Assured Victory: How "Stalin the Great" Won the War, but Lost the Peace
This book documents dictator Joseph Stalin's brilliant tactics as well as missteps in taking preemptive actions that guaranteed ultimate victory over the German invaders. It also covers the policies implemented after the war that made the Soviet Union a menace to world peace and led to collapse of Soviet rule.

A detailed reexamination of historical facts indicates that Stalin could deserve to be regarded as a "great leader." Yet Stalin clearly failed as his nation's leader in a post-World War II milieu, where he delivered the Cold War instead of rapid progress and global cooperation. It is the proof of both Stalin's brilliance and blunders that makes him such a fascinating figure in modern history.

Today, most of the Russian population acknowledges that Stalin achieved "greatness." The Soviet dictator's honored place in history is largely due to Stalin successfully attending to the Soviet Union's defense needs in the 1930s and 1940s, and leading the USSR to victory in the war on the Eastern Front against Nazi Germany and its allies. This book provides an overdue critical investigation of how the Soviet leader's domestic and foreign policies actually helped produce this victory, and above all, how Stalin's timely support of a wartime alliance with the Western capitalist democracies assured the defeat of the Axis powers in 1945.

"1111584148"
Assured Victory: How "Stalin the Great" Won the War, but Lost the Peace
This book documents dictator Joseph Stalin's brilliant tactics as well as missteps in taking preemptive actions that guaranteed ultimate victory over the German invaders. It also covers the policies implemented after the war that made the Soviet Union a menace to world peace and led to collapse of Soviet rule.

A detailed reexamination of historical facts indicates that Stalin could deserve to be regarded as a "great leader." Yet Stalin clearly failed as his nation's leader in a post-World War II milieu, where he delivered the Cold War instead of rapid progress and global cooperation. It is the proof of both Stalin's brilliance and blunders that makes him such a fascinating figure in modern history.

Today, most of the Russian population acknowledges that Stalin achieved "greatness." The Soviet dictator's honored place in history is largely due to Stalin successfully attending to the Soviet Union's defense needs in the 1930s and 1940s, and leading the USSR to victory in the war on the Eastern Front against Nazi Germany and its allies. This book provides an overdue critical investigation of how the Soviet leader's domestic and foreign policies actually helped produce this victory, and above all, how Stalin's timely support of a wartime alliance with the Western capitalist democracies assured the defeat of the Axis powers in 1945.

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Assured Victory: How

Assured Victory: How "Stalin the Great" Won the War, but Lost the Peace

by Albert L. Weeks
Assured Victory: How

Assured Victory: How "Stalin the Great" Won the War, but Lost the Peace

by Albert L. Weeks

Hardcover

$55.00 
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Overview

This book documents dictator Joseph Stalin's brilliant tactics as well as missteps in taking preemptive actions that guaranteed ultimate victory over the German invaders. It also covers the policies implemented after the war that made the Soviet Union a menace to world peace and led to collapse of Soviet rule.

A detailed reexamination of historical facts indicates that Stalin could deserve to be regarded as a "great leader." Yet Stalin clearly failed as his nation's leader in a post-World War II milieu, where he delivered the Cold War instead of rapid progress and global cooperation. It is the proof of both Stalin's brilliance and blunders that makes him such a fascinating figure in modern history.

Today, most of the Russian population acknowledges that Stalin achieved "greatness." The Soviet dictator's honored place in history is largely due to Stalin successfully attending to the Soviet Union's defense needs in the 1930s and 1940s, and leading the USSR to victory in the war on the Eastern Front against Nazi Germany and its allies. This book provides an overdue critical investigation of how the Soviet leader's domestic and foreign policies actually helped produce this victory, and above all, how Stalin's timely support of a wartime alliance with the Western capitalist democracies assured the defeat of the Axis powers in 1945.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780313391651
Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date: 01/19/2011
Pages: 281
Product dimensions: 6.20(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Albert L. Weeks is professor emeritus at New York University, New York, NY, a World War II (USAF) veteran, and former Senior Soviet Analyst with the U.S. Department of State.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

