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Talking to a German recently. He was bragging about superiority of German engineering in the 30's and 40's. I agreed that Germans were and are known for engineering, but one thing I question, was how much of America's resources were going towards advancements in dozens of fields, whereas Germany's sole interest was the war machine. I realize advancements crossover and this question may not be answerable...
Am I wrong to suggest that in that era German engineering was not superior, just that they had a concerted effort to accomplish something that was nobody else's goal? And when they pounced, the rest of Europe (and the US) were not ready because they had been concentrating on other things? Also the Depression stifled the US for several years.
If there were a graph showing what % of Germany's resources and advancements went into the war machine during '25-45, vs everything else, what might it look like?
Last edited by madison999; 10-03-2015 at 12:03 PM..
by about '36-'38 everything Germany did was based on plans for war, right? At that time how much resources was the US putting into war preparation? Maybe 5-10% towards military, while Germany was probably closer to 80-90% plus during the same period...??
Also, wasn't one of the german tanks so over-engineered it couldn't be fixed in the field? Whereas US tanks and jeeps were quite the opposite? So which is really better engineered?
I'm questioning the whole "superior German engineering" thing we hear so much. Am I wrong, were they really that much better?
If the US had ramped up war preparations completely in synch w/germany throughout the 30's, would it have even been a fight?
Why do I start getting that feeling that you are a troll provoking members into rather sensitive topics?
I think can think of nothing that would be so provocatively sensitive by the question raised, in fact I find it to be quite interesting although I think it would be extremely difficult to distinguish between basic research and engineering innovation that would be devoted to war and what would be devoted to peace (to put the distinction in more polite terms).
Towards the end of the 30s Congress began authorizing a major buildup in the army and navy in anticipatiof Germany and Japan winning the wars. Part of the reason the US bounced back so quickly after Japan's initial successes was that it had already started building enough ships to significantly increase the size of its navy.
Now for Germany, I imagine they could have had some minor improvements in mobility and perhaps a few more very minor tactical victories if they'd freed up the men and rolling stock used for the camps. Technologically, it would have been unnoticeable. There were a number of poisonous gases already known before the Nazis ever took power, and the camps themselves were not engineering marvels requiring construction breakthroughs to build.
Ultimately, the fact that they killed millions of their own citizens was more damaging to their military might than creating the means to do it.
German's have always been a disciplined people, not as much innovative as industrious. But they achieved this pre-war boom by creating an economy that was overheated and burdened by huge national debt and trade deficits. It was not sustainable. Much of German industry was nationalized, huge public works project were commissioned. Unemployment did not exist, salaries increased, but eventually Germany would have run out of money. It would have collapased economically as it later collapsed via the war.
Yes after 1936 much of the economy was devoted to re-armament. But we are taking quantity, not quality. The quality was there, because again you have that German disclipline. Germany was highly advanced, but I wouldn't call it superior. For instance, you had German tanks that were still inferior to French tanks, you had German troops with bolt action rifles when the US was fielding semi-automatic rifles. You had an army that was still widely using horse drawn artillery.
To summarize - tell your German friend there was nothing superior about Germany in the 30's and 40's except there brutality towards mankind.
German's have always been a disciplined people, not as much innovative as industrious.
Seriously?
Pre-war Germany was one of the great centers for theoretical and applied sciences of the 20th century. Their innovations in engineering would take volumes to catalogue. Now innovative, if anything the Germans were and are innovative to a fault.
Pre-war Germany was one of the great centers for theoretical and applied sciences of the 20th century. Their innovations in engineering would take volumes to catalogue. Now innovative, if anything the Germans were and are innovative to a fault.
Well, yeah, OK they were. But I wanted to bring into focus with the fact that Nazi Germany was so successful not only due to innovation, but because they are disciplined and hard working. And also perhaps more importantly the point that the Nazi Germany economy was ultimately artificial and self-defeating. I also gave three examples where their "innovations" were lacking regarding technology. Hey it was the US the developed the Garand while Germany was still using turn of the century style bolt action rifles (although....I know the counter arguments to this already).
Ever notice the OP starts these threads then mostly vanishes? I've known some trolls in my Internet time but this person seems to have a *thing* about WWII and Jews.
Can see persons starting topics to participate in a lively debate but to start a series of threads pretty much all on the same topic then abandon.... It is like Coffee Talk with Linda Richman: "Germany 1925-1945: What percent of resources and innovation went towards destroying humans? Talk amongst yourselves.....
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