Beginning immediately after World War One, the German military and the Soviet Union entered into a secret partnership designed to overturn the order in Europe. Centering on covert economic and military cooperation, their arrangement led to the establishment of a network of military bases and industrial facilities on Soviet soil. Through their alliance, Germany gained the space to rebuild its army. In return, the Soviet Union received vital military, technological and economic assistance. Though Hitler ended their partnership in late 1933, he and Stalin would renew it in 1939. The result was the German - and then Soviet - invasion of Poland, and the beginning of the Second World War in Europe. Drawing from twenty archives in five countries, Faustian Bargain offers the definitive exploration of a shadowy but fateful alliance that led to the cataclysm of the Second World War.
