led to the end of any ligitament German offensive in World War II. This major event was winter. As one German general put it, "The icy cold, the lack of shelter, the shortage of clothing, the heavy losses of men and equipment, the wretched state of our fuel supplied, all this makes the duties of a commander a misery and the longer it goes on the more I am crushed by the responsibility which I have to bear." Hitler admitted this when he canceled his attack on Moscow. "The severe winter weather which has come surprisingly early on the east and the consequent difficulties in bringing up supplies, compel us to abandon immediately all major offensive operations and go over to the defensive." At this point Hitler moved 70% of his tanks and assault guns to the Russian front leaving Southern Europe vulnerable. In the Spring on 1943 American and Russian industrial production were at their peak an Germany could no longer regain it's superiority in armaments. The allies began attacking German armaments and destroying German cities. Hitler's last major offensive came in July, but he confessed to his commander that the entire offensive was all a gamble. This offensive was a complete failure, due to Russia being completely prepared with extensive defenses. Along with this failure in Russia and the allies gaining ground in southern Europe, Hitler also had to contend with resistance from within Poland. The Home Army, consisting of 300,000 men caused havoc for Hitler's men stationed in Poland. The fact that Hitler had to station more men in Poland to contend with the Home Army took some strength away from his Russian front, which could have saved him from defeat. Russia forced Hitler back into a defensive withdrawal. He also lost command of the air as allied planes were seen more and more along with Germany's lack of fuel to train new pilots. Taking control over the air campaign was a major step for the allies. This proved to be an important part of Hi...
