"People destroying themselves blindly following fear," Today I was thinking about World War 2..

[Stuart G]

___________________________________________________________________________________

Some background info....I was thinking about World History.
Somehow, I was wondering why Hitler invaded the Soviet Union. (Often I ask myself questions like this because
I taught World History and U.S. History in high schools in Chicago & I had forgot the reasons)

Short answer: He was sure that the Soviets would be defeated in a few months, and that part of the war would be
over... Germany would have all that land to grow and prosper into the decades that followed victory (Which
Hitler was sure of.)

Some pictures on the internet had German Soldiers smiling and enjoying the first few weeks of the invasion. They had
the look of victory in their eyes. It was amazing to see them feeling victory before the battle was over. Millions died
when that invasion happened. Tens of millions. And the Soviets paid a horrible price for that, but in the end, the Soviets
and the Allies won, and the German invaders lost.

..To see pictures of invaders smelling victory before it happens is not unusual. Throughout history, that has happened
again and again. But that look of those soldiers feeling totally superior before the end of the battle...(in the first few
weeks of the invasion in 1941, brings truth to the idea, that..."Blindly following fear leads to self-destruction." The German soldiers in the pictures did not know what was going to happen to their victory smiles.

....Millions of people blindly followed Hitler, and like the soldiers in the beginning had no fear.. Why? They had
no fear because they were sure they were going to win. Soviet Soldiers did not give up, they were trying to
save their country from the horrors of the German Invasion ..

Unless we take courses in history or have relatives that fought in WWII, it is possible that many do not know
about the Soviet battles to save their country from Nazi Germany. In the Soviet Union people know, but here
in the U.S.A. it is history of 70 to 80 years ago. Yes, there is information for all to know about, but you have
to at least look for the information, or come upon it by accident, & take the time to read at length what happened.
World War II movies are on discs and in libraries. How many look for those discs and play the movies or read the
books. YES, iN SOME MINDS WORLD WAR 2, IS ANCIENT HISTORY. Very sad indeed..

........Thank You for reading this...Stuart G

[unblock]

1. The word from that era that keeps coming to mind is appeasement.

History mocks chamberlain as the face of appeasement, a policy that some thought reasonable at the time button which, certainly in retrospect, was exactly the wrong thing to do to counter someone like hitler.


And yet, today we do pretty much the same thing against Donnie and his minions, the Republican Party and the right-wing media. They essentially are never made to pay a price for their transgressions. The media continues to treat Donnie and other Republican leaders with respect and legitimacy, even though his presidency was a disaster and the most consistently and deeply unpopular one in history (other presidents had worse points in time, but Donnie's consistent negative approval is the stuff of legend.). His scandals were dutifully reported and deftly ignored. They took years to call the biggest liar in history a liar. Actually they usually still avoid that term.

And where's the media outrage at the coup?? They should be treating the republicans like the traitors they are but they continue to appease them.

Just like chamberlain.

It's no wonder republicans act as if they can get away with murder. No one holds them to account.


Even with the manchin situation, the media almost completely ignores what dirtbags the republicans are being, refusing to even talk about finding a compromise. The only reason we need to settle with manchin is because republicans came out in favor of crumbling bridges and crowded ports and so on. But they pay no price for their sabotage.

[calimary]

7. Indeed.

[John Ludi]

12. Exactly.

[brush]

2. Hitler knew better than his generals (where have we heard that before)...

Last edited Sun Jan 2, 2022, 06:00 AM - Edit history (1)

He divided his forces into three thrusts instead of driving towards Moscow, plus a diversion to the south to capture oil fields, a delay which caused them to be caught in the Russian winter and then the loss.

Hitler also screwed up by halting his tanks/forces at Dunkirk when the entire British army was trapped on the beach. Just stupid. He could've knocked Britain out of the war right then and there would've have been any Battle of Britain air war.

Then he could've taken Russia at leisure without fighting on two fronts.

He was a good orator but not much else.

[ShazzieB]

5. Hitler was too much of a narcissist to make sound strategic decisions.

When you think you know more than anyone else and you are always right, it follows that (in your mind) any choice you make will be the best choice possible and bound to succeed. It also follows that you won't listen to anyone else's advice and will become enraged whenever someone suggests a different course of action.

And so Hitler insisted on doing what felt right to him, and the rest is (literally) history. And thank whatever gods may be that he did, and that it gave the Red Army and the allies a chance to kick his slimy little narcissistic ass. Because I don't even want to think about the alternatives.

[brush]

6. Yep, thought he knew better than everyone.

A huge narcissist as you say. So trump, another huge narcissist, modeled himself after Hitler.

Guess it was good for the WWll allies and good for us that they were/are Dunning-Kruger effect idiots.

