[Tak]

Originally Posted by aldw

The Soviet Union =/=Russia, which people mistakenly make all the time,

And Communist Chinese =/= Nationalist Chinese. Except from Japan's point of view, its military planners didn't care.

Hitler certainly didn't. In his Mein Kampf, the terms Bolsheviks, Slavs, Jews & Russians were often used interchangeably.

Originally Posted by aldw

and this is all the more telling as the Red Army in 1918 was a strong enough force to finalize the Japanese decision to withdraw their forces from the Russian Far East, compared to the general Imperial Army performance in 1905.

Again, because the subsequent defeats did not force Japan into a corner such as what the two atomic bombs did, the whole incident generally became a pad-themselves-in-the-back-moment thus preventing the little known conflict (even to Japan) that occurred in the 30s to be part of Japan's collective psyche.

Originally Posted by aldw

is a real eye opener on the economic planning of Nazi Germany during the War.

Indeed, but the book told me what most people already know. Germany simply had not the resources for a prolonged war against the Soviet Union, and the fast-approaching winter due to Hitler's delay of the invasion did not help. Hitler himself did not imagine a prolonged war against Stalin. His famous claim regarding the Soviet Union after witnessing the Winter War stated that Russia was like a rotten door, and a good kick would cause it to crumble.

Even Russian historians agree that, if Germany had marched all the way to Moscow, conquered the city, even if total victory could not be achieved, a negotiated peace in Germany's favor was a distinct possibility.

After learning the speed of Germany's advancement, Stalin too, contemplated the idea of a negotiated peace.

Thus I have to disagree w/the notion that Germany had no possibility of achieving victory purely due to its economic shortcomings.

Originally Posted by aldw

Thing is that Hitler was the best strategist in the German High Command given that all of the German generals under his command were much like Ludendorff in terms of overly focusing on Operational Planning rather than understanding the greater strategic aims and action for the State.

Except Hitler's chance for a negotiated peace even after the disaster of Stalingrad was extinguished after he committed to Operation Citadel. He should have listened to, you guessed it, Guderian.

- Tak