Stalin's War by; Sean McMeekin

I found this at the Public Library. It is a huge book with 656 pages of text. I never miss an opportunity to read something new about WWII. It was depressing to me. It was devoted to the actions of Russia. There was little difference between Russia and Germany. Both countries were led by evil men. Stalin signed a pact with Hitler and after the German’s had beaten the Poles, his Army rolled in and took control of half of the country. He fought a war with Finland. This little country held his forces out for three months before having to give in and cede large parts of their country. Next he defeated Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The two dictators fell out and Germany launched an all-out war with Russia in 1941. I have always praised Roosevelt as one of our greatest presidents. For the first time I became depressed because of his ardent support of Stalin. America was not yet in the war but had been supplying England with Lend-Lease supplies since 1940. As soon as the two countries commenced conflict he started giving supplies to Russia without any requirement for compensation. This was intensified after America was attacked by Japan. Incredible amounts were given including whole factories and industrial secrets Soviets were allowed into our factories. Anything they wanted was given to them even at the expense of our own military. Even when Germany surrendered, ships continued to sail. The absolute worst part to me was pleading with Stalin to fight Japan. In order to get his agreement the conquered countries between Russia and Europe were given over to Stalin. We continued to supply his forces in the Far East. He, knowing of our achievement of creating the Atomic bomb, declared war just days before Hiroshima and the surrender of Japan. This allowed him to gobble up large areas including Korea. Had he stayed out perhaps the Chinese Nationalists could have survived and the trauma of Korea never happened. Much of Europe did not benefit and lived in misery for decades after the war was over. J