Why was the second world war. History and us. Gift on a gold platter

A. STEPANOV, historian.

"Where is the beginning of the end with which the beginning ends?" In any major historical turn, it is impossible to single out a single, or even just the main reason. Looking back, we see many raging waves; they rush, overlap one another - and now a gigantic tsunami falls on millions of defenseless and little understanding people. Similarly, the Second World War was brewing in the depths of countries and diplomatic collisions.

This is how the main state unions in Europe looked like before the First World War, as they are presented in the diagram in the encyclopedic publication "Chronicle of Humanity".

German soldiers return home after demobilization. Autumn 1918.

Demonstrations in Berlin against the signing of the Versailles Treaty in June 1919.

1919 year. VI Lenin and military commanders at the review of workers' detachments - the forerunner of the Red Army.

Members of the organizing committee of the League of Nations, created in 1919.

Benito Mussolini (center) during the Blackshirts March in Rome in October 1922, after which he became Prime Minister.

The head of the Kuomintang Chiang Kai-shek (center). 1924 year.

Adolf Hitler (foreground, left) in Nuremberg. 1924 year.

The organ of the National Socialist Party, the newspaper Völkischer Beobachter, reports that a law on emergency powers has been passed, which has freed the hands of the new German Reich Chancellor, Adolf Hitler. March 1933.

Part I. Crash of the Versailles system

"Thin World"

At the beginning of the 20th century, the world looked stable and rather comfortable - at least when viewed from Europe. The terrible war of 1914-1918 with the use of the latest types of weapons - machine guns, tanks, gases and aircraft - destroyed this apparent prosperity. In Europe and the United States alone, nearly 70 million people were put under arms; of these, about 10 million died, three times more were wounded and mutilated (not counting the Armenians and Assyrians massacred by the Turks and the victims of numerous epidemics). Huge territories were devastated. The four-year slaughter gave rise to a feeling among the masses of the depravity of the existing social system and an acute thirst for change.

Russia was the first to drop out of the "European concert" (a popular expression at that time). Here, in October 1917, power was seized by the RCP (b) - a small party of radical Marxists led by Vladimir Ulyanov-Lenin (later this coup was called the "Great October Socialist Revolution"). After the extremely bloody Civil War, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) arose on the site of the Russian Empire. In defeated Germany, the monarchy also fell, but the Social Democrats who came to power brutally suppressed revolutionary actions. However, the constitution adopted by the Constituent Assembly in Weimar abolished class privileges and made Germany a parliamentary republic with universal suffrage, including for women.

Under the influence of the war and the Russian revolution in the world, the positions of not only international socialism, but also ultra-nationalist movements were sharply strengthened - especially many of them proliferated in Germany. United by the common name "felkishe" (folk), they set out to glorify the "Nordic" (northern) race, waging a struggle with Jewry as its main enemy. Among the felkishe was the "Free Workers Committee", created in 1918 by the worker-toolmaker Anton Drexler. In January 1919, the committee was transformed into the German Workers' Party, which in September of the same year was joined by the demobilized corporal Adolf Hitler.

Europe in 1918 was not at all like today's politically correct continent. The winners - primarily France and England - were not about to play generosity. Under their dictation, the Austro-Hungarian Empire completely disappeared from the map of Europe, and Bulgaria and Turkey lost significant territories. But the heaviest burden fell on Germany, which was forced to admit that it was the only culprit in the war. According to the treaty signed in 1919 in the Hall of Mirrors of the Palace of Versailles, Alsace and Lorraine and the Saar coal basin for 15 years ceded to France forever. Germany gave Poland to Poznan, part of Silesia and Primorye, Czechoslovakia - part of Upper Silesia, Denmark - Northern Schleswig. Danzig (Gdansk) with a Polish minority and Memel (Klaipeda) region with a Lithuanian majority were transferred under the control of the Allied Commission.

Germany's armed forces were sharply limited: it was forbidden to have long-range artillery, air force, tanks, submarine fleet and chemical weapons. The German colonies were divided among the victors, and the bloodless German economy could henceforth rely only on those raw materials that were available in its greatly reduced territory. Meanwhile, Germany had to pay 132 billion gold marks to the winners over the next 42 (!) Years (about a trillion modern dollars in gold content).

An ultimatum was presented to the Germans: either they agree with the conditions dictated, or the allies occupy the Rhine right bank. On May 11, 1921, the cabinet of Reich Chancellor Wirth, two hours before the expiration of the ultimatum, accepted the conditions of the Allies.

The winners established the League of Nations (the predecessor to the current UN), whose goal is to counter aggression and reduce armaments. But great ideas were devalued by two circumstances: first of all, there was no clear definition of aggression, and all decisions, except for procedural ones, the League could only make unanimously.

It was assumed that the Council of the League will include the UK, Italy, the USA, France and Japan on a permanent basis. However, the US Senate refused to ratify the Treaty of Versailles, and the country never joined the League. China did not even sign the treaty, because its territories, previously seized by Germany, were transferred to Japan. Naturally, the USSR, which was not recognized by the great powers, remained "overboard" of the League.

The birth of fascism

In post-war Germany, many restless heads hesitated over the various options for the anti-capitalist revolution. Young Joseph Goebbels wrote then: "We turn our gaze to Russia, because this country is moving towards socialism along the path closest to ours, because Russia is an ally given to us by nature itself in the struggle against the devilish temptations and corruption of the West." On February 24, 1920, at a rally of the German Workers' Party, a program was announced: the struggle against the Treaty of Versailles, the re-establishment of a strong government and the colonial empire, universal conscription, the deprivation of civil rights to Jews, the transfer of large department stores to small traders, the participation of workers in the profits of large enterprises ... Ten days later, the party was renamed and became known as the "National Socialist German Workers Party" - NSDAP.

Another round of the economic crisis knocked out another "weak link" from the capitalist system - Italy. Although she belonged to the victorious camp, she received almost nothing. “We got out of the war with the psychology of the vanquished,” stated the Italian Encyclopedia.

In 1921, workers in Italy took over about 600 factories. In the same year, numerous "military alliances" ("fashio di kombattimento"), which united the recent front-line soldiers, merged into the Fascist Party, opposing anarchists, socialists and communists. It was headed by Benito Mussolini, previously expelled from the Socialist Party. Detachments of fascists beat their opponents, poured castor oil down their throats, which caused severe diarrhea, and set fire to their premises. On October 30, 1922, after the fascists' march on Rome, King Victor Emmanuel appointed Mussolini Prime Minister.

Although no one formally canceled the constitution, Mussolini and the Supreme Fascist Council headed by him received uncontrolled power. Thirty-six "Martyrs of the Great Fascist Revolution" were buried in the National Memorial in Florence next to Machiavelli, Michelangelo and Galileo. The fascist salute, borrowed from the ancient Romans - the right hand thrown up - became an official greeting (handshakes were canceled as a bourgeois prejudice). Independent trade unions have been closed, strikes are prohibited, industrial disputes are now being handled by fascist arbitrations, and complaints from offended citizens are being dealt with by the leaders of local fascist organizations. The walls of houses and institutions were decorated with slogans: "Believe, obey, fight!", "We go ahead!", "Mussolini is always right." The teachers swore an oath "to remain loyal to the king, his heirs and the fascist regime," and the children learned to read, rewriting the phrases "Long live the king", "Long live DUCHE, the founder of fascism!"

The term "totalitarian state" was born in fascist Italy, but Mussolini's regime was more reminiscent of Tsarist Russia than Nazi Germany or the USSR of the Stalin era. Although political opponents were exiled to deserted rocky islands and the guards often behaved extremely rudely, the internees did not live in barracks, but in cottages, they themselves and their families received benefits. They were not forced to work, only twice a day they had to appear for roll call.

Conservatives in Europe and the United States have received what is happening in Italy favorably. The London Times expressed the opinion that "fascism is a healthy response to the attempt to spread Bolshevism in Italy." Foreigners could not marvel at the success of the new regime; they were particularly struck by the fact that Italian trains began to run strictly on schedule - a fact unheard of in Italy.

Fascist tendencies also manifested themselves in other European countries. In Spain, in 1923, General Primo de Rivera established a dictatorship, in Poland in 1926 - Pilsudski, to whom supporters attributed superhuman qualities and even the gift of prediction.

USSR between the Comintern and Rapallo

The revolutionary era of 1917-1919 split the socialist movement. Its most radical elements have united in the Communist International - the Comintern. The communists proceeded from the indisputable fact that the Western social system ("imperialism as the highest stage of capitalism") is in deep crisis. However, the development of the crisis was presented to them in the form of an ascending line, which inevitably and soon enough would lead everywhere to the "dictatorship of the proletariat." The leadership of the USSR declared that after the victory of the revolution in one of the developed countries of the West, the center of the communist movement would shift to Berlin or Paris.

The most important aspect of the Comintern's activities was the determination of the attitude towards social democracy, that is, towards moderate socialists, who in May 1923 created the United Workers' Socialist International (Socialist International). The total number of parties in the Socialist International in the 1920s reached 6.5 million people, in the elections their candidates collected a total of 25 million votes. In assessing the crisis of capitalism, the Social Democrats differed little from the communists, but they were opponents of revolutions and rejected the dictatorship of the proletariat. In 1919, in Germany, the Social Democratic Minister Gustav Noske voluntarily assumed the role of "bloody dog", using artillery against the communist rebels.

In 1924, first, Grigory Zinoviev, and then Joseph Stalin, characterized social democracy as a "wing of fascism" (the term "social fascism" became popular among the communists). Stalin declared that what was needed was "not a coalition with social democracy, but a mortal battle with it." Finally, this course was programmed in 1928 at the VI Congress of the Comintern. The young leaders of the Communist Parties flaunted their intransigence. For example, Clement Gottwald, speaking before the National Assembly of Czechoslovakia in December 1929, said: “We are going to Moscow to learn from the Russian Bolsheviks how to turn your necks (noisy protest in the hall). Do you know that Russian Bolsheviks are masters in this matter ! "

While fanning the revolution in the countries of "capitalist encirclement" through the Comintern, the Soviet leadership simultaneously sought to establish the most favorable relations with the governments of these countries. It was officially stated that the line of the Comintern and the policy of the Soviet Union were completely independent of each other.

In the Soviet People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs (NKID), the activities of the Comintern caused irritation. On June 20, 1929, the People's Commissar Chicherin, in a letter to Stalin, called the shouts about social-fascism "absurd nonsense": "All these absurd conversations in the Comintern about the struggle against imaginary preparations for war against the USSR only spoil and undermine the international position of the USSR." About the goals of the then foreign policy of the USSR, a document prepared in January 1927 by the head of the IV (intelligence) department of the headquarters of the Red Army, Yan Berzin, gives an idea. It, in particular, said: "... 5. To delay the war of our Union with the capitalist world and improve our military-political situation, it is expedient and necessary:

a) To achieve a separate raw material agreement with Finland, guaranteeing its neutrality in the event of a war between the USSR and a third party;

b) Prevent the resolution of Polish-German controversial issues (Danzig corridor, Upper Silesia, etc.);

c) Prevent the conclusion of the Polish-Baltic union;

d) To keep Germany from the final transition to a camp hostile to us ... "

The last goal is almost the main one. Humiliated and plundered Germany became a natural ally of the USSR. On April 16, 1922, in Rapallo, the USSR and Germany signed an agreement on the establishment of diplomatic relations. Its secret part provided for the modernization of the German army on Soviet territory. The German military command was able to do on the territory of the USSR what was forbidden to Germany by the Versailles Treaty: to organize the production of weapons (some of them were supplied to the Red Army), to train pilots and tankers. In turn, the highest ranks of the Red Army visited military maneuvers and military factories in Germany, studied the organization of the Reichswehr staff service and the methodology of field training of troops.

Nazism and the "Ruhr Crisis"

In 1921, Hitler, pushing Drexler aside, became the chairman of the NSDAP. At the same time, the party created assault detachments (SA) to protect party rallies, and in March 1923 - more elite security detachments (SS). In street battles, attack aircraft and SS men are opposed by the Reichsbanner (Imperial Banner) socialist fighting squads, as well as the communist Union of Red Front Soldiers (SCF) and Yungsturm. But, as Clara Zetkin noted, "long before the suppression of the labor movement with the help of terrorist acts, fascism managed to win an ideological and political victory over the movement (communist - AA), and we must clearly understand how this is explained."

