Was really germany more ready to war in 1938 than 1939 ? And what would have happened if germany asked for right to pass to poland il order to go directly attacking USSR without making france and uk declare war on them?

Out of the Foxholes Questions
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Sorry, my mistake should have known better.,

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I never tought of czechs being ready for war or capable of sustaining a german attack in 1938, thanks for this new information !

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Thanks ! All the pleasure is mine, I’m in high school and love history and especially the history of the two last centuries, I have just discovered this blog and it’s exactly what i was looking for, a place where i can ask questions and share what i know about history !

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An often forgotten item is that the Germans used a significant number of Czech tanks in the Panzer divisions in May 1940 (237 Czech Panzer 38s and 143 Czech Panzer 35s).

These would not have been available to them in 1938 and would have made a major reduction in the capabilities of the Panzer divisions.

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According to the German, the Polish campaign cost them 8,082 men killed, 27,279 wounded and 5,029 missing in action. German tank losses included 217 destroyed and the Luftwaffe lost 285 planes destroyed and 279 damaged beyond repair – about 25% of all German planes in September 1939

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Take a look at James Holland’s “War in the West” books. His core thesis is that the Wehrmacht really didn’t want to go to war in 1939, their ideal date was 1942. Germany had minimal modern forces even for the attack on Poland, but the propaganda convinced France, especially, that they were invincible.
Germany had neither the materiel nor the resources to win the war, at any point.

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Interesting thesis. It Germany was so reluctant to wage war and only did so because Hitler forced them too, it certainly gives credence to the idea that Hitler was pretty savvy with the military at least at the strategic level. It also suggests that France must have talked itself into defeat by believing the German propaganda.

I think the answer is more complicated than that. No one ever feels fully ready for war but when pushed to it, the military turned to commanders who embraced the technology and applied it to good effect. France who arguably might even had better tech rejected the idea of its use effectively and sabotaged its chances of a successful defense.

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Hitler created the OKH and filled it with patsies as part of the standard Nazi practice of creating competing organisations and reserving control to themselves. The OKW and other organisations had planned for war in 1942, they just weren’t ready in 1939/40.
The fact that the French and British were unprepared for the invasion of Denmark and Norway, and that they fell completely for the feint through Holland and Belgium and failed to have any viable defences at Sedan (despite it being only 70 years since the Prussians attacked right there), make no difference to the fact that the Germans had less armour, fewer troops, just generally less of everything.