The real causes of World War II. The real causes of the Second World War: what did Germany achieve
The Second World War was the bloodiest and most brutal military conflict in the history of mankind and the only one in which nuclear weapons were used. 61 states took part in it. The dates of the beginning and end of this war, September 1, 1939 - 1945, September 2, are among the most significant for the entire civilized world.
The causes of the Second World War were the imbalance of power in the world and the problems provoked by the results of the First World War, in particular territorial disputes. The United States, England, France, who won the First World War, concluded the Treaty of Versailles on the most unfavorable and humiliating conditions for the losing countries, Turkey and Germany, which provoked an increase in tension in the world. At the same time, adopted in the late 1930s by Britain and France, the policy of appeasing the aggressor made it possible for Germany to sharply increase its military potential, which accelerated the transition of the Nazis to active military operations.
The members of the anti-Hitler bloc were the USSR, the USA, France, England, China (Chiang Kai-shek), Greece, Yugoslavia, Mexico, etc. From Germany, Italy, Japan, Hungary, Albania, Bulgaria, Finland, China (Wang Jingwei), Thailand, Finland, Iraq, etc. participated in World War II. Many states - participants in the Second World War, did not conduct operations on the fronts, but helped by supplying food, medicines and other necessary resources.
Researchers 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.
The second stage June 22, 1941 - approximately the middle of November 1942. The 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 the loss of Germany's strategic initiative. At the end of 1943, at the Tehran Conference, in which Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill took part, a decision was made 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 the unconditional surrender of Germany.
Fifth stage May 10, 1945 - September 2, 1945. At this time, the battles are fought only in Southeast Asia and the Far East. The United States used nuclear weapons for the first time.
The beginning of World War II fell on September 1, 1939. On this day, the Wehrmacht suddenly began aggression against Poland. Despite the retaliatory declaration of war by France, Great Britain and some other countries, no real assistance was provided to Poland. Already on September 28, Poland was captured. The peace treaty between Germany and the USSR was concluded on the same day. Having thus received a reliable rear, Germany begins active preparations for war with France, which capitulated as early as 1940, on June 22. Nazi Germany begins large-scale preparations for war on the eastern front with the USSR. The Barbarossa plan was approved already in 1940, on December 18th. The Soviet top leadership received reports of the impending attack, but fearing to provoke Germany, and believing that the attack would be carried out at a later date, they deliberately did not put the border units on alert.
In the chronology of the Second World War, the period of June 22, 1941-1945, May 9, known in Russia as the Great Patriotic War, is of the utmost importance. The USSR on the eve of World War II was an actively developing state. Since the threat of a conflict with Germany increased over time, defense and heavy industry and science developed first of all in the country. Closed design bureaus were created, whose activities were aimed at developing the latest weapons. Discipline was tightened to the maximum at all enterprises and collective farms. In the 30s, more than 80% of the officers of the Red Army were repressed. In order to make up for the losses, a network of military schools and academies has been created. But for the full-fledged training of personnel, time was not enough.
The main battles of the Second World War, which were of great importance for the history of the USSR, are:
The battle for Moscow on September 30, 1941 - April 20, 1942, which became the first victory of the Red Army;
The Battle of Stalingrad July 17, 1942 - February 2, 1943, which marked a radical turning point in the war;
Battle of Kursk July 5 - August 23, 1943, during which the largest tank battle of World War II took place - near the village of Prokhorovka;
The Battle of Berlin - which led to the surrender of Germany.
But events important for the course of World War II took place not only on the fronts of the USSR. Among the operations carried out by the Allies, it is worth noting in particular: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, which caused the United States to enter World War II; the opening of a second front and the landing of troops in Normandy on June 6, 1944; the use of nuclear weapons on August 6 and 9, 1945 to strike at Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The date of the end of the Second World War was September 2, 1945. Japan signed the act of surrender only after the defeat of the Kwantung Army by the Soviet troops. The battles of the Second World War, according to the most rough estimates, claimed, on both sides, 65 million people. The Soviet Union suffered the greatest losses in World War II - 27 million citizens of the country were killed. It was he who took the brunt. This figure is also approximate and, according to some researchers, underestimated. It was the stubborn resistance of the Red Army that became the main reason for the defeat of the Reich.
The results of World War II horrified everyone. Military operations have put the very existence of civilization on the brink. During the Nuremberg and Tokyo trials, fascist ideology was condemned, and many war criminals were punished. In order to prevent such a possibility of a new world war in the future, at the Yalta Conference in 1945 it was decided to create the United Nations (UN), which still exists today. The results of the nuclear bombardment of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki led to the signing of pacts on the nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction and a ban on their production and use. It must be said that the consequences of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are felt today.
The economic consequences of the Second World War were also serious. For Western European countries, it turned into a genuine economic disaster. The influence of Western European countries has significantly decreased. At the same time, the United States managed to maintain and strengthen its position.
The significance of the Second World War for the Soviet Union is enormous. The defeat of the Nazis determined the future history of the country. According to the results of the conclusion of the peace treaties that followed the defeat of Germany, the USSR significantly expanded its borders. At the same time, the totalitarian system was strengthened in the Union. In some European countries, communist regimes were established. Victory in the war did not save the USSR from the mass repressions that followed in the 1950s.
The causes of the Second World War is one of the main issues in the history of the 20th century, which has an important ideological and political significance, as it reveals the perpetrators of this tragedy, which claimed over 55 million human lives. For more than 60 years, Western propaganda and historiography, fulfilling a socio-political order, have been hiding the true causes of this war and falsifying its history, seeking to justify the policy of Great Britain, France and the United States in complicity in the aggression of fascism, and shift the responsibility of the Western powers for unleashing the war to the Soviet leadership.
The falsification of the history of the Second World War became a weapon of the Cold War in the destruction of the USSR, which was initiated by the ideological sabotage of A. Yakovlev and M. Gorbachev, who organized the condemnation of the Soviet-German non-aggression pact on August 23, 1939 by the Second Congress of People's Deputies in December 1990. It was used by the separatists to withdraw the Baltic republics from the Soviet Union and incite anti-Sovietism.
Now, in the conditions of the crisis of the world capitalist system, in the West, aspirations have arisen to revise the results of the Second World War at the expense of the Russian Federation, the legal successor of the USSR in international relations. Accordingly, a new wave of anti-Sovietism is rising, using the falsification of history. The beginning of this ideological and psychological offensive was laid by US President George W. Bush in 2008 with the statement: "German national socialism and Russian communism are two evils of the 20th century.", thereby equating fascist Germany with its winner - the Soviet Union. On September 1, 2009, Polish President L. Kaczynski stated that "World War II was unleashed by Germany and the Soviet Union". The causes of the Second World War have again become a topical historical topic for public consciousness, requiring a convincing scientific and historical justification from modern positions.
The most characteristic scheme of falsification, widely used in the ideological and psychological struggle against the USSR, was the following statements: "Conspiracy between Hitler and Stalin August 23, 1939 led to the Second World War". At the same time, the Western powers are presented as defenders of freedom and democracy and the main winners (and primarily the United States) in World War II. This primitive and thoroughly false scheme is imposed on public opinion by the media and historical literature, counting on the low level of knowledge of the general population, especially young people.
In Soviet historiography, the causes and nature of the Second World War received deep scientific coverage in the 12-volume History of the Second World War 1939-1945. and subsequent scientific works (1). The current level of military and military-historical science, new documentary sources make it possible to deepen the understanding of the essence of the processes that led to the war, and to oppose scientific knowledge to new falsifications of history. An analysis of the strategic planning documents of the Anglo-French and Anglo-American coalitions in relation to the global military-political situation makes it possible to convincingly reveal the true political goals of the leadership of these countries before and during the war. Politics usually hides or masks its goals, but military strategy, as a tool for implementing policy, inevitably exposes them.
Domestic military science, both Soviet and modern, considers war as a socio-political phenomenon, which is a continuation of politics - the continuation of the political struggle of the opposing sides with the use of military violence (2). The First and Second World Wars were rooted in the struggle of the leading world powers for sources of raw materials and markets for their monopolies. Militarism is an integral feature of imperialism, and the production of weapons for mass armies in the 20th century. became a profitable business. The well-known Western sociologist I. Wallerstein writes: "Even world wars are beneficial to the capitalists ... regardless of which side they support"(3).
Two world wars, separated by a short interwar period, were the result of contradictions caused by world economic crises: the First World War - the crisis of the early 1900s, and the Second - the crisis of 1929-1933. Both wars were unleashed with the cruel prudence of the big bourgeoisie, who for the sake of their profits neglected the sacrifices of millions of people and the hardships of peoples. And there is no reason to believe that the nature of imperialism has changed, the experience of the 20th century. warns contemporaries about the threat of such a development of events.
The First World War was fought for the redivision of the world—the redivision of the colonies; the Second—already for the world domination of one of the leading powers in the opposing military blocs of the imperialist states. The inter-imperialist contradictions that led to the Second World War were superimposed on inter-formational ones—between imperialism and the first socialist state in history—the USSR. Each of the imperialist blocs had the goal of either destroying the USSR or weakening it so much as to subordinate it to its own interests and change the social system. At the same time, the mastery of the territory and resources of Russia was considered necessary to achieve world domination.
These are the deep, socio-economic and geopolitical causes of the Second World War, which are carefully bypassed by bourgeois Western and domestic pro-Western historiography and journalism. They tear off the history of the Second World War from the causes and results of the First, violating the principle of historicism, ignoring the connection between politics and economics, falsifying the political goals of the Western powers before the war and their direct participation in unleashing the war. A favorite technique is also the personification of the causes of the war - the desire to explain it by the activities of individual politicians, leaving aside the underlying, socio-political causes (4).
Unlike the First World War, the Second World War unfolded gradually as an escalation of the aggression of the fascist states (Japan, Italy, Germany) against individual countries under the guise of "the fight against Bolshevism". The start date of the war on September 1 is conditional, and not all countries accept it. The fascist leadership, taking into account the experience of the First World War, sought to deal with its main opponents consistently, one by one, playing on the contradictions between them, preventing the formation of a powerful anti-fascist coalition.
The Soviet leaders, seeing already in the 30s the growing threat of fascist aggression, tried to create a system of collective security in Europe by signing mutual assistance treaties with France and Czechoslovakia in 1935. However, the policy voiced by the English conservative Lord Lloyd prevailed in the West: “We will provide Japan freedom of action against the USSR. Let it expand the Korean-Manchurian border to the Arctic Ocean and annex the Far Eastern part of Siberia to itself ... We will open the road to the East for Germany and thereby provide her with the much-needed opportunity for expansion. In this way, it will be possible to divert Japan and Germany from us and keep the USSR under constant threat ”(5).
The Munich agreement and the dismemberment of Czechoslovakia in September 1938 played an ominous role in the outbreak of the Second World War. The fragile balance of peace in Europe collapsed, the security system of 1935 was destroyed. Great Britain and France signed non-aggression declarations with Germany, openly directing fascist aggression to the east, against the USSR. The Soviet Union found itself in political isolation. According to the American historian F. Schumann, politicians in England, France and the United States believed that giving the fascist troika a free hand ... would lead to a German-Japanese attack on the Soviet Union, while the Western powers could remain neutral for some time while "fascism and communism will destroy each other"(6). Numerous facts testify that the monopolies and banks of England, the USA and France supplied fascist Germany with military materials, contributed to the development of its military-industrial complex and provided loans for this.
The signing in Munich on September 30, 1938 of an agreement by Great Britain, France, Germany and Italy on the division of Czechoslovakia can now be called the "Day of complicity of the Western powers to fascism and the outbreak of the Second World War." At the same time, it is important to give a modern definition of fascism based on the experience of the 20th century. Fascism is the most reactionary, terrorist dictatorship of big capital with the ideology of racism and anti-communism. The ideology of racial domination - fascism - is antagonistic to the ideology of social and national equality - communism.
Great Britain, France, and the United States stood behind them, sought to resolve their contradictions with the countries of the fascist bloc at the expense of the USSR with the division of its territory (“the legacy of Russia”) according to the plans of 1918-1919, in the implementation of which politicians took part during the intervention, operating in the 1930s-1940s. However, Western politicians, blinded by anti-Sovietism, overlooked the danger of aggression by fascist Germany, which had grown in power, against the Western powers themselves. Hitler, convinced of the weakness of the Anglo-French alliance, decided to start the struggle for world domination by defeating France and England.
In the spring of 1939, the fascist bloc launched an open offensive against the interests of the Western powers. Hitler, violating the Munich agreements, captured Czechoslovakia, the Lithuanian port of Klaipeda and the surrounding area. Italy occupied Albania, Japan captured the islands of Spartly and Hainan. Germany terminates the German-Polish non-aggression pact, demanding the return of Danzig and part of the territory of Poland, and most importantly, the return of the colonies taken away by the Treaty of Versailles. At the same time, plans are being developed for a war with Poland and preparations for a war in the west.
On April 3, Hitler approves the Weiss plan - an attack on Poland no later than September 1, and on April 11 - a directive on the unified training of the armed forces in the war of 1939-1940, which provided for a clash with the Western powers. This was 4 months before the signing of the Soviet-German non-aggression pact. Moreover, these documents provided that “Russian assistance… Poland will not be able to accept…”(7). Hitler's strategists also took into account the data they knew about the slow buildup of British forces and the absence of coordinated Anglo-French plans for military operations in the European theater of operations. The calculation was carried out on the fleeting defeat of Poland ("blitz krieg").
On March 18, the Soviet Union expressed a strong protest against the fascist aggression and proposed to immediately convene an international conference with the participation of the USSR, Great Britain, France, Poland, Romania and Turkey. However, this proposal was not supported - the ruling circles of these countries hoped to come to an agreement with the fascist leadership. At the same time, the threat to the interests of France and Great Britain caused them to conclude an alliance on March 22 on mutual assistance in the impending war, after which joint strategic planning of military operations began. In the spring of 1939, the General Staffs developed a global war plan - the "General Strategic Warfare Policy" (8).
An analysis of the strategic planning documents of the Anglo-French coalition reveals the true political goals of the leadership of these countries in unleashing the Second World War. These documents have not received sufficient coverage in Western historiography for political reasons. The absence of many documentary sources made it impossible to conduct a detailed study in Soviet military history works.
