Today is a good day to remember the time I told my Jewish grandmother, who had been an officer in the Red Army all through WWII, about the debate over punching Nazis.
"This is trick question," she said, narrowing her eyes. "When you are done punching, Nazi is still alive, yes?"
@Iris_IllEra Including the people who had no alignment with either, but happened to live in the Bloodlands.
TBH, if the Soviet military had been run better, it could have cut the loss numbers at the very least to one half, perhaps even to one third, of the actual death count. The massive losses are, to a significant dagree, because Stalin was afraid of generals who could strategise too well, and (to a lesser degree) surviving veterans with front line experience.
evacide
Iris
sortius
Riley S. Faelan