At a dinner meeting of the Big Three on Nov. 29, Stalin proposed executing 50,000 to 100,000 German officers so that Germany could not plan another war. Roosevelt, believing Stalin was not serious, quipped that “maybe 49,000 would be enough.”
Churchill, however, was outraged and denounced “the cold-blooded execution of soldiers who fought for their country.” Before storming out of the room, he said that only war criminals should be put on trial. Stalin brought him back after saying that he was only joking.
Roosevelt, believing Stalin was not serious, quipped that “maybe 49,000 would be enough.”
Gets me every time
Also worth noting that 50k represented a tiny fraction of the Nazi military – there were well over a million people under arms right up until the end of the war. So Stalin and Roosevelt were already talking about officers and units that did the worst atrocities, not some mass retribution against the bulk of the military itself.
Would you have preferred Germany taken the whole of Poland from day one? Would that have been better for Polish Jews?
Molotov-Ribbentrop only happened because the Allies refused to work with the Soviets in crushing the Nazis before they could act. It was a defensive compromise.
I mean…
https://www.politico.com/story/2016/11/fdr-attends-tehran-conference-nov-28-1943-231852
Gets me every time
Also worth noting that 50k represented a tiny fraction of the Nazi military – there were well over a million people under arms right up until the end of the war. So Stalin and Roosevelt were already talking about officers and units that did the worst atrocities, not some mass retribution against the bulk of the military itself.
Interested in what your “moral of the story” is?
Brits fucking suck
Stalin said he was joking, but probably wasn’t.
Given how WW2 started Stalin should have thrown himself into the mix.
Would you have preferred Germany taken the whole of Poland from day one? Would that have been better for Polish Jews?
Molotov-Ribbentrop only happened because the Allies refused to work with the Soviets in crushing the Nazis before they could act. It was a defensive compromise.
How’s that?