Mistakes of World War 2 - 1943-1945

Mistakes of World War 2

1. Causes of the War
2. The Mistakes of 1939-1940
3. The Mistakes of 1941
4. The Mistakes of 1942
5. Mistakes of 1943-1945

This article is the last in a series on the most important mistakes that were made during the Second World War. By 1943 most of the mistakes had already been made which caused the Axis’ downfall. But they did make mistakes in the last part of the war that would influence the world for years to come.

Americans Land in Normandy

Fighting to the Last

In 1944 the British and Americans landed in Normandy, France. After gaining a beachhead there they began to drive the German armies across France, Holland and Germany. At the same time, the troops that had landed in Italy in 1943 continued to push the Germans north in Northern Italy. At this point Hitler had two choices. He could order his troops at certain points to fall back so that they could organize and strike with a hard counter-attack, or he could stubbornly hold on to every inch of ground. He chose the second. This meant that although the Allies might have difficulty in conquering territory, they would not have to resist heavy and unexpected counter-attacks. He made this mistake continually as the war wound to a close. He refused to let his troops give up even an inch of ground, and instead he lost it all. He ordered one commander who desired to fall back to a stronger line, “The Fuehrer expects, now as before, the utmost steadiness in the fulfillment of your present mission to defend every inch of the North Italian areas entrusted to your command.”¹ Hitler’s incorrect strategy led to the defeat of his armies, and he committed suicide on April 30^th, 1945. Germany surrendered unconditionally on May 8^th.

Winston Churchill with crowds on V-E day

Communism

At the beginning of the war the Soviet Union was unfavorable to the British. They were siding with Germany, and almost became an ally with them against Great Britain. But then when Germany attacked them, they wanted to become an ally to the nation they were planning to attack a few weeks before. The British decided to ignore the political, social and religious differences between them and join with them to destroy Germany. But by the end of the war it became clear that unless the United States and England did something to stop it, Russia would make much of Europe their Communist puppets.

Polish Soldier Fighting the Germans during the Warshaw Uprising

One of the first issues that came up was regarding Poland. Poland was one of the the first nations that Germany conquered, and many influential Poles fled to London and established a government there. But when the Soviets liberated Poland they set up a Polish Committee of National Liberation which were really just their puppets. England and the United States did not want communism to be imposed on the Poles, and the Russians agreed at the Yalta Conference to incorporate members of the London government into the new Polish government so that it would better represent the wishes of the people. They also agreed to allow Allied observers to enter Poland to report on what was happening there. However, they ignored their promises and set up a completely communism government in Poland.

These issues continued with the other nations of western Europe. The Russian strategy was described by Stalin when he said, “This war is not as in the past; whoever occupies a territory also imposes his own social system on it. Everyone imposes his own system as far as his army can reach. It cannot be otherwise.”² Therefore what Winston Churchill described as an “Iron Curtain” came upon Germany because of the alliance that had been made in the heat of war and the failure of the other Allies to deny to Russia the right to overwhelm the other nations.

These problems between the United States and the Soviet Union resulted in the Cold War. While there were military conflicts which resulted from it, the United States and Russia never entered into a full scale World War. The problems existed until 1991 when the Soviet Union collapsed. All this conflict can be traced back to decisions that were made in the aftermath of World War II.

A Street in Berlin

Conclusion

These mistakes from World War II that we have examined through this series of essays are not just interesting facts from a conflict that happened many years ago. Situations like these will happen again, and at that time it will serve us well to remember the mistakes that were made by leaders of the past. Those who fail to learn from the mistakes of their predecessors are destined to repeat them.

