Worst ally in World War II.
- Thread starter TheStorm
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Air superiority was the key, they just needed to keep the Royal navy out of the Channel area (and they had land based heavy artillery to help do so in addition to the Luftwaffe). Keep in mind massive gliders like the Me 321 Gigant and the failed Junkers Mammut were made for the task of aerial resupply to the invasion of England.
All of it was irrelevant though really, Hitler never had the intent of invading which was the real issue. Also not a part of this discussion.
As for someone saying that this topic is about the worst ally as in the Allies...keep in mind that needs to be specified better. Germany was an ally of Italy and Japan, but not a member of the Allies, which is how it should be phrased (worst member of the Allies) if that is indeed what this topic is about.
All of it was irrelevant though really, Hitler never had the intent of invading which was the real issue. Also not a part of this discussion.
As for someone saying that this topic is about the worst ally as in the Allies...keep in mind that needs to be specified better. Germany was an ally of Italy and Japan, but not a member of the Allies, which is how it should be phrased (worst member of the Allies) if that is indeed what this topic is about.
In essence, Hitler was a fool mad-man who couldn't understand that victory against Great Britain was important if he actually wanted to win the war. If he had bothered to have the luftwaffe continue attacking British airfields, naval yards, and military production installations instead of meandering off into covering the Brits' cities with incendiaries, maybe we might have a slightly different world.
Though, I'm not sure the US would have stood for this anyways. When U.S.A. comes into the conventional warfare room, nobody is big enough to fit inside with it, unless everybody were to decide to curbstomp him at the same time.
Though, I'm not sure the US would have stood for this anyways. When U.S.A. comes into the conventional warfare room, nobody is big enough to fit inside with it, unless everybody were to decide to curbstomp him at the same time.
Truly?Fooshie said:
Perhaps I am misjudging the strength of the US during WW2 by comparing it to today.
Let's see... I'm pretty sure the US had the strongest production capability at the time, due to being very modernized in comparison to most states.
They had about 1/3 the population they have today. Russia actually had a higher population then(June 1941) than it does now.
Increased Russian production at the end of the war, and considering that it was in fact the end of the war, I would say you're right.
Perhaps not 'impossible,' but I understand why the other allies would not want to tangle with Russia at that point.
A thing to keep in mind is that the USA never really mobilized its capacity to the standards of other nations. When you look at how many troops were engaged by the USA versus overall population, it isn't as much as you would think...we (the USA) had a huge support system that I believe people have said (correctly?) that for every front line soldier there were 10 support troops. Other nations had nowhere near such a ratio.
Russia was a powerhouse though, it was they who really won the war in Europe. Could the USA and Britain have done it alone together? Most likely, but the casualties would have been far more appalling. According to wikipedia (I know, I know, but lets just roll with it), the USA had a population of around 131 million in 1939 and during the war had a death rate of about .32% from the war. The USSR had a population of 168.5 million in 1939 and suffered just shy of 14% deaths due to the war. As you can see, the United States came out of the war far less hurt and could have absorbed many more casualties. I think the post-war estimation of Russia's capability might be too generous in their favor, but they still were a powerhouse....don't underestimate what the USA could have put into play had they fully mobilized in the same way as other nations.
Russia was a powerhouse though, it was they who really won the war in Europe. Could the USA and Britain have done it alone together? Most likely, but the casualties would have been far more appalling. According to wikipedia (I know, I know, but lets just roll with it), the USA had a population of around 131 million in 1939 and during the war had a death rate of about .32% from the war. The USSR had a population of 168.5 million in 1939 and suffered just shy of 14% deaths due to the war. As you can see, the United States came out of the war far less hurt and could have absorbed many more casualties. I think the post-war estimation of Russia's capability might be too generous in their favor, but they still were a powerhouse....don't underestimate what the USA could have put into play had they fully mobilized in the same way as other nations.
Lord Burgess1
Well part of the reason you had such large number of support troops, was that your 'fighting' troops left when they were killed, opposed to the British system where they were rolled in and out (I remember reading about soldiers spending a few days in Cairo before returning to the fight, for example)
The US didn't need to mobilize more troops since war was not waged on its territory, otherwise it would have surely involved more soldiers in direct conflict. Also, I think that would have happened if something had gone wrong on the western front in Europe.Skot the Sanguine said:
Grauuu said:
Yes, but keep in mind that Russia today isn't as big as the U.S.S.R, and has a lower population not just because of the population decrease but because it relinquished it's hold on many countries.
China didn't do much apart from give a bit of land to Japan.
Lord Burgess1
Bit busy having a civil war, as well as various other run ins with Japan from 193(2? 3?)
FrisianDude
Archduke
Fairly sure 'give' isn't the term to use.
No, but after reading about the details of that front not too long ago they were really doing a piss poor job of fighting the Japanese. The Communist Chinese had some greater success, but overall the Chinese did not do nearly what they could have...namely because of their horrible infrastructure, supplies, and training.
Captain Pyjama Shark
Grandmaster Knight
The nation that stood alone against Nazi dominated Europe. uh huh.Marik96 said:
