Following the defeat of Germany and Japan, had the USA declared war on the USSR as Patton wanted to, the USA would've completely pulverized the USSR. At the time the USA had the atom bomb and the USSR did not. That in and of itself would've enabled the USA to make mincemeat out of the USSR.
shareThe USSR, at that time, was our ally.
Most Americans were sick of war and wanted to go home. Only Patton wanted to keep fighting.
In 1945 there were no way our military could use the atomic bomb tactically.
We had "the bomb"; but the Russians still had General Winter.
Alright, so we go to war with the USSR in the late 1940s and win. THEN what?? Were we going to make the USSR the 51st state?
shareAlright, so we go to war with the USSR in the late 1940s and win. THEN what?? Were we going to make the USSR the 51st state?
First of all, you need to have a look at accurate scale maps of Russia before you jump to a judgement. Russia is a logistical nightmare. Most armies actually in the 1940's were still based on railheads. Russia had lots of steel, men, and would tolerate probably a lot more defending their homeland. Dropping atom bombs wouldn't have done anything except wiped out centres of population, and areas you need to help maintain control.
It wasn't like Japan, where once you wiped out it's Navy and dropped bombs, they suddenly stopped. They were already in negotiations to end the war. The Japanese home islands were preparing for an invasion. The fact it was an island, without a navy, without the ability to invade and support it's armies outside Japan, surrender was inevitable. Even Yamamoto promised he'd hold off America for only 6 months.
Russia's large number of troops war weary or not would be formidable. The US would have the same issues the Germans did. All the Russians have to do is retreat, burn crops, road signs, leave nothing for an invader to use. You also can't drop an atomic bomb and secure that area. You've made a dead zone, and risk your troops with fallout. The Soviets since they didn't have atomic weapons could have resorted to chemical weapons like chlorine gas, or worse. Even if you killed a psycho like Stalin, the apparatus was still there.
So despite the waste of years of the cold war, and the denial of freedom. Patton was a prima donna he wanted glory. He didn't want to make Europe free, he just wanted to win, and get fame. It's a good thing he didn't start a war, it would have just meant more dead. I extremely doubt it would have changed history.
It wasn't like Japan, where once you wiped out it's Navy and dropped bombs, they suddenly stopped.
While this is true, I think the other poster is largely right. The Red Army cleaned up the Japanese in China in about two weeks. The rest were left to their own devices, which is why there were still Japanese hold outs into the 1970s. By the end of the war they were a far less formidable army than they had been at the start.
shareDepends on circumstances-in a wide open area like Manchuria where the Russians could flank the defenses & use their mechanized superiority they could mop up the Kanwtung army-like they did at Khalkin Gol. But in places where the Red Army had to land on a restricted area (parts of Sakhalin island) things got as bloody as Tarawa & the like. But the areas in China & Indonesia they were fully occupied by the Japanese with millions of 'friendly' civilians & hundreds of thousands of POWs & western detainees suffering & dying at their hands as forced laborers, comfort women or just for shytes & giggles.
Why can't you wretched prey creatures understand that the Universe doesn't owe you anything!?
True but my point is that they defeated an army of a million men in China but left the rest to their own devices. The Americans fought much the same strategy. They only fought for the islands which were absolutely necessary and left the others to fend for themselves. By the time the Red Army went into China, much of that was over.
shareI guess I'm trying to say that until Japan's militarists finally 'saw the light' & surrendered then tens of thousands of people would continue to die monthly.
Why can't you wretched prey creatures understand that the Universe doesn't owe you anything!?
@pawtrax67
Interesting response and probably not far off the mark.
If I could add another dimension, a cursory glance at an ethnic distribution map of the former Soviet Union reveals it to be a much more complicated place to run or conquer than most people in the West would admit to:
http://images.nationmaster.com/images/motw/commonwealth/ussr_ethnic_1974.jpg
The mere fact that so many people referred to the Soviet Union as "Russia" gives some inkling of the level of understanding - or lack of it - that most people in the West have.
Whatever his merits as a soldier, and they were many, I can't see Patton being any different in that regard.
[deleted]
You forget the little detail of having to see a second war to the war-weary American people – to say nothing of our even more exhausted allies and the rest of the world. Or did that not occur to you?
share