The soviets did not “split Poland” with the Nazis, the soviets only went in weeks after the Nazis did. Most of the area the Soviets took are areas in modern Lithuania and Ukraine. Poland had annexed them in the Polish-Soviet War and the Polish-Lithuanian War earlier. Katyn gets pinned on the Soviets because Goebbels reported on it and it became a useful story, but the execution method was distinctly Nazi, ie killing men, women, and children from behind into mass graves. The ammunition was German-produced in 1941, and the rope used to bind the hands of the victims was German made. It was entirely characteristc of Nazi execution methods and with Nazi equipment.
“Of 225 shells found in this grave, 205 are the German 1941 “Hasag” type, 17 are the German 1941 “Dürlach” type, 2 are of the unmarked 1930s Soviet type; and one is marked “B 1906.” Hence 98.67% of the shells are of 1941 German manufacture.”
The soviets and Poland indeed did not get along, at least not until Poland turned socialist. Poland had been engaging in wars of conquest in the preceding decades, killing Hungarians, Lithuanians, and Ukrainians, annexing their lands (see the Polish-Lithuanian War. Considering that the soviet union was a multi-national federation of socialist countries, it makes sense that there would be bad blood between them.
As for the purges, the need to investigate the party for traitors was legitimate. After the assassination of Kirov, a conspiracy against the soviet state was found, along with infiltration from fascists. Khrushchev did not improve the soviet union, but rather set the seeds for its dissolution. What improved in the soviet union was the benefit of the decades of industrialization and planting the seeds for the future that existed in the 20s and 30s, fighting off the Nazis and saving the world from fascism, and recovery from that war.
Returning to World War II, the soviets continued their preparatory work for war. It involved dramatic, rapid industrialization, which they needed to continue to close the industrial gap with Germany. Their rate of growth was higher than that of Germany, but in absolute terms were still lagging, so any bit of time they could buy was worth it. See The Soviets Expected It.
Returning to the KPD and SPD, the reason the SPD were so hated by the KPD is because the SPD aided the Nazis in killing communists. The SPD’s anti-communism aligned them with the Nazis, whom they found a common enemy. The SPD’s plan of voting for Hindenburg came true and failed spectacularly as Hitler took power anyways, proving the Communists correct, that the fascists needed to be fought directly. The SPD being killed by the Nazis for being too left wing is a direct result of their assistance with killing the communists first. See how the SPD betrayed the revolution.
As a side note, wikipedia is not a source. It is a compilation of sources at best, and at worst it can be wrong or misleading, lacking key context or mistranslating primary sources.
The soviets did not “split Poland” with the Nazis, the soviets only went in weeks after the Nazis did. Most of the area the Soviets took are areas in modern Lithuania and Ukraine. Poland had annexed them in the Polish-Soviet War and the Polish-Lithuanian War earlier. Katyn gets pinned on the Soviets because Goebbels reported on it and it became a useful story, but the execution method was distinctly Nazi, ie killing men, women, and children from behind into mass graves. The ammunition was German-produced in 1941, and the rope used to bind the hands of the victims was German made. It was entirely characteristc of Nazi execution methods and with Nazi equipment.
The soviets and Poland indeed did not get along, at least not until Poland turned socialist. Poland had been engaging in wars of conquest in the preceding decades, killing Hungarians, Lithuanians, and Ukrainians, annexing their lands (see the Polish-Lithuanian War. Considering that the soviet union was a multi-national federation of socialist countries, it makes sense that there would be bad blood between them.
As for the purges, the need to investigate the party for traitors was legitimate. After the assassination of Kirov, a conspiracy against the soviet state was found, along with infiltration from fascists. Khrushchev did not improve the soviet union, but rather set the seeds for its dissolution. What improved in the soviet union was the benefit of the decades of industrialization and planting the seeds for the future that existed in the 20s and 30s, fighting off the Nazis and saving the world from fascism, and recovery from that war.
Returning to World War II, the soviets continued their preparatory work for war. It involved dramatic, rapid industrialization, which they needed to continue to close the industrial gap with Germany. Their rate of growth was higher than that of Germany, but in absolute terms were still lagging, so any bit of time they could buy was worth it. See The Soviets Expected It.
Returning to the KPD and SPD, the reason the SPD were so hated by the KPD is because the SPD aided the Nazis in killing communists. The SPD’s anti-communism aligned them with the Nazis, whom they found a common enemy. The SPD’s plan of voting for Hindenburg came true and failed spectacularly as Hitler took power anyways, proving the Communists correct, that the fascists needed to be fought directly. The SPD being killed by the Nazis for being too left wing is a direct result of their assistance with killing the communists first. See how the SPD betrayed the revolution.
As a side note, wikipedia is not a source. It is a compilation of sources at best, and at worst it can be wrong or misleading, lacking key context or mistranslating primary sources.