The very first thing he did after becoming the totalitarian authoritarian dictator? Make a pact with Stalin.
That’s somewhat misleading, Molotov-Ribbontrop was in 1939, 6 years after Hitler rose to power.
During the 30s, the USSR tried to form an anti-fascist coalition, going so far as to offer to invade with a million men if Britain would join and station men in Poland in the event of a German invasion.
The rest of Europe considered the USSR a bigger threat, and were happy to let the Nazis have Austria and Czechoslovakia if it meant they’d go to war with the USSR and weaken them both. Britain even tried to join the Winter War, but was denied transit by Sweden.
So from Hitler’s perspective, he could either invade the USSR and be in a 2-front war as soon as France and UK sensed weakness, or he could sign a non-aggression pact with the most aggressive opposition and have a 1-front war.
From USSR’s perspective, they could either sign a non-aggression pact with Germany and force the west into the war, or they could not, and fight Germany and Japan at the same time while the west sits back and watches.
That’s somewhat misleading, Molotov-Ribbontrop was in 1939, 6 years after Hitler rose to power.
During the 30s, the USSR tried to form an anti-fascist coalition, going so far as to offer to invade with a million men if Britain would join and station men in Poland in the event of a German invasion.
The rest of Europe considered the USSR a bigger threat, and were happy to let the Nazis have Austria and Czechoslovakia if it meant they’d go to war with the USSR and weaken them both. Britain even tried to join the Winter War, but was denied transit by Sweden.
So from Hitler’s perspective, he could either invade the USSR and be in a 2-front war as soon as France and UK sensed weakness, or he could sign a non-aggression pact with the most aggressive opposition and have a 1-front war.
From USSR’s perspective, they could either sign a non-aggression pact with Germany and force the west into the war, or they could not, and fight Germany and Japan at the same time while the west sits back and watches.