[QUOTE=McAdonis;2632843]Agree with the quote you provided 100 percent. Common sense says that a two-front war is less preferable. But I do not see anywhere where this expert says Hitler should have delayed his invasion of USSR or pushed it to the summer of 1942 to focus on knocking Britain out of the war.
My main point is that Hitler did not have the luxury to postpone the invasion of USSR. And the second paragraph of this expert's quote details exactly why: Germany and Japan lacked the production capacity and population to beat USA and USSR in a long war. Essentially, Germany and Japan's only chance was to land a sucker punch and force a surrender early, before their economically and numerically superior foes had a chance to ramp up for war. The German blitzkrieg into USSR was so fast, that on the first day of Operation Barbosa, they were able to obliterate 40 percent of the Red Army's bomber aircraft on the ground before they were even able to take off. Japan tried to follow a similar blueprint with the Pearl Harbor attack. Their objective was to destroy the Pacific fleet but they missed their targets.
Attached image shows how many tanks USSR and USA produced, once they committed to the effort in 1941. The Allies easily out-produced the Axis. The Axis powers' "sneak attacks" were to incapacitate the enemy, then quickly achieve victory before the enemy could replace their fleet or bomber force.
Moving 3 million troops and tanks to the Eastern Front is doable. Moving that force across the English Channel to launch an offensive? Suicide.
Moreover, Stalin was sitting back watching the Western powers destroy themselves, before entering the fray. He likely would have invaded Germany if not in 1942 then probably 1943-1944.[/QUOTE]Germany was way superior to Britain militarily; even with the invasion by Germany of the Soviet Union Germany would have been able to defeat Britain. An expert's view:
"Six months before Pearl Harbor, Germany had launched an invasion of the Soviet Union, its erstwhile ally. By December 5, two days before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, German armies had advanced to within 5 miles of Moscow.
Hitler had decided to postpone a cross-channel invasion of Britain itself until his armies were able to defeat the Soviet Union, but Germany was still fighting Britain through aerial and missile bombing, and was engaged against Britain on the seas, as well as elsewhere in the British Empire, as in North Africa. In South Asia, Britain was also defending its colonies and commonwealth against Japan. On the face of it, especially in the long term and even with Lend-Lease aid from the United States, it is difficult to see how Britain could have continued the war without the entry of the United States into the conflict on its side. Presumably, Winston Churchill would have had to sue for peace, or endure a German invasion of the British Isles once the Nazis had consolidated their military strength in Europe. ".
Hitler's decision to fight a 2 front war was the main reason for its defeat in World War 2.