The Logic of German Global Military Strategy in 1941

Discussions on High Command, strategy and the Armed Forces (Wehrmacht) in general.
ljadw
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Re: The Logic of German Global Military Strategy in 1941

#61

Post by ljadw » 27 Mar 2021, 17:48

The whole story is a hoax (there were a lot of such things which were investigated by the Committee on on-American activities),besides the story was not the business of the Committee .
Sorge ,and it is the same for the members of the German embassy in Japan ,knew nothing about Barbarossa , which was something that would happen on the other side of the planet and did not concern Japan .
About Singapore : this also is a hoax :
Germany and Japan did not trust each other and Germany had no information about Singapore .

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Urmel
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Re: The Logic of German Global Military Strategy in 1941

#62

Post by Urmel » 14 Apr 2021, 23:49

Andy H wrote:
25 Feb 2021, 16:14
historygeek2021 wrote:
23 Feb 2021, 23:40
Germany's overall strategy in 1941 makes sense when you look at it from the perspective of trying to knock Britain out of the war. The strategy is basically as follows:

1. Deliver a crippling blow against the Soviet Union.

2. With the Soviet Union crippled, Japan is free to conquer Britain's colonies.

3. Germany helps Italy defeat Britain in the Mediterranean.

4. German U-boats sink Britain's merchant fleet.

The German strategy was to force Britain into a "three front" war that it could not win: (1) against Japan in the Pacific, (2) against Italy and Germany in the Mediterranean, and (3) against Germany's U-boats in the Atlantic.

This explains the elation among Germany's senior commanders when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. The main goal of the Barbarossa campaign was to free Japan to attack Britain's Pacific colonies, and this had been achieved.

Today we know that the flaw in the plan was the United States, but the Germans in 1941 didn't know how quickly the United States could come to Britain's rescue. When you consider that the main goal of the plan was to knock out Britain, it makes sense that Germany would declare war on the United States in December 1941. This would prevent the United States from focusing everything on Japan and saving Britain's colonies in the Far East.

Obviously this was not a perfect plan, but it does make a certain kind of sense from a global geostrategic point of view.
Hi historygeek2021

I think you're stretching the meaning of the word 'strategy' here.

If you look at Germanys strategy, it was more a case of broad brush wishful thinking or reactive measures when it came to its allies.
The Axis had very few detailed strategies in how to beat the Allied nations. They failed woefully in the Indian Ocean and Mediterranean sea, the Balkans and Russia.

The fact that you state that the Germans didn't know how fast the US would react, shows wishful, naïve and inept thinking. The US without the attack on PH was slowly creeping to a more active role, PH just facilitated that move. Also bear in mind that Germany declared war on the US first, another make it up as you go along plan.

In terms of a 3front war with the UK, Germany forced the first in the Atlantic, Italy (not Germany) decided on its path in the Med & Indian ocean and at best Germany/Italy actions enabled the Japanese offensives in late'41.

Regards

Andy H
The German strategy was predicated on a rapid defeat of the Soviet Union, followed by an indirect defeat of the UK through attacking the Middle East. This was the official plan in June 1941 just before the attack on the Soviet Union and after the Greek campaign and the defeat of the Iraq coup.

https://rommelsriposte.com/2020/06/11/m ... june-1941/
The enemy had superiority in numbers, his tanks were more heavily armoured, they had larger calibre guns with nearly twice the effective range of ours, and their telescopes were superior. 5 RTR 19/11/41

The CRUSADER Project - The Winter Battle 1941/42


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