Why did the US ally Russia in WWII?

Comments ( 7 )

1. pierric says

   this alliance was pretty obvious,from the moment japan and germany had declared war on the US.
   Roosevelt wanto ally with britain anywhere,and russia was ally of britain and enemy of germany since june 41.
   So there was no other choice than to ally with russia.

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2. SwampFox says

   Because had Hitler defeated the Soviets, in theory he could turn his armies west and take the UK. The Soviets had signed the Non-Agression Pact with the Nazis prior to the onset of hostilities in the European theater, but Hitler always viewed the Soviets as his biggest enemy.

   Keep in mind, too, that the Soviets might have been useful against the Japanese had Stalin been the slightest bit willing to unleash his forces against Manchuria. The Soviets had the largest pool of manpower available and could have assisted in shortening the war in the Pacific had Stalin been willing to declare war against the Nazis' ally.

   It wasn't just the US that sought the Soviets' alliance. The Brits did, too. The Brits faced the most dire threat in the event of a Soviet collapse. Operation Sea Lion was being mounted, and had it not been for Hitler's listening to Goering's boast about being able to subdue the UK with his Luftwaffe, Hitler may have tried to invade. The state of the British defenses at that time were not too stout. Any time that was bought by the diversion into the Soviet Union assisted the Brits to get their defenses together.

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3. Less is Less says

   Stalin was Hitler's ally until he was double-crossed.

   The fact is that the Russians bore the brunt of Hitler's forces until the Normandy Invasion. The Russian winter has always been the biggest foe of any who would attempt to conquer all of Europe, and Stalin's forces slowed Hitler's forces long enough to engulf them in the weather. Hitler could not redirect his forces against the Allies, making it much, much easier to drive his western forces back across the German border.

   Remember, it was the Russian Communists who were considered the greater enemy until Hitler invaded Poland, and even afterward by some. Hitler was clearly the greater devil, and if he'd defeated Stalin then we'd have faced a unified and reinvigorated occupation force in Western Europe. Britain would have been doomed, and we'd have never reached the beach in France. [Watch the beach landing at the beginning of "Saving Private Ryan", imagine that intensity for the number of hours it actually was, and then imagine it going on for a week instead of a day. Thank God for the God-less Communists!]

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4. mrlogie2002 says

   Stalin's genocide is far different from that of Hitler's. So many Russians died under Stalin's rule because of the mass paranoia of his regime. They were not simply singled out because of their race or religious beliefs, instead they were charged as subversives and criminals. This was also spread out over decades and kept secret from the rest of the world. Keep in mind that, in the beginning of WW2, most of the world, inlcuding the US, had no idea about the holocaust. It was only brought to light when Allied forces began invading German-held territory. So at the time of our alliance with Russia, these issues weren't really at hand. Also, the simple answer is like you said, we were allied against a common enemy. Hitler didn't seem to learn the lesson from the first world war about opening the war up to two fronts. Two major powers were not fighting the Reich on a western and eastern front and, just as in WW1, Germany's forces just couldn't support such a fight. It was a perfect deal for the allies. I guess the real answer to your question is about Stalin being a mass-murderer as well… the word wasn't really out on that sort of thing at the time.

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5. Kalooka says

   US morals? that's a new one for me..
   anyway, yes, they needed to ally because they had to, US wanted a piece of the spoils of war and they took it, as well as the soviets..

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6. Alexander says

   Yes. Russia is in a strategically good place to fight Germany, and we weren't in a position to turn down alliances. Many speculate that had Russia and Germany not broken their alliance and Russia didn't join the US, Germany could have won the war and spread Hitlers influence across the globe. The Russians at the time weren't as bad as the Nazi party, from the US' point of view.

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7. ole man is back says

   you have a good point ,hindsight is 20/20 though.
   hitler was judged as a greater threat at the time

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