this post was submitted on 10 Oct 2025
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"Fuck Nazis" - the all-uniting cry (lemmy.nz)
submitted 10 months ago by PugJesus@piefed.social to c/historymemes@piefed.social
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[–] Jankatarch@lemmy.world 23 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (2 children)

An imperialist, an imperialist, and an imperialist put down their differences to fight a nationalist-imperialist?

[–] guy@piefed.social 10 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Isn't that just how history always has been?

[–] NotACIAPlant@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

No, not really. Previous large scale wars were civil wars, or, wars of imperialism to carve up other countries for the imperialist powers.

There is some exceptions, but WW1/WW2 is really the first major war between imperialist powers "inter-imperialist war". WW1 and WW2 are human atrocities that are not comparable to any other war.

[–] Djehngo@lemmy.world 8 points 10 months ago (1 children)
[–] plyth@feddit.org 1 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

A bit strange to ask, but should the Holy Roman Empire be considered an empire at that time?

[–] Djehngo@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago

I am not sure tbh, I know it was Italy and Germany and dissolved during the Napoleonic wars, but beyond that my knowledge of its history is thin.

I guess it also depends how and for what purpose you are defining it as an empire or not.

Wikipedia calls the holy Roman empire a polity, but refers to the first french empire under Napoleon as an empire for whatever that's worth?

Possibly the naming was aspirational, or a throwback to the Roman empire that controlled most of Europe?

[–] Socialism_Everyday@reddthat.com 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

USSR was not imperialist. It never exerted economic violence or exploitation on other countries (was an exporter of resources and importer of manufactured goods), and materially fought fascism in Europe earlier than anyone else such as 1936 support of Antifascists in Spanish Civil War.

[–] shawn1122@sh.itjust.works 9 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

In the Russian Civil War, the Russian Bolsheviks seized control of the former empire's territories and founded the Soviet Union (USSR). Although claiming to be anti-imperialist, it had many similarities with empires. It was involved in many foreign military interventions and in regime change throughout the world, as well as Sovietization. Under Joseph Stalin, the USSR pursued internal colonialism in Central Asia[2] by massive forced resettlement. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany divided eastern Europe between themselves. At the end of World War II, most eastern and central European countries were occupied by the USSR; these Eastern Bloc countries were widely regarded as Soviet satellite states.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_imperialism

So yes, this is essentially three imperial states joining forces to fight a fourth imperial state (Nazi Germany) which was perceived as an existential threat to them.