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Sunday
This treaty of non-aggression had the immediate effect of triggering World War II, because it gave the Germans the green light to invade Poland, which they did eight days later.
Had Stalin not come to terms with his arch-enemy, Hitler, there would likely have been no war in Europe, as the Germans did not want to face the Soviets in the east and Britain and France in the west at the same time. Had Hitler decided to fight anyway, the German army would likely have deposed him, as they were prepared to do in 1938 had war broken out over Austria.
Mind you, the army by no means wanted peace; they wanted war on favorable terms, and a two-front war against the Soviets and the west was all too reminiscent of the 1914-18 war that ended badly for Germany.
Stalin, however, gave Hitler what he wanted: the freedom to concentrate on one front at a time. Stalin assumed, as virtually everyone else at the time did, that something like the stalemate of 1914-18 would result, exhausting both sides and leaving the Soviets as the dominant power on the continent. But it didn't turn out that way; the Germans quickly smashed the numerically superior French army and pushed the British into the sea.
And then, on June 22, 1941, Hitler invaded the Soviet Union. Conveniently, Stalin had had most of his generals shot in 1937 and 1938, and this should have been the end of him, had the Germans behaved less brutally toward the population of the areas they occupied. But Hitler took his racist bullshit too seriously, and so alienated people whose support he needed. Believing his power and resources to be unlimited, and his nation specially favored above all others, he took on too many enemies. He destroyed himself, Germany, and millions of innocent people in a pointless crusade.
Have I ever said how much I hate pointless crusades -- especially when they get lots of people killed just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time?
For that matter, Czechoslovakia alone might have stopped Hitler in 1938 by choosing to fight instead of accepting the Munich compromise. The Czechs were not the Poles, and the German army of 1938 was not yet the German army of 1939.
I've ranted on too long, and it is my bedtime.
Had Stalin not come to terms with his arch-enemy, Hitler, there would likely have been no war in Europe, as the Germans did not want to face the Soviets in the east and Britain and France in the west at the same time. Had Hitler decided to fight anyway, the German army would likely have deposed him, as they were prepared to do in 1938 had war broken out over Austria.
Mind you, the army by no means wanted peace; they wanted war on favorable terms, and a two-front war against the Soviets and the west was all too reminiscent of the 1914-18 war that ended badly for Germany.
Stalin, however, gave Hitler what he wanted: the freedom to concentrate on one front at a time. Stalin assumed, as virtually everyone else at the time did, that something like the stalemate of 1914-18 would result, exhausting both sides and leaving the Soviets as the dominant power on the continent. But it didn't turn out that way; the Germans quickly smashed the numerically superior French army and pushed the British into the sea.
And then, on June 22, 1941, Hitler invaded the Soviet Union. Conveniently, Stalin had had most of his generals shot in 1937 and 1938, and this should have been the end of him, had the Germans behaved less brutally toward the population of the areas they occupied. But Hitler took his racist bullshit too seriously, and so alienated people whose support he needed. Believing his power and resources to be unlimited, and his nation specially favored above all others, he took on too many enemies. He destroyed himself, Germany, and millions of innocent people in a pointless crusade.
Have I ever said how much I hate pointless crusades -- especially when they get lots of people killed just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time?
For that matter, Czechoslovakia alone might have stopped Hitler in 1938 by choosing to fight instead of accepting the Munich compromise. The Czechs were not the Poles, and the German army of 1938 was not yet the German army of 1939.
I've ranted on too long, and it is my bedtime.