Quote Originally Posted by Lullapie View Post
Great post Drillerpie.

Autocracies are necessary in certain countries at certain times and however the rose tinted idealists try and paint it, autocracies aren?t always a bad thing.

In the aftermath of the First World War the world was a mess and that led to the rise of Hitler and Stalin. They both could initially be construed as popular leaders.

I totally agree that Stalin didn?t want to go to war with Hitler or Mussolini but was forced into a conflict that could only weaken him. Ironically in the end, it left Stalin in a stronger position on the international front.
Surely that was only with the grace of the allies? USA in particular. I thought Churchill's instinct was to push Stalin back, especially out of East Germany and of course Poland, the invasion of whom sparked off our hostilities with Germany.