On the lands post-Soviet space This event is usually called the Great Patriotic War and is considered as a feat of the people who rallied overnight to fight the enemy, invader and fascist. For Soviet Union The period from 1941 to 1945 was indeed one of the most difficult, but not for him alone.
Horror for the whole world
The Second World War, the causes of which are still being studied by historians, became a real disaster, a grief for everything globe. Starting in 1939, it seemed to cover country after country like an avalanche, destroying thousands, millions of lives, destroying cities, sweeping away everything in its path.
According to available on this moment According to information, more than eighty percent of the planet's population was involved in this endless battle, and more than sixty million people died during the fighting. In order to make the scale of the tragedy clearer, let us give as an example the First world war, during which the losses were 5 times less.
Apple from the apple tree
Despite the fact that the battles of 1939-1945 were among the most brutal and bloody in the history of mankind, this event has its own prerequisites. The echo of the first war that captured the whole world had not yet subsided when the Second World War began, the causes of which were almost similar.
At the heart of both great tragedies lies, first of all, a profound global crisis. international relations. The barely established order of things and the organization of states gave a significant tilt during this period, which served as one of the first impetuses for the outbreak of hostilities.
The military power of Great Britain at this moment weakened significantly, while Germany, on the contrary, gained strength, becoming one of the strongest and dangerous countries on the territory of the globe. This would sooner or later lead to confrontation, which is what happened in the end, as history tells us.
Consequences of certain actions
After the first shock, the world was literally divided into 2 opposing camps: socialist and capitalist. States with opposing ideologies naturally competed and sought to establish a more advantageous order. Partly as a result of this confrontation, the Second World War broke out, the causes of which, as we see, are also the consequences of the first.
Internal fragmentation
If in the case of adherents of the socialist regime there was comparative unanimity, then with the capitalist countries the situation was completely different. In addition to the already different ideology from the opposing one, internal resistance constantly took place in this environment.
Already shaky political situation was aggravated in the mid-30s by a serious split among the capitalists, who were divided into two openly hostile camps. The Second World War, the causes of which are directly related to Germany, began largely because of this split.
In the first camp, in addition to Germany itself, were Japan and Italy, and they were opposed in the political field by the unification of the USA, France and England.
Appeal to fascism
Having exhausted all more or less rational models of government and resistance, Germany chooses new way in the matter of asserting one’s own position. Since 1933, Adolf Hitler has confidently stepped up to the podium, whose ideology quickly finds response and support among the population. Mass discrimination against Jews begins, followed by open persecution.
The causes of World War II become much clearer when one takes a closer look at the policies adopted in countries that turned to fascism. Along with the persecution of representatives of individual nationalities, chauvinism and open anti-democratic ideology were gaining increasing momentum. Naturally, such a development of events could not but entail an aggravation of the global interstate crisis, which is what happened later.
Zero sign position
When listing the causes of the Second World War, one cannot ignore the position that France, the USA and England took at the time of the outbreak of the conflict in opposition to Germany, Italy and Japan.
Wanting to ward off aggression from their own states, their heads came to the conclusion that it was necessary to take a passive and restrained position, which led to an underestimation of the enemy’s forces and the scale of possible aggression.
Random stimulus
There were other causes of the Second World War, which are not particularly commonly remembered in the countries of the post-Soviet space. IN in this case we're talking about about the foreign policy of the Soviet Union, pursued by J.V. Stalin during a period of increasing danger.
While initially actively opposing fascism, the USSR provided open support to countries suffering from aggression from Italy and Germany. This was expressed both in the provision of military resources and humanitarian assistance.
Moreover, a number of agreements were concluded between the USSR and other countries, according to which, in the event of aggression, all of Europe had to unite to fight the enemy.
Starting from the beginning of 1939, something happened that cannot be ignored when listing the causes of World War II briefly. J.V. Stalin, wanting to avert danger from his country, moves from open resistance to a policy of agreement, trying to find the optimal one for the USSR and fascist Germany way out of the brewing conflict.
Lengthy negotiations finally led to the wrong decision - on August 23, 1939, a non-aggression pact was signed between the countries, according to which the Soviet Union actually became a partner of Nazi Germany, while subsequently laying claim to part of Europe.
Describing the causes of World War II briefly, it should be noted that it was this agreement that became the last, decisive impetus for active hostilities, and already on September 1, 1939, the Third Reich declared war on Poland.
Justifying actions
Despite the obviously large role of the agreement between these countries in the issue of starting a war, this should not be considered the only circumstance of this kind. The causes and nature of the Second World War are complex and multifaceted, so much so that historians are still debating about certain aspects of it.
For example, to hold the USSR responsible for the outbreak of hostilities would not be entirely correct due to the fact that this act simply diverted fire from the state, headed at that time by J.V. Stalin. The whole point is that, according to the “Munich scenario,” it was the Soviet Union that should have been the object of aggression, which subsequently happened. The agreement concluded by the country in August only made it possible to postpone this moment by 2 years.
Ideology and pragmatism
Considering the main causes of the Second World War, we can say the following: the main incentive to end it was, of course, the need to suppress fascism. It is this ideological statement of the fight against evil that is currently considered the main justification for resistance in the Second World War.
However, there were others, no less important aspects regarding the need to fight Nazi Germany. First of all - elementary geographical and political integrity. Huge casualties It cost the whole world to preserve the framework and territories that existed at that time. Thus, economic reasons The Second World War was combined with ideological ones.
Perhaps it was this feature that helped to win the most brutal, bloodiest and largest battle in the history of all mankind.
True, underlying reasons warriors were hidden by rulers in the First and Second World Wars - in particular. After the destruction of the USSR, anti-Soviet and Russophobes are trying to blame the Second World War on the USSR and Stalin. However, the entire course of events shows that preparations for a new world battle began soon after the conclusion Treaty of Versailles in 1919. The two world wars were separated by a short interwar period, a respite for gathering forces and putting together military-political blocs. World economic crisis 1929 - 1933 exacerbated contradictions and shortened the interwar period. He opposed the previous bloc of winners - England, France and the USA new block fascist states - defeated, but not defeated and revanchist-minded Germany and Italy and Japan, deprived of the division of colonies. Fascist states - totalitarian imperialism - set as their goal the achievement of world domination and the establishment of a “new world order”. England and France were preparing for war to maintain their position as the leading countries of the world and victors in the First World War. The United States, as in the past, expected to enter the war from overseas at its final stage and establish itself as the dominant power among its exhausted opponents. Thus, the Second World War was essentially a continuation of the First. But in contrast to this, inter-imperialist contradictions were also superimposed on inter-formation ones - between capitalism and socialism. Both imperialist blocs sought to either destroy the Soviet Union or weaken it so much as to subordinate it to their interests. Subordination of the USSR to one of the blocs also became an important condition conquest of world domination. The goal of the Soviet leadership was to avoid being drawn into a war between the imperialist blocs or to delay their attack as much as possible, to strengthen its defenses and to weaken the opposing forces through diplomatic measures.
In the 30s Inter-imperialist contradictions came to the fore. The initiators of the world war were the countries of the fascist bloc. It is generally accepted that the Second World War began with the German attack on Poland on September 1, 1939. In fact, the world “crept” into it from the beginning of the 30s. a series of local aggressive wars and military conflicts. The first outbreak of the World War arose in Far East as a result of Japanese aggression against China. On September 19, 1931, Japanese troops captured Mukden, then occupied all of Manchuria, and on March 9, 1932, Japan announced the creation of the puppet state of Manchukuo. Japanese militarism began to implement its plan " great war", in which the occupation of Manchuria was one of the most important components general plan operations of Japanese troops against the USSR.
With Hitler coming to power in Germany in 1933, aggressive actions began in Europe - the second center of the world war was emerging. In January 1935, Germany, in violation of the Treaty of Versailles, included the Saar region. On March 7, 1936, German troops occupied the demilitarized Rhineland.
Through efforts Soviet diplomacy in 1935, a system was created to prevent German aggression collective security in Europe in the form of mutual assistance treaties between the USSR and France and Czechoslovakia. However, the Western powers abandoned active actions against the aggressor.
On October 3, 1935, Italy began the war against Ethiopia. The fierce resistance of this independent African country for seven months was broken by overwhelming superiority of forces. The Western powers took a position of neutrality. They took the same position of neutrality, and in essence, encouragement of aggression, with regard to the civil war that flared up in Spain in 1936 after the fascist rebellion of General Franco. Fascist Germany and Italy began direct intervention against Republican Spain. The war lasted three years and killed 1 million human lives. The Soviet Union and the progressive forces of the world provided possible support to the Republicans, but the neutrality of France and England contributed to the victory of fascism in Spain.
One of the most important areas foreign policy of the USSR was assistance to the peoples of Spain and China, who were the first to become targets fascist aggression.
Our country supplied Spain with 648 aircraft, 347 tanks, 1,186 artillery pieces, 497,813 rifles, 862 million pieces of ammunition and 3.4 million shells. The cost of supplies was paid for by the gold reserves of the Spanish Republic, exported to the Soviet Union.
