The Devils' Alliance Hiter's Pact with Stalin 1939-1941 (Penguin Random House UK , 2014) by Roger Moorhouse is a terrific must read book. In this review I will offer highlights from the book followed by my commentary. Direct quotes from the book will appear in italics.
My intent is to approach this book review from the standpoint of current events. The reader will find my commentary is tilted towards currents events in the Ukraine and future projected events in Western Europe. I will touch upon the atrocities committed by the Soviets and Nazis during the time frame covered by the book.
I will start off my review by mentioning the key players involved with the Nazi-Soviet Pact (hereafter the Pact). The two main actors are of course Adolf Hitler (1889 -1945) the Nazi Dictator of Germany and Joseph Stalin (1878 – 1953) the ruler of the Soviet Union. Both Hitler and Stalin require no further introduction to the reader.
Joachim Ribbentrop (1893- 1946) was a former Champange Salesman dressed up as Hitler's foreign minster. Arrogance and vanity put his fellow high ranking of the Nazi regime off Ribbentrop. Signing the pact was the high point in his career as Germany's Foreign Minster. Ribbentrop's Soviet counterpart was Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov (1890 -1986).
At the heart of the Pact was a secret agreement/protocol (hereafter the Protocol) that saw Germany approve the Soviet territorial expansion into Eastern Europe. Poland was to be divided between the Germany and the Soviet Union. Eastern Poland and the Baltic States were in the swath of real estate the Soviets virtually gained in one stroke. The Soviets also claimed Finland as part of their sphere of influence ( Refer to the Winter War below.)
Hitler and Germany's motivations for seeking the pact were driven by economics and geopolitics. Hitler had to secure his Eastern Flank. The author conveys to the reader how Nazi Germany's idealogical/racial thinking was directed towards the Soviet Union. The than present day re-imagining of the old Drang nach Osten (Eastwards expansion/colonisation) was the idealogical driver behind Hilter's actions.
The humiliation from Germany's defeat in the first world war looms large. Historians have placed the majority of the historical documentation on the victors of WW1 imposing the Treaty of Versailles on Germany. I am not going to dwell on the humiliation felt by the German people in the wake of Versailles as it has been well documented elsewhere.
The territorial loss Germany accepted under the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was no less humiliating than the later ground lost under Versailles. Under the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk Germany had seceded a considerable amount of real estate to Russia. At the time Germany and Russia had very compelling reasons to sign the treaty. The Bolsheviks had to end their countries involvement in the on going conflict because they knew a fight was in hand to defeat the White/Czarist regime. Germany's military situation warranted the transfer of the large number of troops from the Eastern to the Western Front.
Germany's economic position at least in the short term had to be addressed. By 1939 Germany had what we would today call a large government deficit. Germany's deficit amounted to two billion Reichmarks in 1930's money. The Reichsbank managed the early period of the crises by printing money without any thought to the inevitable inflationary effect. In 1938 the New York Times reported a inflationary spike or hammer in inflationary spike was coming. The hammer's handle was the 40% increase in money in circulation in the past year.
I believe the German economy was in the position where either Hitler took the country to war or face complete economic collapse. Naturally as a dictator Hitler didn't take kindly to the Reichbank advising him to renew Germany's economic focus on export markets. Hitler's response was to sack the director of the Reichbank Hjalmar Schacht. This proved to be Hitler's thanks to Schacht for engineering Germany “economic recovery.”
Concurrently the Soviet Union economic needs and exports aligned with Germany's own requirements. The Soviet Union under Stalin had industrialised to a extent that nobody under the Czarist regime could have imagined. Still the Soviet's had struggled to develop and import components like machine tools the wheels that keep industrial plants running. Also the Soviets had encountered the same difficulties with military technology in areas like aviation.
Hitler and his hierarchy were aware of the effects the Royal Navy's blockade had on the acute food shortages Germany suffered during the first war. When Germany engaged in total warfare against Poland and Western Europe a source of foodstuffs that wasn't subject to the Royal Navy's blockade was a necessity. The Soviet Union was a exporter of foodstuffs at that time and shared a land border with Germany.
On 20 August 1939 3 days before the signing of the Pact a commercial agreement was signed between Germany and the Soviet Union. In today's terms the two nations had signed a trade agreement. Under the trade agreement the Soviets pledged to supplying 180 million Reichmarks of raw materials. In return Germany would provide 120 Reichmarks of industrial equipment. A credit line of 200 million was extended to Moscow backed by the German government with a 4.5% interest rate to be repaid by 1946 in raw materials.
In late October 1939 a Soviet economic mission toured Germany to draw shopping list of military hardware. The Soviet delegation arrived with empty suitcases to fill up with consumer goods that weren't available at home. The Germans without held the true state of their aviation and other military related technology from the Soviet delegation. Despite touring many sites including BMW in Munich, Mersserschmitt in Augsberg , Junkers in Dessau and Focke-Wulf in Bremen.
The delegation wasn't shown the Focke-Wulf 190 (Still under development at the time) and the new jet engine technology that was being worked on by Junkers and Heinkel. German businessman travelled to Moscow only to find they hit a wall of Soviet red tape and the suspension of trading applications. Concerning the trade agreement Soviet negotiators sensed they had the upper hand knowing Germany needed the commercial agreement more than they ever did. I believe knowing what we do today about the state of the German's economy there is every reason to think the Soviets were really on the eight ball.
The author outlines how Germany was already facing pressures on the supply of foodstuffs and oil before the invasion of Poland. After the subsequent victories Hitler's military juggernaut wracked up in the low countries and France many observers mistakenly inflated the amount of Soviet supplied fuel in use by the Wehrmacht.
