22 JUNE 1941 OF THE YEAR - THE BEGINNING OF THE GREAT PATRIOTIC WAR

On June 22, 1941, at 4 am, without declaring war, Nazi Germany and its allies attacked the Soviet Union. The beginning of the Great Patriotic War fell not just on Sunday. It was a church holiday of All Saints who shone in the Russian land.

Parts of the Red Army were attacked by German troops along the entire length of the border. Riga, Vindava, Libava, Siauliai, Kaunas, Vilnius, Grodno, Lida, Volkovysk, Brest, Kobrin, Slonim, Baranovichi, Bobruisk, Zhytomyr, Kyiv, Sevastopol and many other cities, railway junctions, airfields, naval bases of the USSR were bombed , artillery shelling of border fortifications and areas of deployment of Soviet troops near the border from the Baltic Sea to the Carpathians was carried out. The Great Patriotic War began.

Then no one knew that it would go down in the history of mankind as the most bloody. No one guessed that the Soviet people would have to go through inhuman trials, go through and win. Rid the world of fascism, showing everyone that the spirit of a Red Army soldier cannot be broken by the invaders. No one could have imagined that the names of the hero cities would become known to the whole world, that Stalingrad would become a symbol of the resilience of our people, Leningrad a symbol of courage, Brest a symbol of courage. That, on a par with male warriors, old men, women and children will heroically defend the earth from the fascist plague.

1418 days and nights of war.

Over 26 million human lives...

These photographs have one thing in common: they were taken in the first hours and days of the beginning of the Great Patriotic War.

On the eve of the war

Soviet border guards on patrol. The photograph is interesting because it was taken for a newspaper at one of the outposts on the western border of the USSR on June 20, 1941, that is, two days before the war.

German air raid

The first to take the blow were the border guards and the fighters of the cover units. They not only defended, but also went on the counterattack. For a whole month, the garrison of the Brest Fortress fought in the rear of the Germans. Even after the enemy managed to capture the fortress, some of its defenders continued to resist. The last of them was captured by the Germans in the summer of 1942.

The picture was taken on June 24, 1941.

During the first 8 hours of the war, Soviet aviation lost 1,200 aircraft, of which about 900 were lost on the ground (66 airfields were bombed). The Western Special Military District suffered the greatest losses - 738 aircraft (528 on the ground). Having learned about such losses, the head of the Air Force of the district, Major General Kopets I.I. shot himself.

On the morning of June 22, Moscow radio broadcast the usual Sunday programs and peaceful music. Soviet citizens learned about the beginning of the war only at noon, when Vyacheslav Molotov spoke on the radio. He reported: "Today, at 4 o'clock in the morning, without presenting any claims against the Soviet Union, without declaring war, German troops attacked our country."

1941 poster

On the same day, a decree was published by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on the mobilization of those liable for military service born in 1905-1918 on the territory of all military districts. Hundreds of thousands of men and women received summons, appeared at the military registration and enlistment offices, and then went to the front in trains.

The mobilization capabilities of the Soviet system, multiplied during the Great Patriotic War by the patriotism and sacrifice of the people, played an important role in organizing a rebuff to the enemy, especially at the initial stage of the war. The call "Everything for the front, everything for victory!" was accepted by all the people. Hundreds of thousands of Soviet citizens voluntarily went into the army. In just a week since the beginning of the war, more than 5 million people were mobilized.

The line between peace and war was invisible, and people did not immediately perceive the change of reality. It seemed to many that this was just some kind of masquerade, a misunderstanding, and soon everything would be resolved.

The fascist troops met stubborn resistance in the battles near Minsk, Smolensk, Vladimir-Volynsky, Przemysl, Lutsk, Dubno, Rovno, Mogilev and others.And yet, in the first three weeks of the war, the troops of the Red Army left Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, a significant part of Ukraine and Moldova. Minsk fell six days after the start of the war. The German army advanced in various directions from 350 to 600 km. The Red Army lost almost 800 thousand people.

A turning point in the perception of residents Soviet Union war has certainly become August 14. It was then that the whole country suddenly learned that The Germans occupied Smolensk . It really was a bolt from the blue. While the fighting was going on "somewhere out there, in the west," and cities flashed in the reports, the location of which many could imagine with great difficulty, it seemed that the war was still far away anyway. Smolensk is not just the name of the city, this word meant a lot. Firstly, it is already more than 400 km from the border, and secondly, only 360 km from Moscow. And thirdly, unlike Vilna, Grodno and Molodechno, Smolensk is an ancient purely Russian city.

The stubborn resistance of the Red Army in the summer of 1941 frustrated Hitler's plans. The Nazis failed to quickly take either Moscow or Leningrad, and in September the long defense of Leningrad began. In the Arctic, Soviet troops, in cooperation with the Northern Fleet, defended Murmansk and the main base of the fleet - Polyarny. Although in Ukraine in October-November the enemy captured the Donbass, captured Rostov, and broke into the Crimea, nevertheless, here, too, his troops were fettered by the defense of Sevastopol. The formations of the Army Group "South" could not reach the rear of the Soviet troops remaining in the lower reaches of the Don through the Kerch Strait.

Minsk 1941. Execution of Soviet prisoners of war

September 30th within Operation Typhoon the Germans started general attack on Moscow . Its beginning was unfavorable for the Soviet troops. Pali Bryansk and Vyazma. October 10 Commander Western Front was appointed G.K. Zhukov. On October 19, Moscow was declared under a state of siege. In bloody battles, the Red Army still managed to stop the enemy. Having strengthened the Army Group Center, the German command resumed the attack on Moscow in mid-November. Overcoming the resistance of the Western, Kalinin and right flanks of the Southwestern fronts, the enemy strike groups bypassed the city from the north and south and by the end of the month reached the Moscow-Volga canal (25-30 km from the capital), approached Kashira. On this, the German offensive bogged down. The bloodless Army Group Center was forced to go on the defensive, which was also facilitated by the successful offensive operations of the Soviet troops near Tikhvin (November 10 - December 30) and Rostov (November 17 - December 2). On December 6, the counteroffensive of the Red Army began. , as a result of which the enemy was driven back from Moscow by 100 - 250 km. Kaluga, Kalinin (Tver), Maloyaroslavets and others were liberated.

On guard of the Moscow sky. Autumn 1941

The victory near Moscow was of great strategic and moral-political significance, since it was the first since the beginning of the war. The immediate threat to Moscow was eliminated.

Although, as a result of the summer-autumn campaign, our army retreated 850-1200 km inland, and the most important economic regions fell into the hands of the aggressor, the plans for the "blitzkrieg" were nevertheless frustrated. The Nazi leadership faced the inevitable prospect of a protracted war. The victory near Moscow also changed the balance of power in the international arena. They began to look at the Soviet Union as the decisive factor in the Second World War. Japan was forced to refrain from attacking the USSR.

In winter, units of the Red Army carried out an offensive on other fronts. However, it was not possible to consolidate the success, primarily because of the dispersal of forces and means along a front of enormous length.

During the offensive of the German troops in May 1942, the Crimean Front was defeated on the Kerch Peninsula in 10 days. May 15 had to leave Kerch, and July 4, 1942 after a hard defense fell Sevastopol. The enemy completely took possession of the Crimea. In July - August, Rostov, Stavropol and Novorossiysk were captured. Stubborn battles were fought in the central part of the Caucasus Range.

Hundreds of thousands of our compatriots found themselves in more than 14 thousand concentration camps, prisons, ghettos scattered throughout Europe. Dispassionate figures testify to the scale of the tragedy: only on the territory of Russia, the fascist invaders shot, choked in gas chambers, burned, and hanged 1.7 million. people (including 600 thousand children). In total, about 5 million Soviet citizens died in concentration camps.

But, despite the stubborn battles, the Nazis failed to solve their main task - to break through into the Transcaucasus to master the oil reserves of Baku. At the end of September, the offensive of the fascist troops in the Caucasus was stopped.

To contain the enemy onslaught in the east, the Stalingrad Front was created under the command of Marshal S.K. Timoshenko. On July 17, 1942, the enemy under the command of General von Paulus delivered a powerful blow on the Stalingrad front. In August, the Nazis broke through to the Volga in stubborn battles. From the beginning of September 1942, the heroic defense of Stalingrad began. The battles went on literally for every inch of land, for every house. Both sides suffered huge losses. By mid-November, the Nazis were forced to stop the offensive. The heroic resistance of the Soviet troops made it possible to create favorable conditions for them to go over to the counteroffensive near Stalingrad and thereby initiate a radical change in the course of the war.

By November 1942, almost 40% of the population was under German occupation. The regions captured by the Germans were subject to military and civil administration. In Germany, even a special ministry for the affairs of the occupied regions was created, headed by A. Rosenberg. Political supervision was in charge of the SS and police services. On the ground, the occupiers formed the so-called self-government - city and district councils, in the villages the posts of elders were introduced. Persons dissatisfied with the Soviet government were involved in cooperation. All residents of the occupied territories, regardless of age, were required to work. In addition to participating in the construction of roads and defensive structures, they were forced to clear minefields. The civilian population, mostly young people, was also sent to forced labor in Germany, where they were called "Ostarbeiter" and used as cheap labor. In total, 6 million people were hijacked during the war years. From hunger and epidemics in the occupied territory, more than 6.5 million people were destroyed, more than 11 million Soviet citizens were shot in camps and at their places of residence.

November 19, 1942 Soviet troops moved into counteroffensive at Stalingrad (Operation Uranus). The forces of the Red Army surrounded 22 divisions and 160 separate units of the Wehrmacht (about 330 thousand people). The Nazi command formed the Don Army Group, consisting of 30 divisions, and tried to break through the encirclement. However, this attempt was not successful. In December, our troops, having defeated this grouping, launched an offensive against Rostov (Operation Saturn). By the beginning of February 1943, our troops liquidated the grouping of fascist troops caught in the ring. 91 thousand people were taken prisoner, led by the commander of the 6th German Army, Field Marshal von Paulus. Per 6.5 months Battle of Stalingrad(July 17, 1942 – February 2, 1943) Germany and its allies lost up to 1.5 million people, as well as a huge amount of equipment. The military power of fascist Germany was significantly undermined.

The defeat at Stalingrad caused a deep political crisis in Germany. It was declared three days of mourning. The morale of the German soldiers fell, defeatist sentiments swept over the general population, which less and less believed the Fuhrer.

The victory of the Soviet troops near Stalingrad marked the beginning of a radical turning point in the course of World War II. The strategic initiative finally passed into the hands of the Soviet Armed Forces.

In January-February 1943, the Red Army was conducting an offensive on all fronts. In the Caucasian direction, Soviet troops advanced by the summer of 1943 by 500-600 km. In January 1943, the blockade of Leningrad was broken.

The command of the Wehrmacht planned summer 1943 conduct a major strategic offensive operation in the area of ​​the Kursk salient (Operation Citadel) , defeat the Soviet troops here, and then strike at the rear of the Southwestern Front (Operation Panther) and subsequently, building on success, again create a threat to Moscow. To this end, up to 50 divisions were concentrated in the area of ​​the Kursk Bulge, including 19 tank and motorized divisions, and other units - a total of over 900 thousand people. This grouping was opposed by the troops of the Central and Voronezh fronts, which had 1.3 million people. During the Battle of Kursk, the largest tank battle of the Second World War took place.

On July 5, 1943, a massive offensive of the Soviet troops began. Within 5 - 7 days, our troops, stubbornly defending themselves, stopped the enemy, who had penetrated 10 - 35 km behind the front line, and launched a counteroffensive. It started July 12 near Prokhorovka , where the largest oncoming tank battle in the history of wars (with the participation of up to 1,200 tanks on both sides) took place. In August 1943, our troops captured Orel and Belgorod. In honor of this victory in Moscow, a salute was fired for the first time with 12 artillery volleys. Continuing the offensive, our troops inflicted a crushing defeat on the Nazis.

In September, Left-bank Ukraine and Donbass were liberated. On November 6, formations of the 1st Ukrainian Front entered Kyiv.

Having thrown the enemy back 200-300 km from Moscow, the Soviet troops set about liberating Belarus. From that moment on, our command held the strategic initiative until the end of the war. From November 1942 to December 1943, the Soviet Army advanced 500-1300 km westward, freeing about 50% of the territory occupied by the enemy. 218 enemy divisions were destroyed. During this period, partisan formations inflicted great damage on the enemy, in the ranks of which up to 250 thousand people fought.

Significant successes of the Soviet troops in 1943 intensified diplomatic and military-political cooperation between the USSR, the USA and Great Britain. On November 28 - December 1, 1943, the Tehran Conference of the "Big Three" was held with the participation of I. Stalin (USSR), W. Churchill (Great Britain) and F. Roosevelt (USA). The leaders of the leading powers of the anti-Hitler coalition determined the timing of the opening of a second front in Europe (the landing operation "Overlord" was scheduled for May 1944).

Tehran Conference of the "Big Three" with the participation of I. Stalin (USSR), W. Churchill (Great Britain) and F. Roosevelt (USA).

In the spring of 1944 Crimea was cleared of the enemy.

Under these favorable conditions, the Western Allies, after two years of preparation, opened a second front in Europe in northern France. June 6, 1944 the combined Anglo-American forces (General D. Eisenhower), numbering over 2.8 million people, up to 11 thousand combat aircraft, over 12 thousand combat and 41 thousand transport ships, having crossed the English Channel and the Pas de Calais, started the biggest war in years landing Norman operation ("Overlord") and entered Paris in August.

Continuing to develop the strategic initiative, in the summer of 1944, Soviet troops launched a powerful offensive in Karelia (June 10 - August 9), Belarus (June 23 - August 29), in Western Ukraine (July 13 - August 29) and in Moldova (June 20 - 29 August).

During Belarusian operation (code name "Bagration") Army Group Center was defeated, Soviet troops liberated Belarus, Latvia, part of Lithuania, eastern Poland and reached the border with East Prussia.

The victories of the Soviet troops in the southern direction in the autumn of 1944 helped the Bulgarian, Hungarian, Yugoslav and Czechoslovak peoples in their liberation from fascism.

As a result of the hostilities of 1944, the state border of the USSR, treacherously violated by Germany in June 1941, was restored along its entire length from the Barents to the Black Sea. The Nazis were expelled from Romania, Bulgaria, from most regions of Poland and Hungary. In these countries, pro-German regimes were overthrown, and patriotic forces came to power. The Soviet Army entered the territory of Czechoslovakia.

While the block of fascist states was falling apart, the anti-Hitler coalition was growing stronger, as evidenced by the success of the Crimean (Yalta) conference of the leaders of the USSR, the United States and Great Britain (from February 4 to 11, 1945).

But still the decisive role in defeating the enemy at the final stage was played by the Soviet Union. Thanks to the titanic efforts of all the people, the technical equipment and armament of the army and navy of the USSR reached the highest level by the beginning of 1945. In January - early April 1945, as a result of a powerful strategic offensive on the entire Soviet-German front, the Soviet Army decisively defeated the main enemy forces with the forces of ten fronts. During the East Prussian, Vistula-Oder, West Carpathian and the completion of the Budapest operations, Soviet troops created the conditions for further strikes in Pomerania and Silesia, and then for an attack on Berlin. Almost all of Poland and Czechoslovakia, the entire territory of Hungary were liberated.

The capture of the capital of the Third Reich and the final defeat of fascism was carried out during Berlin operation(April 16 - May 8, 1945).

April 30 in the bunker of the Reich Chancellery Hitler committed suicide .

On the morning of May 1, over the Reichstag, sergeants M.A. Egorov and M.V. Kantaria was hoisted the Red Banner as a symbol of the Victory of the Soviet people. On May 2, Soviet troops completely captured the city. The attempts of the new German government, which on May 1, 1945, after the suicide of A. Hitler, was headed by Grand Admiral K. Doenitz, to achieve a separate peace with the USA and Great Britain failed.

May 9, 1945 at 0043 In the Berlin suburb of Karlshorst, the Act of Unconditional Surrender of the Armed Forces of Nazi Germany was signed. On behalf of the Soviet side, this historical document was signed by the hero of the war, Marshal G.K. Zhukov, from Germany - Field Marshal Keitel. On the same day, the remnants of the last large enemy grouping on the territory of Czechoslovakia in the Prague region were defeated. City Liberation Day - May 9 - became the Day of Victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War. The news of the Victory spread like lightning all over the world. The Soviet people, who suffered the greatest losses, greeted her with popular rejoicing. Truly, it was a great holiday "with tears in the eyes."

