German advances into Russia would not automatically have solved Germany's wartime resource problems. Russia already struggled to move and exploit its own resources, and Germany lacked spare manpower because so much of it was committed to the army. Political upheaval and the prospect of coercive labour would have made extraction and supervision even more demanding. Possession of resource-rich territory did not supply the logistical and administrative capacity needed to turn those resources into naval production.
Notable Point · 4:30-5:36
Why Russian conquests could not easily cure German shortages
Resources on a map did not give Germany the transport, labour, or administrative capacity needed to extract them from a destabilized Russia.