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Very true. Britain was strategically perfect for the U.S. in the war. Hitler was so close to achieve what he wanted so many times, but so many things went against him.

Let me ask you this, in your opinion what was Hitler's worst decision? Wondering if it is the same as mine.

The Worst decisions of Hitler in my opinion were:

1. Ignoring the advice of his Generals
2. Changing tactics in the Battle of Britain and thus losing the battle.
3. Declaring war on the USSR, Russia
4. Declaring war on the U.S.A. immediately after Pearl Harbor.

I was thinking of #3 of your list. His arrogance was his ultimate downfall which is scary that only that kept him from doing even more damage in the world.

I agree that #3 was a bad decision for Hitler. Just imagine -- had Hitler maintained the alliance with the USSR, how powerful that alliance would have been to the Allied forces, along with his alliance with Italy and Japan. WWII might have ended very differently. Thank heavens that arrogant rulers can't walk the same direction for a long period of time.

The invasion of Russia is the mistake most often stated by historians, but it was far from Hitler's only bad mistake. He might have prevailed in Russia, if he listened to the advice of his generals. Unfortunately, Hitler insisted on always being on the offensive and never retreating. If he allowed his forces to withdrawal before the Russian winter and then resume their offensive in the spring the outcome would have been very different. Hitler had superior weapons and soldiers, but Russia had more soldier's and the Russia winter. German forces were defeated as much, if not more, by the severity of the Russian winter as they were by Russian forces.

In the end, it was Hitler's arrogance that was his downfall. He didn't need anyone telling him what to do. He was going to do what he wanted to do and he expected everything to turn out just fine. He underestimated the Allies. He thought he could overcome Mother Nature in Russia. One man's arrogance caused millions of deaths. He thought he had it all figured out. Guess we could then say the same for all the other men who did similar things.

Since we are going down this route, everyone comment on who you think could be considered one of the most evil men in history and why?

On the political events, I would agree with Craig58:
"The creation of the U.S. Constitution during the summer of 1787."

On the Scientific one I would agree with Claybird:
"I nominate Galileo's invention of the telescope."

The most important of all, in my opinion, was the Creation of humans - for no other inventions would have happened without mankind.

The most evil men in history?
Wow! I would have to say Hitler. To have the intention of genocide and carrying that out has got to be the most evil thing man could do. Watching "Schindler's List" and reading biographies of Jewish people who survived the holocaust confirms my opinion.

As bad as Hitler and the Nazis was the Japanese Imperial Army. To understand how evil and violent they were I recommend reading the book, "The Rape of Nanking" by Iris Chang

Warning: the images and account of these events are extremely violent and can be very disturbing.


The Rape of Nanking, the book

Rape of Nanking: a website link

I'll have to read this. So many choose Hitler because he was the most publicized. There are many who did even more cruel actions. They might not have killed as many, but their methods were horrible. Stalin killed more than Hitler. Many of them were his family and closest friends. Hitler targeted groups of people and went after them and anyone who was in his way.

If you read "The Rape of Nanking" you better have a strong stomach. These atrocities are accounts of human butchery at its worst.