The Role of the USSR in Defeating the Axis Powers was Just as Great as that of the United States

I will now state my arguments. ARGUMENT I: Soviet Military Contributions in the Far East.A common myth about WWII is that the United States won the war against Japan almost single handedly. This is untrue for several reasons. First off, about a third of the Japanese war deaths were in China and South East Asia. In addition to this, the USSR played an important role in defeating Japan during the border wars which took place before WWII ever happened and during the war against Japan in 1945. During the border wars, Japan suffered as many as 150,000 casualties.[1] During the war in 1945, the Japanese suffered around 700,000 casualties.[2] These numbers show that the Soviets played a very important role in the defeat of Japan. Many historians believe that the Soviet invasion of Manchuria, North Korea, and the Kuril Islands did just as much to cause Japan's surrender as the two atomic bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki did. I agree that overall, the United States did more to defeat Japan since the United States destroyed the Japanese navy, however the role of the Soviet Union must not be ignored.ARGUMENT II: Soviet Contributions in the European Theater.The Soviet Contributions in the European Theater were considerably greater. In June 22, 1941, 4 million German, Romanian, Hungarian, Italian, and Finnish soldiers invaded the USSR. Around 3.5 million of these soldiers were German. At the same time there were only 150,000 German soldiers under Erwin Rommel were fighting in Africa. The first real German defeat was during the battle of Moscow. For the first time, a German Blitzkrieg was stopped and pushed back 100 miles. Germany suffered staggering losses. In the summer of 1942, the Germans launched an offensive to take Stalingrad and the southern oil fields. This offensive failed and resulted in over a million casualties for the Germans. Germany lost all chances of winning WWII when the Soviet Union defeated them during the battle of Kursk. After that, it was only a matter of time before Germany would lose the war. Throughout WWII, the Germany army suffered around 80% of their casualties in the east. In addition to this, all of the Romanian, Hungarian, Finnish, and many Italian soldiers died on the eastern front. The Soviets captured Berlin and ended the Third Reich.ARGUMENT III: American Contributions.The United States entered the war some 6 months after the Soviet Union did. America did send many supplies to its allies in China, Britain, the USSR, and other countries. These supplies saved Britain and helped the Soviet Union greatly. American supplies were probably more important in the European Theater than American soldiers were. Around 10-15% of German casualties were inflicted by the United States. The United States arrived when the tide of war in Europe was already turning. Germany was losing in both Africa and on the Eastern Front by the time the United States arrived. However America did play an important role in the Pacific. They were responsible for the destruction of the Japanese navy and the United States can be given most credit for the defeat of Japan. I await a response from my opponent.Sourceshttp://en.wikipedia.org...http://en.wikipedia.org...