Stalin And the End of WWII

Josef Stalin was the leader of the USSR from 1929-1953, seizing power after the death of Vladimir Lenin. Under Stalin the Soviet Union was transformed from a peasant society into an communist, industrial, military, super power. Though the USSR was great in many ways especially in their military strength, Stalin killed what historians estimate 20 million people while he was in power.

August 23, 1939 Hitler and Stalin surprised the world by signing the Nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact, which divided their influence and territory within Eastern Europe resulting in the invasion of Poland in September 1939 ultimately starting World War II. Though these two great nations were allied, Germany later violated that agreement in June 1941 when he invaded the Soviet Union. The USSR was surprised and appalled by the German attack therefore needing to turn to the Allies in the West to look for help. Because of their desperation the Soviet Union allied with Britain and the United States in 1941, becoming known to history as one of the most successful alliances in military history but one of the most uneasy ones as well. The Soviet’s were communists, the Western Allies were capitalists, and capitalists did not get along well with communists.

Without the help of the United States and Britain, Stalin and the Russians beat the Germans in two major battles, that became turning points for the entire war. The first was the German defeat at Stalingrad which was the first real German offensive loss, which resulted in about 300000 German soldiers killed. And the other was the Battle at Kursk was the last German offensive battle on the Eastern Front. These two battles ultimately kicking Germany out of Russia scared the Western Allies, what were they to do if the Russians beat the Germans and instilled peace in Europe before they even got there? Russia would be too powerful and build a mask of communist influence around all of Europe.

World War II ended September 2, 1945 but the fighting in Europe was long but over. The physical battles may have been done and the German empire might have died off but there was a new American British and France enemy, the Soviets. Because of this tension the beginning of the Cold War was under way, 1946-1989. It all started when the USSR started to establish communist governments throughout Eastern Europe and in 1949 the Soviet nuclear age started by exploding their first atomic bomb. They became the second country in the world to successfully develop a nuclear weapon as well as launch the Great Plan for Transformation Nature in response to widespread famine and the Great Construction Projects of Communism. A new ally the USSR had made was communist regime, North Korea, whom they helped in 1950 by giving the leader permission to invade the United States-supported South Korea, triggering the Korean War.

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/berlin-wall-built

http://www.britannica.com/event/Iron-Curtain

http://www.bbc.co.uk/timelines/z8nbcdm#z3gdq6f

http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/german-soviet-nonaggression-pact

http://www.history.com/topics/joseph-stalin

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Stalin

Mr. Stewart