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[Frumple]

What's the benefit?

Herpes pandemic for the undesirables among your country?

[smjjames]

I still just can't understand how any well-thinking Russian would actually believe that NATO has any interest at all to take over Russia.

NATO countries don't exactly have a good track on not taking over (or regime-changing, or invading, or destroying the government of) other countries. Many people in Russia fear that, if Russian military is not strong enough, some NATO countries might decide to do the same to Russia, under the pretense of "liberating Russians from the evil dictator Putin".

Oh come on, you can say that for all of Europe anyhow, just look at the history of the freaking region including Russia, all the way to the fall of Rome.

Yes, I do realize that you're actually talking about end of WWII onwards.

[Morrigi]

I meant it as a general drawback of invading countries: If you're not the Wehrmacht, the people there remain. Why invade France, for example, if it's already full of French people? What's the benefit?

The Wehrmacht was a paragon of morality and discipline compared to certain S.S. units, which were behind most of the massacres, village-burnings, and rounding up people for the camps.

[Descan]

I think he was generally talking about the Nazi policy of extermination-and-settlement of the Lebensraum with good, proper German settlers.

[Ukrainian Ranger]

For one, the increase in presence of actual NATO troops in Europe will reinforce the internal propaganda campaign that NATO wants to take over Russia.

Russian propaganda campaigns need no reinforcing. If Putin considers that he needs such propaganda 99% of Russians will believe in 100500 NATO divisions just because TV said so.

[BlindKitty]

I meant it as a general drawback of invading countries: If you're not the Wehrmacht, the people there remain. Why invade France, for example, if it's already full of French people? What's the benefit?

The Wehrmacht was a paragon of morality and discipline compared to certain S.S. units, which were behind most of the massacres, village-burnings, and rounding up people for the camps.

Unless you care for more grassroot rape, plunder, murders etc., which Wehrmacht excelled at east of Odra river. Also, the Einsatzgruppen/Einsatzkommando were not technically SS, they just operated under their administration, but that's probably splitting hairs.

We don't have good memories about Wehrmacht here in Poland. They were only marginally better than Soviets/other Russians, but only because they had their own food and didn't really need to steal watches all the time.

[Sheb]

Breaking News. Nazi weren't nice. More news at 11.

[Helgoland]

The 'The Wehrmacht was clean story' is a revisionist one, with just as little truth as the Dolchstoß one after the preceding war.

[Guardian G.I.]

For one, the increase in presence of actual NATO troops in Europe will reinforce the internal propaganda campaign that NATO wants to take over Russia.

Russian propaganda campaigns need no reinforcing. If Putin considers that he needs such propaganda 99% of Russians will believe in 100500 NATO divisions just because TV said so.

In the 1990s, Russian television was under control of pro-Western liberals - it constantly droned about the horrors of communism and how the Western world is superior to Russia in all respects. If Russians are so gullible they'd believe everything Channel One says, why the liberal propaganda didn't affect them in the 1990s?

The 'The Wehrmacht was clean story' is a revisionist one, with just as little truth as the Dolchstoß one after the preceding war.

I still wonder why many Western documentaries (especially old English ones) are so focused on the actions (and I'd even say are clearly sympathetic) towards Nazi Germany when they describe the Eastern Front. I suppose it's the legacy of the Cold War.

EDIT: slightly clarified my position.

[Sheb]

Didn't they believe it though?

[Helgoland]

Because when you ignore all the Jew-killing and people-exterminating the rise and fall of Nazi Germany makes for a pretty awesome story: The country rises from the depths of defeat, united by a common idea  burning in their hearts - breaking down the defenses of their old enemies without much effort, achieving in a couple weeks what others took years to do - and then taking on the giant country to the east, a place with vast and incredible reserves of industry and population, ruled by a dictator and an idea the same way - and it almost won...

[Loud Whispers]

Yeah other than the genocide and starting the apocalypse the Nazis were all right

[Sheb]

I was referring to Russians in the 1990's believing that the West was the land of unicorns and rainbows.

[Loud Whispers]

Nazis: The Lannisters of history

[Guardian G.I.]

I was referring to Russians in the 1990's believing that the West was the land of unicorns and rainbows.

Shortly before the collapse of the Union, many did - 1990 Levada Centre's opinion polls showed that more than 80% of people supported the United States, for example. The 1990s sobered them up, and the NATO assault on Serbia in 1999 and the wars with Afghanistan and Iraq removed the last illusions of America being a benevolent world power.