Soviet preparation for war

In 1939-1940, the Soviet Union had already managed to capture most of the territory that once belonged to Russian Empire. In this period Stalinist repressions ceased to be massive, the country gained a lot of weight in the international political arena. However, on the eve of the war, the USSR, in short, was regarded by other countries as a threat equal to Nazi Germany. To some extent, this opinion was correct. The hostilities launched by Hitler in 1939 ignited the fire of a world war that could not bypass Soviet Union. The country's authorities understood this, so the Union began active preparations for war. At the same time, the nature of the preparations indicated that this war was supposed to be offensive, not defensive.

In the first two years before the German attack, the volume of funding for the military industry was significantly raised, in 1939 it accounted for 25.6% of the budget, and until 1941 this figure was raised to 43.4%. In practice, it turned out that this was not enough to organize an effective defense, although the main mistakes were made not at the level of funding, but in the use of the funds received.

The preparation of the USSR for war, briefly described in this section, also provided for the mobilization of human resources in the state. In 1940, an 8-hour work day and a 7-week work week were introduced to increase productivity. In a normal society, this would cause serious internal conflict However, the level of tyranny in the country was too high, and no one dared to oppose such a decision. Also, the production and military potential of the country was undermined by the repressions themselves - many millions of people were subjected to them, in the 30s the entire command was repressed, starting from battalion commanders. Leading scientists, technologists and specialists were also repressed. Only a few of them managed to continue their work in closed design offices.

Only thanks to this, the Red Army was armed with modern aviation (Tupolev and Sukhoi aircraft), capable of withstanding the German one, new T34 tanks, Shpagin and Degtyarev machine guns, and so on. The Union managed, albeit belatedly, to establish a widespread production of weapons and equipment, but the USSR was able to realize all its technical and military potential only in 1942-43, which made it possible to repulse the invaders. The organization of universal conscription instead of the territorial militia system made it possible to increase the manpower of the Red Army, but the lack of qualified and experienced command personnel led to massive losses throughout the war. Sometimes people were thrown against the elite German units with the order to "get weapons in battle", although in general there were enough weapons to provide the Red Army. This is how the military potential of the USSR on the eve of the war can be briefly described.

Initially, the war between the USSR and Germany was not envisaged, at least in the Soviet supreme power. This was not expected in European countries either, fearing the emergence powerful alliance between two totalitarian states. However, the ideological differences between these two countries were too great, and if Stalin's socialism provided for the construction of an ideal society within the framework of one state, then the ideology of the Nazis in Germany provided for the capture of the whole world.
Therefore, at first, the USSR viewed Germany as a strategic alliance. As part of such a “partnership”, Poland was dismembered, significant territories, the western lands of modern Ukraine and Belarus, went to the USSR. At the end of 1939, the Union began to put pressure on Finland, and soon began an undeclared war for the Karelian Isthmus. Nominally, the war was successful, the Red Army managed to occupy a small area of territory north of Leningrad, but the losses of the Reds exceeded the losses of the Finns by at least 3 times. Such "successes" were duly appreciated by Hitler, he considered that the Red Army did not pose a threat to him.

Also, before the start of the war, the USSR also captured Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, taking advantage of the fact that European countries, who helped Finland with ammunition and volunteers, failed to provide any assistance to the Baltic countries, since they were losing the war with Germany.

However, Stalin's aggressive policy played into the hands of Hitler himself. Pushing the borders further to the west, the Red Army dismantled the fortifications on the former borders. Nobody was in a hurry to build new fortifications, since the top leadership of the country, except for Stalin himself, had already realized that they would have to go to war with Germany in the future, and were planning an offensive. For this reason, the German strike on June 22, 1941, became devastating and sudden for the Soviet army.

© Copyright Arkhangelsk: Publishing house KIRA, 2004.

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§6. "If there is war tomorrow"

Preparing the USSR for war with Germany

Economy

Back in 1929, Stalin declared that the Soviet Union was in a hostile capitalist encirclement and set the task of overcoming the technical and economic backwardness of the country, "Otherwise we will be crushed." During the years of the first two five-year plans, emphasis was placed on the development of the country's raw material and industrial base: new mineral deposits were discovered, thousands of new factories were built. The military industry did not play a major role at this stage.

The situation changed in 1938, when the world smelled distinctly of war. In the plan for the III Five-Year Plan (1938-1942) there were serious changes in priorities. Distinctive features this five-year plan steel: construction backup enterprises 8 , development of the eastern territories (Volga region, Central Asia, Siberia and Far East), an increase in military spending (in 1940 42% of the budget) 4 . Oil fields were developed "second Baku"(Bashkiria, the Volga region), large tank factories were completed and rebuilt in Kharkov, Stalingrad and Chelyabinsk, shipyards in Molotovsk and Komsomolsk-on-Amur, a copper-nickel plant in Norilsk, etc. To speed up the pace, they again resorted to the help of the Gulag, which provided “ great construction projects” with free labor.

Serious changes have also taken place in labor relations. Labor productivity at Soviet enterprises remained low, financial and time resources for further extensive development of the economy were exhausted, therefore, in order to ensure growth, it was necessary to resort to emergency measures. In September 1939, all workers were assigned to the place of work, in June 1940 the working day was increased to 11 hours, and working week did 6 days. A fierce struggle began with absenteeism and being late for work (being late for 15 minutes was equated with sabotage and sentenced to 5 years in camps under article 58-14 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR). The preparation of labor reserves began: in the event of a war, women and children were to replace the men mobilized for the front in production. A network has been set up throughout the country schools of factory training (FZO), in which children from the age of 14 received the skills of any profession in 6 months.

Rearmament and reorganization of the army

After the repressions against the military in 1937-1938. marshals at the head of the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army (RKKA) K.E. Voroshilov and S.M. Budyonny. They built their military strategy based on experience civil war, where the main role was played by cavalry and infantry. Started in Europe, the Second World War and the war with Finland won by the USSR with great sacrifices refuted these ideas. It became clear that only a highly maneuverable army with large tank and motorized formations, as well as strong aircraft, could win the war. One of the most important tasks was to equip the army with the latest types of weapons. To "push" Soviet designers resorted to harsh measures. Many talented designers and engineers were repressed, special design bureaus were created for them in prisons and camps - "sharashki". Per Good work could get a quick release.

Significant progress has been made in the aircraft industry. Talented designers S.V. Ilyushin, S.A. Lavochkin, A.I. Mikoyan, V.M. Petlyakov, A.N. Tupolev and A.S. Yakovlev developed new aircraft that were not inferior in their characteristics to the German ones: fighters 8 MiG-3, LaGG-3, Yak-1; bombers 8 - IL-4, Pe-2, Pe-8; first in the world attack aircraft 8 - IL-2. However, the transition to the production of these aircraft led to a decrease in production volumes. New equipment was produced piece by piece, serial production was only established in 1941. By the beginning of the war, 1946 new fighters, 458 bombers, 249 attack aircraft were ready. Border military districts were the first to receive new aircraft, but even there their share was only 22%.

M.I. Koshkin and N.L. spirits designed new types of tanks that have no analogues in the world: the T-34 medium tank and the KV-1 and KV-2 heavy tanks. The problem in their production was the same as with aviation. By June 22, 1941, 1225 T-34 and 639 KV tanks were produced. By total and the quality of tanks of the USSR surpassed Germany. Even obsolete Soviet tanks (T-26, T-28, BT-7) were not inferior to the German ones in terms of their characteristics.

AT prewar years installations for firing rockets were designed BM-13 ("Katyusha"). They did not have time to establish their production, so the tests were carried out already during the war.

However, along with such impressive successes, there were also significant shortcomings in the production of weapons. Priority was given to offensive types of weapons, the production of machine guns and machine guns was reduced V.A. Degtyarev(PPD) and G.S. Shpagina(PPSh), because, from the point of view of our “theorists”, their shortcomings were the high consumption of cartridges and the lack of a bayonet. In general, anti-tank guns and rifles, mines (they were contemptuously called “weapons for the weak”) were discontinued. The real scourge of the Soviet military industry was lobbying 8 individual state and party figures of military orders, which led to the disorganization of production.

The army has also undergone major organizational changes. Previously, they tried to save money on the armed forces, so the size of the army did not exceed 500-700 thousand soldiers. In the conditions of growing aggression of the fascist states, a large army became necessary. In 1935-1938. The USSR made the transition from territorial police 8 and personnel 8 systems of organization of the Armed Forces to a full-blooded army. For this, it was necessary to increase the number of conscripts. In August 1936, the draft age was reduced to 19 years, and in September 1939, the service life was increased from an average of 2 to 3 years. 4 . These measures made it possible to raise the size of the army to 5.4 million people.

