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Posts by Babinich  

Joined: 26 May 2008 / Male ♂
Last Post: 4 Mar 2014
Threads: Total: 1 / Live: 0 / Archived: 1
Posts: Total: 455 / Live: 209 / Archived: 246
From: Chicago
Speaks Polish?: not quite yet...
Interests: Math, history, science, economics, & hockey

Displayed posts: 209 / page 5 of 7
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Babinich   
19 Apr 2010
News / THE ARMY OF POLAND - THE REALITY [387]

Citizen armies are much better than professional armies in a democracy.

I am not so sure. I am reading a book about the American Revolution and citizen armies had plenty of issues. Funds, ammunition, discipline and leadership being some of the largest issues.

The great advantage of citizen armies is their gorliwość.
Babinich   
19 Apr 2010
History / Poles in the Napoleonic era [224]

Absolutely and thats the correct way of putting it, France lost Waterloo but Wellington didnt defeat Napoleon:)

Wellington chose the battlefield; he took the high ground which, due to the rain, protected him from Napoleon's artillery.

+1 to Wellington/Blucher...

Napoleon's reconnaissance failed to discover the true intent of the Prussian forces.

+1 to Wellington/Blucher...

Marshal Ney wasted his cavalry pushing them into an enemy stronghold without artillery support.

+1 to Wellington/Blucher...

Napoleon's greatest mistake was leaving some of history's greatest commanders, Louis Davout & Louis Suchet, at home...

+∞ to Wellington/Blucher...
Babinich   
18 Apr 2010
News / Poland President National Mourning in Some Countries [212]

Hmm, no Tabula Rasa (POTUS) figures.

news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8627857.stm

No Clinton either; the Yankees must be playing. I am sure some apparatchik will be send in their place to offer faux condolences.

Pathetic...

Oops, strike that: Secretary of State Clinton signed a book of condolences; states the US will stand by Poland. Better get your hip boots on Poles...
Babinich   
4 Apr 2010
History / Actually, there never was any Polish-German hatred [149]

Ksysia
"Actually, there never was any Polish-German hatred"

* polakożerstwo
* Frederick the Great: "a barbarous people sunk in ignorance and stupidity"
* Otto von Bismarck described Poles as animals (wolves), that "one shoots if one can"

No doubt the hate was reciprocated.

As general principal it's really a bad idea to gloss over history.
Babinich   
29 Mar 2010
History / WWII - who really was the first to help Poland? [901]

Ogorki: Are we saying that Poland was more advanced than the UK and France? Did the allies not have these capabilities on the western front?

For what it is worth the UK and France suffered tremendous loses during WWI. The psychological damage was devastating. Neither of those nations wanted war; who would?

As for the England waiting to declare war on September 3rd 1939 as opposed to an immediate declaration I see Chamberlain's delay as commendable. He was shoring up his frontal defenses and looking to keep the English school children safe.

Not many have been chided by history more than Chamberlain. I believe that Chamberlain to be a much better man that history paints him to be.

Remember too that the England and France had command level disagreements on force deployment.

That said it is true that the Phony War was a great opportunity for the Allies. The Ardennes buildup was quite apparent and the Germans vulnerable.

Face it; the Allies were disorganized and both nations felt the effects of the First World War. Quite simply the will was not there.

So being surrounded by two of the most heinous regimes in history coupled with residual effects of WWI left Poland twisting in the wind.

Once the war began Poland contributed to the Allies war effort. Poland had a chance until the death blow was dealt in November of 1943 at Tehran.
Babinich   
23 Mar 2010
History / Jaruzelski asked Soviets for assistance [51]

1jola:

How is Ryszard Kuklinski viewed by Poles?

A great book was written about the man...

A Secret Life: The Polish Officer, His Covert Mission, and the Price He Paid to Save His Country by Benjamin Weiser
Babinich   
14 Mar 2010
News / Did you know that Polish army is the weakest in Central Europe?.. [150]

These multi-national defense initiatives are ridiculous. They look good on paper but when the rubber hits the road they're practically meaningless.

If history has taught us anything it is that you're only as strong as your will to defend yourself.
Babinich   
14 Mar 2010
News / Did you know that Polish army is the weakest in Central Europe?.. [150]

Don't believe in pacts and friendships because you are Polish? Boy, you are twisted!

Pacts are nothing but paper. Neville Chamberlain found that out, we lived thorough corrupt UN pacts/directives & we continue to see the folly of pacts concerning NATO's involvement in Afghanistan.
Babinich   
24 Jan 2010
History / Poland's General Anders and one of the biggest "What Ifs?" of WW2 [31]

Sokrates: "So your argument is that providing 4% of the total of locomotives Russians had was critical?:)"

Where do you get four percent? If the SU had 25K pre-war locomotives, then the 2K Lend Lease provided breaks out to a little over seven percent.

How many of that pre-war rolling stock was destroyed early on in the war? How many locomotives did the SU build during the war? There is no doubt that the availability of rolling stock Lend Lease provided the SU kept the Red Army moving forward.

All that Red Army artillery has to be transported from front to front. That mobility was provided by Lend Lease provided Studebaker/Dodge trucks.

The further west the SU pushed, the longer the supply line. The longer the supply line the greater strain on logistics, security concerns begin to surface, and engineering issues begin to take a hold (rail gauge difference between in western Europe & the SU).
Babinich   
23 Jan 2010
History / Poland's General Anders and one of the biggest "What Ifs?" of WW2 [31]

"Germans shat themselves brown when having to fight Russians, being highly motivated did not include Russians who ground German army to dust everywhere with skill"

Yeah, like the recapture of Kharkov (von Manstein's 'Backhand Blow') in the spring of '43?