The flower of the Red Army command corps was sent to the Iberian Peninsula: future Marshals of the Soviet Union R. Ya. Malinovsky and K. A. Meretskov, chief marshals of artillery N. N. Voronov and M. I. Nedelin, Admiral of the Fleet N. G. Kuznetsov, admirals V. A. Alafuzov and N. P. Egipko, generals P. I. Batov, V. Ya. Kolpakchi, N. G. Lyashchenko, D. G. Pavlov, Colonel General X. U. Mamsurov, A. I. Rodimtsev , G. M. Stern, twice Hero of the Soviet Union, Lieutenant General of Aviation Y. V. Smushkevich and many others. For their exploits on Spanish soil, 59 people received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
In the Chinese open spaces, future Marshals of the Soviet Union V.I. Chuikov, P.F. Batitsky, Marshal took part in the first battles with the aggressors armored forces P. S. Rybalko, Air Marshal N. F. Zhigarev. In the Chinese skies, a constellation of Soviet pilots, future twice Heroes of the Soviet Union, fought against Japanese bombers: S. I. Gritsevets, G. N. Kravchenko, S. P. Suprun, T. T. Khryukin. For helping the Chinese people, the title of Hero of the Soviet Union was awarded to 75 Soviet commanders.
The Chinese people received 1,235 aircraft, 1,140 artillery pieces, 9,720 light and heavy machine guns, 602 tractors, 1,516 cars, 50 thousand rifles, about 180 million cartridges, 2 million shells. A loan provided by the USSR to China for the purchase of weapons in the amount of 201,779 US dollars. dollars (including interest), was almost completely repaid by the Kuomintang government with supplies of non-ferrous metals and food. By 1949, $39.7 million remained outstanding. Doll.
In 1935, the USSR station in London received from its source a transcript of negotiations in Berlin between the British Foreign Minister J. Simon and Hitler. It noted that London was ready to give Austria and Czechoslovakia to Hitler in order to direct his aggression to the East, and to avoid a direct clash with Germany. On November 19, 1937, the new British Foreign Minister, Lord E. Halifax, met with Hitler. England went along with Germany's aggressive plans regarding the Danzig corridor (Poland's access to the Baltic Sea), Austria and Czechoslovakia. France took a similar position.
From the end of 1937, the established bloc of Germany, Italy and Japan began openly preparing for a further expansion of aggression. By this time, fascist Germany, using loans from the United States and England, managed to recreate the military-economic base and armed forces under the flag of anti-communism. The reactionary politicians of the countries of Western democracies - England and France - hoped to resolve contradictions with fascist bloc at the expense of the USSR.
The most threatening manifestation of this intention was the position of England and France (with the USA behind them) regarding Germany's claims to annex Austria and Czechoslovakia. March 12-14, 1938 Germany captured Austria (Otto War Plan). This act of aggression was sharply condemned only by the Soviet government, which warned European countries about the danger of further aggression, but England, France and the USA remained deaf to the calls of the USSR to organize a rebuff to the aggressor. A few months later, a threat loomed over Czechoslovakia.
Simultaneously with the threat of Germany's advance to the East against the USSR, provocations of Japan began in the Far East. In July - August 1938, Japanese troops tried to capture an operationally and tactically important area near Lake Khasan near Vladivostok. The decisive actions of the Red Army eliminated this attempt.
The Soviet Union took energetic steps to organize the defense of Czechoslovakia. In March 1938, People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs M. M. Litvinov appealed to Western European diplomats to provide practical help Czechoslovakia within the framework of the existing treaty between the USSR, Czechoslovakia and France. At the same time, he stated that the USSR would fully fulfill its obligations under the treaty and provide assistance to Czechoslovakia even if France did not. In the spring of 1938, an exchange of military delegations took place between the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia to clarify the details of the deployment of large military formations. In April, the first batch of bombers arrived from the USSR to Czechoslovakia. More than 40 Soviet divisions were pushed towards western border THE USSR; aviation, artillery and tank units are listed in combat readiness. However, under pressure from the governments of France and England, Czechoslovak President E. Beneš avoided cooperation with the Soviet Union and rejected its help.
On September 29, 1938, in Munich, a decision was made at the conference of the heads of four powers - Germany, Italy, England, France (the USSR and Czechoslovakia were not invited) on the fate of Czechoslovakia. England and France, with the consent of the United States, made concessions to the aggressor and signed a shameful agreement on the dismemberment of Czechoslovakia. The Czechoslovak government, under pressure from England and France, sacrificed the interests of the nation and took the path of capitulation, refusing help from the USSR. The Sudetenland, which made up 1/5 of its territory with a population of 4 million people and where half of Czechoslovakia's heavy industry was located, was annexed to Germany. The territorial claims of Germany-friendly Hungarian choirs to Transcarpathian Ukraine and Poland to Czech Cieszyn were also satisfied industrial area. Czechoslovakia was dismembered, the morale of the people was crushed. The delicate balance of peace and security in Europe has collapsed.
The Munich Agreement completely destroyed the very limited system of collective security in Europe created in 1935. The states opposing the aggressor lost 45 Czechoslovak divisions with the latest weapons, as well as the Skoda factories in Brno, where modern weapons were produced for the whole of Europe. With the complicity reactionary politicians In the West, Hitler captured Austria and the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia in six months in 1938. During this “war without firing a shot,” Germany became the largest capitalist country in Europe with a population of 70 million people (France - 34 million, England - 55 million). By increasing the country's military-economic potential, Hitler significantly strengthened his position in totalitarian Germany.
The political isolation of the USSR became a fact, the military threat became a reality. But a threat also arose for the leaders capitalist states Europe. England and France are seeking to ensure their security through treaties with Hitler. Prime Minister of England N. Chamberlain signed a declaration of non-aggression with Germany on September 30, 1938, France signed a similar declaration in December 1938, the idea of concluding a “pact of four” - Germany, Italy, France and England - was discussed. The “Munich policy” extended to the Far East; England provided Japan with serious concessions. The fascist states skillfully played a diplomatic game with the Western powers, playing “ Soviet map" The Munich residents shamelessly traded in foreign territories, believing that by doing so they were protecting their interests and directing the movement of fascist aggression against the USSR. However, they themselves became victims of the further escalation of the world war.
For further aggressive actions, Nazi Germany created sufficient material, military and political base. The 4-year plan for the militarization of the economy was successfully completed; deployed powerful army, equipped the latest technology and weapons; an intensified nationalist and misanthropic indoctrination of the population was carried out; a strictly centralized state machine, all opposition parties and movements were liquidated.
Hitler's leadership felt confident that his " finest hour"for a decisive struggle for world domination. During the two spring months of 1939, a cascade of aggressive actions fell on Eastern, South-Eastern and South-Western Europe. In March, the Czechoslovak state is liquidated: Germany occupies and annexes the Czech Republic to the Reich, and Slovakia is declared an independent and friendly country. Almost simultaneously, the Nazis occupied the Lithuanian port of Klaipeda and the surrounding area. By this time, the German-Italian fascists were helping General Franco to finally strangle Republican Spain.
In April, Fascist Italy invaded and occupied Albania. Germany terminates the German-Polish non-aggression pact and demands part of its territory from Poland. At the same time, she denounces the Anglo-German naval agreement of 1935 and puts forward a demand for the return of the colonies taken away by the Treaty of Versailles. In the same month, Hitler approves the plan for war with Poland (“Weiss”) and sets the date for its start - no later than September 1, 1939.
Japan is also taking aggressive actions. At the end of 1938, it captured the main industrial centre Wuhan and the port of Guangzhou, isolates this country from outside world. In May 1939, Japan attacks the USSR ally Mongolian People's Republic in the area of the river Khalkhin Gol. At the same time, it captures the islands of Spartly and Hainan, occupying the most important approaches to the Philippines, Malaya and Indochina - the colonial possessions of the USA, England and France.
In response to Germany’s aggressive actions, England and France, without rejecting certain concessions to the Reich (transferring Danzig and part of the “Polish corridor”), are moving to a policy of demonstrating force. On March 22, the Anglo-French alliance of mutual assistance is concluded. At the end of March, England and France announced guarantees of independence for Poland, and then Romania, Greece, Turkey, Denmark, as well as the provision of external assistance to Holland and Switzerland. These steps, according to the British prime minister, were aimed at warning Hitler against expanding his aggression. But since these acts were not supported by specific military-political agreements and obligations on military support, they did not deter Hitler, but made him want to attack Poland as soon as possible in order to forestall the creation of a united front against him. It is characteristic that such guarantees were not given to the Baltic countries, as if opening the way for Hitler to the east through them. International isolation
The USSR after Munich made this policy direction of the Western powers threatening.
The guarantees given by England and France to countries neighboring the USSR objectively required support from the Soviet Union. The ruling circles of England and France were forced to move closer to the USSR, but at the same time they were negotiating with Germany. Documents from this period are still classified in England and the USA, although their period of secrecy (30 years) has long expired. However, the nature of the negotiations with the USSR quite clearly shows that rapprochement with the Soviet Union could serve to Western countries a means of putting pressure on Hitler in order to persuade him to make concessions, and an attempt to drag the USSR into a conflict with Germany, remaining on the sidelines for the time being. Turning fascist aggression to the East, Western diplomacy sacrificed the small states that separated Germany and the USSR - Poland and the Baltic countries.
