Aspects of the Allied Victory in the Second World War

There were undeniably a variety of interlocking and equally important social, political, technological, and strategic reasons for the Allied victory in World War II. The victory of the Allied forces was in large part made possible by strategic blunders by both the Germans and the Japanese, serious technological advantages, and superior leadership. If not for the overconfidence and poor decision making of Hitler and Yamamoto and the remarkable ability of the Allied leadership to exploit these errors, the war could very easily turn the other way. Instead, one of the greatest victories against evil in world history resulted from the Allied efforts against a force that was in many ways militarily superior and enjoyed the upper hand strategically. How this victory came about is one of the most important and fascinating episodes in history, and deserves detailed analysis in terms of the myriad interconnected factors that led to such an improbable outcome.

If not for a select few shifts in key battles the outcome of the Second World War could quite easily have been entirely different. No incident is more exemplary of this trend than the Battle of Midway. As Craig L. Symonds states regarding the battle, “there are few moments in American history in which the course of events tipped so suddenly and dramatically as it did on June 4, 1942. At ten o’clock that morning the Axis powers were winning the Second World War...An hour later, the balance had shifted the other way.” This statement clearly illustrates the razor-thin margin that separated victory from defeat in the Second World War, and the small number of important strategic decisions that had such a dramatic impact on the war’s outcome. If not for some slight poor maneuvering by the Japanese on that fateful day the entire balance of the war may never have shifted in favor of the Allies. It is therefore of vital importance to examine exactly what mistakes were made by the Japanese military in this situation and how the Allied forces were able to exploit these errors to take a permanent upper hand in the fighting to follow.

One of the most important reasons for the Allied victory was the catastrophic strategic errors committed by the Japanese, particularly Admiral Yamamoto. As Symonds states, the Japanese lost at the Battle of Midway occurred largely because “A Japanese Admiral (Yamamoto Isoroku) decided that a battle must be fought and not only initiated the planning but insisted it go forward in spite of—indeed almost because of—considerable opposition within his own service”. The fact that Yamamoto insisted on fighting a battle that even the rest of his extremely prideful fighting force believed to be unwinnable therefore led directly to the downfall of the Axis powers. Quite clearly, in retrospect, the Allied victory hinged in many ways on a series of hubris inspired blunders by Axis leaders. However, Yamamoto was not the only Axis leader to make such a grievous tactical error.

In fact, the other great tactical error of the war made by the Axis powers could have been even more destructive to their cause than Yamamoto’s failure at Midway. This, of course, was Hitler’s invasion of Russia. As John Lukacs states in no uncertain terms “all of that would pale before the coming German invasion of Russia, on which, as we now know, the outcome of the war would depend.” Hitler’s ill-advised invasion of Russia was the turning point on the European front, where Germany’s military might began to stretch too thin, allowing the Allied forces to begin their successful counterintelligence operations against his army. Hitler’s decision to attack Stalin and begin a two-front war while bogging down his army in the brutal Russian winter was a massive aid to the Allies, who desperately needed the Axis powers to make an error they could seize upon. However, there were also social and technological factors that played into the Allied victory beyond simple tactical decisions.

The British, prior to the American entrance in the war, would likely not have been able to capitalize on many of the German tactical mistakes if not for American military and technological aid, which occurred largely as a result of the particular social climate of the time period. Lukacs indicates the importance of these social factors to the outcome of the war with his statement that “In 1940, unlike 50 years later, most of the respectable members of the eastern American social, financial, cultural, intellectual, and publishing elite were men and women of Anglo-Saxon (and Anglo-Celtic) ancestry. Many of them were committing themselves to the British cause. Their influence was considerable.” It is therefore quite obvious that we cannot discount the social climate of the time period as an extremely important factor in terms of its influence on the development and outcome of the war. In fact, it is evident that many of the political decisions made during this time period that proved to be instrumental to the war effort were inextricably linked to the social climate and issues of the day. Importantly, social issues were not only important to the political and military maneuverings of the Allies but perhaps even more important to the Axis.

