World War II was (at least one of) the first industrialized war. So the whole situation was genuinely novel to most participants.
Additionally, the German army command didn't think that way. Where the US relied on overpowering by materiel dominance, and the Soviets fought and won through unimaginable human sacrifice, the considerable initial success of the German army was based on better, smarter tactics, individual leadership, bravery, ruthlessness, etc. The leadership assumed they'd be able to win the war that way, even when the war had turned into a much more industrial operation.
You can see that in operations such as the Battle of the Bulge, the war in Normandy, and most importantly in the the Russian campaign.
This is of course over-generalizing, but I believe the general mode of thinking was there, and that'd explain the lack of attention on such details.
Don't underestimate Soviet industrial capabilities during the war. The Soviets produced over 58K T-34 type tanks compared to Germany producing 37K (PzIII through Pz6).
You're correct, the Soviets outproduced Germany as well as being willing to run much higher losses. E.g. in the Battle of Kursk, the Soviets outnumbered the Germans by x2 in just about everything (tanks, planes, men). They won, but lost x2-x4 in tanks, planes, men.
In either case, terrible times that we should be thankful not to have been born into.
At the point of German-Soviet conflict, the US had about six times the steel production of the USSR, six times the iron production, eight times the oil production, and three to four times the coal production. It definitely wouldn't be surprising if US steel was a large share of Soviet figures.
The scale of resources delivered to prop up the Soviets was extraordinary, including what the British sent them.
In just 3 1/2 years the British sent them[1]:
3,000+ Hurricanes aircraft, 4,000+ other aircraft, 27 naval vessels, 5,218 tanks, 5,000+ anti-tank guns, 4,020 ambulances and trucks, 323 machinery trucks, 1,212 Universal Carriers and Loyd Carriers, 1,721 motorcycles, £1.15bn worth of aircraft engines, 1,474 radar sets, 4,338 radio sets, 600 naval radar and sonar sets
And the US sent them:
427,284 trucks, 13,303 combat vehicles, 35,170 motorcycles, 2,328 ordnance service vehicles, 2,670,371 tons of petroleum products (gasoline and oil) or 57.8 percent of the High-octane aviation fuel,[32] 4,478,116 tons of foodstuffs (canned meats, sugar, flour, salt, etc.), 1,911 steam locomotives, 66 Diesel locomotives, 9,920 flat cars, 1,000 dump cars, 120 tank cars, and 35 heavy machinery cars. Provided ordnance goods (ammunition, artillery shells, mines, assorted explosives) amounted to 53 percent of total domestic production
Beyond Russia also notes:
"The USSR received a total of 44,000 American jeeps, 375,883 cargo trucks, 8,071 tractors and 12,700 tanks. Additionally, 1,541,590 blankets, 331,066 liters of alcohol, 15,417,000 pairs of army boots, 106,893 tons of cotton, 2,670,000 tons of petroleum products and 4,478,000 tons of food supplies"
The notion of sending a country 375,000 trucks and 1,900 locomotives in just three years, is incredible to think of today.
While the Soviet Union lost a huge number of people, the 25-30 million dead is an inflated estimate because it counts people living in areas that were conquered by the Soviet Union. Polish people by and large do not appreciate being lumped in with the people who had invaded them the year before.
Comments
World War II was (at least one of) the first industrialized war. So the whole situation was genuinely novel to most participants.
Additionally, the German army command didn't think that way. Where the US relied on overpowering by materiel dominance, and the Soviets fought and won through unimaginable human sacrifice, the considerable initial success of the German army was based on better, smarter tactics, individual leadership, bravery, ruthlessness, etc. The leadership assumed they'd be able to win the war that way, even when the war had turned into a much more industrial operation.
You can see that in operations such as the Battle of the Bulge, the war in Normandy, and most importantly in the the Russian campaign.
This is of course over-generalizing, but I believe the general mode of thinking was there, and that'd explain the lack of attention on such details.
Don't underestimate Soviet industrial capabilities during the war. The Soviets produced over 58K T-34 type tanks compared to Germany producing 37K (PzIII through Pz6).
You're correct, the Soviets outproduced Germany as well as being willing to run much higher losses. E.g. in the Battle of Kursk, the Soviets outnumbered the Germans by x2 in just about everything (tanks, planes, men). They won, but lost x2-x4 in tanks, planes, men.
In either case, terrible times that we should be thankful not to have been born into.
Though a substantial part of the steel used to make those tanks came from USA. As did much of the trucks and other equipment used by Soviets.
I recall seeing actual numbers (proportion of American steel in Soviet production), but couldn't find them, does someone have a source?
Anyway, e.g. this article talks about it:
https://www.rbth.com/defence/2016/03/14/lend-lease-how-ameri...
At the point of German-Soviet conflict, the US had about six times the steel production of the USSR, six times the iron production, eight times the oil production, and three to four times the coal production. It definitely wouldn't be surprising if US steel was a large share of Soviet figures.
The scale of resources delivered to prop up the Soviets was extraordinary, including what the British sent them.
In just 3 1/2 years the British sent them[1]:
3,000+ Hurricanes aircraft, 4,000+ other aircraft, 27 naval vessels, 5,218 tanks, 5,000+ anti-tank guns, 4,020 ambulances and trucks, 323 machinery trucks, 1,212 Universal Carriers and Loyd Carriers, 1,721 motorcycles, £1.15bn worth of aircraft engines, 1,474 radar sets, 4,338 radio sets, 600 naval radar and sonar sets
And the US sent them:
427,284 trucks, 13,303 combat vehicles, 35,170 motorcycles, 2,328 ordnance service vehicles, 2,670,371 tons of petroleum products (gasoline and oil) or 57.8 percent of the High-octane aviation fuel,[32] 4,478,116 tons of foodstuffs (canned meats, sugar, flour, salt, etc.), 1,911 steam locomotives, 66 Diesel locomotives, 9,920 flat cars, 1,000 dump cars, 120 tank cars, and 35 heavy machinery cars. Provided ordnance goods (ammunition, artillery shells, mines, assorted explosives) amounted to 53 percent of total domestic production
Beyond Russia also notes:
"The USSR received a total of 44,000 American jeeps, 375,883 cargo trucks, 8,071 tractors and 12,700 tanks. Additionally, 1,541,590 blankets, 331,066 liters of alcohol, 15,417,000 pairs of army boots, 106,893 tons of cotton, 2,670,000 tons of petroleum products and 4,478,000 tons of food supplies"
The notion of sending a country 375,000 trucks and 1,900 locomotives in just three years, is incredible to think of today.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lend-Lease
The Soviets repaid the debt with unimaginable human losses: 25-30 MILLION war dead.
80 percent of all German military casualties occurred on the Eastern Front.
Just think about those numbers.
While the Soviet Union lost a huge number of people, the 25-30 million dead is an inflated estimate because it counts people living in areas that were conquered by the Soviet Union. Polish people by and large do not appreciate being lumped in with the people who had invaded them the year before.
And quite many of the dead of course died with a bullet from behind, or in slave labor camps run by Soviets themselves.