1945: His Thousand-Year Reich in shambles and his armies shattered, Adolf Hitler issues his infamous "Nero Decree," the order to destroy all remaining German industry and infrastructure in order to deny anything to the advancing Allies.

The official order was issued under the heading "Demolitions on Reich Territory" but entered history as the Nero Decree, after the Roman emperor who is believed to have deliberately set Rome ablaze in 64 AD.

Fortunately for the German people, who would have borne the brunt of the destruction, the ultimate responsibility for carrying out this order fell to Albert Speer, Hitler's armaments minister. Speer was appalled, and embarked on a series of delays and stalling tactics before finally admitting to Hitler that he had deliberately sabotaged the decree in order to save civilian lives.

By then, Hitler was laconic and suicidal and beyond caring. He did nothing, and within days had shot himself in his Berlin bunker.

(Source: Various)