Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!wuarchive!gem.mps.ohio-state.edu!pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!att!cbnews!military From: moscom!de@cs.rochester.edu (Dave Esan) Newsgroups: sci.military Subject: Re: Russian allies Message-ID: <10673@cbnews.ATT.COM> Date: 27 Oct 89 03:29:37 GMT References: <27406@amdcad.AMD.COM> <27450@amdcad.AMD.COM> <27490@amdcad.AMD.COM> <27531@amdcad.AMD.COM> Sender: military@cbnews.ATT.COM Organization: Moscom Corp., E. Rochester, NY Lines: 34 Approved: military@att.att.com From: moscom!de@cs.rochester.edu (Dave Esan) In article <27531@amdcad.AMD.COM> cperlebe@encad.Wichita.NCR.COM (Chris Perleberg) writes: > >In article <27490@amdcad.AMD.COM> cvl!kayuucee@uunet.UU.NET (Kenneth W. Crist Jr.) writes: >>Stalin, I believe, wanted to use this to give the Soviet Union >>time to prepare itself for an expected "Western" attack. > >We'll never really know why he did it. He was certainly unprepared for >Barbarossa, and for a long time any general who suggested the possibility >of a German attack was shot. Actually, you may have touched on the reason. The Great Purges of the mid-thirties, decimated the army officer corps. I have seen statistics that 90% of all officers from the rank of colonel and up were shot. 60% of the remaining officers were shot. (I suppose I could dig out the actual numbers if needed, but I am sure these are close). All this two or three years before the start of the war. What was Stalin to do, fight Hitler? With what? Even with reconstruction of the army in the two years between Poland and the German invasion of the USSR, the army never came back to strength. Part of the cause of the early German successes againt the Red Army was due to lack of an officer corps. Stalin did what any Russian leader has done through history. He compromised to save his state. He knew deep down that Mother Russia would prevail this trial as well. -- ____________________________________________________________ --> David Esan rochester!moscom!de