It was purely a functional alliance - no more. I don't think anyone had any preconceived notions that it was anything other than a marriage of convenience. Kee

It was purely a functional alliance - no more. I don't think anyone had any preconceived notions that it was anything other than a marriage of convenience. Keep in mind that Stalin himself professed and acted on the belief that coexistence with capitalism was impossible and thought that conflict with the West was inevitable within 15 years of WWII. We're all lucky that he died before then and the cooler head of Khrushchev prevailed.