Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Soviet Union joined the League of Nations and pursued unsuccessfully a policy
of collective security against Germany for the next five years. Frustrated by the
failure of negotiations with Great Britain and France, Stalin directed his diplo-
mats to negotiate a nonaggression pact with Nazi Germany, which became a
reality in August 1939, to the surprise of the world and many Communist faith-
ful. The Soviet Union gained territories in eastern Poland and annexed the
Baltic republics, while it supplied Germany with raw materials, mostly oil, for
the next two years until Hitler ordered the invasion of the USSR in June 1941.
Stalin's performance as a World War II leader has been the subject of exten-
sive debate. He has been faulted for ignoring various signals that Hitler was
Joseph Stalin (right)
with Viacheslav
Molotov
(Library
of Congress)
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