Why ally with USSR against Germany when its just as immoral?

Question

Why did the Allied powers join with The USSR against Germany if Russia's methods of rule were just as brutal as Hitler's?
And no necessity crap-we all know the Battle Of Britain was a defensive victory before the Barbarossa began. And i know that American material was flooding into Russia even before 1942. So-my question is this. Of the two Devils Churchill and Rooselvelt had to make a pact with did they have to choose The Red one. If so-why. How might it have turned out if they had just let Russia and Germany fight it out.

For those who say Russia wasn't aggressive see what happened immediately after the war.

Answer 1

You have a really valid point -- we spent a few class periods in my history class discussing this very subject. In the end, the US formed an alliance with Russia because they weren't openly saying that they wanted to build an empire. Russia lacked the empirialistic goals that Germany had, and Russia was really preoccupied with its own internal issues. The US was willing to turn a blind eye to all of the death in Russia because in the end, Stalin was killing his own people, and somehow that was okay with the US. Hitler was killing specific groups of people and was fairly open with his hatred of them, whereas Russia's murders were kept on the down-low, making it easier for the American public to accept an alliance with Russia. So yeah, more subtle killing and lack of empire ambition. If Germany and Russia had fought it out, it would have been much more bloody. Things would worsen internally both in Germany and Russia, not to mention that it would have taken much longer for the war on the European front to end.

Answer 2

Germany was a great threat and the allies appealed to russia by being enemies with two of the USSR's enemies, Germany and Japan. Russia saw to benifit from this, it could gain an ally on both fronts. The only reason the Americans and British joined with the USSR is to create a two front war with Germany. A two front war is a war that no general wants, think being surrounded. Although the Russians were particularly bad, Hitler was far worse. I believe the allies needed Russia to win the war. If Germany and Russia had just founght it out and the British and the Americans had not allied with the Reds the USSr would over run germany and the Cold War would ahve started early. In fact some American and British Pows liberated by the Russians were contained in their camps and not treated much better then they were by the Germans. And that was when they were allies with the Russians. Imagine what it would have been if the British and Americans were just neutral to the Russians. Especially when the Russians had killed many of their own people and military leaders as well.

Answer 3

Great question...

I think Russia became an ally by default... Germany betrays the pact and the trust of Stalin that automatically turns Russia against Germany. Instead of having three sides, Reds, Axis and Allies--> it just made sense for the USSR to join the allies... my favorite history professor put it this way... all though history the side with the biggest war toys wins-- or the greatest power.

I don't think siding with Hitler was really an option... those who sided with him (save Japan) ended up being back stabbed. Neither do I think Churchill or Roosevelt really chose to side with either Hitler or Stalin. Circumstance just let it happen. The USSR red scare wasn't as in full force in 1942 as it was after WW2. Sure there was a definite disagreement of political ideology and personal freedoms, but if you look at our own political atmosphere ten years earlier, there is a rather substantial group (though not mainstream) of Americans who were a part of the socialist/communist party in the US. That definitely fueled the McCarthy witch hunt in the 1950s, I mean Lucille Ball a communist... (give me a break all she wanted was ...vitavegamin) (many celebraties and authors were a part of the socialist/communist party in US). On paper, it looks good, but worked out in society it stinks and turns into a totalitarian system... somebody still has to rule. Communism was a bit more palatable to work with than fascism too.

just some thoughts.

Answer 4

Anglo-American involvement with the war wasn't about "methods of rule" or regime morality by Nazi Germany vs. the Soviet Union. In general, wars usually aren't fought about those types of things.

England and American didn't join the USSR against Germany. Quite the opposite.

England entered the war when Germany invaded Poland in 1939, although effectively doing nothing, and was allied with France and fighting alongside the French in 1940. Through this period of time, the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany had a Non-Aggression Pact, after carving up Poland.

When Germany negated this non-aggression pact with Barbarossa, the Soviet Union joined the West as an ally in the war against Germany that had been going on for 12-20 months previously in France, over the air in Britain, in the shipping channels of the Atlantic, and the deserts of northern Africa.

And I will suggest that the Anglo-Americans effectively let the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany fight it out for almost three years, at extreme cost of materials and manpower to those two countries, before putting a significant land force on the ground to threaten Germany from the west.

Answer 5

There is no morality in international politics. Look at the support that Saddam Hussein received from America and Europe when he was fighting Iran and murdering his own people.
But the answer to your question is that at the time of the Nazi invasion of the USSR Hitler had conquered almost all of Europe and the British Empire was fighting alone against Germany and Italy. The US was keeping out of it.
Under the circumstances, Churchill saw a way of relieving the pressure on the struggling British forces by a formal alliance with the USSR.
The alternative might have been the complete triumph of the Nazis and maybe eventual defeat for Britain.
After the Germans failed to take Moscow and declared war on the US after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour, it was only a matter of time before they were defeated.
The outcome of the war was less than satisfactory for the citizens of eastern Europe but that unfortunately is often the case with major conflicts.

Answer 6

If the western Axis had first attacked trhe soviet union they would have overrun the USSR without American supplies, a lot of Russians would have been only to pleased to see the communists go, and many more would have been and indeed were only too happy to start killing Jews. After they took control of the vast resources of the soviet union they would have turned their attentions elsewhere. Only a question of how long.

The Russians were not aggressive after the war, they went in and saw to it that sympathetic governments were set up in the areas they 'liberated' the same as we did. The Soviet Union hadn't invaded anyone of interest to GB and US at the time, the European Axis forces had already invaded Poland, Belgium, & France and attacked Great Britain as well as European colonial holdings in Africa long before they stuck their foot into the Russian quagmire.

Russia was the great blunder that cost the western axis the war. The invasion was the result of lunatic overconfidence on the part of Hitler after embarassingly easy victories against the powers of continental Europe. I'd note that his personal physician was injecting him with methamphetmines on a daily basis, and had been since before the invasion of Poland.

In war the only immorality is to be defeated. Don't listen to idiots who try and paint up war as some kind of morality play, it's the ultimate act of ego masturbation on the part of historical leaders, nothing more.

Answer 7

Because Nazi Germany started the war by attacking neutral and allied countries, bent on world domination. Not to mention that the nazis were also attacking our own citizens in passengerboats.
We allied with USSR also because it was a good strategical move, since that would allow Germany to be surrounded on all fronts.

Answer 8

It should be noted that the USSR and Nazi Germany had a SECRET non-agression pact whereby they did not step on each others' sphere of influence. Germany broke that pact.

The allied countries figured that Nazi Germany was a pressing enemy even though the USSR was an enemy it was not a pressing one. So "the enemy of my enemy is my friend".

Answer 9

It's the old principle that the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

Winston Churchill commented in 1941 that, if Hitler invaded Hell, he would find an opportunity to make at least a favourable reference to Beelzebub in the House of Commons.

Answer 10

I'm guessing its because Russia wasn't trying to take over Europe