Russia has defaulted on its debts!!!

@hippyjoe1955

I am not saying Russians didn't sacrifice themselves to save THEIR country. The Russians fought bravely against the Nazis.

But the Russians were JUST AS GUILTY for invading Poland in September 1939 as the Nazis were. Stalin thought the Molotov–Ribbentrop non-aggression pact would buy him time. Instead, it gave Germany a free hand to transfer hundreds of thousands of troops to the Western Front once Poland was conquered.

And we COULD have reached Berlin before the Russians if all that mattered was a race. But that damned Eisenhower was too busy playing politics than giving General Patton the gas and supplies he needed to make am early push to the Rhine.

But WE were not in immediate danger in 1942. WE could have focused solely on whipping Japan.

But WE didn't. WE (and the Brits deserve a lot of credit on this, too) supplied the Russians with the MEANS to hold off the Nazis. The Brits, in particular, during 1941.

Without the arms from the U.S. and U.K. (not to mention food the U.S. supplied), the Russians would have been in much more dire straits.

If the Japanese win soundly at Midway and we lose our three aircraft carriers, New Guinea later falls and probably the Japanese establish a strong foothold in northern Australia.

Pearl Harbor as a naval base becomes untenable as the Japanese use Midway as a submarine base and their carriers can prowl the Eastern Pacific at will. Pearl Harbor could easily be blockaded.

The U.S. would have scrambled to send our few remaining battlewagons and heavy crusiers from the Atlantic to the Pacific to guard the West Coast. That would have meant weakening protection for the Atlantic convoys. The Murmansk convoy route was already risky.

The British Far East fleet retreats to Gibraltar (if it's not sunk by Nagumo's carrier force first) and the Indian Ocean becomes a Japanese lake. The Persian Gulf convoy route to Russia ends. Stalingrad falls. Suez might have fallen as well. The British have too much to defend and not enough ships to do it with.

Midway was the battle that saved the Russian bear's ass.

@beckyromero I do know all about WWII. When I was in high school I read untold numbers of books written by surviving airmen sailors and soldiers. Japan was a real threat and hence the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. That completely aside that was a world war and every nation contributed to the efforts on one side or the other and as each battle was fought all the allies on the winning side benefitted. Silly Americans think they won the war. They didn't. They were part of a team. A late comer to the battle but just one of the team.

@hippyjoe1955

I glad you agree that Japan was a real threat.

That's why our victory at MIDWAY was such a privotal moment. It shaped the rest of the war, not just in the Pacific but in Russia and the Atlantic as well.

Britain lead the team until 1942. They pretty much WERE the team for a whole year after the fall of France. But it was team we were supplying with arms. Lots of arms.

So naturally once we entered the war we took over the leadership.

I do not agree with the notion that an Allied victory was a foregone conclusion. As I mentioned, Midway could have turned into a disaster. Even WITH the knowledge of Japanese plans, we nearly bungled it.

The invasion at Normandy was no certain victory, either. A bad turn in the weather, the disposition of German forces, etc., all could have led to a disaster.

@TheOneyouwerewarnedabout The US is the one who started the aggression. They did that years ago.

putin should do a Khrushchev. start bringing weapons and bases to Cuba..
whats good for the goose is good for the gander.

perhaps then ppl will consider the US/UN stacking russian borders with new UN members.
after agreeing 2x they wouldn't. refer to minsk agreements 1-2..
so they can stack bases and weapons. 5 mins from the Kremlin...