It is impossible to view the military and political decisions of the Axis powers and their effect on the war outside the lens of the social fabric of their society. Richard Rhodes indicates as much when he declares that “Hitler’s dazzling rise to power, and the charismatic authority his millions of followers ceded to him, derive directly from the religion like the structure of his politics; National Socialism as Hitler organized it was essentially a religious cult.” Despite being the human incarnation of pure evil, Hitler was a master of using the shared social and religious fabric of German society to unite the nation behind him in his maniacal quest for bloodshed and world domination. It is essential to understand this quasi-religious aspect of Nazi politics to comprehend the irrational actions of the German military, such as the invasion of Russia. The religious fervor with which the Nazis were taken made likely made the German leadership feel invincible and destined for greatness, thereby directly leading to their ego-driven military strategy and subsequent downfall. Furthermore, the radically racist social ideology of the Nazis was also one of the decisive factors that eventually led to the technological superiority of the Allied forces.

The development of nuclear weaponry by the Allied forces was the final technological edge needed to secure victory. Ironically, many of the scientists who helped the United States develop this incredible technological achievement had, in fact, fled the oppressive regimes of Axis powers. As Jean Medawar and David Pike state, “two of the most crucial steps in the development of the atomic bomb came from papers by German Jewish refugees in Britain...another escaper to Britain was responsible for helping to make the US government aware of the significance of the latest atomic research. Refugee scientists also contributed to aspects of atomic research in other countries.” The insane and immoral policies of the Nazis ironically drove many of their brightest scientific minds into the hands of the Allies. While the development of nuclear weapons came too late to be used against the Nazis, the refugee scientists still had an indisputable and enormous impact on the eventual allied victory through their invaluable assistance on the development of the atomic weapon. However, it is important to note that even though the Allies benefitted from the atrocious practices of the Nazis, they did not enter the war as part of a moral cause.

The moral aspects of the Allied cause during the Second World War are extremely interesting and deserving of further attention. The Allied forces did not join the war out of a desire to stop the Nazi or Japanese atrocities, but rather purely out of a desire for self-preservation. In the case of the United States, as National Public Radio notes, “When Britain and France went to war with Germany in 1939, Americans were divided about offering military aid, and the debate over the U.S. joining the war was even more heated. It wasn't until two years later when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and Germany declared war against the U.S., that Americans officially entered the conflict.” While in retrospect many view the Allied forces as fighting for moral reasons, the fact of the matter is that they were quite content for some time to allow the Axis powers to commit a variety of horrific crimes and did not enter the war until forcibly provoked. While certain elites pushed for military aid, as previously mentioned, the majority of the public did not support such a course of action. This moral aspect of the war had an undeniable effect on the political and strategic decisions of the Allied forces.

There was quite clearly a wide variety of disparate reasons for the actions and eventual victory of the Allied forces. An array of strategic, political, social, and moral factors combined to create an Allied victory in a complicated network of interlocking factors. Each of these seemingly separate elements interacted with the others in myriad fascinating ways to eventually create an environment that allowed for the victory of the Allied forces by the smallest of margins. The story of the Allied victory is quite clearly one of the most complex, compelling, and influential events in world history.

Bibliography

"'Angry Days' Shows An America Torn Over Entering World War II." National Public Radio. N.p., 26 Mar. 2013. Web. 11 Dec. 2013. http://www.npr.org/2013/03/26/175288241/angry-days-shows-an-america-torn-over-entering-world-war-ii

Lukacs, John. The duel: the eighty-day struggle between Churchill and Hitler. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1990. Print.

Medawar, J. S., and David Pyke. Hitler's gift: the true story of the scientists expelled by the Nazi regime. New York: Arcade Pub., 2001. Print.

Rhodes, Richard. Masters of death: the SS-Einsatzgruppen and the invention of the Holocaust. New York: A.A. Knopf, 2002. Print.

Symonds, Craig L. The Battle of Midway. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011. Print.