[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Stalingrad (Page 1 of 3)
Posted: 12/24/2010 5:31:21 PM EDT
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This is a series of photos from the Russians - most I'd not seen before
Stalingrad |
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Quoted: Many consider the battle for Stalingrad among the worst/most viscious combat that has ever happened on the planet. It's hard to argue with that. I forget the exact numbers, but more people died in the Stalingrad campaign than we lost in the entire european war. Dan Carlin has an incredible series of podcasts about the war in the east. Hardcore History = pure fucking win, in podcast form. |
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Nazis and Commies killing each other by the thousands, whats not to love? I view the humanity, not the politics. Those guys didn't want to be there. Its estimated 16,000 German soldiers were executed in WWII by the Nazi government for various offenses, I won't even try to guess how many Russians.The US executed one. Most of the soldiers would not have identified as either Nazi or Communist. If you will take a few minutes and watch this German Soldiers sent to Siberia you will see a section beginning at 2:19 where German soldiers are slashing their wrists to keep from being sent to Russian POW camps. Again, I see the humanity, not the politics. info |
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Many consider the battle for Stalingrad among the worst/most viscious combat that has ever happened on the planet. It's hard to argue with that. Take a look at the Siege of Budapest http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Budapest |
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That is awesome! 
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Not much fun in Stalingrad, no.... Nazis and Commies killing each other by the thousands, whats not to love? They were just men being sent in to what's best been described as a human meat grinder. Can anyone really believe that those involved really gave a damn about the Fatherland or Mother Russia? It was about survival. Survival for someone, anyway. |
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Of all his strategic mistakes, pissing away a quarter of a million soldiers ranks up there with the worst of them.
He needed to take Stalingrad in order to take the Caucasus for their oil fields but the key to conquering Russia is to take Moscow first. An army of 250,000... who throws away an entire army when there are more sane alternatives? 
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Of all his strategic mistakes, pissing away a quarter of a million soldiers ranks up there with the worst of them. He needed to take Stalingrad in order to take the Caucasus for their oil fields but the key to conquering Russia is to take Moscow first. An army of 250,000... who throws away an entire army when there are more sane alternatives? It became an ego battle for Hitler. |
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Of all his strategic mistakes, pissing away a quarter of a million soldiers ranks up there with the worst of them. He needed to take Stalingrad in order to take the Caucasus for their oil fields but the key to conquering Russia is to take Moscow first. An army of 250,000... who throws away an entire army when there are more sane alternatives? It became an ego battle for Hitler. For both of them. |
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Quoted: Many consider the battle for Stalingrad among the worst/most viscious combat that has ever happened on the planet. It's hard to argue with that. I don't know if I'd got that far, but it was pretty bad. I've heard stories of the German having to eat horses, dogs, and even dead bodies. |
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Of all his strategic mistakes, pissing away a quarter of a million soldiers ranks up there with the worst of them. He needed to take Stalingrad in order to take the Caucasus for their oil fields but the key to conquering Russia is to take Moscow first. An army of 250,000... who throws away an entire army when there are more sane alternatives? the only choice was to win or lose the war. They lost the battle and the war. The Soviets were mounting up to kick and take names, and the Germans knew this. |
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Quoted: Of all his strategic mistakes, pissing away a quarter of a million soldiers ranks up there with the worst of them. He needed to take Stalingrad in order to take the Caucasus for their oil fields but the key to conquering Russia is to take Moscow first. An army of 250,000... who throws away an entire army when there are more sane alternatives? Stalin and the Red Army generals were even more ruthless toward their own men. |
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Of all his strategic mistakes, pissing away a quarter of a million soldiers ranks up there with the worst of them. He needed to take Stalingrad in order to take the Caucasus for their oil fields but the key to conquering Russia is to take Moscow first. An army of 250,000... who throws away an entire army when there are more sane alternatives? Hitler? 
