
The Myth of the Nazi War Machine - brandonlc
https://notesonliberty.com/2019/11/03/the-myth-of-the-nazi-war-machine/
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smacktoward
As did the program that developed the B-29 Superfortress
([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_B-29_Superfortress](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_B-29_Superfortress)),
the plane that dropped the Manhattan Project’s atomic bombs on Japan.

Big defense projects are expensiiiiiiive.

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ng12
And then after the war ended the US rushed in to get access to as many of the
mythical Nazi scientists powering the mythical Nazi war machine as possible.

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sbmthakur
Yes. It's known as the Operation Paperclip:

[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Paperclip](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Paperclip)

The Soviets had such an operation of their own:

[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Osoaviakhim](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Osoaviakhim)

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NeedMoreTea
What a terrible article. Sure they manage to mention that logistically Germany
was in a terrible place, but half the "facts" aren't. Made up chest thumping
seems to describe it most accurately.

 _" outdated Hurricanes than they were the newer Spitfire"_ Um, no the
Hurricane was _not_ outdated. It was about as new as the Spit, used the same
marks of Merlin and Griffon engines as the Spit, and was in fact a more stable
gun platform. Key point, Hurricanes were _far_ quicker to build than the more
manoeuvrable Spit. Even after the Supermarine shadow factories were up to
speed. Simply put Hurricanes and Mosquitoes were far easier to put together.
All three had _far_ better visibility than equivalent German fighters that
this article manages to miss entirely.

Then they _entirely_ miss the point of V2.

 _" V2 was more sophisticated, but was never mass produced: only 3,000 were
launched"_ Had Hitler not overridden the use of V2, 3,000 might have been
plenty. V2 was intended to be surface to air against Lancs and Forts. Not
horribly overpriced very low capacity bomber replacement.

"May-June 1943 only sank two ships for every U-boat lost, ending the Battle of
the Atlantic"

WHAT? OK, this section is jingoistic made-up nonsense. Battle of the Atlantic
continued until May 1945. Read bloody Wikipedia or any respectable history
from any participant. Enigma decrypts neutered some of the U boat impact as
did mostly the Mark 5 Sunderlands and the few Liberators - that were only ever
available to Coastal Command in very limited numbers.

Funny no mention of the US's reluctance to even adopt convoys, appearing
almost as reluctant as they had in WW1.

Sevastopol and Stalingrad did not forget blitzkreig. Did you forget what you
wrote only a dozen paragraphs earlier? The Nazis had terrible logistics,
under-mechanisation and limited fuel. What were the length of supply lines
around Sevastopol and Stalingrad? Bliztkreig required the spearhead be
mechanised and well supplied.

Enough. I give up. :)

~~~
smacktoward
U-boats continued sailing right up till the end of the war, but after
suffering huge losses in 1943’s “Black May”
([https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_May_(1943)](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_May_\(1943\)))
they stopped challenging the North Atlantic convoys directly. Merchant tonnage
sunk dropped precipitously at that point. After mid-1943 the U-boats were an
annoyance to the Allies, not an existential threat.

~~~
NeedMoreTea
The Battle of the Atlantic was sheer war of attrition and tonnage. The Allies
were pouring far more in at the top by 43, with the expectation that some
would get through. The strength of numbers of the long range Sunderland 5s -
that started replacing the III in 44, Beaufighters, and Mossies meant they
were far more effective, particularly out in Biscay. German effectiveness
declined really only from 44 on - there was a pretty major and effective U
boat campaign in late 43 going into the winter. It just wasn't as effective as
the previous year.

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sesuximo
There's a fascinating but gruesome story behind why so many V2 rockets
misfired. This kept me up at night after I first read it

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wernher_von_Braun](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wernher_von_Braun)

TLDR the Nazis used slave labor to build V2s, and then the USA hired the slave
masters (and ensures they didn't stand trial at Nuremberg)

~~~
me_me_me
That is truly morally ambiguous, but wasting his intellect would not put man
on the moon.

So its the matter of valuation (quite impossible task), but then again when a
plane crashes someone has to calculate how much your relatives' life were
worth to pay compensation.

That's probably the logic behind what happen to nazi scientists. They were
worth more alive then dead (also both sides were hunting for them not just
USA).

~~~
sesuximo
I agree it's not cut and dry.

However, we cannot be sure we wouldn't have reached the moon or achieved other
great things without Operation Paperclip. It's not like all the rocket
scientists were Nazi elites. E.g. Goddard was American.

~~~
me_me_me
Yes I agree absolutely, but its undeniable that they accelerated current
efforts both soviet and us.

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julienreszka
Germans were delusional, it's correct. They expected the British empire and
the USA to join the Axis through political means and fight communism alongside
them. A long war was never an option for them. How naive. In 1941 Rudolf Hess
even took a plane alone to fly to the UK to try and convince the British lords
to join the Axis. One of the most surrealistic thing they did. Incredible.

~~~
soperj
Except that King Edward VIII was a known Nazi Sympathizer. If he hadn't
abdicated the throne things could have been much different.

~~~
NeedMoreTea
Erm the monarch held no power as head of state during the war years - the few
remaining symbolic powers were just that - symbolic. Victoria was the last to
actually use one after she was essentially backed into a corner by Palmerston
not naming a replacement PM, despite months of avoiding in parliament. That
was the mid 1850s.

Now, had you mentioned that a good proportion of the pre-war Tory party were
Nazi sympathisers you might be on to something. Notably including Halifax who
was offered the premiership before Churchill, after Chamberlain resigned.

