Seelow Heights and Battle of Budapest

Great job on both presentations today. They were very insightful along with creative. Beginning with Seelow Heights, I find it interesting how the Soviets pushed through regardless of how many casualties lost. Someone was in it to win, huh? Also, I feel like as American people we tend to focus on our wins. It is good to know that it was not just our "super-power" country that helped win the war. Thanks Soviet Union!
As far as the Battle of Budapest....I loved the art work and slide show. It kept my attention the entire time which is difficult to do so early. Along with the Battle of Seelow Heights, I also find it crazy that no matter how physically and psychologically difficult the battle was on the Soviet Union they were still able to come out on top.

Seelow Heights

I thought the presentations today were both wonderful but I was really intrigued by the presentation of Seelow Heights. I thought it was interesting to see the two different theaters in Europe and how close they were to Berlin. Also I always thought that the Soviet Union was careless and did not care about how many men died. But I never looked at it as just wanting this war to end. The battle by itself seemed to be pretty tough and every inch was fought for. I was wondering during the presentation though what the German fortifications were like. Were they very strong or just huge cement barriers and fortifications? Also at this time did Hitler or his staff think they could get out of this or did they think they were doomed? Overall it was a great presentation though.

Donald Duck Cartoon

I found the Donald Duck cartoon to be very funny. It is interesting what goes on during war time. I like how they had a Japanese and Itailian person in the Nazi band. The picture they were trying to portray is very interesting and to think that Walt Disney made the cartoon adds to it. I wonder how well this cartoon worked. Did people want to go out and fight the Nazis after watching this cartoon? Why doesn't the U.S. government make movies like this now for the war in Iraq?

Seelow Heights

We talked in class about the large number of Soviets that died and I was just wondering if they had to take the Seelow Heights or if they could have gone around. It may have taken longer but they would not have lost as many men. I was just wondering if the Soviets wanted to end the war quickly and going through Seelow Heights was the way to do it or if they could have done it another way. Did Seelow Heights have to be taken to take Germany?

Operation Varsity

This operation seemed kind of daring to try and pull off. It seems the allies were looking for anyway to end the war and as quickly as possible. Everything worked out well and it did help end the war. It just seems like such a massive invasion by air. Tons of planning must have went into getting this plan to work. I find it amazing that it worked as well as it did.

Class 4/7

It was amazing to listen to the woman from "The War" video talking about how everyone back home was pulling for the troops who were surrounded at Bastogne - it was evident that people in the States had a fairly good idea how dire the situation had become. What a relief it must have been to hear that the Allies were finally able to get them food and supplies and ammunition.

The Operation Varsity presentation was well done - I especially enjoyed hearing the "firsts" of this battle - such as the quick release parachute and the size of the dropzone.

Operation Varsity Presentation 4/7

Listening to this presentation I was really impressed with the fact that the Allies' paratroopers were so successful. Visability in the air caused difficulties, and when the paratroopers got on the ground they were outnumbered. Despite the difficulties that they had, they were able to pull off this task. I wonder what reasons caused the commanders to keep going with the operation when it was difficult. An informant had given away their plans and left them without the advantage of surprise. I think that this really shows what America could do if they put thier mind to it.



On the other hand, the German plans to defeat the Allies in the air were not going smoothly either. They could not anticipate the paratrooper's landings like they had wanted to. This also caused problems for their comanders when confusion set in. Was this success for the Allies planned or just luck? Looking at the facts it did not seem that they would have an easy success.