The Chief Culprit

Book excerpt: “A remarkable book. A delayed bombshell that includes very pertinent new research and discoveries Suvorov has made since 1990. He makes savvy readers of contemporary and World War II history, of a mind to reexamine the Soviet past in terms of what historians call ‘present interest.’ None of the ‘new Russian’ historians can match his masterful sweep of research and analysis.” —ALBERT WEEKS, Professor Emeritus of International Relations, New York University, author of Stalin’s Other War: Soviet Grand Strategy, 1939-1941 In The Chief Culprit, bestselling author Victor Suvorov probes newly released Soviet documents and reevaluates existing historical material to analyze Stalin’s strategic design to conquer Europe and the reasons behind his controversial support for Nazi Germany. A former Soviet army intelligence officer, the author explains that Stalin’s strategy leading up to World War II grew from Lenin’s belief that if World War I did not ignite the worldwide Communist revolution, then a second world war would be necessary. Suvorov debunks the theory that Stalin was duped by Hitler and that the Soviet Union was a victim of Nazi aggression. Instead, he makes the case that Stalin neither feared Hitler nor mistakenly trusted him. He maintains that after Germany occupied Poland, defeated France, and started to prepare for an invasion of Great Britain, Hitler’s intelligence services detected the Soviet Union’s preparations for a major war against Germany. This detection, Suvorov argues, led to Germany’s preemptive war plan and the launch of an invasion of the USSR. Stalin emerges from the pages of this book as a diabolical genius consumed by visions of a worldwide Communist revolution at any cost—a leader who wooed Hitler and Germany in his own effort to conquer the world. In contradicting traditional theories about Soviet planning before the German invasion and in arguing for revised view of Stalin’s real intentions, The Chief Culprit has provoked debate among historians throughout the world.