geoffkait,
They did not lose half their planes in the BoB.
Attacking Russia, as I stated in my original post, was their biggest mistake. For all intents and purposes Germany lost the war on 22 June 1941 although it took 4 more years.
The original post was about the fighting ability of soldiers. To make it simple I will try another approach.
The Russians lost approximately 4.5 million men from 22 June through December 31 1941. The Germans, in the same period, lost approximately 1 million. Those figures are for KIA, MIA, POW, and wounded. This is a ratio of 4.5:1 in Germany’s favor. Adolf Hitler had predicted that Russia would fold and Germany would win by the end of September. Adolf Hitler was wrong. He and his intelligence staff underestimated the Soviet Unions strength in man power and industrial capacity.
The Soviet Union continued to "grow" army’s and stack them in front of the Germans. They also moved their armament factories beyond the Volga River near the Urals and out of reach of German bombers. In short the Russians ability to replace lost men and equipment far exceeded what the Germans were capable of.
The Germans also had to replace their losses on 2 fronts against the 3 of the largest world powers starting in July 1943 when the Anglo Americans landed in Italy (the Italians surrendered which did not help) and a year later when they landed in France. They simply could not do this.
Soldier for soldier the Germans tactical and operational prowess was unmatched by the Russians, Brits, and the Americans but their endless supplies of manpower and resources was, in the long run, far to much for the Germans to succeed. In short the Germans were overwhelmed by the brute force of these 3 world super powers and their resources of men and material.
We all are in debt to the Soviet Union which bore the brunt of the full might of the German Army and bled them white before we landed on Normandy on 6 June 1944 to open the second front.
They did not lose half their planes in the BoB.
Attacking Russia, as I stated in my original post, was their biggest mistake. For all intents and purposes Germany lost the war on 22 June 1941 although it took 4 more years.
The original post was about the fighting ability of soldiers. To make it simple I will try another approach.
The Russians lost approximately 4.5 million men from 22 June through December 31 1941. The Germans, in the same period, lost approximately 1 million. Those figures are for KIA, MIA, POW, and wounded. This is a ratio of 4.5:1 in Germany’s favor. Adolf Hitler had predicted that Russia would fold and Germany would win by the end of September. Adolf Hitler was wrong. He and his intelligence staff underestimated the Soviet Unions strength in man power and industrial capacity.
The Soviet Union continued to "grow" army’s and stack them in front of the Germans. They also moved their armament factories beyond the Volga River near the Urals and out of reach of German bombers. In short the Russians ability to replace lost men and equipment far exceeded what the Germans were capable of.
The Germans also had to replace their losses on 2 fronts against the 3 of the largest world powers starting in July 1943 when the Anglo Americans landed in Italy (the Italians surrendered which did not help) and a year later when they landed in France. They simply could not do this.
Soldier for soldier the Germans tactical and operational prowess was unmatched by the Russians, Brits, and the Americans but their endless supplies of manpower and resources was, in the long run, far to much for the Germans to succeed. In short the Germans were overwhelmed by the brute force of these 3 world super powers and their resources of men and material.
We all are in debt to the Soviet Union which bore the brunt of the full might of the German Army and bled them white before we landed on Normandy on 6 June 1944 to open the second front.