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When Nazi Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939, launching
World War Two, its army seemed an unstoppable force. The Luftwaffe
bombed towns and cities across the country, and fifty divisions of
the Wehrmacht crossed the border. Yet only two decades earlier, at
the end of World War One, Germany had been an utterly and abjectly
defeated military power. Foreign troops occupied its industrial
heartland and the Treaty of Versailles reduced the vaunted German
army of World War One to a fraction of its size, banning it from
developing new military technologies. When Hitler came to power in
1933, these strictures were still in effect. By 1939, however, he
had at his disposal a fighting force of 4.2 million men, armed with
the most advanced weapons in the world. How could this nearly
miraculous turnaround have happened? The answer lies in Russia.
Beginning in the years immediately after World War One and
continuing for more than a decade, the German military and the
Soviet Union-despite having been mortal enemies-entered into a
partnership designed to overturn the order in Europe. Centering on
economic and military cooperation, the arrangement led to the
establishment of a network of military bases and industrial
facilities on Soviet soil. Through their alliance, which continued
for over a decade, Germany gained the space to rebuild its army. In
return, the Soviet Union received vital military, technological and
economic assistance. Both became, once again, military powers
capable of a mass destruction that was eventually directed against
one another. Drawing from archives in five countries, including new
collections of declassified Russian documents, The Faustian Bargain
offers the definitive exploration of a shadowy but fateful
alliance.
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