tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6666208467022745303.post4743639416990066451..comments2024-03-13T02:17:39.644-07:00Comments on Restating the Obvious: Book Review 385: BarbarossaHarry Eagarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196202758858876402noreply@blogger.comBlogger66125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6666208467022745303.post-30935854587697418602017-05-15T17:14:20.907-07:002017-05-15T17:14:20.907-07:00Then leave and don't come back. You are tireso...Then leave and don't come back. You are tiresome and not adding anything to the discussion.<br /><br />Harry Eagarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04196202758858876402noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6666208467022745303.post-1190923807495144102017-05-08T19:13:36.997-07:002017-05-08T19:13:36.997-07:00Let me remind you that every assertion you make wi...Let me remind you that every assertion you make without substantiation isn't worth the effort it takes to ignore it. Hey Skipperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10798930502187234974noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6666208467022745303.post-16165349336790803712017-05-08T17:58:01.638-07:002017-05-08T17:58:01.638-07:00Feel free to list ll te countries that went commun...Feel free to list ll te countries that went communist before 1941.<br /><br />I know you are not stupid but I do not think you know the first thing about strategy. No one who praises Churchill could. Let me remind you that communism was in such parlous condition in the '30s that Stalin threw out nearly a century of fundamental doctrine to announce a new theory of communism in one country.Harry Eagarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04196202758858876402noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6666208467022745303.post-338499286816396172017-05-08T13:45:03.242-07:002017-05-08T13:45:03.242-07:00Harry, your previous comment was five-dimensional ...Harry, your previous comment was five-dimensional stupid. So stupid, the only thing to do while I am on a family vacation and stuck with only an iPad was to take on the first dimension stupid.<br /><br />Your second dimension stupid is even worse. But it's going to be a week before I have a real keyboard, and your ignorance and strategic ineptitude is so formidable that I'm not going to waste my time on this thing. Hey Skipperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10798930502187234974noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6666208467022745303.post-70977934273250328662017-05-07T22:39:58.588-07:002017-05-07T22:39:58.588-07:00We were discussing the situation of communism up t...We were discussing the situation of communism up to 1941. I already said that fascism saved communism. That's what I meant.<br /><br />By forcing the democracies to league with the USSR while it built up is power, communism spread. <br />please stop pretending to be stupid. I know you are not and your posturing does not contribute to the discussionHarry Eagarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04196202758858876402noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6666208467022745303.post-35549036936633453502017-05-07T20:34:59.125-07:002017-05-07T20:34:59.125-07:00*In fact, no nation went communist after the USSR*...*In fact, no nation went communist after the USSR*<br /><br />Do not EVER again make fun of Earp for not knowing history. You are a walking self inflicted wound. <br /><br />Alex Trabek: The category is Murderous totalitarian fascist communist countries for $250. The answer is 1949.<br /><br />Any contestant less ignorant and arrogant than Harry: "The year long after 1917 when China, the most populous nation on earth, went Communist, which would go on to murder more than 70 million Chinese."Hey Skipperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10798930502187234974noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6666208467022745303.post-54278563356055331232017-05-06T13:40:40.538-07:002017-05-06T13:40:40.538-07:00No one denies that the Soviet Union was a deadly p...No one denies that the Soviet Union was a deadly place -- although it was more deadly where the fascists were -- but your point (if you had one) was that communism before 1941 was a threat to other nations.<br /><br />In fact, no nation went communist after the USSR and almost all the communists outside the USSR had been murdered by fascists by 1941. <br /><br />I note that your list of democide has no asterisks or footnotes. For example, it does not note that in Indonesia, the number of people killed by communists was less than 1% of the number murdered by American imperialists.<br /><br />Several other countries on that list deserve footnotes.Harry Eagarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04196202758858876402noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6666208467022745303.post-75599889726511955992017-05-05T12:35:21.157-07:002017-05-05T12:35:21.157-07:00"Except one."
Which one, Harry? Seem..."Except one." <br /><br />Which one, Harry? Seems like you are being, to put it kindly, a bit economical with the truth. Hey Skipperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10798930502187234974noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6666208467022745303.post-32237413794952729002017-05-05T12:26:48.616-07:002017-05-05T12:26:48.616-07:00Ah, numbers. Let's look at the first column in...Ah, numbers. Let's look at the first column in your list. All the dates, except one, start in 1944 or later.<br /><br />The exception is China, where fascists killed almost all the communists in 1927.The reds rebuilt and got up to 100,000, then the fascists killed all but 6,000 of them.<br /><br />Fascism saved communism.Harry Eagarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04196202758858876402noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6666208467022745303.post-63691513103093363102017-05-02T03:42:12.230-07:002017-05-02T03:42:12.230-07:00Let's have a look at some numbers, shall we?Let's have a look at <a href="https://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/COM.TAB1.GIF" rel="nofollow">some numbers</a>, shall we?Hey Skipperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10798930502187234974noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6666208467022745303.post-29979481332173784542017-05-01T12:36:15.632-07:002017-05-01T12:36:15.632-07:00Harry, you pronounce with authority whilst leaving...Harry, you pronounce with authority whilst leaving out everything that matters. And, btw, changing your story along the way.<br /><br />In 1936, before WWII, but after the purges and Holodomor, why would anyone think Nazism would be worse than Communism?<br /><br />After all, from the outside they look almost exactly alike: murderous totalitarianisms. With one difference. Communism aimed for world revolution; nazism lebensraum that was a piddling in comparison.<br /><br />Which is what you haven't ever, and will never, get: the only difference between fascism and communism is reach.Hey Skipperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10798930502187234974noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6666208467022745303.post-91265504261903324712017-05-01T12:21:47.891-07:002017-05-01T12:21:47.891-07:00'All of it Britain and France's fault.'...'All of it Britain and France's fault.'<br /><br />Germany's fault. <br /><br />Stalin was actively fighting fascism from 1936. Britain and France were not. Stalin appears to have concluded they never would. Hitler, too, perhaps.<br /><br />The world was shocked by the Nazi-Soviet pact but it was almost equally shocked by the guarantees France and Britain gave to Poland.Harry Eagarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04196202758858876402noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6666208467022745303.post-27629308017486074762017-04-27T03:58:40.072-07:002017-04-27T03:58:40.072-07:00Harry, you have left so much out of the circumstan...Harry, you have left so much out of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molotov%E2%80%93Ribbentrop_Pact_negotiations#Baltic_sticking_point_and_German_rapprochement" rel="nofollow">circumstances surrounding M-R that either </a>a) you are wallowing in ignorance; or, b) are lying through omission.<br /><br /><i>A point they came to share, too late.</i><br /><br />A complete inversion of the facts: M-R was a noose of Stalin's own making. Just like murdering his officer corps, ignoring explicit warnings of impending invasion, and not relying on defense in depth.<br /><br />Yep, you are right. All of it Britain and France's fault.<br /><br />Hey Skipperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10798930502187234974noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6666208467022745303.post-45080054126714507102017-04-25T12:43:41.011-07:002017-04-25T12:43:41.011-07:00Insignificant, other than to provide (yet another)...Insignificant, other than to provide (yet another) example of Stalin's mistrust of the empires.<br /><br />He certainly had plenty of reason to distrust them (and vice versa) but he also had every reason to want their cooperation in resisting nazi aggression. A point they came to share, too late.Harry Eagarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04196202758858876402noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6666208467022745303.post-89698719980013891002017-04-25T08:48:56.884-07:002017-04-25T08:48:56.884-07:00My link above contradicts your simplistic The Hist...