Germany's Allies in WW2

[panzzer]

Ho was the moust important ally for Germany in the WW2....statistical !??
And the second??
----------------Why?----------------------------

[Phil V]

In my opinion Germany was responsible for her own war effort.

Sure - she had allies but they were not particularly active and effective. More "moral" or "paper" support.

When you compare Germany's Axis partners to England's Allied partners there is really no comparison.

The only two German allies of note were Italy and Japan but Italy faded and Japan came along too late in the piece and offered no support in the European theatre.

[Harri]

Max:

Sure - she had allies but they were not particularly active and effective. More "moral" or "paper" support.

The only two German allies of note were Italy and Japan but Italy faded and Japan came along too late in the piece and offered no support in the European theatre.

Japan was without doubt the most important ally of Germany because they fought with the British Commonwealth and Americans (although they also - at the same time - allowed Soviets to move some of their best divisions to the west from Siberia).

Hitler said once (I'm not quite sure if it was in the book of Hitler's LW adjutant Nicolaus von Below or did he said it personally to Finns on 4.6.1942 when he visited in Finland) that Finland is/was their only ally (if we count it an "ally") which didn't cause any serious troubles to Germans. If this is true then Finland is my choice in this question.

Compared to its size Finnish Army offered much more than just "moral" or "paper" support. Actually at the beginning of Barbarossa just Finnish troops where those who helped Germans in the far north and in Leningrad region (attacking to Karelian Isthmus and East Karelia). Finnish officers also teached winter warfare techniques to Germans.

The inactivity of the Finnish Army between spring 1942 and summer 1944 was a political choice because our leaders were cautious and saw that Germans were not capable of handling the war like they would have liked.

[cptstennes]

Roumania. I stick to the old spelling. For these reasons, first, the importance of the Roumanian oil fields. Second, the sheer size of the Roumanian army. Third, the importance of the Roumanian army in the battle of Stalingrad as well as the Crimea and Fourth, the collapse of Roumania that opened the Balkans to the Red Army. Regards, F.

[Mait]

Well, I would not underestimate the importance of European smaller axis countries. Even if their armies were not well-equipped compared to Germans and many units were not first-class, they helped a lot. They produced cannon-fodder that the Germans were in short supply compared to Red Army and they freed some German units from guard/anti-partisan duties.

Also, there were some quite capable fighting units (Romanian mountain infantry, Hungarian armored group, etc) that made good fights on Ostfront. But here are some better informed guys who can talk about them.

Plus, I think that very important were the SS units based on volunteers of occupied areas. These units were usually quite motivated to fight soviets and had good morale. I think the best came from Eastern European areas, where people were afraid of new soviet occupation.

Best Regards,

Mait.

[Andy H]

Japan
Romania
Italy
Hungary
Finland in that order of importance.

Andy from the Shire

[panzzer]

Why Japan? becouse the japanese army was inexistent for Germany , and just the naval suport!
and the naval suport was not just good, becouse they fight in another part ... of the world...and they declarated war to USA .... end the Germany too
And the Japan they just brought another problem for Germany....and the problem is USA!
And maybe America entered later if Japan hadn`t decalred war!!!!

[Victor]

The US was practically at war with Germany before the Japanese attack. Hitler only officiallized what everybody already knew.

Btw, panzzer welcome to the forum. But you have no idea of what you started. Just wait a little until the nationalist fervor will burst and the discussion will degenarate. Just look of what happened on the old forum.

[Mait]

Well, the USA might have officially entered the war in Europe later, IF the Germans would not have declared war on them after Pearl Harbour.
The Germans were really interested to keep the Japan in war and the hands of USA at least partially tied in Asia. I think that was the reason for German war declaration.

Now the Japanese had no direct military cooperation with Germans (except the submarine operations in Indian ocean where Japanese logistical help was used) but their blitzkrieg directed lot of american resources from Europe. Most of US Navy was in Pacific theater, lot of lend-lease was sent to Australia and China, airforce had lot of planes NOT in Europe etc.

Plus the Japanese war effort helped Germans in a way that the japanese conquered lot of areas with important natural resources (oil and rubber for instance) and cut Allies of these resources.

Best Regards,

Mait.

[Polynike]

japan? consider this
brought us into ww2 officially, granted AH did not have to declare war.
Japanese army. not much of an opponent once allies recovered from initial sucker punch
did japan attack USSR in 1941?
fresh far eastern divisions were used in dec 1941 counter attack vs AG centre at gates of moscow

not much help i would go with what someone else said and stick with roumania

[Victor]

In my opinion Germany was responsible for her own war effort.

Germany would not have gone as far as it did in Russia without its allies. Why? Simply because it wouldn't have had the necessary number troops to do it. However ill-equipped and badly-led they were, they helped. After the war, it was easier for some of the German "war god" generals to blame their allies or Hitler for their own failures. This is how the "useless" Axis-allies myth was born.

[Andy H]

The war in the Pacific syphoned men & materials away from the war on Germany.

The added naval assets from the Pacific would have closed the Atlantic Air gap sooner. Britain in early 1942 could have transferred some 4-5 divisions to N.Africa and the Med theatre in general, stopping any chance of an Axis victory in N.Africa.

I agree with Victor that especially after Dec 1941 the German Army in Russia relied more & more on it's allies to man the front so the German Army could concentrate it's limited forces at vital points.

Andy from the Shire

[IronPirate]

Japan-Simply by tieing down allied forces in the Pacific. The German Fleet would not have even been a fleet in being if the Full might of the USN had been brought into the Atlantic. Convoys would have been so escort heavy that a u-boat probably would have played hell getting through the screen.
B-29's, USMC, Heavy Carrier raids on Brest and other French Ports. The Axis would have been routed in the Med. The Afika Corp. would have withered on the vine with out supplies and replacements.
Without Japan, Germany would have faced a monster from the start.
That said, who knows how long it would have taken for the U.S. to enter the war if Japan had not of attacked the U.S.A.

[MVSNConsolegenerale]

In Europe, despite the serious lacking on the side of it's army, Italy was by far germany's most important ally. Some people don't realize that there were only seven "world powers" at that time. And although italy was the least of them, it was the only other superpower in their side in europe. The alliance with Japan was simply made to scare the U.S. off from entering the war...and once Japan attacked Pearl Harbour, the hole point of the alliance backfired.

Anyways, Italy's production capabilities far outnumbered those of Rumania or any such smaller european countries. I'm not saying these smaller nations didn't do much for the war...but when compared to any of the then super-powers, they just could not compete.

W.H.Dougherty

[Wasa]

I think that, compared to it´s relative size, Finland was without a doubt the most important ally of Germany. Finland mobilized more men than any other country in the war, compared to it´s inhabitants.