In Moscow, on Victory Day, a festive salute was fired from a thousand guns.

Great Patriotic War 1941-1945

Material prepared by Sergey SHULYAK

June 22, 1941. 1st day of the war

The day before, June 21, at 13:00. German troops received the prearranged signal "Dortmund". It meant that the offensive according to the Barbarossa plan should begin the next day at 3 hours 30 minutes.

On June 21, a meeting of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks was held, after which an order (directive No. 1) of the NPO of the USSR was issued and transmitted to the western military districts on the night of June 22: “During June 22-23, 1941, a sudden attack by the Germans on the fronts is possible LVO, PribOVO, ZAPOVO, KOVO, OdVO ... The task of our troops is not to succumb to any provocative actions ... At the same time, the troops of the Leningrad, Baltic, Western, Kyiv and Odessa military districts should be in full combat readiness to meet a possible sudden attack by the Germans or their allies.

On the night of June 21-22, German saboteurs began to operate on the territory of the USSR in the border zone, violating communication lines.

At 3 o'clock. 30 minutes. along the entire length of the Western border of the USSR, the Germans began artillery and aviation training, after which the German ground forces invaded the territory of the USSR. 15 minutes before, at 3 o'clock. 15 minutes, the Romanian Air Force launched air strikes on the border regions of the USSR.

At 4 o'clock. 10 min. The Western and Baltic Special Districts reported on the start of hostilities by German troops in the land areas of the districts.

At 5:30 a.m. German Ambassador to the USSR Schulenburg handed over to the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs Molotov a declaration of war. The same statement was made in Berlin to the USSR Ambassador to Germany Dekanozov.

At 7 o'clock. 15 minutes. Directive No. 2 was issued signed by Timoshenko, Malenkov and Zhukov: “On June 22, 1941, at 04:00 in the morning, German aviation, without any reason, raided our airfields and cities along the western border and bombarded them.
At the same time, German troops opened artillery fire in different places and crossed our border ... The troops should use all their forces and means to attack the enemy forces and destroy them in areas where they violated the Soviet border.

The western border military districts of the USSR were transformed into fronts: the Baltic Special - into the North-Western Front, the Western Special - into the Western, the Kyiv Special - into the South-Western.

The beginning of the defense of the Liepaja naval base.

In the evening, Directive No. 3 of the NPO of the USSR was issued signed by Timoshenko, Malenkov, Zhukov, ordering the fronts to destroy the enemy with powerful counterattacks, "regardless of the state border."

The offensive of the German troops took the enemy by surprise ... everywhere we easily managed to capture bridges over water barriers and break through the border fortifications to the full depth ... After the initial “tetanus” caused by the suddenness of the attack, the enemy proceeded to active operations ... Our advancing divisions everywhere where the enemy tried to resistance, threw it back and advanced with the battle an average of 10-12 km! Thus, the way to mobile connections is open.

June 23, 1941. 2nd day of the war

• 2nd day of the defense of the Brest Fortress.
• 2nd day of defense of Liepaja naval base.
• 2nd day of border battles.

June 24, 1941. 3rd day of the war

• 3rd day of the defense of the Brest Fortress.
• 3rd day of Liepaja naval base defense.
• 3rd day of border battles.
• 2nd day of counterattacks by the Red Army in the Siauliai and Grodno directions.
• 2nd day of the tank battle in the area of ​​Lutsk - Brody - Rivne.

The Leningrad Military District was reorganized into the Northern Front.

June 25, 1941. 4th day of the war

• 4th day of the defense of the Brest Fortress.
• 4th day of defense of Liepaja naval base.
• 4th day of border battles.
• 3rd, last, day of counterattacks by the Red Army in the Siauliai and Grodno directions.
• 3rd day of the tank battle in the area of ​​Lutsk - Brody - Rivne.

The air forces of the Northern Front and the aviation units of the Northern and Red Banner Baltic Fleets simultaneously attacked 19 airfields in Finland, on which formations of Nazi and Finnish aviation were concentrated for operations against our targets. Having made about 250 sorties, Soviet pilots destroyed many aircraft and other enemy military equipment on the airfields that day.

The Odessa Military District was reorganized into the Southern Front.

On June 25, enemy mobile units developed an offensive in the Vilna and Baranovichi directions ...

Enemy attempts to break through on the Brodsky and Lvov directions are met with strong opposition ...

On the Bessarabian sector of the front, the troops of the Red Army firmly hold their positions ...

The assessment of the situation in the morning generally confirms the conclusion that the Russians decided to wage decisive battles in the border zone and retreat only in certain sectors of the front, where they are forced to do so by the strong onslaught of our advancing troops.

June 26, 1941. 5th day of the war

• 5th day of the defense of the Brest Fortress.
• 5th day of defense of Liepaja naval base.
• 5th day of border battles.
• 4th day of the tank battle in the area of ​​Lutsk - Brody - Rivne.

During June 26, in the Minsk direction, our troops fought with infiltrated enemy tank units.

The fights continue.

In the Lutsk direction, large and fierce tank battles are going on throughout the day with a clear advantage on the side of our troops ...

Army Group South is slowly advancing, unfortunately suffering significant losses. The enemy, acting against Army Group South, has a firm and energetic leadership ...

On the front of Army Group Center, operations are developing successfully. In the Slonim area, enemy resistance is broken ...

Army Group North, surrounding individual enemy groups, continues to systematically move east.

June 27, 1941. 6th day of the war

• 6th day of the defense of the Brest Fortress.
• 6th, last, day of defense of Liepaja naval base.
• 6th day of frontier battles.
• 5th day of the tank battle in the area of ​​Lutsk - Brody - Rivne.
• Day 2 of the defense of the naval base on the Hanko Peninsula.

During the day, our troops in the Shaulyai, Vilensky and Baranovichi directions continued to retreat to positions prepared for defense, lingering for battle at intermediate lines ...
On the entire sector of the front from Przemysl to the Black Sea, our troops firmly hold the state border.

June 28, 1941. 7th day of the war

• 7th day of the defense of the Brest Fortress.
• 7th day of border battles.
• 6th day of the tank battle in the area of ​​Lutsk - Brody - Rivne.
• 3rd day of the defense of the naval base on the Hanko Peninsula.

... In the Lutsk direction, a large tank battle unfolded during the day, in which up to 4,000 tanks participate from both sides. The tank battle continues.
In the region of Lviv, stubborn intense battles with the enemy are going on, during which our troops inflict a significant defeat on him ...

June 29, 1941. 8th day of the war

• 8th day of the defense of the Brest Fortress.
• 8th, last, day of the Border Battles.
• 7th, last, day of the tank battle in the area of ​​Lutsk - Brody - Rivne.
• 4th day of defense of the naval base on the Hanko Peninsula.

German and Finnish troops went on the offensive in the Murmansk direction.

A strategic defensive operation began in the Arctic and Karelia.

On June 29, Finnish-German troops went on the offensive along the entire front from the Barents Sea to the Gulf of Finland ...

In the Vilna-Dvina direction, attempts by the enemy’s mobile units to influence the flanks and rear of our troops, retreating as a result of the fighting in the Siauliai, Keidany, Panevezh, Kaunas regions to new positions, were not successful ...
In the Lutsk direction, the battle of large tank masses continues ...

The Germans pursued the goal of disrupting the deployment of our troops in a few days and capturing Kyiv and Smolensk with a lightning strike within a week. However ... our troops still managed to turn around, and the so-called lightning strike on Kyiv, Smolensk turned out to be thwarted ...

Heavy fighting is still going on at the front of Army Group South. On the right flank of the 1st Panzer Group, the 8th Russian Panzer Corps penetrated deep into our position ... This wedging of the enemy, obviously, caused a lot of confusion in our rear in the area between Brody and Dubno ... Separate groups are also operating in the rear of the 1st Panzer Group the enemy with tanks, which are even advancing for considerable distances... The situation in the Dubno region is very tense...

In the center of Army Group Center's zone, our divisions, completely mixed up, are making every effort not to let the enemy out of the inner ring of encirclement, desperately breaking through in all directions ...

On the front of the Army Group "North", our troops systematically continue the offensive in the planned directions to the Western Dvina. All available crossings were captured by our troops ... Only part of the enemy troops managed to get out of the threat of encirclement in the east across the lake region between Dvinsk and Minsk to Polotsk.

June 30, 1941. 9th day of the war

• 9th day of the defense of the Brest Fortress.
• 5th day of defense of the naval base on the Hanko Peninsula.
• 2nd day of the strategic defensive operation in the Arctic and Karelia.

The formation of the people's militia in Leningrad began.

All power in the USSR passes to the newly formed State Defense Committee (GKO) consisting of: Stalin (chairman), Molotov (deputy chairman), Beria, Voroshilov, Malenkov.

In the Vilna-Dvina direction, our troops are fighting fierce battles with enemy motorized mechanized units ...
In the Minsk and Baranovichi directions, our troops are engaged in stubborn battles with the superior forces of the enemy’s mobile troops, delaying their advance at intermediate lines ...

In general, operations continue to develop successfully on the fronts of all army groups. Only on the front of the Army Group "Center" part of the encircled enemy grouping broke through between Minsk and Slonim through the front of the Guderian tank group ... On the front of the Army Group "North" the enemy launched a counterattack in the Riga region and wedged into our location ... An increase in enemy aviation activity in front of the front was noted army group "South" and in front of the Romanian front ... On the side of the enemy, already completely outdated types of four-engine aircraft are operating.

Sources

• 1941 - M.: MF "Democracy", 1998
• History of the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union 1941-1945. Volume 2. - M.: Military Publishing, 1961
• Franz Halder. War diary. 1941-1942. - M.: AST, 2003
• Zhukov G.K. Memories and reflections. 1985. In 3 volumes.
• Isaev A.V. From Dubno to Rostov. - M.: AST; Transitbook, 2004

On Sunday, June 22, 1941, at dawn, the troops of fascist Germany, without declaring war, suddenly attacked the entire western border of the Soviet Union and launched bombing air strikes on Soviet cities and military formations.

The Great Patriotic War began. She was expected, but still she came suddenly. And the point here is not a miscalculation or Stalin's distrust of intelligence data. During the pre-war months, different dates for the start of the war were called, for example, May 20, and this was reliable information, but due to the uprising in Yugoslavia, Hitler postponed the date of the attack on the USSR for more late deadline. There is another factor that is rarely mentioned. This is a successful disinformation campaign by German intelligence. So, the Germans spread rumors through all possible channels that the attack on the USSR would take place on June 22, but with the direction of the main attack in an area where it was obviously impossible. Thus, the date also looked like disinformation, so it was on this day that the attacks were least expected.
And in foreign textbooks, June 22, 1941 is presented as one of the current episodes of the Second World War, while in the textbooks of the Baltic States this date is considered positive, giving "hope for liberation".

Russia

§four. Invasion of the USSR. The beginning of the Great Patriotic War
At dawn on June 22, 1941, Nazi troops invaded the USSR. The Great Patriotic War began.
Germany and its allies (Italy, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia) did not have an overwhelming advantage in manpower and equipment and, according to the Barbarossa plan, they relied on the blitzkrieg ("lightning war") tactics on the surprise attack factor. The defeat of the USSR was supposed within two to three months by the forces of three army groups (Army Group North, advancing on Leningrad, Army Group Center, advancing on Moscow, and Army Group South, advancing on Kyiv).
In the first days of the war, the German army inflicted serious damage on the Soviet defense system: military headquarters were destroyed, the activities of communications services were paralyzed, and strategically important objects were captured. The German army was rapidly advancing deep into the USSR, and by July 10, Army Group Center (commander von Bock), having captured Belarus, approached Smolensk; Army Group "South" (commander von Rundstedt) captured the Right-Bank Ukraine; Army Group North (commander von Leeb) occupied part of the Baltic. The losses of the Red Army (including those who were surrounded) amounted to more than two million people. The current situation was catastrophic for the USSR. But the Soviet mobilization resources were very large, and by the beginning of July, 5 million people were drafted into the Red Army, which made it possible to close the gaps formed at the front.

V.L.Kheifets, L.S. Kheifets, K.M. Severinov. General history. Grade 9 Ed. Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences V.S. Myasnikov. Moscow, publishing house "Ventana-Graf", 2013

Chapter XVII. The Great Patriotic War of the Soviet people against the Nazi invaders
The perfidious attack of Nazi Germany on the USSR
Fulfilling the grandiose tasks of the third Stalinist five-year plan and steadily and firmly pursuing a policy of peace, the Soviet government, at the same time, did not for a moment forget about the possibility of a new "imperialist attack on our country. Comrade Stalin tirelessly called on the peoples of the Soviet Union to be in mobilization readiness. In February 1938 In his response to a letter from Komsomol member Ivanov, Comrade Stalin wrote: “Indeed, it would be ridiculous and stupid to turn a blind eye to the fact of a capitalist encirclement and think that our external enemies, for example, the fascists, will not try, on occasion, to launch a military attack on the USSR.”
Comrade Stalin demanded the strengthening of the defense capability of our country. “It is necessary,” he wrote, “to strengthen and strengthen in every possible way our Red Army, Red Navy, Red Aviation, Osoaviakhim. It is necessary to keep our entire people in a state of mobilization readiness in the face of the danger of a military attack, so that no “accident” and no tricks of our external enemies could take us by surprise ... "
Comrade Stalin's warning alerted the Soviet people, made them more vigilantly follow the intrigues of the enemies and strengthen the Soviet army in every possible way.
The Soviet people understood that the German fascists, led by Hitler, were striving to unleash a new bloody war, with the help of which they hoped to win world domination. Hitler declared the Germans a "superior race" and all other peoples inferior, inferior races. With particular hatred, the Nazis treated the Slavic peoples and, first of all, the great Russian people, who more than once in their history came out to fight against the German aggressors.
The Nazis based their plan on the plan of a military attack and lightning defeat of Russia developed by General Hoffmann during the First World War. This plan provided for the concentration of huge armies on the western borders of our homeland, the capture of the vital centers of the country within a few weeks and the rapid advance deep into Russia, up to the Urals. Subsequently, this plan was supplemented and approved by the Nazi command and was called the Barbarossa plan.
The monstrous war machine of the Nazi imperialists began its movement in the Baltic States, Belorussia and the Ukraine, threatening the vital centers of the Soviet country.

Textbook "History of the USSR", 10th grade, K.V. Bazilevich, S.V. Bakhrushin, A.M. Pankratova, A.V. Foght, M., Uchpedgiz, 1952

Austria, Germany

Chapter "From the Russian Campaign to Complete Defeat"
After careful preparation, which lasted for many months, on June 22, 1941, Germany began a "war of complete annihilation" against the Soviet Union. Its goal was to conquer a new living space for the Germanic Aryan race. The essence of the German plan was a lightning attack, called "Barbarossa". It was believed that under the rapid onslaught of a trained German military machine, Soviet troops would not be able to provide decent resistance. In a few months, the Nazi command seriously hoped to reach Moscow. It was assumed that the capture of the capital of the USSR would finally demoralize the enemy and the war would end in victory. However, after a series of impressive successes on the battlefields, after a few weeks, the Nazis were thrown back hundreds of kilometers from the Soviet capital.

Textbook "History" for grade 7, team of authors, Duden publishing house, 2013.

Holt McDougal. The World History.
For Senior High School, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Pub. Co., 2012

Hitler began planning an attack on his ally, the USSR, as early as the early summer of 1940. The Balkan countries of Southeast Europe played a key role in Hitler's invasion plan. Hitler wanted to create a foothold in Southeastern Europe to attack the USSR. He also wanted to be sure that the British would not interfere.
In order to prepare for the invasion, Hitler moved to expand his influence in the Balkans. By early 1941, by threatening to use force, he persuaded Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary to join the Axis. Yugoslavia and Greece, ruled by pro-British governments, fought back. In early April 1941, Hitler invaded both countries. Yugoslavia fell after 11 days. Greece surrendered after 17 days.
Hitler attacks the Soviet Union. By establishing tight control over the Balkans, Hitler could carry out Operation Barbarossa, his plan to invade the USSR. Early on the morning of June 22, 1941, the roar of German tanks and the drone of aircraft marked the beginning of the invasion. The Soviet Union was not ready for this attack. Although he had the largest army in the world, the troops were neither well equipped nor well trained.
The invasion progressed week after week until the Germans penetrated 500 miles into the territory of the Soviet Union (804.67 kilometers. - Ed.). Retreating, the Soviet troops burned and destroyed everything in the way of the enemy. The Russians used such a scorched earth strategy against Napoleon.

