Student research discussion: The USSR entered WW2 in 1941

History Research Paper

The start of discussion in this thread was prompted by Nathraq, responding to one of OxbridgeFella's previous posts.

It appears nathraq believes Oxbridge was wrong when s/he said the USSR entered WW2 in 1941, however I tend to support this claim.

I would like to discuss this because of the possible differences in the teaching doctrines of our countries. Take me, for example: I grew and went to school in post-soviet period, where the influence of old teachings was still strong.

Now, I claim that the USSR entered WWII on June 22, 1941 when German soldiers invaded its territory (which all was part of the Barbarossa plan). This was back then viewed as a treacherous attack of Germany, which was not expected at all (however massive evidence suggest that Stalin repeatedly ignored intelligence reports claiming Germany was preparing an attack).

Wonder if nathraq's post was made in the heat of the argument or made out of a firm belief this was so (or perhaphs this is what Western historians think of this).

The purpose of this thread is not to start another verbal fight, but rather to try to find a consensus on how history was (and continues to be) interpreted. OxbridgeExpert who should be lobotomized, is by no means welcome to join.

No, Alex, the controversy was not over the date of the USSR's entry into the conflict or the role it played therein. The USSR's role is indisputable as is the role she played in preventing the outright destruction of Britain by the Axis Powers. Rather, it was over the following statements:

1) That by 1941, the United Kingdom had secured a victory "in the main."

2) That the United States delayed entry into the war because it was a "cowardly Jew-hating" nation and that, ultimately, it only entered the war after victory had been secured by the British forces and Germany's declaration of war on the US.

With regards to the first claim, it flies directly in the face of facts. Most of Europe had fallen; France had succumbed to Nazi occupation and, even though we, Britain, may have sunk the Bismarck, we were nowhere close to a victory. We were crippled and barely standing. So, to claim that by 1941 we had "secured a victory" is insupportable gibberish. Russia's entry into the war strengthened us and significantly reduced Germany's chances of victory. Those chances, however, were in no way eradicated.

As for the United States, what that ignoramus, quite obviously, does not know is that:

1) World War I (another war which the US could have stayed out of) was still fresh in the minds of the American people and they had barely recovered from the losses they had suffered. The American people were against their country's entry into WWII.

2) The United States was barely out of the Great Depression (and let's not forget the Dust Bowl and the economic havoc it wreaked upon US agriculture and, hence, the national economy); it was not in a position to engage in a war which was raging thousands of miles away.

3) From the start of the war and even prior to its entry into the conflict, the United States extended critical military aid to Europe and was, therefore, never completely uninvolved (as ignoramus suggested)

4) The United States entered the war because Germany declared war on the US? What about Pearl Harbour? The Japanese declared war on the United States on the 8th December, 1941. The US responded by declaring war on Japan. Germany then announced that, despite the fact that it did not want to engage with the US in military conflict, it had no choice but to aid Japan (as per the Tripartite Agreement).

By the way, any person who has ever been to school knows all this - one does not need to be anything but semi-educated to get these basic WWII facts straight.

One cannot distort historical facts or present imaginative interpretations of history as facts (which was the Supremely Ignorant One tried to do).