And here's what. The republican regime established in Weimar was associated in the minds of millions of Germans with the predatory conditions of the Versailles Peace. The Nazis made good use of this. If Lenin counted three sources in Marxism, then National Socialism had much more of them. The Nazis supplemented the rhetoric common to all "felkisches" (denouncing the "mercantile spirit of capitalism" and "the corrupting influence of world Jewry", calls to replace the separation of powers with "the united will of the German nation"), the Nazis supplemented with ideas pulled from various authors. Man is a predatory animal. Virtue is a sanctimonious manifestation of powerlessness. History is the struggle of nations for territory and resources. The Germans are an example of the purity of the Nordic race (this is in Central Europe, where peoples have mixed for millennia!) ...

Hitler argued that "the racially pure" German people ", in accordance with their pure essence, instinctively take the right positions in all matters of life." And while the communists and social democrats were interpreting the logic of Karl Marx's teachings to the hungry and embittered proletarian masses, the Nazis turned to them with emotional appeals, often contradicting each other, but in line with their aspirations and hopes. "Anyone who tries to come to National Socialism only with the help of student (theoretical) proofs, he does not feel the unknowable spiritual meaning of the true, that is, National Socialist policy," wrote one of the Nazi authors.

Meanwhile, the German government was trying to find a middle way between the pressure of the victorious powers and the fierce attacks on the "policy of implementation" of the Versailles Treaty by the nationalists. On June 24, 1922, Foreign Minister Walter Rathenau was killed by a bomb thrown into his car by right-wing extremists. And since the Germans were delaying the payment of reparations, on January 11, 1923, Franco-Belgian troops occupied the Ruhr region.

The "Ruhr crisis" caused a sharp drop in industrial production in Germany and the collapse of its financial system: in September 1923, one dollar was given a billion (!) Marks. The Weimar Republic staggered. The commander of the Reichswehr, Hans von Seeckt, was predicted to be dictators. Communists, nationalists and separatists launched an attack on the central government. True, on October 25, the German Communist Party (KKE) made a decision to end the armed struggle, but it was not received in Hamburg, and Ernst Thalmann's militants fought heavy battles with the police for two more days.

On November 8, in Munich, the nationalists, gathered in the Bürgerbreukeller beer hall, declare Gustav von Carr the "regent" of Bavaria, and Hitler the Reich chancellor. Residents were notified: Bavaria freed itself from the "yoke of the Berlin Jews." This time the coup failed. However, the established democracy behaved lightheartedly. Already on February 28, 1924, the government lifted the state of emergency throughout Germany. The leaders of the "beer putsch", including Hitler, received only six months in prison. And although at a conference in Locarno in 1925 Germany confirmed its agreement with the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, its political spectrum shifted towards revanchism.

Far Eastern node

In 1921, at a conference of the countries of the British Empire, the representative of the Union of South Africa, General Smuts, said: “Until now, we have tended to view the situation in Europe as a problem of primary importance. This is no longer the case ... There is no doubt that the action has shifted from Europe to the Far East and Pacific Ocean".

China, which overthrew the monarchy in 1911, was in a state of half-life. The dominant position was occupied by the Kuomintang (National Union) Party, which included the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) as a collective member. The Kuomintang government had to maneuver between the militarists who ruled the country. The USSR helped the Kuomintang with military advisers and equipment. Among the Chinese generals capable of mastering advanced methods of warfare, Chiang Kai-shek was especially distinguished by advisers. However, in April 1927, Chiang staged a coup, formed his own government in Nanjing, and attacked his recent communist allies.

In Japan at that time there was a constitutional monarchy, outwardly similar to the European one, but with a pronounced national specificity. Tribal clans played a leading role in politics and economics. One of the leaders of the Japanese liberals said in parliament: "If you imagine Japan adopting a republican form of government, then Mitsui and Mitsubishi will immediately become presidential candidates." The army had a tremendous weight, within which a fierce struggle between clan factions was also in full swing.

A significant part of the Japanese elite sought to turn the emperor into a powerless "symbol of the nation," and in relations with Britain and the United States preferred to make concessions in order to maintain peaceful relations. In 1922, Japan agreed to limit the tonnage of its navy, not to claim a special position in China (the "open door" principle), and to return the Shandong province to China. However, among some of the Japanese elite, especially in the army, there was growing resistance to such a course, contemptuously called "negative politics." In 1927, General Tanaka took over as prime minister, defending the supremacy of the Japanese nation and the divinity of the emperor. The "positive policy" embodied in the "Tanaka plan" envisioned the alternate occupation, first of Manchuria, and then the rest of China, Indochina, the Philippines and the Pacific Islands.

In April 1928, Tanaka again sent Japanese troops to Shandong - ostensibly to protect Japanese subjects. On June 4, 1928, the Japanese organized the assassination of the Chinese Marshal Zhang Zuolin, who claimed power in Manchuria, but the marshal's son quickly negotiated with Chiang Kai-shek and began to rule Manchuria on behalf of the Nanking government, encouraging raids on Japanese settlements. In March 1929, the Japanese were forced to evacuate their troops from Shandong, and on July 2, Tanaka resigned. The first expansion attempt failed.

In 1929, the world of capitalism was struck by an unprecedented economic crisis. Back in the middle of the year, the German Institute for Business Studies stated "the presence of almost all countries in a favorable position, at the stage of recovery or high conjuncture, and the absence of any signs foreshadowing any significant decline, and even more so a crisis." And on October 25, the panic on the New York Stock Exchange ("Black Friday") marked the beginning of a catastrophic drop in economic indicators around the world. At the peak of the crisis, unemployment reached 2 million in England, 15 in the United States. The main world currency, the pound sterling, staggered. Japan's export-oriented economy has been hit hard, with the number of unemployed rising to 2.5 million.

But the radical elements saw this as only part of the general crisis situation. The Sakura Society, which united nationalist young officers, argued: "Young forces are wasted, the country is on the decline ... If this situation continues, we, the Yamato race, will not only be unable to maintain our current international position and world prestige, but, according to the logic of things, we will be forced to share the fate of Greece and Holland - countries that flourished and fell into decay in a historically short period of time. Such a fate would have put a stigma on us for millennia. "

The officers considered it necessary to solve the problems of importing raw materials and exporting finished products by seizing neighboring lands. Accusing the people of inactivity, the elite of corruption, the army of lack of samurai spirit, they proposed abandoning democracy and rebuilding the system of government in a traditional Japanese way. At the same time, some of them insisted on measures of a socialist nature: a monopoly on foreign trade and the development of raw materials, state guarantees in the field of living standards, etc. On November 14, 1930, extremists attempted to assassinate Prime Minister Hamaguchi, but his successor refused to send troops to helping the Manchu Japanese, stating that it is impossible in the XX century to be guided by the policies of the XIX century.

Meanwhile, the leaders of the Chinese Communist Party, pressed by the Nanking government, militarists and the Japanese, tried to alleviate their situation by dragging the Soviet Union into the war. In the fall of 1930, the CPC Politburo adopted a program to organize an anti-Japanese uprising in Manchuria. "As a result, Japan will lead a furious offensive against the USSR," the CPC secretary general predicted. "The situation in Manchuria is such that when an uprising breaks out, it will undoubtedly trigger an international war." With considerable difficulty, the leadership of the USSR was able to neutralize excessively revolutionary allies through the Comintern.

Successive Japanese governments now acted under continuous pressure from ultra-nationalists - one assassination of leading politicians, including the next prime minister, followed.

In July 1931, at a meeting of the Japanese cabinet, a representative of the War Ministry said: "The Russian threat has grown again. The fulfillment of the five-year plan poses a serious threat to Japan ... China is also trying to diminish the rights and interests of Japan in Manchuria. In view of this, the Mongol-Manchu problem requires a quick and effective solution." Taking advantage of the fabricated report of a bomb explosion on the South Manchurian Railway (YMR), the Japanese launched an offensive in Manchuria, ignoring the protests of the League of Nations.

In November, Japanese troops cut the Sino-Eastern Railway (CEL), prompting an exchange of hard notes between the USSR and Japan, and in January 1932, the Japanese fleet bombarded Shanghai. The Chiang Kai-shek government fled, but the Japanese landing at the mouth of the Yangtze met with unexpectedly strong opposition from the Communists and the 19th government army. But in Manchuria, the Chinese troops fled without resistance, and on May 1, 1932, Japan announced the formation of an "independent" state of Manchukuo, headed by President Pu Yi, a former Chinese emperor, entirely controlled by the Japanese.

Meanwhile, in November 1931, China's scattered rural areas controlled by the Chinese Red Army merged into the Chinese Soviet Republic, whose leaders declared war on Japan the following year. This decision was not of great practical importance, but it became the first formal declaration of war between the participants of future world coalitions.

On February 24, 1933, the Assembly of the League of Nations approved the report of the commission of Lord Lytton, which concluded that there was no question of any independence of Manchuria, that the real masters of Manchukuo were the Japanese, and recommended that Manchuria be transferred to the control of the League. The next day, the Japanese army defiantly invaded the territory of Inner Mongolia, neighboring with Manchuria. On March 27, 1933, the Japanese government announced Japan's withdrawal from the League of Nations, and by the end of May, Japanese troops had come close to Beijing.

Hitler comes to power

No less significant events take place at this time in Europe. In Spain, the economic crisis caused the fall of the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera, and on April 13, 1931, the republic was proclaimed. Soon the left-wing government of Asanya came to power.

In Germany, at the height of the crisis, unemployment reached 6 million. The German mark lost its convertibility, and barter trade was established. Under these conditions, the Nazis are gradually throwing off their socialist clothes: Otto Strasser, who insisted on maintaining the old course and on an alliance with Russia against the "rotten West", was forced to leave the NSDAP. At the same time, Nazi radicalism encourages more respectable politicians to move further away from the scheme set in Versailles and Weimar.

The cabinet of Heinrich Brüning, who took over as Reich Chancellor in March 1930, relies not so much on the balance of power in the Reichstag as on the authority and broadly interpreted powers of the president. The government begins to openly express its opposition to the Versailles Treaty. On August 10, Minister Treviranus declares: "The Polish-German borders make peace between Poland and Germany impossible; they will not stand against the will and rights of the German people." At the same time, an unofficial campaign is under way for the return of Danzig and Memel.

The Nazis did not hide their intentions to end the republican system. One of the leaders of the NSDAP, Frick, said: "We intend to achieve by force what we preach. Just as Mussolini destroyed the Marxists in Italy, we must achieve the same through dictatorship and terror." (By the way, from August 1929 to January 1930, 12 people were killed and more than 200 seriously wounded in street battles with the Nazis.) The NSDAP was a real triumph in the elections to the Reichstag on September 14, 1930: 6.4 million voters voted for it. Almost eight times more than in 1928!

However, other political forces continued to assess the situation exclusively from their party bells. For the centrists, it all boiled down to a regrouping of forces in the government, the Reichstag, and individual states. Marxist dogmatists in the Forverts, the central body of the SPD, asserted: “The swastika movement is destined for the same fate that has befallen all movements of the middle class, radicalized by economic crises, - disappointment and disintegration. wave, this will win everything. " The KKE, contrary to common sense, assessed the Brüning cabinet as a form of fascist dictatorship, and continued to spearhead its attacks against the Social Democrats. The secretariat of the Central Committee of the KKE in a circular letter dated September 18, 1930 stated: "The SPD is still the main enemy of the working class; its influence must be broken in order to succeed in the struggle against capitalism and fascism." And in a letter dated December 19, the communists already demanded "a radical turn in the work of the party, which should clearly understand: we are no longer talking about the struggle to prevent the threat of the fascist dictatorship, but about the deployment of mass work to overthrow the existing, albeit not fully matured, fascist dictatorship ". And further: "Who, together with social fascism, denies the beginning of the fascist dictatorship ... he helps its development to higher stages."

In the presidential elections in March 1932, the SPD did not nominate its own candidate, but called for a vote for Field Marshal Hindenburg as an alternative to Hitler. In the first round on March 13, Hindenburg received 18.6 million votes, Hitler - 11.3, Communist candidate Thälmann - about 5 million. In the second round, Hindenburg was elected with 19.4 million votes against Hitler's 13.4 million. In the new elections to the Reichstag on July 31, the KKE received 5.3 million votes, the SPD almost 8, and the NSDAP 13.7. 230 Nazi deputies made up the largest faction in the Reichstag during the entire existence of the Weimar Republic.

Now the Nazis were in every possible way lured into the government, but Hitler rejected the proposals, declaring his intention to form a cabinet himself: “I am putting at stake not only my name, but also the fate of the movement. would be 18 million Marxists and among them, probably, 14-15 million communists. "

The centrists themselves blighted the way for the Nazis, persuading the president to appoint Hitler as Reich Chancellor. On January 30, 1933, Hindenburg swore in Hitler and members of his coalition cabinet. The KKE called people to the streets and even appealed to the Social Democrats to support the general strike. The SPD refused, called for "the unity of the entire working people" and promised "to fight on the basis of the constitution."

The ruling circles of England and France saw Hitler as a perfectly acceptable figure. The Sheffield Daily Telegraph, stating the position of Sir Arthur Balfour, the head of the steel works, wrote on October 24, 1933:

"In Germany, something had to happen. The people there lost everything they had in the war ... Either communism had to settle there, or something else. Hitler created, as we see, Hitlerism in its present form, and, in the opinion speaker, of these two possibilities - communism and imperialism - the latter deserves preference. " At the same time, for the Soviet leadership, which most of all feared an alliance of Germany with Britain and France, the Nazis were also more convenient than the openly pro-Western centrists and social democrats.

Although only two members of the NSDAP entered Hitler's first cabinet besides him, this no longer mattered - the Nazis were not going to play by the old rules. Having organized the arson of the Reichstag building on February 27, 1933, they blamed the Communists for this and banned the activities of the KKE. In the elections to the Reichstag in March 1933, the Communists received 81 mandates, but were not allowed to attend. On April 7, non-Aryans were banned from holding public office, and in October Germany, following Japan, withdrew from the League of Nations. The war machine was gaining momentum.

Glossary for the article

RCP (b) - Russian Communist Party of the Bolsheviks; after the creation of the USSR, it was transformed into the All-Union - VKP (b).

NSDAP - NSDAP, from the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (National Socialist German Workers' Party).

Red Army - Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army, the official name of the armed forces of the USSR before World War II.

Reichswehr - "imperial defense", the official name of the armed forces of Weimar Germany.

CA - SA - from Sturmabteilungen (assault squads).

SS - SS - from Schutzstaffeln (security squads).

Manchuria is the northeastern provinces of China, where, along with 20 million Chinese, about 200 thousand Japanese lived.

The CER is the Sino-Eastern Railway passing through Chinese territory, formally under the joint jurisdiction of the USSR, the Republic of China and the "three eastern provinces" (Manchuria).

Sakura - Japanese cherry blossom; the name of the society refers to the proverb: "Every flower is a sakura, every man is a warrior."

When the war (World War II) began for the USSR, hostilities on the world stage continued for about two years. This is the bloodiest event of the twentieth century, which will remain in the memory of all people.

World War II: when it began and why

Two concepts should not be confused: which designates this phenomenon in the USSR, and "World War II", which designates the entire theater of military operations as a whole. The first of them began on the famous day - 22. VI. 1941, when German troops, without any warning or announcement of their invasions, dealt a crushing blow to the most important strategic facilities of the Soviet Union. It is worth noting that at that moment the non-aggression pact between the two states was in force for only two years, and most of the inhabitants of both countries were confident in its effectiveness. However, the leader of the USSR, Stalin, guessed that the war was not far off, but consoled himself with the thought of the strength of the two-year treaty. Why did World War II start? On that fateful day - 1. IX. 1939 - Nazi troops also invaded Poland without any warning, which led to the beginning of terrible events that lasted for 6 years.

Causes and prerequisites

After the defeat in the First World War, Germany temporarily lost its power, but a few years later it regained its former strength. What were the main reasons for the unleashed conflict? Firstly, this is Hitler's desire to subjugate the whole world, to eradicate certain nationalities and to make the strongest state on the planet. Second, the restoration of Germany's former authority. Third, the elimination of any manifestations of the Versailles system. Fourth, the establishment of new spheres of influence and the division of the world. All this led to the height of hostilities in different parts of the planet. What goals were pursued by the USSR and its allies? First of all, it is the fight against fascism and German aggression. Also to this point can be added the circumstance that he fought with a violent change in the delimitation of spheres of influence. That is why we can conclude: when the war (World War II) began, it became a war of social systems and their manifestations. Fascism, communism and democracy fought among themselves.

Implications for the whole world

What did the bloody clashes lead to? When the war (World War II) began, no one could have imagined that everything would drag on for such a period of time: Germany was confident in its lightning-fast plan, the USSR and its allies in their strength. But how did it all end? The war took away a huge number of people: there were losses in almost every family. The economies of all countries, as well as the demographic situation, suffered enormous damage. But there are also positive aspects: after all, the fascist system was destroyed.

Thus, when the war (World War II) began for the whole world, few were able to immediately appreciate its strength. These bloody events will forever remain in the memory of every person and in the history of many states, whose citizens fought against the terror and aggression of the fascists.

Axis brothers

Hitler's “exploits” were inspired by the politics and concrete actions of his associates along the future axis Rome - Berlin - Tokyo. In 1927, the Japanese government was headed by the militant General Tanako. He immediately handed the emperor a secret memorandum in which he outlined his program to strengthen the power of Japan, called by historians the "blood and iron" program. The conquest of Manchuria and Mongolia, China and the USSR were envisaged. A clash with the United States was not ruled out in order to show the Yankees who is the boss in Asia.

The explosion on September 18, 1931, of a railway line in Lutaogu, north of Mukden, at first did not attract the attention of the world community. But it was he who served as the signal for the implementation of Tanako's plans for the start of the war with China, which lasted 15 years. To justify its aggressive actions, the Japanese government claimed that they were motivated by the need to "protect Asia from communism." The seizure of Manchuria and the formation of the puppet state of Manchukuo were portrayed as creating a springboard for the defense of "civilization." In fact, it was part of the Otsu plan, which provided for the capture of the Soviet Far East: the first strike on Vladivostok, the second - through Mongolia to the Chita region.

On October 3, 1935, Mussolini invaded Ethiopia without declaring war. It was enough to block the Suez Canal or impose an embargo on oil supplies to immediately stop the aggression, make the technically equipped Italian expeditionary army incapacitated, but the internal contradictions of Europe presented Mussolini with almost unlimited freedom of maneuver. Nevertheless, by the end of the year, the Ethiopians suspended the Italians' offensive, fighting with almost spears, then the aggressor used poisonous gases and explosive bullets prohibited by the international convention.

At first, Hitler adhered to neutrality in this war, at first he did not develop a relationship with the Duce, but then took the side of Italy. The main thing for him here was something else - like a hawk, he followed the reaction of the Entente countries and the United States to the actions of Mussolini, and when he saw the indecision of the Western powers, as well as the complete paralysis of the League of Nations, he immediately rushed after the booty: on March 7, 1936, German troops occupied the Rhineland, which was a demilitarized zone. The reason for this was the fact of the ratification of the peace treaty between France and the USSR. He realized the great risk of this step, and as he later admitted, the first two days were the most exciting moment in his life, and he would not want to take on more of such a burden in the next ten years.

He had something to worry about. After all, the construction of the Wehrmacht was just beginning, in the event of a serious battle, he could put up only a handful of divisions against almost two hundred divisions of France and its allies. “If the French had entered the Rhineland at that time,” Hitler said a little later, “we would have had to withdraw in disgrace and abuse.” But he met no resistance, using only three battalions. The speech in the Reichstag, which justified the action, was a masterpiece of a demagogic game on the contradictions of Western countries, their fear of Bolshevism, characteristic of both Germany and Europe.

As soon as the excitement over this action subsided a little, his gaze turned to the East. Again, the driving force behind this turn was the growing awareness of the communist threat. The new tactics of the popular fronts, approved in 1935 by the Comintern, led to impressive successes: in February 1936, the left won the elections in Spain. On June 4, a Popular Front government was formed in France. Six weeks later, on July 17, a military mutiny in Morocco started the Spanish Civil War.

On the appeal of the Spanish government for help to France and the USSR, the leader of the rebels, General Franco, responded with a similar request to Germany and Italy. Hitler immediately sent a legion “Condor” at the disposal of Franco: pilots, tankmen, artillerymen and mechanics numbering about 14 thousand people. With the help of German aircraft, Franco was able to move his units across the sea, create a foothold in mainland Spain, and bomb Madrid. In the course of this incident, the fascist powers, previously kept apart, and their leaders, who meticulously eye each other, rallied and created the "Berlin-Rome axis" proclaimed at the end of October 1936. On November 25 of the same 1936, Berlin managed to complete its "courtship" of Japan by signing the Anti-Comintern Pact. The secret protocol stated that both powers undertake to pursue a coordinated policy towards the USSR. A year later, Italy joined the Anti-Comintern Pact, finally forming the "Rome - Berlin - Tokyo" triangle, outlining the contours and balance of power before World War II.

"Five" in behavior

Historians come to the conclusion that in those fateful 1936-1937 years, Hitler's plan for future seizures finally matured, a specific pattern of aggression and the sequence of strikes were determined. This was facilitated by one relatively little-known, but very important fact - the meeting of the British Foreign Secretary Lord Halifax and Hitler in November 1937. During the conversation, Halifax emphasized the desirability and importance of an agreement between Germany and England for the entire European civilization and expressed confidence that “the current misunderstandings may well be settled,” especially since the British government realizes: “The Fuehrer accomplished a great deed not only for Germany, thanks to the destruction of Bolshevism in his own country, he blocked his way to Western Europe, as a result of which Germany can rightfully be considered a bastion of the West in the struggle against Bolshevism ... "As we can see, Hitler received from the British" five "in behavior, he was made clear that England will not interfere in his actions if they are aimed at unleashing a war against the USSR.

In the same November 1937, he gave his entourage an opportunity to look into plans for the future. At a secret meeting in the presence of Minister of War Blomberg, Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces Fritsch, Commander of Aviation Goering, Foreign Minister Neurath and Colonel Hosbach, acting secretary, Hitler said: Versailles and Bolshevism are over and in 6-7 years he will start implementing the program. " expanding living space ”. Perhaps he will do this earlier, provided that France is neutralized. He immediately identified the first victims - Czechoslovakia and Austria.

Fritsch, Blomberg and Neurath objected, not because they disagreed, but because they knew that Germany was not yet ready for war. Hitler, without ceremony, replaced them. All in all, in the "purge" initiated by Hitler, 16 elderly and disloyal generals were sent to retire, 44 others were simply displaced. In one fell swoop, without the slightest sign of military resistance, Hitler removed the containment barrier in the army. And not limited to the shake-up of the Wehrmacht. Ribbentrop took over as Foreign Minister and Walter Funk as Minister of Economy.

Indulgence after indulgence

In March 1938, two hundred thousand German troops entered Austria. On March 13, Hitler himself crossed the Austrian border with bells ringing and arrived in his hometown of Baunau. From the balcony of the town hall he made a speech about his special mission.

The Western powers, however, expressed a kind of sluggish concern about Hitler's actions. But that's all. Each country had its own concerns. France is deeply mired in internal problems. And England did not care about Austria either. She rejected the Soviet proposal to hold a conference to prevent further seizures of territories by Germany. Not even a session of the League of Nations took place - the discouraged world has now abandoned symbolic gestures of indignation. His conscience, as Stefan Zweig wrote bitterly, “grumbled a little, forgot and forgave”.

The ease with which Hitler accomplished the task of the first important stage of his policy prompted him to immediately proceed to the next step. Two weeks after the Austrian Anschluss, during a meeting with the leader of the Sudeten Germans, Konrad Henlein, who complained about the oppression of the Germans in Czechoslovakia, he expressed his determination to resolve the issue. The problem of the Sudetenland, where more than 3 million Germans lived, was used by him only as a pretext for an attack. Choosing the moment to invade, Hitler fueled passions within Czechoslovakia. On September 12, 1938, at a party congress in Nuremberg, he officially declared: “Under no circumstances will I begin to look with infinite patience at the further oppression of our brothers in Czechoslovakia ... The Germans in Czechoslovakia are not defenseless, and they are not left to fend for themselves .. . "

The world understood: the war was about to break out. And then Chamberlain makes an unexpected move - decides to negotiate with Hitler. The Fuehrer, he said, was "completely overwhelmed by this move." But he was flattered - 70-year-old Chamberlain was ready for the first time in his life to get on a plane to meet with the chancellor. Obviously, Hitler also had the hope of talking to the British leader about his old idea of \u200b\u200bdividing the world. According to her, England, as the dominant maritime power, had to own the seas and overseas territories, and Germany, as the undisputed continental power, had to own the vast Eurasian continent. But the matter did not come to discussing these plans.

During the conversation, the Fuhrer bluntly demanded the annexation of the Sudetenland to the Reich, and when the British visitor interrupted him with a question whether he would be content with this or would want to crush Czechoslovakia completely, in response he heard that now was not the time to discuss his future actions. And although in his report to his own cabinet of ministers, the British prime minister declared his interlocutor “the most ordinary mongrel he had ever met,” Chamberlain's next move surprised Hitler again. On September 22, he told Hitler: both England and France, and Czechoslovakia agree to the separation of the Sudetenland. Moreover, Chamberlain proposed annulling the treaties of alliance between France, the USSR and Czechoslovakia.

Chamberlain's compliance deprived Hitler of a reason to start a war. Receiving indulgence after indulgence, the Fuhrer took a bite at the bit: "I am very sorry, Herr Chamberlain, but now I cannot agree with these things" ...

The negotiations did not end there, but both sides began military preparations in parallel with them. Prague called up one million people under arms and could, together with France, put up an army almost three times larger than the German one. The USSR declared its readiness to fulfill the treaty on aid to Czechoslovakia. This somewhat sobered Hitler. He dictated a letter to Chamberlain, in which, changing to a conciliatory tone, he offered the autonomy of the Sudeten and guarantees for the existence of Czechoslovakia.

Gift on a gold platter

On September 29, the heads of government of England, France, Italy and Germany gathered in Munich. After a short exchange of views, Mussolini presented a draft agreement that had been drawn up the night before by the Nazis. This document was signed with minor amendments. He ordered Czechoslovakia to hand over to Germany within ten days about one fifth of its territory. She lost a quarter of the population, about half of heavy industry, powerful fortifications on the borders, a new line of which rested on the outskirts of Prague. Hitler wrested a vast economically strong area from the coalition superior in power, improved his strategic positions, received large military factories, airfields and new industries.

When the American prosecutor in Nuremberg reminded one of Hitler's close associates, Schacht, about his participation in the plunder of Czechoslovakia, in particular, that he had drained the entire gold reserve of the country, he retorted: “But, forgive me, please, Hitler did not take this country by force ... The allies gave him this country ... There was no seizure, but a gift ”. Before the conclusion of the Munich Pact, Hitler did not even dare to dream of including the Sudetenland in the empire. The only thing he thought about was the autonomy of the Sudetenland. And then these fools, Daladier and Chamberlain, presented everything to him on a gold platter ... "

Speaking about the Munich agreement already sitting in the cell, Goering told the prison psychiatrist Gilbert that when the agreement was signed “... there was no objection to anything. After all, they knew that Škoda factories and other military factories were in the Sudetenland. Moreover, when Hitler demanded that some of the military factories outside the borders of the Sudetenland be transferred to the Sudetenland as soon as it went to them, I expected an outburst of indignation, but there was no squeak. We got everything we wanted. ” Seeing off Chamberlain and Daladier after the signing of the agreement, Hitler, with a sense of disgust, threw Ribbentrop: "It's terrible, what nonentities they are." 1582 aircraft, 469 tanks, 2175 guns, 43 876 machine guns were exported from Czechoslovakia to Germany. This enabled Hitler to deploy the 51st division and one brigade. In case of war, it was envisaged to quickly deploy another 52 divisions. In general, at the end of 1938, the German army numbered 1.4 million people.

Nevertheless, Hitler was not entirely satisfied with Munich. “This Chamberlain did not allow me to enter Prague,” he complained to Schacht.

The Soviet Union, which sharply condemned the Anschluss of Austria, was ready to come to the aid of Czechoslovakia, with which it had a mutual assistance agreement, and even moved its troops to the borders, asked Poland to let them pass through its territory, since it did not have a common border, but was refused. The Western powers, like Poland, indulged Hitler in everything.

The ink on the Munich agreement has not yet dried up, as the New York Herald Tribune on October 1 excitedly called: “Give Hitler the opportunity to fight against Russia!”, “Germany must create a great empire ... in the vastness of Russia”.

On October 3, Hitler crossed the border of Czechoslovakia, and on October 21 he ordered the military liquidation of the rest of the Czech Republic, as well as the capture of the Lithuanian Memel region. And again he got away with it all.

Victims of their own intrigues

Now Poland looms on his horizon. Without hesitation, Hitler demanded the return of Danzig, which had been seized from Germany under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, and expressed his intention to build a highway and a railroad to East Prussia through the Polish corridor. Poland categorically rejected the German proposals. It was supported by England, France and the United States.

Accustomed to indulgence, Hitler did not expect such a turn. According to the recollections of Admiral Canaris, he exclaimed: "I will brew them such a satanic potion that they will get their eyes on their foreheads." The next day announced the termination of the German-British naval treaty, non-aggression agreement with Poland and at the same time concluded a military alliance with Italy (“Steel Pact”). But it was not because of this that the eyes of the Western leaders climbed. Hitler sharply changes his foreign policy and moves towards rapprochement with the USSR. It is right to note here that our government, which sharply condemned the aggressive actions of Germany, was nevertheless not averse to cooperating peacefully, as in the times of the Weimar Republic. According to I. Fest, the Soviet Union has repeatedly turned to the government of the Reich with a proposal to settle relations, even replaced the Minister of Foreign Affairs Litvinov, a man of Western orientation, who appeared in the National Socialist propaganda only as “the Jew Finkelstein”, with Molotov, but this did not in any way affect the improvement of relations between Germany and the USSR.

Hitler feared Stalin. Only resentment against England, as well as the possibility of avoiding war on several fronts, pushed him into the arms of Stalin. As he stated, "... this is a pact with Satan to drive out the devil." Nevertheless, he knew in advance that this pact was short-lived. On August 11, a few days before Ribbentrop's trip to Moscow, he said: “Everything I do is directed against Russia. If the West is too stupid to understand this, I will be forced to reach an agreement with Russia, smash the West, and then, after its defeat, mustering all the forces, move to Russia. "

Brewing "satanic potion", Hitler could not even imagine that he himself would be poisoned by it, and acted swiftly. On May 5, the deputy head of the press department of the German Foreign Ministry, Stumm, conducted a probing conversation with the USSR Charge d'Affaires in Berlin G. Astakhov. On May 6, Hitler, as G. Hilger, an adviser to the German embassy in Moscow, noted in his memoirs, demanded information on the alleged position of the USSR in the event of a proposal from the German side to radically improve Soviet-German relations. On May 20, Ambassador Schulenburg meets with Molotov and raises the question of negotiations and the conclusion of a trade agreement between the two countries. The Soviet side expressed doubts about the negotiations in connection with the then state of Soviet-German relations. On June 28, Schulenburg informs Molotov that Germany proposes not only normalizing relations with the USSR, but also decisively improving them. On August 3, the ambassador talks about this again. On August 14, Ribbentrop authorizes his ambassador in Moscow to begin negotiations on his meeting with the Soviet leadership. On August 15, Schulenburg, at a meeting with Molotov, asks to receive Ribbentrop. Raises this question again on 17 August. On August 19, a German-Soviet trade agreement was signed with a loan of 200 million marks to the USSR.

But Stalin was in no hurry to meet with Ribbentrop and asked to clarify the purpose of the visit of the head of the German Foreign Ministry to the USSR.

As you can see, the initiative of the Non-Aggression Pact came from Hitler. Stalin was wary of this initiative. He had other plans - to conclude a general agreement with the Western powers, but England and France opposed this. The negotiations between the military delegations of the USSR, the USA and England lasted several months and reached a dead end. On August 7, the head of the British mission, Strang, was recalled from Moscow, and the French boycotted any proposals. Nevertheless, Stalin waited for a signal from London until the last minute, waited only for a vague message from the Foreign Ministry about the readiness to sign a certain military convention. Under these conditions, Stalin agreed to Ribbentrop's visit. This was done in response to another telegram from Berlin on August 21 and the message received that Goering's arrival in England was agreed on August 23 to "settle the differences." In the last hour, Hitler canceled Goering's flight, and on the night of August 24, the Soviet-German non-aggression pact, the famous Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, was signed. The Western powers became victims of their own intrigues: the stake on playing Hitler against Stalin while remaining above the battle itself turned out to be a bat at the moment. The conclusion of a peace treaty between the USSR and Germany became a world sensation. England, France and Japan took it most painfully.

Describing the policy of England during the summer crisis of 1939, one of Roosevelt's closest associates Harold Ickes noted: “England could have come to an agreement with Russia for a long time, but she continued to deceive herself with the illusion that she would be able to push Russia against Germany and thus get out of the water herself. .. It is difficult for me to blame Russia (for the conclusion of the Non-Aggression Pact with Germany. - Auth.). It seems to me that Chamberlain alone is guilty of this. ”

Today, the conclusion of an agreement between the USSR and Germany is interpreted in different ways, the democrats criticize Stalin for this, especially emphasizing the secret protocol on the annexation of the Baltic states to the USSR. But even Churchill approved of the Kremlin's move. Speaking on the radio on October 1, 1939 and talking about the pushing forward of the Soviet borders as a result of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, he remarked: “The fact that the Russian armies were to be on this line was absolutely necessary for the security of Russia against the German threat. In any case, the positions are taken and the Eastern Front has been created. ” The same Churchill wrote in a secret message to Stalin on July 21, 1941: “I fully understand the military advantage that you managed to acquire by forcing the enemy to deploy forces and engage in hostilities on the advanced western borders, which partially weakened the strength of his initial blow ”.

Undeclared World War II

On the evening of August 31, 1939, the team of SS Sturmbannfuehrer Alfred Naujoks staged a Polish attack on a German radio station in Gleiwitz, broadcast a short statement, fired several shots into the air and left several corpses of prisoners selected for this on the scene. A little hours later, when the morning of September 1 dawned, a report was received from the Polish commandant of the fort Wasterplatte, Major Sukhorsky: “At 4.45 am the battleship Schleswig-Holstein opened fire on Wasterplatte from all its barrels”. At the same time, military units concentrated along the German-Polish border went on the offensive from their initial positions. And although there was no declaration of war, World War II flared up in Europe. Meanwhile, on August 31, speaking at the Croll Opera House, Hitler vowed his peacefulness and "endless patience," assuring him of friendship with the Soviet Union.

Poland was desperately awaiting military assistance, or at least relief of its situation from England and France, and realized too late that it was left without real support. Meanwhile, under the terms of the Franco-Polish agreement of 1939, France was obliged to start military operations against Germany on the third day after the announcement of general mobilization, and on the 15th day to go on the offensive with the main forces. In fact, on the third day, she decided only to declare war, and on the 15th, she took up the development of the Maginot defensive line. And the British acted passively, although on August 25 they also signed an agreement with Poland. By October 15, when the hostilities were already over, Great Britain sent 4 divisions to the continent at the beginning. Combat contact with the Germans took place only on December 9 - on that day, during a reconnaissance operation, the first British soldier died.

The war with Poland lasted 18 days. The Germans took Brest-Litovsk without much difficulty and stopped. Stalin, however, hesitated to enter Western Belarus. Hitler took care of this, Ribbentrop authorizes Ambassador Schulenburg in Moscow to remind the USSR about the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact. On September 17, Soviet troops crossed the border. Belarusians greeted them with flowers.

On October 6, Hitler arrived in Warsaw to celebrate the first of his blitz victories. Having received a parade of troops there, in a circle of entourage he announced that he intended to exterminate most of the population, and make the rest of the Poles slaves. Initially, he tore away vast lands in the west from Poland and annexed them to the Reich, the rest were called "governors general", but on August 2, 1940 he announced that all of Poland was a component of the German Empire.

At the Nuremberg Trials, German generals unanimously argued that the German blitzkrieg in Poland could only be explained by the inaction of the Western powers. So, Jodl, in particular, said: “If we did not crash back in 1939, then this is explained only by the fact that during the Polish campaign, about 100 French and British divisions stationed in the West were in complete inactivity, although they were opposed only 23 German divisions ”.

