The main problem is not to agree or not with the role of Soviet troops as turning force in the war against Nazi Germany. That is without doubt true. But it is also true that Soviets started the war as an ally of Germany. The non-aggression pact of 23.08.39 did lead to a Soviet invasion. Winter War in Finland was an invasion of the Soviets alone. The liberation after the war was by far not a liberation. While in the west countries liberated remained independent, the Soviet bloc was ruled directly from Kremlin and all efforts to change that situation were thwarted with full force. While remembering and respecting the sacrifices of Russian people during the second half of WWII, one cannot forget the ambiguous at least role of the Soviets between 17.09.39 and Barbarossa operation. Nor the role of Soviet Union in the Cold War period. Only by clearing those issues can we build more peaceful and respectful future.

A well written article. Well said.

It is not true that the Soviets started the war, or were an ally of Nazi Germany.

No one disagrees with the fact that Russia played an absolutely vital role in the destruction of Nazi Germany, and no one dishonours the sacrifice which Russian soldiers made in that enterprise. As recently as two years ago I visited a very impressive Soviet military cemetery and Soviet war memorial in Estonia, for example, commemorating exactly that. However, in Eastern Europe the sacrifice of Russian soldiers was roundly betrayed by their Soviet government, who used their efforts not to bring liberty to Nazi-occupied lands, but to impose a new dark night of Soviet totalitarian tyranny upon them. This new foreign tyranny lasted all the way to the 1990s, and it is something that Moscow ducks and weaves and will not acknowledge, to the great disadvantage of its relations with its neighbours.

The world, and Europe in particular owes the Russian and former Soviet peoples the greatest gratitude for their unending sacrifices during WW2. Revisionists of history are trying to distort and cover up the true culprits who helped the Nazis. They forget that the Soviet Union was calling for a united front against the fascists in 1938. Pleas that fell on death ears as the British government cosied up to Hitler in the hope that he would attack the Soviet Union and not the West. The Polish dictatorship of Colonels had signed a non-aggression pact with the fascists in 1935, they took part in the invasion of Czechoslovakia and told Hitler that they would not allow the Red Army to cross its borders by land or air to defend Czechoslovakia. It was a mistake that Poland came to regret.

It's hard to deny that USSR has invaded Poland Sept. 17th. 1939. If only pres. Medvedev or pm Putin say that USSR done wrong. But for Russians their history is black and white, so they are surprised that eastern european countries dont see Red Army as liberators but different occupants, maybe less cruel but still.

What you have said in your recent coverages from Poland is not exactly true. Poles do not claim that it was the Soviet and Germany's pact of non aggression of 23.08.1939, but the secret agreement on Soviet Union and Germany's joint attack on Poland signed by Ribentrob and Molotow at the very same time that encouraged Hitler to attack Poland. This secret agreement and Soviets' realization of its resolutions are one of many taints on Soviets reputation as the liberators of Europe from fascism.

to count cash I suppose this is also not true that Soviet Union attacked Finland in 1939? Or Poland in 1939? And that Soviets and Nazis had a joint victory parade in Brest-Litovsk? Russia's excuses for MRP are pathetic. Yes, there was a Munich pact indeed, put the difference between the MPR and the Munich is huge, since only Germany as a party to the pact gained land based on Munich pact while MPR was agreement between two aggressive nations to share Eastern Europe. And both parties to the MRP got their slice of the pie, so to say. While Germany was forced to let go of their lands after the war, SU dominated and raped its share for more than 50 years.

The Soviet Union did not start the war as an ally of fascism that is rubbish. When the Soviet army occupied Poland it was only in that territory that Poland had robbed the Soviet Union when it invaded in 1920 as part of an attempt to crush the Bolshevik revolution. Incidently the Soviet occupied area of Poland became incorporated as part of Byelorussia and still remains so. The people who came under Soviet occupation had their land restored to them and not the landlords. They benefited from the Soviet constitution, were given right to free education and healthcare. Jewish people were protected by Soviet laws forbidding anti-semitism unlike their counterparts in German occupied Poland who were being persecuted and murdered by the fascists and Polish fascist sympathisers. When the Nazis invaded the USSR the first point of attack was in the Brest Oblast of Byelorussia. The Brest fortress held out for months as the Red Army formed partisan units in the forests. Jewish refugees became partisan commanders and commisars in the army. The Beilski (Jewish) brigade saved 1200 Jewish men, women and children from the clutches of the fascists. The Byelorussian republic has been honoured by Israel for saving many Jewish lives in WW2.

