Western allies of the USSR in World War II. Anti-Hitler coalition. USSR and anti-Hitler coalition

D. Yu. Medvedev-Baryakhtar

Increasingly, I meet on the Internet the assertion that while the Russians, bleeding, fought with the German Wehrmacht, our cunning and vile ones sat out across the ocean 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 turnkey solution, where accents are already placed on the principle of "good - bad". 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, a good exercise for thinking. Therefore, we will try to free events from emotional coloring, such as which battle of the Second World War was decisive. We believe that Stalingrad, the British - El Alamein, and the Americans - the Battle of Midway Atoll. Everyone has their 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 have been at war with the Axis. 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 became, naturally, allies in World War II. Two major theaters of military operations were formed - 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 arguments about the priority of the European war because:

We will refrain from this emotional assessment. We consider the war in Europe more important, and the Americans and the Japanese naturally prefer Pacific Ocean. It is clear that one's own problems are always and for everyone the most important, and other people's problems are not worth a penny. The land Wehrmacht significantly outnumbered 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 not needed in the Pacific.

A slightly more reasonable estimate of the losses that allies in World War II inflicted on the enemy during hostilities, but here, too, subjectivity rolls over. We are keenly counting how many more Wehrmacht divisions fought against us than against the Americans. On the Eastern Front, the losses of the Germans in manpower were indeed significant, but the harmonious picture is spoiled by the fact that for some reason we count only Wehrmacht divisions. Where did the allies of Germany - the Italians and the Japanese - go, and why were their divisions not included in the calculation? In addition to losses in manpower, there are also very sensitive losses in equipment. For a very long time I was looking for the ratio of Luftwaffe losses on the fronts. For some reason, we do not like to mention them. According to indirect data, in air battles with aircraft allies in World War II the Germans lost on all Western fronts (between September 1, 1939 and May 8, 1945) 62,733 aircraft and about 24,000 aircraft on the Eastern Front (between June 22, 1941 and 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 gets such a result. Talking about a large number of our losses in general looks more than strange. Can you imagine a normal general who takes credit for the loss of his own soldiers? Rather, it should be the opposite, like the Japanese General Nogi, who forced Port Arthur to capitulate in the Russo-Japanese War. After the conclusion of peace, he made himself a seppuku, so he considered the great losses of the Japanese during the assault to be his personal fault. A large number of dead soldiers, at all times, it is rather the inability to lead fighting than efficiency. So we will not evaluate who is the main and who is not, where is the priority theater of operations, and where is the secondary one, but we simply state the fact that there are two theaters of military operations, in which when, and when not, they fight 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 fighting in both theaters of war. Since 1941, the Americans have been fighting the Japanese in the Pacific and, by the way, at first they suffer defeat after defeat. The samurai turned out to be tough nuts and knew how to fight (only forty years ago, in 1905, we had to see this on our own skin). However, the precarious situation in the Pacific did not prevent the Americans from landing in Morocco in November 1942 (at that time street fighting was going on in Stalingrad) and, together with the British, starting military operations in North Africa against the Germans and Italians. We, again, say that a company in Africa is not a war at all, but a walk allies in World War II across the desert. Again, refrain from emotional evaluation. On the one hand, the total number of Axis troops in North Africa was less than in Eastern Europe, but on the other hand, during the operation "Torch" in Tunisia, more German and Italian troops were destroyed than near Stalingrad. We also note that the operations in North Africa and Sicily, the Americans and the British practically knocked Italy out of the war. The combat potential of the Italians, relative to the Germans or the Japanese, is really small, but Italy is still the third member of the Axis. And, more importantly, in the war with the Italians, we Russians did not lose a single soldier. Therefore, we simply state the fact that the Americans began to fight the Germans in Europe in 1942. The photo shows the landing of American and British troops in North Africa.

In 1944, the Americans are moving 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. Keeping such a transfer of troops secret is unrealistic and communications are constantly attacked by German submarines. And all this at the same time as the war in the Pacific. In June 1944, the Americans, British and Canadians landed in Normandy - D-Day, widely known even to non-professionals. You can evaluate their contribution to the victory over Germany in different ways, 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 squeeze 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, the Axis allies in Europe were defeated. By 1945, no one doubted the outcome of the war in the Pacific, even the Japanese. It was clear to everyone that an island country without a fleet and resources is 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 based on the resources of Manchuria. Maybe, maybe ... But there is one difficulty here. Oil in the 20th century was called the blood of war, since all equipment traveled, flew and floated on gasoline, which was obtained from oil. There is no oil and the planes will remain at the airfields, the ships in the harbors, and the tanks will stop where gasoline ran out, as German tanks stood up when the Allied front was broken through in the Ardennes. The Japanese rush to the south in 1941 - 1942 was due to the fact that the country 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 situation with fuel in Japan by the end of the war was so desperate that the Japanese tried to fill the engines with pine turpentine. 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 enters the Pacific War and allies in World War II are now working together against Japan. Soviet tank wedges smash the Kwantung Army, and the landing marines landing on the islands. By the way, think about why our landings were so successful? Estimate what would happen to our transports if the Japanese fleet had not been put out of action by the Americans by this time. The Japanese in 1905 sank the fleet Russian Empire, and the Soviet one by the 1940s was many times weaker than the Russian one. Two Soviet cruisers and 12 destroyers in the Pacific against Japanese battleships and aircraft carriers are practically nothing. But there is a fact - the Soviet Union enters the war in the East in August 1945. In the photo "Mikuma" - a Japanese cruiser attacked by carrier-based aircraft in a battle near Midway Atoll on June 7, 1942.

So, what do we have in the "dry residue". There are two major theaters of war - in Europe and in the Pacific. Since June 1941, the Russians have been cutting with the Germans in Europe (as well as the British with the 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 appear in Africa and, together with the British, smash the Germans and Italians in Tunisia, Sicily and Italy. The Russians at this time first retreat to Moscow and the Volga, then methodically begin to "take away our spans and crumbs" and push the Germans to the West. In 1944, the Americans land in Europe and, together with the Russians, destroy the Third Reich in May 1945. What is there in the East? From the beginning of the Second World War until August 1945, there was peace and quiet on the Soviet-Japanese border along the Amur. In August 1945, the USSR declares war on Japan and takes part in the Pacific War. A month later, in September, Japan capitulates and the war ends. It turns out that the Americans from 1941 to 1945 are at war with the Japanese and from 1942 to 1945 with the Germans and Italians. The USSR from 1941 to 1945 is at war with Germany, and one month in 1945 is at war with Japan. This is information that is open and accessible to everyone, freed from emotional overtones.

And now you can ask a rhetorical question. Why the USSR, having a common border with Japan, did 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 prevent the Americans from fighting the Germans for 3 years, but crossing the Amur is, after all, not an ocean to cross. It is clear that in 1942 - 1945 the Americans did little to distract themselves German soldiers, planes, tanks. It's time to ask the question - how much during this period did we distract Japanese soldiers, ships, aircraft? And do the Americans have the right to say that the USSR entered the war against Japan only when everything had already been decided in the Pacific?

Separately, there is the question of America's help on Lend-Lease ally in World War II. During the program, the Americans brought ammunition, equipment, food, medical equipment, medicines, strategic raw materials (someone thought that up to 300 items) to everyone fighting against a common enemy. Greatest Help was given to Britain, then to Russia, and then to China. By the way, the “greedy Yankees” included the following clause in the Lend-Lease law (Article 5): “Supplied materials (machines, 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 why it was necessary to pass the law on Lend-Lease. If the British, Russians, Chinese would pay 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, was at all times. The meaning of the Lend-Lease law was that the Americans supplied everyone allies in World War II these items for free. We, as always, immediately start talking about the fact that they were not transporting where they needed to, not what they needed, and not all the goods arrived at all, and also that we paid for everything. Maybe not everyone reached (like the infamous convoy PQ - 17), but in the winter of 1941/42 at 31 domestic tank there were 10 imported, for 13 Soviet aircraft 10 delivered under Lend-Lease. At the same time, if the American tanks were inferior to the Soviet ones in many respects, then the aircraft produced in America were seriously superior to our models. Oh, you see, a significant contribution to the most difficult period of the war for us! By the way, the total amount of 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, have not yet paid off). But even that is not important. You can compare equal values. So let's compare the economic assistance that America provided to the Soviet Union at war with the economic assistance that the Soviet Union provided to America at war. On the second pan of the scales, a complete zero. In general, if humanly, 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 a tragedy of millions killed on all sides of the front, it is the crippled fate of people, it is parents who have lost children, and children left without parents, these are destroyed and burned villages and cities. All allies in World War II we put everything we could into making this nightmare end as soon as possible and helped each other as much as possible. Even the Germans and the French have reconciled, but we all cannot let go of the shadows of the past and argue over who shed more of their own and other people's blood on this nightmarish altar. In the photo, French President Francois Mitterrand and German Chancellor Helmut Kohl at the memorial to the victims. Verdun.

World War II 1939-1945 - the largest war in the history of mankind, unleashed by fascist Germany, fascist Italy and militaristic Japan. 61 states were drawn into the war (more than 80% of the population the globe), hostilities were conducted on the territory of 40 states.

In 1941, when the Nazis attacked the USSR, Great Britain was already at war with Germany, and the contradictions between the USA, Germany and Japan were on the verge of an armed conflict.

Immediately after the German attack on the USSR, the governments of Great Britain (June 22) and the United States (June 24) supported the Soviet Union in its fight against fascism.

On July 12, 1941, a Soviet-English agreement was signed in Moscow on joint actions against Germany and its allies, which served as the beginning of the formation of the anti-Hitler coalition.

On July 18, 1941, the government of the USSR signed an agreement with the government of Czechoslovakia, and on July 30 with the government of Poland on a joint fight against a common enemy. Since the territory of these countries was occupied by Nazi Germany, their governments were located in London (Great Britain).

On August 2, 1941, a military-economic agreement was concluded with the United States. At the Moscow meeting, held September 29-October 1, 1941, the USSR, Great Britain and the USA considered the issue of mutual military supplies and signed the first protocol on them.

December 7, 1941 Japan surprise attack on the American military base Pearl Harbor in the Pacific unleashed a war against the United States. On December 8, the United States, Great Britain and a number of other states declared war on Japan; On December 11, Nazi Germany and Italy declared war on the United States.

At the end of 1941, Australia, Albania, Belgium, Great Britain, Haiti, Guatemala, Honduras, Greece, Denmark, the Dominican Republic, India, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Cuba, Luxembourg, Mongolian People's Republic, Netherlands, Nicaragua, New Zealand, Norway, Panama, Poland, El Salvador, USSR, USA, Philippines, France, Czechoslovakia, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Yugoslavia, Union of South Africa. In the second half of 1942, Brazil and Mexico entered the war against the fascist bloc, in 1943 - Bolivia, Iraq, Iran, Colombia, Chile, in 1944 - Liberia. After February 1945, Argentina, Venezuela, Egypt, Lebanon, Paraguay, Peru, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, and Uruguay joined the anti-Hitler coalition. Italy (in 1943), Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania (in 1944), Finland (in 1945), which were previously part of the aggressive bloc, also declared war on the countries of the Nazi coalition. By the time hostilities with Japan ended (September 1945), 56 states were at war with the countries of the fascist bloc.

(Military Encyclopedia. Chairman of the Main Editorial Commission S.B. Ivanov. Military Publishing. Moscow. In 8 volumes 2004. ISBN 5 203 01875 - 8)

Contribution selected countries in achieving the goals of the anti-Hitler coalition was different. The USA, Great Britain, France and China participated with their armed forces in the struggle against the countries of the fascist bloc. Separate formations of some other countries of Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, India, Canada, the Philippines, Ethiopia and others also took part in hostilities. Some of the states of the anti-Hitler coalition (for example, Mexico) helped its main participants mainly by supplying military raw materials.

The United States and Great Britain made a significant contribution to achieving victory over a common enemy.

On June 11, 1942, the USSR and the USA signed an agreement on mutual supplies under Lend-Lease, i.e. lending of military equipment, weapons, ammunition, equipment, strategic raw materials and food.

The first deliveries arrived back in 1941, but the bulk of the deliveries came in 1943-1944.

According to American official data, at the end of September 1945, 14,795 aircraft, 7,056 tanks, 8,218 anti-aircraft guns, and 131,600 machine guns were sent from the USA to the USSR; 1188 tanks were delivered from Canada, which has been directly involved in providing assistance to the USSR since the summer of 1943. In general, US military supplies during the war years amounted to 4% of the military production of the USSR. In addition to weapons, the USSR received cars, tractors, motorcycles, ships, locomotives, wagons, food and other goods from the USA under Lend-Lease. The Soviet Union supplied the USA with 300,000 tons of chrome ore, 32,000 tons of manganese ore, a significant amount of platinum, gold, and timber.

Some of the American cargo (about 1 million tons) did not reach the Soviet Union, because it was destroyed by the enemy in the process of transportation.

There were about ten routes for the delivery of goods under Lend-Lease to the USSR. Many of them took place in areas of intense hostilities, which required great courage and heroism from those who provided supplies.

Main routes: across the Pacific Ocean through Far East- 47.1% of all cargo; across the North Atlantic, bypassing Scandinavia - to Murmansk and Arkhangelsk - 22.6%; through the South Atlantic, the Persian Gulf and Iran - 23.8%; through the ports of the Black Sea 3.9% and through the Arctic 2.6%. Aircraft moved by sea and independently (up to 80%) through Alaska - Chukotka.

Help from the allies was not only under the Lend-Lease program. In the United States, in particular, the “Committee for Assistance to Russians in the War” (Russia War Relief) was created, which during the war collected and sent goods worth more than one and a half billion dollars to the USSR. In England, a similar committee was chaired by Clementine Churchill, the Prime Minister's wife.

In 1942, an agreement was reached between the USSR, Great Britain and the USA to open a second front in Western Europe. In June 1944, this agreement was implemented - an Anglo-American landing force landed in Normandy (northwest France), a second front was opened. This made it possible to delay about 560 thousand people. German troops With eastern front and contributed to the acceleration final defeat fascist Germany, which was now forced to fight on two fronts.

Material prepared on the basis of open sources

World War II 1939-1945 - the largest war in the history of mankind, 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 conducted on the territory of 40 states.

In 1941, when the Nazis attacked the USSR, Great Britain was already at war with Germany, and the contradictions between the USA, Germany and Japan were on the verge of an armed conflict.

Immediately after the German attack on the USSR, the governments of Great Britain (June 22) and the United States (June 24) supported the Soviet Union in its fight against fascism.

On July 12, 1941, a Soviet-English agreement was signed in Moscow on joint actions against Germany and its allies, which served as the beginning of the formation of the anti-Hitler coalition.

On December 7, 1941, Japan launched a war against the United States with a surprise attack on the American military base at Pearl Harbor in the Pacific Ocean. On December 8, the United States, Great Britain and a number of other states declared war on Japan; On December 11, Nazi Germany and Italy declared war on the United States.

At the end of 1941, Australia, Albania, Belgium, Great Britain, Haiti, Guatemala, Honduras, Greece, Denmark, the Dominican Republic, India, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Cuba, Luxembourg, the Mongolian People's Republic were at war with the aggressor bloc. Republic, Netherlands, Nicaragua, New Zealand, Norway, Panama, Poland, El Salvador, USSR, USA, Philippines, France, Czechoslovakia, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Yugoslavia, Union of South Africa. In the second half of 1942, Brazil and Mexico entered the war against the fascist bloc, in 1943 - Bolivia, Iraq, Iran, Colombia, Chile, in 1944 - Liberia. After February 1945, Argentina, Venezuela, Egypt, Lebanon, Paraguay, Peru, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, and Uruguay joined the anti-Hitler coalition. Italy (in 1943), Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania (in 1944), Finland (in 1945), which were previously part of the aggressive bloc, also declared war on the countries of the Nazi coalition. By the time hostilities with Japan ended (September 1945), 56 states were at war with the countries of the fascist bloc.

(Military Encyclopedia. Chairman of the Main Editorial Commission S.B. Ivanov. Military Publishing. Moscow. In 8 volumes 2004. ISBN 5 203 01875 - 8)

The contribution of individual countries to the achievement of the goals of the anti-Hitler coalition varied. The USA, Great Britain, France and China participated with their armed forces in the struggle against the countries of the fascist bloc. Separate formations of some other countries of Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, India, Canada, the Philippines, Ethiopia and others also took part in hostilities. Some of the states of the anti-Hitler coalition (for example, Mexico) helped its main participants mainly by supplying military raw materials.

The United States and Great Britain made a significant contribution to achieving victory over a common enemy.

On June 11, 1942, the USSR and the USA signed an agreement on mutual supplies under Lend-Lease, i.e. lending of military equipment, weapons, ammunition, equipment, strategic raw materials and food.

The first deliveries arrived back in 1941, but the bulk of the deliveries came in 1943-1944.

Some of the American cargo (about 1 million tons) did not reach the Soviet Union, because it was destroyed by the enemy in the process of transportation.

Main routes: across the Pacific Ocean through the Far East - 47.1% of all cargo; across the North Atlantic, bypassing Scandinavia - to Murmansk and Arkhangelsk - 22.6%; through the South Atlantic, the Persian Gulf and Iran - 23.8%; through the ports of the Black Sea 3.9% and through the Arctic 2.6%. Aircraft moved by sea and independently (up to 80%) through Alaska - Chukotka.

In 1942, an agreement was reached between the USSR, Great Britain and the USA to open a second front in Western Europe. In June 1944, this agreement was implemented - an Anglo-American landing force landed in Normandy (northwest France), a second front was opened. This made it possible to withdraw about 560,000 German troops from the eastern front and contributed to the acceleration of the final defeat of fascist Germany, which was now forced to fight on two fronts.

Material prepared on the basis of open sources

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

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

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

And then they got really good...

But then came June 22, 1941, and literally the next day Pravda came out with reports that Winston Churchill had promised the USSR military assistance, and the US President had unfrozen Soviet deposits in American banks frozen after the war with Finland. And that's it! Articles about starvation 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 those behind-the-scenes negotiations that took place at the time; even the declassified correspondence between Stalin and Churchill of all the nuances of this difficult period of our common history does not open. But there are facts showing that the Anglo-American allies of the USSR began to provide assistance, if not immediately, then quite timely. Already on August 12, 1941, a caravan of Dervish ships left Loch Ewe (Great Britain).

On August 31, 1941, the first transports of the Dervish convoy delivered ten thousand tons of rubber, about four thousand depth charges and magnetic mines, fifteen Hurricane-type fighters, and 524 military pilots from the 151st air wing of two squadrons of the Royal air force UK.[S-BLOCK]

Later, pilots even from Australia arrived on the territory of the USSR. In total, between August 1941 and May 1945, there were 78 convoys (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 as part of the Lend-Lease program.

85 merchant ships and 16 warships of the Royal Navy (2 cruisers, 6 destroyers and 8 other escorts) were lost. And this is only the northern route, because the cargo flow also went through Iran, through Vladivostok, and aircraft from the United States were directly ferried to Siberia from Alaska. Well, and 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 unfolding festivities.

Not only and not so much convoys!

The Soviet Union received assistance from the allies not only under Lend-Lease. In the United States, the Committee for Assistance to Russians in the War (Russia War Relief) was organized.

“With the money raised, the committee purchased and sent medicines, medicines and equipment, food, clothing to the Red Army, the Soviet people. In total, during the war, the Soviet Union was provided with assistance in the amount of more than one and a half billion dollars. A similar committee under the leadership of Churchill's wife operated in England, and he also bought medicines and food to help the USSR.

When Pravda wrote the truth!

On June 11, 1944, the Pravda newspaper placed a significant material on the entire page: “On the supply of arms, 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 was sent to us and how much cargo in tons was 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! [С-BLOCK]

Army shoes - 15 million pairs, 6491 metal-cutting machines and much more. It is interesting that the message made a precise division of how much was bought for 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 was bought for money that gave rise to the still prevailing opinion that all Lend-Lease came to us for money, and for gold at that. No, much was paid for by “reverse lend-lease” - raw materials, but the calculation 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 found out how much they supply us with, on the other hand, the Germans also found out the same thing, and those well, they simply could not help but be overcome with despondency.

How reliable are these numbers? It is obvious that it is possible. After all, if they contained incorrect data, then as soon as German intelligence would have found out, although according to some indicators, how could they declare everything else to be 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 is worth reading the same Pravda and, in particular, articles famous pilot Gromov about American and English planes, articles about the same English tanks "Matilda", to make sure that during the war years all this was assessed in a completely different way than after it ended!

And how can one evaluate the powerful presses on which turrets for T-34 tanks, American drills with corundum tips or technical diamonds, which the Soviet industry did not produce at all, were stamped?! 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 intervened in this matter, the post-war conjuncture, and everything that was good during the war years immediately became bad with just a stroke of the guiding pen!

On the same topic:

What assistance was provided by the allies of the USSR during the Second World War The best fighters during World War II

After the end of World War I, the international situation was complex and tense. To a large extent, this was due to the Versailles-Washington system, which was unfair to the losing countries and consolidated the dominance of England, France, and the USA. It became the basis of new imperialist contradictions and provoked interstate conflicts, including armed ones. A fierce struggle between the victorious powers began immediately after the armistice. Germany sought to split the allies, achieve concessions, and in the future dreamed of revenge in a new war.

States came out of the crisis in different ways. So in Italy, and then in Germany, fascist regimes arose on the basis of nationalist priorities. Fascist propaganda was based on social demagogy, criticism of bourgeois society with its individualism, parliamentary democracy, market economy. Fascist regimes posed a real danger to other countries, openly declaring the need to establish their dominance throughout the world by subjugating or destroying all the peoples of the "non-Aryan" race.

In the interwar period 1918 - 1939. all countries participating in World War I were preparing for a new military redistribution of the already divided world, regardless of what forces were in power. The difference between them was in the ideological justification of the impending war. The policy of all states in the 1920s and 1930s was ideologized: the doctrines of anti-communism, anti-democratism, anti-imperialism, and fascism were in effect. Their manipulation made possible the alliance between Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Soviet Union. The forces of the world were small and much weaker forces wars, and the governments of the great powers sought to ensure only their own security, often to the detriment of other states.

At the same time, secret negotiations were held, behind-the-scenes meetings, secret plans were developed, which resulted in mutual distrust and suspicion.

The foreign policy of Soviet Russia after graduation civil war was formed under the influence of two mutually exclusive goals, which the country's leadership was striving for. First target- pragmatic - assumed the creation of mutually beneficial relations with other countries. But the principle of the peaceful coexistence of states with different social systems did not mean a renunciation of the class struggle. Second goal- ideological - contributed to the implementation of the installation of proletarian internationalism through the Communist International. The last in 1919-1943. was the International Organization for the Coordination of the Actions of the Communist Parties. From this organization came a great material aid(gold, money, weapons, specialists) to the communist and national liberation movements that destabilized the regime within the countries. Such an effective policy led to the distrust of partners in it, repeatedly led to the complication international relations. So, for example, in 1927, a break in relations with England; 1929 - Soviet-Chinese conflict etc. However, relatively quickly Soviet Russia emerged from international isolation: in the 1920s peace treaties with Finland. Poland, Mongolia, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan. During the period of the Genoa Conference (1922), the Soviet-German Treaty was signed on the renunciation of mutual claims and the establishment of diplomatic relations. In the 1920s, the Soviet Union established official relations with more than twenty states of the world. Including with England. France. Italy. Japan, China. In 1933, the Soviet Union was recognized by the United States. The fate of the Soviet-Anglo-French negotiations in 1939 was predetermined by the absence of the political desire of England and France to compromise and sign an agreement that would ensure peace in Europe. Totalitarian regimes - both communist and fascist - opposed Western civilization, each offering its own alternative. Therefore, their "Union", concluded on the eve of the Second World War, became possible. The ten-year non-aggression pact was signed by the ministers of foreign affairs: from the Soviet side - V.M. Molotov, from German - A. Ribbentrop. The articles of this pact obligated the governments of Germany and the Soviet Union "to refrain ... from any aggressive action and any attack against each other ..." - in fact, it was an agreement on friendly neutrality. Germany was able to use this neutrality much more effectively than the USSR and was better prepared for a war against it. The policy of "non-intervention" by Britain and France actually strengthened Germany's position in Europe. They encouraged her aggressive intentions in relation to neighboring countries (Austria, the Czechoslovak Republic). As a result, Germany got out of Anglo-French control and unleashed the Second World War.

On September 1, 1939, the Second World War- German attack on Poland. In response to the German invasion of Poland, England and France declared war on Germany, but did not provide the Poles with effective and real help, although they were united by armed forces militarily superior to the German ones. September 17, 1939 Soviet troops crossed the border with Poland and took under protection the life and property of the population of Western Ukraine and Western Belarus.

On September 28, 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union signed an agreement on friendship and borders.
On June 22, 1941, Nazi Germany attacked the USSR without declaring war. At the same time, Germany's allies in the fascist bloc - Italy, Hungary, Romania, Finland, Slovakia - came out against the Soviet Union. A million people concentrated on the Far Eastern borders of the Soviet Union. Kwantung Army Japan, which, despite the treaty of neutrality, was waiting for the moment to enter the war on the side of Germany.

The war of Germany against the USSR was of an aggressive, predatory nature. Having a goal on the part of Germany: to destroy the Soviet state, territorially dismember the USSR, defeat and destroy the Red Army by means of a “blitzkrieg” war. military victory over the Soviet Union, in the opinion of the German generals, was to ensure the creation of favorable conditions for the completion of the struggle for world domination. One of the main tasks foreign policy The Soviet Union was the creation of an anti-Hitler coalition. The prerequisites for its formation were: liberation goals in the war for most countries; a common danger coming from the fascist bloc.

On June 22, 1941, British Prime Minister Churchill, and on June 24, US President Roosevelt announced their countries' intention to assist the Soviet Union in its struggle against Germany, since the Soviet Union and Great Britain, unlike the United States, were already part of the war against Germany. The Soviet government suggested that Britain immediately conclude an agreement on joint activities. The British government accepted this proposal.
On July 12, 1941, the Anglo-Soviet agreement was signed on joint action in the war against Germany, the USSR and England pledged to provide each other with assistance and support, as well as not to negotiate, not to conclude a truce or a peace treaty, except by mutual consent. The Soviet proposal to open a front in northern France was rejected.

In August 1941, Roosevelt and Churchill, having met in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Canada, signed the so-called charter, which set out the official goals of the United States and Great Britain in the war - and became one of the program documents of the anti-Hitler coalition.

Thus, in the Second World War, the conflicting parties were divided as follows (Table 2).

Table 2 Opposing sides of the Second World War

The Atlantic Charter stated that the US and Britain did not seek territorial or other transformations and respected the right of all peoples to choose their own form of government.

They promised to seek the restoration of the sovereign rights and self-government of those peoples who were deprived of this by force. Britain and the United States said that after the final destruction of Nazi tyranny, they hope for peace. Roosevelt and Churchill announced that they considered it necessary to disarm the aggressors and create an indivisible system of general security. The charter was formulated in a democratic spirit and indicated the ways to eliminate the fascist order. To fulfill these mutual obligations, there were three forms of cooperation between the coalition states:

material aid;

political.

The victory near Moscow (December 1941) contributed to the final formation of the anti-Hitler coalition. On January 1, 1942, twenty-six states, including the Soviet Union, the United States and Great Britain, signed the Declaration of the United Nations in Washington. They pledged to use their resources to fight against the aggressors, to cooperate in the war and not to conclude a separation peace.

On May 26, 1942, an agreement was signed in London between the USSR and Great Britain on an alliance in the war against Nazi Germany and her associates in Europe. The treaty also provided for cooperation and mutual assistance after the war. In May-June 1942, Soviet-American negotiations were held in Washington, which ended on June 11 with the signing of an agreement on the principles applicable to mutual assistance in waging a war against aggression. Both sides pledged to supply each other with defense materials, information, and develop trade and economic commonwealth. The signing of these documents showed that differences in social structure and ideology can be overcome.

At the same time, there were deep differences between the participants of the anti-fascist coalition regarding the goals of the war and the program of the post-war order of the world.

Soviet Union saw the goals of the war in the defeat of fascist Germany, the liberation of enslaved peoples, the restoration of democracy, and the creation of conditions for a lasting peace. US and UK considered the main goal of the war to weaken Germany and Japan as the main competitors. At the same time, the Western powers sought to keep Germany and Japan as military force to fight against the USSR.

D. Eisenhower believed that the fastest way to victory lay through the opening of a second front in Europe, through the landing of the allies in France. His position on this issue was determined by the fact that he, like many other American military and political leaders, seriously doubted whether the Soviet Union would be able to withstand the terrible blow of the Wehrmacht. Among the factors that forced the allies to open a second front, the most important role was played by the speech of the broad masses of the people of the United States and Great Britain with demands for the landing of allied troops in Western Europe. One of the first joint actions was the decision of the USSR and England on the entry of Soviet and British troops into Iran in August 1941 to prevent this country from coming out on the side of Germany.

1943 turned out to be a very difficult year in relations between the allies in the anti-Hitler coalition. Anglo-American troops landed in Italy at the end of July 1943. Soon the fascist government of Mussolini, as a result palace coup fell, but hostilities continued. However, the second front (understood as the Allied landing in France) was not opened. The governments of the United States and Great Britain explained this by the lack of swimming facilities for the transfer of troops to the continent. The Soviet government expressed undisguised dissatisfaction with the delay in the opening of the second front.

In October 1943, a conference of foreign ministers of the three powers was held in Moscow, at which western allies informed the Soviet side about plans to open a second front in May-June 1944. However, there was a certain lack of understanding in relations between the allies, a personal meeting of the heads of government was required to resolve pressing issues as soon as possible. Such a conference began on November 28, 1943 in the capital of Iran. There was no predetermined agenda. Although its members knew what will be discussed. I.V. met at the negotiating table. Stalin, F. Roosevelt, W. Churchill.

Stalin, in the eyes of millions of people in the West, embodied the entire Soviet people, who courageously fought against fascism. He wielded power that none of his associates had. In May 1943, Stalin ordered the dissolution of the Comintern, which gave the West the impression that Stalin had abandoned his plans to establish communist regimes in other countries. Roosevelt had already established himself as the greatest reformer of the 20th century, the inspirer of the "New Deal", Churchill - a politician who emerged from the 19th century - personified the forces that stubbornly pushed back the decline of the British Empire.

Each of them, arriving at the conference, thought about achieving their goals. Stalin was able to very subtly play on some of the contradictions between Churchill and Roosevelt. First of all, it was necessary to resolve the issue of a second front. After brief but heated discussions between Churchill and Stalin about the timing of the opening of a second front, it was decided that the Allied landing in northern France would take place in May 1944.

Thus, only in May 1944 the second front was opened by the allies. By this time, the Soviet armed forces had suffered huge losses, the war left millions of people homeless, personal consumption fell to 40%, money depreciated, cards could not always be redeemed, speculation and the naturalization of exchange grew. All this was combined with constant psychological stress: grief over the death of a loved one, waiting for a letter from the front, 11-12 hour working days, rare days off, anxiety for children who were actually left without supervision. And at the same time, hard work in the name of approaching victory. Workers who fulfilled two norms each began to give three, mastered related specialties. A particularly important factor in the victory was the fact that at the beginning of the war, heavy industry plants, previously located in the southern regions of Ukraine and Belarus, were relocated in an organized and quick manner to the Urals and other regions of the Union, where tanks, aircraft, guns and other heavy military equipment were produced. and ammunition. Thanks to the heroic work of the rear in the first half of 1944, it was possible to achieve the superiority of the Red Army over the enemy in terms of equipping the troops with military equipment.

Therefore, the opening of the second front was clearly belated, since the outcome of the war was already a foregone conclusion. The USSR suffered the greatest losses in the war, but on the other hand, the offensive of the allied forces accelerated the defeat of fascist Germany, chaining up to 1/3 of its ground forces to itself.

On May 8, 1945, the Act of Germany's unconditional surrender was signed in Karlsharst, a suburb of Berlin.

The Potsdam Conference (July 17 - August 2, 1945) was devoted to the post-war order of the world. I.V. participated in its work. Stalin, G. Truman, W. Churchill. The central issue was German. Germany was considered as a single whole democratic peace-loving state. The main principle of policy towards Germany was demilitarization and democratization. Berlin was subject to occupation by the troops of the USSR, the USA, France in the respective sectors. It was established that the Western border of Poland would pass along the Oder River, thereby returning Poland to its ancestral lands. The Soviet Union was transferred to Koenigsberg with the surrounding areas East Prussia. The first body was created - the Council of Foreign Ministers, consisting of representatives of: the USSR, the USA, Great Britain, France, China to prepare a peace treaty with Germany's former allies, as well as the International Military Tribunal to try the main fascist war criminals.

The main idea of the Potsdam conference and the agreement of the three powers is partnership and cooperation for the sake of a world without war and violence, on the basis of a balance of legitimate interests - an agreement that the victorious powers will never allow a repetition of aggression by Germany or any other state.