Why did European countries capitulate to the USSR? Act of unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany
Let's start with the most common liberoid myth about the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. Liberoids and Russophobes of all stripes and colors assure us that if it were not for the Russian expanses, where there was room to retreat, they say, there would not have been victory.
The heroic resistance of our ancestors to the German fascist hordes does not count for them, since the Liberoid Vlasovites get an orgasm from the war machine of the Third Reich. “It turns out that the Europeans did not “shamefully flee” from Hitler, they just did not have the territory to retreat to the Volga,” writes Eremin.
As for the fact that the French supposedly had nowhere to retreat, this is already a blatant lie. Just look at the Wehrmacht map of the French campaign and see that the French still had almost half of France left. Yes, the French were defeated, but they did not lose the war on May 14, 1940. However, they shamefully surrendered, surrendering Paris without a fight. I know everything about the battle for Moscow, but no one has ever heard about the battle for Paris.
The Poles fought for Warsaw for almost three weeks. So, there is no justification for such a shameful capitulation for the French. They could have fought for every meter of their Belle Franze, but they didn’t. They could have turned Paris and other cities into fortresses and fought for every house, for every brick, but they didn’t. They could announce total mobilization, but they didn’t. They could have joined the partisans, but they didn’t. They could, in the end, have fallen on their faces before Moscow and begged for a second front, but they did not.
They simply shamefully capitulated and became allies of Nazi Germany.
Yes, until the summer of 1942, France was an ally of the Third Reich, and French soldiers managed to fight and die for Germany in North Africa and Syria. Therefore, comparing the French with our ancestors, and even using paddling pools as an example, is complete disgusting and blasphemy.
What about whether the French “scraped” from the Germans? What did they do in Dunkirk? Instead of digging in and turning Dunkirk into a defensive beachhead, which would be defended by the British navy and air force, not to mention the naval supply of the Dunkirk beachhead, 18 French divisions simply fled to England.
Can you imagine how Soviet divisions, instead of defending Leningrad, would have taken and fled to neutral Sweden? I can’t, but the French did just that, leaving their country under the heel of the German occupiers.
Here it should be said where this increase in motorization of the Wehrmacht comes from. And here the Germans must say “thank you” to the paddling pools. Müller-Hillebrandt writes:
“As a temporary way out of the situation, captured vehicles began to be used in large quantities, which, however, made vehicle repairs even more difficult. In addition, vehicles coming from French automobile factories were used in significant quantities. But this also could not solve the problem, since the French cars, as a rule, did not meet the requirements that were imposed on vehicles on roads in the East.
At least 88 infantry divisions, 3 motorized infantry divisions and 1 tank division were equipped mainly with French and captured vehicles."
The French also provided gasoline for the attack on the USSR to Germany. “The victory over France paid off many times over. The Germans discovered sufficient oil reserves in storage for the Battle of England and for the first major campaign in Russia. And the collection of occupation costs from France ensured the maintenance of an army of 18 million people,” writes the British historian. And Taylor in the book "World War II". That is, half of the Wehrmacht was supported by French money.
Knowing such facts, a Russian person can have only one reaction towards the French - a contemptuous spit. Not only did the French shamefully give up their homeland German fascists, but even before 1944 they dutifully worked, financed and fought on the side of Germany. But from the point of view of the Vlasovites, the despicable paddling pools are worthy of respect much more than our ancestors, who fought, retreated, but did not give up, even when captured.
But few people know that the war did not end there.
The USSR signed the decree “On ending the state of war between the Soviet Union and Germany” only 10 years after the surrender of Nazi Germany, on January 25, 1955. What happened 58 years ago and why was this date ignored in history books? We talked about this with the doctor historical sciences Yuri Zhukov.
“STALIN INSISTED ON A UNITED GERMANY”
Absolutely right!
Don't be confused, this is Victory Day. In fact, with the surrender of Germany on May 8, the war with the use of weapons, when people kill without asking the permission of lawyers, ended. And in January 1955, the legal and diplomatic state of war ended.
- But why did you have to wait almost 10 years for the signing of a peace treaty?
This is a historical and diplomatic incident. But first things first... While the war was going on, at the Tehran, Yalta and even Potsdam conferences, the three great powers - the USSR, the USA and Great Britain - agreed on the fate of Germany. And for a very long time, it was difficult to discuss the question of how this country would continue to exist - a single state or separately. Stalin insisted on maintaining a single German state, demilitarized and neutral.
- Why did he need this?
He remembered what happened after Versailles. The French occupied the Rhineland, and in 1923 they also occupied the Ruhr, the Poles seized Mountain Silesia, part of West Prussia... This led to revanchism, the desire to restore what was lost and, as a consequence, to the emergence of fascism. And Stalin, unlike the French and British, remembered this too well. However, Churchill and Roosevelt always insisted on the division of Germany. Then the French, who capitulated in 1940, also intervened and collaborated with the Germans, including sending their soldiers to the Eastern Front. France wanted to tear the Rhine zone away from Germany, creating a “security buffer” for itself. Plus, they also dreamed of the Saar region - a powerful coal basin - either to annex this zone to France, or to create an independent state there.
