During World War II, why did Germany dare to take on the whole world alone?How many chips does it have?
World War II was the largest war in human history, and Germany, as the instigator of the war, fought almost alone against the major powers of the time.
So what is it that Germany has to dare to launch such an arrogant global adventure?
German"Internal strength"As early as more than 2,000 years ago, Zuo Qiu Ming mentioned it in "Zuo Biography"."The major affairs of the country are in worship and Rong"。These eight words succinctly summarize the core elements of a strong country.
There are two key words here, which are:"Worship"with"Rong"。
Worship"Refers to:"Sacrifice"It was the most important activity of the state in the Spring and Autumn Period and played an important role in uniting the people.
Now, of course, we can't make it simple"Worship"Understood as:"Sacrifice", but to dig deep into the truth behind it.
To become a strong country, you must do both at the same time. When powerful countries collide with powerful countries, whoever has stronger military power and higher national cohesion will be able to gain an advantage in the confrontation.
Therefore, when analyzing Germany, we can start with these two aspects and gain insight into the hands of Germany.
First of all, we will focus on the "ritual" aspect of Germany, that is, the strength of its internal strength.
There are often two most effective ways to unite the hearts and minds of the people and guide the whole country towards a common goal.
One is through "hatred" and the other is through "faith".
Apparently, Germany chose the former, quickly consolidating national power by inspiring "hatred".
So, what does Germany choose to hate against?
There were two main objectives, one was the humiliation of being a defeated country in World War I, and the other was hatred of the Jews.
Germany, as both the initiator and the loser of World War I, signed a series of unequal treaties after the end of the war.
Not only did they lose large swathes of territory, but they also had to bear heavy reparations.
As for the digression, it was not until 2010 that Germany fully repaid the reparations.
It can be inferred from this that in order to pay off this reparation, Germany was under great financial pressure at that time.
In the end, this cost was borne by ordinary people in Germany, and it is not difficult to imagine that the atmosphere in German society at that time must have been very dull.
In stark contrast, Jews in Germany not only enjoyed a life of abundance, but were also free to deprive Germans of every penny.
It was in this context that Hitler stepped onto the stage of history.
A person's success depends largely on the circumstances in which they find themselves.
In such an environment, even without Hitler, there would inevitably be another similar leader rising.
The ensuing historical process, even without going into depth, can deduce the outcome of Hitler's rise to power.
The first thing Hitler did when he came to power, unsurprisingly, was a brutal ** against the Jews.
On the other hand, by preaching the theory of racial evolution, the ideological control of the German people was realized.
This multi-pronged approach allowed the entire German force to be closely cohesive.
It is no exaggeration to say that Germany's organizational ability at that time far surpassed that of Britain, the United States, France, the Soviet Union and other countries.
The core of competition between countries lies in organizational capacity.
Therefore, it can be seen that Germany at that time was a master of "internal strength" in the world, which is also an important trove that it can fight alone in the world.
Germany's "external power".
If "worship" represents a country's "internal strength", then "Rong" represents its "external strength".
So, just how strong is Germany's military power?
How did it gradually acquire these military powers?
After the end of World War I, in order to limit Germany, the victorious powers imposed a number of restrictions on the military front.
For example, it was stipulated that there should be no more than 100,000 regular soldiers in Germany.
Hitler, having come to power, naturally managed to break these restrictions.
He sent young people from all over the country to military training for several months, and by bringing the old to the new, Germany instantly had millions of reservists.
Naturally, Germany's big move could not hide from the eyes of a few victorious countries.
Theoretically, these countries could have interfered with Hitler's actions through previous agreements.
However, they did not take such action, and even Britain and the United States actively supported what Germany was doing.
Why is that?We need to look at this issue at a strategic level.
Ever since the Hundred Years' War, the British have recognized that it is not in their own interest to achieve dominance on the continent.
Therefore, the "Continental Balance of Power Policy" has been a national policy of the United Kingdom for hundreds of years.
To put it simply, on the European continent, whoever is strong, unites other countries to balance it.
At the same time, Britain gave full play to its advantages as a maritime nation and actively carried out global colonization, eventually creating the magnificent achievement of the "empire on which the sun never sets".
As for the United States, it actually has a lot of similarities with the United Kingdom, and is also a maritime country.
