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20th Century History/Did Africa cost Germany the war?

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Expert: Michel Cahier - 4/1/2009


Question
Africa cost the Nazis much resources in Africa. Did they need control of Africa to control entry into Sicily? Certainly, Sicily would have needed to be bombed before any invasion. If Sicily had become another Normandy, then what? Germany was just too stretched to sustain, correct?
Victory was essentially determined with the Soviet Union beating the Nazis back.

Answer
Of course  but the Nazis did need to control North Africa to control the road to India, i.e. the Suez canal. They needed to prevent an invasion through Greece or Sicily and to control the road to oil fields of the Middle East. Actually they needed to control everything and they tried. It is why theirs plans could not succeed :  they were too stretched, too ambitious and unrealistic.  How 60 millions people could control the whole of Europe, Africa and the Middle East ? As for victory, it was a combined success of the Allies. The invasion of Normandy was the way to liberation of France, the invasion of Sicily the way to liberation of Italy and even without the Soviets the Allies would have won. Maybe not military but politically as the Germans were in 1944 in the same situation as in 1918 : not yet defeated but exhausted and running out of men and resources. The presence of the Russians in the  war was  unavoidable, it is difficult to know what would have been the situation if  Hitler had not attack the Russians but I think it is wrong to wonder about it : Hitler's real enemy was the Soviet system and his Jewish supporters. It is impossible to imagine that Hitler would not have attacked Russia. History must not been rewritten, it must be understood.  Best regards, Michel

20th Century History

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Michel Cahier

Expertise

I am a French amateur historian in German history between 1918 and 1945, particularly with regard to the Nazi era, Hitler's character and the occupation of Europe.

Experience

I have worked on the subject of Nazism since college and since I retired I developed a complete site with more than 60 chapters devoted to different aspects of the Nazi era. I have developed too a special interest in Nazi Art and the treatment of art by the Nazis. My site had about 2000 hits per week and is very well considered. I would be glad to help some people who have very precise questions about Hitler and the Nazis. My site can be consulted at http://schikelgruber.net/index.html. Needless to say that I am not a supporter of the Nazis and never in this site do I attempt to justify or excuse their policies.

Organizations
I used to work for the Agence France Presse, La Tribune, TV Channel France 3 and as the Editor of the Agence Economique et Financiere. I was in position in Brussels, London and Paris.

Publications
I published a book about the entrepreneurs and the motives for creating a company in the 80s and a book about the Franco-Swiss jeweller Philippe Charriol in the 90s

Education/Credentials
I graduated in Law and Political Sciences, I have a MBA from the Paris Chamber of commerce and I have a license of massage therapy (RMT) of the State of Texas

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