Eastern Front: WW2: Bias of Western Historians

THE BIAS OF WESTERN HISTORIANS
It is said that history is a very subjective subject. This happens because the inherent bias of the historian concerned. Few historians are brutally honest. It needs personal courage and personal integrity to be a great historian.

I am no historian but when I come across piece of history which seems biased, I do need to speak up and join the debate.

I refer particualrly to an article on BBC History titled The Soviet-German War 1941 - 1945 By Professor Richard Overy

I shall quote from the article and then have my say [in italics]

"After the outbreak of war in 1939 came the added fear of Soviet expansion in Eastern Europe, while Germany was fighting the British Empire and France in the west. All of these factors contributed to the decision taken by Hitler in July 1940, after the German defeat of France, to plan for an all-out assault on the Soviet Union."

More than any fear of Britain and France or the threat from the Soviet Union, the decision by Hitler to attack Russia was because of his mad devotion to the glory of Germany; needing more lands from the wild barbaric east.


CONTD.....

Problem with rains and slush

BIASED WESTERN HISTORIANS [Contd.]

"The attack came as a complete surprise to the leader of the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin. Despite repeated intelligence warnings, which included the precise day and hour of Germany's incipient assault, Stalin remained convinced that Hitler would not risk an eastern war as long as the British Empire remained undefeated. It has been argued that Stalin in fact planned a pre-emptive attack on Germany for the early summer of 1941, and was then thrown off-balance by the German invasion."

The part about Stalin planning to attack Germany is hard to swallow. Stalin was in fact slightly afraid of the German military might. That is why he agreed to the Non-Aggression Pact with Germany, the Ribbentrop-Molotov Treaty. That is why the Soviet Union continued giving raw materials to Germany, till Barbarossa happened. Russia was weak then. The purges by Stalin had left the army in disarray. Stalin knew that well and hence he wanted to avoid trouble from Germany.

A sobering sight. Soldiers frozen to death. The Germans were now beginning to understand the great harm the harsh Russian winter was doing. It was one of the major factor for the defeat in Russia.

BIASED WESTERN HISTORIANS [CONTD.}


"The war in the east was fought with a particular ferocity. The so-called 'barbarisation of warfare' has a number of explanations. Conditions were harsh for both sides, and losses were high. German forces entered the USSR with instructions from Hitler's headquarters to use the most brutal methods to keep control, and to murder Communist commissars and Jews in the service of the Soviet state."

The regular German Army was a professional army. If it had obeyed Hitler's orders and gone on a killing spree of Russian peasants, partisans and Jews, it would hardly have had time and the energy to fight the war. These brutal killings were done by the SS. The so called extermination squads which followed the Wehrmacht as it moved into Russia.

"Soviet resistance made possible a successful Allied invasion of France, and ensured the final Allied victory over Germany."

It can hardly be called mere 'resistance'! If it hadn't been for the Russians, Hitler would have made mincemeat of British forces in Africa and landed on British shores in no time. Hitler attacked Russia first because it had more land and resources than Britain. It is as simple as that.

More dead

Trying to beat off the cold.

Some altercation between the POW and the German soldiers

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German soldiers in Russia: WW2: As seen themselves: Part 2

The human cost of the war. Germans walk past the graves of their comrades.

The early days of Barbarossa. The good cheer and spirits was not lost then. A nightmare called Stalingrad happened later.

German soldiers in action.

German soldiers watch impassively as Russian POWs file past looking crestfallen.

Street fighting in a Russian town

What is the Russian (kneeling) doing?

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German soldiers in Russia: WW2: As seen themselves: Part 1

In the article below are images of German soldiers in Russia during the Second World War. What is special about the pictures is that they were taken by the ordinary German soldiers themselves. None of the pics are a product of Goebbels propaganda machine.

FACTS

The German military suffered around 2,800,000 killed. Of these around 2,000,000 died on the Eastern Front, 300,000 died on other fronts, and 500,000 died in captivity.

Chatting with a Russian POW. Hope he did not come to a bad end.

HITLER'S INVASION OF RUSSIA (Source: BBC)

In the whole of history there has never been a war like it. In its scale of destruction, the war on the Eastern Front was unique; from Leningrad to the Crimea, from Kiev to Stalingrad, the Soviet Union was devastated - at least 25 million Soviet citizens died. And in the end what did the German aggressors have to show for it?

