Rudolf Hess

For me it does. I am hangin on and on and my hands are aching, but I don´t get your logic, anyways.

Stalin has completed his preparations. The rest was to happen during the attack (supplementary transports of materiel and general mobilization).
He knows that Germans know something, but not VERY much. They can guess. Let´s say, hitler sent Hess to England with pictures of Soviet buildup, told about hitlers certainty that the attack is forthcoming and that Europe has to be defended. Stalin (and hitler) knows that Churchill hates his guts and knows his public speaches about world war as a vehicle of spreading communism).

Hitler promises to get things right, if only Churchill chooses to see the Light and goes with him to defend Europe. Churchill and his advisors consider and reconsider (saying nothing publicly), hitler, officially calls Hess idiot, not to provoke Russians. Churchill sees the Light and signs peace treaty with Germany: (1937 borders plus a lot of money, later) and sends RAF and lots of gas to the Continent, while beginning preparations of ground forces and alerts RN. In the meantime, the German army prepares for defence instead of aggression. Stalin disbands his armies (temporarily).
He knows that, whatever Churchill thinks of him, he will never commit himself to aggression against USSR. Churchill, as opposed to hitler, knows and understands history and knows what industrial basis Stalin has and how many Soviet people there are and how large USSR is, approximately. He will not try to get Brits to accept aggression, because they´ll not like the idea.
Both leaders send a letter to Stalin asking him when he is planning to end his present "maneouvers" and askin if he is interesting in a common pact of non-aggression.

It would have been idiocy of Stalin to attack at the moment when the treaty has maybe just been signed (by Hess, after preliminary contacts by radio or whatever). He knows that only in the conditions of a major war, communism can be spread (it´s a communist axiom since Marx). As soon as there is peace in Europe, his aggression can fail. His ONLY chance. Better wait and build more KVs, Iss Il2s etc….

Why he wasn´t expecting preemptive strike? He did, but he probably thought the present German buildup was a sort of answer to his own. He knew that Germany was too weak and too unprepared for a war with Him. Not even slightest preparation for winter….sheer idiocy. No warm clothes, no winter smears, NOTHING. Russia is not Poland in September 1939 or France in Spring/Sommer. Stalin knows it perfectly. That´s why he is quiet. He has no proofs. He doesn´t consider the possibility that hitler is prepared to commit suicide.

Does it make sense now?

 

why would stalin invade germany he invaded Finland and took 80.000 fatalities compared to 25.000 finnish fatalities , and barely took Finland , and the only reason he took it was because he simply had power in numbers.

 

Nope!

Ok, by 1941, Britain & Germany are fighting hard at sea and in the air. Out in Africa, both sides are fighting on the ground.

If (and it is a big big if) Churchill is able to persude himself, his Parliament, and the British people that no, we should suddenly stop fighting the Nazis who killed off all our allies, bombed our cities and are slowly throttling us, and instead ally with them against a country that is about to invade Germany... (can you see why this is a big if)
Basically point one is that this will take time.
Point two: creating an effective defensive line in Poland to guard against the Soviet hordes will also take time.
Point three: Co-ordinating anything at all between Britain & Germany will take more time.
And what about France? What about Poland?
Would Hitler (a great believer in Slav = untermensch) actually believe that massed Russian armies posed a significant enough threat to his beloved & invincinble Wehrmacht to actually give up all his gains since 1937 to combat them?

By the time anything is decided, BT-7s could be in Bordeux.

Stalin has nothing to gain by waiting for such a possible event to happen, and everything to gain by taking immediate action before it can.

The longer he waits, the better the defenses against him get.

 

Not just invade Germany but all of Europe. Churchill knew communists better than anyone.

If there was a little risk of peace, it would be wiser to wait a little. Ang he decided to go ahead ca. about in the middle of July. Stalin could not know what hitler really thought about Slavs. What pictures he had and what he knew....

...and in Bordeaux they´ll meet RAF bombers and whatever can fly....Maybe the funny French tanks are functional still....Who knows. It wouldn´t be difficult to rally French POWs to arms.

I am repeating: Stalin could not take too high a risk. It was better tactic to wait and see. It was DOCTRINE ITSELF; MENSCH.

If they made peace, Stalin would wait till the next, unavoidable war. If not - nothing´s lost. Germans, even if not prepared for an attack have never been seen to dig trenches. And there are about all that can come - on the border. More of them will not come. More weapons ? Nope. Hitler can´t afford it. So - no progress on German side (in itself - a demoralizing factor) and vigorous preparations and increasingly storng iron fist on Soviet side. Time was on Stalins side, Ricky. Admit it, du.

 

I must have been very sleepy writing the last entry, after night duty. Not very convincing or even nice. But it has the basic logic it had to have.
The Germans were standing there. No digging. Some more transports coming but it is even betteer to have them all in one place to surround and destroy. The balance of forces would have been about the same as in Stalingrad, and also the same Soviet commanders.

Doctrine was a very serious thing in USSR. So long as you followed doctrine, you could defend your failures. And the doctrine about the only possible conditions for spreading communism said: a major war is a necessary factor. The moment there is cease fire, and you (Stalin) start your invasion and something goes wrong – even Stalin could get in trouble.

Long preparations…. The very fact that instead of cheering crowds in London, upon entering Paris, Stalin could expect regular bombardments and ground attacks of his forces, changes things.

Before the actual flight of Hess, everything could have been agrees upon. And, what if the actual circumstances of the flight were different than the version for the public? How could Stalin know?

It can have something to do with his bandit past. He sensed, the best that is, is to stab inthe back, when your victim is very busy, instead of having two folks facing you with your macheta. :kill:
That would be all.

And why was he kept in Spandau for so long - I don´t really know.
He would certainly become a rally point for nazis of today, if released. But, on the other hand - he was made almost saint just because he had to rot in jail forever.
On the other side, he might tell a little too much. I don´t know what. Maybe even some fabrications of his own. He was no Speer.

He was there forever also as hitler´s avatar. A living symbol of German submission (but at the same time, Germany was and still is unable to revenge anything, so anything goes), as a living symbol of what actually happens to a guy who signs things like Nurnberg Laws.
Doesn´t it make sense?

Does any of you know, if there were any attempts (of 1 or more of the 4 powers) to free him and why they failed. Who opposed? All of them?

 

My father claims he was one of the US troops that guarded Rudolf Hess during his last years at Spandau Prison. From what he knows Rudolf Hess did commit suicide during his stay.

My father said that looking into his eyes was kind of like seeing pure evil. I wouldn't doubt it...

 

His son was in my dad's 'sister host squardron' I met him, he did not admit his relationship at first, but later he did at a farewell dinner. He was being transfered.

He was drunk, and said it was the British children, whom were as precious as German children.

He was a good guy, from what I remember, a bit odd, hansome.

My parents liked him, he talked to me alone, I don't remember much.

But he said the original ideas were good, they just got out of hand.

I am of German/Brit blood..