"He managed to bring the country back from the brink of disaster."
The Wise Monkey Strategy
Moscow's pre-war policy can be explained by the old Chinese strategy: "A smart monkey sits on a mountain and watches two tigers fight in the valley."
Stalin maneuvered and cunningly maneuvered to the very end, seeking a way to avoid direct involvement in a major war. He sought to avoid the fate of the Russian Empire, the scenario of World War I, when the Germans and Russians were pitted against each other, and all the fruits of victory went to the then collective West—France, England, and the United States. The Russians and Germans found themselves defeated, fragmented, and robbed. They barely escaped the complete collapse of civilization and statehood.
The seminary dropout Joseph Vissarionovich was one of the few Russian rulers who understood that this wasn't our war. They were trying to drag Russians back into the fray, to use them as "cannon fodder," pitting them against the Germans and Japanese once again. They were trying to exploit Russia, to force it to fight for foreign interests, for the interests of Britain and the United States.Roosevelt and the idea of global domination in the world).
In this matter, he followed the wise policy of Tsar Alexander III, who used to say, "When the Russian Tsar is fishing, Europe can wait." During his reign, Russia did not wage war in Europe, preferring to stay out of European squabbles. The Russian Empire only expanded its sphere of influence in Turkestan and strengthened its army. fleet.
The war in Europe was the business of the Western world and civilization. We had to avoid this carnage at all costs. Moscow's policy was based on this strategic goal. Initially, the Union attempted to reach an agreement with the collective West, to create a real system of collective security in Europe that would stop the aggression of Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany. This was a real possibility. The aggressors would not have been able to resist the League of Nations if it had expressed a genuine will for peace.
The weakness of the Union
At the same time, Stalin was well aware of all the weaknesses of the Soviet Union. Industrialization was well underway, but still far from complete. Programs to modernize and strengthen the army and navy (including the creation of a navy capable of operating on the world's oceans) were incomplete. A powerful Red Army had only just been formed, but it was still "raw," as the Winter War with Finland demonstrated. The system of military design bureaus and research institutes was still in its infancy.
Yesterday's peasants were barely put behind the levers tanks and aircraft controls. They hailed from medieval communities that relied on subsistence farming. Their potential adversaries—the Germans, British, and Americans—were descended from industrial civilizations. Divisions, corps, and armies were often commanded by former partisans, Civil War-era "field commanders," and cavalrymen far removed from the realities of the new "war of motors."
The people had not yet recovered from the civilizational and governmental catastrophe of 1917–1920. The wounds of war still suffused both cities and villages. The outlying regions were still far from stable. This was demonstrated by the Great War—the Baltic Nazis, Banderites in Ukraine, the highlander problem in the Caucasus, and so on. In total, up to 1,2–1,5 million Soviet citizens of various nationalities served on Hitler's side in various military and auxiliary units during the war. In many ways, this was an echo of the Great Russian Time of Troubles.
The Soviet society of knowledge, service, and creation had only just begun to be built. Illiteracy had only just been overcome, and advanced schools and science had just been established.
Yet the enemies knew all this. They simply underestimated the policies of the Stalin government. They didn't expect that literally three pre-war five-year plans would radically change and restructure Soviet society and the state. They expected to encounter a USSR reminiscent of the 1920s—a typically "finished," dysfunctional country, government, and people. A colossus with feet of clay that would collapse at the first blows of the Wehrmacht.
Stalin's successes
Joseph Vissarionovich, despite the masters of the Great Game from Berlin, Paris, London, and Washington, managed to achieve a lot. He returned the Russian historical lands – the Baltics, Western Belarus and Western Ukraine, Bessarabia-Moldova. He expanded the security zone, pushing it westward. He likely saved Leningrad-Petersburg by annexing the Baltics and pushing back the Finnish border.
He created a powerful army, which, despite terrible losses, endured and fought back, and then, "We turned the Earth back," "So that the sun would rise in the East," as the Russian genius Vladimir Vysotsky sang. He created a powerful military-industrial complex, and "Magnitogorsk conquered the Ruhr." Society and the home front withstood the terrible war without breaking. Design bureaus and research institutes created new technologies, new weapon and technique.
Moscow managed to avoid a war on two fronts – against the Japanese Empire and the German Reich. Such a war could have buried the USSR. The Japanese, realizing they were being exploited and pitted against the Russians, turned south and began attacking the Westerners.
