Stalin's speech of 19 August 1939

Stalin's speech of 19 August 1939
A secret speech was allegedly given by Joseph Stalin, on 19 August 1939, to members of the Politburo, wherein he justified the Soviet strategy to promote military conflict in Europe, which would be beneficial for the future territorial expansion of the Communist system. The strategy included Soviet-Nazi collaboration and the suggestion of what has become the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact.
The historicity of the speech is still the subject of academic debate. Plausible textual evidence of this speech found in various reputable archives has been academically studied and published, however no formal first-hand evidence of a Politburo meeting held on 19 August 1939 or the delivery of the quoted speech has yet been proven.
Summary of documents
In the source material available to historians, Stalin is represented as expressing an expectation that the war would be the best opportunity to weaken both the capitalistic Western states and Nazi Germany, and make Germany suitable for "Sovietization". There is also expectation of eventual territorial expansion to the Baltic countries, Finland and Poland, with the approval of either the Western powers or Germany. Historians who have studied those documents have suggested that the speech formed the basis of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, which was signed just four days later on 23 August 1939.
Source material and timeline
The first version of this speech was published partially on 28 November 1939, in the Paris newspaper Le Temps by the news agency Havas despatch from Geneva. Since then several versions, varying in content, have been in circulation.
In 1994, the Russian publicist Tatiana Bushuyeva published the text of the speech in an article printed in the Novy Mir magazine based on what she claimed was recent findings in the Special Archive of the USSR of a text, which according to her was supposedly recorded by a Comintern member present at the meeting (and she published the Russian translation thereof). Sergey Sluch questions its authenticity remarking that the document was in French and stored in the "Trophies Funds" of the Archive, and that the text mostly matches the one from Havas, but Bushueva skipped some dubious passages.
Historicity and debate
Whether this speech was ever given by Stalin is still the subject of dispute by historians. According to Viktor Suvorov's book Icebreaker, Soviet historians laid special emphasis on claiming that no Politburo meeting took place on 19 August 1939, but the Russian military historian Dmitri Volkogonov has found the evidence that a meeting really took place on that day. However the only military issue in the agenda of the meeting, according to Volkogonov, was the deferment from conscription of the construction workers of the Akmolinsk–Kartaly railway.
The speech took place according to research book Stalin's Missed Chance by the military historian Mikhail Meltyukhov, which covers the alleged offensive plans by Stalin. However, the third edition of the book, in 2008, omits any mention of 1939 speech.
Historian of the Russian Academy of Sciences also reviewed the history of the subject.
References
External links
Stalin's speech to the Politburo on 19 August 1939, reconstructed from renderings in Novyi Mir, Moscow, and Revue de Droit International, Geneva, pieced together by Carl O. Nordling, Sweden
Pourquoi l’U.R.S.S. aurait signé son accord avec le Reich, Revue de Droit International, de Sciences Diplomatiques et Politiques (The International Law Review), 1939, Nr. 3, Juillet-Septembre. P. 247-248. (alleged text of Stalin's speech by Havas, with English translation by Nordling)
Tatjana Bushuyeva’s article in Novyy Mir
Irina Pavlova about documents related to beginning of World War II
Irina Pavlova about findings by Bushueva
1939 in the Soviet Union
Documents of the Soviet Union
Foreign relations of the Soviet Union
World War II speeches
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Joseph Stalin
Works by Joseph Stalin
August 1939 events
1939 speeches