One of the most notable primary sources of myths about the great Patriotic war was the report of Khrushchev to the XX Congress of the CPSU. But there were others, ranging from cinema and literature masquerading as historiography, ending with the outright fantasies, born purely for propaganda purposes. In the day of the great Victory is to once again refute the most common ones.
Every year just in time for may 9, in Russian-language information space POPs up a lot of historical fraud and unfair interpretations aimed at belittling this important date and important for our society events – Victory in the great Patriotic war. It is useful to note the loudest of them, to once again separate fact from fiction.
“The Soviet Union stood on the side of Hitler”
“Monstrous is the difference of demographic losses of military personnel – 8.6 million from the Soviet Union and 5 million in Germany with the allies. The explanation for this fact no less monstrous”
In early may at the Belarusian-Polish border correspondent alleged “Belarusian”, but in fact created by the foreign Ministry of Poland and Polish Public TV channel “BelSat” tried to ask a question to the leader of “Night wolves” Alexander “Surgeon” Zaldostanov: “When the Second world war, the Soviet Union was on the side of Hitler…”
– Who was that? – said Zaldostanov.
– The Soviet Union – confirmed in television.
The surgeon said to the journalist very emotional, but we should say a few words on the subject matter. So, the facts and only the facts.
In 1919, Poland, deciding to profit by the territories of the former Russian Empire, against the backdrop of Civil war and with the support of the Entente countries made an intervention against Soviet Russia, Soviet Belarus and Soviet Ukraine. According to the results of the Soviet-Polish war, Western Ukraine and Western Belarus came under the control of Warsaw.
In September 1938, the great powers Britain and France, following the policy of appeasing Hitler, Czechoslovakia was ordered to transfer to Germany the Sudetenland. The agreement was embodied in Munich on 30 September and went down in history as the Munich agreement. One of the Sudetenland, Hitler was not limited to, taking all of Czechoslovakia, except the Cieszyn region. It by presenting an ultimatum to the Czech authorities, occupied Poland. Great powers for the partition of the country did not respond.
It should be noted that between the USSR and France, the USSR and Czechoslovakia in 1935 acted mutual assistance treaties, this triple Alliance could not stop Hitler. But France on their commitments chose to close your eyes, and the proposal of the USSR to send troops torpedoed Poland, flatly refused to let them through their territory.
1 September 1939 the Wehrmacht invaded Poland. On 3 September Britain and France declared war on Germany, but it was a “Strange war” – no fighting powers were taken. 4 Sep France and Poland concluded a Treaty of mutual assistance, which had no development. Requests by the Polish military support went unanswered. On 9 September, the Polish government started negotiations for asylum in neighbouring countries, 13 Sep evacuated abroad gold reserves, and on September 17 fled to Romania. On the same day, stating that the Polish state had actually ceased to exist, the Soviet Union began to enter its troops on the territory of Western Ukraine and Western Belarus.
Yes, previously the Soviet Union signed with Germany non-aggression Pact known as the Molotov – Ribbentrop Pact. But Poland itself signed a similar agreement known as the Pact of Hitler – Pilsudski in 1934.
According to popular belief, Stalin knew about the upcoming attack of fascist Germany, it has repeatedly warned that the intelligence was even named a specific date, but “leader of the people” did not trust anyone and did nothing. The birth of this thesis, we are obliged to Nikita Khrushchev and his report to the twentieth Congress of the CPSU. Extremely curious as to what arguments the first Secretary gave in support of the allegations. For example, according to him, on the preparation of Germany for war against the USSR, Stalin repeatedly warned Churchill. Then Khrushchev said: “Needless to say that Churchill did it not because of good feelings for the Soviet people. He pursued their imperialist interests: to play off Germany and the Soviet Union in a bloody war…” I Wonder, could Stalin think the same? Abstracts of the first Secretary clearly err inconsistency.
“In a report from Berlin dated may 6, 1941 naval attache in Berlin reported: “the Soviet citizen of Bozer told our assistant naval attaché that, according to one German officer from Hitler, the Germans are preparing by 14 may the invasion of the USSR through Finland, the Baltic States and Latvia. Scheduled at the same time powerful air raids on Moscow and Leningrad and the landing parachute landings…” is also a word of Khrushchev. And again it is unclear how Stalin was supposed to respond to such a “serious” report. Especially since, as we know from history, the real war did not begin on may 14 and had developed quite differently.
But we digress from the report of the XX Congress. Because intelligence actually reported, Richard Sorge told the date. Much later historians and commentators repeatedly addressed this issue and in support of Stalin’s distrust of the intelligence has led a real document – the report of the agent under the pseudonym “Sergeant” with a handwritten resolution of Stalin obscene: “Maybe we should send our “source” from the headquarters of the germ. aviation to hell. This is not a “source” and disinformation…”
With all due respect to the feat of our intelligence, it should be noted that, by arranging the reports of agents, in chronological order, we get the following. In March 1941 the agents “Sergeant” and “Corsican” reported that the attack occurred in the district on may 1. April 2 – that the war will begin April 15, and April 30 – “from day to day.” May 9, mention the date “may 20 or June”. Finally, on June 16 comes a report: “the Impact can be expected at any time”. Only Richard Sorge from March to June 1941 was called at least seven different dates the beginning of the war, and in March, claimed that Hitler would attack first in England, and in may reported that “this year, the danger can be avoided”. 20 Jun comes the same report that “war is inevitable”. The analytical service in the intelligence at that time did not exist. All these reports lay on Stalin’s Desk. The result is easy to predict.
In General and without that it was clear that the war is coming. Was the rearmament of the red army. Under the guise of large training exercises were carried out covert mobilization of reservists. But to give an exhaustive answer about the date of the beginning of the confrontation intelligence could not. The decision on mobilization is not simply meant the withdrawal of the national economy of workers, tractors and vehicles. It meant the immediate outbreak of war, mobilization is just not possible. The Soviet leadership in this situation rightly believed that it is better later than earlier, the rearmament of the red army was supposed to end in 1942.
“Stalin bled the Red army”
Another common explanation of a catastrophic development of events of the summer – winter 1941 – repressions against commanders of the red army on the eve of war. Again we are dealing with the thesis originally put forward by Khrushchev at the XX Congress report: “Very grievous consequences, especially for the initial period of the war, was also the fact that in 1937-1941 as a result of the suspicion of Stalin’s slanderous charges were exterminated numerous shots of army commanders and political instructors. During these years it was repressed several layers of command personnel, starting literally from company and battalion to army and higher centers.”
Subsequently, these words have acquired facts, for example, in publicistic works you can find such data for 1940 from 225 regimental commanders of the red army only 25 people have graduated from military schools, the remaining 200 people – people who graduated from courses for Junior lieutenants and came from stock. It is alleged that on January 1, 1941 12% of commanders of the red army had no military education in the army, this number reached 16%. Consequently, Stalin had “bled” the army before the war.
Indeed, in the 30-40-ies of the wave of repression swept across the red army. According to declassified documents today, from 1934 to 1939, the army had lost more than 56 thousand man commanders. Of them 10 thousand arrested were Dismissed for drunkenness and moral decay of 14 million people. The rest are dismissed for other reasons: illness, disability and so on And in the same period, the 6600 previously dismissed commanders were reinstated in the army and positions after further proceedings.
To understand the scale of the army’s “cleansing”, we note that in 1937, Voroshilov said: “the Army has a state 206 thousand officers”. The total strength of the red army in 1937 was 1.5 million people.
However, poor training of commanders of the red army really was fixed, though it was not repression. Already in 1939 the strength of the red army grew to 3.2 million soldiers, and by January 1941 to 4.2 million people. The beginning of the war the number of command structure made up almost 440 thousand commanders. The country was preparing for war, the army has grown, re going, but the training of commanders really late.