Section 7. Second World War
The attack on the Soviet Union (the so-called Barbarossa plan) was carried out on June 22, 1941. The German army, which numbered about three million soldiers, launched an offensive in three directions: in the north - on Leningrad, in the central part of the USSR - on Moscow and in the south - on the Crimea. The onslaught of the invaders was swift. Soon the Germans laid siege to Leningrad and Sevastopol, came close to Moscow. The Red Army suffered heavy losses, but the main goal of the Nazis - the capture of the capital of the Soviet Union - never materialized. The vast expanses and early Russian winter, with the fierce resistance of the Soviet troops and ordinary inhabitants of the country, thwarted the German plan for a blitzkrieg. In early December 1941, units of the Red Army under the command of General Zhukov launched a counteroffensive and drove the enemy troops back 200 kilometers from Moscow.

History textbook for the 8th grade of elementary school (Klett publishing house, 2011). Predrag Vajagić and Nenad Stošić.

Never before have our people treated the German invasion otherwise than with determination to defend their land, but when Molotov announced the German attack in a trembling voice, the Estonians felt everything but sympathy. On the contrary, many have hope. The population of Estonia enthusiastically welcomed the German soldiers as liberators.
Russian soldiers aroused dislike in the average Estonian. These people were poor, poorly dressed, extremely suspicious, and at the same time often very pretentious. The Germans were more familiar to the Estonians. They were cheerful and fond of music, from the places where they gathered, laughter and playing musical instruments could be heard.

Lauri Vahtre. Textbook "Turning Moments in Estonian History".

Bulgaria

Chapter 2: The Globalization of Conflict (1941-1942)
Attack on the USSR (June 1941). On June 22, 1941, Hitler launched a major offensive against the USSR. Starting the conquest of new territories in the east, the Fuhrer put into practice the theory of "living space", proclaimed in the book "My Struggle" ("Mein Kampf"). On the other hand, the termination of the German-Soviet pact again made it possible for the Nazi regime to present itself as a fighter against communism in Europe: the aggression against the USSR was presented by German propaganda as a crusade against Bolshevism in order to exterminate the "Jewish Marxists".
However, this new blitzkrieg developed into a long and exhausting war. Shaken by a surprise attack, bled dry by Stalinist repressions and ill-prepared Soviet army was quickly discarded. In a few weeks, the German armies occupied one million square kilometers and reached the outskirts of Leningrad and Moscow. But the fierce Soviet resistance and the rapid arrival of the Russian winter stopped the German offensive: the Wehrmacht could not defeat the enemy on the move in one campaign. In the spring of 1942, a new offensive was required.

The plan of "blitzkrieg" against the USSR
The German command expected to approach Moscow by August 15, to end the war against the USSR and create a defensive line against "Asian Russia" by October 1, 1941, and to reach the Arkhangelsk-Astrakhan line by the winter of 1941.
On June 22, 1941, the Great Patriotic War began with the attack of Nazi Germany on the Soviet Union. Mobilization was announced in the USSR. Voluntary entry into the Red Army acquired a mass character. Popular militia became widespread. Fighter battalions and self-defense groups were created in the front line to protect important national economic facilities. The evacuation of people and property began from the territories threatened by the occupation.
Military operations were led by the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command, created on June 23, 1941. The rate was headed by I. Stalin. Italy
June 22, 1941
Giardina, G. Sabbatucci, V. Vidotto, Manuale di Storia. L "eta`contemporanea. History textbook for the 5th grade of high school. Bari, Laterza. Textbook for the 11th grade of high school "Our New History", Dar Aun Publishing House, 2008
With the German attack on the Soviet Union in the early summer of 1941, a new phase of the war began. The widest front was opened in the east of Europe. Great Britain was no longer forced to fight alone. The ideological confrontation was simplified and radicalized with the termination of the anomalous agreement between Nazism and the Soviet regime. The international communist movement, which after August 1939 adopted an ambiguous position of condemnation of "opposing imperialisms", revised it in favor of allying with democracy and fighting fascism.
That the USSR was the main target of Hitler's expansionist intentions was no mystery to anyone, including the Soviet people. However, Stalin believed that Hitler would never attack Russia without ending the war with Britain. So when, on 22 June 1941, the German offensive (code-named "Barbarossa") began on a 1,600-kilometer front, from the Baltic to the Black Sea, the Russians were unprepared, and this lack of readiness, exacerbated by the fact that the 1937 purge had deprived the Red the army of its best military leaders, made the task of the aggressor easier at first.
The offensive, in which the Italian took part expeditionary corps, which was sent in great haste by Mussolini, who dreamed of participating in a crusade against the Bolsheviks, continued throughout the summer: in the north through the Baltic states, in the south through Ukraine in order to reach the oil regions in the Caucasus.

June 22, 1941 - one of the saddest dates in the history of Russia - the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, which is an integral part of the Second World War. At dawn on June 22, 1941, Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union without declaring war.

The Great Patriotic War began...

"... Citizens and citizens of the Soviet Union!

The Soviet government and its head comrade. Stalin instructed me to make the following statement:

Today, at 4 o'clock in the morning, without presenting any claims against the Soviet Union, without declaring war, German troops attacked our country, attacked our borders in many places and bombed our cities - Zhytomyr, Kyiv, Sevastopol, Kaunas from their aircraft. and some others, more than two hundred people were killed and wounded. Enemy aircraft raids and artillery shelling were also carried out from Romanian and Finnish territory.

This unheard-of attack on our country is treachery unparalleled in the history of civilized peoples. The attack on our country was carried out despite the fact that a non-aggression pact was concluded between the USSR and Germany, and the Soviet government fulfilled all the conditions of this pact in all good faith. The attack on our country was carried out despite the fact that during the entire period of the validity of this treaty the German government could never make a single claim against the USSR regarding the fulfillment of the treaty. The entire responsibility for this predatory attack on the Soviet Union falls entirely on the German fascist rulers.

Already after the attack, the German ambassador in Moscow, Schulenburg, at 5:30 in the morning made me, as People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs, a statement on behalf of his government that the German government had decided to go to war against the USSR in connection with the concentration of Red Army units near the eastern German border.

In response to this, on behalf of the Soviet government, I stated that until the last minute the German government did not make any claims against the Soviet government, that Germany attacked the USSR, despite the peace-loving position of the Soviet Union, and that thereby fascist Germany was the attacking side.

On behalf of the Government of the Soviet Union, I must also declare that at no point did our troops and our aviation allow the border to be violated, and therefore the statement made by the Romanian radio this morning that the Soviet aviation allegedly fired on Romanian airfields is a complete lie and provocation. Hitler's entire declaration today is just as much a lie and a provocation, trying to concoct, retroactively, accusatory material about non-compliance by the Soviet Union with the Soviet-German pact.

Now that the attack on the Soviet Union has already taken place, the Soviet government has given our troops an order to repulse the piratical attack and drive the German troops out of our homeland.

This war was imposed on us not by the German people, not by the German workers, peasants and intelligentsia, whose sufferings we understand very well, but by a clique of bloodthirsty fascist rulers of Germany who enslaved the French, Czechs, Poles, Serbs, Norway, Belgium, Denmark, Holland, Greece and other peoples .

The Government of the Soviet Union expresses its unshakable confidence that our valiant army and navy and the brave falcons of Soviet aviation will honorably fulfill their duty to their homeland, to the Soviet people, and deal a crushing blow to the aggressor.

This is not the first time our people have had to deal with an attacking, conceited enemy. At one time, our people responded to Napoleon's campaign in Russia with a Patriotic War, and Napoleon was defeated and came to his collapse. The same will happen with the arrogant Hitler, who announced new campaign against our country. The Red Army and all our people will once again wage a victorious patriotic war for the Motherland, for honor, for freedom.

The Government of the Soviet Union expresses its firm conviction that the entire population of our country, all workers, peasants and intelligentsia, men and women, will treat their duties and their work with due conscience. All our people must now be united and united as never before. Each of us must demand from ourselves and from others discipline, organization, selflessness, worthy of a true Soviet patriot, in order to provide for all the needs of the Red Army, fleet and aviation, in order to ensure victory over the enemy.

The government calls on you, citizens of the Soviet Union, to rally your ranks even more closely around our glorious Bolshevik Party, around our Soviet government, around our great leader Comrade. Stalin.

Our cause is right. The enemy will be defeated. Victory will be ours."

Article 1. BORDER OF THE SOVIET UNION.

Article 4. Russian spirit

Article 7. Opinion of an American Citizen. Russians are best at making friends and at war.

Article 8. Moscow. Treacherous West

On this early morning in 1941, the enemy dealt a terrible, unexpected blow to the USSR. From the first minutes, the border guards were the first to enter into a deadly battle with the fascist invaders and courageously defended our Motherland, defending every inch of Soviet land.

At 04:00 on June 22, 1941, after a powerful artillery preparation, the forward detachments of the fascist troops attacked the border outposts from the Baltic to the Black Sea. Despite the huge superiority of the enemy in manpower and equipment, the border guards fought stubbornly, died heroically, but did not leave the defended lines without an order.

For many hours (and in some areas for several days), the outposts in stubborn battles held back the fascist units on the border line, preventing them from seizing bridges and crossings over the border rivers. With unprecedented stamina and courage, at the cost of their lives, the border guards sought to delay the advance of the advanced units of the Nazi troops. Each outpost was a small fortress, the enemy could not capture it as long as at least one border guard was alive.

Thirty minutes took the Nazi General Staff to destroy the Soviet border outposts. But this calculation turned out to be untenable.

Not one of the almost 2000 outposts that took the unexpected blow of superior enemy forces faltered, did not give up, not one!

The frontier fighters were the first to repulse the onslaught of the fascist conquerors. They were the first to come under fire from the tank and motorized hordes of the enemy. Before anyone else, they stood up for the honor, freedom and independence of their homeland. The first victims of the war and its first heroes were Soviet border guards.

The most powerful attacks were made on the border outposts located in the direction of the main attacks of the Nazi troops. In the offensive zone of the Army Group "Center" on the site of the Augustovsky border detachment, two divisions of the Nazis crossed the border. The enemy expected to destroy the border outposts in 20 minutes.

The 1st border outpost of Senior Lieutenant A.N. Sivachev defended for 12 hours, completely perished.

The 3rd outpost of Lieutenant V. M. Usov fought for 10 hours, 36 border guards repulsed seven attacks of the Nazis, and when the cartridges ran out, they launched a bayonet attack.

Courage and heroism were shown by the border guards of the Lomzhinsky border detachment.

The 4th outpost of Lieutenant V. G. Maliev fought until 12 noon on June 23, 13 people survived.

The 17th frontier outpost fought with the enemy infantry battalion until 07:00 on June 23, and the 2nd and 13th outposts held the line until 12:00 on June 22, and only by order did the surviving border guards withdraw from their lines.

The border guards of the 2nd and 8th outposts of the Chizhevsky border detachment bravely fought the enemy.

The border guards of the Brest border detachment covered themselves with unfading glory. The 2nd and 3rd outposts held out until 6 p.m. on June 22. The 4th outpost of senior lieutenant I. G. Tikhonov, located near the river, did not allow the enemy to cross to the eastern bank for several hours. At the same time, over 100 invaders, 5 tanks, 4 guns were destroyed and three enemy attacks were repulsed.

In their memoirs, German officers and generals noted that only wounded border guards were captured, none of them raised their hands, laid down their weapons.

Having marched solemnly across Europe, the Nazis from the first minutes were faced with unprecedented perseverance and heroism of fighters in green caps, although the superiority of the Germans in manpower was 10-30 times, artillery, tanks, planes were involved, but the border guards fought to the death.

The former commander of the German 3rd Panzer Group, Colonel-General G. Goth, was subsequently forced to admit: “both divisions of the 5th Army Corps, immediately after crossing the border, ran into the enemy’s dug-in guards, which, despite the lack of artillery support, held their positions until the latter."

This is largely due to the selection and staffing of border outposts.

Manning was carried out from all the republics of the USSR. The junior commanding staff and the Red Army were called up at the age of 20 for 3 years (they served in naval units for 4 years). Commanding personnel for the Border Troops were trained by ten border schools (schools), the Leningrad Naval School, the Higher School of the NKVD, as well as the Frunze Military Academy and the Military-Political Academy named after

V. I. Lenin.

The junior commanding staff was trained in the district and detachment schools of the MNS, the Red Army soldiers were trained at temporary training posts at each border detachment or a separate border unit, and naval specialists were trained in two training border naval detachments.

In 1939 - 1941, when staffing the border units and subunits on the western section of the border, the leadership of the Border Troops sought to appoint to command posts in the border detachments and commandant's offices persons of middle and senior commanding staff with service experience, especially participants in the hostilities on Khalkhin Gol and on the border with Finland. It was more difficult to staff border and reserve outposts with commanding staff.

By the beginning of 1941, the number of border outposts had doubled, and the border schools could not immediately meet the sharply increased need for middle commanding staff, so in the fall of 1939, accelerated training courses for the command of outposts from junior commanding staff and Red Army soldiers of the third year of service were organized, and the advantage was given to persons with combat experience. All this made it possible by January 1, 1941 to fully equip all border and reserve outposts in the state.

In order to prepare to repel the aggression of fascist Germany, the Government of the USSR increased the density of protection of the western section of the state border of the country: from the Barents Sea to the Black Sea. This section was guarded by 8 border districts, including 49 border detachments, 7 detachments of border ships, 10 separate border commandant's offices and three separate air squadrons.

The total number of people was 87459, of which 80% of the personnel were located directly on the state border, including 40963 Soviet border guards on the Soviet-German border. Of the 1747 border outposts guarding the state border of the USSR, 715 are located on the western border of the country.

Organizationally, the border detachments consisted of 4 border commandant's offices (each with 4 linear outposts and one reserve outpost), a maneuver group (a detachment reserve of four outposts, with a total strength of 200 - 250 people), a school for junior commanding staff - 100 people, headquarters, intelligence department, political agency and rear. In total, the detachment had up to 2000 border guards. The border detachment guarded the land section of the border with a length of up to 180 kilometers, on the sea coast - up to 450 kilometers.

Border outposts in June 1941 were staffed by 42 and 64 people, depending on the specific conditions of the terrain and other conditions of the situation. At the outpost numbering 42 people were the head of the outpost and his deputy, the foreman of the outpost and 4 squad commanders.

Its armament consisted of one Maxim heavy machine gun, three Degtyarev light machine guns and 37 five-shot rifles of the 1891/30 model. pieces for an easel machine gun, RGD hand grenades - 4 pieces for each border guard and 10 anti-tank grenades for the entire outpost.

The effective range of rifles is up to 400 meters, machine guns - up to 600 meters.

At the frontier numbering 64 people there were the head of the outpost and his two deputies, the foreman and 7 squad commanders. Its armament: two Maxim heavy machine guns, four light machine guns and 56 rifles. Accordingly, the amount of ammunition was more. By decision of the chief of the border detachment to the outposts, where the most threatened situation developed, the number of cartridges was increased by one and a half times, but the subsequent development of events showed that this stock was enough for only 1-2 days of defensive operations. The only technical means of communication for the outpost was a field telephone. The vehicle was two horse carts.

Since the Border Troops during their service constantly met various violators on the border, including armed ones and as part of groups with whom they often had to fight, the degree of preparedness of all categories of border guards was good, and the combat readiness of such units as a border outpost and a border post , the ship, was actually constantly full.

At 04:00 Moscow time on June 22, 1941, German aviation and artillery simultaneously, along the entire length of the USSR state border from the Baltic to the Black Seas, launched massive fire strikes on military and industrial facilities, railway junctions, airfields and seaports on the territory of the USSR to a depth of 250 300 kilometers from the state border. Armadas of fascist planes dropped bombs on the peaceful cities of the Baltic republics, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova and Crimea. Border ships and boats, together with other ships of the Baltic and Black Sea Fleets, with their anti-aircraft weapons, entered the fight against enemy aircraft.

Among the objects on which the enemy launched fire strikes were the positions of the covering troops and the places of deployment of the Red Army, as well as military camps of border detachments and commandant's offices. As a result of the artillery preparation of the enemy, which lasted from one to one and a half hours in various sectors, subunits and units of the covering troops and subunits of the border detachments suffered losses in manpower and equipment.

A short-term but powerful artillery strike was carried out by the enemy on the towns of the frontier outposts, as a result of which all the wooden buildings were destroyed or engulfed in fire, the fortifications built near the towns of the frontier outposts were largely destroyed, the first wounded and killed frontier guards appeared.

On the night of June 22, German saboteurs damaged almost all wire communication lines, which disrupted the control of border units and Red Army troops.

Following air and artillery strikes, the German high command moved its invasion troops along a front of 1,500 kilometers from the Baltic Sea to the Carpathian Mountains, having in the first echelon 14 tank, 10 mechanized and 75 infantry divisions with a total strength of 1,900,000 troops equipped with 2,500 tanks , 33 thousand guns and mortars, supported by 1200 bombers and 700 fighters.

By the time of the enemy attack, only border outposts were located on the state border, and behind them, 3-5 kilometers away, were separate rifle companies and rifle battalions of troops that performed the task of operational cover, as well as defensive structures of fortified areas.

The divisions of the first echelons of the covering armies were located in areas remote from their designated deployment lines of 8-20 kilometers, which did not allow them to deploy in battle formation in a timely manner and forced them to engage in battle with the aggressor separately, in parts, disorganized and with heavy losses in personnel and military equipment.

The course of military operations of the frontier outposts and their results varied. When analyzing the actions of the border guards, it is imperative to take into account the specific conditions in which each outpost found itself on June 22, 1941. They depended to a large extent on the composition of the advanced enemy units that attacked the outpost, as well as on the nature of the terrain along which the border passed and the directions of action of the strike groups of the German army.

So, for example, a section of the state border with East Prussia ran along a plain with a large number of roads, without river barriers. It was in this area that the powerful German Army Group North deployed and struck. And on the southern sector of the Soviet-German front, where the Carpathian Mountains rose and the San, Dniester, Prut, and Danube rivers flowed, the actions of large groupings of enemy troops were difficult, and the conditions for the defense of border outposts were favorable.

In addition, if the outpost was located in a brick building, and not in a wooden one, then its defensive capabilities increased significantly. It should be borne in mind that in densely populated areas with well-developed agriculture land plots, to build a platoon stronghold for the outpost was a great organizational difficulty, and therefore it was necessary to adapt the premises for defense and build covered firing points near the outpost.

On the last night before the war, the border units of the western border districts carried out enhanced protection of the state border. Part of the personnel of the frontier outposts was on the border section in frontier detachments, the main part was in platoon strongholds, several border guards remained in the premises of the outposts for their protection. The personnel of the reserve units of the border commandant's offices and detachments were in the premises at the place of their permanent deployment.

For the commanders and Red Army men, who saw the concentration of enemy troops, it was not the attack itself that was unexpected, but the power and cruelty of the air raid and artillery strikes, as well as the mass character of the moving and firing armored vehicles. There was no panic, fuss or aimless shooting among the border guards. What happened for a whole month. Of course, there were losses, but not from panic and cowardice.

Ahead of the main forces of each German regiment, strike groups with a force of up to a platoon with sappers and reconnaissance groups on armored personnel carriers and motorcycles moved with the tasks of eliminating border detachments, capturing bridges, establishing the positions of the Red Army covering troops, and completing the destruction of border outposts.

In order to ensure surprise, these enemy units began advancing in some sections of the border even during the period of artillery and aviation preparation. To complete the destruction of the personnel of the frontier outposts, tanks were used, which, being at a distance of 500 - 600 meters, fired at the strongholds of the outposts, remaining out of reach of the outpost's weapons.

The first to discover the reconnaissance units of the Nazi troops crossing the state border were the border guards who were on duty. Using pre-prepared trenches, as well as terrain folds and vegetation, as a shelter, they entered into battle with the enemy and thereby gave a signal of danger. Many border guards died in battle, and the survivors withdrew to the strongholds of the outposts and joined the defensive operations.

On the river border areas, the advanced enemy units sought to capture the bridges. Border detachments for the protection of bridges were sent as part of 5-10 people with a light, and sometimes with an easel machine gun. In most cases, the border guards prevented the advance groups of the enemy from capturing the bridges.

The enemy attracted armored vehicles to capture bridges, carried out the crossing of his advanced units on boats and pontoons, surrounded and destroyed border guards. Unfortunately, the border guards did not have the opportunity to blow up the bridges across the border river and they were delivered to the enemy in good order. The rest of the personnel of the outpost also took part in the battles to hold bridges on the border rivers, inflicting serious losses on enemy infantry, but being powerless against enemy tanks and armored vehicles.

So, while protecting the bridges across the Western Bug River, the personnel of the 4th, 6th, 12th and 14th border outposts of the Vladimir-Volynsky border detachment died in full strength. The 7th and 9th border outposts of the Przemysl border detachment also perished in unequal battles with the enemy, protecting bridges across the San River.

In the zone where the shock groups of the Nazi troops were advancing, the advanced enemy units were stronger in number and weapons than the border outpost, and, moreover, they had tanks and armored personnel carriers. In these areas, border outposts could only hold back the enemy for up to one or two hours. The border guards fired from machine guns and rifles repulsed the attack of the enemy infantry, but the enemy tanks, after the destruction of the defensive structures by fire from the cannons, burst into the stronghold of the outpost and completed their destruction.

In some cases, the border guards managed to knock out one tank, but in most cases they were powerless against armored vehicles. In the unequal struggle with the enemy, the personnel of the outpost almost all perished. The border guards, who were in the basements of the brick buildings of the outposts, held out the longest, and, continuing to fight, they died, blown up by German land mines.

But the personnel of many outposts continued to fight with the enemy from the strongholds of the outposts to the last man. These battles continued throughout June 22, and individual outposts fought in encirclement for several days.

For example, the 13th outpost of the Vladimir-Volynsky border detachment, relying on strong defensive structures and favorable terrain, fought in encirclement for eleven days. The defense of this outpost was facilitated by the heroic actions of the garrisons of the pillboxes of the fortified area of ​​the Red Army, which, during the period of artillery and aviation preparation of the enemy, prepared for defense and met him with powerful fire from guns and machine guns. In these pillboxes, commanders and Red Army soldiers defended themselves for many days, and in some places for more than a month. German troops were forced to bypass the area, and then, using poisonous fumes, flamethrowers and explosives, destroy the heroic garrisons.

Having joined the ranks of the Red Army, along with it, the border guards bore the brunt of the fight against the German invaders, fought against its intelligence agents, reliably guarded the rear of the Fronts and Armies from attacks by saboteurs, destroyed the breakout groups and the remnants of the encircled enemy groups, everywhere showing heroism and Chekist ingenuity , fortitude, courage and selfless devotion to the Soviet Motherland.

Summing up, it must be said that on June 22, 1941, the fascist German command set off a monstrous war machine against the USSR, which fell upon the Soviet people with particular cruelty, which there was no measure or name. But in this difficult situation, the Soviet border guards did not flinch. In the very first battles, they showed boundless devotion to the Fatherland, unshakable will, the ability to maintain stamina and courage, even in moments of mortal danger.

Many details of the battles of several dozen border outposts are still unknown, as well as the fate of many defenders of the border. Among the irretrievable losses of border guards in the battles in June 1941, more than 90% were “missing”.

Not intended to repulse an armed invasion by regular enemy troops, the border outposts steadfastly held out under the onslaught of the superior forces of the German army and its satellites. The death of the border guards was justified by the fact that, dying in whole units, they provided access to the defensive lines of the Red Army cover units, which, in turn, ensured the deployment of the main forces of the Armies and Fronts and ultimately created the conditions for the defeat of the German armed forces and the liberation of the peoples of the USSR and Europe from fascism.

For courage and heroism shown in the first battles with the Nazi invaders on the state border, 826 border guards were awarded orders and medals of the USSR. 11 border guards were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, five of them posthumously. The names of sixteen border guards were assigned to the outposts where they served on the day the war began.

Here are just a few episodes of the fighting on that first day of the war and the names of the heroes:

Platon Mikhailovich Kubov

The name of the small Lithuanian village of Kybartai became widely known to many Soviet people on the very first day of the Great Patriotic War - a border outpost was located nearby, selflessly entering into an unequal battle with a superior enemy.

On that memorable night, no one slept at the outpost. Border guards continually reported on the appearance near the border of the Nazi troops. With the first explosions of enemy shells, the fighters took up all-round defense, and the head of the outpost, Lieutenant Kubov, with a small group of border guards, went to the site of the firefight. Three columns of the Nazis were heading towards the outpost. If he and his group accept the battle here, try to delay the enemy as much as possible, they will have time to prepare well at the outpost for a meeting with the invaders ...

A handful of fighters under the command of 27-year-old Lieutenant Platon Kubov, carefully disguised, repelled enemy attacks for several hours. One by one, all the soldiers died, but Kubov continued to fire from a machine gun. Out of ammo. Then the lieutenant jumped on his horse and rushed to the outpost.

The small garrison became one of the many outposts-fortresses that blocked, if only for a few hours, the path of the enemy. The border guards of the outpost fought to the last bullet, to the last grenade...

In the evening, local residents came to the smoking ruins of the border outpost. Among the piles of dead enemy soldiers, they found the mutilated bodies of the border guards and buried them in a mass grave.

A few years ago, the ashes of the Kubov heroes were transferred to the territory of the newly built outpost, which on August 17, 1963 was named after P. M. Kubov, a communist, a native of the village of Revolutionary Kursk region.

Alexey Vasilievich Lopatin

In the early morning of June 22, 1941, shells exploded in the courtyard of the 13th outpost of the Vladimir-Volynsky border detachment. And then planes with a fascist swastika flew over the outpost. War! For 25-year-old Alexei Lopatin, a native of the village of Dyukov, Ivanovo Region, it began literally from the first minute. A lieutenant who had graduated two years earlier military school, commanded the outpost.

The Nazis hoped to crush the small unit on the move. But they miscalculated. Lopatin organized a strong defense. The group sent to the bridge over the Bug did not allow the enemy to cross the river for more than an hour. The heroes died one by one. The Nazis attacked the defense at the outpost for more than a day, and failed to break the resistance of the Soviet soldiers. Then the enemies surrounded the outpost, deciding that the border guards would surrender themselves. But the machine guns still hindered the advance of the Nazi columns. On the second day, a company of SS men was scattered, thrown at a small garrison. On the third day, the Nazis sent a fresh unit with artillery to the outpost. By this time, Lopatin hid his fighters and the families of the command staff in a secure basement of the barracks and continued to fight.

On June 26, the Nazi guns rained down fire on the ground part of the barracks. However, new attacks by the Nazis were again repulsed. On June 27, thermite shells rained down on the outpost. The SS men hoped to force the Soviet soldiers out of the basement with fire and smoke. But again the wave of the Nazis rolled back, met with well-aimed shots from the Lopatins. On June 29, women and children were sent from the ruins, and the border guards, including the wounded, remained to fight to the end.

And the battle continued for another three days, until the ruins of the barracks collapsed under heavy artillery fire ...

The title of Hero of the Soviet Union was awarded by the Motherland to a brave warrior, a candidate member of the party, Alexei Vasilyevich Lopatin. On February 20, 1954, his name was given to one of the outposts on the western border of the country.

Fedor Vasilievich Morin

A birch near the third blockhouse stood like a wounded soldier with a crutch, leaning on a dangling bough, broken by a shell fragment. The ground trembled all around, black smoke rising from the ruins of the outpost. The howl had been going on for more than seven hours.

In the morning, the outpost had no telephone connection with the headquarters. There was an order from the head of the detachment to withdraw to the rear lines, but the messenger sent from the commandant's office did not reach the outpost, struck by a stray bullet. And Lieutenant Fedor Marin did not even think about retreating without an order.

Rus, give up! - shouted the Nazis.

Marin gathered the seven fighters remaining in the ranks in the blockhouse, hugged and kissed each of them.

Better death than captivity, the commander said to the border guards.

We will die, but we will not surrender, - he heard in response.

Put on caps! Let's go in full force.

They loaded their rifles with the last rounds of ammunition, embraced once more, and charged at the enemy. Marin sang "The Internationale", the soldiers picked up, and it rang over the conflagration: "This is our last and decisive battle ..."

Two days later, a fascist sergeant major, taken prisoner by soldiers of a Red Army battalion, told how the Nazis were dumbfounded when they heard the revolutionary anthem through the roar.

Lieutenant Fyodor Vasilievich Morin, who was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, is still in the line of sentries of the border today. On September 3, 1965, his name was given to the outpost, which he commanded.

Ivan Ivanovich Parkhomenko

Awakened at dawn on June 22, 1941 by the roar of artillery cannonade, the head of the outpost, Senior Lieutenant Maksimov, jumped on his horse and rushed to the outpost, but before reaching it, he was seriously wounded. The defense was headed by political instructor Kiyan, but he soon died in a fight with the Nazis. The command of the outpost was taken over by Sergeant Major Ivan Parkhomenko. Fulfilling his instructions, machine gunners and arrows fired accurately at the Nazis crossing the Bug, trying not to let them come to our shore. But the superiority of the enemy was too great ...

The fearlessness of the foreman gave the border guards strength. Parkhomenko invariably appeared where the battle was in full swing, where his courage and commanding will were needed. A fragment of an enemy shell did not pass Ivan. But even with a broken collarbone, Parkhomenko continued to lead the fight.

The sun was already at its zenith when the trench, in which the last defenders of the outpost had concentrated, was surrounded. Only three could shoot, including the foreman. Parkhomenko had the last grenade left. The Nazis were approaching the trench. The foreman, gathering his strength, threw a grenade at the approaching car, killing three officers. Bleeding, Parkhomenko slid down to the bottom of the trench...

Before the company of the Nazis, the fighters of the border outpost under the command of Ivan Parkhomenko were exterminated, at the cost of their lives they delayed the advance of the enemy for eight hours.

Eternal glory and memory to the Heroes!!! We remember you!!!

Article 2. How the Minister of the Third Reich declared war on the USSR

The tragedy of June 1941 has been studied up and down. And the more it is studied, the more questions remain.

Today I would like to give the floor to an eyewitness of those events.

His name is Valentin Berezhkov. He worked as a translator. Translated to Stalin. He left a book of magnificent memoirs.

His memories are truly priceless.

After all, as they tell us, Stalin was afraid of Hitler. He was afraid of everything and therefore did nothing to prepare for the war. And they lie that everyone, including Stalin, was confused and scared when the war began.

And here's how it really happened.

As Foreign Minister of the Third Reich, Joachim von Ribbentrop declared war on the USSR.

"Suddenly at 3 o'clock in the morning, or at 5 o'clock in the morning Moscow time (it was already Sunday, June 22), the phone rang. An unfamiliar voice announced that Reich Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop was waiting for Soviet representatives in his office at the Foreign Office on Wilhelmstrasse. Already from this barking unfamiliar voice, from the extremely official phraseology, something ominous wafted.

On reaching the Wilhelmstrasse, we saw from a distance a crowd in front of the building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Although it was already dawn, the cast-iron canopy entrance was brightly lit by spotlights. Photojournalists, cameramen, and journalists fussed around. The official jumped out of the car first and opened the door wide. We left, blinded by the light of Jupiters and the flashes of magnesium lamps. A disturbing thought flashed through my head - is this really a war? There was no other way to explain such a pandemonium on the Wilhelmstrasse, and even at night. Photojournalists and cameramen relentlessly accompanied us. They now and then ran ahead, clicked the shutters. To the minister's apartment long corridor. Along it, stretched out, were some people in uniform. When we appeared, they clicked their heels loudly, raising their hands in a fascist salute. Finally, we ended up in the minister's office.

At the back of the room was a desk, behind which sat Ribbentrop in his everyday grey-green ministerial uniform.

When we came close to the writing table, Ribbentrop stood up, silently nodded his head, extended his hand and invited him to follow him to the opposite corner of the hall for round table. Ribbentrop had a swollen face of a crimson color and cloudy, as if stopped, inflamed eyes. He walked ahead of us with his head down and staggering a little. "Is he drunk?" - flashed through my head. After we sat down and Ribbentrop began to speak, my assumption was confirmed. He must have been drinking really hard.

The Soviet ambassador was never able to state our statement, the text of which we took with us. Ribbentrop, raising his voice, said that now we would talk about something completely different. Stumbling over almost every word, he began to explain, rather confusedly, that the German government had data on the increased concentration of Soviet troops on the German border. Ignoring the fact that in recent weeks the Soviet embassy, ​​on behalf of Moscow, has repeatedly drawn the attention of the German side to egregious violations of the borders of the Soviet Union German soldiers and planes, Ribbentrop stated that Soviet soldiers violated the German border and invaded German territory, although there were no such facts in reality.

