The ENTIRE World War II from the Perspective of the Losers (1939–1945)
Der Kommandant English
15,699 views
Discover unpublished and rarely seen photographs from the Battle of Berlin in 1945, brought together in an exclusive collection for history enthusiasts.
More than 200 historical photographs take you through the final days of the Third Reich and reveal scenes rarely shown in documentaries.
🔥 Access the collection now and discover Berlin 1945 like never before: https://derkommandant.com/en
World War II, viewed through the lens of the nations that ultimately met defeat, began with a lightning series of victories that seemed destined to reshape the global order. Germany invaded Poland in September 1939, swiftly conquering Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. Italy, under Benito Mussolini, entered the conflict in June 1940 aiming to capitalize on a victory that appeared imminent, while Japan relentlessly expanded its sphere of control across Asia and the Pacific. During these initial years, the Axis powers held or threatened vast territories, yet beneath their rapid advances lay fundamental vulnerabilities: fighting simultaneous multi-front wars, severe dependence on external strategic resources, and a combined industrial capacity far inferior to the war machine their enemies would eventually mobilize.
The decisive turning point arrived between 1941 and 1942. The German invasion of the Soviet Union opened a catastrophic Eastern Front that consumed millions of lives and unfathomable quantities of war material. Simultaneously, the Japanese strike on Pearl Harbor brought the immense economic power of the United States directly into the war. Germany, Italy, and Japan found themselves locked in conflict with a coalition possessing overwhelming demographic, industrial, and economic superiority. Axis defeats at Stalingrad, El Alamein, and Midway signaled an irreversible shift in momentum. From that point forward, Germany was forced into a grinding retreat against the Red Army, Italy steadily lost its grip on the Mediterranean, and Japan struggled to defend an overextended empire increasingly exposed to American island-hopping campaigns.
Between 1943 and 1944, the conflict escalated into a desperate, defensive war of survival for the Axis powers. Italy faced an Allied invasion, Mussolini was deposed, and the nation signed an armistice, though German forces rapidly occupied key Italian territories to continue fighting. In the East, the Red Army reclaimed vast swaths of land and surged toward Central Europe, while the D-Day landings in Normandy opened a massive Western Front against Germany. German industrial centers and cities were subjected to unrelenting strategic bombing campaigns, while acute shortages of fuel, raw materials, and veteran troops severely crippled military operations. In Asia, Japan steadily lost airfields, naval bases, capital ships, and aircraft as Allied forces closed in on the Home Islands.
In 1945, the Axis system collapsed completely. The Red Army fought its way into Berlin while Western forces penetrated deep into the German heartland. Adolf Hitler committed suicide on April 30, and Germany surrendered unconditionally days later. Japan continued to resist for several more months, but continuous firebombing campaigns, a total naval blockade, atomic strikes on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the Soviet declaration of war brought a swift end to the conflict. For the defeated, the aftermath brought military occupation, total destruction, territorial dissolution, war crimes tribunals for political and military leaders, and profound political restructuring. Thus ended a war that began with staggering Axis conquests and concluded with Germany, Italy, and Japan confronting the devastating military, political, and human consequences of total defeat.
7 Comments
Antonov was one of the underestimated Soviet top military in the war. He wasn't flashy, he wasn't a charismatic front commander, but he was brilliant analyst and had a very rare talent: viewing the maps he understood the terrain very well even though he wasn't there personally. And he left no memoirs.
Btw, the history of Bagration shows very clearly the difference between Soviet and German attitude.
The thing was the Soviets had a whole series of setbacks in winter 1944. In particular, in Byelorussia where they tried to go on the offensive and were rebuffed with big losses.
But instead of fiery and totally senseless Führer's rants about worthless generals, the Soviets viewed the issue very seriously. There was organized a special State Commission for investigating the causes of failure and not with the aim of pointing fingers to losers but it worked out a whole lot of practical recommendations of how to improve the situation. Few people know that a similar commission was organized for investigating the results of July, 12, near Prokhorovka. So if somebody believes that Stalin viewed an obvious tactical defeat as great victory he's wrong.
Stalin initially was of the same opinion as Hitler and his generals were: main actions in Ukraine. But top Soviet leaders knew that Germans held the bulk of their mobile reserves there so they - namely, Zhukov, Vasilevskiy and Antonov were adamantly against the idea. Stalin asked them why they were so sure about the success in Byelorussia if all previous attempts failed.
