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If Hitler's ordered invasion of France in 1940 had run into some big enough bumps as to make it lose the element of surprise and momentum, and result in a WWI-like stalemate, how would his nominal ally at the time, Stalin, and the USSR as a whole, react to such unfolding of events?
1: Actively lend a hand? Could Stalin decide to directly send Soviet troops to the western front in order to prop up Germany's fighting capacity, like Hitler had done IOTL to Italy after their invasions of Greece and Egypt failed? This would obviously result in the Allies (Britain and France, their little allies around Europe, and possibly also the US) declaring war on the Soviet Union, which has repercussions of its own.
2: Remain passive? Abiding by the "tertius gaudens" principle, Stalin could decide to stay officially neutral in the war between France and Germany, while making secret deals to prop up one side or the other if they seem to be failing. It seems to me that he would be interested in having Germany in one piece, but heavily indebted to him, thus making the reich into the definite junior partner in the alliance. Would this situation last forever, though? Could defeated Germany end up turning to the western powers for aid after a certain time?
3: Take advantage of Germany's failure? I've seen this option thrown around quite a bit, especially as the results would be more consistent with OTL's outcome of WW2, at least territorially, and thus, on paper, more predictable. This obviously spills doom for Germany, no matter how out of shape the Red Army is, and Stalin is guaranteed to get a share of the German pie after the war is over. Tensions could escalate like OTL over numerous possible territorial disputes, but i doubt Stalin, prudent as he was, would want to start another war.
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