Originally posted by Patrick:
Stalin made Russia into one big industrial farm. Stalin also let the serfs keep their farms and freed the serfs from their owners. He didn't kill the poor. He killed those who he felt were threats to him. Christ, you're acting like I'm idolizing the guy. I respect what he tried to do and how he experimented with communism, not the fact that he killed 20 million people.
He let the serfs "keep their farms"? Isn't communism about state ownership of the land? Private lands were confiscated for the use of the state Pat, so no personal property. What about the thousands of workers that died during the 5 year plans? Or the thousands of peasants who were sent to gulags for being unwilling to give up their land to create collective farms? Why do you respect someone for "experimenting" with communism if it led to the deaths of millions?
I disagree. I don't think that the US and UK could've beaten Germany without Russia. It was pretty much the US and UK alone, since France fell to Germany and Vichy France backed the Nazi's. I believe Canada helped us and some other European nations as well, but the US and UK were the 2 main forces on the Allies. Japan probably would've made the war last much longer too, but we decided to drop the 2 a-bombs to prevent further Allie casualties. I honestly can't see the Allies winning without Russia. Russia's military and technology was just so dominant at the time and every time that the US felt they gained a step in the arms race, we found Russia right there with us. -Pat
Russia's military during WWII wasn't "dominant" at all. They had poor leadership and poor training, and won through sheer numbers and determination. They certainly played a major role in winning the war, but I think the rest of the allies would have won without them.
