Allies of Germany

Several things come to mind:

1. Supply lines. Very long.
2. Fuel use. Intense.
3. Infrastructure. None.
4. Speed. Slow.
5. Distance + Weather.

That campaign would have taken a lot of time and planning and effort. It would have probably been possible after Japan conquered South East Asia.
But that would have meant war with the US...

From their point of view, I think that the Japanese in turn think that Germany foolishly attacked the USSR instead of eliminating Britain. Which would likewise be an incomplete assessment.

I think that was the least foolish thing she could have done, compared with a Siberian campaign in 1941.

take care

Earlier I posted a note regarding priorities of Germany regarding its alleies on a different sub-forum: http://www.worldwar2.ro/forum/index.php?showtopic=1793&st=75
I think it's appropriate to cross-post it here, too.

We have been discussing earlier about Berlin's priority in armament deliveries for Rumania and Hungary, namely which was a more important destination for Germans arms.

While looking for some info, I found the following note in a German document, related to the priority list of aircraft deliveries to Germany's allies, in 1942.
The document speaks for itself (Rumania first, Hungary last).
It has to be noted that priorities did somewhat modify later on.

Gen. Dénes

Bulgaria had priority over Hungary~!






This post has been edited by Der Maresal on February 26, 2005 12:08 am

Hello,
choosing between Romania, Italia and Finland it's kind of hard in my opinion, too different situations.
I think that all of them had a big part in the fight against Soviet Union.
By the way, Italy after 1943 become officially allied of the USA & Co. but with a very low efforts.
The RSI side (still allied with Germany) had a very big part in the fighting and not only in Italy.
Few weeks after the 8th september 1943 on the way to Rome, the allies fought hard against many Germans but also with the Xa Mas (Barbarigo battallion), Italian Parachutist and other Italian forces.
Till the end of the Third Reich Italy was ïn action even in the Baltic sea with their "pioneers".

I know it's not to compare with Romania, Finland and Italia but Holland gave also a big help, indeed, the Netherlands gave the biggest amount of volounteers to the Waffen SS then other European Countries.

regards,

Max

I think Italy is the most important "ally".

They influenced the war much stronger then any other ally by

1. opening a front on their own two times, and both times the Germans had to come to help
2. being the first of all partners to leave the Axis.

So, beware your friends.. they might be your enemy soon .


PS: I can full yunderstand that Italy chose to end thewar pretty early. And I feel sorry that their country became a battlefield so long. ALso, I am happy that not so much was estroyed there, potentially, desaster could have struck european legacy when it comes to buildings, arts etc. .

Also a very good thing is they did not come udner comunist rule

Hi Guys,

Italy was without doubt the most important German ally militarily.

For a start it had a navy that was, in theory, at least as powerful as Germany's. None of Germany's other Eurpean allies could match that.

Italy also had a significant self sufficient air force and aircraft industry that outweighed those of all Germany's other allies put together. All Germany's other allies produced or imported Italian aircraft.

Only the Italian Army was matched by any other of Germany's allies, and that was Romania in 1941-1942. At the time of Stalingrad there were at least as many Romanian divisions on a main battle front as there were Italian divisions in North Africa and Russia combined. However, if Italy's occupation forces in Yugoslavia, Albania and Greece are included, the Italians had for more Army troops on foreign service than Romania.

Italy without question.

Cheers,

Sid.

It goes without saying that the best ally of Germany was the White Rose.

Now if you ask me who was the best allies of the Nazis I might come up with a different answer

PS Yeah Italy, hands down.

This post has been edited by Chutzpah on June 02, 2006 09:30 am

Hi Denes,

Do you think that the fact that Hungary and Germany had entered into an arrangement for joint production of the Bf109 and Me210 in Hungarian factories might account for the low Hungarian priority in terms of deliveries direct from Germany? Unlike the others, Germany was giving Hungary major assistance to produce fighters and bombers in country, thereby reducing the need to supply them from Germany. In short, Hungary's aircraft industry was included in RLM production planning, whereas Romania's, for example, remained largely independent.

It is also worth pointing out that in 1942 Turkey arguably did better than any of Germany's allies in negotiating aircraft deliveries of modern aircraft from Germany. It alone got FW190s.

Cheers,

Sid.

Excerpt from the overleaf text of the book 'Germany and the Axis Powers' by Richard L DiNardo (we discussed about this book, I just received it):
"It seemed that whenever Mussolini acted on his own, it was bad news for Hitler."

Gen. Dénes

Perhaps 'important' does not necessarily mean useful or advantageous to the Germans, only playing a significant role of some kind.

The Italians would rank as highly important for the reasons Sid outlined, as well as the fact that the defects and short comings in their conduct of the war led to large scale problems and diversions for the Germans.

For this reason Mussolini and his erratic direction of the Italian war effort could be considered as a useful asset to the United Nations countries, helping boost their morale at times of crisis (eg. the successes gained by the British and Empire forces in North and East Africa in 1940-41), and throwing spanners into the works of Hitlers plans at vital points.

Italy was also significant in limiting the scope of German diplomatic efforts in Western Europe and Africa; the Italian alliance complicated relations with Vichy France, and also made sure it was difficult to convince General Franco to enter the war on the Axis side.

In terms of which ally was most important in terms of being useful to the Third Reich, I would say Romania. I agree with Chutzpah that Germany's best allies were the people who resisted Nazi rule in anyway, and perhaps, later when rebuilding a better Germany after the war, the United States and France.

Hi saudad...........,

I would suggest that Romania only becomes a serious competitor to Italy as the most valuable ally to Germany when oil is factored in. Subtract Romania's oil imports and Germany would have been hard pushed to launch any major blitzkrieg operations after France in 1940 and the Italian fleet would have been quickly paralysed.

Cheers,

Sid.

Substract romanian troops and germans wouldn't have entered Crimea when they did

I would also add, it's doubtful whether the Germans could have held on to Crimea in December '41 - January '42, after the Soviet landings at Feodosya and Kerch.

Indeed - extract the romanian units found in Feodosia area and the germans would have been in big trouble.

This post has been edited by D13-th_Mytzu on June 14, 2006 03:14 pm