Was AJP Taylor correct that Hitler did not plan for a large general war?

Answer 1

Hitler didn�t even expect a declaration of war from Britain and France, when he attacked Poland in �39. He expected the British to give up after the fall of France in �40. He expected to finish of the USSR in less than six months in �41 and even in 42 he believed the Russian could be beaten.

Not before �43 he realized that he had to fight a total war, but than it was too late.

AnswerIt all depends on the term 'general war'. 'Blitkreig' was the new warfare method adopted by the wermacht in the early years of ww2, so the definition of general warefare can be misleading. this point aside, Hitler was hoping to capitalise on his earlier non-combative successes in Austria and Czechoslovakia and was dismayed when his take over of Poland resulted in Britain and France declaring war on Germany. he did not think that b+f would honour the mutual assistance agreement given to Poland by the respective countries, for neither country came to the aid of Czechoslovakia during germanys take over of that country when both countrys had formally guaranteed czechoslovakias borders. AnswerHitler didnt want to wait until 1945 to go to war as his general staff wanted to. I believe he wanted to live to see his 1,000 year Reich. Hitlers staff understood that they didnt have the logistics in place to fight a large war. Most of their Artillary and Supplies were still horse drawn as in WW1. Also they understood that the few armoured units they had were underarmoured, out gunned, and lacked modern communications equipment (except hand flags). Also most panzer grenadiers rode in trucks, instead of half tracks as intended. Next Hitler let Goring lose on the Luftwaffe and he attacked England with no plan, except "Charge". As a result he lost the Airpower initiative and never regained it. Imagine those squandered resources on the Eastern Front. Hitler made the classic mistake of studying tactics, when he should have learned logistics.

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A.J.P. Taylor's view that Hitler did not particularly want to go to war against Britain is widely shared by historians. In fact, he hoped to gain Britain as an ally.