Biggest Disaster in WW1 & WW2

[pomsa]

Tannenberg. The Germans were prepared to give up Poland and Eastern Prussia seeing the threat of the Russian Army. If the Russians had attacked in unison, they could have routed the Germans and the war would have been almost over.

 

[Sarevok]

indeed, tannenberg was quite an interesting battle. A rasre encirclement in WW1.

 

[civilleader]

Japan attacking Pearl Harbor. They awoke a sleeping giant for crying out load. The USA finally got a causus belli to enter the war. The Japanese only temporarily got the US out.

 

[Sarevok]

it was a deathblow to both Germany and Japan.

 

[Lazarus Plus]

The first and most important mistake was the decision to split forces between Leningrad and Stalingrad. Were the German forces concentrated for an offensive to cut off the Grozny oilfields from the rest of Russia, they might have won by starving Russia of oil. Had the army driven east and north to take Moscow and Leningrad, than the majority of communications and industry would have been taken. Either way it could have spelled victory. Doing both at once and faliing was disastorous.

 

[Sarevok]

indeed, very true

 

[joespaniel]

Originally posted by Sarevok
What was the biggest disaster in history between the 2 world wars?

The appointment of Adolf Hitler to Chancellor by Presdient Hindenburg.

 

[Sarevok]

definatly BETWEEN the WW's, bu I really meant in the 2 WW's

 

[Ozz]

Italy's entering the War. (eithier one)

And a close second.
Goring's appointment as head of the luftwaffe.
(delay of the ME 262)

 

[Sarevok]

yes, those are 2 more. if the ME262 entered early the allies would have had sheer hell.

 

[joespaniel]

Originally posted by Sarevok
definatly BETWEEN the WW's, bu I really meant in the 2 WW's

The bloodthirsty generalship of all sides during the Great War. Undoubtedly the greatest disaster to an entire generation of young men slaughtered for the egos of a few field marshalls who couldn't grasp changes in military strategy.

 

[CIVPhilzilla]

I say the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagisaki.

 

[joespaniel]

Originally posted by CIVPhilzilla
I say the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagisaki.

I'd say Japan attacking the neutral United States.

 

[rilnator]

Originally posted by Ozz
Italy's entering the War. (eithier one)

And a close second.
Goring's appointment as head of the luftwaffe.
(delay of the ME 262)

I thought the delay of the me-262 came about coz Hitler wanted to focus more on developing tanks than aircraft.

 

[Sarevok]

its all a big mess...

 

[DeathFromAbove]

The Germans Invasion of Russia. Hitler went against the advice of his Generals and created a 2 front war. Would the allies have been able to successfully invade France if Germany was not fighting on 2 fronts? The invasion was costly to the Allies as it was, but imagine how much more difficult it would've been if Germany had more of its forces to commit to defending against the Allies. In my opinion the invasion would have been thrown back into the sea or would not have taken place at all. Hitler also made the mistake of not listening to his Generals. Hitler was convinced that the invasion of France would take place at Calais. Hitler ordered a Large amount of his forces to defend Calais. Rommel told Hitler that the Invasion would not take place at Calais, because he knew the allies would need ports to sustain the lines of supply. There were no ports at Calais that could be used for this purpose. When the Invasion of Normandy began Hitler thought it was just a deversionary attack and was still convinced that the main attack was going to take place at Calais. It was six weeks after the invasion of Normandy began before the forces at Calais moved to defend against the Invasion. Biggest mistake of WW2 Hitler in control of the Military. Thank God!

 

[Sarevok]

I agree.

 

[Mano3]

Neat poll and thread!

Hard to nail though, but I went with Stalingrad. Destruction of an entire German Army Group - hard to replace in a two-front war when resources are becoming scarce.

The Maginot Line: Truly bad and showed what blitzkrieg tactics could do.

Midway: Bad for Japan and proved what carrier warfare was all about.

Operation Market Garden: Partially good idea that led to a sad, sad loss. Did show the strength of a major airborne operation.

Hitler's Ardennes offensive: Thank God this one happened! Virtually ended German strength and I think, sped the end of the war. I wonder if it never happened and the Germans dug in and fought to the bitter end, would we have used the A-bomb there? Frightening thought.....

 

[Stefan Haertel]

Auschwitz.

The British knew of it, as recently published photgraphs prove.
If they had only bombed the railroad leading to it and other camps like Treblinka, Bergen-Belsen etc.

 

[privatehudson]

I guess that can depend on what form they came about those photos