Disadvantages of preparing for war

Events held in the 30s. to strengthen the army, did not help to overcome a number of significant shortcomings.

The level of training was very low. During the repressions of 1937-1938. 82% of the commanders were destroyed, many new commanders did not even have a completed secondary education. The training of soldiers and officers was stereotyped; they did not receive practical skills in action in a combat situation. 4 .

military doctrine 8 was offensive, preparing for “War with little blood on foreign territory” 4 . In accordance with this, weapons were developed, according to mobilization plans, army formations, reserves and rear services (warehouses for food, equipment, ammunition, weapons and fuel) were concentrated in the border zone. Soviet propaganda disoriented the soldiers and the population, suggesting to them: “Our forces are innumerable”, “The Red Army is the strongest of all”, “German proletarian soldiers will turn their weapons against their masters”, etc. An example of such propaganda was the popular pre-war film “If there is war tomorrow” 4 .

The defensive fortifications were not ready. "Stalin Line" on the old border was disarmed and partially blown up, and "Molotov line" on the new frontier was not yet ready.

The production of ammunition, fuels and lubricants, and other items necessary to supply the army lagged far behind real needs. 4 .

Stalin stubbornly ignored the warnings of Soviet intelligence, which reported on Germany's preparations for an attack on the USSR. He believed that the Red Army still had enough time to prepare to repel aggression.

4 Witnesses and Documents

Provisions of the law "On universal military duty".

All citizens who are 19 years old and who have graduated high school-18 years of age, fit for military service, are required to serve in the armed forces. The law establishes the following periods of active service: land and internal troops- 2 years, Air Force and Border Troops - 3 years, Navy - 5 years. Those arrested, exiled and deported, as well as those deprived of voting rights, are not drafted into the army.

S.K. Timoshenko on the readiness of the troops, December 1940

1. Commanders and headquarters of regiments do not always organize reconnaissance correctly. As a result, the attackers often acted blindly .... In the war, we will be forced to pay dearly because of this.

2. The interaction of infantry with artillery, tanks and aircraft is bad ... This should be treated not formally, but in essence.

3. Units do not always use advantageous approaches and neglect maneuvers to envelop and bypass enemy positions. The disguise breaks at times.

The main disadvantage during the offensive is the crowding of battle formations and the lag of the second echelons. The offensive must be based on precise knowledge of the situation and terrain conditions...

Soviet propaganda about the Red Army.

During the period from 1934 to 1938, the Red Army more than doubled in numbers. During this time, the technical power of the Red Army also increased quantitatively and qualitatively ... At present, the Red Army is the strongest army in the world not only in terms of combat training, but also in terms of the wealth of technology ... In the event of an attack on the USSR, the Red Army will destroy the enemy in the territory from which he dares to attack us ...

Red Army song "If there is war tomorrow".

If there is war tomorrow, if the enemy attacks.

If the dark force comes,

As one person, the entire Soviet people

Stand up for a free Motherland.

On earth, in heaven and at sea

Our response is both powerful and harsh.

If tomorrow is a war, if tomorrow is a campaign.

We are ready to go today.

If tomorrow there is a war, the country will stir

From Kronstadt to Vladivostok.

The country will shake up, and it will be able to

For the enemy to pay dearly.

Chorus.

A plane will fly, a machine gun will rumble,

Iron tanks roar

And the battleships will go, and the infantry will go,

And dashing carts will rush.

Chorus.

There is nowhere in the whole world such,

To destroy our country.

Stalin is with us, dear, and with an iron hand

Voroshilov is leading us to victory.

Chorus.

Security 33 tank division Western Special Military District.

Division security percentage:

Petrol tankers - 7%

Water and oil tankers - 9%

Iron barrels - 85%

1st grade gasoline -15%

Motor gasoline - 4%

Kerosene - 0%

Diesel fuel - 0%

Cartridges 7.62 mm rifle - 100%

Mines 50 mm and 82 mm -100%

Shells 37 mm anti-aircraft - 0%

Shells 45 mm artillery - 100%

Shells 76 mm tank - 3%.

8 Our vocabulary

Bomber - a combat aircraft designed to destroy enemy ground and sea targets with bombs.

Military doctrine - a system of views and positions that establishes the direction of military development, the preparation of the country and the army for a possible war, and the methods of its conduct.

Fighter - a combat aircraft designed to destroy enemy aircraft. Armed with cannons and machine guns.

Personnel system - the organization of the army, based on the maintenance in peacetime of a minimum number of military formations.

Lobbying - the impact of individuals, private and public organizations on the process of making important government decisions.

Understudy enterprises - enterprises that are the same or similar in their organization and purpose, located in different parts of the country. They were supposed to replace each other in the event of the capture of any area by the enemy.

Territorial militia system - the organization of the army, based on the maintenance in peacetime of military formations with a minimum number of regular military personnel (mainly command staff) and on the training of variable composition assigned to these formations.

Stormtrooper - a combat aircraft designed to destroy small and mobile ground targets. Armed with cannons and machine guns, aerial bombs and rockets. IL-2 for the first time had an armored cockpit that protected the pilot. Received the nickname "flying tank".

On the eve of World War II, there were three centers of power in the world: the large bourgeois-democratic states - England, France and the USA (the latter adhered to "isolationism"); USSR and the countries of the fascist-militarist bloc - Nazi Germany, fascist Italy and militaristic Japan. The degree of their readiness for war was different: the former did not actually prepare for war and were not bound by any allied agreements; The USSR was preparing for war, but did it extremely unsuccessfully and before the start of the war was not ready for it; the fascist-militarist bloc completed its formation in Moscow on September 27, 1940, signing the Berlin military-political tripartite pact, which was subsequently joined by Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Slovakia (satellites) and whose ally in the war against the USSR was Finland, and before the war was completely ready.

The attitude of the governments of England and France in Hitler's plans for an aggressive war was at first calmly condescending: they carried out the so-called "appeasement policy" of Hitler, which made it possible to seize Austria and Czechoslovakia without any resistance from the West (September 1938 - March 1939). The USSR regarded this as a policy of directing Hitler's aggression to the east, against the USSR. That is, he saw in this for himself a threat to unite against him the two existing centers of power.

After the threat of Hitler's seizure of Poland also arose (beginning of 1939), the governments of England and France, on the advice of US President F. Roosevelt, began negotiations with the USSR on joint resistance to Hitler in the seizure of this country (although the Polish government then carried out in relation to the USSR extremely hostile policy). However, the behavior of the British and French negotiators caused the Soviet side to be dissatisfied with their indecision. Hitler took advantage of this by suggesting that the Soviet Union in an imperative form conclude a Soviet-German non-aggression pact. The terms of the agreement seemed beneficial to the Soviet side: if the Anglo-French not only did not promise the Soviet Union any benefits for the war with Germany to defend Poland, but did not even guarantee the Soviet Union assistance in this war, then Hitler assumed a secret protocol for Soviet neutrality to transfer Western Ukraine and Western Belarus, as well as the Baltic countries. On August 23, 1939, “the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was signed and this actually established friendly relations between Germany and the USSR, Hitler and Stalin. It was actually a union of two centers of power against one - the bourgeois-democratic states of the West.

The latter have so far not shown determination in the fight against Hitler. When Hitler attacked Poland on September 1, 1939, and on September 3, England and France declared war on Germany, they practically did not start military operations against Germany and did not provide assistance to Poland in the war against Germany, allowing Hitler to capture Poland (late September - early October 1939) And then England and France led the so-called " strange war"(September 3, 1939 - April 8, 1940) - did not conduct military operations against Germany, which made it easier for Hitler to prepare to seize the countries of Western Europe.

What do we know and what do we not know about the Great Patriotic War Skorokhod Yuri Vsevolodovich

3. Readiness of the USSR for war

The media of today claims that, judging by the large losses of territory, population, weapons and military equipment in the first days of the war, the USSR was not ready for it, for which both its leadership and political system. Let's see if that was the case.

From the first days of the existence of the Soviet state, the issue of waging war (which was then understood as the defense of its borders) was of paramount, if not the main, importance for it. Consider this question as of the end of the 30s.

The outcome of the war is determined by the economic, scientific, technical, moral and military potential of the country, its geopolitical position (permanent factors) and the conditions for waging war - its declaration or surprise attack and compliance with international conventions.

Economic and scientific and technical potentials. For 1928–1940 the country's income increased by more than five times, electricity generation by 9.7 times, coal mining by 4.7 times, oil production by 2.7 times, steel production by more than 4 times, and engineering products by 20 times. Such industrial giants as the Gorky Automobile Plant, the Stalingrad and Chelyabinsk Tractor Plants, the Ural Heavy Engineering Plant, etc. were built. In the Donbass, Siberia, the Urals and the Kola Peninsula, the extraction of non-ferrous metals and, above all, aluminum was developed. In the east of the country, in addition to the Donbass, a second coal-metallurgical complex was created, the Karaganda coal basin was also rapidly developing, and an oil-producing processing base was created between the Volga and the Urals. By the beginning of the war, the eastern regions were already producing about 20% of the country's total output.

Particular attention was paid to the development of the defense industry in the country. In 1936, the People's Commissariat of the Defense Industry was separated from the People's Commissariat of Heavy Industry, which in 1939 was divided into the People's Commissariats of Arms, Aviation, Shipbuilding and Tank Industry. New design organizations were created for the development of weapons and military equipment, factories for their manufacture and testing grounds. From the repressed specialists of the defense profile, "separate" and "special" design bureaus were organized. At the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, a department of military research was established and an additional experimental base was organized. In Leningrad, in the area of Srednyaya Rogatka (Moskovsky district), the construction of a unified experimental base for military and civil shipbuilding has begun, which meets the needs of designing the domestic ocean-going military, commercial, river and fishing fleets at the most modern technical level. Ultimately, domestic aviation, tank and chemical industries were created in the country, and the formation of jet technology began. Some "non-military" factories (especially shipbuilding ones) were transferred to the production of military products. A thorough analysis of the produced and developed weapons was carried out, on the basis of which the construction of some warships and airships was abandoned and, at this expense, the production of tanks, artillery and combat aircraft was increased. Characteristically, the rate of output of military products in the last pre-war years was 1.5 to 2 times higher than the rate of growth of industry as a whole.

moral potential. Its formation was greatly influenced by the Constitution adopted in 1936, which legislated the achievements of the country, equalized its citizens in rights and guaranteed them certain freedoms. Based on it, a return to the patriotic roots and ideas of the Russian national state was promoted. single center(The Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Communist Party of Bolsheviks) to the very bottom (primary party organizations) was formed, under strict control, a hierarchical structure of influence on the entire cultural and spiritual life of society, purposefully preparing the people for unity in conditions of peace and war. the cause of "honor, valor and heroism" and to socialist property, as the basis of the well-being of every citizen. The masses were educated in the spirit of friendship of the peoples of the USSR, argued by historical examples, it was shown that extreme nationalism was beneficial only to the exploiters of the masses and hostile to the latter. the slogan about the need to defend one's fatherland - the only socialist island in the world, surrounded on all sides by imperialist countries hostile to it.The effectiveness of the ongoing ideological work increased over time, primarily due to the improvement in the well-being of workers.At the end of 1934, the card system was abolished the topic and the food situation improved every year. Unemployment was eliminated, the network of all-Union health resorts and educational institutions of all levels was expanded, etc. Since 1939, not only unjustified repressions ceased, but after the review of cases, a mass return of the rehabilitated began, only in 1939 there were 837 thousand of them.

Summing up what has been said, it can be argued that the ideological work launched in the country ensured the unity of the people in the most unfavorable conditions for the country, which ultimately made it possible to win the war.

The military potential of a country depends on the size of its population and its preparation for war, the quantity and quality of weapons and military equipment, the optimal structure armed forces and their mobilization readiness.

In terms of population, the USSR surpassed Germany with its satellites. The population was completely literate (moreover, most of it, born after the revolution, had a secondary education and was healthy, of the number of conscripts unsuitable for military service, there were no more than 7%). The size of the armed forces steadily increased and by the beginning of the war had been brought to 11.4 million people (while in Germany it was 9.6 million people).

During the thirties, the number of military educational institutions in the USSR increased by almost an order of magnitude. By the beginning of the war, there were 203 secondary military schools in the country. 19 military academies, 10 military faculties at civilian universities, 7 naval schools and over 10 NKVD schools. Schools for junior commanders were established under separate training regiments. The activities of military sports organizations (such as Osoviahim), which were popular with young people, were expanded, in which military training was purposefully carried out, “military science” was introduced in the 10th grade of secondary schools, most technical schools and universities, weapon. In September 1940, the next demobilization of privates, sergeants and foremen was not carried out.

In connection with the unjustified repressions of 1937-1938. in the armed forces there was a problem with the personnel of the command and commanding staff RKKA and RKKF of all levels. The problem was solved by conscription from the reserve, expanding the network of military educational institutions and organizing short-term courses for command personnel at large military units. In addition, after the review of cases, about 90 thousand unjustifiably repressed at all levels, up to the generals, were returned to the ranks of the Red Army and the Red Army.

Weapons intended for war were developed according to their own designs, built and manufactured at their own factories and from their own raw materials. Armament was available in sufficient quantity, but some of it was somewhat inferior in combat qualities to the German one. However, a significant number of samples of new weapons (in particular, tanks and aircraft), superior to the German ones, were under development, fine-tuning and mass production. Therefore, those 22 months during which the Soviet government managed to avoid entering the war were of strategic importance for the country.

In the last months of the pre-war period, following the experience of the Finnish-Soviet conflict (FSVK), a number of organizational and structural changes were made in the system of the country's armed forces. He was replaced by the People's Commissar of Defense and some other persons from among the leadership of the Red Army. The draft age for military service was reduced from 21 to 18 years, the military districts were reorganized, the formation of mechanized corps, interrupted in 1939, was resumed, new regulations and instructions were introduced, etc. .

The system of mobilization readiness was worked out in the USSR by the end of the 1920s and continued to be improved in the 1930s. The start of WWII required further development existing system, and in August 1940 the Main Military Council of the Red Army (S.K. Timoshenko, G.K. Zhukov, G.I. Kulik, L.Z. Mekhlis and G.A. Shchadenko) decided to develop a unified mobilization plan, the implementation of which was planned from May 1941. Due to the delay in agreeing with the industry, calendar plan work was approved only at the end of 1940, and the plan as a whole, which received the MP-41 code, was submitted to the government and approved in February 1941. The development of the documentation for the plan began immediately and was planned for completion in the first half of 1941. According to the plan, the deployment of 303 divisions (198 rifle, 61 tank, 37 motorized and 13 cavalry), 346 aviation regiments, 5 directorates of airborne corps, 10 separate anti-tank artillery brigades, 94 corps artillery regiments and 72 artillery regiments of the RGK. The total number of troops in the units listed above was to be 8.9 million people. The implementation of the above planned figures would allow the USSR, at the traditional start of the war (that is, when it was declared), initial period war. Although, as of June 22, 1941, some of the indicated planned figures turned out to be underfulfilled, however, a scrupulous analysis of indicators carried out by domestic experts reflecting the material objectivity of the mobilization deployment of our troops in terms of small arms and artillery weapons, aircraft, tanks, Vehicle, ammunition, technical and special means, clothing and food indicates that these indicators were only slightly inferior to the corresponding indicators of the deployed German army. They testify that in the conditions of the "traditional" start of the war, Soviet troops could provide adequate resistance to the German troops (that is, they were sufficient for the initial period of the war) and were never as high as in 1941. They even exceeded the corresponding indicators of our troops during their brilliant victories in the second half of the Second World War.

The USSR owed its favorable geopolitical position to its glorious ancestors: Ivan the Terrible, Peter the Great, Catherine II, and also I.V. Stalin, who provided in 1939-1940. the accession to the country of a number of new naval bases in the Baltic, the Karelian Isthmus, which defended Leningrad, as well as exits to the Danube (only 200 km to Ploiesti, which supplied the Wehrmacht with oil products) and the Carpathians.

The USSR signed almost all international conventions relating to war and in its plans was guided by the rules stipulated in the signed conventions. The USSR did not sign the Geneva Convention on Prisoners of War, however, at the beginning of the Second World War, he undertook to comply with the rules specified in this convention.

From all of the above, it follows that in the 1930s the USSR carried out a huge comprehensive work to increase the country's defense capability, which ultimately ensured not only victory in the war, but also made it possible in the future to achieve a new redivision of the world that was beneficial to itself. However, the conditions of the war were not taken into account, which will be explained in the next section.