One author suggested : Gurderian's tanks operated largely on Soviet Petrol as they dashed for the sea at Abbeville, the bombs that levelled Rotterdam contained Soviet guncotton and the bullets that strafed British Tommies wading to the boats at Dunkirk were sheathed in Soviet cupro – nickel. At this time Soviet delivers of fuel and military supplies were only be delivered to Germany in a trickle.
How the ex Kriegsmarine cruiser Lützow came to symbolise the unease and strained relationships the pact had formed comes across in the book and my interview with the author. Under the Pact the the partially completed Lützow was transferred to the Soviets for completion and eventual operational service. Space considerations mean I will leave these parts of the book to the reader.
One author suggested : Gurderian's tanks operated largely on Soviet Petrol as they dashed for the sea at Abbeville, the bombs that levelled Rotterdam contained Soviet guncotton and the bullets that strafed British Tommies wading to the boats at Dunkirk were sheathed in Soviet cupro – nickel. At this time Soviet delivers of fuel and military supplies were only be delivered to Germany in a trickle.
How the ex Kriegsmarine cruiser Lützow came to symbolise the unease and strained relationships the pact had formed comes across in the book and my interview with the author. Under the Pact the the partially completed Lützow was transferred to the Soviets for completion and eventual operational service. Space considerations mean I will leave these parts of the book to the reader.
Before I go on any further I will touch upon the Winter War. The author touches on the Winter War as it ran concurrently to a part of the time frame covered in the book. Under the Pact Hitler acknowledged Finland would under the Soviet spear of occupation. Finland geography offered the advantages of a Arctic like Winter and defensible terrain. Baltic States like Estonia didn't enjoy these advantages and they have very little real estate to military fall back upon. I will come back to the Baltic States in a moment.
The Winter War is worth sticking with for a moment. The performance of the Soviet Army stood out for me in the book the reasons for this will become clear to the reader. Ill-equipped Soviet soldiers found themselves fighting against well prepared defensive positions in temperatures of minus -40C. There is no denying in a twist of historical irony: What be-felled the Soviet Army cold weather experiences would hit the Wehrmacht during Operation Barbarossa.
Stalin's purge of the senior Soviet military commanders was now coming back to haunt him. 85% of the Soviet Army's top brass had fallen victim to the purge. The remaining 15% and the officers who replaced the dead were Stalin loyalists. A doctrine based around WW1 frontal assaults , poor leadership and a training regime all hampered the Soviet Army.
The author covers how Soviet forces stuttered into a stalemate in Finland under the command of General Alexsei Vinogradov. For his troubles Vinogradov was court martialled and executed by the NKVD. Vinogradov replacement Marshal Semyon Timoshenko restored a sufficient degree of military competency to bring about a successful offensive against Finish forces.
The Winter War ended when Finland accepted Stalin's fairy moderate terms. Finland seceded Karelia including the city of Viipuri to Moscow. The Hanko Peninsula at the Western end of the Gulf of Finland was leased to the Soviets for use as a naval base for a 30 year period. Finland escaped a Soviet Puppet government/Soviet Occupation something that has gone unnoticed by scholars.
Chapter 3 Sharing the Spoils is where the reader will find how Germany and the Soviet Union sliced up the map of Eastern Europe. I will deal with Nazi and Soviet atrocities later on below in this review. Estonia was the first country to feel the weight of the Pact. Stalin's play for Estonia was based on the claim that countries government was unable to “keep order in its country.”
The Soviets perceived the Polish Submarine Orzel escape from Tallinn as a “provocation.” The Red Air Force violated Estonia Air Space while undertaking reconnaissance and Red Army amassed on Estonia's eastern border. Confronting this situation was the Estonian Foreign Minster Karl Selter. Selter was in the unenviable situation of meeting with Molotov in late September of 1939.
Molotov demanded Estonia join the Soviet Union in a “Mutual Assistance Pact.” Of Course in reality agreeing to the Pact would mean Estonia would be caving into Soviet occupation. As the Soviet play book demanded Molotov in the fashion of a theatre actor read from a memorised script that contained lines like: “We are not going to force Communism on Estonia.” and“ Estonia will retain her independence , her government , parliament, foreign and domestic policy, army and economic system.”
Molotov responded to Selter rejecting Soviet demands by move onto Act 2. Molotov response to Shelter was “The Soviet Union is now a great power whose interests need to be taken into consideration... If you do not want to conclude a mutual assistance pact then we will have to guarantee our security in other ways , perhaps more drastic , perhaps more complicated. I ask you: do not compel us to use force against Estonia.
I like how the author states: If Selter had the impression of being of being a mouse caught in the claws of a playfully malevolent cat , he would not have been far wrong. Selter stalled for time by requested leave to discuss the proposal with his government. Molotov tried to have him undertake the conversation via a phone call. As Selter was leaving the meeting Molotov told him “ I advise you to yield to the wishes of the Soviet Union in order to avoid something worse.”
The Estonian government had signed a Non Aggression with Germany in 1939 . In what seemed not a unreasonable expectation the Estonian government requested diplomatic assistance from Germany. When no assistance from Germany was forthcoming Selter was instructed to obtain the best possible terms from the Soviets. In the final agreement the existence of Estonia's sovereignty was fatally undermined by permitting Soviet military bases on their bases on their soil.
The other Baltic states saw the writing on the wall and would also fall under Soviet domination. Molotov would use the same tactics that were so successful at extending the Soviet umbrella. Specifically: The incident of a Junior Red Army Officer being kidnapped and dying in mysterious was the provocation to place the cross hairs over Lithuania.
In more “normal” times the disappearance of a Red Army solider wouldn't have amounted to more than a newspaper story. The way the German war machine was tearing through France in May – June of 1940 was no ordinary time. French and British Armies were in retreat across France ruling out any assistance to Lithuania from those countries. Like they were falling under a domino effect , Lithuania would fall under Soviet Control.
