Lately I've started to delve into the dark depths of WW2. Now, since what I'm about to ask can easily misinterpreted, just a little disclaimer. Hitler is a very evil beast (no words exist to sufficiently describe him). Also, the issue I'm bringing up might lead some to misguided and evil conclusions, which I disagree with. I disregard any such supposedly "utilitarian" "arguments" out of hand. Now, let's get to it.
So there was the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact. In accordance with it, Soviet armies invaded multiple European countries. Now my question is this: When the Soviet and German armies met, did Stalin intend to eventually (within a year or few at most) invade and conquer the rest of Europe? I'm not asking about alternate history, I just need to know if his intention was to go forward.
Also on a related note, I read somewhere that there was a rumor or something (don't remember) that Khrushchev had Stalin killed, and that Stalin was planning to wage war on Europe just before this happened. Did Stalin intend to conquer Europe in either of these two instances?
When the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact was signed, Stalin had no intentions of taking over Europe. Now, the situation back home was rather dire, and Stalin definitely knew that the Red Army and Soviet war technology could not beat a Nazi invasion, so he made the pact in order to buy himself some time, not to take over Europe. Of course, he proceeded to kill his generals which didn't really help but that's beside the point. No, Stalin did not want (and certainly couldn't have) taken over the rest of Europe. It's evident in the fact that Stalin was very against Lenin's Internationalism and established Socialism in one country after he came into power. The answer to your second question is also no. Stalin died from choking to death due to a heart attack (there is a gruelling description of it in Martin Sixsmith's Russia: A 1,000 year chronicle) in his holiday home in 1953. It had nothing to do with Khrushchev because he was not under threat (at that particular point). Furthermore, Stalin didn't intend to take over Western Europe. He was too involved with the arms race to be thinking about conquering US allies. He was a smart man and knew that the USA was several times more powerful than the USSR, and that if he were to start a war, the USA would use nuclear weapons. It's worthy to note that after WW2, he himself sabotaged the opportunity to establish Soviet Communism in France, Italy and Greece.