FIGURE 25.1 Weapons Production by the Axis and Allied Powers during World War II

This chart demonstrates the massive contribution of the United States to Allied weapons production during World War II. In the air and on the sea, U.S. weapons predominated, after 1940 accounting for more aircraft and many more warships than those of Britain and the Soviet Union combined. Together, the three Allied powers produced about three times as many aircraft and five to eight times as many warships as the two Axis powers. On the ground, the Soviet Union led the other Allies in the production of tanks and artillery, an outgrowth of the colossal battles on the eastern front. What do these data suggest about the significance of America’s entry into the war in December 1941? What do they suggest about the kind of warfare emphasized by each of the belligerents? What does the chronology of weapons production suggest about the course of the war?