Stalin’s 1939 pact with Nazis was designed to allow capitalists to weaken each other, and be ready to confront them later. Did he want to do this again, after Stalingrad?
I finally found a book about this. The title is "Germany's Key Strategic Decisions 1940-1945." The author is Heinz Magenheimer, an Austrian military historian. All this is in Chapter IV, in a section named : "The Question of 'Closing Down the Eastern Front' and a Separate German-Soviet Peace," (pages 192 to 201). It is clear to me, after reading this section, that both Hitler and Stalin were aware of this option. It was not implemented because Hitler believed that he will win militarily, even after Stalingrad.
Mussolini was not the only one to suggest this idea to Hitler. Here is a quote: "Mussolini's attempts, which became tangible in written and verbal form after 6 November 1942 and which were presented to Hitler on 18 December 1942 by Foreign Minister Ciano in the form of appropriate recommendations, were based on the idea of reaching a settlement with the Soviet Union--a second 'peace treaty of Brest-Litovsk.' Mussolini and Ciano argued that within the foreseeable future all available forces would be needed to repel the anticipated invasion of Sicily and Italy by the Western powers."
Sweden was a neutral country and several meetings took place in Stockholm "via various German and Soviet contacts . . . to discover how serious Germny was to conclude a separate agreement, on the basis, for example, of a return to the mutual frontiers existing before June 1941." On page 307 I see a quote from reference 49: "By a note of 12 November Molotov informed the Western Allies of the Soviet feelers via representatives in Stockholm. It appears that Stalin took this step in order to strengthen his political position vis-a-vis Great Britain and the USA."
_________________
Ludwik Kowalski, author of "Diary of a Former Communist: Thoughts, Feelings, Reality,"
http://csam.montclair.edu/~kowalski/life/intro.html
It is based on a diary kept between 1946 and 2004 (in the USSR, Poland, France and the USA).
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Some teachers and students, might be interested in my two FREE ON-LINE books. Anyone can read them by using a browser--any browser. Here is how promote them among colleagues and friends:
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
"Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it." George Santayana
The titles and the links to my short and easy-to-read books are shown below.
1) "Hell on Earth: Brutality and Violence Under the Stalinist regime."
2) “Diary of a Former Communist: Thoughts, Feelings, Reality.”
Some have said that these books are "imperialist propaganda" and "cold war relics." How can it be? I was not commissioned to write them. The books are dedicated to my parents, and to all other victims of Stalinism. Writing was a moral obligation for me.
The first book was written for Americans who know very little about Soviet history. In addition to descriptions of Soviet proletarian dictatorship, the book discusses communist morality (Section 3.7), and the results of a survey of American students’ knowledge about Stalin (Section 4.5). Chapter 7 illustrates how Stalinism has been discussed by professors at one American university.
The second book is an autobiography illustrating my evolution from one extreme to another--from a devoted Stalinist to an active anti-communist. This testimony is based on a diary I kept between 1946 and 2004 (in the USSR, Poland, France and the USA).
Please share the links above with a potential reviewer, and with others who might also be interested, especially young people, and their teachers. Comments and suggestions will be appreciated.
Thank you in advance,
Ludwik Kowalski (Ph.D.)
Professor Emeritus
Montclair State University (USA)
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)