Mookie was merely twisting my position into something it is not. I play and mod the German side of the war, as everyone knows. I don't have a clue why mookie would say something as clearly false as that. I guess in an Internet discussion anything goes as long as it scores "points."
The whole point of a simulation is to answer the question "what if?" In this case, what if the Germans had followed different tactics, could the U-Boat have won the war? My conclusion has been that no change in tactics or even advancing the state of the U-Boat beyond 1920 would have resulted in a German victory in the Battle of the Atlantic, much less the war.
Tactically, the Germans would have been much better served by being much less aggressive. They could have wiped out France and Poland, taking the necessary Low Countries in the bargain (you were just in the way, sorry we bumped you!). If the U-Boats had been coastal defense only, the British would not have been so inflamed. The Battle of Britain iced the cake.
Totalitarian regimes are free to act aggressively. Even when provoked, it is very difficult to move a republic or constitutional monarchy to the tipping point where they are wholeheartedly committed to death and destruction. They always contain large groups of supplicators who believe that peace is the greatest good, no matter what, and nothing is worth the price of a single soldier's life.
Just look at the US today, with the radical Islamics at war with us and our official stance is to pretend there is no war. We'll pay for that. Also look at the stance of English peaceniks during the Napoleonic period, who were vicious in their politics of destruction toward the Duke of York and those who saw the need to defeat Napolean.
Hitler didn't understand the dynamics of popularly elected government, and so was unable to take advantage of its characteristics in order to have a greater chance of victory, U-Boats or no U-Boats. But as it was, the U-Boats were responsible for the resolve of the British and the presence of the Americans. Without both of those, the Germans would easily have won.
|