Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login

> The codebreaking efforts of the Germans were also so incredibly fragmented across different departments that once two different departments had a bust up on the street.

Hitler also systematically embedded a divide and conquer principle in organizations. Basically all institutions were duplicated to have them compete against each other instead of potentially forming an opposition against Hitler.




USSR did the same thing. Pretty sure it was done to promote competition and not for divide and conquer. Secret police was more than enough to handle dissidents. Hitler and his party actually had a lot of support because most of the bad stuff they did was hidden from the people or justified super hard through propaganda. And as bad as the Nazis were overall they still managed to have major successes in economy and science.


>And as bad as the Nazis were overall they still managed to have major successes in economy and science.

They weren't actually succeeding economically. They simply racked up internal debt, stopped paying their foreign debt, and invaded Europe in order to plunder it's riches and resources.

They had been plummetting toward economic collapse.

They knew they weren't ready to defeat the UK militarily, knew their technology wasn't properly built up yet, and actually didn't anticipate their own early military successes in mainland Europe.

But they had no choice. Fascism itself had backed Hitler into a corner. It was invasion or abdication (which was unimaginable).




Consider applying for YC's W25 batch! Applications are open till Nov 12.

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: