World War II German Military Weaknesses: Natural Resources /

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Retributarr
Lieutenant Colonel - Panther D
Lieutenant Colonel - Panther D
Posts: 1267
Joined: Wed Jun 04, 2014 7:44 pm

World War II German Military Weaknesses: Natural Resources /

Post by Retributarr »

World War II German Military Weaknesses: Natural Resources / Strategic Materials
http://histclo.com/essay/war/ww2/cou/ge ... mw-nr.html
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~"PreFace:~ (This is for Hypothetical GamePlay that 'May' or 'May-Not' ever come to pass!, so please don't take any of this discussion too seriously!, as it is mainly an information package to better understand the underlying pivitol cruxe's of conducting a full-scale-war.)
The material provided below is provided in order to 'inform/demonstrate' just how precarious a 'Strategic Materials' 'position/situation' that the 'Axis-Powers' were in before the outbreak and during the conflict of WWII.
Continuing on With The Optional Alternative WW2 Gaming Idea' or...in other word's the...
"Alternative Pre-WWII Game-Set ideas for Panzer Corps 2 gameplay"
These game 'suggestions/wishlist',...'is/are' not mean't or intended for the main game itself!. To reiterate my previous post's, these suggestions are only for a 'what-if', or alternative game package to explore other possibilities that could very well have taken place.

So!, now...another suggestion!: This one has "Primarily" to do with 'The Conduct Of The WAR!' it-self.
"Meaning!", that your decisions and outcome's of those decisions will have a 'Direct-Bearing' on what you will be able to manufacture in your Factories and also in what quantities. The final result of the above determinations will also decide directly what you will be able to or not be able to accomplish on the BattleField!.
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Natural Resources / Strategic Materials (These situations in large part also apply to the Italian's & Japanese)
Strategic materials played a critical role in World War II, in both the desire to launch the War and in the ability to wage an extended conflict. Acquiring natural resources was a major war aim of Germany and the other Axis powers. Only one country at the outbreak of World War II had the industrial and agricultural capacity as well as the resource base to wage world war and that was the United states which had no desire to participsate in another world war. The Soviet Union had significantly expanded the Russian indutrial base, but weakened the country's agricultural productivity through enducung the Ukranian famine and collectivzing agriculture. Like the United States, the Soviets posessed enormous natural resources and like Germany, they had designs on neigboring countries.
The Axis powers were less favorably positioned for War in term of raw materials. Germany was an important industrial and scientific power, but could neither feed itself nor possessed the strategic resources needed for industrial world war.
Germany was particularly deficient in access to petroleum, a necessity for the modern mechanized war it planned to wage. Germany's answer to this was a synthetic petroleum industry, but this did not even meet the country's need in peace time. The limited resource base was why Hitler in his strategic thinking from a very early stage looked east to the copious resources of the Soviet Union--resources that were not subject to a Royal Navy blockade.
Acquiring natural resources was a major war aim of Germany and the other Axis powers, but the lack of these resources affected the conduct of the War launched to obtain them.
Germany needed to wage another world war. one of the most important was iron, tungsten, cobalt, copper, rubber, and other materials. The limited resource base was why Hitler in his strategic thinking had from a very early stage looked east to the copious resources of the Soviet Union--to get resources that were not subject to a Royal Navy blockade
Aluminum
Aluminium was another vital metal needed by the German war industry. And Germany had to import virtually all of the bauxite ore needed to produce aluminum. Early German victories were achieved by their modern, all metal aircraft like the ME-109. Germany was largely dependent on Hungary and Yugoslavia for bauxite. Hungary was a NAZI ally and Yugoslavia was invaded and occupied by the Germans (April 1941). Norway was another vital source of aluminum. As in other occupied countries, Norwegian industrialists collaborated with the German occupation forces. And new factories were built for manufacturing Aluminum,. The country's abundant hydro-electric power made it the perfect place to produce aluminum.
After failing to defeat Britain and then invading the Soviet Union and declaring war on America, the Germans needed vast quantities of aluminum, much more than the quantity needed to build the relatively small force used to achieve their early victories. the Germans developed a plan to increase Norwegian aluminium production sevenfold. It was to be a cooperative effort between Norwegian Aluminium Company (NACO) and Norwegian Hydro. The problem was bauxite (Hungary and Yugoslavia had large quantities of bauxite), the ore used to produce aluminum. Norway did not have enough bauxite and as the war began to go against Germany, getting the needed bauxite to Norway from Hungary and Yugoslavia proved impossible. .
Cobalt
Cobalt was another strategic metal, used to produce military grade steel. Chromite ore was mined in only a few countries in the world. It was Turkey’s most important export. NAZI Germany was Turkey’s major trading partner during the 1930s. More than half of Turkey’s exports were to Germany before the War. Britain and France as the war wanted to prevent Germany from acquiring Turkey’s Chromite ore and also to build up their supplies of this strategic metal. Turkey offered to sell all of its Chromite ore production to Britain and France for 20 years if they agreed to buy the agricultural products which Germany had been importing. Germany threatened to cut off imports from Turkey if they sold Chromite ore to other countries. Beginning with the Allied abandonment of Czechoslovakia, the Turks began to reassess their strategic position and relation with the Allies. The Soviet Union now provided Germany substantial quantities of cobalt under the terms of the NAZI-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact. Turkey signed the Turco-German Non-Aggression Pact (June 18, 1941), days before Hitler launched Barbarossa. After invading the Soviet Union, the Germans obtained needed cobalt from Turkey, another country that they had to pay for the shipments.
Copper
Germany had to import some 70% percent of the copper it needed for its war economy. Before the War, Germany got most of its copper from Britain. It was re-exported from South Africa, Canada, Chile, and the Belgian Congo. Brutish-occupied Cyprus was also a source of copper before the War. After the War began, the Soviet Union began supplying copper to the Germans. After invading and occupying Yugoslavia, the 'Bor copper mine' proved an important source. Sweden was another source.
Iron
Germany had to import iron ore needed to produce the steel which was the backbone of the country's war industries. The major source was Sweden, a neutral country. Before the War, some 75 percent of Sweden's iron ore exports went to Germany. And after Germany launched the War, the Swedes were terrified of a German invasion. During the winter, the Swedes had to ship their iron ore through Norway, this is one reason why the Germans invaded that country (April 1940).
Oil
Germany was particularly deficient in access to petroleum, a necessity for the modern mechanized war it planned to wage. The the key to Blitzkrieg was mobility. And this required vast quantities of oil.
A major objective of German diplomacy was to bring Romania with its 'Ploesti oil fuelds' into the Axis. This gave the Germans their only important source of natural resources...and after occupying the country, did not any-longer have to pay the Romanians for their oil, as it was now their contribution to the war effort. Another source of oil in the early phase of the War was the Soviet Union. The Soviets which under the terms of the NAZI-Soviet Non-Agression Pact agreed to provide the Germans large quantities of oil and other important natual resources. These deliveries ended abruptly after Hitler invaded to destroy his former ally Russia and its people in addition to wanting to seizing those resources for Germany (June 1941).
Tungsten
Tungsten called wolfram by the Germans was needed to harden steel needed for machine tools, armor, and artillery. The only European source at the time was Portugal and Spain. Because Germany did not occupy Portugal and spain, they had to pay for the tungsten. And because Portugal was the main source, the British began a bidding war. Once prices soared,...the hard pressed German war economy could not provide the coal and other material needed by the Portuguese. Portuguese dictator Antonio de Oliviera Salazar, demanded payment in gold.
Uranium
The Germans acquired stocks of uranium when they invaded and occupied Belgium
Retributarr
Lieutenant Colonel - Panther D
Lieutenant Colonel - Panther D
Posts: 1267
Joined: Wed Jun 04, 2014 7:44 pm

