Why did we win WWII?

Lilmissflamethrower

Active member
I was looking at Mark's question about why we didn't win the Vietnam war. It made me think about WWII. Was it strategy or luck and better timing with technology?

If the military is run anything like where I work then there are too many idiots running things and the higher up the chain the more lazy and unmotivated people become... That old SNAFU word comes to mind...

But then, the enemy must have the same level of incompetence too?
 
Hmmmm..I think it would do it injustice to discuss it shortly but oh well. In case you are intrested, there is a book: WHY THE ALLIES WON, by Richard Overy....Very good book.
 
Yes, I know its impossible to discuss in three sentences... but I wonder if anyone really truly knows? I would love to read that book. I recently read a book, which my friend has borrowed and I don't remember the name, which goes into the many ways in which we were so stupid during WWII. That book pissed me off, thats why I more or less gave it to my friend.

Can you tell me in any condensed way, what the book presents? Is it a many dimensional and layered explanaition?
 
I think one of the most improtant factors was American industry. We became almost entirely self-suffient, we poured every single little bit of resource into the war effort, and out-produced the enemy. The entire nation was united in her cause, and no one had misconceptions about what we needed to do to win. I saw on a documentary (I believe it was called Inside the Great Battles: Iwo Jima on the History Channel) that Japanese industry produced 2 pounds of equiptment for every Japanese soldier. American industry produced 4 tons for every American soldier.

My 2 cents.
 
We did come on the scene in the European theatre later then everyone else so that makes sense. However, we did have better technology in Viet Nam, but we didn't have the morale...
 
The ammount of weapons that the USA and USSR preduced were overwhelming. The Stratigic-Bombing damaged the Japanese and German industries and strategy. The Naval controll by the US and UK kept the routs open(though with heavy casualties) to material and troops. Hitler was a poor strategist. There are many causes.
 
The Allies won the war because of pure determination. No matter what was thrown at them they would do whatever it took to win. Russia at Stalingrad, the USA after Pearl Harbor, even the French Resistance using guerrilla warfare to delay German shipments. As Future Ranger said, our industry did play a huge role. Countrys turned from there own comforts of home to pumping out armored tanks and ammo. One thing I loved was the rationing. Many people agree that what ended the war is the dropping of the bombs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I would agree with this, but not completely. Yes it would of been about another year of fighting at the least, and another 1 million dead easily to of invaded Japan. It was said at that time that it would of taken at least a wave of 5 million men to invade the Japan mainland, and at least 1 million men would die in doing so. The Allies won because they were determined as I said earlier. The men who fought, fought with bravery and courage. Nothing more a person could ask for.
 
The reason we won WW2 and not Vietnam, is because had a NEED to win. The fate of the world depended on the out come of WW2. If we had lost all the Jews would be dead, everyone would speak German. Europe would still be controlled by the Nazis. While in the East, Japanese would controll the Pacific, thus everyone there would learn Japanese. And the war would not have ended because resistance forces around the world would try to stop them. (i have an overly active imagination)

Vietnam War, it didnt really matter who one. the world would be safe.
 
hits pretty close to the base Darkmb101. That thing called need versus want explains it very well indeed.

Probably as good an answer you'll get yet lil.
 
Other factors also include

1. Japanese considered their weapons to be an extension of the warrior so the rifles and pistols used were below par. Even on the Japanese pistol you could push in on the sear from the outside and the weapon would fire.

2. Im sure DDay would have still happened but what if Hitler was awake and transferred his panzer divisions he had in reserve to the Normandy beaches? Could the success have been due to lack of forces on the Germans part?

3. The amount of resources available to the allies as compared to the Germans was staggering also.

4. Another reason could be due to the greed of the Adolf Hitler to break the non aggression pact with the USSR and thus bringing about a front that could have been avoided.

This is just the tip of the iceberg but theres a few of the reasons Im sure, and the NEED is also a great factor.
 
one reason we couldn't win the Vietnam War was because we were facing an enemy who has lived their entire lives in the jungle our troops fought in. The Vietnamese ad the homeground advantage they had entire tunnel "cities" where they lived in work that near impossible to penetrate because they could seal off entire sections, pop through trap doors right behind and shoot :rambo: you, or drop and grenade from a higher tunnel or ledge on your head. Another thing there were now complexes, training bases, or military factories that could be bombed. Another that held back American troops was the R.O.E.s (Rules Of Engagement). Pretty much if an American soldier was chasing a Vietnamese soldier if the Vietnamese soldier crosses into North Vietnam they had to give up chase and let the soldier go. Another thing was in WWII the germans weren't allowed to shoot medics while in the Vietnam War the Vietnamese shoot medical help. Also in WWII America knew the terrain because of WWI
 
We won WWII becase we had a singular goal- beat the Axis powers. And we jumped straight in with both feet feet. We lost Vietnam because we didn't go in with that same goal. And we didn't really jump in with both feet until it was too late. I would hazard a guess and say we would have kicked Charlie's ass over his head if we had gone in with the mindset to win the war. We definitely had the technology to win, but not the mindset.
 
