“Send Them Home Crying” – Destiny Crucible

1943 proved to be a critical point in the outcome of the Second World War. The Germans faced numerous setbacks and defeats in almost every war they fought that year. The first change was the sinking of German U-boats. Prior to 1943, German U-boats continuously sunk Allied convoys in the Atlantic. However, this trend changed and resulted in heavy U-boat losses for the Third Reich.

The Battle of Kursk was a major turning point on land between the Germans and the Red Army. It was intended to highlight the return of Blitzkrieg in order to quickly end the conflict. However, the Germans underestimated the Russian support and would soon find themselves outmatched in the skirmish. After this battle, German military forces would be on a slow retreat to the capital city of Berlin.

The Sicilian invasion proved to be vital in the Allied war effort. It helped establish a pivotal “second-front”, which forced Germany to re-align their troops in order to combat attacks coming from two completely different angles. However, Nazi propaganda tried to downplay these effects in order to boost civilian morale. This propaganda did not do the trick and many Berliners soon realized that this could be the beginning of the end of the Third Reich. A second vital secret was withheld from the German public: Italy’s realignment to the Allied position was not disclosed as a major event.

Due to the combined effects of Italy’s fall and the losses incurred at Kursk, the Royal Air Force improved its capacity to land ever-powerful firepower over much of the Third Reich. After Hamburg received its share of bombings, rumors continued to spread like wildfire throughout Germany about the concept of “total war”, which was mentioned previously by Goebbels. As a result, many Germans lost faith in Hitler’s regime.

As the war progressed deeper into 1943, morale continued to decrease throughout the Reich. The population sank into indifference due to the effects of constant air war and shortages of rationing. After Stalingrad, many Berliners were hoping to escape the global conflict with their lives, as opposed to the earlier goal of winning the war. Thus, as enemy forces continued to push deeper and deeper into German territory, and closer to Berlin, many citizens simply lost hope. They would soon be “sent home crying” for mercy for putting many nations through a long, arduous war. In closing, as the war entered its latter stages, Berliners could tell that it was only a matter of time that they would be forced to surrender to the Allied forces.