Chapter VII. The Nazi Reich unleashes World War II

On June 1, 1939, the French ambassador in the Nazi capital, Coulondre, told Foreign Minister Bonnet that Hitler “would risk starting a war if he did not have to fight Russia. If he knows that he will have to fight with Russia, he will retreat so as not to expose the country, the party and himself to death.”

Kulondre added that two of Hitler's top military leaders, OKW Chief of Staff Keitel and Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces Brauchitsch, told the Fuhrer that if Germany had to fight Russia, she would have little chance of winning the war.

Initially, the success of the military campaign against Poland planned in the "Weiss" plan was directly linked by the German leader with whether it would be possible to achieve the political isolation of Poland: ""The goal of our policy is to localize the war within Poland.""

In Russian history, a myth is now popular that the USSR was very afraid of a war with Germany and therefore concluded a pact (Molotov-Ribbentrop) in order to better prepare for this war. But this is a blatant lie. Now we can cite data on the Red Army: after the 1939 mobilization of the year. In September 1939, the payroll of the Red Army increased to 5.3 million people; it was armed with 43,000 guns, 18,000 tanks, and 10,000 aircraft.

Data for the German Army as of September 1939, after mobilization: the entire army numbered 4,528 thousand people (of which 3.7 million were in the ground forces), there were 3195 tanks, including tankettes without guns and training vehicles (of which: 1145 - T-I, 1223 - T-II, 98 - T-III, 211 - TIV), there were also 4,500 aircraft, 27,000 artillery pieces and mortars. I won’t compare tanks and artillery now, but I speak with confidence in the USSR they are better, for example, one fact, the German T-I tank had no gun at all, the T-II tank had such a weak gun that it could not hit the Soviet at all armored vehicles, and only 300 T-III and T-IV tanks (about 10% of the total) were relatively combat-ready.

So, at the time of the signing of the pact and the attack on Poland, the USSR had a superiority in people over Germany, in tanks more than four times, in artillery by 63%, in aircraft more than two times. In addition, Poland was between Germany and the USSR with an army of almost a million, and therefore, as of August 1939, the German invasion of the USSR did not threaten.

On August 23, Hitler's plan to partially isolate Poland was a success, the USSR and the Nazis signed a non-aggression pact, along with the non-aggression pact, a secret protocol was also signed according to which, when reorganizing the regions that make up the Polish state, the border of the spheres of interest of Germany and the USSR will approximately run along lines of the rivers Pissa, Nareva, Vistula and San.

This marked the beginning of the aggressive war against Poland and the Second World War as a legal fact. But the signing of the non-aggression pact was also important because it removed the threat of war for Germany on two fronts. According to Article 3 of the Polish-Soviet non-aggression pact, the USSR undertook not to take part in any agreements that, from an aggressive point of view, are clearly hostile to the other side. Undoubtedly, the secret agreements concluded by the USSR and Germany regarding Poland in August-October 1939 were of a nature that clearly contradicted this article.

According to V.M. Molotov, uttered by him during negotiations in Berlin on November 12, 1940, the agreements of August 1939 were primarily "" in the interests of Germany "", which was able to "" get Poland "", and later seize France and start a serious war against Great Britain, having a "strong rear in the East".

Later, in 1946, recalling this event at the Nuremberg Trials, Ribbentrop said: “When I arrived in Moscow in 1939 to Marshal Stalin, he discussed with me not the possibility of a peaceful settlement of the German-Polish conflict within the framework of the Briand-Kellogg pact, but made it clear that if he does not get half of Poland and the Baltic countries without Lithuania with the port of Libava, then I can immediately fly back.

Many accuse Britain and France also of supporting Hitler's aggressive plans in 1938, referring to the Munich Agreement of 1938 regarding Czechoslovakia's peaceful transfer of the Sudetenland to Germany. But there are cardinal differences here, firstly, England and France did not commit actions that could be interpreted as military aggression, secondly, they did not participate in hostilities on the side of the Nazis, and thirdly, they did not participate in the dismemberment of another state , with the addition of a part of it.

