Ask a Russian

[Zardnaar]

No, 1940-1941 wasn't critical time for Germany. Neither in military nor in economics.

Soviet oil was.

Ironically the Axis had all the oil they needed. In Libya.

Not an option with 40s tech but if world history turned out differently.

German production peaked 44 but when matters.

The other key thing was the Czech light tanks and production facilities. Made up 20% of the early war Panzer Corp.

Stalins million barrels of oil wasn't much overall but it was critical when the Germans needed it.

 

[red_elk]

Stalins million barrels of oil wasn't much overall but it was critical when the Germans needed it.

Why? Can you explain why these additional few percents of German oil production was critically important in 1940?
Germans had no problem replacing this source in 1941.

 

[Zardnaar]

Why? Can you explain why these additional few percents of German oil production was critically important in 1940?
Germans had no problem replacing this source in 1941.

As previously stated the German reserve was not much more than a million barrels in 41.

42 they grounded the Navy was struggling and the push towards the Caucasus was an attempt to grab more fuel.

Army group center and north didn't advance much.

So they put everything into one push the oil situation dictated where they had to go and how they could do it.

It also dictated them using the BF109 for the entire war as it used a different grade of fuel.

It also explains why they kept trying to make better tanks over building more they couldn't fuel anyway.

It even effected their engines. Several aces died due to engine failure from crap fuel.

British had the best engines, they also had good fuel.

How do you make an American fighter better? Put a British engine in it.

How do you make a Soviet fighter better? Put a British engine in it (Mig 15).

The Germans did do a lot of the thing the Allies did the difference was copious amounts of fuel.

More women worked in agriculture in Germany less mechanised so they weren't available to work in factories like Allied and Soviet women.

And even if they were they couldn't fuel anything extra they built.

 

[Ferocitus]

From what I read it originated from the region which is now Southern Russia and Ukraine.

I wish you all the best in what promises to be your very successful diplomatic career!

 

[AdamCrock]

There were elections yesterday ... SLAVIC UNION FTW !!!

 

[AdamCrock]

Just Poland .. nothing ytp see here, move on :/

 

[Moriarte]

Stalin was som where between grossly incompetent to being an outright traitor.

Not only did he fuel the Nazis, he executed those who warned him invasion was imminent.

A post of the same depth and quality as the one claiming 77% of German oil originated in Russia. Warm applause.

And then “grossly incompetent”, borderline “traitor” Stalin conquers “unified europe” from the East despite lion’s share of the european industry working for Germany’s benefit. Surely, a 5th grade student could do better in Stalin’s chair, right, Zardnaar?

 

[Zardnaar]

A post of the same depth and quality as the one claiming 77% of German oil originated in Russia. Warm applause.

And then “grossly incompetent”, borderline “traitor” Stalin conquers “unified europe” from the East despite lion’s share of the european industry working for Germany’s benefit. Surely, a 5th grade student could do better in Stalin’s chair, right, Zardnaar?

It wasn't 77% of Germany's production but what was available in 41 on the eve of Barbarossa.

Obviously civilian sector burns gas, transport burns gas, plus navy and airforce.

If the Soviets didn't supply that oil the Germans would have run out of fuel even earlier.

Due to different grades of fuel it also matter. Ships can burn low grade oil while you have to refine it so yeah Stalin provided a huge % of fuel.

My country in the modern era of 4.5 million people has around triple or quadruple fuel use of Nazi Germany who had to also supply fuel to allies and occupied territories such as France (whose fuel use decreased by 90%).

Soviet fuel production was massive compared with Germany.

 

[AdamCrock]

Pan Slav Unity !

 

[red_elk]

@AdamCrock
When I was a child, this was one of my favorite movies:

 

[Thorgalaeg]

Ohhh, it is like 'The Love Boat' but with tanks!

 

[AdamCrock]

@AdamCrock
When I was a child, this was one of my favorite movies:

I LOVE 4 Panzer guys and a dog , Sharik (Szarik in PL), how was his name in Russian ?

 

[red_elk]

I LOVE 4 Panzer guys and a dog , Sharik (Szarik in PL), how was his name in Russian ?

Sharik, yes. ("Шарик" in cyrillic)
Is it a very common dog's name in Poland too? Does it mean the same as in Russian, "little ball"?

 

[AdamCrock]

Sharik, yes. ("Шарик" in cyrillic)
Is it a very common dog's name in Poland too? Does it mean the same as in Russian, "little ball"?

Kuleczka - Little ball in PL

 

[AdamCrock]

Yeah ! I love it so much ......... Marusia is so beautiful !

 

[Zardnaar]

Underestimating SLAVS , so many make this mistake !

It is the last mistake they make .

This one beats me. Most Russians I've met are basically the same as anywhere else.

Beats me how they can brew beer in St Petersburg ship it to New Zealand and sell better cheap beer than NZ beer.

Currently under the influence of Baltika 7.We can brew better beer but not at $3.50 USD for a 900 ml can. It tastes fairly good.

Baltika 9 is the cheapest way to get plastered in the country short of making your own and the taste isn't great but still better than our cheap beer. 8% can is $4 USD. 5.7 drinks per can, do 2 of them you're fairly buzzed. 3 cans is messy.

A dozen local beers is around $12 USD and tastes bad, not worth buying.

3 cans of Baltika 9 tastes better and you getting 17.1 drinks for the same price as a dozen of our crap local beer.

Baltika 7 is roughly the same price per drink but tastes better. It's better than anything else in the same price range IMHO.

 

[AdamCrock]

It is not the question wheter or not You can survie the beer . It is the question can You survive the winter. Russians are good at it ! Really good

 

[Zardnaar]

It is not the question wheter or not You can survie the beer . It is the question can You survive the winter. Russians are good at it ! Really good

I prefer the beer. I live in a cooler part of our country and a cold day here is 0 to -5. Well really under 10 is cold.

Looks like my holiday isn't gonna happen.

Can you get a visa for longer than a month?

 

[FriendlyFire]

Read again the table you posted.
Germans used ~10 million tons every year in 1941-1943. USSR provided, as we established, 0.7-1 million tons. In total. No, it's not 77%, more like 2%-3%
And as you can see, foreign import actually increased in 1941-1942 after USSR ceased to supply its "irreplaceable oil". Germans simply pushed Romania to give them more.

No my friend I was making a bad joke.
Oil was a critical bottleneck for Germany, as I pointed out historians estimate that the Germans would have been able to amass around 600K tons of oil for the invasion of Russia without Soviet oil
About 700k of soviet fuel would were used to create this reserve and the other 300k soviet fuel would have gone to German industry to use.
Invading Russia with just 600K tons of oil would mean either the Panzers running out of steam much earlier or a much less mechanised, motorised invasion force. Or no invasion during 1941

We all know how close Soviet came to losing the war by the end of 1941

 

[Zardnaar]

As I said German WW2 oil use is about 1/3rd or 1/4 of modern New Zealand.

The Panzers were the tip of the spear. Best German anti tank weapon was German infantry.

Best Soviet anti German infantry weapon wasn't the T-34 but the mortar.

Stalin was a disaster in the lead up to Barbarossa, he did have some skull for organization and big picture unlike Hitler.

Zhukov and the other Soviet commanders who didn't suck were more important than Stalin IMHO.

 

[Zardnaar]

Found this.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12087672

NZers in Russia, Vladivostok is closer to us than Western Russia.