Actually Existing Socialism How Stalin Tried to Prevent World War II w/ Michael Jabara Carley
Mar 24, 2023
Michael Jabara Carley, a Professor at the University of Montreal specializing in Soviet international relations, discusses Stalin's efforts to forge alliances against Nazi Germany in the lead-up to World War II. He highlights the misjudgments by Western powers and critiques the overshadowing of this diplomatic history by the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. Carley also delves into the struggles of Soviet power during the 1930s, the geopolitical anxieties of the time, and the tragic failures of diplomacy that contributed to the war's outbreak.
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French Mutiny Against Bolshevik Fight
- French soldiers mutinied against orders to fight Bolsheviks during the Russian Civil War.
- They openly refused because they had no grudge and wanted no more war after WWI.
Western Elites' Misplaced Threat Perception
- Western elites in the 1930s mostly saw the Soviet Union as the bigger threat, not Nazi Germany.
- Nazi Germany and fascist Italy were viewed as barriers against socialism in Europe by many elites.
Soviets Pushed For Anti-Nazi Alliance
- The Soviet Union led efforts from 1933 to 1939 to build an anti-Nazi alliance with Western powers.
- Western countries repeatedly rejected Soviet overtures for collective security against Germany.
