America: Not everything we think it is

Good work. Allied generals were more political because they were more answerable (to their constituencies) for the effusion of blood. Would that all nation-states exhibited such reverence for the dignity of human life ...

 

The Russians have always been willing to expend their troops in numbers that would be completely unacceptable to Western nations. I read somewhere recently that Russia in World War I averaged about 7,000 combat deaths a day; in World War II that rate was a little under 8,000 a day. Not a huge difference. Where the Russians really sacrificed in WWII was in the civilian population, both from the Nazis and deprivation from Stalin's scorched-earth policy

 

This. That was the least interesting thing I've read in a while.

 

I think part of the Allies aversion to bloodshed is due to the horrific nature of WWI. British lost 60,000 on the first day of one of the major battles (Verdun?). French military and civilian populations were also decimated. The Russians did not fight a majority of the war (U.S. stayed out for a long time as well, but for different reasons)

 

And if you'd rather hear about the horror than read about it, I highly recommend Dan Carlin's "Ghosts of the Ostfront" series (episodes 27 to 30): http://www.dancarlin.com/disp.php/hharchive

 

True. In the U.S., the public would question and if angered, demand why casualties are so high. In the Soviet Union, anyone who would do that would get sent to the front lines, or to a gulag in Siberia.

 

To be fair, "the casualties were so high" because they were invaded, refused to surrender and came within an eyelash of falling. In addition to all the other reasons cited. We know war as some faraway place soldiers fly to and fight ("Go get 'em t_b_f!"). On your own soil, it's, uh, different.

Let Nazi troops get within 25 miles of Washington while surrounding and starving New York to death . . . yeah, there would be casualties.

Your daily ration, citizens of New York. Lose all that unwanted fat with the 900-day, 140 grams of bread per day diet. Feel free to complain . . . if you have the strength.

 

Actually Hitler's distraction caused by Stalingrad cut the Feuhrer in half and kept Britain from stnading alone on the continent. But Germany wasn't fighting in two theaters either. USA! USA! USA!

I met some Russians who were in the states learning about our distribution system via truckloads...I asked them what they could teach us about us. They were stunned when they were taken to the houses they were to stay in as guests...rotarians and the like. And so many were in the best neighborhoods...mini-mansions if you will. They said the first thing they thought of was that these were part of the local university. They said our excess is never enjoyed and to them, represented clutter in our lives. Striking.

 

Lots of good points here. This whole "who paid the greatest price" argument is just that, an argument - or a debate, discussion. No right or wrong. But worthy of the argument/debate/discussion.

 

It was on the first day at the Somme on July 1, 1916 that the British lost 60,000 men. Verdun was where the French and Germans each lost about a half-million men in a six-month assault on the French fortress system there.

And you are correct, the appalling bloodshed on the Western Front in 1914-18 colored virtually every strategic decision France and Britain made from 1935 on.