Stalin's speech on August 19, 1939
Encyclopedia
This article covers a speech allegedly given by leader of the Soviet Union
Joseph Stalin
on 19 August 1939 to members of the Politburo
, wherein he supposedly described the strategy of the Soviet Union
on the eve of World War II
.
The historicity of the speech is still the subject of academic debate. Plausible textual copies of this speech found in various reputable archives have 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. Speeches given in secret were common at the time, the Politburo being a closed and secretive body. There are also contrary views that these copies were intended originally as propaganda
and disinformation
. Accordingly until consensus is reached by historian
s, the discussion of the documents supporting such a thesis are described in this article as an "alleged" speech.
In these reports, Stalin is represented as talking about his strategic view of the growing conflict in Europe
, and his view that it would be beneficial for the Soviet agenda, insofar as it would weaken the West, allowing possible territorial expansion.
". 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 these documents have suggested that if such a speech took place, which is usually considered plausible but not proven (see below), then this view may have formed the basis for the Nazi-Soviet pact of non-aggression signed in 1939, known as the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
, which was also signed days later around 23 – 24 August 1939.
newspaper Le Temps by the news agency
Havas
despatch from Geneva
. Since then several versions, varying in content, have been in circulation.
of 30 November 1939, the day of the outbreak of the Winter War
, Stalin was asked for his opinion on the report of "the speech" allegedly made "by Stalin to the Politburo on 19 August", in which he is said to have expressed the thought that the war should go on as long as possible, so that the belligerents are exhausted." Stalin stated this was an incorrect assertion, and was quoted by Pravda as saying:
magazine (#12, 1994), based on what she claimed was recent findings in Soviet Special Archives of a text that according to her was supposedly recorded by a Comintern
member present at the meeting.
The actual original text is not available yet. Bushuyeva also printed a Russian translation of a version available in French
. This caused another surge of speculations on the issue. Bushuyeva omitted to mention that the referred archival record was from stock related to the documents of General Staff of the French Army
.
's book M-Day
, Soviet historians laid special emphasis on proving that no Politburo
meeting took place on 19 August 1939. Nevertheless, Suvorov states in his book that Russian military historian Dmitri Volkogonov
has found evidence that a meeting really took place on that day.
An article in the Otechestvennaya Istoriya (History of the Fatherland), Отечественная история, 2004, № 1) by Sergey Sluch (С.З. Случ) critically reviews the history of "Stalin's Speech", its textological analysis, and possible reasons and sources for the possible forgery. Carl Nordling
, a Finnish statistician and amateur historian, pointed out some counter-theses to Sluch's disapproval of the existence of such a speech.
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
on 19 August 1939 to members of the Politburo
Politburo
Politburo , literally "Political Bureau [of the Central Committee]," is the executive committee for a number of communist political parties.-Marxist-Leninist states:...
, wherein he supposedly described the strategy of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
on the eve of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
The historicity of the speech is still the subject of academic debate. Plausible textual copies of this speech found in various reputable archives have been academically studied and published, however no formal first-hand evidence of a Politburo
Politburo
Politburo , literally "Political Bureau [of the Central Committee]," is the executive committee for a number of communist political parties.-Marxist-Leninist states:...
meeting held on 19 August 1939 or the delivery of the quoted speech has yet been proven. Speeches given in secret were common at the time, the Politburo being a closed and secretive body. There are also contrary views that these copies were intended originally as propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
and disinformation
Disinformation
Disinformation is intentionally false or inaccurate information that is spread deliberately. For this reason, it is synonymous with and sometimes called black propaganda. It is an act of deception and false statements to convince someone of untruth...
. Accordingly until consensus is reached by historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
s, the discussion of the documents supporting such a thesis are described in this article as an "alleged" speech.
In these reports, Stalin is represented as talking about his strategic view of the growing conflict in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, and his view that it would be beneficial for the Soviet agenda, insofar as it would weaken the West, allowing possible territorial expansion.
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 Western nations and Nazi Germany, and make Germany suitable for "SovietizationSovietization
Sovietization is term that may be used with two distinct meanings:*the adoption of a political system based on the model of soviets .*the adoption of a way of life and mentality modelled after the Soviet Union....
". There is also expectation of eventual territorial expansion to the Baltic countries
Baltic countries
The term Baltic states refers to the Baltic territories which gained independence from the Russian Empire in the wake of World War I: primarily the contiguous trio of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania ; Finland also fell within the scope of the term after initially gaining independence in the 1920s.The...
, Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
and Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, with the approval of either the Western powers or Germany.
Historians who have studied these documents have suggested that if such a speech took place, which is usually considered plausible but not proven (see below), then this view may have formed the basis for the Nazi-Soviet pact of non-aggression signed in 1939, known as the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, named after the Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov and the German foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop, was an agreement officially titled the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Soviet Union and signed in Moscow in the late hours of 23 August 1939...
, which was also signed days later around 23 – 24 August 1939.
First published in 1939
The first version of this speech was published, partially, on 28 November 1939, in the ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
newspaper Le Temps by the news agency
News agency
A news agency is an organization of journalists established to supply news reports to news organizations: newspapers, magazines, and radio and television broadcasters. Such an agency may also be referred to as a wire service, newswire or news service.-History:The oldest news agency is Agence...
Havas
Havas
Havas is the second largest advertising group in France and is a "Global advertising and communications services group" and the sixth-largest global advertising and communications group worldwide, operating on the communications consulting market through three main operational divisions:*Euro RSCG...
despatch from Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
. Since then several versions, varying in content, have been in circulation.
Stalin denies the news in Pravda
In PravdaPravda
Pravda was a leading newspaper of the Soviet Union and an official organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party between 1912 and 1991....
of 30 November 1939, the day of the outbreak of the Winter War
Winter War
The Winter War was a military conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet offensive on 30 November 1939 – three months after the start of World War II and the Soviet invasion of Poland – and ended on 13 March 1940 with the Moscow Peace Treaty...
, Stalin was asked for his opinion on the report of "the speech" allegedly made "by Stalin to the Politburo on 19 August", in which he is said to have expressed the thought that the war should go on as long as possible, so that the belligerents are exhausted." Stalin stated this was an incorrect assertion, and was quoted by Pravda as saying:
- that it cannot be denied that it was FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and EnglandEnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
that attacked Germany and consequently they are responsible for the present war; - that Germany made peace proposals to France and England, proposals supported by the Soviet Union on the grounds that a quick end to the war would ease the situation of all countries and peoples;
- that the ruling circles of England and France rudely rejected Germany's peace proposals.
Refound and authenticity issues
In 1994, Russian publicist T. S. Bushuyeva published an archival reference because of the speech in an article printed in the Novy MirNovy Mir
Novy Mir is a Russian language literary magazine that has been published in Moscow since January 1925. It was supposed to be modelled on the popular pre-Soviet literary magazine Mir Bozhy , which was published from 1892 to 1906, and its follow-up, Sovremenny Mir , which was published 1906-1917...
magazine (#12, 1994), based on what she claimed was recent findings in Soviet Special Archives of a text that according to her was supposedly recorded by a Comintern
Comintern
The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern, also known as the Third International, was an international communist organization initiated in Moscow during March 1919...
member present at the meeting.
The actual original text is not available yet. Bushuyeva also printed a Russian translation of a version available in French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
. This caused another surge of speculations on the issue. Bushuyeva omitted to mention that the referred archival record was from stock related to the documents of General Staff of the French Army
French Army
The French Army, officially the Armée de Terre , is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces.As of 2010, the army employs 123,100 regulars, 18,350 part-time reservists and 7,700 Legionnaires. All soldiers are professionals, following the suspension of conscription, voted in...
.
Historicity and debate
Whether this speech was ever given by Stalin is still the subject of dispute by historians and no proof is as yet unanimously accepted. According to Viktor SuvorovViktor Suvorov
Viktor Suvorov is the pen name for Vladimir Bogdanovich Rezun , a former Soviet and now British writer of Russian and Ukrainian descent who writes primarily in Russian, as well as a former Soviet military intelligence spy who defected to the UK...
's book M-Day
M-Day (book)
M-Day is a book by Viktor Suvorov about Soviet Army preparations for the invasion of Germany. The author argues that the Soviet Army was preparing to attack the Germans when Adolf Hitler forestalled Joseph Stalin on 22 June 1941....
, Soviet historians laid special emphasis on proving that no Politburo
Politburo
Politburo , literally "Political Bureau [of the Central Committee]," is the executive committee for a number of communist political parties.-Marxist-Leninist states:...
meeting took place on 19 August 1939. Nevertheless, Suvorov states in his book that Russian military historian Dmitri Volkogonov
Dmitri Volkogonov
Dmitri Antonovich Volkogonov was a Russian historian and officer.-Biography:...
has found evidence that a meeting really took place on that day.
An article in the Otechestvennaya Istoriya (History of the Fatherland), Отечественная история, 2004, № 1) by Sergey Sluch (С.З. Случ) critically reviews the history of "Stalin's Speech", its textological analysis, and possible reasons and sources for the possible forgery. Carl Nordling
Carl O. Nordling
Carl O. Nordling was a Finnish born architect, urban planner and amateur historian. He graduated as an architect from the Helsinki University of Technology in 1939 and immigrated to Sweden after the end of the Continuation War in 1944.As a statistician, he applied statistical methods to a number...
, a Finnish statistician and amateur historian, pointed out some counter-theses to Sluch's disapproval of the existence of such a speech.
See also
- Viktor SuvorovViktor SuvorovViktor Suvorov is the pen name for Vladimir Bogdanovich Rezun , a former Soviet and now British writer of Russian and Ukrainian descent who writes primarily in Russian, as well as a former Soviet military intelligence spy who defected to the UK...
, a controversial historian who used the speech as an evidence for his thesis in works such as IcebreakerIcebreaker (Suvorov)Icebreaker: Who Started the Second World War?, by Viktor Suvorov is a 1987 documentary book, which alleges that World War II started as a result of Joseph Stalin's ploy to "liberate" the working class of Europe and eventually the whole world.-Suvorov's thesis:Suvorov challenges the widely-accepted... - Stalin's Missed ChanceStalin's Missed ChanceStalin's Missed Chance is a study by Russian military historian Mikhail Ivanovich Meltyukhov, author of several books and articles on Soviet military history....
, a research work by military historian Mikhail Meltyukhov, covering Stalin's alleged offensive plans
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. NordlingCarl O. NordlingCarl O. Nordling was a Finnish born architect, urban planner and amateur historian. He graduated as an architect from the Helsinki University of Technology in 1939 and immigrated to Sweden after the end of the Continuation War in 1944.As a statistician, he applied statistical methods to a number...
, SwedenSwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund.... - Did Stalin deliver his alleged speech of 19 August 1939? by Carl O. 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