why is everyone think the D-day landings and stuff was so important to the war.?

Question

hey im not here to bash the yanks,
i think americans are pretty cool but every time someone talks about a ww2 question about outcomes it always seems that the americans won the war single handed.
the americans fought bravely against the japs and were a good fighting force but ww2 was won by the USSR.

battles such as Starlingrad and Lenningrad where millions died were way more important that the D-day landings or anything on the west of europe.

ww2 in europe was won in the east,
the soviets destroyed the german and axis armies,
the allies just took the cake on the west against underpowered and out manned german soldiers

Answer 1

Yeah, and the Soviets did it all single handedly without US supplies and money? So, what you are saying is, that there really was no point to D-Day, and the Soviets could have mopped the floor with the Nazis? Last I saw, the Soviets were having a hell of time trying to push the battle hardened Nazi forces back, taking 2-3 times as many casualties as the Nazis were at the best of times.

Answer 2

There's a lot of truth in what you say. The Soviet forces certainly destroyed the best of the German army. But the landings in Normandy were also vital to the success of the Allies.
It was the greatest seaborne invasion in history and, although many of the Wehrmacht troops were second rate the Allies still had to fight against some first class Panzer regiments in countryside that very much favoured the defenders.
The logistics of transporting a dozen divisions across the sea with an element of surprise and then keeping them supplied over open beaches were very difficult and if the Germans had reacted more quickly in the first few days it might have been a different outcome.

Answer 3

Nice try. By the way, my parents were BOTH on the "losing side" (Hungarian/Japanese). Ok, look it up, you will see just how much money and supplies the U.S. supplied to the former Soviet Union, especially in military equipment (trucks, boots, iron, chassis for tanks, rubber, etc.). Stalin wanted the U.S. to invade Europe in the fall of 1941, when the German army was approaching Moscow, and the Soviet Union was on the brink of disaster. Then the Americans got involved (besides shipping military goods to the Soviet Union), and invaded North Africa, then Italy. Without American intervention (direct and indirect) and American aid, the Russian citizens would be speaking German today! IT WAS AN ALLIED EFFORT ON ALL SIDES TO DEFEAT NAZI GERMANY! Don't belittle the incredible sacrifices made by Americans (over 200,000 died in the European Theater). Remember that most Americans knew nothing about the Eastern Theater, yet they still went to war. That's heroic.

The Russian citizenry suffered incredibly, but most of that had to to with (1) poor military leadership and planning (in most of the major battles the Germans "won", they were greatly outnumbered by the Soviet army), and (2) Josef Stalin, who is responsible for more deaths than any other leader in the history of the world. So the next time you think that the Americans were fighting a German force that was underpowered and outmanned, think of the 200,000+ graves of DEAD American soldiers in Western Europe. Danke Schon!

Answer 4

I agree with you that sometimes, we Americans forget the tremendous sacrifices that our allies in the east, especially the Soviet Union, endured, and I think a lot of that forgetfulness had to do with the quick onset of the Cold War after WWII, beginning with the division of Germany and Berlin and escalating with the Soviet Union's production of a nuclear arsenal and the threat of mutually assured nuclear holocaust.

I believe that both fronts were equally important to the success of the Allies in WWII. The Soviets were pushing the Germans back, to be sure, but without a successful second front in the west, the Germans would have been able to divert more of their western resources toward the eastern front, and stall or even offset the Soviet advance.

It should also be noted that most of the airpower that was responsible for the many bombing raids that destroyed most of Germany's infrastructure and wartime production, and made it much easier for the Allies on both fronts to do their jobs, came from the United States and Great Britian.

Yes, the Soviet Union played a huge and often overlooked part in achieving the victory in Europe, but we don't have to discount the success on the western front in order to recognize the success on the eastern front.

Answer 5

D-Day was the largest amphibious operation in history. The Allies sent false messages out that they knew the Germans would get that said they were invading near Belgium, so Germany moved a bulk of troops to that area to defend it. Then when the Allies landed on the beaches, they started getting mowed down by German machine guns. The Russians probably coud have taken Berlin alone, but it would have taken alot longer than it did because of the D-Day invasion. I'm not saying that the Americans did it alone, either. I'm saying that a combination of Canadian, American, and British troops did.

Answer 6

One of the most important aspects of the Allied landings in Normandy on D-Day was that it opened up a Western Front. The German High Command had to recall many divisions from the Eastern Front, giving the Soviets a decided advantage in troops and arms.

Answer 7

Yea, the USSR did come through with the brute force required to break through the eastern front. But this was attributed to several factors, the frigid cold of Russia coupled with the idiotic lack of interchange-able parts in the German vehicles, with the invasion on D-Day this put the Germans on a two front war and allowed both sides (Russia and England) to recuperate while the relatively fresh US soldiers drew the attention.

I'd really attribute the win to the failure of the Von Schlieffen plan due to the lack of German commitment to it.

I don't think anyone really doubts the importance of the siege of Stalingrad, but it was only a matter of time until the war of attrition won out over the soviets.

Answer 8

It's funny you should say that, because I was thinking just the opposite. The Russians were folding like an accordian 1942-1943. Britain wasn't even strong enough to keep Germany from crossing the channel by themselves. Hitler was waiting for Edward to retake the throne and sign the treaty like he promised. It took the USA and her bombers to cripple Germany. Without the USA opening up a second front, Europe would still be German. Heck, even if the Russians could have defeated Germany alone (which they never could have done, not with their poor excuse for an industry that couldn't even arm all their soldiers), would it have been any better living under Stalin than Hitler?

Answer 9

Well, anyone who suggests the USA won the Western European theater themselves is wrong... it was coordination twixt England, the US and the Soviets.

BUT please anyone who wishes to suggest the USSR did it all on their own is also incorrect !! The US supplied ammo, vehicles, aircraft, and raw materials without which, the USSR would have LOST Moscow and Stalingrad and the Urals.

The US and Allies CERTAINLY took stress OFF off the RED ARMIES with Normandy...otherwise Stalin wouldn't have been BEGGING the Allies to open the 2nd Front.

I will NEVER deny the Red Army's and Soviet States' contributions... but to say they won it ALONE is just as FOOLISH as it is to state that the USA won the war.

It WAS though the USA's industries and shipping that SUPPORTED the Allies !!

Answer 10

The US Liberated Europe and defeated the Japs.
The USSR defeated the Germans in Berlin and the Eastern Front. Remeber, the US was in Berlin before the Ruskies....Politics played them the hand