While Stalin had been consolidating power within the Soviet Union, other countries had been taken over by leaders who consolidated their own power, albiet using methods that were similar to those used by Stalin. Adolf Hitler in Germany, Benito Mussolini in Italy, and Francisco Franco in Spain all used intimidation, assassination, and a secret police to allow them to gain and then remain in power. All three of these men, however, were leaders of Fascism, a political system which by definition includes the use of force. Communism, at least in the manner imagined by Marx, called for no such thing, and as such Stalin's tactics, and his successes, were unprecedented.

Stalin's interests in the 1930s were primarily in internal issues; he had formulated the idea of "Socialism in One Country", meaning that the socialist revolution did not have to happen elsewhere to legitimize the revolution in the Soviet Union, and as such his foreign policy had little to do with the communist parties elsewhere in Europe. In 1933 and again in 1937, Stalin introduced 5 Year Plans designed to bring the Soviet Union to the level of Europe. The leadership of the Soviet Union had not always been so reticent in establishing relations with other European countries; the Soviet Union had been recognized by most of Europe by 1924, and by Japan in 1925. The Soviet Union had actually normalized relations with the Chinese nationalists, headed by Chiang Kai-shek, rather than with the Chinese communists led by Mao Tse-Tung.

Stalin was also slow to understand the new governments that were being created in the 1930s; never a strong theorist, he had a difficult time with the concept of fascism, and it was only after constant meetings with his foreign ministers, especially Molotov, that Stalin began to recognize that fascism was a danger to communism. Even then, however, as Hitler began to seize territory, Stalin still believed that the two countries could exist mutually, or at least do so for a time. In May of 1939, he sent Molotov to begin negotiations with Hitler's foreign minister, von Ribbentrop, and by August 1939, a non-agression pact was signed between the two countries. Within a week, Hitler invaded Poland, and World War II began.

The Soviet Union to 1941

The initial years of World War II involved the Soviets only peripherally. The non-agression pact allowed Hitler to concentrate on defeating the western powers, especially Britain, while the Soviets avoided directly going to war. Instead, Stalin seized territory (Poland, parts of Finland, the Baltics) and hoped that Hitler would be content with attacking the west. Stalin had purged most of the army corps, and as a result had very few experienced officers left in the military; in addition, his intelligence services had been primarily focused on internal enemies rather than external threats. As a result, the invasion of the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941 (Operation Barbarossa) came as something of a shock to Stalin. Despite the fact that he knew the two systems could not coexist, despite the fact that he had heard rumors of a possible attack, he could not bring himself to believe it. In fact, he was so shocked at the news that he had a breakdown, and spent several days in his dacha (summer villa) nearly paralyzed with fear. However, when he finally emerged, he was ready to lead the Soviet Union against their invaders.

The Motherland at War

Stalin was quick to recognize that the purges and the other actions of the Bolsheviks, including the collectivization of farms and the closure of the Russian Orthodox Churches, had alienated much of the population of the Soviet Union from its government. Stalin might not have been a theorist, but he was an excellent study when it came to the human character. He reopened the churches, and in his speech promised to fight for the protection of the "rodina" (the motherland), rather than continuing to propagate the ideas of the Bolshevik party. Farmers were allowed to keep more of their grain; in some areas, collectivization was loosened. All of these actions were very deliberate, and all were calculated to help bring about the support of the Soviet population for the war effort. It worked, above and beyond Stalin's wildest dreams, and he became the greatest hero the Soviet people had ever known.

The German Army, in the meantime, was indecisive about how to strike at the Soviet Union. Hitler had favored a northern campaign, designed to wipe out Leningrad and Moscow, while his generals wanted to attack the southern areas and take control of the resources there. In the end, the army was split, and neither force was able to decisively win. Leningrad was besieged for 900 days, during which a million people died of cold and starvation; Stalingrad (formerly Volgograd) in the south was the scene of the most intensive siege Europe had ever seen, but the Germans were eventually defeated and the Soviets victorious. The British and the Americans came to the aid of the Soviets, especially after the United States entered the war in December 1941, and promised full support for the Soviet government. Over the course of the next three and a half years, the Soviets continued to battle the Germans on the eastern front, while the US battled Japan in the Pacific; it was not until 1944 that the western front became a substantial battlefield against Germany. The allies marched victoriously into Paris in August 1944, and then turned their attention to Germany, arriving in Berlin in May 1945. Hitler killed himself, and the war in Europe was ended by June. The war in the Pacific continued until the dropping of the atomic bomb in August 1945, but with that came the beginnings of another war, this one between the United States and the Soviet Union. The Cold War would not involved direct combat between the two antagonists, but it would involve virtually every other aspect of warfare, and would last for over forty years.

The Costs of World War II

By the end of the war, the Soviet Union had lost an enormous portion of its population. The estimates vary widely, and there is some question as to whether or not to include the deaths from the camps (which were still in operation throughout the war, although with slightly fewer inmates). The Soviet government stated in 1946 that the losses were approximately 7 million, but virtually every scholar disputes that figure, and some place it at 20 million more. Most agree that the losses were divided evenly between the military personnel and civilian populations, although the exact numbers are not known. In addition, one must calculate the reduced birth rate (unlike the United States, there was not a post-war Baby boom in the 1940s in the USSR), and those estimates run to as high as 20 million. Finally, the ratio of men to women dropped substantially, so that by 1959, the ratio was 55 females for every 45 males.

In addition to human life, the Soviet Union paid a high price in terms of resources, with perhaps half of the total losses in Europe coming at the expense of the Soviet Union. The official figures that were released by the Soviet government are staggering: 7 million horses, 17 million cattle, 20 million pigs, and 27 million sheep and goats. These numbers help to demonstrate the horrible conditions that existed in the post-war USSR. At the same time, however, there was great patriotic fervor, and significant religious revivals. The Soviets also gained a significant amount of territory, both from their German-approved seizures and the territories they gained by the end of the war, including much of the territory of Eastern Europe. That area will be at the heart of the issues of the Cold War.