How Adolf Hitler turned into an “impudent agressor” in just one day
They would laugh at me as a poor proph-
et. But a vast majority of the laughers are
silent now. And those who are still laugh-
ing are likely to stop soon1.
Adolf Hitler
Ukraine makes part of the USSR. But
some part of Ukraine is the territory of
other states. Byelorussia makes part of
the USSR. But some part of Byelorussia
is the territory of other states2.
Joseph V. Stalin
To be a good judge of the events discussed in this chapter, one has to return to the map to see that the Soviet Union and Germany had no com-mon borders at the time. Hitler was able to attack the USSR only from the territories of some neighboring states. Theoretically, he might have
Reich Chancellor Hitler’s speech on the anniversary of the “Beer Putsch”, November 8, Munich, 1942.
Closing remarks on the political report of the VKP(b) Central Committee to the 16th Congress (source: Stalin, J. V. Works. P. 7).
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How Adolf Hitler turned into an “impudent agressor” in just one day
launched a campaign from the Baltic States, Poland and Romania. But such plans were hard to realize. Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia were independent states created by Great Britain and France from the debris of the Russian empire to ensure a buffer zone between Soviet Russia and Germany. The framework for the British policies after World War I was to oppose an al-liance between the two continental powers; such a possibility was Britain’s continual nightmare.
Rendering assistance in gaining independence and forming a new state with consequent changes on the map is always due to obvious interests of some country or countries. No one would ever assist a country to win political sovereignty just to realize the principle of self-determination or “out of kindness”. At present, the USA is concerned about “building democracy” in Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova, but the aim is not the welfare of these countries. The aim is to create hostile buffer states to encircle Russia. To constitute a precedent “the civilized world” severs Yugoslavia and recognizes Kosovo. In the same fashion, it is willing to recognize the severed parts of our territory.
It was a lucky game in Germany to bring to power the Nazis headed by the fuehrer that admired Great Britain. But in Russia the situation turned out to be “unfavorable”. Comrade Stalin gained the upper hand of comrade Trotsky and took energetic measures to restore the empire. In this situa-tion, the buffer block between the two states stood in the way of organizing Hitler’s assault on the USSR.
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English policies have always been guided by England’s own benefits. A change in the political situation brings about a change of tactics: the time has come for England to yield “English-born” puppet states to Hitler. The question — why England and France lost ground to Hitler, little by little, — puzzles historians and perplexes analysts. They write about incredible peaceable disposition that infected London and Paris like a disease. But Hitler quarreled with the Western world not because of his aggressiveness, but because of his “inappropriate” (according to the British conception) peacefulness…
The political map of the then Europe may explain something. The independence of the Baltic countries was only a disguise, the same as in Czechoslovakia; it worked until the beast of prey was out for blood. If Hitler had wanted their territory for attacking the USSR, no doubt, he would have
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Who made Hitler attack Stalin
got it, on some pretext or other. But this would have sharply restricted his activity. “The Polish Corridor” (Poland) separated East Prussia from the Reich which ruled out concentrating considerable forces there. An armed conflict with Russia would have put the German troops at a disadvantage, separating the rear from the front-lines and hitching supplies. Thus normal warfighting would have fully depended on the favor of Poland, or, to be more exact, on the goodwill of England and France.
That was the trouble. Poland, the main British and French ally in East Europe, like Czechoslovakia and the Baltic States, was cut out of the suit-ing of the Russian and German empires by the victorious Entente. England and France masterminded a prospective war by sending Hitler to the East, having provided the springboard for attack, as well as production facilities and resources1.
Without Poland it would have been impossible to deploy the German troops and thus ensure the potent firepower necessary to crush the USSR. The Germans received evidence of that as early as in autumn 1936 during the Barbarossa-type exercise held by the General Staff. The German General Staff concluded: “No solution concerning the East campaign can be reached without solving the problem of a jumping-off place in East Poland”2.
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Consequently, it was crucial for Hitler to carry Poland’s consent and cooperation. Poland was just as “independent” in its decisions, as Czechoslo-vakia that chose a happy dispatch, like a samurai commanded by his master.
In the eyes of Hitler, Poland jammed the way to the Soviet borders, like a giant plug. But the British and the French had the power to force that plug out at the right moment so as to let an extended front of the German troops cross our territory. On the right flank of the aggressor, ready to hit Russia, was Romania. Hitler had not yet buddied up to it. But that would come with time. Romania, like Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia, was a member of the Little Entente and an ally of Britain and France, not Germany. But to ensure Hitler’s aggression England would not hesitate to give up one more country to the Nazis. Romanian oil was vital for a war of motors that was to come.
According to the Versailles Treaty, Poland got a strip of land, a former part of East Prussia, the so called Corridor that separated East Prussia from the rest of Germany. The idea was to let Poland gain access to the Baltic Sea. Since the end of the war this territory, now called Kaliningrad Oblast, has been separated from the rest of Russia by Lithuania.