Ribbentrop went on to explain that he was summarizing the content of Hitler's memorandum, the text of which he immediately handed over to us. Then Ribbentrop said that the German government considered the situation as a threat to Germany at a time when she was waging a life-and-death war with the Anglo-Saxons. All this, Ribbentrop declared, is regarded by the German government and personally by the Fuhrer as the intention of the Soviet Union to stab the German people in the back. The Führer could not bear such a threat and decided to take measures to protect the life and safety of the German nation. The Fuhrer's decision is final. An hour ago, German troops crossed the border of the Soviet Union.

Then Ribbentrop began to assure that these actions of Germany were not aggression, but only defensive measures. After that, Ribbentrop stood up and drew himself up to his full height, trying to give himself a solemn air. But his voice clearly lacked firmness and confidence when he uttered the last phrase:

The Führer has instructed me to officially announce these defensive measures...

We also got up. The conversation was over. Now we knew that shells were already exploding on our land. After the completed robbery attack, the war was officially declared ... Nothing could be changed here. Before leaving, the Soviet ambassador said:

This is brazen, unprovoked aggression. You will regret that you have made a predatory attack on the Soviet Union. You will pay dearly for this…”

And now the end of the scene. Scenes of declaring war on the Soviet Union. Berlin. June 22, 1941. Office of Reich Foreign Minister Ribbentrop.

« We turned and headed towards the exit. And then the unexpected happened. Ribbentrop, semenya, hurried after us. He began to say in a whisper, as if he personally was against this decision of the Fuhrer. He even allegedly talked Hitler out of attacking the Soviet Union. Personally, he, Ribbentrop, considers this madness. But he couldn't help it. Hitler made this decision, he did not want to listen to anyone ...

- Tell in Moscow that I was against the attack, - we heard the last words of the Reich Minister, when we were already going out into the corridor ... ".

My comment: Drunken Ribbentrop and Soviet Ambassador Dekanozov, who not only "isn't afraid", but also speaks directly with a completely undiplomatic directness. It is also worth paying attention to the fact that the German "official version" of the start of the war completely coincides with the version of Rezun-Suvorov. More precisely, the London inmate writer, traitor defector Rezun rewrote the version of Nazi propaganda in his books.

Like, poor defenseless Hitler defended himself in June 1941. And this is what the West believes? They believe. And they want to instill this faith in the population of Russia. At the same time, Western historians and politicians believe Hitler only once: June 22, 1941. Neither before nor after do they believe him. After all, Hitler said that he attacked Poland on September 1, 1939, exclusively defending himself from Polish aggression. Western historians believe the Fuhrer only when it is necessary to discredit the USSR-Russia. The conclusion is simple: who believes Rezun, he believes Hitler.

I hope you begin to understand a little better why Stalin considered the German attack to be impossible stupidity.

Afterword. The fate of the characters in this scene is different.

Joachim von Ribbentrop was hanged by the Nuremberg Tribunal. Because he knew too much about behind-the-scenes politics on the eve and during the World War.

Vladimir Georgievich Dekanozov- the then Soviet ambassador to Germany was shot by the Khrushchevites in December 1953. After the murder of Stalin, and then the murder of Beria, the traitors did the same thing that was happening in 1991: they smashed the security agencies. They cleared out everyone who knew and who knew how to make politics at the “world level”. And Dekanozov knew a lot (read his biography).

Valentin Mikhailovich Berezhkov lived a difficult interesting life. I recommend reading his book of memoirs to everyone.

Article 3. Why was the German attack on the USSR called "treacherous"?

Today, on the 71st anniversary of the attack of fascist Germany on the Soviet Union and the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, I would like to write about an issue that, in my memory, has not become a subject of discussion, although it lies right on the surface.

On July 3, 1941, addressing the Soviet people, Stalin called the attack of the Nazis "treacherous."

Below is the full text of that speech, including the audio recording. But it is worth starting with the search for an answer to the question, why did Stalin call the attack "treacherous"? Why already on June 22 in Molotov's speech, when the country learned about the beginning of the war, Vyacheslav Molotov said: "This unheard-of attack on our country is an unparalleled treachery in the history of civilized peoples."

What is "perfidy"? It means "broken faith". In other words, both Stalin and Molotov characterized Hitler's aggression as an act of "broken faith." But faith in what? So, Stalin believed Hitler, and Hitler broke this belief?

How else to take this word? At the head of the USSR was a world-class politician, and he knew how to call a spade a spade.

I offer one answer to this question. I found it in an article by our famous historian Yuri Rubtsov. He is a doctor of historical sciences, professor at the Military University of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.

Yuri Rubtsov writes:

“During all 70 years that have passed since the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, public consciousness has been looking for an answer to an outwardly very simple question: how did it happen that the Soviet leadership, having seemingly irrefutable evidence that Germany was preparing aggression against the USSR, so until the end in its Opportunity was not believed, and was taken by surprise?

This outwardly simple question is one of those to which people are looking for an answer endlessly. One of the answers is that the leader became the victim of a large-scale disinformation operation carried out by the German special services.

The Hitlerite command understood that the surprise and maximum force of a strike against the troops of the Red Army could be ensured only when attacking from a position of direct contact with them.

Tactical surprise in delivering the first blow was achieved only on the condition that the date of the attack was kept secret until the last moment.

On May 22, 1941, as part of the final stage of the operational deployment of the Wehrmacht, the transfer of 47 divisions to the border with the USSR began, including 28 tank and motorized divisions.

Summarized, all versions of the purpose for which such a mass of troops is concentrated near the Soviet border boiled down to two main ones:

- to prepare for the invasion of the British Isles, in order to protect them here, in the distance, from British air strikes;

- to ensure by force a favorable course of negotiations with the Soviet Union, which, according to hints from Berlin, were about to begin.

As expected, a special disinformation operation against the USSR began long before the first German military echelons moved east on May 22, 1941.

A. Hitler took a personal and far from formal part in it.

Let's talk about the personal letter that the Fuhrer sent on May 14 to the leader of the Soviet people. In it, Hitler explained the presence of about 80 German divisions near the borders of the Soviet Union by the need to "organize troops away from English eyes and in connection with recent operations in the Balkans." “Perhaps this gives rise to rumors about the possibility of a military conflict between us,” he wrote, switching to a confidential tone. “I want to assure you – and I give you my word of honor that this is not true…”

The Fuhrer promised, starting from June 15-20, to begin a massive withdrawal of troops from the Soviet borders to the west, and before that he conjured Stalin not to succumb to provocations that those German generals allegedly could go to, who, out of sympathy for England, “forgot about their duty” . “I look forward to seeing you in July. Sincerely yours, Adolf Hitler" - on such a "high" note

he completed his letter.

It was one of the peaks of the disinformation operation.

Alas, the Soviet leadership took the Germans' explanations at face value. In an effort to avoid war at all costs and not to give the slightest reason to attack, Stalin until the last day forbade bringing the troops of the border districts into combat readiness. As if the reason for the attack still somehow worried the Nazi leadership ...

On the last day before the war, Goebbels wrote in his diary: “The question of Russia is becoming more acute with every hour. Molotov asked for a visit to Berlin, but was resolutely refused. Naive assumption. This should have been done six months ago…”

Yes, if Moscow really got alarmed at least not half a year, but half a month before the hour "X"! However, Stalin was so possessed by the magic of confidence that a clash with Germany could be avoided that, even after receiving confirmation from Molotov that Germany had declared war, in a directive issued on June 22 at 7 o'clock. 15 minutes. Red Army to repulse the invading enemy, he forbade our troops, with the exception of aviation, to cross the line of the German border.

Here is a document cited by Yuri Rubtsov.

Of course, if Stalin believed Hitler's letter, in which he wrote “I look forward to seeing you in July. Sincerely yours, Adolf Hitler”, then it becomes possible to correctly understand why both Stalin and Molotov called the attack of fascist Germany on the Soviet Union with the word “treacherous”.

Hitler "broke Stalin's faith"...

Here it is necessary, perhaps, to dwell on two episodes of the first days of the war.

In recent years, a lot of dirt has been poured on Stalin. Khrushchev lied that Stalin, they say, hid in the country and was in shock. Documents don't lie.

Here is the "JOURNAL OF VISITS TO JV STALIN IN HIS KREMLIN OFFICE" in June 1941.

Since this historical material was prepared for publication by employees working under the leadership of Alexander Yakovlev, who had a certain hatred for Stalin, there can be no doubt about the authenticity of the documents cited. They have been published in:

- 1941: In 2 books. Book 1 / Comp. L. E. Reshin and others. M .: Intern. Fund "Democracy", 1998. - 832 p. - (“Russia. XX century. Documents” / Under the editorship of Academician A.N. Yakovlev) ISBN 5-89511-0009-6;

– State Committee Defense Decides (1941-1945). Figures, Documents. - M.: OLMA-PRESS, 2002. - 575 p. ISBN 5-224-03313-6.

Below you will familiarize yourself with the entries "Journal of visits to I.V. Stalin in his Kremlin office" from June 22 to June 28, 1941. The publishers note:

“The dates of the reception of visitors, which took place outside Stalin's office, are marked with an asterisk. The journal entries sometimes contain the following errors: the day of the visit is indicated twice; there are no entry and exit dates for visitors; the sequence numbering of visitors is violated; names are misspelled."

So, before you are the real worries of Stalin in the first days of the war. Notice, no dacha, no shock. From the first minutes of the meeting and meeting to make decisions and issue instructions. In the very first hours, the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief was created.

1. Molotov NPO, deputy. Previous SNK 5.45-12.05

2. Beria NKVD 5.45-9.20

3. Tymoshenko NGO 5.45-8.30

4. Mehlis Nach. GlavPUR KA 5.45-8.30

5. Zhukov NGSH KA 5.45-8.30

6. Malenkov Secret. Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks 7.30-9.20

7. Mikoyan Deputy Previous SNK 7.55-9.30

8. Kaganovich NKPS 8.00-9.35

9. Voroshilov Deputy Previous SNK 8.00-10.15

10. Vyshinsky et al. MFA 7.30-10.40

11. Kuznetsov 8.15-8.30

12. Dimitrov member Comintern 8.40-10.40

13. Manuilsky 8.40-10.40

14. Kuznetsov 9.40-10.20

15. Mikoyan 9.50-10.30

16. Molotov 12.25-16.45

17. Voroshilov 10.40-12.05

18. Beria 11.30-12.00

19. Malenkov 11.30-12.00

20. Voroshilov 12.30-16.45

21. Mikoyan 12.30-14.30

22. Vyshinsky 13.05-15.25

23. Shaposhnikov Deputy NPO for SD 13.15-16.00

24. Tymoshenko 14.00-16.00

25. Zhukov 14.00-16.00

26. Vatutin 14.00-16.00

27. Kuznetsov 15.20-15.45

28. Kulik Deputy NPO 15.30-16.00

29. Beria 16.25-16.45

Last left 16.45

1. Molotov member GK rates 3.20-6.25

2. Voroshilov member GK rates 3.20-6.25

3. Beria member. TC rates 3.25-6.25

4. Timoshenko member GK rates 3.30-6.10

5. Vatutin 1st Deputy NGSH 3.30-6.10

6. Kuznetsov 3.45-5.25

7. Kaganovich NKPS 4.30-5.20

8. Zhigarev teams. VVS KA 4.35-6.10

Last released 6.25

1. Molotov 18.45-01.25

2. Zhigarev 18.25-20.45

3. Timoshenko NPO USSR 18.59-20.45

4. Merkulov NKVD 19.10-19.25

5. Voroshilov 20.00-01.25

6. Voznesensky Pred. Mr., Deputy Previous SNK 20.50-01.25

7. Mehlis 20.55-22.40

8. Kaganovich NKPS 23.15-01.10

9. Vatutin 23.55-00.55

10. Tymoshenko 23.55-00.55

11. Kuznetsov 23.55-00.50

12. Beria 24.00-01.25

13. Vlasik early. personal protection

Last released 01.25 24/VI 41

1. Malyshev 16.20-17.00

2. Voznesensky 16.20-17.05

3. Kuznetsov 16.20-17.05

4. Kizakov (Len.) 16.20-17.05

5. Salzman 16.20-17.05

6. Popov 16.20-17.05

7. Kuznetsov (Kr. m. fl.) 16.45-17.00

8. Beria 16.50-20.25

9. Molotov 17.05-21.30

10. Voroshilov 17.30-21.10

11. Tymoshenko 17.30-20.55

12. Vatutin 17.30-20.55

13. Shakhurin 20.00-21.15

14. Petrov 20.00-21.15

15. Zhigarev 20.00-21.15

16. Golikov 20.00-21.20

17. Shcherbakov secretary of the 1st CIM 18.45-20.55

18. Kaganovich 19.00-20.35

19. Suprun test pilot. 20.15-20.35

20. Zhdanov member p / bureau, secret. 20.55-21.30

Last left 21.30

1. Molotov 01.00-05.50

2. Shcherbakov 01.05-04.30

3. Peresypkin NKS, deputy. NCO 01.07-01.40

4. Kaganovich 01.10-02.30

5. Beria 01.15-05.25

6. Merkulov 01.35-01.40

7. Tymoshenko 01.40-05.50

8. Kuznetsov NK VMF 01.40-05.50

9. Vatutin 01.40-05.50

10. Mikoyan 02.20-05.30

11. Mehlis 01.20-05.20

Last left 05.50

1. Molotov 19.40-01.15

2. Voroshilov 19.40-01.15

3. Malyshev NK tank industry 20.05-21.10

4. Beria 20.05-21.10

5. Sokolov 20.10-20.55

6. Timoshenko Rev. GK rates 20.20-24.00

7. Vatutin 20.20-21.10

8. Voznesensky 20.25-21.10

9. Kuznetsov 20.30-21.40

10. Fedorenko teams. ABTV 21.15-24.00

11. Kaganovich 21.45-24.00

12. Kuznetsov 21.05.-24.00

13. Vatutin 22.10-24.00

14. Shcherbakov 23.00-23.50

15. Mehlis 20.10-24.00

16. Beria 00.25-01.15

17. Voznesensky 00.25-01.00

18. Vyshinsky et al. MFA 00.35-01.00

Last left 01.00

1. Kaganovich 12.10-16.45

2. Malenkov 12.40-16.10

3. Budyonny 12.40-16.10

4. Zhigarev 12.40-16.10

5. Voroshilov 12.40-16.30

6. Molotov 12.50-16.50

7. Vatutin 13.00-16.10

8. Petrov 13.15-16.10

9. Kovalev 14.00-14.10

10. Fedorenko 14.10-15.30

11. Kuznetsov 14.50-16.10

12. Zhukov NGSH 15.00-16.10

13. Beria 15.10-16.20

14. Yakovlev early. GAU 15.15-16.00

15. Tymoshenko 13.00-16.10

16. Voroshilov 17.45-18.25

17. Beria 17.45-19.20

18. Mikoyan Deputy Previous SNK 17.50-18.20

19. Vyshinsky 18.00-18.10

20. Molotov 19.00-23.20

21. Zhukov 21.00-22.00

22. Vatutin 1st Deputy NGSH 21.00-22.00

23. Tymoshenko 21.00-22.00

24. Voroshilov 21.00-22.10

25. Beria 21.00-22.30

26. Kaganovich 21.05-22.45

27. Shcherbakov 1st sec. MGK 22.00-22.10

28. Kuznetsov 22.00-22.20

Last released 23.20

1. Voznesensky 16.30-16.40

2. Molotov 17.30-18.00

3. Mikoyan 17.45-18.00

4. Molotov 19.35-19.45

5. Mikoyan 19.35-19.45

6. Molotov 21.25-24.00

7. Mikoyan 21.25-02.35

8. Beria 21.25-23.10

9. Malenkov 21.30-00.47

10. Tymoshenko 21.30-23.00

11. Zhukov 21.30-23.00

12. Vatutin 21.30-22.50

13. Kuznetsov 21.30-23.30

14. Zhigarev 22.05-00.45

15. Petrov 22.05-00.45

16. Sokokoverov 22.05-00.45

17. Zharov 22.05-00.45

18. Nikitin VVS KA 22.05-00.45

19. Titov 22.05-00.45

20. Voznesensky 22.15-23.40

21. Shakhurin NKAP 22.30-23.10

22. Dementiev Deputy NKAP 22.30-23.10

23. Shcherbakov 23.25-24.00

24. Shakhurin 00.40-00.50

25. Merkulov Deputy NKVD 01.00-01.30

26. Kaganovich 01.10-01.35

27. Tymoshenko 01.30-02.35

28. Golikov 01.30-02.35

29. Beria 01.30-02.35

30. Kuznetsov 01.30-02.35

Last left 02.40

1. Molotov 19.35-00.50

2. Malenkov 19.35-23.10

3. Budyonny deputy. NPO 19.35-19.50

4. Merkulov 19.45-20.05

5. Bulganin Deputy Previous SNK 20.15-20.20

6. Zhigarev 20.20-22.10

7. Petrov Gl. feature art. 20.20-22.10

8. Bulganin 20.40-20.45

9. Tymoshenko 21.30-23.10

10. Zhukov 21.30-23.10

11. Golikov 21.30-22.55

12. Kuznetsov 21.50-23.10

13. Kabanov 22.00-22.10

14. Stefanovsky test pilot. 22.00-22.10

15. Suprun test pilot. 22.00-22.10

16. Beria 22.40-00.50

17. Ustinov NK Voor. 22.55-23.10

18. Yakovlev GAUNKO 22.55-23.10

19. Shcherbakov 22.10-23.30

20. Mikoyan 23.30-00.50

21. Merkulov 24.00-00.15

Last left 00.50

And one more thing. Much has been written about the fact that on June 22 Molotov spoke on the radio, announcing the attack of the Nazis and the beginning of the war. Where was Stalin? Why didn't he do it himself?