“THE AMERICANS HAD A Cunning POLITICS”
- What was the reason for the British to cut Germany down?
Great Britain was very weakened during the war and lived off US aid. She understood that on the continent itself strong country after the war there was only the USSR, and it was scary. But in London they are accustomed to the system of European balance, so that there are two sides, so that no one prevails, and they, the British, would habitually be the “supreme judges”. And under these conditions, in 1946, they insisted on the dismemberment of Germany in order to create at least two states on the territory of their zone. The British wanted to gain a foothold in this zone as powerfully as possible.
- And the Americans?
The Americans pursued an even more cunning policy. They decided to become the “fathers of democracy” for Germany. Already in 1946, in their occupied zone, they held local elections and monetary reform, a Western mark appeared, which later became the Deutschmark. In addition, in July 1948, three of our former allies went to create a parliamentary council in their zones. Finally, in 1949, a constitution was adopted there and elections to the Bundestag were held. And the government of the Federal Republic of Germany was formed, headed by Konrad Adenauer. The USSR had no choice but to create the GDR in its zone. Nevertheless, Moscow continued to hope for a united Germany. And we did everything possible for this. And in May 1953 we even managed to come to an agreement!
“The President of Germany provoked a putsch IN THE SOVIET ZONE"
- So why didn’t the world see a united Germany then?
And then what happened was what Konrad Adenauer described in his memoirs, which were also published in our country. He was mortally afraid of unification. Because he understood: then his Christian Democratic Union party, which was strong only in the Rhineland, would lose its majority. I was afraid of political competition. And it provoked the very rebellion on July 13, 1953 in Berlin, which today is presented by history mythologizers as “a nationwide expression of will against the Soviet occupation.”
- Maybe there really was a rebellion “from below”?
Read his memoirs! He directly admits that the “rebellion” was completely organized and controlled by him! And then everything is known: we had to bring tanks against the so-called strikers, there were deaths... Adenauer calculated everything: he took advantage of the suppression of this putsch to discredit the USSR and convinced London and Washington not to agree to unification agreements.
In January 1955, it became finally clear to us that we would not be able to reach an agreement. Then we took this amazing move: announce the end of the state of war with Germany (without specifying which one), recognize the GDR as a sovereign state and allow the East Germans to create their own army. That same decree appeared in January, and in February we recognized the Federal Republic of Germany.
“WE DID NOT START THE DIVISION OF THE COUNTRY!”
- So it wasn’t us who split Germany?
Normal chronology shows that "meow" was first said in the West. Of course, if Roosevelt had not died in April 1945, if Attlee had not become British Prime Minister instead of Churchill, perhaps everything would have gone differently. Because these great three - Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt - they would have agreed. And instead of them came weaklings, each of whom did his own thing. Our desire to quickly dismantle and take the enterprises to the USSR in return for what we lost was assessed by the Americans as robbery. At that time, they themselves were hunting for patents and intellectuals - German engineers, rocket scientists.
But Berlin Wall we built... And Gorbachev repented that we separated brothers and sisters for decades...
Sorry, but the facts show who started this section! The Berlin Wall was built by the same idiots who built the wall between Mexico and the USA, Egypt and Israel. If we are to be accused, then they should be treated with the same brush.
“PRISONERS HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH ANYTHING”
Some amateur historians believe that we were deliberately in a state of war for so long so as not to release German prisoners of war who were restoring what was destroyed...
This is not entirely true. It was not because of them that the decree was not signed for so long, as I already said. Prisoners are a side effect. Although thanks to this circumstance, many of them remained in the Union, restoring the economy.
- But why was this date ignored in history books? Even in Soviet...
Because this happened in 1955, already during the Khrushchev period - the beginning of the mythologization of our past - there was no time for this. After all, Khrushchev himself walked under the sword of Damocles of accusations of mass repressions. Documents published a long time ago showed how the first secretaries asked for the right to shoot “enemies of the people” without trial and how many to shoot, they also indicated. So, in second place in this “rating” is the first secretary of the Moscow city and regional party committees, Comrade Nikita Khrushchev. In 1937, he found 20 thousand kulaks in the Moscow region. Where did they come from in such numbers, since dispossession ended long ago?.. When he was sent to Kyiv in 1938, in the very first telegram from there he asked for permission to sign the execution of 20 thousand people. And having seized power, he completely shifted the blame onto Stalin, trying to clear his name in history...
HELP "KP"
Russia does not have a peace treaty only with Japan
Today, the only country that does not have a peace treaty with Russia is Japan. It's all about territorial claims: after the war with Japan, the USSR took possession of the Kuril Islands, which were previously part of Russian Empire. In 1956, the Moscow Declaration was signed, according to which we pledged to return the island of Shikotan and the Habomai group of islands to the Japanese, after which a peace treaty was to be signed. However, the Japanese demanded that the USSR, in addition to them, also return Kunashir and Iturup, to which Soviet side didn't go. The debate is still ongoing.
