ABSTRACT
In the spring of 1939 Hiker’s expansionist policy forced Stalin, in order to win time to build up the Soviet Army and Navy, to choose between an alliance with the Western democracies or one with Hitler. There is no doubt that to Stalin’s mind an agreement with Britain, France and the United States would in the long run be more profitable. In March 1939 Stalin read out a report to the XVIIIth Congress of the Bolshevik Party (10-21 March 1939). He said: ‘The aggressive powers unleashed the new imperialist war and destroyed the post-war order ... The advocates of non-interference policy would play a dangerous game, which leads to failure.’ In conclusion he said that the Soviet government would not allow a situation to develop in which the Soviet Union would have to start a war with Germany on its own.