The answer to the first question is in the lines of the "Journal of Visits".

The answer to the second question, apparently, lies in the fact that Stalin, as the political leader of the country, should have understood that in his speech all the people were waiting to hear the answer to the question "What to do?"

Therefore, Stalin took a break for ten days, received information about what was happening, thought about how to organize resistance to the aggressor, and only after that he spoke on July 3 not just with an appeal to the people, but with a detailed program of warfare!

Here is the text of that speech. Read and listen to the audio recording of Stalin's speech. You will find in the text a detailed program, up to the organization of partisan actions in the occupied territories, the hijacking of steam locomotives and much more. And this is just 10 days after the invasion.

That's strategic thinking!

The strength of the falsifiers of history lies in the fact that they juggle with their own invented clichés that have a given ideological orientation.

Read better documents. They contain the true Truth and Power...

July 3 marks the 71st anniversary of Stalin's legendary speech on the radio. Marshal of the Soviet Union G.K. Zhukov in his last interview called this speech one of the three "symbols" of the Great Patriotic War.

Here is the text of this speech:

“Comrades! Citizens! Brothers and sisters!

Soldiers of our army and navy!

I turn to you, my friends!

The perfidious military attack of Hitler Germany on our Motherland, launched on June 22, continues, despite the heroic resistance of the Red Army, despite the fact that the best divisions of the enemy and the best units of his aviation have already been defeated and have found their grave on the battlefields, the enemy continues to climb forward, throwing new forces to the front. Hitler's troops managed to capture Lithuania, a significant part of Latvia, the western part of Belarus, and part of Western Ukraine. Fascist aviation is expanding the areas of operation of its bombers, bombarding Murmansk, Orsha, Mogilev, Smolensk, Kyiv, Odessa, Sevastopol. Our country is in serious danger.

How could it happen that our glorious Red Army surrendered a number of our cities and regions to the fascist troops? Are the German fascist troops really invincible troops, as the boastful fascist propagandists tirelessly trumpet about it?

Of course not! History shows that there are no invincible armies and never have been. Napoleon's army was considered invincible, but it was defeated alternately by Russian, English, German troops. Wilhelm's German army during the first imperialist war was also considered an invincible army, but it was defeated several times by Russian and Anglo-French troops and was finally defeated by Anglo-French troops. The same must be said about Hitler's present German fascist army. This army has not yet encountered serious resistance on the European continent. Only on our territory did it meet with serious resistance. And if, as a result of this resistance, the best divisions of the fascist German army were defeated by our Red Army, then this means that the Nazi fascist army can be defeated and will be defeated just as the armies of Napoleon and Wilhelm were defeated.

As for the fact that part of our territory nevertheless turned out to be captured by the fascist German troops, this is mainly due to the fact that the war of fascist Germany against the USSR began under favorable conditions for the German troops and unfavorable for the Soviet troops. The fact is that the troops of Germany, as a country waging war, were already completely mobilized and 170 divisions abandoned by Germany against the USSR and moved to the borders of the USSR were in a state of complete readiness, waiting only for a signal to march, while the Soviet troops needed more mobilize and advance to the borders. Of no small importance here was the fact that fascist Germany unexpectedly and treacherously violated the non-aggression pact concluded in 1939 between it and the USSR, regardless of the fact that it would be recognized by the whole world as the attacking side. It is clear that our peace-loving country, not wanting to take the initiative to violate the pact, could not take the path of treachery.

It may be asked: how could it happen that the Soviet government agreed to conclude a non-aggression pact with such treacherous people and monsters as Hitler and Ribbentrop? Was there a mistake on the part of the Soviet government here? Of course not! A non-aggression pact is a peace pact between two states. It was this pact that Germany proposed to us in 1939. Could the Soviet government refuse such a proposal? I think that not a single peace-loving state can refuse a peace agreement with a neighboring power, if at the head of this power there are even such monsters and cannibals as Hitler and Ribbentrop. And this, of course, on one indispensable condition - if the peace agreement does not affect either directly or indirectly the territorial integrity, independence and honor of a peace-loving state. As you know, the non-aggression pact between Germany and the USSR is just such a pact. What have we gained by signing a non-aggression pact with Germany? We ensured peace for our country for a year and a half and the possibility of preparing our forces for a rebuff if fascist Germany dared to attack our country in defiance of the pact. This is a definite gain for us and a loss for fascist Germany.

What did fascist Germany gain and lose by treacherously breaking the pact and attacking the USSR? She achieved by this some advantageous position for her troops during short term, but she lost politically, exposing herself in the eyes of the whole world as a bloody aggressor. There can be no doubt that this short-lived military gain for Germany is only an episode, while the enormous political gain for the USSR is a serious and lasting factor on the basis of which the decisive military successes of the Red Army in the war against fascist Germany should unfold.

That is why all our gallant army, all our gallant navy, all our falcon pilots, all the peoples of our country, all the best people Europe, America and Asia, finally, all the best people in Germany stigmatize the perfidious actions of the German fascists and sympathize with the Soviet government, approve of the behavior of the Soviet government and see that our cause is just, that the enemy will be defeated, that we must win.

By virtue of the war imposed on us, our country entered into a mortal battle with its worst and insidious enemy - German fascism. Our troops are fighting heroically against the enemy, armed to the teeth with tanks and aircraft. The Red Army and Red Navy, overcoming numerous difficulties, are selflessly fighting for every inch of Soviet land. The main forces of the Red Army, armed with thousands of tanks and aircraft, enter the battle. The courage of the soldiers of the Red Army is unparalleled. Our resistance to the enemy is growing stronger and stronger. Together with the Red Army, the entire Soviet people rises to defend the Motherland. What is required in order to eliminate the danger looming over our Motherland, and what measures must be taken in order to defeat the enemy?

First of all, it is necessary that our people, the Soviet people, understand the full depth of the danger that threatens our country and renounce complacency, carelessness, and moods of peaceful construction, which were quite understandable in pre-war times, but pernicious at the present time, when the war is fundamentally changed position. The enemy is cruel and relentless. He sets as his goal the seizure of our lands, watered with our sweat, the seizure of our bread and our oil, extracted by our labor. It sets as its goal the restoration of the power of the landowners, the restoration of tsarism, the destruction of the national culture and national statehood of Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians, Uzbeks, Tatars, Moldavians, Georgians, Armenians, Azerbaijanis and other free peoples of the Soviet Union, their Germanization, their transformation into slaves of German princes and barons. Thus, it is a question of life and death of the Soviet state, of life and death of the peoples of the USSR, of whether the peoples of the Soviet Union should be free or fall into enslavement. It is necessary that the Soviet people understand this and stop being carefree, that they mobilize themselves and reorganize all their work on a new, military basis, which knows no mercy for the enemy.

It is necessary, furthermore, that there be no place in our ranks for whiners and cowards, alarmists and deserters, that our people know no fear in the struggle and selflessly go to our Patriotic War of Liberation against the fascist enslavers. The great Lenin, who created our state, said that the main quality of the Soviet people should be courage, courage, ignorance of fear in the struggle, readiness to fight together with the people against the enemies of our Motherland. It is necessary that this magnificent quality of a Bolshevik should become the property of millions and millions of the Red Army, our Red Navy and all the peoples of the Soviet Union. We must immediately reorganize all our work on a military footing, subordinating everything to the interests of the front and to the tasks of organizing the defeat of the enemy. The peoples of the Soviet Union now see that German fascism is indomitable in its furious malice and hatred of our Motherland, which has ensured free labor and well-being for all working people. The peoples of the Soviet Union must rise up to defend their rights, their land against the enemy.

The Red Army, the Red Navy and all citizens of the Soviet Union must defend every inch of the Soviet land, fight to the last drop of blood for our cities and villages, show the courage, initiative and ingenuity inherent in our people.

We must organize all-round assistance to the Red Army, ensure an intensified replenishment of its ranks, ensure its supply with everything necessary, organize the rapid advance of transports with troops and military cargo, and provide extensive assistance to the wounded.

We must strengthen the rear of the Red Army, subordinating all our work to the interests of this cause, ensure the intensified work of all enterprises, produce more rifles, machine guns, guns, cartridges, shells, aircraft, organize the protection of factories, power plants, telephone and telegraph communications, establish local air defense .

We must organize a ruthless struggle against all sorts of rear disorganizers, deserters, alarmists, spreaders of rumors, destroy spies, saboteurs, enemy paratroopers, rendering prompt assistance to our destruction battalions in all this. It must be borne in mind that the enemy is cunning, cunning, experienced in deception and spreading false rumors. It is necessary to take into account all this and not succumb to provocations. All those who, by their alarmism and cowardice, interfere with the cause of defense, regardless of their faces, must immediately be brought to trial by a military tribunal.

With the forced withdrawal of Red Army units, it is necessary to steal the entire rolling stock, not to leave the enemy a single locomotive, not a single wagon, not to leave the enemy a single kilogram of bread, not a liter of fuel. The collective farmers must steal all the livestock, hand over the grain for safekeeping to state bodies for its removal to the rear areas. All valuable property, including non-ferrous metals, grain and fuel, which cannot be taken out must be unconditionally destroyed.

In areas occupied by the enemy, you need to create partisan detachments, mounted and on foot, create sabotage groups to fight against parts of the enemy army, to incite guerrilla warfare everywhere and everywhere, to blow up bridges, roads, damage telephone and telegraph communications, set fire to forests, warehouses, carts. In the occupied areas, create unbearable conditions for the enemy and all his accomplices, pursue and destroy them at every turn, disrupt all their activities.

The war with fascist Germany cannot be considered an ordinary war. It is not only a war between two armies. It is at the same time a great war of the entire Soviet people against the German fascist troops. The goal of this nationwide Patriotic War against the fascist oppressors is not only to eliminate the danger hanging over our country, but also to help all the peoples of Europe, groaning under the yoke of German fascism. In this war of liberation, we will not be alone. In this great war we will have true allies in the peoples of Europe and America, including the German people, enslaved by the Nazi bosses. Our war for the freedom of our Fatherland will merge with the struggle of the peoples of Europe and America for their independence, for democratic freedoms. It will be a united front of the peoples standing for freedom against enslavement and the threat of enslavement from Hitler's fascist armies. In this regard, the historic speech by British Prime Minister Mr. Churchill on helping the Soviet Union and the US government's declaration of readiness to help our country, which can only arouse a feeling of gratitude in the hearts of the peoples of the Soviet Union, are quite understandable and revealing.

Comrades! Our strength is incalculable. An arrogant enemy will soon be convinced of this. Together with the Red Army, many thousands of workers, collective farmers, and intellectuals are rising to war against the attacking enemy. Millions of our people will rise up. The working people of Moscow and Leningrad have already begun to create a multi-thousand people's militia to support the Red Army. In every city that is in danger of being invaded by the enemy, we must create such a people's militia, raise all the working people to fight in order to defend our freedom, our honor, our homeland with our breasts in our Patriotic War against German fascism.

In order to quickly mobilize all the forces of the peoples of the USSR, to repulse the enemy who treacherously attacked our Motherland, the State Defense Committee was created, in whose hands all power in the state is now concentrated. The State Defense Committee has begun its work and calls on all the people to rally around the party of Lenin-Stalin, around the Soviet government for the selfless support of the Red Army and the Red Navy, for the defeat of the enemy, for victory.

All our strength is to support our heroic Red Army, our glorious Red Fleet!

All the forces of the people - to defeat the enemy!

Forward, for our victory!

Another speech of Stalin at the beginning of the War

Stalin's speech at the end of the war

June 8, 1942.

Article 4. Russian spirit

The fury of Russian resistance reflects the new Russian spirit, backed by newfound industrial and agricultural power.

Last June, most Democrats agreed with Adolf Hitler - in three months the Nazi armies would enter Moscow and the Russian case would be similar to the Norwegian, French and Greek ones. Even the American Communists trembled in their Russian boots, believing less in Marshal Timoshenko, Voroshilov and Budyonny than in Generals Frost, Mud and Slush. When the Germans bogged down, the disillusioned fellow travelers returned to their former convictions, a monument to Lenin was opened in London, and almost everyone breathed a sigh of relief: the impossible had happened.

The purpose of Maurice Hindus' book is to show that the impossible was inevitable. According to him, the fury of Russian resistance reflects the new Russian spirit, behind which is the newfound industrial and agricultural power.

Few observers of post-revolutionary Russia can talk about it more competently. Among American journalists, Maurice Gershon Hindus is the only professional Russian peasant (he arrived in the United States as a child).

After four years at Colgate University and a graduate student at Harvard, he managed to maintain a slight Russian accent and close ties to the good Russian land. “I,” he sometimes says, spreading his arms in Slavonic, “is a peasant.”

Fufu, smells like Russian spirit

When the Bolsheviks began to "eliminate the kulaks [successful farmers] as a class," the journalist Hindus traveled to Russia to see what was happening to his fellow peasants. The fruit of his observations was the book Humanity Uprooted, a bestseller whose main thesis is that forced collectivization is hard, deportation to the Far North for forced labor is even harder, but collectivization is the greatest economic restructuring in human history ; it changes the face of the Russian land. She is the future. The Soviet planners were of the same opinion, and as a result, the journalist Hindus had unusual opportunities to observe how the new Russian spirit was born.

In Russia and Japan, he, relying on his direct knowledge, answers a question that may well decide the fate of the Second World War. What is this new Russian spirit? It's not that new. “Fu-fu, it smells like a Russian spirit! Previously, the Russian spirit had not been heard of, the view had not seen. Today, the Russian is rolling around the world, it catches your eye, it hits you in the face. These words are not taken from Stalin's speech. Their old witch named Baba Yaga always pronounces them in the most ancient Russian fairy tales.

Grandmothers whispered them to their grandchildren when the Mongols burned the surrounding villages in 1410.

They repeated them when the Russian spirit expelled the last Mongol from Muscovy twenty years before Columbus discovered the New World. They probably repeat them today.

three forces

By "the power of an idea" Hindu means that in Russia the possession of private property has become a social crime. "Deep in the minds of people - especially, of course, young people, that is, those who are twenty-nine and younger, and there are one hundred and seven million of them in Russia - the concept of the deep depravity of private entrepreneurship has penetrated."

By "strength of organization" the Hindu author understands the state's total control over industry and agriculture, so that every peacetime function actually becomes a military function. “Of course, the Russians never hinted at the military aspects of collectivization, and therefore foreign observers remained completely unaware of this element of a massive and brutal agricultural revolution. They emphasized only those consequences that concerned agriculture and society ... However, without collectivization, they would not have been able to wage war as effectively as they are waging it.

"Machine power" is an idea in the name of which an entire generation of Russians denied themselves food, clothing, cleanliness, and even the most basic comforts. "Like the strength of a new idea and a new organization, it saves the Soviet Union from being dismembered and destroyed by Germany." "In the same way," the author Hindus believes, "she will save him from the encroachments of Japan."

asian glacier

His arguments are less interesting than his analysis of Russian power in the Far East.