BY THE WAY
Churchill prepared to attack the USSR in 1945
In 1998, plans for Operation Unthinkable, developed by the British government under the personal leadership of Winston Churchill, were declassified. According to documents, Great Britain planned a surprise attack on Red Army units in the Dresden area on July 1, 1945. For this purpose, 47 Anglo-American divisions remained in combat readiness. The piquancy of this story is given by the fact that it was planned to use 10 German divisions in the attack on the USSR. The operation was not implemented only because the new US President Harry Truman refused to participate in it.
The USSR signed the decree “On ending the state of war between the Soviet Union and Germany” only 10 years after the surrender of Nazi Germany, on January 25, 1955. This date is not widely known, it is ignored in history books, and no one celebrates the day the Decree was signed. Doctor of Historical Sciences Yuri Zhukov calls this case a “diplomatic and historical incident.” But the “incident” is not accidental, and it had its own reasons.
Even during the war, at the Tehran, Yalta and Potsdam conferences, the three great powers reached an agreement regarding Germany after the end of the war. For a long time they could not resolve the territorial question - will Germany exist as one state or will it be fragmented? Stalin insisted that Germany was united, neutral and demilitarized. Why did Stalin insist on such a decision? He simply remembered the consequences of the Treaty of Versailles, when the French occupied the Rhineland and later captured the Ruhr. The Poles took Mountain Silesia. This is what led to the desire to take revenge, to restore what was lost, and as a result, fascism appeared. Stalin took this fact into account, Churchill and Roosevelt did not. The USSR wanted to sign a peace treaty with Germany, which was not divided into 2 parts, but in the end it turned out differently.
About the lecturer
Shubin Alexander Vladlenovich - Doctor of Historical Sciences, head of the Center for the History of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus of the Institute general history Russian Academy Sci.
Lecture outline
1. The failure of the Moscow negotiations and the Soviet-German pact.
2. The beginning of World War II and the participation of the USSR in the division of the Polish state.
3. Soviet-Finnish war.
4. Accession of the Baltic countries and Moldova to the USSR.
5. The growth of Soviet-German contradictions.
6. Soviet strategic planning and the Barbarossa plan.
7. What did Stalin and the Soviet command not take into account?
Annotation
The lecture is dedicated foreign policy and military strategic planning of the USSR in 1939-1941. When the policy of “collective security” failed, the USSR moved towards rapprochement with Germany, which led to the conclusion of the Non-Aggression Pact and the division of spheres of influence between the USSR and Germany.
At the outbreak of World War II, the Soviet leadership, trying to strengthen the western borders of the USSR, took advantage of the situation to expand the territory of the USSR. It included the Western parts of Ukraine and Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Moldova. The attempt to occupy Finland was unsuccessful and led to the bloody Soviet-Finnish war. After the defeat of France and the establishment of German dominance in Western Europe The contradictions between Germany and the USSR began to intensify; these states were preparing in deep secret for a military clash.
The Soviet leadership, preparing for a clash with Germany, underestimated the adventurism of Hitler and his generals and incorrectly assessed Germany's plans to start the war. This was the main reason for the defeats of the Red Army in the initial period of the war.
Questions about the topic of the lecture
1. For whom was the campaign of the Red Army in the fall of 1939 liberating, and for whom was it not? Why?
2. Why do you think Great Britain and France declared war on Germany in response to the attack on Poland, but did not declare war on the USSR in response to the introduction of troops into the eastern part of the Polish state?
3. What were the reasons for the Soviet-Finnish war?
4. Could the Baltic countries provide military resistance to the USSR like Finland?
5. Why do you think Stalin did not hold important government positions in the USSR until 1941?
6. Why did the Soviet leadership, understanding the danger of a clash with Germany, agree to the liquidation of the states that separated the USSR and Germany, which brought the Nazi army closer to the borders of the Soviet Union?
7. Why were the directions of attacks by German troops in June 1941 unexpected for the Soviet command?
Literature
Great Patriotic War 1941-1945. M., 1999.
Iilmyarv M. Silent surrender. M., 2012.
Meltyukhov M. Soviet-Polish wars. Military-political confrontation 1918-1939. M., 2001.
Meltyukhov M. Stalin's missed chance. Soviet Union and the struggle for Europe: 1939-1941. M., 2000.
Naumov A.O. Diplomatic struggle in Europe on the eve of World War II. M., 2007.
Nevezhin V.A. Syndrome offensive war Soviet propaganda on the eve of the “Holy Battles”, 1939¬-1941. M., 1997.
Churchill W. Second world war. M., 1991.
Shubin A.V. The world is on the edge of the abyss. From global depression to world war. M., 2004.