First of all, it should be noted that the Anglo-French plan does not consider an isolated war with Germany, but a global strategy for a long world war with a bloc of fascist states. It provides for military operations in the Mediterranean, North African theaters of operations, in the Middle East and the Far East - in the areas of the colonial possessions of Great Britain and France. This proves that the political goal of entering the war was mainly to protect colonial interests, that is, the war began as an imperialist one.
In Europe, the plan provides for a defensive strategy at the beginning of the war with the involvement of other states in the war and the creation "an extended, strong and durable front in Eastern Europe"(nine). This explains the policy towards Poland and Romania. Great Britain and France declared independence guarantees for Poland, then for Romania, Greece and Turkey. However, the Baltic countries did not receive guarantees, which essentially provided Germany with the opportunity to move east. English historian J. Butler notes: - “... the document dated May 4 indicated ... the participation of Poland and Romania could be of great importance for the Western powers only if ... Poland and Romania received Russian assistance, at least in the form of weapons, ammunition and tanks”(10).
As can be seen from these documents, the Anglo-French leadership, plotting the creation of a solid front in the east of Germany during the war, did not set as its goal the formation of a military alliance with the USSR, the mentioned "Russian assistance to Poland and Romania" could only lead to the inevitable involvement of the USSR in the war with Germany. Competent strategists were well aware that this was not about a military alliance, but about involving the Soviet Union in the war.
Poland, as the main object of the initial stage of the war, is involved in military agreements with France and Great Britain. On May 19, a Franco-Polish protocol is signed, providing for France's obligations in the event of Germany's aggression against Poland. However, the Polish leadership did not know that in terms of the headquarters of France and Great Britain, the fate of Poland would be determined only "... the overall results of the war, and the latter in turn will depend on the ability of the Western powers to defeat Germany in the long run, and not on whether they can ease pressure on Poland at the very beginning"(11).
Thus, Poland was sacrificed by its allies even before the outbreak of hostilities. But it is important to emphasize that neither France with England, nor Poland with Romania envisaged a military alliance with the USSR even before the signing of the Soviet-German one on August 23, 1939. Germany also planned a war with Poland, regardless of the possibility of its conclusion. Consequently, this treaty did not change the intention of waging war by both sides. In this situation, only the conclusion of a military alliance between the USSR, Britain and France could stop the aggression and the unleashing of a global military battle, which dramatically changed the balance of forces between the parties.
The Soviet leadership proposed to Great Britain and France to conclude an agreement on mutual assistance in case of aggression against one of the countries and assistance to any country bordering the USSR in case of aggression against it, including a specific military convention on the forms and methods of this assistance. However, the answer was negative.
Such a policy of Chamberlain and Halifax was sharply criticized in England, D. Lloyd George, W. Churchill and C. Attlee advocated the speedy conclusion of an Anglo-French-Soviet treaty, and Chamberlain was forced to yield. On May 27, the Soviet government received the Anglo-French draft treaty of the three powers, which did not contain direct obligations to help the USSR. The counter draft of the Soviet leadership of June 2, indicating the need to conclude a military convention, forced Chamberlain to agree to talks in Moscow with Special Representative W. Strang. What instructions Streng received is hidden in classified documents (12).
Trilateral negotiations in mid-July stalled due to the refusal of the Anglo-French allies to accept specific obligations and resumed only after the Soviet-German trade negotiations began. The time before the planned date for the fascist attack on Poland, which was known in London and Moscow, was running out, and there were no concrete results from the negotiations. The military delegation of the Allies arrived in the USSR only on August 12 to develop a military convention and without the authority to conclude specific treaties (13). Soviet intelligence reported that the British leadership was conducting simultaneous negotiations with Hitler, and the military delegation in Moscow was instructed to "strive to reduce military agreements to the most general formulations" (14).
It was clear to all political and military leaders - both in Berlin, and in Paris and London, and in Moscow - that the spread of the world war could only be stopped by the creation of an Anglo-French-Soviet military alliance (reconstruction of the Entente 1914-1917). This was achieved by the Soviet leadership, the evasion of England and France from concluding such an alliance indicates that the leaders of these countries intended to carry out their global strategic plan of involving Poland and the USSR in the war, without committing themselves to an active struggle against German aggression in the east.
In the current situation, the position of the United States is changing dramatically. If during the Munich crisis they approved of the position of concessions, now Roosevelt took an uncompromising position. An economic recession began in the United States, and a prolonged war in Europe could prevent a new economic crisis.
Hitler needed a war with Poland to establish his position in the country, to strengthen the rear in the subsequent offensive against France, and also as a springboard for a future war against the USSR. Having his supporters in the political circles of the Western powers, he sought to prevent the formation of a new Entente - the conclusion of their alliance with the USSR, and conducted diplomatic negotiations "to resolve the conflict", giving hope for the possible development of his aggression to the east according to the Munich scenario. The calculation was for the fastest defeat of Poland and the subsequent offensive in the West.
Negotiations in Moscow with the Anglo-French military delegation by August 20 had reached an impasse due to Poland's refusal to cooperate with the USSR. The Polish leaders are preparing for negotiations with Hitler, their pathological anti-Sovietism, mixed with Russophobia, and blind hope for the help of the Western allies have ultimately led Poland to disaster.
Under the circumstances, Hitler takes emergency diplomatic measures. He insistently, almost in the form of an ultimatum, offers the Soviet leadership to conclude a non-aggression pact in order to exclude the military intervention of the USSR in the impending war. It is noteworthy that at the same time, in the course of the Anglo-German negotiations, Goering's trip to London was also being prepared, for which a special aircraft was at the ready (15).
The Soviet leadership, convinced that England and France were not going to enter into a military alliance with the USSR, decides to sign a non-aggression pact with Germany and agrees on August 21 for Ribbentrop to come for this. The agreement was signed on 23 August. Hitler, insisting on signing the treaty, had a choice: if the USSR refused, he could agree with the West on the Munich version of resolving the Polish question on an anti-Soviet basis. This threatened the Soviet Union with the fact that Germany would occupy a dominant position in Eastern Europe, possibly with access to the borders of the USSR, and was able to create an anti-Soviet military alliance with Poland, Finland, the Baltic republics, Romania, and also with Turkey, with the threat of the USSR on east from Japan, which has been written about more than once in the West. That is why, in objective Western historiography, the decision of the Soviet leadership to sign this treaty is assessed as the “best possible” option (16).
For the Anglo-French leaders, the conclusion of the treaty meant the loss of hopes of drawing Germany into a war with the USSR during the world war planned by both sides, and in general, the collapse of the Munich policy of “sewage of aggression to the east” at this stage in the development of events.
However, the Munichers sought to preserve Poland and their positions in Eastern Europe for themselves by bargaining with Hitler. Negotiations with the USSR were terminated, despite the fact that the Soviet leadership three times declared its readiness for further diplomatic steps - Molotov on August 23 and 24, his deputy Lozovsky on August 26. The basis of Western diplomacy was Chamberlain's letter to Hitler dated August 22. It confirmed the intention of the Allies to fulfill their obligations to Poland. "... whatever the essence of the Soviet-German agreement may be ..." and readiness to wage a world war, "... even if success is ensured (by Germany. - Author's note) on one of several fronts." However, it was proposed to continue negotiations "... in which broader issues affecting the future of international relations, including issues of mutual interest, would be jointly discussed"(17).
So the thesis is: "Conspiracy between Hitler and Stalin unleashed a world war"- absolutely false. The Soviet-German non-aggression pact of August 23, 1939 did not unleash a war, but only equalized the position of the USSR in relations with Germany with the position of Great Britain and France, which signed such declarations with Hitler as a result of the Munich agreement in 1938. The German attack on Poland also did not depend on the conclusion this treaty, because it was planned in advance and would be carried out under any conditions, except for a joint Anglo-French-Soviet rebuff to this aggression. Britain's and France's rejection of such an alliance thwarted this one possibility, and their entire long anti-Soviet policy contributed to Germany's aggression.
An analysis of the strategic plans of the opposing coalitions shows that both sides were preparing to enter the world war in the autumn of 1939. The fascist bloc was preparing for fleeting military campaigns, avoiding a war of Germany on two fronts, the Anglo-French bloc was preparing for a long war on several fronts with the involvement of others in the war states. The German attack on Poland was considered by both sides as the start of a global war, similar to Serbia in the First World War, but without the participation of Russia - the USSR.
The conclusion of the Soviet-German non-aggression pact brought the Soviet Union out of the threat of the most dangerous variant of involvement in the world war - the aggression of the fascist states from the west and east and in the conditions of the country's international isolation. The USSR found itself out of the battle of the imperialist states for almost two years, which made it possible to significantly increase its military power. Stalin prudently conditioned the conclusion of the treaty by dividing lines of spheres of interest, limiting the zone of domination of fascist Germany in Eastern Europe to 300 km from the existing borders of the USSR, which was of great strategic importance.
In general, this treaty is legally justified and historically justified. As follows from the documents of strategic planning, he was not involved in unleashing the war in Europe. The unleashing of the war was determined by Germany's aggression against Poland and the decision of the Anglo-French leadership in response to this to go to war with Germany.
Consider the key events of this period, little covered in the literature.
Hitler, having received Chamberlain's message on August 22, realized that a new Munich agreement was being proposed at the expense of Poland. The Polish government was preparing for negotiations with Germany. Great Britain, in order to keep Poland and warn Hitler, concludes an agreement on mutual assistance with it on August 25, but does not advise the Polish leadership to announce a general mobilization, hoping for negotiations. On the same day, Hitler sent an answer to Chamberlain's message. It expresses readiness to conclude an alliance with Great Britain if German demands are met. In a conversation with the British ambassador in Berlin, N. Henderson, Hitler made a remark that nothing terrible would happen if England declared a “show war” for reasons of prestige, it was only necessary to stipulate the key points of future reconciliation ahead of time (18).
Henderson brought an official response to Hitler's proposal two days later. Chamberlain announced that he was ready to accept the demands of Germany, "make friendship the basis of relations between Germany and the British Empire, if the differences between Germany and Poland are settled peacefully"(nineteen). But the second conspiracy of the West with fascism after "Munich" did not take place, since the Nazi leadership needed a war, and he had the hope that the Anglo-French politicians would not dare to enter the war. The Weiss plan was put into action with the beginning of the aggression on 1 September.
In these dramatic days, when Chamberlain and his entourage hesitated in making a decision, the position of the United States was of great importance. But London and Paris were told that the United States did not consider it necessary to contribute to the appeasement of Germany, and if they did not declare war after her aggression, they would not be able to count on American assistance in the future. After the war, US Ambassador to England John F. Kennedy asserted: “Neither the French nor the British would have ever made Poland the cause of the war, if not for the constant instigation of Washington” (20).
Already after the attack on Poland with the gangster provocation of the Nazis, the Anglo-French allies were looking for an opportunity to negotiate with Hitler for another two days, and the German troops smashed the Polish army. Only on September 3, the British and French governments declared war on Germany. Hitler was able to tell the German people that Germany was on the defensive against her historical adversaries.
So who unleashed World War II? The facts presented provide the answer. If we consider the European war as the beginning of a world war, then it was unleashed on the one hand by fascist Germany, and on the other by Great Britain and France with the instigation of the United States.
What are the goals of the Western powers?
Western politicians declared that allegedly “the purpose of the war they have declared is to put an end to Nazi aggression and to eradicate in Germany the forces that give rise to it” (21). However, strategic planning documents and diplomatic actions show that the real goal was to protect their colonial possessions during a long world war with the desire to draw the Soviet Union into it. The nature of strategic actions and diplomacy in September 1939-March 1940 clearly demonstrate these true goals of the Anglo-French coalition.
The Allied command did not fulfill its promises to Poland, which could not withstand the onslaught of the main forces of the Wehrmacht. The French army took up defensive positions along the Maginot Line, while it was opposed by small and poorly trained German divisions. The attack on Poland was a political and military adventure that could lead Germany to disaster. At the Nuremberg trials, Field Marshal Keitel and 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 barrier, which had no real defensive capabilities.
By the end of September, limited hostilities on the German border had ceased altogether, and the “imaginary” war began, which was discussed in a conversation between Hitler and Henderson. The political leadership of England and France expected that Hitler, "having solved the Polish problem in his own way," would come to an agreement with the West, having received a direct border with the USSR. Negotiations began, and at the end of October Hitler expressed his intention “in five months to occupy the east and create clear conditions, which now, due to the demands of the moment, have fallen into disarray and disorder”(22).
During the German-Polish war, the Soviet leadership took measures to strengthen its strategic positions in the west. On September 15, Ribbentrop informed the NKID that "the entry of Soviet troops into Poland will save us from destroying the remnants of the Polish army, pursuing them all the way to the Russian border" (23). On September 17, the Polish government fled the country, leaving its people behind. German troops crossed the line of division of zones of interest established by the Soviet-German non-aggression pact. The Soviet government decided to send troops into Western Ukraine and Western Belarus to meet the advance of the German units. A clash occurred in the Lvov region, after which the German troops retreated to the established line. This refutes the fabrications of anti-Soviet historians that the Soviet Union allegedly entered the war as an ally of Germany.
The Soviet-Finnish war in the winter of 1940 became a reason for the West to put pressure on the USSR in order to try to find an agreement with Germany on an anti-Soviet basis. The Anglo-French leadership is preparing an expeditionary force to support Finland and is planning air strikes on the oil-bearing regions of the Caucasus with the prospect of a further offensive in the south of the USSR. The western, central direction was given to Germany (as was the case during the intervention in 1918). The search for an agreement with Germany became the goal of the Wallace Mission, the US Deputy Secretary of State. (Documents of the Western powers about this are still largely closed). But Hitler did not agree to an agreement and was preparing a decisive offensive in the West.
The end of the Soviet-Finnish war on Soviet terms finally buried the hope of organizing a joint campaign with Germany against the USSR. French Prime Minister Daladier said on March 19: “The Moscow Peace Treaty is a tragic and shameful event. For Russia, this is a great victory.” The next day, his government fell, replaced by the government of P. Reino. Chamberlain resisted, but was forced to admit that the conclusion of a peace treaty "should be assessed as a failure in the policy of the Allies" (24). These statements may serve as a response to modern falsifications of historians. "about the shameful Finnish war of the Soviet Union".
