The Fatal Mistakes That Led To The Downfall Of Nazi Germany

28 feet under the streets of Berlin, the thunderous sounds of war shake the foundations of Hitler's bunker. Tanks and troops are fighting for control as the war nears its end. The disillusioned head of state is losing his grip on power and his sense of reality every single day. The world war he started has come back home. The Führer's Berlin is under siege and Stalin's Red Army is here to hunt him down. In the wake, a sea of death and destruction. For Adolf Hitler, there's only one way out of this war and it won't be at the hands of his enemies. Boom! After the end of the Great War in 1918, nobody could predict a return to wartime conditions any time soon. The devastating loss of life, destruction of territories and economic damage during the four-year war was a suitable deterrent against any future conflicts. Soldiers returned home to Fanfare after years away from their families, treated like the heroes they were. And with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, a new world order of peacetime began and millions across the world celebrated the end of the war to end all wars. However, the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party during the 1930s in Germany soon began to erode the chances of long-term peace. On the 30th of January, 1933, Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany, but of a coalition government. So there were just three Nazi posts in that coalition government. It's very tempting to think that when Hitler comes to power in early 1933, that his grip on power is absolutely total. In fact, you know, he has a very uneven, shaky start. He's still quite worried about public opinion. So what he does is a mixture of passing various laws that give him more and more power, like the Enabling Act, that actually makes him immensely powerful. But also he takes advantage of various events like the Reichstag fire in which the German parliament building burns down. Now, it's highly likely, but never proven whether the Nazis actually burned it down themselves. But certainly, in a sense, it doesn't matter. What happens is, is that Hitler and the Nazis took advantage of the Reichstag burning down to show that there was a communist plot against what the Nazis described as still being a democratic government. And it enabled them to seize more power, you know, by emergency decree. Very quickly, he turned Germany into a one-party state. So first of all, he made sure to eliminate the influence and power of the German political left. So the Socialist Party and the Communist Party, for a start, were banned. But over a short amount of time as well, the Nazi Party was the only legal party too. Eventually, in January 33, he becomes chancellor. Now, don't forget, chancellor in Germany, and this still remains today, is not, at the time, the head of state. The head of state is the president. So it's the chancellor, though, who has the real executive power. In order to take as much power as he can, he's also gonna have to make himself head of state. And that really becomes an opportunity for him when Hindenburg dies, and he's able to take on the role of both president and chancellor, and kind of create this new role for himself, and that is the role of Führer, the German word for leader. That is a fascist term, be in no doubt. This is a kind of new form of governance that Germany now has. Other parties are banned. The only party allowed is the Nazi Party. This has become a totalitarian state, and Hitler can say to the German people, you voted for it. It's a con, and it's a con that worked. The German people, over time, would give their full support to Hitler, unaware of the horrors to unfold during his reign of terror. By 1938, it was evident that Adolf Hitler was prepared to go to any lengths, not only to put Germany back on the European map as a force to be reckoned with, but also to build a German empire that would even rival the Romans. He had the idea of a very aggressive and expansionist foreign policy, and essentially this idea of might over morality, so force over anything rational, I suppose, in a way, force in terms of foreign affairs. And, of course, the League of Nations was designed to promote peace and to enhance international relations, and security, of course, too, and so this was why Hitler wanted to remove Germany from it. And, in addition, this was then going to allow him to start to tear up the Treaty of Versailles in the way that he had hoped and intended all along. Hitler's being expansionist. He wants more territory. He's looking to Czechoslovakia, to an area called the Sudetenland, where he's identified people who he thinks should rightfully be Germans, and he thinks that those people should be part of the new Nazi Germany. He, of course, is also looking east towards Poland and thinking, maybe I want a bit of that. And he's also, of course, looking down to Austria, which, of course, is a German-speaking country, and thinking, maybe I want to have Austria as part of my new kingdom, if you like. So it's a mixture of slowly absorbing more power into himself, but also then using that power to go out and grab more land. Hitler had already marched his army into the Rhineland, forced Austria into unification, and set his sights on the Czech Sudetenland, which he quickly took over. For the people of Britain, the threat of all-out war with Germany was so real, even gas masks were issued, whilst children were evacuated from London. In September 39, Hitler invades Poland, along with Stalin. Stalin also, Soviet Russia, also invades Poland at the same time. He needed to be certain that Stalin would not attack the Germans when they invaded