Originally posted by no1marauderWhat if the Germans had been in a better postion to support Rashid Ali in Iraq? Or if they had somehow been able to use the Vichy French colony of Syria?
I'm curious; how do you think that the Germans could have placed over a million men in North Africa (Operation Barbarosa had about 3.5 million men under arms)? You think that the Germans could have overrun the Middle East from Libya (the operation you suggested in your earlier post) in "weeks"??
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Originally posted by rwingett1) Because those trains would have only been useful in the Soviet Union; the bulk of supplies were coming from other parts of the German empire. So they would have had to have been transported by rail to the Soviet border, then off-loaded into a different train. Changing the gauges altogether was a permanent solution and more consistent with the idea of a "1000 year Reich".
A couple of questions for you:
Why didn't the Germans simply build some trains that conformed to the Soviet rail gauge? That seems like a simpler solution than changing all the rails. Surely they should have anticipated this problem and planned accordingly.
Why do you feel the attack on Yugoslavia was militarily necessary?
Because that would have made the Soviets a bit suspicious. Because they thought the campaign would be over in less than a year. etc. etc.
2) The Nazis were still at war with the British Empire. The Italians had tried to invade Greece about 5 months before, but had been thrown back. It was always possible that the British could have landed large forces in Italian held Albania and if they could have convinced the Yugoslavs to enter the war, the Germans would have faced a two front war anyway. Thus, in 1941 it made military sense to secure the Balkans by taking out Yugoslavia and Greece. As it turned out, the partisans in Yugoslavia wound up tying up an entire Army Group for most of the war, but I don't think that could have been reasonably anticipated.
Originally posted by no1marauderI thought the Maltese air base was limited at one time to just two planes and in no position to mouint offensive operations. Instead it was limited to defence, The Navy, rather ruled the roost.
That was the proposal of some in the German navy. Whether it could have succeeded or not is debateable given the German supply problems in North Africa caused by the British fleet in the Med and the air base at Malta. Perhaps if the Turks had joined in and given the Nazi armies passage in that direction. It certainly seems true, though, that Stalin was trying to avoid war with the Germans at virtually any cost in 1941.
Originally posted by chancremechanicNot the same thing. The President is not butchering the American people. Besides the mess the U.S.A. is in is not the President's fault. Bush has not been in office for four years yet. This country's problems are older then Bush is.
Compare it to the millions of Americans who hate GW. Although they hate GW, if any country invaded the US, not including the 11,000,000 ilegal aliens who have already invaded and broken our sovreign laws, then people would pull together to defend the "Mother land". At least I hope Americans would do that. I'm sure there will be protests aginst fig ...[text shortened]... sco, and other stupidly-liberal chit hole cities in the US...mostly on the "left coast"....
Originally posted by no1marauderResources, not just men. This is an interesting question and one all about supplies and ability to transport those men and re-suppliy them. Germany never seemed to have really contested naval authority in the Mediterranean beyond bombing the heck out of Malta. But ... if it had.
I'm curious; how do you think that the Germans could have placed over a million men in North Africa (Operation Barbarosa had about 3.5 million men under arms)? You think that the Germans could have overrun the Middle East from Libya (the operation you suggested in your earlier post) in "weeks"??
At one time the Germans were within something like 60 miles of Cairo before they got pushed back. They were really close and I doubt there was anything in the rear. Now, add another 250 000 Germans, adequately supplied and provisioned. In the end. Rommel and his troops got starved by lack of reinforcements and provisions.
Originally posted by rwingettAli did not take charge in Iraq until April 1941; in less than two months, the Brits had forced him from power by invading Iraq. The Luftwaffe sent some planes, but I can't see what the Germans could have gotten to Iraq in May 1941 that would have changed the result.
What if the Germans had been in a better postion to support Rashid Ali in Iraq? Or if they had somehow been able to use the Vichy French colony of Syria?
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Originally posted by buffalobillThe only place the German navy seriously contested British naval supremacy was during the campaign for Norway. The German surface fleet got mauled. The Germans could never even establish naval superiority for 20 miles in the English channel; never mind the Med. After the initial deployment of the Afrika Korps, which caught the British by surprise, somewhere in the neighborhood of 60% of the supplies and men sent to North Africa by the Axis were lost enroute.
Resources, not just men. This is an interesting question and one all about supplies and ability to transport those men and re-suppliy them. Germany never seemed to have really contested naval authority in the Mediterranean beyond bombing the heck out of Malta. But ... if it had.
At one time the Germans were within something like 60 miles of Cairo bef ...[text shortened]... isioned. In the end. Rommel and his troops got starved by lack of reinforcements and provisions.
By the time Rommel reached El Alamein, the war was lost. Even if he had somehow taken Cairo in 1941, it's still a long way from Cairo to India. It's an interesting idea, but to me, the only way the Nazis could have won the war is by an all-out invasion of England. But they were unwilling to risk their entire Navy, the bulk of their Air Force and large land forces on this gamble. It may or may not have succeeded, but absent an invasion of the Home Isles I can't see how the Nazis win the war.
Originally posted by buffalobillIt's working for me.
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The fact that as I said countries who's main industrial areas got overran were crippled is not contradicted by the fact they were overrun quickly! In truth, one of the reasons the French surrendered even though they still had a large army in the field and the British were landing reinforcements was because their industrial areas fell.
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Originally posted by gambit3Are you questioning the historical accuracy of the information provided?
I really like it when I am redirected at some other web page that is more like a sales ad.
The site only gives info I know from other sources like books, but since it gave a good summary, I provided the link. If you and/or BB want to provide a site that contradicts the accuracy of the information given, please do so.
Originally posted by no1marauderNo. There are times that my searches are redirected to some web page that is crap and not what I was after.
Are you questioning the historical accuracy of the information provided?
The site only gives info I know from other sources like books, but since it gave a good summary, I provided the link. If you and/or BB want to provide a site that contradicts the accuracy of the information given, please do so.