Comments by "Not Today" (@nottoday3817) on "Was Germany's Defeat Inevitable in WW2? Turning Point? And more... TIK Patreon Q&A 4" video.
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@johsenior1535 I think you and other people place too much of a price on the railway hub. A hub is valuable as long as it connects something. However, in 1941 the Germans were at the outskirts of Moskow, the main railway to Petersburg(Leningrad) was cut off and would stay that way for a long time. That was the whole point of Rzhev's meatgrinder: get that railway line back. And for southern russia, they could have found other ways. If it connects nothing, like 1941 case, it's useless anyway.
The main reason so much emphasis was put on Moskow is because, as others pointed out themselves, but failed to realise the whole picture: AG CENTER WAS THE BIGGEST. If they were to defeat it, they would cripple the german army for good. One decesive army. Furthermore, Moskow was, at this point, the deepest penetration in the frontline. So the supply chains were the shortest there for the soviets and the longest for the Germans.. Coupled with political and morale signifiance, it made it the perfect place to make a good stand.
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US had a "Germany first Policy' for a very good reason: Germany was a Land Warfare, meaning the Army would be the most involved there. Japan/Pacific was a Navy Warfare. This means they could easily concentrate their land assets in Europe and use the navy and marines in the Pacific. And they did mostly that. And there was no actual way to do otherwise because island hopping is a great tactic, but requires careful resource management or you can easily mess up by over-crowding. Furthermore, they would be expecting to be able to use large tank forces, artillery, aviation and all that in Europe. In the Pacific, if you put all that on an island, again you get overcrowded. The terrain is much more difficult to handle as Well.
They fell in with nothing from the soviet wishes. They fell in with the simplest ideea: THEIR OWN SURVIVAL. They knew if the germans would catch them, they would be dead or worse. That's why they did not surrender. In 1917-1918 the bolsheivks reached a peace agreement 1. because those germans did not threaten to exterminate them, because they were also fighting the 'white russians' and various independence movements and because the Germans poured massive reinforcements. 2. they trashed that agreement in less than a year and proceeded to recapture former possessions. It took a combined invasion of France, US, UK, Japan, Poland with support for the whites, finns, poles etc. from the great powers to secure the borders.
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