German strategic thought in this conflict, mainly embodied by Adolf Hitler, led to a strategy of apocalypticism in which Germany was guided by Nazism and locked into a death match with its enemies-in particular the Soviet Union. Indeed, ideology plagued strategy to the extent that the Germans sought to achieve extremely difficult goals and that the decision-making process was heavily affected by it. The Third Reich failed to achieve this balance.Īrguably, the main flaw of German strategy in World War II was that it rested heavily on ideology and neglected objective elements that could have helped better assess the general situation. Indeed, ideology must be balanced with objective and rational assessments about one’s own situation and forces, along with those of the adversary-strategically, operationally and tactically-so it does not damage the strategic art. While ideology is not necessarily damaging to strategy in and of itself, it can lead to dangerous decisions and situations. Ideology and Strategy, or Ideology Over Strategy? This article will detail some of the strategic mistakes Germany made during the conflict to illustrate how a lack of good strategy decisively contributed to the doom of the Third Reich. Germany in the Second World War provides an illustration of why the strategic level is essential. ![]() Each level of war is essential to obtain this success, and are all equally important. Strategy is about obtaining success from war through a clearly defined theory of victory. Strategy, simply defined, is the alignment of means and ways to accomplish a political end. ![]() From the general to the local, they are the strategic, operational, and tactical levels. ![]() It is widely agreed that there are three levels of war.
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