Russia's Wild East, stretching three thousand miles from Vladivostok, is fast becoming one of the largest industrial belts in the world. Among the most fascinating sections about Russia and Japan are those that debunk the legend that Siberia is an Asian glacier or a purely penal servitude. In fact, Siberia produces both polar bears and cotton, has large modern cities such as Novosibirsk (the "Siberian Chicago") and Magnitogorsk (steel), and is the center of Russia's gigantic arms industry. Hindus believe that even if the Nazis reach the Ural Mountains and the Japanese reach Lake Baikal, Russia will still remain a powerful industrial state.

No to a separate world

In addition, he believes that the Russians will not, under any circumstances, agree to a separate peace. After all, they are not just waging a war for liberation. In the form of a war of liberation, they continue the revolution. “Too alive to be forgotten, the memories of the sacrifices that people made for the sake of every machine tool, every locomotive, every brick for the construction of new factories ... Butter, cheese, eggs, white bread, caviar, fish, which should have been there are they and their children; textiles and leather, from which clothes and shoes were to be made for them and their children, were sent abroad ... to receive the currency that was paid for foreign cars and foreign services ... Indeed, Russia is waging a nationalist war; the peasant, as always, is fighting for his house and his land. But today's Russian nationalism rests on the idea and practice of Soviet or collectivized control over "the means of production and distribution" while Japanese nationalism rests on the idea of ​​honoring the Emperor.

Directory

Somewhat emotional judgments of the author Hindus are surprisingly confirmed by the book of the author Yugov "The Russian Economic Front in Peace and Wartime". Not such a friend of the Russian revolution as the author Hindus, the economist Yugov, a former employee of the USSR State Planning Committee, who now prefers to live in the USA. His book on Russia is much more difficult to read than the book of the Hindu author and contains more facts. It does not justify the suffering, death and oppression that Russia had to pay for its new economic and military power.

He hopes that one of the outcomes of the war for Russia will be a turn towards democracy, the only system in which he believes economic planning can really work. But the author Yugov agrees with the author Hindus in his assessment of why the Russians fight so fiercely, and it's not about the "geographical, everyday variety" of patriotism.

“The workers of Russia,” he says, “are fighting against a return to a private economy, against a return to the very bottom of the social pyramid ... The peasants are stubbornly and actively fighting Hitler, because Hitler would return the old landowners or create new ones according to the Prussian model. Numerous peoples of the Soviet Union are fighting because they know that Hitler is destroying all opportunities for their development ... "

“And finally, all citizens of the Soviet Union go to the front to fight resolutely until victory, because they want to defend those undoubtedly majestic - albeit inadequately and insufficiently implemented - revolutionary achievements in the field of labor, culture, science and art .. The workers, peasants, various nationalities and all citizens of the Soviet Union have many claims and demands against the dictatorial regime of Stalin, and the struggle for these demands will not stop for a day. But at present, for the people, the task of defending their country from the enemy, personifying the social, political and national reaction, is above all else.

Article 5. Russians come for their own. Sevastopol - the prototype of the Victory

Miraculously, the day of the liberation of Sevastopol coincides with the day Great Victory. In the May waters of the Sevastopol bays, even today we can see the reflection of the fiery Berlin sky and the Banner of Victory in it.

Undoubtedly, in the solar ripples of those waters one can also guess the reflection of other victories to come.

“Not a single name in Russia is pronounced with more reverence than Sevastopol” - these words belong not to a patriot of Russia, but to a fierce enemy, and they are not uttered with the intonation that is to our hearts.

Colonel-General Karl Almendinger, appointed commander of the 17th German Army on May 1, 1944, which repelled the offensive operation of the Soviet troops, said to the army: “I received an order to defend every inch of the Sevastopol bridgehead. You understand its meaning. Not a single name in Russia is pronounced with more reverence than Sevastopol ... I demand that everyone defends in the full sense of the word, that no one retreats, that every trench, every funnel, every trench ... relation, and the enemy, wherever he appears, will become entangled in the network of our defenses. But none of us should even think of withdrawing to these positions, located in the depths. The 17th Army in Sevastopol is supported by powerful air and naval forces. The Führer is giving us enough ammunition, planes, armaments and reinforcements. The honor of the army depends on every meter of the entrusted territory. Germany expects us to do our duty."

Hitler ordered to keep Sevastopol at any cost. In fact, this is an order - not a step back.

In a sense, history repeated itself in a mirror image.

Two and a half years earlier, on November 10, 1941, an order was issued by the commander of the Black Sea Fleet, F. S. Oktyabrsky, addressed to the troops of the Sevastopol defensive region: into an impregnable fortress and on the outskirts of the city to exterminate more than one division of presumptuous fascist scoundrels ... We have thousands of wonderful fighters, a powerful Black Sea Fleet, Sevastopol coastal defense, glorious aviation. Together with us, battle-hardened Maritime Army... All this gives us complete confidence that the enemy will not pass, will break his skull against our strength, our power ... "

Our army is back.

Then, in May 1944, Bismarck's old observation was again confirmed: do not hope that once you take advantage of Russia's weakness, you will receive dividends forever.

Russians always return their...

II

In November 1943, Soviet troops successfully carried out the Nizhnedneprovsk operation and blocked the Crimea. The 17th Army was then commanded by Colonel General Erwin Gustav Jeneke. The liberation of Crimea became possible in the spring of 1944. The start of the operation was scheduled for 8 April.

It was the eve of Holy Week...

For most contemporaries, the names of fronts, armies, unit numbers, the names of generals, and even marshals, say nothing or almost nothing.

It happened - like in a song. Victory is one for all. But let's remember.

The liberation of Crimea was entrusted to the 4th Ukrainian Front under the command of Army General F. I. Tolbukhin, a separate Primorsky Army under the command of Army General A. I. Eremenko, the Black Sea Fleet under the command of Admiral F. S. Oktyabrsky and the Azov military flotilla under the command Rear Admiral S. G. Gorshkov.

Recall that the 4th Ukrainian Front included: the 51st Army (commanded by Lieutenant General Ya. G. Kreizer), the 2nd Guards Army (commanded by Lieutenant General G.F. Zakharov), the 19th Tank Corps ( commander Lieutenant General I. D. Vasiliev, he will be seriously wounded and on April 11 he will be replaced by Colonel I. A. Potseluev), 8th Air Army (commander Colonel General of Aviation, the famous ace T. T. Khryukin).

Every name is a significant name. Everyone has years of war behind them. Others began their battle with the Germans as early as 1914-1918. Others fought in Spain, in China, Khryukin had a sunken Japanese battleship on his account ...

From the Soviet side, 470 thousand people, about 6 thousand guns and mortars, 559 tanks and self-propelled guns, 1250 aircraft were involved in the Crimean operation.

The 17th Army included 5 German and 7 Romanian divisions - a total of about 200 thousand people, 3600 guns and mortars, 215 tanks and assault guns, 148 aircraft.

On the side of the Germans were a powerful network of defensive structures, which had to be torn to shreds.

Big wins are made up of tiny wins.

The chronicles of the war contain the names of privates, officers and generals. The chronicles of the war allow us to see the Crimea of ​​that spring with cinematic clarity. It was a blissful spring, everything that could bloom, everything else sparkled with greenery, everything dreamed of living forever. The Russian tanks of the 19th tank corps had to bring the infantry into the operational space, crack the defense. Someone had to go first, lead the first tank, the first tank battalion into the attack, and almost certainly die.

The chronicles tell of the day of April 11, 1944: “The main forces of the 19th Corps were introduced into the breakthrough by the head tank battalion of Major I.N. Mashkarin from the 101st Tank Brigade. Leading the attackers, I. N. Mashkarin not only controlled the battle of his units. He personally destroyed six cannons, four machine-gun points, two mortars, dozens of Nazi soldiers and officers ... "

The brave battalion commander died that day.

He was 22 years old, he had already participated in 140 battles, defended Ukraine, fought near Rzhev and Orel ... After the Victory, he would be awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union (posthumously). The battalion commander, who broke into the defense of the Crimea in the Dzhankoy direction, was buried in Simferopol in the Victory Square, in a mass grave ...

The armada of Soviet tanks broke into operational space. On the same day, Dzhankoy was also released.

Simultaneously with the actions of the 4th Ukrainian Front, the Separate Primorsky Army also went on the offensive in the Kerch direction. Its actions were supported by aviation of the 4th Air Army and the Black Sea Fleet.

On the same day, the partisans captured the city of Stary Krym. In response, the Germans, retreating from Kerch, carried out an army punitive operation, killing 584 people, shooting everyone who caught their eye.

Simferopol was cleared of the enemy on Thursday 13 April. Moscow saluted the troops that liberated the capital of Crimea.

On the same day, our fathers and grandfathers liberated the famous resort towns - Feodosia in the east, Evpatoria in the west. On April 14, on Good Friday, Bakhchisaray was liberated, and hence the Assumption Monastery, where many defenders of Sevastopol who died in Crimean War 1854–1856. On the same day, Sudak and Alushta were liberated.

Our troops swept like hurricanes through Yalta and Alupka. On April 15, Soviet tankers reached the outer defensive line of Sevastopol. On the same day, the Primorsky Army also approached Sevastopol from Yalta ...

And this situation was like a mirror image of the autumn of 1941. Our troops, preparing for the assault on Sevastopol, stood in the same positions that the Germans and Romanians were in at the end of October 1941. The Germans could not take Sevastopol for 8 months and, as Admiral Oktyabrsky foretold, they smashed their skull on Sevastopol.

Russian troops liberated their holy city in less than a month. The entire Crimean operation took 35 days. Directly storming the Sevastopol fortified area - 8 days, and the city itself was taken in 58 hours.

III

For the capture of Sevastopol, which could not be liberated immediately, all our armies were united under one command. On April 16, the Primorsky Army became part of the 4th Ukrainian Front. General K. S. Melnik was appointed the new commander of the Primorsky Army. (Eremenko was transferred to the commander of the 2nd Baltic Front.)

There have also been changes in the enemy camp.

General Jeneke was dismissed on the eve of the decisive assault. It seemed to him expedient to leave Sevastopol without a fight. Jeneke had already survived the Stalingrad cauldron. Recall that in the army of F. Paulus he commanded an army corps. In the Stalingrad cauldron, Yeneke survived only thanks to dexterity: he imitated a serious wound from shrapnel and was evacuated. Jeneke also managed to evade the Sevastopol cauldron. He did not see any point in the defense of the Crimea in the conditions of the blockade. Hitler thought otherwise. The next unifier of Europe believed that after the loss of the Crimea, Romania and Bulgaria would like to leave the Nazi bloc. On May 1, Hitler deposed Jeneke. General K. Almendinger was appointed commander-in-chief of the 17th Army.

IV

From Sunday, April 16 to April 30, Soviet troops repeatedly made attempts to break into the defense; achieved only partial success.

The general assault on Sevastopol began on May 5 at noon. After a powerful two-hour artillery and aviation preparation, the 2nd Guards Army under the command of Lieutenant General G.F. Zakharov fell from the Mekenziev Mountains into the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe North Side. Zakharov's army was to enter Sevastopol, crossing the Northern Bay.

The troops of the Maritime and 51st armies, after an hour and a half of artillery and aviation preparation, went on the offensive on May 7 at 10:30. On the main direction of Sapun-gora - Karan (village of Flotskoye), the Primorsky Army operated. To the east of Inkerman and Fedyukhin Heights, the 51st Army led the attack on Sapun Mountain (this is the key to the city) ... Soviet soldiers had to break through a multi-tiered fortification system ...

Hundreds of bombers of the Hero of the Soviet Union General Timofey Timofeevich Khryukin were irreplaceable.

By the end of May 7, Sapun Mountain became ours. Assault red flags were raised to the top by privates G. I. Evglevsky, I. K. Yatsunenko, corporal V. I. Drobyazko, sergeant A. A. Kurbatov ... Sapun Mountain - the forerunner of the Reichstag.

V

The remnants of the 17th Army, these are several tens of thousands of Germans, Romanians and traitors to the motherland, accumulated on Cape Chersonese, hoping for evacuation.

In a certain sense, the situation of 1941 was repeated, mirrored.

On May 12, the entire Chersonese peninsula was liberated. The Crimean operation is completed. The peninsula was a monstrous picture: the skeletons of hundreds of houses, ruins, conflagrations, mountains of human corpses, mangled equipment - tanks, planes, guns ...

A captured German officer testifies: “... replenishment was constantly coming to us. However, the Russians broke through the defenses and occupied Sevastopol. Then the command gave a clearly belated order - to hold strong positions on Chersonese, and in the meantime try to evacuate the remnants of the defeated troops from the Crimea. Up to 30,000 soldiers have accumulated in our sector. Of these, it was hardly possible to take out more than one thousand. On May 10, I saw four ships enter Kamysheva Bay, but only two left. Two other transports were sunk by Russian aircraft. Since then, I have not seen any more ships. Meanwhile, the situation was becoming more and more critical... the soldiers were already demoralized. Everyone fled to the sea in the hope that maybe in last minute any ships will appear ... Everything was mixed up, and chaos reigned all around ... It was a complete catastrophe for the German troops in the Crimea.

+++

On May 10, at one in the morning (at one in the morning!) Moscow saluted the liberators of the city with 24 volleys of 342 guns.

It was a victory.

This was a harbinger of the Great Victory.

The Pravda newspaper wrote: "Hello, dear Sevastopol! Beloved city of the Soviet people, hero city, hero city! The whole country joyfully greets you!" "Hello, dear Sevastopol!" – repeated then indeed the entire country.

Article 6

But when reminded of this event on TV, you usually hear about the “preemptive strike”, “Stalin is no less guilty of the war than Hitler”, “why did we get involved in this unnecessary war for us”, “Stalin was an ally of Hitler” and other vile nonsense.

Therefore, I consider it necessary to once again briefly recall the facts, because the flow of Artistic Truth, that is, vile nonsense, does not stop.

On June 22, 1941, Nazi Germany attacked us without declaring war.. Attacked deliberately, after a long and thorough preparation. Attacked with overwhelming force.

That is, it was brazen, undisguised and unmotivated aggression. Hitler made no demands or claims. He did not urgently try to scrape troops from anywhere for a "preemptive strike" - he just attacked. That is, he staged an act of obvious aggression.

On the contrary, we were not going to attack. In our country, mobilization was not carried out and did not even begin, orders were not given for an offensive or preparation for it. We fulfilled the terms of the non-aggression pact.

That is, we are a victim of aggression, without any options.

A non-aggression pact is not an alliance treaty. So the USSR has never (!) been an ally of Nazi Germany.

The Non-Aggression Pact is precisely the Non-Aggression Pact, no less, but no more. It did not give Germany the opportunity to use our territory for military operations, did not lead to the use of our armed forces in combat operations with Germany's opponents.

So all the talk about the alliance between Stalin and Hitler is either a lie or nonsense.

Stalin fulfilled the terms of the agreement and did not attack - Hitler violated the terms of the agreement and attacked.

Hitler attacked without putting forward claims or conditions, without giving the opportunity to resolve everything peacefully, so the USSR had no choice whether to enter the war or not. The war was imposed on the USSR without asking for consent. And Stalin had no choice but to fight.

And it was impossible to resolve the "contradictions" between the USSR and Germany. After all, the Germans did not seek to seize the disputed territory or change the terms of the peace agreements in their favor.

The goal of the Nazis was the destruction of the USSR and the genocide of the Soviet people. It just so happened that the communist ideology, in principle, did not suit the Nazis. And it just so happened that in the place that represented the “necessary living space” and intended for the harmonious settlement of the German nation, some Slavs brazenly lived. And all this was clearly voiced by Hitler.

That is, the war was not for redrawing treaties and border lands, but for the destruction Soviet people. And the choice was simple - to die, disappear from the map of the Earth, or fight and survive.

Did Stalin try to avoid this day and this choice? Yes! Tried to.

The USSR made every effort to prevent a war. He tried to stop the division of Czechoslovakia, he tried to create a system of collective security. But the contractual process is complicated by the fact that it requires the consent of all the contracting parties, and not just one of them. And when it turned out to be impossible to stop the aggressor at the beginning of the journey and save the whole of Europe from the war, Stalin began to try to save his country from the war. To keep from war at least until readiness for defense is reached. But he managed to win only two years.

So on June 22, 1941, the power of the strongest army and one of the strongest economies in the world fell upon us without declaring war. And this power was intended to destroy our country and our people. No one was going to negotiate with us - only to destroy.

