[Governor Dinwiddie]

The Russian effort on the eastern front was monumental. Their deaths were in the many millions. It wasn't the communist ideology which enabled the Russians to expel the Nazis; it was the love of country exhibited by the ordinary Russian people. The Stalingrad, Leningrad, and Kursk battles were each in their own ways as important as D-Day.
 

[abigkahuna]

I would echo that vierwpoint. The Russian losses were staggering. Vainly Stalin pressed for a second front and got to the point that there would be no second front. Stalin did not realize what it took for an over channel crossing. He and Russia being a land based nation when it came to war. The logistics for D-Day were tremendous.

Russia lost much and fought hard. I am not defending Stalin, or communism, nor the actions late in the war to secure an “iron curtain:’ but the will of the Russian people to fight, fight hard and take that battle back to Berlin was truly amazing.

[reg45]

When Operation Barbarossa occurred, the first thing Stalin did was to rally the Russian people with Russian nationalism, not Communist ideology. And, fortunately, the winter of ‘41-‘42 was particularly harsh.

[desertfreedom765]

I agree with your assessment, however it was American lend lease that allowed/kept the UK and the Soviet Union in the war.

Without that aid both of them would have collapsed.

[SmokingJoe]

Pretty much. No one lost more people in WW II than the Russians did.