screwyoumarvel (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
screwyoumarvel) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
fandomhigh2010-04-09 03:06 am
screwyoumarvel) wrote in fandomhigh2010-04-09 03:06 am
Entry tags:
Battles That Changed History, Second Period 4/9
"I am aware that the prom is today," Steve said, "and that many of your minds are already engaged either on that or the...inevitable aftermath, but I'm afraid it doesn't mean I'm going to let you out early. We have now arrived at World War II, and I'd like to apologize for skipping World War I, but quite frankly there are not enough weeks in the semester. I would also like to take this opportunity to admit that this war is personal to me; I did fight in it. So now you know. I will attempt to remain as balanced as possible. Today we're going to talk about three battles, three sieges: the Battles of Britain, Leningrad, and Stalingrad.
"First, the war we're in. At the end of the First World War, the victorious nations chose to punish Germany as an aggressor, leading to economic disaster within Germany which allowed Adolf Hitler--" and if Steve said the name like it tasted bad, well-- "and his National Socialist, or Nazi, party to gain control of the country by promising change, and by telling the German people that none of this was their fault. The Germans were superior. Everyone else was inferior, especially the Jews, the Romani, the Slavic peoples...I could go on. Hitler began a war of conquest, claiming that Germans didn't have enough land and the country needed to expand. They annexed Austria. No one did anything. They annexed the Sudetenland, part of Czechoslovakia. No one did anything. They took over the rest of Czechoslovakia. No one did anything. They invaded Poland, and mutual defense treaties kicked in all over the place. Before long, most of the world was at war.
"The Battle of Britain began following the fall of France, and was the first major military campaign to be fought entirely by aerial forces. It was fought between July and October 1940, with the German Luftwaffe attempting to gain superiority over British airspace, preparatory to an amphibious invasion, and the ill-prepared British Royal Air Force driving them back over and over and over again. The Luftwaffe began by targeting airfields, ports, and factories, progressed to politically important targets, and eventually resorted to terror bombing British cities anywhere they could drop a bomb, culminating in the Blitz bombing of London and other British cities, which began in September and extended through May of 1941. The advent of radar made it possible to fly at night, so that was when a lot of these attacks would happen. Luftwaffe bombers would fly in under the cover of darkness, the RAF would scramble to meet them and drive them back, over and over again. At the height of the Blitz, every night, the population of London would retreat to air raid shelters and the subway system to wait out the bombing.
"What's important here is that the RAF held their line. They didn't have to beat the Luftwaffe--they couldn't beat the Luftwaffe, because Hitler could just keep bringing more planes and more pilots out of Germany. They just had to hold out until Hitler either got the memo that he was not going to gain aerial superiority over Britain, or until he got bigger problems and gave up...which he eventually did, when the Japanese managed to make the Americans angry enough to get into the war, and Hitler decided it might be fun to turn on his one-time allies, the Soviet Union. Which brings us to today's second battle.
"First rule of warfare in this world: do not engage in a land invasion of Russia. It will not end well. Russia is really, really big, and it gets really, really cold. You come into Russia, they'll burn the ground and salt the earth, because they've got more. They'll wait you out, until that godforsaken Russian winter comes in, until the oil and gas freeze in your vehicles' tanks, and then their snipers will track you through the snow and pick you off, and you won't know where the shots are coming from." For all the problems Steve had with Russia, especially what they'd done to Bucky after the war, during it he'd thanked God several times he was on their side. "Do not invade Russia. Napoleon learned this. Hitler learns this, too. But first, his armies comes to Stalingrad, which we now call Volgograd, and Leningrad, now St. Petersburg. The Battle of Stalingrad began in September 1942 and ended in February 1943, while the Siege of Leningrad was much longer, beginning in September 1941 and ending in late January, 1944.
"These are, by far, two of the bloodiest and most brutal battles in the history of war. The upper estimates of casualties for the Battle of Stalingrad are two million; Leningrad, four and a half million. There was no real distinction between civilian and military, everyone was a combatant. The fighting went block to block, sometimes building to building. At one point German forces held ninety percent of Stalingrad, and they managed to cut Leningrad off entirely from land routes, leaving the only way in and out of the city a stupidly dangerous route over the ice, once one of the lakes froze each year, that the Soviets nonetheless used to bring in supplies and evacuate civilians. Both cities were bombed to pieces. But they won. The end of the Battle of Stalingrad, when German Field Marshal Paulus surrendered, is considered a major turning point of the war, while the lifting of the Siege of Leningrad is pretty much the point at which Germany's back is broken on the Eastern Front. You do not invade Russia. It doesn't work.
"Now, I'm going to let the rest of this period be free time for discussion. I understand that some of you have places you'd rather be and things you'd rather be doing, but I have claim to a little more of your time. I've provided packetssee wiki links for further reading, if you're interested. Thank you for your time."
