This was a serious mistake, yes. And Barbarossa was another serious mistake.
But I think that Germany was still destined to lose the war anyway, because they were running out of oil and getting out manufactured. And the United States was going to find a way to enter the European theater one way or another.
By then, the Battle of Moscow already had winter blizzards setting in, and Germany would be pushed back within a month and start losing from then on. The British had already tossed the Luftwaffe into a wood chipper through the Battle of Britain. The Bismark had been sunk, and that signaled that Plan Z, a plan for building a German surface fleet that could challenge the Royal Navy, was crumpled up and thrown in the toilet.
It may not have been obvious at the time, but in hindsight, Germany was already set to lose. The only question was how and when. Maybe Russia overruns all of Germany and then effectively controls France. Maybe there’s a negotiated peace before that happens. In any case, Germany was going to come out worse than it went in.
Germany lost by declaring war on the United States on December 11th 1941.
You mean the Red Army?
This was a serious mistake, yes. And Barbarossa was another serious mistake.
But I think that Germany was still destined to lose the war anyway, because they were running out of oil and getting out manufactured. And the United States was going to find a way to enter the European theater one way or another.
By then, the Battle of Moscow already had winter blizzards setting in, and Germany would be pushed back within a month and start losing from then on. The British had already tossed the Luftwaffe into a wood chipper through the Battle of Britain. The Bismark had been sunk, and that signaled that Plan Z, a plan for building a German surface fleet that could challenge the Royal Navy, was crumpled up and thrown in the toilet.
It may not have been obvious at the time, but in hindsight, Germany was already set to lose. The only question was how and when. Maybe Russia overruns all of Germany and then effectively controls France. Maybe there’s a negotiated peace before that happens. In any case, Germany was going to come out worse than it went in.