How the Nazis Were Defeated

How the Nazis Were Defeated

The Nazis of Germany, led by Adolf Hitler, posed a great threat to the world, especially Europe, during the 1930's and early 1940's. At some times it seemed like they were unstoppable, but eventually they toppled. Devastating military losses hurt the fascist regime greatly. The atrocities committed by these fascists towards Jews, Romani, and other minorities caused them internal struggles. Problems inside the government, specifically bad decisions and disagreements (that led to an assassination attempt on Hitler), hurt the Nazi cause continually until Germany collapsed. Internal problems, military losses, and bad decisions led to the defeat of Nazis in World War Two.

Germany was successful in conquering most of Europe to create the Third Reich in the late 1930's and early 1940's. The Nazi's annexed Austria and took over Czechoslovakia, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and France. Much of Eastern Europe was taken over by the Nazis or turned into puppet states (Hitler). Poland was invaded, and this action caused Britain and France (who had not been conquered yet) to declare war on the Germany. Perhaps Hitler could have stopped before the German army reached Poland, as this could have allowed him to control a large area without ever entering a huge war. His urge for power was his drive; and so the Nazis continued to expand the Reich.

Nazi officials, including Hitler himself, made costly mistakes that weakened the Nazi cause and their power over the people in World War Two. One of these was invading the USSR and attacking during the winter. Invading the Soviet Union was not a smart move because Russia is very cold in the winter. “Operation Barbarossa” caused huge casualties for both sides and the destruction of much of European Russia. Hitler stated: “Filled with the greatest concern for the existence and future of our people, I decided on June 22 to appeal to you to anticipate in the nick of time threatening aggression by one opponent [the Soviet Union]” (Hitler). Hitler thought the USSR could have destroyed Germany; However, the invasion led Germany to self-destruction, as the attack was costly and did not result in any longterm Nazi gains (their advance stopped before Moscow and was pushed back from there). By making this decision, the Nazis chose to fight a war on two fronts with the British in the west and the USSR in the east. The Nazis also lost the opportunity to gain a powerful ally in the east with this decision, as a nonaggression pact had been signed with the USSR earlier (Hitler).

With the Allies ready to retake France, the Nazi Party leaders made the mistake of falling to a fake Allied attack and putting many soldiers in the wrong place. The Germans' error made it a lot easier for the Allies to attack Normandy. A World War Two veteran writes: “Hitler had been fooled completely by a pretended Allied attack against German defense further northeast, opposite the narrow Strait of Dover. For more than six weeks he kept more than half of German Army Group B in northeast France, waiting for an attack that never came” (Dupoy 17-18). Hitler's blunder led to a successful attack on D-Day for the Allies. Normandy was retaken by the Allies, and the liberation of France had begun.

The regime of Hitler committed many crimes, including imprisonment, torture, human experimentation, and murder. These atrocities were committed against any person who was deemed “unfit” by the Nazis. These people were Jews (who were held responsible by Nazis for Germany's loss in World War 1), Romani (Gypsies), homosexuals, priests, Slavs, Poles, the mentally ill, the physically disabled, Communists, other political dissidents, and many others. Many people were sent to death camps where they were shot or gassed to death immediately. The proposed killing of all the Jews was called “the Final Solution”. Others were sent to concentration camps, where they worked in slave labor until they died of exhaustion or disease, were killed by Nazi soldiers, escaped (this was very rare), or were liberated later by the Allies ("Holocaust: A Holocaust Chronology"). One thing that is forgotten because of the awfulness of these actions is that many Nazi soldiers were at the camps and were not at the front line fighting in the war. The Jews in the concentration camps did make products that helped the Nazis, but ordinary Germans not forced into slave labor could have done this job better. The atrocities of the Nazi regime actually hurt the German cause in World War Two because they made Germany have less soldiers at the front.

There were many plots to assassinate Hitler and groups that worked against Nazis. These brave people that stood up to the fascists show the discontent of many people towards the regime. These plans were brutally suppressed, and many of the rebels and conspirators were killed. Hitler had to take some manpower away from the front to catch them ("Resistance inside Germany"). One plot that almost killed Hitler in 1944 involved high-ranking military men, including Claus von Stauffenburg, who were mad at the Nazi losses in Russia and the killings of undesirables. They tried to explode a bomb next to him, but Hitler was protected by furniture and survived. Hitler had all conspirators in the plot tortured and killed (Dupuy 38-39). This incident shows how splintered the Germans were near the end of the war. The party also lost a lot of important people that could have helped defend Germany because of the killings.

The Allies continued their advance and eventually conquered all of the Third Reich. Hitler killed himself before Berlin was conquered by his enemies. The Nazi Party's rigid and violent control of Germany was over. Germany was divided between the winners of the Second World War, the Allies. It was split into Soviet, American, British, and French zones. The Cold War was now in motion (Hitler).

There are many lessons the world can learn from the history of the Nazi regime and the scenario of the Nazis winning World War Two. We have learned from Nazi atrocities that seemingly ordinary humans can reach the worst form of evil and that people can survive unbelievable suffering. The world needs to come together to stop any plans similar to the Nazis. We have learned from Hitler that seemingly unstoppable leaders can have great weaknesses and can be defeated when their policies are terrible. We have learned that people can risk paying the ultimate sacrifice to resist against unjust governments. Luckily the Nazi military was defeated handily, and their atrocities came to an end. Nazi Germany was a force that put a dent in the world that humanity will never forget, as we have to remember the innocent victims who died at their hands. Internal problems and great military defeats caused the collapse of Nazism in Germany and the end of the Second World War.