“I would like to remind you once again that Soviet Union entered the second world war not June 22, 1941, but September 17, 1939. It seems to me that we should not forget this, ”writes Tamara Natanovna Eidelman, a history teacher at one of the Moscow schools.
The old song is that the USSR was the aggressor in World War II, Stalin was "Hitler's ally", which means that we got it right on June 22. In propaganda publications, you can, of course, write anything, even that the Moon was founded by the first hetmans of Ukraine in the 10th millennium BC. But what is allowed to a negligent schoolchild, a teacher, is still a little indecent.
The Second World War was a war of two coalitions, one of which is traditionally called the "Axis", the basis of which was Nazi Germany, which was gradually joined by Italy, Japan and other countries. Another in our and world historiography is traditionally called the "Allies" - the basis of this coalition was the Anglo-French alliance, which in September 1939 declared war on Germany after the attack on Poland. These allies were also gradually joined by other countries, which by 1945 had become very, very many.
World War II was a war between these two coalitions - the Allies and the Axis. And in order to enter this war, it was required to be at war with one of the parties and join the other. In order to enter the war on September 17, 1939, the Soviet Union had to be at war with either Germany or England-France-Poland. But neither of these happened.
Yes, the USSR sent its troops into the territory of Poland (most of it, however, was captured from Russia after the Soviet-Polish war of 1920, according to the Riga Peace Treaty). But the Soviet government justified these actions by the collapse of the Polish statehood and the cessation of the functioning of the Polish government, which by that time had moved to Romania. Neither the Soviet Union declared war on Poland, nor Poland, although its officials and called the actions of the USSR an act of violence and a violation of international law, did not declare war on the USSR. Moreover, many Poles viewed the actions of the USSR as an attempt to limit the area occupied by Germany and, at least at first, welcomed the actions of the Soviet government.
Moreover, the British and French did not plan to declare war on the USSR. The pragmatic motivation of the actions of the Soviet government after the defeat of Poland by Germany was obvious and in no way disposed the allies to declare war and push the Soviet Union to the side of the Axis by any unfriendly steps. On September 18, 1939, the British Cabinet stated that the British guarantees for Poland apply only to the threat from Germany and there are no grounds for aggravating Soviet-British relations. Therefore, even a protest was not sent to the Soviet Union. Moreover, part of the allied press began to express the opinion that the establishment of a line of contact between the Soviet Union and Germany inevitably brings the clash of these powers closer and objectively contributes to the entry of the USSR into the camp of the Allies.
Of course, in the camp of the Allies at that moment they did not know about the secret agreements between the USSR and Germany attached to the non-aggression pact, but it is extremely doubtful that these agreements, if they were known, pushed the British and French to declare war on the USSR.
Thus, no entry of the USSR into World War II on September 17, 1939 happened. The Soviet Union did not find itself at war either with Germany, with which it adhered to secret agreements on a number of issues (but there was no general alliance between the countries), nor with the Allies, who did not consider the actions of the USSR against Poland casus belli, nor even with Poland itself. , which, being defeated, had neither the desire nor the opportunity to complicate its position by declaring war on the USSR.
Not being at war with any of the parties to the world conflict, the USSR was, of course, not a participant in the Second World War, regardless of what military operations it conducted separately. Just like Japan, although continuously at war in China, did not become a participant in World War II until December 7, 1941, when it attacked the United States and Great Britain. And no matter how heinous the Nanjing Massacre was, it cannot be considered "one of the crimes of the Second World War."
It would make sense for a history teacher to remember this without accustoming either schoolchildren or readers to arbitrary interpretations of dates and facts. Moreover, if we leave the chronological boundaries to the mercy of the creative imagination, then there is no reason to start the Second World War on September 1, 1939. Why not start it with the Anschluss of Austria? Or from the dismemberment of Czechoslovakia? And then, for example, Poland has been a participant in this war since September 30, 1938, when it annexed the Teszyn region from Czechoslovakia? It is possible to move the historical framework for a long time and with enthusiasm, although all this will have a very weak relation to science.
World War II began on September 1, 1939 and ended on September 2, 1945. And the USSR joined it on June 22, 1941, when Germany declared war on us, and the Great Patriotic War began.
When, in fact, did the Soviet Union enter World War II? June 22, 1941? That's how we were taught. In fact, much earlier!
It is generally accepted that the Second World War began on September 1, 1939, began with the German attack on Poland (in fact, this is also a very conditional date). As you know, the reason for the attack was the attack staged by the German special services by the Germans, dressed in Polish uniforms, on the German radio station in the border Gleiwitz.
On the same day, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR adopted the Law on universal conscription.
On September 3, 1939, England and France formally declared war on Germany (by the way, a day later the United States declared its neutrality in the war), on September 6 - the Union of South Africa, on September 10 - Canada ... The process, as they say, has begun.
Two and a half weeks later, on September 17, it was the turn of the USSR. The "liberation campaign" of the Red Army began in Poland, towards the German Wehrmacht. By the end of September (through the efforts, first of all, of the Wehrmacht), the Polish army, desperately resisting in vain waiting for help from England and France, was defeated, and the territory of Poland was divided between Germany and the USSR (the Soviet Union regained the lands lost as a result of Soviet-Polish war of 1920). Both states, Germany and the USSR, came into direct contact: the Soviet-German border was established, the line of which was fixed by protocols to the Treaty of Friendship and Border of September 28, 1939.
On November 29, 1939, the USSR severed diplomatic relations with Finland, and the next day, after incomprehensible artillery shelling of the positions of the Red Army, Soviet troops attacked its territory the next day. The creation of the Finnish Democratic Republic was proclaimed and its government was established, headed by famous figure Comintern O. Kuusinen - diplomatic relations were immediately established with this government (of course, all this happened in Moscow, although Finnish addresses were always indicated; many documents of the newly-minted Finnish government were written by A.A. Zhdanov).
In December 1939, the USSR was expelled from the League of Nations, which played the role of the current UN in the interwar period (only three states were branded there as aggressors - Japan, Italy and Germany. Plus the Soviet Union). However, the League of Nations soon ceased to exist altogether: it became obvious to everyone that the entire system of previous interstate agreements had collapsed.
