If the essence of War Communism was to win the Russian civil war, the essence of Stalinism was to win in World War II Belief in the inevitability of war – of one kind or another The slide to war
The USSR in World War II
London: monument to Roosevelt and Churchill
The Big Three: Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin at Yalta, Feb.1945


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The ultimate test of the Russian battle order has usually been war The Romanov Empire failed that test in WWI – and fell By the time of the next test – WWII, the Russian state was transformed into a more formidable machine The “socialist” organization of the country was aimed at making the state more militarily capable A similar logic unfolded in Italy and Germany under different forms of “socialism” They talked of “socialism”, but they meant winning world wars
Global civil war and interstate conflict Fierce Left-Right struggles in European countries since WWI, the lure and fear of revolution Stalinism in Russia as a new stage in the Russian civil war: forced modernization to strengthen the state and make it fit for the next round of interstate wars Fascism as a new stage in European Left-Right conflict: to defeat the Left internally and externally Projection of the internal conflicts on interstate relations The Spanish Civil War Appeasement: betrayal of Czechoslovakia The fall of democracies across Europe due to both internal (Left vs. Right) and external (actions of Germany, Italy, and the Soviet Union)
The geopolitical triangle: Axis powers (Germany, Italy, Japan), USSR, Western democracies (WDs) WDs
Axis
USSR






As a state committed to world revolution, the Soviet Union was viewed as a threat by Western elites The rise of fascism was partly a response to the threat – and anticommunism was one of the motives of Western appeasement of Hitler But the Axis powers were also challenging other Great Powers in Europe and Asia – the continuing conflict between empires In the 1920s-early 1930s, before Hitler’s coming to power in Germany, USSR cooperated with Germany against Britain and France When Germany became a radical anticommunist force, USSR and Western democracies discussed “collective security” arrangements to prevent Hitler’s aggression – without success Then Britain, France and the USSR made their separate deals with Hitler, which enabled him to start World War II

Forced modernization The Great Terror of 1937-38 Skirmishes in the 1930s: China, Spain Diplomatic maneuvers in 1934-39: attempts to contain the fascist powers, then a non-aggression pact with Hitler