Page 63 - The Chief Culprit
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40 y e Chief Culprit
conditions for Mao’s victory in 1949. Soviet paratroops landed in Chinese cities not to de-
stroy bridges, roads, and factories, but to prevent their destruction. In such a war there was
no work for strategic aviation.
In the 1920s and early 1930s, Stalin needed strategic aviation so that nobody could
hinder him from building Soviet military and economic power. In the second half of the
1930s, Stalin more and more leaned toward the scenario of a war that would result not in
the destruction of Germany, but in its takeover. In November 1940, Stalin fully decided to
accomplish against Germany what he would in August 1945 accomplish against Japan.
