North Africa: El Alamein.
Eastern Front: Stalingrad and Kursk.
Pacific: Midway and Guadacanal.
Western Europe: Battle of Britain and D-day.

I believe the turning point was a series of decisions made by Hitler on multiple fronts, I believe under right leadership a war of attrition to Germany would be irrelevant if Germany had fully understood its military capability. First of all Germany had the most intelligent military thinkers of the time, Heinz Guderian, father of the tank, Erwin Rommel, a solid officer training program, not fully utilized by Hitler what so ever when he took command of OKW- first mistake. Secondly, Hitler totally ignored his most closest advisor Albert Speer, the armaments director who ingeniously got every once of production of the country as possible. But so much bickering inside the reich for the power struggle made Hitler spread his resources out and his thought process. Lastly BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY, not utilizing the most brilliant engineers and scientists in the world, Werner Von Braun = V2 and V3 rocket, the ME 262, Stg44= the blueprints for the modern AK-47. Utilizing these weapons and brilliant minds would have put the swastika from Western Europe to the Kremlins house, GAME OVER

Originally Posted by tburns

I believe the turning point was a series of decisions made by Hitler on multiple fronts, I believe under right leadership a war of attrition to Germany would be irrelevant if Germany had fully understood its military capability. First of all Germany had the most intelligent military thinkers of the time, Heinz Guderian, father of the tank, Erwin Rommel, a solid officer training program, not fully utilized by Hitler what so ever when he took command of OKW- first mistake. Secondly, Hitler totally ignored his most closest advisor Albert Speer, the armaments director who ingeniously got every once of production of the country as possible. But so much bickering inside the reich for the power struggle made Hitler spread his resources out and his thought process. Lastly BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY, not utilizing the most brilliant engineers and scientists in the world, Werner Von Braun = V2 and V3 rocket, the ME 262, Stg44= the blueprints for the modern AK-47. Utilizing these weapons and brilliant minds would have put the swastika from Western Europe to the Kremlins house, GAME OVER

Well Hitler did make a number of crucial strategic errors it's true, but none had the impact that the loss at Stalingrad had. Had Hitler fully listened to his generals, IMO they would have captured Moscow in the summer of 1942, long BEFORE the 'wonder weapons' came into play. Lucky for us that he was so arrogant that he thought they could teach him nothing.
With Moscow fallen it would have been all over for the Stalinist regime and Hitler would have been able to re-deploy his best divisions to Western Europe. Under those circumstances I seriously doubt D-Day would ever have been attempted.

Actually, wonderful though the V2 and ME262 ect were, they diverted vital resources at a time when Germany really needed to concentrate on afv and aircraft production. You're right on one point though, Hitler did not really appreciate the unique talents and abilities at his disposal. He had truly brilliant generals and scientists available and often he ignored their advice. One less well known 'decision' of Hitler was not to put German industry on a war footing in the first 2 years of the war, a telling mistake that was to have real consequences for Germany when things began to go against them. I also agree that Albert Speer was a brilliant adminstrator who did did very well for Hitler.

I'd say that the turning point was when we got smart and started to kick their A**.

Originally Posted by No MERCY

I'd say that the turning point was when we got smart and started to kick their A**.

Sorry I dont understand, are you referring to when Pearl Harbor was attacked and the US entered the war?

Originally Posted by Jamoni

I would say there where 3, rather than one turning point.
1. Pearl Harbor: This brought a heavily industrialized, geographically isolated, warlike country, rich in fossil fuels, into the mix. Bad news.
2. Hitler's attack on Russia. Whether he could avoid it or not, attacking the Russians opened up a second front, one which swallowed up troops and material like a black hole.
3. The loss in North Africa. This denied the Germans any chance at the rich oil deposits in the middle east. The lack of fuel was crucial in the remaining years of the war.
Sure, DDay was an incredible achievement, but it never would have been possible if the germans had been able to focus all their forces on the western front, if they had had enough fuel to move their armor/infantry effectively, and if the American air, land, and navy (and FACTORIES) hadn't had a good excuse to get involved.

I agree with him, BUt pearl harbor boosted american energy and they came right back and smack the daylight out of every axis country. but the dropping of the 2 atomic bomb was payback to japan and D-day was just to get the germany out of france the russia was suppose to take care of berlin and they did.

In the North African Theatre- definitely El Alemein
In the Pacific Theatre- the victory at Iwo Jima
In the European Theatre- the German loss at Stalingrad

Originally Posted by silent driller

In the North African Theatre- definitely El Alemein
In the Pacific Theatre- the victory at Iwo Jima
In the European Theatre- the German loss at Stalingrad

Why Iwo exactly?

Wasn't Iwo Jima very important because it provided a stepping stone into Japan? And a refueling base for bombers attacking Japan. I remember reading somewhere that Iwo Jima gave the US a very very large advantage in the Pacific.

My 2 cents.

Originally Posted by silent driller

In the North African Theatre- definitely El Alemein
In the Pacific Theatre- the victory at Iwo Jima
In the European Theatre- the German loss at Stalingrad

The North African Theatre by itself, did not have any influence whatsoever over the outcome of the War in Europe, whereas Stalingrad changed the entire outcome.

Iwo Jima was indeed a major victory for the US in the Pacific Theatre, but still it did not have the impact of Stalingrad.