They tried to make concessions to Germany in terms of joining it with ethnically German territories unfairly taken from the German nation, and preventing another world war in Europe. It was England and France that declared war on Germany after the German attack on Poland, but already on September 17 the USSR officially entered the war on the side of Germany, and on September 28 it began to publicly threaten its entry into the war against England and France if they did not stop all operations against the German army in the West. Now the passive war of the allies against Germany in the fall of 1939 is called strange, although if you look, everything is understandable, because they hoped that the military alliance between Germany and the USSR would quickly fall apart, which, in principle, happened.

Starting a war against Poland, Hitler wanted to return only the original German lands occupied by the Poles, according to the Treaty of Versailles. On the remaining territory, he allowed the existence of Poland as an independent state, even taking into account the transfer of Western Ukraine and Belarus to Russia. It would be a buffer between Germany and the USSR.

But Stalin insisted on the complete liquidation of Poland. It was thanks to this decision of Stalin that Germany and the USSR received a common border. So, concluding a pact with Germany and a secret protocol on the division of Poland and the Baltic states, Stalin acted not for defense purposes, but solely to seize new territories and unleash a war in Europe and its subsequent Sovietization.

On September 1, the Minsk radio station began to be used as a radio beacon to support Luftwaffe raids. This was a direct violation of the 5th Hague Convention on the Rights and Duties of Neutral Powers and Persons in the Event of a Land War of 1907, ratified by Russia. That is, already on the 1st day of the war, the USSR was not neutral, but supported the Nazis in the war against Poland.

September 3rd. Ribbentrop sends telegram No. 253 to the German Ambassador in Moscow
Please discuss this with Molotov immediately and see if the Soviet Union does not consider it desirable that the Russian army should move at the right moment against the Polish forces in the Russian sphere of influence and, for its part, occupy this territory. In our opinion, this would not only help us, but also, in accordance with the Moscow agreements, would also be in the Soviet interests.

4 September. All German ships in the North Atlantic were ordered "to proceed to Murmansk, adhering to the most northerly course possible." On September 8, Moscow gave permission for German ships to enter Murmansk and guaranteed the transportation of goods to Leningrad. In total, in the first 17 days of September, 18 German ships took refuge in a Soviet port.

8 September. Telegram from the German ambassador in Moscow, no. Please convey my congratulations and greetings to the government of the German Empire." Moscow gave permission for German ships to enter Murmansk and guaranteed the transportation of goods to Leningrad. In total, in the first 17 days of September, 18 German ships took refuge in a Soviet port.

September 14th. Telegram from the German ambassador in Moscow No. 350, sent to the German Foreign Ministry: “In response to your telegram No. 336 of September 13, Molotov called me today at 4 pm and said that the Red Army had reached a state of readiness sooner than expected.

Given the political motivation of the Soviet action (the fall of Poland and the defense of the Russian "minorities"), it would be extremely important [for the Soviets] not to start acting before the administrative center of Poland, Warsaw, fell. Molotov therefore asks that he be informed as precisely as possible when he can count on the capture of Warsaw.

September 17th. The Soviet grouping of about 600,000 people, about 4,000 tanks, more than 5,500 artillery pieces and 2,000 aircraft hit the rear of the Polish army fighting the Nazis, which was a direct violation of the non-aggression pact between the USSR and Poland (later Stalin would call it a treacherous violation of non-aggression pacts, actions Germany in June 1941). There were more than 300,000 Polish troops in the offensive zone of the Soviet troops.

September 25th. In telegram No. 442 from the German ambassador, he writes to the German Foreign Ministry: “Stalin and Molotov asked me to come to the Kremlin today at 8 pm. Stalin stated the following. In the final settlement of the Polish question, everything must be avoided that in the future may cause friction between Germany and the Soviet Union.

From this point of view, he considers it wrong to leave the remnant of the Polish state independent. He proposes the following: from the territories to the east of the demarcation line, the entire Lublin Voivodeship and that part of the Warsaw Voivodeship that reaches the Bug should be added to our portion. For this, we renounce claims to Lithuania.

September 28, 1939. The Treaty of Friendship and Border between the USSR and Germany was concluded, by which the territory of Poland was divided between the two aggressors in accordance with the previously signed secret protocol of August 23, 1939. At the time of the conclusion of the treaty, Germany was militarily almost completely exhausted, almost all ammunition and fuel were used up in the troops.

