What were the weaknesses of Germany in World War 2?

Answer 1

here is a short list of some of the German strengths

1. very professional and well trained officer corp.(makes for well trained troops )

2. superior tactics.

3. commitment to the mission .

4. initial trust in their leaders

AnswerThe above four points are all excellent and point to Germany's military organizational structure.

Additionally Germany had a large, efficient economy, second largest in the world in 1939 (being about 40% the size of #1, USA). They were first or second in the production of many industrial items such as steel, locomotives, aircraft, machine tools, aluminum, etc.

They had or controlled huge supplies of a wide variety of economic resources - coal, iron ore, bauxite, lead, zinc, copper. They lacked adequate natural petroleum supplies, having access to no more than 1 or 2% of world supplies. They also lacked a variety of 'minor' mineral elements necessary to produce high quality steels. Among others these would include chrome, tungsten and nickle. Turkey, Spain and the occupied Soviet areas, in that order, produced supplies of these early but they were all gradually cut off as the war progressed.

Additionally Germany had the finest chemical industry in the world. This industry enabled Germany to produce synthetic rubber, turn coal into oil, and produce various lubricant subustitutes. About half the world supply of military chemicals (poison gas, nerve agents) were in German hands.

Also, Germany had a scientific community second to none before the war. German squandered some of their huge lead in this regard by Jewish persecution, Jews being very involved in this arena. Nazi psuedo science also created problems for the scientific community, cutting them off from ideas from Jewish or foreign sources. Despite being severely self handicapped, the German scientific community performed outstandingly well during the war producing many advanced weapons systems such as rockets, radar, superior submarines, jet aircraft, and the beginnings of a nuclear program. Soviet and American military technology advances in the 1950's were to a large extent both borrowed from German WWII inventions.

Lastly, one needs to realized Germanys geographic position. They are a centralized nation - enabling their military to be relatively close to their supply sources for most battles. The centralized geographic position was further enhanced by the finest transportation system in the world. German rail lines were the most efficient on the globe. Additionally they had excellent highways and a top notch canal/waterway system.

This combination of powerful industries, outstanding military organizational structure, intelligent scientific communities and large economic resources all overlayed with a zealous religious-like political system in Nazism, was a unique world event, not likely to be repeated. The unique combination of these factors enabled the Germans to achieve their many successes during the war. Indeed it could have enabled to Germans to completely upset the old world order by positioning themselves as a superpower.

Answer 2

*The German army continued to rely strongly on horses for mobility throughout the war.

*German artillery remained numerically weak.

*German surface fleet was weak overall.

*German air force lacked long range strategic bombers

Cheers,

Bilfred Eendereed

The German Wehrmacht had major weaknesses which were not at first apparent as a result of the early spectacular victories. They would in the end would result in catastrophic defeat. As was the case of the Prussian Arny before it and the Imperial German Army in World War I, Hitler's strategic doctrine was premised on early victories against countries that were unprepared for War. This way Hitler believed he could defeat his enemies even though they had a greater industrial capacity and resource base. This would be possible only if Germany could defeat the countries targeted in quick, short wars. As in World War I, a long, protracted war would inevitably lead to Germany's defeat. The Wehrmacht achieved spectacular victories largely because of the perfection of modern tactical doctrine--Blitzkrieg. The fall of France stunned the world. The Panzers, however, were stopped by the Channel and the RAF stopped the Luftwaffe. When President Roosevelt underwrote the British war effort with Lend Lease, it meant that Germany would not have its quick short victory. As a result, as the War progressed the weaknesd inherent in the German war effort gradually became increasingly apparent. These weaknesses proved disastrous in World War II as they had in World War I. And they were magnified by Hitler's mishandling of the War effort.

For more detail see:

http://histclo.com/essay/war/ww2/cou/ger/mil/w2g-msww.html

Answer 3

Hitler. If he wasn't in control of Germany's war decisions, the war would have gone very differently.

Answer 4

d