Poland, and therefore agreed on a non-aggression pact with Russia before ordering his tanks across the border on September the 1st, 1939. But what the world remembers is the fact that Hitler invaded Poland, and a couple of days later, the British declare war on Germany. The German population, because of Hitler's popularity, and even though they had experienced the horrors of the First World War and the trench warfare of the First World War, and all of the shell shock and everything that went with it, because he was so popular, they might not have been delighted to go to war in September 1939, but they went along with it. Hitler's advance through Poland was really quick. It was lightning quick. And actually, the German word blitzkrieg literally means lightning war. You know, a lot of people say that the Poles capitulated very easily. To be fair, they didn't, but there was no doubt that Poland was overwhelmed by this superior force. And it was also a kind of new joined-up form of warfare in which you've got the air force and the ground forces talking to each other in a way that hadn't really been done before in an invasion. And you really can't compete, you know, when you're facing this newly re-mechanized armed force from Germany, punching its way all the way through. It was devastating. Along with the French, the British were equally bound by a diplomatic pact to come to Poland's aid if they were attacked. Neville Chamberlain, the British Prime Minister, gave Hitler an ultimatum. Withdraw from Poland by 11 a.m. on the 3rd of September, 1939, or a state of war would exist between the United Kingdom and Germany. With there being no such undertaking from Hitler, Chamberlain announced the news on a radio broadcast to the nation. Britain was at war with Germany, again. This morning, the British ambassador in Berlin handed the German government a final note, stating that unless we heard from them by 11 o'clock, that they were prepared at once to withdraw their troops from Poland, a state of war would exist between us. I have to tell you now that no such undertaking has been received, and that consequently, this country is at war with Germany. Discover the past with exclusive military history documentaries and ad-free podcasts presented by world-renowned historians, all on History Hit. Watch them on your smart TV or on the go with your mobile device. Download the app now to watch everything from the gripping story of the Band of Brothers to Operation Barbarossa and D-Day. Immerse yourself in the dramatic stories of this remarkable era by signing up via the link in the description. On the 16th of January, 1945, Hitler's world war is coming to an end. Nazi Germany is fighting a losing battle. Hitler knows this. His decision to fight the war on multiple fronts has flatlined their resources, and Allied troops are making their way to Germany from the East and the West. He retreats to the Führerbunker, an air raid shelter specially designed for the Chancellor and his closest allies located near the Reich Chancellery in Berlin. With no clear eyes on the front line, Hitler and his associates are unaware of the severity of the situation above ground. Life in the bunker is full of delusion. Everyone pretending that Germany is winning the war, ignoring the reality that their empire is crumbling above them. Hitler's strategic mishandling of the war finally coming back to haunt him. After Chamberlain declared war on Germany, the Allied forces entered into an eight-month period known as the Phony War due to the Prime Minister's failure to go on the attack. Nevertheless, there was nothing phony about Adolf Hitler's strategic advances. His army was only getting stronger, taking more and more territory in Western and Eastern Europe. In British politics, however, there was one voice loudly making itself heard, urging Chamberlain to take the fight to the Germans. Throughout the 1930s, Winston Churchill had warned of the threat that Adolf Hitler's rise to power posed. And when Chamberlain's ill health forced his resignation in May 1940, it was Churchill who became Prime Minister. Within hours of entering Downing Street, he faced an immediate crisis that was taking place just across the Channel. Through their blitzkrieg tactic of war, the German army forced the Allied forces to a small beach in Northern France. The beach, situated in the town of Dunkirk, was encircled by German troops. The British army, like sitting ducks, could do nothing. Hitler, having manoeuvred the Allied troops onto the beaches of Dunkirk, ordered his divisions to halt just a matter of miles short of the stranded Allies. The German Führer was concerned that the ease at which the Allies had retreated was drawing his army into a trap. His decision to halt the attack went against all of his general strategies. It's also been suggested that Hitler permitted the Allies to escape as a goodwill gesture, as he was still hoping for a negotiated peace with the British. What's abundantly clear is that Hitler seriously misjudged the mood and resolve of the British. It was a time for heroism, and Churchill rose to the challenge, inspiring Britain's civilians to follow his lead. As the Allied forces retreated to the beaches of Dunkirk, awaiting certain death at the hands of the Germans, the British navy, finding any seaworthy vessel that could cross the English Channel, set out on a daring rescue mission. 