Much has been said and written about Stalin. Both good and bad. But few people know about another gift of Joseph Vissarionovich: he knew how to foresee the development of events. And sometimes for many decades to come. As proof, let me bring to your attention the story of L. M. Kollontai, who during the described period was the USSR ambassador to Sweden.
In March 1938, the world situation was very difficult and alarming. Fascist Germany unceremoniously seized Austria in front of the whole world. And in September, encouraged by general silence, the Nazis annexed the Sudetenland to their territory.
Seeing how the Nazis are inexorably approaching the borders of the USSR, the Soviet government began to look for allies in the West. However, the Anglo-Franco-Soviet negotiations, scheduled for May-August 1939, were thwarted, and our proposal to create an anti-Hitler coalition failed. In such conditions, the leadership of the Soviet Union, seeking to postpone the military threat to its borders, accepted Germany's proposal to conclude a non-aggression pact, which was signed in Moscow on August 23.
A week later, on September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland, starting World War II. Realizing that peace with Germany is not eternal, the leaders of the USSR tried to protect themselves from being stabbed in the back, leading up to a favorable outcome negotiations with representatives of Finland, which began in Moscow. But they also walked hard, the Finns were frankly playing for time.
It was at this time that A. M. Kollontai came to Moscow to get first-hand information about the actual state of affairs and the corresponding instructions. However, her conversation with V. M. She gave little to the Molotovs. Vyacheslav Mikhailovich was sure that we would quickly break off the horns of the Finns and there was nothing more to talk to them about. However, as shown by the hostilities that began in the same 1939, victory in that "little war" was given to us with great blood.
Frustrated by such a reception, Kollontai went to the hotel, intending to complete all business in Moscow as soon as possible in order to leave for Stockholm again. But then the phone rang and the secretary said that Comrade Stalin was inviting her to the Kremlin.
A few minutes later a specially sent car drove Kollontai from the main entrance of the Moscow Hotel to the Kremlin. The owner of the office got up from the desk, stepped towards her, shook her hand and invited her to sit down. And he himself began to pace around his office out of habit.
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And as if anticipating possible questions, he began to say that six-month negotiations with the Finns had led nowhere. In this regard, Stalin advised to strengthen the work of the Soviet embassy to study the situation in the Scandinavian countries, monitor the penetration of German agents into these countries, trying with all his might to prevent a conflict with Finland.
However, Stalin said, "if it cannot be prevented, it will not last long." The time for "persuasion" and "negotiations" is over. “We have to practically prepare for a rebuff, for a war with Hitler,” he added.
The conversation lasted more than two hours, Kollontai recalled. During this time, Stalin touched upon many issues. The leader was especially concerned about the rearmament of the army, as well as the role of the rear in the war, the need to increase vigilance on the border and inside the country. He emphasized that the future war will fall primarily on the shoulders of the Russian people.
After that, Stalin began to think aloud about the role of the individual in history, about the past and the future, touched on many names - from Macedonian to Napoleon, he also remembered Alexander Nevsky, Dmitry Donskoy, Ivan Kalita, Ivan the Terrible, Peter the Great, Alexander Suvorov, Mikhail Kutuzov. He graduated with Marx and Lenin.
And then, as Kollontai wrote down, he said literally the following:
“Many deeds of our party and people will be distorted and spat upon, first of all abroad, and in our country too. Zionism, striving for world domination, will brutally take revenge on us for our successes and achievements. He still views Russia as a barbarian country, as an appendage of raw materials. And my name will also be slandered, slandered. Many atrocities will be attributed to me.
World Zionism will strive with all its might to destroy our Union so that Russia can never rise again. The strength of the USSR lies in the friendship of peoples. The spearhead of the struggle will be directed primarily at breaking this friendship, at separating the outskirts from Russia. Here, I must admit, we have not done everything. There is still a large field of work here.
Nationalism will raise its head with special force. He will crush internationalism and patriotism for a while, only for a while. National groups within nations and conflicts will arise. There will be many pygmy leaders, traitors within their nations.
In general, in the future, development will proceed in more complex and even frantic ways, the turns will be extremely sharp. The point is that the East will be especially agitated, sharp contradictions with the West will arise …"
Nevertheless, Stalin hoped that time would pass and new generations would once again raise the banner of their fathers and grandfathers, give them their due.
This conversation, Kollontai later recalled, made an indelible impression on her, helped to orient herself in the maelstrom of the threatening events that soon came.
It remains for us to add the following to the above. It turns out that I. V. Stalin was well aware of the impending war with Germany, according to the reports of our intelligence officers he even knew exactly when it would begin. But he did not want to believe it, he hoped to somehow delay its beginning in order to have time to complete the rearmament of the Red Army. And yet he didn't have time …
The fact that Germany attacked suddenly was said in June 1941, apparently in order to somehow explain why literally from the first minutes of the war our army found itself in such a difficult situation. And these words, mind you, were not spoken by Stalin, but by Molotov.
Joseph Vissarionovich himself once again demonstrated his remarkable sagacity in the spring of 1945, at the Potsdam conference, when he invited the heads of the United States and Great Britain to discuss the question of dividing … the Moon. They even thought that they had misheard or that Stalin himself made a reservation and it was a question of the division of Germany. But he repeated: “We have already agreed on the division of Germany. I'm talking about the moon."
And he stressed that the USSR has its own views on this celestial object. That's when, it turns out, the moon race actually started. And possess NS Khrushchev, with the foresight of his predecessor, in 2009 would probably celebrate the 40th anniversary of the landing on the moon of Soviet cosmonauts, not American astronauts.
From the book "100 Great Predictions"