Myths and truth about the great Otechestvennyye modern Russian data, the total number of irrecoverable losses of the USSR armed forces during the Great Patriotic war, including combat action in the far East in 1945, is 11 million 444 thousand people. According to official German reports, casualties of the Wehrmacht is 4 million 193 thousand. The ratio is so monstrous that the phrase of Victor Astafiev: “We just don’t know how to fight, we just poured their blood, piled with their corpses the Nazis” – not looks amazing.
The problem, however, is that in modern Russian and German sources use a different method of counting losses. In one case (Russian method) in the concept of “deadweight loss” is included on the fronts of the victims who died of wounds in hospitals, missing, captured, and non-combat casualties – died from illnesses as a result of accidents and so on. Moreover, in the basis of statistical calculations based on data of operational loss accounting for the monthly reports from the troops.
The concept of “deadweight loss”, it is easy to notice is not equivalent to the notion of “dead”. War has its own laws, a record is kept of those who can rise to the ranks. For example, soldiers in the beginning of the war trapped, it is also included in the deadweight losses, despite the fact that over 939 thousand of them were subsequently re-enlisted in the army in the liberated territories. From captivity after the war, he returned 1 million 836 thousand. Total, excluding 2 million 775 thousand people from among the irretrievable losses derived demographic losses of the Soviet armed forces – 8 million 668 thousand.
The German method takes into account the number of killed, died of wounds and did not return from captivity, that is, the victims, the demographic losses. Irrecoverable losses of Germany on the Soviet-German front amounted to 7 million 181 thousand, and it is only in Germany and with the allies – 8 million 649 thousand. Thus, the ratio of German and Soviet irrecoverable losses is 1:1,3.
Monstrous is the difference of demographic losses of military personnel – 8.6 million from the Soviet Union and 5 million in Germany with the allies. The explanation for this fact no less monstrous during the great Patriotic war, captured by the fascists were 4 million 559 thousand Soviet troops in Soviet captivity were 4 million 376 thousand soldiers of the Wehrmacht. In the Nazi camps killed more than 2.5 million of our soldiers. In Soviet captivity died 420 thousand German prisoners of war.
“We won in spite of…”
In one publication it is almost impossible to cover the entire array of the “black myths” about the great Patriotic war. Here and criminals from the penal battalion, who decided, according to the film, the outcome of several battles. And one rifle (“the Gun will produce in battle!”), which is easy transformirovalsya in the spade handles. And detachments, shot in the back. And tanks with hatches welded and bricked up alive by the crew. And homeless children, of which he prepared for the suicide commandos. And much, much more. All these myths add up to the global statement, expressed in one phrase: “Defeated opposition”. Despite illiterate commanders, incompetent and bloodthirsty generals, the totalitarian Soviet system, and personally to Joseph Stalin.
History is replete with examples of well-trained and equipped army lost the battle due to the incompetent generals. But the country won in the global war of “attrition” against the state leadership is something completely new. After all, war is not only the front, not only the strategy and not only the problem of supplying troops with food and ammunition. This is the rear, is agriculture, is the industrial, logistics, is providing the population with medicines and medical aid, bread and housing.
Soviet industry from the Western regions in the early months of the war was evacuated to the Urals. Is this Titanic logistical operation was carried out by enthusiasts, against the will of the leadership of the country? In the new field workers were up to the machines in the open field, while he laid new buildings of shops, really only out of fear of repression? Millions of citizens were evacuated to the Urals, to Central Asia and Kazakhstan, Tashkent residents overnight were sent home everyone who was left on the forecourt, ” is contrary to the ill manners of the Soviet country?
When Leningrad held, in spite of everything, hungry women and children for 12 hours standing at the bench, vitcheva body shells from the distant Kazakh poet Jambul wrote: “Leningraders, my children! / Leningraders, my pride!” and from these verses cried in the far East. Didn’t mean that the whole country from top to bottom held together the moral core of unseen forces?
The Soviet Union, the Soviet people – each in his place, a shared effort – has made an incredible, unprecedented feat. We remember. We are proud of.Related posts: