5) THE SECOND WORLD WAR

5.3 THE VICTORY OF THE ALLIES (1943-1945)

The long-range fighter, introduced from late 1943, made bombing more secure, and provided the instrument to destroy the German fighter force over the Reich.

City raids from May 1945 destroyed a vast area of urban Japan and paved the way for a surrender, completed with the dropping of the two atomic bombs in August 1945. Here, too, the American government and public was keen to avoid further heavy casualties.

There are many other factors that explain victory and defeat.

"...no misjudgements were more costly in the end than the German belief that the Red Army was a primitive force.."

This still leaves open the question of German miscalculation. There were weaknesses and strengths in Hitler's strategy, but no misjudgements were more costly in the end than the German belief that the Red Army was a primitive force, incapable of prolonged resistance, or Hitler's insistence that the USA would take years to rearm and could never field an effective army, or the failure to recognise that bombing was a threat worth taking seriously before it was too late.

Information from:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/how_the_allies_won_01.shtml