After World War I, the victors dismantled the vaunted German army, reducing it to only 100,000 men. The Treaty of Versailles further forbade Germany from producing or purchasing aircraft, armored vehicles, and submarines. These provisions highlighted the Entente’s hope that removing German access to modern technologies of war would force Germany to abandon its militarist past.
At the Treaty of Rapallo in April 1922, Germany and the Soviet Union normalized relations for the first time, the first blow against the postwar order. The following summer, the Reichswehr and Red Army held a series of secret summits during which they crafted the framework for military cooperation.
While Soviet-German military cooperation between 1922 and 1933 is often forgotten, it had a decisive impact on the origins and outbreak of World War II. Germany rebuilt its shattered military at four secret bases hidden in Russia. In exchange, the Reichswehr sent men to teach and train the young Soviet officer corps. However, the most important aspect of Soviet-German cooperation was its technological component. Together, the two states built a network of laboratories, workshops, and testing grounds in which they developed what became the major weapons systems of World War II. Without the technical results of this cooperation, Hitler would have been unable to launch his wars of conquest.
Ian has as well written: The Secret School of War: The Soviet-German Tank Academy at Kama
https://etd.ohiolink.edu/!etd.send_file?accession=osu1338500708&disposition=inline
In the Soviet view WWII started on 22 June 1941 as they were working with Nazi Germany to annex land. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molotov%E2%80%93Ribbentrop_Pact
Author Benn Steil’s “The Marshall Plan” tells the story of what the USSR wanted done with Germany in the years following WW II.
The entire country was to be made into a farm community, growing potatoes, etc for Mother Russia.
All arms making industry would be carted off to the Soviet Union. The Rooskies knew well how the Germans could turn out amazing machinery.
Thanks AdmSmith, that was a fascinating post. Of course, Hitler wasn't a strategic thinker, or a tactical thinker, he was a politician. Historically, in his lifetime, Germany had wasted an enormous effort in battle in the Russian Empire; Napoleon had done the same over a century before that; and Herodotus left us with an account of how the Persian Empire tried the same thing in some of the same geography and couldn't even catch their (pre-Russian) adversaries before they had to flee the winter.
In 1970, as a young but experienced tanker, I was sent to Spain to evaluate some of the M47 tanks they had in operation, the idea being to refit them with Diesel engines. Imagine ny surprise when I found out not quite all of them were M47s. Five were Tiger Is, and two were Tiger II *Kingtigers*.
The engine eventually decided upon for them was a 500 HP Cummins Diesel. I asked very gently what was to become of them, and was told by a Spanish Foreign Legion officer simply: Morocco.
Always wondered where they got rounds for the 88s.