quote:
Rob Kamphausen:
regardless, the US intervening [ in WW II] was an IMMEDIATE (in 'war terms') rescue. Their being involved made a complete and obvious impact, that, had it not occured, the Russian 'winter-trap' would have had no effect.
Well, the Russian winter definitely stopped the advance of Germany's armored tank infantry. It didn't defeat Germany, but it definitely stopped Germany's advance.
quote:
T-Dave (or Dave Wanking, if you must):
The Russian winter stopped the forward advance of the Germans, but the vast manpower of the Soviet army (and their cheap tanks) pushed the Germans back. See Antony Beevor's book, Stalingrad, for more on this.
Actually, through the lend-lease act, the U.S. was churning out planes and tanks for Russia and Britain.
The battle of Stalingrad is considered the major turning point of WW II conflict between Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany. The U.S. declared war in December 1941, and entered the war in early 1942. The Battle of Stalingrad occurred in late winter 1942 and early 1943. Although Soviet Russians were fighting the battle, the supply of U.S. weapons allowed the Russians to turn the tide.
Russia was producing its own tanks, but not in the numbers needed to defeat Germany. Russia was very dependent on U.S. military hardware to turn the tide.
While the U.S. had troops on the ground as well in Europe (and Africa, and the Pacific), the U.S. was primarily a supplier of heavy weaponry, from U.S. factories that were well out of German/Axis bombing range. Mostly, the U.S. provided manufacturing for the Allied war against Germany. And Britain, France and Russia provided the fighting men. The U.S. could not have fought Germany by itself, and Britain, France and Russia could not have won without U.S. aid.
It was a group effort, none of the Allies was expendable to Allied victory.
[ 04-26-2002: Message edited by: Dave the Wonder Boy ]
