
3) American involvement
4) Not finishing the British off when he had the chance (partly down to no. 1) - at Dunkirk
5) The British cracking German codes
6) Success of Allied Intelligence in deceiving the Germans as to where the invasion of Europe was tot ake place.
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Because the Americans entered the war. The Japanese gambled that they could take out the USA's Pacific fleet, and then establish themselves in the Pacific, but they failed. Hitler was bound to a pact with the Japanese and so was obliged to also declare war on the USA. It was his big mistake. He didn't really have to.
The Axis powers also lost three major battles in 1942 - Midway in the Pacific, El Alamein in North Africa, and Stalingrad on the Eastern Front. these were the three main theatres at the time - and he lost them all.
The Axis powers also lost three major battles in 1942 - Midway in the Pacific, El Alamein in North Africa, and Stalingrad on the Eastern Front. these were the three main theatres at the time - and he lost them all.
There is not really a main reason for the Nazi defeat in 1945. When the Americans joined the war (they got there late, as they did in the First World War), they provided the extra manpower which pushed the scales on the side of the Allies. Britain and France were pretty much exhausted by this time, and it seemed that Germany was going to win. But Germany concentrated on armaments too much, and were distracted by the Holocaust. This enabled the Allies to get closer. This is why, as the Allies descended upon his Berlin bunker on the 30 April 1945), Hitler and his mistress Eva Braun (whom he had married the day before) gave up and killed themselves, along with some leading players such as Josef Goebbels. When Hitler was gone, there was no choice but for the Nazis to surrender.
There isn't one main cause. Just looking at the number of answers tells you that. What I've been taught here at university hinges on a few key factors: 1) The Russians. Everyone underestimates the part they played, but if it hadn't been for Russia and the Red Army, Hitler would never have been defeated. The 20 million Russian dead shows how hard they fought. 2) The British. The Battle of Britain crippled the Luftwaffe and the resources of the British Empire stoppped Hitler defeating Britain, thereby prolonging a war the Nazis would have won. 3) The Americans. Although their intervention came late, the huge resources of the USA allowed the Allies to bomb Germany into the ground. They also reversed the Japanese's upper hand in the Pacific theatre. 4) The eventual failure of Blitzkreig, brilliant as a new strategy to win territory, hopeless as a long term game plan. There are obviously loads of other factors as well, but those are the ones I think merit the most attention.