Zhukov's answer was "because this time we will deal with it the right way"
The thing was Citadel wasn't a Hitler's idea initially. He was far more preoccupied with Donbass region due to its economic value and played with ideas of operations Habicht and Panther there to solidify Germans positions there. Citadel was totally Manstein's idea, he suggested it being euphoric of his Kharkov victory but Model - the 9. Army commander - categorically refused citing very bad condition of his troops after the gruesome Rzhev battle. Manstein didn't want to settle he came to General Zeitzler who was Army Chief Staff. Zeitzler liked the idea - it was a classical German pinzer movement and he went to Hitler. Hitler initially wasn't elated, he demanded Habicht / Panther first but the generals firmly responded - Citadel only! We don't have resources for both options! Hitler finally yielded and the wheels began to spin.
But Hitler never forgot Donbass. And so, as after July, 12, there were clear signs of an impending Soviet grand offensive there he ordered stopping Citadel. Why Cicily as an explanation? Because Hitler was tired very much arguing with Manstein but he wasn't ready to dismiss him yet. So ge preferred to give Manstein a geopolitical explanation which "removed wind from Manstein's sail" - was well beyond Manstein's level of competence.
Even more important is what forces Hitler sent to Italy because of Cicily. He sent there only Leibstandarte's personnel without any heavy equipment - Leibstandarte gave to to its brethren of the II SS Panzer Corps and not for battles but for guarding the Brenner Pass.
The rest of the II SS Panzer Corps went to Donbass to repel Soviet offensive there.
The ENTIRE World War II from the Perspective of the Losers (1939–1945)
Der Kommandant English
15,699 views
Discover unpublished and rarely seen photographs from the Battle of Berlin in 1945, brought together in an exclusive collection for history enthusiasts.
More than 200 historical photographs take you through the final days of the Third Reich and reveal scenes rarely shown in documentaries.
🔥 Access the collection now and discover Berlin 1945 like never before: https://derkommandant.com/en
World War II, viewed through the lens of the nations that ultimately met defeat, began with a lightning series of victories that seemed destined to reshape the global order. Germany invaded Poland in September 1939, swiftly conquering Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. Italy, under Benito Mussolini, entered the conflict in June 1940 aiming to capitalize on a victory that appeared imminent, while Japan relentlessly expanded its sphere of control across Asia and the Pacific. During these initial years, the Axis powers held or threatened vast territories, yet beneath their rapid advances lay fundamental vulnerabilities: fighting simultaneous multi-front wars, severe dependence on external strategic resources, and a combined industrial capacity far inferior to the war machine their enemies would eventually mobilize.
The decisive turning point arrived between 1941 and 1942. The German invasion of the Soviet Union opened a catastrophic Eastern Front that consumed millions of lives and unfathomable quantities of war material. Simultaneously, the Japanese strike on Pearl Harbor brought the immense economic power of the United States directly into the war. Germany, Italy, and Japan found themselves locked in conflict with a coalition possessing overwhelming demographic, industrial, and economic superiority. Axis defeats at Stalingrad, El Alamein, and Midway signaled an irreversible shift in momentum. From that point forward, Germany was forced into a grinding retreat against the Red Army, Italy steadily lost its grip on the Mediterranean, and Japan struggled to defend an overextended empire increasingly exposed to American island-hopping campaigns.
Between 1943 and 1944, the conflict escalated into a desperate, defensive war of survival for the Axis powers. Italy faced an Allied invasion, Mussolini was deposed, and the nation signed an armistice, though German forces rapidly occupied key Italian territories to continue fighting. In the East, the Red Army reclaimed vast swaths of land and surged toward Central Europe, while the D-Day landings in Normandy opened a massive Western Front against Germany. German industrial centers and cities were subjected to unrelenting strategic bombing campaigns, while acute shortages of fuel, raw materials, and veteran troops severely crippled military operations. In Asia, Japan steadily lost airfields, naval bases, capital ships, and aircraft as Allied forces closed in on the Home Islands.
In 1945, the Axis system collapsed completely. The Red Army fought its way into Berlin while Western forces penetrated deep into the German heartland. Adolf Hitler committed suicide on April 30, and Germany surrendered unconditionally days later. Japan continued to resist for several more months, but continuous firebombing campaigns, a total naval blockade, atomic strikes on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the Soviet declaration of war brought a swift end to the conflict. For the defeated, the aftermath brought military occupation, total destruction, territorial dissolution, war crimes tribunals for political and military leaders, and profound political restructuring. Thus ended a war that began with staggering Axis conquests and concluded with Germany, Italy, and Japan confronting the devastating military, political, and human consequences of total defeat.