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Old 18th April 2017, 09:26
Dan History Dan History is offline
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Re: I have just written a new analysis of Luftwaffe resource distribution - it is on Michael Holm's website

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bruce Dennis View Post
I will be brief.
Bruce, brevity is a virtue, but I suggest you have been too brief in your response. I note that you disagree with my conclusions, but may I ask why that is the case and what conclusions of alternative sources do you find more convincing?

I must emphasise that you are in error when you seek to describe the USSR as an Allied power. The USSR signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact with Nazi Germany in August 1939 and then invaded Poland following Germany’s own invasion. Up until the German attack on the USSR, the Soviet Union was a de facto ally of Nazi Germany and provided a large volume of raw materials necessary for the German war economy. Once Germany invaded, the USSR did join the Allies out of necessity, but it pursued fundamentally different objectives during the war. Soviet domination of Eastern Europe led to a very rapid breakdown in relations after the end of the war in Europe, with Churchill being invited by Truman to make the observation that “an iron curtain has descended across the Continent” less than a year after Germany’s surrender.

I am surprised that you write of the “confusion within [my] conclusions”, since you criticised my conclusions on the basis that you understood them clearly, even if you had not had the time to follow my reasoning. I hope that labelling my paper “readable” was not intended as a back-handed compliment. I am most interested to know which of my sources you would like to consult in the future. As I indicated to Ed above, I consulted many other sources which I did not have space to use in the study, so I would be glad to comment futher.

Your use of the word “validate” is not entirely clear. The Oxford English Dictionary tells us that the most common modern usage of validate is “To examine for incorrectness or bias; to confirm or check the correctness of.” Do you mean that you will not spend time examining the correctness of my conclusions, or rather that you will not confirm the validity of my conclusions? The two are not the same, of course. Since you would like to use the fruits of my research, I would suggest it would be most appropriate if you spent some time considering my reasoning.

Kind regards,

Dan

Last edited by Dan History; 18th April 2017 at 09:47. Reason: Put question in bold font
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