Why did the creation of the Soviet Union create anxiety in much of Europe in the 1920s and after?

2 Answers
Dec 24, 2017

The Soviet Union was founded on the political philosophy of Marist Communism. This philosophy claimed that it would become the dominate political force in the world.

Explanation:

The Communists had gained control of Russia during the Civil War mainly by military conquest. The Communists stated goal was world control and dominance. The goal of control and dominance was a perceived threat by its neighbors,

Under the leadership of Stalin the Soviet Union worked to develop a large modern army which threaten the surrounding nations. The Soviet Union worked to encourage Communist movements in the surrounding nations that would provide the Soviet Union with an excuse to invade those nations where local communist could cause unrest.

The Communistic philosophy believed that the Socialism of the Soviet Union would invariably spread to rule the entire world. The use of military might to spread this philosophy was a direct threat to the surrounding nations.

Dec 24, 2017

Socialist and Anarchist thought that arose in the 1800s was intolerable to the Monarchists and Capitalists of the early 20th Century. The rise of a Socialist Russia was a horrifying nightmare.

Explanation:

Many thinkers, philosophers and revolutionaries of the 19th and early 20th Centuries were looking to create a new world order. A genuine change of mankind. Karl Marx felt that England or Germany would be the best place for a Communist Revolution. Russia was viewed as to backward.

The absolute revulsion of the contemporary establishment to such a possibility and the passion and contempt the radicals had for those authorities created the violence of their fights. Hopes of the mass of people united for a purpose became a powerful force.

By 1920 the civil war in Russia was resolving itself into a Communist victory. Their Armies were sweeping through the Ukraine and Eastern Europe. JFC Fuller in his "Book Decisive Battles of the Western World Vol. 2" describes the Soviet Armies as a "magazine rifle horde".

Poland had previously attacked into the power vacuum of the Ukraine and been successful but over extended. The the Soviets push them back and were approaching the Polish capital of Warsaw. The rest of Europe, exhausted from the 1st World War lay after that. If they connected with the revolutionaries in Western Europe it is possible that they could sweep the continent. The Russian General Tukhachevsky was a new Nihilist Genghis Khan that wanted to destroy modern civilization.

The Polish narrowly defeated the Russians. But the West turned it back on the Soviets and they began to ferment revolution in other countries. Another road was started that led to World War 2.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Warsaw_(1920)