Under the terms of the Pact Germany accepted the Soviet Union's territorial hegemony over Eastern Europe. Notable elections were used by the Soviets in the Baltic States to legitimatise their occupation. Only candidates who were pro Soviet were permitted to stand in the elections. The other candidates were removed from the ballot and arrested. The results of the elections were announced in Moscow before the polls closed with around 97% of the “votes” in favour of Soviet puppet leaders or just outright occupation.
I will cover a few other matters of great importance before I move onto the atrocities that were committed under the Pact. Reading the book I was struck by how Stalin was eyeing the take over of Western Europe. Stalin was relaying on a WW1 stalemate developing in France and being able to capitalise on the France ,United Kingdom and Germany running out of manpower. Soviet forces could have than over run Germany , the Low Countries and France.
The fall of France threw Stalin's grand master plan into the English Channel. Stalin was caught off guard and never understood the magnitude of how balance of military power had shifted after the Fall of France.
As a WW2 buff I was fascinated by General Georgy Zhukov (1896-1974) role during the time the pact was in effect. In Moscow during the winter of 1940 the temperate was -38.8C , Zhukov perhaps got a even frostier reception at a high command conference.
In contrast to previous years , Stalin had ordered the conferences remit to be expanded to cover all aspects of Red Army doctrine , organisation and training; consequently invitations had been sent out not only to the members of the high command , but also to many others including members of the military districts as well as army divisional and corps commanders.
A total of 270 Red Air Force and the Red Army Commanders were expected to be represented at the Conference. Stalin himself didn't attend the conference. Andrei Zhdanov a confederate at the Politburo of reported the proceedings to Stalin every evening.
Six speakers outlined the failings of the Red Army that had been put on displayed during the start of the Winter War. Zhukov advocated for the Red Army a strategy/doctrine similar to blitzkrieg. Perhaps it can be said Zhukov advocated for a Modern mechanised Army as much as he could without running the risk of arrest and execution by the NKVD. Lieutenant General Filipp Golikov who will pop again later was a vocal critic of Zhukov's ideas.
The British Government's response to the Soviet Unions participation in the Pact and later occupation of Eastern Poland was complicated by public opinion. The feeling among the general public was of sympathy and the UK government forming a closer alliance with the Soviet Union could have stopped Hitler's aggression. Not everyone shared in such sentiment. One individual by the name of “Chips” Channon was of the thought the Soviets were engaged in a grand conspiracy and the globe was committing suicide.
Before I read the book I wasn't aware of the extent of the favourable British public opinion towards the Soviet Union. I was aware the sentiment had been around. Thanks to the author I now have a better understanding of the public mood in the years leading up to WW2. My feeling is that historians have subconsciously ignored the Pro Soviet public opinion because it is difficult to reconcile with actions of the Soviets under the Pact and even later on in the Cold War.
I will now turn my attention to the atrocities committed by the Nazis and the Soviets during the time of the Pact. I wish to stress that I in no way wish to diminish the atrocities by not giving them a great deal of space. For some reason many authors haven't documented the population movement that took place as the Soviets and Nazis consolidated their hold on Poland. Jews, a minority of communists fled the Nazi controlled areas under the illusion Soviet Poland would provide them with a sanctuary.
In fact a remarkable symmetry emerged between the occupation policies adopted by the Nazis and the Soviets, with both sides using very similar methods for dealing with their respective conquered populations. Just as the Germans were effectively 'decapitating' Polish Society in the west , so the Soviets were doing the same in their area of occupation. : measures adopted against the racial enemy in one half of Poland were virtually indistinguishable from those applied to the class enemy in the other.
Below I will take two examples of the atrocities. From the above paragraph the reader I trust will have gathered that both Nazism and Communism employed the same kind of tyranny.
On page 55 the reader will find details of the Soviet murdering Polish POW in Katyn. Out of 400,000 Polish POW's the Soviets screened out 15,000 for execution by the NKVD. A screening process took place designed around interrogation and political screening of individuals. The prisoners mistakenly thought they were being screened before being released.
Similarly on page 45 the reader will find how the Nazis started to commit atrocities before the Polish campaign was over. Special units – Einsatzgruppen followed front line units in committing war crimes under the old guise of cleaning up resistance. Later on Special Squads as they become known would become synonymous with the Russian Front.
I will now turn to what a eyewitness would recall.
The first victims of the campaign were a number of boy scouts, from twelve to sixteen years of age, who were set up in a marketplace against a wall and shot. No reason was given. A devoted priest who rushed to administer the Last Sacrament was shot too... Among the [other] victims was a man whom I knew was to ill to take part in politics or public affairs. When the execution took place he was too weak to stand, and down , they beat him and dragged him again to his feet. Another of the victims was a boy of seventeen, the only son of a surgeon who had died the year before... We never heard of what the poor lad was accused.
The fall of France threw Stalin's grand master plan into the English Channel. Stalin was caught off guard and never understood the magnitude of how balance of military power had shifted after the Fall of France.
As a WW2 buff I was fascinated by General Georgy Zhukov (1896-1974) role during the time the pact was in effect. In Moscow during the winter of 1940 the temperate was -38.8C , Zhukov perhaps got a even frostier reception at a high command conference.
In contrast to previous years , Stalin had ordered the conferences remit to be expanded to cover all aspects of Red Army doctrine , organisation and training; consequently invitations had been sent out not only to the members of the high command , but also to many others including members of the military districts as well as army divisional and corps commanders.
A total of 270 Red Air Force and the Red Army Commanders were expected to be represented at the Conference. Stalin himself didn't attend the conference. Andrei Zhdanov a confederate at the Politburo of reported the proceedings to Stalin every evening.
