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Stalin's Great Raid: The Plundering of Germany and the Rise of the Soviet Union to a Superpower
A revelatory new history from one of Europe’s leading scholars, uncovering how Stalin’s systematic plunder of Germany after World War II fueled the Soviet Union’s rise to superpower status.
When the Red Army advanced into Central Europe in 1944–45, its battlefield victory marked only the beginning of a vast Soviet project of domination and extraction. Behind the language of “reparations,” Stalin and his planners initiated one of the most sweeping programs of industrial plunder in modern history. Entire factories, whole industries, research institutes, rail networks, and cultural infrastructure were dismantled and transported eastward, along with tens of thousands of German engineers and specialists, as well as millions of German prisoners turned workers, all constituting the material and human basis for the USSR’s subsequent transformation from a ravaged wartime power into an industrial and military superstate.
In Stalin’s Great Raid, distinguished Polish-German historian Bogdan Musial, drawing on never before seen declassified Soviet and Polish archives, offers the first comprehensive reconstruction of this vast transfer of wealth and technology. He situates the looting of Germany within the grim historical cycle that began with Germany’s sponsorship of Lenin’s revolution and continued through the industrial cooperation that had armed the very Soviet power which would ultimately devour its creator.
A major work of archival history, Stalin’s Great Raid reframes the entangled destinies of Moscow and Berlin, transforming our understanding of how the Second World War ended, and how the Soviet Union rose from the ruins.
When the Red Army advanced into Central Europe in 1944–45, its battlefield victory marked only the beginning of a vast Soviet project of domination and extraction. Behind the language of “reparations,” Stalin and his planners initiated one of the most sweeping programs of industrial plunder in modern history. Entire factories, whole industries, research institutes, rail networks, and cultural infrastructure were dismantled and transported eastward, along with tens of thousands of German engineers and specialists, as well as millions of German prisoners turned workers, all constituting the material and human basis for the USSR’s subsequent transformation from a ravaged wartime power into an industrial and military superstate.
In Stalin’s Great Raid, distinguished Polish-German historian Bogdan Musial, drawing on never before seen declassified Soviet and Polish archives, offers the first comprehensive reconstruction of this vast transfer of wealth and technology. He situates the looting of Germany within the grim historical cycle that began with Germany’s sponsorship of Lenin’s revolution and continued through the industrial cooperation that had armed the very Soviet power which would ultimately devour its creator.
A major work of archival history, Stalin’s Great Raid reframes the entangled destinies of Moscow and Berlin, transforming our understanding of how the Second World War ended, and how the Soviet Union rose from the ruins.
- GenresHistoryNonfiction
384 pages, Paperback
Published April 14, 2026
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May 20, 2026
Stalin's Great Raid was a really shocking and great read for me. Bogdan Musial goes into great detail to show the truly sinister nature of Soviet economic policy in the interwar, WWII, and post-war years.
What I really loved about this is how Musial was able to so thoroughly disprove so many common defenses of Stalin during this time, namely the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact. I have always contended that this was never a "defensive" pact meant to "buy time" for the eventual invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany. Musial goes on to show that the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact was a textbook definition of a deal with the devil, maybe a deal between devils is a better description. It is undeniable that the Nazi conquest of western Europe was fueled by Soviet Oil and the troops were fed on Soviet Grain. And after that, the Soviet enslavement of eastern Europe was made possible by the rebuilding and modernization of the Soviet arms industry, built on German technology and engineering. It's sickening the way historians have absolved Stalin of this criminal deal.
The other aspect that stands out is how absolutely horrible Stalin and his other Soviet thugs treated Poland. It is incomprehensible the degree to which Stalin crippled and humiliated Poland, completely by design! One can only imagine how Stalin and his politburo cronies laughed behind closed doors at how they seized eastern Poland and made up for it with completely looted eastern German lands. The reader feels the betrayal the Polish patriots felt as they bravely rose up against Nazi tyranny only for the Red Army to make camp, and watch on the other side of the Vistula. All completely on Stalin's orders, can't have any brave Polish patriots making trouble after the war.
This book lays bare the truth that for all of the high minded idealism espoused by Stalin, everything he worked towards was in service of material gain for the Soviet Union. He systematically exploited his postwar vassals, particularly Poland, a nation that had not attacked him. The great Soviet conquest of Europe was going to happen at some point, it just happened earlier than Stalin and the Soviets had hoped.
What I really loved about this is how Musial was able to so thoroughly disprove so many common defenses of Stalin during this time, namely the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact. I have always contended that this was never a "defensive" pact meant to "buy time" for the eventual invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany. Musial goes on to show that the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact was a textbook definition of a deal with the devil, maybe a deal between devils is a better description. It is undeniable that the Nazi conquest of western Europe was fueled by Soviet Oil and the troops were fed on Soviet Grain. And after that, the Soviet enslavement of eastern Europe was made possible by the rebuilding and modernization of the Soviet arms industry, built on German technology and engineering. It's sickening the way historians have absolved Stalin of this criminal deal.
The other aspect that stands out is how absolutely horrible Stalin and his other Soviet thugs treated Poland. It is incomprehensible the degree to which Stalin crippled and humiliated Poland, completely by design! One can only imagine how Stalin and his politburo cronies laughed behind closed doors at how they seized eastern Poland and made up for it with completely looted eastern German lands. The reader feels the betrayal the Polish patriots felt as they bravely rose up against Nazi tyranny only for the Red Army to make camp, and watch on the other side of the Vistula. All completely on Stalin's orders, can't have any brave Polish patriots making trouble after the war.
This book lays bare the truth that for all of the high minded idealism espoused by Stalin, everything he worked towards was in service of material gain for the Soviet Union. He systematically exploited his postwar vassals, particularly Poland, a nation that had not attacked him. The great Soviet conquest of Europe was going to happen at some point, it just happened earlier than Stalin and the Soviets had hoped.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review