RC Tank Warfare community hobby forum

The difference between Iraq and Greece is that Greece's only way to pay back is through tourism, and in order to do that they have to devalue their currency to attract more tourists, but they can't because they are in the euro (for what I think will be a very short time now), whereas Iraq has oil which can be used to rebuild the country and pay off the debt (if they can sort out their internal religious conflict and terrorism issues). All sounds really simple doesn't it, but I'm glad I don't have to sort it out!. Alwyn

The Iraq war reparations are just 4.6bn USD and it's only for the 1991 war. Greece owes in the region of 300bn Euros. The difference is Iraq caused 4.6bn worth of damage to Kuwait. Greece borrowed 300bn to spend on itself.

US doctrine was based on a combined arms approach. Why would you not use your strength? The US had a vastly superior air force and the means to quickly and efficiently decide engagements. The Soviets did not, they used their strength of numbers and armor which led to more direct engagements which the author may have felt was more sporting and courageous. War is meant to be won, not fair. The Sherman was not even envisioned to engage other tanks, especially heavies like the Tiger. Even with this, the high velocity 76 and British 17 pounder was up to the task to fight the Tiger. My grandfather served in Patton's third army and they ran through the German army in under 10 months...proof is always in the pudding!

The reparations that Germany had to repay were from the FIRST world war not from the second.....Enforced by France who was still very bitter from the Franco Prussian war ( which they lost).
The outrageous terms of the Treaty of Versailles imposed by France lead directly to WW2..... Germany was made to take full responsibility for WW1 which is simply not true. The whole process waslike a domino effect with intermingled treaties all pulling in the Western World .....On the Western front, Germany asked France what she intended to do about Russia with whom she had a treaty, France asked to go away and think about it and then promptly mobilised her troops and Germany responded to that.

WW2 the allies only faced about 25% of the German army and with total allied air supremacy and the German armaments industry and transport system being bombed 24/7 the outcome was inevitable.

Soviets.......hmm.... probably a nice people when talked to 1 to 1....but lead by Stalin and his political commisars....Animals pure and simple...the Katyn Forest massacre and the "prisons" that were liberated by the Germans in 1941 show that.

Patton seems to have been a great man his quotes are very good, particularly the one about French and German Divisions.
If we had taken that oportunity to smash communism then,as Patton suggested it would have saved the world an awful lot of trouble and money in the future.
I believe that Pattons death in a road traffic accident still fuels debate amongst the "Conspiracy Theory" brigade.

lposter wrote:
Carius forgets to mention however that the attitude of the germans in starving prisoners to death and the nkvds in shooting those who had tried to surrender may have played a role in the perceived quality of the soviets contra that of the allies.

Why would he mention this? His story is his story, not a retelling of history from an objective perspective about something he was never involved in. He was a company commander in a heavy tank battalion and his book is just a about him being a tanker. Johanns Steinhoff doesn't mention this either in his excellent books.

If you want to read about a German commander coming to terms with things, Panzer Commander by Hans Von Luck is excellent and extremely thought provoking.

may buy von luck's book too then cheers!