The Nazis launched Case Blue in late June 1942 as their last best hope of knocking the Soviets out of WWII. It came to an end 75 years ago on the banks of the Volga river in a city named Stalingrad. The German 6th Army had been fighting there since September, almost driving the Russians into the river. The Soviets held on and turned the tables on the Nazis with Operation Uranus that encircled the Nazis and eventually the surrender of those caught in the pocket.
They netted somewhere around 90,000 survivors and marched them off to Stalin’s Gulag where perhaps 5,000 survived to ever see Germany again. Estimates range around 1.5 to 2 million combined dead for from the battle, considered among the worst in history. More
I just watched “Downfall” again this week. I wish there was a good film from the Soviet’s viewpoint.
The German 6th Army was under the command of Friedrich von Paulus. Following his surrender, Hitler tried to shame von Paulus for not committing suicide. Von Paulus was captured by the Soviets and got back at Hitler by selling out to the Soviets. He joined the National Committee for Free Germany and encouraged German troops to surrender on other battlegrounds in the USSR.
The US secretly sent military supplies and arms to Russia keep Stalin from being defeated, even knowing that he had slaughtered millions of Russians and Ukranians. The German army may have been ultimately defeated in Russia, but it was initially able to destroy Stalin’s offensive military masses that were set to overrun all of Europe for a Communist empire. So not all of Europe was bargained to Stalin by the allies to become part of the USSR. General Patton knew about the criminal political deal and was silenced so he couldn’t expose it to the American public. Gen.Eisenhower refused to let Patton’s Army have the fuel it needed to get to Berlin before the Russians got there. American political corruption goes deep and as far back in history as the existence of this country.
@tRuth: There was nothing secret about U.S. aid to Russia during WW2. It was part of the Lend-Lease program to Allied countries, and it was heavily publicized at the time, same as U.S.our aid to Britain and others.
Roosevelt’s theory was that giving American materiel to the Russians and letting them fight the Germans with it was preferable to sacrificing American lives, and he was right.
http://www.historynet.com/russias-life-saver-lend-lease-aid-to-the-ussr-in-world-war-ii-book-review.htm
I’m not seeing corruption there. Letting Russia attack the Germans instead of Americans dying is a good strategy. War is murder but if you are in one you win it as painlessly as possible.
It is trueRussia murdered 60 to a 100 million people throughout their own empire by 1960 but to call the US corrupt instead is just evil.
If two bad guys want to fight to the death I think we should let them.
Joe
I had a wrestling coach that use to tell us there’s no such thing as good guys and bad guys. There’s only winners and losers.
Brad, that’s sort of like history is written by the winners. And I’m not disagreeing.
“I just watched “Downfall” again this week.”
Did it bring back memories of all the Internet Downfall subtitle memes when Hitler asked all the lesser ranks to leave his office and then proceed to rant at Steiner’s failure?
@Watchman — of course! lol
The level of crazy was 11. Impossible to imagine if it hadn’t actually happened.
If only both sides would have lost.
I think it’s noteworthy that FDR did nothing for Britain until AFTER his fellow communist Uncle Joe Stalin got invaded. Lend lease started two months after Barbarosa.
But, actively helping one side while pretending to be neutral (and sending the US Navy to attack U-boats) is exactly why Germany declared war on the US. Their treaty with Japan did not require them to join Japan’s war against us.
Selling, giving credit to and protecting shipments to one side only is not neutrality, nor is it “free market” capitalism. If FDR and his communist riddled administration hadn’t wanted to save the USSR no Americans would have been killed in Europe. The Russians would have kept sending in human waves and eventually defeated Hitler, it would have just taken longer in my opinion.
WWII was an internecine socialist struggle for Europe, and secondarily, the World.
German Socialism (National Socialism)
Italian Socialism (Fascism)
Soviet Socialism (Stalinism)
Wilsonian Socialism (American Demonrats)
French Socialism
Chinese Socialism (Kuomintang (National People’s Party), CPC)
Needless to say, the socialists won.
izlamo delenda est …
And now, 75 years later, they have surrendered to muslim invaders.
We should have been glad to have the commies and nazis killing each other. Instead we have to help the worst side.