In some ways, I can see why Hitler believed that he had defeated the Russian army. The Germans were capturing tens to hundreds of thousands of prisoners at a time with tons of equipment. I find it hard to believe that most other military commanders of the day would not reach the same conclusion about the Russian army. It takes so long to mobilize and train an army I’m really amazed how quick the Russians could field a new army regardless of the level of training. However, I believe what Russia again shows about Hitler and the German army is the failure to plan for the long range and for things to go wrong. Had they planned for the long run the German army would have had winter clothes and equipment. I wonder if the outcome would have been the same of the eastern front or would have it ultimately lead to Russia’s defeat?
I thought the presentation about Eban Emael showed the gambles that Hitler was always willing to take during the war, which seems to work at the beginning but towards the end of the war blew up in his face. I knew about the battle before but I never realized the importance of the battle and how it could have change the course of the war if the defenders held out longer or if the German paratrooper failed. Also, I wonder how the Germans would have tackled the fort without shaped charges or gliders?
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Russia had a population greater than Germany by the millions, one reason they were able to produce so many large armies, even though their initial loses were massive. And since russia has always had a large population, part of their military doctrine (especially in WW1) was to throw wave after wave of divisions at the enemy, and this is reflected in their enormous losses in both wars
Hitler (I think) was power hungry enough and arrogant enough - I'm not sure he thought Germany was capable of losing. This could be a contributing factor to the lack of long range planning. Why would they need cold weather gear to fight the Russians...surely Germany would have Russia routed long before they'd need any sort of winter equipment! (tongue in cheek)
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