The Agent of Oblivion question of the day

[At Home 0]

The thing that makes me think that Stalin is worthless is the fact that he did something totally unremarkable: turned a country with huge amounts of natural resources into one that produced things. Lenin, had he lived longer, probably would've done this. Considering that Russia was totally backwards, as long as they got the Czars out, then it was bound to happen. Furthermore, his agricultural program was a complete failure and caused the country to produce less than it was capable of.

 

Not to mention all the failures of his administration due to his paranoia as a leader. He completely botched the German invasion of Russia. They knew it was going to happen 6 months before the fact, and he was so sure that Hitler wouldn't invade Russia, he let his army go woefully unprepared for the attack. Had Hitler's army treated the invasion of Russia as a liberation effort instead of a conquering, they would've captured Russia in a day.

[The Niggardly King 0]

I'm going to be bold and go domestic with this. I give you the great Huey Long, Magnificent Bastard and Governor For Life of Louisiana.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huey_Long#Impeachment

 

Kingfish was the greatest president we never had, so cram it pal

[PILLS! PILLS! PILLS! 0]

Hitler, Triumph of the Will is a masterful piece of filmmaking. Anyone who influenced the direction for something like this should be revered in my eyes.

 

It's not that good. It's good for its time.

 

What are you talking about? It swept the German Oscars!

[The Metal Maniac 0]

I always found that fascinating about Stalin, that he trusted Hitler so much that he refused to believe Hitler would attack him. I mean, he trusted that ADOLF HITLER wouldn't stab him in the back, yet later apparently didn't trust a single person in Russia.

 

Also, while you are correct that, really, Russia should've already been a superpower, I still think the amount of time in which he industrialized Russia should count for something.

 

Edit: Damn people posting while I was typing. Responding to At Home.

[At Home 0]

Well, when were they fully industrialized? If you want to say that they were fully industrialized at the beginning of WWII, that's still 12 years, which is not all that amazing.

[Guest Marneywasmurdered]

Turning a country as backwards as Russia was around in 12 years actually is a big deal. Especially when the population was starving from his other failed initiatives, and many of the most qualified people were being executed or sent to Siberia.

[Guest Czech please!]

I think I liked this thread better when it was about pricks, not continued by them.

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

It's not that good. It's good for its time.

 

I disagree, even watching it today, the views that were taken are breathtaking, and the all-encompassing shots of the army and the way Hitler was portrayed walking through were also brilliant. It was amazing for its time, and still good today. Correct me if I'm wrong here, but I'm also quite certain that it influenced film direction pretty significantly afterwards, as many of the shots that it used were unheard of at the time. The stuff where they circle around Nuremberg high in the sky is pretty fucking cool regardless of when you see it, and it's sad that all of that is destroyed because it really was a beautiful city.

 

Also, I hate Jews. Hitler takes top spot by default.

[Nighthawk 0]

Yeah, I just think it drags a lot with all the speeches, but not being a German speaker probably hurts me there.

[Big Ol' Smitty 0]

Despite my killer Sukarno joke, if I'm actually going to have to pick a dictator I would actually have to agree with Czech on Napoleon. He actually had a positive impact in some respects and wasn't a total psychopath like a lot of these other guys. The Napoleonic Code brought standardized Roman-style law to the parts of Europe that he conquered, and he promoted military officers and civil servants based on merit rather than patronage or nobility. I would have rather lived under Napoleon's rule than under that of the Ancien Regime.

[RepoMan 0]

Turning a country as backwards as Russia was around in 12 years actually is a big deal. Especially when the population was starving from his other failed initiatives, and many of the most qualified people were being executed or sent to Siberia.

 

At the start of 1917 Russia was pretty close to still be a feudal state but managed to become the world's second most powerful nation by 1945. That would be amazing in it of itself, but consider how many of the best minds of the USSR were put to death by Stalin. He lifted up such a backwards nation to amazing heights due to his brutality. I hate hoping on a bandwagon, but Stalin is the best dictator ever. Plus, being of German and Russian decent, the only good thing for humanity anyone of my ethnicities ever did was when my mom's side of the family beat my dad's side in WWII.

[At Home 0]

Turning a country as backwards as Russia was around in 12 years actually is a big deal. Especially when the population was starving from his other failed initiatives, and many of the most qualified people were being executed or sent to Siberia.

 

At the start of 1917 Russia was pretty close to still be a feudal state but managed to become the world's second most powerful nation by 1945. That would be amazing in it of itself, but consider how many of the best minds of the USSR were put to death by Stalin. He lifted up such a backwards nation to amazing heights due to his brutality. I hate hoping on a bandwagon, but Stalin is the best dictator ever. Plus, being of German and Russian decent, the only good thing for humanity anyone of my ethnicities ever did was when my mom's side of the family beat my dad's side in WWII.

 

Which is another reason why he was so impeccably stupid. His army purges eliminated the most experienced members of the army, leaving it full of inexperienced leadership, and scientific progress was horribly slow. His people hated him, and his decisions for the army without a doubt caused tens of thousands of deaths because they were poorly organized and terribly inefficient. Had Hitler actually made intelligent decisions in Russia, instead of an entire fucking dictionary full of moronic directions, it's no doubt in my mind that Germany would've swept through Russia in much less time than they did, and without the defeat at Stalingrad. Like I said before, it's not impressive to take a country with huge amounts of natural resources, federally mandate that everyone go to work and produce, produce, produce, and see some results. Not to mention that part of that industrialization was carried on the backs of Russian slaves.

 

And I don't even agree that it was even that industrialized, as the entire country's economy was extremely inefficient.

 

Wow, there were a lot of retards dictating countries during WWII.

[PUT THAT DICK IN MY MOUTH! 0]

Had Hitler actually made intelligent decisions in Russia, instead of an entire fucking dictionary full of moronic directions, it's no doubt in my mind that Germany would've swept through Russia in much less time than they did, and without the defeat at Stalingrad.

 

This sentence is a mess.

[At Home 0]

Okay.

[Annabelle 0]

The thing that makes me think that Stalin is worthless is the fact that he did something totally unremarkable: turned a country with huge amounts of natural resources into one that produced things. Lenin, had he lived longer, probably would've done this. Considering that Russia was totally backwards, as long as they got the Czars out, then it was bound to happen. Furthermore, his agricultural program was a complete failure and caused the country to produce less than it was capable of.

 

Not to mention all the failures of his administration due to his paranoia as a leader. He completely botched the German invasion of Russia. They knew it was going to happen 6 months before the fact, and he was so sure that Hitler wouldn't invade Russia, he let his army go woefully unprepared for the attack. Had Hitler's army treated the invasion of Russia as a liberation effort instead of a conquering, they would've captured Russia in a day.

lenin didn't have the balls to do what stalin did. stalin was the ultimate motivator. he is one of the best and most evil dictators in history. his agricultural program was meant to kill off the countryside and kulaks. it was all urbanization. and it worked. but like all dictatorships, corruption fucks it all up. stalin was quite remarkable. i think you need to brush up on your stalin shit, guy.

 

[Annabelle 0]

at home really sucks in this thread, btw.

[At Home 0]

Because I'm not gonna play ball and say that Stalin was awesome :'(

[The Niggardly King 0]

yall really need to be blowing Suharto