OT: If Ukraine and Russia make peace, who keeps the Russian occupied land?

Because you were opposing Japan's expansion into China and Germany was their ally?

The vast majority, 96%, were lost after you joined the war. At least some of the 344 who died before 1942 were probably serving on British ships. Most British ships had mixed nationality crew as we simply had too many merchant ships to crew only with Britons. Some of them may even have volunteered to join British ships to aid the war effort, as many Americans in the UK did. Nine American pilots flew in the Battle of Britain and there was even an American Home Guard unit. Lots of Americans chose to fight for the allies before Pearl Harbour, but as individuals, not as representatives of the US government.

Would you pay much attention to a US president whose failed policies led to the dissolution of the US? Gorbachev's life's work was a disaster.

Was WWI ever paid off?

That was 10 years after the end of WWI when Britain wasn't paying up.

That brings up an interesting in the context of the thread. Prior to 2014 the Ukraine was the poorest and most corrupt nation in Europe by all accounts. Since then they have received billions in cash and materiel. Is that all a write off?

Even stipulating peace breaks out and the Ukraine gets all the territory it claims back, what is the incentive for the costly rebuilding of a country that couldn't make a decent living in the first place? If the IMF gets their hands on them they will wish Russia had won.

The sound of barrels being scraped is deafening

Can we have the USA back please?

Utter bollocks. Russia takes that prize every time.

And yes, Muscovy is part of Europe.

This 2023 and Kissinger is a product of a bygone era. There is no reason to cede authority on this issue to Kissinger or Putin

Ukraine is not interested in becoming a dictatorship

PACE recognises Russia as a dictatorship

They were on American Ships.

Here is a run down:

The Russian Empire collapsed in 1917. If you don't know the difference between that and the CCCP perhaps you should play elsewhere.

I was under the impression that, until the USA entered the war, Congress required that supplies for the allies should travel only on allied ships. However, that is from memory and might only have applied to Lease-Lend supplies, rather than purely commercial transactions.

I would be interested to know how 103 American ships could be attacked without it being taken as an act of war against the USA. Were they, for example, ignoring government advice not to enter a war zone?

The point is that is is relatively silly to look at the past and try and either create reparations about it or try to undo it. One country becomes part of another either because it wants to, or at least doesn't care, or because it is conquered and smashed until it gives up. Or its populations is simply killed. We have all done it. We have all had it done to us.

In the case of Ukraine they had a referendum and they decided they wanted to be independent. A sort of Ukrainian version of Brexit. Russia agreed, and that was that.

Why is happening now is precisely equivalent to the EU sending tanks into southern Ireland to take over Northern Ireland, then scotland and finally England.

We all know they would like to, but fortunately no one trusts them with an army.

The EU is composed of bunch of countries who have all had respectable armies for quite a while, and still have them.

They have combined to act in former Yugoslavia and in Libya. The main reason that they didn't use force to undo Brexit was that they were happy to get rid of partner country that was not only unwilling to pull it's weight, but also too economically pathetic to be able to pull much weight even if it had wanted to.

Nathan Hale, John Andre... I'm sure there were others.

Yeah, it was a kinder, gentler time.

Nor were cities leveled by artillery.

Not from lack of trying. When the British batteries opened fire with heated shot during the siege of Charleston they weren't too concerned with civilian deaths and property damage. At least they weren't flinging corpses with trebuchets.

Between technological advances and the changes in warfare it has become harsher. It's difficult to establish the point where civilians became fair game. When Harris and Lindemann decided it was safer to bomb civilian housing to reduce the workforce rather than go after the heavily protected factories it was a step forward. Truman turned it into a fine art.

Umm. Not exactly. In the old days, a common way to pay a successful army was to allow it to sack the conquered city. The Sack of Magdeburg is historic, but it was common practice since ancient times.

.

Plunder commonly included treasure and slaves, especially nubile ones.

Joe Gwinn

The "Russian Empire" being replaced with the "Soviet Empire", arguably one the two worst tyrannies foist on humanity. (Rome being the other one.)

It is understandable that folks get the two empires mixed up. The replacement was worse than the original.

I am steeling your Churchill quote.

Here are my two Churchill quotes:

You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life.

-- Winston Churchill

I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.

--Winston Churchill

Oh gawd, another whiny lefty 'protest' song...

The Almanac Singers had to revise their playlist.

He was pulling my chair. He is allowed.