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World War II -- tanks production evonomic factors population
World War II Tank Production: Economic Factors--Population
Figure 1.-- Unlike the other three important tank poductiion factors, the Soviets had a greater work force potential before the War. The Germans had, however, as a result of Barbarossa, substantially reduced the Soviet labor advantage. You might think this woild have affected tank production. It did not. In fact, Soviet industry outperformed the Germans--massively outperformed the Germans. Source: Jonathan Parshall, "Tank production: A comparative study of output in Germany, the US, and the USSR," (November 23, 2013). 2013 International Conference on WWII - Kursk The Epic Armored Engagement.
In terms of population which provided the basis for the potential labor force, the Soviets Union and America were the leading industrial countries. (China had a larger pipulation, but was not industrialized.) The United States had a large population, some 130 million people. And even when World War II conscription began in large numbers, actually expanded the work force by drawing on several poorly utilized groups (agriculatural workers, youths, women, and African-Americans). Labor was an issue in America during the War, but did not seriously impair American war production. Next to China, the Soviet Union was the most populace country in the world, about 170 million people. And this was before the Soviets invaded and annexed the territory of neighboring states (Poland, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Romania) as a NAZI ally (1939-41). After Barbarossa (1941), however, the Soviets lost a sizeable part of its population and labor force--but importantly not much of its Russian heartland. The Soviets conducted a massive effort to move industry abd undystrial workers away fron the acvanxng German Panzers. This was a huge success, simething the Germans had not anticipated. It however led to a serious problems -- feeding their population including the workers. The Germans occupied the Ukraine--the Soviet breadbasket. The Soviets has a food problen even before the Germans attacked. Stalin's collectibization program and murder of the Ukranianian peasantry, has reduced agricultural haevests. ndustrial workers were given a larger food ration than the general population. The German occupation of the western Soviet Union narrowed the German labor force gap with the Soviets. The Germans, however. as they mobilized and began to suffer real casualties also experiencd a labor shortage. They had to conscript more and more workers for the war effort. The German answer was to turn to the population in the occupied countries. Hitler would fly into tirades if anyone mentioned labor shortages. He would scream that with the population of the occupied countries under contol -- there could not possibly be a labor shortage. The Germans to an extent used the economiesvof theboccupied countries to produce military supplies. For major weapons systems, such as tanks, however, production was almost mostly done in the Reich. (The Czech Skoda plant was an exception.) The Germans thus relied heavily on various recruitment schemes. And because most people were reluctant to volunteer, the Germand inevitably turned primarily to slave and forced labor from the occupied countries to man their war economy. For tank construction, however, we believe that the Germans mostly used skilled labor in the Reich and to a lesser extent Czechoslovakia. Unlike the other three imprtant tank poduction factors, the Soviets had a greater work force potential. The Germans had, however, as a result of Barbarossa, substantially reduced the Soviet labor advantage.
Sources
Parshall, Jonathan. "Tank production: A comparative study of output in Germany, the US, and the USSR," (November 23, 2013).
2013 International Conference on WWII - Kursk The Epic Armored Engagement.
