The problem of opening a second front arose immediately after the German attack on Soviet Union. However, the United States and Britain, which announced on June 22-24, 1941, their readiness to assist the Soviet Union, were in no hurry, and could not do anything concrete in this direction at that time.

The defeat of the Germans near Moscow, which put an end to the "blitzkrieg" and meant that Germany was being drawn into a protracted war in the east, dispelled for some time the doubts of the US and British leadership about the combat capabilities of the USSR. But now the leaders of the Western powers faced another question: will the Soviet Union stand if Germany repeats last year's powerful onslaught on the Red Army in 1942?

The command of the US Army perfectly understood the strategic importance of the invasion of Western Europe and the opening of a second front, where large ground forces would operate, for they were aware that in a continental war, which was basically the Second World War, the final victory would be won on the fronts, leading to vital areas of Germany. At the same time, some American politicians advocated that the American ground forces should enter the battle as soon as possible on the most critical fronts.

In May - June 1942, the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the USSR V. Molotov visited London and Washington, where he negotiated the opening of a second front. A communiqué issued on June 11-12, 1942 in Moscow, Washington and London reported that "full agreement has been reached on the urgent tasks of creating a second front in 1942." At the same time, Roosevelt began to lean in favor of a landing operation in North Africa.

Justifying their refusal to open a second front in Europe, the leaders of the United States and Britain referred to military-technical and other reasons. Roosevelt, for example, spoke of the shortage of transoceanic transport for the transfer of troops to England.

Of course, the opening of a second front in 1942 was very problematic, since after the adoption of an agreed decision in June of this year, there were no more favorable climatic conditions. But the strategic naval operation with the aim of a large-scale invasion of Western Europe could have been quite successfully carried out in the spring of 1943, if comprehensive and purposeful preparations for it had begun in 1942.

However, the allies were clearly inclined to believe that in 1943 the second front would not be opened. The US and British leadership did everything to gain a foothold in the North African region and expand their positions there. And only after the defeat of the Germans near Kursk at the Tehran Conference was it decided to open a second front in May 1944. The concentration of forces and means on the British Isles began in order to “start the operation on May 1, 1944 from such a bridgehead on the continent from which further offensive actions could be carried out.

The offensive of the American-British expeditionary forces in Normandy, which began on June 6, 1944, was one of the most important military-political events Second World War. For the first time, the Reich had to fight on two fronts, which Hitler had always feared so much. "Overlord" became the largest amphibious landing operation of a strategic scale. Many factors contributed to its success: the achievement of surprise, the interaction of forces and combat arms, the correctly chosen direction of the main attack, uninterrupted supply, high morale and combat qualities of the troops, a huge rise in the forces of the Resistance movement in Europe.

But even after the opening of the second front, the Soviet-German front remained the main theater of the war. The continuous offensive operations of the Red Army in Karelia, Belarus, the Baltic States, Ukraine, the transfer of hostilities to the countries of Central and South-Eastern Europe contributed to the military successes of the Western allies in the summer and autumn of 1944 during the liberation of France, conducting operations in Belgium, Holland, Italy, exit to the borders of Germany.

Liberation of Romania. On March 26, 1944, Soviet troops reached the river. Prut - State border of the USSR with Romania. The dictator of Romania, Marshal I. Antonescu, organized the sounding of the terms of the truce with the allies. On April 12, 1944, the Soviet representative N. Novikov handed over the text of the conditions of the Soviet government, previously agreed with the United States and England, to the Romanian representative, Prince B. Stirbey. The terms of the armistice provided for the restoration of the Soviet-Romanian border under the 1940 treaty; compensation for losses caused to the Soviet Union by military operations and the occupation of Soviet territory by the Romanian troops; security allied forces free movement within Romanian territory in accordance with military needs.

On April 27, an ultimatum telegram was sent to I. Antonescu on behalf of the three allies, in which it was proposed to give an answer within 72 hours. However, the Romanian side did everything to turn the negotiations into a discussion.

In the spring of 1944, the Romanian Communist Party achieved the creation of the United Workers' Front (URF). On May 1, 1944, the ERF published a manifesto in which it called on the working class, all parties and organizations, regardless of political views, religious beliefs and social affiliation, the entire Romanian people to a resolute struggle for immediate peace, the overthrow of the government of I. Antonescu and for the creation of a national government from representatives of anti-fascist forces. Patriotic armed detachments were organized, anti-fascist agitation was carried out. Soviet and British aviation flooded Romania with leaflets calling for withdrawal from the war on the side of Germany.

On August 23, King Mihai issued an appeal to the people of the country. A declaration was made public, in which it was announced that Romania had broken off the alliance with Germany, that it had immediately stopped the war, and that it had accepted the terms of the armistice proposed by the Soviet Union, Great Britain and the United States. Since the king was the commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the country, the army at the front was ordered to stop hostilities against the Red Army. Subsequently, the king was awarded the highest Soviet Order of Victory.

However, for about seven months, the Red Army fought on Romanian territory against German troops, while suffering considerable losses. From March to October 1944, more than 286 thousand Soviet soldiers shed their blood here, of which 69 thousand people died. The price paid by the Soviet Union for the liberation of Romania was great.

Liberation of Bulgaria. After the defeat of the German-Romanian troops under the years. Iasi and Chisinau, Romania's way out of the war, and with the approach of Soviet troops, the ruling circles of Bulgaria began to look for a way out of the situation.

The main force opposing the government was the anti-fascist workers and peasants, the progressive intelligentsia. Their political representatives were primarily the Bulgarian Workers' Party and the Bulgarian Agricultural People's Union, which formed the Fatherland Front (OF).

• On September 5, the Soviet government announced that from now on the USSR "will be at war with Bulgaria", which, as the statement said, "has actually been waging war against the Soviet Union since 1941". All over the country, strikes and demonstrations began under the slogan "All power to the Fatherland Front!". Actions intensified partisan detachments and battle groups. During September 6-8, the authority of the OF was established in more than 160 settlements.
• On September 6, the Bulgarian government announced the severance of relations with Germany and requested the terms of a truce with the USSR. On September 8, the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front crossed the Romanian-Bulgarian border. Without a single shot, in marching order, they rapidly advanced along the intended route. The front headquarters began to receive reports of an enthusiastic welcome of the Soviet soldiers by the Bulgarian people.

Thus, the campaign of Soviet troops in Bulgaria was completed. What are the results? It took place in favorable political conditions and was not associated with the conduct of hostilities. However, the losses of the Red Army here amounted to 12,750 people, including irretrievable losses - 977 people.

Liberation of Yugoslavia. Back in the autumn of 1942, on the initiative of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, a political body arose - the Anti-Fascist Council for the People's Liberation of Yugoslavia. At the same time, the National Committee for the Liberation of Yugoslavia was established as the highest executive and administrative authority, that is, the country's provisional government headed by I. Tito.

On October 1, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command approved the plan for the Belgrade strategic offensive operation, and the Soviet troops went on the offensive. The inhabitants of the villages and cities of Yugoslavia warmly welcomed the Soviet soldiers. In September - October 1944, the troops of the Red Army, in close cooperation with the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia, defeated the German army group "Serbia", liberated the eastern and northeastern regions of Yugoslavia with its capital Belgrade.

Simultaneously with the Belgrade offensive operation, the Red Army troops began to liberate such states of Central Europe as Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Austria. The military operations here were extremely tense. The intensity of the struggle was determined not only by difficult geographical and weather conditions, but also by the fanatical resistance of the enemy. This was explained by the fact that these countries were a powerful arsenal and the last resource base from where the Third Reich received weapons, military equipment, fuel, food and much more.

