The Fall of the Third Reich

1. The Fall of the Third Reich Delegating Responsibility Angela Chung

2. The European Theatre • Rise of Nazi Germany- Anschluss, appeasement, invasion of Poland – World War II • Fall of France in June 1940 • Germany seemed to have to upper hand; commonly perceived that Britain faced hopeless odds • In reality, Germany faced a network of opponents Countries under Axis influence at the peak of Nazi Germany The spread of Nazi Germany

3. The Tides Change • Unsuccessful invasion of Britain • Deterioration of Germany’s relations with its allies • Catastrophic decision to postpone Operation Barbarossa & disastrous attack on Russia • D-Day landings • Battle of the Bulge • Dissent within Nazi-occupied Europe • Invasion of Berlin Aerial view of destruction in Berlin. Bombed-out buildings, May 1945, after the Battle of Berlin

4. Fall of the Third Reich • May 8, 1945, Victory in Europe declared • Nazi regime ended • In hindsight, historians have asked, who was most responsible for the collapse of seemingly infallible Third Reich? • Western Allies? Soviet Union? Resistance? Or Germany itself?

5. Questions • What was the state of Nazi Germany’s economical, military, social, and political systems near the end of WWII? • What were the decisive battles of Europe in World War II? • On how many fronts was Germany fighting? • What was the political dynamic within the Third Reich?

6. Questions • How were German relations with its allies (Axis powers)? • How many countries did the Resistance movement span? • How has the Resistance movement affected the structure of the Third Reich? • Was it Allied supremacy, or German blunders that made the decisive battles against Germany successful?

7. Thesis Statement The Third Reich, because of its flawed foreign policy, resistance within Nazi-occupied Europe, and dire tactical blunders, was most responsible for its own defeat in World War Two.

8. Argument 1 The forming of unfavourable alliances and the making of bad diplomatic decisions crippled Nazi forces, and in consequence, delayed crucial operations and put Germany at a grave disadvantage. Axis Alliance, 1939-1941 Map from the United States Holocaust Museum

9. Evidence ill-advised diplomatic decisions • Alliance with Mussolini • “[The ‘Pact of Steel’] was a declaration of friendship and alliance- it committed Germany and Italy to a military alliance that formed what was known as the Axis powers… When Germany went to war much sooner than expected, Italy was unprepared, and did not fulfil her commitments under the treaty.” • “[Mussolini] decided to show Hitler that Italy could do just as well on its own, and on October 28, 1940, Italian troops set about invading Greece. Mussolini, however, had underestimated his opponents, and with Allied help the Greeks pushed his troops back.” • “The failed Italian attempt to invade Greece had left Hitler with little option but to step in and recover the situation.”

10. Evidence ill-advised diplomatic decisions • Alliance with Japan and Germany’s declaration of war on America • “[Hitler’s] primary goal was still to persuade Japan to attack Britain in East Asia and thus indirectly to deter America from intervention in Europe.” • “Indeed it does not seem easy to say why, when the German campaign against the Soviet Union was stuck in the snow in front of Moscow and when Britain was still undefeated, Germany should take on as an additional enemy the very power to whom it had succumbed in World War I.”

11. Rebuttals ill-advised diplomatic decisions • Italy seemed to be a feasible ally at the time • The Alliance with Japan was not an ill-advised decision because Germany needed Japan to distract the Soviets and the United States from the European theatre • America would have declared war on Germany anyways because of the Alliance with Britain

12. Argument 2 Often overlooked in history, the Resistance movement against the Nazi regime played a critical role in bringing down the Third Reich through its underground movement, network of spies, attempted coups and assassinations, and vocal opposition throughout World War Two. This resistance within Nazi-occupied Europe crippled Germany, making it more vulnerable to Allied attack.

13. Evidence resistance within Nazi-occupied Europe • Sabotage • “Yugoslav partisans waged a continuous guerrilla campaign against the Nazi occupation of their country from 1940 through to the end of the war…” • “Before the D-day landings of Allied troops in June 1944, the French resistance had become an effective army operating inside France. Under the leadership of General Koenig, the French Forces of the Interior (FFI) sabotaged bridges, communications, transport, and power stations.” • “On D-Day, the [Resistance] in the Calvados region blew up eight bridges, destroyed over 100 vehicles, and cut innumerable railway lines… They also cut the trunk telephone link from Caen to Smolensk and the cables connecting the headquarters of the LXXXIV Corps in St. Lô with the 91st Division in Valognes as well as the St. Lô-Jersey link and Cherbourg-Brest connections.” French Resistance sabotaging railroad

