Quote Originally Posted by Burney View Post
You think the pact wasn't misjudged on Russia's part? Despite the fact that it resulted in Germany damn near taking Moscow and killing 20 million Russians? Wow.

And I hardly think Britain's attempt to avoid war - morally dubious as it was - can be compared with Russia's cynical and murderous carving up of Poland.

And yes, we did have some issues with the idea of entering into any sort of alliance with a murderous and demonstrably untrustworthy regime that was busy slaughtering its citizens and was clearly ideologically opposed to everything we stood for.

Meanwhile, your representation of the war in the Far East is pretty ludicrous given that the 14th Army under Slim repeatedly battered and ultimately defeated the Japanese subsequent to the Fall of Singapore, including handing their army their first major defeats of the war at Kohima and Imphal.
Stalin delayed awar he wasn't prepared for in order to fight onetwo years later that he was barely prepared for. Did we not carve up Czechoslovakia to avoid war with Germany? Why is it ok for us to do so despite it affecting millions of people somewhere else but morally reprehensible when Stalin does it?

As far as the Far East is concerned, yes, the tide eventually turned. But not in the period you were talking about. Following US involvement, of course.

As for refusing to ally ourselves with untrustworthy commies....errrr, isnt that exactly what we ended up doing anyway, as Stalin dealt Hitler a fatal wound on the Eastern front. The initial refusal to talk to them might appear slightly misjudged given that victory ultimately relied on striking Germany from both sides simultaneously.