Analysis: How ready was Europe for war in 1939?
Statistics
|
Army |
Navy |
Airforce |
Germany |
|
- 2 Battleships
- 2 battlecruisers
- 9 Cruisers
- 22 Destroyers
- 60 U Boats
|
- 1750 bombers
- 1200 fighters
(Numbers deployed in the Invasion of Poland) |
Poland |
|
|
|
USSR |
|
- 2 battleships
- 2 Cruisers
- Submarines – many, I can’t find an exact number though.
|
18,000 (planes by 1941) |
France |
- 900,000 men
- 5 million reservists
|
- 2 Battlecruisers
- 7 Heavy Cruisers
- 12 Light Cruisers
- 71 Destroyers
- 76 Submarines
|
|
Great Britain |
- 1.65 million following Dunkirk
|
- 15 battleships
- 7 carriers
- 66 Cruisers
- 184 Destroyers
- 60 Submarines
|
|
Other factors:
|
Experience / Weaponry |
Other Factors |
Germany |
- Sub machine guns were used by the Wehrmacht.
- Panzer Tanks well armed and highly efficient
- Luftwaffe experience in Spanish Civil War
- Trained to combine forces in offensive operations (Paratroopers, Luftwaffe
and Heer)
|
- Technologically advanced
- Politically motivated troops (Waffen SS)
- Danger of fighting on two fronts
- Kriegsmarine under developed
- Potential supply problems in prolonged conflict
|
Poland |
- Polish army experienced as a result of border skirmishes following creation of USSR
- Limited mechanisation of forces
|
- Ability to decipher German encrypted messages
|
USSR |
- Brief war with Japan and veterans from the Russian Civil War
- 4 engine bombers
- Reliability of armaments an issue
|
- Purges of armed forces leadership in 1936 / 1939
- Availability of raw materials and manpower almost limitless
- Industry relatively inefficient, goods produced of variable quality
|
France |
- Maginot Line considered impregnable
- Technologically sound: Tanks produced by companies such as Renault
|
- Defensive policy
- Number of reservists
|
Great Britain |
- Experience of policing the Empire
- Largest navy in the world
- Problems with reliability of infantry rifles
|
- Radar
- Forces from Dominions and Empire
|
Other key questions to consider:
- Which nations are militarily capable of conducting a prolonged war?
- Which nations have superior weapons, training and leadership?
- Which nations have the means to supply their troops in the event of a sustained
campaign?
- What economic, social and political factors need to be considered when assessing
the readiness for war of the major European nations?
Second World War
Causes of the Second World War How well prepared for war was Germany in 1939? How well prepared for war was Poland in 1939?
How well prepared for war was Britain in 1939? How well prepared was the Soviet Union for war in 1939? How well prepared for war was France in 1939?
Statistical analysis of Europe’s readiness for war in 1939
Documents and Personal Histories of the Second World War
Battle of the Bulge. Diary Entries Aircraft Recognition Sketches Air Raid Roles and Precautions
Dealing with wartime bereavement