Errr…no.
The reason for the soviet defensive weakness wasn't that they were poised to attack. It was that they were going through a massive army-wide reorganisation, and the opportunistic land-grab in Poland and the Baltics gave them a buffer zone but had the side effect of pushing their border past the line they had…

We…try not to think about that. The horror, the horror.

We…try not to think about that. The horror, the horror.

Well, you can make a boat, or a hat, or…

We seem to have started off with a misunderstanding. I never wrote that the Russians had achieved greatness in military philosophy, I wrote Soviets, and that's an important distinction. One of the first things the Red Army did after the dust settled in the twenties was sit down…

Well, you can make a boat, or a hat, or…

We seem to have started off with a misunderstanding. I never wrote that the Russians had achieved greatness in military philosophy, I wrote Soviets, and that's an important distinction. One of the first things the Red Army did after the dust settled in the twenties was sit down…

@The Angry Internet,
I'm not contesting that the Kwantung Army in 1945 was a hollow shell.
In Alvin Coox's Nomonhan there's a chapter on the post-1939 Kwantung Army. In 1941, it was massively reinforced pending the decision to open hostilities against the USSR, to close to 700,000 men. It remained at that strength…

@The Angry Internet,
I'm not contesting that the Kwantung Army in 1945 was a hollow shell.
In Alvin Coox's Nomonhan there's a chapter on the post-1939 Kwantung Army. In 1941, it was massively reinforced pending the decision to open hostilities against the USSR, to close to 700,000 men. It remained at that strength…

@pico79 , I'll contest a few of your points.
To start from the end, Stalin's sidelining of Zhukov was not caused by something as emotional as anger. It was simply the mechanics of power. To his mind, If Zhukov stayed prominent, he could a) eventually become sweet on the idea of becoming head of the USSR and b)…

@pico79 , I'll contest a few of your points.
To start from the end, Stalin's sidelining of Zhukov was not caused by something as emotional as anger. It was simply the mechanics of power. To his mind, If Zhukov stayed prominent, he could a) eventually become sweet on the idea of becoming head of the USSR and b)…

I'll second that. It's incredible.

I'll second that. It's incredible.

Believe me, it was as hard for me as it was for you.
Giving up a claim to having won WW2 (even by means of a comprehensive defeat) is hard to do. :-)

Believe me, it was as hard for me as it was for you.
Giving up a claim to having won WW2 (even by means of a comprehensive defeat) is hard to do. :-)

@Enkidum, as I wrote replying to nummymuffincookoobutter above (yes, the chance to write about WW2 at my favourite pop culture site has driven me posting-mad), in fact Hitler was farther from winning than people give him credit for.
Post-war historiography really placed the german armies at a better position than they…

@Enkidum, as I wrote replying to nummymuffincookoobutter above (yes, the chance to write about WW2 at my favourite pop culture site has driven me posting-mad), in fact Hitler was farther from winning than people give him credit for.
Post-war historiography really placed the german armies at a better position than they…

Although as a greek I like that particular theory, it's not really supported by facts.
For one, the decision to go later into Russia wasn't entirely due to the fierce/heroic/surprising/amazing (give me a break, this is my only chance to sneak this in!) greek resistance to the Italian invasion, but also due to a general…

Although as a greek I like that particular theory, it's not really supported by facts.
For one, the decision to go later into Russia wasn't entirely due to the fierce/heroic/surprising/amazing (give me a break, this is my only chance to sneak this in!) greek resistance to the Italian invasion, but also due to a general…

@Lieutenant Buttocks, I'll have to look it up to be sure, but the Japanese down-sizing in Manchuria didn't happen until somewhat late in the war. Probably the lasting effect of the drubbing they'd received in Mongolia in '39. Theoreticallly if they had done that sooner they would have been tougher to beat in the…

@Lieutenant Buttocks, I'll have to look it up to be sure, but the Japanese down-sizing in Manchuria didn't happen until somewhat late in the war. Probably the lasting effect of the drubbing they'd received in Mongolia in '39. Theoreticallly if they had done that sooner they would have been tougher to beat in the…

comment deleted, as it was in the wrong thread