In the situation that developed in the spring of 1939, the US position changed dramatically. If a year ago at the Munich negotiations the United States approved the policy of concessions to Germany, now Roosevelt has taken an irreconcilable position. During the Munich crisis, Germany was still weak, the USSR strongly supported Czechoslovakia, the outcome of the war against Germany in this situation would have been predetermined in short term. Now Germany had become much stronger, and the war in Europe was expected to be long. The war could have prevented a new recession in the US economy that began in 1938. These factors largely determined the change in the US position in resolving the military-political crisis in Europe. Moreover, according to the testimony of the US Ambassador to England Kennedy, England and France would never have decided to declare war on Germany over Poland if it had not been for constant support Washington.
While preparing an attack on Poland, Hitler sought to prevent the Anglo-French bloc from rapprochement with the Soviet Union. Since May 1939, intensive direct and behind-the-scenes political negotiations have been unfolding on three sides of the triangle: Soviet-British-French, British-German, Soviet-German. The Soviet government is making extensive contacts with each side and is ready to consider and discuss any option, but not to the detriment of its state.
Main direction foreign policy The USSR still had the desire to conclude a triple Anglo-French-Soviet military-political defensive alliance against the aggressor. However, efforts in this direction have not yielded results for a number of reasons. To conclude the military convention, the Anglo-French delegation arrived very late and consisted of minor persons without the necessary powers. The Polish government took negative position, refusing to allow Soviet troops through its territory to jointly repel the aggressor, and believed that Poland itself some help Western allies will be able to ensure their security without the participation of the USSR. Romania adhered to the same position.
As a result, ten days of empty negotiations with the Anglo-French military delegation in Moscow reached a dead end and were interrupted; their delay could have had dire consequences for the USSR in the very near future. England and France knew exactly the date of Germany’s attack on Poland according to intelligence data; their delay in negotiations by this date indicated a refusal to act jointly. At the same time England led secret negotiations with Germany behind the USSR and its ally France, the Soviet leadership knew about this.
In the current conditions, the USSR had two options: either to remain alone in the international arena with the subsequent threat of being subjected to a simultaneous attack by Germany from the west and Japan from the east (there were battles at Khalkhin Gol), or to satisfy the persistent solicitations of Hitler, who proposed concluding a pact with Germany about non-aggression or neutrality. At the same time, the German side made lucrative offers for the USSR (preliminary conclusion trade agreement, provision of large loans, development of secret protocols on the delimitation of interests in Eastern Europe, preliminary conclusion of non-aggression pacts between Germany and the Baltic countries). If these proposals were rejected, Hitler could accuse the USSR of aggressive plans and make a deal with England, for which purpose a plane was standing by in Germany for Goering to fly to Chamberlain.
To intensify negotiations with London and Paris, the Soviet government reported on Hitler's proposals received on August 16 American Ambassador Shteyngard. But there was no reaction to this, and the telegram itself about the information received from the Soviet government was sent from Washington to London only on August 19. On August 20, Hitler sent a telegram to Stalin in which he reported that a crisis could “break out every day” in relations between Germany and Poland, which would affect the Soviet Union if it did not immediately agree to a non-aggression pact with Germany. It was almost an ultimatum proposal with a deadline for signing the contract on August 22 - 23. Having exhausted all possibilities to achieve a reliable agreement with the Western powers, Stalin and Molotov concluded a non-aggression pact with Hitler’s Germany on August 23 (received in history the name “Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact”) and signed a secret protocol with I. Ribbentrop on the delimitation of spheres of interest in Eastern Europe according to lines of the rivers Tissa, Narev, Vistula, San, Prut. The agreement came into force immediately.
The Western powers' evasion of a military alliance with the USSR and simultaneous guarantees to Poland became the beginning of a world military battle between the main imperialist powers. A classic of Western military historiography, British historian and military theorist Liddell-Hart characterized this situation quite accurately: “The guarantees to Poland were the most the right way accelerate the explosion and the outbreak of world war."
The concluded agreement of August 23, 1939 between the USSR and Germany with legal and political side quite legitimate. It simply added to the long list of similar documents of the powers of Europe and Asia; declarations of non-aggression with Germany were signed by England and France in 1938. Was the secret protocol legal, which was not presented upon ratification? This question has become a trump card in anti-Soviet propaganda in recent decades. In diplomatic practice both in the past and in the 30s. contracts were often concluded with top secret annexes that were not made public. Secrets were, are and will remain for a long time in the future in various fields life of human society.
The West was stunned by the diplomatic “audacity” of the Soviet Union, which allowed itself to withdraw from the strictly imposed line of behavior, not wanting to be a bargaining chip in the hands of the Western powers. Under those conditions, this was a justified line of behavior. The USSR slipped out of the tightening noose, delayed entry into the war for two years, pushed its borders to the west and split the fascist coalition. The Japanese leadership was not informed about the preparation of a non-aggression pact with the USSR and considered itself deceived by its ally. The Soviet Union avoided the threat of a war on two fronts with the most favorable circumstances. The Soviet leadership had no illusions about true intentions and plans for both Berlin and London and Paris. He was aware of secret negotiations and contacts between the opposing parties. Stalin stated twice in October 1939 that it was impossible to rely on an agreement with Germany, since the possibility of an attack by German fascists on the USSR “is not excluded.”
It is important to note that the signed non-aggression treaties between the USSR and Germany did not close the possibility of further diplomatic steps to create a collective security system taking into account the interests of the USSR until the moment of Germany’s attack on Poland. After August 23, the Soviet leadership did not remove the possibility of cooperation with England and France from the agenda. There were statements about this by Molotov on August 23 and 24 and by his deputy Lozovsky on August 26. However, neither Paris nor London responded to Soviet steps. The maneuvers around the USSR were over for them. " Western democracy"focused on admonishing Hitler and searching for sophisticated forms of pressure on him.
On August 25, England, in confirmation of its guarantees to Poland, hastily concludes an agreement with it on mutual assistance of a defensive nature. However, on the same day, the British Ambassador in Berlin, F. Hendrikson, discusses with Hitler the conditions that would satisfy German claims on the Munich model. At the same time, Hitler makes the remark that he “will not be offended” if England, in order to preserve prestige, declares an “imaginary war.”
IN fateful days At the end of August, US policy was ambivalent. Instead of taking a firm position towards the aggressor, Roosevelt began sending messages to the Italian king (August 23), Hitler (August 24 and 26), and the Polish president (August 25) calling for a peaceful compromise in the confrontation between the parties. No constructive steps towards the Soviet Union were ever made on its part, as if there was no such state in the world. But he made it clear to the governments of England and France that they must take an irreconcilable position towards Germany in the event of its aggression against Poland. All the leaders in both opposing blocs were participants in the First World War, and the resolution of the current political contradictions by military means became for them a logical continuation of the previous battle. The Soviet Union, which took a position of non-intervention, was excluded from common struggle only in the first phase, counting on its subsequent involvement in the unfolding world war. Poland was cynically sacrificed.
The beginning of the European war. Military-political actions of the USSR to strengthen security
German aggression against Poland began on September 1, 1939, on the date set by Hitler back in April. The German-Polish war raged for three days. German- fascist troops quickly broke through the Polish front in all directions and rapidly developed an offensive into the interior of the country. On September 3, 1939, England and France declared war on Germany; after England, its dominions declared war. Thus, the German-Polish war turned into a pan-European war, reaching global proportions. The declaration of war on Germany by England and France, ostensibly in defense of Poland, was actually a protest against German encroachments on their imperialist interests. The plans of France and England did not provide for assistance to Poland through active military action. The war between Germany and the Anglo-French bloc was of an imperialist nature, European war, essentially unleashed both sides. Poland, sacrificed by its allies, fought a heroic, just war under unequal conditions.
The Stalinist leadership assumed that the war that broke out between the two imperialist blocs, like 20 years ago, would be long-lasting, and the weakening of its participants would make it possible for the USSR to strengthen its position; moreover, a new revolutionary upsurge was brewing in Europe during the anti-war struggle led by the Comintern. However, the above assessments of Stalin refer to the fait accompli of the outbreak of world war, and the USSR, unlike the Western powers, before last days looked for ways to a reliable alliance with them to prevent it, even after concluding a non-aggression pact with Germany.
The United States was counting on a long war in Europe, pushing England and France to declare war on Germany. The military power of the Anglo-French bloc, which opposed the alliance of the Central Powers 20 years ago, seemed sufficient for a long war. U Western politicians The hope was also not lost by bargaining with Hitler, despite the declared war, to direct the aggressor, who had reached the immediate borders of the USSR, to the East.
Poland was a victim of both the shortsightedness and arrogance of its rulers, and the treachery of its Western allies. It became a testing ground where the first test of the strategy of the German General Staff was carried out - waging war in the form of a “blitzkrieg”. Two weeks later, the Polish army was surrounded and cut into pieces, and battles began for Warsaw. The Polish government and military command fled to Romania on September 17, where they were interned. The Polish people, abandoned by their allies and their leadership, fought an unequal war with the aggressor for more than a month for their lives and national existence. At the end of September, the emigrant government of V. Sikorsky was formed in Paris, which later moved to London.
France and England announced mobilization and began deploying troops on the border. They were opposed by only 23 personnel and 10 reserve divisions, poorly trained and lacking sufficient tank and artillery weapons, as well as air cover. Further German field marshal Keitel and OKW Chief of Staff General Jodl admitted that Germany did not collapse in 1939 only because the Anglo-French troops in the west did not take any action against the German military barrier, which had no real defensive capabilities.
