The WWII Thread

[mrstickball]

sethnintendo said:

mrstickball said:

Had that not been the case - either by Germany staying with the Molotov-Ribbentop pact, or convincing Japan to focus not attack Pearl Harbor would of made for a vastly different scenario. That is not to speak of Hitler's other massive blunders like prolonging the initialization of Operation Barbarossa, the Kursk Offensive, taking Stalingrad, or forcing Rommel to commit suicide.

Alternatively, you could have other scenarios that would of been even more woeful for Hitler... Such as Stalin not being as tactically inept as Hitler was at the start of the war. With a few different moves, Russia could have severely changed the results of Operation Barbarossa, likely resulting in a much more fierce defense and capitulation of one or more German Army Groups.

Operation Barbarossa went off pretty well for the Germans at first.  The first winter hindered their progress (with other winters to follow that were even worse) but it wasn't till about the time of Stalingrad and closing near Moscow did the Germans start to falter. 

That is the key. The initial stages totally destroyed Russian defenses. Unfortunately, Hitler made the huge tactical blunder of supressing the Ukranians that had suffered immensely under the Soviets. Rather than use their help against the Russians, he treated them like the Jews and Gypsies, which meant that man and materiel was diverted to supress them instead of getting them to help fight the Russians.