Did Stalin’s speech in 1931 indicate that he considered Hitler a potential threat?
Not sure which speech you mean, either the speech he gave on being 50 to 100 years behind the West, or the reply he gave to the Jewish News Agency in the United States. The 50 – 100 years speech, no, I think he was more concerned with the other European powers and Japan, all of whom had invaded the country in 1918 as a response to Russia withdrawing from WWI. Also he was acutely aware of the lack of natural boundaries between Russia and her ideological enemies. Another reason for the speech was to galvanise the Soviet workforce into completing the mammoth tasks set for them in the first Five Year Plan. Nazism was an irritant in 1931, their support was growing, but the biggest party for German workers was still the KPD. Stalin’s biggest concern internationally in the 1930s was the growth of constitutional, non-Marxist, socialist parties – such as Germany’s SDP or Britain’s Labour Party. As for his reply to the Jewish News Agency, again, no. I think he was stressing that Marxism is an in
