"To be honest yes, the Soviet Union did bear the greater cost of defeating Hitler taking into account numbers killed and battles fought. Hitler never had less than two thirds of his forces fighting the Soviets."
Sorry to burst your bubble, but the Germans did have less than two-thirds of their forces facing the Soviet by June 1944. While I would agree that most Americans do not have any concept as to the battles and losses suffered by the Germans and Soviets on the Eastern Front in WWII. The US did not win WWII in the European theatre by ourselves (but did in the Pacific theatre) as many believe. Battles like Kursk overshadow the "Battle of the Bulge" in sheer size and scope. However, the myth that in 1944 most of the German Army (to include the Waffen-SS) were on the Eastern Front is due to the German practice of "re-structuring" the size of their field divisions to reflect available manpower due to combat losses. In short, the number of divisions stayed the same, but the size of each division shrank. The percentage of the total available 347 German combat divisions that were deployed to the Eastern Front in June 1944 was a still high 57%, but this represented only 40% of the German Army manpower available. This was a substantial decrease from the 72% of German Army manpower previously deployed to the Eastern Front in June of 1943. The Allied fronts in Italy and France did remove substantial forces from the Eastern front by June of 1944. Hitler's 'Enron accounting' with division strengths allowed him to continue to believe that he fielded the same Army as in mid-1942/1943.
Number of divisions available for these countries over the course of the war:
| Country | 1939 | 1940 | 1941 | 1942 | 1943 | 1944 | 1945 | End of War |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| France | 86 | 105 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 14 | 14 |
| Germany* | 78 | 189 | 235 | 261 | 327 | 347 | 319 | 375 |
| Great Britain | 9 | 34 | 35 | 38 | 39 | 37 | 31 | 31 |
| Italy | 6 | 73 | 64 | 89 | 86 | 2 | 9 | 10 |
| Poland | 43 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Romania | 11 | 28 | 33 | 31 | 33 | 32 | 24 | 24 |
| USSR | 194 | 200 | 220 | 250 | 350 | 400 | 488 | 491 |
| USA** | 8 | 24 | 39 | 76 | 95 | 94 | 94 | 94 |
Location Of German Divisions In June Of Each Year
| Country | 1941 | 1942 | 1943 | 1944 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| USSR | 34 | 171 | 179 | 157 |
| France, Belgium & Holland | 38 | 27 | 42 | 56 |
| Norway & Finland | 13 | 16 | 16 | 16 |
| Balkans | 7 | 8 | 17 | 20 |
| Italy | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 |
| Denmark | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| North Africa | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
Percentage Of German Forces On The Eastern Front Each Year
| Unit | 1941 | 1942 | 1943 | 1944 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Divisions | 67% | 75% | 60% | 57% |
| Troops | 84% | 74% | 72% | 40% |
| Aircraft | 64% | 65% | 42% | 45% |
Source: WWII in Europe: WWII Statistics
dvwjr
My "bubble" isn't burst, but thanks for the info. I will revise my impression of the Russian front. Even so the Germans still then applied most of their forces against the Red Army over the course of the war even if they were severely depleted by wars end. I hate Stalin and communism, but they must be given their due to be historically honest.