I think that the German military and everyone else was fooled by blitzkrieg and the fact that as yet (when Barbarossa was planned) no enemy had yet countered it. To think that they would make it all the way to Moscow and capture it before the Soviet military could bring about an effective counter was foolish. Granted they got close 20 miles but did not reach surround or most important actually capture Moscow.

And lets not forget that Stalins purges likely killed off talented commanders and instilled fear into goverment officials that dared not bring bad news about stepping up war preparations.
The Germans would have crashed into a wall if a less paranoid leader would have let the ww1 and civil war hardened comanders prepare defences.

On the subject of Barbarossa, I think Operation Marita and the diversion of Army Group Center to the Battle of Kiev are often given unnecessary credit in supposedly fatally delaying the launch of Barbarossa and the attack on Moscow, respectively. I've seen many people that seem to think that had these events not occurred (ignoring, of course, that it was mud season in Russia when the Battle of Greece took place and the threat the Kiev salient posed to the German lines), the German army would have somehow captured Moscow and won the war.

This likely comes from the (in my opinion) mistaken but widespread impression that the Germans were somehow one right decision short of winning the war, rather than not even being remotely close to anything of the sort.

EDIT: Thinking about it, it probably wouldn't be a stretch to say that the German army in World War II is itself overrated in many ways either.

Which brings me to the point - German stories of GPW (WW2 on the Eastern Front) from which Cold War Western doctrines, tactics and operational concepts were developed.
Somehow people were trying to recapture the way Germans were fighting USSR, but forgeting that Germans lost that war for a reason.

Continuing on the theme of WWII, I want to take a different stance and promote something, or rather someone, who is rather underrated and indeed has come to symbolise the failures which lead to the war.

Neville Chamberlain.

A name often associated with one action at one place, the treaty of Munich, but Chamberlain did so much more than that. In fact, he presided over the steady armament and preparation of Britain for an outbreak of war in Europe. Churchill came in as PM when it had all been completed, and carried in Britain in the defence and then offensive, but Chamberlain was the PM who laid the groundwork.
It's just a pity that all he is remembered for is a mistake in his foreign policy, but there's a lot of Presidents and Prime Minister who have history like that. :03:

The Beatles..:/\\!!

You saying they're overrated or are you going to find me and kill me :o

:haha:

I just don't get this Beatles mania that is still here today!

They were rubbish and very over rated.

Thank god I'm not the only one

:har: :har: :har: :har: :up:

Got to agree with Lewis Hamilton, his heads that big I am surprised that he can walk through the door, and I could win the F1 championship in the car he as been given to drive.

And they are\were scouses......

Maltese falcon: fell asleep watching it and after second wiewing still found it boring.

Andy Warhol: so he retouched existing images into an ''artsy colory''

Crime and punishment: first part OK, second part an epic about sitting in a prison cell. Cut it down to the same lenght as the first part and you get Shawshank redemption

I wasn't at all saying that he's not talented. He's a damn good driver to even be in Formula One and a better one to win but a lot of that has to do with the fact that the Mercedes engineers have crafted the almost-perfect racing car this season.

It's exactly my point. He's a good driver...but he wouldn't be winning if the car wasn't so well put together. Take Fernando Alonso...great driver but awful car. My Ford Focus could probably nearly beat the McLaren-Honda this year. (Not being serious...but insulting McLaren-Honda is necessary)

This whole thing on turn one of the US GP with him and Rosberg just goes to prove the point. Hamilton "under-steered into" his teammate and then claims he did nothing wrong. Then the guy says “Everyone has the right to their own opinion but it doesn’t matter because I won the race so I feel pretty good about it.” Yeah, Rosberg ran wide later and gave up the lead to Hammy but that's unrelated.

Meanwhile, Rosberg is pissed...and it's not the first time this happened either. They crashed at Spa last year.

I just can't bring myself to like the guy or think that he deserves the hype that he gets. I feel like Rosberg would be better off with a different teammate...I feel like he deserves a better teammate whether he's with Mercedes or not in the coming years.

---

This is why WRC, WEC and WTCC is more entertaining. No drama. :rock:

Juan Manuel Fangio, 1957.

Just my opinion, of course.

This thread is very interesting to follow, I don't have any person my self I think is overrated. I guess every historical and/or famous person or event have been more or less overrated.

Markus

Michael Schumacher 1994.
Just my opinion.

Everything was against him that year too with the cheating controversies and such.

Damn shame, the accident he had. :dead:

Everyone cheats in motorsports. Sometimes teams get caught. Especially in Formula One with the amount of money teams spend and the reputations to protect. I gurantee that today in F1 they are cheating in ways that the inspectors haven't even thought of.

Mainly agree but Chamberlain was never going to lead us to victory.