Schöne weltkrieg Bilder:
How “Experts” Saw World War II

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A newspaper map of Europe on September 1, 1939, the day when World War II began. It shows how some unnamed experts predicted the war would be fought. None of the predictions turned out to be accurate.
It is best to look at this image in the large size.
(1) They predicted that Germany would try to defeat the Polish army. This was not hard, because it was already happening. However, it took Germany less than three weeks to defeat Poland, not six months. The Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east, but Poland was already defeated. (That was not predicted here, though the USSR had become Germany’s ally and had never accepted its defeat by Poland in the 1919-1921 war.)
(2) Germany and the Allies did not fight in the area of the Siegfried and Maginot lilnes. Instead, Germany invaded France through Belgium in May 1940, and quickly defeated the Allies. None of this happened until long after Poland had been defeated, so Germany did not face a war on two fronts – until it invaded the USSR.
(3) Germany did not seriously attack the British Home Fleet by air. It sent the battleships Bismarck and Tirpitz into the North Sea. The British sunk the Bismarck (chronicled in a famous movie), but the Tirpitz survived at bases in occupied Norway to threaten shipping for much of the war.
(4) The Allies did not attack Italy from southern France. Italy did not enter the war until June 1940, and the Allies may have hoped to keep Italy out. Italy invaded southern France after Germany had already defeated the French army.
(5) Other major moves early in the war were not anticipated in this map. These include The German invasion of Denmark and Norway, the Italian invasion of North Africa (ultimately supported by Germany), the German occupation of Greece and Crete, and bombing raids on Malta.
You might say that "experts" were not any better at predicting events in 1939 than they are now.
A long time ago I read an article that included a quotation from a 19th century German banker: "A man can be ruined by three things: Women, gambling, and the advice of experts."
Johannis-Kirche (Magdeburg) (2)

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St.-Johannis-Kirche (Magdeburg)
Before 70 years

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As Germany the world attacked.
1. September 1939