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Not much fun in Stalingrad, no.... Nazis and Commies killing each other by the thousands, whats not to love? They were just men being sent in to what's best been described as a human meat grinder. Can anyone really believe that those involved really gave a damn about the Fatherland or Mother Russia? It was about survival. Survival for someone, anyway. Sure they did the army that won would eventually advance into the others country. |
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Quoted: Of all his strategic mistakes, pissing away a quarter of a million soldiers ranks up there with the worst of them. He needed to take Stalingrad in order to take the Caucasus for their oil fields but the key to conquering Russia is to take Moscow first. An army of 250,000... who throws away an entire army when there are more sane alternatives? Exactly, why didn't the Germans understand that a decapitation strike by reaching Stalin in Moscow was the way to bring the Soviet Union down? |
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Not much fun in Stalingrad, no.... Nazis and Commies killing each other by the thousands, whats not to love? They were just men being sent in to what's best been described as a human meat grinder. Can anyone really believe that those involved really gave a damn about the Fatherland or Mother Russia? It was about survival. Survival for someone, anyway. Sure they did the army that won would eventually advance into the others country. Nothing like that was ever on my mind, and I was never exposed to hell even remotely resembling that. Kruschev, maybe, but not the soldat eating sawdust bread as a last meal. |
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Read "Stalingrad The Fateful Siege: 1942-1943" by Antony Beevor. Awesome read. I love Russian history, so much brutality it's unbelievable. I love Russian history, too. I miss my old friend. Story? Sorry about your friend. Best buddy for almost a decade. Beautiful beyond words. Eventually, schizophrenia. Nice girl from a former Soviet state I met while deployed. More Soviet stories than I can recount. |
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Not much fun in Stalingrad, no.... Nazis and Commies killing each other by the thousands, whats not to love? They were just men being sent in to what's best been described as a human meat grinder. Can anyone really believe that those involved really gave a damn about the Fatherland or Mother Russia? It was about survival. Survival for someone, anyway. Sure they did the army that won would eventually advance into the others country. Nothing like that was ever on my mind, and I was never exposed to hell even remotely resembling that. Kruschev, maybe, but not the soldat eating sawdust bread as a last meal. The Soviet Army was essentially an army of slaves. |
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Of all his strategic mistakes, pissing away a quarter of a million soldiers ranks up there with the worst of them. He needed to take Stalingrad in order to take the Caucasus for their oil fields but the key to conquering Russia is to take Moscow first. An army of 250,000... who throws away an entire army when there are more sane alternatives? Exactly, why didn't the Germans understand that a decapitation strike by reaching Stalin in Moscow was the way to bring the Soviet Union down? because they were trying to chase down and destroy the Russian army. There were mistakes made by many of the German generals in the field all along the way. They consistantly outran their supply lines and had little to understanding of logistics. When the cold weather came in they were completely unprepared from basic clothing to keeping their machines running. What many here fail to realize is that the Germans were supplying most of their items with horse draw carts. Their tanks were inferior, their rifles subpar for fighting in cities, and their airpower non-existent in the end due to lack of fuel. Basically the bottom line is the Germans were doomed to fail from the beginning. The only reason the Germans had as much success as they did was due to brilliant work at times by some of their commanders but mostly the sheer ineptitude of the Russians. |
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Not much fun in Stalingrad, no.... Nazis and Commies killing each other by the thousands, whats not to love? They were just men being sent in to what's best been described as a human meat grinder. Can anyone really believe that those involved really gave a damn about the Fatherland or Mother Russia? It was about survival. Survival for someone, anyway. Sure they did the army that won would eventually advance into the others country. Nothing like that was ever on my mind, and I was never exposed to hell even remotely resembling that. Kruschev, maybe, but not the soldat eating sawdust bread as a last meal. Nazis were not known for taking it easy on Russian soldiers or civis, the Russians would eventually rape, murder, and pillage across eastern Europe and Germany. I am no historian but my understanding is that thus far historically speaking the only good Russian soldier is a dead Russian soldier. |
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Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Not much fun in Stalingrad, no.... Nazis and Commies killing each other by the thousands, whats not to love? They were just men being sent in to what's best been described as a human meat grinder. Can anyone really believe that those involved really gave a damn about the Fatherland or Mother Russia? It was about survival. Survival for someone, anyway. Sure they did the army that won would eventually advance into the others country. Nothing like that was ever on my mind, and I was never exposed to hell even remotely resembling that. Kruschev, maybe, but not the soldat eating sawdust bread as a last meal. Nazis were not known for taking it easy on Russian soldiers or civis, the Russians would eventually rape, murder, and pillage across eastern Europe and Germany. I am no historian but my understanding is that thus far historically speaking the only good Russian soldier is a dead Russian soldier. They saw Russians as sub-human. |
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Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Read "Stalingrad The Fateful Siege: 1942-1943" by Antony Beevor. Awesome read. I love Russian history, so much brutality it's unbelievable. I love Russian history, too. I miss my old friend. Story? Sorry about your friend. Best buddy for almost a decade. Beautiful beyond words. Eventually, schizophrenia. Nice girl from a former Soviet state I met while deployed. More Soviet stories than I can recount. Sorry to hear that man. At least you had the chance to know her. |
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Nazis were not known for taking it easy on Russian soldiers or civis, the Russians would eventually rape, murder, and pillage across eastern Europe and Germany. I am no historian but my understanding is that thus far historically speaking the only good Russian soldier is a dead Russian soldier. Thats what happens when you start a war and kill 20+ million of theirs and then lose to them. You play the game and pay the consequences. |
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Quoted: Quoted: Not much fun in Stalingrad, no.... http://fangamers.net/imagehosting/654d156ed510d94.jpg I can't remember which skit that's from..... |
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Many consider the battle for Stalingrad among the worst/most viscious combat that has ever happened on the planet. It's hard to argue with that. I forget the exact numbers, but more people died in the Stalingrad campaign than we lost in the entire european war. Dan Carlin has an incredible series of podcasts about the war in the east. Hardcore History = pure fucking win, in podcast form. I think it was about two million lost in the Stalingrad, compared to 500,000 roughly as our loss. |
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IIRC it was something around 2 million or so. I believe the Russians took something like 100K German POWs. It all but sealed German's defeat by the allies. Thanks for posting the link. ETA. 2 million combined. The Russians took 500k German prisoners at Stalingrad. Only 5k ever made it back to Germany. |
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Basically the bottom line is the Germans were doomed to fail from the beginning. No. They could have won. They almost won. Wait, are you serious?
 read some real history books sometime. They were doomed from the opening moment of Barbarossa.As noted earlier, if the Germans had taken the national rail hub at Moscow before the factories were relocated to the Urals, they would have won. |