Hitler didn't underestimate the United States

[@vladimpaler3498]

Everything was going to plan, except for that part where the USSR would collapse and save them a whole lot of problems. He was probably thinking that with the resources and farmland west of the Urals, throw in a few million untermench slaves, and the USA does not look that tough.

[@KristianKumpula]

The Caucasus oil fields were of especially great importance. During the battle of bulge, the Germans only had enough fuel for a week of attacking, and so the plan hinged on looting fuel from enemy fuel depots. And of course with so little fuel they couldn't have much air cover, so the plan also hinged on poor weather protecting them from the enemy air forces. Having the Caucasus would have solved such problems.

[@jamesricker3997]

He was counting on force projection. With the soviet union out of the war, He figured he would be able to hold off the British and America and get a negotiated peace.

[@fars8229]

@@KristianKumpula In 1932, the U.S.A. produced three fifth of the global crude oil, the USSR one fifth (Doktor Oetker's Warenkunde, 1934). So, no. The Caucasian oil fields didn't matter. Not to mention the need and the capacity to refine crude oil etc.

[@yarnickgoovaerts]

@@fars8229The Wehrmacht, with the limited amount of planes and armor due to a lack of fuel, managed to hold off the Western Allies surprisingly well. Add to that the more experienced forces from the eastern front and adequate fuel for their planes and panzers and suddenly they stand a pretty decent chance

[@501Mobius]

Mussolini's icon is a pizza?

[@mt_baldwin]

Hmm, maybe it's taught differently now, but as a teenager learning this back in the 1990s, this was almost exactly what I was taught. That he admired certain parts of the US, it's economy and technology especially and knew it was a threat and later as the war began and dragged on he began to down talk it in public and to ramp up his negative views on the US's ethnic make up. The three things he actually underestimated that cost him the war was how tenacious the UK would be, how long/hard conquering the USSR would be and how fast the US (or any democracy) could get ready for total war.

[@ReclinedPhysicist]

US planners estimated Japan's production capacity at the beginning of the war to be 30% that of the United States. Turned out to be a whole lot less than that. In 1944 US war production was greater than the rest of the world combined.

[@MaticTheProto]

Not impressive considering their geological advantage

[@ReclinedPhysicist]

@MaticTheProto Brazil has the same geological advantage and look what they've done. The United States is very impressive.

[@MaticTheProto]

@@ReclinedPhysicist lmfao, incorrect.

[@Dianasaurthemelonlord7777]

@@MaticTheProtoBrazil has nearly equal amounts of resources, is a similar age, and has and had a comparable population to the US

[@yarnickgoovaerts]

@@Dianasaurthemelonlord7777Brazil is far smaller than the US (even when ignoring the Amazone which takes up an enormous part of the country) and doesn’t have the same geopolitical advantages as the United States (i.e. being the main arms supplier to the allied forces during WW1 which made them very rich and then join in on a war that was already almost over to “save” western Europe and get even richer from it)

[@C.Paterson]

So Hitler apparently thought different people of Europe really have different RPG stats in their genes, like a Brit is just born with a +10 Sailing?

[@simonandersson7067]

Yeah, have you missed the whole national socialism part? Turns out that's a pretty big deal in the second world war.

[@trickydicky2908]

America’s explosion of logistical economic capability, surprised even itself.

[@michaelthayer5351]

The anxiety European Nations felt about America and her rise from the late 19th Century on is something that I feel is often overlooked when discussing European Affairs. It was very clear to Western Europeans that they had missed their chance to adequately contain America and it was only America's self-imposed restraint and isolationist bent that was enabling Europe's Empires to more or less ignore the US in their planning. The reason why America along with Russia became the Superpowers of the 20th Century was because both of them possessed large populations and industrial capacity combined with domestic resources that need not be imported and therefore could not be disrupted. Germany had men and factories, but lacked resources.

[@tancreddehauteville764]

Hitler was a gambler, and often acted on impulse - declaring war on the USA was one such example. His knowledge of the USA was very basic, having never been there, and relied purely on books and even comics that he read as a boy. His main reason to declare war on the USA was that he accepted that he would have to fight them as well, and he also wanted to solidify the alliance with Japan by joining them in their war. Lastly, he was being pressurised by the navy chiefs to allow German U-Boats free rein in the Atlantic. Hitler was well aware of American industrial might, but doubted that they could intervene in Europe for a couple of years, by which time the Soviet Union would be defeated and he would be ready to deal with America. He was of course totally wrong, and it took just less than a year for American troops to land in north Africa, while Germany's campaign against the Soviet Union was doomed at Stalingrad.

[@DaDudeb]

Nothing has changed in 100 years, we have still political enforced ridiculous wages.

[@FulmenTheFinn]

A very interesting video, thanks for making this!

