Which country deserves the most credit for the fall of the Third Reich?(old.reddit.com)
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Which country deserves the most credit for the fall of the Third Reich?
https://old.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/18s7vb2/which_country_really_deserves_the_most_credit_for/
7 comments
"the most credit" by what metric(s)? It was a long and complex war. Certainly the Soviets suffered the most deaths fighting Germany - though that was partly because Stalin treated his people as expendables, both before and during the war. The U.S. did the most "arsenal of democracy" stuff - but skipped the first ~2 1/3 years of the war, and was conveniently too far away to suffer under Nazi boots and bombs as the Europeans had to.
Italy was first a supporter and then an enemy of Nazi Germany.
France was run over and fought back.
The Soviets were supporters initially as well. They started the second world war together with Germany by attacking Poland.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasion_of_Poland
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasion_of_Poland
I wouldn't call them supporters, they just had interest in poland and both sides never intended it to be even an middle term agreement.
No, they literally signed an agreement between each other which they kept secret and was only revealed during the Nuremberg trials. Soviets only started fighting "the nazis" when they themselves were attacked by Germany in 1941. What's hilarious is Russians are still in denial about their role in the war and teach that the war started in 1941, not 1939. Also to this day people can be fined for correctly pointing out details of the invasion.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molotov%E2%80%93Ribbentrop_Pac...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molotov%E2%80%93Ribbentrop_Pac...
> Stalin treated his people as expendables, both before and during the war.
Not sure that disqualifies their contribution. It is a moral/political issue, and all sides had those. So I would say the Soviets.
Not sure that disqualifies their contribution. It is a moral/political issue, and all sides had those. So I would say the Soviets.