The Soviet-German War was the largest above-ground war in human history. In this super war that swept almost all of Europe, a massive legion of millions of soldiers fought bloodily in the vast expanse of Russia. In this bloody war, although the Soviet Union won the final victory, it also paid a very heavy price. In just four years, the Soviet Union cost 27 million lives, and the economic losses were countless.
However, I believe that the Soviet Union does not deserve sympathy and pity, because they are all to blame. It could even be said that they handed the weapons to the Nazis with their own hands.
In 1933, the Nazis seized power in Germany through elections. Subsequently, Hitler immediately established a dictatorship and used various means to persecute the German Communist Party and left forces, setting off round after round of "anti-communist upsurge". As a result of Hitler's blatant "anti-Bolshevik" policy, Soviet-German relations deteriorated rapidly. In fact, after the end of World War I, Germany was the only friend of the Soviet Union, and the economic and trade relations between the two countries were very close.
Until the Nazis came to power, the Soviet Union had always regarded Germany as a wedge into the imperialist bloc. But after Hitler came to power, the Soviet Union began to fear that fascist Germany would form an anti-Soviet united front with the Western imperialist countries. At this point, the Soviet media began to hype Hitler's anti-Soviet and anti-communist attempts to the Soviet people.
At a higher level, Soviet leaders realized that Germany had become the Soviet Union's most dangerous enemy. Molotov, chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, said even more bluntly:
"So far, the friendly relations between the Soviet Union and Germany have been based on the common pursuit of peace and economic development by both sides, and we still fully adhere to this principle. On the other hand, the policies and ideologies adopted by the National Socialist Party run counter to our principles, and their policies are full of reactionary desires and imperialist aggressive schemes, contrary to the strengthening of friendly relations between Germany and the Soviet Union. Similarly, we believe that such a policy will not lead to a great future for Germany. ”
By 1936, Soviet fears of nazis had risen to the extreme. On the one hand, Britain, France, and other countries adopted a policy of appeasement toward the Nazis, repeatedly allowing the Germans to tear up the Treaty of Versailles in an attempt to bring misfortune to the east; on the other hand, Germany and Japan signed an anti-Comintern pact to jointly oppose international communism and attack the Soviet Union from both the east and the west.
During the Great Purge of the Soviet Union from 1936 to 1938, one of the charges placed on the heads of the "Trotskyists" was "collusion with German fascists", which shows that Nazi Germany was regarded as the number one foreign enemy of soviet power and the Soviet people.
However, the cunning Hitler did not really point the finger at the Soviet Union because of the appeasement policy of Britain and France. On the contrary, Germany's attitude toward Britain and France and its servants became increasingly acute, and Germany and Poland were already on the verge of war. In order to paralyze the Soviet Union, Germany began to make frequent overtures to the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union almost immediately recovered from a state of extreme tension.
Until August 23, 1939, the Soviet media was still attacking Nazi Germany. However, after August 23, 1939, the attitude of the Soviet media and high-level to Germany took a 180° turn, and began to frequently praise the "traditional friendship" between the Soviet Union and Germany. So why did there be such a shift between the Soviet Union and Germany? It turned out that on this day, the Soviet-German Non-Aggression Pact was signed.
If Britain and France allowed Germany to invade and occupy Czechoslovakia, it was the culmination of Western appeasement. The Soviet-German Non-Aggression Pact, then, symbolized the culmination of Soviet appeasement of Germany.
The Soviet-German Non-Aggression Pact is said to be a Non-Aggression Pact, which is actually equivalent to the Treaty of Alliance. In this secret agreement, the Soviet Union and Germany defined the spheres of influence of the two countries in Europe. Germany promised that as long as the Soviet Union did not interfere in its invasion of Poland and the capitalist countries of the West, it would support the latter in bringing eastern Poland, the three Baltic states, and Bessarabia into its sphere of influence. In Stalin's view, these areas were all lands that Tsarist Russia had "lost" from World War I.
At the same time, Germany also frequently released "sweet words" to the Soviet Union. The Germans said that the "anti-communist alliance" of Germany, Italy, and Japan "was not aimed at the Soviet Union (this is really confusing to the monks). On October 13, 1940, German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop wrote a long letter to Stalin. The letter expressed the desire of the Triple Alliance to cooperate with the Soviet Union in friendship and cooperation, and hoped that the Soviet Union would join this alliance so that the four major powers of Germany, Italy, Japan, and the Soviet Union could jointly formulate a long-term policy and put the future development of their nation on the right track by dividing the scope of interests for a long time. That is to say, Germany wanted to include the Soviet Union in an aggressive alliance that would divide the entire world.
Greed for territory made Stalin "dim and blind". It seems that overnight, Germany became a hardcore friend of the Soviet Union. On the very day of the signing of the Soviet-German Non-Aggression Pact, Pravda published an editorial:
"The hostility between the Soviet Union and Germany has come to an end, and the differences in ideology and political systems between the two countries should not and will not be an obstacle to the establishment of good-neighbourly relations between the two countries." The friendship between the Soviet Union and the German people, which was once desperate because of the despicable acts of the soviet and German enemies, should now be developed and deepened. ”
With Soviet assurances, Germany could not wait to launch a blitzkrieg against Poland on September 1, 1939. The Soviet Union immediately took advantage of the fire and looting, sent troops to occupy eastern Poland, and divided Poland with Germany. Thereafter, the Red Army and the German SS also conducted "friendly" meetings.
Soon after, the Soviet Union pressed the border again and forced the three Baltic states to join the Soviet Union "voluntarily". Subsequently, the Soviet Union forced Romania to cede Bessarabia, while also ceding Northern Bukovina as "interest". On November 30, 1939, the Soviet Union launched a large-scale war of aggression against Finland, known in history as the "Winter War". After paying a huge price, Finland was forced to cede a large part of its territory.
In order to "repay" Germany's acquiescence in its aggression, the Soviet Union provided a large number of raw materials for German military operations. In July, when the Soviets and Germany signed the contract, the Soviet Union supplied Germany with 3.16 million tons of wheat, 793,000 tons of oats, 101,000 tons of cotton, 942,000 tons of wood, 865,000 tons of gasoline, in addition to a large number of minerals such as copper, iron, nickel, carbonate and so on. These resources greatly strengthened Germany's strength. In reality, these resources were used by Germany to attack the Soviet Union.
Ironically, the Soviet Union continued to transport resources to Germany until 17 hours before the war.
Even more chilling was the fact that the Soviet Union also gave 800 German Communists in exile to Nazi Germany to continue to win the trust of the invaders. Similarly, Germany reciprocated by sending the opposition of the CPSU in exile to the Soviet Union.
Under the influence of the Soviet-German Non-Aggression Pact, the Soviet Union and Japan signed the Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Treaty in November 1940, in which the Soviet Union recognized the establishment of a puppet regime in Manchukuo and ceased its support for China's resistance to Japan; and Japan also recognized the Soviet Union's support for "Mongolia".
The Soviet Union's illusions of the invaders did not really win the friendship of the Nazis. The so-called "Non-Aggression Pact" was nothing more than a delay in Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union. On June 22, 1941, germany's 5 million troops attacked the Soviet Union in three ways, and the Soviet Union was caught off guard and suffered a tragic defeat. And it was the Soviets who caused all this to blame themselves. They betrayed their faith and became involved with the invaders, leading them to be unprepared for possible aggression.