3 ms·
we were told that the Soviet tank armies were poised to pour through the Fulda Gap Yes they were. I remember the official rhetoric from the days of my milita
by cema 13y ago
we were told that the Soviet tank armies were
poised to pour through the Fulda Gap
Yes they were. I remember the official rhetoric from the days of my military service (private in the Soviet Army) and the military studies in college (which I later abandoned during Perestroika). In private, many of the officers had different thoughts, but some (I would say, the more stupid ones) were very happy with the official line.
And the rhetoric was supported by the facts on the ground. The quality of training was poor, but the quality and especially quantity of military equipment was enormous.
- arethuza 13y agoDeterrence worked during the Cold War - I'm not arguing that each side didn't present a real threat to the other. What I do take issue with is the crazy degree to which vast arsenals were constructed on both sides to a level that was much much more than that required to politically deter an attack. The problem I have isn't that deterrence with nuclear weapons doesn't work - clearly it does. Rather that we have no good mechanism for limiting the size of arsenals. Here is a question - are there any records of the Soviets having military leaders who advocated actually invading Western Europe (rather than just planning for it)? [NB I'm asking because I don't know, not because I'm trying to score points.]
- cema 13y agoRecords are an interesting matter. I think I have read about some documents, however the semi-closed nature of the Soviet government, as well as the current Russian government, leaves large portions of it unavailable to the general public. And what is available is often difficult to place in the context, because the context is insufficient. I will see if I can find anything, it is indeed interesting.