1. The Second World War – Triumph and Tragedy (vol. 6) by Winston Churchill (Boston, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1953) p. 522
2. A History of Modern Russia: From Nicholas II to Vladimir Putin by Robert Service Source. p. 305

The Mistakes of World War 2 - 1942

Mistakes of World War 2

1. Causes of the War
2. The Mistakes of 1939-1940
3. The Mistakes of 1941
4. The Mistakes of 1942
5. The Mistakes of 1943-1945
More coming soon

The Three Leaders of the Allies: Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill

This article is the fourth part in a series on the greatest mistakes of World War II. At this point in the war it is 1942 and America, Great Britain and the Soviet Union are united against Germany, Italy and Japan. Many of the great mistakes of the war had already been made, but there were still mistakes that the Axis made that shortened their life, even if they were already doomed to defeat. I will discuss three mistakes that were made in 1942 – the failure of the Germans to press the attack by the U-boats, the Japanese attacks in the Pacific, and Hitler’s refusal to retreat from Africa.

The Mistakes of World War 2 - 1941

Mistakes of World War 2

1. Causes of the War
2. The Mistakes of 1939-1940
3. The Mistakes of 1941
4. The Mistakes of 1942
5. The Mistakes of 1943-1945

Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of Great Britain

In 1941 the world was plunged into one of the largest wars in human history. The Axis -  Germany, Italy and later Japan were succeeding in their attacks on the Allies - Great Britain and the Soviet Union. But by 1941 the Axis had already thrown away their best chance, although a slim one, of ultimate victory. In 1940 Germany had not pressed its attacks on Britain, instead it had attacked the Soviet Union. In 1941 the Axis continued to make mistakes which caused them to loose even more chances of victory. Germany’s made the mistake of failing in their attempt to defeat Russia. But the Axis’ greatest mistake was causing the United States to join the war. That defeated their last chances for survival. When the United States declared war, the Allies had twice the men as the Axis, and more industrial capability. Forcing the USA to join the war was the greatest mistake of 1941. All the rest were minor compared to it.

Russian tanks and soldiers

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The Mistakes of World War 2 - 1939-1940

Mistakes of World War 2

1. Causes of the War
2. The Mistakes of 1939-1940
3. The Mistakes of 1941
4. The Mistakes of 1942
5. The Mistakes of 1943-1945

by Joshua Horn

Last time, we examined the mistakes on the part of France and Britain which caused the Second World War. Now we will look at several mistakes which the Allies and Axis made from 1939-1940.

The Battle of France
At the beginning of the war there was what Churchill called the “Twilight War”. It was the eight months when war had been declared, but had only partially begun. During this time Germany crushed Poland and other nations while the French and British army was waiting on the border of France, building their armies and fortifying themselves. During 1939 through the spring of 1940 the German army improved in quality. They were able to hone their techniques upon the smaller nations before they attacked the stronger France. On the other hand the French army declined in quality. They waited on the border in their forts for the German attack, and their morale and discipline declined.

The Mistakes that Caused World War 2

Mistakes of World War 2

1. Causes of the War
2. The Mistakes of 1939-1940
3. The Mistakes of 1941
4. The Mistakes of 1942
5. The Mistakes of 1943-1945

      World War I, the bloodiest war in human history up to that time, ended in 1918. Germany and Austria had finally been driven back and defeated by the Allies (England, France, America, Russia and others.) The Allies were tired of war. Tens of thousands of British and French men had been killed for mere feet of ground. The casualties had been terrible. In England one out of every three males were casualties. The Allies believed that there would never be another World War because they had fought and won the "War to End All Wars." To make certain of that, they put stringent barriers in the Treaty of Versailles to make sure Germany would never be a threat again. Twenty years later, the same Allies were again fighting Germany. Today we will examine what mistakes that they made to cause the Second World War.