The strategic defense in the "imaginary war" of the Anglo-French coalition continued until April 1940, when, after the opportunity provided by the enemy to deploy its forces to the Wehrmacht, a strategic German offensive in the West began with an invasion of Denmark and Norway. Chamberlain's policy suffered a complete collapse, his cabinet fell, and the energetic Churchill became prime minister, who at that time believed that "Nazism is more dangerous than Bolshevism."
The subsequent offensive of the fascist troops on the western front led to the defeat of France, unexpectedly fast for everyone (including Hitler) (a little over a month) and its capitulation, without exhausting the possibility of resistance. This catastrophe of the Anglo-French coalition was the result of a vicious anti-Soviet policy and a mediocre strategy of its political and military leaders.
After the defeat of France, Hitler offered peace to Great Britain. This proposal was discussed, response proposals were prepared with conditions for Germany (the minutes of the meeting of the War Cabinet are still classified). But Churchill convinced not to agree to peace, it is possible that he was already aware of Hitler's decision to begin preparations for aggression against the USSR.
Great Britain was left alone in the confrontation with the fascist bloc, but enjoyed the support of the United States. During the second half of 1940 - spring 1941, fascist Germany established its dominance throughout Europe and launched active, but covert preparations for aggression against the Soviet Union.
Hitler makes another attempt to avoid a war on two fronts - to reach an agreement with Great Britain. On May 10, 1941, Hitler's first deputy for the party, Rudolf Hess, flew to England. The "Hess Mission" is another one of the secrets of the Second World War that was not fully disclosed; the documents of the negotiations were classified until 2017. Researcher V.I. Dashichev notes: “The main goal of the Hess mission was to neutralize England for the period of the war against the Soviet Union. This is indicated in the book "Churchill's Peace Trap" by the official historian of the British Foreign Ministry Allen Martin. He wrote that "Churchill, wanting to mislead the Germans, let them know that he was allegedly interested in negotiations with German representatives and in reconciliation with Germany" (25). According to Soviet intelligence reports, Hess "arrived in England to conclude a compromise peace". Information from the United States and Germany itself confirmed that his voyage, if successful, would speed up the attack on the Soviet Union (26). A little more than a month after Hess landed in Scotland, fascist Germany began aggression.
The defeat of the Anglo-French coalition and the threat looming over England intensified preparations for war by the United States, which feared that the fascist bloc "... will begin to seize the overseas possessions of the European colonial powers, destroying the very foundations of the political and economic relations of the United States with the rest of the world ..."(27). On January 29, 1941, an American-British staff conference opened in Washington, which lasted until March 29. Thus began the activities of the Anglo-American coalition during the "undeclared war of Roosevelt."
The general strategic plan worked out at this meeting considered the first task to be the strengthening of the British Isles, the protection of Atlantic communications and the accumulation of the forces of the US army without entering the war. In the subsequent course of the World War, it was envisaged that “The most important theater of military operations is the European theater… First you need to defeat Germany and Italy, and then deal with Japan…”(28). The world war took on an anti-fascist character, but with the predominance of imperialist goals in the policy of the Anglo-American coalition.
The attack of fascist Germany on the Soviet Union was regarded by the political and military leadership of the United States and Great Britain as "... a gift of Providence", as a "precious respite" provided (29). In the West, it was believed that the USSR would hold out for a month, maximum three months, and the future of Great Britain depended on the duration of the resistance of the Red Army. At the same time, it was clear that with the defeat of the USSR, the threat of fascist world domination sharply increased. Having declared support for the USSR, the leaders of the United States and Great Britain, however, did not take decisive steps to provide it with real assistance, fearing that "the military materials provided would not fall into the hands of the enemy."
The threatening development of events prompted Roosevelt, even before the US entered the war, to formalize a military-political alliance with Great Britain, defining the goals of the joint struggle and the post-war order of the world. He believed that during the First World War, America did not realize its potential in the post-war world due to the lack of prior coordination of interests with the allies. The meeting between Roosevelt and Churchill was scheduled for August 10, 1941 off the coast of Newfoundland in Argenshia Bay. Previously, to clarify the prospects for war on the Soviet-German front, Roosevelt's personal representative, G. Hopkins, left for the USSR.
The negotiations and the decision taken at this conference, promulgated in the form of the "Atlantic Charter", clearly show the political goals of the Anglo-American coalition in World War II. The first issue of discussion was the attitude towards the Soviet Union. Hopkins' report convinced the conference participants of the ability and firm intention of the Soviet leadership to wage a stubborn struggle against the Nazi invaders. On this issue, a unanimous decision was adopted on economic assistance to the USSR. A message was sent to the Soviet leadership with a proposal to convene a conference of the three great powers in Moscow to work out a program for the most expedient use of available resources. Characteristically, the date of the meeting was set for October 1, "when the situation on the Soviet-German front will be sufficiently definite."
The second and main issue of discussion for both sides was the problem of the post-war order of the world - the ultimate goals of the war, where sharp differences emerged. The American proposals for a joint declaration included "freedom of the seas" and "access for all peoples on an equal footing to the markets and sources of raw materials they need for their economic prosperity." This formulation made it possible for American capital to establish dominance over the economic resources of all countries, including the British Empire. Churchill objected sharply, declaring that he “became Prime Minister not at all in order to preside over the liquidation of the British Empire” ( thirty). But the American delegation was adamant, and Churchill eventually gave in, saying: "... we know that without America, our empire cannot stand"(31).
The Atlantic Charter is published on 14 August. She announced that “after the final destruction of Nazi tyranny… the people of all countries will be able to live their lives free from fear and want.” There are many generalities in this document, but it did not say how to destroy Nazi tyranny. On September 24, at the allied conference in London, the Soviet government made its declaration. It declared agreement with the basic principles of the Atlantic Charter and at the same time put forward its own specific program for the anti-fascist coalition. It pointed out that the main task was to achieve the speediest defeat of the aggressors and to determine the most effective ways and methods for achieving this goal.
On August 25, 1941, the United States Army and Navy Joint Board submitted a report to Roosevelt stating that the goal of military strategy is: "... the creation, ultimately, in Europe and Asia of a balance of power that will best ensure political stability in these areas and the security of the United States in the future and, as far as possible, the establishment of regimes conducive to economic and individual freedom"(32). This formulation provides for the main political goal of the war - ensuring American dominance in a war-weakened world.
Based on the calculations of the headquarters of the army and navy, an economic "Victory Program" was drawn up, which determined the creation of armed forces for decisive action against Germany (the army - 215 divisions, 8.8 million people) until July 1, 1943. It is noteworthy that it did not take into account no major actions of the ground forces against Japan, no active offensive actions of Russia (33). The proposals of the headquarters provided for the longest possible avoidance of the United States from actually entering the war, and the development of military production proceeded not from the possibilities of the economy, but only from strategic needs.
Unexpected for the West, the defeat of the Wehrmacht near Moscow (“Miracle near Moscow”) changed the strategic nature of the Second World War. Japan's aggression in the Pacific and the entry of the United States into World War II determined the formation of an anti-fascist coalition consisting of the USSR, Great Britain and the United States to conduct a joint armed struggle against Nazi Germany and its European allies.
Between December 22, 1941 and January 14, 1942, the first Washington Conference of the Heads of Government and Chiefs of Staff of the United States and Great Britain was held in Washington. It created allied command and control agencies for the conduct of the war by the Anglo-American coalition and developed, in general terms, a global plan for a coalition war, taking into account military operations on the Soviet-German front. During the conference, Roosevelt prepared the text of a declaration providing for the formation of a union of states fighting the fascist bloc - the United Nations. The Declaration of the United Nations was signed on January 1, 1942 by the leading countries - the USA, Great Britain, the USSR and China. Then it was signed by the leaders of 22 more countries.
The coalition war plan ("WW-1"), developed at this conference by the Joint Anglo-American Headquarters, proceeded from the concept proposed by Churchill. The first paragraph of his memorandum read: “The main factors in the course of the war at the present time are the defeats and losses of Hitler in Russia ... Neither Great Britain nor the United States should take any part in these events, except that we are obliged to ensure with punctual accuracy all the supplies we promised . Only in this way will we be able to maintain our influence on Stalin, and only in this way will we be able to weave the efforts of the Russians into the general fabric of the war.(34).
This plan presents a concrete expression of the policy of the Anglo-American coalition in the unfolding global armed struggle. The main strategic task is "the creation and compression of the ring around Germany." This ring runs along the lines of Arkhangelsk, the Black Sea, Anatolia, the northern coast of the Mediterranean Sea and the western coast of Europe. “The main goal of the Allies is to increase pressure on this ring and close the gaps in it by holding the Soviet-German front, arming and supporting Turkey, increasing our forces in the Middle East, and also by mastering the entire northern coast of Africa.”
The deployment of offensive operations on the continent was envisaged as possible in 1943, when “... favorable conditions may arise for an invasion of the continent through the Mediterranean, from Turkey to the Balkans, or by landing on the coast of Western Europe. These operations will be the prelude to the decisive assault on Germany proper.(35).
An analysis of this plan shows its connection with the first global plan of the Anglo-French coalition. A long war is planned to attrition the enemy with the participation of "an extended and stable front in the east" (now the USSR) and the expansion of the countries participating in the coalition. The coincidence of the line of the Soviet-German front, indicated by Churchill, with the boundaries of the advance of the German troops according to the plan "Barbarossa" leads one to think - is it accidental and is there an answer to this question in the "Hess case"?
In the course of a long struggle before the “decisive assault on Germany proper”, the Anglo-American coalition, according to this plan, accumulates forces, seizes the most important world strategic positions and comes to the final period of the war with the most powerful army in order to dictate its terms of peace to the defeated and weakened allies.
Such a plan of warfare proceeded from the main political goal of the Anglo-American coalition, primarily the United States, the achievement of world domination. It was linked to the common goal for all countries of the United Nations - the defeat of fascism, but a long, bloody and exhausting path both for the USSR and other participants in the war, and for the working population of their countries. For the United States, which was waging war from across the ocean, a long war contributed both to economic growth and to the receipt of huge profits for monopoly capital. German strategists also noted this: “... If America has already invested heavily in the war, she will not want to end it until she has made a tolerable business on it”(36).
The Soviet leadership persistently sought to conclude full-scale agreements on the joint struggle against Nazi Germany, its allies in Europe and post-war cooperation with Great Britain and the United States. One of the fundamental political and military issues at their conclusion in the spring of 1942 was an agreement on the opening of a second front in Europe in 1942, which could hasten the defeat of Germany by joint efforts. This was also the demand of the progressive public in the USA and England.
The history of the second front is sufficiently covered in Soviet historiography, but, as a rule, Western historians distort it, trying to justify the failure of the Anglo-American allies to fulfill their obligations for political reasons by military-strategic factors. From the standpoint of modern military history, it is important to note that when making decisions, Roosevelt and Churchill had ample opportunity to know the plans of their opponents from the decryption of diplomatic and military ciphered correspondence.
In the spring of 1942, they made a promise to the Soviet leadership to open a second front in Europe, as American historians note, "only to reassure the Soviet government" (37) on the eve of "the decisive military campaign in the summer of 1942 on the Soviet-German front." In fact, the United States and Great Britain carried out the plan to “create a ring around Germany” (WW-1) by landing in North Africa (Operation Torch). They did not communicate the information they had about the plans for the summer offensive of the fascist troops on the southern flank of the Soviet-German front to the Soviet leadership.
The breakthrough of German troops to the Caucasus and the Volga in the summer of 1942, fears that Hitler's global plan for a summer offensive might be realized, caused Churchill's trip to Moscow in August for negotiations with Stalin. Convinced that the Caucasus would not be surrendered, Churchill strengthened his decision to land in North Africa in the autumn of 1942 and gave Stalin a "firm promise" to open a second front in 1943. The meaning of the allied leadership's policy towards the USSR in this tragic period was expressed by the chief of staff of the army United States General D. Marshall, when he learned about the decision made by Roosevelt and Churchill to land troops in 1942 not in France, but in North Africa: "Soviet victories, not defeats, become the decisive prerequisite for the invasion of France".
In early November 1942, Allied troops landed in the French colonial possessions of North Africa and began to conquer the entire North African coast, closing the "ring around Germany." Fierce defensive battles were fought on the Soviet-German front near Stalingrad on the banks of the Volga, in the foothills of the Caucasus and in Novorossiysk. Everything went according to the WW-1 global strategic plan. But on November 19, 1942, the unexpected happened - the Red Army went on the offensive and inflicted a crushing defeat on the Wehrmacht near Stalingrad.
In January 1943, a conference of heads of government and military leaders of the United States and Great Britain is held in Casablanca to develop a new strategic plan. Stalin, evading personal participation in it, announced his hope that the promised second front would be opened in the spring of 1943. The US Army Chief of Staff, General Marshall, proposed a calculated landing plan in France in 1943 for a decisive victory over Germany in a short time. As a result of a 10-day discussion of various options, as the English historian M. Howard writes: “In conversations with Churchill, Roosevelt showed great interest in the idea of invading Sicily, after which the “Mediterranean strategy” was finally adopted”38. At the same time, it was clear that a landing in Sicily makes it possible to withdraw Italy from the war, but makes it impossible to land in France, i.e., the opening of a second front in 1943. The allies' disinformation operation made it possible to mislead the Germans about the landing area on the Mediterranean Sea , but showed the German command that there would be no second front in Europe in 1943.
The adoption of a Mediterranean strategy instead of opening a second front was essentially a continuation of the WW-1 plan for a protracted war, a war of attrition for the USSR. The absence of a second front in the summer of 1943 provided an opportunity for Germany to take revenge for Stalingrad and thereby prevent a decisive offensive by the Red Army. At the conference, it was also planned to involve Turkey in the war, to induce her to send her troops to the Balkans during the retreat of German troops. USSR Ambassador in Washington M.M. Litvinov, analyzing the policy of the Allies during this period, wrote: “There is no doubt that the military calculations of both states are based on the desire for maximum exhaustion and wear out of the forces of the Soviet Union in order to reduce its role in resolving post-war problems. They will wait for the development of hostilities on our front."(39).
The results of the winter-spring offensive of the Red Army in 1943 seriously worried the leadership of the Allies. At talks in Washington on March 17, Hopkins stated: “...Unless we act quickly and for sure, one of two things can happen: either Germany becomes communist, or there will be complete anarchy ... In fact, the same thing can happen in any European state, as well as in Italy ... "(40).
