Remembering Stalingrad 75 Years Later

National Review ^ | November 9, 2017 | Victor Davis Hanson

[C19fan]

It is now fashionable to demonize Russia, but most Americans have forgotten key aspects of 20th-century history, including the Russians’ fight to stop the march of Nazi Germany. Seventy-five years ago this month, the Soviet Red Army surrounded — and would soon destroy — a huge invading German army at Stalingrad on the Volga River. Nearly 300,000 of Germany’s best soldiers would never return home. The epic 1942–43 battle for the city saw the complete annihilation of the attacking German 6th Army. It marked the turning point of World War II.

[C19fan]

The Russians were responsible for killing over 65% of German manpower.

[dfwgator]

Hitler Ah yes, ve make a little hike for, for Bideford.

Johnson (leaning over map) Oh well, you'll want the A39 then...no, no, you've got the wrong map there, this is Stalingrad, you want the Ilfracombe and Barnstaple section.

Hitler Ah! Hein...Reginald you have the wrong map here you silly old leg-before-wicket English person.

Himmler I'm sorry mein Fuhrer. I did not...(Hitler slaps him) Mein Dickie old chum.

Landlady Lucky Mr Johnson pointed that out, eh? You wouldn't have had much fun in Stalingrad, would you...(they don't see the joke) I said, you wouldn't have had much fun in Stalingrad, would you, ha, ha, ha?

Hitler (through clenched teeth) Not much fun in Stalingrad, no.

[a fool in paradise]

>>It is now fashionable to demonize Russia

Eh, Russia was celebrated at a time when it shouldn’t have been:

https://www.nytco.com/new-york-times-statement-about-1932-pulitzer-prize-awarded-to-walter-duranty/
New York Times Statement About 1932 Pulitzer Prize Awarded to Walter Duranty

[dfwgator]

I still say they would have been better off trying to take Moscow, Stalin may not have been able politically survive had Moscow fallen.

[dfwgator]

Those leftists who demonize Russia, are doing it because they never forgave the Russians for getting rid of their beloved Soviet Union.

[wbarmy]

I have a degree in Russian History and Russian Language.

I did a major thesis on the 900 days in Leningrad and some of the battles around Mga.

I get some grief, but I really believe that Germany was already defeated by Russia because of Stalingrad.

If we had stayed out, Russia would have eventually taken over Germany, but it would have bled them to the point that they would have fallen apart much faster and Eastern Europe might not have suffered as they did.

A resurgent Czechoslovakia or Hungary, aka 1956, would have destroyed the Eastern European coalition and brought about the end of the Soviet Union much faster.

[RepRivFarm]

The alliance with the Soviet Union was made AFTER Hitler had invaded, and we were at war with a common enemy. It is true that the Eastern Front sucked up huge amounts of German manpower....and for that we are grateful....but the Soviets were not our friends. We just had to cooperate with them.

When asked how he felt about being allied with the Soviets, Churchill had the best answer:

“If Hitler invaded hell I would make at least a favorable reference to the devil in the House of Commons.”

[NorthMountain]

The Russians were responsible for killing 61,000,000 people in acts of mass murder.

[gr8eman]

Ron Vibbentrop...classic!

[snoringbear]

“The Soviet Union lost about 27 million soldiers and civilians — about 60 times more than America lost in the war.”

Yep, Stalin was willing to take casualties for sure. We (US) lost about 400k in both theaters. The American public would never have accepted anything close to the kind of casualties that the Soviets took. In fact, the prospect of taking 250,000 casualties should we had invaded Japan was a big factor in the decision to drop the two nukes.

[C19fan]

Mind boogling The Russians lost more soldiers in individual battles than the US lost in the entire war.

[dfwgator]

Uhhhh, no......

The Soviets have long insisted that Lend-Lease aid made little difference. Newly discovered files tell another story

http://www.historynet.com/did-russia-really-go-it-alone-how-lend-lease-helped-the-soviets-defeat-the-germans.htm

[Jim Noble]

German soldiers killed, per 100 German battle deaths:

USA: 2
UK: 2
USSR: 96

[Jim Noble]

The Eastern war changed the genetics of Middle Europe, and not necessarily for the better.

[ought-six]

it is estimated that during the course of WWII (1939-1945) Germany had 20 million troops, of which 18 million served at one time or another on the Eastern Front.

The war in Russia (1941-1945) was the most brutal conflict in human history. I’ve read scores of books on that conflict, and it is jaw-dropping. The carnage on both sides was encyclopedic, made moreso by stunning blunders.

Fascinating stuff.

[wbarmy]

I didn’t say it would have been cheap or easy. The Russians had already moved factories into the Ural mountains and were prepared to fight all the way there. And Lend-Lease did help them and give them more options.

But they still did the lions work and the lions share of beating the Germans. If we had never invaded in the West, the Russians would have eventually won.

The only fly in that would have been Germany developing the atomic bomb. That would have changed every scenario.

[dfwgator]

Biggest mistake the Germans made in Stalingrad was bombing the city to rubble. It made the city easier to defend.

[C19fan]

After Soviet armor was destroyed during the opening months of Barbarossa Allied Lend-Lease aid provided the material for their armor units until the Soviets got tank production going in the Ural mountains. The engines that powered the tanks used American supplied aluminum.

[DuncanWaring]

The Germans and Russians both lost more soldiers in the Battle of Kursk than the US lost in the entire war.

[DuncanWaring]

The Great War did the same for Western Europe.