What kept the Germans fighting?

I'm sure that in the fall of 1944 it was quite apparent that the Allies were eventually going to win the war. What kept German soldiers fighting? I mean, Winter/Spring 1945 it was dead obvious what the impending results of the war were going to be, so what kept the Axis Population/Military fighting?

Quite a few reasons. Here's a few:

1) The Allies had agreed on unconditional surrender at the Tehran Conference and the terms, including the partition of defeated Germany were known to the Germans. Ordinary Germans realised that unconditional surrender would mean the end of Germany (remember, this was the SECOND war that Germany's militarism had played a large part in starting) . Germany's leaders realised that it would mean the end of the Nazi regime and justice would be meted out by the victors. Also, the Russians would wield a great deal of influence with the Allies' later decisions - a situation which would be very hard to stomach ('cultured' Aryan Germany being ruled by a horde of bolshevist barbarians).

2) Hitler's delusions. He always claimed to have never stopped fighting until five minutes past midnight and he hoped for an ideological split between West and East at the last moment. To hasten this he allowed Russians to move ever closer to Berlin while putting up fanatical resistance in the West - the idea being that the possiblilty of a Europe East of France ruled by Communist forces would force the Western Allies to accept a unilateral surrender.

3) The loss of resistance forces in the Wermacht due to the ill-fated July 1944 assassination attempt contributed to the hard-line no surrender policy.

4) The totalitarian state stopped dissent and any civilian and military mutinies.

1) Confidence in Hitler, the 'god-like' Fuhrer. Over a decade of relentless propaganda by a genius propagandist (Goebbels) had most of the German people convinced that Hitler would triumph somehow.

2) Belief that the Allies, especially the USSR, intended the total destruction of Germany. Which is to say that there seemed to be no safety in surrender. Goebbels' propaganda reinforced this attitude.

3) Exaggerated hopes regarding the 'wunderwaffen' (wonder weapons) such as the V-1, V-2, Me 262, Tiger tank, and so on.

4) Recollection of the spectacular victories of 1939-41. When the war started, Germany was surrounded and outnumbered, yet crushed all foes. It seemed possible that there could be another 'turn of the tide'.

5) The coercive apparatus of the German state and and army. Talk of surrender was considered treason and could be punished summarily - especially in the army. SS troops and MPs were authorized to shoot suspected deserters out of hand. In the last months of the war, this was so prevalent that it beceame dangerous to be sent back to HQ with messages. The Gestapo was nearly as ruthless with civilian 'defeatists'.

6) Fear of Allied punishment for conduct during the war. The Nazi leaders, many army leaders, and many 'small fish' all had reason to believe that they would die if the Allies ever caught them. Cornered rats will fight.

7) Inertia. People tend to carry on with a project once it's started. Even when it should be obvious that the project is a failure, people who have made a big commitment to it don't want to give up. With something as all-encompassing as a war, giving up can be very hard.

In Europe it was Germany, by the fall of '44, that wanted to keep fighting. Her erstwhile allies Hungary and Italy had both been occupied by Germany as they dropped out of the war. A coup in Romania deposed the pro-axis gov. and Romania had therafter switched over to the Allies.

So by '45 Germany and Japan stood alone and almost totally isolated from each other.

At least one reason the Germans fought so hard was the fear of the Red Army relentlessly approaching from the East. The Soviets were not happy at all about the destruction wrought on their nation in 4 years of war with Nazi Germany. Because of the frictions between Stalinist Russia and the Western democracies, several of the Nazi party leaders thought that the alliance between the SU and Britain and the US would not last. Himmler actually believed a separate peace treaty with the Western Allies would be possible, and according to this fanciful plan, after making peace, Germany and the Western Powers would fight the Soviets to prevent them from penetrating any further into Europe.

Keegan in his WWII book states that German soldier on the Eastern front fought with 'demented bravery' to hold open escape routes for German citizens fleeing the wrath of the Red Army.

1. Patriotism and traditional military virtues. 2. Fear of occupation by Russian Communist troops. 3. Faith in leaders' promises of some miraculous deliverance. 4. Lack of practical alternatives. (A single soldier or civilian cannot negotiate a truce or surrender independently, but must obey local superiors.)