Martirosyan, A. Who brought the war to the USSR. P. 416.
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How Adolf Hitler turned into an “impudent agressor” in just one day
The following facts pour some light on who played the master in Roma-nia. In 1929 the country was hit by a world crisis and borrowed money from English, French and American banks (“stabilization loan”), and in 1931 it borrowed more (“development loan”). The loans were granted on crippling terms, and the country was unable to pay out the interest rates, to say nothing of the debt amount. According to the agreements the creditors obtained significant concessions related to the telephone business, the tobacco industry, the matchmaking, salt making, the production of tissue paper. Romania was as good as bankrupt, and the creditors formed a group of nine experts to establish full control over the state budget and the National Bank. In fact, the country went into receivership. No German bank, though, represented the receivers1.
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What was London’s scenario of the German campaign against Russia? Germany was supposed to attack Russia leaning on its economic, territorial and political facilities. The involvement of the Poles in the conflict was mo-tivated by their cherished dream of “Great Poland” including a considerable part of Ukraine, Byelorussia and Russia. It was possible that Hitler might crush Russia hand over fist, or might get bogged down. That made no differ-ence as long as London had the power “to shut off the spigot”, in due time. Poland was to remain in the rear of the German army and “put down the gate”, at a word of command from London, to leave the Germans without supplies. Then the picture was to change, with the victorious coalition of England, France and the USA joining the fight as a top dog.
It was 1938 that triggered off the unrestrained weaponization of “the peaceful nations”. Their tall tales about defending themselves against Hitler are untenable. Even the limited armaments they already had were enough, if all they wanted was self-defense. This book explains what they were after. They wanted to stab Hitler in the back and dictate terms to Russia, supposedly drained of resources by the war. “The US preparations for war, at sea and on land, are under way at heightened rates already mounting up to the colossal sum of 1,250 million dollars”, writes E. Po-totski, the Polish ambassador in Washington, on January 16, 19392. Three days after Chamberlain brought peace to “our generation” following the idyllic summit in Munich, he plumped for armament at whatever the cost3.
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World History. V. 22. M., 2001. P. 309–313.
Source: Ribbentrop, J. von. Memoirs of the Nazi Diplomat. P. 311–312.
World History. V. 22. M., 2001. P. 154.
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Who made Hitler attack Stalin
Then the Western peacemakers intended to ensure the triumph of “freedom” and “democracy”:
‰ in the USSR a shift in power towards “democracy” was supposed to en-sure repayment of the late tsar’s debts, denationalization, embezzlement of natural resources including oil, diamonds, timber, etc.;
‰ in Germany the generals were supposed to remove Hitler for puttingGermany at odds with the civilized world.
The factor of the Polish troops on the Russian borders, i. e. in the rear of the German expedition army, made the German resistance highly improb-able. At this time human rights defenders and journalists were supposed to begin “to see”, all of a sudden, the Nazi atrocities, with the “Nuremberg Trial” that denounced the German Nazism and put to death its leaders (all that really happened later).
It should be mentioned that by hounding Hitler on Russia the British politicians never thought him to be their equal. Following his slaughterous work in the wide open spaces of Russia, Adolph was supposed to get either the dock or an ampoule with poison. Having done the dirty work of politi-cal and ethnic cleansing of Russia, Hitler was to fall into oblivion, while the grateful humankind was to fall for England, France and America for ridding them of the horrors of Nazism. Czechoslovakia, Austria and the Baltic states were supposed to be “independent” and “free” again, until next time when their masters sacrificed them for their geopolitical interests.
This is a tentative and rather sketchy scenario of a war against the USSR. No one ever mentioned it, because the real events took a different turn and because the future victors of the Second World War, the masterminds of Hitler’s aggression, would have looked too charmless.
Did the Kremlin know what kind of patience the governments of England and France were playing on the European political table? It did, without doubt. Only a blind person might have overlooked what country Hitler’s Reich put at stake. On March 1, 1936, long before the takeover of Austria and Czechoslovakia, Joseph Stalin was interviewed by the American journalist Roy Howard. One of the questions was: “How do you picture the German aggression against the USSR? In what directions could the German troops move?” The head of the USSR said: “History shows the following picture. If some country wants to wage a war against another country that may not necessarily be a neighboring one, it starts looking for a passage to reach the
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How Adolf Hitler turned into an “impudent agressor” in just one day
borders of the country it wants to attack. An aggressive state usually finds such a passage… I don’t know what passage Germany may find for its goals, but I can well imagine those willing “to lend” such a corridor”1.
Joseph Stalin turned out to be right: Hitler was “lent” Austria and Czechoslovakia and was slowly, but surely led to the Soviet borders. Beyond Slovakia (the region of Czechoslovakia) lay Zakarpatye (the Transcarpathian region) that was on the border of the Soviet Ukraine.
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