“The historical example here is, the Russian army which could barely defeat the Finns in 1939 was somehow able to (barely) withstand the German onslaught in in 1941, before becoming a world war winning force in, circa, 1943.”
I think its important to keep in consideration that the victory on the Eastern Front in WWII was a combination of lots and lots of Russian soldiers and lots and lots of American and British aid.
To make an “apples to apples” comparison you need to fill in the second part of the equation: What “white knight” is going to come to the aid of the Russian Army? China, North Korea, and Iran? That might work somewhat (and the Ukraine war IS smaller..so it might work.).
In WWII there were few embargoes on goods going into the Soviet Union. There are still trickles of goods coming in through back channels, but in the amounts to take on a NATO supplied Ukraine.
What I don’t understand is why the Russians haven’t gone full “Red Army” on Ukraine.
99% of what he read and hear is propaganda from one side or the other. If you pick out the 1% truth on both sides there are more questions about the Russian failure to really advance than there are about Ukrainians fighting to defend their homeland.
Time will tell.
What I don’t understand is why the Russians haven’t gone full “Red Army” on Ukraine.
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Well they did and go wiped out - The RGF is a far cry from the Soviet Army. No Divisions of 100,000 troops, no 10s of thousands tanks to use - only limited operational armored vehicles, with most being stored in the Far Est in open air and no maintenance for decades. Worse, they closed one of the 2 tank factories.
There is no military to go full “Red Army”.
The RGF as of Feb 2022 had only 270,000-290,000 professional troops; the Naval Infantry had only another 20,000.
That left only the poorly trained NG. And conscripts. Now Mobnicks with no training, no equipment, rusty WWII rifles, limited ammo, often no officers, no food, no water, no PPE and poor winter clothing.
Capish?
Agreed, and my point is, Soviets did eventually figure out what they had to do to win and it took them nearly four years, from 1939 to 1943.
But once they had it, their March west to Berlin moved about the same average speed as the German March east in 1941 & '42.
Vermont Lt: " To make an “apples to apples” comparison you need to fill in the second part of the equation: What “white knight” is going to come to the aid of the Russian Army? China, North Korea, and Iran?
That might work somewhat (and the Ukraine war IS smaller..so it might work.)."
Right, and China is the key. They are a huge manufacturing resource which could supply Vlad the Invader with everything he needs, for a price.
And that price will highlight two elements, first, the Xi-snake is senior partner in charge.
Putin will do what Xi tells him to.
Second, Russia will become China's raw materials pantry, thus eliminating the Xi-Snake's huge vulnerability to western naval power.
I think this will happen rather soon, if it has not already.
Vermont Lt: "In WWII there were few embargoes on goods going into the Soviet Union.
There are still trickles of goods coming in through back channels, but in the amounts to take on a NATO supplied Ukraine. "
I think the Russian economy is being realigned to focus on countries like China and India, aka the BRICS, or as I would put it, the CRIBS, putting China & Russia first.
In due time they will be relatively independent of Western influence & pressure.
Vermont Lt: " What I don’t understand is why the Russians haven’t gone full “Red Army” on Ukraine. "
I'm not sure what "full Red Army" means, but I'd be very surprised if we do not see at least one more massive Russian effort to overwhelm Ukraine's defenses.
Vermont Lt: "99% of what he read and hear is propaganda from one side or the other.
If you pick out the 1% truth on both sides there are more questions about the Russian failure to really advance than there are about Ukrainians fighting to defend their homeland. "
Sure, but I doubt if we've yet seen the limits of Russian conventional military power, or what Vlad's new friends in China and elsewhere can contribute to the Russian war effort.