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Summary Of Why The Allies Won By Richard Overy

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In his book, Why the Allies Won, Richard Overy presents a unique theory about how the Allies won World War II by founding his argument on a seemingly obvious fact; Allied victory was never an inevitable outcome of the war. Overy reminds the reader of the circumstances of 1942 in which the Axis powers already won incredible victories over Western Europe and in the Pacific. "On the face of things," Overy explains, "no rational man in early 1942 would have guessed at the eventual outcome of the war." (Overy, 15) The crux of the author’s thesis relies in how the Allied powers reversed this precarious situation and emerged victorious despite early losses. Overy asserts that Allied victory depended on American belligerency and armament and Soviet …show more content…

Overy contests that it was not just Hitler’s opening of a second front or sheer Soviet numbers that turned the tide, but Soviet central planning and organization, and Stalin’s yield to his commanders. German advance into the southern Soviet Union in 1942 was prompted by Hitler’s desire for the wealth of resources there, and it was relatively easy. The Soviet Union expected another assault on Moscow and thus the southern line wasn’t heavily reinforced. Germans hastily advanced while the Soviets retreated to Stalingrad. In his characteristic harsh style, Stalin directed the meager two armies there to hold the city until there was a plan developed to save it. As the situation grew more and more dire, Stalin called upon Georgi Zhukov who he promptly placed in command of the defense of Stalingrad. Zhukov’s plan, a pincer attack to surround the German forces at Stalingrad, required time and a military buildup that Stalin didn’t approve of. However, this is where Overy draws a parallel between Hitler and Stalin. While Hitler remained rigid in his command and retained tight control over the war, Stalin uncharacteristically allowed his commander Zhukov to direct the Soviet counter-offensive, Operation Uranus. This allowed Zhukov to exploit the German weakness of dispersal. (Overy,

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