<i>My link above contradicts your simplistic The History in nearly every regard. </i><br /><br />In particular, the USSR was negotiating in secret with the Germans while public negotiations <b>were still ongoing</b> with Britain, France and Poland.<br /><br />And concluded the M-R agreement while those public negotiations <b>were still ongoing</b>.<br /><br />A point you have glossed over.Hey Skipperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10798930502187234974noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6666208467022745303.post-78616982515854551812017-04-24T16:15:23.472-07:002017-04-24T16:15:23.472-07:00'Why the heck would countries not consumed by ...'Why the heck would countries not consumed by cancerous communism want to ally themselves with that?'<br /><br />Hmmm. Why indeed? Could it be because those countries were not opposed to fascism?<br /><br />Harry Eagarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04196202758858876402noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6666208467022745303.post-80325679940394805592017-04-23T14:01:19.206-07:002017-04-23T14:01:19.206-07:00The Germans also assessed the British as very weak...<i>The Germans also assessed the British as very weak ...</i><br /><br />Prove it, you tedious, tendentious, twit.<br /><br /><i>As anyone who reads the history knows ...</i><br /><br />As anyone who knows anything about history knows, the words "the history" can only have been written by an axe grinder.<br /><br />My link above contradicts your simplistic The History in nearly every regard. And somehow, The History leaves out that the murderous purges had happened just a few years before. Why the heck would countries not consumed by cancerous communism want to ally themselves with that?<br /><br />What is it with you and uncaused effects?<br />Hey Skipperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10798930502187234974noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6666208467022745303.post-56334084101781298182017-04-23T13:52:02.292-07:002017-04-23T13:52:02.292-07:00That they had not murdered any of their officers?
...That they had not murdered any of their officers?<br /><br />Hard to prove a negative.<br /><br />But let us return to your tendentious source, that wrote:<br /><br />'on August 21, Voroshilov proposed adjournment of the military talks with the British and French, using the excuse that the absence of the senior Soviet personnel at the talks interfered with the autumn manoeuvres of the Soviet forces though the primary reason was the progress being made in the Soviet-German negotiations.'<br /><br />As anyone who reads the history knows, Stalin had been trying to form an antifascist front since 1936 and even more desperately since September 1938. He suspected, and was correct in thinking, that the imperialist powers had no interest in opposing fascism as such but probably thought, and again, would have been correct in thinking, they were interested in balance of power relations among the states.<br /><br />Indeed, eventually they went to war to maintain them.<br /><br />However, he was rebuffed at every initiative, and in the crisis (manufactured by the Germans in order to move their border east) Stalin's request was met with indifference; the negotiators were headed to Leningrad by ship.<br /><br />He concluded, correctly, that the western powers (and especially their militaries) were not interested in collective action.<br /><br />So he tried to get the best deal he could with the nazis.<br /><br />Low's famous cartoon says it all. Harry Eagarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04196202758858876402noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6666208467022745303.post-1857724365065192832017-04-22T14:49:34.339-07:002017-04-22T14:49:34.339-07:00Prove it.Prove it.Hey Skipperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10798930502187234974noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6666208467022745303.post-50133355007607669672017-04-22T13:35:02.206-07:002017-04-22T13:35:02.206-07:00'the Soviet military was very weak.'
