Скачать или смотреть WWII Europe: They Trusted the Inventory — The Supply Chain Broke

During World War II, European military planners believed they had mastered logistics. Warehouses were full, ledgers were balanced, and inventory reports showed stability across vast regions. On paper, the supply chain appeared efficient. In reality, it was already breaking.

This documentary examines how rigid inventory-based planning quietly undermined Europe’s wartime supply system. Instead of tracking movement, timing, and usability, many commands relied on static counts—assuming that recorded stock automatically translated into operational readiness. The result was a growing gap between what was “available” on reports and what could actually reach the front.

As transport networks became strained, parts arrived late, equipment accumulated in the wrong locations, and units waited for supplies that technically already existed. Decisions were made to satisfy accounting requirements rather than battlefield conditions. Over time, this disconnect slowed operations, reduced flexibility, and amplified the impact of minor disruptions into systemic failures.

Rather than focusing on combat or strategy alone, this episode explores the industrial logic behind the collapse—how paperwork, doctrine, and organizational habits shaped outcomes long before shortages became visible. It reveals why accurate numbers were not enough, and why movement mattered more than possession.

By understanding how the supply chain failed, we gain insight into one of the most overlooked forces of the war: the systems that determined whether armies could act at all.