The Kremlin
July 18, 1936
Stalin looked around at the men assembled in the seats in front of his desk, pipe contentedly smoking in his mouth. From left to right, the men before him were Maksim Litvinov, Genrikh Yagoda, Yan Berzin, Mikhail Tukhachevskij and his old crony Kliment Voroshilov. They were gathered in his office to discuss a most important matter of war, intelligence and geopolitics. Specifically, Stalin was interested in their opinions on France’s latest antics. Stalin looked around the semi-circle of important men in front of him, looking each one in the eyes before allowing his gaze to move on to the next. Once this exercise was complete, he stared toward Yan Berzin, the central of the five figures.
Taking his pipe from his mouth, he pointed it at Berzin. “Comrade Berzin, you are our minister of intelligence and thus I want to know from you how the French managed to accomplish such strategic deception. How did they keep this secret? Why did we not learn about it? How did the Germans fail to see it?”
“Comrade Stalin, my resources abroad are limited as per your directive in 1934, as you well know, and my operatives within this great Union come under the jurisdiction of my colleague here, Comrade Yagoda. As such, I have specialized in research and development intelligence rather than military intelligence. Nonetheless, my hypothesis would be that the Germans have similarly curtailed their intelligence activities abroad, allowing the French to mass troops, noticed by none.”
Stalin mulled over this thought for a minute, staring at the corner of the room with a pensive look on his face. Finally, he looked back at Berzin and nodded. “Fair enough, Comrade Berzin, I accept your explanation. Comrade Yagoda, do you have anything to add to his assessment?”
Comrade Stalin, I wish only to report that my operatives are effective in their work and thus the Soviet Union is safe from any penetration by spies, regardless of how intense an insertion campaign is mounted against our borders.”
Stalin nodded. “Very well. Comrade Voroshilov! Kliment, my old friend, could you go into the next room and bring us a map of Western Europe? We shall need it for Comrade Tukhachevskij’s own explanations of what is happening.”
Voroshilov smiled brightly, if vacantly, and nodded excitedly. “I will do it, Comrade Stalin!”
With that, Voroshilov unsteadily stood up before flouncing into the neighboring room. While he was gone, Stalin turned to Litvinov. “Comrade Litvinov, what do you have to say about this event?”
“Comrade Stalin, I believe that France has finally determined that the greatest foe to European peace is not Greece as previously believed, but rather Germany. Thus, somehow, the relevant ministries of the French Government have managed to persuade their imminently unstable parliamentary bourgeois government to declare war on the Fascists.”
Stalin frowned thoughtfully. “Comrade Litvinov, which ministries do you believe to be the relevant ones? And how do you believe they managed to convince their government?”
“Comrade Stalin, I believe the relevant ministries would be their Foreign and Intelligence Ministries, as well as the Army. I suppose—”
Litvinov was interrupted as Voroshilov called out from the next room. “Comrade Stalin! Which map is that of Western Europe?”
Stalin sighed and almost seemed to shrink in his chair as he looked toward the source of the voice. “Kliment, just get me a map of France! France and Germany, rather!”
Stalin turned back to Litvinov. “Excuse me, Comrade Litvinov. Please continue.”
“Of course, Comrade Stalin. As I was saying, I suppose that the Intelligence Ministry informed the Foreign Ministry and the Army and together those two organizations brought the matter to the President and Prime Minister of France, who in turn set it before the Parliament. Driven by—”
“Comrade Stalin! I cannot find the map of France! Or France and Germany!”
Stalin closed his eyes, suddenly feeling very tired. Slowly opening them, he looked to Tukhachevskij and tried to force a smile. “I suppose that old adage is true, Comrade Tukhachevskij, isn’t it? ‘If you want something done, do it yourself,’ I believe it goes. Please help Comrade Voroshilov find the map of Western Europe.”
Voroshilov called out again. “Western Europe? I thought we wanted France or France and Germany. Is this not correct, Comrade Stalin?”
Stalin nodded to Tukhachevskij. “Go help him, Comrade.”
Tukhachevskij gave Stalin a wan smile before voicing his assent and rising. “Very well, Comrade Stalin.”
As Tukhachevskij left the room, Stalin turned back to Litvinov. “Apologies yet again, Comrade Litvinov. Please continue, and I hope that you will be able to complete your thoughts this time.”
“Very well, Comrade Stalin. As I was saying, I believe that the Intelligence Ministry painted a very pessimistic picture, and it got passed along to the Foreign Ministry and the Army, and then from them on to the President and Prime Minister and thence to the Parliament. Afraid and believing that Germany would end up attacking them, they agreed that preventative action was necessary and thus declared war on Germany. This is all I can think of, Comrade Stalin.”
“Very good, Comrade Litvinov. Ahh, here come Comrades Tukhachevskij and Voroshilov, back with a map of Western Europe.”
Voroshilov looked chastened and petulant as Tukhachevskij unrolled the map of Western Europe. Looking up at Stalin, and receiving a nod in return, Tukhachevskij began speaking. “Very well. As Comrade Stalin wishes, I shall examine the military campaign thus far. France declared war on Germany on June 24. Since then, they have pushed into German territory, presumably because the Germans have had very little forces to block the French advances. Despite this masterstroke, they are advancing only slowly; having largely only occupied the Rhineland southern Germany up to Nuremberg and Munich. They are at the old German-Czech border. Germany’s industries must be thrown awry but will end up benefiting if the Germans turn this event to their advantage. If they cannot move their forces quickly enough, however, then I expect that Berlin may fall.”
“Thank you, Comrade Tukhachevskij. It seems that the instability in Europe is now in balance as the European policeman, France, finally attempts to chastise the worst of the offenders.”
France, chastising Germany.
