Quote:
Originally Posted by klem
lonewulf, sorry to add to the pile, but a flaw in your statement about Hitlers objective in Russia retains the flaw in Hitler's own perception of victory in Russia.
Hitler believed that by capturing Moscow, Leningrad, Stalingrad etc he would defeat Russia, because the Russians would capitulate. He wouldn't have because they wouldn't have. Stalin would have (and was already) withdrawing Eastward where he was relocating his production facilities and rebuilding his forces as well as drawing on forces from Mongolia etc. If Hitler did not pursue him Stalin would have re-built and come back against him as he did in any case and with far superior numbers and equipment (for the region). If Hitler did pursue him through the sccorched earth of Russia he would have been unable to sustain his forces and eventually he would have been crushed, as in fact happened to his 6th Army when he was no-where near as stretched. He may have captured the Caucuses and the Ukraine wheat fields but sustained forces means both supplies and men and I don't think he had the manpower to stretch that far. These are the reasons why I don't think Hitler could ever have defeated Russia. His perception of victory was flawed.
The Russians might have welcomed Hitler with open arms after Stalin but as Hitler had pronounced them sub-human and the German forces took full advantage of their conquest with killings, rapings, destruction, etc, the Russians weren't likely to take kindly to the Germans.
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I don't agree with this. If anything it was Hitler, rather than his generals, who understood that it was the control of resources, rather than bricks and mortar, that would determine ultimate victory. That is why he withdrew from the Battle for Moscow and thrust towards Stalingrad and the Volga because he understood the economic significance of the Volga to the survival of the Soviet Union. And it was also Hitler who understood that, despite the claims to the contrary, the Soviets didn't have unlimited man power. By the end of the war the Soviets, like everyone else, were beginning to scrape the bottom of the barrel. That is why Hitler insisted on unwavering defense because he knew that wasteful Soviet tactics worked ultimately in his favour.
And while I think much can be said about the disgraceful behaviour of German forces in the East during the War, I am not aware that they had a reputation for rape. The Red Army on the other hand had a well documented propensity for this type of behaviour.