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In two world wars the only time the German Navy wasnt fleeing the Royal Navy was Jutland where once cornered they gave a good account of themselves but then decided never to put to sea again, hell even the Bismarck was trying to run from the Hood. The German U-Boat fleet gave a good acount of itself and fought bravely to a rather bitter end but it had no chance from day one nor was it ever really a genuine threat to allied shipping, more submarines would only have killed more German seamen. |
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To get back to the original question, could Germany defeat Russia?
In a word ""NO,"" Stalin had a total disregard for human life, he would have sent troops piecemeal into the front line until the last Soviet soldier was killed. However, if Germany had developed the Atom Bomb................ |
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I don't think the Germans needed to go as far as the Urals, the Russian position would have been untennable once they reached the Volga river and they were very close to achieving that. |
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![]() The Germans could only go to the Urals if the SU was defeated west(far west ) of the Urals and they could only defeat the SU if they reached the Urals . It was mission impossible . While it is possible that MOST (not all ) food supplying regions would be lost , one must not forget that less people had to be fed . It is possible that the Soviet position would be untenable if the Germans had reached the Wolga EVERYWHERE, but I like to see how the Germans could advance from the Wolga to the Urals . |
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Germany could have defeated the Soviet Union, but in only by instigating a general collapse of the Soviet political superstructure. The only way to do this would be to get rid of Stalin. Once he's gone, I think there's a good chance the whole edifice comes crumbling down. The best (perhaps only) way to do this would have been to drive straight to Moscow as quickly as possible, induce general widespread panic and have Stalin and his goons (if alive) running for the Urals.
There were 2 key decisions that may have hampered the Germans:
The Germans even so, managed to introduce such panic in Moscow on October 16th that Stalin very nearly left the city. He didn't and the moment was lost for Germany. Stalin then went on to give his stirring speech on November 7th that stiffened public moral and resolve to defend Moscow to the last. Had the Germans turned up earlier, I'm not sure the panic could have been stopped. Of course, a drive to Moscow is fraught with difficulties and a massive gamble. I'm not even sure that logistically, it would have been possible, But it was the only chance for outright victory, The problem with German operational tactics in Russia is that the country is vast, unlike Poland and France, Unless the Germans moved quickly enough to cause regime collapse, they'd run out of time as the Soviets had massive tracts of land to retreat into. This was not the case in the West. Time was of the essence! Which is why the 2 decisions I mention above were so key. |
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