[SunkenCiv]

...concerning Stalin's apology, etc. If that lunatic had not signed the non aggression pact with that other lunatic in the first place, this whole discussion maybe would not have taken place.

Well said, LouAvul. I can't find the quote I wanted, it was Churchill's own joke about one the British tank designs, ah well. Seems like a great pretext to use this one instead:

“Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves, that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, ‘This was their finest hour.’”

[naturalman1975]

I've always liked this quote from Churchill about tanks:

All the highest expert authorities were brought together several times and made to hammer out a strong and heavy tank, adapted primarily for the defence of this Island against invasion, but capable of other employment in various theatres. This tank, the A.22, was ordered off the drawing board, and large numbers went into production very quickly. As might be expected, it had many defects and teething troubles, and when these became apparent the tank was appropriately re-christened the "Churchill."

[colorado tanker]

Stalin could be excused for acting under extreme pressure and stress. Hitler invaded in the Summer of 1941. Despite the fact that he was a firm anti-communist, Churchill immediately forged an alliance with Stalin and began shipping what material Britain could spare and a lot they could not spare. This was before Pearl Harbor and both the UK and Russia were trying just to hang on against Hitler.

By December 1941, Moscow was under seige and the survival of the Soviet Union was literally in the balance. That was about to change when the Germans were stopped before Moscow and America entered the war, opening a huge pipeline of supply to Russia. But, neither of them knew that was in the future when this little incident occurred.