ABSTRACT
Even though the USSR was not involved in the war on a really large scale before 22 June 1941 Anglo-American, and especially British, assessments of Soviet strength were of major significance already from March 1939. Soviet air power was of course potentially more useful for defending Poland than naval strength. Soviet participation on the British side would also be disadvantageous to Germany. However, despite the hopes of Britain and France, Hitler was not content with the Sudetenland. A more recent event was the large scale Soviet industrialization process, from the end of the 1920s. This industrialization had propelled the USSR into one of the largest industrial nations in the world. It is difficult to know exactly how intelligence assessments and information about the internal situation in other countries affects the decision making process, and they can only be regarded as one component among others influencing it.
