You think we didn't know about the horrors the soviets had inflicted on the people they conquered? They were an ally of convenience, not ideology. They worked with Germany until Hitler went full retard. The soviets didn't just go dark side after the war, they were butchers from the start and people knew that. Stopping the soviets BEFORE they got the bomb, while we were still on a war footing with an untouched industrial base, while we still had operational momentum, would have been far easier than waiting for them to recover and get the bomb. People in the past weren't stupid, don't make that mistake. That kind of logical fallacy is beneath you.
Patton, along with anybody else who understood them, knew the soviets would be our enemy soon. That the soviets and the international communist organization (that was instrumental in the Spanish civil war as well as the rise of Hitler and the Soviets) could not coexist peacefully with the western world. He saw what was coming to the people of eastern Germany, and he wasn't alone in wanting to move on the Soviets. He was the most influential person at the time arguing for it.
You have made clear that you don't have the depth of knowledge on that historical period to be arguing this. Patton had logical reasons to want to attack the Soviets - he wasn't insane, and the allies were witness to soviet war crimes. We were no great friends of the soviets despite some late war propaganda. And finally, historical hindsight CLEARLY vindicates him.
U.S. leadership, at the time when the CIA was growing in power, saw him as a problem, and he died in a vehicle accident under strange circumstances far too conveniently.
You think we didn't know about the horrors the soviets had inflicted on the people they conquered?
No, I think they didn't care. Like I told you earlier, the Holocaust had absolutely nothing to do with why the Western allies disliked Germany.
Also, let's not forget that despite the oppression, they saved countless more people than they killed.
They worked with Germany until Hitler went full retard. The soviets didn't just go dark side after the war, they were butchers from the start and people knew that.
Correct. In fact, there is a recent work by a historian who argues, with some merit, that World War II is actually "Stalin's War" - the title of the book. You'd love it.
Stopping the soviets BEFORE they got the bomb, while we were still on a war footing with an untouched industrial base, while we still had operational momentum, would have been far easier than waiting for them to recover and get the bomb. People in the past weren't stupid, don't make that mistake. That kind of logical fallacy is beneath you.
Is the fallacy mine? I'm saying that what you propose would have been for no reason. Those who lived in the past made the right decision. Instead of getting millions of people killed in a probably futile effort to remove Stalin, come to a modus vivendi and combat the USSR by other means when the need arises - which led to the peaceful end of communism.
That the soviets and the international communist organization (that was instrumental in the Spanish civil war as well as the rise of Hitler and the Soviets) could not coexist peacefully with the western world.
And yet they did.
You have made clear that you don't have the depth of knowledge on that historical period to be arguing this.
I wouldn't be so sure about that, if I were you. Reading a few crappy right-wing articles screaming about COMMIE SUBVERSION does not make one a World War II specialist.
Patton had logical reasons to want to attack the Soviets - he wasn't insane, and the allies were witness to soviet war crimes.
No one cares about war crimes though, now or then. The Western allies helped the Soviets cover up the Katyn massacre, because it was their wartime ally after all.
We were no great friends of the soviets despite some late war propaganda. And finally, historical hindsight CLEARLY vindicates him.
On the contrary, historical hindsight proves him wrong. Instead of starting a disastrous war that would have killed millions, the Western allies came to a modus vivendi and communism collapsed on its own.
U.S. leadership, at the time when the CIA was growing in power, saw him as a problem, and he died in a vehicle accident under strange circumstances far too conveniently.
With respect, but right-wingers say this about literally everyone.
So the tens to hundreds of millions dead thanks to the influence of the USSR don't matter at all then. The fact that Russia is still basically a dictatorship. The oppression inflicted on Eastern Europe, the cover they gave to China which is still a genocidal dictatorship, the millions dead from proxy wars all over the world and the psychotic regimes they propped up.
It's cute you think that communism actually died when the USSR collapsed.
Now you're just trying to win points at any cost, not actually examining things in good faith - or you really do lack empathy, to ignore the century of crimes and lasting damage the communist machine wrought.
The orders of leadership do not represent the feelings of the soldiers on the ground. What the soviets were doing was horrific, and Patton's army would have followed him to Moscow. What the USSR did afterwards was more than half a century of brutal oppression that caused tens of millions of deaths in Eastern Europe alone, between the gulag and the disappearings, and the suppression of rebellions. The "cold" war was in no way a "peaceful" end to communism. The current powers in the middle east were nearl entirely placed there by either the US or the USSR in competition. Without the USSR backing them, the Cuban communist regime could have been stopped - they are still a problem. Without the USSR shielding them, the Chinese communists wouldn't have the power they do today.
Communism didn't lose the cold war. That is propaganda peddled to the ignorant. The soviets did when they collapsed, but the ideological war is far more complex than that.
So the tens to hundreds of millions dead thanks to the influence of the USSR don't matter at all then.
No, they don't. Unfortunately, politicians don't care about millions of dead, now or then. They'll pretend to in order to lure you into supporting their wars, but that is never their actual motivation for starting a war.
