Why did Stalin want to take over Europe?

Answer 1

I partialy quote from Caroline Johnson, Foothill College: "It was Stalin's plan to claim neutrality. His idea was that if all the countries of the world went to war with Germany, by the end of the war, each would become financially and politically exhausted. Russia, having been at peace the entire time, would inevitably rise as the greatest power in the world and dominate above capitalism. However, even Stalin could not ignore Hitler's advances into the USSR and other parts of Europe - the Nazi plan of domination intimidated and threatened that of Stalin's. It was then that Russia became involved in the war. Entrance into the war had many advantages for Russia: it would obviously defend the USSR from Hitler's dominance and it gave Russia the opportunity to take over all of the land in the East that the Nazi's had invaded. This action not only defeated Hitler and his intentions, but it placed Russia in a powerful position in these lands. It is here that Stalin's plan begin to thoroughly develop."

Answer 2

First, after Lenin had Stalin appointed General Secretary of the Communist Party, he began placing people loyal to him in key Party and governmental positions.

Then he conspired with Grigori Zinoviev and Lev Kamenev to run the country together while Lenin was disabled from strokes.

Then after Lenin died, Stalin suppressed Lenin's Testament where Lenin stated that Leon Trotsky should succeed him and that Stalin should be removed from his position.

Stalin edged Trotsky out of the way first expelling him from the Communist Party and then from the country entirely.

Then Stalin allied himself with Nikolai Bukharin and edged both Zinoviev and Kamenev out of the way by having them admit crimes they did not commit. They were expelled from the Party and shot.

Then Stalin ousted Bukharin and had a freer hand in running the government, although he was still responsible to the Politburo, which could band together against him and vote him out.

Stalin used the GPU/OGPU /NKVD secret police to bring charges against anyone who opposed him until there were none of the old Bolsheviks left to do so. By 1932, Stalin had complete control of the Politburo and could do as he pleased without worrying about being overruled by the Politburo. High ranking members of the Communist Party knew Stalin and his secret police could make up any kind of false claim against anyone, have them arrested, imprisoned, exiled or shot so no one challenged him. This is when Stalin had complete control of the government and became a true dictator .

Answer 3

Like most rulers, he was looking out for the security and safety of his own country. It wasn't that he wanted to take over the world. Even though the Soviet Union had a nonaggression pact with Germany, Germany invaded the Soviet Union during WWII. The only way the Soviet Union could defend itself was to destroy everything useful to the Germans and retreat deeper towards Siberia. Germany was eventually stopped at Stalingrad in part because of the coldest winter in over 100 years.

During the war, some of the American generals stated publicly that they wanted to invade the Soviet Union after they finished with Germany. The experience with Germany and the generals open intentions left the Soviet people (including Stalin) naturally cynical towards other countries. In order to protect themselves, the Soviet Union kept the land it conquered from Germany as a buffer between it and the rest of the world.

In case you're wondering, the United States does the same thing. Have you ever heard of the Monroe Doctrine?