5 mistakes that cost Hitler the Second World War

So near, yet so far

Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany had Europe in its grips and for a while it seemed allies were defeated. But Hitler made series of blunders that turned the tide. Here's a look at five of them.

Fighting a multi-front war

War on one front is hard enough. Hitler's startegy to fight Anglo-French in west and Soviets in east eventually proved a costly mistake.

Attacking Soviet Russia

Hitler was master of Europe after French capitulation. And then he invaded Soviets. Unforgiving Russian winter and stiff Soviet resistance decimated his forces.

Letting the British escape from Dunkirk

More than 100,000 British troops were pinned in French port of Dunkirk. Germans were in a position to eliminate the British. But Hitler didn't act quickly enough and the British escaped.

Helping Italy in its offensives

Hitler's friendship with Italian dictator Benito Mussolini proved burdensome to him. Valuable German military resources had to be sent to help ill-prepared Italian army

Misjudging location of D-Day attack

Hitler anticipated that allies would land in Calais and committed best German tanks and troops there. But allies landed in Normandy.