Initial German Advantage

Initial German Advantage In the beginning of the Second World War, Germany seemingly had an advantage economically over its opponents, at least militarily speaking. Adolf Hitler had earlier converted a portion of Germany's economic sector to producing the armaments necessary for waging war. Germany had also begun stockpiling large amounts of raw materials necessary for creating the machine for war, as well as harvesting and exploiting its own local raw materials, such as iron ore. While Hitler had taken much of Germany's economy under state control, most allied nation economies were still controlled by the private sector, excluding the Soviet Union of course. The length of the war would test the adaptability of the economies of the many nations involved in World War II, A test that the
Other nations however, would pass the test, even the state controlled economy of the Soviet Union. By 1938, German armament production outweighed the British armament production yearly, five times over. In addition to the harvesting of local iron ore deposits, the Germans created programs to develop synthetic oils and rubbers.
How and Why The Allies Overcame In the outset of the war, Britain was unprepared, and the French had taken a defensive stance. Any war would be a long war; this neatly eliminated the chance of a quick victory. France promptly used their wartime powers to take control of their economy, and Britain had previously taken steps to set up supply systems. Neither nation pooled their resources at this time, further prolonging the creation of an efficient economic machine. The Germans foolishly provided the British and French time to pool their resources and to stockpile the materials and supplies needed to wage a long war. Just as foolishly, the British and French did not take