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Duel of the Century:
The Clash of Hitler and Stalin

During and before the course of the Second World War Adolf Hitler further of the Third Reich and Joseph Stalin General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, shared the characteristics of being among the most brutal dictators in the course of World History, They were also men of similar ambitions and motives in many ways. However they were men of contrasting ideologies which would eventually clash, who cooperated with each other when need be, but were planning on stabbing each other in the back when each felt the appropriate time came.

In 1917 a middle aged revolutionary formerly known Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvil also known as Joseph Stalin, Stalin translating from Georgian as "man of steel" earned this name due in most parts to being involved in years of criminal activity along with much time in exile in Siberia during the time of Czarist Russia, was now working along with many other Bolsheviks to overthrow the provisional government of Russia and install in it's place a Bolshevik led one. Stalin along with the other cadres of the Vladimir Lenin led Bolsheviks would eventually succeed in their bold and revolutionary endeavor. In the post-revolution years Stalin would continue to gradually rise in rank and importance both through merit and brutality, especially during the Russian Civil War a time in which he served in several important Bolshevik political positions. After the Civil War ended in the Bolsheviks favor in 1923, Joseph Stalin was left in a very strong political position and as he was appointed to the newly created position of General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union the preceding year, from this position Stalin would continue to consolidate political power in his favor and would also undermine his political opponents as well as shortly later on win in a power struggle with Leon Trotsky after the death of Lenin. At this time Stalin was now the undisputed leader of the Soviet Union. Around this time a First World War Imperial German Army veteran originally hailing from Austria by the name of Adolf Hitler was becoming very active in chaotic post-World War I German politics. Hitler like Stalin had become involved with more extreme elements in domestic politics(although through indeliberation) during hectic national times as he was involved with the German Worker's Party(DAP) and was slowly moving himself up in importance in the DAP and was soon a leading figure within the organization. In the months and years to come the DAP under Hitler's guidance would largely melt away and manifest it's self into the newly founded National Socialist German Worker's Party (NSDAP) in which Hitler was a founding member as well as a leading one. In the time to come The NSDAP with much of Hitler's guidance would embark on such moves such as the Beer Hall Putsch for which Hitler would spend a short period in prison for during which time he wrote his famous work Mein Kempf (Which translates into my struggle) before helping the Nazi Party concentrate on gaining electoral strength from which the NSDAP would go from winning meager margins in elections to gaining enough to form a national government eventually in 1933 with Hitler at the helm. With both of these leaders now in power Joseph Stalin in 1922 and Adolf Hitler a little over a decade later in 1933, a pair of brutal tyrants had been brought to the forefront whose very similar yet different courses of actions would shape the history of modern civilization in the coming decades.

Both Hitler and Stalin from political and historical observation were men of similar ambitions and motives in many ways as in regards to what directions they wanted to take their respective nations both domestic and in terms of international affairs, in addition to their overall leadership styles. In terms of domestic policies the Nazi and Soviet Leader had much in common as both moved towards supporting a greater consolidation of the state's role in economic affairs of their nations, for example Hitler had his own set of plans in dealing with economic affairs of Germany called the four-year plans which shared much in common with Stalin's five-year plans. The Nazi Party even borrowed many ideas from the five-year plans for the four-year ones such as increased focus economic self-sufficiency as well as increased scrutiny to increasing the capabilities of infrastructure and industry. As well as employing slave labor in various projects in similarity to what was occurring in the USSR at this time. In terms of international affairs both leaders sought to build up the militaries of their nations in addition to taking interventionist attitudes towards some geopolitical occurrences in the world in the pre-World War II years such as the Spanish Civil War where Hitler and Stalin seemed to almost wage a war by proxy against ether by supporting the Nationalist and Republican sides respectably. Although the ideology of Hitler and Stalin were contradicting, they often used the same arts of dictatorship as each other, the most known of which is cult of personality which both dictators developed extensively over the course of their rule in the pre-war years. In addition both dictators employed the same arts of brutality against those who they viewed posed a threat or groups that were viewed as undesirable such as Stalin's purges of political opponents(real or imagined) and deportations and targeting of various ethnic groups throughout the Soviet Union. This is counterpart in many ways to what was undertaken during Hitler's rule in Pre-WWII Nazi Germany to what fate awaited opponents and enemies of the Nazi Regime such as Communists as well as those of religious, ethnic and social backgrounds that were intended targets of persecution such as Jews most notably, as well as other religious denominations that dared opposed Hitler and the Nazi regime as well as people with mental and physical disabilities as well as homosexuals and even the very small mulatto population of the Rhineland when it fell back under German rule. All of this however was only a preview to the industrialized murder that occurred during the course of the Final solution in Germany as well as in the rest of occupied Europe.

