In this 85th broadcast of TBR Radio’s The TBR History Hour Dr. Ed talks with fellow TBR Contributing Editor and resident expert on all things Russia, Dr. Matthew Raphael Johnson.
The discussion begins with Ilan Pappé ‘s book The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine and Dr. Johnson explains that all reports that either Stalin or the USSR were anti-semitic are simply mis-information. It was Soviet support, not American or British support, that brought about the creation of the modern State of Israel. The USSR was also the first foreign power to formally recognize the State of Israel.
Stalin’s goal, in supporting Zionism, was to remove the British from what he considered to be the most strategic area of the post WWII world.
Also discussed was Vladimir Putin’s rise to power and the possibility that Elvis lived out his life as a gas-station attendant in New Mexico.