Did the Brilliant but Egotistical, Panzer General, Guderian Cost Germany World War 2?

Question No. 4: Did General Guderian, the Brilliant Panzer General, Cause Germany to Lose World War 2 Because of His Egotism?

Answer: In late 1941, Guderian, the seemingly invincible German Panzer general, set off a series of events on the Russian front that some experts say cost the Germans World War 2.

Guderian, who never lost a battle, reported indrectly to General Halder, a far less brilliant but solid general. Their forces were moving to attack Moscow in late 1941. Guderian's Panzer divisions were to play a key role in the attack. But Guderian had had enough of the plodding General Halder. Guderian, Hitler's favorite general at the time, went straight to Hitler and talked him into letting him .take his powerful Panzer divisions on a lengthy diversion to the south away from Moscow and away from General Halder's other forces. Halder fumed (Guderian claimed Halder had a breakdown) but there was nothing Halder could do - Guderian was Hitler's pet.

Guderian's Panzer divisions wiped out about a million Russians and put entire Russian armies out of commission during the southern expedition.

But Moscow remained in Russian hands as winter approached.

When Guderian returned to the Moscow attack (with tracks virtually worn off his tanks according to some observers), the attack was out of phase and faltered. Winter caught the Germans in the open before Moscow, and the ensuing Russian counterattack in the frigid weather caused many German solders to be slaughtered when Hitler compounded his errors by refusing to allow the German armies to retreat to a safe defense line.

Early in 1942, Hitler summoned Guderian to his headquarters and relieved him of his command. Guderian was never allowed to return to effective combat duty for the remainder of the war. Germany's best "tactical" general had bitten the dust.

Had Moscow been captured, the Germans could have wintered in the city and, likely, would have forced the Russians from the war in 1942. Without Russia, the Allies would probably have been forced to settle for a draw with Germany.

Can a person be too brilliant?

(As you might suspect, Guderian, in post-war interviews told a somewhat different story of the incident. But the preponderance of evidence appears to be against him.)

Could Germany Have Won World War 2?

Question No. 2. Could Germany Have Won World War 2?

This is another frequently asked question on World War 2. The answer depends somewhat on the answer to Question No. 1 regarding whether Germany could have successfully invaded and conquered Britain in World War 2. Germany did not have to conquer Britain to win the war but it would have been difficult for them to win without accomplishing that conquest.

One scenario for Germany winning involved a much more aggressive armaments program coupled with a better planned attack on Russia in 1941. This scenario would have required the Germans to make a concerted effort to capture Moscow in 1941 instead of dividing their forces in three widely separated Russian offenses. All the multiple offenses did achieve quite a measure of success but the Germans failed to capture Moscow before the savage winter of 1941-42 set in. Instead, the force attacking Moscow found itself in the open as winter set in. They took tremendous losses as Hitler delayed allowing the German armies to retreat as the Russians counterattacked in the snow. The Germans had to capture Moscow! If they had captured Moscow, the Germans could have wintered there and Russia likely would have had to pull out of the war in 1942.

As far as the armaments effort went, Hitler was surprisingly very conscious of German public opinion and hesitated upsetting them by going with a 100% war effort as Goebbels, and later, Speer, advocated. For example, after France fell, Hitler sent a substantial part of the army home. Airplane production was in slow motion (Britain was actually producing more aircraft than Germany) and Hitler never allowed the German women to be mobilized as Russia, Britain, and the U.S. did. He dawdled in these areas even as he planned the attack on Russia. These are unbelievable actions for a country entering a world war. Hitler's relative inactivity from the fall of France to the Russian invasion was his greatest weakness. Later, his emphasis on producing "secret weapons" (unneeded long range bombers, death rays, etc,) instead of badly-needed conventional weapons (fighter planes, etc.) was almost as bad.

In addition to the Russian option, Hitler might have forced a draw in the war by not attacking Russia at all and, instead, adopting a Mediterranean strategy. This would have involved capturing Gibraltar and all of North Africa and the Middle East. By making the Mediterranean his lake, Hitler could likely have held out indefinitely. Turkey would probably have had to enter the war on Germany's side. These events would have put considerable pressure on Russia and they might have given in to whatever demands Hitler made of them.

But the fly in the ointment for the Mediterranean strategy was Franco and Spain. Franco, although a Fascist, would not enter World War 2 on Germany's side (actually, he just kept putting Hitler off with half promises). Without Spain's support, capturing Gibraltar was a much more daunting task. And Hitler liked easy "Blitzkrieg" type victories.