During Polish campaign The German leadership repeatedly (September 3, 8 and 10) forced the Soviet government to quickly enter the Red Army into Poland, thereby pushing for allied actions not provided for by the non-aggression pact, hoping to drag the USSR into a war with England and France. The Soviet government stated that troops would enter only to protect the Ukrainian and Belarusian populations and evaded this pressure with "congratulations and greetings" to the German government on the success of its troops in Poland.
On September 17, the Soviet government made a statement: “The Polish state and its government ceased to exist, and consequently, the treaties concluded between the USSR and Poland ceased to be valid. In this regard, the Soviet Union cannot remain neutral and is forced to take under the protection of its half-blooded Ukrainian and Belarusian population, as well as remove the impending threat to the borders of the USSR.” By this time, German troops had violated the demarcation line provided for by the secret protocol (Tissa, Narev, Vistula, San), and were rapidly moving towards the river. Western Bug and Lvov. Entry began on September 17 Soviet troops to the territory of Western Ukraine and Belarus.
Population of Western Ukraine and Western Belarus the majority greeted Soviet troops as their liberators. Many Polish units offered no resistance and laid down their arms. Near Lvov, Soviet units clashed with German troops for the first time. After this, Hitler gave an urgent order for German troops to withdraw beyond the river. Vistula and r. San. German units voluntarily left Brest, and the Soviet brigade under the command of S. M. Krivoshein entered the city without a fight.
On September 28, 1939, a new agreement on “friendship and border” was concluded between the USSR and Germany, with three protocols attached to it (two of them secret). An agreement was also reached on extensive economic program. This time the border has been revised and moved away from the river. Vistula to the river Bug to the Curzon line, as envisaged the borders of Poland and Soviet Russia Treaty of Versailles(i.e. along the ethnic border). In exchange, Germany renounced its claims to Lithuania. How can we explain the emergence of this agreement? It is characteristic that the joint statement of the Soviet and German governments of September 28 in connection with its signing is rarely mentioned in historiography.
After the completion of the operation in Poland, the German armed forces reached the border with the USSR. England and France, having declared war on Germany, did not conduct military operations - the " strange war", which allowed Hitler to defeat Poland in a short time. The Anglo-French leadership continued behind-the-scenes negotiations with Germany. Stalin did not believe in the validity of the non-aggression pact of August 23. The threat of Germany's advance to the east was not removed, and the possibility of a conspiracy between the Western allies and Hitler at the expense of the USSR was not ruled out. Hitler also feared the USSR's rapprochement with the West. The treaty of September 28, signed in the new international situation, consolidated the non-aggression pact of August 23, mutually guaranteeing against military conflict with each other. Stalin could now believe that German aggression would not be continued to the East in the near future. The actions of the Soviet government had their own logic, which was quite accurately expressed by W. Churchill at that time: “Russia is carrying out cold politics own national interests... to protect Russia from the Nazi threat it was clearly necessary for the Russian army to stand on this line" ( established border with Germany under an agreement. - Approx. ed.).
But the analysis cannot be limited to this only. The joint statement of the Soviet and German leadership in connection with the signing of this treaty contained a call for an end to the war between Germany, on the one hand, and England and France, on the other.
Documents and materials:
After the German Government and the Government of the USSR, with the agreement signed today, finally settled the issues arising as a result of the collapse Polish state, and thereby created a solid foundation for lasting peace in Eastern Europe, they mutually agree that the elimination real war between Germany, on the one hand, and England and France, on the other hand, would meet the interests of all peoples. Therefore, both Governments will send their common efforts in case of need, agreement with other friendly powers in order to achieve this goal as quickly as possible. If, however, these efforts by both Governments remain unsuccessful, then the fact will be established that England and France are responsible for the continuation of the war, and in the event of a continuation of the war, the Governments of Germany and the USSR will consult each other on the necessary measures.
Based on the fact that the ongoing war has an imperialist character on both sides, Stalin instructs the Comintern to speak out against the war, expose its imperialist character, vote against war loans where there are communist deputies, tell the masses that the war will not give them anything, except hardship and ruin. This was a repetition of the Bolshevik tactics at the beginning of the First World War. He counted on a revolutionary upsurge in Europe associated with anti-war protests. Thus, Stalin, having concluded an agreement on September 28, makes an attempt to stop the world war, gain time to strengthen the positions of the Soviet Union and intensify revolutionary struggle V Western Europe. It should be noted that these were not vain hopes. Thus, on December 15, 1939, US Ambassador to London Kennedy, in a closed report to the command of the US armed forces, said: “By the end of this year, if not earlier, the people of England, France and all of Europe will be ready for communism.” For Hitler, calls for peace were just a camouflage and cover for the impending offensive in the West.
British government circles, although they rejected Hitler’s proposals for peace, expressed their readiness to begin negotiations “with by the German government, which you can trust." And indeed, during this first, strangely peaceful and wait-and-see military winter, probing negotiations were held between British diplomats and German opposition circles on the terms of concluding peace.
In government circles in England and France there was a struggle between supporters of peace and supporters of continuing the war. The most important factor in this situation could be the position of the United States. Roosevelt refused to become a mediator in the negotiations and did not support the idea of concluding peace. At this time, the created special Anglo-French purchasing commission ordered more than 3.5 thousand aircraft from the United States. American military production increased significantly due to investment from France and England.
The entire period of the strategic pause in the fall of 1939 - winter of 1940 in historical literature different countries received an unflattering name: among the Americans - a “phantom or imaginary” war; among the British - the “twilight war”; the Germans have a “sitting war”; The French have a “strange war”. For six months, England and France slowly continued to mobilize their armies and deploy them along the Franco-German and Franco-Belgian borders. By the spring of 1940 Western allies there were 110 French and 10 British divisions there.
While the West was accumulating forces for a military battle, the Soviet Union was taking measures to strengthen its positions and implement the agreements reached with Germany on territorial issues. In the current political situation The Soviet Union proposed Baltic countries conclude agreements on mutual assistance. They were forced to conclude such agreements: Estonia signed the agreement on September 28, Latvia - on October 5, Lithuania - on October 10. According to the agreements, Soviet military garrisons are stationed on their territories. The Vilnius region, illegally seized from it by Poland, was transferred to Lithuania. Germany evacuated the German population from the Baltic states. The political circles of the Baltic republics understood that in the new political conditions they were not able to ensure their independence between the two great powers. According to the annexes to the treaties between Germany and the USSR, the Baltic states became part of the “zone of interests of the USSR”; otherwise, it would inevitably become the territory of the “Third Reich”. The fate of the Baltic peoples under the fascist yoke is characterized by Hitler’s Ost plan - this is genocide and Germanization, transformation Baltic Sea to the "German lake".
Defeat and capitulation of France. Fascist domination in Europe. preparations for an attack on the USSR
In the spring of 1940, Hitler's Germany launched a strategic offensive against the Anglo-French bloc. The first blow was struck in April on the northern flank of Europe with aggression against Denmark and Norway. Denmark capitulated without a fight; in Norway, German landings met stubborn resistance. England and France, who carelessly allowed the landing, tried to help Norway, but to no avail. With the help of Norwegian fascists - the “Quis-Lings” - the Germans occupied Norway at the end of April. Germany's strategic positions for fighting at sea and in the air were significantly improved, its north coast protected. The prestige of the German Wehrmacht rose even more. In England, Chamberlain's government resigned, and the energetic Churchill, an irreconcilable opponent of Hitler, became prime minister.
On the morning of May 10, the strategic offensive began German troops against the combined Anglo-French forces in France and the invasion of the territory of Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg. A strong beat seven German tank divisions supported by dive bombers across mountain range The Ardennes towards the English Channel coast was unexpected for the Allies, and it decided the fate of the campaign. After 5 days, the main Allied forces were cut off from their rear and pressed against the port of Dunkirk. The British troops were in a critical situation, but Hitler ordered the advance to be stopped for three days and allowed the British and part of the French to evacuate across the strait to England. The mystery of Hitler's “stop order” has not yet been fully revealed, but the meaning of this gesture towards England is clear.
The end of the war in France came quickly. Having not exhausted the possibilities of resistance, French government capitulated June 22, 1940 Big role The “fifth column” also played a role in this - pro-German, pro-fascist circles in the upper strata of France. Northern France The Germans occupied, and its southern half was given under the control of a puppet government led by Marshal Petain with its capital in Vichy. At the last moment, Italy entered the war with France, and according to the truce it received several hundred meters of French land. Hitler felt at the height of his glory.
The surrender of France, unexpected for everyone, including Hitler himself, dramatically changed the entire military-political situation in the world. A long war in Europe did not take place. Arose real threat both for the USSR and the USA. In fact, preparations for an attack on the USSR, on Hitler’s orders, began immediately after the defeat of France. On July 2, the commander-in-chief reported to him ground forces General Brauchitsch outlines the main plans for the war in the East.
