Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by jamesgarvin (A) on June 27, 2007 at 10:08:51

In Reply to: RE: You quoted the state of the Soviet Union in 1941. posted by oscar on June 27, 2007 at 08:31:50

I think the gist of the article is that at the beginning of the German invasion, Russia lost a lot of planes. After the U.S. landed in Europe, combined with Germanies failed assault on England, Germanies air force was basically a non-factor through the rest of the war. The argument that the Soviets ended the Luftwaffe is specious. When the German air force was crippled, the Soviets were able to build their air force, and the U.S. gave them planes. Further, the Soviet's victories on the ground can be attributed to a significant degree to the lack of the German air force to protect their ground troops once the U.S. and the British essentially ended the Luftwaffe.

However, having planes is not the same thing as having a lethal air force. The argument that their pilots were as capable as those of the U.S. and the British, which is as, if not more, important than the number of planes a country possesses, is wrong. That, I think, is the gist of the article.