Is Russia Solely Responsible For War In Europe?

Question

Russia as in Communist Russia the time when Stalin was alive...

My History teacher wants an answer whether Russia was solely responsible for the war in Europe after the n**i-Soviet Pact. Can anyone give me the full details please? Or else I'm doomed!

Answer 1

Haydn has it mostly right. But the Soviets invaded Finland 3 months after Hitler invaded Poland. Stalin probably saw this as a necessary security precaution, as the large lake Lagoda near Leningrad shared a Finnish shore with the USSR. Plus, Finland's government was right wing and likely to ally itself with Hitler. The Soviets wanted to conquer all of Finland, but the Finns put up a heroic and stiff resistance. Stalin settled for about 9% of Finnish territory, the most critical being the Finnish shore of Lake Ladoga. This prevented Leningrad from being completely surrounded by the Germans later on in the war.

So they bear some responsibility. Actually Stalin deserves the blame, since most people around him were much more cautious.

Answer 2

Just a quick addition to Hayden's spot on answer.

The USSR (again, note - NOT Russia) did offer to guarentee Czechoslovakia's independence against German irredentism, and many in the Czech government were keen to accept; the difficulty was how to get the troops there as Poland wouldn't let them through, and the roads through theTatra Mountains were narrow.

Neither Britain nor France took this offer seriously, which angerered Stalin as, I believe, his intentions were, for once, honourable.

Sources:

Stalin. A Biography by Robert Service

Stalin by J Arch Getty

and Beria, My Father by Sergio Beria

Answer 3

The USSR was not SOLELY responsible for the war in Europe.  Keep in mind that in a question like this, you only need to find one piece of evidence that runs counter to the claim to prove your point.  

Hitler and Stalin BOTH anticipated a war between Germany and the USSR at some point.  Theoretically, fascism is ideologically extreme to communism.  Remember that the n***s in Germany came to power partly by purging Germany of the Communists, who were very influential.  

But Hitler didn't want to fight a two front war.  Stalin wanted an alliance with the Western European powers like France and Britian at first because he recognized Hitler's threat.  However, the western democracies found Stalin's communism so repugnant that they rebuffed his attempts. Stalin knew that war was coming to Europe, so he signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop Act with Hitler to "unleash the dogs of war westward."  

Now had Stalin not signed a non-aggression pact with Hitler, would Hitler have gone to war?  I believe so, because Hitler had already annexed Austria, Rhineland, Czechoslovakia, etc.  He wasn't going to stop there.

Answer 4

No, it was Germany who was the aggressor between the two countries, Stalin actually preferred to be in an alliance with n**i Germany than with the U.S. & England but when his country was invaded that all changed.  It probably really cam down to the fact that Hitler was not interested in sharing Europe with Stalin and the Soviets had already invaded Poland before Germany invaded them.  Hitler had a non aggression pact with England  as well before launching the Blitz so his word was of little value.

Answer 5

Whilst there was hatred & distrust between Germany & Russia after the pact was signed, Russia did not enter the war until 1941 when Germany attacked it in the Barbarossa Campaign.  Russia, if anything, shortened the war through its massive armaments capacity and military might and the fact that Stalin stopped assassinating his generals.

Answer 6

War in Europe period? uhhhh no.

If Russia were responsible for all wars in Europe, how do you explain the wars that happened before Russia appeared?

Answer 7

Not Russia but the USSR .

No they were not responsible for the war in Europe.It was Germany who invaded the Soviet union that brought the USSR into the war not the other way round.

I could give you an answer that goes all the way back the Britians policy of "splendid isolation" that goes back into the mid 19th century .To be very brief.

When Germany exercised there Von Schlieffen(sp) plan to invade France they did not believe Britian would enter the war (WW1) as they had made no suggestions that they would .HAd Britian made it's inrentions known before Germanys assault on France ,it's likley that Germany would not have invaded France ,that led to an escalation of the war ,brought the Americans in (eventualy) brought about the treaty of Versaille ,caused a reccession in Europe,led to the rise of Hitler and his decision to invade the USSR

That in a nutshell is how it happened ,but obviously these are just the bare bones of it .

Answer 8

Germany invaded the UdSSR in 1941 - after attacking nearly all its neighbours before. So the answer is  clear and simple "no".