What single event contributed most to Germany's defeat in WW2?

[KG_Cloghaun]

Thread is open for discussion-

Enjoy!

[KG_Jag]

My first choice--failure to take Moscow in 1941 is not even listed.

In light of that, I picked BOB because that led Hitler to turn east.

[KG_ThorsHammer]

So many instances of bad choices or bad luck.

Although attacking Russia and the various defeats that eventually took place are in themselves quite bad, I voted for the Battle of Britain as the main cause. The Luftwaffe was shredded and never recovered with production and new pilots/crew running at low ebb until too late. But worst of all, Hitler left an unsubdued enemy and started a two front war. Had Great Britain been defeated, The USA would have had no allies to come to the aid of.
This would have allowed the Germans to leave but a skeleton security force behind, while the bulk of the Army, airforce and navy focused on Barbarrosa.
There would have been little to stop the Axis from entering the middle east and obtaining lots of oil supplies. The Russians would probably be alone, and even if the USA sided with them, it would be a long time before US forces would be in any kind of shape to help them; by then it would probably be too late.

[KG_Koz]

The Germans needed to win the BOB to clean up the W front before dealing with the Soviet Union.

[KG_CrimsonTrooper]

If they would have fortifed Normandy like his Generals wanted as well released the Panzers when they were first summoned D-Day would have been a back breaking defeat for the Allied Nations.

Creating an Eastern Front (a.k.a. The Eastern Blitz). Germany should have learned their lesson in the first world war.


OR


Starting the war in 1939 when German arms production were not even close to adequate.

Pick your poison

[KG_Panzerschreck]

My first choice would of been "Attacking Russia in the first place". Something i feel they shouldnt of done until England was taken care of.

In lieu of that i picked Stalingrad.

[KG_Kharkov]

I agree with Schreck -- "Attacking Russia" would be number 1, but I picked Operation Bagration. The entire destruction of Army Group Centre irrevocably sealed the fate of Germany. Had that been avoided Germany still held the hope of negotiating some sort of peace short of unconditional surrender with the West. That's all hypothetical since the West's policy was one of unconditional surrender, but I doubt the West would even have considered using an A-bomb in Europe. A stalemate through the end of 45 in Europe could have changed the tide of political views regarding a negotiated piece (aka similar to the Treaty of Versailles). I guess I've rephrased the question since in my scenario (where Bagration doesn't occur) Germany still loses, but it's quite possibly a different type of loss.

As to what battle of those listed could have changed the ultimate outcome of the war, I'd say Stalingrad. If Germany had cancelled it's drive on the Caucuses oil fields and it's drive on Leningrad and renewed it's focus on a single knockout blow of Moscow in 1942, it may forced Russia to the bargaining table. Committing to Stalingrad forever changed the face of the Eastern Front and drained precious manpower from the German military.

[Full Monty]

Of those listed I have to go for 'Bagration'. It effectively destroyed any hope the Germans may have had of stalemating the Red Army or being able to transfer enough men and equipment to the West to counter the Allied forces in Normandy.

However, none of those listed were decisive. In my opinion the failure to put the German economy onto a war footing until the course of the war had already turned against the Axis was fatal. It meant that for most of the war the equipment the German armed forces had was available in neither the quality nor the quantity that was required to wage the kind of war they were engaged in.

[KG_Noggs]

I would have to say the Normandy Landings, because it basicaly let the Allies have a stronghold from which to conduct operations from, and bring supplies in. If Germany(Hitler) would have released the Panzers the outcome might have been different for the Allies.