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In the cases of Denmark, Norway, Yugoslavia and Greece, the German margin of superiority was immense. The one exception to the Germans' superiority in weapons was the fighter planes of the R.A.F. Although few in number, they kept Hitler from two decisive triumphs. They maintained local control of the skies over Dunkirk for three saving days. And they stopped the Luftwaffe in its tracks.
Otherwise, for 21 months Hitler kept his two overpowering advantages. During that period Germany crushed and occupied nine nations, beginning with Poland and ending with Greece. The Germans won every battle.
New Odds. Stage II began when Hitler voluntarily gave up one of his advantages. At the onset of the Russian campaign, the Wehrmacht mustered about 150 German and Rumanian divisions to the Russians' 110. In armor and planes the Wehrmacht had even greater superiority. But a month later, in spite of having lost hundreds of thousands of men, Stalin had as many men in the field as Hitler. Hitler never again outclassed his opponents in manpower.
His advantage in weapons remained. By the passage of the Lend-Lease Act in March 1941, the economic weight of the U.S. had been thrown into the scales, thereby giving potential weapon superiority to Hitler's enemies. But the actual weapon advantage was still his. The Wehrmacht rode that advantage for 15 months, but the ride was no longer easy. The Wehrmacht now had to skimp. The results showed clearly in the Mediterranean: the Afrika Korps recovered Italian Cyrenaica but lacked enough power to crush beseiged Tobruk; then lost Cyrenaica again to Auchinleck; finally, reinforced, overran the British army to push across Egypt to El Alamein. At that point only a decimated British army which had lost most of its equipment stood between Rommel and Cairo.
Meanwhile in Russia the Wehrmacht fought almost, but no quite, to Moscow; lost some ground in a winter campaign but pushed on again to Stalingrad. In September 1942 the attack on Stalingrad began. The Russians had already lost over half their steel capacity, 40% of their machine-tool industry, the whole fertile Ukraine—and 6,000,000 casualties. The Allies had traded men and miles for time, and they were closed to the ragged edge. That September of 1942 the Germans stood at the Nile and the Volga. The British were digging tank traps in the Khyber Pass, to keep the Germans out of India.
But Hitler had pushed his last advantage as far as it would go—and farther. In 15 months of hard fighting the Wehrmacht had not conquered a single other nation nor won a decisive battle.
On Oct. 23, 1942, Montgomery began the assault which broke Rommel's line at El Alamein. On Nov.8, Eisenhower landed in Morocco and Algeria. On Jan. 31 1943, the Sixth German Army surrendered at Stalingrad, Stage II had ended.
The Balance Tips. Stage III began with several months in which the Allies had an edge in manpower but were only on about equal terms in weapons.