LogFAQs > #972439720

Bass_X0 posted...

When was the actual turning point in World War II that lead to Germanys defeat?

If we assume Russia was always a necessary victory condition, and Barbarossa had to happen, then the Battle for Moscow was a huge defeat. The Battle of Stalingrad (somewhat) shortly after that was disastrous. Either one of those could be looked at as the the point of no return.

What I like to go with, though, is the Battle of Kursk. It was a post Stalingrad offensive planned by the Germans, with the idea being that a big offensive in the area would lead to the Germans cutting off large portions of the Red Army and allow the Germans to prevent any future Soviet offensives for that year, allowing the Germans some space and time to setup for a potential 44 campaign.

What actually happened was the Germans hit a brick wall, for the first time in the war their offensive plans failed, and they were driven back. Its the last offensive operation conducted by the Germans in the war on the Eastern front, and would mark the start of the passing of the buck to the Soviets, who from this point on, would slowly advance on Berlin without stopping. In a nutshell, the Germans spent what energy they had left on this one big offensive, and once that energy was spent, there was no recovering.

Ive seen a lot of alt-history explanations for how Germany could still win after so-and-so battle or event very, very few of them ever suggest victory was possible after Kursk. It was clear to just about everyone involved by this point that the war was effectively over, and now it was just a matter of how much longer will it take to bring Germany down for good.