Germany had no opportunity to wage even a defensive war on the Western Front. In order to save his ally, Stalin speaks openly in support of Germany and threatens France and England with the support of the Nazis if the war continues. It was the possibility of a war against Germany and the USSR that kept France and England from attacking Germany in the autumn-winter of 1939 (Strange War).

The results of the military aggression of the USSR against Poland.

The combat losses of the Red Army during the Polish campaign of 1939, according to the Russian historian Grigory Krivosheev, amounted to 1173 people killed, 2002 wounded and 302 missing. Losses in the equipment of tank and mechanized brigades of the Red Army (including irretrievable) amounted to 42 armored units - of which 26 on the Belorussian front and 16 on the Ukrainian.

Estimating the combat losses of the Polish Army in battles with the Red Army, the Russian historian Mikhail Meltyukhov gives figures of 3,500 killed, 20,000 missing and 454,700 prisoners. According to the Polish Military Encyclopedia, 250,000 servicemen were taken prisoner by the Soviets. Almost the entire captured officer corps was subsequently shot by the NKVD, including about 14,000 captured officers were destroyed by Soviet executioners near Katyn.

In a statement made in October 1939, Molotov gave the following figures for the captured military property: “over 900 guns, over 10 thousand machine guns, over 300 thousand rifles, over 150 million rounds of ammunition, about 1 million shells and up to 300 aircraft.” So the Soviet invasion of Poland was an aggressive military operation, not a liberation campaign.

JOINT STATEMENT OF THE SOVIET AND GERMAN GOVERNMENTS OF SEPTEMBER 28, 1939
After the German government and the government of the USSR, by the treaty signed today, finally settled the questions that arose as a result of the collapse of the Polish state, and thus created a solid foundation for a lasting peace in Eastern Europe, they mutually agree that the elimination of a real war between Germany, on the one hand, and by England and France, on the other hand, would meet the interests of all peoples.

Therefore, both governments will direct their common efforts, in case of need, in agreement with other friendly powers, in order to achieve this goal as soon as possible. If, however, these efforts of both governments remain unsuccessful, then the fact will be established that Britain and France are responsible for the continuation of the war, and in the event of a continuation of the war, the governments of Germany and the USSR will consult each other on the necessary measures.

If we turn to the notes of the conversation with Ribbentrop and Stalin dated September 28, 1939, then Stalin in his (first after long reasoning by Ribbentrop) statement (according to the German record) stated his point of view as follows: “The point of view of Germany, which rejects military assistance, is worthy of respect .

However, a strong Germany is a necessary condition for peace in Europe - therefore, the Soviet Union is interested in the existence of a strong Germany. Therefore, the Soviet Union cannot agree to the Western Powers creating conditions that could weaken Germany and put her in a difficult position. This is the commonality of interests between Germany and the Soviet Union.

September 30, 1939. Ribbentrop's statement was published in the newspaper Pravda: “... Both states want peace to be restored and that England and France stop the absolutely senseless and hopeless struggle against Germany. If, however, warmongers take over in these countries, then Germany and the USSR will know how to respond to this.

The USSR, not only in word, but in deed, helped the Nazis not only in September 1939, hitting the rear of the Polish army, which accelerated the transfer of German units to the West. The “anti-fascist” socialist state did everything to weaken the trade blockade of Nazi Germany and help it as much as possible in the war against England and France, for which on February 11, 1940, an economic agreement between the USSR and Germany was signed in Moscow. It provided that the Soviet Union would supply Germany with the following goods:

1,000,000 tons of feed grains and legumes, worth 120 million Reichsmarks
900,000 tons of oil worth about 115 million Reichsmarks
100,000 tons of cotton worth about 90 million Reichsmarks
500,000 tons of phosphates
100,000 tons of chromite ores
500,000 tons of iron ore
300,000 tons of iron scrap and pig iron
2,400 kg of platinum

"Commodity turnover between Germany and the USSR in the first year of the agreement will reach a volume exceeding the highest levels ever achieved since the World War" [Pravda, 02/13/1940].

