General for all things World War 2 or about Hitler's Germany. All posters and lurkers welcome. Contributions, debate, and conversation welcome and encouraged.
>This highly regarded war memoir was a best seller in both Japan and the United States during the 1960s and has long been treasured by historians for its insights into the Japanese side of the surface war in the Pacific. The author was a survivor of more than one hundred sorties against the Allies and was known throughout Japan as the Unsinkable Captain. >A hero to his countrymen, Capt. Hara exemplified the best in Japanese surface commanders: highly skilled, hard driving, and aggressive. Moreover, he maintained a code of honor worthy of his samurai grandfather, and, as readers of this book have come to appreciate, he was as free with praise for American courage and resourcefulness as he was critical of himself and his senior commanders.
>Tameichi Hara (原 為一 Hara Tameichi, October 16, 1900 – October 10, 1980) was an Imperial Japanese naval commander during the Pacific War and the author of the IJN manual on torpedo attack techniques, notable for his skill in torpedo warfare and night fighting. >Hara was the only IJN destroyer captain at the start of World War II to survive the entire war and his memoirs serve as an important source for historians.
>tfw have a hard time caring about anything besides the eastern front How do I stop being an eastaboo
Adrian Phillips
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Joshua Gutierrez
You're welcome to post anything to the thread you like! The "Edition" thing is simply the flavor of the thread and meant to get things rolling. Last thread was Rommel themed, and we ended up talking about the Battle of Tarawa instead. Post anything you like!
Also, your concern is duely noted. Despite being the largest land war in history, both in horrifying technological power and scale, the Eastern Front does not get the recognition it deserves.
Nathaniel Foster
T-34 is superior tank.
Zachary Ramirez
Can anyone recommend a documentary about pic related? I've always been fascinated by this but there isn't a lot of good material out there.
Ryder Harris
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Josiah Peterson
Because there is something special about learning history from somebody who was actually there. It does start to get really depressing about halfway through, though. It becomes painfully obvious that Japan can't win and all he can do its try to avoid being killed while delaying the inevitable.
Austin White
This is the best I could find. There's probably better stuff out there.
Thanks I think I've seen this one, youtube only has short documentaries on the topic. I'll have to check it out. I was under the impression that the Soviet Union was basically giving Germany anything it wanted (thus, not a tough bargainer) to appease them since Stalin doesn't trust his own shadow. Also basing this partly on his decision to avoid the situation when Barbarossa started and dismissed prior intel as disinformation.
Jayden Ward
>Threads should be about specific topics, and the creation of "general" threads is discouraged.
Adrian Perez
Why aren't there more WW2 cartoons?
Aiden Adams
Any book recommendations on Japanese expansion? Especially South East Pacific, Dutch East Indies and Malaya.
Jonathan Martinez
>I'll have to check it out. I was under the impression that the Soviet Union was basically giving Germany anything it wanted (thus, not a tough bargainer) to appease them since Stalin doesn't trust his own shadow. It was pretty much the opposite, since Stalin could always trade with the western powers, while Hitler's only large potential trading power was the Soviet Union. The Soviets stalled the negotiations many times, particularly in the important period around August 1939 where Germany was almost ready for war and needed a Soviet guarantee, which pissed them off quite a lot. There's a link up on libgen if it seems too pricey
Jace Williams
There are also rules about: >... please do not start threads about events taking place less than 25 years ago. >Discussion of modern politics, current events, popular culture, or other non-historical topics should be posted elsewhere. >General discussions about international culture should go on /int/. >History can be examined from many different conflicting viewpoints; please treat other posters with respect and address the content of their post instead of attacking their character. >Veeky Forums is not /pol/, and Global Rule #3 is in effect. Do not try to treat this board as /pol/ with dates.
All of these rules are actively ignored every. Single. Day. But suddenly, if a general thread is made, the mods remove it an hour later, despite it being really good. Meanwhile, racist and contemporary threads are started every day completely breaking the rules.
I'm not saying to make an exception: I'm questioning why it should be treated as an exception.
Nicholas Allen
How in the gosh darn golly heck were the Japanese able to overrun Southeast Asia so easily? Sheer speed?
