How effective was the German defense of Germany in WW2?
What made the German Army so effective was that every soldier was expected to think, not just follow orders, and take effective independent action to achieve a goal. The Russian Army was exactly the opposite. The Russian soldier was expected to do nothing more than follow orders, even to his detriment and was punished severely for independent thinking. As a result, the Germans were able to accomplish astounding feats, because everyone was thinking, not just the commander who might have limited situational awareness.
.. Bagration, the Russian attack in the East, was the most successful offensive operation along a long front in the history of warfare. Despite warnings from Gehlen and German Generals such as Kietel that the entire Eastern Front was a house of cards, Hitler wouldn’t let the Germans retreat and the Russians cut through them like a knife through butter.
.. He made his astounding “battle cuff” order so shaming the German Army, telling his SS men that they were no longer worthy of wearing a divisional battle cuff. For men fighting to the last man despite being severely wounded, with no equipment and for a lost cause, this was not a good morale builder. General Balck refused to implement the order at risk to his own life, but by then, it was just weeks before the end
.. Something like 75,000 Allied aircraft were destroyed by the Germans during the war
.. Had they been well supplied and manned, the Germans could have held off the Allies indefinitely, but their shortages kept them on the run.