Quote: (09-29-2010 09:20 PM)iknowexactly Wrote:
As Nemesis says, American guys should have some serious respect for Russian culture before you dream you'll go there and play detective.
Who, century after century, kicked the asses of the Mongols, Napoleon, and Hitler; while before each victory appearing primitive and unsophisticated?
No one should think about marrying a Russian woman unless you know the history of the Battle of Stalingrad.
It was a death match. Hitler would not relent, and Stalin would not consider losing. the Germans got within YARDS of the river
behind the Russian forces, but Russians are-- I don't know- a force of nature. And when one of those women decides she loves you,
you get the good side of that. ( Look up the Decembrists, as well my account below of a Russian woman's declaration of love.)
At one point the average life-expectancy of new Russian soldiers arriving was one day.
Eventually, after- I forget- something like two years? the Germans were hopelessly surrounded, out of fuel, and
finally surrendered formally which was simply an acknowledgement the Russians had already slowly, inexorably, and with limitless opaque
Slavic tenacity kicked their asses.
The Nazis lost the Battle of Stalingrad and ultimately Operation Barbarossa was a failure because:
1. Hitler micromanaged and second guessed his generals and field commanders
2. Hitler sent half of Army Group South (the portion of the Wehrmacht that was assigned to take Stalingrad) to the Caucasus to secure the oil fields there.
3. The Wehrmacht was good at doing 'blitzkreig', not at urban warfare.
4. The Wehrmacht soldiers were not properly dressed/equipped for the freezing Russian winter - the same Russian winter that did in Napoleon. The Russians are not a 'force of nature' - rather, the Russian winter is a force of nature.
and not because of the Russian's 'limitless opaque Slavic tenacity'.