Against the background of the victories of the Soviet armed forces, the liberation struggle of the peoples of Europe against the German occupiers intensified. Various political parties and movements sought to use the approach or entry into their territory of the Red Army troops to realize their plans.

Liberation of Czechoslovakia. Until August 1944, the partisan movement in Slovakia did not gain significant momentum. In July, the Ukrainian headquarters of the partisan movement began to throw in

Slovakia specially trained organizing groups. Each consisted of 10-20 people, among whom were both Soviet and Czechoslovak citizens.

The Slovak partisans were supported not only by the population, but also by some gendarmerie units, as well as local military garrisons. As a result of the activities of partisan detachments, several regions were liberated in Central Slovakia by the end of August.

On August 30, an order was given to start an armed struggle against the German occupiers. The uprising has begun. Banska Bystrica became its center. The Czechoslovak government, which was in London, appealed to all Slovaks, Czechs and the people of Subcarpathia with an appeal to support the uprising.

The Soviet leadership, at the request of the Czechoslovak side, ordered to immediately begin preparations for a special offensive operation. The offensive of the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front began on September 8, and the 4th Ukrainian - a day later.

At the same time, the resistance of the enemy by this moment had noticeably increased. In an effort to stop the offensive, the Germans transferred four divisions and separate units to help the defending troops. Overcoming the strongest opposition from the enemy, units of the Red Army entered the territory of Slovakia on October 6. However, the severity of the fighting did not subside. The enemy resisted fiercely. The subsequent actions of the troops of General A. Grechko on the territory of Czechoslovakia were unsuccessful. In this regard, the commander of the 4th Ukrainian Front ordered the 1st Guards Army to stop the offensive.

Since October, the troops of the 1st and 4th Ukrainian fronts began the East Carpathian operation and provided direct assistance to the Slovak national uprising. By the end of the month, the operation was completed. More than 20 thousand Soviet and about 900 Czechoslovak soldiers who stormed the Carpathians died in fierce battles. Six months later, Soviet and Czechoslovak soldiers, together with rebel fighters, will complete the liberation campaign in Prague.

Liberation of Hungary. Until December 1944, Hungary was a kingdom without a king. The state was ruled by a temporary ruler, former Rear Admiral M. Horthy, who was proclaimed regent in 1920. In 1939, Hungary joined the Anti-Comintern Pact and participated in the dismemberment of Czechoslovakia, the attack on Yugoslavia and the USSR. For loyalty to the Third Reich, Hungary received part of Slovakia, Transcarpathian Ukraine, Northern Transylvania and part of Yugoslavia.

On October 16, 1944, with the approach of Soviet troops to the Hungarian border, M. Horthy signed a renunciation of power and documents on the transfer of the post of head of state to a Hitler protege - a retired colonel of the General Staff, the head of the Hungarian fascists F. Salashi. Then Horthy and his family were taken to Germany, where they were kept under the protection of the Gestapo.

The fighting of the Red Army, which unfolded in the east and south of Hungary, was perceived by the population as inevitable measures to cleanse the country of the invaders. It lived by faith in the speedy end of the war and therefore met the Soviet troops as liberators, but at the same time experienced a feeling of fear and anxiety.

In the fierce battles that unfolded, the troops of Marshal Tolbukhin, despite the superiority of the German troops in tanks, not only stopped their advance, but also threw them back to their original positions. Although the offensive of the Soviet troops developed slowly, the position of the encircled enemy was getting worse and worse. On February 13, 1945, the enemy grouping in Budapest, having lost up to 50 thousand killed and 138 thousand prisoners, ceased to exist.

The Soviet soldiers paid a heavy price for this victory. After 195 days of heavy battles and battles, the losses of Soviet troops in Hungary amounted to 320,082 people, of which 80,082 were irretrievable.

Liberation of Poland and Austria. The most difficult situation developed "in Poland. In August 1944, the front commanders K. Rokossovsky and G. Zakharov, under the leadership of G. Zhukov, developed a plan to encircle the German troops near Warsaw. However, this plan was not destined to come true. The German command understood that the seizure of bridgeheads on the western bank of the Vistula opens the way for Soviet troops to Berlin. In this regard, additional forces were transferred to Warsaw from Romania, Italy and Holland, consisting of three tank and two infantry divisions. A powerful tank battle took place on Polish soil. lost more than 280 tanks and about 1,900 people killed and wounded.By this time, the Red Army, during the 6-week offensive (from the beginning of the liberation of Belarus), fought 500-600 km.The offensive impulse began to fade. artillery lagged behind the advanced units by 400 km.

The command of the Home Army and the Polish government in exile in London without the consent of Soviet authorities On August 1, 1944, an uprising was raised in Warsaw. The Poles counted on the fact that they would have to fight with the police and the rear. And I had to fight with experienced front-line soldiers and SS troops. The uprising was brutally suppressed. On October 2, the Home Army capitulated. The Nazis were celebrating their last victory in the ruins of Warsaw.

In early April, Soviet troops moved the fighting to the eastern regions of Austria. On April 9-10, 1945, the 3rd Ukrainian Front was advancing towards the center of Vienna. On April 13, Soviet troops completely occupied the capital of Austria.

Capture of Berlin. By 1945, the Soviet-German front and the line occupied by the Anglo-American troops were separated by more than a thousand kilometers. Berlin was right in the middle. During the rapid offensive, the Red Army invaded Germany and by the end of January reached the nearest approaches to Berlin, it had only 60 km to overcome. The Western allies in early April were 300 km from the capital of Germany.

Both the Red Army and the Anglo-American troops sought to capture Berlin first. There was no military necessity in such a competition, it was purely political, although the boundaries of the German occupation zones had already been agreed upon by the heads of governments of the USSR, the USA and Great Britain in February 1945 at the Crimean Conference. According to its decisions, the western border of the Soviet zone of occupation was to be 150 km west of Berlin, which was also to be divided among the allies. At the same conference, a plan was developed for the final defeat of fascist Germany and the decision was confirmed that the USSR would enter the war against Japan 2-3 months after the end of the war in Europe. In addition, questions were considered about Poland, Yugoslavia and the convening of a United Nations conference to work out the UN Charter.

The plan of the Soviet command in planning the Berlin operation was as follows: with powerful strikes of the 1st and 2nd Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian fronts, break through the enemy’s defenses on the Oder and Neisse rivers, encircle and destroy the main forces of the Berlin grouping and, having reached the Elbe, connect with the allies advancing from the west. Having approved such a plan, Stalin demanded that the operation begin no later than April 16, and be completed in 12-15 days. The headquarters of the VTK was afraid that the allies would not get ahead of the Soviet troops. The capture of Berlin for the one who enters the capital of the Third Reich first acquired colossal political, strategic, moral and psychological significance. For the Soviet people, this was an act of just retribution for the aggressor who brought so much grief to our land.

The German command sought to contain the advance of the Red Army at any cost in the hope of gaining time to conclude a separate peace with the Western powers, which was absolutely unrealistic. In the published communiqué on the outcome of the Crimean Conference, Roosevelt, Stalin and Churchill stated: “Nazi Germany is doomed. German people, trying to continue his hopeless resistance, only makes the cost of his defeat harder for himself.

In the Berlin direction, the Soviet command achieved superiority over the enemy in personnel by 2.5 times, artillery and tanks - by 4, aircraft - by more than 2 times. The operation began on 16 April. By the end of April 22 over the enemy defending in Berlin and south of the city, the threat of encirclement loomed.

