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<blockquote data-quote="RosaL" data-source="post: 2983240" data-attributes="member: 135002">Well personally I would subscribe to the view that their position in Europe was always simply defensive.&nbsp; The &#039;west&#039; had tried to destroy the USSR from the word go, and so they never trusted us an inch.&nbsp; (The fact that Stalin was totally paranoid probably didn&#039;t help.)&nbsp; The presence of democracy never stopped any major power from imposing it&#039;s will on another country if it suited it to do so.&nbsp; Besides, the USSR liberated most of Europe from the Nazi&#039;s.&nbsp; Democracy was a bit of a distant memory by 1945.&nbsp; Obviously.The carve-up of Poland by Germany and the USSR was a pretty cynical business.&nbsp; But after we&#039;d sold Czechoslovakia down the river, Stalin knew that we wouldn&#039;t lift a finger to stop Hitler, so he had to buy the USSR some time.&nbsp; He probably believed that our leaders wanted Germany to destroy the USSR, and with good reason.Surely you mean Soviet policy from 1941 onwards?&nbsp; The tide turned against the Nazis at Stalingrad.&nbsp; Sure, it was better to live on the western side of the Iron Curtain, but if it wasn&#039;t for the Red Army then most of Europe would be living in a world where democracy would be the least of our concerns.&nbsp; Democracy isn&#039;t the be-all and end-all anyway.&nbsp; Hitler was democratically elected.&nbsp; &nbsp; Besides, there was plenty of coersion whenever elections in western Europe looked like producing a result which our leaders didn&#039;t like.&nbsp; Fortunately it only once went as far as democracy being removed, when the Greek military seized power in a CIA-backed coup - but it would be a very naive person who imagined that the same thing wouldn&#039;t have happened elsewhere if it was deemed necessary.It&#039;s all a dirty business, I&#039;m afraid.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="RosaL, post: 2983240, member: 135002"] Well personally I would subscribe to the view that their position in Europe was always simply defensive. The 'west' had tried to destroy the USSR from the word go, and so they never trusted us an inch. (The fact that Stalin was totally paranoid probably didn't help.) The presence of democracy never stopped any major power from imposing it's will on another country if it suited it to do so. Besides, the USSR liberated most of Europe from the Nazi's. Democracy was a bit of a distant memory by 1945. Obviously. The carve-up of Poland by Germany and the USSR was a pretty cynical business. But after we'd sold Czechoslovakia down the river, Stalin knew that we wouldn't lift a finger to stop Hitler, so he had to buy the USSR some time. He probably believed that our leaders wanted Germany to destroy the USSR, and with good reason. Surely you mean Soviet policy from 1941 onwards? The tide turned against the Nazis at Stalingrad. Sure, it was better to live on the western side of the Iron Curtain, but if it wasn't for the Red Army then most of Europe would be living in a world where democracy would be the least of our concerns. Democracy isn't the be-all and end-all anyway. Hitler was democratically elected. Besides, there was plenty of coersion whenever elections in western Europe looked like producing a result which our leaders didn't like. Fortunately it only once went as far as democracy being removed, when the Greek military seized power in a CIA-backed coup - but it would be a very naive person who imagined that the same thing wouldn't have happened elsewhere if it was deemed necessary. It's all a dirty business, I'm afraid. [/QUOTE]

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