Note on Transliteration xv

Introduction xvii

Fallout from the Medvedev Decree xxii

Poll on Stalin's Greatness xxiii

Revising School Textbooks xxiv

Historiographers' View Toward Writing History xxviii

Part 1 Age of Dictators 1

1 Stalin: The Twentieth Century's Second Dictator 3

Unique Dictator 3

Advantages Enjoyed by Stalin 4

Contrasts with Western Leadership 6

Stalin Uses Diplomacy as a Weapon 7

Stalin's Personal Qualities 9

Dealing with the West and America 11

Stalin's Use of Bluff 13

A "Master Politician" 13

2 Stalin's Methods and Accomplishments 17

The Stalin Cult 17

Machiavellian Methods 21

Legacy of the Cautious Leader 23

3 The Vozhd' Prepares for War 25

Consolidating the Home Front 25

Were the Purges Justified? 27

The Kirov Case 28

Mainstream Historiography on the Purges 30

The Watershed Year 31

4 The World as Seen from Stalin's Kremlin 37

Foundation of German-Soviet Relations 38

Red Army-German Military Collaboration 41

Soviet-Fascist Totalitarian Kinship 44

Treacherous Currents of Europe 48

5 Soviet Two-Track Policy 51

Counterpoint of Early Soviet Diplomacy, 1918-1930s 52

Peredyshki 55

Fomenting Inter-Imperialist Tensions 56

Diplomacy in Stalin's Industrialization 57

Stalin's Emphasis on Defense 60

Trail of Broken "Friendship" Treaties 62

Comintern Factor 64

United Front (Lenin)/Popular Front (Stalin) 66

6 Soviet Pro-German Posture 71

Early Roots 71

The Brest-Litovsk Precedent (1918) 72

Straws in the Wind 76

The "Communazi" Factor 78

Stalin Navigates European Waters 81

Far East Dangers 82

Part 2 Stalin Prepares for War 85

7 The Myth of Collective Security 87

League Weaknesses 90

Soviet View toward the League 91

Stalin's Cautiousness 99

8 America in Stalin's Future 105

Stalin Watches America's Slide toward War 106

Stalin's American Affinities 109

Stalin at the Eighteenth Party Congress 111

Stalin's Defensism 112

Stalin on the West's Plans 113

The Significance of Stalin's Hints 114

Stalin and the CPUSA 115

American "Colossus" 116

Stalin's Hoped-for Lend-Lease 119

A "Strange" U.S.-Soviet Alliance 123

Stalin Defends State Interests 126

Stalin and FDR 131

Spies and Agents of Influence 132

Stalin among the Big Three 134

9 Nazi-Soviet Pacts and Aftermath 143

Controversy over Stalin's Defense Policies 144

Specifics of Nazi-Soviet Pacts and Protocols 146

Carving up the World 149

New Tensions 151

Gaining Territory by the Pacts 159

10 Pre-Barbarossa War Plans 161

Stalin's First Reactions 162

Early German Successes 163

Stalin's Behavior on the Dramatic Day 164

Development of Historiography on Stalin's Reactions 168

New Versions of Stalin's Behavior on June 22 172

Additional Observations and Issues 182

Part 3 The War and Its Aftermath 191

11 Stalin Bluffs and Defeats Wehrmacht 193

Reassessing Stalin 193

Stalin Bluffs in the "Great Game" 198

Barbarossa Materializes 200

Stalin's Not-So-Blind Eye 201

The "Bluff" 202

Stalin's Costly Errors 205

Soviet Weaknesses 206

Stalin Approves a Modified Kutuzov Strategy 208

Did the Bluff Pay Off? 209

Preventing a Russian "Gleiwitz" 210

Stalin's Military Defense Plan 211

How "Unprepared" Was the RKKA? 211

12 Epilogue: Winning the War, Losing the Peace 215

Hints of a Coming Cold War, 1946 216

Cold War Chronology 219

A "New" Stalin? 222

Today's Russian Historians on the Cold War 223

Assessing Stalin's Alleged Greatness 225

Appendix I Stalin, Soviet Premier, Broadcast to the People of the Soviet Union 229

Appendix II Stalin's Biography in Current Russian Military Encyclopedia 235

Appendix III Stalin's Speech at the Reception in the Kremlin in Honor of the Commanders of the Red Army 237

Bibliography 239

Notes 253

Index 273

What People are Saying About This

Dr. Jacob W. Kipp

"Albert Weeks has taken on a very important issue that still plagues Russian and Western historiography of the war: Stalin's political objectives as they relate to the coming, course, and outcome of the war. Weeks argues that Stalin had a hand in bringing about the war, which imposed heavy costs upon his own people, and was the architect of victory, which served to consolidate his own power but did not address the deep longing of his own people for a return to a normal time. Those interested in the coming, conduct, and outcome of World War II will find much of interest in this volume."

David M. Glantz

"This striking new volume puts paid to current controversies regarding the 'greatness' of Josef Stalin, the dictator of the Soviet Union before, during, and after the Soviet-German War (1941-1945). Exploiting fresh archival releases, Weeks assesses Stalin's performance, separating the genuine "wheat" from the veritable flood of 'chaff' regarding the dictator that has been generated during the turbulent years in Russian history following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. What results is a sobering portrait of, arguably, the Twentieth Century's most accomplished but brutal totalitarian ruler."

David M. Glantz, Colonel, U.S. Army, retired

David M. Glantz

"This striking new volume puts paid to current controversies regarding the 'greatness' of Josef Stalin, the dictator of the Soviet Union before, during, and after the Soviet-German War (1941–1945). Exploiting fresh archival releases, Weeks assesses Stalin's performance, separating the genuine 'wheat' from the veritable flood of 'chaff' regarding the dictator that has been generated during the turbulent years in Russian history following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. What results is a sobering portrait of, arguably, the Twentieth Century's most accomplished but brutal totalitarian ruler."

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