Indeed, they made plenty of mistakes, otherwise they would have won the war.
But it’s less about whether they could have sustained their empire afterward and more people trying to say that portraying them as such is “glorifying” them or propping them up in some sort of idealistic way.
rhombus@sh.itjust.works 1 month ago
Therein lies the problem, because even if they somehow executed an absolutely perfect strategy they would not have won the war, not in the long run at least. I agree that Wolfenstein doesn’t glorify them since its reasoning for them winning is outlandish sci-fi technology, but a lot of media that assumes they could have won is glorifying, even if indirectly.
SARGE@startrek.website 1 month ago
“It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not weakness, that is life.” - Jean-Luc Picard
You make valid points. I know I’ve heard enough people who start off with “the nazis sure were bad, BUT…” and proceed to fangirl over every technological achievement made by Germany, even those that came after the allies.
There’s certainly a line where it goes from “fantasy parody of real life” to “someone wrote a fan fiction about the fourth Reich and clearly has a crush on Hitler whether they want to admit it or not”
Literally the only way they would have conquered the world is through the wonders of “Sci Fi Magic Bullshit” ™️
DragonTypeWyvern@midwest.social 1 month ago
Well, that or America not electing FDR in 1936.
captainlezbian@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Yeah they were an empire run like and by meth addicts. Terrifying to face, shockingly clever, and headed directly to destruction with the only question being whether they or someone else landed the killing blow on them.
These were not hyper competent tacticians, it was a society that hyped itself into a blood frenzy, convinced of their own superiority and that they’ll be destroyed if they don’t destroy everyone else first. That’s a terrifying threat, but so’s a meth addict with a knife and paranoid delusions.
They were hemorrhaging competence through their Nazi bullshit. Yeah they had some people like von Braun, but they lost people like Einstein (and special shout-out to Fermi who defected from Italy because his wife was Jewish). Additionally their behavior in held territory actively fostered partisan resistance and encouraged fighting to the death.
And that’s ignoring the fact that they broke the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact while at war with France and England and at war in Africa and while leaving Italy to defend itself. The Soviets were a force unto themselves having been the only army to trounce Russia in centuries.