[@raxit1337]

Was just thinking about this today! Always happy to see your videos. Hope you are well MHV :)

[@memofromessex]

Brilliant timing! I was thinking the other day about how much the Wild West influenced Hitler's views of the expanse of Russia. THANKS! Great timing

[@MerrimanDevonshire]

Possible to do a podcast with TIKhistory? You two seem to be skating close to a collab with recent topics.

[@FrankBarnwell-xi8my]

Thanks to all you thanked and in an adult, heads-up manner.

[@l0lLorenzol0l]

Most Euros and even a few Americans don't so it's not that unusual

[@grizwoldphantasia5005]

Almost makes me want to shake him and slap him. How could the American race be so inventive and the European races be so inferior, when Americans were almost entirely immigrants from Europe? He almost makes a bit of sense when he says the best Europeans migrated to America, but it's hard to understand how anyone could think only the best emigrated and only the most inferior remained behind. Then he claims that all those immigrants created a new high value American race, so his solution is to purify one race (the Aryans) and exclude all the others? Then he says America is inventive because the inferior classes could get more education in America. Consistency, thy name is not Hitler. Nice video, good research. And thank you.

[@rosameltrozo5889]

By the fact the americans were a subsection of those europeans, the daring ones that emigrated to settle a new continent. It is more consistent that you give it credit for.

[@str34mln3r]

It's a fact that the majority of people who migrate have more bite than those who accept their lot in life, additionally America was the target of Europeans, many of descent Hitler viewed favorably. Later on the US even added institutional hurdles and restrictions on who can enter which made the selection even better. Inferior classes, as in working class children, getting a better education disparages this how? Btw the descendants of those American immigrants would largely a) be Aryan in the first place and b) even the others were of high caliber so it didn't matter at large. Actually I am not all that aware of racial purity politics by Hitler besides obviously being aggressive against jews, slavs and largely foreign people such as blacks, arabs, etc in addition to even German people deemed unfit to breed such as those with severe mental illness and genetic defects. Not that different from how people in the US used to live.

[@grizwoldphantasia5005]

@@rosameltrozo5889 That assumes that daring to emigrate was 100% heritable, that only those who dared emigrate could produce children who were ambitious. Anyone at all familiar with human history knows the common trope that an ambitious person founds a personal dynasty, the second generation muddles along competently, and the third generation blows their inheritance. It applies to kings just as much as business people.

[@grizwoldphantasia5005]

@@str34mln3r Are you saying ambition is 100% heritable, like eye color or number of toes? If Hitler thought education could make inferior races superior, that would have applied to his own neck of the woods just as much. Yet his actions belied his words. He claimed Americans were a new superior race because they were a mixture of other races; why then insist that only his chosen race was any good? And you're pretty confused if you think Hitler's aggression against other races was not a sign of racial purity politics.

[@rosameltrozo5889]

@ why such exaggeration? There's no need for 100% or anything, it's easy to understand that people willing to move to America during those times would be more daring even if a little bit and pass that on even if a little bit. You're absolutely correct there, people can change their environment and in turn their environment change them, what's your point?

[@whya2ndaccount]

Fitting I guess to have Ike's bust in the background.

[@armychowmein8021]

It feels like a national leader whose ego won't allow them to objectively analyze their own situations and resort to disparagement of those or that which generate frustrations may not be that which bring a nation back to greatness

[@RobTzu]

I am in the middle of that book of all things. Took with me on a flight.

[@eugenax9345]

Carl Sagan himself reincarnated for this episode :D

[@Alakarr]

I honestly don't see anything in this video that shows Hitler didn't underestimate the US. Yes, he showed some admiration for the US, but his writings and comments on race show a basic misunderstanding of the US. From the video, I don't think he ever comprehended the true size of the US economy or the US's demographic strength (the US has had the largest economy in the world since 1890). The US had twice the economy and twice the population of Germany with a much, much larger industrial base. The quote at 6:56 shows his basic misunderstanding of economics; "Before the plow must stand the sword, and before the economy an army". It was this philosophy that brought Germany to the brink of economic collapse by 1939. The point of how he brought the German economy back while the US was still floundering from the Great Depression is pure self delusion. Germany was on the brink of economic collapse when they invaded Poland. Only averting that collapse by plundering another country.

[@MilitaryHistoryVisualized]

He stated in the same book, that one needs a whole continent to defeat the US. I didn't add that part, because I had it already in a previous video.

[@Alakarr]

@@MilitaryHistoryVisualized And I think that is an underestimation of the US. Even if Germany conquered everything from the Urals to the Atlantic, I don't see Germany ever gathering enough strength to cross the Atlantic, invade North America and win.

[@WG55]

14:51 LOL, you always pick funny symbols for the visualization, such as, in this case, a slice of pizza to represent the Italians. 😄

[@causewaykayak]

Another really good deep div

[@danielstickney2400]

I don't think you made your case. A few favorable platitudes about US Industry does not mean Hitler had any real understanding of the relative strengths of the US and German economies. His "sword before the plow" nonsense is fairly convincing evidence he lacked any true understanding of economics at all. US industrial capacity in 1941 significantly outstripped all of the other combatant nations put together, by some estimates the US had 51% of all manufacturing capacity in the entire world. So the question remains would Hitler have made the same decision if he'd truly understood the full scope of the vast disparity Germany was facing?

