Do you believe that World War 2 could have ended earlier?

Question

Could War World 2 have ended earlier then it had?
I'm doing a paper, and I'd like to hear some of your feedback.
Thanks!
:)

Answer 1

Alot of these questions usually relate to the question of why the allies didn't do anything to stop the Holocaust. You can point to hundreds of what-ifs where the balance of battles could've gone either way.

I guess winning the war and defeating the Germans wasn't good enough? But even that question is a little out of context, as the Allies went about the invasion of the Atlantic Wall and the Eastern Front as fast as they could...although i see that the Red Army stopped just short of Warsaw during the Polish uprising, causing more Poles to die than there should have.

Some people wonder why the railways leading into Auswitz weren't bombed. I have to believe that the extent of the state-sponsored genocide was not known and that the few reports that did get out were too fantastic to believe.

Attacking continental Europe and winning earlier than June 1944 was not possible. Attacking sooner would've meant tactical defeats and prolonged the war at least another year. The US strategy of building up an overwhelming force was the strategy in WWII.

In 1943, the US & western allies were landing in Sicily and making their way up the boot of Italy. Building up the force that attacked the Atlantic Wall required a June 1944 attack date.

Several setbacks in 1944 also prolonged the war, including the little gamble known as the Battle of the Bulge.

On the other side, if Hitler or Japan would've developed the A-bomb, developed the jet fighters sooner, by-passed Stalingrad, focused on a few tank designs, ignored the Kursk salient, released the panzer reserves to Rommel prior to D-day, kept the BEF from escaping at Dunkirk, , etc, etc, etc,.

We could go all day long with the what-ifs, but the reality was, the Allies went about their work as fast as they could, and the Axis made the blunders...all contributing to the conclusion that WW2 could NOT have ended earlier.

Answer 2

It is easier now to sit and say how the war could have ended earlier. What we have to do is put ourselves in that time and place to figure it all out. The US was not able to fully fund a war effort when WWII broke out in 1939, which is why we never sent any troops over. The country was still in the midst of the Great Depression with millions out of work. Sure we could of went to war right away and drafted all those out of work, but how were we going to pay them. I personaly believe that the war in Europe ended as early as it could have, for the simple reeason that the Axis powers were tougher than expected. The Germans were entrenched deep into the Italian countryside and in France too. They had better tanks than we did so the battle for North Africa was a little rough for a while. As for the war in the Pacific, that one would have went on for a very long time. The Japanese military fought til the last man. The country was willing to fight and die for Emperor Hirohito. An invasion of the main land would have been certain death for countless US servicemen, even after the heavy bomb raids. The only way I see the war in the Pacific ending earlier is the atomic bomb being invented earlier. But with the technology they had and the military operating in two theaters of war, I believe that the war would not have ended earlier.

Answer 3

1. If any of the countries involved would have obtained the atomic bomb technology earlier.

2. If Hitler would had authorized the launching and production of the ME-262 right after he saw the presentation (find the ME-262 in youtube)

3. If USA would had enter the war earlier.

4. If Japan would had surrender when it was obvious they were not going to win.

5. If Hitler's assesination attemp would had succeeded>(The germans generals were of the idea of surrendering)

Answer 4

There's a lot of what ifs in this question. Problem is that a lot of things had to go right for the war to end and quicker.

For people who say the US should have entered the war in '39, many citizens didn't want to enter into a European war which they should sort out for themselves. Personally the way many in Europe feel about the USA if I had been in charge with the knowledge of today, I let the European nations fight it out without getting involved (I believe Germany would have been defeated but would have taken longer).

Answer 5

It lasted as long as it lasted.

Why do people constantly want to rewrite history?

Could you have eaten shrimp for breakfast? I guess so, but you probably didn't.

The answer to your question is yes, it could have ended earlier, or it could have lasted longer, but in truth it ended when it did.

To debate what it would have taken to bring it to a close earlier you would have to investigate every action by every government and individual involved with the war to determine their interaction with others to determine the outcome of said interaction. You can't simply say something like, "If we dropped the bomb earlier it would have stopped the war earlier." Why, becuse it didn't happen that way because everything wasn't ready earlier.



g-day!

Answer 6

no

neither Germany or Japan would have given up until the last man standing fell.

The only reason why it ended with Germany is because they lost more troops and material then they got put forward.

The only reason why it ended with Japan is because they received 2 a-bombs, demoralizing civilians with fear.

If it wasnt for those 2 factors, the war would have dragged on longer.

Germany tried to sue for peace with the western allies to direct its depleting resources to the Russian front.
But the Allies didnt want to listen and accepted nothing less then unconditional surrender of the German forces and Hitler.
Even if that scenario was succesful, the war on the eastern front would have kept going after a peace treaty was made with the Western Allies.

So in my view, given the historical events, no.

Answer 7

Yes: America was still in it's "hands off Europe" and "our shores" we allowed England to take the brunt of the German forces for three years before we stepped in. Although we helped in supplies, we could have done more.
With Japan, the same. We made a bunch of threats about the invasion of China and, even allowed men to join the "flying tigers" Air Force against the Japanese, we didn't lift a hand otherwise.

Had we gone in when Hitler invaded France, we may have stopped the invasion of Russia and Poland, France may not have been able to draw up the invasion barriers they had to stop us.

I'm not saying we could have crushed Hitler and Japan but, it would most certainly slowed them down, I guess we'll never know and, there will always be an argument for this.

Answer 8

nope
japan was WAY too stubborn and the war wouldve ended even later if the US hadent dropped the 2 atomic bombs.
japan believes fight till the end, even if it means death so they would not have given up and the war wouldve continued

Answer 9

Yes,

1) if the US had not waited to enter the war until the war was half over.

2) if Britain and the US had put more troops in France and even tried invading Germany in 39 or 40, before Hitler invaded France.

Answer 10

Sure. If Japan hadn't lost most of its fleet at Midway and Hitler had actually LISTENED to his generals, the war WOULD have been shorter. Of course, that's not necessarily a GOOD thing...