Apologies if this has been raised before. Would the Nazi party ever have gained power if Hitler had never existed ? In fact would WWII ever have started ? And if it had started would it ever have been on the same scale and gone on for so long ? * * Only a madman (i.e. Hitler) would have kept fighting after winter 1942/43. As far as I can remember no country has ever kept fighting any war, until it`s completely overrun and literally in ruins.