It was the first army of WOMEN and men, that first defeated Adolf Hitler

I know I am playing catch-up on this, but I have wanted to write in honor of International Women’s Month, all month ??. The delay was ironically rewarded this weekend when we all witnessed women rallying together for one of them who had unfortunately been shamed for a misfortune she did not bring upon herself. I am proud to have been part of it and to have been alive to witness this stride in favor of justice.

That said, history vividly reminds us of what happens when an all-inclusive nation comes under attack, they win!

We all know or have heard about the fierce fuhrer, whose yearn for wealth and resources (especially oil) for his country led to the second World War, the tyrannical Australian-born, fire spitting (I hate watching his speeches), German Nazi leader, Adolf Hitler who needless to say assumed absolute authority. History refers to him as a domineering administrator of the war.

The fuhrer conquered and occupied several countries during the initial phases of the war and Europe feared him and his administration, safe from the stubborn then Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Sir. Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill, KG,OM,CH,TD,DL,FRS,RA, who could not stand him. The Soviet Union (you can loosely read this as Russia) leader cautiously became a German ally at the onset of the war until Hitler turned on him, immediately after a joint conquest, which was not a surprise for the then Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. Important to note, as Stalin was busy settling in the just conquered state, Poland, Hitler was plotting against him.

After several conquests, Hitler turned his attention to the Soviet Union, the ‘lesser’ people because, who are Slavs? The lesser children of the Most High, what war can they win? With minimal planning and reckless confidence, anticipating an 8 weeks battle at most, the undefeated Hitler sent his 6th Army to attack Stalingrad (now Volgograd in Southern Russia), especially because it was the industrial city supplying tanks and armaments to Soviet countries, sat on the banks of river Volga and even more importantly bore Stalin’s name, ego, huh! In Hitler’s words, ‘destiny points us there’.

On the other hand, Stalin notified his people on the oncoming war, at a time when his army, the Red Army, had lost to aggressors and the Slavs had no confidence in them. The unlikely happened, one million Soviet Union women volunteered to join the army. They acknowledged that the Red Army needed more people and there were not enough men to join them. They started crush training in active combat including tank crews, snippers, gunners, fighter pilots, nurses etc.

Now as one big army of men and women, the Red Army started digging anti-trucks trenches, burning down their city to make it hard for the Germans to advance as fast as they were used to because of the debris among other war tactics that the Germans had not encountered before.

When the 6th Army attacked, they were shocked to see women at the front line taking up active combat because back home, women were exalted by the Nazis as mothers and homemakers, the Slavs brought theirs to war, how denatured they must be. This alone slowed them down, they knew that they were not only against an army, but a people. At this point, the famous rat’s war began. The Slavs had a clear strategy, to get as close as they could to the Germans to minimise air raids and make use of the debris because Germans were used to fighting in open fields. The war lasted 5 months with the Red Army defeating Hitler’s 6th Army, the bloodiest battle in the history of warfare, the first to have women in active combat.

Notably, the Red Army women made great snippers because generally, women are precise and patient, the two attributes that make terrific snippers. Lilia Litvyak, a Yak fighter pilot (most modern soviet fighter jets of the day) went on to become the highest scoring female ace in the war. I write this to help you understand just how much more we can achieve as a nation and a people with gender inclusivity.

The lioness too, roars!

MK’s World!