I've often heard that it was the best overall but didn't it also have some drawbacks? Like if they were damaged they were abandoned instead of being repaired.
Jayden Morgan
I think that was more after the fall of France. Prior to that Stalin thought he was in a stronger position
Alexander Lewis
Yeah thanks, Holy shit $109 on Amazon
Ethan Parker
>How in the gosh darn golly heck were the Japanese able to overrun Southeast Asia so easily? Nature abhors a vacuum.
Daniel Rodriguez
>Not With the Old Breed or Helmet for my Pillow
come on user
Isaac Cooper
I wouldn't doubt it. I don't know much about the Soviet military during the Patriotic War, so I can't really speak towards their capabilities in a lot of instances. If I were to guess, though, I think their ability to repair vehicles might have improved later into the war.
As per the T-34's quality as a good tank, I think it's because of a couple of reasons. >Armor is angled like pic related >Inch-depth increased without much increase to the tank's overall weight >3-inch diameter cannon, pretty good >A tank that can be used in all sorts of functions; soldiers used to ride on the tread covers as makeshift transport, good armor vehicle, etc. >Used as the standard tank for the Soviet Union, resulting in ease of replacing broken-down or damaged parts: armor vehicles standardized, don't need variety of specialized parts like Germany's problem with its dozens of different kinds of vehicles all with unique parts >SUPER mass-produced, on Sherman-U.S. production level >33 mph top speed, pretty good movement >Communications improvements greatly increased Soviet advantage in coordinating within their tanks as the war wore on
I'm not aware of too many of the disadvantages, though, but that's not from lack of problems with it. I'm mostly ignorant to them, though I do think I've heard from somewhere that the lead T-34 tank would possess some sort of special communications radio that was essential to the rest of the tanks' coordination down the line, and that if the Germans could knock it out or destroy it, the Soviet tanks would be in a vulnerable moment of disarray.
Jonathan Carter
What's "Helmet for my Pillow" about? Worth a read?
Julian Evans
They were still stubborn after France fell. September 12, 1940: >For the same reasons presented earlier by Schnurre and Ritter, Ter-Nedden argued that "the German delivery deficit is not due to any fault on the German side, but goes back exclusively to the behavior of the Soviet side." In particular, he explained that Soviet delays and cancellations of long-term projects accounted already for roughly 100 million Reichsmarks, much more than the current imbalance. >Further evidence of German good will could be found in the execution of the August 19 treaty. By the end of August, when the half-way point of the two-year arrangement had been reached, the Germans had already fulfilled 55 percent of the trade terms in contrast to the Soviets at only 31.2 percent of their trade requirements. Unsurprisingly, the Soviets were taking even greater advantage of the credit arrangements of the August 19 treaty. After one year the USSR had already used up 76.1 percent of its allotted total for which final repayment was not due for seven years. But Stalin ignored these statistics and started pressing the Germans on their February trade deficit. >Trade balances, however, were far from the only issue plaguing the partnership. While the Soviets were incorporating the Baltics, the Germans brought up the still unresolved issue of the Lithuanian Strip and asked for a quid pro quo. By the twelfth the Soviets had offered 3.86 million in gold or raw materials over two years. To show they were serious, they then strengthened their occupation forces in the Strip on the twentieth. In response, the Germans upped the ante and asked for 54 million Reichsmarks (13 million) or 2.5 million tons of grain the grounds that similar land in Prussia would cost 254 million Reichsmarks. The Soviets, in turn, demanded greater access to the port of Memel, a move that the Germans forestalled by increasing their own military forces in the region.
Hudson Taylor
Whafs your favorite forgotten fronts in the war Mine is the Burmese campaign because the jungle is the most harshest place you can fight in
The balkans, mainly because there isn't much focus on this front. Mostly mentioned with Hitler's invasion of Yugoslavia and Greece
Samuel King
East Africa and Indian Ocean
Gavin Ramirez
This.
The eastern front is it. I mean wow, we are talking about the warfare on a scale unprecedented. I don't think there will ever be warfare waged not his level again. If there is, the world would be destroyed.
