Re: [GZG] [OT] Books (Weber/White/Meier)

On 7/21/08, K.H.Ranitzsch <kh.ranitzsch@t-online.de> wrote:

>> I never saw anyone killed with a chunk of GNP.
>
> I would describe a tank or plane, a bullet or a nuke as a 'chunk of
GNP'
> You think they are produced by cargo cult magic ?

It's a paperweight without men to crew it, training to teach them to
crew it effectively, doctrine to govern its use in an effective
manner, and leadership capable of making the decision to use it
effectively.

>> Combat is the ultimate argument of nations, economics only sets the
>> parameters of the combat.  Good fighting overcomes economics
>> frequently.
>
> That's what German and Japanese commanders believed. They got away
with
> it for a few years - until the allies got their act together to
> outproduce AND outfight them.

Production would be useless without fighting.  Did Germany have a
decisive production advantage against France?  No--they had superior
doctrine and leadership.  Even French tanks were, by many standards,
technically advanced over the PzIIs and early-model IIIs that made up
the bulk of the German force in 1940.

Granted--the shorter a war, the less important this factor is.	But
production alone means nothing.

John
-- 
"Thousands of Sarmatians, Thousands of Franks, we've slain them again
and again.  We're looking for thousands of Persians."
--Vita Aureliani

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