On May 11-27, a new allied conference (“Trident”) was held in Washington. It made the final decision: to strike the main blow against Germany, the invasion of the continent would be carried out across the English Channel to France by May 1, 1944. After the capture of Sicily in the summer of 1943, the Allies would continue military operations in the Apennines in order to withdraw Italy from the war. Churchill's proposal to invade Europe through the Balkans was rejected.
On June 4, Stalin received a message from Roosevelt, from which it followed that in 1943 the second front would not be opened. Stalin sharply replied that the Soviet government could not join such a decision, which could have grave consequences. In correspondence with Churchill, Stalin stressed that it was about saving millions of lives in the occupied regions of Western Europe and Russia and about reducing the colossal losses of the Soviet armies. In the modern anti-Soviet information campaign on the issues of losses in the USSR during the war years and the "cruelty of Stalinism", Western and pro-Western Russian historiography and journalism deliberately hide the policy of dragging out the war by the Anglo-American coalition, contrary to Stalin's demands for the quickest and most decisive defeat of fascist Germany.
The defeat of the fascist troops in the Battle of Kursk, the unfolding strategic offensive of the Red Army in the summer of 1943 caused a change in policy and the development of a new strategy for the allies, for which the next inter-allied conference was convened in Quebec (“Quadrant”) on August 14-24. It was preceded by a special report by the US Committee of Staffs on the role of the USSR in the war and on the position of the allies in relation to the Soviet Union. It argued that Russia occupies a dominant position in World War II, is a decisive factor in the defeat of the countries of the fascist bloc, and even after the opening of the second front, it will be secondary to the Russian front. With regard to the war in the Pacific, the defeat of Japan, together with the Soviet Union, will be completed at less cost and sacrifice for the United States. This report concludes about the increased role of the US alliance with the USSR and the need to maintain friendly relations with it.
At the conference, a new coalition war plan for 1943-1944 was discussed and approved. Now he provided for joint strategic actions with the USSR in order to end the war as soon as possible (according to the plan - in 1944). The main operation is the landing of troops in Northern France (preliminary date - May 1, 1944). “After large forces of the allied forces are in the territory of France, operations will be undertaken aimed at the very heart of Germany ...” (41). Roosevelt believed that Anglo-American troops should enter Berlin before the Russians, than to establish the United States as the main winner in World War II and ensure a dominant position in Europe and the world. The plan also provided for an emergency operation to occupy Berlin and other major centers of Germany in the event of a rapid collapse of the Soviet-German front or internal German events (Operation Rankin, the plan of which was carefully concealed from Soviet leaders).
Alternative options were also considered at the conference. The Office of Strategic Services (OSS - the predecessor of the CIA) presented a project "how to turn the power of a still strong Germany against the Soviet Union" (42). At a meeting of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Marshall posed the question: “... in case the Russians achieve overwhelming success, will the Germans assist our offensive in order to repulse the Russians”(43).
The conference approved a plan of action to withdraw Italy from the war. Roosevelt and Churchill sent Stalin the terms of Italy's surrender. In a response message, Stalin, not objecting to these conditions, said that the situation when the USA and England conspire, and the USSR remains a passive observer of the conspiracy, "is impossible to endure any longer."
The next decision on the global strategic plan was made after the completion of the radical change on the Soviet-German front and throughout World War II, by the leaders of all three powers at the Tehran Conference. On the eve of it in November 1943, Roosevelt believed: “If things in Russia continue as they are now, then it is possible that next spring a second front will not be needed” (44). The basis of the strategy of the Anglo-American allies was the desire "not to be late for Europe" and to occupy the territories necessary for a profitable post-war world order.
The Tehran Conference (November 28-December 1, 1943) marked the beginning of the development and implementation of a common coalition strategy of the anti-fascist coalition to achieve the fastest victory over Nazi Germany and its allies in Europe with the opening of a second front in France. The Soviet leadership undertook to coincide with this time a new offensive. Stalin gave his preliminary consent to enter the war with Japan after the end of the war in Europe. The fundamental questions of the post-war order of the world were also discussed.
Specific political goals and strategic decisions at various stages of the further conduct of the war by the Anglo-American coalition were determined under the influence of three main factors: the offensive of the Soviet armed forces; the rise of anti-fascist resistance in the occupied and allied countries of Germany and the role of communist parties in it; the activities of the anti-Hitler opposition in the highest German circles associated with the secret services of the allies. The main political goal was to assert its dominance in Europe by capturing the territory of the countries occupied by fascist troops, forestalling the entry of the Red Army into them. In the context of a rapidly changing military-political situation, the strategic actions of the armed forces were the main factor in resolving issues of the post-war structure.
After the Tehran conference, Roosevelt and Churchill returned with their military advisers to Cairo, where, between December 3-7, 1943, they finalized plans for military operations. Churchill tried to revive the "Balkan option" with the involvement of Turkey in the war in order to preempt the offensive of Soviet troops in the Balkans and Central Europe. But the leadership of Turkey evaded such a decision, and Roosevelt did not insist. The main Allied operation was the invasion of Northwestern France in May 1944. On the Italian front, it was planned to continue the offensive with the capture of Rome and the central part of the Apennines. Characteristically, in the event of a “rapid collapse of Germany”, an emergency landing of troops in various regions of Europe was also envisaged, with a specific delimitation of the zones of occupation by the British and American armed forces. The Western intelligence services knew about the plot against Hitler, had links with the conspirators, who planned to open the western front for the Anglo-American troops and hold the eastern front against the Soviet troops. On May 24, 1944, the US State Department informed the Soviet Embassy about these proposals, but emphasized that the policy of unconditional surrender remained in force and no proposals would be accepted without the participation of the USSR (45).
The offensive in Italy did not produce the desired results, but pinned down significant Allied forces and slowed down the landings in southern France. The entire protracted Italian campaign did not justify the hopes of the leadership for the withdrawal of allied troops from Northern Italy to the Balkans, to Central Europe - to Vienna, in order to forestall the entry of the Red Army.
The Allied landing in Normandy on June 6, 1944 was successful, but after fixing on the bridgehead, the troops slowly moved forward for a month, accumulating forces with complete air supremacy and the weakness of the German defense. The failure of the assassination attempt on Hitler on July 20 and the defeat of the conspiracy buried the hopes of the US and British leadership to end the war in Europe with "the preservation of a strong Germany without Hitler."
A few days after the failure of the plot in Germany, the Allied armies went on the offensive in France on 25 July. During its course, the allied command, which had the most complete information about the actions of the enemy, did not use the possibility of encircling and destroying large enemy groupings, the allies essentially “pushed out” the German troops. Such a nature of strategic actions allowed the Wehrmacht to maintain its forces on the Soviet-German front in order to restrain the offensive of the Red Army, which had embarked on the liberation mission of the peoples of Europe.
The advance of the Anglo-American troops in Western Europe was facilitated by the active operations of the military formations of the Resistance movement in France and Belgium. The withdrawal of German troops in September-October 1944 on the Western Front aroused bright hopes among the leaders of the United States and Britain to forestall the entry of Soviet troops into the central regions of Germany. On November 2, in a radio speech, Roosevelt stated: “We will not have a winter break in Europe. We will strike, drive the enemy, beat him again and again, without giving him a break, and break through to our ultimate goal - Berlin.(46).
However, the autumn offensive of the allies with the aim of bypassing or breaking through the defensive lines of the "Siegfried Line" and reaching the Rhine on a wide front did not bring success. The strategy failed to achieve the political goal. The commander of the combined Anglo-American forces in Europe, General D. Eisenhower, stated in early December 1944 that the continuation of the offensive deep into Germany would be possible only from the spring of 1945 (47). Meanwhile, the Hitlerite leadership was preparing a major offensive operation on the Western Front with the aim of inducing the Allies to a separate peace on the principle of force.
The first and only major Wehrmacht offensive on the Western Front put the Anglo-American troops in December 1944-early January 1945 in a critical situation. On January 4, the commander of the 3rd American Army, General Patton, wrote in his diary: "We can still lose this war"(48). At the request of the allied leadership, Stalin decides to start the winter offensive ahead of schedule: January 12 instead of January 20. This forced Hitler to stop operations in the west and transfer forces to the Eastern Front. The Allies used the current situation to restore the position of their troops.
By the beginning of February 1945, the allied command completed the development of plans for the further conduct of the war. At this time, during the brilliant Vistula-Oder operation, Soviet troops captured a number of bridgeheads on the left bank of the Oder on February 3, 60 km remained to Berlin. To coordinate military operations at the final stage of the war in Europe and resolve issues of the post-war world order, the second conference of the heads of government and the command of the armed forces of the USSR, the USA and Great Britain was held, this time in Yalta. It took place from February 4 to February 11, 1945. At it, plans for military operations were agreed and the main issues of the post-war structure of the world were resolved. The solution of political issues met the interests of all parties on an equal footing. The USSR promised to enter the war with Japan 3 months after the end of the war in Europe.
During the spring offensive of the Allies after the crossing of the Rhine, anti-Soviet sentiments intensified in the political circles of England and the USA, a desire arose for the maximum advance of troops to the east and for the capture of Berlin. The implementation of the decisions of the Yalta Conference was called into question. US intelligence agencies were secretly negotiating with Hitler's representatives about the surrender of German troops in Italy. The plan of German industrial circles for the opening of the Western Front and fierce resistance on the Eastern Front received concrete expression in these negotiations.
The "Burn Incident", well-known in history, reflected in the correspondence between Stalin and Roosevelt on the issue of these secret negotiations, jeopardized the further cooperation of the great powers. Having received a detailed and decisive message from Stalin condemning behind-the-scenes negotiations with the Nazis, Roosevelt, after a meeting with his aides on April 8-10, decided to stop negotiations and wrote a message to Stalin on April 11 that "the Berne incident is a thing of the past." But this was already the last message, the next day, April 12, came his unexpected death. Vice-President G. Truman, whose name is associated with another US policy - the policy of the Cold War against the USSR, became the President of the United States.
After the death of Roosevelt on the Western Front, the partial surrender of German troops began and the rapid movement of the Allied armies into the depths of Germany began. Intentions to enter Berlin from the west revived again, with the fierce resistance of the fascist troops in the east organized by the Nazi command. The Berlin strategic operation of the Red Army, launched on April 16, 1945, deprived the Allied leadership of this hope. She ended the war in Europe in Berlin, defeated by Soviet troops, with the unconditional surrender of Germany, accepted by representatives of the armed forces of the anti-fascist coalition, chaired by Marshal of the Soviet Union G.K. Zhukov.
Three months after the end of the war in Europe, the Soviet Union, true to its allied duty, entered the war with Japan. The defeat of the Kwantung millionth army in the Manchurian operation determined the unconditional surrender of Japan. The Second World War ended on September 2, 1945, with the decisive role of the USSR in the defeat of fascism in Europe and Asia.
An analysis of the political goals of the global strategy of the Anglo-French and Anglo-American coalitions leads to the following conclusions:
1. The Second World War was prepared and unfolded by two blocs of imperialist states in the struggle for world domination. Germany played the leading role in the fascist aggressive bloc. Great Britain and France went to war with her for the preservation of their leading role in the world and colonial possessions. In general, it began as an imperialist war, as a continuation of the First World War.
2. In the spring of 1939, the war between Germany and the Anglo-French bloc was planned by both sides, without the participation of the Soviet Union at the beginning of hostilities. The Soviet-German non-aggression pact on August 23 was not a condition for unleashing a war in Europe, it could only be prevented by the conclusion of a Soviet-British-French military alliance, which was thwarted by the Anglo-French bloc and the Polish leadership, as Western politicians hoped to direct fascist aggression against the USSR , according to the "Munich version".
The signing of the treaty was the collapse of the long-term policy of the Western powers of "sewage" of the aggression of the fascist bloc against the USSR and gave them time to prepare to repel the attack. The decision of the Soviet government in the current situation is historically justified and legitimate.
The delimitation of the zones of interests of the USSR and Germany in Eastern Europe, provided for by the treaty, had an anti-German orientation, prevented the fascist occupation of these areas and provided the USSR with advantageous strategic positions on the western border.
3. After the declaration of war on Germany on September 3, 1939, Great Britain and France did not actually conduct military operations, hoping for an agreement with Hitler. The vicious anti-Soviet policy and mediocre strategic leadership in the Anglo-French coalition led to the defeat of Poland and France, and then to the establishment of fascist domination throughout Europe.
4. Aggression against the USSR created a threat of fascist world domination. The goals of the war declared by the Soviet leadership - the liberation of the peoples from the fascist yoke - gave a liberating anti-fascist character to the entire Second World War. The anti-fascist goals of the war were then proclaimed in the Atlantic Charter of the USA and Great Britain and in the Declaration of the United Nations, a military alliance of states formed after the USA entered the war.
5. The leadership of the established Anglo-American coalition linked the achievement of their imperialist goals in the common anti-fascist struggle. The United States sought to assert its dominance in the post-war world, and Great Britain, as an ally of the United States, sought to preserve the colonial empire. The waging of a protracted war of attrition in Germany and its ally, the USSR, with the accumulation of its own military power, became the basis of the global strategy of the Anglo-American coalition in 1941-1943.
Having signed agreements on military cooperation with the USSR and given a promise to open a second front in Europe in 1942, the political leadership of the United States and Great Britain twice evaded allied obligations, waiting until 1944 for the results of the struggle on the Soviet-German front. The struggle for a radical change in the course of the Second World War was shifted entirely to the Soviet Union.
6. Completion of a radical change on the Soviet-German front and fears of "being late for Europe" during the offensive of the Red Army determined the new global strategy of the allies with the opening of a second front in France. The political goal of the United States was to assert its role as the main winner in the war against Germany with the capture of Berlin and, accordingly, to ensure American political leadership in post-war Europe.
7. The military power of the Soviet Union, the art of political and military leadership did not allow the Anglo-American allies to intercept the victory of the USSR over Nazi Germany and assert their dominance in Central and Eastern Europe. The defeat of the ground forces of Japan, the liberation of Manchuria and North Korea by the Soviet troops ended World War II in Asia, which prevented the United States from gaining dominance on the Asian continent.
8. Through the joint efforts of the peoples and the armies of the United Nations, the common political goal of the anti-fascist war was fully achieved—the fascist bloc was crushed with the decisive role of the Soviet Union. American imperialism failed to achieve world domination as a result of the Second World War. The Soviet Union became a recognized great world power.
The young, barely formed Russian socialism showed the great vitality and superiority of the new socio-political system. If after the First World War the first socialist state in history, the USSR, arose, then after the Second World War a world system of socialist states was formed, headed by the Soviet Union.
9. The decisive role of the USSR in the defeat of fascism is a great feat and historical merit of the Soviet people in liberating mankind from the threat of fascist slavery and in defending the socialist path of development of the peoples of the world. The victory in the Great Patriotic War is the national pride of the Russian peoples, all the republics of the Soviet Union, a heroic example for many generations.
1. History of the Second World War 1939-1945: In 12 vols. T. 1-2. M., 1973, 1974; Soviet military encyclopedia: V 8 t. M., 1976. T. 2. S. 409-418; The Second World War. Short story. M., 1985. and others.
2. Military encyclopedia. M., 1994. T. 2. S. 233-235; Dictionary of operational-strategic terms. Military encyclopedic work. M.: Voenizdat, 2006. S. 91.
3. Skopin V.I. Militarism. M., 1958; Wallerstein I. The end of the familiar world. Sociology of the XXI century. M., 2003. S. 93.
4. Examples of books - D. Irving "Churchill's War", D. Bavendamm "Roosevelt's War", E. Topich "Stalin's War 1937-1945".
6. Schuman F.L. Soviet Politics // At Home and Abroad. N.V. 1947. P. 282.
7. Dashichev V.I. Hitler's strategy - the road to disaster 1933-1945. Historical essays, documents and materials: In 4 volumes. Vol. 2. The development of the struggle for dominance in Europe 1939-1941. M., 2005. S. 33-38.
9. Ibid. S. 33.
10. Ibid.
11. Ibid. S. 34.
12. W. Strang's diaries were classified by will for 100 years.
13. Sipols V.Ya. diplomatic secrets. Eve of the Great Patriotic War 1939-1941. M., 1997. S. 75.
14. Essays RVR. T. 3. M., 1999. S. 9.
15. Irvin D. Goring. Munchen, 1986. S. 384.
16. For more details, see: Sipols V.Ya. Secrets ... S. 105-107.
17. World wars of the XX century. Book 4. World War II. Documents and materials. M., 2002. S. 78.
18. Falin V.M. Second front. Anti-Hitler coalition: conflict of interest. M., 2000. S. 124.
19. Ibid. S. 127.
20. Op. Quoted from: Yakovlev N.N. Selected works. FDR is a man and a politician. M., 1988. S. 276.
21. Butler J. Op. op. S. 24.
22. Op. Quoted from: Falin V.M. Decree. op. pp. 147-148.
23. World wars ... S. 87.
24. Op. according to Sipols V.Ya. Secrets ... S. 197-198.
25. Dashichev V.I. Hitler's strategy is a recipe for disaster. 1933-1945. ... T. 3. Bankruptcy of offensive strategy in the war against the USSR 1941-1943. M., 2005. S. 45.
26. Falin V.M. Decree. op. S. 186.
27. Matlof M. and Snell E. Strategic planning in the coalition war 1941-1942. M., 1955. S. 22.
28. Ibid. S. 50.
29. Sherwood R. Roosevelt and Hopkins. M., 1958. T. 1. S. 495-496.
30. Roosevelt E. His eyes. M., 1947. S. 51.
31. Ibid. pp. 56-57.
32. Matloff M. and Snell E. Op. op. S. 81.
33. Ibid. S. 82.
35. Ibid. pp. 506-509.
36. Dashichev V.I. Hitler's strategy is a path to disaster... Vol. 3. Bankruptcy of offensive strategy in the war against the USSR 1941-1943. M., 2000. S. 407.
37. Matloff M. and Snell E. Op. op. S. 271.
39. Rzheshevsky O.A. History of the Second Front: War and Diplomacy. M., 1988. S. 29.
40. Sherwood R. Roosevelt and Hopkins. Through the eyes of an eyewitness. M., 1958. T. 2. S. 385.
41. Howard M. Op. op. pp. 434-435.
42. Yakovlev N.N. Franklin Roosevelt: man and politician. S. 367.
43. History of the Second World War ... T. 7. S. 514.
44. Roosevelt E. His eyes ... S. 161.
45. Falin V.M. Decree. op. pp. 441, 445-447, 514.
46. Yakovlev N.N. Decree. op. S. 421.
48. Surprise in the operations of the US Armed Forces. M., 1982. S. 164.
The Second World War was prepared and unleashed by the states of the aggressive bloc led by Nazi Germany.
The emergence of this global conflict was rooted in the Versailles system of international relations, based on the dictates of the countries that won the First World War and put Germany in a humiliating position. Thus, conditions were created for the development of the idea of revenge and the revival of the center of militarism in the center of Europe.
German imperialism restored and expanded its military and economic base on a new material and technical basis, with the assistance of the large industrial concerns and banks of the Western countries. Terrorist dictatorships dominated Germany and its allied states, Italy and Japan, and racism and chauvinism were inculcated.
The aggressive program of the Hitlerite "Reich", which set a course for the enslavement and extermination of "inferior" peoples, provided for the liquidation of Poland, the defeat of France, the expulsion from the continent of England, the seizure of the resources of Europe, and then the "campaign to the East", the destruction of the Soviet Union and the establishment on its territory "new living space". After establishing control over the economic wealth of Russia, Germany hoped to begin the next round of seizures in order to extend the power of German monopolies to vast areas of Asia, Africa and America. The ultimate goal was to establish the world domination of the "Third Reich". On the part of Hitlerite Germany and its allies, the war was imperialist, predatory, unjust from beginning to end.
The bourgeois-democratic regimes of England and France, which advocated the preservation of the traditional values of Western society, did not realize the universal threat of Nazism. Their inability and unwillingness to subordinate selfishly understood national interests to the common task of defeating fascism, their desire to solve their problems at the expense of other states and peoples, led to a war under conditions most beneficial to the aggressors.
The leading leaders of the Western powers entered the war on the basis of a desire to weaken their competitors and to preserve and strengthen their own positions in the world. They were not going to destroy fascism and militarism, relying on the clash of Germany and Japan with the Soviet Union and their mutual exhaustion. Distrustful of the Soviet Union, the British and French leaders did not make any significant difference between the policy of the Nazi rulers of Germany and the course of the authoritarian Stalinist leadership of the USSR. The strategy and actions of the Western powers on the eve and at the beginning of the war inflicted enormous damage on the peoples of these countries, led to the defeat of France, the occupation of almost all of Europe, and a threat to the independence of Great Britain.
The expansion of aggression threatened the independence of many states. For the peoples of the countries that fell victim to the invaders, the struggle against the invaders from the very beginning acquired a liberating, anti-fascist character.
Confident that England and France would not provide real assistance to Poland, Germany attacked it on September 1, 1939. The Polish people put up an armed rebuff to the aggressors, despite their significant superiority in forces. Poland became the first state in Europe whose people rose up to defend their national existence, waged a just, defensive war. The Nazis were unable to completely surround the Polish army. A large grouping of Polish troops managed to escape to the east, but they were taken in pincers by the Nazis and, after stubborn fighting, capitulated on September 23-25. Some units continued to resist until 5 October. In Warsaw, Silesia and other areas, the civilian population actively came out in defense of independence. However, since September 12, the general leadership of military operations has practically ceased. On September 17-18, the Polish government and military command crossed into Romanian territory.
Poland turned out to be unprepared in the military-political respect for the defense of national independence. The reason was the backwardness of the country and the pernicious course of its government, which did not want to "spoil relations" with Germany and placed its hopes on Anglo-French help. The Polish leadership rejected all proposals to participate together with the Soviet Union in a collective rebuff to the aggressor. This suicidal policy led the country to a national tragedy.
Having declared war on Germany on September 3, England and France saw it as an unfortunate misunderstanding, which was soon to be resolved. "The silence on the Western Front," W. Churchill wrote, "was broken only by an occasional cannon shot or a reconnaissance patrol."
The Western powers, despite the guarantees given to Poland and the agreements signed with it, did not really intend to provide active military assistance to the victim of aggression. During the tragic days for Poland, the Allied troops were inactive. Already on September 12, the heads of government of England and France came to the conclusion that help to save Poland was useless, and made a secret decision not to open active hostilities against Germany.
When the war broke out in Europe, the US declared its neutrality. In political and business circles, the prevailing opinion was that the war would bring the country's economy out of the crisis, and military orders from the warring states would bring huge profits to industrialists and bankers.
None of the pre-war diplomatic events now arouses such interest as the Soviet-German non-aggression pact of August 23, 1939. Much has been written about it by Soviet historians. When considering a treaty, it is important to proceed from the reality that was at the time of its conclusion, and not be guided by considerations taken out of the context of time.
In accordance with the initial outlines, the Nazis planned to begin the main military operations to ensure "living space" in 1942-1945. But the current situation brought the start of these operations closer. Firstly, the militarization of Germany, the rapid growth of its armed forces created internal difficulties for the Nazis: the country was threatened with a financial and economic crisis, which could cause discontent among the population. The Nazis saw the easiest and fastest way to overcome the difficulties that arose in expanding the economic base by seizing the wealth of other countries, and for this it was necessary to start a war as soon as possible.
Secondly, Germany and other fascist-militarist states were driven to a more rapid transition to aggressive actions by connivance with them on the part of the ruling circles of the Anglo-French-American camp. The pliability of the ruling circles of the Western powers to the fascist aggressors was especially clearly demonstrated by the Munich Agreement in September 1938. Having sacrificed Czechoslovakia, they deliberately pushed Germany against the USSR.
In accordance with the concept of conquests adopted by the military-political leadership, Germany intended to deliver successive blows to the enemies in order to defeat them one by one, first the weaker ones, and then the stronger ones. This meant the use of not only military means, but also various methods from the arsenal of politics, diplomacy and propaganda with the task of preventing the unification of Germany's opponents.
Knowing about the expansionist plans of fascist Germany, the Western powers sought to direct its aggression against the USSR. Their propaganda tirelessly talked about the weakness of the Red Army, about the fragility of the Soviet rear, represented the USSR as a "colossus with feet of clay."
In the Nazi press, one could also find many statements about the weakness of the USSR. This fueled the hopes of the ruling circles of the Anglo-French-American camp that German expansion would be directed to the east. However, the German General Staff in 1938-1939. (unlike in 1940-1941) assessed the Red Army as a very serious enemy, a clash with which he considered undesirable for the time being.
Based on an assessment of the strength of their opponents, the fascist leadership marked Poland as the first victim of aggression, although not long before this, Ribbentrop had proposed to the Polish government to pursue a "common policy towards Russia." And when Poland refused to be a vassal of Berlin, the Nazis decided to deal with it militarily, given the fact that the war with the Soviet Union, as with a very strong enemy, was postponed by them to a later date.
From the beginning of 1939 intensive preparations for a military campaign against Poland began in Germany. A plan was developed, which received the name "Weiss". It called for delivering "unexpected strong blows" and achieving "quick successes". Order of the Chief of Staff of the Supreme High Command of the German Armed Forces. W. Keitel dated April 3, 1939 The implementation of the Weiss plan was to begin "at any time from September 1, 1939." The political leadership of Germany sought to "isolate Poland as far as possible", to prevent England, France and the Soviet Union from interfering in Polish affairs.
The measures taken by Germany to prepare for an attack on Poland were no secret to the governments of England, France, the USSR and other countries. The world was aware of the danger of fascist aggression. Sincerely striving to create a collective front for the defense of peace, to rally the forces of non-aggressive countries, on April 17, 1939, the Soviet government turned to England, and then to France with specific proposals to conclude an agreement on mutual assistance, including a military convention, in case of aggression in Europe . It proceeded from the premise that the most resolute and effective measures were needed to prevent war, in particular the firm position of the great powers with regard to the problem of collectively saving the world.
The British and French governments met the Soviet proposals with restraint. At first, they took a wait-and-see position, and then, realizing the danger that threatened them from Germany, they changed tactics somewhat and agreed to negotiations with Moscow, which began in May 1939.
The seriousness of the USSR's intention to reach an equal agreement on military cooperation with Britain and France was especially evident at the special negotiations of the military missions of the three powers, which began on August 12, 1939 in Moscow. The negotiating partners were provided with a detailed plan, according to which the USSR was obliged to field 136 divisions, 9-10 thousand tanks and 5-5.5 thousand combat aircraft against the aggressor in Europe.
In contrast to the Soviet Union, the governments of Britain and France, as is known from open archives, acted insincerely at the talks in Moscow and played a double game. Neither London nor Paris wanted to establish equal allied relations with the USSR, as they believed that this would lead to the strengthening of the socialist state. Their hostility towards him remained the same. Agreeing to negotiations was only a tactical step, but did not correspond to the essence of the policy of the Western powers. From exhorting and encouraging fascist Germany with concessions, they moved on to intimidate her, trying to force Germany to come to an agreement with the Western powers. Therefore, in negotiations with the USSR, Britain and France proposed such variants of agreements that would only put the Soviet Union under attack, and did not bind them with obligations towards the USSR. At the same time, they tried to secure his support in case Germany, contrary to their wishes, moved not to the east, but to the west. All this testified to the desire of Britain and France to put the Soviet Union in an unequal, humiliating position, their unwillingness to conclude an agreement with the USSR that would meet the principles of reciprocity and equality of obligations. The failure of the negotiations was predetermined by the position taken by the Western governments.
The ineffectiveness of the Anglo-French-Soviet negotiations nullified the efforts of the USSR government to create a coalition of non-aggressive states. The Soviet Union continued to remain in international isolation. He was in danger of a war on two fronts with very strong opponents: Germany in the west and Japan in the east. From the point of view of the leadership of the USSR, the danger of an anti-Soviet collusion by the entire imperialist camp also continued to exist. In this extremely difficult situation, fraught with grave consequences, the government of the USSR had to think first of all about the security of its own country.
Since May 1939, when negotiations between the USSR and Britain and France began, employees of the German Foreign Ministry persistently entered into contacts with representatives of the USSR in Berlin, in various unofficial ways made it clear that Germany was ready to move closer to the USSR. Until mid-August 1939, while there was hope for the conclusion of an Anglo-French-Soviet mutual assistance treaty, the Soviet government left the sounding carried out by the German side unanswered, but at the same time closely followed its actions.
