Costs of Success

Out of all of The Allies, there was one country that was a true power-house: the U.S.S.R. At the peak of the war, the Soviets had roughly seven million soldiers (four-hundred-ninety-one divisions). This massive amount of troops made it one of the strongest of The Allies, and enabled the Soviets to gain back land using sheer brute-force. Not only did it gain back all of their land, but also Poland, and parts of Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria. Not to mention, towards the end of the war, the U.S.S.R managed to push Germany back to its own borders. Meanwhile, the other allies didn't recover near as much land. However, so much success comes at a cost. By the end of WWII, the U.S.S.R lost and estimate of seventeen million civilians and twelve million soldiers, for a not-so-grand total of twenty nine million casualties. This is roughly five times more than the country with the second-most casualties: Germany (about five-and-a-half million). Which is ironic, considering Germany was on the losing side. Which brings us to the cliché, and yet all important, question: Was it really worth the cost? I would say not, seeing as they lost more than the losing side did.