michaelmaltby
Colonel
As part of M-R pact Stalin occupied Bessarabia, a region with strong German roots that had been part of the Ukraine prior to the end of WW1 but was in 1939 part of Romania. In 1940 German troops moved into Romania to "protect" and later that year Romania joined the Axis.
Parsifal's analysis is historically correct - my point about Romanian oil is shadowed by the reluctance historians have to accept the "Ice Breaker" scenario (that Stalin was poised to go on the offensive around October 1941). This explains why Soviet troops were positioned where they were in June 1941 and why they had no "orders". There is much of Sokolov's (sp?) Ice Breaker theory that I have difficulty swallowing - like tanks with Christie suspensions that were designed not for cross-country but fast highway travel on wheels - but overall Stalin knew he had to do it to Hitler before Hitler did it to him, and preventing Hitler from accessing Romanian oil was a No 1 consideration in containing Hitler.
In supporting this "shoot first" thesis I remind readers that just last year we learned from Putin historians in Russia that England and France caused WW2 because, if they had just reneged on their treaty with Poland and had given Stalin permission to advance west through Poland in 1939 (pre M-R Pact) WW2 would have been prevented.
It's a great debate. What if - indeed
MM
Parsifal's analysis is historically correct - my point about Romanian oil is shadowed by the reluctance historians have to accept the "Ice Breaker" scenario (that Stalin was poised to go on the offensive around October 1941). This explains why Soviet troops were positioned where they were in June 1941 and why they had no "orders". There is much of Sokolov's (sp?) Ice Breaker theory that I have difficulty swallowing - like tanks with Christie suspensions that were designed not for cross-country but fast highway travel on wheels - but overall Stalin knew he had to do it to Hitler before Hitler did it to him, and preventing Hitler from accessing Romanian oil was a No 1 consideration in containing Hitler.
In supporting this "shoot first" thesis I remind readers that just last year we learned from Putin historians in Russia that England and France caused WW2 because, if they had just reneged on their treaty with Poland and had given Stalin permission to advance west through Poland in 1939 (pre M-R Pact) WW2 would have been prevented.
It's a great debate. What if - indeed
MM