700 ships, which included luxury yachts, tugboats, and paddle steamers, set sail for France, not knowing what carnage they'd find there. When they reached the French coast, they worked tirelessly to ferry home the awaiting soldiers. Some made many journeys, and with the British navy estimating to save about 45,000 men, when the numbers were finally counted in the early days of June, 1940, more than 330,000 Allied servicemen had survived to fight another day. Winston Churchill had his miracle. For the first time, Adolf Hitler's carefully planned military strategy failed to deliver the success the Führer had become so accustomed to. And although the Germans had won the battle for Dunkirk, the Allies had been triumphant, even in defeat. Winston Churchill was offering inspirational leadership, and the people of Great Britain now shared the invincible spirit of Dunkirk. Hitler had more of a fight on his hands for the island nation than he could ever have imagined. Churchill openly declared that Britain would never surrender, and Hitler quickly realized that if he was to invade Britain, he would have a huge battle ahead of him, despite his position of strength. And soon, it wouldn't just be Britain he would have to contend with. The world is closing in on Adolf Hitler. The German Chancellor cuts a lonely figure in the bunker, his army depleting, and his enemies now forming the world's strongest alliance. The three heads of state from Britain, the USA, and the Soviet Union meet in Yalta to discuss the post-war world. The Soviets, who were once aligned with the German Führer, were now at the table to discuss how to rid the world of Adolf Hitler and his Nazi party. Having failed to achieve any progress in his invasion of Great Britain, but with much of Europe now conquered, on the 22nd of June, 1941, Adolf Hitler set Operation Barbarossa into action, as three million German troops marched into Russia, opening up an eastern front. Hitler's operation aimed to conquer the Soviet Union before winter, but Stalin's Red Army had very different ideas. In August 1939, just before the Second World War broke out, an alliance was made between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. And this seems very strange because we've already said how Hitler hated anything to do with Bolshevism, communism, and indeed the USSR was his ultimate enemy. The idea of eradicating socialism and Bolshevism from the earth was one of Hitler's main priorities. So it seemed a bit anomalous that they would make a pact like that. But of course, he was just trying to pave the way and make the circumstance right for the war and the situation in Poland. So it would be easy as the attack on Poland was. But then we saw as well how Hitler's very happy to tear up a treaty when it doesn't suit him. So on the 22nd of June, 1941, the Nazis invaded the USSR with Operation Barbarossa. Had Hitler stopped after he'd successfully conquered France and the Low Countries and not decided in June, 1941, that he was going to invade this really quite big country called Russia, he may have stayed in power. But in June, 41, he has this enormous roll of the dice. It's the ultimate gamble. I'm going to invade Russia. I'm going to get to Moscow before winter. Because as any student of history knows, trying to invade Russia in the winter, as Napoleon found out to his cost, ain't gonna work. And so he thinks he's gonna be able to do it. He's built up his armed forces. Stalin's had this pact with Hitler for years and he's thinking Hitler's never gonna invade. Oh dear. Hitler goes straight in June, 1941. And again, the blitzkrieg, Operation Barbarossa, as it was called in this instance, was tremendously successful. And initially, the forces just went through Russia like a knife through butter and they slaughtered, pillaged in their wake. But this was an absolutely dazzling piece of offensive warfare. But of course, what Stalin's got is a lot of room to fight him because he can retreat and retreat and retreat and retreat. And you've still got thousands of miles of Russia behind you that you can fall back on. You haven't even reached the Urals, which are well beyond Moscow and they're still part of European Russia. You've got a whole of Asian Russia to think about. So Stalin knows that, but also what Stalin does is he's very good at regrouping and getting his forces back together. Germans use a lot of over-designed tanks, over-designed uniforms, over-designed weapons. What the Russians are good at doing is just getting things together in a kind of mateship way, but that works. Everything the Russians have, uniforms, tanks, weaponry, it's all really simple, really easy to use, really easy to mass produce very, very quickly. German kit takes ages to produce. So this is another real problem that's faced by the Germans. The fight would be long and bitter and Hitler's decision to destroy his non-aggression pact with Stalin would cost him dearly. And with Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union, the alliances of the conflict changed overnight and Churchill immediately contacted Stalin to secure the might of Russia to fight for the Allied cause. By March 1945, Hitler's war on the world is closing in. Allied forces approach from the East and the West. Hitler and his generals are sitting ducks, waiting for the inevitable liberation of Berlin in the coming months. As the Allied forces liberate towns and cities across Europe, the true horrors of Hitler's regime would soon begin to unfold. From the West, American troops lead the way across the Rhineland and into Germany as they continued fighting the war they'd been forced to join. As Britain and the Soviets continued their fight, as new allies against Nazi Germany, America was facing its own battle across the Pacific. Just as Hitler had built his power base in Europe during the 1930s, the Japanese had been expanding their empire into China, leading to Japan resigning from the League of Nations. Roosevelt registered American disapproval by terminating