On April 21, General Eisenhower, commander of the expeditionary forces in Europe, sent through the US military mission in Moscow to the Chief of the General Staff of the Red Army, General A. Antonov, information about his plans and invited the Anglo-American and Soviet troops to unite at the turn of the Elbe and Mulda rivers. Antonov agreed. The first meeting of the allies took place on April 25 on the Elbe near the city of Torgau.

The second front operated for 11 months. During this time, troops under the command of Eisenhower liberated France, Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg, part of the territory of Austria and Czechoslovakia, entered Germany and advanced to the Elbe. The Second Front played an important role in hastening the victory over Nazi Germany. The soldiers of the allied armies made a major contribution to the defeat of the Wehrmacht, by their actions they provided significant assistance to the Red Army, contributing to the success of its offensive operations.

Until the last moment, Hitler and his associates hoped that the counter offensive of the Red Army and the Anglo-American troops would lead to an armed clash, and after it to the collapse of the alliance of the three great powers. However, this did not happen, there were no skirmishes between the allies.

On April 22, Admiral K. Doenitz, who was supposed to lead the troops in Northern Germany, received a telegram from Hitler with the following content: “The battle for Berlin is decisive for the fate of Germany. All other tasks are of secondary importance. Postpone all activities of the naval forces and support Berlin with the transfer of troops to the city by air, water and land. The next day, a statement by I. Goebbels was broadcast on the radio, in which it was reported that the Fuhrer himself took over the leadership of the defense of Berlin and this gives the battle for the capital European meaning. According to him, the entire population rose to defend the city, and party members armed with grenade launchers, machine guns and carbines took up posts at street intersections.

Meanwhile, it should be noted that further resistance in Berlin made no sense. Even before the encirclement, coal reserves ran out in the city, the supply of electricity was cut off, and on April 21 all enterprises, trams, metro stopped, water supply and sewerage stopped working. With the release of Soviet troops to the outskirts of the city, the German garrison and residents lost their food warehouses. The population was given 800 g of bread, 800 g of potatoes, 150 g of meat and 75 g of fat per person for a week. Further resistance only led to the destruction of the capital and unnecessary casualties, including among civilians.

In order to avoid unnecessary bloodshed, the command of the 1st Belorussian Front on April 23 offered the Berlin garrison to surrender, but there was no answer. During the day of the 25th and the night of April 26, more than 2,000 aircraft of the 16th and 18th air armies, commanded by General S. Rudenko and Air Chief Marshal A. Golovanov, delivered three massive attacks on the city. In the morning, four combined arms and four tank armies of both fronts, advancing from the north, east and south, began the assault.

The assault on the Reichstag began on April 30 before dawn. To support the infantry attack, 135 guns, tanks and self-propelled artillery mounts were concentrated, which fired at direct fire. Dozens of guns, howitzers and rocket launchers fired from closed positions. From the air, the attackers were supported by aviation.

To hoist the banner of the Military Council of the Army, handed over to the regiment on April 26, the commander assigned a group led by the political worker of the battalion, Lieutenant A. Berest. On the night of May 1, sergeants M. Egorov and M. Kantaria, who were part of it, hoisted the Banner of Victory over the Reichstag, for which they were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Approximately 2 hours later, Hitler shot himself in the underground bunker of the Reich Chancellery. On May 2, the Berlin garrison ceased resistance.

On June 9, the medal "For the Capture of Berlin" was established. It was handed over to the direct participants in the storming of the city - 1,082 thousand soldiers, sergeants and officers of the Red Army and the Polish Army. G. Zhukov became three times Hero of the Soviet Union, I. Konev and K. Rokossovsky were awarded the second Gold Star. The honorary title "Berlin" was given to 187 units and formations.

During the Berlin operation, Soviet troops defeated 93 enemy divisions, captured 480 thousand soldiers and officers. However, the Red Army also suffered significant losses. During the operation, more than 300 thousand Soviet soldiers were killed and wounded.

In early May 1945, anti-Nazi demonstrations arose in a number of cities in the Czech Republic, which developed into the May Uprising of the Czech people. It started spontaneously. On May 5, Prague revolted. The desire to save the city from destruction forced tens of thousands of citizens to take to the streets. They not only erected hundreds of barricades, but also seized the central post office, telegraph, railway stations, and the most important bridges across the Vltava.

On May 7, the 2nd Ukrainian Front launched an offensive against Prague. The front commander, Marshal R. Malinovsky, the next day, brought into battle the 6th Guards Tank Army, General A. Kravchenko, who rushed to the capital of Czechoslovakia and liberated it. On May 8, an act of surrender was signed by the German garrison in Prague.

As a result of hostilities during the Prague operation, about 160 thousand soldiers and officers were taken prisoner. The losses of the Soviet, Romanian, Polish and Czechoslovak troops amounted to 12 thousand people; 40.5 thousand soldiers and officers were injured.

The Berlin and Prague operations completed the armed struggle on the Soviet-German front. The capture of the capital of Germany frustrated the calculations of the Reich leadership to prolong hostilities in the east in order to search for a favorable end to the war. The last link in this policy was an attempt to avoid capitulation to the Red Army of the German troops in Czechoslovakia. As a result of their defeat, the Wehrmacht did not have the strength to continue resistance.

Liberation of the territory of the USSR and Eastern Europe from fascism (1944-1945)

Parameter name	Meaning
Article subject:	Liberation of the territory of the USSR and Eastern Europe from fascism (1944-1945)
Rubric (thematic category)	Politics

In January 1944 ᴦ. as a result of the successful operation of the Leningrad, Volkhov and 2nd Baltic fronts, the blockade of Leningrad was lifted. In the winter of 1944 ᴦ. Through the efforts of three Ukrainian fronts, the Right-Bank Ukraine was liberated, and by the end of spring, the western border of the USSR was completely restored.

In such conditions, at the beginning of the summer of 1944 ᴦ. a second front was opened in Europe.

The Headquarters of the Supreme High Command has developed a plan that is grandiose in scale and successful in tactical ideas. full release Soviet territory and the entry of the Red Army troops into Eastern Europe with the aim of liberating it from fascist enslavement. This was preceded by one of the major offensive operations - Belorussian, which received the code name "Bagration".

As a result of the offensive, the Soviet Army reached the outskirts of Warsaw and stopped on the right bank of the Vistula. At this time, a popular uprising broke out in Warsaw, brutally suppressed by the Nazis.

In September-October 1944 ᴦ. Bulgaria and Yugoslavia were liberated. Partisan formations of these states took an active part in the hostilities of the Soviet troops, which then formed the basis of their national armed forces.

Fierce battles flared up for the liberation of the lands of Hungary, where there was a large grouping of fascist troops, especially in the area of ​​​​Lake Balaton. For two months, Soviet troops besieged Budapest, the garrison of which capitulated only in February 1945 ᴦ. Only towards the middle, April 1945 ᴦ. Hungary was completely liberated.

Under the sign of the victories of the Soviet Army, from February 4 to 11, a conference of the leaders of the USSR, the USA and England was held in Yalta, at which questions of the post-war reorganization of the world were discussed. Among them, the establishment of the borders of Poland, the recognition of the demands of the USSR for reparations, the question of the entry of the USSR into the war against Japan, the consent of the allied powers to join the Kuril Islands and South Sakhalin to the USSR.

April 16 - May 2 - Berlin operation - the last major battle of the Great Patriotic War. It went through several stages:

Capture of the Seelow Heights;

Fighting on the outskirts of Berlin;

The assault on the central, most fortified part of the city.

On the night of May 9, in the Berlin suburb of Karlshorst, the Act of unconditional surrender of Germany was signed.