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65 ALLIES OF THE USSR IN THE WAR AGAINST THE FASCISTS In the summer of 1941, the first steps were taken in the formation of an anti-Hitler coalition. On July 12, 1941, an Anglo-Soviet agreement was signed on a joint struggle with Germany, and in August, after a meeting between F. Roosevelt and W. Churchill, a

Recall from the course recent history what goals A. Hitler hatched in relation to the Slavic peoples.

USSR and Germany: diplomatic maneuvers

A. Hitler's plans did not include long-term cooperation with the USSR. At a meeting with the top of the German generals on November 23, 1939, he announced a speech against Russia, which would be carried out immediately after he managed to put an end to resistance in the West.

In the spring of 1940, Germany captured Denmark, Norway, Holland and Belgium. This was followed by a lightning-fast defeat of France, which was unexpected for the leadership of the USSR.

By the autumn of 1940, Germany had only one enemy left - England. However, in conditions when the British fleet dominated the sea, the invasion of the British Isles for Germany turned out to be impossible. In this situation, Hitler tried to achieve victory by other means. In November 1940, during the visit of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR V.M. Molotov in Berlin, he received a proposal to join the Soviet Union to the Tripartite Pact. For speaking out against England, the USSR was offered a sphere of influence in the region of the southern seas, at the expense of Iran and India. However, the USSR did not agree to this agreement.

Plan "Barbarossa"

After the failure of negotiations with the USSR, A. Hitler on December 18, 1940 approved the Barbarossa plan developed by the German General Staff from July 22, 1940. It was supposed to be held in 1941. lightning war, blitzkrieg, against the Soviet Union. Within three months, German troops were to reach the Arkhangelsk-Astrakhan line. Having seized the resources and industrial potential of the USSR, Hitler and his entourage hoped in 1942 to reach Iran through Soviet territory and capture the "pearl of the British crown" - India, forcing England to stop fighting.

From a military point of view, this plan was adventurous from the very beginning. The German command underestimated the military power of the USSR, its mobilization capabilities, the cohesion of the people, set a deliberately unrealistic pace for the advance of its troops to the East.

The leaders of fascist Germany primarily hoped to exploit the multinational nature of the Soviet state. It was assumed that the USSR, as in the years of the Civil War, would disintegrate into national-state formations.

Subsequently, the calculations for an explosion of nationalism in the USSR were only partially justified. In the Baltic states, in Western Ukraine, among Crimean Tatars, Chechens and Kalmyks, movements arose whose leaders believed that with the help of Germany they would be able to realize their nationalist ideas. However, most of the population of these regions participated in the resistance to German aggression, defending their homeland.

In addition, fascist leaders were betting on internal weakness Soviet power, moral and political factors. Trials of 1937-1938 were perceived by them as an indicator of the existence in the USSR of opposition to the regime of I.V. Stalin. Fascist leaders did not expect that patriotic feelings would be much stronger than political differences. During the war years, many political prisoners were released from the camps and made a feasible contribution to the victory.

Sympathy and support for the Motherland was expressed by many Russian emigrants during the Civil War. They refused to cooperate with the German authorities.

Preparing the USSR for war with Germany

The USSR began to strengthen its defense capabilities from the mid-1930s, when the growing military danger in Europe and Asia became obvious. During the years of the second five-year plan, it was planned to increase the production of military products by almost 300%. Since 1939, universal military service has been introduced in the Soviet Union. In the summer of 1940, a law was adopted, according to which, instead of a 7-hour working day, an 8-hour one was established, and a day off was canceled. Violations of labor discipline, lateness and absenteeism were equated to a criminal offense.

Given the likelihood of a war with the powers of the Anti-Comintern Pact, the Soviet leadership sought to create an army that, in terms of the main types of equipment and weapons, would not be inferior to the total power of the troops of Germany and its allies combined. Backlog in numbers personnel was supposed to be overcome after mobilization.

In 1940-1941. The USSR continued to strengthen its military power. The army was being re-equipped with more advanced equipment, in particular, the T-34 and KV tanks, which were much superior to the German ones. The rearmament was to be completed in 1942. The troops received new aircraft, which were not inferior to the German ones in speed and armament (in total, by the beginning of the war, there were 1540 of them).

The basis of the striking power of the Red Army, like that of Germany, was large mechanized formations capable of a rapid offensive. However, by the beginning of the war, many of them were only at the stage of formation.

The success of Soviet diplomacy was the signing in April 1941 of a neutrality treaty with Japan. Although the leadership of the USSR was not sure that this treaty would be respected, it still partly ensured the security of the Far East.

Table

Forces and means	Germany	Finland	Total, countries of the fascist bloc
People (million)
Guns and mortars (thousand)
Tanks (thousand)
Combat aircraft (thousand)

Reasons for the failures of the Red Army in the initial period of the war

In the spring of 1941, both the US and British governments and Soviet intelligence informed I.V. Stalin about the possibility of a German attack on the USSR. These warnings were taken with disbelief.

I.V. Stalin believed that the source of the rumors about the impending attack was England, which was in a difficult situation and was interested in a clash between the USSR and Germany. He underestimated the adventurism of Hitler and did not believe that Germany would decide to fight on several fronts (in 1941 she continued to air and naval war with England; conducted, jointly with Italy, operations in North Africa; campaigned in the Balkans against Yugoslavia and Greece).

Stalin and his entourage, who knew that the Red Army needed at least another year to complete rearmament and reorganization, still hoped to delay the outbreak of war by political means. Based on the fact that these possibilities had not yet been exhausted, Stalin rejected the proposals of the General Staff put forward in May 1941 on delivering a preemptive strike against the German troops deployed on the Soviet border. Any measures to increase the combat readiness of the border districts were forbidden so as not to provoke an attack by the German troops.

Nevertheless, in April 1941, 800,000 reservists were drafted into the Red Army. In May, additional forces secretly advanced from the internal military districts to the border.

After the conflict with Finland, which revealed the unpreparedness of the Red Army for a serious war, its top command was changed. People's Commissar defense instead of K.E. Voroshilov was appointed S.K. Timoshenko (1895-1970), who commanded the front, whose troops broke through the Mannerheim Line. G.K. became the Chief of the General Staff. Zhukov (1896-1974), who distinguished himself in battles with Japan at Khalkhin Gol.

Their analysis of the state of the army showed that, although it was a formidable force in terms of staffing, its level of readiness for conducting military operations was insufficient.

The highest commanding staff of the army was weakened by repression. By the beginning of the war, 70-80% of the commanders of districts, armies, corps and division commanders had been in their positions for less than a year and did not have time to gain experience in leading troops. Only 4.3% of officers had higher military education, 15.9% of the commanders did not undergo military training, the rest completed short-term military courses. However, the conditions of modern warfare required commanders to be able to establish interaction between various branches of the armed forces (armored, infantry, artillery, aviation), coordinate actions with neighbors along the front line, and take the initiative in difficult situations. In addition, the equipment of the troops with means of communication was very weak.

Ordinary military personnel did not have experience in using modern military equipment. Only 15% of pilots underwent retraining for flights on new, high-speed aircraft. Much of the equipment was faulty. By the beginning of the war, tank units were only 25-30% equipped with repair equipment. The army experienced an acute shortage of vehicles, with 45% of them in need of repair. Identified shortcomings required a long time to correct them.

G.K. Zhukov. 1941

The military leadership of the country made a gross miscalculation in the deployment of large forces of the Red Army near the new state border. This deployment of troops was determined by the military doctrine adopted in the USSR, which required responding to an enemy strike with a counterattack (or a counterattack). She rejected the possibility of a strategic retreat and underestimated the importance of defense. Plans for the construction of defensive lines on the new border were only 25% completed. On the old border, previously dismantled defensive structures were restored, but by the beginning of the war they had not been completely restored.

Frontline airfields were overloaded. On many of them, the norms for placing aircraft were exceeded by 4-6 times, which facilitated the destruction of most of the aircraft by the first enemy strike. Stockpiles of fuel and ammunition were too close to the border. They were immediately captured by the advancing German tank columns.

All this made it easier for the Wehrmacht to defeat the main forces of the Red Army on initial stage war.

§ 23 Questions and tasks

1 How did German-Soviet relations develop in 1939-1940?

2 Tell us about the preparation of the USSR for war with the countries of the Anti-Comintern Pact. What circumstances led to the fact that the German attack on the Soviet Union was unexpected?

3 Describe the plan "Barbarossa". What were the calculations of fascist Germany in preparation for aggression against the USSR?

4 What can you say about the combat readiness of the Red Army, its readiness for war with Germany?

3. Readiness of the USSR for war

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