was Hitler's worst decision when he decided to delay the Moscow attack and focus on Kiev instead?

Question

So I just watched a documentary where they explain how Hitler sent orders to the army group close to Moscow to abandon their mission and head to Kiev(Ukraine...). There they should've help the struggling soldiers of another army group. This not only delayed the Moscow plan for the harsh russian winter but also hitler missed the opportunity. This gave time for Stalin and Zhukov to re-think the situation, get more supplies from Britain, get backup from other civil USSR armies and so on. Is this correct? Or is this 'minor-mistake'? thank you.

Answer 1

no its when he started WWII

Answer 2

YES. This was the worst decision of the entire war for the axis. Essentially there are several key points which together make this a true game changer:



1. Operational weather for offensive operations from 25/8 to 17/10/41 would have provided 53 days of good weater which is greater than the 49 days of good (16) and marginal (33) in the OTL(Original Time Line) (which actually only started on 2/10/41) which still gets you to the 17th of Oct (Sorge's note on Japanese efforts away from the USSR was only provided on the 14/9/41).

2. The Japanese had internal provisos which were to govern their strategic direction. The first was if the Germany took Moscow they would direct there efforts towards the USSR and not the US. And if in combination they outnumbered the Soviet forces in the East by 3:1 they would direct there efforts against the Soviets.

3. Moscow was the centre of the Soviet Empire all rail networks, the entire brain of the soviet state was based there, upwards of 15-20% of Soviet GDPwas in and around Moscow.

4. The Soviets electrical supply had no integrated grid and revolved around a center near Moscow that supplied 75 percent of the power to the armament industry the elimination of this would have haemoraged Soviet industry the true achillies heel.

5. Being in Control of Moscow when the Siberians arrival would provide the axis with all the benefits of a relatively more hospitable defensive structure than the OTL. The line of axis of the arriving reinforcements assuming that surrender hadn't already been declared would have been along the Moscow Gorki rail line and easier to interdict.

Given the above it must be additionaly considered in hindsight who the person was who was whispering in Adolfs ear that influenced him to draw his crack panzer arms south to Kiev traversing 1000 + km's incurring wear and tear, not advancing on the Moscow strategic fulcrum but go after some .5 million ineret troops around Kiev. A tactical vistory but a strategic error of the most significant of magnitudes for the Axis. The additional impact of a focus on Japanese efforts towards the Soviet Union probably would have delayed US participation till well into 1942 and by then the war in the East would have been won, with 80% of the Wehrmacht now available for redeployment the Anglosphere would have been severely challenged and would have founmd an adversary significantly more powerful than what it encountered in the OTL with Soviet Russia during the Cold War.

Answer 3

His biggest mistake was in not using policies that made liberated Soviet territories allies instead of enemies. The SS's treatment of these lands, like the Ukraine, turned many would-be friends into ruthless foes, generating guerrilla forces that plagued the Wehrmacht throughout the war.

I would submit that forcing a three prong attack on the USSR was the mistake. Given initial successes, it's possible that Germany might have taken two of the three targets: Leningrad, Moscow, and Stalingrad to the south. A victory in Leningrad kept Finland in the fight, and threatened Moscow with an attack from the north, while allowing the German navy to keep the troops supplied. A victory in Stalingrad opened up the oil fields in the south, provided much needed resources. Taking Moscow would have been a propaganda victory, but by the time Germany was closing in on it, most of the major industrial capacity had already been shifted further east.

A sufficiently weakened USSR would have tempted the Japanese into the war, potentially drawing them away from their plans to attack Pearl Harbor, and thus delaying or preventing the entry of the US into the war. All of these things would have improved their chances of victory.

Bear in mind that Operation Barbarossa was delayed by 2 months thanks to Mussolini. The need to bail out his ally forced Hitler to send in German troops into Greece, delaying the start of the Russian campaign, and further extending the territory Germany had to defend. As it was, the Wehrmacht was within 20 miles of Moscow when the weather stopped their advance. That two months may have made the difference on that front.

Answer 4

Quite possibly.



Army Group Centre (AGC) was diverted from its advance on Moscow to aid Army Group South in eliminating the Kiev pocket.



Although the operation was highly successful,it was a full month before AGC could resume its advance on Moscow,and by then it was September.Autumn rains washed out the primitive Russian road system, bogging AGC down in the mud and slowing their advance even more.They were thus unable to capture Moscow before the onset of Winter.



Had the Germans captured Moscow in 1941,this would alnmost certainly have knocked the Soviet Union out of the war then.Stalin would either have had to evacuate himself from the city,or been killed or captured had he stayed.Either way,the senior political leadership in Russia would have been crippled.



Further,Moscow was the central hub of the entire railway network in the western Soviet Union.Its capture would have made it almost impossible for the Russians to maintain and supply a continuos front of almost 2000 miles against the German advance.



So,capture of Moscow in 1941 would have meant game over for Soviet Union in WW2,and thus probably the Allied cause as a whole too.

Answer 5

If you wish to visit areas like Kremlin, Red Square and St Basil's Cathedral than you should go to Moscow, the capital of the Russian Federation and among the country's hottest places for international visitors and you can be one if you appear with hotelbye . In Moscow you may also see the entire world famous theater, the Bolshoi Theatre, the jewel in the top of Moscow's wealthy ethnic life. Moscow has lot to offer and undeniably you will like a holyday here.

Answer 6

No his Biggest Mistake was In believing the British would Not go to war over Poland



followed by another Tantrum that turned from Bombing airstrips to Cities and after loosing the Battle of Britain and Not giving time to rebuild in June he nailed his coffin shut with operation Barbarossa



I am sad at the Loss of 750,000 horse's in the Misguided Campaign

Answer 7

Nope, it was pretty much when he took Austria, the Sudetenland and then all of Czechoslovakia. Actually, no doubt is first bad decision was trying to overthrow the German government in his beer hall putsch. He should have been shot for that. Then there would have been on WW2.

Answer 8

that was not a mistake at all. It was neccessary for his army to survive however his biggest mistake was to start a war with Stalin (Joseph Jugashvili). And britain did not help ****, they helped themselves. 25 million Soviets died during that conflict but they did manage to free their country and also owned half of Germany for almost a century.

Answer 9

No there was a good reason for it but I can't remember what it was. David Irving talks about it in one of his videos. Hitler's biggest mistake was not using his nerve gas and also his belief that Britain was still in the hands of the British.

Answer 10

No, his mistake was attacking Greece and thereby delaying operation Barbarossa