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Started By
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re: Which country had the best soldiers in WWII? Which country had the worst?
Posted on 10/20/21 at 9:58 am to RollTide1987
Posted on 10/20/21 at 9:58 am to RollTide1987
LINK
Max Hastings, it’s worth reading the whole thing.
After the war we studied and copied the Wehrmacht.
Max Hastings, it’s worth reading the whole thing.
After the war we studied and copied the Wehrmacht.
This post was edited on 10/20/21 at 10:01 am
2
Posted on 10/20/21 at 10:01 am to 308
Got to go with the Japanese for the best since these guys even scared the Nazis. Worst: Italians.
Posted on 10/20/21 at 10:03 am to SportsGuyNOLA
quote:
Best- Germans (obviously)
If you were a non-Jewish, non-communist, or non-Slav you’d pick going up against a German soldier over a Japanese 100 times out of 100. The Japanese were just next level crazy and brutal.
Posted on 10/20/21 at 10:04 am to 308
Best trained and equipped? Germans at the start of the war
Hardest fighting? Japanese.
Hardest fighting? Japanese.
Posted on 10/20/21 at 10:05 am to Ace Midnight
quote:
American artillery and engineering expertise is a tradition back to the early 19th Century. Most of the brightest minds drifted into either artillery or engineering.
West Point was an engineering school. The US Army also adopted a firepower doctrine that relied on artillery, that thinking decided how we fought all the way through WW2.
Posted on 10/20/21 at 10:05 am to Loup
quote:
Tell us you don't shite about history without saying you don't know shite about history
Clearly you are the dumbest person in this entire thread
This post was edited on 10/20/21 at 10:06 am
Posted on 10/20/21 at 10:11 am to OMLandshark
Crazy and brutal does not make the best army.
The repeated suicidal charges by the officers, while frightening, were not all that effective once the Americans realized what was happening. Again, it scared the shite out of you but it accomplished little to nothing. The American army was MUCH better.
When the Japanese went up against a season russian division to the lot to, this frightening, damn near unbeatable army (as they viewed themselves) got their asses handed to them, so much so that they basically stopped fighting the Russians. The Russians were fine with this because to Wu were getting the brunt of the German brutality.
Once Stalin purged his military leadership of arse kissing Communist yes men and replaced to em with competent war time generals, the red army was possibly the best infantry and tank/armored force in the war.
Americans utilized close quarter air support better than anyone else in addition to precise artillery and massive fire power with the semi automatic M1 battle riffle.
I would hate to see the casualty numbers had America declared war on Russia immediately after the war. It would basically be the eastern front but ratcheted up several notches due to the population and industrial might competing.
The repeated suicidal charges by the officers, while frightening, were not all that effective once the Americans realized what was happening. Again, it scared the shite out of you but it accomplished little to nothing. The American army was MUCH better.
When the Japanese went up against a season russian division to the lot to, this frightening, damn near unbeatable army (as they viewed themselves) got their asses handed to them, so much so that they basically stopped fighting the Russians. The Russians were fine with this because to Wu were getting the brunt of the German brutality.
Once Stalin purged his military leadership of arse kissing Communist yes men and replaced to em with competent war time generals, the red army was possibly the best infantry and tank/armored force in the war.
Americans utilized close quarter air support better than anyone else in addition to precise artillery and massive fire power with the semi automatic M1 battle riffle.
I would hate to see the casualty numbers had America declared war on Russia immediately after the war. It would basically be the eastern front but ratcheted up several notches due to the population and industrial might competing.
This post was edited on 10/20/21 at 10:12 am
Posted on 10/20/21 at 10:34 am to SportsGuyNOLA
quote:
Worst- French (obviously)
The French and Belgium armies held the perimeter at Dunkirk, fighting until they ran out of ammo and then continued to hold their positions until killed or captured.
Posted on 10/20/21 at 10:37 am to Oilfieldbiology
You would expect the US armed forces would be inferior to the Germans since America really didn't have professional soldiers like the Germans. The Americans really didn't start building their armed forces until late 1940. After WWI, most of America was very opposed to entering another war in Europe and really had a very small, peacetime army.
Posted on 10/20/21 at 10:37 am to Lima Whiskey
Max Hastings is a bitch. The whole worship of the Wehrmacht became the trendy thing to do starting in the 80s.
They lost for a reason. They were pulling equipment around on horses, their tanks were over engineered and horribly unreliable. The German army had massive issues logistically.
There’s a million variables here, all he uses is inflicted casualty rates. There so much more than that to consider.
If they were better, they would’ve won. Pretty simple.
They lost for a reason. They were pulling equipment around on horses, their tanks were over engineered and horribly unreliable. The German army had massive issues logistically.
There’s a million variables here, all he uses is inflicted casualty rates. There so much more than that to consider.
If they were better, they would’ve won. Pretty simple.
