THE SOCIALIST HONEY MOON
By time Hitler assumed power the Germans were already resentful against the way things were.
Deep inside they knew they had been shafted in WW-I.
In 1914 they had been fooled into going to war.... and after wards kept in that war by force despite horrible casualties...until finally FORCED to surrender to the enemy (officially called an armistice)...even though the enemy had yet to set foot on German soil and while Germany held thousands of square miles of enemy territory in Belgium and Russia (which included the Ukrainian ‘bread basket’).
After this the Germans were forced to exist in deprivation and hunger as their industries (along with their economy) were disassembled and exported to the enemy while their currency was destroyed by enemy bankers...all at the boot and whim of an enemy that had never set foot on German soil.
The Germans were resentful...and many saw Hitler as a ‘tough guy’ answer to that resentment, both economically and politically.
Many an old German has admitted to me in confidence that ‘Hitler was not that bad’ or, in fact, that ‘Hitler was good.’
At the beginning perhaps he was.
As the secret arks of money were flung open, Hitler inundated the Reich with state-supplied employment, welfare, and even vacations.
The German people loved it.
What the history books don’t tell is that by 1938 the whole state-sponsored-welfare-state paradise had begun to fall apart...as the funds dried up and the reality of true economics took hold.
What to do?
Hitler’s solution was to begin to create one crisis after another in order to distract the attention of the German people away from the economy...towards war and military crisis.
It’s a method used throughout recorded history since the days of Rome.
More recently, the Argentine generals used it when they attacked the Falkland Islands for no other reason than to distract national attention from a disintegrating Argentine economy.
After all, when the economy and your popularity is falling apart, what have you got to lose?
Hitler provoked the Austrian crisis in 1938 by seizing Austria.
Hitler then provoked the Sudeten Crisis later that same year by seizing part of Czechoslovakia.
In this instance, France and Britain helped Hitler out by threatening Czechoslovakia into surrender by promising they would not support her against Germany.
Hitler then provoked the Occupation Crisis in March of 1939 by physically occupying all of Czechoslovakia with no opposition.
The crisis-happy Fuehrer had seemingly come up with a fool-proof plan in which he would provoke one crisis after another in order to keep the Germans distracted from his collapsing socialist welfare state...while simultaneously nibbling up parts of Europe and its resources.
He carefully crafted out another ‘acquisition’ by secretly teaming up with the Soviets for the dismemberment of Poland.
In September 1939 he jointly invaded Poland with his new ‘ally,’ the Soviets.
But this time his crisis of distraction blew up in his face.
Britain and France declared war on Germany...while ignoring the Soviet role in the attack.
Doubtlessly, Hitler must have thought the Polish venture as another master stroke.
After all, hadn’t he, once more, turned the whole situation into fait accompli by bringing in the Soviet Union?
Britain and France didn’t care - a declaration of war against Germany alone was issued (the Soviet role in Poland’s was ignored).
Hitler’s reaction to this new state of WAR is telling.
He went into shock...totally blindsided by the joint allied war declaration.
Witnesses describe him as ‘white as a sheet’ and speechless...unable to utter any proclamations or orders.
Following the war declaration Hitler retired himself from public view after which (perhaps following Abwehr briefings, reassurances, and psych-out sessions with Hess) he reappeared as a solemn war leader.
The war against the western allies was on.
HITLER THE WAR LEADER
Hitler was simply the instrument of Germany’s destruction.
As such he was NOT a victorious leader, but a saboteur, someone sure not only to begin the war, but to mess it up beyond all recognition.
HITLER REFUSES TOTAL MOBILIZATION
His first act as ‘war leader’ was NOT to declare total mobilization for war.
That’s right, while France and England immediately mobilized for total war, Hitler refused!
Some how, it was supposed to make sense that while Germans were asked to sacrifice their sons at the front, they could still enjoy their vacations along with their peacetime employment and shopping.
So Germany went to war without the total mobilization necessary to carry it out.
It was obvious that a war to the bitter end against France and Britain would require a huge amount of materiel and production, yet Hitler somehow put forth the plan that Germany would simply muddle through with partial mobilization.
The early part of 1940 saw the German Army overrun Denmark and attack Norway.
