This is a question I like to raise when people say, "if I could go back in time I'd kill hitler." If WWII did not happen when it happened, nuclear weapons would still have been developed eventually. Imagine if WWII broke out after everyone had developed nukes. Because of hitler, Japan got bombed with a very small nuclear attack. The world got to see these weapons in action.
So hypothetically, if you went back in time and killed hitler, could you actually doom humanity to nuclear annihilation?
Just a hypothetical to get you all thinking.
2012-09-16T01:10:03Z
good answers so far. What's all the pearl harbour stuff. No hitler, no pearl harbour.
Oh, and for the record, to the rest of the world, pearl harbour means nothing. It was a rather minor attack.
To be honest, I believe humanity is doomed to a fate of nuclear annihilation anyways, so I would say that whether or not WWII happened the results would be the same. The fact that nuclear weapons exist practically guarantees our eventual demise, since odds are eventually there will be a WWIII. The only thing we can do is hope that it never starts in our lifetimes.
Hitler did NOT save the Earth. His actions, though, did put us in a sort of worldly position that led us to where we are today. We'll never know what would have happened if Hitler died before WWII, but it would potentially leave the USA with ancient boats that wouldn't have been useful should they be needed. When the Japanese Axis power bombed Pearl Harbor, they sank our old naval frigates and created a demand for up-to-date boats that helped us win the war. But you do have a good point :) Thanks for the brain teaser
If Hitler wasn't there, then this other WWII with everyone nuking each other and destroying the world as we know it would not have involved him in any way. So to answer your question: No, he did not save the Earth.
Well that is an apt response. In a way he did save the world. And it isn't just so potentially save Humanity in the future but it allowed the world to advance in terms of power and technology itself (an example being the U.S.).