July 17 - August 2 - Potsdam Conference of Heads of State Members anti-Hitler coalition. The main question is the fate of post-war Germany. Control- was created. ny council - a joint body of the USSR, the USA, Great Britain and France for the exercise of supreme power in Germany for the period of its occupation. He paid special attention to the issues of the Polish-German border. Germany was subject to complete demilitarization, and the activities of the Social Nazi Party were prohibited. Stalin confirmed the readiness of the USSR to take part in the war against Japan.

The President of the United States, having received positive results from nuclear weapons tests by the beginning of the conference, began to put pressure on the Soviet Union. Accelerated work on the creation of atomic weapons in the USSR.

On August 6 and 9, the US bombed two Japanese cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which were of no strategic importance. The act was of a warning and threatening nature, primarily for our state.

On the night of August 9, 1945 ᴦ. The Soviet Union began military operations against Japan. Three fronts were formed: the Trans-Baikal and two Far Eastern ones. Together with the Pacific Fleet and the Amur military flotilla, the elite Japanese Kwantung Army was defeated and Northern China was liberated, North Korea, South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands.

September 2, 1945 ᴦ. The signing of the Japanese Surrender Act on the USS Missouri ended World War II.

Liberation of the territory of the USSR and Eastern Europe from fascism (1944-1945) - concept and types. Classification and features of the category "Liberation of the territory of the USSR and Eastern Europe from fascism (1944-1945)" 2017, 2018.

October 14 p. In Prague, at a meeting of the prime ministers of the Visegrad Four countries (Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary), the creation of the Platform of European Memory and Conscience was announced. The corresponding document was signed by the leaders of 19 organizations from 13 EU countries, including Germany. The platform intends to coordinate the work of governmental and non-governmental organizations in order to "actively study the history of totalitarian regimes."

Many experts are of the opinion that the Platform will prepare an analogue of the Nuremberg trials in relation to the USSR and Russia as its successor.

Editor-in-Chief of IA Regnum Modest Kolerov believes that the goal of the new "condemnation of totalitarianism" will be to present claims to Russia for the payment of reparations for the "crimes of Stalinism" in the countries of Eastern Europe. Researcher at the Institute of Slavic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences Oleg Nemensky notes that “the West has a huge need to condemn the actions of the USSR in World War II. Without condemning Russia, the West cannot be sure of a positive self-assessment.”

Dancing in Liberated Vienna.

And the head of the research programs of the Historical Memory Foundation, Vladimir Simindey, believes that “within this so-called. The "Platform of European Memory and Conscience" is an attempt to ... ostensibly scientifically substantiate why the Nazi regime and Soviet socialism are fully comparable, ”and on the basis of this to put pressure on Russia. He calls "to anticipate some things at the diplomatic level, as well as to engage in active information support of one's position."

Taking into account recent trends, especially in connection with the adopted on August 23 this year. d. by the Ministers of Justice of the EU countries in Warsaw Declaration on the occasion of the European Day of Remembrance for Totalitarian Regimes, which refers to the responsibility of Soviet communism along with fascism “for the most shameful acts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes”, the forecasts made by experts look very likely.

In this regard, it is necessary to recall what actually political changes for most countries of Eastern Europe accompanied the end of the Second World War. For example, in all these countries, with the exception of Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia, the first free multi-party elections after the 20-30s. fascist dictatorships were established there, they passed only after the Soviet troops entered their territory. With full right, we can consider the events of 1944-1945. in these countries, not by the "establishment of totalitarianism", but by the liberation of the peoples of these countries from political, social, and in some cases, national oppression.

Let us analyze the situation in these states separately.

the Baltic States

In 1926, the Lithuanian Nationalist Party, supported by the military, carried out a coup d'état. Party leader and president Antanas Smyatona was proclaimed "leader of the nation" in 1928, and practically unlimited power was concentrated in his hands. In 1936, all parties were banned in Lithuania, except for the Nationalist Party. In 1934, Latvian Prime Minister Karlis Ulmanis staged a coup, dissolved parliament, banned all parties and received the title of "leader of the people" and unlimited power. In the same year, a triumvirate of President and Prime Minister Päts, Commander-in-Chief Laidoner and Minister of the Interior Eerenpalu seized power in Estonia, dissolved Parliament and banned all parties except the Fatherland Union. All these coups were marked by repressions against the political opposition and the destruction of the rights and freedoms of citizens. Trade unions were banned, strikers were severely persecuted. In 1940, after the entry of Soviet troops, elections to the Seimas were held in the Baltic republics, which approved the accession to the USSR.

In 1926, Jozef Piłsudski staged a coup d'état, became president for life and proclaimed the establishment of a "rehabilitation regime" (recovery). One of the symbols of "reorganization" was the concentration camp in Bereza-Kartuzskaya (now the Brest region of Belarus) for the political opposition. The concentration camp was built in 1935 with the help of Nazi "specialists" as a copy of the Oranienburg concentration camp near Berlin. Under the new constitution of 1935, the president was responsible only "to God and history." The legal opposition remained, but the results of the elections to the Sejm were shamelessly falsified. Therefore, more than half of the voters ignored them. The "Second Commonwealth" was characterized by the suppression of ethnic and religious minorities (Ukrainians, Belarusians, Lithuanians, Jews), which accounted for up to 40% of the country's population; forced linguistic assimilation. Before the Second World War, the ruling circles of Poland repeatedly discussed with the leaders of Nazi Germany, democratic England and France the question of deporting all Polish Jews to Madagascar. Poland participated in the dismemberment of Czechoslovakia following the Munich Agreement of 1938. From October 1920 to September 1939, it occupied the Vilna region from Lithuania.

Czechoslovakia

Soviet tanks in Prague.

It was one of the few European countries, who managed to maintain a competitive multi-party system until 1939. At the same time, the liquidation of Czechoslovakia and its transition into the orbit of influence of Nazi Germany were formalized in a completely legitimate way by the democratic institutions of this state. The agreement on the occupation of the Czech Republic by the Wehrmacht and the transformation of the Czech Republic into a protectorate of the Third Reich Bohemia and Moravia was signed by the legitimate president of the Czechoslovak Republic, Emil Hacha, who was appointed president of the protectorate by the Nazis as a reward. The parliament of autonomous Slovakia proclaimed the independence of the country, due to a close alliance with Nazi Germany (in fact, vassal dependence on it). The Slovak motorized corps took part in the Nazi aggression against the USSR.

Meeting of the Liberators.

After the suppression of the Hungarian Soviet Republic in 1919, Miklós Horthy became ruler with the title of regent. There was limited legal opposition and parliamentary structures in Hungary, but left-wing parties were driven underground. The regime fought against political opponents by all means, including the death penalty. Before World War II, Hungary became close to Nazi Germany, thanks to which in 1938-1940. seized Transcarpathian Ukraine and the border regions of Slovakia from Czechoslovakia, and Transylvania and Banat from Romania. However, in the spring of 1944, Horthy's attempt to enter into peace negotiations with the Western powers led to the direct occupation of the country by German troops. Horthy nominally remained in power, the government was headed by a Hitler protege. The Holocaust began in Hungary, with 600,000 Jews killed in less than a year. In October 1944, with the support of the SS, the fascist organization Arrow Cross, led by Salashi, carried out a pro-Nazi coup. Hungarian troops in 1941-1945 took an active part in the war against the USSR, and their numbers steadily increased: one corps - in the summer of 1941, one army - in the summer of 1942, three armies - in the fall of 1944. Among the troops that occupied the USSR, Hungarian, according to eyewitnesses, distinguished by the greatest cruelty, horrifying even the Nazis.