On June 22, our country and our people took the fight, which they did not want, although they were preparing for it. And they endured this terrible, hardest battle, broke the back of the Nazi creature. And they got the right to live and the right to be themselves.

Article 7. Russians are best able to make friends and fight.

22nd of June. Russians are best at making friends and at war.

22nd of June. Russia - USA: Before the fight

Everyone remembers what the result of the negotiations between Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama looked like. The leaders of the two countries could not look each other in the eye. The moment of truth has come. The details of the meeting between the leaders of the two countries are beginning to leak out, and many still obscure things are becoming clear. Why didn't both presidents have a face. Today it is safe to say that today the two powers are closer than ever to fatal actions.

Everything turned out to be very simple. Understanding the impossibility of getting through the UN Security Council resolution necessary for the war on Syria, Washington is relying on exerting pressure or striking at Iran. After all, it is not Syria that interests Washington, but Iran. The United States is moving troops to Kuwait, from here to the border with Iran is only 80 kilometers. The very troops that Obama promised to withdraw from Afghanistan will now be redeployed specifically to Kuwait. The first 15,000 servicemen have already received orders for redeployment.

Travel moods reign in the editorial offices of the Western media. Everything is moving towards a serious deterioration of the situation.

President Vladimir Putin said quite a lot in his own words, saying that he would not go on reconnaissance with anyone, joking that he had “been out of service for a long time.”

The world did not understand his joke, but was wary.

In this joke, as well as in all others, there is some truth, sometimes a very large share. But in general, it was necessary to carefully listen to what the Russian president says.

It looks like the US Marines are going to take a serious stand against the Russian paratroopers.

At the mere thought of what might happen, a cold sweat breaks out on the body. This position of ground forces, too dangerous in its proximity, is almost guaranteed to end in a collision.

This first step, the redeployment of 15,000 Marines to Kuwait, may not be the most obvious intention, because in the end you won’t start a war with such forces, but if this batch of military personnel is followed by the next one, it will be possible to speak with confidence about the impending threat.

So far, in fact, this redeployment plays into the hands of Russia more than America. Of course, now oil will creep up, the risks become higher. Russia will turn out to be the main beneficiary in this show, because it is always good to be a seller when the price of your product is high, and, of course, it is not profitable to buy oil when you yourself “raised” the price for it.

In this case, the US budget will bear the additional burden.

Another truth in this story is that neither president can back down in this confrontation. If Obama backs down, he will bury his election because Americans don't like wimps (who loves them?).

So Obama will have to come up with something to stay with a "beautiful face."

Putin can't back down either. In addition to geopolitical interests, there is an expectation among the citizens of Russia that their president will not surrender this time, as he has never surrendered before. No wonder they voted for him and entrusted him with building a strong Russia.

Putin cannot deceive the expectations of his citizens, he really never deceived those who voted for him, and it seems that this time he is also going to demonstrate his very advanced qualities of a leader, perhaps even a crisis manager.

The matter, perhaps, could be resolved peacefully if the presidents of the two countries announced some new idea, program, joint project of the two states. In this case, no one would dare to reproach their president, because two countries would benefit from this, and the whole world would become safer.

Both presidents would win here. But such a project still needs to be devised. Judging by the faces of Obama and Putin, there is no such project.

But there are growing disagreements.

In this case, Obama's career is a big question, Putin's career is not in danger. Putin has already passed the elections, and Obama is still ahead.

However, as always in such cases, you need to look at the details. They are sometimes very eloquent.

Nuclear-powered ships make the first moves

According to some reports, nuclear-powered ships of the two most powerful fleets - the Northern and Pacific, in the coming days may receive a combat mission to take up a strike position in neutral waters off the US mainland. This has happened before, when in 2009 two nuclear-powered missile carriers surfaced in different places off the east coast of the United States. This was done quite deliberately, in order to indicate their presence.

The report of an American journalist, a military specialist, looks strange. Then he said that these boats are not terrible, because they do not have intercontinental missiles. It remains only to understand why a boat, which is located 200 nautical miles from the coast, needs intercontinental ballistic missiles, if its regular R-39s cover a distance of up to 1,500 nautical miles.

The R-39 rockets, solid propellant with three-stage sustainer engines used by the D-19 complex, are the largest submarine-launched missiles with 10 multiple nuclear warheads of 100 kilograms each. Even one such missile can lead to a global catastrophe for the whole country, on board the Project 941 Akula submarine that surfaced in 2009, 20 units are regularly located. Given that there were two boats, the optimistic mood of the American commentator on this event is simply incomprehensible.

Where is Georgia, and where is Georgia

The question may arise why now talk about what happened in 2009. I think there are parallels here. On August 5, 2009, when the military events of the 08.08.08 war were still fresh in the memory, serious pressure was put on Russia. Orders of the Russian authorities to withdraw from Abkhazia and South Ossetia were dictated almost by order. Then all the events revolved around Georgia. On July 14, 2009, the US Navy destroyer Stout entered Georgian territorial waters. Of course, this is putting pressure on the Russians. It was then, after half a month, that two boats surfaced off the coast of North America.

If one of them was near Greenland, then the second surfaced under the very nose of the largest naval base. The Norfolk Naval Base is only 250 miles northwest of the surfacing site, but it may be indicative that the boat surfaced closer to the coastline of the state of Georgia (this is the name of the former Georgian SSR, now Georgia, in the English manner.) That is, in some special way, these two events may intersect. You sent a ship to us in Georgia (Georgia), so get our submarine from your Georgia.

It looks like some kind of hellish joke, from which it would never occur to anyone to laugh. By this comparison of events, the author wants to show that one should not think that Putin has no way out and that he must give in in Syria, where the US Navy grouping is dozens of times more representative than the Russian Navy in Tartus, even after the arrival of Russian paratroopers there.

Today, the war can be such that having defeated Russia in Syria, one can again be surprised off the coast of Georgia. This is well understood in the Pentagon. Americans are good at understanding the meaning of what is said, and even better they understand the meaning of what is shown.

Thus, one should not expect Putin to back down from his plans in Syria. The only thing that can make Putin take a step back is truly normal human relations.

Naive Russians still believe in friendship. The author of these lines is already tired of repeating to his American colleagues and writing in his articles: Russians in general are best able to make friends and fight. Whichever of these the American president in Russian execution prefers to choose, it will always be done "from the heart and on a grand scale."

Article 8. Treacherous West

"Democratic" America surpassed Nazi Germany...

Olga Olgina, with whom I am constantly in contact in Hydepark, published an article by Sergei Chernyakhovsky, whom I know from honest, up-to-date publications.

I read it and thought...

June 22, 1941. I just published on my blogs an article by my friend Sergei Filatov “Why was the German attack on the USSR called “treacherous”?” And in one comment, an anonymous blogger, no data, I looked into his PM - he writes to me (I save his spelling):

“On June 22, 1941, at 4:00 am, the Reich Foreign Minister Ribbentrop presented the Soviet Ambassador in Berlin Dekanozov with a note declaring war. Officially, the formalities were observed."

This anonymous person is not happy that we Russians call the German attack on our Motherland treacherous.

And then I caught myself on the fact that ...

June 22, 1941, my parents survived. Father, a colonel, a former cavalryman, was then in Monino. At the aviation school. As they said then, from “horse to motor!” Prepared personnel for aviation .... Dad and mom experienced the first bombings ... and then .... Four terrible years of war!

Why am I doing this?

“Foreign Minister Ribbentrop presented the Soviet Ambassador in Berlin Dekanozov with a note declaring war. Officially, the formalities were observed."

And was a note handed to the Ambassador of the Libyan Jamahiriya in some capital of some democratic country of the NATO alliance?

Were the formalities followed?

There is only one answer - no!

There were no notes, memorandums, letters, there were no formalities.

It turns out that this was a new, humane, democratic war of the humane, democratic West against a sovereign, Arab, African state.

To anyone who starts hinting at UN Security Council Resolution 1973, which allegedly gave the NATO alliance the right to this war, I will say - and all international lawyers who still have a conscience will support me: make a tube out of the paper of this resolution and insert it into one place . This resolution did not give anyone any right by any of its letters. Everything is invented, composed, distributed, and therefore cast in bronze! Unshakable as the Statue of Liberty!

I really like one image of her that I found on the Internet: the statue, unable to withstand the bullying of America and its partners over freedom and human rights, covers its face with its hands. She's ashamed!

Why are you ashamed?

Because there was no declaration of war. And no one can say about the perfidy of the West in relation to the Jamahiriya and personally to its leader, with whom every Western politician - and thousands of photographs confirm this - sought to kiss personally.

Kiss Judas!

Now each of us knows what it is!

Kissed - and now everything is possible!

Without notes and formalities!

And so I came to the most important thing: if the West is talking on every corner that it is ready to strike at Syria, then, forgive me, will the formalities be observed? Will notes declaring war be handed out IN ADVANCE to Syrian ambassadors in Western capitals?

Ah, no more ambassadors?

And no one to give?

What a shame!

It turns out that the smart, cunning West outdid Hitler. Now you can attack, bomb, kill, do any atrocities WITHOUT DECLARATION OF WAR!

And no perfidy!

Now read Chernyakhovsky's article, which Olgina published.

"Democratic" America surpassed Nazi Germany...

The situation in the world is now worse than it was in 1938-1939. Only Russia can stop the war

On June 22, we remember the tragedy. We mourn the dead. We are proud of those who took the blow and responded to it, as well as the fact that, having received this terrible blow, the people gathered their strength and crushed the one who dealt it. But all of this is in the past. And society has not remembered for a long time the thesis that for 50 years kept the world from war - "The forty-first year should not be repeated", and kept it not by repetition, but by practical implementation.

Sometimes even completely pro-Soviet oriented people and political figures (not to mention those who think themselves citizens of other countries) are skeptical about overloading the USSR economy with military spending, ironically about the “Ustinov Doctrine” - “The USSR must be ready to conduct a simultaneous war with any two other powers” ​​(meaning the US and China) and assure that it was the adherence to this doctrine that undermined the economy of the USSR.

Whether it hurt or not is a big question, because until 1991, in the vast majority of industries, output grew. But why, at the same time, the shelves of the stores turned out to be empty, but at the same time they were filled with products for some two weeks after they were allowed to arbitrarily raise prices for them - this is another question for other people.

Ustinov really advocated this approach. But he did not formulate it: in world politics, the status of a great country has long been determined through the ability to wage a simultaneous war with any two other countries. And Ustinov knew why he defended it: because on June 9, 1941, he accepted the post of People's Commissar of Armaments of the USSR and knew what it takes to arm the army when it is already forced to wage war underarmed. And with all the changes in the name of the post, he remained in it until he became Minister of Defense, until 1976.

Then, at the end of the 1980s, it was announced that the arms of the USSR were no longer needed, that the Cold War was over, and that now no one threatens us. The cold war has a very important advantage: it is not "hot". But as soon as it ended, it was the "hot" wars that began in the world, and now in Europe as well.

True, so far no one has attacked Russia - from among independent countries and directly. But, firstly, it has been repeatedly attacked by "small military entities" - on the instructions and with the support of large countries. Secondly, the big ones did not attack mainly because Russia still had the weapons that were created in the USSR, and, with all the decay of the army, state and economy, these weapons were enough to repeatedly destroy any of them individually and all together. But after the creation of the American missile defense system, this situation will no longer exist.

Moreover, the current situation in the world is not much better, or rather, no better than the situation that prevailed both before 1914 and before 1939-41. The talk that if the USSR (Russia) ceases to oppose the West, disarms and abandons its socio-economic system, then the threat of a world war will disappear and everyone will live in peace and friendship cannot even be considered as bewilderment. This is an outright lie aimed at the moral capitulation of the USSR, in particular, because most of the wars in history were wars not between countries with different socio-political systems, but between countries with a homogeneous system. In 1914, England and France were not much different from Germany and Austria-Hungary, and monarchist Russia fought on the side not of the last monarchies, but of the British and French democracies.

In the 1930s, one of the first to call for the creation of a European collective security system to repel possible Hitlerite aggression was the leader of fascist Italy Benito Mussolini, and he agreed to an alliance with the Reich only when he saw that England and France were refusing to create such a system. And World War II began not with a war between capitalist countries and the socialist USSR, but with conflicts and wars between capitalist countries. And the immediate cause was the war between two not just capitalist, but fascist countries - Germany and Poland.

To believe that there can be no war between the United States and Russia because both of them today, let's say carefully, are "non-socialist", is simply to be a prisoner of the aberrations of consciousness. By 1939, Hitler had conflicts not so much with the USSR as with countries socially homogeneous to him, and there were fewer of these conflicts than those into which the United States has already become involved today.

Hitler then sent troops into the demilitarized Rhine zone, which, however, was located on the territory of Germany itself. He carried out the Anschluss of Austria, formally - peacefully on the basis of the will of Austria itself. With the consent of the Western powers, they seized the Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia, and then captured Czechoslovakia itself. He fought on Franco's side in the Spanish Civil War. There are four conflicts in total, of which one is actually armed. And everyone recognized him as an aggressor and said that the war was on the threshold.

USA and NATO today:

1. Twice they carried out aggression against Yugoslavia, dismembered it into parts, seized part of its territory and destroyed it as a single state.

2. They invaded Iraq, overthrew the national government and occupied the country, setting up a puppet regime there.

3. They did the same in Afghanistan.

4. They prepared, organized and unleashed the war of the Saakashvili regime against Russia and took it under open protection after a military defeat.

5. They carried out aggression against Libya, subjected it to barbaric bombardments, overthrew the national government, killed the leader of the country, and brought a barbaric regime to power in general.

6. They unleashed a civil war in Syria, they practically participate in it on the side of their satellites, they are preparing military aggression against the country.

7. They threaten war on sovereign Iran.

8. They overthrew the national governments in Tunisia and Egypt.

9. They overthrew the national government in Georgia and installed a puppet dictatorial regime there, but in fact occupied the country. Up to the deprivation of her right to speak her native language: now the main requirement in Georgia when applying for a civil service and when receiving a diploma of higher education- fluency in the US language.

10. Partially implemented the same or tried to implement it in Serbia and Ukraine.

A total of 13 acts of aggression, 6 of which are direct military interventions. Against four, including one armed, with Hitler by 1941. Words are pronounced differently - actions are similar. Yes, the US can say that in Afghanistan they acted in self-defence, but Hitler could also say that in the Rhineland he acted in defense of German sovereignty.

As if it would be absurd to compare the democratic United States with fascist Germany, but the Libyans, Iraqis, Serbs and Syrians killed by the Americans do not feel any better. In terms of the scale and number of acts of aggression, the United States has long and far surpassed Hitler's Germany of the pre-war period. Only Hitler, paradoxically, was much more honest: he sent his soldiers into battle, sacrificing their lives for him. The United States, on the other hand, mainly sends its mercenaries, while they themselves strike almost from around the corner, killing the enemy from aircraft from a safe position.

The United States, as a result of its geopolitical offensive, committed three times more acts of aggression and unleashed six times more military acts of aggression than Hitler did in the pre-war period. And the point in this case is not which of them is worse (although Hitler looks almost like a moderate politician against the backdrop of non-stop US wars in recent years), but that the situation in the world is worse than it was in 1938-39 . A leading and hegemonic country carried out more aggression than a similar country by 1939. Acts of Nazi aggression were relatively local and concerned mainly the adjacent territories. US acts of aggression are spread all over the world.

In the 1930s, there were several relatively equal centers of power in the world and Europe, which, with a good combination of circumstances, could prevent aggression and stop Hitler. Today there is one center of power, striving for hegemony and many times superior in its military potential to almost all other participants in world political life.

The danger of a new world war is greater today than in the second half of the 1930s. The only factor that makes it unrealistic so far is Russia's deterrent capabilities. Not other nuclear powers (their potential is insufficient for this), but Russia. And this factor will disappear in a few years, when the American missile defense system is created.

Maybe war is inevitable. Maybe she won't be. But it will not happen only if Russia is ready for it. The whole situation is developing too similar to the beginning of the twentieth century and the 1930s. The number of military conflicts involving the leading countries of the world is growing. The world is going to war.

Russia has no other choice: it must prepare for it. Transfer the economy to war footing. Look for allies. Re-equip the army. Destroy agents and the fifth column of the enemy.

Here is an article by Sergei Chernyakhovsky. I will add: of course, it should not happen again. But if it happens again, then the first blows, vile, treacherous, and you can’t call them otherwise, will fall on peaceful Syrian cities and villages ...

As it happened with the cities and villages of the Soviet Union.