"Andy Hall" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 21 Sep 2004 17:35:11 +0100, "IMM" wrote:

In 1986 it was unlikely the Soviet empire would disintegrate. It did a
few
years later.

That was apparent from 1917 onwards.

Not in 1945 is wasn't. The Soviets won the war. The Red Army, once equipped
correctly, rolled and Germany fell under relatively easy. The swoop into
Manchuria in 1945 was one of the biggest advances in modern history. The
Soviets just waltzed through the whole place crushing the Japs beneath them.
The reason for dropping the A bomb was that the Soviets were on the march
and they didn't want them in Japan or right into south east Asia. The
reached Korea and opposite shores of Japan very easily.

The bombing of Dresden was also another ploy to stop the Soviets. They
marched into Dresden and saw the power of Allied air power. This was to say,
don't mess with us. They stopped not far from the North Sea.

We owe them a lot.