Six speakers outlined the failings of the Red Army that had been put on displayed during the start of the Winter War. Zhukov advocated for the Red Army a strategy/doctrine similar to blitzkrieg. Perhaps it can be said Zhukov advocated for a Modern mechanised Army as much as he could without running the risk of arrest and execution by the NKVD. Lieutenant General Filipp Golikov who will pop again later was a vocal critic of Zhukov's ideas.
The British Government's response to the Soviet Unions participation in the Pact and later occupation of Eastern Poland was complicated by public opinion. The feeling among the general public was of sympathy and the UK government forming a closer alliance with the Soviet Union could have stopped Hitler's aggression. Not everyone shared in such sentiment. One individual by the name of “Chips” Channon was of the thought the Soviets were engaged in a grand conspiracy and the globe was committing suicide.
Before I read the book I wasn't aware of the extent of the favourable British public opinion towards the Soviet Union. I was aware the sentiment had been around. Thanks to the author I now have a better understanding of the public mood in the years leading up to WW2. My feeling is that historians have subconsciously ignored the Pro Soviet public opinion because it is difficult to reconcile with actions of the Soviets under the Pact and even later on in the Cold War.
I will now turn my attention to the atrocities committed by the Nazis and the Soviets during the time of the Pact. I wish to stress that I in no way wish to diminish the atrocities by not giving them a great deal of space. For some reason many authors haven't documented the population movement that took place as the Soviets and Nazis consolidated their hold on Poland. Jews, a minority of communists fled the Nazi controlled areas under the illusion Soviet Poland would provide them with a sanctuary.
In fact a remarkable symmetry emerged between the occupation policies adopted by the Nazis and the Soviets, with both sides using very similar methods for dealing with their respective conquered populations. Just as the Germans were effectively 'decapitating' Polish Society in the west , so the Soviets were doing the same in their area of occupation. : measures adopted against the racial enemy in one half of Poland were virtually indistinguishable from those applied to the class enemy in the other.
Below I will take two examples of the atrocities. From the above paragraph the reader I trust will have gathered that both Nazism and Communism employed the same kind of tyranny.
On page 55 the reader will find details of the Soviet murdering Polish POW in Katyn. Out of 400,000 Polish POW's the Soviets screened out 15,000 for execution by the NKVD. A screening process took place designed around interrogation and political screening of individuals. The prisoners mistakenly thought they were being screened before being released.
Similarly on page 45 the reader will find how the Nazis started to commit atrocities before the Polish campaign was over. Special units – Einsatzgruppen followed front line units in committing war crimes under the old guise of cleaning up resistance. Later on Special Squads as they become known would become synonymous with the Russian Front.
I will now turn to what a eyewitness would recall.
The first victims of the campaign were a number of boy scouts, from twelve to sixteen years of age, who were set up in a marketplace against a wall and shot. No reason was given. A devoted priest who rushed to administer the Last Sacrament was shot too... Among the [other] victims was a man whom I knew was to ill to take part in politics or public affairs. When the execution took place he was too weak to stand, and down , they beat him and dragged him again to his feet. Another of the victims was a boy of seventeen, the only son of a surgeon who had died the year before... We never heard of what the poor lad was accused.
I will now jump ahead in the narrative to the Soviet reaction to the Pact in the Post War world. In the book the author covers this very well in the chapter Epilogue Life After Death. Stalin never admitted to having made any mistakes in signing the Pact or misreading Hitler's intentions. Starting with his address to the Soviet People after the German invasion had began Stalin would sell the idea the he couldn't have turned the Pact down. Stalin the master of diplomacy had brought a extra 17 months of peace.
The Pact vanished from view until the Nuremberg International Military Tribunal (More commonly known as the Nuremberg Trial) placed senior members of the Nazi regime on trial for war crimes. The prosecutors knew the defendants would raise the Pact as a “You did it too” , Primary School playground like defence. While evidence relating to the Pact was inadmissible the prosecutors still avoided raising the topic in the court room.
Rudolf Hess's defence counsel tried to raise the Pact and was meet by the howls of the Soviet Chief Prosecutor General Roman Rudenko : 'We are examining the matters of the crimes of major German war Criminals. We are not investigating the foreign policies other states.' Rudenko than declared the Protocols to have been forged. At the same trial the Soviets tried to pin the Katyn Massacre on the Germans. The American Prosecutor threw out the Soviet claim because of a lack of evidence.
Soviet histories/text books on WW2 never mentioned the Protocols until the 1960's and even than it was only mentioned in passing. Mikhail Gorbachev polices of Glasnost and Perestroika brought great social and economic changes to the Soviet Union. As the tide of change flowed the doors opened to the Soviets admitting responsibility for the Katyn Massacre in 1990.
In 1989 the legacy of the Protocols was like a pot boiling over. In Estonia and Lativa were banners proclaimed the illegality of the Soviet occupation or just stated the date 23 August 1939. At the same time in Šiauliai Lithuania demonstrators covered coffins with the countries pre Pact flag. On the 23 August 1989 two million people formed a human chain that linked the 3 capitals of Tallinn , Riga, Vilnius the largest mass protest the Soviet Union had ever seen.
In a communiqué to the UN the significance of the Pact was made clear and in part stated: 'The Criminal Pact has to be voided! The essence of the Hitler- Stalin Pact and its secret protocols was imperialist division of the spheres of interest between two great powers. On the basis of this criminal deal, the Soviet Union unilaterally violated all international treaties concluded with Baltic republics, infringed on the historic right of the Baltic nations to self determination , presented ruthless ultimatums to the Baltic republics, occupied them with overwhelming military force, and under conditions of military occupation and heavy political terror carried out their violent annexation. . . The Hitler-Stalin Pact is shaping the Europe Today. (Emphasis mine.)
