S8 Ep585: Author: John Bachelor and Sean McMeakin. Title: Stalin's War: A New History of World War II - The Hopkins Mission. In this discussion, Professor Sean McMeakin explores how Stalin leveraged the Lend-Lease program to rebuild the Russian Empire. The focus is
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John Batchelor
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🗓️ 16 March 2026
⏱️ 11 minutes
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Summary
- Author: John Bachelor and Sean McMeakin. Title: Stalin's War: A New History of World War II - The Hopkins Mission. In this discussion, Professor Sean McMeakin explores how Stalin leveraged the Lend-Lease program to rebuild the Russian Empire. The focus is on Harry Hopkins’ 1941 mission to Moscow, where he established a direct channel with Stalin and offered unconditional military aid without requiring any quid pro quo. Despite significant domestic opposition from figures like Harry Truman and Hiram Johnson, FDR pursued this alliance, often keeping the extent of the aid secret from the American public. Churchill similarly supported Stalin, viewing the Soviet Union as a bulwark against Hitler and potentially using Russian troops as "cannon fodder".
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| 0:35.0 | This is CBS Eye on the World. |
| 0:38.3 | Here's John Batchelor. |
| 0:40.6 | Speaking with Professor Sean McMeekin of Bard College, |
| 0:44.0 | the author of the new book, Stalin's War, |
| 0:46.5 | a new history of war war, too. |
| 0:48.8 | From the point of view of Joseph Stalin, |
| 0:50.9 | who inherits from Vladimir Lennon, |
| 0:53.7 | the thinking, the theory, set the imperialist |
| 0:56.8 | capitalist states against each other. Do not enter the war until the end and gobble up territory. |
| 1:02.8 | Recover the Russian Empire and more. Create the power of the earth by watching the monster |
| 1:10.4 | nations of France and Germany, those in England, |
| 1:14.2 | those were the three that Stalin had in mind, battle each other just as they did in the Great |
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