trading with Japan. But the Empire of the Sun continued to expand until in 1941, the USA completely cut off oil supplies to the Japanese. This was a major problem, as America provided 80% of Japan's oil and if going to war with the USA was the only way to secure this precious material, then the Japanese were prepared to do it. However, being excellent military strategists, they knew they would have to plan with the greatest of care. The element of surprise would be crucial. The attack on Pearl Harbor was a total success for the Japanese as the Americans awoke to total devastation with the first wave of Japanese pilots attacking at 7.45 a.m. whilst three quarters of the anti-aircraft guns were unmanned. In less than 30 minutes, the US Navy had been desolated with the loss of 16 ships, more than 160 planes and 2,400 servicemen. Unsurprisingly, President Roosevelt declared war on Japan on December the 8th with the full support of the nation. I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, December 7th, 1941, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese Empire. Due to the tripartite pact, Germany and Italy were duty-bound to declare war on the USA in support of the Japanese. As ever, Winston Churchill had something to say about the decision of the USA to enter the war, marking that Hitler's fate was sealed. We have certainly a most encouraging example here of what can be achieved by British and Americans working together heart and hand. In fact, one might almost feel that if they could keep it up, there is hardly anything they could not do, either in the field of war or in the not less tangled problems of peace. It is a poor heart that never rejoices, but our thanksgivings, however fervent, must be brief. Heavier work lies ahead, not only in the European, but as I have indicated, in the Pacific and Indian spheres. By the end of 1941, the world was literally at war, and for Hitler, his inability to capitalize on Dunkirk, his rash decision to invade Russia, and now his declaration of war on the USA put Germany at the center of a triangulated alliance with more resources than Hitler could ever imagine. As the world's greatest financial power, the Americans, the world's greatest military power, the Russians, and the world's greatest empire, the British, were all joined together, the tide began to turn in favor of the newly formed alliance. It was now Hitler versus the world. By the 16th of April, 1945, Stalin's Red Army had reached Berlin. Nazi Germany's days are numbered, Hitler's grip on power becoming more loose every day. The Soviets and the Nazis fight one last battle to take control of Berlin. For many, memories of Stalingrad begin to resurface. The last time the Soviets and Nazis had fought over the strategic positioning of a major city, it ended up being the bloodiest battle of the Second World War, with both sides suffering enormous casualties, including civilians caught in the crossfire. The Battle of Stalingrad was a major battle on the Eastern Front, where Nazi Germany and its allies failed to take control of the city of Stalingrad in South Russia. The combined casualties were estimated at more than one and a half million, with neither side able to give way, as Hitler and Stalin took on a siege mentality, neither wanting to even contemplate defeat. The battle was marked by fierce close-quarters combat and direct assaults on civilians in air raids, with the battle epitomizing urban warfare. The conditions at Stalingrad were truly appalling for both fighting forces. The Battle of Stalingrad is universally regarded as the turning point of the Second World War, as it forced the German high command to withdraw considerable military forces from other areas in occupied Europe to replace German losses on the Eastern Front. The Soviet victory energized the Red Army and shifted the balance of power in favor of the Soviets and away from Adolf Hitler. Berlin is surrounded by Soviet troops fighting into the government district. The safety of the bunker is now under threat. So once the Red Army came into German territory in 1945, then Hitler's position as this infallible ruler and leader really not only became to be a threat, to be called into question, but really came to its end, because the Soviet troops were very vengeful. They were retaliating for all the terrible brutalities and atrocities that the Nazis and the German army had put into place in Soviet territory. Hitler learns of Heinrich Himmler's plans to make a peace deal with the Allies and surrender to the war. This is seen as the highest treason against the Führer, and he orders his arrest. However, Himmler has fled the country and is no longer contactable. Therefore, Hitler orders to speak with Hermann Feiglein, who is Himmler's representative in the bunker. Feiglein, who was married to Eva Braun's sister Gretel, is nowhere to be found in the bunker. He's traced to his apartment, found with his mistress, drunk, and with a suitcase of civilian clothes, planning an escape. Being brought back to the bunker to face the Führer's wrath, Feiglein is sentenced to death and shot. News arrives of the murder of Mussolini, dictator of Italy, and Hitler's friend. Finding out he had been captured and shot, Hitler becomes determined not to allow this to become his own fate. He begins planning his suicide and the disposal of his body to avoid it being publicly displayed by the Soviets. He turns to his secretary, Traudl Junge, and dictates his final will and testament. The short document stated that he had chosen death over capitulation and he was to be cremated. In it, Hitler denies warmongering, expressed thanks to the loyal German citizens and appealed to them to continue to