England, left alone, stood on the verge of defeat. Winston Churchill and his comrades managed to strengthen the resilience of the English people in the fight against the enemy. Hitler again proposed to make peace with England. The parliament and government of England hesitated, but Churchill convinced them not to believe Hitler and continue the war. Although history has not received accurate evidence of this fact, Churchill may have already known Hitler’s decision to begin preparations for war against the USSR and the order he gave about this after the capture of Paris. The future joint struggle of the USSR and England with the support of the United States could become an obstacle to the world domination of Nazi Germany, as this ideological opponent believed Soviet power. In anticipation of such a turn of events, Churchill gave the famous order: to wake him up at night only in two cases - when the Germans landed on British territory or when Hitler attacked the Soviet Union.
The struggle between Germany and England unfolded at sea and in the air. The USA supported England, helping it financially and in protecting ocean communications. Began " undeclared war Roosevelg" against Germany, and in the sky above British Isles- "Battle of England". Roosevelt understood the need to strengthen counteraction to the aggression of German fascism, but was forced to limit US intervention in the European war due to the significant influence of supporters of traditional American “isolationism” in American politics.
Germany continued to assert its dominance in Europe. By the end of 1940 Hitler's Germany captured 10 European countries, 7 countries became its allies. England was under continuous air strikes and under an underwater blockade from the sea. In April 1941, fascist troops occupied Yugoslavia and Greece. All of Europe found itself under the fascist yoke. The Soviet Union stood on the path to world domination of German fascism.
Germany had been preparing for an attack on the USSR since the summer of 1940 under the guise of an allegedly planned invasion of England (Operation Sea Lion). Back on July 31, 1940, Hitler, in the circle of the Nazi leadership, declared: “Russia must be liquidated. The deadline is spring 1941. The sooner we defeat Russia, the better.” Preparations for war were masked by active diplomatic activities, widespread disinformation, extension of the trade and credit agreement with the USSR. The Soviet Union strictly complied with the terms of the agreements and deliveries under them, but the Soviet government's anxiety was growing. Taking this into account, the Nazi leadership invited Molotov to Berlin (November 12 - 13). The Fuhrer wanted to personally express his views on future relations between the two countries. During Molotov’s visit, to Hitler’s displeasure, there were harsh clarifications of mutual positions on a number of acute problems. Molotov was offered to participate in the division of the inheritance British Empire and join the tripartite pact of Germany, Italy and Japan. Having avoided discussing the first, he agreed to discuss the second proposal, but on conditions that would be set out later, after returning to Moscow. On November 26, Molotov presented these conditions to the German Ambassador Schulenburg, who transmitted them to Berlin. They included: the immediate withdrawal of German troops from Finland, the conclusion by the Soviet Union of a mutual assistance agreement with Bulgaria and the creation of a base within reach of the Bosporus and Dardanelles, the cancellation of coal and oil concessions in Northern Sakhalin by Japan, the area south of Batumi and Baku is recognized as the sphere of interests of the USSR . Molotov's statement remained unanswered.
Hitler finally approves on December 18, 1940 the plan of attack on the USSR (“Barbarossa”) and begins to take measures to fully ensure it. This shows that the meeting in Berlin was one of Hitler's political maneuvers to cover up the preparations for the attack.
Preparing the USSR to repel aggression of Nazi Germany.
Having concluded agreements with fascist Germany, the Soviet Union will be its potential enemy and will prepare aggression under favorable circumstances. The only obstacle could be the strengthening military power and improving the strategic position of the USSR. It was carried out along these lines active work Soviet leadership in those stormy years of the war that unfolded in Europe.
After concluding mutual assistance agreements with the Baltic republics, next step was the solution to the security problem of Leningrad and Murmansk from Finland. Of all the countries that separated from Russian Empire, it was Finland that for many years pursued the most hostile policy against the USSR and more than once put forward in the press territorial claims to the USSR (in the event of its war with Japan and Germany), in government circles there was a strong influence of former tsarist dignitaries.
Back in March 1939, the USSR began negotiations with Finland and offered guarantees of immunity. The USSR requested territorial concessions in the Leningrad area in order to strengthen its security and provide the Soviet Union with a lease of a number of islands in Gulf of Finland. In exchange, part of the territory of Karelia was offered. Finland rejected Moscow's initiative. This issue arose again in early October 1939, when, on the basis of a non-aggression pact with Germany, Finland was included in the sphere of interests of the USSR. Soviet territorial claims were expanded, but on a compensatory basis. Once again the Finns rejected these proposals, and, to strengthen their position, Finnish government began army mobilization and evacuation major cities border zone. Stalin makes a decision: “Since the peace negotiations have not led to results, it is necessary to use military force organize, approve and consolidate the security of Leningrad and, therefore, the security of our country.” In Stalin's recently published report at the meeting commanding staff April 17, 1940 emphasizes military-economic and military-political significance Leningrad as the second capital of the USSR. The beginning of the Great Patriotic War showed the need to move the border away from Leningrad for its defense.
On the morning of November 30, 1939, Soviet troops of the Leningrad Military District crossed the border of Finland and began fighting. The so-called “winter”, “unfamous” season has begun Soviet-Finnish war. Since the military action began without preliminary preparation, on which the General Staff insisted and for which he was removed from the leadership of combat operations, serious disruptions, failures and significant losses began. Persistent resistance Finnish army was provided by powerful fortifications of the deep-echelon defensive “Manner-Game Line.” The Soviet troops were not prepared for its breakthrough, and the harsh winter complicated the conduct of hostilities. The war dragged on for almost three and a half months.
After stubborn fighting, Soviet troops broke the resistance and captured the city of Vyborg, creating a threat to the Finnish capital. The Finnish cabinet and the foreign policy commission of the Sejm were forced to conclude peace, but on more stringent Soviet conditions, without any territorial compensation. On March 11, 1940, a peace treaty was signed and hostilities ceased. The border was moved away from Leningrad by 150 km, from Murmansk - by 50 km, and the Hanko Peninsula was leased for a period of 30 years. The USSR's strategic position in the northwest was improved, but the USSR lost significantly in public opinion and was expelled from the League of Nations. It is characteristic that of the 52 states that were part of the League, 12 did not send their representatives to the conference, and 11 did not vote for expulsion. Among these 11 were Sweden, Norway and Denmark, who knew well the positions of Finland and the USSR and did not consider the Soviet Union an aggressor. This war gave rise to the idea in the West that the USSR was a minor power militarily. She also created acute conflict with England, France, USA.
The sharp change in the foreign policy situation after the defeat of France in the early summer of 1940 intensified the activities of the Stalinist leadership to improve the strategic position of the country. During the period of Germany's offensive in the West, the Soviet government feverishly took measures to realize the opportunities received in accordance with the pact of August 23, 1939. This was hampered by the position of the governments of the Baltic states. On June 14, 1940, the government of the Soviet Union demanded that the government of Lithuania, and on June 16, 1940, the governments of Latvia and Estonia, resign and ensure the formation of new governments capable of implementing mutual assistance agreements. A. Zhdanov, A. Vyshinsky, and V. Dekanozov were sent to the Baltics to monitor the implementation of the put forward requirements. Under their supervision, new cabinets of ministers were created, which legalized the activities of the Communist parties and prepared public opinion for holding elections to the highest government bodies. July 14 at Baltic states representatives won the elections communist parties and those close to them public organizations. On July 21, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia adopted declarations on state power Soviet type and about joining the USSR. The Supreme Council The USSR granted the request of the Baltic republics to join the Soviet Union. This was not a forced occupation, as Baltic nationalists now claim. The political acts of the governments of the republics were based on internal political forces, they were based on the real situation of that time and reflected the desire of peoples to protect themselves from the threat of fascist aggression.
At the same time, the problem of Bessarabia was resolved. On June 26, 1940, the USSR in the form of an ultimatum demanded that Romania return Bessarabia captured in 1918 and transfer Northern Bukovina within 4 days. The latter's appeal to England and Germany for help remained without consequences. On June 27, the Crown Council of Romania satisfied the USSR's demand. On June 28, Soviet tank units and motorized infantry occupied the entire required territory. Northern Bukovina was transferred to Ukraine, and the Moldavian Soviet Republic was formed on the basis of the Moldavian ethnic group.
The Soviet leadership continues to accelerate measures to strengthen its defense capability. The transfer of the army to a single personnel system recruitment, accelerated re-equipment with the latest military equipment is underway, the number of troops is being brought to 5.3 million, they are being deployed combat training, the military network is expanding educational institutions. Allocations for military needs have increased sharply, and military industry and production the latest weapons and military equipment. However, all this was marked by haste due to the obvious
growing military threat. In the spring of 1941, the General Staff of the Red Army, together with the headquarters of districts and fleets under the leadership of the chief General Staff G. K. Zhukova developed the “Defense Plan state border 1941." According to this plan, the troops of the first strategic echelon of the 5 border districts should, in the event of a German attack, cover the mobilization, concentration and deployment of the main forces of the Red Army with a stubborn defense and create conditions for their decisive offensive against the invading aggressor. During April and May, troops from border districts were replenished and second-echelon formations were secretly transferred to concentration areas under the guise of exercises. Attempts by anti-Soviet historians and publicists to present these events as “preparation of the USSR for a preventive attack on Germany” only show their bias and military-historical incompetence. German researchers in work edited by prof. Rurup's "Germany's War against the USSR 1941 - 1945", published in 2000, once again documented Hitler's initiative to prepare for an attack on the USSR.
