Who Would Have Won if the Allies Invaded Russia After World War II
Kevin Price, Editor at Large for USA Business Radio and Host of the Price of Business Show, has recently become hooked on Quora. In addition to daily hosting the Price of Business, Kevin has numerous writing obligations on this and other sites for which he serves as an editor and with his syndicated column, so we decided that if he’s going to write at Quora, he is going to share that content on this website. If you are on Quora, make sure to follow Kevin. You can check out his page here.
Kevin’s hot topics on Quora are history, free market economics, philosophy, and Myers Briggs typology, and many others. The following is one of his recent answers to the question in the title.
I think, if this were to happen, the Russians probably would have won handily. I know that this seems hard to believe in light of the enormity of their losses in just defeating the Germans, but it seems likely to me for several reasons:
By the end of World War II the Soviets had already lost 20 to 27 million of all their citizens. Compare that to a population lost of 419,000 in the US. In spite of that, the Soviets wanted to actually do a land invasion of Japan, even though they projected it would lead to a loss of at least one million Russians. The reason the US dropped nuclear bombs is because the US voters would not tolerate that kind of loss of US lives, and the US government could not tolerate the Kremlin controlling Japan too.
Joseph Stalin said that World War II was won because of “British intelligence, American material, and Russian bodies.” The Russians had no problem with throwing as man bodies necessary to win its objectives.
The Soviets’ totalitarian government was very effective of doing whatever the dictator wanted. The United States had to be attacked to even get in the war and when it was clear that the primary objectives were defeated (the Axis Powers), voters wouldn’t tolerate another loss of US life. There just was not enough tolerance of such in the US.
The Soviets issued Order No. 227 on July 28, 1942. It was an order issued by Joseph Stalin who was acting as the People’s Commissar of Defense. It is famous for its line “Not one step back!,” which became a slogan of Soviet resistance against the German invasion.
Order No. 227 established that each front must create one to three penal battalions, of up to 800 middle-ranking commanders and high-ranking commanders accused of disciplinary problems. Penal battalions were sent to the most dangerous sections of the front lines.
Each front had to create penal companies for privates and NCOs. By the end of 1942 there were 24,993 troops serving in penal battalions, which increased to 177,694 in 1943. The number decreased over the next two years to 143,457 and 81,766 soldiers in 1944 and 1945, respectively, for a total of 427,910 who were assigned to penal battalions during the course of the war.
My point? The Russians would do whatever necessary to win a war. They would have lost tens of millions more if the US invaded. That would have been no problem to Stalin. The only way to beat Russia would have been by nuclear bombs. There would be no tolerance of that among the international community or US voters.
In addition, there was a great deal of time and resources spent teaching the US (and its military in particular) that the Soviets were “good” and we should work with them as our allies. Good luck trying to change that message with an all… (READ MORE and while there, FOLLOW Kevin and check out more of his content).
