General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsDid you know that Russia suffered more than anybody else in WW2?
And, they were the ones who won that war? Oh, and there was no gas attack by Assad, it was made up....
Me either LOL
More from insane progressive, start at 44:00 minutes in. And I guess based on her buddy on the live chat the new thing is DON'T BRUSH YOUR HAIR if you hate everything "West"
Kentonio
(4,377 posts)And probably did more than anyone else to win it.
To put it into perspective..
DetlefK
(16,423 posts)You know, when you start removing strategists and tacticians from your army during war-time, that is bad for your army's performance.
BSdetect
(8,998 posts)Who was one of the army front leaders till the end of the war.
Most "purges" took place before the German invasion and were probably caused by German intelligence spreading lies about threats to Stalin.
Sound familiar?
DetlefK
(16,423 posts)Wounded Bear
(58,656 posts)in the 1930's. That hurt them a lot in 1941-2, but after the war started, generals were promoted largely on performance. But even without the purges, the Soviets would have a rough time withstanding the German onslaught in '41.
Russia lost more combat and non-combat casualties than any country in the world, except for maybe China who Japan invaded in the 30's.
TheDebbieDee
(11,119 posts)And China during WWII are astronomical! Westerners have no idea abt Eastern casualties!
ExciteBike66
(2,357 posts)they were allied with the Nazis to begin with. If they had not been an ally, perhaps the war would not have happened...
Russia deserved what they got, as did Poland (for participating in the division of Czechoslovakia).
brewens
(13,586 posts)war? You can't quite go that far. They did the lions share of the fighting, but the west kept them in the fight. Without all the aid from us, they couldn't have done it.
DetlefK
(16,423 posts)exboyfil
(17,863 posts)Fight the Germans to the last Russian. Keep Stalin on the line as long as possible before opening the second front in western Europe. No telling how many British Empire and US soldiers were saved by that approach. North Africa and Western Europe was like the JV compared to what was going on in Eastern Europe. Compare Kursk to the Battle of the Bulge, and we have nothing to compare to the battle for Stalingrad, and the Russians had at least three more of those nearly as bad.
ExciteBike66
(2,357 posts)Russia got what she deserved for being a part of the Axis and taking parts of Eastern Europe for herself when the Nazi's allowed it.
exboyfil
(17,863 posts)Russia was more than happy to be at the carving table with Germany.
dalton99a
(81,488 posts)A wartime cartoon in The New Yorker shows the docks of Murmansk covered with off-loaded containers and a Soviet official having trouble finding the word spam in the dictionary. Spam was one of the many food items sent to the former Soviet Union by the United States under the Lend-Lease Program first suggested by Winston Churchill, to which the United States contributed the major portion. The subject has been previously covered by such books as Hubert van Tuylls Feeding the Bear (1989), but the present well-written text has the advantage of access to Russian sources, which were put to good use by Albert Weeks. The author makes a clear case that the program was a major factor in the survival of the Soviet Union and the victory over Nazism.
In two particular areas the help was indispensable. With major agricultural regions of the Soviet Union under enemy occupation, and the unsatisfactory system of distribution and transportation, to say nothing of mismanagement, the Soviet state had more than a nodding acquaintance with famine. Without Western aid, during the war the Soviet population would have been in danger of sharing the fate of those trapped in Leningrad and the earlier victims of collectivization. Even with the American aid, many Russians died from lack of food. Equally important was Lend-Leases contribution to transportation. It would have been impossible for the Red Army to move the masses of troops and supplies on the primitive roads to the front lines without American Studebaker trucks, which also served as the launching pads for the dreaded Soviet rocket artillery. The trucks were also used for more sinister activities, including the deportation of the North Caucasus Muslims. Less satisfactory for combat were the Western tanks, inferior to the German machines and particularly disadvantaged in the open terrain of the Eastern Front. The memoirs of General Dmitri Loza, published in English in 1996, give us a vivid picture of how these tanks were employed by the Russians. American aircraft, flown by Russian ferry pilots across the vast expanse of Siberia, were put to good use by the Soviet air forces even with planes that were less than popular with Western pilots. A case in point was the Bell P-39 Airacobra, used both as a low-altitude fighter and as ground support. Its odd shape gave Soviet censors fits because it was difficult to conceal that it was the favorite mount of their second-highest-ranking ace, the future marshal of aviation, Aleksandar I. Pokryshkin.
Besides weaponry and food, Lend-Lease provided the Soviet Union with other resources, ranging from clothing to metals. With the start of the Cold War, Lend-Lease became a forgotten chapter in Soviet history and was only revived after glasnost. Now, thanks to Russian researchers and this excellent study, the West will have access to the real story. Lend-Lease provided vital help for the Soviet Union when the country was in desperate straits and made a significant contribution to the final victory. It also strengthened Josef Stalin, a fact that did not bother its chief architect, Franklin D. Roosevelt, who saw beyond the Allied victory and looked at Stalin as a counterbalance to the European colonial powers.
NewRedDawn
(790 posts)Don't forget Stalin & Hitler were once allied invaded Poland & split it between them. And the only reason Soviet Union got involved is Hitler invaded them in 1941 & damn near succeeded. It was a matter for survival. Lets not just cherry pick history.
DiverDave
(4,886 posts)Nope.
Javaman
(62,530 posts)some of which were by stalin's hand.
but it if it weren't for Russia, most if not all of Europe and a giant chunk of the middle east, africa, russia and perhaps part of india would be German now.
if d-day failed, and russia continued it's push, more than likely most of europe would have been communist.
history, please read it, it's amazing.