Source: National Archives
THe atlantic wall
Hitler knew that the Allies would try to break into France from the English Channel. He ordered a 2,000 mile line of defense to be built along the northern shores of Europe. This was called the Atlantic Wall, a great engineering feat of the modern world. General Erwin Rommel was appointed to head this project, and look at the most possible places an invasion would occur.
After an inspection of the coast-line in Dec 43, Rommel determined that the three most probable invasion sites were the Schelde, the Somme, and the western part of the Bay of the Seine. The Soviet offensive in the East left a few dozen divisions left to defend Europe, so Hitler knew that they would have to change focus if an invasion were to occur. The Wall was to prevent an invasion or repel it.
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There were 18 sections of 15,000 concrete sections, manned by 300,000 troops. Hitler’s famous Directive 40 plan attempted to counter the inevitable Allied invasion.
He ordered that the Atlantic coast defenses should be so organized and troops so deployed that any invasion attempt be smashed before the landing or immediately thereafter. |
Germany gained too much territory that they could not defend. It had too much land, and too little of defenders.
Just like the eventual end to the Roman Empire, the German army was spread out too thin, trying to defend every single piece of territory. This would lead to the downfall of the Third Reich. |
At the beginning of 1944, Nazi Germany's fundamental problem was that she had conquered more territory than she could defend, but Hitler had a conqueror's mentality and he insisted on defending every inch of occupied soil. |
Throughout the whole invasion Hitler used propaganda to convince the German people that the invasion of Normandy beach was not a success for the Allies but a successful defense for the Axis powers. For example in this short video clip the German announcer says, "The crews of these landing crafts were defeated by our rapid response."
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