2. How Germany’s weaknesses contributed to its defeat
in WWII
Command Structure
Use of Resources
Reliance on petroleum
Fighting on two fronts
3.
4. German state and military command structure was a
system of overlapping authority Confusing!
Only Hitler had access to all information
Hitler vs. Generals
Hitler wanted to be the chief decision-maker –
often went against his generals’ advice
5. i) Battle of Britain (Aug-Sep 1940)
Hitler ordered Luftwaffe to attack Britain’s cities instead
of focusing on destroying RAF Gave RAF time to
recover – prevent Britain from falling
6. ii) Folly on the Eastern Front
1941: Hitler went against advice of his generals and
attacked other Soviet cities instead of focusing on
Moscow Germans missed chance to secure victory
over USSR
7. Results?
Failure to achieve swift victory over Britain
= prolonged war on western front
Failure to defeat Soviet Union = Germans
trapped in Russian winter and suffered
huge military losses
8.
9. Ineffectiveness of military tactics
Example of earlier German attempts to invade
Britain – invested heavily in battleships and
cruisers instead of the more effective U-boats
10. Intra-military competition: army, navy and air
force competed for limited funds
Limited effectiveness of military tactics – competition
led to funds not being used wisely
11. Slow and inefficient armament production
Germany didn’t have enough workers to produce
necessary weapons
Slave labourers starved, women discouraged from working
Germany produced too many types of weapons
Too many types of spare parts needed
Producing such a variety was expensive and inefficient
12. Shortage of proven weapons and essential equipment
Hitler wanted the most up-to-date weapons
Some weapons were produced before they were tested
There was a shortage of proven weapons and
equipment such as trucks, infantry vehicles and
appropriate military clothing to fight in the
Russian winter
13. Results?
Germany had comparatively fewer resources and
funds after the USA and the Soviets joined the
war on the Allied side
Failure to use these resources and funds wisely
placed them at a greater disadvantage vis-à-vis
the Allies
14.
15. Why do you think
petroleum is important
in warfare?
Machinery
Tanks
Ships, etc
16. Petroleum was crucial to
the German war effort
but Germany lacked
sufficient petroleum
reserves
Germans invented
synthetic oil as a
substitute for
petroleum products
17. Oilfields of German-
occupied territories ,like
Austria and Romania, were
also used for the war effort
From 1943, German
synthetic oil plants and
oilfields were subjected
to bombing by the USA
18. From 1943, German
synthetic oil plants
and oilfields were
subjected to bombing
by the USA
Ploesti oilfields in
Romania, chief source
of Germany’s oil
imports, put out of
operation after Allied
attacks
19. Results?
Heavy reliance on petroleum made war
operations vulnerable
Allied control of the air
German oil targets bombed and put out of
operation
Insufficient oil resources = weakening German
military = inevitable defeat
20.
21. Invasion of the Soviet Union: Hitler’s
Biggest Mistake?
Alan Bullock: ‘Hitler invaded Russia for the simple and
sufficient reason that he had always meant to establish
the foundations of his thousand-year Reich by the
annexation of the territory lying between the Vistula
and the Urals’ – What does this tell you about Hitler’s
aims?
Hitler wanted to achieve his goal of
Lebensraum
22. Hitler: ‘We have only to kick in the door and
the whole rotten structure will come
crashing down.’
What can you infer about Hitler’s attitude
towards the Soviets?
23. Operation Barbarossa launched
Blitzkrieg on an awesome scale – Russians
caught off-guard
Battle of Stalingrad (23 Aug 1942 – 2 Feb 1943)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qd_Wt4N1Sss
Battle of Kursk
24. Hitler also declared war on the USA – why?
Thought the USA would focus on the
Pacific but FDR adopted a Europe-first
strategy
25. Results?
Fighting a war on two fronts strained
Germany’s limited military resources
Prolonged warfare also served to hurt
German morale
