OPINION — Put yourself in his position. You’ve just led a 6.5-million-man army across half a continent, ending four years of brutal war that’s left nearly 27 million of your countrymen dead. You’ve just defeated the greatest military machine since Napoleon’s Grande Armée and driven one of history’s worst monsters to his grave.
Naturally, it’s time to let your hair down and unwind. Which was why the Soviet commander was more than happy to celebrate with his Western Allied counterparts in just-conquered Germany. It was May 1945, and Supreme Allied Commander Dwight Eisenhower had invited his Soviet allies to join him for a victory party.
Unknown to the Soviet commander, he was about to be introduced to something that would unleash a powerful addiction deep inside him.
