Stalin's War
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- Create Date：2021-03-29 12:11:53
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Sean McMeekin
- ISBN：0241366437
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Summary
'Gripping， authoritative， accessible and always bracingly revisionist' Simon Sebag Montefiore
In this remarkable， ground-breaking new book Sean McMeekin marks a generational shift in our view of Stalin as an ally in the Second World War。 Stalin's only difference from Hitler， he argues， was that he was a successful murderous predator。 With Hitler dead and the Third Reich in ruins， Stalin created an immense new Communist empire。 Among his holdings were Czechoslovakia and Poland， the fates of which had first set the West against the Nazis and， of course， China and North Korea， the ramifications of which we still live with today。
Until Barbarossa wrought a public relations miracle， turning him into a plucky ally of the West， Stalin had murdered millions， subverted every norm of international behaviour， invaded as many countries as Hitler had， and taken great swathes of territory he would continue to keep。 In the larger sense the global conflict grew out of not only German and Japanese aggression but Stalin's manoeuvrings， orchestrated to provoke wars of attrition between the capitalist powers in Europe and in Asia。 Throughout the war Stalin chose to do only what would benefit his own regime， not even aiding in the effort against Japan until the conflict's last weeks。 Above all， Stalin's War uncovers the shocking details of how the US government （to the detriment of itself and its other allies） fuelled Stalin's war machine， blindly agreeing to every Soviet demand， right down to agents supplying details of the atomic bomb。
'McMeekin's approach in Stalin's War is both original and refreshing， written as it is with a wonderful clarity' Antony Beevor
In this remarkable， ground-breaking new book Sean McMeekin marks a generational shift in our view of Stalin as an ally in the Second World War。 Stalin's only difference from Hitler， he argues， was that he was a successful murderous predator。 With Hitler dead and the Third Reich in ruins， Stalin created an immense new Communist empire。 Among his holdings were Czechoslovakia and Poland， the fates of which had first set the West against the Nazis and， of course， China and North Korea， the ramifications of which we still live with today。
Until Barbarossa wrought a public relations miracle， turning him into a plucky ally of the West， Stalin had murdered millions， subverted every norm of international behaviour， invaded as many countries as Hitler had， and taken great swathes of territory he would continue to keep。 In the larger sense the global conflict grew out of not only German and Japanese aggression but Stalin's manoeuvrings， orchestrated to provoke wars of attrition between the capitalist powers in Europe and in Asia。 Throughout the war Stalin chose to do only what would benefit his own regime， not even aiding in the effort against Japan until the conflict's last weeks。 Above all， Stalin's War uncovers the shocking details of how the US government （to the detriment of itself and its other allies） fuelled Stalin's war machine， blindly agreeing to every Soviet demand， right down to agents supplying details of the atomic bomb。
'McMeekin's approach in Stalin's War is both original and refreshing， written as it is with a wonderful clarity' Antony Beevor
Reviews
Jean-Luc
，
Sean McMeekin's Stalin's war is a lengthy but thoroughly fascinating revisionist analysis of the Russian dictator's role and responsibilities within the gigantic spiderweb of WWII。It is unquestionable today that Josef Stalin was the lone actor who allowed Hitler to unleash his powerful military firepower upon Europe in 1939 after signing the Brest-Litovsk non-aggression pact， allaying the latter's fears of a possible war on two fronts。 There is no doubt that Stalin was as much to blame as Hitler Sean McMeekin's Stalin's war is a lengthy but thoroughly fascinating revisionist analysis of the Russian dictator's role and responsibilities within the gigantic spiderweb of WWII。It is unquestionable today that Josef Stalin was the lone actor who allowed Hitler to unleash his powerful military firepower upon Europe in 1939 after signing the Brest-Litovsk non-aggression pact， allaying the latter's fears of a possible war on two fronts。 There is no doubt that Stalin was as much to blame as Hitler was for setting the house on fire。But by early 1940， Josef seemed to have been taken unawares by the speed of the German successes and he started to doubt Russia's abilities to control the Teutonic firewall raging across the continent。 Unfortunately he had only himself to blame。 If Stalin hadn't purged the top Russian military ranks in the 30s， his armed forces would have been better prepared to deal with the catastrophic situation Hitler created。 His actions before the war definitely weakened Russia's abilities to mount any sweeping operations against Germany worth writing home about。 The tide only changed when the Germans were stupid enough to invade Russia with all the tragic consequences we all know so well。。。It's only after the Hitlerian debacle in Russia that Stalin finally emerged as a powerful player to be reckoned with。 He started to put forward his grand diplomatic vision for a postwar Soviet Union and its place among the winners。 From the 1943 conference in Theran to Yalta & Postdam two years later， he never stop to put forward a bullying diplomatic approach that Roosevelt & Churchill had to eventually accept。 It definitely secured an important place to the Soviet Union on the world stage after 1945 and paved the way towards the Cold War。 Stalin won the day。This book is a brilliant study about Russia during WWII and a well researched look at world diplomacy at the end of the conflict and the chaotic birth of a new world order。 Muchas Gracias Mr。 McMeekin for the wonderful hours I spent with your book👍👍Many thanks to Netgalley and Basic Books for giving me the opportunity to read this wonderful book prior to its release date 。。。more
Руслан
，
Definitely a book that needs to be read。 I read it in advance， but I believe it will arouse great interest。 The very idea of presenting World War II through the face and strategies of Stalin is something new in the field in the way developed by the author。 I also believe that the book will provoke mixed reactions， including negative ones， as Stalin has supporters even in the 21st century who are gaining visibility。