The Norway decision was a particularly ‘bold’ plan in which the Kriegsmarine ended up losing a lot of ships and men against the Allies as it attempted landings along the upper coast instead of just crossing over from Denmark.
The gains were dubious.
Meanwhile the Allies who had so successfully bullied Czechoslovakia, continued to assist Hitler by refusing to attack Germany in 1939 in support of Poland and then refusing to attack Germany at all during the first half of 1940.
The Phony War, as it was called, gave Hitler’s generals not only enough time to re-deploy forces from Poland, but to also put in some extra training, drill and re-equipping for the attack on France.
HITLER THE STRATEGIST
The German general staff had put forth a pretty straightforward plan of overrunning France from the north, through Holland and Belgium, across good tank country.
Hitler interfered, forcing the generals to switch the main attack from northern Belgium all the way down to the Ardennes Forest, a thickly wooded area unsuitable for armored divisions.
As it was...with Allied help and cooperation...the plan worked.
The German panzer divisions slow marched through the constricted roadways of the Ardennes to emerge at the Meuse River and cross that too, without much of a problem.
Gone from all historical accounts are the many ways on how the Ardennes attack could have failed.
The supply lines winding through the Ardennes and stretching all the way back to the Ruhr could have been spotted easily from the air (as they indeed were) and bombed (as they inexplicably were not).
The Ardennes could have been set ablaze, choking and burning the closely packed German columns in place.
French tank and anti-tank forces could have used the restrictive terrain to cause heavy casualties on the compacted German columns.
As it was, none of this happened, because the Allies, inexplicably, continued to cooperate with the ‘bold’ Ardennes plan.
Aerial reconnaissance reports of massive German columns moving through the Ardennes were disregarded!
The Allies then proceeded with their automatic plan to cross over into Belgium the minute that country was attacked (even though there was no alliance, cooperation or planning with Belgians to do so).
Once the Germans emerged at the Meuse, the French command seemed unable to launch simple counter-attacks...or even artillery strikes which would have caused havoc with massing German columns.
French armored forces were not only held back, but disbanded and distributed throughout the entire front - essentially destroyed in place through bureaucratic action by commanders like French General Huntziger
Most of the French Air Force was not even deployed (and, in fact had MORE planes at the end of the conflict than at the beginning!).
Even the attack in the north through Holland and Belgium went ahead with as few problems as the ‘master stroke’ through the Ardennes, proving that, given the circumstances, the German Army would have advanced no matter what plan was used.
In other words, it seems that the right-leaning French military had somehow been bought off with promises of a far-right government once the elected French government had been overthrown by the Nazis.
Meanwhile Hitler continued his interference in military affairs by issuing a ‘stop order’ to the German Panzer divisions when it came to bottling up the British at Dunkirk...which he then let escape.
As it turned out, the French were soon asking the Germans for an armistice...
...and the men selected as representatives of France to sign that armistice...were the very same French officials who were responsible for France’s defeat in the first place:
- General Huntziger, commander of French Second Army which not only gave way before the Blitzkrieg, but refused to counter-attack along the lengthy German flank.
-General Bergeret, chief of staff of the French Air Force, who made sure to keep most of his planes out of the battle and ended the campaign with more planes than what he started out with!
-Vice Admiral Leluc, who kept the French Navy out of the war, especially at places where it could have made a difference, like Norway and Dunkirk
-Leon Noel, French Ambassador to Poland, who falsely re-assured the Poles that French help was on its way.
In summary,
After going for a ‘bold’ plan to seize Norway, which cost him a lot of ships...Hitler went for a ‘bold’ plan to attack France through the Ardennes, which could have - but didn’t - cost him a lot of tank...topped off with a ‘halt order’ to let the British escape at Dunkirk.
And he wasn’t done interfering either.
THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN
With Britain on the ropes, Hitler ordered with a straight face that the Wehrmacht and the Kriegsmarine prepare to invade Britain proper.
Meanwhile he launched the Luftwaffe on a campaign to soften up Britain in preparation for the cross-channel invasion.
This in and of itself was a tall order for the Luftwaffe, which was a tactical air force, designed to support to advancing troops, not carry out strategic bombing campaigns, but the German Air Force was making good time in destroying the RAF on the ground and in the air in preparation for Sea Lion...when Hitler interfered again.