[marie999]

15. Not so easy to take Russia. Watch Soviet Storm WWII 18 episodes on YouTube.

I learn a lot from it including that there were French soldiers who volunteered to fight Russia. If he had gone only to Moscow he would have left his flanks open to Russian troops.

[uponit7771]

17. +1,if Hitler focused all resources on capital city of Russia we might be speaking German today

First Capital City then get the oil

[brush]

19. I'll have to watch that. His delay in going straight to Moscow...

dividing his force into three fronts and his time-consuming diversion south to take oil fields gave the Russians time to shore up their forces and build hundreds of the great T-34 tank to square off against the Panzers and Tiger tanks—all huge mistakes which cost the Germans and allowed the Russian winter to catch them for which they were ill-prepared.

But as another poster said, Hitler was a narcissist who thought he was smarter than everyone else, including his generals.

[Hekate]

4. KnR

[raccoon]

8. And very few of those German soldiers made it back to Germany alive alive

And very few of those German soldiers made it back to Germany alive.

And of those who did, some didn’t make it back until sometime in the 50s.

[abqtommy]

9. People who don't care to study history miss a lot of good information that could have

saved them a lot of trouble. Yes, the Russian military did suffer setbacks from the Nazis
but it was Russian civilians who paid a huge price for aiding in the fight. The Nazis didn't
understand that other people could have so much passion for defending their own
country.

If Hitler had studied the campaigns of Napoleon he would have realized that the vastness
of Russian territory and The Russian Winter were two of the strongest deterrents that
have kept saner persons from thinking that any land attack on Russia would be easy.

But Hitler was a fool and ignorant too. He was very dangerous, though, and was
willing and able to produce a cult that believed his lies and were willing to die for them.
I've always enjoyed studying history and all around the world in this day it's time for
a physical fight with The Fascists. History shows us what we need to do. Our passion
will drive us to do it.

Thanks for this excellent post.

[Klaralven]

13. Montgomery's Rule 1

Rule 1, on page 1 of the book of war, is: "Do not march on Moscow". Various people have tried it, Napoleon and Hitler, and it is no good. That is the first rule. I do not know whether your Lordships will know Rule 2 of war. It is: "Do not go fighting with your land armies in China". It is a vast country, with no clearly defined objectives.

In the House of Lords, 30 May 1962 (Hansard, Col. 227)

Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery

[Irish_Dem]

10. In the past couple of months, I have been obsessed with WWII.

Watching old movies and documentaries. I am especially interested in the Pacific Theater since my uncle was killed in the Battle of Guadalcanal. My father was flying the Burma hump, I am going to try and learn more about that next.

But yes, I keep thinking about all the dynamics from WWII.

The Japanese had the same mindset as the Germans. Certain of their superiority and winning the war. They did have a superior navy and troops willing to fight to their death.

The death and destruction caused by WWII was horrific. 80 million deaths world wide.

Right now we are in a modern version of WWII. Russia, China, probably the Saudis are actively involved in bringing down western democracies, fully aided and abetted by the GOP. The GOP hopes to gain permanent power by creating chaos and division. Pandering to the lowest common denominator with racism and ignorance.

Thanks for making your post. I have been having similar thoughts the last few months.

[Kaleva]

11. A big mistake generals often make is they prepare to fight the last war.

Looking to WWII for knowledge on what will happen in the future and how to prepare for that may not be wise.

Your comment:

"Soviet Soldiers did not give up, they were trying to
save their country from the horrors of the German Invasion"

Don't forget about the NKVD units and political commissars that made sure the soldiers fought. If the soldiers fought, they had a chance to live. If they didn't, they would surely be executed.

Also, many in the Soviet Army were not Russians. A sizeable number of Ukrainians, Latvians, Lithuanians and Estonians joined the Waffen SS to fight against their Russian masters.

[Klaralven]

14. Unfortunately we appear to be headed for another major global war

The rise of China and the decline of the United States tends to make a major conflict inevitable.

[malaise]

16. K & R

Thoughtful post

[crickets]

18. K&R for the post and the discussion.

[pecosbob]

20. Food for thought...many give Hitler too much credit for all the destruction and slaughter

I recall reading the testimony of a German soldier pleading for leniency before a Soviet tribunal after the war. His claim was that his nation had been fooled or tricked by a bunch of criminals and gangsters. The truth is Hitler only had to uncork the bottle and German zeitgeist would do the rest. Hitler didn't convince anyone to commit genocide that was not already prepared to do so.

Watch for neighbors flying a black and white U.S. flag...it says the owner is prepared to come into your home and kill you and your family because of your political beliefs or your religion or your ethnicity.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

21. During January 6th

The insurrectionists were like those grinning German soldiers they thought they were going to win. They even filmed themselves commiting crimes they surely thought would make them winners,thinking that they would never see the inside of a jail cell.