Adolf Hitler, the leader of Germany

      One of the most important mistakes that the Allies made between the World Wars was that they allowed Germany to rebuild their army. In the Treaty of Versailles, Germany was allowed only 100,000 soldiers, a 30 ship navy, no conscription (draft), no officer's school, no submarines, and no airforce. They claimed that they obeyed this requirement at the beginning, but they disobeyed it in hiding. For example, they still fostered a civilian air foce that they would be able to turn into a military one. The Allies disarmed themselves, but they allowed Germany to gradually build up their military and violate the requirements of the treaty without any punishments. Winston Churchill said, "Once Hitler's Germany had been allowed to rearm without active interference by the Allies and former associated Powers, a second World War was almost certain."1 In 1932 Germany announced that it would no longer abide by the treaty ristrictions on armaments, and much of the Allied press agreed, because they thought that it was unfair for only the Germans to be required to disarmed. In 1935 Hitler instituted compulsory military conscription, and later England agreed that Germany should be allowed to expand its navy. Up until 1934, the Allies were still strong enough that they could have avoided a war by requiring Germany to disarm, but they did not. Instead, they remained at ease while the Germans built up a military stronger than their own. Winston Churchill said, "[T]he strict enforcement at any time till 1934 of the Disarmament Clauses of the Peace Treaty would have guarded indefinitely, without violence or bloodshed, the peace and safety of mankind. "2

Hitler reviewing his troops

      The other main problem was that the Allies allowed Germany to annex and attack other nations without resisting until it was too late. In 1936 Hitler ordered the Rhineland to be occupied, which was supposed to be a demilitarized zone on the border of Germany. The Allies did nothing. In 1938-1939 Germany annexed Austria and attacked Czechoslovakia. By this time the Allies had already allowed Germany to gain an army, but it was still weaker than their own. If they had wished, they could have used their greater force to threaten Germany and avert a greater war. It should have been clear to them that although each time Hitler said that this was all the land he wanted, his desire was to conquer the world. But instead they allowed Germany's aggression and refused to stop them. But finally the English prime mister realized what was happening and declared that they would not allow Germany to take over Poland, their next target. He said,

"Is this the last attack upon a small State or is it to be followed by another? Is this in fact a step in the direction of an attempt to dominate the world by force?"3 

England promised their support to Poland if it was attacked. But they had already made their mistake, and were destined for a long war. They had refused to act when the German army was weak, and now would have to fight it when it was strong. Churchill said, "Here is a catalogue of surrenders, at first when all was easy and later when things were harder, to the ever-growing German power. But now at last was the end of British and French submission. Here was the decision at last, taken at the worst possible moment on the least satisfactory ground, which must surely lead to the slaughter of tens of millions of people."4


      These were the mistakes that the Allies made that led up to and caused the Second World War. They should be a lesson to us not to be lazy and allow things that will surely lead us into war. Churchill said,

"Still, if you will not fight for the right when you can easily win without bloodshed; if you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival. There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves."5

1 Churchill, Winston. The Second World War. (London: Cassell & Co. Ltd 1948) volume 1
2 Ibid,  p. 13
3 Ibid,  p. 270
4 Ibid,  p. 271-272
5 Ibid,  p. 272

Military Mistakes of World War 1 - Part 2

Mistakes of World War 1

1. Part 1
2. Part 2

 

by Joshua Horn
View Part 1

In part one we examined three of the mistakes of World War I, one of the biggest wars in world history. These were the German navy's failure to attack at the beginning of the war, the Allies' frontal attacks and the Allied defeat at the battle of the Dardanelles. Today we will examine three more of the mistakes of World War I, the continued attacks of the Allies, the German U-boat war and the German frontal attacks. All these mistakes, and many more, contributed to create one of the bloodiest wars of human history. World War I changed Europe forever. In Britain alone one third of the male population were casualties. We should learn from these costly mistakes of history so that we will not make similar errors.

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Military Mistakes of World War I – Part 1

Mistakes of World War 1

1. Part 1
2. Part 2

by Joshua Horn
based on The Great War by Winston Churchill

World War I began in 1914. It quickly spread throughout all of Europe, and much of Africa and the Middle East. It was one of the bloodiest wars of human history, with 37 million casualties. In Great Britain alone there were over 1 million dead, one third of the British male population were casualties. Until World War II it was called the Great War and the War to End All Wars. The war had a great lasting effect. In England and France the people believed that after that war there would be nothing worth fighting for again. This greatly contributed to World War II. There were many mistakes made on the Central Powers' side which caused the war to be lost and on the Allied side caused it to be greatly prolonged. Today we will look at three of the mistakes: the German navy's failure to attack, the Allies’ destructive frontal assaults and the battle of the Dardanelles.

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