Hi Doppleganger.
You say........
''He did that in the 1930's Ashes, before the full extent of the ambitions of his near neighbour were fully known. And without meaning to sound pedantic he didn't gut ALL of his officer corps, only most of them.''
The purges of the officer corps began in June '37 and lasted until 1938, just 12 months before the war started, I think Hitlers intentions were fairly obvious by then. The purging of the army saw about 35,000 military officers shot or imprisoned. The destruction of the officer corps, and in particular the execution of the brilliant chief-of-staff Marshal Tukhachevsky, is considered one of the major reasons for the spectacular Nazi successes in the early months of the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941.
Plus of course millions of other Soviet leaders, officials, and other citizens had been executed, imprisoned, or exiled.
As I said before, it was one of the many reasons that Russia could hardly defend itself, let alone plan any sort of invasion.
You say.....
''How do you know Stalin wouldn't have been willing to take the slightest risk?''
Well you can never be entirely sure about anything, but the reasons i've given in my previous posts, certainly would seem to indicate that he wasn't willing to.
You say....
''I don't think the principles of National Socialism are in principle any worse than those of Communism.''
Thats hardly a good recommendation of National Socialism though, do you think?
You say....
''Guderian mixed more with the top brass of the Nazi Party when he was Chief of the General Staff to OKH. I'm not saying, and never did say, that he had no idea about what was happening. I'm sure he had some idea because he was mixing in those circles but whether he knew the full extent it's impossible to say. He definitely was not in the inner circle of the Nazi Party with the likes of Boorman, Himmler, Goering and so on.''
Seeing that Manstein, among other Werhmacht commanders, endorsed the infamous "Reichenau Order" emphasizing the need for harsh treatment of "Jewish subhumanity" and Guderian still admired Hitler after the war, saying ''he just made a few mistakes'', you have to wonder just how much they knew of Hitlers plans, and how much they endorsed them. As you have said, ''I'm sure he [Guderian] had some idea because he was mixing in those circles''
Then could I ask you this, if Guderian and Manstien knew Hitlers plans for the ''final solution'' from it's inception [it's possible they may have had a good idea]] do you think they still would have gone along with him for the ''good'' of Germany, as well as personal glory, or not?
From the above, it seems like they were more than half way there at least.
You say........
''He did that in the 1930's Ashes, before the full extent of the ambitions of his near neighbour were fully known. And without meaning to sound pedantic he didn't gut ALL of his officer corps, only most of them.''
The purges of the officer corps began in June '37 and lasted until 1938, just 12 months before the war started, I think Hitlers intentions were fairly obvious by then. The purging of the army saw about 35,000 military officers shot or imprisoned. The destruction of the officer corps, and in particular the execution of the brilliant chief-of-staff Marshal Tukhachevsky, is considered one of the major reasons for the spectacular Nazi successes in the early months of the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941.
Plus of course millions of other Soviet leaders, officials, and other citizens had been executed, imprisoned, or exiled.
As I said before, it was one of the many reasons that Russia could hardly defend itself, let alone plan any sort of invasion.
You say.....
''How do you know Stalin wouldn't have been willing to take the slightest risk?''
Well you can never be entirely sure about anything, but the reasons i've given in my previous posts, certainly would seem to indicate that he wasn't willing to.
You say....
''I don't think the principles of National Socialism are in principle any worse than those of Communism.''
Thats hardly a good recommendation of National Socialism though, do you think?
You say....
''Guderian mixed more with the top brass of the Nazi Party when he was Chief of the General Staff to OKH. I'm not saying, and never did say, that he had no idea about what was happening. I'm sure he had some idea because he was mixing in those circles but whether he knew the full extent it's impossible to say. He definitely was not in the inner circle of the Nazi Party with the likes of Boorman, Himmler, Goering and so on.''
Seeing that Manstein, among other Werhmacht commanders, endorsed the infamous "Reichenau Order" emphasizing the need for harsh treatment of "Jewish subhumanity" and Guderian still admired Hitler after the war, saying ''he just made a few mistakes'', you have to wonder just how much they knew of Hitlers plans, and how much they endorsed them. As you have said, ''I'm sure he [Guderian] had some idea because he was mixing in those circles''
Then could I ask you this, if Guderian and Manstien knew Hitlers plans for the ''final solution'' from it's inception [it's possible they may have had a good idea]] do you think they still would have gone along with him for the ''good'' of Germany, as well as personal glory, or not?
From the above, it seems like they were more than half way there at least.
