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Germany and Japan. The USSR and USA both completely dominated them in terms of industrial capacity. Germany in particular had about a 10-year head start in ter
by rangibaby 8y ago
Germany and Japan. The USSR and USA both completely dominated them in terms of industrial capacity.
Germany in particular had about a 10-year head start in terms of weapons (strong tanks, jet fighters, assault rifles, drones, ballistic missiles) but simply could not build enough to make a difference.
Japan had a large population and plenty of soldiers to spare at the end of WWII but again couldn’t compete with Allied manufacturing. It was a fact they were aware of before the war.
- forapurpose 8y agoI agree that Germany and Japan lost principally due to relative manufacturing capacity (though we could say they lost because their strategies didn't take that into account, particularly Germany, whose attack on Russia put them even further behind). But I think that's a different question. I was looking for, > a country with wealth (and population) that lost a war due to a lack of manufacturing capacity I should have been more clear, though I think the context still conveys it: I meant, has their been a wealthy country that lost a war simply because it didn't invest in manufacturing capacity? Germany and Japan invested heavily in it, but the Allies, combined, were simply much wealthier and larger. Also, the Allied capacity in the USA wasn't reduced by bombing.
- megaman22 8y agoThere are significant questions as to whether strategic bombing was effective at all. I can't find the USAAF studies from after the war at the moment, but I've seen them here.