"The high-water mark of the American Empire was...." Pretend you're a historian and fill in the

[Kwarg]

78. I answered most of this above...

but just a quick note. The German Panzer divisions of 1941 were quite light. The Germans didn't even have a tank with a long caliber cannon capable of knocking out a T-34 in a head to head fight in 1941. IMHO the Germans didn't have a superior tank on the battlefield until 1943. Remember the first Pz.Kpfw. IV to arrive on scene were armed with a short barreled 75mm gun primarily used for infantry support. In fact, the Germans never had an advantage in tanks in Russia. The Germans destroyed OBSCENE amounts of Russian AND LL tanks using artillery, Flak (88mm) and Pionere Ground Troops.

So... in 1941 a British Matilda tank in front of Moscow was HUGE as it probably faced light weapons and outgunned the Pz.Kpfw II and III's it may have encountered.

Having said that... YES the LL tanks and combat aircraft were outdated and inadequate by 1944. I've also read histories of the German withdrawal from Eastern Europe and it's common to hear stories of individual AT crews or tank crews taking out 10 Russian tanks per engagement.

And what a thought provoking sentence regarding an additional 18 months of WW2. I can think of a few million Europeans that WISH that Russia would have reached the Polish border after it was controlled by American/British forces.