The History Buff's Guide to World War II by Thomas R. Flagel Page A
Authors: Thomas R. Flagel
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order, eruption of war between many nations, and genocide.
To many then and now, the apparent embodiment of evil was Adolf Hitler, who spoke of a millennium (the thousand-year Reich), a divine mission (eradication of Jewish Bolshevism), and providential destiny (the rise of the German people). Others found greater evidence of a world dictator in Stalin, who fashioned a rule of idolatry (cult of Stalin), a new church eradicating all others (Marxism), and a promise of paradise (communism). 63
Without question, both regimes were proficient at killing. Hitler’s armies traversed three continents; shot, burned, starved, hanged, and bombed millions; and swept entire towns from the face of the earth. Nazi concentration camps devoured millions more. 64
Stalin’s numbers were even worse. His forced collectivization of Russian farms in the early 1930s starved as many as ten million. His Great Terror of 1936–39 purged nine of eleven of his own cabinet members, more than sixty thousand military officers, and untold millions of ordinary citizens. Between 1941 and 1945, Stalin’s Red Army killed more soldiers and civilians than any other military force in the war. Estimates of those killed directly or indirectly during Stalin’s entire reign approach sixty million. 65
The term antichrist has been applied to many historical figures, including Nero, Martin Luther, Gustavus Adolphus II, Napoleon, Benito Mussolini, Mikhail Gorbachev, Henry Kissinger, Ronald Reagan, Saddam Hussein, and a multitude of popes.
MILITARY LIFE
LARGEST ARMED FORCES
Never before had so many served in uniform. In 1934, fewer than ten million persons worldwide were in the military. In 1944, the total neared one hundred million. Larger still was the amount of yen, pounds, rubles, marks, crowns, and francs spent to make it all happen. By 1945, several belligerents were allocating 60 percent of their national budgets on the war. In 2005 dollars, the conflict’s overall price tag was in the low trillions.
Most citizens in the services were not volunteers. Many never envisioned themselves ever being in the military. Not until the late 1930s, when an ARMS RACE accelerated rapidly, did conscription become endemic. Whatever the commitment level, troops universally expressed a desire to get the fighting over with as soon as possible.
Enlisted soldiers ranged in age from ten to sixty, officers from eighteen to eighty-eight. In a war of unbridled nationalism, most armed forces were not homogenous. Sixteen percent of Lithuania was not Lithuanian. A quarter of Romania and nearly a third of Poland were of varying backgrounds. The largest ethnic group in the United States was (and still is) German. 1
From this mix of the global family came the biggest assortment and assembly of combatants in history. Listed below, in order of total number of persons mobilized, are the largest national forces in the war. 2
1 . SOVIET UNION (21,000,000)
ENTERED WAR: 1939
PEAK STRENGTH: 13,200,000
The largest country on the planet, the Soviet Union also had the largest armed forces ever assembled under one flag. By 1945, there were as many veterans in the Soviet Union as there were people in Mexico. More Soviet women served in the Red Army than Frenchmen served under Charles de Gaulle.
Often referred to as “the Russians,” the Soviets were a multiethnic assembly. In 1940, only half were Great Russians. The rest were Ukrainians, Byelorussians, Lithuanians, Poles, Georgians, Jews, Armenians, plus a hundred other ethnicities. Out of a total population of 190 million, 11 percent served in the military. Of these, the vast majority were in the massive Red Army. Fifteen of sixteen Soviets in uniform were ground troops.
Victory came at an exorbitant price for the Soviets, yet they were fortunate to avoid a two-front war with Japan.
At the start of the war, the Soviet armed forces had an extremely poor reputation internationally. Perceived as undisciplined, unwieldy, and unmotivated, the
To many then and now, the apparent embodiment of evil was Adolf Hitler, who spoke of a millennium (the thousand-year Reich), a divine mission (eradication of Jewish Bolshevism), and providential destiny (the rise of the German people). Others found greater evidence of a world dictator in Stalin, who fashioned a rule of idolatry (cult of Stalin), a new church eradicating all others (Marxism), and a promise of paradise (communism). 63
Without question, both regimes were proficient at killing. Hitler’s armies traversed three continents; shot, burned, starved, hanged, and bombed millions; and swept entire towns from the face of the earth. Nazi concentration camps devoured millions more. 64
Stalin’s numbers were even worse. His forced collectivization of Russian farms in the early 1930s starved as many as ten million. His Great Terror of 1936–39 purged nine of eleven of his own cabinet members, more than sixty thousand military officers, and untold millions of ordinary citizens. Between 1941 and 1945, Stalin’s Red Army killed more soldiers and civilians than any other military force in the war. Estimates of those killed directly or indirectly during Stalin’s entire reign approach sixty million. 65
The term antichrist has been applied to many historical figures, including Nero, Martin Luther, Gustavus Adolphus II, Napoleon, Benito Mussolini, Mikhail Gorbachev, Henry Kissinger, Ronald Reagan, Saddam Hussein, and a multitude of popes.
MILITARY LIFE
LARGEST ARMED FORCES
Never before had so many served in uniform. In 1934, fewer than ten million persons worldwide were in the military. In 1944, the total neared one hundred million. Larger still was the amount of yen, pounds, rubles, marks, crowns, and francs spent to make it all happen. By 1945, several belligerents were allocating 60 percent of their national budgets on the war. In 2005 dollars, the conflict’s overall price tag was in the low trillions.
Most citizens in the services were not volunteers. Many never envisioned themselves ever being in the military. Not until the late 1930s, when an ARMS RACE accelerated rapidly, did conscription become endemic. Whatever the commitment level, troops universally expressed a desire to get the fighting over with as soon as possible.
Enlisted soldiers ranged in age from ten to sixty, officers from eighteen to eighty-eight. In a war of unbridled nationalism, most armed forces were not homogenous. Sixteen percent of Lithuania was not Lithuanian. A quarter of Romania and nearly a third of Poland were of varying backgrounds. The largest ethnic group in the United States was (and still is) German. 1
From this mix of the global family came the biggest assortment and assembly of combatants in history. Listed below, in order of total number of persons mobilized, are the largest national forces in the war. 2
1 . SOVIET UNION (21,000,000)
ENTERED WAR: 1939
PEAK STRENGTH: 13,200,000
The largest country on the planet, the Soviet Union also had the largest armed forces ever assembled under one flag. By 1945, there were as many veterans in the Soviet Union as there were people in Mexico. More Soviet women served in the Red Army than Frenchmen served under Charles de Gaulle.
Often referred to as “the Russians,” the Soviets were a multiethnic assembly. In 1940, only half were Great Russians. The rest were Ukrainians, Byelorussians, Lithuanians, Poles, Georgians, Jews, Armenians, plus a hundred other ethnicities. Out of a total population of 190 million, 11 percent served in the military. Of these, the vast majority were in the massive Red Army. Fifteen of sixteen Soviets in uniform were ground troops.
Victory came at an exorbitant price for the Soviets, yet they were fortunate to avoid a two-front war with Japan.
At the start of the war, the Soviet armed forces had an extremely poor reputation internationally. Perceived as undisciplined, unwieldy, and unmotivated, the
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