Adolf Hitler was an Intelligent Individual

I am sorry to see that my opponent his round 2 portion of this debate. That being said, I shall now continue my arguments... Hitler, as a military leader, can be summed up best by this quote: "Before the war, and still more during the conquest of the West, Hitler came to appear a gigantic figure, combining the strategy of a Napoleon with the cunning of a Machiavelli and the fanatical fevour of a Mohomet. After his first check in Russia, his figure began to shrink, and towards the end he was regarded as a blundering amateur in the military field, whose crazy orders and crass ignorance had been the Allies' greatest asset. All the disasters of the German Army were attributed to Hitler; all its successes were credited to the German General Staff." B. H. Liddell Hart [1] Hitler may have appeared somewhat intelligent militarily at the start of the war, but after his unfair, pre-determined advantages were taken away by military defeats, the true Hitler was revealed to be somewhat of an insane and ignorant person. One of his greatest blunders was the infamous battle of Dunkirk. The battle of Dunkirk took place in May-June of 1940. The conflict involved the Germans, the British, and the French. The German forces eventually managed to trap roughly 330,000 enemy men on the beaches around Dunkirk, and their destruction by the Germans was imminent. The men at Dunkirk were literally sitting ducks for a German onslaught, and it was entirely possible that all the men would have been killed if the Germans would have pressed the attack. Of course, Hitler, showing his absolute foolishness, decided to issue a "Halt" order. This allowed all 330,000 enemy soldiers to escape back to Britain after Hitler PERSONALLY squandered the best opportunity he had gotten so far at destroying the British army. Winston Churchill called it a 'miracle' and it illustrated one of the best points I am trying to make - Hitler's incompetence. [2] [3] That, however, was not the greatest example of Hitler's incompetence. That award goes to the Battle of Stalingrad. Stalingrad is considered by many to be the "turning point of World War II" and was responsible for the loss of 250,000 German men - a.k.a. the entire German Sixth Army [4]. The German attempt to capture the city was effective if judged by the amount of land in the city they effectively captured, but was less effective when the fact that the portions of land they captured during the day were taken back by the Russians at night. While the fighting for the control of the actual city was taking place, six Russian armies of one million men, led by Marshal Zhukov, surrounded the city and called for the German surrender. The Germans were headed for a disaster, but the forces, led by General Paulus, could have broken out of the trap in the first stages of the enemy assault. Guess who ordered them not to do so. That's right. Hitler. Hitler's order to Paulus read as follows: Supreme Commander to 6 Army, January 24, 1943 "Surrender is forbidden. 6 Army will hold their positions to the last man and the last round and by their heroic endurance will make an unforgettable contribution towards the establishment of a defensive front and the salvation of the Western world." [4] Yes, intelligent. Due to the fact the forces were now unable to break out of the Russian trap, they had to face other enemies, such as the Winter. Food, ammunition, and morale quickly ran low. So what did Hitler do? Promote Paulus to Field Marshal, of course! As if that would somehow change the fact that a million Russians were about to hand the Germans one of the most crushing defeats of the war, all thanks to Hitler's order. By February 2nd, 1943, the German army surrendered in the wake of a complete and utter military disaster. With so much manpower lost, Germany set itself up for a fall in the rest of the war, and when they really needed the extra manpower and resources, such as when the Russians advanced on Germany, they did not have them. All thanks to Hitler's incredibly stupid decision to "fight to the last bullet." [4] Now, Hitler at least honored the soldiers that fell at the battle, right? Of course not. He organized a national day of mourning in Germany for the "shame von Paulus had brought on the Wehrmacht and Germany"[4]. To put the final nail in the coffin, Hitler stripped Paulus of the rank he had been so quick to give him before.[4] All of that being said, Hitler's stupidest decision had to have been declaring war on the United States. After being entrenched in years of war with Russia and England, on December 11th, 1941, Hitler declared War on the United States. Yes, that makes sense. He was already fighting two of the strongest nations on the face of the planet, and then he decides to declare war on a third. The man's total ignorance, arrogance, and belief that he could defeat three ostentatiously strong nations at once was exemplified in this decision, and the lack of intelligence, militarily or otherwise, shown by this action, really does speak for itself. I await my opponent's response. [1] http://www.au.af.mil... (Note: If this particular link appears ineffective or broken, it may need to be copy + pasted into the address bar to be viewed. Sorry for the inconvenience if this does occur.) [2] http://en.wikipedia.org... [3] http://historyimages.blogspot.com... [4] http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk...