Home Tooth pain The role of the Allies in the Second World War. Anti-Hitler coalition

Tooth pain

The role of the Allies in the Second World War. Anti-Hitler coalition

D. Yu. Medvedev-Baryakhtar

More and more often I come across the statement on the Internet that while the Russians, bleeding, fought the German Wehrmacht, our cunning and vile ones sat overseas and entered the war when its outcome was already a foregone conclusion. To be honest, I don’t like it at all when they give me a ready-made solution, where the emphasis has already been placed according to the “good - bad” principle. I would like, first of all, to remove the subjective assessment of events, and secondly, to try to look at the situation as a whole. By the way, good exercise for thinking. Therefore, we will try to free events from emotional overtones, such as which battle of World War II was decisive. We believe that Stalingrad, the British - El Alamein, and the Americans - the Battle of Midway. Everyone has their own reasons and arguments. Let's try to operate only with facts.

On September 27, 1940, after numerous preliminary negotiations, Germany, Italy and Japan signed the Tripartite Pact on political and military mutual assistance, as well as on the delimitation of zones of influence. Since September 1939, Britain and France were at war with the Axis powers. In June 1941, Germany attacked the Soviet Union, and in December 1941, the Japanese attacked the US fleet at Pearl Harbor. Thus, the Soviet Union and the United States of America were drawn into the war in 1941 with a difference of about six months and began, naturally, allies in World War II. Two major theaters of military operations emerged - the first in Europe and North Africa, the second in the Pacific Ocean. These are well-known facts. Further, as a rule, our historians follow discussions about the priority of the European war because:

We will refrain from this emotional assessment. We consider the war in Europe to be more important, and the Americans and Japanese naturally give preference to the Pacific. It is clear that your own problems are always the most important for everyone, and other people’s problems are not worth a penny. The Wehrmacht was significantly superior to the Japanese army, but the Japanese fleet was much stronger than the German one. Everyone was preparing for their own war. Japanese aircraft carriers are as useless in the steppes of Ukraine as German tanks are unnecessary in the Pacific Ocean.

The estimate of losses that allies in World War II inflicted on the enemy during military operations, but here too the subjectivity is off the charts. We enthusiastically calculate how many more Wehrmacht divisions fought against us than against the Americans. On the Eastern Front, German losses in manpower were indeed significant, but the orderly picture is spoiled by the fact that for some reason we are counting only Wehrmacht divisions. Where did Germany's allies - the Italians and Japanese - go and why were their divisions not included in the count? In addition to losses in manpower, there are also very significant losses in equipment. For a very long time I was looking for the ratio of Luftwaffe losses at the fronts. For some reason, we don’t like to mention them. According to indirect data, in air battles with aircraft allies in World War II The Germans lost 62,733 aircraft on all Western fronts (from September 1, 1939 to May 8, 1945) and about 24,000 aircraft on the Eastern Front (from June 22, 1941 to May 8, 1945). And our share in the destruction of German, Japanese and Italian warships is generally close to zero. In a word, such statistics are a very subjective matter and whoever thinks is the one who gets the result. Talking about the large number of our losses generally looks more than strange. Can you imagine a normal general who takes credit for the losses of his own soldiers? Rather, it should be the opposite, like the Japanese General Nogi, who forced Port Arthur to capitulate in the Russian-Japanese War. After the conclusion of peace, he committed seppuku for himself, as he considered the large losses of the Japanese during the assault to be his personal fault. A large number of dead soldiers, at all times, is rather an inability to lead fighting than efficiency. So we will not evaluate who is in charge and who is not, where the priority theater of operations is and where is the secondary one, but simply state the fact of the existence of two theaters of military operations, in which battles are fought at the same time and sometimes not allies in World War II.

The humor is that the Americans talk about our role in the war with Japan in the same way and in almost the same words. I attribute the following phrase to General MacArthur, which he said before signing the surrender of Japan: “The Russians entered the war with Japan when we had already won it. And now they are in a hurry to sign the surrender with us.”

So, allies in World War II are fighting in both theaters of war. Since 1941, the Americans have been fighting the Japanese in the Pacific Ocean and, by the way, at first they suffer defeat after defeat. The samurai turned out to be crack nuts and knew how to fight (just forty years ago, in 1905, we had to see this the hard way). However, the precarious situation in the Pacific Ocean did not prevent the Americans from landing in Morocco in November 1942 (at that time there were street battles in Stalingrad) and, together with the British, starting military operations in North Africa against the Germans and Italians. Here, again, they say that company in Africa is not a war at all, but a walk allies in World War II through the desert. Let us again refrain from emotional assessment. On the one side total There were fewer Axis troops in North Africa than in Eastern Europe, but on the other hand, Operation Torch killed more German and Italian troops in Tunisia than at Stalingrad. We also note that through operations in North Africa and Sicily, the Americans and British practically knocked Italy out of the war. The combat potential of the Italians, relative to the Germans or Japanese, is indeed small, but Italy is still the third member of the Axis. And, what is much more important, in the war with the Italians, we Russians did not lose a single soldier. Therefore, we simply state the fact that the Americans began fighting the Germans in Europe in 1942. The photo shows the landing of American and British troops in North Africa.

In 1944, the Americans transported 3 million soldiers, and God knows how much cargo (up to 10 tons of equipment per soldier) across the ocean to England. The operation is, to put it mildly, large-scale, the costs are enormous. It is unrealistic to keep such a transfer of troops secret, and communications are constantly attacked by German submarines. And all this simultaneously with the war in the Pacific. In June 1944, the Americans, British and Canadians landed at Normandy - widely known even to non-professionals as D-Day. Their contribution to the victory over Germany can be assessed differently, but every German machine gun that mowed down American paratroopers on Omaha Beach did not fire at our soldiers in Belarus. The result is well known - Germany is crushed on both sides by troops allies in World War II and capitulates in May 1945.

By 1945, the Americans gradually put the finishing touches on the Japanese. The basis of Japanese military power - the fleet and aviation - were practically destroyed, the Japanese lost all strategic positions and were pushed back to the shores of Japan itself, the military industry was left without resources, and the Axis allies in Europe were defeated. By 1945, no one doubted the outcome of the war in the Pacific, not even the Japanese. It was clear to everyone that an island country without a fleet and resources was not capable of fighting against the whole world (by 1945, Japan was at war with about 60 states). We often say that in 1945 Japan was going to continue the war relying on the resources of Manchuria. Maybe, maybe... But there is one difficulty here. In the 20th century, oil was called the blood of war, since all equipment drove, flew and sailed on gasoline, which was obtained from oil. There is no oil and planes will remain at airfields, ships in harbors, and tanks will stop where gasoline ran out, just as German tanks stopped when they broke through the Allied front in the Ardennes. The Japanese push to the south in 1941 - 1942 was due to the fact that the Land of the Rising Sun really needed oil, which the Japanese hoped to get in French Indochina and the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia), which they lost by 1945. The fuel situation in Japan by the end of the war was so desperate that the Japanese tried to fill the engines with turpentine extracted from pine trees. Where could Japan get oil to continue the war? Have you heard anything about serious hydrocarbon deposits in Manchuria? I personally don't.

And at this moment of the general crisis of the entire Japanese military machine in August 1945, the Soviet Union entered the war in the Pacific and allies in World War II are now working together against Japan. Soviet tank wedges crush the Kwantung Army, and landings Marine Corps landing on the islands. By the way, think about why our landings were so successful? Imagine what would have happened to our transports if the Japanese fleet had not been disabled by the Americans by this time. The Japanese sank the fleet in 1905 Russian Empire, and by the 1940s the Soviet one was many times weaker than the Russian one. Two Soviet cruisers and 12 destroyers in the Pacific Ocean against Japanese battleships and aircraft carriers are practically nothing. But there is a fact - the Soviet Union entered the war in the East in August 1945. In the photo "Mikuma" is a Japanese cruiser attacked by carrier-based aircraft in the battle near Midway Atoll on June 7, 1942.

So, what do we have as a “bottom line”. There are two largest theaters of military operations - in Europe and in the Pacific Ocean. Since June 1941, Russians have been fighting with Germans in Europe (as well as the British with Germans and Italians in Africa). Since December 1941, the Americans and the Japanese have been enthusiastically drowning each other in the Pacific Ocean. In 1942, the Americans appeared in Africa and, together with the British, crushed the Germans and Italians in Tunisia, Sicily and Italy. At this time, the Russians first retreat to Moscow and the Volga, then methodically begin to “take away our inches and crumbs” and push the Germans to the West. In 1944, the Americans landed in Europe and, together with the Russians, destroyed the Third Reich in May 1945. What's there in the East? From the beginning of the Second World War until August 1945, there was peace and grace on the Soviet-Japanese border along the Amur River. In August 1945, the USSR declared war on Japan and took part in the war in the Pacific. A month later, in September, Japan surrenders and the war ends. It turns out that the Americans fought the Japanese from 1941 to 1945 and the Germans and Italians from 1942 to 1945. From 1941 to 1945, the USSR waged war with Germany, and for one month in 1945 it fought with Japan. This is information that is open and accessible to everyone, freed from emotional connotations.

Now you can ask a rhetorical question. Why did the USSR, having a common border with Japan, not want to help for 4 years? Allies in World War II and open a Second Front in the Far East? The war with the Japanese did not stop the Americans from fighting against the Germans for 3 years, but crossing the Amur is, after all, not crossing an ocean. It is clear that in 1942 - 1945 the Americans did little to distract German soldiers, planes, and tanks. It's time to ask the question - how many Japanese soldiers, ships, and planes have we diverted to ourselves during this period? And do the Americans have the right to say that the USSR entered the war against Japan only when everything in the Pacific Ocean had already been decided?

There is a separate question about American assistance under Lend-Lease. ally in World War II. During the program, the Americans brought military supplies, equipment, food, medical equipment, medicines, strategic raw materials (someone counted up to 300 items). The greatest assistance was provided to Britain, then Russia and then China. By the way, the “greedy Yankees” included the following clause in the Lend-Lease law (Article 5): “Supplied materials (cars, various military equipment, weapons, raw materials, other items) destroyed, lost and used during the war are not subject to payment " By the way, think purely logically about why it was necessary to pass the Lend-Lease law. If the British, Russians, and Chinese paid for everything in full, then no law would be needed. Go directly to American corporations that produce what you need (raw materials, medicines, weapons, food), pay money and get the products you need. World trade, including raw materials and weapons, has existed at all times. The meaning of the Lend-Lease law was that the Americans supplied everyone allies in World War II these goods are free. As always, we immediately start talking about the fact that they were transporting the wrong place, not what was needed, and in general not all the cargo arrived, and also that we paid for everything. Maybe not all of them made it (like the notorious convoy PQ-17), but in the winter of 1941/42, for 31 domestic tanks there were 10 imported ones, and for 13 Soviet aircraft, 10 were delivered under Lend-Lease. At the same time, if American tanks were inferior to Soviet ones in many respects, then American-made aircraft were seriously superior to our models. Oh, you must admit, a significant contribution to the most difficult period of the war for us! By the way total amount Lend-Lease Soviet Union was 10.8 billion dollars, of which, after lengthy and repeated negotiations, we agreed to pay, minus those same losses, 800 million (and, it seems, we still have not paid off). But that’s not even important. You can compare equal values. So let’s compare the economic assistance that America provided to the warring Soviet Union with the economic assistance that the Soviet Union provided to America at war. On the second side of the scale there is a complete zero. In general, as a human being, when they give you something, and they give you a lot, and you cannot give anything in return, then you should just say thank you and not make a complaint.

In fact, I think it's pointless to consider allies in World War II through the prism of “who invested more in victory.” The Second World War is the tragedy of millions killed on all sides of the front, it is the crippled destinies of people, it is parents who lost their children and children left without parents, it is destroyed and burned villages and cities. All allies in World War II We invested everything we could into making sure this nightmare ended as soon as possible and helped each other as much as possible. Even the Germans and the French made peace, but we still cannot let go of the shadows of the past and argue over who shed more of our own and other people’s blood on this terrible altar. In the photo, French President Francois Mitterrand and German Chancellor Helmut Kohl at the memorial to the victims. Verdun.

It is not customary to talk much about the assistance of the USSR allies during the Second World War. However, it was there, and it was considerable. And not only within the framework of Lend-Lease. Soviet troops food, medicine, and military equipment were delivered.

As you know, from love to hate there is only one step. Especially in politics, where it is quite permissible to smile at those whom yesterday you reviled as fiends of hell. Here we are, if we open the Pravda newspaper for 1941 (before June 22), we will immediately find out how bad the Americans and British were. They starved their own population and started a war in Europe, while the Chancellor of the German people, Adolf Hitler, was just defending himself...

Well, even earlier in Pravda one could even find the words that “fascism helps the growth of class consciousness of the working class”...

And then they became suddenly good...

But then came June 22, 1941, and literally the next day Pravda came out with reports that Winston Churchill promised military aid to the USSR, and the US President unfrozen Soviet deposits in American banks, frozen after the war with Finland. That's all! Articles about hunger among British workers disappeared in an instant, and Hitler turned from “Chancellor of the German People” into a cannibal.

Convoy "Dervish" and others

Of course, we don't know about all the behind-the-scenes negotiations that took place at that time; even declassified correspondence between Stalin and Churchill with all the nuances of this difficult period of our general history doesn't open. But there are facts showing that the Anglo-American allies of the USSR began to provide assistance, if not immediately, then in a sufficiently timely manner. Already on August 12, 1941, the Dervish convoy of ships left Loch Ewe Bay (Great Britain).

On the first transports of the Dervish convoy on August 31, 1941, ten thousand tons of rubber, about four thousand depth charges and magnetic mines, fifteen Hurricane fighters, as well as 524 military pilots from the 151st Air Wing of two Royal Military Squadrons were delivered to Arkhangelsk. British Air Force.

Later, pilots even from Australia arrived on the territory of the USSR. There were a total of 78 convoys between August 1941 and May 1945 (although there were no convoys between July and September 1942 and March and November 1943). In total, about 1,400 merchant ships delivered important military materials to the USSR under the Lend-Lease program.

85 merchant ships and 16 warships of the Royal Navy (2 cruisers, 6 destroyers and 8 other escort vessels) were lost. And this is only the northern route, because the cargo flow also went through Iran, through Vladivostok, and planes from the USA were directly transported to Siberia from Alaska. Well, then the same “Pravda” reported that in honor of the victories of the Red Army and the conclusion of agreements between the USSR and Great Britain, the British were organizing folk festivals.

Not only and not so much convoys!

The Soviet Union received assistance from its allies not only through Lend-Lease. In the USA, the “Russia War Relief Committee” was organized.

“Using the money collected, the committee purchased and sent medicines to the Red Army and the Soviet people, medical supplies and equipment, food, clothing. In total, during the war, the Soviet Union received assistance worth more than one and a half billion dollars.” A similar committee led by Churchill’s wife operated in England, and it also purchased medicines and food to help the USSR.

When Pravda wrote the truth!

It reported in detail how much had been sent to us and how many tons of cargo were floating by sea at the time the newspaper was published! Not only tanks, guns and planes were listed, but also rubber, copper, zinc, rails, flour, electric motors and presses, portal cranes and technical diamonds!

Military shoes - 15 million pairs, 6491 metal-cutting machines and much more. It is interesting that the message made an exact division of how much was purchased in cash, that is, before the adoption of the Lend-Lease program, and how much was sent after. By the way, it was precisely the fact that at the beginning of the war a lot of things were purchased for money that gave rise to the opinion that still exists today that all Lend-Lease came to us for money, and for gold. No, a lot was paid for with “reverse Lend-Lease” - raw materials, but the payment was postponed until the end of the war, since everything that was destroyed during hostilities was not subject to payment!
Well, why such information was needed at this particular time is understandable. Good PR is always a useful thing! On the one hand, the citizens of the USSR learned how much they supply us with, on the other hand, the Germans learned the same thing, and they simply could not help but be overcome by despondency.

How much can you trust these numbers? Obviously it is possible. After all, if they contained incorrect data, then only German intelligence would have figured it out, although according to some indicators, how could they declare everything else propaganda and, of course, Stalin, giving permission for the publication of this information, could not help but understand this!

Both quantity and quality!

IN Soviet time It was customary to scold the equipment supplied under Lend-Lease. But... it’s worth reading the same “Pravda” and in particular the articles of the famous pilot Gromov about American and British aircraft, articles about the same English Matilda tanks, to be convinced that during the war all this was assessed completely differently than after its end!

How can one appreciate the powerful presses that were used to stamp turrets for T-34 tanks, American drills with corundum tips, or industrial diamonds, which Soviet industry did not produce at all?! So the quantity and quality of supplies, as well as the participation of foreign technical specialists, sailors and pilots, was very noticeable. Well, then politics and the post-war situation intervened in this matter, and everything that was good during the war years immediately became bad with just the stroke of a leading pen!

USSR and allies in World War II

Introduction

The heroic epic of the Great Patriotic War, the most brutal of all the wars that our country has experienced, is going further and further into history. World War II 1939-1945 - the largest war in human history, unleashed by fascist Germany, fascist Italy and militaristic Japan. 61 states (more than 80% of the world's population) were drawn into the war; military operations were carried out on the territory of 40 states. More than 20 million people died.

On the eve of the war, a radical restructuring of our armed forces was carried out. Ground forces included rifle (infantry), armored and mechanized troops, artillery and cavalry. They also included special troops: communications, engineering, air defense, chemical defense and others. Organizationally, they united into 33 rifle, tank, motorized and cavalry divisions, 170 of which were located in the western military districts. IN ground forces Over 80% of the personnel served Armed Forces. The Air Force was significantly strengthened and Navy.

The peaceful efforts of the Soviet Union to curb fascist aggression were not supported by England, France and the USA. France was soon conquered by Germany and capitulated, and the British government, fearing a landing German troops to the islands, did everything to push German fascism to the East, to war against the USSR. And they achieved it. On June 22, 1941, Germany treacherously attacked the Soviet Union. Germany's European allies - Italy, Hungary, Romania and Finland - also entered the war against the USSR.

We believe that the topic we chose is very relevant to this day.

We set ourselves the following task: to study what the role of the USSR was in achieving victory in the 2nd World War.

The goals of our work are as follows:

Determining the degree of participation of the USSR in World War 2

Determining the extent of Allied participation in World War 2

Joint actions of the USSR and allies in the 2nd World War.

We will try to answer these questions in our work.

1. The formation of the anti-Hitler coalition

Immediately after the start of the Great Patriotic War, the governments of England and the United States, taking into account the sharply increased threat to the security of their own countries, made statements of support for the just struggle of the peoples of the USSR.

“Over the past 25 years, no one has been a more consistent opponent of communism than I,” said British Prime Minister W. Churchill in a radio address to his compatriots on June 22, 1941. “I will not take back a single word. But all this pales in comparison to the spectacle now unfolding. The past with its crimes, madness and tragedies disappears. I see Russian soldiers standing on the threshold of their native land, guarding the fields that their fathers have cultivated since time immemorial. I see them guarding their homes, where their mothers and wives pray - yes, for there are times when everyone prays - for the safety of their loved ones, for the return of their breadwinner, their protector and support... This is not a class war, but a war in which the whole British Empire and the commonwealth of nations are involved, without distinction of race, creed or party... If Hitler imagines that his attack on Soviet Russia will cause the slightest divergence in the aims or weakening of the efforts of the great democracies which are determined to destroy him, he is deeply mistaken.”

On July 12, 1941, a Soviet-British agreement on joint actions against Germany and its allies was concluded in Moscow. It was the first step towards creating an anti-Hitler coalition. Legally, the coalition took shape in January 1942, when in Washington, the capital of the United States, which entered the war with Japan and Germany after the Japanese armed forces struck the American base at Pearl Harbor in the Hawaiian Islands in December 1941, the Declaration was signed by representatives of 26 states The United Nations about the fight against the aggressor. During the war, more than 20 more countries joined this Declaration.

In October 1941, the USSR, England and the USA reached an agreement on Anglo-American supplies of weapons and food to our country in exchange for strategic raw materials. In May 1942, an agreement was concluded with England on an alliance in the war and cooperation after its end, in July - an agreement with the United States on assistance under Lend-Lease (loan or lease of weapons, ammunition, food, etc.) In September of that In the same year, the Soviet government recognized General Charles de Gaulle, who led the Free France movement, as the leader of “all free Frenchmen, wherever they are.”

The total volume of deliveries under Lend-Lease was estimated at 11.3 billion dollars. A quarter of all cargo was food (stewed meat, fats, etc.), the rest was military equipment, equipment and raw materials. For individual types, the figures were very impressive: 10% of domestic production of tanks, 12% of aircraft, 50% of cars, over 90% of steam locomotives, 36% of non-ferrous metals. In general, according to economists, allied supplies did not exceed three percent of Soviet food production, 4% of industrial output, including defense. As Ernest Bevin, the Minister of Labor in the wartime government of W. Churchill, later noted, “all the help we were able to provide was insignificant compared with the enormous efforts Soviet people. Our descendants, studying history, will remember with admiration and gratitude the heroism of the great Russian people.”

The stumbling block in the relations of the “Big Three” (USA, England and the USSR) was the question of opening a second front against Nazi Germany in Western Europe, which would make it possible to divert a significant part of the German troops from the Eastern Front and bring the end of the war closer. The initially reached agreement on its deployment in 1942 was not fulfilled by the ruling circles of England and the United States. Their activity was limited mainly to the periphery of the theater of operations (in 1941-1943 - battles in North Africa, in 1943 - landings in Sicily and Southern Italy).

2. Meeting in Tehran

The Tehran Conference became the first conference of the “Big Three” - the leaders of three countries - during the Second World War: F.D. Roosevelt (USA), W. Churchill (Great Britain) and I.V. Stalin (USSR), held in Tehran on November 28 - December 1, 1943. The success of the Red Army in defeating the common enemy was complemented by the landing of allied Anglo-American troops in Italy at the end of July 1943. However, the Soviet leadership was waiting for the allies' promise to be fulfilled - the landing of their troops in France, which would significantly speed up the victory over Germany. In November - December 1943, a meeting of the leaders of the USSR, USA and England (the “Big Three”) took place in Tehran. Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill agreed on the opening of a second front in Europe in May - June 1944, on the creation of the UN after the war, on the post-war world order, on the fate of Germany after its military defeat, etc. The USSR promised to enter the war against Japan after the end of the war in Europe. The historical significance of the conference can hardly be overestimated - it was the first meeting of the Big Three, at which the fate of millions of people and the future of the world were decided. The conference was designed to develop a final strategy for the fight against Germany and its allies; it became an important stage in the development of international and inter-allied relations; a number of issues of war and peace were considered and resolved at it. The main issue was the opening of a second front in Western Europe. W. Churchill’s proposal was accepted that Poland’s claims to the lands of Western Belarus and Western Ukraine will be satisfied at the expense of Germany, and the boundary in the east should be the Curzon line. US President Roosevelt outlined at the conference the American point of view regarding the creation in the future international organization security, what is he talking about? general outline already told the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the USSR V.M. Molotov during his stay in Washington in the summer of 1942 and what was the subject of discussion between Roosevelt and the British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden in March 1943. After the end of the war, it was proposed to create a world organization on the principles of the United Nations, and its activities did not include military issues, that is, it should not be similar to the League of Nations.

3. Meeting in Yalta

In 1943, in Tehran, Franklin Roosevelt, Joseph Stalin and Winston Churchill discussed mainly the problem of achieving victory over the Third Reich; in Potsdam in July-August 1945, the allies resolved issues of peaceful settlement and division of Germany, and in Yalta, major decisions were made on the future division of the world between the winning countries. By that time, the collapse of Nazism was no longer in doubt, and victory over Germany was only a matter of time - as a result of powerful offensive strikes by Soviet troops, military operations were transferred to German territory, and the war entered its final stage. The fate of Japan also did not raise any special questions, since the United States already controlled almost all Pacific Ocean. The Allies understood that they had a unique chance to manage the history of Europe in their own way, since for the first time in history, almost all of Europe was in the hands of just three states. All decisions of Yalta, in general, related to two problems. Firstly, it was necessary to draw new state borders on the territory recently occupied by the Third Reich. At the same time, it was necessary to establish unofficial, but generally recognized by all sides, demarcation lines between the spheres of influence of the allies - a task that had begun in Tehran. Secondly, the allies understood perfectly well that after the disappearance of the common enemy, the forced unification of the West and the USSR would lose all meaning, and therefore it was necessary to create procedures to guarantee the immutability of the dividing lines drawn on the world map. On the issue of border redistribution, Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin managed to find mutual language on almost all issues. The contours of Poland after the Second World War changed dramatically - before the war it was largest country Central Europe, decreased sharply and moved to the west and north. A fundamental decision was made on the occupation and division of Germany into occupation zones and on the allocation of its own zone to France. The eternal Balkan issue was also discussed - in particular, the situation in Yugoslavia and Greece. The Declaration of a Liberated Europe was also signed in Yalta, which determined the principles of the policy of the victors in the territories conquered from the enemy. It assumed, in particular, the restoration of the sovereign rights of the peoples of these territories, as well as the right of the allies to jointly “help” these peoples “improve conditions” for the exercise of these same rights. Once again the issue of reparations was raised. However, the Allies were never able to finally determine the amount of compensation. It was only decided that the United States and Great Britain would give Moscow 50 percent of all reparations. A separate document fundamentally decided the fate of Far East. In exchange for the participation of Soviet troops in the war against Japan, Stalin received significant concessions from the United States and Great Britain. Firstly, the USSR received the Kuril Islands and South Sakhalin, which had been lost in the Russo-Japanese War. In addition, Mongolia was recognized as an independent state. The Soviet side was also promised Port Arthur and the Chinese-Eastern Railway. The Yalta Conference of the leaders of the USA, USSR and Great Britain had a great historical meaning. It was one of the largest international meetings of wartime, an important milestone in the cooperation of the powers of the anti-Hitler coalition in waging war against a common enemy. The adoption of agreed decisions at the conference again showed the possibility of cooperation between states with different social systems. This was one of the last conferences of the pre-atomic era. The bipolar world created in Yalta and the division of Europe into EastAnd westsurvived for more than 40 years, until the end of the 1980s. During the conference, another agreement was concluded, which was very important for the Soviet side, namely an agreement on the repatriation of military and civilians, that is, displaced persons - persons liberated (captured) in territories captured by the Allies.

. Potsdam Conference

The Potsdam Conference took place in Potsdam at the Cecilienhof Palace from July 17 to August 2, 1945, with the participation of the leadership of the three largest powers of the anti-Hitler coalition in World War II in order to determine further steps for the post-war structure of Europe. This was the third and last meeting of the “Big Three” of the anti-Hitler coalition. The first two took place at the end of 1943 in Tehran (Iran) and at the beginning of 1945 in Yalta (Soviet Union). 36 of the 176 rooms of the palace were reserved for the conference. The delegations were not housed in Cecilienhof, but in villas in Potsdam's Babelsberg district - the Soviet delegation was housed in a villa that had previously belonged to General Ludendorff. The Americans' workroom was the crown prince's former salon, former office The Crown Prince served as the working room of the Soviet delegation. Now the Cecilienhof Palace houses a hotel and restaurant, as well as a memorial museum of the Potsdam Conference.

The goals of the occupation of Germany by the Allies were proclaimed to be denazification, demilitarization, democratization, decentralization and decartelization. The goal of preserving German unity was also proclaimed. By decision of the Potsdam Conference, Germany's eastern borders were moved west to the Neisse line, which reduced its territory by 25% compared to 1937. The territories east of the new border consisted of East Prussia, Silesia, West Prussia, and two-thirds of Pomerania. These are mainly agricultural areas, with the exception of Upper Silesia, which was the second largest center of German heavy industry. Most of the territories separated from Germany became part of Poland. The Soviet Union, together with the capital Königsberg (which was renamed Kaliningrad the following year), included one third of East Prussia, on whose territory the Königsberg (since March 1946 - Kaliningrad) region of the RSFSR was created. A small part, which included part of the Curonian Spit and the city of Klaipeda (Klaipeda or Memel region, so-called. "Memel sector"), was transferred by the leadership of the Soviet Union in 1945 to the Lithuanian SSR. At the Potsdam Conference, Stalin confirmed his commitment no later than three months After Germany surrenders, declare war on Japan. The Allies also signed the Potsdam Declaration, which demanded Japan's unconditional surrender.

A pressing issue discussed during the conference was the problem of dividing the remaining German fleet. On July 22-23, Stalin and Molotov presented at the conference the territorial claims of the USSR to Turkey and the demand for a favorable regime for the USSR in the Black Sea straits. These claims were not supported by the British and American sides (although the final minutes of the conference mention a revision of the Montreux Convention taking into account the views of the Turkish side). On the final day of the conference, the heads of delegations made fundamental decisions to resolve post-war issues, approved on August 7, 1945 with certain reservations by France, which was not invited to the conference. In Potsdam, many contradictions between the allies emerged, which soon led to cold war.

5. Creation of the UN

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The United Nations (UN) is an international organization of states created to maintain and strengthen international peace, security, and develop cooperation between countries. The name United Nations, proposed by United States President Franklin Roosevelt, was first used in the Declaration of the United Nations on January 1, 1942, when, during World War II, representatives of 26 states pledged on behalf of their governments to continue the joint struggle against the countries of the Nazi bloc. The first contours of the UN were outlined at a conference in Washington at the Dumbarton Oaks mansion. In two series of meetings held from September 21 to October 7, 1944, the United States, Great Britain, the Soviet Union, and China agreed on the goals, structure, and functions of the world organization. On February 11, 1945, following meetings in Yalta, US, UK and USSR leaders Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin declared their determination to establish “a universal international organization for the maintenance of peace and security.” On April 25, 1945, representatives from 50 countries met in San Francisco at the United Nations Conference on the Establishment of an International Organization to develop the UN Charter. Delegates from countries representing over 80% of the world's population gathered in San Francisco. The Conference was attended by 850 delegates, and together with their advisers, delegation staff and the Conference secretariat, the total number of persons taking part in the work of the Conference reached 3,500. In addition, there were more than 2,500 representatives of the press, radio and newsreels, as well as observers from various societies and organizations. The San Francisco conference was not only one of the most important in history, but in all likelihood the largest international meeting ever held. The agenda of the Conference included proposals developed by representatives of China, the Soviet Union, Great Britain and the United States at Dumbarton Oaks, on the basis of which the delegates were to develop a Charter acceptable to all states. On June 25, 1945, the Charter of 111 articles was unanimously adopted.

The Charter was signed on June 26, 1945 by representatives of 50 countries. Poland, not represented at the Conference, signed it later and became the 51st founding state. The UN has officially existed since October 24, 1945 - to this day the Charter was ratified by China, France, the Soviet Union, Great Britain, the United States and most of the other signatory states. October 24 is celebrated annually as United Nations Day. The purposes of the UN, as enshrined in its Charter, are the maintenance of international peace and security, the prevention and elimination of threats to peace, and the suppression of acts of aggression, the settlement or resolution by peaceful means of international disputes, the development of friendly relations between nations based on respect for the principle of equality and self-determination of peoples; implementation of international cooperation in economic, social, cultural and humanitarian fields, promotion and development of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms for all, without distinction of race, gender, language and religion. UN members have pledged to act in accordance with the following principles: sovereign equality of states; resolution of international disputes by peaceful means; refusal in international relations to threaten or use force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state.

Conclusion

World War II ended complete defeat and the capitulation of those who unleashed it. The victory in the war had world-historical significance. The huge military forces of the aggressor countries were defeated. The military defeat of Germany, Italy and Japan, and other powers of the Hitler Axis meant the collapse of brutal dictatorial regimes. The victory strengthened sympathy for the USSR throughout the world and immeasurably raised the authority of our country.

The USSR played in the anti-Hitler coalition the most important role. The opening of the second front was delayed until the summer of 1944 and therefore the USSR took over the main enemy forces. The role of allies cannot be denied. The anti-Hitler coalition was formed in 1941. In Tehran important issues were: the post-war structure of the world, the opening of a second front, the creation of the UN after the war, the further fate of Germany. In February 1945, the same issues were discussed and the USSR made a promise to war against Japan 2-3 months after the defeat of Germany. At the conference in Potsdam, the Big Three were represented in a new composition - Churchill was replaced by Atlee, having won the elections in Great Britain, and the American delegation was headed by G. Truman. At the conference, new borders were established in Europe, the Polish question and the upcoming war with Japan were discussed.

The Second World War ended with the defeat of Japan World War and on September 2, 1945, the surrender of Japan was signed on the cruiser Missouri.

List of sources and literature used

1. " Great encyclopedia Cyril and Methodius 2006 (3CD)"

Borisov N.S., Levandovsky A.A., Shchetinyuk Yu.A. The key to the history of the Fatherland - M: Moscow University Publishing House.

Great Patriotic War. Voenizdat. M. 1989

The Great Patriotic War: questions and answers / Bobylev P.N., Lipitsky S.V., Monin M.E., Pankratov N.R. - M: Politizdat.

History of Russia, XX - early XXI centuries: textbook. for 9th grade. general education institutions / A.A. Danilov, L.G. Kosulina, M.Yu. Brandt. - 3rd ed. - M.: Education, 2006. - 381 p.,

Russia in the twentieth century: Textbook. For 10-11 grades. general education institutions /A.A. Levandovsky, Yu.A. Shchetinov. - 5th ed. - M.: Education, 2001. - 368 p.,

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It is not customary to talk much about the assistance of the USSR allies during the Second World War. However, it was there, and it was considerable. And not only within the framework of Lend-Lease. Soviet troops were supplied with food, medicine, and military equipment.

Well, even earlier in Pravda one could even find the words that “fascism helps the growth of class consciousness of the working class”...

And then they became suddenly good...

Convoy "Dervish" and others

Not only and not so much convoys!

The Soviet Union received assistance from its allies not only through Lend-Lease. In the USA, the “Russia War Relief Committee” was organized.

“Using the money collected, the committee purchased and sent medicines, medical supplies and equipment, food, and clothing to the Red Army and the Soviet people. In total, during the war, the Soviet Union received assistance worth more than one and a half billion dollars.” A similar committee led by Churchill’s wife operated in England, and it also purchased medicines and food to help the USSR.

When Pravda wrote the truth!

It reported in detail how much had been sent to us and how many tons of cargo were floating by sea at the time the newspaper was published! Not only tanks, guns and airplanes were listed, but also rubber, copper, zinc, rails, flour, electric motors and presses, portal cranes and industrial diamonds![С-BLOCK]

Both quantity and quality!

On the same topic:

What assistance did the USSR allies provide during World War II? The best fighters during World War II

It is not customary to talk much about the assistance of the USSR allies during the Second World War. However, it was there, and it was considerable. And not only within the framework of Lend-Lease. Soviet troops were supplied with food, medicine, and military equipment.

And then they became suddenly good...

Convoy "Dervish" and others

Of course, we don't know about all the behind-the-scenes negotiations that took place at that time; Even the declassified correspondence between Stalin and Churchill does not reveal all the nuances of this difficult period of our common history. But there are facts showing that the Anglo-American allies of the USSR began to provide assistance, if not immediately, then in a sufficiently timely manner. Already on August 12, 1941, the Dervish convoy of ships left Loch Ewe Bay (Great Britain). On the first transports of the Dervish convoy on August 31, 1941, ten thousand tons of rubber, about four thousand depth charges and magnetic mines, fifteen Hurricane fighters, as well as 524 military pilots from the 151st Air Wing of two Royal Military Squadrons were delivered to Arkhangelsk. British Air Force. Later, pilots even from Australia arrived on the territory of the USSR. There were a total of 78 convoys between August 1941 and May 1945 (although there were no convoys between July and September 1942 and March and November 1943). In total, about 1,400 merchant ships delivered important military materials to the USSR under the Lend-Lease program. 85 merchant ships and 16 warships of the Royal Navy (2 cruisers, 6 destroyers and 8 other escort vessels) were lost. And this is only the northern route, because the cargo flow also went through Iran, through Vladivostok, and planes from the USA were directly transported to Siberia from Alaska. Well, then the same “Pravda” reported that in honor of the victories of the Red Army and the conclusion of agreements between the USSR and Great Britain, the British were organizing folk festivals.

Not only and not so much convoys!

The Soviet Union received assistance from its allies not only through Lend-Lease. In the USA, the “Russia War Relief Committee” was organized. “Using the money collected, the committee purchased and sent medicines, medical supplies and equipment, food, and clothing to the Red Army and the Soviet people. In total, during the war, the Soviet Union received assistance worth more than one and a half billion dollars.” A similar committee led by Churchill’s wife operated in England, and it also purchased medicines and food to help the USSR.

Pravda wrote the truth!

On June 11, 1944, the Pravda newspaper published significant material on the entire page: “On the supply of weapons, strategic raw materials, industrial equipment and food to the Soviet Union by the United States of America, Great Britain and Canada,” and it was immediately reprinted by all Soviet newspapers, including local and even newspapers of individual tank armies. It reported in detail how much had been sent to us and how many tons of cargo were floating by sea at the time the newspaper was published! Not only tanks, guns and planes were listed, but also rubber, copper, zinc, rails, flour, electric motors and presses, portal cranes and technical diamonds! Military shoes - 15 million pairs, 6491 metal-cutting machines and much more. It is interesting that the message made an exact division of how much was purchased in cash, that is, before the adoption of the Lend-Lease program, and how much was sent after. By the way, it was precisely the fact that at the beginning of the war a lot of things were purchased for money that gave rise to the opinion that still exists today that all Lend-Lease came to us for money, and for gold. No, a lot was paid for with “reverse Lend-Lease” - raw materials, but the payment was postponed until the end of the war, since everything that was destroyed during hostilities was not subject to payment! Well, why such information was needed at this particular time is understandable. Good PR is always a useful thing! On the one hand, the citizens of the USSR learned how much they supply us with, on the other hand, the Germans learned the same thing, and they simply could not help but be overcome by despondency. How much can you trust these numbers? Obviously it is possible. After all, if they contained incorrect data, then only German intelligence would have figured it out, although according to some indicators, how could they declare everything else propaganda and, of course, Stalin, giving permission for the publication of this information, could not help but understand this!

Both quantity and quality!

In Soviet times, equipment supplied under Lend-Lease was usually criticized. But... it’s worth reading the same “Pravda” and in particular the articles of the famous pilot Gromov about American and British aircraft, articles about the same English Matilda tanks, to be convinced that during the war all this was assessed completely differently than after its end! How can one appreciate the powerful presses that were used to stamp turrets for T-34 tanks, American drills with corundum tips, or industrial diamonds, which Soviet industry did not produce at all?! So the quantity and quality of supplies, as well as the participation of foreign technical specialists, sailors and pilots, was very noticeable. Well, then politics and the post-war situation intervened in this matter, and everything that was good during the war years immediately became bad with just the stroke of a leading pen!

Stalin case in Samara