Brutal repression by the royal government of Romania in the 20-30s. both left and right opposition forces were exposed. In 1940, all actual power was transferred to General Antonescu. The only legal party remained in the country; trade unions were banned, instead of them "corporations" were created on the model of fascist Italy. Romanian troops were the most numerous among Germany's allies on the Eastern Front of World War II. In August 1944, when Soviet troops entered the territory of Romania, King Mihai organized the overthrow of the dictator (similar to how the King of Italy overthrew Mussolini a year earlier) and declared war on Germany. The Red Army was greeted with jubilation by the Romanian people.

Bulgaria

Sofia - the first day of freedom.

In 1923, a military coup took place, during which the democratic government headed by the leader of the People's Agricultural Union Stamboliysky was overthrown (he was killed at the same time). In 1934, another coup took place, as a result of which all parties were dissolved. In 1935, an absolute monarchy was established in Bulgaria, headed by Tsar Boris. The tsar became an ally of Germany and in 1941 achieved significant territorial gains at the expense of the victims of Hitler's aggression - Yugoslavia and Greece. Bulgaria did not officially take part in hostilities against the USSR and the occupation of Soviet territory, but the Bulgarian Navy and Air Force repeatedly sank Soviet submarines that were near Bulgarian waters. All these years in Bulgaria, the people's struggle against the monarcho-fascist regime did not stop, often taking the form of a guerrilla war. In September 1944, when the Soviet troops entered Bulgaria, the regime, hated by the Bulgarian people, collapsed overnight and without resistance.

Yugoslavia

The presence of parliamentary structures did not prevent the executive branch from pursuing a policy that was contrary to the interests of the people. When the government entered into a military alliance with Hitler in March 1941, it caused a storm of indignation, in the wake of which a new government came to power, and the regent was forced to flee the country. The Nazis created a puppet state in Croatia, marked by genocide against Serbs, Gypsies, Jews, the victims of which were hundreds of thousands of people. Croatia was a loyal ally throughout the war Nazi Germany. She left the war only on the day of the surrender of the Wehrmacht - on May 8, Tito's anti-fascist troops took Zagreb.

The backward feudal monarchy under the de facto protectorate of Italy was in 1939 directly occupied by Italian troops. The unfolding nationwide resistance movement from the very beginning adopted the communist ideology.

The USSR sought to prevent direct copying by the countries of "people's democracy" of its model. In Yugoslavia, the one-party model was established without the participation of the USSR, since Tito already in 1945 began rapprochement with the West, which ended in 1948. In Hungary and Romania, the one-party system was not established immediately, but only after several elections, the last of which won a landslide victory united parties of communists and former left socialists. In Poland, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, and the GDR, parties other than the communist (workers') parties operated throughout the years of the socialist system.

It is impossible to deny that the Soviet Union exerted pressure on the "countries of people's democracy", contributing to the establishment of political forces friendly to the Soviet Union in power there. These were the communists and some parties close to them. But in this case, the policy of the USSR did not essentially differ from the policy of the USA and England in the countries of Western and Southern Europe after the war.

So, in 1945-1946. under direct pressure from the Anglo-Saxon powers, the communists were expelled from the governments of France, Italy, and Belgium. In November 1944, British troops landed in Greece, where they began to suppress the democratic wing of the anti-fascist resistance. On December 3, 1944, the British invaders shot down an opposition demonstration in Athens. There was still a war with Hitler ... The actions of the British military caused a storm of indignation in Western countries, in particular, in the American public circles of that time.

The active military intervention of England in Greece lasted until 1949 and ended with the establishment of a dictatorial regime in power. The loyalty of most other countries of Western Europe to the alliance with the Anglo-Saxon democracies was ensured by the constant presence of American troops on their territory. An objective view is not able to see any fundamental difference between the measures by which each of the great powers - the victors in the Second World War, tried to ensure their geopolitical interests in the countries of Europe.

As rightly noted in the 1970s. English historian Alan Taylor, "the establishment of communist rule in the states bordering Russia was a consequence" cold war"and not its cause."

At the same time, one should not forget for a moment the main fact - without the Soviet Union, Nazism would not have been crushed. Europe (not only its eastern part) in the event of such a development of events, a very sad fate awaited. However, neither those who today are ready to present claims to Russia as the heir of "Soviet totalitarianism", nor those who stand behind them, prefer not to remember this.

Czechoslovakia. Prague. Soviet soldiers in the liberated city. Newsreel TASS

After the German attack on the Soviet Union, I.V. Stalin declared on July 3, 1941, that the goal of the “nationwide Patriotic War against the fascist oppressors is not only to eliminate the danger hanging over our country, but also to help all the peoples of Europe, groaning under the yoke of German fascism.”

"Liberation of Europe" was a special mission for the Red Army. More than 1 million Soviet soldiers gave their lives for peace and freedom in Europe. After the war, monuments to Soviet soldiers-liberators were massively erected in all the liberated countries and cities. But memorial places in gratitude to the liberators since 1945 are becoming less and less. Desecration of monuments to Soviet soldiers - especially in recent times- increased noticeably. Meanwhile:

“Europe would not be free if not for the Soviet infantry, if not for Russian tanks and aircraft. These are not Americans who had real forces, well-fed soldiers in warm clothes. The Russians have come. Half-starved, but spurred on by hatred for what the Germans did to their homeland.” (Warsaw resident Yatsev Vilchur)

The Germans managed to destroy 85% of the buildings in Warsaw, including many historical and architectural landmarks. In total, during the Second World War, about 700 thousand inhabitants of Warsaw were destroyed, including about 350 thousand Jews. Over 600,000 Soviet soldiers died in battles with the Germans in Poland.

Residents of Prague meet Soviet soldiers. Emmanuil Evzerikhin/TASS newsreel. Residents of Prague meet Soviet soldiers. Emmanuil Evzerikhin/TASS newsreel

In total, about 9 million Soviet soldiers participated in the liberation of 11 European countries. The irretrievable losses of the Red Army during the liberation of the states of Europe amounted to:

• in Poland - 600212 people;
• in Czechoslovakia - 139918 people;
• in Hungary - 140,004 people;
• in Germany - 101961 people;
• in Romania - 68993 people;
• in Austria - 26,006 people;
• in Yugoslavia - 7995 people;
• in Norway - 3436 people;
• in Bulgaria - 977 people;

In total, the irretrievable losses of the Red Army during the "liberation of Europe" amounted to about 1 million people, and the total total irretrievable losses in the war with Germany and Japan (killed, missing, captured and did not return from captivity, died of wounds, diseases and unfortunate cases) of the Armed Forces, together with border guards and internal troops amounted to 8.668.400 military personnel.

In total, about 50% of European states were liberated. The total population of the countries liberated by the Red Army amounted to more than 120,000,000 people in 16 currently independent countries of Europe. The Red Army participated in the liberation of six more countries together with the allies.

I often recall the words of Grand Marshal Rokossovsky: "You cannot learn to love the living if you do not know how to keep the memory of the dead."

Vistula-Oder operation. Soviet soldiers enter the Polish city of Lodz they liberated.

The Soviet soldier came to Europe not as an avenger. To a greater extent, it was a warrior-liberator. And at the cost of his own life, the Soviet soldier fulfilled his sacred duty, in the name of peace and goodness, in the name of the freedom of peoples from fascist evil and Nazi hatred.

Paradoxically and surprisingly, of all the countries of Europe, where over the years a different idea of historical memory and tribute to the Soviet soldiers, only in Germany the barbaric attitude towards the monuments of the Soviet war-liberators is considered absolutely unacceptable. Perhaps, in no other liberated European country, the graves of Soviet soldiers are looked after like that. Do not douse graves with paint, do not destroy monuments.

