Snappy Answers to History Questions VI

What were some of the mistakes made by Mao and Stalin?

There were a multiplicity of mistakes that were made by both. Most of which centered around their inability to appreciate their limitations, the innate belief that they were somehow on the correct side of history (like most Hegelians) and the most tragic of all the ransacking of their own countries (read about the Great Leap Forward and the Various collectivization programs in the USSR). Whether this was intentional or not the outcomes were deleterious. Each was a slave to their own hubris with millions of human beings paying with their lives for such such single minded evil.

Did Stalin start the winter war?

Yes he did. He took advantage of his non-Aggression Pact with the Germans and the fact that Britain and France were still engaged in the so-called Phoney War (having done very little to aid the Poles against the twin invasions from both Germany and later the USSR in September 1939) to push for territorial concessions from the Finns. When the Finns failed to comply he authorized military action, that with hindsight would prove to be very costly for the invaders

Why did Mao Zedong kill his people?

Mao espoused an ideology that placed the broader collective and the will of the people before everything else. By necessity this reduces individual beings to material widgets that can be discarded to fit the march toward the respective singularity. Once you strip human beings of the essence that makes them humans genocide is easily rationalized.

Who was the strongest of the Three Leaders; Churchill, Roosevelt or Stalin?

In my opinion Churchill was the strongest in terms of character but he was the leader of the weakest of the three powers. He therefore brought less cards to the table. Roosevelt had the powerful backing of the American economy and military fire power behind him but struggled with deteriorating health as the war ebbed to a close (impacting his judgement). He underestimated Stalin, who was by far the most calculating of the three. However Stalin erred consistently in many of his war decisions and was often baled out by the brave action of his generals (Zhukov, Rokossovsky etc). His propaganda exalted his real status but in reality the people of the Soviet Union paid in great number for many of his poor choices and indecision.