Interesting Russian site

I found this site looking for a particular painting I am trying to turn into a vignette, and thought I'd pass it along. there are some very interesting photos here, some I've never seen before, so here it is!
Russia At War 1941-1945 Home

 

Interesting site it is. However, I think the author of the site has also watched too many repeats of: "Come and See," and actually believes the propaganda sadly so evidently displayed in such a fine project.

I must say, I HAVE met some very pretty Russian Women in my time-many of them in Germany-at that. But im guessing that he thinks that "we" haven't seen period photos taken of the endless columns of Russians taken prisoner by the inferior Germans and their Allies. I have several photos that dispells many things the author stated-as well, im possibly going to get a few more tomorrow-that also dispells some of those "myths" that "we" Westerners have against the Russians. Im going to try ofr a few Femal Medic photos that do show a few pretty ladies in them. I also might try for a few "Peasant" photos too-that show the other end of the Human spectrum (for lack of better words at this time.

At any rate, the site was nice, interesting and a bit disappointing at the same time. Thanks for posting it though.

One thing I can say, is that im glad they still wear the Pilotka caps and Gymnastiorka tunics.

 

An interesting site in as much Russian rhetoric does not appear to have changed since the depths of the Cold War. I wonder if the word "Humility " is in Russian dictionaries.

I had to turn off the music before I went into depression.Some good battle art other than propaganda. The site itself did not teach me anything new and its rabid presentation is a good example of how not to web page for an international audience.

Sorry Keystone Two Eight it dont get my vote.

 

Hi;
The site has some great photos but is Stalinist in outlook. Iosip Visarionovich Stalin committed some mass murders in the thirties that resulted in the Soviet military becoming a "giant with feet of clay." It took the Russian military until 1943 to recover from these self inflicted wounds. Millions died... The American writer David Glantz has correctly pointed out that if the German invasion had come a few years before or after the purges it would have been quickly repulsed. Stalin alone is responsible for the disasters of the early years. Nikita Krushchev had some harsh words to say about his former boss; http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/khrushchev1.htm
JeffinMNUSA

 

Good propaganda site- STALIN, GOD and PRETTY GIRLS.

Purges hurt Russia but strengthen Stalin’s rule. All of the commanders left, knew the price for failure and disobeying orders. Germans retreated against Hitler’s orders all the time. Russian military never had a plot against Stalin.

 

Hi Jeff, I completely agree w/ ya. Some of the things shown were nice to look at but, the guys take on "realityZ" sure left much to be desired. I also noticed that the photos he chose to represent the "greater Russian masses" were very carefully chosen-that is-to neglect showing examples of the rest of the ancestrial make-up that made the SOviet Peoples.

29 Reps left.

 

Im familiar with the site and have visited it on several occasions. The site to me is a good starting point for those who arent familiar with the war effort in the East. It contains pretty photos and pictures and while I dont necessarily doubt the stories written on it, the site clearly has its own agenda.

Yes, propaganda is evident but then again sites like this exist in every country regarding any war one can imagine.

I would personally recommend ??????? - THE RUSSIAN BATTLEFIELD

IMO, this is a far more informative source and with far less bias.

 

Actually, this American has read a lot of western books going on in great detail about Russia in WWII.

Finding any translations of Russian books going on in detail about the US or Britian in WWII is a hell of a lot harder. Especially anything concerning the Pacific war.

One of my major gripes is how Russian histories pretty much forget the fact that Britain was fighting alone for a year, and then the US and Britain were fighting on multiple major fronts (North Africa, southwest Pacific, Island hopping, Aleutians, SEA, the Atlantic, the strategic airwar over Europe, Italy, Normandy onward), to the one Russian front.

 

From the Russian books which I have read including my parents Russian school books from the Soviet Times all list GB and US involvement in the war. However, the same can not be said about the majority of the books here in the U.S. especially school books (I speak from experience). Usually other then Stalingrad the general public in the U.S. is usually oblivious as to what happened in the East (unless of course one does independent research on a topic).

Which Russian books have you read which neglect to mention GB and U.S. contributions to the war effort?

As for the "One Russian Front", this front consisted of 24 nations battling it out. 10 axis VS the Soviet Union (14 countries). While not taking anything away from the brave lads fighting for the allies against evil all around the world, this "one Russian Front" in scale of men power, equipment deployed, sheer ferocity of battle along with the scale of destruction, was larger then all other theaters put together.

Not to mention that the Red Army also fought the Japanese with astounding success.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_invasion_of_Manchuria_(1945)

 

If you want accurate information, one never reads school books. They're dumbed down too much.

The russian front was approximately 1200 miles in length, north to south at the German's deepest penetration. Not exact, but close enough. A logistics string that was all land.

US/British Fronts that the Russians did not fight in:
An approximate 17,000 mile Pacific perimeter (farthest Japanese expansion).
A 29,000 mile Atlantic perimeter. (U-Boats and Raiders)
A 6,000 mile Mediterranean (including North Africa, Greece, Italy, Crete, and Southern France) perimeter.
About 1,000 mile front on the European mainland at the time of the German surrender.
And toss in the Indian Ocean for good measure.

So not counting the Indian Ocean, about 53,000 miles of front that included armies, navies, and air forces across several fronts, so the Russians COULD focus all of their attention on the Germans for four years.

Yes, let's not mention it. FINALLY declaring war on Japan after Hiroshima was bombed, and the Japanese army was pretty well bled out.

 

Gromit--very well said in each post. A LOT was left out in said propaganda website.

