History

that , on ce the Un i ted States becam e p r oper l y i nvo l ved , Germ any ?s econom y wou l d be dwar f ed by the com b i nat i on of Al l i ed econom i es. Germ any, because of econom i cs, cou l d not w i n . I n D ecem ber 1941, a p l an cal l ed the ?Requ i r em en t s f or Vi ctor y,? was d r af ted by the Germ an s. T h i s p l an wou l d take $150 b i l l i on to com p l ete successf u l l y. Germ an arm s expend i tu r e never r eached th i s m agn i tude th r oughou t the en t i r e si x- year st r uggl e, dem on st r at i ng the Rei ch?s econom i c weakness. Germ any ?s econom i c weakness and i nab i l i t y to f i gh t a p r ot r acted war was dem on st r ated as ear l y as 1939. By 1939, Germ any had am assed 40 b i l l i on Rei chsm ar ks i n debt , and d i sr egar d f or r esou r ces had becom e com m onp l ace. T he Weh rm ach t?s i n st i tu t i onal i sed appet i te f or dest r uct i on , especi al l y i n the East , wou l d r etu r n to en cum ber the Germ an econom y. I t cou l d not d r aw the r esou r ces that i t shou l d have been ab l e to f r om i t s vast

Eu r opean em p i r e because of such dest r uct i on . Nazi con tem p t f or hum an l i f e was begi nn i ng the T h i r d Rei ch?s co l l apse even du r i ng i t s per i ods of success. H i t l er an t i ci pated a l ong st r uggl e that wou l d i nev i tab l y begi n a war between the Sov i et Un i on and West i n the year s to com e. H e bel i eved thei r i deo l ogi cal d i f f er en ces wou l d cause the ?Gr and Al l i an ce,? to br eak down , and that Germ any cou l d be saved i f she p l ayed her r o l e p r oper l y i n en su r i ng the war wen t as l ong as possi b l e. H e was cor r ect , bu t the Co l d War wou l d com e f ar too l ate to save the T h i r d Rei ch . Japan , too, wou l d com e to f i nd i t sel f econom i cal l y ecl i psed by the Un i ted States. Fr om 1941 to 1945, the Un i ted States p r oduced 30 0 ,0 0 0 m i l i tar y and speci al - pu r pose ai r cr af t , 72,10 0 naval sh i ps, 4,90 0 m er chan t sh i ps, and 87,0 0 0 tan ks. Japan d i d not have any th i ng app r oach i ng the r esou r ces to m at ch th i s, desp i te i t s r am page acr oss Easter n Asi a i n ear l y 1942. 17

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