>>17791935
Yep, Hitler enabled it. logically speaking.
Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, the war, and Operation Barbarossa, are the three key conditions which allowed the USSR to spread.
Remove these events, and you've removed the conditions
MRP allowed it to spread across 1/4 of the continent
Babrarossa allowed it to spread to Germany, to Hungary, to Czechia
The war allowed it to happen without opposition from a united continent
The only argument against this would be if Stalin actually planned an offensive war irregardless of Hitler. An offensive war into the nordic, into Germany, into the Balkans
Which he wasnt planning, not just because there exists not a single military document to support a war of that scale, but also because it was one of the main feuds between him and Trotsky. Stalin argued for "Socialism in one country" policy that was based on isolationism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialism_in_one_country
It's also theoretically impossible, because an offensive on that scale would have met against a unified continent if it occured during peacetime, and the Soviets would likely have been embargo'ed by the remaining world. Stalin was cautious of angering the western powers which is believed to be his reason for delaying the invasion of Poland for so long; he wanted Germany to catch all the heat from the outside world, before taking his share of Poland
It is also practically impossible because in this scenario, the Red Army is still untested from the purges in 1930s, and instead of realising their inability against a ragtag handful of poorly equipt infantry divisions in isolated Finland (as happened IRL), the Soviets would instead find out about their inefficiency against a modern military with combined arms and prepared defences, and unlike Finland, the Soviets would have no rest-time after to correct their mistakes because they would immediately be at war with the continent, including Britain and France. They would also recieve no aid from Britain or USA.
