Local amateur historian and occasional beloved family member Paul Poppavich vehemently dismisses news of fascism’s rising international tide, despite an encyclopedic knowledge of World War II history.
The Soviets initially signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, in '39, after Stalin concluded that the old Allied alliance of WW1 was functionally dead and the US/UK’s government wasn’t going to put up a fight against German encroachment.
A lot of American liberals took that to mean Stalin was a German ally, intent on carving up Europe between them. And there’s ample period propaganda with Hitler and Stalin in cahoots. One famous bit even has them getting married.
The “Trump/Putin Kissing” meme is an echo of these critiques.
The Soviets initially signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, in '39, after Stalin concluded that the old Allied alliance of WW1 was functionally dead and the US/UK’s government wasn’t going to put up a fight against German encroachment.
A lot of American liberals took that to mean Stalin was a German ally, intent on carving up Europe between them. And there’s ample period propaganda with Hitler and Stalin in cahoots. One famous bit even has them getting married.
The “Trump/Putin Kissing” meme is an echo of these critiques.