At this point Hitler meddled back into the proceedings by ordering the Luftwaffe to CEASE tactical attacks on the RAF and Liverpool... and begin a useless strategic bombing campaign on the city of London itself.
This strategic campaign bled the Luftwaffe white, as it was forced to carry out a long-range strategic bombing campaign for which its bombers had not the payload nor its fighters the range to accomplish.
The Battle of Britain was a veritable bludgeoning of the Luftwaffe, which suffered devastating losses as its light tactical bombers were forced to uselessly bomb far off cities unescorted by the short-ranged fighters.
The Luftwaffe commanders tried to give some tactical sense to this ‘strategic’ campaign by advising to concentrate on the vital port of Liverpool.
But Hitler would have none of it.
Instead he ordered the terror bombing of British cities...for which Winston Churchill expressed gratitude and relief...because the Luftwaffe was right on the cusp of eliminating the RAF and causing some serious economic havoc.
Hitler’s decision to terror bomb London, known as ‘The Blitz,’ not only took the pressure of the RAF and spared the vulnerable British ports, but also increased support for Churchill as the British people became outraged at the bombing of British civilians inside their cities.
Finally, exhausted by this strategic circus, the Luftwaffe turned to the ground forces and inquired when ‘Sea Lion’ would begin.
‘It would not,’ said the Fuehrer. The whole invasion of England was off!!!
Leaving the Luftwaffe in shambles and the assembled invasion forces sitting in their ports, the Fuehrer took his private train back to Germany for a vacation.
ADMIRAL HITLER
Meanwhile the Battle of the Atlantic was being lost by Hitler’s pathetic little submarine force - 30 U-Boats.
This translated which into 10 U-Boats being refitted, ten making their way either back or to the Atlantic and TEN U-Boats actually on patrol.
That, in turn, translated into the Kriegsmarine trying to blockade Britain with ten measly submarines!
Doenitz had asked Hitler for 300 U-Boats prior to the war into order to stand a realistic chance of strangling Britain.
But instead of filling the order, Adolf had contented himself with ordering the building of expensive prestige battle wagons like Bismark, Tirpitz, Scharhorst, etc....which had no chance of taking on the Royal Navy, were sunk when they dared ventured out of port and which ended up staying locked up in port for most of the war.
By shifting naval production to these floating castles instead of a viable U-Boat force, Hitler lost the Battle of the Atlantic even before it began.
Instead of the 300 U-Boats Doenitz requested...he got 30...only ten of these on patrol off the British Islands at any one time!
MACHIAVELLIAN FUEHRER
Back home, supposedly satisfied with his failed bombing campaign on Britain, his failed submarine campaign off England and the ongoing unresolved war, the Fuehrer let his top commanders in on a devious secret: Germany would soon be attacking the Soviet Union!
Red flags went up immediately.
Germany was still at war with England - an attack on the Soviet Union would open another front - a two front war.
Furthermore, the Soviet Union - by treaty, Germany’s ally - was supplying German war industry with all the fuel, natural resources and materiel it needed to continue fighting England.
Finally, huge distances would have to be covered in Russia, while fighting an enemy the German generals knew little about.
Generals like Guderian, who had actually spent time in the Soviet Union warned Hitler that its production potential was gigantic.
It was at this appropriate time that the Abwehr stepped in with ITS projections on Soviet production and military potential - all of it ‘pathetic,’ of course.
Considering that the Abwehr was headed by a British intelligence asset called Admiral Canaris, these calculations were suspect, to say the least.
So Hitler, the Abwehr agent, presented the Abwehr data to his generals showing that the USSR was actually a pushover and should be attacked as soon as possible.
In other words, the attack on Russia was based on false premises, a false view of reality and false misinformation about the enemy’s capabilities.
HITLER DELAYS BARBAROSSA
The German military leadership were too professional and experienced to simply swallow the Fuehrer’s calculations and rest at ease. The got to preparing for the greatest war in Germany’s history - hopefully the moment it got warm and dry enough to attack - in March of 1941.
But on the eve of Armageddon, Hitler came up with another project altogether...
