Why did we win WWII?
Hm
I dont know about winning WW2 but I suspect the enormous power and resources of the US and the Soviet Union had a lot to do with it. But dont underestimate the stupidity of Hitler.
What I will say is that Great Britian (and her Empire) stopped the war from the being lost. The Battle of Britain was perhaps the most important battle of all time.
If Britain had fallen in 1940, Hitler would have turned on Russia with no second front to worry about. Russia may have been defeated. The concentration camps would have perpetuated their evil work and Hitler would have dominated Europe and maybe the world
Yes, the world owes a big debt to the Few
I dont know about winning WW2 but I suspect the enormous power and resources of the US and the Soviet Union had a lot to do with it. But dont underestimate the stupidity of Hitler.
What I will say is that Great Britian (and her Empire) stopped the war from the being lost. The Battle of Britain was perhaps the most important battle of all time.
If Britain had fallen in 1940, Hitler would have turned on Russia with no second front to worry about. Russia may have been defeated. The concentration camps would have perpetuated their evil work and Hitler would have dominated Europe and maybe the world
Yes, the world owes a big debt to the Few
cullion
Active member
We won..
Well, that answer is almost simple. But everyone, including historians, have different opinions.
What I've always been taught in school:
European Theater:
Germany was allied with Russia for a while, meaning they only had one front to fight the war on. They could easily concentrate troops there and didn't have to defend/leave many troops in other areas. They just had to have enough to occupy diminished countries. The second they invaded Russia, they suddenly had two fronts to fight on, and all their forces became divided. Then suddenly they had a crushing force shoot in from Normandy and paradropped in, and they became more or less overwhelmed. Once Hitler commit suicide, they were toast. Happy VE Day.
Pacific:
Let's face it, we won because of the atomic bomb. There's no contradicting that. Japan wasn't winning, but neither were we. We won because we had the best minds in science come together and form this insane project to create atomic bombs. Japan had been working on the same thing, and a sciencist locked in a German-occupied area was responsible for the main discovery of what substance to use in the atom bomb that wouldn't diminish quickly, and we snuck his documents out via special force paratroopers. Then, baddabing baddaBOOOOM. Bomb dropped, Japan announces it's surrender. Happy VJ Day.
Resources:
Books:
Hiroshima, John Hersey
Brighter Than a Thousand Suns, Robert Jungk
Los Alamos, LASL Public Relations Staff
The Making of the Atomic Bomb, Richard Rhodes
Well, that answer is almost simple. But everyone, including historians, have different opinions.
What I've always been taught in school:
European Theater:
Germany was allied with Russia for a while, meaning they only had one front to fight the war on. They could easily concentrate troops there and didn't have to defend/leave many troops in other areas. They just had to have enough to occupy diminished countries. The second they invaded Russia, they suddenly had two fronts to fight on, and all their forces became divided. Then suddenly they had a crushing force shoot in from Normandy and paradropped in, and they became more or less overwhelmed. Once Hitler commit suicide, they were toast. Happy VE Day.
Pacific:
Let's face it, we won because of the atomic bomb. There's no contradicting that. Japan wasn't winning, but neither were we. We won because we had the best minds in science come together and form this insane project to create atomic bombs. Japan had been working on the same thing, and a sciencist locked in a German-occupied area was responsible for the main discovery of what substance to use in the atom bomb that wouldn't diminish quickly, and we snuck his documents out via special force paratroopers. Then, baddabing baddaBOOOOM. Bomb dropped, Japan announces it's surrender. Happy VJ Day.
Resources:
Books:
Hiroshima, John Hersey
Brighter Than a Thousand Suns, Robert Jungk
Los Alamos, LASL Public Relations Staff
The Making of the Atomic Bomb, Richard Rhodes
I'm really surprised that nobody has mentioned Ultra: a real war-winner - see http://www.worldhistory.com/wiki/U/Ultra.htm for just an overview of the priceless contribution it made to the defeat of the primary enemy.
Without it - well, imagine a few German strategic surprises like the Battle of the Bulge though earlier in the war! (By late 1944 the Germans were fighting on their own frontiers in the West and their reliance on radio traffic fell proportionately. You just couldn't listen in to secure land lines...)
If you go to Bletchley Park, you'll see the few shabby huts that are left of this intelligence equivalent of possession of the Atom Bomb.
(There have been suggestions that the Bletchley Park codebreakers at times played an important role in helping the Russians on the Eastern front. I have read - damn, sorry I can't find and link anything - that due to atmosperic freakery the reception of radio signals from that part of the world bounced incredibly easily and accurately to BP's ears. And that the decodes - orders of battle, locations, radio activity indicating imminent activity and movement - made their way to the Soviets one way or another. If not through official channels, because the UK imposed a blanket ban on even any mention of Ultra until the early 1970s - then through the Cambridge Spies and other active Soviet agents. An area of WWII that really hasn't hd the exposure it perhaps merits.)
And in the Pacific? Well, how about source "Magic" and the way it helped the US read Japanese navy codes?
Without it - well, imagine a few German strategic surprises like the Battle of the Bulge though earlier in the war! (By late 1944 the Germans were fighting on their own frontiers in the West and their reliance on radio traffic fell proportionately. You just couldn't listen in to secure land lines...)
If you go to Bletchley Park, you'll see the few shabby huts that are left of this intelligence equivalent of possession of the Atom Bomb.
(There have been suggestions that the Bletchley Park codebreakers at times played an important role in helping the Russians on the Eastern front. I have read - damn, sorry I can't find and link anything - that due to atmosperic freakery the reception of radio signals from that part of the world bounced incredibly easily and accurately to BP's ears. And that the decodes - orders of battle, locations, radio activity indicating imminent activity and movement - made their way to the Soviets one way or another. If not through official channels, because the UK imposed a blanket ban on even any mention of Ultra until the early 1970s - then through the Cambridge Spies and other active Soviet agents. An area of WWII that really hasn't hd the exposure it perhaps merits.)
And in the Pacific? Well, how about source "Magic" and the way it helped the US read Japanese navy codes?
If the Germans would have had to come to the rescue of the Italians in the Balkans (Greece) they would have had an extra 6 weeks of "good" weather in the Barbarossa campaign.
If you combine that with the fact that forward troops were already fighting in the suburbs of Moscow in the condition/time as it was you can almost smell German victory over Russia.
If you combine that with the fact that forward troops were already fighting in the suburbs of Moscow in the condition/time as it was you can almost smell German victory over Russia.
Doppleganger
Active member
rOk said:
Yes, delay of Operation Barbarossa until June 1941 was a critical factor in the failure of its objectives, the main one of which was Moscow.
Cadet_Shelton
Active member
A German victory would have required so many things to go right at so many points that it would be suprising (for lack of a better word) if they won.
-The Japanese didn't invade Russia
-Hitler was insane
-Japan attacked the US
-US invention of the Atomic Bomb
-The Japanese didn't invade Russia
-Hitler was insane
-Japan attacked the US
-US invention of the Atomic Bomb