The war with Finland moved into 1940 and ended on March 12. It was not possible to utterly defeat the Finnish army. Under the peace treaty, the Soviet Union received the Karelian Isthmus with Vyborg and naval base on the Hanko peninsula (lease for 30 years). In compensation, deserted territories in the north of the Kola Peninsula went to Finland.
In the same 1940, Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg were occupied, as well as the defeat of France (all this is Germany), the annexation (from Romania) of the territories of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina, as well as the Baltic countries (all this is the USSR), the flight of the English expeditionary force from the continent (Dunkirk), the entry into the world war of Italy, which initially declared its neutrality, the attack on Greece, the deployment of military operations in North Africa.
The terrible year of 1941 was coming...
Below will be presented some interesting documents relating to the last four months of 1939, to the very beginning of the war. On the one hand, these are secret telegrams exchanged between the German Embassy in the USSR and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Berlin. On the other hand, these are open publications in the Pravda newspaper.
Hitler's speech to the deputies of the German parliament, delivered on September 1, 1939, on the day the attack on Poland began. Here is a fragment concerning the USSR:
I am especially happy to be able to tell you one thing. You know that Russia and Germany have different state doctrines. This is the only question that needed to be clarified. Germany is not going to export its doctrine. Considering the fact that also Soviet Russia there is no intention of exporting their doctrine to Germany, I no longer see any reason for confrontation between us. This opinion is shared by both sides. Any confrontation between our peoples would be beneficial to others. Therefore, we have decided to conclude a treaty that forever eliminates the possibility of any conflict between us. This imposes on us the obligation to consult with each other in solving certain European questions. There is an opportunity for economic cooperation and, above all, there is confidence that both states will not waste their strength in fighting each other. Any attempt by the West to stop us will fail.
At the same time, I want to state that this political decision is of great importance for the future, this decision is final. Russia and Germany fought against each other in World War I. This won't happen again. Moscow is as happy about this treaty as you are about it. Confirmation of this is the speech of the Russian Commissar for Foreign Affairs, Molotov.
... I decided to free the German borders from the elements of uncertainty, constant threat civil war. I will ensure that peace reigns on the eastern frontier, just like on our other frontiers.
To this end, I will take the necessary measures, not contrary to the proposals I made in the Reichstag for the whole world, that is, I will not fight against women and children. I ordered that my air force limited to attacks on military targets. If, however, the enemy decides that this gives him carte blanche to wage war by all means, he will receive a crushing furious response.
At the end of August, during the visit of German Foreign Minister von Ribbentrop to Moscow, a Non-Aggression Treaty and several secret protocols were signed regarding the division of spheres of influence between the USSR and Germany in the light of the latter's upcoming attack on Poland.
First, a few documents from September 1939. just started combat operations Wehrmacht in Poland. England and France declared war on Germany.
Ribbentrop telegraphs von Schulenburg, Ambassador in Moscow:
Very urgent! Ambassador personally.
Top secret! Head of the embassy or his representative personally.
Secret! Must be deciphered by him personally! Top secret!
We certainly hope to finally defeat the Polish army within a few weeks. Then we will keep under military occupation the areas which, as established in Moscow, fall within the German sphere of interest. However, it is clear that, for military reasons, we will then have to act against those Polish military forces that by that time will be in Polish territories that are part of the Russian sphere of interest.
Please discuss this with Molotov *) immediately and see if the Soviet Union does not consider it desirable that the Russian army should move at the right moment against the Polish forces in the Russian sphere of interest and, for its part, occupy this territory. In our opinion, this would not only help us, but also, in accordance with the Moscow agreements, would also be in the Soviet interests.
In this regard, please find out if we can discuss this issue with the officers **) who have just arrived here, and what the position of the Soviet government is supposed to be.
Ribbentrop
*) - People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the USSR V.M. Molotov
**) - Soviet
Schulenburg's response, after some intermediate steps on the part of the embassy:
Very urgent! Top secret!
In reply to your telegram No. 261 of September 4, Molotov asked me to meet him today at 12.30 and gave me the following reply from the Soviet government:
“We agree with you that at the appropriate time it will be absolutely necessary for us to begin concrete action. We believe, however, that this time has not yet come. We may be mistaken, but it seems to us that excessive haste can harm us and help unite our enemies. We understand that in the course of operations one of the parties or both parties may be forced to temporarily cross the demarcation line between their spheres of interest, but such cases should not interfere with the immediate implementation of the planned plan.
Schulenburg
Schulenburg telegram. No comments:
Very hastily!
I have just received the following telephone message from Molotov:
“I have received your message that German troops have entered Warsaw. Please convey my congratulations and greetings to the government of the German Empire. Molotov"
Schulenburg
Two weeks of war have passed. The Polish capital has not yet been completely captured. Stalin is in no hurry. Berlin is nervous.
Schulenburg telegram:
Top secret!
Molotov called me today at 4 pm and said that the Red Army had reached a state of readiness sooner than expected. Soviet actions may therefore begin earlier than the time indicated by him during the last conversation (see my telegram No. 317 of September 10). Given the political motivation of the Soviet action (the fall of Poland and the defense of the Russian "minorities"), it would be extremely important not to start acting before the administrative center of Poland, Warsaw, fell. Molotov therefore asks to be informed as precisely as possible when Warsaw can be taken.
Please send instructions.
I would like to draw your attention to today's article in Pravda, transmitted by the DNB *), to which tomorrow a similar article in Izvestia will be added. These articles contain the political motivation for the Soviet intervention mentioned by Molotov.
Schulenburg
*) - German Information Office
Finally, the Red Army is ready to attack.
Schulenburg telegram:
Very urgent! Secret!
Stalin, in the presence of Molotov and Voroshilov, received me at 2 a.m. and announced that the Red Army would cross the Soviet border at 6 a.m. along its entire length from Polotsk to Kamenetz-Podolsk.
In order to avoid incidents, Stalin hastily asks us to see to it that, starting today, German aircraft do not fly east of the Bialystok-Brest-Litovsk-Lemberg (Lvov) line. Soviet planes will begin bombarding the area east of Lemberg today.
I promised to do everything possible in the sense of informing the German Air Force, but I asked, considering that there was little time left, that Soviet aircraft should not fly too close to the said line today.