By this time Hitler's army completed the deployment of its forces for the offensive according to the Barbarossa plan, approved by Hitler on December 18, 1940. Four strike groups concentrated 190 German and allied divisions (5 million people), about 3 thousand tanks, 5 thousand aircraft, 43 thousand. guns and mortars, 200 warships (there were 103 divisions in the first echelon). Main blow aimed at Moscow, two more strikes were planned for Kyiv and Leningrad, the Finnish group was heading for Murmansk and Karelia.
The Nazi leadership was so confident in the success of the Barbarossa plan that from the beginning of 1941 they began developing a large-scale plan to gain world domination. It is set out in draft directive No. 32 of June 11, 1941. It provided for the procedure for taking possession of the British Isles, all colonies of England, the Near and Middle East and outlined a connection with Japanese troops in India, as well as the capture of Northern, Central Africa and exit to Atlantic coast with the prospect of transferring hostilities to South America.
What did Hitler count on when he launched a war against the USSR? First of all, he believed that he had a cohesive German Empire, the most powerful in its history, a huge, well-trained armed force at the zenith of its glory and power.
For the first time in history, Germany relied on the economy of the entire Europe. Hitler's strategists hoped to win with the preemptive deployment of armed forces and the unprecedented power of the first surprise strike decisive battle in a short time, after which the Soviet Union, they believed, would inevitably collapse.
Turning the full power of the military machine to the East, Hitler counted on a quick victory over the Soviet “colossus in feet of clay" However, England's stubborn resistance and its support for the United States filled him with fear. Taking into account the experience of the First World War, he sought to avoid a war on two fronts and is again trying to persuade England to a peace agreement. “The Hess Mission” - one of the secrets of World War II - has not yet been fully revealed. Hess (Hitler's first deputy in the party) flew to England on a private plane in May 1941 and was arrested, held as a prisoner, but was repeatedly brought forward to the British government various offers on an agreement with Germany during the war. In 1990, M. Thatcher extended the secrecy of the Hess dossier for another 30 years. Recently published NKVD documents prepared for Stalin indicate: “Hess was sent by Hitler to peace talks. If Germany agrees, it will immediately attack the Soviet Union.”
IN March 1939 German troops occupied all of Czechoslovakia, some border areas were occupied by Hungary and Poland. The country was divided into the protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, ruled by Hitler's viceroy, and the Slovak state, where a fascist-type regime was established. March 15, 1939 German troops part of the capital of Czechoslovakia, Prague It was already clear to most politicians that Germany would not stop there. In the spring of 1939, representatives of the USSR, Great Britain and France began to discuss the possibility of concluding a mutual assistance treaty. In August 1939, delegations from the three countries met in Moscow. However, the Western powers adhered to the tactics of delaying negotiations, did not want to take on specific obligations, and sent delegations to Moscow that did not have sufficient authority. At the same time, the British government conducted secret consultations with Germany. Ten days of trilateral negotiations in Moscow did not produce any results. At this time, the German leadership turned to the Soviet government with a proposal to immediately sign a non-aggression pact. German Foreign Minister J. von Ribbentrop arrived in Moscow. August 23, 1939 People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the USSR V. M. Molotov and J. von Ribbentrop signed a non-aggression pact between the USSR and Germany for a period of 10 years. The secret additional protocol to the treaty provided for the delimitation of the spheres of interest of the contracting parties in Eastern Europe. The demarcation line was drawn across the territory of Poland - along the Narew, Vistula, and San rivers. Finland, the Baltic states, as well as Bessarabia were recognized as the sphere of interests of the USSR. The news of the signing of this agreement, even without information about its secret part, stunned international circles both in its unexpectedness and in the very fact of the agreement being concluded by ideological opponents - the Nazi and communist states. Existing and potential allies of Germany and the USSR were unpleasantly surprised by this turn of events. In Japan, which at that time was fighting against Mongolian and Soviet troops on the Khalkhin Gol River, after news of the treaty the government resigned (it was believed that it had “lost face”). The agreement was no less a surprise for the brainchild of the Bolsheviks - the Comintern. The leaders of the Communist parties were asked to consign to oblivion the slogans of the struggle against fascism, and this in conditions when many countries were already under the rule of fascist-type regimes. Despite the rapid conclusion of the agreement on August 23, 1939, each of the participants was aware of the benefits he received from it. The Soviet Union, finding itself in a certain international isolation, postponed for a time the threat of a German attack. Germany freed its hands for further actions in Europe, primarily against Poland. It was only a matter of time before Hitler took his next step.
36. Causes and main stages of the Second World War.
Causes of World War II and the general balance of power
World War II began on September 1, 1939, when Germany suddenly invaded Poland. Gradually, according to some sources, 61 states were drawn into the war, according to others - 72, from all continents: Eurasia, Africa, America and Australia. 80% of the entire world population took direct or indirect part in military events. The war lasted 6 years and, according to conservative estimates, took away (also according to different sources) 60 to 70 million lives.
What were the reasons for the war?
First of all, in the confrontation between the Germany-Italy-Japan alliance and the England-France-USA alliance.
The consequences of the end of the First World War were important for the outbreak of World War II. Under the terms of the Versailles Peace Treaty of 1919, Germany returned all territories captured in the First World War to other states and recognized the full independence of Poland, Austria and Czechoslovakia. At the same time, the entire German part of the left bank of the Rhine and a thirty-kilometer strip of the right bank were subject to complete demilitarization. Germany also lost all its colonies, which were divided among themselves by the victorious powers. Of course, Germany could not like such a peace treaty.
The terms of the Treaty of Versailles are considered by some historians to be humiliating and cruel to Germany. There is an opinion that it was these conditions that led to the development of an extremely unstable social situation within the country and this ultimately led to the so-called People's Social Democrats coming to power. Another fact is cited that the most important “troublemaker” within Germany was the Rot Front and Internationalist communities, who staged putsches, proclaimed “Soviet republics,” and terrorized shopkeepers and artisans. Thanks to their actions and the humiliation that Germany suffered under the terms of the Versailles Peace Treaty, the Germans so unanimously supported a certain “front-line corporal” and allowed him to prevail in the country fascist regime, who promised the rise of the German nation, the establishment of order in the country and many other benefits. And thus, in 1933, Adolf Hitler came to power. And Hitler, in turn, decided to unilaterally “revise” the Versailles Peace Treaty as unacceptable for Germany.
Also among the reasons for the emergence of a situation favorable to the outbreak of war is weak control over the strict restrictions in militaristic terms that were imposed on Germany by the Treaty of Versailles. There is an opinion that control was carried out purely formally or not at all due to the fact that the European powers used the Hitlerite regime as a means to intimidate the USSR, which they feared no less.
The interests of European states created significant preconditions for the outbreak of hostilities. Hitler wanted a revision of the terms of the Versailles Peace, the seizure of Slavic territories and the redistribution of spheres of influence in the world. And Italy and Japan, although they were among the victors in the First World War, were not happy with its results and also counted on the redistribution of spheres of influence. England and France, for their part, sought to redirect Hitler’s aggression to the East and, instead of looking for ways to stop the militarization of Germany, they showed their loyalty and tried to stop Germany through the policy of “appeasing the aggressor.” According to the Munich Agreement of 1938, England and France agreed to secede the Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia and transfer this region to Germany, apparently in order to appease Hitler and direct his machinations towards Russia, and not towards Europe. At the same time, no one asked Czechoslovakia’s opinion regarding its region. In an effort to pit the USSR and Germany against each other, England and France apparently did not think about the fact that Hitler was unlikely to be satisfied with the Czech Republic and his aggression could turn primarily against them, as against their closest neighbors, whose actions did not suit the new German leadership.
Gradually, Hitler gained supporters. One of these supporters was Italy, which initially pursued only its own interests. When in 1934 Hitler tried to inspire an anti-government putsch in Vienna and seize Austria, Benito Mussolini spoke out sharply negatively and even moved four Italian divisions to the border with Austria. But Italy itself behaved very aggressively in the mid-30s. In 1935, Italy captured Ethiopia and proclaimed the Italian Empire. Of course, such aggressive actions did not meet with approval from the League of Nations. And the deterioration of relations with the Western powers pushed Italy towards rapprochement with Hitler. So in January 1936, Mussolini agreed to the annexation of Austria - and Hitler hastily occupied the very demilitarized zone that was established to contain Germany's aggressive actions. Moreover, France and England, not seeking to enter into an armed conflict, only formally protested against such a violation of the Treaty of Versailles.
Also in 1936, Germany concluded the Anti-Comintern Pact with Japan, according to which the two powers intend to “fight communism.” On next year Italy also joins this pact. And already in 1938, Germany easily captured Austria. Subsequently, taking advantage of favorable conditions for himself, Hitler quickly seizes the Czech Republic, creates a German protectorate on its territory, and Hungary and Poland participate in the division of the rest of Czechoslovakia. At the same time, according to historians, Slovakia is declared a pro-Nazi state, so it is not entirely clear what is left of the division of Czechoslovakia to Hungary and Poland. However, in 1939, Hungary, and a little later Spain, joined the Anti-Comintern Pact.
England and France, despite all this, continued the policy of “appeasement,” still hoping to save the Versailles system with peaceful demands. And only after Hitler violated the Munich Agreement, these countries urgently give guarantees of military assistance to Poland, and then, after Italy captures Albania, to its neighbors Greece and Romania.
