Don’t Invade Russia

Along with being one of the worst, Adolf Hitler was also close to being one of the most succesful people in history. Once a homeless vagabond in Vienna, he rose from low ranking soldier in the first world war to leader of an obscure political party in a depleted and demoralized country. Not long after, Hitler and the Nazis came unnervingly close to conquering the world.

Hitler was considered by many to be a military genius. He made several spectacular and bold gambles — like occupying the Rhineland and annexing Austria — that revitalized the national mood and lent the Wehrmacht the momentum it needed to become the most formidable fighting force in the world.

However, the seeming genius was not to last. For as much twisted credit as one may be tempted to lend the Führer for his bold, unilateral decision making in the latter half of the 1930s, an examination of the events proceeding the early successes must lead to the conclusion that Hitler also lost Germany the war.

There were many missteps on the way to the downfall, but none was so costly as Operation Barbarossa, a campaign to invade the Soviet Union while Germany was still fighting off the Allies on the western front [1].

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