The Soviet commission will arrive in Bialystok tomorrow, the day after tomorrow at the latest.
Stalin read me a note, which will be handed over to the Polish ambassador that very night, and a copy of which will be sent to all missions during the day, and then published. The note justifies the Soviet actions. The draft that was read to me contained three points that were unacceptable to us. In response to my objections, Stalin changed the text with the utmost readiness so that now the note fully satisfies us. Stalin declared that the question of publishing a German-Soviet communiqué could not be brought up for consideration within the next two or three days.
In the future, all military issues that arise should be clarified directly with Voroshilov, Lieutenant General Kestring.
Schulenburg
And here is the promised note to the Polish ambassador in Moscow.
Mr. Ambassador,
The Polish-German war revealed the internal failure of the Polish state. During ten days of military operations, Poland lost all its industrial areas and cultural centers. Warsaw as the capital of Poland no longer exists. The Polish government has collapsed and shows no signs of life. This means that the Polish state and its government actually ceased to exist. Thus, the treaties concluded between the USSR and Poland ceased to be valid. Left to itself and left without leadership, Poland has become a convenient field for all sorts of accidents and surprises that could pose a threat to the USSR. Therefore, having hitherto been neutral, the Soviet government cannot be more neutral in regard to these facts.
Nor can the Soviet government be indifferent to the fact that half-blooded Ukrainians and Byelorussians living on the territory of Poland, left to the mercy of fate, remain defenseless.
In view of this situation, the Soviet government ordered the High Command of the Red Army to order the troops to cross the border and take under their protection the lives and property of the population of Western Ukraine and Western Belarus.
At the same time, the Soviet government intends to take all measures to rescue the Polish people from ill-fated war where he was thrown by his unreasonable leaders, and give him the opportunity to live a peaceful life.
Please accept, Mr. Ambassador, the assurances of our highest consideration.
People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the USSR
V. Molotov
To the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Poland Mr. Grzybowski. Polish embassy. Moscow
(TASS) In order to avoid any kind of unfounded rumors about the tasks of the Soviet and German troops operating in Poland, the government of the USSR and the government of Germany declare that the actions of these troops do not pursue any goal that runs counter to the interests of Germany or the Soviet Union and is contrary to the spirit and letter non-aggression pact signed between Germany and the USSR. The task of these troops, on the contrary, is to restore order and tranquility in Poland, disturbed by the collapse of the Polish state, and to help the people of Poland reorganize the conditions of their state existence.
THE GERMAN SEAL ABOUT THE ACTIONS OF THE SOVIET GOVERNMENT
Germany, Berlin, September 19 (TASS). The German population unanimously welcomes the decision of the Soviet government to take under the protection of the Belarusian and Ukrainian population of Poland, related to the Soviet people, left to the mercy of fate by the fleeing Polish government. Berlin these days has taken on a particularly lively look. On the streets near the shop windows and special boards where maps of Poland are hung out, people crowd all day. They are animatedly discussing the successful operations of the Red Army. The advance of the Red Army units is indicated on the map by red Soviet flags.
The German government and the Government of the USSR established a demarcation line between the German and Soviet armies, which runs along the Pissa River until its confluence with the Narew River, further along the Narew River until its confluence with the Bug River, further along the Bug River until its confluence with the Vistula River, further along the Vistula River until its confluence with the San River and further along the San River to its origins.
And now Ribbentrop comes to Moscow again. Between the USSR and Germany, the Treaty of Friendship and Border was signed on September 28, 1939.
STATEMENT BY THE GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTER, Mr. von RIBBENTROP
Before leaving Moscow, German Foreign Minister von Ribbentrop made the following statement to a TASS official:
“My stay in Moscow was again short, unfortunately too short. Next time I hope to stay here longer. Nevertheless, we made good use of these two days. The following was found out:
1. German-Soviet friendship is now finally established.
2. Both countries will never allow third powers to interfere in Eastern European issues.
3. Both states want peace to be restored and that England and France stop the absolutely senseless and hopeless struggle against Germany.
4. If, however, warmongers take over in these countries, then Germany and the USSR will know how to respond to this.
In conclusion, Mr. von Ribbentrop stated: “The negotiations took place in a particularly friendly and excellent atmosphere. However, first of all, I would like to note the exceptionally cordial reception extended to me by the Soviet government, and in particular by Messrs. Stalin and Molotov.
We skip October (although Molotov's speech at the session of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR that took place at that time deserves to be published in full). Anniversary of the Great October.
ORDER OF THE PEOPLE'S COMMISSIONER OF DEFENSE OF THE USSR, No. 199
... In recent months, the Soviet Union has concluded a non-aggression pact with Germany and a treaty of friendship and borders ... The friendship and border treaty between the USSR and Germany is in the best interests of the peoples of the two largest European states. It is built on a solid foundation of mutual interests between the Soviet Union and Germany, and this is its mighty strength. This treaty was a turning point not only in relations between the two great countries, but it could not but have a most significant impact on the entire international situation as well...
The European war, in which England and France act as its instigators and zealous continuers, has not yet flared up into a raging conflagration, but the Anglo-French aggressors, not showing the will for peace, are doing everything to intensify the war, to spread it to other countries. The Soviet government, pursuing a policy of neutrality, in every possible way contributes to the establishment of peace, which the peoples of all countries so need ...
Long live our great Stalin!
People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR
Marshal of the Soviet Union
K. Voroshilov
The famous irritated reaction of Stalin to the information of the French news agency. Get a grasp, everything is clear from the text itself!
ABOUT THE FALSE REPORT OF THE GAVAS AGENCY
The editor of Pravda turned to Comrade Stalin with the question: what is Comrade Stalin's attitude to the report of the Gavas agency about the "Stalin's speech" allegedly made by him "in the Politburo on as long as possible to exhaust the belligerents.”
Tov. Stalin sent the following reply:
“This message from the Havas agency, like many of his other messages, is a lie. I, of course, cannot know in which cafe this lie was fabricated. But no matter how the gentlemen of the Havas agency lie, they cannot deny that:
a) not Germany attacked France and England, but France and England attacked Germany, taking responsibility for the current war;
b) after the opening of hostilities, Germany turned to France and England with peace proposals, and the Soviet Union openly supported Germany's peace proposals, because it believed and continues to believe that a speedy end to the war would fundamentally ease the situation of all countries and peoples;
c) the ruling circles of England and France rudely rejected both the peace proposals of Germany and the attempts of the Soviet Union to achieve a speedy end to the war.
These are the facts. What can the cafetering politicians from the Gavas agency oppose to these facts?
An interesting document showing the everyday life of the new Soviet-German border:
MEMORANDUM OF STATE SECRETARY WEIZSACKER
Colonel-General Keitel told me the following by telephone today:
Recently, on the border of Russia and the Governor-General *) there was another squabble, in which the army also participated. The expulsion of Jews to Russian territory did not proceed as smoothly as was probably expected. In practice, for example, the practice was as follows: in a quiet place in the forest, a thousand Jews were expelled beyond the Russian border; 15 kilometers away, they again returned to the border along with a Russian officer who tried to force the German to take them back. Since this case is related to foreign policy, OKW **) is not in a position to issue a directive regarding him to the general government. Sea Captain Bürkner will contact the duty officer of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Colonel-General Keitel asked me to contribute to a favorable outcome of this conversation.
Weizsacker
*) is a German term for a part of Poland not formally included in Germany
**) - the main command of the Wehrmacht. Keitel - boss
Let's move on to December. In other words, we leave aside everything related to Finland. However, it was in connection with Finland that on December 14 the Council of the League of Nations adopted its resolution. There should be a sharp rebuke to England and France (it is they who are formally at war with "friendly" Germany).
THE LAST DECISION OF THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS. TASS MESSAGE
TASS is authorized to convey the following assessment by authoritative Soviet circles of the resolution of the Council of the League of Nations of December 14 on the "exclusion" of the USSR from the League of Nations.
On December 14, the Council of the League of Nations adopted a resolution on the "exclusion" of the USSR from the League of Nations, condemning "the actions of the USSR directed against the State of Finland"...
First of all, it should be emphasized that the ruling circles of England and France, under whose dictation the resolution of the Council of the League of Nations was adopted, have neither a moral nor a formal right to speak about the “aggression” of the USSR and condemn this “aggression” ... They quite recently decisively rejected peace proposals Germany, tending to end the war as soon as possible. They build their policy on the continuation of the war "to a victorious end." These circumstances alone, revealing the aggressive policy of the ruling circles of England and France, should have forced them to be more modest in defining aggression and finally understand that the ruling circles of England and France have deprived themselves of both the moral and formal right to talk about someone else's "aggression". ”And even more so about the“ aggression ”by the USSR ...
And the last. First, congratulations.
On your sixtieth birthday, I ask you to accept my most sincere congratulations. With this I connect my best wishes, I wish you good health personally, as well as a happy future for the peoples of the friendly Soviet Union.
Adolf Gitler
Mr. Joseph Stalin Moscow
Mindful of the historic clock in the Kremlin, which marked the beginning of a decisive turn in relations between the two great peoples and thus created the basis for a long friendship between them, I ask you to accept my warmest congratulations on your sixtieth birthday.
Joachim von Ribbentrop, Foreign Minister
Then a polite reply.
To the Head of the German State Mr. Adolf Hitler Berlin
Please accept my gratitude for your congratulations and gratitude for your good wishes towards the peoples of the Soviet Union.
I. Stalin
To the German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop Berlin
Thank you, Mr. Minister, for your congratulations. The friendship between the peoples of Germany and the Soviet Union, sealed by blood, has every reason to be long and lasting.
I. Stalin
Schulenburg's telegram No. 372 dated September 17, 1939 (see above) mentions the line Bialystok - Brest-Litovsk - Lemberg (Lvov) as a dividing line for aircraft of the Luftwaffe and the Red Army Air Force. Similar lines existed, of course, for ground forces. However, despite all the efforts of the parties, confusion could not be avoided. It is understandable given the significant forces that were concentrated there.
So, only from the side of the Red Army there were two fronts: Ukrainian (commander of the 1st rank S.K. Timoshenko) and Belorussian (commander of the 2nd rank M.P. Kovalev), in total 54 rifle and 13 cavalry divisions, 18 tank brigades and 11 artillery regiments of the reserve of the High Command with a total strength of about 600 thousand people, 4 thousand tanks, 5500 guns and 2 thousand aircraft.
The relatively small losses of the Red Army are also explained by the fact that all the efforts of the Polish army were aimed at resisting the Wehrmacht. It is also known that the Polish commander-in-chief Marshal Rydz-Smigly ordered his troops:
Do not engage in battles with the Soviets, resist only in the event of attempts on their part to disarm our units that have come into contact with the Soviet troops. Continue fighting against the Germans.
So, misunderstandings did occur. Even before the USSR entered the war, on September 14, Guderian's 19th tank corps East Prussia captured Brest. Brest Fortress for several more days it was defended by Polish troops under the command of General Plisovsky. Only on the night of September 17 did its defenders leave the forts and retreat beyond the Bug.
After September 17, the Germans, of course, were required to withdraw their troops behind the line provided for by secret protocols. Soviet troops under the command of commander V.I. Chuikov (tank brigade of brigade commander S.M. Krivoshein) were approaching the city. In front of the podium, on which Guderian and Krivoshein stood together, on September 22, 1939, a solemn, to the orchestra, passage of the German troops withdrawn from Brest, and then the ceremony of lowering the German military flag took place. There are unconfirmed reports that similar changing of the guards also took place in Grodno and Pinsk.
Here are photos from that time:
There are also several photographs of the solemn transfer of Brest from hand to hand, they are published in books and on the Internet.
Guderian and Krivoshein on a makeshift podium:
Here are some more photos taken in Brest then. For a larger view, hover your mouse over the corresponding thumbnail:
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Let me now make a few general remarks. I'll start with a quote.
Leo Tolstoy, "War and Peace":
June 12 strength Western Europe crossed the borders of Russia, and the war began, that is, the opposite of human reason and the whole human nature event. Millions of people committed against each other such countless atrocities, deceptions, betrayals, thefts, forgeries and issuance of false banknotes, robberies, arson and murders, which in whole centuries the annals of all the courts of the world will not collect and on which, in this period of time, people, those who committed them were not regarded as crimes.
