Faustian Bargain The Soviet-German Partnership and the Origins of the Second World War [Audiobook]

As Ian Ona Johnson establishes beyond question in Faustian Bargain, the answer lies in Soviet Russia. Beginning in the years immediately after the First World War and continuing for more than a decade, the German military and the Soviet Union, despite having been bitter enemies, entered into a partnership designed to overturn the order in Europe. Centering on economic and military cooperation, the arrangement led to the establishment of a network of military bases and industrial facilities on Soviet soil, away from the oversight established by Versailles. Through their alliance, which continued for more than a decade, Germany gained the space to rebuild its army. In return, the Soviet Union received vital military, technological, and economic assistance. Both became military powers capable of mass destruction - one that was eventually directed against the other. Drawing from archives in five countries, including new collections of declassified Russian documents, Faustian Bargain offers the most authoritative exploration to date of this secret pact and its cataclysmic results.