When Hitler Scrapped His Navy

Hitler's relationship with his navy is one of the most intriguing topics of the naval history of the Second World War. Hitler was the Commander-in-Chief of all German armed forces - including the Kriegsmarine - and yet he was a man with no experience or understanding of seapower. The result was a strange and fractious relationship with his navy which was ill equipped, poorly manned and, more importantly poorly understood by the Nazi leadership. The relationship soured to such an extent that, in 1942 after an Allied convoy successfully made it to Russia in the dead of winter, Hitler publicly and furiously denounced the navy and demanded that all heavy German warships should be scrapped. This relationship presents a fascinating conundrum at the very heart of the otherwise formidable Nazi war machine and to consider it helps us understand the broader role of the impact of seapower on the course and ultimate outcome of the Second World War, and it also helps us understand Hitler as a man and as a political and military leader. To find out more Dr Sam Willis spoke with Hitler biographer Professor Frank McDonough.

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