In other words, mass insanity happened, a phenomenon not fully understood and mysterious. But 60 years have passed. Seems like enough time to recover. What to do now? Can you forgive everything? forget everything? Should those who would then kill each other with great pleasure fraternize?
Of course, this war will also go into oblivion. Of course, schoolchildren of future centuries will also study it calmly. On the outskirts of the Czech city of Kutná Hora, there is an amazing temple, the interior of which is decorated with the skulls and bones of those people who died long ago in the Hussite wars. I have one such skull before my eyes - with a hole pierced, apparently, by a spear. Who was he, that man? Did he love, did he suffer, did he rejoice in spring streams, did he laugh at rude jokes? Who were his parents? How many of his children has he orphaned? How many other people did he bring grief to? After all, it was everything! And now rare idle onlookers look at his skull with indifferent curiosity.
But has this time of oblivion come already now? Question... For example, here is an opinion expressed at one of the Ukrainian forums:
The time will come, and the soldiers of the legendary division [Waffen-SS - V.A.] "Galicia" are also recognized as veterans, although they fought under foreign banners, but for Ukraine, free from the Bolshevik rabble.
I doubt. It's not just "foreign banners". The time of oblivion will surely come. But then, when it comes, the question of the “fight for Ukraine” will also lose its relevance.
Everything is tied in one ball, everything is in one package. It's not about the desire or unwillingness of someone in Ukraine to reconcile something there. This issue is not at all within the competence of Ukraine, no matter how some would like it. All attempts at reconciliation at the current historical stage will inevitably be marginal. The maximum that such attempts can now count on is to serve as a bargaining chip in the game of the powerful.
Author's comments when preparing a new version of the article design
The above documents are available. It's true. But this is far from the whole truth. Torn out of their time and separated from other documents, they give only an external and, moreover, one-sided picture of the events that took place then. In fact, everything looked not so black and white and much more interesting.
For example, the text says that Britain and France entered the war on September 3, 1939. But it does not say why they entered the war only on September 3 and what kept them from this step in those days when the Wehrmacht was already smashing the bleeding Polish army with might and main. It does not say that in these two days England and France were ready to repeat with Poland what they had done a year earlier with Czechoslovakia, that is, at the Rome Conference proposed by Mussolini, to fully satisfy the German territorial claims to Poland - just as a year earlier, in September 1938, at the Munich Conference, they fully satisfied Hitler's territorial claims to Czechoslovakia. It does not say that in those September days England and France were ready to violate all their allied obligations to Poland, and that all international law depended in those days only on Hitler's decision. Hitler then decided this:
During the last two days, the German troops advanced extremely quickly across Poland. It is impossible to declare that obtained by blood as received as a result of diplomatic intrigues ...
The comments do not say that only this frank spitting in the face of Poland's Anglo-French allies prompted them to formally declare war on Germany. It also does not say what kind of war it was - a war without a war. It does not say how in the first half of September 1939 the military-political leadership of Poland pleaded in vain with their Anglo-French allies just do what they promised Poland in joint treaties, on which Poland counted and on which it built all its defensive plans. It does not say how the Polish government, disorganized by the betrayal of its allies, practically up to its flight from the country hid the fact of this betrayal from the Poles, and they were sure to the last that Germany was about to be defeated.
Modern Polish characterizes the whole situation very clearly:
On the part of France and Great Britain, this was a classic felony - the betrayal of an ally on the battlefield ...
Much is not said in the comments to the documents cited above: neither about the role of Poland itself in the events that took place, nor about the role of England and France in preparing Hitler for war, nor about the role that they assigned to the Soviet Union.
I will only refer to the opinion of Winston Churchill, one of the most consistent opponents of Bolshevism, one of the most implacable enemies of Nazi Germany and one of the founders of the anti-Hitler coalition (from his book The Second World War):
In favor of the Soviets, it must be said that it was vital for the Soviet Union to push the starting positions of the German armies as far as possible to the west ... They needed to occupy the Baltic states and most of Poland by force or deceit before they were attacked. If their policy was coldly calculating, then it was also at that moment in high degree realistic...
As for the photographs from Brest, one more thing should be said: there are no photographs that would capture the passage of Soviet armored vehicles or columns of Red Army soldiers in front of the podium with Guderian (in any case, I could not find them). Moreover, when looking closely at the photographs that are given above, as well as when carefully viewing the surviving plot of the German propaganda film review "Wochenschau", it is easy to see that the shooting was carried out at different times and even sometimes in different places.
The perseverance that Guderian showed in organizing the solemn passage of the German troops being withdrawn from Brest (it is noted in his memoirs by S.M. Krivoshein), as well as the fact that the Wochenschau film crew was so lucky at the scene, - all this, according to apparently suggests that the true director of the Brest production was Goebbels. It was in those days that the military-political leadership of Germany, through various channels, exerted psychological pressure on England and France in order to formally withdraw them from the war.
And to Stalin, and Hitler, and Churchill, even then, apparently, it was quite clear that the war between Nazi Germany and the USSR, and not that "strange" war that began on the Franco-German borders, but a real war of annihilation - that such a war is only a matter of a comparatively short time. Both Stalin and Hitler then sought to take the most advantageous strategic positions possible in the upcoming mortal combat.
These and other issues related to the beginning of the Second World War and the entry of the Soviet Union into it are covered in more detail in the following articles of our magazine.
When did the USSR enter World War II? I would very much like to answer this question clearly and clearly, as in the Soviet school: June 22, 1941. Moreover, to add that they put the top five: as a victim of the aggression of the Nazi invaders. But - it doesn't work.
After signing on August 23, 1939 with Nazi Germany non-aggression pacts - the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and the Secret Additional Protocol (on the division of Europe, and above all Poland), the USSR was already preparing for war and by no means as a victim. And when, on September 1, 1939, World War II began with the invasion of Poland by German troops, the Soviet Union began to actively help the aggressor.