One thing was sheer manpower. By the end of the war, Germany was using teenagers wiht very little training. When the Allies were still using older, more experienced soldiers. Also, when America and the Soviet Union entered the war, they brought a lot of fresh soldiers, but the Axis still had the old worn out soldiers that they were using at the beginning of the war. And as other people said, we had a lot more resources and materials than the Axis did.
 
Darkmb101 said:
The reason we won WW2 and not Vietnam, is because had a NEED to win. The fate of the world depended on the out come of WW2. If we had lost all the Jews would be dead, everyone would speak German. Europe would still be controlled by the Nazis. While in the East, Japanese would controll the Pacific, thus everyone there would learn Japanese. And the war would not have ended because resistance forces around the world would try to stop them. (i have an overly active imagination)

Vietnam War, it didnt really matter who one. the world would be safe.
i agree, either we end war or the world would come to an end. no much of a choice
 
doomshot said:
one reason we couldn't win the Vietnam War was because we were facing an enemy who has lived their entire lives in the jungle our troops fought in.

Simply not true. Take a look at the Australian task force sent to Vietnam. That was a force built along similar lines, albeit on a much smaller scale than the American forces in Vietnam. They hadn't lived their lives in the jungle, yet they easily adapted to the techniques used by the NVA and VC and took the fight to the Vietnamese and fought them on their own terms. American forces very rarely ever did that in Vietnam, and yet, amazingly enough, were rather successful until January 1968.

doomshot said:
Another thing was in WWII the germans weren't allowed to shoot medics while in the Vietnam War the Vietnamese shoot medical help. Also in WWII America knew the terrain because of WWI

It's a rare occasion I hear such a ridiculous statement. Meidcs got shot very frequently in WW2. Often times it was unintentional (especially in NW Europe), other times it was deliberate policy used to disrupt enemy morale - the Eastern Front and the Pacific theatre of Operations are two very good examples of this. The deliberate targeting of medics by the Russians and the Japanese led to German and Allied medics on the respective fronts removing their insignia and carrying small arms for protection. Americans were also known to shoot medics as well. I recall a story related in Citizen Soldiers of a German Fallshirmjager medic who was stopped by an American roadblock shortly after D-Day with a wounded patient in the car - both Germans were shot by the American troops manning the roadblock.

As to reasons why America lost the Vietnam War, yet won WW2 - you need look no further than television for your answer. Take a look at history. By Christmas 1967, the US military had been telling the American public that they were winning the war, and to a very large extent that was true - the NVA was militarily exhausted and nearly incapable of further fighting. General Giap had one trick left up his sleeve and played it - the 1968 Tet Offensive. Now, I won't go into too much detail except to say that the NVA and the VC rose up all over South Vietnam. Virtually every town and city in RVN was attacked by Communist forces. The American Embassy in Saigon had been captured and held under seige by VC forces for several hours. Can you imagine the blow to public opinion the images of General Westmoreland standing in the American Embassy compound telling the world America was winning, while a pair of VC corpses are at his feet? Keep in mind that Vietnam was a war like no other America had fought in, except the War of Independence. The public didn't understand nonsense about body counts - maps and border lines made sense, and when the TV shows dead enemies hundreds of kilometres behind "the front" they suddenly think the war is lost, no matter what the senior allied commander in theatre says. With the stunning tactical failure of the Tet Offensive, North Vietnam could very easily have been forced to negotiate a cease fire and a permanent end to hostilities had America been able to keep up the pressure for a little while longer. Instead, public opinion in America and elsewhere turned against the war, and North Vietnam was handed a stunning strategic victory over the United States of America.

Now for a radical argument. In a round about sort of way, America did in fact win the Vietnam War. One of the earlier stated aims of the war was to prevent the spread of communism in South East Asia. Discuss.
 
Jagdverband:

excellant post. why not move the bottom statement to a new topic, and get some bucks for it? Viet Nam really doesnt belong here, but we have two other topics going along the same lines.

Really, its an excellant post.

:D
 
Well Stalingrad actually doomed the Nazi's to defeat, but it was overall a team effort.

The USA produced and supplied the UK and the Soviets. The Soviets fought till the last man virtually alone, and the UK held on to get USA in the war and to open the second front.

Overall a team effort, if you understand me.
 
Wht did we win the 2nd world war
Lets face it
The germans were better led
better equipt in amour, guns, aircraft "fighters" submarines
tactically superior
this can be summed up in one word really
NUMBERS or the numbers game as some might call it
 
We had numbers, strategy, better tech (than Japan), god and the undying patriotism in every Americans heart.
 
craig said:
Wht did we win the 2nd world war
Lets face it
The germans were better led
better equipt in amour, guns, aircraft "fighters" submarines
tactically superior
this can be summed up in one word really
NUMBERS or the numbers game as some might call it

The Generals were much better, fortunately Hitler felt he could run the military and he messed up so many times that the British cancelled a mission to have him killed.
 
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