How intelligent were the German soldiers during WWII?

 

I've been reading a lot of stuff about World War II over the years and there is something people get wrong, and it's that those soldiers were just robots. In reality, the German army at the beginning of the war was probably the most educated force in the world. Back then they had a great school system in Germany. Almost every man sent to the front could read and write and handle very complicated machines. They were technically very bright when compared to the other side.

But the real secret was the way they were taught to think. Most armies tell a soldier what to do, what to do step by step. The Germans did it differently they called it mission tactics. An officer would provide a soldier with a goal, but it was up to the soldier to bring his own head to bear on how to go about making it happen. If a leader was killed, even a young private was expected to come forward and take over. They didn't go around waiting for orders, they just took action.


I do not forget reading about the IQ tests they gave the leaders at Nuremberg after the war. Most of them scored very high. You know when you see the time that they ran, the people who ran things, they were very capable while they were very cruel and did terrible things.


Most of those smart, well-trained men were dead. They were replaced by small boys who lacked the same education. That's a big reason why eventually their army fell apart.

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