The fact that Russia is still basically a dictatorship
And how are Europe and the US different? You think we have any say about how we are governed? Think again.
The oppression inflicted on Eastern Europe, the cover they gave to China which is still a genocidal dictatorship, the millions dead from proxy wars all over the world and the psychotic regimes they propped up.
If the problem is China, or the proxy wars in part sponsored by the US, then you should propose that. Certainly, you can prevent the Guomindang's defeat without removing Stalin.
In terms of how much actual butchery was done in the USSR itself and Eastern Europe after 1945, that certainly does not justify any war. Most of the deaths in the USSR took place between 1929 and 1939, and 1918-1922. But that was long gone by 1945.
It's cute you think that communism actually died when the USSR collapsed.
Yes. Because I don't call everything I don't like "commie".
Now you're just trying to win points at any cost, not actually examining things in good faith - or you really do lack empathy, to ignore the century of crimes and lasting damage the communist machine wrought.
I'm not ignoring a thing. I know full well what they have done. My point is that going to war with the USSR in 1945 would have nothing to prevent that, and probably would have inflicted millions of extra needless deaths.
What the soviets were doing was horrific, and Patton's army would have followed him to Moscow.
Unfortunately, there were battle-hardened, vastly superior divisions in his way. And taking Moscow would not have decapitated the USSR leadership - remember the moment when Stalin was about to be evacuated to past the Urals.
What the USSR did afterwards was more than half a century of brutal oppression that caused tens of millions of deaths in Eastern Europe alone
Tens of millions of deaths? You're vastly exaggerating. 1945 and beyond was not the time of mass killings. There were some relatively small purges within the party, but there was no killing of millions. After the thaw, the USSR became just a run-of-the-mill police state.
Without the USSR backing them, the Cuban communist regime could have been stopped - they are still a problem.
How are they a 'problem' for you? They're mostly a problem for their own people (in part because of the 60 years of sanctions).
Without the USSR shielding them, the Chinese communists wouldn't have the power they do today.
The funny thing is that Stalin actually initially backed the Guomindang and ordered Mao to do so as well. But if China is your issue, and in terms of mass deaths, it's certainly the one that is most justifiable, then "stop the CCP from winning in China" is way easier than "remove Stalin to stop the CCP".
Also, like I said before, the American government didn't care about deaths. In fact, I'm pretty sure they were happy that the Chinese kept killing their own. That weakens America's enemies, after all. Nixon went to China in the midst of the Cultural Revolution.
Communism didn't lose the cold war. That is propaganda peddled to the ignorant. The soviets did when they collapsed, but the ideological war is far more complex than that.
Not everything you and I dislike is 'communism' though.
No, they don't. Unfortunately, politicians don't care about millions of dead, now or then. They'll pretend to in order to lure you into supporting their wars, but that is never their actual motivation for starting a war.
See, this is what I'm talking about. I'm not arguing whether the politicians would have agreed with it, I'm arguing that Patton was right and that taking on the soviets would have been the morally and logically correct thing to do, assuming the basic moral framework that recognizes all the shit that came after as bad.
no killing of millions because of the USSR after 1945
The soviet afghan war caused 7 digit civilian casualties alone. That single proxy war also spawned al-qaeda thanks to the CIA, that single event proves your ignorance, or your lie. That was one of many sources of death from the communist regimes during the cold war era.
And as you admit, the USSR was a murderous police state known for disapppearing their dissidents. They suppressed rebellions and participated in proxy wars. The total death toll attributed to the soviets internally post 1945 is unknown, and they are partially responsible for Korea, Vietnam, and the citizens dead from those regimes and the Cuban regime as well. Without the USSR to support them, it is likely those conflicts would have played out very differently if at all.
You think we didn't know about the horrors the soviets had inflicted on the people they conquered? They were an ally of convenience, not ideology. They worked with Germany until Hitler went full retard. The soviets didn't just go dark side after the war, they were butchers from the start and people knew that. Stopping the soviets BEFORE they got the bomb, while we were still on a war footing with an untouched industrial base, while we still had operational momentum, would have been far easier than waiting for them to recover and get the bomb. People in the past weren't stupid, don't make that mistake. That kind of logical fallacy is beneath you.
Patton, along with anybody else who understood them, knew the soviets would be our enemy soon. That the soviets and the international communist organization (that was instrumental in the Spanish civil war as well as the rise of Hitler and the Soviets) could not coexist peacefully with the western world. He saw what was coming to the people of eastern Germany, and he wasn't alone in wanting to move on the Soviets. He was the most influential person at the time arguing for it.
You have made clear that you don't have the depth of knowledge on that historical period to be arguing this. Patton had logical reasons to want to attack the Soviets - he wasn't insane, and the allies were witness to soviet war crimes. We were no great friends of the soviets despite some late war propaganda. And finally, historical hindsight CLEARLY vindicates him.
U.S. leadership, at the time when the CIA was growing in power, saw him as a problem, and he died in a vehicle accident under strange circumstances far too conveniently.
No, I think they didn't care. Like I told you earlier, the Holocaust had absolutely nothing to do with why the Western allies disliked Germany.