In 1940, open pro-Nazi propaganda was also conducted in the USSR. Articles published in the Soviet press, including in the official Soviet newspapers Pravda and Izvestiya, were used by Dr. Goebbels' department for his propaganda purposes. Propaganda speeches were reproduced in the German press, including Hitler's direct speeches.

At the same time, a special place was occupied by information messages from the front of the war in the West, mainly about the successes of the Luftwaffe in the "battle for England". According to radio broadcasts in the "Latest News" programs, the losses of British aviation and the destruction of English cities were called a feeling of deep satisfaction. Every day, radio stations played Wagner's music, which was very popular among the NSDAP leadership.

The following facts are also in no way incompatible with the neutral status of the state: the transit through the entire territory of the USSR from the Far East to Germany of a large group of officers from the German cruiser Graf Spee sunk in the Pacific Ocean.

No circumstances can justify the consent of the Soviet leadership to serve Nazi warships in Soviet ports in the Barents Sea basin (in October 1939, the Soviet Union agreed to the use by the German Navy of the port of Teriberka east of Murmansk as a repair base and ship supply point and submarines operating in the North Atlantic).

Molotov's note on Stalin's meeting with the British Ambassador Stafford Cripps in July 1940: "Stalin does not see any threat to hegemony from any country in Europe, and he is even less afraid that Europe might be absorbed by Germany. Stalin follows the policy of Germany and is well knows several figures in Germany. He did not detect any desire on their part to swallow the European countries. Stalin does not consider that Germany's military successes pose a threat to the Soviet Union and its friendly relations with it ... ".

It is no coincidence that already after the Second World War, at the end of November 1945, the list of issues not subject to discussion at the Nuremberg trials, approved by the Soviet delegation at the Nuremberg trials, in order to prevent counter-accusations of defense against the governments of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition, the first paragraph provided for a ban on discussing the attitude of the USSR to the Treaty of Versailles , and the ninth point - the question of Soviet-Polish relations.

With the defeat of Poland by German and Soviet troops, only the first act of World War II ended. Almost immediately after the end of hostilities in Poland, the "peaceful" socialist state begins a war against Finland. Military operations, which were a completely failed blitzkrieg attempt with huge losses and ended after 3.5 months of fierce fighting with a Pyrrhic victory (on the Soviet side, up to 960 thousand people participated in them, and the irretrievable losses of the Red Army amounted to over 131 thousand, and according to Russian military historian

Krivosheev, the total sanitary losses amounted to 264,908 people. That is, the loss of a neutral state, which allegedly did not participate in the outbreak of the world war, many times exceeded the irretrievable losses of the Wehrmacht in the first two years of World War II.

Many argue that the USSR did not carry out military aggression against Poland in September 1939, but carried out some kind of liberation campaign with the aim of reuniting Belarusians and Ukrainians or even restoring the historical borders of the Russian Empire. But these arguments are without foundation.

Firstly, Belarusians and Ukrainians in the territories that are part of Poland did not ask the USSR for such a liberation campaign, moreover, 400 thousand people were repressed in the first two years after the Soviet occupation. Secondly, according to existing international treaties, the invasion of the territory of a foreign state was aggression.

According to Art. 2 of the Convention on the Definition of Aggression, concluded in London on July 3, 1933 by the USSR with other states, aggression is recognized not only as a declaration of war on another state (this case is provided for in paragraph 1 of Article 2), but also an invasion of armed forces, even without a declaration of war , on the territory of another state (paragraph 2 of article 2), an attack by land, sea or air armed forces, even without a declaration of war, on the territory, sea or aircraft of another state (paragraph 3 of article 2).

At the same time, according to Art. 3 of the said convention, no considerations of a political, military, economic or other nature can excuse or justify the attack provided for in article two 3. As an example of such "" considerations "" the signatories of the convention, in paragraph three of the Annex to article 3 of the convention called the internal situation of any state, the imaginary shortcomings of its administration.

In a conversation with the chairman of the Comintern, Dimitrov, Stalin declared: “The destruction of this state [Poland] in the current conditions would mean one less bourgeois fascist state! What would be bad if, as a result of the defeat of Poland, we extended the socialist system to new territories and populations. (Diary of G. Dimitrov, entry 09/07/1939).

