AAR:STALIN by Trotysky

[commune1945]

That worm!


**at first
1913, Vienna, I had a cup of tea around my samovar in Skobelev's apartment.
Skobelev, the bourgeois son of Baku, was a student at the time and my political disciple.
While sipping the fragrant Russian tea, of course, we were discussing overcoming tzarism.
Suddenly, when the door suddenly opened without knocking, a stranger stood at the entrance.
He was not tall, he was thin, and his face was slightly dark and I could see the pockmark.

An empty cup was held in the hand of this visitor.
Apparently he didn't expect to meet me, and his eyes didn't show any fragments of friendship.
The stranger, whispering a sneaking muffled voice, approached the samovar and silently poured tea into his cup, leaving silently.
When I glared at Skobelev, he replied:

"That's Jugashivili from Kafkaz, who is my native. He recently joined the Bolshevik Central Committee and apparently is beginning to stand out."

The impression I received from this person was vague, but I still felt extraordinary.
The sudden appearance and the appearance of hostility in the eyes, vague greetings that are hard to hear, and above all, the atmosphere of being somehow depressed and trapped in my shell is a clear and uneasy impression Was to give... (Excerpt from Trotsky 1939 "Stalin")

**environment
/v1.33
/difficulty veteran level.

 

[commune1945]

**first look
1936 was a great year for Stalin and the Soviet Union. At the beginning of the year, Stalin admired that "life has become fun".The life of party leaders has definitely improved. they can drink vodka and eat caviar.But what about the lives of the working people? 　The future was still dark.

Stalin was preparing for the new constitution. This so-called Stalin constitution, which was created by gathering followers, Epigonen, and converted people, brought great political freedom to Stalin.
The constitution stipulated that the Communist Party is the only political party that leads the nation.
Stalin's view was that there was no room for individual glory in the Soviet Union, and collectivism was the party's future.



The choice of Collectivism is a milestone.
Stalin emphasized the existing bureaucratic order and downplayed the newly emerging young military officers, scientists, and the role of the socialist people in the impending world war.
The personality of Stalin, that is, the attitude of disdaining theory and intellect, is apparent here.

But the collective choice is not without its advantages over the heroic choice.
Collectivism gives great reassurance to ordinary bureaucrats.
It is easy to be accepted by the masses who hate the progress and are pleased with the stagnation.
Collectiveism would be better than heroism to integrate them into the Soviet state.

Also, the choice of collectiveism brings great political freedom to the leader (it means that "collectiveism" can obtain 120 political power and "natural remodeling" can obtain 120 political power). Large-scale public works projects of collectivism could lead to natural remodeling plans and to obtain rubber resources that are lacking in the Soviet Union.

The new Constitution's lines further strengthened the regime, and Stalin was determined to spend his political freedom on strengthening the military.
Stalin's choice was the appointment of Tohachevsky, a member of the established army bureaucracy, to the Chief of Staff of the Red Army and the partial mobilization of economic law. Bayonet has priority over butter.

But Stalin, on the other hand, was aware that the Soviet domestic civilian industry was far inferior to the bourgeois developed countries.
Therefore, the construction of private sector industry was prioritized in the second five-year plan. But once that was achieved, Stalin turned to a state-of-the-military route that puts all the civilian factories into the munitions industry.

When the research frame expansion is achieved (as in the heroic route in the collectivist route, the NF of the research frame expansion can be taken fifth fastest from the “Stalin Constitution”), Stalin uses the frame for tank development.
It was a multi-year long-term research plan has been started with BT, A32, and T34. The tank-owned state-owned enterprise was organized as OKMO (Experimental Weapons Planning Bureau. Bonus goes to Hard Attack).

Thus, every sign of Stalin's rule pointed to the militarization of the state.
Mass assault doctrine recruitment of theorists, transition to partial mobilization economy, conversion to munitions industry, and start of tank development.
Stalin correctly believed that the resolution of an international conflict depends on the strength of the violence system.