"First, the war we're in. At the end of the First World War, the victorious nations chose to punish Germany as an aggressor, leading to economic disaster within Germany which allowed Adolf Hitler--" and if Steve said the name like it tasted bad, well-- "and his National Socialist, or Nazi, party to gain control of the country by promising change, and by telling the German people that none of this was their fault. The Germans were superior. Everyone else was inferior, especially the Jews, the Romani, the Slavic peoples...I could go on. Hitler began a war of conquest, claiming that Germans didn't have enough land and the country needed to expand. They annexed Austria. No one did anything. They annexed the Sudetenland, part of Czechoslovakia. No one did anything. They took over the rest of Czechoslovakia. No one did anything. They invaded Poland, and mutual defense treaties kicked in all over the place. Before long, most of the world was at war.
"The Battle of Britain began following the fall of France, and was the first major military campaign to be fought entirely by aerial forces. It was fought between July and October 1940, with the German Luftwaffe attempting to gain superiority over British airspace, preparatory to an amphibious invasion, and the ill-prepared British Royal Air Force driving them back over and over and over again. The Luftwaffe began by targeting airfields, ports, and factories, progressed to politically important targets, and eventually resorted to terror bombing British cities anywhere they could drop a bomb, culminating in the Blitz bombing of London and other British cities, which began in September and extended through May of 1941. The advent of radar made it possible to fly at night, so that was when a lot of these attacks would happen. Luftwaffe bombers would fly in under the cover of darkness, the RAF would scramble to meet them and drive them back, over and over again. At the height of the Blitz, every night, the population of London would retreat to air raid shelters and the subway system to wait out the bombing.
"What's important here is that the RAF held their line. They didn't have to beat the Luftwaffe--they couldn't beat the Luftwaffe, because Hitler could just keep bringing more planes and more pilots out of Germany. They just had to hold out until Hitler either got the memo that he was not going to gain aerial superiority over Britain, or until he got bigger problems and gave up...which he eventually did, when the Japanese managed to make the Americans angry enough to get into the war, and Hitler decided it might be fun to turn on his one-time allies, the Soviet Union. Which brings us to today's second battle.
"First rule of warfare in this world: do not engage in a land invasion of Russia. It will not end well. Russia is really, really big, and it gets really, really cold. You come into Russia, they'll burn the ground and salt the earth, because they've got more. They'll wait you out, until that godforsaken Russian winter comes in, until the oil and gas freeze in your vehicles' tanks, and then their snipers will track you through the snow and pick you off, and you won't know where the shots are coming from." For all the problems Steve had with Russia, especially what they'd done to Bucky after the war, during it he'd thanked God several times he was on their side. "Do not invade Russia. Napoleon learned this. Hitler learns this, too. But first, his armies comes to Stalingrad, which we now call Volgograd, and Leningrad, now St. Petersburg. The Battle of Stalingrad began in September 1942 and ended in February 1943, while the Siege of Leningrad was much longer, beginning in September 1941 and ending in late January, 1944.
"These are, by far, two of the bloodiest and most brutal battles in the history of war. The upper estimates of casualties for the Battle of Stalingrad are two million; Leningrad, four and a half million. There was no real distinction between civilian and military, everyone was a combatant. The fighting went block to block, sometimes building to building. At one point German forces held ninety percent of Stalingrad, and they managed to cut Leningrad off entirely from land routes, leaving the only way in and out of the city a stupidly dangerous route over the ice, once one of the lakes froze each year, that the Soviets nonetheless used to bring in supplies and evacuate civilians. Both cities were bombed to pieces. But they won. The end of the Battle of Stalingrad, when German Field Marshal Paulus surrendered, is considered a major turning point of the war, while the lifting of the Siege of Leningrad is pretty much the point at which Germany's back is broken on the Eastern Front. You do not invade Russia. It doesn't work.
"Now, I'm going to let the rest of this period be free time for discussion. I understand that some of you have places you'd rather be and things you'd rather be doing, but I have claim to a little more of your time. I've provided packets
Sign In
Re: Sign In
Re: Sign In
Re: Sign In
Re: Sign In
Re: Sign In
Re: Sign In
Re: Sign In
Re: Sign In
Re: Sign In
Re: Sign In
Re: Sign In
Re: Sign In
Re: Sign In
During the Lecture
Re: During the Lecture
She was going to be in an awful mood the whole day anyway, now -- just not at a fancy dance. It was just as well.
Re: During the Lecture
Re: During the Lecture
Back home a few thousand people was considered a decent army.
Re: During the Lecture
He took notes, and tried not to meet anyone's eyes today.
Re: During the Lecture
Discussion Time!
Talk to the TAs
Re: Talk to the TAs
Re: Talk to the TAs
Talk to the Teacher
OOC
Re: OOC
Ahem.
Re: OOC
Re: OOC
Re: OOC