Soon after the capture of Poland, Hitler called the military leaders and gave them a three-hour speech, sharply criticizing those who opposed the aggression. Every now and then he declared: “Neither a military man nor a civilian can replace me. I am convinced of the strength of my intellect and determination ... No one will achieve what I have achieved. I lead the German people to great heights ... I will stop at nothing, I will destroy anyone who will hinder me ... "

The generals, like naughty schoolchildren, were silent, knowing well that it would be so. Before their eyes stood the Minister of War Blomberg, whom the Fuhrer removed, using as a pretext for his marriage to a woman whom the Gestapo declared a former prostitute, although Hitler himself approved of Blomberg's choice and was at his wedding; dismissed the commander-in-chief of the ground forces Fritsche on a noisy accusation of homosexuality, dismissed other "smart guys", and made his support the colorless, flattering General Wilhelm Keitel, whose habit of agreeing with everything that the chiefs say gave him the nickname "nodding ass."

Strange war

The months-long "confrontation", and in fact, the inaction of the troops of France, England and Germany in the first year of the Second World War was called a "strange war", although there was nothing strange here. England and France expected that Hitler would not stop at Poland, but go further to the East. But they were wrong. On October 10, 1939, Hitler signed the so-called Order No. 6 on the preparation of a military operation against France, which he hated. The offensive was supposed to be carried out through Belgium and Holland.

The statements of A. Gromyko, the USSR ambassador to the USA during the war years, then the USSR Foreign Minister: “In the speeches and memoirs of Western politicians, their historical science in every possible way emphasizes that the United States allegedly did its duty by condemning the expansionist aspirations of the German fascism and its allies.

But so far, no serious attempts have been made either on the part of politicians, former and present, or on the part of historians in Western countries to comprehend what turn the development of events would take if the United States acted together with states that stood on the positions of peace, primarily the USSR , and declared their determination to participate in the creation of a powerful united force against aggression ...

The following fact speaks of Hitler's treachery. On October 10, he signs a plan for the invasion of France, although 4 days earlier he trumpeted to the whole world that he was ready to convene a peace conference and conclude a peace treaty with France and England. While the world community “digested” this peace-loving step of the Fuhrer, he “took over” on April 9, 1940, Denmark, then Norway, and on May 10, 1940 began a campaign against France, which surrendered on June 22. Hitler personally arrived in Compiegne to be present at the signing of the surrender. Chose Compiegne, of course, not by chance. It was there, in the woods, that on November 11, 1917, the commander-in-chief of the allied forces, Marshal Foch, in a special train carriage, accepted the surrender of Kaiser's Germany. It is not the author's task to analyze all the reasons that led to the defeat of France. The main one was named by Churchill: France was defeated even before the outbreak of hostilities against her. And one cannot but agree with him. The French Munich never intended to fight against Hitler. As early as September 1, 1939, on the day of the attack on Poland, the French parliament sounded: "The main enemy of France is not Hitler, but the USSR and the communists!"

In Compiegne, Hitler was at the height of bliss. Still would! He achieved two of his main goals: “The shame of Versailles has been washed away!”, “The honor of Germany has been restored!”. But the Fuhrer's rapture over the victory over France and Europe, however, was overshadowed by the fact that on June 23, that is, just a day after the surrender of France, the new head of the British government, Winston Churchill, declared his determination to continue the war with Germany until victory. The position of Hitler in relation to England for most researchers remains mysterious to this day. The Fuhrer could defeat large British forces at Dunkirk, advancing on Paris, but, apparently remembering his "Mein Kampf", stopped the tanks just 20 kilometers from the city, giving the opportunity to evacuate nearly 400,000 British corps. After the capture of Paris, he gave the order to urgently prepare Operation Sea Lion to crush England by jumping across the English Channel, but then abandoned this step, moving on to an air battle, and actively took up the Barbarossa plan, but before that he also captured Yugoslavia, Greece , Crete.

On June 21, 1941, once again spitting on the peace treaty, without declaring war, Hitler began to carry out his main task - to expand his living space to the East, that is, the implementation of "Drang nach Osten". “In this regard,” emphasizes the authoritative German historian G. Jacobsen, “it is necessary to destroy one still widespread legend: the German attack on the Soviet Union in 1941 (as evidenced by the results of studying documentary sources) was not a preventive war. Hitler's decision to implement it was not generated by deep anxiety before the impending Soviet attack threatening Germany, but was the final expression of his aggressive policy, which became more and more undisguised since 1938.

An exhaustive conclusion. The only pity is that some of our democrats, who are always oriented towards the West, do not know or do not want to know this.

America has long been at a crossroads. I waited and hesitated. Its ruling circles, it seemed, were still not fully aware of what true goals the fascist invaders were pursuing, what troubles they were bringing to Europe and the world as a whole. In essence, the course of these circles ... differed little from the policy of the ruling circles of England and France, which were not at all opposed to Nazi Germany channeling its aggression to the East, so that it fell on the USSR.

The turning point in Washington's mood became evident only when the burning breath of war began to reach the United States. After Germany's attack on the USSR, every American faced the question in all its stern form: "Which country will be the next target of Hitler's aggression?"

Yes, the Second World War could not have happened. But too many politicians not only wanted, but did everything to make it happen.

World War II. "Where do the legs grow from" or what is not customary to talk about now. One of the questions: why was the "second front" not in a hurry until 1944?

The Nuremberg Trials, the trial of a group of major Nazi war criminals. Was held in Nuremberg (Germany) from November 20, 1945 to October 1, 1946 at the International Military Tribunal. The highest statesmen and military leaders of fascist Germany were put on trial: G. Goering, R. Hess, I. von Ribbentrop, W. Keitel, E. Kaltenbrunner, A. Rosenberg, G. Frank, W. Frick, J. Streicher, V. Funk, K. Dönitz, E. Raeder, B. von Schirach, F. Sauckel, A. Jodl, A. Seiss-Inquart, A. Speer, K. von Neurath, G. Fritsche, G. Schacht, R. Lei ( hanged himself before the start of the trial), G. Krupp (was declared terminally ill, and his case was suspended), M. Bormann (tried in absentia, because he disappeared and was not found, like the "cash desk" of the party) and F. von Papen. All of them were charged with drawing up and carrying out a conspiracy against peace and humanity (the murder of prisoners of war and their cruel treatment, the murder of civilians and their cruel treatment, the plundering of societies and private property, the establishment of a system of slave labor, etc.), of committing the most grave war crimes. The question was also raised of recognizing as criminal such organizations of fascist Germany as the leadership of the National Socialist Party, the assault (SA) and security detachments of the National Socialist Party (SS), the security service (SD), the state secret police (Gestapo), the government cabinet and the general staff.

During the process, 403 open court sessions were held, 116 witnesses were questioned, numerous written testimonies and documentary evidence were considered (mainly official documents from German ministries and departments, the General Staff, military concerns and banks).

To coordinate the investigation and support of the prosecution, a Committee was formed from the main prosecutors: from the USSR (R.A. Rudenko), the United States (Robert H. Jackson), Great Britain (H. Shawcross) and from France (F. de Menton, and then C. de Ribes).

What can be considered in more detail in the book "The Nuremberg trial of the main war criminals" (Collection of materials, vol. 1-7, M., 1957-61; A. I. Poltorak, Nuremberg trial, M., 1966).

With regard to Germany and Russia, the American point of view was formulated on January 15, 1920 by the commander of the American troops in Germany, General G. Allen. In his diary, he made the following entry: “Germany is the state most capable of successfully repelling Bolshevism. The expansion of Germany at the expense of Russia for a long time would distract the Germans to the East and thereby reduce the tension in their relations with Western Europe. "

This is described in more detail in a fairly voluminous work based on documents (H. Allen, Mein Rheinland. Tagebuh, Berlin, 1923, p. 51, “History of the Second World War 1939-1945.” In 12 volumes, M. Voenizdat, 1973, vol. 1, p. 37).

And here are excerpts from Chapter XIV "My Struggle" by A. Hitler:

“When we talk about the conquest of new lands in Europe, we, of course, can mean, first of all, only Russia and those border states that are subordinate to it.

Fate itself points us with a finger. Having surrendered Russia into the hands of Bolshevism, fate deprived the Russian people of the intelligentsia on which its state existence had been held up until now and which alone served as a guarantee of a certain strength of the state. It was not the state gifts of the Slavs that gave strength and fortitude to the Russian state. All of this Russia owed to the Germanic elements - the most excellent example of the tremendous state role that the Germanic elements are capable of playing when operating within a lower race. This is how many powerful states on earth were created. More than once in history, we have seen how peoples of a lower culture, led by the Germans as organizers, turned into powerful states and then stood firmly on their feet as long as the racial core of the Germans remained. For centuries, Russia has lived at the expense of the German core in its upper strata of the population. Now this core has been completely and completely exterminated. The place of the Germans was taken by the Jews. But just as the Russians cannot throw off the yoke of the Jews by their own forces, so the Jews alone are not able to keep this huge state under their control for a long time. The Jews themselves are by no means an element of organization, but rather an enzyme of disorganization. This gigantic eastern state is inevitably doomed to ruin. All the prerequisites are ripe for this. The end of Jewish rule in Russia will also be the end of Russia as a state. Fate intended us to witness such a catastrophe, which, better than anything else, will unconditionally confirm the correctness of our racial theory. "

It turns out that Adolf Hitler in his book "My Struggle" continues the thought of the American General G. Allen.

It was in 1922, after the division of spheres of influence in the world between the United States and Britain, that the Americans began practical activities to conquer Germany. As in (fascist) Italy, the stake was placed on completely new political forces, in this case on the still practically unknown “National Socialist Workers' Party of Germany” headed by the ambitious and still unknown Adolf Hitler. One of the prominent post-war German biographers of Hitler - I. Fest - noted that it was from 1922 that Hitler began to be financed from various anonymous sources in Czechoslovakia, Sweden, and especially banks in Switzerland. According to him, “in the fall of 1923, on the eve of his putsch, Hitler went to Zurich and returned from there, as he himself said, with a suitcase full of money” (I. Fest, “Adolf Hitler”, Perm, “Aleteya”, 1993, vol. . 1, p. 271).

In 1922-1923. American capital managed to do something to acquire positions in the leadership of the USSR. With the help of their big money, they managed to come to everything ready, or rather, outbid several key figures in the USSR from European financial capital. One such figure was none other than L.D. Trotsky, whose connections in the period 1917-1921. with Anglo-French capital were not a big secret even for ordinary diplomats and intelligence officers. There were other political figures (in the person of Zinoviev and Kamenev, then Bukharin), who were successfully exposed and repressed in 1937-1938. That until now they cannot forgive Stalin in the wrong place or here.

For example, the resident of the German military intelligence in Moscow, Major Henning, acting with a group of officers subordinate to him as employees of the German economic mission, on May 24, 1918, a month and a half before the Socialist-Revolutionary uprising in Moscow, giving a detailed description of the internal situation in the RSFSR, indicated that that, in his opinion, the days of Soviet power are numbered, since in the coming days in Moscow, on the orders of the Entente, a military coup organized by the Left SRs will take place, supported by part of the Bolshevik leadership and especially Trotsky. In his opinion, “The Entente, as it is now quite obvious, managed to persuade part of the Bolshevik leadership to cooperate with the SRs. So, first of all, Trotsky can already be considered not a Bolshevik, but a Socialist-Revolutionary in the service of the Entente. "

A week later, on June 1, 1918, the German ambassador to Sweden Lucius reported to the German Foreign Ministry about a conversation with the former Russian ambassador to Washington R.R. Rosen, who in its course pointed out that Trotsky was the main opponent of peaceful relations between Soviet Russia and Germany in the Bolshevik leadership. Further, Lucius noted that he had similar information from other sources (VL Israelyan, “Count Mirbach's unjustified forecast”, “New and Newest History”, No. 6, 1967, pp. 63-64).

In April 1924, the American banker Charles Dawes put forward a number of proposals to resolve the problem of reparation payments in Germany.

These proposals were brought up for discussion at an international conference in London in July-August 1924. The conference ended on August 16, 1924 with the adoption of the so-called "Dawes Plan".

The first point of this plan was the decision to withdraw the French troops from Germany, which was to be completed on July 31, 1925. This decision alone meant the complete defeat of France in the struggle for hegemony in Europe in 1918-1923. (M.V. Frunze, Selected Works, M., Voenizdat, 1957, vol. 2 (notes), p. 490, 497)

But the main element of the "Dawes Plan" was the provision of financial assistance to Germany from the United States and England in the form of loans, supposedly to pay reparations to France.

