Old habits die hard and it is most difficult for a leopard to change its spots. Until just recently Russia has been an expansionist empire for the past two hundred years. They certainly were not the only ones playing "the great game" however, and there were many shifts in alliances over the years.
In the mid 1800's the Russian and British empires came into conflict. Indeed, when British agents in Charleston precipitated the U.S. War Between the States in a bid to regain control over the lost colony, two years later, after the British supported rebels were defeated at Gettysburg and it appeared open intervention by the British would take place, the Russian Czar sent the Atlantic fleet to New York and the Pacific fleet to San Francisco to signal to the British that Russia would go to war to stop Britain from regaining control over America. This goodwill gesture was furthered with Russia later ceding Alaska to America.
However, by the beginning of the last century, Russia ran into two great roadblocks to further expansion, Japan and Europe. In 1904 Japan decisively defeated the Russian thrust into Manchuria and Korea.
In 1914 Russia allied with France and backed "the little Slav brothers" of Serbia who had assassinated the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne. The end result however was first the decisive defeat of the Russian thrust to the West at Tannenburg and ultimate defeat in WWI.
Indeed, it may here be noted, in 1917, after the mutiny of the French armies after the disastrous spring offensives, and the defeat of Russia, the British themselves were staring defeat full in the face. However, through the Balfour Declaration and effective control of the press with its drumbeat of atrocity propaganda, the British were adroitly able to mobilize internal pressure within the U.S. and bring America into the war to save the British bacon.
After the fall of the Czar who was replaced by a liberal government, there was a second revolution in October 1917 and the Bolsheviks gained control over Russia and began a "reign of terror" (the likes of which that had not been seen since the French Revolution), that convulsed the Russian empire. To consolidate their hold on power the Bolsheviks rapidly and ignominiously withdrew from WWI. By 1920 the Red Army with tactics of unlimited terror had gained full control and the march to the West resumed. It was only the brilliant victories by the Poles outside Warsaw which kept a revolutionary Russia from uniting with the revolutionary elements within Germany. One may ponder long on what the ultimate consequences would have been if such a union could have taken place.
The subsequent expansion under Stalin is fairly straight forward with the above as background. Germany, Poland and Japan were all the principle objects of Stalin's hatred and were marked for utter destruction. A by no means minor consideration in this regards is the extent that Stalin was able to exercise control over the FDR administration as revealed by Venona. Once understood, such control is simply staggering in scope.