Also, let's not forget that despite the oppression, they saved countless more people than they killed.
Correct. In fact, there is a recent work by a historian who argues, with some merit, that World War II is actually "Stalin's War" - the title of the book. You'd love it.
Is the fallacy mine? I'm saying that what you propose would have been for no reason. Those who lived in the past made the right decision. Instead of getting millions of people killed in a probably futile effort to remove Stalin, come to a modus vivendi and combat the USSR by other means when the need arises - which led to the peaceful end of communism.
And yet they did.
I wouldn't be so sure about that, if I were you. Reading a few crappy right-wing articles screaming about COMMIE SUBVERSION does not make one a World War II specialist.
No one cares about war crimes though, now or then. The Western allies helped the Soviets cover up the Katyn massacre, because it was their wartime ally after all.
On the contrary, historical hindsight proves him wrong. Instead of starting a disastrous war that would have killed millions, the Western allies came to a modus vivendi and communism collapsed on its own.
With respect, but right-wingers say this about literally everyone.
So the tens to hundreds of millions dead thanks to the influence of the USSR don't matter at all then. The fact that Russia is still basically a dictatorship. The oppression inflicted on Eastern Europe, the cover they gave to China which is still a genocidal dictatorship, the millions dead from proxy wars all over the world and the psychotic regimes they propped up.
It's cute you think that communism actually died when the USSR collapsed.
Now you're just trying to win points at any cost, not actually examining things in good faith - or you really do lack empathy, to ignore the century of crimes and lasting damage the communist machine wrought.
The orders of leadership do not represent the feelings of the soldiers on the ground. What the soviets were doing was horrific, and Patton's army would have followed him to Moscow. What the USSR did afterwards was more than half a century of brutal oppression that caused tens of millions of deaths in Eastern Europe alone, between the gulag and the disappearings, and the suppression of rebellions. The "cold" war was in no way a "peaceful" end to communism. The current powers in the middle east were nearl entirely placed there by either the US or the USSR in competition. Without the USSR backing them, the Cuban communist regime could have been stopped - they are still a problem. Without the USSR shielding them, the Chinese communists wouldn't have the power they do today.
Communism didn't lose the cold war. That is propaganda peddled to the ignorant. The soviets did when they collapsed, but the ideological war is far more complex than that.
No, they don't. Unfortunately, politicians don't care about millions of dead, now or then. They'll pretend to in order to lure you into supporting their wars, but that is never their actual motivation for starting a war.
And how are Europe and the US different? You think we have any say about how we are governed? Think again.
If the problem is China, or the proxy wars in part sponsored by the US, then you should propose that. Certainly, you can prevent the Guomindang's defeat without removing Stalin.
In terms of how much actual butchery was done in the USSR itself and Eastern Europe after 1945, that certainly does not justify any war. Most of the deaths in the USSR took place between 1929 and 1939, and 1918-1922. But that was long gone by 1945.
Yes. Because I don't call everything I don't like "commie".
I'm not ignoring a thing. I know full well what they have done. My point is that going to war with the USSR in 1945 would have nothing to prevent that, and probably would have inflicted millions of extra needless deaths.
Unfortunately, there were battle-hardened, vastly superior divisions in his way. And taking Moscow would not have decapitated the USSR leadership - remember the moment when Stalin was about to be evacuated to past the Urals.
Tens of millions of deaths? You're vastly exaggerating. 1945 and beyond was not the time of mass killings. There were some relatively small purges within the party, but there was no killing of millions. After the thaw, the USSR became just a run-of-the-mill police state.
How are they a 'problem' for you? They're mostly a problem for their own people (in part because of the 60 years of sanctions).
The funny thing is that Stalin actually initially backed the Guomindang and ordered Mao to do so as well. But if China is your issue, and in terms of mass deaths, it's certainly the one that is most justifiable, then "stop the CCP from winning in China" is way easier than "remove Stalin to stop the CCP".
Also, like I said before, the American government didn't care about deaths. In fact, I'm pretty sure they were happy that the Chinese kept killing their own. That weakens America's enemies, after all. Nixon went to China in the midst of the Cultural Revolution.
Not everything you and I dislike is 'communism' though.
See, this is what I'm talking about. I'm not arguing whether the politicians would have agreed with it, I'm arguing that Patton was right and that taking on the soviets would have been the morally and logically correct thing to do, assuming the basic moral framework that recognizes all the shit that came after as bad.
The soviet afghan war caused 7 digit civilian casualties alone. That single proxy war also spawned al-qaeda thanks to the CIA, that single event proves your ignorance, or your lie. That was one of many sources of death from the communist regimes during the cold war era.
And as you admit, the USSR was a murderous police state known for disapppearing their dissidents. They suppressed rebellions and participated in proxy wars. The total death toll attributed to the soviets internally post 1945 is unknown, and they are partially responsible for Korea, Vietnam, and the citizens dead from those regimes and the Cuban regime as well. Without the USSR to support them, it is likely those conflicts would have played out very differently if at all.