AEROspeciál 19 Letecká válka 22.června 1941, 2. část „Předehra“ – Šnajdr Miroslav (2025)

During the year 1940, economic and to some extent military cooperation developed between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. Stalin backed Hitler during his war on the Western Front and supplied Germany with natural resources and food. In the opposite direction, samples of military material, including combat aircraft and armament technology, were sent. Notably, there was cooperation in the naval area. The Germans sold the cruiser Lützow to the USSR, which received the name Petropavlovsk from its new user. In return, the Soviets provided the Kriegsmarine with a secret naval base in their Far North. This helped the Nazis in their fight against the Allied naval blockade and also played a supportive role during the German April attack on neutral Norway.

Both dictators, however, regarded the non-aggression pact of August 1939 as merely a tactical step in fulfilling their long-term goals. Hitler intended to dominate lebensraum (living space) in the east, while Stalin aimed to acquire new territories and spread communist ideas to the west, north, and south of Europe. For the time being, he intended to stay out of the main war conflict of the 'imperialist' powers and strike only after the warring parties had sufficiently exhausted themselves. The rapid victory of the Wehrmacht in...