There is a saying attributed to Winston Churchill that plays as true today as it did in the past, “Russia is never as strong as she looks, nor as weak as she looks.” As Adolf Hitler miss calculated the Soviet Union through his invasion many commentaries believe that NATO and its supporting allies have in their dealing with Russia Federation. In dealing with Russia today in understanding their current strategic behavior the Soviet-German War of 1941 to 1945 serves an underutilized resource. This is seen in the parallels in political leadership, economic, and military behavior. The Soviet Union like Russia today is a proud country that served as a global player on the world’s stage threatened by Western involvement in their affairs. …show more content…
This is how both countries are politically ruled by strong central figures. In 1940 Joseph Stalin ruled with an iron fist and today President Vladimir Putin runs Russia. Both are politically savvy men, which rose through the ranks to the pinnacle of their governments. These men viewed the current Western Aggression as a threat and developed their nation as much as possible. They also took the risk of invading a neighbor to facilitate their aims, with one invading Poland in 1939 and the other invading the Crimea. When Putin is asked on this involvement it regains lost territory and secure borders a notion echoed by Stalin. As political players on the world stage, both are looking for territorial gains. Putin is his attempts of creating a Greater Eurasian Union and Stalin with his conquest of Romania, Hungary, and the Baltic States at the end of the war. In viewing the political landscape of these two different generations of Russia the past serves as a warning of what is to …show more content…
The Soviet Union in 1939 spent 20% of their net national product on military spent, by the end of the war that number has risen to 76%. In response of EU and United States sanction, Russia increased their military spending by 25.6%. These actions were both tied to modernization efforts with the Soviets production of the T34, a tank German’s believe round bounced off. Today Putin’s Russia has developed new armor, long-range artillery, and drones tied to electronic warfare to fight its nation’s future wars. This military buildup is not as great as during WWII but is in direct response to