The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich Chapter 24: A Turn of the Tide Summary

By the fall of 1941, Hitler was convinced that it was all over for Russia.
He was wrong.
As Shirer describes the early weeks of the war in Russia, he explains why the Germans thought that things were going well. But they'd grossly underestimated the size and strength of the Russian Army.
On top of that, Hitler at first ignored the urgings from his top brass to direct the German Army to press on towards Moscow while it could, so that it could take out the most important city of the Soviet Union swiftly and secure a quicker victory.

The Great Drive on Moscow

By the beginning of autumn, Hitler had finally agreed to push the troops towards Moscow, but because he'd been following other objectives in the meantime, the Army's preparations for the drive on Moscow weren't ready until the beginning of October.
Too late.
As he describes the German advance toward Moscow—an advance that was quickly slowed down by the onset of Russia's rainy season—Shirer argues that it was at this point that the mood of war shifted.
The rainy season soon turned to winter. By early November, the temperature dropped below freezing, and took an immediate toll on Germany's troops, who weren't well-equipped to handle Russia's winter weather.
You don't want to be fighting in Russia in the winter.
But despite these major setbacks, by the end of November 1941 Hitler and his generals thought that Moscow was still within their grasp.
Wrong again.
The German troops were driven back from Moscow, and Shirer argues that their defeat represented another major turning point for the Third Reich.
Because of Russia's counter-offensive, it was all downhill from there for Hitler.
After the defeat in Moscow, heads started to roll among the top generals, and Hitler took over the role of Commander in Chief.
Hitler commanded the Army throughout the winter of 1941-1942 and refused to let his troops retreat from the advancing Soviet forces no matter how bad things got.
On the other side of the planet, an event occurred that turned the war in Europe into World War II.