14. Evidence resistance within Nazi-occupied Europe • Spying Fritz Kolbe, German diplomat & American spy • “The ideal spy had perhaps just been unearthed in Berlin: No one could be more useful than a well-informed German official, close to the centre of power and decision making, and inclined to transmit his knowledge on a regular basis… a German agent working at the German Foreign Ministry.” Gave America details of: • German expectations on site of D-Day landings • V-1 & V-2 rocket programs • the Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter • Japanese plans in Southeast Asia • Exposure of German spy (Elyesa Bazna) working in a British embassy

15. Evidence resistance within Nazi-occupied Europe • Attemped coups/assassinations • Famous July 20, 1944 attempt by Colonel Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg: • “Inside the briefcase, he had brought a bomb to the situation barrack where the dictator was studying maps with his generals and negotiating about the situation on the Eastern Front… Five people in the same room were killed instantly… The table, under which the briefcase containing the bomb had been placed, blew up into pieces. But that very table saved the life of Hitler… on 20th July, 1944, Colonel Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg was very close to change the final outcome of the World War II.” • Many other close calls victory parade in Paris in July, 1940; parade down the Champs-Elysées; aircraft bomb, suicidal bombing attempt at a museum Stauffenberg Hitler showing Mussolini the aftermath of the bomb explosion in the conference room.

16. Argument 3 Nazi Germany, led by Hitler, made a large number of tactical mistakes and misguided military decisions that allowed the Allies to gain the upper hand, ultimately costing Germany the war. Hitler in process of planning

17. Evidence dire tactical blunders • Yugoslavia (In reaction to the Serbian revolt against Prince Paul of Yugoslavia & the signing of the Tripartite Pact) • “Hitler was furious and raged that Yugoslavia ‘must be regarded as an enemy and beaten down as soon as possible.’ He postponed Operation ‘Barbarossa’ – the invasion of Russia – and went to war with both Greece and Yugoslavia.” • “Outcome: Greece and Yugoslavia fell to the Axis; the German invasion of Russia was delayed, with serious consequences.” • Acting out of sheer spite and anger, decided to postpone the Russian invasion to concentrate on destroying Yugoslavia for revenge – disastrous decision; delay = Russian winters

18. Evidence dire tactical blunders • Russia • “The original timetable called for the launching of the campaign in May [1941]… But the campaign did not begin until late June… they gambled with the weather, which in the late autumn was favourable, just as it was to Napoleon in 1812, and kept saying, “We can risk it.” Then came the bitter weather… Clothing was prepared for a hard German winter, but it was inadequate for a severe Russian winter. The transport failed because German locomotives were not equipped for extremely low temperatures.” - Heusinger • Stalingrad  Even against hopeless odds, Hitler refused to withdraw his Sixth Army & chose instead to resupply them with the Luftwaffe  diverted Luftwaffe from battle to resupply a useless cause; his refusal to retreat doomed Sixth Army

19. Counter-Arguments • The Allies were overwhelmingly superior to the Axis powers in supplies and armament. • The Allies won the war due to the efficiency of their Intelligence unit at cracking codes. • The Allies won through sheer superiority of their air force over the Luftwaffe.

20. Works Cited Collotti, Enzo. Hitler and Nazism.New York: Interlink Publishing Group, 1999. Delattre, Lucas. A Spy at the Heart of the Third Reich. Paris: Éditions Denoël, 2005. Fowler, Will. D-Day: The Normandy Landings on 6 June 1944. United Kingdom: Amber Books Ltd., 2006. Galante, Pierre. Operation Valkyrie: The German Generals’ Plot Against Hitler. New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1981. Hook, Alex. Defining Moments: World War II. United Kingdom: Grange Books, 2005. Jäckel, Eberhard. Hitler in History.London: University Press of New England, 1984. “Resistance Movement”. Hutchinson Encyclopedia. 2004. Oct. 4 2007. http://encyclopedia.farlex.com/resistance+movement Rich, Norman. Hitler’s War Aims: Ideology, the Nazi State, and the Course of Expansion.New York: W.W. Norton & Company Inc., 1992. Shirer, William L. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany. London: Bison Books Ltd., 1994. Von Plehwe, Friedrich-Karl. The End of an Alliance: Rome’s Defection from the Axis in 1943.London: Oxford University Press, 1971.