Could Germany defeat the Soviet Union one on one?

Could Germany defeat the Soviet Union one on one?

  • Yes

    Votes: 95 41.9%
  • No

    Votes: 59 26.0%
  • Maybe

    Votes: 73 32.2%

  • Total voters
    227
Britain drops out of the war in 1940 and the Reich never declares war on the US.

Germany can now devote most of their resources, vehicles, manpower, and effort against the USSR in time for Operation Barbarossa. The USSR is still getting Lend Lease though.

Can Germany not distracted by other fronts and campaigns (air, naval, Africa etc) defeat the USSR?

How much does not fighting the US/UK increase the Reich's chances of victory against the USSR?
 
Under those circunstances I'd say still no, however, the existence of more german reserves, increased presence of the Luftwaffe and probably a greater logistical capacity to sustain these troops would make the soviet advances much more slow than it was and the tipping point of the war, that happened in 1943 in OTL is probably going to be much more blurred. I can see the war lasting even until late '46.
 
is the US going to send them Lend Lease? you mentioned that Germany does not declare war on US so assume the Japanese have acted per OTL?
The US will still send them lend lease and the Japanese will act like they did IOTL (unless you believe they would make different decisions given the circumstances).
 
It is possible? Sure. Failures of leadership, bad luck and the vagaries of war could do it. Stranger things have happened and sometimes the odds are beat - just look at the Super Bowl a few days ago. Life's stranger than fiction and all that stuff.

How likely it is to happen? That's the rub and what's really worth arguing about.
 
This is been asked before and caused a TON of acrimony. I voted yes, ObsessedNuker will come in and either say no or maybe and potentially get involved in another major argument on this subject. For a preview of what to expect do a forum search.
Are you referring to a particular thread?
 

Wallet

Banned
Depends on how much preparation the Soviets do. If they don't prepare like OTL, then it is very feasible for the entire undistracted German army backed by all its allies (Italy, Romania, Hungry, Bulgaria, Finland, Spain) to capture Moscow.

However, its very unlikely Stalin wouldn't prepare if the British are out.

Another factor is lend lease. Are the Americans sending supplies? What about the Japanese?
 
The pedant in me wanted to vote "yes" because of the way the question is worded (would would have been a better choice of words then "could") but I ultimately acknowledged the spirit of the question and voted "maybe". Even OTL it's possible that the Soviets might have suffered the political collapse the Germans were counting on, even if that represents something of a Black Swan event, or if they had adopted a different strategy.
 
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The pedant in me wanted to vote "yes" because of the way the question is worded (would would have been a better choice of words then "could") but I ultimately acknowledged the spirit of the question and voted "maybe". Even OTL it's possible that the Soviets might have suffered the political collapse the Germans were counting on, even if that represents something of a Black Swan event, or if they had adopted a different strategy.
WHAT ARE YOU IMPLYING COMRADE?! You are supposed to defend glorious communism!
/jk
 
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If Heisenberg gets all the resources and funding he needs, sure. Otherwise, no. The Germans beat the Soviets in every single battle at the tactical level historically. Then the next Corps sized Russian unit came up and the Germans were out of bullets. You can't stop that short of the first sentence given here.
 
The simple but rather trite answer is that numbers and space will always stop the Reich in the end, not to mention strategic idiocy. Actually I think they will, but the 'wild card' in all of this is resistance, not only in occupied Russia but in the Balkans, Norway, Greece, etc. Even with the Brits on the sidelines, many people will still actively resist the Reich (and somehow supplies will reach them) still requiring a substantial diversion of German resources to other parts of their empire. So my answer is No, or at least NO for 249 out of 250 simulations. And to get the desired result in that 250th simulation is going to require a number of unforced errors and bad decisions by the Falcons, 'oops' the Russians.
 
Consider the fact that OTL 10-40 Million Soviets (TOTAL INCLUDING Civilian/Military/Military POW, etc.) died during WWII. The hatred for Fascism and Nazism (specifically) lead to the whittling down of Nazi troops as they idiotically were lead deep into Russia during the Muddy Summer/Early Autumn, and then were stranded during the freezing winter. Unless the Nazis made different decisions relating to the invasion of the USSR, they would have no chance even if it was its only enemy left.

Soviet Casualty Numbers: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II_casualties_of_the_Soviet_Union
 
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