Russia Appreciation Thread

Zhaun_sl said:

So I was curious, after the Nazi's and Russia cut Eastern Europe in half with theMolotov??"Ribbentrop Pact - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaand Russian happily gobbled up their half. Would they have bothered with a war with Nazi Germany if Hitler didn't foolishly attack them? Would Russia happily continue to collude with the Nazi's the rest of the war, considering they were getting so much out of being friendly with them?

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An alliance of convenience, USSR and Nazi Germany both found themselves without ally and friends in the world political stage. Right up to 1938, USSR tried numerous times to set up an alliance with UK and France. All rejected. Will expand. Nazi Germany, an aggressor, sought to limit their war front to one. By Polish invasion, Germany still had France and UK to deal with. To Germany, they somewhat expected that their offense would mimick the Schlieffen Plan "gone wrong" and expected a prolonged war. Except, it didn't. The Blitzkrieg shattered French/British lines into pieces. Army moral quickly deteriorated and central government in Paris panicked. Franco-Prussian War 2.0, except it's an absolute defeat and Hitler was, unlike Bismark, reckless in diplomacy. Soon, they surrendered. Hitler and his Generals did not expect such an absolute victory. They were overjoyed, invincible and indestructable. Vichy Government and African French government in Algeria (Charles de Gaulle) cooperated willingly with Nazi Germany following their defeat. Some resistance, but not enough to make a significant dent.


Political Divide

After a short, brief economic boom after the Great War, the Great Depression began. People lost faith in democracy, free market, and liberty. Spain was a perfect ground for such divide to exist within a single nation. Nazi Germany, Free World (Canada, United States, France, England), and Soviet Union all sent fighters, medical and military supplies to their supposed ideological groups. Franco eventually won, but that is not the focus for this particular part. The significance here is that Spain was a starting point of ideological warfront where each side were not willing to submit and had differing goals and positions.

When Romanov Dynasty collapsed, the western world panicked. Still, they had the Provisional government and hoped for some stability. All that came to a smashing end once Lenin and Trotsky's military ingenuity triumphed over fragmented, il-backed White Army. When Lenin signed the humiliating treaty with German Empire, the Western world lost all contact with Soviet Union. And for Lenin, he did not care for international prestige. He and his Politburo had to solidify and stabilize their country.

Still, such bitter betrayer was not forgotten. Winston Churchill had a spectacular dislike for Soviet Union, right up to the end of WW2 and beyond. And so did many, many British MPs and ministers. All because of Communism and WW1. An alliance prior to WW2 was unthinkable, let alone acceptable. Some even speculates that UK and France allowed Germany to swallow Czechoslovakia, in hopes of open war against Eastern Europe (Poland also took some parts of Czechoslovakia. kaching). Hence, USSR stood alone in the world.

For America, their approach to USSR was quiet different. On one hand, they despised Communism. Yet, they aspired to lead them into enlightenment by example (famine aid).


Eventual Conflict

In Mein Kampf, which was published in 1925 and English in 1935, Hitler's intention against the Eastern Slav was very clear....in that Hitler wanted to swallow Russia whole and make "room" for his German people to spread his Ubermensch. Stalin was not a fool and so were his party. Mein Kampf was translated in small number for party officials to read and dissect. For Stalin to not have known Hitler's intention prior to their non-aggression pact would be stretching. In fact, Stalin did know and made it known to his generals.

Stalin betted on prolonged war in the Western Europe like that of WW1. If their mutual enemies (Germany and Western Europe) would gut themselves to pieces, all the more power to Soviet Union. America, meanwhile, profited fromboth sideswhile the war waged. Biggest winner til 1941 were Soviet Union and United States.

Stalin also understood that Soviet Union was too unprepared for an open, total war against a country such as Nazi Germany. Their military fiasco in Finland was anything but battle ready. An open front warfare against German Wehrmact would've been met with equally harsh and possibly complete defeat like that of World War I. This is why Soviet Union suffered the greatest causality amongst all Allied nations. The officer purge and inadequate military supplies gutted their soldiers into pieces in millions. All they had by Operation Barbarossa was prolonging the war, attrition and American military supplies from the Pacific.

Stalin, after first hearing that Germany has crossed their Polish front, secluded himself from the public for days...fearing the worst. Possibly, depressed. Stalin and his generals knew that the attack was coming, well before the Molotov pact. What they didn't know was when and 1941 was too soon, too early. But that didn't tamper Stalin and Molotov's effort to align themselves with the Fascists and went so far as to suggest Four Power Pact (Germany, Italy, Japan and Soviet Union). What Stalin despised more than Hitler was the West, just as the West despised Communism more than Nazis.

Better Question:

Better question we should ask is, "Why wouldn't Soviet Union align themselves with Nazis?" Soviet Union sought sphere of interest and spoils of war. Old Empires has faded (France and Britain) and now new ones are about to begin. Tis was the exciting time for totalitarian regimes.

i got bored bro. i am iliterate.