Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Soviet Union is a fascinating and complex topic. Primary and secondary sources abound, and often lead to quite contradictory conclusions. The serious student will soon realize that FDR's policy toward Russia must be ascertained within seemingly irreconcilable and diverse readings of evidentiary materials. It is only by studying the varying and often conflicting interpretations that historians may come to understand Franklin Roosevelt's consistent policy toward the Soviet Union. History is shaped by the context of world events. Nowhere is this more evident than in Franklin Roosevelt's approach to the Soviet Union. Stalin's Russia was for FDR the cornerstone of deterrence, ultimate victory over Germany and Japan, and peace in the postwar world. The foundation was difficult to structure given domestic political realities; Stalin's suspiciousness and ruthless determination to achieve security by conquest and occupation of adjacent countries; communist ideology and its inherently antagonistic views concerning capitalist countries; and the Soviet Union's record of regime brutality and terror. FDR consistently pursued a positive relationship with Russia because he realized that its military might would be absolutely necessary to defeat the Axis powers, and thereby provide at least the hope of a brighter future after the catastrophic destruction and loss of ... log in or subscribe to read full text