THE SOCIALIST HONEY MOON
By time Hitler assumed power the Germans were already resentful against the way things were.
Deep inside they knew they had been shafted in WW-I.
In 1914 they had been fooled into going to war.... and after wards kept in that war by force despite horrible casualties...until finally FORCED to surrender to the enemy (officially called an armistice)...even though the enemy had yet to set foot on German soil and while Germany held thousands of square miles of enemy territory in Belgium and Russia (which included the Ukrainian ‘bread basket’).
After this the Germans were forced to exist in deprivation and hunger as their industries (along with their economy) were disassembled and exported to the enemy while their currency was destroyed by enemy bankers...all at the boot and whim of an enemy that had never set foot on German soil.
The Germans were resentful...and many saw Hitler as a ‘tough guy’ answer to that resentment, both economically and politically.
Many an old German has admitted to me in confidence that ‘Hitler was not that bad’ or, in fact, that ‘Hitler was good.’
At the beginning perhaps he was.
As the secret arks of money were flung open, Hitler inundated the Reich with state-supplied employment, welfare, and even vacations.
The German people loved it.
What the history books don’t tell is that by 1938 the whole state-sponsored-welfare-state paradise had begun to fall apart...as the funds dried up and the reality of true economics took hold.
What to do?
Hitler’s solution was to begin to create one crisis after another in order to distract the attention of the German people away from the economy...towards war and military crisis.
It’s a method used throughout recorded history since the days of Rome.
More recently, the Argentine generals used it when they attacked the Falkland Islands for no other reason than to distract national attention from a disintegrating Argentine economy.
After all, when the economy and your popularity is falling apart, what have you got to lose?
Hitler provoked the Austrian crisis in 1938 by seizing Austria.
Hitler then provoked the Sudeten Crisis later that same year by seizing part of Czechoslovakia.
In this instance, France and Britain helped Hitler out by threatening Czechoslovakia into surrender by promising they would not support her against Germany.
Hitler then provoked the Occupation Crisis in March of 1939 by physically occupying all of Czechoslovakia with no opposition.
The crisis-happy Fuehrer had seemingly come up with a fool-proof plan in which he would provoke one crisis after another in order to keep the Germans distracted from his collapsing socialist welfare state...while simultaneously nibbling up parts of Europe and its resources.
He carefully crafted out another ‘acquisition’ by secretly teaming up with the Soviets for the dismemberment of Poland.
In September 1939 he jointly invaded Poland with his new ‘ally,’ the Soviets.
But this time his crisis of distraction blew up in his face.
Britain and France declared war on Germany...while ignoring the Soviet role in the attack.
Doubtlessly, Hitler must have thought the Polish venture as another master stroke.
After all, hadn’t he, once more, turned the whole situation into fait accompli by bringing in the Soviet Union?
Britain and France didn’t care - a declaration of war against Germany alone was issued (the Soviet role in Poland’s was ignored).
Hitler’s reaction to this new state of WAR is telling.
He went into shock...totally blindsided by the joint allied war declaration.
Witnesses describe him as ‘white as a sheet’ and speechless...unable to utter any proclamations or orders.
Following the war declaration Hitler retired himself from public view after which (perhaps following Abwehr briefings, reassurances, and psych-out sessions with Hess) he reappeared as a solemn war leader.
The war against the western allies was on.
HITLER THE WAR LEADER
Hitler was simply the instrument of Germany’s destruction.
As such he was NOT a victorious leader, but a saboteur, someone sure not only to begin the war, but to mess it up beyond all recognition.
HITLER REFUSES TOTAL MOBILIZATION
His first act as ‘war leader’ was NOT to declare total mobilization for war.
That’s right, while France and England immediately mobilized for total war, Hitler refused!
Some how, it was supposed to make sense that while Germans were asked to sacrifice their sons at the front, they could still enjoy their vacations along with their peacetime employment and shopping.
So Germany went to war without the total mobilization necessary to carry it out.
It was obvious that a war to the bitter end against France and Britain would require a huge amount of materiel and production, yet Hitler somehow put forth the plan that Germany would simply muddle through with partial mobilization.
The early part of 1940 saw the German Army overrun Denmark and attack Norway.