What about the USSR? The leadership of the Country of Soviets also did not like the terms of the Versailles Peace Treaty. All events in Russia, starting with the revolution of 1917, the First World War and the Civil War, largely moved the USSR away from the general level of European powers, both in economic terms and in terms of political influence. The USSR is not happy with this situation. To strengthen its weight in the eyes of the public, Moscow is pursuing a demonstrative policy of pacifism, struggle for peace, and assistance to some selective victims of aggressors. All this is done to create the image of the main fighter for peace and social progress. And all this, as the leaders of the USSR hope, will help the young Soviet state acquire its due weight in the eyes of the rest of the world.
But the USSR did not want to get involved with Germany. Socialism did not yet intend to fight against Nazism.
In 1939, two opposing blocs finally emerged: England-France and Germany-Italy. Moreover, both sides fought for a third ally - the USSR. Such a dual and indecisive position of England and France, who could not choose what they wanted - a war between Germany and the USSR or the USSR joining the anti-Hitler alliance, of course, did not lead to positive results. Despite the fact that Hitler seemed to be planning to fight the communists, on August 23, 1939, the USSR signed a non-aggression pact with Germany, according to which the USSR received Hitler’s consent to send its troops into Western Ukraine and Western Belarus. This agreement allowed the USSR not to enter the war. Apparently, the decisive factor was the opportunity to agree on the division of spheres of influence between the Baltic states and Poland, while England and France clearly would not have entered into such an agreement.
The agreement with Germany led to the forced annexation of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia to the USSR in 1939-1940.
At the same time, Poland is hindering Hitler by concluding an agreement with England and France and hoping for their military assistance, refusing Hitler the so-called “Polish Corridor” and not wanting to make concessions to him. The Polish Corridor is a term coined by the Poles themselves to designate the Polish territory that separated the German exclave East Prussia from main German territory.
At the same time, Japan has been occupying Manchuria and Northern China since 1931, and since 1937 has been making attempts to advance deeper into Chinese territory. In response to this, England, the USA and the Netherlands are announcing economic sanctions against Japan. The USSR joins, especially since military conflicts with Japan in the Far East have long threatened to turn into a full-scale war. Nevertheless, Japan could not yet fight in two directions: against the USSR and against the United States and its allies. Japan chose the direction to the south, which apparently seemed more productive to it (in fact, why does Japan need the Siberian taiga, in which it can get bogged down?) and concluded a peace treaty with the USSR on April 13, 1941 for a period of 5 years. Apparently, during this period Japan intended to deal with its other opponents and then return to the issue of attacking the USSR.
As you know, on December 7, 1941, after the Great Patriotic War between the USSR and Germany began, Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, thereby forcing the United States to enter the war. Since December 1941, the Sino-Japanese War has also been considered part of World War II.
36 37Researchers identify the following main stages of the Second World War:
The first stage from September 1, 1939 to June 21, 1941 - The period of the European blitzkrieg of Germany and the Allies;
Second stage June 22, 1941 - approximately mid-November 1942 - Attack on the USSR and the subsequent failure of the Barbarossa plan;
The third stage, the second half of November 1942 - the end of 1943 - A radical turning point in the war and Germany’s loss of strategic initiative. At the end of 1943, at the Tehran Conference, in which they took part Stalin , Roosevelt and Churchill, it was decided to open a second front;
The fourth stage lasted from the end of 1943 to May 9, 1945. It was marked by the capture of Berlin and unconditional surrender Germany;
Fifth stage May 10, 1945 – September 2, 1945 - At this time, fighting takes place only in Southeast Asia and the Far East. The United States used nuclear weapons for the first time.
38. USSR as part of the anti-Hitler coalition.
From the first days of the Great Patriotic War, an anti-Hitler coalition began to take shape. On June 22, 1941, British Prime Minister W. Churchill made a statement of support for the Soviet Union. US President F. Roosevelt spoke on the radio on June 23. He promised the USSR material assistance. Soon the Soviet-Czechoslovak and then the Soviet-Polish agreements on providing mutual assistance in the war against Germany were signed. The USSR agreed to create Czechoslovak military units on its territory and Polish army. On September 27, the Soviet government made a statement of support for the French people in the fight against Germany.
On July 12, 1941, an agreement was signed between Great Britain and the USSR “on joint actions in the war against Germany.” Both sides pledged not to conclude a separate peace with Germany. On September 29, a conference of representatives of the USSR, USA and Great Britain met in Moscow. It developed a plan for Anglo-American supplies of weapons and food to our country. In accordance with the Lend-Lease Act, the United States provided the USSR with a loan of $1 billion.
On January 1, 1942, in Washington, representatives of 26 states of the anti-Hitler coalition signed the “Declaration of the United Nations.” The document spoke of using all the resources of these countries to fight against the German bloc. During the war, more than twenty more countries joined the Declaration.
On May 26, 1942, the USSR and Great Britain entered into an agreement on an alliance against Germany, on cooperation and mutual assistance after the war. On June 11, 1942, the USSR and the USA signed an agreement on the principles of mutual assistance. The United States pledged to supply the Soviet Union with military materials. In May 1942, Soviet-British and Soviet-American negotiations took place. A declaration was signed on the opening in 1942 by Great Britain and the United States of a second front in Europe against Germany. Anglo-American troops were unable to fulfill this agreement. In 1942-1943. they waged war on Pacific Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, Atlantic, North Africa, Sicily and Southern Italy.
In October 1943, 1 Moscow hosted a conference of the foreign ministers of the USSR, USA and Great Britain. The Allies took
undertake the obligation to wage war until the enemy lays down his arms and capitulates.
On November 28, 1943, a conference of the heads of government of the USSR, USA and Great Britain opened in Tehran. At the conference, the plans of the allies were agreed upon, the scale and timing of military operations were determined. Issues of the post-war structure of Germany were discussed. It was decided to open a second front no later than May 1944. In accordance with this agreement, on June 6, 1944, Anglo-American troops landed on the coast of France. The Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces in Western Europe was D. D. Eisenhower.
In August 1944, an international conference was held in Washington. It was devoted to the development of the initial draft of the UN Charter.
In August-September 1944, Germany was declared war by its recent allies - Romania, Finland, Bulgaria, and Hungary. The fascist bloc collapsed
In February 1945, a meeting of the heads of government of the USSR, USA and Great Britain took place in Yalta. Decisions were made on joint actions in the final stage of the war. After the war, Germany and Berlin were temporarily divided into occupation zones. A decision was made to condemn war criminals and oblige Germany to pay reparations in the amount of 20 billion dollars (the USSR received 10 billion). The conference participants discussed the issue of creating the UN. The USSR government promised the allies to enter the war with Japan no later than 3 months after the surrender of Germany.
On July 17, 1945, an international conference met in Potsdam to discuss the outcome of the war. She confirmed and clarified the decisions Yalta Conference about the post-war structure of the world and resolved issues related to the payment of reparations by Germany. Armed forces Germany was dissolving. The National Socialist Party was banned, its leaders were subject to arrest and trial. The Soviet Union confirmed its commitment to enter the war with Japan. The USSR was given Königsberg (now Kaliningrad) and its surrounding areas, and Poland was given lands along the Oder and Neisse.
In April 1945, the Soviet government annulled the neutrality pact between the USSR and Japan. On August 6 and 9, 1945, the United States dropped two atomic bombs to the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Soviet Union entered the war with Japan on August 9, 1945.
within three weeks the main enemy forces were defeated. Continuing the offensive, the Soviet army liberated South Sakhalin, Manchuria, and a number of cities and ports of North Korea. All the islands of the Kuril chain were occupied, including four that had not previously belonged to Russia. On September 2, 1945, the Japanese delegation aboard the American battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay signed the instrument of surrender. The Second World War is over.
The creation of the anti-Hitler coalition and the active cooperation of the allies played an important role in the victory over Germany.
39. “Cold War”: beginning, causes, main events from the mid-1940s to the mid-1960s.
After graduation Second World War , which became the largest and most brutal conflict in the entire history of mankind, a confrontation arose between the countries of the communist camp on the one hand and Western capitalist countries on the other. Between the two superpowers of that time, the USSR and the USA. The Cold War can be briefly described as a competition for dominance in the new post-war world.
The main reason for the Cold War was the insoluble ideological contradictions between the two models of society, socialist and capitalist. The West feared the strengthening of the USSR. The lack of a common enemy among the winning countries, as well as the ambitions of political leaders, also played a role.
Historians highlight next steps cold war:
March 5, 1946 - 1953 - The Cold War began with Churchill's speech in Fulton in the spring of 1946, which proposed the idea of creating a union of Anglo-Saxon countries to fight communism. The US goal was an economic victory over the USSR, as well as achieving military superiority. In fact, the Cold War began earlier, but it was by the spring of 1946, due to the USSR’s refusal to withdraw troops from Iran, that the situation seriously worsened.
1953 – 1962 - During this period of the Cold War, the world was on the brink of nuclear conflict. Despite some improvement in relations between the Soviet Union and the United States during the Thaw Khrushchev , it was at this stage that the anti-communist uprising took place in Hungary, events in the GDR and, earlier, in Poland, as well as Suez crisis. International tensions increased following the development and successful test USSR in 1957 intercontinental ballistic missile.