The MAIN Reason Why Germany Lost WW2 - OIL : Natural Resources /

Post by Retributarr »

The MAIN Reason Why Germany Lost WW2 - OIL
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVo5I0xNRhg
Re-Using my previous posting "Introduction-Preface!":

~"PreFace:~ (This is for Hypothetical GamePlay that 'May' or 'May-Not' ever come to pass!, so please don't take any of this discussion too seriously!, as it is mainly an information package to better understand the underlying pivitol cruxe's of conducting a full-scale-war.)
The material provided below is provided in order to 'inform/demonstrate' just how precarious a 'Strategic Materials' 'position/situation' that the 'Axis-Powers' were in before the outbreak and during the conflict of WWII.

Continuing on With The Optional Alternative WW2 Gaming Idea' or...in other word's the...
"Alternative Pre-WWII Game-Set ideas for Panzer Corps 2 gameplay"

These game 'suggestions/wishlist',...'is/are' not mean't or intended for the main game itself!. To reiterate my previous post's, these suggestions are only for a 'what-if', or alternative game package to explore other possibilities that could very well have taken place.

So!, now...another suggestion!: This one has "Primarily" to do with 'The Conduct Of The WAR!' it-self.
"Meaning!", that your decisions and outcome's of those decisions will have a 'Direct-Bearing' on what you will be able to manufacture in your Factories and also in what quantities. The final result of the above determinations will also decide directly what you will be able to or not be able to accomplish on the BattleField!.
...Which now includes in a Major-Way...the Subject of OIL!!!.

An Excellent follow-thru on the Subject of "OIL" is...
FALL BLAU 1942 - Examining the Disaster
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzr6dD8fvVY
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