As historians have widely noted Stalin would ignore all the signs of the coming German invasion of the Soviet Union. IMO Stalin's misreading Hitler's intent is both a fitting conclusion to historical events and the book. Stalin's approach was to utilise the economic relationship with Hitler to appease his fellow tyrant and for a time his approach appeared to be fruitful.
The territory the Soviet Union gained under pact saw their pre war defensive line hundreds of Kilometres behind the lines. The Soviet Union's extensive logistical and infrastructure hampered a half hearted effort at constructing new fortifications along the new frontier. By the spring of 1941 bountiful sources of intelligence were flowing in concerning the German military build up along the border with the Soviet Union. The intel was presented to Stalin by the same Golikov who was critical of Zhukov.
Stalin turned to a poker players bluff. Stalin's aim was to deter Nazi military aggression by showing off the Soviet Unions military industrial capacity. Stalin invited the German military attaché and other senior personnel to tour arms factories in the Urals and Western Siberia. Tank and aircraft factories were on the itinerary. Specifically the the T-34 tanks and Petlyakov Pe-8 long range bomber plants.
Underscoring the dysfunction and the Red Army ill preparedness for war was shown in War Games. Witnesses would have seen Zhukov give a hiding to General Grigory Kulik a survivor of the purge. Kulik opposed Armoured Warfare on the grounds it was a product of fascist ideology. Kulik also favoured horse drawn artillery. Kulik was a bully who kept his job because of his ties to Stalin.
In spite of the Red Army's flaws Zhukov still made the case for a pre-emptive strike against the German forces amassing on his countries western border. It's unknown if Stalin ever laid eyes on the plan. Train loads of troops were arriving to reinforce the new Soviet defensive lines. In the best of Soviet traditions the troops were really just making up numbers as officers and material were absent. At any rate I am of the view Zhukov was more was making a realistic appraisal of German intent than presenting a feasible operational plan.
The Pact vanished from view until the Nuremberg International Military Tribunal (More commonly known as the Nuremberg Trial) placed senior members of the Nazi regime on trial for war crimes. The prosecutors knew the defendants would raise the Pact as a “You did it too” , Primary School playground like defence. While evidence relating to the Pact was inadmissible the prosecutors still avoided raising the topic in the court room.
Rudolf Hess's defence counsel tried to raise the Pact and was meet by the howls of the Soviet Chief Prosecutor General Roman Rudenko : 'We are examining the matters of the crimes of major German war Criminals. We are not investigating the foreign policies other states.' Rudenko than declared the Protocols to have been forged. At the same trial the Soviets tried to pin the Katyn Massacre on the Germans. The American Prosecutor threw out the Soviet claim because of a lack of evidence.
Soviet histories/text books on WW2 never mentioned the Protocols until the 1960's and even than it was only mentioned in passing. Mikhail Gorbachev polices of Glasnost and Perestroika brought great social and economic changes to the Soviet Union. As the tide of change flowed the doors opened to the Soviets admitting responsibility for the Katyn Massacre in 1990.
In 1989 the legacy of the Protocols was like a pot boiling over. In Estonia and Lativa were banners proclaimed the illegality of the Soviet occupation or just stated the date 23 August 1939. At the same time in Šiauliai Lithuania demonstrators covered coffins with the countries pre Pact flag. On the 23 August 1989 two million people formed a human chain that linked the 3 capitals of Tallinn , Riga, Vilnius the largest mass protest the Soviet Union had ever seen.
In a communiqué to the UN the significance of the Pact was made clear and in part stated: 'The Criminal Pact has to be voided! The essence of the Hitler- Stalin Pact and its secret protocols was imperialist division of the spheres of interest between two great powers. On the basis of this criminal deal, the Soviet Union unilaterally violated all international treaties concluded with Baltic republics, infringed on the historic right of the Baltic nations to self determination , presented ruthless ultimatums to the Baltic republics, occupied them with overwhelming military force, and under conditions of military occupation and heavy political terror carried out their violent annexation. . . The Hitler-Stalin Pact is shaping the Europe Today. (Emphasis mine.)
As historians have widely noted Stalin would ignore all the signs of the coming German invasion of the Soviet Union. IMO Stalin's misreading Hitler's intent is both a fitting conclusion to historical events and the book. Stalin's approach was to utilise the economic relationship with Hitler to appease his fellow tyrant and for a time his approach appeared to be fruitful.
The territory the Soviet Union gained under pact saw their pre war defensive line hundreds of Kilometres behind the lines. The Soviet Union's extensive logistical and infrastructure hampered a half hearted effort at constructing new fortifications along the new frontier. By the spring of 1941 bountiful sources of intelligence were flowing in concerning the German military build up along the border with the Soviet Union. The intel was presented to Stalin by the same Golikov who was critical of Zhukov.
Stalin turned to a poker players bluff. Stalin's aim was to deter Nazi military aggression by showing off the Soviet Unions military industrial capacity. Stalin invited the German military attaché and other senior personnel to tour arms factories in the Urals and Western Siberia. Tank and aircraft factories were on the itinerary. Specifically the the T-34 tanks and Petlyakov Pe-8 long range bomber plants.
Underscoring the dysfunction and the Red Army ill preparedness for war was shown in War Games. Witnesses would have seen Zhukov give a hiding to General Grigory Kulik a survivor of the purge. Kulik opposed Armoured Warfare on the grounds it was a product of fascist ideology. Kulik also favoured horse drawn artillery. Kulik was a bully who kept his job because of his ties to Stalin.