The attack on Finland led to the fact that in December 1939 the USSR, as a military aggressor, was expelled from the League of Nations. The immediate reason for the expulsion was the mass protests of the international community over the systematic bombing of civilian targets by Soviet aircraft, including with the use of incendiary bombs.

Between June 15 and June 20, 1940, the “peace-loving” Soviet Union takes decisive steps and forces the Baltic countries to create pro-Soviet governments by threatening military force, violating previously signed agreements. After suppressing the press, arresting political leaders, and outlawing all parties except the Communists, the Russians staged mock elections on July 14 in all three states.

After the "elected" parliaments thus voted for the accession of their countries to the Soviet Union, the Supreme Council (parliament) of Russia accepted them into their fatherland: Lithuania - August 3, Latvia - August 5, Estonia - August 6.

But how did it happen that between the two allies - the Nazis and the Communists in June 1941, a military conflict began, which grew into the so-called Great Patriotic War.

The Chief of the General Staff of the Ground Forces (OKH), Colonel-General F. Halder, analyzing the situation in 1940 after the war, believed that at that time Hitler believed it was possible to avoid a war with Russia if the latter did not show expansionist aspirations in a western direction. To do this, Hitler "considered it necessary to divert Russian expansion to the Balkans and Turkey, which would certainly lead to a conflict between Russia and Great Britain."

In early 1940, Romania agreed to transfer to the use of the Germans its oil fields in Ploiesti (the only explored fields in Europe at that time) in exchange for political and military protection. On May 23, in the midst of the battle for France, the Romanian General Staff sent an SOS signal to the OKW, informing the Germans that Soviet troops were concentrating near the Romanian border.

The next day, Jodl summed up the reaction to this message at Hitler's headquarters: "The situation in the East is becoming threatening because of the concentration of Russian forces near the borders of Bessarabia." However, the USSR, threatening with military aggression, forced Romania to cede Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina, and the latter was not included in the circle of areas of Soviet interests agreed with Germany. Under the influence of these steps, a threat was created for the Romanian region of Ploiesti, the only serious source of oil supplies for Germany, which could paralyze the economy and the German army.

German Foreign Minister I. Ribbentrop: “On June 23, 1940, a telegram from our ambassador in Moscow arrived in Berlin: the Soviet Union intends to occupy the Romanian province of Bessarabia in the coming days, and they are only going to inform us about it. Adolf Hitler was then amazed by the rapid Russian advance without prior consultation with us. The fact that, at the same time, the predominantly German-populated Northern Bukovina, the original land of the Austrian crown, was subject to occupation, especially stunned Hitler.

He took this move by Stalin as a sign of Russian pressure on the West. The large concentration of Soviet troops in Bessarabia aroused serious fears in Adolf Hitler from the point of view of the further conduct of the war against England: under no circumstances could we refuse the Romanian oil that was vital to us. If Russia had advanced further here, we would have found ourselves in the further conduct of the war dependent on the good will of Stalin. During one of our conversations in Munich, he told me that, for his part, he was considering military measures, because he did not want to be taken by surprise by the East.

So let's give another word to the second person in Nazi Germany, Joseph Goebbels, the imperial minister of public education and propaganda:
06/25/40 Stalin informs Schulenburg that he intends to act against Romania. This again contradicts our agreement.
06/29/40 Romania lost to Moscow. Bessarabia and S. Bukovina will go to Russia. For us, this is by no means pleasant. The Russians are taking advantage of the situation.
5/07/40 Slavism is spreading throughout the Balkans. Russia seizes the moment.
07/11/40 There is some unease in the [German] people about Russia.
07/17/40 Russians continue to gather troops [to Romania]. We are no less. King Carol wants a German military occupation. It doesn't matter when and where. Fear of Moscow.
07/19/40 The Russians have become quite cocky."

And, finally, the Fuhrer of the German people himself, Adolf Hitler (in a conversation with Mussolini on 01/19/41): "Previously, Russia would not have posed any danger to us at all, because it was unable to threaten us. Now, in a century aviation, the Romanian oilfields can be turned into smoking ruins as a result of an air attack from Russia or the Mediterranean region, and yet the very existence of the Axis powers depends on these oilfields "(B. Liddell-Gart." World War II "M. AST 2002).

