What if Hitler allowed his sixth army to withdraw from Stalingrad?
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During the Battle of Stalingrad "The Axis forces on the flanks were overrun and the 6th Army was cut off and surrounded in the Stalingrad area. Adolf Hitler ordered that the army stay in Stalingrad and make no attempt to break out; instead, attempts were made to supply the army by air and to break the encirclement from the outside." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad was considered the major turning point in the war in Europe, because it was the first large scale victory against the German's and The 6th army, which made up the majority of the Eastern Front, because of Hitler's order to the army to stand their ground in Stalingrad, the 6th army was nearly completely obliterated. This event forced Germany to send reinforcements from the western front. So, what would've happened if Hitler allowed the 6th army to retreat, thus preserving his largest fighting force in the south east. WHAT IF Hitler learned his mistake the first time, and proceeded to allow his generals to implement their own strategies.
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24 Replies
29 Feb 2016, 18:55
aDudeWhoDoesThings wrote:
A better question would be what if Hitler simply stayed out of military affairs and stuck to the diplomacy and nationalistic sparking he was good at?
Yes, that is a better question. The majority of Germany's largest setbacks, were usually because of his intervention.
29 Feb 2016, 21:21 (edited)
Im a strong believer that Hitler lost Germany ww2. Hitler made many tactical mistakes that cost the war. I shall name the 2 'Biggies', first Dunkirk.
During the battle for france German troops surrounded the British forces at Dunkirk, but instead of going in for the kill Hitler ordered to halt the advance, and when the advance started again the British troops made it out in time. There many theories to why Hitler did such a thing, some say he wanted to gloat at the fact of surrounding the British troops and wanted to make the death 'slow and painful', some say he still wanted an alliance with Britain and so didn't want to crush them completely (Btw some historians say Hitler did offer an alliance to Britain (Although it still covered in mystery since Hitler probs covered it up) but Britain told him to stick it) and some Historians believed that Hitler wanted to personally give the order to attack but a communication fault delayed it.
Secondly is the march to Moscow. Due to Hitler's ego, he wanted to capture Stalingrad since it bore the name of his nemesis, Stalin. While Stalingrad was still a tactical target due to its tank factories, Moscow was of higher importance since it was the centre for Russian Government and Transport with all the rail links linking to Moscow. If Moscow fell the government will collapse and the Germans would have control of the rail, improving supply lines. But Hitler stopped the advance on Moscow to pour troops into the meat grinder at Stalingrad. A complete failure.
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1 Mar 2016, 03:00
Morale is all-important to any army and populace, but Hitler should have just left his job at that
"A knight cannot save the world. They call certain methods of fighting good and others evil, acting as if there were some nobility to the battlefield." "Honor? Glory? There's no point in speaking to a killer who indulges in such nonsense." "It's a crime we call victory, paid for by the pain of the defeated"
1 Mar 2016, 05:50
Many many different possibilities could have happened....