I'm a fourth year student in secondary school, I'm currently writing an essay regarding the Second World War, and would love to hear your thoughts on the question "What impact did the rocket inventions of the German rockeeters have on WW2?", please feel free to critique my question and drop tips on what to note when researching and writing this essay. Thank you!

closed as too broad by Tyler Durden, Gwen, Pieter Geerkens, KillingTime, Semaphore Nov 26 '15 at 15:13


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    We generally frown on "please do my homework/research for me" questions. You'll do better in showing what you already know and asking for clarification on areas that you are unsure about. – Steve Bird Nov 25 '15 at 15:25
  • It undoubtedly increased the pressure on the Allies to get the Second Front underway as fast as possible and to over run the launch sites, as the Doodlebugs (V1s), but far more devastatingly the V2s were causing much distress in southern England. – WS2 Nov 25 '15 at 21:40

They definitely had more of an effect on the post-WW2 world than the war itself with Operation Paperclip getting German scientists integrated into US-based R&D. Most notably with Wernher von Braun and the NASA rocket programs.

From the Encyclopedia Astronautica, the V-2 rockets weren't cost-effective but still did material and psychological damage. All-in-all they were hardly the wunderwaffen promised. While the V program itself wasn't a game-changer in terms of the war, they would be a major stepping stone for missile technology that we still see in use today.

Like a lot of historical research you can start with the links at the bottom of the Wikipedia article which contains references to several books. Just make sure to review them or run them by your instructor. Reading a couple peer-reviewed journal reviews of the books is a good way to get a good idea of what professional historians think about the work (it's not a substitute for actually reading the book though).


The German rocket program was a colossal waste of resources and helped the allies win world war two. It was tactically, strategically, and operationally insignificant at the cost of large resources that could have better been used elsewhere.

  • Is there any research to back up those assertions? – Mark C. Wallace Nov 25 '15 at 16:49
  • Check en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mittelbau-Dora -- 20000 deaths building the V2, more than it killed at the targets. – o.m. Nov 25 '15 at 17:08
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    @MarkC.Wallace Keegan's World War two has some good links to primary sources. This is also common knowledge among military historian/strategist circles. Could produce cost benefit analysis but, frankly, don't have the time or incentive. Answer hopefully shocks the question poser out of a more normal historical line of enquiry and into some interesting research of his own. – Stuart Allan Nov 25 '15 at 17:59
  • @StuartAllan Keegan's World War two has some good links to primary sources - Since you seem to have sources it would be helpful if you would include those in your answer. – 0range Nov 28 '18 at 18:37
