By 1944 the Russians had blown there bolt economically speaking by 45, in aircraft alone production dropped from 17,913 fighters in 1944 to only 8.849 in 1945, Ground Attack went from 11,100 in 44 to a mere 5, 484 in 45. Frankly the Russians Economy was strained to the breaking point by 1945 even with substancial allied help. In one alone situtaion Russia would have had to face a Germany economy which went from producing only 10, 808 fifghters in 1943 to 25, 285 in 44, from 5,570 tanks in 43 to 8,337 in 44 add in the non effect of allied bombing causing temporary displacement in the conomic effort and you can see that germany was more than capable of matching Russian out put. Ask any body who plays AH’s Third Riech and they will be sure to tell you once the Germans get up off the ground it can get screay real quick.
Very doubtful. And German supplies and weaponry weren’t so much the problem but finding enough oil and manpower. There was no way that Germany could’ve caught up to Russia in terms of output. German tank production never broke 30,000 while the Russians were able to produce over 110,000 tanks. By 1943, the Russians could’ve ended all production and still have a numerically superior ratio compared with Germany during the entire war. As for the aircraft production numbers, I’m unsure where you found them from. Let’s look at Aircraft Production:
Country 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945
USSR 10382 10565 15735 25436 34900 40300 20900
Germany 8295 10826 12401 15409 24807 40593 7540
(Remember the war ended in Europe in May 1945)
Plus the Germans had little pilots left that late in the war or the fuel to fly their planes.
Then add in without a western front that wold have freed up approxamatly 10 to 15 front line heavy divisions for use on the eastern front which could have A.) countered the Bagration offensive or B.) enabled Germany to launch her own attack in 44. Russian Mass is also a Myth, while some sectors of front were heavily reinforced others were weak and spoty and if the Germans had had the ability (Created by an unhindered economy and lack of second front) to exploite them a balance could have been achieved.
I doubt that even by freeing up units in WE, could the Germans launch a offensive. The second German offensive in 1942 was nowhere as powerful as the one launched the previous year. The Germans tried to exploit sectors of the front like the salient at Kursk - they failed miserably. SUD made the comment that even if the Russians lost ever AFV thrown at Kursk while the Germans none, it still wouldn’t have made a dent to the outcome of the war.
This also ignored the fact the entire Russian supply system relied upon the use of American made trucks and light vehicles, how else do you think they got those huge numbers of tanks? Russian manpower was nearly exhausted as well as evidenced by the large numbers of Asiatic troops, largely considered unreliable by the Red Army, in Europe in 45.
When I made the comment, I meant Russia could’ve defeated Germany by herself (on one Front), the Allies still would’ve sent equipment though wouldn’t have sent forces to SE or WE.
