"... Had the collective security pact between Western powers and Soviet Union existed, events would have unfolded quite differently."
Agreed, imalko, we would have an iron curtain in 1940 not 1945.
Stalin and the excesses of comunism have never subject to the same "outrage" standard as Hitler and the Nazis. All through the '30's the liberal left wanted to believe that the USSR was a great humanitarian "experiment" - overlooking purges, famine, gulags, whatever. Hitler had his supports too - Edward Prince of Wales just to name one -
. But since the conclusion of WW2 Hilter has been the poster boy for EVIL. Measured by body counts both Mao and Stalin are orders of magnitude more evil than Hitler. Hitler personified "the banality of evil". There was nothing banal about Stalin. He was the "incarnation" of evil.
You know, imalko, there is a school of thought that says that Britain should have stayed out of WW1 when Germany invaded Belgium to get at France. While it is true that Britain's entry into that war almost certainly guaranteed her demise (loss of Empire etc. etc.) it is unimaginable that Britain would NOT get involved in 1914. A century earlier Britain put itself at risk against napoleon - maintaining an (almost) uninterrupted blockade of "Continental" Europe from 1790's to 1812 - in wooden sailing ships and rough waters.
Britain staked its defense on imposing itself into European power struggles when its future might be affected. (Outside and above I called it earlier in this thread
). Now that British "position" may or may not have been right, moral, or just - depends on what you believe and were taught
- but Spaniards, Portuguese and others in Europe were liberated by the relentless sacrifice of Britian. In the same way - Britian could have ducked its treaty obligations to Belgium in 1914 - and WW1 as we understand it would never have happened. France would have collapsed, I suspect, and there might never have been a Hitler. And the Russian Revolution also would have been different
So when you state "Had the collective security pact between Western powers and Soviet Union existed, events would have unfolded quite differently" that is quite true - but - as you see, one can't second guess the historical record in any century.
So I would defend Britain's rejection of Stalin's "alliance" to block Hitler because it was not founded in good faith and would have served totally Stalin and totally discredited Britain (and France). The fate of France, frankly, I care less about
.
So - perhaps I am naive
. My mom's dad and 2 brothers served in WW1 and the bro's in WW2. I can be more positive about the Germans and Germany that they fought than I can be about communism and Stalin (whom they never encountered).
There it is.
MM
Proud Canadian