• Poop@lemmy.ca
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    19 found this helpful
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    4 days ago

    It’s not the exact same situation, but Germany attacking the Soviet Union in 1941 when they already had the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact in place is a pretty colossal blunder. We don’t know what might have happened if Hitler hadn’t done that, but it was the biggest oof I’ve heard of.

    • ZC3rr0r@piefed.ca
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      4 days ago

      It’s an interesting “what if?” in history, but it assumes the Germans negotiated that pact in good faith to assume there would ever be a situation in which they did not break it. In reality, expansion to the east to secure Lebensraum was always part of the plan. If they hadn’t attacked in 1941 they would’ve done so later, but it was always going to happen lest Hitler lose face.

      • phutatorius@lemmy.zip
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        2 days ago

        It was just as likely that Stalin would have attacked Germany as soon as it showed signs of weakness.

      • Poop@lemmy.ca
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        4 days ago

        I would agree with you that Germany was always just using the pact as a means of buying time. Either way, it’s a fuck up of the highest order.