Almost as soon as World War II ended, the debate began over who had actually done the most on the Allied side to ensure the defeat of the Axis powers. The Russians only needed to point to their twenty million plus war dead to justify their rights in Eastern Europe and their new position as a great power on the world stage. Yet, Americans could also claim that they had done as much, if not more, as the Russians to defeat the Axis enemy. In hindsight, it is obvious that despite its greater number of dead, the Russian effort ranks second place to the American. In particular, the American effort seems greater in light of three crucial points: it was fighting at extreme distances from its home territory; it simultaneously fought three different enemies on a multitude of complex fronts with air, naval, land forces; and finally, it supplied many other fighting forces, including the Russians, with massive amounts ofmaterial.
The main fronts of World War II were in North Africa, Italy, Western and Eastern Europe, the Pacific Ocean, China, and India. The United States military forces fought on or supported every front, all of which were at extreme distances from the continental United States. A great logistical effort required to support both its own forces and those of many other nations. Above all, supply ships were essential because without the supply ships, all would have been in vain. Keeping the world's sea lanes free was one of the great accomplishments of the United States Navy and her allies, especially the British and Canadians. This allowed ships to traverse great distances and bring American and other Allied fighting forces to face the Axis powers. The Russians, on the other hand, were fighting in their own country for much of the war and were close to their supply lines. They fought on one continuous font and did not have to travel far to meet the enemy.
The United States fought all three great Axis powers during the war: Germany, Japan, and Italy. While it cannot be denied that the Russian did the lion's share of the fighting against Germany and the lesser Axis powers of Finland, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria for a longer time, it was not until the last days of the war that Russia attacked Japan. As for the Italians, the Russians only met the reluctant few whom Hitler managed to coerce for his Russian campaign. Another area to take into consideration is the strategic bombing campaign that the Americans and British waged against German industry, something that the Russians did not take part in at all. Finally, with the exception of the Baltic Sea, the Russian navy played a very minor role in the war compared to American's navy. Despite significant aid from the British, Australians, and New Zealanders, the Americans bore the brute of the Pacific fighting.
The Chinese tied down a massive number of Japanese troops on the Asian mainland, but they were supplied almost exclusively by the United States. American arms, support equipment, food, and clothing went to the four corners of the world during the war even before American officially entered it in 1941. Indeed, the Russian Red Army rode into Eastern Europe on the wheels of over 300,000 American trucks, fed itself on a diet of American canned ham, and wore
American boots. Coupled with all this were billion-dollar loans with generous terms of interest, which America gave to its allies. American was the only Allied nation that did not need to borrow any money during the war.
Russia's combat dead were approximately eight million. American's number of combat deal was nowhere near the equal of the Russia's comprising less than five percent of the number of Russian combat deaths. This is not only a reflection of the intensity of the fighting in Eastern
