During the Second World War, the United States sent thousands of tanks and armored vehicles to the Soviet Union as military aid. The flow of arms and equipment was vital in keeping the Soviet Union in the fight, and ultimately 4,102 M4 Sherman medium tanks were sent to the Eastern Front—where they were known as Emchas….
Category: Soviet History
World War II History: Lessons From the Winter War – Frozen Grit and Finland’s Fabian Defense
Whether on the soccer pitch or the field of battle, humans have a natural tendency to root for the underdog. Oursacred texts, medieval ballads, and regimental histories are filled with gut-wrenching tales of desperate men facing overwhelming odds. From the battle of Thermopylae to the siege of the Alamo, from the gunfight at Camaron to…
Military History: Russia’s Cold War Plan To Crush France (In 7 Days)
The Nazis conquered France in six weeks, in one of the most spectacular military victories in history. Had the Soviet Union gone to war with the West in the early 1960s, it also planned to blitz France. But unlike the Germans, the Soviets planned to do it in a week, according to the Warsaw Pact’s…
Cold War Files: The Cold War’s Deadliest Battleground
When young Americans are taught about the Cold War, we learn that it was exactly that — a decades-long standoff based on the threat of war, one without mass casualties, tanks and guns. Sure, there were spies, assassinations and intrigue, but even history teachers who cover proxy wars tend to leave out one whopping chapter:…
Military History: Was The Russian Military A SteamRoller From WW2 Until Today?
Joseph Stalin supposedly claimed that “quantity has a quality all its own,” justifying a cannon-fodder mentality and immense casualties. The problem is, Stalin never actually said that, but it fits our stereotype about the Russian military so neatly that everyone believes he did. When it comes to war, Russia is commonly perceived as favoring quantity…
Military History: 10 Amazing Military Deception Operations
Deception operations have been employed in warfare throughout history, with the earliest mentions being in works like Virgil’s Aeneid describing the Trojan Horse during the Trojan War. The Greeks invented smokescreens for use during the Peloponnesian War, and there are countless other examples of deception tactics that have both worked and failed. This list comprises…
Cold War Files: The Russian “Alfa” Attack Sub
The Soviet Union began the Cold War well behind the United States in submarine technology. Although the Soviets acquired several of the most advanced German submarine types towards the end of the war, the United States had amassed a wealth of experience in submarine and antisubmarine practice from the Pacific War and the Battle of…
Military History: 5 Soviet “Super Weapons” That Were Disastorous
For nearly seven decades, the defense-industrial complex of the Soviet Union went toe-to-toe with the best firms that the West had to offer. In some cases, it surprised the West with cheap, innovative, effective systems. In others, it could barely manage to put together aircraft that could remain in the air, and ships that could…
Cold War Files: The Secret US/UK Plan To Bomb Middle East Oil Facilities
Recently uncovered documents shed further light on an ultra-secret plan, devised by the British and American governments, to destroy oil facilities in the Middle East in the event the region was invaded by Soviet troops. The documents, published on Thursday by George Washington University’s National Security Archive, were found in the British government archives and…
World War II History: The Anniversary Of The Great Patriotic War: June 22, 1941
For all you Fellow WW2 Historians out there understand this video was put out by RT, Russia Today, which is the Propaganda Machine of the Russian Federation. Now I am not disputing the facts of the video but I do take issue with it’s arrogance. Although the Soviet Union did suffer during WW2, if it…