The Road to World War II

Hitler wasn’t interested in the state of the German economy. The only thing that mattered was that in the summer of 1939 he had Europe’s most combat-ready army. Of course, economic difficulties made themselves felt. New tanks and automatic weapons were delivered to the troops with a major delay. Stockpiles of ammunition allowed only a limited war—for no more than a few weeks. From all of this, Hitler drew one conclusion: the blow had to be struck immediately, while Germany and Italy had the advantage over the Western powers. And relations with the Soviet Union were vitally important…