World War II was the most tragic war in human history, with tens of millions of casualties. However, what is surprising is that the United States and the Soviet Union both participated in the war in the European theater, but the Soviet Union suffered 29.6 million casualties, while the United States suffered less than 600,000 casualties.
The Soviet Union suffered huge casualties
World War II was the most extensive and far-reaching war in human history, with tens of millions of casualties, especially China and the Soviet Union, which paid huge sacrifices for the victory over the fascist countries.
World War II was mainly divided into the Asian theater and the European theater, and the Asian theater needless to say, the Continental Army and civilians paid huge sacrifices, dragging a large number of Japanese troops, making them unable to advance westward, and never being able to join the German army.
At that time, the mainland was poor and weak, although it was a large country with a large population, it was definitely not a strong country, and the level of science and technology and military industry was not comparable with the world powers at all, and at that time, Japan had accumulated nearly a hundred years through the Meiji Restoration, coupled with the continuous cutting of flesh from the Qing Dynasty, and had successfully become a world power.
When the mainland and Japan fight, except for the fact that the population is larger than that of the other side, they are at a disadvantage in all other aspects. At that time, the United States, the Soviet Union, and European countries, in order to be able to deal with Germany with all their might, used the flesh and blood of the Continental Army and civilians to drag down the Japanese fascists on the condition of providing assistance to the mainland.
The first-rate countries were the chess players, the second-rate countries were the chess pieces, and the third-rate countries were the chessboards, and China at that time was the chess pieces, which were arranged by the United States, the Soviet Union and Western European countries to resist Japan's aggression.
On the European battlefield, in the face of Germany's blitzkrieg, the Maginot Line, which had been pinned on high hopes, finally became an ornament, and France, which had high hopes, surrendered faster than the German army's attack.
France knelt too quickly, which completely fueled Hitler's ambitions, and it turned out that the outwardly powerful European countries were all like goods, and wherever the heroic Germany went, the enemy immediately knelt down and surrendered.
After bursting with self-confidence, Hitler set his sights on the Soviet Union, the giant red bear in the east of Europe. The Soviet-German Non-Aggression Pact, which had just been signed, was torn up, and the unsuspecting Soviet Union tasted the power of a blitzkrieg.
Stalin initially did not believe the news of the German army's blitzkrieg attack on the Soviet Union, and he never imagined that Germany would turn its guns on a country as large as his own.
However, the German army was so unexpected, that is, to take the vast land and rich resources of the Soviet Union, and to enhance Germany's war potential. The well-prepared German army beat the unsuspecting Soviet army to the ground, and the Soviet Union continued to lose its western territories.
From the Battle of Stalingrad to the Battle of Moscow, the German army continued to advance, the Soviet Union retreated again and again, and even prepared to organize defense in the Far East, which shows how badly the Soviet Union was defeated.
Throughout World War II, the Soviet Union was primarily engaged with the German army. According to post-war statistics, the Soviet Union paid a total of 29.6 million military and civilian casualties to win World War II with great difficulty, and finally planted the red flag of victory on the head of Berlin.
This was almost at the expense of a generation, the destruction of fascist Germany. Of course, in the Asian theater, the mainland paid a greater price than the Soviet Union, after all, the Soviet Union is still a world power, and it is much stronger than the mainland in all aspects.
Why did the Soviet Union suffer so many casualties?
As one of the world's great powers, in the face of Germany's attack, the Soviet Union suffered such heavy casualties and many people did not expect. So what did the Soviet Union do at that time that it was almost killed by Germany?
First of all, the German attack on the Soviet Union was very sudden, and the blitzkrieg directly entered the Soviet Union, and the Soviet army responded to the war in a hurry and was not ready for war at all.
The non-aggression pact between the Soviet Union and Germany had already been signed, and no one in the Soviet authorities could have imagined that Germany would turn around and attack east after taking out France.
More importantly, compared with Germany, the Soviet Union was a behemoth in terms of land area and population, and the Soviet authorities did not think that Germany dared to attack the Soviet Union.
But there are always exceptions to everything, and Hitler naturally will not play his cards according to the assumptions of the Soviet authorities, France, an old European power, is kneeling so fast, and Germany is also very confident in taking the Soviet Union.
Through the way of blitzkrieg, it quickly broke through the Soviet defense line, and then rushed all the way, occupying a large area of the Soviet Union, and some important cities were also surrounded by German troops.
Secondly, the Soviet Union has been beaten into the doorstep by the German army, and World War II became the Great Patriotic War, and if you do not rise up to resist, the only end is the destruction of the country, just like France before it.
Fighting on the ground will have to suffer huge casualties, and neither the army nor the people will be able to avoid being killed by the invaders. What's more, the Germans focused on besieging large cities in the Soviet Union, with which the Soviets had to fight a decisive battle.
The Battle of Stalingrad, the Battle of Moscow, and similar wars lasted for several years, each of which involved millions of soldiers fighting in a small area with heavy casualties.