[@michaelrussell2891]

a different view of things very interesting

[@Gravitatis]

so because hitler sometimes said nice things about the US, he therefore didnt underestimate it? clearly hitler did underestimate the US in some areas, you even said in the video that he underestimates the US ability to switch between peace and wartime economies

[@suddenwall]

💯 check out the WW2 channel's recent video WW2 By The Numbers. The allied vs axis GDP ratio started at 2.5:1 and dramatically grew as the war carried on. Not to mention the allies' focus on developing the atom bomb... Edit: also check out their video "Interview with a German WW2 Veteran." The veteran recounts that when The war began his father told him to go and get his school textbooks for a discussion. As a family they looked over the international production statistics, and his father showed them how much more the rest of the allies/neutral countries could produce. His father explained that Germany's only hope for victory would be a swift, limited war. He described how if the United States were able to tool up production and enter the war that they would lose. If it was this obvious to this ordinary upper middle class German family, I would say that Hitler very much underestimated not just the United States but the Allies in general.

[@elgenvalcin6885]

He didnt. He was slleepaalking and accidentally said "llet'a fight america" on his dream

[@alexandershorse9021]

Hitler commissioned a group of industrialists to assess Germany’s military needs after he had declared war on the United States in the winter crisis of 1941 in front of Moscow. They came back and bluntly told Hitler Germany could not match, let alone afford, the combined war production of the USA, Russia and Britain. The decision to declare war on the USA essentially sealed Nazi Germany’s fate, and Hitler was told as early as 1941. So yes, he underestimated the USA, including its ability to get into the fight quickly, leading to the twin military disasters of Stalingrad and “Tunisgrad” in North Africa. It’s all downhill from there. What a blunder it was.

[@idkidk-vr8rc]

We don't live in a video game world America would have joined the war one way or another. Hitler declaring war first was just him taking initiative on something that was destined to happen eventually not some grand mistake.

[@ralphbernhard1757]

@@idkidk-vr8rc Correct. Just like WW1, or the Spanish-American War, Washington DC would have made up any old excuse to join the war whenever they wanted to step and and gain advantages or systemic expansion.

[@88porpoise]

The US was already in the war. And not just economically by the end of 1941. The US Navy was actively assisting the British in the Atlantic (the and the Shoot on Sight order had recently been issued. The Greer, Kearny, and Reuben James incidents were all clear acts of war by the United States against Germany. The US, in the aftermath of Pearl Harbor, was at the weakest it would ever be. Hitler could take advantage of that and do as much damage as he could to slow the US while the war in Europe continues or he could pull back from the Battle of the Atlantic (to avoid escalations with the US) his only real weapon against the British and wait for the US to cross the Atlantic when they were good and ready.

[@Riael]

He was under the impression that his reverse engineering programs were fast enough for them to make a ship that could change the war.

[@J.Panxer]

He was happy to take their money though; And his high command tried to explode him. I'm sure it was just a coincidence though... Me in kam pf wasn't a raving jumble of half formed ideas and go nowhere conclusions, or anything either. Oh, and, the Brüning letter exists. He was literally and figuratively a Golem. That fact cannot be ignored, but always is.

[@The_ZeroLine]

Actually, we talked on the phone and he told me “US war production potential is nothing. Nein, it is nozzing!” I said “woah, Addy baby. Chill.”

[@Glockenstein0869]

Hitler certainly admired Plantation Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt. In fact, Mussolini and later Hitler, were both big fans.

[@elli6220]

What? No?

[@randomuser5443]

He like America as people, fdr was dismissed as worthless

[@MarceloHenriqueSoaresdaSilva]

It is more vice-versa

[@bigginpc5805]

He called American people low intelligent Mongrels ​@@randomuser5443

[@didymussumydid9726]

@@bigginpc5805where did he say that

[@celdur4635]

Hitler literally said he wanted to emulate the US on what they did to the natives, disparaged Spain for not doing the same "all of America could've been 100% white or near white" (paraphrasing) and he wanted to replicate it with the Slavs.

[@didymussumydid9726]

Where did he say he wanted to get rid of slavs

[@NathanDudani]

​@@didymussumydid9726 His book series that shall not be named

[@didymussumydid9726]

@@NathanDudani page number then?

[@milanposh7972]

@@didymussumydid9726 in Generalplan Ost he basically laid the plans for the colonisation of eastern Europe displacing and killing the mayority of slavs living there

[@krystina662]

"oh hitler was positive about the usa in '20? was it the racism and eugenics" "it was racism and eugenics"

[@causewaykayak]

Maybe it was Eleanor Roosevelt that was the Fly in Hitler's American ointment.