The Russian View

Britain and the U.S. have looked everywhere except in the horse's mouth for hints as to how far Russia's offensives will go and what Russian victory may mean. What do the Russians say?

To the Borders. Joseph Stalin, the Russian whose say in Russia is final, said this week in an Order of the Day celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the Red Army: "The fact is that Fascist Germany is becoming more and more exhausted and weaker while the Soviet Union is more and more developing its reserves and becoming even stronger." Last October, when Allied military experts were declaring that Stalingrad was lost and Russian offensive power broken, Russians claimed they had in reserve 4,000,000 fully trained though not fully equipped men. They were prepared to throw this entire reserve into action the moment the Allies mounted a second front in Europe. When the Allies moved into North Africa, the Russians threw much, but not all, of this reserve at the Germans. Another 3,000,000 are being trained now.

Last winter, say the Russians, the counteroffensive was deliberately limited, deliberately seasonal. This winter it is not. "The beginning of the massed drive of the enemy from Soviet lands has begun," said the Order of the Day. With Russia's armed manpower constantly growing, the Russians say that they can drive Germany off Russian soil by the end of 1943.

And What Then? What the Russians will do then, say the Russians now, all depends. The Russians feel that by accepting enormous losses, such as would take a generation or two to mend, they could crush Hitler alone. But they do not choose to do that. The Red Army, said Stalin's Order, was "not created for the purpose of conquest of foreign countries, but to defend the frontiers of Soviet land." The Russians intend to have some army left to fight the peace with, too. Therefore, if the Allies have not moved on the Continent by the time Russia restores her borders, Russia may stop there. The Allies' rate of progress in North Africa--prelude to invasion of the Continent--is therefore a very important factor. The Order said: "In view of the absence of a second front in Europe, the Red Army alone is bearing the whole weight of the war."

Russians disclaim any intent to "Bolshevize" Europe. That, they say, would be politically inadvisable. But they declare: "We will not tolerate a pro-Fascist regime anywhere on the Continent"--and reserve the right to define pro-Fascist. Like Goebbels, though for different reasons, they find the "Red menace" a useful threat. They say: "If you western fellows want to prevent a social revolution in Europe you'd better march in before us rather than after."

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