Hitler's failure

[smari]

What was the main cause of the German defeat in the Second World War?

[grasshopper]

Some people would say that there wasn't really a cause per se, but that the intervention of the Americans following the bombing of Pearl Harbor didn't really help his cause any.

[Syntho]

I was always under the impression that Hitler over-stretched his resources by advancing on Russia in addition to his other European advances/ occupations. He also severely underestimated the resiliance of the Russians and his own forces ability to cope with the severe winters in Russia.

[steeviej]

1) Overstretched resources - blitzkrieg was too effective 2) Invading the Russians about 2 months later than he should have so the Germans got bogged down in a Russian Winter 3) American involvement 4) Not finishing the British off when he had the chance (partly down to no. 1) - at Dunkirk 5) The British cracking German codes 6) Success of Allied Intelligence in deceiving the Germans as to where the invasion of Europe was tot ake place.

[Pan Man]

Because he didn't have an empire and thus his resources ran out far quicker than the British and Americans did ... and everything that steviej said, too.

[BadBoyBubby]

The wrong type of socks - the German army was decimated owing to foot problems

[ollyhallett]

Because the Americans entered the war. The Japanese gambled that they could take out the USA's Pacific fleet, and then establish themselves in the Pacific, but they failed. Hitler was bound to a pact with the Japanese and so was obliged to also declare war on the USA. It was his big mistake. He didn't really have to.
The Axis powers also lost three major battles in 1942 - Midway in the Pacific, El Alamein in North Africa, and Stalingrad on the Eastern Front. these were the three main theatres at the time - and he lost them all.

[yaznaz]

Hitler's failure to understand or neglect to understand the concept of air power which had been emphasised continuously by Goring. He was sceptical that the use of air power was mainly to support the ground operations.

[jbeputnam]

There is not really a main reason for the Nazi defeat in 1945. When the Americans joined the war (they got there late, as they did in the First World War), they provided the extra manpower which pushed the scales on the side of the Allies. Britain and France were pretty much exhausted by this time, and it seemed that Germany was going to win. But Germany concentrated on armaments too much, and were distracted by the Holocaust. This enabled the Allies to get closer. This is why, as the Allies descended upon his Berlin bunker on the 30 April 1945), Hitler and his mistress Eva Braun (whom he had married the day before) gave up and killed themselves, along with some leading players such as Josef Goebbels. When Hitler was gone, there was no choice but for the Nazis to surrender.

[tangle]

There isn't one main cause. Just looking at the number of answers tells you that. What I've been taught here at university hinges on a few key factors: 1) The Russians. Everyone underestimates the part they played, but if it hadn't been for Russia and the Red Army, Hitler would never have been defeated. The 20 million Russian dead shows how hard they fought. 2) The British. The Battle of Britain crippled the Luftwaffe and the resources of the British Empire stoppped Hitler defeating Britain, thereby prolonging a war the Nazis would have won. 3) The Americans. Although their intervention came late, the huge resources of the USA allowed the Allies to bomb Germany into the ground. They also reversed the Japanese's upper hand in the Pacific theatre. 4) The eventual failure of Blitzkreig, brilliant as a new strategy to win territory, hopeless as a long term game plan. There are obviously loads of other factors as well, but those are the ones I think merit the most attention.

[Ginbottle]

The Allies had the same spending power as Germany but spent their money differently. The Allies spent on tanks & ships, which were tried and tested. The Germans spent on technology with V1 and V2 rockets and heavy water from Telemark, Norway, trying to get the H-bomb.