German Foreign Minister I. Ribbentrop: “... Molotov's visit to Berlin (November 12-13, 1940 - Comp.) did not stand under a lucky star, as I wished. From these conversations with Molotov, Hitler finally got the impression of a serious Russian desire for the West. The next day, Jodl summed up the reaction to this message at Hitler's headquarters: "The situation in the East is becoming threatening because of the concentration of Russian forces near the borders of Bessarabia."

From a speech by Stalin to graduates of military academies in May 1941 “... Our policy of peace and security is at the same time a policy of preparing for war. There is no defense without attack. We must educate the army in the spirit of the offensive. We must prepare for war." (Diary of G. Dimitrov, entry 05/05/1941).

Politburo member Andrei Zhdanov at a meeting of the Main Military Council of the Red Army on June 4, 1941, said: “We have become stronger, we can set more active tasks. The wars with Poland and Finland were not defensive wars. We have already embarked on the path of an offensive policy... There is only one step between peace and war. That is why our propaganda cannot be peaceful... We had an offensive policy before. This policy was determined by Lenin. Now we are only changing the slogan. We have begun to implement Lenin's thesis."

Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union N. G. Kuznetsov (in 1941 - Admiral. People's Commissar of the Navy of the USSR, member of the Central Committee, member of the Headquarters of the High Command from the moment it was created): "For me, one thing is indisputable: J. V. Stalin not only did not rule out the possibility of war with Nazi Germany, on the contrary, he considered such a war ... inevitable ... I.V. Stalin conducted preparations for war - extensive and versatile preparations - based on the dates he had outlined ... Hitler violated his calculations "(On the eve. P. 321).

A small touch to the big picture. 13-14/05/40. Moscow. Meeting on military ideology. Chief of the General Staff Meretskov speaks: "We can say that our army is preparing for an attack, and we need this attack for defense. Based on political conditions, we must attack, and the Government will tell us what we need to do."

So, after all, Hitler was the "icebreaker" of the world socialist revolution for the communists, who had been arming Germany since the 20s. It was the fighting of the Nazis that gave grounds for the subsequent entry into Western Europe of the red liberators. And you can't get away from it. But he dealt a preemptive blow to Bolshevism, this blow, despite the defeat of Germany and the temporary victory of the Communists, turned out to be fatal for Communism.

I think that sooner or later we will take an impartial look at the actions and policies of Nazi Germany and come to the obvious conclusion that Hitler saved the modern world from the red plague, and the Holocaust is a primitive invention of the communists and Jewish bankers, whose expansion the Germans tried to stop.

So far, no one has found a single gas chamber or mass graves of Jews allegedly killed by the Germans. The Red Cross in official information indicated that less than 400 thousand people died in German concentration camps in 12 years, but Jews continue to tell us tales about millions of victims in Nazi concentration camps. It was the Germans who first proposed to the world to build a state for white people (now Europe and the USA contain more than 100 million black and colored dependents from the third world, who are the main source of crime and terrorist attacks), who eat hundreds of billions annually, which should have been scientifically -technical development of civilization.

The Germans, by their example, demonstrated simply fantastic rates of economic growth, which no one in the world could surpass. In addition, it was Nazi Germany that gave the world an incredible amount of breakthrough technologies that were absolutely dishonestly appropriated by the USSR and its Western allies.

For comparison, the USSR managed to organize three famines on the territory of Ukraine in 1921, 1933 and 1947, in peacetime, while during the German occupation during the war there was no famine, as well as large-scale repressions. To be honest with the facts, so far not a single evidence of mass repressions or murders committed by the Germans on the territory of Ukraine has been found, not a single mass grave of the dead has been found.

All we have is a bunch of communist myths. Having honestly and impartially looked at the facts, we will understand that the Ukrainians and the West fought on the side of their enemy - the Stalinist USSR, which really brought evil and destruction to the world. And all the economic and social problems of modern Ukraine and the United States, Britain and the West as a whole are connected precisely with this civilizational choice.