The Soviets deserve even more credit for being able to defeat the Nazis after they supplied the Nazi war machine for a couple of years. Whether or not the USSR should be admired for everything they did in WWII is another matter.
Of course, we can call out the Soviet atrocities, but credit to the superhuman sacrifices they made and snatching victory from the jaws of defeat despite being back stabbed and caught on the wrong footing by the Germans. The thing is with World War II is that it’s a fight between evil and lesser evil. The Allies were objectively less bad, even though they had colonies and committed heinous acts in the previous 400 years of colonisation and even during the war. A joke in Tropico videogame sums up the meta-nature of the belligerents in World War 2 when you are forced to take sides: “One is bombing civilians. The other-- is evil.”
The Allied effort on beating the Nazi war machine was a collective effort, and no single country has the right to take the full credit for it, imo. Not the US, France, not even the UK (which, however, is to be appreciated for standing up to Hitler during the harder times, even under a conservative government) - as a Romanian, I would argue that much less the USSR, which forcefully imposed the abdication of our king and backed the communist’s terror regime against its political opposition.
Had this collective effort not existed, we would probably be today under the influence of the 3rd Reich and with probably more dead than there were already.
Decades of propaganda saying that the US was responsible for defeating the Germans. Finally when enough historians and other scholars have weighed in and said, “really though, it was the USSR that did the most to defeat Germany”, now people say “well, it was a collective effort and no single country should be claiming credit.”
History is a science. Like all sciences, it uses the findings to reach various conclusions. At least you got historians that judged history based on actual facts. Over here in my country, decades of “historians” told my parents that there was a “antifascist uprising” that made the Germans run away. Everything to whitewash the fact that our last king was someone else than a womanizer who cared more about who was he sleeping with, and was still alive and doing mundane things like flying planes (yes, search for Michael I of Romania).
When communism collapsed, the same historians reached to the conclusion that “hey, there was no uprising” and rather everyone across the political spectrum was concerned about Antonescu’s erratic decisions and continued loyalty to Hitler despite the Soviets entering our country. So they allied with the communists, and decided a coup, flipping the weapons against the Germans. Meanwhile the Romanian delegation to Moscow was denied discussions for almost 12 days, conveniently enough for the Soviets to inflict some more damage, together with the Germans who were now in conflict with us as well (hmm, something-something Poland? Sounds familiar?).
Then the Soviets, in their characteristic way of letting others do the fighting and dying in the 1st line for them, decided to do that with us as well. That’s how both Hungary and Czechoslovakia were liberated. Of course they couldn’t continue with that 'till the end, since they were the ones that needed to collect the trophy, the big prize. So that’s how far they let us like that.
Back at home, soviets rejected every single government proposal that was not led by communists and where communists didn’t hold key portfolios (like Internal Affairs). After they got that, they did all they could to fraud the parliamentary elections, then flipped the results and got rid of all the evidence. So they installed a new government with communist ministers only.
But the communist historians in here never told our parents all these. :)
All while threatening him it could be either that or 1000 students would be killed? Hmmm, it would likely be a hugely unpopular action and lots of people would call your regime illegitimate and would want you dead :)
The Soviets deserve even more credit for being able to defeat the Nazis after they supplied the Nazi war machine for a couple of years. Whether or not the USSR should be admired for everything they did in WWII is another matter.
Of course, we can call out the Soviet atrocities, but credit to the superhuman sacrifices they made and snatching victory from the jaws of defeat despite being back stabbed and caught on the wrong footing by the Germans. The thing is with World War II is that it’s a fight between evil and lesser evil. The Allies were objectively less bad, even though they had colonies and committed heinous acts in the previous 400 years of colonisation and even during the war. A joke in Tropico videogame sums up the meta-nature of the belligerents in World War 2 when you are forced to take sides: “One is bombing civilians. The other-- is evil.”
Well that matter is quite simple; No the shouldn’t. As anyone with a basic understanding of The War should know.
The Allied effort on beating the Nazi war machine was a collective effort, and no single country has the right to take the full credit for it, imo. Not the US, France, not even the UK (which, however, is to be appreciated for standing up to Hitler during the harder times, even under a conservative government) - as a Romanian, I would argue that much less the USSR, which forcefully imposed the abdication of our king and backed the communist’s terror regime against its political opposition.
Had this collective effort not existed, we would probably be today under the influence of the 3rd Reich and with probably more dead than there were already.
Decades of propaganda saying that the US was responsible for defeating the Germans. Finally when enough historians and other scholars have weighed in and said, “really though, it was the USSR that did the most to defeat Germany”, now people say “well, it was a collective effort and no single country should be claiming credit.”
History is a science. Like all sciences, it uses the findings to reach various conclusions. At least you got historians that judged history based on actual facts. Over here in my country, decades of “historians” told my parents that there was a “antifascist uprising” that made the Germans run away. Everything to whitewash the fact that our last king was someone else than a womanizer who cared more about who was he sleeping with, and was still alive and doing mundane things like flying planes (yes, search for Michael I of Romania).
When communism collapsed, the same historians reached to the conclusion that “hey, there was no uprising” and rather everyone across the political spectrum was concerned about Antonescu’s erratic decisions and continued loyalty to Hitler despite the Soviets entering our country. So they allied with the communists, and decided a coup, flipping the weapons against the Germans. Meanwhile the Romanian delegation to Moscow was denied discussions for almost 12 days, conveniently enough for the Soviets to inflict some more damage, together with the Germans who were now in conflict with us as well (hmm, something-something Poland? Sounds familiar?).
Then the Soviets, in their characteristic way of letting others do the fighting and dying in the 1st line for them, decided to do that with us as well. That’s how both Hungary and Czechoslovakia were liberated. Of course they couldn’t continue with that 'till the end, since they were the ones that needed to collect the trophy, the big prize. So that’s how far they let us like that.
Back at home, soviets rejected every single government proposal that was not led by communists and where communists didn’t hold key portfolios (like Internal Affairs). After they got that, they did all they could to fraud the parliamentary elections, then flipped the results and got rid of all the evidence. So they installed a new government with communist ministers only.
But the communist historians in here never told our parents all these. :)
god i wish i could force a king to abdicate while backing a communist regime against my political opponents.
All while threatening him it could be either that or 1000 students would be killed? Hmmm, it would likely be a hugely unpopular action and lots of people would call your regime illegitimate and would want you dead :)