260 ChaPter^5
many say was the inspiration for the “Jack D. Ripper” character in “Dr.
Strangelove,” a satirical 1964 movie about nuclear war] the U.S. dropped
incendiary bombs on major Japanese cities. On March 9th, over 300 B-29
bombers dropped the napalm-laced bombs on Tokyo, which destroyed 16
square miles of the city and killed 85,000 Japanese, almost all civilians. The
U.S. was ready to march on Japan, setting up a land invasion to finish off
Tokyo’s Imperial Army and end the aggression of the “Greater East Asia
Co-Prosperity Sphere.” With promises of Soviet intervention secured in
February, it was only a matter of time before Japan would be beaten [see next
chapter].Economic Power Wins the War!
Ultimately, success in the Pacific, and in Europe, came from the industrial
strength of the Allies. Between 1941-1945, the factories of the U.S., Britain,
and the Soviet Union were able to produce dramatically more weapons than
the Axis. Just to cite some figures, the U.S. and Russia combined manufactured
close to 200,000 tanks and self-propelled guns, over 750,000 artillery pieces,
over 300,000 mortars, over 4 million machine guns, and more than 2.5 million
military trucks [with 2.3 million produced by Americans], and 41 billion
rounds of ammunition by the U.S. alone. Britain’s production numbers were
much smaller, but still substantial. Germany, Japan and Italy combined, how-
ever, built about 115,000 tanks, 170,000 artillery, 125,000 mortars, about a
million machine guns, and 200,000 trucks. The advantage in aircraft produc-
tion was equally great. The U.S. and Soviet Union produced around 633,000
aircraft of all types while the Axis made just 278,000. The Americans built
about 125,000 naval ships and boats, while the enemy far fewer, and had an
advantage in merchant tonnage of 33 million to 4 million. These figures should
not be surprising when the massive edge of the Allies in the raw materials
essential for the production of industrial military goods is taken into account.
American, British, and Russian factories produced about 4 billion metric
tons of coal, 500 million tons of iron ore, 1 million metric tons, or about 7
million barrels [about 85 percent American] of oil, and over 500,000 millions
tons of steel [again, almost all American]. Conversely, the Axis produced 2.5
billion metric tons of coal, 260 million tons of iron ore, 500,000 tons of crude
oil—which combined the amounts produced in Germany, synthetic fuels, and