How the difference in railroad rail gauge may have been the key factor in Germany's failure invading Russia at the end of WW2

submitted by magnora7 from westhunt.wordpress.com

sorted by:
top
newinsightfulfun
you are viewing a single comment's thread.

view the rest of the comments →

[–]Chipit 3 insightful - 3 fun3 insightful - 2 fun4 insightful - 3 fun -  (9 children)

Eh, not really. German logistics were based on wishful thinking, not a realistic idea of what the vastness of Russia was like.

Moreover the Red Army was unbelievably larger than anyone ever thought. The Germans were under the impression that there were one hundred divisons they had to destroy and Russia would be defeated. They destroyed them, and there were two hundred more that they never knew about. Hitler himself said he would have disbelieved any intelligence that told him the truth.

[–]JasonCarswell 3 insightful - 5 fun3 insightful - 4 fun4 insightful - 5 fun -  (6 children)

" Eh, not really. "

Actually, this supply line railroad gauge issue was very very real.

" German logistics were based on wishful thinking, not a realistic idea of what the vastness of Russia was like. "

That is very true, but it doesn't negate the real issue, stay on track.

What would have happened had Hitler actually penetrated through to Moscow and taken Russian power? All he'd need is control over the leadership, not the masses and troops. Maybe he could have held it, or maybe it would have soon flipped back, or slowly lost grip, maybe through yet another revolution, or peacefully. We'll never know...

...he got derailed.

[–]Chipit 3 insightful - 2 fun3 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 2 fun -  (5 children)

The center of gravity for the USSR was not Moscow. It was the Red Army. Destroy the army and take Moscow at your leisure.

[–][deleted] 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

You can't destroy Russia, that is foolish thinking.

Those guys have survived invasions from Napoleon, Hitler and will definitely live through your conquering attempts!

You barely even have an army. A few keyboards and a musket aren't enough to take them down. Russia is not to be messed with.

[–]JasonCarswell 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

I didn't say "the center of gravity for the USSR was Moscow" nor that you'd have to "destroy the Red Army".

I said, "All he'd need is control over the leadership," whatever that entails. Who ever would stand between, is all you'd really need to worry about.

[–]beermeem 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (2 children)

I studied some Russian history in college but we mostly just touched on the Revolution and the Cold War and glossed over WWII. So I don't really remember a ton of my WWII history. But it seems to me that Hitler's plans of taking major cities (like Paris) was a relatively successful one. Why do you have the perspective that it wouldn't have worked in this case?

[–]Chipit 3 insightful - 2 fun3 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 2 fun -  (1 child)

Fuhrer directive No.21 lays out the plan for the invasion. The objective is clearly to destroy the Red Army in the field.

Paris wasn't even taken. It was evacuated and declared an open city. The French government had already left by then anyway. The Soviets had an evacuation plan to continue the war from an alternate capital. Stalin almost got on one of the trains.

[–]beermeem 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

One of the most based comments I've ever seen on this site.

[–]la_cues 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Can you please cite that last statement? "...disbelieved any intelligence that told him the truth."

[–]Chipit 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

The only recording of Hitler in his normal speaking voice. I'm on mobile so you'll have to search it. But yeah he straight up tells Mannerheim that he would have ridiculed any accurate intelligence assessment and gone ahead anyway.