However, the threat nuclear war retreated because the Soviet Union now had the opportunity to retaliate against US cities. This period of relations between the superpowers ended with the Berlin and Caribbean crises of 1961 and 1962, respectively. Allow Caribbean crisis succeeded only during personal negotiations between the heads of state - Khrushchev and Kennedy. Also, as a result of the negotiations, a number of agreements on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons were signed.
1962 – 1979 - The period was marked by an arms race that undermined the economies of rival countries. Development and production of new types of weapons, required incredible resources. Despite the presence of tension in relations between the USSR and the USA, agreements on the limitation of strategic arms are signed. The joint Soyuz-Apollo space program is being developed. However, by the beginning of the 80s, the USSR began to lose in the arms race.
1979 – 1987 - Relations between the USSR and the USA deteriorate again after the entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan. In 1983, the United States deployed ballistic missiles at bases in Italy, Denmark, England, Germany, and Belgium. An anti-space defense system is being developed. The USSR reacts to the actions of the West by withdrawing from the Geneva negotiations. During this period, the missile attack warning system is in constant combat readiness.
1987 – 1991 - Coming to power in the USSR in 1985 Gorbachev , entailed not only global changes within the country, but also radical changes in foreign policy, called “new political thinking.” Ill-conceived reforms completely undermined the economy of the Soviet Union, which led to the country's actual defeat in cold war.
The end of the Cold War was caused by the weakness of the Soviet economy, its inability to no longer support the arms race, and also by pro-Soviet communist regimes. Anti-war protests in various parts of the world also played a certain role. The results of the Cold War were dismal for the USSR. A symbol of the victory of the West. was the reunification of Germany in 1990.
As a result, after the USSR was defeated in the Cold War, a unipolar world model emerged with the dominant superpower of the United States. However, there are other consequences of the Cold War. This fast development science and technology, primarily military. Thus, the Internet was originally created as a communications system for the American army.
Today, many documentaries and feature films have been made about the Cold War period. One of them, telling in detail about the events of those years, is “Heroes and Victims of the Cold War.”
40. World collapse colonial system in the second half of the 20th century
By the middle of the 20th century. The economic insolvency of the colonial system was finally revealed. Granting national independence former colonies and mutually beneficial cooperation with them also met the interests of the metropolitan countries, since the latter was much more effective than primitive exploitation. The British authorities understood this before others, and soon after the Second World War they granted independence to India and Pakistan, Burma (Myanmar), Jordan, and Ceylon (Sri Lanka). In those same years, France recognized the independence of Syria, Lebanon and the countries of Indochina. In 1949, Indonesia gained independence, where for several years there was a guerrilla war against Dutch rule. This was the beginning of the collapse of the colonial system. With the independence of Malaya (1957), only minor colonial territories remained in Asia. But Africa continued to remain, in its own way, a preserve of colonialism. In the 50s only a few countries in North and West Africa became independent (Tunisia, Morocco, Ghana, Guinea), but in 1960 a turning point occurred. France, unable to withstand the stress of the protracted war in Algeria, decided to give up its gigantic possessions - Western and Equatorial Africa. In their vast territories, 11 independent states arose. That same year, Belgium granted independence to the Congo (Zaire). In this state, a whole range of difficulties characteristic of young people is clearly evident. African countries. Unrest broke out and developed into a tribal civil war. A massacre of the local population against the Europeans began, and Belgian troops were again brought into the country. After several years of political and economic chaos, the military dictatorship of Marshal Mobutu was established in the country for many years (1965-1997). The tragedy of Congo (Zaire) did not stop the process of liberation in Africa. In March 1962, France had to end the war in Algeria and recognize its right to independence. In 1960, England granted independence to the largest country on the continent by population - Nigeria. After the overthrow of the totalitarian dictatorship in Portugal, its colonies - Mozambique and Angola (1975) became independent. Leaving African countries, the former metropolises sought to maintain their influence there in one form or another. Other states, primarily both superpowers, also competed for influence in these countries. The USSR attempted to bring Egypt and Libya, Ethiopia and Somalia, Mozambique and Angola under its control; in some places pro-communist regimes were temporarily established. In Angola, for example, a long civil war was unleashed, in which large military formations transferred from Cuba and instructors from the USSR and the GDR took part. The United States preferred economic forms of penetration into Africa, which in general turned out to be more effective. A special situation has developed in southern Africa, where Republic of South Africa(South Africa) and Southern Rhodesia, the local white minority was in power, pursuing a policy of apartheid against black Africans - open, legally enshrined racial discrimination. As a result of many years of struggle by Africans for their rights, as well as pressure from the democratic powers of the West, the white rulers of South Africa and Southern Rhodesia were forced to abandon the apartheid policy and hold elections with the participation of the black majority. As a result, in 1980 the latter came to power in Southern Rhodesia (it became known as Zimbabwe), and in 1992 - in South Africa. In a number of African countries, after gaining independence, modernization has been quite successful; in others, this process is complicated by the persistence of local tribal strife, sometimes leading to civil wars. The most developed country on the continent remains South Africa, where the economy was modernized along Western lines even before the Second World War. (This was facilitated by the presence in the country of unique deposits of valuable minerals - gold, platinum, diamonds, uranium, manganese, chromites, etc., as well as the possibility of using ultra-cheap labor of the indigenous population.) However, in general, African countries in terms of economic development lag significantly behind the leading industrial powers. Africa is the last large region of the world in which the problems of modernization have not been solved by the end of the 20th century. In recent years, another problem: in a number of African countries the ideas of Afrocentrism, first formulated in the USA back in late XIX V. Afrocentrism preaches the superiority of black Africans (including American blacks) over people with white and yellow skin and, in fact, is black racism. The ideology of Afrocentrism has more than once led to violence against whites in a number of African countries, as well as in the United States.
41. Development trends in European countries and the United States in the 1950-1960s.
42 Socio-economic and political development of the USSR in 1945-1953.
During the war years, the USSR lost a third of its national wealth. Only the military industry became stronger. It was necessary to choose the path of economic revival: 1) support the emerging relaxations and trends towards independence in the localities without orders from the Center (Voznesensky, Kuznetsov, Rodionov, etc.) or 2) return to the model of the 30s (Malenkov, Beria),
Rising international tensions, a poor harvest and the famine of 1946 led to a victory for the proponents of coercive measures. A return to the development scheme of the 30s was developed and theoretically justified by Stalin in his last job“Economic problems of socialism in the USSR”, which outlined the course towards the nationalization of agriculture - the creation of state farms. The Fourth Five-Year Plan provided:
Restoration and development of industry, especially heavy industry;
Restoring the 8-hour working day;
Elimination of mandatory overtime;
Restoration of vacations.
But working conditions remained difficult. The achievements of scientific and technological revolution were introduced only in the defense industry.
Results of the five-year plan - fast growth in 1947-48 - was replaced by a slowdown that lasted until 1954 - everything was reminiscent of the 30s. The socialist model was not viable. The people, with their heroic labor, restored cities and enterprises. Agriculture after collectivization was the most backward in the Soviet economy.
In 1946, drought in Ukraine, Moldova, and southern Russia caused a famine, which was hushed up, and at that time grain was exported to countries of Eastern Europe. The leadership of the country, based on the needs of the state and not taking into account the capabilities of collective farms, demanded the implementation of plans at any cost. Control over agriculture. The technical equipment of agriculture remained low, taxes were constantly rising, purchase prices were low, and workdays were actually not paid. The state did not have money for the development of collective farms.
In 1947, the card system was abolished and currency reform, but this did not lead to an increase in the purchasing power of the population. The situation was aggravated by forced annual loans. The lack of queues in stores was explained by high prices compared to wages. The price reduction affected only the urban population. Life in the village was getting worse.
After the war politic system began to recover. The first repressions fell on the military, whose increasing influence Stalin feared. The “Leningrad Case” is being fabricated - against people from the Leningrad Party organization, which has spread throughout the country (2 thousand repressed). During the war years besieged Leningrad managed to survive without the help of the center.
The system of ideological leadership (chief ideologist A. Zhdanov) excluded any free thinking. Workers of science and culture suffered - Akhmatova, Zoshchenko. Mikhoels, Shostakovich and many others. Connections with world science were severed, which for decades determined the lag of Soviet science behind the world level in a number of areas.
Ideological, political and military-strategic confrontation between the capitalist and socialist systems. There is an “export of socialism” when communists were brought to power in countries liberated from fascism by the Red Army, or in violation of the agreements on the democratic choice of the people signed by the USSR at the Yalta and Potsdam meetings of the “Big Three” (USSR, USA, Antlia). USSR assistance to the communists of China, North Korea, Berlin
The crisis of 1949 contributed to the emergence of the Atlantic Pact (NATO).
The Stalinist leadership was hostile to any deviations from the “socialist model.” The independent position of the Yugoslav leaders displeased Stalin and led to a crisis in Soviet-Yugoslav relations.
In 1949, the USSR created its own atomic weapons, which ensured its position in the world. Therefore, the foreign policy of the first post-war decade was characterized by wariness and hostility.
43 Socio-economic and political development USSR in 1953 – 1964 The era of Khrushchev.