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From: cperlebe@encad.Wichita.NCR.COM (Chris Perleberg)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: Russian allies
Message-ID: <27531@amdcad.AMD.COM>
Date: 28 Sep 89 07:12:39 GMT
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From: cperlebe@encad.Wichita.NCR.COM (Chris Perleberg)

In article <27490@amdcad.AMD.COM> cvl!kayuucee@uunet.UU.NET (Kenneth W. Crist Jr.) writes:
>	I'm sure that others will point this out, but here goes. The Soviets
>wanted an alliance with France and Great Britain. Hitler was known to be an
>anti-Communist. It was only after the Allies failed to make any serious
>offer to the Soviets, that they turned to a non-aggression pact with
>Germany. 

Basically true, but at the very time Molotov was signing the non-aggression
pact, a Anglo-French delegation was in Moscow trying to negotiate with 
Stalin (granted, the delegates were at a very low level -- somewhere above
the Whitehall janitor, but not much).  Stalin was playing both sides off for
the best deal.

>Stalin, I believe, wanted to use this to give the Soviet Union
>time to prepare itself for an expected "Western" attack. 

We'll never really know why he did it.  He was certainly unprepared for
Barbarossa, and for a long time any general who suggested the possibility
of a German attack was shot.

>He also got part of Poland and the the Baltic States out of it. 

And Bessarabia and Finland as well.

This is probably the best reason.  Chamberlain was certainly craven
in giving away Czechoslovakia, but he didn't ask for half.  And I think
he really believed he was achieving "peace in our time."  I don't think
Stalin had any such illusions.  I think he was hoping to pick up the 
pieces after a Western European war, which he certainly knew he was
making possible.

At any rate, no one forced Stalin to sign.  No one forced him to supply
Hitler with wheat and petroleum, or to clear paths for German surface
raiders to the Pacific.  It is also interesting to note that the 
resistance movements in the West didn't really get started until after
June 22 -- sad to say, some of the strongest resistance movements were
Communist. 

Chris Perleberg
cperlebe@encad.wichita.ncr.com