Posted on 10/20/21 at 10:56 am to blueridgeTiger
This thread isn’t talking bravery or devotion. While those are certainly components of having a good army, ability and success must be considered. And frankly, the Belgium’s and French got spit roasted by the Germans despite their valor, tenacity, and honor.
The French weren’t cowardly in surrender monkeys like adolescent me originally believed, but they also weren’t in contention for best army or military in WWII
The French weren’t cowardly in surrender monkeys like adolescent me originally believed, but they also weren’t in contention for best army or military in WWII
Posted on 10/20/21 at 10:56 am to Loubacca
quote:
You would expect the US armed forces would be inferior to the Germans since America really didn't have professional soldiers like the Germans. The Americans really didn't start building their armed forces until late 1940. After WWI, most of America was very opposed to entering another war in Europe and really had a very small, peacetime army.
Hell, that’s part of the reason Japan felt confident in attacking us.
Posted on 10/20/21 at 11:04 am to HerkFlyer
Victors write the records.
Posted on 10/20/21 at 11:12 am to Liberator
quote:
And except for Patton, they moved timidly.
Lightning Joe Collins has entered the chat.
Posted on 10/20/21 at 11:17 am to 308
Depends.
Best individual soldiers, in terms of fighting ability, training, mental toughness, etc? Not an easy question.
Wermacht soldiers that were German/Austrian and not conscripted from other countries or late war old men and young boys might fit the bill, but those are significant qualifiers.
US probably had the best overall in a sense of being well rounded. The average American GI's knowledge of fixing a motor or a vehicle part gives them an edge.
Russians weren't particularly well trained but were tenacious mofos. Also enjoyed them some raping of Eastern/Central European women.
Japanese were hard fighting and extremely dedicated. Some of them on remote islands knew about the bomb and end of the war but still didnt surrender until the 1960s. WTF, that's intense.
Worst? Maybe italy. Those frickers couldnt do jack shite. Rolled over and handed the keys to the Nazis the second Allied boots hit Italian soil.
Best individual soldiers, in terms of fighting ability, training, mental toughness, etc? Not an easy question.
Wermacht soldiers that were German/Austrian and not conscripted from other countries or late war old men and young boys might fit the bill, but those are significant qualifiers.
US probably had the best overall in a sense of being well rounded. The average American GI's knowledge of fixing a motor or a vehicle part gives them an edge.
Russians weren't particularly well trained but were tenacious mofos. Also enjoyed them some raping of Eastern/Central European women.
Japanese were hard fighting and extremely dedicated. Some of them on remote islands knew about the bomb and end of the war but still didnt surrender until the 1960s. WTF, that's intense.
Worst? Maybe italy. Those frickers couldnt do jack shite. Rolled over and handed the keys to the Nazis the second Allied boots hit Italian soil.
Posted on 10/20/21 at 11:30 am to tigahbruh
quote:
The German was far more skilled than the Japanese. Most of the Japanese that we fought were not skilled men. Not skilled leaders. The German had a professional army... The Japanese.. didn't know how to handle combined arms – the artillery and the support of the infantry – to the same extent we did. They were gallant soldiers, though... They fought very, very hard, but they were not nearly as skillful as the Germans. But the German didn't have the tenacity of the Japanese.[7]
The abovementioned Lightning Joe Collins, who served in both theatres, on the German and Japanese armies.
Posted on 10/20/21 at 11:36 am to 308
I have heard the Australians were straight up bad arses.
That being said... Japanese fought their arses off. Anyone to fly a suicide plane mission gets my vote.
Worst... The French of course.
That being said... Japanese fought their arses off. Anyone to fly a suicide plane mission gets my vote.
Worst... The French of course.
Posted on 10/20/21 at 11:40 am to OMLandshark
quote:
Got to go with the Japanese for the best since these guys even scared the Nazis
The Imperial Japanese Army proved to be no match for the Soviets under Zhukov at the Battles of Khalkhin Gol in 1939. The only major victory by the Japanese army against a superior force was the defeat of the British at Singapore.
Posted on 10/20/21 at 11:41 am to BigVoodoo
quote:
Russia is no doubt number 1
no. When an American general asked a Russian general what they would do should they encounter some impediment, like a minefield for example, the Russian general responded "We simply advance as if it was not there."
The Russians weren't some great badass military. They had numbers and were entirely propped up by U.S. and British money and equipment.
Frankly, the USMC was the best fighting force in the war, and the Wermacht is right there with it if we're being truly honest. Would've been very interesting to see a European front with the USMC involved.
Posted on 10/20/21 at 12:02 pm to Lima Whiskey
Max Hastings is a good historian but I find a lot of his conclusions to be subjective at best. He holds to the view that it was imperative Great Britain get involved in World War I as the German Empire was bent on the subjugation of the European continent. If that were so, they would have taken all of Russia at the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk instead of only parts of it.
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