On August 20, Hitler sent a personal message to Stalin, offering to receive on August 22 or at the latest on August 23 the German Foreign Minister, who "will be vested with all emergency powers to draw up and sign a non-aggression pact." Thus, a minimum of time was allotted for the adoption of extremely important decisions.
The question directly confronted the Soviet government: should the German proposal be rejected or accepted? The proposal, as you know, was accepted. On August 23, 1939, a Soviet-German non-aggression pact was signed for a period of 10 years. It meant a sharp turn in the foreign policy of the Soviet Union, had a significant impact on the military-political situation in the world, and also to some extent influenced the internal life in the USSR.
The agreement was accompanied by a secret protocol, according to which the spheres of influence of the parties in Eastern Europe were delimited: Estonia, Latvia, Finland, Bessarabia ended up in the Soviet sphere; in German - Lithuania. It did not directly speak about the fate of the Polish state, but in any case, the Belarusian and Ukrainian territories, included in its composition under the Riga Peace Treaty of 1920, were to go to the USSR.
When Stalin decided to conclude an agreement with Germany, the Japanese factor also played a role. The treaty with Germany, according to Stalin, saved the USSR from such a threat. Japan, shocked by the "betrayal" of its ally, later also signed a non-aggression pact with the USSR.
The decision of the government of the USSR to conclude a non-aggression pact with Germany was forced, but quite logical in the conditions of that time. In the current situation, the Soviet Union had no other choice, since it was not possible to achieve the signing of an agreement on mutual assistance with England and France, and only a few days remained before the planned date for the German attack on Poland.
From a moral point of view, the Soviet Union, having concluded a non-aggression pact with Germany, suffered a certain loss in world public opinion, as well as in the international communist movement. The unexpected change in the policy of the USSR and in relation to fascist Germany seemed unnatural to progressive-minded people. They could not know everything that was known to the Soviet government.
In a rapidly changing situation and the growing danger of the German army reaching the Soviet-Polish border, using the opportunities provided by the "secret additional protocol", the Soviet government sent its troops into Western Ukraine and Western Belarus on September 17, which had retreated to Poland under the Riga Peace Treaty of 1921 Officially, this was justified by the fact that Poland had become a convenient field for all sorts of accidents and surprises that could create a threat to the USSR, and the validity of the treaties concluded between the USSR and Poland had ceased. The Soviet side declared its duty to protect the lives and property of the population of Western Ukraine and Western Belarus. Moscow's assertion that the Polish state actually ceased to exist was contrary to the norms of international law, because temporary occupation could not cross out the existence of the state as a subject of international law.
The reaction of Polish society to the entry of the Red Army into the eastern regions of Poland was painful and even hostile. The Ukrainian and Belarusian population, in general, welcomed the units of the Red Army. The Soviet troops were stopped approximately on the "Curzon Line", defined back in 1919 as the eastern border of Poland. According to the Treaty of Friendship and Border, signed by the USSR and Germany on September 28, 1939, the border of "mutual state interests" was established along the San and Western Bug rivers. Polish lands remained under German occupation, Ukrainian and Belarusian lands went to the USSR. The recognition of the ethnic dividing line as the border between the two states meant a gross violation of the norms of international law. A serious political mistake of Stalin was the promise to develop friendship with Nazi Germany. Immoral in essence, it actually whitewashed fascism, deformed people's consciousness and violated the principles of Soviet foreign policy.
The signing of the Soviet-German treaties had grave consequences for the anti-war movement and led to the disorientation of the left forces. The Executive Committee of the Comintern, weakened by repression, could not resist Stalin's dictate. At his request, the leadership of the Comintern refused to consider fascism the main source of aggression and removed the slogan of the Popular Front. The outbreak of the war was called imperialist and unjust on both sides, with the emphasis being placed on the fight against Anglo-French imperialism. The Comintern did not have a clear position on the question of the struggle for the national liberation of the peoples subjected to Nazi aggression.
An important place in the plans of Britain and France was occupied by the war between Finland and the USSR, which began at the end of November 1939. The Western powers sought to turn a local armed conflict into the starting point of a united military campaign against the USSR. Providing extensive military assistance to Finland, Britain and France developed a plan for the landing of a 100,000-strong expeditionary force to capture Murmansk and occupy the territory south of it. The project of attacking the USSR in the region of Transcaucasia and delivering air strikes on the oil fields of Baku was also nurtured.
For seven months, no hostilities were conducted on the Western Front. British and French armaments and material resources exceeded the military and economic potential of Germany, which at that time was not ready for a long war. But London and Paris still made it clear to Hitler that he was given free rein in the East. In the countries of Western Europe, the atmosphere of complacency was preserved, generated by the "strange" war, which in essence was a continuation of the previous Munich policy. Meanwhile, Germany was intensively preparing for an offensive on the Western Front.
Main conclusions
The Second World War was generated by a whole complex of various complex causes. The opening in the 90s of historical, military, diplomatic, intelligence archives in many countries of the world that participated in this war caused the appearance of a huge flow of literature, some of which reveals the reasons for the preparation and start of World War II and the course of world events in the prewar years. But until now, the causes of the war are the subject of controversy and discussion in many countries of the world.
1) One of the causes of the Second World War was the territorial disputes and claims that arose after the First World War as a result of the conclusion of the Treaty of Versailles. The Treaty of Versailles, signed on June 28, 1919, ended the First World War. It was signed on the one hand by the victorious countries - Britain, France, the USA, Italy, Japan, Belgium, on the other hand - by the defeated Germany. Germany returned Alsace and Lorraine to France, large territories were taken from Germany and returned to Poland, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, German and Ottoman colonies were divided among the victorious countries. As a result of this war, the Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman and Russian empires collapsed, and 9 new states with disputed borders arose on their ruins - Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, the future Yugoslavia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Poland. The country that lost its territories wanted to return them, and the countries that received these territories wanted to keep them. The desire for a new redistribution and the capture of European territories, and at the same time the robbery of other countries, is one of the reasons for WWII.
2) The next cause of the war matured and took shape in Germany itself. Ever since the time of the King of Prussia and the German Emperor Wilhelm II in Germany, the views of pan-Germanism, the highest race - the Aryans, views of other peoples as inferior, like manure for German culture, were planted among the German elite and up to ordinary Germans. Therefore, the bitterness of defeat after the First World War, national despair and humiliation, the desire to come to the aid of those compatriots who remained in other countries after the partition were very sharp, incited hatred in the Germans and a desire for revenge, revenge, psychological readiness for war, as well as a desire find a "scapegoat" in their adversity and blame the bitterness of failure on him. According to the Treaty of Versailles, Germany had to pay huge reparations, could have a small army of volunteers of 100 thousand people, armed with light weapons, could not have tanks, military aircraft, heavy artillery. Conscription was abolished, the victors captured and sank the German navy, it was forbidden to build warships and have a General Staff. However, on April 16, 1922, Germany and the USSR signed the Treaty of Rapallo, according to which Germany could restore its military power on Soviet territory. German tankers were trained in Kazan, German pilots were trained in Lipetsk, the German Junkers concern designed military aircraft in Fili, and German factories for the production of heavy artillery and chemical weapons were built in Central Asia. This allowed Germany to quickly restore its military production in the following years. In 1924, under the Dawes Plan, Germany was able to receive loans from the United States to pay off reparations, and then, due to the crisis, received a deferral of reparations. This allowed Germany to restore its military-industrial potential by 1927, and then by the beginning of the 1930s to overtake the victorious countries. On the wave of revanchist sentiments, the National Socialist Party began to gain more and more popularity among the German layman, and the Nazi leader A. Hitler, with his aggressive slogans, attracted the attention of the Germans from top to bottom. Hitler's main slogans were the idea of a "superior race", which gave the layman a sense of superiority over other peoples, atoned for the bitterness of defeat and romanticized, allowed brutal violence and militarism, the idea of the need for "living space" for the Germans, and also called the cause of all problems for the Germans - the Versailles system, communists and Jews inside the country. At the beginning of 1933, Hitler was appointed head of the German government - chancellor, and after that - brazenly, contrary to the Treaty of Versailles, completely ignoring it, universal military service was introduced in the country, aviation, tank, artillery and other factories were built. Corresponding military units are being created and the armed forces and the German economy are surpassing the victorious countries. By September 1939 Germany has an army of 4.6 million people, France - 2.67 million, Great Britain - 1.27 million, the USSR - 5.3 million people. Preparations for World War II are in full swing in Germany.
3) One of the reasons for the worldwide nature of this war was the aggressive policy of Japan. The fact is that in 1910 - 30 years. China was in a state of fragmentation. The Japanese empire, which had scarce natural resources, wanted to take advantage of China's weakness to gain control over its richest resources and markets, and therefore pursued an aggressive policy, conflicts, and military companies there. In November 1936, Germany and Japan signed the Anti-Comintern Pact, which Italy joined a year later. By the end of the 1930s, the Japanese army occupied the entire northeast of China, and in 1937. A full-scale Sino-Japanese war began, which from 1939 became part of the Second World War and lasted until 1945. At the same time, on April 13, 1941, an agreement was signed in Moscow between Japan and the USSR on neutrality for a period of 5 years.
In a short work, all the causes of the Second World War cannot be considered; for this, historians write monographs and multi-volume studies, disputes about its causes have been ongoing in world science for more than 60 years.
Many interpret in different ways the reasons why the most horrific military conflict in the history of mankind occurred. For example, Churchill believed that its beginning was due to a whole chain of events that, taking shape like dominoes, led to a change in the world order. He even called this period the "Second Thirty Years' War", combining the First and Second World Wars.
We will try to describe the causes of the Second World War briefly. The main reason why the Germans were eager for revenge was the extremely unfavorable conditions that prevailed for the countries that lost in the First World War. At the same time, the victorious countries were unable to create a full-fledged and stable system of alignment of world forces. So, after the terms of the Versailles agreement were announced to the newly elected German president, Germany directly stated that it was impossible to fulfill all the requirements, warning even then that such pressure would only lead to a new war.
At the same time, after the victory, it turned out that almost all the winners have unsatisfied claims to each other. The Italian Prime Minister left Versailles with a scandal, the US authorities refused to create the League of Nations, a body capable of resolving all disputes between states. As a result, Germany still remained a relatively dangerous country for Europe, moreover, the emergence of communism and its possible spread outside the USSR also became a matter of concern for civilized countries. Then Poland was restored, which, not without support, managed to repel the aggression of the Bolsheviks, German territories were included in its composition. Also, some territories of Germany were transferred to Romania, the Kingdom of Serbs and Lithuania.
All this could not cause displeasure among the German people, and Hitler, who came to power, played on it, convincing his people that the whole world was their enemy. Bolshevik Russia, whose ideology was recognized as dangerous for the world community, was withdrawn from the Versailles conference, especially since after the death of the monarchy, the country itself became a potential aggressor, and in the end actually cooperated with Germany. Of course, there was still the possibility of communicating with the anti-Bolshevik resistance, but its representatives were not capable of full-fledged negotiations. All this together became a precondition for the Second World War, which would have quite possibly happened without the appearance of the Nazis in Germany.
Introduction
1. The situation with the world on the eve of World War II
Conclusion
Introduction
World War II was the largest military conflict in human history. More than 60 states with a population of 1.7 billion people participated in it. Military operations took place on the territory of 40 countries. The total number of fighting armies amounted to more than 110 million people, military spending - more than 1384 billion dollars. The scale of human losses and destruction was unprecedented. More than 60 million people died in the war, including 12 million in death camps: the USSR lost more than 26 million, Germany - approx. 6 million, Poland - 5.8 million, Japan - approx. 2 million, Yugoslavia - approx. 1.6 million, Hungary - 600 thousand, France - 570 thousand, Romania - approx. 460 thousand, Italy - approx. 450 thousand, Hungary - approx. 430 thousand, USA, Great Britain and Greece - 400 thousand each, Belgium - 88 thousand, Canada - 40 thousand. Material damage is estimated at 2600 billion dollars. The terrible consequences of the war strengthened the global tendency to unite in order to prevent new military conflicts, the need to create a more effective system of collective security than the League of Nations. Its expression was the establishment in April 1945 of the United Nations. The question of the origin of the Second World War is the subject of a sharp historical struggle, since this is the question of guilt in the most serious crime against humanity. There are several points of view on this issue. Soviet science on the issue of the causes of the Second World War gave an unequivocal answer that the culprit was the militaristic countries of the "axis" with the support of other capitalist countries. Western historical science accuses countries of inciting war: Germany, Italy, Japan. Modern researchers of this problem consider the whole complex of currently available documents and come to the conclusion that it is unlawful to blame only one particular country.
1. The situation in the world on the eve of World War II
In the two decades after the First World War, acute economic, socio-political and national problems have accumulated in the world, especially in Europe.
As in the 19th century, one of the main geopolitical problems of Europe was the objective desire of a significant part of the Germans who historically lived in addition to Germany: in Austria, Czechoslovakia, France, to unite in a single national state. In addition, Germany, which, according to many German politicians, experienced national humiliation after the defeat in the First World War, sought to regain its lost positions as a world power. Thus, especially favorable conditions were created for a new wave of growth of German expansionism.
The rivalry of other powers, their desire to redistribute spheres of influence in the world, also persisted. World economic crises of the 20-30s. accelerated the growth of military-political confrontation in the world. Understanding this, many politicians and statesmen in Europe, America and Asia sincerely sought to prevent or at least delay the war. In the 1930s, negotiations were underway on the creation of a collective security system, agreements on mutual assistance and non-aggression were concluded. And at the same time, two opposing blocs of powers were again gradually but steadily taking shape in the world. The core of one of them was Germany, Italy and Japan, openly striving to solve their internal economic, social, political and national problems through territorial seizures and plunder of other countries. The second block, which was based on England, France and the United States, supported by large and small countries, adhered to a policy of containment.
It is known from the entire previous history of mankind that under these conditions it was historically inevitable and normal in the pre-nuclear era to resolve the conflict of interests of the great powers through war. In this respect, the Second World War differed from the First World War only in the increased scale of hostilities and the associated disasters of the peoples, and it is often presented as another round or revenge match in the struggle of old geopolitical opponents. However, along with the obvious similarities between the first and second world wars, there were significant differences.