Despite the common traits in terms of governance and leadership style that both Hitler and Stalin shared they were what could be considered above all of this and this was the vastly different ideology between the two tyrants. Hitler was an extreme German Nationalist in addition to being staunchly anti-Communist, Hitler also believed and professed of a plot in addition to his already very extreme anti-Semitism of Jews with communist sympathies in collaboration with the USSR in order to bring down and enslave the German people. Hitler viewed the Communist Government in the Soviet Union as the perfect example of this and had has mind and heart set on bringing down the USSR as well as to create Lebensraum (living space) in addition to find more resources and to kill or enslave the Slavic populations as well as Polish populations of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe to make more room for settlers from Germany as well as other areas with large German populations. Stalin on the other hand was a Communist dictator as well as being among the founding Bolshevik revolutionaries of the Soviet Union and as some historical evidence has shown may have harbored some hostile intentions towards his Nazi counterpart for sometime in the future. In fact much points to Stalin in his bargaining's and talks with Hitler as moves to buy time so Stalin could possibly hit Hitler before Hitler hit him, In addition Stalin like Hitler was thought to have his own designs on Europe, for example Soviet moves to takeover Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania raised many questions about this. With all evidence considered and by looking at all of the facts it can defiantly be agreed with the converging ideologies and national interests of both Hitler and Stalin that a great clash between the two men was only a matter of time.

However even with the prospect of an eventual clash very likely between the two leaders, Hitler and Stalin still dealed and negotiated with each other most significantly the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of 1939. This was arguably the most important dialogue between Germany and the USSR in the years preceding the Second World War. Hitler needed the pact in order to secure the prevention of Soviet intervention when he invaded Poland. In addition the F�hrer wanted to move to also prevent the Western Powers of Great Britain and France from making a deal with Stalin first quite possibly in regards to Germany. Stalin also saw many benefits to signing a pact with Germany including buying time for a possible showdown with Hitler in the future, as well as to free Hitler from the prospect of war with the Soviet Union for the time being.

Through many of the motives expressed during the course of the negotiations over the Molotov-Rippentrop Pact it was clear that both Hitler and Stalin were plotting against each other. For example both foresaw potential conflict with each other's nation's in the future. Also the sharp opposing nature of both Hitler and Stalin's ideologies suggested that it would be fairly hard for the two dictators to avoid war. Hitler was obviously plotting an eventual war against the Soviet Union, which tied in greatly with his extreme anti-Communist goals which combined with his strong anti-Semitism. In addition defeating and conquering the Soviet Union played into Hitler's plans for Lebensraum and resources. In terms of Stalin's motives, Stalin greatly feared Hitler as he correctly assumed that Hitler was planning to attack the USSR and with this there is also some evidence that Stalin planned to do the same to Hitler when he felt an appropriate time came. So this very much proves that both leaders viewed each other with geopolitical suspicion and fear and that a future clash of tyrants was quite likely.

In conclusion the relationship between Hitler and Stalin would eventually lead due to its complex combinations of similarities, fear, backstabbing, and mistrust lead to a clash of ideologies as well as one between two very powerful and brutal individuals. Its effects would be one which one tyrant and his system would and another's would live on and one would end up being demolished in the end. Also the Hitler-Stalin relationship would be one that would alter world geopolitics for decades to come.

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Sorry For the weird font btw as I copied and pasted it from Microsoft Word

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