Stalin's Wars: From World War to Cold War, 1939-1953This breakthrough book provides a detailed reconstruction of Stalin's leadership from the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 to his death in 1953. Making use of a wealth of new material from Russian archives, Geoffrey Roberts challenges a long list of standard perceptions of Stalin: his qualities as a leader; his relationships with his own generals and with other great world leaders; his foreign policy; and his role in instigating the Cold War. While frankly exploring the full extent of Stalin's brutalities and their impact on the Soviet people, Roberts also uncovers evidence leading to the stunning conclusion that Stalin was both the greatest military leader of the twentieth century and a remarkable politician who sought to avoid the Cold War and establish a long-term detente with the capitalist world. By means of an integrated military, political, and diplomatic narrative, the author draws a sustained and compelling personal portrait of the Soviet leader. The resulting picture is fascinating and contradictory, and it will inevitably change the way we understand Stalin and his place in history. Roberts depicts a despot who helped save the world for democracy, a personal charmer who disciplined mercilessly, a utopian ideologue who could be a practical realist, and a warlord who undertook the role of architect of post-war peace. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 56
... Italy and Japan conclude tripartite pact Molotov–Hitler–Ribbentrop talks in Berlin Soviet proposal for a four-power pact with Germany, Italy and Japan Hitler directive on Operation Barbarossa Soviet–Turkish statement on neutrality ...
... Italy Smolensk recaptured by the Red Army Italy declares war on Germany Moscow Conference of Foreign Ministers Kiev recaptured by the Red Army Tehran Conference Soviet–Czechoslovak Treaty of Friendship, Mutual Aid and Postwar ...
... of the Black Sea Straits with Turkey Zhdanovshchina begins CFM meeting in New York Signing of peace treaties with Bulgaria, Finland, Hungary, Italy and Romania CFM meeting in Moscow 12 March 5 June 27 June–2 July 22–28 September 25.
... (Italian, Hungarian, Romanian, Finnish, Croat, Slovak and Spanish as well as German). The Germans alone incurred 10 million casualties on the Eastern front (75 per cent of their total wartime losses), including 3 million dead, with ...
... war, drew back from the demand for control of the Black Sea Straits, and acquiesced in the British and American refusal to give him a share of defeated Italy's North African colonies. But the damage to Soviet patriotic pride and prestige.
Contents
Stalin and his Generals | |
Stalin Churchill and Roosevelt | |
Stalins Year of Victories | |
Stalins Aims in Germany and Eastern Europe | |
Stalin Truman and the End of the Second World | |
Stalin and the Origins of the Cold | |
The Domestic Context of Stalins Postwar Foreign Policy | |
Stalin Embattled | |
Stalin in the Court of History | |
Select Bibliography | 1957 |
Index | 1975 |