The USSR played a more important role in defeating Germany than the western allies.

I will first state my opposing arguments your arguments. OK first of all, there were no "countries" in Africa, most of Africa was colonies. In 1939 northern Africa was in the hands the British, French, and Italians. And no, I wasn't joking when I said that Britain's role in defeating Germany was 5-6%. They fought fairly small portions of German soldiers and killed only a few hundred thousand. Britain had a small army compared to those of the USSR and Germany. I stated earlier that the United States had a major impact in defeating Germany; I never said that the role of the United States was greater than that of the USSR (which is what this debate is about). And yes, I do realize there were other fronts on which the USA fought such as in Italy and France. Nevertheless, the fronts in Africa were more important. The allies lost 2,260,000 men in France and 1,900,000 of these were actually taken as POW's. Yes, France did give a huge sacrifice and made a huge effort to defeat Germany. But this doesn't tell anybody how France played an important role, especially when you look at countries fighting Germany who had even greater losses. Examples: Poland: 6 million dead. Yugoslavia: 1.5 million dead. USSR: 25-27 million dead. The German occupation of France was nowhere near as brutal as the German occupation of Poland and parts of the Soviet Union. The African campaign I'm talking about in which the French fought the Americans is codenamed Operation Torch. http://en.wikipedia.org... Yes, 80% of the German army died on the eastern front and yes, this includes the forces killed by other countries other than the USSR. Britain, France, and the United States all sent some pilots to help out (and this was only a small fraction of the total soviet air-force). Former German allies switched sides after the Soviet Union defeated them and forced them to declare war on Germany. These countries include Finland, Romania, and Bulgaria. Yugoslavia and Poland also sided with the Soviets after the USSR drove Germany out of these countries. All these European nations sided sided with the USSR in 1944 by which time it was clear Germany would lose the war. But lets face it: the Soviets would have won even without all this help anyway. Some historians argue that Germany lost all its chances to win the war after the Battle of Stalingrad (1942-1943). Others say Germany was dead after it lost the Battle of Kursk(1943). Whichever battle ended any chances of a German victory, that battle happened many months before Poland, Romania, Finland, Bulgaria, or Yugoslavia sided with the USSR. http://en.wikipedia.org... I will now state my arguments: 1. The Soviets captured Berlin. This was the bloodiest battle in history second only to Stalingrad and it was the Soviet capture of Berlin that caused Hitler to commit suicide and thus effectively end the war in Europe. 2. The western allies were the ones who allowed WWII to start. France and Britain forced Germany to sign the treaty of Versailles in 1919 which would ensure that Germany live in poverty for years and later look to Hitler as the solution to their problems. When Germany broke the treaty Britain and France who wanted to avoid another war and decided to do nothing about it. This allowed Germany to build up the most powerful army in the world and begin annexing Austria, Czechoslovakia, and other territories. And then Germany and Italy both sent forces to help the Fascists in Spain... The Soviets were there opposing them but where was Britain and France? In 1939 Italy invaded Albania and Ethiopia. What did Britain and France do? Nothing! As a matter of fact, in order to invade the Ethiopia, Italy went through the British controlled Suez Canal. It was only after Germany wanted the Danzig corridor in Poland which it had had before they were defeated in WWI that Britain and France signed a pact with Poland to defend against German aggression. When Hitler was refused his request he decided to invade Poland. And once again, where were the British and French? Hiding behind their Maginot line. They let their ally bleed to death, just like they did when Germany invaded the Soviet Union. Churchill and Roosevelt agreed to open a second front in France in 1942. Stalin was waiting for this front, but instead he got a German offensive in the south toward the Caucus oilfields and the city of Stalingrad. After the western allies did not open a second front in 1942, they agreed to invade France in 1943 and once again they did not invade. It was only in 1944, 11 months before the end of the war when it was clear that Germany was going to lose, that the British and Americans finally invaded. German was defeated by American supplies, American money, and Russia men. It was the Soviets who destroyed most of the German divisions including some of the best divisions. The Battles of Moscow, Stalingrad, and Kursk were the three battles that decided the outcome of WWII; and all three of these battles were fought on the eastern front.