3 ms·

"Russian tanks had a significant advantage over US tanks". This is much debated by WWII historians. When the U.S. tanks finally did square off against the Sovi

"Russian tanks had a significant advantage over US tanks". This is much debated by WWII historians. When the U.S. tanks finally did square off against the Soviet tanks, U.S. tanks won : https://www.quora.com/How-did-the-Sherman-tank-compare-to-the-T-34-during-the-Korean-War https://www.quora.com/How-did-the-Sherman-tank-compare-to-th... . U.S. reliability and logistics made up for any discrepancies in the specifications.

kragen 5y ago
I'm not sure who you're quoting when you say, "Russian tanks had a significant advantage over US tanks," but I don't have any reason to think your quote is true. In case you intend that as a paraphrase of what I was saying, let me correct that misreading. I was making no claims about the relative quality of the tanks; by all reports, Soviet tanks were vastly inferior to German tanks as well. Rather, my primary tank-related claim was that the USSR was producing enormous quantities of war materiel, as exemplified by tanks; in 01943 they outproduced Germany almost 2:1 in quantity of tanks, and even in 01944 when Germany was catching up, they still outproduced them. The quality of that materiel was merely adequate, but it still would have represented a very significant military threat to the US's position in Europe, as it had to Germany's. My second claim was that the USSR was in a better logistical situation with respect to Europe than the US was. I don't think that's controversial, since Moscow is in Europe, and so was most Soviet farmland and much Soviet arms production.
- drocer88 5y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_production_during_World_War_II#Gross_domestic_product https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_production_during_Wor... U.S. + British + France GDP was 7 times bigger than Russia at end of the war. Western allied air supremacy ( including a nuclear monopoly ) would have obliterated Soviet logistics. The West had the upper hand and Stalin knew it.
  - kragen 5y ago
    How, then, is it that an iron curtain fell across Europe? I wonder if those GDP numbers capture everything relevant to military advantage. The USSR produced as many tanks in a year and a half as Britain did throughout the whole war, despite having the same GDP. Certainly it is true that with the nuclear monopoly the US had the upper hand; what we're discussing here is what Stalin would have believed if the bomb had remained secret, or perhaps only been demonstrated on uninhabited Pacific atolls, so the nuclear monopoly would not have figured into his calculations, or been a more theoretical factor. Or, more precisely, what Truman believed Stalin would have believed.

kragen 5y ago

I'm not sure who you're quoting when you say, "Russian tanks had a significant advantage over US tanks," but I don't have any reason to think your quote is true. In case you intend that as a paraphrase of what I was saying, let me correct that misreading. I was making no claims about the relative quality of the tanks; by all reports, Soviet tanks were vastly inferior to German tanks as well. Rather, my primary tank-related claim was that the USSR was producing enormous quantities of war materiel, as exemplified by tanks; in 01943 they outproduced Germany almost 2:1 in quantity of tanks, and even in 01944 when Germany was catching up, they still outproduced them. The quality of that materiel was merely adequate, but it still would have represented a very significant military threat to the US's position in Europe, as it had to Germany's. My second claim was that the USSR was in a better logistical situation with respect to Europe than the US was. I don't think that's controversial, since Moscow is in Europe, and so was most Soviet farmland and much Soviet arms production.

drocer88 5y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_production_during_World_War_II#Gross_domestic_product https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_production_during_Wor... U.S. + British + France GDP was 7 times bigger than Russia at end of the war. Western allied air supremacy ( including a nuclear monopoly ) would have obliterated Soviet logistics. The West had the upper hand and Stalin knew it.
- kragen 5y ago
  How, then, is it that an iron curtain fell across Europe? I wonder if those GDP numbers capture everything relevant to military advantage. The USSR produced as many tanks in a year and a half as Britain did throughout the whole war, despite having the same GDP. Certainly it is true that with the nuclear monopoly the US had the upper hand; what we're discussing here is what Stalin would have believed if the bomb had remained secret, or perhaps only been demonstrated on uninhabited Pacific atolls, so the nuclear monopoly would not have figured into his calculations, or been a more theoretical factor. Or, more precisely, what Truman believed Stalin would have believed.