I recommend Sean McMeekin's "Stalin's War". It was printed in 2021. Bottom line, the Red Army was incapable of winning without the massive support of the US and UK in the form of Lend Lease, and the military campaigns in North Africa, Italy, and in NE Europe. The war in the Atlantic was also a huge factor. Stalin would have collapsed within the first year of the invasion without this help.
As Ayn Rand used to say, East minus West equals zero. It's true: without Lend Lease, the Battle of the Atlantic, and round-the-clock bombing of Germany, plus Allied pledges and action to keep the Bosphorus open, Stalin's regime would have likely fallen after a fatal defeat by the Germans.
Probably a rump Soviet regime would have survived, with or without Stalin, east of the Urals. But the European heartland would have been under permanent German rule, as it almost became in 1918.
What's happening now is far more reminiscent of 1939-40 or 1917-18 or 1904-5 than 1943-45.
As for the paleo-right Putin zombies, like the far-left Stalin zombies of yesteryear, all I can say is that it's amazing how supposedly smart people can live deep in such a disinformation bubble for so long.
I recommend Sean McMeekin's "Stalin's War". It was printed in 2021. Bottom line, the Red Army was incapable of winning without the massive support of the US and UK in the form of Lend Lease, and the military campaigns in North Africa, Italy, and in NE Europe. The war in the Atlantic was also a huge factor. Stalin would have collapsed within the first year of the invasion without this help.
As Ayn Rand used to say, East minus West equals zero. It's true: without Lend Lease, the Battle of the Atlantic, and round-the-clock bombing of Germany, plus Allied pledges and action to keep the Bosphorus open, Stalin's regime would have likely fallen after a fatal defeat by the Germans.
Probably a rump Soviet regime would have survived, with or without Stalin, east of the Urals. But the European heartland would have been under permanent German rule, as it almost became in 1918.
What's happening now is far more reminiscent of 1939-40 or 1917-18 or 1904-5 than 1943-45.
As for the paleo-right Putin zombies, like the far-left Stalin zombies of yesteryear, all I can say is that it's amazing how supposedly smart people can live deep in such a disinformation bubble for so long.
Agreed and as it happens I have an article about Lend-Lease here on Substack:
https://unwokeindianaag.substack.com/p/forge-of-victory?r=dibcs&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web