The Germans, unlike the Poles or Bulgarians, treat history with care and honor the memory of real soldiers. Neither those who defeated them, but those who retained their sense of national identity, did not humiliate, did not put on their knees. And one of the first words in the already liberated Germany I learned the word "freundschaft" - friendship.

We Russians are often asked: is there hatred, have we forgiven the Germans today? Yes, in a historical sense, forgive. Forgot? No. Neither in a historical sense, nor in relation to each of us personally, on a mental level. We remember our dead, we remember our Immortal Regiment. But kicking the vanquished is somehow not in the traditions of the Russian people ...

World War II devastated entire countries, turned towns and villages into ruins, and led to the death of many millions of people, including in Europe. And today, as then in the war, with such a destructive force in one part of Europe, not only memory, but also conscience is being erased ...

The Norwegian press noted in 1945: "The Norwegians will never forget what the Russians did for them, as well as for the common cause of victory over the enemy." “The Soviet Army,” said S. Wagner, a member of the Danish Resistance in 1950, “made a decisive contribution to the cause of the liberation of Denmark. It was the Soviet soldiers who defeated the German group on the island of Bornholm and returned it to Denmark. The Americans did otherwise. They took advantage of the war to occupy Greenland."

War figures

June 22 at 4 o'clock in the morning the war began, which lasted 1418 days and nights. On the very first day of the fighting, the Nazis destroyed 1,200 Soviet aircraft, over 800 of them at airfields.

In total, in the hostilities during the war years participated 34,476,700 Soviet troops. 490,000 women were drafted into the Army and Navy.

Among the victims of the war 13.7 million people make up the civilian population, of which 7.4 million were deliberately exterminated by the invaders, 2.2 million died at work in Germany, and 4.1 million died of starvation during the occupation.

Died in the battle for Moscow from September 30, 1941 to April 20, 1942 more than 2,400,000 Soviet citizens.

Was executed: in the temporarily occupied territory of the USSR, the Nazis executed 7.4 million civilians, including 221,000 children.

USSR losses: Taking into account the latest archival data, employees of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia provide information (1998) about those who died during the four years of the war:
the irretrievable losses of the Red (Soviet) Army amounted to 11,944,100 people, including 6,885,000 people killed, 4,559,000 missing, captured. In total, the Soviet Union lost 26,600,000 citizens. In total, 34,476,700 Soviet military personnel participated in the hostilities during the war years.

German losses: During the three years of the war (June 1941 - June 1944), the casualties in Germany amounted to 6.5 million killed, wounded and missing. She suffered the biggest losses during the war against the USSR. In the summer of 1941, 742 thousand died German soldiers, while in the war against Poland, France, England, Norway, Belgium, Holland, Denmark and the Balkan countries, Germany lost 418,805 soldiers.

Destruction in the USSR: In the USSR, 1,710 cities, more than 70,000 villages, 32,000 plants and factories were destroyed, 98,000 collective farms were plundered...

The cost of the cost of waging war (in comparable prices): The direct costs of waging the war of all the countries participating in it amount to 1117 billion dollars (including military spending on the war in China in 1937).

Cost of destruction amounted to 260 billion dollars, of which in the USSR - 128 billion, in Germany - 48 billion, in France - 21 billion, in Poland - 20 billion, in England - 6.8 billion.

One of the scariest moments The Great Patriotic War was the Leningrad blockade, which lasted 880 days and was broken on January 27, 1944. The number of victims exceeds the losses of the United States and Great Britain, combined, for the entire Second world war. The data were first made public at the Nuremberg trials, and in 1952 they were published in the USSR. Employees of the Leningrad branch of the Institute of History of the USSR of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR came to the conclusion that in Leningrad during the period of the fascist blockade, at least 800 thousand people died of starvation.

During the blockade the daily norm of bread for workers was only 250 grams, for employees, dependents and children - half as much. At the end of December 1941, bread rations became almost twice as heavy - by this time a significant part of the population had died.

Every fifth soldier in the Great Patriotic War was awarded. In total, the title of Hero of the Soviet Union was awarded to 11,681 soldiers, and 2,532 people are full cavaliers of the Order of Glory.

In the service of the Germans

In total, according to the statistics of the Eastern Troops Directorate, as of February 2, 1943, the total number of Soviet citizens who were in German military service, amounted to 750 thousand, of which "Hiwi" - from 400 to 600 thousand, excluding the SS, Luftwaffe and fleet. As of February 1945, the number of "Hiwi" reached 600 thousand people in the Wehrmacht, up to 60 thousand in the Luftwaffe and 15 thousand in the Navy.

It is believed that on June 22, 1941, Germany attacked the Soviet Union. In fact, this is not entirely true, several countries started a war against the USSR, among them:

• Romania - about 200 thousand soldiers,
• Slovakia - 90 thousand soldiers,
• Finland - about 450 thousand soldiers and officers,
• Hungary - about 500 thousand people,
• Italy - 200 thousand people,
• Croatia as part of the security division

And these are only those countries that have officially declared war on the Soviet Union. According to various sources, from one and a half to two and a half million volunteers who fought in parts of the Wehrmacht and the Waffen SS took part in this "crusade" against the USSR.

These were representatives of such countries as: Holland, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Sweden, Finland, France, Switzerland, Spain, Luxembourg. As in the Patriotic War of 1812, the whole of Europe took up arms against Russia.

The famous American historian George G. Stein in his book "Waffen SS" describes the national composition of these units:

the Dutch - 50 thousand people, the Belgians - 20 thousand people, the French - 20 thousand people, the Danes and Norwegians - 6 thousand people each, 1200 people each from Sweden, Luxembourg, Switzerland, and other European countries.

Of the European SS volunteers, one of the best divisions of the Reich, the Viking, consisted. The name symbolized that representatives of the Aryan peoples of Nordic blood were gathered in its ranks.

So on March 10, 1942, the Norwegian Legion was transferred to the Leningrad Front, he helped keep the city in the blockade ring until the spring of 1943. But due to heavy losses, most of the legionnaires refused to renew the contract, and were replaced by the Latvian SS legion on the orders of Himmler.

The blockade of Leningrad can generally be considered a pan-European enterprise. In addition to the Norwegians, the Netherlands Legion, a Belgian battalion, operated near Volkhov. Spanish volunteers from the Blue Division fought here, Finnish and Swedish troops besieged Leningrad from the north, Italian sailors were preparing for battles on Ladoga.

The German historian Müller-Hillebrandt, who during the war was a major general in the General Staff of the Wehrmacht, recalls that many Frenchmen, who were refused enlistment by the Germans in their armed forces, were greatly offended.

It all started with the fact that Heinrich Himmler had a conflict with the leadership of the Wehrmacht due to the fact that he tried to take the best for his SS units. The best in terms of physical fitness, health, intellectual state. He really selected the guards, and the Wehrmacht got, as his leadership considered, the second grade, so to speak.

After the army generals "complained" to Hitler, a limit was set for Himmler to call up Germans to the guard units. But Himmler quickly found a way out, he began to recruit representatives of the so-called Volksdeutsch, Germans living outside Germany, into his units. It could be Germans from Holland, Norway, Sweden, Belgium, and anywhere.

“I swear to you, Adolf Hitler, as a leader, to be loyal and brave. I vow to obey you and the chief appointed by you until death. And so help me God.” This is a fragment of the oath of European volunteers of the Waffen SS upon entry into service.

Unlike the oath that the Germans took, the text did not mention Hitler as Chancellor of the Reich, this is a kind of psychological trick that this is not a service in the ranks of the German occupiers, but in the pan-European parts of the SS.

