Sharing the blame
A final judgement on Hitler's role is one that calls for some balance. No commander works in isolation, no matter how absolute his power might appear. Germany's senior military leaders bear a large measure of responsibility for the onset, character and outcome of World War Two.
'No commander works in isolation, no matter how absolute his power might appear. '
They shared Hitler's weaknesses as strategists - in fact they were arguably even less talented than he was - and their political attitudes and expansionist ambitions put most of them squarely in the Nazi camp. They supported Hitler's goals but could not help realise them at the strategic level. There was no Alanbrooke or Marshall in the group, nor even an Eisenhower. And for all their supposed professionalism, their operational abilities were not so great as their memoirs make them appear.
The fact remains, however, that Hitler was the driving force behind the war. It was Hitler that provided its ideological basis and its strategic direction; his generals merely went along, however willingly. Hitler also had a hand in nearly all the major operational decisions concerning Germany's running of the war, and his was the leadership that took Germany and Europe into the greatest catastrophe of modern times.
Published: 2003-02-21
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