Do you agree the victory of the Allies was inevitable in view of their economic superiority?

Discussions of World War II frequently involve a lot of “what ifs.” In other words, scholars and others enjoy speculating about the outcome of World War II in the event that specific decisions had not been made and specific actions had not been taken. These discussions often center around hypotheticals such as “what if Japan had not attacked American military installations in Hawaii and invaded the Philippine Islands” or “what if Germany had not delayed its invasion of Russia?” Another question involves the absence of American aircraft carriers from Pearl Harbor at the time of the Japanese surprise attack, which crippled the fleet of battleships but left the mobile airbases available to fight in the ensuing war against Japan.

Just as hypothetical scenarios involving World War II often revolve around questions about timing and poor (in retrospect) decisions by Axis and Allied leaders alike, many question the importance of the economic strength of the Allies relative to that of the Axis powers. To a large extent, that economic power resided solely in the United States, the industrial capacity of which did indeed play a major role in the war’s outcome. This industrial capacity was not only enormous, it was also protected from direct attack by geographical realities, namely, the fact that the continental United States could not be bombed by the Axis powers due to the physical limitations of German and Japanese bombers. Britain was well within reach of German airpower (and, later, V-1 and V-2 rockets) and suffered enormous physical damage as a result. The larger American industrial base suffered no such fate. As such, it is clear that American economic might was one of the determining factors in the eventual defeat of the Axis countries.

While economic might was important to the war’s outcome,  the tenacity, bravery, and ruthlessness of the Red Army in driving Germany out of Russia was just as important. Whether an earlier or later start to Operation Barbarossa would have resulted in a different outcome will never be known with certainty. What is known is that the combination of the extended German supply lines, the brutal Russian winter, and the brilliance of the Red Army generals who had survived Stalin’s purges played an enormous role in Germany’s defeat. Russia’s economy was devastated by mismanagement and German military activities, but its industrial capacity proved formidable in its own right: Russian factories churned out tanks, aircraft, ammunition and other forms of weaponry in abundance.

Yes, the Allies’ economic might was important in winning the war. That economic might, however, largely resided in North America. German miscalculations, coupled with the Russian ability to field tremendous numbers of planes, tanks, machine guns, and soldiers, were just as important. Success was the result of multiple factors, with economic might being only one.