How did geographic factors influence world war 2?

Answer 1

I will give you the geographic factors by location of war front. This will be generalized and not specific to each battle:

Africa: They had to deal with miles and miles of sand, desert and no water in extreme heat. They had to put up with "sand storms", meaning the sand was blown and you could not do a thing in it, you could die however. The heat caused heat stroke and the sun caused sun stroke and the lack of water caused dehydration and dysentery.

The Pacific Islands: Each island had its own geography, plants and lack of water. They could encounter sand and more sand or deep jungle or mountainous terrain with caves the Japanese hid inside. The Jungle terrain added poisonous snakes, Spiders, wild animals and you had to put up with "jungle rot", dysentery, heat and sun stroke and worry about a Japanese soldier hiding where you could not see him.

Alaska: Mountainous terrain with temperatures below zero and a lot of snow. This was true of all the Aleutian Islands. The army failed to outfit the troops with sub-zero clothing and they suffered from frozen feet and other parts of their bodies that got frostbite. Some died in the cold or from injuries in the cold weather. The equipment was extremely hard to move because it got bogged down in the mud and snow. They did not have helicopters to airlift equipment and supplies as we have now. The troops were not winter trained.

Italy and the Balkans: Very steep mountains, rocks, trees and very little flat land that would make it easy for the troops and equipment to advance through. The Nazis took the high ground and that was a real negative for the Allied Forces. The geography slowed down their advance against the Nazis.

Europe: All types of geography (no sand dunes though) and weather temperatures, lots of rivers that had to be crossed and bridges to take down or put up. The winter weather was worse than the Allied Forces expected since they came to Europe when they had the worst two winters in 100 years. The troops were not dressed or supplied for the winter. They got frostbite and many died sleeping in the winter weather. The forests were dense and difficult to fight in.

Russia: Russia has sub-zero temperatures. Unless you are a Russian you will not survive in their winters without their clothing and methods of survival. The Nazis found out the hard way and hundreds of thousands died because of the weather in Russia. Their equipment bogged down in the snow and mud and froze in place. The Nazi equipment failed to work in the cold temperatures whereas the Russian equipment continued to work since they built their equipment to survive the winter and they had tricks too. They put gasoline in their lubricants so the lubricants would not freeze.

China had all sorts of terrain and temperatures. They mountains, jungles and very little flat land. So the troops had to put up with the same problems as jungles warriors had to do on the islands. They had to get over the Burma mountains that are 14,000 or more feet high. The planes in those days did not have heaters nor were they built for those environs.

The winter basically destroyed the cream of the crop of the Nazi forces in Russia. The hidden tunnels and caves of the Pacific Islands nearly did the Allied Forces in until they figured out how to fight the Japanese while they were in the tunnels and caves. It was hard for the Brits to handle Africa but they brought in Aussies who were acclimated to the hot desert sun and the lack of shade. They did a grand job helping the Brits.

Answer 2

Geographic factors influenced World War II by shaping military strategies, access to resources, and alliances. For example, the vast land area of Russia and harsh winter weather impacted both the German invasion and the eventual Soviet counteroffensive. Control over strategic locations like ports and mountain passes also played a crucial role in determining the outcome of battles and campaigns. Additionally, geographical barriers such as oceans and mountain ranges influenced the ability of different countries to project power and support their allies.