Were nazi-germans really superhumans ?

[Topspeed]

This comes often in popular media that nazis were superhumans and they had insanely advanced innovations.

Is there any truth to this or is all this just a 100% ridicule and BS ?

[Topspeed]

German had V-2 and Me-262, but jets weren't new to british or US people either...nor were rockets.

[Sid Guttridge]

In WWII Germany never conquered a country bigger than itself. Indeed, its largest conquest, France, had barely half its population.

I would expect a little more of superhumans!

Sid.

[wm]

The SS-men (at least those who fought) were mostly young people - young people are by definition better looking, stronger, more dedicated than others.
And they were motivated by a simple, not-convoluted, believable ideology - that created cohesion, comradery, and led to willingness to sacrifice.

[George L Gregory]

In WWII Germany never conquered a country bigger than itself. Indeed, its largest conquest, France, had barely half its population.

I would expect a little more of superhumans!

Sid.

Germany's population in 1939 was 86,755,281.

France's population in 1939 was 107,624,472.

Now let's look at the strength differences:

Germany:
141 divisions
7,378 guns
2,445 tanks
5,638 aircraft
3,350,000 troops
Italians in the Alps
22 divisions
3,000 guns
300,000 Italians

Allies: 135 divisions
13,974 guns
3,383–4,071 French tanks
<2,935 aircraft
3,300,000 troops
French in the Alps
5 divisions

Now let's look at the casualties and losses:

Germany:
27,074 dead
111,034 wounded
18,384 missing
1,129 aircrew killed
1,236 aircraft lost
795–822 tanks lost
Total casualties: 157,621
Italian casualties: 6,029–6,040

Allies:
376,734 dead, missing and wounded,
1,756,000 captured
2,233 aircraft lost
1,749 French tanks lost
689 British tanks lost
~150,000 French
3,383–4,071 French tanks
<2,935 aircraft

Before Operation Barbarossa Europe was pretty much in Germany's hands.

Stop lying Sid.

[George L Gregory]

OP, it depends on what you mean by "superhumans". The SS had a very strict criteria and only those considered the best of the best were allowed to join it. However, most of the racial theories were based on pseudo-scientific theories regarding the so-called superiority of the Nordic race. I'm sure that many members of the SS thought of themselves as superior to other people, including other Germans who were not part of the SS.

[Sid Guttridge]

Hi GLG,

We can easily sort out if anybody is "lying" (your word, not mine).

What was the population of the Reich in 1939? You give 86,755,281, but I think you will find that this includes the Czechs, who I was not counting.

What was the population of France in 1939? About 42 million.

(Please note that the French overseas empire was not part of metropolitan France and was never conquered. If you wish to contend that this excludes France as "conquered" then the next largest country Germany conquered was Poland, which had barely a third of the Reich's population!)

So, I repeat, "In WWII Germany never conquered a country bigger than itself. Indeed, its largest conquest, France, had barely half its population.

I would expect a little more of superhumans!"

One of Germany's main assets was its size and large population.

In European terms Nazi Germany was easily the second most populous country, coming after the USSR. If one strips away all the intervening nationalities, whose loyalties were more or less negotiable, there were about 3 Russians to every 2 Germans. The Nazis did not conquer the Russians.

One of the main reasons why NATO exists today is to stop big nations over running smaller nations piecemeal, as Nazi Germany did in WWII.

Cheers,

Sid.

[Topspeed]

Nazis did get operational jets ready and even missiles to their aircrafts.

Also first pedal powered aeroplanes were made in nazi-germany.

There was something happening ?

[George L Gregory]

Hi GLG,

We can easily sort out if anybody is "lying" (your word, not mine).

What was the population of the Reich in 1939? You give 86,755,281, but I think you will find that this includes the Czechs, who I was not counting.

What was the population of France in 1939? About 42 million.

(Please note that the French overseas empire was not part of metropolitan France and was never conquered. If you wish to contend that this excludes France as "conquered" then the next largest country Germany conquered was Poland, which had barely a third of the Reich's population!)

So, I repeat, "In WWII Germany never conquered a country bigger than itself. Indeed, its largest conquest, France, had barely half its population.

I would expect a little more of superhumans!"

One of Germany's main assets was its size and large population.

In European terms Nazi Germany was easily the second most populous country, coming after the USSR. If one strips away all the intervening nationalities, whose loyalties were more or less negotiable, there were about 3 Russians to every 2 Germans. The Nazis did not conquer the Russians.

One of the main reasons why NATO exists today is to stop big nations over running smaller nations piecemeal, as Nazi Germany did in WWII.

Cheers,

Sid.

IOW, it was only the case under your definitions of things.

Gotcha.

[Sid Guttridge]

Hi GLG,

Yup. What I wrote was not "lying". It was accurate in so far as it went.

Cheers,

Sid.

[George L Gregory]

Hi GLG,

Yup. What I wrote was not "lying". It was accurate in so far as it went.

Cheers,

Sid.

Whatever you say...

[gebhk]

Superhumans clearly they were not, no matter how much some deluded Nazis wanted to think they were. No one is. Indeed, arguably, it is their leader's deluded belief in the superiority of Germans that led to a large number of utterly unnecessary own goals which hobbled the German war effort.

Their military had some serious advantages in the early part of the war. Partly of this was due to the disarmament after WW1 which allowed for a clean slate beginning without being lumbered with old gear. The Luftwaffe was, I believe, the most modern air force going into the war. The defeat in WW1 forced a rethinking of strategy and tactics while the winners to some extent sat back on their laurels (it works so why mess with it?); this of course is part of the usual way of things. Perhaps the greatest tactical advantage the Germans had was the comprehensive use of radios, particularly backpack ones. The gpmg concept has survived the test of time as well as the 3-man tank turret.

While numerically stronger than their opponents, they did suffer some disadvantages arising from the post-WW1 limitations. In essence, some 12 years of training reserves and officers had been lost which meant that while the flashier new armoured formations may have got very well trained personnel, the vast bulk of the armed forces was less well trained going into WW2 than it had been going into WW1. The painful shortages of officers remained a problem throughout the war.

Probably the greatest advantage going into the war, was the massive supply of raw materials provided by their ally, the Soviet Union.

With regard to technological innovations they did push ahead with a number of projects such as rocketry and jet engines further perhaps than the Allies (albeit these were not German inventions). However, arguably, these can be thought of as a desperate grasp for anything to keep yourself afloat when the ship is sinking. None of them ultimately made much of an impression on the timetable of the war. It could also be argued that the incessant tinkering at the expense of ongoing production was more of a hindrance than a boon. Ultimately the Allies built a functioning atom bomb. The Germans didn't.

[Sid Guttridge]

Hi GLG,

You generously posted, "Whatever you say..."

You see, we can agree!

Cheers,

Sid.

[George L Gregory]

Hi GLG,

You generously posted, "Whatever you say..."

You see, we can agree!

Cheers,

Sid.

It was a polite way to say something else. I hope you can guess what that "something else" was.

[Sid Guttridge]

Hi GLG,

Nope, can't guess. I am just happy to accept our new found harmony here at face value!

Cheers,

Sid.