In spite of the Red Army's flaws Zhukov still made the case for a pre-emptive strike against the German forces amassing on his countries western border. It's unknown if Stalin ever laid eyes on the plan. Train loads of troops were arriving to reinforce the new Soviet defensive lines. In the best of Soviet traditions the troops were really just making up numbers as officers and material were absent. At any rate I am of the view Zhukov was more was making a realistic appraisal of German intent than presenting a feasible operational plan.
Now I will turn to Stalin's reaction to the initial opening of Operation Barbarossa. Operation Barbarossa the largest invasion in history commenced after 3.15am on the 22 June 1941. Soviet Forces at the front lines knew the scale of what they were confronting before the morning was out. The same cannot be said for Stalin and his cronies.
Indeed when reports first came in of the German attack , Red Army Troops were instructed not to resist. On the vital South Western Front for instance General Dmitry Pavlov had ordered that while 'provocationist raids by fascist bandits were likely' there was to be no response: the attackers were to be captured but the frontier was not to be crossed. It was a order that came from the very top. When Zhukov telephoned Stalin early that morning to ask permission for Soviet Forces to return fire he was told: 'permission not granted. This is a German Provocation. Do not open fire or the situation will escalate.
My Commentary
Before I come to my focus of how the Pact still resonates with current and future events I would like to touch upon a couple of things. As promised I wish to give some space to the atrocities committed by the Nazi and Soviet during the time the Pact was in effect.
I actually wrote my thoughts on the Nazi atrocities last. My desire is to present the reader with a fresh angle on historical and current events. I racked my brain concerning a meaningful comment which would do the magnitude of the blood shed justice. I may not be able to accomplish such a lofty goal.
During the fall of Poland Neville Chamberlain's (1869 – 1940) government pursued a policy of dropping Propaganda leaflets over Germany. The reader may well be inclined to wonder what in the world my point is? As a military response to Germany's flagrant military aggression the dropping of leaflets was like somebody trying to get drunk on non alcoholic Beer. I make this judgement before I factor in the atrocities. Once the atrocities are taken into account the historical situation comes across even worse!
Doesn't such a line of criticism suffer considerable shortcomings? On the basis the obsolete state of French Air Force and Army which rendered any success offensive action impossible , the only fair answer is yes. The same observation can be made of British Expeditionary Force (not to be confused with its WW1 counterpart.) Chamberlain's misjudgement of unfolding events is for another time (pun intended) and article.
Broadly I would make the well known case that by adopting a do it nothing policy , the French would ultimately pay the price of outright defeat military defeat in June 1940. Back tracking to the time of Pact. The Nazi occupation Apparatus was able to commit Crimes Against Humanity and devote considerable amounts of resources to doing so without any fear of enemy action. Seen in another light since the threat of French tanks rolling eastwards wasn't around Germany had a free hand to occupy Poland/commit mass atrocities.
Indeed when reports first came in of the German attack , Red Army Troops were instructed not to resist. On the vital South Western Front for instance General Dmitry Pavlov had ordered that while 'provocationist raids by fascist bandits were likely' there was to be no response: the attackers were to be captured but the frontier was not to be crossed. It was a order that came from the very top. When Zhukov telephoned Stalin early that morning to ask permission for Soviet Forces to return fire he was told: 'permission not granted. This is a German Provocation. Do not open fire or the situation will escalate.
My Commentary
Before I come to my focus of how the Pact still resonates with current and future events I would like to touch upon a couple of things. As promised I wish to give some space to the atrocities committed by the Nazi and Soviet during the time the Pact was in effect.
I actually wrote my thoughts on the Nazi atrocities last. My desire is to present the reader with a fresh angle on historical and current events. I racked my brain concerning a meaningful comment which would do the magnitude of the blood shed justice. I may not be able to accomplish such a lofty goal.
During the fall of Poland Neville Chamberlain's (1869 – 1940) government pursued a policy of dropping Propaganda leaflets over Germany. The reader may well be inclined to wonder what in the world my point is? As a military response to Germany's flagrant military aggression the dropping of leaflets was like somebody trying to get drunk on non alcoholic Beer. I make this judgement before I factor in the atrocities. Once the atrocities are taken into account the historical situation comes across even worse!
Doesn't such a line of criticism suffer considerable shortcomings? On the basis the obsolete state of French Air Force and Army which rendered any success offensive action impossible , the only fair answer is yes. The same observation can be made of British Expeditionary Force (not to be confused with its WW1 counterpart.) Chamberlain's misjudgement of unfolding events is for another time (pun intended) and article.
Broadly I would make the well known case that by adopting a do it nothing policy , the French would ultimately pay the price of outright defeat military defeat in June 1940. Back tracking to the time of Pact. The Nazi occupation Apparatus was able to commit Crimes Against Humanity and devote considerable amounts of resources to doing so without any fear of enemy action. Seen in another light since the threat of French tanks rolling eastwards wasn't around Germany had a free hand to occupy Poland/commit mass atrocities.
For me the first thought that sprang to mind is how the Katyn and other Soviet atrocities are less well known than those performed by the Nazis. I think the answer is that as one of victors the Soviets were able to write their own version of the history books. The way the Soviets were able to deny the existence of the protocols from the Nuremberg Trial to nearly the end of the Cold War, allowed them to dictate the historical perceptions of the Pact.
I feel the matter also goes beyond the time frame covered in the book. Before the death of Stalin in 1953 the naïve pro Communist left wingers saw the Soviet Union as a workers paradise. After Stalin's death the reality of life under a Communist dictatorship was opened up to the world a lot of the aforementioned people wore egg on their faces.
To comeback to the context of the topic: who would want to admit they were ever in favour of a Anglo – Soviet Alliance after Communism true colours were revealed? Now I have come to one of my focal points in my commentary. The sentiments around a United Kingdom – Soviet Union Alliance still has plenty of relevance in the present. Let me take a moment to explain.
