Thread by @GrayConnolly

A lot of these Soviet deaths were in captivity. Also the absolutely wasteful Soviet approach to human life esp in 1941-1942. The various Soviet peoples showed great bravery - their commanders often showed only terrible stupidity

https://twitter.com/freedomrideblog/status/1391432826415878147

This is the Allied effort for D-Day alone. The Soviets contributed enormous manpower on the eastern front (obv) but the decisive blows were struck in the West by capacity the Soviets could never muster. Even the British Empire alone in 1941 was sending urgent aid to the USSR.

Will add that we lack a good investigation into the persistent stories that in early 1943, the Soviets & Nazis discussed a compromise peace on the eastern front. Imagine until Allied archives of wartime Swiss & Swedish dealings are open, we will not know.

nytimes.com/1971/01/04/arc…

The Allies were terrified not only of a separate Soviet peace with the Nazis but also the Soviets making a peace with Japan. Imagine if Japan had felt confident it could reinforce its Pacific War units with the manpower it kept ivo Manchuria to watch the Red Army?

For all the many critics of MacArthur here: he moved to expel and then keep the Soviets out of Japan. Hard to imagine anything remotely approaching our time where the Soviets had occupied any of Japan's four main islands (noting Sakhalin)