How Western Generosity Helped Stalin Crush Hitler | M.R. Narayan Swamy

BOOK REVIEW

The Stalin Affair: The Impossible Alliance That Won the War
by Giles Milton

John Murray (Hachette India)
May 2024
Pages: ix + 372; Price: Rs 999
ISBN: 978-1529398519

There can be no doubt that steely and raw courage proved the tripping point in the beleaguered Soviet Union’s near impossible military triumph over Germany in World War II. At a time when it was widely feared that Hitler would overrun Moscow after having slaughtered millions in his blitzkrieg, Stalingrad turned out to be the first of the many graveyards that were to follow for the Wehrmacht. That was in January 1943. Hitler was stunned. The next year, Hitler became history.

Thanks to the war-hungry Hitler’s madness, the West forged, to begin with, an uneasy alliance with Stalin’s Soviet Union which it was otherwise sworn to crush. Britain, the only European power left standing, realized it would be left to fend for itself if it didn’t go to the aid of Stalin. So, how much help did the West provide to Stalin amid an imminent catastrophe?

In a pulsating work of narrative history written in a gripping non-academic style, the veteran Giles Milton digs into previously unseen papers and huge mounds of archival material to reveal the truth. So sweeping was the Western military assistance that in later years Khrushchev would say that Stalin was unequivocal on the subject. “He stated bluntly that if the United States had not helped us, we would not have won the war.†Khrushchev, who was at the battle front during WWII, agreed. “Stalin’s conclusion was correct. I was fully in agreement with them.â€

Of course two powerful men at the helm in Washington and London took the critical decision to assist Stalin despite some misgivings in their countries. Winston Churchill, with a gift of seeing the big picture, overcame his distaste for Stalin to declare publicly that it was Britain’s duty to help the Soviet Union “in its hour of desperate need. It was also in Britain’s own interest†. President Roosevelt brushed aside some powerful American voices that would have loved to see Stalin sink. Once the decision was taken, the Soviet ambassador in Washington presented a formal request for two billion dollars’ worth of aircraft, guns and ammunition. Without this, he warned, the Soviet Union would face sure defeat.

Equally important, both Western leaders chose two confidants who would act as a link between them and Stalin and ensure that everything worked smoothly. Roosevelt picked Averell Harriman, a businessman-friend who was also the fourth richest man in the country. His first task was to go to London, liaise with Churchill and advice Roosevelt on how to keep Britain afloat. Averell would later shift to Moscow. After a hiatus, Churchill chose Sir Archibald (Archie) Clark Kerr, who was His Majesty’s ambassador to war-torn China and a very unusual diplomat. He and Averell were to make a great team in Moscow and quickly charm Stalin.

Stalin needed all the oxygen that could be pumped into Moscow. Hitler’s invasion had so stunned him that he became a recluse for days in the immediate aftermath. He was as deflated as Churchill was at one time. The first formal meeting Stalin had with Western representatives over the war efforts included Averell and the other member of a joint Anglo-American mission: Max Aitken, better known as Lord Beaverbrook. They signed an agreement in Moscow to supply Stalin with vast quantities of military equipment besides food. Almost everything was acutely in short supply in Moscow. Archie would soon replace Max.

The Western supply line to the Soviet Union had its ups and downs, at times infuriating Stalin who suspected that the United States and Britain probably wanted his country to go down to Hitler. German U-boats were so menacing in the high seas that massive quantities of supplies simply sank in the waters, forcing Churchill to suspend the shipments. After repeated setbacks, Averell hit upon the idea of delivering the supplies from Washington to Persia, from where they could be freighted northwards by train to the Soviet Union over rugged and unfriendly mountains.

Thanks in part to the constant pressure for more and more weapons from Averell and Archie on behalf of Stalin, the United States furnished the Soviet Union with a whopping 17 million tonnes of supplies valued at more than $11 billion. Supplies from Britain were smaller but sill significant, including 5,600 tanks and over 7,000 aircraft. Of course this was a fraction of what the Soviets produced despite the war but nevertheless played a very critical role in the ultimate Soviet victory over Hitler.

The Western supplies included raw materials such as aluminium, copper, zinc and steel. There was also five million tonnes of vitally needed food. American trucks, for example, aided the mechanised Soviet offensives in 1944 which encircled and trapped huge numbers of German troops. The Soviet Union may have perhaps eventually defeated the Wehrmacht without Western help but it would have taken a much longer time and proved a great deal more costly.

Averell in particular performed miracles over the years, keeping the fragile alliance between Washington, London and Moscow on track and helping manage a complex relationship involving Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin. He also assuaged Stalin’s frequent fears of betrayal. Also, Averell developed an astute understanding of Stalin. Unlike most people who viewed him as a blood-thirsty dictator, the American came to appreciate his high intelligence, the fantastic grasp of detail, his shrewdness and surprising human sensitivity, at least in the war years, Naturally, Stalin was deeply grateful to Averell for all this. After the war was won, the Soviet leader heaped gifts on both Averell and Archie.

Call it karma, the Western-Soviet bonhomie did not last too long once Germany capitulated. Precisely because they had come to know Stalin intimately, the two Westerners knew that he was going to a chart a path independent of the West. In his final despatches to London, Archie warned of the dangers Stalin posed to the post-war world. Averell too was pessimistic. Already, Stalin refused to accept a German surrender to the Allies and insisted on a separate surrender in Soviet-occupied Berlin. The future of Poland – the West wanted it to be free – proved to be the key issue that unravelled the war-time friendship. Things soon went from bad to worse. Churchill returned to his anti-Soviet best, and, unable to digest the Soviet shadow over Eastern Europe, warned of an “Iron Curtain†. Stalin replied with a vitriolic attack on Churchill. By then, Roosevelt was dead.

The Big Three alliance, always fragile, was not destined to endure. It was the start of an unforgiving Cold War that lasted decades. The rest, as they say, is history.