German military superiority

submitted by TheJamesRocket from self.WW2Myths

The following threads and articles describe the factors that made the German army one of the most formidable forces of the war. Their success was due to the manner in which their soldiers and officers were trained, and how their troops were organised.

What explains the military superiority of Germany during WW2?

How did Nazi Germany produce such an impressive portfolio of officers for WW2?

Fighting power of the Wehrmacht

The Rise of the Panzer Division

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[–][deleted] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Did you know JFK started a social-experiment in high-schools in the 60's that drew a strong influence from how the Nazi Youth functioned/it's core values?

It was a great success, but of course, was canceled after he was assassinated. It was all about creating a healthy, well-trained nation and creating bonding experiences among peers while supporting patriotism, during physical training (with the thought behind it being if one is physically fit and vigor, and learns at a young age how to overcome physical obstacles and transform themselves, then they will also be mentally strong, build confidence and figure out how to overcome life-hurdles without having to rely on substances or breaking down; if they couldn't overcome a hypothetical hurdle, they learned they could rely on their fellow countrymen).

[–]useless_aether 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

i know that usually the soviets could claim victory and make an advance only when the germans would run out of ammo.

and the soviet officers would shoot their own soldiers from behind the lines if they didn't blindly run forward to certain death.

[–]TheJamesRocket[S] 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Its a bit more complicated than that. The Red Army was poorly trained and poorly led. They were in no way the equal of the Germans. Their only hope of winning a battle was to bring more infantry, more tanks, and more artillery.

While its true that the Soviets did use 'blocking units' to stop their men from retreating, this generally only happened with penal battalions. The Soviets doubted the enthusiasm of these troops, which is why they were always accompanied by a blocking unit.