Many people realized quite a long time before the end that the odds were stacked heavily against Germany. After the invasion of the USSR halted, and the declaration of war against the USA In December 1941, the tide had turned against Germany. Later it was quite evident that the war was lost, the Allied bombing campaign stepped up and the Russian invasion faltered. By 1944 the situation was very desperate for Germany. It had lost the imitative, was on the defensive, most Generals had known for a while that the war was lost, and it was clear to many people despite massive propaganda campaigns.

However Hitler refused to acknowledge defeat and instead ruthlessly clamped down on any dissent. Mention of surrender or terms with the allies were forbidden amongst the leadership by Hitler. Tens of thousands of Germans were summarily executed in a reign of terror. Germany was chained to Hitler in a terrible way.