Almost all Germans believed that in 1919 their country had been treated unfairly. And it was expected that when Germany accepted the Fourteen Points and became a democratic republic, the war would be forgotten and mutual recognition of rights would take place. She had to pay reparations; she was forcibly disarmed; she lost part of the territory, in other parts there were troops of the allies. Almost all of Germany was eager to get rid of the Treaty of Versailles, and few saw the difference between the annulment of this treaty and the restoration of the dominant role that Germany had played in Europe before its defeat. It was not only Germany that was offended. Hungary was also unhappy with the peace settlement, although her displeasure meant little. Italy, seemingly among the winners, came out of the war almost empty-handed - so it seemed to her, at least; the Italian dictator Mussolini, a former socialist, called it a proletarian country. In the Far East, Japan, also among the winners, looked increasingly disapprovingly at the superiority of the British Empire and the United States. And, in truth, Soviet Russia, having finally joined those who defended the status quo, was still dissatisfied with the territorial losses it suffered at the end of the First World War. But the main driving force among the discontented was Germany, and Adolf Hitler became its spokesman from the moment he entered the political arena.
All these grievances and claims were not dangerous in the 20s, in the short period of restoration of the pre-war economic order, with more or less unlimited foreign trade, a stable currency, private enterprises, in whose activities the state hardly interfered. But this recovery was destroyed by a large-scale economic crisis that erupted in 1929. A catastrophic decline in foreign trade began, massive unemployment - over 2 million unemployed in England, 6 million in Germany and 15 million in the USA. A sharp currency crisis in 1931 - with the abolition of the gold standard - shook the sacred pound sterling. In the face of this storm, countries concentrated their activities within their own national systems; and the more intensively this happened, the more industrially developed the country was. In 1931, the German mark ceased to be a freely convertible currency, and the country switched to barter foreign trade. In 1932 Great Britain, a traditional free trader, established protective tariffs and soon extended them to its colonies. In 1933, the newly elected President Roosevelt devalued the dollar and, independently of other countries, began to pursue a policy of economic recovery.
The economic struggle began largely unexpectedly. At first it was a struggle of all against all, then its character changed and the division of the world intensified. Soviet Russia has always been a closed economic system, although this did not save it from the consequences of the global crisis. Some other great powers, primarily the United States, as well as the British and French empires, could at worst make do with internal resources. Germany, Japan and other major industrial powers lost: they could not provide for themselves on their own, they needed imported raw materials, but the crisis deprived them of the opportunity to receive it in the normal way through foreign trade. Those who ran the economy in these countries undoubtedly felt that their countries were suffocating and that it was necessary to create their own economic empires. The Japanese chose the simplest route and sent their troops first into Manchuria and then into the coastal regions of China. But Germany, still bound by the Treaty of Versailles in the early 1930s, had no such easy way out. She had to fight by economic means; this increased its isolation, the autarky imposed by the will of circumstances.
At first the leaders of Germany waged a reluctant economic struggle, then in January 1933 Hitler came to power. He took autarky as a boon. Subsequently, there were disputes about what gave birth to Hitler and the National Socialist movement he led. The economic troubles of the country brought Hitler to power, but his struggle against the Treaty of Versailles had already created a certain reputation for him. In his opinion, the crisis in Germany was caused by defeat, and those means that will help overcome the crisis will lead Germany to political victory. Autarky will strengthen Germany for political victories, which in turn will contribute to the further development of autarky.
Here, until the Second World War, there was a hidden contradiction. The United States and Britain regretted the need to wage an economic struggle and considered it a temporary matter. For the Japanese and Germans, economic struggle was a constant factor and the only way to become great powers. This led to paradoxical consequences. Usually a stronger power is more aggressive, more restless, because it is convinced that it is able to capture more than it has.
The outbreak of the Second World War was preceded by the aggressive actions of Japan, Italy and Germany in various regions of the globe. The countries of the fascist-militarist bloc, united by the "axis" Berlin-Rome-Tokyo, embarked on the path of implementing a broad program of conquest. The initiatives of the Soviet Union aimed at creating a system of collective security, for various reasons, did not receive the support of Britain and France and did not lead to the achievement of a coordinated policy of deterring aggression. Having sealed Hitler's dictatorship in Munich with their signatures, Chamberlain and Daladier passed the death sentence on Czechoslovakia (September 1938).
In the first years of the so-called peaceful existence, the USSR struggled to establish more or less acceptable diplomatic relations with the capitalist countries. During the 1920s and 1930s, foreign trade was given not only economic, but also political significance.
1934 - The USSR joins the League of Nations, where it comes up with its proposals regarding the creation of a system of collective security and rebuff to the conquerors, which, however, do not find support. At the beginning of 1934, the Soviet Union came up with a convention on the definition of the attacking side (aggressor), which emphasized that aggression is an invasion of the territory of another country with or without a declaration of war, as well as bombardment of the territory of other countries, attacks on ships, blockade coasts or ports. The governments of the leading powers reacted coldly to the Soviet project. However, Romania, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, and later Finland signed this document in the USSR. In the 1930s, the Soviet government actively developed relations with fascist Germany, which grew into vigorous activity in organizing a collective rebuff to the aggressive fascist states. The idea of creating a system of collective security and the practical work of Soviet diplomacy received high appraisal and recognition from the progressive world community. Joining the League of Nations in 1934, signing allied treaties with France and Czechoslovakia in 1935, appeals and concrete actions in support of one of the powers that were subjected to aggression - Ethiopia, diplomatic and other assistance to the legitimate republican government of Spain during the period of the Italo-German intervention, readiness to provide military assistance under the treaty of Czechoslovakia against fascist Germany in 1938; finally, a sincere desire to develop joint measures to support aggression on the eve of World War II - such is a brief chronicle of the consistent struggle of the Soviet Union for peace and security.
2. Analysis of the causes of World War II
The Second World War was prepared and unleashed by the states of the aggressive bloc led by Nazi Germany.
The emergence of this global conflict was rooted in the Versailles system of international relations, based on the dictates of the countries that won the First World War and put Germany in a humiliating position. Thus, conditions were created for the development of the idea of revenge and the revival of the center of militarism in the center of Europe.
German imperialism restored and expanded its military and economic base on a new material and technical basis, with the assistance of the large industrial concerns and banks of the Western countries. Terrorist dictatorships dominated Germany and its allied states - Italy and Japan, and racism and chauvinism were inculcated.
The aggressive program of the Hitlerite "Reich", which set a course for the enslavement and extermination of "inferior" peoples, provided for the liquidation of Poland, the defeat of France, the expulsion from the continent of England, the seizure of the resources of Europe, and then the "campaign to the East", the destruction of the Soviet Union and the establishment on its territory "new living space". After establishing control over the economic wealth of Russia, Germany hoped to begin the next round of seizures in order to extend the power of German monopolies to vast areas of Asia, Africa and America. The ultimate goal was to establish the world domination of the "Third Reich". On the part of Hitlerite Germany and its allies, the war was imperialist, predatory, unjust from beginning to end.
The bourgeois-democratic regimes of England and France, which advocated the preservation of the traditional values of Western society, did not realize the universal threat of Nazism. Their inability and unwillingness to subordinate selfishly understood national interests to the common task of defeating fascism, their desire to solve their problems at the expense of other states and peoples, led to a war under conditions most beneficial to the aggressors.
The leading leaders of the Western powers entered the war on the basis of a desire to weaken their competitors and to preserve and strengthen their own positions in the world. They were not going to destroy fascism and militarism, relying on the clash of Germany and Japan with the Soviet Union and their mutual exhaustion. Distrustful of the Soviet Union, the British and French leaders did not make any significant difference between the policy of the Nazi rulers of Germany and the course of the authoritarian Stalinist leadership of the USSR. The strategy and actions of the Western powers on the eve and at the beginning of the war inflicted enormous damage on the peoples of these countries, led to the defeat of France, the occupation of almost all of Europe, and a threat to the independence of Great Britain.
The expansion of aggression threatened the independence of many states. For the peoples of the countries that fell victim to the invaders, the struggle against the invaders from the very beginning acquired a liberating, anti-fascist character.
Confident that England and France would not provide real assistance to Poland, Germany attacked it on September 1, 1939. The Polish people put up an armed rebuff to the aggressors, despite their significant superiority in forces. Poland became the first state in Europe whose people rose up to defend their national existence, waged a just, defensive war. The Nazis were unable to completely surround the Polish army. A large grouping of Polish troops managed to escape to the east, but they were taken in pincers by the Nazis and, after stubborn fighting, capitulated on September 23-25. Some units continued to resist until 5 October. In Warsaw, Silesia and other areas, the civilian population actively came out in defense of independence. However, since September 12, the general leadership of military operations has practically ceased. On September 17-18, the Polish government and military command crossed into Romanian territory.
Poland turned out to be unprepared in the military-political respect for the defense of national independence. The reason was the backwardness of the country and the pernicious course of its government, which did not want to "spoil relations" with Germany and placed its hopes on Anglo-French help. The Polish leadership rejected all proposals to participate together with the Soviet Union in a collective rebuff to the aggressor. This suicidal policy led the country to a national tragedy.
Having declared war on Germany on September 3, England and France saw it as an unfortunate misunderstanding, which was soon to be resolved. "The silence on the Western Front," W. Churchill wrote, "was broken only by an occasional cannon shot or a reconnaissance patrol."
The Western powers, despite the guarantees given to Poland and the agreements signed with it, did not really intend to provide active military assistance to the victim of aggression. During the tragic days for Poland, the Allied troops were inactive. Already on September 12, the heads of government of England and France came to the conclusion that help to save Poland was useless, and made a secret decision not to open active hostilities against Germany.
When the war broke out in Europe, the US declared its neutrality. In political and business circles, the prevailing opinion was that the war would bring the country's economy out of the crisis, and military orders from the warring states would bring huge profits to industrialists and bankers.
None of the pre-war diplomatic events now arouses such interest as the Soviet-German non-aggression pact of August 23, 1939. Much has been written about it by Soviet historians. When considering a treaty, it is important to proceed from the reality that was at the time of its conclusion, and not be guided by considerations taken out of the context of time.
In accordance with the initial outlines, the Nazis planned to begin the main military operations to ensure "living space" in 1942-1945. But the current situation brought the start of these operations closer. Firstly, the militarization of Germany, the rapid growth of its armed forces created internal difficulties for the Nazis: the country was threatened with a financial and economic crisis, which could cause discontent among the population. The Nazis saw the easiest and fastest way to overcome the difficulties that arose in expanding the economic base by seizing the wealth of other countries, and for this it was necessary to start a war as soon as possible.
Secondly, Germany and other fascist-militarist states were driven to a more rapid transition to aggressive actions by connivance with them on the part of the ruling circles of the Anglo-French-American camp. The pliability of the ruling circles of the Western powers to the fascist aggressors was especially clearly demonstrated by the Munich Agreement in September 1938. Having sacrificed Czechoslovakia, they deliberately pushed Germany against the USSR.
In accordance with the concept of conquests adopted by the military-political leadership, Germany intended to deliver successive blows to the enemies in order to defeat them one by one, first the weaker ones, and then the stronger ones. This meant the use of not only military means, but also various methods from the arsenal of politics, diplomacy and propaganda with the task of preventing the unification of Germany's opponents.
Knowing about the expansionist plans of fascist Germany, the Western powers sought to direct its aggression against the USSR. Their propaganda tirelessly talked about the weakness of the Red Army, about the fragility of the Soviet rear, represented the USSR as a "colossus with feet of clay."
In the Nazi press, one could also find many statements about the weakness of the USSR. This fueled the hopes of the ruling circles of the Anglo-French-American camp that German expansion would be directed to the east. However, the German General Staff in 1938-1939. (unlike in 1940-1941) assessed the Red Army as a very serious enemy, a clash with which he considered undesirable for the time being.
Based on an assessment of the strength of their opponents, the fascist leadership marked Poland as the first victim of aggression, although not long before this, Ribbentrop had proposed to the Polish government to pursue a "common policy towards Russia." And when Poland refused to be a vassal of Berlin, the Nazis decided to deal with it militarily, given the fact that the war with the Soviet Union, as with a very strong enemy, was postponed by them to a later date.
From the beginning of 1939 intensive preparations for a military campaign against Poland began in Germany. A plan was developed, which received the name "Weiss". It called for delivering "unexpected strong blows" and achieving "quick successes". Order of the Chief of Staff of the Supreme High Command of the German Armed Forces. W. Keitel dated April 3, 1939 The implementation of the Weiss plan was to begin "at any time from September 1, 1939." The political leadership of Germany sought to "isolate Poland as far as possible", to prevent England, France and the Soviet Union from interfering in Polish affairs.
The measures taken by Germany to prepare for an attack on Poland were no secret to the governments of England, France, the USSR and other countries. The world was aware of the danger of fascist aggression. Sincerely striving to create a collective front for the defense of peace, to rally the forces of non-aggressive countries, on April 17, 1939, the Soviet government turned to England, and then to France with specific proposals to conclude an agreement on mutual assistance, including a military convention, in case of aggression in Europe . It proceeded from the premise that the most resolute and effective measures were needed to prevent war, in particular the firm position of the great powers with regard to the problem of collectively saving the world.
The British and French governments met the Soviet proposals with restraint. At first, they took a wait-and-see position, and then, realizing the danger that threatened them from Germany, they changed tactics somewhat and agreed to negotiations with Moscow, which began in May 1939.
The seriousness of the USSR's intention to reach an equal agreement on military cooperation with Britain and France was especially evident at the special negotiations of the military missions of the three powers, which began on August 12, 1939 in Moscow. The negotiating partners were provided with a detailed plan, according to which the USSR was obliged to field 136 divisions, 9-10 thousand tanks and 5-5.5 thousand combat aircraft against the aggressor in Europe.
In contrast to the Soviet Union, the governments of Britain and France, as is known from open archives, acted insincerely at the talks in Moscow and played a double game. Neither London nor Paris wanted to establish equal allied relations with the USSR, as they believed that this would lead to the strengthening of the socialist state. Their hostility towards him remained the same. Agreeing to negotiations was only a tactical step, but did not correspond to the essence of the policy of the Western powers. From exhorting and encouraging fascist Germany with concessions, they moved on to intimidate her, trying to force Germany to come to an agreement with the Western powers. Therefore, in negotiations with the USSR, Britain and France proposed such variants of agreements that would only put the Soviet Union under attack, and did not bind them with obligations towards the USSR. At the same time, they tried to secure his support in case Germany, contrary to their wishes, moved not to the east, but to the west. All this testified to the desire of Britain and France to put the Soviet Union in an unequal, humiliating position, their unwillingness to conclude an agreement with the USSR that would meet the principles of reciprocity and equality of obligations. The failure of the negotiations was predetermined by the position taken by the Western governments.
