STALIN AND HITLER THE GATHERING STORMS OF WW2RUSSIAN HISTORY, CLASS 6, FALL 2010/ SPRING 2011

Russian History – Instructor - Joe Boisvert

Uneasy Allies – Soviet Union – US- England – WW2

Winston Churchill once said that the only thing worse than having allies is not having them. It was an apt description of the tensions that existed between Great Britain, the Soviet Union, and the United States during World War II.

1939 - 1941.

Hitler and Stalin Had Also Been Reluctant Allies before Invasion

Stalin was Stalling for Time Joseph Stalin realized that war with Germany was inevitable. However, to have any chance of victory he needed time to

build up his armed forces. The only way he could obtain time was to do a deal with

Hitler. Stalin was convinced that Hitler would not be foolish enough

to fight a war on two fronts. If he could persuade Hitler to sign a peace treaty with the

Soviet Union, Germany was likely to invade Western Europe instead.

Officially titled the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Soviet Union[ and signed in Moscow in the late hours of 23 August 1939

 It remained in effect until 22 June 1941, when Germany implemented Operation Barbarossa, invading the Soviet Union.

Stalin is surprised and acts poorly in the Beginning of the Was

Germany Invades the Soviet Union

IN THEIR different ways they were as bad as each other, the three monsters of 20th-century Europe. That is an oddly controversial statement. Hitler is almost universally vilified; Lenin remains entombed on Red Square as Russia's most distinguished corpse; and modern Russia is looking more kindly on Stalin's memory.

Honor for Lenin, Ambivalence about Stalin, Vilification for Hitler

Hitler and Stalin were similar in many way in their rise to power.

They were gifted in the ability to use propaganda and brainwash people, which in turn proves that they were both unethical

They desired to make their countries better and stronger by any means. Including killing large segments of their own people.

Both of these men succeeded in doing all of these things. 

Where Stalin and Hitler Similar?

Russia

Germany

EUROPE 1937

The postwar examination of secret papers from Europe clearly show that Britain was trying to draw Germany and the Soviet Union into active hostilities,"

"As early as November 1938, diplomatic missions of a number of countries reported to their departments that Britain and France would not prevent Germany's eastward expansion,

Russian Intelligence Service declassifies Munich Papers

September 1938

Later, on November 25, Grippenberg (Finnish Ambassador) reported his conversation with a British government member who assured him that Britain and France would not interfere in Germany's eastward expansion.

"Britain's position is as follows: let's wait until Germany and the U.S.S.R. get involved in a big conflict," the document reads.

June 22, 1941On a Moscow Street. The announcement that Germany Had attacked Russia

 SPEECH ON THE RADIO THE VICE PRESIDENT OF THE People's Commissars of the USSR and the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs LLC. B. M.  MOLOTOV

The 1941–1945 war between Germany and the Soviet Union was the greatest conflict in history ever fought on a single front.

For almost four years, nine million troops were continually engaged as Germany and its allies Finland, Romania, Hungary, and Italy battled the Soviet Union in total war

For the first eighteen months, the Soviet Union fought this war almost entirely on its own.

The Eastern Front was the critical theatre of the war against Hitler, and Stalingrad its decisive battle. Conditions were unspeakable as hundreds of thousands of men fought yard by yard for possession of the rubble of a city that once housed 850,000 people, through the winter of 1942-43. 

Weapons and vehicle engines froze, food was chronically short and frostbite the common misery of both sides. Stalin's generals were as merciless towards their own men as towards the Germans  -  those who flinched were shot.

Involved in it were the Russians and the German soldiers. Below are some pictures of the men of the Wehrmacht in Russia.

The End