"Can i ask for sources? I know figures for lend lease, they're readily available if you use google and it reeks of rubbish"

en.allexperts.com/e/l/le/lend-lease.htm

oilru.com/or/22/360/

"We agree on trucks there's a problem though, all major logistics were done by rail not by road, short range logistics could and were done by horse power as well as trucks so they were not critical."

The amount of rolling stock, especially locomotives, provided by Lend Lease was critical.

Source: When Titans Clashed - Glantz & House

sources to counter???
Babinich   
23 Jan 2010
History / Poland's General Anders and one of the biggest "What Ifs?" of WW2 [31]

Sokrates - "Sorry to break the bubble of Western education where USA and UK saved the world, the fact is by late 44 and all of 45 Russians by themselves had more military, technological and strategic capability in Europe then Germans and all of Western Allies combined and they proven it by skullf*cking any and every German defensive line with ease as compared to Allies who struggled at every turn."

Yeah, mastery like Seelower Höhen?

As for the west how about we shift the 100K lost at Falaise, the 400K lost by December 1944 and the 120K lost at the Bulge out to the eastern front? That manpower shift would make it less of a holiday for the SU. The western allies also dealt the Luftwaffe's fighter force devastating defeat. So great was the defeat imposed on the Luftwaffe that by mid 1944 the Luftwaffe was not longer a factor out east.

Soviet manpower was not inexhaustible as the war carried on the Soviet commanders attempted to avoid frontal assaults whenever possible. - When Titans Clashed (Glantz)

Oh, and there was this little program called Lend-Lease that aided the SU greatly from late 1942 on with the material the program provided: rolling stock, food, clothing, raw materials especially metals), etc...

I am not arguing that the US/UK saved the world. I fully acknowledge that the SU broke the back of the Wehrmacht. But to say that the Soviets could roll over the western allies w/ the help of the Wehrmacht is not realistic.
Babinich   
22 Jan 2010
History / Poland's General Anders and one of the biggest "What Ifs?" of WW2 [31]

Sokrates"Yes way, just their offensive in Hungary was enough to eat whole of Wehrmacht alive and they had several fronts, some of them much stronger, Russian numbers in men and equipment as well as general quality of frontline troops was just insane, for example when fighting in Szekler Ground in Hungary they fielded a corps that had more tanks than an entire German army in the West.

Besides by that period most of Soviet equipment was better then both German and Western ones."

No...

Soviet manpower was at the end of the line both in quality and numbers, Soviet logistics was not the best, the Soviets lacked the necessary air power to sustain a sustained offensive.

And you underestimate the considerable punch of the western allies and the Wehrmacht as a combined force.
Babinich   
24 Nov 2009
News / Crucifixes to stay in Polish schools [364]

That was a poor comeback, Babinich.

Stop the silliness...

Fact: The Apostles were the first priests of the Church.

"As the Father has sent me, I also send you" (John 20:21)
Babinich   
24 Nov 2009
News / Crucifixes to stay in Polish schools [364]

Well enlighten me, Babinich. The Apostles, to my knowledge, don't make any reference to a priest being needed. Quote me a half statement and I will catch you out.

The Apostles were priests...
Babinich   
14 Nov 2009
USA, Canada / Do many Polish people in America hate Americans? [592]

Now with globalism, the middle class is under attack, and is shrinking.

The middle class is not under attack. The middle class is left wide open to competition (thiugh unfair in many cases) from other nations.

The door opening the path to globalism has been ripped right off the hinges. There is no going back.
Babinich   
4 Oct 2009
History / Weapons of WWII (Poland and other countries) [239]

My understanding is that the Germans, having had the Hungarians and Romanians as allies, had to keep the two separated because of their feelings about one another.

The great issue about Stalingrad was that the Germans (Hitler) stripped his flanks of Germans and fed those Germans into the cauldron. Hungarians and Romanians, sans anti-tank weaponry and some say those same allies lacked any effective weaponry, filled in on the flanks.

The Soviets were ready to move against the Germans but had to wait until the ground froze over. I believe that day was Nov 19th 1942.

The rest, shall they say, is history.
Babinich   
4 Oct 2009
History / Weapons of WWII (Poland and other countries) [239]

...and not all of Germany's casualties came from the eastern front but all of Russias came from
the Germans!

Brilliant; the Germans fought a greater number of adversaries, by nationality, then the Soviets did. It only stands to reason that German casualties would occur at the hands of multiple nationalities.

Seven out of ten (conservative) German casualties (KIA/WIA/MIA) occurred at the hands of the SU.

Spin it any way you want to spin it but the SU destroyed the cream of the Wehrmacht crop.
Babinich   
3 Oct 2009
History / Weapons of WWII (Poland and other countries) [239]

Zhukov was the one who conceived and planned the encirclement of Germans in Stalingrand.Has any marshall of the allies ever come with such a brilliant strategy?

Yeah, right around the time he was executing operation Mars... :')
Babinich   
3 Oct 2009
History / Weapons of WWII (Poland and other countries) [239]

but the issue is "was the Sherman a piece of crap"

There is no issue; the original Sherman was a piece of crap. That is why it earned the name the 'Ronson Lighter'.

By 1944 these M-4s were "up armored" and the gun was swapped (I don't believe the Americas added the new gun during production) over to a British seventeen pounder.

These changes raised the capabilities of the tank.
Babinich   
29 Sep 2009
News / Do Poles in Poland really feel betrayed because there won't be any US Shield? [288]

Whether or not Obama definitively cancels the missile defense plans will be a decisive indication if serious US rethinking is possible or not.

closingvelocity.typepad.com/closing_velocity/2009/09/vindicated-reagans-vision-for-missile-defense.html
samizdata.net/blog/archives/2009/09/how_dumb_does_a.html