# Could Hitler and Stalin have personally met in 1939? (Realistically) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 14, 2013, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-hitler-and-stalin-have-personally-met-in-1939-realistically/647178 "2013-01-14T16:37:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![No\_Wikipedia\_Cites](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@No\_Wikipedia\_Cites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_Wikipedia_Cites)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-hitler-and-stalin-have-personally-met-in-1939-realistically/647178/1 "2013-01-14T16:37:14Z")
I heard that Stalin would not leave his country, at least before WWII began. For the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, supposing Hitler and Stalin wanted to sign it in person, or to meet each other in person. How would this have gone about? Napoleon and the Tsar met on a boat in the middle a river, with their armies behind them. Would it have been like that? And would it be realistic for Hitler to make a state visit to Moscow after the pact was signed? Or would he be afraid the Soviets would just “kidnap” him? Would a personal meeting between the two have brought about peace and forestalled the later invasion? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-hitler-and-stalin-have-personally-met-in-1939-realistically/647178/2 "2013-01-14T19:24:37Z")
Hitler traveled outside Germany on a few occasions for state visits but Stalin virtually never did (he traveled to Tehran and Potsdam but these were at times when northern Iran and eastern Germany were occupied by Soviet troops). There’s also the factor that Stalin was afraid to fly (he made one trip in airplane and refused to ever fly again). So any theoretical state visit would have had to have been Hitler traveling to the Soviet Union. I don’t think a personal visit would have helped advance peace between Germany and the Soviet Union. More likely direct interaction of the fundamental differences between the two men would have made war more likely. They were better off dealing through intermediaries so each side could more easily ignore the realities it didn’t like. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-hitler-and-stalin-have-personally-met-in-1939-realistically/647178/3 "2013-01-14T23:16:02Z")
They were both in Vienna 1912-1913, and lived within a few blocks of each other. ---
**Author:** ![FuzzyOgre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@FuzzyOgre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FuzzyOgre)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-hitler-and-stalin-have-personally-met-in-1939-realistically/647178/4 "2013-01-15T00:01:41Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > They were both in Vienna 1912-1913, and lived within a few blocks of each other. Interesting! Do you have some reference on that? ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-hitler-and-stalin-have-personally-met-in-1939-realistically/647178/5 "2013-01-15T01:48:08Z")
A 1939 meeting would have likely taken place in a third country like Finland (Acceptable to Hitler because it was a traditional German ally and acceptable to Stalin because it was short train ride from Leningrad.) ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-hitler-and-stalin-have-personally-met-in-1939-realistically/647178/6 "2013-01-15T01:52:40Z")
> [@FuzzyOgre](#): > > Interesting! Do you have some reference on that? Trotsky, Lenin; Freud, Jung, Kafka, and Wittgenstein, as well. The book you’re looking for is _Thunder at Twilight_ by Frederic Morton. ---
**Author:** ![FuzzyOgre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@FuzzyOgre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FuzzyOgre)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-hitler-and-stalin-have-personally-met-in-1939-realistically/647178/7 "2013-01-15T20:11:19Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > Trotsky, Lenin; Freud, Jung, Kafka, and Wittgenstein, as well. The book you’re looking for is _Thunder at Twilight_ by Frederic Morton. Thanks for being a real bud, Fudd. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-hitler-and-stalin-have-personally-met-in-1939-realistically/647178/8 "2013-01-15T21:00:42Z")
Stalin was always reluctant to leave-he knew he had many enemies, and giving them the slightest opportunity would not be wise. Both dictators eventually planned to attack each other, and both liked to hide their real intentions behind professional diplomats. I was always amazed that Stalin never picked up on Hitler’s plans (to invade the USSR)-all of the signs were there. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-hitler-and-stalin-have-personally-met-in-1939-realistically/647178/9 "2013-01-15T21:49:51Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > Trotsky, Lenin; Freud, Jung, Kafka, and Wittgenstein, as well. The book you’re looking for is _Thunder at Twilight_ by Frederic Morton. Cool. Throw in Schoenberg.