Poor Joseph Stalin! My, how times have changed...

Comment

Comment by Gary Dale Cearley on May 2, 2010 at 11:06pm

And also I have read where many people believe that Stalin also could have kept Russia out of the war but didn't. Nonetheless, for decades he was held as the victor by the Soviets. But oddly enough, honor him or revile him, how can you have any event about that war in Russia and ignore him?

Comment by Douglas Swartz on May 1, 2010 at 4:57pm

(the man who lead the country through the war) I would not call a man who came up with blocking units his countries leader through the war, I think the term (destroyer of all hope) is more in line with what Stalin did when he ran his country....



In July 1942, Stalin issued Order No. 227, directing that any commander or commissar of a regiment, battalion or army, who allowed retreat without permission from his superiors was subject to military tribunal.[140] The order called for soldiers found guilty of disciplinary measures to be forced into "penal battalions", which were sent to the most dangerous sections of the front lines.[140] From 1942 to 1945, 427,910 soldiers were assigned to penal battalions.[141] The order also directed "blocking detachments" to shoot fleeing panicked troops at the rear.[140] In the first two months following the order, over 1,000 troops were shot by blocking units and blocking units sent over 130,000 troops to penal battalions.[140] Despite having some effect initially, this measure proved to have a deteriorating effect on the troops' morale, so by October 1942 the idea of regular blocking units was quietly dropped[142] By 20 November 1944 the blocking units were disbanded officially.[141]