Who was the true enemy of WW2? Hitler or Stalin ?

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Surely the answer would easily be Hitler and I have always been taught and rightfully so, that Hitler was the enemy and Stalin was an ally and yet both of them were dictators with the blood of millions on their hands. But I seem to think there was a lot more condemnation and opposition to communism. I seem to think Hitler was more aggressive than Stalin and that Stalin before World War 2 had no intention of world domination as Hitler did, although there were communists such as Lenin and Trotsky who advocated world revolution whereas Stalin concentrated on building communism in one country. Just to let you know I'm not defending Stalin I'm just trying to give a better understanding. It has made me wonder if the United States under a right-wing leadership would have allied with Hitler seeing as it became more anti-communist during the Cold War. This explains why History although its interesting it is also very problematic.

Don't forget Mussolini. He gets a dishonorable mention.

And Stalin executed a lot of the ones Hitler overlooked, so he's right up there on the evil scale too.

Last edited by old_comedywriter on 16 Dec 2020, 7:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I think it would be fair to say both of them were.

Definitely Hitler.

Hitler was our WWII enemy.

Stalin was our post-WWII enemy.

The above two are right.

The question makes no sense.

Who was more evil? Both were up there in the top ten. Its an inane comparison. Being evil doesnt make you an enemy. What makes you an enemy is being a threat.

Who was more of an immediate threat?

During WWII Hitler was a threat to the world including the US. Stalin was not an immediate threat at all to the US. So Hitler and his allies were the one enemy.

Stalin only became a threat because with the defeat of Hitler the eastern half of what had been Nazi occupied Europe became Soviet occupied Europe. So we segued from a global hot war to a continental Cold War. And then the Cold War became Global with the fall of mainland China to Mao.

The moment the two superpowers came closest to WWIII was the 1962 Cuban Missile Crises, which was after Stalin had died.


If America had had a rightwing regime during WWII? Interesting question.

In 2004 Phillip Roth wrote a novel that was an alternative history: Charles Lindberg beats FDR in the 1940 election and becomes a right wing POTUS of an isolationist and antisemtic America. Lindbergh doesnt exactly ally with the Axis, but makes agreements with both Hitler and Japan that the US would not interfere with the two powers as they expand and conquer their neighbors.

‘The Plot Against America’ was a excellent mini series for HBO earlier this year. It probably is still on HBO Max.

Whose enemy?
From my local point of view, both - one starting September 1, 1939, the other starting September 17, 1939.

Hitler, clearly.

Stalin was also a monster but even he wasn't on Adolf's level. They both may have invaded Poland but Hitler was not content to stop there.
Stalin is treated as just as bad as or worse than Hitler in some circles for several reasons. 45 years of Cold War propaganda demonizing communism had a lot to work with given Stalin's genocidal track record. The fact that the Nazis threat was decidedly dealt with during the war led some to see communism and Stalin to be a sort of more dangerous successor as the world's leading evil.
Not to mention that right-wingers have spent decades trying to paint Stalin as worse so they can try to rehabilitate the public perception of nationalism and its horrific implications.

Hitler. That swine had no respect for the sanctity of human life.

On this, the two didn't really differ.

For Poland both were the enemy in wwii. For the US, and for the world, Hitler was the enemy during the war, and stalin was the enemy after the war.

Without a doubt Hitler, while Stalin was only an ally out of necessity.

I think it is a mistake to bring economics into it.

As a matter of fact, Hitler was our opponent in WWII, with Mussolini and the Emperor of Japan also ending up on the losing side. But Stalin was monstrously evil and responsible for multiple genocides, including Holodomor. He was also an imperialist who built an extensive empire outside Russia, and like Hitler he engaged in mass murder of his political opponents. My view is that they are both above the threshold of monstrous evil where it’s in poor taste to say that either was “less bad” than the other.

It is true that many right-wing people in the 30s advocated allying with Hitler and allowing him to go to war with Stalin because fascism was less of a threat than communism.

I didn't mean to make things about economics per se. I don't really see nationalists justify genocide for economic reasons. Stalin's body count seems to have been mostly held back by the fact that it was a means to an end--not the end itself. Hitler's machinations were all ultimately in pursuit of the genocide of Europe's Jews, Roma, Slavs, etc. for the supposed benefit of the German race. Stalin's were in pursuit of power for himself and the USSR--regardless of who had to die or have their rights trampled on. Stalin's persecution of non-Russians didn't come from a belief in their superiority (at least not over him since he was Georgian) so much as it came from a recognition that maintaining support from the Russian majority was necessary for Stalin to do all the evil things he wanted the USSR to do. The Ukrainians were yet again an easy target for the Russian state looking for cheap grain.

But yeah, this is splitting hairs of me to say "well, Hitler was doing his genocide for worse reasons".

Napoleon would break into your house, and steal your stuff. But he wouldnt mess with the people in your house.

Stalin was a domestic abuser. Rarely trespassed on your property, but would beat his own wife and kids.

Like Napoleon Hitler would break into your house and steal your stuff, but on top of that he would also torture, rape, and maybe even murder, your kids, your wife, you, and all of your pets.

Stalin would be more than happy to roll up his sleeves and help you eject Hitler from your house. But after he helped you toss Hitler out onto the street, Stalin would...make himself at home in your living room, and would stay in your house himself for the next 45 years.