I just want to say, for all the discussion of ‘could they have…’ it’s important to remember that Germany was never going to conquer Russia, it was a stupid (racist) idea to get Hitlers ‘lebensraum’ and take out Stalin’s ‘Jewish Bolshevist’ nation (heavy on the eye-roll there). Keep in mind that Germany didn’t even get Moscow, which Napoleon had actually managed to (mostly) do, and Napoleon still lost for the same reason that Germany would have regardless – they did not have the logistical ability to support an army in an area the size of Russia. Partisan/army elements would absolutely pick apart a logistical train that long, which Germany couldn’t have done any way. We have to remember Germany wasn’t an actual mechanized army, it was entirely dependent on horses, and to try to use horses to haul ammunition/food/clothes/medical supplies/artillery shells/etc ~1500 kilometres from Germany to Moscow alone would be insane, especially with the millions of men and women the Soviet union had constantly attacking you.
The entire invasion was never going to work, and people give the idea it could have worked way too much credit. And this is all assuming no other nation would step in either; it’s entirely on the ‘nobody is in an alliance anymore’ sort of fantasy world. This failed for the exact same reason that the Russian invasion of Ukraine has – they planned for a short, easy war, because their entire ideology requires that they underestimate their foes at every available opportunity.
Another thing to note is people keep saying that if ideology didn’t gimp the war effort, the Nazis would’ve won. However, the ideology was the whole reason the war even happened in the first place.
Exactly. It’s Fascism 101 - you invade anyone smaller than you to get slaves/money/etc, you pick scapegoats to blame for any issues you have, and you steal everything not nailed down, and then you move on to the next place. Eventually you pick a fight you can’t win, and then you lose.
Part of them losing that fight was two of my grandparents, and I’m kinda pissed we’re dealing with them again. So I want to reinforce: If a country goes fascist, this shit is coming. Nazi Germany was never going to win anything with an ideology that flawed.
Some Germans wanted to ally themselves with Poland and fight against Soviet Union together. Without Germany attacking Poland, France and United Kingdom would have not entered the war and history might have gone very differently.
It is true, if they hadn’t done Nazi things and had actual allies they could have done better, for sure.
Not only that, but they were also defeated by the cooperation of different nations that would let anyone join if they wanted.
So the Nazis were literally defeated by diversity and inclusivity.
I have been involved in “big business” at several times in my life, someone actually gave me authority to build teams and create projects. I discovered that there are different schools of thought about what makes the “perfect team” to work on a project, and most managers go through the hiring process in mind of getting candidates that all are the same, all have the same personality, skillset and background, under the belief that homogeny makes for a more harmonious, predictable team.
Not me fam. I painted goddamn abstract art with a pallet of people. I got the most diverse teams I could, I got outspoken, angry black mothers alongside timid, pasty nerds alongside combat vets alongside immigrant chefs.
It took constant “babysitting” to make sure everyone was getting along and understanding each other, but we kicked ass. It’s an amazing feeling putting together a team that can handle changes and can provide input on things you never thought of and who actually care about the results. Not only did we succeed at every challenge, I made lifelong friends and learned new things every day.
Diversity and inclusion is literally being used like a slur lately and it burns me. Diversity of backgrounds and perspectives is one of the most valuable strategic assets you can have around you. The people who surround themselves with people who already agree with them and have nothing new to add may pass challenges, but if you want to defeat challenges, you need a spectrum of perspectives.
