70 years after the end of World War II, we still remember the day when the Axis powers fell to the allies.Many of us believe that the entry of the United States into the war was the reason why Germany was defeated.However, fresh evidence uncovered by historians say otherwise.According to Military Historian Bevin Alexander, Germany’s weakness and miscalculations may be to blame.Let’s take a look at the conventional and new reason for the defeat of Germany.The entry of USA was a key factor in defeating Germany and arguably the conventional reason for Germany’s defeat.From an indirect involvement of sanctions as well as policies such as the ‘Cash and Carry’ act to the ‘Lend-Lease Act’ to the direct involvement in the war after the bombing of Pearl Harbour.Being the world’s largest economy, USA could convert its factories to produce military resources at a much faster pace and amount than the Axis powers combined.Furthermore, large numbers of American personnel were sent to aid Allied military campaigns.More than 16 million American soldiers were involved in the war as well as American ships, planes tanks and nuclear weapons, with the cost totalling to a whopping $350 billion.1USA’s involvement in military planning in major attacks such as the D-Day landings also played a major part in defeating Germany.America’s generals such as General Dwight D.Eisenhower.2, help coordinate and led the attacks against the Nazis in western Europe.Operation Overload, on June 6, 1944, also known as D-Day.3 was launched, where 156,000 Allied soldiers(mostly American troops) landed on the 50-mile Normandy coast area, which was heavily fortified.This was also the beginning of the end of the war.Another example is US-led strategic bombings, which destroyed key Germany installations such as factories as well as affecting Germany morale by targeting civilian buildings.Schweinfurt–Regensburg mission was a raid where they eliminated ball-bearing factories which help crippled the German war production in the long term.Another example would be strategic bombings on German oil production and refinement in Austria and Romania.This limited the ability of the Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe to conduct operations and limited the amount of training for tank operators and pilots which had a large impact on the quality of troops.With the entry of the United States, it gave a large boost to the Allies in terms of resources and manpower, which helped overpower the Axis powers in terms of military might.However, even with the world’s largest power, it still took another four years for the war to end, which resulted in millions more being killed.However, historians might argue that Germany’s weaknesses and miscalculations was the reason Germany was defeated.Firstly, their ineffective command structure of Germany wherein command was confusing and overlapping.Hitler insisted on making decisions that should be left to the army and went against the advice of the more experienced generals, resulting in heavy losses and led to the Germans to be unable to score decisive victories which led to Allies’ counterattacks.For example, Hitler decided to attack Russia going against the Soviet-Nazi Pact.4, which resulted in Germany fighting a war on two fronts.He also went against the advice of his Generals and diverted the forces to attack different parts of USSR instead of Moscow.As a result, Germany was unable to get a quick victory over USSR which resulted in a long and bitter war and eventual loss as USSR gained the upper hand through various factors.5.This allowed for Russia to regroup and build up their weapons which allowed them to push Germany out in the end.Germany’s inappropriate use of resources and military funds also had severe repercussions.Unlike the Allies, who focused on producing tried and tested weaponry, Hitler wanted the most up-to-date weapons whereby some were not even tested.This resulted in large amount of resources being wasted on weapons and spare parts, which caused a shortage of proven weapons and equipment which was crucial for the fight against the Red Army.To top it off a lack of workers(women were not discouraged from working, labourers were starved), further reduced the amount of equipment produced in factories which caused major shortages, whereby the army had to reuse many old parts which affected their effectiveness.A less know blunder by the Germans was the Battle of the Bulge.6.Germany’s last-ditch attempt against the Allies to split the Allies in two and destroy their ability to supply themselves.Ironically, it was Germany who ran out of supplies first.Hitler wanted an all-out attack to destabilise the allies and give Germany access to the Belgium port of Antwerp, where large amounts of supplies were at.However, Germany’s massive armored assault required large amounts of resources, especially petroleum, which was almost non-existent due to the consistent bombings on Germany occupied oilfields and fuel plants.By mid-January, Germany simply did not have enough fuel to continue their onslaught which resulted in the Germans having to abandon their vehicles and battle it out on foot in forests which resulted in a large number of casualties and the retreat of Germany.With multiple miscalculations and blunders by Germany, it has resulted in the German army being weakened which allowed for the Allies to resist and counter against Germany’s attack.However, Germany was still a strong power and the Allies still had trouble defeating Germany until the entry of the United States.Comparing these two views, both have contributed towards the defeat of Germany.However, the main reason why Germany still lost the war is still that of the entry of the United States.Without the help of US, it was not possible for the Allies to defeat Germany as Britain and Russia were greatly weakened at that point and war-weary, with large amounts of casualties.Only with the help of the United States vast resources and effective war strategies was the Allies able to liberate Germany and end the war.The weakness and miscalculations of Germany only made it easier for the Allies to resist Germany and in turn, with the help of US, able to push back the over-stretched Germans back, resulting in their surrender after defeat was inevitable.