Comment by 6d6b73
2 years ago
The war would take a different direction because it would take slightly longer for Germans to conquer the rest of Poland. That few weeks could help France and Germany to decide to actually join the war and attack Germany instead of just sitting there for months waiting for Germans to attack. The non-agression pact between Poland and Nazi Germany was signed to normalize relations between the country, and not to partition another country. Ribbentrop-Molotov act on the other hand had a secret protocol where they decided to divide Poland, Romania, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Finland into their spheres of influence. Yes, Poland did take part of Czechoslovakia after 1938, but it was a tiny sliver of land with polish ethnic majority. It was a bad move but nothing that can be compared to Soviet invasion in 1939.
They wouldn’t have to “conquer” it. They’d just march straight through and end up in Ukrainian SSR and Belarus. My point is, the USSR was hardly unique in signing “intersting” pacts in late 30s, and its desire to surround itself with at least some semblance of buffer states is quite understandable given that there are, famously, no natural geographical obstacles between it and invading European hordes. And regardless of anything else, Poland would be fucked far worse if it wasn’t for Stalin. That’s a tough pill to swallow, sure, but you don’t have to take my word for it. The Nazis did document their plans.
In september there were about 300k soldiers in the parts that soviets later occupied. If you don't think that would slow Germans down you're wrong. But more importantly during the occupation Soviets killed thousands of people in Katyn and other places, and sent close to 2 mln to gulags. They stole art, books and removed machines from factories. They raped women. And they kept doing all these dispicable acts even after the war ended. There is not much difference between ethnic cleansing that Germans did, and the one did by Russians.
Poland didn't need Stalin and his murderers. Soviet Union, and mostly Russia is responsible for millions of deaths before, during and after the wars. Even 80+ years later Russians still think that killing people is a way to save them just look at what's going on in Ukraine.
Just because Soviets pushed back Germans doesn't absolve them from all the crimes they committed. Not to mention that they cooperated with Nazi before 1941. They even widened their economic cooperation in January 1941. They didn't care that Poles were being exterminated in the Nazi occupied parts. Why would they- they were doing their part to exterminate them at the same time.
Poland also cooperated with Nazis before 1941. So did much of the rest of Europe and Britain. And no, it wouldn't have slowed Germans down, just like it did not slow them down in 1939. In general, European countries did not put up much of a fight, and some (Romania and Finland, for example) explicitly and willingly fought on Hitler's side. As to the crimes, name me an Axis or Allied country that did not commit horrific war crimes in that war. I'll wait.
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