At the time of writing Vladimir Putin is actively pursuing a policy of support for the Assad Regime in the Syrian Civil War. Putin has sold Russian involvement in the conflict as waging a no holds barred war against ISIS. Astute observes have noted in reality Russian air strikes were targeted against the splinter groups who oppose the Assad Regime.
I would say a fair degree of misplaced public sentiment/support exists for Putin's military actions in Syria. In short the stance of Western governments on Russia's involvement has been at best muddled. Western Governments are okay with military action against ISIS while opposing the idea of Assad remaining in Power.
The same international governments are opposed to Russia's de-facto invasion of Ukraine. A burst of public opinion came out against Putin after the shoot down of flight MH17. The actions of Russian backed separatists bringing down a airliner was rightfully condemned by the International Community.
A obvious , yet largely unnoticed inconsistency in the opinions of Western Governments and public opinion is clearly at work. I believe a historical parallel exists between public/Western Government Support for Russia's involvement in Syria and historical attitudes towards the Soviet Union. The same kind of naïvety that saw support for the idea for a United Kingdom – Soviet Union Alliance as a counter to Nazi Germany is now at work. I will come back to this in a moment.
A detour into Post War Western Europe and the Marshall Program is worthwhile at this point. Stalin's attempted to prevent the Marshall Program from being implemented came to mind. In my Opinion Stalin saw the derailing of the reconstruction of Western Europe as the last chance to complete the Communist take over he had envisioned during the time of the Pact.
How Putin perceives the fall of the Soviet Union is the key to understanding his motivations behind his moves on the geopolitical Chess Board. I believe the humiliation felt by the Russian people during the fall of the Soviet Union mirrors that felt by Germany after WW1. If you replace the Treaties of Versailles and Brest-Litovsk with the fall of the Soviet Union you are left with the same kind of emotional sentiment in a authoritarian culture.
Further more restoring the Pre 1989 borders/Soviet Union and making Russia a player on the world stage once again requires territorial expansion. The first step in Putin's land grab is the Ukraine. How Putin used a rigged referendum to annex the Crimea is reminiscent of Stalin's actions in the Baltic States. There is every reason to think that Putin is using a updated version of Stalin's strategy that is covered in the book.
Looking into the near to medium future I expect that Putin is or will turn Russia's attention to the Baltic States. Putin with the knowledge of the low voter turn out at elections in the Baltic States (e.g Estonia ) will use referendums as his key weapon. By the use of agitators and sponsoring Pro Russian groups Putin can engineer referendums on the future sovereignty of the Baltic States.
By in large due to the low voter turn out only those who are in favour of a return to the days of the Soviet Union will turn up at polling booths. Putin's Russia will regain the Baltic States without having to resort to the use of military force. By not resorting to the use blunt instrument that is the Russian military action Putin outsmarts NATO. Members of NATO are obliged to come the aid of a member state in they event of invasion by a hostile power (read Russia). Those same members states are not obliged to come to the aid of a people who are befallen by low voter turn out and referendums.
I feel the matter also goes beyond the time frame covered in the book. Before the death of Stalin in 1953 the naïve pro Communist left wingers saw the Soviet Union as a workers paradise. After Stalin's death the reality of life under a Communist dictatorship was opened up to the world a lot of the aforementioned people wore egg on their faces.
To comeback to the context of the topic: who would want to admit they were ever in favour of a Anglo – Soviet Alliance after Communism true colours were revealed? Now I have come to one of my focal points in my commentary. The sentiments around a United Kingdom – Soviet Union Alliance still has plenty of relevance in the present. Let me take a moment to explain.
At the time of writing Vladimir Putin is actively pursuing a policy of support for the Assad Regime in the Syrian Civil War. Putin has sold Russian involvement in the conflict as waging a no holds barred war against ISIS. Astute observes have noted in reality Russian air strikes were targeted against the splinter groups who oppose the Assad Regime.
I would say a fair degree of misplaced public sentiment/support exists for Putin's military actions in Syria. In short the stance of Western governments on Russia's involvement has been at best muddled. Western Governments are okay with military action against ISIS while opposing the idea of Assad remaining in Power.
The same international governments are opposed to Russia's de-facto invasion of Ukraine. A burst of public opinion came out against Putin after the shoot down of flight MH17. The actions of Russian backed separatists bringing down a airliner was rightfully condemned by the International Community.
A obvious , yet largely unnoticed inconsistency in the opinions of Western Governments and public opinion is clearly at work. I believe a historical parallel exists between public/Western Government Support for Russia's involvement in Syria and historical attitudes towards the Soviet Union. The same kind of naïvety that saw support for the idea for a United Kingdom – Soviet Union Alliance as a counter to Nazi Germany is now at work. I will come back to this in a moment.
A detour into Post War Western Europe and the Marshall Program is worthwhile at this point. Stalin's attempted to prevent the Marshall Program from being implemented came to mind. In my Opinion Stalin saw the derailing of the reconstruction of Western Europe as the last chance to complete the Communist take over he had envisioned during the time of the Pact.
How Putin perceives the fall of the Soviet Union is the key to understanding his motivations behind his moves on the geopolitical Chess Board. I believe the humiliation felt by the Russian people during the fall of the Soviet Union mirrors that felt by Germany after WW1. If you replace the Treaties of Versailles and Brest-Litovsk with the fall of the Soviet Union you are left with the same kind of emotional sentiment in a authoritarian culture.
Further more restoring the Pre 1989 borders/Soviet Union and making Russia a player on the world stage once again requires territorial expansion. The first step in Putin's land grab is the Ukraine. How Putin used a rigged referendum to annex the Crimea is reminiscent of Stalin's actions in the Baltic States. There is every reason to think that Putin is using a updated version of Stalin's strategy that is covered in the book.