fight the war. But he's coming to terms with the fact that Germany is losing the war and is beyond repair. His victories are long gone and needs a mixture of drugs to keep him sane. Hitler's last days in the Führerbunker under the Reich Chancellery in the centre of Berlin, you know, are a kind of terrible end of a Shakespearean tragedy, as the thunder of Russian artillery all around them, and they're deep, deep inside this sort of concrete underground fortress. Everybody's sort of kind of going mad, and especially Hitler, who then gets married to his long-term girlfriend, Eva Braun, in this sort of kind of bizarre ceremony. Once the ceremony is over, Eva tries to begin celebrations, but everyone knows the end is near. Morale is low and Germany is doomed. Adolf Hitler gathers his loyal advisors and shakes everyone's hand in silence. They know what is about to happen. Hitler, on the 30th of April, 1945, decides to take his own life, and Eva Braun is gonna do the same thing with it, or Eva Hitler, as, of course, she became. Hitler takes his new wife into their private quarters, handing her a cyanide capsule. Equipped with his pistol, they sit beside each other and face their fate. A gunshot is heard from outside the door. His bodyguards know what has happened. Their bodies are then removed by some loyal SS men, his adjutant, and they are taken out in what passes now for a garden in the Reich Chancellery, but of course, it's just a kind of pot-marked hellhole of artillery shells, and their bodies are burnt in this great, kind of almost like a sort of Viking pyre, like in a Viking longship going up. And, you know, basically very little of Hitler remains. There is a bit of jawbone in an archive in Moscow, the teeth of which absolutely match Hitler's dental records. So there's no doubt that Hitler died. A lot of people like to say that Hitler escaped after war. It's total nonsense. Hitler 100% died in Berlin on the 30th of April, 1945. Several others committed suicide in the bunker, not wanting to face their fate with the enemy. This is the end of Hitler's reign. Effectively, the war in Europe was over, and after the official surrender on May the 7th, 1945, the Allies celebrated in style. Hitler's war was finally over. Six months after victory in Europe, Remembrance Day has dawned again, bringing with it the memories of two generations' sacrifice in the name of freedom. Six months ago, three victorious Allies linked hands on the soil of defeated Germany. Today, the people of Britain gather together in the name of those who gave their lives in the two greatest wars of history. Bruised and suffering world stirred again to the triumphant strains of victory. For the soldier, it was the proud end of a long and arduous road. In a short period, the tyrannical force of Nazi Germany sent the world into chaos as the Allies fought to defeat this growing empire of hate, violence, and discrimination. Hitler's war left a dark mark on history, a reminder that this behavior should never be tolerated, and the world should not dismiss such brutal atrocities again. The atrocities of the Nazi regime would slowly come to light as more concentration camps were liberated and the horrors endured by millions become apparent. On 7 May 1945, Germany surrendered. And once that had happened, the atrocities of the Nazi regime came to popular attention. Ultimately, when it was shown quite how evil Nazism was and the German people fully appreciated it, then, yes, the opinion of Hitler was not quite so positive. It was very difficult for the German population to come to terms with what they found out about the Hitler regime after its demise. The Allied occupation from 1945 brought about the demilitarization, the denazification, and the re-education of Germans, and that was very important. But there were also the Nuremberg Trials and a host of other post-war trials in which the leading Nazis, at least the ones who hadn't committed suicide, the leading Nazis were brought to trial. And again, this kind of brought to popular attention exactly what the evils of the regime had been, how the genocide had been carried out. The most famous trials were those held in Nuremberg when 21 high Nazis faced their accusers. Hitler was dead, but these were his chief lieutenants, Hess and Ribbentrop among them. It was an international tribunal that sat in judgment and heard the massive evidence that was collected. The prisoners remained defiant throughout the trial, seemingly confident that they would be free. They all were quick to plead not guilty. It charged them with war crimes, crimes against peace, crimes against humanity, and conspiracy to commit these crimes. And whilst the trial forged a tentative consensus about the criminality of Hitler's rule, he was never really held to account for his actions that impacted hundreds of millions of people across the world. It's hard to say that there's a specific moment when we know that Germany got over the evil of Hitler's regime. There was no doubt that for many years, decades, a process of learning about your past has taken place in Germany. Of course, schoolchildren are taught today in Germany what was done in the name of the German people. I mean, there are two ways of looking at it. You can either say the Germans were seized by these bunch of gangsters and then they then abused the power that was given to them, or the Germans willingly gave these people this power. Certainly, there are a lot of reasons why you might have voted for Hitler in the 30s, not all of which involved you being evil. But certainly, if you were a fan of Hitler after the war still and after all the revelations that had come out, then I would say you definitely are evil.