Hitler famously remarked at the outset of the Second World War that the victor of the coming contest would be the side that made the fewest mistakes.
And he was correct — the Axis certainly committed some most astounding blunders of the war.
Much has already been written about the ill-fated Nazi invasion of Russia in June of 1941. The Fuhrer’s surprise attack on the Soviets, his one-time allies, instantly widened the two-year old conflict and in a single stroke forced Germany into an entirely unsustainable two-front war. The fighting in the east eventually cost the Third Reich nearly four and a half million lives. In fact, more than 80 percent of all German troops killed in action in World War Two died fighting the Red Army.
And while the Allied leadership might not have erred as egregiously as the Nazi dictator did, Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin were certainly responsible for their share of catastrophic blunders in the pursuit of victory. Just this week, the Gawker.com-affiliated science and futurist news site i09 published its list of eight of them.
Penned by contributing editor and self-described history buff George Dvorsky, the list includes many of the errors, slip-ups and mis-steps you’d expect to find in such a compilation like the Dieppe raid and the abortive Operation Market Garden along with one or two that might come as a surprise. We could reveal some of them, but it would be better if you checked out the full article for yourself. Click here.
Worst Military Decisions of All Time?
Forget the Allies! Hell, forget World War Two altogether. What are some of the most, ill advised, ill-fated and ill conceived military decisions from the whole of history? MHN wants your suggestions. Is it Picket’s Charge? Perhaps Napoleon’s disastrous invasion of Russia? How about the charge of the Light Brigade? Have your say in the comments section below.
Ill-fated Nazi invasion of Russia? Gah, first of all the nation invaded was the USSR, not Russia. Secondly, taking over all the land to the west of the Ural Mountains was the *entire point* of Hitler starting the war. Thus Germany could never be starved out again like it was in WWI. Jeez, do historians never read Mein Kampf anymore?
The difference between Russia and the Soviet Union is something taught in Modern History 101. But you understand that Russia is also used as shorthand for the U.S.S.R. You will notice that it is used on this site to switch up the nouns a bit so that all my sentences don’t use the word Soviet Union. And when I do use it, I am careful to avoid inaccuracies. Hitler invaded Russia as part of the wider invasion of the Soviet Union.
As some Russians fought for the Axis powers,you’re still in the wrong.