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...at least as it's been told to us by Historians in America and Britain?
The standard line has been that the Germans started World War II and unleashed hell because they were trying to conquer the entire World.
But is the picture a lot more complex than that?
Are the Historians missing something?
Scant attention is paid in the West to Germany AND then USSR's invasion of Poland in which the 2 major powers invaded it from the West and East, then subsequently partitioned the country up for themselves.
While the UK and France declared War on Germany, they didn't on the USSR.
Furthermore, the Soviet expansion Westward didn't stop with the annexation of Poland.
They also gobbled up independent nations such as Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in 1940
And the USSR conquest continued with Finland as well where between 1939-40 they were met with stiff resistance by the Finns, who stymied the Russians and prevented them from swallowing up Finland as they had done with the other nations.
The Finnish resistance was not unlike that of Ukraine against Russia today. Perhaps the only reason the USSR halted its expansion was its failed war in Finland. Otherwise if they had been successful, they might have kept on going.
So perhaps it was just a fluke that Germany became known as the Resident Bad Guy, because they jumped the gun first in their mass invasion of Europe. But just like Germany, the USSR had imperial ambitions as well. And if the USSR had succeeded in overrunning Finland, they might today be known as the ones who started World War II. But by a stroke of luck and timing which favored them, they managed to become allied with 'the good guys'. Also, many countries in Eastern Europe then as in the 21st century were afraid of the presence of the USSR on their borders and greatly feared their expansive plans. While France, England and other Western European nations were aligned against Germany, the Eastern ones were aligned with it against Russia such as Bulgaria and Romania.
Ironic that Germany gets all the blame for starting World War II when the USSR might have been just as or more responsible for it as well. In addition, their expansionist tendencies today are just another legacy of their brutal and imperial past.
The standard line has been that the Germans started World War II and unleashed hell because they were trying to conquer the entire World.
But is the picture a lot more complex than that?
Are the Historians missing something?
Scant attention is paid in the West to Germany AND then USSR's invasion of Poland in which the 2 major powers invaded it from the West and East, then subsequently partitioned the country up for themselves.
While the UK and France declared War on Germany, they didn't on the USSR.
Furthermore, the Soviet expansion Westward didn't stop with the annexation of Poland.
They also gobbled up independent nations such as Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in 1940
And the USSR conquest continued with Finland as well where between 1939-40 they were met with stiff resistance by the Finns, who stymied the Russians and prevented them from swallowing up Finland as they had done with the other nations.
The Finnish resistance was not unlike that of Ukraine against Russia today. Perhaps the only reason the USSR halted its expansion was its failed war in Finland. Otherwise if they had been successful, they might have kept on going.
So perhaps it was just a fluke that Germany became known as the Resident Bad Guy, because they jumped the gun first in their mass invasion of Europe. But just like Germany, the USSR had imperial ambitions as well. And if the USSR had succeeded in overrunning Finland, they might today be known as the ones who started World War II. But by a stroke of luck and timing which favored them, they managed to become allied with 'the good guys'. Also, many countries in Eastern Europe then as in the 21st century were afraid of the presence of the USSR on their borders and greatly feared their expansive plans. While France, England and other Western European nations were aligned against Germany, the Eastern ones were aligned with it against Russia such as Bulgaria and Romania.
Ironic that Germany gets all the blame for starting World War II when the USSR might have been just as or more responsible for it as well. In addition, their expansionist tendencies today are just another legacy of their brutal and imperial past.
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