The Final Frontier: Stalin Demands Kars

There is I think one important point which has not been mentioned. The territories pursued by Stalin in 1939-1941 had nearly all been longstanding possessions of the Russian Empire. The only exception was eastern Galicia, which had belonged to the now-extinct Republic of Poland, and before that to the disintegrated Austrian Empire.

Kars had only been acquired by Russia in 1878. Bessarabia, Finland, Courland, Lithuania, Belarus, and west Ukraine had been acquired in 1792-1815.
 
Not sure this is what your looking for, and if not then please disreguard, but what about an M-R pact that give Stalin the right to take Turkey? From the German point of view, this distracts the USSR from guarding against the Germans and ties down forces facing those of Turkey, makes is seem even more unlikely that Germany is going to backstab, and runs a big risk of war w/Wallies if done pre-fall of France, so basically a two front war with Turkey and Finland at the same time.

There needs to be a reason for Molotov to bring Turkey into the discussions - a falling out of sorts - but the idea would be to have the pact recognize Soviet interests in northeastern Turkey and (no doubt) the Straits. Then, as things heat up in early 1940, Ankara receives a strongly worded note....

Hrm. Would the Turks fight it out, if all that was asked was Kars and some demilitarization of the east? I suspect any major concessions involving the Dardanelles would be likely to lead to war, but Kars might be ranked low enough to merit the same treatment the Romanians gave to Bessarabia.

always look at German decision to deal away Finland and Baltics in M-R Pact as strategic mistake.

could have instead struck deal over Poland, Romania, (bases in) Bulgaria, and Turkey? (Soviets were obsessed over Black Sea)
 
Thanks to lukedalton for the following maps. With these brought to my attention, I think it's worth looking back on whether or how much they apply to this topic.

Apparently the Soviets had shifting Soviet territorial claims against Turkey into the 1950s. These came up (or, possibly, were created whole-cloth) in 1945, when the 1925 Turkish-Soviet treaty - a non-agression pact - expired.

To a certain extent, the issue was that Turkey was gradually moving towards the American sphere, or at least was ceasing to have a special relationship with the USSR. The greater part of that started significantly later, though. To all appearances, it would seem that the Soviets were limiting themselves to the bounds of the treaty, which happened to expire after the real opportunity for expansion had passed.

One factor in arranging for different Soviet behavior might just have been to have the 1935 agreement involve something other than a 10-year extension. Or perhaps after the 1936 Montreaux Convention, the two countries might have penned a new treaty with different conditions.

On the subject of the Soviets having a generally expansionist policy towards their borders in this period, witness their 11th hour efforts to separate northeastern Iran.

Thoughts?
 
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