The weakness of the working class, which continued to setback in the United States and Britain, strengthened Stalin's view.
The fascist circles of Germany, Italy, and Japan in the Far East were increasingly tightening the Soviet Union.
In France and Spain, the People's Front Cabinets were established, but the foundations were quite unstable. The French cabinet will soon collapse, and Franco's coup broken out in Spain.
The international environment surrounding Stalin was getting worse.

**spanish civil war
When General Franco caused a coup broken out against the People's Front Cabinet in Spain, the Spanish Civil War was accompanied by an international conflict.

The lazy bourgeois world decided to not interfere, feeling that Franco was trying to uphold the bourgeois order.
Although Britain and France have urged the Soviet Union to tune in, Stalin does not cooperate with the Western world, but organizes a military force and dispatches it to Spain.
International tension increases. Fascist countries, such as Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, opted against this by sending brawl troops to Franco's side, and the civil war became an outpost of the World War.

Stalin's dispatched army was a division of 5 light tanks consisting of T26, and was an armored corps boasting highly mobile legs and armor that did not carry an infantry rifle.
The leader is General Kornev. A genuine starlinist, one of the army's established bureaucrats. One of the four generals with armored warfare (the other three were Zhukov, Rokosovsky and Wasilevsky) and was good at handling tanks.
The Soviet armored army corps, which was about to appear in a low-satisfaction mud match, once again changed the situation.
Kornev fell into enemy capital Zaragoza by a blitzkrieg, and thoroughly siege Franco's army who had advanced to Madrid, the capital city.
Stalin painfully rejoices at the battle of this talented follower, and Kornev will reign as an important armored division general after returning to his country.


victory.
The result of the battle that Stalin captured by the armored division was never small.
Stalin believed that the dictatorship that Stalin set up on the Iberian Peninsula by eliminating local Trotskists and anarchists would reward the upcoming war.
The sacrifice of international cooperation and the elimination of cooperative routes with the United Kingdom and France will bring considerable traces to the subsequent development of world politics.
The rising international tension accelerates wartime mobilization in the United States and Britain, and the forces that defeat Hitler's ambitions are a little quicker than usual.
Konev became General of the Arc de Triomphe, but the Red Army Purge was waiting for him when he returned to the Soviet Union.

 

[commune1945]

**great purge
Despite the fact that it was a ring of international fascism, Stalin also morbidly considered it as being threatened by the Soviet Union by international trotskists.
Stalin was obsessed with power and decided that the action of the minions, who had reached out to try to share even a little, was a challenge by Trotsky.

But it is difficult to find any consistent purpose in the dictator's brain in a series of Moscow trials.
On one occasion, old friends, even Kalinin and Voloshlov, who could be called starlinists, were sacrificed, and on the other hand, talented young officers such as Rokosovsky and Wasilewski were sacrificed.
The Red Army's leaders were severely injured, one of the four marshes (Voroshilov) was cleared, two of the four armored officers (Rokosovsky and Wasilevsky) died, and the four national defense. Two of the People's Committee candidates (Tymoshenko and Voloshlov) were killed.

Perhaps it's better to understand things by looking at a small list of survivors, rather than making a huge list of dead ones. Those who have survived--Tohachevsky and Ezhov.

The reason why Tohachevsky survived is incomprehensible.
He was politically unstable and was far from being a starlinist like Voloshlov or Tymoshenko.
The slander that he is the Gestapo spy has been pervasive in Moscow, and there is no reason why the morbid Stalin couldn't believe the rumor.
But he survived.

For Ezhoff, the problem is simple.
He was the NKVD secretary, commanding great purge and swam through the rough waves of Purge.
"As expected, there are enemies everywhere!" This was the key word that saved Ezhov.
With good control over Stalin's suspicion, Ezhoff continued to hold the position of NKVD Secretary and was later appointed (around 1939 winter) even as a political adviser.
It is recorded that Stalin later introduced Ezhov to his allies' guests as "my Himmler."

The great purge had a profound effect on the Red Army's combat capabilities.
Due to the death of the majority of the non-commissioned officers, the command and control values would have an incredible debuff.
The death of a high-ranking officer stagnated doctrine research.
Hitler was steadily fulfilling his ambitions in the west, while the Red Army was moaning in the sea of blood.