Looking into the near to medium future I expect that Putin is or will turn Russia's attention to the Baltic States. Putin with the knowledge of the low voter turn out at elections in the Baltic States (e.g Estonia ) will use referendums as his key weapon. By the use of agitators and sponsoring Pro Russian groups Putin can engineer referendums on the future sovereignty of the Baltic States.
By in large due to the low voter turn out only those who are in favour of a return to the days of the Soviet Union will turn up at polling booths. Putin's Russia will regain the Baltic States without having to resort to the use of military force. By not resorting to the use blunt instrument that is the Russian military action Putin outsmarts NATO. Members of NATO are obliged to come the aid of a member state in they event of invasion by a hostile power (read Russia). Those same members states are not obliged to come to the aid of a people who are befallen by low voter turn out and referendums.
During the years before the Pact the German economy had been on a war footing. Hitler used arms production to combat high levels of unemployment brought on by The Great Depression. How the Nazi regime accomplished a massive military build with thinly veiled economic cascade has been well documented elsewhere. For a moment I am going to stay with how Germany was on a war footing.
In a pre television and internet age the actual state of the German economy was a closely guarded State secret. Now with the admitted benefit of hindsight. I believe the structure of the German economy serves as a template for modern day pre war economies. Let me be clear by war , I am referring to Total Warfare. I ask the reader to bear with me for a moment.
Putin and the members of the oligarch would loved to have the luxury of disguising the terminal illness the Russian economy is presently digesting. Essentially Putin is overseeing a wartime economy closely resembling its Pre war German counterpart. In full view of international observers Russia is pouring money into military modernisation programs.
In a pre television and internet age the actual state of the German economy was a closely guarded State secret. Now with the admitted benefit of hindsight. I believe the structure of the German economy serves as a template for modern day pre war economies. Let me be clear by war , I am referring to Total Warfare. I ask the reader to bear with me for a moment.
Putin and the members of the oligarch would loved to have the luxury of disguising the terminal illness the Russian economy is presently digesting. Essentially Putin is overseeing a wartime economy closely resembling its Pre war German counterpart. In full view of international observers Russia is pouring money into military modernisation programs.
I believe Russia's attempts at hegemony over the supply of Natural Gas to Eastern Europe could be said to be the same kind of economic life line Hitler was seeking from a trade agreement with the Soviet Union. The key historical lesson the reader can take away is that a war time economy is on a sort clock. A race takes place between competing the planned arms build up and economic pressures. By 1939 time on the clock was running out for Germany. Economic circumstances were going to force Hitler to go to war sooner than later.
The reader may be wondering, how long did the German economy have left on the clock before outbreak of WW2? I am unable to offer the reader a precise answer. The way Hitler pragmatically went about securing a trade agreement with the Soviet Union suggests time was close to running out. I would be interested in finding out the readers thoughts on this point , feel free to leave a comment below.
My conclusion is as follows: Putin faced a decision either face the consequences of a economic cave in (likely a 2nd Civil War) or go to war against NATO. Since the Russian economy is on a war footing Putin has chosen the path that doesn't seem him at risk of being deposed. In my estimation the Russian economic clock runs out around 2020-25.
Poland and Germany won't be a easy territorial gain like the Baltic States. To complete his goal of restoring Russia to its former glory Putin will have to send his war machine into Poland. I believe the historical parallels I mentioned above mean Putin is or will play the Hitler's Germany did in the last war. I have no doubt after Russian forces have occupied (enter location here) Putin's occupation policies will mirror Stalin's in every bloodshed eddy way.
Upon reflection the idea Putin is looking to go one better than Stalin and place a Russian flag over Paris isn't as crazy as it first may seem. From Putin's standpoint what better way could there be of righting the feeling of national humiliation than to fulfil Stalin's unrealised vision?
Final Thoughts
The actions and motivations of Stalin and Hitler during the time of the Pact can be better understood by the reader thanks to Roger Moorehouse's very timely book.
Most regrettable is how the current crop of Western Leaders have failed to learn the lessons from the time of my grandparents generation. The failure to learn from history is seeing it replayed like a bad remake of a Hollywood film.
The reader may be wondering, how long did the German economy have left on the clock before outbreak of WW2? I am unable to offer the reader a precise answer. The way Hitler pragmatically went about securing a trade agreement with the Soviet Union suggests time was close to running out. I would be interested in finding out the readers thoughts on this point , feel free to leave a comment below.
My conclusion is as follows: Putin faced a decision either face the consequences of a economic cave in (likely a 2nd Civil War) or go to war against NATO. Since the Russian economy is on a war footing Putin has chosen the path that doesn't seem him at risk of being deposed. In my estimation the Russian economic clock runs out around 2020-25.
Poland and Germany won't be a easy territorial gain like the Baltic States. To complete his goal of restoring Russia to its former glory Putin will have to send his war machine into Poland. I believe the historical parallels I mentioned above mean Putin is or will play the Hitler's Germany did in the last war. I have no doubt after Russian forces have occupied (enter location here) Putin's occupation policies will mirror Stalin's in every bloodshed eddy way.
Upon reflection the idea Putin is looking to go one better than Stalin and place a Russian flag over Paris isn't as crazy as it first may seem. From Putin's standpoint what better way could there be of righting the feeling of national humiliation than to fulfil Stalin's unrealised vision?
Final Thoughts
The actions and motivations of Stalin and Hitler during the time of the Pact can be better understood by the reader thanks to Roger Moorehouse's very timely book.
Most regrettable is how the current crop of Western Leaders have failed to learn the lessons from the time of my grandparents generation. The failure to learn from history is seeing it replayed like a bad remake of a Hollywood film.
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