Can you tell me about the Russian military during ww2?
Why did they wear the masks?
>>1106207
Masks?
Read a book nigger.
Seriously though, where to start? From the beginning? WW2 russian army was a roller coaster from start to finish.
>>1106373
Exactly
>>1106196
> Can you tell me about the Russian military during ww2?
Yeah. It fought for Nazis and lost the war.
Read something by Glantz.
>>1106505
Russia fought against the Nazis
in the most generalized, tl:dr way possible
>army purged all through the late 1930's from fear of counter-revolution/disloyalty
>ideology trumped competence in appointing position
>sign non-aggression pact with the Nazis as a way to expand in Eastern Europe with seemingly no fear of Nazi retaliation.
>take east poland, baltics, and bessarabia, no problems
>expand against Finland, big problems with overall organization of the army are shown
>Operation Barbarossa commences, the Red Army is in no shape to fight it off
>Soviets reorganize, competence begins to overtake party loyalty when appointing positions
>Soviets defend Moscow at high cost, roll back the Germans
>Germans make a dash for the oil fields of the Caucasus, don't make it to Baku, get smashed at Stalingrad by a large scale flanking maneuver.
>Red Army by this point is now battle hardened with true veterans, start advancing against the Germans until a large bulge is created at Kursk
>Germans pounce on Kursk hoping to encircle it and deal one last blow to the Red Army
>encirclement fails, the Germans from that point never retake the offensive.
>Germany is pushed back and back and back all the way to Berlin.
>Red Army invades Japan a few months later, Japan is absolutely no match at this point and surrender Manchuria in less than 2 weeks.
The Red Army started as a disorganized mess with political officers in high positions and poor logistics for supplies/food, but by the time the war was over, the Red Army was the most battle hardened and well equipped forces on the planet. What started as a desperate fight for survival ended with the Red Army inflicting anywhere between 80-93% of all casualties the Wehrmacht sustained.
>>1106544
I think what he meant was that the 'Russian Army' which was not 'The Red Army' (who were all the different Soviet people), were ethnic Russians who fought under German command.
Technically.
>>1106544
> Russia fought against the Nazis
It was Soviet Union who fought against Nazis.
The only Russian military at the time: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Liberation_Army
There was a reason why I posted WW2 poster with Russian flag, you know.
>>1106555
> >army purged all through the late 1930's from fear of counter-revolution/disloyalty
False.
> >ideology trumped competence in appointing position
Misleading. It's not like competent but vocal Nazi supporters had much of a chance to make it big in Allies armies.
> >sign non-aggression pact with the Nazis as a way to expand in Eastern Europe with seemingly no fear of Nazi retaliation.
False
> >take east poland, baltics, and bessarabia, no problems
True
> >expand against Finland, big problems with overall organization of the army are shown
Misleading
> >Operation Barbarossa commences, the Red Army is in no shape to fight it off
Misleading
> >Soviets reorganize, competence begins to overtake party loyalty when appointing positions
False
> >Soviets defend Moscow at high cost, roll back the Germans
Misleading
> >Germans make a dash for the oil fields of the Caucasus, don't make it to Baku, get smashed at Stalingrad by a large scale flanking maneuver.
False
> >Red Army by this point is now battle hardened with true veterans, start advancing against the Germans until a large bulge is created at Kursk
Mostly true
> >Germans pounce on Kursk hoping to encircle it and deal one last blow to the Red Army
Mostly true
> >encirclement fails, the Germans from that point never retake the offensive.
True
> >Germany is pushed back and back and back all the way to Berlin.
Mostly true
> >Red Army invades Japan a few months later, Japan is absolutely no match at this point and surrender Manchuria in less than 2 weeks.
Mostly true
>>1106196
What exactly do you want to know? The general trend is that they were hampered by poorly designed logistical and communications lines at the outbreak of war, and were generally caught in the middle of a massive reorganization effort.
They had an amazing ability to absorb losses, and learned from their mistakes fairly quickly. By the end of the war, they were incredibly good at fighting on an operational and strategic level, but their small unit tactics were lacking for the entire war.
IMO their air force is a more interesting story, however.
>>1106196
Yes...
>>1106505
Hungary didn't make it?
>>1106626
>army purged all through the late 1930's from fear of counter-revolution/disloyalty
>False.
What is false about that?
>>1106196
>Can you tell me about the Russian military during ww2?
yes. But you should just go read Overy: Russia's War instead. Or watch the same named TV series.
>>1106196
Yes; They were Soviet.
"But dad, some guy on /his/ said France captured Berlin."
>>1106626
>all those falses with no refutes
k