Keane,

A few minor things on their minds kept them fighting.

One, the depreditations of the 'death squads' in the East (these firing squads shot over a million people) and what the Russians would do for revenge.

Two, the mass murder of, no one is sure exactly how many, 10 million or so people in death camps and now real way to hide the fact I am sure was a nagging worry.

Three, Hitler and his fellow travelers had 'flying firing squads' to shoot anyone with 'defeatist attitudes', which I am sure spurred them on to greater efforts.

Add to this, Hitler considered the Eastern front a 'Ideological War', that is, TOTAL war. So the Soviets responded in kind and the Eastern front was, with maybe the exception of the Marines .vs. Japanese, to be the most brutal, no-quarter given, war ever to exist.

I really suggest you read, 'Under the Bombs', by Earl R. Beck. And you will see just how hard, and why, Hitler forced the Germans to fight.

You see a lot of posts along this line, and it is simple to say 'Why didnt they stop supporting Hitler?' or 'Why did they keep fighting when it was obvious they were going to lose?'. But the truth is that its often not so easy nor so obvious.

For example, I have decided that my government is corrupt, incompetent, and self-serving, and I have decided that I will no longer support such a govt. So I'm not going to pay my taxes anymore. How long do you think it will be before I'm sitting in jail? Not too long I should think.

Or maybe I'm a soldier in a war and I've decided I've had enough. I'm going home. That's desertion and will get me . . . (A) a long sebaticle in a military prison; ( reassignment to one of those restful penal battalions that you've heard so much about; (C) an unpleasent aquaintance with a firing squad; or (D) all the above, in that order.

There's strength in numbers so I'll convince my fellow soldiers to join me. Nearly every war has had mutinies, some quite large. But none altered the course of the war and the leaders of mutinies are 'always' executed.

My point is that its easier said than done. The whole population has to feel exactly the same and be willing to do something about it. That is how revolutions begin, how leaders come to power, how wars begin, etc.

And its not always that obvious that youre losing or that all hope is lost. Dont you always expect your favorite sports team to make a comeback when they're losing, even though others are saying the games over?

Its just not so simple.

It was obvious long before then. Guederian told Hitler the war was lost in Nov, 1941; Jodel told Hilter the same in Nov, 1942; Hitler agreed. The fighting continued because there was no alternative. Unconditional surrender; what evolved into the Morgentau Plan was already the USA plan

As others have pointed out, it wasn't that easy for a soldier to stop fighting.

Loyalty to one's fellow soldiers is something people haven't mentioned. Just about any vet interviewed will tell you how close he got to the guys in his unit. Doesn't matter which side. You live in each others pockets, you get to know one another pretty well. Would you run out on your family and leave them in the lurch? The alternative is organising an entire unit to run off. Outside your immediate circle, who do you trust? What do you do with the few nazi nutters who WANT to die gloriously? What of those people who are prepared to leg it but aren't necessarilly keen on you shooting people YOU decide are trouble makers? What proportion might turn on you at what point? How do you feed and shelter these guys? How do you deal with the SS squads out there who'd shoot you? What happens if you have a fire-fight with these and you have wounded?

The simple thing is to fight on and try not to get killed. As you're musing on this...

You'll have heard all these stories about what happens to prisoners. On the eastern front, many would be true. You don't have CNN and someone with a bunch of maps explaining how the war is going, you just see what's in front of your foxhole. Maybe you haven't even had home leave for a year and never seen the devastation wrought by bombing as you live in a village. You have no way of knowing what happens to most prisoners, only propoganda tells you what's happening on other fronts.

Older Volkssturm were notoriously unreliable and even in defence of Berlin could be expected to only do anything for one attack. They 'did their bit' and then snuck off/surrendered. These guys hadn't grown up in a nazi germany and hardly knew their fellow 'soldiers'. As a result they were extremely brittle without some other motivation. Like say, holding a gap so civilians from their area could escape or protecting their home town when they assumed everyone would be shot/tortured/raped by Ivan.

Andy O'Neill www.l-25.demon.co.uk/index.htm