Nazis- is there anything worse in this world? Well, yes, and that's Nazi zombies, but luckily
we're not dealing with any master race zombies today. Nope, instead today we're dealing with the
living, breathing variety, in our latest installment of who would win? A modern soldier or a World War II Nazi? The date is 1941, and the war in Europe is
going swimmingly for Adolf Hitler. France is defeated, Britain's been holed up
in its little island kingdom, and the offensive against the Soviets is one stunning success
after another. It's definitely springtime for Hitler- even
though it's late fall- and in a blitzkrieg of ecstasy the Nazi ruler inspects the secret
Nazi labs building a reverse-engineered UFO, genetically engineering blue-eyed blonde-haired
master race clones, and of course, a time machine to kidnap Einstein and force him to
build a nuclear bomb for Germany. Skeptical of his scientists' claims to have
built a functioning time machine, Hitler asks one of his guards to give it a test try. “Hey, Hans,” Hitler says, “Why not hop
in, give the glorious future of the Third Reich a peek, and come back here and tell
me all about how amazing Nazi Germany is in the year 2020?” Not one to disappoint his Fuhrer, Hans the
Nazi steps into the German time machine, and with the press of a button, he disappears
into thin air! It's now 2020, and Hans the Nazi has reappeared
smack-dab in the middle of Rammstein military base, the largest American overseas base and
bulwark of NATO's power in Europe. Stumbling straight into an American soldier,
Hans realizes that the future has gone horribly wrong, and now he's about to taste the business
end of freedom as we pit Hans the Nazi against a modern American soldier and figure out who
would win. We'll break down piece by piece the training
and equipment of each individual soldier, and figure out ultimately who would come on
top. When it comes to training, the similarities
between a modern American soldier and a Nazi soldier are plentiful. The Nazi soldier would have entered into basic
training with an advanced knowledge of firearms and even some infantry tactics thanks to the
prevalence of the Hitler Youth in Nazi Germany. Boys were greatly encouraged to join the Hitler
Youth as early as 14, a nationalistic program that was something like the Boy Scouts in
the USA- only with a much greater emphasis on national pride, hating Jews, and learning
to fight. Run by World War I veterans, the resentment
over Germany's loss was instilled in the young generations, and Hitler was no fool- he spent
years preparing many of Germany's young boys to become soldiers. Modern America lacks any such program, and
most recruits to the military come from a normal, civilian background. Once entering military training though, the
training of both was very similar. A nazi soldier would endure 16 weeks of initial
training before being sent to their unit where they would receive additional training. Our modern American soldier however will have
undergone 8 weeks of training to turn him from a civilian to a soldier, and then an
additional 16 weeks of infantry school to teach him how to dominate any battlefield. Nazi soldiers had very good, all-around training,
and the benefit of many World War I veterans to learn from. Unlike other nations, Nazi soldiers also received
familiarity training with other weapons that may be attached to their unit, specially the
machine gun. Modern American training mirrors this model,
and an American infantryman is not just familiar with every weapon his platoon may carry, but
often has to qualify on several of them to prove his proficiency. All-around, the modern American soldier is
more experienced than even a pre-WWII Nazi soldier leaving initial training, and while
Nazi trainees had the benefit of World War I veterans, modern American soldiers have
the benefit of veteran trainers who have spent numerous tours in conflicts in Afghanistan
and Iraq. Yet the Nazi soldier enjoyed the benefit of
a much greater degree of discipline, and a familiarity to military manuevers that stem
from his years in the Hitler Youth. When it comes to training, we're going to
call it even on both sides, but the Nazi soldier and his years of fanaticism spent in the Hitler
Youth will get the edge over our American soldier when it comes to fitness and willingness
to fight. In hand-to-hand combat, our American soldier
will have received more, and better training than our Nazi soldier. Nazi soldiers could expect to learn some basic
hand-to-hand and boxing techniques, but modern American soldiers have for decades learned
mixed martial arts techniques. A brutal and decisive martial arts program,
in the early 2000s the entire US military martial arts program had to be re-focused
due to a lack of training in non-lethal restraint techniques. When it comes to hand-to-hand combat, our
American soldier edges out on top, thanks to decades of experience and evolution of
military training. Both soldiers had options available to them
other than bare fists though, and in a slug match, our combatants would've quickly turned
to these secondary tools to achieve victory. Our Nazi soldier would have carried the seitengewehr
98 knife/bayonet. Featuring an almost 15 inch blade, this deadly
knife could be affixed to the front of the rifle as a bayonet. American soldiers often carry a knife as well,
but most iconic is the American entrenching tool, or e-tool for short. A folding shovel with surprisingly sharp edges,
the e-tool allows an American soldier to quickly dig himself a fighting position in any soil,
but also serves as a truly devastating hand-to-hand weapon. A single swing from an e-tool is enough to
split an enemy's skull open, or even deliver a head-rattling concussion through a protective
helmet. Given the obvious advantages of a short stabbing
weapon and an axe-like swinging weapon, we're only going to barely give our American soldier
the win here simply because unlike the Nazi knife, the American e-tool can also be used
