Bart,
First off, I'm a big fan. Second, I'm going to try to be polite because, as you say, that counts.
You're my favorite kind of American: funny, smart, liberal, open-minded, enthusiastic about
the things you like (Chinaco, corn etc).
But it looks like you've absorbed some pretty bad propaganda here. I'll take it point for point.

>Russia held on because of the weather.

That's only part of the reason. As your Project 60 shows, the Germans really overestimated their successes in Russia.
They thought the Russians only had 30 effective divisions, when in fact they had 180. The "scorched earth" policy
worked well. But one highly overlooked fact is that Blitzkrieg doesn't work well in a country 50 times the size of
France with a very bad road infrastructure. Russia won this war for the Allies, no doubt about it. The weather
helped some, but it was Stalin's brutal pushing of his troops that kept the Germans locked up.

>England held on because the german tanks couldn't cross the English channel.

They held on because Hitler knew that every landing he would try would become another Omaha beach if he
didn't smash British defences from the air. But the Brits had radar, so they knew where Goering's bombing raids
were coming from. So they sent up the Spitfire fighters to destroy the waves.

>The non-frozen land-locked countries fell in days, not months.

Hitler knew Switzerland would be very difficult to beat, and it's totally landlocked.

>There was not much offense in Europe, only defense.

Again, it depends if you call Russia Europe of not. They turned the war to their favor almost on their own, with damn
little real help from the UK or the USA. Also, remember Italy was invaded from Africa, with big British involvement.

>Europe was being pounded, holding on, waiting for a miracle.
>They were against the ropes, being beaten senseless
>...and then we joined the fight and shoved it up Hitler's ass.

Whoa, there Bart. If Russia hadn't kicked Germany's ass, then Hitler would have been free to crush the American
forces in Europe and Africa. Remember, if he took Russia, he'd have access to Russian oil. Plus all their other
mineral wealth. In fact, it's likely that, if Russia had become part of the 3rd reich, Hitler and the Japanese would
stage a double-pincer attack on the Americas. Probably invading Brazil and Argentina first, then moving up.

Hey, I realise you wrote this on the 4th of July. But in the cold light of day, you have to accept that Stalin's
20 million dead kamikaze-type troops won the day. America helped, big time; but Russia won it.

Dee Luigi
 

 Dee, thanks for the education.
 That's why I said up-front I didn't know much about it.
 When Project 60 is finished, in 2005, I'll know a lot more.