History DatedHistory / TheRiseAndFallOfTheThirdReich

* [=SS=] Colonel [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joachim_Peiper Jochen Peiper]] is depicted as a KarmaHoudini. While he did escape the gallows after the war, he was ultimately murdered in 1976 when vengeful French veterans burned his house down with him still inside it.

* Shirer gives the impression that Hitler supported "Operation: Citadel". He didn't: his generals browbeat him into giving it the go-ahead, but he was (rightly) sceptical of its chances, even remarking that just thinking about the operation gave him stomach pains.

* The battle of the Bulge was Germany's last-ditch offensive ''in the west'', but not its last-ditch offensive overall. That title belongs to [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Spring_Awakening Operation: Spring Awakening]], which was launched against the Soviets in early-to-mid March 1945, even utilising some of the units from the failed Ardennes offensive.

* Shirer, like many at the time, came to the conclusion that the Third Reich could have won the war if certain errors weren't made. Modern historians have concluded that Germany was [[HopelessWar screwed]] [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption from the get-go]]: it didn't have the resources to take on the United States, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union ''all at once''; its habit of grabbing the VillainBall ensured that its enemies would fight tooth-and-nail to destroy it; its allies were pretty much useless; and the leadership was not only brutally corrupt, but laughably inept: many of its politicians and generals kept squabbling with one another to curry Hitler's favor, which he encouraged to ensure none of them could build a power base against him. The early victories served as little more than illusions in the long run that gave the Germans inn general, and Hitler in particular, a huge case of SuicidalOverconfidence.

* The book repeats the myth that Polish cavalry armed with sabers and lances charged a Nazi tank column on horseback during the invasion of the war. The origin of this story is a garbled account of the [[https://www.historyanswers.co.uk/history-of-war/polish-cavalry-vs-german-tanks-the-lies-the-betrayal-and-the-unlikely-truth/ Battle of Krojanty]], where a Polish cavalry patrol attacked a German motorized infantry unit, then retreated when German tanks arrived and opened fire on them. The garbled version was reported earnestly by some observers (including Shirer, who saw the aftermath of the battle as a war correspondent) and less than earnestly by German and Soviet propagandists, to emphasize the frightening strength of the German Army in the former and the foolishness of the Polish military by the latter.

* Shirer, like many at the time, came to the conclusion that the Third Reich could have won the war if certain errors weren't made. Modern historians have concluded that Germany was [[HopelessWar screwed]] [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption from the get-go]]: it didn't have the resources to take on the United States, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union ''all at once''; its habit of grabbing the VillainBall ensured that its enemies would fight tooth-and-nail to destroy it; its allies were pretty much useless; and the leadership was not only brutally corrupt, but laughably inept: many of its politicians and generals kept squabbling with one another to curry Hitler's favor, which he encouraged to ensure none of them could build a power base against him. The early victories served as little more than illusions in the long run that gave the Germans inn general, and Hitler in particular, a huge case of SuicidalOverconfidence.

Given that William L. Shirer is a journalist and, to an extent, a product of his time, it's not surprising that a lot of the book's claims have been debunked since it was published. To his credit, Shirer anticipated this, and warns the reader that not everything he says should be taken as the Gospel truth.

* [[MadScientist Dr. Josef Mengele]] is never mentioned in the book.

* Hitler's decision to halt his ground forces from attacking Dunkirk was actualmy the right call: the tanks were low on fuel, the men driving them were exhausted, and he was (not unjustly) afraid that recklessly continuing the advance would leave his flanks exposed. Once these problems were dealt with, Hitler ordered the ground forces to resume their advance, and French soldiers held them off so the evacuation could continue.

* Hitler's reason for halting his ground forces from attacking Dunkirk was actually reasonable: the tanks were low on fuel, the men driving them were exhausted, and he was (not unjustly) afraid that recklessly continuing the advance would leave his flanks exposed. Once these problems were dealt with, Hitler ordered the ground forces to resume their advance, and French soldiers held them off so the evacuation could continue.

* Hitler's reason for halting his ground forces from attacking Dunkirk was more pragmatic than Shirer believed: the tanks were low on fuel, and the men driving them were exhausted. Once both problems were dealt with, Hitler ordered the ground forces to resume their advance, and French soldiers held them off so the evacuation could continue.
* Shirer, despite admitting that Hitler's surviving generals were neither unbiased nor completely reliable in their post-war memoirs, still buys into Field Marshal Erich von Manstein's claim that he tried to convince Hitler to let the encircled 6th Army retreat from Stalingrad, only to be shut down. Later research showed that Hitler was almost persuaded by his other generals to give the 6th Army his blessing to retreat, only to be dissuaded by Manstein after the field marshal pompously declared he could get them out. To be fair, Manstein changed his mind and advocated a breakout and withdrawal from Stalingrad once he saw that relieving the 6th Army was well and truly impossible, but by then, Hitler was too obsessed with taking the city to listen. However, even ''that'' was a case of Hitler being RightForTheWrongReasons, as the 6th Army, by that point, didn't have the strength to break out of the pocket.

* Shirer, like many at the time, came to the conclusion that the Third Reich could have won the war if certain errors weren't made. Modern historians have concluded that Germany was [[HopelessWar screwed]] [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption from the get-go]]: it didn't have the resources to take on the United States, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union ''all at once''; its habit of grabbing the VillainBall ensured that its enemies would fight tooth-and-nail to destroy it; its allies were pretty much useless; and the leadership was not only brutally corrupt, but laughably inept--not to mention many of its politicians and generals kept squabbling with one another to curry Hitler's favor, which he encouraged to ensure none of them could build a power base against him. The early victories served as little more than illusions in the long run.

* Shirer, like many at the time, came to the conclusion that the Third Reich could have won the war if certain errors weren't made. Modern historians have concluded that Germany was [[HopelessWar screwed from the get-go]]: it didn't have the resources to take on the United States, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union ''all at once''; its habit of grabbing the VillainBall ensured that its enemies would fight tooth-and-nail to destroy it; its allies were pretty much useless; and the leadership was not only brutally corrupt, but laughably inept--not to mention many of its politicians and generals kept squabbling with one another to curry Hitler's favor, which he encouraged to ensure none of them could build a power base against him. The early victories served as little more than illusions in the long run.

* The German surrender on 8 May 1945 is treated as the endgame. In reality, Stalin wasn't satisfied with it and demanded that the Germans sign another treaty of unconditional surrender the following day, which they did in the ruins of Berlin.

* Shirer gives the impression that Hitler supported "Operation: Citadel". He didn't: his generals browbeat him into giving it the go-ahead, but he was (rightly) sceptical of its chances, even remarking that just thinking about the operation gave him stomach pains.

** He gives the same treatment to Major Otto Remer, who was, in real life, a fervent Nazi and became a Holocaust denier after the war.

* The battle of the Bulge was Germany's last-ditch offensive ''in the west'', but not its last-ditch offensive overall. That title belongs to [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Spring_Awakening Operation: Spring Awakening]], which was launched against the Soviets in early-to-mid March 1945, even utilising some of the units from the failed Ardennes offensive.

* [[MadScientist Dr. Josef Mengele]] is never mentioned in the book.

** Hitler did not [[AteHisGun shoot himself through the mouth]]; he bit into a cyanide capsule, then shot himself [[BoomHeadshot in the right temple]].