What was Joseph Stalins reason for entering World War II?
Generally, a nation facing a full scale invasion as the Soviets did in 1941 is reason enough to enter the war, but it really depends on when you consider Stalin’s war to have begun. He fought Japan, Finland and invaded Poland (after the Germans did most of the fighting) and the Baltic States in the years leading up to Barbarossa (the codename for the German invasion). His prewar activities were more limited in scope then some people think, as he was more or less trying to restore the old Imperial borders (which were eminently more defensible then the husk that formed the Soviet Union in the 20s and 30s). Hitler’s invasion (Barbarossa) was a godsend to Stalin. He not only managed to become the preeminent power on the European continent, but he brought all of Eastern Europe (except Finland) to Communism, as opposed to his rather more limited aims prewar. All in all, he didn’t “enter” the war with any expectations beyond sheer survival and recieved a windfall of political influence and po
