What Were the Factors That Gave the Victory to the Allies and the Defeat to the Axis in 1945 free essay sample

Meanwhile, Japanese forces occupied the Philippines, Malaya, Singapore and Burma and challenged the United States by attacking their naval base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. At this point, the Axis Powers seemed to be invincible and by late 1941, Britain was the only enemy still standing. However, by late 1942 the tables turned and the Axis began to lose ground being finally defeated in 1945. This essay will outline the reasons for the Axis defeat and evaluate their importance. First of all, the Allied Powers played an important role in the defeat of the Axis Powers. The British, Russians and Americans faced common enemies and an alliance was formed in the Casablanca and Tehran Conferences of 1943. This alliance was superior when measuring the resources and military supplies as the American economy was the strongest in the world and had been cooperating with Britain since the Lend-Lease Act of April, 1941 by providing massive financial aid where needed. We will write a custom essay sample on What Were the Factors That Gave the Victory to the Allies and the Defeat to the Axis in 1945? or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page When the U. S. became officially involved, her large armament represented an important disadvantage for the Axis Powers. The Red Army, when reorganized, became an unexpected resistance against the German invasion which was proven in Stalingrad in 1943. On their part, the British forces made a great contribution by halting Hitler’s army in the Battle of Britain of 1940 which obliged the Germans to fight war on two fronts. Secondly, an important factor that weakened the Axis Powers was Mussolini’s incapacity to succeed in the invasion of North Africa. Hitler was determined to overtake the Soviet Union although the Ribbentrop-Molotov Treaty forbade it. This invasion was originally planned for May of 1941, but as Germany faced the need to help the Italian army in North Africa, it was delayed for five weeks until June. As the winter approached the troops were hampered by the icy-cold Russian weather. Furthermore, Britain was still a firm enemy and the decision of challenging the Soviet Union would mean to face war both at East and at West fronts. But he was not at all willing to forget this goal. As Hugh Trevor-Roper stated â€Å"to Hitler, the Russian Campaign was not a luxury: it was the be-all and end-all of Nazism; it could not be delayed. It was now or never. † His hatred towards the Communist regime was his strongest motivation. Furthermore, the Allies’ military tactics were highly improved. The British innovation of the centimetric radar was introduced to detect submarines more effectively even under bad weather conditions, the first atomic bomb was elaborated by the U. S. , and air and naval superior forces were developed and wisely combined. Aircraft and navy working together presented a major war power for protection of the vital flow of supplies as well as for more effective attacks. This combination was a key element for victory against Germany in the Battle of Britain and in the Pacific against the Japanese after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Moreover, sea and air power was essential to check German forces in the Battle of the Atlantic, to invade France in 1944 and to hamper German war effort by bombing military and industrial targets. It seems that only when the Allies’ air offensive became strong, the Germans were in actual disadvantage. Air bombing destroyed railway communications, put many fuel plants out of action and restrained armament production causing a deep weakening of Axis’ army. Last but not least, with Britain resistance and U. S. involvement, the conflict lasted much more time than Germany could endure. As war continued, the shortage of raw materials was becoming a serious matter for German economy. At the beginning of the war, the Soviets supplied large quantities of oil and other critical resources to Germany; something that would change after the German invasion of Soviet territory. The limited resource base was another of Hitler’s reasons for his attempt to invade the Soviet Union as he looked forward to seize the copious resources of the territory. But going to war with such a limited resource base meant a huge risk. Unless Germany won the war in a series of short, quick campaigns, it was doomed to fail. The failure to defeat the British in 1940 and the failure to defeat the Soviet Union meant a fatal collapse for the Axis Powers. After the Whermacht was stopped before Moscow, Hitler was to face enemy armies with vastly superior resources that would increase every year of the remaining years of the war. In conclusion, it has been established that although the Axis Powers, especially Germany, were at first seen as an unstoppable force, the Allies managed to obtain victory for a number of reasons. The main factors were the strength of American armament, the firm resistance of British and Soviet forces in contrast with the Power Axis’s flaws and mistakes which include the shortage of raw materials, the weakness of Italian power and the inferior air forces. All these elements led to the fall of Italy starting in 1943, the recovery of France in 1944, the assault on Germany and the defeat of Japan in 1945. Bibliography Lowe, Norman. â€Å"The Second World War 1939-45† in Mastering Modern World History. Palgrave: New York, 1997. [ 1 ]. LOWE. p. 98