The radio station in Minsk worked as a beacon for aiming German aircraft at targets in Poland. Violating the international blockade, the USSR sold strategic raw materials to Germany, sometimes even buying them from other countries. And, finally, on September 17, 1939, the Red Army entered Poland - not at all to help repel Hitler's aggression, quite the opposite - in accordance with the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and the Secret Additional Protocol and in violation of the non-aggression pact with Poland, concluded in 1932 and extended in 1934.
But even before September 17, the Stalinist regime provided military aid Hitler. Here is what the historian Sergey Sluch found out (see, unfortunately, the magazine “ National history”, No. 5, 6, 2000).
The main command of the German navy "literally from the very first days of the war ( early September 1939. - OH.) decided to take advantage of the "benevolent neutrality" of the USSR, and, by connecting the Foreign Ministry, secured the consent of the Soviet leadership to use the port of Murmansk as a transshipment point for German cargo sent further along railway to Leningrad, from where they, in turn, went to the ports of the Third Reich (see the telegram of the Deputy Head of the Political and Economic Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs K. Cloudis to the German Embassy in Moscow, September 6, 1939 // ADAP, D, BD. VIII, Dok. 15, S. 12.).
The anti-British interaction of the two powers at sea was especially convincingly manifested in the story of the “Nord base” on the Kola Peninsula. The Kriegsmarine was given the bay of Western Litsa, in which the Reich Navy "could do what it wanted and was allowed to carry out any intentions it deemed necessary" (KTB SKL, Teil A, Bd. 2 S. 136, entry of 17 October 1939). At the same time, German warships of all types were authorized to enter this bay. The decision to grant it was due to the Kremlin's fears about the "insufficient isolation" of Murmansk from prying eyes and was undoubtedly "an act of a true belligerent" (Philbin T. R. Op. Cit. P. 82).
As you can see, not only mutual hostility towards Poland, but also towards Great Britain united the two totalitarian regimes. And the Soviet Union entered World War II not even on September 17, when the Red Army crossed the borders of Poland and took Polish soldiers prisoner, but a little earlier - when it entered into interaction with navy Germany "against England". And yet, the first shots in World War II were fired by the USSR in Poland. They became a direct consequence of the Secret Additional Protocol to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.
We publish the protocol itself and some of the documents that followed it according to the book of Doctor of Historical Sciences Yuri Felshtinsky “Subject to Announcement: USSR - Germany 1939-1941 (Documents and Materials)”. (M., Moscow worker, 1991). In the preface to the book, the author writes:
“The collection is based on two types of sources. The first is the diplomatic documents of the German Foreign Office. In 1948 they were published in German and English US State Department. All diplomatic documents used in this collection are taken from this US government publication. In addition to this, the collection includes some materials published in the Pravda newspaper. They are<...>illustrate the openly pro-Nazi policy pursued by the Soviet government at that time… Translations of all documents were made by the compiler.”
Pay attention to the telegrams printed in the Soviet newspapers exchanged between the temporary allies and victors Stalin, Hitler and Ribbentrop in December 1939. They are unlikely to be shown to our schoolchildren in the coming years, and even excellent students will not be able to correctly answer the question of when the Soviet Union entered World War II.
Secret Additional Protocol
When signing a non-aggression pact between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics The undersigned plenipotentiaries of both parties discussed in strict confidentiality the question of delimiting the spheres of mutual interests in Eastern Europe. This discussion led to the following result.
In the event of a territorial and political reorganization of the regions that are part of the Baltic states (Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania), the northern border of Lithuania is simultaneously the border of the spheres of interests of Germany and the USSR. At the same time, the interests of Lithuania in relation to the Vilna region are recognized by both parties.
In the event of a territorial and political rearrangement of the regions that are part of the Polish state, the border of the spheres of interests of Germany and the USSR will approximately run along the line of the rivers Nareva, Vistula and San.
The question whether the preservation of an independent Polish state is desirable in mutual interests, and what the boundaries of this state will be, can only be definitively clarified in the course of further political development.
In any case, both governments will resolve this issue by mutual agreement.
Concerning the southeast of Europe with Soviet side the interest of the USSR in Bessarabia is emphasized.
The German side declares its complete political disinterest in these areas.
This protocol will be kept strictly secret by both parties.
Moscow, August 23, 1939
By authorization
For the Government
Germany
I. Ribbentrop
Soviet government
V. Molotov
Recording of Ribbentrop's conversation with Stalin and Molotov
state secret
Recording of a conversation that took place on the night of August 23-24 between the Reich Foreign Minister, on the one hand, and Messrs. Stalin and Molotov, Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars, on the other hand
toasts
During the conversation, Mr. Stalin unexpectedly proposed a toast to the Fuhrer: “I know how much german nation loves his Leader, and therefore I want to drink to his health.
Herr Molotov drank to the health of the Reich Foreign Minister and Ambassador, Count von Schulenburg.
Mr. Molotov raised his glass to Stalin, noting that it was Stalin who, with his speech in March of this year, which was correctly understood in Germany, completely changed political relations.
Messrs. Molotov and Stalin drank again to the Non-Aggression Pact, to the new era in German-Russian relations, and to the German nation.
The Reich Foreign Minister, in turn, proposed a toast to Herr Stalin, to the Soviet government, and to the favorable development of relations between Germany and the Soviet Union.
At parting, Mr. Stalin addressed the Reich Foreign Minister with the following words: “The Soviet government takes the new pact very seriously. He can give his word of honor that the Soviet Union will never betray its partner.”
Ribbentrop to Ambassador Schulenburg
Telegram
Berlin, September 3, 1939 - 6 p.m. 50 min.
Received in Moscow on September 4, 1939 - 000 hours. 30 min.
Moscow
Telegram No. 253 of September 3
Very urgent! Ambassador personally.
Top secret! Head of the embassy or his representative personally. Secret! Must be deciphered by him personally! Top secret!
We certainly hope to finally defeat the Polish army within a few weeks. Then we will keep under military occupation the areas which, as established in Moscow, fall within the German sphere of interest. However, it is clear that, for military reasons, we will then have to act against those Polish military forces that by that time will be in Polish territories that are part of the Russian sphere of interest.
Please discuss this with Molotov immediately and see if the Soviet Union does not consider it desirable that the Russian army should move at the right moment against the Polish forces in the Russian sphere of interest and, for its part, occupy this territory. In our opinion, this would not only help us, but also, in accordance with the Moscow agreements, would also be in Soviet interests.<...>.
