2.1.1 Stalin's Foreign Policy

Blog 2.1: For those of you who have posted, here is the commentary from IB for the Paper Three prompt.

To what extent was Stalin’s foreign policy dominated by the desire for security up until 1941?

IB Rubric -  Stalin’s foreign policy from the mid-1920s was driven by a desire to avoid conflict until the Soviet Union could recover economically and fully establish the one-party state. From the mid-1930s by the pursuit of collective security and arguably also by appeasement in the late 1930s until the Red Army had recovered from the effects of the purges – all with the underlying need to protect the Soviet Union from external threats.

Evidence could include: directing the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) to cooperate with the GMD (Guomindang - Chinese Nationalist Party , also  Kuomintang)  in China to reduce the threat from Japan. The search for collective security – joining the League of Nations, signing Non-Aggression and Mutual Assistance pacts with European powers, even involvement in Spain could arguably be seen as restraining the more revolutionary elements on the Republican side to reassure the other powers. Trade relations were maintained with Nazi Germany despite ideological differences. The sale of the Manchurian railway to Japan and the Nazi–Soviet Pact 1939 could both be cited as instances of appeasement and avoidance of conflict until the Soviet Union was stronger.  Stalin’s policies from 1927 to 1941 need to be addressed in order to gain higher level marks.

Places to look for evidence:

Other IB courses:
http://rudbeck-ib-history-revision.wikispaces.com/3.13+Stalin's+Foreign+Policy
http://www.slideshare.net/rakochy/stalins-foreign-policy-1924-1939

General Web:
http://www.e-ir.info/2011/11/23/the-evolution-of-stalins-foreign-policy-during-word-war-two/
Foreign Policy 1921-1928
Foreign Policy 1928-1939
Joseph Stalin
Soviet Foreign Policy to 1939 PPT

Academic Think Tanks:
Woodrow Wilson Center Comparing Past and Present