A broken, divided country, which had lost much of its territory, and a people burdened with the knowledge that they had launched a racist war of annihilation and, in the process, spawned the cancer of the Holocaust. But at the time of the attack there were many people - and not just Germans - who thought that the decision to invade the Soviet Union was a rational act in pursuit of German self-interest and, moreover, that this was a war the Germans would win.

Goofing off in times of respite.

In the summer of 1940 Adolf Hitler, despite his swift and dramatic victory over France, faced a major military and political problem. The British would not do what seemed logical and what the Führer expected - they would not make peace. Yet Hitler was frustrated by geography - in the shape of the English Channel - from following his immediate instincts and swiftly crushing the British just as he had the French.

Hitler did in fact order preparations to be made for an invasion of England, but he was always half-hearted in his desire to mount a large seaborne landing. Germany, unlike Britain, was not a sea power and the Channel was a formidable obstacle. Even if air superiority could be gained, there remained the powerful British Navy. And there was another, ideological, reason why Hitler was not fully committed to invading Britain. For him, it would have been a distraction. Britain contained neither the space, nor the raw materials, that he believed the new German Empire needed. And he admired the British - Hitler often remarked how much he envied their achievement in subjugating India.

Worse, if the Germans let themselves be drawn into a risky amphibious operation against a country Hitler had never wanted as an enemy, every day the potential threat from his greatest ideological opponent would be growing stronger. (It was just ironic that he was not yet at war with this perceived enemy, since in August 1939 Germany and the Soviet Union had signed a Non-Aggression Pact.)

All this meant that, from Hitler's point of view, there was an alternative to invading Britain: he could invade the Soviet Union. Both Hitler and his military planners knew that Germany's best chance of victory was for the war in Europe to be finished swiftly.

Hubert Menzel was a major in the General Operations Department of the OKH (the Oberkommando des Heers, the German Army headquarters), and for him the idea of invading the Soviet Union in 1941 had the smack of cold, clear logic to it: 'We knew that in two years' time, that is by the end of 1942, beginning of 1943, the English would be ready, the Americans would be ready, the Russians would be ready too, and then we would have to deal with all three of them at the same time.... We had to try to remove the greatest threat from the East.... At the time it seemed possible.' (The above paragraphs are taken from chapter one of 'War of the Century' by Laurence Rees, published by BBC Publications, 1999.) 

The Russians had the last laugh though.

The Russian rains and the slush. It bogged down the most efficient war machine the world had ever seen.

Getting friendly with the Russian peasant. The extermination squads came later.

One of the ingenious German inventions?

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ED VAN AMSTERDAM 02/06

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Sunday "Fitness"

Every woman I know is busy. Busy with home, busy with work, busy with kids, busy with friends, busy with family, etc. etc.!

And, most women I know say that they are too busy to take care of themselves. This is very hard for us women to do! We are so busy taking care of everyone else, that we neglect ourselves.

You have the right to feel good, have energy, and enjoy life! I can’t say that enough to the women in my life. Actually, to all of you. Men too. I know really great men too that neglect their health.

My Happiness Project theme this month is fitness. The point I want to make today is that Fitness is about taking care of Y.O.U.! Feeling great and having energy to get through the day. Being healthy so that you can be with your kids, spouse, friends and family!

Sunday should be a time to unwind and rest; preparing for the busy week ahead. Spend time taking care of you. Relax, unwind, do what YOU want to do.

Start with something relaxing: a warm cup of tea/coffee/cocoa and a good book or magazine or article that you’ve been meaning to read. Find a quiet corner and just breath. They can do without you for 15 minutes! Unwind. Focus on yourself. You will be surprised at the results! How wonderful even just 15 minutes of uninterrupted “ME” time can be. And it is NOT being selfish! Everyone deserves some time to themselves.

Here are a couple videos to get you “in the mood” for quiet Sunday Fitness:

[Via http://cevraini.wordpress.com]

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Day 9... Bad day

I started off the day well. For breakfast I had ham with mushrooms and hot sauce on bread.

I ended up skipping lunch.

I went out with a friend tonight to Tim’s pizza and ended up drinking a pitcher of Sam Adams winter lager and eating some cheese sticks (which is really bread sticks with cheese melted on them). Then I went home and ate a couple of ham sandwiches… Could have been a worse night though.

It was nice to go out and drink with a friend though.

[Via http://weegens.wordpress.com]

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