General Discussions
This is the place to discuss general issues related to the U-boat war or the war at sea in WWII.
To Adrian
Posted by:
SuperKraut
()
Date: July 17, 2001 09:11PM
<HTML>Since the original thread \">Building Uboats, at the end?<\" is buried on the back pages, I bring it up here again after my absence. Too bad a thread does not percolate up to the top when a new post is made like on some other boards. You wrote \">The truth of the matter is that Germany never prepared for a long war - and that is where the crux of the matter lies.<\"
I will not agree that it was THE crux since there were some other major blunders, but that attitude was a very important factor in losing the war. Hitler was not really fighting a continuous war until 1943. Before that he was fighting a series of campaigns. The partial demobilization and cancellation of weapons orders after the fall of France were symptomatic of this attitude, as was the habit of using instructors at the front at the beginning of major campaigns, which essentially shut down a lot of training temporarily, especially for pilots and AFV crews. \"The war will be over in 6 months\" was the constant mantra until 1943. This policy stood in the way of much long term planning and promoted \"band aid\" solutions, a situation which was especially counterproductive for the U-boats and for the Luftwaffe.
BTW, the Nazis were a rather inefficient lot compared to German administration during WWI. German production did not get into high gear until Speer got rid of a lot of ideologically motivated inefficiency and reinstituted many of the methods used in WWI. Nevertheless, German weapons production in WWII never reached WWI levels.
Regards,
SuperKraut
</HTML>
I will not agree that it was THE crux since there were some other major blunders, but that attitude was a very important factor in losing the war. Hitler was not really fighting a continuous war until 1943. Before that he was fighting a series of campaigns. The partial demobilization and cancellation of weapons orders after the fall of France were symptomatic of this attitude, as was the habit of using instructors at the front at the beginning of major campaigns, which essentially shut down a lot of training temporarily, especially for pilots and AFV crews. \"The war will be over in 6 months\" was the constant mantra until 1943. This policy stood in the way of much long term planning and promoted \"band aid\" solutions, a situation which was especially counterproductive for the U-boats and for the Luftwaffe.
BTW, the Nazis were a rather inefficient lot compared to German administration during WWI. German production did not get into high gear until Speer got rid of a lot of ideologically motivated inefficiency and reinstituted many of the methods used in WWI. Nevertheless, German weapons production in WWII never reached WWI levels.
Regards,
SuperKraut
</HTML>
Subject | Written By | Posted |
---|---|---|
To Adrian | SuperKraut | 07/17/2001 09:11PM |
RE: To Adrian | adrian | 07/17/2001 11:46PM |
Of gamblers and leaders | SuperKraut | 07/18/2001 06:53AM |
Plan Z and Ramifications | adrian | 07/18/2001 09:46AM |
Plan Z and Ramifications | adrian | 07/18/2001 09:47AM |
RE: Of gamblers and leaders | walter M | 07/18/2001 07:55PM |
Von Clausewitz | SuperKraut | 07/19/2001 03:13PM |
RE: Von Clausewitz | walter M | 07/19/2001 09:29PM |
RE: Von Clausewitz | Yuri IL\'IN | 07/24/2001 12:10AM |
RE: Von Clausewitz | Yuri IL\'IN | 07/24/2001 12:14AM |
The bomb, etc. | SuperKraut | 07/25/2001 10:55AM |
RE: The bomb, etc. | Yuri IL\'IN | 07/25/2001 03:57PM |
RE: The bomb, etc. | Yuri IL\'IN | 08/27/2001 11:15AM |
The failure of the will | kurt | 07/25/2001 09:44PM |