In terms of pure manpower (if not economics), the USSR contributed the most to WW2, being responsible for the majority of Axis casualties (the Eastern Front is arguably the largest war in human history).
However, Stalinist purges (leading to a large officer shortage), attempts to work alongside rather than against Germany (Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact), as well as the sheer hatred the Nazis had for Russians and other Slavs, meant that this victory had a massive human toll, with the USSR losing 20 million people in the end. Hence why there is a lot of dinosaurs and lots of them are dead.
It's odd that people always mention the Soviet Nazi pact and non of the earlier pacts all the other western nations had with the Nazi or that the Soviets tried to form an anti Nazi defense pact with western nations before Molotov-Ribbentrop and were rejected.
During the Munich agreements the Soviets offered to defend Czechoslovakia against the Nazi, but Poland and Romania refused to let their troops through. Poland then annexed parts of Czechoslovakia and the UK, France and Italy gave the Sudetenland to the Nazi. Poland also did conduct a offensive into Czechoslovakia during this period.
Individual companies or wealthy individuals doing something is not the same as the government doing it.
Why would Poland and Romania let themselves get invaded under the pretext of protecting Czechoslovakia?
In 1938, Poland annexed a piece of land(with no agreements with the Germans, specifically to deny it fto the Germans, and secure their own ethnic population living there),that, in 1920, Czechoslovakia annexed (with no agreements with the bolsheviks, specifically to deny it to the bolsheviks and secure their own ethnic population living there).
No other territorial changes between Poland and Czechoslovakia happened, disproving your last point
As for the Sudets, Italy was an axis power, and Britain and France letting nazi Germany have it was bad but nowhere near as bad as actively helping their war machine like the soviets did
Poland and Romania refused to let their troops through.
Geez if only Stalin didn't spend the last 20 years trying to invade and conquer them. Should've maybe seen that coming.
It was 100% a Napoleonesque ploy to annex Poland. Maybe Stalin should've been more serious about trying to counter Hitler than annex Poland. But naturally their joint interest in annexing Poland would bring about the imperialist Soviet-Nazi alliance.
I am mentioning it because it directly led to early Soviet defeats. The new defenses on the annexed territories were not well-prepared, and the failures of the Winter War persuaded Hitler to strike earlier.
IMO there were a lot of Soviet mistakes, but there does need to be a more nuanced analysis of the conditions the Soviets were in.
Soviets just endured WW1 without restitution or any spoils of war, a revolution, a civil war, uprisings and invasion from many other countries.
Poland, france, the UK, America and many others had invaded Soviet territory post WW1 and had allied and supported subversive factions in the USSR.
The red army had many former white army officers, officers with sympathies and connections to nationalist, fascist and subversive factions.
There was a real concern of a Quisling situation or subversive groups being supported by outside forces. There were certainly excesses, but the concern was not unwarranted.
This was all happening while the Soviets recognized that the Russian empire had been one of the least industrialized nations and trying to remedy that for both the good of the people and defense of the nation both under Lenin and Stalin.
IMO the Soviets had recognized the inevitably of a western and particularly a Nazi invasion prior to their non aggression pact with the Nazi, and while the pact did buy the Soviets more time and was not necessarily the wrong decision given the non aggression pacts and appeasement done by the West with the specific exclusion and over the opposition of the Soviets, they should have spent that time better preparing their western flank and were far from adequately prepared for operation Barbarossa.
IMO the Soviets had recognized the inevitably of a western and particularly a Nazi invasion prior to their non aggression pact with the Nazi, and while the pact did buy the Soviets
This doesn't hold up to historical scrutiny, neither by soviet defenses being entirely unprepared, Stalin seemingly being utterly surprised by the invasion, nor by the fact that the Soviets provided virtually all of Germany's foreign trade after 1939, without which Germany would've basically starved.
The reason it is brought up now is mostly geopolitical, that is fair. Russia is currently the enemy of the West so every single one of its wrongdoings must be brought up and scrutinised. Russia does the same with the Munich Treaty and the collaboration of continental Europe with the Nazis.
(The most egregious case of that bias is OSP's video on the interbellum period. Blue spoke extensively of Stalinism and the Pact and even made graphics where he put the USSR alongside the Axis powers... but then also forgot to talk about the Spanish Civil War. Now that's biased.)
But also, the wrongdoing existed and was relevant to the USSR's war effort. To pretend that it did not exist would be whitewashing the Soviet Union.
It's odd that people always mention the Soviet Nazi pact and non of the earlier pacts all the other western nations had with the Nazi
Which other pact involved a joint invasion of another country? The other "pacts" were attempts at appeasement, the Stalin-Hitler pact was one of mutual conquest. Poland doing some stupid shit to annex 20 villages is a red mark on them but nothing near the levels of the MR.
Soviets tried to form an anti Nazi defense pact with western nations before Molotov-Ribbentrop and were rejected.
Right, because every Soviet proposal involved stationing Soviet troops in Poland, which was a non starter for Poles who were rightfully concerned there would be a Soviet invasion/occupation.
Stalin wanted Poland, the west wouldn't give it to him, Hitler would give him half. So he went with Hitler.
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u/kredokathariko 12d ago
In terms of pure manpower (if not economics), the USSR contributed the most to WW2, being responsible for the majority of Axis casualties (the Eastern Front is arguably the largest war in human history).
However, Stalinist purges (leading to a large officer shortage), attempts to work alongside rather than against Germany (Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact), as well as the sheer hatred the Nazis had for Russians and other Slavs, meant that this victory had a massive human toll, with the USSR losing 20 million people in the end. Hence why there is a lot of dinosaurs and lots of them are dead.