Ambassador Schulenburg - at the German Foreign Ministry
Telegram
Moscow, September 20, 1939 - 2 o'clock. 23 min. Received September 20 - 4 o'clock. 55 min.
Telegram No. 395, September 19, 1939
Top secret! Molotov told me today that the Soviet Government considers that the moment has now ripened for it, as well as for the German Government, for the final determination of the structure of the Polish territories. In this regard, Molotov made it clear that the original intention, nurtured by the Soviet government and Stalin personally, to allow the existence of a remnant of Poland, had now given way to the intention to divide Poland along the Pissa-Narew-Vistula-San line. The Soviet government wishes to immediately begin negotiations on this question and to hold them in Moscow, since such negotiations on the Soviet side are obliged to be carried out by persons endowed with supreme power who cannot leave the Soviet Union. I ask for telegraphic instructions.
Schulenburg
Telegrams printed in Soviet newspapers in December 1939
Mr Joseph Stalin
Moscow
On your sixtieth birthday, I ask you to accept my most sincere congratulations. With this I connect my best wishes, I wish you good health personally, as well as a happy future for the peoples of the friendly Soviet Union.
Adolf Gitler
Mr Joseph Stalin
Moscow
Mindful of the historic clock in the Kremlin, which marked the beginning of a decisive turn in relations between the two great peoples and thus created the basis for a long friendship between them, I ask you to accept my warmest congratulations on your sixtieth birthday.
Joachim von Ribbentrop,
Foreign Secretary
Head of the German State Adolf Hitler
Berlin
Please accept my gratitude for your congratulations and gratitude for your good wishes towards the peoples of the Soviet Union.
I. Stalin
To the German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop
Berlin
Thank you, Mr. Minister, for your congratulations. The friendship between the peoples of Germany and the Soviet Union, sealed by blood, has every reason to be long and lasting.
I. Stalin
Read in the next issue the documents declassified by the Security Service of Ukraine. They testify to the execution of the NKVD prisoners Polish officers near Kharkov and about the attempts of the USSR authorities to hide the burial place - "Crime drenched in alkali"
World War II 1939-1945 - the largest war in the history of mankind, unleashed Nazi Germany, fascist Italy and militaristic Japan. 61 states were drawn into the war (more than 80% of the population the globe), hostilities were conducted on the territory of 40 states.
In 1941, when the Nazis attacked the USSR, Great Britain was already at war with Germany, and the contradictions between the USA, Germany and Japan were on the verge of an armed conflict.
Immediately after the German attack on the USSR, the governments of Great Britain (June 22) and the United States (June 24) supported the Soviet Union in its fight against fascism.
On July 12, 1941, a Soviet-English agreement was signed in Moscow on joint actions against Germany and its allies, which served as the beginning of the formation of the anti-Hitler coalition.
On July 18, 1941, the government of the USSR signed an agreement with the government of Czechoslovakia, and on July 30 with the government of Poland on a joint fight against a common enemy. Since the territory of these countries was occupied by Nazi Germany, their governments were in London (Great Britain).
On August 2, 1941, a military-economic agreement was concluded with the United States. At the Moscow meeting, held September 29-October 1, 1941, the USSR, Great Britain and the USA considered the issue of mutual military supplies and signed the first protocol on them.
December 7, 1941 Japan surprise attack on the American military base Pearl Harbor in the Pacific unleashed a war against the United States. On December 8, the United States, Great Britain and a number of other states declared war on Japan; On December 11, Nazi Germany and Italy declared war on the United States.
At the end of 1941, the following were at war with the aggressor bloc: Australia, Albania, Belgium, Great Britain, Haiti, Guatemala, Honduras, Greece, Denmark, the Dominican Republic, India, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Cuba, Luxembourg, Mongolian People's Republic, Netherlands, Nicaragua, New Zealand, Norway, Panama, Poland, El Salvador, USSR, USA, Philippines, France, Czechoslovakia, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Yugoslavia, Union of South Africa. In the second half of 1942, Brazil and Mexico entered the war against the fascist bloc, in 1943 - Bolivia, Iraq, Iran, Colombia, Chile, in 1944 - Liberia. After February 1945, Argentina, Venezuela, Egypt, Lebanon, Paraguay, Peru joined the anti-Hitler coalition, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, Uruguay. Italy (in 1943), Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania (in 1944), Finland (in 1945), which were previously part of the aggressive bloc, also declared war on the countries of the Nazi coalition. By the time hostilities with Japan ended (September 1945), 56 states were at war with the countries of the fascist bloc.
(Military Encyclopedia. Chairman of the Main Editorial Commission S.B. Ivanov. Military Publishing. Moscow. In 8 volumes 2004. ISBN 5 203 01875 - 8)
Contribution individual countries in achieving the goals of the anti-Hitler coalition was different. The USA, Great Britain, France and China participated with their armed forces in the struggle against the countries of the fascist bloc. Separate formations of some other countries of Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, India, Canada, the Philippines, Ethiopia, and others also took part in hostilities. Some of the states of the anti-Hitler coalition (for example, Mexico) helped its main participants mainly by supplying military raw materials.
The United States and Great Britain made a significant contribution to achieving victory over a common enemy.
On June 11, 1942, the USSR and the USA signed an agreement on mutual supplies under Lend-Lease, i.e. lending military equipment, weapons, ammunition, equipment, strategic raw materials and food.
The first deliveries arrived back in 1941, but the bulk of the deliveries came in 1943-1944.
According to American official data, at the end of September 1945, 14,795 aircraft, 7,056 tanks, 8,218 anti-aircraft guns, and 131,600 machine guns were sent from the USA to the USSR; 1188 tanks were delivered from Canada, which has been directly involved in providing assistance to the USSR since the summer of 1943. In general, US military supplies during the war years amounted to 4% of the military production of the USSR. In addition to weapons, the USSR received cars, tractors, motorcycles, ships, locomotives, wagons, food and other goods from the USA under Lend-Lease. The Soviet Union supplied the USA with 300,000 tons of chromium ore, 32,000 tons of manganese ore, a significant amount of platinum, gold, and timber.
