Don’t forget how the Soviet Union saved the world from Hitler (Marines, weapons)
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We literally outfitted the Russian army with everything from tanks to planes to food and blankets.
THAT was the critical supply convoys in the Atlantic the Germans were trying to stop.
Without that, they are toast IMO.
However, without them the allies are pretty screwed as well.
Make no mistake, they weren't exactly heaping praise on the US for defeating the Germans either.
That is quite true. The USSR would have collapsed without western supplies. Keep in mind that Stalin was seeking a "truce" with Germany in 1942, in which he would sacrifice all of the Ukraine and some occupied territory in Russia. The Germans refused, as they thought the USSR would collapse.
Ironically, I own a military medal and document grouping to a German general who was ordered by Hitler to evaluate the military/industrial capacity of the USSR in 1934. He concluded that Germany SHOULD NOT engage in a war with the USSR, as Germany had underestimated thier industrial capacity. Hitler sacked him, only to bring him back in '39 for the invasion of Poland.
It is really cool to read the documents (my German is rough, but I can muddle through it) and realize that Hitler was provided with accurate information that could have prevented the invasion of the east.
The Red Army held off the Germans at the critical point in the war, allowing the Americans and Brits to get organized and open up a second front.
but but but..
a western Europe left to shift for itself in the 1940s would have been screwed either way – if not screwed by Hitler, then screwed by Stalin, like Poland and Czechoslovakia and all the other countries “liberated” by the Red Army.
MUNITIONS $4,651,582,000 NON-MUNITIONS 4,826,084,000 ---------------- Total 9,477,666,000 Note: the figure of $11 billion includes services as well as goods furnished.
The U.S. Government has never released detailed reports on what was sent in Lend-Lease, so Major Jordan's data, gleaned from the Russians' own manifests, is the only public record. More than one-third of Lend-Lease sent was illegal under the terms of the act which specifically prohibited "goods furnished for relief and rehabilitation purposes."
It should be kept in mind that Russia was an ally of Japan throughout the war, that it had been the ally of Hitler during the first two years of the war, that its division of Poland with Germany started the war, that it was an agressive imperialist force that attacked Finland and subverted the Baltic states as well, that it had announced that it intended to take over the world and that most of the aid sent in 1945 was sent after Stalin's February speech in which he said he would continue the war but against the United States.
Franklin Roosevelt's alter ego and Lend-Lease administrator Harry L. Hopkins, a KGB agent, declared to Russia before a crowd at Madison Square Garden on June 22, 1942, that: "We are determined that nothing shall stop us from sharing with you all that we have." He was not joking.
MUNITIONS $4,651,582,000 NON-MUNITIONS 4,826,084,000 ---------------- Total 9,477,666,000 Note: the figure of $11 billion includes services as well as goods furnished.
The U.S. Government has never released detailed reports on what was sent in Lend-Lease, so Major Jordan's data, gleaned from the Russians' own manifests, is the only public record. More than one-third of Lend-Lease sent was illegal under the terms of the act which specifically prohibited "goods furnished for relief and rehabilitation purposes."
It should be kept in mind that Russia was an ally of Japan throughout the war, that it had been the ally of Hitler during the first two years of the war, that its division of Poland with Germany started the war, that it was an agressive imperialist force that attacked Finland and subverted the Baltic states as well, that it had announced that it intended to take over the world and that most of the aid sent in 1945 was sent after Stalin's February speech in which he said he would continue the war but against the United States.
Franklin Roosevelt's alter ego and Lend-Lease administrator Harry L. Hopkins, a KGB agent, declared to Russia before a crowd at Madison Square Garden on June 22, 1942, that: "We are determined that nothing shall stop us from sharing with you all that we have." He was not joking.
Two men separated by over 100 years of history, yet both planted the seeds of their downfall by invading the same country. Possibly the two most significant invasions in modern military history that would significantly change the balance of power in Europe.
What happened to nations liberated by US/UK: They were liberated.
What happened to nations "liberated" by the USSR: They became a part of the USSR (which ultimately collapsed)
That's the difference.
The fact is the USSR was a failed state that never liberated anything, unlike the USA and UK
What happened to nations liberated by US/UK: They were liberated.
What happened to nations "liberated" by the USSR: They became a part of the USSR (which ultimately collapsed)
That's the difference.
The fact is the USSR was a failed state that never liberated anything, unlike the USA and UK
But without a second front to worry about, the qualitative edge Germany enjoyed could have overcome the quantitative edge that the USSR had.
Let the Soviets expend themselves in attacks, then counter-attack the now weakened forces.
The hole color of the war could have changed.
Russia wanted a second front opened up and refused to attack Japan until he had Germany contained. Then he made his land grab from the Japanese.
The Germans didn't have any edge at that point. They weren't prepared for a long drawn out war, but the Soviets were. It was a matter of numbers really. There were a whole lot more Russians then their were Germans. They could afford greater loses than the Germans could. Anyway, the Soviets weren't stalled even though the Germans were. They began pushing back on the Germans in late 1942. By the middle of 1943 the Germans were no longer capable of making any major offensives.
This correct - the Soviets did the VAST majority of the heavy lifting in Europe. No question about it.
That said, the US should have followed Patton's advice, marched into the USSR and overthrown the Soviet regime when they were completely exhausted. Instead, good old fellow traveler FDR gave Stalin permission to enslave half of Europe for 45 years.
But without a second front to worry about, the qualitative edge Germany enjoyed could have overcome the quantitative edge that the USSR had.
Assuming the lend-lease supplies still arriving - doubtful. Germany's sophisticated weaponry didn't do too well at the end of their overextended supply line. And Soviet production kept muddling on, somehow - USSR built more T-34s alone than Germany managed to build tanks, total.
The war would have been longer, grimmer and probably end with all of Europe under Soviet control, but Germany had to win quickly or not at all. They simply did not possess the strategic resources - particularly oil - for a long war. Now, if Germany had deliberately gone to secure the oil fields in Caucasus, it might have been a different picture. But that decision far predates the opening of the second front, and of course the scenario comes with its own set of problems.
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