Marsha
，
For those who think of World War II as that noble fight of good against evil， this thoroughly sourced book will be a rude awakening。 McMeekin details the inspiration and practical tips that Stalin and Hitler got from each other， and also their many ways of collaborating and staying out of each others' way in the 1930s。 Even Stalin's antisemitism rivals Hitler's。 The allies thought they won by defeating Hitler， but meanwhile their fellow ally Stalin established a vast slave empire under their nos For those who think of World War II as that noble fight of good against evil， this thoroughly sourced book will be a rude awakening。 McMeekin details the inspiration and practical tips that Stalin and Hitler got from each other， and also their many ways of collaborating and staying out of each others' way in the 1930s。 Even Stalin's antisemitism rivals Hitler's。 The allies thought they won by defeating Hitler， but meanwhile their fellow ally Stalin established a vast slave empire under their noses。 Stalin was playing chess while everyone else was playing checkers。 If you want to understand Putin's long-game， look no further than his patron-devil。 。。。more
Biblio Files （takingadayoff）
，
This book was provided free by the publisher as a review copy。In 2017 Professor Sean McMeekin published The Russian Revolution: A New History， and his new book is just as interesting， telling the story of World War II—or， more accurately， the world wars engineered by Iosif Stalin。More than anything， Stalin's wars were about spreading the Terror to the rest of Europe。The Spanish Civil War is often considered a trial run for the world war， and Sean McMeekin shows that having political control was This book was provided free by the publisher as a review copy。In 2017 Professor Sean McMeekin published The Russian Revolution: A New History， and his new book is just as interesting， telling the story of World War II—or， more accurately， the world wars engineered by Iosif Stalin。More than anything， Stalin's wars were about spreading the Terror to the rest of Europe。The Spanish Civil War is often considered a trial run for the world war， and Sean McMeekin shows that having political control was more important than achieving military victory。 Stalin's overall strategy was always to encourage the two capitalist blocs （Germany on one hand and France and Britain and their Allies on the other） to fight each other。Stalin's goal wasn't winning， but prolonging。Even in Asia， Stalin kept the Chinese Civil War going。After the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact， on May 3， 1939， Stalin ordered Soviet Jews purged from the Foreign Ministry， apparently as an approach to Hitler。 Pictures of Gestapo officers shaking hands with the NKVD after the Great Terror sent chills down some people's spines。 McMeekin does stress the point that no war is inevitable however。 The United States might have stayed out of the war。 Right up until Pearl Harbor， FDR was promising to keep America out of the war。 He—or his successor—might have kept that promise。 Stalin was worried that if he seemed to the Allies to be getting on too well with Hitler， they might attack the Soviet Union。 This became a distinct worry after Stalin invaded Finland and installed a puppet government。 World public opinion was on the side of the Finns and would have supported military action against the Soviet Union。Politruks—political commisars under the supervision of Stalin's henchman Lev Mekhlis of the Red Army Political Department， spent hours a day lecturing Soviet troops and distributing propaganda newspapers aimed at the Finnish speaking population。 Control detachments threatened Soviet troops who retreated with execution。Then Stalin rounded up Polish elites after blackmailing the Poles into allowing Soviet bases on their territory。Stalin didn't care， but he appeared to much of the world an aggressor like Hitler。 Mussolini almost declared war against the USSR because Stalin had attacked Finland。 This would have caused a split between Nazi German and Fascist Italy。Captured Soviet troops were shocked by the decency with which the Finns treated them （according to interviews with Russian-speaking British officers）。 On February 22， 1940， there were secret talks between the Turks and the Allies。 The possible target was oil in Baku。 On October 9—19， 1944， the conference in Moscow between Churchill and Stalin codenamed “Tolstoy” was famous for Churchill offtering Stalin a cynical division of the Balkins written on a napkin that Stalin seemed to accept， but it's difficult to know how serious Stalin took the offer。Stalin had refused to travel very far to meet Roosevelt and Churchill。 Sean McMeekin quotes Churchill that if they spent ten years looking for a place to hold a conference， they could find nowhere worse than Yalta to meet。FDR and Churchill seemed to be trying to exceed Stalin in threatening violent treatment of Germans in the postwar period。In McMeekin's opinion American officials like Harry Dexter White in the Treasury Department， and Harry Hopkins， FDR's closest political advisor for most of his administration and chief Lend-Lease negotiator， were agents of influence who helped Stalin's cause。 McMeekin says the fates of Yugoslavia， Poland， and China were settled at Teheran。 Stalin convinced FDR and Churchill to （1） allow him to seize German industry， （2） use enemy soldiers as slave laborers， and （3） take revenge against captured Soviets。The simple fact was in the postwar the Allies let Stalin build a slave labor empire。World War II is often considered the most violent conflict in history， and at the same time one of the few necessary wars。 McMeekin comes to some uncomfortable conclusions。If the point of the war was to save western Europe， that could have been achieved at less human cost in negotiations。If the point was to save eastern Europe， it failed。If the war in Asia was over Manchuria， the conclusion of that war just handed that territory to Stalin。Sean McMeekin is sure that Stalin was the victor in Europe and Asia。 。。。more
Reference
google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Stalin's War
hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=Stalin's War&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft
The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Stalin's War&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0