The ...'the Soviet military was very weak.'<br /><br />The Germans also assessed the British as very weak, although they had not murdered any of their officers.<br /><br />Harry Eagarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04196202758858876402noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6666208467022745303.post-81245827851245674332017-04-20T11:28:17.415-07:002017-04-20T11:28:17.415-07:00Nonsense. Ever hear about lebensraum? It was part ...<i>Nonsense. Ever hear about lebensraum? It was part of the Hitler plan before Stalin took power.</i><br /><br />Indeed, it was. But the Germans assessed that as a result of Stalin gutting his own officer corps, destroying command authority with political officers, and generally making a hash out of logistics, the Soviet military was very weak.<br /><br /><i>I'll have more to say about Churchill when I get time, but he, unlike you, had a problem with nazism</i><br /><br />You have a real problem with reading comprehension. <br /><br />It would be nice if you took some time to address the grotesque shortcomings in your assertion of what the "histories" say about Molotov-Ribbentrop.<br /><br />It is astonishing, though not surprising, how much you left out.<br /><br />Hey Skipperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10798930502187234974noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6666208467022745303.post-88397312314594046942017-04-20T10:45:54.031-07:002017-04-20T10:45:54.031-07:00'without that, Barbarossa fails. Indeed, witho...'without that, Barbarossa fails. Indeed, without that, Barbarossa might well not have been attempted.'<br /><br />Nonsense. Ever hear about lebensraum? It was part of the Hitler plan before Stalin took power.<br /><br />I'll have more to say about Churchill when I get time, but he, unlike you, had a problem with nazismHarry Eagarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04196202758858876402noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6666208467022745303.post-89368659541925311702017-04-20T02:44:44.845-07:002017-04-20T02:44:44.845-07:00So the answer to your question of how many is, few...<i>So the answer to your question of how many is, fewer than if the bolsheviks had not resisted fascism.</i><br /><br />And way more than if Stalin hadn't been a murderous incompetent -- which is the point you refuse to address: without that, Barbarossa fails. Indeed, without that, Barbarossa might well not have been attempted.<br /><br />BTW, how many of his own people did Stalin murder?Hey Skipperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10798930502187234974noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6666208467022745303.post-37032109521980242012017-04-19T13:00:36.545-07:002017-04-19T13:00:36.545-07:00'How many millions of people would not have di...'How many millions of people would not have died violently if not for Stalin and communism?'<br /><br />What about fascism? The intention of the Nazis was to depopulate western Russia. Snyder estimates that would have killed 35,000,000 to 42,000,00, not counting Jews.<br /><br />The dismemberment of Poland was not a novelty thought up by bolsheviks.<br /><br />So the answer to your question of how many is, fewer than if the bolsheviks had not resisted fascism.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Harry Eagarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04196202758858876402noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6666208467022745303.post-50452716018083922172017-04-19T07:38:25.937-07:002017-04-19T07:38:25.937-07:00Why would that be?
That same day, August 21, Stal...Why would that be?<br /><br /><i>That same day, August 21, Stalin has received assurance would approve <b>secret protocols</b> to the proposed non-aggression pact that would grant the Soviets land in Poland, the Baltic states, Finland and Romania.</i><br /><br />But wait, there's more:<br /><br /><i>The day after the Pact was signed, the French and British military negotiation delegation urgently requested a meeting with Voroshilov. On August 25, Voroshilov told them "[i]n view of the changed political situation, no useful purpose can be served in continuing the conversation." That day, Hitler told the British ambassador to Berlin that the pact with the Soviets prevented Germany from facing a two front war, changing the strategic situation from that in World War I, and that Britain should accept his demands regarding Poland. Surprising Hitler, Britain signed a mutual-assistance treaty with Poland that day, causing Hitler to delay the planned August 26 invasion of western Poland.</i><br /><br />Stalin was as cynical as he was incompetent. The only leader with any moral vision or backbone was Churchill. <br /><br />Yet you wish to defend Stalin, who defenestrated his military, stupidly deployed his forces, and astonishingly refused to believe the glaringly apparent.<br /><br />But wait, there's more more:<br /><br /><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Barbarossa#Soviet_preparations" rel="nofollow">However, during Stalin's Great Purge in the late 1930s, which was still partially ongoing at the start of the war in June 1941, the officer corps of the Red Army was decimated and their replacements, appointed by Stalin for political reasons, often lacked military competence. Of the five Marshals of the Soviet Union appointed in 1935, only two survived Stalin's purge. 15 out of 16 army commanders, 50 out of the 57 corps commanders, 154 out of the 186 divisional commanders and 401 out of 456 colonels were killed, and many other officers were dismissed. In total, about 30,000 Red Army personnel were executed. Stalin further underscored his control by reasserting the role of political commissars at the divisional level and below to oversee the political loyalty of the Army to the regime. The commissars held a position equal to that of the commander of the unit they were overseeing.</a><br /><br />How many millions of people would not have died violently if not for Stalin and communism?<br /><br />Hey Skipperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10798930502187234974noreply@blogger.com