The Norway decision was a particularly ‘bold’ plan in which the Kriegsmarine ended up losing a lot of ships and men against the Allies as it attempted landings along the upper coast instead of just crossing over from Denmark.
The gains were dubious.
Meanwhile the Allies who had so successfully bullied Czechoslovakia, continued to assist Hitler by refusing to attack Germany in 1939 in support of Poland and then refusing to attack Germany at all during the first half of 1940.
The Phony War, as it was called, gave Hitler’s generals not only enough time to re-deploy forces from Poland, but to also put in some extra training, drill and re-equipping for the attack on France.
HITLER THE STRATEGIST
The German general staff had put forth a pretty straightforward plan of overrunning France from the north, through Holland and Belgium, across good tank country.
Hitler interfered, forcing the generals to switch the main attack from northern Belgium all the way down to the Ardennes Forest, a thickly wooded area unsuitable for armored divisions.
As it was...with Allied help and cooperation...the plan worked.
The German panzer divisions slow marched through the constricted roadways of the Ardennes to emerge at the Meuse River and cross that too, without much of a problem.
Gone from all historical accounts are the many ways on how the Ardennes attack could have failed.
The supply lines winding through the Ardennes and stretching all the way back to the Ruhr could have been spotted easily from the air (as they indeed were) and bombed (as they inexplicably were not).
The Ardennes could have been set ablaze, choking and burning the closely packed German columns in place.
French tank and anti-tank forces could have used the restrictive terrain to cause heavy casualties on the compacted German columns.
As it was, none of this happened, because the Allies, inexplicably, continued to cooperate with the ‘bold’ Ardennes plan.
Aerial reconnaissance reports of massive German columns moving through the Ardennes were disregarded!
The Allies then proceeded with their automatic plan to cross over into Belgium the minute that country was attacked (even though there was no alliance, cooperation or planning with Belgians to do so).
Once the Germans emerged at the Meuse, the French command seemed unable to launch simple counter-attacks...or even artillery strikes which would have caused havoc with massing German columns.
French armored forces were not only held back, but disbanded and distributed throughout the entire front - essentially destroyed in place through bureaucratic action by commanders like French General Huntziger
Most of the French Air Force was not even deployed (and, in fact had MORE planes at the end of the conflict than at the beginning!).
Even the attack in the north through Holland and Belgium went ahead with as few problems as the ‘master stroke’ through the Ardennes, proving that, given the circumstances, the German Army would have advanced no matter what plan was used.
In other words, it seems that the right-leaning French military had somehow been bought off with promises of a far-right government once the elected French government had been overthrown by the Nazis.
Meanwhile Hitler continued his interference in military affairs by issuing a ‘stop order’ to the German Panzer divisions when it came to bottling up the British at Dunkirk...which he then let escape.
As it turned out, the French were soon asking the Germans for an armistice...
...and the men selected as representatives of France to sign that armistice...were the very same French officials who were responsible for France’s defeat in the first place:
- General Huntziger, commander of French Second Army which not only gave way before the Blitzkrieg, but refused to counter-attack along the lengthy German flank.
-General Bergeret, chief of staff of the French Air Force, who made sure to keep most of his planes out of the battle and ended the campaign with more planes than what he started out with!
-Vice Admiral Leluc, who kept the French Navy out of the war, especially at places where it could have made a difference, like Norway and Dunkirk
-Leon Noel, French Ambassador to Poland, who falsely re-assured the Poles that French help was on its way.
In summary,
After going for a ‘bold’ plan to seize Norway, which cost him a lot of ships...Hitler went for a ‘bold’ plan to attack France through the Ardennes, which could have - but didn’t - cost him a lot of tank...topped off with a ‘halt order’ to let the British escape at Dunkirk.
And he wasn’t done interfering either.
THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN
With Britain on the ropes, Hitler ordered with a straight face that the Wehrmacht and the Kriegsmarine prepare to invade Britain proper.
Meanwhile he launched the Luftwaffe on a campaign to soften up Britain in preparation for the cross-channel invasion.
This in and of itself was a tall order for the Luftwaffe, which was a tactical air force, designed to support to advancing troops, not carry out strategic bombing campaigns, but the German Air Force was making good time in destroying the RAF on the ground and in the air in preparation for Sea Lion...when Hitler interfered again.
