> For the military buffs here: I saw no mention in > posts > thus far of Russian winter conditions as part of the > reason the Nazis ultimately lost; do you think it > played a significant part or not? (My understanding > was that it did factor in a great deal, but perhaps > that was because of one man ordering 'attack' when > he > ought not have?)
Well, I personally think it has been overdramatized. The Germans quickly adapted when they needed to, and there's an interesting discussion (well, maybe only for grognards) about the development of German winter uniforms, and by 1943 at the very least they had an excellent uniforn that could capably deal with the Russian Winters, and had a few experimental uniforms beforehand. Further, its a myth that the Germans rolled into the Soviet Union utterly unprepared for the winter...German troops WERE issued with winter clothes as part of their normal uniform (usually a hood, trenchcoat, sweater, etc), though these proved unsuitable for the sustained conditions in Russia. There are a few advantages to fighting in winter too; a big one is that there is no mud! With the frozen earth, the use of tanks in mobile warfare is facilitated. And one thing to consider is that the Soviets would be just as hindered by -40F temperatures and whiteout conditions as the Germans; they were better prepared for them though, so could adapt their operations around it. But IMO by '43 the Russian Winter stopped being as great a factor as it had been in, say, 1941. I think a better reason why the Germans lost was the crushing manpower the Soviets could bring to bear. Production of the T-34 tank, a decent, well designed vehicle that was also easy to maintain an operate, FAR outstripped the TOTAL German armor production of the ENTIRE war! Further, by the latter part of the war the Soviets were producing better quality tanks (at least more capable...the IS-2 was a very capable tank for the time). Damon. ===== ------------------------------------------------------------ Damon Agretto [EMAIL PROTECTED] "Qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum." http://www.geocities.com/garrand.geo/index.html Now Building: ------------------------------------------------------------ __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - 50x more storage than other providers! http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