** ambition of Hittler
The ring of international fascism tightened the Soviet Union more and more.
Hitler, who successfully moved to Rhineland in March 1936, annexed Austria in February 1938 and obtained Sudedenland at the Munich meeting in September 1938.
Hitler's ambition continues to grow, and in January 1939 Memel was dismantled, and in April 1939, Czechoslovakia was dismantled to obtain the Czech Republic, establishing a protected country in Slovakia.
Chamberlain and Darradi were cowards, unhit Hitler, they simply vacated the alliance's political position.

**Molotov
What about Stalin? 　He was just a timid faction, too.
Stalin's stand-play in the Spanish Civil War planted the preconception that the Bolsheviks were a threat rather than the Nazis in the heads of Britain and France, and the Soviet diplomacy became even more isolated.
Iron was imported from the ally Spain, and tungsten was imported from the neutral country Sweden, but the Soviet Union, a resource-rich country, exported to a relatively small number. If exports are small, the economy will be under pressure.

It was Molotov who was appointed to Stalin as Foreign Minister (political adviser).
Molotov was the head of an established bureaucracy and was a hardcore starlinist who denounced the "Trotskists" from a very safe position in the Moscow trial.
He will be one of the most successful of the revolutionaries to bureaucrats.
The author (Trotsky) was his boss during the russian civil war, but remembers that he was so stupid that he had to reprimand.
At one point, he was arguing back and forth.

"But Comrade Trotsky, not everyone is a genius like you."

Molotov was by no means capable, but his stubborn incompetence was well received by the vulgar snobs.
He balanced fascist and western bourgeois nations and worked to improve relations between these capitalist states and the Soviet Union.
Shortly after Molotov's appointment (April 1938), the Soviet Union turned to "anti-fascist diplomacy."
This route was followed by the idea that the Soviet Union confronted Nazi Germany in the west and military nation Japan in the east, and diplomatically annexed the buffer state between them to make it a forward base for confrontation with the Fascist countries.
This anti-fascist diplomacy naturally improves relations with Western capitalist countries.

However, Molotov, of course, had the Stalin's approval and decided to conclude a non-aggression treaty with Nazi Germany.
This is the so-called Molotov-Rippentrop Treaty, which the Soviet Union wins in the Baltic States, Karelia in Finland, eastern Poland and Bessarabia in Romania.
Instead, the Soviet Union tolerates the Nazi conquest of Poland. Not only that, it concludes a two-year non-aggression treaty between the Soviet Union and the Nazis. It was a transaction like this.
The Molotov-Rippentrop Treaty will, of course, improve relations with fascists.

Not only did the Soviet Union get a two-year time grace from this bilingual diplomacy, but it also gained a vast forward base in the west spatially.
But it came only at the cost of the betrayal of the world's working class.

 

[commune1945]

**autumn war
In August 1939, Nazi Germany finally started invading Poland. Here, Britain and France lifted their weight and declared war on Germany. World War II has begun.
Stalin kept an eye on the situation. He was stationed in the Baltic States--Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, annexed them, and by treaty to eastern Poland.
After seeing Hitler obeying the treaty and withdrawing it from eastern Poland, bypassing the Magino line and attacking France, Stalin finally starts to act with peace of mind and fulfill his ambitions.
In other words, it is a territorial demand for Finland.

The border with Finland, which became independent after the great war, was adjacent to the former capital Leningrad, and was regarded as dangerous during an emergency.
So Stalin justified the Finnish government's war objectives to acquire Karelia, the border with Finland.
The Finnish government was not a cowardly group.
They did not choose to give in to Stalin's demands at the stage of justification of war, as they did in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania in the past, but decided to defensively fight.
Indeed, the Finnish government was not a cowardly group. However, they lacked the military power to support their courage. This decision caused a tragedy. This is the beginning of the Autumn War.