Third, the Soviet army was unfavorable at the beginning of the war, which was inseparable from the previous purge of the Soviet army's top brass. The political struggle and power struggle within the Soviet Union has always been very brutal, and many times it is a black and white relationship.
Whether it is in the officialdom or in terms of military power, where there are people, there are rivers and lakes, and different people form different small teams to dump and attack each other.
After Stalin came to power, he carried out a brutal purge of the top of the Soviet army, and many capable generals were purged, which also seriously affected the combat effectiveness of the Soviet army, so that when the German army first launched an offensive, the Soviet army did not even have the basic ability to parry.
If it weren't for the fact that the Soviet Union was large enough, the winter was cold enough, and Germany was not well prepared for the war potential, the Soviet Union might not have been able to survive to the end.
Fourthly, the USSR also did not have much advantage in armament. During World War II, Germany was among the best in the world in terms of military equipment and training, especially in terms of military science and technology, and Germany was ahead of many countries at that time.
You must know that at the beginning of the mainland's resistance to Japanese aggression, a large number of weapons were imported from Germany, and the national army also set up a German armament division with the help of Germany, and all weapons and equipment were made of German goods.
Compared with the Soviet Union, Germany at that time was more advanced in military technology and better training of soldiers.
The United States has nothing to lose
The United States, located in North America, is bordered by the Pacific Ocean on one side and the Atlantic Ocean on the other, and no matter which country wants to attack the US mainland, it needs to cross a wide ocean, which brings an inherent advantage to the security of the US mainland.
It is precisely with such an innate advantage that neither World War I nor World War II, even when the war was fought at its worst, did not affect the United States.
The only thing that was affected was the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, but it was just a small island in the United States, let alone being bombed a few times, even if the entire island was blown up and sunk, it would not have much impact on the United States.
The homeland was safe, and the United States was making things all over the world, first doing trade with the warring parties and making a lot of war money, until it was later attacked by Japan, and then it stood on the side of justice and began to declare war on the fascist countries.
On the European battlefield, it is indeed an exaggeration to say that the United States has "no losses", but it is true that the losses are not large, and compared with the Soviet Union, the casualties of the American army account for only a fraction (600,000 casualties).
The main reason for the low number of casualties in the US military was that the United States and the Soviet Union faced different situations. As far as the Soviet Union is concerned, if it does not resist, it will destroy the country, and as much strength as it must, as far as the United States is concerned, it is the icing on the cake, and the battle that can be won will be fought, and the battle that cannot be won will be run.
Just like the Southeast Asian battlefield back then, the mainland expeditionary force went to Burma to fight the Japanese army, and the British army on the Southeast Asian battlefield ran faster than rabbits, and they didn't even want colonies, just thinking about fleeing for their lives quickly.
The mentality of the United States in the European battlefield is similar to this, if you can fight, you will fight, and if you can't fight, you will run, anyway, you can't let the young men of the United States shed blood for the old men of Europe in vain, otherwise the benefits will be European, and the casualties will have to be borne by the United States.
In addition, the domestic political environment in the United States cannot afford huge casualties. In the early days of World War II, the policy of appeasement prevailed, and even Britain, France, and other countries that were close at hand turned a blind eye to the rise of German fascism, and they always wanted to bring disaster to the east to let the German army go to a head-to-head confrontation with the Soviet Union.
The United States, which is thousands of miles away, has nothing to do with itself, and if the United States commands the army and suffers heavy casualties in the European theater, it is not necessary for the German army to clean them up, and the saliva of the domestic people can drown them.
It is precisely because it cannot afford to bear heavy casualties that the US military will not go head-to-head with Germany at all, and when it encounters difficult bones, let its allies go first, and the United States hides behind to give weapons and ammunition, but does not send troops.
At that time, the United States positioned itself as an arsenal for its allies, relying on its strong industrial manufacturing capacity to build guns, guns, airplanes and ships, and then sell them to its allies.
Thirdly, the armament of the United States is more powerful than that of Germany. Every time before fighting the Germans, the United States sent bombers first. Battles that can be solved with bombs, absolutely no troops will be sent to death, and money is so capricious.
Although weapons and equipment are not the only factor that determines victory or defeat, it has a strong military production capacity and advanced weapons and equipment, and has already occupied a great advantage in the European battlefield.
Throughout the European theater, the Soviet army paid more casualties, the United States provided strong support, if it were not for the United States to help Britain in the back, perhaps the outcome of World War II would have been rewritten.
For the United States and the Soviet Union, the size of casualties was not the only factor in evaluating each country, and on the European battlefield, the United States and the Soviet Union were the main forces against the German army, and at the same time, the United States also provided weapons and materials to the mainland to resist the Japanese invaders.
Although the United States suffered minor casualties during World War II, it also played a crucial role. As far as the anti-fascist aspect is concerned, the merits of the United States and the Soviet Union cannot be erased.