As of D Day 1944 which military was in the worst position (whether qualitatively or situationally) between the Wehrmacht and the Imperial Japanese military?
Yeah, in fact the Battle off Samar during the Battle of Leyte Gulf could have easily been a huge Japanese victory and a catastrophic loss for the Americans.The majority of Japan's land army was completely intact, and in fact was expanding. The Germans, on the other hand, took catastrophic losses in France and Belorussia during the summer and fall of 1944 which had to be made good by the hasty mobilization of volksgrenadier divisions. The German Luftwaffe virtually went extinct that year, while even in August 1945 the Japanese still had 17,000 planes.
Japan also had a powerful surface fleet prior to Leyte Gulf, something Germany never possessed at any point.
Yeah, in fact the Battle off Samar during the Battle of Leyte Gulf could have easily been a huge Japanese victory and a catastrophic loss for the Americans.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_off_Samar
The majority of Japan's land army was completely intact, and in fact was expanding. The Germans, on the other hand, took catastrophic losses in France and Belorussia during the summer and fall of 1944 which had to be made good by the hasty mobilization of volksgrenadier divisions. The German Luftwaffe virtually went extinct that year, while even in August 1945 the Japanese still had 17,000 planes.
Japan also had a powerful surface fleet prior to Leyte Gulf, something Germany never possessed at any point.
As of D Day 1944 which military was in the worst position (whether qualitatively or situationally) between the Wehrmacht and the Imperial Japanese military?
--SNIP--
When did the Allies/USSR decide on the Oder-Niesse line as the eastern border in OTL?
That was decided at the Potsdam conference from 17 July to 2 August 1945. So there is a chance surrendering a year earlier could have resulted in Germany salvaging more of its territory from the war.
They had a fleet, but as Leyte demonstrated, it wasn't capable of all that much (carriers without pilots kinda makes them useless outside of distractions). They had a fleet in being, nothing else.
I'm going to argue that Japan was worse off. Yes, they still had a strong troop presence in China, but that doesn't matter all that much when your home islands are about to get bombed to the stone age and starve. I'm not saying that Germany was much better off, and without citing authenticated sources, I believe Germany was able to produce foodstuffs in greater numbers than Japan's home islands.
They had a fleet, but as Leyte demonstrated, it wasn't capable of all that much (carriers without pilots kinda makes them useless outside of distractions). They had a fleet in being, nothing else.
I'm going to argue that Japan was worse off. Yes, they still had a strong troop presence in China, but that doesn't matter all that much when your home islands are about to get bombed to the stone age and starve. I'm not saying that Germany was much better off, and without citing authenticated sources, I believe Germany was able to produce foodstuffs in greater numbers than Japan's home islands.
What victories?Even during the summer of 1944, German army did manage to score some operational victories against overwhelming odds
Germany is getting whatever borders the Allies say it’s getting. The wishes of whatever German government surrenders are not relevant.If the July 20 plot works like a charm and Hitler and Co are deposed/killed, I think maybe the Allies would have accepted an armistice leaving Germany with more or less her modern OTL borders. They still had to worry about Japan after all.
Even at Leyte Gulf, if Kurita handled his unit more competently he could have slaughtered both "Taffy" groups in his path and shot up the Gulf itself, which, given the historical outcome of both that battle and the war in general would have justified the sacrifice of his entire force. Through a number of factors the US narrowly avoided what could well have been a disaster.
What victories?
Arnhem was more due to luck rather than strategic brilliance.
It's fairly easy to curb stomp an under-armed parachute division with Panzers.
No he couldn’t have. The vulnerability of the forces at Leyte is overstated.