Quote:
Originally Posted by braindead
And one really has to have a pretty´strong country to resist at same time Nazi Germany AND Sov.Union if they attack you both at same time  . I do not know any country in Europe who could have resisted in such circumstances |
Beyond the brute military force, there're politics. Only very tough guys can afford having a lot of enemies and almost no friends. Poland, being one of most probable targets of German invasion after Munich 1938, at the same time had tensions with SU and was too proud and freedom-loving to consider any kind of defence pact with red devil. And to expect western friends from far away to defend it, Poland had to make sure whether those friends know what is Poland and where it is.
Such 'wise' policy and obvious military weakness combined led to expected result: Poland was ..., oh no, again
In 1939, even before Spetember, Poland couldn't be saved, so Stalin tried to gain at least something. When Soviet troops crossed the border, Polish state and army were destroyed already, so the question was only where Germans would stop their advance. Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact allowed to create buffer zone and to delay war at least a little, so I think it was rather wise political move of Stalin, fate of Poland and Baltics aside. Everyone cares of himself only, after all. So why blame Stalin?