In 1924-1929. Germany received $ 2.5 billion from the USA under the Dawes Plan, and $ 1.5 billion from England (approximately $ 400 billion at the 1999 exchange rate). This made it possible for German industry to completely re-equip its material base, practically completely update production equipment and create a base for the future restoration of military production.

According to the Dawes Plan, the revival of German industry was calculated on the sale of its products in the markets of Eastern Europe and the USSR, which were to become agrarian and raw materials appendages of the German industrial complex.

The transformation of Eastern Europe and the USSR into sales markets for German industrial products, in addition to profits for American banks, which became the actual owners of German industrial concerns, solved 2 more main tasks for Americans: the elimination of French influence in Eastern Europe and the prevention of the industrialization of the USSR ("History of the Great Patriotic War" in 6 volumes, M., Military Publishing, 1960, vol. 1, p. 4, 34-35, “History of the Second World War” in 12 volumes, vol. 1, p. 20, MV Frunze, Selected works, vol . 2, p. 479, History of the USSR, M., "Education", 1983, p. 3, p. 171).

One of the co-authors and executors of the Dawes Plan, the German banker Schacht, summing up its results in 1929, noted with satisfaction that “Germany received as many foreign loans in 5 years as America received in 40 years before the First World War” (“History of the Great Patriotic War” in 6 volumes, vol. 1, p. 4).

By 1929 Germany overtook England in industrial production (12% of the global) and took second place in the world after the United States (44%) (“History of the Second World War” in 12 volumes, vol. 1, p. 112).

In 1929, American investment in Germany accounted for 70% of all foreign investment, and most of it belonged to the American Morgan financial group. Thus, the global financial hegemony of the Rothschilds, which lasted from 1815 to 1917, was replaced by the financial hegemony of the Morgan, who until 1915 served the interests of the Rothschilds in North and South America.

This is how the American researcher Ralph Epperson assesses the results of the Dawes Plan: “Without the capital provided by Wall Street, Hitler and World War II would not exist” (R. Epperson, “The Invisible Hand” ..., p. 294). 1929 all German industry was owned by virtually different American financial-industrial groups.

Rockefeller's Standard Oil controlled the entire German oil refining industry and the production of synthetic gasoline from coal (R. Epperson, p. 294).

The Morgan Banking House owned the entire chemical industry represented by the I.G. Farbenidustri ”. Through the American communications company ITT, which belonged to the Morgans, they controlled 40% of the telephone network in Germany and 30% of the shares of the aircraft manufacturer Focke-Wulf. Through General Electric, Morgan controlled the German radio and electrical engineering industry, represented by the German concerns AEG, Siemens, Osram. Through General Motors, Morgan controlled the German automotive concern Oppel. Henry Ford controlled 100% of the shares of the Volkswagen concern.

By the time Hitler came to power, under the full control of American financial capital were such key sectors of German industry as: oil refining and synthetic fuel production, chemical, automotive, aviation, electrical and radio equipment, and a significant part of mechanical engineering. There are 278 firms and concerns in total, as well as key banks such as Deutsche Bank, Dresdner Bank, Donat Bank and a number of others. (R. Epperson, p. 294, “History of the Great Patriotic War” in 6 volumes, vol. 1, pp. 34-35, “History of the Second World War” in 12 volumes, vol. 1, pp. 112, 183, etc.) . 2, p. 344).

Speaking about the significance of the Dawes Plan in relation to the USSR from the point of view of American and British financial capital, British Foreign Minister O. Chamberlain in February 1925 noted that “Russia hung like a thundercloud over the eastern horizon of Europe - threatening, not accountable, but, above all, isolated ”. Therefore, in his opinion, it is necessary: \u200b\u200b"to define a security policy in spite of Russia and even, perhaps, at the expense of Russia." (Locarno conference 1925, Documents, M., 1959, p. 43).

It was precisely the "lack of accounting" and "isolation" of the USSR that worried the American and British bankers most of all.

In 1926, the 15th Congress of the CPSU (b) announced the beginning of the industrialization process in the USSR, American bankers began a campaign of forceful pressure on the Soviet Union in the foreign policy sphere. On February 23, 1927, the British Foreign Ministry sent a note to the USSR threatening to sever diplomatic relations. In April 1927, the Chinese police in Beijing, at the direction of the American and British ambassadors, storm the Soviet embassy and kill several Soviet diplomats. On May 27, 1927, in London, the British police seized the Soviet trade mission, after which the British government announced the severance of diplomatic relations with the USSR. On June 7, 1927, the Soviet ambassador Voikov was killed at a railway station in Warsaw, after which a large loan to Poland for military needs followed from the United States. This is a modern question in the scandal around Katyn, inflated by Polish political circles.

However, this pressure has produced opposite results. In the fall of 1927, the leaders of the “New Opposition” are deprived of all the state and party posts they occupied by that time, and the restoration of the power of the Red Army begins by starting to increase its numbers, improve the work of the military industry and start creating mobilization reserves.

As the supporters of the Dawes Plan lost ground in the USSR, American bankers again turned their attention to Hitler and his party, which, after the failure of the 1923 Beer Putsch, had been almost completely forgotten for several years.

From the end of 1926, after the obvious failure of the Trotsky-Zinoviev bloc and the adoption by the 15th Congress of the CPSU (b) of the course towards industrialization, i.e. the transformation of the USSR into an industrially developed, self-sufficient state, a trickle of money from various German firms and banks begins to trickle to Hitler again, which turns into a waterfall since the end of 1928, when the first five-year plan begins in the USSR and when, a year later, at the end of 1929 The last group of agents of influence of American finance capital headed by Bukharin, the so-called "Right Opposition", was removed from the top political leadership of the USSR.

The process of bringing Hitler to power was protracted and multi-stage, reflecting in the period 1928-1933. the vacillations and hopes of American bankers that the first Soviet five-year plan will fail and that the USSR, having found itself after that in a deep political and economic crisis, will become easy prey for them and it will be possible to do without a strong Germany.

It was at this time (crisis) that Stalin made an unprecedented leap in economic growth - industrialization and collectivization. This experience was adopted by the wealthy United States to overcome the crisis.

In his speech in 1928 I.V. Stalin stated the reasons for the need for a sharp economic leap, coupled with the instability of the situation in the country:

"External conditions. We came to power in a country whose technology is terribly backward. Along with a few large industrial units, more or less based on new technology, we have hundreds and thousands of factories and plants whose technology does not stand up to criticism from the point of view of Meanwhile, we have around us a number of capitalist countries possessing much more developed and modern industrial technology than our country.Look at the capitalist countries, and you will see that there technology not only advances, but runs straight ahead, overtaking old forms of industrial technology.And it turns out that, on the one hand, we have in our country the most advanced Soviet system and the most advanced power in the whole world, Soviet power, on the other hand, we have an excessively backward industrial technology, which should represent the basis of socialism and Soviet power Do you think that it is possible to achieve the final victory of socialism in our th country in the presence of this contradiction?

What needs to be done to eliminate this contradiction? To do this, it is necessary to achieve in order to catch up with and overtake the advanced technology of the developed capitalist countries. We have overtaken and surpassed the advanced capitalist countries in terms of establishing a new political system, the Soviet system. It's good. But this is not enough. In order to achieve the final victory of socialism in our country, it is still necessary to catch up and overtake these countries also in the technical and economic respect. Either we will achieve this, or we will be jammed.

This is true not only from the point of view of building socialism. This is also true from the point of view of defending the independence of our country in an environment of capitalist encirclement. It is impossible to defend the independence of our country without a sufficient industrial base for defense. It is impossible to create such an industrial base without having the highest technology in industry.

This is what we need for and this is what the fast pace of industry development dictates to us.
The technical and economic backwardness of our country was not invented by us. This backwardness is an age-old backwardness, inherited by the entire history of our country. She, this backwardness, was felt as evil before, in the pre-revolutionary period, and after, in the post-revolutionary period. When Peter the Great, dealing with more developed countries in the West, feverishly built factories and plants to supply the army and strengthen the country's defense, it was a kind of attempt to jump out of the framework of backwardness. It is quite understandable, however, that not one of the old classes, neither the feudal aristocracy nor the bourgeoisie, could solve the problem of eliminating the backwardness of our country. Moreover, these classes not only could not solve this problem, but they were unable even to pose it, this problem, in any satisfactory form. The age-old backwardness of our country can be eliminated only on the basis of successful socialist construction. And it can only be liquidated by the proletariat, which has built its own dictatorship and holds the leadership of the country in its hands.

It would be foolish to console ourselves with the fact that since the backwardness of our country was not invented by us, but inherited by the entire history of our country, we cannot and should not be responsible for it. This is not true, comrades. Once we came to power and took upon ourselves the task of transforming the country on the basis of socialism, we are responsible and must be responsible for everything, both for the bad and for the good. And precisely because we are responsible for everything, we must eliminate our technical and economic backwardness. We must do this without fail if we really want to catch up and overtake the advanced capitalist countries. And only we Bolsheviks can do this. And precisely in order to fulfill this task, we must systematically pursue the rapid pace of development of our industry. And that we are already implementing a fast pace of industry development, everyone can see it now.

The question of overtaking and surpassing the advanced capitalist countries in the technical and economic respect - this question does not represent anything new or unexpected for us Bolsheviks. This question was raised in our country back in 1917, in the period before the October Revolution. It was posed by Lenin back in September 1917, on the eve of the October Revolution, during the imperialist war, in his brochure “The Impending Catastrophe and How to Fight It”.

Here is what Lenin said on this score:

“The revolution has done what in a few months Russia has caught up with the advanced countries in its political system. But this is not enough. The war is relentless, it raises the question with merciless harshness: either perish, or catch up with the advanced countries and overtake them also economically ... Perish, or rush forward at full speed. This is how history poses the question ”(vol. XXI, p. 191)."

“We have overtaken and surpassed the advanced capitalist countries in political terms, building the dictatorship of the proletariat. But this is not enough. We must use the dictatorship of the proletariat, our socialized industry, transport, credit system, etc., cooperatives, collective farms, state farms, etc. in order to catch up and overtake the advanced capitalist countries also economically ”.

The question of the rapid rate of development of industry would not be as acute in our country as it is now, if we had the same developed industry and the same developed technology as, say, in Germany, if the specific weight of industry in the entire national economy stood as high in our country as, for example, in Germany. Under this condition, we could develop industry at a slower pace, not being afraid to lag behind the capitalist countries and knowing that we can overtake them with one blow. But then we would not have had that serious technical and economic backwardness that we have now. The fact of the matter is that in this respect we stand behind Germany and we are far from catching up with her in technical and economic terms.

The question of the rapid rate of development of industry would not be so acute if we were not the only country of the dictatorship of the proletariat, but one of the countries of the proletarian dictatorship, if we had a proletarian dictatorship not only in our country, but also in others, more advanced countries, say Germany and France.

Under this condition, the capitalist encirclement could not pose for us the serious danger it poses now; the question of the economic independence of our country would naturally recede into the background, we could join the system of more developed proletarian states, we could receive from them machines for the fertilization of our industry and agriculture, supplying them with raw materials and food products, we could, therefore, develop our industry at a slower pace. But you know well that we do not yet have this condition and we are still the only country of the proletarian dictatorship, surrounded by capitalist countries, many of which are far ahead of us in technical and economic terms. "

That is, the leadership of the USSR at the head of Stalin assumed war. Little of. Sources and reasons that were not hidden at that time. And this is documented.

"Internal conditions. But besides external conditions, there are also internal conditions that dictate the rapid pace of development of our industry, as the leading principle of our entire national economy. I mean the excessive backwardness of our agriculture, its technology, its culture. I mean the presence in our the country of the overwhelming majority of small commodity producers with their fragmented and completely backward production, in comparison with which our large socialist industry looks like an island in the middle of the sea, an island whose base is expanding every day, but which is still an island in the sea.

It is usually said in our country that industry is the leading principle of the entire national economy, including agriculture, that industry is the key with which it is possible to rebuild backward and fragmented agriculture on the basis of collectivism. This is absolutely true. And from this we must not retreat for one minute. But we must also remember that if industry is the leading beginning, then agriculture is the basis for the development of industry both as a market that absorbs the products of the industry, and as a supplier of raw materials and food, and as a source of export reserves necessary in order to import equipment for needs National economy. Is it possible to move industry forward, leaving agriculture in conditions of completely backward technology, without providing an agricultural base for industry, without reconstructing agriculture and not adjusting it to industry? No you can not.

