As Britain actively worked to strengthen the treaty, Soviet geopolitics was simultaneously unfolding under its own terms. Retrospectively, this would have been the most ideal time to implement the treaty, as both Russia and Germany were in the weakest positions politically since Bismarck’s takeover of Germany. Kotkin began by noting that the 1919 Versailles Peace Treaty was not widely supported Britain and France largely shrank away from enforcing it. The first argument of the book revolves around the centrality of geopolitics as a driver of 20 th century history. However, his work habits, decision-making processes and relationships with others are equally crucial to fully understanding his political motivations. Conventionally, we conceptualize Stalin as a psychopath responsible for the deaths of between 16 and 20 million people. Kotkin’s close analysis of Stalin aims not only to explain his role in industrializing the Soviet Union but also to paint a more detailed portrait of Stalin the person. The book is the second volume in a three-part biography of Stalin, highlighting both the centrality of geopolitics as a driver of history and the development of Communist ideology. The talk was introduced and moderated by Yanni Kotsonis, Professor of History and Russian & Slavic Studies at NYU. On Monday March 5 th, the NYU Jordan Center hosted a book talk with Stephen Kotkin, Birkelund Professor of History and International Affairs at Princeton University and author of Stalin: Waiting for Hitler, 1929-1941.
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