In the early histories of the Second World War, it was argued that the German invasion of Yugoslavia and Greece resulted in a delay of over a month for the invasion of the Soviet Union. But is this really the case?
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ABOUT TIK 📝
History isn’t as boring as some people think, and my goal is to get people talking about it. I also want to dispel the myths and distortions that ruin our perception of the past by asking a simple question – “But is this really the case?”. I have a 2:1 Degree in History and a passion for early 20th Century conflicts (mainly WW2). I’m therefore approaching this like I would an academic essay. Lots of sources, quotes, references and so on. Only the truth will do.
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Whithout watching the video TIK , Greece delayed more the Germans ( with less soldiers than Yugoslavia could deploy in the battlefield ) especialy in Crete .
Hey TIK have you done a video analyzing whether or not a German invasion of Malta would have succeeded as an alternative to Rommel invading Egypt?
I think the moral of this story is that Italy delayed and ultimately crippled Barbarossa and by extension Germany 😅
New Sub here, i actually debated one of my National Security teachers in college about the political spectrum. She put Fascism on the far right and communism on the far left. I told her that that was wrong since Fascism and Communism are essentially function with a similar ideaologic base. Im glad i found your Vids and basically have a better way to articulate my arguements. It is crazy that People ignore that Hitler was National Socialist (Nazi) and label him a Fascist. We truly live in an age where people do not know basic definitions and the origins of words. Thanks again!
Anyone who dares to come to our mountainous Balkan will end up like the US in Afghanistan.
We defended our lands against Germans in 2 WW, both times they run away after 4yrs.
Thanks for the review of this issue.👍
It was actually Mussolini's fault. If that idiot hadn't invaded Greece then the Germans wouldn't have bailed him out which in turn set in motion the events in the Balkans which in turn also delayed Operation Barbarossa by over a month
0:47 he completely knows that that phrase has become a meme by now
When will “But is this really the case?” merch be available?
Shirker’s book is so outdated and almost useless for any in depth discussions that happened.
Serbs were never anti-Semitic and anti parlamentric! NEVER!!!
One factor that should be mentioned is that the Nazi-Soviet Pact of 1939 moved the western border of the ussr 250 miles or so to the west. When Stalin grabbed Poland east of the Curzon Line, and also the Baltic states and Moldavia. This may have delayed the Nazi conquest of Russia long enough to halt it when winter set in.
Had Hitler focused on assisting Rommel in his drive through Africa – Egypt and Palestine would have come under complete German control. Vichy controlled Syria and Lebanon were not an issue. There is a likelihood, at this point, that a surrounded Turkey would have accommodated Hitler on a transit route for a direct attack on the Caucuses in 1942 or even 1943. An operation with Spain to seize Gibraltar and there goes the Mediterranean which would have a crippling effect on Britain (more so perhaps than the U-boat war on it's own). Iraq already had sympathies for Germany and Iran was ripe for the taking. Had Hitler envisioned the colossal impact of controlling all these important oil centers it is indeed very likely that Nazi Germany would still exist today. He was, however, a victim of his own temptations (Russia,Russia, Russia) eurocentric and land limited in his military thinking.
In facet Yugoslav Royal Airforce was extremely modern and shot more germans planes then germans shot Yugoslavs! Yugoslav had Bf 109E-3, Hurricane Mk.I, IK-3, Do 17K, Blenheim Mk.I, SM 79…
Hitler didn't have to invade the USSR. He could have easily beaten the English to the point they asked for peace if the forces dedicated to the USSR were instead dedicated to North Africa, Iraq, Iran, and protecting French Vichy interests. This would have given Hitler all the oil he needed, as well as threatening English oil , the Suez, and India. With Turkey surrounded by Axis interests in the Middle East and North Africa Turkey would have leaned towards the Axis and allowed a pipeline to be built through to the Balkans and into the Pleosti distribution network. The Soviet Union would have been effectively neutralized, or even increased its support for the Axis This would have given Hitler all the food and minerals he needed for years. Making a case he had to invade Greece and Yugoslavia "or he couldn't invade the USSR" is not imperative. If Hitler had left some countries independent in Europe, and returned Denmark and Holland, perhaps keeping a slice of the coast as a defense zone, to their governments it almost certainly would have left the USA out of the war, and encouraged Britain to make peace. Hitler's belief in the far-right conspiracies he read widely (judeo bolshevist and anti democratic ideas, xenophobia and aryanism) and the policies he pursued because of these beliefs led straight to his defeat. It is these ideas that made him crazy.
Macedonians have been almost completely neutral until quite late in the war due to the previous experiences.
We knew that who ever wins we're fkd
Did invasion Yugoslavia slow down Barbarosa? No. Did partizans in Yugoslavia became the greatest thorn in Nazi plans? Yes.
Actually Serbia.Croats,muslims and albanians were with nazis.
The "gifted" Halder, still chuckling….
Ah yes Halder and the other German Generals always say this or that, and if Adolf Madler only listened to them they would have won thee war! Truth is half the time they would blame anything for their failures- anything but their own mistakes of course. I find it scary that back during the Cold War NATO was going to follow and copy their ways of war, and trust what they said about the Red Army's capabilities. We would have got Soviet Steamrollered just like they were if it came to a WW3.
I would love to see a video on the history of the Nazi escapes to South America.
hey tik, would you be able to do a video on the foreign ss-divisons such as the wiking and the muslim ss-troops?
What? Belgrade fell to Germans AND HUNGARIANS? Where did that come from? Nonsense! The Hungarians stopped their unopposed southbound advance at Novi Sad, 75 km north of Belgrade, at the edge of the Bačka region promised to them by Hitler. Recent research places the number of Belgraders killed by the Luftwaffe in April 1941 at 8-10,000. NB: Up to 1/2 that many were killed by Allied bombing in 1944.
more by Greece than by yugoslavia… Greece did not receive enough territories after ww2 in my opinion they were vital for Germany's delay into invasion of Russia and their ultimate defeat.
Thank God Hitler wasn't Jordan when he took the Yugoslav uprising personally.
For Germany it was a distraction but it should have been seen as the road that should have been taken.
Probably 1/3rd the resources used in Barbarossa would have been more than sufficient to take Egypt which would have had the affect of turning the Mediterranean Sea into a Fascist Lake and providing the Fascist Nations with all the resources (oil) of the Middle East by mid-August 1941.
Hitler could have then declared peace in regard to Germany's war with Britain in late summer 1941. d.
This would have completely and fully have isolated Churchill (and therefore Britain). There's no way that Roosevelt can goad the U.S. into fighting a war with Britain that had already been fought and lost.
At some point after that an isolated, exhausted and nearly bankrupt Britain would have had to eventually settle with Hitler. Britain's period of "alone" against the Fascist would have been prolonged until they entreated with Germany.
This would have allowed Hitler to maintain his pre-war vision of the role of Britain, to continue as a colonial power.
Hitler could have then provided "labens" room for Germans in Eastern Europe by relocating many of the people's there that he did not like then under populated North Africa and Levant, with the extended benefit of returning North Africa to Western Civilization, and thus allow German demography to push east and south. Poles and other western Slavs in Czeckoslavakia and Yugoslavia moved to Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. He could have even moved the Jews to Palestine (although I think his blood thirst might not have allowed this – on the other hand he might have been forced to do this in order to not inflame American opinion against him in an otherwise peaceful alternative history for late 1941.)
The Nazi-Soviet pact was a good deal for the Nazis as it provided the resources they needed in the face of a British blockade, so ending that pact prematurely choked Germany off from ever winning in 1941. If Germany had focused on Egypt it could have kept the pact with Stalin.
At that point, Germany would have achieved the world view it had in 1914.
This also suggests that Hitler's dream of conquering Soviet Europe would have to be put off for another generation to accomplish, or him to attempt maybe 10 or 20 years later if he lived that long. But in truth, nobody really wants to live in Russia, its a frozen and harsh climate – especially compared to the Mediterranean lands.
His obsession with his ideology made him blind to the possibilities the conquest of Yugoslavia and Greece had opened for him.
In terms of the course of history, the invasion of Russia was terrible in terms of human suffering, but it meant that Naziism would not last. The defeat of Naziism was a good thing for history. So I think we still grieve for the loss of lives and the suffering that took place in Eastern and central Europe during Hitler's rule, and it is hard to get over, but the defeat of Hitlerism was really important. It was, to paraphrase Churchill, evil made worse by perverted science.
Chad fact: Yugoslav partisans were first guirella fighters in history to have their very own Airforce!
I think people mean that yugoslavia and greece had the chance to join the axis and they didn't and this caused a pain in the ass for germany and distracted them from the soviet union.
Brilliant but what you don't mention is that the divisions sent in Yougoslavia mist for the Barbarossa attack
How can it be delayed by
Yugoslavia when Yugoslavia was occupied within 6 days?
On the other hand, Greece fought from April 6, until May 30, when Crete fell. Almost 2 months.
Downplaying the decisive role of the British secret services in Yugoslavia which were the main force instigating the coup that threw this country in a devastating war is extremely historically irresponsible on your part. And I am saying this as a big fan of your channel.
Ivo Tasovac criticised Stafford's revised conclusion, pointing to evidence that the plotters were dependent on British intelligence, and that senior British officials met with both Simović and Mirković immediately before the coup was carried out. The British air attaché Group Captain A. H. H. McDonald met with Simović on 26 March,[82] and the assistant air attaché and British intelligence agent T. G. Mappleback met with his close friend Mirković on the same day and told him that the coup had to be carried out within the next 48 hours.[83][84][85] According to the historian Marta Iaremko, writing in 2014, "the vast majority of researchers" consider that the putsch was planned with the assistance of the British intelligence services, but that this, and their encouragement of the revolt, were not sufficient to ensure it was carried out.
The entire argument regarding the insignificance of the situation in Yugoslav on the whole operation Barbarossa still stands though. The decision to defy Germany on account of British designs was the single most costly decision this former kingdom did in its entire existence.
The conversation comes down to one thing, that is whether Germany ever had any chance of winning in the East and opinion falls into two different camps: Those who believe that Germany couldn't have defeated the USSR under any circumstances, and those who believe that, if not for catastrophic mistakes by Hitler, they could have, whilst they held the initiative. I personally believe 2-3 weeks was the difference between the capture of Moscow and Germany falling back into a defensive posture in the outskirts of Moscow, unprepared for the winter.
I have ways heard that Hitler was delayed and that's what cost him victory over Russia but I also learned from you that the Russians army was halting his army even before the weather got cold. So, I believe you.
I came across this video and thought it might be interesting and looked at previous videos to find a man obsessed with proving a particular political point. There is something disturbing about someone claiming to be an historian and doing that, as it just isn't history, it's about making a contemporary ideological point, dressed up as history.
Was delayed by Serbs since 90% of Croats and Muslims deserted or switched sides.
Hi TIK, I see you haven't replied yet to my offer to have a dialogue about climate change, about which you feel strongly, but where I have an open mind. If you are confident in your position why not discuss it? You may yet win me over!
Did you just call Serbians "just as anti semitic" as the Croatians??? Wtf
Narcissistic people always find someone, or something to blame for what in fact they are most responsible for.
germany will lose the war solely against USSR , let alone americans and their atomic bomb
IMO, the reason why Yugoslavia failed is because it unified 50-60 years too late, significantly later than Italian and German unifications, thus allowing each region a chance to form their own national identity rather than one single identity. The attempt of forming a single national identity in the interwar period had much opposition, but could have still worked, had it not been for the WWII. The propaganda, fighting and war cr*mes and g*nocides committed during the WWII made the massive rift between people that the communist didn't really try to patch. If not for WWII, Yugoslavia could have worked, but after the WWII Yugoslavia was doomed, it was only the question when and how it will fall apart, not if.
Also, even with the Italian unification around 1860 and the unified Italian nationality being a certainty, even during Musolini's reign the Italian national identity has not been FULLY formed, so even he had to use some propaganda to keep the Italians together.
Not Yugoslavia, was the british and jews.