Hence the task is to provide agriculture as much as possible with the instruments and means of production necessary to accelerate and advance the work of its reconstruction on a new technical basis. But in order to achieve this goal, a rapid pace of development of our industry is required. Of course, the reconstruction of a fragmented and scattered agriculture is incomparably more difficult than the reconstruction of a united and centralized socialist industry. But this task is before us, and we must solve it. And it cannot be resolved except on the basis of the rapid pace of industrial development.

It is impossible without end, i.e. for too long a period of time, to base Soviet power and socialist construction on two different foundations, on the basis of the largest and most united socialist industry and on the basis of the most fragmented and backward small-scale peasant economy. It is necessary to gradually, but systematically and stubbornly transfer agriculture to a new technical base, to the base of large-scale production, bringing it closer to socialist industry. Either we solve this problem - and then the final victory of socialism in our country is assured, or we will leave it, we will not solve this problem - and then a return to capitalism may become inevitable. "

(Stalin I. V. On the industrialization of the country and the right deviation in the CPSU (b): Speech at the plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU (b) 58, November 19, 1928,

The last volleys died long ago, destroyed cities and villages were restored, but people from different countries still return to those distant years, trying to understand why that unprecedented war began, which claimed the lives of several tens of millions of people. And although the question of who is guilty of unleashing it was clarified at the Nuremberg trials, mountains of documents and memoirs of direct participants in those events were published, nevertheless, other interested forces, no, no, yes, try to start a discussion on this score, putting forward all sorts of versions. There is even a point of view of a preventive war on the part of the USSR, there is a completely absurd idea that Hitler and Stalin, like Yeltsin and Gorbachev, sorted out the relationship, which of them is more genius, and therefore unleashed a war. We will not take into account such extravagant reasoning, we will be left alone with the stale bread of the most extensive historiography, documents and facts, in order to allow the reader to fall down and drink from the river named Events, regardless of which banks it flows.
Crohn and roots
German historian I. Fest, author of the multivolume study "Adolf Hitler", concludes: "This war was the brainchild of Hitler in the broadest sense: his policy, his entire life path were oriented towards it." "War is the ultimate goal of politics," Festus quotes Hitler, "and politics is the provision of the living space of this or that people. From time immemorial, living space could be conquered and maintained only through struggle, therefore, politics was a kind of permanent warfare ... Pacifism would spoil people, animals would again take their place ... A peace lasting more than 25 years is harmful to the nation. " “Hitler put into words, into political and military practice that which corresponded to the plans of big business,” another German researcher K. Bochmann adds to the characterization of the chief Nazi. “He was looking for prosperity and wealth for the Germans in the field of politics. It was his business, and he had no alternative. By way of thinking he is a Great German nationalist, chauvinist and anti-Semite. For him there were no such concepts as honesty, conscience and obligation, public opinion and the voice of the people, like the fate of people, aroused contempt, and treaties and agreements were just a piece of paper. He could make a literal 180-degree turn in five minutes. The only thing he feared was that the West would see through him and call him to order. " This is Hitler. But this is the crown. And what are the roots that nourished it? It is believed that World War II began on September 1, 1939. This is so and not entirely true, for it arose long before the cannons rang out and the first battles unfolded - when some politicians could not, while others did not want to prevent the establishment of Hitlerism in power in Germany and the subsequent strengthening of its positions. The prelude to the tragedy of the 1940s was the 1930s, when big world capital tried to carry out the notorious policy of "channeling" German aggression to the East. The first foci of it blazed up in Northeast China (1931), Ethiopia (1935), Spain (1936). But if you look more closely into the past, we will find that the first spark of World War II slipped through on June 28, 1919 in the Hall of Mirrors of the Palace of Versailles, where on that day the representatives of the Entente countries and the United States, on the one hand, the German ministers of foreign affairs and justice Müller and Bell, on the other hand, signed an agreement that summed up the results of the First World War and legalized the redivision of the world. Unfortunately, the victors were unable to establish lasting order on the planet. No matter how anyone tries to divide the world in justice, this is impossible, there will always be disadvantaged and offended. America did not ratify the Treaty of Versailles and renounced membership in the League of Nations, believing that France and England had "fallen" more and they had become too strong. Italy felt slighted, "having received less" the colonies in Africa promised to her for joining the war on the side of the Entente and expanding its territory at the expense of Albania, the South Slavic lands that were previously part of Austria-Hungary. Displeased with Versailles was Japan. In 1914-1915, it managed to "infiltrate" neighboring China, capturing the Shandong province, but under pressure from the United States and Great Britain, it had to pursue an "open door" and "equal opportunity" policy towards China. Japan was not happy with the fact that its fleet was cut. But Germany was the most offended. Not only did the winners demanded 132 billion gold marks as reparations and took away from her an eighth part of the territory where a tenth of the population lived, deprived of all overseas possessions, but also thoroughly "pinched the tail" of the military. Henceforth, the German army was not supposed to exceed 100 thousand people, and the fleet of 15 thousand people, the general headquarters was subject to liquidation, the country abolished general military service, it was forbidden to have heavy artillery, tanks, submarines, military aircraft ... The German nation was humiliated and for a long time could not put up with it, as, however, were insulted and the Japanese samurai, Italians, in whose veins the blood of the Roman conquerors flowed. The spark of the Second World War that flared up in Versailles marked the future axis Berlin - Rome - Tokyo. Voices of abandoning Versailles and of a new division of the world sounded at first timid, and then more and more insistently. It is also important that the masses of a number of countries, which were beset by the terrible hardships and hardships of the First World War, came out for radical changes in their lives. In 1917, the October Revolution broke out in Russia, in November 1918 - in Germany. The revolutionary upsurge at the end of the First World War was observed in almost all capitalist countries. Communist parties began to appear like mushrooms after a warm rain. To coordinate their actions in Moscow in March 1919, the Communist International was established. The spread of the communist "threat" across the planet and the growth of the national liberation movement terribly frightened the moneymakers.
Entering the stage
Austrian Schicklgruber, aka Adolf Hitler, caught the consequences of Versailles and new trends. It was he who came on the stage and voiced the program of 25 points of the National Socialist Workers' Party (NSDAP) developed by like-minded people. He was immediately noticed, by the way, even before writing "Mein Kampf". Here is one of the relatively recent findings of historians in the archives of Yale University (USA) - a recording of a conversation between the assistant to the US military attaché in Germany, Captain Truman Smith, with Hitler, held in Munich ... November 20, 1922. The conversation was extremely frank: the future Fuhrer, and then the unknown leader of the unknown party, told the American visitor about his intention to "liquidate Bolshevism", "throw off the shackles of Versailles", establish a dictatorship, create a strong state, offered his services in the battle between civilization and Marxism. He expounded practically the same ideas in a memorandum to German industrialists, which he passed on to them in December of the same 1922. Words were followed by deeds. In November 1923, together with General Ludendorff, Hitler made an attempt to organize from Munich a "campaign against Berlin" against the bourgeois parliamentary republic, for which he was sentenced to imprisonment in the fortress of Landsberg am Lech. This fortress had nothing to do with what is usually meant by imprisonment, notes the German researcher V. Ruge. A large room, tastefully furnished and covered with carpets, served as his "cell", where he in turn received "for a report" his assistants. Although the duration of visits was officially limited to six hours a week, he was allowed to receive visitors for six hours a day. For Hitler, the prison essentially became a club and a place to instruct his accomplices. Here he arranged "comradely meals" at which, in the presence of the guards, announced that when he came to power, he would exterminate all communists and Jews. These "feasts" were also attended by the head of the prison, who after five months of imprisonment gave Hitler a characterization for early release. Here, in the fortress, between things, he dictated to R. Hess the first volume of his famous "Mein Kampf" (the second volume was prepared in 1926), in which, along with his memoirs, he outlined his plan of action for the future: the fight against the communist "infection", the destruction of France, the alliance with England and Italy, the "expansion of living space" in the East, at the expense of the USSR, the conquest of hegemony in Europe, and then the rule of the "German-Aryan race" throughout the world. And although at first "Mein Kampf", like other rantings of Hitler, big business did not take it seriously, but it was heard. And when they heard, they began to look closely, to feed.
Guide
There was always a rivalry between the winning countries. The Americans did not want a strong France and England. The latter, in turn, closely followed the United States, trying to keep them out of Europe. And all together they feared the USSR and thought how to "crush the hotbed of communism." In August 1924, they met in London for a conference of the reparations commission, where they adopted an American plan to alleviate the financial situation of Germany through the flow of capital investment from their countries. It was the golden shower of American dollars and British pounds that fertilized the German economy. One eloquent fact: Germany's reparation payments from September 1924 to July 1931 amounted to 11 billion marks. During the same period, Germany received 25 billion marks in loans and investments from abroad. Of these, about half were represented by Wall Street bankers, a significant part by the City of London. The economic crisis that broke out in 1929, like a tornado, swept the world and thoroughly touched Germany, which was just getting on its feet. The Germans considered Versailles and England to be the culprits of their troubles. In German schools, the history of the First World War was presented in a peculiar way: the actions of the German army, which won many battles, but lost the war, were embellished. A significant place in the textbooks was occupied by the story "about a stab in the back with a dagger," that is, about the fact that the German army was destroyed by communist propaganda. Hitler mercilessly exploited the themes of Versailles and Bolshevism. As a means to warm up national feelings to the boiling point, he demanded to "hammer" every point into the brains and feelings of the people until "... we don't want weapons again, we don't want Germany to be strong without communists." And it was a balm for the souls of most Germans, and first of all big business, which did not spare funds for the NSDAP. According to the ex-Reich Chancellor of Germany in 1930-1932 G. Brüning, "the respectable bourgeois perfectly understood the essence of Hitler, they needed him, and they brought him to power." This was also confirmed by the American prosecutor in Nuremberg Taylor: "Without the joint work of German industrialists and the Nazi party, Hitler and the Nazis would never have seized power in Germany and would not have consolidated it." The facts of support for Hitler by the monopolies are recorded in many official documents. So, at the same Nuremberg trial, it was stated: the Rhine-Westphalian group of industrialists in 1931-1932 gave Hitler a million marks. F. Thyssen in his book "I paid Hitler" admitted that he alone gave the NSDAP a million marks. Since January 1930, on the initiative of the Ruhr magnate, Kirdorf, who was in charge of the funds of the Union of Mining and Steel Entrepreneurs, the so-called "Ruhr Treasure", 5 pfennigs began to be deducted in favor of the Hitlerite party from every ton of coal sold. This amounted to 6 million marks a year. In general, the budget of the Hitlerite party in 1933 reached 90 million marks. In the summer of 1931, O. Dietrich notes in his book "With Hitler - to Power" O. Dietrich, "the Fuehrer made a decision in Munich: to systematically handle the persons influential in the economy ... In the following months, he traveled all over Germany in his limousine, meeting either in hotels , or on quiet lawns, without advertising, so as not to give material to the press. " At the end of August 1931, at the Steingof estate, Hitler made a report to 40 industrialists, in January 1932 in Dusseldorf - to three hundred, convinced them of his loyalty, his decision to destroy Marxism, the Treaty of Versailles and revive a strong Germany.
Recognition of W. Churchill:
“As soon as Nazi Germany was allowed to re-arm, the outbreak of World War II became almost inevitable ... In the spring of 1935, Germany, in violation of treaties, restored compulsory military service. Great Britain forgave this, and by concluding a separate agreement with her, allowed the fleet to be restored, and if she wished then it would have allowed the construction of submarines in the same quantity as England.Nazi Germany secretly and illegally created an air force, which openly claimed equality with the British aviation by the spring of 1935. For the second year after a long secret training, it intensively produced weapons. Great Britain and all of Europe, as well as distant, as it was believed, America were faced with the organized power and will to war of the most combat-ready 70-million nation in Europe, eager to regain its national glory. "

