Nothing that results in human progress is achieved with unanimous consent. (Christopher Columbus)
All great truth passes through three stages: first it is ridiculed, second it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.
(Arthur Schopenhauer)
ONWARD
Stalin's Keys to Victory
There is no doubt that a very important key to defeat of Nazi Germany was massive material pouring out of Soviet factories. The scale was a shock for Hitler and he conceded it in this famous recording. He does of course continue on with his shopping list of excuses and fantasies, but there is no doubt that the armament output was a nasty surprise.
Resource mobilization for World War II: the U.S.A., U.K., U.S.S.R., and Germany, 1938-1945
I certainly agree on that one, especially concerning U.S.S.R, considering the elementary importance in the last big war and vast scale of tens of millions mobilized in armament production alone.Granted the superior potential for war production of the Allied nations over their enemies, what factors enabled this potential superiority to be realized in the different economies under combat conditions? More than 40 years after the event, a fully comprehensive answer to this question has not yet been compiled. Early interest in the comparative economic history of World War II faded soon after the war
The Soviet Defense Industry Complex in World War II
An aspect I see hardly mentioned, maybe discussed bu missed by myself, is the key fact that Germany was considerably behind the investment curve in armament compared to the Soviet Union. For example the Soviet Union invested with skilled American knowledge in huge plants outfitted with American and German machinery which were running before something on this scale was seriously considered in Germany. The large amount of tanks, perhaps the best known benchmark, produced before Barbarossa and even the invasion of Poland is just one testimony to that. A far higher share of German war production in the 41/42 period went into producing the means of production. Maybe I will try to go into more detail and other keys later.
All in all I personally find it a highly interesting topic and quite relevant today, thankfully not too much.
P.S: Others are of course far more knowledgeable about small arms and certainly WWII ones are not my forte so I was a bit surprised to read about the ballistics of the 7.62x25 Tok. steel core bullets coming out of a SMG like the PPS-43. As a package it really seems as the 'best' of it's class with very low production costs, high reliability partly thanks to much better magazines, very light weight, controllable rate of fire with fast and light bullets. Such ammunition seems in retrospect better suited for a war SMG then German, British or American choices. It is somewhat closer to the modern PDW idea while ironically being the base of the 9mm.
Just one relative small aspect in a huge thing of course...
Last edited by Firn; 06-26-2015 at 08:24 PM.
... "We need officers capable of following systematically the path of logical argument to its conclusion, with disciplined intellect, strong in character and nerve to execute what the intellect dictates"
General Ludwig Beck (1880-1944);
Speech at the Kriegsakademie, 1935
Humanitarian Imperialism by Jean Bricmont
American Fascists by Chris Hedges
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