Among the Alpine riflemen there were also not only Germans, in total there were twelve mountain rifle divisions, of which two were Austrian, one was from Yugoslav Germans, one was from Bosnian Muslims, another consisted of Albanians, and another included both Austrians and Norwegians. So we can assume that every second German mountain shooter was born outside the borders of the Third Reich in 1937.

Such a large number of volunteers from the European countries captured by Hitler are explained by many reasons, this is the racial theory that was fashionable at that time in Europe and the bright successes of the National Socialist ideology, and simply the desire to profit.

According to Himmler's plans, the racially inferior peoples of the USSR were to be thrown back beyond the Urals, and their numbers were reduced several times. Aryans of Nordic blood were to settle in the occupied territories of the eastern lands.

The Second World War is unique of all wars, never before in history have there been similar cases of mass transition of citizens of the conquered countries to the service of the invaders. Almost a large part of the population voluntarily became under the Nazi banners.

Not only the armed formations of the European Waffen SS and foreign units of the Wehrmacht took part in the war against the USSR, the entire industry of Europe also worked for the military machine of the Third Reich. In the early years of the war, almost every second shell was cast from Swedish ore.

In the summer of 1941, every fourth tank in the German army was Czech or French. Germany won its first victories largely thanks to Scandinavian iron and Swiss optics for sights.

Few people know that the most powerful tank of the Wehrmacht during the attack on the USSR was the French B2. Half of the super-heavy guns that shelled Leningrad and Sevastopol were produced in France and the Czech Republic.

In 1938, in Munich, representatives of England and France treacherously gave Hitler Czechoslovakia. If not for this collusion, Germany, for economic reasons, might not have been able to start a full-scale war.

The Czech defense industry was at that time one of the largest in Europe. From its factories, the Reich received more than one and a half million rifles and pistols, about 4 thousand guns and mortars, over 6600 tanks and self-propelled guns.

Of particular importance for Germany was the supply of raw materials. American oil companies through their subsidiaries in countries Latin America gave Hitler gasoline for several tens of millions of dollars. Rockefeller's Standard Oil supplied the Third Reich with fuel, lubricants and fuel worth $20 million.

Henry Ford, a big admirer of Hitler, had branches of his enterprises in Germany, which, until the very end of the war, supplied the Germans with very good trucks, about 40 thousand in total. For America, war has become good business.

It is worth noting that in the occupied territory of the USSR, the Germans, out of 32 thousand enterprises, were able to launch only two hundred. They gave products three times less than a country like Poland.

“If we see that Germany is winning, we must help Russia. And if Russia wins, we must help Germany. And let them kill each other in this way as much as possible. It's all for the good of America." This statement was made on June 24, 1941 by future US President Harry Truman to the American newspaper The New York Times.

Neutral countries in the service of the Nazis

“... In the very first days of the war, a German division was passed through the territory of Sweden for operations in Northern Finland. However, the Prime Minister of Sweden, the Social Democrat P. A. Hansson, immediately promised the Swedish people that not a single German division would be allowed through the territory of Sweden and that the country would in no way enter the war against the USSR. Sweden took over the representation of the interests of the USSR in Germany, and yet through Sweden the transit of German military materials to Finland unfolded; German transport ships transported troops there, hiding in the territorial waters of Sweden, and until the winter of 1942/43 they were accompanied by a convoy of the Swedish naval forces. The Nazis achieved the supply of Swedish goods on credit and their transportation mainly on Swedish ships ... "

“... It was Swedish iron ore that was the best raw material for Hitler. After all, this ore contained 60 percent pure iron, while the ore received by the German military machine from other places contained only 30 percent iron. It is clear that the production of military equipment from metal smelted from Swedish ore was much cheaper for the treasury of the Third Reich.

In 1939, the same year when Nazi Germany unleashed the Second World War, 10.6 million tons of Swedish ore were supplied to it. Wow! After April 9, that is, when Germany had already conquered Denmark and Norway, the supply of ore increased significantly. In 1941, 45,000 tons of Swedish ore were supplied daily by sea for the needs of the German military industry. Little by little, Sweden's trade with Nazi Germany increased and, in the end, amounted to 90 percent of all Swedish foreign trade. From 1940 to 1944, the Swedes sold over 45 million tons of iron ore to the Nazis.

The Swedish port of Luleå was specially converted to supply iron ore to Germany through the waters of the Baltic. (And only Soviet submarines after June 22, 1941 at times caused the Swedes great inconvenience, torpedoing Swedish transports, in the holds of which this ore was transported). The supply of ore to Germany continued almost until the moment when the Third Reich had already begun, figuratively speaking, to expire. Suffice it to say that back in 1944, when the outcome of the Second World War was no longer in doubt, the Germans received 7.5 million tons of iron ore from Sweden. Until August 1944, Sweden received Nazi gold through Swiss banks.

In other words, the Norschensflammann wrote, “Swedish iron ore ensured the Germans success in the war. And that was a bitter fact for all Swedish anti-fascists.” However, the Swedish iron ore came to the Germans not only in the form of raw materials.

The world-famous SKF concern, which produced the best ball bearings on the planet, supplied these, not so, at first glance, cunning technical mechanisms to Germany. As many as ten percent of the ball bearings received by Germany came from Sweden, according to Norschensflammann. Anyone, even a person completely inexperienced in military affairs, understands what ball bearings mean for the production of military equipment. Why, without them, not a single tank will move from its place, not a single submarine will go to sea!

Note that Sweden, as noted by Norschensflammann, produced bearings of "special quality and specifications which Germany could not get from anywhere else. The import of bearings from Sweden became especially important for Germany when the VKF bearing factory in Schweinfurt was destroyed in 1943. In 1945, the economist and economic adviser Per Jakobsson provided information that helped disrupt the supply of Swedish bearings to Japan.

Let's think: how many lives were cut short because formally neutral Sweden provided fascist Germany with strategic and military products, without which the flywheel of the Nazi military mechanism would, of course, continue to spin, but certainly not as fast as it was?

In the autumn of 1941, that very cruel autumn when the existence of the entire Soviet state was at stake (and, consequently, the fate of the peoples inhabiting it), King Gustav V Adolf of Sweden sent Hitler a letter in which he wished "the dear Reich Chancellor continued success in the fight against Bolshevism…”

Sweden received even more military orders after the outbreak of World War II. And basically these were orders for Nazi Germany. Neutral Sweden became one of the main economic pillars of the national Reich. Suffice it to say that only in 1943, out of 10.8 million tons of iron ore mined, 10.3 million tons were sent to Germany from Sweden.

Until now, few people know that one of the main tasks of the ships of the Navy of the Soviet Union that fought in the Baltic was not only the fight against fascist ships, but also the destruction of the ships of neutral Sweden, carrying cargo for the Nazis.

Well, what did the Nazis pay with the Swedes for the goods received from them?

Only by the fact that they looted in the territories they occupied and, most of all, in the Soviet occupied territories. The Germans had almost no other resources for settlements with Sweden. So when you're in again they will talk about “Swedish happiness”, remember who and at whose expense the Swedes paid for it.

The war in Europe was more for political influence and for control of territories, the war on the eastern front was a war of annihilation and survival, these are two completely different wars, they just took place simultaneously.

Civilized Europe always diligently erases from the history of the Second World War these shameful facts of its cooperation with the most bloody and inhuman regime of the twentieth century, and this is the truth about the war that needs to be known and remembered.