Wiking spouts so much rubbish and obviously has not made an objective study of history. Hitler was appeased by the West throughout the 1930's The war as Stalin once said really started in 1935, With the fascist invasion of Ethiopia, the fascist overthrow of the Republican Government in Spain,(The USSR was the only foreign goverment to assist the republicans with material aid) The Japanese invasion of China, occupation of the Rhine, occupation of Austria, occupation of the Sudetenland. All the aforementioned events went unopposed by western governments, each time the fascists became bolder sensing the weakness of opposition amongst so called Western democracies (who by the way were selling vital materials to the Nazi regime right up to the beginning of the war) Without the heroic resistance of the USSR Hitler would have conquered Europe. Yes the USSR did liberate all the Nazi occupied territories from the horrors of fascist murderers at great cost to themselves. To suggest that the Soviet Union were as bad as the Nazis is a terrible lie and an insult to the millions that perished fighting for freedom from fascism

Wiking - Don't suppose, just do facts. Yes the SU invaded Finland quite wrongly, in my view, have I ever said anything differently? Secondly the SU did invade Poland, just like other invasions took place in WW2, You can view this as a necessary military step to defend the SU, you can view it as thwarting the Polish attempt to attack the SU. Indeed you can view it in as many ways as you like, but they are just views. The fact is that the SU always had a legitmate right under international law to take pre-emptive action in self defence. Try also reading the MRP, instead of the Western propaganda interpretation and imputations, that don't exist in the document. The MRP was far less harsh than the Munich pact. The Munich pact agreed to removal of Czech territory and people. The Munich pact set Hitler on his course and the Poles were very happy to be on an outing in Czechoslovakia. The MRP was merely a conditional agreement, based on a deteriorating political situation, to avoid misunderstandings between standing armies. The western powers won, as they thought was peace, and preservation of their land, in return for selling out the Czechs, so the Munich pact was a deal with benefit to the British, French and Italians, just like the MRP had benefit to the SU. The deals were the same. But a hammer always sees everything as a nail, Hence a Russophobe always sees everything as negative in terms of Russia.

What about the organised large-scale rapeof German women as the great Red Army conducted their "Liberation".... Oh how about the fact that a large percentage of the Red Army were actually forced to fight or be otherwise shot by their communist officers??? Pathetic. You would never hear of anything uncivilised like this with the British or American military of WW2.

@M6 and Wiking MRP was an act of self-preservation. It moved the initial front-line farther west. Hitler was going to attack Poland anyway. Had it not been for MRP, the German Army would probably had captured Moscow in 1941, since they would have a lot less territory to cover. As for the post-1945 occupation of Eastern Europe, that was also an act of self-preservation - there was no way USSR would fight a war on its own territory again. It was not fair to the people of Eastern Europe, but own self-interests come first.

It was all politics then, it's all politics now. Everybody remembers 1939 and Molotov-Ribentrob agreement. But that is only one side of a coin. USSR at 1930'es was a country with almost no economic ties. It was a matter of time before it collapses due to isolation. How did USSR managed build all their tanks? Yes, millions of people worked enthusiastically, but USSR was about 10 years behind the west in technology. The anwer is - Russians used German machinery to build it's tanks, planes, small arms and all other stuff. Modern machinery that was sold to Soviets by Fascists. Somehow Britain or US didn't want to create ties with evil communists until they started dying in millions. The later victory was made possible by Molotov-Ribentrop pact. It's not something to be proud of, but history is never black and white.

@ Jay A. Russians did to Germans, what Americans did to Japanese. You have obviously read Beevor's "Berlin", well, then you would know how Nazis were forcing their children to attack tanks on bicycles using Panzerfausts. Stop spouting your hatred. It is counter-productive.

it is rather hilarious looking at the comments when theres so little and so biased info you must have been reading. Communist leadership was indeed harsh, many died only because of it. However one shouldnt be biased about its actions as a pure evil. Empires are evil, it matters however, which one is less evil to accept. USSR proved to be a lesser evil, although evil it still was. USSR in years after the revolution was different than pre-ww2. Poland instead of being portrayed like a victim of bigger powers should be note, that they cooperated with nazis. They actively sought imperialist expansionism. Betrayer Poland ended up betrayed by their own western patrons and then raped. They actively participated in division of Czechoslovakia, then Slovakia by invading, along with the archenemy of peace and stability in the region- Hungary (another imperial country living in made-up history) Revision and rewriting history should be punishable severely, because that can lead into more conflicts we dont need. Poland was no saint, they have only great hunger but very poor teeth. At the same time they and even their current historians will say it was ok to be expansionist and they fully support it. Oh and Molotov-Ribbentrop was easily justified, as USSR already knew pre-ww2 plans westerners had. What was justifiable betraying democratic Czechoslovakia? Poland working aginst us? Who are they to say they were victims of the war? What I know for sure, is they were victims of their own folly. Why Poles never mention Jews murdered in their camps the Germans made? Why no mention of Germans participating in Katyň massacres? Politically incorrect, no political capital it seems. They again serve Germans and the west and are being currently thrown away by US so they shut up for now. And in the end, the today´s so called democracy is still imperial, because democracy would mean we need no patron from overseas, so no democracy, just poorly made capitalism ready to drown.

to Count Cash -- The fact is that the SU always had a legitmate right under international law to take pre-emptive action in self defence. Wow! That is a nice idea and interpretation of international law. So whenever you are threatened, you have right to roll you tanks to the country which is situated between you and the threat!? Good! And what do international rules tell us about concluding bi-lateral agreements which dividing up countries not party to those agreements? - The MRP was far less harsh than the Munich pact. The Munich pact agreed to removal of Czech territory and people. Aaah, now I get it! So allowing or ordering people to move from the occupied areas is much more harsher than mass deportation of those people by cattle wagons and oppressing remaining lot for 50 years? I think Estonians would have taken harsh treatment of Munich any time over kindness of MRP, especially having in mind that land lost by Munich pact was given back after 7 years. Not that I am justifying Munich pact but I still fail to see how appeasing of Hitler with no territorial claims by other parties equals or is worse than dividing and actually occupying countries designated in the MRP by the parties of the said pact.

to parallax If MRP and post-war occupation was an act of self-preservation of Soviet Union, could it be that Germans attack to Soviet Union was also an act of self-preservation? You know, German people needed Lebensraum, a place to live. Can we really blame them? It was not fair to the people of Soviet Union, but own self-interest comes first. Now, for that saying (if meant seriously) I would be branded as Nazi everywhere and rightfully so. But somehow it is perfectly OK for Russians to justify their activities like this without any consequences. Regarding the children attacking Russians in Berlin..... how does it justify or compare to mass rape of Prussian women?

Dear Friends, Please, remember forever: The war never determines who WAS right, it decides who and what is left! You keep debating and arguing, getting outraged, angry and mad, some, perhaps, become ready to grab a weapon to shot his opponent. Why? Because some politicians just want you to. Some politicians brought wars, WW2 included, upon our ancestors and us. Dear Friends, For the sake of all fallen soldiers of WW2, of all civil casualties - all men, women and children, of all nationalities - say "NEVER MORE!" Never more people needed to die in an attempt to prove that they were right. We all wear some labels - Russians, Poles, Germans, Estonians, Lithuanians, Ukrainians etc. But before that - we are human beings. Let us deserve that adjective - human. Let's accept a fact that there is no such thing as the objective history. The greater is a victory of one side, the deeper defeat and misery of another. There are no ideal, sinless people. Every one of us did something to be ashamed of. So our nations did. Let's not brag about it or point a finger. In memory of those tens of millions people perished in WW2 - let us look forward, to build our lives, our cities and countries. If we do not, we'll get cursed by those who died for us.