At this point Hitler meddled back into the proceedings by ordering the Luftwaffe to CEASE tactical attacks on the RAF and Liverpool... and begin a useless strategic bombing campaign on the city of London itself.
This strategic campaign bled the Luftwaffe white, as it was forced to carry out a long-range strategic bombing campaign for which its bombers had not the payload nor its fighters the range to accomplish.
The Battle of Britain was a veritable bludgeoning of the Luftwaffe, which suffered devastating losses as its light tactical bombers were forced to uselessly bomb far off cities unescorted by the short-ranged fighters.
The Luftwaffe commanders tried to give some tactical sense to this ‘strategic’ campaign by advising to concentrate on the vital port of Liverpool.
But Hitler would have none of it.
Instead he ordered the terror bombing of British cities...for which Winston Churchill expressed gratitude and relief...because the Luftwaffe was right on the cusp of eliminating the RAF and causing some serious economic havoc.
Hitler’s decision to terror bomb London, known as ‘The Blitz,’ not only took the pressure of the RAF and spared the vulnerable British ports, but also increased support for Churchill as the British people became outraged at the bombing of British civilians inside their cities.
Finally, exhausted by this strategic circus, the Luftwaffe turned to the ground forces and inquired when ‘Sea Lion’ would begin.
‘It would not,’ said the Fuehrer. The whole invasion of England was off!!!
Leaving the Luftwaffe in shambles and the assembled invasion forces sitting in their ports, the Fuehrer took his private train back to Germany for a vacation.
ADMIRAL HITLER
Meanwhile the Battle of the Atlantic was being lost by Hitler’s pathetic little submarine force - 30 U-Boats.
This translated which into 10 U-Boats being refitted, ten making their way either back or to the Atlantic and TEN U-Boats actually on patrol.
That, in turn, translated into the Kriegsmarine trying to blockade Britain with ten measly submarines!
Doenitz had asked Hitler for 300 U-Boats prior to the war into order to stand a realistic chance of strangling Britain.
But instead of filling the order, Adolf had contented himself with ordering the building of expensive prestige battle wagons like Bismark, Tirpitz, Scharhorst, etc....which had no chance of taking on the Royal Navy, were sunk when they dared ventured out of port and which ended up staying locked up in port for most of the war.
By shifting naval production to these floating castles instead of a viable U-Boat force, Hitler lost the Battle of the Atlantic even before it began.
Instead of the 300 U-Boats Doenitz requested...he got 30...only ten of these on patrol off the British Islands at any one time!
MACHIAVELLIAN FUEHRER
Back home, supposedly satisfied with his failed bombing campaign on Britain, his failed submarine campaign off England and the ongoing unresolved war, the Fuehrer let his top commanders in on a devious secret: Germany would soon be attacking the Soviet Union!
Red flags went up immediately.
Germany was still at war with England - an attack on the Soviet Union would open another front - a two front war.
Furthermore, the Soviet Union - by treaty, Germany’s ally - was supplying German war industry with all the fuel, natural resources and materiel it needed to continue fighting England.
Finally, huge distances would have to be covered in Russia, while fighting an enemy the German generals knew little about.
Generals like Guderian, who had actually spent time in the Soviet Union warned Hitler that its production potential was gigantic.
It was at this appropriate time that the Abwehr stepped in with ITS projections on Soviet production and military potential - all of it ‘pathetic,’ of course.
Considering that the Abwehr was headed by a British intelligence asset called Admiral Canaris, these calculations were suspect, to say the least.
So Hitler, the Abwehr agent, presented the Abwehr data to his generals showing that the USSR was actually a pushover and should be attacked as soon as possible.
In other words, the attack on Russia was based on false premises, a false view of reality and false misinformation about the enemy’s capabilities.
HITLER DELAYS BARBAROSSA
The German military leadership were too professional and experienced to simply swallow the Fuehrer’s calculations and rest at ease. The got to preparing for the greatest war in Germany’s history - hopefully the moment it got warm and dry enough to attack - in March of 1941.
But on the eve of Armageddon, Hitler came up with another project altogether...
..instead of getting right to the point of invading Russia, he decided to invade the Balkans instead...putting the enti