Germany should have won...i swear, Europe would be a lot stronger then it is today.
Easton Jackson
Lets resurrect these men. Warriors of Europe is what they
Levi Reed
The western front in the great war was atleast on that scale while being much smaller in landmass
Owen Bennett
Really? I've never really thought that. I always assumed Hitler handled it as a lesser problem compared to the Soviet Giant encroaching on his Eastern side as the war ended its ending years.
The only people who bring it up are the ones who go "muh it delayed barbarossa, nevermind the fact that it occurred during the mud season"
Justin Reyes
Yeah man, that western front in WWI must have been hell on earth.
But take a look at the casualty ratio and the amount of men and material that were used on the eastern front during WWII. Incredible stuff my friend. May these men rest in peace, true European warriors.
Matthew Watson
The great war refers to world war 1 my friend The casualty ratio was much higher in the trenches It is roughly 6% in the patriotic war but a whopping 10% during the Great War and an astounding 25% in sectors like Flanders or Verdun
Jacob Perez
Didn't like 30% of Wehrmacht and Red Army soldiers die though?
John Green
Yes, the Red Army lost ~9,000,000 total dead from 34,000,000 active in 1941 and mobilised through 1945.
Ayden Stewart
It didn't have a three-man turret until the T-34-85 so the tank commander couldn't tell what the fuck was going on because he was busy with the gun.
Justin Jenkins
Gonna post some USSR production statistics and other stuff
Colton Johnson
Tank and SPG production.
Brandon Baker
Losses of said tanks and SPGs
Lincoln Sanders
USSR pre-war Aircraft output
Blake Martinez
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Juan Perry
Might continue later
Elijah Brooks
That includes those died in captivity Not in the front lines itself
Julian Rivera
Source for those?
John Parker
If you mean German troops only in 1944 then: OKH Org. Abt. I, H.Qu., den 26.7.1944, Verbände Stand 1.6. and Fechtende Heerestruppen Stand 1.6. (BA-MA RH 2/1341).
Jace Stewart
>tfw ww2 was an equine holocaust
Leo Stewart
Continuin' German losses in the first year of Barbarossa
Oliver Lee
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Brody Martinez
>34,000,000 >active duty soldiers Somehow, I very highly doubt that. I'm pretty sure the number is somewhere closer to ~5 million.
Jayden Rogers
If the Pacific had degenerated into millions of troops slugging it out in mainland Japan with a nuke getting dropped every week we might remember it as equally brutal. However, because the USA had the ability to circumvent that particular course of action, it seems "lesser" because victory was achieved with less hassle. That doesn't actually make it any less important though, it just means it took less time and fewer people died.
Michael Jenkins
Does anyone have any more translated Japanese docs like this
I've found more but none of them are translated so I dunno what they're saying, but I always find docs by non-victor countries to interesting.
Lincoln Wilson
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Christopher Roberts
If anyone's interested in the Pacific Front I'd suggest learning about the Black sheep, here's a documentary: youtube.com/watch?v=f130EEFjjds And for more interest there's only the very book written by the commander of the black sheep, Gregory Boyington called "Baa baa black sheep"
Noah Baker
The Rising Sun: The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire, 1936–1945 by John Toland provides a decent general overview. Not the newest book on the subject, but still good.
Mason Kelly
Japanese were willing to go through the jungles, Americans/Dutch/British were not.
Dylan Richardson
Are there any good books on Soviet Aircraft? I know Zaloga, Osprey have some decent ones on aces in specific aircraft, but anything about planes in general rather than aces mainly?
Robert Mitchell
It's not directly tied to willingness and nothing else. The Japanese infantryman of WW2 was far less well/heavily equipped than any other major power's counterpart. This is one of the reasons they tended to fight so badly in open terrain, but if you're in somewhere where it's hard to move around, they were much lighter on their proverbial feet and could move quickly (or at all) through terrain that other units would have had to go around.
You see similar developments in the fighting up the Italian Peninsula; it's primarily the scantily equipped Free French forces, not the far more motorized and artillery supported Americans and British, who are the ones who keep scaling mountains and attacking from the high ground.
