Posted on 06/13/2005 3:48:10 PM PDT by Tailgunner Joe
What only a few members of Stalin's inner circle knew, men such as Marshal Georgy K. Zhukov, was that his confidence stemmed from two extraordinary letters he had received from Hitler, published here in English for the first time.
In the first letter, dated Dec. 31, 1940, Hitler admitted what could not easily be concealed from Soviet air reconnaissance and long-range patrols: That indeed 70 German divisions and supporting aircraft were deployed near the U.S.S.R. border in what he called the "Government General," the term for the portion of Poland seized after the infamous 1939 pact. He claimed he wished to keep them safe from British bombers until the time came to invade England. Any talk of a German strike against the Soviet Union was the result of rumors and "fabricated documents."
The following May 14, Hitler again acknowledged the size of his forces along the Soviet frontier but warned against British disinformation and "rumors now circulating of a likely military conflict between us." Then, in a truly audacious statement, Hitler wrote, "I assure you, on my honor as a chief of state [emphasis added] that this is not the case."
In the same letter, Hitler employed what Mr. Murphy describes as "the final masterpiece in a gallery of disinformation." He "confided" in Stalin that some of his generals might launch an unauthorized provocative attack "in order to save England from its fate and spoil my plans." He asked Stalin not to respond in kind by resisting any renegades who might enter the Soviet Union. Mr. Murphy writes, "Hitler virtually dictated the scenario Stalin followed in the first hours after the invasion." Not for days did the Red Army mobilize and try to fight back the invaders. By that time, of course, the Germans had struck deep into Soviet territory.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
BUMP
wow, never heard of this before. Very interesting. What a con man. Played Stalin like a puppet.
Well, Stalin deserved Hitler and vice versa.
The only problem with this theory is that Hitler (or maybe it was Goebbels) announced the invasion of the USSR as soon as it happened in a national radio address. And Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov was informed right after it happened- he was visiting Berlin IIRC.
If they were trying to hoodwink Stalin they would have told Molotov, "it's all a big misundertanding- give us time to withdraw our troops."
Read it years ago in a book about the oddities of WW2. I'd like to know the full story.
Yep, pretty much says it all about Stalin.
Amazing, Stalin wouldn't trust anybody around him, but would trust the word of Hitler.
FDR's good friend 'Uncle Joe' was just proving the old adage: 'You can't cheat an honest man'.
He didn't trust the word of Hitler. He simply thought that Hitler was too weak to conquer the Soviet Union (and it of course turned out that he was) and that he was much stronger than him (after all the Germans had 3150 tanks, that were at that time nowhere as good as T-34 and KV's, and the Soviets had ca. 21000 tanks, including ca. 2000 KV's that were practically immune to any German attack, plus the Soviets had 3 times as many planes). Because he considered Hitler to be a reasonable guy he didn't think that he would risk a war with the USSR in a situation in which he was already at war with UK, and had a very realistic chance of engaging USA into it. By the way he of course himself planned an invasion on Germany. At the beginning the Soviets were supposed to invade on 6th July 1941 but then the invasion was postponed until 1942.
Distrust of people was the dominating characteristic of Joseph Djugashvili [Stalin]; it was his only philosophy of life. He had not trusted his own mother; neither had he trusted God, before whom as a young man he had bowed down in His temple. He had not trusted his fellow Party members, especially those with the gift of eloquence. He had not trusted his comrades in exile. He did not trust the peasants to sow their grain or harvest their wheat unless he forced them to do it and watched over them. He did not trust the workers to work unless he laid down their production targets. He did not trust the intellectuals to help the cause rather than to harm it. He did not trust the soldiers and the generals to fight without penal battalions and field security squads. He had never trusted his relatives, his wives or his mistresses. He had not even trusted his children. And how right he had been!--Aleksander Solzenitsyn, The First Circle (1968)In all his long, suspicion-ridden life he had only trusted one man. That man had shown the whole world that he knew his own mind, knew whom it was expedient to like and whom to hate; and he had always known when to turn round and offer the hand of friendship to those who had been his enemies.
This man, whom Stalin had trusted, was Adolf Hitler.
It always amazes me that the only person Stalin ever trusted in his entire life was -- Adolf Hitler.
ping
Let's try that again and make sure I ping the right person ;-) Check this out.
I look forward to reading the book when it gets discounted. Stalin believed exactly what he wanted to believe, and any information to the contrary was "a scheme by Churchill" to mislead Stalin into provoking invasion by Germany.
Stalin was really quite mad. With all the advance warning Stalin had about German action, he continued shipping supplies to Hitler until the very last moment. Whether to placate Hitler or (more probably) to defy "British disinformation," Stalin was shipping supplies (ores and timber) on the morning Barbarossa was launched. In one sector, Anthony Beevor writes about German forces waiting for an important cargo train to cross the border (right on schedule!) before launching the Barbarossa attack.
"Amazing, Stalin wouldn't trust anybody around him, but would trust the word of Hitler."
What's to wonder about? Far too many Americans believed the Klintoon despite masses of evidence. Matter of fact, many still do believe the Klintoons, both of 'em.
in such an interesting turn of events as this, it seems to me that stalin if he had half a brain knew his betrayal was imminent. and having 70 divisions at the border, hitler definitely had the upper hand at the time. so stalin chose to let the germans in relatively easy, and consequently force them to fight the russian terrain as well. stalin "napoleoned" hitler, and the ussr was probably saved because so many german soldiers froze to death trying to reach moscow and the oil fields of the south. this wasn't helping hitler out. cross and double-cross.
What I read was that Hitler wanted Russia's oil. But I read that in 1970.
We almost shared a similar fate in 2000
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