19th-century English publicist T. J. Dunning:“Capital avoids noise and scolding and has a timid nature. This is true, but it is not the whole truth. Capital is afraid of no profit or too little profit, just as nature is afraid of the void. But once sufficient profits are available, capital becomes bold. Provide 10 percent and capital is ready for any use, at 20 percent it becomes lively, at 50 percent it is positively ready to break its head, at 100 percent it defies all human laws, at 300 percent there is no crime that it would not risk, even under pain of the gallows. If noise and scolding are profitable, capital will contribute to both. Proof: smuggling and the slave trade."

1. The offensive of the Soviet army on Europe in 1944 - 1945. followed three main directions:

- southern (Romania and Bulgaria);

- southwestern (Hungary and Czechoslovakia);

- Western (Poland).

2. The easiest direction for the Soviet army was the southern direction: in late August - early September 1944, without showing almost any resistance, two allies of Germany fell - Romania and Bulgaria. On September 9, 1944, just a few days after the start of the operation, the Soviet army solemnly entered Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, where it was greeted with flowers. The liberation of Bulgaria and Southern Romania was almost bloodless.

3. On the contrary, Hungary put up fierce resistance to the USSR - both the German units located in this country and the national Hungarian army. The peak of the war in Hungary was the bloody assault on Budapest in November 1944. The population of Hungary met the army of the USSR with extreme hostility and wariness.

4. The heaviest battles unfolded for Poland, which was considered by the Germans as the last bastion in front of Germany. Fierce fighting in Poland lasted six months - from September 1944 to February 1945. For the liberation of Poland from the Nazi invaders, the Soviet Union paid the highest price - 600 thousand dead Soviet soldiers. The casualties during the liberation of Poland could have been smaller if the USSR had joined forces with the Polish national liberation movement. Shortly before the Soviet troops entered Poland in 1944, a national uprising against the Germans broke out in Poland. The purpose of the uprising was to liberate from the Germans and create an independent Polish state even before the arrival of Soviet troops. However, the Stalinist leadership did not want Poland to be liberated by the Poles themselves, and was also afraid that as a result of the uprising a strong bourgeois Polish state would be created, which owed nothing to the USSR. Therefore, after the uprising began, the Soviet army stopped and gave the Germans the opportunity to brutally suppress the uprising, completely destroying Warsaw and other cities. Only after that the USSR resumed its attack on the German army.

5. Almost simultaneously with the offensive of the Soviet army on Europe, a second front opened:

- June 6, 1944 Anglo-American troops landed in Northern France (Operation Overlord);

- in June - August 1944, France was liberated from the Germans, the collaborationist pro-German government of Vichy was overthrown, and France, headed by General Charles de Gaulle, returned to the anti-Hitler coalition;

- the German army at the end of 1944 was defeated in the Ardennes, the Anglo-American-French offensive began in West Germany;

- at the same time, Allied aircraft carried out intensive bombardments of German cities, during which Germany was turned into ruins (there were cases of simultaneous raids by more than 1000 Allied bombers on one city);

- a year earlier, in 1943, the allies landed in Italy, during which the regime of B. Mussolini was overthrown and Germany lost its main ally.

The successful offensive of the Soviet army in the east, the opening of a second front in the west, the disintegration of the Nazi camp, the "carpet" bombing of Germany destabilized the situation in Germany itself.

On July 20, 1944, an attempted coup d'etat took place in Germany, which was undertaken by progressive-minded generals who wanted to save Germany from complete collapse. During the coup, some Nazi leaders were arrested and an attempt was made to blow up Hitler during the meeting. Only by chance, A. Hitler was not killed (a few seconds before the explosion, he moved away from the briefcase with explosives to the military map). The coup was crushed.

By early 1945, the fighting had moved directly to Germany. Germany was in the ring of fronts. The Soviet army entered the territory of Prussia and already in February 1945 was in the immediate vicinity of Berlin. The Western Allies invaded the Ruhr region and Bavaria.

6. In February 1945, the second meeting of the Big Three took place in Yalta - the Crimean (Yalta) Conference. At this meeting.

- the plan of military operations against Germany was finally approved;

- a decision was made to divide Germany into four occupation zones, and the city of Berlin, which was in the Soviet zone, also into four sectors;

- It was decided 3 months after the end of the war with Germany to start a general war against Japan.

7. Despite the outwardly hopeless situation, the German army, like the whole people, including teenagers, offered fierce resistance to the advancing troops.

This circumstance was explained by the fact that:

- until the last day, the Nazi leadership hoped to turn the war in a completely different direction - abandoning world domination, unite with the countries of the West and start a general war against the USSR,

- a number of Nazi leaders (Goering, Himmler, etc.) sought contacts with the Anglo-American intelligence services and conducted secret negotiations on the transition of Germany to the side of the USA and Great Britain and the creation of a single Western European anti-communist bloc;

- along with this, a fundamentally new high-tech weapon was created at underground factories in Germany and the Czech Republic - the FAU-1 (an unmanned radio-controlled bomb aircraft, which was supposed to be directed and "crash" into the most important targets - ships, factories, blowing them up ("kamikaze" without a pilot), V-2 (intermediate-range ballistic missile) and V-3 (large intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching New York);

- this weapon was not only developed, but already actively used - at the end of the war, Germany began launching flying radio-controlled bombs (V-1) and ballistic missiles (V-2) in the UK, London was powerless against this type of weapon;

- in Bavaria, the development of the German atomic bomb was at the final stage.

Considering the danger of a separate unification of Germany with the allies of the USSR, the Soviet leadership decided to urgently and independently storm Berlin, no matter what the cost. The Western allies suggested that they take their time with the storming of Berlin and refused to participate in the storming, because they believed that Germany would surrender voluntarily, but later. As a result, the Soviet army, which approached Berlin in February, constantly postponed the assault.

On April 16, 1945, the last major battle of the Great Patriotic War began - the battle for Berlin ( Berlin operation):

- The Soviet army launched two powerful offensives - north and south of Berlin;

- in addition, the army of General Wenck, who was called upon to defend Berlin, was cut off from Berlin; without Wenck's army, Berlin remained almost defenseless - the city was defended by the remnants of the army, the police, the Hitler Youth and the Volksturm ("armed people");

- On April 25, south of Berlin, in the city of Torgau on the Elbe, a meeting took place between the advanced units of the Soviet army and the armies of the allies '

- according to the plan of Marshal Zhukov, Berlin should not be spared - the city was supposed to be destroyed to the ground with all types of weapons, regardless of the victims of the civilian population;

- due to this plan, on April 25, 1945, the shelling of Berlin began from all sides from more than 40 thousand guns and rocket launchers - not a single building remained in Berlin, the defenders of Berlin were in shock;

- after shelling, more than 6 thousand Soviet tanks entered the city, which crushed everything in their path;

- contrary to the hopes of the Nazi leaders, Berlin did not become the German Stalingrad and was taken by the Soviet army in just 5 days;

- On April 30, the Reichstag was taken by storm, and a red banner, the flag of the USSR, was hoisted over the Reichstag by sergeants M. Egorov and M. Kantaria;

- on the same day A. Hitler committed suicide;

- On May 2, 1945, the German troops, the inhabitants of Berlin, stopped all resistance and took to the streets - the Nazi regime fell, and the war actually ended.

On May 8, 1945, in Karlhorst, a suburb of Berlin, Germany signed an act of complete and unconditional surrender. The day of May 9, 1945 was declared Victory Day in the USSR and began to be celebrated annually (in most countries, Victory Day is celebrated on May 8).

On June 24, 1945, the Victory Parade took place in Moscow, during which the military banners of the defeated Nazi Germany were burned near the Kremlin wall.