Should the Allies have handled Post-WW2 differently?

[The Vagabond]

Originally posted by Ted Striker
or maybe the western and southern front were tying up German forces to take the load off the eastern front. that's why it's a 2 (3) front war duh

I won't deny that other fronts tied up some German forces. But it is a historic fact that the main part of them were fighting in the East. The scales of fighting were absolutely uncomparable. Don't deny that.

stalin had been screaming for a second front to open up

Yeah right. But you opened it only when Soviet overrunning of Europe was imminent. This supports my point 2.

[Ned]

We all know that there was no way in hell that Truman could have pursuaded Congress to declare war on the USSR, so the issue is somewhat academic. The real question is whether Potsdam would have turned out any differently had we not needed the USSR against Japan.

[The Vagabond]

Originally posted by Comrade Tassadar
However had that happend, Russia may today have been a prospering democracy

Yeah, a couple of A-bombs on Moscow in 1945, and Russia could have become a prospering democracy ala Germany and Japan.

[The Vagabond]

Originally posted by Ned
We all know that there was no way in hell that Truman could have pursuaded Congress to declare war on the USSR, so the issue is somewhat academic. The real question is whether Potsdam would have turned out any differently had we not needed the USSR against Japan.

But what could you do in that case? The Soviet Union wouldn't have settled for anything less. As see it, if no agreement on the occupation zones were reached, it would have been a free race to grab as much land as you can. Apparently, in this case, the Western allies would have occupied more land, since they wouldn't have stopped at the Elba.

[Ned]

I don't know. If we had insisted that the USSR withdraw from the Baltic states, from Romania, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Poland, anything could have happened. The Soviets may have had to fight indigenous revolutions supported by the US if they did not have a legal agreement from the US to stay.

[notyoueither]

Originally posted by Alexander's Horse
I think it would have been a crime against humanity to continue world war 2 a day longer than necessary or to risk a new war with Russia.

One fact people forget is the allies won the war but the allied armies were exhausted. The British army in particular just staggered over the line after 6 years of war. If the war had been prolonged or restarted there was a strong chance of a mutiny by the troops.

Similarly the Russian people longed for peace having suffered unimaginably during the war. There was enormous popular respect for their achievements at the time and a feeling the Red Army was invincible.

Originally posted by Alexander's Horse
more likely a smoking ruin

The idea of allied troops fighting over the same devastated ground the Germans invaded is quite obscene when you think about it.

I have to agree with you, for once.

[notyoueither]

Originally posted by Ned
I don't know. If we had insisted that the USSR withdraw from the Baltic states, from Romania, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Poland, anything could have happened. The Soviets may have had to fight indigenous revolutions supported by the US if they did not have a legal agreement from the US to stay.

Are you trolling?

[Ned]

Originally posted by notyoueither




Are you trolling?

No. The whole idea of US support of anti-communist revolutions was still an open question until 1956.

[notyoueither]

First, how exactly would the US have backed up an insistence that the Red Army withdraw from Eastern and Central Europe?

Second, the Western Allies were not the ones who proved successful in orchestrating widespread, popular uprisings. The Communists were.

The fact is that the US never really got the hang of popular revolution, until it backed the Jihad in Afganistan. And then, it seems to have not been managed well.

[Sikander]

Originally posted by axi
The Americans did not have nukes until 15 months after the end of the war in Europe. If they confronted the Soviet Union, they would have to fight a conventional war. That was impossible while fighting against Japan as well.

Germany surrendered in May 1945, and the atomic bomb was used twice in August 1945. That's only three months difference.

[axi]

Oops! Make that 3 months!

I guess I made a big mistake here...

[Urban Ranger]

Yes.

Hirohito should have been tried as a class A war criminal.

[Ned]

Originally posted by notyoueither
First, how exactly would the US have backed up an insistence that the Red Army withdraw from Eastern and Central Europe?

Second, the Western Allies were not the ones who proved successful in orchestrating widespread, popular uprisings. The Communists were.

The fact is that the US never really got the hang of popular revolution, until it backed the Jihad in Afganistan. And then, it seems to have not been managed well.

You are absolutely right here. We had the OSS, but it was in its infancy. Obviously, we would have had to rely on the Brits who had a lot of experience.

Also, think of how Clinton handled Bosnia.

[Cookie Monster]

Stalin played Roosevelt like a violin. Only Churchill was shrewd enough to see through Stalins games. But he couldn't get the American to see the truth.

[Arrian]

Lots of things should probably have been done differently, now that we look back on the Cold War from our 21st century vantage point.

But changing one thing would inevitably lead to new unexpected consequences. Perhaps if we had "stood up to" Stalin, this would have pushed the Soviets into a corner, and resulted eventually in the WWIII we thankfully managed to avoid.

-Arrian