In September 1939, Stalin declared war on the Finnish government, which refused the request.
The Soviet Union immediately launched an offensive by two military groups in the border area, and began to provide support by evading the Ilyushin fighter from the air.
Finland defended this well with the struggle of the National Spiritual SISU and the Army Minister Mannerheim (having the trait of defense genius. Defensive Combat Bonus +15%).

It was the introduction of the armored division, which was the same as during the Spanish Civil War, that changed the battle situation.
Two armored corps led by Konev and Zhukov crossed the path from Leningrad across the Mannerheim line to Helsinki.
Finland had no provision for the armored division, especially the medium tank corps with the T34 as its core. They lost the impact of a medium tank.

Konev and others fell into Helsinki in less than two weeks. At this time, Finland is in a state of rout on all fronts, and Soviet troops will start dispatching throughout Finland.
Finland has offered to sell off Karelia, but it was already late. Stalin refused to do so and attempted to annex all of Finland.

Finland was annexed less than a month after the war began.
This "war lesson" showed that the Soviet Union had completely recovered from the aftereffects of the Great Purge and was able to fight against any modern army with the support of the Armored Division.
Stalin's ambitions did not stop, and after the annexation of Finland, Romania's Bessarabia was required.
Romania trembled and accepted the Soviet Union's advancement to the Bessarabia region without being tied up. Stalin's momentum was as strong as heaven.

**on the night before the battle
Hitler's aggression did not stop there either.
Hitler, which annexed western Poland, then annexed Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, France, and Denmark.
Hitler's next goal was clear. Operation Barbarossa as an anti-Bolshevik Crusader, War with the USSR.

Was Stalin aware of Hitler's plan? The answer is yes.
Stalin certainly knew about the Nazis' preparations against the Soviet Union (an alert will be issued when Germany takes war with the USSR in NF).
However, this is questionable when it comes to determining whether or not it was up to that time.

Stalin was a coward, but his cowardice did not neglect to prepare for the war.
Based on terrorist activities in the underground era, Russian civil war, and experience in Spain and Finland, Stalin believed that violence was the only solution to international conflicts.
Yes, the basis of all power is violence.
The army of Marshal Tohachevsky, which has over 100 divisions deployed at the border, tells about Stalin's preparation for the war.

One issue was which would be the first to do it.
There is evidence that Stalin was not only preparing for a defense war, but was considering a preemptive strike. "War with Germany".
Indeed, thinking of historical "if" is sometimes more useful than stimulating the imagination.
Pointing to a possible future trains our courage and reason.
In reality, though, the Nazis were almost ready for war, while Stalin was still better prepared with about 60%.
This can be better understood by comparing the national outlines on the eve of the war.

The Nazis are superior to the number of army divisions, and the Soviet Union is behind the Nazis in terms of industrial productivity.
But more importantly, the Nazi ministers are mostly in place, while Stalin's camp has only Bruchcher as a military adviser.
Marshal Tohachevsky lamented:

"Our strength is lacking.
The only things you should look at are the experimental weapons bureau T34 and MiG's Lavochkin fighter, and the latter has just been deployed this year and has barely reached the front line.
Military counselors only have Brucher to speed up the army, while the other slots remain empty and empty."

Ejov, now the interior minister, also laments:
"Where Hitler conquered Europe, we have only kept a handful of its fate.
Of course, the Urals had some huge munitions cities, and the natural remodeling program helped to alleviate some rubber shortages.
However, the economic law remains a partial mobilization, and the conscription law remains a limited conscription. Our preparation is several steps behind the Nazi war readiness."

Foreign Minister Molotov is reportedly lamented at the Supreme Military Commission, lamenting:
"The Nazis will have a maximum of 378 divisions under large conscription, and will mobilize 300 divisions with the Alliance troops on the eastern front.
The munitions industry fills all the slots, and military advisers fill all the slots as well, such as Bock's Land Minister, Radar's Sea Minister, and Gering Air Minister."

For these reasons, Stalin was prepared for the war, but it turns out that it was far from complete.
But time will not wait. Hitler thought that was the time.
War is proclaimed. It was January 28, 1941.

Stalin... (The draft is broken here, because the assassin's Pickaxe smashed Trotsky's head.)


THE END.