Post by Deleted on Apr 20, 2015 11:01:49 GMT 7
Hi Ladies and Gents,
This sub forum is a place to discuss alternative history.
Here we can discuss major events that could have completely changed the world if the outcome was different.
First of all I will state that I am not a story writer (like The Blether) nor am I an intellect (like Dr. Will), so my ramblings will sometimes seem disjointed or difficult to follow and for that I will apologize in advance.
However, I do have a love of history and a fascination of how the chain reaction of an alternate history would have changed the world that we live in.
To start the ball rolling, I am opening with the battle of Stalingrad, with the question of ‘What if Friedrich Paulus had managed to take Stalingrad?’.
It is well documented that Hitler’s Sixth Army were at one stage right on the verge of taking Stalingrad.
Even the Russian commander on the ground (Vasily Chuikov) was involved in the close quarter fighting in a desperate attempt to thwart of the German occupation of the city.
In what is considered the bloodiest battle of WW2, would the outcome of the entire war have changed if Stalingrad had fallen?
In my opinion, while the war itself would have gone on for longer, the final outcome would have been the same.
Hitler would have had his personal victory over Stalin but the supply line would have still been stretched too far and the logistic problems would have remained.
Also, by the middle of 1942 the Russian Army had started to recover from Stalin’s purges and was growing stronger by the day.
They were learning by their mistakes, becoming battle hardened and had started to take shape as a force (thanks to Marshal Zhukov)
The speed that the T34 tank was being produced and supplied could not be matched by Germany’s own production and the sheer amount of man power available for the Russian forces meant that the axis forces would always be outnumbered while fighting on Russian ground.
Many may point to the fact that the Wehrmacht were highly motivated and well trained but the Russians have a saying which is ‘Quantity has a quality of its own’, which means that it does not matter how well trained the German Army was, the sheer numbers of troops available to the Russian army would have eventually been to much of a weight for the Germans to bear.
After taking Stalingrad Hitler would have had to commit more troops in order to hold ground, take either Leningrad or Moscow and also to expand into the Caucasus.
These troops would have had to come from either the Western Front or Italy (Hitler’s underbelly).
I have no doubt that Stalingrad could have been taken by the Sixth Army but Hitler’s obsession was always going to lead to his downfall.
As was earlier suggested, this is in my own opinion and other posters may disagree with me but that is what this sub forum is about.
So, discuss.
This sub forum is a place to discuss alternative history.
Here we can discuss major events that could have completely changed the world if the outcome was different.
First of all I will state that I am not a story writer (like The Blether) nor am I an intellect (like Dr. Will), so my ramblings will sometimes seem disjointed or difficult to follow and for that I will apologize in advance.
However, I do have a love of history and a fascination of how the chain reaction of an alternate history would have changed the world that we live in.
To start the ball rolling, I am opening with the battle of Stalingrad, with the question of ‘What if Friedrich Paulus had managed to take Stalingrad?’.
It is well documented that Hitler’s Sixth Army were at one stage right on the verge of taking Stalingrad.
Even the Russian commander on the ground (Vasily Chuikov) was involved in the close quarter fighting in a desperate attempt to thwart of the German occupation of the city.
In what is considered the bloodiest battle of WW2, would the outcome of the entire war have changed if Stalingrad had fallen?
In my opinion, while the war itself would have gone on for longer, the final outcome would have been the same.
Hitler would have had his personal victory over Stalin but the supply line would have still been stretched too far and the logistic problems would have remained.
Also, by the middle of 1942 the Russian Army had started to recover from Stalin’s purges and was growing stronger by the day.
They were learning by their mistakes, becoming battle hardened and had started to take shape as a force (thanks to Marshal Zhukov)
The speed that the T34 tank was being produced and supplied could not be matched by Germany’s own production and the sheer amount of man power available for the Russian forces meant that the axis forces would always be outnumbered while fighting on Russian ground.
Many may point to the fact that the Wehrmacht were highly motivated and well trained but the Russians have a saying which is ‘Quantity has a quality of its own’, which means that it does not matter how well trained the German Army was, the sheer numbers of troops available to the Russian army would have eventually been to much of a weight for the Germans to bear.
After taking Stalingrad Hitler would have had to commit more troops in order to hold ground, take either Leningrad or Moscow and also to expand into the Caucasus.
These troops would have had to come from either the Western Front or Italy (Hitler’s underbelly).
I have no doubt that Stalingrad could have been taken by the Sixth Army but Hitler’s obsession was always going to lead to his downfall.
As was earlier suggested, this is in my own opinion and other posters may disagree with me but that is what this sub forum is about.
So, discuss.