to quickly dig a fighting position, giving it more utility in a combat situation. At close range, the Nazi soldier wielded the
iconic Walther P38, a pistol that became famous as Allied soldiers sought them out as war
souvenirs. Incredibly the P38 is still in use around
the world, including in Afghanistan where insurgent forces have routinely used them
against NATO soldiers. Firing a 9mm bullet, the P38 has a maximum
range of 50 meters, and was accurate enough to have an effective firing range of 25-50
meters. With a muzzle velocity of 320 meters a second,
the P38 had impressive stopping power for its small size. With only an 8 round magazine though, the
P38 wouldn't have allowed a Nazi soldier to maintain fire on a target for very long, instead
relying on accuracy rather than volume of fire. Our American soldier counters the Nazi P38
with the Beretta M9. The favorite of most Resident Evil games,
the M9 has been in service since the 1980s. An extremely reliable weapon, the M9 packs
a 9mm round with a 15 round magazine, giving our modern soldier a greater firing capacity
before needing to reload. The weapon has muzzle velocity of 381 meters
per second, giving it greater penetration than the Nazi P38, and had a maximum firing
range of over twice the Nazi weapon, at 100 meters and 50 meters for maximum effective
range. With twice the maximum and effective firing
ranges, and nearly twice the capacity, the win here clearly goes to the modern American
soldier and his trusty M9. For medium and long-range engagement, our
Nazi soldier carries the Karabiner 98k, standard issue rifle of the German army in World War
II. An extremely reliable battle rifle, the K98k
saw action on battlefields from Africa to the Russian eastern front, and operated just
as well in mud and rain as in snow and ice. The weapon features a 7.92 mm caliber round,
which would deliver catastrophic damage if it hit a target thanks to its size and muzzle
velocity of 760 meters a second. The rifle had an effective firing range of
500 meters with iron sights, though it could still deliver accurate fire out to 1,000 meters
with a telescopic sight. Its maximum range of 4,700 meters meant that
even at extreme distances the rifle may have been inaccurate, but could still be deadly
if a shot happened to land on target. Unfortunately the rifle was limited by a 5
round capacity, giving it almost no capability to suppress a target. Instead, German infantry relied on accuracy,
and accompanying machine guns, to neutralize enemy forces. Our American soldier brings his trusty M4
Carbine to this fight. Despite rumors to the contrary, the M4 performs
incredibly well in a variety of environments, and anyone who's ever had to use one in the
field- instead of reading about it on internet articles- knows that the rifle has no problem
firing even when mucked up with dirt and grime. Where the rifle comes up a bit short is in
stopping power, as it chambers a 5.56 round in a thirty round magazine that has for a
long time been called deficient by its operators for not delivering enough stopping power for
a first-round kill. However, its muzzle velocity of 910 meters
a second combined with steel penetrator munition gives it great functionality against body
armor. Its maximum effective range of 500 meters
for a point target, and 600 meters for a range target give it considerable reach. Additionally, the M4 offers selective fire
capabilities, allowing its user to fire single rounds for long-range accurate fire, or 3-round
bursts for close quarters combat. When it comes to range, both rifles are tied
with both having a maximum effective range for a point- or man-sized target- of 500 meters
using just iron sights. Our soldiers won't be fighting much further
out than that from each other though, so ranges beyond this are largely meaningless and it
would be hard to see your target anyways. The K98k outshines the M-4 with its far larger
round, which would be devastating at close to medium ranges. However, with a much lower muzzle velocity
than the M-4, the lethality of that big round drastically decreases the further it has to
travel- to the point that the first one or two shots will be easily stopped by the standard
body armor carried by American infantry at most ranges. By comparison, the greater magazine capacity
and faster firing rate of the M-4 give the modern American soldier an unparalleled advantage
in a fire fight, as well as the ability to switch to 3-round burst fire for close quarters
combat. Able to deliver three devastating rounds with
one squeeze means that at close range the M4 trumps the K98k, but with its superior
magazine size and firing rate the M-4 comes out on top at medium to long ranges as well. If our Nazi soldier happened to time travel
with a telescopic sight though, our American infantryman had better close the distance
fast, because the K98k could deliver accurate fire at ranges the M4 couldn't hope to touch. At close to medium ranges, we're giving the
win to the modern American soldier. But at extremely long range, the win easily
goes to the Nazi soldier and his ability to reach out and touch someone up to 1,000 yards
away with stunning accuracy. In the end, our time-traveling Nazi has the
advantage in physical and mental fitness thanks to his years spent in nationalistic Hitler
Youth training programs, and has the advantage in extreme long range fire thanks to the accuracy
and range of the K98k rifle. However in every other area the modern American
soldier dominates, thanks to an evolution in training programs over the last 80 years
and greatly upgraded modern equipment. Maybe you disagree though- which of the two
do you think would actually win in a one-on-one fight to the death? Let us know in the comments, and now that
you're at the end, why not keep the watch party going by clicking the video over here,
or perhaps you'd rather watch this one here instead?! Hurry up and click one, unlike our combatants
today- you can't lose!