Some of the American cargo (about 1 million tons) did not reach the Soviet Union, because it was destroyed by the enemy in the process of transportation.
There were about ten routes for the delivery of goods under Lend-Lease to the USSR. Many of them took place in areas of intense hostilities, which required great courage and heroism from those who provided supplies.
Main routes: by Pacific Ocean through Far East- 47.1% of all cargo; across the North Atlantic, bypassing Scandinavia - to Murmansk and Arkhangelsk - 22.6%; through the South Atlantic, the Persian Gulf and Iran - 23.8%; through the ports of the Black Sea 3.9% and through the Arctic 2.6%. Aircraft moved by sea and independently (up to 80%) through Alaska - Chukotka.
Reason for this study was a sociological survey authored by the editor-in-chief of Ekho Moskvy Alexei Venediktov.
He asked readers when, in their opinion, the USSR entered the Second World War, offering two dates: September 19, 1939 (entering Soviet troops to Western Belarus and Ukraine) or June 22, 1941. At the same time, the editor-in-chief of Ekha himself considered the first date correct, bluntly stating that "the USSR entered the war on September 19, 1939, in alliance with Nazi Germany."
Thus, once again the thesis exaggerated by liberal journalists was raised that "the USSR entered the war on September 19, 1939 in alliance with Nazi Germany." It consists of two parts - from the statement that Germany and the USSR were in an alliance, and that the USSR entered the war on September 19, 1939.
Let's take these two parts in turn.
Was an alliance concluded between Germany and the USSR?
If we look at the contents of the Non-Aggression Pact between Germany and the USSR (known as the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact), we will not find the word "alliance" or anything like that in it. This concept is also absent in additional secret protocols.
Moreover, even if we study the Treaty of Friendship and Border signed on September 28, 1939, the word “alliance” is not mentioned anywhere either. It must be added that this agreement was signed after the date of interest to us (September 19), and therefore is not applicable in this dispute.
Moreover, the word "friendship" in the name of the agreement should not mislead us. Friendly relations are a norm in international law, and they cannot be considered an alliance. Take, for example, the 1945 Treaty of Friendship and Alliance between the USSR and China. Friendship is one thing, union is quite another.
But maybe this is all legal formalism, and we should take into account the real provisions of the document (especially those set out in the secret protocol)?
However, even in this case the treaty cannot be considered an alliance. The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact does not contain provisions providing for military support of the parties in the event of an attack on one of them by a third party. Instead, the agreement provided for the observance of neutrality - with the delimitation of spheres of influence. When concluding the pact, the USSR understood that it would still have to be at war with Germany, and considered it as a temporary compromise.
Even Churchill characterized the pact as follows: “Both were aware that this could only be a temporary measure dictated by circumstances. The antagonism between the two empires and systems was deadly. Stalin no doubt thought that Hitler would be a less dangerous enemy for Russia after a year of war against the Western powers. Hitler followed his "one by one" method. The fact that such an agreement was possible marks the depth of the failure of British and French policy and diplomacy in a few years.
Thus, formally and informally, there was no union between the USSR and Germany. To assert otherwise means only to show illiteracy in matters of international law.
Poland: victim or aggressor?
On September 30, 1938, the so-called "Munich Pact" was signed, which decided the fate of Europe and the whole world, making war almost inevitable. Western countries, by signing it, pursued the goal of inciting Hitler against the USSR, leaving the latter in international isolation.
But even before the signing of the agreement in Munich, on September 21, 1938, Poland, in agreement with Germany and other Western countries, sent its troops into the Teszyn region of Czechoslovakia, setting an ultimatum to transfer this territory to it. Tellingly, the arguments used were similar to those used by the USSR in the future when joining Western Ukraine and Belarus: the protection of the local Polish population. But there were only Poles in the Teshin region .... 80,000 against 120,000 Czechs.
Thus, if it is permissible to raise the question of “the entry into the world war of the USSR in alliance with Germany,” then, for starters, one should not forget that Poland “entered the world war” a year earlier than the USSR, having carried out an indisputable military annexation. And she did it in alliance with Germany and other Western countries.
However, for some reason, it never occurs to anyone to say that the Second World War began in 1938 with the filing of Poland, in connection with its annexation. But in relation to the USSR, the standards are completely different.
Did the USSR participate in the war against Poland
Now let's go directly to the events of September 1939.
September 1 Germany attacks yesterday's aggressor - Poland. Literally within a few days, the Polish army is defeated. The Polish government is emigrating, there is no longer a legitimate leadership in the country. There are no obligations to this leadership (to be more precise, recent war criminals).
But there is Western Ukraine and Belarus, populated mainly by the Russian-speaking population, torn away by Poland according to the predatory Peace of Riga in 1923.
Millions of Russian people, for whom the choice was simple: either give them into slavery to Hitler, or reunite the territories that historically belonged to Russia. What was Stalin supposed to do in this situation?
Did the West itself consider the annexation of the territories of Western Ukraine and Belarus to be a "military aggression" of the USSR against Poland? Indeed, according to the agreement with Poland, in the event of military aggression, these allies were obliged to declare war on the aggressor (which was done on September 1 during the German attack).
So why didn't France and England declare war on the USSR? because Western countries perfectly understood all of the above and did not consider the USSR an aggressor. They did not even send notes of protest in defense of the “ally”, de facto recognizing the annexation of Western Ukraine and Belarus to the USSR.
This is the answer to the question whether the USSR fought against Poland in alliance with Germany.
Key Findings
1.
If we connect the entry of the USSR into the World War with the annexation of the territories of Poland, then the USSR only acted in accordance with the law enforcement practice that the Western countries (including Poland itself) had already formed. Juggling with the dates of entry into the war has a background to present the USSR not as a victim (as it really was), but as a warmonger.
2.
Talking about an alliance between the USSR and Nazi Germany is illiterate from a legal point of view. This goes beyond the political “fight against Stalinism” and serves to justify the crimes of Nazism (the corresponding article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which provides for liability for disseminating false information about the activities of the USSR during the Second World War, has not been repealed).
It is unacceptable to insult the memory of tens of millions of our fellow citizens who fell in the fight against a real aggressor.