Who Really Defeated the Nazis? (Spoiler: Not America)

Ask a Hollywood director or your average U.S. history textbook, and you’d think Tom Hanks personally liberated Europe.But the numbers don’t lie—and neither does history, when you bother to look east. Here is the brutal, unglamorous truth:

🟥 USSR 🇷🇺 – 80–86%

The Soviet Union didn’t just help defeat Hitler—they did the overwhelming majority of the work.The Red Army destroyed the Wehrmacht, crushed fascism on the Eastern Front, and planted their flag in Berlin.They lost over 20 million lives in the process—fighting while the West stalled.

🟥 Yugoslavia – 4–5%

Tito’s Partisans led one of the most effective anti-Nazi insurgencies in history, tying down entire German divisions.

United States – 2.5–3%

Yes, the U.S. fought bravely in Normandy and the skies. But let’s be real: most German troops were already dead or tied down in the East by the time the U.S. hit the beach.

United Kingdom – 2.5–3%

From El Alamein to Dresden, the British campaign mattered—but in terms of ground war casualties, it was marginal.

🇵🇱 Poland – 1–2%

Despite occupation, the Polish resistance and exiled troops fought fiercely in Italy and France.

🇫🇷 France – <1%

The French Resistance was courageous. But again—scale matters. The heavy lifting happened elsewhere.