(Asked on Quora. My answer).
Well to begin with the Soviet Juggernaut in the East was instrumental to winning the land battle and if it weren’t for the overwhelming production capabilities of the United States (which were impacting events even before official US entry into the war) the outcome may have been different. Cash-and-Carry and Lend-Lease were vital.
One also has to give much credit to the legion of British code breakers who not only expedited the computer revolution but also allowed the Allied brass to remain one step ahead of their German counterparts in key battle theatres (although at times the Germans did compromise Allied activities as well).
Britain did rely very heavily on the Commonwealth of Nations that framed her resource basis (in both material and man power) but what needs to be said is that one of the key factors in the wars eventual resolution was the poor decisions made by Herr Hitler at the Apex of the German command.
These include the let off at Dunkirk, key tactical errors at the Battle of Britain, the opening up of two fronts with Operation Barbarossa, the genocide campaign or Holocaust launched against Jews and other groups that drained the Reich of resources (human and otherwise), the decision to declare War against the US very soon after Pearl Harbor, the over reliance on submarine warfare on the seas (this had its successes initially) and the inability of Germany to exploit its own phenomenal prowess in the field of Jet aviation. He also failed to realize the potential the Middle Eastern/North Africa underbelly option that would have supplied the Reich with the oil resources, whose lack thereof eventually paralyzed the Wehrmacht.
It also didn’t help the German cause that Mussolini’s Italy was a poor ally and that Japan was not willing to offer Hitler a second front in the East versus the Soviet Union.
Oh yes I forgot…Britain had Churchill who was determined to win at all costs. Leadership matters.
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