World War Two
Published 11 Jan 2022From the woods of the Urals to the burning city of Stalingrad, Vasily Zaitsev went out to hunt his prey. As a sniper, he learned his trade in the grim reality of Stalingrad street fighting. Deep in the ruins of the factories, he stalked his enemies with a team of battle-hardened snipers. For days on end, they would lay in wait for valuable targets to show up. With a finger on the trigger, they would decimate the German ranks within a few deadly moments.
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January 12, 2022
Sniper Warrior – Vasily Zaitsev – WW2 Biography Special
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Soviet PPD-40: Degtyarev’s Submachine Gun
Forgotten Weapons
Published 28 Aug 2017Degtyarev’s PPD-40 was the first submachine gun adopted on a large scale by the Soviet Union. Its development began in 1929 with a locked breech gun modeled after Degtyarev’s DP light machine gun, but evolved into a much simpler blowback system. It was accepted as the best performing gun of 14 different submissions in Soviet trials of 1931/2, and first entered production in 1934. In this form, it used a 25 round curved stick magazine, and was chambered for the 7.62x25mm cartridge. In 1938 Degtyarev made a number of changes, most importantly developing a drum magazine based on the Finnish Suomi m31 drum. The PPD-38 drum had a short section of feed tower to allow the gun to use either drums or stick magazines, and this was dropped with the final iteration in 1940 when the gun was again changed, this time to accept only 71-round drum magazines of the m31 type.
The PPD-40 finally entered serious production in 1940, with just over 81,000 made. This production would continue into early 1941 with another roughly 6,000 made before it was replaced by the faster-to-produce PPSh-41 submachine gun. The PPD-40 was a relatively heavy SMG at 12 pounds (5.45 kg) unloaded, and with a rate of fire of approximately 900 rounds per minute. This particular example was captured and used by the Finnish military, and appears to have a PPD38 bolt in it.
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January 9, 2022
A Soviet Offensive Along the Entire Front? – WW2 – 176 – January 8th, 1943
World War Two
Published 8 Jan 2022Things look grim for the Germans, surrounded at Velikie Luki and Stalingrad and with no real help of relief. The Soviets are, in fact, making plans for attacks all along the front, as are the Americans to push the Japanese off of Guadalcanal.
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January 4, 2022
Ayn Rand: The Virtue of Selfishness
Biographics
Published 21 Jan 2021Pretty excited for our first weird comment section of 2021.
Simon’s Social Media:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SimonWhistler
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/simonwhistler/Source/Further reading:
Britannica biography: https://www.britannica.com/biography/…
Biography: https://www.biography.com/writer/ayn-…
American National Biography: https://www.anb.org/view/10.1093/anb/…
Biography via the Ayn Rand Institute: http://aynrandlexicon.com/about-ayn-r…
Claremont Review of Books, two biographies of Ayn Rand: https://claremontreviewofbooks.com/wh…
NY Mag: https://nymag.com/arts/books/features…
Slate, the liberal view, but some good details on her childhood: https://slate.com/culture/2009/11/two…
Rand and religion: https://www.wsj.com/articles/can-you-…
Rand and social security: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/ayn…
Sex in The Fountainhead: https://medium.com/curious/discussing…
February Revolution in Russia: https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/what-w…
October Revolution in Russia: https://www.history.com/topics/russia…
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January 2, 2022
And Now It’s 1943 … – WW2 – 175 – January 1st, 1943
World War Two
Published 1 Jan 2023The attrition cannot continue so the Japanese decide they will evacuate Guadalcanal, conceding the Solomon Islands to the Allies. The Allies are also conceding the Caucasus, and a naval battle in the far north convinces Hitler that he should scrap the entire German surface fleet. 1943 begins ominously for the Axis.
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December 29, 2021
War in Numbers 1942 – WW2 Special
World War Two
Published 28 Dec 2021Quantity had a quality of its own. 1942 was the year in which the dimensions of the Second World War became truly apparent. The US and its unmatched economic power began to outproduce any other warring nation, manufacturing a fleet of ships and aircraft in record time. In the east Soviet industry began recovering itself, producing tens of thousands of tanks despite tremendous losses. All the while the German logistic system got overwhelmed by the vastness of the occupied territory.
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December 26, 2021
A Red Christmas – WW2 – 174 – December 25, 1942
World War Two
Published 25 Dec 2021The Soviet offensive Operation Mars is over; it has failed, but Operation Little Saturn has been such a success that the Axis are forced to cancel their own Operation, Winter Storm, which was to relieve the troops trapped in Stalingrad. They remain trapped because Adolf Hitler has now forbidden them from trying to break out. The Allies run into tough Axis defense in both Tunisia and on Guadalcanal, and a French bigwig is assassinated.
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December 19, 2021
Guadalcanal Life Expectancy: 30 Days- WW2 – 173 – December 18, 1942
World War Two
Published 18 Dec 2021Just a few weeks ago massive offensives were launched in North Africa and the Soviet Union, against the Axis. These operations and offensives have now morphed into fully fledged campaigns, and the nature of these theatres of the war has been transformed.
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December 15, 2021
Is the Wehrmacht Defeated in 1942? – WW2 Special
World War Two
Published 14 Dec 2021It’s late 1942 and the German Army is close to ruin. The Ostheer alone has suffered more than a million casualties in its fight against the Red Army. If the Wehrmacht cannot find a way to return to its former strength or reap decisive strategic benefits in the near future, it will ultimately face destruction in a war of attrition.
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December 12, 2021
One Year Since Pearl Harbor – WW2 – 172 – December 11, 1942
World War Two
Published 11 Dec 2021The Japanese try and fail to supply their starving soldiers. The Allies fail to break through in Tunisia and New Guinea. The fighting in the USSR is bloody, but the Axis prepare for a new offensive there.
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December 9, 2021
Rzhev Meatgrinder: Day-by-Day Recap 02
World War Two
Published 8 Dec 2021It is one of the deadliest battles of the Eastern Front and entire conflict, yet it is often overlooked next to the fighting at Stalingrad. Today, we will take a look at the 1942 Summer Battles of Rzhev.
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December 5, 2021
Axis Armies Facing Starvation – WW2 – 171 – December 4, 1942
World War Two
Published 4 Dec 2021The Soviets have launched offensives on the entire eastern front and by now hundreds of thousands of men are surrounded at Stalingrad. The Japanese win a battle at sea, but are losing a war of attrition.
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November 28, 2021
Bigger Than Uranus? – Mars – WW2 – 170 – November 27 1942
World War Two
Published 27 Nov 2021Last week’s counterattack was just the beginning, for the Soviets launch another giant offensive this week. And things look bad for the Axis powers in the south of the USSR. Meanwhile in France, the French scuttle their navy rather than allow it to fall into German hands.
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November 24, 2021
The Marshall Plan
The Cold War
Published 6 Jul 2019Our series on the history of the Cold War period continues with a documentary on the Marshall Plan and how the USA was able to help in the rebuild of the post-War World and gained valuable allies while doing it
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November 21, 2021
The Red Army Kicks Ass – Operation Uranus! – WW2 – 169 – November 20th, 1942
World War Two
Published 20 Nov 2021After months of stubborn defense the time has finally come for the Soviet counterstroke, but is it in time to save Stalingrad? And can the Allies reach Tunis and take all of North Africa before the Axis can reinforce?
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