INTRODUCTION: The Tragedy of the ARMIR

The Ribbentrop-Molotov non-aggression pact of 23 August 1939 had established an unpredictable alliance between Germany and the USSR, disrupting the line of antifascist unity sanctioned in 1935 by the VII Congress of the Communist International. In keeping with the traditionally pro-German leanings of Soviet foreign policy, ratified by the Treaty of Rapallo and embodied by the close economic and military collaboration between the Soviets and the Germans, Stalin backed Germany when it reintroduced compulsory military service in 1935 in violation of the orders contained in the Treaty of Versailles. In the 1920s, this “friendship” had taken the form of economic