WW2: The Resource War - Arsenal of Democracy - Extra History - Part 1

📜 WW2's Resource War - Part 1 - Extra History
European economies were so closely connected that some people expected they have to avoid another world war or destroy their finances, but in fact World War I had taught them how to prepare for just such a scenario. Germany, France, and Great Britain all invested in their military before war broke out. When evaluating these economies to see how war would affect them, we look at four main factors: GDP, population, territorial extent, and per capita income. Broadly, this helps us determine how resilient, expansive, self-sufficient, and developed a nation is. All of those factors determine how a nation must conduct its war. For example, the vast territorial holdings of the British Empire meant that they had vast resources to draw upon but needed a long time to mobilize them, which helped Germany determine that they needed to strike fast and win big if they hoped to win the war before Britain's full resources came into play. Japan also estimated that they could win a war in the Pacific if they managed to win before the US had been involved for more than 6 months. These calculations drove the early strategies of the Axis powers, but the participation of the US would later prove to be a crucial factor.

BONUS! Economies of Japan and China before WWII:
GDP (Bn USD-1990) I Japan - 169.4 I Japanese Colonies - 62.9 I China (exc. Manchuria): 320.5
POPULATION (mil) I Japan - 71.9 I Japanese Colonies: 59.8 I China (exc. Manchuria): 411.7
AVG ANNUAL WAGE (USD-1990) I Japan - 2,356 I Japanese Colonies - 1,052 I China (exc. Manchuria) - 778

*Miss an episode in our Resource War Series?*

Artist: Scott DeWitt I Writer: James Portnow I Voice: Daniel Floyd I Editor: Carrie Floyd

#ExtraHistory #WW2 #History

[Sylocat]

You know, audiences roll their eyes when fantasy stories talk about trade routes and economic intrigue, and wish things would get back to the cool battle scenes, but I like stories that point out that recruiting, transporting and feeding troops is often a more important part of warfare than using cool tactics and hardware.

[Poopdahoop]

Please don't shy away from showing us more numbers!
We love numbers!

[Geyrel]

"Amateurs talk about tactics, but professionals study logistics."
- Gen. Robert H. Barrow, USMC

[GlitchyShadow]

that picture of hitler literally eating czechoslovakia must've been so much fun to draw

[AdobadoFantastico]

This is a great topic. Economics are critical, but rarely discussed in lay conversations of armed struggle. People get so caught up in the battles, maps, and characters that this kind of stuff gets really glossed over.

[VT-mwzb]

The logistics and production side of war are rarely mentioned, yet they the most important part.

The propaganda news reels with dashing fully mechanized Panzer divisions look very impressive, but those guys were supplied by horse drawn carts and the infantry division basically walked the entire time. There were records of German troops shot themselves during Barbarossa since they were sick of marching.

One more number could be very interesting: prior to the war, Germany had about 1 motor vehicle for 70 Germans. The USA? 1 for 10. The type of fast mechanized war Germany did required motor transports, in terms of trucks. Trucks require gasoline and rubber, the things that Germany lacks, and need importation from ... the Soviet Union. Beyond about 300 km, trucks are inefficient and to move vast quantities of materials, beyond that line, you need railway. Germany did not have enough trains for its own domestic use, much less hope for say ... invasion of the Soviet Union. We all know that Russian railway is of a different gauge than German rails (as are Russian and Chinese gauge). So every yard of rail had to be relaid, every water tower had to be rebuilt (because the Russian blew them up), and new rolling stocks manufactured (because they were evacuated or blown up as well).

Impressively, the Quartermaster General of the German Armed Forces predicted very accurately that a German invasion of the Soviet Union would run out of supplies at around 700km mark. Approximately Smolensk. Which was the jumping off point for Operation Typhoon, the attemp to grab Moscow; which failed. The goal of Barbarossa was the AA line, which is about from the starting point of Barbarossa to Moscow twice over.

[Doctorgeo]

The United States is very fortunate to be literally an ocean away from the world's conflicts. Never have the terrors of war truly hit the US in a broad and personal way like many of the other world's nations.

[johnfrommanagement]

EXTRA HISTORY WITH PARADOX INTERACTIVE? I THINK IM IN LOVE!!!

[NemesisTWarlock]

And once again, the EC crew do sponsored video series right. :)

[grandmofftarkin]

Italy: does anything

Also italy: heyyy Germany can ya...

Germany: we already did


Italy: still proceeds to fail

Germany: *WERES THE AUCHSLESS BUTTON*

[pxus]

The ending credits music is my favorite yet.

[NonApplicable]

Fun fact: a heart made of iron would be extremely poisonous.

[Stephen-Fox]

Seriously, why can't more companies advertise this way?

[googledestruction]

Me: *Finds oil*
Every country in war: *M I N E*

[lordz]

I love how my history teacher assigned us these videos and it's sponsored by HOI4, a game I have like 1000 hours in.

[CruzaComplex]

Shoutout to Paradox. Fantastic game company doing fantastic things. You guys are the best.

[_bisclavret]

More history than the History Channel! :D

[Mathmachine]

Paradox funding an Extra History series? YES PLEASE!

[andrewpowell]

Thank you Extra Credits for doing sponsorship better than any other Youtube channel I have every seen. Always up-front, never with long-winded commercials, and just all-around tastefully done. You guys make my favourite style of history videos on Youtube and I just wanted to let you know.

[Bacchasnail]

You guys made a good choice with doing this sponsored by paradox. Not only is this an amazing mini series, hearts of iron 4 is a really good game.