One of the most tragic events in world history, WWII still makes people ponder over the political and economical motifs of the Axis powers. Although nowadays it seems impossible that the Axis Powers could win, such a result was quite plausible in the distant 1939-1945. In spite of the fact that justice finally triumphed over the Nazis, it would still be reasonable to consider what would have happened if the Axis Powers had won and whether it was possible at all.
Since the results of the war often depend mostly on the techniques used in the course of battles, it would be a good idea to evaluate the technical potential of Germany in 1939-1945, as the center of the Axis Powers.
According to what Black says, Germany had a plethora of advantages compared to the Alliesâ army at the beginning of the war â the chances to capture the entire world were quite high, which means that only the swift and fearless actions of the Allies could stop the Nazi army. Thus, Black claimed,
Initially, the German and Japanese air forces held both qualitative and quantitative advantages over their adversaries, particularly the smaller powers confronting them, such as Poland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Yugoslavia, and Greece. [1]
Therefore, it must be admitted that the German army had all chances to capture the army of the Allies at the very beginning of WWII, due to the grandeur and the force of the German armor and equipment.
It is also worth mentioning that, geographically, the Axis Powers were in a winning condition as well. Since the countries which they were going to capture were, on the one hand, of rather small warfare potential, and, on the other hand, did not expect Germany to start the war, the Nazi army had an opportunity to win.
Taking into consideration the economic and diplomatic aspects of the warfare, one can see clearly that Germany faced certain problems at this point. Despite the effective idea of taking the countries out of sudden, the war took much more time than it had been expected, which must have upset the Axis Powersâ plan.
It must be mentioned that, basing the economics and the warfare on the idea of the New Order, the German Nazi created a foundation for perfect army. Indeed, with the strategy based on the economical and political calculations, it was highly possible that the German army could win. As Dear recalls,
The New Order was created by diplomacy out of economic need, historical resentment, and military aggression. Propaganda put on it whatever gloss it possessed, while the requirements of the industries of the Third Reich at war helped to give the New Order some kind of cohesion. 1
Therefore, it can be considered that the German army was also at ideological advantage compared to the countries of the Allies. With help of the New Order ideas which served as a set of rules to adhere to, the German army could succeed in their attempts to conquer the world easily. Indeed, inspired by the idea that the entire world must belong to them, the Nazi soldiers were able to crush all the obstacles on their way to the world hegemony.
However, there is no doubt that the theoretical possibility has nothing to do with the reality. Facing the terror of Nazism, the countries of the Allies managed to fight the aggressors back and win the WWII.
Reference List
Black, Jeremy. War in the Modern World Since 1815. New York, NY: Routledge, 2003.
Dear, Ian and Michael Richard Daniel Foot. The Oxford Companion to World War II. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.
Footnotes
- Ian Dear, and Michael Richard Daniel Foot. The Oxford Companion to World War II (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), 234.