The ineffectiveness of the Anglo-French-Soviet negotiations nullified the efforts of the USSR government to create a coalition of non-aggressive states. The Soviet Union continued to remain in international isolation. He was in danger of a war on two fronts with very strong opponents: Germany in the west and Japan in the east. From the point of view of the leadership of the USSR, the danger of an anti-Soviet collusion by the entire imperialist camp also continued to exist. In this extremely difficult situation, fraught with grave consequences, the government of the USSR had to think first of all about the security of its own country.
Since May 1939, when negotiations between the USSR and Britain and France began, employees of the German Foreign Ministry persistently entered into contacts with representatives of the USSR in Berlin, in various unofficial ways made it clear that Germany was ready to move closer to the USSR. Until mid-August 1939, while there was hope for the conclusion of an Anglo-French-Soviet mutual assistance treaty, the Soviet government left the sounding carried out by the German side unanswered, but at the same time closely followed its actions.
On August 20, Hitler sent a personal message to Stalin, offering to receive on August 22 or at the latest on August 23 the German Foreign Minister, who "will be vested with all emergency powers to draw up and sign a non-aggression pact." Thus, a minimum of time was allotted for the adoption of extremely important decisions.
The question directly confronted the Soviet government: should the German proposal be rejected or accepted? The proposal, as you know, was accepted. On August 23, 1939, a Soviet-German non-aggression pact was signed for a period of 10 years. It meant a sharp turn in the foreign policy of the Soviet Union, had a significant impact on the military-political situation in the world, and also to some extent influenced the internal life in the USSR.
The agreement was accompanied by a secret protocol, according to which the spheres of influence of the parties in Eastern Europe were delimited: Estonia, Latvia, Finland, Bessarabia ended up in the Soviet sphere; in German - Lithuania. It did not directly speak about the fate of the Polish state, but in any case, the Belarusian and Ukrainian territories, included in its composition under the Riga Peace Treaty of 1920, were to go to the USSR.
When Stalin decided to conclude an agreement with Germany, the Japanese factor also played a role. The treaty with Germany, according to Stalin, saved the USSR from such a threat. Japan, shocked by the "betrayal" of its ally, later also signed a non-aggression pact with the USSR.
The decision of the government of the USSR to conclude a non-aggression pact with Germany was forced, but quite logical in the conditions of that time. In the current situation, the Soviet Union had no other choice, since it was not possible to achieve the signing of an agreement on mutual assistance with England and France, and only a few days remained before the planned date for the German attack on Poland.
From a moral point of view, the Soviet Union, having concluded a non-aggression pact with Germany, suffered a certain loss in world public opinion, as well as in the international communist movement. The unexpected change in the policy of the USSR and in relation to fascist Germany seemed unnatural to progressive-minded people. They could not know everything that was known to the Soviet government.
In a rapidly changing situation and the growing danger of the German army reaching the Soviet-Polish border, using the opportunities provided by the "secret additional protocol", the Soviet government sent its troops into Western Ukraine and Western Belarus on September 17, which had retreated to Poland under the Riga Peace Treaty of 1921 Officially, this was justified by the fact that Poland had become a convenient field for all sorts of accidents and surprises that could create a threat to the USSR, and the validity of the treaties concluded between the USSR and Poland had ceased. The Soviet side declared its duty to protect the lives and property of the population of Western Ukraine and Western Belarus. Moscow's assertion that the Polish state actually ceased to exist was contrary to the norms of international law, because temporary occupation could not cross out the existence of the state as a subject of international law.
The reaction of Polish society to the entry of the Red Army into the eastern regions of Poland was painful and even hostile. The Ukrainian and Belarusian population, in general, welcomed the units of the Red Army. The Soviet troops were stopped approximately on the "Curzon Line", defined back in 1919 as the eastern border of Poland. According to the Treaty of Friendship and Border, signed by the USSR and Germany on September 28, 1939, the border of "mutual state interests" was established along the San and Western Bug rivers. Polish lands remained under German occupation, Ukrainian and Belarusian lands went to the USSR. The recognition of the ethnic dividing line as the border between the two states meant a gross violation of the norms of international law. A serious political mistake of Stalin was the promise to develop friendship with Nazi Germany. Immoral in essence, it actually whitewashed fascism, deformed people's consciousness and violated the principles of Soviet foreign policy.
The signing of the Soviet-German treaties had grave consequences for the anti-war movement and led to the disorientation of the left forces. The Executive Committee of the Comintern, weakened by repression, could not resist Stalin's dictate. At his request, the leadership of the Comintern refused to consider fascism the main source of aggression and removed the slogan of the Popular Front. The outbreak of the war was called imperialist and unjust on both sides, with the emphasis being placed on the fight against Anglo-French imperialism. The Comintern did not have a clear position on the question of the struggle for the national liberation of the peoples subjected to Nazi aggression.
An important place in the plans of Britain and France was occupied by the war between Finland and the USSR, which began at the end of November 1939. The Western powers sought to turn a local armed conflict into the starting point of a united military campaign against the USSR. Providing extensive military assistance to Finland, Britain and France developed a plan for the landing of a 100,000-strong expeditionary force to capture Murmansk and occupy the territory south of it. The project of attacking the USSR in the region of Transcaucasia and delivering air strikes on the oil fields of Baku was also nurtured.
For seven months, no hostilities were conducted on the Western Front. British and French armaments and material resources exceeded the military and economic potential of Germany, which at that time was not ready for a long war. But London and Paris still made it clear to Hitler that he was given free rein in the East. In the countries of Western Europe, the atmosphere of complacency was preserved, generated by the "strange" war, which in essence was a continuation of the previous Munich policy. Meanwhile, Germany was intensively preparing for an offensive on the Western Front.
Main conclusions
The Second World War was generated by a whole complex of various complex causes. The opening in the 90s of historical, military, diplomatic, intelligence archives in many countries of the world that participated in this war caused the appearance of a huge flow of literature, some of which reveals the reasons for the preparation and start of World War II and the course of world events in the prewar years. But until now, the causes of the war are the subject of controversy and discussion in many countries of the world.
1) One of the causes of the Second World War was the territorial disputes and claims that arose after the First World War as a result of the conclusion of the Treaty of Versailles. The Treaty of Versailles, signed on June 28, 1919, ended the First World War. It was signed on the one hand by the victorious countries - Britain, France, the USA, Italy, Japan, Belgium, on the other hand - by the defeated Germany. Germany returned Alsace and Lorraine to France, large territories were taken from Germany and returned to Poland, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, German and Ottoman colonies were divided among the victorious countries. As a result of this war, the Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman and Russian empires collapsed, and 9 new states with disputed borders arose on their ruins - Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, the future Yugoslavia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Poland. The country that lost its territories wanted to return them, and the countries that received these territories wanted to keep them. The desire for a new redistribution and the capture of European territories, and at the same time the robbery of other countries, is one of the reasons for WWII.
2) The next cause of the war matured and took shape in Germany itself. Ever since the time of the King of Prussia and the German Emperor Wilhelm II in Germany, the views of pan-Germanism, the highest race - the Aryans, views of other peoples as inferior, like manure for German culture, were planted among the German elite and up to ordinary Germans. Therefore, the bitterness of defeat after the First World War, national despair and humiliation, the desire to come to the aid of those compatriots who remained in other countries after the partition were very sharp, incited hatred in the Germans and a desire for revenge, revenge, psychological readiness for war, as well as a desire find a "scapegoat" in their adversity and blame the bitterness of failure on him. According to the Treaty of Versailles, Germany had to pay huge reparations, could have a small army of volunteers of 100 thousand people, armed with light weapons, could not have tanks, military aircraft, heavy artillery. Conscription was abolished, the victors captured and sank the German navy, it was forbidden to build warships and have a General Staff. However, on April 16, 1922, Germany and the USSR signed the Treaty of Rapallo, according to which Germany could restore its military power on Soviet territory. German tankers were trained in Kazan, German pilots were trained in Lipetsk, the German Junkers concern designed military aircraft in Fili, and German factories for the production of heavy artillery and chemical weapons were built in Central Asia. This allowed Germany to quickly restore its military production in the following years. In 1924, under the Dawes Plan, Germany was able to receive loans from the United States to pay off reparations, and then, due to the crisis, received a deferral of reparations. This allowed Germany to restore its military-industrial potential by 1927, and then by the beginning of the 1930s to overtake the victorious countries. On the wave of revanchist sentiments, the National Socialist Party began to gain more and more popularity among the German layman, and the Nazi leader A. Hitler, with his aggressive slogans, attracted the attention of the Germans from top to bottom. Hitler's main slogans were the idea of a "superior race", which gave the layman a sense of superiority over other peoples, atoned for the bitterness of defeat and romanticized, allowed brutal violence and militarism, the idea of the need for "living space" for the Germans, and also called the cause of all problems for the Germans - the Versailles system, communists and Jews inside the country. At the beginning of 1933, Hitler was appointed head of the German government - chancellor, and after that - brazenly, contrary to the Treaty of Versailles, completely ignoring it, universal military service was introduced in the country, aviation, tank, artillery and other factories were built. Corresponding military units are being created and the armed forces and the German economy are surpassing the victorious countries. By September 1939 Germany has an army of 4.6 million people, France - 2.67 million, Great Britain - 1.27 million, the USSR - 5.3 million people. Preparations for World War II are in full swing in Germany.
3) One of the reasons for the worldwide nature of this war was the aggressive policy of Japan. The fact is that in 1910 - 30 years. China was in a state of fragmentation. The Japanese empire, which had scarce natural resources, wanted to take advantage of China's weakness to gain control over its richest resources and markets, and therefore pursued an aggressive policy, conflicts, and military companies there. In November 1936, Germany and Japan signed the Anti-Comintern Pact, which Italy joined a year later. By the end of the 1930s, the Japanese army occupied the entire northeast of China, and in 1937. A full-scale Sino-Japanese war began, which from 1939 became part of the Second World War and lasted until 1945. At the same time, on April 13, 1941, an agreement was signed in Moscow between Japan and the USSR on neutrality for a period of 5 years.
In a short work, all the causes of the Second World War cannot be considered; for this, historians write monographs and multi-volume studies, disputes about its causes have been ongoing in world science for more than 60 years.
Conclusion
war destruction damage conflict
The birth of the Second World War, in comparison with the First World War, took place in an immeasurably sharper mutual struggle between the powers. Kaiser Germany, which had colonies in Africa, in the Pacific Ocean and widely used Turkey's possessions in the Middle East, after the defeat in the war of 1914-1918. lost all overseas possessions. The victory of the Great October Socialist Revolution reduced the spheres of capitalist exploitation and led to the strengthening of the national liberation movement, which weakened the deep imperialist "rear areas". At the same time, the struggle in foreign markets - the alpha and omega of imperialist foreign policy - has become even more "vital" for the capitalist countries than before the First World War. The most severe crises of overproduction in 1923-1924 and 1929-1933 had a significant impact on the aggravation of foreign policy contradictions. The preparations for a new world war began by the imperialists long before the formation of its main centers and resulted in a whole system of coordinated and purposeful actions and measures covering all spheres of public life. It was especially intense and tense in the diplomatic and military spheres, reflecting (often in a hidden form) the acuteness of the contradictions that were tearing apart the capitalist world. Under the conditions of the growth of state-monopoly capitalism, the development of mass regular armies, and secret diplomacy, this training in aggressive countries led to an ever-increasing share of the national budget, unrestrainedly spent on supporting predatory plans for a new redivision of the world. The most powerful and developed military-economic base was located in Germany, where, with the advent of Hitler to power, the Wehrmacht was created and technically re-equipped. During 1933 - 1935. a small group of financial and industrial tycoons who dominated the country's economy created a centralized military-bureaucratic machine that was supposed to mobilize the nation's resources for war. This was facilitated by the criminal cooperation of the international monopoly associations of the USA, Britain, France and Germany, which put weapons into the hands of revanchists and fascists. The preparations for the Second World War were connected with the gradual restructuring of the entire bourgeois system of ideological and psychological influence on the masses. The establishment of fascist political regimes was accompanied by monstrous social demagogy aimed at intoxicating the population, especially young people, with the ideas of class "cooperation" and class "harmony", nationalism, reaching extreme racism and chauvinism. The mass media were used to praise the cult of power, inciting zoological hatred towards the nations against which the aggression was being prepared.
As a result of the actions of German fascism, the European continent, which made a colossal contribution to the treasury of world civilization and culture, by the mid-30s was faced with a dilemma: either soon turn into a disenfranchised colony of the "Third Reich", or unite and, in the fight against the aggressor, overturn his plans. It was necessary to make a choice as soon as possible, since already the first foreign policy actions of the Nazi state showed its complete opposition to the interests of freedom-loving peoples.
The production of military equipment and weapons in the capitalist world, especially in the aggressor countries - Japan, Germany, Italy - grew rapidly. The aggressors chose the best methods for recruiting mass armies, improved their organizational structure, logistical and logistic support, deployed troops in the proposed theaters of military operations and operational directions. The foundations of various kinds of aggressive theories were developed, among which priority was given to "blitzkrieg".
The peculiarity of the historical situation of the birth of the Second World War was that world imperialism considered Germany and Japan as a military-political force that opposed the Soviet Union and was capable of crushing it with a blow from two sides. Britain, France and the United States, which occupied a leading position in the capitalist world, through various kinds of diplomatic intrigues, secret deals, economic and political agreements, contributed to the development of Japanese aggression in the Far East, the remilitarization of Germany and its transformation into the main weapon in the struggle against revolutionary movements and the USSR. The anti-Soviet orientation of the ruling circles of England, France and the USA in the 1920s and early 1930s was reflected in attempts to prevent the Soviet Union from building socialism, discredit the successes of the new system, prove the impossibility of agreements between countries with different social systems, convince the public of the whole world of the inability to the socialist state and its army to resist the onslaught of fascism.
In the writings of some historians, the idea is often held that the question of the origin of the war is so clear that there is no need to deal with it. At the same time, consideration of the causes of wars is very relevant today. The history of the birth of the Second World War has shown what a terrible threat to humanity is connivance and secret diplomacy.
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