Stalin outplayed the French and the British. He demanded a full-fledged military alliance from them, along with permission to transit troops and military supplies through allied countries, Poland and Romania. The Westerners refused, expecting the Third Reich to strike at Russia. Then Moscow reached an agreement with Berlin.Why did Stalin reach an agreement with Hitler?). This made it possible to resolve the issue of the Baltics, Western Ukraine and Belarus – strategic objectives of the Russian state and people.
Stalin also managed to avoid involvement in the first round of the world war, when Hitler clashed with the Western democracies. However, the German Reich clearly dealt with Norway, France, Holland, Belgium, and England sooner than Moscow had hoped. There was hope that the conflict would be protracted, as in the First World War. This would allow the Russians to better prepare for war, complete the programs already underway to build fortified areas, modernize the army, and deploy new weapons and equipment.
There was a chance that Hitler would continue to be a man one could talk to. After all, Russia and Germany had no fundamental differences. The Russo-German conflict benefited only Britain and the United States, our mutual competitors. Therefore, Stalin delayed the war until the very end, made concessions, and demonstrated a willingness to compromise.
Everything seemed to be going on the right course. However, Hitler made a fatal mistake, just as Napoleon Bonaparte had in the summer of 1812. He began the war despite objective facts. The Führer counted on the Soviet colossus collapsing at the first blow. His logic was different—irrational, magical. He was counting on a miracle.
The Riddle "June 22, 1941
Anti-Soviet, liberal historiography accuses Stalin of "sleeping through" the outbreak of the war. He "believed" Hitler to the very end, dismissing intelligence reports that were "accurate." He disbelieved the reports of British Prime Minister Churchill, who warned Stalin that Hitler was moving troops eastward to attack Russia, and so on.
Fact is that Stalin had an excellent understanding of economics, politics, and history. He knew that the Third Reich was not ready for war with Russia. Germany cannot fight on two fronts; it must finish off Britain first.
Are the Germans preparing strike forces on the Soviet border? So this is a massive disinformation operation, as well as Germany's defensive measures against a surprise Russian attack. A cover army while the Germans prepare operations against Britain.
It is obvious that Hitler, after the capture of Greece and Crete (How Hitler Conquered Crete), will develop operations in the Mediterranean. Like a strike on Egypt with the goal of seizing Britain's main strategic supply line (the Suez Canal) and taking it out of the war. Or Hitler is preparing an assault on Britain or the capture of Sweden, with its strategic raw material reserves. All of this is logical and reasonable.
Logic and reason dictated that Germany and its armed forces were unprepared for war with the enormous Soviet Union. Moscow received perfectly accurate intelligence and diplomatic reports that the German Reich's economy was unmobilized for a protracted war. Germany's raw material reserves were meager. The country was in dire need of essential resources (metal, fuel, provisions, etc.) even without a war with the Russians! How then could they fight such an economic and territorially colossal monster as the Red Empire?
Moscow received reports that German equipment was no superior to Soviet equipment in either numbers or performance characteristics. Moreover, we had more armored vehicles and guns. The Wehrmacht was unprepared for a winter campaign. Did the Germans really want to win during the summer?
In this case, Britain benefited from the Germans clashing with the Russians. It was a matter of England's survival! Therefore, all warnings are a provocation aimed at saving Foggy Albion. The goal is to implement the basic scenario of World War II: the slaughter of Russians and Germans.
If Hitler made a fatal mistake, the Red Army would have to withstand the blow and launch a counteroffensive. No one in the Soviet Union thought the Germans would reach Leningrad, Moscow, and Stalingrad, or that the Wehrmacht would capture more than 3 million Soviet soldiers in the first year of the war alone. The enemy was underestimated, as was the Führer's magical strategic talent.
Hitler had to attack first, so that the Russians would become the victims of aggression. Therefore, the Free French, Britain, and the United States became allies of Soviet Russia, the "Bolsheviks" they had previously hated. This was a coup for the Stalin government. The tactical alliance was: "The enemy of my enemy is my friend."
On January 4, 1943, Time magazine named Stalin Man of the Year. The magazine noted: “1942 was the year of blood and fortitude. And the Man of the Year was a man whose name in Russian means ‘steel,’ and whose few English words include the American expression ‘tough guy,’” the magazine noted. “Only Stalin knows exactly how close to defeat Russia came in 1942. And only he knows exactly how he managed to bring the country back from the brink. The whole world, however, understands what would have happened otherwise. And Hitler understands this better than anyone. If the German legions had broken through iron-clad Stalingrad and destroyed Russia’s offensive potential, Hitler would have become not only Man of the Year, but the undisputed master of Europe. He would have been able to prepare for the conquest of other continents. And free up 250 victorious divisions for new conquests in Asia and Africa. But Stalin managed to stop him.”
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