The only difference is that the United States itself is much larger, and its vision has expanded from the European continent to the world, implementing a "balance of power policy" to balance power around the world.
Thus, it is clear that neither Britain nor the United States wanted Germany to collapse, lest France and the Soviet Union dominate the continent.
In order to re-establish Germany, the powerful United States was even more generous, and together with Britain, it forgave a large amount of Germany's debts.
This also explains why there has been a claim circulating online that Germany after World War II was rearmed with the support of the United States and the United Kingdom.
With the support of Britain and the United States, and the fact that World War I did not cause great damage to Germany itself, Germany's industrial strength quickly returned to its pre-war level after the war. With the support of a large number of scientists, Germany is also a world leader in cutting-edge technology.
With the support of strong industrial strength, Germany's military equipment also developed rapidly.
Therefore, Germany's "external strength" is also very strong, which is another key bargaining chip that Germany can compete with in the world.
With its profound "internal strength" and strong "external strength", will Germany be able to win this great war?
For a country to expand, it must carefully formulate strategies and tactics according to its own geopolitical situation.
Germany is located in the middle of Europe, with the Soviet Union to the northeast and France to the southwest, right between the two countries, and can be described as the "land of four wars".
Because of such a geographical location, it was natural for Germany to manage to expand through war until it had a relatively safe territory.
Therefore, it is not for nothing that Germany was the initiator of both world wars.
Such geopolitical conditions doomed Germany to face the dilemma of fighting on two fronts. So what about Hitler's strategic focus on **?
Before a quick strike with Poland, Germany signed the Soviet-German Non-Aggression Pact with the USSR.
In other words, Germany's strategy was to first defeat Britain and France, and then to integrate forces for a final contest with the Soviet Union.
Judging from the subsequent war situation, Germany achieved its initial strategic objectives to a large extent.
Under the rapid attack of Germany, Britain and France were quickly defeated.
However, in the face of the natural barrier of the English Channel, Germany failed to achieve the occupation of the British.
In fact, after the failure of the attack on Britain, Germany strategically fell into a passive position and inevitably became involved in the dilemma of fighting on two fronts.
So, is it possible for Germany to win this big war if it is given a chance to start over?
Theoretically, this is entirely possible.
When Germany quickly blitzed Poland, although Britain and France declared war, for a long time afterward, Britain and France did not actively engage in actual combat.
Why is there such a strange "no war on the Western Front"?
The reason was that both Britain and France wanted to direct the troubles to the east and pit Germany against the Soviet Union.
If Germany at that time had succeeded in using this opportunity to defeat the Soviet Union once and for all, would it have avoided the dilemma of fighting on two fronts?
The crux of the question is whether it is possible for Germany to deprive the Soviet Union of its resistance in a very short time
From the current point of view, this possibility is not impossible, but rather quite high.
The starting point for this conclusion was the emergence of the "Panzer Army", which subverted the previous paradigm of warfare.
When Germany first concentrated its armored forces on the battlefield, even they themselves did not expect such great success.
The core area of the Soviet Union was in the Eastern European Plain, which was an ideal battlefield for the implementation of a "blitzkrieg".
With adequate preparations, it was possible for Germany to occupy the entire Eastern European Plain before heavy snow fell.
At that time, it would only be necessary to advance the Eastern Front to the Ural Mountains, and the Soviet Union would probably lose the power of resistance and would have to retreat to Siberia.
In this way, Germany was able to reorganize its army and move south without any worries. The most likely scenario is a confrontation with Britain and the United States in the English Channel.
Eventually, Germany replaced the Soviet Union and entered the Cold War with the United States.
Of course, history cannot make assumptions, and here is only a simple analysis of another possibility for Germany.
In general, Germany at that time did have the strength to challenge the whole world, and it was even possible to win the big war.
Germany's defeat was at the strategic level.
Due to the strategic layout of first west and then east, even if Germany succeeds in eliminating Britain in the end, it will still face the threat of the United States, and it will inevitably fall into the middle of the maritime countries and the continental countries.
And if it chooses the strategy of first east and then west, Germany can use its strength to eliminate its opponents in the east, and then form a balance of power with the maritime states.
It can only be said that it is fortunate that Germany did not choose the strategy of first east and then west, otherwise our current world might be completely different.