Slava--there are now a host of books from Russian into English. I've only bought one so far because all my funds have been going into more Militaria and Photographs-but, the one I have is Penalty Strike and was written by Alexander Pyl'cyn. That book is excellent BUT, could have been even better had some of that same ol propagada crap had been left out of it-such as that the-only-way-the-Germans-showed-any-bravery-when-attacking-was-if-they-were-all-very-drugged-up-with-too-much-Schnapps kinda crap. Pyl'cyn did a pretty good job of leaving some of that out-but still left bits in that were inexcusable.

Anyway, that aside-his book is an excellent read.

 

School books was just an example. Even in them (during "Iron Curtain" days) more was written about U.S. and GB involvement then the Russian involvement in U.S. school books today. I have had the privilege of reading both.

COULD focus you say? The Russians were only at war with the Germans and her allies to the West. There was no need to focus anywhere else until after Germany had capitulated as agreed upon at the Yalta conference, at which Stalin promised he would declare war on Japan exactly 3 months after Germany's surrender. Stalin even did this in accordance with the Japanese treaty which he signed after their brief war in 39.

Even with the 53,000 mile front, what happened in the East (fighting per square mile) is still far larger in comparison. Over 3,000,000 soldiers along with tens of thousands of guns, tanks, and planes faced each other on a daily bases for 4 years on a 1200 mile front. The same can not be said about this 53,000 mile front.

Lets not mention it? Finally you say????

How about ill just mention ACTUAL fact not opinion?

At the Tehran Conference (November 1943), Stalin agreed that the Soviet Union would enter the war against Japan once Nazi Germany was defeated. At the Yalta Conference (February 1945), Stalin agreed to Allied pleas to enter World War II's Pacific Theater within three months of the end of the war in Europe. The invasion began on August 9, 1945, precisely three months after the German surrender on May 8 (May 9, 0:43 Moscow time). This fell between the atomic bombings of Hiroshima on August 6 and Nagasaki on August 9.
Although Soviet leader Joseph Stalin had not been told much detail of the Western Allies' atomic bomb program by Allied governments, he was nonetheless well aware of its existence and purpose by means of Soviet intelligence sources. However, by vitue of the timing of the agreements at Tehran and Yalta, and the long term buildup of Soviet forces in the Far East since Tehran, it is clear that news of the attacks on the two cities played no role in the timing of the Soviet invasion; the date of the invasion was forshadowed by the Yalta agreement and date of the German surrender.

And this is straight out of the "beginners start" Wikipedia source, from the second paragraph which you clearly neglected to read...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_invasion_of_Manchuria_(1945)

 

http://www.strategypage.com/militaryforums/336-2.aspx
The Russians had an adept leadership in the thirties but the paranoid dictator had a goodly number of these rising stars shot. There is evidence that NAZI intelligence played a role, and time and time again Hitler cited the leadership problems of the Sovs as a major factor for the Wehrmacht successes. There was nothing Godly about Iosip Visarionivich Stalin except for the factor of absolute power. But Glantz points out that he did become more militarily savvy as the conflict went on in that he "let them that knew do." It did take the Soviet military until about 1943 to put together a capable leadership team. By 1943 the peoples of the USSR had suffered some horrific losses-a terrible cost to pay for one man's paranoia.
JeffinMNUSA

 

Thats all I meant by it being interesting,the pics and the artwork.

 

Yes, "Could" focus. Stalin was hammering the western allies since the start of the German invasion for a second front. While the US and Britain had a global battle to fight, the Russians only concentrated on the Germans. Yes the Russian people suffered horrendous losses, but you know what? To those in the US and Britain and China, that didn't mean squat while their loved ones were dying at the hands of the Japanese, and felt that Stalin was completely ignoring the conflict against Japan. Some ally.

 

Gromit,

A bit short sighted dont you think? Yes, Stalin asked for help when war broke out but then again so did allies in the Pacific and again asked Stalins help at the Battle of the Bulge. Also, when war broke out in Russia, the U.S. was not at war. As for Britain, she very much needed Russia to stay in the war and it was in her best interests that Russia did not capitulate. It was Germany NOT Japan which which threatened the world and both Churchill and Roosevelt understood this quite well, which is why the "Pacific Campaign" took a back seat to the conflict in Europe.

Lets not forget that if it wasn't for Russia taking the full brunt of the German offensive then
it would be Britain and the United States baring the cost. Both leaders understood this and for this reason helped Russia with whatever they could.

Have you read anything which has been provided to you? Just because Stalin was pre-occupied with Germany does not mean that he ignored Japan. Stalin had a non-aggression pact signed with Japan after their skirmish in 39'. This treaty allowed him to concentrate on Germany. The U.S. and GB had nothing do with that treaty, therefore stating that the U.S. and GB allowed Stalin to focus on Germany because of their war effort in the Pacific is simply incorrect. What Stalin did however, was promise the allies (who too asked him to fight the Japanese) to declare war on Japan exactly 3 months after Germany fell. He did just that. The soviet build up on the Manchurian border after all, did not occur over night. This only reinforces the fact that "August Storm", coincidentally fell at the same time when the bombs were dropped, not to mention, that what Russia did was eliminate about 1 million Japanese soldiers in less then 1 month. It is for this reason that led Tsuyoshi Hasegawa's research to conclude that the atomic bombings were not the principal reason for Japan's capitulation. He contends it was the swift and devastating Soviet victories on the mainland in the week following Joseph Stalin's August 8 declaration of war that forced the Japanese message of surrender on August 15, 1945 (of course there are critics that disagree).