• Unpigged@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    2 months ago

    "One may respect or hate Nazism, just as one may respect or hate any other system of political views. That is a matter of taste. But to start a war for the sake of the ‘destruction of Nazism’ is to commit in politics an act of criminal stupidity.”

    J. Stalin, Pravda, Nov 30, 1939

    • Cowbee [he/they]@lemmy.ml
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      2 months ago

      Do you know what the context of this was, or are you quote-farming? The central point being made by Stalin was that fighting the Nazis prematurely, without solidifying western allies (who would have loved nothing more than the Nazis and Soviets killing each other off), the Soviets may end up catapulting straight into their own demise. It was the fact that Stalin had a cooler head and a better reading of the room that the Soviets managed to launch history’s greatest counteroffensive and wipe out the biggest fascist threat around the world.

      • Unpigged@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        2 months ago

        I speak fluent Russian and read this and the rest in original. That’s absolutely not what is written.

        And you can go and see Stalin’s edits on the article draft in Russian presidential archive.

        • Cowbee [he/they]@lemmy.ml
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          2 months ago

          Elaborate, then, what was Stalin trying to do? I specified context because that’s specifically what Stalin was trying to do.

            • Cowbee [he/they]@lemmy.ml
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              2 months ago

              No, lol, I was describing Stalin’s well-documented strategy regarding the Nazi threat. It’s summarized quite well in How to Cast a God into Hell: The Khrushchev Report. The Soviets expected the Nazis to invade, but were worried about the west, which was reluctant to take either side. Stalin was no friend of the Nazis, and wanted more time to prepare, and to prevent Britain from siding with the Nazis, which was a sizable risk.