Hitler was subsidized not only by monopolists in Germany, but also by the USA and Great Britain. The British-Dutch oil king G. Deterding alone handed over 10 million marks to his party until 1933. With the funds, Hitler launched a powerful propaganda campaign for the ideas of the NSDAP. Naturally, he and his NSDAP entered the Reichstag. And what is characteristic, the sympathy of the Germans for Hitler grew. So, in the elections in 1928, the party had only 12 seats in the Reichstag, in 1930 6.4 million voted for it, this gave 107 seats, in 1932 13.7 million voted for the NSDAP, it received 230 seats. And although the Nazis did not secure the majority for themselves, they won more mandates than other parties, and representatives of big business who financed the NSDAP began to demand, in the same 1932, from the aged Reich President Hindenburg "to transfer the rule of the most powerful national party", claiming that it would be respond to the "supreme principle of democracy." The deal on Hitler's coming to power was finalized on January 4, 1933 at the villa of the Cologne banker Kurt von Schroeder with the participation of the former Reich Chancellor Franz von Papen, who was respected by P. Hindenburg. Through the mouth of Schroeder, authorized by big capital, the go-ahead was given to take the post of Reich Chancellor by the leader of the NSDAP. However, Hindenburg pulled, the thoroughbred aristocrat did not like the former corporal, the leader of the National Socialists (somehow he even noted with disdain that during his four years at the front he could not rise to the rank of a non-commissioned officer or sergeant major), first offered Hitler only the post of vice-chancellor in the von Papen government, and the NSDAP - two ministries for G. Strasser and G. Goering. Hitler flew into a rage, taking this as a personal insult: over him, the Fuhrer, there would be another Papen. The bags of money began to put pressure on the Reich President. Perhaps he would not have succumbed, but then they began to create a parliamentary commission to investigate the abuses of the highest echelon of power in the provision of eastern aid, where the Hindenburg clan was also involved. The head of state instructed his son Oscar to extinguish the "fire". They agreed to make Hitler the Reich Chancellor, but "keep him within the framework" by making Papen Vice-Chancellor and giving key ministerial posts to the people of Hindenburg. The Reich President was the first to take the oath not even from Hitler, but somewhat earlier, from the Minister of War Blomberg. Aristocrats Baron von Neurath, Count Schwerin von Krosig, Baron Eltu von Rübenach headed the ministries of foreign affairs, finance, and transport. On January 30, the so-called government of national concentration was formed. True, it did not last long in its original composition. Soon Papen "took off", and then Blomberg and Neurath. It was not easy to keep the Fuhrer in check, he himself preferred to do it. At a meeting with industrialists, immediately after coming to power, Hitler asked to support his steps to eliminate Marxism, strengthen personal power, establish a dictatorship, end democratic elections, make them the last elections for the next 10, maybe 100 years. According to Shakht, big business was delighted with these proposals. G. Krupp jumped up from his seat, ran up to the Fuehrer and shook his hand on behalf of those present for "an extremely clear presentation of views." He repeated the same and received approval at a meeting with the high command of the armed forces on 3 February.
Glow over the Reichstag
He began by eradicating communism in the country. On February 27, 1933, the Reichstag burst into flames. The Nazis organized arson as a pretext for reprisals against the communists. The fire had not yet flared up properly, Hitler rushed in and, according to I. Festus, shouted furiously: "Now there will be no mercy! We will crush anyone who gets in our way! .. Every communist functionary must be shot on the spot. Communist deputies. hang the same night ... "And the same night, Goering, who headed the parliament and the Prussian police, arrested four thousand members of the KKE, and by mid-March the number of arrested communists had increased to 50 thousand people, about 600 were killed. The period from February 28 to March 5, 1933, the Nazis called the "Week of the Awakened People". At this time, a network of "wild", that is, nowhere registered, prisons appeared, which the Nazis called "basements of heroes", and concentration camps, where stormtroopers tortured and destroyed their victims. A day after the fire in the Reichstag, Hitler came to Hindenburg and spoke about what had happened in bright dramatic colors, after which he presented to the Reich President for signature a draft emergency decree "On the Protection of the People and the State", which canceled all the basic rights of the same people and gave the chancellor unlimited power ... Subsequently supplemented by two more documents: "Against treason to the German people and actions constituting treason" and "On the elimination of the plight of the people and the state" - they became the main legal basis of the Hitler regime and, without a doubt, gave complete freedom of action "to the Third Reich "in preparation for the Second World War. By the way, these laws were in effect until May 1945. According to them, Hitler was assigned the right to pass laws without parliamentary sanctions, while they could not comply with the constitution, they were developed by the chancellor, and they came into force the next day. The Nazis knew that in order to approve the law "On the Protection of the People and the State" in parliament, they would not be able to gain two-thirds of the votes, then they decided to intimidate the deputies. Firstly, they forced everyone to go through a specially created human corridor of their like-minded people demanding to support Hitler, and secondly, during the entire meeting, the roar of stormtroopers was periodically heard in the hall: "Give us a law - otherwise death and blood!" Moral terror did its job: "for" - 441 votes, "against" - 94. Having dealt with the communists (out of 300 thousand 150 thousand were arrested and thrown into concentration camps), Hitler took up the trade unions. Most of the union bosses were also sent to prisons and concentration camps, and the so-called "German Labor Front" was created on the site of the union associations, whose task was not to defend the rights of workers, but to educate the people in the Nazi spirit.
And the king, and God, and the military leader
The entire structure of power and personnel changed. Members of the NSDAP were nominated for all leading posts. Democratic self-government in the lands was replaced by the institution of imperial governors, subordinate to Hitler. Those who sympathized with the left and Jewish officials were subject to dismissal. Already in March 1933, the first anti-Semitic atrocities of the SA detachments took place - about 60 thousand Jews were forced to hastily flee Germany. By July, Hitler had scattered all parties and organizations that stood in his way. And even he himself was dumbfounded by this fact. "Nobody thought such a crash was possible," he admitted. The main Nazi newspaper "Völkischer Beobachter" wrote: "The parliamentary system capitulates to the new Germany. For 4 years Hitler will be able to do whatever he sees fit: in terms of denial - to exterminate all the harmful influence of Marxism, and in terms of creation - to create a new popular community. A great thing begins! The day of the "Third Reich" has arrived. "The Third Reich" (Das Dritte Reich - "third empire") is the official Nazi name of the regime that existed in Germany from January 1933 to May 1945. Hitler regarded Nazi rule as a logical continuation of the two previous German empires.The First Reich - the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation - existed from the time of the coronation in Rome of Otto the Great, the second ruler of the Saxon dynasty, until his conquest by Napoleon in 1806. The second - was founded by Otto von Bismarck in 1871- m and existed until 1918, the end of the Hohenzollern dynasty.In 1923, the German nationalist writer Arthur Muller Van den Bruck used called the term "Third Reich" for the title of his book. Hitler enthusiastically pocketed the name for a new empire that he believed would last a thousand years. This name also attracted him because it had no mystical connection with the Middle Ages, when the "third kingdom" was considered thousand years old. In July 1933, Hitler announced that the "Nazi Revolution" was over. The party has now become a state! The power is with us. No one will be able to resist us, and now we must do "peaceful work". We must educate a German for this state. ”And he did. The magic words, which he often resorted to and which brought the Germans into ecstasy, were“ national revival. ”This was especially evident on March 21, 1933, on the day of the first meeting of the parliament of the“ Third Reich ” He spent it not in Berlin, but in the old residence of the Prussian kings, the traditional center of German militarism, Potsdam. The deputies gathered in the former garrison church where Frederick II is buried. The date of the convocation is also symbolic: it was on March 21, 1871 that the first Reichstag of Germany, united by the "iron chancellor" Bismarck, was opened. "By the end of the celebrations," Goebbels wrote in his diary, "everyone is shocked to the core ... A historic moment. The shield of German honor has been cleansed of filth again. The standards with our eagles are flying upward ..." "A flurry of feelings of national delight swept over Germany ", - noted the media. “These celebrations in Potsdam had an extraordinary impact on the deputies, military, foreign observers and the inhabitants, made the day of Potsdam a truly turning point,” I. Fest believes. “Only a minority were able not to succumb to the hypnotic influence of this performance, and many of those who voted against Hitler in the elections, now they clearly hesitated in their judgments. " Spectacles are a tried and tested means of raising the spirit of the nation, but only on emotions you won't go far, sooner or later people will remember about bread. To overcome unemployment and strengthen the economy, Hitler took ideas from others, such as the Schleicher government's "Urgent Job Creation" program, and implemented it with the support of both German and foreign industrialists. He pulled from the archives a project for the construction of motorways, a project for a people's car. The law "On the regulation of labor activity", adopted in January 1934, the owners of enterprises became Fuhrer, and the workers were relegated to squads. The following year, compulsory labor service was introduced, and then a law came into force prohibiting changing jobs. All this, as well as the growth of military orders, consistently led to the militarization of the economy. But people got jobs, their lives were getting better. According to A. Speer, who was close to the Fuehrer, and later the Minister of Armaments, Hitler was very popular with the Germans in the mid-30s. Somehow, on the way to Nuremberg, in one of the towns, he could not drive along the street, for it was crowded with people, who, having learned that Hitler would go, came out to greet him. “In the car, when we had already left,” Speer recalls, “Hitler, turning to me, said:“ Until now, only one German was received this way - Luther! When he traveled around the country, people flocked from afar and greeted him, as they greet me today. "This enormous popularity was more than understandable: the people attributed successes in the economy and foreign policy to none other than Hitler, and every day more and more saw in him the embodiment of a deeply rooted dream of a powerful, self-confident, internally united Germany. Hindenburg died on August 2, 1934. An hour after his death, Hitler issued a decree merging the posts of Reich President and Reich Chancellor, taking over the most important function of the commander of the armed forces. Immediately, the former corporal gave the order to take the oath to him. Now Hitler received the official title "Fuhrer and Chancellor of the German Empire", which corresponded to the Russian proverb "Both the tsar, and the god, and the military commander."
Wolf in sheep's clothing
In the historical literature, Hitler's policy of 1933-1935 was called the policy of "imaginary peacefulness". "For at least six years," he told his closest associates in March 1933, "we will have to maintain a state of a kind of 'civil peace' with the European powers. Rattling is now inappropriate." The culmination of his policy of good neighborly relations was the big "peace speech" delivered on May 17, 1933, and as a result of it - the conclusion in January 1934 of a peace treaty with his worst enemies - the Poles, to whom there were most territorial claims. In those same years of the "imaginary world" behind the scenes of the "brown empire" completely different steps were taken - Hitler was intensely, secretly preparing to "expand the living space", in every possible way building up his military potential. Having achieved relief from the payment of debts on loans of the 1920s (and this is no less than 23.3 billion marks), he used the freed up funds to purchase weapons and strategic raw materials. And the cost of this grew almost exponentially: 1933 - 277 thousand dollars, 1934 - 1 million 445 thousand dollars. Germany bought aircraft from the United States, Britain supplied motors. DuPont's General Motors and Opel supplied the German army with vehicles, tanks and motorcycles. The powerful automobile plant built by Ford in Cologne worked for the Nazis. Receiving foreign loans, Germany hastily created its own industry. In the fall of 1936, the so-called 4-year plan was adopted. The Fuehrer formulated its main tasks as follows: the German army must be ready for military operations in 4 years; the German economy should be put on a war footing in 4 years, it should also be ready for war. At the same time, the army was being strengthened. By October 1934, from 100 thousand people, it increased to 300 thousand. Seeing that he got away with it, after 6 months the Chancellor notified the then Chief of General Staff Beck that no later than April 1, 1935, he would annul all the military restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles. At a meeting with his industrial patrons, he negotiates the production of a sufficient amount of weapons and ammunition, and weapons of the latest designs, and asks to ensure independence from the import of strategic raw materials, fuel, especially gasoline and synthetic rubber. He took money wherever he could. Actually, it was the concern of the "financial genius" J. Shakht. Here is just one of his scams. At the initiative of Schacht, the German government devalued its securities (shares, government bonds), which were stored in banks of other countries, then secretly, through dummies, bought them at the rate of 12-18 percent of their nominal value and sold them again within the country at the real price. Navar amounted to more than a quarter of a billion marks. Hitler was shamelessly increasing the national debt. If the country's debt at the end of 1932 was 8.5 billion marks, then already in 1939 it was 47.3 billion marks. It was clear to economists that Germany would inevitably face financial disaster. This was obvious to Hitler, but he somehow dropped: "If we do not win the war, everything will go to dust. In this case, the more debt, the better."

Continued in the next issue