S8 Ep886: Stalin strategically delayed Operation Bagration until two weeks after D-Day, ensuring that the Western Allies would exhaust German forces first. Using American steel, fuel, and Studebaker trucks, the Red Army emerged as a massive, mechanized force capa
S8 Ep886: Stalin strategically delayed Operation Bagration until two weeks after D-Day, ensuring that the Western Allies would exhaust German forces first. Using American steel, fuel, and Studebaker trucks, the Red Army emerged as a massive, mechanized force capa  
Podcast: The John Batchelor Show
Published On: Mon May 18 2026
Description: Stalin strategically delayed Operation Bagration until two weeks after D-Day, ensuring that the Western Allies would exhaust German forces first. Using American steel, fuel, and Studebaker trucks, the Red Army emerged as a massive, mechanized force capable of expanding Soviet dominance from Berlin to Beijing. Sean McMeekin explains that after the war, the U.S. facilitated this rise by arming Stalin's far eastern armies while cutting off aid to the Chinese Nationalists in 1946. Ultimately, Lend-Lease provided the mobility and resources—including butter and sugar—that created the conditions for the Soviet Union to emerge as a global superpower. (8/8)1900