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You seem to have taken one point (that the soviets would sooner or later have eventually defeated germany - perhaps true, or perhaps not), and stretched that to
by abraae 5y ago
You seem to have taken one point (that the soviets would sooner or later have eventually defeated germany - perhaps true, or perhaps not), and stretched that to breaking point to try and make another (that Enigma had no material impact on the war).
That's simply not true, even if Enigma has been somewhat mythologised.
First, consider that time was of the essence. The Germans were working on their own nuclear weapon, and had enough traction that this was of great concern to the allied leadership. So the question is not, would the soviets have won, but rather would they have won *before the germans completed their nuclear weapon*.
So the real question is - did Enigma distract and delay the germans from this goal?
It did. As just one example, breaking Enigma is widely held to weakened the U-boats hold on the North Atlantic, without which the D-Day landings could have been delayed by a year or even longer, as the North Atlantic was the route that brought ammunition, fuel, food and troops to Britain from America.
What would the germans have done with an extra year with no western front to worry about?
At the very least, they would have been able to redeploy resources to the easter front, which would certainly have slowed the russians down. And at the worst, they could have completed their own atom bomb, with dire consequences to the rest of the world.
It's certainly hyperbole to say that Enigma won the war. But it's also hyperbole to say - as you do - that Engima machine had no material impact on the war.
- _blu 5y agoit's generally regarded that the german was no where close to develop a nuclear bomb. They had plans that was started, but they didn't really have the resources to do this at all. It's just part of this narrative myth, maybe to justify the operations against them or that it just makes for a better story. Also, germany's fleet was in shambles toward the end of the war and the allied had complete control of the english channel